#<= she's human and shadar-kai <3

[reanimatestar]

ernest's bestie* orla <3

*debatable

[verdantglow]

Okay so @plumadot’s posting about her D&D Traffic AU has made me remember how much I love my Dungeons & Traffic AU & I Must Talk About It Now.

Basically all the characters are in a modern setting, playing a rotating cast D&D game DMed by The Watchers. (I never really decided how that works. Plan was for everything in out of game space be completely mundane except for the floating purple eye behind the DM screen lol.)

But yeah! So I picked classes & heritages that the characters would pick themselves based on play styles & preferences. &, uh, here they are!

Bdubs: Firbolg, Light Domain Cleric of Helios

Of course he’s a light cleric. Of course his god is literally the god of the Sun. This man does not fuck with the night & darkness At All. (Also he wanted to be tall lol.)

BigB: (???), (???)

Okay, gonna be honest, BigB is the last one I need to make decisions for ‘cause I feel I have too many knowledge gaps about him to figure this out. Was thinking Paladin maybe??? But I will totes take input, please help me here. Only restrictions: I’d prefer if he doesn’t double up on heritage or subclass with anyone.

Cleo: Reborn, Circle of Wildfire Druid

Cleo’s gotta be a zombie, so Reborn is perfect. & who can deny Cleo the opportunity to have a skill set based entirely around setting shit on fire?

Etho: Shadar-Kai, Way of the Shadow Monk

He’s a ninja lol. Also in this AU I was thinking he & Gem would be siblings, so having him play an emotionally flat dark elf played nicely with what Gem goes with. Which…

Gem: Eladrin, Eldritch Knight Fighter

Gem had to be a fighter, that girl is a fighter through & through, but she’s definitely not playing a boring character. Eldritch Knight adds some magical flavour that goes well with her being an Eladrin. & she had to be an elf of some kind; I think she’d like the versatility & expressiveness of Eladrin.

Grian: Changeling, Pact of the Tome Warlock of the Archfey

Okay, I know this is probs controversial but hear me out. 1) Grian being a Warlock I think is just very in character. 2) Pact of the Tome lets him cast catrips from other classes & you unknowingly he’d get a kick outta that mechanic. 3) His patron is a homebrewed version of The Traveler, half way between 5e canon & Critical Role canon. Trickster vibes are real. 4) This dude has had so many skins. Changeling energy. (Also I just love changelings & Grian made the most sense to me.)

Impulse: Hill Dwarf, Forge Domain Cleric of Tharmekhûl

Another controversial one, but I’m not a fan of demon/tiefling/horned Impulse. & he legit has been a dwarf before. Hill dwarf because they get a Wisdom buff & that makes sense for Impulse. Cleric of Tharmekhûl because forge/light vibes & also he’s the god of smiths & that feels… like something Impulse would choose. (Impulse’s character is also min-max’d to hell. This man is going to win at D&D.)

Jimmy: Human, Oath of Glory Paladin of Tyr

Jimmy got overwhelmed by all the heritages & just went human for simplicity. He takes regular human rather than variant because he doesn’t want to learn all the feats & getting +1 to all stats is pretty good, right? Oath of Glory Paladin of Tyr because he really, really plays into being Lawful Good, & being The Law of the party.

Joel: Half-orc, Path of the Berserker Barbarian

Half-orc for being the closest I could get to an ogre. Path of the Berserker because he’s all about The Rage.

Lizzie: High Elf, School of Enchantment Wizard

Idk Lizzie just has big Wizard vibes to me, but like. Not the best wizard. Like she’s powerful, but rolls shit. She couldn’t get anyone to sleep in the Secret Life campaign because her DC is kinda low & everyone kept making their saves. (Except Joel. He failed his save on purpose. <3) High Elf for Queen Lizzie.

Martyn: Tiefling, Swashbuckler Fighter

Another natural fighter choice imo, but Swashbuckler for The Performance. Tiefling because he’s a bit impish & also so he can have Thaumaturgy to constantly scare everyone with monster/mob noises.

Mumbo: Rock Gnome, School of Evocation Wizard

I need to Mumbo to be a glass canon. School of Evocation Wizard does that so well. He can blow shit up so good, but he takes one hit & he’s out. Rock gnome because he just wanted to be a little guy & so he can be a Tinker.

Pearl: Wood Elf, Beastmaster Ranger

Beastmaster Ranger so she can have Tilly as an animal companion. Also more combat than magic focused, ‘cause that feels right? Elf because that’s her vibe, wood elf because it made sense for her build.

Ren: Werewolf Shifter (Doglike), Bannerette Fighter

Ren really wanted to be a fighter, but he put all his points in charisma RIP. So yeah, he’s the fighter class that does the least actual fighting lol. Doglike werewolf because of course.

Scar: Half-elf, Wild Magic Sorcerer/School of Eloquence Bard multiclass

His first few levels were in sorcerer, to reflect his absolutely bonkers all or nothing luck. School of Eloquence because he’s the type to talk his way out of most any situation he can. Also: Scar is 100% a charisma caster. (He still uses a longbow, don’t worry; he gets proficiency with it from being a half-elf.)

Scott: Fairy, Lunar Sorceror

I have changed my mind the most about Scott. Landed on Fairy, because the Vibes. Sorcerer because I felt he’d have innate magic, Lunar because it gives him access to a wide variety of spells that make sense for him. (Like Shield. He uses Shield all the time. Can’t hit this man, no sir.)

Skizz: Protector Aassimar, Path of the Ancestral Guardians Barbarian

He attac, he protec. & most importantly, he place high value on bonds between folks. So giving him Ancestral Guardians just… yeah.

Tango: Fire Genasi, Battlesmith Artificer

I don’t think I need to explain this much. His Steel Defender is an Iron Golem.

[tamedstray]

obvi vigor x nox for the kid meme <3

Name: Karina Kovach

Gender: Cis female

General appearance: At first, Karina appears human or half-elven, with perhaps a touch of moon elf* heritage. She is extremely fair with soft waves of porcelain blonde hair. She has her father's brown eyes, though a wider patch of glacial grey-blue in the left eye. Karina is relatively tall (5'8'') with a lithe build. She wears her hair down to cover her ears, tired of hearing the insult ❝zenar❞ (less than half).

