#tasha dexter

[viptvseries]

V. I. P. Season 1

[anxious-black-hottie]

V.I.P. (1998-2002) "Beats Working at a Hot Dog Stand" Season 1 Episode 1

[qkumber]

I MET DENISE CROSBY!!!!!!!

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

Spring Eladrin! Human-sized whimsical fey elves embodying feelings of joy and mischief. They're tricksters, dexterous as an acrobat and more intelligent than even most archmages. They can create wonderful illusions, have a short-range teleport that can bring you with them, can magically force you into being overcome with laughter at will, can charm you with a magical mental suggestion, and magically charm you into liking them just by existing around you! Resisting it makes you immune for a day though.

I'm doing all the eladrin separately because these are actually change thier powers/design/personality completely when they form shift. The Player versions make it a conscious choice, but the Eladrin as CREATURES section sounds like it's more of a way of locking in your form to match your base personality/mood, and people like Tasha talk about them like they're a constant thing. "My autumn eladrin friends" instead of "my eladrin friends in autumn" sort of wording. They can apparently stick in the same form for years. It's all a bit confusing, not helped by there being a Player Species version of this CR 10 species that changes a ton. So we're doing them separate, then I'll instantly pit all 4 against each other in the tournament. Sound fair?

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #350: Minamoto no Tametomo

happy new years, let’s get this bread. and by bread I mean giant robot archer named Minamoto no Tametomo. he’s actually remarkable not breadlike I don’t know why I said that. He is, however, remarkably Arashlike, but better because he’s a japanese man in a japanese series. He also has some extra tricks that Arash doesn’t have, like not making me figure out how to make him kill himself, which I’m very grateful for. As such, he’s not quite a xerox of Arash- he’s a Battle Master Fighter to master battling with a bow, and a Gloom Stalker Ranger to specialize in killing people before they know he exists and while hiding out in some shadowy villain lair.

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

next up: the disaster lesbian oh fuck we forgot kyokutei bakin nvm they're next

Species and Background

the game’s bio stuff kinda makes it sound like he used to be human, but he’s definitely a robot now, so that’s a Warforged baby! give him +2 Wisdom and +1 Dexterity thanks to tasha’s cauldron of everything, as well as Constructed Resilience to get advantage against being poisoned and taking poison damage, plus immunity to disease! instead of sleeping you can take a Sentry’s Rest for just six hours. just kinda. standing there. menacingly. you also get Integrated Protection, giving you +1 to your AC no matter what armor you wear, plus you can’t be taken out of it against your will. the downside is getting out of your armor at all is an hour-long affair, but we��re not making builds for out-of-combat stuff. unless siduri gets voted in, I guess. you also get one bonus proficiency, and we usually use Arcana for techy stuff, so we’re doing that here too!

Tametomo is a Soldier of course, giving him proficiency in Athletics and Intimidation. it’s nice to have a background with a direct correlation to D&D again, that makes this so much easier.

Ability Scores

Your highest score should be Dexterity. we both know you’re some kind of strength archer, but D&D thinks all archers are willowy elves, and we’re literally stuck playing their game. next up is Constitution. you are a bitch and a half to defeat, though that’s usually more because of your sniper’s nest. still, you don’t give up easy. third highest is Strength. we don’t need it for much in this build, but you sure do wear some heavy armor, and that comes with a strength requirement. plus it would be nice to actually make the weirdly strong archer guy weirdly strong. This means your Wisdom is lower than I’d like- your perception’s great, but I guess robots aren’t good at guessing games. aside from the centaur, I mean. This means Intelligence is neutral, and we’re dumping Charisma. every time we’ve seen you in the story up to this point you’re literally just a turret. so yeah.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: As said previously, you need yourself some heavy armor, so we’re starting as a Fighter for proficiency in all weapons and armor. you also get proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, plus History and Perception. blasting a hole in a ship from 300 feet away is fun, but you have to see it first.

with our first Fighting Style you should grab Defense for another +1 to AC. I know archery makes more sense, but we can get that from ranger later, and they have less options. you also get to find a Second Wind as a bonus action to heal yourself. I mean healing is just like retroactively being tougher, right?

2. Fighter 2: second level fighters can use an Action Surge once per short rest. now you can attack twice in a single turn, or… no, that’s pretty much all Tametomo does, huh. well, it makes things easier for me!

3. Fighter 3: at third level, you pick your combat specialty, and as a Battle Master you can use a couple different Combat Superiority maneuvers. You start with three, and that will go up as you level. You can spend one of your four superiority dice, currently d8s, to add that die’s roll to a few different things. for example, Ambush gives you a bonus to your stealth or initiative rolls, (that’s a secret tool for later,) while Precision Attack adds it to your attack roll. Menacing Attack adds it to your attack’s damage, while also forcing it to make a wisdom save or be frightened of you for a turn. frightened creatures can’t move closer to you, making your position even more secure!

you’re also a Student of War, but you can’t really get anything cool with that.

4. Fighter 4: for your first Ability Score Improvement, grab the Sharpshooter feat. now you can attack at long range without disadvantage, quadrupling your potential range. you also ignore all but full cover, and you can take a -5 to your roll to deal an extra 10 points of damage! combine this with some precision attacks, and you’ve got a ton of bonus damage with almost no downside.

5. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack, so now you can attack twice in a turn, or four times with action surge. Tametomo prefers quality and quantity with his arrows, so I’m sure this is a welcome addition.

6. Ranger 1: going over to ranger gives you proficiency in Stealth to never get seen while sniping, and as a Deft Explorer you’re also Canny in Perception for double proficiency.

you can also designate a flavored foe, adding a d4 of damage every time you hit them for up to a minute as long as you concentrate on it. you can use this proficiency times a day. it’s not quite as spicy as hunter’s mark, but importantly, it doesn’t use spell slots, has a longer range, and it’ll only get better as we level up.

7. Ranger 2: speaking of hunter’s mark, it’s spells time! you can cast cure wounds and hail of thorns using your wisdom. the former is extra toughness, and the latter is a flurry of arrows. plus we can finally pick up that Archery Fighting Style now for +2 to attack rolls! see, we got there.

8. Ranger 3: at third level you get Primeval Awareness, which is bad, don’t use it. you’re also a Gloom Stalker now, making you a Dread Ambusher. now you can add your wisdom to your initiative rolls, plus you get bonuses on your first turn. you can move an extra 10 feet, and you can make an extra weapon attack as part of your attack action! that’s three attacks, or six with action surge!

you also get Umbral Sight, giving you 60’ of darkvision, and you’re effectively invisible to other creatures using darkvision.

you can also cast Entangle now, which we’re interpreting as like, shooting an arrow straight through someone’s foot and into the floor. you can cast disguise self now too, but that’s just a free subclass thing we don’t need.

9. Ranger 4: use this ASI to bump up your Dexterity. better arching, yo.

10. Fighter 6: sixth level fighters also get another ASI, so bump up your Wisdom for faster fighting and stronger spells.

11. Fighter 7: seventh level fighters get an extra superiority die, as well as two more maneuvers! with commanding presence you can add your die to intimidation, performance, or persuasion checks, and with tactical assessment, you can add it to investigation, history, or insight checks. sadly they don’t have a perception bonus we can get, but we’re doing what we can.

but this all ties into your new ability Know your Enemy! if you spend a minute staring someone down, you can learn about their physical stats, ac, hp, or class levels.

12. Fighter 8: bump up your Strength so you can actually wear platemail. your whole body’s metal, it just makes sense.

13. Fighter 9: ninth level fighters are Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed saving throw once a day. failing a death save is for other, lesser archers.

14. Fighter 10: at tenth level, you gain Improved Combat Superiority. now all your superiority dice are d10s. you also get two new maneuvers. Evasive Footwork adds the roll to your AC while you’re moving, and your Pushing Attack deals extra damage while also pushing the enemy 15’ away from you. if your arrows can sink a boat, you know they have stopping power.

15. Fighter 11: eleventh level fighters have another Extra Attack, letting you attack three times in a turn, or six with action surge. or four on your first turn. or eight with action surge on your first turn.

16. Ranger 5: rangers also get an extra attack but it don’t work with fighter extra attacks so just be happy with what u got.

you get second level spells though! cordon of arrows shoots a buncha arrows at your feet that automatically attack anyone who gets near. random arrow bullshit is kinda your thing. you also get Rope Trick, which lets you hide out in your own dimension for up to an hour. at first this sounds like it’s not something you can do, but really that’s how your entire schtick works, so go nuts.

