#3E-Politics

[gortashs-skidmark]

Tieflings DnD - variations for the fanfic writers and artists!! -

There’s a lot about tieflings on the internet. THESE ARE CANON, except for one thought i put in.

If you’re gonna do BG3 fanfics about Tieflings, please please please consider adding some spice with origin lore and CANON facts about their race :) it would be SO fun!

Pls I need more zevlor fanfic too.

PLS READ: I don’t believe in censorship or ignoring the subject of people who are oppressed, but be mindful of how you write and use oppression of dnd races on your tav pls.

- Orange; Canon Historical Events, Abilities, Bodily Facts, and Bloodlines. It means i think you should look into it.

Pink: I think it's cute. Red; Warning, Comment Purple; Headcanon (only one of them)

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- Tieflings are prone to bad luck, because of the Curse of Aasimar.

- Planar Proverb “don’t ever make a bet with a Tiefling” hey I already made one with Lakrissa.

- They’re arcanally gifted, most of them. Zariel Tieflings are much better melee fighters.

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- Tielfling Blood; is tainted from the hells so they could have human parents. Be descendants of demon, devils, evil deities, night hags, and succubus!

- i know y’all love aphrodisiac fanfics, succubus spittle is exactly what you need dawg. Someone make me a fanfic including succubus heritage.

- along with that, Tieflings are unable to breed with anyone except humans or other Tieflings. Literally. They can be Tiefling or human.

- Usually there is some tell to if they’re Zariel, Asmodeus, Mephistopheles by birth mark, or traits like cat eyes, or night hags bloodlines have red eyes without pupils or scelaras

EDIT: I thought the flaming pupils were cat-like slit eyes in the game, but Karlach does indeed have regular slits!

- Tieflings can be male, female, or without gender. It is a canon fact. A win for my gender struggling homies.

- They can have green, blue, purple, pink, yellow, red skin tones. With dark hair colors only like black, purple, dark red and blue. I don’t care for this, genes be gene-ing so have any color you want.

Mephestopheles is recorded as to having blue skin, pale blue whites and red eyes, soot black scales, with large wings in the 2nd Manual. BUT in a 3e version he is described having red skin, bat wings, being 9ft, with white eyes, and slick black hair. Both of these are present in Mephestophic Bloodlines in BG3. Raphael is the son, though cambion, is red.

Asmodeus rules the Nine Hells. Mephestopheles being his archduke, only rules the 8th layer. Asmodeus has a humanoid, and a scale-fiend version of himself. He's red, slim, 13ft tall, horned, vibrant red eyes, and a neatly trimmed beard. He is Lawful-Evil.

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The Blood War (where Karlach escaped) is described as a "philosophical war" and which kind of evil would rule. Asmodeus plays a part but didn't start it, it's rooted in ancient Hell conflicts. Asmodeus claimed it was a senselessly bloody conflict from a militia standpoint. He really hates it, he's not a fan of it. INFERNAL POLITICS ARE FUCKING COMPLICATED. look into it :)

Zevlor was a Hellrider or Rider of Elturel! a Cavalry unit for Elturel during the 14th and 15th century. They ride horseback, and use spears and bows. They're well reguarded!! Zevlor should have more pride in himself for his service, being a refugee isn't his fault, or The Descent.

In the late 1400's striving for Paladin Knighthood in the Order of Companion was a rank of Hell rider. Before and after the year 1494, you could be a Paladin and join freely.

The Order of Companions was an Elturel, of Western Heartland, theocratic realm of Paladin Knighthood. It's just a region of Paladins that are highly reguarded. They typically worship Tyr, Torm, Helm, and Aumanator.

They kept order in the high capital of Elturel, preserving local civilization from outer destruction. They're super Lawful Good.

Typically an Oath of Devotion or an Oath of the Crown.

"For a City Guard, they outmatched the armies of the Whole Realm" - Forgotten Wiki Realms

They guard general land, they aren't really police, and can escort as far as Waterdeep if privileged to. It is a job they hold for life. I FUYCKING LOVE HELLRIDERS.

Shortly after Elturel’s descent into Avernus, the Tieflings were blamed for the fall, and expelled from the city entirely. Zevlor and any tiefling hellrider’s title has been stripped from them. Any hellrider’s were arrested at The Gate. And the reputation of tieflings sunk even lower.

