#she's an artisan glassblower

[gottaarc]

I wanted to conceptualize phobio's mom and this is the rough I made

[dutifullylazybread]

Tav Character Worksheet: Tav of The Dock Ward

Thank you @faerunsbest and @commander-krios for this tag! It took me a minute (and a century), but I am catching up now!

No pressure tags: @voloslobotomyservice @kimberbohwrites @savriea

Name: Tav of the Dock Ward (in-game, I named her Cassandra, but it's just easier to refer to her as Tav when talking about her online).

Age: I leave it fairly vague, but I'd say late twenties to early thirties.

Gender: Cis!woman

Sexuality: Bisexual

Pronouns: she/her

Tav voice: voice 4

Family: Both of her parents are deceased. Her father was originally from Icewind Dale, and her mother was from Baldur's Gate. She hasn't met her paternal grandparents, and she is unsure if they are alive. She supposedly has several cousins in the Dale, but she hasn't met any of them. Her maternal grandparents lived in Baldur's Gate but passed away during an epidemic. She had an aunt who was an adventurer, but that aunt hasn't been heard from in several decades.

Birthplace: Born and raised in her family's home in the dock ward.

Job(s): While attending Blackstaff, she worked as an (underpaid) research assistant and she was also responsible for maintaining several academy herb gardens. When she left the academy, she worked as a glassblower and a stained glass-artist for the artisans' guild in Baldur's Gate.

Phobia(s): Abandonment, for sure.

Guilty Pleasures: She loves reading smut novels.

Hobbies: She loves reading poetry, cooking, and gardening. She used to press flowers while at Blackstaff--she actually gave her flower presses to Halsin as a thank-you gift at one point. Had she the resources more readily available, she would create more stained glass art pieces for her personal enjoyment.

alignment: Neutral good

sins: Hmm. This is a tough one. She most definitely got into a fistfight with one of the other artisans who worked at the artisan's guild (both of them had to pay fines for damaging guild property). The artisan in question was responsible for balancing the guild's books and had skimmed money off of more than one of Tav's commissions. She tried to report it to the owners of the guild and was ignored.

virtues: She does believe in simply helping people because "isn't that just what you do when someone is struggling?" She grew up in a tightly-knit community that pitched in to help where they could, so being a 'do-gooder' adventurer comes naturally because it is what she has always known. However, when she got to Blackstaff and realized how competitive and underhanded academia could be, she became a bit more hesitant to accept the help of others.

This or That? This?

Introverted or extraverted? Introverted

Organized or disorganized? Chaotically organized. She will know where everything she needs is, but if someone tries to find something with her organization system, they're going to struggle.

Closed or open-minded? Open-minded

Calm, anxious, or restless? She likes to think she is calm, and occasionally, she is. Otherwise, she is a very anxious person.

Disagreeable or agreeable? Agreeable, but sometimes too agreeable.

Cautious or reckless? It depends. While conducting research, she is usually cautious and will expect things to go wrong. But if she feels as if she has been thrown into a corner, she can be very, very reckless.

Patient or impatient? Patient to a point.

Outspoken or reserved? Reserved on most things, but if she thinks someone is wrong, she's gonna let them know.

Leader or follower? The type of leader who is elected to be one and says, "Wait, what? Since when? I just made a suggestion and everyone was fine with it. That's not leading."

Empathetic or apathetic? Empathetic

Optimist, pessimist, or realist? She is an optimist when it comes to everyone else--she wants to assume that people have the best intentions, even if she struggles to ask for their help. She is a pessimist when it involves anything she is doing--the self-doubt is agonizing.

Traditional or modern? I'd say she leans more towards modernity when I consider her character. She wanted to build out the Artisan's Guild to also offer artificing services, which felt like a move away from how the guild had been run for decades at that point.

Hardworking or lazy? It depends. She takes a lot of pride in her work, and she will happily toil into the late hours of the night, scrap designs over and over again. But if she thinks something should be easy or unimportant (laundry comes to mind), she's lazy. She'll wash her clothes, but she is slow to fold and put away, for example.

OTP: Rolan x Tav

BROTP: Karlach and her were best friends. Their dynamic was, "That is a horrible idea. It's going to go terribly wrong. We're gonna do it, right?"

This isn't to say that she didn't have other close friendships with her companions, however.

NOTP: Probably the Emperor. He really fucked with her "assume everyone has the best of intentions" mindset when she found out about Orpheus and Ansur. That isn't to say she still isn't conflicted about him, however.

[the-world-annealing]

The Fairy Godmother's Gift

"...good heavens! Only your foot, of all the kingdom's, fits this glass slipper! Do you know what this means?"

"...yes my prince, it's me. The woman you dan-"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get to that, what I want to know is how you made this slipper."

"Huh?"

"I mean, obviously I had my scholars take a look at this thing the moment I found it on my doorstep, and they all told me that it was utterly beyond modern glassblowing techniques. It fits only your foot, out of millions! Even the greatest artisans can't make anything to that degree of precision! And yet you carelessly left it behind as you ran away."

"I guessed the fairy godmother could always make new ones, if I really needed them."

"Wait, a fairy godmother? You have the favor of the fairies? Why are you living in squalor?"

"All her spells wears off at midnight. It's a literal party trick, nothing more."

"I'm quite literally still holding this slipper."

"That's weird, the rest of my outfit changed back. So it doesn't automatically transform back at midnight... and she can't just unconditionally reverse all her enchantments either... Which means the midnight thing was a lie, and she has to actively focus on an item to turn it back?"

"It would explain why the sole thing to retain its new shape was the one both of you misplaced. But the particulars don't matter, the fact that her creations can stick around permanently does."

"...and that means..."

"Our struggling kingdom is saved! We'll be the microengineering capital of the region, the empire, the world! Glassblowing, goldsmithing, gemcutting... and who knows, perhaps some future technology will greatly benefit from the ability to arrange gold thread with nanometer-level precision."

"Hold on, how are you getting the fairy godmother to play along with all that? She just wants to help her charges move up in the world. Me, my mother, my grandmother..."

"..."

"Oh."

"Ella... will you marry me?"

[ilikelookingatthings]

We got to do art stuff today.

