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izzet-always-r-versus-u · 11 days

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Universes Within theorycrafting: Assassin's Creed (part 1)

Kept sliding off making posts for the bigger sets (LTR, PIP...WHO is mostly pending more data on the space opera plane) just because I was struggling to organize my thoughts on them; ACR has about half the total new cards as the commander products, and a lot of those are on the simpler end, so it's a lot easier to just go through on a case-by-case basis. Hopefully that'll help get the word-gears churning for the other sets.

Part 1's gonna be the cards that don't need name changes for UniWit adaptation; 49 out of 105 (not counting Raven Clan War-Axe, which would be close to the line in a vacuum but is mechanically tied to a card that does need a rename regardless), a little under half.

Battlefield Improvisation

Works more or less anywhere, but one particular interpretation that tickles me is a bit of flashy showmanship in Valor's Reach when a fighter is reduced to a 1v2 and starts going to town using their fallen partner's weapon. Given the colors, maybe Regna dual-wielding her scythe and whatever massive polearm Krav is rocking?

Detained by Legionnaires

Even on Ravnica I figure actual Pacifism is more likely to see a reprint, but the Boros are legionnaire-cops, so this would translate there fine.

Distract the Guards

Assassins and Rogues? Those are both outlaws, so Thunder Junction's the obvious fit. I'm gonna say it's a Freestrider operation, one group drawing the Sterling Company wardens away while another group stages a jailbreak.

Escarpment Fortress

Apparently an escarpment is a kind of cliff face, so this is a fortress built on or into a cliff. No shortage of fits there; could be an Akroan outpost, could be a Zendikari refuge, could be a highland monastery of the Jeskai/Ojutai...et cetera, et cetera. Take your pick.

Fall of the First Civilization

Could be Fall of the Thran but slightly to the left, but I like this as an Oltec tale of the First People of Ixalan; just because they're unknowable due to being four apocalypses deep doesn't mean the Oltec wouldn't have stories about them in some capacity, and "how their world ended" would be right at the top of the list.

Haystack

The same bit as the original could work in most of the multiverse's cities, but I actually like the idea of setting this on Innistrad: the terrified eyes of a pair of peasants barely visible peaking out from within a pile of hay as a shadow shaped distinctly like a werewolf passes across it. A perfect hiding spot...so long as your breathing doesn't give you away.

Hookblade

Zendikari kor lineslinger equipment. One of those "you could put it in a set and most people wouldn't even realize it's a reprint, it fits so cleanly" cards: White "hook" equipment that grants temporary flying? Yeah, that's a kor card alright.

Keen-Eyed Raven

Mostly notable in that, as far as I can see, Magic's ravens have been entirely restricted to Blue and Black up to now. Certainly doesn't mean they can't fit there, though: maybe the Beskir have taken to keeping and training ravens in emulation of the Omenseekers, or maybe Will has gotten what exists of the Eldraine courts to start using them as couriers and scouts.

Settlement Blacksmith

The two natural fits for planes referring to "settlements" are Zendikar and Thunder Junction, and this works fine with either. Zendikar's the one with a history of Equipment themes, though, and there's more than enough space for flavor text talking about times of necessity spread stoneforging traditions beyond the kor that developed and long kept them. (Could even make it a Nahiri quote, have her complaining about what she sees as wrong about Zendikar these days.)

Tax Collector

Magic doesn't exactly spend a lot of time talking about tax policy, but anywhere that has actual money is gonna have taxes. The Orzhov are definitely the most obvious fit, though, even if detain is an Azorius mechanic.

Templar Knight

There are two other extant Magic cards with "templar" in their name: Capashen Templar, a Benalish Knight, and Noble Templar, an Otarian Cleric Soldier. The latter has a more obvious legendary artifact to amass an army to quest for - the Mirari - while the former is actually a Knight (the gap between Knight and Cleric Soldier is not a large one, but creature types mattered in Otarian sets). Either could reasonably be expanded out into a cohort of knights going on a "holy" quest; just a matter of preference.

What Must Be Done

I feel like there's an even cleaner fit I'm failing to think of, but the main place my mind goes is to Liliana's ultimatum to Thalia in original Innistrad block: sunder the Helvault and release Griselbrand, or Liliana kills all of the Thraben cathars guarding it. Reanimation or boardwipe, a choice faced by a White-aligned character - it works.

Assassin Den

In the MKM story, Etrata had a well-hidden personal base/crash pad that was also extensively trapped against anyone trying to break in. Feels like a natural fit for a Wall with >0 power that can buff a creature and enhance their stealth - the interior would naturally be equipped with every tool a master assassin could need. Presumably other Dimir assassins have their own hideouts, justifying it being nonlegendary, but that'd be the specific one I'd depict; there's more than a bit of space for an Etrata quote in the flavor text.

Assassin Gauntlet

Would be perfect as a piece of hacking tech in modern Kamigawa if Ninja wasn't a separate type. As is, we do know that the Dimir sometimes use the Izzet as a magitech development program (sometimes outright hiring them, more often through espionage and subterfuge), so an Izzet-sourced gauntlet with some sort of built-in smoke bomb or flashbang being used by a Dimir assassin would fit well enough.

Ballad of the Black Flag

I...don't know that we actually have any art of specifically the flags of Brazen Coalition ships? So it's not a given that they actually have black flags to line up with the name, but that also means that I can just decide they do and that can just be something that first becomes clear with the UniWit art for this.

Otherwise it fits fine, though: the tale (told by shanty, perhaps, if that's something that can be conveyed/implied through Saga-style art) of the humans and orcs of Torrezon fleeing across the ocean in search of better fortunes, and the often-violent steps they would take to claim and secure those fortunes.

Become Anonymous

Lazav, fading back into the obscurity of the crowd in the wake of the invasion. Could easily have very similar composition to the ACR art, though obviously that's far from a requirement. Just naturally leans into the same vibe.

Brotherhood Spy

Let me pull up the flavor text from the original Time Spiral printing of Assassinate:

The rulers of old Dominaria kept assassins on retainer. However, the true loyalty of these master killers was always to their peers. This elite brotherhood survived the fall of the old royal order.

That's right, Dominaria has a canonical brotherhood of assassins! That plane is the kitchen sink that keeps on giving. Given the context, that brotherhood presumably survived up until the Rift Crisis, so it may well still be around in the present day. The lack of specific information gives me plenty of freedom in interpreting the various "Brotherhood" cards in the set to fit that context.

In this case, there's plenty of space for flavor text to talk about the network of informants that support and assist the members of the brotherhood actually assigned the task of assassination.

Desynchronization

On an entirely different note (heh) from the rest of this post, I'd set this one at Strixhaven: with mundane music, the worst that happens when an orchestra falls out of sync is that the performance grinds to a halt after just sounding really bad for a bit. With music magic, discordance can have a much more tangible blowback, tightly woven harmonics pulling apart into a chaotic, concussive blast.

("Let's just...try it again from the top." -Zaffai, thunder conductor)

Eagle Vision

An Obscura-aligned eagle aven scoping out the location of an impending job - sometimes there's something to be said for taking a name literally.

Escape Detection

A suitably generic "Dimir sneakiness" effect.

