#3E-Persuasive

[thydungeongal]

"Rollplay vs roleplay" started to be a big thing people talked about mostly with the advent of 3rd edition d&d and characters having social skills that you would roll for. Previously, although ad&d 2e included some mechanical use for charisma outside of "how many followers can be attracted," social interactions were generally acted out by the players, maybe using the stats of the character as a guide.

But when you could roll for "persuasion" or "deception," a chunk of players called that "roll-playing," based on the idea that if you could just roll to see how charming your character was, you weren't actually deciding anything about your character

Yeah, that's definitely when I personally started seeing the dichotomy pop up in those exact terms, and I do feel that 3e was the time it suddenly became a big, contentious topic within D&D. Like, as stated, the argument has been around for a long time, but I do think it entered the mainstream with 3e, since it was the big return of D&D to absolute market supremacy but also the one edition of D&D that codified social mechanics.

Anyway, it's really funny to me that the arguments that have been used to denigrate D&D in general have since become, like, a feature of D&D's internal community discourse. Like, we the players of the dungeon game feel very strongly about the fact that dungeons and combat are bad for roleplaying and there should be none of those in real roleplaying games,

[pathetic-gamer]

okay here's my hot take: D&D is a game about dungeons not the hero's journey.

Mechanically, it's about dungeons. This has been true from the very beginning, and remains true, regardless of what WotC says in their marketing. The culture can shift, and the goals and expectations players have when they gather a group and sit down to play can be anything under the sun and that's good, that's great, I want people to have fun!

None of this changes the fact that the rules of the game are designed to facilitate combat encounters (and traps and riddles and puzzles and such that you would find in a classic rpg dungeon). And it's not really a rules-light system in the first place ("smh noob, 5e has nothing on 2e with THAC0-" shhh, its okay. take my hand. let's make space vehicles in GURPS 3e together.), people just have a level of cultural familiarity that makes them think it is and thus that they can get by without reading the PHB when the extent of their knowledge is actually just "roll the big one to do stuff."

Of course you can tell a good story while you play! Of course you can have fun! It doesn't have to be nothing but rules and arithmetic all day every day - what I'm saying is just that vast heroic fantasy narratives are secondary.

So what do I mean when I say it's about dice-rolling?

I mean that the same thing that keeps combat interesting (a single d20 leads to lots of volatility and means crits are uncommon enough to be exciting, but common enough that someone at the table is almost guaranteed to get at least one in any given session) makes role-playing difficult sometimes (doesnt matter how persuasive your argument is - a nat 1 persuasion check is a nat 1 persuasion check).

I mean that at the end of the day, whatever funky character work you want to do has to work with the game's mechanics. As fun and interesting as it would be to play a sneaky little trickster of a cleric, you simply will not have the dexterity or charisma to successfully steal that plot-important key while seducing the innkeeper.

I mean that the mechanics of the game, especially for DMs who aren't professional actors or improve comedians, are meant to support and reward clever fighting, not clever debates. Skills, abilities, class features - all of these assume your energy will be focused on fighting. It takes a lot of flexibility, homebrew, and house-ruling to move around that.

There are other games that are meant to facilitate really good rp, though! There are rule systems that are elegantly structured around soft skills and encourage cleverly handling social encounters, or systems with much more class flexibility to enable something like a trickster cleric to exist from day one.

So anyway. I say all of this as someone who loves lot of different ttrpgs, D&D 5e absolutely included, but you'll have so much fun exploring the vast world of ttrpgs if you would just let a game's rules inform how you play, and find a ruleset that matches your goals.

[springuswindus]

Persuasion, or, another RPG rant

So! Social mechanics. One of the many, many common pieces of tabletop RPGs. Obviously this exists for the two reasons of players not having the same abilities as their characters and to simulate stuff that isn't really possible to make a matter of plain roleplaying.

The thing is, persuasion in TTRPGs most of the time involves a single group of outcomes: Making other characters do what you want. Because things are simplified, if it were as easy as just "Roll die or dice, get whatever result you want" it would feel a whole lot less like persuasion and a whole lot more like mind control. Heck, the debate of "Is this functionally persuasion or mind control" is absolutely a thing in some circles. Looking at you, Storyteller Revised games (Not WoD revised edition, Scion 1e/Exalted 2e. Yes, it's confusing.)

One of the ways I've seen games navigate around this is by making it limited what a single persuasion roll can actually do per se. This is where you've got your D&Ds, your Chronicles of Darkness 2es, and your Exalted 3es. (Incidentally, Exalted 3e's social system is one of my favorite social systems in existence. The system has its flaws but the social-fu is great.)

Even with the "You can't make other characters do anything too crazy" rule, you also get into other cases where that rule does exist, but people ignore it. Some of that, I'm guessing, is cases where people minmax the crap out of social systems and expect it to scale; and on paper this makes sense. If Gorgrath the Mountain Crusher rolls 30 over the DC of a task to hurl a boulder, that thing should be a twinkle in the distance right? So logically the same should hold true for social systems. If you knock the ball out of the park, you should be able to convince other characters of wilder and wilder things.

...Except that doesn't translate from the angle of "What does this part of the game do exactly?". A boulder being thrown might affect one part of the plot or another, but how far it goes is often fairly incidental compared to what you can actually convince a character especially a major character to do to say nothing of horror stories resulting from persuasion being used on other player characters.

In the end, "Boulder go far" doesn't have the same potential to make things go sideways as much as "This character hangs on my every word". So a system that expressly forbids the kind of gonzo scaling that might be expected from smashing the difficulty check in a D20 system into next Tuesday, like Exalted 3e, Exalted 2e on paper, or Chronicles of Darkness is pretty necessary.

So as implied, "Persuasion is like mind control" situations mostly come up when those implied or explicit rules are allowed to be broken. Changing the rules on the fly is obviously possible, but the responsibility for that in my opinion falls mostly on whoever's running the game whatever two or three letter acronym you're using. If someone allows that to happen at their table, on their chatgame, Discord RP server, or whatever venue that is in my opinion a game runner problem... Or someone acting out in a way that's gonna get retconned fast.

[mybg3notebook]

Lore: Details about the “Orb”

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in June 2021.

Let's start with the context, because everything related to Gale is packed heavily with Forgotten Realms lore, and since the game is not fully released, whatever extra information that the game could provide to help us understand this is not there yet. Also, it's always important to keep in mind this post about "Context, persuasion, and manipulation" to be sure we are talking in the same terms. 

The lore

I'm going to enumerate some objects or elements related to Forgotten Realms lore that I personally see worth checking out in addition to other “orbs” that I've seen the fandom put attention on. All this information can be expanded using the references and sometimes wiki, even though I personally distrust forgotten realm wiki, unless I can check that info from the original sources.

Shadow Weave

The Shadow Weave is the space between the strands of the Weave. If the Weave is a spider's web, the gaps in between are the Shadow Weave. Shadow Weave reaches everywhere the Weave does, and more. It is not subject to Mystra’s laws or state of well being. If Mystra were to die and the Weave collapses, the Shadow Weave would persist. [Magic of Faerûn 3e. Personal Comment: Yes. It explicitly says in the book that it’s independent of Mystra’s well being. Clearly this has been modified in 4e since the Shadow Weave needs the structure of the Weave to be somehow stable. It collapsed when the Weave did so, so we can see this begins a series of inconsistencies]

Shadow Weave is a dark and distorted copy of the Weave created by Shar, more suited for spells that drag life or confuse the mind (necromancy, control, illusion schools), and gives more difficulty to cast spells that manipulate energy or matter (evocation or transmutation schools). It can't sustain spells that produce light. Both Weave and Shadow Weave are means to use Raw Magic (see at the end of the post). The more familiar a mortal becomes with the secrets of the Shadow Weave, the more detached they become from the Weave. Shadow Weave is NOT a part of Mystra, so Mystra can't block people from accessing magic via Shadow Weave. 

It’s a common mistake to make the analogy that the Shadow Weave is to Shar the same way the Weave is to Mystra. No. Shadow Weave is NOT Shar, while the Weave is Mystra. Shar never developed that level of commitment, making herself one with the Shadow Weave. This is one of the reasons why she could not sustain the Weave during the Spellplague when she tried to corrupt it completely into Shadow Weave. 

All this information belongs to Magic of Faerûn 3e and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3e and novels of 4e. There is nothing about Shadow Weave in 5e. If it weren't for Ed Greenwood's twitter, we should have guessed it disappeared from the lore. So far we know it's slowly recovering in the same way the Weave is. And the Shadow Weave doesn't feed on Weave. For some mysterious reason, fandom started to think so due to BG3.

