#PLAYER CHARACTER TAGS

[ravenloftbythelamplight]

what're some fun facts and/or dreadful curses about your party? i wish to hear as many juicy details as u got about these poor unfortunate souls O:

Ohohoho we've only had three sessions but I very much so have thoughts to say regarding the party of four that my players have handed to me. Possibly, too many thoughts, but nevertheless! I'm gonna go through in order of the introductory vignettes from session one for the sake of convenience, talk about my thoughts on each so far, and give some fun facts (and dreadful curses) along the way.  I originally spent a day typing this out in a document on my phone and oh lord this is way longer than I thought it was, apologies in advance for the wall of text-

Kestrel: Out of all the members of the group, I as the DM know the least about Kestrel. This is due to factors mostly out of game, but in game I too would say this is the result of our desert-wandering tabaxi cleric being the most (I say this lovingly and this is the best word I could think to use) "average" among the party. By that I mean he could've very easily been put in with the PCs of a non-Ravenloft campaign and would fit right in, likely even more so than the actual group he's gotten himself saddled with. I, personally, think this is a stroke of genius for a number of reasons. They're the everyman archetype as someone who neither lives in and has thereby adapted to the nature of Ravenloft nor someone not tied to the setting but is still horror-based; a regular, unwitting person with no expectations for the terror that awaits. Kestrel's average-ness, in fact, makes them stand out amongst the other party members. He both sharply contrasts with and balances out fellow setting outsider Lemeia; a contrast that makes their dynamic and fast friendship such a blast to watch. I'm also excited to see how his dynamics with the other two evolve in the next session. So far Kestrel has stood as a neutral anchor-point amidst Brynmor's fear-driven worry, Nocturna's jovial indifference, and Lemeia's eerie fascination: understandably afraid in the face of their current predicament, but for the most part remaining level-headed and curious. I would not boil them down and describe them as "holder of the sole brain cell" because that just wouldn't be true, but he has been a grounded and often inquisitive facet of the group; not quite the voice of reason just yet. They haven't had any particularly big moments to themselves asides from discovering the dismembered mannequin in the kitchen, but I hope to ensure that such won't be the case for long. Fun fact time! Kestrel has an interest in plants! His character sheet has the herbalism kit and a journal of notes on plants and herbs listed in his inventory, and his player inquired on if The House had any potted plants to study during session one. Planning on having them get some in-world translated books on domain-native plants and seeing what they're able to do with that. Unsurprisingly for a character decidedly not steeped in dread like a nightmare-themed tea bag, Kestrel lacks a great deal in possible dreadful curses. However, they were the only member of the party to have been, uh, gently pushed in the direction of The House by shadows rushing past at the corners of his vision. This could come back as something of note, but as of now I'm not exactly sure on a good plan for that. His backstory is likely to, maybe literally, haunt him as well.

Nocturna: Nocturna… ooooh boy oh boy where do I even begin? The party's Lepalï (homebrew from somewhere online I was sent by player) warlock hailing from The Carnival as the child of two illusionist performers is a character that I and their player had discussed many 'a time prior to the beginning of the campaign proper. They are… well, they're a lot, which is quite fitting. If it gives any strong indication: with no prompting or prodding from me, the player had Nocturna sprint head-first into the mists completely ignoring the immediate concern of the other Carnival residents and this act was entirely on brand for both player and character. Additional note, as relayed to me by their player, she has also definitely done this more than once before. Yep. A never-ending fountain of whimsy and mischief, Nocturna has taken the situation in stride; seeing the investigation of The House as a fun adventure rather than a omen of ill occurrence. They've ran off from the party to explore, drawn on the walls, tore a hole in another wall, and solved a major puzzle without actually fully solving it; they're just hear to have fun! Incredibly reckless fun! The whimsy, however, belies the single-minded determination that she has found herself gripped by on multiple occasions over the course of the time spent in the house. Putting others at risk, literally knocking Brynmor over and trying to dig through his equipment, in a desperate bid to pry a basement door open. This aspect of her character hasn't been explored in a lot of detail yet, but it's something that might prove interesting later. Speaking of Brynmor! I could and probably will make a whole post of its own just to ramble about the two's dynamic. Seriously. Solo moments of note include stealing the mask of one of the dining room mannequins, and then a session later punching said mannequin to the ground. Also, the entire mini-saga of double nat-1'ing on trying to open the basement door. Fun fact: They're not only a magician, but also able to draw and play multiple musical instruments well. A performer of many trades! I have a hunch that they might be multiclassed into bard at some point later down the line. Potential dreadful curses, at least at the moment, are more so in line with her patron than anything else. This isn't to say The Carnival doesn't have anything in store, but the most obvious of the warlock business will likely come first. At the moment we're at in the campaign, Azalin Rex isn't actually aware of the fact that he's got an unaccounted-for warlock running around with an object he had intended for someone else to have. This is the lord of Darkon we're talking about though, and he'll have some sort of scheme in mind for her in no time. Whether or not Nocturna actually cooperates is yet to be seen, and the king isn't in much of a position to seek aid elsewhere.

