#druid vs. civilization

[trickster-spirit]

my yard is under attack by city employees. apparently leaving your lawn wild is not acceptible. that's ok, i'll be sowing stinging nettle, encouraging my blackberry bush to grow around my house, and creating perfect hornet nesting sites. see you guys next month, you nosy fucking pricks.

[jzargo]

I do think there's an interesting discussion to be had about how Halsin, continuously, flees responsibility.

The most obvious example of this is in Act 1, when he decides to call for a new Arch Druid to handle the Grove while he goes with you to Moonrise Towers, but this can also be seen in Act 2 when he leaves the Shadow Cursed lands to accompany you to Baldur's Gate. While he did travel with you to find the Cult of the Absolute, his primary motivation in Act 2 was lifting the Shadow Curse and freeing Thaniel. Regardless of how you resolved events in Act 2, it makes the most sense for Halsin to stay behind - either to help the land heal in the aftermath of the Shadow Curse, or to find a new way to free the land if you don't lift the curse.

But again he flees, and he goes with you.

Now I know the Doylist reasoning for this is Larian made him romancable last-minute and so handwaved in an explanation of Halsin wanting to tag along to help you fight the Netherbrain/he was dtf by that point, but the thing is it is consistent with his character. For someone who is continuously placed in a position of authority, Halsin seems to be deeply uncomfortable with responsibility - or at the very least feels deeply inadequate for the task, and all-too readily passes it over to someone he feels is more prepared for it.

By the epilogue he seems to have (mostly) figured out this part of his character, as he's returned to the SCL and is mentoring children there, but I think it's a shame we don't see this aspect explored more, especially since his content is so lacking in Act 3. If you're not romancing Halsin, he's just sort of...there. He has a few comments about Baldur's Gate and there's a few discussions you can have with him about civilization vs nature (which don't really go anywhere or have any meaningful impact on his character), but otherwise his character severely stagnates in Act 3.

Exploring how Halsin feels now that his greatest "failure" - the Shadow Curse - has been resolved, could have been a fascinating turn for his character. Forcing him to examine how that event affected how he views any other responsibility he's been given (It's easy to draw a line from "he feels he failed massively when Ketheric Thorm cast the Shadow Cures" to "he feels like he is incapable of handling any sort of responsibility") and helping him to reconcile those feelings could have been a really nice resolution to character threads that otherwise just sort of fall to the wayside by Act 3.

I just think there's ample opportunity for Halsin to have a really interesting character arc by Act 3.

[russanogreenstripe]

I've been playing Owlcat's adaptation of Pathfinder: Kingmaker and have some thoughts

There's a choices they made when designing their game that I think are really interesting from a design perspective, even if I don't fully understand or even agree with them in all cases, but they are useful intellectual exercises. Perhaps the most interesting to me is how they handle Neutral alignments.

I'm going to assume most people finding this know about the 3x3 Alignment grid used in Dungeons and Dragons and other games descended from it, including the 1e version of Pathfinder that the video game is based on. The classic Lawful vs Chaotic and Good vs Evil. Countless gallons of ink and terabytes of text have been spilled over this very basic system, but it's usually the ends of those axes that get the attention. Neutral rarely gets as much detail or analysis about it compared to Good/Evil/Chaos/Law, and it's usually in one of three modes. If I had to come up with names or descriptors for them, I'd go with something like Unaligned, Not Opted In, and Balance, and versions of these exist for both axes. Unaligned is when these opposing forces don't register for you at all, usually due to a lack of cognitive capability. Simple constructs, plants, and animals often fall in the Unaligned category, and I've heard this approach to Neutral basically described as "Neutral Hungry" - what does a bear think about moral debates? It doesn't, it only cares about whether it's hungry or not. Most people don't expect complex philosophical thinking out of a pitcher plant. Not Opted In is when a person has enough cognitive capacity that they could make principled decisions regarding the two axes, but for whatever reason simply don't or haven't. Most people aren't saints or devils, paragons or chameleons. They're just... normal. They're not concerned with cosmic struggles for Freedom versus Order, or pledged to uphold the tenets of Kindness or the debasements of Sin. They just kinda go about doing their thing without needing a big picture. When they make decisions, alignment isn't their primary factor - other things like practicality, culture, needs, and other mundane forces are more important to them. Balance is when a person does have cognitive capacity to recognize these dynamics, and intentionally chooses none of them. This is the classic Druid alignment, the middle way between the extremes. It is a choice and a firm principle, but not in a Lawful or Chaotic way, but in a way that is simultaneously both and neither.

There are certain universal dialogue options in Kingmaker that are tagged with alignments. Any character can choose those options, and doing so will shift your alignment meter towards that alignment very slightly. Then there are some that are tagged with "Requires Good/Evil/Law/Chaos/Neutral" - for those ones, only characters who have that alignment can select it, and also gives a bump towards that alignment. Pretty straightforward, and a fairly representative way to handle these systems in a rigid video game. The universal Neutral options (whether that's True Neutral, Neutral Good, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Neutral, or Lawful Neutral) tend to be somewhere around Unaligned or Not Opted In. Where things get interesting is when we look at the "Requires Neutral" options - all the examples I can think of are written intentionally from a Balance perspective. They come up when two independent groups or forces are in opposition, and these options allow you to either choose no side, or choose BOTH sides as a mediator. And when you choose those options, there truly is an opportunity for reconciliation that prevents otherwise inevitable division and even bloodshed. If you asked me out of the blue "Hey, where on the alignment grid do you find brokering a peace agreement between two opposed factions that stops a civil war?" I'd probably guess either Good or Lawful. Owlcat Games says, "No, that's True Neutral." And the opposing forces don't need to be different halves of an alignment axis - there's a section early on where the only way to not take a side between two Lawful Evil groups and prevent escalation to full-blown conflict is to take an option that Requires Neutral. There's scenarios later that let you act a mediator between two very different people, and two opposed nations, and if you want to truly be able to bring both sides to the table in those scenarios, you have to be Neutral. Even if your intended outcomes are things like "Foster understanding" or "Avert a civil war," things I would categorize as Good, the game makes them Neutral. My current playthrough is mostly Chaotic Good, and I've been pretty satisfied with those options. But when there is deep, deep opposition between two groups in the Stolen Lands, Good won't always bridge a gap between them, but Neutral can. This makes Neutral options an actual Choice instead of just the thing you pick when there's not a Good/Lawful/Chaotic/Evil option - it is a principled position on its own, just as nuanced and effective as the extremes of the chart, and not just the weird ugly grey color in the middle of the alignment chart, and I think that's neat. That's different than the way I thought about it before, and that's cool to analyze.