In my city we have a event where all the artisans and crafts people open there homes and workshops. People go by car and visit them like a craft scavenger hunt where we can chat and buy stuff directly from them. Today we saw a glassblowing make a ornament which was neat. He had giant glass cheers and apples and pumpkins and hand sized globes, cups and bowls. We got to see a clay studio where they gave us hot chocolate and snacks with beautiful pieces with actual gold on them and various pots. With our third destination being a glass artisan who does things such as glass windows.

She let us practice cutting pieces of glass with various types of cutters which scores a groove as you push it away from you. Then you take these wide pliers with a Red line in the middle, line it up and just press down on the begining of your score which will(if you've done it properly) snap the glass cleanly along the line. Where you then shape it a little more using a sander thing with a sponge(the name escapes me).

Then you line each piece with this copper tape, brush the copper with this chemical then take a sauntering iron and a metal wire to drip and line the lines and attach all the pieces together. It was lots of fun.

My sister made this one.

And I made these two.

Guess what they are down below. Two of them are probably easy to guess. The third might be a bit more difficult.

She gave ys goulash to eat which honestly looks like pasta with meat. It was warm and delicious.

We also learned my mom used to do stained glass. And that my grandma Abu and titi made the stained glass lamp shade that struggles to fit on light bulbs. We knew she'd liked stained glass...just not that she MADE IT. Thank you Salmon, Idaho for thise classes. My third sister knew though.

[musicarenagh]

Megan Thee Stallion - "Cobra" Review Strap in, y'all, because Megan Thee Stallion's single "Cobra" is a sinewy serpentine bop that slithers through the underbrush of heavy hip-hop beats with rap verses sharp enough to cut glass. It's a track pulsating with emotional rawness and transparent introspection - an unguarded confession booth where vulnerability meets ferocity. Megan's lyrical dexterity shines as she navigates personal tribulations amid the blinding spotlight of fame. The juxtaposition between her powerful public persona and private despair is woven intricately into every verse; it’s as if you’re reading pages torn from her diary set to 808s. With a flow crisper than autumn leaves underfoot, she underscores how loneliness can persist even when it feels like the whole world's gawking at your every move. Production on "Cobra" grips you like cold fingers around your neck—it’s dark, brooding yet absolutely sleek. You get these booming bass hits punctuating moments of stark clarity throughout her narrative—each thump acting almost like a defibrillator jolt for your attention span. This isn’t background noise; this track demands to be front and center. The claustrophobic mix complements Megan’s confessional: contorted synth lines tangle around hard-hitting hi-hats creating a cinematic atmosphere so tense Hitchcock would applaud from his grave. Vocally? Please—she spits fire with the finesse of an artisan glassblower and brings heat strong enough to have Lucifer sweating! And let us not glance over that chorus – tongue-in-cheek wordplay dances cheekily with metaphorical depth illustrating both sexual autonomy and mental health struggles without missing a beat or breaking stride in rhythm delivery. Now sure, we could compare Meg to other greats—but frankly, “Cobra” cements her unique space within hip-hop history akin more closely perhaps to storytelling mastery reminiscent of old-school Tupac mixed with Missy Elliot's innovation if they had access to today’s production tech toys. "Cobra" sees Megan Thee Stallion metamorphosing once again—the hustle never stops but neither does the hurt—and she ain’t trying for stoic perfection here! She uses music as reckoning—it’s healing draped in Dolce & Gabbana rhymes dripping hot sauce wrapped boldness on display wrinkles-and-all style—an anthem for anyone who ever felt gloriously broken but determinedly unbowed by life’s bite. https://open.spotify.com/track/3Kh8X9lHztqVBTgw30HbXn?si=fa2814b6e4ea406b

[talldarkandroguesome]

20th of First Seed, Morndas

Having the girls on top of everything has left me bereft of idle hours. When last did I even crack open the cover of this journal? At least a week, I fear.

So much has come to pass. I shall have to summarize in brief.

I found a glass blower who would be able to make the glass portions of the armonica, but she could not do the carpentry. A carpenter I found,  but he could not do the metalworking. A blacksmith I found, but she could not assemble the mechanics correctly. None of these artisans felt comfortable to be the one to assemble all the parts. In fact, other than the glassblower herself, none even dared to handle the glass portions. It took most of the week to find artisans willing and capable of producing each of the individual parts, but none would do the assemblage. 

Sadly, it meant backing out of the commissions. I dare not trust myself and seeing how even those who spend their lives with such specialties dare not get involved, it makes me hesitate all the more to do so myself.

And so, a plan was formulated. I was able to learn from a Redguard merchant, that there is a Breton who has produced a glass armonica that plays. Apparently he learned from a former musical historian from the Isles and does good work.

The issue is, he is currently in Craglorn. There is no way for me to get out there, let alone to track him down. But then I realized, his teacher is in the Isles. So I pressed for information about this music historian and learned that she takes her residence in Lilandril from Firsthand until Last Seed.

Now, there is of course the issue of returning from the Isles once I have arrived there, but as before, the course forward was clear. I had to go.

To make a complicated situation ever more so, the morrow is Azura’s Summoning Day and the family is traveling to the Mabrigash for the celebration. 

Additionally, Masser goes dark tomorrow, so it is also the day I am supposed to lead the rites of my Nest. Why must everything, once again, happen all at once? Not even a day to spare!

To my favor, the holiday rites at conducted mostly from dusk until dawn. Now, I typically perform rites for the Nest under the cover of a darkened night, but I have every reason to test the way my Spiderlings perform during the day. So as long as I can return to the tribe before dusk, everything should go smoothly.

I am counting on Zethith to do me a great number of services in all of this. Perhaps I shall make a backup plan.

No, I will make one. There are too many moving parts and too great a chance of failure. As it is, I have to commission the bloody instrument.

I will come up with something. I can do this. There are ways.

[ultranos]

Some questions on Smith!Azula's profession. How did she learn smithing/glassblowing? Did she fall into it by as a matter of practicality or actively pursue it as an interest? Sounds like she tried to keep her blue fire hidden earlier on, but is that still true in the present? Does she have a specialty or specific artistic flair in her work? How renowned are her wares? Do her artisan skills influence her fighting style?