*mistaken as moon elf heritage

Personality: Determined and stubborn. Confident yet blunt. Despite growing up with a loving extended family in the Bailey. Karina is slow to open up to people, instinctively picking up on things in her parent's pasts they don't wish to talk about, and heavy with knowledge of how many horrible people live beyond the walls of her home. This improves as she enters adulthood, learning to become less closed-off and independent with time.

      Her appearance helps her blend in, but she resents the fact that Felicity can't, given that her older sister is such a radiant force of joy despite her unique appearance and disability. Karina considers it a great injustice, and feels a lot of anger towards those who hurt her family, even if she is fortunate enough to have never met them.

+ Highly intuitive, determined, hard-working, fiercely protective - Shuts people out, melancholic, difficult, blunt

Special Talents: As a young teenager, parts of Karina's appearance would shift when upset or angry. Eventually, she learned to cast Disguise Self at will, and has managed to control the more chaotic aspect of her changeling heritage. However, those who look closely with get a glimpse of suddenly darkening eyes, or streaks of colour in her hair that run like wind over water, only to vanish before anyone can be certain of what they saw.

Who they like better: Nox. She is lucky to be proud of both her parents, but looks up to Nox more than Vigor. She enjoys her father's playful side, but can't relate to his interest in nature or romantic tales. Her father might be a good man, and a symbol of diplomacy and change, but her mother built their home. Even so, despite all the love she has for her mother, it can be hard sensing pain that lay beneath the surface, and Karina often turns to Jaheira when she doesn't want to think about her grandfather.

Who they take after more: Karina's personality was heavily influenced by seeing her mother's work. But she wouldn't consider herself similar to her mother, despite sharing so much. Karina has yet to nurture the more gentle side within her, weighted down by anger at her grandfather and the people the Briar Knights hunt.

      In appearance, Karina appears more like her human father. She is grateful not to be subject to the same concern her mother and sister share, but seeing Felicity hide her natural appearance only fuels Karina's angry heart.

Personal headcanon(s):

Has developed secret signs with Felicity.

Extremely close with Felicity. Always nearby to translate for her, as well as being the first to react if anyone dared comment on her appearance.

She not only considers Felicity's curse a grave injustice, but Karina is insecure about being so closed-off and cold compared to her carefree and personable sister. She feels like she has to be more social, given that she can speak and lacks obvious changeling and shadar-kai heritage, but finds herself unable to meet the standard she sets for herself.

She can sing, but few are lucky to hear it. She mainly saves her voice for her sister, Jaheira, and Cordelia. She is too shy to sing around her parents. Her singing voice is soft and breathy.

Can play a few tunes on the lute. She is less shy about this, even if it's just a few basic songs. Has played for the Bailey's patrons a few times.

Overwhelmed with frustration and anger, Karina is approached by the archfey Oberon, offering her a pact that would grant her sister a voice. A small favour to ask of a King, so he makes a reasonable request in exchange: to one day join him in the Feywilds. Karina gladly accepts, becoming marked with tattoos in the process. She does not regret her choice, and honours Oberon by freeing enslaved and mistreated animals, just as her parents help those who need them the most.

Face Claim: Freya Allan

[memento-morri-writes]

Happy STS, Morri! You really intrigued me with your High Fantasy WIP, so here's a free pass to ramble!

YAY!! Thank you, Rose!!!

So, I introduced this WIP before as "Six of Crows meets a DnD campaign", and I hope to do that justice. But I still don't have much of a plot, lmao. But anyways...

So, the book is going to be narrated in 3rd person (it would be nice to be omniscent, but that seems hard, so idk.). The Narrator is actually a raven, one of the ravens of the goddess of death and fate, known as the Raven Queen. The book is framed as him telling the story of the party to the Raven Queen from the future. (Potentially on the advent of the party's death down the line.)

Also, there's going to be footnotes left by the raven, because he can't help but comment. (I fucking love books with footnotes and narrators who are characters (seemingly) completely removed from the narrative being told.) (for examples see The Book Thief and The Nevernight series.)

As for characters, well, I'm totally retconning the characters I said I was going to have before, mostly. So, new characters:

Avidra Shadowbreath (Avi) (they/them): Shadar-Kai (or whatever my realm's equivalent is) assassin/rogue who is searching for a specific item. has a Big Secret.

Asra [surname] (she/her): human thief/rogue, who just so happened to steal the object of Avi's search. (fun fact, her name means "travel by night")

Orion [surname] (he/him): not-quite human sorcerer with a talent for fire.

Brynn(?) [surname] (she/her): trans woman, human. former pit fighter(?) with a chip on her shoulder.

[name] [surname] (pronouns): shadow-power warlock who lives in fear of the next time they'll be possessed by their patron.

[name] [surname] (pronouns): healer who is haunted by past failures.

Also, I really want a badass bisexual pirate to show up at some point, but that's just wishful thinking.

Oh, and by the way, everyone is queer, and 2/3 of the confirmed human cast are POC.

As for plot, well, I know for a fact that things are going to start with Asra snatching something from under Avi's nose. Something she doesn't really know the power of...

And from there, well, let me do some thinking and plotting, and I'll get back to you on that.

[whatisurspaghettipolicy]

I rolled both of my long term DND characters in BG3 with the assumption that they'd already gone through some of their campaign shit in the game before being tadpole'd.

So from Out of the Abyss there's Rhea "I'm secretly a princess, my father is a king, a lich, and a Bane follower. He's a human who captured my Shadar-Kai mother and holds her hostage. My siblings and I were brutally abused and often played against each other. I trust only my twin brother, but I do not truly trust him because his fear of our father eclipses his love for me and he will sell me out if I tell him my secrets. I was raised to be evil and my first instinct is to be evil, and my nature is to be evil, but I am trying very hard to be worthy of my neutral goddess, The Raven Queen, who I am so aware is insane and probably isn't aware enough to hear the specifics of my prayers. There is nothing more important to me than memory; my father killed my girlfriend in front of me and I lean on her memory constantly as a phantom class rogue. I know I am doomed and will die when I finally face my father again in combat, but I want to bring as much Righteousness to the world as possible to balance that out, so I multiclassed to become a paladin, but my reasons for being a paladin relate entirely to vengeance so perhaps I am not worthy of that either, so I will overcompensate through devotion to my goddess. I am trying to be good and nice but it is alien to me and I often lash out with violence. I extend hands of peace and comfort to the wrong people, because I want them to be redeemable, because if they are redeemable perhaps I am. I cannot hope for Elysium, but one day perhaps when I die the Mother of Ravens will claim my soul and memories, embrace me in the Shadowfell and I can stay by her side, despite my many failings" Dancer Vs Curse of Strahd's Justin "I was raised by dragons in a monastery to Bahamut so I don't have a functioning understanding of what it is to be human, but I do have moral guilt and a sexual obsession with Bahamut's human form" Time.

