#primal path

[dartagnantt]

Path of Iron | Learn why they're too afraid to let the barbarian were full plate

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here! I release everything for free, so your support makes this possible. I'm working on a new class for 5e! Follow the Kickstarter here!

Armoured Fury

The basic premise of the subclass: the barbarian can use heavy armor and things that specifically call out heavy armour can be safely ignored.

Storming Juggernaut

Stop me if you've heard this before but what if you could run through people and trample them. There is an asterisk attached to this, because I know this game is crazy but it was nice and even and I wanted to pull all of the scaling from size hit dice stuff or something. Also I know that someone is going to do it, I just pray to god it's not possible at 3rd level. I actually know for a fact that you could stack this with last week's subclass but at that point you're level 18, and I don't care that you dipped 15 levels into another class to maximise this.

Impenetrable Bulwark

This feature is a weird combo of the path of the zealot feature, and the Indomitable Strength feature. Probably broken, but it scales with how good your armor is, which assuming the DM isn't crazy should be fine.

Steel Hide

Have the path of the totem warrior 3rd level wolf totem feature at a more reasonable level, and this time, it stops everything, because I guess your helmet is made of tin foil to keep the psychics out. It is incredibly conductive.

The Best Offense…

I feel kind of bad that I use this joke twice in here, but this idea was just too cool to pass up.

And now to plug my stuff. I release homebrews weekly over on my Patreon. Anyone who pledges $1 or more per post don't have to wait a month to see them, and also help fund my being alive habit.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Stranger than Fiction

Trickery Domain: Revised

School of Illusion: Revised

Oath of Discord

I also have three classes, and a splatbook over on DriveThrueRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

d'Artagnan's Adventurer Almanac. A compendium of races, subclasses, feats, spells, monsters and more!

[cryptid-peanut]

Path of the Agitator Barbarian! This barbarians indignant rage inspires others to action using offensive teamwork! This was made as my personal celebration of our successful protest against the removal of the OGL. I’m used to making complex subclasses so I tried to make a simpler class, let me know if you have any feedback, I’d really appreciate it! 

[carpethedamndiemdejavu]

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break." - Chinese proverb

[mareastrorum]

Ayden is a Circle of Stars druid:

Star Map

At 2nd level, you've created a star chart as part of your heavenly studies. It is a Tiny object and can serve as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells. You determine its form by rolling on the Star Map table or by choosing one.

While holding this map, you have these benefits:

You know the Guidance cantrip.

You have the Guiding Bolt spell prepared. It counts as a druid spell for you, and it doesn't count against the number of spells you can have prepared.

You can cast Guiding Bolt without expending a spell slot. You can do so a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

If you lose the map, you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to magically create a replacement. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous map.

[kyellin]

Finished just in time for Ryan Guzman birthday! @eddiediaz-week

[its-leethee]

What kind of magic does the Jailer use, and what is her connection to the Key of Aaravos?

I have thought for a while that perhaps the Jailer is neither a primal nor a dark magic user, and that she utilized the Key of Aaravos to serve an important role in his imprisonment. Now, there isn't a lot of overt evidence for my hypothesis here; this is a ramble of pure speculation. I'm going to do my best to present the dialogue and canon-consistent logic to support my thoughts. Here goes:

The prevailing opinion in Xadia is that "human magic" is akin to trickery and sleight of hand. When confronted with Callum's claim of being a primal mage in 5x07, Nyx dismisses his boast reflexively: “I’ve seen ‘human magic.’ Fake ropes, false doors, birds and rabbits stuffed into clothing.” To her, it's common knowledge that humans can't use real primal magic, and her derisive attitude shows she doesn't have much respect for human magic either. As for dark magic, Nyx doesn't even mention it at all; as Lujanne said in 2x01, "we do not call that practice magic. It's an atrocity."

But human magic has one more specialty: creating and solving puzzles. The mechanical devices and riddles guarding the secrets in Kpp'ar's labyrinthine house and the rock-stone puzzle hiding the staircase to Viren's dungeon are story-significant examples of the types of innovations created by human magic. In 1x03, Ezran solves the rock-stone puzzle to reveal the staircase hiding Viren's dungeon. Callum answers the riddle posed by Rex Igneous in 4x08, "having knowledge isn't knowing knowledge…. He has a map!"

