#spellpower

[dndtreasury]

Spellpower Bank by Mithral Canvas

[makerscockandballs]

Anders: I would drown us both in blood to keep you safe.

Blood Mage/Reaver Hawke: *vibrating with excitement* Man wow uh- How... How much blood are we talking?

[vigilskeep]

“i’ve completely forgotten how dao stats work”, says guy who absolutely never knew how dao stats worked

[mists-of-ravenloft]

shitty photo of a laptop screen that was only meant for my partner’s eyes but I just remembered about it bc of the rvr posting. I got ur cane old man

[death-rebirth-senshi]

Reached the point in my mage playthrough where I mostly have the spells I *need*/really like but I'm not at a high enough level to get my second specialization/spells I really want (blood wound when I get my hands on you...) so I'm at a kind of crossroads as to where I want to put my last point.

Which is funny because I always say "these games don't give you enough spell points", but I suppose it's because you don't get enough spell points that I'm losing it so hard. I have an extra 10 points to spare on this build, and really probably less than that because 32 spells is the post-game amount I had.

[leftoverdinosaurbones]

Chapter 4: The Pain of Confession

F!Reader (Dark Urge), Spawn Astarion, Haarlep, Raphael - series is NSFW (minors DNI)

[Major Spoilers - Set post BG3]

***

Here is the next chapter of the fanfic I've been working on!

You can read Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3 here on tumblr or on Ao3.

Content Warning: Angst, Depictions of Anxiety/Depression

Summary: You make your way back home to contemplate all the decisions you made at the House of Hope in icy isolation. The evening with Astarion that you pined over this morning now fills your stomach with dread. How is it possible that so much has changed in just a few hours?

This chapter is a bit more dense and less "fun" but I felt like it was important to write. Definitely okay to hate it! The next chapter will start the dive back into Avernus :)

Chapter 4: The Pain of Confession

“Did you have…fun?” Korilla gives you a quick side-eyed glance as she guides you down the hall to the Archive.

You glower in response, running your fingers through your hair in a fruitless attempt to counter the damage done during your time in the Boudoir.

“Sure, that helps.” Korilla stops just before entering the Archive.

“Now, more about the plan. You’ll be taking on a portion of Zariel’s force while freeing your friends. At the same time, we will enter and ensure that a bulk of Zariel’s forces are otherwise…occupied during that time. Between us, it should only be a matter of moments before Zariel’s empire crumbles.” The corner of Korilla’s lips curl up into a smile, relishing the thought of the future victory.

“As per your deal, you’ll be given several items to help you. And you’ll need them.” Korilla pushes open the doors to the Archive - another room that you are more intimately familiar with.

The Archivist raises his head to welcome the visitors. When he spots you, his smile turns sour. He sneers, eyes blazing, and he turns his back. You flinch, remembering how many enemies you’ve made in this House.

“Yes, well. What did you expect? To be welcomed with open arms? You’re not bright, but you can’t possibly be that much of an idiot.” Korilla chastised, shaking her head. Anger bubbles up inside you at a low, rolling boil.

You walk around the room together as Korilla hands you various items, some familiar and some new. You end up with a sizable handful of items, including the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, the Helldusk Helmet, the Amulet of Greater Health, even the Staff of Spellpower (not that you can use it but you won’t turn down a helpful gift). And, of course, you have the Orphic Hammer to break the bonds that imprison your friends.

Korilla leads you back to your makeshift portal to return home.

“Oh, one more thing. Raphael made one additional offer for you to consider - a potential amendment to your agreement. He has offered to become your patron, permanently. But that offer expires once you enter Zariel’s domain.”

You raise your brows, startled by the offer - particularly what it might mean for you and your future commitment to Raphael. You start to open your mouth to ask Korilla a question when she turns abruptly to cut you off.

“My advice? Don’t do it. You’re beneath it.” she sneers at you, with her chin raised defiantly. You bristle at her words, which have been slicing at you over and over. Your hands balled tight into fists, you feel your rage beginning to boil over.

A glint lights up Korilla’s eyes as she waves her fingers at you before vanishing, easily slipping away from your grasp.

***

The sun has started its descent below the horizon. Just this morning, you were counting down the hours, willing this evening to come. Now, dread twists in your belly as you attempt to script out your upcoming evening with Astarion. You bury your face in your hands, flooding your senses with reminders of the House of Hope; the smell of cherries, the feeling of Haarlep’s skin under your fingers…

You needed to scrub yourself clean of that place - and quickly.