How Azula came to learn smithing and glassblowing is a direct result of where she ended up after escaping the asylum. The short answer is that she spent a few months on her own fighting for survival before ending up in the care of two brothers. One is a smith, the other is a glassblower. Azula was still too proud to accept charity, so they were like “sure, help out in our workshops”. They mean mostly stuff like sweeping and keeping things clean. But they figure out she’s a firebender one day when she catches a hot object barehanded before it can land and set the workshop on fire.

So they each offer to teach/take her on as apprentice (because a good firebender can be invaluable in their crafts), and because Azula is an overachiever, she says yes to both of them.

Yes, she tried to keep her blue fire hidden and forced herself into the orange-yellow spectrum, but at some point that secret got out. This is part of the reason why the interior of the workshop in the village is facing away from the street. She won’t bother to change the color in the present, but she doesn’t do it out in the open either.

The blue fire is actually a critical component in her craft. Because of the level of heat and her level of control, she’s able to work with materials with otherwise-unheard of purity with an astonishing amount of precision. No one else can get the same quality and kind of steel, for example (which is a product of material + heating, so it’s like how wootz steel was unique to a specific area). That’s kind of her signature, and her work is becoming more well-known in certain circles. Not under her own name, however, just the name of the forge/studio.

[imjustthedog]

also my gfs mom constantly guilts us about spending too much on food but like BITCH!!! i havent had real food let alone like fresh fruit and stuff for YEAAAARS dont pretend me enjoying a bar of chocolate or eating a mango means IM the goddamn reason you have financial worries??? i wish she’d lay off, we’re trying our hardest to get jobs and move out making me feel guilty for existing doesnt help motivate me at all

[panlight]

What do you think the Vulturi do in their spare time? Aro clearly daydreams about having his best bud Carslile back, and having Alice and Eddie being his minions, but what about the other couple hours of his days? What about the other members, do any of the vampires have hobbies?

I mean, I hope so?

I still can’t wrap my head around this idea of SM’s that the Volturi (and Romanians) just sat still for millennia which caused them to “petrify” because . . . dust settled into the venom on/in their skin? Or something? I mean even if they have food “delivered” they still have to get up and bite the person themselves, right? Weren’t they still having sex with their mates? Or were they literally just sitting in one place for years upon years upon years? I would love more clarification from her on this because I Don’t Get It. 

The coven specifically are referred to “nighttime patrons of the arts,” so I think some or them have to be interested in art and music to some degree.  I’ve always kind of imagined Sulpicia playing the harp, for example. Maybe Marcus paints, or sculpts. With Caius’ love of flamethrowers, maybe he’s into glassblowing or welding or something–use that love of fire in a creative way! 

I’ve also always had it in my head that Aro and Sulpicia are like one of those political marriages--like the Clintons, or Frank and Claire on House of Cards. They might have their affairs but they are also devoted to each other in their own way, and rely on each other for advice and counsel (part of the reason he keeps her in the tower and under Corin’s influence is that he is always 5% worried she’s plotting to overthrow him--I loved that in Life and Death she did!). They refer to each other as like “dear husband” and “sweet wife” all the time as they do their weird but effective Machiavellian power couple dance.  Aro dabbles in everything. He picks up new hobbies and interests in human minds and throws himself whole-heartedly into one for like six months and then completely drops it. Everything from Sudoku to stargazing to artisanal baking to those rainbow loom bracelets every tween had like 7 years ago. Demetri obviously is into fashion (there needs to be a Project Runway: Vampire Edition with him and Alice and idk who else competing) and probably has a very artsy instagram with faceless ‘selfies.” Felix loves all kinds of games, from active sports-y games to computer/video games to board games and strategy games. Caius and him get into epic Risk games. Sulpicia and Athenodora also get really invested invested. Alec introduced everyone to D&D and Jane gets really into it in the moment and then pretends it never happened later. 

Jane also makes these really detailed and elaborate dollhouses–not to play with, but more as like a meditation, or an interest in architecture.  She and Esme should talk!

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms Far Side #3: Kohaku

Today on Fate and Phantasms we have another bonus episode for you! We’re building Kohaku, the ever-energetic maid who comes packing with probably helpful medicine and the occasional robot. As usual for far sides, everything below this point come directly from Magical-Biche on Reddit!

Check out Kohaku’s build breakdown below, or her character sheet over here!

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Hey, it’s me, the guy who builds Tsukihime builds! Since the remake got announced uhh… already a month ago, I figured it’d be perfect time to free some time in my heavy schedule for a Tsukihime waifu once in a while. For the return of this highly anticipated series, we’ll take a look at a character which has plenty of tricks up her sleeves: Kohaku. A fan favorite for several reasons, she was quite easy to build due to how weirdly some of her core mechanics are already featured in Dungeons & Dragons. I’m mostly using her Melty Blood skill set for the build, but as soon as I can introduce skills we know from the Visual Novels. Needless to say, the whole build is a huge spoiler for what Kohaku does throughout the games, and you may not want to read it if you didn’t finish Tsukihime and Kagetsu Tohya.

Race and Background

Kohaku is a variant human. She technically has a bit of psychic powers, but they are passive and absolutely nothing any race can give comes close to it, so we’re going human here. The variant allows us to get + 1 in constitution and +1 in intelligence, and the chef feat, giving us another +1 in constitution, and the ability to cook delicious meals with or without suspicious substances, which adds a layer of healing and temporary hit points on our already impressive healing abilities. It gives us our first of many tool proficiencies, the cooking utensils. We also get a proficiency in insight, which helps us determine whether people are worth teasing/throwing into a bottomless trap. 

Next, we are going to be an Izzet engineer. Those folk, who come directly from Ravnica, fit our mad scientist personality perfectly. Being an Izzet engineer gives us access to the Urban Infrastructure ability, which helps building more complex traps (and find them, if we ever feel like being nice to our group), and proficiencies in Arcana and Investigation, two extremely useful intelligence skills. We also get our second tool proficiency. We’re taking carpenter’s tools, to create the most intricate traps there are. Bottomless pits won’t build themselves from the ground up. We also get one set of artisan’s tools of our choice, so we’ll take Alchemist supplies, since they’re the costliest of the bunch and extremely useful. Don’t worry, we’re getting the proficiency in a little bit. Finally, we get the pretty unique feature of having access to more spells: Izzet guild spells. The notable ones (the ones we don’t normally get from our class) are Chaos bolt, Create or destroy water, Unseen servant (level 1 spells), and Call lightning, and Otiluke’s resilient sphere (third level spells). Since it is a Ravnica background, the DM might ban the expanded spell list, but none of these spells are necessary to our build, anyway. 

