#allies hp talks

[raspberrysmoon]

dude deathly hallows pt 1 is so upsetting. and for what

[franeridan]

I really wish yamato had gone with luffy and I love that he asked to be considered a crewmate anyway and that luffy told him he'd always have a place on the sunny so I a hundred percent consider him a mugiwara but in my ideal one piece where the war ended differently and ace is still alive yamato is his. like obviously ace is dead and he hadn't been a captain for a while before then anyway, but in my ideal one piece yamato belongs to him. he's a spades. he's ace's crewmate first and foremost.

[reigenaratakaschildbearinghips]

I'm sorry but liking HP in 2024 does not mean you're transphobic OR that you like JK Rowling. this is really rude and I feel like you have to either know annoying HP fans IRL or have seen too many online to post something like this.

"how can we love [this series] without supporting the author?" easily, ao3 is free. "if we remain openly fans of this series will it show trans people we aren't safe or trustworthy?" no not at all. being transphobic will show that, liking a book series does not.

remember when jkr went full mask off and started acting evil and hp fans were like "ok we need to think carefully about the stuff we consume, how can we justify enjoying this series, how can we love it without supporting the author? should we try to separate art from artist or should we leave it be? isn't showing solidarity to trans folks more important? if we remain openly fans of this series will it show trans people we aren't safe or trustworthy?"

and then they decided that none of those questions really mattered and they continued to uncritically consume their stupid badly written children's books, and jkr has only gotten more nasty and hateful, and people only hate trans folks more, and now the answer to the last question is invariably YES. I don't trust any goddamn person who still loves Harry Potter in 2024 bc you've decided your nostalgia about a mediocre story written by a bigot is more valuable than the safety and wellbeing of trans people 🫶🖕

[bread-and-roses-too]

what's up with the spam "what's your hogwarts house?" anon asks? I've seen a few larger blogs get it recently and I just got one as well

[curse-of-dming-strahd]

there are so many things in Strahd's "how to do combat good" section I want to pick at but let's start with some of my notes on his spell list

Mage Hand: Sometimes Strahd is lazy and doesn't want to pick things up. Combine with Greater Invisibility for shenanigans.

Prestidigitation: This is for instantly cleaning whatever drink some PC has tried to throw in his face.

Ray of Frost: The damage is ok but more importantly as long as he hits, the target's speed is reduced by 10 with no save, very nice.

Comprehend Languages: If my party gets clever and tries to talk in code or something I think he can pop this off to fix that.

Fog Cloud: Imposes disadvantage to attack for everyone in the cloud, does technically break line of sight. so against a higher-level party I think this is to give his allies a chance to get out of melee without having to waste an action disengaging (still a gamble), or use this if he's out of Invisibility, or toss this in a room the party is trying to bunker up in, forcing the party to decide between sitting in a disadvantage cloud, wasting time dispelling it, or leaving their safe space.

Sleep: On the worst possible roll and aimed at only one target, this is guaranteed to affect a creature with 5HP or less. It averages about 20-22HPs but that number's not assured. Best use is putting someone on watch to sleep at early levels, or targeting low HP NPCs where he actually wants to avoid doing damage, like Ireena.

Detect Thoughts: Fantastic for interacting with NPCs in a non-violent encounter but it's an obvious casting and only lasts for 1 minute so he's got to be strategic about casting ahead of time.

Gust of Wind: Priority should go to Mirror Image because Gust of Wind is not guaranteed to succeed, but if a player is dumb enough to stand within 10 feet of a 100ft drop I say go off queen (off the side of a building, GOODBYE)

Mirror Image: CAST ASAP the only thing worse than one Strahd laughing at you is four Strahds laughing at you and it's not a concentration spell.

Animate Dead: listen everything at 3rd level is going to have to compete with Fireball. but possibly might be worth it to give him something to do with his bonus action if Animate Objects isn't working out. skeleton with a ranged attack and partial cover is better than zombie that'll get ripped apart in melee immediately. he's got to keep that skelly within 60ft though. and if the party takes Counterspell it's.... listen this slot's probably going to get used for Fireball.

Fireball: FIGHT OPENER. CAST CENTERED ON SELF. EAT 30 DAMGE FOR BREAKFAST. FALL THROUGH THE FLOOR LAUGHING. HE DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT WELCOME TO HELL MOTHERFUCKERS IT'S FIREBALL. but seriously cast early when the floor isn't crawling with allies and then reserve one 3rd level spell slot for when the party has killed off most of his allies. doesn't require line of sight so he can cast this from a separate floor.

Nondetection: Might use this if the party gets tricky or he needs to hide something he stole from them but on Boss Fight Day this slot goes to Fireball and that's just how things have to be.

Blight: I mean this is basically Fireball with worse range, only one target, and it makes all your houseplants die.

