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hxhhasmysoul · 1 year ago

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I've played something like up to mid act 3 of Baldur's Gate 3 now, have opinions on origin characters and companions. SOME MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD. But I'm trying to be as vague as possible.

Maybe I will start with the good because there's less of it but it's what keeps me from crying.

Karlah - best girl, no notes. She's got a very fun personality, her back story is very good and her behaviour tracks really well with that back story. Same goes for the things she approves of an disapproves. She's also very attractive and that's a bonus. She's for a good playthrough mostly but I'm not into evil playthroughs so I don't really care. She's a very reliable party member but barbarian isn't the best class solo, I multiclass her for better efficiency.

Lae'zel - very solid character, she's kinda scary and better than though in the beginning but her skills and efficiency really explain some arrogance. The githyanki are a specific society and she's very into their way of life but as I spent more time with her and did her quests I liked her more and more. It's funny how she's proud of her brainwashing. Her behaviour and approval also makes sense. And damn she's got game. She's a little too skinny looking for me but I think it's because that's how githyanki are, she's still hot.

Wyll - he's interesting because he really wants to be a good person but isn't the best at getting there. His back story is really good and he's personality is interesting. I find myself rooting for him to find himself, to actually be the man he wants to be. His behaviour is consistent and what he approves of and doesn't also makes sense. Hottest among the guys, no contest. The problem is that warlocks aren't the strongest class, another candidate for muliclassing to make him stronger.

Halsin - daddy, Larian let us cuddle the bear and it offsets some of the shitty writing Larian is so so guilty of. Alas it shows that he was put in because of fan pressure, there's not that much story tied to him and that lands him slightly below Wyll. His personality is very pleasant and looks wise he's a fan favourite for a reason. Halsin is a druid that makes him very useful and very strong. I wish Larian'd actually planned to make him a companion from the start.

The sadly disappointing.

Astarion - the biggest disappointment since early access. I used to like him a lot, he's got very good dialogue early on. He also has an interesting back story that initially makes his attitude very understandable. But it feels like the writers had no idea what to do with him. The more I spend time with him the more he annoys me. It's really hard to predict what he will approve or disapprove of. A lot of time he just seems contrarian for no reason. He feels disconnected from the main story, it doesn't feel he grows closer to my character, unlike with Lae'zel for instance where I feel the change of gaining her approval. Looks wise he's average, I'm really not into the pale and white haired.

Could go either way.

Minthara - idk anything about her, I have never and am not planning to side with the Absolute. Her looks are average so no temptation there. Her religious fanatic thing also isn't tempting because I already have Shadowheart and she doesn't ask me to slaughter refugees and animals to grace me with her shitty company.

As to the characters returning from the previous games. I'm very against this move by Larian or the DnD overlords, whoever is culpable. One of those companions had such an extensive quest in BG 2 that honestly it's annoying they're here to have more personal quests. Also this character kinda annoys me when it comes to their personality and affiliation. The other character that's coming back is less aggravating to me personally though they are an acquired taste for some. I wouldn't mind them joining my camp and serving as advisors or even romance options, but them taking up companion slots is really a big minus of the game. Either way I have no intention of ever having them in my party, I'm not interested in them. I'm so mad we couldn't get Alfira, or Barcus, or Isobel, or that guy from the githyanki hatchery as a companion. Those and possibly others I'm forgetting, could have been good companions with interesting potential.

Now we're getting to the bad. And honestly it's not simply bad, it's instantly very bad.

Shadowpout - idk what to say, Her personality is grating, she's pouty, she thinks she's mysterious but she's just a poor liar. She's constantly in self denial that borders on stupidity. I don't respect her goal to become a fanatical enforcer. Her moody dialogues that I guess are meant to be ironic or sarcastic are just annoying, I've told her to shut up several times, like out loud, towards the screen. She's also proud of being brainwashed, like Lae'zel, but her arrogance really isn't backed up by any skill. Gods with her built in specs she's useless in a fight, mele, spells single use or concentration based, healing, you name it she can't do it well. Multiclassing or respecking her is a must above the lowest difficulty if you want to have her in the party - and a well speced cleric/druid in the party extremely useful. Honestly it's easier to run a party without a wizard/sorcerer/warlock than without a cleric/druid - that's why I still take her into the camp and revive her when she dies. Her looks are average but her personality is so off putting that she kinda grosses me out.

Gale - the fucking incel. He's a walking nice guy mansplainer stereotype. He's even worse than a normal mansplainer, he's a wizardsplainer. He will wizardsplain magic to a sorcerer character and the people who wrote it think that's flirting, at least that's how I understand that scene. What the actual fuck. That scene gave me the creeps, together with that scene where he explains his back story of: he had a thing with that one gal, it finished, she broke it off, stopped taking his calls, he couldn't take a no and decided that if he makes a grand romantic gesture she will take him back. Oh, and he still has a spell where he projects an illusion of her face to stare at her. But he's also monogamous, will not allow for the player character to branch out. I kid you fucking not. And he manages to be condescending with almost everything he says, fucking his his tone is at least as annoying as Shadowpout's. Gross, I judge anyone who pursues a romance with him. Because he's like this I actually stopped meeting him since mid early access, there's actually a way to never meet him in the game. And it pains me because his affliction feels like such a nice handicap to have in your gameplay. But he's a wizard so he's replaceable.

The Dark Urge - shitty edgy Larian writing at its fucking worse. The little introduction of the Dark Urge is all about resisting. But there's nothing to this character when you resist. There's only stuff for those who will play to embrace the urge and like what's the point of having a character like that in a Role Playing game which supposedly is about player choice!? It's completely pointless and it's doubly insulting to me as someone who grew up with BG1 and BG2 because that character references that story line the most directly. First of all that's stupid because the point of that story was to reach a conclusion but also that story was all about living with a horrifying legacy and making choices on how to handle it and you could play it as good, bad or neutral as you wanted and it didn't shut you out of most of the content related to your character.

#bg3 #i still think the game is an achievement and it's worth playing #and i will replay it for sure #probably a few times #but in the early access larian really reined in their worst writing instincts #and gods dos 2 has some of the worst edgy teen boy writing i've ever seen #it gets tedious to play because of that #but early access was act 1 #in act 2 larian let the dos 2 writers out of the basement where they should've rotted #and those guys went to town #i'm not gonna say more not to spoil but ugh #i was so eager to finish act 2 because it was so tedious #larian is great when it comes to world design and gameplay and stuff #but fuck their writing has the power to take the joy out of the game

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outeremissary · 1 year ago

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OC Tag Game

Tagged by @mountainashfae. I'm not sure who has or has not been tagged for this, so if it hasn't reached you and you're interested, @turbulentpumpkin43, @silversiren1101, and @bearvanhelsing.

Favorite OC: My dearest and most special boy Caina Lilindel. Definitely one of my peak "working some things out through this one" characters. Special mention to Balthazar as well. Working some things out through that one as well.

Newest OC: I haven't needed to create a character for anything recently... The character I remember fleshing out most recently was Theodora, although her initial concept was from 2021. Theo is a sweet hearted but spoiled young princess who has begun to take a deeper interest in the mystery of her mother's identity as she stands on the cusp of adolescence. Her two dreams are to learn who her mother was and go to a normal school. The truth is that she has no mother, although that's only the first of many things her father has kept secret about his past that come up in her search for answers. Ultimately there's probably not much that will ever come of Theodora's story; you could say she's the non-canonical child of another character.

Oldest OC: That I remember the name of? My first D&D 3.5 character, an elf rogue I made when I was eight years old for a family game. When originally created her name was Nijeera the Swift and she was supposed to be in an AD&D 1e game. It was converted to 3.5 before starting because my dad thought it was a more accessible system for kids and I changed Nijeera's name to N'jira (that pointless fantasy apostrophe...) and eventually gave her the surname Amastacia (one of the default elf surnames). N'jira was a rambunctious young woman who ran away from home for a life of adventure with her half-sister after years of increasing bitterness towards her father after he remarried and moved the family into a new city. She was sassy, reckless, and glory-seeking- a kid's idea of what a fun, cool rogue was like. My sibling played the half-sister, a ranger named Crysta.

I used her as an NPC in a lot of things when I started DMing in high school and college, updating the name to Nadia Amastacia and changing her class to warlock. Nadia is really a more or less entirely different character though. As a warlock, Nadia was born to an elvish aristocratic family that had strong hereditary pride in their magical abilities, with sorcery and more conventional studied magecraft thick in the family tree. Nadia, however, was an absolutely hopeless study with no natural talent. No matter how much she wanted to meet her parents' expectations, she failed again and again until a malicious fey took advantage of her desperation to offer her power at a price: that one day when she reached the height of her beauty, he would come to take her away. The power didn't make her as happy as she had hoped: everything felt off and unearned, and she was driven to conceal the source of her new abilities. And as she aged she began to realize the terrible implications of her pact, leaving home to find a way to break it- ideally killing her patron along the way.

The last time Nadia was played in something it was actually a Madoka Magica homebrew my friend was working on in 2019, where she was the group's mean girl genius whose talents all came from her wish.

Meanest OC: It feels like kind of a cheat to say Balthazar but at the same time as far as developed characters from things I actually work on go... Yeah. Certainly the most actively spiteful and cruel. I have a fondness for characters with a mean streak though, so I think many of my characters wind up mildly unpleasant to be around.

Softest OC: I'd give the award to Melanthius, my pacifist life cleric from 5e. Despite being in their early 30s, Mel is incredibly sheltered, having lived all their life in the temple their parents had dedicated them to. They had always been told that they were especially blessed and favored by their goddess, and they had a strong belief that they owed it to the world to care for others and act as a conduit bringing that blessing to the less fortunate who sought aid at the temple. Despite being kidnapped by conquering general attempting to lay claim to their power and later being held captive by a cult, Mel isn't the kind of person who can hold grudges. They hold no ill will towards anyone and are gentle to the point of fault (despite their inflated ego as the "chosen one"). They struggle to recognize when they are being mistreated- they are quick to blame themself for anything and afraid to confront the abusive nature of their upbringing. Because they struggle to believe anyone is intentionally cruel, they have a way of trying to talk it out with everyone- and had an astounding penchant for diplomancy despite their 9 Cha that broke half the encounters in the adventure and drove the DM insane. Truly, friendship is magic.

Most aloof/standoffish OC: Hmmm. I guess to me these words mean different things, but taking them together it must be Carmen Regis, the fighter I played in Ghosts of Saltmarsh who was later adapted to a cavalier KC for Wrath. Carmen was originally conceived as a 3.5 ranger for a campaign about fey and mysterious wishes that never got off the ground- she was a mounted archer there, a kind of intermediary stage from the two older OCs she was adapted from. But none of that is relevant. The aloofness is pretty clear in her cold, unpersonable demeanor. She's naturally quiet, blunt, and not very expressive unless deeply agitated (and usually angry). She doesn't mean to come off as an ice queen, but she really does... It doesn't bother her much not forming many social connections though. More than any other character of mine, she's married to her job.

Dumbest (affectionate) OC: Absolutely Altin Wastelander, my orc dhampir gunslinger for Outlaws of Alkenstar. She's not even /actually/ dumb. She has 14 Int, I'm pretty sure. And yet despite that, she's an idiot. All she cares to use brainpower on are guns and mechanical contraptions of interest. There's no space in her brain for anything else. She shoots first and remembers she was supposed to ask questions about an hour later. Her idea of stealthily relocating a person involved a sandwich cart and bombing a public square (girl that's terrorism...). She once fired a box of fireworks on a dense crowd trying to inconvenience one guy. She has been repeatedly bringing up the fact that the party has been asked by their employer not to kill civilians just because she's worried that if she doesn't she'll forget. She's convinced a woman she's never seen for more than thirty seconds is her personal rival. She's mad there's a bounty on her head because she was arrested for the wrong crime, where the wrong crime was a high profile heist and the correct crime was holding up a fantasy 7-11. Clown ass CN dhampir. She means so well she just hasn't even stopped to think about the Ethical Issues with her actions.

Smartest OC: Cailo Suncatcher for sure. Despite behaving like a fool and a terrifying penchant for recklessly endangering herself (she is the wizard who refuses to stay out of melee), Cailo is a genius. They taught themself all of the magic they know, and have constantly found ways to innovate with that knowledge. Never content with the knowledge that's already available in the world, she constantly pushes for new understanding of the workings of the arcane and the metaphysical nature of the world. Cailo's foolishness is half facade and half others misunderstanding them: they're happy to present themself in a way she thinks others will underestimate, and believe that there is no situation they can't find a way out of. The confidence isn't unearned. Cailo also wins the title "Most Likely to Ascend to Godhood."

Horniest OC: Character I never did much with named Johannes who was a very, very repressed generic fantasy priest. Not going much deeper into this one since this isn't an nsfw account; Johannes was made to prove a point to someone about my capacity to think up erotica characters.

In terms of characters I have spent more than three days on, I'd give the award to Balthazar simply for being sexually motivated enough that I have to occasionally imagine what it's like to have libido. Truly an alien mind.

OC you’d be best friends with irl: Cailo or my dear obnoxious drow witch boy Olin Foundling. There is some kind of shared neurodivergence between us I think. I want to hang out and talk about interests for hours. I want to hear Olin's blood magic infodump.

#“gee I wonder why these always take so long to do” <- guy who won't stop talking and typed the whole thing on their phone #on god if Mel resembles Any Character it is unintentional the last time I did anything with them was a 2019 oneshot #friend has had sudden renewed interest in them lately though (maybe because they're nonbinary??) so they've been on my mind #tag game #originally I was going to include pictures because I have some of Nadia that I like but I dont have the energy now oops #Nadia really got to be my special little princess on this for no real reason. I miss my horrid little girl #actually. she's my special little princess for pre-dating every bad embarrassing SFF protagonist I created in middle school #she rescued me from having to speak about characters with names like Anranria Darkstaar

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eeldritchblast · 4 years ago

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Would you have any advice for character building (do race or class give different dialogue?), to get the most out of the game? Or does the PC have a specific origin or event that starts the adventure, something you should know to build into their perspective from the start? (I just never forget starting pillars of eternity, a game that very soon turned out to be about reincarnation, with a character who doesn’t believe in the soul.)

Well I’m still fairly new to the game myself, but I can say that so far having played as a githyanki fighter and as a drow warlock, there are a lot of dialogue options specific to your character’s background; race and class. It really is great for roleplaying that way.

Between the two I’ve done thus far in early access, githyanki is really fun because your character of course knows a lot about the mind flayers and whatnot--a core component of the story. Being a drow is really fun because the goblins just let you do whatever the fuck you want. I literally walked right into both their stronghold and camp where my githyanki had to intimidate/fight her way in.