Ability Scores

We are a genius, and a bit of a melee combatant. We’re pumping everything in intelligence. Next, we need high constitution and dexterity, which will also serve to multiclass into rogue. We are pretty average when it comes to wisdom and charisma (I do admit we are pretty cute, though). We’re dumping strength, even though it means we won’t be able to fight well with our broom, but it’s a necessary sacrifice. Our hidden katana (read: dagger) will work just as well. 

Class Levels

Artificer 1: We are a crafty inventor. Being an artificer only makes sense to us. The first level of artificer gives us proficiency with constitution saving throws, great to keep our concentration on spells and avoiding nasty poison effect, and intelligence saving throws: we’re the one who make fools of others, and not the other way around! We can also choose two new proficiencies, and we’re taking medicine, since we’re actually a pretty skilled doctor, and sleight of hand, as we will need to tinker complex traps and unlock a few locks from time to time. 

We also get proficiencies with light and medium armors, but we’re only ever going to use light armor. Kohaku doesn’t really wear armor, but she could be wearing several thick layers of kimono, which can probably stop a blade in a pinch. We’re also proficient with shields, and Kohaku definitely never wears a shield throughout the Tsukihime timeline, so we won’t be using them.  We’re also proficient with simple weapons, and those are the only weapons we’re having access to, so we have to do with them. We’ll be mainly using the dagger as our “secret blade”, and our quarterstaff as a substitute for our broom. Finally, we’re proficient with thieves’ tools, useful for disarming traps that may or may not have been installed by us, tinker’s tools, our bread-and-butter for repairing all sort of stuff, from traps to weapons, and alchemist supplies, to further our healing capabilities, and it blends well with our medicine proficiency. 

We finally get to our core features. First level of artificer gives us Magical tinkering, which lets us do pretty nice things. We can basically sleep on prestidigitation, light, message, and minor illusion thanks to this feature. It doesn’t do as much as each of these individual spells, but it does it differently, and it’s still great to have so much utility here. We also get our Spellcasting. We’re a half caster with druid/cleric like spell preparation. We can prepare a number of spells equal to our intelligence modifier + half our artificer level (rounded down), and we can choose those spells from our spell list each time we finish a long rest. Our spellcasting ability is of course intelligence, and we use our alchemist’s supplies as a spellcasting focus, because of our subclass we don’t have yet. 

We start with two artificer cantrips, and we’re taking Booming blade, to emulate bombs, and controlling people movement fits our character well: people will think twice before moving in our direction. Next, we take Acid splash, a pretty weak damaging cantrip, but it’s another kind of bomb we can add to our arsenal. It can also touch two targets at once, which mitigate the low damage of the spell. It is also a saving throw, so it will always be useful anyway. 

Since we have access to every artificer spell, plus the potential Izzet spells, there won’t be a definitive spell list here. It is recommended to get Tasha’s caustic brew, Snare, Cure wounds, Grease and Alarm, as they fit our game plan very well. 

Artificer 2: Our next artificer level is more complex than it seems. We get our infusions, 4 of them. We’re taking the Replicate magic item, to have ourselves a bag of holding to hold all our stuff, the Enhanced defense, that we’re infusing to our armor to help with defense, the Homunculus servant, so we can have our very own Not-exactly-a-mech-Hisui once we get enough money, and Mind sharpener, which will help maintaining concentration on though fight. So far, we can only use 2 of these infusions at the time, so we’ll focus on the replicate magic item and enhanced defense for now. 

Artificer 3: We get our speciality! We are now an Alchemist. We gain proficiency with Glassblower’s tools, as we already have a proficiency with the alchemist supplies, and those tools can be used to create vials to hold our various mixtures. We get an expanded spell list, again, which gives us interesting spells like Melf’s acid arrow, Healing word, Ray of sickness, Gaseous form and Mass healing word. Flaming sphere is not bad, but it doesn’t really fit our concept as a whole. We also get our Experimental elixir, which is one random potion every long rest. All the effects are helpful, even though some are more than others. We also get the Right tool for the job, which lets us create artisan tools, which is neat. 

Rogue 1: Of course, we’re going rogue. We’re a sneaky trickster, after all, and we’re pretty skilled at it. Our first rogue level gives us the famous Thieves cant, which we will quickly forget. More interesting, we get a skill proficiency, and we’re taking Deception. It’s less useful than persuasion, but we need to lie more than we need to persuade. We also get Expertise in 2 skills of our choice, which will be Deception and Medicine, two of our most important skills. With expertise in medicine, we mitigate our low wisdom, and we’re able to pretty much always stabilize our fallen allies, especially when we get past level 5. What’s more, we get the rogue’s main feature, the Sneak attack! Sneak attack can be used with booming blade for pretty huge damage, in the right conditions, and it’s getting even better starting next level. 

Rogue 2: Speaking of next level, here it is. The second rogue level gives us cunning action, and we now always have some use for our bonus action. We can hit with booming blade + Sneak attack, then retreat. We can add some movement to our turn, and we can try to hide in the shadows, not that we’re particularly good at it. 

Rogue 3: We get our second archetype. We’re now both an alchemist and a Mastermind, which gives us yet another round of proficiencies: Disguise kit, Forgery kit and a Gaming set. Those three are not the most useful tools we have access to, but they can always be used creatively. We can also Mimic speech, but that’s not exactly a meta redefining feature. More importantly, we are also a Master of tactics, giving us yet another use for our bonus action in the form of Help. We can help our ranged allies to hit close-ish targets with that feature, too. 

Artificer 4: Our first ability score increase comes at level 7, and luckily, we’re not too dependent on feats. We’re simply increasing our intelligence by 2 and call it a day. 

