#Dragonslayer Role-Playing Game

[oldschoolfrp]

Greg Gillespie, author of Barrowmaze and other OSR titles, has launched a Kickstarter for his Dragonslayer Role-Playing Game.

I've mentioned before that many of us who started with a "Basic" edition of D&D never actually played AD&D as written, but added AD&D's best new rules to Basic's cleaner structure. That's exactly what Dragonslayer is meant to be by design. From his pitch:

Most of us kept using the Basic Engine (elegantly restated by Tom Moldvay in 1981) and grafted the chrome of First Edition onto our existing style of play. We used First Edition spells, character classes, monsters, and all the adventures. We left behind lame rules that bogged down gameplay and made it feel like actuarial science (for example, counting segments for spells or weapon-speed factors, among others). This wasn't Moldvay Basic and it wasn't First Edition. This was the edition we all played. We called it .75 or halfway between BX and 1E. This is the ruleset that I've played for decades. This is how I play medieval fantasy role-playing games. This is the way…I want to play fantasy role-playing games.

(KS runs through September 29, 2023)

[theresattrpgforthat]

i want to destroy the god king and begin an anarchist uprising. culminating in participating in the aftermath building a new world

You and me both buddy. Let’s get started.

THEME: Destroy God

Dethrone Skeleton God, by emmy verse.

DETHRONE SKELETON GOD. THAT IS ALL YOU HAVE TO DO.

In this gmless role playing game you will set out on a journey to find and dethrone the aforementioned god. You will need some d6s, a d12, and some writing materials.

This game pulls a lot of inspiration from some pretty stellar games, including No Stone Unturned, EXTRACAUSAL, Trophy, and Blades in the Dark. You will play racing against three Fallout Tracks, which track the collapse of the material world, the immaterial world, and the Skeleton God’s Power. When all tracks are full, the game is over, and you narrate how the world ends.

If nobody in your group wants the burden/responsibility of running a game, this game is an excellent option as it is both GM-less and lightweight. It’s only 16 pages long and covers creating location elements and exploring them as a group. Everything is collaborative, so if you’re interested in games that let you come up with a story together as you go, you might want to check out this game.

Dead Gods, by Trollish Delver Games.

After the Cataclysm of Heaven it all changed. Murdered gods fell from the sky, sundering the land and casting their sacred relics about the world. From the woodwork crawl Warcults, scavengers of god-relics to further their own twisted gains. The Eternal seek power over death itself. The Order of the Stars seek relics to unlock god-like omniscience. The Pale Druids imbibe relics to acquire power over nature itself. The Black Maw will create a new, hungrier god under their control. 

Pick up a lovingly-designed weird cult and pit them against your friend in a desperate effort to grab a sacred god-relic in this miniatures skirmish game. Each player will control a number of different kinds of war cult members, and there are 4 war cults to embody in the upcoming skirmish. Great for PvP and lovers of combat, but if you want narrative you’ll want to pick up something else or mostly RP it out. You can also check out Unholy Scavengers, for more relics, more scenarios, more models - more more more!

Karanduun - Make God Bleed, by makapatag.(@makapatag)

Karanduun is a modern Filipino Epic RPG about worthless heroes dismantling God, whatever cycle of oppression that must be.  Inspired by modern Filipino folklore and culture. You play as young heroes who must make their legend known and become a legendary Karanduun by making God (whichever oppressive system and tyrant that is) bleed.

Lovers of Kill Six Billion Demons will probably get a big kick out of this game. The god Batala is already dead, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some rebellion of your own. There are demons, corrupt angels, and other Kings of the Earth to defeat, in a post-American world inspired by the Philippines. If you’re looking for some narrative play, this game has got you covered, with rules inspired by Exalted 1e and PbtA. You can check out the physical version of this game on SoulMuppet’s website!

Skorne, by Dreaming Dragonslayer.

You are renegades, part of mankind’s insurrection against SKORNE who is devil prince, commander of demon rulers and their armies, and the darkness that reigns. Overthrow the evil Tyrants. Free chained captives. Fight to the last man.

Part of the NSR movement, Skorne is inspired by media such as Berserk, MORK BORG, and games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring. The game itself is only 4 pages long, with a really interesting system for character creation. You roll for your abilities and then use their values to determine your starting kit. The language in the game is also great for putting you into the fiction, such as the instructions found for character name choice:

“In the beginning, give thy renegade a name, though it will not save them.”

You want gritty and dire circumstances? You want to kill demon princes? You wanna play a game with random tyrant generation? This is for you.

Extreme Meatpunks Forever, by Sinister Beard Games.

"In the beginning, there was meat. A decaying chunk of flesh from a dying god, hurtling through the void of space, thousands of miles wide. A million eyes, a billion hands grasping for purchase against nothingness itself.  This is where we live.”

EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER is a tabletop roleplaying game where you’ll play as a gang of queer antifascists in a strange place called Meatworld. Spinning through space on the screaming corpse of a dead god under the glow of an absent sun, the people of Meatworld harvest its flesh to make their technology.

Embody your queer rage and kill fascists in meat-mechs in Extreme Meatpunks Forever. A PbtA game, this option is narrative-heavy and allows you to pick from some pretty metal weapons, including (but not limited to) Excellent Seasoning, A Bit Stick What Has Shrapnel In It, and Deathfucker Cannon. In your downtime, you can kiss your friends and work to heal and deal with your trauma. If you want a game that feels metal and also presents you with extremely punchable enemies, this is your game!

Other Recommendations

If you want some more recommendations you can also check out the Attack and Dethrone God Jam on itch.io, or my Revolution recommendation post.

If you’re interested in what happens after you end the world, then I recommend my Post-Apocalyptic Community Building recommendations!

[tyrantisterror]

No Small Feat Artwork Pt. 2 - Major NPCs

By request, I'm gonna show off some of the artwork for No Small Feat, a Midgaheim story my friends and I told through the TTRPG system Fabula Ultima. I drew a lot of characters and monsters for it, and my friends - in particular, @dragonzzilla, @scatha5, and @dinosaurana - helped line and color them so we'd have cute little sprites to use on our online battlemaps, which really helped sell the whole "we're playing an oldschool turn based RPG" vibe that Fabula Ultima's system is going for.

This batch is comprised of what I'm calling the Major NPCs - recurring non-player characters who had a big role in the campaign. Fabula Ultima has a Bond system that gives players a tangible benefit for getting invested in the story and characters they meet in the game, so I tried to structure it so they would have some character who they'd be inclined to form those bonds with so they could exploit that mechanic. I personally love it when a game gives a mechanical incentive to getting invested in its story, it just seems so intuitive and obvious for an RPG, and I wanted to do my best to make that mechanic work.

The first recurring NPC the party met was Leonie Ymbessil. Most of the characters in No Small Feat were designed to fit fairy tale archetyepes, and in Leonie's case, she's the Disobedient Girl - your Red Riding Hood/Goldilocks style young woman who is given sound advice that she promptly ignores, which draws her into peril as a result. There are disobedient boys in fairy tales too, but the way their stories play out tend to vary quite a bit - a disobedient girl will almost always be thrust into incredible danger that, if she even survives it, will leave her so traumatized that she never breaks a rule again, while disobedient boys get to rob giants through trickery and guile and become kings.

And while No Small Feat was a fairy tale homage by design, I also wanted it to be a bit of a subversion when it came to some tropes - Fairy Tales off the Rails, if you will. And one of my big secret goals was to see if I could convincingly buck convention and get my auidence/fellow storytellers on the disobedient girl's side, and help her make out like a bandit the way all the disobedient boys do.

Leonie began the story as the spendthrift daughter of a wealthy merchant, who was currently down on her luck because her father cut her off for being too careless with money and forced her to work in one of his shops to earn a living. But she also had a plan - namely, to marry some lonely rich bastard and live off his fortune. Though definitely greedy, Leonie is also incredibly charitable, often giving away ludicrous amounts of whatever wealth she gained in a particular arc to people who were needy or just glum - her spendthrift nature is partly a reflection of her desire to see other people happy and taken care of.

Eventually Leonie, like the PCs, became more formidable as the story went along, occasionally even acting as a temporary ally for a couple boss fights. She, uh, might have taken up my brain a bit. I have a lot of Leonie art that wasn't strictly necessary for the campaign, but was necessary for my happiness. Some of that art I can even show in public!

(there's even more of it, but we'll get to it when we cover another Major NPC)

The next Major NPC the heroes were introduced to was Sir George Garston I, who is essentially Midgaheim's take on Saint George. The most prolific dragonslayer of all time, George is an affable, down-to-earth gentleman who, at the beginning of the campaign, saw his duty as being the protection of mankind against vicious beasts. Our party was leery of him because, well, because they know I love dragons to death and that my Midgaheim setting is positively flooded with dragons who are Really Good Guys, so a guy whose whole deal is "he's killed a shitload of dragons" has to be bad news, right?

