#smiting all the foes

[thana-topsy]

Young Neloth is having a lot of fun in Apocrypha!

[mataglap]

about those anger issues

[reverieblondie]

Dark Prince Rolan AU: Prologue

Pairing: Rolan x Fem!Tav Reader

Warnings: Violence, Pinning, and Smut. warnings will be more detailed as the story progresses.

A/N: I am so excited to be getting this story started! This will be my first long fic I have made for Rolan and I am super excited to share it! I want to give a huge shout out to my dear Sweet Anon! They have been such a big support on helping me so much with this story with helping me with ideas and plot and proofreading and helping with revisions. They are amazing! I hope you all become as obsessed with this story as we are!

Word count: 1,501

Chapter 1 -> The Union

Zevlor's lungs ache as he runs through the grand tapestried walls of the castle. Rolan's command was clear: Storm through the palace, gather every noble you can find and herd them into the throne room where Rolan waits. 

As Zevlor rushes past his fellow brothers and sisters in arms, he feels that slight flicker of hope, hope for justice, that all they have fought for and lost will have been worth it. Passing by each companion, he sees that though they have the upper hand in the fight, they have not yet won. Waldemar's guards desperately try to cut them down, but the tieflings are desperate, too. Though, unlike the guards, the tieflings' desperation had long since boiled into a rage, one just as powerful as any sense of duty, and it continues fueling them all to fight back. This isn't just them taking a castle; this is them taking back their lives. 

Zevlor skidded past Karlach as she cut down two guards in a scream. The fire within her calmed but was still burning as she swung down her axe. To the right, Larkessa provides defense for Alfria, and though the sound of her strumming could hardly be heard over the ensuing combat, the magic that resonated from each plucked cord was still felt as it bolstered and reverberated through her allies. Zevlor's burning eyes swept around the battle, on the lookout for any stranglers or escapees but spying none. A shrill cry of a scream catches his attention as he sees Tilses being overrun by two guards. With a smite and a swing of his long sword, their blood is spilled to the polished marble, staining it the blood red of Waldemar's flag. With a quick healing touch, Zevlor has her back on her feet, but gratitude will have to wait until this war ends: "Commander, we have swept the castle. All nobles are in the throne room. Rolan is waiting for you there."

The old paladin touches her shoulder and nods, "We are almost there. Just stay alive." With that, Zevlor took off again towards the throne room. The previous ache in his lungs dulled as the adrenaline cast a second wind over his body.

Towards the throne room, bodies line the floors, and the feeling of the Weave vibrates through as the air grows denser and more prevalent the closer he gets. At the doors of the closed throne room, Zevlor hears the harsh voices of the pinned-up nobles, cursing or promising anything to any soul that might listen. Their words fall on deaf ears as Cal and Rolan stand surrounded by the slain and the unconscious. When the two younger men noticed Zevlor, Cal smiled while Rolan kept his stern gaze. 

"Tilses says all the nobles we could find within the walls are in the throne room. So, what is the next step of your plan?"

Rolan hums as he looks down at his hands, making Zevlor's brow furrow. He had been told to get them here, but now he detects hesitation from Rolan. It's short-lived, however, and the wizard looks up to his younger brother with a new look of determination in his eyes.

"Cal, I want you to go find Lia. I will meet up with you two when this is over." 

Cal tried to protest but was quickly cut off, "Just do as I say, Cal. Please."

With a nod and a quick embrace, Cal is running down the blood-stained hall. 

Zevlor and Rolan watched him leave, and once he was out of view, Rolan turned toward the paladin, "Zevlor, I need you to guard this door. I need you to ensure nobody, friend or foe, enters this room until I exit."

Zevlor is taken by surprise for a moment, but he is all too compelled to give a nod. Rolan let out a quick sigh, placing a hand on Zevlor's armored shoulder before the young wizard turns away, lifting his head high as he approaches the doors.

"What are you going to do?"

Rolan turns his head, eyes serious and simmering with righteous fury. "What I must."

With a sharp gesture of his hands, Rolan loosed a spell, blasting through the heavy doors as if they were paper and allowing the wizard entry. Zevlor caught the sight of the shaken nobles for only a moment before another harsh gesture from Rolan summoned a thick wall of scorching flame, barricading the entrance and obscuring all beyond the threshold from sight.

Zevlor readied himself, his blade still unsheathed, when the first two armored guards approached, their weapons drawn, and demanded entry. Lifting his sword, the paladin refused; thus, the battle for the throne room ensued.

Zevlor parried and ducked as the two guards tried to overwhelm him, sending silent thanks to Dammon for the armor that now shielded him from their blades. The paladin became aware of more approaching footsteps before allies and enemies rounded the corner as both sides became aware of where their leaders were.

Tilses was the first to make it to her Commander's side, dispatching a third guard who had been advancing on the older tiefling, and soon the other two lay dead at the Hellriders' feet. Moments later, Zevlor sent her back down the hall, carrying Rolan's orders to the others while guard captains rallied what remained of their own men to reach the throne room at any cost.

The two sides continued to clash, and the air continued to grow thick with the metallic scent of blood. Karlach tipped over the long tables intermittently lined against the walls, creating makeshift barricades for the archers and marksmen like Lakrissa to use as cover; the objects previously on display crashed to the floor and were trampled underfoot as the hellfire warrior then turned her focus back to their foes. As more guards attempted to force their way down the hall, Alfira dashed from cover to cover, dragging wounded allies behind the heavy wood to heal them before they charged back into the fray. Whatever foes slipped through this gauntlet would have to contend with Zevlor. They never reached him unharmed, but the attack to breach the castle had been brutal; the battle throughout the palace had been long, and the paladin knew that, sooner or later, one side would eventually have to buckle under that strain.

Another pair of guards began to close in on Zevlor. He didn't give them the chance to gain the upper hand, driving his blade through one's armored shoulder before ducking to the side as the other attempted to charge him. From his peripherals, Zevlor caught sight of the second guard attempting to whirl back around to flank him. Without thinking and in one fluid motion, the paladin wrenched his sword free as he turned and kicked the charging guard into the roaring blaze at the threshold. The man's final agonized scream was brief as metal melted onto blistering skin, leaving nothing but a mass of charred flesh and slag.

Both men stood there for a moment, stunned by the brutality of the flames. Zevlor almost doesn't move aside in time when the remaining guard manages to tear his eyes away from the blaze. The guard's swing was clumsy, the wound on his arm having weakened the grip on his own sword—two things the paladin capitalized on. Guard and weapon clattered to the floor, and Zevlor quickly knocked the blade away from the man's reach with a boot. Before either could decide their next move, a new sound joined the din of battle, and his stomach dropped.

Screams. Panicked, pained, and utterly desperate screams from beyond the wall of flame began to swell and drown out everything. This time, it seemed as if the whole battle had halted, with friend and foe alike standing frozen as they heard the ensuing hell.

Zevlor's only source of comfort at that moment was the sight of the wall of flame, knowing that if it still remained, then that had to mean the same for its caster. Surely, it had to mean that Rolan still lived. It had to. The screams grew shrill and ragged, spilling from the throne room and echoing throughout the hall. Louder and louder, reaching a harrowing peak, until... silence.

Seconds later, the roaring wall of flame flickered, dimmed, and slowly began to disappear.

Once the flames had dissipated, Zevlor released the breath that he hadn't realized had been trapped in his chest. His eyes widened at the sight of Rolan standing completely unharmed in the middle of the throne room—alone.

The sound of shuddering breaths came from the wounded guard at Zevlor's feet, "The- The nobles... The King.. What- What did you do?". The man trembled, eyes unblinking and mortified.

"What your king swore to do," Rolan answered, head held high as he lifted a hand, revealing the gold and jeweled crown of the king dangling irreverently from the wizard's clawed fingers. "Purge the monsters from Waldemar.”

[netherese-blorb]

For You

(View on ao3)

SFW (Teen) - Gale loves you more than anything. and isn’t that just terrifying.

None of you left the Shadowlands whole. Yet even among your ragged bunch, the shift you see in Gale has you worried.

It could just be your closeness that makes him stand out. Not that you don’t love the others, in their own ways. But you spent weeks studying Gale as the two of you danced your clumsy courting dance. If his shoulders sloped a hair lower than usual, or if the skin under his eyes darkened half a shade, you would notice.

