#2D6 Plus Cool

[lordgreenmoon]

Bilan Rôliste - Second semestre 2023

Les premiers jours de l’année sont généralement l’occasion des bilans, mais aussi celui des listes de résolutions ou d’objectifs. Voici donc le bilan Rôliste de mon second semestre 2023. Comme attendu, l’été a marqué un ralentissement significatif dans mes activités JdR. Pour avoir échangé sur les différents réseaux, il semblerait que je ne sois pas le seul pour qui le break de Juillet.…

[thecreaturecodex]

Zap Kraken

Image © Turtle Rock Studios

[Sponsored by Soluman Blevins. The second of the Evolve monsters I've done, other than the warpwraith. Mechanically, the Kraken is interesting, but design wise, it's a little drab. Because it's just a Cthulhu. The lightning bolt wings are a cool touch, but otherwise, it's very much a Cthulhu. And in a game that already has Cthulhu and his star-spawn, I wanted to differentiate it a bit. So I tied it to one of my favorite one-shot weirdo monsters from the 3e era.]

Zap Kraken CR 16 CE Aberration This immense creature has a roughly dinosaur-like body and the head of a colossal cephalopod. A vertical maw stretches between its beard of tentacles, and two large jointed appendages grow from its back and crackle with electricity. Its long tail is segmented like the vertebral column of a great beast.

Zap krakens are rare aberrant creatures that use electrical energy for both offense and mobility. Although they are enormous, they fly with surprising grace by manipulating electricity, essentially creating wings of lightning that hold them aloft. They are remarkably stealthy for their size, and can sneak up on prey from above before dropping to melee or merely blasting away with channeled lightning bolts.

Zap krakens are territorial, and maintain their territory by creating banshee mines, so called for the shriek of their explosions. These mines home in on creatures that get too close, and the zap kraken can also visit them to see what it has seen, similar to a prying eyes spell. Although zap krakens typically view other creatures as prey first and foremost, they have a mutual fondness for zeugalaks. Both species have tentacled maws and an affinity for electricity, and sages speculate that they are related to each other. A zap kraken often views zeugalaks the way a nobleman views their prized hunting hounds, using them to flush out prey or occupy melee combatants. 

Zap Kraken CR 16 XP 76,800 CE Gargantuan aberration Init +7; Senses blindsense 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +17

Defense AC 30, touch 14, flat-footed 22 (-4 size, +7 Dex, +1 dodge, +16 natural) hp 225 (18d8+144) Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +15 DR 10/magic; Immune cold, electricity; SR 26

Offense Speed 50 ft., fly 100 ft. (good) Melee 2 claws +18 (2d6+8), tentacles +17 (4d4+8), 2 wings +16 (2d6+4 plus 1d6 electricity) Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft. (30 ft. with tentacles) Special Attacks banshee mines, lightning strike, shock pulse

Statistics Str 26, Dex 24, Con 28, Int 11, Wis 19, Cha 19 Base Atk +16; CMB +28; CMD 46 Feats Blind-fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Hover (B), Mobility, Multiattack, Stand Still, Weapon Focus (claw) Skills Acrobatics +20 (+28 when jumping), Fly +21, Intimidate +17, Perception +17, Stealth +16, Survival +17; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth Languages Aklo

Ecology Environment warm hills Organization solitary or band (1 plus 1-4 zeugalaks) Treasure standard

Special Abilities Banshee Mines (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can create up to three animated mines. Treat these as the eyes generated by the prying eyes spell, only when a creature approaches within 30 feet of them (all creatures or of a type set by the zap kraken on creation), they fly towards that creature and explode. Treat this as a ranged touch attack using the zap kraken’s modifiers (+19 for a typical specimen). If it hits, the creature struck takes 4d6 points of electricity damage and 4d6 points of sonic damage. Whether the mine hits or not, it explodes, dealing this damage in a 5 foot radius (Reflex DC 23 halves). A zap kraken knows when one of its mines has detonated as long as it is within 1 mile of the mine. A zap kraken can create up to nine mines a day, but can have a maximum of three in existence at a time. The save DC is Charisma based. Lightning Strike (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can call down a bolt of lightning within 160 feet. It fills a column 60 feet high with a 20 foot radius, dealing 16d8 points of electricity damage to all creatures in the area (Reflex DC 23 halves). A zap kraken can use this ability once every 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma based. Shock Wave (Su) As a standard action, a zap kraken can release an electrical pulse in a 60 foot radius centered on its body. All creatures in the area take 16d4 points of electricity damage and are pushed back 10 feet. A successful DC 27 Reflex save halves the damage and resists the knockback effect. A zap kraken can use this ability every other round. The save DC is Constitution based.  Tentacles (Ex) The tentacles of a zap kraken are treated as a single primary natural weapon

[anim-ttrpgs]

Example of Investigative Gameplay in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy

Here is the recently rewritten and updated example of investigative gameplay from the Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy rulebook.

Here’s a simple example of an investigative scene featuring Investigation Rolls, Full Successes, Partial Successes, Failures, Investigation Points, and the Eureka! Mechanic. In this example, 1920s detectives Nick Morgan and Hector Law, played by players Addison and Ash respectively, are on the trail of a gang of bank robbers, and have found the office where one suspect works as a dock supervisor. On their way up, they can hear two voices from within the room and some sounds of shuffling. They walk in, but find only the suspect’s secretary, Hugo, standing there awkwardly. The Narrator also describes that the office is a small room without much furnishings. There is an open window facing back towards town. There is a desk with several papers on it, and a marble paperweight, but an overturned wine bottle has soaked them. Wine is dripping off the corner of the desk to the floor.

[off to the side in final formatting] In an actual session, there should always be more description than just the points of interest, but for this example we are cutting flavor and extraneous detail for the sake of being concise and clear. It’s already multiple pages long.

It’s plain to see that the suspect tried to make an escape, but to where, they don’t know. Law’s player, Ash, decides that Law is going to play it cool and just ask where the suspect went. His Charm skill is better than his Threaten anyway.

At the same time, Morgan moves straight to the window, thinking that the suspect might have fled that way, and there might still be time to catch a glimpse of him getting away.

Politely stopping the secretary from intercepting Morgan, Law tells Hugo “Hello, we’re here to talk to [the suspect], and we thought he was in here just now. Can you tell us where to find him?”

Ash rolls the dice, 2D6 + Law’s Charm, which is +1. The first die lands on 2, the second lands on 3, and adding that with the skill modifier makes it a total of 6. (2+3+1=6) Uh oh, not good, a 6 is a Failure. Law isn’t smooth enough to get Hugo to rat out his boss just like that.

The Narrator tells the players that Hugo just kinda sweatily twiddles his thumbs a bit before saying “He, um, is out of the office right now.” That isn’t very helpful, they could already plainly see that. At the very least, from the Failure, Law gains 3 Investigation Points. He already had 10 from all the investigation that led them to this office, so now he has 13/15. He’s very close to a Eureka!

Ash writes down in her notes “Failed roll to ask Hugo where the suspect went.” A Eureka! Point might be able to be used on that later.

Meanwhile, at the window, Morgan looks out and his player, Addison, asks what he sees. The Narrator says that Morgan sees a small lot of fresh mud below the window between the office and the rest of town.

Addison asks if Morgan sees any footprints in that mud.

The Narrator says no, Morgan sees no footprints.

Neither Addison nor Morgan need any sort of roll to figure out that if the suspect had hopped through that window and ran through the field, there should be a fresh trail of footprints there. He can’t have gone this way. So where did he go?

Note that the Narrator did not outright mention the lack of footprints until Addison asked.

Now back to Law. Ash asks if Law can get a look at those papers on the desk. The Narrator tells her that he can, but Hugo is going to try and stop him, saying “No no, that’s confidential customer shipping information.”

Ash decides that Law is going to try his Charm again to talk past Hugo. She rolls the dice as Law says “Relax, I just can’t stand to see wine go to waste like that.” He moves past Hugo to set the bottle back upright.

The 2D6 roll is a 6 and a 5, plus 1 from Charm, but the Narrator interjects. He says that Law isn’t just going to the desk to clean up, he’s trying to get a look at those papers. And plus, earlier in the adventure, Ash said that Law doesn’t drink wine, he prefers whisky, which means he’s outright lying about the wine. That means that this is more a job for the Manipulate skill than the Charm skill.