They both come from different points too. Rhea comes from being stuck in the Underdark, newly knighted (Vengeance Paladin 3, Phantom Rogue 5), with a red dragon buddy she's teaching to be good as she learns how to be good. She's finally understanding that she can't bring her girlfriend or her friends back, but she can rely on their souls thanks to the glory of the Raven Queen. She might cry herself to sleep every night, but every day is a new... well, there's no dawn in the Underdark, but she's stopped giving herself raven themed tattoos with some ink and a needle when she's going insane at night.

Whereas Justin is from a game of Curse of Strahd where he has been driven fully fucking unhinged by his party, Barovia, and to an extent, his own god. In CoS, he has lost the ability to use a sword due to repeatedly breaking the tenets of the Oath of Devotion, so he gave his shield to his only friend (the druid) to protect her and rushes into battle punching and grappling people.

And roleplaying them with these stories in mind unlocks the most incredible stories like --

Rhea's entire position in the crew is trying to push them to be their better selves, trying to support them, sometimes being a massive dickhead and immediately trying to right the ship. After finding out about Orin's father, her initial response is to reach out to her because they aren't so different, in her mind. She romanced Shadowheart almost by accident, because she wanted to find her memories, and spent the rest of her quest increasingly furious at Shar for religious/personal reasons while hiding it.

Whereas Justin bumbles along threatening anyone mean as though he's not a 5'6 lil guy who was trapped in Strahd's domain of dread getting into bitch fights with a dhampir until super recently.

And like, how they respond to different origin companions hitting on them too - Shadowheart going "perhaps we can take a walk somewhere... :)))))" has Rhea immediately going "and I shall take a potion of water breathing along so I can eat it until I evolve gills" whereas Justin is totally put off by all this mammalian activity.

He's too busy trying to lick his own eyeballs to lick anyone else. Gale asks him to a secondary location and he assumes it's because Gale wants to eat more shoes, Karlach says she likes him, he figures they're buddies. Astarion makes comments about celebrating with sex and he's like "????? Did you lay an egg????" Lae'zel asks to taste him and he gives her a vial of blood. Wyll talks about dancing and he goes "seems physically inefficient. Good night." Shadowheart asks him to go somewhere quiet and he's like "hm, she must be impressed by the warding bond I cast earlier today and want to compare cleric spells."

(he will still hold all of their hands because heat is important even if none of them are cold blooded. And because the Bahamut Bible says nothing about not being allowed to hug the homies.)

Anyway I just like this game a lot that's it thanks everyone

[unbloomingmoonflower]

I tried to create my 3 DND OCs in FF. 

Top: Rieta

Middle: Liex

Bottom: Lidrethrann (”Liddi”).

Tidbits:

Rieta is an infernal Tiefling and a rogue. She can be quite caustic, but beneath her shell is a heart of gold. 

Liex is a Changeling cleric. No one knows what their true appearance is; currently appears to be human. (Liex’s pronouns is they/them). 

Liddi is a Shadar-Kai (used Elezen for the closest look). She is a Warlock. If you think you’re dead inside, spend five minutes with her. 

[horizonwalkers]

Thoughts on the Raven Queen?

I reworked her into a Shadowfell Goddess known as the Matron Raven who tldr is a lawful neutral goddess charged by the beyond-divine ancient incarnation of the shadowfell to ensure that ghosts stayed acourse on the road to the afterlife and that matters of undeath do not occur on the plane. She is the patron god of a civilization called Wynn’arsa and maintains a warlock pact with their ruler and gives them immunity to disease and poisons and a slight regenerative healing factor to help them live their full natural lives. In return for this, they help her fight a war.

She is locked in an age old feud with a mortal turned Lich-God known as the Gravedigger who, when she was only a new goddess, begged her to bring his mother back to life and she refused to and he got so pissed he became a lich and then a god. They are the only two entities in existence that know the other’s mortal name and he basically won’t stop until he’s killed her.

Most recently in the grand scheme of major events, Wynn’arsa nearly crumbled after a particularly brutal attack. The Matron Raven in a physical human form, has not been seen since. It’s about 3 generations of shadar-kai rulers later (so around 1k years- the ruler retires early to give their kid the throne) and the kingdom is finally recovered enough to focus resources to other areas besides war and rebuilding (in fact the current queen isn’t engaging in the war at all unless it’s for defense).

So tldr she’s in an eternal war against a bitchy 15 year old and she’s currently losing and if you guess why she’s no longer showing her Physical Form I will be very surprised and happy :)

[betaadmin]

recently started a CoS campaign as a player!!! and boy i am delighted by the composition our party and i think i’m gonna be gushing about ingame events here honestly. at least SOME original content and not just reblogs on this blog

let’s start with the lady I play, Irma Cleer, chronurgist! Stat block of a human but has vaguely pointy ears and quite slender features. Wonder if this is a personal attack of me against half elves which I dislike mechanics wise. ANYWAY! She told the party she must’ve been some sort of tutor or teacher, given the amount of paper on her person when she landed face down in the muds of the Svalich woods. Her magic seems to have gone errant in these dark lands, resulting in her casting having a big dunamancy flavour instead...

The we have Birgus, the dwarven grave cleric. This man’s a pyromaniac of some kind, talking about cleansing things with fire, he’s already suggested burning multiple bodies and buildings in the town of Barovia. One of those people that will eat something off the ground. The player only recently discovered how long dnd combat actually is and that bane is actually a wildly good spell since it lasts for one minute.

The party’s phantom rogue, the shadar-kai Taisiya. She has a strange sense of justice where she will break into a house to commit only a LITTLE robbery and instead make it look like the spirit of your sister is haunting you for revenge for treating your nephew badly. Has known Ireena for 3 hours and is already simping. Also, lads do NOT underestimate a rogue with misty step.

