#3E-Intelligence

[talenlee]

3e: Eberron is A World Of Locks

Hey, do you know the world of Eberron?

Eberron is, in my opinion, probably the best setting Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 ever had. This is partly because of what it presents as available, with its world-native Changelings and Warforged. Another part of it is that it was (at the time) a fresh world which wasn’t already filled edge to edge with Important NPCs you needed to recognise and respect and route around, which like it or not, is one of the predominant things about the Forgotten Realms that stands out in my memory. There’s a wealth of ways players can anchor themselves in that world, with its recent civil war, its dragonmarked houses, and its various discarded, collapsed empires. There’s a lot of stuff to interact with, a lot of means to have a place in that world.

In addition to all that though is an interesting addition to the world that may be a bit less obvious because of how it changed a 3.5 D&D skill in the context of the whole world, and made room for characters who were in a way, trickier.

That is, Disable Device.

If you’re not overly familiar with the way the skill system of 3e D&D, it was a point-based system where your class informed how many skill points you got each level, plus more for your intelligence and plus more for weird extra reasons. These skills then added to your ability scores as appropriate; to jump required Strength, to Hide required Dexterity, all that sort of thing. Sometimes you got advantages based on traits about your culture, like your size or your gross physical qualities, sometimes you had cultural background advantages. It’s like how Elves got a bonus to Listen, Search, and Spot, while Dwarves got a skill bonus to who cares, they’re dwarves.

The skill system was elaborate in a way that didn’t usually wind up producing necessary results. This is a structure that often gets referred to as fiddly. It was worth having 5 skill ranks in a skill you didn’t plan on using because of how it improved another skill, but also that didn’t necessarily matter most of the time, meaning there was a sort of budgetary exchange that once you got it, kind of just dangled there. It also had the weird effect where skills spread out across a bunch of things – being good at jumping, riding, and climbing were all different skills even though fundamentally, those were kinda the same thing and reasonably, being better at any of them would make you a bit better at all of them.

There were some skills that were fantastically specific, like decipher script (that could be used to uh, decipher scripts), or very broad like use magic device (which could fake all sorts of nonsense and work as a skill check for making almost any kind of spell available to the people with the skill). And in this space there was a skill that served to show how skills could be setting specific.

In conventional D&D, high fantasy worlds like Greyhawk, machinery was okay-but-not-worth-it. Disable Device largely lived as a sort of ‘pick locks’ skill, which was usually useful for disabling traps in a dungeon delving environment, or opening doors you didn’t have access to. These two applications steadily became less and less important as magical ways to open locks and close them show up starting as the players level up into the higher level material of level 3. At around that point, the capacity of Disable Device to meaningfully address a need of the party becomes somewhat token, as you can use Knock to bust magical and nonmagical doors and locks, and traps start becoming magical and therefore, best addressed with spells and spellcraft.

It’s a shame too because in terms of an actual skill, like ‘a thing people can do’ Disable Device is pretty cool. It indicates a skill and thoughtfulness that seems like it should be applicable to more things. Toolkits were sometimes connected to the skill, armour repair sometimes but the actual craft of being good with devices was orphaned for its impact in the world and its application to adventurers with a degree of experience.

Welcome to Eberron then, where everything is high magic, sure, but the magic is used to catapult past the industrial revolution. This is a look you may know as Magepunk (which I think is reasonable to use as a term for describing my own setting, Cobrin’Seil). In Eberron, there are trains. There are machines. There are devices that people use in their everyday life, and with that comes a more widespread vision of the applications of disable device.

Now, this isn’t to say that I’ve grabbed the entirety of the Eberron compendium and dug through it for every single time Disable Device is used for every kind of system or interface. But rather that I know, as a GM, in that world, when people are surrounded by trains and chains and industrialised components, and the creation at the scale that suddenly, you didn’t need to consider things like unique, individualised magical creations to keep things safe or secure or operate things.

This has an effect of turning most forms of leaders and threats, people who have spaces that players want to approach and interact with, suddenly don’t have to answer a kind of outsourcing question. If magic is what makes a place dangerous, the people who command dangerous places are going to trend towards being magical. Wizards are the ones who have menageries and laboratories and fancy alchemy stations and whatnot, and those are the things that sites tended to need.

Except if suddenly, locks and tools and machinery exist that mean that you can have a site-based challenge that cares about material components without necessarily everything being a bespoke magical construction, and that means that suddenly the boss that runs this place isn’t the wizard who makes it work, but instead the person who has the power, the means, and the access to construct that sort of space.

Disable Device becomes more useful as a game tool, but also, the world is a place that allows more people to have access to the status of being a kind of ‘boss monster’ character at the end of a character’s narrative. And that’s all through the transformation of the world-centering power of characters.

High fantasy, unconsciously or not, directs all the attention towards the wizard.

Which is a pretty sad trick.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[cardiac-arresting-sweetheart]

Yandere Psychosophy/Attitudinal Psyche

Inspired by yandere MBTI and yandere Big Five. Personality test/self-assessment for this Google document verison of this

Overview

This is a yandere typing system based on the original Psychosophy (also remade as Attitudinal Psyche) system. Originally, it was divided into four aspects: logic, physics, emotions, and volition/will.

These placements are divided into another four placements: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. The 1st placement is characterized by absolute, possibly even arrogant, confidence in that aspect and feeling no need to improve or change it. It is very rigid and unchangeable. The 2nd placement, on the other hand, is the most flexible placement. It is characterized by confidence but not arrogance, feeling little weakness in this aspect. To the user of the 2nd function, it is comfortable and easy to use with others and develop further. But the 3rd placement is the opposite. It is the most uncomfortable to use, with a constant feeling of insecurity associated with it. There seem to be two most common approaches to this function: aggressively overusing it or the opposite, neglecting it. This is the placement that needs the most improvement. Finally, the 4th placement is the most underused and is seen by its user as either unimportant or better with a quick fix. These four placements form the foundation of understanding an individual's strengths, weaknesses, and areas for potential growth within this typology system.

In summary...

1st placement: Confident Function (1V, 1L, 1E, 1P) Strong, Aggressive, Monologue

2nd placement: Flexible Function (2V, 2L, 2E, 2P) Strong, Passive, Dialogue

3rd placement: Insecure Function (3V, 3L, 3E, 3P) Weak, Aggressive, Dialogue

4th placement: Unbothered Function (4V, 4L, 4E, 4P) Weak, Passive, Monologue

Yandere System

So what about the yandere system? It follows the same placement rules as the original system but uses its own aspects. The yandere Psychosophy system is divided into four four aspects, respectively: cognition (C), aggression (A), expression (E), and determination (D).

Cognition, equivalent to logic in the original Psychosophy system, reflects how a yandere processes information, plans their actions, and uses their intelligence to manage their obsession.

Aggression, equivalent to physics in the original Psychosophy system, evaluates how a yandere uses power, intimidation, or violence to get what they want or control their darling.

Expression, equivalent to emotion in the original Psychosophy system, focuses on how freely a yandere shows their affection and obsession for their darling.

Finally, determination, equivalent to volition/will in the original Psychosophy system, assess how either determined or fragile a yandere is in achieving their goals with their darling.

Placement Descriptions

Cognition (C)

1st Placement (C1): Exhibits absolute confidence in their ability to strategize and plan. This yandere is highly analytical and methodical, always staying several steps ahead. They see no need for improvement in their cognitive abilities and are often seen as calculating masterminds.

2nd Placement (C2): Confident and comfortable in their cognitive abilities, they can adapt plans fluidly and are skilled at thinking on their feet. They are open to developing their strategic thinking further and are effective planners who work well with others.

3rd Placement (C3): Struggles with insecurity regarding their cognitive skills. They might oscillate between overanalyzing situations to compensate for their perceived shortcomings or neglecting planning altogether. This yandere needs the most improvement in how they process information and strategize.

4th Placement (C4): Minimally engaged in strategic thinking, often relying on intuition or others for planning. They see detailed planning as unimportant and prefer quick fixes or spontaneous actions.

Aggression (A)

1st Placement (A1): Extremely confident in using aggression and violence to achieve their goals. They are unyielding and often intimidate or overpower others without hesitation. Improvement is seen as unnecessary as they view their aggressive approach as highly effective.

2nd Placement (A2): Uses aggression when necessary but with restraint and control. They are comfortable leveraging their power but prefer to balance it with other methods. Open to refining their approach, they effectively combine intimidation with strategic non-violent tactics.

3rd Placement (A3): Feels insecure about their use of aggression. They may either overuse violence in an attempt to assert control or avoid it altogether out of fear or uncertainty. Developing a balanced approach to aggression is crucial for them.

4th Placement (A4): Rarely resorts to violence or intimidation, viewing it as a last resort. They prefer non-aggressive methods and see aggression as unimportant or something to be avoided. They often look for quick, peaceful solutions.

