#3E-Wise

[midnightfangz]

It's hyperfixation o'clock, guess who's getting salty again that there aren't any worldbuilding fics about the Dark Brotherhood

[meanbossart]

Since Bhaal was a human before he ascended, and the dead three were introduced between 2-3e before some things became standardized as they are now, I like the idea of Bhaal just not knowing what most non-humans look like. He knows the general idea, but if your Durge is a tiefling for example, he’s not sure about like, the foot situation. Are they like human feet (plantigrade) or like imp feet (digitigrade) they have tails… but do they taper or have a tuft at the end. That sort of thing.

So to most people outside of Durge’s “race” they just sort of shrug it off cause that’s not a question you ask a stranger, but it just amps up the unease when surrounded by others.

I’m rambling a bit, I see a lot of active Durges and tbh I feel like there’s a missed angle in regards to the fact they are a bit of rotten god meat given form and sapience. You ever see a short film called the backwater gospel? That’s the vibe I’m imagining

I get what you mean and I do like the concept! I think it can pretty reasonably go both ways. Either a at-a-glance perfectly normal normal member of X species made that way to be more easily embraced into every-day society and blend into its population, or something more "off-brand" for one reason or another. Bhaal is a weird guy who makes weird decisions, you can bend a lot of things to make them work in your favor lore-wise.

Also, I can't really be given much credit for this decision. Do not be mistaken: beefy drow came first, lore came later. I made DU drow huge and gave him cool eyes because I felt like it and wasn't expecting to play this game for very long. It took me getting sucked into the story and sucked into DnD as consequence for me to even care about DU drow not looking anything like... Well, a drow, and deciding I needed to justify it within the story in some way.

The (rather vague) way I choose to think about it, is that wherever Bhaal's flesh happened to land/sprout/spawn into existence, it was bound to roughly imitate it's surroundings, however badly. Like planting a tree in a biome where it doesn't usually thrive and watching it desperately try to adapt and flourish regardless.

I also choose to believe Bhaal wanted his spawn to suffer and develop a healthy dose of misanthropy, which is why he put him somewhere where he was VASTLY more likely to perish - if he lived despite all odds, then he would know for sure he was worthy of being his progeny.

[talenlee]

3e: Winners and Losers In Lawful Space

Planescape is a silly place.

Dungeons & Dragons is a wholeheartedly silly game, and it’s important to remember that what makes it silly is an expansive growth out of a particular root. It is a tree of many branches but thanks to the way that it encourages people to build their own things on top of it, it has become a sprawling kind of folk narrative and generally accepted consensus material that then a company comes along and tries to augment and supplement. Still, as much as a corporate mind is at the head of what gets published, what gets handed to that corporation is going to derive from the mind of a dork who likes D&D. To that end, D&D’s lore is a constant push-pull between the kinds of nerds who like organising lists and the kind of nerds who like to invent new types of dragons they want to have sex with and they’re all trying to integrate one another’s material because that’s how nerds demonstrate mastery over a topic.

The result is that D&D lore is composed of parts that neatly and smoothly fit together and parts that should be airbrushed on the side of a van, and all subjects exist in a space between those two points, on a spectrum. And nowhere is this more evident than in the way that 2e’s setting Planescape introduced elements that 3rd edition tried to hide.

Planescape, as a setting, exists very close to the ‘airbrushed on a Van’ side of things, and it’s extremely obvious when you look at its roots in 2nd Edition. In this space, much of what makes Planescape Planescape was codified. For those of you unfamiliar, Planescape is a setting made up of the idea of ‘planes’ as distinct, discrete universes with their own rules separated not by time and space, but just by barriers or magical boundaries. You know how Narnia is supposed to work, with the wardrobe? It’s like that, but there are a lot more wardrobes and they all go to different places. Think a sort of multi-level Isekai scheme.

Anyway, it’s a setting with like, multiple whole universe-sized worlds, that may or may not have planets inside them, some of which follow a very narrow set of identifying rules, like the elemental plane of Fire, which is full of Fire, or are just like ‘here, but a bit weird,’ like Bitopia, which is a whole plane that is mirrored vertically at a certain height. If you look up in Bitopia, you see another whole country up there – that’s why it’s called that. Also everyone there is bisexual.

Planescape sought to build out more of that structured universe and then in each structured space, fill it with interesting notions. But the structure is a little odd, in that it’s hard to make an infinite number of chairs organise neatly, someone is always putting out one more where they shouldn’t. That means there are tidy diagrams of the Planar cosmology, and then you look inside any of the bubbles in that diagram and find it’s full of gibberish.

It was in 2e that, as far as I know, we were introduced world-wise, to the characters of the Modrons.

There’s a whole writing form that involves referring to Modrons in deliberately obtuse ways, with Modrons being the individual, plural, categorical, and utility terms for this people, but what you need to know about them is that Modrons are weird lil guys that are made out of a basic geometric shape – pyramid, cube, dodecahedron, all the way up to sphere (or down to sphere, depending on who you ask). They are truly perfect Lil Guys, a byproduct of a plane of true law and order which doesn’t in any way cohere to what humans (the people playing the game) necessarily assume about law.

They make a lot of sense in a storybook kind of way where you don’t need to have big answers for what they are or how they work or even how their philosophical bias towards pure lawfulness works. In the world of 2ed, where sometimes things that sound like they should be well explained, clear rules are kinda yada-yada-yada’d in a space that you might imagine is flavour text, the Modrons left a bunch of questions unanswered and seemingly, that was good. It was good that they were heavily ambiguous because what was the life cycle of ‘an orb?’ Any answer made them less mysterious and pushed them away from the oddness that they represented.

Anyway, 3e was an attempt by a serious company to do serious things and that’s why when they went back to talk about the Creatures That Lived In The Lawful Planes, they came up with the Inevitables.