Artificer 5: This level is very interesting, because we get a neat little feature that tremendously increases our distance damage. We are now an Alchemical savant, and provided that we use our alchemist supplies as a spellcasting focus, we can add our intelligence modifier to the damage rolls of any fire, necrotic, poison and acid damage, and to every one of our healing rolls. Sadly, this doesn’t buff our melee damage, but we can’t have everything. Also, the ability is weirdly worded: as it is written in the book, it looks like you must use your spellcasting focus to cast the spell for the damage and healing to be buffed. However, if it does work like that, we'd have a total of 5 spells of level 0-3 that are affected by the feature, so I’d say it works with every one of your spells that is cast with intelligence. 

We also get our new level 2 spells. The ones that are interesting for our build are Enlarge/reduce, Heat metal, protection from poison, pyrotechnics, rope trick, Spider climb and Web. The first is based on one of our actual feats of enlarging our mistress, one time. Heat metal is an overall tricky and useful spell to have. Protection from poison is useful to protect our allies from friendly fire, and the last 4 spells are all great traps and terrain manipulation, which is what we want to do. 

Artificer 6: This level is more straightforward, as it only really adds the Tool expertise feature, which allows us to double our proficiency bonus on all tools we’re proficient with. That is, a LOT of tools. We also get new infusions, and we’re getting the Spell refueling ring, a great tool to mitigate our too few spell slots per day, and Resistant armor, which is situational but very useful. We can also have 3 infusions active at the time, which is the maximum number of attunement we can have anyway. We can also now create two experimental elixirs per long rest, hurray!

Artificer 7: The seventh artificer level gives us Flashes of genius, which is a great tool to help the party. It can also be used to mitigate our own AOE damage on them, proving the party that we’re not here to kill them, we swear!

Artificer 8: Artificer 8 gets us a simple ability score increase, which we gladly take to increase our already high intelligence to new levels. We increase it by 2 points, to reach a total of 20. 

Artificer 9: Our final level in artificer grants us a final subclass feature, the Restorative reagents. It makes it that our experimental elixir gives 2d6 + 5 temporary hit points to whoever drinks it. Also, we can now cast lesser restoration 5 times per long rest without having the spell prepared, which is a great way to remove harmful status ailments from allies for pretty much free. 

We also gain our level 3 spells. The interesting spells from the list are Haste, which emulates the drugs you use on your poor party members,  Catnap, to represent the sleeping medicine you give them,  Protection from energy, for the same reason as protection from poison a bit earlier, and finally, the trappiest spell of them all, the one that really let us do crazy shenanigans,  Glyph of warding. This amazing spell is a literal modular trap which does pretty nice damage, doesn’t require concentration and it’s just so flexible. This is the only obligatory spell on the list. 

Rogue 4: The fourth rogue level gives us our third ability score increase, and we’re getting a bit tankier and stabbier now. We increase our dexterity score by 2, this time, putting us at a nice 16. 

Rogue 5: Fifth level rogues get uncanny dodge, a very powerful tool for survival. Nothing much to say, it’s great! (Editor’s note: might as well just say it anyway- use your reaction to take half damage from an attack- very useful!)

Rogue 6: We get 2 brand new expertises, which will be in Arcana, for being even better at understanding the mechanics behind the spells we use, and Sleight of hand, so we’re also a lot better at setting non-magical traps and disarming them. 

Rogue 7: Now that we can mitigate damage with uncanny dodge, it’s time to get better at saving throws and get Evasion. Another extremely good ability we’ll never use too much. (EN: dex saves cause half damage on failure, 0 damage on success!)

Rogue 8: Our next ability score, and we’re getting yet another 2 points in dexterity, so we now have a more than decent armor class and solid melee attacks. 

Rogue 9: Rogue’s ninth level gives us our second subclass ability, and we are now an Insightful manipulator. We can now assess our current target’s strength, but at this point, we’ve probably fought most of the bestiary and know everything there is to know about most threats. It can still be used against bosses, but it’s not exactly great since we’re not that good at sneaking. 

Rogue 10: Our tenth level in the rogue class gives us yet another ability score increase. We are actually a pretty crafty person, and poison is just another tool in our arsenal. We get the Poisoner feat, which lets us ignore resistance to poison damage and craft poison for our weapons. At that point, we should be filthy rich and can certainly afford the cost to do so and poison basically every single one of our strikes. With Booming Blade, sneak attack and the poison damage, our damage output is actually pretty crazy. 

Rogue 11: Our final level gives us a very, very nice little boost: thanks to Reliable Talent, we basically can’t score under 16 + ability modifier, or 22 + ability modifier with expertise, for skills and tools we are proficient with. We now have a passive Arcana of 27, Sleight of hand of 26 (whatever a passive sleight of hand score means), Deception and Medicine of 22, a passive investigation and insight of 21 and passive abilities with our numerous tools that are just as high (since you can use most tools with most abilities, the scores won’t be listed here, obviously). We can now pretty much recognize spells on sight, pickpocket on the go, lie as we breathe and treat injuries in a few moments, among other things. 

Pros: We’re a tool monkey, and we use all of them like a pro when we reach level 20. We can craft a bunch of crazy stuff with all that. We’re also quite bulky, with decent hit dice and the rogue survivability, plus our artificer infusions. We are also good at dealing big bursts of damage thanks to booming blade, sneak attack and poisoner. What’s more, we’re quite good at healing and dispensing temporary hit points. 

Cons: If we can’t trigger our sneak attack, our booming blade damage is not exactly huge. We don’t have many spells slots, and we quite like to use them. Also, we’re good at dealing damage, healing and controlling the battlefield, but we’re obviously not great at any of these things. 

[icefang111]

hnnnng I have so much work to do and have done none of it and instead made homebrew for a warlock patron cause I know how to prioritise

anyway IDK how to balance anything ‘cause I’m a noob and this is the first thing I’ve ever tried to homebrew, and I don’t trust reddit to look over my stuff and be not a dick about it, but I trust tumblr marginally more. So if anyone would be down to do that lemme know, I’d greatly appreciate it :)

first draft is below the cut! (again sorry if it’s kind weird/very not balanced, idk what I’m doing my dude)

Aver'Bayzella is an ancient being, hidden away in her timeless realm. Is she fey, fiend, great old one, or a mix of them all? No one truly knows, and it matters not. For all that matters now is beauty, and adding that beauty to Aver'Bayzella's ever expanding collection.