17. Ranger 6: at sixth level, your flavored foe grows to a d6, and you’re roving! that means you can move another 5’, and you can climb and swim. this is the least like tametomo, but you can always just not move, so.

18. Ranger 7: with your literally iron mind, you get proficiency in wisdom saves. you can also turn your bow into a magic weapon now. I’d hope your dm would give you one by now, but if not we got u covered.

19. Ranger 8: with our last ASI, max out your dexterity for the most archery a man can be. you also get land’s stride which is a thing. if you have problems with magical plants at level 19, now you finally don’t!

20. Ranger 9: with our last level, you get third level spells! fear is whatever, but lightning arrow is how we’re gonna sink a ship. it turns your arrow… get this… into lightning. it doesn’t actually do all that much damage, but it’ll turn a single arrow into an aoe attack, and you could argue it should set stuff on fire, which eventually would take down a ship.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

with a bevy of powered-up bow attacks you can blast out some serious damage on your very first turn, and it’s consistent enough to keep mowing down enemies round after round. and yes, we checked- on your first round, you have just enough damage potential to take down a sailing ship in a single turn. it’s not likely, but it is possible.

you’re also delivering all that damage with a longbow, which means you can put that damage anywhere within 600’ of you with little issue. that’s 120 squares, btw, which is larger than most DMs make their maps if you’re not playing digitally.

we’re not just packing offense either. you’re tough to kill, with proficiency in two of the big three saves, 160ish HP, a base AC of 20 with the option to improve it temporarily, and extraplanar hiding spots at your disposal. any fight against you is going to be an uphill one, basically.

Cons:

you’re great at fights, but terrible at anything else. you have zero social skills, and your best trait for skill rolls is just the getting into fights skill. whenever you’re not shooting down boats, you’re gonna be bored.

being so good at so many parts of combat comes from you being Multi-Ability Dependent, or MAD for short. this means that you need a bunch of different skills to make your build work. sure your dexterity is maxed out, but that came at the cost of your wisdom (making your spells weak) and your constitution (the thing that keeps you ALIVE). further complicating things is the good chunk of stats that went into your strength purely for your shiny armor. if you’re a good archer, you don’t even need that stuff!

your class combo comes with a few pain points that make finding the best fighting style for you a bit difficult. superiority is best used sparingly to alter the flow of battle when needed, but we’re mainly using it to improve our damage, and in that case we’ll burn through all of our dice before the end of our first turn. we have obscene range, but our darkvision only goes out 60 feet. we’re ostensibly supposed to be unseen until our first shots, but we’re wearing plate mail, and so on. much like our stats, we’re pulled in a dozen different directions. we’re good at a lot of it, but there’s still some tension there.

[nerdythebard]

#63: Eileen the Crow [Bloodborne]

Off to her next assignment she goes.

Now, I will be honest with you guys, I do not get the hype surrounding the Souls games, the Souls-likes, and all the different sub-genres. I want my videogames to tell me a story, not make me rip my beard off and destroy my gaming equipment. But I cannot deny a request, even an anonymous one. So let us take a look at the beast the monsters fear - Eileen the Crow.

Next Time: Hear the horns of the winged shieldmaidens. The Queen of the Valkyries descends!

A good hunter is always prepared, so let's gather up our goals for this build:

A Hoonter Must Hoont: (count how many times we say 'hunter' and 'hunt' in this post) As the Hunter of Hunters, Eileen needs excellent tracking and ambushing skills. We focus on mobility and information gathering.

Living Weapon: Eileen is skilled with her duel Blade of Mercy, various types of firearms, as well as hand-to-hand combat. With plenty of resistances and physical enhancements, she is unparallel hunter.

Blood, Blood, Gallons of the Stuff: A central theme of the Hunters and the game series. Eileen hunts down those who succumb to their lust for blood. Her own abilities include absorbing blood of her enemies and creating ammunition using her own blood.

---

1. BACKGROUND

This one's obvious, we're going with Human (Variant). Doing so gives us a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Dexterity and Constitution), 30 feet of ground speed, ability to speak Common and one additional language, proficiency in one skill of our choice (Acrobatics), and one feat of our choice; for that last one, let's pick the Gunner feat from Tasha's, which will increase our Dexterity and give us the ability to use firearms.

For Eileen's background, let's do Urban Bounty Hunter from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. This gives us proficiency in two skills from the list (Insight and Stealth), proficiecy with two tools from the list (take thieves' tools and any of the others), and the Ear to the Ground feature, which gives us an information network about any potential targets in the area.

2. ABILITY SCORES

Dexterity will be our priority. Although of advanced age, Eileen can still dodge point-blank blunderbuss shots. Constitution is next, just in case we cannot dodge or avoid the fight. Wisdom is another good trait for Eileen - we need it to resist mind manipulation, gain insight on the people around us, and use the Survival skil for tracking.

Strength will be next, not as important as striking fast and avoiding damage, but we do have that improved with Old Blood. Intelligence is on the lower end and we're dumping Charisma. We're not here to play nice or charm our way through the city.

3. CLASS

This one's an interesting case, partically because I feel like this is a bit of cheating but, to my defense, the man's official D&D canon published by WotC, so...

Level 1 - Blood Hunter:

BRING OUT THE MERCER! Blood Hunters have this unique lore that fits perfectly to dark fantasy campaigns and characters, so let's have some fun! Blood Hunters get a d10 as their Hit Dice, [10 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies with light armour, medium armour, shields, simple weapons, martial weapons, and alchemist supplies. For starters, we'll give Eileen a studded leather armour (flavoured as a long coat) and two shortswords. If you're buying your equipment, and the DM allows so, buy a gun. If not, try to get one ASAP. Our saving throws are Dexterity and Intelligence, and we get to pick three skills from the class list (Athletics, History, and Investigation).

At 1st level, Blood Hunters are subjected to drinking Hunter's Bane, to unlock their full potential in hemocraft magic. This gives us advantage on Survival checks for tracking fey, fiends, or undead as well as Intelligence checks to recall information about them. We also get Hemocraft Die to fuel some of our Blood Hunter abilities. Starting off with 1d4, it evolves as we level up.

Finally, we gain access to Blood Maledicts, powerful curses that control the blood of our enemies. Whenever we cast those curses, we can amplify them and give additional properties by suffering necrotic damage equal to our Hemocraft die roll. We get to pick one Blood Maledict at the start, and here we're gonna grab Blood Curse of Binding - forcing a Strength saving throw on a creature that's Large or smaller within 30 feet of us, reducing its speed to 0 and making it unable to take reactions until the end of our next turn on a failed save. Amplifying the curse extends the effect to 1 minute.

Level 2 - Blood Hunter: We get to choose our Fighting Style, and here it's obvious that Two-Weapon Fighting will do us well. We can now add our modifiers to the attack we make as a bonus action with our off-hand.

Additionally, we can improve our weapons by invoking a Crimson Rite. As a bonus action, we sacrifice some Hit Points taking necrotic damage equal to our Hemocraft Die, and we can infuse one of our weapons with extra damage (also equal to the Hemocraft Die). We get to choose one type of damage. For Eileen, let's pick Rite of the Flame to deal extra fire damage.

Level 3 - Blood Hunter: At this level, we get to pick our subclass, our Blood Hunter Order. Since the Hunters who are lost to their bloodlust are nothing more than husks of their former selves, we shall pick the Order of the Ghostslayer. To deal with the undead, we can now perform Rite of Dawn as another option for our Crimson Rite feature: we deal extra radiant damage, our weapon sheds bright light for 20 feet, we gain resistance to necrotic damage, and if we hit an undead while Rite of Dawn is active, we get to roll additional Hemocraft Die damage.

We are also a Curse Specialist, which lets us pick another Blood Maledict. With Blood Curse of the Eyeless, we can force an attacking creature within 30 feet of us to deduct a number equal to our Hemocraft Die from their attack roll as a reaction. Amplifying the curse extends its effect to all attacks of the creature until the end of its turn (we roll for each attack separately).

Level 4 - Blood Hunter: With our first Ability Score Improvement, we are going to raise our Dexterity and Constitution by one point each.

Level 5 - Blood Hunter: Our Hemocraft Die becomes 1d6. We also gain Extra Attack, which allows us to make two strikes during a single Attack action.

Level 6 - Blood Hunter: For our final level of Blood Hunter, we're getting Brand of Castigation. Once we damage a creature with weapon that has an active Crimson Rite, we can leave a blood mark on it. From that moment (until we remove it, it is dispelled, or we mark another target), we always know the direction to the marked target (as long as it is on the same plane of existence). Furthermore, if the marked creature deals damage to us or a creature within 5 feet of us, it suffers psychic damage equal to our Hemocraft Die. Once used, we cannot use this feature until completing a short or long rest.