Inevitables are the demons of small minds, writ large. Literally, the point of an Inevitable is to be a Lawful Neutral version of a Demon, an entity that exists purely based on rules, coalesced out of a world made of rules, and with nothing holding them back from expressing that. Each of the Inevitables is meant to respond to a rule in the universe and then enforce it. They are self-appointed near-immortal construct cops, and they’re meant to oppose things and people that break the rules that they, specifically, are meant to care about.

These rules are completely out of whack, though, because one of them is meant to enforce say, justice, another the inevitability of death and another, the way the desert is a fixed ecosystem that nobody should try and change or interact with. And in that case, there are a bunch of plants that the Inevitables are going to have issues with, that don’t seem to be capable of forming complex political allegiances.

There’s a really interesting distinction between Inevitables and Modrons, to me. Modrons are weird and interesting but also, there’s nothing they can do that answers a question. Inevitables are a fun challenge that’s supposed to be present to oppose players or potentially be recruited into an adventure, but not for too long. But Inevitables, the 3e attempt to populate Lawful Planes with A Kind of Guy, sort of fell apart and are now more of a trivia question while Modrons have endured into 4th and 5th edition.

I don’t think there’s some greater, better reason for it or anything. I don’t think that Inevitables failed because they were Bad Design or something. But I do think that for me, the way that Modrons represented Weirdness was much more interesting than the ways the Inevitables sucked weirdness away with their simple, clear consideration of certain things as being part of natural reality.

After all: Inevitables would hunt down people who extended their lifespans because ‘everyone must die.’ But Inevitables were immortal. That’s a pretty interesting thing to juxtapose and maybe a character could struggle with that.

Or maybe they could make a big speaking trumpet and demand that everyone else refer to them as a Spokesmodron which is, in my opinion, much funnier.

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

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Gwydion

Domain: Arak/the Shadow Rift Domain Formation: 575 BC; became the Shadow Rift in 740 BC Power Level:💀💀💀💀💀 Sources: The Shadow Rift (2e) , Gazetteer V (3e)

Though the Shadow Fey twins Loht and Maeve are the rulers of the Shadow Rift, it is the unseen Gwydion (aka The Sorcerer Fiend aka The Twilight) that earns the title of Darklord of this Domain. Gwydion’s true form is unfathomable, cloaked in shadows, squirming tentacles, cloven hooves, eyestalks and pretty much anything you can throw into one eldritch monster.

Gwydion’s past is as obscured in shadows as Gwydion himself. Legends say he was the spawn of the Plane of Shadow, forming out of it like pus from an overgrown boil. Others say he was once a lord of the Abyss, but so great was his power that the other Abyssal lords united in order to banish him into the Plane of Shadow. It is always wise to remember that legends are told and maintained by those that hold power and though there may be some truth in these tales, the whole truth has yet to be uncovered. There is no denying the immense, near god-like power Gwydion holds. A pity he cannot lift a single tentacle to use it these days. Gwyidion drew the ellefolk into the Plane of Shadows for he required subjects to obey, adore, and respect him. For what is it to rule without adoration? To subjugate them to him, Gwydion infused the ellefolk with darkness from his realm and transformed them into the Shadow Fey. The first born of the Shadow Fey were the Erlking’s children, Loht and Maeve.

Gwydion named the Erlking, Arak, as his seneschal and commanded the Shadow Fey to create a massive Obsidian Gate so he could travel to other worlds and conquer new people and lands. Gwydion’s reasoning for doing so amount to a massive ego and extreme boredom. Fear drove the Shadow Fey to abide by their Master’s commands. Secretly, however, with Arak leading them, they plotted against Gwydion. After centuries of work, the Obsidian Gate was complete and Gwydion directed his armies to pass through it to begin his subjugation of whatever world lay beyond. Foolish, really, to plan to lay siege against the unknown, but for a near god, Gwydion does not possess much in the way of foresight.

As they passed through the gate, Gwydion began to realize it was not his armies, but the Shadow Fey under the illusionary magic of their mages and they were escaping him in mass. Descending upon his wayward people, Gwydion found his path blocked by Arak who had donned his Regalia. This Regalia is made up of nine different magical items and granted Arak enough power to stand against Gwydion until the last of his people fled through the gate, but not nearly enough to defeat him. It also grants the one wearing the Regalia the power to open the Obsidian Gate. For a brief moment, Arak found an opening and pushing Gwydion backwards, Arak ran to the gate. But just as Arak was inches away from his own freedom, Gwydion disintegrated the Erlking with a blast of energy. Though Arak did not survive to make it through the gate, his Regalia did.

The Regalia landed at the feet of Maeve and Loht. Loht was overcome with fear at his father’s demise, but Maeve held her ground and sealed the Gate before Gwydion could escape.

Despite all his power, Gwydion is mostly impotent; stuck in a vast nothingness between worlds. Though he has shown himself capable of influencing the Shadow Fey from his prison within a prison.

He influenced the events that led to Tristessa’s death and the Scourging of the Arak. He influenced Prince Loht of the Unseelie Court to believe his father was still trapped within the Obsidian Gate. When Loht opened the gate, Gwydion nearly escaped before Arak’s Crown was thrown within sealing Gwydion away once more. He almost escaped again during the Grand Conjunction, which resulted in his Domain pushing G'henna and Markovia out of The Core and the Arak becoming the Shadow Rift

If Gwydion was ever to escape it may make the ramblings of Bastion Teodorus Raines of the Church of Ezra in Nevuchar Springs, whom I’ve mostly ignored, make some sort of sense. Could Gwydion’s coming be the start of the Time of Unparalleled Darkness? Perhaps but I am far more interested in this Gate of his that sits on the footsteps of my Domain.

[thecreaturecodex]

Zap Kraken

Image © Turtle Rock Studios

[Sponsored by Soluman Blevins. The second of the Evolve monsters I've done, other than the warpwraith. Mechanically, the Kraken is interesting, but design wise, it's a little drab. Because it's just a Cthulhu. The lightning bolt wings are a cool touch, but otherwise, it's very much a Cthulhu. And in a game that already has Cthulhu and his star-spawn, I wanted to differentiate it a bit. So I tied it to one of my favorite one-shot weirdo monsters from the 3e era.]