*edited to include balance Crit from other places

Aver'Bayzella - The Collector of Beautiful Things - NE

Aver'Bayzella can't stand the dirty and disgusting material plain, but loves the few, rare, truly beautiful things that exist in it. Your job is to seek out and bring those beautiful things to her. Whether they are objects, buildings, plants, songs, creatures, people, places, etc if she wants it you will provide. Remember that beauty is the goal, not necessarily wealth. Though these things often coincide, they are not one in the same.

Upon your death or should you fail her one too many times, what's left of your body and spirit will also be added to her collection.

Expanded Spell List

1 level - Tensers Floating  Disk, Identify

2 level - Locate  Object, Gift of Gab

3 level - Clairvoyance,  Blink, Incite Greed

4 level - Dominate  Beast , Stone Shape

5 level - Creation,  Dominate Person

 Level 1 - Beautiful Servant

Upon taking this pact you become Aver'Bayzella's property, and all things Aver'Bayzella owns must be beautiful. She has mercifully and graciously scrubbed all of your physical flaws away, making you the most perfect version of yourself and granted you a connection to her realm.

Your new beauty is captivating and eternal. You may gain advantage on persuasion, deception, and performance checks, as well as any checks that would be bolstered by your physically beautiful being 3 times per long rest.

Your physical form is ageless through your connection to Aver'Bayzella's timeless realm. You are stuck at the age she set for you upon making your pact. Though you are still mortal in every other way, you cannot die of old age.

 Level 6 - Creator of Beauty

Having proven your eye for the beautiful, Aver'Bayzella has decided to expand the ways you can serve her by training you to making beautiful things for her.

You are taught two artisans tool proficiencies from the following list: Calligraphy, Carpentry, Cobbler, Cook, Glassblower, Jeweler, Mason, Painter, Potter, Smith, Weaver, and Woodcarver.

With an action you are able to summon any of the tools from the list above that you are proficient in. These tools appear in a spectral form and will disappear when not in use.

As well, 2 times per long rest, you can instantly manifest a temporary object that you could make with your tool proficiencies from the list above. This item may be no larger than 5 ft in any dimension. The object lasts for 2d20 hours as rolled at creation. It is solid/real, non-magical but appear obviously magical in nature, and cannot be used as a spell component.

If the character has or attains additional tool proficiencies from the list above through other means, they can use these abilities with them as well.

Level 10 - Beautiful Veil

As property of Aver'Bayzella, you are a valued and beautiful creature. Those who would seek to harm beauty must be punished. A protective veil now shrouds you, which you may call upon 1 time per short or long rest.

When you are hit with and attack from an attacker, you may use your reaction to call upon the veil for protection, negating all damage from the attack. You may pick one form of retribution from the following:

Behold Beauty- Your attacker and all those in a 10ft cube centered on you must make a constitution saving throw against your spell save DC, or is blinded for a maximum of 1 minute with consecutive con saves each round.

Worship Beauty- Charm Person is cast on your attacker.

Poisonous Beauty - Starting on their turn, your attacker must make a con save against your warlock spell save DC at the start of each of their turns or takes half your warlock level (rounded down) in poison damage, and half of that on a successful save. After 3 successful saves the poison subsides.

 Level 14 - Judgement of Beauty

Aver'Bayzella now trusts your eye for beauty enough to help her bring judgement to the beautiful and the ugly. Once per long rest you can use your action to send one creature of your choice to Aver'Bayzella realm to be judged by her. She will reveal her judgement to you on your next turn. Her judgement is decided by the DM.

Beautiful - Those she deems beautiful she will keep in her domain.

Normal - Those she rejects will be sent back to their previous position or the nearest unoccupied square and take 10d10 psychic damage from the encounter.

Disgusting - Those she deems disgusting she will yeet back with particularly nasty force, and they will instead take 10d20 force damage.

[dutifullylazybread]

Thank you so much for the tag @darkurgetrash. This was so much fun!

────── ⟡ ──────

(Tav, during the events of BG3 (minus the armor)

NAME: Tav of the Dock Ward

NICKNAME: Soldier (Karlach), Love (Gale), Cub (Jaheira), Dear (Rolan)

GENDER: Cis!female (she/her)

STAR SIGN: I am trying to remember the birthday I gave Tav! I either wrote that she was born on the winter or the summer solstice. I'm also having a hard time finding D&D zodiacs. So probably a Cancer?

HEIGHT: Hmm... I always want to make my characters my height, but I don't think Tav is as short as I am. Hrm. 5 ft (she's an inch taller! :D)

ORIENTATION: Bisexual

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Illuskan Human from Faerûn

FAVOURITE FRUIT: strawberries

FAVOURITE SEASON: Autumn

FAVOURITE FLOWER: Sunflowers

FAVOURITE SCENT/S: Rosemary, lavender, cypress, cloves, old paper, river water

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Tea all the way. She definitely took advantage of Waterdeep's trade connections and tried teas from all over

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: Prior to game events, if she was deep in a commission, she might get anywhere from 4-6 hours a night. During the events of BG3, she likely got about four hours a night. After the events, she starts by getting about 4 hours and gradually worked her way to 8.

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs. Scratch was her baby. And then the Owlbear Cub (who she named Widdershins) made her realize how much she loved owlbears. Though she would have adopted Myshka in a heartbeat (and, like, there might be a fluff one-shot where she does, because why not?).

DREAM TRIP: She'd love to visit the Sea of Fallen Stars (both the one aboveground and in the Underdark). There is something very appealing about it being where The Pirate Wars took place.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: How many can she reasonably fit on the bed? Add ten.

RANDOM FACT/S: She worked as a glassblower and a stained glass-artist for the artisans' guild in Baldur's Gate, and while she worked there, she wanted to expand the guild's focus out to enchanting/artificing items. She had no luck in this pursuit.

NO PRESSURE TAGS:

@drizztdohurtin, @voloslobotomyservice

[ikementally-deficient]

Head-Canon: Warlords react to an MC who has a degree in Engineering

Requested by a lovely anon who wanted to know what quality of life improvements could be made in the Sengoku era with a little know-how.