[bijoumikhawal]

Thoughts on ds9 main cast as DnD classes

Sisko: Is it possible to be a warlock without being the initiating party? Actually scratch that, depending on how you interpret the whole thing with his mother and the prophets, he could be a sorcerer. I don't think he's a paladin because to me the defining feature of a paladin is the oath; Sisko is initally reluctant to being the Emissary and even tries to hand off the responsibility to someone else, partially out of genuine belief they might be better suited to the job. The fact that sorcerers don't chose their power is a defining characteristic, and not all sorcerers are from a bloodline. Some have a somewhat random awakening, like Sisko’s entering the wormhole. They don't learn new magic from books; they discover new abilities through the course of life, which reminds me of the episode with his visions.

Kira: Paladin. She becomes the person she is by dedicating herself to a cause wholly and completely, she never strays from it, and she's still devoted to it to this day, to the point where she gets chosen as a vessel for the prophets during the show down that wasn't. Alternatively: you could argue monk, and say her cloister was her terrorist cell, but I don't know it's as strong as the argument for paladin. That said, I am biased.

Dax: I struggled with her, not gonna lie. I feel like her massive jock energy is a known quantity, but she's also the science officer and clearly does a lot of research. I feel like you could most safely argue warlock- like I said for Sisko, sorcerers don't choose their path, and while joining could be similar to the outside influences in sorcerers, the process itself is a choice and ultimately similar to the mutually beneficial pacts warlocks carry out.

O'Brien: his face is next to the entry for "artificer". But if we were sticking to the core classes, I think his vibe is pretty close to those posts about Wizards as IT support technicians. You don't have to be a special guy to be a wizard, you just learn your trade.

Bashir: Sorcerer, but in a hypothetical DnD AU, not the usual way where your grandmother was a dragon fucker. More of in a horrible experiment way. However, he either intentionally multiclasses or pretends to be something else, and I think that's a ranger. From DnD beyond's single sentence summary: "(A ranger is) a warrior who combats threats on the edges of civilization". Now, the stuff in the rulebook isn't necessarily the best or only conceptualization of what a class is, but Julian does have that infamous line from the pilot. From a character analysis standpoint (though not an game mechanics one) you could argue disease is a favored enemy.

Worf: He's definitely a martial heavy class, not a primarily casting class. He doesn't fit as a barbarian at all, I don't think he's got a particular devotion that makes an oath for a paladin, and I don't believe he has a spiritual element to his character found with monks (admitting of course, that I'm not familiar with TNG). He does have the solitary style rangers are associated with in ds9, but not the nature association. You could argue that by serving in Starfleet, he, like Julian, is protecting a civilization from the outskirts as someone politically involved in the Klingon Empire. And even draw in his decision to live on the Defiant into this. You could also say he's a straightforward fighter.

Odo: I think you could make an argument for Odo as a paladin- his commitment to his idea of justice and fairness is very oath like, but I also find the read of paladins as cops kind of boring and not getting at the meat of what a paladin is. You could argue druid because of the shapeshifting and the idea of balance found in the class vs his idea of justice, but I feel like overall changelings focus more on a mastery over nature than being an extension of it, and that's pretty antithetical to druids when played as standard.

Quark: I do not think he is a rogue. To be fair, we see his failed schemes because those are the interesting ones, but Quark stans to my understanding like his middle aged fail babygirl vibe. I'm not sure what else he would be though... he's a decent negotiator and a good people person, so a high charisma class. That leads me towards bard, though Quark isn't much of an artist or speech maker.

Garak: hot take! Hot take alert from the known clown! Rogue/Paladin multiclass. Rogue is obvious- its a favorite for spy type characters. However- the third episode Garak is in, we learn about his sheer devotion to Cardassia, and how he classifies it as love. Paladins aren't the way they are because of religion (though that's often a big element), it's because of devotion. And that devotion can be deeply destructive. Plus- tell me, upon thinking about it, that afterimage isn't an oathbreaker level breakdown.

[paperanddice]

Elemental Locus

Elemental loci are living spirits that embody a whole section of the world. Truly immortal, even destroying its body simply lays it dormant for a time, up to several centuries, before it simply re-inhabits another section of land and returns. They may be suppressed for a time as natural Icons lay low and Icons of civilization hold great power, but with the return of the High Druid those elemental loci which have been dormant for some time are waking up again, and may unleash nature's wrath upon a world that seeks to abuse and strip mine itself of all beauty and resources.

An elemental locus' form is the land itself. Most often stone comprises a good portion of their body, though forests, coastlines, and even the air itself may be animated into action. Often one of them can lay in rest while an entire city grows around it, only waking up when prompted by an especially egregious act against nature, such as mass pollution or escalating resource depletion. When the entire hillside rises up to fight you, few can withstand it.

Inspired by the Tome of Beasts 1. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Pathfinder 2e

Elemental Locus Creature 17 Rare, Gargantuan, Elemental Perception +28; darkvision, tremorsense 120 feet Skills Athletics +34, Nature +27, Survival +27 Str +9, Dex -5, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +0 Embody Terrain Each elemental locus is bound to a region of land up to a hundred square miles. It takes on the elemental nature of that region of land. Select three elements from air, earth, fire, metal, water, and wood. The elemental locus gains the traits matching this choice, and learns the language matching those elements. Massive The elemental locus takes up a 60-foot by 60-foot space. It ignores difficult terrain, and treats greater difficult terrain as difficult terrain. Huge and smaller creatures can end their movement in the elemental locus' space, and vice versa AC 37; Fort +32, Ref +23, Will +27; +2 status to all saves vs. primal HP 385; Immunities bleed, paralyzed, poison, sleep; Resistances physical 15 (except adamantine) Immortal (primal) When the elemental locus is destroyed, it re-forms 25 weeks later, fully healed. Speed 15 feet Melee ridge +32 (reach 15 feet, magical), Damage 3d12+19 bludgeoning Ranged rock +32 (brutal, magical, range increment 120 feet), Damage 3d6+19 bludgeoning Giant Slam [2 actions] The elemental locus makes a single ridge Strike and compares the attack roll result to the AC of all creatures within a 15 foot cube anywhere within its reach. This counts as two attacks for the elemental locus' multiple attack penalty. Natural Formation [1 action] (concentrate) Until the next time it acts, the elemental locus appears to be a natural terrain feature. It has an automatic result of 52 on Deception checks and DCs to pass as a section of terrain Spawn Elemental [1 action] (concentrate, primal, summon) The elemental locus loses 110 hp, and it summons one creature with the elemental trait, at least one trait that matches a choice from the elemental locus' Embody Terrain, and is level 13 or lower. This summoned elemental remains for 24 hours, or until the elemental locus dismisses it as an action with the concentrate trait. This action also gains the trait matching the choice from Embody Terrain. Throw Rock [1 action]