Zap Kraken CR 16 CE Aberration This immense creature has a roughly dinosaur-like body and the head of a colossal cephalopod. A vertical maw stretches between its beard of tentacles, and two large jointed appendages grow from its back and crackle with electricity. Its long tail is segmented like the vertebral column of a great beast.

Zap krakens are rare aberrant creatures that use electrical energy for both offense and mobility. Although they are enormous, they fly with surprising grace by manipulating electricity, essentially creating wings of lightning that hold them aloft. They are remarkably stealthy for their size, and can sneak up on prey from above before dropping to melee or merely blasting away with channeled lightning bolts.

Zap krakens are territorial, and maintain their territory by creating banshee mines, so called for the shriek of their explosions. These mines home in on creatures that get too close, and the zap kraken can also visit them to see what it has seen, similar to a prying eyes spell. Although zap krakens typically view other creatures as prey first and foremost, they have a mutual fondness for zeugalaks. Both species have tentacled maws and an affinity for electricity, and sages speculate that they are related to each other. A zap kraken often views zeugalaks the way a nobleman views their prized hunting hounds, using them to flush out prey or occupy melee combatants. 

Zap Kraken CR 16 XP 76,800 CE Gargantuan aberration Init +7; Senses blindsense 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +17

Defense AC 30, touch 14, flat-footed 22 (-4 size, +7 Dex, +1 dodge, +16 natural) hp 225 (18d8+144) Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +15 DR 10/magic; Immune cold, electricity; SR 26

Offense Speed 50 ft., fly 100 ft. (good) Melee 2 claws +18 (2d6+8), tentacles +17 (4d4+8), 2 wings +16 (2d6+4 plus 1d6 electricity) Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft. (30 ft. with tentacles) Special Attacks banshee mines, lightning strike, shock pulse

Statistics Str 26, Dex 24, Con 28, Int 11, Wis 19, Cha 19 Base Atk +16; CMB +28; CMD 46 Feats Blind-fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Hover (B), Mobility, Multiattack, Stand Still, Weapon Focus (claw) Skills Acrobatics +20 (+28 when jumping), Fly +21, Intimidate +17, Perception +17, Stealth +16, Survival +17; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth Languages Aklo

Ecology Environment warm hills Organization solitary or band (1 plus 1-4 zeugalaks) Treasure standard

Special Abilities Banshee Mines (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can create up to three animated mines. Treat these as the eyes generated by the prying eyes spell, only when a creature approaches within 30 feet of them (all creatures or of a type set by the zap kraken on creation), they fly towards that creature and explode. Treat this as a ranged touch attack using the zap kraken’s modifiers (+19 for a typical specimen). If it hits, the creature struck takes 4d6 points of electricity damage and 4d6 points of sonic damage. Whether the mine hits or not, it explodes, dealing this damage in a 5 foot radius (Reflex DC 23 halves). A zap kraken knows when one of its mines has detonated as long as it is within 1 mile of the mine. A zap kraken can create up to nine mines a day, but can have a maximum of three in existence at a time. The save DC is Charisma based. Lightning Strike (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can call down a bolt of lightning within 160 feet. It fills a column 60 feet high with a 20 foot radius, dealing 16d8 points of electricity damage to all creatures in the area (Reflex DC 23 halves). A zap kraken can use this ability once every 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma based. Shock Wave (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can release an electrical pulse in a 60 foot radius centered on its body. All creatures in the area take 16d4 points of electricity damage and are pushed back 10 feet. A successful DC 27 Reflex save halves the damage and resists the knockback effect. A zap kraken can use this ability every other round. The save DC is Constitution based.  Tentacles (Ex) The tentacles of a zap kraken are treated as a single primary natural weapon

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

It'll still be a few months, gotta finish this tournament after all, but I want time to prep. Monsters of the Multiverse is just Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and Volo's Guide combined, usually even using the same art which is why they aren't there. Though I did scan them for differences, and will post both book's art on the rare occasion they differ. If something laser-focused like Fizban's Dragons or Bigby's Giants wins I'm swapping between it and something else. Maybe every other week, maybe a weekday/weekend scenario, but I don't want to do just one monster for a couple months. If this changes your vote but you clicked before you read, just let me know in a comment or ask and I'll change it after the poll ends. ...and yes, the PF2e Bestiary has more eligible creatures than that stat wise, but I can only use the creatures with a picture. Leaves out some elementals :/

[paperanddice]

Just a random off the cuff from going over a bunch of previous edition D&D monster books, but 4e had probably the best expanded monster manual devils. There's usually lots of passable to good demons people come up with, but devils seem to be a more difficult prospect. Just going through some examples we get:

3.0 Monster Manual 2: 8 demons, 3 devils. I'd argue that the demons are mostly so-so, the abyssal maw is pretty good and probably the only one to be carried over to future books, but at least the jovoc and palrethee have some interesting ideas, and most of the others at least aren't bad. Meanwhile, two of the devils are just awful. At least the malebranche made its way into 4e.

3.5 Monster Manual 3: 2 demons, no devils. The arrow demon feels like a devil in design, it's so weird to have a mid tier demon who's identity revolves around wielding weapons and strict military combat strategy.

3.5 Monster Manual 4: 4 demons and the demonhive as an extended Abyssal stat block, again no devils. Not the most beloved batch again, none of these ones carried forward as far as I know, but at least the demons are getting more stat blocks at all.

3.5 Monster Manual 5: 5 demons, 3 devils. At least the devils get some stat blocks this time, but the demons absolutely won in terms of quality. The adaru, draudnu, and solamith all have some solid designs, and solamith have made some appearances since. Meanwhile the gulthir is just kind of horrendous, and the stitched devil isn't actually a proper devil type and is just the creation of night hags.

