#is he invested in the d&d campaign or is he invested in the DM???

[neoluca]

Listening to: Fast Times at Barrington High - The Academy Is...

[humanityinahandbag]

Steve would absolutely be down to play D&D with Hellfire. The only condition is that he gets to be whatever character he wants (with Eddie's help crafting the sheet, of course), and Eddie is so completely enamoured and excited that he agrees wholeheartedly.

Turns out, Steve didn't really understand the concept of fantasy characters and assumed that it included all kinds of fantasies. Elves, Dwarves, Mages.

And naturally the lineup of Steve's 1987 Fantasy Basketball League.

The rest of Hellfire is ultimately accepting of it, and even gets into the character as time goes on. But those first few sessions were confusing as hell. Especially because they weren't quite sure what to think when Steve's only supplies and weapons included sports bars, tiny shorts, and a basketball.

Eddie though?

Eddie's been having a goddamn field day with the chaos his beloved hath wrought.

"Alright Steve. Roll to attack."

Steve rolls and lights up. "Eighteen!"

The other players cheer.

"Good luck," said Will sullenly after his magic missile failed to take the villain down. In fact, so far, nearly every attack from each member had failed to do enough damage to even make a dent.

Eddie writes down a note behind his DM shield. "Alright so the ghost approaches you. What are you..." He pauses. "Wait. Sorry what's your name again?"

"Larry Bird," says Steve helpfully.

"Right. What are you, Larry Bird, going to do to the Ghost?"

"I'm going to dribble across the enchanted bridge and hit him with a hook shot."

"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done..." Dustin whispers.

He's shushed by everyone else who has become absolutely invested in the fate of their resident Point Guard Paladin.

(the best part is that the end of the campaign in what was meant to be a difficult and long battle, in which almost every single Hellfire character dies a gruesome death, Steve effectively ends it by rolling a single D20 and dunking a zombie's head into the Boss' face.

Hellfire is elated but isn't sure how to explain to future Hellfire members that a kill shot was once carried out by the small forward of the Boston Celtics.)

[cubbihue]

Hey if Hazel, Dev, and the gang play DnD, what do you think they would play as.... and how who would be the fortunate(or unfortunate) DM?

When I was 10, my older brother would play massive D&D campaigns in the living room. He tried teaching me the mechanics but it was too much and too boring for my small brain. Instead, I was far more fascinated with things like Warrior Cats.

Apparently Warrior Cats has a d&d game though. So. The kids would all play that instead!

Dev would eventually be roped into joining. Mainly because when you're sitting with a table of kids doing storytelling, you end up getting very invested, and very frustrated when they make the very wrong choices!!!

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[centaurianthropology]

Why C3E51 worked so well (a DM’s perspective)

I have seen a lot of absolutely bananas critiques of C3E51 (thankfully not nearly as many around here, far more on Reddit, which I should not have visited).   And the ongoing theme of those critiques is that Matt should not have imperiled former PCs, and if he brought them in should have either done lengthy side-bars with those characters or let them win the fight against Ludinis and have a chance to take him out themselves, since they’re ‘god tier’ or ‘high level’ and that makes ‘logical sense’.  What these critiques really boil down to, IMO, are people who were really invested in the former campaigns upset that their faves didn’t get to do cool things, treating it more like a TV show than a game.  But even as a TV show, that would have been disappointing from a narrative perspective.  Because even in a TV show, this is a sequel spin-off show, starring new characters.  The story is about THEM.  And more importantly, the game is about the players and about telling their story.

So let’s break this down from a DM perspective.  How do you build a Kobiashi Maru situation for your characters?  For those of you who aren’t familiar, the Kobiashi Maru is a Star Trek term for a scenario designed from the jump to be unwinnable (Kirk beat it by creativity, but later admitted that he missed the point of it).  In Star Trek this was done to test what a future officer would do if faced with certain failure.  In a D&D game it’s a little more complicated.  Part of it is to set up the BBEG, put their plan in motion, and set the stage for the next leg of the game.  But it’s also to give your players, who are clearly into it, a darkest-hour scenario.  Not every player group is going to be into facing down the Kobiashi Maru, and it’s clear from the aforementioned critiques that a lot of them are on Reddit.  Power-gamers who always want to win are not going to enjoy this sort of storytelling, but players who are really into RP and working through difficult times and failures will eat this stuff up.  And this is absolutely the sort of table playing on Critical Role.  There is a level of trust there that can only be built after years of working together, and this was finally the moment when Matt could pay off years of planning and campaign-spanning set-up.

Matt carefully plotted the structure of this episode out to give maximum agency and impact to a party of dramatically under-leveled characters.  And they knew going in they were under-leveled.  This wasn’t a surprise, but a potential suicide run by people who knew they weren’t the heroes they needed to be, but were the only heroes in the right place at the right time to try anything.  So they came up with as good a plan as they could, and executed it fairly well, all things considered.  

They knew they couldn’t take on Ludinus directly (and this was a great way to demonstrate exactly how much he had planned and how long, to bring in elements from C2, hints we’ve had for years about Ludinis, only to reveal it went deeper than any of the characters could have imagined), so Matt gave them some winnable objectives.  This is a great way to keep the characters invested in an unwinnable scenario: the ultimate outcome may be beyond the characters, barring some insane genius or incredible rolls, but they can still help.  They can do something that will have a tangible impact on events and hinder the baddies enough to give them another chance at a rematch and a way to stop the apocalypse when they’re higher level.  So Matt gave them the batteries: take out as many as you can.  While this would not stop the ritual, I suspect that the more they took out the more Ludinis would have to drain his own power to make the key work, and the longer the process would take.  Knocking out the feywild key, as well as multiple power sources turned what would have been an instantaneous event if they had done nothing into a more drawn-out affair which, I suspect, could be stopped or even reversed.  It gave them a window to come back and demand a rematch.

Then we have the high-level PC allies, and how to play with those sorts of characters without pulling focus from the PCs.  Matt handled this very well, by having the players roll for their former PCs, taking the specifics of their actions out of his hands and letting the dice of the former players decide.  He also revealed that Keyleth’s involvement, and baiting Vax with Otohan’s permadeath poison, was key to Ludinis’ ritual, which was why she couldn’t just dive in and clean everything up.  But again, because of this story, it ties less back to Keyleth and more back to Orym.  That was the point of the attack on Zephrah, to get her attention by getting her to look into who did it and then coming to get some payback, but the little guy on the ground has always been caught in the middle.  Orym has been Ludinis’ unwitting pawn from the off, his family’s deaths merely a means to an end, and that is vicious and amazing set-up for character growth for him.  