13th Age

Elemental Locus Triple-Strength 12th level wrecker [elemental] Initiative: +13 Swinging Ridge +17 vs. AC (3 attacks) – 90 damage. Natural 14+: The target pops free from the elemental locus. Natural 18+: The target is also stunned until the end of its next turn. R: Hurdled Stone +17 vs. AC (1d3 nearby or far-away enemies in a group) – 90 damage. Crushing Avalanche +17 vs. PD (1d4 nearby enemies) – 140 damage. Natural Even Hit: The target is stuck (save ends). Limited Use: The elemental locus can only use this attack when the escalation die is even. Spawn Elemental: If the elemental locus takes 200 damage from a single source, it calves off an elemental. It summons an air, earth, fire, or water elemental (choose at random, see below). The summoned elemental appears next to the elemental locus and enters initiative after the next two creatures have taken their turn. Resist Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning 18+. AC 27 PD 27 MD 21 HP 1300 Level 12 Elemental Slam +17 vs. AC – 60 damage. Elemental Type: Each elemental type that the elemental locus spawns has its own additional ability: Air: The elemental has the flight ability and has a +5 bonus to disengage checks. Earth: The elemental gains a +2 bonus to AC and PD. Fire: The elemental deals fire damage with its slams and deals 10 ongoing fire damage. Water: The elemental has the swim ability, and has a +2 bonus to saves. Resist Weapon Damage 14+. AC 27 PD 25 MD 22 HP 100

[bull-at-the-gate]

I am not immune to taking my silly little bg3 Tavs and setting them up in little scenes in my mind. I may be cringe, but, after 4 months of being confined to my desk or bed rest I will be as cringe as I please UwU

I like to think about how each of my Tavs (plus one lil Durge) would interact with each other along with how they’d interact with the companions.

Sundew and Hollow would bicker like siblings, Hollow (Durge) surprisingly is the more level headed one bc monk and Sundew finds that irritating.

Hollow is, so far, my redeemed Way of the Open Hand Durge, their delightfully edgy name was from me just thinking, well, the first thing they’d try to figure out is ‘what am I?’ and the only description they figured in a pretty stressful moment was, ‘I’m Hollow’, and whenever anyone asked who they were from there on, they responded quite literally.

Very much morally grey still, but they look to the guidance of their friends and those who Hollow had been told are good people, or they think are good people. (*ahem* They thought Korilla, and by extension, Raphael was one of those good people for a minute because of a mishap with goblins, sleeping potions, and chains *ahem*.)

So, still down for murder and wanton violence, but mostly in defense of their friends or revenge, not to get their blood to settle (except for when they’re overstimulated, then they are extremely down for violence). They are a bit scared of themself for their friends’ sake and usually forgoes sleeping near the rest of the party when possible and locks themself away when not.

(In-game they’re romancing Karlach bc I wanted to see the different interactions with Durge vs Tav, but canonically in my head they demi/ace)

-

Sundew was my first Tav, and of course a Druid, I’d forget to dismiss her wild shape so much that I just decided that she canonically spent a lot of time as a myriad of creatures. In part because she enjoys it and in part as an avoidance method for dealing with her own personal issues of self loathing. She’s adamant to see the good in everyone no matter their past and does her best to lift up others and offer unconditional support.

She can be a little judgy, because while she’s lived through some awful experiences being raised in an extremist sect of the Circle of Shadows, she’s still a bit naïve on the intricacies of the human experience in ‘civilized’ society. She does think herself as a good judge of character though, which either makes her seem more or less judgmental. She’s also a little possessive, which I imagine post-game she’s working on improving.

She spent probably around half her life in total in some wild shape or another and as a Moon Druid is closely connected to them, Sundew sees them each as individual beings that reside as a part of her and they influence her habits and personality.

Overall, she’s the mom friend

(She is also a certified Karlach kisser, and I like to think post-game, after getting Karlach’s engine fixed, the two of them go and take over running the Last Light Inn and help with restoring Reithwin while helping Hollow with hunting down the remaining Bhaal cultists and spawn)

[wuxiaphoenix]

On Characters: Traumatic Backstory

I have to admit, I tend to give my main characters trauma. First off because if you’re a hero you’ve probably been the nail sticking up in regular life too, and that tends to have consequences of the hammer-shaped variety. Second... well. Is there anyone reading this who hasn’t been traumatized by something? It’s kind of endemic to the human experience. Bad things happen, and sometimes they happen to you.

The trick is to walk that tightrope. To make sure your character neither comes across as a helpless traumatized victim nor a stone-cold emotionless stoic who sees loved ones murdered in front of them and writes it off as just another Tuesday. Trauma shapes your character. But it doesn’t define them.

To give you an example, I’m building the backstory for Sionnach, the druid in the Druid vs. Zombies idea. I don’t know yet who exactly was at war with whom, but she is a veteran... as a medic. She may have had some offensive magic, but mostly she worked in the equivalent of a MASH. Druid powers to shape plants, earth, and stone were incredibly useful in setting up and maintaining field hospitals. Druid magic in relation to animals can also be handy to keep off scavengers that would bring pests and infection....

And was completely useless against a divine locust plague sent by an enemy cleric, because the locusts were effectively magical constructs. Sionnach could raise physical and magical barriers against them to protect herself and... some of the patients. She couldn’t stop them.

Traumatic? You bet. Does she have nightmares? Does she ever.

But most of her life Sionnach lives like a lot of other trauma survivors live. Basically, that part of my life sucked, I’m over here doing Something Else, and let’s let sleeping dogs lie. Some people might call it denial. To someone who’s gone through trauma, it’s more... that part of life isn’t relevant, day to day? Dwelling on the past is one of the fastest ways to get trapped in it, and that dark way self-harm and harm to others lies.

Should she get therapy? Eh. Who has the time and resources for that when there’s so much work to do? Assuming there are any therapists who would actually help manage the trauma, instead of try to either downplay it or dig it deeper because of their own grudges against the enemy kingdom that attacked them.

Of course, our bad guy with his zombie horde and his grudge against said cleric will bring up the whole mess all over again. Meaning part of the story struggle will be Sionnach versus all those horrible memories, and fighting to act with rational thought rather than howl and break things.