Death moon orb

This artefact belongs to the 3rd edition, created by a Netheril wizard. From him, it passed to the hands of Szass Tam, who saw it destroyed when the Spellplague corrupted the magic in it. I won't give more details about this object because it looks so unrelated to what Gale has in his chest. Not only is its shape inconsistent with what we see in-game, its powers and properties are unrelated to what is explained in EA. The object is cursed, compelling its owner to cause greater acts of evil; it has a size that changes and looks like a violet-black sphere. In my opinion, the only detail in common with Gale's “orb” is the name "orb". Which is a fallacy, since Gale says explicitly that he uses the word "orb" for the lack of a better one, because clearly what Gale has in his chest is not an orb, but a mass of Black Weave. 

Netherese orbs

These objects are found in Neverwinter MMO in the quest Whisper in Darkness:

The Netherese are foul plague upon this world, corrupting everything they touch. They have cursed the Gray Wolf Tribe, turning them into bloodthirsty monsters. We must find what the Netherese intend to do with their werewolf slaves. The Shadovar Emissaries use the Netherese Orbs powered by Soul Shards to communicate orders from the Prince of Shadow.

This is all the information we have of this object. That's all. It comes from a Neverwinter MMO game which belongs to 4th edition. Once more, the concept that Gale's “orb” is not an orb but a black mass of untamed magic makes me believe that these objects don't apply either. The nature of their magic is compatible though: Netherese orbs are made from shadow magic by Shadovar, descendant of Netheril stuck in the Plane of Shadow (called Shadowfell later on, read more in the post of "The Netherese in 1492DR"). This plane is the source of Shadow Magic, they don't use Raw Magic. Ethel explicitly said in BG3 that Shadow Magic is Netherese Magic, so maybe we can consider this object filled with Netherese magic? In any case, these Netherese orbs are used for communication... which has nothing to do with Gale's “orb”'s properties. There is also no reference of consuming Weave to remain stable.

Devastation orb

The mention of a "devastation orb" happens only in Yartar in Princes of the Apocalypse (related to the god Tharizdun, the mad god): 

In page 5 we have some context: Four elemental cults grow in power in the Sumber Hills, claiming abandoned keeps that connect to an underground fortress once part of an ancient dwarven kingdom. The leaders use elemental magic to create devastation orbs capable of ravaging the countryside. They’ve been testing these magic weapons, bolstering the cults’ ranks, and infiltrating various communities, all directed by visions the prophets receive from the Elder Elemental Eye (Tharizdun). These orbs are plainly described as: essentially bombs of elemental energy to unleash natural disasters.

In page 222 we have a more detailed explanation of what these elements are: 

Devastation Orb: (Wondrous item, very rare) A devastation orb is an elemental bomb that can be created at the site of an elemental node by performing a ritual with an elemental weapon. The type of orb created depends on the node used. For example, an air node creates a devastation orb of air. A devastation orb measures 12 inches in diameter, weighs 10 pounds, and has a solid outer shell. The orb detonates 1d100 hours after its creation, releasing the elemental energy it contains. The orb gives no outward sign of how much time remains before it will detonate. Regardless of the type of orb, its effect is contained within a sphere with a 1 mile radius. The orb is the sphere’s point of origin. The orb is destroyed after one use.

Again, I don't see a real connection with Gale's “orb”. These devastation orbs are not netherese-based, they have elemental energy, and despite the explosion, they don't have any mechanics that resemble the consumption of Weave to remain stable. However, I do find a link between these devastation orbs, their process of construction, and the book that Gale found out. The remotest concept I can scratch here is that, whoever crafted the book with that piece of blackest Weave, could have used the knowledge of the construction of these devastation orbs. Instead of filling them with elemental magic, they filled it with a blackest weave of netherese magic. A procedure that could have been applied to the netherese tadpoles as well.

That's all the information I could gather that remotely is called “orb” or has some vague chance to be that blackest weave.

The Game BG3

In the game, all the info that Gale provides in EA about the “orb” is given before his revelation. The what it is, the how it works and the how it feels. In the revelation scene we only learn the details that are personal and intimate for Gale: the why he ended up with the orb, and potential solutions he can guess so far. To show proofs:

During the meeting:

Tav [Wisdom/tadpole] Try peering into his mind. If he won't open up, you'll sneak in.  [Success] Narrator: For a split second you see a swirl of untamed magic – then his defences drop like a portcullis. 

During the Protocol:

Tav: I simply want to know what it is you're keeping from me Gale: I'm dangerous. Not because I want to be, but because of... an error I made in the past.  [before Gale speaks of his loss] It makes me dangerous – even in death. [after Gale speaks of his loss/tadpole intrusion] I told you how I sought to win the favour of Mystra. I did this by trying to control a form of magic only one wizard ever could. I failed to control it. Instead it infested me. It makes me dangerous... even in death. […] Tav: The darkness inside you, what is it? Gale: It's magic from another time and another place. It is something that is beyond me, yet inside me. That makes me dangerous... even in death. 

During the stew scene or the ask for artefacts in neutral or lower approval

Tav: [Wisdom/tadpole] you sense secrecy and danger. Use your tadpole to probe Gale's thoughts. [Success] Narrator: you become one with Gale's mind and you can feel something sinister oppressing you. It's... inside of you, a mighty darkness radiating from your chest. You could try to push further, but your hold over Gale feels brittle. It won't be easy delving deeper without him noticing. Delve deeper: [Success] Narrator: “ you see through gale's eye, staring down the corridor of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened. Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces. It's teeth, it's claws, it's unstoppable as it digs through you and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever-hungry.

Gale: The only way to “appease” said condition is for me to take powerful magical artefact and absorb the Weave inside. [...]Tav: What happens if you don't consume any artefact? Gale: Catastrophe. [...] Think of it as... tribute. The kind a king might pay to a more powerful neighbour to avoid invasion. As long as I pay there will be peace. But should I ever stop, along comes a war. I can assure the battlefield would extend well beyond the borders of my body alone. [...] I will consume the magic inside. What was a powerful artefact will be rendered no more than a trinket. But it will save my life- even if only temporarily.

Tav: That condition of yours is a very expensive one. Gale: I obtained it in Waterdeep. Nothing there comes cheap.

Artefacts scenes:

Gale: I can feel the storm abating. [...] I will feel it stir again – like a distant thunder sending tremors through the soul. I will need to consume another artefact before the lightning strikes. There's no choice but to find more. [...] It's good to perceive this constant fear repressed into a quiet scare. Let's hope it will last a good long while.

During Revelation scene:

Gale: The gist of it is that he sought to usurp the goddess of magic so that he could become a god himself. He almost managed but not quite, and his entire empire – Netheril – came crashing down around him as he turned to stone. The magic unleashed that day was phenomenal, rolling like the prime chaos that outdates creation. A fragment of it was caught and sealed away in a book. No ordinary book, mind you; a tome of gateways that contained within it a bubble of Astral Plane. It was a fragment of primal Weave locked out of time – locked away from Mystra herself. ‘What if’, the silly wizard thought. ‘What if after all this time, I could return this lost part of herself to the Goddess?”

Narrator: You feel the tadpole quiver as you realise Gale is letting you in. Into the dark. You see through Gale’s eyes, staring down the corridors of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened. Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces. It’s teeth, it’s claws, it’s unstoppable as it digs through you and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever hungry… [...] This Netherese taint.. this orb, for lack of a better word, is balled up inside my chest. And it needs to be fed. As long as it absorbs Weave it remains stable – to an extent. The moment it becomes unstable, however.. [...] It will erupt. I don’t know the exact magnitude of the eruption, but given my studies of Netherese magic, I’d say even a fragment as small as the one I carry…. It’d level a city the size of Waterdeep

Tav : I should godsdamned kill you GALE: Perhaps that is what I deserve, but you deserve no such thing. To kill me is to unleash the orb. 

So far, if we don't use the tadpole, we learn from Gale that he is unwillingly dangerous, there is an ancient magic stuck in his chest—acquired in Waterdeep—that he never could control and it inspires a dreadful state of mind (constant fear). It requires Weave to stay stable, and if it is not fed, a catastrophe will happen that will extend past his body. 

With the Tadpole we learn, in addition, part of the details we can learn during the revelation scene: it's a swirl of untamed/chaotic magic which is an ever-hungry "blackest weave". 

During the Revelation Scene all the information acquired by the tadpole intrusion is given, in addition to describing this mass of magic as an "orb" despite its inaccuracy. We also learn that killing Gale will only unleash the orb instead of putting an end to the problem. 

Gale said everything that is important related to the orb before the party scene, excluding only the personal information since he is a private person. This was exactly the boundary he set when he promised during the stew scene that he was going to explain the what, not the why. With the use of the tadpole we only learn details, simple extra descriptions; all information that Gale will willingly share during the revelation scene anyway.