(Though it’s not all sunshine; both races also have some strong negative or suspicious reactions from most NPCs. Most people are confused about what a githyanki is, and intimidated by a drow. Oh, also, one of your companions hates you as a githyanki and it’s extremely difficult to get on her good side.)

All characters go through the same prologue, but you can, however, pick a background for your character that also affects your skills and a bit of dialogue. For example, you can choose that your character was a hermit in the woods, or grew up on the streets, or was a performer, or in a military, etc. (I personally made my own backstories for my characters, because I’m obsessively detailed when creating characters lol.)

#anonymous #ask

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fangirl--of-everything · 6 years ago

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The Mortal (Nicholas Scratch x Reader) part 1

word count: ~4500

request: Nope, just wrote it for fun. Requests are still closed.

summary: The Weird Sisters are interested in playing games with some mortals, and they coerce Nick into joining them. But the girl they have chosen for him is more charming than he expected.

warning: I think one swear word, but that’s it for this part.

A.N. The lack of Nicholas Scratch content makes me sad, so I decided to create some of my own. This is going to be a bit of a series, I have parts 2 and 3 done already, I’ll get those up soon. I hope you guys like it.

part 1, part 2, part 3

Alright, enjoy :)

The bell above the door of the bookstore jingled, and in walked four strangers dressed in all black. It was early in the morning, and the shop was almost empty except for a small number of patrons near the back. Most of them looked up to acknowledge the newcomers, except for one tucked away in the back corner of the shop.

“Why are we here Nick?” Dorcas whined, leaning against Agatha. “It’s too early.”

“No one forced you to come Dorcas.” Nick rolled his eyes. “There’s a book here that I need for a spell I’m working on. I just have to find it, and then we can head home, and you can go back to sleep.”

She pouted and pursed her lips. “I didn’t say I wanted to go to sleep. I just meant, if we’re going to be spending our weekend interacting with the morals, we should be having fun, not coming to some silly bookstore.”

“Like I said, you didn’t need to come.”

Nick tuned out the whining of the Weird Sisters and turned his attention towards the shelves, searching for the book he needed. The bookshelves were not well organized, but finally he found the spot where the book should have been. Empty.

He bit back a groan. He needed the book to finish a divining spell for an assignment due on Monday, and if he couldn’t get his hands on it, it was going to make the rest of the day far less enjoyable.

Prudence was watching him with that look he didn’t like, the one that said she was reading the room around her and scheming about how to cause some chaos within it. She saw him looking and raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “Something wrong Nicky?”

He shook his head.

“Having trouble finding the book you’re looking for?” She asked sweetly.

“Yeah, it’s not here.”

“Would you like us to help you look for it?”

He sighed and raised an eyebrow. “What do you want in exchange?”

“Well, my sisters and I were talking, and we decided since we’re here, and since it’s been so long since we’ve had any fun, we’re going to find some mortals to play with tonight. You should join us.”

“Prudence, you know I don’t do stuff like that.”

“True,” she pursed her lips innocently, tapping one dark fingernail against her chin, “but can you really afford to fail this divining assignment?”

He couldn’t. He was the top student in his grade at the academy, and he needed to maintain that grade if he wanted to keep on track and one day become a high priest, or at least a high warlock. To do that he needed the book.

“Fine. If you get it for me I’ll join you guys tonight.”

She smiled sinisterly, ran her tongue over her bottom lip, and pointed across the room. “The book is over there.”

Nick followed her finger to the back corner of the room, where a teenage girl was curled up in an armchair. She was in a knitted sweater and a long floral skirt, which she had tucked her feet up into. On the armrest was an open notebook, which she was writing in, and in her lap was an open book. The book he needed.

He sighed. “How long have you known it was there?”

Prudence shrugged innocently. “I’m sure the mortal girl won’t mind letting you borrow it. And you can invite her to join us tonight too. It will be fun.”

-----/--/-----

(Y/n) was sitting in her favourite seat in the back of the bookstore, an old book on the theory of the night sky open in front of her. She needed it to help clarify a plot point in a creative writing project she was outlining. The problem was that since the book was so old, it was extremely difficult to decipher, making it a struggle to get the information she needed.

She was so intent on trying to decipher one particular footnote that she didn’t notice someone in front of her until that person cleared their throat. She jumped, so startled that her pencil fell out of her hand, and looked up to see a dark haired boy standing in front of her, eyebrows raised at her severe reaction.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He picked up the pencil and handed it back to her.

“Don’t be. Thanks.” She took the pencil back. “Were you trying to get my attention for some reason?”

“Actually yes. I was wondering if I could borrow that book once you’re done with it.” He pointed to the book she had been working so hard at interpreting.

She nodded, even though she had been hoping to have access to it all day. The boy gave her a charming smile and then took a seat not far away, grabbing a book from one of the shelves and settling in to read.

(Y/n)’s relaxing Saturday of research and outlining had been ruined. She was all anxious now about not keeping the book too long since that other guy wanted it, and since she was stressed it made it harder to focus on the text and what she was trying to get from it. Within thirty minutes she was getting a headache and she was annoyed. When the boy closed his book and got up she was prepared to tell him that she had changed her mind and he couldn’t borrow the book anymore, but he walked past her and went up to the coffee bar.

He came back holding two mugs, and he put one of them down on the small table in front of her.

“Pumpkin spice tea,” he said in response to her raised eyebrows. He pointed to the other mug on the desk, which was empty. “I asked the barista what you were drinking. I figured since I’m stealing that book from you it was the least I could do to treat you to a drink.”

(Y/n)’s irritation faded, and she was left feeling stunned. She stammered a thank you, and moved to close the book and give it to him even though she wasn’t close to being done with it.

He shook his head. “No, no. Don’t rush. Take your time.”

“To be honest, I’m struggling to get through this.” She admitted. “It’ll probably be a long time before I finish with it. So if you need it you should probably just take it now.”

He crossed his arms and looked thoughtful for a second, and then he shrugged. “Why don’t I help? I’m pretty good with old books, and I’m not doing anything else. Might save us both some time.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows rose. “You want to help me do research?”

He nodded. “Is there any room for me on that couch?”

They spent the next two hours sitting side by side with the book balanced between them. It’s a little cramped on the couch, but Nick was friendly and charming and somehow it wasn’t too awkward. They ended up spending half the time just chatting idly, and she explained to him a little bit about what she was writing. She had found an old book about this crazy satanic cult in Greendale when the town was founded, and after reading it she came up with the idea for a novel that explored a society of dark witches.

When she mentioned that her research was for a spell in the book that she was trying to understand, Nick looked really impressed, but when she asked why he brushed it off.

He was right when he said he was good with old books, and he was able to decipher the book a lot more easily than she could have. He was able to figure out everything that had stumped her for the last couple of hours, and soon she was able to give him the book that he had been waiting so patiently for.

“Thank you for your help,” she said as she handed him the book. “And I’m sorry for it taking so long.”

“Not to worry.” He gave her a charming smile. “I’m sorry I have to steal the book from you. Maybe I could make it up to you?”

She raised her eyebrows.

“Some friends of mine are having a party tonight. You could come with me.”

Nick was charming. Extremely charming. And (y/n) couldn’t deny that he was attractive. But this was not the first time kids from the preppy boarding school came into Greendale, and (y/n) knew that anyone who was stupid enough to hang out with them ended up regretting it. The stories she had heard about kids who had gone out to party with them, only to wake up days later with bruises and no memory of what had happened, were more than enough of a warning.

She only felt a little bad when she turned him down. “I’m sorry, but I have plans for tonight.”

“Oh yeah? What are you up to?”

She explained that she and some friends were driving down to Sweetwater river for a party of their own, to have one last bonfire before they had to start studying for exams.

He didn’t seem to take the rejection too hard, giving her an understanding smile. “Any way you could swing by afterwards?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Well, that’s a shame. I was looking forward to spending some more time with you. You seem cool.”

“Thanks.” She tried not to blush.

He gathered their mugs and brought them back up to the counter, and gave her a final friendly smile and a wave as he moved towards the door.

Hr stomach clenched, and she was already starting to regret the rejection. She sighed. “Wait.”

He turned to look at her, eyebrows raising. “Yeah?”

“I know you’ve got your party tonight, but if you wanted you could stop by the river for a bit. If you wanted.”

She could feel a flush rising in her face as she spoke, and she had to resist the urge to fidget nervously with the hem of her sweater.

Nick flashed her a grin and a wink. “Maybe I will.”

-----/--/-----

It was ten at night, and (y/n) and her friends had all gotten to Sweetwater river. Two of the boys had brought a bunch of wood, and (y/n) was getting the fire started, since none of the others knew how to do it. They were already drinking, and everyone was relaxing in the sand of the lakeshore, chatting before the night got too crazy.

“Hey,” her friend Dylan came and squatted next to her. “Want a beer?”

“Nope, I want a Sommersby, like I always drink when we go out. You know this dude.”

“True. How’s the fire going?”

“Good.” (Y/n) had the structure all set up, and she was now lighting the pieces of newspaper that she had tucked into the center, waiting for it to catch. “Hold my hand and pray with me.”

Dylan snorted, but he reached out and took her hand, and they both bowed their hands dramatically, waiting to see if the fire would catch. There was a faint whoosh, and then the logs caught, and darker smoke started rising.

“Yes!” They both shouted triumphantly, and the rest of the group cheered as the fire started to crackle and burn. It immediately got warmer.

(Y/n) and Dylan settled down in the sand, his arm draped around her shoulders. “So, when is the handsome boarding school boy gonna show up?”

“Nick?” (Y/n) felt her face flush, and she swatted at Dylan’s arm. “I shouldn’t have told you about that. He’s probably not going to come. We just hung out for a couple of hours at Cerberus’s, it was nothing.”

“But he invited you to a party, didn’t he? He probably thinks you’re hot.”

She rolled her eyes. “One of those crazy parties the preppies throw. Remember what happened to Dayton and Carl after they partied with some of the prep kids? Carl still has a tremor that he didn’t have before.”

Dylan rolled his eyes. “Okay yeah, they’re probably all freaks over there at that school, but still. You don’t need to date the guy, you can just hook up and have some fun before classes go to hell.”

“True, but--”

He elbowed her hard enough in the ribs to knock her sideways, forcing her to catch her weight on one of her arms. When she pushed herself back up, asking him what the fuck he was doing, he pointed to the road, where someone was walking towards them.

“Is that him?”

For a second she couldn’t tell, but then the firelight hit him, and she realized that it was. Dylan smacked her arm excitedly and practically dragged her to her feet, shoving her towards him. She swatted at his arm again, her face hot and red as she turned to Nick.

“Hey.” He smiled charmingly at the two of them.

“Hey.” (Y/n) tried to smile past the butterflies that had suddenly sprung up as soon as he flashed that dimple at her. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to show up.”

“I couldn’t stand up a pretty girl interested Sacasas’s theories on astrology and the night sky.” He winked. His attention turned to the bonfire, and the small crowd that was gathered around it. “This looks fun. What are you guys up to?”

“Getting drunk on the beach,” Dylan cut in, stepping forward and holding out a hand. “I’m Dylan by the way, nice to meet you.”

“Nicholas Scratch.” Nick smiled politely. He turned to look at (y/n), eyebrows raising. “Wanna introduce me to everyone else?”

(Y/n) nodded, and she led the way over to the campfire. She introduced all her friends and explained how they all knew each other, and then she asked Nick if he wanted a beer or anything. He said he had a family thing the next day so he wasn’t going to drink, and he had to get himself to that other party later so he had to be sober to drive. (Y/n) told him she wouldn’t drink either, in a show of solidarity.

“You don’t need to do that.” He laughed and shook his head. “I don’t want to stop you from having a good night.”

“You won’t.” She promised. “Bonfires are always fun, with or without alcohol.”

They ended up settling on the sand, chatting about nothing in particular. One of her friends started playing music through the speakers of their car, and some of them started dancing on the lakeshore. Nick raised his eyebrows at her, but she shook her head.

“I don’t dance.”

“You sure? You look like a dancer.”

She shook her head and tried to hide a smile, bumping his shoulder with hers. “You’re a bit of a flirt, aren’t you?”

“You’re just noticing now?” He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “I hate to tell you this, but I’ve been flirting with you all day.”

He shifted so he was facing her, and his gaze dropped down to her lips. Her stomach twisted.

“Want some food?” She asked, turning away and pushing to her feet. “I’m starving.”

“Uh, sure.”

“What do you want? A s’more? Spiderdog?”

Nick blinked at her in confusion.

“What?”

“I have no idea what either of those things are.”

“What?” Her mouth dropped open. “How do you not-- what?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I never went camping as a kid or anything, and I come from a pretty private community. What the hell is a s’more?”

(Y/n) shook her head and tried not to smile. She offered Nick her hand. “Alright, get up. I’m going to teach you how to make the perfect s’more.”

She grabbed two sticks which some of the guys had already sharpened and cleaned, and came back with the bag of marshmallows, and two hotdogs. Nick’s eyebrows widened, and she laughed and explained that the marshmallows were for him, and the hotdogs were for spiderdogs. She handed him a stick with a marshmallow on it and told him to hold it over the fire, and then she cut each end of the hotdogs into four pieces, and put both dogs onto her stick. When she turned around to hold them over the fire too, she saw that Nick’s marshmallow was on fire and melting off of the stick.

“Oh my god!” she tried not to laugh as she pulled the stick back, blowing on the marshmallow until the fire went out.

“Why are you laughing at me?” Nick asked, but he was laughing too. “Was I not supposed to burn it?”

She shook her head, still giggling. “No, not really.”

She pulled off the burnt shell of the marshmallow and popped it into her mouth. He raised his eyebrows, but she shook her head. She was going to offer him the warm middle of the marshmallow, but she decided that he was going to have to wait. She was going to make him the perfect s’more.

Nick got tasked with cooking the hotdogs, holding them over a spot where the fire had burned down to bright red coals, under strict instructions not to let them burn or catch fire. (Y/n) got to work toasting the marshmallow, spinning it slowly as it puffed up and turned a light golden brown. She explained to him what she was doing the entire time, as if she were cooking an extremely complex recipe, and he complied by asking a series of ridiculous questions. There was a near miss where they almost lost a spider leg, but Nick acted quickly and blew it out before it got too burnt.

Once the food was done (y/n) made the s’more, making Nick close his eyes so that he didn’t see the ingredients. Once she was done she held it up to his mouth and told him to take a bite.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Just try it. Trust me.”

He nodded, and took a bite of the s’more, ending up with melted marshmallow all over his bottom lip and the graham cracker falling apart.

