#and instead of having a 'guardian spirit' who was the human turned in an eldritch abomination like her dad

[randomnameless]

Forget Holoholo bird, that thing was a piece of cake compared to Guillo -

I legit took 2 hours and a half to beat them like what the fresh fuck

Big reveal was the big reveal -

Sagi's growing more and more doubtful and annoyed with you, the player who's supposed to play the navi "hey listen" like entity because plot wise you're supposed to give him super powers, and yet we keep on fighting battles with plot mandated losses lol

+ coupled with flashbacks where Thoraxn and pals pick the worst option available, and Sagi (nor the player, I tried to pick the "no" option when asked if we were ready to sell our souls lol) cannot influence those events eithers since they already happened : he feels useless in the "real timeline" and in the "flashback timeline" and I thought it was nice to have the protag, well, lash out at the so-called omniscient player

(Imagine if Eliwood, just after Elbert's death, lashed out against Mark because for a supposed tactician they failed him and Elbert, and if they had been better maybe they could have arrived faster to the Dread Isle and saved Elbert!)

Remember how I've said Gena and Sagi's bond was important in the plot?

Granted, it's always the "female character who suffers to make the male protag go berserk" trope, and yet, as opposed to a certain manga that makes us want to believe the protag and his "more or less" stalker are in such a relationship that her death means he loses controls, as opposed to the death of his mentor or of ramen guy (tm), here, as I mentionned in another post, Gena always writes letters to Sagi, giving him pocket money, items, asking how he's feeling, encouraging him to do something he wants, etc etc.

Gena is Sagi's world - hell he becomes a soldier/mercenary because he wants to help his mom and her orphanage!

Short story big story : the evil guys tear her wings out (apparently it spells death if not treated), Gena passes out and Sagi rages and transforms in one of the Eldritch Abominations we've been fighting (and losing against).

The plot continues and once Sagi and the player make up, Sagi gets his power-up and can finally start winning some fights!

However, Sagi is driven by revenge - and while Shanath deserves an ass beating for what he did to Gena - Sagi killing him puts Savyna, Shanath's own daughter, on the path of revenge, with the events we know in BKEWLO.

Enter the "Baten Kaitos character sidequests before the final fight" (tm) - and I nearly ragequit'd for the day after the Seginus fight

Sure it doesn't hit as hard as Guillo does, but fuck, fighting two godcrafts in the same day is a hassle lol

More flashback time where we see the events from 1k years ago from someone else's POV, and how Seph'n'Thoraxn's plan to make a deal with the "Dark brethren" fucked everyone over (them included!), because while they supposedly got a super power to defeat their enemy, well, they didn't and created instead a sea of corpses, poisoning the Earth so much that the only solution for people to survive was to send some parts of the land to the sky, effectively creating the setting's floating islands.

I still have some sidequests to continue with but while the plot is interesting, in the sense that you discover the reasons/secrets/origins (lel) of the first game's plot points and lore events...

Well, the playable character are more engaging plot-wise than the ones from the first game, and yet, the battle system becomes kind of stale.

Sagi got his ultra super duper combo that can wipe 1 enemy, Guillo can do AoE stuff, and Milly... well, she can be used for support and MP charging (so Sagi and Guillo will be able to use their combos).

It's not boring at all, but I feel like I was more engaged with the first game banking on each character's deck and their own stats/equipment.

[cosmiclion]

Hello everyone, this is my way of announcing that I've decided to "fuse" all my little Kuro AUs/ideas (or as many as I can) into one single huge AU:

It’s just easier for me to have one big pretentious project where all arcs are connected instead of going back and forth between AUs 🤷🏻

⬇️Context under the cut⬇️

For those who haven't seen her this is Belmon or just B (any pronouns), the demon OC I shamelessly ship with Grell, I’ve been thinking lately that I really should draw her interacting with other characters 🙂 She belongs to a species of demon that don’t eat souls but instead sustain themselves by absorbing other creatures’ energy, called succubus/incubus or Life Leeches. They’re still immortal eldritch entities beyond human comprehension that originally come from another realm and have limitless shapeshifting abilities, but they’re a little less “otherworldly” in the sense that they experience more human-like emotions and feelings, have concepts of romance, affection, sexuality, friendship and family and can indulge themselves in human pleasures like sleep and food, even if they don’t need them. They also begin their life similarly to humans in that they reproduce sexually, and age like humans during their first years, though they stop aging once they reach adulthood.

When I initially created the AU where I included her, the basic plot was that Sebastian was a familiar demon who had first made a contract with Vincent (which explained why they had a similar physical appearance). The attack at the manor still happened but both twins survived, and then the contract was passed to RCiel and Madam Red, who was also a watchdog, became the twins’ legal guardian. Grell wasn’t a reaper but some kind of spirit of nature who was An’s familiar and they were like sisters, then they met a badly injured and weakened Belmon whose human family had been killed by feral demons, and after taking her in she also became An’s familiar and later fell in love with Grell.

I’ve been making a lot of changes to the AU and scraped most of that. The story so far is that B isn’t anyone’s familiar (and never had a human family) but some demon who has her own place and does her own thing. She’s an acquaintance of Sebastian, they don’t see each other too often but know how to find each other when they need to (at this point in time none of them has met Grell, she’ll come into their lives later). B is a very young demon, in fact at the time this scene takes place she’s chronologically 21 years old, unlike Sebastian whose life spans millennia. So B is pretty much a “new demon”. Despite this, she’s lived among humans most of her life and is an expert on them and their needs.

When Sebastian gets out of the cult’s building with the unconscious Ciel (turns out the conditions the poor boy was kept in gave him a nasty respiratory infection), he doesn’t really know what to do with him. Well, he knows the first thing is to pull the child away from death’s door, but he doesn’t know exactly how to save him on his own, and he has no time to lose. His best choice is to go to B for help, as Life Leeches can not only absorb other creature’s energy but also give them their own energy via physical contact. In fact their supernatural healing abilities are often chosen over (or along with) human doctors for more serious or urgent stuff, they may not be able to quickly and miraculously cure a serious illness or heal a life threatening wound, but they can help a person’s body fight it by keeping it strong. So he basically shows up at her door and hands the child to her like “Plz help ☹️”

Note 1: “Crow” is how B addresses Sebastian before he actually starts going by Sebastian. I headcanon that a demon’s real name isn’t even known to other demons, so they often give each other names based on a color, animal or any other thing that is commonly associated with them. Belmon is actually a shorter simplified version of her real name, and Sebastian calls her Blue.

B absolutely adores children of any species and is more than happy to help nurse little Ciel back to health, she’s just puzzled that a demon like Crow is suddenly acting all motherly and protective 😱

Note 2: I made Ciel’s hair a little bit longer and messier because, realistically, seeing as how the cultists treated the children I don’t think they would’ve bothered to keep them groomed ☠️

(I'm tempted to give the Phantomhive boy so many parental figures but I swear I'll still draw him mainly interacting with Sebas 😂).

[indiavolowetrust]

The Obey Me Boys as RPG Bosses: Frostheart

CHAPTERS: Prologue + Beelzebub and Belphegor (YOU ARE HERE), Asmodeus, Satan, Leviathan, Mammon, Lucifer, ???, ???, Endings

You are one of many hunters in a land cursed with everlasting winter. You yourself have become rime-touched after an attack by your fellow corrupted hunter, an incident that left you traumatized and lame. Even your hunter’s guild has resigned you to a life of mere cleaning and upkeep duties, and you have spent the last seven years in the depths of your guild’s archives.

Then the White Witch spirits your little brother away into her castle, taking with her the only family you have ever known. Armed with your trusty hunting knife and bow -- and aided by your senior hunter, Simeon -- you set off into the rime-cursed lands to find Luke and end the White Witch’s reign once and for all.

**Very loosely based on The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen.

Word Count: 2,160 words

TW: Blood, Violence, Gore

PROLOGUE

It is said that the rime draws beasts out of the hearts of men. The hoarfrost came, cursed as the land was by the White Witch, and then came the famine. The beasts came, corrupted and twisted beyond measure by the curse, and then came the slaughter. And so came the Frost Blades: a group of hunters trained to slay the rime-touched beasts, cull the spread of the curse, and bring glory to King Diavolo’s wondrous kingdom. It is said that a hunter of the Frost Blades is destined to die a hero’s death, whether it be by jaws of a wolf-beast or some other monstrosity.

You know better, of course. The pure never stay pure for long. Those whose hearts are touched by the rime eventually lose themselves, body and soul, and the symptoms only worsen the further one traverses into the cursed hinterlands. Dizziness, fatigue, and nausea. The piercing of one’s flesh by ice crystals that seem to have grown from within, the loss of one’s extremities to the frost, and the forced expulsion of bodily fluids. Hallucinations and madness. At the heart of glacial rift -- where the White Witch and her subjects are said to reside -- it is said that there exists a barrier no human can pass. Not without losing themselves completely to the rime, that is. The few that had passed the barrier and returned had … they had …

The memory is there before you know it, raw and frostbitten. The bow you’ve been cleaning nearly clatters to the floor, but you manage to hold onto it with trembling fingers.