Beau and Caleb had to be there by the logic of the story.  It didn’t make sense that Caleb would sit out a world-ending event orchestrated by a Cerberus Assembly member after spending years trying to take them down.  Beau would obviously go with him.  It also made sense that they would be the only two there, because they were scouting when Ryn got taken down, and after that were trying to keep a low profile.  Shit accelerated too fast for them to call in reinforcements.

Which is the in-story reason for them to be there, but isolated and vulnerable, making them useful allies and wildcards (who likely could have been more useful if ultimately failing as well, but failed early thanks to Liam and Marisha’s rolls).  But they were still outmatched.  I have no idea what the challenge rating of Otohan, Leliana, and Ludinis are, but we know Otohan was considered ‘beatable’ back in Bassuras.  That indicates she’s the lowest CR, particularly with the glowing weak-spot on her back.  But she can still wreck a level-20 PC if she gets the jump on her, which she did.  And that meant that she remained a massive threat.  Caleb and Beau were playing it smart, keeping to the shadows, but still got caught by Leliana.  Between dice rolls, careful planning, and some great enemy design, Matt really set up a team that could take on high-level players and win.  And he made it clear that Ludinis did not leave this to chance.  He has the best people he could muster after 1000 years of planning.  Nothing short of a miracle could have truly stopped them.

Which is why we cut back to Bells Hells.  Because ultimately this particular story isn’t about Keyleth or Vax or Caleb or Beau or any other former PCs.  This is about the current party being caught up in events much larger than them and having to rise to the occasion.  This is the story of the schmucks sent in to take out the batteries, but who have personal beef with the big bads.  Ludinis orchestrated the plan to attack Zephrah to bait Keyleth and draw out Vax, and Otohan carried it out.  And he used Orym as a pawn throughout all of it.  This makes taking them down, but especially taking Otohan down, the cornerstone of Orym’s personal quest.  Letting an NPC take her down would be taking away a critical part of his motivation and goals, which is an absolute no-no for a DM.  NEVER bring in a god-tier NPC and take away player agency or story beats.  Especially never have them resolve important player goals and backstory events!  Every NPC, even the powerful ones, are there to support the story the players are telling.  So of course Keyleth wasn’t going to take out Otohan.  Of course she wasn’t going to stop the ritual.  Beau and Caleb might have been able to do something more if Liam and Marisha hadn’t rolled so badly for them, but ultimately, they had to get caught or fail in another way.  

For the sake of gameplay, Bell’s Hells had to be the only functional team.  They had to be the ants that were beneath Ludinis’ notice long enough to really accomplish something.  And as much as it feels like they failed, they had minor victories: Laudna and Ashton took out more batteries, making Ludinis drain his own power to kick off the apocalypse.  They only failed to take out Otohan’s backpack by 2 HP, which showed them that she was an achievable goal in the future.  If they had rolled a little better, they probably could have taken her out entirely, which would have felt like a big accomplishment for them.  Imogen made her mother pause in her assault before doubling down.  This leaves open very interesting future beats for their interactions.  Can she ultimately redeem her mother or would she have to take her out?  Every step that Matt set up in this episode, from the reveals about Ludinis’ plans and Orym’s past, to Imogen’s interactions with her mother, to Chetney and likely Ashton finding themselves staring down their own backstories after the party split, was focused on this party, on getting them ready to step out of low-level play and advance.

And that’s the point of E51.  It’s not a climax of the story, but the ultimate set-up.  It’s putting all the pieces onto the board in a way that all the characters can now recognize.  Yes, unless the players came up with something genius, the apocalypse was going to kick off, but their actions slowed everything down to a place where it could be combatted.  Yes, the god-tier former PCs were always going to get neutered, because this is Bells Hells’ story, and you cannot have NPCs fix PC problems.  They might have been able to do a little more before this happened, but the dice rolled.

And it’s honestly good for the PCs how things turned out.  They have a clear objective, but are split up.  This gives them great incentive to level up, explore character backstory, deal with their personal shit, get stronger, and then come back to kick the asses of all three of these villains (or possibly redeem one, we’ll see).  Their powerful allies are now temporarily side-lined.  Keyleth is badly hurt and will need time to recover.  Caleb is collared and will need time to get that removed.  Beau is likely up and moving now, but will need to safeguard Caleb for a while.

The Bells Hells are on their own.  The Darkest Hour has come, and it’s time for them to rise up and go from nobodies to heroes.  This is their true call to adventure.  And as a DM, it was so cool seeing how Matt set up all the pieces over the campaign, only to pay them out in such a satisfying and motivating way in this episode.

[cryptids-and-muses]

Post canon homestuck crew play Dungeons and Dragons

Karkat and terezi

Co dms

Unstoppable when actually working together

Terezi will get sidetracked messing with karkat

Karkat trying to write a deep and well fleshed out campaign that’s thematically resonant vs terezi’s desire for chaos and traps and trying to “trick” her players FIGHT

Terezi believes in karma and will make the world bend to this

Karkat is trying to set up romance arcs and argues about how it adds to the theming

Dave draws them fanart of their characters. Terezi loves it while karkat argues about accuracy before admitting yes he also appreciates it

Calliope also does fanart and karkat praises her skill and accuracy unlike some people

John

Arcane trickster rogue

Forest gnome

Just a goofy little guy!

Mostly just playing to have fun, starts off with a fun but simple character who develops over time

Ends up SUPER invested and taking this so so seriously

Karkat worked a dramatic reveal into the, in his words, “bare ass bones two paragraphs that a fucking wiggler could have written backstory” and John did not see it coming and loved it

Goes head to head with terezi a lot on her various traps she designs for them. She is getting more and more absurd with it. Karkat had to talk to her about breaking the world building with things she’s introducing. He is the only rogue. Send help.

