#3E-Social Sensitivity

[thecreaturecodex]

Steel Predator

Image by Sam Wood, © Wizards of the Coast.

[Nominally, this set of monsters is about D&D 5e conversions, but I do not like the 5e steel predator. It’s a magical assassin, of which there are plenty of already, and it’s a construct when the original was alive. Plus, it refers to a “rogue hexton”, which is weird because D&D 5e hasn’t bothered to stat up any modrons except for the drone tier, not any of the nobles like hextons are. And there’s no modrons in Pathfinder. Yet. I also dislike the change to its visual aesthetic. The 5e version is jagged in shape and has a matte finish, and I like the sleeker, shinier version that Sam Wood did. I probably should have included this in my Xenomorphitude post, since it looks like it came from an HR Giger petting zoo.

So I’ve hearkened back to the original, 3rd edition version of the steel predator, although I have borrowed the roar effect being a stun, not a deafen, from the 5e version. I’ve also made it a magical beast instead of either an outsider (3e) or construct (5e). The 3e flavor text talks a lot about their diet, and in PFRPG, outsiders don’t need to eat. ]

Steel Predator CR 14 N Magical Beast This creature resembles a metal sculpture, except that it is clearly, horribly, alive. It has a cylindrical head with four small eyes over a shearing mouth, and walks on four clawed legs. Its back has a series of ridges or fins protruding from it, and its long tail drags to the ground.

The inevitables may be the rulers of Axis, the Infinite City, but the steel predator is king of its urban jungle. Despite their alien appearance, they have a behavior and social organization much like the lions of more mundane ecosystems. Instead of preying on herd animals, however, steel predators eat magically infused magic items. The more powerful the magic of the item, the more nutritious the meal. So steel predators feed on and damage enhanced buildings, stalk inevitables to tear off chunks of their metallic bodies, and eat the arms and armor of mortals and outsiders alike.

Steel predators prefer to stalk their prey over long distances and attack from ambush. They often open combat with a stunning roar—if they can get a target to drop its delicious magic weapon or shield, grab it and go without a fight, all the better. However, if they encounter resistance, they will fight with lethal force, grabbing an enemy in their jaws and tearing it apart with all four limbs. A steel predator’s jaws and teeth are laced with super durable alloys, allowing them to chew straight through metal and stone. Steel predators resist magic and many elemental attacks, but corrode rapidly when exposed to acid. If opponents bring acid attacks to bear, a steel predator will typically flee.

Steel predators live in prides, with a single male or a few close relatives guarding and mating with a harem of females. These prides are more prone to splitting up and reconvening than those of mortal lions, as the steel predators can teleport, and may go on extended solo excursions if they don’t have young to raise. Steel predators are stone deaf, but are incredibly sensitive to vibrations in the air and surfaces. They are intelligent enough that they can theoretically be communicated with, but doing so would require visual or tactile signals, or telepathy, rather than speech.

Steel Predator   CR 14 XP 38,400 N Large magical beast (extraplanar) Init +9; Senses blindsight 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., deaf, low-light vision, Perception +17, sense magic metal Defense AC 29, touch 14, flat-footed 24 (-1 size, +5 Dex, +15 natural) hp 207 (18d10+108) Fort +17, Ref +16, Will +13 DR 10/magic and adamantine; Immune electricity, language dependent abilities, petrifaction, poison, sonic; Resist cold 10, fire 10; SR 25 Weakness vulnerable to acid Offense Speed 50 ft. Melee bite +24 (2d8+7/19-20 plus grab), 2 claws +24 (2d6+7) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Special Attacks pounce, rake (2 claws +24, 2d6+7), stunning roar Spell-like Abilities CL 15th, concentration +14 3/day—dimension door Statistics Str 24, Dex 21, Con 22, Int 4, Wis 17, Cha 13 Base Atk +18; CMB +26 (+30 grapple or sunder); CMD 41 (43 vs. sunder, 45 vs. trip) Feats Combat Reflexes, Greater Sunder, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lunge, Power Attack, Step Up, Vital Strike Skills Acrobatics +19 (+27 when jumping), Climb +13, Perception +17, Stealth +15, Survival +9; Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics, +8 Perception, +8 Stealth SQ shearing strikes Ecology Environment any land or urban (Axis) Organization solitary, pair or pride (6-10) Treasure incidental Special Abilities Deaf (Ex) A steel predator is naturally deaf. It automatically fails Perception checks based on hearing, and is immune to language dependent effects. It does not suffer an initiative penalty because of its deafness. Sense Magic Metal (Su) A steel predator can sense the location of magical metal objects, and constructs made primarily out of metal, as if it had blindsense out to a range of 120 ft. Shearing Strikes (Ex) A steel predator’s natural weapons ignore the first 10 points of hardness of objects or creatures. Stunning Roar (Su) As a standard action, a steel predator can roar. All creatures in a 60 foot cone take 9d10 sonic damage and are stunned for 1d4 rounds. A successful DC 25 Fortitude save halves the damage and negates the stunning effect. A steel predator can use this ability three times a day, but must wait 1d4 rounds between uses.

