nightwingspark-blog

[nightwingspark-blog]

Mom Voltron reaction - 1

So I started writing these down only today so I have only a few from S2, but who cares I’m going to post it even if nobody asked because I love my mom and these are gold 

Keep reading

[nightwingspark-blog]

Nossa... sinto muita saudades do brasil hoje. Quero meu amigos. Quero cominda. Quero falar português. Quero os todos. Que saudades hoje.

[nightwingspark-blog]

What People Think Millennials Are Like Vs What They’re Actually Like

[nightwingspark-blog]

You have this… friend. Really nice bloke, buys you a beer when you’re feeling down, kills the people who’ve wronged you, etc. You don’t actually know his name though.

[nightwingspark-blog]

Know what I remember? My old desktop computer. Took between 8 and 9 minutes to turn on and another 3 minutes for the computer to load. Then you'd hear the Pshhhkkkkkkrrrr​kakingkakingkakingtsh​chchchchchchchcch​*ding*ding*ding* and that was the internet turning on. Cue to minutes later and you can finally get on internet explorer. No tabs. Everything was open in a new window. And god damnit when someone picked up a phone and you and to start all over. And when you were finished, you had to wait 3-5 minutes for the computer to shut down so you could safely turn the power button off.

its weird being 18, 19, 20 in 2016 because i remember going into kindergarten and seeing those chunky ass giant computers at the desk and then going through school while technology rapidly develops and graduate in a world where people can have the entire internet and more just in their pocket like idk its so strange to me

[nightwingspark-blog]

the way hernando looks at lito though

[nightwingspark-blog]

Which song is it going to be??

[nightwingspark-blog]

[nightwingspark-blog]

[nightwingspark-blog]

It's May 17th here... and it just snowed. DAMNIT UTAH!!

[nightwingspark-blog]

“Why do you beat yourself up so much over little mistakes?”

[nightwingspark-blog]

God. You ever read something so amazing that you hope you can write something half as good one day?

[nightwingspark-blog]

Spellcasting Combat Narration for D&D

image credit: Ben Wootten

So I was gonna include this in my other article on narrating combat, but it proved far too lengthy, so I made this into part 2! 

Combat is easy to describe compared to narrating spell attacks. I ran into this problem last session when I was getting into detail telling the barbarian how they tore off an ogre’s head but then the druid just kept using Fire Bolt and I kept defaulting to “you shoot a bolt of fire at his face.” I’m going to try and vary things up with these lists and help everyone else in the process! I am organizing them by energy type.

Mode of Attack

Half of a spell’s attack is how the caster shapes their spell. The same spell can look very different with every casting if you have a creative DM. Feel free to switch it up each time it’s cast, or vary the same spell when cast by different characters of different classes.

Attack Words

Generic shapes and terms that will launch from the caster’s hand.

Helix, Spiral, Beam, Erratic, Mote, Bolt, Stream, Blast, Burst, Blade, Arc, Miasma, Cloud, Eruption, Wave, Cone, Missile, Rune, Glyph

Class-Based Ideas

Bard

Energy manifests from thin air a foot in front of their instrument as they play

Energy is shaped like ribbons of written music that ripples towards enemies

Several tiny motes of energy appear with each note sung or played. Each point of damage comes from a mote hitting the opponent (rolls a 4 out of a d6, 4 of the 6 note-motes hit)

Cleric

Energy falls from the sky or emerges from the ground as the cleric prays

Beam of energy originates from holy symbol

Spell attack should highlight that the cleric is granted their powers from a greater power, don’t have the energy come from their hand/finger. Have the energy come TO them, and then be thrown at the enemy.

Druid

Energy is shaped like an animal.

Energy rushes forth from the surrounding wilderness and zooms past the druid and toward the foe.

Much like Cleric, energy shouldn’t come from the caster. It should come from elsewhere before being thrown at the enemy.

Fighter (Eldritch Knight)

Energy blasts from their bound weapon pointed at the enemy.

Energy fires from their mouth as they yell.

Energy surrounds their weapon and is used in tandem with it (if close enough)

Monk (Way of Four Elements)

Literally just watch Avatar: the Last Airbender and do that.

