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freetobeeyouandme · 8 months

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Chapter 4: Maybe I Didn't Want to Know About the Circle After All

Chapter 4 of my Byler Isekai AU is now up on Ao3! Things get very serious very quickly as El has the worst family reunion ever. This is also the chapter that had me go 'Oh, well, at least I don't have to worry about what to rate this one' but...we're all here because Stranger Things is a horror show, right?

Tags: M, Graphic Descriptions of Violence, Fantasy AU, Canon Typical Violence, Canon Typical Horror, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn

Summary:

Mike Wheeler hates High School, so when he almost dies and falls through a portal to another world, he’s not going to complain. Especially not when that world does not only have swords and magic but seems to work exactly according to the rules of his favorite tabletop role-playing game. But his euphoria might be short lived because the party of adventurers he falls in with turns out to be the target of an evil god and the fate of the world might rest on their shoulders. So, exactly like his games of D&D. Except the wanna-be Paladin soon realizes that being a hero is much harder in real life than it is in-game. - Or, Mike gets isekai’d into a world where D&D is real.

An excerpt and taglist below the cut:

Excerpt:

The Monk laughs bitterly. Before she can reply, the front door flies open and Lucas storms out, alone.

Max growls.

“Put the wagon in idle and get out,” Lucas says. “El wants to try to talk to him, so we’re gonna have to fight.”

“She can’t be fucking serious,” Max hisses, but does as she’s told.

Mike follows her out, not understanding and not liking what is happening, but without another choice. He pulls his sword from its scabbard, but it feels heavy and useless in his hands.

Before he can ask what they’re fighting, he sees the first tendril of darkness spill over the edge of the island, solid and evil, anchored in the stone and earth that make up the top of Mount Arden by something that looks like vines. It feels malicious, feels, to Mike’s new found sense for the magic of this world, like grating fingernails over a chalkboard. And as the Circle descends only more of it spills over, new tendrils of smokey, vine-like darkness forming and writhing downward.

As the first of them touches the ground, it goes taut for a moment before its connection to the platform rips and it falls to the ground, amassing on the spot it touched. When all of it has descended, it begins rising, like dough in an oven, solidifying and then evolving. First it’s a coil of darkness, then a slimy blob, shuffling, moving, and as it goes along growing arms and legs to propel itself forward. And then it grows a head. It’s a terrible, bulbous thing, and at first Mike can’t even place it as a head, until it opens like the maw of a vicious, starving, flesh eating plant. It’s segmented into five parts, each of them covered in rows upon rows of sharp teeth, which look jagged, uneven, as if made out of shards of bone that have been randomly selected and planted in the soft flesh of its mouth.

The thing – it almost looks like a dog in a perverse sort of way – takes a couple steps away from the spot it grew from, then lifts its blind head. The petals of its face open a little at the tip of the bulb, moving as if it’s sniffing the air, and then it turns towards them. It’s still a good quarter mile away from them, but Mike doesn’t think for a second that this thing is slow.

“So, that’s a problem,” he announces dumbly.

Neither Max nor Lucas justify that with a response. The Monk simply growls at the dog-thing, claws flashing out from her splayed paws. The Ranger pulls his bow from his back and readies an arrow. Besides them, Mews crouches, ready to pounce.

Another dog forms on the ground behind the first, then another. They watch the three of them for a tense moment, more dark vines reaching for the ground around the dogs. And then they pounce.

His stomach sinking, Mike takes a step forward, then another. He stops when he has put enough distance between himself and the car that he won’t immediately crash into it when the dogs inevitably push him back and plants his feet firmly on the ground. His grip on his sword tightens, while the other hangs uselessly at his side. He wishes he had a shield or something, if only so he could hide behind it.

Instead he has to watch his enemies advance with his heart pounding loudly, almost painfully in his chest.

Max and Lucas flank him on either side, probably meaning to protect him as much as the car and the house – at least he hopes so – but Mike has no pretensions that he is a line they can hold. Not as even more and more dark vines turn into flesh colored blobs and then grow arms, or legs, or whatever one wants to call their gross, raw appendages.

He takes a steadying breath, then another, and then the dogs are on them. He tries to be ready and only almost succeeds. The dog in the middle jumps clear past the actually combat experienced members of their defense band, and Mike can only lift his sword, slashing downward, somehow catching the creature as it tries to descend on him. It’s just enough to repel the dog.

It stumbles to the ground, growls at him and turns to attack again.

This time Mike slices open a small part of its side. Black liquid – blood, although it looks congealed and old – slowly seeps out, covering its dark red, fleshy hind.

The dog howls in pain and jumps again.

Two hits is as lucky as Mike gets. He brings the sword up in a wrong angle and barely dances out of the way of the dog he missed.

Except its claw rakes his side anyway.

He grits his teeth against the pain, not wanting to give the monster the satisfaction of hearing him cry out. Behind his enemy more are fast approaching.

He whirls around, trying to meet the dog’s next attack, but he thinks the only thing that saves his eye is the arrow that hits the thing’s side and pushes it away from Mike. Then a red blur streaks past him and before he can understand what is happening Max has wrestled the dog into submission – and then sinks her claws into its neck and rips its head from its body with her bare hands. Black blood sprays, barely visible on her dark robes.

She holds the severed head out to the next wave of dogs approaching. “You want to end like this keep coming,” she growls.

Unofficial Tag List (aka you interacted with my snippet posts, please tell me if you want me to not tag you in the future (or want to be added)): @smalltownwheeler @wheelerpilled @wrong-energy @willthelies @foodiewithdahoodie @doggo9 @gardenfairie @beelikesbyler @beverlysclown @yickarus @sourdough-el @hessolivagant @hesquietoday @oldfashionedmorphine @total-serene560 @bylersrise @hawkinsunderground @longtallglasses @generalstorecashier @usnaavi @camel-casing @bylersbear01 @turningsoft @casatoan

#Byler #Mike Wheeler #Will Byers #Stranger Things #Kingslayer fic #byler fanfic

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fanartfunart · 4 years

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Because I'm a dork and obsessed w/ dnd rn- How one may try to make the sides in dnd

(under the cut)

Roman:

Stats: His highest stat is Charisma (no ifs ands or buts) lowest is Intelligence.

My preference of order from highest to lowest is: Charisma, Wisdom, Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence. (Or switch strength and dexterity, depending on class)

Class: Due to the wonders of being a Side, no one class fits him (or any of them) exactly. Therefore, we base it off his highest stat. Charisma based classes are Paladin, Bard, Sorcerer, and Warlock. If you wanna go Roman's stereotypical Knight in Shining Armor route, definitely go Paladin. I’m fond of Bard due to Creativity. (And there's a new subclass literally called the Creation Bard how can you not-)

Background: There's pretty much 2 main options for Roman: Folk Hero and Noble. Personally I prefer Folk Hero for the Rustic Hospitality (aka common people like you.) and ....being a folk hero is literally Roman's goal. Noble however, means you can literally play him as Prince Roman.

Race: Again, he's a side and therefore can be whatever you want. Personally I'd go with a race that gives you a ability increase in Charisma. Human is basically always on the table. (Protector) Aasmair is always a good option (and gives him wings and that Grand Destiny type thing), but Teifling, Half-elf and Changeling might all be nice options. You could also go Dragonborn if you wanna increase your strength and get a cool breath weapon.

Logan:

Stats: Highest stat is of course, Intelligence. I might dump Strength or Dexterity.

My preference of order from highest to lowest is: Intelligence, Constitution, Wisdom, Dexterity, Charisma, Strength

Class: Same as before, we look at classes that focus on Intelligence. Wizard, and Artificer are always good options. You may also wanna look into Knowledge Domain Cleric and Lore or Eloquence Bard (but you may have to give up that high Int stat for your spellcasting ability)

Background: I think Cloistered Scholar or Sage are the best options for Logan, since they give you guaranteed int/wis based ability proficiencys but there's plenty of others that can fit.

