#I love running cleric/scholar

[soup-for-ghosts]

obsessed with octopath clerics… ophilia “I was not made for such battles” clement and temenos “fighting is not what I do” mistral and they’re both wiping blood off their robes after they just smited every enemy on the screen to smithereens

[solomiracle]

Do you have any ideas about Levi and the no-brothers party? That idea is so cute I can't resist asking more

Like Dark/Red/White Magic, cleric, rouge, tabaxi or stuff like that?

context: here and here

gonna admit that most of my rpg-esque/fantasy ideas come from anime, gacha games, and turn-based RPGs so my ideas probably won't align with yours anon >n<

this is gonna be pretty long oh boy BUT BEFORE WE DO THAT quick shoutout to these two posts i saw a while ago!! they're ideas for the brothers' dnd classes :D (im too scared to play dnd)

ANYWAYS RAMBLING BELOW

Not-Lucifers

Roles/Classes: Mainly DPS (Black Mage, Warrior, etc) with some survivability for themselves, and maybe their teammates. If they're more support oriented, they give opponents many debuffs. And while very uncommon, some Not-Lucifers are summoners (Not-Lucifers always have magic on some level, even if they don't use it themselves)

Races: Out of all the Not-Brothers, Not-Lucifers have the most variety in races. Humans, demons, angels, elves, mermaids; basically every one you can think of, there's a Not-Lucifer variant

Ranges: All (Short, Mid, Long)

-

Almost always immortal

Not uncommon for them to be under some curse (sometimes the cause of their immortality), esp if it makes them broody and depressed

As you said anon, half of the time they're villains (with backstories that tug on Levi's heartstrings and he ends up crying at his PC over them)

A lot of Not-Lucifers have family trauma, some of them are even the cause of it (and either want to atone or further themselves into despair, hopefully the player can help the latter ones out)

Not-Mammons

Roles/Classes: THIEVES!!!!!!!!!!!! also Rogues, Archers, and Gunslingers (sometimes magic ones!). A mix of DPS and support, mainly focuses on buffs/debuffs

Races: Often humans, sometimes small animal-based beastmen (rabbits, weasels, etc) or halflings short kings

Ranges: All

-

Sillies who are at the mercy of the RNG gods :) they roll nat 1's 50 times in a row

Hell most Not-Mammons are actually kind of ass as units but Levi loves them for their personalities and he gets very very upset if people (both characters and players) trash talk them

Backstories often about families (having a lack of one and going out to find their own, being looked down in theirs and leaving to prove everyone that they're strong like some shounen protag, maybe just stealing to earn some money for their families) and/or getting into trouble (a couple Not-Mammons are just dudes running from debt collectors)

If the game has some sort of expedition mechanic, if sent out, they bring back extra money

Okay this isn't that related but I just imagined Mammon in a turn-based RPG with a cute little crow on his shoulder that's in his attack animations awawawa cries

Not-Satans

Roles/Classes: Mages, Alchemists, Warriors and even Bards thrown in here and there for flavor (and Beastmasters of course). Not-Satans are mainly supports with buffs, debuffs, and shields, who are still capable of dealing some damage

Races: Elves, humans, vampires, occasionally demons or beastmen or angels

Ranges: Short, Mid

-

Many Not-Satans are scholars, a couple of them being members/in charge of magic schools

There "softer" Not-Satans (Bards, buff oriented mages and alchemists) are sometimes romantics; a few of them are even married!

Some of them are similar to Not-Lucifers in a couple of ways... some are villains, some are suffering from curses, some have family trauma... (a couple of them have bitter feelings for their father/older sibling...)

For the DPS oriented ones, some of them have the "more damage dealt/less HP = becomes stronger" mechanic, esp for the villains and bosses

dante from granblue fantasy i mean what

Not-Asmos

Roles/Classes: Has the widest range out of the Not-Brothers! Full healers, full supports, full DPS, the Not-Asmos have everyone! But to keep things simple, let's say buff/debuff oriented Mages.

Races: Mainly vampires and demons (specifically incubi/succubi), but there's a lot of elves, mermaids, humans, and cute animal beastmen too

Ranges: All

-

You know how Asmo will put on his cute little damsel in distress act? Some Not-Asmos will do this then one-shot most opponents without breaking a sweat. Sillies <3

More than a couple of them are villains, plenty with taunt/charm mechanics and "gross monster disguises themselves as something cute" stories

A small amount of Not-Asmos are closer to his more genuine and insecure side, clearly hiding their fears with fake smiles and hype. Levi adores them and wishes he could help him them out...

POISON DAMAGE. SCORPION... so much goddamn posion damage

Not-Beels

Roles/Classes: DPS, tanks, and defense!! Warriors, Knights, Beserkers/Barbarians. Those guys with the BIGGGGG weapons. Giant axes, hammers, shields... the more depressed/creepy ones will just pull a Goldlewis and hit you with a coffin

Races: Often beastmen (bulls, carnivores like wild dogs and big cats), sometimes humans, occasionally orcs, rarely dwarves and angels

Ranges: Short

-

WILL consume all of your items. Ally or opponent. Get used to it

Not-Beels with light-hearted backstories often have them surrounded by food all their life (think living in a family bakery) or being renowned fighters or beast hunters. Not-Beels with sadder backstories however...

FAMILY TRAUMA!!!!!! OFTEN WITH SURVIVORS GUILT!!!!!!!! Some Not-Beels are the last members of a species, the final remnants of a noble house, people who couldn't save their loved ones or even were forced to kill them... Not-Lucifers can't even begin to compare to the level of atonement some Not-Beels are going through

But if they have the sad backstories and still have loved ones, Not-Beels are extremely protective of them

Not-Belphies

Roles/Classes: Mages centered on debuffs and damage, along with those rude healers who roll their eyes when you're on 1 HP and begging for help

Races: Same kinds of beastmen as Not-Beels and Not-Mammons, along with elves, demons, vampires, and humans

Ranges: Long

-

They'll fall asleep mid-battle and then get mad at opponents (and allies) who wake them up. Opponents will then be crushed by falling stars, allies might get stardust in their hair

Unsurprisingly a few of them are villains... the fans either adore them or watch videos on their fights just so they can replay the moment they die over and over again

A couple of Not-Belphies are nobles or even royalty, which comes with a special flavor of family trauma! Plenty have left their families, by their own choice or not

Debuffs will be mixed in with damage. Opponents falling asleep will get hurt, opponents waking up will get hurt, opponents getting their head filled with false dreams and illusions will get hurt, opponents getting hit by meteors will get hurt

They're all so eepy :3

[fenharel-archived]

saskia i am on my hands and knees begging for some ysabel info! what’s her backstory? what’s she like during the game? she’s so 🥰💖

[PERSONALITY]

Ysabel is a noble, Lolth Sworn Drow, living in Menzoberrazan and is a School of Divination Wizard

Shes an chaotic neutral ENTP, Gemini, 125 years old and 1.60m tall

Ysabel is creative and intelligent, mischievous and cunning. Some perceive her as quirky, eccentric - funny, confident with a giant ego, but also power hungry and selfish, sometimes cruel. She has always been full of ideas, always thinking of new and better ways to do things. She’s always been curious, more often than not you find her with her nose stuck in a book. Her childhood bedroom was exploding with books about fungi or tomes like “The past and present: a Scholars Guide to Divination”. 