Greater Invisibility: God the shenanigans I could get up to with Invisible Strahd. Oooh the possibilities. Ooooh they're so delicious. Anyway fuck yeah this spell rocks. Get out of sight, go invisible. Think Rahadin is bad? Now he's invisible! NIGHTMARE HORSE? WHAT HORSE? I LOVE THIS SPELL OK

Polymorph: I want to love polymorph but if they make their wisdom save you've wasted a slot you could have used to make yourself invisible. I can't even pretend he'd be gay and use this to help Rahadin one of his nebulous allies turn into a bird to get away from certain death or something bc it's a concentration spell so if the spell drops early it's like well fuck he got 50ft and then turned back into a guy :/ He ain't above turning a low-level PC into a bat though. That'd be fun.

Animate Objects: POP OFF IMMEDIATELY get that action economy on your side, animate a gargoyle, a suit of armor, and like 6 candelabras you tacky bitch. Again, gives him a bonus action and as long as he stays within 120ft he's solid. Earlier is better because later in the fight he needs that concentration for Greater Invisibility.

Scrying: I mean non-combat obviously but he's using this every damn day to spy on the party through NPCs he's familiar with that he knows are near the PCs, or locations he knows they're staying in. I'm sure that's his like, before-bed routine. Brush his teeth. Exfoliate. Scry on the party. Soothing.

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to The Incomprehensible's Chapter 332

Brief summary: Cale and Alberu talks about the game. CH thinks about the ancient power he got from Syrem. Cotton invites Cale to the Demon Realm.

===========

Poor Alberu. He was trying to be calm and serious, but Cale kept doing things that drove him crazy. 😂😂😂 He also explained about the Eight Evils in the game, and how players have yet to defeat any of its mid-bosses.

BTW, I'll be calling the game as RPOG now, short for Raising my Precious Omnipotent God. This is to follow EAP's translation of "omnipotent god" rather than my own's "absolute god".

Alberu was hesitant about becoming a hero because he preferred the emperor route. However, On said that it would be to their advantage if Alberu was both the emperor and the hero. She also said some stuff about how this would help them crush their enemies, though Cale and Alberu were disturbed by her vicious-sounding words. 😂😂😂

With Neo gone, Eden Miru would become the next Great Dragon, the final boss of the 7th Evil. But Vicious Dark Bear would be the acting final boss for now, and he would hide Eden's existence, in case the hunters investigate Neo's death.

There was some stuff about the 1st Evil dungeon, and how it was suspected to be made of hunters too. Dark Bear had said that he stole the NPC registration device from there, before creating a copy that the 7th Evil dungeon was using now.

Light Alberu and Shadow Cale. That was the plan the two agreed on for the game world. Alberu would be the light, the hero who walked the royal road. Cale would be the shadow, the mastermind behind the scenes who would control the Eight Evils.

And they also plan to bring in their allies from multiple worlds because New World was their enemy's home turf. They would need all the help they could get. Oooh, so are we going to see HD in the game world too? 😍😍😍

CH seemed to have raised a red flag today. Remember the ancient power he got from Syrem called "Abandoning Your Life"? Because the game world was unaffected by the laws of the worlds and the Oath of Death of GoD, CH could use that ability now. In fact, it even appeared in his status window as a one-of-a-kind unique skill.

But how would the ability work as a skill in the game? Would he lose HP every time he uses the skill? The oath of death CH made to Cale to not use the ability does not work in the game world, so CH would not lose someone precious if he used it in the game.

And finally, CJS and LSH appeared after a few months! CJS was busy with Cotton, and they managed to set a meeting with Cotton's demon boss. LSH and the Past attribute dragon Zopf managed to find some clues in the basement of the God of Chaos's temple.

Thus, Cale's next destination was not Roan, Earth 3, or RPOG, but the Demon Realm... 😂😂😂 Ah yes, Alberu. You told Cale to return quickly just a few paragraphs ago, but Cale seems to be going on a detour... 🤣🤣🤣

Ending Remarks Cale is going to the Demon Realm next? 😂 I guess we'll finally meet the real CJG soon. But what about Cale's talk with the Molans? Is that going to be delayed again? 😑

[halfbloodgf]

Can we talk about the fact that Severus Snape left everyone, both the characters and the readers, like this: 🤡🤡

I mean, no one knew wtf was going on with him. One moment u think he's bad, the next u think he's good. And then u think he's the villain again. But then he gives his memories to Harry and we all realize that he was the fucking hero all along.

In hp1, we think it's Snape who was trying to steal the philosopher's stone, or who tried to knock Harry off his broom. But then comes the end, and we find out that he stopped Harry from falling (saved his life) and was protecting the stone...🤡

We still hated him in hp 2 and 3...

In hp4 Harry suspects that Snape had the Dark Mark, and ends up discovering that he did. There's even the scene that Harry sees: Igor Karkaroff accuses Snape in court in front of the Wizengamot, saying he was a Death Eater, and we're all like😯😃 (finally know the truth!!). But then Dumbledore defends him😐🧍🏻‍♀️, and no one, not Karkaroff, not Harry, not us readers, understand anything. We don't know whether to trust him or not. So, again...🤡

In hp5 everything is confusing with him. We don't know if he wants to help Harry (occlumency lessons) or not. He calls Voldemort "Dark Lord" (only Death Eaters do), we see his worst memory, which, again, leaves us bewildered and not knowing what the hell to think of him now. Harry himself doubts that his father was a good person, even wondering if James didn't force Lily to marry him, and empathizes with Snape. Then the whole thing with the prophecies, and Harry trying to warn Snape about Sirius and his supposed kidnapping. The Order arrives to save Harry and his friends, which suggests that Snape warned them.

