#will is my caster support so everyone else can hit heavy

[squeaky-potat]

My Metaphor Refantazio experience so far.

[rokkazu]

ok just gonna spit out my rhrpg thoughts so far before they blow away on the wind (my adhd curse)

-the rap men are the owners of the adventurer's guild/tavern which is basically the heart of the whole town. it's pretty much exactly what you'd expect, you go there to get quests and drink and tell tales of how one time you totally slayed a dragon thiiiiiiiiiiis big. also totally still a "live house" too, in a way. there's always some sort of live music event lined up or already going on since the place is a good audience and red's always had a passion for music so he's totally willing to lend the space to whoever wants it, as long as their performance isn't outright awful.

-the rockers are eccentric mercenaries that hang out in the back of the tavern. no one who doesn't already know them really wants to talk to them because they're clearly fucking insane. soshi is your standard physical dps/tank barbarian type heavy weapons wielder and jj is a frail twinky backstabby little rouge/caster whose physically weak as shit but can do weird magic shenanigans and has decent magic resistances. they're both comically minmaxed but they cover eachothers weaknesses perfectly so as a team they're like scarily strong. their main weakness is soshi going "Fuck It We Ball the only status effect i care about is making the enemy's status not alive anymore" and immediately getting hit with like a sleep spell that easily could have been avoided if he listened to jj TELLING HIM that that kind of enemy has priority status spells and this could have been EASILY AVOIDED if he just took a guard turn so he could set up something to make them immune which would be EASY if you'd just FUCKING LISTEN FOR 2 SECONDS--

-djs yellow and blue are beastfolk who went to the same magic college and ended up living together after they graduated. yellow is a lightning-element artificer who makes his living inventing weird magitech contraptions in his basement, and of course his side hobby is using that skillset to make sick electronic music that's woefully ahead of its time and everyone else thinks is weird and annoying.and blue is a support/cleric sort of deal who can heal people and deal with curses/magical illnesses. hes pretty well-rounded but does have a specific affinity for water magic (cause.. yknow.. fishe 🐟) and has some skills specific to that, such as water-breathing spells and a general knowledge of local marine biology. his family runs a local fishery and he helps them make sure they're not upsetting the balance of the local ecosystem. everyone in town loves them but is a little scared their house is going to blow up one day

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #29: Marie Antoinette

Whassup, my homies? Today we’re building the OG meme queen of France, Marie Antoinette. Marie is a 100% Glamour Bard who focuses on healing the party, summoning knights to protect her, and charming anyone who doesn’t fit in the first two categories. As always, a spreadsheet for this build can be found here, and there’s a level-by-level breakdown under the cut!

Race & Background

This should come as no surprise by now, but you are Human, giving you +1 in every stat. Calling you a Noble is a bit of an understatement, but it gives you proficiency with History and Persuasion, thanks to your tutors and privilege. 

Stats

You’re so charming, knights literally materialize to protect you. So yeah, your Charisma is pretty high. Second highest is your Intelligence: you had plenty of time to study as a child. You’re graceful, and good on horseback, both of which require Dexterity. After that is Constitution; You’re not all that tough, but we’d be raising it for concentration checks anyway. Then Strength; you’re just kind of average, because it’s not like you have to do the heavy lifting anyway. Finally, dump Wisdom, that “Let them eat cake” thing is the ultimate example of not reading the room, and nobody is going to let you live that down.

Class Levels

1. As a bard, you start with three skill proficiencies of your choice. Grab Animal Handling and Acrobatics for some horseback training, and Arcana to represent another portion of your tutelage. You are also proficient in Dexterity and Charisma saves. At first level, you get Spellcasting using Charisma as your ability, and Bardic Inspiration, d6s you can hand out like candy to the rest of your party to help with their d20 rolls. You have a number of these dice equal to your charisma modifier, and regain them on long rests.

For cantrips, grab Friends for your winsome personality and Mending in case your dress gets scuffed up while adventuring. Your first level spells are Animal Friendship to make you a true disney princess, Charm Person and Sense Emotion to make you a people person, and Cure Wounds to patch up your knights in shining armor.

2. Second level bards learn a Song of Rest, adding a d6 to the healing done on short rests, and Jack of All Trades, adding half your proficiency to non-proficient checks. You may be a flighty princess, but you had a wide array of studies. This level, grab Heroism to further enhance your protectors.

3. When you become a Glamour bard, you gain a Mantle of Inspiration, letting you spend a bonus action and inspiration to give a number of creatures up to your charisma modifier within 60′ of you 5 temporary hit points and a reaction to move up to their speed without provoking opportunity attacks. 