Expression (E)

1st Placement (E1): Highly expressive, openly displaying their emotions and obsession with intense fervor. They are unapologetically passionate, showing no need to alter their expressive nature. Their overt emotional displays are a core part of their identity.

2nd Placement (E2): Comfortable and confident in showing their emotions, they balance expressiveness with control. They can openly share their feelings and are adept at adjusting their emotional displays to suit different situations. They find it easy to develop and fine-tune their emotional expression.

3rd Placement (E3): Struggles with expressing emotions, feeling insecure about their displays of affection or obsession. They may either overexpress in an attempt to compensate or hide their emotions entirely. Improving their emotional expressiveness is a key area for growth.

4th Placement (E4): Minimally expressive, often appearing detached or indifferent. They see emotional displays as unnecessary and prefer to keep their feelings hidden. Quick, minimal expressions are preferred, avoiding deep emotional involvement.

Determination (D)

1st Placement (D1): Exhibits unshakeable determination and willpower. This yandere is relentless and unwavering in their pursuit of goals, seeing no need to alter their approach. They possess a strong sense of purpose and are highly driven.

2nd Placement (D2): Confident and adaptable in their determination, they pursue goals with a balanced approach. They can persist through challenges while remaining flexible. Open to enhancing their resolve, they effectively combine willpower with adaptability.

3rd Placement (D3): Feels insecure about their determination, often fluctuating between intense bursts of willpower and periods of doubt. They may either push themselves excessively or give up easily. Developing a consistent and confident approach to their goals is essential.

4th Placement (D4): Exhibits low determination, often relying on external factors or others to drive their actions. They see strong willpower as unimportant, preferring to go with the flow or avoid direct confrontation. Quick, minimal efforts are favored over sustained determination.

Possible Types

CDEA, CDAE, CEAD, CEDA, CADE, CAED, ACDE, ACED, ADCE, ADEC, AECD, AEDC, EACD, EADC, ECAD, ECDA, EDAC, EDCA, DCEA, DCAE, DEAC, DECA, DACE, DAEC. (First letter is the first placement, second is the second placement, etc.)

Conclusion

That's all! Thank you for reading, and feel free to reblog with the type you think you are or maybe even type a character :D And feel free to send asks or comments if you have any questions.

[dare-to-dm]

top 5 ttrpg classes/playbooks/etc!

Oh, man! Going for the hard questions!

Geomancer (D&D 3E, prestige class)

This one is somewhat speculative as I never actually got to play one. But I always really really wanted to.

They can cast both divine and arcane magic freely, and their connection to leylines causes them to evolve new features over time (like wings, antlers, barklike skin, etc).

2. Swashbuckler (D&D 3.5)

Best class to be a talented fighter and a skill monkey. Full BAB, let's you add your intelligence bonus to damage, and Acrobatic Charge is just loads of fun.

3. Barbarian (Pathfinder 1e)

Best martial class! Great hitpoints, good skill points, a speed boost and tons of interesting rage abilities to choose from.

4. Oracle (Pathfinder 1e)

I feel like the Pathfinder Oracle is what the 5E Warlock wishes it could be. A caster class that comes with an interesting backstory and some cool character building downsides. But because it's Pathfinder, there are just so many more options for how you want to build it. And the spell casting you have access to is pretty versatile, with all of the cleric spells to choose from.

5. Ranger (Pathfinder 1e)

Another great martial class from Pathfinder. With their bonus feats, they can keep up with fighters. But they also get skill points and spells! I personally love an archery build for pure power gaming, but there are lots of fun options.

[darklordazalin]

Azalin reviews Darklord Radaga

Domain: Daglan Domain Formation: 736 BC Power Level: 💀💀💀⚫⚫ (3/5 Skulls) Sources: Gazetteer I (3e); Denizens of Dread (3e), Geast of Goblyns (2e)

Radaga was, for a brief moment, the Darklord of the short-lived Domain of Daglan. Daglan was made up of grasslands and forests with a complete culture of people who wore unshapely robes and buried their dead in barrow mounds. It was as if it had been designed for those with an inhuman nature to blend in.

Radaga comes from a forgotten land and was once the priest of a minor, unnamed goddess. She was obsessed with her own beauty and only sought to improve upon it and use it to subjugate men to her will. We all need goals, I suppose. Our tormentors listened to Radaga’s wishes and as she they brought her into the Domain of Kartakass, she was granted the power to remain forever beautiful and control men. These wishes, of course, were twisted. Radaga could retain her youthful appearance only by sacrificing beautiful women and stealing their splendor. She could subjugate men to her will by raising undead under her control.

Our tormentors also ensured that if she dies, she would come back as a wight, her beauty forever gone. Lastly, she came to possess the Crown of Souls, which allows her to transform humanoids into Goblyns under her control and grants the wearer with some rather powerful defensive and offensive abilities. Radaga, having grown up an orphan, did not know she was the last living descendant of Daglan, a powerful warlock who created the Crown of Souls for a warlord. Since the Daglan was the only one who had the knowledge on how to destroy the crown, the warlord killed him. The warlock foresaw this betrayal and used a magic jar spell to transfer his spirit into the crown. While within, Daglan can attempt to possess those that wear it, though his will was not strong enough to defeat the warlord’s. The crown was eventually lost and found by an elf during one of the warlord’s many campaigns. The elf’s spirit was drawn into the crown and ever since has been battling for control of it with Daglan. Daglan’s will grows stronger as the crown absorbs his ancestors’ spirits when they die. Daglan played a very long game with this crown…

A band of Adventurers manipulated, as they often are, by Harkon Lukas’s daughter Akriel and Dr. Dominiani, sought the Crown of Souls. In doing so, they killed Radaga who came back as a wight and escaped with her army of undead into the Mists, forming the Domain of Daglan.

The Adventurers followed her and ended her life a second time. When Radaga was defeated, Daglan gained control of the Crown of Souls and, for a very brief moment, was the Darklord of Daglan before the Mists swallowed the Domain whole and spat out the Adventurers.

Radaga was quite powerful and very inventive. She created the first pyroskeleton in the Mists and had an army of rather intelligent skeletons under her control. It is also speculated that she is responsible, though not on purpose, for the creation of goblyn fog – a form of mists that warps everything it touches from animating plants to transforming humanoids into goblyns.

While conducting research in Kartakass, my little scholar discovered rumors that Radaga may be back, skulking around the Dead Hills.

I know this isn't really the site for promotions but I just put a free adventure up on DMs Guild set in Kartakass that features some of Radaga though a lot of wolves as well..Including some werewolves that use an abandoned theme park as their den. Happy Halloween!

[usafphantom2]

EP-3E Aries II Spy Plane Has Flown Its Last Operational Mission

Current tensions in the Middle East prolonged the final deployment of the EP-3E Aries II intelligence-gathering aircraft.

Posted on Nov 7, 2024 3:41 PM EST

Another long-serving U.S. military aircraft has completed its final operational deployment, with the return of the U.S. Navy’s EP-3E Aries II surveillance platform from the 5th Fleet area of operations. The countdown to the spy plane’s final retirement is now on, which will see its vital intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) mission handed over fully to the MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance drone.

VQ-1

Another long-serving U.S. military aircraft has completed its final operational deployment, with the return of the U.S. Navy’s EP-3E Aries II surveillance platform from the 5th Fleet area of operations. The countdown to the spy plane’s final retirement is now on, which will see its vital intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) mission handed over to the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane, the MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance drone, and other assets, including ones in space.

The last EP-3E deployed on operations was Bureau Number, or BuNo 159893, which completed its final flight in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations on October 29. The aircraft then made a homecoming to its base at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, according to the Facebook account of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1), the “World Watchers,” which posted photos of the event yesterday.

Ground crew welcome EP-3E BuNo 159893 on its return to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. VQ-1/Facebook

The U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations covers approximately 2.5 million square miles of water and includes the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, as well as parts of the Indian Ocean. The area includes three highly strategic choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, and the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen.

The tense security situation in the region at the moment saw the EP-3E’s final operational deployment extended.

240928-N-AC117-1132 (Sept. 28, 2024) A U.S. Navy EP-3E Airborne Reconnaissance Integrated Electronic System (ARIES) II, assigned to the “World Watchers” of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1), transits within the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operation.

EP-3E BuNo 159893 transits within the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operation, in a photo dated September 28, 2024. U.S. Navy Commander, Naval Air Forces

Originally, the U.S. Navy had scheduled VQ-1 to cease operations by September 30, 2024, ahead of the formal deactivation of the unit on March 31, 2025.

According to the VQ-1 Facebook account, the squadron was first ordered to delay the cessation of operations until October 8, 2024, after which it was required to continue its missions in the region until an undetermined date.