Race: As always Human is a good option, but I might also go with Gnome (intelligence increase and natural tinkerer), and Tabaxi, Elf, Half-elf and Teifling are good options too.

Patton:

Stats: Wisdom is his highest stat, and Intelligence or Dexterity is his lowest.

My preference of order from highest to lowest is: Wisdom, Strength, Charisma, Constitution, Intelligence, Dexterity.

Class: Wisdom based classes are Cleric, Druid, Monk & Ranger. Personally I would probably go with Peace Cleric or Way of Mercy Monk.

Background: I think Sage is a pretty good option. ...tbh I haven't seen many backgrounds that scream Patton to me. shrug

Race: As always- Human. I might also suggest Centaur, Dwarf, Kalashtar and Halfling are all good options that are wisdom-based in one area or another.

Virgil:

Stats: Highest stat is Dexterity (gotta move fast to push people out of range.) Lowest, Strength or Wisdom

My preference of order from highest to lowest is: Dexterity, Charisma, Constitution, Intelligence, Strength, Wisdom

Class: Rouge is always a Virgil Favorite. I also like Fighter, Sorcerer, and Warlock.

Background: Orphan, Spy/Criminal, and Haunted One are all nice options.

Race: Human. Obvs. I also like Dragonborn, Genasi, Elf, Half-elf, Teifling, and Gnome are all fun options. (If you go Air Genasi, he can have a cool literally thunderous/breezy voice)

Janus:

Stats: Highest is Charisma and lowest is likely Strength or Dexterity.

My preference of order from highest to lowest is: Charisma, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, Strength.

Class: Sorcerer and Warlock works very nicely for Janus. I also suggest Wizard, Bard, Artificer, or Druid (if purely for the ability to shape-changing)

Background: Again like Virgil, Orphan and Spy/Criminal (they work very well for those Dark Sides TM) I can also see Noble or Courtier.

Race: Changeling or Yuan-Ti are basically made for Janus. As always, Human also fits. Teifling, Dragonborn, Elf and Half-elf is nice too.

Remus:

Stats: Highest is Charisma, and lowest is Wisdom or Intelligence

My preference of order from highest to lowest is: Charisma, Constitution, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom

Class: ....yall should guess I'm gonna say Bard. Because I will and can. Warlock, Barbarian and Sorcerer and Artificer (if you move Intelligence to a higher statblock)

Background: Noble just to match Duke title tbh. There’s also like... tons of backgrounds and I can’t think of one perfect for Remus rn...

Race: Human ovbs. Aasmair (fallen) works fairly well for him, as well as Teifling, Dragonborn, Half-Elf and Half-orc are all fun options.

#long post #dnd #sanders sides #all #fanarts textposts #these are real quick thoughts

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jq37 · 4 years

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The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 7 Escape From the Bulb Creeps

Journey to the Past

We are fresh on the heels of the deaths of both Lapin and Peppermint Preston (Reeces in Pieces) but there’s no time to mourn because the remaining 5 PCs (Zac is absent all episode) are all fugitives of both church and state. With everyone stunned and out of sorts, Jet takes the lead and begins running towards the alleyway she banished Thad to several episodes ago on a goof turned escape plan. And none of the adults have a better plan so they follow her without argument or question. Ruby sends Yak up to help scout and, as they’re running, each of the group have flashbacks to simpler times:

Ruby: Ruby sees herself practicing acrobatics on the castle walls having just seen the Swirler Sisters perform. Her mom makes her come down and scolds her for not taking her princess duties seriously. Royal life is hard enough without her making it harder with her flights of fancy and she should be training to be ready for it.

Amethar: Amethar sees himself at the Stone Candy Mountain mid-war with his four sisters who have just got the news that he married Katherine Ghee--his dairy wife we learned about 2 eps ago. His oldest sister--General Rococoa--is livid about the shortsightedness and political implications of him marrying a commoner. St. Citrina, the third sister, comforts Amethar and says that if he really loves her, the marriage should stand. The youngest sister, Princess Sapphria, is chill about the whole thing and thinks (1) it won’t matter since he’s so far down in the line of succession and (2) he should have a good time if he wants to. Something ~crazy~ would have to happen for Amethar to ever get the throne so it would be *stupid* to waste time worrying about. (Thousand yard stare.) Lazuli shows up and is very fuzzy on where in the timeline they are--showing her background as a divination wizard--before congratulating Amethar on his marriage. Rococoa wants the marriage annulled and Citrina says that, for that to happen, Amethar and Katherine would need to be in the same place with the priest who performed the ceremony--Father Belford. They can take care of it after the war if Amethar wants. In the meantime, they tell their dad *nothing*.

Liam: It’s Liam’s 14th b-day and he’s still living with his dad (Joren Jawbreaker) and his mom (Spearia Mentha--a cool Vegetanian hippie woman) and his 35 other moms and dads (polygamy is big in the Sweetening Path apparently). His dad shows up and has trouble remembering his name but does present him Preston as a pet which he’s pretty stoked about. Afterwards, he meets up with his mom who says that his entire extended family talked about his going to Castle Candy as a ward/political prisoner and have decided that he can, but that he should be careful. The outside world isn’t as accepting of other spirits and ideas. Back in the present, Liam feels something dark inside him grow with the loss of Preston. Ice creeps up on his crossbow and his magic changes (mechanically speaking, he has gone from a Beastmaster to a Gloomstalker Ranger).

Theo: It’s Theo’s first day on the job as Lazuli’s ward and, after getting some business done (including a short conversation with a cotton candy monk who seemed suspiciously fleshed out to just be a random NPC) she turns to him and asks his opinion on non-sanctioned magic. Theo (who insists on addressing her by all of her titles) says that magic has never been his thing. He doesn’t have the mind for it. Lazuli takes issue with that assertion and Theo is forced to consider that he might be limiting himself for no reason. Lazuli says that she’s realizing that magic is a lot bigger and unknowable than conventional wisdom suggests and then Theo runs off to fetch her more parchment.

Jet: Jet is 14 and practicing fencing with Calroy. He gets the point with a fencing dagger (which is apparently a thing, confirmed by my one friend who fences) before they ease into a conversation about politics. Calroy asks her if she sees herself challenging convention and we all know Who Jet Is As a Person so her answer (big yes) isn’t surprising. What’s slightly more surprising is that Calroy candidly agrees with her that change is good and needed. A lot of people would love change but most of them aren’t situated in such a way that they have the power to bring about any. Calroy says he looks forward to her reign and they continue sparring.

Back to Reality

In the present, church bells toll behind them and Ruby feels a piece of paper fly out from her pocket--it’s the “For Candia” note from Lapin. She grabs it with her Mage Hand and just feels like the worst person on the planet for being mean to Lapin all these years and then watching him give his life for them. He presented as boring and lame but he was a good man.

They all reach the delirious Thad (he’s been in this alley since episode 3) who Jet flirts with to try and get his carriage but Liam circumvents that by getting a Nat 20 to fully knock the dude out. The servants with him flip out but Jet threatens them into running away and, before they can get very far, Ruby casts Sleep on them which drops them. Then, she casts Disguise Self and Prestidigitation so she looks and smells like Thad (we’re also blessed by Siobhan’s ridiculous French accent) and goes out to Thad’s carriage with Jet on her arm, lying to the servants there that Jet has been knocked up and they have to have a shotgun wedding. Her deception check succeeds and the footman declares, “To the cathedral!” NO. Beach wedding! It’s a beach wedding! They all pile into the back of the carriage--Ruby up front since she’s pretending to be Thad--and head out.