[off to side in final formatting] The Narrator is not saying this to punish, talk down to, or otherwise antagonize Ash, it is just his job to make sure that all the mechanics are correctly applied to the actions of the story.

“Hm, that’s right, I did say that.” Ash says. “Then we’ll use his Manipulate skill, since he’s definitely lying. He hates wine.”

Law’s Manipulate skill is -1 instead of +1, making the roll 6+5-1=10. Luckily, a 10 is still a Full Success.

Hugo mumbles and doesn’t move any further to get in Law’s way. He can’t see a way to stop Law without looking more suspicious than he already is. Law sets the wine bottle upright.

Also, with a Full Success, Law gains 1 Investigation Point, giving him 14/15.

Ash says “Now that Law’s gotten close to the desk, he’s going to try and look at those papers. That would be Paperwork, right?” The Narrator confirms, it would be a Paperwork roll.

While Ash check’s Law’s character sheet to remind herself what his Paperwork skill is, Addison says that Morgan is going to really study Hugo. Does he look like he’s hiding anything else? Addison makes a Social Cues roll for Morgan, whose Social Cues skill is +2. (4+3+2=9)

A 9 is a Partial Success. Morgan gains 2 Investigation Points for himself, and the Narrator says that Hugo definitely looks supremely nervous, he has his fingers crossed, and his eyes darting around the room, which might mean that he’s hoping beyond hope that the investigators won’t notice something else. Exactly what, though, Morgan can’t guess with only a Partial Success.

Now Ash makes the Paperwork roll for Law. His Paperwork is +1. (3+3+1=7).

A Partial Success. The Narrator says that he’s reading the paper upside-down, so it’s hard to make out exactly what it says, but he can at least see that it appears to be a spreadsheet dividing $10,000 between four people, whose names are listed. Linda, Terry, Marcus, and “Me.” When Law tries to turn the paper around, however, it disintegrates, completely ruined by the wine. Darn.

Ash checks her notes from the previous session. “$10,000 is how much money was stolen from the bank, so Law thinks this must be the names of the other robbers. Oh, also, he just got a Eureka! Point.”

That’s true, the Partial Success on an investigation roll gave Law 2 Investigation Points, taking him from 14 to 15. Ash erases all but one of the check marks on the investigation Point Bar on Law’s character sheet. Normally, she would erase them all, but the extra leftover Investigation Point carries over towards Law’s next Eureka!.

Law could save this Eureka! Point for something later, but Ash thinks it would be most helpful if he had his Eureka! moment right now.

Ash points to her sheet where she wrote “Failed roll to ask Hugo where the suspect went.” and says she wants Law to retroactively succeed at this failed investigation roll, and get the information that he would’ve gotten if he had done a better job questioning Hugo.

The Narrator nods and says that when Law looks back at Hugo, he notices that the secretary’s eyes are fixed on something near Law’s feet for just a moment, before darting away. When Law looks down at the floor, he sees that the wine is pooling weirdly just under the desk, and seems to be disappearing into a small crack there....

The Narrator doesn’t say any more, he doesn’t need to.

Ash says that Law crouches down and starts to push the desk aside. She asks if he needs an Athletics roll for this, and the Narrator says no, the desk isn’t that heavy. Even if the desk was that heavy, an Athletics roll would probably not need to be made, because a Failure would not add anything interesting to the scene. If there were mobsters about to break down the door and Hector was trying to push the desk around to make a barricade, then would be a good time for the Narrator to call for an Athletics roll, because there are stakes, and so a success or failure would result in the something very different happening in the scene.

What the Narrator does confirm, however, is that when Law pushes the desk back, he sees a small trap door, but suddenly Hugo grabs the marble paperweight off the desk and goes to smash Law’s head with it!

What will happen next?! Read the exciting conclusion in [melee combat example].

You can have investigations like this by either downloading the free shareware rulebook from our website or getting the full version for $5 on our Patreon.

Also, behind the scenes, this example of gameplay is based on the actual gameplay of our group using Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy to play the Call of Cthuhlu adventure module "A Mother's Love", written by Seth Skorkowsky.

[rpgsandbox]

MCDM’s first original game, a new Heroic Fantasy RPG from the folks who brought you;

Strongholds & Followers

Kingdoms & Warfare

The Illrigger

The Beastheart

The Talent

Flee, Mortals!

Where Evil Lives

Comes a brand new game, built from the ground up to give you a better system for running a better game.

Xorannox, The Tyract Lord Syuul

A Fantasy RPG where your character starts, at level 1, already a hero. Maybe even locally famous! You might meet in a tavern, or start in the middle of the action! 

Whether you’re a group of local heroes sent to investigate mysterious goings-on in the nearby haunted wood, or famous mercenaries plotting and scheming in the big city, the MCDM RPG makes building adventures and fighting monsters fun.

Basically, any adventure or story you’re running in your current Fantasy RPG, you can do that in this game. Just, in a more straightforward and fun way, unburdened by sacred cows from the 1970s.

You can absolutely run epic games with heroes exploring dungeons, but this game is not about dungeoncrawling. You don’t track torches or rations or worry about running out of light.

You can plunge, heedless of danger, into a dark and haunted forest, but this game is not about exploration. No hexes to explore.

By focusing on the core fantasy of epic heroes fighting monsters and tyranny, we think we can deliver a better experience for your friends and your table.

Fighting monsters in this game is a dynamic, action-oriented blast. Heroes and monsters often have abilities that knock their opponents into walls, through doors, into each other. 

Every hero has a small array of cool, thematic abilities they can use every round. You gain resources in this game as you play, so battles get more epic as they go. No slog.

The game uses 2d6, plus a handful of d4s and d8s. When you attack, you roll 2d6, add one of your attributes, and that is how much damage you do. Your attack roll IS your damage roll. 

You cannot miss. No more wasted turns, no more burning resources on spells only for your target to “save.”

Lady Morgant Lord Saxton

We love fighting monsters! But there’s more to the game than that!

Certain NPCs can be negotiated with to get them to change their allegiance or reconsider their actions. (Technically, ANY npc can be negotiated with but there’s usually only one per adventure) These NPCs have stats like Patience and Interest. 

We also plan on rules for Research & Crafting to let players unlock ancient secrets and build wonderous marvels. 

We have ideas for how to make language fluency relevant, better rules for wealth, renown. But it’s unknown how much of that we can fit in a 400 page rulebook.

full resolution - What is this game?

full resolution - Building A Heroic Narrative

full resolution - Tactician

full resolution - Dwarves

full resolution - Revenants

full resolution - Forced Movement

full resolution - Kits

full resolution - Necromancer

We are funding two books!

Heroes Basically, The Rulebook. Approximately 400 pages of rules for making characters, character customization, advancement. There’ll be ancestries (classic and new!), classes, skills, rules for combat, negotiation, research & crafting, and more!

We really like customizing characters and giving players lots of options. Even two heroes of the same class and ancestry can be very different in this game.

Monsters A monster book! Basically, Flee, Mortals! without the Villain Parties or Environments. MOST of the monsters in our 5E monster book, plus all the stuff we had to cut, and a bunch of new stuff!

You’ll also get rules for building balanced (or deliberately unbalanced depending on how much trouble your players have gotten into) encounters.

We’ve been testing and developing this game internally for almost a year now, but that was just the folks at the office and our friends. The first packet went to our Contract Testers back in August and have been pounding on it ever since.

The game is already working and it’s already fun! For the next 18 months we’ll be adding more classes, ancestries, progression, customization, and rewards.

We take testing very seriously. We want to make books that are fun to read, full of great ideas for your world and your game, and fun to play and that takes time. Polish, iteration, and lots of testing.

You do not need to take our work for it, come to the Discord and talk to them directly, or join a future playtest.

We think we can get these two PDFs finished by June of 2025, but we don’t think you’ll have to wait that long to play it.

If things go well, we intend to get you, our backers, a playtest packet sometime next year, hopefully by Q2 2024. 

We intend to publish this game under an open license, probably something like the Shadowdark license, because we want you, and anyone who wants to, to make, share, publish their own work using these rules and set in this world.