But along comes hp and the Half-Blood Prince, Snape appears to be helping Draco Malfoy with what the Lord entrusted him with —The scene where Bellatrix accuses him, tells him that she doesn't trust him, and then she is surprised:

In the books:

[...]Do you really think that the Dark Lord has not asked me each and every one of those questions? And do you really think that, had I not been able to give satisfactory answers, I would be sitting here talking to you?”

She hesitated. “I know he believes you, but…”

“You think he is mistaken? Or that I have somehow hoodwinked him? Fooled the Dark Lord, the greatest wizard, the most accomplished Legilimens the world has ever seen?”

[...]

“And through all this we are supposed to believe Dumbledore has never suspected you?” asked Bellatrix. “He has no idea of your true allegiance, he trusts you implicitly still?”

“I have played my part well,” said Snape.

In the movies:

The line where he says “Dumbledore is a great wizard”, Snape is actually being smug and subtly saying he’s such a good actor (I mean, come on, the man deserves a fucking Oscar), he’s managed to deceive Voldemort so well that he has revealed his grand plan to him. He practically seems to be laughing at the double meaning of his own words, mocking and lying to the black sister's faces like the fucking boss he is. The way he's literally drinking a glass of wine while laughing at the Dark Lord. The whole scene is just excellent.

So at the end of hp6, Snape reveals to us that he was the half-blood prince for whom the fucking book is named, ends up murdering none other than ALBUS DUMBLEDORE, and we all learn that all this time his true loyalties were with the dark side...🤡

Oh no, wait! Hp7 arrives, Voldemort kills Snape :0 (Yes!), gives his memories to Harry, and Harry sees his memories and... (NOO😦😨😰😭💔💀). We found out he wasn't the bad guy. That, in fact, he was IN LOVE WITH HARRY'S MOM —"always" still hurts :')— That all this time he was our ally...🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

He practically played with all of us, with LORD VOLDEMORT, the Death Eaters, the Order of the Phoenix, Harry... well, WITH EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE WIZARDING WORLD. And he did it as if he were:

Harry fucking Potter named one of his sons after him, which must have made a lot of people roll in their graves (James and Sirius out of anger, Snape out of laughter).

This mf literally woke up one day and said: "okay, here begins my reputation era bitches.😎 Let's leave a few of them looking like🤡🤡"

PD: Sorry if something is written wrong, english is not my language.

[mollyringle]

I am perhaps extreme on this, but I don’t think there’s a good excuse to stay in HP fandom, unless one does agree with Rowling's infamous tweets of recent years. Separating art from artist is debatably all right when the artist is dead and no longer collecting royalties, but when the artist is still on Twitter bragging about her royalties, and there’s so much queer-friendly fantasy that could be talked up instead…yep, nope, trans/genderqueer/NB allies should jump ship.

I admit I look askance now at HP cosplayers and anyone still putting their Hogwarts house in their social media bio. I know, I know, a fandom that meant so much to a person for a phase of their life is going to claim a special place in their memories. But you wouldn’t (I hope) continue celebrating the birthday of a toxic ex-friend because you liked them two decades ago, so why stay with the fandom, when by so doing you’re keeping Rowling culturally relevant? We can support the innocent actors from the HP movies by supporting the work they’ve done since the series—I’m sure they’d rather have more focus on those newer projects anyway.

I practice what I preach: I could be continuing to lure in potential readers with my HP parodies, but instead I have taken them all down, all the places I can still reach, because I don’t want to give her any airtime, even obliquely like that.

I think if y'all knew how very, very little the vast majority of us writers make, and how hard we try to reach readers, and how much we'd appreciate a smidgen of success, and how hard some of us are trying to help and protect our fellow queer folks...you would better understand why this is a big deal, to someone who is also a writer of urban fantasy. I’ll stop there. Apparently I could go on and on about this.

[mimssysciest]

NEED them as returning antagonists in season 2 of fop: a new wish.

WE WERE LITERALLY ROBBED OF THE PIXIES TEAMING UP WITH DALE AND BEING THE SEASON'S MAJOR ANTAGONISTS!

i bet he would be part of their newest 37 years fairy world takeover plan. actually, HP and he would spent hours talking about stocks and absolutely enjoy eachother's company.

BUT!!! THERE'S HOPE FOR THEM. even after they just switched dale and the pixies for dev and anti-fairies in the show's finale and main plot, there is still hope that if the show s2 gets greenlightned they might recycle this idea of the pixies returning and teaming up with dale, after all, he got set up for a way bigger role envolving project H.