Badlurian’s are Elturian’s rivals but Duke Ravenguard was tricked into coming to Elturel for politics and ended up helping and sending in troops to help fight. He’s extra important! I might find Wyll, all though lovely, useless, his father is very brave and noble and amazing for what he does.

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- Tieflings can have feathers! Although rare. They can have fur, scales, or be bald like humans. They can be any variation of sorts!

- A more common portrayal of tieflings, is having solid colored eyes, whites and irises the same color. They can be black, red, silver, gold, or white.

- Tieflings are technically minorities and don’t live in the highest neighborhoods. It gives them an even worse reputation.

- Most of the Tieflings with famous status, also give bad reps. Climbing their way to the top in corruption.

- When Tieflings get nervous, experience anxiety, or are upset. They’re known to wrap their tails around their leg!! Super telling.

- They can use their tail like a monkey, very dexterous about it. It’s about 5-6ft long.

- Their ages, weight, height. All similar to humans. Idk how logical that is with 5 extra feet of meat behind them. Sometimes they can live longer, to about 120-150 years old.

- Tieflings can look just like humans. Though they can have their hellish features, those with strong hellish features are often killed at birth out of disgust.

- They can also have legs of a goat, tail akin to a horse or a lizard.

- Tieflings can be really good at thieving, hiding, and deceit.

- their diet consists of meat, marrow, gristle, fat, and bones. They’re highly carnivorous. They even eat roasted insects.

- Many worship Besheba, the goddess of bad luck, finding similarities in them and their goddess.

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- Tieflings are as sensitive as humans, same hearing. They usually have dark vision. And their body temperatures can be colder or warmer than humans depending on their type of tainted blood. --Mephistopheles blood lines are from the frozen layer of hell, maybe their blood is colder.

- They don’t purr, sorry girlies. They’re closer to humans than Tabaxis or Driders.

- Tieflings don’t regrow horns unless they’re still young, though they do tend to file them down.

- They have a natural unsettling aura about them. Even if their heritage is unknown to others, it makes people uncomfortable. They also can smell of sulphur.

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- There are so many Tieflings bloodlines. I love the Babau Tieflings bc they’re already known as uncanny creatures-- Babau Tieflings are gaunt and skinny, darker skin, and a small horn coming from the back of their head.

- Marilith Tieflings are known to be seductive- more than they already are, and have dark hair. They have snake-like half-bodies and have grey tongues.

- Succubus Tieflings! They’re like the ones you see in bg3, often have a small set of wings.

- Tieflings can have so many fucking variations it makes me dizzy.

- Tieflings can have bat-like wing shaped ears, that perk up and shit. I know yall think about ear movements. <zevlor has this>

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Edit: Ya'll loved this :) I can do another on Tiefling politics if ya'll want. Or more bloodlines and fun facts if you want.

I have built another list of Canon facts about Driders and Kar'niss Headcanons if you monster fuckers are interested!!

Currently in the works; He Who Was Headcanons and Shadar'Kai canon facts and events.

[prokopetz]

Thank you for the explanation! ❤️ now I’m intrigued, though: Where can I find information on why 4E was published under a more restrictive license?

(With reference to this post here.)

Before we can talk about that, it's necessary to understand what an incredible shitshow 4E's commercial launch was in general. I go over that in some depth here.

Understanding the sequence of events outlined there is important because it dispels one of the most widely accepted wrong answers to your question: that Hasbro and WotC cooked up the 4E Game System License (GSL) because they didn't want a repeat of Pathfinder.

In truth, the 4E GSL is what caused Pathfinder; Paizo was one of a handful of third-party publishers who'd taken advantage of the D&D System Trademark License (STL) to produce officially branded D&D products, and they'd likely have been perfectly happy to continue doing so if WotC hadn't come to them and said "hey, if you want to remain STL-compliant, you need to throw away all of your 3E material and re-develop it for 4E, under a more restrictive license, with zero notice – that's cool, right?"

(It was not, in fact, cool.)

