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Insightful Arena

4th-Level Divination

Range: 60 feet

Components: S,V,M (A mirror fragment)

Casting Time: 1 Action

Duration: 1 minute (Concentration)

This spell is also sometimes called the True Strike Arena, as it references the aptly named cantrip.

You call out the name of a creature within range, inviting challengers, centering a 20ft diameter sphere on them. This arena is a visible field that projects illusionary constructs and pointers that make any flaws in a creature's defenses visible.

For the next minute, or until concentration ends, creatures within the field of effect may be targeted by attacks from any creature as if True Strike were already cast on them.

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Tamako Vlados

Power Level: 4,937

Tamako met our asteroid ship on a space motorcycle. Needless to say, our encounter was very bizarre.

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The manga covers I did for our characters in our Savage Worlds campaign. It's a DBZ-style RPG where we are Radditz-level emissaries of an empire from a distant galaxy. We have power levels and all kinds of super abilities. Our average power levels are around 2,900.

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Princes of Conquest

HUZZAH! Our last session of Princes of Conquest was one heck of a shopping episode. With our asteroid-struck ship dead in the water ... er, space, we elected to make lemons out of lemonade and hollow out a space rock.

The Oasis is our newly reconstructed ship. One of our party members painted the name on the outside with spare resources. Now, we are emissaries of the Empire looking to bash more space bugs.

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My character's power level is 2,950 and rising. This is Wraith, a clone of a legendary super warrior sent to a faraway galaxy to conquer with her allies in the name of the Empire.

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Princes of Conquest

We began our DBZ-style campaign last week in the Savage Worlds system. Our characters are clones of diverse genetic material, created on a starship headed to conquer a new galaxy.

Unfortunately, our plans were thrown out the window during our session zero and we had to save our ship from space bugs and figure out how to salvage what was left of our vessel.

Our DM has a system for determining the power levels of other creatures and ourselves, so this and future posts will include those readings as we discover them.

Plasma Beetle: 650

Iron Scarab: 1125

Mother Bug: ????

Wraith (Player): 2950

Vlack (Player): 3050

Avarice (Player): 3150

Rose' (Player): 2950

Mai (Henchman): 1100

Tai (Henchman): 1100

The Mother Bug was a mass of space flesh spewing out bugs to defend itself. We never got a chance to use our scouters on it to determine its power level. However, upon dislodging it from our ship and chucking it out into space, the Mother Bug shed its fleshy mass to reveal a serpent-like entity that shot out toward our destination planet at a speed far faster than we could fly.

It's possible that it had some insane power level, but I guess we'll get a chance to see once we affect repairs on our ship and head out to conquer this new galaxy!

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Spotlight Roll

Optional Rule

Spotlight rolls are used for party-wide ability checks where failure is impossible. Instead, players roll a chosen ability check to determine who discovers or reacts to the information first, granting a spotlight to the successful player character and a chance to do something memorable.

eg. A fallen cultist reanimates as an undead minion and one player gets a chance to do something before it strikes the NPC captive.

eg. The characters are unconscious and captured. They each roll a Constitution saving throw to see who wakes up first, giving that character a chance to interact with their new surroundings.

Note: Spotlight rolls are nice because someone automatically succeeds and the numbers still matter. I use these rolls for mystery adventures as well, because it lets the players earn their clues and excludes the possibility of a dice roll not being high enough, resulting in the players being stuck (DM anxiety intensifies).

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HUZZAH! I drew this piece yesterday with a focus on light sources. This fake fantasy magazine cover art is my take on a D&D zine that a YouTuber or content creator might publish for their subscribers. I inked this piece traditionally and colored it digitally.

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HUZZAH! I drew this comic book cover as an homage to our D&D group's session zero in DC Adventures, which is basically a DC port of Mutants and Masterminds. The player character portrayed on the cover is Star Adamson, a superheroine with memory powers.

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A New Campaign!

This isn't really a campaign diary, but just an announcement that our group started our second campaign in the Savage Worlds RPG system.

We've played D&D5e for many games (and our DM is currently running one), but my most recent campaign was set in the Deadlands campaign setting.

That western campaign is still ongoing once every other week, but now we have a new adventure to fill in the gaps. It's the superhero supplement set in a legally distinct DBZ-themed science fiction galaxy.

We're essentially a team of Radditz-level super warriors genetically engineered by a hyper-advanced warrior civilization who already conquered their galaxy and are looking for more. Super excited to see how this goes!

Wake me when we get there!

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Eldritch Pet

3rd-Level Transmutation

Range: 60 feet

Components: S,V (Who's a good boy?)

Casting Time: 1 Action

Duration: 1 Minute

You pet a willing beast or familiar within range that you can see, either through touch or a spectral hand. Eldritch energies pass through your hand to the creature and it gains the following benefits for the duration:

It gains 25 temporary hit points. If any remain after the spell's duration, they are lost.

It's creature type becomes Aberration or Fiend (your choice), it grows 1 size larger (up to large) and gains appearance traits appropriate to a creature of that type.

It gains an appropriate weapon attack that deals 1d10 piercing or slashing damage and can take the attack action if it cannot normally.

It gains either a fly speed, a swim speed or a climb speed (your choice) if it does not already posses at least 1 of these.

You may only extend this benefit to 1 creature at a time. If you pet another willing creature with this spell while it is still active, the spell ends on the first creature before it begins on the next.

Available to Warlock, Wizard and Sorcerer

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HUZZAH! A more proportioned profile pic! This version fits better with my banner.

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In addition to my new profile picture, I designed a fun YouTube banner that can also double as a general-purpose banner for my Tumblr blog.

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HUZZAH! I made a new profile pic, circa Summer '22. I started with a sketch, scanned it, and went on to digitally mark it up.

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D&D and Savage Worlds

Our group has played many different RPG systems, but the most recent campaigns were run (and are currently being run) in D&D5e and Savage Worlds.

Both systems are good for different purposes, I think. Savage Worlds seems to be more dangerous than 5e, but no less a heroic fantasy. The game makes use of a d4 more than you'd imagine and the success/raise system for dice rolls makes the system of skill checks complex enough to have fun but also easy to math out.

I'm not the biggest fan of the death spiral penalties after taking wounds, but I am also running a squishy mad scientist, so I got what I paid for in character creation.

They have to get past my laser gun first.

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Gold Immortal

9th-Level Transmutation

Range: Touch

Components: S,M (Gold piece)

Duration: Instantaneous

You extend your hand, glowing a radiant gold, touching a creature you can see. If the creature has 100 or fewer hit points, it must make a constitution saving throw or be instantly turned into a small golden statue worth 20,000 gold pieces.

Available to Bard, Druid, Cleric

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Moonlight Serenade

7th-Level Conjuration

Range: 120 feet

Components: V,S,M (Silver piece)

Duration: Instantaneous

You toss a silver piece into the sky and shout to the moon as the coin explodes into the astral aspect of a lunar body.

Choose a single point within range. Creatures within a 40ft radius sphere centered around that point that are NOT UNDEAD recover 40 hit points.

Undead creatures within this sphere of effect instead must make a wisdom saving throw, taking 10d6 radiant damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one.

Available to Bard, Druid, Cleric