We hope, by the time the PDF exists, folks will not only have been playing this game for months, they’ll be making, sharing, selling their own original works using this material.

Lord Kenway Pinna

Backerkit campaign ends: Jan 5, 2024 at 8:01am GMT

Website: [MCDM Productions] [facebook] [twitter] [instagram] [youtube] [discord]

[soylent-crocodile]

Mortis Hound (Monster)

(Mortis Hounds by Chippy)

(I designed these before I decided I was actually making phyrexian creatures into Specifically Actually Phyrexians, rather than just Vague Evil Forces. I think the phyrexian hound design- another design that was kept between new and old phyrexia- is just. Really cool.

And if the tags aren't warning enough, content warning for animal abuse in this one.)

CR4 NE Medium Aberration (Phyrexian)

Mortis hounds may not be the most dangerous of phyrexia's creations, but their birth is perhaps the most sadistic- they are created from the corpses of dogs, creatures many humanoids value, which are tortured, killed, and reanimated without any spark of their original soul. They are perhaps a mockery of friendship and companionship outside the glory of phyrexia, and are nearly universally reviled by those who know of them.

Mortis hounds act as scouts and trackers of phyrexia, having a particularly keen nose, inability to tire, and a fierce hunger for humanoid- and canine- flesh. Other times, mortis hounds are simply created out of stray dogs and allowed to run wild on a local population in a savage act of war.

This creature resembles a skeletal dog, with its skull replaced by a long forcep-like mouth. Misc- CR4 NE Medium Aberration (Phyrexian) HD6 Init:+4 Senses: Perception: +4, Low-light Vision, Lifesense 60ft, Scent Stats- Str: 16(+3) Dex:18(+4) Con:12(+1) Int:4(-3) Wis:8(-1) Cha:14(+2) BAB:+4 Space:5ft Reach:5ft Defense- HP:33(6d8+6) AC:18(+4 Dexterity, +4 Natural Armor) Fort:+2 Ref:+7 Will:+3 CMD:21 Resist: Cold 5 Immunity: Acid, Poison, Disease, Fear, Fatigued Special Defenses: DR5/Slashing and Piercing Offense- Bite +8(1d8+3 plus grab), 2 Claw +5(1d4+3) CMB:+7 (+9 grapple) Speed:40ft Special Attacks: Distal Jaws Feats- Multiattack, Weapon Focus (Bite) Skills- Perception +4, Survival +4 (+4 Racial bonus to Survival checks to track) Special Qualities- Shriek Together Ecology- Environment- Any Languages- Necril (Can’t speak) Organization- Pack (2-4) Treasure- None Special Abilities- Death Throes (Ex)- When a mortis hound dies, its body splinters into jagged shards. Creatures within 15ft of the hound take 2d6 slashing damage, reflex save for half. Distal Jaws (Ex)- A mortis hound’s bite attack is considered to be a manufactured weapon with reach for the purposes of ignoring defensive abilities, such as that of the spell Fire Shield. Shriek Together (Ex)- As a full-round action, any number of mortis hounds, none of which may be more than 30ft of any other, may shriek. Non-aberration creatures within 100ft of any of these hounds must make a DC12 Wisdom save or become frightened. Once a creature makes this save, it is immune to the shriek together ability of all mortis hounds for 24 hours. Each mortis hound beyond the first that participates in this shriek adds +2 to the save DC.

[honourablejester]

5e Character Concept: An Aberrant Ooze

Right. So. The thing I wanted here was a character who did primarily acid damage. Or, since primarily acid damage is asking a bit much, at least regular acid damage. Because every so often I pick one of the weirder damage types and try to play around with it.

And acid … see, the reason I picked acid is that oozes are probably my favourite creature type in all of D&D. So I want something on a theme of a schlorpy little dude. Or gal. So for race, we’re going to be picking plasmoid, whatever else we do.

For class, I’m pretty sure we’re mostly looking at spells to do acid damage, and most of the acid dealing spells are on the sorcerer/wizard lists. There aren’t that many of them, mind you. But. If we’re thinking sorcerer. Sorcerers can get the transmuted spell metamagic, which for 1 sorcery point will let you swap the damage type of a spell that deals one of the following to another of the following: acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, thunder. I love this for storm sorcerer/tempest cleric multiclasses, and it’ll do here too to let us drop a giant ball of acid (fireball) on top of our enemies. It’s spending a lot of sorcery points just for a damage type, but eh. If you want a rarer damage type, this is kind of what you’re looking at.

There is one acid spell that’s not on the sorcerer list that I’d kind of like: Primal Savagery, a cantrip from the druid list that gives you acidic claws, it’d work real nice on a plasmoid to mimic most oozes’ being able to just unarmed hit you for acid damage. Plus it’s a melee cantrip, and sorcerers only get shocking grasp there (or booming/green flame blade), so I might pick up either Spell Sniper or Magic Initiate to pick that up later on.

Now. If we’re a sorcerer, and we’re aiming for a theme of ooze … there mostly isn’t one. There isn’t really any subclass on a theme of ooze. But, if we want slimy, tentacley things, Aberrant Mind is an option? The slimy part of Revelation in Flesh we already have just for being a plasmoid, but it could also give us writhing sensory tendrils and/or glistening mucus that gives us a fly speed, so that’s fun. Also it gets us Hunger of Hadar, which is another of the acid spells that’s not on the sorcerer’s list.

The one thing with Aberrant Mind is that it’s psychic damage themed, rather than acid damage. And psychic damage isn’t really an oozy sort of thing. Except.

What if we’re not technically a plasmoid? What if we’re actually an oblex. Specifically, what if we’re a memory duplicate an oblex made, that thing they do where they eat someone’s memories and extrude a pod person copy of them, that somehow detached from the main oblex and wandered off by itself. After a while, without the parent oblex to maintain it, the duplicate lost cohesion and devolved back into a vaguely humanoid reddish hunk of slime, but it still has some foreign memories and aberrant psychic magic as a result? We’re not quite an oblex spawn directly, something weirder happened, and now we’re a lost, fractured personality of stolen memories inhabiting a mobile pile of goo.

(Did I mention I love oozes? I really love oozes. Oblexes are such a cool monster, I adore them. “The oblex extrudes a piece of itself that assumes the appearance of one Medium or smaller creature whose memories it has stolen. This simulacrum appears, feels, and sounds exactly like the creature it impersonates, though it smells faintly of sulfur. The oblex can impersonate 2d6 + 1 different creatures, each one tethered to its body by a strand of slime that can extend up to 120 feet away.”).

Yeah. Yeah, I like this. An aberrant ooze, an oblex spawn, full of bile and torment. (Aka full of acid and psychic damage). A wandering ghost of a mostly likely murdered person, their form eroded into nothing, and only scattered memories remaining.

I wonder … I think I’d want a custom background for this, call it something like ‘amnesiac’. Take Stealth and Survival, maybe, as the skills, or Stealth and Sleight of Hand, and I wonder if a DM would let me borrow from a race feature as a background one? Because if so I’d like to borrow the Reborn’s ‘Knowledge from a Past Life’: “You temporarily remember glimpses of the past, perhaps faded memories from ages ago or a previous life. When you make an ability check that uses a skill, you can roll a d6 immediately after seeing the number on the d20 and add the number on the d6 to the check. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.” I do want their actual race to be Plasmoid, you see.

So. To pull all of that together. An Amnesiac Plasmoid Aberrant Sorcerer. A collection of fractured memories in a reddish, oozing form. Maybe we’ll pull in some influence from Juiblex, too. He’s a demon lord, not an ooze or an aberration, technically, but he’s the creator of all oozes and pretty fucking aberrant on his best day. If he took a holiday in the Far Realms, none of the locals would so much as bat an organ-analogous-to-an-eye at him. So later if we pull out Hunger of Hadar or Evard’s Black Tentacles, we can say that’s Juiblex’s influence threading through our magic, his vast writhing pseudopods slipping through a crack in the world to answer our call. Yeah. On top of our oblex nature, a being born from stolen memories extruded on a string, some part of us also calls back to the Faceless Lord himself.

But we remember being something else. Humanoid. Normal. We remember being a person. And now we’re wandering the world trying to figure out how much of one we still are. While gently or not-so-gently creeping out everyone in our general vicinity in the process.

