#the stat breakdowns are so detailed

[discountalien-pancake]

The friendship harem has started up some good old analog correspondence, so I fell down a fountain pen rabbithole and splurged on some new materials. Did I choose a very expensive ink purely because it was glass green and named Cinderella’s Slipper? Absolutely.

In the meantime, I dug out a very old, inexpensive dried up pen that I have no idea where it even came from. Took it apart and tossed the nib and cartridge into a bottle full of water to dissolve the old ink.

Something about this image of my dimly lit desk covered in art supplies and papers and random junk, with a bottle of bright blue water smack in the middle of it is immensely pleasing?? No idea why.

Anyway, perhaps I will pick up a bottle of less expensive, more versatile blue-black ink tomorrow so I can put my cheap pen to use while I wait for my nice pen to arrive.

[legendaryvermin]

So my home ttrpg group is between longform games right now, and I have been planning to bring a bunch of games to them this weekend as options for what we might play next. However, I have been trying to figure out how to talk about the games in a way that doesn't rely as much on me explaining the vibes to them.

I know that people have a bunch of qualitative categories for how they explain games, but I find the idea of saying things like Dark Fantasy OSR, or Lesbian Goofball PBTA less helpful when talking about how games actually play, especially when two games in the same category are like, wildly different in the way they use their frameworks.

So I invented a 6 axis, 1 to 5 star rating scale for TTRPGs that you are free to borrow when talking to groups, or whatever.

TTRPG 5 Star Rating Matrix

Width

What is the scope of this game? Is it narrowly about one thing or does it encompass many types of play? (Credit to friend of the blog @ostermad-blog for this one, they came up with it from my draft)

Weight

How much cognitive load does the player need to bear? Do rules often need to be referenced verbatim? Can those rules fit on a handout?

Wargame

Is the player expected to apply tactical acumen? Is movement tracked tightly or loosely? Does a bad build punish a player?

Writers Room

How much are players expected to make narrative choices and drive the story without the rules scaffolding them? Does this game fall apart without excellent improvisational storytellers?

(Prep)Work

Does this game require a lot of pre-planning by the facilitator? Are there intricate systems to attend to outside of table play? Can I put in the same amount of time as other players and still have everyone leave happy? 

Whimsy

Expected tone of the game. Does this game have difficult thematic elements baked in? Is the core subject or role in the game high or low risk?

Here are some games I know well and how I calibrated them:

I have breakdowns of what each star rating means below the cut if you're curious. Happy Gaming!

Width

⭐ - As written, the game has basically one mode of play, or one thematic core that it meditates on. May have phases, but textural difference is minimal.

⭐⭐ - As written, there are at least two modes of play, but the scope of that play is highly thematically focused or highly dependent on using the game’s own lore. Might have only one kind of character (e.g. Mech Pilot) that it supports. Has limited tools outside of the primary mode of play.

⭐⭐⭐ - Has a variety of modes of play, but may be rigid in their execution. Might encompass multiple kinds of characters (e.g. Doctor, Lawyer, fighter) or character options. The narratives that this game tells within its setting are narrowed, a three word description tells you what kind of stories it can tell with consistency.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Loose framework, but with some kind of thematic grounding. Describing the framework in 3 words doesn’t tell you the kind of stories that the game tells (e.g. Dark Fantasy, Star Wars Romp). 

⭐⭐⭐⭐��- As written, this game is designed in such a way that it doesn’t put specific limits on what sorts of stories that it is meant to tell. It might ask players to define abilities or stats for themselves. The Facilitator is going to pitch a thematic grounding on top of the rules set.

One Star Examples: For the Queen, Dialect, Honey Heist Five Star Examples: Fate Core, Savage Worlds, GURPS

Weight

⭐ - It is reasonable for a player to be able to recite the rules from memory. The game may be prompt based, or driven by a flow of rules that are read aloud as played.

⭐⭐ - Players can hold most of the most important information about the game in their heads, with a page or less of rules reference needed to play smoothly. This reference could all fit neatly on the character sheet if one is present.

⭐⭐⭐ - Everything a player needs to know about the game is visible on less than 3 sheets of reference. Players are more or less expected to know exactly how their own abilities work in precise detail, and are unlikely to make a mistake in executing them.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Players make extensive use of multiple reference sheets to keep rules moving smoothly. No external tools are needed, but players memorizing the details of all of their abilities is taxing. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- Players and facilitators will prefer to make extensive use of external tools or reference to keep play moving smoothly. Expecting a player to have the exact details of their abilities memorized is not reasonable.

One Star Examples: For the Queen, Stewpot, Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands Five Star Examples: Dungeons and Dragons 3-5e, Lancer, Edge of the Empire

Wargame

⭐ - As written, this game does not treat combat as mechanically different from any other aspect of play, or does not include narrative violence at all.

⭐⭐ - While players may engage in combat, it is minimally different from regular play. There may be tools or abilities for players to use to conduct a fight, but the texture of those fights is thematic, not mechanical. Narrative and consequence drive the action, not hit points.

⭐⭐⭐ - As written, combat has its own set of rules. This game may have some elements of buildcrafting, but either it is difficult to build something that doesn’t work, or the player may meaningfully invest in other modes of play and still find a commensurate level of satisfaction. If combat occurs, spacing is kept in mind, but is tracked in relative terms (range bands) or highly simplified (zone based combat).

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This game has buildcrafting that is somewhat mandatory if players wish to survive a fight, but there is still a meaningful choice in choosing a non-combat role. It may use a grid or a spacing system to help players visualize the combat. Fights are driven by mechanics, not by narrative.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- To enjoy this game, players must spend time buildcrafting. If a player’s build is suboptimal, there may be significant parts of the intended experience that will either feel tedious, or that the player will not have meaningful access to. This game is played on a grid.

One Star Examples: Wanderhome, Dialect, Belonging Outside Belonging Five Star Examples: Lancer, Dungeons and Dragons 3-5e, Valor

Writers Room

⭐ - Players in this game are not expected to provide much in the way of narrative substance. Story is something that is driven by external input or tools, and players are there to imagine and react. The player need not separate the self from the character they play in any meaningful way.

⭐⭐ - The mechanics of this game drive most of the narrative, or else the narrative is set for the players by an external source or player. Players are encouraged to play optimally rather than dramatically, but do have room for expressing the identity of their character within the game’s mechanical frameworks.

⭐⭐⭐ - While the game does provide strong scaffolding to tell a story, the players present are expected to drive the story within those frameworks. The game’s systems create and resolve conflict on their own, but works best when the players are willing to choose the dramatically interesting option even if it mechanically non-optimal.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - The game provides some mechanical tools that create and resolve drama, but there is a significant expectation that the players are buying into and driving the game’s thematic concepts. Players are the ones deciding what the scenes should be and when to end them, but mechanics still help determine outcomes.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- The players are expected to drive the narrative at all times. Tools for deciding what scenes to do and when to end them are limited, optional, or vague. There is no meaningful scaffolding that creates conflict or resolution, it is incumbent on those present to manifest those things.

One Star Examples: Alice is Missing, Ribbon Drive, For the Queen Five Star Examples: Wanderhome, Systemless RP

(Prep)Work

⭐ - Facilitators are not expected to do work outside the time at the table. All rules can be read while the game is played. No memorization is needed.

⭐⭐ - This game expects the facilitator to have read the rules in advance, but the rules are so few that they can be run from a single reference sheet. At times, the facilitator must think about and potentially advance and adjust the narrative of the game behind the scenes. Prep is qualitative; answering questions about where the narrative is going to go, who will be there etc. The game can be run smoothly predominantly as improv.

⭐⭐⭐ - This game expects the facilitator to not only know the rules, but to imagine scenarios where the group must play. However, the scope of the scenario design is limited and qualitative. It takes a bit of pondering and perhaps a sketch and a few words of notes. Alternatively, the facilitator must design simple foes or track a simple background system. The work is trivial, and can be done with a bit of time before session.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - The facilitator of this game is expected to have run systems between games, or created usable maps or scenarios. Generally, games at this level have some reduced wargaming component. The facilitator might need to engage in enemy design, but the work is limited or imminently reusable. The work is non-trivial, and failing to do it will somewhat impact the quality of play.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- The facilitator of this game puts in significant time between sessions engaging in game design activities. They are expected to plan narratives, write NPCs, draw maps, run significant background systems, and design enemies and combat encounters. The work is significant outside of play, and failing to do it beforehand will result in a worse table experience.

One Star Examples: For the Queen, Alley-Oop, Lasers and Feelings Five Star Examples: Lancer, D&D 3-5e, Stars Without Number, Edge of the Empire

Whimsy

⭐ - This game’s thematic core is considered dark, taboo, or difficult, and separating the game’s mechanical features from this subject matter is next to impossible. Games with horror elements almost certainly fit within this category. These games encourage extensive pre-play safety talks.

⭐⭐ - This game is designed to look at dark subject matter, but doesn’t expect the player to spend all of their time there. Players explore difficult topics, but may get to choose what topics to explore, or when to explore them. Games with political messaging/commentary tend to fit this category. These games encourage pre-play safety talks.

⭐⭐⭐ - This game may have dark aesthetics, but doesn’t enforce them mechanically. Alternatively, there are mechanics that address difficult topics in broad strokes, but players are given leeway in the rules with how any difficult topics are approached. These games may encourage safety talks. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This game may have the option to explore dark topics, but none of the mechanics are tied to such topics. This game may have violence in its aesthetics, but players may choose to adjust the aesthetics at the table to suit their comfort. These games tend not to talk about safety in their text.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- This game is designed to focus on thematic material that is considered to be relatively safe. The game is unlikely to tread into violence or trauma without effort.

One Star Examples: Trophy Dark, Dungeon Bitches, Vampire the Masquerade Five Star Examples: Honey Heist, Princess World, Beach Episode

The system here isn't about what's good or bad, to be clear. I think there are good and bad games at every level of these categories, but when I think about what my game group is good at and comfy with, I don't think we go in for things at like the 5 end of the Writers Room scale. It's too much work, and most of them aren't pro improvisers.

Similarly, if we play another game that is a 4 or 5 on the PrepWork category, I don't have time to run it these days. So this helps me make practical choices about our next game.

[phanchester]

since there are so many data nerd phannies i decided to make a compilation of all the spreadsheets i could find - lmk if i missed any or if you want me to add any additional details <3

last updated: 30/06/24

actively updating spreadsheets

dan and phil uploads from 2021-2024

dan and phil’s upload schedule from all their channels with days and dates

amount of days in between videos in each channel

pie charts of days of the week they upload

made by @ahappydnp 

everything dan and phil related

all of dan and phil’s video links from all their channels from all their accounts (including super amazing project, snapchat, vine, tiktok and more)

all of dan and phil’s radio shows, including reuploads and playlists, as well as the dan vs phil, fan war and internet news if available for each show with misc clips and written recaps

all of dan and phil’s liveshows, including some written recaps and the app where it was originally posted

all of dan and phil’s vyous including the question they were answering

all of dan and phil’s collaborations and video features (even if they were in the background), including the channel they were originally uploaded on 

all of dan and phil’s interviews

all of dan and phil’s merch, including originally shop links and links to the phandom wiki which has further information

all of dan and phil’s professional photos as well as some fan photos, including the event, photographer and platform

the dates and statuses of each of these videos (lost, archived, unlisted or public)

made by @stillarchivingdnp

dan and phil 2024 upload stats

each of their 2024 videos with channel, upload date, upload time in uk, length, sponsor and editor/s (if applicable) with an accompanying colour-coded calendar

(for amazingphil videos) whether dan featured and (for dapg videos) whether it was gaming/talking and who tweeted it

interactive part where you can see the time period between two videos

averages, maximums and minimums for times between uploads, upload times and runtimes with accompanying graphs

percentage of videos with other editors, with pie charts for all channels and each channel

made by @dnpbeats

all or nothing: dan vs phil season 2

all of the games for season 2, with the year they played them and the results with and without all or nothing coming into play

how often all or nothing came into play and who suggested it

the general impact of all or nothing

made by @organized-chaotic-disaster

dan and phil saying “i love you”

when dan and/or phil said ily

the video and timestamp from when they said ily and whether it was prompted

pie chart of dan or phil saying ily

made by @ahappydnp

games where one of them decides the winner

date and link for each video

overall winner with the winner for each round

breakdown of the amount of times each of them have won each round and the percentage phil has won

made by @dnpbeats

dan and phil 2024 upload schedule

upload date for each video, with the day of the week and approximate time it was uploaded in cst, including the most common and second most common upload day for dapg

days between each upload, including the longest gap, shortest gap, average gap and first and second most common gap for dapg

a colour-coded calendar displaying the upload schedule for dapg and amazingphil

made by @kat-aa

completed spreadsheets

all or nothing: dan vs phil season 1 with a great accompanying document with further details and analysis of the data

all of the games they played, with the year they played them and the results with and without all or nothing coming into play

how often all or nothing came into play and who suggested it

the general impact of all or nothing

made by @organized-chaotic-disaster 

youtuber tours

(not necessarily dnp but it includes them!)