[nulfaga]

i would love some food (fun facts) about miss neneldi if you feel like sharing. i like her *holds my hands out like a poor orphan beggar*

Omg hiiiiii. ABSOLUTELY it would be my pleasure <3

Im terrible at itemized lists so for the record, this will devolve very quickly <3

so i created neneldi way later than orph, he dates back to like 2016ish and then around 2018 i was like how fun would it be if he just had an evil twin. Except the evil twin is actually talented and successful. And HER hubby gets to live. Anyway things have gotten more nuanced since then (orph's situation has gotten better and neneldi's situation is definitely not all sunshine & roses) but that's the germ of it

the reason i paired her with lucien at the start was 10000% spite. I was like yes i see all your willowy delicately unhinged (usually much younger) whitewoman listeners and i raise you a fat brown gnc woman whose loose screws are extremely not cute. (i was also very intentional abt not having her do the canon oblivion dbh questline—swerving around that weird teacher/student dynamic; she's an established speaker who came up in the brotherhood at the same time as him. that was all very much intentional.)

Anyway then i actually started thinking seriously abt what would be necessary for them to make an interesting couple (what shared history/backstory, and also how to flesh out luciens personality to complement hers. Or clash horrendously w/ hers. or both.)

Wait hold that thought. this has all been meta, let me actually say something abt miss neneldi herself. She grew up in a household where she was very much the black sheep...like her mother, father and brother are all just hearts on legs. Like super empathetic and emotional and warm and sensitive....i see neneldi as autistic so growing up in that environment was like—she was very much loved but her needs were not met at ALL.

Like case in point: she and Orpheus grew up (ages 5-14) in the imperial court and since their dad Talin was the eternal champion, there were always guests or chroniclers or Talins interregnum-era friends visiting from the other side of fucking tamriel. Or it's private tutors or extracurriculars or some other nonsense, like 24/7. And neneldi, who in her very early years was a perfectly calm (if not bubbly) child, begins to be constantly irritable and reclusive. Her parents tease her abt it, very gently, and ofc they love her regardless, but don't realize that the "irritability" is the sign of a child who's overwhelmed all the gd time like all the time. sensory wise, socially, emotionally.

the family moves out to anvil around 3E 409 (when the twins are 14), and things are slightly quieter, but the damage is pretty much done. As in. Neneldi has internalized the message of "im doomed to feel like shit all the time and my family either doesn't notice or won't help me" and her parents have settled into the mindset of "something's vaguely wrong with our daughter but we still love her very much" and orpheus has concluded "my sister is really mean."

so it's mostly this state of mind that defines the rest of her life (at least so far, i don't really know what all happens after like 4E 1). even once she begins to recognize and manage the things that set her off, and she has all the calm and quiet she could want, getting her to ask for help or explain what's upsetting her is like pulling teeth—bc she will have decided ahead of time that no one else is going to get it/be able to help, why waste her breath etc etc. it makes her tremendously self-sufficient but it also makes her very hard to get close to.

The way she joins up with the dbh—at sixteen—is very calculated but also an extremely teenagerish impulse. she'd taken an interest in alchemy from the age of like. twelve. so once in anvil she's constantly workshopping formulas, poisoning stray animals and the like—she has no friends in anvil (due to her "meanness" and poor social skills) and a beautiful supply line of obscure books from the imperial city. So she starts reading up on the dbh like really reading up, fictionalized dramas about sexy assassin guilds but also (alleged) accounts from anonymous members, even a copy of the dbh charter, five tenets and all. and there's like this constant undercurrent of FAMILY. looking at the world in a profoundly different way etc etc. And her in the throes of "my terrible life is forever no one loves me" and all that, just kind of books an inn in the next town over, poisons somebody (never really hashed out who or how. i used to be very fixated on making her likeable and justifying all her actions but nah i think she fully just picks a random target.) and goes to sleep in her best dress. and the rest is history lmao