While they ride, Liam unsuccessfully tries to cry quietly and Theo eulogizes Lapin and says that what happened to him was no one’s fault. Jet asks Amethar if he had a death wish back in the Cathedral and Amethar, not in so many words, admits that he did. Yak comes back down from scouting and relays that the Glucian Road (the way back to Candia that they came) is about to be absolutely crawling with imperial soldiers. And cutting through Fructerra to the north (the shortest route) is also bad because that’s Plumbeline’s territory and she’s already proven herself untrustworthy. That leaves the “safest” options Brightgarden (basically the Vatican City of this world so not really a place they wanna be right now) and towards the Harbor.

Everyone takes another minute to have a full breakdown--especially Liam who is coming to terms with the fact that he’s gonna have to be a war guy now--and Brennan rolls death saves for Thad (he lives) before they get back to business. If they want to go to the Great Stone Candy Mountain (Where Joren Jawbreaker is), going by sea is faster. Ruby points out that they’ll have to go into the territory of Cordeau (aka, Lord Bleu--the suspicious cheese dude Primsy is lowkey courting) if they go by sea but Theo points out that they’re F’d no matter where they go so they lock in the plan.

A Fun Boat Ride

Once they get to the docks, Brennan points out that none of them have sailing proficiency (Emily: I have tarot cards) so if they just grab a ship with no crew, they’re for sure gonna die. They’d previously asked Calroy to ready a ship for them but they have no idea if that happened and they don’t have a way to ask him. The only ship they recognize in the harbor is The Colby--Annabelle’s ship. And, what do you know? She’s on the ship at that very moment, officiating a wedding for Primsy and Lord Bleu. The dude works fast.

Theo sees that they’re casting off soon and also that Morris Brie is walking around all agitated and worried--looking for Manta Ray Jack they guess. Liam casts Pass Without Trace and Amethar gets a Nat 20 to open one of the cargo crates they’re going to load onto the ship so they can hide inside (leaving Yak and Sprinkle outside to be their eyes). While they’re in there, they hear Primsy and Bleu talking and learn that he’s gonna be following behind in his own ship (since he’s captain) and they’ll meet back in Lacramor. We also learn later that his ship is called the Dairy Heir because Brennan was put on this earth to test me.

Ruby hears that Morris Brie is still walking around all worried and decides to Message him in Lacra. “Manta Ray is Captured. The House of Rocks has Fallen. All is Lost. Help.” She calls herself a friend and, on a 20 Persuasion, Brie thinks she’s a spirit. She tells him where Jack is and calls him a good man when he agrees to check.

Brennan rolls for an unspecified thing in front of the board--saying they need an 11 or higher and want a 15--and gets a 12.

The ship is held for a while, long enough that they’re loaded into the cargo hold, and Brennan narrates everything that happens from the eyes of Yak and Sprinkle (bending the rules a bit so everyone gets the benefit of knowing how Ruby’s clutch move played out):

Annabelle is agitated, waiting for Brie and Manta Ray so they can ship off. A messenger comes to her with the information that the Emperor is dead, Candia is at war with the Concord, and Amethar has been excommunicated. Primsy, who is technically in charge, reacts exactly how any sane 16 y/o would--she has absolutely no idea what to do. Another messenger shows up with a bloody letter (and, sidenote, I need Brennan to stop cursing us with detailed info on how various food people bleed. It’s extremely unsettling) from Brie which she reads and before deciding to ship off immediately.

The Candians decide to stay hidden for an hour which is good because 30 mins later, the ship is stopped and boarded by imperials (lead by Grissini). They check the barrels but not the crates because no one would be able to open them. Well, no one except Amethar on a Nat 20. They’re not found and the imperials leave.

After the hour is up, Ruby can see through Yak that there aren’t any ships except for the dairy ones escorting Primsy back home and there are only about 12 people on the Colby. There’s a long discussion about the best strategy--Should they go up or call someone down? Should they talk to Primsy or Annabelle? Should Jet volunteer as a hostage?--before Ruby makes an executive decision and decides to Message Primsy.

“Primsy, I invoke the friendship of House Rocks and House Lacra.”

On a 20 persuasion check, Primsy, like Brie, thinks she’s a fairy or a spirit, which she is childishly excited about. Ruby says that if she comes to the hold, she’ll show her a secret and Primsy, who has apparently never seen a horror movie before in her life, comes right down. To her credit, she does ask if she can bring Annabelle, but Ruby says no. But that doesn’t deter her. Once she’s down there, Theo, who also has the Message cantrip, says, “Don’t scream, no matter what you see,” which is absolutely the worst thing he could have said and, on a 3 Persuasion--plus Amethar bursting out of the crate to try to show her she’s among friends, Primsy has the correct reaction which is to scream bloody murder, calling down basically everyone, including Annabelle.

Everyone throws down their weapons (Jet just stows hers in her back pockets) and Liam tries to hide but gets a Nat 1. Annabelle is, of course, furious that they’d stow away while fugitives, endangering them all but Ruby is able to slightly charm her (non-magically) and she reveals that the letter she received before says that Brie rescued Manta Ray and they’re hiding in Comida. Ruby is relieved her plan worked and, when Annabelle scoffs at her for taking credit for the work of the spirits, hits her with a Message to prove her abilities. Annabelle seems taken aback that, even while wanted fugitives of basically the entire world, Ruby would take any of her precious time to help Manta Ray. “[He’s] a good man,” Ruby responds, as if the decision took no thought at all. Primsy comforts Liam as he breaks down over the loss of Lapin and Preston again.

Brennan has everyone do a group persuasion check where only one of them cracks a 15. Annabelle and Co. are really in a terrible position here. These are their allies but they’re also being hunted right now and the Dairy Islands really cannot afford to be at war with the Concord. Helping them would be tantamount to a declaration of war. “Please don’t make us make you,” Ruby says. Annabelle scoffs that even if they kill her, either her crew would kill them or they’d kill the crew then die at sea. Ruby apologizes for the empty threat and says she’s just scared.

Annabelle decides that they can’t help them but they also don’t have to fight them. They’ll take them to Lacramor as prisoners and then assemble a council to figure out what to do with them. In the meantime, they’ll be clothed and fed and brought to a room without chains. The Candians, who don’t really have a ton of options here, agree.

Sacre Bleu

Soon after they’re situated (they get a short rest here), Primsy invites them to the Captain’s Quarters (which she shares with Annabelle) for tea. She doesn’t allow herself to say anything that would jeopardize her country’s position, but she seems very much on their side and confident this will be sorted out once they land and the council discusses it. She’s also excited for them to meet Lord Bleu, which they’re...less enthused about.

Ruby tries to get it into her head that she’s a strong, independent woman who doesn’t have to just do whatever he says--or even what Annabelle says--but it seems that Bleu has gotten to her first because Primsy says that he tells her that too and that he’s right about everything. Theo asks if he has any enemies in his house and she says no, confused about why he would ask. Jet decides to fully let the cat out of the bag and says that someone from Bleu’s house attacked them. Primsy, with shockingly little genre savviness, says that there have been a lot of deaths in Bleu’s family to get him to the place in the line of succession that he is and that they did get a letter from Plumbeline saying that Amethar would probably be named successor but if not him then it would probably be her. And if anything happens to her, guess who’s suddenly in charge? None other than Lord Consort Cheddar, aka Bleu. Theo tries to tell Primsy to watch her back but, on a 2 Charisma check, he just pisses off yet another House Cheddar lady and Primsy leaves for the Crow’s Nest to catch a glimpse of her new husband on his ship. On a Nat 20, Jet stealths behind her to protect her.

Liam goes to find Annabelle to try and convince her to drop them off at the Candy Mountain instead of Lacramor. He starts well with a compliment (“Your haircut looks fresh”) before trying to pimp out his harem of parents in exchange for the ride and rolling a 4 Persuasion. Liam submits to the slap he knows is coming--but it misses due to Ruby’s Hex giving her disadvantage and making her take her Nat 1 instead of her Nat 20. As she stumbles forward, she notices something in the distance and walks off to check on it, Liam following behind her.

Brennan has Murph make three mystery luck checks in the box of doom because he is the enemy and Murph rolls a 7, 16, and a 14. For Murph, pretty good!

