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tigerkirby215 · 3 years ago

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5e Gangplank, the Saltwater Scourge build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Joshua “HUGEnFAST” Brian Smith, made for Riot Games.)

I feel like I could title this post “how to play Matt Mercer” and it would get way more clicks.

Gangplank is one of those champions that everyone knows about but no one really plays. I doubt it’s controversial to say that barrels are weird and GP as a whole is one of the higher skill-cap champs in the game. But Ruined King game got me interested in GP again (spoilers by the way, I guess) and both the expansion of his lore and the impact he has on the game are great. I mean listen to his battle theme. (Can’t embed it anymore lol.)

Doesn’t mean I couldn’t stop hearing him as Matt Mercer doing a pirate voice. Oh and I’m also pretty surprised that I couldn’t find anyone online (Dorans & Dragons) who’s already done a build for Gangplank, so I guess that makes me the first!

GOALS

Barrel! - Line up a few powder kegs to blow them all to high hell; we’ll need to pack enough explosives to sink any ship.

They're not just oranges; they're blood oranges - You may be facing many dangers, but then you can just eat an orange and it’ll be k.

Pistols or blades; don't matter to me - Be it handguns, ship cannons, or just a flaming sword we need to have an arsenal of assorted weapons on demand.

RACE

Gangplank is a human, and man after eight whole builds it kinda feels nice to return to Variant Human. You get +1 in two Ability Scores of your choice so grab a bit of Intelligence and Strength. You also get a skill of your choice like Survival (which is rather important to avoid dying in an explosion), and a language which you can pick as you fancy.

But the main appeal of Variant Human is obviously the free feat at level 1 and you’re not tough enough yet to survive being blown up, so grab the Tough feat for 2 extra hitpoints every level.

ABILITY SCORES

15; INTELLIGENCE - You don’t become the (former) King of Bilgewater just by swinging a sword around well: you need smarts to overpower your foes.

14; CHARISMA - Having Charisma to lead loyal men is also a good quality of a leader.

13; STRENGTH - You do still ultimately need to swing a sword around.

12; CONSTIUTITION - It takes Constitution to survive nearly being blown up... which is why we have it so low... Put simply we needed all the other stats more but +1 to CON saves still helps.

10; WISDOM - Look we had to dump something. Gankplank is brash enough to (DO SPOILERS) in the Ruined King game so it’s pretty clear that hindsight is his fatal character flaw... among many others.

8; DEXTERITY - Gangplank is a slow melee toplaner in-game, but feel free to swap this out with Wisdom if you want better initiative but worse saving throws.

BACKGROUND

Man if only there was a background for being a Pirate... So anyways take the Pirate background for proficiency with Athletics and Perception as well as Navigator's Tools (which would normally be someone else’s job) and Water Vehicles, because every good ship needs a captain!

Your background feature Bad Reputation will make sure that everyone in Bilgewater fears the name Gangplank, and won’t try to stop you unless they want a sword through their ribs. I mean, as long as you don’t do anything too crazy obviously.

(Artwork by Alex “Alexplank” Flores. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - PALADIN 1

Starting off as a Paladin not for Saving Throws this time, but so you can actually put on Dead Man’s Plate. But proficiency with Intimidation and Insight is also helpful for a captain.

You also get Divine Sense to help discern friend from foe on the Shadow Isles in ways I don’t want to bother describing, and Lay on Hands to eat an orange to both heal yourself and remove diseases.

LEVEL 2 - PALADIN 2

Second level Paladins get the main meat of this class choice. For one you get to choose your Fighting Style: if you want more damage then grab Dueling, but if you want to be the party tank instead Defense works just as well.

More importantly you get Spellcasting! You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level (rounded down.) To give your enemies a Trial by Fire grab Searing Smite, and yes this is about 80% of the reason I took Paladin levels. To keep in the fight with Grasp of the Undying Heroism will keep your health up as you make trades, and for a quick heal Cure Wounds will let you munch on an orange more efficiently.

These are all Concentration spells so if you don’t want to go through the trouble of casting them and making sure you don’t lose them just opt for Divine Smite to skip the “fire” part of Trial by Fire, pumping them with Radiant Damage instead equal to the level of the spell slot used (up to 4th) plus an extra d8. And if you happen to be in Grey Harbor Divine Smite does an extra d8 to undead. (So [d8 x level] + 2d8)

LEVEL 3 - PALADIN 3

Third level Paladins get to choose their Sacred Oath, and the Oath of Vengeance will let you take back what’s yours by force. You get two Channel Divinity options: Abjure Enemy will let you instill fear in your foes, and Vow of Enmity makes top-lane trading easier with guaranteed advantage against the chosen foe. You also get Harness Divine Power if you don’t want to use your Channel Divinity for anything other than more Smites.

You could also use your spell slots for your Oath Spells: you get both Hunter’s Mark and Bane added to your list, which are good to make foes weaker to either your sword or your barrels. And finally you get Divine Health, because an orange a day keeps the diseases away.

LEVEL 4 - PALADIN 4

4th level Paladins get their first Ability Score Increase and I’m going to suggest an increase to... Charisma, instead of Strength. I promise there’s a reason for this beyond being a better captain and more spells.

Speaking of more spells you can prepare more spells, but I’m going to wait for...

LEVEL 5 - PALADIN 5

5th level Paladins get an Extra Attack, allowing them to swing their sword twice in a round! More importantly however you get access to 2nd level spells: your Oath Spells includes Misty Step (for Flash and I won’t lie Misty Step is half the reason I took Oath of Vengeance) and Hold Person (to hold people in place.) Additionally grab Branding Smite to ignite your foes for vision, and Lesser Restoration to cleanse some crowd control off yourself (or an ally.)

LEVEL 6 - PALADIN 6

6th level Paladins can be very good captains with the help of Aura of Protection and that’s why we took the Charisma increase. Keep oranges in your system to add your Charisma modifier to any saving throws, and share in the citrus with allies within 10 feet of you to boost their saves as well!

You can also prepare another spell like Protection from Poison for more tools to prevent scurvy, but remember that Paladins are prepared casters so you can take spells that you think will be more useful in the moment. Which is my way of saying you should really be taking Aid instead. Also remember that as your Charisma increases you can prepare more Paladin spells, which will be important later.

(Artwork by Sperasoft Studio. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 7 - ARTIFICER 1

Now that we can swing our sword around how about we get our gun? 1st level Artificers don’t get a gun (it takes awhile for Miss Fortune senior to craft them for you) but they do get Magical Tinkering, which is kinda hot garbage. You can read what the ability does for you on your own but in essence it’s shitty Prestidigitation.

Much more importantly however is that you get more Spellcasting! Artificers get cantrips but you could be fooled into thinking they don’t because they only get two: anyways take Firebolt for a not-quite gun and Mending to keep your ship in tip-top shape. You can also prepare a number of Artificer spells equal to your Intelligence modifier plus half your Artificer level (rounded down.) Take Absorb Elements for some magic resistance, Catapult to ready your cannons, and... I dunno. Purify Food and Drink? Look we don’t need much from 1st level of Artificer and we’re in it for the long haul.

What’s cool about multiclassing two half-casters is that your spell progression is essentially the same, so you’ll still have 5th level spell slots by the end of this. You can refer to either class to see your spell progression instead of getting confused with multiclassing

LEVEL 8 - ARTIFICER 2

2nd level Artificers get Infusions, allowing you to have the best hardware Bilgewater has to offer. You can learn four infusions (and make two) but I’m going to tell you right now: make the Enhanced Defenses and Enhanced Arcane Focus infusions. There’s other good infusions you can take (Mind Sharpener is never a bad one; you can maybe give it to an ally until you actually get decent casting) but having high AC and a nice gun will be of peak importance.

Also depending on your DM you may be able to use the Enhanced Arcane Focus as a focus for all your spells, as opposed to just your Artificer spells! Along with boosting your Paladin spells nicely this also means you won’t need multiple focuses!

You can also prepare another spell which we definitely need from 1st level.

LEVEL 9 - ARTIFICER 3

Third level Artillerists get to choose their specialty and what I love about Dungeons & Dragons is that you often get a champion’s ultimate before their basic abilities, because getting cannons is somehow easier than getting a pistol. We shall be taking the Artillerist subclass to summon an Eldritch Cannon. I’m not going to go too in-depth with this feature (please just read it yourself) but if you want the general jist here it is:

You can either make a handheld “cannon” (for a pistol) or a medium-sized cannon that can move around and fire wherever you aim it.

Firing the cannon takes a bonus action.

The most accurate to your abilities would be the Force Ballista, which can make a ranged attack within 120 feet and also pushes foes back a bit when it hits.

You can also make a flamethrower and a shield generator, which are both odd but definitely useful, and there’s no reason why you can’t make them just because Gangplank doesn’t have them in LoL.

The Flamethrower and Force Ballista do 2d8 damage, and the Shield generator gives everyone Temporary hitpoints equal to a d8 plus your Intelligence modifier.

Oh and your cannons can be destroyed if your enemies shoot at them instead of you, which is why we have the Mending spell (to heal them.)

Oh and they last for 1 hour. You get one for free and have to use a 1st level spell slot to summon more of them.

You also get Shield and Tunderwave added to your spell list as Artillerist Spells (one of which you’ll use far more than the other), and finally you get proficiency in Woodcarver’s Tools because you aren’t making guns despite the fact that they look like guns and sound like guns. And if you’re lacking tools you can make The Right Tool for the Job out of thin air with an hour of work.

LEVEL 10 - ARTIFICER 4

4th level Artificers get an Ability Score Improvement, and since we’re in Artificer town you should get more Intelligence to make your Artificer abilities better.

You can also prepare more spells, but in a level we’ll get 2nd level spells so...

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 11 - ARTIFICER 5

Are you sick of your “gun” only being available for 1 hour without using a spell slot? Well here’s an actual Arcane Firearm that will let you add a d8 of damage to one target of any spell, including Firebolt!

You can also prepare second level spells! As an Artillerist you get Scorching Ray and Shatter (the latter of which can act as an early barrel) and you can also prepare spells like Enhance Ability to help your crew man the ship, Heat Metal for some more trial by fire (as long as they��ve got metal on them), and Pyrotechnics, which is bad but very in-flavor for Gangplank.

LEVEL 12 - ARTIFICER 6

6th level Artificers get more Infusions: grab the Cloak of the Manta Ray in case your thrown overboard (maybe some audacious redhead blew up your ship?), Lantern of Revealing for wandering the Shadow Isles, and a Spell-Refueling Ring which is probably the one you should be making. Get back a third level spell slot for more volley fire or more Smites!

You can also prepare more spells like Grease from 1st level which I somehow forgot until now, and you get Tool Expertise for expertise with tools. Yup.

LEVEL 13 - ARTIFICER 7

7th level Artificers make sure their crew doesn’t fuck up with Flash of Genius. When another creature you can see within 30 feet (or yourself if you feel like it) makes an ability check or saving throw, you can use your reaction to add your Intelligence modifier to the roll.

You can do this a number of times equal to your INT mod and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Obviously the best way to do this is to save your crew from devastating damage and obviously the most in-character way to use this would be to save your own hide, so do as you wish captain!

LEVEL 14 - ARTIFICER 8

8th level Artificers get another Ability Score Improvement and seeing as we just got the ability that works off INT mod and gains uses off INT mod clearly capping off that Intelligence is in your best interest.

This does mean you can prepare more spells, but I’m going to wait for...

LEVEL 15 - ARTIFICER 9

Total level 15 isn’t too late to get your barrels, right? 9th level Artillerists get Explosive Cannon which along with making your cannons do an extra d8 of damage also lets you blow them up, dealing 3d8 Force damage to anyone nearby who fails a DEX save (with half as much on a success.) You can only have one barrel up and won’t be hitting any barrel combos, but if your foes try to swarm your barrels you can shoot them away from your foes!

Additionally you can now prepare 3rd level spells! Wind Wall may belong to the Ionian helping your arch nemesis, but Fireball is very in-character for a big explosion to blow away your foes! Fireball is one of those spells that is intentionally overpowered so getting it this late honestly isn’t that bad, although I still probably wouldn’t recommend upcasting it.

Anyways you can also prepare Create Food and Water for all the supplies you could need out at sea (although this spell does not provide oranges; and here’s the part where I remind you that you don’t need to listen to my recommendations, especially since Artificer is a prepared caster), and Ashardalon’s Stride to try everyone by fire!