Your knowledge is wasted, however, as even the least astute at camp could see that he wasn’t himself. At first, it was a general anxiety. He would flinch every time he saw the sky, as if he expected it to fall, or for a bolt to come down and smite him where he stood. Then, as he realized the ground beneath him wouldn’t give way, his dread turned to manic obsession: with the Crown of Karsus, and with you.

Through his unending monologues about the artifact’s potential, he couldn’t let you leave his sight. Not for a moment. In the rare times when you insisted on privacy, he would keep conversation through the door, or tent flap, or bush, working himself into an immediate panic if he felt it’d been too long since he heard you.

So far you’ve been more than willing to accommodate his attentions. You’ve been through a lot yourself, after all, and tending to him has been a welcome distraction.

But after defeating the Githyanki ambush, you know - he knows - it can’t go on like this.

You knew it was a risk, coming within melee range of a fully armored enemy. But the surprise attack didn’t give you time to prepare your ranged spells and your final target was weak enough that, if you were lucky, you could finish him off with one swing of your newly acquired magic sword.

But you weren’t lucky. Your unpracticed movements were clumsy and your shimmering blade skittered uselessly off of pristine silver armor, leaving you wide open for your foe’s much more experienced counterattack.

You heard Gale’s desperate shouts long before you registered the pain of the blow.

You turned to him as you staggered back and saw his twisted expression illuminated by the sparks growing between his hands.

Lightening Bolt. Your eyes dart to Shadowheart, who was struggling to maintain concentration through her own injuries.

And standing in the direct path of Gale’s attack.

He’s not looking at her. He doesn’t see. Nothing in his once-gentle face but blind fear and blind fury.

You manage to counterspell his move just before it can reach its unintended target. Shadowheart startles and whips around to Gale, who returns her horrified expression. With everyone, including your enemy, distracted, Astarion is able to deal a final sneak attack with his crossbow and put the battle to an end.

Little is said in the moments after it's over; a few healing words to stitch wounds back together, simple instructions to ensure loot is distributed, but the long walk back to camp begins and ends in silence.

It’s only hours later, when all of you are settled around the fire, that Astarion finally breaks the quiet tension.

“I still can’t wrap my head around what you could have possibly been thinking, Wizard.”

Having not found a wine to his liking this evening, he instead jangled a bottle of rum in his hand, using it to gesture with only some of his usual grace towards Shadowheart, “I trust you’re aware that’s our only healer you almost disintegrated.”

Shadowheart is still staring silently into the fire, sitting with her arms gently holding her knees to her chest.

Given the time he’d had to prepare, you’d expected Gale to have his most eloquent response at the ready. But only stammers came to him:

“I didn’t-” He thinks better of his phrasing, “Gods, there wasn’t -”

“He was just trying to protect me, Astarion,” You try to interject.

“Leaving you to protect us from him.” Shadowheart’s voice is quiet. She doesn’t look up from the fire.

Us , she said. Not me.

Astarion, in contrast, is all petulance and venom when he turns his focus on you. “Don’t you start. I refuse to endure another moment of your coddling, and I certainly won’t take lectures from the fool who thought to impress by playing with a sword she’s never used!”

He stands so he can look down at you, “Pretty a thing as it is, dear, access to your cunt is a pitiful excuse for friendly fire.”

“I think you’ve had enough.” Gale cuts in exasperatedly and stands, extending a hand toward the elf’s near-empty bottle.

Gale’s movements are slow and his words have no edge to them, yet for the briefest moment, you see panic flash across Astarion’s face. His familiar sneer quickly replaces it, but he makes no effort to have the last word. He shoves the rum into Gale’s hands before stalking off to his tent. Gale deflates and sighs sadly. As he sits, he offers the remnants of the bottle to Shadowheart, but she won’t meet his gaze.

For long minutes, there is nothing. The day’s second silence.

They’re afraid of him, you realize. Surely they know it was an honest mistake? It wasn’t like none of them had ever gotten caught in the crossfire of battle before. Every fighter in your group was guilty of the occasional reckless cleave attack. Hells, Shadowheart openly threatened Lae’zel at knifepoint and the two had talked it out by morning. And obviously, death is unpleasant, but with Withers always at hand, it’s hardly permanent.

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Shadowheart.” Gale says, finally finding his words.

Shadowheart stands and looks strong, though her eyes are still unfocused.

“I know you are. Although I’m not of a mind to forgive quite yet. I just upended everything to escape My La-”

a breath.

“…Shar’s push towards darkness and pain. Yet you would have given me both today, left to your own devices. That can’t be fixed with a kind word.”

You see Gale's brows knit together. You watch the journey of his face as he makes the same realization you did, and keep the same arguments to himself.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats. “I lost myself.”

That was the wrong thing to say, apparently. Shadowheart’s misty eyes suddenly focus and her quiet control slips ever-so-slightly.

“And what about before, in Moonrise? You were ready to take our lives into your own hands and blow us up with you. Did you stop because you considered for even a moment how desperately the rest of us wanted to live? Or just because she ,” her head tilts toward you but her eyes stay fixed on Gale’s, “told you to.”

She waits for him to respond, but all he can do is stare at her, then the ground, then you.

Shadowheart looks to you as well. “What happens next time? What happens if you aren’t there to stop him?”

There’s nothing you can say that would comfort them both. Not that was true, at least. You look between the two of them. Shadowheart, despite everything, is standing strong. Her fear burns hot, tempered by anger and passion. But Gale’s is frozen, threatening to shatter him.

So - in that moment, as forever - you choose him.

“I’ll always be there.”

You meet Gale’s eyes and give him a warm, tired smile. To your great relief, he returns it.

Shadowheart balls her fists at her side and breathes deep, a small tremble in her exhale as she fights her emotions back down.

“For all our sakes, I hope you’re right,” she says, resigned, before walking back to her tent as well.

Once the sound of footsteps fades, Gale takes your hand in his. A third silence falls.

It somehow feels longer than the other two combined, although no more than an hour could have passed. By the time Gale finally speaks, you’re laying with him in a joined bedroll by the fire and sleep is starting to darken the stars.

“I am the luckiest man in the world.”

You didn’t have any particular expectations of the first thing Gale would say to you. But still, that takes you aback. You give him a searching look.

You can see him trying to reorganize his thoughts. Clearly, he had already been several tangents away from the point before he began speaking.

“I would have doomed the world.” is where he chooses to begin again. “Not just this one. Every plane of existence was at risk. Every source of authority, every sense of morality I had told me that the only choice was to detonate the orb - end the Netherbrain then and there - no matter the cost. And yet I chose you.”

You feel yourself growing defensive. Does he regret the choice he made? Resent you for saving him? “They were wrong.” You say, sharply, “You knew they were wrong.”

He pushes air out his nose in an amused half-chuckle. His hand brushes through your hair. “No, my love, I didn’t know that. But it wouldn’t have changed my mind if they weren’t.”

You don’t understand what he means. You sit up and catch his eyes, hoping he’ll continue.

And he does, sitting up himself and returning your gaze intensely.

“If you had said to me, plainly ‘I want you to let the Netherbrain run rampant. I want you to make that choice, knowing it will destroy all that is known. For me.’ I would have done it. And if you had said ‘Use the orb. Raize the tower and every living creature in it - all your most cherished friends - for no other reason than I desire it.’ I wouldn’t have thought twice. Such is my love for you.”

Now it is your turn to chuckle. You are about to make a jab at his tendency toward dramatic overtures when he grasps your hand to recapture your attention. His voice is becoming more urgent. He needs you to understand.

“Today, with the Githyanki. Shadowheart is dear to me, and I would never wish to do her harm. But if you gave me the chance to try again, my actions would be the same. You were hurt and I would do anything, cut through anyone, to pay back a single mark that’s made on you.”

You run your thumb soothingly over his grasping hand and do your best to speak softly, trying to ease him out of the lather he’s worked himself into.

“Don’t say that, Gale. Don’t talk like you don’t care.”

“Caring is not the issue.” His eyes dart around as if the right words could be found floating in the air between you. “It’s this fear. Ever-present, gnawing, cloying fear.”

That brittle look returns to him. “I was ready to destroy myself for nothing more than the whisper of a chance at Mystra’s forgiveness. What chaos might I wreak if the one whom I love a thousand times more, is taken from me? I would commit follies Karsus could only dream of. I would rend the cosmos apart until consequence and reality turned to dust in my hand. Just to keep you near me, keep you safe.”