HOWEVER, MISS DOOMBRINGER WAS ROBBED SINCE DAY ONE! YALL BELIEVE THEY MADE A PROFESSIONAL FAIRY HUNTER ANTAGONIST, WHO PUBLISHED A BOOK WITH ALL THE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE TO CAPTURE THEM,

WITH THE CAPABILITY OF SMELLING MAGIC AND MANIPULATING GODKIDS, WITH GENIUS EQUIPMENT THAT CAN DETECT FAIRY DUST. ALL THAT FOR ONLY ONE EPISODE?!! HOW COME Y'ALL MAKE A CHARACTER WITH SUCH HIGH POTENTIAL AND NEVER BRING HER BACK AGAIN??? I DEMAND TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HER!

she could've been a rival to crocker, back in the og show days, or even an ally. i would rather have them as fairy hunters duo than whatever the fuck they tried to do with the L.O.S.E.R.S. but of course, i believe she has enough potential to be a stand-alone antagonist, maybe even a major, or recurring one, if properly written.

anyway, please ANW writers, bring back this wasted queen and let her shine for at least one or two episodes.

[utilitycaster]

Level Up Post: Mighty Nein: Echoes of the Solstice: The Speculation Version

DO NOT POST SPOILERS ON THIS IF YOU ARE AT THE LIVE SHOW IN PERSON. YOU WILL BE BLOCKED.

So here's the deal: I don't know what level they'll be (18-20), I am frankly assuming they level up in the first place (but like. why wouldn't they) and I'm going to have to make a bunch of assumptions, but here is a manageable-ish, I hope, summary, to be refined once we know more. Also: I'm assuming we've got Caduceus rather than Kingsley (I DO NOT KNOW THIS FOR SURE DO NOT RELY ON THIS BEING THE TRUTH) but I will make a Kingsley post if that is not the case (short answer - I'd recommend solely leveling up in blood hunter). As always with level-ups: if there is a significant omission or an error, please let me know. If I simply did not choose the same spell or feat you did, feel free to reply with "ooh nice, what about [spell]" but do not send me asks or get weird and sanctimonious about having different thoughts on subjective assessments. Anyway, here's the pre-show version; I'll make a new post Friday if appropriate.

Fjord: Let's get Mr. Complicated Tusktooth Stone Lavorre out of the way. He is currently Warlock 12/Paladin 5. Warlocks get a mystic arcanum at level 13 (7th level spell once per day) as well as another known spell for regular casting, a subclass feature at 14 (Master of Hexes for Fjord, which allows him to move his hexblade's curse from creature to creature if the first dies), and a mystic arcanum (8th level) and another invocation and another spell at 15. Paladins, meanwhile, get Aura of Protection (+CHA mod, so 5, to all saving throws to himself and all allies within 10 feet) at level 6, a subclass feature at 7 (Aura of Liberation - he and allies within 10 feet cannot be grappled or restrained, can use 5 feet of movement to get out of prior restraints [THIS WOULD HELP BEAU IF SHE SHOWS UP CHAINED BTW], and ignore penalties to underwater attacks) as well as another L2 spell slot, and an ASI at 8; his lay on hands pool also scales up by 5 HP per level. My personal feeling is: for the next level, take paladin level 6, which gives him and anyone within the aura +5 to all saves so long as he is not incapacitated; paladin auras are ridiculously good and every day I wish someone would play paladin straight through in CR, for me, much as I adore Fjord and Vax's dips into it. For his 19th level, I'd either take paladin 7 for the aura of liberation, or take warlock 13, which grants the mystic arcanum of which I'd take Etherealness, probably, or possibly Forcecage; the clerics can handle Plane Shift, and Finger of Death seems off-brand. He also gets another regular spell of which there are many; Contact Other Plane might not work under these conditions so I'm leaning towards Dream, which is just a great weird spell few people take, but also he could take a low level spell given he has paladin spell slots. And for 20th, take the one he didn't take for 19, for a final 13 Warlock/7 Paladin split.

Beau: Much more straightforward in comparison...but let's talk about the leveling up process. Level 18 grants Empty Body, in which she can spend 4 ki to be invisible for 1 minute and resistant to all damage other than force damage, or she can spend 8 ki to cast astral projection on herself alone, which is just hilarious and great and I would like to see it. She also increases her speed to 60 feet. Level 19 is an ASI/Feat; her stats are great so I say take Mobile because it's funny to make her normal speed 70 feet/round, or mage slayer for obvious narrative and "Beau, don't you want to pull a Cerrit on Ludinus" reasons. The capstone monk level kind of sucks (4 ki points back if she's tapped when rolling for initiative) but I don't have a good multiclass for her in mind so may as well ride it out. And of course she gets a ki point per level.