Rating: Jalapeno (see masterlist for ratings description)

Apparently I can’t ever write anything without it turning into a research project. Also, my husband is a carpenter with a background in engineering, so we talked about stuff he thought he’d reasonably be able to build without access to power tools. Aggravatingly, most of the information on technology available to the casual internet researcher focuses on medieval China, not Japan. For the sake of my sanity I decided to assume Japan would be at roughly the same level of tech development. Things that I can imagine an engineering MC building in the Sengoku era:

Showers

Pitcher Pump + bamboo piping to run water to baths and kitchens

A foot-treadle sewing machine

Solar Oven

Theatrical sets (scenic carpentry is actually an entire niche trade, and an engineer with modern sensibilities could definitely add some drama to a production through clever use of pulleys and cantilevering).

Telescope

Spirit level

Kerosene Lantern

Water Barometer

Alcohol thermometer

Hourglass

Those last six require a knowledge of glass-blowing. Glass-blowing didn’t really show up in East Asia until the 1800s, apparently, but I get the impression that was because ceramics were already so developed that the niche wasn’t really there, rather than a lack of the appropriate technology base, so I believe a technologically-minded MC who’s aware of the core concepts could work with existing artisans and smiths to get it going on a small scale.

Things I was surprised (but shouldn’t have been) to find out already existed:

Pretty much all the siege weaponry I could think of. Which is fine. Despite it being the obvious draw for the warlords, Mai the all-loving MC would probably not be okay with giving them more efficient ways to kill people.

Continue behind the cut for the Warlords!

Oda Forces

Nobunaga is fascinated. Yeah, glass is cool and all, but fragile. Indoor plumbing on the other hand -- It takes all of MC’s powers of persuasion (and the weight of Hideyoshi’s disapproval) to keep him from having it run to the tenshu so he can start running war councils from a bathtub. 

Hideyoshi watches all of these antics with suspicion, and ends up having to task MC with preventing Mitsunari reading until dawn and Nobunaga turning himself into a decadent prune. He isn’t really impressed until she brings the castle’s seamstresses a simple foot-treadle sewing machine, making their lives much easier (and meaning he gets his kimonos much faster). 

Mitsunari is, in many ways, immune to the draw of an MC who isn’t interested in building better war machines, but he is thrilled to have his very own hurricane lantern. Now he can study into the night without fear of a sudden gust of wind leaving him in the dark (or starting a fire in the library). 

Mitsuhide is taken with the possibilities of Mitsunari’s lantern, and between him and MC they come up with a variation on a smuggler’s lantern, to assist the kitsune with his late night shady dealings. He’s openly disdainful of the rest of it, but can be found sliding into a late night bath when he sneaks back in, enjoying the fact that he doesn’t have to wake maids or carry his own buckets of water after having been sleeping rough for days.

Masamune isn’t really disappointed by MC’s refusal to improve Mitsunari’s siege weapons; he enjoys up-close combat too much. He doesn’t think too much about it when she asks him to escort her to his vassals’ camp, and assumes the package she’s carrying is more provisions, of the same type he makes for them. Imagine his delight when she unpacks a primitive solar oven for his men! Granting his men the ability to have hot, fresh food without worrying about smoke from fires revealing their position makes Masamune love her all the more.

Ieyasu is the first person to be really interested in the practical applications of glassblowing. Syringes and bottles that can be easily cleaned! An hourglass (or minute glass) to help him time the mixing and preparation of his salves and tinctures makes every batch more consistent! He grumbles, constantly, because of course he does, but suddenly every time MC looks at the shelves in her room there’s a new little jar of something delightful smelling.

Uesugi-Takeda Forces

Kenshin actually is legitimately uninterested in all of MC’s quality of life improvements, until the day he finds out she’s been talking to a Noh theatre troupe down in the castle town. Kabuki is still thirty years in the future, but MC’s knowledge of modern theatre tropes and early Kabuki theatre (TIL: Kabuki troupes used to perform swordfights with live blades!) means the next performance at Kasugayama has Kenshin riveted.

Shingen enjoys the added beauty of the practice glasswork pieces that start appearing around Kasugayama, but he doesn’t really get interested in things until MC presents him with his very own spirit level. Up to now making sure his corners are joined squarely has been a painstaking process, but the level speeds things up considerably. He immediately attempts to flatter and/or flatter her into examining the rest of his carpentry tools to see what she can improve.

Sasuke is not surprised that MC manages to start her own cottage industrial revolution, and adds his expertise as an astrophysicist to help with optical logistics. The first telescope they create is a masterwork. 

Yukimura is now absolutely convinced MC is a witch, and nothing will ever change his mind.

Yoshimoto is awed by the delicate beauty of glassblowing. He’s used to the small, dense decorative beads that are common in Asia at the time, but he’s never seen anything as ethereal as a hollow glass sphere, and spends countless hours playing with different minerals to see the final colours they lend to the glass.

Wildcards

Kennyo doesn’t much care about indoor plumbing, glasswork, or anything else (suffering is good for the soul and just what he deserves), but MC surprises him with a zen water sculpture/fountain/garden and he’s actually moved to tears. It becomes his favourite place to meditate.

Ranmaru, like Yoshi, thinks blown glass is the most amazing thing he’s ever seen. But what draws him most is not the colours or the delicate beauty of hollow glass, but the phenomenon of Prince Rupert’s drops. The idea of something that can withstand battering forces at one end, but shatter instantly at the slightest stress on the other feels uncomfortably, morbidly appropriate to him.

Motonari makes a lot of assumptions about what this woman is capable of, and has them all blown out of the water (heh), when she starts improving his ship’s rigging. The next time they’re on dry land, she sketches out designs for a simple alcohol thermometer and water barometer, both invaluable devices to a pirate at the mercy of the weather. Motonari’s almost convinced to make peace with everyone just to give her enough time to train a glassblower for him.