You also can put on an Enthralling Performance, where performing for a minute lets you charm a number of creatures equal to your charisma modifier who watched the entire performance if they fail a wisdom save. These creatures will speak highly of you, and protect you from harm, but won’t get violent unless already predisposed to doing so. You can use this once per short rest.

Third level bards also get Expertise, doubling your proficiency in two skills (Persuasion and Animal Handling).

Finally, for your first 2nd level spell, grab Suggestion, because everyone loves your suggestions anyway. Just make sure to keep them reasonable this time.

4. Use your first ASI to become a Tandem Tactician. This unearthed arcana feat allows you to Help as a bonus action, and helping an ally attack has an extra 10′ attached to its range. You can also help two people, as long as they’re attacking the same creature. Now those fine gentlemen helping you out will feel extra supported, and you don’t have to be as close to the bloodshed!

For spells, grab Prestidigitation and Calm Emotions. You’re normally good at calming people down, barring that one time.

5. At fifth level, your Mantle of Inspiration improves, giving 8 temporary HP to creatures, and you Inspiration dice become d8s. You also become a Font of Inspiration, regaining inspiration dice on short rests instead of long rests.

You also gain your first knight at this level, thanks to the spell Summon Fey Spirit. This spell summons a small satyr, dryad, or elf with a certain disposition (Deceitful, Joyful, or Furious). The spirit comes complete with a sword and the ability to short-range teleport around the battlefield, along with a bonus effect depending on its mood. Deceitful fey can cover a square in magical darkness, Joyful fey can try to charm a creature, and Furious fey gain advantage on an attack roll after teleporting. The summoned spirit’s HP, AC, Attacks per turn, and attack damage all scale with the spell level used to summon it.

6. Sixth level bards gain Countercharm, letting you spend an action to give your allies advantage on charm saves. You also gain a Mantle of Majesty, letting you cast Command as a bonus action for a minute at the cost of your concentration. Creatures you’ve charmed automatically fail Command’s saving throw. You can use this feature once per long rest.

For this level’s spell, pick up Hypnotic Pattern for another charm that doesn’t work with Mantle of Majesty.

7. Seventh level bards get 4th level spells, and yours is Confusion, making it harder for the enemy to stand against your champion.

8. Use your next ASI to improve your Charisma for better spells, charms, and more inspiration. Grab Dimension Door to help you keep up with that fey knight you’ve got running around.

9. At ninth level, your Song of Rest is upgraded to use d8s, and you get 5th level spells. Nab Animate Objects so you can now make multiple DIY knights at will.

10. Tenth level bards can use d10s as inspiration dice, and get another round of Expertise. This time around pick Arcana and History for your favored subjects.

At tenth level, bards get Magical Secrets instead of their normal spell, gaining two spells from any spell list. Grab Conjure Woodland Beings to tip the action economy even further in your favor with more fey knights. Suggested summons can be found in the build’s spreadsheet that was linked above the cut.

Also, congratulations! You’re finally going to get your horse!  You’re probably going to use the stats of a warhorse for this, but it’s also made of glass, so talk with your DM about whether Find Steed of Find Greater Steed would apply here. You also get a cantrip this level, so grab Minor Illusion.

11. Eleventh level bards get 6th level spells, and you’re grabbing Mass Suggestion to help calm down, say, an angry mob, for example.

12. You get another ASI, and since you’ve gained a couple summoning spells now, let’s enhance them with the War Caster feat. You now have advantage on concentration saves, and perform spells with somatic components even when your hands are full of weapons, and you can cast a spell as an opportunity attack, as long as you only target the creature that provoked it.

13. Your song of rest becomes a d10, and you start gaining 7th level spells! Grab Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, allowing you to adventure in the manor you’re accustomed to.

14. Fourteenth level glamour bards have an Unbreakable Majesty, canonically making you even prettier. You can also spend a bonus action to become even more beautiful for 1 minute, forcing would-be attackers to make a charisma save or be forced to attack another creature. If they succeed, they have disadvantage on saves against your spells on your next turn. You can use this feature once per short rest.

You also gain more Magical Secrets, so grab Conjure Fey, and Planar Ally, the one summon spell that doesn’t require concentration, only exorbitant amounts of cash! The former lets you summon a fey creature or beast of CR 6 or lower. The creature will obey your commands as long as they don’t break its alignment. If concentration is broken, the summoned creature may turn on you. The latter spell has you call up God to send you a celestial to help you out; you can even request a specific creature if you know its name, but that’s up to the DM. You don’t “control” the creature, but you can ask it to do something for you in exchange for money. You probably shouldn’t cast this one in an Adventurer’s League game though, because the creature takes a share of experience points.