She’s also rather extroverted and a social chameleon, excellent at manipulation and persuasion, something her mother often took advantage of, as she would often use her children like chess pieces in her political affairs.

[BACKSTORY]

The noble house of Do’Rahel is one of the 8 powerful houses in Menzoberranzan

Ysi has two older sisters (Yris, Yvory) and one younger brother (Ysmael, my warlock charlatan & very first D&D oc 😘)

Their mother (Yaelryn Do’Rahel) is a matron mother, a priestess of Lolth and a powerful and influential figure in Menzoberrazan’s affairs

As most intelligent people are prone to, Ysabel was more questioning of things like societal norms or rules and ideas than what was socially acceptable in the Cult of Lolth, something her mother often reminded her of through whipping. But her mother was also more progressive than some would believe - when her daughter showed more interest in the arcane than continuing her training as a cleric she encouraged it. She thought that having one of her daughters in the circle of the Sorcere was something that could be beneficial to her.

After a particularly nasty ambush on Ysabel (your regular weekend in the Underdark really) her mother assigned one of their warriors as her personal guard - a tiefling slave called Lucien (Side note but he’ll be romancing Shadowheart in a future playthrough 🤓)

Lucien was in his early twenties and enslaved for around 5 years at the time, he was passionate and charming, warm and strong. But he was also as cunning as he was kind. Ysabel liked him, and often would spend more time with him than was strictly necessary. He had Ysabel figured out quickly, and noticed that traits in her that might be weaknesses in her mothers eyes, could be his opportunity. That growing close to her could be his ticket to get free.

But things didn't necessarily work out for him at first as he would have thought - both of them fell in love.

He would tell her stories of his previous life, about his ideals and morals, about the world above. How children do not fear for their life where he is from, how parents love their children unconditionally, how he missed feeding the neighbors ducks before he would go to school. Ysi would laugh at him sometimes, call him weak and soft. But sometimes she would indulge in his stories. Catching herself thinking of them in bed before she go meditating. How strange it must be to live so truly carefree.

The influence Lucien had on her was undeniable. Small and meaningless at first maybe but there nonetheless. There were glimpses of true kindness in Ysabel only he got to see. Glimpses of love - real love, not just the craving for flesh or power he was accustomed to from other Drow. He saw that he had shaken her morals and beliefs, slightly perhaps, but shaken. So when she finally wanted to set him free out of her own volition, instead of running when his binding spell was broken he asked for her to come with him.

She helped him to stage his own death and broke his bonds and let him go, but she didn’t go with him. This would be a turning point in her life, something she regretted for the rest of her existence, something she kept thinking about for years on end.

For many years after, she buried herself in her tower. She never dared to think of why she said no, instead she sat in front of her mirror of memories, where she relived the time she had with Lucien. But in doing so, a part of herself, the past party in fact, was lost in it. Her present self was split in half. She was either overly good or overly evil, and she became known for being mad and for research and experiments that were even extreme by Drow standards. 

She was in this state for at least 60 years. She had short periods of time where she managed to stabilize herself through experiments, but it never worked for long. Nevertheless, she made a name for herself, she was an extremely powerful wizard, was considered one of the masters of Sorcere and had a place in their council. (Much to their dismay. Assassination attempts from her colleagues were a daily occurrence tbh.)

[GAME TIMELINE]

House Do’Rahel was infiltrated by Absolute cultists, leading to the almost death of her sisters Yris and Yvory, and the losing a handful of their staff members. Ysabel's mother also heard rumors of similar things happening in House Baenre and other houses all over the city. Sensing a bigger plot, instead of sending warbands like her colleagues, she only send Ysabel and a handful of warriors on a scouting mission. She was to gather as much information as possible. If she would see an opportunity beneficial to them - she should take it, and most importantly she was also to kill or capture any heretic or deserter of Lolth.

The trail they followed led them to the outskirts of Baldur’s Gate. She didn’t know it at the time but she was on her way to Moonrise Towers when she was abducted. When she woke up in the Nautiloid, the tadpole didn’t just strip her of her powers, but also stabilized her mind.

Being fully herself again after so long felt like having someone forcefully pushing a heart back into her. At the beginning of her journey she’s manipulative (she does a lot of the “heroic” options not because she thinks it’s the right thing to do, but because she thinks it’s a smarter way to uncover what is going on and/or because working with the Absolute would go against Lolth), she’s also selfish and a bit cruel, but a lot of things she does suddenly don’t feel the same to her anymore, and an top of that the problem with the tadpole - it forces her into introspection. 

At some point she realizes that her companions remind her of Lucien, and the time she had with him. Her development throughout the game mainly consists of her realizing that she rather wants love and friendship than pure ruthless power. She develops a consciousness, empathy. Something Lucien already built the groundwork of so many years ago. She realizes she was too much of a coward back then, that she couldn't let go of all that power and desert Lolth even though that's what she really wanted. Surrounded by her new friends, she doesn’t want to make the same mistake again. In her mind, she’ll never be truly good, much less a hero. But she doesn’t want to be what she used to be either. Seeing real friendship, love, experiencing it for herself, she realizes the only times she wasn't hollow was with Lucien - and now, with them. 

Her new friends act as mirrors to herself as well. She sees herself in Gale when he gets obsessed over the Crown, she sees herself in Astarion when he’s willing to kill all his former friends for power. And she sees herself in Lae’zel, Wyll & Shadowheart when it comes to the influence a God, Goddess or devil can have on you. They were all on the path she already walked on, and the guilt she is carrying with her over things she can’t change anymore is overwhelming, so she stops them all, helps them see what is truly important. 

About the reason she was in Baldur’s Gate in the first place, she isn’t honest with her companions at first, she has obviously her own agenda like everyone else in that camp. She was forced to explain herself by Wyll when she let True Soul Nere kill the Gnomes. Having a tadpole in her head made everything more personal of course, she starts going against the Absolute not in the name of Lolth or for her mother but for herself and her own beliefs in Act 2.

After the game, her mind is still hers. Going through so much change and admitting her biggest fears repaired herself, like a curse she casted and then lifted on herself. Also, she and Astarion guide the Vampire spawn in the Underdark for a while, and she also researches for ways to make Astarion walk in the sun again (and I like to headcanon that she succeeds :3)

If you want to take a peak, here is Ysabels pinterest 🥺, and since i mentioned Lucien, here is his'.

[pinklocksoflove]

So, I probably should add my necromancer as a muse here.

Zhakkar is not your usual edgy oh look at how dark and brooding I am by raising corpses bs

He is a scholar, an academic and from a place where the dark arts are not only allowed but commonplace. Necromancy is a means to an end for him as his goal is lichdom. To pursue knowledge and power as an academic. No world ending plots, as that's just too much of a headache.

He's blunt and brutally honest yet not above deception. Can be quite the jackass though.

Loves gothic architecture, graveyards, studying terrifying creatures, working to understand the dark arts, uncovering forbidden knowledge.

Not fond of most clerics, especially clerics of Lathander, despises the run of the mill edgelord necromancers, doesn't trust druids much.

[woollymitts]

Why WARRIOR NUN is the ultimate homage to Female Sainthood and why you should care

OK this is going to be longish series as I have so many opinions. The show has revived my love for all things female sainthood and relics and all that holy stuff.

As a fantasy series embedded within Roman Catholic Reformation ideas and refracted through the baroque aesthetic, it is deliberately too much. Too hyperbolic. Like adolescent girls losing their shit over their latest crush the TV show is just way way over the top in the very best way.