4e Monster Manual 2: 15 demons, 7 devils. Numbers are still much more in the demon's favor, but design wise I think the devils are overall superior. One demon and one devil are just members of the main batches for each type that didn't show up in the first book (dretch and erinyes), but the demons get stuff like two runespiral demons, one just a higher level version of the other, it has to fill in with the nycademon, which was usually a yugoloth but they just lumped yugoloths into the demons for 4e, and overall most of the demons are less interesting than the devils. Though they do get the pod demon, so lots of points for that, love that one.

4e Monster Manual 4: 7 demons, 8 devils. First time in a suppliment monster manual we've had more devils than demons, how wild. Plus, the demons have to be filled in with the babau, nalfeshni, quasit, and the ultrodaemon (last one is a yugoloth). The maw demon makes its return from 3.0 though, so that was nice. Technically there's 2 maw demons, but one is just a leveled up version of the other (okay, fine, one extra action as well), so I'm not counting it as unique. And if I did, I'd probably have to count the 6 minions for the corruption devil, the upleveled version of the corruption devil, and both hellwasp devils, which would just put the devils further ahead. This also brings in two of my favorite devils from 4e, the rage devil and the vizier devil. Just overall a great showing for devils.

There isn't a real point to this rant, it's just kind of interesting how the design space of 4e was so much better for devils than 3.0/3.5. Stat blocks being more condensed and focused probably helped, but they could have padded out so many of the 3e era books with way more devils and demons (and they absolutely did with some of the other supplements, stuff like the Fiendish Codex books and the infinite monsters in Sandstorm, Frostburn, and all the other random books. I'm not going to go over every single book from these two eras to compare every single demon and devil, but I just find the contrast in the main monster books very interesting.

[vhstown]

spider-teens ★ D&D HEADCANONS

— hobie, gwen, miles, pavitr (+ peter b & mayday!)

warnings: d&d jargon (there's definitions at the end if you're curious), shenanigans, miles being a NERDDD, a lil shorter than usual

a/n: how id imagine these lot playing d&d!!! ive only played / ran 5e so forgive me veteran players 😭 again feel free to add / disagree w me it's all in good fun

If MILES doesn't run the game, he plays a warlock for sure. Not because it fits him personality wise but because he wants to be a magic user but also not be held back by it. My man is thinking STRATEGY and takes every opportunity to geek out about the specifics of his abilities. He also definitely has a ridiculously fleshed-out backstory he's kind of too embarrassed to tell anyone about.

Either warlock or the nerd multi-classes and it confuses the hell out of EVERYONE... I feel like he tries a lot of the classes though so warlock is kind of a starting point when he's playing with his spider friends (he defo played fighter or sorcerer in the past)

Miles is the one who gets everyone together though (and jumps through universes to make sure everyone's on time 😭 he will NOT tolerate scheduling issues)

Peter B runs a lot of their games except he used to play 3e or Pathfinder back in the day (nerd...) so Miles is just like... gritting his teeth a little whenever Peter misses a little detail or a skill check. He probably used to play in high school / college I mean come on...

Speaking of Peter B OF COURSE he lets Mayday roll the dice. The entire party could depend on that roll and she's rolling it and everyone is TENSE (And he tries not to let her eat the dice... Tries.)

HOBIE plays a barbarian or rogue. He'd play a barbarian just for the hell of it (sounds cool) and would most definitely carry everyone by total accident because he's like... the only one alive.

Rogue also for the hell of it cause stealing is rebellious and that 😭 Though if he does play a rogue his character becomes one of the most unintentionally complex characters in the game.

Hobie would figure out the entire plot of the adventure completely by accident and Peter just laughs awkwardly and goes "You'll just have to find out next session!" and maybe dies inside (but it's not like he prepares for his sessions anyway 💀)

Absolutely crits at the most ridiculous times and derails the whole campaign because he decided to interrogate a minor political figure and now they're destabilising the region's government instead of fighting dragons

And he accidentally becomes the leader of like the whole village and maybe starts a revolution and Peter is sat there lips pressed together hands pressed together elbows on table like "...I guess that happens then."

Might cheat a little bit. Just a little. Not enough to ruin the campaign but enough to have Peter sweating 💀 A lil strand of web under his dice hurt nobody right? (Those goblins are DEAD dead)

Miles is gob-smacked and definitely a little jealous of him 😭

PAVITR originally wants to play a fighter because that sounds... cool as hell BUT when Miles explains the bard class to him he takes it and runs

I'd say Pavitr is relatively new to the game as are Hobie and Gwen but he hones in on the roleplay (not as seriously as Miles but definitely participates)

Probably leads the group and goes head-first into danger (Miles is literally pissing himself) and his character probably knows loads of languages cause he just conveniently picked a race with very useful languages for the adventure (as per Miles' suggestion)

But he goes out-of-character more than once to go "WTF????" when he doesn't manage to rizz up an NPC and they're have to roll for initiative (attempts to be a pacifist)

The goat when it comes to fights though he plays such a good supporting character and if he were to die everyone would totally be finished 😭🙏

GWEN plays either a monk or a wizard. I feel like she doesn't particularly mind but she plays wizard for a little bit before realising that she doesn't really like the magic stuff? Goes for monk and it's a lot simpler and more fun

More of an observer but is helpful when it comes to investigating areas and carries like EVERY item possible: potions, magical items, 20 rocks for some reason. Bag of holding girlie (like how she holds that trauma she has in real li—)

Has THE coolest weapons. Because her character can't rely on magic she's constantly upgrading or getting new weapons and her unique monk abilities come in handy again when exploring!!!