Rose

Drow warlock

Tries to justify picking drow as anything other than she just thought it was cool

Nearly went old ones for patron but settled on archfey for story reasons

Has a 10 page lore document detailing her tragic past and her toxic relationship with her patron

It became 15 pages after going back and forth with karkat for a bit and adding even more

Only her and one other person are taking the romance arcs seriously and they become karkat’s favorite players

Tries playing morally ambiguous but terezi can be annoying about that and claims it’s just “the consequences of her actions”

Her and karkat both get very very into the scenes between her and her patron, the drama! The acting! Dave is uncomfortable and karkat brushes it off, it’s not like him role playing as his sister’s abusive girlfriend is weird. It’s in fact very important to the plot Dave

Has written fanfic of the campaign

Jade

Dragonborn barbarian

Path of the beast

Don’t ask me I just know

Her GLEE when she says “I’m gonna rage :D”

ANIMAL COMPANION! She nearly went ranger just for that but knew she wouldn’t have as much fun. Found a way to get one anyway.

It was harder naming her animal companion than her character

Having fun and likes the problem solving side of things, but likes breaking things with her massive strength just as much

Terezi likes to throw stuff at her, both traps and encounters, and finds it funny if she can just wreck her way through

“See John that’s how you deal with a pressure plate trap”

Takes the rp side of things very seriously

Once argued with Karkat over if her favorite npc would do that and cursed him out

Has read roses fanfic of the campaign

Dave

Plays a teifling with grey skin and orange horns

“What are you talking about karkat this is just my dude, don’t you like him?”

Hellus Jeffus

He’s a valor bard, eventually multiclasses paladin

Starts out just trying to mess with people but like John starts getting into it, though he tries to down play it

Have hellus more of himself than he realized and it’s making him face things about himself

Eventually hellus self sacrifices to save the party in this deeply intense moment. There were tears, Dave was wrecked, they went on a whole quest to revive him. It was touching and karkat is smug

Dave might have worked through some things

Jane

Halfling cleric

Her and John are small buddies!!!

Started out life but wasn’t having a lot of fun with it so with terezi’s permission switched to war or tempest with later s few levels in fighter

Her John and Jade are the biggest front liners, John’s character ends up really close with both of them as it’s easier for the rogue to bond with the person giving them sneak attack

Jade and jane’s character have an in game arm wrestling match

Took a bit to get into the rp side of things but eventually got the hang of it

Roxy

Tabaxi, easily, it’s so obvious

After much deliberation settles on glamour bard (though wizard and rogue were tempting for the joke, she wanted to branch out)

So many horny bard jokes but very little actual follow through, karkat gets frustrated by this as she’s all this talk but isn’t pursuing any of the romance options he’s giving her

She has SECRETS! She is HIDING THINGS!! Her cheery persona is a FASADE!!!

Cue complaining to karkat about how hard it is to wait to tell the others about her secrets and him threatening violence if she tells anyone before the in game reveal

She tells jake

Lots of egging on Dave and helping him with his fucking around

The BOND between her and Dave!!! They are the duo to end all duos. Team rocket type shit. There is nothing stronger than the bond between the bards of the party. My theory is it has to do with trading bardic inspiration.

Dirk

Half elf Druid circle of spores

Wildfire seemed fun to him but wasn’t as good

Wasn’t originally planning on being a Druid but after going over all the classes he liked all the customization and decisions that go into Druid like prepared spells and such

Didn’t really think about his backstory much, just improved something. He keeps improving new additions and it’s getting more and more elaborate and complicated. He has multiple hidden and long lost siblings by this point. Still doesn’t write any of this down. If he messes a detail up he justified it with more improv.

Yes his character has spiked up red hair and sunglasses. Don’t question how the Druid got sunglasses karkat.

Really likes the tactics side of things, he’s even pitched a few things to terezi she updated and later worked in

Sometimes works on plans and strategies out of game or making a million back up characters that play off the others in interesting mechanical ways

Is considering becoming a dm some time

Jake

Needed some help making his character, he just didn’t know where to start

Eventually after much discussion settles on a teifling bladesong wizard

Wanting to get away from his usual adventurer style Roxy helped with the backstory and they came up with this evil scientist raised in a cult who’s good hearted but was never taught right and wrong

He gets very into playing him and his moral struggle but can lean a little too good for his backstory, karkat points this out and Jake swears to get better at it

Dave pitched a lot of names for them and it was eventually settled on “Bernard Gunn” even though he has a sword. Jake just likes how it sounds

“Why is he blue jake?” “…..uhhh” “why is he blue?”

Calliope

SHE LOVES THIS SO MUCH

Teifling Druid with a focus on healing

Circle of shepards

Not a troll color pallet like Dave though, honestly it might get a bit trickster

Beautiful backstory that she coordinated with one of the others to make joint. The most obvious choice is Roxy but I think it was actually jade, Jane or John.

She gets so into it you guys, like so into it

Gives at least one dramatic speech completely on the fly

The other character who takes karkat’s romance arcs seriously and his other favorite player

Has also argued with terezi about world building and consistency. This may put her above rose in karkat’s eyes

Was also allowed to read rose’s fanfiction and offered full on reviews

Also considering going into doing but for the opposite reasons to Dirk

Vriska

Fairy artillerist artificer with a dip in war magic wizard

Min maxxed to hell and back

(Technically there was a better race, but fairy has its own advantages and she couldn’t resist)

An elaborate backstory too with some secrets of her own, I’m thinking full on lost princess

Yes she is That Player, you know the one

Has nearly been kicked multiple times and now won’t leave on principle

Not the best at sticking with the party and not just doing whatever she wants, but suprisingly Dirk has been able to talk her into it with his talk of tactics and playing smart

Second most effective is John who just looks at her like “vriska you’re not making this very fun :(“

Kanaya

Fire genasi ranger

Really tried to get into it but this just isn’t her thing so eventually decided to leave the group

Karkat came up with a fun story reason for her to leave and eventually brought her character back as an Npc

Did help rose make a cosplay of her character, after which John, Calliope, and Roxy wanted to make ones too

Vriska eventually tried to “manipulate” into helping her make one for her character

[brynnmclean]

I've got another D&D poll for you all in a similar vein to Is the Advisor Evil? because I think it's funny and one of my players/mutuals suggested I do this, if only so she could make a propaganda post about my special little guy.

Here's the scenario: you, the DM, start a new campaign and want to get your party invested in the game quickly, so you create an NPC to lead the group to a nice little first combat scenario that your guy can aid them with before he gives a quest hook and dies dramatically.