Brynmor: Going in I had little to no expectations for what Brynmor was going to be like. To my absolute delight he has very quickly become a wonderful piece of characterization from his player and an absolute treat to behold. Dragonborn ranger born in Barovia to a mother known in the village of Krezk as a defender and protector against that which lurks in the night, Brynmor has made it his goal to follow in his mother's footsteps and face monstrous threats with strength and courage. He is also an absolute dork and very afraid of the possibility of actually stumbling across something that could harm him or those he intends to help; qualities which are very understandable for an ambitious 18 year-old who's never really left home until now. This guy left Krezk and immediately climbed the goddamn Balinok Mountains in the middle of fucking winter and now he'll never live decision down and I love him for it. In stark contrast to Nocturna, Brynmor has taken every step of the party's exploration of The House incredibly seriously: arguably, depending on your own view, too seriously. He's extremely fearful about whatever it is that must have brought them all to the house, and especially paranoid about it being in the house with them. Incredibly cautious and equally as concerned for the well-being of his newly-found compatriots, but still trying to lead the charge. He's no leader, though, especially not where he's at now. He's reached beyond his means, and I'm excited to see where his ambition might lead him; for better or for worst. Our boy here has had a few good solo moments, of note being his realization that the strange set of stairs at the back half of the house lead nowhere and make absolutely no sense physically, and the absolute terror that realization caused him. Also, just, the way his dialogue is phrased a lot of the time is really fun. Final fun fact: One of the times in Brynmor's inventory is a old, worn book of nursery rhymes (via the horror trinkets table in the 5e VRG). The player and I have decided that this was a book that his mother would had read to him often as a child, and that he brought it along on his journey up the mountain as a keepsake. Dreadful curses is the name of the game when it comes to the mists and for Brynmor this is no different. Knowledge of undead creatures and sinister forces has been passed down through his family and onto him: one such piece of knowledge being the true scope of Strahd von Zarovich's status and power as a vampire. What Brynmor doesn't know is that his family has been a mild thorn in the lord of Barovia's side for some time, his grandparents having been the sole surviving members of an adventuring party pulled into Barovia by forces unseen many years before the beginning of the campaign.

Aaand that's it that's the whole post-

[juunipupu]

Knight and the enemy within

[datcravat]

It seems there's a new lawyer in town!!!

[midasclasm]

player the playerrrrr 😛

[800db-cloud]

i’ve been wanting to do this since day one

[okmyguy]

always on the hunt

[lelelego]

waiting and waiting

[royalarchivist]

Tubbo: The life system– In DND, when a character hits 0 health, they have to do something called a "saving throw," it's a death saving throw. If they roll under 10, they fail that death saving throw, and if you fail 3 death saving throws, your character is dead.

Tubbo: How I'm treating saving throws in the Realm SMP is basically, if you die, it's equal to you failing a death saving throw. [...] If you lose all 3 of your lives, you will be banned off the server for 24 hours, and when you come back, your stats will be reset to 0, you are a new character*, you are dead.

Tubbo: Players on the server are able to attach this to lore, if let's say they're doing a lore character, that character's dead, they can come back with a new one for things like roleplay and lore.** And storytelling! [...] I'm mainly leaving [lore] completely open-ended for the players of the server to tell the stories they want to make. I just want to make the ultimate sandbox for them, and plan events and activities that they can use to develop their own original characters, is kind of my plan.