“What the hell is that?” he asked, laughing and struggling to hold onto the collapsing s’more.

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s really good!” He shoved the rest of it into his mouth, and licked the melted marshmallow from his fingers. He still had some at the corner of his mouth, and (y/n) wasn’t able to hold back a giggle as she pointed it out.

“Where?” his tongue flicked out along his bottom lip. “Did I get it?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s just,” she gently tapped the corner of his mouth, and his tongue swiped out again.

“How about now?”

“Nope, still there.”

“Really?” his eyebrows rose, and he leaned closer to her. “Can you get it for me?”

“Uh, yeah.” She tried not to blush, and she reached up to wipe the marshmallow away. Once she got it she pulled away, but when she looked up from his mouth she realized how close their faces were. His eyes were really dark, but this close she could see that they were actually a really deep brown, not black.

“I, uh, I think I got it.” She said softly.

His voice was rough. “You sure?” His eyes flicked down to her lips, and then back up again.

She swallowed hard. “Uh, no, actually I think there’s still some…” She closed the distance between them and caught his mouth with hers.

He slid a hand into her hair, and he parted his lips, deepening the kiss from a light peck into something more. Her stomach flipped, and she shivered as his fingers tightened on her hair. (Y/n)’s tongue flicked out across his bottom lip, and he really did taste like marshmallows and chocolate. His other hand caught her hip and tugged her closer. She gasped against his mouth. The movement caused her to knock over the other stick with the spiderdogs, and it toppled into the fire, the food catching and burning. Neither of them noticed.

When they finally broke apart they were both smiling, and Nick laughed softly. “I was hoping you would do that.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” He slid his nose against hers.

“In that case, why didn’t you make a move?” She bit her lip and wiggled her eyebrows.

He raised his eyebrows in mock hurt. “Oh really? Is that how it’s gonna be?”

She shrugged. “Hey dude, it’s not my fault you didn’t make the first move, I was just--”

He growled playfully and pulled her into another kiss.

-----/--/-----

‘Nicholas Scratch, what is taking you so long?’

It was past midnight, the bonfire was burned down to embers, and everyone was snuggled up in a huddle against the cold. Relaxing music was playing through the speakers of one of the cars, and everyone was just talking.

Nick was sitting in the grass, Dylan pressed against his back, and (y/n) leaning into him with her head resting on his shoulder. Her blinks were slow and drowsy, and one hand drew lazy designs on his knee.

He hadn’t planned on staying this long. He had promised the Weird Sisters that he would meet them before the witching hour, and even though he didn’t like playing games with mortals, he had made a deal with them, and so he was going to keep his word. Prudence had chosen (y/n) to be his victim, and so he set his sights on her.

He had found her cute while they talked at the bookstore, and he had been genuinely interested when she explained that she was doing research for a book that seemed to be about the Church of Night, but when she turned down his invite to the party the only reason he pushed was because he knew he was expected to bring her to the sisters’ games. He had only come to the river because he knew that he could lure her away and teleport to the woods where the sisters were waiting.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t attractive, but it wasn’t until she was teasing him about not knowing what s’mores were that he realized he actually found her quite charming. And when he kissed her his stomach twisted in a way he wasn’t used to. He figured it was because she was a mortal, and he knew it was wrong.

He kept telling himself he was going to teleport them to the woods, but somehow the night wore on, and he and (y/n) continued to talk, and it just never happened. Now she was lying against him, tilting her head up to press a soft kiss to his jaw, and all he really wanted to do was stay here.

‘Nicky, where are you?’

The Weird Sisters were telepathic, but at a distance they could only project themselves into his mind, not read his thoughts.

‘I don’t think I’ll be able to make it, sorry girls.’

‘What?’ When the girls communicated telepathically they spoke in unison, but he could hear Dorcas’s voice above the others. ‘Why?’

He reached down to catch the fingers that were tracing a pattern on his leg, and tangled his fingers with hers, pressing a kiss to (y/n)’s wrist. ‘I struck out with the mortal girl and couldn’t get my hands on the book, so I have to work overtime on this diviner spell.’

‘But Nicky,’ that was Dorcas again, her voice a low whine. ‘You promised.’

‘Sorry girls. Maybe next time.’

The whining continued, but he muttered a quick spell and bit down on the inside of his cheek so blood filled his mouth, and their voices faded. He whispered another spell to protect himself from being summoned, and then he settled back, enjoying the smell of smoke and the sound of the water behind them.

“What was that?” (Y/n) mumbled softly, shifting against his shoulder.

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.” He reached a hand up into her thick hair and dragged his nails along her scalp. She sighed happily.

“Are you gonna head out soon? For your other party?”

He shook his head.

“Really?” She sat up to look at him.

“Yeah.” He nodded with a smile, and tugged her head towards him so he could press a soft kiss to her lips. “I’m enjoying being here with you.”

She smiled sleepily and rested her head back on his shoulder.

Nick didn’t have any plans beyond tonight, and in fact he was pretty sure after this he would never see this mortal girl again. He tucked her tighter against him. If this was to be his only night with this fascinating mortal, then he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

They ended up at the lake for a few more hours before they all piled into cars and drove home. (Y/n) was one of the designated drivers since she was sober, and Nick gave her a blessing to make sure that she was able to make it back to Greendale without falling asleep at the wheel.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” She asked. “I can drop you off at your school, it’s no problem.”

“No don’t worry about it, I have a friend who’s on their way to pick me up.”

She looked like she wanted to insist, but he said his friend was already on the road. Dylan leaned heavily on the wheel, the horn violently loud in the quiet night, and shouted for her to stop flirting and hurry up.

Her face flushed, and she bit her lip with a nervous smile. “I had fun tonight.”

“Me too,” Nick said honestly. It had been a fun, normal night, hanging out with drunk normal teenagers who talked about their small mortal problems and had parties that didn’t involve summoning demons or dangerous magic. He almost wished he could do things like this more often.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but then she thought better of it, and took a step closer. She pushed up onto her tiptoes, her hands on his shoulders, and kissed him, soft and gentle. His body moved on its own, his arms wrapping around her waist, and he tugged her closer. He sighed against her mouth.

The kiss was short and sweet, and when she pulled away they were both breathless. She kissed him again, quick, and then stepped out of his arms.

“I’ll see you around Nick.” She smiled.

Nick waited until the cars were out of sight before he teleported back to the academy, his lips still tingling from that last short kiss.

#nicholas scratch #nicholas scratch imagine #nicholas scratch fanfiction #nicholas scratch x reader #the chilling adventures of sabrina #caos #caos fanfiction #caos imagine #nick scratch #nick scratch imagine #nick scratch x reader #nick scratch fanfiction #mine #writing #fanfiction #the mortal

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ariadneclaire · 5 years ago

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Multi-Class Options for Jester at 12th Level

I’m not saying Traveller Con is going to go poorly and she’s not going to be a cleric anymore or whatever. I’m just here for the chaos.

Barbarian

Requirement: Strength 13 Jester: Strength 16 This one doesn’t make a ton of sense, but it’s doable. Jester raging would maybe be more along the lines of “I would like to rage. :D” than Matt would be entirely prepared for.

Rating: 6/10 for comedy and Matt Face Palms.

Bard

Requirement: Charisma 13 Jester: Charisma 12

Even though I think Jester would love to be a Bard, she is sadly under qualified. “The Ruby of the Sea is the Best Lay Ever” will likely be her only hit single. Rating: 2/10 since it doesn’t suit the story or the character. (At the moment, of course. Things can change.)

Druid

Requirement: Wisdom 13 Jester: Wisdom 20 Mechanically this is great. Jester’s spell slots wouldn’t be impeded since Druid’s are full casters and both classes use her best stat (WIS) as their spell casting modifier. Wild Shape is fun, and maybe Jester could cast Speak with Animals and get a better handle on taking care of Sprinkle. Story wise most of the Druidic Circles are a bit of a reach, but Circle of Dreams is a bit of a fun one: “Druids who are members of the Circle of Dreams hail from regions that have strong ties to the Feywild and its dreamlike realms. The druids’ guardianship of the natural world makes for a natural alliance between them and good-aligned fey.”

It’s perhaps a bit healing heavy for Jester, who everyone roasts for being a Battle Mercy (even though Cure Wounds is her second most used spell after Sending), but it’s the mood. If Artagan decides he Doesn’t Want to Be a God Anymore after Traveller Con, this would suit them well and would be a lot of fun. My biggest concern would be the ridiculous restraint that Druid’s aren’t allowed to have metal armour or shields, but I could see Matt handwaving that since Artagan has been supporting her with a metal shield this whole time.

Rating: 9.9/10 This would be a full 10 if it wasn’t for that armour restraint.

Fighter

Requirement: Strength 13 or Dexterity 13 Jester: Strength 16 and Dexterity 18

My girl is so swole. Bless her. Regardless of her over qualification, I can��t see this making sense. If she were to switch right now she’d lose spell slots and wouldn’t even be able to pick a martial archetype until level 15. It’s a good dip early on for HP and armour proficiencies, but it’s not great late in the game. The only real benefit would be more weapons, but she hardly uses the ones she has.

Rating: 1/10 Boring and Impractical

Monk

Requirement: Dexterity 13 and Wisdom 13 Jester: Dexterity 18 and Wisdom 20

On the one hand Beau teaching Jester cool monk shit is fun. On the other hand, the idea of the Traveller asking Jester to start a monastic tradition in his name is hard to imagine. This one would probably hinge on a shift of faith or a major narrative change in Jester’s personal story. Practically it’s a little bit wonky, running into a lot of the same problems as the fighter. Although, Jester would get to punch things very hard right away, which I think Laura would enjoy.

Rating: 4/10 it’s impractical, but I’m giving it bonus points for the potential training scenes.

Paladin

Requirement: Strength 13 and Charisma 13 Jester: Strength 16 and Charisma 12

Unless she finds a way to raise her CHA (like Fjord in Refjorged) this one is a no. Tragic, because the concept of Trickster Paladin is the funniest thing on Earth and I think Laura would kill me by making me laugh too much. 3/10 for getting my hopes up, but not being possible.

Ranger

Requirement: Dexterity 13 and Wisdom 13 Jester: Dexterity 18 and Wisdom 20

Jester’s stats are actually very well suited to this one. However storywise this is wonky; the Ranger class is arguably the weakest; Jester is a spell heavy character who would be losing access to high level spells; I don’t think Laura would want to play a two games in a row. (Counterpoint: Sprinkle as a Beast Companion.)

Rating: 2/10 It was going to be a 1, but do it for Sprinkle.

Rogue

Requirement: Dexterity 13 Jester: Dexterity 18

If there was any non-spellcasting class I could see Jester taking it would be this one. I know Vex was also a Rogue, and I just said I didn’t think Laura would repeat classes, but a Cleric/Rogue is very Different. It would impeded her spell slots of course, but Rogue does come with all sorts of fun benefits. Tragically sneak attack would only apply to weapons, but Expertise is fun, and the combination of Expertise and Guidance would make Laura Bailey #unstoppable. However, once again we are running into Spell Heavy character builds being interrupted. I could see this one, but only in the even that the Traveler gives up Godhood.

Rating: 6/10 Eh mechanically, but I like it thematically.

Sorcerer

Requirement: Charisma 13 Jester: Charisma 12

Same problem as Paladin and Bard. This one would be super wonky even if the stats could make it work, but maybe a way to explain Jester’s ability to just make a God would be her blood line. However, I’m a big fan of the way ascension works in Matt’s world, so I don’t know if I love this.

Rating: 3/10

Warlock

Requirement: Charisma 13 Jester: Charisma 12

You know the deal with that Bard/Paladin/Sorcerer thing by now. Okay, okay, okay, but it would be so good. If Jester and Artagan just made a pact? I’m living for it. LIVING FOR IT. He’s like “all these other gods? Nah. You’re the only one who can handle me” and they make a pact. She could take The Archfey and easily stay on brand. Spell slots are wonky, but the idea of Jester casting Eldritch Blast is fjucking hilarious.

Rating: 8/10

Wizard

Requirement: Intelligence 13 Jester: Intelligence 12

This one doesn’t really make sense and she doesn’t meet the stat requirements, Maybe if she gives up the Traveller, but wants to keep casting spells. She could always ask Caleb to teach her. (He did say he wanted to be a Professor.) It would be nice to get a scene where she reads the spells, since she said she was hurt when Essek wasn’t “interested in anything [she had] to teach.”

Rating: 5/10

TL;DR if Jester multiclasses I would love to see a Druid or a Warlock.

#jester lavorre #jester #critical role #critrole #cr #critical role spoilers

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goldencommon · 5 years ago

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Slow holiday week at work? How about a highly subjective and opinionated look back at the top ten most powerful decks I’ve played against? This is only counting Standard (and some decks from before the Standard/Wild format split).

#1 - Miracle Rogue (2014-2015) – It may be hard to understand how insanely powerful this deck was if you didn’t play the game at launch but consider its key cards which were eventually nerfed: Preparation, Conceal, Cold Blood, Blade Flurry, Leeroy Jenkins, Gadgetzan Auctioneer. Play the Auctioneer on 5 and draw a million cards. Can’t put pressure on the Rogue? You lose to Leeroy/Shadowstep/Leeroy/Shadowstep/Leeroy. Fill the board to put on pressure? You lose to Deadly Poison + Blade Flurry. A high-skill deck difficult to master, it was truly terrifying and has never been surpassed.

Did I play it? No, as a noob I did not grasp the playstyle at all and was still in training wheels “I just play midrange decks” mode.

#2 - Patron Warrior (2015) – Another deck with a high skill ceiling, it took a while for people to catch on to the power of Patron Warrior. But with pre-nerf Warsong Commander granting Charge to a conga line of Grim Patrons and overclocked Frothing Berserkers it wasn’t unheard of to do 100+ damage from an empty board. The only worthy rival for the #1 slot on this list.

Did I play it? Not when it was in Standard, but I played a lot of the post-nerf Wild version of the deck in 2016.

#3 - Midrange Shaman (2015-2016) – I could just say “Turn 1 Tunnel Trogg into Turn 2 Totem Golem” to elicit a shudder, but let’s also recall the pre-nerf versions of Spirit Claws, Rockbiter Weapon, Flametongue Totem and Tuskarr Totemic, let alone the accursed 4-mana 7/7. No fancy combo here, this deck just beat the shit out of you with overstatted minions played on curve plus the occasional RNG highroll on totems. This deck was never killed off by nerfs, it just evolved (lol) into new forms until rotation.

Did I play it? Yes, Shaman was my favorite class in the early years. Not my fault that Blizzard showered it with riches for a full Standard cycle.