You placed a cauldron teeming with water over the fire to warm for your bath. As you wait, you stare into the flames as they lick the logs. The flames grow higher and higher, feeding from the wood - insatiable. The fire enveloped more of the small fireplace, tendrils reaching up towards the cauldron. The heat fills your face, warming your body, though just a faint echo of the relentless heat you felt within the House of Hope.

Why does everything remind you of that place?

Forcing yourself out of your trance, you lept up to grab the cauldron out of the fire. You carried the steaming liquid down the hall and into the bathroom, where you then poured the contents by the bucket into the solitary tub. You opened a window to let in the sounds of Baldur’s Gate, to feel a bit less alone with your thoughts.

The water was scalding, and you hoped it would be enough to burn the smell of Avernus off your skin. You picked up your soap and sponge and began to scrub as Astarion came to your mind. You could see his face as you confessed to him - his hurt, his face twisted in pain at your unexpected betrayal.

The rough sponge tears at your skin as you grind down harder, willing away your guilt. Tears prick at the corner of your eyes as you know it’s not enough - it doesn’t help absolve your guilt.

You thrust your head unwater to let out a muffled scream. How could you let things slip back, again? When you’ve recovered so much, changed so much?

All you knew in your past was hurt, and hurting others. It’s so easy for you to return to those old habits, even when you desperately want to change.

***

You made your way through the woods just on the outskirts of Baldur’s Gate, carefully navigating through the fallen branches and thick roots. Your poor (but cute) choice of shoes wasn’t helped by the fact that the moon provided only the faintest glow of light, which made the path that much more hazardous.

You gathered the folds of your dress to the side in one hand to free up movement for your legs. You loved this dress - long, soft fabric with a slit running up one side of your legs, with a plunging neckline. The deep black dye rivaled only the depths of a night without a moon.

Too dressed up for the occasion. Too romantic for nausea that grips your insides. You’d hoped that putting on this dress (a costume at this point, really) could help mask your feelings for the night.

You stepped into a slight clearing of trees, where the mist hovering just above the ground sparkled with the glow from the moon.

A few paces ahead, Astarion silently slipped out from behind a tree.

“There you are.”

You let your dress fall out of your clutched hand as you drank him in. He was stunning; simply ethereal in this light. You held your hand to your chest as you felt the steady increase in your heart rate, seeking to ground yourself.

“I've been waiting.”

He took a few strides towards you, with his casual and confident ease. His eyes were focused on you, only you, the sole focus of his desire. You felt your breath catch as the heat of your own desire began to warm your core.

“Waiting since the moment I set eyes on you. From the first moment I bit you. When you helped save me from myself. And every moment since.”

Closer still. He was nearly close enough to touch. His features come more into focus as you see the delicate details of his face; the sharp lines of his jaw and nose mixed with the soft laugh lines framing his lips.

He held your chin up his hand, bringing your eyes up to meet his.

“Waiting… to have you.”

“You don’t have me yet…” you whisper, your voice thick and choked by the looming threat of tears.

Astarion’s face falls into a frown, browns burrowed in concern. He cups your cheeks with both hands and pulls you in close.

“My love, what’s wrong? What happ…” he stops short, his face scrunched as he takes in more of you, smelling the faint traces of the House of Hope on your skin. He moves his hands from your face to your shoulders.

“Where have you been?” Astarion’s face hardens as he searches yours for answers.

You can’t look at him. Instead, your eyes rest along the ground among the fallen branches. Your fingers gather a small bunch of the soft material from your dress and rub soothing circles in an attempt to self-regulate.

Words tumble out of your mouth as tears spill down your cheeks as you tell Astarion everything that happened today, sparing only the darkest details. Astarion pulled his hands away from you and crossed his arms against his chest, protectively. Your body heaved as you saw the impact of your words, your actions on your love.

You crumbled to the ground, covering your face to muffle the sobs wrenching out of your body. Cool hands grabbed your wrists to pull them away from your face. Soft fingers soothed under your puffy eyes, bringing a small amount of relief.

You felt him sit next to you, the secure weight of his body wrap around you to pull you in close. He placed his chin gently on top of your head as you rested on his chest, tears sinking into his bare skin.