15. At fifteenth level, your bardic inspiration becomes a d12, and you learn how to cheat at charisma checks thanks to your new spell, Glibness. While under its effect, every charisma check you make is guaranteed a roll of at least 15, and magic can’t tell if you’re lying.

16. Use your next ASI to become Resilient in Constitution saves. You get +1 to your constitution, and are proficient in those saving throws. These count as Concentration saves, so you’re now very good at keeping your knights around and not trying to kill you.

17. Your song of rest improves to a d12, and you gain a 9th level spell! Grab Power Word Heal to be able to fully heal any one creature you touch, and even bring them up from being prone as a reaction.

18. For your last round of Magical Secrets, grab Mass Heal to help your entire party (plus whatever else you have flying around the field), and Regenerate for healing over time.

19. Use your last ASI to improve your Dexterity for more AC, and maybe better swordplay if you really need it.

20. At your capstone level, you have Superior Inspiration, allowing you to regain one die of inspiration at the start of combat if you don’t have any left.

Pros: Like all bards, you’re great outside of combat, and thanks to your summons, you don’t have to work that hard inside of combat either. Thanks to you a) being on a horse and b) being able to teleport, it’s also really hard for enemies to go after you, too.

Cons: Your summon spells, buffs, and charms all require concentration, so you’ll have to be selective about what you cast. Some DMs also don’t like adding things into initiative after battle has begun, so a character whose main fighting style is exactly that might be an issue: as with most characters, talk with your DM before committing to it.  Also, having almost not focus on your own fighting ability means if you end up separated from the party and run out of magic, you’re kind of screwed. So keep yourself surrounded by an entourage, keep any comments about your subjects’ diets to yourself, and things should go well.

[yet-another-saberface]

Story Headcanons: Fuyuki (Finale ~ Sections 9-11)

Oh boy, this is gonna be something. This final bit of Fuyuki was an absolute treat to write, especially Section 11. Part of it was likely the writer’s high I get between 10:30 and midnight, but I’d imagine it’s also just that I really resonated with those bits story-wise. Prepare for something a bit more intense than the last 2 parts! And thank you to everyone so far who’s supported this little writing project! It means a lot to me that something I’m doing for fun like this is enjoyed by other people!

And, of course, spoilers!

Section 9: The Dark Cave

Eva does not like being in a cave. She isn’t particularly claustrophobic or anything, but between the tiredness, the anxiety, and her injuries, she just really doesn’t feel like hiking through a cave to fight evil servants. (Something she would normally be very up for doing.)

Panics just about as much as Olga when Archer shows up, and does her best to dash behind Mash, hiding her limp. Sadly, the grail mud has corrupted him way too much for her to even try to guess who he might’ve been beforehand. If they’re going to fight, they’re going to have to go in mostly blind as to how powerful he is - the exception being anything Caster already knows.

Now that Mash has her phantasm, Eva’s actually regained some confidence in giving orders during fights. While she was struggling before, during their fight with Archer, she manages to stay behind Mash most of the time and call out her orders confidently!

It takes a while, but they eventually manage to take down Archer after taking hit after hit after hit. Eva’s very grateful that Mash is a Shielder, because she’s pretty uniquely equipped to have drawn-out fights against long-range attackers like this.

Going into her fight with Saber, she’s actually really confident that she’s going to be able to win, so long as she has Mash tanking blows and Caster attacking. One might say she’s actually just a bit too confident…

Section 10: Facing the Greater Grail

Stopping right before the grail, Eva still doesn’t have any doubts, and honestly, kinda wants to just rush in there and get stuff done. Caster’s affirmations that that’s the right attitude only spur her on.

But she gets tricked into resting again beforehand. (“Oh, I guess I should let everyone else rest,” she tells herself because she must justify every break as something other than giving herself a break.)

She’s not that surprised to learn about how her magic circuits are being stressed - she’d pretty much identified that issue already herself. Despite this being an obvious chance to mention that ankle injury she’s been neglecting… She’s actually forgotten it’s there at the moment. She’s so hyped up for this last fight that she can’t feel it at all, and is just naturally shifting her weight off of it when she needs to. 

She’s never going to turn down tea, though! She actually puts a worrying amount of honey in hers - enough to make the others stare in concern. (“It’s fine, I’m just trying to keep my energy up and all that!” “Senpai, the tea already has caffeine in it.” “...I like honey?”) She doesn’t admit it to herself, but she really needed this break. By the time they’re all done and have packed things up, the lingering bits of anxiety, regret, and fear are gone, leaving only her determination to finish things.

That said… Olga I’m glad you finally acknowledged her but couldn’t you have saved it for after the final battle? All of this praise is really going to her head. And she needs it. But she also needs to go into this remembering she isn’t going to automatically win… It’s good though, that she’s had this chance to regain her wits and laugh a bit at Olga’s tsundere-ness. 