Tubbo discussed Realm's life system earlier today during stream before Realm SMP opened!

* Not in the literal sense.

** Tubbo isn't saying players HAVE to make new characters when they die 3 times in one day. Tubbo reiterates that he wants Realms to be a sandbox for players to tell the stories they want to make.

[aq2003]

has anyone gotten the idea that odysseus' storyline in hades 2 is a depiction/exploration of trauma over his SA and how he's blaming himself for things that were out of his control? because that's the impression i'm getting from what i've seen. he talks about "goddesses" as his "greatest weakness" and that "he's not one to say no to them"...

when mel invites him to the bath, he brings up mortals having different standards for intimacy than gods and how it usually has a more romantic/sexual connotation. she then asks if he's uncomfortable and he has a startled reaction and brings up circe and calypso again (but never actually by name)

(this isn't ship/romance bait btw. odysseus knew mel as a kid and they're stated in-game to have a sibling/uncle-niece relationship)

also he grew apart from penelope after his return, but the game makes a point of showing that his love for penelope and telemachus is what drove him on at all so that element of his character isn't brought into question

[erufin-art]

Tried my hand at making a GGG God OC. Introducing Harning, God of Caution

As a mortal they had a tendency to second-guess the things around them, especially in terms of safety, and often took action to get rid of the possible risks. The Grove became much safer thanks to them, shaky infrastructure was fixed, fences were put up around dangerous areas, etc. That's what led to them being elected as the new god. However, after ascending they felt like they were under an obligation to detect any & all possible risks before they resulted in something bad, and the pressure stressed them out so much that their usual caution and tendency to notice threats early turned into overthinking and paranoia. They became so afraid of everything and didn't know what to tackle first that the aspect of taking action against these dangers got pushed into the background.

In a hypothetical chapter with them, Godpoke would have to deal with a lot of obstacles put up for "safety" and would have to find a way to remind them that they can't prevent every disaster, but must do their best and just stressing out about every possibility under the sun isn't as helpful as actually helping with even one thing.

[arttsuka]

Blanket

[rystiel]

can’t blame in-ho tbh i’d also stare at gi-hun all day

[sincerely-sofie]

Alright. Going to play more Slay the Princess now. Y’all’s reactions to my worst theory yet scare me. Have some fanart to enjoy while I dive back into the insanity.

[rosie-kairi]

I once saw the face of God, a vast and sudden Silence against the noisy heavens. That evening I dreamt I listened in on one side of a conversation I should not have overheard. I do not watch the skies anymore. I Do Not Look Up.

I don't remember where I first saw this quote, but I thought it was a banger so I drew a little sketch comic of it. Months later, I finally decided to finish it.

(khux text font downloaded from here)

[fastidious-and-a-mess]

i think a lot about iwatex lore and story stuff outside its context of Video Game

like, it’s coded into the Video Game that kom always dies and there’s nothing you can do to save him. but in-universe? i don’t think fate or predestiny is a big thing here, bc it’s a time loop and sol’s whole life is different every time, so i often think about an In Universe fluke timeline, where something different happens and kom survives. anemone gets to grow up with her older brother and she doesn’t become a soldier and sol gets to see what it looks like for her to have a happy life.

and then it never happens again. sol can’t figure out what let kombucha survive in that loop, and they can’t ever recreate it, and he never survives again. that was the only loop where anemone was actually genuinely happy, and the guilt of its eats at sol in semi lucid moments of loop-awareness.

[abyssal-ilk]

replaying dai has me thinking about iron bull but more specifically than that, iron bull and his relationships with gatt and krem. both krem and gatt are younger men that bull saved when he first met them, both have a teasing relationship with bull, both clearly look up to bull and idolize him to some degree, and they are both representative of the two pressures he is caught between– his loyalty to the qun and the new individualism he is finding while in thedas with the chargers, namely krem. and then bull's personal quest has him caught between his friendship with gatt and loyalty to krem, and he's not even the one who gets to make the choice in the end.