As for why the 4E GSL really happened, there are a variety of opinions on that – a lot of it ultimately comes down to internal office politics, so there may never be a clear answer. As far as I've been able to gather, however, the problem is that the OGL had always served two masters. By all accounts, several of the OGL's principal architects genuinely believed in establishing a creative commons for D&D – but that's not how they sold the idea to the suits at the head office.

Internally, the pitch in favour of the OGL was that it would allow WotC to delegate the creation of D&D supplements and adventures to third parties, allowing WotC itself to focus on core book sales. (i.e., the PHB/DMG/MM trio and the main setting hardbacks.) Core books were always the more lucrative side of the coin, with supplements and adventures serving less as a profit-making enterprise in themselves, and more as long-tail support to drive further core book sales. The prospect of being able to get that long-tail support for free was very tempting, and is likely the main reason that corporate agreed to publish the Third Edition under the OGL in the first place.

The OGL accomplished that, to a degree, but it also resulted in a lot of publishers lifting D&D's rules text wholesale – remember, the OGL allows verbatim copying-and-pasting of rules text, which was its main draw from the perspective of third-party publishers – and stuffing it into their own standalone games. This sort of thing was fairly small-time prior to the Pathfinder debacle, but there was enough of it going on for WotC's new owner, Hasbro, to see it as a thorn in their side.

TL;DR version: in all likelihood, 4E's GSL was an effort by Hasbro to rein in the OGL and return it to the purpose for which it had initially been sold to WotC corporate: an instrument for outsourcing D&D's long-tail support to unpaid third parties while reaping the benefits of that support in core book sales.

(Of course, as outlined in the linked post, what was actually accomplished was to shrink D&D's third-party support practically to nothing while simultaneously creating its own largest competitor; it's a fair question how much of this was due to the GSL itself, and how much of it was due to all the other corporate incompetence and general fuckery attendant to 4E's rollout, but either way, the result was WotC and Hasbro pulling the plug on 4E early, and reverting to the OGL for 5E. It was a learning experience all around – though the present business with the OGL 1.1 leads one to suspect that they didn't learn the right lessons!)

[vhstown]

spider-teens ★ D&D HEADCANONS

— hobie, gwen, miles, pavitr (+ peter b & mayday!)

warnings: d&d jargon (there's definitions at the end if you're curious), shenanigans, miles being a NERDDD, a lil shorter than usual

a/n: how id imagine these lot playing d&d!!! ive only played / ran 5e so forgive me veteran players 😭 again feel free to add / disagree w me it's all in good fun

If MILES doesn't run the game, he plays a warlock for sure. Not because it fits him personality wise but because he wants to be a magic user but also not be held back by it. My man is thinking STRATEGY and takes every opportunity to geek out about the specifics of his abilities. He also definitely has a ridiculously fleshed-out backstory he's kind of too embarrassed to tell anyone about.

Either warlock or the nerd multi-classes and it confuses the hell out of EVERYONE... I feel like he tries a lot of the classes though so warlock is kind of a starting point when he's playing with his spider friends (he defo played fighter or sorcerer in the past)

Miles is the one who gets everyone together though (and jumps through universes to make sure everyone's on time 😭 he will NOT tolerate scheduling issues)

Peter B runs a lot of their games except he used to play 3e or Pathfinder back in the day (nerd...) so Miles is just like... gritting his teeth a little whenever Peter misses a little detail or a skill check. He probably used to play in high school / college I mean come on...

Speaking of Peter B OF COURSE he lets Mayday roll the dice. The entire party could depend on that roll and she's rolling it and everyone is TENSE (And he tries not to let her eat the dice... Tries.)

HOBIE plays a barbarian or rogue. He'd play a barbarian just for the hell of it (sounds cool) and would most definitely carry everyone by total accident because he's like... the only one alive.

Rogue also for the hell of it cause stealing is rebellious and that 😭 Though if he does play a rogue his character becomes one of the most unintentionally complex characters in the game.

Hobie would figure out the entire plot of the adventure completely by accident and Peter just laughs awkwardly and goes "You'll just have to find out next session!" and maybe dies inside (but it's not like he prepares for his sessions anyway 💀)

Absolutely crits at the most ridiculous times and derails the whole campaign because he decided to interrogate a minor political figure and now they're destabilising the region's government instead of fighting dragons

And he accidentally becomes the leader of like the whole village and maybe starts a revolution and Peter is sat there lips pressed together hands pressed together elbows on table like "...I guess that happens then."

Might cheat a little bit. Just a little. Not enough to ruin the campaign but enough to have Peter sweating 💀 A lil strand of web under his dice hurt nobody right? (Those goblins are DEAD dead)

Miles is gob-smacked and definitely a little jealous of him 😭

PAVITR originally wants to play a fighter because that sounds... cool as hell BUT when Miles explains the bard class to him he takes it and runs

I'd say Pavitr is relatively new to the game as are Hobie and Gwen but he hones in on the roleplay (not as seriously as Miles but definitely participates)

Probably leads the group and goes head-first into danger (Miles is literally pissing himself) and his character probably knows loads of languages cause he just conveniently picked a race with very useful languages for the adventure (as per Miles' suggestion)

But he goes out-of-character more than once to go "WTF????" when he doesn't manage to rizz up an NPC and they're have to roll for initiative (attempts to be a pacifist)

The goat when it comes to fights though he plays such a good supporting character and if he were to die everyone would totally be finished 😭🙏

GWEN plays either a monk or a wizard. I feel like she doesn't particularly mind but she plays wizard for a little bit before realising that she doesn't really like the magic stuff? Goes for monk and it's a lot simpler and more fun

More of an observer but is helpful when it comes to investigating areas and carries like EVERY item possible: potions, magical items, 20 rocks for some reason. Bag of holding girlie (like how she holds that trauma she has in real li—)

Has THE coolest weapons. Because her character can't rely on magic she's constantly upgrading or getting new weapons and her unique monk abilities come in handy again when exploring!!!

Totally makes fun of Miles (endearingly!) And maybe points out a plot hole in his backstory and he wants to curl up into a ball and disappear for a good minute (he rethinks his entire character for 2 nights straight)

Has an NPC she would protect with her LIFE. Barmaid at the inn? Anything for you sweetums 😁😁😁 *trips over and dies*

That's all given if they have an actually functional game... It takes them probably about like a year to finish a one-shot adventure

But it is SO worth the memories (albeit very chaotic memories.) Even when they're arguing over a roll (usually Hobie's) or someone's character has literally died they make it work through the power of friendship...! And a broken table

These guys are crazy I love them

"Embrace the chaos is the mood for tonight's session. AKA you guys are screwed... Roll initiative."

"What the hell?!"

"Don't swear in front of the kid!"

Jargon!

Campaign: A world containing one set of characters where different adventures take place

Dungeon Master / DM: The person who creates the story and runs the game

Skill check: Rolling a die to see if you've passed or failed a certain skill when performing an action (for example charisma when trying to persuade somebody)

Crit: Critical hit. When you roll a 20 on a 20-sided die. You deal loads of damage in a fight basically.

NPC: Non-playable character. Any characters who aren't the players within the universe. Controlled by the DM.

Initiative: The roll you have to make before a fight to decide the order of turns. "Roll initiative" means "you guys are in a fight now!!!! lmao!!!!"

🕸️🕷️💫

thank you for reading my insane midnight rant LMAOOO

i haven't played d&d in like 2 years so apologies if anything is diabolically wrong here 💀would love to hear your thoughts!

reblogs appreciated <3 read the rest of my atsv stuff here!

[lazytoufu]

“Class, this is Asano Gakushuu-kun, he’s transferring into E class as of today.” The agent introduced, and Gakushuu bowed politely.

The secret version of dear 3E Shuu!

Kitty Cat and 3-E ver.

I have been thinking about it while putting too many colouring layers. His smile could really thinking to a different way just about the light and effect. Also I can’t find the author social acc (if anyone knows pls message me)

here’s the work💜

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33254509?view_full_work=true

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Ivana Boritsi

Domain: Borca Domain Formation: 684 BC Power Level: 3/5 skulls Sources: Ravenloft (3e), Domains of Dread (2e), Secrets of the Dread Realms (3e), Domains and Denizens (2e), Realm of Terror (2e), Gazetteer 4 (3e), van Ricthen’s Guide to Ravenloft

Ivana Boritsi is the second Darklord of Borca, usurping her mother, Camille Boritsi when she committed matricide via the traditional Borcan means – poison.  In 740 BC the Grand Conjunction caused Borca to absorb Dorvinia, her cousin Ivan’s Domain. Currently, Borca is ruled by these poisonous noble cousins, but today I am only going to address Ivana’s descent into Darklordom.

Camille wanted nothing more for her daughter to mirror her in every possible way. An admirable goal. What parent would not want to see their legacies carried forward in their heirs? Installing hatred in one of the Bortisi bloodline should not be a difficult task, yet Camille failed to mold Ivana into the man hating daughter she desired.

The young, influential Ivana desired the experience of ‘true love’. Bah. Overrated dribble best left in fairytales. In her search, she found Pieter – a poetic and musician. He, however, showed no interest in Ivana, so naturally she took to pursuing him like a relentless zealot.  He, like the gloriously vain artist he was, only took interest in Ivana when she expressed interest in his art. And so, Ivana became one of the first groupies in Ravenloft…

Camille, seeing her daughter find ‘true love’ in this musical hack, decided to demonstrate to Ivana just how horrible all men truly were. She pretended to be Ivana and came into Pieter’s bed under the cloak of darkness. When Ivana discovered them together, she was devastated. Camille quickly convinced Ivana that Pieter had seduced her and Ivana should kill him for it in the Boritsi fashion.

Ivana saturated her body in a powerful poison that did no harm to her, but allowed her to kill Pieter with a single kiss. Camille had finally obtained the man-hating, poisonous daughter she always dreamed of. Ivana, however, did not see her revenge complete until she mother suffered the same fate as her lover and with Camille’s last breath, Ivana became the Darklord of Borca.

Now, her body is permanently seeped in poison. Ivana is in her 60s, yet appears no older than 18. A gift bestowed upon her by our tormentors, allowing her to stay young and beautiful without the curse of undeath. There is, naturally, always a price for their gifts and though Ivana may give all appearances of the innocent and beautiful young woman, part of her true nature is revealed by the unnaturally and sickly shade of blue that stains her lips and fingernails. Though Ivana hides these blemishes beneath lairs of makeup, I would not be surprised if she was able to convince the Borcans that blue lips and nails are the latest fashion craze.

When she succumbs to mortal slumber, Ivana’s horror is revealed – she appears as if she died from poison – swelled face, protruding and blackened tongue, and the pallor of a blotted corpse. Perhaps this is why she ensures the death of any lover she takes for fear they may see her as she truly is.

As a ruler, Ivana is more interested in funding her lavish lifestyle and manipulating countless courtiers for her to seduce and destroy. When Borca absorbed Dorvinia, Ivana was more than happy to let Ivan take over the political concerns of their realm.

5e Version

In van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, Ivana’s story has changed in some ways and remained the same in others. In this version, both of her parents earned her scorn. Her father for favoring male heirs over herself and her mother for successfully seducing Pieter from her. After Camille’s betrayal, Ivana created aromatic toxins and killed all of her brothers for the crime of being favored by her father and her mother for seducing Pieter.

When her father lay on his death bed, he named Ivan Dilisnya as his heir. Now, of course, Ivana assumed this was because he was a petty man…but perhaps killing everyone with poison in a rather unsubtle means clued your father into your true nature, Ivana. Though, Ivan is a rather poor choice as an heir as well. With his final word, Ivana released another toxic gas and killed her already dying father and their countless servants. A rather pointless act, but it earned her a Domain and the taint of poison beneath her skin.   

[spyridonya]

Top 5 denizens of the Hells (from any setting)

Okay, besides me fawning over Raphael on @archcambion, I felt I should talk about my top five favorite loves of the Hells.

Thank you so much, @dujour13, for letting me info dump!

5. Glasya, the Archdevil of Malbolge (D&D)

The only child of Asmodeus, Glasya has always been in the side lines of D&D since it's inception, a bit of a minor player with she severing as a consort for an edition or two for Mammon. In late 2e and in 3.Xe, Glasya became such a political issue for Asmodeus, he bumped her to Archdevil to give her more work and to use in political maneuvering. Glasya still is the most chaotic of the Archdevils, focusing on her criminal empire within the Hells, and befriending her peer Fierna in a manner that suggest they were best friends.

4. Enecura, the Queen of Dis (PF)

The concept of Enecura bit me while learning more about the Archdevils in Pathfinder. This moral woman stole immorality from one of the most powerful gods in Pathfinder, got sent to hell, managed to thrive in this setting, and either fell in love or manipulated another demi-deity to fall in love with her. Not only does this woman have ovaries of steel, she and Dispater are a Hades and Persephone romance in disguise without any problematic tropes.

3. Dispater, Lord of Dis (PF)

I liked Dispater when I first read about him in D&D, but became less impressed with 5e lore of making him paranoid and yet easily manipulated. It wasn't so much the sexuality it suggested for Dispater as is making a feared Archdevil a little weak - though most Archdevils in D&D have more obvious flaws. When reading about PF, I liked this depiction of Dispater even more. I could see the bones of D&D's Dispater in the character, built into a logical way with unique details. A fast friend of Asmodeus, loyal and focused on law and order, he willingly fell with his wife to follow his leader. And during that fall, something happened to his wife. And no one knows what. Regardless, it brought out genuine puppy dog eyes from a design that is particularly kinky. His story with his son, the trouble second marriage, and the third marriage is also quite intresting. He might not have the 40 years of backstory as his counterpart, but what he has is amazing.

2. Mephistopheles, Lord of Cania (D&D and PF)

Mephistopheles is the one that got me really interested in DnD planar lore, leading me to Planescape Torment. When I was younger, my first DnD interest began with BG1 and it grew from there with BG2 and then Neverwinter Nights. Mephistopheles was an NPC Villain that caught my attention quicker than the game's intended villain and got me to reading more about him and his comrades. A Starcream with delusions of grandeur that he could almost back up, Mephistopheles was my favorite for a long time with a DnD campaign that brought his attention to me again. It was also around the time I was playing Pathfinder CRPGs, but I didn't get poking into that until he showed up, again, in WotR. Of course, Pathfinder Mephistopheles is very different from DnD Mephistopheles. The incarnation of Hell itself with a deeply loyalty to anyone that advances Hell cause, Mephistopheles beloved by Asmodeus, and Mephistopheles is very much his right hand person. He also has a gorgeous design that does take nods from his 3e depiction.

And oddly, a blend of both depictions with a unique twist of UST make Mephistopheles even more fun.

Asmodeus, Lord of Nessus, God of Indulgence (D&D)

Although I find myself favoring the Pathfinder takes of the Archdevils, this doesn't hold true to Asmodeus. Pathfinder Asmodeus is great, but the only advantage he might have over his D&D counterpart was always being a god, and yet he lacks the same prestige as D&D Asmodeus for that role. D&D Asmodeus has been apart of the brand since it's inception as the ruler of Hell through all the five editions, with the 2nd edition only using bare descriptions to indicate who he was when you couldn't use devils or demons in D&D. He has several origin stories inspired from Christianity and Zoroastrianism and he's gone through several crises, always rising on the top. I think that's why I love him a bit more than his counterpart. Asmodeus has scraped and crawled from being a devil to becoming a greater Deity if only due to 4e deciding it was about fucking time he become one. He's earned this status, you've seen how he's earned it, and while how they cement his godhood in Forgotten Realms is super dumb, he should be a God - he who is more crafty and chaotic than anyone realizes.

[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.

[strelles-universe]

Codes of the Clans - The Escort's Code

Though Escorts are considered the lowest rank in WindClan - often whispered to be the least connected to the rest of clan politics given that they don’t usually stay within the confines of the camp - they are among the most important to ensure that WindClan retains control over their territory. Especially to the world outside of the clans, Escorts are the face of WindClan - the first to encounter trespassers and visitors, to calm them and speak. They are near constantly on the move, patrolling their clan’s territory or stationed at specific Border Posts around their entire territory.

The Border Posts are decently protected - though some of them are out in the open, several have dens that were dug out and expanded by the tunnelers with small entrances that look more like rabbit runs than a cat’s entrance around them. These internal dens allow for Escorts to be on watch for long hours at a time during the sweltering heat and frigid cold preventing both heat-stroke and frostbite. 

Sometimes, even retired Escorts don’t return to the camp for lecturing; finding even sleeping outside on the camp’s clearing to be more smothering than the various border posts. 

1. An Escort’s first duty is to secure the territory

1a. An Escort will be stationed to a minimum of two posts every day

1b. An Escort is expected to mark weakened borderlines if they’re noticed

1c. Even before guards, an escort is WindClan’s first defense against invasion

2. An Escort is expected to have the skills to survive without a patrol

2a. An Escort is expected to teach their apprentice the basics of survival, failure to do so is interpreted as apprentice neglect

2b. The Basics are identified as: solo-hunting, basic herb identification, conflict de-escalation, territory orientation and how to find water in the warm seasons

3. An Escort is to report any and all trespassers to the clan

3a. There is a specific way to report trespassers and all escorts are expected to know the format

3b. The format is species - estimated age - affiliation - intention - longevity

3c. An Escort is to bring regular Visitors to the clan’s camp and assist any pregnant, nursing or injured individuals

3d. An Escort is expected to accompany another clan’s diplomat to the camp and back to the border

3e. Escorts are expected to accompany located cats on the path to the Mother Maw

4. An escort is the clan’s ears - if unusual or concerning rumors reach them, they are to report immediately

[alanofalltrades]

I love Starfinder for its world and lore and the general Vibe, but my god. The jank of it all.

Paizo did their best, but it still has parts from D&D 3e under the hood. That's early 2000s game design, people! This game still thinks Bush is the worst thing to happen to American politics.

[suomeen]

Chapter 5: Finnishing the Year

As the year was coming to an end, we finally moved into our new apartment in a 5-story municipal building. The house is rather simple, though it has all one might need, with a storage space outside and a laundry room in the basement. There are Finns living there but a lot of the apartments are owned by the city to house refugees or immigrants so there are a lot of Ukrainians, as well as people from Arabic countries and South East Asia.

The apartment is spacious, has 2 bedrooms and a larger living room. When we first arrived, there was basically nothing in it. Just beds and closets and a starter kit of cheap cutlery, plastic plate and glass, and a few pans. A bit later we also got a few chairs and bedside tables, as well as a kitchen table. The beds are very uncomfortable but it’s better than sleeping in the corridor and waking up from explosions. It was almost strange to feel so safe.

Sharing a tiny room with your mother in your 30s is not exactly ideal. Having my own room is probably what I miss the most. In a situation like that, you soon realize that privacy is a luxury. The inherent lack of privacy was exacerbated by the fact that without much furniture, carpets or curtains, the acoustics were way too good. You couldn’t make a sound without the whole apartment knowing. The bathroom is a fucking echo chamber. To make a private call, people go outside. You can always see someone hanging out in the yard with their phones. And its not great when it’s cold as fuck outside.

The city itself has a population of just 60k. But then Finland is not a big country with only 5 million people overall. So, a city of over 50k is sizeable. It’s not exactly small in terms of area either, as most of the houses have just 1 floor and the buildings are rather sparse. It looks like a forest anywhere you go. The problem is our block is quite far from the city center so to get literally anywhere you need to walk at least 40 minutes. You can take the bus but it costs 3e and doesn’t go everywhere and only at certain hours. No buses after 6 pm and on Sundays. The city is designed for cars. Or, at the very least, bikes. If you walk to a shop through an industrial zone, you’re probably not gonna meet a single person for miles. At least our house has a big supermarket right next to it.

When we arrived to settle in, there was already another dweller. A young woman named Lina who took the other bedroom. She was a German teacher, polite but sociable. We hit it off surprisingly well.  Our first order of business was to try and make this place feel at least a little bit like home the best we could and navigate this wondrous new territory.

The NY eve was wild. Sure, we used to have fireworks in Kyiv, but they went off at midnight and only lasted for about 5 minutes. We don’t have them since the war started. Fireworks sound just like explosions, you know.  Here, the fireworks began at 6 PM and went on till after midnight. There were hundreds of them going off all around us. they never stopped. It was insane. As the day wrapped up, the 3 of us sat down in the kitchen. We didn’t even have proper drinks because we learned too late that you can’t just buy alcohol in Finland. The supermarkets don’t sell anything over 5%. For that you have to go to one of the Alko shops and there are just 4 of them in town. Besides, the alcohol is also very expensive. We drank a few cans of cheap beer and called it a night.

[missrosiewolf]

Sooo I know you've been stewing about Sehanine :}c Since they're both moon gods, do you think that Sehanine could/had any sort of influence on her I guess niece Eilistraee?

haaaaaaaaaaa....I have a lot of thoughts about Sehanine and not a single one of them is positive. A rant is brewing and I have yet to decide if I want to scream about the fuckery that is Sehanine vs Araushnee/Lolth over Corellon (edit: I wanted to clarify that I do not hold Sehanine as the sole party to blame for that particular mess. All parties involved hold some kind of responsibility for it. Ultimately, however, I think the person with the most blame in that situation is Corellon) or how sus Sehanine was looking in Evermeet: Island of Elves.

You know...it's funny. One particular bit of 4e is like "And they’re sister goddesses" @ Sehanine and Lolth, but every other lore I find is like "Sehanine (or Angharradhin 3e/3.5e) is Corellon's main consort" so I guess technically Eilistraee is both her niece and her stepdaughter.

In regards to the rest of your ask: Do I think that Sehanine had or could have had influence on Eilistraee? Oooooh that's a toughie. I think Sehanine did have some kind of influence — not a lot but some — because at some point in the Dancer's youth, likely long before the whole Lolth-wants-to-murder-Corellon thing happened, "Sehanine had showed her how to travel the gossamer strands of its magic with no more than a thought." (its magic being moonlight). So maybe this is just a headcanon that has some support in canon, but I like to think Sehanine took on a mentor role for Eilistraee while the latter was a young goddess still figuring out what her portfolio would be and I think that mentor-mentee relationship is why Eilistraee later ends up taking on moonlight as part of her portfolio.

So yeah. I think Sehanine might have had some influence on Eilistraee wrt to the other's godly portfolio but I think that's about the extent of it. Because, and here's the thing, their relationship became strained and distant. Eilistraee's relationship with the Seldarine as a whole is strained. She calls them allies and yet they don't really do anything to help her in her mission. Not even through indirect aid. It's pretty much "You're on your fucking own, kid" on the Seldarine's end. Like, do the Seldarine only give a shit about drow when they've 'repented' or whatever?

She is a one-god army fighting to save her people from the evils of her mother and I'd like to say she's now a two-god army post-Second Sundering but MTOF fucked with Vhaeraun and made him out to be subservient to Lolth (fuck Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. The only thing I really liked about that book was the Blessing of Corellon).

Why do I always get sidetracked and go off on tangents...

ANYWAY! Like I said, I think Sehanine's influence was mostly in relation to her as a teacher for Eilistraee during Eilistraee's godling years. Outside of that, I think the only one who has/had any actual influence on Eilistraee at this point is Erevan Ilsere and I say that because the rest of the Seldarine's she polite towards, him though? They're actually close. They have, at least to me, what looks to be a genuine friendship.

[joonjii]

Doing some research on the Maormer people, here’s the most interesting things I learned in the past hour:

Potema and Orgnum slept together in diplomatic politeness

Orgnum may very well be the Serpent god Satakal, the Yokudan god of everything. People who worship Satakal dispute it unless they are of Maormer descent.

The Maormer were never “exiled” from the Isles. Orgnum was a phenomenally wealthy Aldmeri diplomat that attempted to use his social standing to rebel against the Aldmeri powers. He and his supporters were exiled from Aldmeris, not the Isles. And they found Pyandonea in “The Veil of Mist.”

During the War if the Isles in 3E 110, the Altmer, the Imperial legion, and the fucking Psijic Order ganged up on the Maormer armada. A sudden “storm” devastated Orgnum’s fleet, and they never mustered up another attack.

The last known owner of King Orgnum’s Coffer was the Eternal Champion (protagonist of the Elder Scrolls: Arena)

Orgnum utilizes “snake magic” to control the minds of sea-serpents

There’s a cross breed of sea-serpents and Maormer known as Leviathans. They stand “a head above the tallest Nords” and they stand with their back arched, ready to strike.

They really like mudcrab.