Paladin

Most Paladin spells are smite-based, so they usually happen when an attack hits. Otherwise, let the energy come from a higher power like the Cleric.

Energy bursts forth from within the creature hit

Energy surrounds weapon right as the strike lands

Energy falls from the sky or erupts from the ground

Ranger

Honestly, most Ranger spells often seem a lot like man-made traps like Cordon of Arrows (arrow traps), Fog Cloud (smoke grenade), or Grasping Vine (slipknot trap). But otherwise, Play it like the Cleric where the energy comes from a higher power.

Energy takes the form of the Ranger’s animal companion or an animal they associate with.

Spells seem to cast automatically whenever the Ranger is in a tight spot, almost as if nature itself is protecting them. The Ranger gives an approving nod whenever this happens in thanks.

Rogue (Arcane Trickster)

Energy is always accompanied by a shimmer of glitter

The Rogue plays with the energy over their fingertips as they whistle before casting the spell.

Energy enchants one of the Rogue’s daggers and casts the spell by tossing the dagger at the intended location or target.

Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline)

Energy takes the shape of a dragon of your bloodline.

Energy surges forth from your breath

All energy takes the shape of your bloodline dragon’s energy type, regardless of the actual energy type. For instance, a sorcerer of a blue dragon’s bloodline that casts Burning Hands or Cone of Cold keeps the energy type but shapes the fire and cold damage into the form of a bolt of lightning. 

Sorcerer (Wild Magic) 

Energy takes on many random forms, never under the full command of the Sorcerer.

Energy erupts from random places in the environment when the Sorcerer calls upon them.

Energy bubbles and fizzes with all energy types (but mostly the one called upon), as if a piece of Limbo was thrown at the enemy.

Warlock (Archfey)

Your energy shimmers with iridescent colors and showers enemies with sparks of glitter.

Warlock (Great Old One)

Your magic corrupts and twists the flesh of the target of your spell, regardless of the energy type.

Warlock (Fiend)

Energy takes the shape of the unholy symbol of your patron.

Wizard (Abjuration)

Energy shoots forth from your magical wards, arcing towards your enemies.

Wizard (Conjuration)

You conjure a short-lived elemental of the energy type you need. It soars at the enemy.

Wizard (Divination)

You weave the glowing threads of fate in the palms of your hands, tweaking reality to cast your spell.

Wizard (Enchantment)

You enchant an object to exude the energy and toss it at the enemy.

Wizard (Evocation)

I mean, you just sorta blast them. That’s what this school’s about.

Wizard (Illusion)

Your spell usually spawns two or three illusory copies. When the attack misses, the enemy simply managed to dodge the right duplicate.

Wizard (Necromancy)

Your energy takes the shape of a skull screaming as it flies toward the enemy

Wizard (Transmutation)

You transmute the energy out of the surrounding environment and fire it at the enemy

On-Hit

So if half of a spell’s attack is the shape and travel of the spell, the other half is when the spell hits. I organized this list by energy type, as different energies will do different sorts of things when they hit a creature. This is mostly a collection of interesting effects, colorful language, and examples.

Fire

Your bolt of fire singes their armor (burning cloth, blackening leather, discoloring metal)

A tiny bead of fire explodes on contact

Showers them with red sparks

Your attack leaves behind a billowing trail of smoke

A fast-travelling meteor of flame soars from the sky towards the enemy.

Your flames leave blisters and cracked skin in its wake.

Your fire blackens the enemy’s flesh

Cold

You freeze the moisture in the air into icy daggers that fall onto your enemy

You freeze the water in their blood to damage them

Their skin turns blue and numb

You literally hurl a snowball at them.

Your spell leaves them covered in a layer of frost

A buildup of ice covers where your spell hit. (it’s easily shattered once they move, though)

A blast of icy wind and rain leaves them shivering.

Thunder

A crack of thunder pummels your foe

A high-pitched, deafening shriek focuses itself on the target

A thin trail of blood races from the foe’s ears from a sound no one else can hear

The enemy falls to their knees cupping their hands over their ears, gritting their teeth

You buffet the target with waves of thunderous sound

The ground shakes with the force of your spell. Brittle glass objects nearby shatter.