(Artwork by Kelly Aleshire. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 16 - ARTIFICER 10

10th level Artificers get more infusions and you’ve probably noticed our fairly low Strength. Well with Gauntlets of Ogre Power you can put on Dead Man’s Plate and actually swing your sword well! Now I do realize that total level 16 is a bit too long to actually get a decent sword swing which is why I’ll likely be posting an errata to this build if you wish to play it in a low level campaign, but I would consider this to be near the peak of how to play Gangplank efficiently.

Other than that the Cloak of Protection is probably your best infusion, but you have other good choices too: the Helm of Awareness (which is Artificer specific), Bracers of Archery for the party gunner, Headband of Intellect if anyone dumped INT (the lower their INT the more value this has!), Winged Boots... You have more than enough Infusions to choose from and the only question is which ones you’ll have prepared! Because you also get Magic Item Adept which allows you to attune to more magic items (and craft some of them faster I guess.) And to top it off your Enhanced Defenses infusion becomes a +2 to AC!

You can also prepare another spell and holy shit you can get another cantrip. For your spell if you don’t have the Cloak of the Manta Ray on (which you really shouldn’t have) Water Breathing is a good utility in case your ship sinks, and for your cantrip Acid Splash is good if your foes are clumping up or if they have high AC and low mobility.

LEVEL 17 - ARTIFICER 11

11th level Artificers get their Spell-Storing Item, and normally I go into this long paragraph about how “2nd level damaging spells aren’t that great at this level so you should prioritize more utility-based spells” and how Vortex Warp from Strixhaven is ridiculously useful but this time I won’t. Just stick 10 charges of Shatter into that shit and line your barrels up in a row.

LEVEL 18 - ARTIFICER 12

12th level Artificers get another Ability Score Improvement: since your Intelligence is maxed out go get more Charisma for a better Aura of Protection and more Paladin spells.

Speaking of spells you can prepare more Artificer spells, but in one more level we get...

LEVEL 19 - ARTIFICER 13

13th level Artificers get 4th level spells and that’s literally it. As an Artillerist you get Ice Storm to summon a cannon barrage and Wall of Fire to blow up a bunch of powder kegs! You can also prepare spells like Freedom of Movement to be completely CC immune (sorta) thanks to the power of oranges!

LEVEL 20 - ARTIFICER 14

14th level Artificers can make 14th level Infusions! I’d say make the Arcane Propulsion Armor to have a prosthetic arm but that infusion is kinda... bad? So I’m instead going to suggest you grab the Amulet of Health for a big boost to your hardiness and a Ring of Protection for even more AC. I’d also suggest replacing your Gauntlets of Ogre Power with a Belt of Hill Giant Strength because it’s objectively better, and will give you a proper +5 to your attack rolls. And sure you could grab a Ring of Free Action but then that completely invalidates our not-oranges, which would suck.

In any case you also get Magic Item Savant which gives you a 5th attunement slot, and also allows you to attune to any magic item even if your classes normally couldn’t take it! So grab some dark trinkets from the Shadow Isles and send in a harrowing!

You can also prepare one last spell and I’m going to suggest Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere to stop your enemies, protect your allies, or protect yourself while your ship explodes. Are there better spells to choose from? Yes, but Artificers are prepared casters and if I told you the use of every single Artificer spell I’d basically just be RPGbot at that point.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

You haven't seen blood yet - You have a very nice mix of damage with both your action and bonus action, being effective both in melee and at range with versatile options to dish out damage no matter how your enemies fight.

Dead men tell my tale - Aura of Protection gives both you and the Jagged Hooks a nice boost to saving throws, and +2 Plate Mail will put you at an easy 20 AC (22 if you grab a shield on top of it!) If death didn’t take you the first time what makes them think you’ll die now?

Hits the spot - Nothing that a few oranges can’t help. You’ve got a nice bit of utility spells to keep yourself in the fight without having to deal with pesky debuffs or the whole “health” problem.

CONS

The smell of powder sets my blood to boil - A good captain always has options but do you really need them when you’re just going to stab ‘em? All the spells and attack options in the world can quickly overwhelm your choices, and a lot of your lower level Concentration spells become rather pointless in higher-tier play.

Forged in blood and bile - A good score in 3 stats isn’t that great when the other 3 stats are notably lacking. Being a Paladin saves your Wisdom saves but both Dexterity and Constitution saves are extremely common, and all you have is your Aura of Protection to help with those. Hell your CON saves in particular being so low means that Concentration will be dropped rather frequently.

I'll take back what's mine! - 16 levels to swing a sword midway decently isn’t great, and 20 levels to swing a sword well isn’t good either. Like I said your Paladin levels are more ceremonial than functional and exist almost entirely just to give you your Passive. Again expect another post detailing how I’d make a low-level version of Gangplank that still captures the same feel without being as MAD nor as level-dependent.

But if you were weak you would’ve drowned long ago. Gather enough black powder to sink the entire island and show the world what happens when you mess with Gangplank. Just remember that there are still men willing to swear allegiance to you, and a captain is only as good as his crew.

(Artwork by SixMoreVodka Studios. Made for Legends of Runeterra by Riot Games.)

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #League of Legends #Gangplank #League of Legends Gangplank #Matt Mercer #dnd paladin #pirate #barrel #more powder

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deniigi · 4 years ago

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Hey go off about the ships, I'm all here for it. Also thanks for the response!

[readies my baseball bat at a whole line of beehives]

I’m putting it under the cut so that folks don’t have to deal with my very right controversial opinions on their dashboards.

Ships I don’t get and/or make me want to scream and/or triggers my fight or flight instincts:

Stark/Loki (I learned of this this morning and I hate it already)

Coulson/Barton (Just??? Why???? Is this an order/chaos thing?)

St*rker (do NAUGHT interact)

Peter B./Miles (Truly, just fucking unfollow me now.)

Bucky/Stark/Steve (No. Bucky and Tony would strangle each other with only their wristwatches if left in a room unattended)

Steve/Stark (I literally just had this convo, but I’ll say it again: Tony is way too old for Steve.)

Peter/Harry Osborn (I kind of start to get it, then I think about it and go ‘nevermind.’)

Nat/Bruce (fuck your romance plot. They’re both too awkward.)

Sam/Rhodey (Rhodey is too old and straight-laced for Sam.)

Matt/Karen (I’m sorry. I have tried. But Karen deserves better *cough*cough* mike *cough*cough*)

Darcy/Anyone (I just don’t get Darcy full stop)

Bruce/Tony -- (I see them as friends who you suspect have fucked at least once, but who aren’t actually fucking. Kinda see Bruce as grayace???)

Gwen/Miles (I get it, but to me Gwen is a baby lesbian, so I don’t really see it)

Clint/Kate Bishop (No.)

Matt/Sam Chung (NO. stop pairing mentors with mentees they don’t have to be romantic to have strong relationships CHRIST)

Luke/Danny (see note about Bruce and Tony)

Jessica/Danny (wh??? America, explain.)

Luke/Matt (I am not hostile to this ship, I just don’t see the connection)

IronStrange (I don’t like either of these two as characters so it’s actually really convenient when people put them together for filtering purposes.)

Peter/Harley Keener (Is that how you spell his name??? I don’t know this kid? So I don’t understand how he and Peter have a connection?)

Okay that was a lot of negativity, so I’m going to balance this out with ships I do like!

Spideytorch

Stucky

Steve/Sam/Bucky (and all variants tbh)

Spideypool (but only over 18, y’all pedophiles DONT INTERACT IM SCREAMING)

MattFoggy ❤😎

Matt/Natasha

Matt/Frank (I’m iffy on this, but if pushed I could see it. Mostly sexual, not romantic)

Mike/Karen ❤👏✨🌈

Mike/Foggy (one sided. GET IT, MICHAEL. Try your best, hon)

Matt/Foggy/Karen (you know what? Yes.)

Matt/Kirsten/Foggy (Hello, have you read anything I’ve ever written?)

Kirsten/Karen

Kirsten/Matt/Jennifer Walters

Peter B. Parker/MJ

Peter/Michelle Jones

Wade/Cable (Cablepool thoughts ONLY today friends)

Wade/Vanessa

Tony/Pepper

Rhodey/a peaceful life

Brett/Foggy (hello teen romance, No-Homo’d away 👀)

Shuri/Peter

Bucky/Steve/Peggy

Kate Bishop/America Chavez

Matt/Clint

Peter/Ned/MJ

Peter/Sam Chung

Matt/Elektra

Jessica Jones/Luke Cage

Yeah, I think that’s it for now. But I will also say, anon, that I don’t generally read or consume media for romance. When I’m looking for a fic to read, I want a plot. A ship is okay and I’ll def filter for tags that I don’t really love, but reading fics just for the ship isn’t really something that I often do.

I’m hunting for originality (like a shark, tbh. Once I’ve found a trope I like, I’m putting all three rows of my teeth in it and I’m reading all of those fics until I’ve found the 1-2 that satisfy the bloodlust most effectively.)

I just find that the ships that I don’t like often result in characterizations that I don’t agree with and so I avoid them as part and parcel of that ❤

Hope this helps with the curiosity!

#fic #like hell I'm putting this in the tags #do I look like I hate myself?

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sinagrace · 4 years ago

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This summer marks the tenth anniversary since the announcement of The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s Skybound imprint at Image Comics, and today is eight years since I left the company as its Editorial Director. I had no intention of waxing nostalgic or posting about this fun and weird chapter of my life, but I’ve been cooped up in an apartment watching my dog as he recovers from surgery… so I’ve got nothing better to do than look at old pictures and post on social media. Being a comic book editor is not an easy job at all. Most folks think it just means emailing people about deadlines and checking for spelling errors, but there’s so much more that goes into the job, especially when you’re working in the field of creator-owned comics. The list of responsibilities is absolutely boring to recount, but I’ll just say that for as mind numbing or menial the tasks may seem, the consequences of going on autopilot and not double checking everyone’s work can lead to catastrophic printing errors with all the blame set on who??? The editor. What’s funny is that I didn’t necessarily want the job. I was really content working part-time on Rodeo Drive and growing my illustration portfolio (I’d been doing the Li’l Depressed Boy with Mx Struble and had finished illustrating a Middle Grade book for Amber Benson at Simon and Schuster). The opportunity to work full-time in comics and learn under a guy as respected as Robert appealed to me. Of his books, I was a fan of Invincible, and more to the point: I really appreciated his brazen defense of creator-owned comics in a Big Two market. Politically, I felt okay giving so much of my life to his journey. At one point in the interview process, Robert asked me if I was familiar with him and his work. My answer was sincere: “I’ve read some of your stuff. I respect you, but I’d never wait in line to meet you.” When I got the job offer, I was still on the fence. My friend Tyler always reminds me that he basically told me to just take the job and decide whether I liked it after I was there. He pointed out that the first ninety days are a mutual trial period for employee and employer. It would totally be fair for me to say in the first three months that the job wasn’t right for me. I’m glad that I listened to his advice, because being present for The Walking Dead’s ascension from beloved bestselling comic book to actual factual international phenomenon was an experience that I deeply treasure and will never have access to for the rest of my life. Even though my main duties were about the comics, I found myself getting tipsy at award show after parties, handling business affairs in talk show green rooms, sitting in development meetings with video game creators, picking up props from creature design workshops, and- the most bizarre scenario of them all- driving my tiny car around big rigs to drop off a pallet of merch at a shipping yard in the South Bay. My first year at Skybound was absolutely crazy, and getting my friend Shawn in the position of Director of Business Development was all too necessary at that point. Between the show’s success and the launch of a handful of original comics, my responsibilities grew to include foreign licensing, copyright filing, convention planning, editing the collected editions, liaising with collaborative partners, and the occasional bit of merchandise design. It was a lot to handle, and I look back fondly on the late nights when Shawn and I would walk down to Pinches for dinner, devouring burritos and chips before putting more hours at the office. We formed intense bonds with the production folks at Image Comics who were putting in the same hours at the Berkeley office. The stress and hard work was always worth it when you’d pull off a miracle like shipping Walking Dead every three weeks on time for a 100th issue to come out at Comic-Con with a smattering of variant covers- including a chromium cover that required multiple printers and so much advance planning. (As I’m typing this, I also am remembering that I was still drawing The Li’l Depressed Boy and working on my graphic novel Not My Bag on the side. Considering I hadn’t done any drugs at that point, I have no clue how I did all of that and still found time to sleep.) Being an editor is a pretty intense grind, and if you’re not a career editor, then the eventual burnout will hit super hard. I loved my job, and I loved the artists Robert chose to work with… for the most part, they were all kind and hardworking folks dedicated to the craft. I met one of my best friends on the job, and I was able to bring in my favorite people along for conventions across the continent. There were extraordinary highs, but the gig was taking a toll on me. I was answering work emails in Texas on Mx. Struble’s wedding day. I worked six out of the seven days I was in France for my sister’s wedding, and still got yelled at for something going wrong. How do you delegate instincts to someone? “Double check the file size because sometimes so-and-so will scan things wonky,” or “zoom in at 300% because the clipping path will look fine in the preview image but the sword is actually creeping into the logo.” I was starting to mess up, and after a point, it became clear that I needed to transition as a full-time writer and illustrator. It’s eight years later, and I’m still so very happy that I took the job. I may have pulled a lot of hair out, but I learned so much about storytelling and the business of making comics from one of the most iconic guys in the business. I always let my editors know how much compassion I have for the work they have to do, and try to never add problems to their already busy days. Some production designers may still hate me, because I learned all the tricks in terms of how late you can push something at the printer… but I’m getting better, I promise!! I know how valuable it is to connect with local retailers and with readers, because they’re all coming from a place of just loving comic books so darn much, and they’re the ones doing the major work in helping build successful titles. Skybound is now a decade old and has a staff of over fifty or sixty individuals pushing the brand to new and exciting places. Robert is still someone I admire for how hard he tries to inject vitality into the direct market. I *still* get people coming up to me saying that they thought I was a girl because of my name in the Walking Dead letters column. For as crazy as the freelance creator lifestyle has been the last eight years, I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s been scary, and sometimes hand-to-mouth, but I’d never have had the bandwidth to take on all the opportunities that started coming in recent years if I was still an editor, and I wouldn’t have been as great an advocate for myself in business dealings if i hadn’t learned from Robert. HBD Skybound. X.