Those skeletons that show up? Bold of you to think she doesn’t know how to deal with them by now. *cue fight sound effects*

Section 11: Grand Order

Eva is astonished by the sheer size of the Greater Grail when she first sees it. She’d read about it in correspondence to Holy Grail Wars back during her research, but no amount of reading can prepare you for seeing something like that in person. She’s snapped out of it, though, when Saber notices their group.

Upon learning that Saber’s strength is mostly in her magical output, Eva’s confidence is bolstered once again. She may be trash when it comes to physical capability, but she knows magic. If Saber’s attacks are powered by magic, there’s a chance that they won’t even have to take her down the normal way. Maybe there’s a way to find a loophole in how her magic works! That would certainly be more efficient. 

It was very wrong for her to be as confident as she was going into this fight. Things start off pretty well initially, with Mash guarding against each and every strike. But there’s a big difference this time. Saber’s large attacks may be magical, and long-range, but she’s also bombarding them with lots of close-ranged physical blows. While the shield is still somewhat effective, it quickly becomes too heavy for Mash to easily move to block every strike.

As soon as Saber gets her first hit in, everything goes downhill. She’s through their defenses now, and starts forgoing attacking Mash in favor of taking out Caster, their offence. Luckily, with a bit of a magic assist from Eva, Mash manages to get back on her feet and draw Saber’s attention again when she bashes her with the shield.

Mash manages to hold out for longer before getting hit this time, but eventually, her defense is broken yet again. Eva starts reciting a healing spell again, but Saber catches her this time, rushing towards her in an attempt to take out the Master. Eva just barely manages to dodge her, tripping over her own legs, and further spraining her ankle. She tries to get back up and keep running, but she finds she can’t put any weight on her right foot now, not without pain too great for even the adrenaline to get rid of.

But just as Saber’s about to get in that final hit, Mash rushes in out of nowhere, blocking the sword with only one hand on her shield, the other compressing the gash she’s got on her side. Saber pulls back, preparing to unleash her Noble Phantasm, while Eva desperately rushes through the healing spell to get Mash back to full capacity. She manages to finish just as it fires, with Mash activating her own phantasm on instinct before they’re obliterated. The beam reflects off the shield, weakened, but some of the attack still hits Saber. 

As Saber dies, Eva is dragged up to standing by Mash, who then lets her hold onto part of her shield as a temporary crutch. But before Saber truly fades away, Eva does her best to remember two things: Firstly, that Saber unintentionally held back against Mash at the end of the fight, implying that something fishy is up. Perhaps there’s a connection between the king and the servant Mash fused with? Secondly, she notes that Saber refers to Caster as Ireland’s Child of Light, which, combined with the previous mentions of him also being a Lancer, is more than enough for Eva to commit to memory that that’s definitely Cú Chulainn.

Eva’s annoyed with how injured her leg is, and how that’s mostly her fault, but she’s very satisfied with the fact that they won, and is grinning like a madwoman… Up until she notices Olga spacing out. She’s still riding that high from winning, but doubt is slowly starting to creep in. This can’t be the end. Something’s not right.

And so, when she hears Lev’s voice and sees him step out in front of the grail, instead of pure dread - though you better bet she’s feeling dread - her reaction is more of just a long sigh accompanied by a facepalm. She’s tired, injured, and hyped up right now. Nothing makes sense anyways so you know what, sure, Lev is a bad guy now.

She limps behind Mash again, cringing whenever she has to step on her injured leg. And then Olga runs up to Lev. And the dread gets worse. 

Eva isn’t at all confused by learning that Olga’s actually dead, even as she stands there in front of them - magically, it makes perfect sense. But she can’t help feeling sad, and guilty. The reality of everything is just now starting to fully hit her, with the adrenaline slowly draining away. Hundreds of people died in that explosion back at Chaldea. Including the woman standing in front of her. And she couldn’t do anything to stop it. She didn’t cause those deaths, but she also didn’t save a single person. And now, all that dread is mixing with the weight of those deaths, and the stress is starting to build, and the pain in her leg seems so much more prevalent now, and she can’t stop herself from breathing faster, and faster, and faster-

And then it all seems to stop. She stops breathing. She stops blinking. She stops moving. All she can feel is her heartbeat and the sharp pain shooting up her leg, as she looks on in horror as any hope she might have had of Olga surviving is erased forever, accompanied by cries of how this woman - someone with issues scarily similar to the ones that Eva’s subconscious knows she has - will never be good enough, how she’s never been properly acknowledged…

Mash has to snap her out of it, placing a firm hand on Eva’s shoulder. She starts breathing. She starts blinking. But she’s still frozen, stuck in a state somewhere in between being in the moment and the abyss of her own anxiety.