Immediately you run into problems with this plan: the healer saves his life. The party adopts him. You think, okay, he can give them important information periodically and then you'll TOTALLY kill him off later.

Three actual IRL years later, you have tried (and failed) to kill him THRICE total and he is now a PC's love interest. So!!!!

[ersetu-gazette]

Mother of Learning: A Love Letter to D&D and Downtime

There are so many influences to Mother of Learning’s narrative that you might not be able to list them all. Fantasy novels, real world history, anime, fanfiction, thrillers, video games, and time travel science fiction easily come to mind. But the one major influence that is the most prevalent in my perspective is Dungeons and Dragons.

The world building, the character design, the culture, and the plot itself are grown from a soil fertilized by Dungeons and Dragons. Spells have levels (called circles), cephalic rats were called cranium rats before it was changed to not step on WOTC’s toes, liches are a bloodthirsty and dangerous memento of past norms, dragons are intelligent and powerful threats, and the creation of dungeons are a natural phenomena connected to the origin of the world. I could go for hours on the obvious connection this story has with D&D, but there is one particular facet that interests me. Downtime is a component of D&D that isn’t as well established in some games, but is absolutely vital for having a realistic and spaced out campaign that goes from low level to high level. For those that don’t know, it’s the game play shift from “what to do we do day to day or round to round” to “what do we do over the next few weeks, or months, or sometimes years.” It’s when characters have chance to accumulate resources, enact social change, chase down mysteries, build organizations, or further develop their personal power. It most importantly gives players narrative breathing room to imagine their characters when tension isn’t at it’s highest and live a more reasonable life. Some d&d players don’t care if they level up every day from constant adventuring would be great, but for others it ruins the immersion by presenting them with a world in which anyone can become a god in just a month of adventuring.

Mother of Learning is very much in love with this aspect of D&D play in how it serves the character development, but also the greater narrative and suspension of disbelief.

Let’s look at how a “common” D&D party uses downtime and how Mother of Learning does. The iconic d&d party (acting in a stereotypical manner) would have a wizard that was either researching magic spells or building magical items, a (let’s assume good) cleric would either be performing acts of community service or spreading the word of their god, the fighter would be either training or establishing political/social power for an order/organization, and the rogue would be planning a heist or investigating a lead in the underworld. The DM in this situation might just let the players make progress in their personal interests outside the context of the campaign/adventure hooks, or they naturally set up some of the party’s downtime to lead in the direction of a new adventure.

Either the wizard discovers some dungeon that the whole party wants to go through, an NPC the cleric cares about is in trouble and needs a lost medicine formula to be saved, the fighter needs to go on a quest for some noble, or the rogue discovers an imminent problem brewing that needs to be taken care of right now (or yesterday if possible). The details and specifics don’t matter, the overall point of downtime is to allow players breathing room to pursue what interests them, and a good DM will take that investment to weave it into an engaging and compelling campaign to be shared with the party.

Now, let’s look at some of the activities Zorian does throughout the narrative. Zorian at the beginning focuses on training and research. Some of the research is regarding the time loop itself but with his low level he’s not making much progress. Zorian at one point makes enough progress that he impresses Ilsa which gives him the job of escorting Kael and Kana, allowing him to properly meet one of the important side characters. When Zorian invests in his relationship with Taiven it lets him meet the aranea in a sewer run, characters integral to the plot and investigation and mentors that help him understand and develop his empathy. When Zorian invests in his relationship with Kirielle by bringing her to Cyoria he is able to further develop his relationship with Kael (which later gives him the opportunity to learn about the Sudomir subplot but meet many interesting soul mage characters), but also makes a connection with local shifters, which will be his clue and plot hook to the invasion needing primordial essence. He investigates the spider webs to learn how to read araenea memories and make memory packets, which allows him to learn about the Ghost Serpent’s web that is key to the time loop mystery.

Now, I could go through the rest of the plot but I think it’s clear now how Zorian’s “narrated over” activities map very cleanly onto tricks DMs use to make downtime more engaging. It’s a mixture of Zorian responding to pressing needs and investing in things he likes, and those actions leading to threads connected to either the greater plot or compelling subplots. But most importantly during this is that Zorian’s actions seem to be based on what he as a character would do, what he thinks is a solution, not the only one presented by the hypothetical DM. Multiple times Zorian is presented with a problem and decides to solve it and investigate in his own way instead of a clearly “obvious” solution. If this were an actual D&D campaign and I was Zorian or Zach’s player I wouldn’t think that I was being railroaded at all. This method of narrative and how long it takes is believable, and engaging, and importantly, helps with the suspension of disbelief.

A problem a lot of DMs have with D&D story is that if any group of schmucks can take adventuring jobs every day/week and level up after every other one, then why isn’t everyone level 20? If power scales so quickly and so easily for the heroes, what is keeping everyone from following the same path? Some DMs solve this by having the adventuring party have access to a resource that lets them level up (that not everyone has), or by making every adventure ridiculously deadly, but the solution a lot use is with downtime. Adventures and high sources of xp aren’t easily accessible, and you have to wait long periods of time in between each one. Downtime is what people do while they wait for, or look for, the rare chances of issues that are difficult enough to warrant leveling up.

In a way, Mother of Learning’s plot structure does the same thing, force Zorian to go through downtime before he is able to “access” the next plot point. Many people complained that sometimes Zorian would announce that he had to solve (plot point x) as soon as possible, and then he’d go and dick around with something else. While some people say this is him being easily distracted or whimsical, it was very clearly understood by me that Zorian recognized that he couldn’t solve (plot point x) right then with his information & skill level. Zorian can’t solve a mystery, or make fast enough progress in a magical skill, or anything, and decides to better spend his time in making more meaningful progress in other fields, in the hopes they’ll tie back and help with the “pressing” issue (But few issues are truly pressing in a time loop, not until after the second arc). It’s also believable from the perspective of a D&D metaphor because do you know what’s the most boring thing about downtime? When one player dedicates all their time doing one thing only.

You ever sit at a table trying not to look at your phone while some player is making 50 craft & profession checks with no interesting progress after the fifth? It’s boring as shit. The most interesting downtimes I’ve experienced and done are when a pc does a handful of meaningfully different tasks split out across the time given, and investing enough focus to have something interesting happen in the narrative or in any character interactions. And Mother of Learning simulates this very faithfully.

