#this is about primeval btw | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ideas-on-paper · 6 months ago

Text

I've spent so long pondering over what Quarians might look like under their suits (trying to take both pre-established lore and real-life biology into account), and DANG these are some concepts I actually dig.

I've been looking at Quarian helmets for so long trying to determine what their facial shape might look like, and I also came up with the headcanon that Quarian males must've elongated chins. (I could even imagine that a large chin is considered attractive, so perhaps the helmets are designed like that to make their chins appear larger.)

Looking at their helmets from the side, I've actually been wondering if the back of their heads extends a little farther than a human's as well (reference male, reference female). Thus, I sort of came up with the headcanon that the Quarians have what I call the "Akhenaten head shape". If you don't know, Akhenaten was a pharaoh from the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt who is kind of renown for his peculiar body shape; at least in monuments, he's always depicted with what one could call a nutcracker chin, a prolonged head and a long, thin neck. Other members of the royal family are depicted like this as well though (two of Akhenaten's daughters in this case), so it might have been more of an artistic style of the period. For a human, this head shape may be unnatural, but I wonder if it might be actually normal for Quarians.

Given how sinewy the arms and legs of the Geth look, I also surmised that the Quarians must have really muscular limbs. The legs in particular appear to have a lot of muscle mass, so it would be logical to assume Quarians are excellent runners. This would be an ideal adaptation to habitats such as savannas, steppes, and half-deserts where there is little cover and the only way to escape from predators is to run.

Btw, one thing I also noticed is that Quarian feet are kind of similar to an ostrich’s in that they only have two toes. The two toes are actually unique among avians and an adaptation to the ostrich’s exceptionally high running speeds. The horny part of the Quarians' toes/their "toenails" also seem to extend pretty far, if the feet of the Geth are any indication. (One additional fact to note here is that Geth, for whatever reason, have an additional third toe like female Quarians; male Quarians do not have this.)

Wow, I never thought about the flashing of the mouth piece being meant to represent their mouths glowing from the inside! It would make sense though; I could imagine that the glowing eyes/mouth play an important role in communication. That the Quarians designed the Geth's faces as lamps because of this is actually one of my headcanons as well - to them, it would probably be more unusual to look into a face that doesn't glow, and they gave the Geth head lamps for familiarity so they feel more comfortable around them. (I remember someone who designed humanoid androids saying "we designed them in a way so people would be comfortable with letting them into their home", so perhaps the Quarians operated on the same logic.)

However, if you think about it, the glowing parts of the Quarians' faces would be kind of hard to see in broad daylight, especially on a planet with as much sun exposure as Rannoch. Therefore, I've been considering whether Quarians might be nocturnal - or rather, crepuscular. A lot of desert animals are crepuscular as well, which is because deserts are scorching hot at day and freezing cold at night. Rannoch also has longer days than Earth (32.3 Earth hours), so this effect would be even more extreme; thus, it would make sense if Quarians were only active in the morning/evening hours to avoid the most extreme temperatures. In dim light, I imagine their eye shine could be seen from very far away (especially on wide plains), so they may be able to locate and communicate with each other at large distances.

The idea that the Quarians have a third eye is actually super cool! It's actually something that quite a few primeval species have, such as the tuatara. In fact, it was even present in Therapsida, the closest extinct relatives of modern mammals. (This fits in well with my overall concept for the Quarians, which is largely based on "primeval mammals".) However, in those species that have it, this "third eye" doesn't really look like an eye in the sense of the word. It's more like a really small, translucent spot between the eyes, and the visual organ itself is hidden beneath the skin. So, chances are we wouldn't even perceive the third eye of the Quarians as an eye at the first glance. The Protheans, however, might have recognized it as such, making the Quarians look alluring to them. (On the other hand, there are some species, such as the Madagascar swift, that have skin markings surrounding their parietal eye, giving off the illusion of an "actual eye", so it's possible the Quarians might have something similar.)

The Quarians having a third eye might actually solve one of the biggest problems I ran into: We do know that the Quarians have UV vision, but UV light is actually damaging to the retina. That's why the species who can see it (e.g. insects like bees) are usually short-lived, and UV light is largely or completely filtered out of the visual spectrum of most mammals. (One fascinating exception to this are reindeer, which are able to perceive UV light to better make out UV-absorbing surfaces in the snowy, same-colored landscape they live in.) I've been puzzling over how the Quarians might have compensated for this, speculating whether the reason their eyes shine might be because they're biofluorescent, reflecting the most damaging of UV light and converting it to different wavelengths (it's been suggested some shallow water corals do this to protect themselves from UV light). However, in the species that have it, the parietal eye serves not only the purpose of perceiving light and dark, but also UV light. This would literally solve all my problems - to avoid damaging the retina of the “normal” eyes, just have an extra eye for UV vision! ;-)

There are some things that might contradict this, though: In real-life animals, the parietal eye is only present in ectothermic/cold-blooded species. (Basically, the parietal eye regulates the wake/sleep cycle and other biological rhythms as well as hormone production for thermoregulation, which is why warm-blooded species lack it.) I previously played with the idea that Quarians might be mesotherm, or "semi-warm-blooded”. This was because a) I sort of used the Afrotheria (the group of animals that elephants, sea cows, and hyraxes belong to) as an inspiration since they live in warm climates and are noted to have a few primeval characteristics (such as weak thermoregulation), and b) because endothermy/warm-bloodedness itself is suspected to have developed to kill off pathogens, and Rannoch barely has any of those. On the other hand, we know Quarians can get fever, which is a trait exclusive to endothermic species; it's entirely possible the Quarians developed endothermy when pathogens were more abundant on Rannoch though - perhaps a large portion of the planet's microorganisms were later killed off due to rising UV radiation or something.