Totally makes fun of Miles (endearingly!) And maybe points out a plot hole in his backstory and he wants to curl up into a ball and disappear for a good minute (he rethinks his entire character for 2 nights straight)

Has an NPC she would protect with her LIFE. Barmaid at the inn? Anything for you sweetums 😁😁😁 *trips over and dies*

That's all given if they have an actually functional game... It takes them probably about like a year to finish a one-shot adventure

But it is SO worth the memories (albeit very chaotic memories.) Even when they're arguing over a roll (usually Hobie's) or someone's character has literally died they make it work through the power of friendship...! And a broken table

These guys are crazy I love them

"Embrace the chaos is the mood for tonight's session. AKA you guys are screwed... Roll initiative."

"What the hell?!"

"Don't swear in front of the kid!"

Jargon!

Campaign: A world containing one set of characters where different adventures take place

Dungeon Master / DM: The person who creates the story and runs the game

Skill check: Rolling a die to see if you've passed or failed a certain skill when performing an action (for example charisma when trying to persuade somebody)

Crit: Critical hit. When you roll a 20 on a 20-sided die. You deal loads of damage in a fight basically.

NPC: Non-playable character. Any characters who aren't the players within the universe. Controlled by the DM.

Initiative: The roll you have to make before a fight to decide the order of turns. "Roll initiative" means "you guys are in a fight now!!!! lmao!!!!"

🕸️🕷️💫

thank you for reading my insane midnight rant LMAOOO

i haven't played d&d in like 2 years so apologies if anything is diabolically wrong here 💀would love to hear your thoughts!

reblogs appreciated <3 read the rest of my atsv stuff here!

[thecartonizer]

Reblog this post with three ttrpgs you feel like are obscure or/and not nearly played enough/havent played yet, i will start:

1)risus the anything rpg

more of a system than a game but if could summarize it in a sentence it would be "funny simple stickfigure game" and it is! It uses mostly d6 die, but behind its simplicity lays tons of optional rules to Spice it up!, and (aside from the risus companion, which i highly recommend buying just for its gm insights and further optional rules alone) the best part is that its FREE

2) killsector

Killsector is a very big game feature wise, you and your friends play as gladiators in a arena filled with enemies and at the end, a final boss to fight against, the best part? Your character is highly custumizable, you start with usually 10 points worth of point buy functions scattered around the core book and its supplements, these can include your body type, weapons, mutations and all sorts of crazy stuff, letting you play as pretty much anything you mind can conjure up! The other best part? The core rulebook and it's supplements? FREEEEEEE

3)nobilis 3e

Probably the most obscure out of the list (and the only one i havent gotten around to playing a game of!) , if you ever read or watched sandman you will probably be familiar with it's premise: you and your friends play as anthromorphomorfic personifications of concepts,ideas and stuff! The end goal? Mostly to fuck around in other dimensions and earth, using your powers for mundane or weird stuff and overall having a great (or terrible) time!

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Tell me all about your favorite oc

Helloo!

Obviously, this one's going to be about my Nerevarine because I can't get enough of Josh. So ramblings and art.

I still maintain that he's a bit of a blend with both the Nerevarine and the Dragonborn DLC follower but really he's become his own thing at this point.

I write Josh across two major timelines, both his start in Morrowind and 200 years later just before the start of the Dragon Crisis. It's an interesting way for me to explore his character since I write both my main fics simultaneously. He's very different given 200 years worth of baggage vs 57 years worth of it. Having said that:

General outline

Name: Ensirhaddon-Sero Teldryn am'Urshilaku

Race: Dunmer- half Ashlander

Height: 181 cm

D.O.B: 28th Evening Star, 3E 370 (Age 57 at the start of Sleepers Awake, age 266 by the start of Serious Mistakes.)

Teldryn's childhood is a tumultuous one, detailed here. Though the cliff notes are: Born in Cyrodiil to very young parents, his father exits the picture when he was quite young and his mother is left to raise him. They end up moving to Blacklight for a few years and later to Suran before Teldryn gets caught up with the Camonna Tong, leading to his eventual arrest and lengthy prison sentence in Cyrodiil.

Teldryn's personality could best be explained as "Sad, angry rat man" he has a tendency to start conflict at any opportunity just as a defence mechanism. It was easier to wail on an asshole who rubbed him the wrong way in prison and it takes him a lot of self-control to not lash out at every opportunity.

The main thing about Josh is he can't be told what to do, he's pathologically opposed to demands on the most basic level. It's why most of his work with the Blades was done under duress. He didn't want to work for them and being forced to had him madly chewing at his own leg just to get away.

In a way, he ends up chewing his own leg off only to still end up in the same place. Broken and desperate to piece himself back together. Taking down the Sharmat took everything from him and he develops a serious substance abuse problem in the years following. It causes a lot of his issues in the following centuries.

Aside from drinking to forget time exists, what Josh likes to do when left to his own devices is researching the Dwemer. He stumbles over a very important stele on a job early in his career and manages to finish his transliteration of Hanging Gardens sometime between the Oblivion Crisis and Red Year. He ends up publishing under an Altmeri pseudonym and hopes that his thesis on the Dwemeri script will be accepted in Cyrodiil and Summerset. Of course, then the Empire starts to collapse and he never sees his work published. Or he thinks he won't. It starts turning up as a mistranslated version 200 years later.

When he's not waist-deep in Dwemer scrap and thesis writing, then Josh is probably out training. He has a chip on his shoulder about a lack of formal training magic-wise. Mostly due to circumstance, but he has had a lot of instruction in swordplay and martial arts. He got into martial arts in particular as a way to help him rebuild his strength and balance when he was recovering from Corprus. He lost a lot of muscle due to wasting and, of course, the parts of him that had to be amputated as a result of the tumours.

Josh wears a toe and partial foot prosthesis that he designed himself out of Dwemer scrap that he modifies as he goes along. He eventually ends up fashioning himself a type of exoskeleton brace after a series of severe injuries left his right leg lame. He usually uses crutches or a stick to help him walk around his home but rarely allows others to see him that vulnerable- the group of people who have seen him with his cane are the same ones who have seen him without his mask in the 4th Era. (It's a very small group).