#4 - Odd Paladin (2018-2019) – The Odd/Even decks enabled by Baku the Mooneater and Genn Greymane proved to be such huge balance headaches that those two cards were rotated out of Standard a year early. Odd Paladin had access to Corridor Creeper, which at 5/5 was one of the most broken cards ever printed, and Level Up! which was an instant “I win” card if you already had board control. This deck had a short reign at the top before feeling the thwack of the nerf bat but remained viable until Baku rotated. You may think I’m forgetting Secret Paladin on this list—it had a much longer reign, but Odd Paladin is abbreviated O.P. for a reason. WELL MET

Did I play it? A little, though aggro decks aren’t my thing. I played more of the post-nerf deck in Wild where it remained strong.

#5 - Cubelock (2018-2019) – there were 10 Warlock cards in the Kobolds & Catacombs set and all 10 of them saw competitive play (yes, even Cataclysm, barely). If that isn’t a setup for one broken mother of a deck then I don’t know what is. Similar to Patron Warrior it was a bit of a joke at first, until players discovered how easy it was to generate waves of charging Doomguards. The Carnivorous Cube which gave the deck its name was surprisingly never nerfed and the deck lived a long and fruitful life cheating out huge demons until rotation banished Bloodreaver Gul’dan. This was my favorite deck to play of any on the list, especially since it smoked Odd Paladin.

Did I play it? Yup, the Control version with N’Zoth, the Corruptor and Rin, the First Disciple may be my all-time favorite deck.

#6 - Undertaker Hunter (2015) – Bring out your dead! This wasn’t the last time an easily-buffed 1-drop would break the meta but it was the most frustrating. Webspinner, Haunted Creeper, and especially Mad Scientist were fellow Curse of Naxxramas cards all ready to buff the dreaded Undertaker. If you didn’t have a way to kill off Undertaker IMMEDIATELY you were going to die. It was as simple as that. Pre-nerf Leper Gnome, Starving Buzzard, Unleash the Hounds, Ironbeak Owl and Hunter’s Mark were in the deck as well to keep damage flying at your dome. Undertaker wasn’t nerfed for six months, until nerfing some of those other cards still hadn’t helped. Disgusting.

Did I play it? No, in fact it calcified in me a hatred for the Hunter class that I never really got over. I had zero ranked Hunter wins until relatively recently.

#7 - Quest Rogue (2017-2018) – This deck was immediately recognized as powerful, though it took time to refine. The pre-nerf version of the Caverns Below Quest only required you play four minions with the same name (eventually nerfed to five) and then made all your minions 5/5s (eventually nerfed to 4/4s). The fact that it took multiple nerfs of a single card to weaken (not even kill) this deck tells you how strong it was.

Did I play it? Yes, though I dare say I wasn’t very good at it. But before the nerfs, you didn’t have to be very good to win with it.

#8 - Evolve Shaman (2019) – a unique entry in this list thanks to the Doom in the Tomb event which allowed Evolve to return from Wild to break the Standard meta. Similar to how One Night in Karazhan added more juice to an already despotic Shaman set years earlier, the addition of Evolve just tightened Shaman’s stranglehold on the ladder. Able to set up a winning position as early as Turn 3 or 4 with Evolve + Desert Hare, the deck can also play and win the long game with either the Corrupt the Waters Quest to add value, or go with an Overload/token aggro strategy. Evolve will go back to Wild with the release of Descent of Dragons soon but Shaman… Shaman finds a way.

Did I play it? Yes, but not as much as I played Quest Shaman prior to the rotation experiment.

#9 - Midrange Druid (2014-2015) – I learned a lot of my Hearthstone basics from playing this deck: tempo, value, when to push face damage. It didn’t do anything fancy, just played medium-sized minions and chipped away at your face until hitting the magic number of 14, the amount of damage pre-nerf Force of Nature + Savage Roar could do from an empty board. Cards in this deck to later be nerfed included Innervate, Wild Growth, Keeper of the Grove, Force of Nature, Ancient of Lore and Big Game Hunter.

Did I play it? As I mentioned above this deck is what helped me to understand the game, not simply play the game. I’d have to check my old posts to be sure but it was probably the first deck to get me to Rank 5.

#10 - Raza Priest (2016-2017) – Reno Jackson (the original, full-heal Reno) was still in Standard in 2016 when Priest gained Raza the Chained (not to mention Kazakus). Once Shadowreaper Anduin was printed late in the year the combo setup was complete: set your hero power cost to zero with Raza, then “machine gun” your opponent with Anduin hero powers. If the Priest had both key cards on curve then you were as good as dead. Raza was only nerfed before rotating to Wild. Mind Blast has recently been Hall of Fame’d to prevent similar combo decks in Standard in the future.

Did I play it? Not in its Standard form but in Wild with Dragons it was fun (though not as dominant).

What do you think? What am I missing? Secret Paladin, Mech Mage, Zoo Warlock, Big Priest, Handlock, Pirate Warrior...?

#hearthstone

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commandersrest · 6 years ago

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DM Pre-Campaign Prep for Waterdeep Daddy Heist

I got roped in to do a thing.

@tamisrandom asked me to help DM a group she had, comprising of herself, @tauntingcrow, @bladeverbena and @wehavekookies. All Tieflings, all wanting D&D Shenanigans and more gay ships than the San Francisco Harbour. Old daddy tieflings would not want to be walking around the forests.

Waterdeep Dragon Heist would be a fun, lighthearted adventure that could be tweaked to focus on character growth in a confined environment. It would also cater to the generally informal play style I suspected the players enjoyed. So I agreed, and began to prep.

How to Prep for the game if you’re a perfectionist but also lazy DM.

1) Prepare the platform for play. Purchase content where available. Oh shit, no I can’t. Roll20 module only loads 25% of the plot based on season, and I want to run the Alexandrain Remix. Damn. Time to purchase the Complete WDH Bundle on DM Guild by Valeur RPG instead! It has nearly every map but Trollskull Alley/Manor. That’s alright, Reddit to the Rescue. Damn, now I must add dynamic lighting boundaries. Okay, that’s fine. I’m getting good with Roll20 shortcuts, this shouldn’t take too long. Note: it did take long.

2) Upload info for the players into Journal. This took too long. Thank you Wikipedia and Google. I made a Witchypedia on Roll20 to summarise some key points of Volo’s Enchiridion, since the characters would know these thing prior to the campaign (All of them are Waterdhavians). I uploaded some key NPCs from the campaign too, with free to access basic info about them. Also, I got to find me sexy Renaer Neverember artwork, mmm. He was always my fave NPC in this.

3) Select classes. Cool, classes chosen. Wait, you’re a what now? Okay rogue. No, you’re a bard now? A rogue/bard. You have a mask, fine. Mysterious. I guess that would be important to your class-- You also want a bromeo/dudeliette romance? Okay, that’s awesome, here’s a hot guy in the story—Aww, you like him. If you respect your dude one more time, so help me god.

4) Integrate backstory for characters. Let’s have the players (all daddies anyway) already be Waterdhavians. Now to give them links to key elements in the plot that will unfold... All the secrets, all woven in, all buttons for emotional pain down the road when I destroy your characters’ lives through the course of the plot. Each character has an arc and a backstory to develop. Everyone has a bond that can make or break them… – thank you for involving me in this process. One is grateful. So now I have a bunch of early 40s old guys with Back Story™ who somehow… are level 2. Okay, life happens. Over 40s maybe don’t really get into the adventuring gig so don’t level up.

5) Integrate characters into setting. Damn, now they need residences, jobs, contacts. I’m lazy, let’s have them think stuff up. Okay they are into it, cool. OKAY they are TOO into this. ACK! That’s a lot of NPCs! Distract! Get them to design houses for their guys instead! Now they all have residences – with maps for in-game visits and bonking. It’s oddly character-building to create one’s residence. Hold up, is there only one character here with a legitimate source of income? And one janitor.

6) Connect characters to each other. Somehow, I can’t remember how, they wound up all being connected through one woman – Madame Chaudron. This woman of unusual magical gifts is the owner of the brothel called the Polished Horn who also runs an information network comprising of mainly non-human gigolos, prostitutes and courtesans. Otho the janitor works there, Antiphony who works for her as a cats-paw has quarters here, Savos identifies odd items for her and visits once a year on his birthday, while Than provides perfectly safe 100% organic recreational restoratives for her masked parties. Through her, all 4 diverse characters are gathered, leading us to…

7) Examine the campaign hook. I don’t want to start with 4 Randos Meet in A Bar. Let’s have Chaudron hear that her friend Volo needs help, and gathers the warlock with the cunning eyes, the rogue with the nimble hands, the janitor with his odd penchant for setting things ablaze, and the doctor who can keep them alive, while also turning into a bear.

8) I turn my back for 2 mins and the tumblr artists are sharing smut pics on discord. I approve of this. It is time for session 0.

#dm prep #waterdeep daddies #waterdeep dragon heist #dungeons and dragons #dnd5e #dm diaries #wehavekookies #tamisrandom #tauntingcrow #bladeverbena

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segadores-y-soldados · 7 years ago

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Moira: A Fate Fulfilled

“So it’s always interesting to think back on the ideation of a hero, you know - how do we start, we get that question a lot. And with Moira, it was a little bit of gameplay and a little bit of story. You know - we heard your feedback, you guys wanted a new healer in the game, and we felt the same way. Um, so we really started there. And uh, we have a lot of benevolent healers in the game - we have an angel, we have a monk, a mother, and the most upbeat, like, positive dj that you’ve ever met. So we felt like it was time for something a little bit more morally ambiguous, a little bit more shady. So we started there, and we started with these concepts.” - Arnold Tsang, Moira Reveal Panel (timestamp: 4:52 - https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=292)

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Question: yeah, so I know that Tracer was kinda inspired by the “Jumper” class in Titan and all that, and there was a couple of other heroes in Overwatch that were inspired by scrapped classes from Titan, and I was wondering if Moira was one of them, and what other types of abilities or class playstyles from Titan would you like to incorporate into future heroes of Overwatch? Geoff Goodman: Moira’s definitely like - completely [from] scratch, there wasn’t really anything there from Titan, and a lot of them were like that.

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From scratch, huh?

---

In mid-June of 2016, a redditor posted a long and incredibly well-thought out theory, citing in-game interactions and designs, on why they believed Mercy was actually “the true villain” of Overwatch.

You can find the post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4okg03/a_long_theory_mercy_is_the_true_overwatch_villain/

Perhaps their biggest hypothesis was that Mercy had been the one to incorrectly resurrect Blackwatch Commander Gabriel Reyes/Reaper, which had resulted in an antagonism between the two characters, one representing an “angelic savior” and the other representing “the embodiment of death.” They concluded with:

Yes.

This is where the “Evil Mercy” theory really got started.

I remember it, because it was one of the first big “lore theories” on Overwatch I had ever read.

In time, the “Evil Mercy” or alternately, the “Mercy failed to correctly resurrect Reaper” theory spread pretty far. Among the discussions was a cited interaction between the two characters that people swore they heard in the game. This interaction goes something like this:

Mercy: This isn’t what I had in mind for you... Reaper: You knew exactly what you were doing.

Or alternately

Reaper: Remember, you’re the one responsible for all this. Mercy: This wasn’t my plan for you, Reyes...

Except there was a major problem.

Neither version of these supposed interactions existed.

Fans were baffled. Many people were convinced it existed, or had existed and then been removed from the game. The only source was an early Hammeh video from May 2016, just after the beta of the game launched, in which you can find the line:

Reaper: Don’t forget - you’re the one responsible for this. (https://youtu.be/PoKRFx5Sb5g?t=245)

However, unbeknownst to many fans, Michael Chu had debunked the existence of the exchange for a long time.

“I'm not sure where it came from (maybe there is another line that sounds similar to it), but the "this is not what I intended for you, Reyes" line/exchange does not actually exist in the game.” - Michael Chu, July 22, 2016 (https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20747844983#post-16)

The theory continued to spread until Michael retweeted his Blizzard Forums post on his twitter in January 2017 (https://twitter.com/westofhouse/status/822513004784664576?lang=en)

After that, it started dying down.

But it was about that same time that fans of the game began asking for a new support hero -

A morally-ambiguous or even outright evil one. (Real talk, you will get hundreds if not thousands of post on this exact subject if you search “evil healer” or “Talon healer” in the Overwatch subreddit, some as far back as 7 or 8 months ago, so March-ish, and at least a few as old as a year ago).

Most of the fan ideas about an “evil healer” involved some sort of life-leech or life-draining ability in which the “evil healer” could draw health from opponents and then redistribute it to their allies, pretty standard to a fantasy warlock or black mage-type character, except modified for Overwatch’s “firm sci-fi” settings.

Meanwhile, what flew quietly under almost everyone’s radar was the release of Oasis, first onto the PTR in December 2016, and then live servers in January 2017.

As far as I can tell, Hammeh was once again the only source really covering the surprisingly dark and morally ambiguous intent of some aspects of the map. You can find that here: https://youtu.be/6GE11k0X9sQ?t=337.

More importantly -

Hammeh was the first source to compare Oasis directly to the Solder Enhancement Program.

Hammeh: “Remember that...Oasis in the present-day, we’ve had the Soldier Enhancement Program, or whatever took effect on Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes for - roughly - twenty-six years or so ago? Given that Morrison and Reyes - pre-his current existence as Reaper, of course - were the products of that twenty-six-year-old program, what could a city of scientists...without perhaps any moral limits on their research, have achieved in Oasis?”

(Congrats on calling it, Hammeh, you deserve mad props) And he brings up a point very near and dear to my heart:

Hammeh: The last known place that we’ve seen Mercy was actually in a Middel Eastern area - I sort of estimated, trying to guess from this map, it could be maybe Iraq or Iran, but what if she was, perhaps, in Oasis? What would she be doing here? But, who knows? It’d be fascinating if we saw Mercy turn up at Oasis at some time in the future. Given that Mercy made big breakthroughs in nanobiology, one wonders if, maybe, she worked with some people in Oasis...or not. Complete speculation, but I could see it working.

Sometime after Uprising, in May 2017, I posted a (rather rambling) essay on how Overwatch was incorporating “horror stories” and “tales of the apocalypse” into the game, even “in fun modes” like Junkenstein’s Revenge. But one of the big points was that I speculated on the possible Mercy-Oasis connections:

http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/159665523340/overwatch-apocalypse-now

The most important one, however, is this set (I cannot find the direct quotes, so I’m basing this off memory but):

Sombra: “What are we doing here?” Reaper: “We’re here to see an old friend.”