“I know what is it like to not have control over your own body,” he whispered. “When you can’t resist. I am so sorry.” He stroked your back as his words brought more sobs to the surface. You clung to his body like the liferaft it was - the only thing keeping you from falling into a deep pit of darkness. And this time, you weren’t sure if you could crawl your way back out.

Astarion steeled himself. “And we will help Karlach and Wyll. We will help them and then make sure we never need the help of that wretched devil ever again.” Astarion spat, the mere thought of Raphael bringing bile into his mouth.

You felt so grateful for Astarion, for his love and acceptance. So you tried to force down the very small, very dark part of you that threatened to build up inside you. The little voice that reminded you how much you liked being used by Haarlep and - even worse - how Raphael treated you.

You can read the next chapter here.

[bakrahispul]

what happens if u lick a lamppost in winter?

While the question gave rise to thought, their current situation deep in the depths of Grymforge was not properly thematic given the topic.

Sweating, slumped and cuddling a frozen thermal stone begrudgingly provided with Gale's spellpower, several campmates had themselves tucked inside their tents, enjoying the tender chill emanating from their stone while the lung-stuffing air of the heated forge whisked it away. All but the tiefling seemed to suffer quietly in this environment.

"During winter, we were given an opportunity to provide frozen dairy popsicles toward wandering traders and any inquisitive friend of nature." He started off, mimicking the hold of a popsicle towards Karlach with the oval thermal stone being an example.

"We always warned many - but some still encountered the problem of lapping the cold surface slower than you should..."

Halsin's mouth opened, and out came a tongue with surprising heft. He licked the surface of the chill stone slowly until he paused midway.

"Ang if ih happen hoo you, your tungh whill het stuc." He concisely pointed out, showing Karlach his partially glued tongue.

"Ohkhey, I hneed helf."

[avrorean]

𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀 & 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑, 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 & 𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒

In the hidden corners of Ferelden, deep in the heart of the Brecilian Forest, ruins abound as deep and long-reaching as the roots that surround them. Elvhen history touches every corner of Ferelden’s cursed woodland, and the creatures born of and touched by magic are its native denizens and protected charges both. Strangers bring harm at their own peril - something Nanna and her party learned quickly in their hunt for the Werewolves.

Even with the blessing of a branch from the Grand Oak, the Forest still used its magics to protect the werewolves in the heart of their sanctum, and as a result the already winding tunnels and once grand halls became a winding maze that seemed to shift and alter to confuse Nanna’s group, inevitably separating all four of them to different segments to escape the further down they traveled.

Yet it was alone in the dilapidated and root-eaten corridors, that Nanna felt something calling to her. Something old and lonely. Unsure of where else to go, she followed the feeling lower and into a passage walled off with books and ritualistic pillars. And among the remnants… a phylactery. A gem filled with blood, and the essence of something - or someone - whose time had long since passed and struggled to maintain their sense of self. 

They had been an ancient elf, imprisoned since the fall of Elvhenan and one of the few to escape the forming of the Veil from the old world. And so very, very alone. They had clung to her presence, desperate for contact, and begged Nanna for release with a ritual that would destroy the Life Gem and let their spirit finally free into death. And in setting it up as per their instruction, their last act was bestowing Nanna with their memories of the Arcane Warriors and whatever was left of them to give.

In their desperation, it had been all of the memories they had remaining in tact which has made parsing through them a slow and tedious process. So it took time before the memories truly started to manifest, and much training with the help of Zevran, Leliana and whoever else she could find before they could be effectively utilized. Though she’s expanded her arsenal through the years, these are the primary abilities you’ll find her in use of:

𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂 While this mode is active, the arcane warrior channels magic inward, trading increased fatigue for an attack bonus and the ability to use Spellpower to determine combat damage. Aura of Might and Fade Shroud improve the effects. Additionally, regardless of whether the mode is active, an arcane warrior who has learned this spell may use the magic attribute to satisfy the strength requirement to equip higher-level weapons or armor. 

One of the most commonly known attributes of the Arcane Warriors is their ability to turn their magic inward, to channel their magic through their bodies with as much ease as mages of old would weave the Fade. With this, the strength of Nanna’s magic channels itself into her body and makes her physically much stronger and enhances her endurance. It’s harder to cast normal spells in this state, but it makes her close combat that much more dangerous.

𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃 The arcane warrior is surrounded by a shimmering shield of energy that blocks most damage and grants large bonuses to armor and all resistances. When active, however, the Shimmering Shield consumes mana rapidly. 