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fourteendoors · 4 years ago

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The Queen of Akzetha and the King of Crete

Image credit to Denys Tsiperko on artstation. Most modern stories about the Minotaur suck. I’m allowed to say this because I’m an Artist, and therefore objectively correct about everything. These stories suck because they focus on Theseus, a boring prettyboy whose only real talent is murder, instead of the much more interesting blend of divine retribution, personal tragedy, and general horniness that underlies the creation myth of the Minotaur. So, before we go any further, let’s have a quick refresher of the story, and then a dissection as to why I like it so much.

The Minotaur is a creature entirely born from the fuck-up of King Minos of the Isle of Crete. Upon ascending to the throne of Crete, Minos was having trouble consolidating power, and as such asked the sea-god Posideon to send him a snow-white bull to show that the gods favored him for leadership. Posideon asked Minos to sacrifice the bull to honor him, but Minos valued the bull so much that he instead sacrified another instead. Angry at this, Posideon caused Minos’ wife, Pasiphae, to become incredibly attracted to the bull, at which point she begged the inventor Daedalus to build her a bull-shaped armature so that she could have sex with it. Upon doing so, she became pregnant with the half-man, half-beast Minotaur, who, being divided between two species had no natural source of food, and so (logically) was only able to subsist off devouring human flesh. Although Pasiphae attempted to take care of it for a time, eventually Minos imprisoned it in his Labyrinth, constructed by Daedalus. There’s a ton of interesting things here. Firstly, that the Minotaur was entirely born out of hubris and spite. He’s not a monster because he was made by an evil god, he’s a monster because he was made by an incredibly petty one. The detail about the wooden cow is incredibly choice, but not really gameable (although I am begging someone to prove me wrong.) It’s interesting that Minos chose to imprison the beast, rather than kill it. If you can contain something enough to trap it in a giant maze you had your inventor friend build, surely just straight-out murdering it wouldn’t be impossible? I like to imagine that Minos felt some guilt about what he’d done to his son, and couldn’t bear to have it killed on his own orders until Theseus arrived. Anyway. Here’s a Minotaur-variant you can stick in your own games. ------ The Queen of Akzetha The Kingdom of Akzetha is a small city-state on the Sea of Silk. It’s not a Kingdom anymore- it hasn’t been for the past few decades- but the Council currently in charge of the city is absolutely resolute that Akzetha is a kingdom, and will be known as such. (They tried to issue an official motion to transition the city into the Republic of Akzetha. They had to suspend the vote because of the nightmares.) For its size, Akzetha is fairly wealthy. This is mostly due to the exploits of its founder, Vrantearn the Serpent, a legendary Yncol pirate who terrorized the Sea of Silk for nearly a century. Upon his retirement, he took the hand of a legendary songstress in marriage, and bought the island where he would found his Kingdom. Vrantearn’s hoard funded the fleets of trade ships that now ply the Sea of Silk, making the early years of the kingdom very profitable for The Serpent and his loyal crew. There is a story about his death, and the story goes like this. Vrantearn and his lover had a daughter after Azketha’s founding- a clever and bright-eyed girl named Xurah. Vrantearn truly loved his child, and spoilt her with exotic trinkets from across the known world. One night, while Xurah was being tutored in poetry by a Cvess philosopher, a bedraggled man approached Vrantearn’s throne. He claimed to be a priest of Rhulenkaath, the goddess of blood and birds and contracts, and asked after a certain artifact that had come into the Pirate King’s possession. The artifact was of grave importance to the priesthood, and if Vrantearn would turn it over they would consecrate a new temple in his honor. The Serpent simply laughed, saying he had no need for the assistance of a goddess who could not protect her own subjects, and turned the man away. Ill omens followed. Traders at port found that the touch of gold opened cuts on the skin of their palms. Vrantearn’s prized monkey died, bleeding black ink from its eyes. And Xurah grew strange and distant, keeping odd hours and odder habits. The people whispered of the wrath of the goddess, of the folly of the Pirate King. One day, Xurah entered the royal bedchambers and devoured both her parents whole. The girl hungered for blood, and although the guards fought valiantly they found that she healed from any wound they could give her. It was only through the wit of the King’s advisor that they were able to Xurah beneath the palace, in a network of secret passageways that had been built if an escape was ever needed. The entrances were sealed, but for a single accessway, watched day and night by guards to ensure the monstrous child would never escape. This is what the story tells. It less often discusses what happens next. Although Xurah is monstrous (guards report glimpses of feathers and talons and wide, dark eyes), she is intensely intelligent, charismatic, and persuasive. The art of statecraft seems like an intriguing game to her, and it is one she is very, very good at. And although the Council would never admit it, in matters of politics they still often answer to her. It goes like this. The most heinous criminals in Akzetha are sentenced to the worst fate imaginable: to be devoured by Xurah. They will not go willingly, of course, and so they’re often given a soporific beforehand. Under the soporific, a question may be tattooed on their back- ‘should we go to war,’ perhaps, or ‘how do we cure the blight.’ They are cast down into the dark, and they are not seen again. The answer will usually appear by the next morning, either in a dream, whispered on the wind, or (in one particularly unpleasant case) spelled out in animal viscera on the floor of a Councilman’s estate. This is the price for the questions of state. For questions of one’s own life- the Councilmen’s aspirations, their relationships, their future- Xurah demands flesh from one’s own body. In recent days, a change has occurred in Xurah’s behavior that terrifies the members of the Council. It’s not that she’s began to try to escape- far from it. Xurah’s entire life has been marked by escape attempts, each more elaborate and unpredictable than the last. (The Council has spent a fortune hiring wizards and engineers to try and keep up.) Rather, it’s the fact that in the past year, Xurah has not tried to break free once. The more optimistic members of the Council speculate that her will is broken, that she is now utterly resigned to her fate. The more pessimistic members say that she’s only biding her time, or even perhaps that she’s realized that staying trapped beneath the earth can inflict more cruelty upon them than her release ever could. And in the dockside inns and on the cold beaches at night, you will sometimes hear the commoners speak of a queen that speaks in dreams, a queen whose crown is wind and blood... ------ How To Use Xurah In Your Games: Xurah will take an interest in your PCs, because your PCs are likely interesting. What this interest will actually mean is entirely up to you. Perhaps she’ll want to eat them (if that’s what she’s doing), and will convince the Council to frame them for something heinous and cast them down into her lair. Perhaps they’ll end up serving her, knowingly or unknowingly, following the cryptic words on the wind and the voice in their dreams. (She can pay them well- there are caches of pirate treasure all over the island, and she knows each and every one.) Maybe she’s not even interested in escaping anymore, and is instead looking for the PCs to assist her in her newest scheme- perhaps killing the old rivals of her father, or serving the interests of the god who made her. I wrote Xurah’s followers as acting on her behalf, but I actually like it better if they’re not, instead misinterpreting random dreams as signs of divine prophecy. Of course, when Xurah tries to drive them away with nightmares, that’s just more signs that the prophecy is fulfilled. This gives Xurah, the Council, and the cultists a push-and-pull aspect, each ostensibly allied with the other, but secretly working on their own agenda.

#fantasy #osr #worldbuilding #roleplaying #minotaur #monster #i've been listening to a lot of Spencer Krug lately can u tell

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nilmerg-ecid · 4 years ago

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updated ideas

One piece inspired pirate rpg Basic stuff and ideas: Instead of 6 stats, instead only have 3: body, mind, and spirit Have different skills, based on combinations of body mind and spirit as well as just normal skills “Saves”: wisdom (mind and spirit), endurance (body and spirit), focus(mind and body) Speed and strength also important stats that feed into dodge and block respectively, as well as movement for speed Skill list: persuasion (mind/spirit), deception (mind/spirit), history (mind), animal handling (spirit), insight (mind), intimidation (body/spirit), perception (mind/spirit), performance(body/spirit), nature (mind), stealth (body), sleight of hand (body/mind), constitution (body), athletics (body), investigation (mind) Combined skills are the average of both unless you get a feat Instead of simple ac, have dodge skills and block skills that act like saves to physical attacks Get to take special skills, basically feats, either 1 major or 2 minor and a skill proficiency, at start Each class/subclass gets extra special skill and boost to stat + proficiency in something related Initiative is somehow body, mind and spirit; If subtracting for any mod, it is a 1:1 ratio, body is always 1:1 for initiative, mind is 0.5x mind mod, rounded down, and spirit is 1.5x spirit mod, rounded up Add all together after calculating +1 to mind is +0 to initiative, +2 to mind is +1 to initiative, +3 to mind is +1, etc. +1 to spirit is +2 to initiative, +2 to spirit is +3 to initiative, +3 spirit is +4, + 4 spirit is +6, etc Ex: +1 mind, +2 body, +3 spirit would be 0 for mind, 1 for body, and 4 for spirit, so a total of a +5 initiative Armor and weapons give bonuses to block, depending on weapons and armor, might detract from dodge Basically a feat in any given crew for “captain” that gives them bonus to initiative, bonus to persuasion to own crew and bonus to intimidation for others (or vice versa if you're a crappy captain/ maybe a marine) Design your own ship? Upgrade it during rests, have lots of fun weapons? Everyone has a swim speed, but tritons and mermaids have more, plus certain classes and feats might make it faster? Movement speed: every 10ft walking spd is +1 to dodge (round up), so 25ft is +3, etc. Stats?? Roll 5d6 drop the lowest or just standard 4d6 drop the lowest….. Point buy so total of mods is +7 or total points for body mind spirit is 42?? idk

Classes: Fighter (with altered subclasses based on monk, ranger/gunslinger, and fighter/barbarian) Sniper- ranger/gunslinger Fighter- what it says on the tin Monk- idk if there's a better name Spellcasters Archaelogist- (ok this one is just straight up only robin) basically a wizard, good at languages?? And history and stuff navigator - combination sorcerer +divination powers? Weather related mostly musician - basically a bard doctor - basically a cleric with hints of druid? Or maybe thats just chopper Other: shipwright - can control ship, gets to choose upgrades?, kinda like artificer, cook - paladin ish and can give buffs during/after rests, thief - just a rogue bc nami is both navigator and thief so i made a separate role, hmmm maybe warlocks could just be devil fruit users tho that would be complicated