And, like, George definitely was not a perfect person at the beginning of the game - he views the conflicts between dragons and humans from the human side by default, never once questioning whether the dragons may be the wronged party from time to time. But he ultimately proved to be a person who wanted to help his fellow human beings, and one who did not delight in killing - dragonslaying, to him, was an ugly but necessary job, and when the story unfolded to the point where he could see how, sometimes, humans were the aggressors in these conflicts, George did shift his view, recognizing that dragons were living things who needed to be protected at times too. The nuances of living in a world where giant lizards are capable of abstract thought but rarely capable of expressing it in ways humans can understand.

George was also a sort of secretly sad individual, being blessed/cursed with a magically extended lifespan and a much slower aging process, which allowed him to not only outlive his wife by decades, but look far younger than he feels in the process, which was wreaking havoc on his psyche at the start of the campaign. Our heroes caught George in the first of what are likely many breakdowns in an immortal's life where they wonder why they still exist when everything they loved has passed. It's ok, the party got him what passes for therapy in a vaguely medieval fantasy land.

Our party had one more fabled hero to meet among the Major NPCs, and that was none other than the posterboy for Disobedient Boy heroes in Fairy Tales, Jack Giantslayer. Midgaheim goes with the "all the Jacks in Fairy Tales are the same Jack" approach, and the result was a neurotic, twitchy, easily startled mess of a ginger who my notes told me to "Try to channel Charlie Day as much as possible, even though you can't do a good Charlie Day impression." Oh, and he's blessed (cursed?) to be really good at killing ogres, even when he's not trying to - which our heroes found out when he tried to cause a distraction with his slingshot, only for his pebble to pingpong around until it hit a painting that fell off from just the right height and angle to decapitate the ogre butler they were trying to avoid.

Anyway he ended up dating Leonie fuck you it's my RPG I can indulge if I want

Our party had a few nonhuman helpers, too. The Phenex chick was rescued by them after they fended off a pissed and dying phenex, and provided them with a small but occasionally refreshed supply of ashes that could be used to bring a player back up from 0 HP mid-battle. They also met a bridled kelpie that, once freed, decided to help shepherd them around, giving them a fast travel option that was VERY useful given the... other travel mechanic this game had going on, which you'll find out in a later entry.

Some of our PCs needed an extra kick out the proverbial door in session 0. In Charles's case, he was led astray by Cassandra, a sphinx in Aesopton who lived on the outskirts of town and was always gloomy and aloof around others. Being burdened with the gift of prophecy, Cassandra had somewhat selfish motivations in leading Charles astray, as she knew he would not only be crucial in saving Engelsex from the crisis that was going on in the campaign, but would also be able to rescue her when she was kidnapped and placed into a menagerie sometime after Charles was lost. Charles didn't hold it against her, though, and the two ended up in a bit of a romance by the end of things.

For Montblanc and Edmund, though, I called upon another fairy tale archetype: the Wicked Witch. And I specifically grabbed one of the biggest from English folklore, albeit with a slight tweak to her name - Bleak Annis, infamous hag and boogeyman, cursed Charles to take on a bestial shape while gifting Montblanc a grimoire before tasking him to draw 100 beasts. She wasn't done there, either, showing up now and then to manipulate the rest of the party into finding the right clues and being in the right places at the right time to face the big threat, all while remaining ambiguous about her true intentions for most of the plot. She also served as the pokedex narrator for Montblanc's growing bestiary, which was fun for me to RP.

And that's our major recurring players! Well, except for the antagonists of course, but we'll cover them as we look at individual arcs from here on out.

[radiantmorningstar]

Holmes Basic Rebirth 1: The Wandering Graveyard of Kargash-Mir

Dr. J. Eric Holmes with a few of his D&D Figures, 1979. [DM Note: someone convinced me to go back to basics, since I was experiencing one of my (sadly, all too frequent) solo gaming slumps. The suggestion felt extreme: not reverting to an OSR retroclone, but reaching all the way back to the origins of the hobby. Retroclone reinforcement has sometimes been a successful strategy for restarting my creative solo RPG engagement the past. But it hasn't seemed to work more recently. In fact, "retroclone burnout" has left me a bit distressed, compounding my sense of disconnection. Feeling desperate, I decided to take the back-to-basics advice as far as I could, starting a short campaign with the Holmes Basic D&D blue book from 1977. I'm pleased to say it worked, and I've recaptured my sense of wonder, creativity, and fun. Of course, as someone with about 40 years of RPG experience, I can go back to basics, but I can't deny all the innovations and interesting evolutions of TTRPGs since then. So I've also incorporated numerous solo tools, supplements, etc. into this session. For fellow gamers, who like to look at the technical side, I'll link what I'm using below. Thank you for reading! ]

Technical TTRPG Profile:

Dominant Rule Set: Holmes D&D Basic Set (1977) - note that Hasbro-WotC has decided to disappear this rule set in favor of other versions of the Basic Set, but this version is special, perhaps because it demonstrates more than any others how player imagination—as opposed to insidious subscription models, aggressive branding, and corporate meddling—can create great experiences. Read about Holmes Basic here: https://sites.google.com/site/zenopusarchives/. If you look around, you should be able to find a free PDF of it online. I would revert to the Moldvay-Cook D&D Basic Set Rulebook if I could not find a copy of Holmes. But I highly recommend Holmes as a way to get back in touch with the raw power of fantasy roleplaying.

Setting: Ondaris.

Solo Gaming Structure: Trey: Solo Roleplaying.

Oracles and Tables: Old School Revival Solo Role-playing Guide; Loner: Steel & Sorcery; Tales of Argosa.

Starting Equipment: "fast packs" from Dragonslayer.

The Story: three childhood friends, Iovis (fighting man), Ruvin (magic user), and Dain (thief—in this case, a military scout), return to their hometown of West Withly after three years of professional training in their respective guilds (Iovis, with the Semlohe Mercenary Guild; Ruvin with the Tower of Xolark in Misty Harbor; and Dain with the Rivercross Confederation of Guides and Scouts).

In Ondaris, one apprentices with a local practitioner of an art and then serves in a guild for three years at a time with one-year stints back home to serve one's community and pay one's initial master back.

While catching up over ales at the Inn of the Blue Dragon, they're approached by a group of town aldermen, who offer them 80 gold for rescuing the mayor, Joco Havlish, and his mistress Sareena, both of whom are being held hostage by the ruthless ogre, Drazrur Blackbite. The ogre is said to keep his lair in the northeastern foothills beyond the Beast River. Though the precise location of his cave has never been established.

Recently, Blackbite snuck up under cover of darkness and hammered down a crude wooden sign, affixed to the pole of a nidstang and written in blood, demanding a tribute of 50 sheep and five virgin girls lest he execute the hostages. Obviously, this is unacceptable; though, local heroes willing to fight an infamous ogre, who understands curse magic, are in short supply.

(A typical Ondarissian Nithing Pole used for cursing and sometimes making a very serious point to one's neighbors.)

Seeing this as a fitting way to begin their year of professional practice back home and establish a reputation, Iovis, Ruvin, and Dain obtain permission from their families and former masters and accept the offer.

They provision themselves and set out to find the ogre. The Beast River is half a day to the northeast on foot. They go quickly over the flat grasslands and have no encounters or problems on the way except for sighting a brightly dressed gnome sailing past on a raft. The odd creature waves at them and shouts that they should turn back "before the spirits rise." They have no clue what he's talking about, but it doesn't sound good.

The day is almost finished when they reach the beginning of the foothills, known locally as Zaphod's Reach, due to tower of the ancient mage, Zaphod Zaphodinteries, which supposedly stood there in the times before the Scarring of Ondaris. Now there is nothing but a perpetual chill mist hanging a few feet over the ground and dark foothills extending to the limits of sight. Not wanting to face anything in the night and tired from their journey, the three friends make camp on the northern bank of the Beast.

In the morning, they realize (strangely, since it was not there the night before) that they have been camping in a graveyard. It's one of the wandering graveyards of Kargash-Mir. Ruvin, in his lore studies in the Tower of Xolark, learned about the wandering graveyards. He explains them to Iovis and Dain over breakfast.

They are an inexplicable fact of life throughout the land. Sometimes, a graveyard will "wake up" and animate itself the same way "naturally occurring" undead in Ondaris will sometimes rise from their graves.

When an entire graveyard wakes and starts to move, it is considered a "Kargash-Mir," essentially a "beast of graves" in the old language of the Beastmen. As a Kargash-Mir travels, it will absorb any other graveyard it comes into contact with and grow proportionately larger. Sometimes they move on a "circuit," appearing in a the same places over time. This one apparently stretches for miles.