Like it says on the tin, this is essentially a temporary semi-invincibility shield. Raw magic is pushed out and maintained defensively around her body, but in terms of how long she could maintain this depends entirely on the extent and purpose for which she uses it - if she’s only protecting herself, it’s workable for strategy, if she’s using it to protect others as well, the time limit runs much shorter, and the cost on her mana is exorbitantly high. Unless she has lyrium on hand, allowing it to run its course for its entirety would deplete her on the same level as a high level spell like Storm Of The Century and put her at risk in combat. 

𝐅𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐃 The arcane warrior now only partly exists in the physical realm while Combat Magic is active. Spanning the gap between the real world and the Fade grants a bonus to mana regeneration and a chance to avoid attacks. 

The prime example that these abilities were not made for a world with a Veil; Nanna in this form exists part way in each world, giving her a ghostly, incorporeal presence. This isn’t the most stable form of hers, because its creation was made for a world with unhindered access to the Fade; as such the results can be unpredictable if she’s not putting her entire focus into channeling it, but Nanna works with what she’s able to get out of it.

[bees-bees-fear]

Absolute rambling about pieces of information we have regarding types of magic. Stream of consciousness.

-Lyrium is titan blood.

Lyrium can enhance spellpower but will hurt you if you touch it, kill you as a mage. It's not for "real" people. Titans seem to be realms in themselves, literally. Their heart chamber resembles the crossroads, which in turn probably resembles the world before the veil. Titans once held up the sky, which was torn asunder by the creation of the veil. Titans were basically trapped in the real world when the veil went up. If the Evanuris are trapped in the fade, are the titans the Forgotten Ones trapped in the "beyond"? It's repeatedly stated they were antithetical to the Evanuris. If Harding's dwarf magic is the same as Solas' petrification magic, then he probably has access to whatever it is from a time before magic divulged (if it truly had).

Templars drink lyrium and gain what is generally hand-waved as totally-not-magic. But it's described as the opposite of magic. It dispells. It makes immutable once again. It pushes back against mages, and magic, and the fade.

If we didn't know better we might be able to assume that somehow titans are what upholds the veil, keeping the fade "over there". Perhaps the creation of the veil is one big spell Solas learned from the titans

-Blood magic makes it harder to enter the fade

Mortals, humans, are a result of being cut off from the fade. There may have been no blood magic before the veil. Doesn't really explain why it's taught by demons. I remain in the understanding that it's offering your energy for a demon to cast a spell for you. They live in the fade, they are masters of the manipulating forces of magic. If mages call on spirits and the fade for general casting, what would it be but blood to feed the spellcasting of a demon? I believe this makes the "difficulty" rather more of the inconvenience of the attention garnered by being a mage who will consort with demons, in demon-town.

Also worth noting it does directly use yours or an ally's health pool for casting, not mana.

-The Blight is its own form of magic

The Blight can infect blood and lyrium. Red lyrium is technically seen in the fade, but there is no known blight in the fade

Except

The black city. Once called the golden city. Once opened, the blight spread, seemingly straight to the real world. Archdemons sent directly underground to the realm of titans, to be fought by their legions of dwarves?

Highly worth noting, in relation to the black city, a small, isolated, perhaps quarantined location containing the blight

In inquisition you can have the draconologist learn that dragons can lock blight away in themselves in cysts, protecting their bodies from its influence. Unless of course, somehow, dragons are the source of the blight themselves. Flemeth, Solas, and Yavana stress the importance of dragons remaining in Thedas (Solas a bit backwards by criticizing Wardens killing archdemons). It is said that darkspawn are the ones infecting the old gods in the deep roads, but what if it's the opposite? It would have to be, if the old gods are the original darkspawn and are meant to be the originators of the blight.

But with the Evanuris locked away in the fade, perhaps the dragons of the deep roads are something that were more related to the Forgotten Ones.

I digress. In Last Flight it is explicitly stated that the magic used by the archdemon is so dark and corrupt it is hardly recognizable as magic.

Maybe again worth noting, dragons were hunted to near extinction about 90 years after the Fourth Blight. There is not another Blight for 400 years after the Fourth. Dragons return, ushering in the Dragon Age, about 300 years after their near extinction. Correlation does not equal causation, but Solas is defensive against Grey Wardens, and Flemeth raised Yavana to be a dragon breeder.