This is where high and low culture mashes together into a gorgeous multi-layered lasagna of meaning. I love how the show doesn’t give two hoots about cultural hierarchies.

I wrote a PhD about female sainthood way back in the Ice Age. In particular, I loved how some of the brightest and best of these women transgressed, breaking tons of papally sanctioned rules and generally went fuck the status quo and clerical authority.

First, a little primer in how to view the world with a medieval perspective. It is often refracted through lenses we would term as allegorical and fantastical.

There are some Italian scholars that hold that all the reports of demons, angels and dragons were due to everyone being basically either drunk or high. Water awash with bacteria was going to kill you. So in the West to make it sterile it was brewed, ecoli being no match for alcohol. Everyone,everywhere, and much of the time, was inebriated.

In particular, the argument goes that the majority of the European population also ate some form of rye bread which was contaminated with fungi that had hallucinogenic properties. In essence, people swallowed the fantastical stories while supping on their daily portion of magic mushroom bread.

I happen to think this is too reductivist. They lived in a world where scientific thinking as we understand was long forgotten and epistemologically remote that it is yet to be discovered. The Enlightenment, Renaissance thinking and scientific discovery were a couple of hundred years off.

Further, all written communication is within the monopoly of the educated religious elite conversing with each other in Latin. The Church dictated terms of reference of life to the rest of the population for about one thousand years. The super highway of thought was copyrighted in its entirety by the Catholic Church.

It was not a con trick. The medieval thinker just approached what they saw and felt through inductive rather than deductive reasoning. Interpretation starts from the premise of where have I seen this before?

The monkish scholars would run to the library and consult works that clued them in on what they observed in the world around them. They applied their scholarship within terms they found familiar and reassuring and therefore real. Remember this: distinguishing between inductive and reductive thinking will help you understand the medieval mindset on its own terms without our modern judgements cluttering up their view of the world.

The second most important thing to remember and something the TV series does so well is that the veil between what is corporeal, ie of this world, and incorporeal, not of this world and sometimes interpreted as spiritual, is wafer thin.

It is a credit to the medieval imagination that they could escape into their minds when the reality of existence is that of subsistence and survival for the vast majority. Let’s take how circumscribed their geographical limits are as an example.

In a short lifetime of 30 years, if you are lucky, the distance travelled and your world in probably about a days walk. We are talking 15 miles max. If you have a horse a bit further. In practical terms, that meant your home, the land you worked, where you paid your tithe to the local lord and the market place which was extra exciting on high days and holy days.

So in this landscape apart from the local lord’s manor or barns the largest edifices on the landscape was the churches. Unlike your wattle and daub shitty house, it was made from the latest materials of dressed stone and vaulted in tufa. The spire dominated the landscape. Its bell regulated your day. On a Sunday you would sit in the nave staring at the judgement fresco showing heaven and hell while a priest intoned something magical in a language that was incomprehensible as a sign of who was spiritually and materially dominant.

Areala, Ava, Lilith and all the halo bearers are not merely a fictional exaggeration to the medieval populace. They come out of a cosmography of sainthood and female communities that are insanely muscular in ambition compared to our expectations of what women can achieve. Current girl power and ambition is anaemic compared to what those women wanted then.

Hey, girl, in the twenty first century you can be whatever you want- a CEO, a doctor, an anodyne influencer of your fellow tik tok addicts; the president of the US (oh hang on that one is still buffering)

The saints’ lives are a written cornucopia of all the slayers of dragons in powerful men. Women who wanted and got so much more and were written up in lore. Statues were erected in their honour. Communities were founded in their name. And little men who overawed and slightly freaked out tried to keep up and tell their stories in a more palatable manner.

There are literally thousands of examples recorded and collected by the Catholic church. So far as ten thousand and counting. The project in earnest began three centuries ago when the church’s response to the Protestant Reformation was to double down on the stuff for which they were excoriated by their more pious and puritanical critics.

- preposterous claims of ability of items of dubious provenance to cure ills ie relic collection and pilgrimage.

- the miracles performed by the elite of the church ie those proposed as saints in an attempt to assert the dominance of the spiritual over the material world.

The church came out of the closet on this. Actually it sashayed down the religious runway of hyperbolic campery in all its baroque finery. The Roman Catholic church were telling their opponents that their worship was just so much cooler than the pared down asceticism currently doing the rounds. And they used and promoted their saints to provide a techni-coloured ultra saturated with spiritual dynamite exemplars.

As a preview I want to pick a few female examples from this rich tapestry and discuss how they relate to all things Warrior Nun. The ones we can do some more in depth analysis on are

Margaret of Antioch Slayer of Dragons. Enough said

Hildegarde of Bingen. I give you the ultimate Medieval Renaissance woman. Medic, composer, mystic, scholar, abbess, counsellor to kings and popes. Worked out how blood ciculated through the body five hundred years before a dude took credit for it. She came line of women who liked telling the pope off starting with Mary Magdalene and including Catherine of Siena

Joan of Arc; proto Ripley taking on the alien English for the namby pamby Dauphin.

Benedetta Carlini. The poor Florentine scribes seriously lost their shit over her. The church authorities were investigating in the seventeenth century for potential beatification In a series of interviews, her doings in the abbey with her companion cause so much scandal. It had them reversing that process so fast everyone got monastic whiplash. Ignore the Verhoeven version; it is shit and doesn’t do her justice on any level.

[tarn-ati0n]

What is Octopath Traveller about? I know I can just Google it but I think it's more fun asking you

First of all, here's a cool track to have in the background because I don't run the @octopath-traveler-ost blog for nothing:

Both Octopath Traveler 1 and 2 feature 8 Charakters, each one with their own Story, Motivation and Goals. Each Charakters Skills are dependent on their job, which are the same in both games, So every Squad got the Cleric, the Scholar, the Merchant, the Warrior, the Dancer, the Apothecary, the Thief and the Hunter.

Being a classical JRPG, these stories are always one of the best part of both games. Admittedly some are stronger than others, but there never was a story that I didn't like or outright hated.

Also sometimes the range between these stories is so fucking funny. Like in OT2 you got Thronè-"I was born into this criminal Organisation and have been trained into a merciless killing machine by my "father", but I'm sick of this bloodshed and need to get my freedom"-Anguis being in the same party as Agnea-"I want to become famous and put smiles on everyone's faces"-Bristarni and it's great.

Here's another cool track:

Besides the story being great, HOLY SHIT I LOVE THE COMBAT IN THIS GAME!!!

Battles in this game are the classic turn based battles you know and (hopefully) love. OT throws in some cool original ideas to spice it up:

1. Weaknesses

Every Enemy has specific weaknesses and shield points. If you attack one of their weaknesses they lose one shield point, and once all shield points are gone you

2. Break

Them. Once an enemy is broken, All damage done to them will be critical and they won't be able to act for the next round. BUT, in return, after they get out of the break status they get to move first round.

Trying to figure out when is the best time to break / not break an enemy is especially important when it comes to boss battles. And don't worry, I WILL gush about how cool the boss battles are later on :)

3. and BOOST

I LOVE the boost system. Holy shit the boost system is awesome. Me and the Boost System will have a wonderful summer marriage.

The way this works is, that at the start of every round each of your party members gets one(1) boost point. You can use these points to power up your attacks, heal more or attack an enemy multiple times. When it comes to the use of these points, always remember the wise words: "Critical Thinking is the Key to success".