You try to reassure him as you did before. But you feel the chill beginning to claw at your heart as well. You’re afraid too, you realize. You’ve been afraid for him since the moment he was charged with his own sacrifice.

He doesn’t see. Your brilliant, stupid love.

You don’t notice your tears until he reaches up to brush them away. It feels odd, to be offered comfort by someone who needs yours so much more. But his body seems to soften as he tends to you.

“Fear has to be cruel.” You say, hoping it sounds reassuring rather than accusatory. “It whips at your back to get you to run faster. It’s selfish to keep you alive. Yours just needs some recalibration, let me help you! I promise you’re so much more than you imagine yourself to be.”

He shakes his head. He doesn’t see. But he smiles.

“I’m not so sure about that.” He brings you close to steal a quick kiss. “But you, my love - my beautiful, brilliant, shining north star - you are the best of us. If I am to live only by your guiding light, it would be an honor.”

No. No, you have to make him see.

“You weigh your worth against a handful of grand choices.” You begin, “Yet, with all you’ve been through, the greatest thing you’ve ever done is wake up every day and choose to live , despite your burdens. You say you live for me, but I don’t tell you to breathe and eat and put one foot in front of the other. Those are choices you make every moment and every one of them is a miracle!”

He stares at you in awed silence before you bring your lips back together. You pour into the kiss all your love and your dreams of a life he can choose for himself. It's many minutes before he finally pulls away.

“See? The luckiest man.” He says, a little breathlessly “I tell you I would do anything you asked, and your only request of me is kindness for myself.”

His hand moves to cradle the side of your head as he continues. “How deeply I want your words to be true. I suppose they must be, since you say so. Though that’s the crux of the issue, isn’t it? What then, would I be without you?”

“A good person.” You respond, “The best man I know.”

“I’ll allow that I may be someday, if you’ll permit me the time. I’d like to become the man you see in me. The best I can be, for-”

You interrupt him with one last kiss, stealing the words from his mouth. Maybe he still can’t see, not yet, but you will always be there to remind him: “For you. ”

[blueishspace]

Here is what I meant by writing down some boons for the HC/life series Hades au.

Grian- God of The Sun. (Because, of course)

Boons:

Grian's Aid- Your call fires 4 rotating rays of light that damage foes at a rate of 9 dmg every 0.2 seconds and inflicts Blind. Lasts 4 seconds (Rare-4.5 seconds, Epic-5 seconds, Eroic-5.5 seconds).

Blinding burst- Your attack is stronger and inflicts Blind. Attack damage: +50% (Rare multiplier: 1.2-1.4, Epic: 1.6-1.8, Heroic: 2.2-2.5).

Shots in the dark- Your special rapid-fires a series of 10 glowing bullets that inflict Blind. Damage: 10 per bullet. (Rare: 14, Epic: 16, Heroic: 20)

Delayed trap- Your dash creates a small glowing orb that explodes after 3 seconds and inflicts Burn. Damage: 65 (Rare: 70, Epic: 85, Heroic: 90)

Blinding smite: Your cast summons a ray of light that inflicts Blind in a big area. Damage: 70 (Rare: 80, Epic: 90, Eroic 100).

Cactus ring (of course): After being damaged summon a ring of glowing cactii around you dealing revenge damage and inflicting Blind to all foes. Revenge damage: 15 (Rare: 20, Epic: 25, Heroic: 30)

Burning Light: Every foe inflicted by Burn has a 40% chance of also becoming Blind. (Rare: 50%, Epic: 60%, Heroic 75%).

The all-seeing: All blinding effects last +3.5 seconds (Rare: 4, Epic: 4.5, Heroic: 5).

Burning metal: Enemies with less then 20% health have a 10% chance of exploding after being hit thus Burning nearby foes. (Rare: 12%, Epic: 14%, Heroic: 16%)

Denied Sunset: When health is below 30% take half damage. -Legendary.

Status effects:

Blind: Enemies are 25% slower and have a 50% chance of missing. Last 4 seconds.

Burn: Enemies take 10 damage every 0.2 seconds for 2 seconds. (Like scorched except does less damage per second but lasts longer)

(I'm not... good at making things balanced so I would be very grateful for all suggestions on changing specific values)

Scott

[voidsentprinces]

[utilitycaster]

hi, what are your thoughts on the recently announced changes to dnd classes? I'm particularly interested what you think about the new paladin and warlock since you always have very correct opinions on them.

Hi anon, I must admit I have not been keeping up with the PHB playtests; I do intend to get the updated book when it comes out but I found keeping up with every change was a lot of time I would rather spend on other things, especially since they came out very intense and have walked a lot back (some for valid reasons, some not)

I did, however, go look at Paladin and Warlock though I didn't go into depth with any subclasses.

Warlock, since that's the one I found first (Playtest 7): in terms of general progression I am always pro focusing more on invocations so having them from the start and having two more is good in my mind. I am also pro pact magic. I think it is a cool different thing and is a feature of the class; making it a normal spellcasting table was a mistake. Spell progression/cantrips/slots seem otherwise the same as the 2014 PHB, which seems reasonable.

I haven't read thorough other classes so I don't know if swapping cantrips is true of every class; I do think there should be a way to change out cantrips because sometimes you pick a bad cantrip. You shouldn't be able to prep them if you're a prepared caster (wizard, cleric, etc) but yeah I'd say levels or at least ASI levels should permit cantrip swaps.

Magical cunning is GREAT actually because that used to be a L20 feature and now it's slightly weaker and L2. Hilarious, but also I think it offers more opportunities for engaging with your patron and the RP/story that provides. Same with the Contact Patron L9 feature. Keeping Eldritch Master for the capstone is admittedly a little weak but also I'm lenient on L20 because so few people play at L20.

I think the pacts being invocations is fascinating because like, you could just be a pact boon-less jack of all trades if you really wanted, OR you could have all three, and that's funny to me. I also like that you get additional spells rather than just expanded options.

The one thing I'm not sure about is moving the subclass to L3. This works okay for paladins because paladins are like, you dedicate yourself at L1 and your powers come from your own dedication and conviction, and then you take an oath at L3. Warlocks are like...until you have a patron you are just a guy. That should be at L1.

Paladin:

Bonus action lay on hands is killer. incredible. no notes. big fan. I do think they should still be permitted to cure diseases however; basically 5 lay on hands should be a lesser restoration spell.

Simplifying spell prep is probably a good idea just in terms of time and ease but the drawback is you don't have as many cool options each night. Less of a big deal for a paladin but this would be an issue for full prepared casters, and I checked and (EDITED I FORGOT TO INSERT WHAT I MEANT TO SAY HERE) full casters get full spell prep as before so nevermind, fine for paladins.

haven't been following weapon mastery but given most characters don't swap weapons that often, seems fine.

Smites are also fine; paladins can do STUPID damage as is so limiting smites to only one per turn is not unreasonable imo.

Big fan of find steed always being prepared because I think a lot of people just don't use it because there's better spells unless it's a really important part of their character. We need more steeds.

Abjure Foes seems awesome; Radiant strikes are great also FINALLY. SORT OF SMITING ON UNARMED STRIKES.

Restoring Touch makes more sense to me than Cleansing Touch, also seems reasonable.

Broken Oath flavor text very good

Overall this seems pretty good for paladins and the only warlock thing is that I think they need to work on when you choose a subclass.

[razrogue]

channeling energy (Minthara x Tav)

It takes Minthara some time to come to terms with the force that Gan is.

Someone being so in sync with her and wasn't trying to kill her to take it all was like a fever dream. All the right words are said, almost all the right moves are made, Minthara found it unsettling at first. Many nights she wanted to push into Gan's mind to really find out if there was a dagger waiting for her. The one night her curiosity got the better of her and she did, it was illuminating and incredibly frustrating.

Gan felt Minthara's tadpole engaging hers as they got situated in Rivington. She knew it couldn't really be anyone else because it was a sensation she'd known before with Minthara given how she often intruded into her thoughts long before now. Minthara hadn't done it since before the shadow cursed lands when she last saw her after the party so Gan was a little annoyed at the intrusion now. She dropped the bag she'd been holding and stared at her, waiting for her to use her words. It surprised Minthara for a moment before she finally tells her.