Additionally, we can now use our Blood Maledicts twice before resting and we get to pick up another Blood Curse. With Blood Curse of Exposure, if the target takes weapon or spell damage it is resistant to, we can temporarily strip away that resistance until the end of the target's next turn. Amplifying the Curse, transforms immunity to a certain damage into resistance.

Level 7 - Rogue: We have our damage dealing and blood abilities, now let's focus on agility. Multiclassing into Rogue give us proficiencies we already have (+ thieves' tools) and one skill from the list (Perception).

Rogues start by applying Expertise to two skills they're proficient with (or one + thieves' tools) and doubling their proficiency bonus when using them. Let's pick Acrobatics and Insight for better parkour and gathering information. We also learn Thieves' Cant (can't what?), a secretive language of phrases and symbols used between different factions to exchange information. Finally, we can apply Sneak Attack to apply extra damage (currently 1d6, increases as we level-up) once per turn to one creature we hit with an attack that has an advantage.

Level 8 - Rogue: We gain better mobility thanks to Cunning Action. We can now take the Dash, Disengage, and Hide Actions as Bonus Actions.

Level 9 - Rogue: We get to pick our second subclass, our Roguish Archetype. I know it would be very tempting to go with 'Assassin' here but let's boost our tracking and closing skills with Scout. As a Skirmisher, we can use our reaction to move up to half of our speed if the enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of us without provoking opportunity attacks.

We're also a great Survivalist. We gain proficiency with Nature and Survival and our proficiency bonus in using those is doubled, essentially giving us a free Expertise.

Level 10 - Rogue: Halfway through the build and we get another ASI. Let's put both points into Dexterity, maxing it out.

Level 11 - Rogue: With Uncanny Dodge, we can use our Reaction to halve the damage of an attack that hits us which we can see.

Level 12 - Rogue: At this level, we can apply Expertise to two more skills we're proficient with. Let's do Perception and Stealth to better approach our prey.

Level 13 - Rogue: Here, we get probably one of the best defensive abilities in the game - Evasion. Whenever we make a Dexterity saving throw against an area effect, a successful save lets us avoid damage completely (where usually we would take half) and a failed save makes us take half damage (where usually we would take full damage).

Level 14 - Rogue: Another ASI! With the Mobile feat, our speed increases by 10 feet and whenever we Dash, we are not bothered by difficult terrain. Additionally, after we attack we can move and not provoke and opportunity attack (regardless if we hit the target or not).

Level 15 - Rogue: We get another feature of our subclass. Superior Mobility increases our speed by 10 feet; this applies to any form of speed we get (flying, climbing, swimming).

Level 16 - Rogue: ASI once again. With the Tavern Brawler feature, we can improve our fighting chances in case we're disarmed or ambushed when unprepared. Our Strength or Constitution increases by 1, we become proficient with improvised weapons, our unarmed strikes now use d4 instead of our Strength modifier, and whenever we attack the target with our fists or an improvised weapon, we can use our Bonus Action to attempt to grapple it.

Level 17 - Rogue: Reliable Talent is another fantastic ability; all skills we're proficient with treat a d20 roll of a 9 or lower as a 10.

Level 18 - Rogue: With the final ASI of this build, we will improve our Strength and Wisdom to even the odds (HA!)

Level 19 - Rogue: We get the final subclass feature. As an Ambush Master, we have an advantage on initiative rolls. Additionally, the first creature we hit during first round of combat will now have attacks made against it with an advantage until the start of our next turn.

Level 20 - Rogue: Our capstone is Rogue 14, which gives us Blindsense. As long as we're able to hear, we are aware of any invisible or hidden creatures within 10 feet of us.

4. RECOMMENDED ITEMS

Look for the following items in-game to increase your hunting skills:

Periapt of Proof Against Poison: Get yourself that immunity to poisons and poison damage. You will not succumb to the bloodlust like the others.

Armour of Resistance: Any will do, the less things can hurt you the better.

Goggles of Night: Important for stalking your prey across the nightclad cityscape. Since we're a Human, we don't have innate Darkvision.

---

So this is Eileen the Crow, the best as I could make her. Let's see what we ended up with:

First of all, we're pretty fast. With 20 in Dexterity, a +5 to our Initiative and the base speed of 50 feet, we can move around the battlefield like the wind. The Mobile feat also helps us ignore the difficult terrain and opportunity attacks. With proficiencies in Stealth, Survival, and Perception our role is defined - act fast, strike, disappear. Blood Maledicts help us with crowd control, to make sure we live to hunt another day.

Our AC is 17 and we have the average of 168 Hit Points.

Unfortunately, the build lacks in the mental side of D&D. Our Charisma is still in the negatives, and our Intelligence (although we're proficient in saving throws) might not be good enough to defend ourselves. We're also not equipped to be a frontliner, so better make sure you're always surrounded by stronger friends.

---

And that is it, my lovelies. It is good to be back. Happy 2025 and may we all live our best in these trying times! <3

- Nerdy out!

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Compiled Character List

I had to organize all the main important characters from my many stories so I can keep them straight and remember which characters are in each story LOL 😂 It's getting too crowded in my head! This list mostly includes the characters I wrote with actual names, or other significant figures. This will help me remember details like hair and eye color, personality, role in the plot, etc. Mostly for my own personal reference.

I counted them all, and I literally have 79 individual characters on this list, and that's NOT including all the rest involved in my other stories. How did I create so many?!? No wonder I needed to create a character list like this one... this will definitely help me keep them all straight!

Beautiful Blood Series

Nyx - cruel and sadistic vampire master with many servants

Augustine - ancient vampire that is hired to hunt Asher and Callum down after their escape from Nyx's mansion

Asher - submissive human servant with rare and unique regenerative blood, owned by Nyx

Callum - obedient under-the-radar servant of Nyx

Lily - nicer, more gentle vampire

Morgan - Lily's werewolf friend and ally

Kaden - vicious vampire that goes behind Nyx's back for a chance to taste Asher's unique blood

Sofia - human, Asher's younger sister

Josh - human, Asher's dad

Darius - briefly mentioned mostly-unimportant vampire

Captured Humans Series

Nakita - vicious, cruel whumper master (has snow-white wings)

Corbin - kidnapped and enslaved human

Kazimir - kind and sweet bird-man (raven-black wings and hair)

Prince Devlon - arrogant bird-man in the royal family (blonde wings)

Dexter - Devlon's annoying, violent brother (has brown wings)

Orman - Devlon's closest advisor

Camilla - abandoned human pet living on the streets

Alastor - silver-winged man who works for a human servant transport company

Alice - another one of Nakita's abused house pets

Rhysand - Kazimir's bird-man war-ally, assistant leader of the Rebellion

Jasper - a member of the Rebellion (bronze-colored wings)

Melanie - another member of the Rebellion, Jasper's mate (brown wings)

Caspian - the Rebellion's medic (ash-colored wings)

A Life in the Hands of the Enemy Series

Amber - hero with fire powers who is gravely wounded in a fight with a new kind of villain

Zack - cold and calculating villain who ends up saving Amber's life for his own gain, to use her as a living weapon

Jasmine - Amber's hero teammate

Drugged Hero Whumpee

Shadow - snarky morally-gray hero with regenerative powers (can heal from almost any injury) (AU version of Shadow from Masterlist #2)

Archenemy - calm and calculated rival of Shadow, a power-hungry supervillain

Ava - a previous hero turned into Archenemy's living war weapon and semi mind wiped

Run, Human, RUN

Tyleet - kind and timid but soft-hearted bat-type man

Alexa - one of the few living humans that survived the deadly illness that wiped out almost all of the human race

Violet - leader of the human survivors

Oliver - main researcher/scientist in the human colony

Jason - soldier/guard in the human colony

Kiko - 15 year old girl from a different human colony

Assassin Rescues Prisoner

Jax - skilled but sympathetic assassin

Atlas - rescued tortured prisoner

Marcus - the ultimate villain who brutally tortured Atlas

Vampire vs Werewolf Forced Fight

Tasha - captive werewolf (has white fur in wolf form)

Felix - young skittish/inexperienced captive vampire

Jax - grumpy panther shapeshifter, one of the forced cage-fighter prisoners

Rampaging Werewolf Losing Control

Nightshade - werewolf with black fur

Alex - Nightshade's human friend

Leah - Nightshade's other human friend

Scarred Hero and Villain with Memory Loss Lovers

Rowan - villain with memory loss

Aurora - hero with scars

Whumpee Drugged for His Own Good

Nico - terrified whumpee who won't let himself be helped by teammates because of trauma at Villain's hands