Also there's nothing more satisfying than L + Ratio + Defense down + Attack Up + Max Boost Brand's Thunder + 12473 points of damage.

4. Latent Power

this one was added in OT2. Now every character also has a Latent-meter that fills up everytime they get hit or break an enemy. once the meter is full, a character can use their latent power, which differs from charackter to charakter. For example, you can act twice in one round, instantly replenish all of your BP or unlock new abilities!

New Track, because now I get to talk about the boss battles!

Boss Battles function basically the exact same as normal Battles. Each one has weaknesses, you have to try and break them to get all the damage in, e.t.c.

BUT, they have much higher shield points than you averages Monster, can change their weaknesses in the middle of the battle and can often attack up to five times in one round!

Boss Battles are absolutely part where the Break & Boost System shines. You have to figure out what he's weak too and what kind of attacks they have!

The [SPOILER] bosses and especially the [BIGGER SPOILER] Fight really test how well you learned the mechanics of the game, and, by now I'm someone who could beat [SPOILER] or [SPOILER] in my sleep.

Also LOOK AT THESE DESIGNS!!!

I LOVE YOU PIXEL ART! I LOVE YOU OCTOPATH TRAVELER ARTSTYLE! I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT THE ARTSTYLE NOW OK!

And when I say "Talk" I mean I'll show you more pictures:

Nevermind, three have to be enough because Tumblr is a little bitch who hates fun.

But still, see this lighting? This atmosphere? I wanna eat those pixels.

Also, last point I promise, the music. There's a reason I keep adding tracks onto this post. Yasunori Nishiki we do not deserve you. My Playlist is 67.3% Octopath Ost and I'm not ashamed to admit that.

Anyways, thank for asking! But, before you think "Wow! These games sound awesome and I should definitely try one of these out! Immediately!", I have to admit that, if you aren't a fan of classic JRPGs then these unfortunately won't be the games for you. But if you like this genre then what are you waiting for????? Get up and buy one of them! Please!

Oh before I forget it, I have one last ost for you :)

Go on.

Click the play button.

:D

[beantothemax]

just as promised: live reactions to the subclass outfits. I went around to all the shrines (died once because I am NOT at the recommended level for these areas), gathered all the non-secret class ones, and haven’t looked at any of them until now so..

OPHILIA’S ARE SO NICE.. I LOVE ALL OF THEM SO MUCH… making her a scholar (at least for now who knows) because cleric/scholar my beloved

cyrus’ look great, love how the cape is the most consistent thing in his design lmao

tressa’s are so cute, the hoods!! I love the hoods!! the ponytail is great too. HUNTER TRESSA WITH THE.. THE ANIMAL HAT…….. I might end up running merchant/hunter again just for that

olberic’s are alright, I don’t have many strong opinions on them

primrose’s are good. she kills it in everything let’s be real. love the braids for apothecary

alfyn’s are fairly basic I feel, they’re alright. no strong feelings really

therion’s are good, love the consistency of the scarf (shawl? can’t tell from the sprites sorry). dancer therion looks hilarious I’m sorry shdbhcbc- considering that I ran dancer throné, he might not be safe. we’ll see, I wanna experiment with my subclasses a bit

h’aanit’s are good. I love the ponytail for warrior, and the little feathers in the hair for dancer are neat. not too many strong feelings otherwise

aaaaaand that’s all of them! once I get to the point of getting the secret classes I shall let you know, but for now I think that’s a biiiiiit above my pay grade pf

it’s here…. the fabled live calc reactions…

YEAHHH OPHILIA’S SUBJOB OUTFITS ARE AMAZING I love her merchant and scholar ones!!! she’s just a lil lass your honor

I WAS EXCITED TO SEE YOUR REACTION TO TRESSA’S HUNTER OUTFIT ITS MAYBE MY FAVORITE ONE AAAAAAAA we may not be able to make everyone kitties but at least tressa gets a silly hat

and yes theri’s scarf being in every single outfit… he simply refuses to take it off it’s important to him. and stsgshahjhwbxthsgxg having theri be your dancer would be amazing. i love your phrasing about how he’s ‘not safe’. he should be afraid/lh

IM VERY EXCITED FOR YOU TO SEE THE SECRET JOBS THEY’RE SOSO COOL

[osvaldvanstein]

So, had my timeout in the Octopath Traveler 2 demo this morning, and got to say, I’m having a great time. It’s going to be a long 2 weeks for sure.

Decided to start with Osvald for... hopefully obvious reasons, and then work my way around the "2" on the map in terms of starting locations.

Thoughts:

Starting with Osvald was an excellent choice. His story so far is as dark as I was expecting, and I was wondering how they were going to keep a scholar in prison for so long. He's also just a useful character to have around in terms of elemental breaking and spotting weaknesses. No regrets.

On that note, I'm not sure how to feel about the scholar job changes where it loses the multi-hit magic attacks. Didn't manage to unlock the new skills, but I do hope that missing the double-hit attacks isn't too costly as the game picks up in terms of shield points.

After spending just under 2 hours on Osvald's path, made my way over to Temenos. Decided to skip on any detours, but the locations are absoutely gorgeous in terms of music and design. It's just a really good looking game.

I do love the new character introductions before starting their quests. It's interesting that unlike OT1, you don't join halfway through their chapter 1 to help them out on their quest - rather you join them after chapter 1 (or so it worked for Temenos). It makes sense in terms of balance, so that all of the story quests have their own NPC companions and wil be level balanced.

Temenos. Oh boy, Temenos. I love him so much. He's such an interesting take on a cleric, and I love the detective aspect of his story line. Plus, that opening scene was completely unexpected and amazing. Can't wait to see where his story goes from this point onwards.

Managed to make it to Throné's city and get her quest started. Loved the opening, was a great way to set up how things work in her organisation. And then got locked out before getting to the exciting part. That said, there is a part there that's a bit reminiscent of Primrose's quest, and I hope it doesn't use too many of the same tropes - but I didn't get much further than the stealing tutorial before getting kicked out.

All of these stories have started comparatively darker compared to their job counterparts in OT1. I'm curious as to which characters may have lighter stories, as a contrast. That's not to say that OT1 was a light-hearted game - but all of the three opening chapters I've run into so far have had very dark aspects to them which I am greatly enjoying.

I know I touched upon the music earlier, but the tracks so far are extremely good. Yasunori Nishiki has done it again. That first Decisive Battle theme that I ran into was fantastic, not to mention the character themes and the location themes. I can't wait to buy the OST when it's released in March.

As tempted as I am to go and try out some of the other stories, honestly I just want to wait for the release. I'm happy with my starting choices, and since I'll be playing all the opening chapters anyway on this save file, might as well wait.

It's going to be a long two weeks for sure.

[tactician]

FOR DEAREST REIDES: the hanged man, the fool, the star! i would also LOVE to see - judgement, temperamence, and the world ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡

major arcana questions

YAY THANK YOU BREE!!!! ♡ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ

12. the hanged man: how open is your muse to new opportunities? do they constantly look for them or do they simply take whatever comes their way? reides is a fun little mix here because i think he absolutely looks out for stuff that catches his interest - he's a scholar, after all - but like. MOST THINGS DO!!! so in that sense i think he enjoys going with the flow a whole lot - just not in a complacent sort of way, you know? he actively explores anything he's presented with and it's extremely easy for him to get really invested in stuff. opportunities literally just fall into his lap because he has that boundless curiosity about the world around him. he's a lot more responsible than he used to be, but that'll never change.