She wanted to know if this was all a dream. If she had to be worried that they would eventually end up on opposing sides. Gan looks at her before finally agreeing to let her in. Minthara is hesitant at first. She had to admit to herself that her intrusion was not entirely about finding out if she was only a rest away from a dagger to her throat, not unlike how she'd once done to her. Whispers of companionship had also crossed her mind. She knew the elf was coupled with the vampire spawn. She'd seen them cavorting about but he was of no consequence to her, he barely registered as a threat, let alone a rival. Minthara did find it puzzling how such a formidable person had gotten tangled up with such a fiend but being on the surface had introduced her to many strange customs.

The two of them went into the barn, away from prying eyes, and allowed their minds to mingle.

Minthara pushed in, gently at first, bracing for whatever lie in the thick of it all. She found herself greeted by hesitation of Gan wondering if they should trust them then admirable scenes of the two of them side by side slicing and smiting their foes. It brings Minthara joy to see them removing threats to their claim. But then Minthara pushed further and saw something a lot more personal. The two of them embracing each other by firelight. Gan lying beneath her, hands palming her ass, running her tongue along the edge of her ear. Quickly nibbling its point as she slides her hand further down until it reaches warmth.

Minthara pulls back. It is a revelation indeed. She tells her that she is a little surprised, not that they had not connected physically before. But the vision Gan had shown her held far more intimacy than she anticipated.

She reached for her hand, letting her know her feelings were not one sided. Then she had to lay everything out - that she did not share those she cared about.

Gan runs her thumb across the back of her hand, along a freshly healed scar. She understood that Minthara felt that way but she could not live like that. She told her how she grew up in a family with many parents who all loved and embraced each other freely. She found it incredibly selfish to want to consume someone wholly when you are capable of loving many as love and the capacity to love was not finite. The irony wasn't lost on Gan how she could be unapologetically selfish in so many aspects of her life but loving and sharing herself with others was not one of them. She understood that Minthara felt how she did but she was not one to hoard her affection for others. Gan grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm as she stood up. 

She valued Minthara, not only as an ally but as someone she was starting to care about in a sense, but she would not be made to conform to someone else's definition or expectations. And so Minthara takes that knowledge and response in stride.

It was not her way and she knew the surface folk moved very differently than those in the Underdark. She couldn't fathom having to share her affections with others because when she loved, she only wanted to love one.

But time and insight had a way of bringing clarity. When they were engaged they were no less attended to than the spawn was. Even if it hadn't been in a romantic capacity at the time, Minthara felt no less important to her. Minthara slowly came to see what Gan meant. It may not have been her way but it was a sight to see and to be a part of. So when she finally decided she was willing to partake, she did so with the full knowledge that she wouldn't feel lesser.

[monstersdownthepath]

Herald of Sarenrae: Sunlord Thalachos

CR 15

Neutral Good Large Outsider

Inner Sea Gods, pg. 306

Ahh, here we go, a battle-ready Herald, specifically the Herald of Sarenrae, goddess of the sun, healing, and redemption. This platinum-skinned emissary of sunlight, however, has little to do with those latter two; while he can certainly be merciful and indeed possesses an array healing magic (mainly Remove Disease, Curses, and Fear--all at-will), the Sunlord primarily serves as Sarenrae's praetorian guard, protecting mortals selected by the sun goddess until they no longer require his guidance, often appearing to chosen wards at their birth to shield them from the machinations of the wicked until they learn to defend themselves. Able to not only become invisible at will, but freely change into the form of any Small or Medium humanoid or elemental creature, those tended to by Thalachos rarely ever know who their mysterious protector is (if they even know he's around), and almost never find out until long after he departs... if ever at all.

Interestingly, the purpose behind the Herald's creation is stated to be to serve as Sarenrae's weapon against the Spawn of Rovagug... but, well, I hope that's not literal, because the majority of the Spawn wouldn't even register his presence. I'm personally choosing to interpret it as him being charged with stopping whatever malefic machinations the cult of the Rough Beast is setting into motion to awaken one of the Spawn, because otherwise the Sunlord will need major backup in order to even inconvenience the weakest of the Spawn... or at least better weapons, since he can't even pierce their DR/Epic with his +1 Holy Flaming Scimitars!

But, before you go thinking he's some laughingstock in too far over his head, let me explain something to you: Are you familiar with the concept of hunting with the wrong weapon? For example, a normal shotgun isn't especially effective when hunting elephants, but if you were to instead shoot a squirrel, you'll obliterate the squirrel and likely a good portion of the terrain behind it. I say this to impress upon you the fact that the Spawn are the elephants, Thalachos is the shotgun, and the average cultist of Rovagug is the squirrel.

Before we get to how well he can peel apart a mortal, it's more than a little funny to me how good Thalachos is at getting rid of Evil Outsiders, a foe he was not built to face but nonetheless excels at removing. The Hand of the Inheritor--whom I must apologize to for continuing to punch at every opportunity--is devoted almost entirely to destroying demons, but Thalachos has frankly unfairly potent powers when it comes to combating all Evil, starting at the ability to cast Holy Word AND Dispel Evil at-will, the former capable of simply erasing hoards of lesser fiends and cultists with a single utterance and the latter capable of undoing the magic or the calling of whatever fiend Thalachos gets ahold of. He's got an unrestricted Plane Shift at-will to go wherever he pleases OR slap someone into another dimension with a single failed DC 21 Will save. He can use Sunburst 1/day to bring down Sarenrae's wrath upon an area, scouring it of Undead and any other creature vulnerable to sunlight, and call down a Flame Strike 1/day as well for additional artillery power.

if that wasn't enough, he's got Holy Smite at-will to squash whatever withstood his Holy Word... and perhaps, most blatantly wacky, the level 8 spell Holy Aura at will. NOT 3/day, or 1/day, or even 5/day, but at-will. Holy Aura can bless upwards to 15 creatures per casting with +4 to AC and to saves, 25 SR versus any spell cast by an Evil creature, full mind shielding, AND the ability to inflict permanent blindness against any Evil which strikes a protected creature in melee. He can do this at will, and everyone blessed by this maintains the blessing for 15 rounds.

do you guys think he'd be willing to go north for a bit? y'know, for fun?

All of these blessings are almost strictly for other people, though. Thalachos has no need for his own buffs, shielded by the universal Protective Aura of all Angels, improving both his and nearby allies' defenses against the weapons and magic against the forces of evil and hedging out hostile spell effects of 3rd level or lower (adorably, his aura also gives everyone inside Endure Elements so it's always comfortable). He's also fully immune to Fire, Acid, AND Cold damage, denying the three most common vectors of elemental attack by any creature, let alone fiends. Despite being Large size, he's also got Uncanny Dodge for some reason, which I imagine must look especially uncanny when the solid platinum titan suddenly bends 90 degrees at the waist to avoid an incoming spell.

All that defense helps him (literally) shine where he's most dangerous: In melee. It probably comes as no surprise that the 8ft tall flaming four-armed angel is a melee beater, and a resilient one at that. With an aforementioned at-will Invisibility, you may not know he's nearby until he slams down directly behind you, trapping you and all your friends in his 20ft threat radius. While certainly proficient with his +1 Flaming Holy Composite Longbow (2d8+6 + 1d6 Fire + 2d6 vs Evil), his true threat lays in melee, and not just for his damage.

He's got every Two-Weapon Fighting feat all the way to Greater, allowing him to make three attacks with his off-hand weapons while adding his full Str mod to the damage, already making his Full-Attack hurt; he's armed with two +1 Flaming Holy Scimitars which hit six times a round if he manages to Full-Attack. The meager 1d8+8 damage (+1d6 Fire + 2d6 vs Evil) belies their true effectiveness, because six attacks make the 18-20 crit range of his chosen weapons far more frightening than the low damage would suggest... and taking damage from two of his attacks in a single round forces a DC 24 Fortitude save versus being stunned for 1d6 rounds.

There is no cooldown to this ability or 24 hour immunity clause, and he can affect as many creatures as he can hit twice a round, potentially letting him stun up to three targets in a single round. Since being stunned has an obvious visual sign--the target drops everything they're holding and becomes woozy--the Sunlord is intelligent and insightful enough to drop aggro on whoever he's stunned to focus on anyone else in his melee radius to spread it around. Thankfully, this ability doesn't trigger multiple times a round for a single target, as it only checks the first time the target is hit twice. Taking all six hits doesn't trigger the ability 3 times, all the more reason he should diversify the directions he swings his swords.