So neither a primal mage nor a dark mage would resort to puzzles and riddles, the gimmicks used by magic-less humans. So let's now consider the Jailer.

During the post-season four Discord Q&A, Aaron Ehasz states that the Jailer is a "mastermind of prisons and puzzles."

In episode 5x05, Archmage Akiyu tells the story of how she met the Jailer and introduces her as "a human mage." Akiyu goes on to explain:

"The archdragons had given the Jailer a daunting task, to design a magical prison that could hold a Startouch Elf. She needed my powers to craft the prison itself." (emphasis mine).

It stands to reason that a competent dark mage, with the notoreity to catch the attention of the archdragons, could bring that kind of power into her grasp on her own. So why would the Jailer seek out the powers of primal archmage, unless she couldn't wield that power herself? Furthermore, knowing the prejudice that the archdragons hold against dark magic--all of humanity was driven out of Xadia for refusing to forswear its use--I don't believe the archdragons would ever condone cooperating with a dark mage, even to quell an existential crisis like a demi-god bent on world destruction.

Akiyu tells us one more intriguing thing that the Jailer said:

"'The puzzle is the real prison,' she told me with a proud smile," (again, emphasis mine)

There's another word besides "magic" that we can use to describe the practice of creating and solving puzzles: cryptography; the art and science of creating and breaking codes and ciphers. The terms code and cipher are often used interchangeably, but their meanings are technically different. Basically, a code uses arbitrary substitutions while a cipher uses an algorithm.

Now, if you wish to solve a puzzle, you're going to need all the pieces - and if you wish to solve a cipher or code, you're going to need a key.

More than one use has been hinted at for the Key of Aaravos. We've heard Rayla refer to it several times as a toy and a game piece (1x04, 2x07). In the book two novelization, Callum notices that the Key left marks on the ground that appeared to point toward Xadia (we get a glimpse of those lines in early episode 2x07). In 4x07, we get suspiciously up-close framing of the Key when Callum asks, "is there no primal gem for star magic?"

And a few months back, one of the TDP creators shared on Twitter about a season 6 scene that was eventually cut. In the scene, Callum holds the Key up to a symbol on a wall and says, "I'm gleaming the cube!" (if anyone remembers this twitter convo and can provide me a link to this, I would be so grateful)

This is the Key feature we're all most familiar with: its glow. When exposed to a source of magic, the corresponding primal magic symbol on the Key lights up. This is why I think one of the potential functions of the Key of Aaravos is as a cryptographic key. If it were held up to a magic-infused symbol, the glow effect would reveal the primal magic source - and in this way it could be used to decode a secret message.

In cryptography, a key is the series of words, symbols or phrases that contain all of the basic information you need to decode or understand a specific coded message. Both the sender and receiver of the coded message need to know the key in order to create the coded message or decode it into plaintext - to lock or unlock the meaning behind a cipher or code.

I can't speculate on the exact nature of the secrets that she encrypted with it, but the Key can literally shed light on the solution! It was a toy that was repurposed by a the Jailer, magicless human mage and mastermind of ciphers and codes, to protect the secrets of Aaravos and his prison.

Exactly what secrets it will be used to reveal remains part of the Mystery.

if you're interested in learning more about cryptography, this page has links to a lot of my favorite resources

Recommended reading for more Key of Aaravos and the Jailer theories:

the post that initially enabled my crazy train of thoughts, thank you @beautifulterriblequeen

super rad analysis of the Jailer's unique character design by @kradogsrats, who also authored one of my favorite alternative hypothesis for the real function of the Key of Aaravos

an amazing thorough and detailed Key analysis, by @raayllum and another very interesting conversation about the Key here

Special thanks to @raayllum for answering my random Akiyu and Jailer questions, and to @self-spaghettification for giving me the push I needed to bring this essay together!

[ninjagirlstar5]

Ok we know primal's opinion in Green becoming cronically online but what IS her opinion in BLUE being a nether wart addict and an alchemist

I've actually talked about this before with my buddy on Discord, so I'll just elaborate on some of those, Primal's opinion on alchemy, Blue's role in the group, and some of the headcanons I have for her values.