-The fade is the usual source of magic.

Ever changing, the realm of emotion and thought. If the fade is manipulated by will and belief, perhaps this is why tranquility manifests as (disputably) a lack of free will. (There are reports from tranquil explaining that they have something of a free will, but that being helpful generally seems like the prudent thing to be. They do have an interest in self-preservation still.) Spirits and demons embody emotion, and being cut off from the fade removes your emotion along with your magic.

Most magic regarding the fade seems to pull directly from it. As if you will something to be in the fade, and then pull it through, rather than actually manipulating the material world itself. This is explicitly stated to be the case for the "Rift Mage" specialization, a riff off of DA2s "Force Mage". The specialization taught to Bethany and others in the Kirkwall Circle, where the veil is notoriously thin, at a higher rate than other circles.

There are codexes on the four schools of magic

-Spirit draws from the Fade, it is "opposite" of primal

-Primal is obviously forces of nature. Things found in the material world.

The dichotomy we're used to. The Fade and the material world are opposite and cut off from one another. One immutable and the other ever-changing

-Creation is healing and enhancement (and summon bugs for some reason)

-Entropy is the opposite, causing death and decay, but from it new life

Enhancement sounds familiar to what we know of the effects of lyrium in general. (Retconned) "Templars can use their abilities without lyrium, it just won't be as effective". Improved spellcasting power. Mana pool recovery. Creation requires "finesse" and is "hardly mastered". Creation is also where we find healing magic, a concept that would be useless in a world of the fade, where you could essentially wish it better. You are no longer injured because you say so. No, healing only matters in a mortal body that needs flesh and bone to even be knit. Creation also grants us, among other glyphs (enchantments seared into the ground?) The glyph of neutralization: "The caster inscribes a glyph on the ground that neutralizes all magic, dispels all effects, drains all mana, and prevents spellcasting or mana regeneration within its bounds. "

Entropy is death. It is taking away. It is chaos. But the codex says these forces are necessary to bring new life. This tree has, explicitly, death magic, and the curse of mortality. We know ancient elves were immortal. We know Mythal was murdered. They *could* die, the introduction of the veil did not introduce the concept of death. But we are taught that in the fade, things will regenerate. The energy is not lost and will reconstitute itself, if without memory of what it was. Perhaps this is a way to heal. Solas' friend is shown to be a spirit again despite its having turned into a demon. If creation is repair, entropy can be removal of the damage.

And if we're removing damage, that is everything surrounding the blight. Dragon's occlusion. Warden's killing archdemons. The Blight itself destroying the land, and not in a way that seems to promote growth like a fire would. Perhaps the blight is all to make way for something currently incomprehensible. Perhaps the blight is a way of converting land to the black, barren terrain of the fade. Though this would set it up to be the counter to spirit magic, instead of creation. The lore of dragon age is full of grey areas, these dichotomies are not exempt I suppose.

And there we have, spirit - the fade, primal - blood, creation - lyrium, entropy - the blight

If not a perfect 1:1 "schools of magic" representation, there is high correlation, and no current known 5th form of magic source

Obviously you as a caster always use the fade, or blood. But archdemons and Corypheus can wield blight. You can drink blight to tap in to the blight network. Just as templars can drink lyrium to tap in to the, immutable network?

Also, lots of lyrium is used to make the Joining potion. Perhaps this is also less cleansing, and more pushing the blight magic "away".

If blight is running rampant, the veil is coming down, and the titans are waking up, perhaps this is also why blood magic isn't available in DA4. They mentioned your blood got, woven (?) into the veil itself, giving you certain powers. But I'm now also wondering if the awakening of the titans is generally pushing away the ability to use blood magic, since their domain is the material world. There's only been room for blood magic in their absence

There is still the matter of blight infecting lyrium and blood, lyrium enhancing the fade, the fade rejecting blood, blood and lyrium both being alive, blight seemingly being death itself, and the fade sealing away blight.

Rock paper scissors?

Oh man you know what else there's 4 of? Races. Humans and their blood, titans and their dwarves, elves have the fade (before the veil), and Qunari are related to dragons which are related to the blight.

I think they already confirmed Qunari warden as a possibility, but imagine finding out you won't have a calling because you can just cyst it away? Imagine the Hero of Ferelden also studying dragons and finding that, maybe Qunari can pull blight out of Wardens the way Isseya pulled it from the clutch of griffons? Maybe we can just pull it from Wardens and put it in dragons directly. We have options

Are Qunari a Ghilan'nain experiment to protect people from the blight?