Overall, even with the occasional flaws of Zorian acting a bit oddly during these periods of investigation, practice, and social connection, Mother of Learning faithfully and skillfully integrates downtime into it’s narrative in a way I fucking love. A lot of what makes fantasy adventuring engaging isn’t just the adventuring itself, but the downtime in between and consequences of both.

[sardonic-rose]

Dungeons, Dragons, and Transformers: A Headcanon Post (Transformers Prime Edition)

Sup. First post for this fandom and coming out swingin'.

Basically, upon learning about Dungeons and Dragons, would they play, and how would they play?

I may come back and do more of these for other continuities. Anyways, let's go. 😎

D&D Lingo:

DM: Dungeon Master. The person who runs the game. Dungeon Master is a term specifically associated with D&D. Other TTRPGs tend to use the term GM, or Game Master. PC: Player Character. The character that a Player is using for the game. NPC: Non-Player Character. Tends to be characters the DM portrays, such as shopkeepers and quest givers. TTRPG: TableTop Role Playing Game. Refers to the entire genre of role playing game that D&D belongs to. SRD: System Reference Document. The core rulebook for Dungeons and Dragons.

Autobots:

Optimus Prime: He would not play, but may watch from time to time. He would be especially intrigued after learning the history of Tabletop Role Playing Games; how the genre evolved from roleplay scenarios used to train tacticians in the military. If he ever decided to play (post-war, most likely) he would make one of the greatest DMs of All Time. As a Player, however, he would have a tendency to have his Character lead the other PCs like he does with the Autobots, which may create conflict.

Ratchet: Has no interest at all. That is, until he hears someone playing a Cleric/Paladin/Druid going, "Guys!! I can't HEAL YOU if you are ALL THE WAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MAP you SUICIDAL FUCKS!!" (AKA: The rage every gamer feels when playing a healer.) At which point Ratchet briefly becomes highly invested, going, "Listen to your HEALER!" and trying his best to offer strategies. Later, he still insists these games do not interest him in the slightest.

Arcee: At first, she's cool with just watching. Not all that interested otherwise. However, if she hears a particularly good campaign or module being planned later down the road, she may try it out as a Player. She would try playing, but would never DM.

Bumblebee: He is IMMEDIATELY down to play. He would get SO into it and get Really Good Really Fast. His DMing is alright (I think he'd want to try DMing upon having his voice back) but he is better as, and has much more fun as, a Player.

Bulkhead: He's not as into it as Bumblebee, but he still has fun playing! He gets flustered whenever a PC tries seducing someone. He wouldn't want to DM though; he's perfectly happy as a Player.

Smokescreen: Just like Bumblebee, he is IMMEDIATELY into it. He doesn't learn it as fast, but that doesn't mean he won't eventually! He tries to DM, but kinda flops at it. His friends try to spare his feelings but... it's not very easy and he ends up thinking he did better than he actually did. He's better as a Player for sure.

Wheeljack: Of COURSE he will play. He is probably one of the Players who has their Characters seduce their way out of (or into) problems. He would probably come up with, and DM, a wacky module or two. Shit would be CRAZY.

Ultra Magnus: He wouldn't be interested, and you wouldn't want to get him interested either. He is a Rules Lawyer from HELL. If he participates, he will have had the SRD and every rulebook already memorized and will correct every last little detail. Do Not Play a TTRPG With Ultra Magnus.

Decepticons:

Megatron: At first he would not be interested. However, he may feel intrigued enough upon learning more about the game to at least observe once. If he ever plays, he will either demand the DM not hold back, or he will come up with a campaign or module himself that is so challenging that it can, and will, make Players cry.

Soundwave: No shit he'd play, so long as it didn't interfere with Decepticon duties. He'd be damn good at it, too, and fun to play with. He makes a great Player and great DM. Soundwave is, indeed, Superior.

Starscream: He says he has no interest. He will eavesdrop on games anyways and constantly critique everyone. He MIGHT be willing to play if you imply that he's not playing because he can't do any better, but really, would you want Starscream in your D&D party?

Knock Out: He watches games, and may join in on a few if they interest him. He is a passionate Player or Spectator, offering colorful commentary.

Breakdown: He is more reserved than Knock Out, but may also watch. He would only play if Knock Out is playing. Otherwise, he doesn't have much interest.

Shockwave: He has no interest. He won't even watch.

Airachnid: She would like to watch, and would like playing, too. She's actually pretty good at it. Should she try her hand at DMing, she wouldn't be terrible by any means, but BOY is she harsh with the puzzles and traps. She definitely gets a kick out of getting the Characters tied up or otherwise trapped somewhere. It's a little weird.

Predaking: He has no initial interest. Upon hearing more about the game, he may observe. He might get interested enough to try playing? If he does, he would also demand the DM not hold back. (You may want to hold back anyways, though. Things tend to Get On Fire when Predaking gets frustrated.)

The Insecticons: If they have any interest at all, they'd watch one or two games, tops. Otherwise, nada.

The Vehicons: They ABSOLUTELY have D&D nights upon learning about the game. Of course, they are basically cannon fodder, so campaigns may fizzle out after a battle (or when Megatron gets pissed, or when Knock Out or Shockwave need lab rats, or...)

[herrscherofmagic]

a thought has occurred to me: the Seven Shus in HI3rd Part 2 would make a perfect D&D group!

In both ways too: the Seven Shus as characters in a D&D campaign, but also the Seven Shus just chilling at Thelema's mansion or smth playing D&D (as unlikely as it would be in canon, I imagine it'd make for a killer fanfic lol)

i was thinking about this because of the recent Thelema web event, and this morning I watched a video talking about fantasy taverns (largely in a historical context, then swtiching to a D&D context). and one of the things the guy was talking about was how nobles might be invested in supporting a local adventuring party, in exchange for being able to use them for special tasks.

and it hit me: Thelema is like, a perfect example of that. Not only is she a cunning noble with the skill to navigate upper society, she also has the willingness (and the power) to get down and dirty with matters.

Thelema would be such an interesting D&D character because she's superficially treated as a hedonist but in reality she's really pragmatic and thoughtful, so there's plenty of room for both fun and serious shenanigans. As for personal motives, she's totally capable of evil, but she doesn't senselessly cause harm (so she wouldn't be a murder hobo type). So she'd be very capable of doing questionable things, but she'd also perfectly willing to save the world if such a thing was in her interests.