May not be just her. I suspect a fair number of people are in a border town like Quarrytown for the same reasons a lot of people headed West after the American Civil War.

(Hmm. That actually brings new light on making caryatids, animated statues would be excellent swarm-smashers....)

Consider what your characters have been through before the story starts. Odds are something bad happened to them; from the queen bee of their high school setting them up to be humiliated, all the way up through near-death experiences. If you have a character with heroic willpower, they won’t be thinking of that trauma all the time! It’ll leak out in small ways; not trusting a woman with a certain hairstyle or laugh, avoiding dark alleys, looking for an excuse to start a fight before someone else stabs you in the back. The trauma is always there.

It’s just not always obvious.

Your job, as the writer, is to paint that trauma as part of being human, and show how heroes - how anyone - can go on to still be good people regardless. Your readers will appreciate it!

[vaultsixtynine]

Oh please give us your bg3 review IGN style

69/420 not enough gates

more genuinely (trying to keep this mostly spoiler free but there are a few for act 3 characters and brief discussion of the end of the game):

pros -

before you even see any of my petty complaints: bg3 GOTY no contest. i just have an opinion about everything on earth. okay let's keep going.

extremely well crafted characters and, in most cases, character arcs. fleshed out, feel real, feel lovable even though they are all so distinct. quality of character design and voice acting goes without saying. really powerful reflections on power and those who abuse it and the myriad of ways that power can be inflicted on others - on their bodies, on their minds, how it shapes them, how they can recover and heal from that.

wonderful attention to detail in almost every sense - storytelling, beautiful world, wonderful combat variety and interest save for a few standout "you just want this to be Hard so you put More Enemies In" exceptions, cool items, adventuring feels fun, there's plenty of secret things to discover.

just so fun to play and explore and exist in the world. if one beat isn't landing, there will be five more elsewhere that will. there is something to love for everyone in this game.

i was raised on forgotten realms rpgs and (obviously personal bias here) this scratched an itch so deep inside me that i hadn't realized was basically unfulfilled except for by a few rare exceptions. i loooooove a good fantasy rpg. baldur's gate 3 is a Really Good fantasy rpg.

i love you jaheira. if there's an old lady in a video game with a positive relationship to my pc that i can get emotionally attached to I Fucking Will.

dammon i also love you please call me, vesper, the real person. anathema the in-game player character can go do whatever she's gonna do but me and dammon should meet up. i wanted to be a blacksmith when i was 14 is that doing anything for you.

larian took the opportunity to play with some underlying assumptions that have been built into the world of d&d since it was created, most specifically "is there such a thing as inherent good or inherent evil". this is a very strong through-line, but it leads me into our next sectionnnn [drumroll]

cons -

no fat people. this is frankly just kind of embarrassing in a way that will make me incandescently angry if i think about it too long <3

pacing between acts is not the best. they wrote and built themselves into a corner with act 1 being the early access phase and i kind of wish they had been willing to Alter act 1 in a meaningful way to correct the rest of the game. this is probably my Biggest Core Complaint that has the largest leg to stand on. i'm not going to go into further detail because it requires extreme spoilers.

simplistic interaction with the concept of religion in a game world dominated by gods and their machinations.

unfortunately subject to many of the frustrating facets of the d&d multiverse. druid's relationship with nature vs. civilization. paladins in their entire. i could go on but this isn't really larian's fault, and they already were playing with...

the concept of intrinsic good/evil mentioned above AND the discussion of abuse/power/etc. - this was very interesting and powerful to me. the act structure pacing was kind of fucked up from inception. this all combined into what i felt like was a... Perfectly Fine but Honestly Weirdly Flat ending. it's serviceable. i will probably never think about it again until i replay the game. when i compare it to some other rpg game endings, it feels almost as though it's an afterthought, a thing to be checked off a list to say 'i'm done' - not a meaningful resolution to these questions and concepts they spent so much time and effort setting up. this is obviously my personal opinion and it probably landed differently to others, but i found myself feeling like the game had already ended with the resolution of actual core character dramas earlier in act 3, rather than the Actual ending. it didn't say anything important to me in a game that had already gone well out of its way to say MANY important things to me, and thus it felt very odd.

vesper's feeling petty category (ACTUAL WRITTEN-OUT SPOILERS) -

orin was my favorite of the chosen and i wanted her to be scarier and more of a genuine menace. the bhaal cult stuff was some of my favorite in the game but i wanted it to take a genuine detour into being a horror game for just a lil bitt

love the emperor specifically his extremely divorced energy with the pc. however. he spends the entire game constantly saying how much he hates the elder brain, how much he hated serving it. you can go out of your way to be kind to him, connect with him. he IS a bastard and i don't want to diminish that in any way, but i feel like the orpheus/emperor decision was nearly arbitrary in how it got resolved - binary switch, none of your repore-generation with yon emperor means Anything; he's spent all game manipulating you (in a nearly player-like fashion, might i add, which i thought was fun) and yet also is clearly attached in some fashion; you could argue that his apparent vulnerability and attachment was also just a manipulation tactic but i would have liked to be able to influence him for just a moment. a little reverse osmosis. we've been doing everything your way, babe, let's do it my way for once. AT THE VERY LEAST: why did he join the netherbrain. that just feels silly for his character. him throwing a fit and saying "FINE you can't fire me I QUIT" and fucking off would've still been better than going over to the netherbrain. imhco.

i liked durge soooo much but the reveal was a TAD too "oooooooh YOU'RE revan" for me.

i know i already wrote about this in the cons section but GOD the jumbled act pacing. this could be a full essay on that alone.

^^^ sorry one more sentiment about that. it kind of ruined the building of atmosphere in this game and that's so sad to me because i love Atmosphere more than almost any other game trait and when games pull it off? they become immortal inside of me.

there are clearly so many spots where something got cut and nothing filled the gap. in most cases it's tolerable; your brain can glide over it. in SOME cases it's so obvious that it becomes distracting and frustrating - the missing niece vampire in cazador's mansion, karlach and gale's companion quests Writ Large, yetcetra.

what the fuck is going on with halsin's writing. he's a delightful hunk of a man who doesn't seem to realize he's the stupidest druid alive who can't decide his actual philosophy one way or the other. not his fault. i just want to know what the hell happened there.

MISSING OWLBEAR CONTENT I WANT TO SEE MY BOY GROW UP BIG AND STRONG BUT HE JUST ARRIVED TO THE FINAL FIGHT ALREADY BIG???? I FEEL LIKE I MISSED MY BABY'S FIRST STEPS AND FIRST WORDS I FEEL LIKE THE WORST PARENT ON EARTH.