[blaserables]

Augur Specialization

The Avvar train their mages in ways that would scandalize Chantry-folk. They see the value in the spirits around them, so much so that they call them their gods. They speak to these spirits, even allowing them into their bodies, to share wisdom with their clan, and speak to the spirits for the clan. This naturally comes with risks, but the Avvar understand the risks are no more than the fierce cold, predators, and foreign invaders they face every day.

CLASS: MAGE REQUIREMENTS: YOU MUST HAVE COMMUNICATION AND MAGIC 3 OR HIGHER, AND SPIRIT MAGIC (NOVICE). AVVAR ONLY.

You serve your hold with not just your own wisdom, but that of the gods.

Novice: You gain the ability Spirit Guidance. You can call upon a minor spirit for guidance with a minute-long ritual and a TN 14 Magic (Spirit) test. If you fail the initial roll and roll triples, roll on the Magical Mishaps table (see Chapter 5: Magic). When you are in communion with a spirit, or have taken a spirit into your body, you may reroll one failed spellcasting test. You must call a new spirit to use this ability again. The spirit may speak through you if it is powerful enough, but you can still speak back to it. The spirit leaves when you dismiss it, or may leave on its own if you displease it.

Journeyman: While you are using your Spirit Guidance ability, you gain a +1 bonus to Spellpower and Perception tests. While in Spirit Guidance, your Spirit Magic (Novice) talent gives more information. In addition to the moods of creatures, you can sense spirits as well, and read their emotional states. This can tell you if a person has a spirit within them, or if there are spirits nearby.

Master: You can call more powerful spirits for greater insights. This ritual takes five minutes, and requires a TN 17 Magic (Spirit) test.  If you fail and roll triples, roll on the Magical Mishaps table (see Chapter 5: Magic). If you succeed, you gain the help of a powerful spirit, whose guidance grants you a +3 bonus to Spellpower and Perception tests and the ability to reroll three failed spellcasting tests. All of this lasts for one encounter before the spirit leaves.

[thenugking]

🌤️🌪️🪐 please!

🌤️How do you interpret the game mechanics in your fic?

I try to avoid going into a lot of detail about game mechanics, because they can make things really clunky and unnatural. I can’t use the phrase “spell slots”, it sounds far too gamified to me, so I stick with a more general “using magic takes energy”. From First Rest we have:

Wyll’s able to convince Shadowheart to use the last of tonight’s spellpower on summoning up a bucket of clean water,

Because I’m not going to fucking say “Wyll gets Shadowheart to use her last available Level One Spell Slot on casting Create Water, and then she needs to have a Long Rest to get some more back.”

Some things that are clearly just there for game balance I ignore. Like, sure, it’s useful in game to be able to pay Withers 200 gold to bring back your party members whenever they drop dead, but in fic, it really cheapens the emotional weight of death to have Withers be doing that all the time. That said, as much as I hate when fics feel beholden to the “only four party members” rule, I do kind of want Gortash telling Lee that nope, sorry, Orin can’t come on this mission, we already have four people, it’s just not possible to bring any more because of Reasons, sorry, I’d love to bring your freak of a sister along but everyone knows adventurers can’t hang out in groups of five.

(Lee: Well that’s all right, Orin’s basically just an extension of me so she’s a Summon actually--)

🌪️Is there a nugget of game lore that fascinates you, but you haven’t written about yet?

Hmm. If something fascinates me enough, I usually have to write something, just to get it out of my head. Although I would at some point like to write pre-game fic about Astarion’s siblings. Astarion too ofc, but there’s six other people here being horrifically abused and developing their own relationships and issues with each other and having their own terrible trauma responses. I want to dig into that and make things horrible for everyone.

🪐Who’s your favourite non-companion character, and why?

Orin Orin Orin my beloved baby girl who has done nothing wrong in her life, except for all the horrifying atrocities.

I will hold up my hands and admit that the reason I started liking her was aghsj Hot Evil Lady. But then I started really getting into exploring Durge, and Lee specifically, and goddd this girl is tragic. She’s my poor little meow meow who’s been groomed and abused by every family member she has, and honestly what fucking chance did she ever have to be a good person, or even a normal person? She’s tragic, and sympathetic, but has also, yknow, hurt so many people, and done shit that’s way too fucking evil to just be excused with, “well she’s an abuse victim.” Which ofc is a big theme of BG3 generally, but the game never fucking explored that fully with Orin, so now I get to do that. 