You can only remember skewered limbs and bestial screams. One hand pressed to your ruined eye, the other shakily holding a blade that you knew would not save you. One of your legs was beyond repair. The creature that had once been Agathe had stalked closer with its segmented, crystalline body, that hunter’s caution still present, and you were too petrified to do anything but gaze upon the bringer of your own death. Too young, too inexperienced, and too unskilled to face off against a rime-touched beast of her caliber. And in her eyes -- Gods, in her eyes, you could have sworn that you saw something not quite bestial staring back at you. Someone.

The journey to the heart of the glacial rift is said to be unbound by any law of space or time, as expected of a realm created by the White Witch. Despite its eldritch properties, you’ve decided to take at least enough supplies for a dozen or so leagues. Elk jerky, dried fruits and nuts, and sizable canteens of water. Rolls of twine, bandages, and tins of Old Gytha’s medicine. Your whitewood bow and arrows sit at the ready of your back. Your fur-lined cloak and boots weigh heavily upon you when you limp past the Frost Blades’ garrison, although perhaps that is to be expected. You were born in this town, and you had fully expected to die in it. If Luke hadn’t been spirited away by the White Witch, you’re not sure if you would even have the heart to step out of its walls. You certainly lack the strength.

A hand plates itself on your shoulder when you stand before gates of the town, firm and unyielding. Simeon.

What did you expect? you berate yourself, a sigh escaping your mouth. He’s probably known all along. You’re as transparent as glass.

Luke’s gone, you tell him. You shift against your walking cane as you do so, not quite prepared to meet his gaze. Not yet, anyway. Even now, you’re too much of a coward. Regardless, he can’t stop you. Your mind and heart is already set on the quest.

“I know.”

You don’t care if they kick you out of the Frost Blades for defying orders. Luke is -- you made a promise to him. He’s the only family you have.

“I know.”

Then why --

His glove-laden hand turns you gently to face him, cutting you short. Your eyes widen at the sight of hunting gear, his own whitewood bow strapped to his back, and he gives you a smile that is only the slightest bit wolfish. A part of you relaxes at that. Despite his straight-laced behavior in the garrison, it would appear that Simeon is still Simeon, the boy that used to defend you and Luke against the older kids in town. Simeon, the baker’s son who stole loaves of bread to feed you and Luke on unbearable nights. Simeon, the greatest and most elite hunter of his party once he enlisted into the Frost Blades.

Simeon, the one who hadn’t quite been there in time. Even Old Gytha had trouble stitching what remained of you back together.

“The Frost Blades have us make an oath to protect our subordinates,” he says in the way of an explanation, leaving the rest unsaid. He walks past you to push aside a patch of brambles, revealing a weathered wooden door. An unused exit. A corner of his mouth quirks upwards when he catches you staring, and he arches a brow at you. “You didn’t really think I’d let you go by yourself, did you?”

[BEELZEBUB AND BELPHEGOR, GUARDIANS OF THE BOREAL FOREST]

It is difficult to believe anyone has ever lived here before. The uneven terrain is stricken with permafrost, rendering the ground slippery and unforgiving, and the boughs of the trees stretch far into the sky. Like nearly everything else in the boreal forest, they are barren, crystalline, and completely incapable of being burned. Yet the ruins here are massive. You and Simeon sit in the belly of a keep -- or what remains of it, anyway -- as the bones of some unfortunate animal crackle and wither away before you in a blue blaze. They lend little warmth, but you dare not speak a word on the matter. Simeon had supported you when your limp worsened, your cane relaying itself to your side, and when your lame legs could no longer support your weight, he carried you. He had not complained or minded, and so you would not either.

Or perhaps he had and he was too kind to tell you otherwise.

Useless, you think to yourself. Useless, useless, useless. No wonder the Frost Blades had difficulty deciding to spare you. A rime-touched whelp has no place in --

“Are you cold?”

You blink to see Simeon staring intently at you, which he evidently has been for a while. Your legs hurt from walking, and you tell him as much. Working with the Frost Blades’ records is a much different experience than traveling. It’s been a long time.

Seven years, you almost say. It’s been seven years.

“I suppose it has,” he hums, and he resumes stoking the fire with a crystalline branch. It only flickers weakly in response.

Despite being certain that you and Simeon have been traveling for only several hours -- meaning that it should only be midday -- night had already long fallen by the time you reached the ruins. Another oddity of exploring the lands near the White Witch’s realm, it would seem. You and Simeon had passed what should have been leagues in a matter of minutes, whereas what had seemed like a minuscule hill had taken an hour to pass. Streams babbled in some places and nearly stood still in others. Despite the high walls of the ruins here, you can feel the wind blowing through at too fast a pace. Simeon struggles to keep the blaze alive.

And so when you stumble upon a massive, free-standing stone gate in the middle of a frozen clearing, you can’t say you’re completely surprised.

Instead, it is the pair of statues before it that draws your attention. While both of them wield a massive battle axe, the creatures depicted in the sculptures seem to be of two different species. The slightly smaller one reminds you of the oxen tended to by the township: cloven legs, curved horns, and thick fur. Its eyes are half-lidded, as if it were on the brink of falling asleep. The other one stands some two or three heads taller than the oxen-like one, bearing features that you would not expect of a creature acclimated to the ice. Its face is dotted with multitudinous eyes, its massive maw is inset with sharp, wicked teeth, and four insectoid wings sprout from its back.

Stranger yet, the statues have been carved with an impeccable eye for detail -- enough that you had nearly mistaken them for another rime-touched beast. The glacial wind whips back and forth across clearing, making them appear to move. To breathe.

Almost as if they were.

“Halt!” booms a voice across the clearing, forcing you to stumble backwards. Simeon all but drags you behind a tree.

“Who goes there?” demands another voice, lower and more gruff than the first.

One hand clamped over your mouth, the other pressed to the hilt of his blade. His eyes meet yours only after a moment, and you see within them the question that plagues your own thoughts. The bearers of these voices, whomever they may be, should not be here.

“This land belongs to Her Ladyship! Speak, or begone with ye!”

There is the sound of cracking, much like porcelain falling apart. Or perhaps it is more reminiscent of ice shattering, like a mirror bursting into shards after being struck. Simeon’s gaze only narrows as he takes another glance over the side of the tree, still holding you close to him. He begins to slowly draw his blade out from its sheath. The boreal winds begin to howl even greater than before, masking the noise.

Simeon unceremoniously flings you in the direction of the clearing. Your shoulder crashes into the permafrost just as the blade of an axe crashes into the tree, cleaving it in two. Simeon is barely able to draw his sword before the axe meets it -- and then he, too, is sent flying. He pierces the ground with his sword before he can completely clear the open space, stopping just short in front of you. Two figures -- one bearing curved horns, the other bearing insectoid wings -- clamber out of the edge of the forest, the larger of the two hefting the oversized axe over his back.

It is only then that you see the symbols carved into the statues, each circling their wrists and ankles like manacles.

Golems.

“What have we here, brother?” says the ox-like golem, gazing upon you with interest. “It would appear Her Ladyship’s doll has arrived sooner than we thought. Shall we deliver this human to her?”

“We shall.”

The ox-like golem strides forward. “How convenient that you’ve brought the human to us -- and in such good condition, might I add? Her Ladyship will be in good spirits to see her dear prince and her doll reunited.” He offers his hand to you, much to your surprise. “Come with me, human. There’s no need to be accompanied by this charlatan any longer.”

Charlatan? You can only stare at the ox-like golem’s hand in bewilderment, shaking your head. Whatever reason the White Witch may have to declare you as her doll -- whatever that means -- you will not abandon Simeon. You have no reason to comply with their wishes.

“You heard the hunter.” Simeon brings his sword before him again, creating a barrier between you and the golems. “We’re not going anywhere. If you want to separate us, you’ll have to go through me.”

“More’s the pity. And here we thought Her Ladyship gave us an easy task for once.” The ox-like golem yawns, gesturing to the other, and it is but a moment before the two cross blades. A dueling stance. “Name’s Belphegor. Beelzebub and I will take the pleasure of beheading you today.”

“Last chance,” warns the winged golem. “Surrender now, and we shall forgive you for your transgressions.”

Tip: Staggering one of the golems will force the other to its aid. As Beelzebub is faster and stronger than his counterpart, it is advised to incapacitate Belphegor first.

[NEXT: ASMODEUS, HER LADYSHIP’S ROSE-KEEPER]

[raeynbowboi]

The Character Forge: How to Play as Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl in DnD 5e

This is a rather unusual build option, as these aren’t technically characters in the Yugioh series. However, I consider it a fun and unique challenge to try and build them. Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl are the ace cards in the deck of Yami Yugi. Though in season 5 the anime decided they were the spirits of the Pharaoh’s high priests trapped as duel monsters that still serve their king in death. So that’s a fun thing to think about the next time you play one of these cards.

A Heroic Spirit

What race you choose is probably going to depend on which version you want to play. If you want to play who they were before they died, Mahad and Mana were ordinary humans with no superhuman abilities beyond the study of magic. So normal Humans works for who they once were. If you want to play as the duel spirits they became, you could choose Kalashtar because the Dark Magician is the bond of the high priest Mahad with the Illusion Magician spirit. Kalashtar is a race whose body is split between a host and a dream world spirit. Dream world, Duel Monster Spirit World. Close enough. They are also tasked with guarding and serving the Pharoah loyally, which has lowkey guardian angel traits, so Aasimar is a possibility. It’s a bit silly, but they are synthetic beings. Just holograms really. They could be Warforged since they aren’t actually real or alive. Just computer code and projected images of light as duel monsters. They could also be Variant Humans because they’re Shonen anime characters, and the spirits of former humans.