The pallid elf Veritas, a shadow sorceress. She loves ghosts and spooky shit, it looks like she’s having a grand ol time here in Barovia honestly. Definitely matches her aesthetic. She also loves shinies and will put her hand in dangerous locations to snatch something that sparkles. Crushed a gargoyle with a giant hand made of gravel and fake cried so hard at a funeral that she made everyone else feel like they weren’t emoting enough.

Then we have Otoya, human paladin, oath of the crown. Vanni as a player already knows this lad’s a hollow one. But of the party? Only Birgus, with his eyes of the grave, picked up a lil something from him. On the plus side, the man’s a tank! He seems to be able to get back up pretty easily after having his lights turned off every time! But we’ve seen weirder things in Barovia! Like a statue of some hot guy in a basement of a haunted house. Otoya stared at it in awe for a good while when we first found it...

[sol1loqu1st]

3, 4, 5!

already answered 3!

4. if you had to make your character a different player race, what would it be and why?

for lorawynn (who is a firbolg canonically) my second choice would be a shadar-kai elf. she’s a cleric of the raven queen and extremely goth, and shadar-kai in canon typically serve the raven queen and are also goth

for frankie (canonically a half elf -- half eladrin/half human specifically) i think if i had to go with something drastically different i might go with a gnome, just bc she has a lot of artificer-y flavor (although she’s a celestial warlock) and it might be fun to play a gnome artificer

5. a fun fact about your character?

lorawynn’s original concept was a lot more hostile than how i play her? she ended up being surprisingly friendly even though she’s a bit standoffish

and frankie was actually originally going to be a ghost in the machine warlock (from the modern magic unearthed arcana), but then the party, which consists of Only Warlocks, needed a healer, so i switched her to celestial and her patron is a Brand New Deity of technology

[confemogi1981-blog]

You won't notice the tiny seeds in your drink, but they'll provide a valuable serving of omega 3 fatty acids, which promote healthy cell membranes. Cell membranes regulate what nutrients go in and out of cells and also affect cells' ability to retain water. Healthy cell membranes mean moist, smooth and fine line free skin.. You gain nothing from treating each other like garbage and whether or not someone does something to make themselves feel good, who cares? Honestly. It's hard for the mods to catch everything, I know, but if you see something that's breaking the rules or seems sketchy in any way, just send mod mail. Don't start going in on someone based off of assumptions. It hard to like people you don relate to, but your job if you want to be successful with others is to figure out how to relate. We all human. We have 99% in common with all other humans. The Shadar Kai and Raven Queen, from what I remembered from tennish years ago in 4e, was waaaayyy less edgy. I ready for someone to correct me, but from what I remembered, the Raven Queen was just a mortal that ascended 고양출장마사지 to Godhood after killing Nerull and wanted death to be, I guess, neutral? She didn seem too mysterious, I feel like I understood her pretty well. Similarly, Shadar Kai seemed like really emotional, brash humans in the shadowfell who had to be really active or else succumb to the shadowfell. They all overwatered and very etiolated (the ones that aren may not have any roots). Harriet looks like it already dead. 2 4 hours of direct sunlight is nowhere near enough for most desert cacti, unfortunately, and watering so often in your conditions will only make them grow out of character and lead to rot. It an exaggerated analogy of the dog breeding, but it has some merit: Kefir sells puppies for $2 a pop, or L3 puppies for $10 each. F2P players can get puppies at a variety of locations, but there are potential costs there as well: Armor and weapons for the farm, or food for the little mongrels. Some players might use coins to accelerate the breeding process.. I loved it! I tried a fair share of "higher end" skincare and have been pretty disappointed with a lot of it, but this is one of the only high end skincare products that I really believe is worth the splurge if you able to. I had a really bad cystic acne breakout about this time last year, and it took about 3 months to clear up, and when it finally did, I was left with really bad hyper pigmentation, and to make matters worse, it was in the middle of my forehead so there was no way it could go unnoticed. I had tried the Sunday Riley CEO vitamin c serum and it honestly did nothing, but C Firma has dramatically lightened my dark spots. I hated my late 20 It was hard 고양출장마사지 AF, I couldn begin to pay my student loans and I was going into more debt because my income was lower than my living expenses. It felt hopeless a lot of the time. I left my chosen career path and went to work a low wage job for which I was way overqualified, moved in with my mom for a bit, and worked up into management where now I run the training department and finally make a living wage. Ex: White boy wears waves, durag, says N word. Because he "grew up around this culture" yet has no true experience of what it is like to be black. He is celebrated for his "edgy look" but if a black man wears said style, does things in his culture it is considered thuggish, gang behavior, ect. Part Five: 25 28 minutes. ROAD TRIP!!! But it actually a 20 minute drive, cuz Shane probably lives 15 minutes away in the same gated neighborhood. First, we get dinner at Casa Vega because bitch, we can do anything on an empty stomach.

[spectercollector]

Hubert von Vestra, deep fetchling curse witch

Behold! FE3H characters modeled as level-20 characters in Pathfinder 2nd edition! I spent way too much time on these, so please marvel. All the character art is sourced in the document. If you are familiar with D&D 5e, you'll recognize most of this. I've done 6 characters so far and would like to do them all, eventually. You can find PDFs of the character sheets in the link below.

• Race: Fetchling (you know how drow are elves from the underdark and shadar-kai in 5e are elves from Shadowfell? Fetchlings are humans from shadowfell, they're cool and spooky and colored in grays with shadow manipulation abilities)

• Heritage: Deep fetchling (resistance to negative energy)

• Background: servant

• Class: witch! (witches in Pathfinder have the flavor of warlocks in 5e, with magical abilities granted by a patron, but they act more like wizards and always have a familiar.)

• Familiar: witches in PF always have a familiar. Hubert's is a dweomercat cub, a baby magic cat that he named Mistress Lavella, Stalker of the Night. He invested a lot of abilities into her, meaning she can manipulate things as if she had hands, speak, turn into a tattoo on him, and also turn into a fetchling as well. I imagine he mostly uses her to spy.

