#social distancing & dungeons & dragons

[foralltheshaniacs]

i love you ghost files i love you mystery files i love you food files i love you too many spirits i love you puppet history i love you top 5 beatdown i love you sd&d&d i love you dish granted i love you worth a shot i love you weird wonderful world i love you watcher weekly i love you survival mode i love you watcher entertainment <3

[thatonegeekygirl]

catchiest catch phrase this side of the yawning portal!

[commiehilfiger]

watcher pod is supposed to come out tomorrow, but they always film/record them way before release.. i wonder if they'll address the $6 elephant in the room 🤔🤔🤔

[drzone]

where are they shane. i miss them every day

[pyrot3ch-nick]

called mean because i threw a basilisk, 6 cockatrices, and a dragon against my dnd players. just wait till the giants' siege

[xyzmp3]

I am happy to say that after about a month I have watched every video on the Watcher channel

I feel like I am a true fan now

[zebra-all-the-time]

RAID SHADOW LEGENDS?!!?

[bluepuppethidinginafilingcabinet]

so i think top 5 beatdown would also be on the main level but in its own little room that i would almost describe as like a den.

social distancing and dungeons and dragons takes place in a little like sitting/gaming/entertainment room also on the main floor. survival mode takes place in the same room but like on the other side of it.

expanding on worth a shot and dish granted, i think worth a shot would be in the main space like a living room, with a bar for entertainment. and dish granted is in the kitchen but shifts to the dining room.

watcher weekly is in the living room also but in the sitting area.

and i’m giving them a floor between the main floor and the attic that’s brainstorming space, think the areas of the office we’ve seen with the desks and the giant bean bag and white boards.

and unsolved and worth it are locked in the garage, still proud of them but detached.

Ok, so I’m imagining that if Watcher HQ is a house… Mystery Files takes place in the basement, the Ghost Files boo bunker is hundreds of feet below that. THEN that means Worth a Shot and Dish Granted are on the main level, Puppet History is in the attic, and Too Many Spirits is in the backyard.

[emiko-matsui]

this is gonna make me a bit genuinely sad to say, but i haven't listened to the adventure zone balance since maybe 2020. episodes here and there, yes, but not listening to it. it's my heart, it introduced me to dnd, my first girlfriend, and those goddamn brothers. i have a point with this post, i swear.

i listen/watch a lot of dnd now and play it with my closest friends. ive watched 17 seasons of dimension 20, not another d&d podcast genuinely changed my life in a way im not even gonna get into, last summer i survived a remote island with my family through dungeons and daddies, i even got into dungeons and dragons and social distancing from watcher for a while. i play d&d with my closest friends, i kept in contact with one of my only high school friends through d&d, and i met my best friend in the entire world through a game. the adventure zone means the world to me. i haven't listened to it since 2020

all this to say—every wednesday i tune in to dropout and every week i turn on my naddpod playlist and i hear someone say, i cast... and then think about what they're gonna cast. and every single time (not voluntarily mind you, not like an inside joke with myself, just on pure instinct, an echo in my mind) i hear him...

any generic dnd player on a show: i cast-

a rumbling echo in my brain: ZONE OF TRUTH

[shaniacsboogara]

still thinking about ryan bergara deciding to make the littlest bastard of a man as his dnd character, give him two different accents, straight up name him "steve", and then reveal in a game altering plot twist that his father was real life american film director steven spielberg.

[raytorosaurus]

do you think frank was really really pissed off when the late 2010s rolled around and dnd became kind of mainstream and popular after he'd spent two decades consciously distancing himself from it to maintain some semblance of coolness. hey frank half of ur favourite bands are kinda lame now and dungeons and dragons is socially acceptable. how are you holding up buddy.