120 different tours, including the creators, names, dates, countries, links (if available) and producers (if applicable)

each tours’ venue capacity range, average and total attendance

individual tour show breakdown with city, state, country and additional notes

data on each venue’s capacity, number of tours, and which youtuber went to each venue

data on each country’s amount of shows, broken down into states and cities

made by @stillarchivingdnp 

gamingmas 2023 schedule

all gamingmas video titles from 2023

the time each video was uploaded in gmt

made by @cactuslester

spreadsheet screenshots in posts

listening trends in all or nothing

scatter graph for the correlation between track number and number of listens

analysis of the data

made by @serendipnpipity

analysis of dnp’s letterboxd ratings and movies with part 1 and part 2

(pt 1) rating distributions for all the movies they’ve rated, including details about which movies one rated higher than the other, and which movies they rated the same

(pt 1) a list of their five-star movies

(pt 1) a list of movies one logged but not the other

(pt 1) cute little misc notes about the specific movies and dates

(pt 2) ratings broken down into genre, studio and franchise with accompanying bar charts

made by @philsrosesweatshirt

views on post-hiatus dapg videos after specific time frames

i believe this is a work of progress!

video titles with the dates and months, along with details of whether they were sponsored or had external editors

view count after 24 hours, 48 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 months and 6 months

made by @goldenpinof

favourite dnp tour song statistics

years phannies started watching vs the year they joined the phandom represented in a bar graph

favourite dnp tour song in a donut pie graph and a bar graph

favourite song vs year joined represented in a bar graph

made by @serendipnpipity

terrible influence: the tour trailer video analysis

all the videos that appear in terrible influence with additional notes

the list sorted by date, view count and channel specifics

timestamps provided for each clip, both in the video and where they appear in the trailer

made by @emojackolantern

[deancaspinefest]

Congratulations to all of the incredible artists and authors who participated in the eighth round of the Dean/Cas Pinefest!

Over the past month, 34 authors and 23 artists teamed up to share a collective 1,420,869 words of pine-filled fic and 117 works of art. The talent and artistry of this fandom absolutely floors us every year, and we're so happy that you're all still here sharing your wonderful creations with us 🌲 

With that in mind, we'll definitely be back for more! An official announcement for the 2025 Pinefest -- our ninth year -- will come sometime in July. Follow us here on Tumblr to make sure you don’t miss out on any details!

Under the cut, you’ll find links to every fic & art masterpost from the 2024 round, and you can also check out the collection on Ao3. Make sure to let the authors and artists know how much you enjoyed their creations with a like, kudos, or best of all, a reblog, rec, or comment!

following the light

One Drop, when What You Need is the Ocean

Of Dust, Gunpowder and Holy Water

Books, Pies, and Roommates

A Fairy Tale Cliche!

All in Honesty

Another Kind of Memory

Not our kind of thing

Different Currencies

In The Dog Days

Whatever Makes You Happy

Significant severe

all that we intend

Something Happening Somewhen

Two Princes

Broken (The Worst Is Over Now)

Well, I Never Been To Heaven

The Reel Deal

A Fabulous Evening's Apocalypse

Foxfire

Super Double Bus

Suddenly I See

Lavender Fireflies

Heartland Flyer

Something Blue

Wouldn't It Be Nice

If Only You Return to Me

all out to sea

Dear Father

Opposites Distract

Faking It?

Given to Fly

Take The Long Way Home

A Glacial Pace

All caught up on this year’s crop of pine? There are 694 more works of art and 219 more fics to be found in the previous seven Pinefest rounds -- and if you're into numbers, you can find a full breakdown of this and past year’s stats here!

Until next time… happy pining!

[mecachrome]

landoscar ao3 stats — 2023 overview

notes

retrieved ~sometime in march 2024

methodology: scraped metadata for every fic in the landoscar tag and...... that's it. however one important constraint is that all temporal data is date updated (not posted), so the above timeline isn't exactly a true representation of fic growth but rather how many fics were last-updated at that time. of course this is still its own reflection of fandom health in a way since dead fandoms don't update old fic but well... it's just not quite the same!

this is just info about general trends, fic content, tags etc... so nothing about kudos/comments or any authors specifically

i decided to focus solely on fics last-updated in 2023 (unless otherwise mentioned) because i wanted a tidy set that i can maybe compare & contrast in a year's time, because i expect a lot of details to look different then (tho as stated above this set isn't exactly static... 🤷‍♀️)

ngl i had to re-scrape a bunch of times because i forgot about it for like 3 weeks and then there were 100 new fics 😭 so if there are some minor discrepancies across the post it's because of that halfskh.

also i wanted to include more global comparisons (aka how 814 stack up against the f1 rpf tag in general), but this is also considerably difficult in some contexts since i can't exactly scrape 31,000+ fics can i... or i didn't even want to entertain the thought of trying to do so!!!

why did i do this? who knows.

anyway here's some viz T__T

ship growth

as evidenced in the opening graph, landoscar have been a very fast-growing ship over the past year — although interestingly enough they didn't really start growing substantially until july / the ~better half~ of the 2023 season. here are two views showing their "growth" (by date updated) alongside two other ships on the fringes of the f1 rpf top 10 (sebchal & galex):

landoscar are very much on-track to surpass them and officially enter the top 10 soon, likely before mid-april ❗️ :o

ship characteristics

onto the ship content — another thing i was mildly curious about was how landoscar differs in certain areas from other f1 ships, or the f1 rpf "global" average you could say. for example, here's a breakdown of rating popularity in their ao3 tag:

seeing as explicit is their most common rating, and that i don't necessarily expect this to be true for all ships/fandoms, i compared these percentages with the general f1 rpf tag to see whether some ratings are more commonly represented in 814 fic than average, which produced interesting results:

do lando ships simply skew more HornyTM in general? is it oscar? a secret third thing??? who knows... actually i think it would be fun to do more analysis in this direction but that can wait for another time!!!

similarly i also wanted to see which ships are the most "public" on ao3, as in have the highest share of fic that isn't user-locked... i will refrain from peppering in my feelings about the 4th wall too heavy-handedly but i was curious to see whether some sort of perhaps... er, generational gap (?) of sorts between ships that are more public vs. not could be identified. however i don't pretend to have any takeaways from this LOL i conclude absolutely nothing. (for ref landoscar is currently 72% public, vs. a global avg of 63%)

note that this graph is current stats, not filtered for 2023

looking at relationship tags, i also wanted to know whether landoscar suffer noticeably from Second-Ship Syndrome, so i tallied the first-tagged ship of every fic to find out. i know this doesn't necessarily mean that it's always the "main" ship but it's a good enough approximation. the results were quite positive!

filtered to top ships with count of >1 only

i then also calculated the number of ships tagged for each fic to discern the profile of multi-shipping in 814 ficdom; i did have to do a little bit of string standardization (all instances of implied / background / hinted collapsed to hinted for simplicity's sake + removal of other redundancies), but otherwise i left everything mostly untouched.

as you can see, landoscar also have a fairly promising amount of OTP: TRUE fic:

by the time you get to the fics with 10+ ships tagged, landoscar are less likely to be the primary ship, which makes sense just on a basic statistical level... this is also a very small sample size though

i also lazily tallied the 10 most common ships that weren't NOR/PIA or NOR & PIA to diff their shares of the 814 tag vs. of the general f1 rpf tag, to see which other pairings are more represented in the 814 tag than on average (because lestappen are the most popular by pure count but this is also true of fandom in general, so it would be a misrepresentation to say that their popularity is out of the ordinary):

maxiel's gap isn't really that surprising since i think that, generationally, in terms of when both pairings were teammates there is quite a gap; with carlando—actually let me tally this again but including all instances of "implied" and "past" as being part of the same ship, since that's how ao3 tag-wrangles as well:

Aha ! obviously as a direct ship there is competition between 814 and other lando or oscar ships, but this difference is somewhat less pronounced once we include all formats. tbh none of this really means anything but i thought i'd add it anyway... (it's also very possible that there are several errors in this, in which case my b 😔)

before we move on to additional tags, there are a few more basic characteristics of 814 fic we can calculate. i realize i never offered an overview of Super Basic Stats, so here are a few:

plus, looking at word counts, here is a distribution of those in 2023-updated fic, which shows that a majority of 814 fics were under the 5k mark:

85% of landoscar fics were under 10k & nearly 97% under 25k

i don't really have any reason to believe that landoscar's wc stats differ significantly from average ? so this is kind of just Data To Have Data, and it most likely reflects normal ao3 trends in general... but i thought i'd include it anyway because i already made it lol. similarly, here are word count distributions but stratified by rating:

& same info but heat map view:

i feel like this is also probably something you'd find across fandom in general — that gen fic is likely to have a higher share of under 1k works, since Building Up to sexual content often takes... Literal & Metaphorical Foreplay ! and the longer a fic is the more opportunities an author has to include a sex scene or other explicit content (ofc, not necessarily just porn but also graphic violence & so on). but i thought this was fun to visualize haha

additional tags & aus?

back in my old f1 rpf stats post, i made a table comparing fluff/angst "ratios" (not exactly a direct ratio because of how tag wrangling works, but an approximation) of the most popular f1 ships, and now that landoscar are somewhat popular i thought i'd first do an update:

also current data, not 2023 to make things easier

just like before, simi are one of the most fluffy ships and brocedes are by far the most angsty, but it's interesting to see 814 also extremely high up on the charts, with far and away the lowest % of angst. will be exciting 2 see how that holds or changes as the seasons progress !

finally, i also wanted to do a bit of au/additional tag analysis because you can kind of see this when you use additional filters on ao3 but the previews are limited and get bogged down by the prevalence of *checks notes* Fluff, Angst, PWP, Anal Sex and what have you. which are nice stats to have and all but what of the rest !

disclaimer that the set for these tables is a biiiit outdated because by the time i'd wrangled everything i was like I Am Not Changing It Again. unfortunately i clean my data with shoddy queries and regex functions in googsheetz...

there were 48 tags with at least 10 instances from 2023 fics, shown below, with ones that are (some ~vaguely) nsfw in red just to kind of get a rough sense of which tags get commonly used in M/E fic:

getting a bit too much into small sample size / specific fic territory so if you're an author i sincerely apologize for that... do not mean 2 put u on blast... TT__TT but i also tried to tally the most popular aus people write for 814, which is a bit dubious because people tag in really different ways and i had to accommodate for a lot of string formats but ... it's close enough ! (?)

i feel like this is very little interesting info but idk what else to add so i will stop here for now... well!!! if you made it to the end i hope u learned something or even vaguely enjoyed reading T__T and most of all thank you :')

[anim-ttrpgs]

Epicenter Initiative, a Better Way for Combat to Flow from Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy.

So, plenty of games do it their own way, but from our experience, there’s two main ways to do turn order in TTRPGs: “Rolling for initiative,” and “freeform turn order” is what i will be referring to them as for

These both kinda suck.

“Roll for initiative!” is an inescapable pop culture meme that invokes the excitement of a sudden combat encounter and action scene, but in reality, rolling for initiative is not really very exciting.

You know that I have always been a proponent of rules in TTRPGs, and frequently say that combat and mechanics don’t stop the story or the roleplay, they are the story and the roleplay, but rolling for initiative in the traditional D&D5e sense is an exception to this. It stops the scene dead while the GM has to wait for everyone to grab and roll their dice, go around the table one at a time getting each initiative value, organize them into a list, and then the combat can start. Those goblins that jumped out of the bushes have been standing around waiting for the adventurers to get ready for like 5 minutes and the momentum is gone. Some games do this better and smoother than others, and earlier D&D editions do it better than later ones.

A common alternative to this problem is what I’m calling freeform turn order, which is the total opposite. There is no turn order, characters just act whenever their players say they act. This easily carries the momentum of a scene as it flows into combat, but is not without its own slew of problems, such as the fact that it means that the fastest characters are not the ones with the best speed/dexterity/initiative/whatever stats(as in, something in-universe that makes them faster), but rather the characters with the loudest players, and this really doesn’t work for any game that is trying to have combat with any stakes.

A GM can try to manually arbitrate this to bring it closer to fairness for the in-world parties fighting and the our-world players playing, but that means paying attention to and mentally keeping track of who has acted when and how much, which players are keeping quiet, which players are taking the spot light, and deciding arbitrarily how much spotlight they’re allowed to take, etc. This is a ton of work for a GM who is already also trying to roleplay 10 bad guys attacking the PCs and possibly a dozen other factors. This is something that an actual turn order does for a GM rather, taking the burden off them so they can focus on their other duties.

So we have two ways of doing things that offer their own strengths, but also each have major flaws. How do we get rid of those flaws while keeping both the strengths? This is a problem that we set out to solve for Eureka’s combat. We needed a way for there to be an actual mechanical turn order so that the GM doesn’t have to spend brain power making one up on the fly, but have that mechanical turn order be so obvious as to present itself instantly, with no rolling or around-the-whole-table stat checking necessary to determine it.

You could just say that PCs always go first, or that NPCs always go first, which is a solution, but doesn’t really mesh as well with tactical combat or with the kind of believable tone that Eureka is going for.