While I haven't drawn up a complete character sheet for her, I at least have these ideas in mind:

I imagine she'd probably be a rogue with a noble background. The noble background is obvious; as for her being a rogue, I think her combat style in HI3rd gives off some of those vibes what with her chain-sword being used almost like a pair of daggers, just with a lot of extra pizzazz.

Checking the online D&D wiki I also see there's a "soul knife" rogue archetype which might fight Thelema's domination skills. Though, she also fits two other archetypes, Inquisitive & Mastermind, quite well. So idk which I'd pick if I had to choose just one since she has both psychic talent and incredible people/diplomatic/manipulative skills, lol

I could also see her being a sorcerer with Shadow Magic, but that might also be a better fit for a different Shu.

I haven't put enough thought into the rest of the Shus to give this same in-depth analysis but I at least wanted to get these ideas for Thelema out there!

However, I do have some preliminary thoughts for the classes of some of the other Shus:

Songque would probably be something to do with Illusion magic- following the book strictly she'd probably be a Wizard, but I imagine if the DM was a bit loose with the rules then she could be the Shadow Sorcer instead of Thelema; that also fits quite well with how we meet her in HI3rd!

Lantern could be a Ranger in the Hunter Conclave. It'd also be really funny if she refused to use any of the spells she learns, since we know she's adamant about her abilities being her own skill & training instead of being related to the shadows.

Litost gives Oathbreaker Paladin vibes, but idk enough about him or Oathbreaker Paladins to say for sure x-x

Ajita would be an Artificer, duh.

Serapeum could be a Druid (Dreams circle) or Wizard (Enchantment school), both seem fairly fitting for her powers of unity.

Baiji would be none other than the Dungeon Master! he gives DM vibes ngl, and it'd be really funny if the rest of the Shus were actual characters but Baiji was just a disembodied voice speaking at the rest of the gang

[alldaysarenights]

On Discworld…

…and the things I’ve learned so far.

I know, I’m late, but sometimes it’s fun to discover something on your own and in your time.

Recently, I’ve started reading the Discworld series, beginning with Rincewind. And there are so many tiny things I’ve discovered, I don’t even know where to start.

I’ll give D&D a go first. As a passionate player and also a I-once-ran-a-short-campaign DM, I couldn’t but notice all the references there to find, especially with Rincewind. Right now I’m 4 books into his story, barely at the beginning, yet I’ve laughed my a** off a few times. Always wondering what he took from a former campaign. Well, at first I wondered if Sir Pratchett actually played. The internet was quick to answer the question, yes, yes of course he did. Would have been more surprised, if he didn’t.

I discovered stuff about the gods playing dice and there are sorcerer, barbarians and the luggage, which slightly reminds me of a mimic. But I guess this beast came afterwards. I told the other players of my group, and they agreed on the resemblance. Now we definitely have the plan, to tame a mimic, lol.

I could quote you so much stuff, but I’d fancy you going on an adventure and see it for yourself. Read the books, assemble some good friends, and have some fun on a silly campaign. Not necessarily in this order.

Next thing that keeps popping up in my mind, while reading, is Good Omens. I came from the Neil Gaiman side, getting lured in by Morpheus, whom I met doing some research. My comic book dealer was happy to help. Naturally, there was a point where I did read Good Omens. And it was weird, this was Gaiman, but also not, and it was so funny. I knew one day I would have to read Discworld. Unfortunately, I was a bit discouraged by the massive amount of books. The problem sorted out itself, after a friend, I’ve talked to about it, enabled me to read them.

With it came a list in which order I should proceed, so I happily jumped in, secretly nurturing the idea of reading all the books within a year. If it works out, no idea, we’ll see. If so, I might write another article on the experience.

Anyway, the point is, knowing Good Omens well as for watching the series multiple times and doing the same to the book (reading actually), I couldn’t but notice some stuff that definitely came from Terry’s side. Like phrases, he kept using. I did read: “Not as such” as an answer more than once. No matter who said it, in my imagination it was Crowley for a split second.

The first book got me so confused, I completely forgot that this was Terry Pratchett. I caught myself thinking, I was reading Neil Gaiman. This set my brain on halt and the world stood for a second. Amazing what books can do to you.

I’ve realised Death and the horsemen and how they seem unable to start a proper apocalypse. Also, sometimes there were phrases sounding a lot like Agnes Nutter. As well as the tone it is written in, the tiny wordings you sometimes aren’t aware of as an author. And it led me to the conclusion, (of course there is no other evidence and I could be totally wrong), that Neil must have invested a lot of time in re-reading the Discworld or maybe already know them by heart. For some of the things I’ve realised definitely played a part in GO2.

It is amazing how much two people can morph into one, and yet there must be a lot of work behind the scenes. I for my part can only hope that my writing buddy and I can get to this point some day. At least I’ll have to convince him to write a full-grown novel together first.

So you might ask yourself, and I know because so did I, what’s the whole point of this article? Fair enough. I came to the conclusion, that fun expands with knowledge. And I know, my sense of fun probably differs from that of others a lot. But if you are able to grasp those tiny hints and hidden pleasures, it can make a story twice as joyful.

So go out there and consume all those stories. Not just by reading. Listen to people telling their stories, watch movies, series, anime. Maybe go to the opera or watch a play. Memorise a poem or play a game. Find the medium which suits you well but keep on searching, you’ll never know what you might learn from it and what pleasures and magic are hidden in those stories. Because our world is built, or maybe better, powered by storytelling.

[thesummoningdark]

That post about redemption arcs really made me want to talk about my favourite adjacent character arc I've ever played out

So in a long running D&D campaign, I played the Token Evil Aligned Character in the party. No, don't look at me like that, I don't mean in an edgelord murderhobo kind of way. I mean that I was playing a drow who'd had to flee to the surface for reasons of Plot, and he had still entirely internalised the morality and social conventions of the culture he came from, but he was smart enough to figure out that he'd draw less attention and find less trouble if he at least gave the impression of giving a shit about the humans' weird moral hangups. Like oh so casual murder is frowned upon up here? Wild, but sure, I don't want arrested so whatever.