[danse--macabre]

thinking about Thyss while I can't sleep and how she's almost freakishly devoted to what seems like a thankless task without reason, like her city collapsed and half her family actually schismed and stopped worshipping Lolth and the other half became subsumed into a greater house in Menzoberranzan and here she is. Still making maps. And she realised her oath was not to Lolth - was perhaps never to Lolth - but instead to the Underdark itself. In this sense Thyss is a paladin with the heart of a druid: someone who is devoted to the environment that surrounds her, but Thyss rejects most civility vs. wilderness discourse in favour of a view that sees the drow as part of the ecosystem.

[finifugality]

thinking of how mal is before her memory loss vs after is driving me insane. she wakes up with nothing, only these weird people who are willing to all travel and work together to solve their mutual problem. she has nothing to fall back on, no "normal" mannerism or etiquette to recall bc she never had those in the first place. the first several days is just her floundering, watching how they all act and trying to mimic them. everything to do with a druid comes naturally, and she assumes it must be that she's just similar to an animal - maybe she didn't actually socialize with people before this? when the urges come she thinks they're animalistic, that this is why she knows natural but not civilization. yet the party doesn't kick her out, they don't even give her any rules. they're mostly helpful! compassionate!! it feels so foreign - is it because she can't remember anyone ever being so kind, or because no one ever was?

after regaining her memories she then has to try and line the two versions of herself up, make them fit together. the one who embraced being bhaalspawn and delighted in it, though still fought to be her own person... or the one who was simply mal, who had friends and fought side by side with people who truly cared for her and she them. how does she go back to who she was, now that she's known what friendship is like? how love and compassion feels?

how is she supposed to slaughter everyone if she cant bring herself to hurt this group of people?

[drivingmebonkas]

Hey, so I’m re-reading RogueDruids’ Hero Class Civil Warfare for the nth time but remembering my past difficulty with my memory I decided I’d make a character reference sheet this time. It’s proven to be pretty useful so I thought I’d share it with you, in case your memory is as bad as mine. Please feel free to make good use of it! :D 

Seriously, mine’s so bad my father once bought me Brahmi tea to improve my memory and then got mad at me because I continuously forgot to drink it. And the amount of time it took to remember my friend Erins’ name is just shameful.

In case you haven’t read this gem of a fic here’s a link to it. Give it a shot!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14446512?view_full_work=true

[paperanddice]

While many of the lesser elementals are used by both druids and wizards as warriors and servants, these "purified" elementals are an arcane only creation. Wizards who try to conjure these greater elementals do so on the grounds that they are bringing each element to its greatest form, purifying it to the ultimate expression of the natural form, though druids take the opposite view. These aren't the elements at their most pure. This is warping them, forging out the natural versions to an artificial form, forcing them improperly into a shape demanded by civilization. This disagreement can lead to open warfare, as druids try to hunt down wizards who abuse the natural spirits of the elements to create their unnatural weapons of war. While the wizards might technically be using these powerful elementals in these fights, in practice purified elementals are incredibly difficult to control, and prone to damaging their own allies.

Acid is a natural thing, but in not in the concentrations and potency of the acid elemental. Even the most acidic natural lake is far weaker than the acid elemental, which needs massive quantities of exceptionally dangerous acid to be able to be conjured in this form. These elementals are constantly hungry, driven to "eat" by dissolving matter of any sort. They do not distinguish between melting down stone or flesh, aside from flesh generally being a much faster process and thus easier to devour. In the heat of battle, as it washes about in great waves of acid, it doesn't distinguish between friend and foe.

Metal elementals require great amounts of purified metal. Iron is no good, the carbon within weakens the body until it functions closer to a regular stone elemental. No, the impurities must be burned clear, again and again, even beyond regular steel. This process is incredibly time and cost intensive, but those who seek to push beyond nature's limits will get a powerful, brutal warrior. One that must be used with caution, as the whirling blades and bludgeons it forms for its limbs aren't cautious, and will shred through its allies if they hang too close.

This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Acid Elemental  10th level wrecker [elemental]  Initiative: +15 Burning Current +14 vs. PD (up to 2 enemies) - 20 damage plus 10 ongoing acid damage. C: Great Wave +14 vs. PD (1d4 random nearby creatures) - 10 acid damage plus 10 ongoing acid damage. After this attack, the acid elemental pops free from all engaged enemies and moves to engage one of the targets. Absorb Acid 18 and Below: When the acid elemental is targeted by an attack that deals acid damage that rolls a natural 18 or less, the elemental heals 4d12 hit points and takes no damage from the attack. Acid Splash: When an enemy engaged with the acid elemental attacks it, that enemy takes 10 acid damage. Acidic Vapors: Enemies engaged with the acid elemental take a -5 penalty to saves against ongoing acid damage. Freeze: When the acid elemental takes cold damage, it must roll a saving throw. On a failure, the elemental is weakened until the end of its next turn. Swim. Resist Weapon Damage 16+. AC 25 PD 23 MD 19 HP 200

Metal Elemental  10th level troop [elemental]  Initiative: +11 Metal Limbs +14 vs. AC (3 attacks) - 26 damage. Miss: 13 damage. Blender +14 vs. PD (all engaged creatures) - 30 damage. Earth Glide: The metal elemental can burrow through dirt, stone, and metal without having to make a burrow check. It must still use a standard action to start burrowing. Heat Transfer: When the metal elemental takes fire damage, its melee attacks deal an extra 5 fire damage until the end of its next turn. Resist Weapon Damage 16+: If the metal elemental is hit by a critical hit or fire damage, it loses this damage resistance (save ends). AC 25 PD 24 MD 19 HP 214

[thewonkywitchescauldron]

The Time of The Winter Solstice

The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice, also known as Yule, is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world and has been celebrated by humans throughout the ages.

Ancient people were hunters and spent most of their time outdoors. The seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives. Because of this many ancient people had a great reverence for, and even worshipped the sun.

European Origins of Yule

In the Northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice has been celebrated for millennia. The Norse, who called it Jul, viewed it as a time for much feasting and merrymaking. In addition, if the Icelandic sagas are to be believed, this was a time of sacrifice as well. Traditional customs such as the Yule log, the decorated tree, and wassailing can all be traced back to Norse origins.

The Celts of the British Isles celebrated midwinter as well. Although little is known today about the specifics of what they did, many traditions persist. According to the writings of Pliny the Elder, this is the time of year in which Druid priests sacrificed a white bull and gathered mistletoe in celebration.