They’re just about at the Yogurt Shoals (Bleu territory, you’ll remember) and they notice that all the other ships except for the two house Bleu ones have veered off in another direction.

It starts to rain milk (Brennan seems to indicate that’s what the 7 roll was) and Annabelle yells at Primsy to come down from the crow’s nest. Primsy notices that the other ships are gone right as arrows start to fire from the Bleu ships to hers. Jet, at once, shields Primsy from the barrage.

Annabelle tries to get them out of there in a hurry but finds the sails are damaged and the House Bleu ships sidle up along the Colby and pull a Ben-Hur, tearing up the sides of the ship until it begins to sink. Everyone roll initiative!

Also, it’s Zac’s Birthday.

Happy Birthday Zac.

Medal of Honor

Gotta give out our first double medal of honor this episode, fittingly, to the twins who were on fire this whole episode.

At the top of the episode when no one else knew what to do, Jet took the reins and picked a plan and everyone else was swayed by her force of will and didn’t even ask any questions. And then later, when Theo fumbled his diplomacy, she again acted on impulse and put herself in the perfect position to protect Primsy.

And then Ruby--in the talkback, they said they were talking about “Ruby’s Big Day” which was great because so was I in my head. Taking her magic--the very thing that put her in so much danger--and turning it to their greatest asset with the clutch disguise and then using the hell out of the Message Cantrip? Lapin has been dead for less than a day and she’ll already taken the position of party Face.

Very Galaxy Brained moves from our girls this ep.

Sunny Side Up

The immediacy of the “Do you think she’s gonna get off?” response from Ally was like they’d been waiting their entire life to make that specific joke.

Also on the topic of Ally just literally saying anything, watching everyone break as Liam described the game “Stairs” was an experience. And Brennan having to react to that as a parent and acknowledge it was full abuse gave me shades of Kristen talking about all the cult literature in her family’s house that Brennan was hearing about for the first time in that moment.

The whole sequence in the alley with Thad was such a perfect moment of catharsis after the heaviness of everything else. That, “Point with my hand or?” Siobhan’s French accent. Liam hitting a Nat 20 to knock Thad TF out. Everyone coming up with plans on the spot on top of each other and the big, “NO!” after Brennan’s, “To the cathedral!” The rubberband needed to snap back to comedy for a bit after last week and all those flashbacks and they did it perfectly here.

Jet already having a “Bastard Jet” tattoo and Murph improvising that she made him do it with a cantrip.

“Advantage for boldness and disadvantage for madness.”

Things I’m Concerned About

Short list this week because the answer is basically “everything”.

Brennan. Brennan, if anything happens to Primsy...I know that this is all pre-recorded and whatever happened already happened but if Primsy is hurt in any way...Brennan…

Very interesting that the Pontifex OK’d the wedding of Primsy and Bleu basically immediately while all manner of insanity was going on but couldn’t find the time to get the emperor paperwork filled out. And by interesting I mean she’s a snake.

A big ocean battle after only a short rest? With no healer? Don’t care for that one bit.

I would not want to be Katherine Ghee right now. Idk what she’s doing but if she’s alive and well, I have to assume her life is about to be filled with BS.

Liam’s rage (which he talked to Amethar about) seems like the kind of thing that becomes a problem either for poor decision making reasons or literal communing with evil spirits reasons. So I’m for sure monitoring that situation, just in case.

Understandably, the gang wasn’t able to go for their allies this episode, but that puts them in a BAD position to put it mildly. If Calroy did ready that ship, it’s possible that at least some of the rest of the Candians will be able to get out once they hear the news. Fingers crossed for those guys but it would be a fittingly brutal story move if all the fun, tutorial level NPCs just get executed now that we’ve left the starting area (which already was pretty brutal to be sure).

Five More Things

It took me saying the episode title out loud while writing this recap to understand that it was a Bloodkeep reference. I was like, what a weird thing to call an ep. It doesn’t fit the titling conventions for this show at all.

Loved getting to see Amethar with all his sisters, even with the ouchiness of knowing how that all panned out. I especially liked Citrina as a foil for the Pontifex. If the Bulb is nothing but raw power divorced from morality then it’s nice to see someone who has a connection to that power using it in the name of love.

Theo continuing to use everyone's titles even after all that happened is so true to character. Also: “Call me Bastard Jet.”/”As you wish, your highness.”

Zac’s character didn’t show up this ep so I’m very curious when it’s gonna happen. It could happen in the battle ep--some rando helping you mid life or death battle would give very wary people a reason to trust a stranger--but it seems more plausible it would happen next story ep. I wonder if that cotton candy monk mentioned is gonna be his next character. I wonder if it’s gonna be a candy person at all.

Listening to Ruby and Theo talk about how mean they were to Lapin and how guilty they felt about it was A Lot. Like, we only had him for 6 episodes but they have an entire lifetime of history with the dude and Murph and Siobhan really made that hit home in their tiny moments. It was A Lot.

Also! This has nothing to do with Crown of Candy and it’s circulated a bunch already, deservedly so, but I wanna shout out this hilarious Fantasy High animatic by @morikorii. Super happy we’re starting to get kickass animatics for D20 stuff from crazy talented artists.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #a crown of candy #a crown of candy spoilers #the royal report

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ace-in-a-shopping-cart · 4 years

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For whenever you feel like it: hello, please tell me about your DND characters!!

This seems to be a catch all kind of question so I’m gonna use it to just ramble about all of them. (Putting it under a cut because I really did just ramble for a while)

Content warning for alcohol mention and death mention.

Zafrina Carrpuff Cunningsmoke was the first I made so her backstory is a bit generic as I relied heavily on the dragonborn lore I knew at the time. She’s a chaotic neutral green dragonborn farmgirl who, as much as family means to her, wants to see the world. She left her farm once she’d come of age and moved to a small town nearby. When that town was attacked by an ogre, she stepped up and defeated it. (Her backstory is Folk Hero) She doesn’t have any siblings and was raised and trained by her mother.

She left that town and met up with her current party of ragtag heroes. She travels with an elf rouge/ swashbuckler with sticky fingers (my older brother), a dwarf paladin following the Oath of Devotion who enjoys being in control and is completely oblivious to the sorcerer’s flirting (my father), a human sorcerer who is either perpetually tired of the group or the instigator of shenanigans and enjoys flirting with the paladin (my mother), a dwarf druid following the Circle of the Land who is book dumb and barely street smart (my younger brother), and was recently joined by an elf sorcerer who doesn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation (my other sister).

Her favorite weapons are the long bow or her newly acquired morning star. She’s a ranger but is a klutz. She gets bored easily and hungry even easier, once eating the hand of someone the party was trying to interrogate simply because the person was being stubborn and she was bored. Her next favorite weapon that does barely any damage is her boomerang.

Noteworthy anecdotes about her is that I once received inspiration for insulting my father (both of us were in character at the time). I spent at least three sessions trying to get a panther and, once finally getting one, I promptly named it Virgil (most of the party just calls him Baby but I’m fine with that) and was very happy the rest of the session.

Lorarila Sarxiron has a noble background and was the second I made. Her personality can best be described as the peppy cheerleader kind of character. She’s a chaotic neutral half elf bard who makes her best music while drunk due to being taught how to play by an uncle that was always drunk. The instruments and skills she didn’t learn from him were taught to her by the local tavern. She vowed to follow the College of Whispers after finding out that was the one her uncle was in. Despite that college typically being used for evil, and her uncle using it for the same, she vowed to use it for good.

She decided to take up adventuring as she hoped to reverse some of her uncles misdeeds whilst seeing the world. Despite being a bard and being well aware of the promiscuous stereotype that comes with such a class, she’s asexual and sees no reason in sex.