Hookblade Veteran

Unlike the actual Hookblade, I don't think a mono-Blue Human Assassin lines up nearly as well with established Zendikar flavor. The best fit I can come up with is actually on Kaladesh; none of the night market-associated creature cards had the Assassin subtype, but it wouldn't be a stretch for Gonti to employ assassins, and a gauntlet with an integrated, extendable grappling hook would be real handy for Spiderman-ing around the spires of Ghirapur.

Loyal Inventor

Somehow the first Fioran card in this post: once she took the throne, the High Paliano Academy was subject to Marchesa's demands, and some of its finest minds now vie for her favor, presenting their newest, most cutting-edge inventions before the royal court.

Tranquilize

Sleeper Dart was an Ikorian card, so this is just a slightly different framing of the use of that same bit of poacher tech. Not exactly hard to make work elsewhere, but that's the most clean fit.

Assassin Initiate

I like to imagine Marchesa's used the resources of the crown to open an official (if not particularly publicized) royal school for assassins - the Renaissance equivalent to the CIA academy, basically. She didn't exactly cut ties with her old connections, but as the new seat of power in the high city, her eyes (and blades) need to extend far further, which means she needs more manpower. Conveniently, this card's got space for a solid four lines of flavor text to exposit about those developments.

Brotherhood Ambushers

As the most generic of the "Brotherhood" cards, this would probably be the card that exposits more broadly about the Dominarian assassin brotherhood as a whole, building on that Assassinate FT to talk about the position they fill in the modern day.

Brotherhood Patriarch

The death trigger points me toward the trope of "you become the master assassin by being the one to take out the current master assassin."

Hemlock Vial

The art and flavor text are both generic enough that they could probably just reprint the whole card exactly as-is aside from the frame and it'd work fine as a "UniWit" treatment. Otherwise, the obvious home for this is to ground it in Theros - probably Meletis in particular. They already did the same bit with Sip of Hemlock, but Theros isn't exactly averse to reusing tropes when necessary.

Merciless Harlequin

Appropriately for a design that's Blade Juggler but slightly to the left, this is a pitch-perfect fit for a Rakdos assassin.

Petty Larceny

Card name is a crime? Check. Card is mechanically a crime? Check. This definitely belongs on Thunder Junction - have Tinybones picking someone's pocket in the middle of a bar brawl. (Maybe show Vraska fighting in the background to help justify the Assassin-typal element.)

Phantom Blade

I'd go more classic-fantasy with this one, I think: a cursed sword that captured the soul of the first being it killed, becoming wreathed in ominous spectral energy. Feels right at home with the sword-and-sorcery vibes of Corondor on Dominaria, but off the top of my head I could also see it fitting pretty cleanly on Innistrad or Ixalan.

Poison-Blade Mentor

Another part of that Paliano assassin school - can't have students without people to teach them.

Restart Sequence

The grand prize of her daring heist was also her escape plan.

(Art: a ninja stands at a control panel in a dimly-lit Futurist laboratory, her hands flying across the screen as lines of light begin to glow across a prototype mech in the background as it starts up.)

I mostly try to keep Freerunning cards flavorfully tied to Assassins in particular, but there's some where it makes more sense to bend a little further, and this is pretty close to top of the list. It helps that Ninja and Assassin have pretty heavy overlap.

Headsplitter

Not all poachers favor range or stealth.

The two Ikorian cards with the Assassin type are both specifically archers, but poachers being able to be Assassins is the best way I've found to square "Headsplitter" implying an immensely un-assassin-y weapon while also specifically making an Assassin token. Thus, a poacher with a gnarly, Monster Hunter-esque bone blade. Probably not too big since it only gives +1/+0, but not exactly subtle.

Hidden Footblade

Stiletto heels, where the heel (or possibly the toe, depending on what would work best for the art) conceals a stiletto blade - I'm far from the first person to make that pun, but, well, if the shoe fits...

(Most natural fit in the multiverse for that concept is probably New Capenna, specifically the Cabaretti - elaborate fashion that's more practical/deadly than it appears is right up their alley.)

Labyrinth Adversary

That sure is a Minotaur card, all right. The specific callout to a labyrinth in the name means that probably the most natural fit for this is Theros. (Technically Ulgrotha also had minotaurs connected to labyrinths, but Theros actually has a modern visual identity to build off of, whereas Ulgrotha would be pretty close to starting from scratch, which is a hell of a tiebreaker.)

Monastery Raid

Another pretty literal one: Khans!Zurgo leading the sacking of a Jeskai monastery by a Mardu raiding party. (Leaning more into the "or commander" side of Freerunning here.)

Overpowering Attack

This one's more in line with the printed Assassin poachers than Headsplitter: Kelsien leading a veritable army of poachers armed with bows, raining hellfire down from atop a cliff onto a big monster below.

Hunter's Bow

This one works damn near anywhere, but putting it on Kaldheim (tying it to either the Kannah or the elves of Skemfar) tickles me because it means it could even keep the flavor text as-is if it wanted.

Palazzo Archers

The high throne of Paliano has been extensively guarded against the subtlest possible angles of attack, but that doesn't mean it leaves the more obvious approaches unguarded: the archers that watch the skies around it are sharp and well-armed.

Viewpoint Synchronization

The best idea I've got for this one is set on modern Kamigawa: a ninja watching a security feed displaying the views of several different cameras at once. Kind of mundane, but everything else I've come up with runs headlong into "how would an artist even convey this concept in a single piece of card art," so simple and literal carries the day.

Rooftop Bypass

Just a fairly straightforward bit of Dimir stealth/infiltration. Ravnica's not exactly short on options for rooftop travel.

Bleeding Effect

It's not quite a perfect color match, but the best fit I've come up with for this name and effect is the Order of Saint Traft, who willingly allowed themselves to be possessed by the geists of former cathars in cooperative union. In such a situation, it would make sense for the lines between the living and the dead to blur - becoming hard to tell where the skills and memories of one end and the other begin.

Bureau Headmaster

Another Fioran, in one respect or another. Could be another teacher at assassin school, could be positioned at the Paliano embassy (/assassin cell) on Thunder Junction (not really featuring in this half of the post, but one of the better throughlines I've been able to come up with the various mostly-legendary RW Assassins in the set). Probably a slightly better fit for the former, as a leading weapons teacher.

Brotherhood Regalia

The Dominarian brotherhood probably wants something approximating a unified visual identity anyway, so this is just the clearest portrayal of their garb.

Hidden Blade

The Dimir did more or less exactly this bit with Silent Dart in GRN, so this is just that again. One of those cases where someone who wanted to proxy could just directly lift another bit of Magic art and it would still work fine.

Smoke Bomb

Kamigawa feels like the best fit for a smoke bomb - either classic or modern. Solidly a ninja tool either way.

Towering Viewpoint

Another one that works basically anywhere, but I like the full-circle take of tying this to the Amonkhet version of Mighty Leap - making it a particularly tall obelisk in Naktamun that initiates would jump from, either as part of a trial, just on a dare, or as a statement of proof of their faith.

Brotherhood Headquarters

Could more or less swipe the flavor text from ACR Assassin's Den for this one, since it translates as basically the same beat: a covert base of operations hidden in plain sight in a major city. (In the context of modern Dominaria, that's New Benalia, New Argive, or possibly whatever the biggest city of Suq'ata or Femeref is these days.)

#mtg #magic the gathering #universes within

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markrosewater · 2 years

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does tittles count for vorthos? is the raven man a Lim dul card for example? and reincarnations?

and more importantly if I play lazav does vorthos see every ravnica citizen as him? or only Chandra in particular?