240928-N-AC117-1118 (Sept. 28, 2024) A U.S. Navy EP-3E Airborne Reconnaissance Integrated Electronic System (ARIES) II, assigned to the “World Watchers” of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1), prepares to take flight within the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operation.

EP-3E BuNo 159893 prepares to take flight within the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operation. U.S. Navy Commander, Naval Air Forces

Another VQ-1 EP-3E that had been deployed also recently returned to Whidbey Island, with photos of that aircraft’s homecoming posted by the unit on November 4. This was BuNo 161410 that had been operating from Souda Bay, on the Greek island of Crete, under U.S. Central Command.

For some time now, the Navy has been sending EP-3Es into retirement, delivering them to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, for storage.

As we reported last month, the most famous EP-3E of all — BuNo 156511, which was involved in a collision with a Chinese J-8 interceptor over Hainan Island in 2001 — has been moved from the AMARG boneyard to go on public display in the future at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

The spy plane at the center of one of the most notorious post-Cold War Today air incidents, a U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II, has arrived at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, for future public display. The EP-3E’s journey to get to the museum has been a long one, starting with the dramatic collision with a Chinese fighter in the so-called Hainan Island incident in 2001.

EP-3E Aries II BuNo 156511 is towed to the Pima Air & Space Museum last month. Pima Air & Space Museum

Pima Air & Space Museum

Meanwhile, the end of the EP-3’s operational commitment after nearly six decades of service has been commemorated by the Navy. A press release from the service included recollections from EP-3E crew members, providing a rare glimpse into a highly secretive community, and one with a very sensitive mission.

“It’s amazing to think of the number of folks who have been part of the EP-3 heritage over the last 55 years,” said Lt. Cmdr. Justin “Gump” Roberts, the VQ-1 detachment officer-in-charge. “Success in this platform has solely been because of our hard-working maintenance team while on deck and our aircrew’s superior ISR while on station. It’s an honor to be part of a legacy that’s bigger than the sum of its parts.”

The aircraft commander at VQ-1, Lt. Bradford “Chad” Holcombe, added that he was “tremendously grateful” to be part of the EP-3E’s history.

“From my first day at VQ-1, it’s been obvious to see the pride each member has in the platform, the mission, and most importantly the effort it takes to execute wherever and whenever we’re asked,” he said. “Flying the last mission flight is a privilege.”

240928-N-AC117-1132 (Sept. 28, 2024) A U.S. Navy EP-3E Airborne Reconnaissance Integrated Electronic System (ARIES) II, assigned to the “World Watchers” of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1), transits within the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operation.

240928-N-AC117-1132 (Sept. 28, 2024) A U.S. Navy EP-3E Airborne Reconnaissance Integrated Electronic System (ARIES) II, assigned to the “World Watchers” of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1), transits within the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operation. Commander, Naval Air Forces

Finally, words were offered by Capt. Dennis “Rudy” Jensen, Commodore of Task Force 57:

“My father was a P-3 pilot during the Cold War, and I’ve flown the variants of the same aircraft since 2002. Few other airplanes are as ‘time-tested and mother approved’ as the P-3,” Jensen said. “Its longevity and ability to operate from remote locations in austere environments for over half a century is a testament to those who designed, built, maintained, and operated it. Much like the ever-changing platforms onboard the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, the mission systems inside the EP-3E have evolved over time. The ability to evolve has enabled the EP-3E to remain viable and effective through today.”

During its time in operational service, the EP-3E played a fairly covert role as a central intelligence-gathering asset within the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force (MPRF).

Derived from the P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, the EP-3E was optimized for operations in the maritime/littoral domain. It was packed with equipment to gather real-time tactical signals intelligence (SIGINT), including intercepting communications and locating and classifying emitters, especially those related to hostile air defense systems.

The cabin of the preserved EP-3E BuNo 156511 as it appears now. Pima Air & Space Museum

A typical EP-3E comprised six flight crew and a reconnaissance crew of 18, who would be drawn from the Navy, Marines, and Air Force.

Data could be processed and analyzed onboard by the crew, then fused together with other critical information. The resulting ‘product,’ including full-motion video intelligence, could be provided in near real-time to fleet and theater commanders.

Overall, the EP-3E was able to provide commanders with specific indications and warnings, as well as build a better picture of the battlespace for situational awareness. Intelligence it gathered on air defense systems would be potentially vital for suppression of enemy air defenses and destruction of enemy air defenses, while other information would be used for anti-air warfare and anti-submarine warfare applications.

Successive upgrades ensured that the EP-3E remained a valuable asset and also added new capabilities. While it was primarily a SIGINT platform in the early years, it later became a ‘multi-intelligence reconnaissance aircraft,’ with new equipment that could hoover up a variety of electronic emissions including at long standoff range.

An EP-3E Orion aircraft, center, is followed by two EA-3B Skywarrior aircraft during flight operations near Gibraltar. The three aircraft are from Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 2 (VQ-2).

An EP-3E followed by two EA-3B Skywarriors during flight operations near Gibraltar, circa 1991. The three aircraft are from Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 2 (VQ-2). U.S. Department of Defense PH3 FRANKLIN P. CALL, USN

The EP-3E’s mission saw it operate in various high-threat areas throughout its career. As well as around the coasts of China — which led to the Hainan Island Incident — regular areas of interest included the Mediterranean Sea, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. In the process, intercepts by hostile or potentially hostile fighters were commonplace.

The video below shows an encounter between an EP-3E and a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet over the Black Sea, in 2018. On that occasion, the Navy says the jet came within five feet of the surveillance aircraft, causing a mission abort, and return to base.

Replacing the EP-3E with the MQ-4C has been a gradual process. Tritons have been operating from forward deployment bases in Guam in the Pacific and Sigonella in the Mediterranean, for some time. Most recently, a third Triton deployment base was established in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, on October 1, allowing the EP-3E to stand down from its duties there.

A Navy MQ-4C Triton drone arrives at NAS Sigonella in Italy on March 30, 2024. U.S. Navy

Flying at a higher altitude and offering a longer endurance than the EP-3E, the MQ-4C offers some significant advantages. While a multi-mission platform, it’s the Triton’s so-called Multi-Intelligence (Multi-Int) configuration with additional electronic and signals intelligence capabilities that will take over from the EP-3E. Since it’s uncrewed, there is also no risk to the crew, something that EP-3E operators were exposed to on a fairly regular basis.

Despite this, in 2022 the Navy decided to dramatically reduce its total planned purchases of MQ-4Cs from 70 to 27. This came after increased questions about the drone’s survivability after one of the interim Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) aircraft was shot down by Iran in 2019.

Some of the EP-3E’s missions will also be taken over by the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The baseline Poseidon has a signals intelligence capability, allowing it to detect, geolocate, and classify emissions, including from radars and other air defense nodes, which is also now set to be upgraded. Some P-8s are configured to carry other intelligence-gathering payloads, such as the AN/APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor, as well. Boeing has internally funded the development of a modular multi-mission gondola-like pod for Poseidon, which is set to offer an additional way to relatively rapidly integrate sensors and other capabilities.

A U.S. Navy P-8A carrying the AN/APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS), a powerful and secretive radar system mounted in an elongated pontoon-like pod under the fuselage. cvvhrn

“The transition from the EP-3E to the P-8A Poseidon and MQ-4C Triton platforms has been carefully planned to avoid capability gaps,” the Navy says. “These platforms offer enhanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, with greater range, endurance, and the ability to operate in more complex environments.”

The Navy will also be able to leverage other emerging U.S. military ISR assets, including new spaced-based surveillance capabilities.

While the EP-3E’s time is now nearly up, there remain a handful of other Orion variants still in U.S. Navy service. These include P-3C, NP-3C, and NP-3D aircraft flown by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30 (VX-30) at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California, and by Scientific Development Squadron One (VXS-1) at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Many of these are also in the process of being replaced.

While many secrets of the EP-3’s exploits are still to be revealed, there’s little doubt that this platform made an enormous contribution to gathering intelligence from hotspots around the globe during its long and eventful period of service.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

[spoonmagister]

Crassius Curio's Misinformed Assassin

[Excerpt of a play written in my spare time while investigating House Hlaalu]

[Act II, Scene I, Continued]

Locks-The-Door: Certainly not, inmate. I am here but to question you.

Trashius Ego: Is that all you have come here for, golden one? My answers?

Locks-The-Door: I have no idea what it is you imply, inmate. I am an Inquisitor of the Ordo CHIME.

Trashius Ego: So you are, my dumpling. And a good one at that. Such strong Magicks and shapely Spoons.

Locks-The-Door: You are an embarrassment.

Trashius Ego: I fear it is not safe here.

Locks-The-Door: I must finish my investigation, inmate. We will have your head if you do not comply.

Trashius Ego: Investigation, eh? I have something for you. Here, inspect my spear.