We can learn a bit more of the “orb”'s function if we explore the goblin party. There, Gale explains part of the mechanism of the “orb” in a "poetic" way, that may or may not be taken exactly as such:

Gale: Two shadows are darkening my soul.The shadow within and the shadow without: you. You led me down this path. [...] I don't know myself anymore. All this... It's not who I am. Around you, I'm not who I want to be. I should leave. 

Tav: [Insight] Stay. We make each other stronger. We make each other survive. /OR/ [Deception] You don't stand a chance alone. You're free to go. I dare you. 

[Success][DC15] Gale: [...]. Few things are more powerful than the will to live. But carnage such as this.... the shadow within is spreading like poison, corrupting kindness and compassion. [...]. Tonight I need to wash my hands of blood and my mind of shattering memories. 

This shows that when playing an Evil Tav who sides with the Goblins, we have an extra description for this “orb”. Again, I ponder every bit of information with its context: Gale is a poet, and he tends to speak with metaphors specially when it comes to emotional painful states of mind or when it comes to the “orb” (which puts him in a very emotional state that even the tadpole doesn't), so these lines can perfectly be understood as a poetic way to describe his deep regret for participating in massacring the Tieflings. However, there is this detail that I can't overlook: the shadow within, understood as the blackest Weave, is spreading across his body, corrupting his good essence. As we saw in the post of "Extensive list of Gale's approvals", compassion and kindness are key elements in Gale's personality. This scene shows a potential that is not explored in EA: the “orb” seems to set a path in which it will corrupt Gale. 

Now this could be considered as a potential beginning of a shift of alignment, but it goes against what Sven said several times in interviews and presentations: he stated that they were not considering to change alignments in the companions (if you can imagine all the extra branches that it opens up, it makes sense not to allow it given the already colossal proportions of the game), so it's hard to suspect how Gale would evolve from here, or if this situation will give him reasons to attempt to kill this Evil Tav eventually (which is my personal guess). Sven suggested many times that companions could potentially kill Tav or other companions during their sleep. We saw this happening in EA with Astarion. Using datamining content, we saw the same with Lae'Zel and Shadowheart. I don't see why not to give in-character reasons to make this mechanism work with Gale as well.

As an extra (datamining) detail, we have Ethel's vicious mockery line emphasising the concept of "the shadow within":

Ethel: I can smell what's under those bandages wizard, you're all rot and ruin.

Putting aside the unnerving detail that Gale's concept art has bandages on one of his hands while the game is oblivious to this, the idea of Gale's “orb” as a source of rot and ruin, in combination with that necrotic aura when he dies, gives us a sure idea that there is a “disease” spreading in Gale's body as a consequence of this blackest weave stuck in his chest.

All the in-game information was presented, so now let's drag conclusions: Comparing all the information extracted from the scenes, we can now consider how much potential has the lore object named before:

Shadow Weave: Could Gale's “orb” be a fragment of Shadow Weave?

Strengths of the argument: Gale's “orb” is described as "blackest weave". It could barely be a hint, even though the Shadow weave has no canon colour nor physical description in the corebooks. So this is a very weak strength.

Weaknesses of the argument: Shadow Weave doesn't feed on Weave (this is a fallacy so far I've checked. It would make no sense to feed on the same object that it needs to exist.) Shadow Weave doesn't explode nor is chaotic. 

Death moon orb:

Strengths: It's called an "orb". And it was made by a netherese arcanist, so it must contain “netherese magic”.

Weaknesses: This object was destroyed during the Spellplague. It's a physical orb which changes size, but it's not an "amorphous mass" of magic. It doesn't consume Weave.

Netherese Orb:

Strengths: It's called an "orb". It's made of shadow magic (which is not netherse magic in corebooks but in game Ethel used both denominations as synonymous). We know Shadovar are masters of Shadow Magic. Read more in the post "The Netherese in 1492DR".

Weaknesses: This object doesn't appear in the corebooks. It's used for communication. It doesn't seem to have any explosive properties nor consumes Weave.

Devastation orb:

Strengths: It's called an "orb". They explode with the intensity to destroy a city. 

Weaknesses: It's made of elemental magic (not netherese magic). It's a solid object, a bomb (not an amorphous mass). It doesn't consume weave.

Personal speculation

I don't think any of these canon objects are or inspired Gale's “orb”. If we take the descriptions in-game as they are, and considering the importance that Karsus and his folly have been given in the whole game (to the point that Larian added ingame books explaining part of it) I support two hypothesis that, by now, they must be obvious for lorists since I want to work with what the game (and datamining) gives me: 

1- The concept that this is a piece of corrupted Weave that Karsus' Avatar allowed to have access to when he disrupted the Weave. Gale calls it “primal weave” as well, which is a concept that doesn't exist so far in the corebooks, and one could relate, very barely, with raw magic. Maybe.

2- Heavy magic (key concept during 2e)

To understand this we need MORE lore (I know, this has no end; this is why I think a lot of misunderstandings with Gale’s character come from the big holes of lore that EA leaves, which is obvious, it's EA) So, allow me to clear out the concepts: 

Karsus' Avatar is the name of the spell that caused Karsus' folly and made him a god for just an ephemeral moment. The notes regarding the spell’s essence were nowhere to be found. It’s believed that Mystra, the reincarnated form of Mystryl, snatched the spell information from the ruins of Karsus’s enclave and sent it “on an eternal journey to the ends of the universe” (who knows what this means). Besides, as if this were not enough precaution, Mystra changed the rules of magic on the material plane making it impossible to cast spells over 10th level. Karsus' Avatar was a 12th level spell.

Raw Magic is “the stuff of creation, the mute and mindless will of existence, permeating every bit of matter and present in every manifestation of energy throughout the multiverse. Mortals can't directly shape this raw magic. Instead, they make use of a fabric of magic, a kind of interface between the will of a spellcaster and the stuff of raw magic. The spellcasters of the Forgotten Realms call it the Weave and recognize its essence as the goddess Mystra.” [Player's Handbook 5e]

The creation of the Weave allowed all mortals to have access to magic through study. The Weave works like a barrier and an interpreter to use the real source of magic: Raw Magic. For more information on this, check the wiki (otherwise each of these posts will be mini books of lore). Few mortals can tap magic from the raw magic. Spells like silver fire are part of the raw magic. Some wild mages can tap into it as well, but at the cost of making their spells very random. Only Weave-disruptive events can allow an uncontrolled influx of raw magic into the world (which can be considered what happened during Karsus' folly)

Mythalars are immense artefacts that work like intermediates of the Raw Magic. They don't use the Weave, they have direct access to Raw Magic and were used to power up magical artefacts around them (thanks to these objects the Netheril cities floated in the air). Touching a mythalar causes instant death since Raw magic is harmful for most mortals.

So the first hypothesis (corrupted Weave) means that when Karsus cast this spell and became the Weave itself for a brief moment, he may have access to Raw magic directly. His spell Karsus' avatar started using common Weave, but in the second he connected deeply with the Weave and with Mystryl's powers, he had access to Raw magic as a god. His spell may have changed the source of its power from the Weave to Raw Magic, adding the latter's randomness and chaos to the spell itself and therefore, corrupting the Weave. The transition, so violent like the whole event, may have corrupted part of the Weave that was being used while casting the spell. According to Gale's description, the “orb” stuck in his chest is a piece of Weave with the active effect of Karsus' Avatar (the spell), but the Narrator gives us the extra information that it's corrupted. Apparently Gale never realised this object was corrupted, or may have known it and he tried to cleanse it so he could return it to Mystra. Either way, the source of the corruption may have been the sudden transition to Raw Magic during the casting. My main problem with this hypothesis is how a spell can be stuck in a piece of Weave, since Gale's “orb” maintains Karsus's avatar's effect. 

On one hand, Karsus' Avatar main effect is “to absorb god-like powers”. In that moment of history, this spell was aimed at Mystryl, and therefore to the Weave. The disruption of the event “stuck” the effect of “absorbing weave” in a piece of Weave, while the chaotic nature of this “orb” could be attributed to the direct presence of Raw Magic, also stuck in it. Now, another weakness of this hypothesis is that nothing of this causes a "corruption disease" as Gale implies it (we only know that the failure of the spell turned Karsus into stone). So we don't have a good argument for this effect beyond the one “I believe that since the moment was disruptive, it must have corrupted something, and that corruption is quite unhealthy in a mortal body”. Which it's not of my liking, but this is what we get up to this point in EA.

The second hypothesis I talked about is another lore concept intimately related to Karsus in 2e: Heavy Magic (which I personally prefer over the first hypothesis). 