You're naming a character, so if they have multiple names, they all count. (SPOILER) Naming Lim Dul does get you The Raven Man.

Lazav only counts as someone else if it's a story point on the card where he was imitating them. You can't just pick any character and go, "it might be Lazav, who knows?"

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solradguy · 2 years

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Could we possibly learn more about your D&D character(s)? :D

YEAH!!! Thanks for asking :D!! My group used to do one-shots every time someone in the group couldn't make it so I've had like 15 characters haha I'll tell you about the two I'm playing now and my all-time favorite character I've played.

We have a side campaign run by Raven that takes place in Strixhaven and we do this campaign when too many people are missing from our main one. My character for this campaign is a Leonin wizard named Gringdor Kethu (the R's in Gringdor are rolled). He was raised by a gay Dwarf couple and I wrote him to have the most wholesome backstory possible lol. They love him so much and support all of his hobbies and are paying for his way through college. Gringdor wants to study theology at Strixhaven.

Gringdor's personality at the start of the campaign was pretty stuffy and arrogant, but the dice had other plans about that!!!! He rolls bad on EVERYTHING. EVERY SINGLE THING. It's so funny. The first time we got into combat poor Gringdor whiffed like EVERY HIT and then we had a dance class where he tripped and knocked down a bunch of people. He's soooooo pathetic but he's very optimistic and he's trying his best!!!

I did our tokens for this campaign in watercolors and based them on the original UK covers for Harry Potter. Here's Gringdor's:

Our current main campaign is run by Nuns and is a homebrew scifi/fantasy mixture setting with space travel and cyberpunk elements. The party recently got consumed by Rylox, an elder deity, and isekai'd to a medieval fantasy setting. I'm playing Mirasaran Tokhubileh (Mira) in this setting. He's a half-Orc/half-Tiefling (he uses the half-Orc stats but looks mostly like a Tiefling) pact of the old one warlock and his patron, Nyarlathotep (Gnarly), turned out just to be a rather wimpy messenger of Rylox and the other elder deities.

The medieval setting the group is in right now is eternally night and the people there worship the Twin Suns, Sigma Yol and Serrenna, and recognized Mira's magic as being related to Rylox, who is basically the anti-christ to them. One of our party members, Zab, was created by the Twin Suns. Most of the party kind of has this "friends because they have to be" dynamic but Mira and Zab are actually pretty good friends despite their powers coming from totally opposite places haha. They've butted heads on it before, but Mira got his powers unwillingly and doesn't always want to do what Gnarly does (which is usually kill and eat innocent people lol). Mira's sort of getting into the idea of killing people though because he's fed up with being pushed around by other people.

I drew all our tokens for this campaign in a sort of 1980s anime inspired style. Here's Mira's:

and his ref sheet:

My ALL TIME dnd bae is the second character I ever made for dnd. My buddy Shottie and I tried doing a campaign with this guy named Wolf but everyone got busy with work n stuff so the group dissolved. I played a character named Daemedes (half-Orc paladin) for that and Shottie played Nekeesk, Dae's bff, who was a Kobold necromancer. Then we found a new group through Reddit and ran Curse of Strahd. I didn't want to have to manage spell slots n stuff so I made a Tiefling barbarian based on one I was playing in Neverwinter at the time, Steel Flexmeat, but I didn't want to ruin the vibe of the setting bringing his name over like that and I changed it to Stahl Flexicarnosus (a pseudonym).

I wanted Stahl to be an outgoing asshole jock-type character but our DM back then (not Nuns, our current DM) wanted us to do character voices and I was too shy to so Stahl became introverted. He was still kind of a bastard but instead of rubbing it into peoples' faces, he let his actions speak for him instead.

Our Curse of Stahd campaign was kinda rushed by our DM and I wasn't really satisfied with how it went so when we got our current DM, Nuns, I brought Stahl back for our Ravnica campaign. I talked to him about working Stahl's CoS lore in with Ravnica since Rav's got a bunch of planeswalking nonsense going on anyway. Stahl's lore ended up that when the CoS party went to kill Stahd, the magic they activated to permanently kill Strahd and stop him from resurrecting forever went sideways and Stahl got blasted to another dimension: Ravnica.

In Ravnica, Stahl ended up joining the Gruul Clans (Zhur Taa specifically; Gruul was like the Mad Max raider faction) and decided that he was going to summon Ilharg the Raze Boar in the hopes that causing a cataclysmic amount of damage to this plane might warp him either back to the CoS plane or even the plane he came from originally (CoS itself was a separate dimension Stahl had fallen into). Shottie brought Nekeesk back for this campaign too and we had some moments where I got to play Daemedes again. It was cool.

Stahl ended up joining with the party because he was chosen by the Gruul Clans to go to this super boring meeting that all of the guilds of Ravnica had been called to attend because he was like the "new guy" and a bit of an outcast. It turned out that Nicol Bolas was returning and was going to blow the whole place up. Stahl could not care less.

A bunch of crazy stuff went down and basically Stahl became the vessel of Ilharg a few weeks before the party had a showdown with Nicol Bolas. Stahl turned into a giant flaming boar monster and fought Bolas with the rest of the party on top of these floating islands in the sky. It was sikkkkkkkkk. We were SO CLOSE to party wiping. Ilharg's essence made Stahl want to burn and destroy everything around him so whenever it was my turn to attack, I also had to roll to make sure that Stahl stayed in control of himself and didn't start attacking the party. The rolls were insane. I had to beat like a 15 or something and rolled higher than that like 5 times in a row.

After the party killed Nicol Bolas, they all kind of scattered in different directions. Stahl still had Ilharg's essence in him so he went back to the Gruul wasteland so if he accidentally flaming boar god installed again, he'd only melt cacti and stuff until he calmed down again. This was like 3 years before I got into GG btw, which I think is hilarious. I was so close to accidentally reverse engineering Tiefling Sol Badguy hahaha

Anyway, I've drawn Stahl a LOT. Our DM uses this cute token pack so I drew our party's tokens based on it. Here's Stahls:

And his post-Ravnica reference sheet:

I've got entries on my Toyhouse for Mira and Stahl, but not Gringdor or most of the other characters I've played:

#asks #theskyprism #oc #ocs #oc stahl #oc mira #I THINK I have tags for them on this blog?#LONG POST

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mana-burnt · 2 years

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Anticipation For The Brothers War and the history of Magic

This blog comes in no small part from the recent renewal I’ve I had in magic lately. I had always been a fan of the lore but never got into the game until 2012, just in time for the Return to Ravnica set. I fell into the game at college but upon dropping out, without my regular group I fell out of the active game. Mainly just following the lore as it developed like before. It wasn’t until 2019, when thanks to another run at college funny enough, I found another group to play with and regularly got into the game up through War of the Spark. Starting to fall out of it around Strixhaven.

Well buying new product at least. I still played commander regularly with friends, with the new sets and their associated lore not really gripping me. As well business practices of wizards, with its Walking Dead exclusive secret lairs and flood of product it was impossible to keep up and felt rigged against the players.

However the recent set Dominaria United, with its amazing cards celebrating some of my favourite characters like Jodah and Karn, The lore developments of the Raven Man connection to Lim Dûl, Jaya and her last stand, the battle against Phyrexia again. It had me buying a box and building a Jodah commander deck before I knew it. Filled with some of my favourite legends over the years.