00. the fool: what are your muse’s thoughts on new beginnings? does it frighten them or excite them? back when reides ran away from his home, he considered his arrival in the surface world as a new beginning - and it signified freedom above all else. which was exciting! very much so! but as time passed, he realized that... some stuff just sticks to you, no matter how far you run. moreover, stuff sticking to you isn't necessarily a bad thing. those things are what make you who you are!!! and for something new to begin, something else has to end!!! so... you know. it's. Complicated. of course, if it's a new beginning like a new adventure, or a new research project, or something along those lines... (i.e. not quite as serious as attempting to rebuild one's life LMFAO) he's all ears and very, very excited about it! but if it means escapism or abandoning stuff that he loves, he definitely now has reason to pause and. well. resist.

17. the star: what does your muse take inner comfort in knowing? what guides your muse? first and foremost, reides finds a lot of comfort in his connections with other people: his friends, his boyfriend, his family. all of them are extremely important to him and offer him guidance in their own unique ways. but i definitely want to give a special shoutout to how much comfort reides gets from his magic. in laverathia, sorcerers and clerics are common; they're gifted their power from their god, persana. reides never got that inherent ability to cast spells despite always loving magic, and he, of course, took it pretty hard (and it absolutely did give him a bit of a crisis of faith). but once he realized that he could teach himself how to cast spells, it really changed like... everything about his life. laverathia has no schools devoted to wizardry, so he got virtually no guidance beyond what he could string together from locked-away spell scrolls and that a mostly-ruined spellbook belonging to some wizard he never got to meet - but that made it all the more empowering to him. like, his magic always felt like it belonged to him. even if it was clunkier or messier or weaker than what other wizards could hypothetically do, those are the arcanic formulae that HE strung together with his own ink; that HE tested, all on his own. i feel like his approach to it really is just so... emblematic of his stubbornness as a character. in a lot of ways, his magic was born out of his sense of loneliness - but also his sense of wonder, too. it also pretty much wiped away his crisis of faith because he now thinks that persana granted him a favor by allowing him to approach magic like this LMAOOO like he wouldn't change it for the world. so like shoutout to persana too because he definitely guides reides in a very special way, as well.

20. judgement: is your muse forgiving of themselves? how about of others who wrong them? reides tends to have a rough time with forgiving himself; he represses a LOT which is kind of... not good!! usually he needs someone to literally grab onto him and tell him that it's okay, otherwise he just locks up his (perceived) failings and... yeah. :( it's definitely one of his more subtle flaws - since he's essentially mastered putting on a cheerful front even when he is like absolutely fucking miserable internally - but it's very much there. he has a lot of guilt going on. it's gotten better with time (especially since he's made amends with his family - for the most part, anyway) but it's a reflex that you don't really grow out of all that quickly. as for others who wrong him... he can definitely offer them a bit of compassion, since he's very empathetic and understands that people have their reasons for hurting other people, sometimes. he's not one to hold onto a grudge if someone apologizes for how they treated him. like (reides voice) it's water under the bridge, as the surfacers say. BUT LIKE THAT BEING SAID he is extremely, extremely protective of the people he loves. he has a VERY hard time with being compassionate towards people who wrong those close to his heart. like he can take it, whatever, he's reides - but if you fuck with his people, you cross a line. and then he can get pretty vicious.

14. temperance: does your muse make plans? how impulsive are they? has this gotten them into good / bad situations and how have they dealt with them? oh reides is definitely impulsive LMFAO something gets his attention and he's like hehe... hehehe... that's fun. don't mind if i do. LKDFL;DFKG he has a mischievous streak and can get really hung up on exploring a certain idea. sometimes his little urges can result in pretty serendipitous circumstances (for example, him finding the spellbook that literally kickstarted his foray into wizardry) but at other times they land him in a whole lot of trouble (e.g. him asking his father to be an ambassador to the lands that his father absolutely hated and getting like. 100lbs of trauma thrown on top of him in the aftermath of. that). for better or for worse, reides is just really in-tune with his instincts and actively wants to listen to them. as for how he deals with the resulting Situations... when it comes to issues with other people, he's a naturally earnest person, so i guess he mostly just relies on his charisma. despite being kind of naive, he has rly good ~people skills~. if he's given the chance to explain his course of action, i feel like he can usually gently sway others to see stuff from his point of view, which minimizes the chance of his actions resulting in genuinely awful circumstances. there are obvious exceptions to this LMAO like he is not immune to the consequences of his actions. but he's still a very endearing person!!! when it comes to stuff that's not related to other people or connections, reides 100% relies on his smarts to worm his way out of tricky situations, though. that definitely includes his abilities as a spellcaster. :3c

21. the world: is there one thing in life that your muse must accomplish? what will they do when they complete that goal? it's a very like... all-encompassing goal without a definite end, but reides wants to learn a whole lot and change the world for the better. he wants to be strong enough to keep his loved ones safe and he wants to be a good prince to his people. he struggled with the laverath name for most of his life, and he's now determined to muster the will to hold his head up high and be the symbol of hope that his people need him to be. related to that, he's putting his whole heart and soul into his position as laverathia's ambassador - like, he's taking it more seriously than anything ever in his WHOLE LIFE - and definitely wants to play a role in helping laverathia with being less hostile to the surface world. (also, to maybe make amends with his father. he's TRYING, but... it's complicated).

of course, he also desperately wants to succeed in his current quest with his companions!! that goes along with changing the world for the better, right? he has no idea what he'll do, should they succeed - but it'll be a fucking wonderful day, and firewhiskey will be involved. that's for certain.

[eros-vigilante]

CotC & what it means to be a traveler (1/?)

Something I’ve become obsessed with since I started playing through all the traveler stories (so, since launch, ehe) is how it feels to me like each class of travelers has an inherent theme that ties them to the original OT1 Traveler. I really, really like it. Not just because it’s a lovely way to keep the spirit of the original eight, but it also reveals more about the original through reflected motifs…

(Vague spoilers/references for CotC traveler stories.)

The Warriors’ is the easiest: to protect that which is beloved. Olberic’s OT1 story is explicitly about how he rediscovers that the reason he is a warrior (“wields his blade”) is to protect the people he loves, even as that changes over time. In CotC, Fiore’s story is about how she wants to protect Mika, starting with during patrols but eventually by promising to become her knight once she is strong enough. Kouren’s story hasn’t been localized yet, but we know from the anecdote that he has sworn himself as Hasumi’s protector. To include some four stars, both Tahir and Miles’ stories are about protecting the memory or legacy of their fathers.

The Thieves’ motifs are ones I have put the most thought into (admitted bias here). While Therion’s OT1 story is centered on trust, it’s also built upon healing and recovery, both physical and emotional. Because of this I find it incredibly interesting how often stories include young children. Therion’s CotC memoir and story are both about how he goes out of his way to help first a pair of young boys, and second two sisters. Nicola’s story includes her protecting children. Aslyte’s story is about her saving children. Kurtz’ story is about him protecting children. Even Wingate’s story includes a child talking cheerfully about the vigilantism of Wingate and his father as a concluding sentiment. It aligns with how often “noble thief” is used as a motif. Billy directly says he wants to be a noble thief, and all the aforementioned thieves’ stories are about them doing, in general, good.