[magical-agatha]

acnh is good for art. this is one if my OCs, Melty Glitter Glowteny (a portmanteau of glow, gluttony, and neoteny), not pictured here, her ribcage and arm bones and spine floating in her goo, and her magical girl dress. she's a slime girl warlock. her patron is an ancient god of chaos and consumption from when existence was very young, so massive as to dwarf galaxies, endlessly roaming empty space consuming anything in her wake. she makes melty eat gross things.

the skull is blown glass in her story, shes a jeweller and a glassblower and worked as a guild artisan until she started having visions of her patron, portrayed as a huge endless glowing light and pretending to be a celestial to trick melty into joining a pact with her. melty is now cursed with a violent fear if the dark and a desire to consume sparkly magic things and light and sometimes gross stuff like dead people.

at one point in the campaign her patron tried to make her eat a severed goblin arm and melty rolled a 0 bc she has -1 to wisdom.

shes like. my favourite character ive ever made but somehow this is the first time ive ever drawn her lol.

[snakemoltsiren]

Never-Ending Survey: Severine Sauvageot

Tagged by: @eorzean-capitalist

Tagging: @otolin-xiv ; @geimhleag​

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Severine Sauvageot

NICKNAME: Sev, Saint, Saint Savage

AGE:  Young Adult

BIRTHDAY:  8th Sun of the 4th Astra Moon

ETHNIC GROUP: Duskwight Elezen

NATIONALITY: Gridanian

LANGUAGE/S: Common, Old Elezen

SEXUAL ORIENTATION : Pansexual

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION : Aromantic/Gray romantic

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single

HOME TOWN / AREA: South Shroud near Amdapoor Keep

CURRENT HOME:  Ul’dah

PROFESSION: Grifter, glassblower

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Dark blue, past shoulder length in a mullet-style haircut with short shaved sides and undercut.

EYES: One light grey, one dark grey

FACE: Narrow, sharp chin and jaw

LIPS: Dark and plump

COMPLEXION: Grey blue, lighter than her hair

BLEMISHES: Beauty mark beneath her right eye and one beneath the left corner of her mouth.

SCARS: Incredibly light, faded burn scars on her arms and hands. 

TATTOOS: None

HEIGHT: 5’ 8”

WEIGHT: 120 ponzes

BUILD: Almost willowy with sharp shoulders and almost surprisingly toned upper arms and thighs. And dat ass.

FEATURES: Prominent nose, highly expressive eyebrows

ALLERGIES: None. (Sunlight)

USUAL HAIR STYLE:  Slicked back mullet

USUAL FACE LOOK :  Sly or coy expression with a smile close by. 

USUAL CLOTHING: Generous wardrobe but favors shorts, thigh boots and sleeveless shirts. Hardly ever seen without a pair of pince-nez style glasses on. 

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: Possession, mind control, black mages

ASPIRATION/S: To live better than she deserves

POSITIVE TRAITS: Insightful, kind, humorous, supportive, artistic, clever

NEGATIVE TRAITS:  Manipulative, secretive, paranoid

TEMPERAMENT:  A woman of many faces, Severine can make herself fit any facet of any situation. Typically she is laid back, warm and convivial and she’s giving and caring with those she’s closest to.

SOUL TYPE/S:  Artisan (Crafter)

ANIMALS: Fox

VICE HABIT/S: Drinking

FAITH: None

GHOSTS?: Yes

AFTERLIFE?: No

REINCARNATION?: No

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: None 

EDUCATION LEVEL: Self-taught

FAMILY.

FATHER : Cyrille (Birth)

MOTHER : Elodie (Birth)

SIBLINGS : Numerous

EXTENDED FAMILY: Massive

NAME MEANING/S: ‘Stern’ and ‘Savage’ (for a person considered unmannerly or coarse)  

HISTORICAL CONNECTION?: No

FAVORITES.

BOOK: The Five Ages

DEITY: Nymeia 

HOLIDAY: All Saint’s Wake

MONTH: April (Second Umbral Moon)

SEASON: Autumn

PLACE:  The Wood

WEATHER:  Overcast and cool

SOUND / S: Lapping or flowing water. Wind through leaves.

SCENT / S: Woodsmoke, clean skin.

TASTE / S: Tart, butter

FEEL / S: Always watching, soft cotton, raw silk, broken in shoes

ANIMAL / S: Owls, dragonflies

NUMBER: Seven

COLORS: Grey, purple, dusty rose

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Singing, calligraphy, sketching and painting.

BAD AT: Being honest

TURN ONS: Wry humor, unexpected intelligence, quiet jokes, thoughtful gifts and actions, independence.

TURN OFFS: Abrasiveness, over the top assertiveness, cruelty, neediness, demands of her time.

HOBBIES: Studying history, practicing calligraphy.

TROPES: Badass Crew, Functional Addict, Guile Hero, In the Blood, Badass in a Nice Suit, Seamless Spontaneous Lie, Personal Horror/Dark and Troubled Past, Photographic Memory

QUOTES: “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 : If you could write your character your way in their own movie,  what would it be called,  what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?      

A1 :  Either a heist movie where a past comes back to haunt a main character, or a fantasy-like origin story with a solid horror background.

Q2 :  What would their soundtrack/score sound like?          

A2 : Her spotify playlist is kind of all over the place. Lots of minimalist female-voiced semi-electronic music.

Q3 :  Why did you start writing this character?        

A3 : I moved over to FFXIV after a very long time of playing WoW almost exclusively and I needed a reboot. I had a very vague character concept in mind when I started through the MSQ and by the time I was through ARR I had a much more solid grasp on the character.

Q4 :  What first attracted you to this character?        

A4 : Her initial concept was much more shallow and I liked the idea of some grifter who could change herself to fit almost any situation.  

Q5 :  Describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.

A5 :  She tries a little too hard to get people to like her.

Q6 :  What do you have in common with your muse?          

A6 :  Wanting people to feel good about themselves.

Q7 : How does your muse feel about you?        

A7 : 'Is it so hard to just take a break every now and then?’ 

Q8 :  What characters does your muse have interesting interactions with?          A8 :  Anyone with their own secret pasts or criminal backgrounds, quiet people who need a boost of reassurance.

Q9 :  What gives you inspiration to write your muse?    

A9 :  Music. Interesting in character interactions.

Q10 : How long did this take you to complete?  

A10 : I did the top part in an hour or two and then forgot about it for a few days.

[frikinik]

Fellas, is it bad luck to draw a picture of your backup D&D character before your other one has died?

This is an As yet unnamed Half-elf Divination Wizard, Guild artisan glassblower who casts her spells through the mangled blob of her first failed project. She’s very tired.