Josh has a bit of a vigilante streek and ends up garnering a name for himself amongst Vvardenfell's liberation circles. He's opposed to the concept of slavery in any form and ends up joining the more front facing branch of Twin Lamps. Most of his motivation is personal, his time in the Camonna Tong was not by choice and he refuses to let them continue their operations. Vengeance for him is a very powerful motivator. His elimination of the Camonna Tong’s hierarchy in the late 3rd Era garnered him some powerful enemies that continue to pursue him into the 4th Era.

Josh does eventually "settle down" in the traditional sense for a time after the Dragon Crisis is dealt with by his now wife, Sydari Aralen, the Last Dragonborn. They have a daughter and two sons together. Josh does have other kids outside this relationship, one from when he was a teenager, Adren, who owns the Hlaalu farm outside of Windhelm with his husband, Belyn Hlaalu. His relationship with him is complicated, but they are often estranged. His other daughter, a half Imperial mage, he never meets during her lifetime. Though she knows her father was the fabled Nerevarine, and passes this knowledge on to her children. It makes for an awkward conversation with his younger daughter, Vyna later. He needs to dance around the fact that he got around often and irresponsibly before she was born.

Hes been married twice, his first lasted for the duration of his quest against Dagoth Ur (about three years) and ends tragically. Erra, his husband is a fairly big character story wise. He was considering marrying Jiub just before the Oblivion Crisis hit...we all know how that goes. He hasn't been lucky in this department and with Hermaeus Mora lurking about, he might lose his wife too.

Hes not a happy sort, but he treds water.

Below is him as his Vigilante persona, the first one he ever chose for himself.

[sistersorrow]

Due to nearly daily power outages and dropping out of college, I've had a lot more free time this year, so I decided I'd read more this year, and here's a list of the things I read either partly or to completion (I'm including ttrpg sourcebooks, comics, and fanfics cause I feel like it)

Jerusalem by Alan Moore

The Fifth Science by Exurb1a

Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

False Gods by Graham McNeill

Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter

Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow

Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon

The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson

Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C Yee

The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C Yee

The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C Yee

The Legacy of Yangchn by F.C Yee

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Dreadnought by April Daniels

Sovereign by April Daniels

The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean

The Corpus Hermeticum

RWBY: Scars by Doneesses

The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien

The Prague Cemetery by Eco Umber

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

The Bible Repairman by Tim Powers

Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith

The Gods of Pegana by Lord Dunsany

Time and the Gods by Lord Dunsany

Welcome to the NHK by Tasuhiko Takimoto

What If? by Randall Munroe

TTRPGs I read books for:

Eclipse Phase

Exalted (2e and 3e)

Lancer

Nobilis (2e and 3e)

Numenera

Ponyfinder

Unknown Armies (1e, 2e, and 3e)

World of Darkness (Old and Chronicles)

Continuum, Roleplaying in the Yet

Broken Worlds

Comics and Manga I read this year:

A Study Emerald by Rafael Scavone, Rafael Albuquerque, and Dave Stewart

Alters by Paul Jenkins and Leila Leiz

All the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra comics

Black Hole by Charles Burns

Giant Days by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal

The Unbelievable Gwenpool by Christopher Hastings, Gurihiru, Danilo Beyruth, Iren Strychalski, Myisha Haynes, and Alti Firmansyah

Gwenpool Strikes Back by Leah Williams and David Baldeon

I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young

Irredeemable by Mark Waid, Peter Krause, Diego Barreto, and Eduardo Barreto

Jem and the Holograms by Kelly Thompson, Sophie Campbell, Emma Vieceli, and Corin Howell

Judas by Jeff Loveness and Jakub Rebelka

Kill 6 Billion Demons by Tom Bloom

Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

The Woods by James Tynion V and Michael Dialynas

The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jaime McKelvie

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Craped Crusader by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert

Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms by Crystal Fraiser and Val Wise

Okko by Hub

Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Inside Mari Shuzo Oshimi

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Draga Salt-Biter

Domain: Saragoss Domain Formation: 728 BC Power Level: 💀💀💀⚫⚫ Sources: Islands of Terror (2e), Ravenloft 3rd Edition (3e)

Draga Salt-biter is a wereshark who despises sharks and the Darklord of Saragoss, a Domain of ship wrecks barely kept afloat on a massive mat of saragasso seaweed. Lurking beneath the surface is a thick kelp forest and nearly opaque waters infested with sharks, barracuda, and countless dangers. One can walk across the saragasso mat, but there are countless weak points that are constantly shifting and falling through is a sure way to meet an early demise.

Unlucky sailors find themselves pulled into Saragoss after encountering a ghost mist surrounded by mist on whatever sea they happen to be sailing upon. After a storm that nearly destroys their vessel, they find themselves stuck in the saragasso with a ship that can no longer sail and surrounded by distrusting crews of other vessels. Life in Saragoss is about survival and stealing whatever one can to get out as quickly as possible, but as soon as one crew leaves, another is pulled in.

Draga was born in the Sword Coast to two abusive sailors. Though he held a deep hatred for his parents, he loved the Sea of Stars on which they sailed. The wind on his face and the salt on his tongue was his only pleasure and he left his home as soon as he was able.

Out in the high seas, the ship Draga boarded was invaded by pirates. The young boy hid as the pirates slaughtered everyone on board. Pirates are known for…well, pirating, but Draga must not of thought about that detail when he hid amongst the cargo. He was easily found and the pirates decided it would be good fun to drive a hook through his calf and drag him behind the ship as shark bait.

They let a few sharks nibble on him before reeling him back aboard and deciding to keep him. One of the sharks that bit him happened to be a wereshark. So, not only did Draga develop a deep fear of sharks that day, but also became a wereshark.