She doesn’t register most of what Lev says, only clinging onto two things. They’re all probably gonna die right now. And a name. Flauros. Something in her memory begs for her to think just a second longer, that she knows something about that name - but her mind’s not operating correctly right now, and before she can remember what it means, the panic takes over once again. They're all going to die right now.

As the cavern begins to collapse, Eva is frozen again, her mind full of panic and replays of Olga’s screams and the thought that she’s about to die without having accomplished anything and the nagging feeling that if she could just think she’d figure all of this out rather quickly. And within a few seconds, it’s too much, and her vision starts to cloud, the last thing she registers before passing out being Mash yelling and grabbing her by the waist in desperation.

By the time she wakes up in Chaldea, the panic seems to have mostly subsided, in favor of confusion. Her leg has a boot on it now, and she can remember enough to know that she injured it. And something in the back of her mind keeps telling her that there’s one detail she needs to remember, that it’ll make things make sense… But she just can’t.

In her haze, she doesn’t even really question Da Vinci’s presence - she’s just glad that she seems to be alive. And while the vague reminders that she’s got a lot of responsibility now begin to drag in that all too familiar stress… She just needs to get to the command room. Maybe someone there can remember whatever it is that she’s forgotten. Maybe she can figure out what the hell happened back in the cave after Olga-

Nope. She’s not gonna think about that.

She spends most of the briefing Roman gives her in denial. There’s no way she managed to actually save Mash back there. There’s no way that all of humanity is dead for all time. There’s no way that if it is, she’d ever be able to save it. But when she’s asked if she’ll do it… 

She says she will. Because that’s the only thing to say. Because she can’t let these few people that seem to believe in her down. All of the guilt and stress and need to remember is still in her system, but she can pretend it isn’t there. For their sake. She’ll become a Master and “save humanity.” If it’s the last thing she does.

Uh... Tags.

@contractgreen​ @panyum​ @withanina​ @campanulabell​ @delfinaschiffer​ @princessaslan​ @armageddon25​ @patproductions​ @xviicprc​

My next post in the series actually won’t be jumping straight into Orleans, but will probably come out on Friday, maybe? I’m still working on how I want to format it, but it will cover the short period of time between Fuyuki and Orleans, all the summonings that happen then, some slice of life, etc. I’d like to include at least 1 real (though probably short) fic post to go along with it, but I’m not settled on what exactly it’ll focus on. Thank you again to everyone who’s been reading these!

[paladin-andric]

The Lethal Tag

Tagged by @corishadowfang! Thanks, I enjoy doing these.

Rules: Answer these five questions for whatever characters you want, then tag some people.

I suppose I’ll be doing Blackheart, since nothing else I have on my mind is really tangible at the moment...

(Long post, so answers below!)

1) What is your OCs’ favorite weapon type (and if they don’t have one, then just answer hypothetically, and that goes for the rest of the Qs)

Alexander: Despite spending the entire story using a sword, it’s actually not his go-to! A sword and shield may be his primary pick on the ground, but he’s usually atop his horse (he doesn’t bring her to the infested city due to terrain, cavalry charges aren’t exactly effective in an urban enviornment). As a heavy cavalry knight, Alexander’s usually using a lance. The might of a lance charge atop his steed, Dragon, can fell even the toughest warriors in a single hit. Cavalry supremacy is the way the Geralthin army fights, and it’s led them to victory against foes on all sides.

Senci: He uses a longsword, though being a kobold, his size means he has to use it like a greatsword. He’s really good with it though, and becomes quite experienced in the art of combat during his journey!

Leianna: A spiked mace is her trademark. Though she’s a cleric, she uses it out of personal preference. Cracking skulls is just her style. She also uses a shield with it as well. She’s a pretty balanced warrior, though at times reckless.

Lexius: A short sword and small, wooden shield. Very plain and simple.

Razorwing: The great hero, a famous archer! He uses a longbow, it’s his staple! He also has a dagger as an emergency fallback, though as one of the avian koutu, his maneuverability means he shouldn’t really ever need to use it.

Paul: He’s a bounty hunter kitted out for any engagement. His primary weapons are his miniature crossbows. He also has a broadsword and daggers in case he needs to fight up close. He’s known to use tricky support weapons like smoke bombs and nets as well.

Wurie: The wolfman, and Captain of the Guard Wurie uses an arming sword, and nothing else! He’s spent plenty of time mastering its use, though. The same, old but maintained blade has brought him through many years of service, from his start as a caravan mercenary, through the height of his career as the founder and leader of a mercenary company, and finally to his years as a guard for the city of Palethorn.