she and lucien actually bicker a LOT about execution methods—which is funny, because while she's the one who joined voluntarily (his brush with the dbh was. entirely accidental), she has a loooot of scruples abt keeping her hands clean, everything going according to a strict plan etc etc. Meanwhile he's a fuckin silence of the lambs adrenaline junkie like yes vivisection yes dismemberment. Make a statement. He's not happy unless he's caught on the 18th floor of a legion watchtower, going toe to toe with an armored guardsman while wielding a shitty little beltknife and then risking everything to stay and prop up the dude's body in an appropriately ironic position. Bloody handprint mark of sithis etc etc. Style. Neneldi thinks he's out of his fucking mind (and he feels the same way abt her. love wins)

What else. Miss neneldi exists at a delicate intersection of asceticism and frou-frou. Like she takes no joy in cooking for herself and basically lives on cold water, cigarettes and black coffee. and as mentioned she's a very minimalist assassin. However. She absolutely hates the cold dank pits that the dbh seems to be obsessed with, she is always the first person to board over the walls with antique rosewood and install a useless hearth with no chimney that can only take magefire. Put up crushed velvet drapes that cannot possibly lead to a window. Etc.

ok I'm gonna leave it here for now because again bulleted lists very quickly slip from my hands but if there's anything else u want to know...;)

[bookish-mbti]

ENFJ vs INFJ

Hello, all! I’ve been working on a couple of posts illustrating the differences between similar types, and here is ENFJ vs INFJ, if you couldn’t already guess by the title. These types can appear quite similar, so I thought I would shed some information on both of them using a character of each type.

I decided to compare Korosensei and Nagisa Shiota from Assassination Classroom. Even if you haven’t seen the anime, this post should still be informational about ENFJs and INFJs.

Korosensei is an ENFJ. He defines himself in terms of external structures and expectations, and is strict with himself about remaining within the boundaries of the roles he has taken up. He is a teacher, and behaves as such, fulfilling all of the characteristics a teacher is expected externally to fulfill. He is embarrassed or ashamed whenever he muddles the image he has carefully procured for the children to see with characteristics more flawed or personal. He knows his effect on others and he is aware of what is considered acceptable and out of place in his role in the outer world.

Unlike Fe-Si, Korosensei’s Fe-Ni looks at a group of people like Class 3E and doesn’t wonder how he is going to uphold the current status quo, but how he can change it. Characteristic of Fe-Ni, he looks at the students and doesn’t see what they currently are, but the potential of what they could be. He sees how he can tap into the students’ potential through his role as a teacher.

Both Korosensei and Nagisa are decidedly people-oriented, with their skills being in helping others to see their potential, gently guiding them along the path. Their difference comes in their relationship with the outer world.

Nagisa is more withdrawn from these outer roles and structures that Korosensei exists in. Nagisa’s definition of things such as teacher are not dependent on external definition and expectation, but by his own internal conclusions. For example, after facing off with Takaoka for a second time, even after all of the danger he put the class through, Nagisa is struck with a new perspective. He recognizes that, although it may not have been Takaoka’s intention, the situation he forced the class to ultimately grow and improve as assassins, while also teaching them more about the real world in the process. Thus, Nagisa declares that Takaoka is a teacher, and expresses gratitude for the lessons he imbued to them, even despite the general trauma of the situation. This is typical to how Ni dominants solve problems--they simply change the perspective, shift the angle of what they’re looking at so that they see it from a new light and thus glean a whole new conclusion and definition. The application of the title teacher to Takaoka is certainly an unconventional one, separate from external definition and characteristic of Nagisa’s dominant Ni.

ENFJs also use Ni, as it is their auxiliary function. However, they use it differently; they are focused on helping others reach their individual potential within the structures and expectations of the external world. Nagisa has an Introverted approach in which he defines things from his own internal analysis, taking an external title like teacher and applying it in a new, unconventional way, separate of external standard and definition, as discussed above.

Further, Nagisa has more trouble deciding how he should define himself in the outer world when trying to pick a career path. He realizes what he’s gifted at—assassination—but knows that that would be a career with certain social implications he couldn’t take lightly. It isn’t until the young girl he tutors helps him see that he is also gifted in teaching that he realizes he wants to follow in Korosensei’s footsteps as a teacher. Conversely, as an Extravert, Korosensei is more adept at embracing social roles and seeing where he fits in.