Such wandering graveyards are said to contain all manner of dark fae, undead, and sometimes even deep crypts, dungeons, and fragments of towns (even cities) lost to the knowledge of men. Twisted demonic creatures, like ogres, blood orcs, ur-goblins, soot trolls, gnolls, and dragons are also said to live in them. For time runs differently in a Kargash-Mir and old things, long passed away, are ever present there.

Ruvin begins to explain the metaphysical theories involved in an entire graveyard animating and silently shifting through the landscape, but Iovis and Dain are worried. If the ogre, Drazrur Blackbite, has his lair in a Kargash-Mir, it means this one probably moves in a set pattern. It means they're going to have to explore the place in the not-so-certain prospect of finding his lair. And it means the ogre is naturally protected by whatever other nasty creatures may be calling the place home. Still, they have little choice. So they forge into the graveyard, feeling trepidatious but determined.

They move through the seemingly endless, dank, and misty Kargash-Mir for what feels like the better part of a day, encountering nothing but headstones, mausolea, and crypts. Dead trees hang their brittle branches against the darkened sky and crisp leaves crunch on the twisting pathways.

Eventually, they do encounter a giant death's head moth—a predator that may have been hunting them for some time. Its wingspan is at least six feet wide and it rises up suddenly from behind a cluster of headstones, wailing the Acherontian death dirge that can burst the heart of a grown man.

These highly intelligent flesh-eating hunters are found throughout the dark places of Ondaris, but especially in graveyards, where they feel most at home, secreting their vile nests in empty crypts, where they drag their victims to be fed upon for weeks.

Iovis is affected by the moth's mournful cry and loses all self control, running off between the crypts. Ruvin is also affected, paralyzed to the spot, unable to speak or move. Only Dain resists the affects of the death dirge. He raises his light crossbow, fires, and hits the creature in its furry abdomen.

The dirge immediately stops and the creature flaps around to face Dain. It has an unnaturally human face with red eyes. Its fangs drip yellow bile and venom. You have killed me, it sputters, but you'll not escape this boneyard intact! Then it drops to the earth, its body immediately beginning to steam and melt into the pure black sludge of elemental evil of which it is composed.

Dain shakes Ruvin out of his terror-stricken paralysis and shouts that they need to find Iovis, who has disappeared into the mist . . .

[vintagerpg]

Council of Wyrms (1994) is a D&D campaign setting that ponders the question, “What if dungeons WITH dragons?”

This is a unique campaign setting, a string of islands where dragons of all kinds (metallic, chromatic and gemstone) live apart from the world. In the past, they warred ceaselessly on each other, but recently they have founded a sort of democracy (the titular council, which I can’t help but read as making fun of the 1521 Diet of Worms in some inscrutable way). They did this in order to deal with the incursion of pesky human dragonslayers who were systematically eradicating them (there is also maybe some unintentional metaphor regarding the idea of external enemies being necessary for social stability, but maybe I am reading in too much).

Players take the role of dragons! They can also be half-dragons, or the servitors of dragons, but why would you do that when you can play a dragon? This arrangement reminds me of a sort of summer blockbuster version of Ars Magica for some reason.

Dragons! It really is a mind-boggling thing to realize it took two decades before someone came up with the idea of actually playing the dragons (that someone was Bill Slavicsek, who previously work on the West End Games Star Wars RPG, a fact that brings a lot of context to this project, I think). I have to say, the rules for playing dragons are suitably muscular. I suspect this flavor of D&D is extremely cathartic and freeing. At least for a while. Staying power aside, this is a richly realized box set, which was a surprise when I actually sat down to sift through it — I always thought on some level that it was an elaborate practical joke.

Perhaps realizing this sort of high-powered play would rapidly loose its charm, this was the only Council of Wyrms product, one of very few stand-alone products in the 2e era. It was released later as a hardcover “campaign option,” but that is essentially the same material.

[hannahhook7744]

Meet Prince Lucas Larson Tremaine-Westergaard of the isle;

FC: Cameron Monaghan.

Fic Title: The Marvelous Misadventures of Hannah Hook.

Nicknames: Luke, Lukie, Lukie Pie, lulu, Lu, Lukie Pookie, Luka, Red, The red diva, walkie talkie, motor mouth, brainless, pretty boy, the drunken toddler, Reflex, speedy, fast boy, Mr quick, chief, Gordon Ramsey wannabe, Cassanova, quickster, Quickstep, Sir flex-a-lot, Lukester, Sir falls-down-alot, doofus, Mr Moron, happy feet, tall boy, tall witch, Prince Red, Prince Handsome, Handsome devil, reheaded Ken doll, Narcissis reincarnated, freckles, Sir sleeps alot, Prince sleeps alot, Prince carrot top, Prince Speedy, Prince Quick, Hannh's twin, Hannah's annoying shadow, Sir flirts-a-lot, Prince Tremaine, The King of Broken Bones, King Tremaine, L.A.T.W, Turbo, elf boy, elf ears, and Sir Pain-a-lot.

Sexuality: Pansexual.

Pronouns: He/him.

Birthday: December 2nd at 7:55 pm.

Height: 6"0.

Hair Color: Ruby Red.

Eye Color: Bottle green.

Place Of Birth: Isle of the Lost.

Hobbies: Racing, cooking, filming, riding his bike, drawing, listening to music, role playing, gaming, swimming, and reading comic books.

Likes: Playing the saxophone, playing the drums, fashion, drumming, Playing the piano, Playing the harmonica, playing hockey, sword fighting, shooting, cats, food, Gordon Ramsey, vintage stuff, making movies, horror movies, my bike, making comic books, making inappropriate jokes, jazz, and pranks.

Dislikes: Big dogs, needles, the dark, leprechauns, bees, his pointy ears, his three sliver teeth, his nose getting broken, his family taking his stuff, ignorance, people messing with his friends, bullies, being alone, people disrespecting women, and people messing with his cat.

Favorite musicians: Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, the beastie Boys, Taylor Swift, Conan Gray, The Charmers, The Dragonslayer, etc.

Physical Quirks/Scars: Freckles, pointy elf-like ears, Three small needle point scars on each ear (from failed attempts at piercing them himself), Dog bite scars scattering his legs (fron a rabid dog that attacked him on the isle), a crooked nose (from all the times it's been broken), and three false teeth (from being punched several times).

Family: Hans Westergaard (father), Drizella Tremaine (mother), Anastasia Tremaine (maternal Aunt), Jacob Lathyn (Uncle), Lady Tremaine (Maternal grandmother), Cinderella (maternal step-aunt), Kit Charming (maternal Step-uncle), Chad and Chloe Charming (maternal step-cousins), Alana Olympian-Westergaard (paternal aunt), the stabbington cousins (paternal cousins), the stabbington brothers (paternal uncles), Lady Caine (paternal aunt), Madame Medusa (paternal aunt), Lars Westergaard La Bouf (paternal uncle), and Charlotte Westergaard La Bouf of the southern isles (paternal aunt). Dorothy, Daphne, Debbie, Delanie, Dixie, Dotty, and Dizzy (full blooded siblings). And Anthony, Aaron, Amara, and Anya (Maternal cousins), etc.

Honorary Family: The Hook family, the Gothel siblings, Yong, Ulla, Quirin, Nuru, Hades' family, the Fitzherberts, and Hugo.

Friends: Audrey Rose and his crew mates.

Pets: Lightning (cat).

Love Inserest: Princess Darcy Morrigan Aoratos of the underworld and Andalasia.

Optimistic or Pessimistic: Optimistic.

Introvert or Extrovert: Extrovert.

Occupation: High-school student, Prince, and pirate first mate.

Extracurriculars: Hockey, track, cooking club, and drummer of the Misty eyed Knights.

Favorite Animal: Cats.

Favorite Color: Denim Blue, Red, and Pink.

Favorite Book: 'Freak the Mighty' by Rodman Philbrick.

Favorite Food: Hot Cheeto, Bean, Cheese, and Ground Beef Burrito.

Favorite Drink: Pink Lemonade.

Favorite Movie/TV Show: The Addams Family and The Flash.