If the glowing of the Quarians’ eyes/mouths is caused by bioluminescent bacteria, that might provide an explanation for that as well. Aside from microorganisms, bioluminescence is known from marine animals, invertebrates, and fungi, but not from land-based vertebrae, which would kind of make the Quarians outliers. (Small note about bioluminescence vs biofluorescence here: Bioluminescence results from the light that living organisms emit themselves, which can be either produced by the animal itself or by symbiotic bacteria; biofluorescence, on the other hand, is light being reflected from organic surfaces and converted into different wavelengths, which actually happens to be quite wide-spread even among mammals.) However, presuming UV radiation on Rannoch is really high, perhaps microorganisms can only survive by living in the bodies of other organisms - so, maybe the Quarians are in a symbiotic relationship with the type of bacteria that makes their eyes glow.

If the glowing of the eyes and mouth really is meant for communication in low-light conditions, that might already provide an explanation why the visor of their helmet is darkened, because you wouldn't see their glowing eyes very well otherwise. If that was the case though, you'd have to wonder why they illuminate the inside of their own vessels (you'd think that keeping the light low and instead having an option to undim the helmet would cost a lot less electricity).

I did read some interpretations that Quarians already used veils pre-Migrant Fleet and that it's more of a cultural thing. One idea I was toying around with that sort of originated from the Protheans perceiving the Quarians as a "very emotional" people is that they have "facial lines" along/around their mouth, nose, and eyes which reflect UV light differently depending on their mood (due to contraction of blood vessels or something). You could literally "read" their emotions from their face, but there are some social situations where this might be inappropriate/disadvantageous; hence, the veils. (This might be a bit much though if the eyes/mouth already serve that purpose; also, assuming relatives, lovers, and close friends are exempt from that rule, you’d have to wonder why Tali doesn’t undim her helmet if you romance her.)

Another thought I had was that they might be wearing the opaque helmets out of shame; again, this goes very much into my headcanon, but basically, I imagined the Quarians naturally having grayish/dark skin that's similar in structure to elephant skin. From that, I had the idea that Quarians may get the same "depigmentation spots" that elephants have, though for the Quarians it's more of a pathological effect (due to an imbalanced diet and the like; they supposedly had a very symbiotic relationship with their environment, so living outside of it might have quite a few negative side effects). By the time of the Migrant Fleet, their skin would have lost a lot of its coloration, which might be considered unsightly among the Quarians.

Anyway, just a few ideas I’m throwing around. :-)

stray quarian thoughts.

quarians have accents specific to the ship they grew up on.

suit colors can also reflect home ship or current ship assignment.

since their ships have windows sometimes little quarians wave at other ships as they pass by, and it's an extra special treat if someone waves back.

quarian suits reflect their physiology, especially in the face, so yes, quarian men have jawlines that could cut glass.

the quarians built the geth in their image so this can give us clues to how they look!heads shaped similar to the geth, including the rounded neck that slopes into the back of the head. the geth have those ropey arm muscles so i think quarians either have the same muscles and they're highly visible, or they have skin patterns that imitate the muscles. and, most importantly, i think quarians have a center-forehead third eye, which is why the geth have one big light. this is also why the protheans think the quarians are hot (more than two eyes).

quarians glow from the inside (somewhat similar to hanar?) and so the glowing part on their suits' mouthpieces is actually synced with their mouth movements. the third eye either doesn't glow or it does and that's one reason the quarians wear head coverings.

#mass effect #mass effect lore #lore theories #quarians #quarian biology #alien biology #oops my hand slipped and I wrote a pseudo-scientific essay again xD

32 notes · View notes

imissthembutitwasntadisaster · 3 years ago

Text

People who hate Helen Cutter just hate to see a girlboss winning

#primeval #see I would be iconic in this fandom if more than seven people cared about it because I'm hilarious #this is sarcastic btw #hate that I have to clarify but I do

57 notes · View notes

donvalleyparkway · 2 years ago

Text

the best fannons are the ones that smooth over disjointed long running series

rework the plot lines to interact with each other, have a theme, explain how a character introduced in season 5 would interact with a character killed off in season 2, fulfill the character arc of the character who was killed off between seasons when their actor unexpectedly didn’t sign back on, actually have the mechanics of the world function consistently throughout the story

#this about primeval btw #i think stephan and becker would fight :)

0 notes

chiliadicorum · 2 years ago

Text

Glorfindel and the Balrog (Again)

Glorfindel was a badass and I need to talk about this AGAIN.

I thought I was done waxing poetic about Glorfindel's fight with the Balrog after the last post. I mean, what else was there to say? Joke's on me. Because I just had an epiphany recently concerning that duel that I realized is so grossly overlooked because, you know, epic battle and badass awesomeness that takes priority over anything mundane (I'm guilty of that. Refer to: said post).

I'm going to dredge up some popular fanon again and declare that it's canon. Let me ask y'all a question:

DO YOU KNOW HOW HOT FIRE IS?

Hear me out. Yes, simple question and yeah, everyone knows fire is frickin hot. As I said though, it's a mundane detail and as a result, tends to be overlooked. However, my attention was drawn to it when I recently took part in a brushfire.* Do not confuse this with a typical bonfire. This brushfire was to burn dead brush gathered over the course of several years and can only be burned in the middle of winter. It's way hotter, way bigger with way more fuel burning. I'd seen a brushfire before but I'd forgotten what it felt like.

We all had to stand, at minimum, 20ft away (30ft or more was better). The fire itself was impressive, but the intensity of that heat was insane. We maintained a safe distance, but our faces still turned pink from the heat. My actual eyeballs began to burn and I had to either back up further or turn away completely. The heat converted the 1°F air (-17°C) into something comfortable to breathe even that far away. But I have to emphasize that, no matter where you walked, you could not get safely within 20ft of this fire without proper apparatus. It was too hot for your face and eyes to tolerate.