Heavy magic is physical, tangible magic, usually presented as a viscous mass of chaotic nature. It can crawl, entering into cracks of a wall or a body, for example. Karsus created a distilled version of this magic called super heavy magic, and experimented with people. The subject eating a bit of this magic will have heavy magic spread on all the inner walls of their body and will kill them (it's not a disease, but it spreads inside and kills). The usual effect of the stable super heavy magic was to magnify the powers of a spell or enchantment (it allowed spells to be stuck in it), however it could be used for everything. 

Karsus used this element to enhance enchantments on walls, for example projecting illusions endlessly. This means that this product has the ability of keeping a spell functioning in it (as we see that this black weave keeps the function of the Karsus' avatar). [Dangerous Games, 2e]

Naturally, heavy magic absorbs life energies (maybe another characteristic fitting the concept of disease and necrotic effects). There is an event (2e) related to this aspect in which the renegade arcanist Wulgreth became a lich after heavy magic overflew him [Power and Pantheons, 2e]

As it is easy to see, this concept shares a lot of similarities with the object stuck in Gale's chest. But there is still more:

In the novel Dangerous Games (2e), strongly focused on how Karsus experimented with Heavy Magic, it is explicitly said that Karsus infused himself with super heavy magic before casting Karsus' avatar (probably to magnify the spell power but we also know that heavy magic can get spells stuck in it). He grew taller, and glowed in a white-silver radiance. Babbling arcane chants, the super heavy magic raged within him until he came into a state of being between a man and deity. Then it followed his folly. Karsus “died”, turning his body into red-hued stone, bound in eternal torment to relieve repeatedly the moment he became aware of his folly. 

So there exists a chance that a pieces of super heavy magic (in which Karsus was infused when all this happened) may have kept Karsus' Avatar effect stuck in them. One of these pieces could have been recovered later around the red stone where Karsus is now. This could potentially be the object or, at least, in what it had inspired Gale's “orb”. It's also worth noticing that one of the main characters in this novel Dangerous Games was looking for ways to safely contain heavy magic and avoid its damaging effect, so there is extra lore information about vessels that could justify the sealed book that Gale found in Waterdeep. 

As an extra detail on this matter, we know that the runes of teleportation may have been made with heavy magic: "Gale: See that rune? Netherese, I think. Weave's so thick on it, it's almost viscous." 

Since Gale is calling "Weave" to the element attached to the teleport runes, it makes me wonder if this was a slight variation that Larian made of the canon concept of Heavy Magic to not add new concepts to the already complex world of Forgotten Realms. Maybe, in the end, both hypotheses are the same: the second one is strictly more canon-related than the first one, which is more or less the same but simplified in terms and concepts. 

As a last conclusion from my personal point of view, I see no much sense in calling this thing “orb”. In game it's clearly described as an amorphous black mass, not an orb. And it made me remember Gale's original description, when the EA was not released yet: it's the only way where I can see its nonsensical origin, which was done in a completely different context. 

Gale has one ambition: to become the greatest wizard Faerûn has ever known. Yet his thirst for magic led to disaster. A Netherese Destruction Orb beats in his chest, counting down to an explosion that can level a city. Gale is confident he'll overcome it, but time is not on his side.

After the game was released in EA, Gale's description changed radically, and therefore his current description has a different approach entirely, removing the concept of "orb" for what we know in the game: “ancient chaotic magic”. 

Wizard prodigy: Gale is a wizard prodigy whose love for a goddess made him attempt a dread feat no mortal should. Blighted by the forbidden magic of ancient Netheril, Gale strives to undo the corruption that is overtaking him and win back his goddess’ favour before he becomes a destroyer of worlds.

This is one of the many details that make me believe that Gale's original concept/character was changed significantly before the EA release. But this is a mere personal speculation. For more details on netherese magic, read the post of "The Netherese in 1492DR".

Source: 

2nd edition: Powers and Pantheons, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Dangerous Games by Emery Clayton. 3rd Edition: Faith and Pantheon, Magic of Faerûn 4th edition Player's Handbook 5th edition: Player's Handbook, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

This post was written in May 2021. → For more Gale: Analysis Series Index

[dreaming-of-assclass]

Hello! Im the anon who asked a while back for some 3E teachers + Augri headcanons and you said to ask sometime down the road, may i request them today? 👀

Hi!! Ahh right! Thank you for reminding me darling! I hope these are ok 💜

Aguri is everyone’s go-to co-worker for venting to. And they’re not trying to burden her or anything, in fact they rarely ask for advice. It’s just that she’s an amazing listener, so sweet and caring.

That said, she unfortunate gets tangled up in conflicts within the faculty and that’s the absolute worst. The amount of times she’s had to do damage control for Koro’s shenanigans to save him from the other two...

Or all the times she’s played couple counselor for Irina and Karasuma lmao

She checks in with everyone all the time, it’s just second nature for her. But poor girl almost gets whiplash when they do the same for her. It’s the little gestures like Karasuma telling her not to stay late grading papers and to get some rest, or Irina reminding her to take an umbrella...Aguri just isn’t used to people ever caring about her honestly.

The 3-E teachers are VERY protective of Aguri, esp after realizing this. If you come at her in anyway, you’re gonna have three very pissed off dangerous people glaring daggers at you. Actually no, Koro would just start annoying the hell out of you for revenge lmao

The Irina and Aguri friendship makes me so soft omg. I can completely see these two chilling in the teacher’s lounge doing online shopping together. And Irina being absolutely appalled at Aguri’s fashion sense lol

Listen

If you don’t think these 4 teachers prank Gakuhoe at least ONCE during the year, you are dearly mistaken.

They absolutely do. It’s Aguri’s idea naturally. She does not like the way he treats 3-E and her co-workers this particular year. And it’s harmless, he won’t get hurt lmao.

Karasuma is against it but gets convinced as long as they don’t leave any trace. Irina thinks it’s a dumb idea but quickly agrees after some persuasion bc she’s bored and why not mess with that annoying ass principle

Koro takes the longest to agree. He puts up such a fight, citing that it’s against teacher rules and he doesn’t want to go against Asano blah blah blah blah. He eventually relents just for Aguri’s sake.

I don’t know what the prank would be exactly. Actually idk my mind jumped to them messing with his car or his office. But it’s iconic and hilarious and the four teachers end up bonding. Afterwards, they get late night food together.

The next day, seeing Gakuhoe’s barely concealed rage almost sends them bursting out into laughter and blowing their cover. Almost.

Aguri’s baddie status went up so high just from this incident, and no one ever lets her live it down. Esp not after the students find out

“Hey Ms Yukimura, remember when you wanted to vandalize your boss’ car?”

“Shh-let’s not get into that hahah!”

“And you convinced the other teachers-!”

“OKAY ITS SILENT READING TIME NOW”

[queen-ofsunflowers]

3e anon here, the only one to recognize that Ryuji's Ryuji in that calling card video is Ritsu. After its been aired.

(Also in Strikers, he'd totally know what an AI is, considering Ritsu's presence in his life)

But, I think I can get why you'd want to make Ryuji confide with 3e. I think Ryuji tries to keep it a secret, until Rio pries more and more. It took everyone of the girls employing what they learned from Irina, and a boost from actress-Kayano to make Ryuji fess up.

I'm at a loss whether Ritsu tattles to Karasuma or not, or whether Isogai convinces Ryuji to confide with Karasuma.

Ah. That makes sense, because again. AI.

ooo ritsu and sophia meeting?

After the whole incident with Makoto, I can see Ryuji doing his best to keep the Phantom Thieves secret, but the girls are way too persuasive and strong. Rio and Kayano especially.

Whether or not Karasuma finds out about Ryuji is up to you. For myself, I don't have Ren telling him. He finds out on his own, much like the rest of the non-PT Confidants do.

[samueldays]

I once attempted a hack of Mutants & Masterminds (another very cool d20 system) and thought I really only needed two ability scores, at least in a superhero context: Super Strength and Super Intelligence. :D

M&M 3e is already pretty far on the way to decomposing ability scores by making them identifiable packages of subtraits which you can buy separately, and a lot of them I feel should be bought separately - then the packages can be offered to newbies as a convenience, not as a root of the system. Six of the eight ability scores have significant issues, IMO:

Dexterity in M&M 3e is an ill-fitting grab bag: it gives ranged weapon accuracy (all types), Sleight of Hand skill, and Vehicles skill. (Driving, not crafting.)

All trick arrows use the same archery skill. So unless your character is going to be using at least two very different ranged weapons that need different accuracy skills such as Bolas and Lasergun, and is also going to be a pickpocket and a getaway driver, it's cheaper to buy the sub-elements you want and probably makes more sense that way.