And mechanically, we’re not too bad off either. We’re a standard enough sorcerer, but we’ll have resistance to poison, acid and psychic damage by level 6, and we’ll be theming our spells around acid and psychic damage, aided by the transmuted spell metamagic.

So. Picture a distinctly reddish plasmoid, one that smells faintly of sulfur, one that holds itself oddly at times, like it remembers being differently shaped, remembers being someone else. A very nice, perhaps oddly innocent plasmoid, that nonetheless is a little off. And that, when threatened, has a tendency to hurl acidic bile and eldritch horrors at people. Heh.

I just really love oozes, you know?

[18catsreading]

Katja: he kind of looks like a horse to me. And you know what has --

Brennan: this six-legged tentacles cat wearing armor looks like a horse?

Rekha: yes, Brennan, and his tentacles look like horse brushes!

All: laughing, Someone I couldn't catch: Listen!

Rekha: So Brennan, if you wouldn't be so fucking rude, can I hope on one of these thing's backs and then try to attack it by using it's own tentacles like a brush and kill it?

All: laughing

Brennan: I --

Rekha: you know I'm gonna ask one stupid fucking question pe campaign!

Sephie: do it! Do it!

Brennan: give me an athletics check, give me an athletics check, give me an athletics check

Aabria: let's go! You have advantage!

Izzy: oh, is there any way I could cast Guidance?

Brennan: I'm gonna let you cast Guidance. You can add a d4 to this, DC 20

Aabria: uh, you have advantage cuz of the thing right?

Rekha: 16, plus --

Erika: oh wait, is this a strength check?

Rekha: wait, 16 plus athletics you said?

Brennan: yeah

Rekha: 25

Izzy: it's done

Brennan: oh my God

Becca (I think): add the d4 anyway

Brennan: okay, so Cinnamon runs up

Rekha: oh, add the d4?

Becca: add his advantage

Izzy (I think): wait is cinnamon jumping on top of this thing? Is she on cinnamon on --?

Aabria: roll the d20 again

Rekha: yeah. Okay, I'm rolling again.

Brennan: okay

Rekha: fuck, don't count that it doesn't matter.

Becca: it went under the seat

*all laughing*

Rekha: this one didn't matter either, so pick the other thing I did, 25

Brennan: I've lost - I've fully lost, I've lost it.

Overlapping chatter: it's gone off the rails, you've lost control. Control, completely

Brennan: yeah 100%< 100%

Becca: you still have me in the air!

Brennan: I still have Penny! So, uh, 25, cool, so Cinnamon is going to gallop up behind these ether beasts and I'm gonna say that cinnamon also readies an action to move again when the way is clear.

Rekha: cool. To jump on the king?

Brennan: go ahead, you made your acrobatics check. So you jump on one of the ether beasts in front of you

Becca: it became Rekha's fanfic

Brennan: so you jump on one of the ether beasts in front of you. do you want to jump on the middle one or the one to either side?

Rekha: if I'm trying to get to the king I want to jump on the middle one to get to the king.

Brennan: you're gonna will Smith from "wild wild West" like jump from ether beasts to ether beast, saddle to saddle like?

Rekha: I will do what you will let me do in this game.

Brennan: you leap, and you make it onto that ether beast

Sephie: oh my God.

Izzy: Which one?

Rekha: the middle one?

Brennan: the middle one. Are you going to do the brush attack?

Izzy: brush attack, canon

Rekha: yes

Brennan: amazing. Go ahead and roll your first attack roll

Aabria: this is the best day of my life

Rekha: okay, that's just a 15. Am I adding, like what do I add to it? The same as my?

Brennan: I'll tell you what you're not gonna add to it, your goddamn proficiency bonus.

Rekha: why?

Aabria: she's been brushing! She's been brushing shit the whole time!

Rekha: I'm proficient at brushing!

Sephie: she should get it, she should get it

*overlapping chatter*

Brennan: no!

Rekha: I would argue the only thing I've done this whole campaign is brushing!

*all laughing*

Brennan: oh my God. You are gonna add your strength modifier alone. These things have an armor class of 13. You hit on an 8 or higher.

Rekha: okay, wait, my strength modifier is this big guy? *Gesturing at her character sheet*

Brennan: yes yes yes.

Rekha: so that was an 11

Brennan: 11, so you rolled a 6 and added 5?

Rekha: yes

Brennan: well you miss on the first one, you may roll again.

Rekha: 17

Brennan: 17 hits, incredible

Rekha: so what do I roll for damage for a brush attack?

Brennan: it's own things do 2d6 damage so you're gonna roll 2d6 adding your strength modifier which is plus 5

Izzy: and so these things sort of have teeth in them?

Rekha: yes, if you look, I've been observing this for this entire round

Izzy: so you're sort of taking it and then puncturing itself

Rekha: *makes brushing motions*

Brennan: you're stabbing it in the head with its own spiky tentacle, yes

Izzy: oh, and you're gonna pull down

Rekha: I'm pulling down like I'm brushing

Aabria: you have to go with the coat

Rekha: yea, with the coat

Becca: it's the only thing you know how to do

Aabria: that's how you keep it shiny

Brennan: incredible

Rekha: seven

Brennan: plus five

Rekha: oh, 12

Brennan: so you deal 12. Are you doing any maneuvers to it, or no?

Rekha: I mean, I gotta right?

Aabria: yea, if you want

Rekha: okay. Do any of these maneuvers make sense if I'm on the thing? Uh, because

Becca: you're at 41, it wouldn't be the worst thing to heal

Brennan: of your maneuvers, you have riposte. You have push attack, push attack makes sense. You would not, you have movement left so if you wanted to hit it with its own tentacle and try to knock it off of the bridge with its own tentacle you could do that.

Rekha: yea

Becca: hit it's friend off

Rekha: would it -- can I dominoes?

All: laughing, Brennan's face goes 😑

Becca: may I --

Brennan: it's so, here's --

Becca: use the reaction to

Rekha: may I dominoes?

Brennan: may you dominoes. With all of my love.

Rekha: no

Brennan: I didn't, you know, and sometimes there's like a fun way to put it, but sometimes it's just, hey, no.

*all laughing*

Brennan: hey Rekha, straight up no

Rekha: okay

Izzy: you are right

Erika: it's good to have boundaries

Izzy: yeah! You're riding an ether beast

Rekha: last stupid question before I do your pushing attack. I can't also stick these two brushes *screen shows tentacles* in the ass of the king in front of me? *Screen pans to the ether beast king's ass* May I?

Erika: spits out her sip of water

Sephie: please. things come out!

Rekha: I'm just asking!

Erika: oh no

Sephie: bite him. Get him, get him

Erika: I need --

Brennan: did you just snarf, oh no!

Erika: I just spit

Brennan: oh my God

??: get her a tissue!

Erika: I'm sorry. It's fine

Brennan: oh no, hey Rekha, you want to drop a piano on his head?

Rekha: no, my thing --

Brennan: you want to paint a cave on the wall real quick and he runs into the cave?

Rekha: my thing -- my thing is available! You've got two brushes. I want to stick it in the king's ass!

Sephie: all in favor of sticking it in the king's ass, raise your hand

All: raise their hands

Brennan: this is not a democracy!

Rekha: okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, Brennan, okay, "Brennan"

Izzy: "Brennan"

Brennan: if that is my real name

Izzy: if you only knew what's in the --

Rekha: okay, so I'll do a "pushing attack"

Brennan: go ahead and roll your d8

Rekha: oh, yes, this one ... So that's a 3

Brennan: an extra 3 damage to the ether beast, now it's going to roll a strength saving throw against your DC, your DC is 17. It succeeds on its saving throw and is not pushed over the edge but does take that damage. You are still riding it.

Rekha: okay, um, so I can do a bonus action?

Brennan: you can do a bonus action

Rekha: I'm gonna second wind

Brennan: hell yea

Rekha: so 1d10 plus 9

Brennan: 1d10 plus 9 coming your way

Rekha: 15

Brennan: Katja heals 15 hit points from second wind. You are riding, Cinnamon's right behind you. That is Katja's turn

Katja: I love you! [To cinnamon]

Izzy: yea Cinnamon's jealous

Rekha: are you jealous?

Brennan: and at the end of your turn--

Rekha: no response

Aabria: oh no!