And now we stand at the start of the legendary Brothers War. An event that shaped some of the most foundational elements of the magic lore. From it comes the Ice Age where Jodah and Jaya forged a friendship to last centuries and the shard that was needed to be broken. From it came Urza, the Artificer who would ascend to the likes of godhood as the war drew to an explosive close that would shake the very world of Dominaria to its core. A war that we never got a chance to explore in the game fully, only glimpsed in Antiquities, where the ruins of the great artifacts still filled with ancient power exist as still living scars of this ancient conflict. Only explored fully in the Brothers War by Jeff Grub, Book one of the artifact cycle detailing the adventures of Urza.

Now in a series of previews of the upcoming set, Wizards is truly spoiling fans of the legendary planeswalker urza via use of the long missing Meld mechanic (Only time before seen in the set Eldritch Moon) where two already powerful cards fuse together into a much stronger card (printed on the back). For Urza, Planeswalker you will need to have Urza, Lord Protector, as well as “The Mightstone and Weakstone”.

Already two powerful cards that synergize beautifully as is, by paying a modest 7 mana you can recreate the famous moment when Urza upon activating the Golgothian Sylex fuses with the united Thran Powerstone and ascends to the absurd power of a Pre-mending planeswalker.

We can see this with his ability to use any of his loyalty abilities twice a turn. Within 1 turn a player with a card like Oath of Gideon could potentially have you stacking your board with cheap artifacts then wiping it all before your turn ends. A truly powerful card for fans of this Legendary Planeswalker. If this is just the start of what’s to come then Brothers War may go down as one of the most powerful and meta defining sets in a long time.

#mtg #magic the gathering #urza #brothers war #long post #Mana Burnt

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asmund-scion-of-ice · 7 years

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As the Dust Clears

The morning air was still. Cool air sat in the deep canyons of the 9th District, stifling sound. Ravnicans scurried about their business, looking only to get back to their homes as swiftly as possible. Boros patrols were about, as thick on the streets as the lingering cold. Even knights of the Azorius moved about, their bright swords and hammers bright in the low light of the morning.

Sleep had evaded me the night before, and even now I cannot rest. I pace through the meadery, my claws clacking on the marble floor. If I don’t stop, I’ll tear a furrow into my floors, I thought, stopping myself. I’d been pacing for at least an hour, back and forth, my tail unhappily thumping. I shook myself from my cold, tired reverie, frost falling from my gleaming scales.

Walking behind the Low Bar, I pushed into one of the many back rooms in the meadery. There, my close friend and companion Barnaby waited on his perch. Barnaby was a raven. Brilliant white, with small streaks of black and blue on his flight feathers, my friend had taken residence in the meadery the first day I had opened. Luckily, he was relatively clean, and extremely helpful.

With a squawk, Barnaby flew over to me and landed on top of my head. Landing on the bridge of my snout, the bird cawed a gracious good morning, trying very hard to imitate Ravnican.

“Good morning, my feathered friend.” Laughing, my form rumbled and Barnaby tried his best to maintain his grip on my scales, “I have a mission for you today. Do you think you can handle it?” The raven cawed and took wing, back to his perch. Pecking his food tray, Barnaby stared deep into my eyes.

Chuckling, a long, earthen sound, I gave the bird some food, and began penning a note:

“ Master Alek,

I hope this morning finds you well. How are you and Ivaria doing? Last night was incredibly difficult for many. Should you ever need my aid, you know where to find me.

Respectfully, Asmund

Delivered by: Barnaby the Raven”

Nodding approval, I extended my left wing to Barnaby. Luckily we had plenty of space in this room; a number of stills and other equipment were in this cavernous space where Barnaby made his home. The raven hopped along my wing’s leading edge, up my back, and over my head. Snaking my neck to the nearest window, I rest my chin on the sill, “Barnaby, I have a note for you to deliver. Please wait until Alek finds it. He’s an Izzet mage, do you remember what they look like?”

I wait for Barnaby to cock his head to the side, extending a leg; thankfully, I can use a single claw for a pen, allowing me to write smaller more “normal” sized notes. Continuing, I tied the note to Barnaby’s leg, “He has a lab down the street a bit; he’s got darker hair and an extensive mustache. Once he sees you, leave the note and come home, okay?” Squawking happily, Barnaby gleefully launched himself through the window.

Fair enough, then. Inspecting the brewing equipment on the way out, their brass and steel playing havoc with the wall colors in the early morning sun, I stomped, exhausted, out of the room. Behind the bar again. Just where I like it, I thought, adding, a home away from home. Ruling is one thing, but relaxing, being a commoner. That’s another, wonderful thing.

Starting with the High Bar, looming above the Low Bar by over 20 feet, I began to clean. Wiping down the mahogany until it shone, carefully washing each goblet, stein, and mug, and slowly dusting each and every table. Unless there was another emergency, I would stay here today, until I gained some of my energy back.

The incident at the 28th Legion was, is, disturbing. Localized earthquakes don’t ever happen, unless it’s magical. Gardonia has claimed foul play, and I’m willing to believe him. My mind raced with possibilities. Who would do this? Why? What were they distracting us from? All questions I would need answers to. Perhaps the Dimir could help? The Baker down the street, or Lasav, might now something.

For now, however, I had a meadery to run.

@gardianforce @bobstropajo @shepherd-ivaria @lasav-the-sneakster

#open rp #rp #28th legion #mtg #magic the gathering #asmund #alek #ivaria #gardonia #lasav #ravnica #frostwing #frostwing meadery #barnaby #raven #note #early morning ravnica

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malaismere · 3 years

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Campaign 3 Predictions - Compiled

So, as a fan of compiling statistics, I've been keeping track of race/class predictions for campaign 3 for the past...at least a year, from tumblr, reddit, and twitter. with EXU over, and my spreadsheet hitting 400 (?!), I figured I'd share the fandom's current predictions

Travis

Human (30), Dwarf (29), Elf, Shifter (11), Half-Elf (10)

Cleric (103), Bloodhunter (63), Wizard (50), Fighter (49), Druid (46)

Lycan bloodhunter (41), Forge cleric (26), War cleric (16), Eldritch Knight fighter, Bladesinger wizard (14)

Marisha

Elf (16), Genasi, Tiefling (14), Dwarf (13), Dragonborn (11)

Paladin (112), Rogue (53), Fighter (43), Cleric (40), Warlock (37)

Eldritch Knight fighter, Glory paladin (14), Artillerist and Armorer artificer, Battlemaster Fighter (8)

Liam

Dwarf (25), Halfling (18), Tiefling (13), Elf (12), Warforged (11)

Druid (77), Cleric (72), Bard (71), Fighter (59)

Stars druid (16), Dreams druid (10), Eloquence bard (8), Alchemist artificer, Whispers bard, Twilight cleric (7)

Sam

Dwarf (34), Kobold (24), Goliath (17), Warforged (15), Kenku (13)

Sorcerer (106), Cleric (98), Druid (63), Wizard (47)

Wild Magic sorcerer (61), Wild Soul barbarian (14), Twilight cleric (8), Life and Forge cleric, Wildfire druid, Divination wizard (7)

Laura

Elf (21), Human, Tabaxi (19), Genasi (15), Gnome, Aasimar (10)

Barbarian (75), Sorcerer (74), Bard (64), Warlock (60)