Caleb: Perhaps the only person for whom level 18 is actually fun (other than the multiclassed characters), at level 18 he gets to pick a 1st and 2nd level wizard spell in his spell book that he can cast at will. He can exchange these, but it requires 8 hours of study, so probably what he has going in to this show is what he has for the show. 19 is again a Feat/ASI, and honestly a con or dex boost never hurts a wizard. Level 20 gives him two 3rd level spells in his spellbook that he can cast once per rest (long or short) without using a spell slot. Might I suggest counterspell as one of them? And both he and the clerics gain extra high level spell slots at each level (5th, 6th, and 7th at levels 18, 19, and 20 respectively).

Veth: So she is actually trickier than Fjord, as the multiclassed character, in that I'm less sure how to split it out, but we'll go through the options: Level 17 in rogue grants her the ability to temporarily steal spells from another spellcaster who attacks her (Spell Thief) which is GREAT and she should definitely take it. Level 18 is Elusive; as long as she is not incapacitated, attack rolls cannot have advantage on her. And Level 19 is an ASI/Feat and an increase in sneak attack dice and also grants her a fourth level spell slot and new spell to go with it, which must be enchantment or illusion; Greater Invisibility seems like the obvious choice. I'd take the ASI to INT. On the other hand, if she pursues more wizard levels, Level 2 would give her a subclass and its features and another 1st level spell slot (and 2 more spells), Level 3 would give her 2nd level wizard spells and corresponding spell slots (and again, 2 more spells in her spellbook), and Level 4 is an ASI/Feat, a cantrip, and another 2nd level spell slot. I say take L17 in rogue first, then get a wizard subclass (transmutation does seem obvious for a number of reasons though abjuration, illusion, and divination have better L2 features and illusion makes narrative sense - divination would simply be hilarious), then take her final level in rogue for Elusive; but with both Veth and Fjord I think there's an obvious level to take (L17 rogue for Veth, L6 paladin for Fjord) and after that I respect Sam and Travis to pick what feels right.

Jester and Caduceus: At level 18, they can channel divinity 3 times per rest rather than 2. At level 19, they take ASIs, which honestly are up in the air for me - I'm excited to see what they pick, though @captainofthetidesbreath suggested Eldritch Adept for Jester which I would enjoy, and we haven't seen Caduceus's feat from the final episode yet which means I'm not sure about what he might take as a new one, though I'm personally always a fan of Chef. And at L20 divine intervention is guaranteed (though you can only use it once per week)...but to be honest if they are level 20, I am expecting this to be nerfed for solstice reasons because it is kind of game-breaking.

Yasha: So here's the thing. Barbarian 18-19 is kind of eh and 20 is good but not amazing. She could take it; she'd get indomitable might at 18 (treat any strength check as her strength score, 18, if she rolls lower than that), an ASI/Feat at 19, and her strength and con jump up by 4 each (and can exceed 20) - this would put her at 18 CON and 22 STR, assuming she doesn't increase either with the ASI (and to be fair I would take the ASI to strength). This is solid and entirely valid as a choice. HOWEVER, might I suggest the Grog move of taking her final three levels in fighter, which would give her a fighting style and second wind at L1, action surge at L2, and an archetype and its 3rd level features at L3. I like how Battle Master feels for Yasha but really it's that action surge that makes this great; Rune Knight or Champion are also decent options.

[raspberrysmoon]

luna lovegood moodboard ! with chewy candy and chewlry!

rq'ed by @gayestclarinet :]

i take requests!

x x x | x x x | x x x

[thranduil-aran-edhil]

OK, so. Finished my first run. Gotta admit I'm not 100% satisfied with some endings. BUT NO BIGGIE, THAT'S WHAT HEADCANONS ARE FOR, DON'T WORRY I GOT A PERMIT (i'm a Dungeon Master) SO LET'S GO, HC TIME D&D STYLE BC WE STILL GOT 8 LEVELS TO GO: (spoilers for BG3 and Descent Into Avernus going forward)

They'd all stay together and continue to go on adventures, the 9 of them, Tav, Lae'zel, Shadowheart, Gale, Astarion, Wyll, Karlach, Halsin and Minthara. Found Families stay together. (I do enjoy the polyship aspect too, so just throwing it out there)

There's an exchange you can have ingame with an NPC in the Guild and Tav will say the party's name is Wormskulls and I love it. I do also love Tadfools. Maybe they are Wormskulls to the general public and Tadfools to their close friends and allies lol. After the tadpoles are gone I think it would be very useful for them to commission earrings enchanted with Rary's Telepathic Bond. Less invasive than a mindflayer tadpole and just as useful. Also symbolic for Gale. I think the earring would have a pendant of a skull with a serpent coming out of its eye and being bitten by the teeth.