Being stun-locked in melee with someone who can throw out so many attacks a round is never fun, and do you want to know what's worse? He doesn't need to Full-Attack to do it! He's a TWF guy, remember? If he moves up to you (50ft movespeed, 100ft fly) and does a simple attack, he can still hit twice, potentially cause a stun, and then do a Full-Attack next round instead to keep the chain going as long as he can.

I think all of this all very firmly puts him into the territory of "Tide-turning superweapon" that all Divine Heralds should be. He's a very high bar to clear, and very few do, hence why he caps off Holy Heralds Month. Fitting, I feel, for a central goddess such as Sarenrae.

You can read more about him here.

[dailycharacteroption]

Prestige Class Spotlight 14: Chevalier

(art by Lord-of-the-slugs on DeviantArt)

Sometimes when you look through the early days of a gaming system, you see ideas that clearly formed the bones of ideas that would come later, but it makes you wonder why they themselves were left behind? Well, today’s subject is like that.

Today’s subject is a prestige class from the early 3.5 days of the Pathfinder setting, from the back matter of one of the Second Darkness AP books. Essentially, it served as a way to inject a little bit of paladin into characters that don’t fulfill the alignment requirement to actually BE paladins, even if they are otherwise good.

Indeed, this archetype is most commonly associated with the adventuring god Cayden Cailean, and like him they firmly believe in protecting all that is good in this world, but aren’t too hung up on rules and restrictions. While many have the trappings of knights, theirs is an informal order that accepts anyone with desire to do good and the courage to stand up towards the most fearsome of threats without backing down. Beyond that, anything goes, from backstabbing the bad guy to breaking the law to simply just enjoying life with no moral restrictions beyond what they view as right.

Now, you can see why this would have been a big thing back in those days because, outside of homebrews and obscure Dragon and Dungeon magazine articles, the notion of folks getting paladin (or blackguard)-like powers outside of two classes was practically unheard of. Aura of Courage and Smite Evil were a paladin thing.

It only made sense that eventually, with Pathfinder Second Edition fully divesting itself of many old assumptions, that we would see the Paladin transform into the Champion class, with much more flexible sets of morals and whatnot.

But what bugs me is that Chevalier never came back as a name for either of the non-paladin goodly variants of the class. Which sucks because Chevalier is a much more fun than Liberator, even if it isn’t as descriptive. It would have been such a good callback though.

Eh, but I digress. In any case, this prestige class is definitely a contender for prestige class with the fewest actual levels, only having 3. This makes sense though, as it really does just exist to do one thing and one thing only, so let’s talk about what that is.

The requirements for this prestige class include being of goodly nature, having decent social skills and fighting skill, as well as having faced a very strong threat, making the minimum possible level to start taking it be 6th. However, the low number of levels in the prestige class means it could reasonably be taken by any class, even at later levels.

These warriors exude fearlessness, warding them against fear as well as doing the same to nearby allies to a lesser extent.

They also, however, exude recklessness, and whenever they join combat their hastiness lends them a measure of deadly sureness to their attacks during those first few critical moments.

They learn to offset some of this, however, keeping their guard up when charging at foes.

A headstrong nature also helps them when it comes to fighting off hostile enchantments, sometimes allowing them to shake them off moments later if they initially succumb.

Perhaps as a reflection of the Drunken God’s own alcohol tolerance, or merely because the divine forces find the idea of such daring heroes falling to something as base as poison abhorrent, but these warriors are blessed with total immunity to toxins as a result.

Finally, They also are blessed with enough divine power to smite the wicked as if they were a true paladin.

This prestige class of course needs a slight bit of conversion work because it’s technically a 3.5 creation, but it overall represents a fun little idea and a minor dip that may be worth it to some characters. One level is enough to make even casters happy what with fear immunity and a buff to attack rolls and damage that includes spells, while more martial characters will enjoy the better charges, protection for one of their weaker saves, and their own special way to smite… and many of these abilities scale to your total character level, not just levels in this prestige class!

I can imagine that many of these characters are somewhat lackadaisical when it comes to their daily lives unlike some paladins, causing them to sometimes come into contention with others that have certain expectations for what a paladin or other holy warrior has to be. Even still, when the chips are down, these warriors are fully capable of getting serious, though they likely still have plenty of quips for their foes.

A terrible rash of murders have been occurring in the farmlands of the Eastern Province, and a band of adventurers led by a brave chevalier arrive to investigate. In doing so, the party discovers that the murders are the work of the largest infestation of monstrous Jack-o’-Lanterns ever seen, leading to the question of what could have given rise to such an army of autumnal adversaries.

They say that the only true law of the sea are the oceans whim, and yet there are still those that seek to bring joy and peace, such as the wandering Depthwards, a group of aquatic beings, mostly cecaelians, that travel between oceanic communities writing wrongs and living free.

Cast out from the order for failing to live up to their standards, Vilga was delighted to see that she still retained enough of her god’s favor to receive a trace of divine power. Now she fights for justice on her own terms, though some hardliners in the order brand her a heretic.

[genshinemblem564]

Sagau: Power

A list of powers and physical attributes you gain as your power awakens in Teyvat.

Cont.

_______________________________________________

As Teyvat's creator, you have several unique abilities that can be categorized as elemental, passive, physical, and divine.

Elemental: extensions of your simple control over the elements.

• Blitz: like the Shogun, the creator has the ability to infuse their own body with electro, enhancing their speed.

• Storm Call: the ability to conjure a storm of any kind, from a whirling hurricane to a light drizzle, as such it is used to both punish and bless the people of Teyvat.

• Solar Cannon: the ability to call down the light of the sun in the form of a pillar of flames to smite your foes.

• Herbal Potency: any and all plants you cultivate are of the highest quality, medicinal herbs grown by you end up being highly sawt after by pharmacists and alchemists. (Could also fit under the passive category)

Passive: powers that act without any input from you.

• Mind's Eye: this power translates whatever you're reading to your first language, from simple letters to ancient hieroglyphs. It does not help with writing unfortunately.

• Core Temperature Control: this power adjusts your body temperature so you can withstand even the harshest conditions, whether it be the scorching desert or the frigid Dragonspine. You will still feel minor changes in temperature, such as when swimming or enjoying a gentle breeze.

• Regeneration: your wounds heal faster than anyone else's. This power is not instant and it has its limits, as it cannot revive you if you suffer a fatal injury, so caution is still advised.

• Anemo Attunement: like Kazuha and Venti, the wind communicates with you, guides you, warns you, and just over all aids you.

Physical attributes: changes in your appearance due to your powers awakening.

• Wings: a set of feathered wings that grant the ability to fly. These wings can change colors or have certain patterns if you so desire. While the wings can be put away at anytime, this does not remove any built up grime, so proper care is important.

• Markings: appearing mostly on your arms and upper back, these markings glow with elemental energy, not too brightly though, as clothes can still hide them from view.

• Glowing Eyes: these mostly occur when making use of your powers, glowing with the colors of the elements, occasionally giving you artificial heterochromia when using multiple elements at once. Outside of elemental indication, you can control what color they glow, certain colors seem to have a calming effect.

•Aura: when using a great deal of power, a golden aura encompasses your body, this seems to have no effect other than aesthetics and coolness factor. While not being a physical attribute, it's lack of effects lands it in this category.

Divine: powers exclusive to you and your kin, if you have any in Teyvat.

• Wishing: before your arrival in Teyvat, this was used to obtain weapons and new vessels and you were unable to specify your wish, after your arrival however, these wishes are much more powerful, capable of changing the landscape or even fusing worlds together, and while you can specify your wishes now, one must be VERY specific to avoid unintended effects.

• Shapeshifting: while shapeshifting does exist for others, your ability is boundless, you can shift into anything, a wolf, rabbit, falcon, or a dragon. This power can be finicky however, as you have woken up to many strange looks only to realize you have an extra set of ears or a tail.

• Conjuration: as the creator, you can conjure anything you may need at you fingertips, the only caveat being you have to have intimate knowledge of whatever you wish to create, a lack of knowledge can lead to rather bizarre outcomes.

• Purification: the ability to purify any being of harmful energies, such as curses or demon or spirit possessions. In other writings this is often displayed through the removal of Xiao's karmic debt. This has also lead you to attend many funerals to ensure that the departed actually pass on instead of being bound by these negative energies.