Additionally, Nagisa, while he possesses strong convictions, is unaware of his effect on others, unlike Korosensei, who is quite aware of his effect. For example, when Nagisa calls the class together and suggests that they try and save Korosensei rather than kill him, it is a concept he has given deep thought internally. However, when he expresses it outwardly to the class, many of them take it as Nagisa trying to exert authority over them, which catches him off guard as it’s not something he even considered. He is excellent at shifting perspectives to create new solutions to problems, but he is not always immediately aware of how it will look from the perspective of the group. Korosensei thrives on and exists in how he effects a group or system, which can be attributed to his dominant Je.

Something else to note is that Korosensei is sometimes noticeably sensitive to criticism or critique towards his own methods. We see this mostly in flashbacks when his first student/protégé (who we know as Reaper 2.0) suggests ideas for improvement for a disarming/combat move of Korosensei’s, to which he is not receptive and asserts for his student to do it the way he taught him. This can be attributed to inferior Ti.

Overall, ENFJs and INFJs are quite similar. Both of them are able to derive profound insights from seemingly simple things they see in reality, and both types tend to make a noticeable mark on the world or groups in which they find themselves. The difference, in my opinion, mostly comes from Extraversion vs. Introversion (not sociability; what I mean here by Extraversion and Introversion is whether they look to the external world for ways to define their reality, which would be Extraverted, or whether they look inward and derive their own definitions for reality, which would be Introverted. I will do a post soon further elaborating on E vs. I!).

I hope this was helpful, and if you ever have any questions, please send us a DM or an ask!

[louismontielt]

A Glitch “Pina Bausch 3e mouvement ~ Ètude I”

This art piece were created for my PhD and based on a Digital and Analog Aesthetic Research on "Artistic Practices, Digital Art in Social Networks and Net Art", some digital techniques used of artistic diversity, such as the re-mixed appropriation of image or video, also work conceived as original data work called creative altered binary code, datamoshing, generative art and glitch art worked in all its forms and expressions; works of art with a strong focus decoding the i-frames of images and videos (also known as key frames and altered or distorted creative binary code) mixed with seductive techniques of Pixelsorting Art; making it seem extremely sensitive and abstract; created exclusively for the virtual gallery on-line.

by ™℗®© Louis M o n t i e l

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[poop4u]

5 Dog-Friendly Items to Bring On Every Hike

#Poop4U

If you’re going a little stir crazy right about now, it might be time to head out for a hike with your dog. If there are 2 things that always make me feel better, it’s the great outdoors and my amazing mutts, and Summer evenings are the perfect time to get out and appreciate nature with your best friend.

Before heading off on the trails, though, you have to prepare yourself and today I’m sharing 5 dog-friendly items to bring on every hike so that you and your dog are prepared for whatever lies ahead on your adventures. In this era of “social distancing”, time in nature is guaranteed to raise your spirits and get your dog’s tail wagging.

This blog post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. Thank you for supporting my blog and small business!

5 Dog-Friendly Items to Bring On Every Hike

1. Pet First-Aid Kit

Whether you’re out for an evening walk or a strenuous hike in the woods, it’s always a good idea to have a pet first-aid kit with you. Remember, any use of a pet first-aid kit should be followed by a visit to your veterinarian as soon as possible.

2. Collapsible Dog Bowl

Collapsible dog bowls are life savers because they don’t take up unnecessary room in your backpack. Whenever your dogs need a break, just pull out the bowl and add water, and your dog is good to go.

3. Doggy backpack

If you’re already carrying a full backpack, let your dog help carry some of the supplies. Dog backpacks go on your pup, over their back, and buckle under their belly. Usually, just the lightweight stuff is put in the doggy pack, because we don’t want to make our mutts work too hard. For example, the dog backpack would be a great place to carry the collapsible bowl and first-aid kit mentioned above.

4. Dog hiking shoes

Okay, these dog hiking shoes aren’t just useful, but also adorably entertaining. Dog hiking shoes offer comfort for those pups that have extra sensitive pads and need a little extra cushioning.

Plus, it’s thoroughly entertaining when you first put them on your dog since she isn’t used to them, and for the first minute or two she’ll trot around like a horse. 