Presence (formerly Charisma) is overpriced: it costs 2PP/rank and covers three skills, Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion, each of which costs 0.5PP/rank. It also affects "Presence checks to influence others through force of personality when a specific skill doesn’t apply." which was fine in AD&D but is a bit of a cop-out in a system which has specific skills.

Stamina (formerly Constitution) is easily decomposed: it costs 2PP/rank and affects exactly two things, Fortitude save (vs bio effects) and Toughness save (vs damage), each of which costs 1PP/rank and can be bought separately. They probably should be bought separately with their own quirks in many cases, such as "robot immune to disease" or "lycanthrope weak to silver" or "Superman weak to magic".

Agility is a grab bag, Awareness is easily decomposed, and Fighting potentially has all three problems depending on table calls. ("But weapons masters?" Take Variable.)

Whereas super-Intelligence affects all Knowledge skills, which is cheaper than buying each of them on their own and is a reasonable discount for a brainiac, so it gets to stay. Super-Strength feels like two out of three superheroes have so it should be a basic element of a supers game, and it gives a fairly sensible package of closely linked traits: melee damage*, lifting/throwing capacity, and interacting with the grapple rules. Grapple actually not that bad in M&M 3e, it's like an Affliction.

*Except lightsabers. Some special melee weapons have flat damage, but most scale with user strength.

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.

Keep reading

[noblecrumpet-dorkvision]

D&D 3e>5e Conversion: Inevitables Part 1

(from left) Zelekhut, Kolyarut, and Marut

Kolyarut

A kolyarut is shaped very closely to a humanoid. It wears ornate golden armor and a flowing golden robe and wields an immaculate blade. It could be mistaken for a human knight if it weren't for the red clockwork parts making up its facial features, and the fact that its armor is fused to itself.

Kolyaruts track down those who have deliberately broken a contract or deal they knowingly entered. They are most concerned with contracts that have great consequences when broken or contracts made between powerful beings.

They usually carry a copy of their target's contract with them and are highly formal and talkative compared to most inevitables.

Medium construct, lawful neutral

Armor Class: 16 (breastplate)

Hit Points: 178 (21d8 + 84)

Speed: 30 ft.

STR 16 (+3); DEX 13 (+1); CON 18 (+4); INT 10 (+0); WIS 17 (+3); CHA 16 (+3)

Saves: DEX +5, CON +8, WIS +7

Skills: Deception +7, Investigation +4, Insight +7

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren't adamantine

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned

Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages: All

Challenge: 12 (8,400 XP)

Magic Resistance. The kolyarut has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.

Magic Weapons. The kolyarut's weapon attacks are magical.

Fast Healing. The kolyarut regains 5 hit points at the start of each of its turns as long as it has at least 1 hit point remaining.

Innate Spellcasting. The kolyarut's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). The kolyarut can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At will: disguise self, fear, hold person, invisibility (self only), locate creature, suggestion

1/day each: bestow curse (7th level), hold monster

1/week: geas

Quickened Suggestion (3/Day). The kolyarut can use a bonus action during its turn to cast suggestion.

Actions

Multiattack. The kolyarut makes three longsword attacks and uses its vampiric touch.

Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 9 (1d8 + 5) slashing damage, or 10 (1d10 + 5) slashing damage if using two hands.

Vampiric Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 18 (4d8) necrotic damage. The kolyarut regains a number of hit points equal to half of the necrotic damage dealt.

Enervating Ray. One creature the kolyarut can see within 60 feet must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. A creature already under the effects of a kolyarut's enervating ray automatically succeeds on this save.     On a failed save, the creature gains three levels of exhaustion immediately. At the end of each of the creature's turns, it can make a new saving throw, shedding a level of exhaustion on a success. Once the creature succeeds at three such saves, the effect ends.

Reactions

Riposte. When a creature misses the kolyarut with a melee attack, the kolyarut can use its reaction to immediately make a longsword attack against that creature. On a hit, the attack deals an additional 5 (1d10) damage.

Marut

A marut looks like a hulking humanoid made from onyx-colored clockwork outfitted in elaborate golden armor. They have massive fists, one crackling with electricity and the other reverberating with a sonic hum.

Maruts hunt down creatures that have cheated death in some way. Perhaps another creature died in their place, or maybe they have extended their life through lichdom. Minor infractions like raising mindless undead are usually not on a marut's radar; they instead seek those who have changed their fated destiny to die. Only the marut knows the specifics of who deserves cosmic justice. When they discover such a crime, they hunt down the transgressor to bring them the death they escaped from.

Large construct, lawful neutral

Armor Class: 18 (plate armor)

Hit Points: 252 (24d10 + 120)

Speed: 40 ft.

STR 28 (+9); DEX 13 (+1); CON 20 (+5); INT 12 (+1); WIS 17 (+3) CHA 18 (+4)

Saves: DEX +6, CON +10, WIS +8

Skills: Athletics +14, Investigation +6, Insight +8, Persuasion +9, Perception +8, Religion +6

Damage Resistances: thunder, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren't adamantine

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned

Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages: All

Challenge: 15 (13,000 XP)

Awesome Blows. Each time the marut hits a creature of Medium or smaller size with a melee weapon attack, the creature must make a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be pushed 20 feet away from the marut and be knocked prone.

Magic Resistance. The marut has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.

Magic Weapons. The marut's weapon attacks are magical.

Power Attack. The marut can reduce its attack bonus by 5 whenever it makes a melee weapon attack. If the attack hits, it deals a bonus 10 damage.

Fast Healing. The marut regains 10 hit points at the start of each of its turns as long as it has at least 1 hit point remaining.

Innate Spellcasting. The kolyarut's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). The marut can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At will: dimension door, fear, command (3rd level), dispel magic, locate creature, true seeing

1/day each: bestow curse (9th level), chain lightning, circle of death, wall of force

1/week: earthquake, geas, plane shift

Actions

Multiattack. The marut makes two attacks, one with its fist of thunder and one with its fist of lightning.

Fist of Thunder. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 16 (2d6 + 9) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) thunder damage. The target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or become deafened until the start of the marut's next turn.

Fist of Lightning. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 16 (2d6 + 9) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) lightning damage. The target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or become blinded until the start of the marut's next turn.

Zelekhut

A zelekhut appears to be a clockwork centaur with ornate golden armor over porcelain skin. When entering combat with its intended target, it sprouts golden wings from its back and spiked golden chains from its wrists that crackle with electricity.

Zelekhuts hunt down those who try to escape punishment or disrupt justice. They are highly adept at finding their targets using both their tracking instincts as well as spells. Inevitably, they will find their mark and either mete out justice or bring them back to whatever fate they were fleeing.

Large construct, lawful neutral

Armor Class: 16 (natural armor)

Hit Points: 104 (11d10 + 44)

Speed: 40 ft., fly 40 ft.

STR 21 (+5); DEX 11 (+0); CON 18 (+4); INT 10 (+0); WIS 17 (+3); CHA 15 (+2)

Saves: DEX +4, CON +8, WIS +7

Skills: Investigation +4, Insight +7, Perception +7, Survival +7

Damage Resistances: lightning, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren't adamantine

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned

Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 17

Languages: All

Challenge: 9 (5,000 XP)

Charge. If the zelekhut moves at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a stomp attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage.

Magic Resistance. The zelekhut has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.

Magic Weapons. The zelekhut's weapon attacks are magical.

Fast Healing. The zelekhut regains 5 hit points at the start of each of its turns as long as it has at least 1 hit point remaining.

Innate Spellcasting. The zelekhut's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16). The zelekhut can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At will: clairvoyance, dispel magic, fear, hold person, hunter's mark, locate creature, true seeing

3/day each: bestow curse (5th level), hold monster

1/week: geas

Actions

Multiattack. The zelekhut makes two spiked chain attacks and one stomp attack.

Spiked Chain. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit 12 (2d6 + 5) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) lightning damage.

Stomp. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage. The target must make a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

[libertineangel]

The Dubious Arch-Mage of 3E 46

When the Arch-Mage of the Mages Guild died in early 3E 46, the traditional deliberations to elect a replacement from among the Master Wizards began. One of them, however, was particularly ambitious and resolved to take the position by any means necessary, and they had planned for this occasion for many years. They had spent a great deal of time and effort studying and mastering enchantments of persuasion, the ways to maximise their effectiveness and ways to direct their power, and they crafted a magical ring designed specifically to influence the other Master Wizards, sacrificing any breadth the enchantment could have to make it perfectly attuned with great intensity, to make them see its bearer as incomparably charismatic and wise. The wizard intended to wear this ring at the commencement of the debates and have them end instantly in their favour, ensuring an immediate transfer of power and a Council that would obey their every command.