Honestly, they have no alignment and little personality. Make them however you want and go from there. I have never actually seen season 5, so I don’t know the personalities of Mahad and Mana.

For background, Mahad is a high priest and Mana is his pupil. Mahad and Mana are both Acolytes. Dark Magician is the ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense, so Sage is appropriate, while the obscure (but I think it’s legit?) Student of Magic is great for Dark Magician Girl. 

Powers and Abilities

The Dark Magician’s primary spell is the Dark Magic Attack, and the Dark Magician Girl casts Dark Burning Attack.

As Mahad, he had the ability to summon duel spirits to fight on his behalf, conjuring them through large stone tablets. Mahad also possessed the Millennium Ring, which points you in the direction of whatever you’re trying to find, and lets you place and remove souls from bodies.

Support Cards:

Dark Burning Attack: Destroy all enemy facedown monsters Dark Burning Magic: Destroy all enemy cards. Dark Magical Circle: Add other Dark Magician support cards to your hand. Dark Magic Attack: Destroys all enemy Spells and Traps Dark Magic Expanded: one monster gains +1000 ATK and ignores enemy spells Dark Magic Inheritance: Banish 2 spells to draw 1 DM support card from deck. Dark Magic Twin Burst: DM gains ATK of all DMG on the field and in Graveyard. Dark Magic Veil: Pay 1000 LP to summon a dark spellcaster Dark Renewal: Sacrifice enemy monster and your caster. summon dark caster. Illusion Magic: Sacrifice your spellcaster. Add Dark Magician to your hand. Magic Formula: DM’s Spellbook. Increase DM or DMG ATK by 700 points. Magical Hats: Dark Magician becomes hidden beneath 1 of 4 magic hats. Magical Objection: Counter enemy spell, trap, or effect and destroy that card. Magician’s Circle: when foe summons, you and foe can summon a caster Magician’s Defense: Take half damage while you control a spellcaster. Magician’s Navigation: Summon DM from hand and dark caster from Deck/GY Mystical Box: Dark Magician trades places with another monster. Thousand Knives: Destroys 1 enemy monster

Other Common Cards

Change of Heart: Take control of enemy monster for 1 turn. Dark Hole: Destroy every card on the field. Dian Keto, the Cure Master: Gain 1000 Life Points. Magic Cylinder: Bounce enemy attack at enemy’s Life Points. Magic Jammer: Counter 1 enemy spell card. Mirror Force: Bounce enemy attack, destroy all ATK position enemy monsters. Monster Reborn: Summon 1 monster from either Graveyard. Mystical Space Typhoon: Destroy 1 Spell or Trap card. Negate Attack: Portal sucks up enemy attack, opponent battle phase ends. Raigeki: Destroy all of your opponent’s monsters Reverse Trap: Buffs and Debuffs switch. Buffs weaken, Debuffs strengthen. Spellbinding Circle: Enemy monster -700 ATK. Cannot attack/change positions. Swords of Revealing Light: 3 gleaming swords, enemy can’t attack for 3 turns. Trap Hole: Create pit trap. Destroy monster with 1500 ATK or more.

Class is in Session

Cleric     Arcana: As Mahad and Mana were priests, this is a way to incorporate that religious background with their current powers.

Sorcerer     Divine Soul: Similar to Arcana, Divine Soul blurs the line between magic and religion, and allows Dark Magician to pull power from the holy spirit of Mahad residing within him. Since both Dark Magician and Dark Magican Girl float, the wings this subclass gives at level 14 could be flavored as simply allowing these duel spirits to fly/float without the wings being visible.     Shadow: They are the DARK magicians. Their signature spells are DARK Magic Attack and DARK Burning Attack. Pretty self-evident.

Warlock     Celestial: Again like Divine Soul and Arcana, this option connects Warlock with religion, but the subclass has some Radiant flavor which is a little unusual for the DARK Magicians.

Wizard    Conjuration: When Mahad lived, he used his Millennium Ring and magic powers to conjure the spirits of Duel Monster tablets to play shadow games.     Lore Mastery: He’s “the ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense”. It stands to reason that his understanding of magic would run so deep that he could alter and bend it to his will. Especially to turn any spell he casts into Necrotic damage for his dark magic attacks.     Theurgy: Mahad was the high priest. So, he could have been a wizard who had studied the religious magic of his day to obtain his powers and to cast both Cleric and Wizard spells with one stat.     War Magic: The ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense is probably going to be extremely powerful in a fight, so having a build that’s made to fight is right up his alley.

How to Play as Yugi Mutou

Before making this post, I’d tried to make Yugi as a potential build. However, an obstacle I encountered was that I had Yugi as a Conjuration Wizard, and there simply weren’t enough Wizard spells that summoned creatures to fight on your behalf. However, if you combine that summoning focus of Yugi with the magical capabilities of Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl, and treat them as his Deck Master, they can work together to fill out Yugi’s spell list with DM and DMG spells and fight side by side as effectively one character.

Stats and Proficiencies

In order to be the ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense, Dark Magician needs the absolute maximum Intelligence and Constitution stats. He needs to be able to deal serious magical damage and shrug off enemy spells. During Yugi and Joey’s duel against Para and Dox, the Dark Magician did a front flip in what seems like medium armor. That shows quite a bit of Dexterity. Beyond that, fill out the other three stats or dump them as you see fit. However, I will admit, the Dark Magician Girl does seem more charming than her mentor, and could be a Sorcerer who casts with Charisma instead of Intelligence.

Arcana Insight Perception Religion

Name: Mahad, the Dark Magician Race: Variant Human Background: Sage Alignment: Neutral Class: War Magic Wizard (20) Base Stats: Strength: 8 (-1) Dexterity: 17 (+3) Constitution: 20 (+5) Intelligence: 20 (+5) Wisdom: 8 (-1) Charisma: 8 (-1) Saving Throws: Strength: -1 Dexterity: +3 Constitution: +5 Intelligence: +11 Wisdom: +5 Charisma: -1 Combat Stats:  HP: 182  AC: 13  Speed: 30  Initiative: +8  Proficiency Bonus: +6  Passive Perception: 15  Dark Vision: 0 feet Proficiencies:    Arcana (Sage)    History (Sage)    Insight (Wizard)    Religion (Wizard) Skills: Acrobatics: +3                  Medicine: -1 Animal Handling: -1          Nature: +5 Arcana: +11                      Perception: +5 Athletics: -1                       Performance: -1 Deception: -1                    Persuasion: -1 History: +11                      Religion: +11 Insight: +5                        Sleight of Hand: +3 Intimidation: -1                 Stealth: +3 Investigation: +5              Survival: -1 Equipment:    Arcane Focus: Staff

Spell Slots 1st (4) 2nd (3) 3rd (3) 4th (3) 5th (3) 6th (2) 7th (2) 8th (1) 9th (1)

Dark Magician’s Spellbook

Cantrips                    3rd Level                                 6th Level    Create Bonfire           Call Lightning                           Arcane Gate    Eldritch Blast             Counterspell                            Globe of Invulnerability    Firebolt                      Dispel Magic                          7th Level    Mage Hand               Fireball                                      Conjure Hezrou    Mind Sliver                Magic Circle                              Mord’s Sword    Minor Illusion             Summon Lesser Demons      8th Level 1st level                     4th Level                                     Antimagic Field    Detect Magic              Arcane Eye                               Dominate Monster    Hex                             Banishment                           9th Level    Mage Armor               Conjure Minor Elementals        Prismatic Wall    Magic Missile             Conjure Shadow Demon    Shield                         Leo’s Secret Chest    Witch Bolt                   Locate Creature 2nd Level                      Phantasmal Killer    Arcane Lock                Summon Greater Demon    Crown of Madness   5th Level    Flock of Familiars        B’s Hand (Arcane Hand)    Knock                          Conjure Elemental    Locate Object              Dominate Person    Magic Weapon            Infernal Calling    Mirror Image                Legend Lore    Misty Step                   Planar Binding    Shadow Blade             Synaptic Static                                        Teleportation Circle                                        Wall of Force

Features:

Arcane Deflection: When attacked, as a reaction, add +2 AC or +4 saving throw, but cast only cantrips next turn. Arcane Recovery: Once per day, after a short rest, restore 10 or fewer level 5 or lower used spell slots. Deflecting Shroud: 3 creatures take 10 force damage after Arcane Deflection. Durable Magic: +2 to AC and saving throws when concentrating on a spell. Magic Initiate: Learn Eldritch Blast, Mind Sliver, and Hex. Cast with INT. Power Surge: You have max 5, each surge adds 10 force damage to a spell. Researcher: You always know where to find information or who to get it from. Signature Spells: Cast Fireball and Dispel Magic without using a spell slot. Spell Mastery: Cast Magic Weapon and Mage Armor without using a spell slot. Tactical Wit: Add your INT mod to your Initiative.

keep in mind, the spell list is not conclusive, it’s a personal choice. I chose to have Dark Magician learn all the spells of the Arcane Cleric, and just tried to pick the standard magic spells, especially about anything with Arcane in its name. Because both Yugi and Mahad summon monsters to fight for them, I decided it was appropriate to give Dark Magician a lot of conjuration spells, but that doesn’t mean you have to use the Deck Master Yugi/Dark Magician build I suggested where Yugi does the summoning and Dark Magician handles everything else. It’s not a perfect build, but then, I never expected it to be. Still, I hope you guys found this to be a fun, quirky DnD concept. Let me know if you’d build this character differently than I did. And as always, thanks for joining me in The Character Forge, where heroes are made.