Races: Humans - basically just variant humans with a way wider range of size and can have fun stuff like horns and teeth Three eyed people - divination powers? Long arm and long leg - bonus to attack and speed respectively or something Skypeople - useless wings and have primitive observation haki aka super high perception and passive perception snakeneck - honestly idk man but why not Cyborg - halfway between warforged and human Modified humans - humans but physically better and not nice Minks- furries aka shifters but they have an animal form and an even more animal form Fishmen- tritons basically Merfolk- what it says on the tin\ Giants?- idk how that would work in a dnd inspired world bc they too big Dwarfs- like pixies/halflings Celestial dragons- worse and more stuck up than elves but otherwise humans Hybrids: Centaurs, satyrs, harpies, zombies?, skeletons, clones, idk everything

Skills: Major skillz Uhh captain First mate - gets basically telepathy w captain, same but lesser skills plus attack bonus coward - gives you bonus action disengage/hide/dodge/dash Heckin skilled mate - lets you use the full combined total for 3 skills and 1 save Swimmer - underwater combat, higher swim speed, dont need to breathe for like 15 min idk, can get like sneak attack if they come up from the water Minor skills Artist - honestly mostly an aesthetic but also possibly can give bonuses to the ship for stealth, intimidation, plus can make money on the side or something Liar - prof in deception, exceptionally good at distracting and granting advantage Good with animals idk - proficiency in animal handling plus get to have basically a familiar? Built in weapons Language expert idk this is becoming very straw hat specific Helmsman - idk what this one would do if you already have a shipwright i guess allows you to also control the ship bc someone has to be manning the ship unless somehow they get autopilot Blocking - bonus to blocks Coward but cheap - bonus to dodge Like,, calligrapher or forgery artist or something that gives adv on persuasion and deception when through a written message

Fighter Class features: HP: 1d12 per fighter level Proficiencies: all armor, shields, simple and martial weapons Saves: Endurance, strength or speed Bonus to body Fighting style: Evasive: bonus to speed and dodge, get bonus action disengage Just straight up dueling: +2 to damage rolls with that one weapon, goes up to +3 at level 5 Two weapon fighting: goes up to 3 weapon fighting at level 5 Protection: when someone attacks an ally within 5ft of you, can use reaction to give their attack disadv and attempt to block it, at lvl 5 can attack back if you successfully block their attack Second wind (1d12 instead) Action surge Reckless attack

Sniper Class features: HP: 1d10 per sniper level Proficiencies: all ranged weapons and simple weapons, light and medium armor, and shields Saves: the focus one, maybe also wisdom Bonus to mind or body Fighting style: Rifle: long range bonus, adv if use action to aim last turn Pistol: closer range bonus, no disadv on melee range ranged attacks Slingshot: multiple types of shots Bow: bonus to something idk, prolly somewhere between slingshot and rifle Can do dif types of shots, like fire dmg, pierc, ice, basically cast entangle, but unless rifle and pistol get to choose 2 types outside of standard, bow gets 3, slingshot gets 5 Second wind Action surge

Monk is basically exactly the same as 5e so far

Archaeologist/wizard Class Features: HP: 1d8 per archeologist lvl Proficiencies: 4 simple weapons of your choice, 2 mind based skill of your choice, idk some sort of archaeologist kit Saves: wisdom Bonus to mind Spells!!! - mind based Ritual Casting the wizard way Learn spells by spending time during a long rest 1hr/spell Arcane recovery School: - get history related bonuses for each of these? Conjuration Illusion Enchantment Invention

Navigator Class features: HP: 1d8 per navigator lvl Proficiencies: 5 simple weapons of your choice, two skills of your choice, navigator’s tools Saves: wisdom Bonus to mind Spellssss No ritual casting but more cantrips i guess “Navigator points” aka sorcery points also metamagic but i need a better name Style: Weather manipulation/prediction - divination and weather magic mostly Playing field control- move other people/extra charismatic, illusions

Bard is basically the same as 5e so far

Doctor Class features: HP: 1d8 per doctor level Proficiencies: light, med armor, shields, simple weapons, medical kit Saves: focus one, blocks Bonus to mind Speellllss; more healing spells and buff spells, less ranged spells -- mind based Ritual casting,, the cleric way Style: An actual doctor ^™: bonus to healing spells, prof. With heavy armor and more weapons Animal doctor: talk to animals, wildshape basically but still appear weird and sentient and only have like 3 forms and limited uses until later levels War: what it says on the tin again Surgeon of death: hey its trafalgar law and he's here to steal your heart (literally) - confusion powers, plus bonus to dodge and more weapons

Shipwright Class Features: HP: 1d10 per shipwright level Proficiencies: any weapon used in building a ship as well as guns and unarmed attacks, carpenters’ tools, alchemist supplies, woodcarver’s supplies, tinkers tools, smiths tools, leather workers tools, steering the ship, shields, light and medium armor Saves: endurance idk Bonus to body “Magical tinkering” its just cola but sure Infusions Cannons Style: Artillerist- extra cannon options and damage, plus can eventually add them to the ship Armorer- more personal focuses, can idk have extra attacks Battle smith - yeet a companion (or a tank if you want) also eventually get extra attacks

Cook/chef Class Features: HP: 1d10 per cook level Proficiencies: cooks supplies, all weapons, shields, light and medium armor Saves: endurance? Probably Bonus to spirit Essentially casts spells only during rests and as rituals, but has cantrips?? Basically divine sense except its chef’s instincts and specializes in if something is edible or a threat or neither Can essentially craft potions that give buffs and health and use them during battle if necessary, can make like 5x chef level in common “potions”, increase rarity costs more Fighting style: No weapons fighting, no hands, aka the sanji: feet are weapons and boy are they good ones Knives: common weapon, extra damage and bonus to attack rolls Literally any other weapon: idk same as above??

Rogue Literally a swashbuckler rogue,,, idk what else to say, except all rogue ac bonus goes to dodge

Warlocks Required to multiclass into warlock, have 3 basic types: -can turn into animal (aka a zoan) - animal related powers -control/produce element (aka logia) -other (aka paramecia) idk how to do this one tho

#long post #dungeons and dragons #one piece #my posts

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howtohero · 5 years ago

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#238 Snow Missions

As a superhero you’re going to be expected to fight off crime, existential threats, and whatever we’ve agreed to classify that formless blob that keeps shouting everybody’s deepest, darkest secrets from the top of the Eiffel Tower as. You’re going to have to fight crime at any time, in any place, and in any wether. Which means that you’re going to have to be prepared to fight crime under any conditions. Fighting in the snow or the cold (in the Arctic, in the Antarctic, inside the giant cooler that some hardcore bros launched into space to keep their beers “space cool” whatever that means) is no easy feat, you have to work hard to both survive the fight with the bad guys, and the biting horrible cold. So let’s prep for that why don’t we!

Right off the bat, you need to design a cool arctic-variant version of your regular costume. If you’re going to be fighting under conditions where it’s twice as likely that you’ll die, you might as well look cool doing it. Add some fluffy insulation to your costume, a nice fur lined hood, snow-goggles to protect from snow-blindness and might as well toss in some retractable ski poles and boots that contain pop-out skis. Make the costume all white for maximum camouflage potential and also to maybe give the other guys snow-blindness if they haven’t prepped properly like you have. Attach a thermos full of hot coffee to your utility belt and you’re good to go! No matter where you go people will respect you, because you are a person who is prepared to fight crime in the snow, and like we said, that’s twice as deadly as fighting crime most anywhere else.

Fighting in the snow is going to be a lot different from fighting in the urban setting I’m going to assume you’re used to. (It will also be different from fighting crime in desserts, jungles, the ocean, space, and inside your buddy Arnold’s immune system.) If you’re up to your chest, waist, knees, or toes in snow, it’s going to be a lot harder to move around with any sort of adroitness or agility. You’re better off finding someway to fly or hover above the snow while fighting bad guys who are most likely going to be a lot more prepared to fight in the snow than you are. Since superheroes, by their very nature, are often going place in order to respond to crimes that are already in progress, the villains that you’re going to be facing in the snow have probably been there longer than you and have had more time to prepare for a fight. That’s not even taking into consideration yetis, frost giants, hyperboreans, Clyde the Polar Bear Who is a Jerk, or other villains and creatures who live their whole lives in the frost. All in all, unless you’re a snow-themed superhero who’s got an ice castle, a snow-mobile and training in the ancient and mystic art of throwing icicles with deadly precision, you’re going to want to spend as little time as possible on the snowy ground when fighting in snowy locales. (If you’re wondering, Clyde the Polar Bear Who is a Jerk was named by the polar bear matriarch, Georgia the Polar Bear who is Good at Naming Other Polar Bears.)

We’re savvy enough to know that you’re unlikely to be called into to deal with crimes in a good chunk of the snowy areas on Earth. Most of them are simply too boring to have anything as cool as a supervillain base or a portal to a warlike civilization in the Earth’s core. If you’re going somewhere icy and remote it’s probably going to be one of these interesting locations:

The Antarctica Olympic Training Grounds: For years Antarctica has been snubbed and neglected by the Olympics. While the rest of the world has gotten together every few years for a fun romp of sports and judgement, Antarctica has sat alone and forgotten. But Antarctica will not forget. Sure, they do not have a team yet, but soon they will, and then, oh-ho-ho, then they’ll see. Then they’ll all see.

The Iceberg what sunk that ship that one time: You’ve all seen the movie. Sure, this iceberg hasn’t done much since that fateful night in 1912, but did you know it’s actually been trying its hand at filmmaking? Rumor has it that this iceberg has been seen meeting with dozens of movie executives pitching its idea for a Titanic 2 in which a dashing and dedicated iceberg hunts down the survivors of Titanic crash.

The North Pole: Admitted it is very unlikely that you’ll be summoned here. Santa can generally take care of himself. Did you know he was one of Earth’s first superpowered defenders? He’s spending his retirement making toys and giving them out at random, (After years of awaiting my gifts and receiving only coal, I’ve determined that Santa’s system must be random. It has to be.) but that doesn’t mean he can’t kick butt if he needs to.

THE SNOW VORTEX: Have you ever looked outside wistfully, wishing it was a snow day so you wouldn’t have to go into school and present your terrible dreadful very bad 45 presentation on why the lizard who sells car insurance on tv is the only father figure you’ll ever need? Well wish no longer, because THE SNOW VORTEX (the caps are his not mine, that’s how its spelled on his business cards) is a snowstorm for hire. All you have to do is call his 1-800 number and he’ll come to your town and just go crazy. He’s a living snow storm, and he’s gonna make your lives a living snow hell. Do not hire this man. He has no restraint.

The Fortress of Salty ‘Tude: This is an ice fortress whose construction was funded by all of the UN’s member states so that people who have perpetually salty attitudes could have a place to gripe while leaving the rest of us with some peace and quiet. If you’re called to deal with a disturbance there, bring earplugs, and don’t expect to be thanked.

The portal that we described earlier: Somewhere in Antarctica there is a portal that leads straight down into the Earth’s core. Therein lies the magical province of Tarkavia. In Tarkavia everybody loves three things: magic, fancy cheeses, and war. (It’s generally a toss up between the cheeses and the war.) The rest of the planet first learned of Tarkavia in the mid 1970s when two scientists just up and fell down the portal. The Tarkavians had invented cellphones like way before the rest of us, using magic, and the scientists had plenty of cheese on them, (They were in Antarctica to study cheese.) so they had no trouble getting a message back to the rest of civilization. So if you’re ever called to help fight supervillains in Tarkavia, bring plenty of cheese, and plenty of weapons, because you’re probably going to need to fight in a war.

One of the few benefits to fighting in a frigid wasteland is that you rarely have to worry about causing any collateral damage. (The other benefit is, of course, the rare opportunity to network with yetis, frost giants, hyperboreans and Dennis the Polar Bear Who is Very Well-Connected.) When there are no buildings around you simply do not have to worry about destroying any buildings. So you can really go all out. The only exception to this is if you’re a heat-based superhero. Then, you need to be careful not to melt any glaciers or anything as that can have severe ecological consequences. Do your part in fighting climate change, not causing it.

Superheroes need to be prepared to act heroically wherever they are needed. To that end you need to prepare to fight in the cold, the snow, sleet, the living polar vortex or anywhere else your services might be called upon. So practice your fistfighting while snowboarding down a mountain, your snowball making skills, your avalanche survival skills (protip: avalanches are often caused by loud noises. This is because the snow on the mountains gets startled and starts running down hill, to escape the loud noise. If you plant your feet, stand your ground, and talk in soothing tones to the avalanche, it should settle down and you’ll be fine.) and your ice fishing skills. You’re likely to need at least one of them, if not all of them, who knows how out of hand things might get. When it comes to polar adventures, things tend to snowball.