OK SO, my girl Karlach. I haven't romanced her yet, gonna do a run for that. But she's not dying on my watch. She's going back to Avernus, BUT YOU CAN BE SO SURE THAT THE MOMENT THE WHOLE PARTY IS READY WE'RE KICKING DOWN ZARIEL'S DOOR AND KICKING HER ASS. Or giving her her sword back and possibly turning her back into an Angel, something that whatever party of adventurers that managed to save BG and Elturel in Descent Into Avernus CLEARLY didn't do, it would probably not only nullify Mizora's contract with Wyll bc Zariel is now a completely different entity, if you decided to redo Wyll's contract with her, but also would give us a better chance of Zariel taking the infernal engine out of Karlach herself. Maybe turning Wyll into a Devotion Paladin? (more details about Zariel here)

I'd ask Jaheira and Minsc to take care of Scratch and Albie (owlbear cub) because the Hells is no place for pets. Even very brave ones. Maybe Halsin's "ending" fits here, taking care of the pets and the kids while everyone goes to Avernus, they leave him with a Sending Stone. And when they are back he's there waiting for them. 🥺

If we saved Duke Ravengard and broke Wyll's contract. (or didn't but are hcing that we broke his contract by defeating/unmaking Zariel) what does that mean to Wyll? I think it be super cool to go more in depth about it. How does he reconsile with his father? Does he accept to be reinstated as heir and becomes the Duke right away or does he think it's best for his father to continue his role a bit longer? Does he even want to be Duke or does he think he can serve the people of the Sword Coast better as an adventurer? If he turns into a Duke, what sort of benefit does that give an adventuring party?

Finding something to make Astarion able to walk in the sun again I've seen people talk about the Ring of the Sun-Walker as if it's from the 5e books, it's not, it's homebrew. HOWEVER, any freaking DM with a heart would create something similar for their player to continue playing without being afraid of dying instantly bc of the sun. The Cloak of Dragomir is canon to the Baldur's Gate videogame universe, so it be a good tie in, but it would be a temporary solution at best since it penalizes the player quite harshly, Strength: -6, Dexterity: -4, Intelligence: -2, Wisdom: -2, Charisma: -4 and Vampire Regeneration divided by 3, to 1 HP per 3 rounds. That being said, I wouldn't make it TOO easy to obtain as there are other ways for Astarion to be safe, like the Darkness spell. It would be interesting to see him (and Tav) struggle a little bit more, really feel the sacrifice Astarion made by rejecting the Ascendance even after they find something to combat the Sunlight Hypersensitivity.

Astarion's biological family would be something very interesting to explore in the future. They would be Elves themselves and are most likely still alive, we even have a surname thanks to people analyzing the shit out of that tombstone: Ancunín. As a DM I wouldn't wait for a player to decide to search for these people, I'd throw them at the players! Strolling through the Upper City in a quick shopping trip? You hear a loud gasp, things clattering and bumping into the ground, hurried desperate steps and then someone sobbing "Astarion?? Astarion is that you?!" What do you do?

Visiting Waterdeep and Morena Dekarios. This woman deserves to see her son again, and Gale deserves to finally go back home and see his mom without the burden of an ancient artifact lodged in his chest and a goddess wanting him to kill himself. Would he stay? I'm not sure, he went through an entire Odissey and maybe now home, although pleasant, is not as comforting anymore. Waterdeep is the element of Gale of Waterdeep and he's not him anymore. I think this would be a great premise for a roleplay focused arc. Gale is invited to the Blackstaff Ball for the first time since Mystra shunned him, the Wormskulls are famous now, The New Heros of Baldur's Gate (Gala Episode anyone? All of them SLAYIN with their fits? Poor Halsin totally out of his element). He's once again welcomed into the society of the Lord Mage of Waterdeep and his peers seem to have all but forgotten he was ever a pariah. Is that what he wants?

And Waterdeep has many opportunities for more adventure.

A paranoid Beholder underground anyone?

Kill the Lich Queen (CLASSIC D&D). Vlaakith IS FINISHED. TIME TO SPELLJAM AND BE SPACE PIRATES YALL. Lae'zel deserves to see this through to the END.

Shadowheart goes through another journey to find out if she wants to truly embrace Selûne or maybe become another thing entirely. Selûne should reach out or Isobel and Dame Aylin would help her out. Or maybe Shadowheart is tired of being a Cleric and following a god. But change and inconsistency is something that is under Selûne's portfolio, she's often followed by those who are lost, so I think she'd find more than fitting for Shadowheart to be a cautious and weary follower of her.

Your Tav's personal stuff. The Dark Urge sounds amazing and I can't wait to do a run with them, but I think most of us got very attached to our Original Characters Do No Steal. So I'm excited to see what people come up with for their Tavs. Otessa, my Tav, doesn't know her dad was a pirate, he never told her, so I expect that his past will come bite him in the ass and she'll have to help him out of that pickle.

When the party has reached level 17, Gale has access to the Wish spell. And I really do think they'd use it to get rid of Astarion's undeath. As a DM I wouldn't let Gale simply get the spell outright, he'd have to research it. Not only that, I don't think Astarion would be totally free of undeath, some remnant of it would linger, he'd probably turn into an Elf that needs blood to survive and is forever locked out of the Call of Arvandor or something. But he'd be mortal and would be able to walk in the sun without that ring, cross bodies of water, wouldn't instadie from pointy wood objects in the chest etc. (i'm writing a little one-shot about this, should post it soon)

[pinkrose05]

Ok so @b1adie's post from earlier got me thinking about element Types and Paths again.... and predictably enough, I am also here to talk about my fave old man Yingxing and how his kit would look like if he were playable.