[writemares]

EXCERPT;

❝     I.     In the forest, the fae courts reign. they are shining gods, cunning tricksters, cruel and unpredictable spirits. They are collectors of humans who wander too deep into the woods.

II.     In the forest, two packs are lured into a trap. Only two girls emerge, lost and alone and without allies --- easy prey.

III.   In the forest, a coven strikes a deal with darkness to bring back one of their own. The dark magic demands a price from a rival coven, but they refuse to pay.     ❞

SYNOPSIS;

when eve casts a spell in the forest, she doesn’t expect anything to happen. instead, it resurrects isla, who has been dead for forty years. eve becomes isla’s guardian, protector of the life she’s created. eve isn’t the only creature in the forest who dabbles in magic, though: the fae have felt the powerful effects of her spell and are determined to discover who caused it. while the faery aoife is distracted, declan, stolen by the fae years ago, plots his escape to find his descendants, his great(-great-great-great?) nieces. dervla and roisin whelan have their own issues aside from the reappearance of their great(-great-great-great?) uncle, because the rest of their family have gone missing. they turn to an old family friend to help track the whelans down. and persephone, a witch just like eve, is searching for whoever killed her coven-sister with a powerful enchantment. she thinks she’s found the culprit in eve, but has yet to discover that there are still more witches in the forest, and more than one dead person recently brought back.

STATS;

genre: fantasy audience: new adult started: november 2019 pov: third person, multiple narrative tense: present words: 2k

TROPES & THEMES;

fae, resurrection, serial killers, questionable 80s fashion, meet my undead girlfriend, deception, irish folklore, fake dating, balance, ancient forest gods, royal fae power couples; werewolves, enemies to lovers, farm lesbians, werewolf lesbians, femme motorbike-riding lesbians, they are all lesbians, seriously this one is so gay; eldritch rituals, accidentally immortal boyfriends, chaotic teenage witches, pyromania, balance, light magic, dark magic, a shit-ton of candles, ghosts.

CHARACTERS;

the fae: aoife, fionn, titania the wolves: dervla, roisin, laure the witches: cecily, lux, persephone, ash, piper the up-until-recently dead: emrys, isla the humans: eve, genevieve, declan, poppy

MORE INFO PART I; PART II; PART III;

[cosmosfated]

  TWENTY SEVEN DAYS.  That’s how long he had stayed in the ward.

  Just shy of a month, just shy of four weeks.

  It wasn’t bad, per se. The people were... nice. They understood, though Fleur knew it was one of their jobs to understand to the best of their ability. The people that he was with also were extremely nice, when they weren’t having their own troubles. He wasn’t sure whether or not to expect the worst or go into it with high hopes. He wasn’t sure whether to be himself there or to be a bit more restrained, in order to trick people into thinking he was better off than he was, better off than he knows people thought he was supposed to be.

  He remembers going into it afraid. He remembers walking into that establishment and having his guardian, having Whisper sign him up for the psychiatric ward for care and being afraid for his life. He’d never been in one of these before. He didn’t know what to expect. And oh, this was long before his madness had taken a grip on him again. So there wasn’t that to worry about (yet). He remembers being afraid of the walls. The staff. The fellow people in the ward with him. 

  They told him to relax, and he remembers being even more afraid for a couple days. His roommate was a lovely lady that couldn’t have been older than twenty one, human;   Fleur didn’t ask her reasons for being here, she didn’t ask his, they left it where it was. She introduced herself as Cass. Cass said she had been there for months now. She told him that the staff would take great care of him, but she couldn’t really help the fear of being there for a first time. It’s a bit scary, she had told him. Being here when you’re so young. Being here and being part of the media. She had smiled then and said yes, she knew of him from the television, from the news, but she doesn’t judge. The two of them made fast friends. He really liked Cass. She was a nice introduction. Three days in, she was someone irreplaceable to him.

  Five days in, he was starting to settle into the routine. Taking his medicine was normal. Going to therapy was normal. Talking to someone about what was really bothering him, now that was hard. No one really believed him. That’s why he kept being told that he had stay longer than the two weeks initially. Dying countless times, the death of innocents on your hands, madness so sickening that it would make a chill run down your back, eldritch abominations, pacts with keepers, enchanted weapons, other worlds. Who would believe him? He’s practically gone insane in their eyes. He eventually gave into their words and said they were just dreams. Just dreams that he had due to the medications. Dreams and nightmares. Oh how does he wish that was all it was. 

  And of course, there was... not hurting himself.

  Nightmares is all they were. That’s what he told them. That’s what they wanted to hear, in the first week and a half. For that first little while, that’s what they were. Nightmares that made him unable to get restful sleep. Waking up in the middle of the night, frightened and tossing and turning, but nothing more. They were being frightfully nice to him. It scared him. 

  And then one night after about a week and a half, his magic flared up and he lashed out against the staff that were trying to help him calm down. He had dug his magically enhanced claws into his skin and tore down, clawed away at himself. Clawed, clawed, clawed away until he could feel nothing but numbness and blood down his arms and chest and the wounds glowed with purple light against his will. The burn of Perseverance was agony and beautiful wonder when he wanted to feel anything, just anything against the moonlight and emptiness, but it still burned and he wanted it to stop. Maybe that’s when the staff there finally began to learn that he wasn’t joking. That he was telling the truth about at least some of it. 

  A part of him howled and laughed and cried all at once towards the moonlight, and he could see Cass out of the corner of his vision that night, and she looked... scared. Not of him, but rather for him. It was a strange feeling, seeing someone being afraid for him instead of being afraid of him. So he laughed and laughed and laughed some more, howled like a madman as his mind threatened to break underneath the weight of his LV that even just a smidgen more would tip over the edge into madness. They didn’t get him to calm down for at least two hours, but when they finally got him to calm down, it was sudden. With a crash into sudden serenity and awareness of self. With staring at the people around him and apologizing for causing a ruckus and trying to give his word to prevent from doing that again. 

  The very next day, he was in and out of tests. So many tests. They thought he was struggling with some version of brief psychotic disorder that is so strong when it shows up that it disrupts everything that he’s doing and can cause him and everyone around him harm. Thus the reason for extended stay, yet again. More days, more concern, more days without his phone, without contact with the rest of the world, without his garden, without his pokemon, without his friends.

  It’s so suffocating.

  Cass had approached him after a few days of extensive therapy and tests and medicine treatment with a snack, though she had checked with the doctors to see if she could offer it to him in the first place. “Hey, Fleur. You look like you’re ran pretty ragged.”

  He looked up from his place at the bed, still scratching at the bandages that are irritating the places where he had scratched himself rather raw. “There’s so many tests. I’ve tried to explain what that episode was. They don’t believe me. My medicine is fine. I don’t think I’m psychotic... mad, maybe... wait, is that the same thing as psychotic?”

  Cass laughed, somewhat awkwardly. “I... can’t speak for that, but it may fall on the spectrum?” She took a seat on the chair nearby, resting her head on the palm of her hand.

  Fleur sighed rather heavily, taking the snack, a nice apple, and bites into it.

  “You know, you definitely look healthier than when you came in here.” Cass said after a few minutes of silence. “You’re probably still afraid of this place, I would be too in your situation, but... you seem like you’re getting better. You might be out in a month or so. As long as you’re recovering nicely from whatever put you in here to begin with. You know?”

  He went quiet, thinking about what he knows put him in here to begin with. Too much to think about, there. Too much to consider. Too much to put him in the ground. He’s actually kind of glad that he considered doing this, but he’s also nervous that because he had that meltdown, they won’t let him out of here. Not until they figure out what’s wrong with him, at least, and that might be forever. He shuddered. Don’t consider that. “I know. Thanks, Cass.”

  Another few days go by.

  The tests started calming down. They all seem satisfied with some answer they’ve gotten from him. He doesn’t know what they’ve gotten out of him, his answers haven’t changed, but maybe they’ve just found something they’ve come to accept. Or maybe they’ve just come to accept that he’s a little off his rocker. That would be bad for him. Worry gnaws at him, now. 

  He didn’t really know what to do with the information that they had gotten some of what they intended to get from him. It meant that he had complied with what they wanted. It meant something bad, usually. It meant something had gone wrong. That’s what it meant for doctors! That’s his experiences with doctors! The worry grows. But nothing happens, not for a while. Therapy continues. Medicine continues. Friends are easy.

  Smiling is easy.

  Around a week until he left, he had another lapse of reality. 

  But this one, he was unresponsive to everything outside of himself for hours on end. Nothing could get through to him. Not music. Not touch. Not even the mention of family members or friends. He was growling and snapping and snarling at everything and everyone that came close to him, sometimes whimpering, for the entire time he wasn’t himself. He only snapped out of it after a few hours and then sat down and apologized for another hour, claiming that he didn’t know what he was doing, that he didn’t have any control over himself. In reality, he truly didn’t. But they didn’t know anything about that. 