Wild Soul barbarian (14), Wild Magic sorcerer (12), Glamour bard (10), Shadow monk (9)

Taliesin

Warforged (16), Elf, Changeling (14), Gnome, Genasi, Tabaxi (8)

Sorcerer (68), Rogue (65), Warlock (55), Bard (45), Wizard (43)

Aberrant Mind sorcerer (18), Whispers bard, Phantom rogue, Soulknife rogue (11), Mastermind rogue, Clockwork sorcerer (9)

Ashley

Elf (26), Human (18), Tiefling (17), Half-Elf (12), Dwarf (11)

Rogue (95), Bard (91), Monk (43), Ranger (41), Warlock (38)

Swashbuckler rogue (21), Glamour bard (13), Mercy monk (9), Drunken monk, Wild Magic sorcerer (8)

I also (although less consistently) collected continent/setting predictions. Marquet was the top (49), then Issylra (29) and the Shattered Teeth (22). For non-continent settings, some form of Spelljammer was the top (19), followed by the Age of Arcanum (17), and Planescape/Planehopping (15). Underdark, Ravenloft, Blightshore, and a return to Tal'Dorei were also suggested multiple times.

Much longer and rambly discussion (and my own predictions) under the break.

Top predicted races were Dwarf, Elf, and Human (~100). Dwarf and Elf haven't been played before, so that tracks, and I don't think it's out there to assume we'll get at least one human again. Also, post the whole thing with Essek and long rests, people really started jumping on Elves (which, fair). Warforged, Dragonborn, Tabaxi, Genasi, Tieflings, and Changelings all are pretty prominent (~50).

Of the races not yet established as existing in Exandria, Warforged and Changeling were the most popular (Warforged now dubiously canon post-Aeor, and Changelings dubiously canon with the LoVM bartender), followed by Shifters, Leonin, Kalashtar, Fairies, Grung, Ravnica races (Loxodon, Simic Hybrid, Vedalken), Van Richten's Races (Dhampir, Reborn, Hexblood). Locathah and the other Feywild/Strixhaven races are the only officially published races at 0 suggestions. The lowest previously seen race is Gobins at 2, one of which was for Sam again, and the lowest PHB race was Half-Orc at 17.

Class wise, Sorcerer was actually the most predicted class (which kind of tracks, as it's the one that hasn't shown up even as multiclass), followed by Cleric (generally assumed as compulsory), Paladin (only as a multiclass), and Rogue (also assumed as compulsory, but way less so. Not surprisingly, Bloodhunter, Ranger, and Artificer were the lowest.

Wild Magic Sorcerer was far and away the most suggested subclass, the only one to break 50, although it hasn't hit 100 quite yet (I think it will by the time the final characters are announced though). EK Fighter, Lycan Blooodhunter, Forge Cleric, Swashbuckler Rogue, Wild Soul Barbarian, Stars Druid, Glamour Bard, Bladesinger Wizard, Eloquence Bard, and Echo Knight Fighter are the other top subclasses.

Every official subclass has been suggested except for Berserker Barbarian, Grave Cleric, and Transmutation Wizard (previously played), Battlerager Barbarian and Banneret/Purple Dragon Knight (SCAG subclasses, which are widely unpopular), and the dubiously-official Planeshift subclasses. Open Seas Paladin is the only Matt homebrew to not be suggested at least once. For dead UA, Satire Bard, Brute Fighter, Giant Soul and Stone Sorcerer, and Raven Queen Warlock have all been suggested, usually only once, although many of the suggestions were collected while classes were in UA for Tasha's, Van Richten's, and Fizban's which is technically still UA but announced so...

With Travis, the predictions bounce between two main ideas - a melee spellcaster (Forge/War/Tempest cleric, Bladesinger/War wizard), or going back to a melee class (Bloodhunter, Fighter) but with a bit more mechanical interest (Lycan, EK/Echo/Rune/Battlemaster). I think those are both solid predictions, and while I really, really doubt we'll see a Lycan bloodhunter or a Forge cleric, I think the general vibe is probably spot on.

My own prediction is one of the more out there, but still in line with the general thinking - Artillerist Artificer. Travis is definitely a very tactical player, and it would be cool to see him get a turret for the battlefield, plus all the general utility/versatility of the artificer. Alternatively, I really could see a rogue, although more like what Mastermind or Inquisitive is trying for as opposed to how they actually turned out, if that makes sense.

Race wise, the top guesses are fairly plain, outside of shifter (which is mostly tied into the "werewolf" vibe). None of them would shock me, but I don't have any predictions.

I think that everyone's right on the money with Marisha as a paladin. Her next character being high charisma seems spot on, and I think moving to a half-caster also tracks. EK/Echo/Rune/Psi fighters would also fit, although they don't lean towards high charisma, or a warlock, maybe a more melee one.

Rogue seems unlikely purely due to the fact she's played one before, kind of. Matt and Marisha have both talked some, but her first game wasn't Vox Machina, but a previous game Matt had run where she'd played an assassin. You can do non-assassiny rogues, but still.

(Other fun facts about this game because it's wild: apparently the session she sat in on before playing involved half the party getting eaten by ghouls. the party joined up with another half-tpk'd party (marisha and the replacement characters) to get the raven queen to bring their dead friends back, and a fate-touched rogue swore service to the Raven Queen in order to bring the last party member back.)

My prediction for Marisha is also paladin, although I don't have any thoughts on the subclass, with genie warlock as a second because they are fun. No real thoughts on race other than I too would love to see tiefling Marisha.

Most people are going with a support caster for Liam, which I totally buy. Caleb definitely leaned towards support caster, even if he usually did end up played as DPS. Druid has taken the top given the polymorph->wildshape vibe, although it's still very yclose with Bard and Cleric. Suggestions for fighter dropped after EXU, and while Liam does play a lot of fighters, I doubt we'll see it for C3.

Honestly, Liam is the one I have no predictions for outside of 'support caster'. I'd lean away from Cleric and towards Druid or Bard, but it's hard to say. I also think Artificer deserves to be in the running, as it seems like something Liam would really enjoy, but also...might not want to go Int-caster to Int-caster. My only real thought on race is that I want to see whether Marisha and Liam choose the same again.

Top guesses for Sam is, far and away, Wild Magic Sorcerer. This was also the top guess for C2. I do not think Sam will play a Wild Magic Sorcerer. In general, though, the vibe is going back to fullcaster - Sorcerer, Cleric, Druid, Wizard. I think full caster is probably right.

Sam is so hard to predict because it isn't what he'd choose, but what Liam chose for him. I think it's either something really standard or something really out there, and since I can't guess the really out there, I'll go for the standard - Elf Wizard or Dwarf Cleric, leaning towards Dwarf Cleric, due to the support class and the fact that Sam's mentioned never playing a religious character.

The main vibe for Laura is definitely "DPS" which is understandable. I don't know if I agree with it, but I understand it. Aside from Barbarian, the rest of the vibe is spellcaster - and I don't think we'll see a completely no magic character from her either.

Prediction wise...I understand barbarian, but I'd actually go with Ancestor or Beast over Wild Soul. I could actually see a Bloodhunter from her too, although leaning away from Vex vibes. I think I'd want to go with Wizard, though I'm not certain on that. I would bet Tabaxi but idk, I could see her avoiding that for Travis' sake.