Now this is extremely interesting. One of the prevailing fan theories is that Angela “Mercy” Ziegler may have connections to Oasis - she is depicted in the Recall short as being located somewhere in the Middle East, particularly somewhere in present-day Iraq, which is where “the city of Oasis” is located. In the Reflections comic, she is shown to be working on some sort of “active field duty” in a tent that is brightly-lit. In the “We Are Overwatch” short, she rescues a young girl on the edge of a large city with multiple skyscrapers in the background.

I know there is already speculation that, if Mercy is in fact located in Oasis, Reaper is “out for her.” Another version of the theory goes that Reaper is coming to see her to ask her for help with his current state of existence (note that I am not a fan of the “Mercy botched saving Reaper” theory because that has been effectively debunked by Chu).

Because if there is anyone capable of helping Reaper restore himself, it would be “the doctor of death herself,” Angela Ziegler.

We know from Dragons, Recall, Hero, and the Museum Heist that 1) ultimates such as the Dragons and Tactical Visor are canon, 2) Reaper is capable of transforming himself into smoke, 3) Winston’s in-game abilities - including his Rage ultimate - are canon. At the moment, there is no reason to believe that Mercy’s Resurrection ultimate is not canon. People will no doubt argue that I’m making a leap of logic here, but until confirmed otherwise, I’d say it’s likely that all Ultimates are canon.

And therefore this means that Mercy knows how to revive the dead.

More than anything, this means that if Mercy is associated with Oasis, that we should be giving a solid, hard look at what exactly this implies for lore. I’m not saying that Oasis “having Lovecraftian connotations is 100% canon,” but rather it is important to note that the types of references a story builds for itself almost certainly influences the type of story it wants to portray. The fact that Mercy has not one, but multiple skins that are related to “raising the dead in morally-ambiguous ways” is telling. She has two Valkyrie skins, the Imp and Devil skins, and the Witch skin (which literally carries “a book of life” on her).

Again, I already know these skins aren’t canon. That’s beside the point. The point here is that all of this combined creates a very ambiguous tone about Mercy and Oasis - the undercurrents of mistrust, the sensation that “something lurks in the city,” the feeling that “humanity is playing with forces it cannot control,” the idea that “a doctor who defies death” lives and works there, the idea that the “in-game embodiment of Death Himself” is going there to “visit an old friend.” These are all things that build an eerie sense of foreboding.

Exactly as Lovecraft would have wanted it.

Lovecraft’s Nameless City builds the groundwork “lore” for his Cthulhu mythology. The “nameless city” is a city in the Arabian desert, older than Babylon, implied to have been “lost” to the ages as humanity began to conquer the earth. The ancient race that built the city retreated underground, where they continued their worship of the Great Old Ones. The human protagonist of The Nameless City wanders deeper and deeper until he is beset by the presence of the ancient race and some form of the Great Old Ones, ostensibly for “intruding on a realm he had no right to access.”

Sorry for the long quote, but I was ecstatic to see Zenyatta get a Cthulhu-based skin this Halloween, because directly after this Oasis part, I talk about Zenyatta and his connections to “the unknowable.”

What the Overwatch team is building here is a series of “range of canon” background mythologies (some that are “non-canon but merely background white noise that colors how the players view the world,” to “these are kinda sorta canon and you should be paying attention to how we use these references,” to “these are outright canon and we will be using them blatantly for whatever we want”) that develop the world in a set of unique ways. Even for the stuff that “isn’t canon,” it still exists in the game and it still tints how players interact with the characters, their personalities, and their story arcs. Reaper’s Mariachi skins and Zenyatta’s Djinn skins may never matter “in the overall story,” but they still show small “slices” of personality that reveal something new about them. Similarly, Zenyatta’s lines about his discord orb may never “make it to canon,” but they still demonstrate that “something dark” lurks within them.

And this is, arguably, both the strength and weakness of this style of storytelling: anything and everything is open and available for use. You can design a world where a map references the Tower of Babel and more or less imply that “the doctor who defies death” lives there, but you can change this at the drop of a hat. You can create a robot monk whose abilities rely on amplifying “the disquiet” in other characters’ souls, but then say that his statements on these abilities are not “canon.” You can craft a narrative surrounding three old comrades who have had a major falling out and then leave massive gaps in the explanation for this problem. You gain freedom, flexibility, and openness in exchange for lore that stands on a foundation as steady as shifting sands.

It is almost undeniable that Moira fulfills nearly every aspect of these two fan theories: the first of “Evil Mercy” and the idea of her involvement with Reaper’s condition, and the second of “something dark lurks in Oasis.”

Moira is exactly what fans have been asking for -

With all the pros and the cons related to that.

---

In between the first postings of the “Evil Mercy” theory (and Michael Chu’s very soft denial of them) in the Summer of 2016, and the release of Oasis on the PTR in December 2016, a seemingly unrelated fandom event occurred. The large comic book “First Strike,” which was meant to detail the origins of the original Strike Team and their battles in the Omnic Crisis, was canceled.

The original post is, unfortunately, gone now, but bless reddit for having some of the best bots ever:

(https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/5do14r/first_strike_graphic_novel_update_canceled_via/da5z4mb/)

“While we are grateful to the team for the fantastic work they put into it, we’ve ultimately decided to take the story in a different direction.”

And

“In the years since First Strike’s conception, we have done a lot of development on the universe and its sotires. While the core of this story remains, we have changed and expanded upon how we see the events that took place during the first days of Overwatch.” - Michael Chu

Several months later, in May 2017, Jeff Kaplan expanded on that in a Polygon interview:

“We sort of saw Overwatch really open up to the world, and listening to players and the stories they were telling and what they imagined the Omnic crisis to be really made us second guess what we were doing in First Strike,” said Kaplan. “We thought, ‘Hey, if we go down this path, it really closes all these doors.’”

Fan theories about the Overwatch cast’s pasts abound, and players produce fiction, art and other original content in droves. Although animated shorts and digital comics have had success in filling out the game’s universe — particularly the most recent comics, “Uprising” and “Reflections” — the Overwatch team found that a 100-page graphic novel no longer made sense as supplemental reading material, six months into the game’s life.

“Part of the magic is that everything is not tied off and explained to players,” Kaplan said of keeping Overwatch’s canon less defined. “There’s a lot going on in Overwatch right now where I think that the story in players’ heads is often even cooler than what we can deliver to them.”

(https://www.polygon.com/2017/5/17/15655410/overwatch-first-strike-canceled-jeff-kaplan-interview)

Many fans were bitterly (and rightfully) disappointed at the cancellation - the Omnic Crisis is one of the most speculated and discussed concepts from the Overwatch universe, along with the five main heroes (Gabriel Reyes, Jack Morrison, Ana Amari, Reinhardt Wilhelm, and Torbjörn Lindholm) that it involved.

However, the cancellation was quickly followed by a new wave of creator-fan controversy when a fan asked Michael Chu on his twitter if the word “decades” in Reaper’s hero profile was, in fact, accurate or a typo.

You can find the whole exchange here:

https://twitter.com/to_grok/status/826487157430874112

User: Thank you for responding. But does that mean Reyes has been Reaper before Overwatch fell?

Michael: I'll let you draw your own conclusions, but the wording on Reaper's bio is intentional.

The response sparked a massive wave of renewed discussions on the ways heroes and villains are written and portrayed, both in Overwatch and larger media (a discussion I was a part of). People were (rightfully) furious with the implication that Gabriel Reyes - a hero in the Omnic Crisis - had actually been undermining his own organization for “decades” under an alias, or that he had been suffering from wraith-like powers and pain for nearly thirty years without any of his friends and allies noticing. Once the fury cooled down, some people began to toy more with the idea, and the concept that “something had been off with Gabriel” since his involvement in the Soldier Enhancement Program grew quietly among fans.

What was also slowly realized in between the two “controversies” was that there was the increasing likelihood that the “different direction” Michael had originally mentioned in regards to cancelling “First Strike” was actually probably specifically in regards to Gabriel Reyes/Reaper and his eventual role as an antagonistic character in the present storyline of Overwatch. Despite being “villainous,” Reaper is one of the most popular and immediately recognizable characters in the Overwatch cast, and has led to the creation of hundreds of thousands of fanart, fan stories, comics, memes, jokes, videos, posts, discussions, and ideas. Previews of the “First Strike” comic had Gabriel Reyes cast in heavy shadows, looking rather omnious compared to the other characters, and it also showed him in his Blackwatch uniform, a division which hadn’t actually been made yet.

In his late February-early March GDC talk, Michael Chu went on to say this quote about the “villains” of Overwatch:

“What’s important to us is that their motivations are not purely rooted in being evil, despite how they might seem on the surface. As we reveal more about these characters, we want people to be able to empathize and understand their beliefs. Because sometimes what makes a villain a villain is the extent to which they’re willing to go to reach their goals. And one thing that we find most important when we’re talking about our villain characters is that there is nothing to say that a villain cannot be as charismatic or more charismatic or as likeable as a hero character - because, like the old saying goes, ‘every villain is the hero of their own story.’”

The picture during the presentation was of Junkrat and Roadhog, but it was very clear that all of the Overwatch “villains” were a part of this category: Widowmaker, Sombra, and yes, Reaper.

Moira, without a doubt, fits into this category as well, but more than that -

Moira very likely represents some of that “different direction” the Overwatch development team decided on between the game’s release in May 2016 and the cancellation of “First Strike” in November 2016

Especially in regards to Gabriel Reyes/Reaper.

In fact, along with the quotes by Arnold and Geoff listed at the beginning of the post -

I think it’s highly likely that Moira was created as a direct response to everything that has happened between the game’s release and now.

Moira may be the first true “fan-feedback” character created on the Overwatch roster.

The other four characters that have been released since launch - Ana, Sombra, Orisa, and Doomfist - where all largely conceptualized before the game came out, but were staggered for release over the course of a year. While many fans thought they had input on Sombra and Doomfist in particular, it became very clear that, once the two heroes were released, they were drastically different than what anyone expected or predicted.

Moira, on the other hand, covers several things fans have been asking for since at least June 2016: the “evil Mercy”/“evil healer” with a lifeleech ability, a lore connection to the sinister parts of Oasis, a Talon “support” character with moral ambiguity, and a “different direction” that permits the Overwatch developers to possibly give more freedom of morality and a wider ranger of plot backgrounds for other popular characters - chiefly Gabriel Reyes/Reaper, but also Jack Morrison/Soldier: 76, Angela Ziegler/Mercy, Sombra, Genji Shimada, Jesse McCree, Amélie Lacroix/Widowmaker, Akande Ogundimu/Doomfist, etc.

However, she also constricts certain “plot ranges”/“plot twists” now - the revelation by Nesskain that Gabriel Reyes was “scared” over his enhancement or shift into “Reaper” is both surprising and enlightening.

(oh look, a Blackwatch version of the Valkyrie suit.)

https://twitter.com/nesskain/status/926674887615188992

Now, it’s entirely possible that Nesskain’s comment means very little to the developers, but he did also write that he is permitted to know the “People of interest. And a bit of story” when commissioned to make official art for Overwatch.

Which more likely means he was given the direction to make Gabriel look “scared” during his transformation process.

This immediately relieves some of the pressure that Gabriel Reyes chose to become Reaper, but it now puts the onus on Moira instead, and her decision to possibly experiment on him against his will (or in ways he did not agree to).

To summarize, the timeline of post-game-release events looks like:

June 2016: Major posts on "evil Mercy" start going viral.

July 2016: Michael Chu denies the interactions between Mercy and Reaper exist.

November 2016: First Strike is cancelled.

November 2016: the first few posts on "we need an evil healer in the game" start appearing.

December 2016: Oasis is released on the PTR - Hammeh releases his first video speculating that "someone with darker science" is at Oasis and/or Mercy is at Oasis.

January 2017: Oasis is playable on live servers.

early February 2017: Michael stands by his statement that "the wording on Reaper's bio is intentional."

late February 2017: Michael has his GDC talk - discusses unreliable narrators and “villains” being heroes of their own stories.

April 2017: Uprising is released showing Gabriel Reyes in a more humorous, lighthearted manner.

July 2017: Doomfist is released, revealing more aspects of Talon. Moira is pictured for the first time.

November 2017: Moira is revealed.

---

What this all culminates in is a rather interesting mystery that connects several dots that people have speculated and discussed for quite some time. Most surprisingly, the Overwatch developers actually decided to stick to their guns and put in some very intriguing tidbits that point to a combination of both “reworking” Gabriel Reyes/Reaper’s entire storyline and still “retaining” several details, while still meshing with fan desires and fan theories for a new healer.

Moira’s background and her current “plot” are almost perfectly designed to sell a brand new, well, direction for several aspects of the larger story.

It requires several steps to put it all together.

Step 1. Moira in Oasis

“Currently, in addition to her duties as a scientist for Talon, Moira was also invited by the Ministers of Oasis to become their Minister of Genetics, and so she is basically leading up their genetic research at the city - and this [referring to her Oasis skin] is what she’d wear when she’s over there.” - Michael Chu, 11:12 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=672)

Cool. So now we have a way to tie Oasis to the larger world of Overwatch (again, kudos to Hammeh for predicting that a character like Moira "without any moral limits” on conducting scientific research would come along), as well as expand on the shady and morally ambiguous aspects of the Oasis.

Step 2. Gabriel’s “decades”

“She was recruited by Gabriel Reyes to be a member of Blackwatch. And uh, during that time she had relationships with the Blackwatch crew - McCree, Genji - they all have their own sort of likes and dislikes for each other. Reyes wanted someone could help advise him on, uh, some matters of genetics that he was, uh, interested in, shall we say.” - Michael Chu, 3:47 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=227)

In Moira’s lab of Genetics on the University map, you can find this folder in the spawn room. It is brand new -

And identical to another “lore detail” found in Dorado.

People have been attempting to predict Gabriel Reyes’ “SEP ID number” since the concept that “76″ was Jack Morrison’s SEP ID number was first theorized. Lots of people picked things like 13 (“unlucky”), 666 (“the Devil’s number”), and 75 (“to go along with 76″), etc - these were all fairly common. This writer picked 127 as a play on a holiday.

What the “Soldier: 24″ folder also seems to imply is that Gabriel has been having issues or side effects from SEP, thus retaining some aspects of his Hero profile saying “decades” on it.

In retrospect -

It’s probably not a coincidence that Michael’s “the wording on Reaper’s bio is intentional” tweet follows the release of the Oasis map onto live servers by like...a month.

It’s also very clear that the Ministry of Genetics was always present on the map, right from the very outset, along with Reaper and Sombra’s interaction about “seeing a friend.”

Sombra: So what are we doing here boss?