Locks-The-Door: It is tiny and irrelevant to my needs.

Trashius Ego: I am running out of time, my sweet. I AM RUNNING OUT OF TIME!

[End of Act II, Scene I]

***

I have always attempted to keep my interactions with the other so-called Great Houses to a minimum. There are times in which my hand is forced, and it is one such time that brought Crassius Curio into the Tel Uvirith dungeon.

It came to my attention that, whether through error or misguidance, a Councilor of House Hlaalu had ordered my execution via some low-ranking Hlaalu pawn. The misbegotten assassin arrived at The Rusty Bucket tavern in Tel Uvirith some days prior, and began asking of a dunmer named Reynel Uvirith. This was not a known name to me and, despite a séance with the former Lord Uvirith, I was unable to uncover any information of this would-be killer’s target. The Hlaalu agent was briefly detained and questioned before being magickally ejected on a trajectory into the Sea of Ghosts.

Unwilling to overlook such an incursion into my realm, wracked with failure though it may have been, I retrieved a copy of the Hlaalu Yellow Book of 3E 426 from the library and sent agents to gather intelligence on the Hlaalu Councilors. (I fear there is no such intelligence to be found in House Hlaalu, but I digress).

Curio was a name I already recognized, having heard of his obsession with the so-called “arts.” I had the dungeon guards clear out Cell #1 and Recalled to Vivec to pay the Councilor a visit.

[thecreaturecodex]

Herexen

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[As part of PF2e's divesting from the OGL, a number of classic monsters inherited from the 3e Monster Manual and the Tome of Horrors have undergone some branding changes. Ankhegs are ankhravs, treants are arboreals, kytons are velstracs. And huecuvas are now herexens. The name "huecuva" was taken from Mapuche mythology, but the actual entity has nothing to do with undead clerics. And the mechanics of the D&D/PF1e huecuva are a remnant of a Gygaxian-era gotcha encounter--what looked like a kindly cleric infected you with disease by touch--and is weirdly low-intelligence. So I welcome this change to both name and mechanics wholeheartedly.]

Herexen CR 2 NE Undead This person is clearly dead, with rotting skin and half-missing facial features. It wears a holy symbol around its neck, but its talisman has been clearly defaced.

When a cleric forsakes their god before dying, their body may rise again as an undead heretic known as a herexen. Herexens hate the god they once worshipped, and go out of their way to desecrate holy spaces, interrupt festivals and slay adherents of the faith. They may attract necromancers or death cultists with their activities, and some even continue to advance as clerics, albeit turning to the worship of some demon lord, god of undeath or similar fell power. Herexens may be found as lone predators, or gathered together into parodies of worshipful congregations. In numbers, herexens often engage in cruel parodies of liturgical ceremonies.

A herexen focuses its attacks on divine spellcasters, especially those that worship the god that they once did. A formerly sacred weapon in their hands becomes a tool against all servants of the divine. Herexens are capable of using some clerical magic, thematically similar to that of the god they once followed. They can also inflict negative energy with a touch, which they use to both harm others and to heal themselves or any undead they may have allied with. When slain, a herexen explodes in a burst of negative energy.

Herexen                                CR 2 XP 600 NE Medium undead Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +9 Defense AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 natural) hp 18 (2d8+9) Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7 Immune undead traits Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee slam +3 (1d4+3) or masterwork dagger +4 (1d4+2 plus blasphemous strike) Special Abilities death throes Spell-like Abilities CL 2nd, concentration +5 7/day—bleeding touch (1 round) 3/day—inflict light wounds (DC 14) 1/day—cause fear (DC 14) Statistics Str 14, Dex 15, Con -, Int 11, Wis18, Cha 17 Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 15 Feats Toughness Skills Disguise +8, Knowledge (religion) +9, Perception +9, Stealth +7; Racial Modifiers +4 Knowledge (religion) Languages Common, Necril SQ blasphemous focus (Death domain, dagger) Ecology Environment any Organization solitary, pair or congregation (3-12) Treasure standard (defiled holy symbol, masterwork dagger, other treasure) Special Abilities Blasphemous Focus (Ex) All herexens are tied to the god that they worshiped and abandoned in life. This grants them access to a single domain or subdomain of their god (aside from the Good or Healing domains), from which they can use the 1st level granted powers as a 2nd level cleric, and can use the 1st level domain spell as a spell-like ability 1/day. A herexen loses these abilities if it is not carrying or wearing a defiled holy symbol of that god. A herexen also gains proficiency with that god’s favored weapon. Blasphemous Strike (Su) When wielding the favored weapon of its former god, a herexen deals an additional 1d6 points of damage against extraplanar outsiders or creatures capable of casting divine spells. Its blasphemous strike counts as evil for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. Death Throes (Su) When a herexen dies, it explodes in a burst of negative energy, dealing 1d6 points of negative energy damage to all creatures in a 30 foot radius (Will DC 14 halves). The save DC is Charisma based.

[thehomelybrewster]

Ability Scores in 5e & Other RPGs

This little rant is inspired by a post by a blog named The Angry GM, titled "Your Ability Scores Suck" as well as a post titled "8 Abilities - 6, 3, or 4 Ability scores?" by DIY & dragons, because those two articles and my past few months of looking at various TTPRGs have led me to some insights into my own philosophy in how I like TTRPGs and how I feel about 5e's Ability Scores.

So let's look at how a couple of RPGs handle ability scores or their equivalents. Namely I'll look at D&D 5e, Pathfinder 2e, The Dark Eye (4th Edition Revised), CAIRN, and Pokémon. Yes, Pokémon is relevant to this. And it'll actually be the second game we'll discuss, but the first obviously has to be...

D&D 5th Edition

D&D famously has six ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. In most situations the exact ability score no longer is that important, however, since from 3e onwards d20-based checks have become the near-universal input you play D&D with. This means that instead the ability score modifier is key, which ranges from -4 to +5 for most player characters.

Now while these six scores might seem pretty equal, players have quickly figured out that certain ability scores are more desirable than others, unless you play specific classes.

Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom are for example the three most common saving throws. 109 out of the 361 spells in the Player's Handbook force a saving throw using one of these three ability scores, while Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma only have 24 spells. Thankfully every D&D class gives proficiency with two saving throws, one of the three major ones, and one of the lesser ones (and certain subclasses as well as the monk get more saving throw proficiencies, but that's besides the point).

Additionally, when it comes to skills, and thus out-of-combat usefulness, Strength only has one skill tied to it by default (Athletics), while Constitution has none. Charisma has four skills to its name, Dexterity three, and both Intelligence and Wisdom have five.

Now the DIY & dragons article mentions that there are effectively three axes you have to cover with your ability scores: physical vs mental, force vs grace, and attack vs defense. That leads to eight abilities total. In 5e, using what we know about the game, we can make some great deductions.

For one, Strength is almost exclusively concerned with physical force attack, while Constitution nearly exclusively covers physical force defense. Dexterity meanwhile fully covers physical grace attack, as well as physical grace defense, since it affects AC and is used for Stealth, as well covering evasion-type saving throws. Dexterity is incredibly powerful in 5e, arguably the most powerful ability score.

On the mental stat side, the lines are less clear. All three ability scores can be used for offence, though Intelligence, being the casting ability score of only wizards and the generally utility-based artificers is the least offensive of the three. Still, its association with wizards means it probably is best associated with force, because fireball. Charisma easily can be sorted into grace and is mostly offensive, and Wisdom straddles the line between force and grace, but is also both clearly offensive and defensive.

As you can see, Intelligence & Wisdom & Charisma are rather ill-defined, a point also made by the The Angry GM article, but mechanically Wisdom is universally useful, while Charisma is either super important (because you're playing either a Charisma caster or a face-type non-caster, such as a rogue), or can easily be sidelined/dumped. In fact a lot of tables seem to disregard or minimize Charisma when it comes to roleplay, my tables have definitely done that. Mostly because you don't want to have players not participating in roleplay encounters because they don't have at least a +2 in Charisma and several skill proficiencies in that area.

Speaking of proficiencies, for skills the maximum you can add is +6 or +12 if you have expertise, while with saving throws the maximum proficiency bonus is +6, so with saving throws in particular, a +5 for a saving throw from that relevant abilty score is a massive defensive boon, though it's often less relevant for skill checks.

This knowledge, as well as the known issues with Intelligence-based skill checks often being seen as gate-keeping plot relevant information, leads to the realization that Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma are the three most frequent "dump stats", with the latter two in particular often having implications in out-of-combat situations, while Strength is a "safe" choice for full spellcasters.

Now let's think about how other games handle this... Let's begin, as I threatened in the beginning, with...

Pokémon

Pokémon famously uses six so-called base stats for its collectible creatures: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Using the system described by DIY & dragons, Attack and Defense clearly map onto the physical, and Sp. Attack and Sp. Defense clearly onto the mental. There is no distinction made between grace and force. HP is a universally defensive stat, and Speed is both offensive and defensive.