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nocteverbascio · 7 years ago

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Alex/Lena - 51. Accidentally Married and 97. Time Travel

“Are you kidding me? Out of all the time periods we have to get dropped in, we have to get dropped off in the most sexist era?” Alex grumbles as she shoves the dated newspaper towards Lena, who’s been reading it with awe right beside her.

Lena takes the paper with fascination and soaks up all the words.

Alex is still casing the area, wondering where they’re going to get clothes and blend in a bit better.

“Alex, we’re in Boston,” Lena points out as if she’s got an idea. She grabs Alex’s hand and Alex unconsciously looks down at them. “While the technology is still a bit archaic, my alma mater has researched time travel for decades. There’s still research that we can use to engineer our way back.”

Alex brightens, ignoring how warm she feels with Lena’s hand in hers. “Great, alright, cool. We will work out a plan as we go along. We just first...need some clothes alright? People have been staring at me for the last twenty minutes.”

Lena smiles as she fixes the collar of Alex’s leather jacket. “It’s because you look dashing like this and they don’t know what to do.”

Alex looks down at her outfit before staring at all the women in floral print dresses milling about. She shakes her head. “Stupid gendered clothing.” She tugs at Lena’s hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

It turns out, they underestimate how archaic the technology is. Most of the theories that have been worked out are still written in notebooks as formulas and hypotheses. They have to stay there for awhile, which means they need identities in order to live and work, and for Lena to attended MIT.

“I’m very surprised how happy you are to go back to school,” Alex says as she fixes her nurses cap. She grumbles at the outfit she’s been forced to wear for the last three days while she investigates a case at the hospital.

Lena rushes around in her half buttoned pink chambray blouse and trousers grabbing books to throw into her backpack. “I loved MIT when I attended. To see my professors in their youth and prime is exciting. They are less embittered by the lack of funding and support and are still starry eyed at the notion of space travel. It’s quite a marvel to get a refreshed perspective.”

Alex laughs before approaching Lena.

They’ve been living together for two weeks in a small apartment. It’s taken them some time to get things in order with their identity and their work. Alex picked up being a gumshoe, while Lena attended courses. Capital had been the hardest since neither of them had credit; it was mess because neither of them had husbands either to apply for credit, which meant they had to do a bit of finagling with Alex’s identity. Thank god for gender neutral variants of her name.

“Try not to get into any fights today though,” Alex warns as she stops Lena in place to help button her shirt.

Lena rolls her eyes. “Try not to get into any fights today,” she echoes the sentiment affectionately.

They get to two months before Lena drunkenly talks to Alex about how they’ve actually been doing the last two months.

“I’m scared, Alex, what if I can’t find a way to get us back home?” she sips the rest of her wine and curls up on the couch beside Alex.

Alex lets her cuddle up close because for someone who likes to pretend they’re unlovable and untouchable, Lena is quite the opposite. She wraps her arm around Lena protectively. “Don’t worry, if anyone can get us home it’s you.”

“What if I can’t? There are just so many limitations,” Lena insists. “I don’t want to fail you.”

Alex pulls back just enough for Lena to look at her. “You haven’t failed me,” she says incredulously. “You aren’t going to. If you feel like you can’t do it, then why don’t we work together to figure it out then?”

Lena stares at Alex with misty eyes. For a second, her eyes flicker to Alex’s lips before she licks her own. Alex suddenly notices their proximity and her eyes flicker to Lena’s lips.

“Okay,” Lena whispers, breaking a spell between them. “Let’s work together.”

It’s when Alex goes to MIT with Lena for the day that she bumps into someone vaguely familiar. It’s one of Lena’s classmates. Marty Stein. Then it hits Alex.

“I know how to get us home!” Alex says as soon as they make it into Lena’s lab. Lena’s attention is immediately caught. “We call in the Legends.”

“The who?” Lena asks in confusion.

“The Legends, they’re time travelers that protect the fabric of time by fixing anachronisms,” Alex explains quickly, feeling the excitement. “We need to get a message to them to let them know we are here.”

“How will we do that?”

Alex thinks about it briefly before she settles on. “You exist.”

Lena Luthor doesn’t exist as far as Lionel knows. Carrying a Luthor name still has the same weight it does in the 1970s as it does in 2018. It’ll cause a stir that another Luthor exists outside of the family line. Lena Kieran Danvers gets changed to Lena Kieran Luthor.

With a bit of whispers sent out about time travel and the bastard daughter of Lionel Luthor, easy enough, the Legends show up in the Waverider. Sara Lance greets them from the cargo bay of her ship with open arms.

Lena is in awe at the ship as she feels a bit of jealousy when she sees Sara throw her arms around Alex with a familiarity that seems to run more intimately than the two months they’ve actually lived together.

“Congratulations on your wife apparently,” Sara whispers playfully in Alex’s ear.

Alex turns red. “Shut up, jerk. Thanks for picking us up.” She’s relieved to be on her way home but when she looks back at Lena, she thinks about the two months they’ve shared together. All the sleepovers in their beds and sharing the apartment, living their lives together and part of her misses it already, but staring at Lena she feels happy.

The feeling she’s been suppressing for the sake of them making their way home can finally be acted on because the stakes aren’t high anymore and Alex can think and feel more clearly.

It’s not until later that Alex notices how quiet Lena gets when they’re sharing a room.

“In a ship this big, I’m pretty sure Sara can spare another room,” Alex suggests, wondering if Lena’s silence has anything to do with the fact that they’re still sharing a space.

“I’m sure Captain Lance will be happy to accommodate you,” Lena snaps quietly as she changes into modern clothes.

Alex quirks her head. “Are you jealous right now?”

Lena forces out a laugh. “Jealous? I have no right to be. She’s your friend as am I.”

“You’re my wife.” Alex says moving close to Lena.

Lena scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “It was just a sham to get us some credit cards when we were stuck.”

Alex clicks her tongue as she slips her arms around Lena’s waist. Lena doesn’t resist, she relaxes into Alex’s arms like she always does when she gets home and places her hands at her shoulders. “When you changed your name, I also had to change my name back, so Sara would be sure it was me. Alex Danvers and Lena Kieran Young are married, but so are Alexandra Danvers and Lena Kieran Luthor.”

“What are you saying?” Lena self consciously asks as she stares into Alex’s eyes.

“I want to stay with you,” Alex answers as straightforward as she can. She can see the doubt and worry, so she leans in and kisses Lena like she’s wanted to so many times over the last couple of months. Lena gasps into the kiss but she smiles and kisses back.

#agentcorp #alex x lena #i dont know if thats the ship name #time travel au #accidental marriage au #also out of necessity #stream of consciousness #this is for a friend who doesnt have tumblr #mash up aus

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lonelyghosts-stuff · 3 years ago

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Avengers Infinity War-First Time Watching Reaction Play-by-Play (Pt. 1)

I’m about to cry... Loki... please no...

Thanks you wrinkly purple nut sack

“We have a hulk.” I’m gonna cry

“I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again.” AGHHHHH

How on earth is Thanos able to beat up the hulk with only one infinity stone but when he has all of them, the hulk is able to put up a fight?

Oh bye hulk.

Neat trick Heimdall. How come you couldn’t do that with Thor and Loki?

HEIMDALL NO!!!!

No ones had the ability to wield two infinity stones at once? Lmao. Well, in the first avengers, Loki had the scepter AND the tesseract soooo

And the TVA laughs at you Thanos.

HE CALLED HIMSELF ODINSON AGHHHHH

I’m crying

Loki is dead now

Fortunately the existence of the show is helping to alleviate the pain, but we will never see THIS Loki again...

Thor has lost everything. I feel so bad for him. He’s lost his mom, his dad, his friends, his home and people, and his brother.

Good thing Heimdall knew to send Hulk directly into the sanctum. Poor Bruce.

Thanos, I will take great pleasure in your suffering in death. Know this. There is no quadrant in space that you can flee to where you can avoid my wrath. “You think you know pain?” I’ll make you beg “for something as sweet as pain.”

Is Tony like, able to predict the future or something? Morgan Stark?

No more surprises ever Stark? About that...

Science bros hug

Ben and Jerry’s product placement. Nice

Course Vision made himself go offline. Smoochie time with Wanda.

Would shoving the time stone down a garbage disposal even do anything lol? Like, I feel like it would destroy the whole building lol.

Call your boy Steve, Tony!

Suck up your pride.

Poor Bruce. Always getting filled in on all the details last minute.

Bruce has it probably one of the worst. Dudes getting chucked around the universe into places he has no ideas what’s going on in.

Flip phone time

CALL HIM

Oh no

Rumbling?

Ah cripes

Quick make a call on the run

Multitasking is a lifesaver Tony

Poor New York. Why would anyone want to live there in this universe?

Earth’s closed

Go away

Spider man, spider man,

Ned is my favorite avenger.

How did no one see Peter lmao

STAN LEE

EXCELSIOR

SPIDER MAN IS GOING TO SPACE

lmao Tony ain’t gonna be happy

Work it Stephen. Do your interpretive dance moves.

EARTH IS CLOSED

GO AWAY

HEY—my life isn’t that meaningless...

Savage, ratchet

He exhausts us too

Banner having performance issues.

Hulk is on hiatus apparently

Dude you’re embarrassing me in front of the wizards.

heck yea, CGI time

Ebony Maw got no chill.

Hey maybe don’t turn your back on the enemy

Stephen, you almost crushed Bruce under a taxi.

Eh I’ve fought this guy in Marvel Champions... he’s not that tough

Hey Peter

Bye Peter

Tony, master of summaries.

Hulk is in his feels.

It’s a simple spell but quite unbreakable

Meme time

Cmon Stephen you’re supposed to be powerful

Sleepy strange

Capey to the rescue!

I love how Peter doesn’t even question the existence of wizards.

CAPEY NO—

SAVE HIM CAPEY

BEAM ME UP SCOTTY SPIDEY

Wong really just sent that beast to attack poor Inuits huh?

Wong is invited to the wedding

“I can breathe.” *exposes face to space*

Okay that was pretty sick. I don’t particularly like the iron suit as it feels kinda lame since I loved that Peter made his own, but it works here.

Poor pepper

You just had to leave the phone tony

At least Bruce somehow found it

Hell yea it’s my favorite space group, the Guardians of the galaxy. Featuring dance daddy, sleeping invisible man, dance mom, sleepy rabbit, and angst plant.

Now I’m hungry for cheddar

Poor Gamora lmao

Oh and I can’t forget mantis

Mantis you got a killer mean face

Angsty teen plant

Huh they learned Grootish

Uh oh

Gamora knows something up

Oh hi thor

He is not a dude. This is a man.

Poor Peter quill lmao

Heyyyyy Chris Pratt worked out hard to get into shape for this role lmao

Poor Thor...

He literally lost EVERYTHING

Peter is jellyyyy

Drax has a man crush

ASGARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Thanos isn’t that smart. Just like, double the resources.

Oh thank you thor for being sympathetic

Peter, stop it. It’s not a competition of who has the worst life.

Gosh I love Chris Pratt so friggin much. He’s a national treasure lmaoo. I love him so much.

Peter grow up

Both of you

Children

Oh there’s an actual place called Knowhere

Oh yea Tivan the collector. Didn’t he die?

Half of the Asgardians? I didn’t see them

Kevin bacon is an avenger

Oh Gamora... how did she know where the soul stone is?

Nidavellir? Axe time

Lmao I love the rabbit

HAHAHAHA I LOVE THIS

Thor and rocket rabbit are my favorite duo now

I love rocket so much lmao

I like this thor much better than the one we saw in Ragnarök. (Again, I love that movie as just a movie, but not as a Thor movie)

Good bye morons

Oh hey Paul Bettany

SO CUTE

Love you guys

Wanda vision

Don’t get too attached tho

“I just feel you” oh no... I know where that line comes back around

Promises to go back? To who? For what?

Robot lover

Robosexuality (futurama anyone)

I SHIP IT SO MUCH

Poor Vision lol

Convenient TV News exposition is convenient

Go with him wanda

You just messed up

Poor vision

WRECK EM WANDA

SHOW THEM THE POWER

No more phasing? Oh no.

Cmon Wanda MESS EM UP

No more phasing? Vision should be friends with ghost

It sure is lucky that no one seems to be out and about in Scotland huh?