Roman Saturnalia

Few cultures knew how to party like the Romans. Saturnalia, which fell on December 17, was a festival of general merrymaking and debauchery held around the time of the winter solstice. This week-long party was held in honour of the god Saturn and involved sacrifices, gift-giving, special privileges for slaves, and a lot of feasting. Although this holiday was partly about giving presents, more importantly, it was to honour an agricultural god.

A typical Saturnalia gift might be something like a writing tablet or tool, cups and spoons, clothing items, or food. Citizens decked their halls with greenery, and even hung small tin ornaments on bushes and trees. Bands of naked revellers often roamed the streets, singing and carousing — a sort of naughty precursor to today's Christmas carolling tradition.

Welcoming the Sun Through the Ages

Four thousand years ago, the Ancient Egyptians took the time to celebrate the daily rebirth of Ra, the god of the Sun. As their culture flourished and spread throughout Mesopotamia, other civilizations decided to get in on the sun-welcoming action. They found that things went really well....until the weather got cooler, and crops began to die. Each year, this cycle of birth, death, and rebirth took place, and they began to realize that every year after a period of cold and darkness, the Sun did indeed return.

Winter festivals were also common in Greece and Rome, as well as in the British Isles. When a new religion called Christianity popped up, the new hierarchy had trouble converting the Pagans, and as such, folks didn't want to give up their old holidays. Christian churches were built on old Pagan worship sites, and Pagan symbols were incorporated into the symbolism of Christianity. Within a few centuries, the Christians had everyone worshiping a new holiday celebrated on December 25, although scholars believe it is more likely that Jesus was born around April rather than in the winter.

Yule vs Christmas, What's the difference?

Historically, it’s more a question of why Yule is also called Christmas, instead of the other way around. A staggering number of traditions that are now associated with Christmas are actually much older Pagan practices, used by ancient northern Europeans to show respect to the yearly return of our sun.

Those asserting the holiday cannot be rightly known as anything other than Christmas, often claim to have history and tradition on their side. This may be the true beginning with the globalization of Christianity. But humankind was celebrating the return of the sun long before Jesus Christ was known.

Today, most Christians aren’t even aware that most of their beloved Christmas traditions, such as Christmas trees, Pomanders, Yule logs, Wassailing, and mistletoe were actually swiped from earlier Pagan religions. Even Santa Claus and his 8 reindeer is believed to be an incarnation of the Norse god, Odin and his 8 legged horse Sleipnir.

The early fathers of the Catholic Church were no dummies. They realised the quickest, most effective way to get the people on board with Christianity was to incorporate the traditions and festivals of the Old worship into the New. Then as now, most people resist change, so allowing the common people to keep their familiar rituals made it much easier to indoctrinate them to the worship of Jesus.

The winter solstice had always been crucial for our ancestors whose entire existence revolved around the growing cycles of the year. Winter meant the leanest time of year for most, but the fact that the sun grew stronger every day from the solstice, and the promise of spring, gave people hope and comfort during the long, dark winter months.

Our agriculturally driven forefathers saw the return of the light as a reason to celebrate, and celebrate they did. The solstice was an occasion marked by feasting, drinking, gift giving, and much merriment.

The word “Yule” itself is believed to be a derivative of an ancient Scandinavian turn of phrase meaning “wheel,” although the precise etymology is still a topic for modern debate. The connotations associated with “wheel” seem rather apt for the origin of the word Yule, especially when one considers that Yule was, and is, an important milestone in our yearly journey around the sun, or “wheel” of the year. Many cultures, both old and new, chose this time to celebrate the arrival of a new year. For us witches, Samhain is usually our New Year, however as time goes on a lot of us still celebrate new year with the rest of the world as well as Samhain. Why not be eclectic?!

Evergreens have always been an important symbolic element of Yuletide, which was later incorporated into Christmas traditions. Holly, ivy and mistletoe are all familiar Christmas greenery that has been part of Pagan solstice celebrations in Europe for thousands of years. Evergreens are potent reminders of immortality, a perfect complement to the sun that is reborn every year at the end of December.

The celebration of Christmas is simply the latest in a long line of mid-winter holidays celebrating the rebirth of a sacrificed deity. The names may have changed, but the fundamental myth has remained constant back into the mists of pre-history. Some may see this as blasphemous, while others derive comfort from the knowledge that humankind has been remarkably consistent with the basics of its belief systems, if not the particulars.

A myth spanning back through the millennia is the story of the Holly King, representing the waning year, and the Oak King, representing the waxing year, who battle each other for dominance annually on the summer and winter solstices. This story may harken back to a time when young males were sacrificed to appease the deities that controlled the changing seasons.

The Legend of the Oak King & Holly King

In some Wiccan traditions, the ritual observation of the Wheel of the Year is augmented by the legend of the Oak King and the Holly King. Representing the waxing and waning of the Sun as the seasons turn, the two figures take turns ruling over the year. The Oak King reigns during the light half, or throughout Spring and Summer, while the dark half—Autumn and Winter—belongs to the Holly King.

As the ruler of the dark half of the year, the Holly King is named for the cheery evergreen tree whose bright green leaves and red berries are a welcome sight in the cold winter months. The Oak King, by contrast, is named for the decoratively-shaped leaves that symbolize the height of summer. Both trees are considered sacred to Wiccans, Witches, and other Pagans, and have long been treasured for their magickal properties.

The two kings are brothers, but they are also rivals, who battle each other throughout the year, alternately conquering each other as the seasons shift. The dates on which the battle is won depends on the tradition. In some forms of Wicca, the Oak King takes over at the Winter Solstice, while the Holly King ascends at the Summer Solstice, as these Sabbats are the technical markers of the Sun’s waxing and waning relative to Earth. Other traditions, however, have the change in rule occur at the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes, so that the Holly King is at the height of his power at the Winter Solstice, when the darkness reigns supreme, and the Oak King is in full glory at the Summer Solstice, when the light is at its strongest. The latter makes more sense to me, but of course I will let you follow your own belief.

Some Wiccans and pagans view the Oak King and the Holly King as twin aspects of the God, in constant battle with each other for the love and attention of the Goddess. Others don’t see such an exact equivalence, but rather observe the legend as another layer of the larger picture of the Wheel of the Year. As with most legends, the actual origins of the Oak King and the Holly King are unknown.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you ALL Many Yule Blessings and Merry Christmas to those of you who also celebrate this time of year. May the sun bring much light into your lives.