Andric: A claymore! He’s strong enough to use it with one hand, though he tends to use both anyway. Having a free offhand is helpful with casting his holy magic though, being a paladin and all.

Tourthun: He’s a red, firebreathing dragon! Soooo...claws and fire.

Charles: Half-human, half-dragon, all magician! He doesn’t use any weapons at all! Not physical anyway, as he has an array of spells to choose from. If for some reason he couldn’t use any magic, he’d probably just use his claws.

2) Do they own such a weapon? How does it look like? (Add drawings or pictures pls!)

Alexander:

Senci:

Leianna:

Lexius:

Razorwing:

Paul:

Wurie:

Andric:

Tourthun:

I guess? That’s the closest I can think of a picture to his “weapons”. (He’s actually really nice though so don’t worry, he’s not actually plundering gold or frying people)

Charles:

3) How did it come into their possession?

Alexander: He commissioned a renowned blacksmith and armorer to forge his equipment.

Senci: A gift from his tutor and foster father, Andric!

Leianna: Granted to her by the Order of God, the religious order she serves.

Lexius: The monk scraped together the tiny bit of personal wealth he had and got his sword, shield and chainmail quickly made by a nameless blacksmith, hence their dubious quality.

Razorwing: After becoming a very skilled bowman, he put in a lot of time learning to how both make and maintain bows and arrows. His current longbow is one he made himself!

Paul: He was careful to have his armaments made by well-established blacksmiths with reputations for high-quality, reliable merchandise. Can’t have a breakage or malfunction in the middle of an important mission, after all.

Wurie: Part of a dual deal, actually. When deciding to become a mercenary, he mentioned his lack of armaments to the caravan company he wanted to sign up with. The head merchant actually pointed him to a company blacksmith, offering a moderate discount. This was to hopefully foster some loyalty so that Wurie would stay on with them for future trips. The wolfman did indeed stick around with them for a long time.

Andric: Meticulously crafted by a master blacksmith, and then enchanted by himself. The top quality steel is deadly and reliable, and the paladin’s own blessing makes the claymore tear through the scales and flesh of demons and evil monsters with ease.

Tourthun: All dragons are born with their claws and breath powers.

Charles: Everyone’s born with magic already innately inside of them. It’s simply a matter of training to draw it out and learn to use and control it...

4) Who taught them to use it?

Alexander: That would be Sir Gabriel Winthorperry! A knight that arrived to the house of Angelus to serve Alexander’s father, he took on the role of tutor when Alexander expressed interest in becoming a knight. He trained the child for many years in the use of knightly weapons, combat and conduct, until Alexander was finally able to set off as an knight on his own. He’s become a great tactician from his time commanding armies as well.

Senci: Sir Andric, the paladin and one who raised Senci! He drilled Senci vigorously. At first he didn’t want to, but Senci begged and pleaded, wanting to become a hero like him. He made sure the kobold would be strong and skilled enough to survive out in the harsh world that Senci still sees as a dreamland.

Leianna: She began training to become a cleric as she reached maturity. As a child, she had to run away from home for reasons. A priest found her out in the forest crying, and took her back to the monastery. There she grew up learning about the holy scriptures, church tradition, and God. After they accepted her request, she started training, and became proficient at channeling holy magic and using blunt instruments.

Lexius: No one! He has absolutely no combat experience or training! He’s totally out of his league...though he IS very skilled at healing magic, and has quite a bit of potential that will become apparent later down the line...

Razorwing: An archery tutor who turned out to be a pretty nasty man, actually. He started a toxic, abusive relationship with Razorwing while he was young and naive. A traveling human helped him break free from that, and Razorwing began training himself after that. He quickly rose to become a master archer in due time. and is pretty famous as an adventuring hero now.

Paul: Self-taught. He started small, but his natural combat awareness, sharp senses and streetwise nature helped him stay alive long enough to become VERY good at what he does.

Wurie: Trained by a barbarian tribe as a warrior at first. He ran away and fled to Geralthin, where he became a mercenary. He got a lot of training and firsthand experience with kobold raids on the caravans he protected. After becoming the head of his own company he set off on many missions against all kinds of monsters. By the time he became a city guard he was a seasoned veteran of war. In that time he became skilled in the art of mediation and diffusing volatile situations as well, since the job required it.

Andric: Trained by the church, and forged in the crucible of war. He’s spend decades fighting cults, monsters, and even slaying dragons. He’s one of the most battle-hardened and highly-skilled paladins in the world at the moment, and his mere presence can turn the tide of war.