Background: Once upon a time, Prince Hans Westergaard of the southern isles fell in love with Drizella Tremaine after a falling out and three kids with Elsa. 6 more kids later, Lucas "Luke" Larson Tremaine-Westergaard of the southern isles was born on the isle of the lost. He was one of the first to known of Hannah Hook's existence and soon befriended her and Hades' kids. Soon becoming Hannah's first mate and 2nd in command. He's had a crush on Darcy for years and was smuggled to Auardon by Hannah during the events of d1.

~~~~Playlist~~~~

"Best Friend" by Conan Gray.

"Lil Red Riding Hood" by Bowling For Soup.

"Womanizer" by Britney Spears.

"Hot Mess" by Cobra Starship.

"22" by Taylor Swift.

"Celebrity" by Brad Paisley.

"Double Vision" by 3OH!3.

Inspired by @thecaptainsgingersnap and @theinnerworkingsofoc .

[thenightling]

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Review

I originally wasn’t too interested in seeing Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves but much like with Over the Garden Wall I was pleasantly surprised after I had heard many good things about it and finally checked it out for myself.

The tipping point to make me finally check out the movie was when someone said it was essentially “Jaskier the movie.”  Jaskier (often translated to Dandelion) is my favorite character from The Witcher novels and Netflix TV series (The novels are Polish, the show is American / UK made).  

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among thieves has nothing to do with the previous films (and animated series) with Dungeons and Dragons in or as the title.  This is a stand-alone movie, just set in the same world as those other stories.  You do not need to have seen any previous Dungeons and Dragons movies or played the role playing game to be able to follow this movie. The movie has the atmosphere of a fun high fantasy film from the 1980s.  Someone described it as being the Dungeons and Dragons version of Pirates of The Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.  And they’re right.  It does have the same vibe.  

This is very much a high fantasy.  I define high fantasy as a fantasy story set in its own world with its own cultures and social norms and this his definitely a high fantasy in the common tradition of resembling the middle ages.

I used to think it trite that so many fantasy stories are set in the middle ages but some years ago I came up with the theory that worlds that have magick as a crutch would be slower to technologically develop.   After all necessity is the mother of invention.  If magick is there you don’t need to invent a lot of the technology our own world relies on and so the culture would be slow to progress.  Though I admit to having a soft spot for the rare high fantasy story set in a world that resembles The Victorian Era (late nineteenth century).   Carnival Row is a good example of that rarity known as Gaslamp fantasy.

The main protagonist of Dungeons and Dragons: Honor among thieves is Edgin who is sort of a spy or secret agent known as a “Harper�� who poses as a bard.  He eventually decides that the selfless life isn’t as rewarding as he hoped and he gets a bit greedy, which unfortunately leads to disaster for him and his friends. But they are actually honorable and set out on a quest to rescue Edgin’s daughter and stop the scheming of a former ally and a Red Wizard. There’s a lot of humor and heart and though parts of it are predictable (such as what the tablet of re-awakening would end up having to be used for) it was still fun and enjoyable.  I liked it.  It stirred fond memories of similar movies like Willow, Dragonslayer, or LadyHawke and other beloved fantasies from the 1980s.  My favorite scenes are the interrogation of the dead (though I sort of guessed how it would go).  And the single-person transformation chase with the Teifling.

I genuinely think Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves had better writing and more likable characters than the ones in The Witcher: Blood Origin. This is what The Witcher: Blood Origin should have been like.  Instead The Witcher: Blood Origin tried too hard to be dark and edgy and lost all sense of fun.  Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves remembered the fun.  

It was nostalgic and good.  Not the greatest movie ever but fun one and I’d happily watch it again.

If I were to have any complaint it’s two petty things.

1.  I had to Google it to make sure the children from the 1980s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon (who make a cameo in this as live action characters) were not killed. The movie does not make it clear they survive but the director says they survived, he did not kill them off.  2.  I think they could have done a better job with the movie poster.  It’s pretty generic.

But as I said, I liked it.  It’s a good, fun, popcorn movie.  It’s a bit predictable at points and I wouldn’t have minded a new twist such as Edgin actually being able to bring back his wife (because I’ve seen the “almost resurrected a loved one but didn’t” plot done to death).  It’s still a fun movie though and very nostalgic in nature.

[0carkki0]

Spoilers to GW2 story... Commander Deserving Gredit?

I have been wondering why does the Commander get most of the credit of defeating world threats. It’s clear that the Commander simply could not do everything alone. Their friends have saved them from death, was it in the actual game mode or the story. 

Then again, I think in many scenarios the NPCs are supposed to revive the player character if they were down, but have been glitched due to time or some other reason and don’t do anything. Making it so that the Commander have to survive alone. ^^ 

Destiny’s Edge was famous of defeating Elder Dragons’ champions, but so far they have not managed to kill an Elder Dragon. In fact, their guild has not been active ever since they lost two people in their last Elder Dragon fight. 

Then they discover this player character, that manages to impress them one way or another. With their guide, the player character begins explore world and learn more about it as well as the Elder Dragons. While doing so, we learn that the in-game-Commander is 

1. Curious (points of interest) 

2. Enjoys the beauty of the world (Vistas) 

3. Likes to train their mind and physical being (Hero Points)

4. Doesn’t Like To Waste Time (Waypoints) 

5. Likes To Help People, No Matter How Minor The Task (Hearts and Events)

I don’t know if Zojja or Trahearne, or Rytlock likes to run around the world doing these same things, but since the Commander does, he gains positive reputation from people by doing this. While at the same time in the story works his way up by overcoming the problems at the time and getting to be known by different titles and ranks. 

Like with the asura, the first title earned was Snaff Savant. 

With the charr, they were first Soldier, then Legionare, and then finally Centurion.

With human The Hero of Sheamoor and then the Advocate of the Crown. 

With norn Slayer of Issormir. 

And with sylvari the Valiant of the Wyld Hunt and then the Herald of the Pale Tree. 

Then the Commander gets into an order, and climbs up the ranks quite quickly. 

With Durmand Priory they are first Novice, then Explorer and then finally a Magister. 

With the Order of Whispers they are first Initiate, then an Agent, and then Lightbringer. 

With the Vigil, they are first Recruit, then Crusader, and then finally a Warmaster. 

After they have formed the Pact, they gain the title they are mostly kown as: the second in command: The Commander of the Pact. 

After cleansing the Orr, the King freed will temporary give the Commander the title of the Champion of Orr. 

Now, here the NPCs say a lot that the Commander’s name will go down to history, hardly mentioning Trahearne, although he’s the one who actually did the cleansing. Maybe they mean it, that the Commander’s name AND Trahearne’s name will go down to history, but mention only the Commander because they are currently talking to them? ^^; 

Now after Zhaitan got defeated, they gained the titles Destroyer of Zhaitan, Slayer of Zhaitan and the more general the Dragonslayer. 

This was the very first time an Elder Dragon was killed, but because Trahearne wasn’t exactly with the Commander in this mission, he could not exactly gain the same title, although he was in a very important role still in all this. Destiny’s Edge was with the Commander. (Although they kinda come out of nowhere to people, who don’t play the dungeons, and ‘kind of’ for the reason that they were involved at the beginning.) 

This was also the first Elder Dragon for the Destiny’s Edge. This also gave confidence to people, who weren’t that sure if something so powerful could be defeated. 

So, the Elder Dragons have actually been fought many times in the past, but as soon as the Commander gets involved, the first Elder Dragon was killed. 

If you asked me, the title Champion of Orr would fit Trahearne better, since he was the one who actually cleansed the Orr. While the Commander could have the Dragonslayer, since now that they were fighting an Elder Dragon with the Destiny’s Edge Zhaitan actually got defeated. 

Even if Zojja was the one who shot the tail off, and the Pact shot him at his hand, injuring him to the point he had to land on a giant tower, the Commander was pretty much then just shooting at him, till his health was down. 

You’d think others would have shot him too, and maybe they did, but only the Commander actually hit him. ^^; You’d think the Glory of Tyria airship would have the best shooters on it, but... - w -; 

And I love how Caithe just kept running back and forth between her guild friends and the Commander. Probably a glitch, but I like to think she was feeling conflicted. XP 

But I think the Commander did earn their title as the Dragonslayer, as well the reputation of a great hero. Yet, there were many who didn’t know who the Pact Commander was, still. 

Now after this, we were now more confident about if the Elder Dragons were actually killable. 

Trahearne did cleanse the Orr. 

Zojja did shoot Zhaitan’s tail off and the Pact injured Zhaitan’s hand forcing him to land. 

The Pact Commander shot him dead after he landed on the tower. 