Marcus - Nico's friend who betrays him by spiking a drink with strong sedatives to knock him out for his own good

Mia - an insignificant member of the hero team

Owen - another insignificant member of the hero team

The Lost Hero - story about a crippled hero

Hero - the city's hero who was thought to have died in a fierce fight with Supervillain, in which the skyscraper the battle was taking place in collapsed and crushed them both

Logan - teenage boy who first discovers Hero is alive after being presumed dead for so long

Noah - Logan's friend who is introduced to Hero in hopes he can help solve her problem of being crippled and permanently limping

Single Team Member Tortured for Information

Jacob - whumper who severely tortures whumpee

Zara - tortured defiant whumpee who never breaks, despite slowly dying at Jacob's hand

Klyde - Zara's closest friend, fiercely loyal

Life for a Life, Death for a Death

Akeldema - powerful villain who wishes to destroy Nyx and her allies

Nyx - hero who bravely dies defending her friends from villain

Jarbo - Nyx's lover who holds her in his arms as she dies

Roy, Lucas, and Tanner - Nyx's other friends

Wise Wolf Series

Wise Wolf - the wolf with great wisdom and insight, the center of each story

Death - shown as a dark-skinned woman wearing a cloak as dark as the night sky, that glittered with stars

Dog - guardian of a flock of sheep, contributes to the moral ending

Human Boy - the victim of a sad tragedy that results in his death

Villain's Coffee Shop

Hero - woman who saves Villain's life after he was gravely wounded in a fight with Supervillain, gives him a chance to change his ways

Villain - a man the world rejected as the good guy, so he became evil instead

Mocha - Villain's three-legged cat companion

Living Weapon Whumpee

Leader - Living Weapon's (Whumpee) main handler

Whumpee - Living Weapon trained to fight and kill on the battlefield

Flint - leader of Enemy army, who turns out to actually be the good guys

Myra - Flint's kind-hearted daughter Whumpee develops a soft spot for, brown hair hazel eyes

Jake - strong-headed leader of one of Flint's teams

Reed - second-in-command of Jake's team

Max - short black hair and golden-brown eyes, member of Jake's team

Miranda - blonde hair, blue eyes, Whumpee's wife before his life as Weapon

June - Flint's wife, very briefly mentioned

Atlas - Weapon Whumpee's forgotten son

Henry - Atlas's adopted father - chestnut hair, brown eyes

Vampire Captures Vampire Hunter to Use as Bloodbag

Alex - 317 year old main character vampire, carewhumper, keeps Mallory as his human pet but doesn't know a lot about how to care for humans

Mallory - bold vampire hunter captured by Alex during a mission gone wrong, defiant whumpee at (practically) every turn

Anisa - Alex's closest vampire friend who helps teach him about human care and keeps him from accidently killing Mallory with his sheer ignorance and uneducation

Julia - Mallory's vampire hunter partner before he was captured

Jack - briefly mentioned vampire friend of Alex

Stories Masterlist

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @togzy

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222

[dicebound]

Barnaby 5e Build

Lineage - Owlin He's literally an owl, there isn't much to say here. You could alternatively go with the Reborn Lineage as well for more undead flavor but you'd lose flight and other useful things.

Class - Bard/Whispers So Barnaby is primarily observed in his level singing about death, slashing at you with a dagger, and conjuring objects out of nowhere to attack you. He also has little ghost buddies as back up singers. With that in mind, You have a few good options with Wizard, Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock or Rogue standing out to me. A quick breakdown of the subclass options I would consider: Wizard - Necromancy or Conjuration Warlock - Undead Sorcerer - Shadow Bard - Creation, Spirits, Whispers Rogue - Phantom, Arcane Trickster. Rogue is the most out there, with no innate casting. Arcane Trickster certainly fits his personality and gives him thematic spellcasting, but lacks the spooky flavor we're looking for. Phantom has the flavor, but loses the spellcasting. Could be a good multiclass option. While Wizard could fit especially Conjuration for the object summoning, I really feel Barnaby would make a better Charisma caster than an Intelligence caster given his demeanor and "Party Animal" descriptor. Undead Warlock gets you that strong undead flavor, charisma casting and access to the spookier spells in the game, but Barnaby doesn't seem bound up by the demands of a patron. Shadow Sorcerer obviously fits Barnaby aesthetically and even gives you a limited summoning ability. It's a strong contender and was the first thing I thought of when making this list. Finally, Bard captures the musical and social inclinations of the character and has a few good spooky options for subclass. Creation lets you animate objects to fight for you, very fitting but otherwise lacks the flavor we're looking for. Spirit gives you a strong spooky flavor, the ability to tell harrowing stories about the dead or dying, and communicate with the dead. Whispers however gives a little bit more, you have the strong spooky flavor, psychic attacks, a frighten ability, and the ability to tap into creature's fears and steal their shadows. This is the one to me.

3. Background - Entertainer We don't know much about Barnaby's backstory at present, making it difficult to pick something concrete. The standout choices to me are Entertainer, Sage and Haunted One. 4. Skills For his Bard skills, I picked Performance, Arcana and either Sleight of Hand or Persuasion. I avoided Intimidation as his class features will allow him to make people afraid on their own and Stealth is gotten naturally from Owlin. For his background, I chose Entertainer and had to take Acrobatics. I also picked up Perception. For his expertise I selected Performance and Arcana. 5.Stats For his stat spread I selected a +2 to Charisma and a +1 to Dexterity from his lineage and then used point buy to distribute them as follows: Str - 8 Dex - 14 Con - 14 Int - 14 Wis - 9 Cha - 16

I dumped Strength because he has no need of it, and dumped Wisdom because he very clearly can't read a room when interacting with Billie. Con is higher than you might otherwise put on a Bard to represent that resilience of being undead. Decent Dex and Cha are obvious choices for any bard, and heightened Int just felt appropriate. 7. Spells So Spell Choice will vary by level, but good options for 0th-2nd spell level are as follows: For Cantrips most of the options are solid and thematic. I'd likely pick Vicious Mockery* and either Minor Illusion, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation or Dancing Lights. Dissonant Whispers, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Nathair's Mischief and Phantasmal Force all fit the spooky vibes and grant either good crowd control or damage. Suggestion, Faerie Fire, Invisibility, Bane, Hold Person and Cloud of Daggers also stand out as good thematic options. * if you're using feats at first level, you can pick up more flavorful/utility cantrips from Bard and grab your damaging cantrips from say Magic Initiate instead.

8. Feats (Optional) Some tables allow for Feats at First Level. Stand out choices to me are Shadow Touched, Eldritch Adept, Magic Initiate, Poisoner, Chef, Slasher and War Caster. Some of these are more flavorful than mechanical however. I find Bard's offensive magic to be too limited especially early on and so Magic Initiate (Warlock) or (Wizard) is very helpful. You want an attack roll cantrip for sure. For Warlock pick up Eldritch Blast and either Mind Sliver or Toll the Dead. For the 1st level spells, Arms of Hadar and Hex are great options. For Wizard, pick up Chill Touch and either Mind Sliver or Toll the Dead. For 1st level spells, Tasha's Caustic Brew is a thematic choice as well as Catapult and False Life. Mechanically motivated options could be Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Shield or Find Familiar.

[kanohirren]

How to Make Grian in DnD

Welcome to my first guide on making Life SMP members into DnD 5e characters!

I’ll go level by level and explain the reasoning behind my decisions and how I think it fits them in character. This build assumes starting at level 8 but includes notes on differences if you start at level 1 and progress to 8. Keep in mind that this isn’t intended as a guide on how to play dnd, just how to build this character. I also don't explain every feature but I may briefly touch on it and explain my reasoning for taking it.

Class: Fighter 6 (Eldritch Knight)/Cleric 2 (War Domain)

Race: Aarakocra* (can be humanised)

Base Ability Scores: (uses Tasha's Cauldron of Everything rule that allows for reallocating racial stat bonuses)

Str 10 (+0)

Dex 15 (+2) +2 from race = 17 (+3)

Con 13 (+1) +1 from race = 14 (+2)

Int 10 (+0)

Wis 13 (+1)

Cha 12 (+1)

Background: Courtier

Grian is a well-rounded character with no clear weaknesses but a couple of fields he excels at. He’s good at almost all aspects of the game whether it be combat, social interactions or even just survival. I gave him the Fighter/Cleric multiclass because I felt like it would be an interesting build and made him a dexterity-based fighter because Aarakocra cant fly with any armour other than light armour.

