Michelle Jones
Freelance fiction writer and game designer. Experience across all aspects of TTRPG writing with a focus on world building and player facing game options. A long time player and game master familiar with Pathfinder, Dungeons and Dragons 5E, the Powered by the Apocalypse system, and more.
Credits
Original Games
A Life Behind GlassThird Party
The Bladesoul Playbook for Thirsty Sword Lesbians
The Last Playbook for Thirsty Sword Lesbians
The Beloved Playbook for Thirsty Sword Lesbians
The Fairy and The Flame for Thirsty Sword Lesbians
For the Prom Queen A Descended From The Queen GameFiction
Music is Math is MagicPathfinder Infinite
17th Level: Core
Queerfinder, Issue 2 The Zonzon DollPathfinder Second Edition
Lost Omens: Tian Xia World Guide Upcoming
Lost Omens: Highhelm King's Crown Options, The Bloodstorm
Lost Omens: Impossible Lands, Adventuring in Geb, Cursed King, Stone Sister
Book of the Dead, Undead Slayer Archetype and Skeleton Ancestry
Adventure Path #171: Hurricane's Howl
Lost Omens: The Mwangi Expanse, Chohar, Grandmother Spider, Luhar, Mazludeh, Tlehar, Life in Mzali, Walkena (political), K'nonna, Sié Goluo
Bestiary 3, Girtablilu, Kitsune, Wyrwood
Lost Omens: Legends, GebPathfinder
Player Companion: Heroes of Golarion, Heroes of Arcadia and Wyrwoods
Player Companion: Heroes from the Fringe, Half-Orcs
Campaign Settign: Inner Sea Taverns, The Whispering Stone
Player Companion: Heroes of the Darklands, Sekamina
Adventure Path #116: Fangs of War, The Chernasardo Rangers Gazeteer
Player Companion: Legacy of Dragons, Wyvarans
Adventure Path #110: The Thrushmoor Terror, Faceless Hulk bestiary entry
Contact
To contact me for game design and RPG writing, email me at [email protected] or find me on twitter @AleshaKillsFor third party RPG content and other writing, subscribe at Patreon.com/AleshaKills
Writing Samples
"The Bladesoul often struggles to see themselves as an autonomous individual. A Bladesoul with a positive outlook may think of themselves as a teammate or a partner, while a more cynical or self-deprecating Bladesoul might view themselves as just a tool to assist others. Your powerful bonds can either be a source of great strength and growth, or a source of great heartache if you use them to hide your true self. You’ll have to walk a fine line between helping the people you care for and maintaining healthy boundaries.At its core, the Bladesoul is a supportive character. Many of your playbook moves involve juggling Strings and Conditions to get added benefits, which may require you to be more aware of how the other PCs are doing. You excel at helping your allies to perform their best, but you should be wary of only taking moves that help others. After all, you still want to be able to act when you’re on your own. At the other extreme, a Bladesoul who struggles with trust issues and feelings of being used may only choose playbook moves that have solo benefits. "
-The Bladesoul Playbook, Playing the Bladesoul"Ancient crystal magic, while potent, was only about as sophisticated as cudgeling your opponent with a rock, albeit a very pretty rock. But with recent advances in modern arcana, magic has become an artform – practically a science in its own right. An unrefined mage crystal the size of a fist is scarcely powerful enough to keep a cook fire lit. However, a skilled artificer can break that crystal down and arrange the shards in interconnected grids. In the hands of a master, that same fist sized crystal could power an entire city block for years. These magic circuits are the secret to modern wizardry. "
-The Fairy and The Flame, Arcana and Artifice"Strictly Better is a popular, if loaded, term that’s used quite commonly in gaming communities. Sometimes serious, sometimes facetious, it can essentially be boiled down to one basic fact. Three is always more than two. The simple truth is that game balance, more often than not, comes down to numbers. Is a +4 too good? Is 20 gold pieces too cheap? Is 12 damage a turn too powerful or too weak? When it comes down to it, balance involves a lot of math.Now, if all we cared about was making things perfectly equal, it would be easy to make all of the numbers uniform across the board. If every character does the same amount of damage with every successful attack, then every character is just as good. But that would be boring. So what we have to do instead is make three equal two. And contrary to what I said just a moment ago, there are a few ways that we can accomplish this."
-How to Homebrew: The Balancing Act