Reaper: I need to pay a visit to a friend.

Which certainly played me like a damn clarinet, because man, I fell for it hook-line-and-sinker.

Of course, I was basing my predictions on this next part.

Step 3. “Evil Mercy”

“So, there is a connection [with Moira], but it’s actually not to Zenyatta, it’s actually more of a connection to Mercy. Um, you know, they both worked together - obviously, Moira’s a part of Blackwatch, Mercy was a part of Overwatch, but she’s [Moira] has definitely taken and modified some of that tech. There’s some evidence on the Oasis map that sort of hints at some of that.” - Michael Chu, 3:27 (https://youtu.be/CEQ_qDtyRHA?t=207)

The title of the paper reads “Genetic Conditioning and Regenerative Propertis of Applied Nanobiotics.” - by Dr. Angela Ziegler, MD. Ph. D.

You can also find a copy of Mercy’s research in Moira’s Genetics lab, which is is pretty sneaky way to incorporate the whole “Mercy’s technology failed to resurrect Gabriel” into this whole new storyline. It’s hard to say if Moira specifically used Mercy’s technology (or a warped verison of it) on Gabriel, or if she’s taken Mercy’s tech and reworked it into her own healing beam, but the wink and nod to fan theories about “Evil Mercy” is pretty ingenius and somewhat sinister, Blizzard.

Step 4. A reason to fight

For a very, very long time, there were only two maps that lacked any clear connection to the overarching plot or lore of Overwatch: Ilios, and Oasis. Everything else had some sort of story tie-in, either to a major character or a major event. Sure, many maps lack a specific reason for six people to go brutally fight six other people in a parking lot, like...Hollywood...or Nepal... but they at least had a connection to someone or something.

Up until now, the biggest theory was that - well - Mercy might be chilling there and Reaper might be out hunting for her, but basically overnight that completely changed.

In theory, it would be enough to simply connect the map to Moira and be done with it (much like Nepal is simply connected to Zenyatta), but there’s a unique extra detail in the University map now.

This is the other spawn room on the Unversity map. It mirrors Moira’s on the opposite side.

This is the Ministry of Chemistry logo.

Okay, seems alright, symmetry is important after all.

But there’s...an issue.

Title: “Repairing Degenerative Genetic Structures” with a large post-it note that says “Draft”

And that -

is the Ministry of Genetics logo

along with the title “Ministry of Genetics” in Arabic.

The “Ministry of Chemistry” spawn room

is this one:

Hmm.

I suspect Moira does not appreciate her fellow Minister running off with her research on a very...unique “test subject.”

And I also suspect “Soldier: 24″ does not want his secrets getting out.

And -

as the “map” from Necropolis shows us -

Reaper has to pay a visit to a “friend.”

...Even if she is “the one responsible for this.”

---

And before I get questions about the possibility of a romantic angle between Moira and Reaper, I’m just going to stop everyone right here:

Geoff Goodman: “It [Her Fade ability] has some similarities to Reaper’s wraith form…uh which is…it’s funny how that works out.” Michael Chu: “You know, we obviously - there’s a…there’s a close relationship between Moira and Reyes-slash-Reaper, and I think one of the fun things we were able to do is to sort of hint at some of those things in her, uh, abilities.” Geoff Goodman: “She’s helping Reaper out and is like, ‘You know, I think I could make this better, I have an idea.’” Michael Chu: “Professional relationship.” Geoff Goodman: “Ahaha, yes…good call.” Michael Chu: “You know what I’m talking about.” [Whole panel laughs] - Time: 14:49 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=889)

The tone of the whole exchange makes it very clear that Michael (and Geoff) are emphasizing that the relationship between Reaper and Moira is literally just professional.

And...well...

I also have a username to uphold, so you know my stance on that.

What will be very interesting to see in the near-future are the in-game interactions between Reaper and Moira, as well as Moira and the other Talon members, Moira and the old Blackwatch agents, and Moira and Mercy. Moira absolutely fulfills Michael’s quote here:

Michael: When we created Moira, we wanted her to have all these connections to characters throughout Overwatch history, through different groups. (Moira Reveal Panel)

And, more importantly -

Michael: Who is Moira? Well, most importantly, Moira is that new support hero character that you’ve been waiting for! (Moira Reveal Panel)

Moira is probably the first character created almost entirely from fan feedback and fan ideas, with the developers’ twists, after all.

When Geoff Goodman says that she was created “completely from scratch,” what he most likely means is that the Overwatch development team had no concept of her at the time of the game’s release. She did not come from a scrapped Titan hero. She did not come from a developer’s concept. She did not come from another hero’s background.

She likely came from fan reactions to three main things: the request for a “morally ambiguous healer,” a “different direction” from the original background plot, and a way to enhance the underlying sinister and darker elements of Oasis (if it was not created in tangent with her ideation).

...

So, friends -

Be careful what “heroes” you wish for in the future

Because you might reap your rewards.

(The Blizzard devs are always listening)

#moira #moira o'deorain #reaper #gabriel reyes #overwatch lore #overwatch theories #my essays #my writing #resources #references #blackwatch #overwatch #oasis #ministry of genetics

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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WoW Burning Crusade Classic Pre-Patch: Best Classes for the New Expansion Meta

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The next chapter of World of Warcraft Classic properly begins on June 1st when players are finally able to enter the Dark Portal and reexperience the first WoW expansion ever. Before then, though, players will have the chance to explore some of TBC‘s most notable upgrades, changes, and improvements as part of a special upcoming pre-patch that serves as a soft launch for the next expansion.

Whenever you start playing TBC Classic, you’ll probably want to be up to speed on which classes are best in the new expansion’s upcoming PvE meta. Even if you don’t care about joining a raid group in TBC, you may just find yourself wondering exactly how viable your preferred class will be at the start of the expansion and for every phase that follows.

While it’s still possible that Blizzard could make changes to TBC that subtly change the game’s PvE meta as we work our way through the expansion’s release phases, these are the best overall DPS, Healer, and Tank classes for TBC Classic‘s PvE mode based on what we currently know.

World of Warcraft Burning Crusade Classic – Best PvE DPS Classes

S-Tier: Warlock

Unless Blizzard makes some major changes to TBC, you can expect Warlocks to be the most dominant DPS class in the game for quite some time.

While Destruction Warlocks are probably your best bet if you’re looking for the simplest form of incredible damage output, all Warlock specs will be viable when TBC launches. If you don’t like it, blame the power level of Warlocks’ new Seed of Corruption spell as well as a few ways that TBC changes WoW Classic‘s core combat systems that just put Warlocks way above nearly every other option.

A-Tier: Hunter, Mage, Elemental Shaman

It’s pretty easy to put Hunters next to Warlocks when you’re talking about TBC‘s best PvE damage dealers, but just to highlight how insane Warlocks will be, I feel compelled to put them just a notch lower.

Still, most Hunters can expect to regularly top the damage charts throughout TBC. While Beast Mastery Hunters may do more raw damage, you may rightfully be tempted to go for more of a survival build due to their raid friendly abilities. Honestly, it’s hard to go wrong.

Mages are probably the next best DPS class, which really shouldn’t be a surprise given that their AOE and single-target damage output is even better in TBC than it was in Classic (where they were already insanely good). They should be strong in every TBC phase.

Elemental Shamans, meanwhile, are going to start strong due to their powerful utility tools and massive single-target damage potential, but they will become slightly less viable as other classes gain access to better gear. Still, most raid groups will be looking for an Elemental Shaman, which is good news for Elemental Shamans who struggled to find a forever home in Classic.

B-Tier: Enhancement Shaman, Shadow Priest, Rogue, Retribution Paladin

Enhancement Shamans and Shadow Priests are in roughly similar spots in TBC. Both are prized for their versatile toolsets that enhance the damage output of other DPS player in a raid, and both are capable of standing their ground when they’re expected to actually deal damage themselves.

Enhancement Shamans are probably the more well-rounded class overall, but the ways that Shadow Priests’ abilities make Warlocks even better than they already are mean that every raid is going to want one (and possibly more). They’re not the stars of their shows, but they’re a vital part of TBC‘s PvE experience.

Rogues are a little more complicated. They’re great melee damage dealers with some incredible abilities that raid leaders will value, but because they’re more gear dependent than other classes, they’re not going to showcase their full potential until later in TBC.

It’s a similar story for Retribution Paladins. They’re potentially powerful and bring irreplaceable abilities to any raid or party, but it’s going to be a while before they get the gear they need to really reach that next level. They’re outclassed by DPS Shamans until then in a lot of ways.

C-Tier: Druid and Warrior

While Druid players have been waiting for TBC and the chance to shine more than they did in Classic, the sad fact of the matter is that Druids are just not in the upper echelon just yet.

Balance druids are much more powerful than they were before, but they still burn through their mana pools as fast as any other class (often faster). Feral Druids theoretically got buffed, but only the best Feral Druid players will be able to outperform other melee classes (especially once those other classes start to get better gear). As we’ll talk about in a bit, though, there are certainly other reasons to roll a Feral Druid in TBC.

Finally, we have Warriors. The sad fact of the matter is that Arms and Fury Warriors will not be nearly as powerful at the start of TBC as they were at the end of Classic. Arms Warriors may sooner score a raid invite due to the power of their Blood Frenzy ability, but Fury Warriors are going to have a tough time adjusting to the new world order. They’re still capable of dealing incredible damage, but their gear dependency and lack of notable raid tools makes them a tough sell over so many other options.

World of Warcraft Burning Crusade Classic – Best PvE Healer Classes

S-Tier: Restoration Shaman

Due respect to every other healer, but Restoration Shamans are really on a different level.

Restoration Shamans become the sole source for Bloodlust/Heroism in TBC, which is more than enough to ensure they’ll be invited to every raid group for the foreseeable future. Their improved Chain Heal ability is also one of the best ways to consistently heal a raid group through some of the toughest TBC challenges.

Granted, they’re not great single-target healers, but Restoration Shamans are so powerful in every other way that it’s hardly worth talking about their shortcomings.

A-Tier: Holy Paladin and Holy Priest

Interestingly, both of these classes find themselves in roughly the same spot they were in Classic with the biggest “nerf” being that both Alliance and Horde players now have access to Restoration Shamans.

Regardless, Holy Priests are still some of the best single-target healers around. They will be coveted by raid groups for that reason alone, while their Circle of Healing and Prayer of Mending abilities finally give them the viable AoE healing options they lacked in Classic.

Holy Paladins, meanwhile, are still all about the buffs. They’re solid all-around healers, but its their buff abilities that will get them invited to most raids. Whether or not you’ll find Paladin players still interested in raiding as a healer is the bigger question.

B-Tier: Restoration Druid

Restoration Druids are in a weird spot in the early days of the TBC meta. On paper, they’re a solid overall healing class with a few new skills (most notably Tree of Life) that should make them one of the best overall healing options. There are certainly times when they are among the best of the best.

The problem is that Restoration Druids just aren’t as consistent as other healers. Very good Restoration Druids will do well in TBC, but the average Restoration Druid will likely come across as just that.

C-Tier: Discipline Priest

While Discipline Priests are going to be prized in TBC‘s competitive meta, the fact of the matter is that they just don’t bring enough to the table in PvE.

You’ll likely see some Discipline Priests in high-end raids due to some of their better buffs and utility tools, but their lack of a great AoE healing option and a few other missing key abilities makes them little more than a circumstantial option.

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World of Warcraft Burning Crusade Classic – Best PvE Tank Classes

S-Tier: Protection Warrior

You’ll have a hard time finding someone who will argue that Protection Warriors aren’t the best overall tanking option in TBC..

While there are certainly other viable tanks in TBC, Protection Warriors offer a blend of consistency and high-end defensive abilities make them the one tanking class that you’ll always want in your raid. They even boast slightly better AOE threat options in TBC than they ever had access to in Classic, so this really is a case of the rich getting richer.

A-Tier: Feral Druid

Feral Druids win the award for the “most entertaining” tanks in TBC. Their abilities and unique stat benefits make them surprisingly effective damage dealers, and their utility skills make them a more than appealing off-tank option for any raid group.

The biggest problem with Feral Druids is that they’re not Protection Warriors. They’re not as resilient, they’re not as consistent, and it won’t be long before most Protection Warriors are better geared across the board than most Feral Druids. Still, this is a fun way to play the game.

B-Tier: Protection Paladin

Protection Paladins are probably on about the same level as Feral Druids, but in the interest of separating your choices as often as possible, they’re ranked slightly lower due largely to the fact that they depend on gear that is almost certainly going to a Protection Warrior instead of them.

Still, Paladins have massive health pools (potentially), some great buffs, incredible AoE threat generation abilities, and are reliable enough to serve as a main tank for any raid that wants to mix things up a bit by relying on a more dynamic tanking option.

The post WoW Burning Crusade Classic Pre-Patch: Best Classes for the New Expansion Meta appeared first on Den of Geek.

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years ago

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5e Skree, the Mechanical Shaman build (Awesomenauts)

(Artwork from the Microsoft Store.)

Reject modernity; embrace indie.

Basically screw you my birthday is on the 28th (🥳) so I wanted to do a build for one of my favorite games of all time. And it was basically either Awesomenauts, an Atlas Reactor build (for a game that’s essentially dead btw check out Atlas Rogues it’s great and I love it), or like... an XCOM build? Unless I wanted to make a Killing Floor character build instead. (Also a possibility.)

Oh also: the game is free, so if you want a new MOBA to try out I highly recommend it. It may not be as popular as it was in its hayday and it may be dated, but the characters and gameplay are still top-notch.

As for why Skree? I had a few mains in Awesomenauts and Skree was my... second most played character. My most played was Chucho but believe it or not Chucho is simultaneously too easy and too difficult to make a build for. Like getting a turret and sticky bombs is easy (Artificer lol) but for the life of me I can’t figure out how to get him to ride Ramona. So you get Skree because he’s easier to make. Also because I get to stick every spell with the word “wall” into this build which is fun.

GOALS

I ascend, inta' da 'eaven! - Awesomenauts isn’t your standard top-down MOBA, which means we’ll need to be able to hover for some advanced movement in a platform fighter!

Uhhh... Dat make a big mess - Skree’s a master of continuous damage, with a lightning wand that will bounce to nearby targets... oh and a giant sawblade.

Dey is after me lucky shrines! - Not a day goes by that you shouldn’t pray to your lord. So set down a massive wall to block your foes!

RACE

The great thing about Awesomenauts (as opposed to League) is that since everyone’s an alien I can choose just about any race I want within reason. The downside of this is that it makes choosing races really hard. There’s only one trait that’s well defined about Skree and it is this: he is small.