I joined the game at 8th level. The in-canon justification for my presence was that the party were travelling to a new region and one of their allies (the head of the thieves guild, who my character had retroactively been working for) ordered me to go with them to be their guide. Once my character figured out that they were on a quest of world-saving importance, he was fairly invested in helping, due to being one of the idiots who lived there. However this led to some fun and interesting in-character tension, as he was quite happy to employ methods in pursuit of this goal that the rest of the party were uncomfortable with.

(Both he and the chaotic neutral warlock were kept in line mostly by the looming disapproval of our 8ft tall lawful good goliath, and the associated threat of having their spines snapped if they took it too far)

The culmination of this initial mini-arc, of my character being in agreement with the party's goals but not necessarily trusting them to do what needed to be done if it really came to it, happened three years later. In the aftermath of a major battle (which our side lost) the party had to defeat a lieutenant of the main antagonist in order to get to safety. In the course of this fight my character was badly injured (mechanically: was knocked to 0hp in melee with this mini-boss, and only survived by the repeated application of healing cantrips to reset his death saves) and when the party got the upper hand, the lieutenant took him hostage and threatened to kill him if they didn't let her go. I want to stress at this point that when I'd built my character, the DM and I had discussed a contingency subplot that would come into play if he died. Death was an extremely realistic possibility at this point, from both a mechanical and a DM-steering-the-story perspective.

And the lawful good goliath, the one who this entire time had been insisting that the ends didn't justify the means, that they couldn't sacrifice individuals in pursuit of their goals, looked her in the eye and told her to go fuck herself.

It's one of my favourite pieces of RP I've ever seen done. And it was such a huge turning point in my character's relationship with the goliath in particular, who he now had a genuine respect for; and with the party as a whole, now that he was able to believe he really could trust them to make the hard choices if they had to.

I know everyone gets overinvested in their own game, but I genuinely think we all did a great job with that whole arc. I love that it wasn't just the characters from the deep end of the alignment pool being 'tamed', but also a reciprocal process of the good-aligned characters coming to trust that their more extreme methods would be used judiciously and not without good cause. That there was room for different approaches to working towards their cause and different reasons for supporting it.

[productofaritual]

New idea DND CAMPAIGN but it's just SBI fucking with DM Dream. Occasionally other characters appear because someone is missing. This campaign started with crime boys so when Phil entered he got a NAT1 so hard that he had to kill his son. The only day that crimes boys didn't come to the session Technoblade started The Syndicate. Now Dream has to have a second campaign in the same universe that the SBI are playing.

And yes, he revived Wilbur for funzies.

Combining D&D and the DSMP is nothing new. Combining playing D&D and the DSMP is something I have never heard before but now I'm actually kinda invested

[slothquisitor]

I just want to ramble somewhere about the pure emotional damage that my DM is subjecting me to in our current D&D campaign.

So, I'm playing a character that I fully based a bit of her backstory around the premise of Mass Effect 2, when like Shepard dies but comes back and it's like...been two years. I was a bit disappointed in ME2 for not allowing us to really dig into and explore the idea that it's been two years for everyone, but no time has passed for Shepard.

My character is a fallen aasimar echo knight who woke up two years after she died saving her friends and husband. I told my DM I didn't want to know what happened during those two years and when asked on a scale of 1-10 how okay I was with him messing with my character, I said 11. And oh my god, he's delivering.

We've been playing this campaign pretty much weekly for almost nine months, and I have not had my character interact much at all with her past. Mostly because she's fucking afraid of what she'll find, and also because she came back, but very clearly came back wrong. But shit happened in-game that made her afraid that her husband might be in trouble. So, finally, she got up the courage to scry on her husband (we have a magic item that allows for that).

Her entire existence thus far has been about like, figuring out this mystery of what she is and who she became when she died so that she feels like she can go home. So that she can go back to the people she loved. And she scryed on her husband only to discover that he has fully moved on. She saw him in a house with a woman and a baby, and just...content. And like, some part of her is glad. He's safe, he's unbothered. She genuinely loves him and just wants him to be happy, but there's another part of of her that just wanted so badly to get back to him and now she knows she'll never be able to.

It's just so fucking sad. My poor girl just doesn't know what the point of all this is anymore. Finally, in the moment that her fear for his safety outweighed her fear of seeing what his life might be without her, she loses him all over again. I just haven't recovered!

I really live to dig into these sort of emotional arcs (if you've read any of my fic, you know this), so I have full faith and trust in my DM that we're going to build a really beautiful story from this, but man what a punch to the gut it was in session.

Anyway, I just love D&D so much and playing with such good friends who are so invested in each other's characters and stories and who love each other. I didn't think I'd be in my 30s sitting around my kitchen table and playing make believe with my friends on a regular basis, but I love it so much.

[the-incident-on-show-day]

the ark’s d&d nights

(hcs i wrote during a power outage because i had nothing else to do)

rowan - the DM!! he loves writing and planning elaborate campaigns, as well as being in control. because of this he struggles with railroading (for non-d&d players, that basically means forcing your players to make choices/follow paths they don’t want to) and often fights with lister, who makes it his mission to derail the story as much as possible. when he has to play as a character, he’ll be a bard or a wizard.

bliss - loves making chaotic hot people. loves flirting with chaotic hot people. you’d think it would be awkward, considering her ex is the DM- it isn’t. quick to jump to violence (or provoke others to it). basically tries to get in as many badass oneliners in every sentence as she can, and somehow it works. probably mains genasis or smth... either as a rogue or a magic user.

juliet - she’s introduced as a sweet, unassuming elven girl... everyone assumes she’s just playing herself. but as soon as she goes into combat, she RAGES and it turns out she was a barbarian all along- the most brutal warrior you could ever imagine. different voice and everything. turns out she’s using D&D as an outlet for her suppressed childhood rage. everyone is terrified, impressed, and lister begs to put her on a screamo album.

lister - he makes a joke character- definitely named something like jack inoff. definitely a gnome bard. does the funny voice, flirts with everyone, blah blah blah. ruins a bunch of serious moments because he’s scared of vulnerability. but when his backstory comes up, it ends up being the most tragic fucking thing possible and breaks the hearts of everyone at the table. by the end, he’s the most invested out of all of them… and definitely cries when his first character dies.

jimmy - a paladin. with a knife. he’s a little shy about roleplaying at first (beginnings of sessions are always a struggle) and sticks to peppering in funny comments every now and then. but once he gets into it, he gets INTO IT. he genuinely forgets he’s playing a character sometimes. and lister can’t take his eyes off of him.

angel - joins on call, used to just listen in until rowan suggests that she plays as jimmy’s patron. she’s the most chaotic out of all of them and rarely gives anyone what they request- but she’s so funny about it that no one can find it in themselves to be mad.

