#it would be an action to activate a hex and a bonus action for a bonded witch to charge one

[mister-faltine]

DBD X Something Is Killing The Children: My Dream Chapter.

Warning: The arts on this blog belong to their respective creators, such as Werther Dell'Edera and Miquel Muerto.

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• What is "Something Is Killing The Children (SIKTC)"?

"Something Is Killing The Children" is a comic book series written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Werther Dell’Edera, published by BOOM! Studios. The series follows the story of Erica Slaughter, a member of an order of monster hunters who specializes in killing supernatural creatures that prey on children.

• What Is "Dead By Daylight (DBD)"?

Dead by Daylight is a 4v1 asymmetric Action Survival Horror Game developed by the Canadian Indie Video Game Developer Behaviour Interactive and available on multiple platforms after its initial release to PC through Steam on 14 June 2016.

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• New Killer - The Cutter.

Charlotte Cutter was born in England and trained since childhood by the "House Of Cutter". During her various missions, she has always shown herself to be a professional assassin and still manage to ensure that no loose ends are left alive, including children. However, despite her profession being focused on killing monsters, she was sent to America to hunt down and kill Erica Slaughter, a fugitive hunter from the "House Of Slaughter". Fortunately, when Erica and Charlotte were about to kill each other, a mysterious fog appeared out of nowhere and they both woke up in a completely different place. Charlotte smiled and knew that her fun with Erica would never end.

• Killer Power - Black Mask:

When you press your ability button, you enter Cutter's "Black Mask" mode. While in this mode, you are Undetectable and walk a little crouched, but nothing that compromises your movement speed. The noise from certain actions is also reduced, you break generators, pallets and breakable walls more silently. While in Black Mask mode, you can see Survivors' footsteps up to 10 meters behind walls and have the ability to enter closets to surprise your victims. However, Black Mask mode has a duration and cooldown of 30 seconds. If you enter a closet, your ability duration remains frozen until you exit the closet. If you are stunned, blinded, or use a basic attack in Black Mask mode, your ability is canceled and goes on cooldown.

》"Undetectable" hides the Killer's Aura, Terror Radius and Red Stain.

• Special Attack - Cutter's Whip.

When you click the special attack button, Cutter uses her whip to grab Survivors within 5 meters of her. If you hit a Survivor with the whip, they will be pulled towards you and you can use a basic attack on them. However, if the Survivors are on the other side of a pallet, Cutter can jump/climb the obstacle and perform a basic attack. There will be a visual sound for the Survivors when Cutter uses her whip and the Survivors have a chance to dodge the attack. Cutter can use the whip when Black Mask mode is on or off.

• Cutter's Perks:

1 - HEX: MONSTROUS RAGE:

You hate it when people steal what's yours.

When the first generator is completed, Hex: Monstrous Rage activates and transforms a Dull Totem into a Hex Totem.

When Hex: Monstrous Rage is active, you gain a 50% speed bonus when jumping windows, kicking generators, breaking pallets and breakable walls until the Hex Totem is destroyed or blessed.

2 - SCOURGE HOOK: CHILDREN'S SCREAM.

You're good at your job, but you have fun doing other things.

At the start of the match, 4 Hooks become Scourge Hooks and are revealed with a white aura.

When you hook a Survivor into a Scourge Hook, all Survivors outside your Terror Radius scream, revealing their positions for 5 seconds. Survivors who scream suffer from Blindness and Oblivious status effects for 30 seconds.

》"Blindness" prevents Survivors from seeing auras.

》"Oblivious" prevents Survivors from hearing or being affected by the Killer's Terror Radius.

3 - INVISIBLE MASSACRE.

You caused death and misery in several cities, but you always managed to keep everyone unaware of your actions.

When a generator is completed you earn 2 tokens up to a maximum of 5.

When you click on this Perk's special button, you consume 1 token and gain Undetectable for 25 seconds.

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• New Survivor - Erica Slaughter:

Erica was born in the United States and her childhood was normal, but that changed when a monster was created inside the house and killed Erica's parents, including one of her best friends. However, she survived and was later found by a hunter from the "House Of Slaughter", Jessica Slaughter. Since then, she was raised and trained by Jessica, until Erica gained her "Black Mask" title and became a huntress. Unfortunately, a lot of things happened, and Erica is now running away from her own House and being chased by Charlotte Cutter in Mexico. Well, that is until a fog brought Erica and Cutter to a new location. Erica Slaughter is no longer in familiar territory.

• Erica's Perks:

1 - TREPANATION.

You see things that other adults can't, all thanks to the House Of Slaughter rituals.

When you repair 30% of a generator, the perk will be ready to be used. Click on the special perk button to activate it.

When Trepanation is active, you can see the Killer's footsteps up to 24 meters away from you, even when the Killer is Undetectable. Trepanation has a duration of 60 seconds.

2 - SLAUGHTER SURVIVAL.

You have been trained to survive several different encounters.

When you fully heal a Survivor, this ability activates. You will be able to heal yourself without the need for a med kit and the healing speed will be the same as when you healed the other Survivor.

If your healing is completed or interrupted, the perk is disabled until you heal another Survivor to use again.

3 - LOCAL EQUIPMENT.

You use any type of tool to defeat your targets.

You see the auras of chests 32 meters away from you. You open chests 50% faster.

When the Killer is within 8 meters of an open chest, his aura is revealed to you for 3 seconds.

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• Extra Information:

1 - Charlotte Cutter's Short Bio:

Name: Charlotte Cutter.

Gender: Female.

Origin: British.

Weapon (M1): Dagger.

Movement Speed: 115% | 4.6 m/s.

Terror Radius: 24 Meters.

Height: Average.

2 - Skins for Erica:

<> Jessica Slaughter.

<> Cecília Slaughter.

<> Aaron Slaughter.

<> Maxine Slaughter.

3 - Cutter Add-ons:

Tea-Cup (Brown) - Survivors caught in Cutter's whip suffer the Blindness status effect for 60 seconds.

Heel Boot (Brown) - Cutter's movement speed increases by 3% in Black Mask mode.

Hunting Gloves (Brown) - Reduces Black Mask mode cooldown by 5 seconds.

Needle for Dolls (Brown) - Landing a basic attack on a Survivor while Black Mask mode is charging reduces the cooldown by 3 seconds.

Fake Interpol Badge (Yellow) - Increases the duration of Black Mask mode by 5 seconds.

Sunglasses (Yellow) - You cannot be blinded by flashlights or flashbangs while Black Mask mode is active.

Charlotte's Bag (Yellow) - While carrying a Survivor, Black Mask mode's cooldown is 10% faster.

Needles for Children (Yellow) - Landing a basic attack on a Survivor while Black Mask mode is charging reduces the cooldown by 5 seconds.

Albie's Information (Yellow) - Your detection of Survivor footsteps in Black Mask mode increases by 6 meters.

Big Gary's Cell Phone (Green) - When you are stunned by any means while Black Mask mode is active or on cooldown, the ability is instantly recharged.

Bag of Gummy Worms (Green) - When you hit a Survivor with the whip or a basic attack in Black Mask mode, the auras of Survivors within 10 meters of you are revealed for 5 seconds.

Big Gary's Computer (Green) - Survivors who were caught by the whip and then injured by a basic attack suffer the Broken status effect for 30 seconds.

Mirrors for Duplicitype (Green) - When you hit a Survivor with the whip or a basic attack in Black Mask mode, your recovery time from successful attacks is reduced by 15%.

Bill's Coffee (Green) - Increases the duration of Black Mask mode by 10 seconds.

Sheriff Thomas' Gun (Purple) - Survivors who were caught by the whip and then suffered a basic attack drop their items on the ground. If the item is recovered, the Survivor screams and suffers the Oblivious status effects for 30 seconds. The item also loses 25% of its charges.

Charlotte's Bandana (Purple) - When you enter Black Mask mode, you can no longer see Survivors' footsteps, but you can see their auras through the same detection range until the ability ends or is interrupted.

Poisoned Arrow (Purple) - Survivors who were caught by the whip and then injured by a basic attack suffer the Mangled and Hemorrhage status effect for 90 seconds.

Cutter's Dagger (Purple) - When you catch a Survivor with the whip and perform a successful basic attack, you gain 1 token, up to a maximum of 15. If you manage to reach 15 tokens by the time the exit gates are powered up, Cutter will be Undetectable for the rest of the match and your movement speed increases by 5%.

Iridescent Whip (Pinky-Red) - Survivors who are captured by the whip suffer the Exposed status effect. However, Cutter can no longer jump over pallets if she catches a Survivor from the other side with her whip. The Survivor will not be injured when Cutter releases him.

Dolly the Doll (Pinky-Red) - You are not Undetectable during Black Mask mode. However, the ability will not be interrupted if you are stunned, blinded, or land a basic attack. During Black Mask mode, you gain a 50% speed bonus when jumping windows, breaking pallets, destroying breakable walls, kicking generators, grabbing Survivors, and opening lockers until the ability ends.

》"Broken" prevents Survivors from being able to heal from injured to healthy.

》"Mangled" causes Survivors to heal 25% slower.

》"Hemorrhage" causes Survivors' healing to regress if there is no active healing.

》"Exposed" causes Survivors to drop from healthy state to dying state with a basic attack.

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We have reached the end of this "small concept" that I have for DBD and SIKTC. I hope you enjoyed it and read until the end (if you can). If you want, you can comment your opinions on the concept. Comment if you would do something different too.

Fin...

[omgdramaticperson00]

Elements: Tales of The Arcanes | Detailing - Season 1 |

Girlie's, gays, he's and they's, ive prepared the first portion of detailing for my story.

Note: This document relays information of the plot, setting, cast and more. However, any major details on character growth will be handled on a separate post.

Synopsis - 

Season 1 is a story about a group of teenagers who are transported into the world or rather worlds of magic after a strange sorcerer hijacks them through a portal intended for their parents. discovering hidden abilities which they must use against witches, monsters and foes, they must reveal the buried truth of their origins and find a way to get back to their parents. Magic mayhem, Enchanted Academies and realms of magical beings, the Arcanes have a brand new adventure to go on.  

Plot - 

Note: Spoiler warning! This is an in depth description of the Plot of season 1. 

2 weeks before the beginning of the school year, Ayden, Daesha, Sarai, Kyshon, Pasi and Ishaun are sent through a portal created by a dark sorcerer while attending a  party. Transported to the Magic Dimension, on the Realm Aether, They seek out Merope for safe haven at her academy for young magi (Magic users) Pleia. While attending classes these young teens discover sides of themselves they didn't know existed but as time progresses passing a class becomes the least of their worries. The same sorcerer, Atlas is revealed to be the king of the realm Astral and is desperate to capture the teens at any cost. Using an ancient curse, Atlas calls upon 3 eldredge witches to possess 3 teens from earth. These witches are sent to Pleia with the intention of spying on and manipulating everyone. If Atlas gets his hands on the teens, he can bargain for their parents and use their magic to open a gate to oblivion.  

Introduction: The introduction begins in nymphwood, having the first two episodes taking place around Sarai’s Sweet 16. We’ll get a small glimpse into everyone’s home life and their personalities and interests while exploring everyones interpersonal relationships and dynamics. 

Rising Action: This would be the act of the Arcanes being taken through the portal into the magic dimension. This would continue through their Pleia shenanigans throughout the school and as they discover their magical powers and learn to harness them. 

Conflict: The introduction of the hex’s acts as the first sign of conflict as they manipulate ishaun into desiring to help Atlas. Along with this the Arcanes must actively go about searching for a way to return to their parents on Earth. 

Climax: Simply the act of the Arcanes stealing the Tome Of Ego from Atlas and Atlas kidnapping Ishaun in order to do an exchange. Bonus: Their parents make it to Aether and reunite with them. 

Falling Action: The Arcanes leave the Astral Palace and save Ishaun after he destroys the Tome Of Ego.  Conclusion: The Arcanes make the decision to stay in the magic dimension to deal with the threat of Atlas.

Story Arcs -  

Note: there aren't really any real major arcs acknowledged in season 1 so these are more like headcanons arc titles.  

Arc 1 “Welcome To Pleia”  

Episodes | 3 - 8 

Arc 2 “Hexed” 

Episodes | 12 - 16 

Arc 3 “Follies of the lunar festival”

Episodes | 24 - 26

“Filler” Episodes: 

Note: Filler episodes will be handled with a mix of slice of life and character driven stories to subtly allow character growth and future plot points. 

Setting(s) - 

Nymph Wood: a little town located in New Jersey (nj), Nymph Wood is the home of the main characters. Named for its myths of creatures of the same name, Nymph wood is a cozy little town with thick forests and an abundance of wildlife. 

Pleia Collage: one of the crown jewels of the magic dimension, Pleia is a magic focused secondary school. Located on the realm of Aether, Pleia is an enchanted place for young magi to develop their abilities to the fullest and become guardians of their realms and keepers of ancient magic’s. 

Grand Magie City “Magi City”: A bustling city center to Aether, Magi City is filled with life and adventure. With a mixed aesthetic of fantasy and high tech its diverse and reflects the nature of its inhabitants. People of all races, cultures are welcome to come visit or create a life for themselves.

Faragonda Grove “Pixie village”: Located deep within the enchanted forest surrounding Pleia lays the Pixie Village. Filled with the small fairy like creatures, students of Pleia are permitted to go to the grove to study and spend time with their bonded pixie.  

[cosmiccc-gayness]

Dead by Daylight X Dying Light Chapter Concept: 'The Survivors of the Fall'

(Im going to try to format this mostly in a way that you would read in-game, so bear with me if it looks a little messy)

Survivor: Aiden Caldwell

A physically strong Pilgrim, he uses his skills and knowledge of survival to expertly escape any challenge thrown his way.

(Legendary Skin(s): Kyle Crane, Lawan, Hakon, Rahim Aldemir, Jade Aldemir, Brecken, Waltz(? Idfk Im throwing shit out there))

His personal perks Survivor Sense, Calming Presence, and Boon: Familiar Area help him and his allies gather valuable information, work faster, and keep track of his enemy in place he has been before.

Survivor Sense

Through your training as a survivalist, you've become and expert at sensing what helpful things might be around you based on your surroundings.

Unlocks potential in all survivors' aura reading abilities.

While exploring the trial, press the Active Ability Button 1 to reveal the aura of all Generators, Chests, Items, Totems, Killer Items, Pallets, Breakable Walls, Survivors, and The Killer within a 24 meter range for 15 seconds.

• Survivor Sense has a cooldown of 45 seconds.

• All survivors gain the ability to use Survivor Sense if one survivor in the trial has it.

Calming Presence

You've made a reputation for yourself. People know that you are strong, and so they feel safe around you.

Whenever a survivor comes within a 24 meter range you, they perfom all actions 20% faster, and also gain a 10% Haste status effect. You also gain these buffs.

• The effects of Calming Presence linger for 5 seconds after the survivors are no longer within 24 meters of each other.

• Survivors can only be affected by one Calming Presence effect at a time.

• The action speed bonus from Calming Presence does not apply to Generators

Boon: Familiar Area

Once you've been to a place at least once, you have unrivaled knowledge of what paths an enemy might use to get to you.

Press and hold the Ability Button near a Dull or Hex Totem to bless it and create a Boon Totem. Soft chimes ring out in a 24 meter range.

Whenever The Killer is within the Boon Totem's range, their aura will be revealed to all survivors at an infinite distance.

You can only bless one Totem at a time. All equipped boon perks are active on your Boon Totem.

(And thats PART 1 of my DbD X Dying Light Chapter concept, The Survivor, and the Survivor Perks. I tried to play the number values a little safe since we have no idea how strong this would be until it actually gets tested. Friendly/Constructive critisism welcome, Killer, Killer Power, and Killer Perks coming in future reblogs once I can format them)

I have decided that I am actually going to atart posting about media that I like rather than just lurking and posting my thoughts that are usually completely unrelated.

That being said I have a Dead by Daylight X Dying Light concept that Ive been working on so thats going to be the first thing I post about in a reblog thread :)

[utilitycaster]

I was thinking more about how both buffs require a bonus action, and they both have costs. Transformation can have a narrative cost (not always a good idea to do it around people) and Crimson Rite has a health cost. It seems to me like everything outside of prepared dungeon crawls or planned one off battles Transformation won't be as powerful as it should be because Crimson Rite will usually be done first.

So just as a note in my ongoing efforts to try to have a normal one today in the inbox, but also assume as good faith as can be reasonably assumed: I have a history of getting mechanics questions where someone really wanted an answer in which I agreed with them, and then getting some variety of pushy or hostile responses when I didn't. I am not saying you are doing this or going to do this. I am saying I recognize a decent number of the hallmarks of when this is potentially about to happen in this question. So: it's cool if you disagree with me, and you do not need me to agree with you for your opinion to be valid, but I do think the action economy and balance of this class is completely fine and I do not expect that opinion of mine to change.

Anyway, having a cost is something separate from action economy and that's, to be honest, kind of the game, and especially the game of playing a class that uses dealing damage to one's self as a mechanic. I think it's absolutely a challenging class to play, and that it requires a player who is pretty strong on mechanics and won't get hung up on "is this exactly optimal" because there often won't be a singular correct choice. However, transformation will still be just as powerful; it just won't necessarily happen in the first round. Or at all, for that matter! You don't actually need to use crimson rite - or hybrid form - in every battle. I think that's an interesting part of the class, that you can choose to lean heavily on your hybrid form, or you could choose to largely fight with a sword, crimson rite, and blood curses. (Also: technically you could just always have crimson rite up after each rest. It lasts for the whole rest without any limitations on being knocked out or concentration. I think that's silly but like, you could). It's a class with a lot of flexibility and I would not assume that the player wants to activate both of these things every combat anyway. And, again, they're still able to do damage both turns because that's an action; I don't consider "doing slightly less damage" to be a terrible drawback.

On some level, every class that has finite resources or abilities one must activate is going to have a cost. A cleric who casts inflict wounds has one less spell slot with which to heal. A ton of ranger spells are concentration and clash with Hunter's Mark. A lot of AOE spells risk hitting the party. Resource management and balancing the things you can do with your limited actions is just...what D&D is, and having two abilities that each take only a bonus action to engage, can be simultaneously up and are long-lasting with relatively few requirements to maintain (compare to rage or things like Hunter's Mark or Hex) seems like a pretty good deal to me.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #126: Bedivere

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're making the one delivery service with worse return timelines than Amazon, Bedivere!

Bedi's got a bit of extra witchcraft that certainly would have gotten you in trouble if you weren't rolling with the king of England, but he's also a knight who's accomplished in the art of warfare. Surprisingly, that combination means your build is actually more complicated than the immortal pseudogod you face off against.

There's really no telling what gets accounted for in D&D classes.

Check out Bedi's build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: What a twist!