Guys, that Balrog was a beast of living fire and Glorfindel grappled with it. I mean, he was already in proximity close enough to engage in that combat. Let's recap: struck the Balrog's head (impressive btw, considering Balrogs are twice an Elf's height), hewed off its whip-arm, and drove his sword through the Balrog's shoulder, not to mention all the other blows he landed in the combat:

"The ardour of Glorfindel drave that Balrog from point to point, and his mail fended him from its whip and claw.”

But remember, when he struck the shoulder and the sword caught, the full-on brawling on the mountain pinnacle began:

“Then sprang the Balrog in the torment of his pain and fear full at Glorfindel, who stabbed like a dart of a snake; but he found only a shoulder, and was grappled, and they swayed to a fall upon the crag-top.”

....This is actually blowing my mind a bit. How has this not clicked before? Because this speaks volumes to Glorfindel's determination to see the demon killed, to save his people. Glorfindel wasn't a safe distance away shooting arrows or hurling spears. He wasn't 20ft away. He was fighting with a sword. And he was literally embracing that creature of living flame in a fight to the death. We don't know the literal degree of how hot the Balrogs burned, but by intuition alone, I think we can deduce that they were a lot bigger and hotter than some mere brushfire. Let's recall some details from the book in The Bridge of Khazad-dûm:

"The flame roared up to greet [the Balrog], and wreathed about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its streaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it. [...] The dark figure streaming with fire raced towards them. [...] Fire came from its nostrils."

From The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, #144:

"The Balrogs, of whom the whips were the chief weapons, were primeval spirits of destroying fire [...]"

Balrogs were their own self-regulating and self-sustaining inferno, with "hearts of fire". Peter Jackson may have exaggerated the height of the Balrog in the movie, but he nailed the physiology, imo. Balrogs never laughed, never spoke, but they could control the amount of fire and darkness/shadow they emitted.

Getting back to that fanon I mentioned, it's a popular idea that Glorfindel sustained burns or caught fire in this fight, something like that. It's a notion regularly used in fanfic for years but always something relegated to the fanon category, an "unconfirmed" theory. I've enjoyed those fics, still do, but there's always been the back-and-forth about how accurate it is, if at all. I was on that fence too because Tolkien never explicitly stated it happened.

But guys, it's canon. Glorfindel got burned in that fight. Even if he never came in contact with its living flame (he did), even if he never brawled with the Balrog (he did), the heat alone would've burned him from the proximity of fighting with a sword. That's the whole point of this post.

This is the one time I'm not giddy about declaring a fanon is canon. It's so awful. Of course, it's left to the individual imagination as to the severity of his burns and where they occurred. Elves are not humans and I submit to the idea that there can be a difference in tolerance with such elements (such is the case with cold temperatures), but Tolkien still made it clear they're not immune to fire. I recall wondering if Glorfindel ever got burned, but it was such a passing thought I think because I put too much focus on this text:

"The ardour of Glorfindel drave that Balrog from point to point, and his mail fended him from its whip and claw.”

Tolkien made it clear that Glorfindel obtained no fatal/serious injuries in that fight, which is significant and should be recognized precisely because it's a testament to Glorfindel's insane skill and speed. But Tolkien says it, or rather omits it, right there: "his mail fended him from its whip and claw". Tolkien doesn't mention the fire. He's talking about the attacks the Balrog is trying to strike Glorfindel with and failing abominably. It's so easy to ignore a mundane factor like temperature when there's so much epic action to fixate on.

Because before Glorfindel even began grappling with the Balrog and came in contact with its fire, he was getting burned.

And it never slowed him down.

Have you ever been even minorly burned by fire before, like a candle flame or heat from a stove? I have and it's the mildest as far as burns go but IT HURTS. It gets your attention like nothing else and makes you yank back on pure instinct. Yet Glorfindel never yanked back. He wasn't fighting any candle flame, yet he never faltered or stepped back at the searing touch of that heat. Let alone the actual fire later.

Glorfindel was plainly hell-bent on saving his people from this threat. No one can argue that, particularly when he was the one to pursue the Balrog. But this new aspect just further drives home that single-mindedness of that determination. That desperation. That's a better word. For as calm and in control of that fight as he was, despite being seared by that heat which would cause a normal person to falter, he never once retreated even for a moment to regain ground (he had room) or wait for aid (Elves were rushing to help him, Tolkien said) or reassess (he had time - that Balrog was terrified of him at that point and was actively trying to run away from him). My conclusion? Glorfindel was desperate to kill it. Frantic in that calm, disciplined way that's terrifying. Grief from Gondolin's destruction, grief from the massacre of his people, anger and uncertainty at their dire state, and now this demon was coming to finish off what remnant was left?

No. Soon as Glorfindel "leapt forward upon him" there was only one objective in his mind, one end: that Balrog was going to die now. And nothing would stop him or slow him down until it did.

*descriptions of the battle on Cristhorn from “The Fall of Gondolin” HoME II.194-5 *(disclaimer to ward off comments: this fire was in the middle of a field of snow, was law-abiding, was city-approved, etc. It was a controlled burn so no worries)

#glorfindel #balrog #silmarillion #cristhorn #tolkien #just when i think i can't obsess over this golden elf even more #please tell me i'm not the only one a little shook up by this #the heat factor of fire is so overlooked in the legendarium #but it never slowed him down!!!#glorfindel i love you #chili indie essays #gwedhiel #meta

46 notes · View notes

aretarers · 2 years ago

Note

76, 75, 51 :), 26, 23 (me when i read lists from bottom to top)

i love that you read them from bottom to top let me do that too

76. a pokemon that you feel is underrated araquanid is cool as hell and STRONG !!! i like araquanid a lot i think it deserves to be talked about more

75. a pokemon that you feel is overrated i wont lie. im bad at this question cause i feel like all the most popular pokemon are overrated but like. i feel like everyone feels that way tbh. i feel like it's more like "overrated by gamefreak" LOL

51. favorite bug type STARES at you. do you know how ahrd this is for me. like OK the #1 is scizor but then theres also caterpie and butterfree... volcarona!! galvantula!!! yanma and yanmega... the venipede and sewaddle lines... wurmple... ledyba... AUUUGHHHHHH

26. least favorite design of a pokemon EISCUE I HATE THAT MOTHER FUCKER SO BAD

23. favorite music track from a pokemon game ehehe

unova route 10

kalos route 15

village bridge. oo ee aa...