It took us a long while to perfect, but we came up with what we call Epicenter Initiative. In the actual Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy rulebook (which by the way you can get monthly updates on from a $5 subscription to our patreon or FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME by joining the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club) you will find a more detailed breakdown of the rules and how they change based on specific circumstances (such as how they work when most combatants have melee weapons vs most combatants having ranged weapons), but here’s the most basic gist.

When an attack is made, combat is started, there’s no special procedure for that. Whoever attacked is taking the first turn. The second turn goes to the person they attacked, and this fighting pair becomes the Epicenter of the combat encounter.

The remaining characters act in order based on their proximity to the Epicenter, with the closest characters acting first and farthest characters acting last.

This way there is a mechanical turn order that clearly dictates which characters act before other characters, and this turn order is also created instantly, with no need to roll dice or check character sheets in most circumstances, allowing the combat scene to play out uninterrupted from beginning to end!

If you’d like to steal these rules for your own group or even your own TTRPG, please consider a small donation to our ko-fi or subscription to our patreon, and/or at least crediting where you got them so other people can come check out the work we do. We are an incredibly small team busting our asses to keep ourselves and the world of indie TTRPGs afloat beneath the intense and insidious economic pressure of WotC’s monopoly, and any assistance at all goes a long way.

Elegantly designed and thoroughly playtested, Eureka represents the culmination of three years of near-daily work from our team, as well as a lot of our own money. If you’re just now reading this and learning about Eureka for the first time, you missed the crowdfunding window unfortunately, but our Kickstarter page is still the best place to learn more about what Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy actually is, as that is where we have all the fancy art assets, the animated trailer, links to video reviews by podcasts and youtubers, and where we post regular updates on the status of our progress finishing the game and getting it ready for final release.

Beta Copies through the Patreon

If you want more than just status updates, going forward you can download regularly updated playable beta versions of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy and it’s adventure modules by subscribing to our Patreon at the $5 tier or higher. Subscribing to our patreon also grants you access to our patreon discord server where you can talk to us directly and offer valuable feedback on our progress and projects.

The A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club

If you would like to meet the A.N.I.M. team and even have a chance to play Eureka with us, you can join the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club discord server. It’s also just a great place to talk and discuss TTRPGs, so there is no schedule obligation, but the main purpose of it is to nominate, vote on, then read, discuss, and play different indie TTRPGs. We put playgroups together based on scheduling compatibility, so it’s all extremely flexible. This is a free discord server, separate from our patreon exclusive one. https://discord.gg/7jdP8FBPes

Other Stuff

We also have a ko-fi and merchandise if you just wanna give us more money for any reason.

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[dnpbeats]

d&p 2024 upload stats <3 (~interactive~)

hello! if you've ever thought to yourself "wow I wish I could see a spreadsheet detailing a bunch of useless but perhaps interesting information about d&p uploads," well today is your lucky day!!

I've complied all of dan and phil's uploads so far this year (across AP and DAPG), with fun info like upload times/days of the week, who sponsored the video, if dan was featured (for AP vids), if they were actually playing a game (for DAPG vids), avg. time between uploads, and more! also, the interactive bit is that you can select two videos and it'll tell you how much time there was between those videos being posted, just for fun. you can access the spreadsheet here, and there's more info under the cut about things I've included on them :) if you have any questions or want to see anything else added, pls let me know!

the first page of the spreadsheet ("Uploads") is basically just all the data collection. here you'll find the videos, what channel they were posted to, and day/time of posting. there's also other info I mentioned above, plus who tweeted the vid (for DAPG videos)

the next page ("Stats") is where you can actually see what the data means. so that's where you can find things like the average time between uploads (either across all channels or for each individual channel), the max/min time between uploads, the average posting time, etc! this is also where the interactive part comes in:

basically you just pick two videos and it'll tell you how much time there was between posting. honestly there's not rly that much need for this info but I thought I might as well include it while I was at it. if they post more vids that are parts of series it might be interesting to see how long they go between posting series on average, idk! (this is me manifesting more "it takes two")

on the third page ("Charts"), there's (you guessed it!) charts. rn I only have bar graphs for uploads by day of the week and for sponsors, but I can def try to add more if anyone wants to see more!

hope you all enjoy! <3 (if you don't want to scroll back up, here is the link again lmao)

ETA: okay i've also now added a column to indicate if d&p had any hand in vid editing, who the other editor was (if any), and then a few charts showing the breakdown of the vids edited by each editor!

[tubapun]

Hello All!! As you might have seen, I have spent this last week compiling all the monsters listed in the Scooby-Doo Encyclopedia (which covers every series from Where Are You through 13 Ghosts) into a spreadsheet, categorizing them by type, realness, and series. This is an ongoing project, but I wanted to be able to share what I have so far in terms of data!! Let's begin with a breakdown of Monster Types!!

This first pie chart details the breakdown by pure monster type, meaning monsters that are only one sort of monster. This may seem arbitrary, but as you can see, a whopping 25.98% of all monsters across the series included are some sort of combination monster. That's the largest category overall, but the largest specific category is Ghosts, with 19.61% of the 204 listed monsters being just a pure ghost. Some are sheets and some are just glowing translucent dudes, but either way they're haunting the gang intensely.

The only sort of monster that never appears outside of a combination is the Pirate. I almost excluded that category for this reason, but enough pirates existed in combination (always with ghostliness) that i didn't feel right dropping them.

This chart is much like the first one, but counts the combination monsters in with each type they contain. Because of this overlap, the percentages technically add up to 138.92%. but that's fine, cause they're still taken out of the 204 monsters. Now we can see that 37.44% of these monsters are some sort of Ghost, with Magic Users and non-anthro Animals being the next largest categories. For those counting, that's 76 instances of a Ghost type monster, most of which are combined with some other monster type!! Speaking of which...

These two charts detail the combinations, with the first one being about the sort of combos we get and how often they occur, and the second being about the instances of each type in the totality of the "multiple" category (total of 53 monsters for those of you who want the numbers from the percentages).

Notably, 69% of combination monsters are Ghosts. Nice.

Some monster types never get combined, however, with Skeletons, Robots, Cavemen, Greek Myths, Mummies, European Legends, Dragons, and Evil Humans always occurring as just themselves with no extra modifiers. But now you get to imagine a Dragon Skeleton Mummy, or any such combination and boom. Scooby-Doo Monster OC. You're welcome.

This concludes the data I currently have analyzed/available. I hope to have more soon, either a dive into which sort of monster is most often real or a dive into type percentages per Series (most of the real ones seems to be the ones from the Scrappy series, so I bet that will overlap the two categories). If you have any requests on data or even just want to see the actual main sheet these charts are pulling data from, please let me know, this has become a passion project in a very real sense.

Edit on 9/8: Here is the Breakdown of Monster Definitions with bonus stats on common Motives and Realness

Edit on 9/7: Fixed the first two charts to reflect an update in the data. I had initially placed Greek onster in the general European section, which caused their percentages to be flipped.

Another Edit on 9/7: Somehow missed that a character named "Ghost of" was in fact a ghost/magic user and not just a ghost. this has been fixed and the charts updated (thankfully the % of combos that are ghosts is still 69. nice)

Edit 9/8: I missed a monster somehow. This has been fixed in the charts and percents and numbers listed.

[antimony-medusa]

MCYT on Ao3 — July '23

The state of MCYT on Ao3, just for fun. Yes I do this every month, I like numbers. 

The Cube SMP (8 works)

Slamacow Minecraft Animations (Web Series) (9 Works)

iDots SMP (14 works)

30 Day SMP | Free Trial SMP (27 works)

Legacy SMP (27 works)

Epic SMP (30 works)

Cogchamp SMP (32 works)

Kaboodle SMP (33 works)

Art of Survival SMP (33 works)

Dominion SMP (33 works)

Shady Oaks SMP (42 works)

X Life SMP (45 works)

Mer SMP (50 works)

Area Unknown SMP (51 works)

IvoryCello's Prison Escapes (Web Series) (52 works)

100 Hours Hardcore SMP (53 works)

Bear SMP (55 works)

New Life SMP (70 works)

SadSMP (70 works)

Magic Animal Club (89 works)

Tortillaland SMP (103 works)

Slimecicle Cinematic Universe (Web Series) (111 works)

House Builder Gang SMP | HBG SMP (129 works)

WitchCraft SMP (157 works)

Rats SMP (202 works)

SMPEarth (252 works)

SMPLive (274 works)

Outsiders SMP (277 works)

Mianite (Web Series) (357 works)

Yandere High School (Web Series) (370 works)

Afterlife SMP (371 works)

Evolution SMP (492 works)

MindCrack RPF (493 works)

Fable SMP (694 works)

Karmaland SMP (729 works)

Lifesteal SMP (1,021 works)

Origins SMP (1,416 works)

QSMP | Quackity SMP (2,256 works)

Empires SMP (5,235 works)

3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series (7,127 works)

Hermitcraft SMP (16,348 works)

Dream SMP (78,022 works)

Minecraft (Video Game) (107,041 works)

Video Blogging RPF (255,567 works)

Some Notes:

The only new SMP this month is New Life SMP!

Fics are primarily in English, but now we have three exceptions with significant Spanish fics: Karmaland, Tortilla SMP, and QSMP. QSMP also includes fics in Brazilian Portugese and a (very few) in French.

A couple of the smaller fandoms saw fic decreases, and 100 Hours Hardcore saw a 1-fic decrease for the third month in a row.

For smaller fandoms, both SMPEarth and Outsiders SMP tied for growth, both showing increases of 14 fics. Those are both original canonized tags for MCYT, so we also have one year of stats. Notably, that 14-fic increase breaks SMPEarth's monthly average of 9 fics per month, but doesn't beat Outsider's month-over-month average of 16 fics per month.

For mid-sized fandoms, the stand out is once again our friend Fable SMP, which has a consistent month over month growth pattern, showing a growth of 33 fics this month. Fable is one of the original canonized tags however, so we know that this month doesn't reach the heights of some of the previous months this past year, as the yearly average is 42 per month— by they did break last month's record of 32!

Lifesteal broke the 1k mark and I now officially consider them one of the bigger fandoms! Let's go Lifesteal!

In the larger fandoms, QSMP’s increase of 628 fics did not reach last month’s 692 or the previous month’s 816, but still beat out Empires (218 fics), Hermitcraft (501 fics), and 3rd Life (364 fics). The only one that beat it was Dream SMP, with an increase of 1,376. Dream SMP also broke last month’s increase of 1,357, but did not reach their month-over-month average of 2,446.

Of the canonized tags last year, Dream SMP has shown several months of not reaching their monthly average, Hermitcraft’s 501 this month did not beat their monthly average of 593, Empires 218 this month did not reach their monthly average of 296, Lifesteal's 58 this month did not beat their monthly average of 76, but the one standout is 3rd life, whose 364 this month DID indeed beat their monthly average increase of 359. 

Detailed breakdown of increases under the cut, showing both one month of increases, and one year of changes.

The Cube SMP (8 works, 8 last month, 0-fic increase | 9 works last year, 1-fic decrease over a year, which is an average of 0.08 fic decrease per month

Slamacow Minecraft Animations (Web Series) (9 Works, 10 last month, 1-fic decrease | was not canonized last year)

iDots SMP (14 works, 14 last month, 0-fic increase | was not caonized last year)

30 Day SMP | Free Trial SMP (27 works, 27 last month, 0-fic increase | 25 last year, 2-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 0.17 fic increase per month)

Legacy SMP (27 works, 27 last month, 0-fic increase | 22 last year, 5-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 0.42 fic increase per month)

Epic SMP (30 works, 30 last month, 0-fic increase | 28 last year, 2-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 0.42 fic increase per month)

Cogchamp SMP (32 works, 32 last month, 0-fic increase | 28 last year, 4-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 0.33 fic increase per month)

Kaboodle SMP (33 works, 28 last month, 5-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

Art of Survival SMP (33 works, 34 last month, 1-fic decrease | was not canonized last year)

Dominion SMP (33 works, 32 last month, 1 fic increase | was not canonized last year.)