(I’ve run out of word juice. I’ll probably continue later, but in case I don’t:)

Merchants: Ambition & Progress

Scholars: Knowledge & Dedication

Clerics: Kindness & Hope

Hunters: Completion & Fulfillment

Apothecaries: Forgiveness & Compassion

Dancers: Resilience & Strength

[thosenaturalones]

Butch's Background

I am Butch Deadlift Bale Egret né Dragon and I've never known a life without war. My elders never knew a life without war. Their elders had never known a life without war. According to the history, though, before the Shan invaded Mesh, the Seven Tortle Bales (you might call then clans, and originally there were eight, actually) were always squabbling with each other, only coming together to face off against cannibal Lizardfolk, the poisonous Grung, or the two-faced Tabaxi. At least that's how they were described back then. But the Wood Elves were always our saviors and guides.

But for the past 200 years or so, the war against the Shan and their legions of cruel humans, all the races of Mesh have been allied. The Red and Green Grung (warriors and wizards) fight alongside the Lizardfolk barbarians and druids, with support from detachments of Elven archers and Tortle Clerics and Fighters, and Tabaxi assassins running reconnaissance. Even the Black Dragon Darkwater, the self-appointed ruler of Mesh, had been known to arrive in time to turn the tide of a particularly awful battle on the front lines. Darkwater had little love for any of his “subjects” (only the Lizardfolk recognize his rule), but he hated the invaders just as much as the tribes.

Of the Seven Tortle Bales (Panther, Alligator, Shambler, Anaconda, Egret, Dragon, and Troll), I was hatched into Bale Dragon, which is known for their scholars and study of magic. But I did not follow in the footsteps of my wizard parents. I was blessed in my youth with sleepless nights and spent much of my time gazing at the stars. Eventually I came to pray to Sehanine Moonbow, who appeared to me in her Tortle visage and granted me peace enough to sleep and dream.

(For the elves had brought their gods to the Tortles, hundreds of years ago before the Tortle Bales won their independence from the Wood Elves, a civil war in which the Eighth Bale, Bale Hydra, was wiped out entirely.)

After my arrival ceremony, I was determined to join the ranks of Clerics, but since Bale Dragon chiefly worships Labelas Enoreth, I sought out Bale Egret, to join their ranks of the Clerics of Sehanine Moonbow.

On the Wall of Thorns, the front line keeps the forces of Shan out of Mesh, as a Twilight Cleric, my three hundred foot darkvision served to be extremely useful to keep nightwatch. Sometimes I acted as forward observer to direct night artillery from the Wall against advancing forces. Shan's patrols composed of the undead tended to attack at night.

In the battle of Crescent Moon Misty Fog that I lost my brother and best friend. His name was Fist Rockbone (Fighter/Wizard, a traditional disciple of Bale Dragon), and he'd been on the battlefield in front of the Wall of Thorns with eight score other Mesh warriors, mostly Lizardfolk spearman and archers, against a massive horde of Shan invaders. It when Blackwater cast his long shadow across the battlefield that Fist was accidentally caught in the dragon’s acid breath. My brother had already been wounded, the healers on the field were already down, and I hadn't been able to get to him to save him.

Losing Fist is what started my doubts and fears. That's what made me yearn to step away from the Wall. That's what made me say “yes” when a recruiter from Conticaria suggested he travel to fight elsewhere. Anything to get away. Away from Mesh. Away from all the loss.

The Wall of Thorns is a massive structure of Thorns and Stone, created and maintained by the joint efforts of Lizardfolk Shamans, Tortle Clerics and Druids of all races. The Wall is patrolled by Nature Paladins, Grung Greenrogues and Lizardfolk Swarmkeepers, among others. There is no passages through the wall; no gates or drawbridges, no doors or underground tunnels. The only way to cross the wall is to go over it or for a Druid to reshape the stone and thorns long enough for you to pass through. There are many lifts built to quickly lower or raise troops onto the ground to do battle, as well as nets for climbing down quickly, but there is no way for combatants to retreat without help from people atop the wall, unless the combatants themselves can fly or levitate. This has cost many lives, but it has saved many more. The Wall of Thorns extends from the Bay of Longteeth to the West all the way to the border of the Principality of Kokalia where it then continues for many miles under their maintenance.

Mossglow told me there's been talk of getting some of the troops to go help the Druids build a wall between Mesh and Kokalia, because it is only across that border than Shan spies have been able to penetrate Mesh. Lom (my best friend) said that the council of elders has been unable to agree on what to do there. Not that they can agree on much of anything, except that peace and cooperation between the Mesh tribes is essential, the Kokalians must be trusted (but also spied upon), and humans are absolutely not tolerated within the borders of Mesh. Different tribes apply different solutions, between execution, eating them, and returning them to the custody of the Kokalians. We Tortles kill every human we see unless they have a Wood Elf escort.

Apparently, I'll be traveling to Conticaria with a Wood Elf named Gwen. I hope she's nice. We'll be passing through Kokalia, which I'm told has dwarves, humans, and halflings who won't trying to kill us on sight. I'll need to pray to Sehanine for guidance. And it's apparently drier than an Elven tree village out there, so I'm not looking forward to being thirsty all the time. Hesk says dwarven beer is a delicacy, but he's lizardfolk and those guys will eat and drink anything.

People I will miss the most: Lom Pushrock, obviously. He gave me some javelins for good luck. Moonlight, Mossglow and Starlight, the wood elf triplets who always dress alike. Hesk the rogue (Wind Clan), and of course Buff Hardback, Touch Rustrod, Roll Fizzlebeef, Blast Thickneck, and Slate Fistcrunch. And naturally my mentor, Priestess Willow Stagheart. May the Goddess watch over and protect them all.

[princehatterene]

ok i'm thinking about my octo ocs and how they would interact with the octopath 1 and 2 groups. i physically cannot shut up about them i'm sO SORRY—

the merchants: orietta is definitely more jaded than tressa and partitio, and is their self-proclaimed mentor in the ways of life and of the trade. the other two definitely don’t agree with ori’s methods, but appreciate her reverence for her community and dedication to the less fortunate. ori is disappointed tressa isn’t a girly-girl like her and that she does not take kindly to being treated like a dress-up doll.

the scholars: at first, camil is anxious to open up about her run-in with dark magic to her fellow scholars. but if anything they’re fascinated by the way she was able to break that terrible spell. osvald kinda reminds camil of her own father (without the whole “framed for murder” thing). cyrus picks her brain about similarities between spirepeak academy and his own university, wondering if visiting would be a worthwhile experience for him.

the apothecaries: since alfyn and castti are a lot more experienced apothecaries than tybalt is, he asks a Lot of questions. questions that they’re both more than willing to answer, of course! tybalt and alfyn become drinking buddies while castti keeps them out of trouble. tybalt is also told to give the others a glowing review of the arcas adventurer’s guild; they’re always looking for new members!

the dancers: honestly the other dancers think oliver is just adorable, and all the attention gets overwhelming for him. he probably cries the first time primrose opens up about her journey, and he’s very inspired by agnea’s positivity. he invites them both to valleycross’s famous flower festival, where agnea has a great time as expected, but primrose seems a little harder to please (she also has a great time).