[shaniacsboogara]

MADE A QUIZ WITH BETH FOR OUR FAVOURITE UNDERRATED WATCHER SHOW!!!

me and @shaniacsboogara made an sdndnd uquiz!!!!

take the quiz here!

i got stephanos coffeebean!!

tagging: @shaniacsboogara @skellitonz @bergoozter @littlekingbergara @outer-space-face @fearthefuzzybear @sardonic-the-writer @littleturtle99 @moth-yknowtheartist @marine-paint @aceforwhatevenisthis @instantqueenvoid @ravxe3n

[soullessbullshit]

Tabletop Vestiges 1: How to Play Khoshekh in DnD 5e

After much deliberation of how to present this little mini-project, the previously focus-grouped Tabletop Vestige Builds are finally underway!

Masterlist

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition builds

Khoshekh 5e | Tavi 5e | Speaks-in-Embers 5e | Cassian 5e | Malek 5e

Goals

Master of Shadow: As a nightblade, Khoshekh's magic allows them to manipulate and traverse shadows and darkness, using it to teleport short distances, form shadowy blades and projectiles, siphon creatures' vitality, and manifest spectral duplicates of themselves.

Ambush Predator: Khoshekh specializes in attacking with relentless precision, dealing obscene amounts of damage to their opponents before they can strike back.

Where'd they go?: Khoshekh's affinity for the shadows didn't start with their magic - they've been sneaking beneath people's noses since they learned to walk. And dear lord, are they disturbingly good at it.

Street Smarts: Their childhood in outer Wayrest and later assassin training has lead Khoshekh to develop a sharp sense of vigilance and pick up a lot of tips and tricks to survive before losing their soul.

Ultimate Zoomies: Khoshekh is able to maneuver in incredible bursts of speed and mobility, darting across rooftops, fleeing collapsing structures, catching up to marks and people of interest, you name it.

Level 1

Ability Scores

For ability scores, I advise going Standard Array. Roll for stats if you prefer, but make sure their Dex and Wisdom hit at least 13.

STR: 14 (Khoshekh is incredibly athletic, able to leap, grip, strike, and stride with impressive power).

DEX: 15 (Easily Khoshekh's strongest suit. They're nimble, precise, and slippery as can be).

CON: 12 (Khoshekh can certainly take a hit, though they usually avoid getting hit in the first place and tend to go for power over endurance).

INT: 10 (They're a quick thinker, but they're not exactly book smart).

WIS: 13 (They're perpetually vigilant, they're cool under pressure, and they're hard to manipulate magically).

CHA: 8 (Most of their social skills come from reading people and keeping a poker face. They're like a woodchip on the playground in the early 2000's: beat-up, beige, and easy to overlook in the masses).

Race/Species

Khoshekh is Khajiiti, specifically a Cathay-raht furstock. There are a couple felid ancestries, but the tried and true Tabaxi is easily most fitting for their character, particularly the version from Monsters of the Multiverse.

Take +2 to their Dexterity and +1 to Wisdom as their Ability Score Improvement. They have a 30-foot base walk and climb speed for scaling buildings and obstacles with ease. Cat's Talent grants them proficiency in both Perception and Stealth, handing out their two strongest skills for free. They also have Cat's Claws, dealing 1d6 base Slashing damage on unarmed strikes, along with 60 feet of Darkvision and they can double their movement speeds for a turn using Feline Agility for their signature burst mobility. They can also learn Common (Tamrielic) and a language of their choice: I recommend Goblin or Orc.

Background

The 5e background system's getting a massive overhaul in the near future, but the one we want hasn't been shown yet, so we're going for the 2014 version.

Growing up in a rundown Wayrest orphanage, Khoshekh's skills and worldview were shaped by their time as an Urchin. Modify the background for Sleight of Hand and Intimidation proficiency to avoid doubling up with Cat's Talent, along with Thieves' Tools and Cook's Utensils (or Thieves' Cant, if your GM is cool like that).