• Highlights: (1) he can cast a LOT of spells. Like a lot, mostly of the cursing and debuffing variety. He has several ways to get more spell slots and use what he has in an efficient way. (2) he can extinguish even magical lights all ominously. Also he can take a group through the Shadow Plane to travel faster. (3) He has an ability to deal mental damage when someone damages one of his allies nearby.

• Equipment: He has some super-cool equipment, including a shield that can change into a staff that can cast some damaging wizard spells. Also a chess piece that grows into a wizard's tower. Slippers of Spider Climbing. A teleporting cloak. Due to aeon stones, he may be able to reflect mental spells back at the caster, and also if he dies he can resurrect himself once.

• Remarkable stats: 248 HP, 42 AC. His spell DC is 45.

[dunwichhoarder]

D&D: Mistwatchers

Session #2: Sunday, May 8, 2022

PLAYER CHARACTERS Cormag - Circle of the Moon Druid (Me) Barnabas - Artificer Faustaus - Plague Doctor Namless - Oni??? Grace - Brawler Grayson - Human ??? Kaitlynn - Cleric of Light

SETTING The town of Mistwatch is a port city located on the shore of Mistveil Lake. A population of 2,000 souls has dwindled closer to 500. The only access are via boat to the mist-shrouded docks or over a large stone bridge lined with statues of hooded figures holding dark lanterns.

From the bridge, a dark lighthouse can be seen in the distance. The small castle of the ruling lord, CADMUS ZASPAR, looms over the town. A tower in the castle is roughly the same elevation as the lighthouse.

RECAP In the previous session, it was learned the dead come out of the mists at night. They are not automatically hostile, seeming to perform actions related to their former lives. The remaining villagers remain quiet to avoid detection. The undead return to the mists as dawn approaches, but some fall inanimate to the streets where they are avoided for fear of infection.

The first group of players tried to get to the bottom of the mystery. They were told LORD CADMUS had fathered a child, but both it and the mother are believed to have died in childbirth. Some villagers say a witch spawned the undead when the baby died.

FAUSTUS obtained a few sample of necrotic flesh for experimentation. BARNABAS, charging through a house of the dead and stepping in the remains of a slaughtered dog, has become infected. The players saved children from zombiefied parents. The players set a zombie on fire, but it toppled into the village well and was extinguished. Near the village, the light and smoke of a large bonfire is visible. NAMELESS learns the zombies are indifferent to her presence.

SESSION The first group of players are clearing the remains of the zombie from the well as a wagon carrying CORMAG, GRACE and KAITLYN pulls up about a half-mile outside the village. They walk the rest of the way, passing an encampment of pale, robed figures. Irritated at first by their attitude, Cormag recognizes them as the Shadar-Kai, assassins also in service to the RAVEN QUEEN. Their leader explains that they were sent to retrieve a tall obsidian mirror that had been stolen. When she'd gone to the castle to insist on its return, her powers were unexpectedly removed. The Shadar-Kai plan to burn the village to the ground in two days in order to contain the plague of undead.

The leader's diminishing power allows her to see inside the village. Barnabas agrees to carry a small feather on a leather strap with him to aid her skrying powers. As the three prepare to leave, the leader gives them two healing potions.

A dog runs out of the mist and walks up to Grayson. Faustus examines it and finds it's just a normal mutt.

Nameless, needing to feed, enters a stable and kills a horse. She devours a good part of it before a stable boy enters and catches her. He runs in a panic, but she catches him and calms him (Nat 20). The child asks "Are you here to stop the dead?" She says they plan to try, and the child says they'll blame the zombies for the horse. With night fast approaching and the inn's doors now barred to troublemaking adventurers, the players split into groups: 1) CORMAG speaks to the DOG and learns the undead are everywhere in the mist-shrouded docks, but they ignored the dog completely. 2) FAUSTUS speaks to the leader of the Shadar-Kai on the bridge. She denies causing the plague of undead and warns him of "dark bargains" in the castle and tells him the obsidian mirror is from the Shadowfell. She says she barely escaped from the castle with her life. Her skrying allowed her to see into the bonfire area and robed figures who worship the Chained God. 3) GRACE, GRAYSON and KAITLYNN go to the church and try to gain entrance for the night. The graves in the cemetery are undisturbed, making it clear only the newly-dead are affected. The players are unable to get inside, but they hear the voice of an old man warning them away: "The town is lost!" 4) BARNABAS and NAMELESS investigate the bonfire outside of town. The cult of the CHAINED GOD have created a ring of barricades and chains. Inanimate zombies are strung throughout the perimeter's chains. Some of the villagers are gathered inside, handing over food or whatever tributes they can scrounge in exchange for safety. A robed WOMAN WITH BLUE HAIR greets BARNABAS and NAMELESSand offers them sanctuary for the night.

The leader of the cult, BARTLEBY HEFF, has chained himself to a large platform inside the circle near the large bonfire. The chains go through the platform and into the ground. He seems to recognizes BARNABAS, exclaiming that the CHAINED GOD had said others would come "to help guide these wayward souls." BARTLEBY claims his faith in the CHAINED GOD keeps the zombies at bay, but BARNABAS believes it could simply be the chained zombies are acting as a shield.

The players, in desperate need to rest, decide to take shelter with the cult.

In the remaining hour before sunset, NAMELESS, CORMAG (in the form of a mastiff), and DOG investigate the mist-shrouded docks. There are hundreds of zombies inside the mist, but they ignore the trio. All of the boats have been smashed except for one, the Mistwatcher, which is surrounded by undead who stare at it as if entranced. DOG leads CORMAG to the door of a tavern, The Sink, but they have no time to investigate and head for the bonfire to join their friends as the eyes of the surrounding zombies begin to turn red.

Back at the bonfire, BARTLEBY begins his loud sermon. FAUSTUS investigates and finds there is no special magic to the chains; they're just plain metal. The chained zombies begin to animate but are unable to break free. A villager recognizes BARNABAS as one of the infected and brings him to the attention of the cultists. The HOTHEAD CULTIST  confronts BARNABAS, threatening to throw him out of the circle. GRACE scoffs and says they can't throw them all out. BARNABAS says no matter what happens, the HOTHEAD CULTIST will be the first to die. The WOMAN WITH BLUE HAIR tries to calm the situation.