Illusions: projections of your memories that have multiple uses from analyzing past events to using your memories of combat to train, you have gotten many eager requests from Tartaglia due to this.

• Reformation: the ability to change your form permanently. Unlike shapeshifting where you merely change your appearance and voice, reformation changes your true form's whole anatomy. The only downside being, you need to demanifest in order to do this, so make sure you know what you want beforehand, if you're gone too long your followers will have a panic attack.

_______________________________________________

Note: these are all major powers and don't cover normal powers like shields and healing. As stated previously, these are free for anyone to use in their own writings, I'm sorry if I'm being a broken record, I just feel the need to say this because I've often worried about using some else's ideas in the past because they never specified. Looking back I realize that was stupid of me, but a panicked mind can hardly think straight. Anyways, I didn't mean for this to become a rambling, I hope you enjoyed this post.

[jaypea00101010]

Freezing Smite and Sacrifice

A double whammy this time, not only a new spell for your paladins, but showing off a new Method of Worship for the priest to go with it!

Freezing Smite is, as you can probably guess, a new Paladin spell for your 5e games. While there's already plenty of different damage types represented in smite spells: thunder, fire, and psychic twice to name a few, there's not yet an official cold based smite spell.

Freezing Smite exists to fill that void, while it deals less damage than even some first level smites, the extra effects are where it becomes really useful, speed reduction and loss of reaction is extremely useful, helping your allies get away from enemies and not being chased down, or not having to worry about getting counterspelled this round for example.

Where this becomes really interesting though is when we look at the next new method of worship The Priest Class will be getting next update: Sacrifice

As with all of Priest's Methods of Worship, at first level this grants the priest a new spellcasting focus: a knife or weapon that deals slashing damage, requiring you to wave the weapon as you cast spells; and an improvement to some spells, in this case, smites.

If a priest hits a creature with a weapon attack, they can choose to cast a smite spell as part of that attack (much like Paladins do with their Divine Smite feature), this can be any smite spell that priests know, which will of course be all official smite spells. A feature stolen with permission from heavily inspired by @cardstockcaster's conviction paladin optional class feature.

Priests aren't the best in melee combat usually, not having very good weapon proficiencies for it, but combined with War as your Deity's Domain, or Judge as your Divine Calling, both of which grant you proficiency in all Melee Weapons, a Priest can become a monster in the front lines, smiting foes left and right in a way paladins could only dream of.

Keep your eyes peeled for the level 1-13 Priest Class playtest, featuring Freezing Smite, and Sacrifice, coming very soon!

[krimsonkatt]

PROVIDENCE

Providence, one of 4 ultimate bosses in my game Chronicles Meteorfall, bosses even stronger that superbosses that are super hard and super secret

Providence is a very difficult boss with 3 phases in total. In phase 1, she will use Luster to boost her stats, Antilife to deal colossal almighty damage to all foes while lowering your stats, and all the strongest spells of every element including Rexfire, Rexfrost, Rexthunder, Rexwind, Rexlight, and Rexdark. This phase lasts until she is at 75% HP, where afterward she will heal to full.

Phase 2 is the most interesting of the phases. In this phase she summons 7 "faces", boosting her total press turns from 4 to 8, one for each face and one for herself. In this phase she will continue to use Luster and Antilife, but will no longer use elemental spells. Each face as it's own available moves and attack patterns, each based off a breath of fire 2 party member.

Dog Face: Based on Bow/Bosch. Can use Rexheal to fully heal one ally, Renew to revive an ally with full HP, and Karka Guard and Matra Guard to block all phys/elemental attacks for all allies for 2 turns. This face is by far the one you should target first, it's main weakness being that it never heals itself.

Armadillo Face: Based on Rand. Can use Quake, Rexthunder, Rampage, and Healing Circle. Quake deals severe force damage to all foes x4, but is nulled by flying battlers. Rexthunder deals unreal thunder damage to all foes x3. Rampage deals unreal smash damage to 4 random foes x2, and Healing Circle casts Regen on one ally.

Cat Face: Based on Katt/Lin. Can use Godspeed Strike K, Sidestep, Power Charge, Rexfire, Rexthunder, and Rexfrost. Godspeed Strike deals unreal strike damage to all foes twice based on SPD and Sidestep allows her to dodge one physical attack automatically. Has incredibly high SPD and DEX so she crits and dodges a lot, but suffers from surprisingly low AP, especially for a boss.

Monkey Face: Based on Sten. Can use Sidestep, Raging Fist, Beastdancer S, Hypernova, Comet, and Rexfire. Raging Fist deals major smash damage to one foe based on how low the user's HP is. Beastdancer S allows all allies to always crit for one turn, Hypernova deals unreal almighty damage to all foes twice, and comet deals randomized almighty damage to all foes. He is the most balanced of the faces, specializing in both physical and magickal attacks.

Frog Face: Based on Jean/Tapeta. Can use Blizzard Flurry, Enblink, Debilitate, Galgleam Eyes, Smite, and Death. Blizzard Flurry deals massive strike and water damage to all foes 4 times. Enblink raises all allies SPD/DEX by one stage. Debilitate lowers all foes stats by one stage. Galgleam Eyes lowers one foe's HP and AP to 1. Smite and Death instantly kill any and all targets weak to light or dark respectively. He is your second priority in this fight.

Dryad Face: Based on Spar/Asparas. Can use Luster, Debilitate, Soul Steal, and Rexfrost. Soul Steal steals a tremendous amount of HP/AP from one foe.

Dragon Face: Can use ALL the dragoon's elemental breaths including Fire Breath, Ice Breath, Thunderbeam, Wind Breath, Mist Breath, and Dark Breath. When reduced to 0 HP he'll use his desperation attack "Giga Breath" which deals a max of 9999 celestial damage to all foes, the attack doing less damage the lower his AP%. Take him out last.

Every time one of Providence's faces are defeated, she loses one press turn. Once all of them are destroyed, you must face phase 3. In this phase providence will ONLY use the art "Bannehammer" which deals 99,999 "banne elemental" damage to all foes. She also nulls all elements during this phase. Bannehammer is the only art in the game that's of the banne element, and there is no way to null banne damage. So then how do you beat phase 3? Well, there actually is a way to REPEL banne elemental damage, but it's very complex. But first, I must explain how to reach PROVIDENCE in the first place.

In my game, Chronicles Meteorfall, there are random events called "FUN Events", triggered by a special variable called a "FUN Value". This value is randomly selected from 1 to 99 every time you start a new game or begin a NG+, and is set for the rest of the playthrough. When the FUN value is set at very specific intervals or certain ranges, strange and unusual things may randomly happen. One of these events is a DOOR opening in Eternia Frostlands, a mid-game area, requiring either a FUN value between 40 and 44 to have it appear. You also must be on NG+ in order for this door to appear.

Once you go into this door you will be in an empty gray void with strange yellow and black sprites wandering around with the words "ERASED BY PROVIDENCE" written on their sprite. When you try to talk to them, their text boxes are empty. You can meet me in the gray void, who tells you that this is a 404 error page and that you're not supported to be here, a "realm between realities." She gives you the "404 Server" item to allow you to access the void at any time, and by talking to her again and selecting "yes" you can instantly start another NG+ run.

This "gray void", the "ERASURE ZONE", also has PROVIDENCE wandering around as a massive Lv404 monster that if she sees you will chase you and prompt a fight with her if she catches you, which you can thankfully run away from. Fighting her at this stage is pointless, as even if you are able to reach phase 3 she'll just OKO you with Bannehammer. What you need to ACTUALLY do is find all the "lost souls" hidden across multiple different worldlines. What do I mean by this? Well, on specific FUN values, in specific areas, and with a 1/44 chance of appearing you can encounter a "lost soul" who will give a cryptic message before disappearing forever. Every time you encounter a lost soul, they will give you a certain enigmatic item.

Once you unlock the "secret recipes" feat from the NG+ menu, you will be able to craft the item BEYOND;GOD from the inventing table in Baetas, which will allow you to perceive the corrupted sprites in the gray void. Talking to all of them will grant you the "Shield of Rebellion" which repels Banne-elemental damage. Equip this onto one of your character's "special armor slots" and Bannehammer will be repelled, dealing 99,999 damage to PROVIDENCE. This won't outright kill her in a single turn, but with your character immune to her only attack PROVIDENCE will just end up attacking herself with Bannehammer until she dies.