So how about we powergame like an asshole? Tasha’s has made Mountain Dwarf one of the strongest races in the game for a number of reasons! You can get a +2 in two ability scores of your choice: Charisma and Intelligence will both be key in this build, so increase both of those to start out. You also get Dwarven Combat Training but seeing as we’ll be using magic a lot more than weapons I opted to take Origin Proficiencies instead: this means you’ll get a ton of different tool proficiencies, on top of Mason’s Tools from Dwarven Tool Proficiency. I’m not going to tell you every tool to take (because my god you get 5 total) but I’d recommend Drums and Carpenter’s Tools as those are some of Skree’s upgrades in Awesomenauts.

Of course on top of all of that you have Dwarven Resilience for advantage against poisons and resistance to poison damage, and Stonecunning for expertise on History checks related to shrines! (Or other stonework.) And finally as a Mountain Dwarf you get Dwarven Armor Training, for Light and Medium armor proficiency!

ABILITY SCORES

15; INTELLIGENCE - Even if Skree doesn’t make it known he built all his tools and weapons out of the scrapped Starstorm station. Accidental genius of turning the entire station on is still genius.

14; DEXTERITY - Skree is known for flying around constantly in a game where you constantly have to move to dodge attacks. Also “something something Medium Armor” from our race.

13; CHARISMA - Weazel’s a good voice actor, and even if Skree is a little... stoned out of his mind he’s still got the lovable 80s cartoon personality that Awesomenauts is famous for.

12; WISDOM - You mostly work with machines and a lot of the Awesomenauts are machines, but you still need Wisdom to read that Book of Medicine or to convince a Skroggle to let you harvest their weedlings.

10; CONSTITUTION - Skree is hardly a tank, focusing on backline damage dealing with magic.

8; STRENGTH - See above. Even if you’re fighting with heavy metal it does all the fighting for you.

BACKGROUND

Religion is still religion, even if it’s not accepted universe-wide. The Acolyte background will let you do whatever crazy ritualistic shaman stuff you wish (within reason.) You get proficiency in Insight and Religion as well as two languages of your choice: there’s tons of languages in the universe so pick whichever ones you think will help you communicate with your allies!

Your feature Shelter of the Faithful will let you find others who believe in the god of the machines. (You should probably pick a god from your DM’s setting instead of just worshiping robots.) You and your party can receive service from others in your faith, and you can lead ceremonies in honor of the mechanical gods!

(Artwork by Katonator on DeviantArt.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - WIZARD 1

Starting off this build as a Wizard because if there’s one thing I am it’s inconsistent, so of course I’m starting the “easy fun build for my birthday” with one of my least favorite classes to build. But the main reason for the Wizard starting level is to get access to the Medicine skill thanks to your Book of Medicine, as well as the Arcana skill because you understand the spirit in the machines.

Regardless Wizards get access to spellcasting at level 1. You learn 3 cantrips and 6 spells from the Wizard list:

CANTRIPS

For a close-ranged zapping wand Shocking Grasp will let you taser your foes to keep them away.

Mage Hand will let you make sure that you aren’t losing any solar pickups.

If you need to hide in a bush Minor Illusion can make a bush to hide in. Consider it a tiny totem!

SPELLS

You fly around on a floating disk but unfortunately Tenser’s Floating Disk won’t let you do that. It will give you an easy way to carry either loot or your tools around, however.

To launch either a sawblade or some scrap at your foes Catapult will give you the option to do so!

For some damage overtime look no further than Tasha’s Caustic Brew to cover your foes in acidic Skroggle spit that will Gnaw away at them!

Knockback is a big thing in Awesomenauts; if you need some space then use Thunderwave!

People don’t really like blinds in ‘nauts but Color Spray is still useful if you’re in a pinch.

Silent Image will let you make a bigger illusion, such as a large totem that your enemies will hesitate to run past. It won’t be solid yet but it’s a good place to start with wall creation.

You also get Arcane Recovery, letting you recover spell slots equal to half your Wizard level. The exact details of how this works are detailed in the ability’s description so read that for more details.

LEVEL 2 - WIZARD 2

Second level Wizards can choose their Arcane Tradition and when in space gravity... is a harness. We’ll be going for the Graviturgy subclass from Wildemount to harness that harness! As a Graviturgy Wizard you can Adjust Density of objects (and creatures!) as long as they’re size Large or smaller. You can make an object either twice as heavy or half as heavy: when a creature is twice as heavy they move 10 feet slower and can’t jump as far but have advantage on Strength checks and saving throws, and the opposite is true if they’re light: 10 feet faster and greater jumps but they’ll have a tough time when it comes to Strength. Using this feature does require Concentration however, and will only last for a minute if you manage to concentrate on it for the full duration.

Yeesh that’s a mouthful to say “you can make things light or heavy.” How about some more spells then? The dunamancy Wizards unlock new spells based on their school, so we should probably grab Magnify Gravity since it’s a subclass-specific spell. You should also probably grab Shield seeing as I didn’t give you any ranged cantrips yet. Oops?

LEVEL 3 - WIZARD 3

Third level Wizards can learn second level spells like Misty Step for Fla... right Flash is a League thing... Well you can also grab Flaming Sphere to finally have a “sawblade” that you can move around! Be careful not to hit your allies though!

LEVEL 4 - WIZARD 4

4th level gives us our first Ability Score Improvement: you may notice that we have two uneven Ability Scores, so increase both your Charisma and your Intelligence by 1 to round those numbers up!

You can also learn another cantrip along with two more spells! For your cantrip Sapping Sting is a dunamancy-specific cantrip that can make you trip! It does very little damage but it knocks people prone, finally giving you a ranged damage option! As for leveled spells Levitate is a good way to start making yourself (or others) hover around, and Immovable Object will allow you to turn a nearby object into an unmovable totem to block your foes!

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 1

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(Video by denkles on TikTok. Twitter link.)

What? Did you really not expect it? Warlocks get to choose their subclass at level 1 and to zap with some Magic Sunballs go for none other than The Genie patron. There’s four different Genie Kind you can choose from, which will alter your powers in various ways. Since you’re zapping people go for Djinni, because Thunder damage is the closest we can get to Lightning.

Regardless you get two benefits at level 1 thanks to your Genie’s Vessel. Firstly you carry around a container of some sort that’s meant to contain your patron; I don’t think saying that they’re contained within a little gem atop your staff is too out of the question. Regardless Bottled Respite will let you teleport into your vessel as an action. The inside of the Drop Pod is cozy, if admittedly a little tight. While inside, you can hear the area around your vessel as if you were in its space.

You can remain inside the vessel up to a number of hours equal to twice your proficiency bonus. You exit the vessel early if you use a bonus action to leave, if you die, or if the vessel is destroyed. When you exit the vessel, you appear in the unoccupied space closest to it. Any objects left in the vessel remain there until carried out, and if the vessel is destroyed, every object stored there harmlessly appears in the unoccupied spaces closest to the vessel’s former space. The vessel’s AC equals your spell save DC, and its hit points are equal your warlock level plus your proficiency bonus. Do note that you can only enter the vessel once per Long Rest, even if you only go inside for a few minutes to buy Space Air Max and some Power Pills.

The more important benefit however is Genie’s Wrath. Once on each of your turns when you hit with an attack roll, you can deal extra damage to the target equal to your proficiency bonus. Since you have a Djinni patron the damage type is Thunder.

Speaking of attack rolls: Warlocks get access to Pact Magic! Eldritch Blast is an Eldritch Blast which lets you roll an attack roll for a blast of Eldritch. Since it can hit multiple targets at higher levels you can consider this your lightning bouncing between targets. For a close-range Sawblade Sword Burst will slice up anyone near you, but it isn’t an attack roll so do note that Shocking Grasp will be able to benefit from Genie’s Wrath, even though it’s a Wizard spell.

As for leveled spells Hex is a good way to amp up the damage, and Distort Value from Acquisitions Incorporated can be a good way to get a bit of solar off your next purchase.

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get Eldritch Invocations like Agonizing Blast to agonize your blasts. You can also get Eldritch Mind because hey we’re multiclassing two spellcasters so advantage on Concentration would be nice; thank you Tasha!

You can also learn another spell like Protection from Evil and Good, because you are still a priest (well, Shaman) who needs to ward off dark spirits.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks get to choose their Pact Boon and honestly... the only one that makes sense is Pact of the Tome for even more freaking cantrips. To start off Sacred Flame will attack your foes with the light of God, even if they’re hiding behind their turret. Thaumaturgy will let you spook some folk with thunder and lightning as you praise the spirits. And channeling good vibes with Guidance is always helpful.

You can also learn second level spells like Phantasmal Force from the Genie Warlock list, for a totem that only one foe can see. But for that one enemy they’ll believe it to be real!

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 4

Level 4 earns you another Ability Score Improvement. Seeing as we’re doing Warlock stuff more Charisma would help.

But even without Charisma you can still cast spells like Mirror Image to keep yourself safe. And you can also cast Prestidigitation for more small magic tricks. "I and I is gonna find ya man!"

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 5

5th level Warlocks can learn another invocation. Sitting around in base to chat isn’t a good idea, but you can chat with your allies regardless of where they are thanks to Far Scribe. You can write names in your Book of Shadows, and write messages to those people through Steam Chat to cast Sending on them!

You can also pick up third level spells and we’ll be getting the first of many walls with Wind Wall from the Djinni list to block projectiles!

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 6

As a 6th level Genie Warlock you can finally fly! Elemental Gift will let you activate flight for 10 minutes as a Bonus Action. You can fly up to 30 feet and can activate this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. Oh and you get to resist Thunder damage, which is always nice.

You can also learn more spells: to perform more Shamanistic duties Remove Curse will let your friends help themselves.

(Sun Wukong Skree artwork owned by Ronimo Games.)

LEVEL 11 - WARLOCK 7

7th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation but there honestly isn’t much I want from the 7th level. We’re probably going to swap this out later but for now take Undying Servitude to Animate Dead. Who doesn’t love having a couple of zombies?

But are you sick of your teammates never being around to help you? Then make your own! Summon Aberration will let you summon either Nibbs (Slaad), Max Focus (Beholderkin), or Snork Gunk (Star Spawn) to help you! They’ll stick around as long as you keep your concentration, and have a variety of abilities that you can read in the spell’s description. Just remember that money makes the world go around, and mercenaries don’t fight without being paid in Solar first. (What I mean is you need a 400 gold component.)

LEVEL 12 - WARLOCK 8

Level 8 will get you another Ability Score Improvement, so you should max out that Charisma since the majority of your levels are in Warlock! There actually isn’t much I want from the Warlock spell list anymore, so for now you’ll have to wait until...

LEVEL 13 - WARLOCK 9

Hey would it be redundant to get a 20 foot fly speed when we already have a 30 foot fly speed? Well Ascendant Step lets you cast Levitate on yourself at will. While this can be used an unlimited amount of times it does also require your Concentration, so be mindful of that. I’d also suggest replacing Undying Servitude with Otherworldly Leap, because jumping is easy in low gravity! (Unless you’re on AI 404.)

You can also learn 5th level spells like Creation to make an actual real totem! Though it’ll only be 5 feet tall... You can also pickup Seeming from the Djinni list. Skins for everyone! "Shopping Skree!"

LEVEL 14 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Genie Warlocks can send everyone to the shop in their Sanctuary Vessel. When you use Bottled Respite you can now choose up to five willing creatures that you can see within 30 feet of you, and the chosen creatures are drawn into the vessel with you.

Anyone (including yourself) who remains within the vessel for at least 10 minutes gains the benefit of finishing a short rest, and can add your proficiency bonus to the number of hit points they regain if they spend any Hit Dice as part of a short rest there. You can eject any number of creatures from the vessel as a bonus action, and everyone is ejected if you leave or die or if the vessel is destroyed.

Did you want more spells as well? Too bad; you get the Mind Sliver cantrip. What do you mean we have too many cantrips?

(Skree Announcer artwork owned by Ronimo Games.)

LEVEL 15 - WIZARD 5

Finally hopping back to Wizard to maybe use that Intelligence modifier of yours. 5th level class means third level spell slots, and third level spells in your book! Part of the reason we got rid of Undying Servitude is because you can just get Animate Dead from the Wizard spell list. Other than that I did say I’d grab every spell with “wall” in the title so go take Wall of Sand! People can walk through it, but it blocks vision!

LEVEL 16 - WIZARD 6

6th level Graviturgy Wizards can grab some Pills for the Mind and apply some slows. (Or well, technically knockback.) Gravity Well will cause anyone you affect with a spell to be moved 5 feet wherever you wish! Sure it doesn’t sound that impressive, but this does affect your Warlock spells too!

Speaking of spells: ha ha wall spells go brrrr. Wall of Water is, as the name implies, a wall of water! It slows projectiles, stops fire, and can be frozen solid! If you want to play more with knockback however Pulse Wave is a Dunamancy spell that can either knock enemies away from you or pull them closer!

LEVEL 17 - WIZARD 7

7th level Wizards can get some 4th level spells but I’m going to quickly grab Slow from the third level for a Voodoo Doll... or an Alien Hula Girl. And of course I’m going to take Wall of Fire because... wall.

LEVEL 18 - WIZARD 8

8th level Wizards can get another Ability Score Improvement which means finally you can max out your Intelligence modifier! This means you can prepare more spells like Gravity Sinkhole from the Dunamancy list for a deadly “sawblade” with the pull of a phone booth, and Dimension Door for a quick escape back to base!

LEVEL 19 - WIZARD 9

Hey look at that more spells! 5th level spells too like Wall of Stone and Wall of Force, both of which will be quite a challenge for enemies to get past!

LEVEL 20 - WIZARD 10

Our final level is the 10th level of Graviturgy Wizard for a few things. Firstly your Adjust Density ability from level 2 can now affect Huge objects and creatures, but more importantly you now have Violent Attraction. When another creature you can see in 60 feet hits with a weapon, you can use your reaction to amplify the damage to do an extra 1d10! Alternatively, if someone falls you can actually enable fall damage and make them take 2d10.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Is this a little weak for a capstone? Maybe, but what we’re really here for are spells! You can learn your final two spells... and one more cantrip! So why not grab Mold Earth, for a tiny totem you can spring from the ground at any time. For leveled spells we’ll be grabbing our last wall: Wall of Light... and the other spell with “wall” in its name: Passwall!

There are other spells at 5th level that are probably stronger but I’m sure you can spend some time consulting the spirits to let you learn more spells... as long as you’ve got the Solar for it.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Ah, it be time to get Jammin - Do you like having a lot of options? Well with tons of spells you can prepare, plenty of options for movement and utility, and 12 different cantrips you won’t ever be lacking in an option for any situation.