Naturally, Pokémon doesn't involve dice rolls. These stats are used for formulas and comparisons. But you can already see that Pokémon, at least since Special got split into Sp. Attack and Sp. Defense starting in Gold & Silver, has a clear division of these stats, with it being clear what they do.

Now due to the mechanics and the goals of Pokémon, an individual character (read: the actual Pokémon) doesn't need to have balanced stats. Largely also because these stats only affect combat, the main mechanic of these games. Any out-of-combat activity present in Pokémon games in fact uses distinct stats, completely distinct from the base stats of the Pokémon. These can then be discarded/put into the background when that out-of-combat activity, such as Pokémon Contests, is removed from subsequent releases.

Now let's look at a D&D-related game that has a different approach to ability scores, because it provides a stepping stone to look at different RPGs...

Pathfinder 2nd Edition (Pre-2023 Revision)

Pathfinder, being a game spun out off the 3rd Edition of D&D, also uses the six ability scores that D&D uses: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.

Just like with 5e, Pathfinder associates certain skills with certain ability scores, and just like 5e, Strength and Constitution are connected to only one and no skills respectively.

Still, that's just part of the bigger picture. Pathfinder 2e, just like D&D 3e, doesn't use ability scores as saving throws. Rather it uses three distinct saving throws that are tied to ability scores. Those saving throws are Fortitude (Constitution), Reflex (Dexterity), and Will (Wisdom). These are, for the keen-eyed, the same ability scores that are the primary saving throws in 5e. This means that defenses are covered exclusively by these three ability scores, and of these Constitution remains purely defensive, while Dexterity and Wisdom also have offensive capabilities. Still, the offensive power of Dexterity is lowered because in general it cannot be used to increase your weapon damage, contrary to how 5e does it.

It should also be noted that both when it comes to skills and saving throws, the calculations for rolls are very different than in 5e! If you are proficient with a skill or saving throw, you add both a bonus equal to your degree of proficiency (from +2 to +8), as well as your character's level, to the roll, in addition to your ability score modifier. This leads to massive bonuses, especially since magical effects can be added to that, too. Of course Pathfinder uses a sliding scale to determine difficulty classes and has a degrees of success system, but with that knowledge, the -4 to +5 you add to your rolls will matter less than 5e's ability score modifiers do. In general, as long as the modifier is at least a +1, it's fine.

This has actually led to Wisdom being considered a dump stat for many Pathfinder players, and that especially applies when playing with one alternate rule that I want to highlight.

In the Gamemastery Guide, the Alternative Scores variant rule splits Dexterity into Dexterity and Agility, merges Strength and Constitution, and makes Charisma rather than Wisdom the relevant ability for Will saving throws. That variant rule acknowledges the power of Dexterity and the relative weaknesses of Strength and Constitution, but somehow strengthens Charisma further. I don't have any numbers or insight on how popular this alternate rule is, but given what I know about Pathfinder 2e character optimizers, I wouldn't adopt the change to Will saves if I were to run this variant rule myself.

Still, the knowledge of these three saving throws puts us nicely into the realm of indie RPGs, which have really run with this. So let's look at one as an example.

Cairn

This lovely little game written by Yochai Gal has been a well-supported indie darling and is currently in a playtest for a 2nd edition.

Cairn uses three ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, and Willpower. It also uses a d20 roll under system, contrary to 5e and Pathfinder. This means that you aim to roll below your ability score, rather than adding a number to a d20 roll and seeing if you can meet the difficulty class threshold.

They are also, in combat, mostly defensive. Strength in combat mostly concerns surviving blows. Dexterity is used to determine if you move before the enemies and for escaping combat. Both Strength and Dexterity can be used for saving throws against certain spells. In combat Willpower is necessary to cast spells without suffering penalties.

Offensively none of the three ability scores are that important. They don't add to damage, they aren't important for making attacks, or anything of the sorts. Spellcasting outside of dangerous situations usually doesn't involve die rolls either.

This makes the three ability scores very balanced, but it also gives them comparatively little meaning. They are your protection from harm. Including out of combat. But Cairn doesn't know skill checks whose failure state isn't "nothing happens". If player characters have no pressure, they succeed. Especially if they have useful equipment for it.

Using the DIY & dragons blog post as reference, Strength only represents physical force defense, Dexterity only represents physical grace defense, and Willpower represents mental grace and force defense.

So, let's look at a different roll-under system, one that might provide additional inspiration for game designers...

The Dark Eye (4th Edition, revised)

The German TTRPG The Dark Eye (Das Schwarze Auge) is old, almost as old as D&D, and in its design its often as an antithesis for D&D. It's incredibly math-y, has a generally less heroic (but also categorically "good") playstyle, and is a class-less (kinda), level-less system. To ensure I know what I'm talking about, I'll focus on the 4th edition, which has by now been superceded by its own 5th edition, because that's the one edition of it I actually played.

DSA (its German acronym which I will use for brevity's sake) uses eight attribute (!) scores:

Courage, Cleverness, Intuition, Charisma, Dexterity, Agility, Constitution, and Strength.

Each of these eight attribute scores affects the character directly. Heroes have base values (melee attack, ranged attack, parry, initiative) that are calculated by adding together set combinations of attribute scores and dividing the sum, most often by 5, to determine those base values. For brevity's sake, let's look at two of these base values: attack and parry. Attack is calculated with Courage + Agility + Strength, while parry is calculated using Intuition + Dexterity + Strength. Both use two "physical" attributes and one "mental" attribute.

Similar rules also apply to calculating how much your character can withstand, be it through their general vitality (which is equivalent to hit points), their endurance (mostly used as a resource for athletic feats), and their wound limit, all of which can be used to defeat characters. Even the amount of astral points, the spellcasting resource, is calculated using your attribute scores. Every attribute is used at least once when calculating these eight values, with only Cleverness, Charisma, and Dexterity being used only for one of these eight fundamental character traits, with Charisma being the least important, because it is only used to calculate astral energy points, which are irrelevant for characters that don't know spells.

Furthermore skill checks in DSA are made by rolling three attribute checks in a row and then using skill points to modify the results if necessary. Skills use either three distinct attribute scores (e.g. Cooking, which requires Cleverness & Intuition & Dexterity), or two attribute scores (with one being used twice, e.g. Perception requires one Cleverness check and two Intuition checks). Simple attribute checks where you use only one attribute are rare, with heavy lifting often being the key example for it. There are also loads of skills in DSA, with the character sheet per default having twenty four skills, with more being common on most characters.

As you can hopefully see, all eight ability scores are used very often and impact your character greatly. They are furthermore more clearly delineated than the D&D standard, however they also don't map onto the DIY & dragons parameters for ability scores, despite having eight of them!

Conclusion

What can we learn from this? Well, honestly, draw your own conclusions. The six ability scores of D&D and Pathfinder are not the "be-all and end-all", that's for sure. You really need to think about what your game wants to do.

Is it just combat-focused? Then all ability scores should matter in combat and to (roughly) the same degree!

Does your game consist of multiple gameplay elements? If yes, then they should all be accessible and fun for players even if their base stats are "bad" in one aspect, while still allowing for specialization of player characters.

Generally, there is no "one size fits all" solution, and this rant hasn't even gone into ambiguity between different terms, the implications of specific terms and associated thresholds, or the exact history of ability scores in D&D before 3rd Edition!

Anyway, I hope this was legible, fun and informative.

[churchyardgrim]

3e ravenloft’s greatest hits: lady edition

ASK AND YE SHALL RECIEVE 

Natalia Vhorishkova

so we know and love the Weathermay-Foxgrove sisters, 5e actually kept them more or less the same, BUT. what 5e neglected to give much detail on was Natalia, and as soon as i read the dread possibilities in Van Richten’s Arsenal i was obsessed. holy shit! fucknasty sadomasochist werewolf lady, locked in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the hunter she seduced and betrayed and who has now made it his life’s goal to hunt her down?? give me 40k words about her right now immediately.

Perseyus Lathenna

holy shit yall, i didn’t even know about this character until i went looking, but she’s? amazing?? a tiny-ass grandma wizard who got the goodness traumatized out of her, and was then inspired to try again years later and ended up reclaiming that drive to help people? a disabled woman who innovates a new method of spellcasting that doesn’t need somatic gestures? a respected scholar who keeps her identity close to her chest, as a way to bypass the systematic inequality of the cultures she’s working in? holy shit i love her. put her in your game so help me god.