Blessed Be WillowMoon

📷

[dorianpavus]

ahhh!!! @astrabysm THANK YOU!!!!!!! 🥰💖🥰💖

ok dnd worldbuilding and character creation under the cut 🫡

(tl;dr: half-gnome artificer gunslinger! aasimar cleric or paladin whose personality changes based on class! i wrote A FUCKING NOVEL so no pressure to read any of it lol, it was super helpful for me to put my thoughts into words!!)

OKAY SO! we had our session 0 (part one) where we established that one of the big themes of this campaign setting was going to be nature vs civilization!

the world had both potentially an old, old war between gods (who have a schism between the more 'natural' gods and the more like... 'civic' gods kind of) that created a lot of super dramatic natural landmarks; and also natural events that keep happening that making it hard for civilizations to grow. so there are lots of completely overgrown and forgotten grand cities, but also places where nature is completely untouched.

in making characters, and knowing that this is going to be a campaign that features a lot of untamed wilderness, i wanted to play with the idea of having characters on either side of the nature/manufactured spectrum. and with a druid and a wizard already locked in (with one other player undecided), i also wanted to fill in any gaps we might have mechanically!

just as a disclaimer - this is preliminary brainstorming about the characters, there's gonna be even more world building in our session 0 (part two), so lots of things are still being worked on and subject to change! :3

the first character i was thinking about is:

JUNIPER "JUNE" (undecided surname, but something gnomish and cute)

she's a half-deep gnome, half-undecided (using deep gnome stats!) artificer and gunslinger! as a battle smith, she'll get to use intelligence for all her weapon attacks, and she has a giant magical fox automaton that she can ride around as a mount or that keeps her company 😭.

i'm imagining a wild mess of red hair, lots of freckles, an impish smile, elfin ears, with a lot of tattoos and paint and ink and dirt smudges on her callused hands. and her outfit would have lots of pocket space for potions and grenades and concoctions and contraptions! maybe a little western themed - juniper would not be out of place in a saloon somewhere with her legs kicked up, laughing loudly and playing cards with a ragtag bunch of regulars, pistol on her hip.

i imagine her as kind of this jack of all trades, swiss army knife of curiosity and confidence. she's a cartographer and makes maps (and hobbyist artist, though that's not her trade) and travels around making field guides and painting places no one has been -- but then digging around so she can collect rare or valuable resources that she uses to craft! she has proficiency in like a million different tools (cartographers, smiths, alchemy, thieves, tinkers, painters), so she's always trying to invent and discover new things.

i see her as being ENORMOUSLY curious in a very laid-back way, asking questions that might come across as insensitive, but is super playful and creative -- the kind of person that'd it'd be hard to rile because they're way more likely to laugh something off (even in an insulting way, like "you're not even worth my time"). self confidence through the ROOF and the most intense case of wanderlust you can imagine, always eager to see and experience more and more new things.

spot her blowing things up with a laugh, jumping off cliffs into pools of bright blue water, biting her lip, doodling in inappropriate places, NEVER turning down a dare no matter how fucking stupid, engaging in acts of guerilla marketing and warfare against corrupt politicians, collecting herbs and not taking anything too seriously even when she should.

BUT!

while i was imagining where juniper would be from, i had a stroke of inspiration for another character!

i had been imagining somewhere underground and very mineral rich - filled with crystals and gemstones and rare magical materials that she could have grown up experimenting on and learning her craft. and my friend and i were talking about there being this suuuper old growth magical forest that was also incredibly mineral rich (with all kinds of cool details i won't get into but i am very excited by lol), and it all matched up so perfectly that i decided she would be from underneath the forest!

because we all decided in our session 0 that there would be like a lot of... spirituality and sacred sites and shrines in this religious system we're building (spirituality woven in with nature rather than grand halls, particularly on the 'nature gods' side of things lol), i was thinking about what that would look like for where my character was from...

and i came up with a big cavern where the ceiling had caved in some, and you could see some roots from the enormous enormous trees above. and from that cave-in, there would be a shaft of sun- or moonlight that fell onto a little island in the middle of a pool of luminous ankle-deep water, with this GIANT MAGIC CRYSTAL in the middle on the island. and the crystal would reflect all over the water and the walls and refract and it'd just be SUPER SUPER BEAUTIFUL...

and we're coming up with all this lore for the gods and religion and spirituality and whatnot that i'm excited by, but effectively that prompted me to think about my next character, meant to be able to fill a couple of different mechanical roles:

UNDECIDED BECAUSE IT DEPENDS ON A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT THINGS

she would be an aasimar, either born to probably earth genasi or something underdark (deep gnome, drow, etc); or just from a lineage of aasimar. but her family would have been caretakers of the shrine for centuries! and because she was born as an aasimar, she was seen as "blessed" by the gods, and raised in a deeply ceremonial and religious tradition -- and could be either a cleric or a paladin!

at first i was floating around the ideas of there having been a prophecy about her (but the plot twist was that she failed in whatever the prophecy was supposed to be about; or it wasn't her that was prophesied at all, kind of playing with the 'chosen one' idea because i really like themes of fate and choice in my worlds haha).

but when i was thinking about the personality that would maybe make most sense for that character, it was a little too similar to my current character in my other dnd campaign (sweet and hesitant)... so i went, "what if she was actually A HELL CHILD?" and she grew up whining and groaning CONSTANTLY, smacking her feet together cause she's restless all the time, sticking her tongue out and hating all the calm and ritual of what was expected of her

like a very active kid who wanted to run around and explore and play! not sit and pray! (NOT in a way that her family or their religion was bad, but rather, that she was just an energetic kid who was not suited to that kind of thing, but still took a lot of lessons and love from it all). and she would have grown up into a.. cocky little shit, lol? who deeply values and cares for all the things she grew up with, but wouldn't be the type to admit it in words -- rather, show it through her actions. lots of moaning and groaning but doing the right thing, kind of. (a little more of the paladin characterization there though)

as for why she'd leave, a lot of that will probably be discussed in session 0 part two! but it could be a bunch of stuff from her being expected to leave as part of an ashari-like quest of fulfillment, or because something bad happened she's looking to solve (magic crystals dying or something?), or because she felt like she was going to get chained there forever for some reason (maybe she was supposed to become the full-time caretaker or something) and bolted out into the world before anyone could stop her. idk yet!

for the paladin version of her, i kind of imagine stark white hair, bruised knuckles, a cocky grin, a blaze of energy and athleticism. she'd be likely to help an old woman cross the street, join a fight club, swear vengeance on a villain with eyes blazing, talk casually or quip something to someone she DEFINITELY SHOULDN'T, etc. an oath of the ancients paladin.

the characterization would change a little depending on her class as a cleric; i envision her as less of a jock, that energy isn't gone, but a little more as a conduit of raw magic. the restless kid grew up into someone who uses more of the ceremony and ritual she was raised with - but because she worships magic as the life force of the world that connects people, even things like making someone laugh are part of her faith. she is at home in all places natural, where she can feel the thrum of magic and her gods. almost radiant with love of the world... and like a vengeful angel when people harm it.

find her grinning as she casts the ceremony ritual at a teenager's coming of age celebration, teasing him with good humor as she blesses him, surrounded by his loved ones; a whirlwind of limbs and laughter as she's swept along in a dance; rage in her eyes as columns of roaring fire incinerate foes around her; standing in awe at a sunset; kneading bread in quiet and peace; floating on her back in the water and gazing up at the stars in the sky; a twilight, light, peace, or arcana domain cleric.

so.... as you can see...