Race and Background

I mean, you were human at some point. Ol' Bedi's much, much older than he looks, thanks to time traveling the long way around to me your king again. So far, in fact, that you now count as a Reborn from that fancy new UA. Using the new lineage traits, you get +2 Charisma and +1 Constitution. You also count as an Undead and a Humanoid, meaning you're affected by both Turn Undead and Cure Wounds. Real fun for a paladin! You've got a Medium size, with 30' of movement speed. You get 60' of Darkvision, and your Deathless Nature nets you a gaggle of benefits. You have advantage against disease and poison, and resist poison damage. You also get advantage on death saves, and don't require most things needed for life. You no long require eating, drinking, or breathing, and instead of sleeping you just sit tight for four hours. This also means magic can't put you to sleep. Finally, a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus you can recall Knowledge from a Past Life, adding 1d6 to a skill check.

That almost makes up for... actually it doesn't make up for anything. Still, it's better than nothing.

Oh yeah, background. You're a Knight of the Order, like your coworkers before you. This gives you proficiency with Religion and Persuasion.

Ability Scores

Make your Charisma as high as possible. You look me in the eyes and tell me that isn't a charming young man, I dare you. After that is Wisdom, because you can't fight a war if you can't see what the enemy is doing. After that is Constitution-you survived an inordinate amount of time to get to this point, and even with a magic artifact that's still one hell of a save DC. Strength is next, you're as good with a sword in one hand as most knights are with two, but we'll get our swordfighting skills from somewhere else in just a bit. Your Dexterity is a bit low, but you wear heavy armor, so it's not that much of a problem. Finally, dump Intelligence. Like a lot of builds, Bedivere isn't dumb- we just needed other abilities more, and intelligence affects very little besides skill checks, and that's what KfaPL is for.

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: Once again, no surprise here. As a paladin, you get a Divine Sense to locate extraplanar beasties nearby, and you can also Lay on Hand to heal a creature from a pool of hp equal to five times your paladin level, which refills on long rests.

You also get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as two paladin skills. I've said this already, but you can do one-handed what most people need two for, so you're pretty good at Athletics. You're also able to read the battlefield well, and that most closely translates to Insight.

2. Paladin 2: Second level paladins get a fighting style, and since all your weapons are one handed, the Dueling style is perfect for you, adding 2 to all your one-handed weapon attacks when you aren't also wielding a shield or a second weapon. You can also cast and prepare spells using your Charisma. You can also burn those spell slots to activate your Divine Smite, adding some extra radiant damage to your weapon attacks.

Bedivere is known for his knowledge in witchcraft, so he gets a bit more leeway in what spells he can get. That being said, Heroism is always a good pick to calm yourself before a battle, and Bless will use your Charisma skill to improve your allies' attack rolls and saves, giving them an extra d4 for the duration.

3. Warlock 1: I know you're more of a paladin than this, but you don't have one of your arms yet, and to be honest it's cramping our style. Technically you got your arm from Merlin, but we've done more than enough crown paladin/archfey warlock combos now thanks to the Pendragon family to last a lifetime. Your powers more directly come from your arm, which is a transformed magical sword, so that makes you a Hexblade warlock.

At first level, you can place a Hexblade's Curse on someone once per short rest. This means you deal extra damage to them based on your proficiency bonus, you crit on 19s when you attack, and you gain hp when the target dies. The curse only lasts for 1 minute, but so do most D&D fights, so you're probably fine.

You also become a Hex Warrior, allowing you to use Charisma instead of Strength when attacking with a specific weapon you choose after a long rest. Once you get your pact boon, this will apply to any weapon you make with that boon (though you probably want to make your hand).

You also get Pact Magic, which is kinda like normal magic, but it doesn't mix with your other spell slots, and recharges on short rests. This also uses your Charisma to cast.

You can cast True Strike to strike true, Prestidigitation to make up for all the little magic effects we can't get you, Wrathful Smite to smite while you smite, and Comprehend Languages, because most people aren't going to know what you're talking about if you're speaking Middle English.

4. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations, ways to customize the selling your soul experience. Save one for next level, but grab Beast Speech so you can cast Speak with Animals for free. There's a lot of talking creatures in medieval mythology, and we spend most of our spell slots smiting. You can also cast Unseen Servant to make things a bit witchier, and also for help carrying cumbersome stuff.

5. Warlock 3: Third level warlocks get their pact boon, and Pact of the Blade will allow you to summon your arm as an action. You can also make other weapons, but regardless, whatever you make counts as a magical weapon for resistances, and can be used as a casting focus for your spells. You also get the invocation Improved Pact Weapon for a +1 to damage and attack rolls.

Finally, you learn how to cast Hold Person, locking a humanoid who fails a wisdom save (DC 8 + proficiency + charisma mod) in place and making all attacks against them critical hits. This usually ends poorly for them, especially when smites get added to the mix.

6. Paladin 3: Oh that's right you're a paladin too. You might be sick of this by now, but Crown paladins; let's talk about them. You get two Channel Divinity options, which you can use once per short rest. Both use your bonus action, but Champion Challenge forces enemies within 30' of you who fail their wisdom save to stay within 30' of you. This lasts until you're incapacitated, you die, or the creature ends up further away from you unwillingly. Turn the Tide heals bloodied allies around you a touch, to keep them in the fight a bit longer.

Alternatively, you can Harness Divine Power, turning that channel divinity use into a refilled spell slot.

You also get Divine Health, making you immune to disease.

Finally, you get oath spells, which you always have prepared. You already could've cast Command and Compelled Duel anyway, but now they're not taking up prep space.

7. Paladin 4: Just because we're taking a different patron doesn't mean we can't rep Merlin a bit, so use this Ability Score Improvement to become a bit Fey Touched. This rounds up your Charisma, and also allows you to cast Misty Step or Gift of Alacrity once per long rest for free. Alternatively, you can use your spell slots, but I'd save those for smites, personally. The former lets you teleport, the latter adds a bit to one character's initiative for a couple hours. Basically you're just telling someone to keep their eyes peeled, but magically.

8. Fighter 1: Depending on how your DM wants to rule it, Argetlam might be a regular weapon, or it might be an actual hand. Grab the Unarmed Fighting fighting style if it's the latter, or just grab Defense otherwise.

You also get a Second Wind, allowing you to heal yourself as a bonus action. You've been around for a while, you know when you're reaching your limits.

9. Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack each attack action. They also get second level spells, including your oath spells Warding Bond and Zone of Truth. Literally making it impossible for yourself to lie can be a great show of trust when meeting new people. Or new gods. Either or.

I'd recommend grabbing Protection from Poison since you'll be travelling with Serenity for a while, or Branding Smite for the inevitable fight against Sir Tristan. I hear he's kind of hard to hit.

10. Warlock 4: Use this ASI to max out your Charisma for the best attacks and spells possible. You also fill out your defensive repertoire with the cantrip Blade Ward to make yourself more durable and Blur to make yourself harder to hit. Nobody said living this long would be easy.

11. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks get third level spells and slots. I'd consider a lot of what the Lion King did to the round table to count as a curse, so grab Remove Curse to fight back. You also get the invocation Eldritch Smite this level, allowing you to burn a spell slot for some extra force damage. This is on top of your Divine Smite dealing radiant damage, and possibly on top of your Wrathful Smite dealing psychic damage, by the way. Argetlam's got a lot of power behind it.

12. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge, giving you an extra action to slap on your turn once per short rest. You've been pushing yourself for hundreds of years, six seconds is nothing.

13. Fighter 3: As a Battle Master, you really come into your own in terms of warfare. You become a Student of War, giving you calligraphy proficiency, the most powerful of abilities. On a lesser note, you also get Combat Superiority, meaning you can use three maneuvers, powered by four superiority dice. These are d8s that recharge every short rest.

Commander's Strike uses one of your attacks to allow another creature to attack instead, using their reaction. If they do so, you add the superiority die to their damage. Tactical Assessment improves your battlefield knowledge without having to invest in intelligence as an ability, allowing you to add the superiority die to one Investigation, History, or Insight check. You can also Rally a companion as a bonus action, giving them some temporary HP.

14. Paladin 6: Oh that's right you're also a paladin. Now you've got an Aura of Protection, meaning every save made within 10' of you gets your charisma modifier added to it, if you so choose.

15. Paladin 7: Your Divine Allegiance allows you to use a reaction to take another creature's damage for it. Mash is lovely, but occasionally she needs some time off tanking.

16. Paladin 8: You get another ASI this level, and your charisma's all good now... grab some Constitution I guess? More health is nice.

17. Paladin 9: Ninth level paladins get third level spells, like your oath spells Aura of Vitality and Spirit Guardians. You could also use something like Crusader's Mantle or Spirit Shroud to pile even more radiant damage onto your attacks.

18. Paladin 10: Your Aura of Courage calms allies around you, preventing them from being frightened.

19. Paladin 11: Hey, did you want even more radiant damage on your attacks? Here, have an Improved Divine Smite. Same smite taste, no spell slots!

20. Paladin 12: Your capstone level is another ASI! Bump up your strength. This doesn't give you many benefits, but you're a knight, you should be pretty strong.

Pros:

You've got a divine smite, improved divine smite, eldritch smite, and even one of the spell smites if you're feeling spicy. Four smites at once means your critical hits hurt. Especially since you can fish for them with a hexblade's curse.

Despite your damage dealing, you've also got plenty of tools in your support kit. Tank for allies, heal them, help them attack more, improve their initiative... You can do a lot.

You've got almost 200 hp and ways to heal yourself, so your survivability's pretty on point as well. Stay in the fight, and make sure everyone else does too.

Cons:

Thanks to being a reborn, you count as an undead for spells and effects. That'll seriously hinder your social standing in places that can check for that sort of thing, and it'll also make working with clerics in general troublesome.

Hexblade makes picking ASIs a lot easier, but it also means your strength and dexterity scores aren't as high. Because of that your AC isn't going to be that great. It's a good thing you can survive hits, because you'll definitely be taking them.

Despite your array of smites, you have limited spell slots to use them with. Your highest level spells are only level 3, and you don't get that many slots to work with, so you'll have to be careful of when you go all out.

[tigerkirby215]

5e Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa and Pan Chengwei. Made for Riot Games.)

Happy new year! For the start of 2021 we’ll be making a build that I spent all of the later half of 2020 thinking up. Yeah of all the characters I couldn’t figure out Ahri was the one who truly stumped me. Regardless we’re finally going to be rounding out the K/DA crew with yet another character that pushes that T for Teen rating.

GOALS

Find me; find yourself - Along with traditional damaging abilities we need to be able to put on a pretty face and lead out prey in. And Evelynn calls you a skank?

They've exhausted their use - Ahri’s lore has changed like 16 times but her abilities have remained constant: drain the life from your foes for some lane sustain.

Spirits follow wherever I go - Of course the most important part of playing Ahri is her Spirit Rush. Three dashes to use in a teamfight... or are they blinks? Gah translating LoL abilities to D&D is hard; can you believe there was a point that I was originally going to make this a Rogue build?

RACE

This is the part where I call a Vastayan a furry! You’re a Shifter because that’s the “half beast” race in 5e. All Shifters get Darkvision and their Shifting ability that lasts a minute and grants some Temporary Hitpoints along with an additional feature based on their subrace. Speaking of subrace we’ll be going for Swiftstride for some foxy agility!

NOTE: Wildhunt works too if you want more utility, and are willing to swap starting ASIs around with Tasha’s rules.

You get a +2 to Dexterity and a +1 to Charisma, and are Graceful to get proficiency in the Acrobatics skill. Finally your Shifting Feature gives you an additional 10 feet of movement when you activate it and the ability to move 10 feet away from an enemy that ends their turn near you as a reaction, just to make sure you don’t get caught by any melee-range stuns.

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - Ahri’s main ability is to charm people so much that they fall right into her murderous arms. She was essentially the founder of K/DA as well.

14; DEXTERITY - Ahri’s other main trait is her swiftness which means I can properly justify some DEX for her, especially with the +2 from our race.

13; CONSTITUTION - Sapping the life out of people means that you are pretty sturdy yourself.

12; WISDOM - Call it Vastayan magic or common sense but you need to know your way around both animals and people.

10; INTELLIGENCE - Riot finally decided to just give you amnesia, meaning that you don’t remember your math class.

8; STRENGTH - It’s on your bodyguard to do the heavy lifting, as well as any other buff allies you may meet.

BACKGROUND

Ahri’s lore has been through the wringer so many times I don’t even know what it is anymore, especially since they copped out and wrote “amnesia lol” as her lore. But she’s certainly the odd one out so Far Traveler works well enough. You get proficiency in Insight and Perception along with a Musical Instrument or Gaming Set (Music Instrument makes more sense but you can pick whatever you like.) You also get proficiency in a language of your choice: Sylvan seems natural for a lost girl on the Ionian countryside.

Your background feature All Eyes on You will make sure that everyone watches the fox. Basically: people are interested in the Vastaya, and if you chat with them you might be able to get somewhere special, seeing how special you are~

(Artwork by Alvin Lee, Pan Chengwei, and Bo “chenbowow” Chen. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - SORCERER 1

Starting off as a Sorcerer because your magic is innate, after all. Also because Constitution saving throws are nice! Regardless you get proficiency in two skills from the Sorcerer list: how about the Charisma classics? Persuasion and Deception to be a master of honied words.

Sorcerers get to choose their subclass at level 1 and hey: wouldn’t it be funny if they made a Sorcerer that’s heavily based on Enchantment magic? Well the Aberrant Mind is exactly that, having Psionic Spells that can be from the Divination or Enchantment schools. Spells like Mind Sliver to get around heavily armored foes, and Dissonant Whispers which is good to freak out your foes. But we’ll be replacing Arms of Hadar with Charm Person because... hey! It’s a Charm!

You’re also capable of Telepathic Speech to coordinate ganks in team chat, or to tell Seraphine that her dress zipper is undone. You can make a telepathic bond as a Bonus Action with a creature within 30 feet of you. You can speak telepathically with the creature up to a number of miles equal to your Charisma modifier, though you must both share a language for this to work. The telepathic connection lasts for a number of minutes equal to your sorcerer level but it ends early if you are incapacitated or die, or if you use this ability on a different creature.

Oh but of course if you’re a Sorcerer that means you have Spellcasting! You can learn 4 cantrips as a first level Sorcerer:

For some harmless Fox-Fire take Dancing Lights to light up the night. For some more potent Fox-Fire Control Flames will let you make the fire grow!

If you need a quick charm and don’t care about the aftermath Friends will get you what you need.

To keep both traveling clothes and dancing clothes looking prim and proper take Mending. Those outfits are expensive you know!

You can also learn two spells of first level: full disclosure pretty much 95% of the reason this build has Sorcerer levels is so we can take Magic Missile to recreate Fox-Fire and Chromatic Orb for Orb of Deception. That’s pretty much three out of four (*five if we include her passive) of Ahri’s abilities at level 1!

LEVEL 2 - SORCERER 2

Second level Sorcerers have a Font of Magic, giving them Sorcery Points that for now don’t serve much purpose other than being able to convert 2 of them into a 1st level spell slot. Basically you have an extra spell slot for now. But you can also convert spell slots into Sorcery points at a 1:1 ration (3rd level slot = 3 Sorcery points, as an example), which will be important later.

You do get another spell though: basically I just wanted Mage Armor because a +3 to AC would be nice.

LEVEL 3 - WARLOCK 1

Hey what if we multiclassed after 2 levels because we got 95% of what we wanted from those 2 levels? Hey guys it’s time for good ol’ Warlock! Warlocks get to choose their subclass at level 1 and Pact of the Fiend Warlocks get Dark One’s Blessing for Temporary Hitpoints equal to your Charisma plus your Warlock level when you knock an enemy to zero.

You also get Pact Magic which is like regular spellcasting except instead of actual spell slots you just get Pact Slots that come back on a Short Rest. You do get two cantrips though so I’m going to recommend Eldritch Blast because it’s Eldritch Blast as well as Prestidigitation for all the special effects you want and MORE.

You can also pick up some first level spells like Command from the Fiend list for some more enchantment, but there isn’t really much else I want from the first level of Warlock. I dunno grab Hex maybe? But we’re going to swap it out come level 3.

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 2

But firstly it’s time for Eldritch Invocations to keep 닿을 수 없는 level. Agonizing Blast lets you agonize your Eldritch Blast, and Eldritch Mind from good ol’ TCoE is great to keep the magic flowing thanks to advantage on Concentration checks.

Oh and something something can learn another spell but like I said I want to wait for MORE spells from second level.

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks get to choose their Pact Boon and you know: I don’t think we have enough cantrips! Pact of the Tome gives you three sparkly new cantrips to play with, and they can be from any class’ spell list! So you can take cantrips like Guidance for some help with your dances, Sacred Flame for some more Fox-Fire, and Thaumaturgy to be a spooky magic soul-sucking fox.

Honestly there isn’t much I want from Pact of the Tome but it’s the most in-flavor for Ahri. If you want to be a Star Guardian take Pact of the Chain and grab Keiko!

But you can also learn second level spells at this level like Enthrall and Suggestion for more charms, and Misty Step! For good ol’ Flash.

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 4

4th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement and what if we got roleplay abilities before combat abilities? Well the Skilled Expert Feat will give you +1 to any stat (hey look at that our Constitution is uneven!), proficiency in a skill of your choice (which will obviously be Performance), and Expertise in a skill that you already have proficiency in. (Choose between Persuasion or Deception depending on if you want to be the good fox or the bad fox.)

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! For your cantrip Mage Hand will let you dash something small from the high shelf into your hand, and for your leveled spell Mirror Image will make it all the harder to hit you instead of missing a skill shot where you just were.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 5

5th level means more Eldritch Invocations! In case of emergency be sure to bring Zhonya's, or rather Tomb of Levistus to negate burst.

And it’s third level spells time! You’re a Fiend Warlock so you know what that means? Cast Fireball and nothing but Fireball! Throw a Spirit Bomb like it’s Teamfight Tactics to level the playing field!

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Fiend Warlocks get 9 tails for 9 lives. Dark One’s Own Luck lets you add a d10 to an ability check or saving throw once per Short or Long Rest, so you can push your spirit for a bit more confidence in your plays.

You can also learn another spell but truthfully there isn’t much else I want from third level. There’s some that I like at second level but I’d recommend waiting for...

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 7

More Eldritch Invocations? Don’t mind if I do! Ahri has a lot of skins so Mask of Many Faces is great to play dress up. Are there better invocations? Yeah probably.

But you can also pick up 4th level spells like Charm Monster for a Charm+, or Dimension Door to pop your Teleport summoner spell.

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 8

Level 8 means more Ability Score Increases: we haven’t increased Charisma yet so we should probably do that.

You can also learn another spell, and while there are plenty of nice ones at this level if we wait just a little bit we can get...

LEVEL 11 - WARLOCK 9

9th level Warlocks get our last Eldritch Invocation: Ahri is shown floating in a lot of her promotional artwork and stuff so Ascendant Step is good to let you fly up with some fox magic! I mean, you could take Otherworldly Leap instead, I guess?

But you can finally learn 5th level spells, which means we can grab your ultimate! Far Step lets you teleport 60 feet, and spend your Bonus Action on subsequent turns to do it again! Definitely a step up from a regular old dash! But if you want a bit more damage along with some more essence theft then Enervation will let you do necrotic damage and also heal yourself by hurting others.