(She’s being used in a horror campaign that was supposed to be a short thing finished by Halloween but this family is dysfunctional) Whilst walking to the room she’d been staying in one night, she was caught in the fog and transported to a town seemingly abandoned where she met her current party. She’s currently exploring a house with many secrets with a fire genasi who is very done with the rest of them (my eldest sister who DMs usually), an elf bard that’s a wimp (my other sister), an aarokocra monk who doesn’t like being alone (my younger brother), and a kenku named Shibble (I named it for her) played by my mother.

Kalgrea Aestros (I’ve accidentally been calling her by their last name this whole time) is my most recent character and the one I’m most excited to play with. Pronouns are she/they and gender identity is nonbinary. She’s a chaotic evil tiefling warlock with an axe to grind and an archfey patron. Her skin is lavender and her hair is stark white.

She was happily engaged to a loving (haven’t decided the race yet) woman. When they were traveling to Kalgrea’s hometown to get married, they were attacked by bandits and their fiancé was killed. Kalgrea swore vengeance and made a warlock pact with an archfey, the Prince of Frost. She swore to give him the hearts of any enemies they encounter if he became her patron and gave them the power to do so. He was amused by their offer and, having also lost a lover to battle, agreed.

Thus Kalgrea set out for vengeance, determined to use any means necessary to bring her adversary to ruin. They will join a group with the intent of learning new skills and getting stronger to one day take her lovers killer down and fulfill their pact with the Prince of Frost.

I haven’t used her in a campaign yet simply because my family isn’t the right party to use them with as I wanna do a roleplay heavy campaign for her, they’re going to be a very angry person who’s quite standoffish. I don’t know what campaign I’m going to use them with but that will most likely dictate what the fiancé’s race is.

And yeah, that’s my three characters! You guys can ask about my party members and I can give anecdotes about them but for the most part that’s all there is about them. I’m always willing to ramble about these girls and enby as I really love them.

#asks #answered ask #thanks for the ask!#this really made my day just being able to ramble about my #dnd ocs

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cantfoolajoker · 5 years

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s.e.e.s. as dnd classes

after my last post on the thieves, i have now returned to talk more about using dnd classes and subclasses as character study opportunities with the focus now being on sees (plus hamuko bc she counts)

since the post is lengthy, its going under the read more

so, for starters, minato/makoto is a shadow magic sorcerer. sorcerers are based on the idea that rather than learned arcana or given magic, you inherently have it inside you and can produce said affects with your sheer force of will, or your charisma. shadow magic sorcerers are linked specifically to the shadowfell, which is the negative energy to the feywilds positive energy, and sorcerers uniquely display quirks depending on their lineage; two i’d propose for minato/makoto would be “when you asleep, you don’t appear to breathe (but you still do to survive)” and “always cold to the touch”, since they seem the most fitting in my opinion for him. they get things such as strength of the grave, which says that on a successful saving throw on an otherwise fatal hit, you’ll drop to just 1 hp due to your constant state of being between life and death, and you also get the umbral form at 18th level, which allows you to change your form to a shadowy state that is resistant to all damage except for force and radiant that also allows you to move through other objects or creatures (man does that remind you of a certain battle a bit).

in comparison, minako/hamuko is a totem barbarian in my full honest opinion. the reason i say this is because one of her defining traits is her hot headedness and impulsiveness to jump into situations, making her a prime candidate for barbarian due to their rage state and ability to tank hits. they get martial weapons, allowing her to pick up some weapon similar enough to a naginata, and the main aspect of the class is the ability to pick a totem spirit, which provides buffs depending on which animal you pick for your totem. personally, i throw my vote in for the wolf totem because it functions as a leader with the ability to land advantage melee hits on any creature hostile to you, the ability to track certain enemies and move at a stealthier natural pace, and the ability to just knock a large or smaller enemy prone when you hit them with a melee attack, all of which benefits minako/hamuko very nicely and lines up with her fighting style in both p3p and pq2.

alright so i know yukari uses a bow and arrows, and i know ranger exists, but also rangers are kinda bad in dnd overall and also yukari isn’t really a scout in any way. luckily dnd has an answer to this in the form of arcane archer fighter. arcane archers fuse magic into their archery methods in order to protect and deliver damage, mixing both yukari’s magic usage with her weapon of choice. they get the ability to literally redirect their arrows once shot to new targets and second wind, which lets them regain hp as a bonus action once per short or long rest. arcane archers essentially get an arrow type for like every school of magic, which makes up for the fact this would mean yukari has lost most of her healing spells since arcane archer fighters focus on dps more than they do support, though its not like ranger wouldve made up for that anyway.

so since junpei wants to be the leader so badly, i decided a champion fighter was gonna be the best bet for him, both because in a meta sense it is usually the First Pick newcomers do due to its simplicity of hit and hit more, but also because the class focuses on dps and raw physical power pushed to perfection, which junpei does end up getting when he learns to use a bat rather than a sword with the way he swings. this class and subclass is super straightforward: you get More damage to do the more you try to hit, and you get a higher chance of critical hits along with a more flexible fighting style and the ability to regain hit points with the survivor feat. they also get remarkable athlete, which lets them use half their proficiency bonus for any checks made while using one of their physical stats (so strength, dexterity, and constitution, all of which junpei def has) to have a greater chance at passing said checks.

akihiko's a monk. i literally don’t know what anyone expected. he’s a way of the open hand monk. open hand monks generally focus on debuffing enemies, which is akihiko’s staple in the party next to his all around good stats, which monks possess too in form of natural armor, increased movement speed, and having a hit die for throwing punches rather than dishing out 1 point of damage per hit, which increases as they get stronger. they can also heal themselves which akihiko has with his dia and diarama spells, but that isn’t the focus of it as much as it’s just a neat add on. overall, the guy’s a boxer and needs to dish out punches and monk does literally exactly that.

so i made a joke with a friend about how mitsuru keeps using marin karin because the ai of p3 is bad, and that led into the idea that mitsuru is a college of swords bard. while bards can be very stereotypically flirty, it’s just based on the fact their casting stat is charisma, so really any charismatic character can be a bard, which mitsuru does have with her formal way of speaking and her way of holding herself to establish authority. swords bard use, if you couldn’t guess, swords to fight, typically finesse weapons that they use dex for to fight, which with mitsuru’s weapon being a rapier, an actual finesse weapon in dnd, it’s an elegant weapon pick for an elegant class. they also get jack of all trades so they’re good at pretty much everything, which reflects the sort of type of person mitsuru reflects herself to be, and as a big joke, they get countercharm which allows them to perform and their allies get advantage when someone attempts to charm them. yeah. anyway mitsuru’s a bard. next.

for fuuka, i took more inspiration from her persona and how it encloses around her while she does her work to come up with an abjuration wizard. the school of abjuration specializes in protection and banishment spells, with outsiders believing it to be a specialization in denial and negation but truly being about ending harm and protecting the weak, which represent fuuka’s character and her bullying arc well. this class is mostly just what it says on the tin; they specialize in closing portals and rifts to other worlds, performing exorcisms, and securing locations that are too important to allowed equally magical wandering eyes and ears from engaging with. it’s also a high intelligence based class, which fits fuuka well. since she’s also a wizard, which gets virtually no hp and also no armor, so she needs to be protected, which everyone should want to protect her lmao.

aigis, for one, is a warforged in terms of races in dnd since they’re the robot race that only act on the goal they are given, But that’s just a side point to the main point of classes, which way of the kensei monk is definitely her. kensei monks train so extensively with their weapons that they become an extension of themselves, with aigis’s without a doubt being firearms due to her robotic nature already making them a literal extension of herself. they’re speedy and precise, both of which fit aigis and her programming to be the best combat unit, as kensei focus almost exclusively on dps output and the ability to just deal as much damage in one hit. unerring accuracy is also a feat kensei monks get, which allows them to reroll any attack they miss and again, really hones in on the combat robot thing aigis has going on.