Everyone always names Taliesin as the hardest to predict (he had the lowest count at 354, under even Ashley at 365, to everyone else's ~380/400) but I don't think he's harder to predict than Sam. The thing that makes him hard to predict is that he likes to build characters to fit the party, which he (probably) won't be doing, same as with Molly. The other main thing he tends towards is mechanical complexity in a way that suits his characters.

The main driving influence in the top suggestions is Eldritch Weirdness. Aberrant Sorc, Whispers Bard, Phantom Rogue, Warlock in general. I don't disagree with any of the subclasses, but I really don't think he'd go eldritch for eldritch sake, if for at the very least being...he has always been this weird and it's yet to be a driving force behind any of his characters before. Like the Taliesin-is-an-elder-god thing, I think this is mostly people who don't hang out around occultists. Look, I've had multiple people sell me their actual souls, and you don't see all my characters being warlocks.

That being said, I don't think I disagree with the top classes, just the subclasses. I definitely agree with Sorcerer as a good choice for him, although I'd actually go Clockwork, as I think it has a fuck-with-the-DM vibe. Taliesin is the most heavily suggested for dunamancy subclasses, which wouldn't surprise me, but I think he might avoid on the sole point of not wanting something too tied with the last campaign. A lot of people also name the psionic subclasses, which I'd be more likely to second if they had kept the weird mechanic from the UA, but don't disagree with, excepting my issue with Aberrant Mind.

My out there guess is that he's going to choose a multiclass build. He definitely enjoys playing around with weird builds (Owlbear, he did a non-CR oneshot as a monk/stars druid). On the one hand, a lot of these builds work best for oneshots or starting at higher levels, as they can take a bit of time to come online, but with such a large party, I think it will still function.

(my actual prediction for Taliesin is that his character is weirdly reminiscent of either the aasimar echo knight or the elf blood cleric from the exandria game I'm running.)

Ashley is being predicted as a Dex/Cha build, and I'm totally here for it. Pre-Fearne, I was leaning Ranger, especially Fey Wanderer for a fey build, but post-Fearne, I'm going Rogue, especially Swashbuckler. I agree that seeing a high Cha Ashley would be great, especially to let her be more center-focused than Yasha had been, and swashbucklers are just...really fun. Also, the whole Aeor arc really left me wanting to see Ashley as the go-ahead-and-scout character, just to watch her push buttons.

For continents...I understand why people are guessing Marquet, since it's currently the most explored. I think that if they're going to do Marquet, then Matt will sit down with a cultural consultant. I say will over should, because I won't make any value judgements, but I think it's in line with what Matt and CR would do in that situation.

I can't really tell whether this is a prediction or what I'd like to see (the two are distinct but often difficult to untangle) but I'd actually go with Issylra, and specifically playing up the (at least initial) set up of explorers and adventurers heading out into the wilds. I will also place my bets on them having some sort of more steady home base, and my hopes on that they get an airship. My wildest out there guess is that the plot will move towards either planescape/spelljammer in the upper levels, tying into some of the seeds from the end of C2.

I have seen a handful of people predicting table seating order, which is both very minor and also the thing that I may be most interested in. A while back, someone made a post pointing out that the main romantic relationships were all cross-table, while the strongest platonic relationships were same-table or side by side. Because I am the sort of person that I am, I did statistical analysis on ao3 fics....and it's statistically significant. So I am trying to see whether or not, based purely on C3E1, I'll be able to predict what the top ships for the campaign will be.

This rambling has mostly gotten out of hand because I don't have much opportunity to talk about this, but, you know. If you send me predictions I will give you the current odds gambling style, so that you'd know how much you'd win if you'd place a bet, because I did the tables up as a joke for something else and now I kind of want them to be used for something.

#critical role #critical role campaign 3 #cr campaign 3 #critical role predictions #critcal role meta #cr meta #cr stats

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commander-legends-cdh-edition · 2 years

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Esper Blink / Control

Lazav may think he won, however, Dovin... Yes... Dovin always have a plan. After the loss of his eye he knew to plan for his death, his enemies were everywhere after all. Traveling to a distant plane, Dovin made a pact with the trickster god. Raven would lend him the Death Sphere and payments would have to be made in due time. He would leave the sphere in the abandoned coliseum, Dovin was free to do whatever he wanted to do with it there.

Leaving behind a part of his spark and soul inside the sphere, he departed and met his demise. The sphere, however, kept waiting. It waited, and waited, and waited... Seconds passing like minutes, passing like hours, passing like days... Until one day, a curious woman touched the sphere. Through her, he will be reborn and seek revenge if not on Lazav then on all of Ravnica.

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morimyth · 3 years

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Character Dice Pallette Feature » Shizu Nekomi

A tibbit assassin I built for 3.5, converted to Pathfinder, and converted again to 5e, Shizu has a thin halfling frame, bronze skin, emerald eyes, and long red hair she keeps tied in a high ponytail that trails to her waist. An ex-assassin ninja by trade, she wears a sleeveless gi tied at the waist, overtop a silk burgundy dress which she finishes off with a studded black leather skirt. Most notably, she carries an enchanted quiver filled with arrows and weapons of all kinds, and is almost overladen by belt pouches and packs strapped surprisingly streamlined around her torso and waist.

Though Shizu is just 25, she has achieved much in her time. She lived for many years in a secret society of tibbit ninja, graduating early meant she would be sent to an Organization, where her skills could be of use in an unfettered environment.

After some time working in the city she was placed, she found a very deep-seeded corruption in the upper echelons of the Organization, and unable to convince her unit to abandon their mission to wipe out the very corruption that writes their checks, she left.

Stowing away on many ships, and eventually falling through a dimensional portal or few, she landed in a strange iterance of Ravnica, spread over a vast continent rather than confined to a single city. Through many unsanctioned archaeological digs and artifact recoveries, she found herself not only in the employ of Isperia as an Archaeological Emissary, but she is also in possession of a Cursed Blade from the Shadowfell, and an Enchanted Chimera that one belonged to a Demon Lord. The plot, and the blood pool, thickens as things develop.

Shizu learns Draconic to be able to communicate better with her new companion, who she affectionately calls "kitty" in Draconic, Calti. What she learned from him is that, while he is cursed enchanted to turn to stone when not needed, and to follow orders without question, he does not have a moral compass, and needs a obscene large amount of murder to function.

Worried, Shizu seeks the aid of a Coven of witches, whose power comes from the Thirteen Moons of this plane. Together they hold an extravagant ceremonial ritual to enchant Calti in order to imbue him with a Fey Familiar spirit.

Not long after they do this, Shadar Kai start haunting Shizu in her waking hours, while the Shadowfell Prince haunts her while she sleeps. After quite some time enduring it, and one useless lead box later, she has had enough.

She travels to the Shadowfell with her Coven Elder Ladrielya, a moon elf Necromancer, to find the Prince who owns this Cursed Sword, so she can assassinate the fuck out of his face free herself from his constant bombardments and advances, only to find him long-dead, entombed in a cursed sarcophagus that encapsulates him in a crystalline stasis between death and life, by the very demon that enslaved Calti.

In slaying the Demon Lord, she finds a young party of adventurers from Rakdos in way over their heads, and feels a kinship to them, much like an older sibling that builds character with tough love. Shizu disenchants the tomb with the help of the coven, and gifts the sword to a young Hexblade, who may be the only one suitable to carry the weight of the Raven Prince's life in his hands.