IMAGINE if Wanda had the powers she had at the end of wandavision right here. Thanos and everyone else would be no match

BOSS GIRL MOMENT

OH HELL YA

THAT IS HOW YOU MAKE AN ENTRANCE CAPTAIN AMERICA ROGERS!!!

AND THE FUTURE CAPTAIN AMERICA SAM TOO!

AND BLACK WIDOW

You aliens are no match

I wanna kill them

Cowards

Gosh Nat is such a badass

Wow Steve looks great with a beard

Digging the suit too, more subtle

Poor Gamora oh my gosh

I wonder why Thanos chose to keep Gamora? She didn’t really display a fighting spirit here

I’m confused. Gamora was described as the last of her kind but the flashback showed only half of them being killed which is more accurate to what Thanos wanted?

Cmon quill, take things seriously...

Oh dear

Quill, be serious...

PETER BE SERIOUS

Swear it

KISS KISS KISS YEA

Dangit drax

Lmao poor drax

I got a bad feeling about Knowhere

I thought Tivan died? Like in the explosion of the power stone?

Drax don’t

Drax be patient

DRAX NOT YET

Drax you couldn’t even take on Ronan... don’t do it ya lovable dummy

Gosh poor Drax

Poor Peter quill

Nice hits Gamora!!!

Just kill him

If someone shot him in the head right here it’d all be over

Oh my gosh I feel so bad for Gamora

Phenomenal acting from Zoe Saldana

He’s not dead... sooooo what’s his play?

Illusion

Copy cat for Loki

Oh my

Oh so he planned this

OP bastard

Already has the reality stone

Soooo Tivan is dead then?

Oh my that’s horrifying

Grimace lmao

Peter

Cmon

Peter

The emotion

Chills

I hate you Thanos

I really do

OH MY GOSH THEY SAID I LOVE YOU

Thanos you BASTARD

Copying Loki’s move set

Poor quill

This is the last time they see each other huh?

Wait wait wait wait wait, I remember that another Gamora from another timeline comes in and helps. How come she isn’t arrested by the TVA? She’s a variant just like Loki???

You tell em Rhodes

They have nothing to be forgiven

Hell yea baddie Steve

Oh do they think Tony is dead?

Love you Rhodes

Get Steve looks great

BANNER AND NAT

Awkward tensionnnnn

Quick kiss before it’s too late

Lmao poor Sam and his crush on Nat

Lmao Ant-Man and Spider-Man

How long is vision unable to phase?

Poor Wanda... if only they could get it out in Wakanda (I hate how much I know about this without watching).

Isn’t white vision with this visions memories now? Like, can him and Wanda get back together?

WAKANDA

Rest In Peace KING T’CHALLA, Chadwick Boseman! Wakanda forever!

White wolf baby. Lesssgettttittttt

BUCKY BABY LOOKING LIKE JESUS

Poor baby, one fight to another. His only calm in wakanda...

Precarious needle positioning is precarious

Ouch

CMON TONY SAVE HIM

Oh peter

Lmao

Oop

Fault?

Love peter. Perfect awkward teen

“You can’t be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there’s no neighborhood.” That worked out perfectly.

Omg peter you’re making even me feel old asking about the “old” movie Aliens.

CAPEY TO THE RESCUE AGAIN

Soooo is ebony maw dead now? He didn’t last long

Cmon you cocky cuckoos

“I’m peter by the way.” “Doctor strange.” “Oh we’re using our made up names... um-I’m spider man then.” Gosh I love peter so much lmao

Yayyyyy PTSD we love that. Poor Tony. He needs therapy. They all do, really.

Man I know how this ends...

Harsh strange... harsh. You’ll learn that the universe also depends on these guys.

Peter is an avenger. Lmao he’s so perfect at being awkward.

Oh no. Poor Gamora. Quick, kill him with the soup.

Thanos, just DOUBLE THE RESOURCES. For cripes sake man. You don’t gotta be a genocidal maniac.

Gamora is only in here 20s? Or I guess maybe 30s now.

Thanos, you don’t understand. Wanna know why you can still see people in poverty happy? Because they see the hope. They value family. You could have given them resources. Not killed them.

Part 2

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diamond-song42 · 4 years ago

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Card Shark 110: Applejack, Captain of the Seven Seas

It’s that time again! Welcome to another Ultra Rare Card Shark! And this one is nothing less of a doozy! This Defenders of Equestria Ultra Rare is hard-hitting, features one of the more memorable moments from Season 6, and is also the first Ultra Rare I’ve covered on Card Shark that has a Royal Rare variant! Now that’s how you know it has massive presence when it enters the battlefield! Time to hoist the sails, mateys - let’s take a look at “Applejack, Captain of the Seven Seas!”

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for her! Captain Applejack Sparrow (or Captain AJ, for short) is scary. For one, she... costs a lot of gold. That’s 5 AT and 3 Orange req for 5 Orange power. Diligent 1, which allows you to put a +1 power counter on her when you win a Faceoff involving her, isn’t bad... but it definitely isn’t the reason you’re playing this card. One she enters play (yes, it is an enters play card, not a when you play this card) and runs the ship aground, each player is forced to choose a Friend, Resource, and Troublemaker they control (if they control all of them - if not, they just choose the ones they have). That choice better be careful, because the rest of that player’s Friends, Resources, and Troublemakers? Sayonara. Those cards are straight-up retired. To that I must say DAYUM. You know how much power 5 AT can get rid of, on both sides? Spoiler alert: a lot. Friends, Resources, and/or Troublemakers are the core of most decks, if not all decks in some way (haven’t seen too many decks that focus on playing as many Events as possible, even the ones that use Princess Twilight Sparkle, There’s A Spell For That!). Evening (or should I say flattening?) out the playing field can be an excellent late game play to sick on your opponent just when they think they’re set up and have the upper hand. “Surprise, you gotta pick and choose your weapons of friendship, haha!” Heck, save enough AT at the right time and you don’t even need to wait until the late game to play the Captain - she only needs 3 Orange req to play, the equivalent of a boosted Orange Mane Character! So you can catch your opponent as they’re trying to set up and throw them off their game, or even use it while you’re in an okay place to completely confuse them. If we’re looking outside the current Core, you can even continually play this with a Mane like Paradox Pony to simply keep wrecking your opponent’s playing field again... and again... and again. It can really wear a player down to force them to keep retiring just when they think they’re out of the woods... that’s my kind of deck. Thar she blows!

She’s going down! And I mean that in a slightly literal sense. See, if Captain AJ isn’t the Friend you choose with her ability... you’ve gotta retire her immediately after dropping her. She isn’t exempt from her own ability just because you saved up 5 AT to play her. That kinda sucks, if you ask me. (Though to be fair, if she were automatically saved from herself, the card would either need to be errataed or banned since that would be a little OP.) Depending on what other Friends you run, it may not be worth it to keep Captain AJ around and you’ll end up spending 5 AT for 0 power. In that way, she’s almost like a fancy Event. Even Queen Chrysalis, Evil Twin enters as a copy of a banished opposing Friend, including their power! As an example of potentially difficult choices with Captain AJ and other mono-Orange Friends: let’s say you play Captain AJ while you have a Limestone Pie, All Work and No Play on the field. Do you keep AJ with her 5 solid power, power that can confront certain Problems and challenge certain Troublemakers singlehandedly, or the 4 power Limestone that can shut down the abilities of opposing characters? It can be a harder choice than you might think. Or what if you have a Fume, Breathtaking in play that has just exhausted a whole bunch of opposing characters because you have a boatload of Dragons? Do you keep him and stop your opponent from readying all their characters at once or take AJ and her solid power to earn you the win faster? And that doesn’t cover the Resources and Troublemakers that could be hit. There are some cards that allow you to keep Friends in play and avoid Captain AJ’s wreckage, but at present Resources and Troublemakers don’t have any cards that offer that same protection, even outside of the current Core. On the Troublemaker side, this may not be so bad if you don’t run a farming deck and/or only play one Troublemaker at a time. On the Resource side, however? I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it’s a lot less likely that you’d only keep one Resource on the field at all, especially when it’s a non-Unique Resource like The Fire of Friendship or Pinkie Sense. No matter what side you’re on, the initial playing of Captain AJ can hurt depending on when Captain AJ is played. I wouldn’t emphasize the importance of timing as much here, though, since you’d likely only be playing a bulky, expensive card like this during your Main Phase. Regardless, this thing is an utterly dangerous UR, and I am an advocate for the pain she can cause if you use her right.

Here’s a few more cards you don’t want swabbing the poop deck:

*Limestone Pie, Inner Beauty. This card actually has two attributes assisting it alongside Captain AJ! First, she has Persistent, meaning you can frighten her instead of letting her leave play. That means she can stay in play (albeit in a different context) even if she isn’t the Friend you choose to keep with Captain AJ. Second, she knocks 1 AT off the cost of the first Friend with at least 4 printed power you play each turn, meaning you can play Captain AJ for 4 AT instead of 5! You could also play extra Limestones for stupid cheap since she has 5 printed power herself and a second Limestone would make that a 2 AT discount instead of 1. Remind me again why more (at least) partially-Orange decks aren’t using this card?

*Applejack, Big Breakfast. Another slightly expensive card, but this can do some weird things. Big Breakfast not only enters play with a +1 power counter on her for each of your other Earth Pony Friends (which can be quite a few if you’re running Earth Pony Tokens), but each of your Earth Pony Friends also gets a +1 power counter of their own (not for each Earth Pony, unfortunately). Now let’s say you Immediately remove a +1 power counter from one of your Earth Pony Friends... if you do, that Earth Pony Friend can’t leave play that turn. I say you’d better start removing power counters before you play Captain AJ - you can stop them from leaving play due to her ability while your opponent is left to suffer Captain AJ’s wrath! Granted, it only works on Friends, but you can easily plan around that depending on how many Resources and/or Troublemakers you run. And for the amount of sheer chaos this thing can bring about? If timed right, I say it’s all worth it.

*Golden Parachute. I really need to dedicate a Shark to this card. First, if the card is in play at your home and one of your Friends would leave play, you can retire the Parachute and discard two cards from your hand to keep that Friend in play. Logically, if you would want to try this while it is on the battlefield at the same time as Captain AJ, it would have to be the Resource you choose to keep. You can’t exactly retire it again since AJ’s retiring would override it otherwise. (That makes sense, right? This card makes my head hurt.) I consider this option the less viable option compared to the other scenario, though it is still possible. The second play involves the Parachute sitting in your discard pile. If one of your Friends would leave play while the Parachute is in the discard pile, you can banish it along with two other discarded cards to keep that Friend in play. I like this strategy better since you don’t have to be forced to choose it with Captain AJ - it’s already in the discard pile, after all. Essentially, both ways allow you to keep an additional Friend in play after Captain AJ wrecks everything, which can be surprisingly valuable. Whichever way you choose, both carry similar warnings: make sure you have cards in your hand and/or your discard pile you’re willing to part with to make it happen!

*Somnambula’s Blindfold. Alternately... if you’re facing a deck known for retrieving supplies from the discard pile (I’ve faced a few variants of these), this is a solid Resource to at least keep on your sideboard. One Blindfold not only halts cards from leaving discard piles, but stops players from looking in and searching decks! Once you get rid of a bunch of opposing cards with Captain AJ (and either keep your own Blindfold around or play it afterwards as a result), you can block your opponent from accessing them again with any Orchard Blossoms or Mistmanes. You just have to be careful you don’t block yourself from accessing useful cards or any retired cards you want to get back (though Orange cards aren’t usually known for doing this - the Orange/White Orchard Blossom is a rare exception).

*Mind Palace. What’s this? A Set 12/New Dawn card! This is my favorite card revealed for New Dawn so far, and it also goes with the idea of discard piles being accessed. As an opponent plays a card, any card, one of these Unique bad boys can be banished along with a 1 AT tax to have you search your opponent’s hand, discard pile, and deck for any cards matching the played card’s name. All the found cards (which would presumably be two or three since you’re searching so many areas) are then BANISHED! THAT is a hardcore way to stop your opponent from playing more than one card of a certain name per game. Alongside Captain AJ, this card might create a bit of a waiting game on your end, either for your opponent to get up the courage to play a certain card or draw it from their deck, but the payoff can be more than worth it. One major stipulation: I wouldn’t use this alongside Somnambula’s Blindfold. A Blindfold prevents the searching of the deck and discard pile, so an activated Mind Palace would only let you banish from the hand - a lot less lucrative effort. You can sideboard both, sure, but mark my words, they do not mix well!