They have a keen sense of City Secrets, able to navigate urban terrain like the back of their hand. Since backgrounds grant feats now and I usually let my players pick Lv. 1 feats anyway, Mobile gives them a 10-foot boost to their walk (and, by extension, climb) speed, prevents opportunity attacks from creatures they've attacked in melee, and removes speed penalties from difficult terrain while dashing.

Class

Ah, the good ol' fashioned Assassin Rogue.

...Is not what we're doing. Mechanically, there are far better ways to get what we're going for with Khoshekh's modus operandi, and after several variants over the years, the following build is a far better reflection of Khoshekh's abilities.

They're actually going to start as a Ranger, gaining proficiency in Strength and Dex saves, non-heavy armor, and all simple and martial weapons. They gain three skills from the Ranger list, with the most appropriate being Athletics, Investigation, and Survival.

Favored Enemy is admittedly an underwhelming feature, but it is still objectively better than Foe Slayer. Especially since we can pick two types of Humanoids to start, such as Humans and Elves for their typical targets in the Covenant (and learning a language spoken by such creatures, which could arguably be any).

Deft Explorer, on the other hand, is incredibly handy, making them Canny for two extra languages and Expertise in an existing skill, which we're absolutely taking in Stealth for a +7 modifier right off the bat.

Level 2

At Ranger lv. 2, Khoshekh gains a Fighting Style, picking up Blind Fighting to gain 10 feet of Blindsight for even further vigilance.

They also gain Ranger Spellcasting, learning two spells from the Ranger list to cast with Wisdom, learning more spells at later levels.

Hunter's Mark allows them to gain advantage on checks to track a visible creature within 90 feet and deal an extra 1d6 damage on each hit while they concentrate for up to an hour. With the number of attacks Khoshekh gets on certain turns down the line, this spell winds up doing mid-level Sneak Attack numbers on its own.

Longstrider grants a willing creature a 10-foot bonus to their walk speed for an hour. This can, and often will, be cast on themselves, and can target extra creatures when upcast above 1st-level. They schmoovin', they movin', they goin' so fast.

Level 3

Ranger lv. 3 grants Khoshekh another Ranger spell, taking Zephyr Strike to prevent opportunity attacks against them for a minute of concentration. Once before the spell ends, they can deal an additional 1d8 force damage on an attack and increase their walk speed by 30 feet for the remainder of the turn.

They also gain Primeval Awareness from their awakening magic and exposure to the planes of Oblivion, allowing them to expend a spell slot to detect the presence of supernatural entities within a mile. Turns out it doesn't take long to start recognizing the scent of the things that keep punching you in the nose.

Most significantly, they unlock their Ranger subclass, obtaining newfound shadow magic as a Gloom Stalker.

Khoshekh becomes a Dread Ambusher, adding their Wisdom modifier to initiative rolls and granting them an extra attack and another 10 feet of movement during the first round of combat. The extra attack deals an extra 1d8 damage on a hit to maximize their lethality as an ambush predator.

They also gain Umbral Sight, increasing their Darkvision to a 90-foot range, and allowing them to blend into the shadows, preventing them from being seen by other creatures' Darkvision.

They also get a free Conclave Spell each time a new Ranger spell level is unlocked, kicking things off with Disguise Self. This allows them to adopt an illusory humanoid appearance of their choice for an hour.

Level 4

At Ranger lv. 4, Khoshekh gains their choice of an Ability Score Improvement or Feat, taking Skill Expert for a +1 bonus to their Dex score, proficiency in Acrobatics, and expertise in Perception.

Level 5

Ranger lv. 5 grants Khoshekh an Extra Attack whenever they take the attack action. They also gain 2nd-level spell slots, which they can use to cast Pass Without Trace, granting chosen creatures within 30 feet a +10 bonus to Stealth checks and protection from non-magical tracking for an hour.

They also gain Rope Trick as a Conclave Spell, creating an extradimensional space at the end of a rope for an hour. The entrance to the space can only be seen through from the inside and the rope can be pulled inside with anything or anyone else inside.