Before moving on to classes, let’s go over the race and background features.

Aarakocra race*:

Flight**: Flying speed equal to walk speed, only works with light or no armour.

Talons: Your unarmed attacks do more damage. Not super good because this is a dex build.

Wind Caller: At lvl 3 you can cast Gust of Wind. A cool spell, find some fun situations to use it in.

*The Aarakocra version used here is the nerfed version from “Mordekainnen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse”.

**If having a flying speed is a problem, a compromise I usually default to is only letting flying speed let you move vertically during your turn, but you cannot end your turn in mid-air or you fall.

Courtier background:

Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion

Court Functionary: You are good at hearing things about important people, as you are one of them. Perfect for if you want to start wars.

At 1st lvl, we start with a level in Fighter. This grants us:

Proficiency in heavy, medium, and light armour, shields

Proficiency in simple and martial weapons

Proficiency in Strength and Constitution saving throws.

Skill Proficiencies: Take Survival and Athletics.

Fighting Style: Choose Duelling if you want to use a sword mostly. Archery is fine too if you want to use a bow.

Second Wind: Bonus action healing. Nice to have.

As a dex build, Grian will be using light armour and finesse or ranged weapons mostly. Ideal weapon would be a rapier and a longbow. The Courtier background involves knowing what’s happening amongst a group of interest, much like how Grian is involved with many major Minecrafters

At 2nd lvl, we take a second level in Fighter, which grants us:

Action Surge: Have a second action in one round once per short rest. Good early for having another attack and scales very well.

At 3rd lvl, we take a third level in Fighter, which grants us:

Subclass: Eldritch Knight

Eldritch Knight grants:

Weapon Bond: Find a shiny weapon? It’s yours now and no one else can have it!

Two Cantrips: Mage Hand (lots of trickery you can do with this) and Blade Ward (in case taking damage is inevitable)

Three 1st lvl spells: Magic Missile (just in case), Shield (good defensive spell) and Fog Cloud (cause lots of chaos and confusion)

As Grian’s Intelligence stat hasn’t been prioritised, I chose spells that don’t involve any rolls so that it’s not really a problem. He’ll get more chaotic use out of the cleric spells that we get later.

At 4th lvl, we take a fourth level in Fighter, which grants us:

Ability Score Improvement OR Feat. Take the Ability Score Improvement and +1 your Dex up to 18 (+4) and your Wisdom up to 14 (+2).

One more spell: Take Tenser’s Floating disk (Take people’s doors and stack them on the disk and then run away without being weighed down)

The dex is always important, improves your stealth so you’re less likely to be caught placing tnt and the wisdom helps your perception but more importantly helps after becoming a cleric.

At 5th lvl, we take a fifth level in Fighter, which grants us:

Extra Attack: More damage output!

With this fifth level in Fighter, we hit the important damage power spike. Now we can get to the more chaotic side of Grian.

At 6th lvl, we multiclass into Cleric, which grants us:

Three Cantrips: Take Guidance (good spell), Thaumaturgy (fun spell) and Spare the Dying (mainly for Scar)

1st lvl spells: As a prepared caster, Clerics can swap out their spells after a long rest. My suggested default spells are: Bless, Sanctuary and Ceremony (get that marriage buff).

Subclass: War Domain

War Domain grants:

Extra Prepared Spells: Divine Favor and Shield of Faith

Bonus Proficiencies: Martial Weapons and Heavy Armour. Both redundant because we started Fighter.

War Priest: Another attack as a bonus action with number of uses scaling with Wisdom. Goes well with being a fighter.

Ready to start a war? Cleric and this subclass especially makes Grian extra ready to start a war and fight his way to victory. As a Cleric, Grian of course worships the mighty Boatem Pole!

At 7th lvl, we take a second level in Cleric, which grants us:

Channel Divinity: Turn Undead. Good for all the zombies and skeletons that keep spawning around you.

Channel Divinity: Guided Strike. Give yourself a +10 to an attack roll once per long rest. Really good if you just desperately need to land a hit.

One more prepared spell: Command (Need a war started? Just point at a button and tell someone else to “Press”!)

At 8th lvl, we take a sixth level in Fighter, which grants us:

Ability Score Improvement OR Feat: Take the ASI to bring your dex from 18 (+4) to 20 (+5)

Maxed out dex is good. Alternatively, you could bump your wisdom up to 16 instead if you want stronger spells.

Summary:

Final stats:

Str 10 (+0)

Dex 20 (+5)

Con 14 (+2)

Int 10 (+0)

Wis 14 (+2)

Cha 12 (+1)

Two Attacks as an action, a third as a bonus action (limited uses)

Rapier (if Duelling was chosen): +5 (dex) +3 (prof. bonus) = +8 to hit. 1d8 + 5 (dex) + 2 (duelling) piercing dmg.

Longbow (if Archery was chosen): +5 (dex) +3 (prof. bonus) +2 (archery) = +10 to hit. 1d8 + 5 piercing.

And that’s it for Grian! I hope this build captures the chaotic nature of Grian while also maintaining his prowess a just about everything. If you have any feedback or questions, I’d love to read them! ^^

Next will be Scar!

[rebelcourtesan]

My D&D 5e Character Build for Angel Dust

I've created a character build for Angel Dust before, but I want to redo it since I've seen him in action and with a better understanding of his character and his abilities.

Angel Dust is a skilled fighter and protective of his friends so I want to create a build that reflects that.

Long post below with spoilers.

Stats (From Highest to Lowest)

Dexterity: (Top Stat) Angel Dust is not only a flexible dancer, but is a a crackshot with tommy guns.

Charisma: (2nd Highest) Angel Dust isn't top porn star of Hell for nothing.

Constitution: (3rd Highest) Angel Dust is no push over. He's used to taking hard drugs and dealing with rough porn scenes.

Wisdom: (4th Highest) While he comes across as self-centered, he does care about his friends and looks out for them.

Strength: (5th Highest) He's not the strongest, but he can handle egg bois just fine.

intelligence: (Dump Stat)

Race

Angel is going to be a reskinned Half-Elf.

He'll gain +2 to Charisma and add the two additional Ability points into Dexterity and Constitution.

Darkvision of 60 feet

He'll have advantage on saving throws against being charmed because he knows he's the sexiest thing in Hell.

Magic can't put him to sleep. I'd say it's because he's built up a resistance to sedatives due to drug use.

Can choose two skills to be proficient in. Choose Persuasion and Acrobatics

Background

Since Angel Dust was a mobster when he was alive, we're going to give him the Criminal background. This will give him proficiency in Deception and Stealth.

Being a porn star in Hell is akin to being a Pop Idol.

Classes

We're going to start Angel off as a Bard. He is an entertainer after all, acting and dancing are part of being a Bard.

Level 1 - Bard 1st Level

Angel adds proficiency to Charisma and Dexterity saving throws.

He gains proficiency in three skills, so select: Performance, insight, and Perception.

Angel gains Bardic Inspiration, as a bonus action he can grant an ally a 1d6 to add to any ability check, attack roll, or saving throw. He can do this equal to his Charisma modifier and they refresh after a long rest.

Angel gains spells, but I would flavor these as instead of magic, he's using skills and seduction.

Cantrips:

Friends - being seductive, Angel gains advantage on Charisma check on a target of his choice.

Vicious Mockery - (You sack of poorly packaged horseshit!) Angel insults a target forcing them to succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or take 1d4 psychic damage and has disadvantage on their next attack roll. The damage goes up as Angel levels up.

Spells

Tasha's Hideous Laughter - Angel tells a joke and the target must succeed a Wisdom saving throw or fall prone overcome with laughter.

Bane - Angel can choose up to three creatures who must make Charisma saving throws or have 1d4 reduced from attack rolls or saving throws.

Charm Person - Angel can choose a target who must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by Angel. They perceive him as a friendly until attacked or harmed by Angel or his allies.

Silvery Bards - If Angel sees an enemy make a successful attack roll on an ally, as a reaction he can force the enemy to reroll and take the second result. Then he can give an advantage to an ally for their next attack roll, saving throw, or ability check.

I'm addicted to the madness...

Level 2 - Bard 2nd Level

Angel gains Jack of All Trades which lets him add half his proficiency bonus to any skills that do not have proficiency.

He also gains Song of Rest. During a short rest, he gives allies an extra 1d6 to roll when they roll hit dice to regain hit points.