now i know some of you probably went ‘are they gonna class assign koromaru’ and let me tell you i’m not going to cause 1 you wouldn’t be able to play him anyway in the theoretical sense, but also he’s usually seen as a companion to either ken or shinjiro, so he fits more as a companion animal that you see some classes get like rangers or druids. usually these animals survive as long as their owners lifespan and get extra health and sometimes magic so koromaru is a-okay in fighting still.

now for someone who i’m very excited to talk about: ken. being hellbent on revenge is actually a class in dnd! it’s called the vengeance paladin, which is a paladin whose oath revolves around singlehandedly bringing “evildoers” to justice, though what this justice is would be defined by the individual paladin’s definition of morality and their own vendetta. even in their basic description, oath of vengeance defines anyone who takes it as someone who sees their purity not being as important as the concept of delivering justice where justice is due, which fits not only ken’s theme as the justice arcana, but overall his entire relationship with shinjiro (which. oh boy paladin shinjiro and paladin ken parallels?). paladins get martial weapons which means ken gets his lance he uses, and on their spell list they get hunter’s mark, letting them mark targets to deal more damage. one another thing i want to bring attention to is their 7th level class feature, relentless avenger, which essentially makes it so any enemy that provokes an attack of opportunity can’t truly escape because the vengeance paladin can immediately take half their movement speed to follow after said enemy as apart of their reaction, which i think pretty easily describes the october 4th scene if you know what i mean.

and finally i’m saving the best for last cause i wanna talk about shinjiro. picture this: shinjiro’s a big tanky knight meant to service the people and protect them but a stray spell one day kills an innocent woman and suddenly he’s failed the one thing he swore his life to. giving up his oath, shinjiro turns into an oathbreaker paladin, a paladin who in someway shape or form has broken their sacred oath and now walks a darker path. now oathbreakers, while being stereotypically written as “evil”, don’t have to be evil themselves; being an oathbreaker pretty much is what it says on the tin, with them having failed to fulfill their oath’s rules in some way shape or form. breaking his own moral code and also abandoning his affiliation with sees pretty much solidifies shinjiro as an oathbreaker with him not necessarily being a bad person cause we all know he’s not. oathbreakers get things such as channel divinity: dreadful aspect, which lets them channel their anger into an intense magical intimidation, and paladins themselves are the only class to get the find steed spell, which fits castor’s horse riding-ness. they also get martial weapons and heavy armor, making shinjiro a big tank with an even bigger axe just like he likes to be. as a bonus thing, shinjiro Definitely has the tavern brawler feat (which gives unarmed strikes a hit die rather than a flat 1 damage) so he can wrestle with akihiko

BONUS: chidori’s a life cleric. her entire fountain of life or whatever the thing her persona does right next to her white gothic lolita aesthetic fit her as a life cleric. Or she could be a grave cleric with an atypical aesthetic, but then again, theres been pastel goth grave clerics before too.

BONUS x2: my friend and i had 2 ideas for ryoji while throwing ideas for this whole list around: death cleric, which is yknow, pretty straight forward..... OR deathlock great old one. deathlocks are specifically enemy warlocks that have been brought back from the dead by their patron because they believe that the warlocks job hasnt been done yet, and well, nyx i think counts as a great old one patron.

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obsoletesystem · 5 years

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D&D Ask Meme

@wisdom-fangs asked me to do all the questions of this D&D ask post. So I did. 1. A favorite character you have played. I really like playing monstrous characters. Currently in Adventurers League, I play Frattek Venvaris, bugbear rogue/barbarian, who is a delightfully goofy character. But I also miss playing Bajur Mashoir, a very charismatic lizardfolk "voodoo" shaman, whose catchphrase was: "As you can see, I am an alligator, sir..." spoken in a thick southern brawl. 2. Your favorite character that someone else has played. During a one shot the guy that played an evil halfling warlock sacrificed himself to blow up the big bad with a block of dynamite. The true MVP. 3. Your favorite side quest. Idk. 4. Your current campaign. I DM a homebrew campaign, in which the party is stuck between sides in a war between the local Jarl and a fey duchess who has taken over a part of the woods. I also participate as a player in a slight homebrewed Salt Marsh campaign, in which I play a tiefling cleric of Pelor. She's got a Sad Backstory. 5. Favorite NPC. The Loathesome Gribble, an NPC in the game I DM, who is a very small tiefling sorcerer with an immense knife collection and a four-armed aasimar monk girlfriend. He is found in the most of unlikely places and his signature spell is "Gribble's Hand of Sand", which may or may be not magical, as it blinds a creature with sand, but the material component is just a handfull of coarse sand. 6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc). The druid in our home game charged into giant stag form at a huge burning construct (The Burning Man from Burning Man, but moving), missed his attack, upon which the Burning Man rolled nat 20's on BOTH ITS ATTACKS. No advantage, no nothing, just two straight 20's. He grabbed the stag by its antlers, turned its head 360 degrees, and dropped a flaming, mutilated dwarf to the ground. 7. Your favorite downtime activity. I always like to do something that tells a little bit about the culture of the creature I play. When I was on haitus because of school, I described how Frattek had spend some time with his little bugbear niece, and had just returned from a fun little war (seeing as bugbears love to fight). 8. Your favorite fight/encounter. We had to fight a vampire spawn in a dank, dark basement, but it was light outside, and Frattek is incredibly good at grappling creatures, so we dragged the vampire out from his basement into the sunlit street, and then made a run for it as we had broken into a house. 9. Your favorite thing about D&D. Coming together with friends and not drinking (a lot) or smoking weed. I like doing those things too, but it is also fun to just hang out and play games where heavy drinking is not really handy. 10. Your favorite enemy and the enemy you hate the most. Dragons are the best, spellcasters are the worst. Spellcasting Dragons are the bees knees. My players, however, are going to hate a certain spellcaster very much. Once they find out... 11. How often do you play and how often would you ideally like to play? Usually once a week, but I'd love to be able to balance twice a week. One day as player, one day as DM. 12. Your in game inside jokes/memes/catchphrases and where they came from. "Name and occupation, please" comes from when we played Pathfinder, and one of the characters died, but I didn't want to get rid of him yet or he was set up to be reincarnated or some shit idk. Anyway, his soul arrives in purgatory, which turns out to be this bureaucratic office, where he has to stand in line for a long, long time, before arriving at a booth/desk type situation, in which an Ophanim angel (one of them burning wheels full of eyes) floats that asks with a bored sigh "Name and occupation, please". The player answered, and was set up for reincarnation, which involved shooting his soul from a cannon/drop tube into the unborn baby of a local woman. The child grows up unnaturally quickly, and because it has the soul of a mature orc barbarian, it is more than a little trouble. Nephertheless, the "Name and occupation, please" gag remained forever. 13. Introduce your current party. My Homeboys, the Lords of Okab Volal, are Nazreen, a wood elf ranger who missed her wolf, played by @tabula-wasa, Tophr Thanestone, the previously mentioned dwarf druid who was murdered by a giant flaming effigy and subsequently reincarnated/put into the body of a frost elf woman (something he hasn't come to terms with) played by our bearded friend Glenn, and Adelon Vrena, half-elf bard/cleric/divine soul sorcerer a.k.a. Healer Supreme, who is really righteous but not above torturing a captive githyanki, and played by Arnaud. The Schadestenen (meaning "Damage Stones", as in dice), which is the OG Adventurers League group in the Spellenhoorn in Hoorn, consist of Aiden Rainbowscale (Albino orphan wood-elf monk/barbarian), Fjorgyn (dwarven cleric of Moradin, who died last week and still suffered from the Death Curse. RIP.), Frattek Venvaris (Bugbear barbarian/arcane trickster and gladiator/luchador, played by me), Gideon Thornton (cowardly Half-Orc Hexblade), Grommash Hellscream (Stereotypical Half-Orc Barbarian. Great guy.), Ruldra (disgraced Hobgoblin undead-hunting Ranger), Cadence (Powerful but stupid Half-elf Grave Cleric/Divine Soul Sorcerer who never learned how to read), Ullr (Arnaud's Gloom Stalker and Human Machine Gun), and Darin (half-elf ranger and Master Of Backflip). The Peeps from Salt Marsh, DMed by the guy that plays Darin, in which Arnaud plays William Wisenose, The Awfully Lucky Halfling Build (halfling wizard/bard/whatever), Cadence's player plays Sylver Ravenstar (half-elf bard/hexblade/run away princess), her friend plays Samm Enoch (Aasimar Bard and Very Handsome Man), Aiden's player plays Ankis (Aasimar Celestial Warlock and very secretive about both these facts because Back Story), and his friend plays Vena Malum (Human Bloodhunter, who is really buff and does that swirly thing with her falchions, and oh my...), Grommash's player plays Morgain of Astora (human paladin of Pelor, and companion/boyfriend/substitute son to my character), and I play Paytsarra Avèry (winged tiefling cleric of Pelor). Praise the sun. 14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed. We had one party consisting of a drider, a very evil dwarf, a fire genasi, a gnome psychic, and a kenku ninja at one point. When the evil dwarf died, and I introduced the guy's new drow "medic", I knew I lost all cohesion of the group. 15. Do you have snacks during game times? My players do. I don't like snacks that much. 16. Do you play online or in person? Which do you prefer? In person. I tried playing online, and I think I would do again, but only if I'd have a really good headset. 17. What are some house rules that your group has? In the Salt Marsh campaign you double the value of the dice on a crit, which I think is disappointing. I just wanna roll a lot of dice :( 18. Does your party keep any pets? @tabula-wasa's ranger has a dire wolf...somewhere...