Draga spent a few years with the pirates, learning their ways, including the religion of Umberlee. If you’re unfamiliar with this so-called deity, Umberlee is a sea goddess worshiped by those that sail the seas and are petrified of her destructive powers.

Draga ensured the death of the ship’s chaplain and took his place as the religious leader among the pirates who had tortured him when he was a child. He stewed for years, letting them think he held no ill well against them as the mastered his lycanthropy, then carried out his revenge.

He damaged the ship’s hull with his shark teeth, then slaughtered the entire crew, ensuring that those who used him as shark bait were given the same treatment. Though, Draga did not reel these pirates back in, but let the sharks eat them.

Draga moved on, sailing the seas as the Captain of the Vengeance and became one of the most ruthless pirates on the Sword Coast. After a particularly blood day of pirating to celebrate the last year of his 20s, the Dark Powers decided to give Draga a gift and in a thick roll of fog, Draga, his crew, and the Vengeance were all brought into Sargasso, the ship imprisoned just as much as Draga was in a thick bed of seaweed.

While exploring his new Domain, Draga discovered a horrifying reality. Even in his human form, he could only breath while submerged in the sea. As it goes with most were creatures, Draga lost himself in a fit of rage and when he came to, he had killed most of his own men and destroyed the Vengeance which sank before his eyes.

Draga thinks of sharks as “trash fish” and want nothing to do with the animals. Now, I know a lot of us Darklords have self-hate issues, but Draga may take the prize for this. Draga keeps to his human form as often as he can, paranoid that he will, eventually, be nothing more than the sharks he despises.

Power wise, he is able to control the sea creatures within his Domain and he can summon sharks to his side. If he is ever destroyed, his essence is divided into all the sharks of his Domain. This creates a strange ritual in which each shark attacks the others to absorb a piece of Draga and this continues until there is only one shark left and that sharks becomes Draga. This process takes a mere week to complete. If only I had land-eating sharks in Darkon perhaps my own resurrection would not have taken 5 years to complete…

Draga is a powerful opponent and best left alone under the sea. Though, perhaps if you just flash a mirror at him when he’s in his shark form, he’ll be disgusted enough to flee. 3/5 stars.

[transbee]

i just it wanted to look up some firbolg lore but apparently none of you like to have fun

[imsobadatnicknames2]

That's... Not really true tho. Or, well, it's true but only if the older editions you're taking as your comparison point only go as far back as 3e/3.5e, which WAS very rules-heavy, bc otherwise there were several older editions that were significantly lighter on mechanics compared to modern D&D.

I have a bit of a reputation for being a D&D hater on here, but I'm actually a big fan of the Basic D&D line from the 80's, and particularly the B/X D&D set from 1981, which I consider to be significantly more streamlined in terms of mechanics compared to 5e. The whole set is barely 1/4 of the length of the 5e core rulebook set, character creation is short and sweet compared to modern editions, initiative in combat is rolled by sides rather than by each character, which significantly streamlines combat, useless annoying mechanics like spell components are nowhere to be seen...

It does have a couple of weird old-school quirks that might seem a little bit clunky in hindsight, like how AC basically works backwards (higher AC makes you easier to hit, lower AC makes you harder to hit), and there are some mechanics that haven't aged quite that well (like how it streamlined character creation by making nonhuman races into classes), but overall mechanics-wise it's a much shorter, simpler, and more accessible ruleset compared to 5e, and basically the only edition of D&D I play regularly. Plus, Basic Fantasy is a very good retroclone of it that has basically the exact same mechanics but getting rid of the weird quirks I mentioned, such as Race-as-class and descending AC (and it's also completely free)

Wait, are you saying that homebrewing is bad?

much like modding, it's not bad and can be good and wonderful -- but if you need to do it for the game to be fun or functional then the game is bad

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

as another another person with adhd and autism tbh, i can see all of the kids from 3-E being neurodivergent in some way. but i feel like adhd wise koro-sensei has the most traits of any of the characters lmao

You see I'm ABSOLUTELY down with that Korosensei headcanon. Lines such as 'if you kill people they die' or whatever it is he says is incredibly adhd of him if we're honest.

I think some of the 3E kids could be ND, though I'm not sure all. Like I don't know, if I had to draw 'neurotypical' it would probably be a picture of Isogai. But hey, opinions are opinions!

[thecreaturecodex]

Psurlon

Image by Tony DiTerlizzi, © TSR Inc.

[It’s amazing what an image can do. I never cared much for the psurlons in 3e--it always seemed to me like they were wannabe illithids, and mind flayers were much more interesting. It didn’t help that 3e stripped off their origin story, making them just another underground aberration (but in deserts this time, as if a cargo cult reminder of Dark Sun). The 3.5 version in Lords of Madness was decidedly stronger mechanically, and its image was an improvement over the truly sad Monster Manual II rendition, but they still never jumped out at me. But this image! This takes a mere monster and makes it into an alien sage! Those weird pincer hands, straight from the Cambrian! Putting clothes on these guys totally changes their look and feel, and I like this much better.

Incidentally, 4e did alright mechanically by the psurlons, although it kept their 3.5 look. In the 4e version of Dark Sun, psurlons were completely unbodied by their attempt to psychically master their physiology, and possessed astral worms in order to take their current form. Reminiscent of the Great Race of Yith, and a neat idea, but I prefer to think that they were always hideous worm beasts.

Although I have simplified the “psurlon adept” to a variant instead of a separate monster, I’ve included the statblock below anyway for convenience’s sake.]

Psurlon CR 8 LE Aberration This creature resembles a humanoid worm, slightly shorter than a man. Irregularly placed eyes surround a sucker-like mouth, and it has radially symmetrical, four-clawed hands and feet  on rubbery, jointless limbs. Despite its monstrous appearance, it carries itself with dignity and wears the robes of a scholar.