Angel also gains a new spell: Heroism - He can encourage an ally to be their best and they become immune to the frighten condition and gains temporary hit points equal to Angel's Charisma modifier at the start of each of its turns.

Level 3 - Bard 3rd Level

At this level Angel gains Expertise which lets him double his bonus in two proficiency skills. Choose Persuasion and Performance.

At this level, Bards choose a subclass. For Angel Dust, we're going into College of Lore.

He gains three new skills to be proficient in so choose. Intimidation, Medicine (from drug use), and Sleight of Hand.

He also gains the Cutting Words ability. As a bonus action, h e can spend a Bardic Inspiration die to subtract from an enemy's attack roll or saving throw.

Angel also gains a new spell: Suggestion - Angel can influence a creature to do as he wishes if they fail a Wisdom saving throw.

Angel Dust loves to suck . . .popsicles . . and dicks.

Level 4 - Bard 4th Level

Ability Score Improvement - Point both points into either Charisma or Dexterity. We want these maxed out as soon as possible.

Angel also gains a new spell - Enhanced Ability: Angel encourages someone to be the best they can be by granting them advantages on one ability check while the spell is ongoing.

Level 5 - Bard 5th Level

At this level, Angel Dust's Bardic Inspiration die become 1d8s and with Font of Inspiration, he can refresh his Bardic Inspiration die after a short rest.

Angel gets a new spell - Antagonize: he can provoke an enemy into making a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, they take 4d6 psychic damage and will attack any target of Angel's choosing or takes disadvantage on its next attack. On a successful saving, only takes half damage.

Eat lead, sucker!

Level 6 - Fighter 1st Level

Alright, now we're switching gears. Now that we got Angel where he can self-guard his friends, we're going to make him a dangerous mobster by going into Fighter. Since most of his fighting relies on range weapons, having a high dexterity works in his favor!

Angel gains a fighting style, choose Archery. This nets him +2 to attack rolls with ranged weapons.

He also gains Second Wind. As a bonus action, he regains 10 + Fighter Level in hit points. He regains this after a short or long rest.

Level 7 - Fighter 2nd Level

Angel now has Action Surge. When activated, he can performed a second action on a turn. This refreshes after a short or long rest.

Level 8 - Fighter 3rd Level

Angel can go into a Fighter subclass. For this build, he'll go into Champion.

With Improve Critical, he scores a critical hit on a 19 and 20.

Angel isn't just good at sex.

Level 9 - Fighter 4th Level

Ability Score Improvement - Put points into Charisma to improve his Bard Spells and grant him more Bardic Inspiration or into Dexterity to increase his AC or let him hit more often and deal more damage with range weapons.

Level 10 - Fighter 5th Level

Angel gets Extra Attack, which allows him to make two attacks whenever he uses the Attack Action.

Level 11 - Fighter 6th Level

Ability Score Improvement - Again, put points into Charisma and Dexterity until they are maxed out.

Level 12 - Fighter 7th Level

The Champion Subclass gives Angel Remarkable Athlete. With a long jump he can cover a distance of feet matching his Strength modifier.

Angel draws on his past as a mobster to fight Exorcists.

Level 13 - Fighter 8th Level

Ability Score Improvement: Again, we want to max out both his Charisma and Dexterity.

However, if you already maxed out Charisma while close to maxing out Dexterity, you could take the Athlete feat instead.

Add 1 point to Dexterity

Angel can use only 5 feet of movement to stand from prone

Climbing does not cost him extra movement

He can make a running long or high jump using only 5 ft instead of 10 ft of movement

Level 14 - Fighter 9th Level

Angel gains Indomitable which will allow him to reroll a failed saving throw, but must keep the second result. He can do this once every long rest.

Level 15 - Fighter 10th Level

As Champion, Angel Dust gets a second Fighting Style. Choose Close Quarters Shooter - This let's Angel attack an enemy within 5 ft with a range weapon without penalties. It also lets him ignore three-quarters cover of targets within range. This also grants him another +1 bonus on range attacks.

Level 16 - Fighter 11th Level

Angel gets an Extra Attack. He can now attack three times whenever he takes the attack action.

Level 17 - Fighter 12th Level

Ability Score Improvement - Put points into either Charisma and/or Dexterity. We want to improve Angel's Bard spells while improving his range attacks and AC.

Level 18 - Fighter 13th Level

Angel gets a second Indomitable (allowing him to reroll a failed saving throw). Both refresh after a long rest.

Level 19 - Fighter 14th Level

Ability Score Improvement - Like before, put points into Charisma and/or Dexterity. We want both of these stats maxed out.

Level 20 - Fighter 15th Level

Angel attains Superior Critical, allowing him to deliver critical hits on 18-20 on the die.

Angel Dust, a charismatic mobster.

With this build, you should have the both sides of Angel's personality, the whimsical porn starlet who can stand against Exorcists and other demons.

[stick-or-treat]

I LOVE THIS RULE AND I THINK PEOPLE SHOULD USE IT MORE

I can't remember if this was in the 2014 PHB or added later in Tasha's or something... But I just love imagining Intelligence (Intimidation), or Charisma (Stealth) or idk Dexterity (Performance) for juggling or whatever, it's just fun, THIS IS A FUN RULE

[viptvseries]

Beautiful ladies 📸

[asmallorb]

PIZZA TOWER the Towers & Toppins AU: Character Creation P2

Oh my god it’s the Gustavo and Brick hour. (I love this loop so much omg).

Gustavo:

Race: Forest Gnome

I honestly don’t know for sure that Gustavo in game is a gnome and the creators have not confirmed as much (as far as I’m aware), but it is a popular headcannon simply for the fact that his first playable appearance is in the gnome forest level. Regardless of any legitimacy, in the world of fantasy adventure, he would make for a perfect little gnome based off his look, that and gnomes are perfect throwing size for a certain barbarian with the Tavern Brawler feat. He’d specifically a forest gnome to play further into fanon and his new fantastical origin. 

Class: Ranger

The woods are the perfect place to hunt and forage for pizza ingredients, and an understanding of nature would be perfect for the cultivation of herbs. Such a task requires one to become attune to the natural world. Ranger is also a nice counterweight to Peppino’s more hands on moveset, Rangers have spellcasting, a bit of healing and they have proficiency in all sorts of ranged weaponry such as long bows and crossbows. The optimal stat distribution for a ranger leans more into dexterity and wisdom, and comically, intelligence is a dump stat. Which just feels right somehow for Gustavo, like -- he’s not stupid, but I feel like he's not going to win a scholarship anytime soon either. Finally there’s a particular ranger subclass that lines up perfectly with his moveset.

Subclass: Beast Master

The beast master subclass is quite easy to picture. Your thing is that you have animal buddy, specifically a Primal Companion. The beast follows your commands and acts on your turn, and later down in levels you get even more abilities that empower your animal companion and yourself in unison. 

Brick would naturally stand in as Gus’s Primal Companion. There are stats for a giant rat but it counts as a small creature, and Brick is a medium sized creature at the very least. I think it’s more than reasonable to homebrew something more appropriate. Perhaps we can give him something along the lines of a the Giant Badger stat block, get rid of the dig speed and give him the Pack Tactics ability from the Giant rat. 

But that’s of course if you’re using the rules pre-Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, which simplifies things by supplying three generic stat blocks (land, seas or sky) for the animal, having the player pick one (land in this case) and then they can just say ‘my animal companion looks giant rat’. Also the ranger subclass is all over improved by changing it so that when you command your animal companion, it’s a bonus action instead of a full action. Good stuff. 

Now where it gets fun is that if Brick counts as medium sized, and Gustavo being a gnome would put him in the small size category, that means Gus can easily use Brick as a mount! Which is so vital to Gustavo and Brick’s dynamic. 

And that’s it! A short and sweet one. Just like Gustavo. 

[psychhound]

My first thought for the skill check challenge was a high-level rogue making a stealth check, so I'll start there: a level 17 or higher rogue with expertise in stealth (+12) and 20 dexterity (+5) automatically gets a +17 to all stealth checks, meaning a natural 20 gives us a 37. If we have a druid or ranger in the party, the Pass Without Trace spell will let us add +10 to all stealth checks for up to an hour, and a cleric with the Guidance cantrip could let us add a d4 to a single ability check. Bardic inspiration at this level would be a d12, so max rolls on that and the Guidance plus the Pass Without Trace gives us a stealth check of 63 on a natural 20. Assuming our DM allows the artificer class, a party member with at least 7 levels in artificer and 20 intelligence could use their Flash of Genius feature to add +5 to our roll, bringing us to a total of 68!