Next... the Commander decided to help two people, Braham and Rox, who they barely knew, and just because no one else would. Then was it Logan who sent the Commander to help Marjory and Kasmeer with the investigation. Then we get an invitation to the Queen Jenna’s Jubilee. The Commander was teh Dragonslayer, and Logan was a... friend of the Queen, so the Queen most likely had heard of them, and thought to invite them as a gratitude of killing the dragon, at least. Scarlet happened, and the Commander helps to save most of the people. But casualties were unavoidable, unfortunately. 

Then we take care of the weird toxic tower in the Kessex Hills with Marjory and Kasmeer... And then the strange whirling flying object appears at the sky of the False River Valley, where we defeat with many others a giant marionette. After that Scarlet attacks the Lion’s Arch. The Commander helps a lot of people here as well, while also finally fighting the Scarlet herself and giving her the final deadly strike. 

Now we have the title of a Hero of Lion’s Arch. 

So now the Commander was known as Zhaitan’s killer as well as Scarlet’s killer. 

With these new allies the Commander continues to investigate what exactly Scarlet managed to do. Did she really awaken another Elder Dragon? 

Well, we did hear a roar as soon as Scarlet’s giant drill hit the lay line underneath Lion’s Arch. Soon after these strange vines start to appear at the Brisban Wildlands. 

There we learn that another silvary had lost their mind and was now chasing the leader of these Glint fanatics’ leader. XP We take care of the sylvari, and I have to mention, that when he goes to that upper level while we fight him, the others don’t go there. Only the Commander climbs up to fight him there. The others pretty much fight the thorny vines at the lower level. 

We plan to get the racial leaders to get together and talk about this threat, just so we more help with dealing with the Elder Dragon. And decide that since the Pale Tree really can’t go to other cities (imagine a giant tree suddenly starting to walk and be like, ‘I gotta go see the other leaders. See ya’ while the sylvari are still inside... ^^; ) So the leaders arrive to the sylvari home city. 

But before that, the Commander has to help their friends to cajole the leaders to arrive at the meeting. It involves a lot of helping with the problems world wide. 

Then comes the world summit, the Commander is the conversationalist in this situation, till the ale Tree gets attacked by the Shadow of the Dragon. Everybody else gets out of the Pale Tree except the Commander. They get trapped inside and has to fight the champion alone. 

Alone? I don’t think they are alone. Even if the Pale Tree was injured, I think she still tried to protect the Commander by keeping the Shadow of the Dragon outside, where the others can keep on attacking it. And the Commander injures it from the inside of the Pale Tree. We chase it off and continue investigating. 

This happening convinced the racial leaders that this new threat was very serious and could destroy the whole world. 

The Commander takes part in finding Caithe from the desert with Canach, and we help the Pact to protect their base against te Mordrem attack, and we find the books in the Durmand Priory that opens the secret area where Ogden is. In the Glint’s lair the Commander pretty much fights themselves through, while Kas and Jory seem to casually walk around and have a conversation with each. other. At the end we fight off this giant crystal elemental, where Kasmeer gets injured, and Marjory fights with us. But because the Commander fought their through the Glint’s lair, they knew how to handle this giant too blah blah blah... 

So in the end the Commander does a LOT. They are involved in every Elder Dragon fight, as well as the Lich King and Balthazar. They even help to take care of Minister Caudecus in season 3. while still taking time to admire the views, find interesting locations, and help other people. 

Destiny’s Edge (Logan, Rytlock, Caithe, Zojja and Eir) was in the Zhaitan fight with the Commander. 

Marjory, Kasmeer, Braham and Rox were in the fight against Scarlet in the final battle. 

The Commander was kind safe inside the Pale Tree while fighting the Shadow of the Dragon the first time. 

Second time, the Commander was trapped again, as if the Shadow of the Dragon somehow knew this individual was the worst threat out of them all. It somehow knew this Commander was the player character, so it had to try to eliminate them first. XP 

The others were more like background supporters that threw stuff to the Commander that were helpful. 

Little did the Shadow of the Dragon know that the player character never dies, at lest for good, as long as the developers keep developing the game. > w < 

In season 3 Canach and Logan out of the major side characters were with the Commander in  the Minister Caudecus fight. 

Taimi was with the Commander, but not exactly fighting, when we faced Balthazar for the first time. 

In Path of Fire the Dragon baby and the Commander were fight Balthazar, and killed him for good. I guess you could say that Rytlock was the supporter now, because he gave the Commander his fire sword, the Sohothin. 

In season 4 Braham was fighting the Lich King with the Commander, but were acting more like detractions for the baby dragon now as a teen could surprise him and attack... and eat him thus killing Joko finally. 

At the fight against Kralkatorrik, it was Caithe, Braham, Gorrik, Taimi, Rox and Rytlock as well as Aurene (the dragon) were with the Commander fighting off the Kralkatorrik. If I remember correctly, the Commander was calling the shots and injured Kralk’s eye when had the chance. It all failed though. 

But in the next episode the Commander and Aurene chase the injured Kralk through the Mists and finally manage to make it fall. We try to find a way to defeat him, till we finally realize, we have to go inside him to kill him. His body is dead, but he’s still somehow alive inside. So we enetr him through his mouth, find the power source, and find the consumed powers of Zhaitan, Mordremoth and Balthazar. The Commander destroys those with Aurene. 

The Commander being the champion of Aurene, while we take on the two dragons, Braham becomes the champion of Primordus (Elder Dragon of Fire) while Rytlock’s cub Ryland now an adult becaomes the champion Jormag (Elder Dragon of Ice) and make them go at each other. While the two champions fight each other, the Commander weakens the two Elder Dragons, while making sure neither of the champions actually win, with others help. Especially Aurene’s. And after the two dragons were weakened enough and irritated enough they attack each other, destroying one another in the process. 

One dragon remained. 

We go to Cantha while fighting off the Aetherbaldes, while in the air going through the Mists again with Aurene. But we crash the ship. 

There the Commander has to deal with political stuff as well as take care of very selfish man at the high rank with the man withe the hat. Then there’s Ankka, who plans on letting the Elder Dragon destroy the world. She was clearly suffering from some kind of depression and had reached a point where she felt nothing. She had become a sociopath. 

Oh right, we fought Mai Trin again and also Scarlet in a way with Marjory. 

And then finally, even if the final dragon was not aggressive, just like the other dragons she became corrupted, and started to act aggressive. We had to take care of her too. 

This time a lot of people were helping. There were Marjory and Kasmeer, Logan and Caithe, Taimi and Gorrik, and Aurene. 

The Commander was about to die at the pretty early state of this fight, which I find a bit starnge when you think of all the struggles hey have had, but one can use imagination and think of any reason why would the Commander be downed so early. Of course, because Aurene had chosen the Commander to be her champion, she’s not gonna let the Commander get killed. She does say, that if they try to fight seperately, they can’t win, but if they support each other they can win, and so she lends the Commander some of her power. The Commander returns stronger than before and is glowing. 

Now, what I find interesting is that Joon and Taimi were already giving up. Were they in this state because they thought that the Commander was gone, or were they actually beginning to lose? Was it because the Commander lost or what? 

Anyway, the Commander continued fighting by helping two people at each platform by supporting them with Aurene’s power, and each platform was the power of already defeated Elder Dragon. 

Why wasn’t Balthazar’s power there? 

Oh well, finally we had to face the corrupted Elder Dragon of water. With everybody’s help. 

So what I think about the Commander getting most of the credit. I think it’s justified, but the Commander would have never ever managed to do it alone. So of course the others deserve credit as well. Anyone who participated in the fight does. But... the Commander was the one who made the most critical work most often. 

Question is, would the tyria have been survived if the Commander did not exist? 

Vividatt personally believes that someone else would have just taken his place, and saved the world, pretty much like he did. Maybe even done it better than him. Because first he was simply helping his krewe mates. Making inventions and competing in games... Rebelling against the Inquest... And soon he realized he was involved with the Elder Dragon fight. He struggles with guilt that his psycho side causes him, and is constantly afraid that this evil side of his takes over, and starts to harm people around him, including his friends, like he has done in the past. So, seeing death kinda inviting, he sees it as a reward, since struggling in guilt he sees as his punishment. This also drives him to help people as much as he can. While at the same time satisfying his urges to destroy by defeating bad people. He also has a strong sense of responsibility, which makes him keeping on fighting the dragons, since now he was too deeply involved. So the reason why he keeps fighting, is hoping to die, sense of responsibility, keeping his love interest safe, to satisfy his destruction needs, and keeping himself entertained. He can be quite competitive, so he also views it as a challenge and fun. 

Also when you look at the achievements, if you have completed them, the Commander has killed at least 1000 of each enemy. Has taken part in every world boss fight. Has searched a lot of secrets of the world. Has revived a lot of people. Collects a lot of random stuff. So I would not be surprised if even the skritt would respect them. XP 

Aetherbalds... A w A 

[another-rpg-sideblog]

Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