Tara Kolyana

listen i know we all love Ireena but 5e did her so so dirty, and 3e for all its faults gave us Tara. homegirl’s parents saw the writing on the wall and got the fuck out of dodge, and it fucking? worked?? she’s free? mostly. mostly free. the narrative tugs and tugs like an undertow but she’s had time to grow now, time to become a wholeass person outside of Barovia, outside of her destiny, and who knows what she could do now? who knows what kind of power she could have if she went back to Barovia as an adult, a full-fledged cleric with a solid sense of her self and her duty.

Ebb

literally who doesn’t love a fuckmassive shadow dragon. she’s fantastic, she’s goth, her best friend is a wizard, what more can i say? 

Lyssa von Zarovich

light of my life, girlboss of my heart, this list would not be complete without Lyssa. Strahd’s direct grandniece by way of the oft-forgotten middle brother Sturm, her goals are simple; reduce Strahd to a fine ash for the crime of piledriving the family’s history and reputation, and do some actually functional governing in Barovia. and she’s a genius! she not only found out about Strahd’s Big Oopsie entirely independently of anyone else in the know, she then looked at what uncle dearest had done and said “yeah i’ll have what he’s having” and fuckign followed through. and then! discovered a way to speedrun vampire power levels via a ghost booty call! and then invented vampire mindflayers, just bc she hadn’t broken enough records that week. 

she’s an excellent foil for Strahd, an ambitious, intelligent, and politically savvy woman who took the vampirism deal (literally the only other character to do so besides Strahd) with the full knowledge of what it entailed; as a means to an end, not an impulsive sacrifice. most of the material she’s got (and even in older editions there isn’t much) positions her as a middle-strength villain, but honestly i want to see her as a lesser-of-many-evils ally.

[dndbloggerepiteme]

Demon Lord Lady Lynkhab

This art was created by me using artificial intelligence to depict a modern version of this demon lord. The art is not copyrighted ask permission to use please.

Hello, I will be making a post that goes through the information given in 1E, 2E, 3E, 4E, and 5E. This includes all four hundred dragon magazines, all two hundred dungeon magazines, web supplements, and other official released content. There are many demon lords that have been depicted or lost in the vast amounts of DND content. I only wish to bring them to your attention and create new art that features these demon lords.

Trigger warning❗️

This post depicts a suicidal character if you are not comfortable with this topic being discussed please do not read.

Original depiction of Lady Lynkhab

First Appearance

She was referenced in a 2E planescape book with a description.

This post gives an example of her story. Her full story and description will be found in my new post.

The Abyss

Before you read. You should know that the abyss and the lords in it influence every world within DND and some deities on certain planets only have influence in that world the abyss and its demon lords influence the entire multiverse while gods take control of certain aspects of their planet it’s the demon lords who have much more influence and the fact they are limited in power is a mystery, but Lady Lynkhab is a example of how much influence the abyss has on existence.

Character Description

Lady Lynkhab is a puzzle. She is deep depression and intense desire, both at the same time. A big book of names - the Mors Mysterium Nominum - says she is depressed because she did her job too well. What Xanxost means to say: Lynkhab expressed the idea of desire so perfectly that she became a disembodied force. Desire became permanent part of existence it existed in all things. But she reformed herself so she could continue her expression. Instead of being an energy she wanted to have a physical form and rule from her layer of the abyss. Now she wishes she never took her body, back. Oho! Too late.

She became desire, but decided to manifest into a physical form. Why she did this is a mystery. Perhaps her demon and chaotic nature pulled her back to the abyss so she could protect her layer from invasion or being taken from her by another demon lord.

Lynkhab has become a creature of pure will, too cohesive to move on to a new existence. She tries and tries, and she fails and fails. She can force herself out of her own memory and thus out of being for a time, but she is desire!

Desire exists in all things and cannot be destroyed she is desire itself and can not destroy herself.

And she is so strong that she always reappears after a day or two. That is why she is depression, too. She wants to become a true deity, but she is stuck right where she is. Her physical form prevents her from ascending within the universe and becoming an all powerful deity. She is now stuck in the abyss in her physical body as desire itself unable to access the power throughout creation she made. She still is desire and desire cannot be destroyed, but she is limited by her physical form and trapped within it.

Just a poor little abyssal lord.

'Course, Lynkhab is stuck in a physical form, but it does not always have to be the same form. She reads the desires in the hearts of others and feeds off their lusts.

Wizards like to see what kind of slaadi she would make! Lately, Lynkhab takes the shape of a flame-haired, voluptuous elf with eyes of burning ice. The tanar'ri say she owns the 297th layer (the Sighing Cliffs), but she also wanders the Abyss because no one - not even other lords - can hurt her. Sometimes she seeks out mortal adventurers in the Abyss and says, "Hello, please try to kill me!" If they fail, she puts them in the dead-book. So far, everyone has failed.

[talenlee]

3e: Kythons

Where the creeping edges of reality ripple and shimmer, where foul and dark powers reach into the world to try and plant their foul fingertips there, there lay hallmarks and signs. There is a chance your world has tasted them, the chance that they have been left there, at some point by some errant and cruel source, and therefore, the only opportunity you have now is to wage war on their very existence, or to abandon your world, knowing it is a matter of time before the ultimate predatory violence bursts forth from some forgotten earthen womb, and renders all that you considered a civilisation into the same, cyclical, eternal pereptuum of feasting.

Content Warning: This article is going to be about a creepy monster from 3rd edition, D&D, and involve discussing some of the details of its source book, the Book of Vile Darkness. The art gets gory and bloody after here.

Kythons are a threat. They are a menace. They are first and foremost a creature of violence, a ravening mouth with a selection of limbs around it; sometimes just two and a tail, running feet that let the maw chase you, or sometimes it’s four limbs and two legs, with hands that can grasp and wield weapons and threaten your life and limb.

Most resembling some mix of insect and reptile, a Kython is an intelligence that seemingly exists on a different plane to other intelligence; they have seemingly no need or want for conversation or diplomacy, and they wield weapons they manufacture entirely on their own. While weak as — children? infants? nymphs? spawn? — they still are threatening to full grown adult adventurers from birth and it’s only a matter of time before they overcome, overrun, and consume everything.

The Kythons are dangerous not because they hate you but because they are incapable of good, honest, human, hatred, or somesuch. You see this is a Kython broodling, a smaller kind of Kython. And when they eat your face, nobody can hear you scream.

Look, they’re nasty gribbly things that are both alien (in that nothing is like them) and alien (in that they were put on the world from an outside place) and alien (in that they very much are trying to create the feeling of fear and horror as you remember from the movie Aliens if you’ve seen it). They are the tension of a blockbuster movie about failure and incompetence and desperation against the implacable inexorable force of a pitiless consuming force, turned into a D&D monster you can hit so it drops treasure.

Now, setting aside how useful or reasonable these things are as a threat, there’s a lot of work being put in to making these things both incredibly nasty and monstrous while also badass as hell. These things are a mix of traits that would require some truly breathtaking 1990s animatronics and material effects. There is an alternate reality where I got into painting miniatures and had a bunch of secret Kython OCs along with the Tyranid OCs and the Xenomorph OCs who shapeshift into these things instead of much more wholesome and fuckable werewolves.

The Kython aesthetic is a mix of generic bug in the carapacey design, with specific traits of praying mantises, and how we imagine preying mantises to work. They have big jagged fanglymouths, lots multiple limbs, but they’re also blind, you know, to avoid having eyes you can look into and see their humanity. They see somehow, and that’s between them and whatever got regrets making them.

They have poison? Well, venom really, but you know that discrepancy is the kind of thing that only matters to huge fucking dorky nerds. They have venom. They come in a variety of forms showing an evolutionary lifecycle that is both recognisably an escalation in the way we’re familiar from baby to adult to oh no, and in the process they get less cute and more dangerous. This means that any given encounte with Kythons can include small medium and large members, and that they can present a variety of different combat opportunities in tactical combat. You can pick some small Kythons to be a doable combat encounter and you can pick a big Kython to be a dangerous kind of stalker threat harrassing the player characters.

The gameplay versatility of the Kython is part of what I think represents its enduring gameplay presence. I haven’t seen them in 4th edition (my native grounds) but there are people making art and campaigns that involve Kythons even this year. The urge to use fanart of Kythons for this article was strong, but contacting all the people involved seemed very hard. And we wouldn’t want to inappropriately credit in an article about the time D&D tried to riff on the Slivers riffing on the Zerg riffing on the Tyranids riffing on the Xenomorph.

What really sets the Kythons apart is one of the enduring problems that a truly free form tabletop roleplaying game with a polar morality system as Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition has: How do you represent a completely alien intelligence? There’s magic in the world, magic capable in multiple ways of breaking down barriers for communication. There really is no reason why, if one wanted to, one could not, somehow, communicate with a Kython.