  They put him through some more tests and more therapy. He didn’t see Cass for a while after that. He did notice Cass looking much more tired after seeing him like that though... he had wondered why but he didn’t have the chance to ask before he was ushered into a different room.

  After a few days of being taken care of, he heard talk about being given leave to go home. His spirits soared, but then they sank again. It’s been so long. He had gotten used to people taking care of him. How could he get used to taking care of himself again? It would be so difficult. He’d need help. So much help. How could he bear to rely on them for something like this? Fear took over. How could he do something like that to them?

  “Cass?”

  She had looked up, the hour before he was due to be discharged. “What’s up, party boy?”

  “... What if I just end up back here?”

  “Well. You know you’ve got a friend here.”

  Fleur smiled. He does, doesn’t he? That’s a little less scary. “Thanks, Cass.”

  Upon seeing his soulmate again, he couldn’t hold anything back. He wants to go home. He wants to go back to see his sister, his sibling. His garden. His pokemon. He wants to see his friends. He wants to see everything that he’s missed. He’ll do whatever it takes to stay better.

  He’ll do whatever it takes. He’ll get better, and stay better. He hopes.

[iamcrimelord]

Excerpt from the Journal of Doctor Henry Thomas: Oct 3

“A most, fantastic thing has occurred. As I was conducting my research into the changes of beasthood that plague Yharnum, a creature appeared in my room. It is the most.. ASTOUNDING THING. At first I thought had been dreaming and tried to wake up, but this creature that appeared informed me I was not dreaming, but had in fact emerged from a dream and wished to converse with me. I dare say I thought I was mad at that point but he assured me that such was not the case, but for my personal safety I should keep to myself our conversation. I shall endeavor however to record it in this journal to read back to at a later time. 

The Creature that I spoke to, had the body of a man sure enough, only his head was like that of a Cephalopod. It went upward like a squid and at his mouth were several long tentacles that went down to his belt. He was dressed in robes of a most ancient looking fashion and on his shoulders wrapped around him like a cloak were dragon like wings. His skin was of a sea green hue. I inquired of him what he wanted and he said that he had observed my work, in particular my work with the mad houses and was most impressed by my observations. Indeed he said that my insight into such things had grown to the point that he was visible to my naked eye. When I asked him his name, he told me he went by many. The Sleeping one, Mind Flayer, the Eldritch Guardian. He told me however I may refer to him as, Cthulhu. I offered him tea but he politely declined and said he wished instead to speak and converse with me on my research. I eagerly sat down and pulled out my journal to discuss my notes with him. 

We began to speak on the insight of lunatics and madness and how they seem to transform into more horrid beasts. I informed him of my theory that perhaps these lunatics madness freed them of restraining closed mindedness and allowed them be more perceptive, or perhaps it was not madness at all, and was in fact that the things they could see where of a most fantastic nature it only made them seem mad. He confirmed that it was more the latter theory that was true. Lunacy does not mean insight he told me. Rather it is a symptom of seeing the world for what it is. The most frantic of these madmen were simply trying harder than others to escape the truths that they had suddenly been burdened with. But once a thing is known... it is rather difficult to un-know it, hence the decent into madness. I asked him then if these various transformations of eldritch horror, pale faced man, and hound were indeed tied to the level of insight one had of the world around them. He said that this was indeed true. The cause he said of the eldritch horrors the lunatics most often take is a result of them rejecting the truth, they try to force what they know out of their minds and the result is a mental backlash that causes their body to reject itself. He compared it to a hernia of sorts. The stress of rejection causes the body and the mind to damage itself, only this time instead of a damaged organ they have a damaged existence, the strain of exertion to try and restore their previous ignorance results in them contorting their form. It is like when one try’s to solve a very complicated puzzle, they try and try to put all the pieces back together but when they are unable to figure the puzzle out, they cast the puzzle aside in anger, damaging and losing pieces as they do so, and as a result the puzzle cannot be as it once was, and one must make do with what one has left.....and sometimes what happens is they take pieces of other puzzles to fill in the empty spaces but as you can imagine, those pieces do not fit perfectly. The lunatics then are like those who have cast aside their puzzle, only many of their pieces have been cast into the fire and are destroyed utterly as well as replaced not with new puzzle pieces... But with shards of other items entirely, hence the randomness of their form. 

The explanation indeed opened my mind to the world around him, and I noted that my new companion seemed... More in the room now. As if he had gained a much more, solid mass somehow. As if he were more real now than he had been before. 

I then asked him in regards to the hounds and how low insight caused them to change so and why their change and that of the pale faced men were more organized and less chaotic than the lunatics. He explained in great detail that men who become hounds turn into such things because it is what their minds are most akin to. It is not that they are idiots he said, but rather they spend their days doing simple tasks either working in factories or farms mostly only concerned that they are able to obtain that which will feed them, clothe them, and give them shelter as animals are apt to do. Hounds he explained, are not concerned with the goings on of the world, they are concerned only with their basic needs and nothing else. Many do not consider the actions of kings or pontiffs nor do they delve into the mystery’s of science or the world around them. They simply live, or rather as my guest Cthulhu put it: concern themselves with not dying. I asked then why hounds in particular? Why not some other beast as those traits are shared by all the creatures that walk the earth. He explained then that aside from those basic survival traits, man also has a savage blood lust that cannot be sated. When I protested that he asked me a question: What games do children play the most? Games of war... of Violence... of battle. Who are deemed heroes and great men of any age? Soldiers, Generals, men of Violence. Even the actions of men like Jack Ripper have in their own way, a Macabre infamy that deep down many people are mesmerized by. He explained that there is a spirit of violence in all men, that is why the beastly transformation takes the shape of a hound. Wolves and other such beasts have always been romanticized as noble warriors and warriors... are in the business of violence be it for good or ill, and even then, the acts of noble intention are oft times an excuse to indulge in that need for killing. I then realized that these beastly transformations are not in fact biological, but Psychological. That it was the mind that resulted in these shapes, a realization I then found was obvious, and yet I did not make it before. Upon that my new friend again seemed to become more real, more corporeal, more...existent. 

I then inquired as to the pale faced men. If psychology was indeed the means by which a transformation was made possible? As I asked that question the very answer came to me, and again my friend seemed to be even more real than before. I dare say even more real than the room in which we sat, as though reality itself was the illusion and this man the truth. I told him what I realized, that the church became pale faced men because they saw themselves as men yes... but men of a greater stature, that they were human still... but now more than human. They were, the next step of humanity’s evolution. A smile touched the eyes of Cthulhu and he nodded. He confirmed my discovery and congratulated me for it. 

I then asked him the most important question: What was causing these transformations in the first place? What was the cause of these psychologically mandated transformations into monsters, and how might we stop it? He laughed softly and told me: The Arrogance of Man, suckled on the Teat of Ambition. He then vanished and I have not since seen him. 

I do not know if I shall see this man again. But ever since my conversation with him, the world seems to have changed. I can see things that I did not see before. Women with faces a mix of beast and human, Priests with lanterns covered in eyes, Scholars that seem to be perpetually melting like wax and leaving trails of it behind them as they walk. My conversation with Cthulhu as changed my views of the world... they have changed my levels of Insight... They have caused my thoughts... to Ascend.”

[badloftcontracts]

[v7.0] Update Changelog

A helluva lot of change this time around. Everyone using this system will need to remake their characters (though Personal Equipment shouldn’t feel too much of a hit). Apologies in advance.

Attribute Distribution has changed. Characters can distribute a total of 6 points, down from 8, and may only assign a maximum of 3 points to any one score. This should hopefully tone down some roll bonuses, and put more emphasis on the Traits your character has. Speaking of...

The amount of starting Traits has raised to 5, up from 4. Between this bump and the fact that you no longer need to dedicate some of these picks to Racial Traits, everyone should hopefully be seeing more variation in character builds. Choices, choices.

NEW MECHANIC: Defenses may now be ‘sundered’ by various effects, preventing their use. This should add a bit more of a tactical approach to both combat choices and Trait choices, as well as making combat slightly more dynamic. I felt like roll battles versus traditional ‘Armour Class’-style target numbers were a bit of a lacking mechanic by themselves.

NEW MECHANIC: Critical strikes now give characters a choice of dealing more damage or sundering the foe’s defense. Again, another ounce of choice in the middle of combat. I personally think giving allies an opening on a tough opponent is nice, but if I hear that people are really only taking the ‘extra damage’ option, I may tweak this.

Multi-attacking penalties have been increased. Critical damage can’t be achieved while making three attacks. The penalties are now fairly extreme unless someone is specifically trained in flailing their weapon around that quickly, further emphasizing trait choices.

Spell DC formula has been tweaked. Your Spell DC now depends on how many spell slots you’re pumping into a spell. Also, a few changes that hopefully make the act of spellcasting a bit clearer.

Moving a Short Distance is now a main action. You may now do other minor things while running across a battlefield.

Healing DC formula has been tweaked. Similar to the Spell DC change, the difficulty of healing someone is now more dependent on how injured they are.

Rules for Temporary Hit Points have been made more prominent. In my endless attempt to make certain things seem less nebulous. There’s a lot of work to be done. Speaking of nebulous...