Straight from the Dragon's Mouth

Discover how dragons embody magic across the worlds of D&D and how you can bring them to life at your table in this quintessential reference guide for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

Meet Fizban the Fabulous: doddering archmage, unlikely hero of the War of the Lance, divine avatar of a dragon-god—and your guide to the mysteries of dragonkind in the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons.

What is the difference between a red dragon and a gold dragon? What is dragonsight? How does the magic that suffuses dragons impact the world around them? Here is your comprehensive guide to dragons, filled with the tips and tools Dungeon Masters and players need for their encounters with these dangerous magical creatures.

Dragonslayers and dragon scholars alike will appreciate the new dragon-themed options for players eager to harness the power of dragon magic and create unique and memorable draconic characters. Dungeon Masters will discover a rich hoard of new tools and information for designing dragon-themed encounters, adventures, and campaigns. Discover a host of new dragons and other creatures. Learn about the lairs and hoards of each type of dragon, and how hoards focus the magic that suffuses dragons and connects them to the myriad worlds of the Material Plane. Discover everything there is to know about the most iconic monsters of D&D with help from Fizban, your expert advisor on dragonkind!

Introduces gem dragons to fifth edition!

Reveals the story of the First World and the role Bahamut and Tiamat played in its creation and destruction.

Adds new player character options, including unique draconic ancestries for dragonborn, dragon-themed subclasses for monks and rangers, and new feat and spell options.

Offers everything a Dungeon Master needs to craft adventures inspired by dragons across the worlds of D&D, with new dragon lair maps and details on 20 different kinds of dragons.

Presents a complete dragon bestiary and introduces a variety of new dragons and dragon-related creatures, including aspects of the dragon gods, dragon minions, and more.

Hardcover, 19 October 2021

[trout-scout]

Orchid, snapdragon, hydrangea!!!

orchid - favourite fruit?

M A N G O. I'll eat a mango like a starving animal. I'll eat a mango at any time of the day or night. A good mango is god's favorite substance. And I think my favorite way to have it is that Thai restaurant dessert with coconut sticky rice, syrup, sesame seeds, and fresh sliced mango. It rules and I wish I had some right this second.

snapdragon - favourite mythical creature?

So this is tough because i'm a simp for every beeste, but I will obsess forever about a good dragon. Some of my favorites from movies and games are the Eborsisk from Willow, the hungarian horntail from h*rry p*tter, King Ghidorah from the Godzilla movies, Vermithrax from Dragonslayer, and Durnehviir & Alduin from Skyrim. (does lady D count? let’s say she counts. her monster design is so good) I also LOVE the old-world wyrm from the spiderwick chronicles guidebook; I think venomous many-legged wingless dragons, a la Fafnir, are super underrated.

I also really really like traditional unicorns (with the cloven feet and beard and stuff). And massive sea monsters like the ones on medieval maps. My hometown has a sea serpent that was sighted once out in the strait named "Big Eddy" and I love him. I'm not even getting into cryptids and such 'cause there's a divide in my mind between them & mythical creatures.

(can't believe I said my favorite mythical creatures are dragons and unicorns, what kind of basic bitch behavior...)

hydrangea - proudest moment?

Probably getting to play Hermione in a production of The Winter's Tale. it really was a moment of pure disbelief seeing the cast list & the creative challenge presented by the role and circumstances surrounding the production was really illuminating in terms of defining my style and technique as a theater artist.

[taroris]

Some headcanons about Dragonslayer Armor/Ornstein friendship/romantic relationship

Longish post ahead!

Let’s start with how they met

Gwyn’s Firstborn trained a group of elite knights, which later will be known as the The Dragonslayers. It was a small group (5~ w/o Gwyn’s Firstborn) where only the (potentialy) strongest knights were accepted. DA was already part of it while Ornstein was one of the last additions.

They didn’t become friends since the beginning as DA didn’t waste a change to mock Ornstein for being “too small” for the group (everyone was over one head taller than him). Of course, being mocked in front of the prince was a hard punch to Ornstein’s pride.

Of course, time, acceptance and, above all, fighting battles together brought them closer.

As Ornstein was a Silver Knight, he was used to fight “alone”. That means, the Silver Knights rows were so big and the battles such a chaos that it was no point in taking care of his fellow knights. He was taught the most important thing in battle was to take down dragons no matter what. Joining The Dragonslayers changed that, and it was DA who most scolded him for not taking into account the whole group and their well-being. It also made Ornstein change for better.

As time went on and Ornstein grew fond of this group, he became closer to DA, who basically was his first best friend (I don’t forget you Ciaran!).

Ornstein was the most serious one while DA was the official teaser, although Orn barely minded his bad jokes or teasing directed to him as he was used to it. They complemented each other quite well, as DA was very mouthful and Ornstein was like his Jiminy Cricket (but sometimes he was an enabler...), Orn was a calm person while DA loved a good feast...

Their favourite thing to do was sparring together without weapons. The second was playing board/card games. The third was getting drunk.

DA was the first one to get a crush but he quickly noticed Ornstein eyeing Gwyn’s Firstborn too much and thought he didn’t had a chance with him at all. Sadly, it was hard to forget Ornstein as they spent a lot of time together and his feelings only grew bigger. But everything wasn’t lost. Ornstein ended up understanding he didn’t had a place in the Sunfirstborn’s heart and managed to get over him.

Actually, DA did a huge emotional support when Ornstein was sad because of his unrequited loved (without Ornstein telling him the real reason), even if it pained him to see his feelings were requited. Somehow, it paid off, as Ornstein also crushed on him when he noticed that someone actually cared for him That Much.

Even if DA was first accepted by Gwyn’s firstborn, he never was jealous of Ornstein becoming officially the First Knight of the prince and, later, one of Gwyn’s Knights. In fact, he was really proud of him and always thought Ornstein was better for the role than him (being Ornstein more responsible and serious than DA).

As DA is found at Lothric and Ornstein at ADP, they had to get separated. When Gwynevere left, it was DA who offered himself to protect the princess during her travels and he did until his very last moments (or until he was free of duty, still not sure what version I prefer).

Other small headcanons I have:

DA’s name is Ailnoth

DA was a noble while Ornstein came from a farmer family. They always teased each other with this.

DA always rested his arm on top of Ornstein’s head to piss him off.

[thebalkanwitch]

Festa e Motmotit!

Dita e luleve!

Festa e Shen Gjergjit!

The Day of Flowers!

Feast of St. George!

 

A throwback to a pagan festival that evolved into a Catholic holiday (sound familiar?😏)

Dita e luleve, or The Day of Flowers, celebrates the fecundity and beauty of Spring. Comparable to the Gaelic May Day festival Beltane, Dita e Luleve is an Albanian holiday that has reemerged in recent years as a popular celebration. Young and old partake in the festivities that span the course of two days, May 5th to May 6th.

On the morning of the first day of this celebration, children go out to gather flowers. From these bouquets, handmade garlands are woven and the homes are decorated with them, in the hope that the fruitfulness of these blossoms will manifest into abundance throughout the coming year. A bath with flowers, coins, eggs and other symbolic items is drawn for the children, in the belief that these will aid in their growing up healthy, wealthy, beautiful and strong. The phrase, “uji teposhtë, fëmiu përpjetë” (“the water goes down, and the child grows up”) is chanted. Outdoor games are played and overall merriment ensues.

Hithra, or stinging nettles play an important role in these festivities. They represent protection, growth, bounty and have long been associated with healthy blood. Nettles are collected and children are “chased” and “brushed” with them (just a tap, after all they’re called STINGING nettles for a reason 😆). Food, lush with greenery, is served and the outdoors are enjoyed to their fullest extent. Bonfires are lit, lambs are sacrificed and their shoulder blades are used for divination purposes (every pregnant woman needs their “fortune” told, after all and this is the opportune time to have it done!).

The next day, before sunrise, girls gather dew from grapevines and the haircutting ceremony begins. This takes place near a river or other body of water with the belief that the girls’ hair will grow as long as the waves of the river and as thick and strong as the grape vines. Once their hair is cut, it is coated with the dew and the girls commence their traditional songs and dances, dressed in their finest clothing.

As is the case with most pagan holidays throughout the world, these celebrations have evolved over time with the introduction of Christianity. The Balkans are no different. Today, in lieu of calling this holiday “Dita e Luleve,” the more popular term is “Dita e Shen Gjergjit” (St. George’s Day). Interestingly enough, this coincides with the birthday of the Albanian national hero, Gjergj Kastrioti (May 6th). This led to the conflation among some Albanians that St. George’s Day is actually a celebration of the hero Gjergj Kastrioti, not St. George the dragonslayer.

In any case, this springtime festival remains a staple among Albanians across the Balkans. It is a time to rejoice and celebrate, to revel in the sunshine and enjoy life.   

 

[wazafam]