LEVEL 12 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Fiend Warlocks can get some Magic Resistance thanks to Fiendish Resilience. You can pick a damage type to resist, though this won’t work against magic or silvered weapons which most people probably have by level 12. So you won’t be able to resist swords and clubs but if a fire mage is trying to burn your tails just resist that! You can swap your resistance during a short (or long) rest if you need to deal with a different enemy.

Oh and did you expect to get another spell known? Nah screw you. You do get another cantrip though: I mean I dunno Toll the Dead can be good to kill secure?

(Artwork by Ryan Ribot. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 13 - SORCERER 3

Finally done with Warlock. That’s good: I could use some coffee. Third level Sorcerers get Metamagic to alter their spells with Sorcery points. Quickened Spell lets you turn a spell with an action casting time to a bonus action, so you can have a cup of coffee and still cast Eldritch Blast. Or, you know: cast two Eldritch Blasts in a turn? If you’re sick of enemies dodging your skill shots Heightened Spell will give them disadvantage on their first saving throw, which is good to combo with spells like Enervation.

Oh and speaking of spells you can learn second level Sorcerer spells! Psionic Spells gives you Detect Thoughts which is pretty good but I’d suggest taking Tasha’s Mind Whip as your other Psionic Spell for some Hextech in your step.

Additionally Flaming Sphere was added to the Sorcerer list thanks to Tasha, and it’s a good spell to take for a little more control over your Orb of Deception.

LEVEL 14 - SORCERER 4

Level 4 means another Ability Score! Time to finally cap off that Charisma for the best casting we can get.

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip, because we definitely don’t have enough cantrips. Sword Burst will give you some much-needed melee defense to cut through minions if you’re surrounded. As for leveled spells there honestly isn’t much I want from second level. We got most of what we needed from Warlock.

LEVEL 15 - SORCERER 5

Tasha decided that Sorcerers were weak so she gave them a 5th level feature called Magical Guidance. If you fail a skill check you can spend a sorcery point to reroll the d20. You must use the new roll, but along with Dark One’s Own Luck this gives you quite a bit of reliability when it comes to ability checks.

You can also now learn third level spells. Psionic Spells grants you Sending which is nice to communicate in team chat, but I’d replace Hunger of Hadar with  Incite Greed from good ol’ Acquisitions Incorporated to charm a whole group and make them slowly approach you with lovey-eyes like they do in LoL.

You can also learn spells like Melf's Minute Meteors for some less accurate but more deadly Fox-Fire, and Haste for some nine-tailed agility.

LEVEL 16 - SORCERER 6

6th level Psionic Soul Sorcerers get Psychic Defenses for resistance to Psychic damage and advantage against being Charmed or Frightened. You’ve seen it all and they’re not going to stop us! (They’ll try but they won’t.) But more importantly you get Psionic Sorcery: when you cast a spell (that isn’t a cantrip) from your Psionic Spells list, you can cast it with a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level. If you cast the spell using sorcery points, it requires no verbal or somatic components, and it requires no material components unless they are consumed by the spell.

How does this interact with Incite Greed which requires a 50 gp gem? My bet is that they just focus on you instead. But yeah this is obviously incredibly useful as you can cast spells like Detect Thoughts, Tasha’s Mind Whip, Dissonant Whispers, and Charm Person without any signal that you’re doing it. And there’s only more to come! To top it off: RAW if you don’t show any signs of casting you can’t be counterspelled!

Speaking of more spells as well as Counterspell I took Counterspell as a Sorcerer spell, because Banshee’s Veil is never not useful.

(Artwork by Jeremy Anninos. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 17 - SORCERER 7

Eyyy 4th level spells! Both the spells you would’ve gotten from Psionic Spells kinda... don’t make sense? So grab Confusion to make a mess in a teamfight and I’m actually going to suggest Arcane Eye as your other Psionic Spell for some wards.

You can also learn 4th level spells like Polymorph to turn into a fox in the spirit realm. Just in time for the Spirit Blossom festival!

LEVEL 18 - SORCERER 8

8th level Sorcerers get another Ability Score Improvement and honestly there are a lot of options now that your Charisma is maxed out: plenty of good feats like Tough, Lucky, Inspiring Leader, Mobile, Metamagic Adept, Warcaster, Spell Sniper, Elemental Adept, or an increase to Dexterity. (Those were listed in no particular order.) Honestly if you’ve reached level 18 you should be more than capable of making your own choices by now. Make your own character and be your own person.

Though I suppose I can still recommend spells: for a more potent and deadly Orb of Deception Storm Sphere will hit your foes with harsh winds and lightning!

LEVEL 19 - SORCERER 9

9th level? That means you can get your 5th level Psionic Spells! Honestly there’s a lot I like from both the Enchantment and Divination schools but both  Rary’s Telepathic Bond and Telekinesis are great in their own right, and I’m fine with keeping them.

That doesn’t mean I’m not going to take Synaptic Static because... well it’s Synaptic Static! I love this spell and you can’t stop me from taking it. It’s got all the power of a Fireball along with a great negative effective that makes it harder for the enemy to kill you.

LEVEL 20 - SORCERER 10

At long last our capstone is... another metamagic option. By this point your spells pack plenty a punch so if you want to make sure not to hit your allies Careful Spell will disable friendly fire... Though alternatively if they’re keeping their distance Empowered Spell will let you make sure you get the maximum kick out of your spirit.

You can also learn one more spell, and one more cantrip to round out the absolute slew of cantrips you have. After a long match you can make a Teleportation Circle to go back to base, and for your cantrip? Wouldn’t it be funny if I suggested True Strike? Okay but memes aside take something else other than True Strike the world is your oyster and True Strike is bad just attack twice.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Indulge me - Ahri is arguably the most flexible caster I’ve made so far. A pure 50 / 50 split between Sorcerer and Warlock means that you’ve got a huge variety of spells, and two big spell slots that come back on a Short Rest which you can melt down into Sorcery points. Not to mention that Psionic Spells gives you an absolutely insane amount of spells known and the ability to cast several of them using Sorcery points instead of Spell Slots. And to top it off you have an absolutely ridiculous amount of cantrips, capping off at a whopping fourteen cantrips!

They're mine now - It also turns out that the coffeelock is really potent in its own right. Sorcery gives you a lot of options to make your spells even stronger, notably Quickened Spell letting you shoot out some Agonizing Eldritch Blasts after casting a regular spell.

Run faster! Ehehe! - You’re also no pushover for survival either. You have good health for a spellcaster, damn good mobility, and plenty of abilities to bolster yourself against danger... as long as you don’t mind a bit of Essence Theft.

CONS

Lingering spirits lose themselves - Even if your health is strong your defensive stats aren’t great. Poor saving throws (minus Charisma and Constitution) and bad AC (Shield is a good spell you should probably get it) means that while you can take a hit and lifesteal it back you’re still pretty easy to hit.

Don't you trust me? - You may be the queen of charms but you’re not that great outside of Charisma. Almost all your proficiencies are in Charisma skills which means you won’t be able to do anything like find hidden treasure or spot incoming danger.

Mortals have two choices; follow me, or don't - Ever heard of the concept of choice paralysis? Well with your absolutely bloated spell list it can be hard to choose what to do with your spell slots, and even harder to choose what spell to Concentrate on. Both your best moves and simplest tricks take your Concentration.

But with all your strengths what girl could want MORE? You’re a swift and dangerous mid lane mage with enough Vastayan magic to do whatever you desire. Dash in and show them what you’re made of! And be sure to be back at the studio in time to show the newbie the ropes. Don’t want that drum going dumb.

(Artwork by Horace Hsu and Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

[crossoverworldtree]

Magical Expansion Part 1

The following qualities and drawbacks are specifically about the use of magic, limiting and expanding on its uses.

Limited Magical Talent (3 Point Drawback, Pre-requisite: Specialized Magic)

A character specializes in a form of magic because that’s the only kind of magic they can work. They can only cast spells and perform abilities related to that specialization. Specializing in Fire magic makes them a Pyromancer, and only a Pyromancer, and so on. They can still lend their power to another caster’s spell or participate in rituals, but cannot lead any rituals other than in their chosen element.

Magical Artisan/Magical Thug (1-Point Quality)

This is a variety of specialization, as well as a drawback to the caster. Some people have "Blunt Force" magic whilst others are good at delicate work, but can't quite master strong attacks or forceful actions with their magic. The former is called a "Magical Thug" whilst the latter is called a "Magical Artisan".

Either way, the caster gains a +3 to their special form of Magic and a -1 to the forms they are not good at.

The spells of a magical thug's specialty include powerful attack spells and defensive magics. Artisans are better at illusions, influencing, and mental magic. Both struggle at altering physical forms (so healing is a problem, as is shapeshifting).

Magical Key (2-Point Quality)

A Magical Key is an inscription representing an aspect of the caster's soul that unlocks their full potential. By spending one mental action, the caster says a phrase out loud (often alerting foes to their location and intent), and let’s open the flood gates. This adds a +3 to the next casting roll (and only that roll). If the caster is struck or otherwise distracted during or between the casting and the phrase opening, the spell automatically fails and forces a roll on the spell miss-ability table with an additional +3 the failure. The phrase should be deeply personal and not in the caster's native language. Players should say the phrase as they activate it for effect.

Murphy-onic Hexing Field (0 to 3-Point Drawback)

Some wizards have problems controlling their magic and when their emotions run high, wild magic flies around them and fries technology. This effect has a range of 100ft and is resisted with a Willpower (Doubled) with a negative modifier equal to the magic level + any additional modifier based on the degree of emotional stress (-1 to -3 usually, -4 for when someone's love is in danger or otherwise causing related stress). It can be intentionally activated but tends to be extremely wide in its reach. Any adjacent technology will also be fried (as will any technology on or adjacent to the user). The level of this drawback is determined by the society around them. This is a 0 Point drawback in pre-electronics cultures. Machine Age (1900s-1944) has it at -1. Atomic Age brings in more electronics, bringing it to -2. And Information Age and Above puts it at -3.

Some call this being “Magically Incontinent.” So, there is also an element of social stigma in the right circles…

Proximity Magic (1-Point Quality)

The caster’s Magic gets a boost from being near… something. An element, a type of location, something being around you gives the caster’s mojo an added ‘Oomph’. This bonus ranges from +1 to +3 and is dependent on what is around.

A water mage, for example, would only get a +1 to cast magic when near a pond or bathtub full of water. Being near a river or lake would grant a +2. And being by the sea would grant a +3.

An Urban-mage, a mage who draws power from human population centers, would get a +1 from being in a town or village, a +2 from a small city, and +3 while casting in or near New York or Tokyo.

A Director may rule that the cost of this quality is doubled if the setting is replete with the bonus-granting material.

Soulfire (5-Point Quality)

Soulfire is a power that can be bestowed on those chosen by the Archangels. It is essentially the ability to tap into the “fires of creation” and make things “more than themselves”. By accessing the Soulfire ability, a person or being can put a piece of their soul into a spell and increase its power. Using the power too much, however, will result in the weakening of the caster and eventually death, if it is overused to a significant degree.

A person with Soulfire may add a +5 bonus to any spell for every point of willpower they possess every day. They may also choose to do so more than once per spell, but suffer 3 + (SL of the spell roll) damage from each additional use on the same spell. Normal use of Soulfire deals 5 damage to the user, which usually manifests in the form of numbness in the extremities. If they use up all of their soul in padding spells (IE: a person with Willpower 5 uses Soul Fire 5 times), they are immediately dropped to -30 Life points and must make a survival test.

Specialized Magic (1-Point Quality)

Some casters have subjects they focus on in their spell casting. Some focus on a few elements while casting (IE: Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Wood, Metal, Darkness, Light, etc.--or even sub-elements like steel, ice, lightning, etc.), while others focus on a specific type of spell (Summoning, Illusion, Mental Magics, Healing, etc.). Either way, the specialization grants a bonus to casting that type of spell as well as researching that subject. No more than two specializations may be taken by any spell caster. This provides a +2 to research and casting such spells.

Ki users can use the quality to allow them to manipulate an element, but it grants no bonuses.

Third Eye (7 Point Quality)

All sorcerers can detect magic, but those who can open their Third Eye can see well beyond that. Those with the Third Eye opened gain the benefits of both The Sight and Insight qualities. However, both are linked, so they can only be activated together.

By making eye contact with a person, they can Soul Gaze them, learning their true intentions (a more in-depth take on the sight which reveals the ‘true character’ of the person). However, this only works once per person. Even if they change, this cannot be done to them again.

The other downside to this is a person can see really hideous things while using it. Anything that sparks a fear test has its penalty multiplied by 2 if it is viewed through the third eye.

And the sights never leave the person, leaving a permanent mental scar. Any player who uses the Third Eye needs to be sure to mark down the things that scarred them in this manner.

[pokegeek151]

By popular demand, what if Orion was well written part 2/??

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Orion was settling into a more comfortable position in his chair, seemingly oblivious to Holly’s nervous energy across from him. Argon, somewhat desperate to talk to Artemis after he’d missed over a month of sessions in favor of letting Orion handle them, had agreed to step out at the young man’s request. The doctor decided that leaving him alone for this exercise was a bad idea, though, so Holly was called in to babysit.

“I don’t think I’m qualified to do this,” she said.

“You’ll be fine, love,” Orion said with what he hoped was reassuring confidence. “Though you know I adore being around you, your presence is mostly a formality.” As he spoke, he placed his hands facedown on his legs, allowed his limbs to relax into the gel-supported cushioning, and let his eyes fall closed. “Expect to be bored.”

“If you say so,” she said. As Orion’s motions stilled, Holly spoke up again. “How long do you think it will take?”

“Difficult to say. If Artemis is agreeable, only a couple minutes.” He opened one eye and grinned. “Though Artemis being agreeable is not something I would place money on if you’re not in the habit of losing.”

Holly grinned as well and allowed Orion to begin his meditation. Despite herself, she leaned forward curiously. Though she had of course induced a few switches herself, they were all violent and came after long periods of electroshock-induced unconsciousness. She had never seen them do a voluntary switch.

Orion spent a few minutes focusing on his breathing and observing his body in physical space. Artemis had taken up mediation and mindfulness as a hobby years ago, and that knowledge had sunk into Orion’s consciousness, as well. Eventually, the world around him slipped away and the light of Artemis’ mind office became visible in the distance. At this realization, the image of legs formed beneath him, and he walked towards it. By the time he arrived at the office, Orion was fully formed in the mind space.

“Artemis, can I come in?” he asked, though it was unnecessary. The mind is a funny thing; though Orion as the conscious alter had to focus on the arrival into the office, to Artemis, he simply appeared already inside. Orion was nothing but a gentleman, though, and he always asked for an invitation into what he considered Artemis’ space.

“Of course,” Artemis answered. His desk had changed since Orion had last visited; there were stacks of paper and what appeared to be a rudimentary circuit board and other electrical materials arranged atop it. Of course, rudimentary was relative, and the board on the desk was actually quite advanced on an objective level, but Orion knew that it was practically a child’s toy to Artemis.

“What’s that?” Orion asked, genuinely curious. He had never seen anything like it in the mind office.

“I’ve been doing experiments,” Artemis replied. He stepped aside and allowed Orion to examine the device. “It’s quite a simple circuit board, but I have perfect knowledge of its construction and properties.” He reached over and pressed a button on the board, and the device buzzed to life. “It took quite a bit of mental effort and focus, but I have actually created a working piece of electronic equipment in my own mind.”

“Astounding,” Orion said, awestruck. It was incomprehensibly impressive. “A perfect recreation of a physical object.”

“I knew you’d have a proper appreciation within the mind space,” Artemis said. While together like this, the edges of their personalities started to blur and mix. They were still separate, but perhaps not as distinct as when one of them was fronting. Some of Artemis’ intelligence and scientific awareness bled over.

Orion nodded, though something about the discovery bothered him. “But why?” he asked, gingerly placing the device back onto the desk. 

“I have no intention of spending the rest of my life simply watching you pilot my body,” he said. “So I came up with something to do. I plan to experiment with oil paints next, then move on to something more complicated. My goal is to be able to invent from within here and run accurate tests on new discoveries.” He sounded genuinely excited, his willingness to show emotion enhanced by Orion’s presence.

Orion wasn’t sure how to react. A certain detail Artemis had mentioned was making it hard for him to get as excited as his alter. “That is…very impressive, Artemis,” he said. He hesitated, trying to phrase his concern delicately, then decided not to beat around the bush. “Do you really expect to spend your whole life in here?”

Artemis, who had started to fiddle with the circuit board, paused. “Well, I suppose not,” he said noncommittally.

Orion stepped around him, partially blocking his view of the desk. “You can’t stay in here forever, Artemis.”

Artemis stepped back, away from Orion. “And why not? Who are you to dictate my life?”

“It’s my life, too,” he said, taking a half step closer to Artemis, who moved away the same amount. “And there are people out there waiting for you.”

“People whom I will push away once I lose myself to the disease.” There was a rising anger in Artemis. Orion could feel it. 

“People who will stand by your side while you recover,” he countered. This wasn’t how he wanted the conversation to go.

“When I’m outside, I am not the person they know. I cannot control my own thoughts.”

“They know that, and they love you.”

“And what do you know of that?” It was Artemis’ turn to move forward and Orion’s to retreat. “They tolerate you, at best, and you know that.”

“You’re wrong, Artemis.”

Artemis continued his approach, forcing Orion towards the view wall inch by inch. “Am I? You are delusional; the world to you is a storybook.”

“That’s not fair, I’ve been getting better—“

“You have no respect for Holly’s personal boundaries. She is disgusted by you.”

“That’s not true. I’m learning, and she—“

Artemis stopped as Orion’s back was about to touch the gel of the wall. “And worst of all, you are trying to replace me, and they know that.”

Orion planted his feet and met his alter in the eye. “I’m not trying to replace you. You’re stressed, and your paranoia has infected your haven. Allow yourself to calm down, and you will see you are thinking illogically.”

Artemis also planted his feet. “Get out of my head,” he said, and pushed Orion into the view wall.

Artemis, ever unathletic, had telegraphed his action, so Orion wasn’t surprised when he was shoved, but he allowed it to happen anyway. He knew that Artemis was too agitated to be reasoned with at the moment, a once rare, nearly impossible occurrence that was happening more and more frequently as Artemis continued to lock himself inside his mind. Orion thought perhaps that allowing Artemis to shove him might offer some cathartic relief, at the very least. 

The gel fizzled on his skin, though the golden fours that made the substance buzz with electricity ignored him. Because he was allowing himself to resurface, the wall gave him almost no resistance. 

In the real world, his body jolted in the chair. Holly rushed to support him immediately, placing a hand on his shoulder to help keep him upright.

“Artemis? Are you alright?”

“I am fine, princess, though the fair prince remains trapped within his accursed tower.” Ah, there was the fairy tale, right on schedule. The stress was exacerbating his delusions. “I fear a witch has hexed him. Perhaps we can brew a potion to negate the enchantment.”

Holly frowned but didn’t contradict him. “I take it Artemis wasn’t feeling agreeable?”