Fettles have been removed. I wasn’t a fan of how specific those rules were, and how they didn’t apply to certain situations. I encourage everyone who uses this system to improv rules whenever you need to. You have full control over what kind of rolls should go into things such as grappling and weakness.

Rules for Cover have been added to the ‘Additional Rules’ section. They were in the Fettles tab, but they’ve been tweaked and shoved into the spotlight, instead. Well. Maybe not the spotlight. But they’re on the stage.

=====GENERAL=====

Racial Attribute Bonuses are more racist. Races that are naturally gifted with a certain attribute can now have more of that attribute than the other, WEAKER races. Humans are no longer the best at everything, but fit into a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ role.

Many Traits can now be taken multiple times. Some traits increase the effectiveness of  their bonus, others allow the ability they grant to be used more times. This should hopefully let characters specialize a bit more into their character concept, and once again, make builds a bit more diverse.

A new category of Traits, ‘Abnormal Traits’, have been added. These are special ‘subrace’ traits that grant a character both positive and negative effects. These are all pretty drastic changes made to cater to those types of characters.

=====HUMANS=====

'Stand Strong’ renamed to ‘Last Stand’ and tweaked. No longer grants its bonus most of the time, but the bonus now increases as hit points drop.

=====NORN=====

‘Spirit Guide’ changed to ‘Wild Adaptation’. Norn may now use their Spirit’s gifts, if any, in a more immediate and impactful manner.

‘Colossus’ formula tweaked, and can no longer be used multiple times. Taking significant amounts of damage now make it almost impossible to stay standing. Made it a one-time use to prevent further RNG from keeping norn standing forever.

=====CHARR=====

‘Savage Striker’ changed to ‘Savagery’. This trait should no longer result in abrupt insta-kills on relatively healthy targets, while still making critical hits feel appropriately meaty.

‘Tech Mastery’ now makes characters choose a category of charr tech. Charr are no longer masters of every single technology their race has ever made.

=====SYLVARI=====

‘Where Life Goes’ changed to ‘Dreamsight’. Gives a more meaningful and less specialized ability to sylvari players. Not all sylvari are looking for the mines of Moria.

‘Strong Roots’ now  grants temporary hit points every rest, instead of permanent hit points all the time. That hardy bark-shell now requires more time to recover.

=====EXPLORATION TRAITS=====

‘Healer’ now turns single-target heals into bonus actions.

‘Hidden’ now more clearly states what it does for you.

‘Inspiring’ has been changed significantly. Inspired characters may now choose when to grant  themselves a bonus. The bonus now scales with your Charisma score.

‘Leadership’ now states what rolls it grants bonuses to.

‘Ley Conduit’ may now be taken up to four times. For when you really, really want to cast a spell.

’Pack Master’ has been tweaked. It now buffs a specific pet attribute. Its bonus has also been reduced, but the trait can be taken twice.

‘Spell Potency’ has been tweaked following the new Spell DC formula.

‘Well-Equipped’ has been changed to allow existing Personal Equipment to be ‘upgraded’. Personal Equipment should generally only begin with 1 beneficial effect (and, of course, however many negative effects you would like). This change now gives you a clear way to add more than one effect to a single piece of equipment.

The ‘Yak Herder’ trait is now the most powerful trait in the system. All hail the Yak Herder. All hail the Yak Herder. All hail the Yak Herder.

=====COMBAT TRAITS=====

The old ‘Tidebreaker’ trait is now ‘Awareness’, and it no longer grants bonuses to all Defenses.

‘Death Siphon’ can now drain from creatures with 2 maximum hit points, down from 3.

‘Deny the Witch’ can now be made more effective by spending more spell slots.

‘Durable’ now only grants 1 maximum hit point, but can be taken up to four times.

‘Eldritch Battery’ has been tweaked to be a more reliable source of damage negation compared to similar traits.

The penalty reduction from ‘Flurry’ is now 2, up from 1. It pairs nicely with the new ‘Dual Wielder’ trait.

The bonus gained from ‘Furious’ now applies to spell DCs, and the rate at which you gain those bonuses have been back-loaded. You must now be in extremely dire straits to gain the full effect.

‘Selfless’ has been renamed to ‘Guardian’, and is more dependent on your Skill.

The critical range of ‘Precise’ has been reduced, but may be bumped back up to its previous benefit by taking the trait twice.

‘Quick Draw’ was buffed slightly. When taken twice, it should almost guarantee your acting first in combat.

‘Successive Attack’ has been renamed to ‘Reaper’, and may be taken multiple times.

‘Riposte’ no longer grants a counterattack against every single opponent that fails to hit you. ...but its bonus and number of uses per encounter have been raised to compensate.

’Second Wind’ is now a bonus action, and recovers less health. It is no longer a completely free maximum health boost. 

’Smite’ has been changed significantly. It now grants a large accuracy boost instead of bonus damage. Also, the penalty for using it has been made more severe.

The bonus from ‘Stability’ has been doubled to be more impactful.

The penalty inflicted by ‘Taunt’ now scales with your Charisma.

'Witch Hunter’s spell DC penalty is now dependent on the character’s attributes, but should generally be lower.

=====COMBAT TRAITS=====

‘Adrenaline Rush’ has been added. Rewards characters for takedowns.

‘Arcane Reaction’ has been added. Allows for spell opportunity attacks.

‘Backlash’ has been added. Grants bonuses the more your defenses are sundered.

‘Balance Breaker’, ‘Guard Breaker’, and ‘Spell Breaker’ have been added. Allows for non-damage, but more accurate attacks aiming to sunder specific defenses.

‘Battlemage’ has been added. Allows multi-attacks to include a single spellcast.

‘Desperation’ has been added. Being close to death bolsters a single defense massively.

‘Distraction’ has been added. Another way for Charisma to be used in combat. Shout something and screw up an opponent’s roll.

‘Dual Wielder’ has been added. Multi-attacks are more accurate while dual wielding. Pairs nicely with the ‘Flurry’ trait.

‘Momentum’ has been added. Characters are rewarded for successful combat rolls. Rewards can be spent for a sudden steroid boost.

‘Tactician’ has been added. Yet another way for Charisma to be used in combat. Allows allies to follow your orders, potentially acting twice in a single round.

‘Unbreakable’ has been added. Automatically recover a sundered defense at will.

And that’s it. Again, these changes are drastic, and a remake of your characters is necessary. Hopefully you enjoy what comes out of it.

- Baerod

[gretchensinister]

My Top 10 Jackrabbit (Jack Frost/Bunnymund) Fics

Hi everyone! Jackrabbit was one of the larger categories, so there was a lot of variety to choose from when it came to making this list. We’ve got angst, we’ve got AUs, we’ve got smut, we’ve got something for every jackrabbit fan. It was quite difficult to narrow the list down, however, and if you like the ship I encourage you to check out the masterpost.

The fics are presented in chronological order, with the oldest first. 

1.  The Daffodil’s Ghost (Bunnymund/Jack Frost) (5/9): Jack Frost leaves Bunny a daffodil coated in ice as a gift, hoping desperately that he’ll realize what it’s meant for, even though he doubts Spring could love Winter.

2.  The Bower (Bunnymund/Jack Frost) (6/4): Jack comes to the Warren with the intention to have sex with Bunny, but he’s really nervous and is kind of treating it as a thing to get over with. Bunny’s grown him a bower of flowers, and does his best to give Jack a memorable but relaxed experience.

3.  Silver Strands (Bunnymund/Jack Frost) (10/14): Jack is becoming an eldritch being, and can now see the beautiful intricacies of Bunny’s powers. Bunny isn’t ready to hear about how he looks in Jack’s new way of seeing.

4.  No Fighting (Bunny/Jack Frost) (5/9): For a while, Bunny has defeated North in a boxing match to symbolically end winter. One year, it doesn’t work, and Bunny has to go find the new winter spirit. When he finds him, he realizes he very much wants to find an alternative to fighting Jack.

5.  GrowRunGrow (Bunny/Jack Frost) (10/3): While kissing, Jack and Bunny slip into their eldritch personas, which surprises them both.

6.  Not For Hate (Bunnymund/Jack Frost) (1/14): Jack accidentally causes Bunny’s death. When Bunny comes back, he isn’t the same person Jack knew, and Jack is emotionally shredded by this, because he never antagonized Bunny out of hate.

7.  The Burgess Library Genealogy Department (Bunnymund/Jack Frost) (5/11): In a human AU, Bunny is an artist who finds out he’s being haunted by a ghost he can only see in winter. He falls in love with the ghost, and tries to help him finish his unfinished business, though in doing so he may create some of his own.

8.  Hopscotch (Bunnymund/Jack Frost)(1/6)|?: Eldritch Jack and eldritch Bunny leap and play through the structure of the world, both wondering why it took so long for them to reach this point.

9.  One Flower Is Better Than None (Jack Frost/Bunnymund) (4/4): As Winter and Spring, Jack and Bunny will never be able to spend much time together, but both realize that that little time is worth it.

10.  Light and Soft (Bunny/Jack)(¼): With living, mortal senses, Jack is hypersensitive, so his first time having sex with Bunny is full of light, delicate touches.

Interestingly, both the first and last jackrabbit I wrote for the meme are on this list.