Lightning

Lightning comes from the sky to smite your foe

You all smell the faint odor of ozone before a bright bolt of lightning streaks toward the target of your spell

Before your enemy can blink they are showered in electrical sparks followed by crippling pain

The enemy’s back stiffens as the powerful current of lightning surges through them

Your attack leaves a permanent web of lightning shaped burns all over one side of their body

Your blast of lightning causes their skin to rupture as it travels through their body

Acid

Your acid sizzles as it burns a new, unnatural color into their skin

The attack melts their flesh, leaving them permanently disfigured at the site of the spell

Your spell’s acid causes blue fire to burn where it hit their skin, and bleaches their armor and belongings

A rancid smell fills the foe’s nostrils as the acid bubbles on their bare skin, burning through the simple cloth of their shirt.

Poison

You spew a poisonous cloud from your mouth at your opponent

A spectral viper or insect is flung at the opponent, biting them and filling them with magical venom

Your index and middle finger each grow a poisonous fang which you sink into your opponent’s arm (melee range spell attacks only)

The enemy’s mouth fills with a foul tasting liquid which forces its way down their throat

Necrotic

Your target’s flesh bubbles and boils as a black ichor sputters from the spell’s origin

The foe’s flesh festers with magical disease as boils and wounds quickly cover the affected area

A skeletal hand wriggles free from beneath the earth, flying towards the target

An incorporeal undead shrieks as it flies from your finger toward the enemy to deliver the spell’s effect

Black energy swirls around your arm before launching towards the enemy as if it had a life of its own

Your iridescent blue magic enters the target’s body and afflicts their soul, making them momentarily dazed as their eyes glaze over.

Radiant

A holy light shines from the skies to harm your target, regardless of time of day or obstructions

A halo of radiant energy surrounds your head and blinds the target as they gaze upon it

Enemies that aren’t of your alignment hear the whispers of your deity moments before being enveloped in a blinding white light

The foe’s eyes and mouth emit warm light and they howl in pain

A blade of radiant energy slashes through the victim, leaving a trail of blinking motes of light in its wake

The enemy’s skin blisters from the raw positive energy surging through them

So essentially this whole post was a creative writing assignment for myself, but I hope that it gives you guys new creative ideas for new spells or new ways to describe existing spells! They don’t much affect the mechanics of the spell at all, so most DMs I suspect will be fine with most of these descriptions if you want your character to cast spells a certain way.

[nightwingspark-blog]

Various forms of this post have been toiling in my drafts for far too long, and at this point I could really use some outside discourse. Warning: Lots of wild, baseless speculation ahead. Tin foil hats recommended. 

The first image is dialogue you glean from Spirit!Cole in Trespasser. It almost certainly refers to Solas creating the Veil (“the dreams” most likely being a vague term for the Fade, which is frequently referred to as “the world that dreams,” “the world of dreams,” etc. in written accounts and dialogue). He says this of the Veil in Trespasser:

“When [the Evanuris] finally went too far, I formed the Veil and banished them forever. Thus I freed the elven people and, in doing so, destroyed their world.”

So the Veil effectively “broke” the Fade by sundering it from the physical world, resulting in the downfall of the elven empire and forever changing the world of Thedas as we know it today. But that’s not why this line stood out to me. It’s the bit about the “old dreams” that’s really compelling, because the implication there is that the Evanuris aren’t the only beings held at bay by the Veil.

Keep reading

[nightwingspark-blog]

i was re-watching the final agni-kai between zuko and azula and i noticed something

throughout the entire match, zuko and azula are throwing straightforward, linear attacks at one another

and they deflect with the same kind of movement

but then when zuko does his firespin breakdance thing, its in no way linear, its completely circular

up until that point, theyd been doing classical firebending movements, but this one isnt really seen in firebending. but it IS seen in airbending

point is, zuko was learning from aang at the same time aang was learning from zuko

[nightwingspark-blog]

My coworker loves Dragon Age almost as much as I do. When I mentioned to him that I beat literally every single quest like the completionist I am while on Nightmare mode, he challenged me to do it on Nightmare mode with the trials “Travel Light” (no supply caches), “Take it Slow” (half XP), and “Walk Softly” (elite opponents) on the entire time. First one that beats the game wins.

Well...

CHALLENGE FUCKING ACCEPTED!

[nightwingspark-blog]