The problem the Kython presents is that they are meant to be a thing that cannot be communicated with, cannot be reasoned with, and will not stop, until you are dead. Er, wrong movie. No, the Kython is meant to be the Predator and the Alien, bound up together in one horrible insect-crustacean-reptile-beast form, with bio-organic weapons. They’re an environmental horror: You find some eggs, you have to destroy the eggs, and if you don’t destroy the eggs, if you leave the problem to later, the problem will get out of hand. There is no natural ecosystem of the Kythons, they are just going to get out of control no matter what because that’s what they are made to do.

They are the Zerg, they are the Tyranids, they are the Swarm, they are the Hive. They are a monster in the purest sense, an un-rehabilitable enemy that is smart enough to be able to be evil and inhuman enough to not want to negotiate on that fact. They need to be capable of thought to be capable of a moral framework and they need to be incapable of communication to keep you from interacting with that moral framework.

A truly feral, animal threat – something in the vein of an actual form of the xenomorph – would be a problem. That presents something natural, something that should be placatable, something that doesn’t fit in the D&D generality of nature as a stable ecosystem where everything is okay until someone messes with it. A genuinely hostile ecosystem isn’t a thing that works within the framework of absolutes of evil and an irredeemable creature that doesn’t care about you.

Kythons are what people imagine nature isn’t and what nature is. It is a reinvention of bears and bees and bacteria, the violence that meat does to meat, but given a moral dimension because if it’s not given a moral dimension, you can’t be morally superior to it. And they are presented in the Book of Vile Darkness because they wanted a truly terrible, nasty thing to put there.

The nastiest thing they could imagine was mid-tier copyright infringement of the Tyranids for a second time.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[tlaquetzqui]

I’m looking at making my own RPG, drawing inspiration from everything great about d20 without the WotC shakedown artists having a chance to get the foot in the door.

And you know, you really only need four ability scores.

Why only four? Well because for most purposes Strength and Dexterity are the same thing. That guy who can paint a sutra on a grain of rice ain’t getting picked first for dodgeball; make that fine-motor shit a part of Intelligence. And you can also fold the willpower aspect of Wisdom into Intelligence for most purposes (I also stuffed in the spellcasting aspect of Charisma). So you have, basically, athleticism, toughness, brainpower, and social. (Not what I’m calling most of them, of course.)

From there I also realized most skill lists are bloated: went with attacking, all kinds, and moving (including stuff like stealth and climbing) governed by athleticism, “enduring” governed by toughness, a knowledge skill, a perception skill, and “refusing” (=willpower) governed by brainpower, and then persuade and a big “doing job” skill, encompassing what would be Perform and Profession, governed by social. (I might have purely technical matters, your Craft type thing and stuff like “Profession: sailor to drive the boat”, governed by the knowledge skill.)

You’ll notice that means I made attack a skill, not a separate per-level bonus—this was actually the norm in skill-based games before 3e hybridized skill-based to D&D, look for example at GURPS, Alternity, or BRP (the one used in Call of Cthulhu). I also replaced saving throws with checks of the move, endure, and refuse skills. Thinking I’ll make those three and attacking have per-level bonuses that vary by class, but you can also sink skill points in if you want to be, say, a very combat-oriented wizard, or a warrior who’s good at shaking off charms.

[da3drat]

Hello hello and welcomeeeee to my blog. I'm Sea and this is my elder scrolls sideblog. If you need me on main you can find me @un-sea-lie !

Commissions: CLOSED

Ko-fi

Main OCs:

Nerevarine: Meridian tag | vibes tag | playlist Hero of Kvatch: Celeste tag | vibes tag | playlistLast Dragonborn: Dusk tag | vibes tag

Additional Tags worth noting:

my art Ayem <- she gets her own tag<3 martinxceleste <- martinhok posting meralexia <- almalexia/nerevarine posting

Glossary of OCs: [4E oc list incomplete]

3E:

Meri Birth Date: 30 Hearthfire, 3E 391 (36 y/o at the time of Morrowind) Birth Sign: The Lady Gender/Pronouns: Woman, she/her Sexuality: Bisexual Dunmer/Imperial Personality: Quiet, authoritative, diplomatic, insincere, bookish, burnt out/emotionally detached. Hobbies: Alchemy(special interest), reading and collecting nonfiction, sketching, playing the lyre Dislikes: Condescension, authority, crowds, tight or scratchy fabrics. Combat: Unarmored, spear, throwing knives, light on her feet and always just out of range.

Celeste Birth Date: 14 Morning Star, 3E 410 (23 y/o at the time of Oblivion) Birth Sign: The Ritual Gender/Pronouns: Horse Girl, she/her Sexuality: Bisexual Imperial Personality: Sweet, devoted, self sacrificing, manipulative, protective, gentle, brave Hobbies: Horses (riding/training/care), sparring, chatting with friends Dislikes: People worrying about her, being wrong, sleeping outdoors, selfishness. Combat: Restoration, heavy armor, longsword and shield, defensive fighting, 1vAnything (come at me bro)

Elissia Rian Meri's daughter Birth Date: 1 Sun's Dawn 3E 408 Birth Sign: The Lover Gender/Pronouns: Weird little girl, she/her Death Date: 19 Hearthfire 3E 418 (age 10) Dunmer/Imperial/Bosmer Personality: Wild, inquisitive, opinionated, funny

Caldara Caprenia Celeste's mother, Meri's adopted sister. Birth Date: 15 First Seed 3E 389 Birth Sign: The Lord Gender/Pronouns: Popular Girl, she/her Sexuality: Heterosexual Imperial Personality: Self righteous, benevolent, impatient, passionate

Aerin Caprenia Celeste's father Birth Date: 3E 390 Death Date: First Seed 3E 418 Imperial Personality: Relaxed, mischievous, doting, friendly

Tacita Caprenia Celeste's Eldest sister, Alain's identical twin Birth Date: Sun's Dusk 3E 405 Birth Sign: The Atronach Gender/Pronouns: Programmer Socks, she/her Sexuality: Lesbian Imperial Personality: Boisterous, charismatic, laid back, affectionate

Alain Caprenia Celeste's only brother, Tacita's identical twin Birth Date: Sun's Dusk 3E 405 Birth Sign: The Atronach Gender/Pronouns: Just some guy, he/him Sexuality: Bisexual, Ace Imperial Personality: Wallflower, pleasant, mischievous, ambitious

Julia Caprenia Celeste's younger sister Birth Date: 3E 414 Gender/Pronouns: Snot Nosed Kid, she/they Imperial Personality: Self absorbed, abrasive, loud, complimentary

Eloe Caprenia Celeste's youngest sister Birth Date: 6 Hearth Fire 3E 418 Birth Sign: The Lady Gender/Pronouns: Fine Young Lady, she/her Sexuality: eh Imperial Personality: Silly, detail oriented, determined, graceful

4E:

Dusk Birth Date: 3 Rain's Hand, 4E 182 (19 y/o at the time of Skyrim) Birth Sign: The Serpent Gender/Pronouns: Knowledge seeker, she/her Sexuality: Aroace Redgaurd Personality: Intelligent, arrogant, well spoken, spoiled

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Harkon Lukas

Darklord: Harkon Lukas Domain: Kartakass Formation: 613 BC Power Level: 💀💀💀💀 ⚫  (4/5 Skulls) Sources: Gazetteer Vol 1 (3e), Domains of Dread (2e), Ravenloft (3e), Ravenloft Player’s Handbook (3e), Gazetteer Vol 4 (3e), Feast of Goblyns (2e), Realms of Terror (2e), Denizens of Dread (3e), Secrets of the Dread Realms (3e), Ravenloft (3e), van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (5e), Heart of Midnight (Novel) Harkon Lukas, the would be alpha wolf and absolute ruler of their people, is the Darklord of Kartakass. Perhaps someone should have informed them that the concept of “alpha wolf” is based on peasant superstition and folklore rather than actual science. Wolf packs typically consist of parents and their pups, nothing as sophisticated as Harkon would have you believe. Though, he is a master manipulator so perhaps he has even fooled himself in this regard.

Kartakass is a heavily forested realm with a few small, insignificant settlements scattered throughout. A reflection of the insignificant role Harkon has within. The two main settlements are Harmonia and Skald, though 5e added two more settlements, Emherst (a town that is entirely a stage) and Medria (a fishing village that is also home to a theater production house that tests various special effects, both magical and mundane). Seems the Dark Powers wanted to expand everyone’s Domains in this latest Conjunction, except my own…

There is no central authority or government in Kartakass. Leaders are chosen through performance competitions, the best performer gaining the title of “Meistersinger”; a position equivalent to a Mayor but slightly more useless. This certainly is the worst possible way to choose a leader. Celebrities, as we all should know by now, make very poor and inept leaders.