Bonus list:

All the fin-de-siecle spies AU that deals with Bunny and Jack together:

1.  Chocolate Shop (Implied Everyone/Jack) (5/12)

2.  The Brightest Thing In The Room (Bunnymund/Jack Frost) (5/19)

3.  Playing With Things That Aren’t Toys (Bunnymund/Jack Frost; Jack Frost/Pitch Black) (7/28)

4.  A Perfect Laugh (Bunnymund/Jack Frost) (3/6)

Other AUs:

1.  First Chance Only Chance (pre-Bunnymund/Jack Frost) (6/6): In a world with millions of guardian spirits, Jack is assigned to guard Jamie, and Bunny is assigned to guard Sophie. The only problem is, Jack is on his first assignment. If Jamie dies, Jack becomes a boogeyman. Bunny doesn’t want that to happen. A short snippet of their first night on the job together.

2.  Live End Street (pre-Bunnymund/Jack Frost) (5/29): On a Constellan-controlled planet, a homeless Jack Frost follows a strange man’s directions to what he expects to be a squat. Instead, it turns out to be a temple with at least one pre-Constellan god living in it.

3.  Aster’s Town (pre-Jack Frost/Bunnymund) (10/21): Set a few years into the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. Jack is an illusionist using real magic, abandoned by his mentor. While travelling, he finds a town untouched by the general misfortune. During his show, he discovers the powerful wizard responsible for the town’s prosperity.

[doctor-roman]

Faces in the Background - Shadows Over Innistrad & Eldritch Moon - Part 1

I hope you’re all ready to get spooky because it’s high time we look at the plane with some of the most popular secondary characters in Magic - Innistrad.

Innistrad’s list of quoted characters is long. Really long. Between SOI, and EMN alone, there are 38 named characters quoted in flavor text. As much as I love Innistrad, I don’t want this to be an eight part series, so what I did was look at all of the named characters in Shadows Over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon, then looked back at the original Innistrad block to see who shows up more than once between both blocks. Those that did will be discussed in this series.

With that out of the way, let’s get spoopy.

Anje Falkenrath

Most of the info we have on Anje comes from SOI block. She was an older scion of the Falknerath family, of which was hit particularly hard with Emrakul’s arrival. The Falkenrath were well known for being some of the most feral vampires on the plane, and Emrakul’s incoming influence on the plane didn’t help much to quell that. Indeed, the vampires of the Falkenrath family became even more crazed and came to develop bat like qualities in their corruption. Those that became especially influenced left the family and stalked the passes of Geier Reach, naming their condition the “Boiling Blood��.

Anje herself was labeled with the condition as well, but instead of leading a solitary existence like those before her, gathered some of the other eldrazi influenced vampires into a hunting pack. She does this because her goal is to retake Castle Falkenrath with the support of her pack from those that inhabit it already.

Anje is quoted in one other card:

Aggravate (AVR) “Barbarians! They burned my favorite chair! We’ll kill them all!" 

Dierk, Geistmage

Oh Dierk. You had so much potential. In the original Innistrad block, you were a geistmage on the run; binding the souls of the departed to your will. Church wasn’t too happy with that.

And then you went and allied yourself with Liliana. In SOI block, Dierk makes an appearance in story with helping Liliana in exorcising the Chain Veil. This attempt fails, but it puts Dierk in the wrong place at the wrong time - after the failed attempt of electrocuting the Onakke out of the Chain Veil, Dierk leaves the lab only to find himself surrounded by eldrazified werewolves.

Liliana resurrects him along with countless other zombies on the way to Thraben to fight Emrakul, and he’s then lost in the crowd.

Dierk is quoted in three other cards:

Dissipate (INN) "This abomination never belonged in our world. I’m merely setting it free.”

Second Guess (AVR) “I see where you’re going with that. I don’t like it.”

Spectral Flight (INN) “The church looks down on binding spirits into armor, but now I can look down on them.”

Ghoulcaller Enslow

Gisa isn’t the only ghoulcaller on Innistrad. Enslow of Nephalia also holds the same title, and practices the same trade as Gisa of raising the dead for personal gain.

In contrast to Gisa, Enslow is a bit sneakier in his practice and uses the passages between grafs - or graveyards - to add to his collection of zombies. With Nephalia being infamous for corpse trade, I wouldn’t be surprised if Enslow was a part of that economic cycle. Selling bodies is easy when you have your product transport itself.

Enslow is quoted in two other cards:

Diregraf Ghoul (INN) “At least this one still has arms and legs. Well, most of its legs.”

Heartless Summoning (INN) “They won’t be winning any beauty pageants, but they’ll do the trick.”

Grete, Cathar Apostate

Okay, I’m cheating a little here, as Grete is technically on a card (pictured here), but it’s not as a legendary creature and I’m not passing up on the opportunity to talk about her.

Grete is Odric’s right hand woman and his second-in-command to the Gavony Riders. Or, was, at the case may be. But more on that later.

Grete was originally tasked with transporting Gisa Cecani to Thraben for trial after the conclusion of the original Innistrad block. However, Gisa’s brother, Geralf, intervened, freeing his sister from Grete’s arrest.

Later, in the Shadows Over Innistrad block, Grete helps Odric free Thalia from imprisonment after the latter was falsely held for treason against the Lunarch Council. With this betrayal against the council, Grete, Thalia, and Odric were forced on the run until they found rest in an abandoned church. It was here that Thalia introduced Grete and Odric to the Order of St. Traft, as well as Traft’s ghost himself.

Grete would come to join the Order and take part in the Battle of Thraben against Emrakul, letting herself be possessed by a ghost to shield herself from Emrakul’s whispering madness, whereas her superior and mentor Odric - his spirit broken from his betrayal against everything he had once held dear - remained behind. 

Grete is quoted in three cards:

Avacyn, the Purifier (SOI) “Wings that once bore hope are now stained with blood. She is our guardian no longer.”

Gavony Unhallowed (EMN) “We entered the church in search of solace, but it became clear we wouldn’t find it there.”

Repel the Abominable (EMN) “Fight for a better future, even if you may not live to see it.”

Hal and Alena

Halana and Alena go way back to the original Innistrad block, but it wasn’t until the Shadows Over Innistrad story “Under the Silvermoon” by  Kimberly J. Kreines that we learned that the two women are actually a sapphic couple and travel the Ulvenwald together, protecting it from all sorts of nasty beasties.

In canon, their love for each other is so great that Hal was able to resist Emrakul’s influence through sheer force of will alone, with her driving reason being that she didn’t want to be separated from Alena and leave her alone.

Last we saw of them, they were taking solace in each others company as Emrakul fully arrived on the plane, far away, off the coast of Nephalia.

I have every reason to believe that we will see them again, as since their introduction in the Shadows Over Innistrad story, they have become incredibly popular characters with a high demand for a card depicting them (and honestly, same. I need me a mono-green viable commander that I can build around, Wizards. Or Green-Red. Whichever).

Hal and Alena combined are quoted in a whopping 12 other cards:

For Halana: Tangleclaw Werewolf // Fibrous Entangler (EMN) “What has long, flesh-rending claws and enormous, bone-crushing teeth?” “… because to be honest, I couldn’t tell you.”

Grim Flowering (DKA) “Nothing in nature goes to waste, not even the rotting corpse of a good-for-nothing, blood-sucking vampire.”

Moldgraf Scavenger (SOI) “When I was a child, we worried about picking the wrong mushrooms for the cook pot. Now we must worry about being picked ourselves.”

Vorstclaw (AVR) “Where’d the werewolves go? Maybe that got hungry.”

For Alena: Briarpack Alpha (DKA) “The wolves turned on us and a chill swept over me. The pack had a new leader.”

Emrakul’s Evangel (EMN) “In times like these, be particularly wary of those who claim they can save your soul.”

Flowering Lumberknot (AVR) “It used to eat us trappers. Now it follows us around like some kind of hound dog.”

Hunger of the Howlpack (DKA) “Werewolves are an unholy mix of a predator’s instinct and a human’s hatred.”

Loam Dryad (SOI) “I’ve never known dryads to suffer visitors in their woods. Beware the Ulvenwald when she welcomes you.”

Shrill Howler (EMN) “A werewolf’s howl is terrifying, to be sure. But this … this was a chilling sound I somehow felt. I fear what will reply to it.”

Thornhide Wolves (SOI) “Halana grew brambles to create a barricade around our camp, hoping that it would keep the wolves out. That was a mistake for which we almost paid dearly.”

And that’s it for this week’s Faces in the Background. Next week we’ll continue on with more characters from Innistrad and what they have to say. Stay tuned!

[tumblunni]

Ok gonna expand upon it now cos i may as well try and stay awake.

Chandelure are like pigeons in the same sense that they used to be beloved by humans and kept as pets, bred for fancier and fancier 'plumage' (complex curly patterns and flame colours) to the point that they became quite dependant on human care to survive. And then also like pigeons, the trend fell out of fashion and all of these pets were abandoned en masse, where they became feral and over the years turned into the 'pests' we see nowadays.