The reward from this fight is the "Godborn Ring", a piece of armor that lowers all stats by 75%, but boosts EXP gained by a percentage equal to your current level. This means at Lv99, the default max level without any NG+ feats, you will gain +99% EXP, which might not seem like much, but this ring is ESSENTIAL for leveling to the true cap of Lv999, as past Lv99 the EXP cost for leveling up becomes MUCH higher. But how do you obtain these rare items from the lost souls? That's where the FUN Radar comes in. You can obtain the FUN Radar by defeating the previous ultimate boss Prophetess Barbello and defeating her secret second form, Barbello FRIEKOS. The FUN radar allows you to re-assign your FUN value at any time, not requiring any more NG+ runs, and also allows you to actually be able to view your FUN value straight from the game.

[macabrecabra]

LOVECRAFTOBER: DAY TWENTY-NINE: OTHKKATHO; sire of the four titans, lord of balance and order Affiliation: The Elder Gods

And nearly done with the Lovecraftober stuff! The last elder god concept is for the violent son of Nodens, Othkkatho!

When it comes to fighting outer gods and great old ones, none take such glee in it like Othkkatho as thwarting their plans brings greater order to the realm and order and balance are all that is necessary.

They are without a doubt the sort to eagerly get into a fight with anyone and with a more electrifying shock to their arsenal, not a foe to take lightly. Many mistaken him for some sort of dark entity which he can take great offense to.... and great smiting as well. Often has to be reigned in by the other elder gods. Or unleashed to destructive effects.

Othkkatho though is a papa's boy, and without question will do as Nodens asks, even if he disagrees as he wants nothing more than the praise of his father and to...maybe do some father son things together. No biggie...not like that makes him soft or anything! Totally not starved for attention!

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders Viewers' Choice #28: Jacques de Molay (Arcade)

howdy y’all, we’re back at it again, giving arcade characters a new lease on life! today we’re building Jacques de Molay, a totally unique character we have never seen in FGO before. like every other arcade servant, there’s frustratingly little info on him in english, but we’ll make it work! Jack’s a Redemption Paladin because he’s a paladin, but he seems to like to talk stuff out more than win by force. he does have plenty of force though, smites are very much still on the table.

check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Ancestry & Background

as you’d probably suspect, Jacques is a Human, and that gives him +1 Strength and Intelligence, as well as proficiency in Intimidation, and the human-specific feat Prodigy, that gives you fluency in a language of your choice, as well as proficiency in Persuasion and Cartographer’s Tools, and expertise(that’s double proficiency) in Religion!

oh, have I not mentioned where you get proficiency in religion in the first place yet? Jacques is also starting off as an Acolyte, which is where that and your proficiency in Insight come from.

Ability Scores

your highest stats should be in charisma or strength, but Jacques is kind of a nerd and if we don’t stock up on Intelligence now when will we? after that are the usuals- Charisma, then Strength. then we’ll make Wisdom above average since you have glasses (which should probably make your wisdom lower tbh but anime glasses never come off). that means your Constitution is pretty low- the one translated part of your bio mentions you get sick easily, but I’m not cruel enough to make a paladin with negative constitution. that means your Dexterity gets stuck with the short stick. I don’t think Jacques is particularly clumsy, but we need it less than anything else since you’ll have heavy armor.

Class Levels

1. starting off as a paladin gives you a Divine Sense to detect zombies and other monsters a couple times a day. this won’t tell you exactly what you’re looking at, but you’ll know that oddly pale nobleman who refuses to appear during the day might be more than just quirky.

you also get Lay on Hands to heal people when you touch them- and for once, it’s part of your official kit! you get 5 HP per level a day, and you can spend 5 HP all at once to heal a disease or a poisoning.

finally, your proficiencies- Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as Medicine and Athletics.

2. at second level, paladins learn to cast Spells, which you cast and prepare using your Charisma. since you can pick your spells every day, don’t sweat getting them exactly right. I’d suggest using spells that can protect or heal your allies, smite your enemies, and possibly summon vengeful divine spirits to destroy your foes. so what I’m saying is, use the paladin spell list. yeah, his skill set just happens to match D&D’s idea of a generic paladin perfectly, so you really can’t go wrong here!

if you’d rather do something more straightforward, you can spend those spell slots on Divine Smites instead! they add a bunch of radiant damage to your melee weapon attacks, though you have to spend a spell slot every time you connect.

speaking of connecting attacks, you should make sure your enemies can’t do that! with the Protection fighting style, you can put your shield between an enemy and a friend, forcing disadvantage on the attack.

3. at third level, you set down your path of Redemption, which lets you Channel Divinity in one of two ways each shot rest. you can either become an Emissary of Peace to get a +5 bonus on all persuasion checks for 10 minutes, or you can Rebuke the Violent to counter an attack with a wisdom save. if the violent fails, you deal whatever damage they just did back at them as radiant damage!

you also get Divine Health so you can’t get sick any more, as well as your oath spells Sanctuary to protect an innocent in the heat of battle, and Sleep to end confrontations non-violently. at least until the sleeping person wakes up.

4. at level four you get your first Ability Score Improvement, so bump up that Strength so you can actually hit stuff!

5. fifth level pallies get an Extra Attack each attack action, so now you get to hit stuff twice as often! you also get second level spells like Calm Emotions and Hold Person. the latter one can technically be used to stop combat while you talk stuff out, but it’s more often used by paladins to absolutely wallop a dude since it gives you advantage to hit and guaranteed crits when you do. either way it’s not technically in character, but good golly does it help.

6. at sixth level, your Aura of Protection adds your charisma modifier to every save made in a 10’ radius around you. it’s simple, but effective, like this build.

7. seventh level redemption paladins get an Aura of the Guardian which is not just Aura of Protection after wotc found a thesaurus shut up. now you can use your reaction to take the hit for anyone within 10’ of you, with no way to reduce it. it’s not a great idea given your constitution, but it’s definitely the knightly option.

8. since we’re getting more charisma-based stuff, let’s bump up your Charisma with this next ASI. better auras, stronger spells, what’s not to love?

9. ninth level paladins get third level spells! your freebies this time are Counterspell and Hypnotic Pattern. neither of those are super in-character, but you could at least make an argument for counterspell being like, you putting up your shield to block a magic attack or something.

10. at tenth level you exude an Aura of Courage, so people don’t get frightened while they’re around you any more. the knights templar made a skinny nerd with stomach pains their boss so you know there must be something about Jacques that makes him feel like leadership material. it’s good vibes.

11. or maybe its the fact that you have Improved Divine Smites, giving every attack you make a little radiant stank on it. not that radiant damage smells or anything, just- y’know what let’s just move on.

12. another ASI, another boost to Charisma. moving on.

13. thirteenth level paladins get fourth level spells! this time you get Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere and Stoneskin- again neither one quite works afaik, but at least stoneskin helps you stay in the fight longer with your middling constitution.

14. we don’t normally get this far in paladin, I’m actually having to look stuff up again. at level 14 you get something called a Cleansing Touch. charisma modifier times a day, you can touch yourself or a friend to end a spell affecting them. debuff cleanse, nice! you actually get debuff immunity, but it’s close enough with your aura and everything.

15. fifteenth level redeemers can summon a Protective Spirit whenever they’re below half health, healing themselves a little bit each turn as long as you haven’t hit 0 yet. your spirits tend to be more violent than this, but any way to stay in the fight longer is a good thing to have.

16. speaking of, I think it’s long overdue to spend an ASI on some Constitution. yes it’s supposed to be bad, but it should at least be good enough to survive with.

17. at long last you gain access to fifth level spells, including your freebies Hold Monster and Wall of Force. the former, while undeniably useful, isn’t really in your repertoire, and the latter fits Mash better anyways. that being said, all is not lost! I recommend you add Holy Weapon to your spell list to really pile the holy spirit energy into your sword. every attack you make with the enchanted weapon deals extra radiant damage, and you can even end the spell early to deal a massive blast of damage that can blind enemies.

18. eighteenth level is pretty plain, at least on paper. all of your auras grow in size, covering a 30’ radius instead of a 10’ one. once again, it’s plain, but effective.