Izzy: she's pissed. Read, you're on read

Rekha: oh wow, oh wow. She's in the doghouse tonight. The fucking doghouse tonight.

Izzy: she doesn't like to see you riding someone else

Sephie: you rode someone else right in front of her

Rekha: I'm in the stables tonight, baby, oh boy

Aabria: she says that so much. There's no universe in which --

Rekha: anytime cinnamon gets mad

Brennan: at the end of your turn, Katja, Kurraghran is going to teleport behind Ostentatia and make a tentacle attack

Rekha: is he scared that I'm going to stick tentacles in his ass? 🥹

*all laughing*

Brennan: honestly yeah! You know, what do you want me to say? Yea, he's terrified. He has no idea what is going on.

Katja: he doesn't want one of his kids tentacles in his ass?

Izzy: he's gonna get an ass-full of rings in a second

Aabria: is he their dad?

Brennan: incredible

[theinstagrahame]

Not to go all Game Designer on Main (too late, I know), but again found myself thinking about D&D as a game, and again... failing to see the appeal.

By volume, combat accounts for like 75-80% of the rules. I find the combat system ponderous and dull, which means I tend to avoid it at all costs. I just don't find it fun to wait 10 minutes for my turn to Do the Cool Thing on my character sheet, find that the opportunity passed 2 turns ago, and whiff my basic attack *again*.

But this leaves us with about 25% of the rulebook being dedicated to everything else, including a lot of the rules people always tell you you can ignore (encumbrance, lifestyle, food and water, etc). What's left is a bunch of stuff that I find interesting (sneaking, animal handling, perception, deception, acrobatics, sleight of hand, and a bunch of other stuff). But, we again run into mechanics that I am not interested in:

1d20 + Modifier vs Difficulty

The DMG doesn't have a ton of guidance for how to set Difficulty (not no guidance, but also not much I found helpful when running), so it feels very arbitrary. Players also don't have a wealth of resources to impact that roll, outside of Advantage/Disadvantage (which is probably why people are always asking if they have it).

And the outcome is usually either: you do the thing OR you do not do the thing. Which, depending on context, could be interesting, but could also be boring, or possibly soft-lock some content behind a door you can't open.

Plus, I think other systems do it better. Here are some other systems I'm familiar with, and how they do it (I think) better:

Powered by the Apocalypse

One of the core ideas of PbtA games is that whenever the players touch the dice, something in the world should change. So, something as simple as picking a locked door becomes way more interesting, because if you fail, you could: Alert guards to your presence, Take harm, Lose something valuable, or Whatever Else the GM Comes Up With.

We are still looking at a roll:

2d6 + Modifier vs 2-6 Fail; 7-9 Mixed Success; 10+ Full Success

Adding that extra layer of success changes a lot. Mixed Success adds a lot of Narrative Juice, because in addition to the players' success, their situation can get worse. Statistically, 7-9 is also more likely than the other two outcomes (I think? I did get a D in stats in college), meaning you can succeed but also make things a lot worse for yourself in a few rolls.

But another neat design element is: moves with triggers. Players can choose moves during character creation that also impact how things progress. The move might trigger "When you pick a lock" or "When you fail to pick a lock", and then give the player or the GM some kind of tool to use during that situation. Sometimes it's just a tweak to the modifier, sometimes it's another option for the outcome. In some cases even it's "whenever you pick a lock, the door always opens; but on a failure, the worst possible thing is on the other side."

Now, picking a lock is a really interesting choice.

Special Case: Monster of the Week

MotW in particular has a neat additional mechanic: Luck. Players can spend their Luck resource several times per campaign (usually 7), and declare that a roll was a Full Success. The resource is Limited, and the book tells GMs that players who run out are Doomed, which makes it a capital-D Decision every time someone uses it. This forces us to wonder: Is this lock *worth* picking? Is it Mission-critical, or can we find another way in?

Forged in the Dark

As a system, FitD is very much drawn from Apocalypse games, and has some similar ideas behind it. But, we have some interesting changes.

First, a roll is a bit more of a process:

Describe your process. Work with the GM to determine what kind of roll you're doing. (This is interesting, because different skills have different statistical ratings, but also because they can change the outcome. You could "Engineer" the door lock open, or you could "Wreck" it; both will get you past the door, but one may take more time, while the other may leave more evidence).

Determine Position and Effect. If it goes well, how well does it go? If it breaks bad, how bad does it go? (Knowing the stakes up front helps you make a decision about what resources to commit, and feels realistic, in that your character would be able to foresee some possible outcomes).

Assemble a dice pool, based on your rating and any resources you're spending. (Dice pools are already a different mechanic, but you also have resources to increase your odds. All characters usually have Stress or a similar resource, which you can spend for extra dice, position, or effect--or that your colleagues can spend to help you out).

Roll the dice. Look for the highest result (or Lowest if your rating is low). Again, we're looking at Success/Mixed Success/Fail. Things change in the world based on it. (FitD games also use a lot of clocks and tracks, and typically a Mixed Success or Failure ticks up some of the "Bad" clocks, and Successes or Mixed Successes tick up "Good" clocks. Some of these clocks are secret, and some are open, which gives players a sense of how their actions have consequences.)

Resist consequences. You can also spend stress to undo some of the negative aspects of a roll. (If the GM introduces a bad consequence, such as "You set off the alarm while picking the lock", you can roll and take stress to say "Actually I stopped that.")

There are also PbtA-style moves with triggers, but the dice mechanic here is already doing a lot. I like that the stakes are written up front, and it also encourages the GM to come with some ideas for what could go wrong, but not plan too much (Which I also really hate doing anyway; planning is hard!)

It feels like a lot written down, but genuinely when you're playing, it feels very smooth. It also helps keep people engaged, because the options to help are more at the forefront, and the outcomes impact everyone equally.

No Dice No Masters / Belonging Outside Belonging

This one is a slightly odd case, but it also draws from the PbtA design philosophy. Generally BoB games are GMless, so we're already putting everyone's hand on the narrative ball in a different way.

Your character sheet will probably have something like the following:

Strong Move (Spend 1 token to...)

Succeed without any negative consequences

Basic Move (You can always)

Complete a task, but draw unwanted attention

Weak move (Gain 1 Token when you)

Completely fail at a task and draw unwanted attention

Let's assume you already have 1 Token, and you want to pick the lock.

You could do it. But, you can also talk to the rest of the table and ask: "Hey, is it narratively interesting if I succeed here? Or are things going a little too smooth, and should we mix things up?"

This is probably one of the things that trips new NDNM players up, because it's so unlike other systems. You can choose the outcome! You and your fellow players are encouraged to "Metagame". You're telling a story with your friends, and it can be the story you think is cool.

Resistance System

(as seen in Heart and Spire)

Resistance is another dice pool system that uses Stress, with d10s instead of d6s. There are also moves, as in other systems. But, there are a few interesting things that I think are worth looking at.

Characters have Skills that they're good at, and Domains that they're familiar with. A Skill is going to be something like your Lockpicking (or a more general, like, mechanics skill), while the Domain is going to be related to the area you're in. The locks in a "Technology" domain are going to be different than those in a "Haven" or "Wilderness" domain (I don't remember the exact terms, so I'm kinda fudging them).

So, as you assemble the dice pool, you get bonuses if you have the right Domain and Skill. You can also get a die for help from other players, as well as a die for a Knack: Something you're especially good at. The roll ends up being:

1d10 + 1d10 (if a relevant skill) + 1d10 (domain) + 1d10 (if getting help) + 1d10 (knack) (- dice for difficulty) = Success +/- Stress.

(With a gradient, where low results give you stress with no success, and higher rolls give you success with no stress, and all results in between)

The Stress is what's interesting, instead of being a resource, it's closer to your HP, but you have different kinds of it. So the GM will tell you up front what kind of stress you're taking. After you take any stress (and there are ways to not take stress, or take less of it), you roll again to see if you get fallout.

Fallout can be temporary or permanent, and usually has a mechanical consequence. Fallout can also take different levels, and upgrade over time. It does give each roll a sense that the player is pushing their luck, and hoping the fallout doesn't take hold. This makes the rolls feel very significant, because even picking a lock badly could turn into a Fallout; so is it worth taking that kind of a risk?