Orion rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. “No. He pushed me out. Literally.” He was exhausted from the ordeal. Entering the mind space with Artemis was not itself a tiring activity, but the mental energy he expended in their fight, as well as the rather ungraceful exit, had drained him.

“What happened?” she asked, shifting from sitting on her heels to kneeling beside his chair.

“He’s inventing,” Orion said. “He built a circuit board.”

“Hunkering down,” Holly realized. “He’s in it for the long haul.”

“Indeed. He got angry at me. He yelled at me, forced me out. As I told the good Doctor, he’s scared. He fears you’ll reject him, princess.”

Holly looked almost offended. “I wouldn’t dare,” she said.

Orion smiled sadly. “I know. I told him as much, but he was beyond reason.” Holly opened her mouth to question, clearly confused by the very notion, but Orion explained before she could ask. “Within the mind space, our characteristics…mix, a bit. Though I am made from that which he had repressed, when the two parts are put together, we begin to combine. There is no risk,” he added quickly, seeing concern flash across her features. “Just a bit of blurring at the edges.”

Holly looked around the room, giving her eyes something to do while she processed all of this. “If asking nicely won’t work, we’ll have to come up with something more aggressive,” she decided. “He can’t just stay in there forever.”

Orion nodded. “We will save him from the dragons that plague him.” He tried to shift his posture to evoke the stance of a knight, but he only held it for a moment before the exhaustion hit him again and he tilted forward into Holly, who had moved to catch him before he even realized he was falling. The chair was comfortable, but he had no desire to sleep in it. “Though perhaps we should return to the castle first. I would appreciate some time to recover before we begin our quest.” Holly helped him stand, and after an uncertain moment, Orion gained his balance. 

><

In the hall, Argon was pacing, waiting for the pair to finish. He turned excitedly when the door finally opened.

“Artemis? Holly? How did it go?” he asked, rocking back and forth on his heels.

“Orion is exhausted,” Holly said bitterly. She wanted Artemis to spend some time outside his own head as much as the next person, but Argon’s blatant disregard for Orion was insulting. “Session’s ending early.” Without waiting for approval, she led Orion down the hall.

Argon scurried after them. “But there’s still nearly half an hour left!” he cried.

“Session’s over, doc,” Holly called over her shoulder. Even with an exhausted Mud Boy in tow, they were able to easily outpace the squat doctor.

Butler was waiting for them outside the clinic. There was nowhere inside for him to comfortably wait, though Foaly had said something about an oversized chair being put on order. He glanced at the door on habit as it opened, checking for security, but he did a double-take when he realized Holly and his charge leaving the building half an hour ahead of schedule.

“Is everything alright?” he asked as the pair approached.

“Argon is letting him go early, today,” Holly said in a tone that told Butler it was likely not Dr. Argon’s decision.

“And why is that?” he asked casually, falling into step with them as they headed towards the nearest shuttle station. If Holly had forced Argon to end the session, Butler was willing to trust it was for a good reason.

“Because Artemis is stubborn as a hungry troll,” she answered.

“He had no interest in making an appearance,” Orion added, confirming his identity for Butler.

Butler had, of course, known about the plan for today’s session, and he’d been quietly hoping Artemis would finally come back to them. Artemis and his alter looked a lot alike when tired, and Butler hadn’t been certain who was fronting. He must have let some of his disappointment show based on the way Orion’s features tightened, though the young man didn’t comment. Butler instantly felt guilty, though he also said nothing. He hadn’t meant to hurt Orion, but Artemis was still his priority. 

“I see,” was all the man offered.

The trek to the shuttle station was uneventful, though the group got more stares than usual. The regular commuters through this part of Haven had gotten used to seeing the massive Mud Man in this time of day, but the half hour difference was enough to mix up the crowd.

The shuttle ride was similarly uneventful; the one shuttle large enough to carry Butler had been co-opted by the LEP and served as private transport for the humans 3 days a week, so there was no need to wait for a ride or concern themselves with citizens being in their way. Orion dozed lightly during the ride, his head against Butler’s arm. He looked peaceful. As peaceful as Artemis did in his sleep, Butler noted.

Orion roused himself as the shuttle landed, though he fell asleep on Holly’s shoulder once they were in the Bentley. She nudged him awake once they arrived at the Manor.

“That really took a lot out of you,” she said as he unfolded himself from the car.

“More than expected,” he said. “I think I am sad,” he added, “for sadness is a tiring emotion.”

“What’s making you sad?” Holly asked. She had heard enough about his therapy sessions to pick up on some things. He still struggled with identifying his emotions at times, and encouraging him to explore what he was feeling helped with that.

“Artemis.” He held his hand out in front of him and turned it over and back, studying the surface and the way his fingers moved. “He is in anguish.”

Holly nodded. “I’m sad about that, too. And frustrated.” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, and she forced herself to uncurl them.

Orion nodded. “You can’t punch your way through this.”

“As much as I want to,” she agreed.

The sessions with Argon were at the beginning of the day in Haven, but fairies being nocturnal creatures meant that it was dark above ground when they were done. There were footlights along the paths on the estate, but to minimize light pollution, they were on specialized motion sensors that were fine-tuned enough to differentiate between wild animals and humans (and fairies, of course). As such, the world around them was a shroud of gloom for a few seconds until the lights clicked on, giving everything a unique, almost unsettling glow from below. On hard, tiresome days like today, the unnatural underside lighting seemed mystical in a way Orion was growing better and better at determining to be part of his delusions. This was something he knew, and at Argon’s suggestion, he used this knowledge to practice grounding techniques after sessions.

Today was no exception. As much as he would love to go straight inside and collapse into bed, practice and consistency were important, so he took a few minutes to breathe deeply and take inventory of his senses and his thoughts. Holly and Butler both waited for him, silently exchanging slightly worried expressions. They knew what he was doing, but his mental health was still a concern, especially after a particularly trying therapy session. And of course, they were always thinking about Artemis. They had both returned their expressions to neutral by the time Orion was done, though, and the trio finally escaped the cool, humid night air so Orion could get some much needed rest.

[iwrite-sometimes]

To be Loved

AO3

Draco Malfoy was not having a good day. When he had woken up, he found a lonely flat and a note stating his boyfriend had to run an early errand. He hated waking up alone in a cold bed, it made him feel uneasy. Once he had left the flat, he had to go down 7 flights of stairs all the way to the exit because that bloody lift had broken off, again. It was raining, so by the time he got to a nearby alley in order to apparate to work, Draco was very wet and very pissed.

Things at work weren’t any better. One of his employees had messed up an entire batch of fever reducing potion that was to be delivered to St. Mungo’s, so his lab was a complete chaos. Once he managed to get things under control, he had had to deal with a rather annoying costumer that thought he had every right to antagonize and belittle Draco in his own shop, just because the Malfoy name was tarnished after the war. It wasn’t the first time this happened, and usually Draco would ignore it, but today had been a particularly bad day and he just couldn’t find it in himself to control his temper. So he nicely informed the gentleman to get out of his store if he didn’t want to find out what exactly had the Death Eaters taught him. The pale face and hasty walk of that arsehole had been the small victory of the day.

By the time he closed the store, the sky was threatening to drench Draco once more, so he quickly made his way to the apparition zone and got to his flat. Well, technically, it wasn’t his, it was Harry’s. But at this point, his own flat was more of a storage than a living space. He couldn’t remember the last time he had actually slept there. Plus, Harry’s apartment was on a Muggle area, unlike his that was located in a Magical neighborhood, and that meant they wouldn’t be harassed by reporters while they were at home. It didn’t happen as often as it used to, but having that added bonus was nice.

The announcement of the relationship between the Savior and the Death Eater had brought a lot of gossip in the Wizarding World. Everybody was extremely surprised, because they knew just how much the boys had hated each other for better part of their school life. So, when Harry and Draco had announced they were in a relationship at the end of their “eighth year”, it was fair to say a lot of people found the need to inform them of their “much wanted” opinion.

Draco smirked to himself while going up the stairs -they still hadn’t fixed that stupid lift- as he remembered how Harry had reacted when all the comments people had about their relationship got to him. The wizarding word had exploded into a whirlwind of chaos and gossip, well mostly gossip really. The Daily Prophet published article after article over-analyzing and digging into every aspect they could of their lives. A lot of people were outraged, demanding the Ministry to take action and rescue their Savior from the clutches of a Death Eater. Headmistress McGonagall had been forced to modify the wards of Hogwarts to keep reporters and hords out of the school grounds. Draco had been utterly terrified and had locked himself in his room, while the teachers tried to keep out journalists and angry people that screamed for “justice” out of the castle. That had obviously led to an argument with Harry about what exactly was going to happen when they graduated. They had a lengthy conversation, with a lot of sarcastic and snarky comments before Draco fell into desperation and tried to break up with him. He hadn’t done it for himself, the Wizarding World already hated him anyways, but he didn’t want to hold Harry back. So, he tried doing the only selfless thing in his life and told the love of his life that maybe he was better off without him. Harry had been silent, really silent which had scared Draco to no end. He had walked over to his boyfriend, gently grabbed his arm and pulled him hard off the bed he was sitting on. Harry was quite a bit shorter than Draco and a lot thinner, but he pulled him right off the bed. The fierce look in the brunette’s eyes told him exactly what he thought of his solution. Harry hadn’t said a word to him as he continued to manhandle him out of his dorm and to the castle grounds where most of the chaos was happening. Draco didn’t have a clue of what was happening and was frankly terrified of what his crazy act-first-think-later lover was going to do.

Even to this day, two years later, Draco couldn’t keep himself from being astounded and proud of how his boyfriend had defended their relationship and, according to his friends, his honor. Harry had marched right over to the crowd, pulled out his wand and cast a silencing charm on all of them followed by a very strong Sonorous on himself and had told them that they, along with their comments and opinions, could go right to hell along with Voldemort. He had declared that he hadn’t sacrificed his childhood and ultimately his life just so some ass-minded people could comment on how he chose to live his life.

He had declared that his private life would remain as such and anyone who tried to make it public would suffer greater pain than the one the Dark Lord could give them. He then had yelled “so SOD OFF”, turned around and kissed Draco hard on the lips. Pulling his still gaping boyfriend away from the stunned crowd, Harry pushed Draco against the wall and glared at him.

“If you ever think of breaking us up based on the opinions of those idiots, I’ll make you suffer as well. Got it?” Draco swallowed and nodded, afraid and a little flustered if he was being honest. And that was that. Harry was fiercely protective of their relationship, hexing anyone who dared to comment on it. It made the blonde’s heart warm and fuzzy to know he cared so much.

He was pulled out of his memories as he reached the door to the apartment. He was tired and grumpy and all he wanted was to finally be able to eat and cuddle with his boyfriend, a quiet night was exactly what he needed. Gods he was going soft. All his expectations were crushed the moment he stepped in the living room. Draco stood there, gaping at the state of the room. It looked like a, well, frankly he didn’t know what he was looking at but it was a complete mess, there were more pillows and blankets on the floor than they could possibly own. He even found some fairy lights form their Yule decoration and -was that their mattress!?-, just what exactly was Harry doing? Hand it to the Gryffindor to wreak complete havoc in the living room the one day Draco just wanted food and sleep. He was thoroughly annoyed and ready to snap at his boyfriend the moment he found him in this battle field that once was a sitting area.

A frown firm on his face, the blonde went further in the room when suddenly, Harry’s raven head popped out of a huge mound of pillows, a big smile firm on his face and Draco’s own expression soften just a bit. His boyfriend was surrounded by all the objects in the living room, in front of the couch which had been pushed to the side. He was dressed in his pajamas and his hair was even more of a mess than normal.

“You’re home!” Harry’s exited voice confused him even more. Why would he be so thrilled in a mountain of pillows and blankets?

“It appears so. Care to explain?” He kept his expression blank, he would give his boyfriend time to explain this and then put their mattress back in the bedroom so he could sulk and sleep in peace.

“I made a pillow fort!”

“And what, pray tell, is a ‘pillow fort’?” Draco had his arms crossed over his chest and a thin eyebrow raised, conveying his displeasure.

“Well, it’s a fort made with pillows.”

He didn’t have the energy for this. Whatever activity one did in a ‘pillow fort’ was clearly a muggle one and, while he was now very open and accepting of Muggle culture, it was usually draining, so he would just leave Harry to it.

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a tired sigh. “Look, Harry, I had a rubbish day. You can do this ‘pillow’ thing if you want, but please put the mattress back so I can sleep and forget about today, yes?”

Harry’s face fell and his cheeks flushed deeply.

“I-I… well I just thought… I just wanted…” He went quiet for a while, which had Draco looking at him and really examining his boyfriend. Harry looked nervous, disappointed and just sad, and he didn’t know why. Draco felt like a complete idiot for making him feel like this. Harry was well trained to hiding his emotions, only showing what people expected of him, so for him to show them so openly now, Draco knew he had screwed up somehow.

“I-yeah, you’re right. This was stupid I’m sorry. I’ll just… I’ll put everything back. Why don’t y-you just take a shower and I’ll… fix this” The brunet was trying to put a casual face, hiding how much this really bothered him. Draco started to really panic when he saw how hard Harry was fighting back tears.

Without a second thought, the once respectable Malfoy heir toed of his shoes and practically threw himself on the pillow contraption. Grey eyes bore into Harry’s face, looking for something, but the other just wouldn’t meet his gaze.

Harry began fumbling with pillows, gathering blankets with slightly trembling hands, until Draco gently grabbed them in his own.

“What is a pillow fort?” he was still trying to get him to meet his eyes, but his boyfriend was pointedly looking at his own feet.

“I-it’s not important. I’ll just…” two fingers on his chin made him look up to the blonde.

“Love, what is a pillow fort?” Draco used the pet name on purpose. He didn’t say it much, never having been fond of any sappy endearment, but he knew Harry loved it.

Green eyes met grey. Harry was clearly fighting some old, horrible demons, his eyes looking troubled and clowded with pain. Draco just knew it had to do with those muggles.

“I-It’s noth-” he was cut off by strong arms wrapping him in a hug.

Malfoys were not good with words that expressed love and affection, or anything good really. But over the years, Draco had learned just how he could show Harry his emotions, so he just focused on pouring all he was feeling in that hug, cuddling the brunet close to his chest letting him burrow in his neck and holding him tight. Draco waited, he knew better than to rush Harry into talking, if he wanted to he would tell him after. So he just held him, his heart breaking at the sight of his love trying to stop silent tears. After what seemed like ages, Harry started to pull away, but not too far, just enough to be able to speak clearly. He looked at Draco, eyes slightly wet from tears and a sad look of his face that spoke of old pain emerging back to life.

“What is a pillow fort?” he questioned quietly, voice barely more than a whisper.

“I- nothing important, really” Harry said quietly, still trying to hide his true feelings.

“Love, what is a pillow fort?” Draco couldn’t think of any other way to ask what was wrong. Sticking to simple questions was better when dealing with things that had to do with Harry’s childhood, that way he only had to share what he wanted without feeling forced.

In a soft, quiet voice he answered “It’s- muggle kids do it. Usually when having a slumber party. I-I didn’t really know how to do it… so I looked it up in the internet. It’s just…Aunt Petunia used to make them, w-when we were young. Dudley had these parties with friends and-and they slept inside the fort. T-they used to do it in the living room, right outside of my cup-” his voice caught at the word. He took a deep breath and kept talking. “I-I asked my aunt once if I could sleep there too, I was 4 of 5 I think. It’s my first memory of her slapping me. She said I would never be good enough to sleep with normal people, that I would just infect them and then she just threw me in my cu-cupboard. It’s no big deal, though. I’m sorry if I made you mad, I just thought maybe we could- but I’ll just put these things away and we can go to bed.”

Draco was raging mad, he wanted to go over that horrible woman and show her a few tricks his Father had taught him. But he swallowed all his anger, cupped Harry’s cheeks, and kissed him. After a few seconds, he melted into the kiss. They stayed like that for a moment, sharing sweet kisses, holding each other, putting into actions all the words they wanted to say and didn’t know how.

“You’ll have to tell me what a slumber party is, love. I’m afraid we didn’t have them in the Manor.” He said, slightly teasing the other. “But I can smell pizza, so whatever it is you have convinced me” Draco let out an over dramatic sigh.

Harry giggled softly and, tentatively at first, began telling the blonde all he knew of slumber parties, which wasn’t much. They were basically meant to sleep anywhere else that wasn’t a bed, watch movies until late into the night and eat a ridiculous amount of junk food. Draco loved every bit of it.

Furthering into the pillow fort Harry had built, Draco found the laptop all set up with movies, a box with a large pizza and an assortment of various snacks, all of the blonde’s favorites were here. He couldn’t avoid the warm feeling overtaking his chest and a goofy smile appearing on his face. With a loving look at the brunette, they started their slumber party.

Hours later, after two movies, lots of laughter and entirely too much food to be healthy, the two boys were cuddled up inside their fort, the soft glow of the fairy lights bathing them. Harry was basically an unconscious lump in his boyfriend’s arms, but he couldn’t help but feel fuzzy inside. He always felt like this when they did something that was denied from him as a child. It felt a little like he was showing the Dursleys they were wrong, replacing bad memories with ones filled with love and happiness. He snuggled deeper and in a small, sleep-filled voice whispered “I love you.”

Draco only held his love tighter, relishing in the soft steady sound of Harry’s breathing as he finally fell asleep. And in that moment, he knew he had everything he ever wanted in life. To be happy. To be loved and to have someone to love. So he poured all that love into a chaste kiss to the raven locks, and snuggling deeper into a fluffy duvet, Draco fell into a restful sleep. Filled with his boyfriend’s warmth, the warmth that came from being loved.

So, this is my first finished fic. I found it in my files while looking for something and decided to finish it. It ended up longer than I originally thought and slightly more angsty than I planed. I hope you like it.

[theworldbrewery]

multiclass your... BLOOD HUNTER!!

As per the request by @mstheoverflow, today we’re taking a look at the Wisdom-based “original flavor” Blood Hunter class. As of right now, this class is available on DnDBeyond, but in the coming weeks, the update to an Intelligence-based version of the class is expected to supersede this existing one, so if you’re attached to this version, save the details now.

A couple key things: to multiclass out of Blood Hunter, you must have a 13 in Wisdom as well as a 13 in either Strength or Dexterity--that or is really key because it makes your multiclassing really flexible. There are also special rules for multiclassing into warlock if you are of a certain subclass, which I’ll get into later.

Let’s dig in!

Blood Hunter + Barbarian

If you chose to be a strength-centric blood hunter, this multiclass is baller. No joke. Consider: while raging, you halve all normal weapon damage (you don’t halve crimson rite damage unless you take the correct totem in the barbarian Totem Warrior subclass at third level, but that could be arranged). Furthermore, your Crimson Rite damage to yourself can be used to sustain your rage if you’re at risk of dropping it. Reckless attacks at second level increase your potential for a critical hit, which would also double damage from your Crimson Rite, and your rage will have no effect on Blood Maledict curses. Since you probably have a high CON to compensate for the damage you deal to yourself, this is also great for your Unarmored Defense barbarian feature. An excellent option for a strength-oriented blood hunter! (note: if you’re raging and transformed per Order of the Lycan, you fail your bloodlust save automatically--yikes!)