19. for our last ASI, we’ll take a crack at fixing up your HP without increasing your constitution any. with the Inspiring Leader feat, you can give up to six friendly creatures (including yourself) temporary HP. this takes ten minutes, and you can’t do it again until you finish another short rest, but it’ll give you an extra 20 plus HP to work with, which is nothing to sneeze at.

20. our final level turns you into an Emissary of Redemption, not only giving you resistance to all damage from creatures, but a reflective radiant damage shield that hits back whenever you get hurt. the only catch is this stops working on any creature you attack or cast a spell on for the rest of the day. still, it’s nice to give people a chance before you whoop them.

Pros & Cons:

Pros:

your protective auras are massive, probably the biggest we’ve ever had on this blog. that means you don’t have to worry about positioning yourself to give everyone a hand nearly as much as most paladin builds.

with your semi-permanent resistance to damage and all your self-healing options, you’re surprisingly durable given your low constitution. fighting is really all about not dying, if you think about it, so you’re ahead of the game!

you’re damn good at perusasion, intimidation, and insight, making you pretty well suited to being the party face! depending on how much you play up the “lawful” part of lawful good, I guess.

Cons:

ironically, one of your biggest cons is your Con...stitution. sure we get plenty of ways to deal with it by the end of the build, but before your capstone you’re pretty frail for a paladin. especially one that is supposed to be taking hits for the rest of the party.

ngl this build feels a little plain to me. admittedly it’s nice to not have to juggle three different classes for once, but there’s not a ton going on that makes me think of this specifically as “Jacques de Molay”. admittedly this one’s more of a personal gripe- it’s nobody’s fault that arcade gave him a skillset that just happens to match the baseline D&D paladin.

speaking of “generic paladin problems”, you don’t get any ranged attacks this way. pray you don’t have to fight too many flying enemies. and if you have to fight angels, just run.

[thewisaaaaad]

Heeeeeey I got some mooooore (rattles post like a treat box)

Here's the part where things start to get better, and it will only improve from here :)

can't say the same for the lambs mental state though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lambs sleeping body was lifted gently from the dust that their body was resting in, floating into the air as they were filled with energy. It felt so different from when the red crown granted them power; it had been hasty, rushed. It certainly didn't help that they had lightning staking their soul into their body.

Even still, this felt like the most gentle and natural flow of energy filling their body, like waking up from a perfect nights sleep, The cream crown manifesting on their head with a comfortable weight- enough to reassure them that it was there, but not so heavy that it pressed against the cracks in their skull.

Speaking of hurting, the pain that they had lived with for all of the life they were forced into seemed to have vanished, as they streached all their limbs, feet not yet touching the ground as they ascended to godhood.

They opened their eyes, gentle peach-colored light poring from both eyes, the light being lost in the dust clouds around them.

With the wave of power faiding, Hypnos was gently lowered to the ground. The lamb went to dust themselves off, only to find that the crown had already done it for them, along with granting them a new fleece that had the colors of a setting sun. Or was it a sunrise? Both made sense, but it would be a nice change from the tattered old cloak that they once wore.

They will miss it though. Maybe they can get narinder-

Oh. Right, saving narinder. The lamb was so lost in the novel concept of not living in pain that they had forgotten the purpose of the healing. Looking around, they found the trail of indents, and realised that the amount of distance that they had tumbled would be cartoonishly amusing, if they didn't have to walk all the way back.

The lamb sighed, and began trudging their way back through the cold desert, baked in the false sunlight.

My lord, you should arm yourself.

Hypnos paused, looking around for something to wield. It felt like their crown was sighing at them, as strange as it sounds.

Little dream, you forget that your crown IS your weapon. call for me, and I shall fill your hand. With me, you are never unarmed.

Lamb, for the second time, had their thoughts come to a screaching halt with what their crown refered to them as, but filed that question away for later.

Lamb held out their hand, and as promised, the crown leapt from their head to their outstretched palm, reshaping itself into a... stick?

It is not a stick, it is a staff. the crown corrected, the eye floating near the tip glaring at the sheep. This weapon will channel your bottomless fervor into reliable strikes, allowing you to overcome any foe.

The... staff, was a straight metal pole made of black iron, with a ear 45 degree bend right at the end to form a handle (presumably for walking). On the mirror side of the bend floated a vertical eye, the symbol of the crown of Sleep and Wake.

"Ok... how do I use it, then? I expect that I'm not meant to just wail on someone with this."

You would be half correct, bearer. The staff is meant to be swung at your enemies, channeling your wrath into potent magics to smite your enemies, but it also will work just fine as a simple bludgeon. the crown answered, with no small amount of patience. they supposed that for a crown to have waited so long for a bearer, they would also have the tolerance to mentor a new wielder who was entirely out of their depth.

I wouldn't put yourself so low, master. the crown sighed into their mind. You wielded curses with skill and grace long before I sat upon your brow; this will be a small feat for one as accomplished as you, god slayer.

"Don't call me that." Hypnos snapped, gripping the staff a little tighter as the eye looked at them apologetically, but remained silent as they continued through the repetitive landscape.

"What does my new domain entail, exactly?" the lamb asked, continuing to follow the trench dug by their flailing body just before while twirling the staff in their hand, getting used to its weight in their hands.

It makes you a master of the realm of dreams, and puts you in control of the rest that others get. You will be able to cure exaustion form you allies, or force it upon your enemies.

The lamb paused their twirling. Hypnos had an idea. a possible solution to the problem of freeing Narinder from the Sin that had wrapped itself around his body.

"Cream, what are the limits on who I can put to sleep?"

The crowns eye crinkled in amusement, and asked: what did thou just refer to me as, little dream?

Hypnos shrugged, returning the crown to their head and lacing their fingers behind it. "well I mean, you call me all sorts of nicknames, so I figured I should come up with one for you in return. I cant just keep calling you 'crown', now can I?"

Wizened laughter echoed in their mind, the crown clearly bemused.

You could, you know. You are the Ruler of Dreams, after all, and I am but your symbol.

Hypnos shrugged again, letting their arms fall to their sides, the fleece once again covering their whole body. "Maybe, but I don't feel like it. Anyway, can we get back on track? With the whole, 'can I put a god to sleep thing?"

Ah, yes. A most important question, and an astute one at that. But I can promise you one better: you can send any creature that has a thought in their head directly into a deep sleep.

Including Crowns.

Including Sin.

This was the answer the sheep had been waiting for. With confidence renewed, they strode forth-

and immediately took shelter behind a pile of skulls upon hearing something in front of them.

Why were there people in the Below?

Hypnos peeked out from behind the pile of bones to peer at the hooded figures, who appeared to be trying to cook some skulls over a fire made from one of the many crosses strewn about the area.

Child. Reach into their mind, seek their purpose.

The lamb hesitated for a moment, unshure about trusting the crown even now, but did as they were bid. Closing their eyes, they focoused on the unaware creatures struggling to get the rotting wood to light, reaching out for their minds-

Hypnosis eyes snapped open when they found nothing but a tight bundle of chants and praise to Pride. They didn't even sense hunger, which just left further questions as to why they were trying to cook bones.

Hmm... that is not something I have ever encountered before. the world truly has changed a lot since the war...

Another question filed away for later, the lamb readied their staff, hoping that wielding it was as intuitive as the crown said it was.

While Cream may not know what these creatures were, Hypnos did. Heretics. Constructs that were built from bones and Fervor, bound in prayer to serve its creator without question. Hecket had trained the lamb against them, so they could experience real combat. They also came in many varied forms, the only simularity was that they all came with glowing red eyes of Fervor that didn't necessarily appear as two round circles. They were meant to be deployed in war against invaders without risking actual followers.

Hypnos realized they were in a war now, and so was probably everyone else in the living world.

When the heretics finally lit their fire and did a little celebratory dance, Hypnos decided that now was the time to strike. The lamb vaulted the skulls and swung the staff at the clueless critters.

A Peach cloud of energy shot out of the end of their weapon, stripping the fervor from the first two heretics immediately, the one on the far side managing to screech "ABOMIN-" before it, too, was reduced to bones by another jet of power from the staff.

"That was... kinda fun." Lamb admitted. They turned the staff over in their hands, having a new admiration for the weapon.

More heretics were guaranteed to lay up ahead, for Narinder had no shortage of bones in his realm, and Hypnos had no doubt that Pride would use them to its advantage. Setting their shoulders, the lamb pushed onward, through the wastes.

They had promises to keep.