the warriors: there’s of course a lot of recounting battle stories over drinks with them, but also a lot of (slightly drunken) philosophical conversations. penelope felt awkward at first because she has absolutely no connection to royalty the way a former royal knight or actual king do, but drops it very quickly when told they don’t care for titles or formalities between friends.

the hunters: h’aanit, ochette, and andreas get along great (andreas is very interested in visiting s’warkii and toto’haha), but it turns out glen feels a little self-conscious around the other animal companions. glen isn’t a fierce snow leopard or a magical owl/jackal—he’s just a regular dog. but the older and wiser linde and mahina/akala are quick to calm his doubts and remind him the he is, in fact, a very good boy.

the clerics: twyla loves the other clerics very much. she and ophilia are instant besties, talking for hours about their families and cute, girly things, and she loves getting to talk about law and philosophy with temenos. though it’s not an official role in twyla’s church, she is quite interested in temenos’s role as inquisitor, and brings the idea to her mother for her consideration.

the thieves: they all have a sort of brotherly camaraderie with each other, seeing as they all have little to no familial ties, and thieves often can’t trust anyone but other thieves. they bond more over their shared professions than their personalities, and while throné let go of the thief life altogether, therion and hawkin continue to compete over who the best thief really is.

[the-single-element]

Good afternoon. Apologies for any confusion this morning; I accidentally got my weeks switched around and posted next Sunday's thoughts a week early.

Today, we hear the beginning of a famous speech by Jesus - one that, after weeks of debating with Jerusalem's most prominent rabbis and scriptural scholars - sees him vent his frustrations with the the religious authorities of his time. He would go on to call out their errors, one by one, and to lament over the results that their failure of leadership would produce.

Indeed, Jesus's words pair with Malachi's to form bookends to an era. Malachi wrote at the end of the Babylonian exile, to a Jewish people freshly returned to their homeland. Jesus spoke to a people who would soon see Jerusalem fall, and themselves scattered across the world in what might be considered a second exile. Both gave, in their own words, the same warning to the same recipients, urging those with religious authority to remember that, unless their hearts are in the right place, that authority is empty, worse than useless.

It speaks, then, to the effectiveness of Jesus's outburst of oratory in Chapter 23 of Matthew's good news, that when we read it, it doesn't sound like a product of the Second Temple period. It sounds like something which could have been written today.

The danger of which he warns the rabbis - those who were his own teachers when he was a teenager - is still present, in our time, as it was in his.

I won't go throwing stones at other houses in the neighborhood, here. The Catholic hierarchy has such frequent examples of the posion Jesus describes today that we have a word for it: "clericalism", the tendency to run the organization as if ordained priests, and bishops, and so forth, are the really important people in the Church, the only ones whose opinions matter. As for "tying up heavy burdens and not helping lift them"? There are plenty of examples; look anywhere that Catholic advocacy groups conduct political campaigns to make this or that sinful behavior an imprisonable crime, without addressing the reasons why people fall into those behaviors in the first place. For God's sake, it's our priests who started the fad of insisting on being called "Father"!

This is one of Jesus's great fears and sorrows: to see organizations and institutions which were supposed to be building up the Kingdom of God subverted into tools for aggrandizing the powerful. It happened in his time, and it happens in ours.

But what can we do about this?

Jesus tells us that, too. After all, he doesn't begin his rant with the "scribes and Pharisees" as his audience; he's talking to the crowds. To ordinary people. What he tells them is, "don't follow that example".

Because, even if we don't have formal "religious authority", we're still called to be beachheads of the Kingdom into this world.

It's easy to slip into holding other people to standards we can't live up to ourselves, and to forget that this sort of judgment is a mortal peril.

It's easy to get caught up in doing the right things for the wrong reason - for praise, for attention - and in doing so, dull our ability to do the right thing when it would be unpopular instead.

It's easy to forget that "authority", in the Kingdom, is service, which is the opposite of domination.

Paul presents his own ministry as an example, here, in contrast to the judgment and terror he inflicted in his old life. It's possible to share the Good News without any of that. Living in the Kingdom is living in love: acting because you see your beloved's need and you see what you can do to answer it. If there's anything that makes one "great" in the Kingdom, it's that. That's the mentality we need to adopt, in order to escape this danger.

We can hope, and pray, that ecclesiastical types with long titles will learn this lesson too. That's where the danger is greatest, after all.

But to change our own behavior? Our own direction? That's something we can do ourselves.

[teefa85]

Ah, well...knew I didn’t have enough time to do another characters’ Chapter 1, so I took the run to grab Merchant and Warrior.  Might have to try the Black Market as I’m having trouble finding a good spear.  Hikari is kinda blocking the Ryu weapon shop, Sai doesn’t have one, and Orerush just has this really dumb one that reduces accuracy.  No thanks!

Next time, I think I’ll just continue down OCTOPATH (yes, I’m going in a crazy order because I am pedantic about doing the game in that manner).  So, grab Partitio, then use the remaining time to try to run for Dancer and Cleric.  I’ve gotten some EXP from the one fight I survived while heading to get Merchant (not at that level yet).

Also...Merchant!Thronè looks like she’s an archeologist, Scholar!Castti is adorable, Warrior!Ochette has this badass cute thing going on...and then there’s Apothecary!Osvald who looks like a cultured gentleman!  I love these costumes!

[spotlightstudios]

Did Someone say Size Difference?

Spoiler Alert: It was me. I said it.

Once again, this is R and Ozzy. They're both preteens, but they're also academic prodigy(s). R comes from a rich family of lizardfolk warriors/adventurers, but decided he wanted to be a scholar. (If played, a Cleric). Ozzy was an orphan who was put under the care of a temple at a young age, and he's attempted to be a healer but largely focuses on running the archives connected to his temple.(Cleric).

I just like drawing these two, and I love posing them together! Their big size difference is great, cuz I love the idea of the troubled small guy and gentle big guy. Ozzy definitely climbs all over him, and they're gonna make great scholars when R graduates. R was Ozzy's first friend, and he'll be the last. They're soulmates, I suppose.

Above: 1) Occissor laying over R's shoulder. 1) Osha (left, accidently covered a bit), Occissor (middle), and Ovid (right) just being birds as they should be. 3) Occissor in the Shadow Cloak before it was tailored for him. (He is spoiled rotten, smh)

Next up is Ovid and Osha, Ozzy's honorary bird family.

No one mention that I forgot to sketch Ovid's outfit. Wip, okay?

Also really funny that my creature ocs just don't get pants. Design choices, I suppose. (Nash(Centaur), Ozzy(Kenku), Sessle(Tabaxi), and R(Lizardfolk) all don't wear pants, I swear it's smth I just noticed lmao. Nash doesn't even wear shirts anymore either... dang.) Props to Neon for actually clothing their birds :3

[justcaytlin]

Oh yeah, one good thing about moving back to Tumblr is I can chronicle my FFXIV D&D group much easier!

I'm DMing a campaign where I run my friends through the ARR story (and eventually the rest of MSQ, but one bite at a time, eh?) and we've just started.

Prior to the campaign, I put together a 123-page PDF player's guide for them, as they are unfamiliar with Final Fantasy in general and also to convert lore into D&D mechanics. Rather than taking the homebrew route of creating all the jobs/classes from whole cloth, we converted existing D&D classes into FFXIV flavor.

The PDF also contains custom backgrounds, "This Is Your Life" from Xanathar's Guide but Eorzea-ized, and of course races (tweaked from someone else's homebrew, which is linked in the document).