19. Do you or your party have any dice superstitions? Not that I know of. I do know some of my dice seem to roll better than others. 20. How did you get into D&D? How long have you been playing? I found a d&d character creation app on the web ages ago, and that sparked my interest. Later I joined a warhammer fantasy role play group with a friend I had been rp-ing online with a lot, but this was the real deal, at Arnaud's house. He dmed number of campaigns for us, and later he joined my pathfinder group which turned into a D&D 5th edition group. 21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done? Yeah. Frattek decided to be a hero and tried to assassinate an ogre torturer. He failed his shot. We had to fucking run. 22. What color was your first dragon? The first dragon I fought as a character was a young Red Dragon. Even at 5th level, we whooped its ass. He found himself in a cave, surrounded by fools, and we beat him to pulp. The first dragon I put in front of my players was a young White Dragon. It kicked their asses. 23. Do you use premade modules or original campaigns? I usually homebrew my own campaigns, but I have dmed some AL sessions. 24. How much planning/preparation do you do for a game? Not an incredible amount, but for my home game I prepare ideas months, even years, in advance. For DMs 25. What have your players done that you never could have planned for? A lot. The most notable was casting Dispel Magic on the demiplane-item the cultists were in... and then opening the demiplane underwater. 26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters. I had these zombies that always repeated the last thing they said before they died, which was cool and creepy. But the thing I really wrote out was the description of how an Astral Ship warps space around itself, and what that looks like from the people on the deck of the ship. 27. Do you allow homebrew content? If it's well written, absolutely, but there is a lot of shit out there. 28. How often do you use NPCs in a party? When it makes sense, but I try not to do that too often. 29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions? I prefer RP sessions, but I am leaning more toward combat. On the other hand, I don't think it completely excludes each other nor should it. I am of the opinion that 30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos? Rather diplomatic, but they can definitely kick ass. For Players 31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race? I like casters, and I will always have an affinity for wizards, but arcane tricksters and eldritch knights are cool too. I like elves, and I like monstrous races; goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears. I like things that are pretty and scary, or creepy and goofy. 32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?) I usually mix a bit of tank and dps. I don't like being very frail, but I do enjoy doing a lot of damage in one shot. 33. How do you write your backstory, or do you even write a backstory? I tend to write a character from a concept, and then build out the backstory. How did this person become the person they are today? Even if you have something of a bugbear, or a hobgoblin, or a yuan-ti. They have had a childhood, they have role models, they have culture. But what is that? What defines a character? What makes them they way they are? I don't like playing monstrous races that have been adopted by a "better, nobler race" like humans and elves and dwarves. I get the appeal, but I also think it is a little trite, and a little condenscending, almost. I think a lot about what defines a monstrous identity, and being a Cultural Anthropologist, I think a lot about the way culture shapes the values and morality and thus also behaviour of a creature. Do hobgoblins tell their children bedtime stories? What are they about? How will a bugbear struggle in regular humanoid society, where his violent urges -natural to him- are equally, or even more excessively violently repressed and punished? Is this just for bugbears? Will they then look for each other, and find each other in their shared cultural/natural tendencies? Are there goblinoid lawyers or activist groups, that seek to protect other goblinoids from unjust treatment under laws that aren't theirs? How will your life be if you are a second or third or even fourth generation inhuman creature in a human society? Do they dream of returning to a society that is 'theirs'? And is there even such a thing? And if there is, will they actually fit in, or forever be an outcast, neither hob nor man? I tend to poke at such questions with my character backstories. 34. Do you tend pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor? Everything is useful, since everything is always situational. If you plan only for situations in which you are going to kill every living thing, then you shouldn't pick something like Rope Trick, or Magic Circle. But you do you. I very much dislike decoupling "flavour" from functionality. This is a game of make-belief, so everything you do is flavour. The mechanics are an abstraction of a fantastic reality, and though inherently important to the working of the game (without rules, it would merely be improvisation, which is also a kind of game, but schwa), it is all flavour. People that brag about how much average damage they can do with this or that specific build tire me. 35. How much roleplay do you like to do? All of the roleplay! But please let me punt goblins into the garbage sometimes!

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billpardy · 5 years

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Moss Update!

Hey y’all! Sorry I haven’t posted an update to Moss’s story yet! We are two sessions in to our playthrough of The Curse of Strahd, and it’s pretty awesome so far! Moss’s animal companion, the beehive, has so far been the heaviest hitter in all of our combat so far, which is hilarious! She got very drunk in our second session, hence the doodle. She forgot she was three feet tall and chugged a bunch of wine and failed her constitution roll. It was SUPER funny.

To see the post where I explain her concept and introduce her, click this link

I’ve also finalized her backstory (if people are interested, I can post it as well? Slash I also have summaries of the story thus far if people are interested? Let me know?) and also the system by which her bee swarm loses bees/regains bees with health! So if you want to know how you can use a swarm of bees as a companion or familiar in DnD 5e, keep reading!

Bee mechanics under the cut cuz it’s kinda long!

Bee Mechanics: Moss’s animal companion is technically just the queen, Titania, but Titania commands the rest of the hive, and so they obey Moss (and communicate by dancing! Moss dances back lol)

Honeybees, which is what Moss keeps, have drones that stay in the hive and build and maintain, feed babies, serve the queen, etc, and then they have guard bees/gatherer drones that leave the hive (this is sort of an oversimplification, but roll with it).

The swarm of bees uses the standard Swarm of Insects stat block to start with (though the swarm CAN be healed), and is improved as Moss levels (using the Ranger Beastmaster Conclave from the Unearthed Arcana revision).

The guard bees are what acts as Moss’s swarm for combat, and there is one bee per hp that the swarm has, with Titania, the queen, being the final hit point of the swarm. So the loss of one hit point equals the loss of one bee. At the end of a combat encounter, if the swarm can be healed at all, either by Moss or others, I do not count those bees as lost. They get healed and are alive again (I would have to come up with far too many bee names if I didn’t do this). However, any hit points not recovered counts as lost bees. If the swarm ever loses ALL hit points and dies, then the queen dies, and I would either have to resurrect, or spend time finding a new queen, as dictated by the mechanics in the UA guide for Beastmasters.

As the ranger levels, the swarm’s hp increases, and this counts as new bees being added to the swarm from the hive.