----

And this is just three categories of games that I think do it in a more interesting way. There are a ton of other games out there, many of which I've never even played, so I don't know how they work. I also think there are ways to spice up a 1d20+mod roll in interesting ways, but generally, I prefer that kind of stuff.

[ink-flavoured-tea]

Fun D&D Builds 10: Long Armed

Reach is a pretty useful skill for weapons, for those who are new to 5e it gives you an extra 5ft to your melee attacks which allows you to hit a creature that is 10ft away from you, without needing a ranged weapon or throwing your last dagger. But let’s see if we can expand this reach a little more…

What you’ll need: 

Bugbear Character Option 

Fighter Class - Rune Knight Subclass or Battle master Subclass

Either a Halberd or a Glaive

How it works:

First, you will need a Halberd or Glaive, this weapon will automatically give you 5ft reach allowing you to hit creatures 10ft away from you. 

Next, you’ll want to be a Bugbear. They give you an additional 5ft of reach thanks to their Long-Limbed feature. This will give you a total reach of 15ft, plus your weapon attacks will do an extra 2d6 damage if your target hasn’t taken their turn yet.

For your class you’ll want to go for Fighter, choose the Rune Knight Subclass and get to Level 18. This will take awhile but at level 18 your Giant’s Might feature gives you an additional 5ft of range for 20ft total will all the above features working together, you’ll also get access to some cool runes and an extra 1d10 damage for 1 minute.

Alternatively, you can choose the Battle master subclass and go for Lunging attack, this will allow one attack per turn to gain an extra 5ft reach at level 3. The downside is that this only works for one attack, but if you multiclass into Paladin, Warlock or Ranger then you can stack up some spells/features to buff the attack's damage.

For your feats I recommend going for: 

Polearm Master - This allows you to make opportunity attacks against creatures who enter your reach range and you can use your Halberd or Glaive to make an extra attack as a bonus action (it only does 1d4 damage but hey, damage is damage) 

Sentinel - For locking down your enemy’s movement and triggering opportunity attacks even if they take the disengage action 

Slasher - Reduced target’s speed by 10ft if you hit it with an attack (this doesn’t stack against the same target BUT you can use it on multiple targets) and if you score a critical hit then your opponent has disadvantage on attack rolls until your next turn. 

Martial Adept - If you have chosen the Battle master variant of this build then you get an extra Maneuver die for an extra Lunging attack. If you’re going for the Rune Knight Variant then you can gain another 5ft of reach (25ft total) for one attack and do extra damage. 

[m0nochromem0use]

tell me everything about monster of the week it sounds interesting i want a paragraph please please please

WONDERFUL monster of the week is a powered by the apocalypse ttrpg. that means it’s based off the monster of the week genre where there’s a different monster or antagonist for every arc (think buffy, supernatural, the x files) and the driving force behind every plot is the apocalypse (which can mean a bunch of different things, but usually translates to the monsters killing a whole bunch of people). the players are various types of monster hunters who have to work together to investigate the monster or antagonist of each arc, find their weakness, and then stop them from killing a whole bunch of people. you only use 2d6, and rolling works on a success, mixed success, or fail system- 1-6 is a fail and you don’t do what you wanted to do, 7-9 is a mixed success and you do what you wanted to do but there’s consequences or you only do some of what you wanted to do, and 10+ is a success and you get to do what you wanted exactly how you wanted to, sometimes with added bonuses. there’s a whole lot more mechanical stuff i could explain but it’s a very simple system especially compared to d&d, and it’s easy to find free pdfs of the rules online which i implore you to do if it interests you because it’s super fun!! it’s a mystery focused game so there’s a lot more roleplay and investigating than combat, which is part of the reason i like it so much lol. also, similar to call of cthulhu, the game master is called the keeper!

NOW what i was talking about in that post. the different types of monster hunters are the classes of this system, called playbooks. they’re what determines the skill sets, moves, and general vibe of each player character. some are professional or experienced investigators, some are magic users with funky powers, and a couple are straight up otherworldly beings or monsters themselves! i’m sticking to the classic playbooks and the playbooks from the tome of mysteries expansion for my picks for the jrwi boys, but there are also a ton of awesome homebrew playbooks out there. you can find a huge masterlist of them by just looking up “motw playbooks”. ANYWAYS here’s the playbooks that i think the jrwi guys would pick:

charlie

the mundane: charlie seems to love a good just some guy character and that’s literally what this playbook is. they have no special powers, no expertise on monster fighting, NOTHING they are just a dude. i think he’d find that extremely entertaining and also figure out a way to make it incredibly angsty

the initiate: basically a cult member and the closest thing you can get to being a warlock in motw, which was in my head because i listened to the suckening rolled earlier today and charlie mentioned how regardless of what setting he’s in in a game he’s always looking for a way to make a pact with something LMAO. the playbook also has a lot of built in dubious morality on the side of the cult, which i think he’d have fun with

the chosen: this one feels obvious, with how often he plays characters who are chosen ones. the chosen playbook also tends to be quite tanky, at least every time i’ve seen it played/played it, which i think he’d like. plus you get to customize your own weapon and i think he’d have fun making a sword that can kill god

grizzly

the gumshoe: a classic detective type. i honestly have no proper reasoning for thinking grizzly would pick this playbook but the vibes are right for some reason. i’m picturing arthur style brooding with a noir detective vibe, a juno steel type character yknow

the divine: in terms of aesthetics, this is rumi if she was a monster of the week character. the playbook comes with a cool divine weapon that does a shit ton of damage but the move set is geared way more towards support, and i think it’d be interesting to see grizzly play a support character

bizly

the crooked: bebo plays a lot of criminals what can i say. the crooked playbook has specific backgrounds, and i think he’d have fun with the charlatan or fixer options. this is also one that you can take in a much more cartoony direction if you want which i think suits him

the wronged: the thanatos of motw playbooks babeyyyy. the wronged is all about losing someone you cared about to a specific type of monster and dedicating your life to hunting them down. again, very thanatos, but a lot of bizly characters have the theme of searching for someone they lost or attempting to make up for not being able to save those people, which is one of the most common routes i see played with the wronged

the flake: the timothy rand of motw playbooks! bebo loves his paranoid conspiracy theorists! this one i picked because i think he’d find the move set funny there is a move that rewards you for doing the opposite of what someone advises you to do, and one that’s literally called crazy eyes. very chip very rand i think he’d have fun

condi

okay condi is the hard one because he doesn’t really have a “type” the way the other three do. i honestly think that out of all of them he could take any playbook and make a really interesting and character out of it. my top picks would be the spellslinger (cool magic user) the spooky (little freak), and the searcher (little freak but without supernatural influence), but more for vibes than anything. again i think he could pull off any playbook

thank you for coming to my extended monster of the week ted talk hope you enjoyed

[pathfinderunlocked]

Shrieker Raven - CR14 Magical Beast

CAW

Artwork by Ceileigh on Tumblr.

This creature was inspired by a combination of The Shrieker from Darkest Dungeon, and Anzu from World of Warcraft. See also the weaker, smaller version, the shrieker raven broodling.

Shrieker ravens are giant, malformed ravens that make their nests in ancient and powerful trees, in places such as deep elven forests or the First World. They collect shiny trinkets and fill their nests with them, and will attack intelligent creatures who carry valuable-looking objects that are made of metal, gemstones, glowing magic, or anything else that looks expensive.

Shrieker ravens aren't intelligent, but they're capable of speech, similar to parrots. They can learn a handful of phrases, and as their name implies, tend to shriek these phrases at the top of their lungs. If you're the GM, I recommend making it repeat three cool phrases and one really stupid one.

Although it can fly, a shrieker raven isn't actually very good at flying, and prefers to force enemies to the ground or send its brood after them.

This creature uses the “overwhelmed” condition, a condition that I use for a lot of monsters.  In my own games I nearly always replace the stunned, paralyzed and nauseated conditions with overwhelmed when enemies inflict those conditions onto PCs.

Shrieker Raven - CR 14

With patches of its feathers missing and replaced with bulbous growths, this enormous raven seems to be hideously malformed. It has compound eyes, similar to a spider, and porous lumps growing from its back. It stands on the ground with an almost gorilla-like stature, and seems to have claws on the ends of its wings.