Thanks for reading the latest Ultra Rare Card Shark! I’m returning to a more boring rarity next time that doesn’t have a lot to say for itself... but is really curious about that space mare conspiracy theory. All will be revealed soon! Diamond out!

#my little pony #mlp:fim #my little pony friendship is magic #applejack #mlp #ccg #mlpccg #mlp:ccg #pirate #pirates #captain #captain of the seven seas #friend #orange #ultra rare #card shark #defenders of equestria #captain aj #royal rare

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carpostnet · 5 years ago

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Tata to launch 12 new cars and SUVs in India by 2023

30th Dec 2019 11:15 am

ALFA and OMEGA platforms to type bedrock of Tata Motors’ new product offensive; petrols, diesels, hybrids and electrics can be a part of the combo.

Tata Motors’ new Altroz isn’t merely its first premium hatchback, it additionally boasts one other first – one that’s much more vital in the grander scheme of issues – it’s the first car off Tata’s all-new ALFA platform. Designed and engineered to ship international ranges of flexibility and native ranges of cost-competitiveness, the new platform began out life because the AMP or Advanced Modular Platform. Slated to be shared with the Volkswagen Group on the time, AMP has at the moment developed into Tata’s first versatile automobile structure, ALFA.

Named ALFA for Agile Light Flexible and Advanced, the new structure will, in mixture with the OMEGA platform (shared with JLR), account for all of Tata’s new cars set to hit the market in the following decade or so. Of the 2 platforms, the ALFA, in fact, could have the lion’s share, and that’s solely proper. Smaller, extra inexpensive and the extra appropriate of the 2 in our low- price setting, it is rather versatile, and, in consequence, may be tailored to make cars of various shapes and sizes.

ALFA structure stretches from 3.7 to 4.3m, provides super flexibility.

But simply what number of cars can we count on? Guenter Butschek, CEO of Tata Motors spells it out: “We will have 12 to 14 new top hats between ALFA and OMEGA in the next 3-4 years”. This is big and it’s doubtless to take Tata’s market protection up massively, to round 90 %.

So what can we glance ahead to? Plans haven’t precisely been firmed up, however you’ll be able to count on the vary to begin with Tata’s H2X or Hornbill, then the new Nexon can be constructed on the ALFA platform, and Tata might even push the bounds of the platform and attempt and do a Creta rival. The latter, nonetheless, is also constructed on a platform shared with Chinese carmaker and JLR accomplice Chery (see under).

Tata lately confirmed a sedan idea that appears prefer it might go up towards the Honda City, and then, logically there must be a compact sedan or Maruti Dzire rival. An Ertiga-sized MPV can also be on the playing cards, and then don’t low cost a spacious Maruti Wagon R-rivalling hatchback both. Of course, afterward, there can be replacements for the Tiago, Tigor and a devoted EV is probably going as nicely.

Tata is probably going to do a compact sedan in addition to a Honda City rival.

Tata says cars constructed on the ALFA platform will stretch between 3.7-4.3m in size, the wheelbase is stretchable to a not-so-insignificant 2,450mm, the entrance and rear monitor may be altered, and ought to engineers and designers select, the cars, SUVs, and MPVs could possibly be as large as 1,800mm too. They are doubtless to have the largest boots in their class, there can be a flat flooring in the rear, and high quality ranges are doubtless to take a giant soar up too, as round 90 % of the cars’ our bodies can be constructed by robots, permitting for excellent precision, and better uniformity of elements.

The Omega platform is much less versatile. The bigger of the 2 and the one shared with Land Rover, it might have not less than three new cars constructed on it. The first would be the seven-seat Gravitas. Then there can be an SUV with a coupé-like roof, and afterward will come the Hexa substitute or a big, Innova-sized MPV. For now, the OMEGA platform has just one diesel, the two.0 Multijet, however Tata is engaged on a bigger 1.5 petrol, and there might even be a mild-hybrid model, although Tata appears to at the moment not be in favour of hybridisation.

The smaller ALFA structure, however, could have all method of powertrains: petrol, diesel, hybrid and electrical. Engines at the moment out there on the Nexon and the Altroz are anticipated to be the mainstay, and there’s a new twin-clutch computerized gearbox in the works too.

To maintain prices down on the ALFA, your complete construction can be cut up into round 15 important modules which may be reused on different high hats with out an excessive amount of further funding. Tata can also be in the method of weeding down the provider chain. Now lastly down to round 300 part makers between each PVs and CVs, from not less than double of that, it can permit Tata to get its new fashions to the market sooner – much less time wasted on taking good care of poor-quality provides.

Leapfrogging and going instantly to a variable structure was truly essential for Tata. “We changed track halfway from doing a more limited platform to a more flexible architecture,” explains Butschek. “Rather than merely have a platform with a restricted vary of high hats, we moved to an structure that’s versatile in size, width, peak, and which lastly goes to give us a excessive diploma of commonality. By doing this we additionally de-risk particular person launches, create huge economies of scale, and, on the similar time, assist leverage the large preliminary funding higher.

BRIDGING THE GAP . . . WITH CHERY

Tata’s Creta-fighter, codenamed ‘Blackbird’, is an SUV in search of a platform. Too small to be constructed on the OMEGA or Harrier platform, and too huge to be constructed on the ALFA structure, it falls in no man’s land. The stumbling block isn’t general size; ALFA may be stretched to 4.3m. The drawback is wheel dimension, or fairly a scarcity of it. Thing is, ALFA is predominantly a small-car structure, and in consequence doesn’t help wheels bigger than 700mm in diameter, key to SUV attraction. To get round the issue, Tata has been speaking with JLR accomplice and Chinese automaker Chery, which has SUVs and platforms that match the outline. Of the numerous, the perfect match is believed to be the 4,338mm-long Tiggo Four or T-17. But is a 5- star NCAP crash-test ranking doable with these underpinnings?

With 90 % market protection now technically doable and an assault of all-new cars on the horizon, Tata Motors could possibly be in for its most profitable part ever. ALFA and OMEGA put collectively actually have loads of promise. We simply might see an all-new and hitherto unrecognisable Tata Motors emerge. Heady instances forward.

Also see:

Tata Nexon EV: What to expect from each variant

Tata Altroz: What to expect

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ciathyzareposts · 6 years ago

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Game 313: Black Crypt (1992)

Black Crypt

United States

Raven Software (developer); Electronic Arts (publisher)

Released in 1992 for Amiga

Date Started: 27 December 2018

Games of the Dungeon Master variety will never be my favorite of the CRPG subgenres. I like my RPGs to have meaningful NPC interactions, economies, more role-playing options, and less nonlinearity. I prefer creative puzzles requiring some lateral thinking to purely mechanical puzzles. I want immersive stories rather than framing stories. If you’ve been with me through Dungeon Master, Chaos Strikes Back, Bloodwych, Captive, and the Eye of the Beholder series, you’ve heard all of my complaints before.

On the other hand, Dungeon Master clones rarely offer a bad experience. They particularly satisfy my need to map. And they do one thing very well–something that fewer of the Wizardry or Bard’s Tale variants do, even into the early 1990s: they actually show enemies in the environment.

It’s weird to think how long it took this feature to appear. You forgive its absence in Wizardry, when CRPGs were new and games had to ship on a single floppy. You got used to just stumbling on enemy parties while exploring featureless corridors. But as the years ago by and the subsequent lineage of games–The Bard’s Tale, Might and Magic, the entire Gold Box series–fails to give you any environmental indication of upcoming combats, it becomes less and less forgivable. I’m not looking for these games to adopt Dungeon Master‘s real-time combat system–just to show me when a party of dragons is 10 feet away. Fortunately, Might and Magic III and Fate: Gates of Dawn finally united the lineages in 1991, and actually being able to see your foes became the norm thereafter.

Black Crypt is a decent game in the Dungeon Master line. It preserves most of the things people like about Dungeon Master and Eye of the Beholder (it seems to draw primarily from the latter) and introduces a few new innovations besides. I’m curious what a true Dungeon Master fan thinks of it. I could see preferring Dungeon Master‘s action-based leveling systems to Crypt‘s reliance on more traditional experience points, and Crypt‘s spellbook-based magic is less creative than Dungeon Master‘s rune system. I’m enjoying it about as much as I enjoyed Dungeon Master the first time, but I suspect I’d enjoy a replay of Dungeon Master a little more than this.

A bit of opening narration explains why we find equipment everywhere.

The framing story, written as an eight-page novelette, hardly breaks any new ground. Estoroth Paingiver, a former student of the Cleric’s Guild, went evil, raised abominations, summoned demons, et cetera, and attacked the land of Astera. (Hypothetical dialogue among the Cleric’s Guild faculty: “Hey, do you suppose that ‘Paingiver’ fellow is going to be bad news?”) Astera’s four guilds united to face the threat and succeeded in banishing Estoroth to another dimension, but the guilds’ four champions died in the process. The Black Crypt was raised to inter their bodies and enchanted weapons. Now, Estoroth seems to be in the process of tearing his way back through the dimensional barrier, so four new champions are needed to enter the Crypt and retrieve the magic weapons.

Creating the four characters.

The player creates four characters: a fighter, a cleric, a magician, and a druid. A pool of excess points is allocated among strength, intelligence, wisdom, and constitution. Names and portraits are chosen. Although some of the portraits are bestial or supernatural, they don’t seem to have any impact on gameplay. The process is quick, and the player finds himself on Level 1 of the starting dungeon within a few minutes. Each character begins with a melee weapon suitable to his profession and a little bit of food.

Starting out. Right away, we find a shield and some food.

In defiance of any sensible rules of capitalism, the creators included 30 “cluebook” pages in the game manual. Each dungeon level is fully detailed. I’m avoiding these pages, naturally, but I glanced at them long enough to see that the Black Crypt is a whopping 28 levels, the largest occupying coordinates up to 40 x 40. Fortunately, there are a lot of small levels, too. The game adopts the “worm tunnel” approach to mapping (meaning that there’s at least one square of “dead space” between adjacent walls), which also functionally shrinks the maps. Still, it’s a big game.

Level 1 goes up to 26 x 21 but doesn’t use anywhere near all those tiles.

The controls are okay. The game’s primary strength is allowing you to map your own movement options. This is the first time I remember such a setting appearing, and I’m grateful for it. When you have to play with one hand on the keyboard and the other on the mouse, neither arrow keys nor the numberpad make for a comfortable configuration. I re-mapped movement to WASD, which works a lot better. But aside from this customization and the use of F1-F4 to swap between character inventories, there’s no use of the keyboard. There are little annoyances like being able to enter a character’s inventory with F1 but then having to right-click to get back out, or being able to enter the disk menu with ESC but then having to click on the appropriate option to leave. There are still no keyboard options for executing attacks, which is something I’m always hoping for in Dungeon Master games.

One particular issue is going to dog me until late in the game and then probably screw me up for the next Dungeon Master-style game. The creators made it so you click on the character portrait to execute the primary attack rather than the weapon. Since Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, and just about every other game does it the other way, I’m constantly clicking on weapons, which takes them out of the inventory slot so you can drop or trade them.

On the positive side, the inventory screens are well-organized. The lower-right corner has options for various containers: a backpack, a small chest, a large chest, a bag, and a quiver. You populate these spaces as you find the containers, then click on them to view their inventories. For wearable items, there are three screens, toggled by clicking the torso in the upper-right corner. The first has items of clothing, the second wearables like rings and belts, and the third the actual armor.

I face a locked door as I look at my fighter’s inventory. He has a chest, a backpack, and a bag. I have the chest open, and I’m looking at the armor screen that shows the outer armor.

There’s a food and water system, and I suspect it’s going to be an annoyance until the cleric gets “Create Food.” The mechanic really doesn’t accomplish anything except impart a sense of urgency. If you want to explore carefully, you have to make a save, do your exploration and mapping, and then reload and cover the level faster, “for real.” But it’s worse than that because there’s only one meter to track both food and water, but the game clearly considers them separately in non-visible statistics. When you find a fountain, you can’t just gorge yourself on free water until the meter returns to its maximum because you need food, too. And if you don’t eat but only drink, the characters will start losing points for hunger even though the meter is nowhere near the bottom.