(oh and they definitely make an album abt this. ppl theorize endlessly like “what does it mean when they say ‘i just wanna quench the flames / but i’m already ablaze??’ a metaphor for mental health?? for self-destructive tendencies??”)

(and instead it’s abt lister’s dumb ass who keeps casting firebolt in enclosed spaces.)

[thealphabard]

Hey there, welcome to my blog! This will just be a quick introduction and faq!

My name is Jace (he|him), and I'm just an amateur artist who's constantly trying to improve! I have really bad ADHD and absolutely crippling anxiety, so socializing can be really hard on me, but I appreciate it all the same!

If you are here in curiosity of my OCs:

This is Akos.

His bio can be found here if you wish to learn more, but he is a dnd character to a campaign that has since ended :)

And this is Lae!

I do not have a worked out bio for him yet (but will update if I do) He's my WoL from Final Fantasy XIV. I welcome new players often, and if you wish to find me in game it's Laeroth Gilorwyn and I'm on primal-famfrit :) I'm a retired savage raider basically who's been playing since HW launch in 2015. I draw him often, though, as well as other wols, so if you want to see those, they are under the #ffxiv tag on my blog

And under the break, here will just be some common questions I get all the time:

Q: Where did your username come from?

A: It was actually something stupid I said in discord voice when I was doing pvp on bard in xiv lol it was to make fun of the whole alpha male mentality. I had wiped out like 4 other bards or something that were trying to take me down, and I was the one who came out victorious so I just whispered into my mic "I am the alpha bard" and it made my friends laugh so hard. I changed all my usernames to it as a joke, but then it stuck so here we are, cringy username and all (but also why I'm adamant people call me by name, not username)

Q: What program do you use?

A: Clip Studio Paint :) I've used many others, but csp is just what I go back to every time

Q: What drawing tablet do you use?

A: I use a 22 in stand-up tablet from huion or an iPad air depending on if I have to leave the house or not

Q: What brushes do you use?

A: a litteral metric shit ton to match whatever I'm doing, but my main drawing brushes are actually just the default ones in CSP.

Q: Can I draw your oc?

A: ABSOLUTELY. All I ask is if it involves interactions with one of yours (I welcome this) to just ask about how either would react :D my DMs are always open! If it's a gift just tag me so I can see!!

Q: Do you take commissions?

A: Not usually. There are exceptions to this as I have in the past, but I don't open slots or anything like most artists. I have to be invested in the idea, or it takes the fun out of drawing for me sadly. BUT if you are ever curious if it's something I'd like to take on + pricing, you can always ask. I love doing character creation commissions, as that's mostly what I have done in the past.

Q: What games do you play?

A: I play a wide range of games and love trying something new! I play ffxiv all the time and have been working towards a challenging achievement, but otherwise, I bounce between new games all the time!

[liminally-charged]

Time to ramble about D&D character concepts, because every other DM I know never has any free seats in their campaign.

A rogue who's small, even for the standards of their own race. At a young age they were kidnapped and indoctrinated into a cult centered around a hag coven worshipping some old forsaken god-thing. Throughout their life the character is treated as the runt of the litter, the absolute lowest thing of the cult; so much so that they lose their sense of personhood entirely and refer to themselves as "this" or "it". Inevitably the ritual meant to summon the god-thing into reality goes tits up and explodes the hag coven, allowing the character to escape from the cult and wander somewhere in the wider world. The theme I wanted to go for with this character was 'failure'. A half-feral character with such a substantial lack of social ability/ self-respect/ common sense/ etc., only good at sneaking and backstabbing and spitting poison words - how can such a character grow into something more? How much does it take to reform them? How much internalized failure can be undone?

Another one is more of a comic relief character. A gnome rogue who used to be at the head of a powerful mob organization. She calls herself Brittlebones, but her former lackeys called her "Mom". Turns out that being nice and making homecooked meals for the goons that work for you can ensure their undying loyalty. But after 30-something years of organized crime, Brittlebones decided to turn her back on that life and start new as an adventurer - except her former lackeys are trying to convince her to come back and run the business again, because it's so much nicer when she's around.

Another one is Mool, loxodon barbarian. This one is pretty simple, he's a barbarian with such a low intelligence modifier that he's unable to grasp the concept of evil. He knows how to feel good or bad about things, but beyond that any abstract understanding of morality are lost on him. This was much to the frustration of the wheelchair-bound hag that tried to raise him as her agent of evil. He doesn't get the implications of why she's telling him to kill, he just does it because she cooks dinner and that's why he has to do it, because she told him so. Mool is such a gentle soul, a precious giant bean; he just needs a better wrangler.

The opposite end of the spectrum is Kazh. A barbarian with intelligence as his highest stat, who is frighteningly sharp-witted. He makes the plans of attack, he figures out what the next step should be for the party. But beyond a thin veneer of civility, there's a ravenous beast waiting to pounce and devour. He's especially brutal in combat and has no qualms with abandoning any sense of morality if it can further his bloodlust. Unlike Mool, he's fully aware of the evil he commits, and he revels in it.

Gonna close this post with another martial class (yes it's a theme with me, I don't like using spells all that much), a rogue who's gotten the raw end of a bad deal. Callaghan Black, former son of a noble family invested in the occult, was a bystander to a ritual which opened a rift to the Far Realms, where he bore witness to something mindbreaking: a god being devoured alive. He escaped with his life, but his sanity was shot full of holes. Callaghan used the last of his money on a wizard who promised him to get rid of these memories. Surprise, the wizard majored in necromancy, and used his body as a vessel for an experiment instead. The outcome was a success: Five souls merged into the body of one person, fighting over control of the body. Unfortunately for the wizard and the general population, the soul who won control over the body was a serial killer. I think it would be fun to play five different personalities switiching back and forth, each with their own agenda.

That's all I want to write here. Steal whatever you like if you want to, these characters probably won't ever see actual play otherwise.