The psurlons are an ancient, learned and evil species. They are the survivors of a cataclysm they brought upon themselves. Psurlons were interested in using psychic magic to shape their own bodies and those of other creatures, and over the millennia used their minds to conquer hunger, breath and temperature, as well as to resist weapons and spells alike. Pushing those limits, they created the giant psurlons, and attempting to go to even greater heights shattered their own planet in a wave of psychic energy. Both they and the shattered remains of their world were cast into the Astral Plane. The survivors dedicated themselves to recreating the experiment, and they seek improved ways to elevate their minds over their bodies even today.

Psurlons are haughty creatures, but they recognize that they do not know everything and are constantly on the search for knowledge. They bargain for it if they can and steal it if they cannot. Psurlons do not value the lives of creatures other than themselves, and will gladly torture creatures for information, whether revealed intentionally or obtained through the process of vivisection. They are especially interested in creatures with shapeshifting abilities or unusual mental powers, and push them to the limits with cruel experiments before destroying and devouring them.

In combat, a psurlon prefers to use its mental powers if at all possible. They are physically slow, however, and the tide of melee can easily come to them. Psurlons have surprisingly deadly physical attacks, and their lamprey-like bite can drain the health of enemies and add it to their own. Psurlons value their long lives, and thus attempt to escape from combat at the first sign that they are losing.

The psurlon language is a series of grunts, rumbles and squeals, disturbing to the human ear. Psurlons almost always communicate telepathically, both with each other and with other species. The written form of their language is a series of raised runes read by touch. Although psurlons live in the Astral Plane and can psychically suppress their hunger on their sojourns to other realms, they enjoy eating the flesh of sapient creatures as a symbol of dominion.

Psurlon Adepts Especially wise and powerful members of the psurlons are known as adepts. They are marked from birth with psychic impressions only the psurlons can sense, and are groomed to positions of leadership from an early age. A psurlon adept is a psurlon with the advanced simple template and the spellcasting of a 9th level psychic. A psurlon adept does not gain any other benefits of the psychic class, such as a phrenic pool, unless it takes levels in psychic. A psurlon adept is a CR 10 creature.

Psurlon             CR 8 XP 4,800 LE Medium aberration (extraplanar) Init +6; Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +15 Defense AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +6 natural) hp 94 (9d8+54) Fort +8; Ref +7, Will +10 DR 10/magic and slashing; Immune charms, compulsions, sleep; SR 19 Defensive Abilities mind over body Offense Speed 20 ft. Melee bite +9 (2d8+3 plus drain life), 2 claws +9 (3d4+3) Psychic Magic CL 9th, concentration +13 (+17 casting defensively) 25 PE—bull’s strength (2 PE), dimensional anchor (4 PE), dimension door (4 PE), hold monster (5 PE, DC 19), mage armor (1 PE), mind probe (4 PE, DC 18), mind thrust III (3 PE, DC 17), plane shift (5 PE, DC 19), suggestion (3 PE, DC 17) Statistics Str 16, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 18, Wis 19, Cha 13 Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 21 Feats Combat Casting, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Logical Spell, Toughness Skills Escape Artist +17, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (history, planes) +12, Perception +15, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +15, Stealth +13, Use Magic Device +13; Racial Modifiers +4 Escape Artist, +4 Use Magic Device Languages Psurlon, telepathy 120 ft. Ecology Environment any land or underground (Astral Plane) Organization solitary, school (2-4) or college (2-12 plus 1-2 psurlon adepts) Treasure double standard Special Abilities Drain Life (Su) Whenever a psurlon deals damage with its bite attack, it heals the same amount of damage. Healing gained in excess of its maximum hit points is lost. Mind over Body (Su) As long as a psurlon has 1 PE remaining, it does not need to eat, drink or breathe. It can survive in extreme heat and extreme cold without suffering penalties, as per an endure elements spell.

Psurlon Adept          CR 10 XP 9,600 LE Medium aberration (extraplanar) Init +4; Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +17 Defense AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +8 natural) hp 112 (9d8+72) Fort +10; Ref +9, Will +12 DR 10/magic and slashing; Immune charms, compulsions, sleep; SR 19 Defensive Abilities mind over body Offense Speed 20 ft. Melee bite +11 (2d8+5 plus drain life), 2 claws +11 (3d4+5) Psychic Magic CL 9th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) 25 PE—bull’s strength (2 PE), dimensional anchor (4 PE), dimension door (4 PE), hold monster (5 PE, DC 21), mage armor (1 PE), mind probe (4 PE, DC 20), mind thrust III (3 PE, DC 19), plane shift (5 PE, DC 21), suggestion (3 PE, DC 19) Spells CL 9th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) 4th (5/day)—charm monster (DC 20), telekinesis (DC 20) 3rd (7/day)—clairaudience/clairvoyance, fly, synaptic pulse (DC 19) 2nd (8/day)—alter self, fox’s cunning, inflict pain (DC 18), mirror image 1st (8/day)—comprehend languages, expeditious retreat, long arm, magic missile, psychic reading 0th—detect magic, light, mage hand, mending, read magic, resistance, telekinetic projectile, stabilize Statistics Str 20, Dex 19, Con 24, Int 22, Wis 23, Cha 17 Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 25 Feats Combat Casting, Empower Spell, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Logical Spell, Toughness Skills Bluff +12, Escape Artist +19, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (history, planes) +14, Perception +17, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +17, Stealth +14, Use Magic Device +15; Racial Modifiers +4 Escape Artist, +4 Use Magic Device Languages Psurlon, telepathy 120 ft. Ecology Environment any land or underground (Astral Plane) Organization solitary or college (1-2 plus 2-12 psurlons) Treasure double standard Special Abilities Drain Life (Su) Whenever a psurlon deals damage with its bite attack, it heals the same amount of damage. Healing gained in excess of its maximum hit points is lost. Mind over Body (Su) As long as a psurlon has 1 PE remaining, it does not need to eat, drink or breathe. It can survive in extreme heat and extreme cold without suffering penalties, as per an endure elements spell.