Of course the PDF is already out of date because that's how these things go, but it's still, like, 99% good.

June was a feverish month of creation LOL

Anyway, here's our intrepid party:

Maeda Matsu (Matsu is her given name) is our Au Ra White Mage (Druid of Stars 2/Cleric of Life X, a Hydaelyn cleric). Barry Spalding (Barius) is our Garlean Gunbreaker (Artificer Armorer). And Sayonji Himemiya is our Red Mage (Wizard Bladesinger).

The First Rising

The first two sessions, I wanted to introduce them to the setting, its characters, its story, etc, and also help them kind of get a feel for their party dynamic. So I set it during the very first annual Rising Festival after the Calamity. For funsies, I decided it would be held at the Gold Saucer, because of course Godbert would hold the first Rising Festival in an attempt to reunify people and bring joy to those who were hurting.

I played the ARR trailer video up until the end of the Calamity, narrating over it and what was happening so they could get the emotional enormity of what had happened.

Then I spent time with each character, doing some story RP with them that explained their normal circumstances and how they got to the festival. Matsu's flighty, flaky mom wanted to take her to the cool new festival. Matsu's a Sharlayan Scholar, and Krile is her mentor, so I had Krile give her a Twilight Sparkle-esque assignment: go have fun and make some friends.

Barry was tagging along to his brother's friend's bachelor party, which was a dumbass stunt of "tee hee let's sneak into savage Eorzea in disguise and have our party at their casino!" They basically brought Barry along because he's sorta always the hanger-on, and his brother Nero thought it would be hilarious to get his baby brother drunk as a skunk in Eorzea. Shortly after arriving, they basically abandoned him to go have fun themselves.

Sayonji is a neglected lil baby whose mother was one of the Company of Heroes, but vanished when he was a child. His father then vanished with the other Warriors of Light during the Calamity. He puts on airs of arrogance and being full of himself to hide his hurt. A traveling bard, Temur Himemiya, came to his town of Summerford to talk about the Rising Festival. Sayonji fell *instantly* in love (hence, taking on the bard's last name) and declared right then and there he'd be an adventurer too. He went to the festival riding high on being ~in love~.

He was 15.

How It Went

They met and had a blast doing a bunch of party games. They competed against Yda and Papalymo in the obstacle course up Mount Corel, doing the limit break mechanic to launch Sayonji to the finish line.

They had an astrologian read their fortunes using the Tarokka deck (especially since my husband had already coded up a really cool tarokka reading table). Barry is 100% sure it's fluff and nonsense because lol being in the middle of a corrupt regime??? what lol??? He's a soft baby boy.

Sayonji started to cotton on that Barry might be a Garlean. Most especially because he was weirdly neurotic about keeping his dumb pirate bandanna on over his forehead.

They made contact with a pair of extremely arrogant 11 year old Sharlayan twins whom Matsu had seen around the Studium.

Suddenly, a *tower of light* appeared in Event Square and Godbert made a big show of it, like, OH NO, HEROES, WHAT DO WE DOOOOO, GATHER IN PARTIES OF NO MORE OR LESS THAN FIVE PEOPLE PLEASE THANK YOU

They nabbed Alphinaud and Alisaie as their fourth and fifth (the twins had been arguing with Godbert that they should be allowed to run the tower on their own because they were PRODIGIES) and entered.

The whole tower was an exercise in getting to know your party:

A philosophical discussion with a couple of moogles about what to do if you find a Garlean baby in a camp after you've killed all the soldiers. (Party was solidly in the Don't Kill the Baby camp) The only goal here was to come to a party consensus.

A room where a freaky candy was created to represent each person's deepest fears. You had to eat someone else's candy and be in their shoes for a little Echo scene. Note, they had to attune to a crystal, and Barry could not. He was trying and panicking, and Godbert basically was like "Oh oops it must be on the fritz :D" and had it generate an appropriate chocolate. Matsu learned that Barry is a Garlean, and both Matsu and Sayonji came to the conclusion that he is a soft sweet boy and not a spy, and also he has a shitty family.

A room where you had to speak out loud your worst flaw, and someone else had to talk about how they'd be able to compensate for that flaw. Heroes should be able to lift each other up! Speaking your flaw would summon a platform that would help build a bridge across a chasm, and having it compensated for would stabilize it enough to be able to stand on it.

At this point, both Alisaie and Sayonji were commiserating on "WHAT IS THIS UNAGREED UPON GROUP THERAPY BULLSHIT"

Final room was a fight against Mama Moogle (fat moogle) and her moogley minions. Lots of goofy combat, and they knocked Mama Moogle so hard she quit early.

They got lil plastic medals that, when pressed, would do the tinny victory theme. They say "I survived the Tower of Light at the first annual Rising Festival!" on them. Super gaudy.

Everyone parted ways a bit sadly, assuming they'd never see each other again. Matsu gave Barry a lil kiss in hopes of impressing his jackass brother and friends.

And Then The Call

Last session, I had another round of "here's what you've been doing ever since that day." Matsu had realized her mother was a flake when her mom casually dropped that Matsu was a foundling and didn't seem to get that this was Big News to her. Sayonji had been adventuring, and by adventuring, I mean being a gal friday for Bentbranch. Barry was busy trying to experiment on solidifying the gunblade and the art of gunbreaking.

Matsu was in the middle of discussing with her father and Krile about trying to become a cleric of Hydaelyn, and then breaking the news that she knew about her birth, when her vision blurred and she blacked out.

Sayonji ran into Temur again, was horribly embarrassed that he hadn't done hardly enough, Temur composed a little ditty on the spot about him helping little old ladies, and Sayonji blacked out.

Barry was walking through Ala Mhigo with his brother when Nero got into a spat with a little girl and her mother, and when the girl attacked him, Nero reacted without thinking and went to rifle-butt-smack her in the face. Barry intervened and blacked out.

They all had a joint vision of themselves in a floating void -- the others were glowing light figures, like the Warriors of Light -- and they got to see themselves as max level as a lil glowing light did the Hear, Feel, Think shtick.

Then they saw the glowing orb start to bleed black mist and shrivel, and an Ascian appeared, picked up the orb, and crumpled it in his fist. Then he shot away, and the three of them were able to give chase and limit break him into non-existence.

When they woke up, they all basically got lil scenes that got them to a boat. Barry asked his brother to cover for him while he went "field testing" and Nero took this to mean he wanted to basically do Garlean Rumspringa and also probably do some casual murdering of Eorzean soldiers, which is a-okay in his book. Nero gave him the thumbsup. Krile was excited about the vision, and Matsu's dad was worried. They urged her to start adventuring, and Krile offered to put in an appointment with Baderon at the Adventurer's Guild in Limsa. Sayonji told Temur about his vision and got a lil ditty in compensation.

It's worth noting right about now that I've been making quest plates for them, so they can keep track of the long-term questions.

Anyway, they all got on their boats. Sayonji and Barry had about a month on the boat together to catch up (Barry was a stowaway). They met Matsu in the Cieldalaes, where Limsa customs is presently, since the Yellowjackets are buttoning up everything in response to a spate of kidnappings.

They met Brennan, the friendly peddler, who chatted with them and asked them why they were adventuring and whatnot.

THEN PIRATES ATTACKED, and we stopped for the day.

Whew

Most of these writeups won't be this long, since they won't encompass THREE SESSIONS plus setup, but at least I have something I can point to now lol