The first Dungeons & Dragons modules and campaigns that Gary Gygax created back in the day were inspired by literature, specifically the Lord of the Rings books. Dungeon Masters and players alike still use their favorite books as templates for their campaigns, but there's a lot more to choose from when it comes to media these days. Modern Table Top Role-Playing Gamers (TTRPGers) not only have volumes of books but also a myriad of video games and movies when they need new ideas.

RELATED: 10 Best Fantasy TV Shows To Watch Right Now, Ranked (According To Rotten Tomatoes)

There are a lot of fantasy movies out there that would make great D&D campaigns. They include a team of characters with different but complementary abilities, a quest, some nasty enemies to fight, and maybe even a magical object. All of the elements combine to make a great story and a great D&D module. Contemporary movies have the added benefit of mixing up the setting and genre, with some space opera and superheroes thrown into the mix.

10 The Avengers (2012)

Fantasy isn't always about sword and sorcery, but there's even some of that in there through the Asgard connection that features the god Thor and his sorcerer brother, Loki. The Avengers plays out like a stereotypical D&D module, complete with a quest, a magical object, a sworn enemy, and various people with different abilities that have to learn to work together for a common goal.

The fantasy movies of today are dominated by superheroes, and the success of the Marvel movies attests to that trend. Several entries in the franchise could inspire a TTRPG, but recognition goes to the one that confirmed the franchise was a pop culture force to be reckoned with.

9 Star Wars (1977)

It's not exactly science fiction, although there are plenty of tabletop games that specialize in the genre, but a combination of sci-fi and fantasy known as space opera. This is where snarky descriptions of Jedi Knights as "space wizards" come from, and you can easily assign other D&D classes to the other characters, like Rogue or Barbarian. The question of whether Jedi are Wizards, Sorcerers, or Clerics could be a source of interesting debate.

The concept of a campaign that takes place in outer space, or even in a setting that features interdimensional travel, can follow a similar plot as the original Star Wars. The campaign could include a mentor, training, party formation, and working together for a common goal.

8 Ninja Scroll (1993)

Imagine a module that has elements like a secretive plot that the characters must team up to discover despite opposition from malevolent and supernatural forces, and that's essentially the plot of Ninja Scroll. The setting can vary, but a DM can take some inspiration from that as well since "medieval" doesn't always have the go with "European."

RELATED: 10 Greatest Fantasy Weapons in Film, Ranked

Ninja Scroll was part of the anime wave of the mid-1990s that brought on cyberpunk and psychological horror along with this movie, a chilling tale of ghosts and demons from Japanese history. At the time it was a unique example of an anime film that took place in the past as opposed to a movie about the future.

7 The Last Unicorn (1982)

A book that's been successfully adapted into a movie can also be adapted into a campaign. For players that are more concerned about character development and roleplaying, especially as it relates to class progression, The Last Unicorn is the ideal inspiration.

The quest and plot are simple, relying more on the interaction between the characters than any complex storyline. Players and DMs alike can see where archetypes come from and how they can be subverted, different ways that character progression can work, and how they are combined as part of RP in gameplay.

6 Conan The Destroyer (1984)

The first Conan movie could also be in this space, but the oft-overlooked sequel, Conan The Destroyer, has a much better party dynamic.

Conan, of course, a Barbarian, is joined by a Cleric, a Druid who might be a Fighter multiclass, a Monk who might be a Barbarian herself, and of course his sidekicks from the first movie, the Rogue and the Wizard. They're on a quest to find a magical artifact for a queen who seems to be Neutral Evil so she can resurrect an old, angry god. If there's not a D&D module for this already, there should be.

5 Spirited Away (2001)

Sometimes a whole module can take place in a relatively small space, like a castle keep, a large house, or a prison compound. This movie is more about creating and playing in a unique and perhaps enclosed setting since there's little to see regarding party dynamic with one character being the focus of the plot and action.

RELATED: Spirited Away: 10 Ways It's Actually A Horror Movie

The enchanted bathhouse of the witch Yubaba is where most of the action takes place. DMs will appreciate the detail and difference that each of the various levels has, with the lower levels furnished for public viewing and the upper levels for employees and Yubaba's private quarters, with the addition of secret routes along the perilous exterior of the massive building.

4 Ladyhawke (1985)

The quest still has to be at the heart of any D&D campaign and that's also what makes Ladyhawke such a great movie when DMs and players need inspiration. Every good D&D campaign needs a plot, which is the quest, along with a realistic antagonist complete with minions and magical powers.

That's not to say a few interesting characters are included, and they have some interesting arcs, for those interested in character progression. For example, the main character, Philipe, is a Rogue who seems to take a turn towards multi-classing into a Cleric as the story comes to a close.

3 Dragonslayer (1981)

This one seems too obvious at first, and the script plays on those fairytale tropes on purpose only to surprise the viewer later. Although Dragonslayer is missing a lot of that essential party dynamic, the main character has an interesting mentor and character arc, thus it's more useful to players when it comes to putting together a good backstory than building the ideal campaign.

However, what seems like a typical story ends up subverting some old archetypes in clever ways, and a good D&D campaign would find some ways to do the same.

2 The Dark Crystal (1982)

A unique setting can make a simple, even stereotypical storyline a lot more interesting. The journey starts with the search for and the acquisition of a magical item that must be delivered to a precise location, complete with a ticking clock, which is also a nice plot for a DM to guide the party through.

RELATED: 10 Fantasy Movies That Were Groundbreaking For The Genre

Aside from all that, there's a wealth of details in The Dark Crystal for those that are interested in designing a unique campaign with a lot of lore, which includes creative destinations and compelling villains with interesting backstories. It's also an interesting example of progressing through a campaign where one player starts on their own, with a brand new character, and grows their party as their initial quest progresses.

1 Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2

The first movie was more about how Star-Lord and his gang initially got together, a story that's useful for beginners, so Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 for players and Dungeon Masters that want some inspiration for more advanced characters. These are gamers from both sides of the table who have already formed a solid party dynamic and are ready to face a more formidable challenge.

It's also a nice twist on the conventional fantasy genre, with a variety of settings that include Ego's planet and some creative space monsters, including the final boss himself. All of this is set up with some easy-to-follow character progression, and if viewers are paying attention, there are Barbarians, Fighters, and Rogues aplenty if players that favor those classes need inspiration for their own individual gameplay.

NEXT: 10 Pro Tips To Running A Large DND Group

10 Best Fantasy Movies That'll Inspire Your Next DnD Campaign from https://ift.tt/3v2cKK0

[gear-project]

Based on last popularity poll, characters like Paradigm, Justice and Kliff appear to be on the low end of the list. Considering trying to keep the spirit of the character the same, and without forcing players to like them, what could they do to make the characters more popular? (Note, I assume Fanny could gain a following once she gets transplanted into the main game).

By and large, a character like Kliff Undersn still has plenty of fans, but most that are his fans also tend to prefer his "younger incarnation", compared to how he usually looks as an old man in the main games.

Kliff is a historical figure within GG's mythos, so even if he's not that popular as-is, he's still a permanent fixture within the story.

That being said, Kliff left behind several legacies in the form of other characters: Testament, Ky Kiske, Leo Whitefang, Sol Badguy... and lesser known Tyr and Fenrir.

In terms of what players would expect out of a character like Kliff, he is very similar to Kagura Mutsuki of BlazBlue fame, so even if Kliff never shows up in the roster ever again (being deceased), it's still possible for other characters to take up the role he once played in terms of gimmicks and gameplay.

One of my personal expectations would be for someone like Tyr to inherit Kliff's massive Dragonslayer Sword... Imagine it: a young small-looking kid wielding a giant sword in much the same way Kliff used to... but there's a TWIST: Tyr has a Dragon arm on his hand and can cast powerful blasts of Magic with it, and even transform in to a Dragon-like form.  Such a recast in place of Kliff would be very welcome if you ask me.

Now, for someone like Dr. Paradigm... while he's been on the sidelines for a while, that doesn't mean he's not incapable of fighting or being an interesting character.

In GG2 his role served to rely heavily on his Servants to do most of the fighting, so in that sense Paradigm probably relies heavily on assists and helpers to do the work for him (much like Captain Ginyu in Dragonball FighterZ).

Lastly, there's Justice... Justice has split in to several types of characters throughout the series: Jack-O', Elphelt, Ramlethal (Ram in particular has a unique style that invokes many of Justice old movesets), and then of course there's the lesser spoken of Happy Chaos Valentine.

Justice has always invoked some aspect of being a "final boss", so in her own way, she's not too dissimilar to Dark Susanooh in BlazBlue.

If you consider who Yuuki Terumi was, Hazama, Hakumen, and then finally Susanooh... that's one way of looking at the history of Justice as a boss character.