Blood Hunter + Bard

Unfortunately, a low-level bard’s best perks are the bonus-action Bardic Inspirations, which take away from your potential offhand attack, Blood Maledicts, and Crimson Rite activation. On the plus side, you can gain Jack-of-All-Trades, Song of Rest, and use the light spellcasting from bard to cast a buff or debuff. It’s not going to hamper you too much, but it’s not outstanding, either. Definitely can be made to work well, especially if you are Order of the Profane Soul and want a couple new cantrips and spell slots to enhance your casting.

Blood Hunter + Cleric

This is what bard could be if it weren’t playin’, as the kids say. Cleric relies on Wisdom, which works for your existing blood hunter abilities, and you’ll get three cantrips instead of 2 (as well as the standard 2 spell slots). Use a cleric’s buff or debuff casting while you focus on melee attacks, and you’re golden--take War domain if you want to focus on volume of hits, or take Tempest to maximize Rite of the Storm (and potentially Rite of the Roar) damage with your channel divinity and add a damaging reaction. 

Blood Hunter + Druid

At first level, druid can’t offer you much, which is a shame since the wisdom ability works in your favor. But if you really want this and you go after the wild shape at second level, be prepared: whether or not you can apply Crimson Rite to your beast shape “weapons” (claws and bite attacks) is totally up to your DM, and you shouldn’t do this multiclass without consulting them first. If you get permission, this could be outstanding; if not, the druid isn’t really worth it.

Blood Hunter + Fighter

With the fighter multiclass, you stand to gain an extra fighting style and, more importantly, your Second Wind, which can be make-or-break for a blood hunter’s self-damaging oeuvre. At second level, your Action Surge can give you extra chances to hit your opponents, as well. It’s actually quite well-suited to you, if not the powerhouse that the barbarian can be under the right conditions.

Blood Hunter + Monk

Now this... this is beautiful. Your dex and wisdom are perfect for the monk skillset, and you can apply monk damage bonuses to weapons that are anointed with your Crimson Rite. You’ll also gain Unarmored Defense, which makes your AC 10+Dexterity mod+Wisdom mod. At second level you get Unarmored Movement and of course, the coveted Ki points. All this is excellent, but here’s the juiciest bit: if you’re a Lycanthrope blood hunter, your unarmed strikes also count as weapons for crimson rite while you’re transformed, further enhancing your attacks using Flurry of Blows, as well as increasing your AC and reducing damage.

Blood Hunter + Paladin

In contrast to the monk, this one is not as well-suited. Your Lay on Hands will force you to decide between taking 3 total attacks on a turn (two for your action and offhand for bonus action) and doing marginal healing. Divine Smite is great, as are the other spellcasting smites, but we must recall the paladin prereqs are Strength and Charisma, so you have just one of two of the needs met (assuming you’re using strength for blood hunter stuff). Smites are really the only perk to this multiclass at low levels.

Blood Hunter + Ranger

This is another option that perfectly blends with the blood hunter skillset. If you’re looking to go for something less combat-y and diversify your non-combat abilities, this is a great option! The fighting style and spellcasting at second level can keep you in the game for combat purposes, applying spells like Hunter’s Mark to increase damage, and you’ll gain a new skill proficiency, bonuses against your favored enemy, and bonuses on favored terrain. 

Blood Hunter + Rogue

A dextrous blood hunter can have a very fun time as a rogue! You’ll gain a skill proficiency, proficiency with thieves’ tools, and expertise as far as skills go, a new language in the form of thieves’ cant, and the ever-coveted Sneak Attack--you’ll only get 1d6 to start, but extra damage is excellent (given that you must have advantage to get sneak attack and thereby double your odds of a critical hit). If you go to second level, your Cunning Actions might help your hitpoint-insecure blood hunter from taking too many hits.

Blood Hunter + Sorcerer and Wizard

I’m lumping these two together because honestly, the answer’s roughly the same. It’s nice to get spells, sure, but neither of these casters have something special to offer the blood hunter. They’re so casting-focused, you’ll struggle to integrate them with your melee attacker. They don’t share your ability score prowesses, either; altogether, the sorcerer can offer you more than the wizard (but if your intelligence is higher, take wizard).

Blood Hunter + Warlock

So first off, the warlock can be a great addition because your casting is so limited. In your case, it’s an asset: you don’t need to waste time on spell slots. either up your AC or take up a concentration spell with Hex or Witch Bolt to deal damage in a passive way as you attack, and potentially employ cantrips to enhance your attacks or attack at range in a pinch. At second level, your eldritch invocations can make you even more badass, but we won’t get into those because there’s so much flexibility.

Now, if you’re Order of the Profane Soul, the rules here are a little different. From the page: “If multiclassing Order of the Profane Soul with Warlock levels, add a third of your blood hunter levels (rounded down) to your Warlock level and consult the Warlock progression table for total Spell Slots, and Spell Slot Level. To decide your spell casting ability for your warlock spells, choose that of the class with the higher level (choose between the two if levels are equal).”

That is to say, if you’re a 9th-level blood hunter and a first-level warlock, you’re considered a 4th-level warlock for the purposes of your total spell slots and spell level. So you’ll still have 2 second-level slots for the first level, but when you level up, blood hunter 9/warlock 2, you’ll count as a 5th level warlock, and immediately increase your spell slots to 3rd level--and because you have more levels in blood hunter, you can use your Wisdom to cast them.

And that’s everything! The old version of the blood hunter is tried-and-true, and if you want to hang on to it and even consider multiclassing from it, here are precisely the tools you need to do so!

If you enjoy our work here, please consider supporting us on our Ko-Fi page! 

[tanadrin]

Notes toward an MMOCKSPP(SO)RPG

i.e., “a moderately multiplayer offline crusader-kings style pen and paper (sort of) roleplaying game”

Provisional Title: Terra Vetus, bc Latin makes things Cool and Medieval Sounding (better suggestions welcome)

Design goal: Something that can be run either in an in-person multiplayer session, or (more realistically) online via a subreddit or Discord server; that satisfies the itch for diplomacy and strategy and cooperation; while encouraging roleplaying; and that supports a large number of players--say, well north of a dozen. A secondary design goal is to make most elements of the game publicly tracked and recorded; because I expect a large number of players, the potential for disputed outcomes the GM(s) must resolve, and a degree of complicated gameplay, it’s important that GMs and other players can go back and check if something feels off, whether due to malice or simple player error. However, if an error is discovered, especially if it’s a minor error more than a couple of turns in the past, it’s not necessarily important to ensure it’s corrected even if that would greatly disrupt the flow of play. More major errors, and things like intentional cheating, should be corrected or punished at GM discretion.

The major gameplay elements are character building and roleplaying; empire management; warfare (mostly strategic, some tactical); personal combat; laws and religion; and, of course, diplomacy.

The following notes do not constitute a complete ruleset. All numbers are extremely tentative, where given. Suggestions, comments, criticism, and other forms of constructive feedback welcome.

1. Game world

The game world is the physical representation of all the lands players control, the locations of their armies and important characters, and of big political organizations like realms and organized religions. There is not a single fixed map: rather, I envision that either the organizers of a game (”GM(s)”) or the players as a whole will discuss and decide on what kind of map they want. It could be a hex grid map, or a map divided into PDS-style “provinces.” These rules should work equally well with either.

[a simple hex map via http://hextml.playest.net/blank.html]

[the eastern Mediterranean in EU4]

At the start of the game, after players have created their characters and decided on how many holdings (i.e., provinces or hexes) they’ll start with, they should take turns selecting their starting holdings on the map. GMs can and should encourage players to start close to one another, to encourage interaction and to leave any blank spaces at the edge of the map for later-joining players, if that’s a thing you want to happen. More on character creation in a bit.

After starting positions are worked out, there is a “free” round of diplomacy, where players work out what the starting configuration of realms will be. During this round, players who want to cooperate as one kingdom or empire can swear fealty to a common overlord; vote on what they want their realm laws to be (more on Laws later); choose their realm’s official religion (more on Religions later), and so forth. When this round is done, the game is ready to start.

2. Basic gameplay

Each round of play represents 1 month of in-game time. Three months are one season; four seasons are one year. The seasons, in order, are spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Whether in-person or online, I recommend simply ending a round at a fixed time; say, one day of real life is equal to one round; or twenty minutes, or whatever length of time is convenient for players and for the setup you’ve chosen.

At the beginning of a turn, if it’s the first turn of a new year, every player gets their annual income from rents and taxes on land they own directly. They can then take basic actions.

There are two kinds of actions: military actions (troop movement and the like) and diplomatic actions (deals and discussions between players). Diplomatic actions can take place at any time. Any deals or negotiations between players resolve as soon as players want them to: instantly, or at the end of the turn, or at some agreed-on date in the future. The exception is any deal involving the transfer of land.

Military actions resolve at the end of the turn (only after military actions have resolved do land transfers take effect). Military actions involve ordering armies to move around. They also involve player movement (every player has a position on the map). Armies can move 3 provinces/hexes a turn; 2 if they cross a major river or enter or move through hills; 1 if they enter or move through mountains. If 2 hostile armies are in the same province/hex at the end of the turn, then under normal circumstances a battle will be fought between them.

Only when all movement is resolved, all battles are over, and all other recordkeeping actions for the turn are over, does the next turn begin.

3. Holdings

Holdings are lands you administer, not through any vassal, but as direct owner. Your peasants and serfs work the land; you tax the surplus they generate, and use it to fund your various activities. You can give land to vassals, improve it to improve your economic situation, or conquer it from other players.

Each holding is one map hex or province. Holdings have 3 main statistics: size, population, and efficiency. Size is the maximum productivity of the holding, an abstract measure of land under cultivation and other useful economic activities like cottage industry and resource gathering. Population is the measurement of the available workforce of peasants/serfs/commoners. Efficiency is a measure of any bonus or malus to production from any source (default 100%).

In addition to the actual population, each holding has an ideal population. The ideal population is the size*100. If the size of the population is less than the ideal population, the holding can’t produce its full amount of income. Holding population increases by 2% per year (applied in spring, after rents are paid), up to a maximum of twice the ideal population. Ideal population can also be temporarily increased by “labor costs,” which denote labor being diverted to things like holding improvements. These are represented by a temporary increase in the holding’s ideal population, usually for a set number of years. Labor costs can’t increase a holding’s maximum population.

Holdings can be improved by investing money and/or labor (usually labor, sometimes both). Improvements can increase the efficiency of holdings, their rate of population growth, the quality and number of levies you can raise from holdings in times of war, and so forth. A full list of holding improvements should be made in an appendix.

As the source of the mostly-untrained fighting men in your armies, you can raise the population of a holding as a levy. Levy units require 100 population each. You can’t raise more levies than a holding has Size (a pop 600 size 4 holding can only raise 4 levies normally, despite the surplus population). Raising any levies during autumn or winter will cause a -10% penalty to your holding’s income efficiency for that year. You also have to pay upkeep for levies. If you can’t pay the upkeep, your levies disband. The amount of money it costs to keep a levy raised for a month should be around 20% of the base income of a holding, to encourage careful planning of military campaigns. Right now I assume that you earn about 100 livres a year from a size 1 population 100 holding.

The formula for holding income is:

Size of holding * ( Population of holding / ideal population ) * Efficiency

with the middle term being capped at 100%.

If a military unit is destroyed (not merely defeated, but eradicated in battle), the holding it was raised from loses 100 population.

As a rule of thumb, military holding improvements should be quite expensive; even modest holding improvements probably aren’t a positive sum investment until a few years after they’re built.

4. Knights

Knights are a kind of NPC resource. They represent petty feudal subjects, who form the core of highly-trained elite fighting forces, both cavalry and men at arms.

Knights are created in holdings you control. To create a knight, you grant them land; this has the effect of reducing holding size by 1 (and therefore ideal population by 100), so you can’t do it in a holding of size 1. Knights provide less income--10% of the ordinary amount, so 10 livres a year--but in return they allow you to raise 1 unit of elite soldiers. By default, this is a unit of men-at-arms. You can improve knights’ estates, to change the kind or improve the quality of these units, and maybe mitigate some of the loss of income further.

Knights have their own persistent identities and traits. When you create a knight, you’ll roll up one or two personality traits. You can name your knights. They earn XP: every battle they’re on the winning side of nets them 1 XP, and you can use this to buy military traits for them (up to 3 traits). If a Knight’s unit is destroyed, instead of losing population, the Knight in question is captured by the enemy. You can’t raise the unit again until you ransom the Knight.

If a knight is killed, the land either reverts to you; or you can install a successor of the same line, with new personality traits and no XP. Lists of possible traits for Knights (and other minor NPCs) to come.

5. Battles

Combat is designed to be fairly simple, although still interesting on a tactical level; right now terrain is not a major factor, but I’m open to including that later. Combat is also designed to minimize random elements, to make strategic choices more important, and to minimize the possibility of disputes about how it should be resolved (which I think is important, given I envision lots of players, and GMs being kept busy).

Every unit--knight or levy--has three statistics: its strength, its morale, and a bonus Skirmish value. Strength is ordinary combat effectiveness in a pitched battle. Morale is a defensive value: how long the unit can remain in combat while suffering casualties. Skirmish normally functions as a flat bonus to Strength; but if the unit is ranged (like Archers), it can use its Skirmish value to attack without the possibility of retaliation, if defended by another unit.

Units are grouped into armies for movement on the map. Armies are organized into lines, which are divided into rows. The first row is units in the front line; the second and following rows are units held in reserve. When an army isn’t in combat, you can rearrange it freely. When an army enters combat, its arrangement is normally fixed.

In battle, the armies are centered on each other; each unit can ordinarily attack only the unit directly across from it (unless they’re Maneuverable). Units have three abilities: Harass, Engage, Retreat. A front row unit with a greater Skirmish value than the unit it’s attacking can Harass that unit. This deals damage equal to half the Skirmish value rounded down (so a difference of 1 Skirmish is useless), to the morale of the enemy unit, without the possibility of retaliation. Engage means two units enter combat at close quarters. They deal their full Strength value in damage to the enemy unit’s morale. If at any time a unit’s Morale hits zero, it enters Retreat. A unit that’s Retreating, if it has any unit behind it in the line, moves to the back of the line; all other units in the line move up 1 row. When a unit has been retreating for 2 turns, it’s removed from the battle. If a unit is dealt full Morale damage again while retreating, it is Destroyed. It is removed from the game; if it’s a Knight unit, that Knight is captured. If it’s a Levy, the Holding from which it was raised loses 100 population.

Battles have three repeating phases: harass, engage, regroup. All units that can, harass; all units that can engage, engage; then you put units into retreat that have lost their morale, remove destroyed units, and begin the next harass phase. Units will always attack the facing unit, unless there is no facing unit and they can attack units to one side. If they can attack units to one side, they will attack the inner unit first, and then the outer unit if there is no inner unit. Ranged units on the second row attack using their Skirmish value, and take no damage in return. Ranged units further back can’t attack.

The exception to the deterministic nature of battle is if an army is commanded by a Player Commander. Player Commanders are physically present on the battlefield. They are represented by a special unit Players can always raise, their Personal Guard. Various player traits can affect the combat effectiveness of their Personal Guard, or even entire armies. Player commanders can 1) choose to alter the attack priorities of maneuverable units, and during the regroup phase 2) move units side-to-side along the same row, if space is available, 3) switch the order of two adjacent units in a column (a unit can only be moved in this way once per turn), or 4) order a unit or units to enter Retreat prematurely (this still makes them vulnerable to being Destroyed). Otherwise, as stated, the way an army is arranged can only be changed out of battle.

Units can have special abilities, like Ranged or Maneuverable; Knights who have earned military traits will increase the effectiveness of the units they command. All relevant traits should be provided in an appendix.

6. Laws

Players can group together into Realms. Realms usually have 1) a monarch, and 2) a number of Laws. Laws, created by the valid legislature of the realm (the monarch, the privy council, the Estates, or some other body), govern how the realm is organized. They create obligations for vassals in the realm. Vassals can violate those obligations, and the game doesn’t automatically enforce adherence to the Laws, but this is where roleplay comes in. Loyal vassals and the monarch might band together to punish disloyal vassals. Monarchs might demand a vassal be imprisoned for their crimes. Even executed, to force a succession.

Realms can contain other realms. If you have, say, four players organized into a Duchy, with one player Duke and three player Counts, that constitutes one Realm with its own laws. The duchy might be part of a Kingdom, with several other Dukes and Counts, and a ruling King overseeing them. The Kingdom will have its own laws. Vassals of the Duchy by default have the right of appeal to the Duke’s superior; and the Kingdom’s laws supersede the Duchy’s if there’s any explicit conflict between them.

Laws control how titles pass from one officeholder to the next; how taxes are allocated; what obligations in times of war might be; who the valid legislating body for the kingdom is; and so forth. This is essentially a nomic minigame, but many suggested laws will be provided in an appendix. A default setup for a standard feudal kingdom might look like this:

Elective succession: the next king is chosen by the immediate vassals of the king when the old king dies.

Privy council: the kingdom has a Privy Council, consisting of powerful vassals. The King can make laws, but the Privy Council can veto them by a majority vote.

Taxation: All nobles pay a tax of 10% of their income to the kingdom’s coffers.

War: Feuds between nobles are disallowed; immediate vassals of the king can’t go to war with each other (they can still declare war on outside powers).

Laws can also carve out explicit privileges for certain nobles or certain officeholders or certain holdings.

At the start of the game, when organizing player Realms, the default legislature is the Estates, a general gathering of all the nobles of the realm where simple majority rule prevails.

Minor nobles, even independent ones, controlling 2 holdings or less, start with a default set of laws, under which they cannot change succession and most other laws without the approval of a superior lord, or their religious head (if one exists). If they have no superior lord, they’ll be stuck with the default laws for the forseeable future.

7. Religion

Religious principles are a little like Laws, but in addition to organizing your religion, they also cover dogmas (general metaphysical beliefs that usually have little impact beyond roleplaying) and ethics (guidelines of behavior that should have big importance for roleplaying). Purely organizational laws are called Canons.

The available religions and their features can be created in advance by the GMs; or players can invent their own during setup. Religions will have a head (who may or may not be a major landholder in their own right), and may have internal organization like autocephalous churches, ecclesiastical provinces, bishoprics, and so forth. Much of this will be down to how you organize your religions. Some player traits and qualities interact with religion. If, for instance, you’re playing an avowed heretic, other players can and should treat you differently, especially if they are playing very pious characters. Some religious traits can have impacts on how your armies fight; can grant bonuses to your holding income; and can grant you other personal bonuses. Religious principles with a gameplay effect should cost points, and be chosen at game start via a point-buy system.

8. Player Character

Last but not least! Your in-game agent, for which you should develop a name, a background, a political and social position, and for which you should choose a number of positive and negative traits. At character creation you can also invest in additional holdings for more points, or higher starting wealth.