BARNABAS proposes climbing up to the zombies to see if they'll react. To his surprise, their eyes go red and they try to attack him. BARNABAS is attacked but manages to make a perfect landing (Nat 20). The zombie breaks free and BARNABAS shoots it. In the ensuing fight, the gun is knocked out of his hands.

The battle begins as NAMELESS and CORMAG near the circle. NAMELESS leaps up to the roof of a building and leaps into the circle. CORMAG, his time expended, shifts back to human form as he rushes toward the gap in the chains. A zombie slams him as he passes.

GRACE wades into the undead and begins pummeling them, and also fires a dart to damage the zombie attacking CORMAG. GRAYSON picks up the gun and shoots one of the attacking zombies. The WOMAN WITH BLUE HAIR stabs zombies to prevent them breaking through into the circle. BARNABAS retrieves his gun and shoots another zombie.

FAUSTUS, still on the platform with BARTLEBY, sprays a stream of acid at three of the nearby cultists. He tries to grapple with the old man, who screams "KILL THEM ALL!" before knocking FAUSTUS to the ground. Now it's zombies and cultists against the adventurers, but the zombies don't care who they attack. Some cultists are brought down by the undead.

BARTLEBY'S yelling draws the attention of BARNABAS and NAMELESS, who look beyond him and sees a MASKED CULTIST breaking the chains and allowing the zombies inside. GRAYSON looks at BARTLEBY but does not see the MASKED CULTIST ("I don't perceive shit."). BARTLEBY uses a magic attack that brings FAUSTUS to the edge of death, where he begins to have visions of his former assistant Magdalena ("You're almost there.")

CORMAG, having suffered damage from the undead, swings his scimitar at a cultist and then transforms into a DIRE WOLF. Two of the cultists tries to flee, but CORMAG rips out the throat of one of them. BARNABAS swings his sword at one cultist and fires at BARTLEBY.NAMELESS sprints across the battlefield to the MASKED CULTIST and begins attacking him. As his robes are ripped away, she sees he has pale skin and black hair. Before she decapitates him, she demands to know whom he serves. He answers "The Raven Queen" before he dies. The nearby zombies that had been attacking immediately lose interest. On his body, NAMELESS finds another feather with a leather strap.

By now the zombies are swarming into the circle. Frightened villagers try to run but the zombies bring them down with little effort. With no way to save the remaining villagers, the adventurers call a retreat. CORMAG leaps onto the platform and attacks BARTLEBY, who falls and breaks his tangled legs on the edge of the platform. His screams continue as zombies -- some of them his former cult members -- begin to stream toward him. NAMELESS picks up the unconscious FAUSTUS and runs for the church.

BARNABAS kills the HOTHEAD CULTIST. He quickly searches the body and finds a bracelet of tangled chain before fleeing with the rest.

The church is still barred, but NAMELESS climbs the bell tower and drops inside. The FRIAR is praying frantically at an altar as NAMELESS begins clearing the items blocking the door. CORMAG reverts to human form so he can fit through the narrow doorway with the rest. BARNABAS lights his lantern, which causes orbs of light to become visible around FAUSTUS. CORMAG begins to heal FAUSTUS.

As the zombies near the church, the FRIAR yells "You've doomed us all!"

-- SESSION ENDS --

[lorekeepers-library]

Chapter 4- Among the Ashes (Part 4)

For reference, our  our characters are Bella the Eladrin Bard/Druid, Dalamadur the Dragonborn Paladin, Everard the Human Wizard, Raphael the Tiefling Warlock, and Stellise the High Elf Bard/Rogue.

The morning after the shenanigans of Part 3, the party, excluding Everard, decided to investigate the burned down inn in town. The fire, magical in nature, started in the center of the main room. Only one person is known to have died in it. They visit the museum next door and learn about the innkeeper.

When they arrive at the innkeepers home, his mother opens the door and allows them to meet with him. He can only repeat the same four words--teeth, sword, pendant, and fire. Bella uses telepathy to see if she can discover anything else from him. She has a vision of two Shadar-Kai and a young Drow girl with fangs. The Shadar-Kai defend themselves with swords, and the building explodes in fire.

Next they go to the office of the town’s guard to see if they can retrieve the reports from the fire. Stellise uses Illusory Script to create fake paperwork requesting the files from the butler. The officer reluctantly gives them the paperwork they request. The officer was present at the fire, and his partner died in it.

Finally they take a moment at Moondoe (Fantasy Starbucks) to sift through the paperwork and discuss their findings.

Meanwhile at the fortress, Everard stayed behind to work on his gear (and flirt with Felyn). After lunch, Everard decides to investigate the basement. He find two doors--one magical locked and the other padlocked. He knocks on the padlocked door and hears footsteps and a giggle. He casts Knock to open the door. The room is a girl’s bedroom. A little Drow girl, who looks vaguely like Felyn but younger, stands in the center of the room. Everard then hears the basement door open and footsteps descending the stairs.

[theinvulnerabletide]

OC most likely to: 3, 4, 14, 16, 17, 21, 30

3.) Most Likely to Fall Asleep Literally Anywhere:

Hmm… I want to say Celandine. She is often up late working on projects and she’s got school and her parent’s shop and extra curriculars all going on so I bet there are times when my dear little gnome is justso exhausted she conks out wherever she happens to be.

The other answer is Lyra, since living on ghe streets means you basically have to be able tl sleep wherever you can find a safe spot, whether that be the rafters of a church or a cold, wet alleyway. She sleeps very light though, and can come out of sleep as quickly as she went in.4.) Most Likely to Get a Crap Ton of Tattoos:

Is it cheating to say Az'ar since her body is already covered in tattoos? Tattoos and scarification are a definite Shadar Kai thing; Az'ar has these swirling sigils all over her body, the highest one curling up on her left cheek.

Whisper I think would get a bunch of them if her skin was lighter. I bet human!Whisper has sleeve tattoos and everything.

14.) Most Likely to have a shotgun wedding:

Oh gosh. If it’s for a con, it would be Lyra I think. Married just long enough to some noble to clean out his coffers.

For real though? I have no clue. Most of my characters would never allow themselves to get into that situation and have no desire for marriage.

16.) Most likely to get into an argument with an animal?

Az'ar definitely argues with Isamine.