The first couple of levels were moderately-sized, going into the 20s on both axes. Combats were infrequent–maybe 15 enemies total on the two levels–and there were really only two types of enemies: giant worms, and giant worms capable of casting some kind of “Magic Missile”-like spell. Many of the classic Dungeon Master tricks work here, including attacking and then darting away before the enemy can respond, backpedaling down a corridor as you fire missile weapons, “waltzing,” and so forth. The famous “combat waltz” itself (check the glossary) seems a little harder here, it might just be a matter of getting used to a new game’s timing. Crypt keeps one annoying characteristic of Eye of the Beholder in which once an enemy casts a spell, you’re frozen until the animation completes.

The animation for the worms has them opening and closing their mouths. I only ever got screenshots when their maws were closed.

What you can’t do–and this was a serious shock–is smash enemies in doors. That’s such a longstanding trait of Dungeon Master-style games that not including it borders on sacrilegious. I’m not sure if enemies can fall victim to other environmental effects or not. I haven’t encountered any others yet.

Killing enemies rewards you with traditional experience points, and levels increase automatically. I got to Level 4 on the first two levels. Leveling increases hit points and spell power, but otherwise there aren’t any choices. Attributes are increased by occasionally finding items that do so.

My druid levels up.

Each spellcaster comes with Level 1 spells for their classes. Further levels must be found in spellbooks; you don’t get them upon leveling up. There are only 5 levels and only 4 spells per level. You can “prepare” up to four spells and then cast them by clicking on them in the slate. I find the system a bit easier than both Dungeon Master, where you had to remember runes in the middle of combat, and Eye of the Beholder, where you had to fiddle around with that little book. You also frequently find scrolls with multiple spells that can be cast in lieu of learning them.

Among the first two levels, I experienced a variety of navigation puzzles and other mechanisms that I’m sure will last throughout the game. These include:

“Alcoves” with treasure stashed in them. These go back to Dungeon Master. Items can appear on the floor, too.

I apparently found the Ogreblade here.

Messages in plaques on the wall. Some can only be read after the druid casts “Read Rune.”

Scrolls that give you hints. But some of them are “false scrolls” and should be ignored. You can reveal these by casting the cleric’s “Reveal Truth,” which causes false scrolls to dissolve.

This turned out to be a “false” scroll, but I think I could have figured that out.

Locked doors that only open with certain keys.

Pressure plates that open walls.

Spinners. There’s an obvious “transition” animation when you step on them, though, so it’s hard to get fooled.

Force fields that require you to cast “Dispel” to pass them. You don’t have this spell at the outset, so you have to rely on found scrolls.

Teleporters. They also have a clear “transition” animation.

Buttons or switches that open secret doors or make pillars disappear.

Buttons or switches that activate teleporters

Buttons or switches that change the destinations of teleporters.

It’s hard to tell what this will do.

Holes in the floor. Falling through them takes you to a lower level and causes damage.

One-way walls.

“Glyphs” in the middle of corridors that serve as traps. You have to cast “Remove Trap” on them.

Dispelling a glyph trap with a scroll.

Walls that open and close on a cycle.

Doors that won’t open until you pass a copy-protection exercise.

The “copy protection” riddle breaks the illusion a bit.

The second level had a two-headed ogre who is impossible to defeat with regular weapons (they don’t even hit him). A message on the first level warns you about him: “The one below is his own twin. Only a magic blade will pierce his skin.” This refers to an “Ogreblade” on the first level, though you have to get there via a teleporter on the second. (A “false” scroll warns you not to pick up the Ogreblade.) Until you find it, exploring the second level is tough because the ogre is constantly chasing you and pounding you to goo every time you pause for a few seconds. Once you have the sword, it doesn’t take long to kill him, and he drops the key necessary for the next level.

The ogre kills us as we try to crush him in the door. Apparently, you can’t do that in this game.

Miscellaneous notes:

The opening theme, which you can hear at the beginning of this video, is catchy. I found myself chair-dancing to it. It’s credited to Ken Schilder, who stayed with Raven and is credited on a couple dozen other titles. But it always surprises me that composers so often went with rock and techno themes for title music, when an older style would better fit the setting. There’s a “special topics” post in here some day.

The fighter has an ability, activated by clicking on his “glyph” in the inventory screen, that tells your current coordinates. The glyphs are otherwise used to activate class-specific objects.

Checking my position.

A lot of the game’s messages are delivered as scrolling text at the bottom. It’s annoying and hard to screen-capture.

The manual brags about making use of the Amiga’s “halfbrite” mode that apparently allows for more colors than normal. The Wikipedia page on the mode shows two photographs, and they look exactly the same to me. This is why I don’t talk about graphics that much.

A trait that I wish the game hadn’t adopted from its predecessors: I have no idea the relative damage on different weapons. On the first two levels alone, I’m juggling hammers, warhammers, axes, and swords. Should I keep the Ogreblade–is it effective against non-ogres?–or dump it for a more conventional weapon? No idea. If the cluebook had that information, I wouldn’t be able to help but look at it.

There’s an auto-map, available with the magic user’s “Wizard Sight,” but it shows so little detail that I can’t imagine not making my own maps.

Level 3 is patrolled by invisible enemies and a (true) scroll on the level warns you not to try to engage them until you’ve found the “Mask of Truesight” on a lower level. (A false scroll on the same level encourages you to attack the unseen enemies after removing all of your weapons and clothing.) Other than a couple of other locked doors, there wasn’t anything to do on the level, so I pressed on to Level 4.

This message wasn’t kidding.

Remember the annoying gigglers in Dungeon Master? Well, Level 4 of this game has similar creatures who steal your stuff. Worse, they teleport away after stealing it, so you can’t chase them. I hope they turn up later in the level, or I’m out of shields.

Level 4 also has these monsters that walk on the ceiling.

In the end, I suspect I’m going to find that the game is too long and too confining. I mean this not just in terms of physical space but also in character development. To require that the player have four specific classes and offer so few options in both creation and development largely means that every player arrives at the same place with essentially the same party. But for now, it’s fun enough, and with a dungeon crawler, you don’t waste a lot of time puzzling over your next move. It’s always the next unexplored square.

Time so far: 3 hours

***

I skipped Theldrow because I was having some emulation issues. I solved those after I got started with Black Crypt, so we’ll reverse the order and cover Theldrow next.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-313-black-crypt-1992/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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chaosmagetwin · 8 years ago

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Dark Wizardess Cast of Characters

Crow

Also known as: Grogda, Penny, and APOCALYPSE, and probably several other names.

Crow is a petite eighteen year old short girl, standing at the measly height of 4′3″. She’s delicately built, and she’s done her best to take care of herself because she fully intends to one day be queen. Not just any sort of queen, however, but a mage queen, which means that she has avoided gaining muscles. Despite her aspirations, Crow is a peasant through and through, although she doens’t know her parents. Crow is not fantastically pretty, but she isn’t vain enough to waste power on making herself look better either. Her hair is the color of her namesake,and is also the reason she has the name in the first place. She keeps it cut just short enough that it couldn’t be braided easily, but also long enough to show that it has some natural wave to it

Crow is a highly talented wizardess (or wizard, if you’re a HEATHEN) with an extraordinary amount of power. Unfortunately, she seems to have trouble understanding the basics of magic in ways that don’t quite make sense, which could have something to do with a faulty education. That said, she is a fast learner, and can learn nearly any spell from spell books, so long as it is detailed enough. That said, she usually makes changes to the spells she does find to make casting them easier for herself.

Crow is attracted to Kayla(?) the princess. Perhaps it was simply that she lost to her, or maybe it was that she beat her with magic, or maybe it’s just that she never really took the time to think about these sorts of things before, but whatever the case, Crow finds her pleasant to look at, be around, and tease.

Kayla(?) The Princess

Her true name is currently unknown to our main character, so for the time being, it is Kayla. She is twenty years old.

Kayla is the opposite of Crow (who she calls Penny) in many ways. First and foremost, she is tall at 5′11″, muscular, and drop-dead gorgeous. Unlike Crow, she has no compunction against looking strong. She is clearly of royal blood, and few could argue that she looks the part of Queen. Her hair is a platinum and strawberry blonde, unbelievably straight in its natural state, and it actually quite long, falling to her mid back. She often curls it, usually with magic of some sort, and even more often braids it; she is especially fond of french braid variants, and the more elaborate her hair is, the better.

Kayla is ALSO a very talented wizardess with a large amount of magical power. Unlike Crow, she’s been taught in the ways of magic since she was a little girl, and has an attuned understanding of magic. She’s not the most powerful wizard in the land, or the most knowledgeable, but she can certainly get a lot done; compared to other people her age, she is definitely a prodigy, even though she was trained by some of the best wizards in the land as part of her curriculum. She tends to be very rigid and imperial in her casting. For her, magic is not a part of herself, but a tool that only she can wield, no different from a hammer or weapon. She makes few changes to the spells she comes across, but she understands them well enough that if a spell were simply wasting her energy, she could and would make the changes necessary to save mana.

Kayla is 100% uncertain who or what she likes. Crow is a confusing girl who she tries to not think about, especially considering that Crow once tried to kill her, and it was only by the skin of her teeth that she managed to defeat her and lock Crow away. In her country, being gay or lesbian is not a problem; sexuality is something that no one bothers caring about, and it is the religions view that people love who they love. While this would normally be a good thing, things are a little more strict for the royalty; the royalty does not adopt. Bastard children are not allowed to gain control of the control. Strict bloodlines are kept. What that means for Kayla is that she must, at some point, marry a man for the country. Whether she likes him or not is irrelevant, as assuring the lineage is continued is more important. The country doesn’t particularly care who she likes; she can find enjoyment however she likes, so long as she marries a man. Kayla therefore finds it difficult to think about anyone, let alone a girl who tried killing her. She struggles with the necessity of marriage and the wants of desire, and so her reaction is to ignore it as best she can while she tries to fix her country in other ways.

That said, she still quite likes Crow, probably more than she realizes.

Lord Fenrich

Lord Davos Fenrich is a rather dapper aged man, old at 44 years of life. He was once a captain of the sea’s before retiring to his estate, but he has forever been miffed that he was passed over for becoming an Admiral, despite having controlled nearly a an eighth of the countries ships at one point in the north western islands of the country known as The Pirates Bay; he fought against pirates and other countries alike with skill and accomplishment, so not being promoted was a bit of a slap in the face. He stands at a regal five feet and ten inches, his neatly trimmed black beard apparently permanently stained by salt. He often looks down his fleshy hooked nose at anyone of lesser status than he, his gray eyes sharp and judgmental. Despite his age, he is muscular, and the scimitar at his belt is nicked and notched with many battles, but obviously also lovingly cared for.

Davos is married and has eight children, all of whom, even his daughters, plan on going into the navy; several already are, and one is already a captain of a ship. He has two grandchildren, one and two years old, and no one in his family would ever call him anything but warm and friendly. Outside his family, however, he is considered callous, calculating, and near sociopathic; anything can and will be done to advance his goals for his family, a trait he has passed on to several, but not all, of his children. His wife is similar in demeanor, highly intelligent and calculating. Their servants suffer from a high turnover rate, as many cannot handle their exacting precision and requirements, or the extreme micromanagement. That said, they are not cruel; they just honestly believe that they are the most intelligent people that they know, and everyone else are morons incapable of rational thought and reason, with not a whit of education. Unless someone proves them wrong about their assumptions, they will continue believing that about any one person they meet.

Davos’s wife is named Henrietta Aramoa. His first child is a man, aged 30, named Avery, and he is the first child to reach captainhood. He also has two children, his oldest named Irena, and his youngest named Justin. Davos’s second child is a woman named Bethany, aged 25, who is set to becoming a captain within a few years. Bethany is known for her ruthlessness on the high sea, and some say she would be better suited as a pirate. His third child is a girl named Caraline, a sweet girl, aged 23, who is attempting to become a doctor for the navy. His fourth child is another girl named Dahlia, aged 21, who intends to join the navy as soon as she has finished her stint as a knight in eight years. His fifth child is a boy named Erik, aged 18, who has already joined the navy and earned distinction for being a capable fighter. His sixth child is boy named Ferrix, aged 13, who has just begun his apprenticeship as a sailor in the navy, but won’t be fighting for a few more years. His seventh child is a girl named Geralda, aged 10, who no one knows what she wants, but is obviously smarter than she should be, and perhaps a little creepier too. His eighth is aged 4 years old, a boy named Henry, who is too young for anyone to make any sort of predictions about, but who Geralda looks after incredibly protectively.

#OC #Dark Wizardess #background #Cast of Characters

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