All players have a rank. Your starting rank will be determined in part by how players choose to organize their realm--you might get lucky and be elected King at the start of the game, for instance. Rank is a fairly abstract quality, though: as in history, a nominal Emperor might not control that much land; a Duke might rule the territory of a King. A general rule of thumb here is that Duke or better titles generally have to be legitimized by a nearby superior, like a King or Emperor, or by a religious head. You might be claimant to a title you don’t possess; the legitimacy of that claim will be determined by other players, not by specific mechanics. Coming up with flavorful in-character variations on noble titles within a realm might be a good way to add color to the game world: as in the real world, a French Comte was equivalent to an English Earl or a German Graf.

Players can purchase equipment to improve their personal combat effectiveness. One-on-one player combat (duels) is governed by the system outlined here. Certain traits may improve or reduce how good you are at dueling. It may also be desirable to let players improve their Personal Guard through equipment they can purchase directly.

Players can earn different kinds of XP. Winning battles gives you martial XP you can spend on making yourself a more effective commander. Fulfilling religious goals (determined by your religion’s Ethics) gives you a religious XP you can spend on related traits--or which you can use to found new heresies. (Religious heads can use them instead to reform religious doctrines, if the religion allows for that sort of thing.) Administrative XP is earned by completing administrative tasks in your holdings that increase income efficiency and population growth, and reduce the cost of improvements. Even if you are (say) a landless character who starts pretty poor, it should be possible to make yourself useful to other players as an experienced commander, administrator, or advisor.

Of course, you will eventually die. You will lose all your traits, you may lose some titles depending on the Laws governing them, and you may lose holdings associated with those titles. But your wealth, independently held holdings, and your remaining titles will go to your heir. Your heir can be another player, but usually it will be someone in your family: your family being a collection of NPCs that act as a kind of resource, like Knights, but for the domestic political side of things.

You can marry an NPC--either a specific NPC in your realm, or a randomly generated NPC. Every month you’re married, you have a chance to have a child. You can change succession laws like any other law; but by default, your oldest child is your heir. The chance of children goes down based on how many children you already have, your age, how many spouses you have (if your religion allows some form of polygamy), and based on traits. Mothers can’t bear more than 1 child in the same 12-month period.

9. Wanted rules

Naval combat

Sieges

Marrying or hiring other players’ NPCs

Making Knights of family members

Other minor NPCs (monks and priests? advisors?)

Treaties to conclude wars

Ways of declaring war (possibly unlimited?)

Detailed army movement; how they’re affected by forts

Plots and murder

Rules for landless player characters

Rules for dynastic extinction

Rules for non-dynastic succession (optional, use only if you are really sure you want a player to, for instance, always play as a religious head or the leader of a republic)

Special resources and commerce (n.b., all money in this game is a unit of account representing the value of revenues paid in kind; not sure whether this should even be added, though it should add an element of map control that could be fun)

Castellans: knightlike NPCs or PCs, who pay 90% (instead of 10) (player castellans pocket difference as salary) and whose traits can be used to boost holding income or levy quality or w/e

Privy council offices you can stick minor NPCs or PCs in that can give you realm-wide bonuses, & can give those characters XP increases they can spend on traits.

Challenging people to duels

Extramarital affairs & illegitimate children

Blood feuds, court cases (outlawry??)

10. Wanted lists

Purchasable items

Special items (e.g., religious relics); ways of distributing them

Holding improvements

Peasant levy types

Elite unit types

Knightly estate improvements

Personal guard improvements

Laws

Religious principles

Player character traits

NPC traits (for knights, spouses, children)

Terrain modifiers (optional)

Naval levies (require directly owned harbors; you can hire other players’ ships)

Special resources (if included)

Poisons

Combat stances and ability cards (for duels)

[mentalmars]

How to Prepare for the Guardian Takedown - Borderlands 3

Takedown at the Guardian Breach A new takedown is coming to Borderlands 3 and it’s focused on the Eridian Guardians. In the Takedown at the Guardian Breach, you will face off against tough enemies as Gearbox Software wants to challenge you with this end game content. Besides having to fight your way through this gauntlet there will be some platforming and puzzling. In this Guardian Takedown Guide, I’m going to tell you how you can prepare for this challenge. Takedown at the Guardian Breach will be released on June 4, 2020, as a free content update. Table of Content Weapon Guide – What type of weapons to use Weapons to Farm Anoints Enemies Weapons Guide Takedown at the Guardian Breach is end game content that is designed to challenge you. Therefore, you want to equip the best gear and have a good character build. There are weapons that currently define the meta of Borderlands 3. It’s a good idea to farm for these, however, as the developers mentioned. They are going to fine-tune Mayhem Mode 2.0 and adjust some of the legendary items in the game. Therefore, I think it’s a good idea to not just rely on that one overpowered weapon. The health bar of a Guardian consists typically of a large shield. Therefore, they are weak against the shock element. Shock deals 200% damage in normal mode and 250% damage in TVHM against shields. It causes targets to be electrocuted which will deal very high damage over a 3-second duration. This way you can strip through those shields. I already compiled a list with the best shock weapons in preparation for the Guardian Takedown. That said, Guardians can spawn with armor that’s why it’s a good idea to also have good corrosive weapons in your inventory. Don’t use your shock weapons against these yellow Armor health bars as your damage will be reduced to 80% in normal mode and 65% in TVHM. Corrosive weapons deal 150% (Normal) and 175% (TVHM) damage against armor. You can also use Cryo against Armor but it will do 25% less damage then Corrosive. Want to learn more about elemental damage then check out this elemental damage guide. Weapons to Farm You are going to need guns, LOTS OF GUNS! (But not too much or else you cannot pick up the new items that come with the Guardian Takedown) Revenge of the Cartels Legendaries The Revenge of the Cartels is a limited time even and has a lot of exclusive legendary items. Therefore, you need to hurry if you want to pick up these items. Because when the Guardian Takedown is released the Seasonal event will end. YellowCake The YellowCake defines the current meta when it comes to best weapons in Borderlands 3. O.P.Q. System The O.P.Q. System is a very powerful Atlas Assault Rilfe. Because it can also deal shock damage this will be useful for the Takedown.  Fish Slap The Fish Slap is a unique legendary grenade made by Pangolin. It’s great because it deals melee damage. While melee currently doesn’t scale well with the Mayhem Levels, Gearbox is going to fix that. Therefore, this grenade will be more powerful but the interesting thing is that you can combine this grenade with other abilities. There are artifacts that give you bonuses, like ammo regen, when dealing melee damage. Mayhem 6 Legendaries With the arrival of Mayhem 2.0, Gearbox Software added Mayhem 6 legendary items. You can only get these when playing on Mayhem Level 6 or higher. Playing on the higher difficulty tiers can be challenging but with these weapons in your arsenal, things will become easier. Sand Hawk The Sand Hawk is a powerful sniper rifle that acts like an SMG. It’s one of the best sniper rifles in the game and because you can get in various elements, like shock & corrosive, this will wreck those Guardians. Monarch The Monarch is a Shotgun Assault Rifle. Just like the Dictator it comes with a bi-pod mode that gives you even more firepower. The Monarch also comes in Shock and Corrosive. BackBurner The BackBurner is a great rocket launcher that’s great for mobbing and the good thing is that it even comes with the shock element. Plaguebearer The Plaguebearer is an awesome rocket launcher like the Scourge. This one would be good for bossing. Kaoson The Kaoson a dahl SMG that shoots stickies like a Torgue weapon. Therefore, dealing great damage and the best thing is it can come in multiple elements. Reflux The Reflux is basically a corrosive Brainstormer as it creates a corrosive beam between enemies when you shoot them. The base damage is a lot higher although corrosive isn’t as effective against shields. Other Legendaries While the weapons mentioned above will outperform most of the items on this list. These are still pretty good and worth considering. While some of them lack the punch on the higher Mayhem Levels, Gearbox Software is going to adjust the higher mayhem levels to make enemies less of a bullet sponge. The Lob The Lob became very effective with the buff it received. Hellshock The Hellshock has the ability to put out a lot of shock damage at a very fast fire rate. Cutsman The Cutsman was the OP weapon before the Lob got buffed. That said the Cutsman is still able to put out good damage. Sickle In this case you want a Boom Sickle with the shock element. The Boom prefix is the best variant of this legendary Vladof Assault Rifle. Just like The Monarch it acts like a Shotgun. You want to use the Sickle over the Monarch if Mayhem 6 is to difficult. Brainstormer The Brainstormer is my top pick for best shock weapon for mobbing. During the Takedown you will be encountering a lot of enemies. The Brainstormer will be good for stripping multiple shields at the same time. Electric Banjo The Electric Banjo is the only artifact in this list. But it basically gives you the power of the brainstormer on every weapon. HEX The Hex is still one of the best legendary grenade mods in the game. Since it is a homing grenade and it comes with the shock element it’s an ideal item for taking on shield focussed enemies. If you want a good alternative, then check out the Storm Front. Honorable Mentions These legendary weapons are great for mobbing overall. The Conference Call, the Hyperfocus, and the Kill-o’-the-Wisp (stripping shields). Anoints Having quality anoints on your gear really helps out in the end game content. Some of the new anoints can really help you out. Go for anoints that compliment your build or specific Vault Hunter. Farming for Gear on the higher Mayhem Levels increases your chance of getting anointed gear. At Mayhem Level 10 you have a 100% chance of gear being anointed. “Gain 300% increased Weapon Damage against enemies above 90% Health.” This is a popular one and it really helps with enemies that have multiple life bars as you will be dealing 300% damage first (two) life bar(s). “While under 50% health, deal 150% bonus radiation damage.” You can run this anoint, as this doesn’t suffer against shields. In TVHM, Radiation actually deals 150% damage against shields. “On action skill start/active” These anoints sound great but they lose their buff when switching weapons, so I can’t recommend those for now. With Zane you already need to keep your SNTNL Cryo anoint as it is multiplicative instead of additive. “While mid-air” These can be interesting because the Guardian Takedown has low gravity, you can get more mileage out of these. “On Action Skill End, The next 2 magazines will have a 50% additional bonus Shock damage.” Being able to deal more damage is always great. This anoint is really good for Moze running an infinite ammo build as the buff stays active. “On Grenade Thrown, Weapon, Grenade, and Action Skill Damage are increased by 25% for 6 seconds.” This is an easy to trigger anoint that increases your damage. I love this on my Zane as my SNTNL and Clone “constantly” throw grenades to trigger the effect. “Consecutive Hits increase Weapon Damage by 1% per hit, misses remove all bonuses.” We are dealing with end game content here. You will be shooting non-stop during a Takedown therefore you can really stack up this consecutive hit bonus. Enemies Throughout the Takedown at the Guardian Breach, you will be encountering a lot of Eridian Guardians (duh). They are pretty fast-moving enemies. While they don’t shoot bullets they can have ranged attacks. When they die they can release a soul that can possess an ally which makes them stronger. Therefore, you want to shoot the soul before it upgrades the enemy. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the Guardian Minibosses are more common during this Takedown. In the gameplay presentation, we have already spotted new Guardian types. One of them creates this massive area-of-attack energy field. While you can also spot multiple fire pillars that are summoned from the ground. I don’t think we will be seeing Elder types of the guardian enemies as these are just slower versions of the enemy. Gearbox added these in boss fights to gain a second win. Spectre Melee Focused. Possessed Spectres gains armor, the ability to recharge their shields at will, and a new move set. Wraith Ranged but will Melee at close range. Possessed Wraiths gains armor, the ability to recharge their shields at will, and a new move set. Sera Aerial ranged enemy Possessed Sera gains armor, the ability to recharge their shields at will, and a new move set. Herald Ranged units, similar to Wraiths. The Berserker Unique Guardian miniboss Close and Medium range The Berserker has an armor health bar as well as the normal guardian shield health The Berserker cannot be possessed by souls. The Summoner Unique Guardian miniboss Will summon souls to buff other Guardians. Gameplay Analysis During episode 7 of the Borderlands show, we got our first glimpse of Takedown at the Guardian Breach. We saw a lot of Eridian enemies one of the bigger ones created these large area-of-effect bubbles. For a brief moment the player walks into one of them. The Vault Hunter takes radiation damage from this attack. You could farm for the Red Suit. This legendary shield makes you immune to Radiation. The attack makes me wonder if the Guardian Takedown will feature more radiation attacks. The player in the presentation uses the Lead Sprinkler, a Hex Grenade, the Rowan’s Call, the Ogre, the Barrage, and the Hyperfocus. Usually, for presentations the developers set up a specific build. This makes me wonder if some of these items are getting buffed with the upcoming patch. Rowan’s Call With the Rowan’s Call, 2 bullets will ricochet when scoring a critical hit. Great for mobbing but this weapon isn’t S-tier Hyperfocus With the Hyperfocus, projectiles will shoot out on hitting a target. Great for mobbing. Lead Sprinkler With the Lead Sprinkler, projectiles will fall next to the target dealing splash damage. Great for mobbing but this isn’t’ a top tier end game weapon. HEX The HEX Grenade is a solid choice, however, in this play session it’s Cryo instead of Shock. Not ideal for Shields but it does perform on Armor. Ogre While I like the Ogre for what it is. The gun doesn’t really perform all that well. I’m curious why they picked this weapon. This screams incoming buff to me. The Barrage The Barrage is a solid Dahl SMG. But wouldn’t be my pick to bring into the Guardian Takedown at its current state.  

Continue reading on https://mentalmars.com/guides/borderlands-3-guardian-takedown-guide/

[coolclaytony]

Selfmade Mage (Charalatan Archetype; Pathfinder 1st Edition)

Finally, the final archetype for my homebrew class The Charlatan.

Many people try to pursue the path of the spellcaster, with varying success. But there are those who, while competent, seem to always be at a disadvantage when it comes to magic. Be it their background, their peers, or just due to flaws of their own character; these poor fools could never find themselves in a position to receive a proper education in their craft. Such mages are often very bitter at the world for stunting them so and go to dangerous lengths to attain their own greatness. Though Selfmade Mages are not the best spellcasters ever, they make up for their lack of skill with a breadth of versatility, having picked up a slew of arbitrary mystical training through their haphazard attempts to educate themselves in their field.

Spell Failure (Ex): Armor worn by the Selfmade Mage incurs twice the normal spell failure chance +5%.

Eclectic Magic (Sp): The Selfmade Mage has no dedicated field of expertise and can call on all manner of mystical powers.

The Selfmade Mage may cast any spell from his spell list that he has prepared ahead of time, but he may also learn and add spells to his spellbook in order to cast them spontaneously. When he prepares his spells for the day, he may designate any number of his spell slots for spontaneous casting. In order to cast a spell spontaneously, he must first spend a full-round action consulting his spellbook on the previous turn.

The Selfmade Mage's spell slots are as a magus of his level. He does not gain additional spell slots through ability scores.

The Selfmade Mage's spell list only includes 6th level or lower spells; but includes arcane spells drawn from the Sorcerer/Wizard list, divine spells drawn from the Cleric/ Oracle list, and psychic spells drawn from Psychic list. If a spell would appear on multiple lists at different levels, the Selfmade Mage can only cast that spell at the highest level listed. (Example: He may only cast tongues as a 4th level divine spell, as a cleric; but not as a 3rd level arcane or psychic spell. But he may cast Ant Haul as a 1st level arcane, divine, or psychic spell.) The Selfmade Mage's spell list functionally represents spells that he does not necessarily "know", but is potentially experimenting with in the hopes of one day mastering it. The Selfmade Mage has talents (Study Arcane Spell, Study Divine Spell, Study Psychic Spell) that allow him to expand this list.

In order to learn or prepare an arcane spell, the Selfmade Mage must have a charisma score equal to 12 + the spell's level. These spells have a save DC equal to 10 + the spell's level + the Selfmade Mage's charisma modifier.

In order to learn or prepare a divine spell, the Selfmade Mage must have a wisdom score equal to 12 + the spell's level. These spells have a save DC equal to 10 + the spell's level + the Selfmade Mage's wisdom modifier.

In order to learn or prepare a psychic spell, the Selfmade Mage must have an intelligence score equal to 12 + the spell's level. These spells have a save DC equal to 10 + the spell's level + the Selfmade Mage's intelligence modifier.

Tricks: Tricks are 0 level spells, which the Selfmade Mage can only cast spontaneously and do not occupy spell slots. He does not need to consult his spellbook to cast them.

Spellbook: The spellbook contains all of the spells that the Selfmade Mage knows and thus may cast them spontaneously, so long as he has an open spell slot and has spent a full-round action consulting his spellbook on the spell he wishes to cast. 1st level, the Selfmade Mage adds all 0-level spells to his spellbook as well as three 1st level spells. The Selfmade Mage does not learn additional spells at each level. He must either copy them into his spellbook from a scroll, another spellbook, or from a formulabook. He can also learn spells through talents provided by this archetype.

Mage's Deeds (Ex, Sp, Su): The Selfmade Mage can utilize his charlatan luck to help him achieve feats of magic he could not do on his own.

Magic Lore (Ex): At 1st level, the Selfmade Mage has a wide breadth of mystical knowledge and cunning. He gains a competence bonus to his Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, nature, planes, and religion), Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device checks equal to the number of points currently in his luck pool.

This replaces Smoothtalker.

Versatile Tricks (Sp): At 6th level, the Selfmade Mage has a talent for getting extra value out of his tricks. He may spend luck points as a free action to apply a metamagic feat he has to a trick as he's casting it. This feat does not alter the spell's level nor it's casting time. The number of luck points spent must be equal to the level increase that feat would've applied plus 1. He must have spent a full-round action consulting his spellbook in the previous round in order to use this deed.

This replaces Audacious Caper.

Magical Defense (Su): At 6th level, so long as the Selfmade Mage has at least 1 point in his luck pool, he has spell resistance equal to 10 + the number of points currently in his luck pool.

This replaces Scapegoat.

Magical Trap (Sp): The Selfmade Mage creates magical traps with Insidious Trap instead of extraordinary ones.

This alters Insidious Trap.

Pet Project (Su): At 12th level, when the Selfmade Mage prepares his spells for the day, he may expend 3 luck to prepare any one spell, drawn from any spell list, that can be up to three levels higher than he could otherwise cast (including 7th, 8th, and 9th level). This spell has a slot all of it's own of the appropriate level. So long as he has this spell prepared, he suffers a -3 penalty to his maximum luck pool.

This replaces Backstabbing.

Mage's Talents: The Selfmade Mage may take the following talents in addition to the usual charlatan talents. The Selfmade Mage must have at least 1 point in his luck pool in order to benefit from the supernatural talents of this archetype.

Arcane Discovery (Su): The Selfmade Mage gains a wizard's Arcane Discovery that he meets the prerequisites for. He treats half his charlatan level as his effective wizard level for the purposes of this talent.

Arcanist Exploit (Su): The Selfmade Mage takes an Arcanist Exploit he meets the prerequisites for. If he is 13th level or higher, he may take a greater exploit instead. Treat the Selfmade Mage's luck pool as an arcane reservoir for the purposes of this talent. His effective arcanist level is equal to half his charlatan level for the purposes of this talent. This talent may be taken multiple times, choosing a different Arcanist Exploit each time.