I’m loving writing her in No Highly Esteemed Deed, having her be very clearly Lee’s victim and, I hope, entirely sympathetic for her eventual decision to stab them right in the brain, but, well. She’s still clearly utterly fucked, she was obviously intending to rape Lee before they raped her, and it’s not exactly a spoiler to say that getting rid of her abuser isn’t going to suddenly fix her. Like, I’m currently writing Ketheric seeing an Innocent Victim and looking out for her, and you might notice that this is very much not the dynamic we see with them at the end of Act 2!! I love writing Orin destroying any positive relationship she has because she doesn’t know how to have a healthy friendship and is too disdainful and afraid of the whole idea to try.

I love putting her in Situations and have her fucking maim her way out of them and then voluntarily go back in them because she maimed everything outside her Situation too and now there’s nothing else left <3

[meridian59]

Hail adventurer,

Next weekend, the Ides of June brings merriment in the return of the God's Day of Lord Kraanan!

Saturday, June 15th begins the God's Day of Kraanan!

Sunday, June 16th, an Official Tournament in the Kraanan Arena!

This special event honors the Warrior God, Kraanan, and their disciples as they revel in bloodlust and boasting, getting their due in this unique, annual Meridian 59 holiday that celebrates one of the six fated heroes that became the gods of Meridian 59.

Read on for details…

Event Features:

~ + 25% learning bonus to improve your proficiency in the art of the following Weaponcraft skills: ~ BRAWLING and PUNCH for close-quarters combat (thrash, pummel, slap, mangle) ~ AXE WIELDING & SCIMITAR WIELDING (slash, cut) ~ MACE FIGHTING (bash, crush) ~ FIRE & ARCHERY for range (graze, piere, lacerate)

~ SPELLPOWER BONUS (10%) to Kraanan ~ Shrines: Dedicated to Kraanan for even more power! ~ Death Penalties - Lowered to ease the pain of perishing! ~ Magik & Mana: The portal to the Nexus and the Martyr's Battleground will be opened throughout!

~ Party: Duke Akardius will open the Feast Hall in Blackstone Keep and host a raucous DJ Dance Party in the Grand Ballroom (…what can possibly go wrong?)!

~ Tournament!

Featuring several rounds of stylized combat, focusing on the FREE FOR ALL and TRADITIONAL combat styles. Prizes will include money, reagents, supplies, special gear and one of the extremely rare and illustrious GOLD SWORDS, specially crafted for Arena combat!

Where: East Ende, Tos Arena:

When: 9:30 AM Pacific / 10:30 AM Mountain / 11:30 AM Central / 12:30 PM Eastern / 3:30 PM Greenwich Meridian Time

~ Depending on circumstances, the Arena may be locked after the Tournament begins, but you can appeal to a DM to be let in.

~ No cost to enter: Use this as an opportunity to practice your combat skills for PvP and future Tournament combat!

OTHER NEWS:

PATCH V1.3.0 IS NOW LIVE!

Check out the patch notes and other announcements here on the Designer's Globe! Full Patch notes here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/893390/Meridian_59/

NEW MERIDIAN59.COM IS LIVE!

We've launched an all-new website, complete with game guides and information to help you hit the ground running or read up on the latest patches. Visit https://www.meridian59.com today.

COMMUNITY

For announcements, events, and more, join the Meridian 59 Discord community: https://discord.gg/meridian59

Thank you for your ongoing support! Author: Suspirian Date: Thu jun 06, 2024 101 News globe

[swordpact]

oriax's gear as of act 3.

ARMOR: ELEGANT STUDDED LEATHER.

this studded leather grants the user the following abilities: +2 TO INITIATIVE ROLLS ADVANTAGE ON STEALTH ROLLS THE ABILITY TO CAST SHIELD.

MAIN WEAPON: STAFF OF SPELLPOWER.

this quarterstaff gives an additional +2 to attack and damage rolls, and a +1 to your spell save DC and attack rolls, as well as the following ability: ARCANE BATTERY: ALLEVIATE THE ARCANE BURDEN OF SPELLCASTING WITH THE POWER OF THIS STAFF. THE NEXT SPELL YOU CASE DOES NOT COST A SPELL SLOT.