However, things did not quite go to plan.

On the way through the courtyard of the Arcane University on the first day of deliberations, the wizard tripped on the stairs as they took the ring out of their pocket, dropped it and watched it roll into the path of a young apprentice's pet goat, who promptly ate it. The wizard was distraught, immediately rushing over to demand the apprentice make the goat throw up, and the rest of the Council turned to see what the sudden commotion was. They then agreed amongst themselves that the goat had a certain air of wisdom about it, and they would like to examine it more closely. Despite the wizard's frustration and the apprentice's confusion they took the goat into the Council chamber with them, and after setting it on the table and getting a good look into its eyes, they voted with the greatest margin in Mages Guild history that the goat's humility and fresh outlook were exactly what they needed in their new leader.

The news was sent to all Guildhalls and the major magical establishments of the Empire immediately, and was met with much amusement and confusion, until it was rescinded about a week later when the Council agreed that whatever charm the goat may have had had definitely left it and they really didn't know what they were thinking. The ring was found some days later in a freshly fertilized alchemical garden, and upon examination it was clear what had happened and the wizard responsible was expelled.

The goat remained listed as a serving Arch-Mage in the Guild's annals until its dissolution, because its successor thought not only that all mages should remember and learn from the mistakes that led to the affair, but also that guild historians deserved a laugh.

[savingthrowvs]

Forgotten Folks: Adu’ja

Disclaimer: One article in, and I’m already changing the name of Forgotten Races to Forgotten Folks. Why? Two reasons. One, it alliterates, and I like that. Two, I find I like “folk” better than “race” as a term. If I ask people to pick their “race” that may not have a bad denotation, but it can carry a bad connotation. For most people, it won’t matter, but for the ones it does matter to, I don’t want it to get in the way of fun. So let’s continue with the Forgotten Folks.

Ancient, nearly forgotten, mysterious folks, who came from the plants instead of flesh. 

Dungeons & Dragons sure does like trying to give us more plant people, don’t they? This was an attempt in Third Edition, in Dragon Issue 317. The Xenophilia article introduced some weird playable folks (and we will get to the others, believe me), and the adu’ja are no exception. They are very much what a Lord of the Rings fan expects elves to be, but a little different. For one, they have a holistic view of the world, and expect things happen because of unrelated things - and that we have little control. This can lead to this ancient and powerful species being awfully naive.

Another thing, they ran away from the world (in their original fluff) because of the elves’ civil war (I assume this was when Lolth became Lolth). So they went into hiding, and only now come out because of goblin and orcish encroachment on the forests they live in. 

Not too shabby so far. Hidden, mystical plant men. Oh, and they taught the elves what magic was, not Correlon. So that’s neat. Also, the main art we have kind of gives me Yoda vibes. Lives in a misty forest, has a cane, super old, weird and green? 

Okay, now for the “weird biology” part of this. Much like everyone’s first OC back in middle school, their “hair” which is really leaves can change colors with their mood. Why pick a hair color, when you can pick ALL THE HAIR COLORS!? Their skin also changes color based on mood and season. 

They’re kind of photosynthetic, and only require a quarter as much food. That’s... fun?

Also, their noses aren’t sniffers, they’re sprayers. They are used to spray out smells to show their mood (which they stole from the dang saurials!).  Oh, they also have this “The Way of the Root” philosophy. They’re basically a species of druid monks. Which, druid monks could be a really fun idea. They believe everything has an innate balance, and that the world must STAY balanced, which is the only reason they leave.

An adu’ja comes back from a journey to the Realms of Man. Adu’ja Chief: You’re back early. Adu’ja Envoy: Going back out. World’s unbalanced. Chief: What? Envoy: *cocks staff like a gun, a single beetle flying off like a shotgun shell* World’s unbalanced.

Can your campaign take advantage of the adu’ja? Do you want a folk whose history runs perpendicular to the elves and their beliefs? Do you want a bunch of asexual Groot-Aang-Yodas? Maybe you don’t want elves at all, and need someone else to fill the forest niche? 

To put them in 5e, I’d do the following - 

+1 Con, +2 Wis. (I know the original was +2 Wis, +2 Cha, -2 Str, but that doesn’t feel in line with PHB races for me.)

Advantage on Stealth checks in forests and wooded areas. (The Woodland Stride ability is now an 8th level ability and I didn’t want to give a character an 8th level power right out of the gate.)

Photosynthesis. As long as an adu'ja can access at least 4 hours of direct sunlight, it only requires 1/4th the normal rations. (It’s a ribbon ability, I took it whole cloth from 3e, it’ll work just as well here)

Photoregeneration. An adu'ja that rests whilst in sunlight and with access to at least a gallon of water can regrow severed arms or legs by doing nothing but rest and perform light activity; it takes 1 month to regrow a limb, half that if the adu'ja engages in complete bed rest. (Technically it’s free regeneration, but compare casting times of 1 minutes, or 10 combat rounds, and 14 days, or 210,600 combat rounds. You want to use this, you better have a backup character so we don’t have to wait.)

Skill Proficiency. You have proficiency in one of the following skills Nature, Persuasion, or Survival. (This is just condensing the weird amount of skill bonuses they have. You get one.)

Darkvision. (Why not?) 

Vulnerability to Fire. When you take fire damage, you take double damage. You have disadvtange on saves against Fire spells and abilities. (Sucks being wood, doesn’t it?)

Speak with Plants. Once per day, you may cast speak with plants as the spell. (I know, a 3rd level spell at 1st level? It’s only one, and its the reason I added fire vulnerability back in)

Enjoy playing your plant people. 

[newwavedetectives]

That’s an excellent point and I wouldn’t have thought of it that way! A freeform system would be much better for players who don’t want to think as much about / deal with mechanics in a ttrpg and want more to explore roleplaying possibilities and concepts.

For a while, it was fashionable for systems to be as crunchy as possible and, at the time, 3e definitely felt less crunchy than, say, Alternity or Ninjas & Superspies or Champions, systems which could take nearly several hours just to generate your characters. 

However, 5e felt like too much of a swing in the other direction, that by streamlining the mechanics to make it more accessible, it flattened the game.

If you want to make a princess or a pirate or a diplomat or a disgraced noble, it can be difficult to make your character sheet actually reflect that character mechanically without DM intervention or by using other sourcebooks.

Sure, you could write down on your sheet that you were a princess in exile with extensive training in courtly manners and the fine art of persuasion, but in terms of actual feedback from the game, have fun with your measly +3.

A pirate born on the sea, who sailed her whole life, will have, mechanically, the same bonus to sailing checks as a landlubber mercenary with the same proficiency skill. It’s fine, and 5e is fun and stuff, but it doesn’t feel right.

And other, more flexible or freeform systems would definitely provide an alternative to that.

D&D's bad this and D&D's bad that. I just think it's time to admit that 5e sucks. 3rd edition was the best. Remains the best. You can make a character with +30 to basket weaving. You can make a character who's terrible at fighting but can talk her way out of anything. +8 to bluff at first level if you play your cards right. Can easily get to +20 in a few levels. She can sell salt to slug. Sure, she can't hit a broad side of a barn with a sharp stick but why bother when you can convince the evil henchmen you're the evil emperor's consort with the roll of a dice. You rolled a 10, that's 30 to diplomacy, sorry, looks like you're the DM now.

Can't do shit in 5e. Just try to make a talky character. Ooh great +3 to persuasion at level 10. Awesome. Oh I get advantage? Two opportunities to roll like shit. Great. Love this system where I don't get to pick skills and my paladin can't even detect evil

[sithisapproved101]

SkyrimVerse

Name : Ravenna Nightblade Pronouns : She/Her Birthday : 30th of Last Seed 4E 154 Age : 38 Winters old Race : Breton, sacrificial vampire Faction : Thieves Guild Profession : Thief, ex-assassin Physical Appearance : Female, 5'9", Dark blue eyes, inky black weaves Personality : Passive-aggressive, quiet, judgemental, selfish, patient, dominant, affective, cunning, over emotional, liar, kind Color Code : Blue

.

Name : Elrath Vyrndarie Pronouns : She/Her Birthday : 23rd of Rain's Hand 3E 156 Age : 28 Winters old Race : Altmer, Daughter of Coldharbour Faction : Dark Brotherhood Profession : Assassin Physical Appearance : Female, 6'8", icy grey/blood red eyes, trailing silver hair Personality : Manipulative, petty, vengeful, slightly psychopathic, lively, talkative, disloyal, cruel Color Code : Red

.