Tourthun: He doesn’t fight, nor was he trained. He’s borderline pacifist, though certain events will force a change soon enough. As a great, mighty dragon though anyone but a great wizard or hero would be hard-pressed to defeat him if they wanted to...not that most would. He’s developed a fiercely protective attitude towards humanity, and wishes to defend them from other, more evil dragons.

Charles: He went to college for the magical arts. He’s still young, but his natural ability, great mind, and fast learning along the powerful desire to become better means it won’t be long before he’s a master sorcerer.

5) Does your OCs’ have a special boss-killer move? What is it?

I like to imagine this question as making a “Finisher” or “Ultimate” move from a videogame, so I’ll try my best to use that as inspiration.

Alexander: He’s just a knight. A good one, but still a knight, having no magic or superhuman abilities. I’d imagine his ultimate move would be him using a rallying horn, and an army of knights appearing and running down his foe in a crushing cavalry charge full of lances.

Senci: Some sort of reckless and wild flurry of swings, ending with a front-flip cleave.

Leianna: Beating the stuffing out of her enemy, knocking them over, and slamming her mace into their skull.

Lexius: The spell Destroy Evil! I’ve written some lore on magic before, so here’s an excerpt about the spell:

“Caster creates an aura around them of pure good, destroying anything evil, both physical and in concept. This will spell destroys not only beings born of evil, like demons, and tears the corruption from tainted objects, but also seeks out and destroys evil within normal beings. Selfishness, hatred, greed and jealously are burned away from people in the aura. This process is extremely painful, amplified by how “bad” of a person the target is. Even good people will feel great pain, but the truly wicked will be wracked with such horrific suffering that they will likely die of shock before the process is complete. Once these thoughts of darkness and wickedness are burned away, those affected will feel different, calm and at peace with themselves. They might no longer feel temptation to do bad, or may begin to see the faults with their old ways. Stripping away free will is a huge taboo in human society, so this spell is generally only cast on either the willing, on defiled objects, or in groups where demons are suspected to be hiding in human disguises, the holy person gauging the reactions of those affected. Demons will screech in horror before burning away completely. Sometimes used by holy men and women to purify themselves of temptation and sin. An extremely difficult spell to cast.”

Razorwing: A flurry of arrows fired while he’s flying in the air, followed up by a cinematic headshot.

Paul: A smoke bomb and him dancing around the enemy unseen, landing hit after hit, ended with a shot to the back while the enemy’s trying to find him.

Wurie: Rallying the Silver Shields, his mercenary company, to come in and overwhelm the enemy!

Andric: Calling down a pillar of pure divine energy, smiting his opponent and enveloping them in holy flames.

Tourthun: His *SPOILERS* appears and the pair drown the enemy in a sea of flames.

Charles: Probably the spell Ritual of Pain. Here’s a description from the lore excerpts again:

“The caster, before casting this spell, must draw blood. The more blood, the more powerful the spell. Generally, the sorcerer will stab their hand or arm with a knife, dig into the wound to let blood pour freely, and then hold up their hand and cast the spell. A torrent of acidic blood will pour from the caster towards the intended target, drowning the victim in boiling acid. This extraordinarily powerful spell costs the caster dearly, who will be terribly wounded afterwards. Anyone casting this spell is either desperate enough to risk death, or has a healer handy. Use of this spell is frowned upon in many places, though in antiquity it was one of the powerful death spells used to defeat the dragons.”

Tagging @lady-redshield-writes, @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword and @sheralynnramsey!

[atomicgm]

Doomsday Dawn: Somberfell Hall: Character Creation

So.  As promised, it’s time to talk about Somberfell Hall.  And the character creation in Someberfell Hall. Ugh.

So this is the third time I created characters for these adventures.  My players are 50/50 in technical skill, so I have a few that I need to pregen for.  Last time we did 4th level characters and I complained about that incessantly.  Push came to shove when a player backed out of creation and threw something together in an hour.  This time I had to make 7th level characters and it literally took three days. Granted it was my six to seven hours free time after work, but twenty-plus hours for four characters hurt.

So, following the suggestions of the module, I made two clerics, a paladin, and a sorcerer.  I wanted to vary my choices, so we have a NG sun cleric, a LG justice paladin, a CG angelic sorcerer, and a CN war cleric. The sun cleric was made to be a full caster so I needed to be a human for Adapted Spell.  I needed that blast cantrip.

Side note, cantrips are totally unbalanced at 1st level.  Some deal a d4, some deal a d10, and then they all balance out at 5th level.  They are still vaguely terrible, since they take two actions to cast and deal roughly as much damage as a bow, but at least I didn’t feel like an idiot for not taking Telekinetic Projectile this time.

For the sorcerer I was limited to the Divine spell list.  Same problem.  I want that blast cantrip, and you’re not getting it without human.  So, human it was.