While Blue is more of a pacifist and only fights when he has to, he's still the medic of the group through his alchemy. Medicine was something he was far more interested in than fighting, unlike his twin, Green, and Primal respected both of their wishes when they were little. She taught him how to heal cuts and bruises, what plants and herbs work best for certain types of injuries, and how to make medicine. I headcanon that Primal believes that being strong is important, especially in her way of life, but so is being smart, and she values a person's role and function to a group rather than whoever is the "strongest" as an individual. While Blue doesn't like fighting (unless he had to), he could still be helpful by providing help through his growing knowledge in medicine and healing their family, having the role of a doctor. Primal saw his little spark of interest and tried to nurture that as he grew up until Blue and Green went missing. So she sees the value of Blue's healing potions from his alchemy.

That being said, it would also depend on how Primal would see buffs and debuffs when it comes to Minecraft's alchemy and potion system. So I decided to form my thoughts out on this by comparing Blue's alchemy to The Box scene in AVA S3 since both have similar uses, just with different methods (Blue's potions offer buffs for allies and debuffs for enemies, which can be carried around, while The Box can be used to enhance victim's abilities while downgrading and taking away Chosen's powers amongst other things in an enclosed area). My friend and I talked about how the Mercs may feel about The Box scene from what we could tell from their body language on Discord, and I personally headcanon that Primal wouldn't really be in favor for it. She considers victim using The Box to boost her abilities and take away Chosen's powers to be cheap as she's all about the hunt and reaping the rewards after a long and hard fought battle. However, it doesn't mean she looks down on trickster tactics either since she knows that just strength alone won't allow you to catch your prey, you need to be smart about it as well. If creating traps and doing "dirty" tricks is more efficient in capturing, stopping, or even killing your prey, then by all means go for it. She'd do it herself in a heartbeat, too. It's why she wasn't against using the glitch bullets from the hoverbikes or the taser guns that the rest of the Mercs used even though she never used one herself. Primal understood that Chosen would be near impossible to capture without them due to his powers and it's her job to take him in, as that's what RocketCorp (a.k.a. victim) ordered her to do. So she'll do what's necessary for the job, for the group, but prefers her own weapons if she feels like she could accomplish a task without RocketCorp's tech. And initially, she chose to remain silent about her displeasure on victim's use of The Box since she can tell that Chosen is a fighter despite all of his running and avoiding direct fights with the Mercs, and would decimate anyone that would get close without the proper restrictions. victim couldn't get her answers without them and she can't exactly judge her for that. Even when she finds it unpleasant to watch victim purposely and slowly strip Chosen's of his abilities and even used them against him multiple times with Agent's help in a situation where he had no way of escaping in the first place (probably), she accepted that it was necessary.

And then victim takes out the memory device and slaps it onto Chosen's face, and Primal's feelings go from "this is disturbing but necessary, so I'll just take the time to sharpen my weapon in case anything goes wrong" to "oh you just wanted to do this, not because you needed to do this." Because the minute that device is used, Primal would see how unnecessary it was for victim to torture Chosen in that way since she could've just debuff their powers, tie them down to the chair, and then slap the device on almost no problem to find the information she seeks. Chosen was already captured prey. victim probably didn't need to go as far as she did, not with the memory device she has on hand. So Primal would find it distasteful after all of that. Not to mention how it would most likely backfire on them later since beating someone down doesn't necessarily mean they would just give in. If anything, it may do the opposite and give Chosen the incentive to fight back even harder the next time they get a chance. "If you beat a dog into a corner, don't expect it won't bite back" kinda thing.

Unlike her feelings towards The Box, though, I think she'd be far more accepting of Blue as an alchemist due to it's usefulness as a role. As mentioned earlier, she'd respect Blue as the medic of the group since that in itself is an important role to take. A group can't function well if none of them know how to heal themselves up properly and can end up succumbing to simpler injuries and sickness as a result. So Blue's role as the medic would allow his friends to recover and keep doing what they need (or want) to do. As for the other alchemy potions, while she'd probably find it cheap, she can't deny that these offer their own benefits when it comes to a fight or hunting down prey even. Hell, if the kids end up in a situation in over their heads and have to fight for their lives, Blue can easily sway the battle into their favor with his buffs and debuffs and Primal isn't going to scoff at something that can protect her children's lives and boost their chances of survival. So she'd ultimately respect Blue as the medic, and would file his "ability to think outside of the box with his potions" under trickster tactics that she accepts as a suitable form of fighting.