Shady Oaks SMP (42 works, 41 last month, 1-fic increase | 30 fics last year, 12-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 1 fic increase per month)

X Life SMP (45 works, 45 last month, 0-fic increase | 27 works last year, 18-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 1.5 fics increase per month)

Mer SMP (50 works, 41 last month, 9-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

Area Unknown SMP (51 works, 50 last month, 1-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

IvoryCello's Prison Escapes (Web Series) (52 works, 52 last month, 0-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

100 Hours Hardcore SMP (53 works, 54 last month, 1-fic decrease | was not canonized last year)

Bear SMP (55 works, 54 last month, 1-fic increase | 33 last year, 21-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 1.75 fic increase per month)

New Life SMP (70 works, was not canonized last month | was not canonized last year)

SadSMP (70 works, 70 last month, 0-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

Magic Animal Club (89 works, 87 last month, 2-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

Tortillaland SMP (103 works, 100 last month, 3-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

Slimecicle Cinematic Universe (Web Series) (111 works, 100 last month, 11-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

House Builder Gang SMP | HBG SMP (129 works, 124 last month, 5-fic increase | 94 last year, 35-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 2.92 fic increase per month)

WitchCraft SMP (157 works, 151 last month, 6-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

Rats SMP (202 works, 198 last month, 4-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

SMPEarth (252 works, 238 last month, 14-fic increase | 144 last year, 108-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 9-fic increase per month)

SMPLive (274 works, 268 last month, 6-fic increase, | 236 last year, 38-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 3.17-fic increase per month)

Outsiders SMP (277 works, 263 last month, 14-fic increase | 85 last year, 192-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 16-fic increase per month)

Mianite (Web Series) (357 works, 354 last month, 3-fic increase | tag was not canonized last year)

Yandere High School (Web Series) (370 works, 355 last month, 15-fic increase | was not canonized last year)

Afterlife SMP (371 works, 367 last month, 5-fic increase | 250 last year, 121 fics over a year, which is an average of 10.08-fics per month)

Evolution SMP (492 works, 461 last month, 31-fic increase | 157 last year, 335-fics over a year, which is an average of 27.92-fics per month)

MindCrack RPF (493 works, 493 last month, 0-fic increase | was not tracking that tag last year)

Fable SMP (694 works, 661 last month, 33-fic increase | 194 last year, 500-fic increase, which is an average of 41.66 fic increase per month)

Karmaland SMP (729 works, 706 last month, 23-fic increase | tag was not canonized last year)

Lifesteal SMP (1,021 works, 963 last month, 58-fic increase | 108 last year, 913-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 76.08 fic increase per month)

Origins SMP (1,416 works, 1,378 last month, 38-fic increase | 816 last year, 600-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 50-fic increase per month)

QSMP | Quackity SMP (2,256 works, 1,628 last month, 628-fic increase | tag was not canonized last year)

Empires SMP (5,235 works, 5,017 last month, 218-fic increase | 1,681 last year, 3,554-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 296.16 fic increase per month)

3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series (7,127 works, 6,763 last month, 364-fic increase | 2,822 last year, 4,305-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 358.75 fic increase per month)

Hermitcraft SMP (16,348 works, 15,847 last month, 501-fic increase | 9,228 last year, 7,120-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 593.34 fic increase per month)

Dream SMP (78,022 works, 76,646 last month, 1,376-fic increase | 48,670 last year, 29,352-fic increase over a year, which is an average of 2,446 fic increase per month)

Minecraft (Video Game) (107,041 works, 106,506 last month, 535-fic increase | was not tracking tag last month) Video Blogging RPF (255,567 works, 252,019 last month, 3,548-fic increase)

[imagineitdearies]

Battle Log for Chapter 37/38 of Perfect Slaughter!

**Warning! Spoilers for ch37 and 38 ahead!**

If you guys haven't noticed yet what a total nerd I am, this will make it abundantly clear. I showed Cazador's monster stats a couple months ago that I homebrewed/crossed from BG3 and our classic D&D vampire, but I hope you didn't think I stopped there. If you like battle logs and getting into the nitty gritty of D&D mechanics, please enjoy this breakdown below the cut!

First, if you want to reach peak nerd about it with me, take a look at all the details for our main three! (*Note: I did mix Astarion and Tyrus's BG3 stats with a vampire spawn's ability scores, considering it's canon that Astarion lost a lot of things like strength and healing ability after being tadpoled)

Monster Stats: Cazador Szarr

Tyrus Aman'del's Character Sheet

Astarion Ancunin's Character Sheet

Or otherwise, as you look over the battle log, just keep in mind a few things:

"Legendary Actions" are special actions available to powerful monsters in 5e combat, such as vampires. Besides his normal actions, Cazador can take three legendary actions between turns, but only at the end of another creature’s turn.

Cazador has "Legendary Resistance" as well, which is simple but quite powerful: when he fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead, three times per long rest.

At the top of each round, Cazador receives 10 temporary HP per ritual source.

Thanks to Magic Circle, all of Cazador's attacks are rolled with disadvantage.

In his diseased condition, Tyrus rolls with disadvantage on attacks and saving throws, and his movement speed is reduced by half.

Pre-Round

Cazador: 270 HP Tyrus: 100 HP Astarion: 115 HP Ghouls: 35 HP each (four) Skeletons: 27 HP each (thirteen) Chatterteeth: 74 HP Godey: 74 HP

Cazador steps onto trap and speaks the words to trigger it ("Ecce Dominus!") All at once: Glyph of Warding (7th level) - 43 fire damage (succeeded saving throw, only takes 21 damage) Glyph of Warding: Magic Circle Glyph of Warding: Silence Glyph of Warding: Sunbeam - 38 radiant damage *Cazador spends his first legendary resistance to succeed saving throw, only takes 19 damage) Glyph of Warding: Phantasmal Killer (7th level) - 49 psychic damage

Round 1

Cazador: 181 HP +70 temp HP Tyrus: 100 HP Astarion: 115 HP Ghouls: 35 HP each Skeletons: 27 HP each Chatterteeth: 74 HP Godey: 74 HP

Ritual Circle: 29 radiant damage on Cazador from Sunbeam ray Cazador: Two unarmed strikes, 5 bludgeoning damage on second hit *Takes 20 radiant damage at start of turn because of Sunbeam **Fails save for Phantasmal Killer again so spends his second legendary resistance to succeed it Tyrus: Dash to Astarion *Cazador Legendary Action at the end of his turn, Bite attack for 18 total damage on ghoul Astarion: Paralyzed Ghouls collective hits: 26 slashing damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 13) Skeletons: Dash into range of battle *Cazador Legendary Action, Move without opportunity attacks Godey: 13 slashing damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 6) Chatterteeth: Casts Eyebite: Frightened on Cazador

Round 2

Cazador: 183 HP +70 temp HP Tyrus: 100 HP Astarion: 115 HP Ghouls: three have 35 HP, one has 13 HP  Skeletons: 27 HP each Chatterteeth: 74 HP Godey: 74 HP

Ritual Circle: 30 radiant damage on Cazador from Sunbeam ray (succeeds saving throw; takes 15) Cazador: Calls three swarms of rats (arrive in 4 rounds) *Takes 20 radiant damage at start of turn because of Sunbeam Tyrus: Help action to rescue Astarion *Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 21 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw 10 piercing damage; Cazador heals 21 HP Astarion: Casts Expeditious Retreat and pulls Tyrus out of radius Ghouls collective hits: 21 slashing damage on Cazador(resistant; takes 10) Skeleton collective hits: 44 piercing damage on Cazador(resistant; takes 22) Godey: 16 slashing damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 8) *Cazador Legendary Action, fails to Bite Godey Chatterteeth: Casts Chill Touch for 13 necrotic damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 6), Cazador can't regain hit points until the start of her next turn

Round 3

Cazador: 193 HP +60 temp HP Tyrus: 79 HP Astarion: 105 HP Ghouls: three have 25 HP (one dead) Skeletons: ten have 17 HP, three have 6 HP Chatterteeth: 53 HP Godey: 64 HP

Ritual Circle: 23 radiant damage on Cazador from Sunbeam ray Cazador: One failed unarmed attack, one failed bite  *Takes 20 radiant damage at start of turn because of Sunbeam Tyrus: Removes the glyphs from the nearest spawn/ritual source *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration Astarion: Removes the glyphs from another spawn/ritual source *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration *Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 16 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw, 8 piercing damage; Cazador does not heal Ghouls collective hits: 14 slashing damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 7) *Cazador Legendary Action, fails to Bite a ghoul Skeleton collective hits: 34 piercing damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 17) Godey: 15 slashing damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 7) Chatterteeth: Casts Chill Touch for 21 necrotic damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 10), Cazador can't regain hit points until the start of her next turn

Round 4

Cazador: 169 HP +40 temp HP Tyrus: 73 HP Astarion: 107 HP Ghouls: four have 17 HP, one has 9 HP (one dead) Skeletons: three have 9 HP, seven have 1 HP (three dead) Chatterteeth: 45 HP Godey: 56 HP

Ritual Circle: 26 radiant damage on Cazador from Sunbeam ray Cazador: Two unarmed strikes, 5 bludgeoning damage on second hit *Takes 20 radiant damage at start of turn because of Sunbeam Tyrus: Removes the glyphs from another spawn/ritual source *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration *Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 20 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw, 10 piercing damage; Cazador does not heal Astarion: Removes the glyphs from another spawn/ritual source *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration *Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 10 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw, 5 piercing damage; Cazador does not heal Ghouls collective hits: 0 slashing damage Skeleton collective hits: (dead) Godey: 15 slashing damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 7) Chatterteeth: Casts Chill Touch (crit!) for 29 necrotic damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 14), Cazador can't regain hit points until the start of her next turn

Round 5

Cazador: 142 HP +20 temp HP Tyrus: 53 HP Astarion: 92 HP Ghouls: one has 2 HP (three dead) Skeletons: (all dead) Chatterteeth: 25 HP Godey: 36 HP

Ritual Circle: 21 radiant damage on Cazador from Sunbeam ray (succeeds saving throw; takes 10) Cazador: Hits magic circle barrier for 0 damage *Takes 20 radiant damage at start of turn because of Sunbeam Tyrus: Removes the glyphs from another spawn/ritual source *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration *Bonus action takes a healing potion at Astarion’s insistence (13 HP) *Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 18 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw, 9 piercing damage; Cazador does not heal Astarion: Removes the last glyphs from another spawn/ritual source *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration Ghouls collective hits: 8 slashing damage (resistant; takes 4) *Cazador Legendary Action, Bites last ghoul for a total 14 damage Godey: Fails to hit Chatterteeth: Fails to hit with Chill Touch

Round 6

Cazador: 128 HP + 10 temp HP Tyrus: 57 HP Astarion: 92 HP Chatterteeth: 25 HP Godey: 36 HP

Ritual Circle: 24 radiant damage on Cazador from Sunbeam ray Cazador: Hits magic circle barrier for 0 damage *Takes 20 radiant damage at start of turn because of Sunbeam Rat swarm 1: Fail to bite Chatterteeth Rat swarm 2: Fail to bite Astarion Rat swarm 3: Bite Tyrus for 8 piercing damage Tyrus: Casts Message and speaks to Chatterteeth *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration *Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 18 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw, 9 piercing damage; Cazador heals 18 HP Astarion: Kills rat swarm 3 with 31 total damage, bonus action Bite for 7 HP healing *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration *Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 6 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw, 3 piercing damage; Cazador heals 6 HP Godey: 12 slashing damage on Cazador (resistant; takes 6)  Chatterteeth: Casts Chill Touch for 17 necrotic damage on Cazador (resistant, takes 8), Cazador can't regain hit points until the start of her next turn

Round 7

Cazador: 104 HP Rat swarm: two have 24 HP (one dead) Tyrus: 42 HP Astarion: 81 HP Chatterteeth: 1 HP Godey: 36 HP

Ritual Circle: 24 radiant damage from Sunbeam ray Cazador: Arcana Check to find Sunbeam rune in the ritual circle *Takes 20 radiant damage at start of turn because of Sunbeam Rat swarm 1: Fail to bite Chatterteeth Rat swarm 2: Fail to bite Astarion Tyrus: Reanimates all thirteen skeletons with Animate Dead, 7th level *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration *Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 14 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw, 7 piercing damage; Cazador does not heal Astarion: Kills rat swarm 2 with 28 total damage *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration Skeleton collective hits: 33 piercing damage (resistant; takes 16)*Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 21 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw, 10 piercing damage; Cazador does not heal Godey: 0 slashing damage Chatterteeth: (dead)

Round 8

Cazador: 44 HP Rat swarm: one has 24 HP (two dead) Tyrus: 14 HP Skeletons: four have 10 HP, two have 3 HP (six dead) Astarion: 74 HP Godey: 36 HP

Ritual Circle: 22 radiant damage on Cazador from Sunbeam ray Cazador: Successfully finds Sunbeam rune in the ritual circle and removes it *Takes 20 radiant damage at start of turn because of Sunbeam Rat swarm 1: Bite Astarion for 3 piercing damage Tyrus: Reanimates six skeletons with Animate Dead, 4th level *Cazador Legendary Action, Vampiric Bat Swarm!! All take either 14 piercing damage or if they succeed the dex saving throw, 7 piercing damage; Cazador heals 14 HP (Three skeletons go down, Tyrus goes unconscious and gets thrown off the edge of the platform) Astarion: Grabs Tyrus's hands before he's too out of reach, lifts him back up from the platform *Regains 10 HP at the start of his turn due to vampiric regeneration Skeleton collective hits: 33 piercing damage on Cazador(resistant; takes 16) *Cazador drops to 0 hit points, which activates Misty Escape to his coffin

Bonus Round

Astarion: Throws Cazador out of coffin Tyrus: Uses class feature "Command Undead" on Cazador(see Tyrus character sheet or necromancy subclass for details) *Cazador fails the saving throw, but spends his last legendary resistance to succeed) --after a bit of angsty dialogue and commands-- Tyrus: Uses class feature "Command Undead" on Astarion *Astarion does not resist/chooses to automatic fail on saving throw Astarion: Slashy slashy dagger dagger!!! (All it took was 1 point of damage, Cazador had not healed yet) Tyrus & Astarion: Hug 🩵🩵🩵

[mythaura-blog]

Development Update - May 2023

Hello hello folks, Miyazaki here! We've got a big update for this month--we've rolled out Mythaura's battle demo and are so excited for you to give it a try!