Dice Palette Index:

Cozygamer - Red Dahlia, Crystal Rose, Blood Skies, Poisonous Flower, Onigiri, and Fire Flick.

Viridian Gaming - Philosopher's Stone, Blood Golem, and Alchemist Wine.

Dice Monger - d20.

Scanlan Vox Machina - d20.

// New Dice Breakdown to follow. //

#dnd #dice palette #character dice palette #dice #rpg dice #baby got backstories #red #black #white #gazing into the multiverse that lives in my dice collection #morimyth #shizu nekomi #tibbit ninja witch of ugawa #archaeological emissary of isperia #official chimera catmom #long post

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yourplayersaidwhat · 5 years

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Context: We’re playing in a d&d campaign that’s set in a steampunk setting. I’m playing a half-elven grave cleric of the Raven Queen. The rest of the party consists of a sorcerer, soulbound (basically fighter with a dragon), and another cleric (I think she’s a trickery cleric). The two clerics are from the city we’re currently in, but the sorcerer and soulbound are both from far away. Ravnica exists in this universe and that’s where the sorcerer is from. My cleric is kind of quiet in comparison to the rest of the characters (minus the other cleric) because her dad is famous and she doesn’t want the rest of them to know. After explaining that there’s a red dragon as a guild leader in Ravnica, the soulbound obviously had something to say.

Sorcerer: There’s also a lich.

Grave Cleric: A what?! There’s a lich?

Sorcerer: His name is Jarad.

Grave Cleric: You have… a lich? As a leader? There’s a lich?

Sorcerer: Yeah, but it’s not that weird.

Grave Cleric: The Raven Queen is shaking! Come on. We have to go take care of this! We’ll go take out the dragon and then we can kill the lich!

Sorcerer: But he’s a leader of a guild.

Grave Cleric: But he’s a lich!

They continued to argue about it until the soulbound stepped in and calmed them both down.

#shit my players say #dnd #rpg #submission #long post #shareable #fantastic racism

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rogue-arcadia · 4 years

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Oh! Something I've wanted to ask people this for awhile now. What class and subclass would you likely be if you were born into Faerun/Eberron and as they have subclasses that were JUST OFFICIALLY(!) Faerun-ized, Ravnica/Theros? (These are Magic the Gathering Planes)

I personally have a theory for each of these personally.

Faerun I'd likely be an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. Why? Because I have a seizure disorder, what if I were meant to be a mindbending superpowetful Sorcerer whose powers came into being when they were 20?! Second is lore bard. I like playing a sax, love instruments in general, and I like learning tiny weird tidbits about nothing that is ever really useful to anyone for any reason.

Eberron and Ravnica differ, Armorer Artificer, why? Well, if you've heard of Eberron you might also know that it is super dangerous at times and I'd likely have learned to make a magical suit of armor and become Iron Man. Secondary is probably.... Clockwork Soul Sorcerer, a sorceress that literally got tapped into the power of order one day by accident. In Ravnica, I'd likely also work for Boros or Azorius depending on who got their hands on me first. Don't know enough about Eberron guilds and daily life to give any information on that, sorry.

Theros? Uh.... I dunno, I really don't, I've not learned the lore, I just know it had a ton of stuff that got put into Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (subclass-wise) and that's all *I* know about it.

All of these ideas by the way can be superceded by any Warlock subclass as a lot of that shit is random. Met a Fae? Bam! Warlock. Somehow accidentally got too close to the power if a creature like Cthulhu? Bam! Warlock! Did the gods really like you that day? Warlock! Did you accidentally intersect with a realm of water and now the being is giving you superpowers of tentacles in order to learn more about the world? Warlock! Did you pick up a nifty piece of a weapon once that is actually a shard of the Raven Queen's power? Warlock!!!!!!~ Infernal demon? Warlock powers for days!~ Seriously, like the book always makes it sound purposeful, but I honestly believe Warlocks just accidentally obtain their powers 90% of the time, ass-backwards to boot. Just saying.

#ravnica #theros #faerun #eberron #classes #5e #subclasses #please dont be a dickbag about this post #dungeons and dragons #dnd #d&d 5e #d&d

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izzet-always-r-versus-u · 7 months

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Universes Within theorycrafting (REX)

One of the big reasons I enjoy Universes Beyond is the way it demonstrates one of the big things I enjoy about Magic: the versatility of the mechanics in portraying a wide range of flavors. Even with IPs I have no attachment to (which is most of the UB IPs to date, honestly), seeing how those concepts are executed in Magic mechanics is consistently engaging.

As it turns out, Universes Within scratches the same itch in the opposite direction: where UniBey is adapting mechanics to external flavor, UniWit adapts mechanics to internal flavor. So as more Universes Beyond products have been released, I've had a ball thinking about how to adapt those cards, types, and mechanics into Universes Within. Rather than dropping random individual thoughts on that process on one of my Magic discords apropos of nothing, I figured it would make sense to use this blog as a blog and post my musings/ramblings here instead.

For the most part, I try to keep to three guidelines for my theorycrafting (the latter two of which almost certainly don't line up with WotC priorities on their respective fronts, but oh well):

As little errata as possible: don't change the names of cards, types, or abilities unless deemed necessary, or at least a fairly hard sell to leave as is.

Lean towards adapting to specific existing Magic worlds rather than just settling for a general fantasy melange: sometimes the details make for an awkward fit for established settings despite being generally reasonable for the broader trope space, but try to ground the cards in the multiverse more solidly when possible. If they can effectively depict existing characters and/or plot points, even better.

Treat adapted types (and, where necessary, mechanics) as though every card with that type/mechanic is getting the UniWit treatment. I'm not going to cover every card in detail, but basically this means that whenever I change a type that can't work in the Magic multiverse, that change has to be something that works with every card that has or refers to that type: for example, the UniWit equivalent of Time Lord has to be in a setting with Aliens, because Gallifrey Council Chamber mechanically cares about both Time Lords and Aliens.

For this first post, I'm gonna start with the Jurassic Park/World cards, because there's a reasonable number of them (not too many, not too few), and they're the most prominent on my mind, being among the most recent printings. (Names with an * are names that would have to be changed.)

Don't Move

There is no shortage of ways to make this one work, honestly. Could stick to the exact same trope and set it on Ixalan or Ikoria. Could be an invocation of law magic on Ravnica or New Capenna. Could be an armed robbery ("as long as there's no funny business, nobody has to get hurt") on Thunder Junction or New Capenna again. Dealer's choice.

Cresting Mosasaurus / Spitting Dilophosaurus / Hunting Velociraptor / Grim Giganotosaurus / Ravenous Tyrannosaurus / (Compy Swarm)

Grouping all of these together because they have the same issue: Magic very rarely uses the actual scientific names for dinosaurs. There are four Dominarian "Allosaurus" cards (three of which are direct or indirect references to the first), there's Gigantosaurus (which actually depicts a dino much more akin to a Giganotosaurus) on Generic Unspecified Core Set Plane, and as far as i can tell that's it.

That doesn't mean these cards need name changes, but it does mean that the cleanest fit for them is that Generic Core Set Card space: dinos fit fantasy fine, but these specific names don't line up cleanly with existing Magic worlds - the occasional pitfall in Guideline #2 up above. They're just a bit too generic to be properly grounded in any given plane.