5. Poop bags

Last, but certainly not least, are dog poop bags. You can’t go on any hike or walk without these, because as a pet parent, it’s your responsibility to clean up after your pet.

You can find really cute poop bag holders that make grabbing a bag quick and easy, as the holder normally comes with a carabiner that you can clip to your belt.

Now that you know exactly what to bring, the outdoors are calling and your pup’s ready to go! So, set forth, with these 5 items to bring on every hike, and you will be more than prepared for a great time.

What dog-friendly items do you take with you?

Now that I’ve shared my dog-friendly items to bring on every hike with you, I’d love to hear from you. What are your must-have items when hiking with your dog? Tell me in a comment below, or feel free to stop by my private Facebook group for dog moms and join in the conversation there!

P.S. Hiking is a great way to get some exercise and fresh air with your dog, but if you’re looking for something else, check out these 9 ways to get into shape with your dog!

The post 5 Dog-Friendly Items to Bring On Every Hike appeared first on The Everyday Dog Mom.

Poop4U Blog via www.Poop4U.com Christina, Khareem Sudlow

[alicelacalisse]

92 questions

@prunif m’a taggée pour ce truc et après y a @lefruitdemapensee qui a dit qu’il taggait toutes les personnes dont le prénom commençait par une voyelle, donc je me suis sentie concernée tu vois. Il m’a l’air fort sympathique !

RULES: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 92 truths about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. 

LAST…                                                                                                                Drink: … de l’eau. (Le suspense est à son comble ! La foule est en délire !) Last phone call: mon papa. C’est parce que quand ma maman est venue me chercher au lycée après, elle est allée faire des courses et elle a voulu que je l’appelle pour voir s’il n’avait pas des idées d’achats, sauf qu’il a pas répondu. Last text message: à Justine. (Je commence à 11h demain au lieu de 8h30 !!! Joie et confettis.)                                                                                               Last song I listened to: Pueblo Nuevo de Buena Vista Social Club.           Last time I cried:  Vendredi soir, dans mon lit. Ça m’arrive très souvent de pleurer pendant les règles. 

HAVE YOU EVER… Been cheated on: On va mettre les choses au clair tout de suite : à part de la dragounette d’ados en colo ma vie sentimentale est inexistante. Donc : non. Kissed someone and regretted it: Non. Been depressed:  Bah… je déprime assez facilement ? Et j’ai des tendances à la déprime et à la dépression ? Donc, genre je crois pas que je connaisse vraiment la dépression mais la déprime je connais très bien. Been drunk and thrown up: Pas jusque là. Kissed a stranger: Mdr bien sûr que non. Drank hard liquor: Ouep. Lost glasses/contacts:  Oui. J’en ai besoin pour voir en classe et la télé. C’était embêtant. Du coup, j’ai eu pendant six mois mes lunettes de rechange. Been arrested: Non. Turned someone down: J’espère pas non ahah. Cried when someone died:  C’était un cochon d’Inde. J’avais 10 ans.

IN THE PAST YEAR, HAVE YOU… Made a new friend: Oui ! Même plusieurs ! Laughed until you cried: Mais absolument. Met someone who changed you: Chaque rencontre nous change un peu non ? Found out who your true friends were: J’ai viré mes faux amis il y a bien longtemps. Found out someone was talking about you: Mais… personne ne parle de moi. Personne ne s’intéresse à moi. 

GENERAL: How many people on tumblr do you know in real life: Eh bien, j’en suis à six, dont trois avec qui je ne suis pas en contact sur Tumblr et c’est très bien comme ça. Do you have any pets: Je n’en jamais eu. Do you want to change your name: Bien sûr que non. Mon nom est classe. What time did you wake up this morning: 11h pile. What were you doing last night: Je regardais la saison 3 de Please Like Me. Name something you cannot wait for: Le goûter. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: J’ai connu un Tom en primaire. C’était le petit frère d’’une fille qui était dans ma classe et s’appelait Elina. Il était sympa. Très ami avec un Alexandre qui plus tard est allé dans le même collège que moi. What’s getting on your nerves rn: Rien du tout ! Et c’est très bien !  Blood type: O+. Donneuse universelle. Des fois, je me dis que peut-être quand je serai grande je donnerai mon sang, vu qu’il est utile à tout le monde. Nicknames: Ma mère m’appelle Punaise. Parce que les punaises ça pique. C’est l’amour fou hein. Zodiac sign: Bélier et fière de l’être. