#3E-Knowledge

[optiwashere]

Please write your thoughts about the importance of Shadowheart for Shar/Selûne :D

I FEED on character analysis.

SO!!!! This got long as fuck and also morphed into what you asked + a general character interpretation.

I relied on a combination of 2nd, 3rd, and 5th edition D&D lore, R.A. Salvatore novels, and of course BG3 as sources. Shadowheart's characterization adds up the most coherently on the purely romance / "get her away from Shar" path, and that is what I'm using as a basis for this post. Even when you're playing an "evil" route, she behaves in ways that betray a lot of what I get into under the break. This post, however, is biased towards the "good" path of her personal quest for the sake of my sanity and a somewhat reasonable word count.

First, a preamble for people that are maybe less knowledgeable about Forgotten Realms lore.

One of the biggest characterizations of Shar and Selûne in the Forgotten Realms is that they are twin sides of the same thing: night. Night as an aesthetic is symbolic of, among other things: mysteries, being lost without guidance (such as in faith or purpose), and finding oneself when one reaches for the truth. I.e., reaching light from the moon, stars, or daybreak (which is itself a symbol as the natural conclusion of darkness being light for redemption following suffering, goodness defeating evil, finding faith, etc.)

Shar and Selûne are sisters that also share the Night domain in 3e, a sort of fulcrum they both work around — Shar as the "malevolent" darkness with Selûne as the "benevolent" night. There is even a recognized heresy called the Dark Moon heresy in both cults/religions that Shar and Selûne are actually the same goddess playing one gigantic trick on Faerûn (this comes from a 3.5e splatbook called Power of Faerûn) but it's been pushed time and time again that the two sisters are, in fact, two separate entities. But duality of divinity, and how worshipers interpret their god, is a theme we see played up a ton in BG3.

What we know about Shar is that she despises her sister. Loathes her. Not only does she loathe her, she tricked Selûne's followers during the Time of Troubles, about 140 years before BG3, into worshiping her instead of the Moonmaiden. The Time of Troubles was a period when gods walked the Realms, rather than tossing avatars around everywhere. This lead to the formation of a fanatical group of cultists that followed the real Selûne, called the Lunatics (I'm still proud of managing to reference them in a goddamn Explicit PWP fic)

Meanwhile, Selûne is seen as a calming force. She wars with her sister every single night, and does not like her one bit, but she does it as a means to protect others from her sister rather than as a spiteful game. She's not as omnipresent in people's lives, she is just a natural force to a lot of her followers.

How does any of this relate to Shadowheart? Spoiler stuff and the actual character analysis under the break.

We know that Shadowheart was a "chosen" of Selûne as a child, per her parents' dialogue under the House of Grief. However, it's important to note that most religions in Faerûn name potential clerics as "chosen" ones of gods and goddesses.

We know that, throughout the game, Shadowheart learns that she is being manipulated by the Lady of Loss to do acts that go against some sort of internalized moral code that Shadowheart has. We see her approval go up when you do good acts (as long as you ask for compensation, or if it's to help helpless people/animals) and we see her disapprove when you press her boundaries or act unjustly cruel. "Unjust" is left so vague because she does not behave at all according to how the vast majority of Sharrans behave. There are numerous other flags for approval/disapproval such as her enjoying playful chaos, or disliking when you're too trusting of other companions when you first meet them, but we'll focus on the first set I mentioned.

We also know that Shadowheart was continually subjected to memory erasure via the cult of Shar in Baldur's Gate. This gets mildly restored here and there via the tadpoles and Dame Aylin, but her memory is mostly gone. So this moral code is something ingrained in her somehow, because Sharrans don't have kindness training. There's another entire character analysis to be written about Viconia's role in this as it relates to her own character in Baldur's Gate 2, but let's ignore that for now.

In the cloister under the House of Grief, there is a note you can find that outlines the squad sent to find the artifact that protects everyone from the Absolute's domination. The squad has a leader, and it is not Shadowheart. She is listed as "healer" and the text before this explicitly states that the entire squad is expendable. None of them matter to Shar.

BUT!

Divine visitation by a goddess is incredibly rare. It usually only happens to high level clerics, which Shadowheart isn't really even at 12th-level, and to those that the goddess has an extreme, vested interest in. If you free the Nightsong/Dame Aylin instead of killing her, Shadowheart is wrenched out of the Material Plane and made to suffer for an indeterminate amount of time. That, plus literally meeting Shar in the conclusion to her personal question, is very odd given what we know about Shadowheart.

If we presume that Larian did their jobs, and I'm going to because I trust them, then there is an immediate dilemma presented here. Either Shadowheart matters to Shar (she is not expendable), or she is just another zealot (she is expendable.) There is no half-truth in that logic table that really works for Shar, she's an absurdly dogmatic goddess. See: literally any Sharran you encounter in BG3 that isn't Shadowheart. It's possible that the writer of the note didn't know what they were talking about, but I think that's a lazy out that doesn't hold water with the rest of the evidence.

So, which is it? This being the part where I'm mostly in interpretation territory, Shar views Shadowheart as the perfect puppet, a toy to needle at her sister, not because she is important at all as a person, but because she's a representation of Selûne that Shar can mold to suit her image as she did in the Time of Troubles. We hear that in the game when Shadowheart basically says that she was just a thing for Shar to use. She's beaten into (what Shar believes will be) submission for not becoming a Dark Justiciar, but it only serves to sever the tie between cleric and goddess.

Shadowheart is Shar's answering play to Selûne beating that trick from the Time of Troubles, and there will be another Shadowheart after her eventual death. Shadowheart is both incredibly important and utterly worthless to Shar in the same way that an abuser uses affection and trust to hurt their victims. Love bombs in the form of divine power, sending her on this important mission, and offering the title of Dark Justiciar are followed by pain when Shadowheart displeases her. As if, on a whim, all that supposed mutual respect could turn into non-consensual, extreme violence.

Shadowheart is an objectified opportunity for Shar to fuck with Selûne for the entirety of a single half-elf's lifespan (anywhere from 150-200 years) and nothing more. A plaything to discard when all is said and done after a microcosm of time where a goddess is concerned. Whatever Shadowheart thinks she's benefiting from with Shar, it's all a trick. It's a massive delusion with which she's been brainwashed into participating.

And deep down, deep deep way deep down, Shadowheart knows this even in Act One. She spouts random sayings and the sorts of 2edgy4me one-liners that you would expect from a somewhat goth-y, slightly sassy Stock Evil Cleric in a fantasy RPG. For a good portion of Act One, you wouldn't be wrong to assume she's extremely one note and a total zealot. That is, unless you know two things:

That Shar is a fucking menace in Faerûn, and nothing good ever comes naturally from her cult. Anyone that knows FR lore was probably like me when they first interacted with Shadowheart. I know I basically said, "What the fuck, you're not a Sharran lmao. Either Larian goofed hard, or something's fishy here."

That extraordinarily devout people tend not to babble in verse, prayer, and all that unless they are also trying to convince themselves to have more faith in a set of beliefs that they're not entirely sold on. This isn't 100% of the time, but it's something you see in people whose faith is not very strong. People who have ironclad faiths and hold consistent ideologies tend to rely more on personal interpretation of faith, for good or ill. You see this all over BG3 in the people that are more confident in their beliefs, as well. Isobel, Orin, and Z'rell are three wildly different angles on that, for example. It's really all over the game in the NPCs.

That second point is the more important one here. Shadowheart, in Act One, is constantly talking about her goddess. If she's not hiding the artifact from you, she's couching an event in concern over what Shar would think of how she behaved. Like she's still a scared child who doesn't know how to handle what's happening around her despite being completely capable in scenarios as hectic as melee combat with ogres. The difference shines bright as day if you play a follower of Selûne and push back on her beliefs, though you do of course get a lot of vitriol in the beginning. Even so, it's clear that Shadowheart knows something is off about Shar whenever confronted with actual Sharran activity/belief, but she's been brainwashed and abused so horrendously that she constantly tries to "correct" herself to appease her abuser.

Selûne, however, isn't really a "part" of Shadowheart's quest in the same way as Shar. The Moonmaiden is not an active participant, she is not a guiding hand or even a faint idea in Shadowheart's thought processes because of how intense the memory blending got for her. The most we ever really get of Selûne's opinion comes from external sources (pretty much entirely from Shadowheart's parents, Isobel, and Aylin when she's not PROCLAIMING DIVINE RIGHTS.) To the Moonmaiden, Shadowheart is really just another of her many, many children spread throughout the Realms. Yet, Shadowheart retains that sense of inherent goodness that Selûne instils in her followers.

Unlike the Lady of Loss, Selûne's indifference isn't hateful or spiteful at all. For Selûne, the ultimate goal of any of her followers is to find themselves. To illuminate who they are meant to be by moonlight. Two of her domains in 3rd edition are Protection and Travel, and in 5e she has Knowledge as well, while one of her "mantles" (the domain equivalent for psionics) is Freedom. She wants to give her followers the ability to freely tread whichever road will lead to self-actualization.

Selûne demands almost nothing of her own followers so long as they act according to the basic tenets of a traditionally Chaotic Good deity. She accepts flaws, faults, and failures in her clerics as much as she rewards strengths, virtues, and victories. There is no divine intervention from Selûne because she accepts Shadowheart intrinsically as long as Shadowheart finds herself. All it took for Selûne to take Shadowheart back after forty years of being a fanatical Sharran was saving one person, and trusting one of two people that we know she's let in for that forty years (the PC, as well as possibly Nocturne) — Selûne sees that she's an abuse victim at the heart of it all.

Side-note: Selûne's primary holy symbol is two eyes surrounded by stars. She is always a passive witness to her clerics' deeds. I don't think I need to get into that symbolism.

Whenever given the chance, Shadowheart values freedom incredibly highly. Even in someone she can take the entire game to warm up to, such as Lae'zel. Her dialogue after Lae'zel denounces Vlaakith speaks directly to this. It's seen repeatedly in her comments on other characters' personal quests such as Astarion, or Karlach, and with Lorroakan's intent on imprisoning Aylin in Act 3.

Once Shadowheart is pulled away from Shar's influence in the end of Act 2/early Act 3, she is... not a completely different person, but she is absolutely a calmer individual that also allows her emotions to surface more intensely. If you're romancing her by Act 2, she confesses that she wants to be with the PC (forever) IMMEDIATELY after being punished horrifically by Shar; she progresses the romance far faster once Shar is out of her brain; she cries, alone, in front of the PC if she chooses to listen to her parents and spare herself from Shar while also killing them. She's known this entire time that she's purposefully holding parts of herself back, and this is her immediate reaction to being set free.

Of course, it's a video game and things aren't always perfectly paced, especially considering the implementation of the Long Rest system. Much of this interpretation requires you to accept that.

After the small dialogue about Shar's intervention after the Gauntlet, the narrator comments that you're not sure if telling Shadowheart where her divine power now comes from will break her spirit forever. That's interesting, and it makes her almost manic change to "I have to be with this person forever" in the romance so utterly sad. Shadowheart is an almost textbook depiction of someone who struggles immensely with vulnerability and emotional openness due to childhood neglect and abuse. Even worse, she's been suffering that neglect and abuse for forty-plus years and she cannot remember what life was like before the time when she constantly yearned for the approval of her abuser. When she's set free and given the appropriate space to manage her feelings (all of the times she asks to be given space/asks the PC to respect her boundaries), support from friends and loved ones in the way Larian handled the camp crew's reactions to everyone's personal quests, and a purpose in life that extends beyond her abuser, she flourishes almost immediately.

To Selûne, Shadowheart is simply another person finding themselves in a world that's incredibly difficult to navigate. Under Shar's domination, Shadowheart will never be anything more than a useful puppet that dances happily whenever her goddess asks, pleased to be what she thinks is useful as she wears the false title of Dark Justiciar. With Selûne watching but not pushing, Shadowheart can be free of everything but her own choices, her own mistakes and victories. Her own person, freed from expectation.

P.S. "Breaking out of toxic thought patterns" is a common thread in the companion romances and quests. In a similar way to how Astarion uses sexuality to mask a part of himself in his romance, Shadowheart sees all this time she's spent holding herself back as an excuse to reverse course and accelerate ridiculously fast by comparison.

My point is, she is a U-Haul Lesbian.

[inaconstantstateofchange]

Hi!

I'm so glad i found your blog, your deep dives are making my brain tingle in the best of ways! It's so difficult to really find all the info your curious about with the many different editions and histories of everything so you are an absolute lifesaver for understanding all these intruiging lore aspects.

I've been very curious about Asmodeus for a while now but am kinda struggling finding out more about him, I know he's very strong and apparently a large snake?? But I was wondering if you at some point feel the motivation to if you could tell me some about him, he seems so interesting to me and I just wanna know more about who and what he is.

Again, you are so awesome and I vow to devour all your writing!

Asmodeus: An Origin

Thank you so much for the kind words - and for your patience as I worked on this one. If there's any question you had about him that feels like it's not wholly answered here, feel free to let me know! There's still a lot that I was not able to include.

As ever, these writeups will align with current 5e lore, and draw from 3.5e for additional supporting information. On rarer occasions – and always noted – I will reference 1e and 2e, but with the caveats that there is much more in those editions that is tonally dissonant with the modern conception of the Forgotten Realms, and thus generally less applicable.

You would be hard-pressed to find a more succinct introduction to Asmodeus himself than in the following passage, from 3e’s Book of Vile Darkness: 

Asmodeus the Archfiend, the overlord of all the dukes of hell, commands all devilkind and reigns as the undisputed master of the Nine Hells. Even the deities that call that plane home pay Asmodeus a great deal of respect.¹ 

As to his current position, 5e’s Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide features Asmodeus among the list of gods, naming him the “god of indulgence”, and crediting to him the domains of knowledge and trickery. His symbol is “three inverted triangles arranged in a long triangle”, as seen in the image below.² 

While his active circle of worshippers remains small, he is one of the gods habitually turned to by those in need, particularly those who have done something to earn them the displeasure of another god:

After transgressing against a god in some way, a person prays to Asmodeus for something to provide respite during the long wait. Asmodeus is known to grant people what they wish, and thus people pray for all the delights and distractions they desire most from life. Those who transgress in great ways often ask Asmodeus to hide their sins from the gods, and priests say that he will do so, but with a price after death.³

Asmodeus is particularly appealing to those who fear what awaits them after death, or have arrived to find the reality does not match their hopes. For these souls, even the hazards of Baator might be preferable to long centuries of solitary wandering on the Fugue Plane. 

All souls wait on the Fugue Plane for a deity's pleasure, which determines where a soul will spend the rest of eternity. Those who lived their lives most in keeping with a deity's outlook are taken first. Others, who have transgressed in the eyes of their favored god or have not followed any particular ethos, might wait centuries before Kelemvor judges where they go. People who fear such a fate can pray to Asmodeus, his priests say, and in return a devil will grant a waiting soul some comfort.³

The worship of Asmodeus attracts staunch individualists, who desire a future unaligned with the domain of any of the other gods, and are willing to choose self-determination in any form that might approach them.

The faithful of Asmodeus acknowledge that devils offer their worshipers a path that's not for everyone — just as eternally basking in the light of Lathander or endlessly swinging a hammer in the mines of Moradin might not be for everyone. Those who serve Asmodeus in life hope to be summoned out of the moaning masses of the Fugue Plane after death. They yearn for the chance to master their own fates, with all of eternity to achieve their goals.³

Asmodeus achieved his current official status of godhood during the Spellplague, which lasted from 1385 to 1395 DR. After this, for reasons he has unsurprisingly chosen not to reveal, he performed a ritual to alter the metaphysical categorization of all existing tieflings, giving them features that highlighted this connection.

Due to this shift, tieflings are often perceived with wariness by those who believe that Asmodeus is able to exert control over these newly-determined “descendants” of his. While this is an unwarranted suspicion, as tieflings are no more bound to his will than any other individual of another race, the mistrust remains unfortunately pervasive.⁴ 

The true origins of Asmodeus, particularly from 3rd Edition on, are kept rather ambiguous, seemingly quite by design. This is both for Watsonian reasons – that a supreme being of evil such as Asmodeus would not carelessly leave information about his origins (and, potentially, weaknesses) floating around – as well as Doylist: it is a more elegant solution than eternal retcons, and leaves it up to the individual scholar or DM which explanation they ascribe the most veracity to.⁵ 

On the charge of Asmodeus’s true form being a giant serpent, we have Chris Pramas to thank for that bit of lore, stated in 2e’s 1999 Guide to Hell, but rarely mentioned - and not in any definitive manner - from 3e onward.⁶ 3e’s Manual of the Planes, published in 2001, does reference this account, but as a whispered and shadowy theory about the Archdevil Supreme, rather than objective truth.

Brutally repressed rumors suggest that there is more to Asmodeus than he admits. The story goes that the true form of Asmodeus actually resides in the deepest rift of Nessus called the Serpent’s Coil. The shape seen by all the other devils of the Nine Hells in the fortress of Malsheem is actually a highly advanced use of the project image spell or an avatar of some sort. ... From where fell Asmodeus? Was he once a greater deity cast down from Elysium or Celestia, or is he older yet, as the rumor hints? Perhaps he represents some fundamental entity whose mere existence pulls the multiverse into its current configuration. Nobody who tells the story of Asmodeus’s “true” form lives more than 24 hours after repeating it aloud. But dusty scrolls in hard-to-reach libraries (such as Demogorgon’s citadel in the Abyss) yet record this knowledge. Unless it is pure fancy, of course.⁷ 

One can see from the framing of the above excerpt that there is no attempt made at certainty. Perhaps it is mere conjecture, or perhaps a secret, hidden truth that few may know. It is impossible to say for certain. 

Another story of Asmodeus’s possible origin is found in 3e’s Fiendish Codex II. This text, again, does not frame the information given as universal truth, but rather takes pains to emphasize its ambiguity. 

The best way to understand devils and their ways is to listen to the stories they tell about themselves. The most famous of these tales have propagated as myths throughout all the worlds of the Material Plane, becoming familiar to mortals of all sorts. But as is often the case with legends, contradictions abound. For example, the tale of the Pact Primeval is the accepted version of the multiverse’s creation. But an alternate story claims Asmodeus as the fallen creator of the universe.  Countless cultures have their own versions of the Pact Primeval legend. The names of the deities featured in it change depending on where it is told, but the names of the devils are always the same. Perhaps this fact is what inspired Philogestes, the accursed philosopher of evil, to pen his famous proverb: “The gods exist in multiplicity, but Asmodeus is unique.” As is the case with any myth worthy of the name, the following tale is true — whether or not it actually happened.⁸ 

In this account, Asmodeus began as a celestial embodiment of law, formed from the concept itself to fight against the embodiment of chaos — demons.⁹ Over time, as he and his followers became more akin to the enemies they were facing, those celestial beings not engaged in the fight grew leery of what they were becoming, and took him to trial, to account for himself. The god of valor spoke first, laying out the concerns of those gathered against Asmodeus. In response: 

Asmodeus smiled, and the smoke of a thousand battlefields rose from his lips. “As Lord of Battle,” he pointed out, “you should know better than any that war is a dirty business. We have blackened ourselves so that you can remain golden. We have upheld the laws, not broken them. Therefore, you may not cast us out.”⁸

Despite their efforts, the gods were able to find no laws that Asmodeus had broken. Unsurprisingly, as he himself had helped write them. This conflict between Asmodeus and his host and the remainder of the unsullied gods continued on, with the gods unable to get rid of him, and free themselves of the constant reminder of the Blood War.

With time, the concepts of “good” and “evil” entered the world alongside law and chaos, and Asmodeus was able to argue for dominion over those souls that chose evil. The gods loathed the reminders of this fact, however, and when Asmodeus volunteered to move to the empty plain of Baator, they enthusiastically agreed. It was only years later, when the number of souls arriving at their own planes after death began to sharply decrease, that they thought to travel to Baator themselves, where they found a robust operation based around encouraging mortal souls to take to the path of evil. 

“You have granted us the power to harvest souls,” replied Asmodeus. “To build our Hell and gird our might for the task set before us, we naturally had to find ways to improve our yield.” The war deity drew forth his longsword of crackling lightning. “It is your job to punish transgressions, not to encourage them!” he cried.  Asmodeus smiled, and a venomous moth flew out from between his sharpened teeth. “Read the fine print,” he replied.⁸ 

While the recorded story implies a simple act of one-upmanship, a later section of the Fiendish Codex tells us that Asmodeus’s split from the other celestial deities was not so amicable. 

Once he had committed himself to residing in Baator, the deities physically cast him out of the upper realms, and he fell — and fell, and fell. Upon reaching the plain of Baator, he plunged through the nascent layers he had begun to shape. (In some versions, his fall created the layers, breaking the formerly featureless plain into nine pieces, which then arranged themselves into floating tiers.) At last he hit solid ground but continued to fall, spiraling through rock and soil. The protesting earth of Baator tore at his flesh, opening scores of gaping wounds. Still he fell, until he could fall no farther. The point where he finally stopped was the deepest part of Baator — the Pit.  The wounds that Asmodeus suffered in his dramatic fall have never healed. Though he manages to appear blithely unperturbed by his injuries, they still weep blood every day, and he has been wracked by constant pain for millennia.¹⁰ 

This casting down and its associated injuries is corroborated in other texts as well, including 3e’s Manual of the Planes. 

5e’s Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes seemingly follows on from the Fiendish Codex’s account, sharing one conception of the fallout of Asmodeus’s stratagem, positioned as an in-universe account penned by the aasimar bard Anodius in a work titled “The Trial of Asmodeus”.

At some point after Asmodeus broke from Celestia to rule Baator, he was brought up on trial for unspecified crimes and trespasses. Asmodeus claimed the right to speak in his own defense, and a court was gathered, arbitrated by Primus, a being intrinsically aligned with Neutrality and Law. From Asmodeus’s recorded arguments in his own defense, we can surmise that those on Celestia had accused him of acting outside of the law in actively working to turn mortals to evil. 

The case stretched on, with neither side ceding ground, for weeks, until finally Primus declared his judgment. While Asmodeus could not be convicted of any true crime – for he had acted within the law in all things – he was to take an artifact, the Ruby Rod that is synonymous with his position, which would “guarantee his adherence to law”.¹¹ A quote from Anodius’s in-universe text is helpfully provided by Mordenkainen: 

“I literally sit beneath eight tiers of scheming, ambitious entities that represent primal law suffused with evil. The path from this realm leads to an infinite pit of chaos and evil. Now, tell me again how you and your ilk are the victims in this eternal struggle.” – Asmodeus addresses the celestial jury, from The Trial of Asmodeus¹¹

In a manner similar to his contested origin, Asmodeus’s appearance is described in several varying ways — a fact that seems in line for a principal schemer such as himself. This seeming discrepancy could also speak to varying uses of aspects or projection spells.

The Fiendish Codex II in one instance paints him as “a horned, red-skinned humanoid with a tall, lithe frame” who “dresses in splendid robes and understated but elegant accoutrements.”¹⁰ A later section in the Codex corresponds to this description given in the Book of Vile Darkness: 

Asmodeus stands just over 13 feet tall, with lustrous dark skin and dark hair. He is handsome in the same way that a thunderstorm is beautiful. His red eyes shine with the power of hell, and his head is crowned with a pair of small, dark red horns. He dresses in finery of red and black; a single garment of his might cost what an entire nation spends in a year. Of course, he is never without his Ruby Rod, an ornate piece of unparalleled jeweled finery and vast magical power.¹ 

Regarding his personality, he is most often described as “a soft-spoken, articulate, chillingly reasonable fellow who is confident in his status as one of the multiverse’s most powerful entities. Even when surprised, he reacts with supreme poise, as if he were already three steps ahead of his adversaries.”¹⁰ The Book of Vile Darkness notes correspondingly that: 

The actions of Asmodeus are often mysterious to outside observers, but that is due to the short-sighted and dim-witted view most beings have. Asmodeus’s manipulations are labyrinthine and insidious. They work on a grand scale, although when it suits his needs he is willing to focus his attention even on the status of a lowly mortal soul.¹

¹ Book of Vile Darkness. 2002. p. 165-6.

² Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. 2015. p. 21.

³ Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. 2015. p. 24.

⁴ Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. 2015. p. 118. 

⁵ “Watsonian vs. Doylist”. Fanlore.org. 

⁶ In general, I try to stay in-universe with these lore writeups, but in this case it did feel like some out-of-universe context was necessary. 

⁷ Manual of the Planes. 2001. p. 123.

⁸ Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells. 2006. p. 4-5.

⁹ While the description of these events found within the Fiendish Codex is too long to transcribe here in its entirety, I highly encourage you to read the full account for yourself. 

¹⁰ Fiendish Codex II. 2006. p. 73-4.

¹¹ Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. 2018. p. 9-10.

[vintagerpg]

This week is my annual Ravenloft week, which is getting harder and harder as I have less and less Ravenloft material unposted. This time around I am checking out the Children of the Night series of supplements that came out in the later days of the line. I had always ignored these, as I thought they were re-hashes of the older Van Richten’s Guides, but nope, totally wrong about that. This one is Children of the Night: Vampires (1996).

First off, I love this cover. The credits tell me this is Daniel Horne, but I don’t quite believe that — it looks like a Robh Ruppel to me. Whoever painted it doesn’t really matter though, those vampire hunters are fuuuuuucked.

Inside, not a treatise on vampires at all. This is an NPC book! A baker’s dozen of highly detailed vampires to use in your campaign. There are some surprisingly familiar faces, too — Jander Sunstar from the first Ravenloft novel is here, as is Lyssa von Zarovich, from Thoughts of Darkness. The rest are new, to my knowledge. Most of the rest are solidly interesting (if unremarkable), with strong groundings in the campaign setting. Each has a short adventure in which the vampire can cross paths with the players — they mostly function as prompts for the GM to run with in a larger campaign.

What I find particularly interesting, and this is true of all the books, is the couple vampires that are extremely unusual — a dwarf, a penanggalan, an ixitxachitl (!), even the couple good aligned vamps. To me, these sorts of unexpected combinations are really a feature of 3E, so it is neat to see them start to surface in the late ‘90s.

[thydungeongal]

GURPS is like the second game where I live, so some of them are just being delusional about their scope of knowledge. Like Pathfinder fandom

Either way, are there any OSR-adjacent games that have social mechanics? I am thinking about mechanizing relationships between the party and different powerful groups in their area of activity, because keeping track of all of it based only on common sense is too inconsistent

Yeah lots of Pathfinder fans try to sell their game as supporting a wider variety of playstyles than D&D 5e when like. I have eyes. That's a dungeon adventure game with a Craft skill. You can't fool me, I've seen D&D 3e.

Anyway I recommend taking a look at Errant! It has a system for a company's relationship with factions as well as factions making moves during player downtime! It's one of the coolest OSR games I've read in years!

The rules of it are free sans the art and the artful version of the PDF is only $10!

[thecreaturecodex]

Mind Flayer, Illithid

"Mindflayer" © Steven Bellshaw, accessed at his ArtStation here

[In designing a mind flayer, I wanted to avoid some of the pitfalls of the past. The 3.x mind flayer was very fragile, and the mind blast very disruptive, so that fights with them either resulted in the mind flayer getting pulped before it could do anything, or the entire party stunned long enough for the mind flayer to get halfway to a TPK. So I wanted to give them a bit more bulk. 5e gives them full on breastplate, but I wanted to keep the slick leather look from the 3e era. I did take the save every turn and limited uses for the mind blast from 5e. Although I'm not using the psychic magic ability for my mind flayer (because it sacrifices uses/day for versatility), I did use a couple of occult spells so they have some way to deal damage.]

Mind Flayer, Illithid CR 7 LE Aberration This lean humanoid has slick lilac skin and a head like that of an octopus. Multiple tentacles surround a lamprey-like maw. It wears leather robes decorated with skulls and other macabre accessories.

Illithids are the most common and most widespread of the mind flayers. Although some of them live in colonies close to an elder brain, the better to both share its knowledge and fertilize its eggs, many of them live solitary lives or in small communities more similar to a monastic cell. Every illithid desires power and knowledge, and they all go about obtaining these in different ways. Illithids with the same creed may come together in a circle, or illithids of several creeds may travel together in what is called an inquisition, similar to an adventuring party of humanoids. Many illithids keep multiple charmed or dominated slaves to serve them as physical labor and emergency rations.

Most illithids avoid direct physical confrontation if they can help it, instead sending their slaves to the front lines and fighting with their magical abilities. Illithids are masters of mind-influencing magic, and are capable of turning allies against each other or forcing their enemies into hazardous situations. Their most feared ability is the mind blast, which can incapacitate an entire party long enough for the illithid to close in and bore its tentacles into the brains of a victim or two. Illithids usually flee if combat turns against them, as they value their lives above all else.

Illithids are usually tall and imposing, averaging six feet tall but lean. Their skin is usually in shades of pinks and purples, although green and blue hues are not uncommon. They dress in a fashion suggestive of aristocracy—high collars, fancy robes and jewelry are typical. Their unique language, Qualith, is written only and similar to cuneiform; they speak in hissing, rasping tones when they use their mouths, but usually rely on telepathic communication. 

Illithid    CR 7 XP 3,200 LE Medium aberration (mind flayer) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +12 Defense AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +2 armor, +4 shield) hp 68 (8d8+32) Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +9; +4 vs. emotion effects SR 22 Defensive Abilities affectless; Weakness light blindness, sunlight sickness Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee masterwork light mace +10/+5 (1d6+1), tentacles +4 (4d4 plus grab) or tentacles +9 (4d4+1 plus grab) Special Attacks mind blast, pith (tentacles) Spell-like Abilities CL 8th, concentration +12 (+16 casting defensively) Constant—mental barrier I At will—detect thoughts (DC 16), levitate, mind thrust II (DC 16), suggestion (DC 17) 3/day—charm monster (DC 18), dimension door, dominate person (DC 19) 1/day—fly, plane shift (DC 19) Statistics Str 12, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 19, Wis17, Cha 19 Base Atk +6; CMB +9 (+12 grappling); CMD 20 Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Casting, Magical Aptitude, Weapon Finesse Skills Bluff +10, Fly +10, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (dungeoneering, planes) +14, Perception +12, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +15, Stealth +12, Use Magic Device +12; Racial Modifiers +4 Knowledge Languages Aklo, Qualith, Undercommon, telepathy 100 ft. Ecology Environment underground Organization solitary, inquisition (2-4), circle (5-12 plus 0-1 ulitharids) or colony (20-200 plus 1 ulitharid per 10 individuals and 1 elder brain) Treasure double standard (masterwork light mace, masterwork leather armor, other treasure) Special Abilities Mind Blast (Su) As a standard action, an illithid can create a 60 foot cone of mental energy. All creatures in the area must succeed a DC 18 Will save or be stunned for 3d4 rounds. A creature that is stunned may attempt to recover from this condition as a full-round action with an additional DC 18 Will save. Mind flayers are immune to the effects of a mind blast. An illithid can use a mind blast three times per day, and must wait 1d4 rounds between uses. This is a mind-influencing effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Tentacles (Ex) An illithid attacks simultaneously with all its tentacles, treating them as a primary natural weapon.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Footnotes, 251 - 300

[251] A bulky literature, dealing with this formerly much neglected subject, is now growing in Germany. Keller’s works, Ein Apostel der Wiedertäufer and Geschichte der Wiedertäufer, Cornelius’s Geschichte des münsterischen Aufruhrs, and Janssen’s Geschichte des deutschen Volkes may be named as the leading sources. The first attempt at familiarizing English readers with the results of the wide researches made in Germany in this direction has been made in an excellent little work by Richard Heath — “Anabaptism from its Rise at Zwickau to its Fall at Munster, 1521–1536,” London, 1895 (Baptist Manuals, vol. i.) — where the leading features of the movement are well indicated, and full bibliographical information is given. Also K. Kautsky’s Communism in Central Europe in the Time of the Reformation, London, 1897.

[252] Few of our contemporaries realize both the extent of this movement and the means by which it was suppressed. But those who wrote immediately after the great peasant war estimated at from 100,000 to 150,000 men the number of peasants slaughtered after their defeat in Germany. See Zimmermann’s Allgemeine Geschichte des grossen Bauernkrieges. For the measures taken to suppress the movement in the Netherlands see Richard Heath’s Anabaptism.

[253] “Chacun s’en est accommodé selon sa bienséance... on les a partagés... pour dé pouiller les communes, on s’est servi de dettes simulées” (Edict of Louis the Fourteenth, of 1667, quoted by several authors. Eight years before that date the communes had been taken under State management).

[254] “On a great landlord’s estate, even if he has millions of revenue, you are sure to find the land uncultivated” (Arthur Young). “One-fourth part of the soil went out of culture;” “for the last hundred years the land has returned to a savage state;” “the formerly flourishing Sologne is now a big marsh;” and so on (Théron de Montaugé, quoted by Taine in Origines de la France Contemporaine, tome i. p. 441).

[255] A. Babeau, Le Village sous l’Ancien Régime, 3e édition. Paris, 1892.

[256] In Eastern France the law only confirmed what the peasants had already done themselves; in other parts of France it usually remained a dead letter.

[257] After the triumph of the middle-class reaction the communal lands were declared (August 24, 1794) the States domains, and, together with the lands confiscated from the nobility, were put up for sale, and pilfered by the bandes noires of the small bourgeoisie. True that a stop to this pilfering was put next year (law of 2 Prairial, An V), and the preceding law was abrogated; but then the village Communities were simply abolished, and cantonal councils were introduced instead. Only seven years later (9 Prairial, An XII), i.e. in 1801, the village communities were reintroduced, but not until after having been deprived of all their rights, the mayor and syndics being nominated by the Government in the 36,000 communes of France! This system was maintained till after the revolution of 1830, when elected communal councils were reintroduced under the law of 1787. As to the communal lands, they were again seized upon by the State in 1813, plundered as such, and only partly restored to the communes in 1816. See the classical collection of French laws, by Dalloz, Répertoire de Jurisprudence; also the works of Doniol, Dareste, Bonnemère, Babeau, and many others.

[258] This procedure is so absurd that one would not believe it possible if the fifty-two different acts were not enumerated in full by a quite authoritative writer in the Journal des Economistes (1893, April, p. 94), and several similar examples were not given by the same author.

[259] Dr. Ochenkowski, Englands wirthschaftliche Entwickelung im Ausgange des Mittelalters (Jena, 1879), pp. 35 seq., where the whole question is discussed with full knowledge of the texts.

[260] Nasse, Ueber die mittelalterliche Feldgemeinschaft und die Einhegungen des XVI. Jahrhunderts in England (Bonn, 1869), pp. 4, 5; Vinogradov, Villainage in England (Oxford, 1892).

[261] Seebohm, The English Village Community, 3rd edition, 1884, pp. 13–15.

[262] “An examination into the details of an Enclosure Act will make clear the point that the system as above described [communal ownership] is the system which it was the object of the Enclosure Act to remove” (Seebohm, l.c. p. 13). And further on, “They were generally drawn in the same form, commencing with the recital that the open and common fields lie dispersed in small pieces, intermixed with each other and inconveniently situated; that diverse persons own parts of them, and are entitled to rights of common on them... and that it is desired that they may be divided and enclosed, a specific share being let out and allowed to each owner” (p. 14). Porter’s list contained 3867 such Acts, of which the greatest numbers fall upon the decades of 1770–1780 and 1800–1820, as in France.

[263] In Switzerland we see a number of communes, ruined by wars, which have sold part of their lands, and now endeavor to buy them back.

[264] A. Buchenberger, “Agrarwesen und Agrarpolitik,” in A. Wagner’s Handbuch der politischen Oekonomie, 1892, Band i. pp. 280 seq.

[265] G.L. Gomme, “The Village Community, with special reference to its Origin and Forms of Survival in Great Britain” (Contemporary Science Series), London, 1890, pp. 141–143; also his Primitive Folkmoots (London, 1880), pp. 98 seq.

[266] “In almost all parts of the country, in the Midland and Eastern counties particularly, but also in the west — in Wiltshire, for example — in the south, as in Surrey, in the north, as in Yorkshire, — there are extensive open and common fields. Out of 316 parishes of Northamptonshire 89 are in this condition; more than 100 in Oxfordshire; about 50,000 acres in Warwickshire; in Berkshire half the county; more than half of Wiltshire; in Huntingdonshire out of a total area of 240,000 acres 130,000 were commonable meadows, commons, and fields” (Marshall, quoted in Sir Henry Maine’s Village Communities in the East and West, New York edition, 1876, pp. 88, 89).

[267] Ibid. p. 88; also Fifth Lecture. The wide extension of “commons” in Surrey, even now, is well known.

[268] In quite a number of books dealing with English country life which I have consulted I have found charming descriptions of country scenery and the like, but almost nothing about the daily life and customs of the laborers.

[269] In Switzerland the peasants in the open land also fell under the dominion of lords, and large parts of their estates were appropriated by the lords in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (See, for instance, Dr. A. Miaskowski, in Schmoller’s Forschungen, Bd. ii. 1879, Pp. 12 seq.) But the peasant war in Switzerland did not end in such a crushing defeat of the peasants as it did in other countries, and a great deal of the communal rights and lands was retained. The self-government of the communes is, in fact, the very foundation of the Swiss liberties.

[270] Miaskowski, in Schmoller’s Forschungen, Bd. ii. 1879, p. 15.

[271] See on this subject a series of works, summed up in one of the excellent and suggestive chapters (not yet translated into English) which K. Bücher has added to the German translation of Laveleye’s Primitive Ownership. Also Meitzen, “Das Agrar- und Forst-Wesen, die Allmenden und die Landgemeinden der Deutschen Schweiz,” in Jahrbuch für Staatswissenschaft, 1880, iv. (analysis of Miaskowsky’s works); O’Brien, “ in a Swiss village,” in Macmillan’s Magazine, October 1885.

[272] The wedding gifts, which often substantially contribute in this country to the comfort of the young households, are evidently a remainder of the communal habits.

[273] The communes own, 4,554,100 acres of woods out of 24,813,000 in the whole territory, and 6,936,300 acres of natural meadows out of 11,394,000 acres in France. The remaining 2,000,000 acres are fields, orchards, and so on.

[274] In Caucasia they even do better among the Georgians. As the meal costs, and a poor man cannot afford to give it, a sheep is bought by those same neighbors who come to aid in the work.

[275] Alfred Baudrillart, in H. Baudrillart’s Les Populations Rurales de la France, 3rd series (Paris, 1893), p. 479.

[276] The Journal des Économistes (August 1892, May and August 1893) has lately given some of the results of analyzes made at the agricultural laboratories at Ghent and at Paris. The extent of falsification is simply incredible; so also the devices of the “honest traders.” In certain seeds of grass there was 32 percent of gains of sand, colored so as to Receive even an experienced eye; other samples contained from 52 to 22 percent only of pure seed, the remainder being weeds. Seeds of vetch contained 11 percent of a poisonous grass (nielle); a flour for cattle-fattening contained 36 percent of sulfates; and so on ad infinitum.

[277] A. Baudrillart, l.c. p. 309. Originally one grower would undertake to supply water, and several others would agee to make use of it. “What especially characterizes such associations,” A. Baudrillart remarks, “is that no sort of written agreement is concluded. All is arranged in words. There was, however, not one single case of difficulties having arisen between the parties.”

[278] A. Baudrillart, l.c. pp. 300, 341, etc. M. Terssac, president of the St. Gironnais syndicate (Ariège), wrote to my friend in substance as follows: — “For the exhibition of Toulouse our association has grouped the owners of cattle which seemed to us worth exhibiting. The society undertook to pay one-half of the traveling and exhibition expenses; one-fourth was paid by each owner, and the remaining fourth by those exhibitors who had got prizes. The result was that many took part in the exhibition who never would have done it otherwise. Those who got the highest awards (350 francs) have contributed 10 percent of their prizes, while those who have got no prize have only spent 6 to 7 francs each.”

[279] In W¸rttemberg 1,629 communes out of 1,910 have communal property. They owned in 1863 over 1,000,000 acres of land. In Baden 1,256 communes out of 1,582 have communal land; in 1884–1888 they held 121,500 acres of fields in communal culture, and 675,000 acres of forests, i.e. 46 percent of the total area under woods. In Saxony 39 percent of the total area is in communal ownership (Schmoller’s Jahrbuch, 1886, p. 359). In Hohenzollern nearly two-thirds of all meadow land, and in Hohenzollern-Hechingen 41 percent of all landed property, are owned by the village communities (Buchenberger, Agrarwesen, vol. i. p. 300).

[280] See K. Bücher, who, in a special chapter added to Laveleye’s Ureigenthum, has collected all information relative to the village community in Germany.

[281] K. Bücher, ibid. pp. 89, 90.

[282] For this legislation and the numerous obstacles which were put in the way, in the shape of red-tapeism and supervision, see Buchenberger’s Agrarwesen und Agrarpolitik, Bd. ii. pp. 342–363, and p. 506, note.

[283] Buchenberger, l.c. Bd. ii. p. 510. The General Union of Agricultural Cooperation comprises an aggregate of 1,679 societies. In Silesia an aggregate of 32,000 acres of land has been lately drained by 73 associations; 454,800 acres in Prussia by 516 associations; in Bavaria there are 1,715 drainage and irrigation unions.

[284] See Appendix XII.

[285] For the Balkan peninsula see Laveleye’s Propriété Primitive.

[286] The facts concerning the village community, contained in nearly a hundred volumes (out of 450) of these inquests, have been classified and summed up in an excellent Russian work by “V.V.” The Peasant Community (Krestianskaya Obschina), St. Petersburg, 1892, which, apart from its theoretical value, is a rich compendium of data relative to this subject. The above inquests have also given origin to an immense literature, in which the modern village-community question for the first time emerges from the domain of generalities and is put on the solid basis of reliable and sufficiently detailed facts.

[287] The redemption had to be paid by annuities for forty-nine years. As years went, and the greatest part of it was paid, it became easier and easier to redeem the smaller remaining part of it, and, as each allotment could be redeemed individually, advantage was taken of this disposition by traders, who bought land for half its value from the ruined peasants. A law was consequently passed to put a stop to such sales.

[288] Mr. V.V., in his Peasant Community, has grouped together all facts relative to this movement. About the rapid agricultural development of South Russia and the spread of machinery English readers will find information in the Consular Reports (Odessa, Taganrog).

[289] In some instances they proceeded with great caution. In one village they began by putting together all meadow land, but only a small portion of the fields (about five acres per soul) was rendered communal; the remainder continued to be owned individually. Later on, in 1862–1864, the system was extended, but only in 1884 was communal possession introduced in full. — V.V.‘s Peasant Community, pp. 1–14.

[290] On the Mennonite village community see A. Klaus, Our Colonies (Nashi Kolonii), St. Petersburg, 1869.

[291] Such communal cultures are known to exist in 159 villages out of 195 in the Ostrogozhsk district; in 150 out of 187 in Slavyanoserbsk; in 107 village communities in Alexandrovsk, 93 in Nikolayevsk, 35 in Elisabethgrad. In a German colony the communal culture is made for repaying a communal debt. All join in the work, although the debt was contracted by 94 householders out of 155.

[292] Lists of such works which came under the notice of the zemstvo statisticians will be found in V.V.‘s Peasant Community, pp. 459–600.

[293] In the government of Moscow the experiment was usually made on the field which was reserved for the above-mentioned communal culture.

[294] Several instances of such and similar improvements were given in the Official Messenger, 1894, Nos. 256–258. Associations between “horseless” peasants begin to appear also in South Russia. Another extremely interesting fact is the sudden development in Southern West Siberia of very numerous cooperative creameries for making butter. Hundreds of them spread in Tobolsk and Tomsk, without any one knowing wherefrom the initiative of the movement came. It came from the Danish cooperators, who used to export their own butter of higher quality, and to buy butter of a lower quality for their own use in Siberia. After a several years’ intercourse, they introduced creameries there. Now, a great export trade has grown out of their endeavors.

[295] Toulmin Smith, English Guilds, London, 1870, Introd. p. xliii.

[296] The Act of Edward the Sixth — the first of his reign — ordered to hand over to the Crown “all fraternities, brotherhoods, and guilds being within the realm of England and Wales and other of the king’s dominions; and all manors, lands, tenements, and other hereditaments belonging to them or any of them” (English Guilds, Introd. p. xliii). See also Ockenkowski’s Englands wirtschaftliche Entwickelung im Ausgange des Mittelalters, Jena, 1879, chaps. ii-v.

[297] See Sidney and Beatrice Webb, History of Trade-Unionism, London, 1894, pp. 21–38.

[298] See in Sidney Webb’s work the associations which existed at that time. The London artisans are supposed to have never been better organized than in 1810–20.

[299] The National Association for the Protection of Labor included about 150 separate unions, which paid high levies, and had a membership of about 100,000. The Builders’ Union and the Miners’ Unions also were big organizations (Webb, l.c. p. 107).

[300] I follow in this Mr. Webb’s work, which is replete with documents to confirm his statements.

[illumiera]

keeping the stars apart

a fic by Lumiera and Pelinalblancserpent (@pelinalblancserpent) for @tes-summer-fest

Rating: M | Words: 12819 | Chapters: 3/8 Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cosmic Horror, Family Dynamics, Friendship, Grieving, Haha Get Hobbited Idiot, Haunted by Tolkien, House Telvanni, Improper Use of Magic, Levitation Act of 3E 421, Severe Lack of Washing-the-Dishes Wizards, Temporary Character Death, Time Loop, Unreality Characters: Elentari (LDB), Shurik (LDB), Miraak, Orvas (Nerevarine), Lucien Flavius, Hermaeus Mora, Neloth, Talvas Fathryon

"I will go, and I will live as long as you live, as our souls are intertwined. I will look for you where I cannot see, for you call for me still." ⭐⭐⭐ As Fate would have it, the Wheel turned upon Akatosh’s most beloved children. Yet, at the Summit of Apocrypha, where soul meets soul and knowledge meets knowledge, three doom-driven would-be heroes are caught in a battle of good and evil, Aedra and Daedra alike, and between time itself.  No one realized that the Realm had no stars.

I. Chapter One (prompt: Arcane and Beast)

II. Chapter Two (prompt: Ritual and Beloved)

III. Chapter Three (prompt: Starlit and Teeth)

[talenlee]

3e: The Missing Step

Okay, so it’s a known piece of gamer lore that in 3e D&D, the wizard, cleric, druid and technically-splitting-the-fare sorcerer were all head and shoulders above every other class as a Primary Spellcaster. The argument about which of these four is the best comes down to questions of usability and access and whether or not the real weirdo outliers get to show up like the Archivist and Artificer (which can famously do everything the wizard can do, with pre-planning, making it the Batman of the 3e set).

These four classes represent a polarising point of power in the game system they’re from, and you can tell because every player book had a whole chapter of new spells for them, whereas say, melee characters could sometimes get as much as a new page of possible weapons, of which none would be any good.

They even deformed the way their own player options worked.

The original idea here was that I was going to take a bunch of spellcaster prestige classes, and find the ones that were missing a single spellcasting level. The plan was to then talk about how powerful these classes’ features could be and the way that no matter what it was not worth taking them, because they were missing a spellcaster level. No matter what opportunity a prestige class offered a spellcaster, the lack of a spellcasting level was a death sentence for it.

I knew there were some good ones!

What shocked me was finding how how few there were.

There are some examples. In the Book of Exalted Deeds, there was Celestial Mystic. This prestige class does ask a few feats and skills, not nothing, but in return you get:

Immunity to mind control

Electricity resistance 10

+2 to saving throws against disease

Access to a whole new wing of spells

Self-healing

Immunity to death effects

The ability to turn any spell into a ranged touch blast attack

Spell resistance 20 and damage reduction 10/unholy

Fast healing 2 for the mystic and all the other characters around them, in a zone where undead under 10 hit dice cannot even approach

Bardic knowledge and immunity to surprise

That seems like a lot of defensive stuff! That’s really cool! I have never seen anyone even consider the Celestial Mystic, because the Celestial Mystic loses one spell level for this, right at the start.

But there aren’t a lot of prestige classes like this.

There are almost none.

There are more than a few prestige classes where the first four levels give you full spellcasting, and the fifth misses a spellcasting level. There are a few that lose a single spellcasting level at the final level.

There is the Eldritch Knight, in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, which is good. Nae, it’s great – it’s one of my favourite ways to play a thing that uses Wizard levels. I love the aesthetic of coming up with my own vision of a wizard, with a book, and a weapon, and how all those pieces can be flexible around a core, but also, I know that character is trading a lot of power for being okay in melee.

Thing is, the Eldritch Knight was good because it let you have something that the game treated as valuable, when it actively wasn’t. You can tell the Eldritch Knight was a rules patch because you can see how they wound up making these things much more convenient with the Duskblade and the Battle Sorcerer. That was when it was very clear that time spent fighting in melee is time not spent controlling everything the way a Wizard could.

Here’s the thing, though: They clearly knew this.

3e had more of this stuff. You can watch over time as spellcaster prestige classes started out with alternate spell advancement or even no spell advancement, like you could give up a few spellcasting levels to get some really cool benefit. Then you saw those benefits get better and better and the classes still weren’t being commonly used.

And then we got full spellcasting classes with benefits as well. Those got a lot of attention on the Character Optimisation boards. Back in 3.0 there was this class, the Incantatrix, which sort of became the template for this; 5 levels of Wizard, 10 levels of Incantatrix, 5 levels of Archmage. The Incantatrix had the amazing idea of easy metamagic, where all your metamagic costs were reduced by 1 level, to a minimum of 1. That is to say, for example, an Empower Spell feat doesn’t increase the level of that spell by 2, it increases it by 1… and that means that you could empower it by 2 levels and double the effect of your spell, instead of increasing it by 50%.

Towards the end of 3.5’s life with my friends, I tabled the idea that all spellcaster prestige classes lose their first level of casting. This idea was controversial, in that the players who were most invested agreed that this meant they’d not use any prestige classes. None. None were worth the change. And that right there struck me as a sign of a problem, right? Because if the Wizard prestige class category was something overwhelmingly supported with so many good options, but one spellcasting level meant none of them were worth it, then there was a serious problem with that power level. Some of these classes were getting advancement

I’d even go a step further if I had any reason to do anything today with this system. I’d say that all caster Prestige classes inherently increase your spellcasting level by 1. All of them. Yes, even the Sacred Fist with its full base attack bonus and good hit dice. But every single spellcaster prestige class eats one level of your spellcasting – the level 20 Wizard/Incantatrix/Archmage casts like a level 18 spellcaster, but those 18 levels include easy metamagic and spell power, making them more powerful at the spells they get, but knowing fewer at different levels…

And y’know what?

I think that serious power gamers wouldn’t bite on that.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[honkbird]

it's a very surface level post but I miss the covers of old dnd books, not dnd specific but it's what I was talk'n about with a friend last night. Specifically dnd 3e compared to 5e where they sort've became "posters with text ontop"

Image from This Reddit Post for the 3e books, and the 5e cover Idk like it'd be a COOL poster!! but . I miss these TOMES of KNOWLEDGE . They feel really immersed in the content (and I miss the old spreads and layout a bit but w/e) and for lack of better words the 5e one feels more ... meta? Something something "a tabletop book of knowledge versus the presented 'ideal experience' of 5e" Maybe someone following me can present this better worded but ,, idk petty art direction opinions from me.

[pathetic-gamer]

okay here's my hot take: D&D is a game about dungeons not the hero's journey.

Mechanically, it's about dungeons. This has been true from the very beginning, and remains true, regardless of what WotC says in their marketing. The culture can shift, and the goals and expectations players have when they gather a group and sit down to play can be anything under the sun and that's good, that's great, I want people to have fun!

None of this changes the fact that the rules of the game are designed to facilitate combat encounters (and traps and riddles and puzzles and such that you would find in a classic rpg dungeon). And it's not really a rules-light system in the first place ("smh noob, 5e has nothing on 2e with THAC0-" shhh, its okay. take my hand. let's make space vehicles in GURPS 3e together.), people just have a level of cultural familiarity that makes them think it is and thus that they can get by without reading the PHB when the extent of their knowledge is actually just "roll the big one to do stuff."

Of course you can tell a good story while you play! Of course you can have fun! It doesn't have to be nothing but rules and arithmetic all day every day - what I'm saying is just that vast heroic fantasy narratives are secondary.

So what do I mean when I say it's about dice-rolling?

I mean that the same thing that keeps combat interesting (a single d20 leads to lots of volatility and means crits are uncommon enough to be exciting, but common enough that someone at the table is almost guaranteed to get at least one in any given session) makes role-playing difficult sometimes (doesnt matter how persuasive your argument is - a nat 1 persuasion check is a nat 1 persuasion check).

I mean that at the end of the day, whatever funky character work you want to do has to work with the game's mechanics. As fun and interesting as it would be to play a sneaky little trickster of a cleric, you simply will not have the dexterity or charisma to successfully steal that plot-important key while seducing the innkeeper.

I mean that the mechanics of the game, especially for DMs who aren't professional actors or improve comedians, are meant to support and reward clever fighting, not clever debates. Skills, abilities, class features - all of these assume your energy will be focused on fighting. It takes a lot of flexibility, homebrew, and house-ruling to move around that.

There are other games that are meant to facilitate really good rp, though! There are rule systems that are elegantly structured around soft skills and encourage cleverly handling social encounters, or systems with much more class flexibility to enable something like a trickster cleric to exist from day one.

So anyway. I say all of this as someone who loves lot of different ttrpgs, D&D 5e absolutely included, but you'll have so much fun exploring the vast world of ttrpgs if you would just let a game's rules inform how you play, and find a ruleset that matches your goals.

[churchyardgrim]

3e ravenloft’s greatest hits: lady edition

ASK AND YE SHALL RECIEVE 

Natalia Vhorishkova

so we know and love the Weathermay-Foxgrove sisters, 5e actually kept them more or less the same, BUT. what 5e neglected to give much detail on was Natalia, and as soon as i read the dread possibilities in Van Richten’s Arsenal i was obsessed. holy shit! fucknasty sadomasochist werewolf lady, locked in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the hunter she seduced and betrayed and who has now made it his life’s goal to hunt her down?? give me 40k words about her right now immediately.

Perseyus Lathenna

holy shit yall, i didn’t even know about this character until i went looking, but she’s? amazing?? a tiny-ass grandma wizard who got the goodness traumatized out of her, and was then inspired to try again years later and ended up reclaiming that drive to help people? a disabled woman who innovates a new method of spellcasting that doesn’t need somatic gestures? a respected scholar who keeps her identity close to her chest, as a way to bypass the systematic inequality of the cultures she’s working in? holy shit i love her. put her in your game so help me god.

Tara Kolyana

listen i know we all love Ireena but 5e did her so so dirty, and 3e for all its faults gave us Tara. homegirl’s parents saw the writing on the wall and got the fuck out of dodge, and it fucking? worked?? she’s free? mostly. mostly free. the narrative tugs and tugs like an undertow but she’s had time to grow now, time to become a wholeass person outside of Barovia, outside of her destiny, and who knows what she could do now? who knows what kind of power she could have if she went back to Barovia as an adult, a full-fledged cleric with a solid sense of her self and her duty.

Ebb

literally who doesn’t love a fuckmassive shadow dragon. she’s fantastic, she’s goth, her best friend is a wizard, what more can i say? 

Lyssa von Zarovich

light of my life, girlboss of my heart, this list would not be complete without Lyssa. Strahd’s direct grandniece by way of the oft-forgotten middle brother Sturm, her goals are simple; reduce Strahd to a fine ash for the crime of piledriving the family’s history and reputation, and do some actually functional governing in Barovia. and she’s a genius! she not only found out about Strahd’s Big Oopsie entirely independently of anyone else in the know, she then looked at what uncle dearest had done and said “yeah i’ll have what he’s having” and fuckign followed through. and then! discovered a way to speedrun vampire power levels via a ghost booty call! and then invented vampire mindflayers, just bc she hadn’t broken enough records that week. 

she’s an excellent foil for Strahd, an ambitious, intelligent, and politically savvy woman who took the vampirism deal (literally the only other character to do so besides Strahd) with the full knowledge of what it entailed; as a means to an end, not an impulsive sacrifice. most of the material she’s got (and even in older editions there isn’t much) positions her as a middle-strength villain, but honestly i want to see her as a lesser-of-many-evils ally.

[truth-01001001-liar]

How did Wraith handle the Sheogorath situation? Did she become the god or find a different solution?

oooh thank you for the ask!! Ice Wraith sort of is the the mad god and isn’t the mad god at the same time.

I think I can explain this, but I don’t know that I can do it concisely :)))

By the time she marches into the oblivion gate leading to the Shivering Isles she’s already achieved chim. Which means she knows what she’s doing when she does it. She walks right into the Greymarch in 3E 433 knowing exactly which possibilities await her. For all this power and knowledge that she has, she’s still just the same Almsivi fanatic that she has always been.

so what does she do?

She takes to the glory of lies and metaphors like the living gods before her and the good daedra before them, and devours Sheogorath and Jyggalag both, endeavoring to change their nymic.

Think Boethiah and Trinimac, except Wraith never purges herself of them like Boethiah does. Instead she just consumes them; eats them; becomes them and remains herself because, mentally speaking, she is in a place that can’t be redefined by contradiction.

She turns Sheo and Jyggalag from madness and order to delusion and truth respectively. To mortals she is Sheogorath. To Sheogorath she is Jyggalag. The truth she tells is seen as madness. The lies she speaks are seen as truth—which she defines as a delusional truth (a truth based on conviction but not on reality).

In her mind this makes both delusion and truth things that are completely devoid of lies.

She completes the shivering isles dlc before the main quest in oblivion... so by the time she’s interacting with Martin Septim, she is convinced she cannot lie and will never be able to do so. Martin has to put up with that on top of everything else.

[rottenbrainstuff]

Now begins the psychological warfare part of my dnd campaign with my kids. Haha. I am new to 5e and my oldest has been playing 5e for a while. It’s kind of a funny situation where I have to ask her for details on certain rules so she can help me tell her what to do, lol. (I played 3e, which is similar, but also just different enough that there’s a lot of things I need clarification on)

So there’s going to a be a suspicious-seeming character in my game who is being framed by a sneaky incubus for something, but is actually totally innocent. Along with the normal 5e questions I ask my daughter anyways, lately I’ve been asking her some very specific questions about things that are doppleganger abilities. When we run the actual game, someone is going to comment that the suspicious character “seems like they’re a totally different person lately.” I want to use her meta game knowledge against her and hook them onto the trail of this absolutely innocent character and get her down the totally wrong path, while the actual BBEG sits back and laughs at them the whole time. Man it’s going to be so hilarious, I can’t wait to play.

[transterasakagang]

yoshida taisei and autism

there are many characters within 3e that are frequently posited to be a form of neurodivergent and for obvious reason considering the commentary the series draws upon. but a character i veeeery rarely (bar myself + friends) see included among the likes of itona or okuda or sugaya when discussing autistic headcanons despite it being imo one of the most blatant is yoshida

disclaimer one: i am in no way claiming that yoshida being easily read as autistic was intentional on m*tsui’s part lol. id never give that man the credit for that especially considering his track record of dealing with sensitive subjects

disclaimer two: this is NOT intended to be a diagnostic tool. this is simply me (an autistic guy) discussing my own traits i recognise in yoshida that, along with how much i have studied his character, cause me to have the strong conviction i do regarding headcanoning him as autistic. also u dont actually need to have any in depth reasoning to view a character as such either im just insane and have been meaning to fully write this up for eons

so without further ado!!!

firstly, the absolute most blatant trait of yoshida’s that would attract neurodivergent readings is his passionate interest in motorcycles. but id like to go into the extremely far extent to which his interest goes and how it, as a result, reads very much like a special interest

i have often talked about how i dont believe “interest” is strong enough a word to describe the sheer passion yoshida holds for motorcycles. he is associated with them to the degree that its his most recognisable trait by classmates and those in any way familiar with the series

examples of the extent of immersion in his interest exist within his character profiles. his graduation album profile (trans. @/irraydiance) comments on how “he’ll tackle any problem as long as he can apply the knowledge of motorcycles” and has korosensei tell him that he hopes he’ll be able to express his motorcycle knowledge in “a way everyone understands”. a defining factor of a special interest is how it impacts the way in which one understands and interacts with the world around them, we see things through the context of our special interest. yoshida is explicitly stated to have this apply to him — he can achieve anything, he just needs to be able to view it through his obsession with motorcycles. the “in a way everyone understands” is noteworthy wording, as it easily relates to our realities as autistic people and not being understood by the world, including how our intense special interests are perceived.

additionally in his graduation album profile is his reasoning for dropping down to e class which literally is: he spent too much time with his motorcycle. special interests are characterised by an obsessive fixation that makes it hard to do things that dont involve it — things like studying!!! it’s in this sense they can impair our day to day lives. and korosensei picks up on this, in yoshida’s roll book time profile (trans. @/ansatsu-database) he identifies yoshida as “the embodiment of what one likes one will do well” and tries to entice him into mathematics by calling it “useful when tinkering with bikes” - giving yoshida an incentive to bother with it. his roll book time profile is also where we learn that collecting bike related memorabilia is the main thing he spends his money on, and the “collection” aspect of special interests comes up again in chapter 154 where we see him at home with a little motorcycle figurine on his desk. it is also because of his obsession with bikes and his hobby tinkering with them (also influenced by his parents repair shop) that he, according the graduation album, possesses engineering knowledge beyond that of a university student.

it is our first in series introduction to yoshida’s passion for motorcycles in vision time and the context surrounding this introduction that gives us the best grasp on the sheer extent of this intensity. vision time sees the breaking point of terasaka in the face of yoshida and muramatsu beginning to trust korosensei — the way in which korosensei gains the trust of the boys differs significantly but the core similarity that is important to note here is how he directly appeals to what he knows they care about most at this point. with muramatsu he tutors him and helps him improve his grades, appealing to muramatsu’s extremely strong desire to succeed (a recurring theme in his character) as well as his desire to prove himself

with yoshida, however, korosensei appeals to what he knows from observing and talking to him is most important to him: motorcycles. he appeals exactly to what yoshida strongly reacts to and clings to: he engages with him in his interest. he goes out of his way to make a model of a motorcycle and dress in biker gear and to describe yoshida as excited by it would be an understatement!!! look at this boy stim!!!

korosensei engaging with yoshida in his motorcycle interest is likened to muramatsu improving his grades — something INCREDIBLY significant within the context of 3e/kunugigaoka in general and that effectively demonstrates the intense extent of yoshida’s interest. furthermore, through this appeal by korosensei yoshida exposes himself to the class he had before distanced himself from: he is seen openly stimming and openly laughing, something before unimaginable from him, all because of this act from korosensei, because of motorcycles

terasaka destroying the motorcycle model prompts a reaction from yoshida that again is placed on the same level as terasaka literally throwing muramatsu against a tree, equating the two as inflicting similar damage which is reinforced again in yoshida + muramatsu’s comments towards terasaka later

his special interest in motorcycles also leads him to develop smaller but still seemingly intense interests in other vehicles, the most notably being trains. in the character databook there’s a page on the clubs some members of 3e were in before being sent to e class and yoshida is revealed to have been a member of the railroad research club - specifically, it notes how he’s “especially crazy” for steam locomotives which led him to take a railroad tour out of his own volition. trains are a common interest for autistic people (not for me personally, but i know while it is a “stereotype” it IS true for many) which is why though im sure its entirely coincidental i bring it up because i think its funny how one of the most easily read as autistic characters would be given it

how he connects with itona links to this also. itona holds an interest similar in intensity to yoshida regarding electronics and it’s the core way through which the two bond — sharing these interests with each other and becoming a “tech team” the class can rely on. notably, yoshida’s thought process behind giving itona his first bike ride is the same as what i’ll mention more later: it works for him, it must work for itona, not factoring in the differing contexts.

the second trait of yoshida’s i feel might be the next most obvious is his very prominent sense of “justice” by his own rules of black and white thinking. this is implied offhandedly somewhat in hazama’s databook profile where she and yoshida are stated to be the “most rational” out of the terasaka gang, compared to terasaka, muramatsu and itona. but there are a few instances that explicitly demonstrate this idea

the “rules” yoshida has for himself with his thought process to determine something as angering to him largely center around this idea of “fairness”. to him something is either fair or unfair and there appears little room for nuance — terasaka destroyed the motorcycle, that’s unfair, he gets angry — grip using underhanded tactics against karma is unfair, he gets angry — takaoka’s grudge on nagisa is unfair because nagisa defeated takaoka fairly, he gets angry — karma and nakamura positioning him the way they do in the civil war is deemed “not playing fair”. he never lets what he deems “unfair” go uncommented on. less emotionally focused is when he calls out gakuhou by commenting on how korosensei has played by his rules fair and square, so gakuhou should just give up

additionally, this manifests in yoshida’s reasoning for choosing “kill” during the civil war. while compared to the rest of the terasaka gang his reasoning is much more up to personal interpretation in that he only says one brief thing - that one brief thing has him say how he too thought of ways to save korosensei but, evidently, couldnt find one and so accepted this was the only other option. this line of thinking on yoshida’s part of wanting to save koro leads me to think it wouldnt be a stretch to suggest that his idea of “saving” after he realized it wouldnt work for korosensei fell decidedly upon prioritising saving his friends and classmates by continuing with the assassination and thus avoiding what the fallout for failing to do so would be. it again connects to his fixation on “fairness” and how black and white his thought process can be considered in that he quickly acknowledges that its a one life vs billions of lives situation with seemingly little emotional input. this is true in a fair less “noble” or objectively “just” way in the very first episode regarding his willingness to participate in terasaka’s plan to sacrifice nagisa to kill koro-sensei ergo “save the world” and get a billion yen - we can only speculate given what his role was, but the way yoshida probably justified his involvement at this stage to himself is likely to fall on the same wavelength as what else i have discussed.

connecting to anger, however, is the third point: yoshida is a sensitive guy who is easily overwhelmed by the force of his emotions + struggles to regulate them

yoshida rarely gets openly angry or upset, but when he does he seems to get very overwhelmed by it in how it essentially bursts out of him (much like his joy!). the island arc is an excellent example of this in how he is (understandably) extremely distressed by the prospect of people dying due to the virus (especially muramatsu and hazama which is why theyre positioned in the background of the panel!!!) and it causes him to burst out in an example of overwhelmed panic

notably, he is the only character to have an outburst as big as this displaying the difference in emotional regulation, and doubly notably is how the only other time before this point we had seen yoshida display emotion like this was the motorcycle incident in vision time. i think, from experience lol, that his behavior here and from here on out does resemble the teeterings of a meltdown, that hara (his childhood friend) seems able to soothe him away from for the time being. but he remains extremely notably on edge for the remainders of the arc. which again, would be understandable for anyone, but he is the only character (bar terasaka) who is depicted to this extent distressed. this becomes ESPECIALLY more easy to read as a teetering-on-meltdown because of how yoshida’s distress in part stems from how this ordeal has entirely disrupted how he imagined this “vacation” to unfold. it is notable that before the poisoning, it’s yoshida who asserts that they will kill koro-sensei and then relax - especially as part of the terasaka gang previously distant with the assassination, this is all that is in his mind. and then the not only does the attempt fail but entirely unexpected disaster strikes and it is yoshida who frantically points out “we didn’t come to this island to be killed”

the departure scene captures this element of him as well, having him be one of the students openly sobbing during the final roll call for one

linking to him being overwhelmed is a few instances of his hypersensitivity when it comes to sensory issues, and then presumed hyposensitivity. regarding the former, the fascinating examples are found in his roll book time profile. theres a comment by karasuma that notes how when playing cops and robbers yoshida “was able to sense karasuma’s presence, when many students failed to do the same until he touched them” — connoting some form of possible tactile hypersensitivity on yoshida’s end, which could also explain why he never wears the school blazer instead opting for the cardigan all year round unless forced.

the other example found here is his favorite food: monster energy drink. he is the only character with a fave food listed who provides something like that — everyone else gives examples of actual, you know, cuisine. realistically, it’s likely a gag about how common a sponsor monster are at motorcycle races particularly in japan, BUT at the same time it can be interpreted as him having a hypersensitivity to taste where monster energy drink is a “safe food” for him. many autistic people, including myself, with hypersensitivities to taste or texture in food have a safe food that is often a processed snack food due to their predictable nature

regarding hyposensitivity, i think his special interest in motorcycles factors into it. motorcycles provide the rider with a feeling of immense adrenaline due to the pressure and extreme feeling of movement exerted onto them — hyposensitivity to pressure is the reason many autistic people love things like weighted blankets and vestibular hyposensitivity leads to stimming by rocking, spinning etc. regarding yoshida, his remedy for both of these things is riding his motorcycle

another “blatant” aspect of yoshida’s character that can open way for easy autistic interpretation concerns his communication, such as: how blunt he can be!! understandably this is often overlooked by him being in the proximity of itona, which is fair, but yoshida is similarly blunt without the awareness of how socially acceptable it is to be so. most notably this manifests in how he talks to korosensei in chapter 154 where in response to muramatsu saying he guesses korosensei “had his own worries” yoshida says “some pretty stupid worries compared to how depressed the rest of us were”

aside from the above instance the biggest moment displaying him misreading a situation + suggesting something that to him is a completely logically sound idea is during kayano’s reveal + attempted murder of korosensei

finally, mention of that moment brings me to his atypical thought process which is on full display here as he suggests in full sincerity that mimura play air guitar + distract kayano with his “badass skills” and doesn’t understand why others react to it in the flummoxed way they do because in his mind this is an easy, obvious, natural connection to make - mimura’s air guitar had a prominent impact on him, that should apply to everyone!!! the differing context doesnt occur to him, why would it? autism often causes us to fixate on small details rather than the “bigger picture” - this is a similar thought process with its disregarding of contexts that earlier in the story has him take itona on a bike ride to take his mind of the tentacles

conclusively, through connecting many of yoshida’s character traits to autistic symptoms + traits, most of which discussed here i personally experience with my own autism, i think he can extremely easily be read as autistic and joins the pantheon of class 3e students who also can also extremely easily be and are frequently read as such (okuda, sugaya, itona)!!!

TLDR: yoshida taisei has autism. i rest my case

[deltarune-darkheart]

Analysing lines from the Deltarune: Chapter 1 en lang file every two days until the next chapters: #8 (lines 68-89)

NAME YOUR VESSEL. GASTER WE CALLED IT "~1." AN INTERESTING COINCIDENCE. AND WHAT ABOUT THE CREATOR? AND WHAT ABOUT THE CREATOR? YOUR OWN NAME. GASTER THE DEATH THE DARK THE DARK SUSIE "~1." "~1." EXCELLENT. TRULY EXCELLENT. HOW INTERESTING. YOU ARE ABOUT TO MEET SOMEONE VERY, VERY WONDERFUL. OF COURSE OF COURSE. OF COURSE THEY ARE THE SAME.

<! --

"DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_698_0": "NAME YOUR VESSEL.", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_714_0": "GASTER", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_729_0": "\M0WE CALLED IT^4&\"~1.\"^6 \M1 ^5 %", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_735_0": "\M0AN INTERESTING&COINCIDENCE^3.\M1 ^5 %", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_730_0": "\M0AND WHAT ABOUT^3&THE CREATOR^3?\M1 ^5 %%", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_736_0": "\M0AND WHAT ABOUT^3&THE CREATOR^3?\M1 ^5 %%", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_756_0": "YOUR OWN NAME.", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_770_0": "GASTER", "DEVICE_FAILURE_slash_Create_0_gml_10_0": "THE DEATH", "DEVICE_FAILURE_slash_Step_0_gml_95_0": "THE DARK", "DEVICE_MENU_slash_Step_0_gml_35_0": "THE DARK", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Other_10_gml_1_0": "SUSIE", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_734_0": "\M0\"~1.\"^6 \M1 ^5 %", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_755_0": "\M0 %", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_785_0": "\M0\"~1.\"^6 \M1 ^5 %", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_786_0": "\M0EXCELLENT^3.\M1 ^5 %", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_787_0": "\M0TRULY^3 &EXCELLENT^3.\M1 ^5 %%", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_790_0": "\M0HOW INTERESTING.\M1 ^5 %%", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_794_0": "\M0YOU ARE ABOUT TO&MEET SOMEON^3E \M1 ^5 %", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_795_0": "\M0VERY^1, VERY^4&WONDERFUL^3. \M1 ^5 %%", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_800_0": "\M0OF COURSE^5&OF COURSE.\M1 ^5 %", "DEVICE_CONTACT_slash_Step_0_gml_801_0": "\M0OF COURSE^5 THEY&ARE THE SAME^4.\M1 ^5 %%",

-- >

Important information for those who do not know: "~1" denotes a variable. This knowledge will be useful For The Future. In this case, the first one is the vessel's name and the others are the player's.

If the vessel is named "GASTER", the game restarts from the chapter selection screen. (none of your files get deleted)

If the creator is named "GASTER", the same thing happens, although in the pre-DEMO version ("SURVEY_PROGRAM") it simply closed the window.

The line "AN INTERESTING COINCIDENCE." only happens if the vessel was named with a name from the following list: "SUSIE", "NOELLE", "KRIS", "TORIEL", "ASRIEL", "ASGORE", "SANS", "PAPYRUS", "ALPHYS", "UNDYNE", "RUDY", "BERDLY", "CATTY", "CATTI", "BRATTY", "GERSON", "JOCKINGTON", "QC".

The line "HOW INTERESTING." is only written if the player named themselves after a character from the previous list, aside from "SUSIE", "NOELLE" and "KRIS", in which case it would instead say "YOU ARE ABOUT TO MEET SOMEONE VERY, VERY WONDERFUL."

The lines "OF COURSE OF COURSE. OF COURSE THEY ARE THE SAME." expectedly only happen if the vessel and creator were named the same way.

"THE DEATH" and "THE DARK" are the game window title when entering the dark world for the first time and dying, respectively.

The voice seems to think highly of Susie, Kris and Noelle. They are indeed likely the three most important lightners, some may even argue the most important characters.

The fact that Gerson is there and not his son, Alvin, despite the former being dead and latter alive in this universe, could be considered odd, although most of those name are the same as the ones that had a reaction in UNDERTALE so it could have just been taken.

Papyrus is there as well, which may hint at him coming back from being "busy", as the description puts it.

QC's name was unknown before DELTARUNE. Indeed, it is never said in UNDERTALE or even written in any of the files, to our knowledge.

"SUSIE" is there to be recognized while all of the other names are later in the file.

[thecreaturecodex]

Herexen

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[As part of PF2e's divesting from the OGL, a number of classic monsters inherited from the 3e Monster Manual and the Tome of Horrors have undergone some branding changes. Ankhegs are ankhravs, treants are arboreals, kytons are velstracs. And huecuvas are now herexens. The name "huecuva" was taken from Mapuche mythology, but the actual entity has nothing to do with undead clerics. And the mechanics of the D&D/PF1e huecuva are a remnant of a Gygaxian-era gotcha encounter--what looked like a kindly cleric infected you with disease by touch--and is weirdly low-intelligence. So I welcome this change to both name and mechanics wholeheartedly.]

Herexen CR 2 NE Undead This person is clearly dead, with rotting skin and half-missing facial features. It wears a holy symbol around its neck, but its talisman has been clearly defaced.

When a cleric forsakes their god before dying, their body may rise again as an undead heretic known as a herexen. Herexens hate the god they once worshipped, and go out of their way to desecrate holy spaces, interrupt festivals and slay adherents of the faith. They may attract necromancers or death cultists with their activities, and some even continue to advance as clerics, albeit turning to the worship of some demon lord, god of undeath or similar fell power. Herexens may be found as lone predators, or gathered together into parodies of worshipful congregations. In numbers, herexens often engage in cruel parodies of liturgical ceremonies.

A herexen focuses its attacks on divine spellcasters, especially those that worship the god that they once did. A formerly sacred weapon in their hands becomes a tool against all servants of the divine. Herexens are capable of using some clerical magic, thematically similar to that of the god they once followed. They can also inflict negative energy with a touch, which they use to both harm others and to heal themselves or any undead they may have allied with. When slain, a herexen explodes in a burst of negative energy.

Herexen                                CR 2 XP 600 NE Medium undead Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +9 Defense AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 natural) hp 18 (2d8+9) Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7 Immune undead traits Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee slam +3 (1d4+3) or masterwork dagger +4 (1d4+2 plus blasphemous strike) Special Abilities death throes Spell-like Abilities CL 2nd, concentration +5 7/day—bleeding touch (1 round) 3/day—inflict light wounds (DC 14) 1/day—cause fear (DC 14) Statistics Str 14, Dex 15, Con -, Int 11, Wis18, Cha 17 Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 15 Feats Toughness Skills Disguise +8, Knowledge (religion) +9, Perception +9, Stealth +7; Racial Modifiers +4 Knowledge (religion) Languages Common, Necril SQ blasphemous focus (Death domain, dagger) Ecology Environment any Organization solitary, pair or congregation (3-12) Treasure standard (defiled holy symbol, masterwork dagger, other treasure) Special Abilities Blasphemous Focus (Ex) All herexens are tied to the god that they worshiped and abandoned in life. This grants them access to a single domain or subdomain of their god (aside from the Good or Healing domains), from which they can use the 1st level granted powers as a 2nd level cleric, and can use the 1st level domain spell as a spell-like ability 1/day. A herexen loses these abilities if it is not carrying or wearing a defiled holy symbol of that god. A herexen also gains proficiency with that god’s favored weapon. Blasphemous Strike (Su) When wielding the favored weapon of its former god, a herexen deals an additional 1d6 points of damage against extraplanar outsiders or creatures capable of casting divine spells. Its blasphemous strike counts as evil for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. Death Throes (Su) When a herexen dies, it explodes in a burst of negative energy, dealing 1d6 points of negative energy damage to all creatures in a 30 foot radius (Will DC 14 halves). The save DC is Charisma based.