That's without using any magic items; a high-level rogue with an Ioun Stone of Mastery (+1 to proficiency bonus), a Manual of Quickness of Action (+2 maximum dexterity), and a Stone of Good Luck (+1 to ability checks and saving throws) could theoretically get as high as 72.

Even without an artificer in the party or a ridiculous combination of magic items, I can think of one other way to get a stealth check of 68 or higher — but not with a rogue. A high-level ranger with the same 20 dexterity and expertise in stealth can go even higher, if they have a minute to prepare first, by using their Hide in Plain Sight feature to camouflage themselves. This ability only works as long as they don't move or take actions (which is why the Nature's Veil option from Tasha's is better), but it does give them an additional +10 to stealth, which combined with Pass Without Trace, Bardic Inspiration, and Guidance gives us a maximum stealth roll of 73!

That's 78 with Flash of Genius, 82 if your DM has truly just given up and let you have all the magic items your sneaky little heart desires.

i feel thoroughly bested ... i feel like vizzini getting my ass got at my own riddle ... amazing work. the scaling of this is truly bonkers. 5e considers a dc 30 to be of godly difficulty and yet a ranger just being really really still can nearly triple that. what does that even look like in universe ... i think they just literally momentarily cease to exist. the gods forget about them. one with the trees. i think taking a nap during an 82 stealth check would fix all my problems permanently

anyway because you got me and this is so inherently hilarious i think you should get two free homebrew downloads so let me know which ones you want. humbly offering my wares like an old tricksy merchant who saw goodness again and has decided to stop scamming people. im turning a new leaf (i promise i dont scam people)

[cagemasterfantasy]

Monk (Way of the Astral Self

A monk who follows the Way of the Astral Self believes their body is an illusion. They see their ki as a representation of their true form, an astral self. This astral self has the capacity to be a force of order or disorder, with some monasteries training students to use their power to protect the weak and other instructing aspirants in how to manifest their true selves in service to the mighty.

Arms of the Astral Self: At level 3, your mastery of your ki allows you to summon a portion of your astral self. As a bonus action, you can spend 1 ki point to summon the arms of your astral self. When you do so, each creature of your choice that you can see within 10 feet of you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take force damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die.

For 10 minutes, these spectral arms hover near your shoulders or surround your arms (your choice). You determine the arms' appearance, and they vanish early if you are incapacitated or die.

While the spectral arms are present, you gain the following benefits:

You can use your Wisdom modifier in place of your Strength modifier when making Strength checks and Strength saving throws.

You can use the spectral arms to make unarmed strikes.

When you make an unarmed strike with the arms on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal.

The unarmed strikes you make with the arms can use your Wisdom modifier in place of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls, and their damage type is force.

Visage of the Astral Self: When you reach level 6, you can summon the visage of your astral self. As a bonus action, or as part of the bonus action you take to activate Arms of the Astral Self, you can spend 1 ki point to summon this visage for 10 minutes. It vanishes early if you are incapacitated or die.

The spectral visage covers your face like a helmet or mask. You determine its appearance.

While the spectral visage is present, you gain the following benefits.

Astral Sight: You can see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 120 feet.

Wisdom of the Spirit: You have advantage on Insight (Wisdom) and Intimidation (Charisma) checks.

Word of the Spirit: When you speak, you can direct your words to a creature of your choice that you can see within 60 feet of you, making it so only that creature can hear you. Alternatively, you can amplify your voice so that all creatures within 600 feet can hear you.

Body of the Astral Self: Starting at level 11, when you have both your astral arms and visage summoned, you can cause the body of your astral self to appear (no action required). This spectral body covers your physical form like a suit of armor, connecting with the arms and visage. You determine its appearance.

While the spectral body is present, you gain the following benefits.

Deflect Energy: When you take acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, or thunder damage, you can use your reaction to deflect it. When you do so, the damage you take is reduced by 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier (minimum reduction of 1).

Empowered Strike: Once on each of your turns when you hit a target with the Arms of the Astral Self, you can deal extra damage to the target equal to your Martial Arts die.

Awakened Astral Self: Starting at level 17, your connection to your astral self is complete, allowing you to unleash its full potential. As a bonus action, you can spend 5 ki points to summon the arms, visage, and body of your astral self and awaken it for 10 minutes. This awakening ends early if you are incapacitated or die.

While your astral self is awakened, you gain the following benefits.

Armor of the Self: You gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class.

Astral Barrage: Whenever you use Extra Attack to attack twice, you can instead attack three times if all the attacks are made with your astral arms.

Source: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #340: Daikokuten

meowdy, y’all! on today’s Grailfinders we’re building the god of fortune… ‘s pet mice, Daikokuten! they’re Circle of Dreams Druids to become the perfect subordinates, and Twilight Clerics, to become the perfect hosts. they’re a bit one-note, but if you want to support people (and maybe summon an army of giant rats to crush your enemies) you won’t go wrong here.

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

next up: you can’t talk like that, white baby

Ancestry & Background

sadly there aren’t any mice in D&D, at least not as a playable race. …or is there? in the DMG, they suggest that you can use a Halfling stat block as the basis for a mousefolk character, and frankly that just works perfectly, since they can also get the Mark of Hospitality. with that, you get +2 Dexterity and +1 Wisdom (if you’re okay with Tasha’s saving our butts again), and plenty of other goodies to boot! you’re Lucky, so you can re-roll any natural ones on attacks, checks, or saves; you’re Brave, giving you advantage on all rolls against fright; and you have Halfling Nimbleness, letting you walk straight through any creature larger than you are. those are pretty basic halfling features, but thanks to your mark you’re also Ever Hospitable for a d4 bonus to all cooking and persuasion checks, and you know extra magic too! Your Innkeeper’s Magic gives you the Prestidigitation cantrip for free to clean up whatever messes you come across, and once per day per spell you can cast Purify Food and Drink and Unseen Servant using your charisma. obviously you’re supposed to do the serving, but having extra hands never hurt. you also learn Spells of the Mark, adding plenty of cool spells to your spell lists, like Goodberry (rice balls that heal 1 HP), Leomund’s Tiny Hut (a small living space), and Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum (make any ship a well-protected Takarabune.

the Daikokuten are, of course, Acolytes of the daikokuten, so they get proficiency with Insight and Religion checks. they know who makes a good boss and who doesn’t. and one of your bosses is a god, so you’d betternot fail that religion check.

Ability Scores

Wisdom’s number one. you got them big ol’ ears for a reason, y’know? after that, Dexterity. if Tom and Jerry taught me anything, it’s that mice are really hardto hit. after that, Intelligence. you’re not omniscient, but you are practically omnipresent, which is almost the same thing after a while. we’re still making your Constitution positive though, don’t worry about that. that means your Charisma is pretty low, since you’re submissive and multiplicable. that means we’re dumping Strength. if there’s anything else Tom & Jerry taught me, it’s that mice can’t kill cats no matter what they’re wielding, and those things have like 2 HP.

Class Levels

1. Druid 1: At first level, druids gain proficiency in Intelligence and Wisdom saves, as well as two skills from their skill list, like Animal Handling, and Nature. You are animals, so being able to handle yourselves simply makes sense. you can also write and read Druidic, a secret language that can be hidden in plain sight, and you can cast and prepare Spells using your Wisdom.

For your cantrips, grab Gust for slightly alter the Takarabune’s course, and Infestation for your first and smallest rat swarm. As for first level spells, druids have a wonderful spell list to pick from- but if you want to play the Daikokuten, I recommend Beast Bond, Cure Wounds, Fog Cloud, and Speak with Animals. The first and last spells are simply side-effects of being animals, while Cure Wounds and other healing spells are simply being a good host and fixing your guests some snacks. Finally, Fog Cloud is a bit of an unorthodox choice, but it will allow you to hide your true numbers during your noble phantasm.

2. Druid 2: Second level druids enter a circle of their choosing, such as the Circle of Dreams! When you do so, you gain the Balm of the Summer Court, which gives you a pool of six-sided dice each day you can spend as a bonus action to heal a nearby creature. one of onigiri’s biggest strengths is how easy it is to make, after all.

You can also use either Wild Shape or Wild Companion to turn yourself into a giant rat or summon a regular-sized one, respectively. These two features share their uptime, but with two uses every short rest, you won’t be left wanting.