I AM STRESSED AND I LOVE THEM ALL AND I WANT TO PLAY THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my old campaign character was stupidly smart, angry, closed off; my current other campaign character is sweet and shy and sad; i am really looking forward to playing any of these other much more playful personalities !!!

anyway. if anyone actually read all of that. i love you. you're an angel

ACTUALLY IF YOU READ TELL ME WHO TO PLAY SKSNSKSKNDBDJSNS

forcing myself to come up with multiple character ideas to brainstorm and bounce ideas off everyone at our session 0.5 but now i want to play both

[thecreaturecodex]

Ucelat

“One Fire” © “Atenebris”, accessed at her deviantArt gallery here

[Commissioned by @justicegundam82​. I’ve known about Atenebris’ fanged bird monsters for years, and knew I wanted to use that design for something. This Northern Italian monster fit the bill nicely. Here is the only English language source I could find. Some Italian sources accessed on Google Translate suggested that the hunter was attacked for poaching birds, not just while hunting them. This inspired the “overzealous guardian of nature” approach I took in my flavor text.]

Ucelat CR 7 NE Magical Beast This immense creature is mostly birdlike. Its head bears the ears and mane of a horse, and its mouth is packed with sharp tusk-like teeth. Its muscular legs end in curved talons, and it appraises the world around it with glimmering eyes.

The ucelat is a guardian of primal nature that resents the intrusions of humanoids into the natural world. They are evil, but theirs is the evil of disproportionate retribution—all infractions against the unspoiled wilderness are to be punished by death. As such, they often count among their allies evil druids or more sinister fey. Their greatest enemies are the gods of civilization, who they see as upstarts and worthy only of scorn.

An ucelat commonly patrols its territory from on high, soaring above the hills and mountains it calls home in search of intruders. These it dives upon, often bombarding them with magically conjured rocks to weaken them before swooping down to clutch and tear their flesh. Ucelats have magical control over fire, and can use it to lash out at foes that shelter in places too small for them to reach. It is widely rumored that ucelats can be defeated with holy weapons or turned like the undead, but the truth is that they fear honest faith. A holy relic frightens them less than the prayers of those who believe in that relic’s power.

An ucelat has a wingspan of about thirty feet. They are long lived, and can survive several centuries if not slain in combat.

Ucelat    CR 7 XP 3,200 NE Huge magical beast Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +12, scent Defense AC 20, touch 10, flat-footed 18 (-2 size, +2 Dex, +10 natural) hp 82 (11d10+22) Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +6; +2 vs. divine spells DR 10/magic; Resist fire 10 Weakness impious Offense Speed 30 ft., fly 80 ft. (average) Melee bite +12 (2d6+3), 2 claws +12 (1d6+3 plus grab) Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks bombard, powerful charge (bite, 4d6+6) Spell-like Abilities CL 7th, concentration +9 3/day—faerie fire, pyrotechnics (DC 14), scorching ray 1/day—fire shield, shout (DC 16) Statistics Str 16, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 15 Base Atk +11; CMB +16 (+20 grapple); CMD 28 Feats Alertness, Blind-fight, Combat Reflexes, Hover, Improved Initiative, Power Attack Skills Fly +4, Perception +12, Sense Motive +9 Languages Common, Sylvan Ecology Environment temperate and cold mountains and hills Organization solitary or pair Treasure incidental Special Attacks Bombard (Su) As a standard action, an ucelat may conjure a supernatural rock-fall in a cylinder 40 feet high with a 20 foot radius. All creatures in the area take 5d8 points of bludgeoning damage (Ref DC 17 half). This counts as a magical weapon for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. The boulders remain in the area, creating difficult terrain. An ucelat may use this ability three times per day, but must wait 1d4 rounds between uses. The save DC is Charisma based. Impious (Ex) An ucelat gains a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against divine spells, or the spell-like abilities of extraplanar outsiders. However, it fears an honest prayer. A creature may pray aloud in a language the ucelat understands as a standard action and make a Knowledge (religion) check (DC 15). If it succeeds, the ucelat must succeed a Will save (DC 15, plus 2 for every 5 points the Knowledge [religion] check exceeds DC 15) or be panicked for 1d6+1 rounds. If the ucelat saves against the prayer of that creature, it is shaken for 1 round and immune to further prayers from that creature for the next 24 hours.

[soullistrations]

Also, I am actually crying about the whole “I have passed through fire” thing? And how it pertains to keyleth and how PERFECT the timing was for that conversation with raishan

And raishan is just such a perfect nemesis for keyleth, for obvious reasons of course, but also because their whole approach to consequences is so opposite. I’m glad that Patrick rothfuss sent in the letter because that whole conversation Kerr and Key had was so revealing of her character. I mean, Keyleth was so distraught over fallout and consequences that she had no control over, but that’s just who she is—she feels so much, and above that, she feels responsible for so much. I’m brought back to that moment in Whitestone where civilians were being chased by a skeletal army and keyleth dove into the fray BY HERSELF after everyone else told her it was a bad idea and to just cut their losses. Like...if she can prevent an innocent death then it’s automatically her responsibility to do so. (And that’s the reason why the others pulled that card to talk her down from attacking Raishan on the spot).

And then here comes Raishan. Raishan who says that some consequences are just necessary, who says “there are different levels of intellect at play here” as if those that are less powerful than her are worthy of her extermination, not her protection. Raishan, who washes her hands of the death of a quarter of Keyleth’s civilization because she didn’t actively kill them herself. Raishan, who shrugs and calls those necessary consequences, and asks Keyleth, queen of self-flagellation, if she would feel bad for stepping in a pile of ants. Like, damn.

And the whole cursed by a Druid thing, and the green vs red thing, and the high charisma/low charisma thing....like Matt really did say “I’m gonna make my wife the best nemesis ever” and then he DID