As for Blue's netherwart addiction, Primal...probably doesn't understand their need for it. Mostly because netherwarts don't offer any benefits, not even to appease hunger, and they would need to brew it into their potions in order to create the base of buffs and stuff, not, like, eat them. And when Blue tells her about the events of AVM S3 and how their addiction was used against them TWICE to lure them into a false sense of security and essentially get them out of the way, Primal would probably start intervening at that point since it becomes obvious it's a weakness that has been exploited more than once. But she's probably not very successful at first since she wouldn't have the knowledge on how to deal with addictions and tries to get him to stop altogether before learning that being forceful about it isn't going to help Blue and would need a softer, understanding approach to the whole ordeal and the underlying reason why they're addicted to netherwarts beyond just "they think it tastes good." (It probably doesn't help that Green and the rest of the CG kinda just...accepted that Blue is addicted to the stuff and end up enabling them by just doing nothing about it. Hell, they cheered when Fake Blue proclaims that they found their netherwarts when they first "reunite" back when the Witch was introduced. I know it's just a running gag in the show itself and is part of Blue's character, but it's a little...concerning...that his friends (and his twin brother, in my headcanons) aren't trying to help them get off of this stuff.)

Primal is trying her best to help Blue through his addiction, but she also...just doesn't know how. So she'd probably have to ask someone else for help, like Hazard or even Ballista.

[hectorfrombritain]

I'm like the moth drawn to a flame, chasing the light even if it scorches me—since that's the only path I’ve ever known.

[allpplareequal]

Hollow Knight poll

[commanderogerss]

@usergif new year, new fonts

day 04 - THREE TYPEFACES

The small half-orc grew up in the wilds, she learned to fend for herself. She spoke rabidly like the pack of wolves she grew around, they often would fight for her, until she got older and grew up from killing mice to killing rabbits. At the age of 6, Senosh was kidnapped up by a group of Orcs. She was branded with the name 'Gimond'. He was an Orc who smiled a toothy smile, but Senosh knew it wasn't a good smile. She picked up that he smiled when he was inflicting pain on another person. They lived in a camp and used as slaves. Senosh gained a lot of skills, even learned common from the humans and orcish from the orcs. She grew in the ranks but was still 100% a slave. Senosh became friendly with one of the friendlier slavers. The Orc told her that he'll help in any way possible. At the age of 17, Senosh made an army, and turned against all the Orcs. She smiled the same toothy smile that Gimond always gave when she hacked and slashed at his body. She didn't want to kill him but weakening him to show that you do not own anyone. Leaving the camp behind, she traveled the back road, avoiding general life, she takes the odd jobs that no one wants and completes them with no fail.

fonts used: chatime (dafont) / sunny spells basic (fontspace) / cocogoose letterpress (dafont) / gabriola / black scream (dafontfree) / avalors (dafont) / beatherlove (dafont) / the billion butterfly personal (fontspace)

[dartagnantt]

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here!

So, the cycle this week, the cycles of an engine. Haha! I may have been playing some Baldur's Gate 3 and decided that Karlach is the best character. Anyway, here's the subclass she should have had avaliable to her, but didn't.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Upcycling Magic Items

Circle of Rot

Destruction Domain

Earthbreaking Magic

I also have three classes over on DriveThrueRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

[mantisgodsart]

Pretend to be what you will, but under the light of the full moon, there's no more room for playing at civility (you are a monster, and you cannot control your nature)

[carpethedamndiemdejavu]

[random-xpressions]

Someday I would like to keep a clear track of where precisely my spirit is traveling during sleep. I really want to know where it goes, whom she's visiting and from whence she returns to be reunited with the body. I'm sure all the secrets are encapsulated in that unknown journey. A conscious so peaked, that your memory could literally remain attached with the spirit, never separating for once. But nothing has been so far as intelligent as the spirit. It knows precisely how to dodge away every single human faculty of perception and leave everything behind to solo travel into that unknown land. I too am stubborn to trace her path someday...

Random Xpressions

[crescentmp3]

hello! i am not in the harvard course, i was taking a programming class with a local college

ohh that's awesome!! ^^ i asked because the harvard course im taking starts at just about the same place and i've been very into coding recently.

[remma-demma]

Oh no I’ve been making cloud / stargazing one of N’ephraha’s Things ™ and what if N’eph canonically pics up Astro in HW to remind him of Raha :(