We can probably agree that Fire type makes the most sense for many, many reasons, but in terms of Path I'd like to humbly propose....

drumroll

...Preservation!

Ok, hear me out: Preservation in this game is frequently associated with building and construction. You've got Qlipoth's walls, the Cornerstone effects, and the very act of creating a shield! Naturally, a master artisan would be right at home constructing stuff; I mean, remember that one scrap lion?

Yeah, Yingxing is very good at building things up from the ground. Just imagine the amount of detail this bitch would put in his shields! Knowing him, they'd be the most elaborate magic walls to ever wall in history.

Another thing is how Preservation pathstriders admire stubbornness and are prone to protective actions. As for the former trait, stubbornness is a part of persistence, and persistence through adversity is a key aspect of Yingxing's character: his home is destroyed, he's always struggling with the sabotage and prejudice of his seniors and peers... and still he keeps pushing on and ahead, all the way to hard-earned success.

As for the latter, Yingxing's attachment to the makeshift family he's found in the Quintet can definitely lend itself to a protective streak- doubly so considering the weapon gifts he'd given to them all. It's like he's always watching their back! It's his way of keeping them safe so he doesn't lose his loved ones again!

(It's the only part of him that will stay with them when he meets his timely demise. It's proof that, even in death, he will forever stand by their side.)

A third thing is that, if you consider the construction aspect again, Preservation is actually the most direct antithesis to the Path of Destruction. The symbolism in there really hammers in (heh) the 180° turn between Yingxing and Ren- and wouldn't it be the perfect sort of ironic for them to mirror each other in the very core of their beliefs?

(I actually think they should have the worst anti-synergy in history if/when Yingxing becomes playable. There's a kit concept somewhere in my files that has 1) several ways of pulling aggro, 2) Max HP buffs that depend on using skill points, and 3) a one-turn block on allies' HP changing whenever any of Yingxing's shields break. It's basically a dedicated sustain kit that just so happens to be a massive Fuck You to Ren in specific, because come on, the idea's just too good to pass up!)

[whydidoth]

As someone who frankly watches too much hbomberguy, I was fairly startled by the tone he adopted in his latest video in regard to his own sexuality. He has been openly bisexual, coming out (as far as I’m aware) on his channel five years ago in a video on adaptations of HP Lovecraft, but his bisexuality overall hasn’t been particularly present. Even in instances like discussing the queerbaiting of Sherlock or the ability in Fallout to officially play as a bisexual character, he tends to approach the topics in such a way that if you didn’t already know his sexuality, you’d probably just assume he was a good ally. Genuinely, I would not be surprised if casual viewers of his channel had had no idea. I saw someone else suggest that he centered his own bisexuality so much at the start in order to dissuade accusations of him targeting Somerton for being gay. While I think this is certainly plausible, on a pure narrative level, I can’t help but see this most recent video as a book ends to his one on Lovecraft.

In that video, he talks about the value of adaptation and how adaptation at its best doesn’t recreate the work but is a response in concert with it. He speaks very personally about how the film Cthulu embodied the deep, crawling horror of being an outsider in a way that he resented as a kid. As a queer adult, he came back to find not only catharsis but also that it understood the essence of Lovecraft and of his own experience in a way he had been unable to when he was younger.

In his video on plagiarism, he emphasizes how the harm extends past the simple act of stealing someone else’s work, and how plagiarism goes on to suppress genuine dialogue among new voices with new ideas. In some regard, this is a direct response to his original thesis, and the response is one of despair. We are without adaptation. We are without queer voices and narratives.

This shouldn’t be where things end, and I don’t think he would have bothered uploading this video if he had seen no hope for things going differently in the future. I know it’s fun to revel in the scandal of this call-out, but ultimately, we’re witnessing a tragedy. In addition to supporting and giving small creators a shot, I think we should also take this as a chance to be less hesitant about promoting and sharing our own stories.

I have a youtube channel that’s been sitting in the corner collecting dust for a year now, but I’m going to try picking it up again. I’ll be putting a link to both hbomberguy’s video on Lovecraft and my own channel in the notes, and I would encourage everyone to similarly shamelessly self-promote in the comments—literally everything from soundcloud to twitch to personal blogs, go nuts. Let’s all make sure the future is over-saturated with authentic, marginalized voices, yeah?

[mizartz]

cant stop thinking about danny fenton DST mod. sketchdump time

mod concept/rambling under the cut:

Danny Fenton

The Half-Ghost

Favorite food: Veggie Burger (despite the name, this is actually considered a meat item. both sam and tucker would be willing to eat this!)