Blessed Mage (Su): The Selfmade Mage gains the use of the minor power of single warpriest's blessing. He must spend 1 luck point to activate the power, but can otherwise use it at will. He may use his spellbook as a divine focus.

Divine Domain (Su): The Selfmade Mage has learned to draw power from a divine source. He gains the 1st level ability of a single cleric's domain. He also adds the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th level bonus spells of that domain to his spell list. He may use his spellbook as a divine focus.

Eidolon (Su): The Selfmade Mage gains an eidolon as a 1st level summoner or unchained summoner. He may take this talent multiple times, increasing the effective summoner level by 1 each time. He does not gain additional eidolons this way.

Esoteric Education (Ex): This talent functions as the Eclectic Education charlatan talent, except it also allows the Selfmade Mage to select any prestige class which grants or augments spellcasting as favored classes.

Extra Spell Slot (Su): The Selfmade Mage gains 1 bonus spell slot of any spell level he can cast, chosen when he takes this talent. If he has no points in his luck pool, he cannot cast any spell prepared in this slot until he once again has at least 1 point. This talent may be taken multiple times.

Hex (Su): The Selfmade Mage gains a shaman or witch hex he meets the prerequisites for. His effective shaman or witch level is equal to half his charlatan level for the purposes of this talent. This talent may be taken multiple times, choosing a different hex each time.

Improved Phrenic Amplification (Su): The Selfmade Mage may spend an additional 1 luck to apply his phrenic amplifications to arcane and divine spells. He must have the Phrenic Amplification talent to take this talent.

Ki Magic (Su): The Selfmade Mage has learned how to channel Ki into his magics. He may spend ki points as luck points (but not the other way around) for the purposes of abilities granted by this archetype. The Selfmade Mage must have a ki pool to take this talent.

Learn Spell (Sp): The Selfmade Mage has figured out a spell well enough that he can cast it on the fly just from checking his notes. He adds a spell from his spell list to his spellbook. See "Eclectic Magic" to determine which spells he can learn. This talent may be taken multiple times, choosing a different spell each time.

Lucky Magic (Su): As a swift action, the Selfmade Mage may spend luck to regain an expanded spell slot of a level equal to the number of luck points spent. If this slot had a prepared spell occupying it, the spell is removed and the slot is opened for spontaneous casting.

Magus Arcana (Su): The Selfmade Mage takes an Magus Arcana he meets the prerequisites for. Treat the Selfmade Mage's luck pool as an arcane pool for the purposes of this talent. His effective magus level is equal to half his charlatan level for the purposes of this talent. This talent may be taken multiple times, choosing a different Magus Arcana each time.

Memorize Spell (Su): The Selfmade Mage has gotten so practiced with a spell, he has dedicated it too memory. Choose one spell from the Selfmade Mage's spellbook, he may cast that spell spontaneously without having to have refered to his spellbook the previous round. This talent may be taken multiple times, choosing a different spell each time.

Metamagic (Su): The Selfmade Mage gains a metamagic feat as a bonus feat. He does not need to meet the prerequisites. This talent may be taken multiple times, choosing a different metamagic feat each time.

Oracle Revelation (Su): The Selfmade Mage gains the benefits of an oracle revelation he meets the prerequisites for as if he had it's associated mystery. At 20th level, he may select a final revelation. His effective oracle level is equal to half his charlatan level for the purposes of this talent. This talent may be taken multiple times, choosing a different revelation each time.

Perfectly Prepared (Su): In addition to the usual benefits of the Brilliant Planner feat, the Selfmade Mage may obtain expensive material components for his prepared spells with the feat at half their normal cost. The Selfmade Mage must be at least 10th level to take this talent.

Perfect Spell (Sp): The Selfmade Mage chooses a spell that he has memorized with the Memorize Spell talent. He may cast that spell as a spell-like ability, useable a number of times per day equal to the appropriate ability modifier (Charisma for arcane spells, wisdom for divine spells, and intelligence for psychic spells.). This talent may be taken multiple times, choosing a different memorized spell each time.

Phrenic Amplification (Su): The Selfmade Mage may use one phrenic amplification, chosen when he takes this talent, as a psychic of half his charlatan level. He treats his luck pool as a phrenic pool for this purpose. Phrenic amplifications can only be applied to psychic spells. This talent may be taken multiple times, choosing a different amplification each time.

Study Arcane Spell (Sp): The Selfmade Mage has gained an understanding of an arcane spell outside his usual comprehension. He adds an arcane spell to his own list of spells from the Bard, Magus, Summoner, or Witch spell list. This spell must be of a level no higher than the highest he could cast when he takes this talent. The Selfmade Mage may take this talent multiple times, choosing a different spell each time.

Study Divine Spell (Sp): The Selfmade Mage has gained an understanding of an divine spell outside his usual comprehension. He adds a divine spell to his own list of spells from the Druid, Inquisitor, Paladin, Ranger, or Shaman spell list. This spell must be of a level no higher than the highest he could cast when he takes this talent. The Selfmade Mage may take this talent multiple times, choosing a different spell each time.

Study Psychic Spell (Sp): The Selfmade Mage has gained an understanding of a psychic spell outside his usual comprehension. He adds a psychic spell to his own list of spells from the Medium, Mesmerist, Occultist, or Spiritualist spell list. This spell must be of a level no higher than the highest he could cast when he takes this talent. The Selfmade Mage may take this talent multiple times, choosing a different spell each time.

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I’d would again like to thank my Co-Author @dailycharacteroption for all the help in making this all possible. This archetype was especially hard to pin down, hence why I held off on it for so long.

But hey, but now you can all play Gargamel in your next Pathfinder campaign!

[utilitycaster]

Probably wrong max damage calculation for the Mighty Nein

As discussed this is using the CritRoleStats rules of: every attack is a crit, every roll is max damage, you can use effects that were cast/activated previously but they have to be things that the character can do entirely on their own (ie, we can assume Fjord cast hex or Jester cast spiritual weapon on a previous round, but we can’t use holy weapon on Beau since she can’t cast it on herself).

Beau - assuming she does two attacks + flurry of blows and has the maelstrom gloves activated already, she does 1d8+6 damage per hit. If she crits each time that’s 2d8+6 damage per hit or 22 per hit for four hits, giving her a total of 88 damage.

Yasha - we assume she’s already in a rage and that she had the necrotic shroud out already (and that she still can do her necrotic shroud damage of 12 once per turn currently; her subrace change appears to be a gradual thing so I’m saying it still applies). The skingorger does 2d6+5 damage, she gets +3 rage damage, and if she uses a bonus action to empower the skingorger it will do an additional 1d8 acid damage per attack which I’m assuming also doubles with a crit. As a barbarian, she gets brutal critical as well (1d6 extra), and she gets two attacks. This means on a crit she’d do 54 damage per hit (24+5+3+16+6) for two hits with the 12 necrotic shroud damage on top for a total of 120.

The Clerics - The combo CR Stats has used for Pike and Jester in the past should work here too and Caduceus and Jester’s domain-specific stuff shouldn’t change this: use a previously cast spiritual weapon attack as a bonus action plus inflict wounds. If you do the spiritual weapon at L5 it will do 2d8+5 damage (37 on a crit) and inflict wounds at L6 will do 8d10 damage (160 on a crit) for a total of 197. [note: I checked and if you flip the spell slots used you get 53 spiritual weapon damage and 140 inflict wounds for 193 total].

Caleb - So here’s the thing about wizard spells - the attack spells are actually mostly pretty low level and at higher levels they tend towards area effects which are great because you often get guaranteed damage to multiple people, but they don’t do the same kind of single-target damage. Even single-target but save-based spells like disintegrate are powerful, but you don’t get crit benefits so it maxes out at 100 damage at L7 and we can do better. I actually think scorching ray, which was what was used to calculate Caleb’s max damage at level 3, is still our best bet. A 6th level scorching ray has 7 rays at 2d6 each, or 14d6, doubled if each ray crits, for a total of 168.

Veth - There was not a die given for the Tinkertop Bolt Blaster. If you know, let me know. As is, I’m treating it as a +1 hand crossbow (1d6+6). I am also using @luckthebard‘s guess for Brenatto’s Voltaic Bolt, assuming it is a bonus action first level spell that does 3d6 +1d6/SL lightning damage, and finally, I assume that if you roll a crit on the bonus automatic bolt that you get on a crit, it does not stack (ie, you do crit damage, but you don’t get another automatic bolt). With that: 6d6 sneak attack + 1d6+6 damage+4d6 from Brenatto’s Voltaic Bolt at level two for the first attack, 1d6+6 damage on the second attack, with crits, gives us 72 sneak attack + 18 crossbow + 48 Brenatto’s Voltaic Bolt + 18 more crossbow = 156, but I made several assumptions. 72 sneak attack is definitely correct, and the crossbow is a magic weapon so 1d6+6 seems like it would be the absolute minimum, but as mentioned we don’t know Voltaic Bolt.

Fjord - [note: edited thanks to a point made by @freckledmccree re: not being able to insert a bonus action between attacks since those are technically the same action and instead of using hex on the first attack as I initially proposed, he should instead use a second divine smite with his paladin spell slot on the second attack] even a low level paladin with high-level spell slots is a fucking menace: Has hexblade’s curse up on the target already (+4 from proficiency bonus to damage). Attacks with the Star Razor, two-handed (1d10+7). He also, as a half-orc, gets savage attacker on a crit so he’ll do an extra 1d10 (not doubled). He uses divine smite at L5 for 5d8, which paladins can just have happen when they hit. If the target is undead or a fiend, this goes up to 6d8. For his second attack (thirsting blade invocation) he does another divine smite at L1 (1d8 normally, 2d8 against fiends and undead) and does banishing smite as a bonus action for 5d10; the hexblade’s curse damage, Star Razor damage, and savage attacker damage all still apply. First attack does 4+27+10+80 (+16 more if it’s undead or fiend), second attack does 4+27+10+16+100 (+16 more if it’s undead or fiend), total is 278 against most targets, 310 against undead or fiends.

Worth noting for all: Level 13 is a milestone level - proficiency bonuses increase; sneak attack goes up for Veth; Jester, Caduceus, and Caleb get 7th levels, Yasha gets another brutal critical, and Fjord either gets a 6th level spell (although it has to be a warlock spell, and he has to use that slot for that one spell) and another 5th level slot, or he gets channel divinity, oath spells, and another first level spell slot. Beau gets cool abilities but nothing combat-relevant; also the benefit of monks is not that they do huge amounts of damage per attack but that they can do up to four full-blown attacks per turn starting from level 5, that they can stun people, and that they’re super fast and super hard to hit. Monks erode, paladins demolish.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #109: Emiya (Assassin)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re continuing our trek through Fate Zero with the assassin class Edgemiya, with the ability to alter his own time and everyone’s luck. Despite all his cool powers, he’s still pretty depressed. Oh well, it’s probably nothing a few more builds won’t fix.

Check out Emiya’s build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself. I am large- I contain multitudes.” -Walt Whitman

Race and Background

Emiya made a deal with the spirit of humanity to protect the human race, which is exactly why he’d make a great Hobgoblin... I’m kidding, he’s a Variant Human, for +1 Dexterity and Charisma, Arcana proficiency (or whatever else a rocket launcher would fall under idk), and the Crossbow Expert feat, allowing you to ignore loading crossbows, fire well with enemies in melee range, and dual wield hand crossbows. You can control the flow of time, you should be able to fire more than once a round.

You’ve fought in plenty of wars, but it’s hard to call a professional assassin anything but a Criminal. This gives you Deception and Stealth proficiencies.

Ability Scores

This is a pretty mono-ability build- make your Charisma as high as possible. You’re a pretty scary guy, and you shoot good. That’s charisma. Somehow. After that is Dexterity- you’re really stealthy, and really, really fast. Your Intelligence isn’t half bad. You can use plenty of fancy modern weapons, and you can hunt down mages to use them on. Constitution doesn’t have to be that high, you don’t need health if you just don’t get hit. Your Strength isn’t great, but it’s enough to get the job done. We’re dumping Wisdom, though-your entire characterization is about how much you regret making that deal with Alaya. You’re not bad at noticing things though, we’ll just have to patch that up with skills.

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: You have a particular set of skills, and rogues start off with the most, so let’s spend a little time here for now. First level rogues get proficiency with Dexterity and Intelligence saving throws, as well as four rogue skills- Acrobatics to enhance your mobility, Intimidation for that no-nonsense attitude of yours, and Perception and Investigation to hunt down and destroy your enemies.

You also get Expertise, doubling your proficiency bonus for Stealth and Intimidation. Presence Concealment A+ is some good stuff.

You can also add a Sneak Attack bonus to damage done by attacks with advantage or directed at creatures who are occupied with other creatures. Right now, it’s just 1d6. You also learn Thieves’ Cant. It’s a language.

2. Warlock 1: Alaya’s kind of a lot of things to a lot of people, but Hexblades work best for us so a Hexblade it shall be here. As a hex warlock, you learn how to place a Hexblade’s Curse on a creature. It lasts one minute, or until one of you two dies, and you can use it once per short rest. While cursed, you can add your proficiency to damage against the target, all attacks made crit on 19s as well as 20s, and you gain hp when the cursed creature dies.

You also become a Hex Warrior, giving you proficiency with medium armor and martial weapons. You can also use charisma as your attack modifier for one weapon per long rest, as long as it isn’t two-handed. Right now, that means you’re using hand crossbows.

One last benefit of being a warlock is Pact Magic, spells you can cast using Charisma. Grab Eldritch Blast for more shooting and True Strike for more careful shots, Expeditious Retreat for some extra speed, and Cause Fear to drain the luck of one poor sap for up to a minute, rendering them unable to move closer and giving them disadvantage on attacks while you’re in sight for the duration. Sure, making yourself luckier would technically be more directly in line with canon, but it’s a “six in one hand, half a dozen in another” sort of situation.

3. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations, extra ways to customize the Selling Your Soul Experience! You get two right now, but we’re saving one for The Obvious next level. Grab Thief of Five Fates for yet another way to ruin someone’s day. You can cast Bane once per long rest by using a warlock spell slot. This reduces all the saves and attack rolls of three creatures who failed their charisma saves by 1d4 for up to a minute. The DC on those saves, by the by, is 8 plus your proficiency bonus plus your charisma modifier. You can also cast Hex now, in case your enemies weren’t unlucky enough. This makes your attacks deal extra necrotic damage, they get disadvantage on ability checks with one ability, and you can move the effect to another creature if the first drops to 0 hp, which is nice considering it lasts an hour.

4. Warlock 3: Pact of the Blade time! This level lets you summon a magical pact weapon as an action. This weapon always has the benefits of being a Hex Warrior, and thanks to Improved Pact Weapon it can also be a ranged weapon. Specifically, it has to be a Light Crossbow now, because weapon requirements in D&D are obtuse and terrifying.

On a lighter note, you get second level spells now! You can speed up enough to create a Mirror Image of yourself, creating three copies of yourself on the same square you’re standing. If you’d take a hit, there’s a 75% chance a copy will get hit instead and get destroyed, leaving you with only two, and so on.

5. Warlock 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Charisma for better... everything, really.

You can also cast Minor Illusion to leave afterimages further away from yourself, and Blur, which gives creatures attacking you disadvantage.

6. Rogue 2: Back in your other class, you learn how to make Cunning Actions, speeding up your Dash, Disengage, and Hide actions so they can fit in a bonus action instead. 

7. Rogue 3: It’s no surprise that you’re an Assassin. I mean, it’s your class, but it’s also your subclass. As an Assassin, you can Assassinate enemies that are surprised and/or slower than you are. You have advantage on creatures who haven’t taken a turn yet, and hits against surprised creatures are instant criticals. Speaking of advantage, you can use your Steady Aim as a bonus action to give your next attack advantage, at the cost of losing al your movement for the turn. Despite this, you’ll have plenty of ways to move in a pinch if you really have to.

Also, your sneak attack goes up to 2d6.

8. Fighter 1: Yes, it’s another 3-class build. Don’t worry though, this one’s just a splash. As a fighter, you get a fighting style- Archery will make your shots even more accurate than they were before. You can also use your Second Wind as a bonus action for a bit of healing. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding time for a breather, after all.

9. Fighter 2: Second level fighters can use an Action Surge once per short rest to add an extra action to a turn. Save up for a burst of gunfire, or cast Mirror Image and Blur at the same time to become almost invincible have fun with it!

10. Warlock 5: Speaking of doubling up on things, at fifth level warlocks get another Invocation. Thirsting Blade lets you attack twice per action. You can also move fast enough to Blink out of existence. On the end of each turn for a minute, you have a 50% chance to enter the ethereal plane until the start of your next turn.

11. Rogue 4: Use your next ASI to grab the Piercer feat, for +1 Dexterity, the ability to re-roll one die of piercing damage per turn, and an extra critical hit die when you shoot somebody. If you don’t plan on wearing medium armor, this will also increase your AC.

12. Rogue 5: Fifth level rogues gain an Uncanny Dodge, spending your reaction to halve the damage of a single attack. I’d think you wouldn’t get hit by this point, but nat 20s happen to everyone eventually. Also, your sneak attack is 3d6 now.

13. Rogue 6: Use your second round of Expertise to double down on Perception and Investigation. You’re a professional, you’ve got to get results.

14. Rogue 7: Seventh level rogues get Evasion, making you fast enough to outrun fireballs. If an effect makes you roll a dexterity save to halve damage, a failure makes you take half damage now, and a success completely negates it. Your sneak attack reaches its final form at 4d6.

15. Warlock 6: Sixth level hexlocks can make an Accursed Specter once per long rest out of humanoids you kill. They stick around until your next long rest. This is very not in character for you, but free help is free help.

To help with all that killing, you can also cast Spirit Shroud, adding extra damage to short-range combat, preventing healing, and slowing down nearby enemies.

16. Warlock 7: You can now burn spell slots to power gunshots thanks to Eldritch Smite, which adds a lot of force damage to a weapon attack. To help maneuver around the battlefield, you can also cast Dimension Door for a quick burst of speed.

17. Warlock 8: Use your last ASI to maximize your Charisma for stronger spells and weapons. You can also cast Shadow of Moil for that dramatic shadowy look you get at higher ascensions. It also works as yet another reason people really shouldn’t hit you.

18. Warlock 9: Ninth level warlocks max out their spell slots at fifth level, allowing you to cast Far Step for a longer speed-up session. While the spell lasts (it’s concentration, up to a minute) you can use your bonus action to teleport 60′. You also get the invocation Trickster’s Escape, which lets you cast Freedom of Movement for free once per long rest. While active, your latent timewarping prevents you from being slowed down by magical effects or difficult terrain. (At least that’s what it looks like from the outside. They don’t need to know you secretly spent two turns getting through those hedges.)

19. Warlock 10: Our final gift from Alaya is the Armor of Hexes. If you’re going to get hit by a hexcursed creature’s attack, you can use your reaction for a 50/50 chance of ignoring the attack completely.