A war cleric, I thought to myself.  What’s a good race for that?  Well, Half-Orcs are cool and dammit I just made a part of humans.  Sigh.

At least I still had the Paladin.  I had made a Goblin Paladin for The Ashen Ossuary, so this one was a Gnome.  Man, being able to use Small races for martial classes is really satisfying.

So anyways, the sun cleric. Massive overheal potential, no need to wield any weapon besides his holy symbol, heavy armor, turn undead, support and defensive buff spells galore.  I’m sure you’ve heard how heal clerics perform in P2.  He was set.

The war cleric.  Kind of a conan-esque, figure, giant sword, heavy armor, summons, blasts and offensive buffs everywhere.  With Power Attack and Weapon Surge he could deal 4d12+4 damage in one hit.  Did I mention I multiclassed him into Fighter?  I multiclassed him into Fighter.  It’s feat intensive as all get out, but man is it cool.

The angelic sorcerer. I struggled the most with this one. I ended up using Spontaneous Heighten on Summon Monster and Heal, giving a huge flexibility in healing and summoning. Besides that, it resembled the clerics to a disturbing degree.  It honestly did not feel that special, and the feats did not impress.  In hind sight I probably should have multiclassed, but without the new multiclass update available, I could only pick Cleric, Wizard, Rogue, and Fighter.  As a Charisma fullcaster, none of those were useful, so I’m not really sure what else I could have done.

The gnome paladin was the easiest character to make.  Heavy armor, a shield with hardness 10 that can take 3 dents without breaking, and a flickmace. That’s it really.  It was kind of a boring build, actually.

…What is a flickmace anyways?  A whip? One of those party swizzley flick toys made out of paper?

Anyways, Fleet is a mandatory feat.  The gnome in plate armor had a 10’ speed without it.  The Sorcerer wanted to be fast and a 30’ speed really helped with making range on those short cantrips.  Everyone takes Fleet.  If you don’t take Fleet at level 3, then you will take it at level 7.  The thing is, general feats suck for the most part.  Toughness is okay, maybe, but gaining 7 HP at level 7 only served to push the war cleric into the triple-digits HP wise.  That’s a moral victory, not actually useful.  An HP pool of 94 would have been more than enough.

Speaking of sucky feats, skill feats are terrible.  General feats are boring and generic, but at least they do something.  +1 to Fortitude Saves is as plain as you can get, but at least it’s functional.  The Cleric could Make Impression faster and on extra people.  The sorcerer could intimidate without taking penalties.  The gnome could craft, but would never do so because it’s a one shot and crafting is only sort of useful anyways.  The war cleric got the best deal because he got jumping feats, which actually come up when you’re not playing in a one-level mansion. Oh wait.

Well, he would have been effective at jumping, but you’re limited in distance by your move speed. The move speed that suffers a -10 penalty from the plate armor.  Sigh. That’s my complaint.  Martials need to wear heavy armor to survive the front lines, and they suck at their signature skills due to check penalties. Skill DCs are too high anyways, to the point where Druids routinely critical failed nature checks last session, so I guess everyone always sucks at skills.

So I wrote down a ton of spells.  This made me stare at all the conditions inflicted by spells.  The condition rules are exhaustive, but they are so siloed. This is bad.  Blindness causes Blindness, which causes creatures to be Unseen unless you Seek.  If you successfully seek, then they become Sensed. This requires several references and it is not immediately obvious when looking at the Blinded condition what Unseen and Sensed, which does not reference those conditions but hints at them through natural language. “All other creatures and objects are unseen to you unless you succeed at a Seek action to sense them.”

So I noticed a bunch of other annoying stuff while I was in there making characters, so. Lightning round complaints.

Propulsive is stupid.

Volley is stupid-er.

Bastard sword does piercing damage. Why?

Bulk should be listed for all magic items.  Some do, some don’t.

Speaking of bulk, we made a whole subsystem for weight only to make armor weight different and stack the penalties.  Why? Pick one!

Why do I need to choose an ancestry, background, and class; allocate two-to-four ancestry ability boosts, two background ability boosts, a class ability boost, four free ability boosts, four level up ability boosts; and choose 5-plus skills, 3 skill increases, four class feats, two general feats, three skill feats; calculate hit points, saves, skills, attack bonuses, spell bonuses and DCs; choose two 3rd level items, one 4th level item, two 5th level items, and one 6th level item.  All that to build a single character?!

Whew.  That was supposed to be more positive but it turned into a rant. I’m just about done complaining about this game, I swear.  These things just turn themselves into rants, I swear.

Next time I’ll walk you through the first half of Somberfell Hall!