Topics covered include:

Battle Demo & Guide

Quarter 4 (2023) Rewards Reveal

Beast Creator Contest

New Homepage Splash Screen

More info available under the cut!

Battle Demo Guide

Welcome to Mythaura's battle demo! Here's a concise guide to help you navigate the 3v3 battles and make strategic decisions:

1. Battle Setup

The battle takes place between your beasts (on the left) and the enemy beasts (on the right) and ends when one side is defeated. For this demo, all beasts in this demo are level 1 and have average size for their species.

2. Beast Details

Click on the info icon in the corner of your beast's avatar to view its details. From here, you can read their abilities and see a breakdown of their stats.

3. Elements

Each beast has 2 elements, including a species element that is always shown. You won't know your opponent's secondary element.

For this demo, a beast's secondary element is currently randomized.

Check the elements page for more information on elements and for a breakdown of type effectiveness.

4. Turn Actions

Each turn, your beasts can perform one of the following actions:

Use an ability or surge ability.

Defend themselves or an ally.

Rest to regain stamina.

Once all players have submitted their actions, the round is resolved with the following priority:

Resting beasts rest first.

Defending beasts defend next.

Abilities are resolved.

Within each action type, the order is determined by ability priority, beast speed, weight (with lightest going first), and then randomly if all those values are the same.

5. Abilities

Beasts start with 4 abilities: one surge ability (species-based), one neutral ability, and one ability for each element. If a beast's species and individual element match, they will have 3 abilities.

Abilities with elements can be super effective or resisted, affecting the damage dealt. Pay attention to moves' effectiveness and your foes' abilities for better results.

Abilities incur fatigue and the fatigue cost is shown on the ability button.

Abilities will generally have a small chance to miss or be a critical hit. The chances of these can vary per ability.

Abilities have 3 types: Combat, Projection, and Support.

Combat: Attack vs Defense

Projection: Focus vs Barrier

Support: Non-damage dealing abilities

6. Surge Abilities

When a beast's surge meter is full, they can use their surge ability for a powerful effect. Surge abilities don't incur fatigue and never miss. After using a surge ability, the surge meter goes back to 0%. Please note that the surge abilities in this demo may be changed before the game’s official launch.

7. Defending

Beasts can defend themselves or allies, reducing incoming damage by 75% for that turn. This effect does not stack. Defending slightly charges the defender's surge meter and recovers a small amount of stamina.

8. Resting

Resting recovers a substantial amount of stamina and a small amount of health.

Remember, understanding abilities, elements, defending, and resting will help you make the best decisions during battles. We have provided an in-app form you can use to report bugs and provide feedback. Good luck and enjoy the demo!

Planned battle demo updates for the future:

A "quick queue" button that queues with the first available other quick-queue person and does not require a PIN

PvE Mode versus an ai battler

Timeout for move submission

Controller support

Weather effects

Ailments

Ability to set desired element from the queue screen

Better reporting and improvements to history, such as remembering when you discover a super effective element on a specific opponent

Quarter 4 (2023) Rewards Reveal

Our Quarter 4 rewards have been completed and are ready for their public debut! Thank you to the Ko-fi Sponsors who voted on the different Glamour and Companion concepts, we appreciate your support and feedback.

Q4 (2023) Glamour: Koi Pond

Q4 (2023) Companion: Blooming Jackalope

Q4 (2023) Solid Gold Glamour: Adult Basilisk

Special One-Time Companion: Radiant Golden Ossiflage

1x copy will be awarded to all previous and/or current Bronze, Silver, and Gold Sponsors

Sponsors of all levels may purchase one (1) additional copy of the Radiant Golden Ossiflage in our Ko-fi Shop.

Beast Creator Contest

We're back with another Beast Design Contest! We're looking forward to all the fantastic creations that this community comes up with.

Here are the parameters:

Each individual can submit one (1) Beast option for consideration

Any species fine (babies included)

Fill out Google form; provide both a picture and the preview code

We’ll pick three winners to have their Beasts featured on the front page for Quarter 1 (July 1 - September 30). Winners will also receive:

1x Beta Key

1x Quarter 4 (2023) Skin: Koi Pond

1x Quarter 4 (2023) Companion: Blooming Jackalope

These rewards will be applied directly to your account.

Submissions for the Beast Design Contest are due by June 15, 2023. The form will close at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be announced in the July 1, 2023 Development Update.

Homepage Splash Screen

Our wonderfully talented senior artist, Luci, created a scene detailing an early stage in a group of adventurers' journey in Mythaura. This perfectly captures the vibe of the opening series of introductory quests that players will undertake at the start of the game. We hope you enjoy the art, and hope that you look forward to playing through Mythaura's single-player story when we launch!

Mythaura v0.17

Updated homepage layout

Merged and finalized battle demo, fixing several bugs found along the way

Thank You!

Thanks for sticking through to the end of the post! We hope you love the battle demo and are looking forward to your feedback, which will help shape the nature of the game while still in its early development--leading to a lasting impact when Mythaura launches. Your help here is invaluable!

See you around the Discord!

[getvalentined]

Since I'm seeing a lot of people babbling about this and have kind of built a large portion of my blogging presence on throwing FF7 lore analysis at people, I feel like I just need to say:

The listing "unable to read" in Sephiroth's boss battle stats in Ever Crisis is a reference to the fact that the system cannot parse any detailed data on the enemy with regard to origin, tactics, etc. The same thing is shown in Remake when scanning Sephiroth, Nero, or any of the Summons on a first playthrough.

The fact that so many people are literally grabbing this line and assuming it means Sephiroth is illiterate...honestly makes me question the literacy of the fandom as a whole.

The final catalyst for Sephiroth's breakdown, an emotional collapse that led to the Nibelheim Incident and caused the entire Crisis to occur, hinges on his literacy. Not only can he read, but he can read extremely well—this man was able to read and comprehend multiple years' worth of complex research notes written by at least three different scientists, and he did it in a single week.

I genuinely can't believe I have to say this. I can't believe I'm seeing people now, more than a quarter century into this series, saying that this is their new headcanon—in spite of it being undeniably impossible, this literally cannot be the case or the storyline would never have taken place—all because they didn't understand what a reading on a set of boss stats meant.

Sephiroth can read. Not sure about you folks, though.

[redredribbon]

OKAY SO. Endgame, and all the choices that came before. I got positives and critiques. This is gonna get long. Spoilers all over the place, especially for end game.

Choice rundown:

Saved Treviso (my Rook's logic was Minrathous has a standing army and Antiva is much more at risk of everyone getting blighted, even if it means the Venatori grab power)

Romanced Harding

Punched the First Warden

Harding: embraced compassion

Taash: embraced Rivain

Bellara: freed the archive

Davrin: sent the griffons to Arlathan

Emmrich: resurrected Manfred, no lichdom

Lucanis: imprisoned Illario

Neve: shadowy protector

Inquisitor (I used my solas romance for this one, not my "canon" inquisitor): told to DUMP HIM

Endgame choices:

Chose Davrin to lead the 2nd team over Harding (I saw the writing on the wall. I turned to my roommate who had already finished and said "Is this an Ashley and Kaidan situation?" They would not answer so I knew. And romancing Harding? I would have had a breakdown watching her die.)

Chose Bellara to undo the wards

Everyone survived, all factions in tact, except for Davrin (and Assan 😭😭😭😭😭 WHY)

I talked Solas down with Mythal and my inquisitor. He went it alone.

I did get the "secret" after credits ending.

Overall, I do think this was a very solid entry into the DA canon. I guess I'll sort of break down my thoughts into categories.

Gameplay

Positives:

I loved the new approach to combat. I think it changed things up in a very satisfying way with a new system that wasn't difficult to learn and maximize.

I played a rogue and being able to seamlessly switch between bow and blades was stellar. LOVED that change. It was so fun and so easy to learn, I found it incredibly rewarding.

I really liked not having to control my companions beyond maximizing their abilities. I didn't feel any loss of the third party member of previous games.

I appreciated how much more fast paced and imminent the combat felt, and loved how much they explored new avenues with the kind of enemies and attacks they did. It felt much more dynamic and exciting.

Loved how much more interactive the environments felt. Adding more things to climb for or balance on, having to get more creative with reaching hidden things, it reminded me of why I loved the Descent so much.

LOVED the appearance mechanic for armor. While I do miss how intimately customizable things were in DAI, it was so nice to pick a fave armor appearance without having to sacrifice stats.

Speaking of stats, I like the departure from the old D&D system of stats. Focusing more on abilities and passives without how it's affected by stats made it easier to focus on the play instead of the build. I get why others might not be fans of that, but I really liked it.

I appreciate that environments felt more dynamic, too. I think limiting the space was a good choice over the semi-open world of DAI. It really allowed attention to detail. I love DAI, don't get me wrong, and the environments were gorgeous. I just think the smaller environments served this game's structure better than open world would have.

The game did an excellent job of giving you immersive reasons to return to other places that didn't have active quests. I liked that you got pulled back to Arlathan or Hossberg or the Necropolis not for minor fetch quests but for side quests that did feel important.

THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME PET THE PETS

Critiques:

It's not a major detriment, but I would have liked to be able to decorate the shared spaces of the Lighthouse more myself, especially amassing so many decorations I couldn't use. I liked the themes, but more of a mix of control there would have been nice.

This may be the fault of playing on super easy mode, but I 100%'d the Crossroads in Act 1, and got Mythal's cooperation in Act 1. After that, I basically did not have another reason to come back and skipped over it for the rest of the game. I wish more of it had been level-locked. Forcing the player to experience Solas's memories and regrets more over time would have added more flavor, and made the Crossroads more worthwhile to return to over time, instead of just get re-attacked by the same enemies in the same places. I also would have liked more memories to fill in more of the things left unaddressed in elven lore, which I'll expand on below.

Again minor, but I wish there were more casual wear option separate from the armor.

What is happening in the helmet department???

Companions

Positives:

I LOVED how much each one of the companions felt like whole, independent people. One of my favorite things about DA2 was how much the game did to convey that the companions had lives and friends and jobs/commitments outside of Hawke. It shines here too. It makes them so much more colorful and interesting!

Such a huge fan of the companions moving around the lighthouse to talk to each other. What a great way to get extra banter, and again just convey that they're connecting with each other outside of Rook.

Love the personalized rooms and spaces, and how they fill in as you progress their personal quests. It's so fun to get to see what changes and how they settle in.

There really wasn't a companion I wasn't compelled by. I have my favorites of course, but there's always been a couple companions in previous games I didn't jive with at all and just didn't really end up caring about much. That was not the case here.

I appreciate how natural most of their growth and personal quests felt over the course of the game. I liked that you were forced to progress their connections gradually, it kept them all really engaging the whole length of the game, rather than maxing one out and never having anything else to say again.

I'm not sure if this will be controversial, but I liked that some of your choices strained your relationships with the characters. That felt honest and natural.

Loved the side romances. Neve/Lucanis is very sweet. I didn't get to see Taash/Harding but I like the idea.

Critiques:

While I do think this improved from DAI, and did often feel more like giving advice than actually making the choice for them, I still didn't love how much I as the player figure into telling some of the companions who/how to be? Particularly thinking of Taash here, which I'll get more into in a minute. But pushing them to embrace Rivain or the Qun felt like a choice I was not qualified to make for them. It also felt like a clumsy vehicle for their identity struggle to me, it didn't quite 1-to-1 there with the gender struggle when this is a cultural choice. It worked better in other places, like I did like that you don't get a say in whether Illario lives, that felt right to not have Rook's input on.

So, Taash. Let me preface by saying I would defer to trans/nonbinary friends here on how successful or well-represented their journey was. I am not qualified to judge that. I very much like that it was included, and I want game developers to keep trying. It felt much more thoughtful than how Krem was handled. But it did still feel clunky to me, a little too formulaic and clinical in places, and I really, really wish they had come up with an in-universe term instead of "nonbinary"? I know that comes with its own pitfalls but it felt so out of place and took me out of the story a lot. Especially when you're including the Qunari culture in it, who define gender a little differently and a little more tied to role. The apology scene with Isabela felt even more cringey to me on top of things. Again, I appreciate they're including this and it was a big step up, so I'll take that

Really did not love the choice for Taash's mother to die. That felt like a deeply unsatisfying lack of resolution. I think it would have meant so much more if that quest was the catalyst for them to talk more openly. I don't think it was intentional but it felt like we resorted to killing off mom to free Taash up to be themself. I think it would have been more meaningful to show them starting to find understanding with each other.

Honestly... I know how this will sound, and believe me I'm not trying to simplify this down to "everyone was too nice," but I really felt like we needed more conflict that took more than one banter to solve between characters. I did not need it more grimdark, I actually like that it wasn't despite the themes. I like that everyone is more encouraging and finding a lot of hope. Just more tension or having to butt heads a little to find common ground would have meant more. There were some good moments of this here and there, especially early game! But as time went on, some of those differences seemed to resolve a little too easily, at least for me personally. Like Lucanis and Davrin back down from their conflict almost immediately. Harding goes a little overboard apologizing to Lucanis later for being pretty reasonably suspicious. I don't need another Fenris and Anders situation, but I think DAI had the best balance of the four with this, and I do miss it because some tension could really enhance character dynamic a lot.