Omg wait i put road to primeval forest in one of these but i should do some more spinoff tracks cause the spinoff game osts FUCK so hard so often

main street colosseum

waterfall colosseum

dark rust theme and battle (this is so funny to me btw. they go so hard . but the antagonist is like. Literally a Key)

#hi poke<3

3 notes · View notes

tigerkirby215 · 4 years ago

Text

5e Hank J. Wimbleton, the Protagonist build (Madness Combat)

(Artwork by AndrewKO on Newgrounds.)

Friday Night Funkin’ Tricky Mod reminded me of the Madness Combat series... man it’s a trip in the best possible way. I honestly miss the old days on Newgrounds where stuff like Madness Combat could get extremely popular just off fan reception alone.

Anyways I think the fantasy of playing a bloodthirsty expert killer is something that most people can identify with in D&D, and Hank is certainly a badass in his own right. So while this was mostly a spur-of-the-moment sort of build here’s Hank J. Wimbleton with as many of his abilities I could reasonably put into a build at once, from Madness Combat 1 all the way to Madness Combat 11: Expurgation.

Also I finally get to use artwork from a website other than DeviantArt which is pretty awesome.

GOALS

Avenger - Hank shoots guns good and Madness is a series of guns first and foremost.

Aggregation - Hank is also more than capable in melee combat, being able to use all sorts of weapons including his fists!

Redeemer - Spoilers for Madness Combat 9 I guess.

RACE

The characters in Madness don’t really look like anything in reality, but it’s fairly safe to say that they are meant to be some sort of human. So we’re going to be going for Variant Human: yup not even an Eberron race since we do need everything that Variant Human provides. Increase your Constitution and Dexterity both by 1 and grab Acrobatics proficiency to dodge incoming knife swings and gunfire. And as per standard take whatever language suits your campaign.

Now you’re probably expecting Crossbow Expert as our level 1 feat, right? Or perhaps even Gunner? That’s where you’re wrong! Hank throws punches far earlier than he starts using guns, and he also uses a lot or improvised weapons throughout the mainline Madness Combat series. So grab Tavern Brawler for a +1 to Strength, a d4 unarmed strike (it’s not earth-shattering but it gets the job done), and proficiency with improvised weapons. And the grappling part which honestly doesn’t impact us much, but it’s nice to grab a human shield.

ON THE GUNNER FEAT: Going to make a quick mention now that this build is made under the assumption that your DM will not allow firearms in their campaign, and as a result we will be reflavoring crossbows as firearms. In short we’re not taking the Gunner feat, but if your DM allows it go ahead and take it.

Honestly if your DM allows firearms it would probably be a good idea to play whatever firearm-based class they added to play as Hank, instead of the build I made here. This build however is meant for the average D&D campaign.

ABILITY SCORES

Hank is MAD, rather fittingly. So MAD in fact that I can’t contain the madness within Standard Array. So rejoice we’re actually going to be using Point Buy!

STRENGTH; 9 - The vast majority of Hank’s weapons are either firearms or weapons that I would constitute as finesse based. With the +1 from Tavern Brawler this is still enough for your punches and improvised Strength weapons to pack a punch at least.

DEXTERITY; 15 - As mentioned above we will primarily be using firearms (crossbows) and finesse weapons.

CONSTITUTION; 11 - Mostly to round out the build, which along with the +1 from our race gives us a bit of bulk which will help with all the killing.

INTELLIGENCE; 14 - There’s many ways I can justify this but the easiest way is to say “it’s a multiclassing requirement.”

WISDOM; 14 - Wisdom is tied to perception as well as survival instinct, and is a multiclassing requirement.

CHARISMA; 8 - Hank is of the quiet sort and doesn’t talk much between all the killing. Yes he can intimidate info out of people but you try keeping your cool with a gun pointed to your head.

BACKGROUND

There was a man who sought the sheriff, and to slay the sheriff you’re automatically made a Criminal. I am however going to suggest swapping your skills out for Intimidation and Slight of Hand (IE Gun Tricks.) Feel free to take whatever Gaming Set you want, but thankfully as a Criminal you can choose Land Vehicles as your tool proficiency, because Hank does run over some guys in part 4!

Criminal Contact will let you get in contact with Sanford and Deimos in case you... you know, die? You can always get your message across when needed: D&D doesn’t have computers but you can still find some shady merchants or corrupt guards to get into contact with your crew.

(Artwork by redemer19 on Newgrounds.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ARTIFICER 1

Starting off as an Artificer because CON saving throw proficiency is nice. So is proficiency in Investigation, Perception, and a tool of your choice.

Tinkerer’s Tools technically counts as gunsmith tools if we go with Matt Mercer’s homebrew, but you already get those for free (along with Thieves’ Tools) as an Artificer. I personally opted for Smith’s Tools as the next best option which will also double for taking care of swords and knives.

You can also get a Boombox to dance to thanks to Magical Tinkering. You can infuse magic into a Tiny object to give it a variety of effects: make it glow, have it display a message, or most importantly have it play the Chicken Dance song. You can have a number of these equal to your Intelligence modifier, which is to say not many.