3. Druid 3: Third level druids gain second level spells, like Locate Animals or Plants to help feed Boss Anning’s plesiosaur, or Augury to confer with other “you”s about potential actions you can take to help your various bosses. The other yous can say your plan will bring “weal”, a good outcome; “woe”, a bad outcome; or “mixed”, which is, appropriately, a mixed bag.

4. Druid 4: At level four, you get your first Ability Score Improvement, increasing your Wisdom for stronger spells. You also gain a Wild Shape Improvement, letting you turn into CR ½ creatures that can swim now! Despite the fact that rats are rather good swimmers, you didn’t need this to transform into one. Still, it gives you more options. Options that you can’t take if you wish to stay in character, but options nonetheless.

You can also cast Mending now to do regular maid stuff like sewing holes in dresses.

5. Druid 5: At third level, you can now use your noble phantasm, Conjure Animals! Now you can summon eight giant rats, and that number will grow as you use higher level spell slots! They’re a bit more fragile than you, but we only need them to survive for one attack anyway.

You can also use Create Food & Water and Leomund’s Tiny Hut from your hospitality spell list to create rice balls in-game, as well as to keep your boss’ camp nice and safe while they rest.

6. Cleric 1: first level clerics can use another Wisdom-based spell list, but you’ll have to check your PHB to figure out how many spell slots you have at a given time. but before we go into magic, let’s talk domains. as a Twilight cleric you can use martial weapons and heavy armor if you want, but most of your features are about support. with your Eyes of Night you get super long-range darkvision, and you can even give it to nearby creatures once a day for an hour. you’re just helpful like that. speaking of sharing, you can give a Vigilant Blessing to yourself (or another party member) for advantage on their next initiative roll. you literally have multiple heads to watch for danger, it makes sense you’re good at it. (it doesn’t hurt that you’re working for the bad guy too)

for cantrips, Resistance gives an ally a bonus to their next save, while Light and Thaumaturgy let you get a little more godly with your presentation, making items glow or letting you act with some more of daikokuten’s authority. you also get Faerie Fire for free to give your allies some help hitting stuff, and Sleep to brew such a nice cup of tea people can’t help but doze off even on the battlefield. for more helpfulness, Bless can add a d4 to checks or saves made by multiple members of the party, and you also get even more healing spells as a cleric than you did as a druid!

7. Cleric 2: second level clerics can Channel Divinity in one of two ways once a short rest. Turn Undead is whatever, you make zombies scared, but we’re more focused on Twilight Sanctuary. now you can provide the darkness for your NP properly, and while that ball of darkness follows you around you get even more bonuses to anything that follows you into the night, either giving out temporary HP or ending an effect that’s charming or frightening it.

8. Cleric 3: third level clerics get second level spells, and while your freebies Moonbeam and See Invisibility aren’t really in our wheelhouse, you can still use Borrowed Knowledge to get some help from other yous for free proficiency in one skill, or they can help you Locate Objects. you can also support your bosses directly by using Enhance Ability to give them advantage on any one kind of skill check!

9. Druid 6: at sixth level, dream druids get a Hearth of Moonlight and Shadow, making every camp a bit homier without the need for a magic shield. during short or long rests, you can create a 30’ radius of magical darkness, in which you and your bosses have a big bonus to stealth and perception, and which also blocks any campfires or torches from being seen outside of it.

10. Druid 7: seventh level druids get fourth level spells. with Control Water, you can get a proper hold of the Takarabune no matter what the currents are like outside, redirecting the flow of water however you like, even in blatantly impossible ways. you can also use this spell to flood areas, part water, or create whirlpools. If it’s good enough for Heracles it’s good enough for your boss! you can also use Polymorph now for another way to transform into a giant rat. or maybe something better than a giant rat. if such a thing could exist.

11. Druid 8: eighth level druids get another Wild Shape Improvement, and while I know bats and seagulls are sometimes called “flying rats”, I don’t think you can change your species on a technicality. you get an Ability Score Improvement you can use though, so that’s +2 Dexterity for ya!

12. Druid 9: ninth level druids get fifth level spells. Mass Cure Wounds finally gives you a party-wide heal like your first skill, and you can send a you off to parts known to do some Scrying- that’s “spying” but when a crat does it. also there’s this one spell called Insect Plague, but I know it’s a mouse plague, it must just be a typo. a 20’ radius in a spot you specify becomes filled with yous for up to ten minutes. there’s so many of them the area is lightly obscured and difficult terrain, and when you cast the spell every creature inside needs to make a Constitution save or take piercing damage from all the buck teeth and scrabbly claws. they also need to make this save when they enter the area or end their turn inside it.

13. Druid 10: you’ve been all over the place enough that you know some Hidden Paths now. as a bonus action you can teleport up to 60’ away, or teleport a willing creature up to 30’ away, up to four times a day. if one you disappears and another you is standing somewhere else, does it really count as teleporting?

you can also give Guidance to your bosses now, giving them a bonus d4 when they make their next skill check.

14. Druid 11: with sixth level spells, you can finally hold a Boss’ Feast, giving everyone who eats it immunity to poison and fright, advantage on wisdom saves, and bonus HP for 24 hours. they’re also cured of any diseases like grail mud or being super bunyan. you can also Transport via Plants, letting you travel through any large plant you’ve seen on this plane of existence. Again, this is just to give the impression that you’re multiple places at once.

15. Druid 12: use this ASI to bestow your Bountiful Luck onto your bosses- whenever they roll a one on an attack, check, or save, you can react to give them a re-roll! aren’t you nice? turns out having a god as a subordinate comes with perks!

16. Druid 13: there’s not really anything I’d want from any seventh level spells you can get. maybe Plane Shift so you can report to your biggest boss whenever you want? really just use this for rat summoning, I guess.

17. Druid 14: fourteenth level dream druids are Walkers in Dreams. whenever you finish a short rest, you can cast Dream, Scrying, or Teleportation Circle for free, though the latter can only take you to where you woke up that morning as long as it’s on the same plane. you can cast a spell this way once a day.

18. Druid 15: controlling water is nice if you need to move the Takarabune in short bursts, but if you want to take control for longer periods of sailing, you need to Control Weather. this lets you take absolute control of the precipitation, temperature, and wind strength of the area up to five miles around you, albeit at a gradual pace.

19. Druid 16: our last ASI will make you Shadow Touched, rounding up your Intelligence and giving you one hell of a dodge thanks to the Invisibility spell. you can also Distort the Value of any object by virtue of it being in the Takarabune, doubling its apparent value for up to 8 hours, though an investigation check can see through the magic.

20. Druid 17: our last level of the build gives us ninth level spells, like Foresight. now you can give your boss immunity to being surprised, as well as advantage on all attacks, checks, and saves, and creatures attacking them get disadvantage, all for up to 8 hours! I assume this is how Giga Plesiosaurus Omega happened. I mean you are riding around in the grail, after all.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

being a rat is very useful for sneaking around- they’re damn near everywhere, and as long as you’re not in someone’s kitchen you’re usually beneath notice. whether you’ve turned into one, are using a rat familiar, or have commandeered a regular rat, you’re more than ready to gather information, or maybe pilfer a small magical trinket or two.

if you don’t want to be bothered, you cannot be bothered. leomund’s tiny hut puts a shield around you, mordenkainen’s private sanctum can make you unscryable, hearth of moonlight and shadow makes it so much harder for your camp to be spotted at a distance, and if you’re really sick of solicitors knocking on your door you can just use control weather to make everywhere within five miles of your camp fucking horrendous to walk through. when you set camp, it stays set.

you’re also great a making your party shine. unless you’re in a party with like 10 people you’ve basically removed nat ones from existence as long as you’re around. you’ve got tons of healing and debuff resisting spells, plus ways to literally see into the future to make sure everyone’s plans go the way they want.

Cons:

why are you turning into a giant rat. I know it’s in-character, but there’s so many better options available even from the start. also, summoning like 32 giant rats sounds fun, but it's hell on your DM and they'll probably last all of five seconds in a fight anyway. that wouldn’t be so big a deal, but…

outside of dexterity, your physical stats aren’t great. you get pushed around easily, and just like a real mouse a couple solid stomps are enough to flatten you. though really, this is just a symptom of the build’s biggest issue…

despite this being a combat-focused game, this build isn’t focused on combat, at least not directly. while druids do have access to a crazy powerful spell list, the strongest attack we use in-character is Insect Plague, and that spell’s more for area denial than an actual attack. this build really is all about helping other party members to shine, and that means you might not be able to do that too often yourself if you use it. that’s not necessarily a bad thing (I mean it’s why we built the damn build in the first place), but it means the build won’t be fun for everyone.