I enjoyed the factions, but it did feel very weird to have the Crows presented as scrappy underdog freedom fighters when they're... assassins? They're fighting for the right to continue to be assassins? Yes the patriotism was genuine, and I loved the whole crew as characters, but the last 3 games have depicted them as cruel and dangerous, they've done a lot of awful stuff. This worked in Minrathous because it's a group fighting against established tyranny, but the Crows kind of are the established tyranny in Antiva (I know that's oversimplifying), so it's harder to buy them as equal. While I appreciate a new perspective, I couldn't shake the overall feeling of trying to paint this mafia crime family of killers as sympathetic in a way that I'm not sure I liked.

Small nitpick. I like that there was a side romance involving an NPC, but I do have to confess Emmrich/Strife fell flat for me. I just didn't really get any chemistry or build up, and it felt a little forced for me.

Lore

Positives:

Looooooved getting so deep into the elven lore at last. I am such a huge fan of the twist of the gods just being tyrannical mages. This is so juicy to me. What an interesting way to turn all we knew so far on its head.

Very much loved seeing the trickster side of Solas in full swing. I didn't trust him for a moment and for good reason, it turns out. But it really highlights what a mastermind he is and why he was such a legend.

Sooo cool to get more information on the Forgotten Ones, and have them start to be more than just codex whispers.

I really liked seeing new kinds of magic and magical abilities! It makes a lot of sense that countries more willing to embrace magic would have talents and abilities we've never seen, and it felt like a natural way to upgrade gameplay and still be true to the story. Same with having the environments more affected by magic and enchantment.

Honestly, incredibly amused how much this game makes Ferelden look like Our Weird Hyper-Catholic Cousins

LOVED the lore reveals in Solas's memories. I had correctly guessed some of it, and my roommate called that Solas was originally a spirit back in DAI times, but learning they were all originally spirits was so interesting. And using the titan blood to create bodies? I have questions we'll get to in a second but very intrigued by the idea. And that it created the blight! No wonder Solas is upset with himself!

Such a breath of fresh air to see some new cultures, customs, and approaches to the world. I love all the games and seeing all the different lands, but it's really nice to break out of the mold and see radically different attitudes and ideas serving as the foundations of new societies.

Critiques:

I feel like this is the area I was ultimately the most disappointed in, so apologies if this gets even longer.

I definitely understand the journey this game went on, having to rebuild from a scratched MMO and losing so many veteran developers. So I am grateful we have a game at all, and not only that, but a very enjoyable one.

It's hard to separate how much of a deep lore nerd I am from picturing this as a new player. I have way more of a lore recall than average (for me) for this game, and for me, that created some unsatisfying gaps, or things I wanted more explanation for. Top of the list: what happened to the other gods? I was assuming they were in other prisons, but then the reveal at the end that killing Elgar'nan would bring down the Veil implies everyone else is dead if the Veil was tied to their life forces. Did they die when their archdemons died? If so why? Did they just fade out over time? Seems weird! And it just felt really unsatisfying to know they just died off screen and now we'll never really have a chance to get their real stories and memories and perspectives. This is another place that having additional memories to unlock in Crossroads would have really enhanced things.

We got some reaction, but man I would really have liked to have more from the Dalish finding out their gods are monsters. More denial? More doubt? I think this could have been handled with codex entries, found letters and things, but it would have been nice

I would also really have loved any reaction at all from the Chantry. Don't get me wrong, I was absolutely thrilled to get away from it and hear from other religions and customs, but it feels very weird to have them be Sir Not Appearing in This Game, and not to have any voice at all to bridge the gap. Especially when the Black Divine and the Tevinter Chantry had been so built up as looming, foreboding figures in the south. I was looking forward to seeing the reality and it was just nonexistent.

I was looking forward to seeing how the breach and the events of DAI had affected the north, and what the fallout was as far as mages and acceptance or fear of magic. It was disappointing not to even get a point of comparison. I know magic is less restricted outside Ferelden and Orlais and the Free Marches, but I guess it would have been nice to just have more acknowledgement of the impact of that conflict up north. More comparisons to the demons hitting Minrathous at the beginning to what it was like when there were Fade tears, things like that? What even are circles like in Antiva, etc.?

That also extends to the party in some cases. I was surprised everyone was pretty accepting overall of Lucanis and Spite after some initial suspicion? But more than that, acceptance from the Crows? Even just overhearing some conversations asking Lucanis if he was going to try to separate from Spite or questioning him more? Don't misunderstand, I like him and Spite and am in favor of them being accepted, it just felt a little too easy?

The nonchalance around the eluvians and living in the Fade was also jarring. In DAI, entering the Fade bodily is cause for intense alarm and a lot of religious upheaval. Here it's more like "oh okay this is weird but I guess we live here now." Even the companions don't seem to have much of any reaction to it, when this is not a normal thing? Traveling by eluvian is unheard of and still largely secret from the population? It just felt so strange to have very little reaction to it overall.

While I love and accept the lore reveals, I have questions about the mechanics I felt went unanswered. How did the spirits know they could use lyrium to make bodies? Who figured that out? Who even figured out titan blood specifically had properties of magic? 

In the same vein, while I think it's an interesting explanation for the blight, I still feel sort of confused on red lyrium being corrupted titan blood but the blight also somehow resulting from the same process? So they're two separate substances? I'm confused about the nature of blight as a substance, I guess.

On the subject, I know they probably don't want to address it, but darkspawn springing fully formed out of blight pools is definitely a change from the brood mother method lol. Curious if that is just because Ghilan'nain is super powerful and can command the blight in unique ways whereas without the gods there's not enough power to do that? I dunno, just got some questions there lol.

Establishing that dwarves came after the titans were made tranquil raised some questions for me. If they didn't already exist, how were they created? Was the tranquilization a cause? Was it a last act of defiance? If all dwarves were originally like the Sha-Brytol, were dwarves almost like a titan immune response? Like white blood cells? And what made them erase the titans from the memories, at least in Orzammar? Was it out of shame for selling lyrium? Something else?

I felt like there were some lore contradictions I was also a little confused by. Previous lore had that Arlathan was sunk into the earth by Tevinter, and no one knew where it was precisely I thought? Hence my theory that it was the Black City, which I think may still be implied. But to see part of it still there and everyone acting like of course it's there felt weird. Couldn't the Dalish have explored it sooner? Like I'm totally fine with finding out maybe that was false or rumor or anything else, it just feels weird to have had the option to find some of this history sooner.

Smaller thing, but I did feel a little disappointed that DAI spent so much time canonizing different metals and fabrics and that all kind of disappeared here. I get that it was simpler to implement, and again, it didn't make any kind of gameplay difference. But I liked all the dynamics of the variety and that it even impacted the world with the types of mines you find.

I think that's all I can think of right now. Again, overall, really enjoyed it. Surpassed my expectations for sure. And gave me hope for future games, which I did not have going in.

[pokepollsters]

Best Pokémon Rival Tournament- Stats Breakdown!

This tournament has been pretty wild- easily the most popular on the blog so far, and very interesting from a stats perspective! So if you wanna know some of the nitty gritty, take a look at this post for details on how everyone did.

Otherwise, stayed tuned for more details on the Best Protagonist Tournament coming soon, and don't forget to check out some of the polls regarding the format of it.

Click the read more for the numbers!

As I said, this tournament was the most popular on the blog so far, with a much higher overall vote total- the combined number of votes was 20,353 (the previous most voted on tournament had 13,981). With a total of 28 matches, this means the average number of votes per match was 727- again, higher than any other tournament before it!

But let's now take a look at individual contestants- here's how everyone stacks up in terms of their average vote total per match.

Hop- 687 (687 votes in 1 match)

N- 669 (3344 votes across 5 matches)

Kieran- 538 (538 votes in 1 match)

Nemona- 536 (2681 votes across 5 matches)

Wally- 485 (970 votes across 2 matches)

Arven- 435 (2177 votes across 5 matches)

Marnie- 426 (1278 across 3 matches)

Blue- 355 (1774 votes across 5 matches)

Gladion- 346 (1039 across 3 matches)

Cheren- 335 (335 votes in 1 match)

Silver- 322 (967 votes across 3 matches)

Carmine- 321 (642 votes across 2 matches)

Penny- 316 (631 votes across 2 matches)

Bianca- 291 (582 votes across 2 matches)

Hugh- 270 (270 votes in 1 match)

Hau- 241 (241 votes in 1 match)

Shauna- 204 (204 votes in 1 match)

Brendan- 202 (404 votes across 2 matches)

Serena- 187 (187 votes in 1 match)

Barry- 184 (184 votes in 1 match)

Avery- 178 (355 votes across 2 matches)

May- 174 (174 votes in 1 match)

Bede- 150 (150 votes in 1 match)

Tierno- 138 (138 votes in 1 match)

Klara- 134 (134 votes in 1 match)

Trevor- 115 (115 votes in 1 match)

Calem- 110 (110 votes in 1 match)

Trace- 41 (41 votes in 1 match)

So as you can see, there's a much wider range than we're used to seeing in the average vote totals, and perhaps most surprising is how different the rankings are when you compare them to our winners, or just which contestants made it the later rounds.

Poor Trace ends up at the bottom with only 41 votes in the whole competition, but Hop has the highest average of 687- though this pales in comparison to the 3,344 total votes N got!

These rankings will be influenced by the relative popularity of the matches that each contestant got to participate in, so another way of ranking is by the average % vote share, which is as follows:

N- 68.5%

Marnie- 65.8%

Penny- 58.5%

Gladion- 58.3%

Silver- 57.5%

Arven- 56.9%

Nemona- 56.5%

Bianca- 55.8%

Carmine- 54.3%

Brendan- 49%

Blue- 48.3%

Hop- 46.9%

Avery- 45.9%

Hau- 45.8%

Kieran & Hugh- 43.8%

Wally- 41.4%

Barry- 37.3%

Shauna- 35.6%

Cheren- 33.5%

Bede- 33.3%

Serena- 32.5%

Tierno- 32.4%

Trevor- 30.3%

May- 29.5%

Klara- 25%

Calem- 18%

Trace- 6.9%

So as you can see, it's another very different set of results! N sits on top this time, but neither of our second or third place winners get into the top five! But, by looking at both lists, you can start to get an idea of the overall rankings of which rivals are more popular than others.

Less indicative of ranking, but still interesting, is the fraction of each contestant's votes out of the total across the competition. It's probably easiest to see the disparity in graph form:

Finally, let's look at individual matches.

This time round we saw a first for the blog- matches with over 1,000 votes. Not just one, but 4 of them! The most voted on poll was the finals, another first for the blog, with 2,379 votes. Second place goes to Round 1: Match 4, Wally vs Hop. This close race had 1,465 votes.

On the other end of the spectrum, the least voted on match was Round 1: Match 11, Avery vs Trevor, with only 379 votes. Narrowly beating it was Round 2: Match 5, Bianca vs Brendan, with 383. These two matches were the only ones not to break 400 votes.

Individual contestants though? The person who earned the most votes in a single match was our champion, N, who got a huge 1,446 votes in the finals! On the other end though, Trace got only 41 votes in his only match, Round 1: Match 6.

The last thing to look at is margins! The closest matches came down to just a 2.6% margin, or 26 votes, in the case of Round 3: Match 1, or a 2.8% margin (20 votes) in the case of Round 4: Match 2. Not the closest matches we've ever had, but still a nail biter!

And finally, the award for the biggest sweep. While N won a 513 vote majority in the finals, for this? We're looking at the percentages. Who swept the competition like no one else? In this tournament, in was Gladion! He beat Trace by an astounding 86.2% margin, leaving the poor kid wondering what happened. This almost matched N's vote margin, with a 509 vote difference.

And that about wraps it up! Let me know if I missed anything, and I hope you found this interesting! Stick around for more match ups and stats as we head into the new tournament soon!

[autisticsupervillain]

FTF: How Powerful Is...?

A prolonged breakdown on a character detailing all their scaling, powers, stats, skill, and abilities to determine exactly how powerful they are.

This Week's Character...

Sollux Captor!

Scope:

I'm going to be skipping past the usual rundown kn the character's personality and history in order to primarily focus on their power scaling applicable attributes. In Sollux's case, I'll be primarily focusing on explicitly canon materials. Dubiously canon sources such as the Epilogues, Homestuck^2, Pesterquest, Hiveswap Friendsim, and so on will be ignored. Not that any of them should really effect Sollux's scaling anyways. He's barely even featured really. I just despise modern canon and will happily take any opportunity to completely ignore it.

I'm basing this analysis entirely on Homestuck proper. As Hussie has given free reign to either regard or disregard the Epilogues and everything pertaining as canon at audience discretion, I'm disregarding it completely. Paradox Space has a similar thing going on, but I'm ignoring that less out of contempt and moreso it just.... doesn't have any material that would effect Sollux's powerscaling to begin with. They're effectively just comedy skits/short stories in the Homestuck universe.

With all that out of the way, let's start with stats.