You do also get Spellcasting: You get two cantrips from the Artificer list: Mage Hand will let you grab a weapon for yourself that’s out of reach, and Acid Splash will serve as a starter shotgun for some buckshot against multiple enemies. As for your leveled spells you can prepare a number of spells equal to your Intelligence modifier plus half your Artificer level, which is to say... not many. Feather Fall can be useful when up in high places, and Detect Magic is universally useful for finding any anomalies created by the Improbability Drive.

LEVEL 2 - ARTIFICER 2

The main reason we went for Artificer first is Infusions, gear you can bring at the start of the fight for an upper hand. Of course the main weapon we’ll be grabbing is the Repeating Shot Weapon which will be how you make basically all your guns. Not having to reload is nice and not having to worry about ammo is better!

ON YOUR WEAPONS: For now the only weapon you can reasonably use is a Light Crossbow, however soon you’ll be able to put Repeating Shot on either a Heavy Crossbow (rifle) or Hand Crossbow (pistol) depending on your preference.

Other than that you can borrow from Sanford’s book and make a Returning Weapon to throw a hook and pull it back, create Sending Stones to keep in touch with your crew, and have a Rope of Climbing to sneak into the sheriff’s office. Or you can choose your own tools for the job as I am merely suggesting what makes the most sense for Hank, but the Repeating Shot Weapon is the only one you truly need.

You can also prepare another spell like Identify, to know what weapon you’re picking up.

LEVEL 3 - RANGER 1

This is a bit out of left field isn’t it? Well Ranger gives a number of things, the first of which being Stealth proficiency for your initial entrance. You also get Deft Explorer (instead of Natural Explorer) for Canny, giving you two languages (pick your poison) and Expertise in one skill of your choice (go for Acrobatics to evade attacks and stay alive.)

You also get Favored Foe (instead of Favored Enemy), letting you concentrate on an enemy’s weak points to kill them quickly. When you hit an enemy you can choose to mark them so they take an extra d4 of damage once per turn from your attacks. You do have to concentrate on this effect (like a spell) but aiming for the head is a good way to end someone quickly.

LEVEL 4 - RANGER 2

Second level Rangers get to choose their Fighting Style and you’re probably expecting me to tell you to take Archery, right? Well even if you’re mostly going to be using guns you do have proficiency with melee weapons too, and since our Strength is kinda bad I’d suggest taking Druidic Warrior for some simple boosts to your combat proficiency.

Shillelagh will be a good place to start by letting you swing a blunt object with your Wisdom instead of your Strength. The main weapons Hank uses in the Madness series other than shortswords is clubs, bats, and pipes which I’d all consider as viable targets for Shillelagh if your DM’s cool.

Mending will be useful to keep your outfit in check after taking a bad hit.

Feel free to take Archery if you want as it’s likely more useful for this build. Again I am opting for what’s the most accurate for Hank, not for what’s the most optimal to build.

But if you want to keep yourself in check after taking a bad hit you can grab some Ranger Spellcasting. Cure Wounds will let you bandage yourself (or an ally) up in the thick of a fight, and Zephyr Strike will let you rush in while avoiding danger to deliver a deadly strike on a key foe.

LEVEL 5 - RANGER 3

There’s quite a few reasons we didn’t go for Rogue levels in this build (spoilers btw): Hank does most of his fighting solo, doesn’t really opt for stealth except for at the start of missions, and because the Gloom Stalker is far better for how Hank operates. For a start you get Umbral Sight for 60 feet of Darkvision with your dumb human eyes, but you can also hide in the dark so well that even creatures with darkvision can’t see you! Which is good because Dread Ambusher gives you a bonus to initiative rolls equal to your Wisdom modifier along, but more importantly lets you move 10 feet faster on the first round of combat. And you can also attack one extra time on the first round of combat, and if you hit with that extra attack you’ll deal an extra d8 damage to down a foe quick and give yourself more options.

You can learn a new spell at this level like Hail of Thorns for some buckshot, and you also get Gloom Stalker Magic, adding Disguise Self to your spell list so you can look like a regular dude who isn’t covered with bandages. You also get Primal Awareness, because even if Speak With Animals makes no sense for Hank it’s still better than Primeval Awareness.

(Artwork by LegendaryPanettone on Newgrounds.)

LEVEL 6 - RANGER 4

4th level Rangers get an Ability Score Improvement: Dexterity controls everything we do currently so increase that by 2 for better AC, shooting, sword-swinging, and DEX saves.

LEVEL 7 - RANGER 5

5th level Rangers get an Extra Attack, allowing them to shoot twice and even allowing you specifically to shoot 3 times on your first turn!

You can also learn second level Ranger spells now: Primal Awareness gives you Beast Sense and Gloom Stalker Magic gives you Rope Trick for a place to hide and ambush from. And Enhance Ability (ty Tasha’s) will let you push yourself when violence is needed.

LEVEL 8 - RANGER 6

6th level Rangers see Favored Foe turn into a d6 to be somewhat on-par with Hunter’s Mark. You also get Roving from Deft Explorer for 5 extra feet of movement, as well as a swimming and climbing speed.

But now that you’ve gotten all your killing done it’s time to die. Because you do not kill clown; clown kills you!

(Artwork by Jinxsaw on Newgrounds.)

LEVEL 9 - ARTIFICER 3

You can’t kill the protagonist! We’re at 9th level which translates perfectly to Madness Combat 9, which means you can be revived as an Armorer Artificer! Your consciousness will be placed inside of a suit of Arcane Armor, replacing any missing limbs you may have and genuinely account for all your injuries. The armor also doesn’t have a Strength requirement and can be used as a focus for your Artificer spells.

There’s two different Armor Models to choose from but for now I’d suggest keeping to guns and going for the Infiltrator model (mostly because your Intelligence is bad so it would be better to opt for Dexterity to fire your guns.) The Lightning Launcher is like a handgun except it has very good range (90/300) and does Lightning Damage, and even lets you do an extra d6 damage once per turn! You also get Powered Steps for an extra 5 feet of movement speed (adding up to 40 total thanks to Ranger!) and a Dampening Field will give you Advantage on Stealth due to your black outfit.