CLOAK: CLOAK OF PROTECTION.

this magically enchanted cloak grants a +1 bonus to your armor class and saving throws.

HEADGEAR: BIRTHRIGHT.

this enchanted gear grants a +2 bonus to your charisma score, to a maximum of 22.

GLOVES: DAREDEVIL GLOVES.

while wearing these gloves, you gain a +1 bonus to your spell attack rolls, as well as the following ability: DAREDEVIL PROXIMITY: YOUR RANGED SPELL ATTACKS ARE MADE AS MELEE SPELL ATTACKS WHEN ADJACENT TO A HOSTILE CREATURE.

BOOTS: TYRANNICAL JACKBOOTS.

these sharp leather boots give you a +1 bonus to charisma checks and saving throws.

NECKLACE: AMULET OF GREATER HEALTH.

this ruby amulet sets the wearer's constitution score to 23, and grants advantage on constitution saving throws.

LEFT RING: RING OF TRUTHFULNESS.

this gold and ruby ring grants the wearer advantage on insight checks.

RIGHT RING: STRANGE CONDUIT RING.

this ring made of silver and a strange green stone grants the following ability: STRANGE CONDUIT: WHILE CONCENTRATING ON A SPELL, THE WEARER'S WEAPON ATTACKS DEAL AN ADDITIONAL 1-4 PSYCHIC DAMAGE.

[akindway]

𝐃𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑 : 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

as a dhampir xenk walks the line between the living and undead. as such he has a number of unique qualities. he doesn't need to breathe; he can see exceptionally well in the dark; he can walk vertically or upside down without difficulty; he ages extremely slowly; and, of course, he has a fanged bite.

as a dhampir that feeds on life energy, xenk's fangs are not meant to pierce the flesh and as such they do not appear like the fangs one would come to expect from a predator; such as a vampire or vampire spawn. xenk's fangs are more spectral in nature, and his bite doesn't pierce the skin so much as the very essence within a being.

feeding on someone will leave them feeling a little sleepy, to completely lethargic and exhausted, depending on how much he takes. despite it's name, draining one's life force doesn't shorten their actual lifespan by any means, merely takes from them their natural energy and vigor --- as well as, perhaps, some ability to cast spells that might require concentration or one's constitution to be sturdy.

he gets the most fill from those with full souls. that is to say, those that have engaged in things they find fulfilling and enjoyable. and they can just as easily 'refill' after xenk has had a taste of them by doing things that they enjoy, that relax them or anything they find satisfying or meditative; it varies on the individual.

xenk can eat normal food and it does sustain him, but only so much. he can never truly satiate his hunger without lifeforce; and more powerful spells fueled by his divinity and oath require greater effort. here and there he can siphon small bits of life energy just by skin to skin contact or being around an abundance of full souls, but it's the equivalent of only taking drops of water when his thirst ought to be quenched by a full cantine.

as such he generally feeds on the occasional animal here and there, never taking enough to put the creature in danger nor cause any discomfort; it's also the reason he tends to travel and never stay in one place for very long. without truly satisfying his hunger he's also at a disadvantage when it comes to spellpower. he's not able to utilize every divine power in his arsenal at full without risk to either himself or the very people he's sworn to protect.

[death-rebirth-senshi]

A funny thing about origins is that the blood mage's blood sacrifice spell, which drains health from a party member, heals better than regular healing unless your spellpower is 150+, which it isn't going to be. So why even bother with regular heal when just taking some blood from your party member works just fine.

[blightmage]

Whenever I play my Surana (and go through all of the DLC) I really love the narrative of her reconnecting to elven culture through magic (Arcane warrior, shapeshifting and keeper specializations; Mahariel can tell Morigan that the kind of magic she does [shapeshifting] is similar to the keepers magic, and you can buy the shapershifter specialization book from Varathorn).

So she normally ends up with Arcane Warrior, Spirit Healer, Shapeshifter, and Keeper as her specialization (with the headcanon that Valenna is the one who teaches her Keeper magic).

Mechanically it makes more sense to grab Blood Magic instead of keeper for the passive boosts to Spellpower, and Constitution.

Always a conundrum of what to do. Granted it is only a +2 to each, but still. Every little bit helps.

I also like choosing Blood Magic for role-play reasons as well. Just more one rebellion against the retched circle.

Such a hard choice every time.