Whisper probably argues with Irusan at times, if he’s playing too rough with Steven. And let’s be real, Whisper argues with everyone, animal or not.

17.) most likely to use any and all excuses to take off articles of clothing.

Whisper. She knows she’s gorgeous, she likes being the center of attention and the carnival destroyed any body shyness she might have had.

21.) Most likely to get attacked by a bird?            Az’ar probably, after insulting Isamine one too many times.

30.) Most likely to have had an embarrassing middle-school emo phase.

Hm. It’s hard to say because like… Az'ar and Lyra are kind of still in their middle school emo/goth phase and are not embarrassed by it in the slightest.

Whisper probably would be the only one that would have an emo phase that would also be embarrassed by said phase when she grew up.

[soraavalon]

I don’t know why but I feel like posting a list of all the D&D characters I’ve made in the order of their creation.  It’ll be under a read more so it doesn’t take up space on the dash.

1. Nymera Zeborys - Tiefling - Sorcerer (Wild Magic)/Rogue (Arcane Trickster)/unintentional Warlock (Great Old One) [campaign she’s in (BD&BA) is currently on indefinite hiatus]

2. Corine Laramie - Human - Rogue (Assassin)

3. Gaelin Ithilruid/Sythaerin Frey - Wood Elf - Ranger (Beast Master) [Kinda meant to be part of the same campaign as Nym as he’s the son of the main antagonist of the campaign. This one is also featuring as an NPC most likely.]

4. Ophidrith - White Dragonborn - Cleric (Tempest Domain) [Only got to play this character one and a half times before she met her end.  I was guest playing in Ethan’s friend’s campaign and because of a storm, my internet got knocked out for hours (I completely forgot my mifi jetpack then) and not to postpone the game, I agreed to allow Ophi to be NPC’d which ended in her death and ethantherenegade to be a bit salty with me for nearly killing his character Soren. XD  I was following the DM’s orders and unknowningly dodged a bullet thanks to the storm because if I myself did succeed in killing Soren, Ethan would’ve gotten revenge against me by making Nym suffer in his campaign. XD]  [I don’t even have her character sheet anymore, when Ophi died, I deleted her sheet.  But all I remember of her stats is that she was not very dexterous.]

5. Aviris Orivaris - Half-Elf - Warlock (Archfey)/Rogue (Arcane Trickster) [She was originally gonna be my backup in case Nym kicked the bucket but the DM snatched her, so she’s an NPC in the BD&BA campaign. XD]

6. Akra - Green Dragonborn - Druid

7. Ravena Valespire - Human - Wizard (Transmutation)

8. Myrena Rozen - Tiefling - Sorcerer (Wild Magic)/Wizard (TBD) [campaign she’s in is on and off and Myrena’s not a wizard yet, but its what I intended for her character]

9. Tau - Human - Cleric (Life Domain)

10. Chara Arietis - Luminian (homebrew race) - Cleric (Life/Moon Domain) [The Moon Domain is a homebrew domain someone made that I’m tinkering with]

11. Firimil Naïlo - Drow - Blood Hunter

12. Ziki Winterborn - Goblin - Rogue

13. Chara Amarillys - High Elf - Cleric (Life Domain) [She was going to be part of an Eberron campaign and was originally Chara Arietis but the DM didn’t allow homebrew races, so next best thing was making her into a High Elf since I still wanted to play a Cleric.]

14. Pixie - Halfling - Barbarian (Path of the Berserker)

15. Avandra Karindry - Wood Elf - Sorcerer (Phoenix Sorcery) [Currently in ‘Guild Wars’]

16. Nyx Corva - Human - Warlock (Raven Queen pact)

17. Mirabella Arsinoe - Half-Elf - Wizard (Conjuration) [She knits enchanted clothing and her adoptive father is a crime lord that she has absolutely no idea about.]

18. Faye Van Der Zee - Halfling - Barbarian (Path of the Storm Herald) [Currently in ‘A Utopian Malfeasance’ which is Chloe’s steampunk campaign.]

19. Entrancella Reverence Daedithas Intari de Valdove a.k.a Trance - Tiefling (Abyssal) - Bard (College of Glamour) [This is meant to be my backup if Avandra gets killed and can’t be revived/resurrected.] (I felt like giving her a really long name for giggles and grins)

20. Nymera ‘Shadow’ - Tiefling - Rogue (Thief)/Sorcerer (Shadow Sorcery) [This is Nymera’s rework.  Her alignment is either Lawful or Neutral Evil.  Her background and backstory can be worked into Criminal or Clasp (if she was played in a Tal’Dorei campaign).]

21. Spring - Water Genasi - Ranger (Horizon Walker) [Her background can literally be Ashari because as I was thinking of her backstory, where she came from is very similar to the Ashari, which was unintentional.]

22. Katarin - Human Variant - Rogue (Assassin) [based on Kathrine from Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake] Human noble which two older sisters, became queen but her husband removed her from her throne which she is trying to reclaim.

23. Vyldove Virnelis - Half Elf - Oathbreaker Paladin (Inspiration came from Liam O’Brian’s character Jayne Merriweather from the Bar Room Blitz one-shot.) Follower of the Chained Oblivion, masquerading as a paladin of the Knowing Mistress Ioun.  When asked about what deity she follows (she doesn’t outright show it) she’s very vague about it. [Meant for a Tal’Dorei setting]

24. Hunt - Tielfing - Rogue (Thief) [Her bloodline is connected to Mammon, she does not have the best health and loves to steal money and anything valuable.]

25. Valzir - Tiefling - Fighter [His bloodline is connected to Zariel] He is marked with an enchanted slave brand due to his devil father selling him into slavery for reasons unknown. He’s seeking a way to disenchant the brand to break his bond with his master and venture back to Avernus to confront his father.

26. [Insert name here] - (Inspiration came from Liam O’Brian’s character Caleb Widogast) A spellcaster whose father runs an academy that specially trains casters from noble and royal families. Despite her social status, she attended the academy at her father’s behest, hated the entire experience and dropped out without his permission. Then along the way due to a strange string of events, she got age reversed to that of a child, but her mind remained in tact. (Class or race have yet to be determined)

27: Nymera Zeborys - Tiefling - Sorcerer (Wild Magic). [Vastrun rework and her bloodline is to Fierna] In this rework Nymera had a happier life because her father was successful with taking Nym away from Ali then unintentionally joined up with the circus that Alisandra’s family owns. Nym has no connections to the Flock in this incarnation.