You also get some Armorer Spells: Magic Missile for some unavoidable gunfire and Thunderwave to give yourself some space. You can also choose a different set of Artisan’s Tools from Tools of the Trade since you likely already have Smith’s Tools proficiency. You can pick whatever you think will be useful, but it’s worth mentioning that you can make a tool with 1 hour of work thanks to The Right Tool for the Job. And no Hank; weapons are not tools. At least not by this definition.

LEVEL 10 - ARTIFICER 4

4th level Artificers get an Ability Score Improvement. Wouldn’t it make sense to increase your Intelligence as an Artificer now that you can use your Armorer weapons with INT? Yes. Anyways increase your Dexterity by 2.

WOULD IT HAVE MADE MORE SENSE TO MAX OUT INTELLIGENCE FOR THIS BUILD? Yes. Now that you have Armorer levels you’re basically never going to be using crossbows again realistically. Oops. Having good INT instead of good DEX would mean that you could start using the Guardian armor to punch some stuff, and 14 in DEX would still allow you to wear Medium armor. You could’ve easily taken 3 (or more realistically 5) levels in Artificer at the start of this build and then gone for Ranger to not have to deal with bad ranged weapons while having good stats for an Artificer.

There’s still strengths to having high DEX obviously (good initiative, good Stealth and Acrobatics checks, good DEX saves, and you get Mirror Image as an Armorer Artificer) but it’s really not that important for this build. But I’m still maxing it out first as it’s accurate to Hank. In the average D&D campaign you’re not going to be picking up weapons from enemies you kill to use them when you run out of ammo. There’s many things I took in this build that are impractical for anything other than a combat heavily inspired by Madness Combat.

Basically feel free to min-max this build if you so desire; it’s quite viable in its own right when you do so. Again I’m trying for accuracy over viability. Also P.S. After this build comes out I’m going to release a “pre-MC9″ Hank build if you want more of the traditional Hank who isn’t in power armor.

You can also prepare another spell at this level but we’re going to wait for...

LEVEL 11 - ARTIFICER 5

5th level Artificers get an Extra Attack... which you already have. Oops.

Well at least you get access to second level spells! As an Armorer you get Mirror Image to dodge gunfire, and Shatter! For a grenade! But to continue dodging attacks Blur works well as long as the enemy doesn’t have Truesight, which the AAHW may have by total level 11.

LEVEL 12 - ARTIFICER 6

6th level Artificers can prepare more Infusions! A Spell-Refueling Ring will let you restock on spell slot bullets mid-fight, and Boots of the Winding Path will let you jump back after getting into melee combat.

You also get Tool Expertise which is exactly what it says on the tin. You double your proficiency bonus when making checks with tools.

To top it off you can prepare another spell like Catapult. Why are we preparing a first level spell? Because Hank throws big rocks at Tricky in Madness 11. Told you I did research.

(Artwork by ramblinshroom on Newgrounds.)

LEVEL 13 - ARTIFICER 7

7th level Artificers get to feel the pain of my choice to max out Dexterity instead of Intelligence as Flash of Genius scales heavily off Intelligence. When you or an ally within 30 feet makes an ability check or a saving throw you can use your reaction to add your Intelligence modifier to the roll. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

LEVEL 14 - ARTIFICER 8

8th level Artificers get another Ability Score Improvement and now that your Dexterity is maxed out... more Wisdom lol? Look we’ll deal with your Intelligence in a bit but Wisdom gives you better initiative among other things.

You can also prepare another spell but next level will get us third level spells, so...

LEVEL 15 - ARTIFICER 9

9th level Artificers can get used to their new revived bodies thanks to Armor Modifications. The chest, boots, helmet, and weapons of your armor all count as individual items for the sake of infusions, and you can have two more infusions active! (As long as they’re on your armor anyways.)

You also get Hypnotic Pattern and Lightning Bolt as an Armorer, for a flashbang and some purgatory powers. And you can prepare a spell like Haste, to move so fast it’s like the world is in slow motion.

LEVEL 16 - ARTIFICER 10

So you know how we just got two more infusions for your armor? Well 10th level Artificers can make Gauntlets of Ogre Power and a Headband of Intellect to finally get your Strength and Intelligence to a reasonable level. Again probably a bit late to do so but it does mean that you can finally use melee weapons well, or your Guardian Armor to do some punching! (I’m not going to cover the Guardian Armor now but know that you can punch people and give them disadvantage to hit your allies, and also give yourself Temporary hitpoints.)

And the best part is that you can still keep attuned to other useful items as Magic Item Adept gives you one more attunement slot, meaning that you can be attuned to 4 items total!

And to top it off more Intelligence means more spells and holy shit another cantrip! For your cantrip you can finally take Message to keep in contact with your party, and for your leveled spells...

People die a lot in Nevada: Revivify can help if one of those people are a friend.

See Invisibility will help you avoid ambushes.

Lesser Restoration can help you in a pinch if you’re pinned down.

But again I seriously can not stress enough that you are more than welcome to pick spells that you feel are stronger, as I am merely picking spells for a simple guy who really likes killing.

(Artwork by marcipancakes on Newgrounds.)

LEVEL 17 - RANGER 7

Very quickly going back to Ranger to grab the last few abilities we missed: 7th level Gloom Stalkers have an Iron Mind for proficiency with Wisdom saves. Yup that’s it. Well at least you can add () to your Ranger spell list.

LEVEL 18 - RANGER 8

8th level Rangers get Land Stride to not be slowed down by the difficult terrain during Expurgation, and even giving yourself advantage against magical terrain made to harm you in purgatory.

But more importantly you get an Ability Score Improvement to pump your Wisdom up a little more. But really I only waited this long to get Ranger 8 to talk about Martial Versatility from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything: talk to your DM about it but I’d actually suggest grabbing Archery proper now instead of Druidic Warrior because you’ve got the Strength to use weapons.

Oh yeah you could also totally like... use the Guardian armor and carry a repeating crossbow for ranged combat.

LEVEL 19 - ARTIFICER 11

11th level Artificers can bring out the heavy artillery with a Spell-Storing Item. You can store a first or second level spell from the Artificer spell list in one simple or martial weapon (or a spellcasting focus) that requires 1 action to cast.

While holding the object, a creature can take an action to produce the spell’s effect from it, using your spellcasting ability modifier. If the spell requires concentration, the creature must concentrate. The spell stays in the object until it’s been used a number of times equal to twice your Intelligence modifier (minimum of twice) or until you use this feature again to store a spell in an object.

There are plenty of good spells you can choose from but I’m going to just say this: put Shatter in the item. There are perhaps more useful choices, but isn’t a grenade belt the embodiment of Madness?

LEVEL 20 - ARTIFICER 12

12th level Artificers get our last Ability Score Improvement which means hey: maxed out Wisdom! Yes there are perhaps feats you could get (some ideas I’d suggest would be either the Dual Wielder feat [carry a Repeating Hand Crossbow in one hand and your magical fist in the other] or the Sharpshooter feat) but I simply opted for maxing out stats.

And you can prepare one more spell like... I don’t know? Blink for more dodging?

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Abrogation - I came into this build with the intent of making you capable with all weapons regardless of type and well... I certainly accomplished that. You have good Dexterity for any finesse and ranged weapons and your Strength is strong enough to swing a bat around.

Antipathy - You are also damn capable in combat with an insane opening turn and very good DPS regardless of if you choose to fight with fists or guns, not to mention a good supply of spells and class abilities to truly slaughter your foes.

Apotheosis - It wasn’t my intent but... 20 in two stats and 19 in two others? Excluding your Charisma and Constitution you’re a superhuman of a man.

CONS

Depredation - You have to be level 16 to finally get a decent Strength and Intelligence score, and while low STR doesn’t matter much low INT really hurts as an Artificer.

Consternation - “High stats except Constitution” is a problem. Honestly going 15 in Artificer and 5 in Ranger would’ve gotten you level 15 infusions for a Hill Giant’s Belt for 21 STR and an Amulet of Health for 19 CON.

Inundation - There’s a lot of little tweaks worth changing in this build, notably the focus on Dexterity versus Intelligence. Realistically having 20 INT and 14 DEX is more useful for you as an Artificer than having 19 INT and 20 DEX.

But who cares if it’s messy; as long as it’s effective. Killing everyone somewhere in Nevada will give you plenty of experience to reach your maximum Madness level. You are the Protagonist and they are the Victims... but don’t go into any D&D campaigns with that mentality, or else you may be the Clown.

(Artwork by Teknodice on Newgrounds.)

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #Newgrounds #Madness Combat #madness hank #Hank J. Wimbleton #dnd ranger #dnd artificer

45 notes · View notes

hummussexual · 3 years ago

Text

I am going to start listing the racist rhetoric that is coming out of this war...

“Ukraine is a European country. We have a 10-year history of Pride marches, and as you know, in Russia, the situation is like opposite,” Edward Reese, project assistant for Kyiv Pride, said in an interview with CBS News. “We have totally different paths. … We see the changes in people’s thoughts about human rights, LGBTQ, feminism and so on. … So definitely we don’t want anything connected to Russia … and we won’t have them.”

Source: Queerty: LGBTQ Ukrainians stand strong amid Russian attacks and rumored queer “kill list”

Using "LGBT rights" as a measuring stick for those who are 'civilized' vs. those who are the 'savages'...

The author of the article furthers this narrative writing:

While same-sex marriage is not recognized in Ukraine, the country does offer some nondiscrimination protections to the LGBTQ community, such as in housing and employment. LGBTQ rights in Russia are less supported, including a so-called propaganda law passed in 2013 that prevents instructing minors of the existence of same-sex relationships and which has been used to crackdown on Pride demonstrations and other pro-LGBTQ events. In Ukraine, thousands marched in a Pride demonstration in September.

The author is trying to walk their tightrope... some protections are offered to LGBT citizens... vague. That applies to countries like the USA, btw. Oh, and the valorizing of marriage as the be-all and end-all for equality shows up. This is then juxtaposed to the situation in Russia.

In short, there are ways of defending your position as a victim of Russian imperialism without using the following tropes:

1) *We* are EUROPE 🤩 = cultured, free, progressive, civilized, etc. While *they* are NOT-EUROPE 💩 = savages, regressive, primeval, medieval, etc.

Are we going to talk about how, within my lifetime, Ukraine as being part of EASTERN Europe was treated by the same disdain by Western Europe, not 30 years ago???

2) The implication to the above is that ONLY Europe deserves to be praised and protected as pure. How dare Europe be involved in war and misery? (HAHAHAHAHA!) And we, as part of Europe, are above the rest.

3) Using LGBT and women's rights as being a sign of... civilization vs. barbarism is such an old cliche. It matters not when the rest of society is filled with injustice.

I am not done. Look at what the official twitter account for Ukraine tweeted:

"WESTERN SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS"

The same platforms that had Donald Trump on ALL THROUGHOUT HIS PRESIDENCY and didn't have the balls to remove him UNTIL HE WAS VOTED OUT OF OFFICE!

Is the USA not 'WESTERN' enough for you???

It's ironic seeing what was treated as an Eastern European country, suddenly acting like it completely fits into this ominous 'West', and suddenly its shit doesn't stink.