Name : Erothian Gaeus Pronoun : He/Him Birthday : 7th of Hearthfire 4E 150 Age : 42 Winters old Race : Altmer, Lich Faction : Bloodmoon Cluster Physical Appearance : Male, 6'5", golden eyes, light brown tresses Personality : Optimist, malicious, ambitious, playful, charming, maniacal, daring, eloquent, brutal, lazy Color Code : Orange

.

Name : Ayden Bloodshed Pronouns : He/Him Age : 25 Winters old Birthday : 9th of Midyear Race : Khajiit, Necromancer Faction : College of Winterhold Profession : Arch-Mage Physical Appearance : 5'8", violet eyes, brown Lynx Personality : Restless, clever, patient, odd, sly, spoiled, subtle, scholarly, social, demanding, diligent, enthusiastic Color Code : Purple

.

Name : Aine Bloodshed Pronouns : She/Her Birthday : 9th of Midyear Age : 25 Winters old Race : Khajiit, Necromancer Faction : College of Winterhold Profession : Arch-Mage Physical Appearance : 5'8", violet eyes, brown Lynx Personality : Self-centered, daring, prideful, resourceful, mischievous, cautious, eager, curious Color Code : Purple

.

Name : Drallis "Echo" Verdieu Pronouns : They/He Birthday : 1st of Morning Star Age : 27 Winters old Race : Nord, Shapeshifter Profession : The Last Dragonborn Physical Appearance : Male, 6'7", steel blue eyes, blond Personality : Adventurous, charismatic, envious, quirky, observant, persuasive, witty, sly Color Code : Silver

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Name : Aerethius Valeeur Pronouns : They/Them Birthday : 23rd of Rain's Hand Race : Daedric Prince of Elements  Physical Appearance (Angel form) : 4 main eyes, hundreds of smaller eyes as body, four wings, ribbon-like arm, halo with ten daggers and eyes Physical Appearance (humanoid) : Femme, 5'1, White eyes, black-brown ombre straight hair Color Code : White

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[tonal-modulator]

Meet the OC: Ildari Llothri

Role: Nerevarine, Hero of Kvatch

Race: Dunmer

Born: 13 Rain's Hand (The Mage) 3E 400 (26-27 at the time of Morrowind) (Note: 13th of Rain's hand is the Day of the Dead, at least in Daggerfall. From UESP: "The superstitious say that the dead rise on this holiday to wreak vengeance on the living.")

Class: Artificer (primarily an enchanter; officially a stealth focus, with strong magic influence)

(This bio was written before she defeated Dagoth Ur. I still have to take her through the Tribunal DLC, but I already started her Oblivion campaign because I have no patience and I’m just playing on the assumption that she has already done the Tribunal stuff by the time she gets back to Cyrodiil.)

Ildari was born in the Imperial City to Telvanni mages from Vvardenfell who had come to Cyrodiil in 3E 397 at the suggestion of their friend and former mentor. Said friend had made the trip a few years earlier in the hopes of broadening her horizons beyond the insular and at times old-fashioned Telvanni style of magic. While she had planned to spend a year at most in Cyrodiil, she found that there was much more to learn than she had expected, and ended up extending her stay indefinitely. Ildari's parents had just gotten married and were excited to start their lives together. As much as they loved Morrowind, they were also at times unsatisfied with their House's resistance to progress, and they were worried that it might not be the best place to raise kids if they should have any, because of the growing Blight and the way the Tribunal seemed to be growing weaker and less able to protect the people, and so they took their mentor's advice and moved to Cyrodiil.

They disappeared shortly after Ildari was born in 3E 400. The circumstances surrounding their disappearance were somewhat murky, at least to Ildari. No one seemed quite sure if they were arrested or killed—or, if they did know, they wouldn't tell her—only that it had to do with alleged "anti-Imperial activities." But from what Ildari could gather, while her parents may have had no love for the Empire, the accusations were unjust and based on stereotypes of Vvardenfell Dunmer (particularly Telvanni).

Her parents' friend who had invited them to Cyrodiil ended up raising Ildari as though she were her own child, and Ildari came to know her as her mother. She made sure Ildari received a good education with strong magical training, which was not difficult in the Imperial City, and that she had plenty of room to explore her interests.

But Ildari was at times concerned because of how little she knew of her own background. She had never been to Morrowind or seen its legendary mushroom towers. She spoke Dunmeris only on occasion and often substituted in Aldmeris words or constructions by accident. Although she (thankfully) wasn't so disconnected as to be raised to worship the Nine, she also had only a vague familiarity with the Tribunal from the occasional passing mention, often in the form of a malediction, and she likewise made no strong distinction between "good" and "bad" Daedra, instead being wary of all Daedra and believing it best to stay away from them altogether. She knew next to nothing about her biological parents; her mother preferred not to talk about them, claiming that to do so might attract unwanted attention. Ildari assumed that the preference really came more from her mother's deep sense of guilt for convincing her friends to come to Cyrodiil in the first place, but the concerns about attracting attention were also probably valid, and Ildari was definitely not going to push. After all, her mother had knowingly taken in the child of alleged enemies of the state, to whom she had close ties. They were most likely already under more scrutiny than they cared to imagine.

Ildari found that magic suited her interests well, although she also had a somewhat odd talent for influencing people. She wasn't even particularly comfortable talking to people, but they seemed willing to agree with her and follow her suggestions or requests to a degree that some found suspicious. In reality, she even found it a little unsettling herself. So she spent most of her time away from people, which suited her perfectly well, as it allowed her to pursue her interests in peace.

Then one day, a local mage was killed. Ildari didn't know him well; he studied at the Arcane University, and she had met him once or twice in passing, but they had never even had an actual conversation. Unfortunate as it was, everyone expected it to blow over quickly, until it became known that he was actually a Blades agent. Then the rumors began to fly, and Ildari, with her persuasive (now being called "manipulative") ways and traitor parents, found herself at the center of the suspicion.

Of course, she had no strong alibi, as she spent most of her time away from anyone who could vouch for her, and before she knew it, she was sitting in a cell in the Imperial City Prison. Then, a few months later, she was on a boat to the East, to Morrowind...

Naturally, she had no desire to work with the Empire on whatever it was that they were planning for her, and so when a mer waiting outside the Census and Excise office offered her an alternative, she was quick to take advantage of the opportunity. It also didn't hurt that the interested party was a Telvanni Master, as she figured this would be a good opportunity to finally get formally enrolled in the House she was born into.

She also joined the Tribunal Temple shortly after she arrived in Morrowind, mostly because she wanted to learn more about this land of her ancestors, and frankly, because she wanted to fit in. But she found herself more interested than she had expected in the history of the Tribunal, with almost a vague familiarity, as though she should know everything about them even before their apotheosis. It was a similar feeling that accompanied the nightmares she would occasionally have about the man in the golden mask (who she eventually learned was the evil immortal enemy of the Tribunal, Dagoth Ur).

Ildari didn't know what to think when she learned about the Nerevarine prophecies, much less that she supposedly might have the look of fulfilling them. Her skepticism was only alleviated somewhat by the third trial, when Azura spoke to her and called her the Nerevarine, and she was able to put on Moon-and-Star without dying. But even then, she remained uncertain, as it wasn't exactly easy or ethical to "prove" that the ring would kill everyone else.

Her meeting with Vivec was the turning point. The moment she saw hir floating there in the temple, the memories came flooding back with such intensity that she couldn't even see or feel her surroundings—Vehk had to come down from hir floaty perch and support her to keep her from falling. All at once, she was remembering her life as Nerevar, and her lives as all of the Incarnates before her (at least, the ones who were actually failed Incarnates, not just random people who had claimed to be them). She remembered Vivec, really remembered hir from her first life, and Almalexia—her wife, how could she have forgotten her wife?—and Sotha Sil, and Voryn Dagoth, and how much she loved them. She remembered the Tribunal's broken oath, how she had hoped beyond hope that their honor and their love for her would be strong enough to resist the pull of the profane tools, and how they may as well have smashed her heart with Sunder for how much it hurt, even from Moonshadow, but wishing Azura would have mercy all the same. And she remembered the first time she had to fight Voryn, the soul-wrenching feeling of taking up arms against him, how Trueflame trembled in her grip as she begged him to listen to reason, and it made his present campaign that much more painful, and more personal.