28. Esaveil Faeyra - Half-Elf - Fighter. Esaveil is a bodyguard under the employment of the Floating Towers of Arcanix to protect students studying magic even though in the world, magic is being snuffed out by science and technology. Her charge got teleported to an unknown location because they botched a spell and now she’s on a quest to find them and get them back to the academy. [Currently in Jamy’s Champions of Eberron campaign]

29. [Insert name here] - Shadar-kai - Been ‘resurrected’ by the Raven Queen many times to continue her service meaning her true age surpasses most elves while her physical age appears young. She’s on the mortal plane to visit the Queen’s temples to ensure they still stand and prevent any mortals or beings from attempting to usurp the Raven Queen’s position.

30. Cantarella - Eladrin - Wizard (Necromancy). Daughter of the head of the Winter Court, denizen of the Feywild. At first glance she appears to like anything and all things cute, which is true, but she also loves all things undead. For several years of her life she remained a Winter Eladrin until she changed to Spring and loved how she felt.

[miss-purple-marmalade]

The 2017 Campaign is a go!

So its been a while since I posted about the Dungeons & Dragons game that I run. We had a few intro sessions at the end of last year, and in all honesty, it left me with little hope. Oh boy was I wrong to think so!

After the party got crazy in the basement of the curio shop, chasing down Shadar-Kai assassins was the new task. And so they did just that. Climbing down into the sewers beneath the city of Blacklight, our Monk, Druid, Witcher-style Ranger, Swordmage, and Wizard took on the task of finding the witch that got away.

Upon entering the sewers, the party quickly finished off a wounded assassin and sought to tend to a wounded old man sitting in torchlight not too far away, on the far end of the tunnel. Some failed insight rolls and all is well, for about five seconds, after which the old man shifts his form into that of an Oni, catching the party off guard with his hypnotic miasma breath (to put them to sleep if they fail their saves). Two more Shadar-Kai with greatswords, and the Oni with his huge morningstar proceed to charge headlong into the nearest enemy; the monk who proceeded to hit 0 Hit Points very quickly.

The monk failed his saves and was dazed, allowing him to be cut up and pummeled with a morningstar by a 10ft Oni, not too dissimilar to how mashed potatoes! Within the last round or two, Salxius the Tiefling Fire Wizard threw a great big fireball into the crowd, unfortunately toasting the last 17 negative hit point the monk could stay alive with, and dealt some nice damage to the Oni, who fought to the very bitter end.

Fast forward to the end of the fight, where the Dragonborn left to seek help for the wounded. Our resident monster killing ranger man saw fit to loot the bastard Oni for whatever he could, taking up a curious deck of 22 black tarot cards. The cards were entirely black with grey skulls on them, regardless of the side they looked at. Not surprisingly in the hands of curio shop owning assassins. Who’d-a-thunk it? –Now if you’re familiar with the Deck of Many Things, I had this loot planned waaaayyyyyyy before the monk died, and what happened is entirely coincidental after some major deck shuffling… But it’s basically 22 cards that have bizarre effects, half of them bad, and I let the party have 3 draws before it took off to some other plane of existence. Because it does that. Magic deck of cards. Don’t care about no universal rules. It does whatever the fuck it wants. ANARCHY!– However, when the card is drawn from the top of the deck, it reveals the face of the card and bestows it’s effect upon he or she who draws it. So the Witcher-style player pulls a card, and gets The Moon, allowing him 2 minutes to get an instant cast of any ritual for free with none of the downsides. He resurrected the monk… and I’ve never seen that player so mind blown at his own filthy luck… Our resident pyromaniac Tiefling pulls The Wizard, and every nonmagical item he owns gets erased from existence. Even his gold. Chaos is my best agent. It does a good job in my games. Finally, a dazed monk with no memory of being dead pulls The Hierophant, and gets three questions that he can ask at any time that will always be answered with the full detailed truth. Problem is, he only has three and they’re gone forever if he dies again..

With nary a puff of smoke or a wave goodbye, The Deck Of Many Things was gone. Whisked away to cause utter chaos in another realm. Doubtful they’d ever see them again. It certainly put use to my tarot cards! ^^ They loved the prop. I enjoy it when they’re enjoying it. That’s the glory of being a DM.

The session after that, little else happened. Some players left to go back to University, and a returnee player joined us with his Runepriest (a class we have never seen played before) who happens to be a Kenku (humanoid crow man). A lot of exchanges went on that day. It was very roleplaying heavy as they travelled deeper into the bowels of the sewer old system.

So at this point the party consists of: ● Salxius the last, an unshakably narcissistic Tiefling Fire Wizard. ● Tai, a less than predictable and not very lucky Human Stonefist Monk. ● Svenku, a sarcastic and just a little bit cynical Kenku Serene Blade Runepriest.

Along with the aid of Sir Lanthian the Red, one of the Black Rose Knights (whom they bumped into by chance as he and the kenku were together– SHHHHHHhhhhhh). They promptly discovered that the assassins were led by a black dragon named Nightshade, and they took her on, driving her out from the cistern of the city sewers and saving Blacklight to be ravaged another day! ^^ *Huzzahhhh for the heroes and whatnot!*

So they made a few allies after such challenging events, and having the monk experience the infinite nothingness of death for all of two minutes. They earned an assload of gold and a magic Serpent Mask whom the Tiefling took as compensation for losing his gear. In addition to wealth rewards, our heroes have the favor of the Count of Blacklight. Who knows what they’ll do with that? I’m certainly scared to find out, that’s for sure…

I’ll probably write the rest up later. Because in the actual big adventure we just started, A LOT happened in the first three sessions. Way more than I expected to do. And we had a fourth player join the team! But she’s introduced in the next write up. Spoilers; she’s a Wood Elf Rogue! (I have a –metaphorical– boner for elves and players who prefer bows!)

If you made it this far.. thanks for reading my rushed catch up of the Dungeon Delve we ran for my core players to get used to their characters. ^^ With a solid team of four players again, I’m sure that things will be a lot more in depth and certainly more interesting. It’s been a real pleasure to be their DM this year so far!