I think this is why Litwicks lure humans away into the fog and make them get lost. The species as a whole struggles to live anywhere but urban environments, scavenging from trash like raccoons and roosting in abandoned factories en masse. They still have this innate trust of humans and desire to be loved by them, even after all this time. So they 'spirit away' people just because they desperately want a friend, and dont know any other way to do it. These kidnapped people just find themselves surrounded by wide-eyed baby ghosties bringing them old broken toys and asking to play. Grody old dirty hairbrushes, ancient pet collars from the 1800s...barely-understood remnants of their happy history as passed down by the Chandelure elders. They just want a friend! But you might end up trapped there for days and then when you escape you find that 100 years have passed in the outside world. That's the best case scenario, a lot of people end up being drained of their lifeforce and turned into ghosts too. Feral Chandelures are incredibly dangerous regardless of their sympathetic motives and the fact they arent able to understand that what they're doing is wrong. But spreading hatred and superstition about them being pure evil doesnt help save people from this doom, it just perpetuates the cycle that led to these pokemon becoming what they are today. Scientists who specialize in Chandelure conservation work a very dangerous job capturing and rehibilitating them, and its a thankless job where very few of these elderly ghosties will ever find a new adoptive family. Funding is tight too, because more people support chandelure extermination instead...

Oh and also i dont think that Chandelures are man-made pokemon, or that theyre mimicking lamps? I think that they were around forever and humans in Kalos just based their lamp archetecture on the species during the big pet fad. I think maybe before they became pigeon-ized, they were seen as guardian spirits of nature? Like they first became domesticated because humans created this mythology around will-o-the-wisps representing guiding lost souls and stuff, and they left offerings for litwick/lampent out of the belief that they were sort of a grim reaper? And then over time the pokemon became domesticated, and then completely dependant on humans, with the original "wolf" equivelant species dying out in the wild. I'm imagining that maybe Chandelure is an evolution that only developed from the pedigree breeding stuff, and this wild ancestor would have been like a bigger version of lampent as if it was the final evolution in the chain. Like maybe a lamp post evolution? Big glowy ghostie with a long claw hand tail, and it can stand up on it and look Big And Tall to scare off predators. Also it stands up like that when it sleeps and its babies hang off its arms upside down like bats. Anyway!! This old and more eldritch wild ghostie was domesticated into smol lamps, and people forgot the mythology of revering them and ended up just treating them as trendy pets. That led to fancy breeding and Chandelures in a million variants, and then when they were abandoned they regressed into this feral mutt form that we see today. And people forgot that they were the ones who put them here, and acted as if they'd always been trash pests. They finally have a mythology again, and its all superstition of them being evil jerks...

Oh and maybe shiny Chandelure is actually like a wolfdog? Like their flame is very "normal" and not "fancy" because they've had a genetic regression showibg signs of the original form they once had before human intervention. So shiny chandelures tend to have behavioural issues, being more easily angered, harder to train to use a litter tray, and needing longer daily walks to burn off all their extra energy. Oh and the purplish colour of regular chandelures is a "mutt" colour from all those different fancy breeds inbreeding in their feral state. The colour often has a mix of blue, green and purple splotches when you look at it up close. And you might see chandelures who have a very pure and vivid colour in something like light blue or green, similar to the old fancy breeds. But since they've been historically devalued, these colour variants arent considered 'shiny' and nobody really takes notice of them. They arent exactly rare after all, you can find hundreds of lampents pecking at your garbage and there's always at least five lighter coloured ones amoung the flock. (Seriously, feral pest pigeons still have such a cool variety of colours and nobody even spares a second glance for them?? Not even those cute white ones with the brown spots??)

Another ghost pokemon headcanon

Chandelures are like fancy pigeons.

[littlestarprincess]

Rambling about a Geist!AU for Team Rak under the cut, I guess. . . . (it’s selfship related so it’s not going in the main tag haha).

Geist as in Geist: the Sin-Eaters, which is a line in the Chronicles of Darkness tabletop roleplaying game. It’s about people coming back from the dead with an eldritch-almost-death-god burrowed into their soul. (It’s the splat for both ghost stories and zombie stories haha)

Bam -- ( Torn / Advocate) I imagine some people try to push him onto the path of the reaper, but the y-splats for Geist are a little confusing. Still, since he came back from the dead the second time, he feels responsible for helping other dead things find peace. He’s the one who notices the haunting at the library or the weird things happening around the park or what not, and insists on investigating.

Bam actually died and came back when he was a baby; he just didn’t realize he was a certain definition of undead until Rachel “killed” him, and instead of dying, he experienced the death of someone else and woke up. He would have assumed he’d just got lucky if Hwa Ryun hadn’t had the news on when he woke up on her couch several hours later. His geist has been silent, however -- all he really ever gets from them is a sense of static. In essence, he’s been bonded with his geist for so long, and from such an early age, that the difference between him and his geist is very blurred; he’s a kid who was isolated for most of his life, but he’s also the spirit of an ancient grudge between a long dead king and a cursed woman. He’d like to know more about his geist, though, and recently has started trying to learn, though picking up the pieces after so long is difficult.

(In this AU, he might very well not actually be Arlen’s son, so much as he’d be the son of Arlen’s reincarnation, or descended from Arlen by several generations. They’re small tweaks, but the timeline in the tower and the way time works for geist don’t line up very well otherwise.)

Rachel was probably his babysitter/tutor when he was younger; he’s the “young heir” to a business that’s really a front for a criminal power play, and Rachel was the only person who treated him as a person instead of as a force of nature. Technically, Hwa Ryun has also been a part of his life for a long time, but that just serves to make Rachel stand out further in his head -- Rachel treated him like a person, Hwa Ryun expected him to act like the heir to this corporation the entire time. However, Rachel eventually tried to escape the hold the company had on her (and possibly her family), which resulted in a struggle that ultimately “killed” Bam, and got Rachel even further in debt to the company. . . .

In this AU the reason Rachel doesn’t like Bam is very clear-cut and decided. Bam also gets over her a bit more quickly because he’s able to see that he’s done her wrong from an earlier moment -- Rachel is forcefully separated from him, and given more dangerous work to do, so Bam resolves not to get involved with people for a while and takes on the burden of guilt. Rachel resents him and taunts him whenever she gets the chance, but they don’t see each other much.

Kun -- ( Silent / Bonepicker ) The son of a very successful business mogul; his father specializes in blackmail and hair products. Recently, the company has also been branching out into things like skin care and make up, but A. A. grew being a bit of an experiment for different kinds of hair dye and shampoos and conditioners and hair spray and hair oils. . . . His hair in tower of god is fantastic. In this AU it’s even more meticulously cared for and managed.

Originally, Kun’s mother managed to make a deal that would have allowed her eldest daughter to inherit a decent portion of the new make-up industry, but Kun rebelled. He was adamant that his father had “another daughter” hidden away -- a girl about his age named Maria. She would appear in the house during the night, and Kun fought with his sister about whether he was making things up regularly, and he was furious that both his parents sided with his sister all the time. He ultimately set out to prove Maria’s existence, and ended up falling into a deserted well for several nights. It’s debatable whether this was according to Maria’s plan or not -- she was there when he died, and she brought him back, and after that point he stopped talking about her. Things between his mother and father went south after that, and his sister blames him for losing their inheritance, which was ultimately divided between Hachuling and another member of their family.

His relationship with Maria is such that he’s reluctant to join a Krewe (which is basically like a supernaturally founded religious cult? It’s complicated, but basically it involves at least three geists joining their souls together in a ceremony, and then convincing people that their way is the enlightened way; the more people join their cult, the more supernatural clout they have), fearing that there would be some judgement in that regard. Maria herself claims to be both his “past life lover” and “unborn twin sister” -- she says that they died in each other’s arms, and that she followed him into this life, but the circumstances of their birth prevented her from being born. Eduan has prevented A.A. from investigating this, and A.A. takes this as evidence on it’s own -- he’s since moved out of that household (even though Eduan hasn’t been sticking around much anyway) and in with Bam & Hwa Ryun (who were rooming together for a while before Kun showed up and turned their lives upside down. Or at least turned Bam’s life upside down. Hwa Ryun’s hasn’t really changed.)

Rak -- (? ? ?) I’m never really sure what to do with Rak in these AUs, other than making him a spirit (since spirits are pretty much a Thing in all game lines, except like. . . Vampire. And I could probably make Rak pretty well in Vampire, now that I think about it! He’d probably be a gangrel and and older vampire that’s taken on more animalistic features because of his age, but I’d have to flip through the book again. Nosferatu would also be a nice option, but gangrel fits better. . . . ) And making him a spirit isn’t bad per se, but if feels shallow to have the other two be from the main splat while Rak is not ;;. However, humanized versions of Rak never really feel solid to me. . . I might try it out again soon to see if I can come up with something I like, but it just doesn’t feel like Rak if he’s not a talking alligator. . . . however, with Geist, if I could find a way to make him a Kerebos of some sort, that would be pretty interesting, and he’d still be tied up specifically to this setting. Maybe a Kerebos who Bam and Kun ended up tricking before, and now he’s followed them to the living world out of sheer tenacity. . . 

I’m pretty sure Kerebos are supposed to be bound to the underworld, but I feel like making an exception for Rak could be fun. So he’s an escaped guardian of the underworld that Kun and Bam have to keep ordering clothes for so he can go out and enjoy the living world for the first time in forever. . . . he’d probably be a lot like Iskander in that regard, because I don’t know how long he’d have been dead for in order to be a Kerebos, but I imagine it would be a really long time. Hwa Ryun has the hardest time adjusting to him, though, because she’s trying to get other things done, and keeps getting pulled in to deal with a giant humanoid crocodile on the subway or whatever, and it’s pissing her off.