When her mind cleared up enough to process her environment, she realized she was sobbing into Vehk's shoulder. So many memories, so much life and emotion, it was hard to deal with all at once. Their meeting ended up lasting much longer than anticipated. She even ended up spending the night in an old and no-longer-used quarters in the temple, because they had so much to discuss and she had so much to process that it couldn't all be done in one sitting. (Really, they hadn't seen each other in well over 3,000 years; they had a lot of catching up to do.) By the time she left, they were both convinced of her role, and she had a new sense of purpose moving forward. This was no longer about faceless gods and vague legends and a secret dead House. It wasn't even about Azura, though she wouldn't dare say that out loud. It was personal. She had united the Dunmer as Hortator and Nerevarine, and now she would fulfill her duty. She would recover the Tools of Kagrenac, eat the sin of House Dagoth, face Voryn one final time, free the Tribunal from the Heart of Lorkhan and end the Blight on Morrowind.

But for all the grandeur of the legends, it didn't feel very heroic. To the people of Morrowind, the ALMSIVI were their immortal gods, receiving their worship and prayer for thousands of years. Dagoth Ur was a caricaturized figure of evil, more of a concept than a person. But to Ildari? To Nerevar? They were her closest friends. Dagoth Ur was her Voryn, her trusted advisor, her loyal friend. ALM, the Merciful Healing Mother, was her Ayem, her wife and her friend, at once noble, fierce, loving, and goofy. Their marriage may have been for political purposes, but their friendship was full of enough love to make up for it. SI, the Father of Mysteries, was her Seht, her friend and teacher, quiet, contemplative, patient, and incredibly caring. VI, the Warrior-Poet, was her Vehk, her friend and companion and protégé, buoyant, shrewd, and at times frighteningly discerning. They were her advisors, and she was their Hortator, their Neht—or maybe their Iya now—and she loved them all so much. Going on a campaign to defeat the Sharmat was one thing. But she was going off to kill one of her closest friends. Again. And in the process, the rest of her closest friends might just die too. Vehk assured her that they understood and were willing to take that risk, but they had had thousands of years to prepare. Was she willing to take that risk? Broken oath or no, they were all she had. She had just gotten them back, and now she had to accept that one was irredeemable, and the other three might also be lost, all over again.

That was just it, though. She had to accept it. She was Ildari, some mer born under a certain sign to uncertain parents who found her way to Morrowind through a series of misunderstandings, but she was also Indoril Nerevar, "Saint" Nerevar, Nerevar Moon-and-Star, hero of legend. The Tribes had named her Nerevarine, and the Houses had named her Hortator, and the people of Morrowind were relying on her to end the Blight. It was her duty and her destiny, and she would not let them down.

[ddcharacterideas-blog]

They've A whole lot of Similarities

In terms of roleplaying games, there are two titans that dominate: Dungeons & Dragons fifth Edition and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. They've a number of similarities, however each video games deliver one thing very totally different to the desk. Whether you’re an skilled gamer, or by no means touched a d20 before, here’s all the pieces you want to know to make the best alternative for you. They may seem like fierce competitors, however they have rather a lot in frequent. Everything that happens inside the game is set by your selections and varied dice rolls whereas the DM acts as referee and storyteller. As you play, your characters earn expertise factors and develop into extra highly effective to allow them to take on more challenging adventures. The sport was originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first printed in 1974. Wizards of the Coast has owned the property since 1997. D&D is one of the best-recognized and finest-promoting RPG on the market. Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Pathfinder can also be a fantasy-primarily based tabletop roleplaying game that's remarkably similar to D&D. Pathfinder Society is a bit more drop-in, drop-out pleasant than the D&D Adventurers League, and it’s not uncommon to play a session or two with a bunch that you just by no means see again. Games are normally organized at game or pastime retailers, and many conventions. You possibly can study more by downloading the free Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide PDF. They every have magic, elves, dragons, swords. Both have many common terms like charisma, armor class, ability checks. Both have equal opportunity for journey, combat, roleplaying, storytelling. Both use the same set of dice to determine checks, injury, and outcomes. Both have character sheets and a game master. 40. Lastly, each are highly regarded, and there’s lots of on-line and offline assist for them. 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D&D 5e Player's Handbook PDF got uncanny aim. • Whenever you've advantage on an attack roll, you'll be able to reroll one of the dice as soon as. You develop your magnetic personality to ease your method by means of the world. • You gain proficiency in the Deception and Persuasion skills. If you’re already proficient in both ability, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any examine you make with that skill. You can draw in your magical heritage to flee danger. • When you are taking injury, you should use a response to magically grow to be invisible until the top of your subsequent flip or until you attack, deal harm, or force someone to make a saving throw. Once you use this capability, you can’t accomplish that once more until you end a brief or long rest. Drawing on your fey ancestry, you've got learned the way to teleport. • You learn the misty step spell and might solid it as soon as without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast it in this way while you end a short or lengthy rest. The Centaurs and Sirrushes also speak the Elven and Draconic respectively. From here you are going to be taught in regards to the how many possible languages are there to beat your enemy with a new language. Here I am attempting to say you in regards to the languages record and from that languages, you may choose your language additionally you should use that language if you are in the battle or another interactions. 3. Once you decide up a distinct race, for ex: Half-Elf there you can entry more languages. If you choose up Half-Elf then the Dungeon Master offers you “Additional Languages To Learn”. With this process, “Your INT Score Is not going to Affect”. 8. Along with your “Dungeon Master Consent”, you'll be able to select a language from the “Exotic Languages Table”. From the above, you might learn the procedure to get more languages to your character. Once once more we're saying in regards to the linguistic system. You want to purchase a talking language talent from various abilities and you have to increase your ranges by studying extra dnd languages. At the purpose when players allude to D&D 2E, that is the amusement type they're alluding to. Once extra, it wasn’t until 10 years after the very fact, in 2000, that Cells and Winged serpents third Version, of D&D 3E, was discharged. This third launch was the largest correction of D&D rules, because it endeavoured to bind together the past Essential Set and Ad&D 2E diversion frameworks. D&D 5e Character Sheet PDF Fillable very helpful to all who're searching to study Dungeons and Dragons. This introduced a few solitary D&D diversion framework with an exceptionally complex association of guidelines. After three years, in 2003, Prisons and Winged serpents 3.5 was discharged as an endeavour to tidy up the amusement manages and streamline the framework. This is the very best D&D 5e character sheet ever, anyone can see basically. The individuals who need to spare time with out making personal character sheet.

[thydungeongal]

Not only that but it also betrays a very shallow understanding of what rules-mediated social gameplay might look like in an RPG even within the scope of just D&D itself! D&D 5e absolutely does have very bare bones social mechanics (there are some rules in the DMG, but they don't actually provide a lot of concrete guidance, and an uncharitable reading of the rules could easily lead one to conclude that by their game mechanical effects Deception, Intimidate, and Persuasion are basically just three different ways to achieve the same exact effects) and they absolutely are bare bones not only in the greater context of tabletop RPGs in general, but specifically D&D and similar fantasy adventure games. Like, both D&D 3e and 4e have deeper social interaction rules than 5e, and neither of those goes for "make a Charisma check to deal social damage to the target's social hit points."

So it's not just a very D&D-informed view of how to achieve mechanical depth, it's one that's unaware of similar mechanics in other editions of D&D and games within the family of "fantasy adventure games."

That @prokopetz post I just reblogged reminded me of a post I once saw on here, the thesis of which was something along the lines of "why do people criticize D&D for not having deep social mechanics? I can't see the point of having a system where characters, like, make social skill checks against a target's social defence to deal damage to their argument or something."

Part of the post was founded on an honest misunderstanding of one of my posts: I often criticize D&D for having very bare-bones support for social activities, but that's more a criticism of people who try to use D&D for meaningful social gameplay. D&D itself is fine, but if your purpose is to run a game where characters can actually make meaningful choices in social interaction supported by the mechanics, there are systems that support that type of gameplay much better than D&D.

But that framing of deep social mechanics as just a different coat of paint on what are basically combat mechanics does betray a point of view heavily informed by unexamined expectations set by D&D, which is something you may have seen me post a lot about recently, and I feel the anonymous asker who sent that question to prokopetz was also channeling that ("if we just rename the six stats in D&D and keep everything else it can totally tell stories besides fantasy combat").

[mariepascaleremy]

Nuit sainte du 26 au 27 déc. & jour 27 jusqu’à 17hrs - spiritualiser sa parole

Célébrons la 3e Nuit en méditant sur l'intérêt et bienveillance pour l'autre. Des paroles pleines de bonté se transmettent à l’âme de l’autre. Chaque mot contient une impulsion psychique et celle-ci est d’autant plus puissante que nous sommes portés par un idéal. Cet idéal, qui finalement sous-tend tout notre être, fait que nous imprimons à nos paroles la force de persuasion de notre âme et transmettons à l’autre ce que notre vie psychique ressent. La 3ème Nuit sainte nous nous élevons jusqu'aux archanges, en rapport avec la constellation du Capricorne et nous ensemençons mars à venir. http://www.mariepascaleremy.org