(Compy Swarm is an odd case, because "Compy" feels like a very modern abbreviation of Compsagnathus, which in theory makes it a more awkward fit for the "generic core set" feel...but none of the planes where that kind of nickname would make more sense have dinos, or at least not enough dinos for a name as specific as "Compsagnathus" to be a thing to begin with. So getting lumped in with the rest of this group is probably still the cleanest fit for it.)

Swooping Pteranodon

The one notable exception to the above group, for admittedly very subjective reasons: the difference between Pterodon - which has seen active use on and in relation to Ixalan - and Pteranodon feels much smaller than the difference between Raptor and Velociraptor, or even Dilophosaur and Dilophosaurus, to me, so I could see them being used interchangeably, such that "Pteranodon" still works fine on Ixalan. In that context, this design is perfect for a Sun Empire war mount - one that would be ridden by, say, a Pter(an)odon Knight.

Life Finds a Way

Another one that's pretty broadly adaptable, especially with most of the known multiverse currently picking up the pieces after a collective apocalypse. The execution that I personally like the best is setting it on Innistrad, leaning into the "despite it all, we're still here" as an angels/humans card: play angels, get human tokens, keep humanity alive. Other planes probably have better tokens to populate, but the vibes here speak to me.

Savage Order

Ixalan is the one established plane that has prominent Dinosaurs in Green, so this is pretty locked in as an Ixalan card. The natural execution is one of the plane's big-name legendary dinos tearing into an "ordinary" dino, but this could also work as a specific story point: Zacama killing the compleated Etali. (That was even the result of a summons by Huatli, so there's a fun flavor-mechanics synergy there...though I'd be a bit leery of tying a card with Savage in the name to the Sun Empire even that much, so I could see leaving that bit out and just focusing on the Elder Dino-on-Elder Dino violence.)

Welcome to . . . || Jurassic Park*

I can't take credit for this one, but someone on Discord pointed out that this is a pitch-perfect fit for Vivien's introductory story, Unbowed, wherein she goes to a menagerie on the continent of Torrezon and, after a series of misadventures, unleashes the spirit of a monstrosaur from the Arkbow and proceeds to free all of the dinosaurs in the menagerie, empowering them to basically trample the city to the ground. Dinos encaged, dinos are released, dinos break the cage, dinos run wild. Clean. Call the front half Unbowed and Unbroken, call the back half Ruins of Luneau, and call it a day.

Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists*

"Scientist" is a quirky type in the context of the Magic multiverse. On the one hand, basically every plane has people that would definitionally be considered scientists - those that analyze the finer details of the world in search of understanding and/or improvement. On the other hand, Magic creature types run heavily on feel and aesthetic, and the range of concepts associated with scientists in pop culture is substantially narrower, and doesn't overlap super heavily with existing Magic planes.

In the present moment, without any details on future planes like Duskmourn or the yet-unnamed space opera setting of "Volleyball," there are three known planes that make good fits for Scientists: Ravnica, with a number of Izzet and Simic guild members being scientists far more than they are mages; Innistrad, where "mad scientist" fits perfectly into the trope space, including existing uses in the form of alchemists, stitchers, and those that work with geist-tech; and to a lesser extent Dominaria, between the researchers of the Tolarian Academies and the likes of the Riptide Project. The type can also work on tech-heavy planes like Kaladesh and modern Kamigawa, if necessary, but those planes would prefer Artificer as a type before Scientist.

As far as this card in particular, Bant colors makes for a poor fit on both Ravnica and Innistrad, so the most natural fit would be a Dominarian archaeologist or paleoanthropologist (or a pair of them) attached to one of the Tolarian Academies, delving into the plane's past as inspiration to devise new innovations for the future.

Blue, Loyal Raptor* / Owen Grady, Raptor Trainer*

Ikoria is notably not a plane where Scientist fits cleanly as a type, but that's not enough of a hiccup to overcome the extent to which these designs are otherwise exactly a bonder pair: a partnered human and dinosaur in wedge colors that revolve heavily around keyword counters fit the plane like a glove. You could even make them the legendary cards for the actual duo of a dinosaur and a deserted Coppercoat depicted across a few cards (Forbidden Friendship, Capture Sphere, Cathartic Reunion) in IKO proper, though admittedly that would make the Scientist type stick out even more.

Henry Wu, InGen Geneticist*

To me, this screams "Innistrad necro-alchemist that, rather than getting run out of town when their village found out what they were up to, convinced the people of the village to go in on a joint business venture, hacking up monsters and outsiders for use in materials and technology that would benefit the village as a whole."

The art would be one of those "PoV: you are about to be killed by Innistradi villagers" classics, except the necro-alchemist is framed more prominently than the rest of the villagers, and they all have scalpels, or saws, or other such theoretically-medical tools in their hands.

Ian Malcolm, Chaotician*

Izzet League scientist. Honestly, "Chaotician" is such a perfect term for an Izzet experimenter that you could easily just keep the epithet. (It's funny to see the length of this explanation compared to some of the other cards on here, but sometimes an adaptation is just obvious.)

Indominus Rex, Alpha*

Another perfect Ikoria card: Green-centered Sultai with a design that - again - revolves around keyword counters. Oddly, the weakest fit is the typeline: Sultai is pretty far afield of the "core" Dino colors in Ikoria (though Blue is a Dino color, and there are still Dinosaurs in Green), and despite the baked-in flavor of mutation, Ikoria didn't actually have any cards with the Mutant type. That said, it's not exactly a bad fit to add to the plane. [Indominus] fits in fine as another Zagoth monster.

Indoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid*

Alara doesn't have established Dinosaurs, but you can't tell me they wouldn't fit in perfectly on Jund. Dinosaur Mutant is a little fuzzier, though Alara does have Mutants in Grixis - a new breed of monster only possible through the mingling of the shards, perhaps, risen from Jund's muck and given terrifying new life.

If that's too much of a stretch, the other clean fit is a Mirari mutant on Dominaria: it wasn't necessarily just people that were warped during the crisis on Otaria. Most of these have been "present day" concepts, but that's not a strict requirement if I find a better fit by digging further into the past.

Permission Denied

You could throw this on modern Kamigawa and keep the flavor basically the same if you wanted, but like Don't Move, it would also make an excellent representation of law magic - this name in particular is peak Azorius obstruction.

Dino DNA*

Not a proper noun-related name change, but still...really not a great fit for the multiverse as is. "Turning things into Dinosaurs" in a vacuum feels like an Ikoria bit - something adjacent to the Ozolith, or perhaps a repurposed fragment of the structure itself - but "6/6 green Dinosaur with trample" is a Dreadmaw, which means this probably fits best as another Ixalan card: some incomprehensible amber construct deep in the caverns that uses bones to create amber replicas. (There's nothing necessitating that the UniWit adaptation still uses amber, but it'd be a fun fantasy spin on the same concept that fits in with the weirdness at play in the caverns.)

#mtg #universes within #next up is probably the Transformers cards: they've got a similar ''Goldilocks number'' of cards #(I'm not sure how to format my thoughts on UB products with hundreds of cards apiece into a post yet)#the Doctor Who Lair cards that got spoiled since I typed most of this up are too tied up in the same questions as WHO itself to stand alone #so those will just go with the WHO post(s) the same way the holiday-prodcut LoTR additions will go with the LTR/LTC post(s)

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