Level 6

At Ranger lv. 6, Khoshekh gains a new Favored Enemy, learning the ins and outs of the Daedra working to enact the Planemeld and gaining a newfound understanding of Fiends.

Deft Explorer also improves, making Khoshekh even more adept at Roving, increasing their walk speed by another 5 feet and granting them a climb and swim speed equal to their walk speed (one of which they already had).

Level 7

As a Lv. 7 Gloom Stalker, Khoshekh hones their Iron Will against the horrors faced across Nirn and Oblivion alike, gaining proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. If your GM allows it, the Baldur's Gate version of this ability also grants proficiency in Intelligence saves, learning to pick apart illusions and hallucinations from gaining Sheogorath's attention.

They also gain another Ranger spell, picking up Jump to triple their jump distance for a minute, allowing them to free-run across floating ruins collapsing in the Coldharbour sky.

Level 8

At Ranger lv. 8, Khoshekh gets another ASI, increasing their Dexterity score by 2 to cap it at 20.

They also gain Land's Stride, allowing them to move through non-magical difficult terrain without expending extra movement and more effectively navigate obstructive plants and evade spells like Entangle.

Level 9

Ranger lv. 9 grants Khoshekh 3rd-level spell slots, picking up Nondetection from the Ranger list to ward a creature, place, or object against divination for eight hours.

They also gain Fear as a Conclave Spell, allowing them to target creatures in a 30-foot cone, Frightening those who fail a Wisdom save for a minute of concentration. This effect forces Frightened targets to book it as far away from Khoshekh as possible until it ends.

Level 10

At Ranger lv. 10, Khoshekh gains another Favored Enemy, learning from experience what it means to be Undead and how to track those of a similar persuasion.

They also gain their final Deft Explorer feature, heightening their resilience with shadow magic to become Tireless. Their exhaustion level decreases by 1 on a short or long rest, and they can use an action to gain temp HP equal to 1d8 + their Wisdom modifier a number of times per long rest equal to their proficiency bonus.

Level 11

At Gloom Stalker lv. 11, Khoshekh can unleash a Stalker's Flurry, making an extra weapon attack once on their turn upon missing a weapon attack.

They also get another Ranger spell, picking up Globe of Twilight from the Humblewood Campaign Setting, allowing them to create a sphere of umbral energy to conceal their allies and discombobulate their enemies.

Level 12

At Ranger lv. 12, Khoshekh picks up the Observant feat, increasing their Wisdom score by 1, learning to read lips, and hyping their vigilance with a +5 bonus to their passive Investigation and Perception.

Level 13

Ranger lv. 13 grants 4th-level spell slots. Freedom of Movement turns Khoshekh or a willing creature they touch semi-incorporeal, their form fluctuating between material and shadow. Creatures under this effect are immune to the effects of difficult terrain, speed reductions, and the paralyzed and restrained conditions from magical sources.

They also gain Greater Invisibility as a Conclave Spell, turning themselves or a willing creature invisible for a minute of concentration. This effect lasts even if the invisible creature attacks or casts a spell.

Level 14

At Ranger lv. 14, Khoshekh gains their final Favored Enemy, learning to combat Dragons from Sai and the Elsweyr Defense Force.

They also master the ability to Vanish, allowing them to hide as a bonus action and preventing them from being tracked unwillingly by non-magical means.

Level 15

15th lv. Gloom Stalker grants the conclave's final feature, as Khoshekh learns to take a Shadowy Dodge as a reaction to impose disadvantage on an incoming attack.

They also learn to cast Locate Creature, allowing them to sense the direction of a familiar creature within 1000 feet.

Level 16

At 16th lv. Ranger, Khoshekh takes the Fey Touched feat, increasing their Wisdom score by 1 and learning two spells to cast once without expending a spell slot per long rest.

Misty Step, a Fey Touched guarantee, allows them to teleport 30 feet as a bonus action.