Attack Potency and Durability

For starters, all of the abilities Sollux displays with his powers should scale to his physical durability. While I certainly don't think Sollux could do half of his feats with, say, his fists, it it pretty consistent that he's tough enough to tank what he dishes out. Basic laws of physics dictate that Sollux would have to be durable enough to withstand the energy of his own optic blasts to some degree, or else he'd be blasting himself apart.

Conversely, Sollux is tough enough to survive blasts from Eridan even after Eridan explicitly overpowers him, even if he was K.O'd. Both Kanaya and Feferi meanwhile were oneshot by him.

Let's go through stats in extending order of impressiveness. Sollux hits Multi-Continent Level as a baseline pretty easily. An Alternian Warship on auxiliary power is capable of accelerating to near light speed, generating a kinetic energy equivalent to 303 Petatons of TNT.

As goldbloods are routinely exploited for their powers to be used as the main batteries on ships, common goldbloods should upscale this. Sollux, meanwhile, is decended from and inherits the powers of the most powerful goldblood who'd ever lived, The Psiioniic, so he upscales even further.

He was forced to serve as

the Helmsman for Her

Condescension's imperial

battleship. Psychics of his

kind were exploited for

interstellar travel, and

his abilities made her ship

the fastest in the fleet by

far. She grew so enamored

of her Helmsman and his

power, she would use her

touch to extend his

lifespan to match her own.

-Doc Scratch about The Psiioniic

Surrounding him on his rise

to infamy and throughout

the rebellion were the most

trusted elites among his

devoted. The viioniic was a

mage of unequaled

telekinetic ability, who

upon hearing the words of

the Sufferer was inspired

to free himself from the

sort of slavery typical of

his mentally gifted class.

-Doc Scratch

Similarly, Sollux can redirect meteors brought down by the Reckoning.

These meteors can consistently output 3 Exatons of kinetic energy.

And, finally, Sollux can assist Aradia in pushing the meteor to outspeed Jack Noir, a 2 Exaton feat.

ARADIA: i can help with

that!

ARADIA: sollux do you

think you can lend me a

hand?

SOLLUX: huh?

ARADIA: theyll need the

biggest push we can give

them

SOLLUX: 0h.

SOLLUX: yeah sure.

KARKAT: WHAT, SO JUST

ONE "PUSH" IS GOING TO

LAST THREE YEARS?

KARKAT : LEt ALONE OUTRUN

JACK?? BULLSHIT

SOLLUX: calm down kk, it

sh0uld be fine.

SOLLUX: yOu won't sl0w

down.

However, it's actually remarkably easy to hit much higher levels of power when scaling to his fellow SBURB Players. John, for example, performs a feat the puts all of the above to shame, creating a tornado that covers half of his planet in an instant, generating 4 thousand exatons of TNT.

Sollux's highest scaling thus far, however, comes from a feat he not only scales far above, but comes from characters he completely curbstomps. During he fight with the Condescension, Aranea mind controls several Damaras into throwing a planet, generating kinetic energy equivalent to 273 Ninatons of TNT. Enough to destroy a dwarf star.

Damara is a member of the Alpha Trolls, who battled fruitlessly in their session for three years before ultimately being defeated. Doc Scratch would note that their relatively peaceful upbringing compared to Sollux's left them completely unprepared to beat SBURB, prompting him to turn Alternia into the hellscape it is to prepare them to beat SBURB.

As was true of the bellicose world we know, there came to be twelve heroes on this peaceful planet. These heroes too had twelve ancestors whose fortunes were entwined with theirs. These twenty-four figures of legend were not of this world but sent from the sky, delivered from a reality not yet conceived.

On the eve of their race's extinction, the twelve heroes would begin playing a game. They would make an admirable effort, but they would fail. Their civilization had not prepared them for the rigors of this game, and the ultimate reward would fall shy of their grasp.

[...]Though I was delivered well before history even began, before the dawning of life on their planet. This time around, I would oversee its development, and thus fulfill the mother's promise of an aggressive, ruthlessly prepared group of heroes. One that would not rest until victory was secured.

-Doc Scratch

By comparison, the Beta Trolls were able to beat their game in only 25 days, signifying the Betas solidly scaling above the Alphas.

FCG:

IT WAS ALL PRETTY

MUCH LIKE CLOCKWORK.

FCG: A 600 HOUR CAMPAIGN

TO COMPLETE A GAME LIKE

THIS IS PRETTY GOOD IF

YOU ASK ME.

-Karkat Vantas

Sollux's most impressive scaling, however, comes from Gamzee, of all trolls.

Sollux pretty definitively scales backwards from Gamzee, but to an extent where he would still be comparable. Eridan, fresh off of his fight with Sollux, was considered an equal threat to Gamzee and a God-Tiered Vriska during their three way showdown before a newly undead Kanaya beat them all down. Sollux was the only one Eridan had fought up to the point who both survived getting hit and matched him briefly. See above.

This scaling his further supported by Sollux's relativity to Aradiabot. Not only did Sollux survive Aradiabot literally exploding in his face, but both of them were essential in wearing down the Black King. See the meteor feats above.

Vriska jas confessed that Aradiabot would still kick her ass, even after she went God-Tier.

VRISKA: Hey dead girl! How's 8eing dead treating you?

ARADIA: cOuldnt i ask yOu the same thing

VRISKA: Yeah, sure! If you wanted to 8e technically inaccur8

still 8urn though, so touche!

ARADIA: its really weird that yOu keep antagOnizing me

ARADIA: i cOuld snap yOur neck with a twitch

VRISKA: Yeah 8ut you won't!

ARADIA: Ok

Don't get me wrong. Sollux absolutely isn't equal to Gamzee. There are about a dozen quotes to that effect, not least of which being that alternate timeline where Gamzee solo'd the entire rest of the trolls by himself. But Sollux is at least comparable enough to scale backwards from Gamzee’s most impressive showings.

Those would include surviving the Black Hole created by Lord Jack, which would have a GBE equivalent to nearly 3/4's of a Foe.

Gamzee can also take hits from Caliborn, who himself can survive a black hole the size of the entire solar system. Roughly 38 billion foe. This means, in order to hurt Gamzee, you'd need to be packing power comparable to Solar System destroying levels of energy and Sollux point blank is comparable to people who can.

Speed

Speed is a lot more clear cut. Simply put, everyone and their mother can move faster than light in Homestuck. From Hussie being able to count down the nanoseconds on a clock to several characters moving interstellar distances.

For instance, the Psiioniic was described as being able to push the Condescension's ship from across the edges of the Galaxy back to Alternia very quickly, crossing light years in hours.

She ordered all fleets to

return to Alternia. But

such was her empire's

expansion and

interplanetary occupation,

few could make it in time

to provide any meaningful

defense. She instructed her

Helmsman to pilot the ship

faster than he ever had,

and he did so through

extreme physical duress. He

was able to leap across

thousands of light years in

a matter of hours. The

exertion likely would have

killed him, if the Glub

didn't get to him first

Her touch could extend

life, but never restore it,

to her lament.

-Doc Scratch

This feat by itself easily reaches the millions of times FTL range, but we can go much higher than that.

Comparing the size of the Incipisphere relative to Trollkind's 52 billion year old universe and we find that it is a structure that is several trillion light years in diameter. Meaning not only would Sollux be deflecting meteors traveling at 27 quintillion times faster than light, but even common Kernelsprite's would be traveling at 77 quintillion times faster than light when traveling to Prospit and Derse for Prototyping.

Even the weakest of Players can keep up in combat with their Kernelsprites, at least, at first, and Kernelsprites are generally at their absolute weakest when this process first starts. Since Gamzee is capable of moving so fast that Karkat can't even tell he's in the same room, this means Sollux can speed blitz people who move at these speeds.

For reference, that scaling chain is 1x Prototyped Kernelsprite = Karkat <<<<<< Gamzee >> Sollux.

Immeasurable Feats

Oh, boy, here we go. Sollux, in terms of speed and possibly even strength, can genuinely be argued to reach levels that are impossible for 3-D mathematics to calculate. Let me explain.

Firstly, we must discuss the nature of the Furthest Ring itself. The Furthest Ring is completely untouched by all forms of time and space in the universe. All twelve of the Aspects are described as being physically indistinguishable from each other within the Furthest Ring.

JADE: how long do i have

to wait HERE in order to

wake up?

CALLIOPE: the

correlation between the

passage of time in the

furthest ring and any

given physical location

is tenuous

CALLIOPE: the

measurement of time here

is inseparable from the

physical passage through

its knotted space.

CALLIOPE: those two

aspects are closely

woven together here, to

such an extent that they

are barely separable

CALLIOPE: all aspects

are.

JADE: really?

JADE: all of them??

CALLIOPE: yes.

JADE: i understand how

this place has time and

space of course.... even

if they work together

weirdly

JADE: but

JADE: i dont see any of

the others

CALLIOPE: one doesn't

see abstractions

CALLIOPE: not directly

JADE:

JADE: oh

CALLIOPE: each opposing

pair is in balance

throughout this field so

as to form a stable

canvas.

CALLIOPE: though the

canvas becomes less

stable with each crack

in the field, ordinarily

one would never directly

observe its constituent

forces.

CALLIOPE: the canvas

would seem smooth from

afar, but up close, as

it were, the tapestry is

circuitously woven.

CALLIOPE: the aspects

while remaining in

balance, interfere with

each other. they

interlock and

intertwine.

CALLIOPE: so neither

space nor time functions

linearly, nor are they

conventionally

measurable.

JADE: wow

JADE: i am not sure i

totally understand.

JADE: but that is pretty

interesting!

CALLIOPE: you are

predisposed to find the

nuances of space

intriguing.

CALLIOPE: and since its

opposing aspect is more

related than you perhaps

have realized, the

challenges of

understanding it are

more compelling to you

than you realize as

well.

JADE: yeah i guess so

JADE: physics are all

about space and time and

such which are fun to

think about

JADE: i like all that

stuff!

CALLIOPE: yes.

JADE: so youre saying

space and time... and

all other aspects i

guess... are more

closely related here

than in like

JADE: umm.

JADE: more stable

places, like my

universe?

CALLIOPE: they are less

distinct from each other

here, yes.

JADE: you said passage

of time is inseparable

from.

JADE: traveling through

space?

CALLIOPE: yes.

JADE: so if we were

holding still

JADE: time wouldnt be

moving either?

CALLIOPE: that is

correct, in a way.

CALLIOPE: though motion

itself is not the

absolute process it is

in a more conventional medium.

CALLIOPE: the

measurement of motion

requires stable features

for comparison.

CALLIOPE: of which there

are very few in the

furthest ring,

typically.

CALLIOPE: the more

cracks that appear,

ironically, the more the

ring begins to

stabilize, at least in a

spatial and temporal

sense.

JADE: i see

JADE: so

JADE: if the cracks

werent there

JADE: how..

JADE: how would we be

able to tell if we were

moving?

CALLIOPE: motion through

the twisted space is not

gauged by passing

landmarks, but anchored

to a particular

destination.

CALLIOPE: destination is

an idea maintained by

the traveler.

CALLIOPE: ideas are

subtle composites of

various aspects.

CALLIOPE: without clear

understanding of

destination, motion

becomes less

discernible.

CALLIOPE: with less

discernible motion,

passage of time becomes

less measurable.

CALLIOPE: at a

standstill, time loses

meaning, and can seem to

stretch on forever, as

all events throughout

reality gwirl around you

in no particular order.

CALLIOPE: one becomes

isolated from all else.

imprisoned by inertia.

A realm in which the very abstract concepts of time and space are indistinguishable from each other and ideas are the fundamental measurement of any kind of motion would be, if not blatantly higher dimensional, than effectively beyond dimensional by design. And Sollux was specifically called out by Aradia to help her push the meteor through this realm. A realm that has been, on mamy occasions, described as a realm of pure nothingness. Of Void.

VRISKA: John, tell me

what you see here.

JOHN: um.

JOHN: where?

VRISKA: Right here.

VRISKA: What is this?

This thing I'm holding?

JOHN: a black piece of

paper?

VRISKA: No, John.

VRISKA: This is 8ULLSHIT

is what it is.

JOHN: oh.

JOHN: yes, clearly.

VRISKA: This is what a

map looks like in the

furthest ring.

VRISKA: This is what ALL

maps look like out here.

VRISKA: Turns out

plotting the relative

geographical features of

an infinite 8lack

expanse of pure void is

every 8it as moronic as

it sounds. 8ut that

didn't stop some ancient

eldritch chucklefuck

from doing exactly that.

VRISKA: For the longest

time, this is all we've

had to go on when it

came to deciphering the

clues and figuring out

the coordin8tes of the

legendary treasure.

VRISKA: Do you have any

idea how hard it is to

pin down the physical

location of something

out here? Never mind the

fact that physical

location in the furthest

ring is already a

mallea8le concept. Just

imagine what it's like

giving someone

directions! What do you

tell them?

VRISKA: Proceed in a

str8 line shaped like a

perpetually shifting

torus knot until you

feel a sense of despair

transcending all mortal

comprehension, then hang

a right at the next

octopus?

VRISKA: There's nothing

static out there. No

landmarks, no points of

reference. Nothing!

[...]