But there's another variant as well: Noel Vermillion (the Origin), Lambda-11, Mu-12, Nu-13, Hades Izanami, even Es... all of these are incarnations of a major godlike character.

Consider what Happy Chaos is... a "dark copy" of Jack-O'... a darker incarnation of Aria.  There's a lot of foreboding in a character of this nature.

Don't say I didn't warn you... but I'm warning you: most likely there will be a "Dark" incarnation of Justice at some point.  Something far more dangerous than Elphelt or Ramlethal... or even Ariels ever were as a boss character.

It's only a matter of time before more characters are revealed for GGStrive... so patience is key.

As for Fanny... I have no expectations, but her fighting style was based on Dr. Baldhead's original version before it was tweaked for GGX.  If they seek to make a variation of her, that's up to them...

But, ultimately it boils down to what Ishiwatari wants to do with the game and the story, no matter how highly or how lowly fans think of the characters we've come to see at this point.

[curriebelle]

All this ending Befuckery (Game of Thrones, The Magicians, Endgame) made me think about season 1 of Critical Role, which ended, I think, just about perfectly. A lot of people were heartbroken and upset about the Big Ending Death in Crit Role as well, but there wasn’t this righteous fury that the concept of narrative itself had been wronged.

In the Magicians the Righteous Fury is a question of representation, but also of bad writing, whereas for GoT & Endgame it seems to be more about the bad writing than anything else. All three of these productions were adaptations that outgrew their source material. The writers had not one but two fonts of precedent to draw from - both their own narratives, and the novels or comics they were adapting. And, after all their buildup, they all had to live up to years of fan expectations.

Matthew Mercer and crew were also creating under intense pressure. Critical Role had already exploded by s1 (although the Kickstarter-smashing was yet to come). With the possible exception of Ashley, every person in the cast would probably count Crit Role as their single biggest success. The pressure to end the show Properly would have been insane, and to make it worse, Crit Role didn’t have anything to adapt, anything to reference, and several hundred hours of plot to tie up. And, at the eleventh hour, a major character was Literally Disintegrated by sheer luck of the dice.

So Vax dies in battle, and Matt has one week to figure out how to deal with it. He could let the players gather the materials for a resurrection, but he doesn’t. He decides instead to skip the ritual - a scene which has already been done, pardon me, to death - and sees an opportunity for Vax to tie up all his plot threads with the Raven Queen. Vax was always willing to die for his friends; he was always looking for a purpose; it’s nearly the final battle, the stakes are high and the pace is crazy; it even makes the hypothetical horror of Keyleth facing her friends’ eventual deaths into something heartbreakingly immediate. With one stroke Matt turns the story into a tragedy.

I know a lot of people wish it had turned out differently. But to me it was the kind of cathartic tragedy that made me cry for a week - the kind where I can call Vax’s final gesture of growing snowdrops “beautiful” and actually mean it.

So - if Matt only had a week to figure that out, how did he pull together a painful-but-meaningful tragedy when teams of writers with millions of dollars screwed their endings up irreparably? The adaptation thing might actually be part of it; Matt didn’t have the pressure of needing to ‘outsmart’ a source novel, which I’m sure the Magicians / GoT writers placed on themselves. But they also had time to think about these things, and Matt had a week. Our TV writers didn’t just try to outsmart their sources, they overthought outsmarting their sources.

But it’s more than that: see, one of the interesting things I noticed about Critical Role was that the players and the audience were always, always, always wringing significance out of moments as they happened whether it made sense or not. The dice only really dictate so much; the entire game is about interpreting them. That’s where the story *comes* from: interpretation. Week after week, players were making their own symbols (Percy’s mask, Keyleth’s fire, Vax’s wings) and reusing them with purpose, imbuing them with significance. They made meaning, constantly, organically, and with no editors.

It doesn’t always work. A lot of Critical Role is chaff in terms of meaning, and we, the viewers, tend to discard and forget moments that aren’t as meaningful as we hoped for. Zahra made Vex a dragonslayer arrow, and Vex missed her shot with it. But we don’t talk about that. We talk about the meaning players wrought and fought for - and the handful of moments when the dice actually play along are moments nobody will ever forget - Keyleth destroying Raishan’s mind, Grog bisecting Kevdak, or true love bringing Percy back to life.

When we are playing a story with no delay between the creation and the telling, when we don’t have months to ruminate on outsmarting everyone, we gravitate and keep gravitating to the obvious endings, the most satisfying conclusions, and the oldest stories, and we squeeze them out of the story however we can. We return to true love and demonslaying. And when death ruins all those plans, we try - with all the gratuitous snow-drop symbolism we have - to make it at least meaningfully tragic.

TV writers think we want something “realistic” or different and that could be true. Maybe we want stories to progress differently, to star different, diverse heroes, or to surprise. But when we are stripped of time to reflect, of external expectations and external funding, and we must decide the meaning of each moment as it happens, we gravitate to predictable emotional fulfilment. By all means, TV writers. Keep trying to make your shows interesting. You can preen all you like about your Bravery - but it’s not your clever subversions we take away from the table.

[hannahhook7744]

Meet Hannah Artemis Hook;

Fc: Maia Mitchell.

Fic Title: The Marvelous Misadventures of Hannah Hook.

Nickname(s): Bam-Bam, Scream Queen, Hook, Slimeball, Snot ball, Batty, Sailor Mouth, Mouthy, Human Disaster, The Jack of All trades, Clumsy, The Messenger, The Chameleon, Nightmare Queen, Butterfingers, Glowy Pyshco, Moody, Dreamer, Dream Queen, The Fairy Child, Brownie, Shortie, Han, H, Hannie, Little H, Chatty, Heartbreaker, Sweet Tooth, Angel of Vengence, Slime, Slimeypirate, Slimey, Moonflower (only by Gothel), Hannahabelle, Wild Card, and Hannah Banana (used only by people who wanna catch these hands).

Sexuality: Unknown.

Pronouns: She/her.

Birthday: December 2nd at 8:00 pm.

Height: 5"4 ½.

Hair Color: Brown with a White and Teal streak.

Eye Color: Brown.

Place of Birth: Isle of the Lost.

Hobbies: Writing, Storytelling, role playing, gaming, drawing, listening to music, reading, and swimming.

Likes: Exploring, magic, road trips, sailing, her old doll, her baby blanket, sword fighting, hanging on rooftops, food, pranks, fire, and building traps.

Dislikes: Spiders, bugs, rats, Ignorance, needles, how clumsy she is, songs with no lyrics, long sleeves on shirts, heights, bullies, being picked on, the dark, being alone, being abandoned, and losing her friends.

Favorite musicians: Cavetown, Taylor Swift, Eminem, Melanie Martinez, The Dragonslayers, etc.

Physical Quirks/Scars: Very short nails (from biting them), sideways anchor tattoo on her right knee, small dot scars all over her left hand, healed cuts on her feet, and 6 tattoos. (A skull and crossbones with a sword running through it on her wrist with the words 'Family doesn't end in blood' surrounding it. A hooked cane on her left shoulder. A small winged hook on her right shoulder. A crocodile and flower compass on her left shoulder blade. A rope and sword on her right one. And she small skulls on her other wrist. One on fire, one with a black cat on it's head, and one with a hook necklace on it's head).

Family: Hugo (stepdad), Varian (Bio Dad/Donator), Cassandra (Bio Mom), Andrew (step dad), Captain Hook (Adoptive Dad), Zarina (Adoptive Mom), Mama Hook ( adoptive grandma), mother gothel (disowned grandma), Ulla (grandmother), Davy Jones (Adoptive grandfather), Captain of the guards (Adoptive grandfather), Ginny Gothel (Adoptive sister/bio aunt), Mason and Glenn Gothel (bio uncles), Harriet and Cj Hook (Adoptive sisters), Harry Hook (Adoptive Brother), Peter Pan (Possible Adoptive Brother), etc.

Honorary Family: Hades, Persphone, The Fitzherberts, Yong, Nuru, and The Stabbington brothers.

Friends: Chad Charming, Audrey Rose, Bobby Hood, and her crew.

Pets: Icarus (Owl) and Midas (Racoon).

Love Inserest: Prince Haul Ryder Bjorgman.

Optimistic or Pessimistic: Optimistic.

Introvert or Extrovert: Niether. She's an ambivert.

Occupation: High school student and pirate captain.

Extracurriculars: Art Club, Creative Writing Club, School News Paper, and Archery.

Favorite Animal: Frogs.

Favorite Color: Red, Black, and Gold.

Favorite Book: 'A Light In The Attic' by Shel Silverstein.

Favorite Food: Spicy chicken sandwiches.

Favorite Drink: Sam's Cola.

Favorite Movie/TV Show: Fear Street Trilogy and Batman Beyond.

Background: Once upon a time, Cassandra wanted a kid but her on again off again boyfriend, Andrew, wasn't available to have kids so they used Varian (this is when he was around (30) as a donor and Hannah was the result. For the first few months of her life, she was passed between her four parents (Cassandra and Andrew: Hugo and Varian) until Gothel murdered her bio parents. She was found by Captain Hook who along with his wife, Zarina, adopted her. Thus how she became Hannah Hook. She eventually went on to become a pirate captain after winning her ship in a poker game at 6. She is every bit her parents' child. All of them. In one. Even though she doesn't know it.

~~~~Playlist~~~~

"Family" by Mother Mother.

"The Mutineer" by JT Music.

"I'll Be Good" by Jaymes Young.

"Adventure Is Out There" by AJR.

"She's a rebel" by Green Day.

"Control" by Hasley.

"Everyday Superhero" by Smash Mouth.

Please don't be mean. Varian and Cassandra weren't romantically involved-- their relationship is strictly platonic. Varian was just a donar and they both were nearly 40 when Hannah was born. So please don't leave any mean comments.

Inspired by @thecaptainsgingersnap and @theinnerworkingsofoc .