Heroism grants a willing creature temp HP equal to Khoshekh's casting modifier at the start of their turns and prevents them from being Frightened for a minute of concentration.

Level 17

17th lv. Ranger grants 5th-level spell slots, which Khoshekh can use to cast Steel Wind Strike. Stepping through the shadows, they unleash a barrage of slashes upon up to 5 creatures within 30 feet of themselves, dealing 6d10 force damage to each on a successful melee spell attack and teleporting within 5 feet of one of the targets.

They also gain their final Conclave Spell. Seeming allows them to project an illusory glamour onto any creatures within 30 feet of themselves, imposing a Charisma save on unwilling creatures.

Level 18

We're finally multiclassing at level 18, dipping into Fighter lv. 1.

They gain a second Fighting Style, picking up Dual Wielding from LaserLlama's Expanded Fighting Styles (can't recommend their homebrew enough). Whenever they take the attack action while wielding two weapons, they can make an additional attack as part of the attack instead of a bonus action and add their ability modifier to damage. They can't make an offhand attack with their bonus action when they do so.

They can also take their Second Wind as a bonus action, drawing vitality from their environment with shadow magic to regain HP equal to 1d10 + their Fighter level once per short rest.

Level 19

At Fighter lv. 2, Khoshekh gains the ability to Action Surge, taking an extra action on a turn once per short rest for extended movement bursts and flurrying strikes.

Level 20

Khoshekh's capstone is Fighter lv. 3, picking up a second subclass. As an Echo Knight, they can Manifest Echo to summon a shade of themselves. They can attack from their or the Echo's position, and instantly swap places with the Echo by spending 15 feet of movement to teleport. Unlike most other teleportation options, this is only limited by their movement speed, which is outright absurd by now.

They can also Unleash Incarnation as a bonus action, taking an additional attack from their Echo's position a number of times per long rest equal to their Constitution mod (which is only once, but backup is backup).

[sunsinourhands]

So I have been thinking about what factors of media and stories that give me the largest sense of longing. And I think it comes down to three major things: a sense of community (in group), a sense of potency, and a sense of hope. And for the sake of this post I will be referencing mostly anime but also live play tabletop series.

Nakama

So when I say a sense of community or in group, it is usually referenced as ‘nakama’ within Japanese. This is usually translated as ‘friends’ in English but that doesn’t really fit the actual meaning. This is the group of people who are your inner most circle. These are the people who will put themselves at considerable risk in order to help another member. In shonen series like the Dragon Ball franchise, Fairy Tail, and One Peace, this means frequently putting your actual life on the line. It’s the same as a party in tabletop dungeon crawler.

One good point of reference for this is Laios and Shuro’s relationship. They were not on the same page. Yes they worked together often in the same party’s but Laios thought they were nakama, and Shuro was just too polite and conflict avoidant to tell Laios that he hated him. Like their perception was completely mismatched. Laios thought they were ride or die for life and Shuro thought of Laios as an annoying coworker—which explains a lot of Laios’s negative feelings following that reveal.

I saw a post on here recently about the big difference between Lucy Heartfillia’s relationships with the people in her home vs her guild nakama. The people who worked for her parents were obligated / forced to engage with her. And her father was pretty bad pre timeskip. In the same way, her spirits were contracted with her, so they HAD to show up when she called. But her guild mates and especially her core team mates looked out for her both out of a sense of duty and an actual sense of affection and protection over a member of their found family. And that’s another big difference between nakama and anything else.

In contrast, a lot of people in real life don’t have anything like that. Many of us come from abusive or otherwise unloving families. Many of us were not protected by bullies by anyone. And many of us are slowly learning that many of our friendships were one way and we were either tolerated as the butt monkey or kept around to be exploited. Hell, I broke off a friendship of over 10 years earlier this fall because I realized that the person I thought of as my ‘nakama’ didn’t actually care about my feelings—and they only wanted me as a WOC accessory to confirm their leftist clout.