For roleplay purposes, I decided it was important for all the bees to have names, and for the losses to be recorded. The bees are like family to Moss, and she would remember their sacrifice and honor that. Naming them makes each loss matter deeply, and I quickly found myself getting attached even as I was still naming them. Moss tends to name the bees based on her surroundings or things that have happened recently in her life. After our first session, when I gained some new bees, I actually let our party help name some of them too, which was really fun! Lots of bee puns lol

To make the loss system fair and random (so I can’t try to save my favorites) I have all the current bees on a numbered list. When losses occur, I use a random number generator to determine which bees have died, unless say, it was specified through rp which ones were killed (that’s happened once already, but it was outside of combat). The queen cannot be the one killed unless the rest of the swarm is downed first. She is always the final hit point (because otherwise you could randomly just lose your whole familiar, which would be stupid).

I think I covered everything, but if I missed something or if you have questions, feel free to send me an ask. If you wind up using this, please let me know! I’d love to hear how it works for you!

My starting lineup of bees is listed in my first post about Moss (link above the readmore), but here is my current bee squad (as of level 5):

Titania (Queen), Fyreen, Hawk, Bumble, Mothsilk, Marievous, Stabitha, Fang, Eline, Daisy, Cowslip, Grumpy, Lovenip, Belle, Bitey, Spark, Fizz, Wolf, Vengeance (named after a jackass npc killed Clover and Thistle), Lily, Bee Arthur, Lester Bee Pearson, Larva, Diamond, Glitter, Beeyonce, Beeelzebub, Rob Zombee, Fluffy, Knees, Lucky, Gidget, Torch, Grave, Vine, Scruffy

The Fallen:

Winter (felled in first wolf encounter)

Vania (felled in first wolf encounter)

Maple (felled in first wolf encounter)

Clover (killed when scouting after the messenger)

Thistle (killed when scouting after the first messenger)

Puck (killed by zombies in the graveyard during the ritual)

Fuzzbin (killed by zombies in the graveyard during the ritual)

Spite (killed by zombies in the graveyard during the ritual)

The rest of the Party:

Moss (Goblin Ranger)

Troibant (Human Cleric who Moss likes very much because he’s very kind and healed her bees after she lost nearly the whole swarm in the first combat)

Ulsh the One-Eyed (Elderly Half-Orc Druid who Moss thinks is a very large goblin and absolutely idolizes because she can turn into a bear)

Zarvroth Gorthid (Blue Dragonborn Fighter with one arm. Very serious and intimidating, but also seems very honest)

A female human monk whose name I forget but her player sadly quit so she died after our first combat

Shadow (Gnome uhhhh... I have no idea what class he is, but he joined us in the second session and he’s either an Arcane Trickster Rogue or a Warlock? idk Moss almost hated him because he set a bunch of her bees on fire by accident with a turret, but he healed them later, so she’s forgiven him)

Let me know if you want to know more about this campaign! I really wanna write about what’s going on and it’s a super fun story! Curse of Strahd is a really cool module, and I’m loving it so far. I’ve been driving everyone up the wall with bee puns which I know they secretly love ;P

Moss has made friends with a lot of the npcs, and tends to be the party member who rushes in to things first. Unless it’s combat lol Then she’s way at the back, providing support with her longbow and trying to not get hit

#dnd #dnd 5e #dungeons and dragons #dnd character #dnd 5e character #dnd ranger #animal companion #goblin #goblins #dnd campaign #curse of strahd #my ocs #my dnd character #moss #bees #unearthed arcana

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skeletonmaster69 · 4 years

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makin dnd-but-not aus for all universes now so heres one for the aarons(should i start calling them the found and lost gang? i dont really want to though... calling them the aarons is more fun) First, i cannot see erin as anything other than an aasimar. which honestly makes no sense with how his “wtf is happening to me aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” storyline goes but ill figure it out. maybe he was like half/quarter aasimar but didnt know it and didnt really have any aasimar traits and then one day encounters something or other that unlocks those aasimar traits? Idk. it doesnt have to work in actual dnd since this is just an au loosely based on the fantasy stuff from dnd so yeah. He’s also a sorcerer, with some mix of the celestial, stormborn, and solar bloodline. though if i had to choose his main on its probably celestial(cuz aasimar). he’s only level 1 cuz he hasnt had his magic very long but would probably level up pretty quickly and be able to catch up with the others.

aaron is a human ranger. how special and interesting of her. Shes level 4, her chosen combat style is two weapon combat and she has a cat animal companion named Sourdough. Lived in a little house in the forest with her totally just a best friend arin until Plot Happened.

arin is a half elf druid. again, how original. also level 4, and has a dog animal companion named Fern. Fun Fact: Arin and Aaron named eachothers animal companions. which is Very CuteTM. but they arent gay i promise they are totally completely platonic best friends who lived alone in the woods together(I am joking they are a little gay)

Erryn is either a dhampir or a tiefling! probably a tiefling honestly. u wanna know why? Well 1. tieflings have horns, erryn has antlers, close enough to the same thing. 2. hehehehheh tiefling x aasimar 3. shunned from society and finally 4. unlike with aasimar where they seem to always be born that way, tieflings arent! I have proof! This image is taken straight from that one site with pretty much all pathfinder information ever

SOMETIMES LATER IN LIFE. BOOM. i am very cool :) anyways, hes got 2 levels in fighter and one in spellscar oracle. His curse is scrouge.

airen is a human level 4 wizard! hes got a blue ringed octopus familiar thats named spot but he never calls the octopus that infront of other people and pretends hes completely indifferent toward it but he really really loves spot. hes in the enchantment school

erina is a kitsune! Though just like erin and erryn she wasn’t born one. all three of those guys were born human. she has a level in plant witch with a centipede familiar named lilac and 3 levels in rogue. also, in this au she is not evil, shes a solid true neutral! thats because while in the main universe the apocalypse killing all her friends and family kinda broke her a little bit, but that didnt happen in this! So instead shes just a person trying to be nice but whos really mischievious and ends up kinda manipulative sometimes. so maybe shed fit better as chaotic good but she doesnt really wanna break any rules and shes not that good at being good so neutral fits i think.

aerin is a drow! Which is Very Unfun for them, as they have crippling anxiety and depression. Level 4 monk, wouldnt be any kind of class at all but their adoptive parents said it might calm them down a little. It did not. Atleast they can kick stuff now though. i really should make an au where aerin isnt in situations that constantly worsen their mental illness, but that wouldnt be very fun, would it.

finally, aron is a human oracle with the ancestor mystery. her curse is clouded vision But Worse cuz hes just completely blind. level 4 like everyone else. i dont really have anything else to add since im still working on arons character in the main universe so yeah..

erin aaron and arin(And eventually erryn) are all in the same party

airen, erina, aerin, aron, and erryn are also all in the same party

They are Rivals but its kinda an unfair rivalry for awhile since erin’s party has two less members than airens party for awhile and erin is only level 1.

erin erryn and erina all got their Magic Stuff from the same accident. I am still working out what that accident was but either A. some deity got angry, a city suffered the consequences, B. uh oh cultists fucked up a ritual, or C. it was actually deliberate and Someone is trying to bring more magic into a world that probably cant handle it. its probably b tbh. Still deciding if they were the only ones close enough to be effected, everyone else near the accident died, or theres a whole bunch of new nonhumans in an area but itll probably be a mix of all three. Erryn and Erina were already in their party at that point so they were trying to protect the others and get people away, meanwhile erin was just alone and Very Confused. he ran away from the accident unlike the other two so hes still a little human? but probably becomes full aasimar as hes exposed to more magic stuff.

#IM DONE #I CAN CLOSE THE DND TABS AND NOT BE ANNOYED AT HAVING TOO MANY THINGS OPEN AT ONCE ANYMORE #I DONT NEED TO SUFFER ANYMORE #IM SO HAPPY

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