VRISKA: The guy who's

8een fucking shit up is

the 8ig 8ad himselfl

VRISKA: Every time he

destroys another dream

8u88le, he does a little

more damage to the

furthest ring,

inexplica8ly shattering

the essence of all-

encompassing

nothingness.

VRISKA: As the cracks

spread across the void,

new points of reference

show up on our maps!

The push Sollux and Aradia gave to the meteor sent it flying through this infinite expanse, where time and space don't matter. That would be a feat of completely immeasurable speed. You can't measure speed if the things you use to calculate that, time and space, are completely indistinguishable from each other. Hell, Sollux would later give his life to give the meteor a solid push through the Furthest Ring closer to its destination, likely his most impressive direct feat in the series.

Now.... there is an argument to scale Sollux to this Outerversal level of power as well.... but I'm of slightly two minds of the situation.

Sollux scales to Gamzee who scales to Terezi who can hurt John.

John is one of the legendary heroes destined to defeat Lord English, who is currently ripping the hell out of Paradox Space. Similarly, God-Tier Aradia specifically asked for Sollux's help to push the meteor to outspeed Bec Noir. And Aradia herself can fight Lord English too.

The problem? John can fight Bec Noir.... who was seen as completely invincible to the Beta Trolls throughout most of Act 5, with Vriska's attempt to fight him getting everyone killed.

Now, to be fair, John is also instant killed by Noir during their first fight and while Vriska considers him to be far less of a threat than Lord English, she also considers him a very big threat in his own right....

But on the other hand... it is something if a plot hole for Bec Noir to be such a massive threat that the Beta Trolls had to hide from him for all of Act 5.... and for them to have several characters in the same tier as him as well.

I'm leaning towards a no to outerversal Sollux because of it, but you could just make the argument that Bec Noir is simply much farther into Outerversal. Terezi just knocked John into the wall after all, she didn't pile drive him through the floor and steal his lunch money. But, personally, I lean towards Solar System Level Sollux with Immeasurable speeds as his highest possible peak. It doesn't contradict the established plot as much. Which, by itself, would clear a lot of franchises frankly....

Abilities

Now comes the easy part.

Sollux has the standard kit that everyone in the Homestuck universe has. He has a Specibus, a video game inventory system, and an Echeladder, a video game leveling system. Neither of which are particularly helpful. Sollux doesn't use weapons so inventory is of limited help, and he's already maxed out his mortal echeladder. He'd have to become a god to get any stronger.

More relevant is his telekinesis. His continent shaking psychic powers that can reach you from a completely different universe. Universes contain infinite timelines in Homestuck and psychic powers, Sollux's included, can attack you from different Universes all together. From Rose blowing up Eridan's computer to a universe away to Tavros mind controlling Bec all the way from his reality. No need to respond to assholes online when you can mske their computers explode from anywhere in the world!

Wait, if Tav can control Bequeral, why didn't he just do that to Bec Noir? Sollux can also control animals, but not to the same extent as Tavros. Largely just putting himself or other animals, like bees, to sleep. And his optic blast eye lasers are powerful enough to blow apart buildings.

Unfortunately, some of his powers are more a curse than anything else. Thanks to his ties to the Aspect of Doom, he can hear the last words of the soon to be dead from anywhere in the world, which, when mixed with his bipolar disorder, results in crippling depressive episodes.

He's also a master hacker, proficient in the ~ATH programming language. This allows him to alter the code of reality itself, letting him create curses that follow you for the rest of your life or alter reality until the universe ends. This is more of a prep time thing, though, and not really relevant in a one on one.

Resistances

....Does the Medium count as space? Because if so, he should resist the cosmic radiations present in space. Nothing else really though and he's pretty explicitly weak to getting mind haxed.

Skills and Intelligence

Putting aside the supergenius hacker with reality breaking code, thing, Sollux is skilled enough in a fight to repeatedly stalemate Eridan and overall skilled enough to crush the Kingdom of Derse in 25 days with the rest of his team. Derse being a Kingdom that has been at war with Prospit since the beginning of the universe, locked in eternal stalemate. Not bad.

Conclusion

I'll be honest, I've been planning this post for awhile and this all took me a few weeks to throw together. Even still, I could never have expected Immeasurable Sollux to come up as a possibility in my research. Homestuck somehow gets more overpowered the more I go picking through it.

That aside, where would you power scale Sollux? Do you agree with the above? Or would you rank him a bit lower?

[bettsfic]

bg3 build: beast priest (shadowheart respec)

i'm playing around with some new builds! after scrounging the internet for good build guides, i didn't find any that i thought were interesting. in my current playthrough, i'm trying to respec all the companions to be the classes they would have chosen without their various traumas.

the beast priest is my respec for shadowheart. if you haven't noticed, shadowheart's basic build isn't great. when you find her, she's already level 1, which means the game chooses her subclass for you: trickery domain. and that doesn't make sense at all, narratively or for the stats she's been assigned. so to make her a good trickery domain cleric, you would want to respec her anyway just to fix level 1.

but i don't want her to be a trickery domain cleric. i don't even want her to be a healer. i want her to be an emo bird girl. the Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way of bg3, emphasis on raven. by endgame, we learn that shadowheart loves animals and nature, and she's a bit of a rebel (my graffiti queen). without having been kidnapped by the mother superior, i can see her either noping off into the woods or staying in the city to be the type of person who accidentally acquires really a lot of cats. so my goal is for her to have lots of animals, do a fuckton of damage, and fight off the darkness with lots and lots of light.

you can find the full build on eip. more detail and a level by level breakdown under the cut.

the beast priest build involves taking 6-7 levels of beast master ranger and 5-6 levels of war priest cleric. you start off as a ranger, because rangers have great early game damage and are also imo the easiest class for beginners. you stand in one spot and you shoot stuff. you can also get Harold (crossbow) pretty early on and it can be your main weapon through most of the game. it does insane damage and casts Bane.

i'm not familiar enough with armor and weapons to include recommendations in this guide (beyond Harold. get Harold). that is too much for me to keep track of, and i swap things out a lot. use whatever you find most helpful and/or looks the coolest. you probably can't use this build for lone wolf tactician or anything, but i do think it's very fun for an explorer or balanced playthrough, and it fixes a lot of the problems in shadowheart's base build.

this build does a few things:

uses war priest weapon buffs to increase ranged damage

minimizes concentration spells to prioritize ensnared strike and hunter's mark

backup heals (unfortunately this means either respeccing another companion to take on main healing duties or building a main heals tav. i'm working on a bardadin build for this very purpose. there is also always halsin, but he takes a while to acquire)

it's very beneficial to astarion that the bird can blind enemies near him so he can gain advantage to sneak attack (i'll share my build for him too eventually; he is also part ranger)

toolkit against undead (guardian spirits is a must)

important team utilities like guidance

what this build can't do:

be the "face" of your team, by which i mean initiate dialogue. we have no charisma or proficiency in anything related to talking to people. we are a gloomy emo girl sequestered to the back of the group and we shoot stuff and hang out with our bird

steal shit, disarm traps, lockpick. i mean, you can, but you'll probably have another character better equipped for it. we'll be wearing medium armor or heavy armor (optional), so we'll have a disadvantage on stealth anyway

here's how i've broken down each level:

initial build

if you're respeccing shadowheart, you won't be able to change her race or background, which means she'll remain an acolyte and have proficiency in insight and religion.

if you're making your tav a beast priest, you should choose whatever background and race makes sense for your character's narrative. the caveat being, as stated above, stealth and sleight of hand are kind of useless here, as well as dialogue proficiencies like persuasion, intimidation, deception, performance, etc.

what *is* helpful is having proficiency in the things you walk up to and go "oh shit, what's that?" so survival and perception are pretty important. folk hero and outlander are therefore both good background choices, but again, what's important to me in a build is that the story makes sense.

note you will not need investigation because we'll be taking bounty hunter as a favored enemy.

level 1: ranger (1)

proficiencies: survival, nature, animal handling (see above for more explanation; really just take whatever you think will be useful)

favored enemy: bounty hunter

bounty hunter gives disadvantage to enemies hit by ensnaring strike. very helpful for astarion and your companion. however, it's sometimes difficult to choose when to use hunter's mark versus ensnaring strike.

natural explorer: beast tamer

all of these are kind of useless, tbh. but i chose this one because early game, your companion dies very easily and this way you'll be able to bring it back without using a spell slot.

from my understanding, in EA you could either have your summon pet OR your companion out, not both, but in full release you can now have both summons out at once.

level 2: ranger (2)

fighting style: archery

we are going to be very far away from our enemies and Harold is going to be very dear to us.

spells: hunter's mark, ensnaring strike (ranged)

both spells require concentration so you can only pick one. ensnaring strike gives disadvantage to an enemy but hunter's mark does more damage, and your companion does more advantage to it as well. for cc situations, i'd choose ensnaring strike; for taking down one big dude at a time, hunter's mark. hunter's mark can be recast as long as you maintain concentration.

level 3: cleric (1)

deity: any (if you're respeccing shadowheart, your deity will remain shar)

domain: war domain

cantrips: guidance, sacred flame, light

the only one that's important here is guidance. the other two can be whatever your party needs most. the reason we're taking one level of cleric early and the others later is because guidance is a must. if someone else on your team has it, or if you have a bard, you can stay as a ranger until 5.

level 4: ranger (3)

subclass: beast master

spell: cure wounds OR speak with animals

for shadowheart's respec, i would say cure wounds so that she can start subhealing. however, if you don't have anyone in your party who can speak to animals yet, that's pretty important. the strange ox you meet in the grove provides a lot of endgame help, and it's fun talking to the owlbear and scratch.

level 5: ranger (4)

feat: resilient (wisdom)

taking resilience in wisdom gives us a proficiency in wisdom saving throws, which we'll need for both cleric and ranger spells.

level 6: ranger (5)

spells: anything that would be most helpful to your team.

you probably already have somebody who can cast longstrider as a ritual spell. enhance leap is helpful although this is pretty late in the game to be getting that. i try to avoid concentration spells because of hunter's mark and aoe spells because astarion and karlach are always in the thick of it and i don't want to hurt them.

what's important this level is that your companion's AC and damage increases, and it gets an extra attack.

level 7: cleric (2)

you get turn undead and guided strike this level. both are very useful, particularly guided strike. nothing to choose though.

level 8: cleric (3)

new spells! these can be prepared based on what you think you'll need for a given scenario. lesser restoration is a must if you're letting astarion bite you every night. but if that's the case you probably already have it.

level 9: cleric (4)

cantrip: whatever's most helpful at this point

feat: ability improvement (1 in wisdom, 1 in dexterity)

if you have auntie ethel's hair, then you might want 2 in one or the other.

level 10: cleric (5)

here's where you get guardian spirits, which is the single most important mid-game spell you can have (although in this build you get it pretty late). make sure when you cast it, you have as many movement speed spells and potions you can get. you're going to cast it and run around like mad killing everything.

level 11 & 12: ranger OR cleric (6 & 7)

here's where you have a difficult choice to make. your last two levels can be ranger 6 and 7, which will give your companion a huge buff. or you can choose cleric 6 and 7, which will give you war god's blessing, which gives you a +10 attack roll to give to someone else on your team.

you an also do cleric 6 and ranger 6, which will grant you war god's blessing AND allow you to take ranger knight as a favored enemy, which gives you the ability to wear heavy armor (if you want that). you can also gain resistance to cold, fire, or poison, but since you encounter all of those things in pretty equal measure, i never know which to choose.

i think it'll depend on what sounds more fun to you. personally, i think seeing my animal companion destroy everything is very fun. but if you enjoy reactions and buffing your teammates, i can also see wanting to stick with cleric through the end.

unlock to level 20

you might be thinking it's not worth it to only take two half classes instead of one whole one and lose out on late game spells and abilities. and i agree with you completely. my favorite part of beast master is when your companion gets two special abilities at 11. if you're playing completely vanilla, this is the major sacrifice of multiclassing. you're prioritizing creativity and cool combos over fancy spells and abilities.

but if you install a mod that lets you level to 20 (no class can go beyond 12, but you can multiclass to 20), you can take 11 levels of ranger and 9 levels of cleric. level 11 of ranger maxes out your animal; level 8 of cleric gives you divine strike, and level 9 gives you flame strike.

i didn't find anything from 10-12 in cleric very helpful. there's divine intervention which you can only use once in the game, ever, and i used it at a very integral time and it didn't do enough. heroes' feast is helpful but halsin has that too. heal, which should be the best healing spell in the game, is currently bugged and i don't know when they'll fix it.

you could also do level 12 of ranger for the extra feat if you don't have both wisdom and dexterity to 20, and stay at 8 for cleric.

if you do unlock to level 20, i would download the double xp mod (although i haven't gotten mine to work yet) so you can get to 20 at about the same pace you get to 12 in vanilla. this obvs is extremely unbalanced and makes you very very OP but that makes the game more fun for me. and anyway, if it gets too easy you can always play tactician or honor mode.

i hope you found this helpful! i'll probably be tweaking and updating it as i go. i'm working on respecs for astarion, karlach, halsin, jaheira, and wyll right now. gale, lae'zel, and minsc i'll be able to look at once i play around with them more. i haven't used them much yet in my teams.

if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to send me an ask!