Harkon’s wolfish lope down the path of darkness is similar in each edition, though some changes are worth noting. In both he sought to unite and rule his people, but they shunned him for it. This sent him into a blind, murderous rampage and eventually led him to shun his people in turn and take on the appearance of a human. Harkon became quite fascinated with human culture and wandered the land as a minstrel. This is when the old editions and 5e vary. In the older editions, Harkon was taken by the Mists into Barovia where they went into another murderous rage until von Zarovich found and almost killed them, forcing Harkon to flee into the Mists and the Dark Powers created Kartakass to imprison them.

In 5e, Harkon became so famous that he amassed a number of what kids these days would refer to as “stans”. The leaders of this land (unstated, in past edition Harkon is originally from Cormyr) grew wary over Harkon’s influence and had them falsely arrested. Given his murderous nature, you would think they could have arrested them for an actual crime, but clearly these leaders were not the most intelligent of folks. The people led a revolt against their leaders for arresting Harkon and the wolf faked his own death. To further the dramatic performance, Harkon busted out of his own casket in his wolf-hybrid form during this revolt. He slew the leader and placed his crown upon his own brow. That is when the Mists took him.

In older editions, Harkon was a gender fluid wolfwere and Meistersinger of Skald, respected as a musician but severely overlooked as a leader. In 5e, Harkon does not appear to be gender fluid anymore and is said to be a loup gaou, which is described as a more aggressive form of werewolf. This is not the traditional folklore of loup gaous, which are said to be humans that don the pelt of a wolf to magically transform into the beast. A wolfwere is a species of wolf that can take the form of a person. In essence, a wolf pretending to be a person but failing, horribly to grasp what that entails. In 5e, Harkon still owns the Old Kartakan Inn, but is no longer the Meistersinger of Skald. In fact, many of his people do not remember him or his work. As a result, he constantly attempts to reinvent himself but only finds a fleeting, irrelevant type of fame.

Harkon is a stylish wolf, known for his wide-brimmed hat, brightly colored silken clothes, and monocle (sadly, not featured in 5e) and their musical talent is unmatched. Though favoring tooth, claw, and sword over the far superior arcane arts, Harkon is a skilled and quite formidable combatant. The Dark Powers gifted them with a cursed sword that compels them to fight to the death whenever a fight breaks out between them and another. The sword will appear in their hand wherever they are when they find themselves thrown into combat. Harkon, a skilled manipulator, has used this “curse” to their benefit, leaving the sword for their enemies to find, so they are later deprived of a weapon when facing Harkon.

As a Darklord, Harkon has little control of the common folk of Kartakass. Though Harkon’s children tend to rebel against them and try to kill them on a regular basis, Harkon still has control over most of the wolves in Kartakass. Harkon is also one of the few Darklords who have made attempts to escape their realms, though, unlike Vecna, Harkon failed. Still, it is an admirable trait when a Darklord recognizes the prison they are in for what it is. Harkon’s style alone is worth a five, but I’m afraid his power levels aren’t quite there. He was, after all, defeated by an overgrown tick in a cape. I will give this wolfwere or loup gaou a rating of 4 Skulls.

[destronlok]

On removing character Limitations in OD&D and other OSR Games

I intend to try and run either OD&D or an OSR game in the future (probably OSE).

One thing I will discuss with my players is how we feel about difference races being restricted to certain classes.

One of the things you see in OD&D is stuff like this:

Where Dwarves, Elves and Halflings can’t pick from the same class list as humans can. OD&D doesn’t really do a good job of telling you why. There are reasons, both mechanical and embedded in the lore.

As far as I know, the lore reasons for why a dwarf can’t become a cleric are explained in the AD&D monsteer manual. Under the entry for Dwarf.

Right there.

Dwarven clerics are 2 in 200 according to the default “world” you get in AD&D. 1% of 200 dwarves. They’re really rare, which is meant to tell you that the characters you play as are not the 1% of all characters, but the 99%, just average people.

There’s also a mechanical reason, but it’s not really what’s stated as what is not stated.

Humans get no apparent bonus in all editions of D&D prior to 3e.

Except they do.

The human bonus is the ability to choose from all the different classes available without level limits.

So as soon as you enable a dwarf cleric, you make the human cleric a little worse.

Who cares though?

This is an RPG, of course we can work around that. These limits can be completely lifted and I think all groups should discuss the removal of these limitations.

You only have to do one thing to make it possible, and we see examples of this in OSE and BFRPG.

OSE simply gives the human character an optional bonus.

BFRPG gives humans a 10% bonus to all earned XP.

(Note: BFRPG has this rule even while restricting dwarves and halflings from being magic-users so perhaps an additional bonus could be added on top of this)

I still think that simply offering any small bonus such as extra HP or XP is enough to then open the gates for a character of any race to be of any class.

Optionally, you might also extend the rules in AD&D where level limits for certain races were extended based on the attributes.

For example, you might only allow dwarves with a high intelligence to be magic-users (they’re probably going to need it anyway).

There’s many ways for this to be done and I think any way is better than telling a player who comes to your table that “sorry you can’t play a half-orc magic-user”.

Lifting the requirements is also a blessing for GMs because you can actually start making a world with different elements than the default that has been provided to you.

That said, some players may be fine with these limitations, but it’s up to the group, and it’s something I would always want to discuss in a session 0 environment. Every group will have a different idea of how to give humans a small bonus or to abide by those limitations.

[landoflustfulladies]

How is 3e different from 5e dnd?

So there's a lot that sets it apart, despite a similar core mechanical framework. I'll try and hit some high notes though. TLDR same basic engine but with a lot more depth. I will probably still ramble a lot so, uh, time for readmore...

First off, there's a lot more numbers. Instead of the advantage disadvantage system, a lot more things have a direct numerical effect on your rolls. Flanking an enemy for example, gives you a +2 bonus to your attack roll. Being surprised doesn't give enemy advantage, instead you lose your dexterity bonus to your AC cause, well, you aren't dodging.

Second off, just about everything has a bit more depth to it. For example, in 5e weapons have a damage die and maybe a couple tags. In 3.5, there's first off a lot more weapons and use some different dice combos. As an example, falchions and scythes do 2d4 damage. The versatile tag was actually a simplification of the fact that any weapon can be wielded in two hands (well, except light weapons). Wielding a weapon in one hand adds strength to damage, but two handing it boosts your strength bonus to damage by 50%. Oh, and you know all weapons in 5e crit on a 20 for an extra die on damage? Well, default crit in 3.5 is a 20 for double damage, but some weapons have more threat range. A light mace, a shortsword, and a rapier all do d6 damage but the mace crits on a 20, the shortsword on a 19, and the rapier on an 18. That and some weapons do more on a crit. A heavy pick is d6 damage and crits on a 20, but does four times as much damage on a crit. I have gone on this long just about different weapons with different pros and cons. My players all spent significant time thinking about their primary weapons.

Oh yeah, you know how feats kinda sucked in 5e? In 3.5, they are practically character defining. Good news is you get them more often! Every character starts with a feat for free, humans get a second one, and then every three levels you get another one! These are in addition to stat boosts every four levels. Now, some things that were feats in 5e are free in 3.5 (like being able to charge), and some that are feats in 3.5 are free in 5e (like being able to use dexterity to hit with light weapons), bit of a give and take there. But yeah, do it right and you can be pretty insane!

Oh yeah, skills work way different! Instead of picking a handful at character generation to be Proficient in, you get a certain number of Skill Points each level based on your class and intelligence, and you can distribute those between your skills as you please (capped at 4 ranks at level 1, goes up by one each level). Your class has a list of Class Skills you can buy at the normal rate, but you can still buy non class skills, they just cost double and have half the cap. What this means is a fighter might not be as good as the rogue at sneaking but he can still be good at if he wants. This also means you can choose to get a smaller bonus to your rolls in exchange for taking more skills by spreading your points around!

Oh yeah, did it ever strike you that everyone was as good with their weapons as the Fighter, the Designated Hitting Stuff Guy? Well, in 3.5, instead of everyone getting the same proficiency bonus, each class has their Base Attack Bonus. Fighters and other classes with Full BAB go up a point every level, things like Rogues and Clerics go up at a rate that comes out to about 3/4 levels (so at level 20 they get +15), and folks like Wizards get Slow BAB where they go up every other level. So yeah, the fighter will actually be better at hitting things.

God I could go on but even on my bigass monitor I can’t see the top of my post so I should probably ease up. God, and I haven’t even gotten to prestige classes... Uh, those are basically a fancy way of multiclassing that have certain requirements before you start taking them in exchange for being more specialized than regular classes. A lot of 5e subclasses were based off prestige classes from 3.5, so you can probably still play your favorite stuff. There’s also a lot more base classes! Swashbuckler is its own class as an example, instead of being a subset of rogue, it’s an absolutely devastating finesse DPS.

Oh, and monster variety! There are so few monsters in 5e compared to 3.5! I have six different books full of monsters open when I’m planning encounters! Seriously, so much more to work with!