XP 38,400 N Huge magical beast Init +8 Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +16

DEFENSE

AC 26, touch 13, flat-footed 21 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +13 natural, –2 size) hp 189 (14d10+112) Fort +16, Ref +13, Will +9 Immune sonic

OFFENSE

Speed 25 ft., fly 20 ft. (poor) Melee 2 talons +20 (2d6+6 plus 2d6 bleed), bite +19 (2d6+6) Ranged regurgitate +17 touch (5d8 acid plus regurgitate, DC 24, see text) (10 ft. range increment) Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks call the brood, mind voices, regurgitate, shrieking caw

STATISTICS

Str 22, Dex 18, Con 25, Int 2, Wis 16, Cha 12 Base Atk +14; CMB +21; CMD 36 (cannot be tripped) Feats Ability Focus (mind voices), Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (talons), Iron Will, Toughness, Weapon Focus (talons) Skills Fly +3, Perception +16

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Call The Brood (Su) Once per day, as a full-round action, a shrieker raven can call upon its flock with a loud shriek. At the start of its next turn, 1d4+4 shrieker raven broodlings arrive from the ethereal plane at locations within 100 ft. of the shrieker raven, and assist the shrieker raven in combat, attacking its foes. The shrieker raven broodlings remain for 1 hour.

Additionally, when it uses this ability, a shrieker raven enters the ethereal plane, gains a new saving throw with a +8 bonus against any effect it is currently suffering from that initially allowed for a saving throw, and gains 4d8+20 temporary hit points which last for 1 hour. After 1 hour, or when all the shrieker raven broodlings are killed or helpless, whichever comes first, the shrieker raven returns from the ethereal plane and is staggered for 1 round. A shrieker raven can return from the ethereal plane early as a 5-round action, after which it is instead stunned for 1 round.

Mind Voices (Su) Once per day, as a swift action, a shrieker raven can fill the mind of a creature within 100 ft. with constant unceasing shrieks which become louder whenever it tries to cast a spell. The target must succeed on a DC 19 Will save or be permanently cursed. A target afflicted by this curse takes a -5 penalty on concentration checks, and whenever it attempts to cast a spell or spell-like ability, it takes 1d8 damage and is staggered for 1 round. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Regurgitate (Ex) As a standard action, a shrieker raven can regurgitate a large, vile glob of thick stomach acid and launch it at a target. This is a ranged touch attack with a 10 ft. range increment and a maximum range of 50 ft.

A target hit by a shrieker raven's regurgitate attack takes 5d8 acid damage and must succeed on a DC 24 Fortitude save or be sickened, blinded and slowed (as the slow spell) for 2d4 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.

A creature can use a standard action to remove the stomach acid from its eyes or the eyes of an adjacent creature, ending the blinded condition for that individual, or use a full-round action to also remove the slowed effect. Jumping into a lake or being subject to an effect that creates a lot of water (such as create water or hydraulic push) removes all the stomach acid in 1 round, ending both the blinded and slowed effects.

Shrieking Caw (Ex) A shrieker raven can spend a standard action to shriek at the top of its lungs, sending out shockwaves that deal 10d8 sonic damage to all targets within 100 feet, overwhelming them for 1 round and causing them to fall from the sky if flying. A DC 20 Fortitude save reduces the damage to half, causes flying creatures to only fall 20 feet, and negates the overwhelming effect. This is a sonic effect; creatures immune to sonic damage are not overwhelmed and do not fall. This ability is usable once every 3 rounds and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a -4 penalty.

An overwhelmed creature is staggered and cannot concentrate. If an overwhelmed creature attacks or casts a spell, it falls prone and becomes helpless until the beginning of its next turn after doing so. Effects that would remove or prevent the paralyzed or nauseated conditions also remove or prevent the overwhelmed condition.

[lordgreenmoon]

Bilan Rôliste - Premier semestre 2023

Introduction Voici bien longtemps que je n’ai plus rien publier en ces lieux. Et pourtant, depuis janvier 2022, je suis certainement dans une période faste de ma vie de Rôliste, même si l’on est loin de l’âge d’or des année ‘80/’90. Avec une trentaine de parties en 2021/2022, pour un total d’un peu plus que 100 h de jeu, cela faisait bien longtemps que je n’avais plus jouer au temps. Et ce…

[thecreaturecodex]

Redback Gorger

Image by Johnny Duddle, © Simon and Schuster

[Sponsored by @glarnboudin. An Awfully Beastly Business is a series of chapter books for young readers, set at a nature reserve for monsters. I read the first of them, and it was okay I guess. I'm definitely not in the target audience for them, but likewise if I was eight to ten when they came out, I could see myself having fixated on them. The redback is the cover monster of the second book, Sea Monsters and Other Delicacies, in which the villains hope to use it as the centerpiece of a seafood feast of exotic monsters. In order to avoid giving the redback just an adjective name, I resorted to the "adjective verber" formula beloved of Magic the Gathering and 4e D&D.]

Redback Gorger CR 17 N Magical Beast This creature resembles an octopus with the face of a frogfish. It has a craggy exoskeleton covering its body, studded with red plates along its back. It has eight tentacles, each of which is as thick as a tree trunk and lined with suckers that ooze a black resin. Growing from its head is a very long, flexible appendage ending in an eyeless blue snake’s head.

Redback gorgers are among the rarest of sea monsters—rarely is there more than one adult per ocean basin on any given planet. They are long-lived ambush predators—they spend most of their time resting or slowly swimming along the abyssal plains, then move higher into the water column to hunt. Although their jaws and tentacles are strong, they prefer to incapacitate their prey by injecting it with a super-cooled venom, carried in the fangs of their false head. The false head can smell, hear and sense heat, and can strike around cover. The redback gorger feeds primarily on large fish and small whales, which it paralyzes with its venom and then swallows without a struggle.

Despite their massive territorial requirements and rarity, redback gorgers can communicate through infrasound vocalization, similarly to whales and elephants, and use this to demarcate territorial boundaries and determine fertility status. Redbacks mate only once or twice in their long lives, but produce around a million tiny planktonic eggs during each mating event. The vast majority of larval redbacks are eaten while still tiny and planktonic.  On the rare occasions a redback gorger appears on the surface, it may probe its surroundings with this false head, giving the impression that a sea serpent or plesiosaur lurks below the surface instead of a much more dangerous predator. They can survive on land for brief periods, but only emerge onto land as an act of desperation.

Redback Gorger              CR 17 XP 102,400 N Gargantuan magical beast (aquatic) Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +18, tremorsense 60 ft.

Defense AC 32, touch 9, flat-footed 29 (-4 size, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +23 natural) hp 283 (21d10+168) Fort +20, Ref +14, Will +14 DR 10/magic; Resist cold 20,electricity 20, fire 20; SR 28 Defensive Abilities deep dweller, fortification (50%)

Offense Speed 30 ft., swim 50 ft. Melee bite +27 (2d8+10 plus grab), sting +27 (2d6+10/19-20 plus poison), 8 tentacles +25 (1d8+5) Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (30 ft. with sting) Special Attacks critical envenomation, swallow whole (AC 23, 28 hp, 4d6+16 bludgeoning)

Statistics Str 30, Dex 15, Con 27, Int 2, Wis 20, Cha 16 Base Atk +21; CMB +39 (+43 grapple); CMD 62 Feats Blind Fight, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus,Dodge, Improved Critical (sting), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mobility, Multiattack, Power Attack, Spring Attack Skills Climb +15, Perception +18, Stealth +0 (+12 underwater), Swim +23; Racial Modifiers +12 Stealth underwater SQ water dependency

Ecology Environment any ocean Organization solitary or pair Treasure none

Special Abilities Critical Envenomation (Ex) If a redback gorger succeeds on a critical hit with its sting attack, it injects two doses of its poison simultaneously. Deep Dweller (Ex) A redback gorger is immune to cold and pressure damage due to water depth, and can move vertically through the water column without penalty. False Head (Ex) A redback gorger’s sting attack can move around obstacles, allowing it to ignore any cover except for full cover. Poison (Ex) Sting—injury; save Fort DC 28; duration 4 rounds; effect 4d6 cold damage and 1d6 Dex drain; cure 2 saves. Tentacles (Ex) A redback gorger’s tentacles are treated as a single secondary attack.