I cannot count how many friendships I have seen and in a really nasty betrayal, and many people keep a very firm distance these days. You have to. And it is very difficult to find any community that actually acts in a pro-social way, because a lot of people actively prey on groups like that. Or people are actively only out for their own interests to begin with.

I would also note that some people are not intending to be malicious I m, but that they were never taught or modeled how to be an actually good person underneath the surface level. So they are fundamentally incapable of it—and many are too uncomfortable with that idea that they will never grow out of it. Ego integrity is one hell of a drug. Plenty of people would also rather be keyboard warriors and engage in revolutionary LARPing than vote or grow some fucking carrots. They would rather blame everyone else, instead of look at how they have become additional bullies in their own communities.

Personal examples : the half dozen bad actors in my local mutual aid group that actively exploited the group to farm money. There is also the supposedly ‘good person’ card-carrying woke WOC head of the local no-Nazis farmers market who embezzled 800k and never paid the farmers—causing several to shutter permanently. Including multiple farmers of color who were already operating in the red in order to donate food to the needy in that same community.

I would put forward that existing without an actual support network is so fucking painful and difficult that this is a core part of the wish fulfillment you find in media.

Sense of Potency

No, not that kind. I’m talking about the concept of knowing that your actions have a measurable effect on your environment. It’s both having a skill or ability that you know can be applied to fix something unpleasant, make something better, and the experience knowing that it has done so in the past and faith it will do so in the future.

This can include the battle strength of any shonen character, or Chilchuck’s skill with traps, locks, and generally being stealthy. In fiction, people generally have an idea of how they can help and how much help that will be. In a tabletop game, this is knowing that your presence is VALUABLE and that both people can rely on you and they will make the choice to do so instead of mistrusting you. For example, everyone knows that Bulma Briefs can basically fix any technology or science related problem. She can also just throw money at it. Sensei WILL be able to cook whatever the fuck is found and killed.

But real life is a consistently fresh and more intense hell of people devaluing your efforts, your experience, and your value. I cannot explain the degree of emotional damage I took after graduating with my masters and being offered $12 an hour for a company I knew very well was charging people at least $120 an hour to see me.

Undergraduate degrees don’t get anyone shit these days. And they are prohibitively expensive on top of that. People with decades of experience and skills can no longer put food on their tables. Dudes with a Chat GPT subscription think they are artists. Art theft, plagiarism, and other forms of outright stealing are rampant. There is a huge sense of impotence and powerlessness inundating every fucking second of our lives.

Can I fix an issue? Fuck if I know. Probably not, because I can’t go up against Johnson and Johnson. The power imbalance is outrageous.

Many times when people try to organize, some plant or someone who decides to break the line ends up fucking over the whole thing—because somehow they think they are special and identify far more with the oppressing billionaires.

Despite the existence of people who do have good intentions, no one has the fucking time for others anymore. Everyone is too depressed, too burned out, and too busy scraping by the skin of their own teeth to do anything else.

So the idea that hard work, persistence, and maybe some cleverness, may actually yield results? A literal fantasy.

A Sense of Hope

This is something I always found very foreign after a certain age. People in media seem to have this ingrained knowledge that 100% good times and better days lay ahead after the struggle.

But for those of us geriatric millennials, it’s been one blow after another. Those of us who busted our asses to get a degree because that would guarantee a future? Hahaha. Yeah fucking right.

Hope is a hard thing to maintain. Maybe it would be easier if you could count on the people around you or an actual support network. But people drop each other over nothing—and I am not even going to get into the o-kimochi yakuza.

[pyrot3ch-nick]

Me: I have no care for undeath and undead in dnd.

Also me: Makes a new goddess of the undying and writes lore and worldbuilding around spirits, banshees, and ghosts in relation to her.

Sometimes the writing bug shifts into gear when you least expect and you be thankful you got 90% of the ideas written down before it fizzles

Anyways now my dnd worlds have a new goddess and she might replace Vecna. IDK.