I want to kill you, everyday and every night - You are easily the king of Short Rests. Warlock slots and Arcane Recovery can allow you to get a lot of your magic back whenever you see fit, so you can adjust your magic as needed.

Dat be epic wit da Capital Epic - You’re sturdier than the average spellcaster too. Good saves for all 3 mental saves and good AC thanks to being a Dwarf.

CONS

I don't remember dat being part of the Metal! - You’ve got a rather silly amount of Concentration spells, notably with some at-will abilities like Guidance and Levitate. Options are nice and all but you can only have one wall up at a time.

Dem play a card on me! - Speaking of walls: we took at lot of spells (especially at 5th level) that were more for flavor than actual practicality. Sure you can pick up new Wizard spells as you adventure along but... Look I’m not saying I’d prefer to cast Haste over Wall of Sand; just that Wall of Sand isn’t exactly an impressive spell.

Weakless fools, why ya makin me do everyting alone? - Half your levels being in Wizard plus a 0 Constitution modifier means your health is likely somewhere around 100. One-shots are cheap and Power Word Kill isn’t fun, so maybe buy some Power Pills Turbo before heading out.

But you can bring a great deal of mechanical magic to any adventuring party or band of mercenaries. Consult the spirits and let your foes see the voodoo you do! Put up walls to protect your friends as you cut through your enemies; if battle is what you need, you’d best see da Skree! And happy (soon to be) birthday to me!

(Skreelator promotional artwork from the Microsoft Store. Artwork owned by Ronimo Games.)

#Awesomenauts #is a #video game #that exists #awesomenauts skree #dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #dnd wizard #dnd warlock

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super-d · 3 years ago

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oh my gosh im late to respond to this but im just now seeing it!!

To touch back on the discussion of Charisma, it really does get lost in translation easily. It's not just knowing how to charm someone (peer or patron), it's also about presence, sense of self, force of will. For a warlock this is key to be able to distinguish yourself apart from the patron and their power as you channel them. What kind of person would it take to make a bargain with a higher power at all? A warlock's journey often involves finding where to draw the line on what they deserve.

I would say mostly, no, the class isn't dependent on the ability score exactly, the method is much more important, but it does get a little tough to really divorce the ideas. I'll show you what I mean with your examples.

Remember we're not talking about simple characteristics or personality traits or a reflavoring. This isn't flavor; this is the core method of being the class.

I love Betty! I think she's a great example of an Int-based Warlock. I'm into this idea. She does have a narrative caveat: for her pact to work that way, what power is granted to her is necessarily broad grants of access she has argued for, something unrevokable once given (like legal right). I could see her power growing as a constant battle of justifying what more the devil should give her access to, pushing the envelope every time and arguing for more. Having to sit with the devil patron frequently to discuss terms and argue. Which is totally fine! And very cool! It just means the power she's borrowing is more premeditated than spontaneously channeled. Which starts to sound a lot like a Wizard's prepared spells. If I were playing this Int-based Warlock with low Charisma (or had one for a player, which I'd allow with some discussion) I'd be very tempted (or curious, if she was a player) to make that agreement a struggle for her. Betty's not utilizing magic through study; she's not firmly planting her metaphysical feet and telling reality how to be; she's operating someone else's magic through a Rube Goldberg'd legal contract. Everything about this screams alien and opportunity for clunk. At what point does the power she's borrowing become greater than her? What *is* the weight of Betty's soul, of her sense of self, of her presence? A 12 or 13 Charisma may not be enough to hold on to who she was as the devil's power pushes through her more strongly each level. The perfect cunning plot for any devil, pretending to argue against lending more power when it's exactly what'll get Betty's soul in the end. Super fun!!

Cleric is definitely more about their devotion, but it feels significantly less adaptable to me, unfortunately :x I'd love to see a great argument for one! I suspect Gandalf might be a good example to explore that possibility. I really do hate sounding like a rules-lawyer! But I suspect it falls victim to the same problem as above much too early to make it a thematic narrative struggle. I've met extremely smart theosophists who know their holy text back to front and have no idea how to pull their heads out of their own asses when they try to apply it. It's probably a common experience irl to see someone devoted to a god preach what they think their god has taught, and left their audience with the wrong impression because the devoted didn't really understand the lesson. The problem isn't their devotion: they lack the wisdom of the lessons they were supposed to have learned from the holy text. An Int-based Cleric of Apollo (god of the sun, healing, and prophesy) could make an excellent healer because she has studied anatomy, but at what Wisdom score does a person start thinking about preventative health? Do they have the wisdom to apply healing to more than flesh? Consider Dark Souls' Miracles: you recite a proverb or a documented miracle with an appropriate lesson, and you channel the power of it. Or LotR's Gandalf, who was a disciple of Neinna, and became the wise person he was due to his devotion to her. It brings up another question about devotion: How devoted is someone who is memorizing the sermon, but isn't learning the wisdom of the lessons?

Druid is always a funny one for me, I hesitate to comment on it because I've never connected well with most druid archetypes 🙈 Again, for sure the connection to nature is the most important. How does that connection / devotion / understanding manifest? If I were to argue against non-Wis abilities, it would be something about the wisdom of knowing when to let nature take its course and when to step in. Most druid writing seems to be about stepping away from control. I honestly don't remember how Druid's mechanics work outside the one homebrew I've made, but I don't really see a problem with alt ability scores here! I'd love to see these ideas more fleshed out.

Each of your bards is still using Charisma 😅

Your sorcerers are also still using Charisma.

Which is why I think it's important to really understand what the ability score is and why it's considered standard before we deviate! A reflavoring of character is way way way easier narratively and mechanically. I really want to see some of these ideas in action now!

Okay (long post incoming) so we discussed whether or not spell casting classes should be locked with one core ability score here and the broad conclusion was no, they should be fluid with what ever score works best for that character and how they interact with the class but several people brought up really interesting counter arguments I’d like to explore and hear other’s thoughts on.

Most of the counter arguments I’d seen revolved around what exactly the core ability score means and how it is intrinsically tied through the class. In our previous discussion we focused on warlocks and charisma so I will do so again for ease as it, along side druids and clerics, is a class this applies to the most.

@super-d made the excellent point that warlocks display their charisma not necessarily as being charming at face value or just silver tongued but in their mere presence and that if the character themself is not very charismatic, it is the entity they bargained with that gives them that charismatic presence to hold a room or enforce their will on the world around them.

@notnobody also made a great point that a warlock’s charisma “relates to self confidence, strength of character, and warlocks need that to differentiate between themselves and the patron’s magic”

These are both excellent counter arguments to what I proposed which brings me back to my original question: would altering these core ability scores alter the essence of the class itself?

Lets take an intelligence based warlock as an example to explore this.

My definition for the intelligence ability score in this example is going to be the ability to deductively reason events and correlations in the world around you and to find patterns, loop holes, and connections. Now, every person has a different definition of intelligence in regards to dnd but this is the definition I most commonly use and thus will be using in this example.

(under a cut we go)

Keep reading

#dnd #d&d #discussion #charisma #homebrew

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iamanartisttype · 8 years ago

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Why are classic role playing games falling out of the niche and into the mainstream?

I had to include “Mainstream” because there are so many new independent RPG’s being released everyday. It’s astounding when you think about the people who claim gaming is dying, but all these new games are popping up that just rejuvenate it. The thing is these aren’t mainstream titles. These are extremely niche titles that aren’t known nearly as well in the household as say Skyrim and World of Warcraft. These are two of the giants that come to my mind since they have now moved into the mainstream. In WoW’s case, it’s been mainstream since it’s second expansion while Skyrim is far more recent, but they all went mainstream for the same reasons. They’re no longer RPG’s.

WoW is a good place to start. So, what happened to WoW? Simple. It dumbed itself down. It became far more focussed on getting the player through the grind faster than keeping the player there. An RPG’s whole point of existing is to grind and grind until the player become a Demi God. They have to build themselves up and earn their equipment on the way. They also have to take their time to customize their character into its particular role that suits their play style the best.

WoW no longer does this. It now streamlines a certain amount of play styles and allows the players to pick between them. It gets rid of the freedom of complete choice for limited choice. It was possible to customize the type of class they were and not just get a little bit of everything. For instance, what if as a Hunter there was a particular stat that I had no use for and I could bypass it for something else that’s far more useful, such as say boosting my traps. Now, I have to pick one of three set versions which gives me 1/3rd of what I want. This isn’t what an RPG is. This is far more streamlined in order to remove the thinking part of the game along with the freedom of choice and the grind needed to get there.

Some will argue that the old style of the game ended up being streamlined in the end since everyone used the same builds that were optimized to death. The thing is that wasn’t for the whole game's population. If you were a player vs player or a hardcore raider type you’d want to optimize your build for your set role to maximize your abilities. No one forced anyone to do this. It just became a forgone conclusion that it had to be done. I never optimized my characters. I picked what I wanted and I did as I pleased. If someone had a problem with it I played with people who were in it to have fun. RPG’s are always going to be like that. There’s always going to be that optimized choice that outdoes all the rest. That’s a flaw that comes with freedom of choice. It’s a worthy flaw since the games so open that you’ll end up running into more people like you than those who want to just optimize from the get go.

Interestingly enough, Blizzard could have gone the same rout as Rift and allowed the game to optimize itself for the player and then allow everyone else to do it themselves if they pleased. This would have been a good compromise that allowed everyone to be happy without inhibiting creativity and freedom of choice. Sadly, compromises die when the mainstream comes a knocking.

The last thing WoW did was get rid of the grind. It used to be that the player would slowly improve their character and themselves by working their way up in money, skills, stats and player skill. With the lack of choice when it comes to class stats they can’t improve themselves the way they’d want to anymore. Money is now handed to the them. Anytime I’ve played a free account character I’ve hit max money easily. That's with a capped profession level and no access to the auction house. Skills have been gone for a long time. There was a time where you had to improve your ability with different weapons. The lower it was the harder it was to hit. Even armor and weapons are easy to come by. It used to be that the player had to save and buy some, luckily find it after fighting something or make it themselves. All three are gone because quests simply provide them with equipment. It’s an okay idea to get people off and running, but as the game goes on the rewards get ridiculous. It’s possible to get a blue item for delivering a message? Come on! It was far more enjoyable when the first time a helmet or shoulder armor was found. Some of us literally jumped for joy. The other thing that suffers is the player's skill. If they can just roll through every enemy without a second thought no one's ever going to improve their player style. It’s not about all that anyone. It’s all a fast forward button.

Moving on to Skyrim which went into the complete opposite direction to WoW. An example of where it used to stand is the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Oblivion is a classic RPG. Some will argue Morrowind is superior, but I have to use Oblivion since I haven’t played Morrowind. So do forgive me Morrowind fans, I’m not forsaking you. In Oblivion, there are stats such as strength, intelligence, endurance and so on that could be increased with each level. The way leveling worked was similar to Skyrim. The player would have specific talents that would improve just by using them. Once they improved enough times it was possible to level up. With Skyrim, it turned into being able to increase health, magicka, and stamina. With stamina, the player also gained a weight carry bonus. A point that was just gained could then be used on any talent that they’re currently leveling up to get a bonus.

It sounds so much easier doesn’t it? The randomness of the stats bonus is now gone in favor of something much simpler. This allows for more freedom with the creation of a character and allows for unlimited possibilites. Unlimited possibilities that end up doing the game in.

I just spent a lot of time on how closed off WoW became with it’s freedom, so this is going to feel odd at first, but Skyrim allows the player too much freedom. RPG’s have so much freedom of choice to them, but players always had to stick to their roles. They couldn’t be a mage in heavy armor without suffering some sort of penalty to other skills that would benefit their spell casting. They couldn’t be a sneak thief with heavy armor. Heavy armor is far more clunky and noisy compared to lighter and tighter leather armor. Mages and thieves need to be light on their feet to create space against their enemy. Wearing lighter armor or no armor helps that problem, but it comes at a cost of protection. This is called balancing. A person who can steal like a pro has to have the threat of angering the warrior he’s stealing from. Without the balance of the threat the player might as well just kill the guy and take his stuff. The player is a near god from the beginning without proper balancing. There is set roles with strengths and weaknesses that create a challenge throughout the game. If everyone could do everything then what's the point in playing a role?

World of Warcraft had the freedom of customizing a specific class. The class still had disadvantages compared to the rest of the classes, but there were ways to help offset it. If a hunter could wear plate armor and have extremely powerful ranged and melee weapons and a pet on top of it why wouldn’t this be the dominant class? Why wouldn’t one be a warlock or mage in heavy armor that can summon demons or atronachs? Everyone would pick those. They’re incredibly powerful. They don’t fit a specific role. For every warrior a healer is needed and for everyone of each people who can do damage is needed, but they’re in danger of dying easily without the warrior holding the line. The player also needs to learn their roles strengths and weaknesses. That's the challenge to the game.

Skyrim gives the player no reason to play again. They can be everything. Not like a jack of all trades type whose only good, not great at everything. The player is a god of all trades as long as they level themselves up. It completely defeats the purpose of roles in an RPG.

Being a god of everything is the honest reason that RPG’s are falling into the mainstream. No one seems to want to play a role anymore. They just want to do whatever they please. Allowing anyone to do anything opens up the market to new people who just want to run around and kill dragons or in WoW’s case, do dungeons. The whole build oneself up and overcome their weaknesses aspect is gone in favor of do as you please. These aren’t RPGs anymore. There is only one role to play now. That's the every-man role of do all that you please with no restrictions. For the niche it’s a let down, but for those who want to jump right in thoughtlessly, that’s perfect until it goes so far that it alienates everyone.

The Call of Duty crowd of today does not want to think. They want to jump in and play. RPG’s have never been about mindlessly doing quests and dungeons. It was about building oneself up. Whether it took the player a year or five the player still made headway. Even in Everquest, the biggest grind-fest of grind fests, this was true. I’m more attached to WoW for its lore and world, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used here. Killing ten plus enemies a day gets the player somewhere. It builds them up to a point where things start to get easy. They’ll be at that point where they’ll be getting great equipment from dungeons, they’ll hit max level at some point and even if they don’t their skills will be higher and that’s when they’ll really start rolling. Mainstream RPG’s are forgoing this for an easier early game. It’s sad since the early game just set the player up for the easy ride. Not anymore. No one wants anything to be challenging anymore.

Thank you for reading!

I’m going to go play Oblivion.

#Role Playing Games #RPG #RPG's #world of warcraft #WoW #Elder Scrolls Series #Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim #Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion #Skyrim #Oblivion #Blizzard #Mainstream #Bethesda #Video Games

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