200 Health | 175 Hunger | 120 Sanity

PERKS:

Is a ghost... sometimes [neutral to ghosts, innate cold resist, human + ghost form]

Human food only feeds half of him [.5x stat gain from food + need for ectoplasm]

Has obsessions to fulfill [increased attack/defense when allies are nearby, decreased stats when no allies, loses sanity/other consequence if allies die]

Has a deadly weakness to electricity [increased damage+sanity loss from lightning, electric damage] ...also damaged by proximity to evil flowers, but this will apply to ALL ghosts, not just danny

ABILITIES:

Transforms into his ghost half by alt-clicking himself.

can fly over/walk through obstacles (ignores collision)

increased damage/defense & increased hunger drain, constant sanity drain

ghost-like sanity drain aura (applies to nearby players except Wendy)

is a "monster" (attacked by pigmen, bunnymen, catcoons, etc)

takes more damage from electricity + evil flowers than his human form. (maybe also increased damage from magic/shadows/planar attacks?)

Cannot talk in ghost form. Uses incomprehensible language instead (either "OooOOOoo" like DST ghosts or made up ghostspeak)

Can shoot ectoblasts by alt-clicking enemies. Costs hunger per use. Usable in both forms, but deals more damage in ghost form.

maybe has a small chance to freeze enemies, with increased chance in winter?

If Danny dies, he leaves his human corpse behind (instead of a skeleton) and is stuck in ghost mode.

Permanently insane, -90% max HP. Corpse needs to be revived with a telltale heart [or some other item] (revives with no health penalty).

If killed again, corpse is replaced with a skeleton and danny becomes a "normal" DST ghost. When reviving using vanilla methods, has a bigger health penalty + sanity loss.

ITEMS/MOBS:

ECTOPLASM. Periodically spawned by ghosts & pipspooks. Chance drop on a ghost's death.

Danny needs to eat ectoplasm regularly or he gradually gets weaker [or some other consequence here].

Can be given to ghosts to make them temporary allies [Danny only]

DOG TOY. Temporarily spawns CUJO.

limited "loyalty" (spawn time) but can be fed ectoplasm to keep him around longer

immortal/can't be killed, loses loyalty instead

can walk on water (ignores collision)

"gets big" whenever danny is attacked. will attack all nearby mobs (even if not aggressive) for a certain amount of time before shrinking again

BLOB GHOSTS. passive mob/won't attack.

either spawn near headstones or around ectoplasm left on the ground

“prey” animals like rabbits (will run away from scary creatures & players, excluding danny/other ghosts)

automatically start following danny whenever he's near + grant him small sanity gain

will periodically spawn ectoplasm on the ground (higher rate than regular ghosts) OR passively restore danny’s ectoplasm meter based on proximity

ectoplasm is guaranteed drop on death (but why would you kill them you monster 🙁🙁🙁🙁)

despawns after a couple days

other potential items/perks:

ectoplasm tracker- points towards ectoplasm/ectoplasm sources on the map. or maybe cujo can track it instead?

fenton thermos- holds ectoplasm and/or ghosts in storage slots? 

Other things I'm less certain on:

if ghost form has higher hunger drain, should it also drain the ectoplasm meter faster?

want something to imply that ghosts are emotional creatures/danny's strength is tied to his emotions somehow, but "growing weaker/stronger at low sanity" is an overused perk. maybe he takes increased damage at low sanity?

maybe some other protection based perks idk

maybe his human form should be weaker than average, to encourage gathering/etc in human form, and combat in ghost form?

ok its that it byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[thealogie]

I'm curious to know your opinion on this. When it comes to JKR, she's obviously been cancelled for years. I saw people pressured to throw away old copies of her books, encouraged not to talk about the characters anymore or even not to buy unofficial merch, because even if she wouldn’t gain any financial benefit from it, her name and the story she wrote will still be relevant. For years it has been said that you’re a horrible person if you don’t completely detach yourself from HP. So why is the reaction into the good omens fandoms exactly the opposite? Why are there hundreds of posts in the Gaiman tag saying “remember you can still love GO”? Or even “even if Gaiman turned out to be a horrible person, he still made the world more beautiful with his works”? I don’t get it. I would never support a potential rapist and I’d expect the fandom to cancel him. And instead? For many fans the main concern seems to be to reiterate that people are still allowed to enjoy GO. I’ve seen people concerned about season 3. Why? Is it because Gaiman literally did the bare minimum in terms of representation? It’s ridiculous because Gaiman isn’t a great ally, he never was. Why are people so willing to give this man the benefit of the doubt?

I do think it’s because all of his shows were filled with gay, trans, and racial diversity that people are more hesitant to cut ties. And in the case of GO specifically people feel conflicted because I t’s also Terry work and half of us came at it from being Terry fans and never liked Neil lol.

In any event, I HAVE seen those “you can still enjoy the work” posts but I have also seen some people saying they will disengage and don’t want to give him money, and that’s heartening. And even the majority of the people saying “you can still love this thing” (as much as it honestly rubs me the wrong way and makes me go “NOT the point right now”) do also say they believe the allegations and I truly believe people are just young and having very emotional reactions right now.

I think once we let the worst of the discourse play itself out, we will get to a point where we can all agree that AT MINIMUM we cannot be causing him to make any money or boost his work.