#the west #the toxicity is outrageous #the rhetoric is outrageous #every time I hear in this conflict #I want to PUKE

3 notes · View notes

misscrazyfangirl321 · 3 years ago

Text

BTW I'm probably just going to scream about Primeval for like a day then go back to my normal posting.

#i speak #primeval

2 notes · View notes

intermundia · 4 years ago

Note

Hello, I was reading your meta about how Darth Vader is a lich (it’s excellent btw) and I was wondering if you could expand more on the classical meaning and uses of the terms “phylactery” and “lich.” I know that phylactery has long refered to the boxes attached to tefilum used in jewish prayer (I’m jewish) and I know the root of the word is derived from Ancient Greek but prior to reading your meta I had heard that the modern use of the “phylactery”/“lich” mythology came from D&D in the 70s. Is there an earlier record of this mythology? Thank you.

The paired terminology lich and phylactery absolutely did enter the modern popular imagination through DnD and other fantasy literature in the middle of the 20th century. I think it’s modern mythology, using extant archetypes to create something new.

The pairing of an undead magician and an object containing their soul/anchor to life are both evocative of earlier mythological elements but not identical. It draws on the ancient idea of magic being a kind of binding and the very ancient concept of the soul. BUT, the words were not linked before the 20th century, and come from distinct heritages.

In DnD, a lich is corporeal, gaunt and skeletal, with points of light burning in place of decomposed eyes. Their soul (life-force? identity?) is stored in an object that binds the soul to the mortal world and prevents it from traveling to the Outer Planes after death. The phylactery itself is usually an amulet in the shape of a small box, but it can take the form of any object with an interior space in which arcane sigils of naming, binding, immortality, and dark magic are scribed in silver. The magician’s soul persists inside the box.

Since about the Middle Ages, the word phylactery’s meaning was specifically fixed to tefilum (small boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses of the Torah), but before that, back in antiquity, it meant something more general like amulet or charm—small objects worn for magical/supernatural protective power.

The word comes from the verb φῠλᾰ́σσω (phulássō, “to protect”), and meant a fortified garrison, and then over time the meaning was adopted and changed into a protective amulet. The Jewish usage is a specific continuation of a long-standing tradition, one that Christians (I think) moved away from as ‘superstition’ and a legacy of paganism.

In antiquity, phylacteries were created using binding spells, engraving, and inscription (spells/magic words, invocations of supernatural beings like minor gods, naming, etc). They were usually tied around the body, either strings/bands, or strips of metal/papyrus was inscribed and then rolled up or folded and carried in a pouch or tubular container. The container itself was not the φυλακτήριον, the inscribed/magical contents provided the power. They were thus not conceptually hollow and did not provide a vessel for a soul or anything like that.

There was no specific association between φυλακτήριον and preservation from death. They affected things like social relationships, brought prosperity, warded off the evil eye, that sort of thing. There was a great deal of paranoia in antiquity about binding spells/curses like defixiones cast by other people, and amulets/phylacteries were more about that and general protection from them and other misfortune than preservation of the life force.

I know that by the Middle Ages, Christians had phylacteries that contained relics (e.g. the finger of Marie of Oignies in the 13th century was placed in a phylactery). So, what was contained inside the phylactery and powered the protection was no longer something inscribed, but a magical token related to death. Christians, though, did not have any desire to keep their souls alive and away from God (based on my understanding of Christian doctrine, the idea of trying to bind the soul to keep it away from God is incredibly deeply sinful?). Those phylacteries then were also good luck charms within the context of having a good, safe, and happy life.

Why then did 20th century fantasy writers decide to use the word phylactery to describe a magic vessel protecting the soul? I hope the lingering Christian fingers-in-a-box and general magical-safekeeping-amulet meanings of phylactery were in the minds when they paired the term with lich, but it may very well have been a direct appropriation of the Jewish (common, modern, recognized) meaning of the word, I honestly do not know.

In terms of the vocabulary, lich (from Old English lic, corpse), is borrowing resonance from something called a ‘lich gate’ which stood at the lowest end of the cemetery where the coffin and funerary procession usually entered. Fantasy authors were probably trying to draw both on the corporeal/physical (i.e. not a ghost) undead figure, and the idea of transition and liminality that the lich exists inside, both dead and alive. Liches refuse the final transition, essentially, to go through the gate.

I think it’s a mash up of ancient ideas—by pairing these words, the writers in the 20th century created a modern sort of undead creature. There is no history of lich/phylactery before the 20th century, but both words are very evocative and conceptually related to magic (phylactery) and the narrative undead villains in stories (lich) through the ages, which is perfect for fantasy stories and games that tell stories in those worlds. I think the use of Old English too evokes Tolkien’s contributions to the fantasy genre.

By making it specifically a magician (intellectual) who chooses this transformation for themselves, as opposed to a creature animated by something else’s power, it is reminiscent of the concept hubris, especially nerds who seek to know too much and have too much power through technology/human knowledge. Naming it after something Greek also seems to evoke that it is esoteric and something learned from study, while lich is very idk Anglo-Saxon and old in a primeval way.

The whole concept seems very modern to me also to externalize and concretize a soul into something that can be stored like an object (is it from external memory—computers?). It’s a very secular and materialist appropriation of a magic/sacred concept, aka the bread and butter of fantasy lit.

Corpses reanimated by supernatural forces are present in almost every belief system in the world, as well as the idea of souls (ghosts) that persist without bodies. What is interesting is the mechanics of how these creatures are reanimated, how they stay reanimated, and how they are destroyed. That is a whole other subject tbh, a whole book could be written about this.

Tl;dr—the combo of lich/phylactery is modern, but evocative of older things both through name and through mechanics.

#this is a ramble sorry #the role of immortality #in mythology #and the various undead revenanat #draugr etc #is huge #but liches are new #classics #essie007 #i studied ancient magic #i am not an expert by any means #phylacteries are very old

22 notes · View notes