You can also cast the cantrip Friends this level. You’re scary, this’ll make you scarier for a bit.

20. Warlock 11: Having sixth level spells on short rests would be busted, so instead of growing your spell slots warlocks get a Mystic Arcanum. This lets you cast one sixth level spell once per long rest, like those plebeians with spellbooks. Your spell is the Circle of Death, letting you go full on Reaper on a pretty large area, dealing 8d6 necrotic damage to every creature that fails a constitution save in a 60′ radius sphere. It’s not dexterity, purely because there’s that many bullets flying around.

Pros:

You are very, very good at critical hits. With a doubled chance of critical damage and guaranteed crits on surprised creatures, you’ll be rolling a lot of dice pretty often. Especially since you can take advantage of critical hits easily thanks to your smites and sneak attacks.

While you can dish out damage easily, you’re also great at avoiding damage entirely, with plenty of spells that make you harder to hit, teleportation to get out of tricky spots, and multiple ways to dodge attacks even if they’re critical hits. Your mobility also makes it a lot harder to escape from you.

Maxed out charisma, the archery fighting style, and free advantage from Steady Aim means even after the fight starts you can still deal consistent damage over long periods of time. Your shots are going to land more often than not, and they land pretty hard.

Cons:

While you can deal damage over time, your kit is definitely geared more towards short bursts, because most of your skills are on a strict cooldown, with one or two uses per short rest. This is especially true of your spell slots. Warlocks eat up spells fast, especially if you’re using them for offense and defense.

Your low wisdom means you’re going to be fooled by illusions and charmed pretty easily. As a precaution, it might be best to use up your burst damage skills as soon as possible. You really don’t want to have to turn 9d8 + 4d6 + 12 damage on your party members.

Your HP isn’t that high, barely scraping above 100 at higher levels. While you have a lot of ways to make that last a lot longer than you’d think, there’s always the chance your DM’s getting sick of you surviving everything and will just throw someone with Power Word Kill your way.

[tigerkirby215]

5e Yone, the Unforgotten build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games)

A YouTube comment on “The Path“ cinematic:

I can’t top this. This comment is fucking gold.

GOALS

Asakana - Trust me as a Kayn main I’m salty that we have another half-demon anime boy who isn’t even Darkin. But we still need a mask of many demonic faces.

Three swift strikes... - “Brother, why did Elder Souma let you have two swords?” Regardless we’ll need two swords for many slashes.

Death is like the wind - Yone is dead except not really, but he’s still capable of some astral projection to fight his foes from a distance.

RACE

Yone may have been human but with a demon fusing to him that gives him just enough infernal blood to be a Tiefling! As a Tiefling your Charisma score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score increases by 1. Your Hellish Resistance grants you resistance to fire damage, and Infernal Legacy grants you a few innate spells which I’ll cover in the build.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re an anime sword boy who was second best only to your brother who is the most anime sword boy who ever did swing an anime sword.

14; CHARISMA - As the more level-headed brother you had to do most of the talking. Remember that Charisma is strength of personality; not raw attractiveness. (Though you certainly have that going for you too.)

13; INTELLIGENCE - A master swordsman needs to study the art of war, which is more theory and less art. (Feel free to set your CON higher instead if you want more health.)

12; WISDOM - Yasuo’s the hothead and you’re the calm one. Not calm enough not to try to kill your brother, and definitely not calm enough to not be a target for Asakana.

10; CONSTITUTION - You died before, and dying generally means you weren’t that sturdy to begin with.

8; STRENGTH - Being cut down by the legendary wind technique and then brought back from the dead doesn’t spell a good workout routine. Yeah Yone has big pecs but put simply we need everything else more.

BACKGROUND

You had a background before, but unfortunately dead men tell no tales. You are a Haunted One brought back to life to hunt the creatures of the night. You can choose two skills from the Haunted One list to be proficient in: Investigation will help you find any stray Asakana, and depending on if your definition of emotional demons are Religion or Arcana you can pick either of those for your second skill. (Arcana is probably going to be more useful though.)

As a Haunted One people can easily see into your Heart of Darkness, easily telling that you’ve faced unimaginable horrors in your past. No shit you have a demon mask permanently attached to your face. Regardless commoners will be willing to aid you as much as possible unless you’ve shown yourself to be openly hostile, such as throwing their promo games.

You also learn two languages of your choice: one of which must be Exotic but since you already know Infernal as a Tiefling Sylvan would be good to talk to the spirits in a dating sim. For your other language Elvish seems fitting for Ionia.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE PATH BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Perhaps not the most fitting for the honorable brother, but being a Rogue will give us the skill to strike swiftly. As well as more skills in general! Take Perception and Insight to find Asakana, Acrobatics to fight them, and Intimidation to strike fear into their hearts. You also get Expertise in two skills your proficient in: Investigation and Perception would help further with finding Asakana.

When you find the Asakana you can strike it down with Sneak Attack. If you have Advantage on an attack roll or are attacking an enemy within 5 feet of an ally you can do an extra d6 of damage. Despite the name “sneak attack” you don’t actually have to sneak, but you do need to use a Finesse weapon such as a short sword. Yes your swords aren’t exactly “short” but for the purposes of dual wielding it’s the best you’ll get.

And after striking the demon down you might need to speak its true name in Thieves’ Cant. That’s not what Thieves’ Cant is? Well regardless it’s a code language shared among rogues; perhaps you picked it up from the Navori? At least you can shout the demon’s name loud and proud as you seal it away thanks to Tiefling Thaumaturgy, along with all other sorts of little supernatural effects I suggest reading into.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

At level 2 Rogues get Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a bonus action. Hiding isn’t very in-character but being able to move swiftly across the battlefield is key for the twin blade technique. Unfortunately attacking with a twin blade also requires your bonus action, so pace your movements accordingly.

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Level 3 Rogues get to choose their Martial Archetype and in order to strike swift and true you’re going to want to play a Swashbuckler. Swashbucklers get Fancy Footwork to be able to slip away from enemies they attacked without provoking opportunity attacks, even if they miss.

Additionally they get Rakish Audacity which ironically provides two benefits: for one you get to add your Charisma modifier to your initiate, but you can also activate your sneak attack if you strike an enemy in melee with no other enemies nearby. Single the demon out and cut them down now that your Sneak Attack does 2d6 damage!

And finally you can cast Hellish Rebuke at second level as a reaction once per long rest thanks to Infernal Legacy. Strike a ganking lust demon with a big burst of “BEGONE THOT” damage!

LEVEL 4 - FIGHTER 1

Adding a quick level in Fighter because Yone was professionally trained, so a Fighting Style would be good to have. Naturally we’ll be going for Two-Weapon Fighting to fight with twin blades. You also get Second Wind to heal for a d10 plus your Fighter level once per short rest for a quick Corrupting Pot in lane.

But unfortunately now we’re going to have to die...

(Artwory by KAIZERS02 on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 1

Just kidding of course because it’s ya boii coming back with the WARLOCK LEVELS! You can choose your Warlock Patron straight at level 1 and as someone who came back from the dead you may think we’ll be going for the Undying patron right? Well that’s where you’re dead wrong because we’re going for a pact with a Fiend.

Why Fiend Patron? - Along with the lore reasons (not all Warlock pacts have to be made on good terms) Pact of the Fiend gives us Dark One’s Blessing to recreate the shield from Spirit Cleave (W), and Burning Hands also gives us an easy-to-use cone spell to recreate a cone-shaped cleave.

Why not Undying? - Undying has a pseudo-support role and a heavy focus on not dying, neither of which Yone does in-game.

Why not Hexblade? - We need at least 12 levels in Warlock for an invocation, and that means we’d be getting Accursed Specter from Hexblade. Yone doesn’t summon spirits to fight for him and while I could normally get past that bit of flavor fail (as both Hexblade’s Curse and Armor of Hexes actually make a lot of sense for Yone) Fiend made a lot more sense given that he literally gets his powers from a demon. A DEX build also allows you to be shirtless in Ionia.

Pact of the Fiend Warlocks have the Dark One’s Blessing, granting them temporary hitpoints equal to their Charisma modifier and their Warlock level when they down an enemy for some spiritual shielding.

Additionally Warlocks gain access to Pact Magic. You learn two cantrips from the Warlock list: Minor Illusion creates a sound or small visual you can use to trick an Asakana into falling for a trap. And Toll the Dead isn’t Eldritch Blast! Excluding the war crimes I just committed by not putting Eldritch Blast on a Warlock (you’re going to be using your swords most of the time anyways get over it it’s one spell) Toll the Dead forces the enemy to make a Wisdom save or take a d8 Necrotic damage, or a d12 Necrotic if they’re injured, making it a great finishing blow after using Soul Unbound.

You can also learn two first level spells: Burning Hands forces enemies to make a Dexterity saving throw or be Spirit Cleaved for 3d6 fire damage. If you want to mark an enemy for Soul Unbound however Hex will let you do an extra d6 of necrotic damage every hit, and give an enemy disadvantage on skill checks related to an ability score of your choice. You can also cast the Darkness spell once per long rest as a Tiefling, blinding everyone in the 20 foot sphere of darkness. If only you could see through it...

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get Eldritch Invocations and we actually won’t be taking the one that helps us see in the dark. We will however be taking Armor of Shadows to let us cast Mage Armor at will and go shirtless in Ionia. Your second invocation will remain empty for now.

You can also add another spell to your repertoire and Protection from Evil and Good will help a lot with fighting Asakana. A creature blessed by the spell is attacked with disadvantage by aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. Additionally they can’t be charmed, frightened, or possessed by them. If they’re already debuffed by these types of enemies they have advantage on future saving throws against them. Once you know the truth of Asakana there is no reason to fear them... or some other edgy one liner.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks get their Pact Boon and hey look it’s Pact of the Blade. You can create a magic weapon in your hand as an action. The weapon counts as being magical to overcome armadillos who say “okay” a lot. And you know that Invocation I told you to hold off on? Improved Pact Weapon will let you do more damage with the blade of the Asakana. If you want to remain in character I’d suggest only attacking with your pact weapon in your offhand, but remember that Two-Weapon Fighting takes your Bonus Action so feel free to hit hard and then run if needed.

You can also now cast second level spells like Misty Step for some sick plays with Flash.

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 4

Fourth level Warlocks finally get an Ability Score Improvement: increase your Dexterity by 2 for swifter and deadlier strikes with your twin blades. Could we take a feat? Yeah, but we won’t.

You also learn another cantrip at this level on top of another spell. For your cantrip Prestidigitation will further your ability to cast small spiritual magic, and for your spell of choice we already got flash so how about Ray of Enfeeblement for Exhaust? There’s a lot of other great options though: Blindness / Deafness from the Fiend list is also a great choice.

LEVEL 9 - FIGHTER 2

Second level Fighters get Action Surge, allowing them to take one additional action on their turn. Right now that only means one extra sword swing but you can cast a spell after you attack!

LEVEL 10 - FIGHTER 3

At level 3 Fighters can choose their Martial Archetype and to unbind one’s soul you must travel to the world of Wildemount for the Echo Knight subclass. I’ve already made a few Echo Knights before on this sub so I’m going to give the cliffnotes version of a class that has quite a long ability description at level 3 for Manifest Echo:

You can summon your soul within 15 feet of you as a bonus action.

You can move your soul up to 30 feet for free on your turn.

Your soul can’t be more than 30 feet away from you by the end of your turn, or else it disappears. (Goes back to your body)

Your soul has an AC of 14 + proficiency and 1 hitpoint.

It’s immune to all conditions and uses your saving throws.

You can swap places with your soul using 15 feet of movement (regardless of the distance between you two.)

When you attack you can make the attack come from your soul instead.

Your soul can opportunity attack (using your reaction.)

Additionally Unleash Incarnation will let you attack an extra time from your soul’s location on your turn. You can use it a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier but your CON mod is currently zero. Thankfully you can use it a minimum of one time before finishing a long rest.

(Artwork by Valkhar on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 11 - FIGHTER 4

Fourth level Fighters get an Ability Score Improvement: invest further in Dexterity for 19 DEX and all the benefits that provides.

LEVEL 12 - FIGHTER 5

5th level Fighters get an Extra Attack, letting them attack twice with their main action. This means that with your bonus action you can attack three times in a round! Now would also probably be a good time to put the Asakana’s blade in your main hand instead of trying to work around your fancy passive.

LEVEL 13 - WARLOCK 5

It’s straight down Warlock now to become one with the Asakana we wear as a mask. Level 5 Warlocks get another Invocation and it wouldn’t be Pact of the Blade if we didn’t take both Improved Pact Weapon and Eldritch Smite! Pretend to be a Paladin by turning a spell slot into more sword damage and pretend to be your brother by knocking people over when you do so!

You can also learn another spell like Gaseous Form to turn into petals on the wind. Additionally Hex is probably wearing away its welcome by this point so I’d suggest taking Hold Person instead to CC-chain a foe to death.

LEVEL 14 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Fiend Warlocks get Dark One’s Own Luck, letting them add a d10 to an ability check or saving throw once per short or long rest. I consider this less you being “lucky” and more you going all out just this once.

You can also learn another spell from the Warlock list such as Spirit Shroud from Unearthed Arcana to give nearby enemies a Randuin's Omen while you cut them down.

LEVEL 15 - WARLOCK 7

7th level Warlocks get another Invocation and while there are plenty to choose from it’s only fair for the man who collects masks of many faces to get a Mask of Many Faces, allowing you to cast Disguise Self at will! Is this mostly done for flavor and is it a bit late to get Disguise Self? Yes but it’s still a very good spell to have.

And you can learn a 4th level spell like Fire Shield from the Fiend List. You can make a Fire Shield for resistance to Cold damage or a Cold Shield to resist Fire damage which you already resist. But regardless of your choice anyone who hits you with a melee attack for the duration will take 2d8 damage of either Fire (if you chose the Fire Shield) or Cold (if you chose the other.)

Also I’d perhaps suggest replacing Misty Step with Dimension Door? Sure Dimension Door takes a full action (while Misty Step takes a bonus action) but Dimension Door has a 500 foot range which will never not be useful! Teleport can be just as useful as Flash you know.

LEVEL 16 - WARLOCK 8

8th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement: put one into Dexterity and the other one into... yeah Charisma. You also could learn another spell but none of these really interest me so I suggest holding off on it for now.

(Artwork by MizuriOfficial on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 17 - WARLOCK 9

9th level Warlocks get another Invocation, and while again there’s plenty to choose from we strive for accuracy here so how about some spiritual levitation? Ascendant Step lets you cast Levitate on yourself without using a spell slot or material components, so you can float towards a wise old man who definitely isn’t an Asakana in disguise.

But most importantly you now gain access to 5th level spells! Hallow is a big spell with a lot of effects, a 1000 gold cost, and a 24 hour casting time but it’s the ultimate way to protect an area from Asakana! To seal the fate of your foes  Synaptic Static forces an intelligence saving throw on all enemies in an AoE to try to avoid massive damage along with a disorientation effect that tends to come with being knocked up into the air by a tornado.

LEVEL 18 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Fiend Warlocks get Fiendish Resilience, allowing them to resist one type of damage of their choosing. They can swap the resistance out on a short or long rest but damage from magic weapons or silvered weapons ignores this resistance, so probably better just to resist wind magic (Thunder damage) in general instead of specifically resisting a magic wind sword.

Additionally while you won’t learn any more Warlock spells you do get your final cantrip: for some more minor spirit projection how about Mage Hand to grab things within 30 feet and bring them to you?

LEVEL 19 - WARLOCK 11

11th level Warlocks get Mystic Arcanum, which are like regular spell slots which only come back after a long rest because you’re no longer special. Regardless if you want to harness the wind technique look no further than Investiture of Wind Stone, because the rock spell actually lets you knock people over.

Regardless until the spell ends you have resistance to nonmagical slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning, you can move across difficult terrain without spending additional movement, you can move through terrain without spending extra movement (but can’t end your turn there), and you can spend your action to try to knock everyone near you over with some basic wind techniques.

Yes there are better spells to take (even in the Investiture spell line, such as the genuine Investiture of Wind which would let you fly as well as block projectiles with a wind wall of your own) but you’re not your brother. You’re a simple, practical stone who gets the job done. Or you can be a wandering poet: make your own Yone - you don’t follow this build point-for-point.

You also apparently get another spell because Mystic Arcanum doesn’t count as a spell? Hold Monster is like Hold Person but it works against everything at the mere cost of a much higher spell slot, meaning that you can only affect one creature with parallelization but that should be more than enough for your little brother to get the job done and flash his fancy blue crest afterwards. You do have three spell slots now after all.

LEVEL 20 - WARLOCK 12

12th level Warlocks get our final Ability Score Improvement and... ugh. As much as I want to do something fun I have to accept the fact that Charisma will help us more, so you may as well grab the Resilient Feat with Charisma for better saving throws and a higher Charisma mod.

But that Charisma mod is going to get a lot of use since now you can take the Lifedrinker invocation which grants the Asakana’s blade Necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier! That’s a lot of damage? How much damage? Well...

FINAL BUILD

PROS

One to cut, one to seal - Let’s do the math for how much damage you do with your swords every round: two strikes from the Asakana’s blade (d6 + 6 slashing + 4 necrotic), one from your regular sword (d6 + 5), and sneak attack damage (2d6) for a total of... 5d6 + 25 damage (8 of it being Necrotic and the rest being Slashing) every round. Not to mention Eldritch Smites in a pinch and a large assortment of spells.

Fear, once named, controls no one - You are also incredibly elusive with 18 AC and strong saving throws. Swashbuckler lets you get into the fight fast and get out before your enemy has a chance to react, and cunning actions let you weave around the battlefield as you see fit. To top it off Echo Knight levels let you attack your foes without even being near them! "Cross the veil!"

Wear a mask long enough, and you forget the face beneath - You have a great deal of out-of-combat utility too. Language proficiencies (along with Thieves’ Cant), skill proficiencies (including expertise in two very important skills 23 passive perception, anyone?) Thieves’ Tools, several utility spells which you can cast pretty much at will, not to mention the utility of near-infinite teleportation and flat out infinite levitation.

CONS

Blink, and you'll miss your own death - Between two-weapon fighting, cunning action, and interactions with your echo there’s such a thing as too many bonus actions.

Do not wish to hide behind masks - There’s also such a thing as being too elusive. Swashbuckler gives you plenty of mobility as does Echo Knight, but putting them together means that you’ll be everywhere at once.

Are you here to usher me back? - Multiclassing a spellsword means that you miss out on some vital ability score increases. This means your Charisma isn’t topped off, the saving throws you aren’t proficient in are subpar at best, and your health is just barely over the Power Word Kill threshold.

But a hunter with many weapons will always have the right one to catch its prey. Lure out the Asakana and strike them down. Just remember that even if you alone can stop the demonic plague you don’t have to work alone. Your brother may have struck you down but if you learn to forgive the Asakana will be a lot weaker. "Long before blades and sorcery are needed, words... can save a soul."

(Artwork by @ThatwasforZED on Twitter)