[morningstar-warriors]

Game Eleven

Thoughts and Development

I started recording the sessions, we all play online so I figured, why not! It'd be easy to show folks what they missed if they couldn't make it, or look back on mechanical moments that felt flawed. Plus it's very easy to now find direct quotes from players which is cool!

Aside from this another large development is a new player, Button. He is playing a cat called Ashwind, and plans on making occasional appearances here and there. Button is helping me develop a new kind of Stoneteller, he's into playing Warlocks in D&D so he got me to thinking on how we could make a cat warlock that would make sense in the Warriors world. Right now we're going with a necromancer vibe for his cat, and I'm excited to update the Stoneteller post with our more fleshed out concept.

Present issues that I plan on tackling --

Ability Scores

These guys are kinda... Just there. I honestly don't know what to do with them, they feel irrelevant to how the game works at this time. I may go about adding them to dice rolls for skill checks, or scrapping them all together. In the original game, ability scores were actually meant to represent how much chips you had, but Bug and I didn't like this, it didn't feel very customizable when it came to knacks.

Skills and Dice

So there are 5 points you can have in each skill. I've been playing this in a way where, you add that to your dice roll. Which the standard role in my game is, a 2d6. So if you have 4 points in a skill, it's 2d6+4. Another test player group recommended to me that this could instead be a die pool, so it physically feels like you have more. Visual progression. Aside from dice, I realize game wise, I need to have a better grasp of the skills. Sometimes I feel like some things are... Missing from them? I still can't quite place it though. Like there are some things my dnd brain wishes there were rolls for, but I feel like if I keep refreshing my understanding of the skills that part of me would melt away. I don't think it's necessary to have a million skills, and its important in a cat game to feel like... A cat. An animal. So I think these skills are very important as is for now.

The Knack Problem

There are so so so many knacks. I'm not even sure if knacks are the route I'd like to go anymore. Or at the very least they need a lot of restructuring. I was suggested knacks that cost more chips should be higher level. Since at level 1, you dont have many chips to spare. I think thats wise. Alternatively I could give knacks the "At higher level" treatment, and state that certain actions you could take through the knack cost more/are more effective with the use of more chips. For now I don't know, I can also see the concept of knacks disappearing and becoming something else. I like the physicality of the chips though.

Misc Chips... BOOOOO

So these are dead to me. Way too confusing HAHA! I'm thinking so far everything starts off as a point buy. So you just get 5 chips, put them anywhere its up to you. but no holding onto empty chips, I feel like that just confuses people. My second test player group didnt get it at all and my first one is struggling with it as well. Third group I chose to ignore the idea aaaand that went way smoother lol.

Damage and Health

So I'm debating switching from a number based HP to concepts like Apocalypse or Monster of the Week, where you just have points of "Hurt" rather than a number that slowly dwindles. This would lead to a large restructure of many things I think, so I'm kinda nervous to tackle this right now, but considering my issues around ability scores and knacks, I think this is a necessary path to take. I'll start researching these games further and probably start making the changes once I feel satisfied with the remaining parts of V. 1 that need finishing. Which is Leveling, and the Leader Code.

Beginner and Child Friendliness

So a few times in here I mentioned some math. Adding the ability scores, dice pooling. These things were fun suggestions, but my test player groups also mentioned that the less math, the more player friendly. I know as a kid the idea of a game like D&D sounded fun, but making a character was a dreadfully boring behemoth. I know not all children are opposed to complex ideas and some adding and subtraction, but I do know that most people play role-playing games for the role-play. That's something I want to prioritize in my development. I will say I'm proud of how easy it seems for my test groups to make characters, and learn how to play. I'm glad my writing and guidance is competent.

[soylent-crocodile]

Stag Dragon (Monster)

(model by Safari ltd)

(My partner is really into animal toy collecting; they particularly like dinosaurs, but exposure to Safari has since got me exposed to their dragon line. Which has some genuinely cool, interesting design!

Anyway, a long-term theme you'll see in this blog is Cool Mounts, quadrupedal Large creatures that can be ridden by creatures of various levels. This one, I imagine, is perfect for a druid or ranger in a forest's hour of need.)

CR11 CG Large Dragon (Air)

Dazzling creatures of the forest, stag dragons are rarely seen by humanoids, preferring invisibility or the guise of a fey shape to keep themselves hidden. They are herbivores, browsing on high foliage and fast-growing ferns, although they are deliberately careful not to overgraze in any one tree or spot.

Stag dragons are guardians of the local ecology of their region. They monitor the wellbeing of their undergrowth, of the deer they run with, and the many small creatures from insects to songbirds that live in their home. They tend to allow forage and subsistence hunting, understanding humanoids as part of the ecology, but do not permit civilization's encroach.

In times of crisis, stag dragons are known to take valorous and trustworthy heroes as riders, although this agreement typically lasts as long as the danger.

This beautiful creature is clearly draconic in nature, but its graceful legs and branching horns call to mind a noble stag.

Misc- CR11 CG Large Dragon (Air) HD13 Init:+11 Senses: Perception:+17, Darkvision 60ft, Blindsense 60ft Stats- Str:28(+9) Dex:25(+7) Con:18(+4) Int:15(+2) Wis:16(+3) Cha:20(+5) BAB:+13/+8/+3 Space:10ft Reach:5ft Defense- HP:136(13d12+52) AC:27(-1 Size, +7 Dexterity, +6 Natural, +5 Deflection) Fort:+12 Ref:+15 Will:+13 CMD:40 Resist: Immunity: Acid, Dragon Traits, Slow Weakness: Special Defenses: SR24, DR5/cold iron, Eldritch Grace Offense- Gore +19(3d6+9 plus Illumination), Tail +19(2d6+9), 2 Hooves +17(1d8+5) CMB:+23 Speed:50ft Special Attacks: Breath Weapon (13d6 damage plus illumination, 60ft line, Will DC20 for half, useable every 1d4 rounds) Feats- Multiattack, Improved Initiative, Power Attack (-4/+8), Iron Will, Run, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Sunder Skills- Acrobatics +11, Climb +14, Diplomacy +14, Escape Artist +18, Heal +10, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (geography) +6, Knowledge (local) +6, Knowledge (nature) +11, Perception +17, Sense Motive +17, Stealth +21, Survival +17, Swim +14 Spell-like Abilities-  Freedom of Movement /constant Invisibility, Plant Growth /at-will Greenmist 3/day Special Qualities- Change Shape (A single fey form, Fey Form I) Ecology- Environment- Forests (Temperate) Languages- Common, Draconic, Sylvan, Elvan Organization- Solitary Treasure- None Special Abilities- Breath Weapon- A stag dragon’s breath weapon is a blast of searing light. A creature that fails its save against is blinded for 1 round; all creatures hit are then subject to the stag dragon’s illumination. The breath weapon also destroys all fog it hits, although most magical fogs will return a round after being dispersed. Eldritch Grace- A stag dragon gets a deflection bonus to AC equal to its charisma modifier. Illumination- A creature dealt damage by a stag dragon’s horns or breath weapon must make a DC23 Will save or be illuminated for 1 hour. A creature illuminated this way glows with silvery light; they take a -20 circumstance penalty to Stealth checks against seeing creatures and cannot benefit from concealment, even if invisible.

[tumblrisweird]

Okay so my new build in Lancer is actually pretty cool. I’ve got an LL3 Balor, but with the skills and bonuses I have, I could be a real powerhouse. I get to start the scene with a valiant charge, bringing me hopefully up to an enemy. Then every turn I then hack a nearby enemy (+3 tech attack, +1 acc if adjacent), making them Impaired and Slowed if it succeeds, then melee attack them with my nanobot whip (with +1 acc if slowed, another +1 acc and no damage reduction if the tech attack hit), dealing 2d6 damage on hit and if I hit I get to make another melee attack against a character in range at half damage. Plus if I crit, I get to pull them adjacent to me. Additionally, I have a bonus move of 2 that ignores engagement whenever I skirmish (like when I attack with the whip), increasing my ability to get near enemies. Also if an enemy starts their turn adjacent to me, they automatically take 2 damage. Plus I get soft cover both on my turn before attacking and whenever I���m engaged. And that second case also gives it to adjacent allies.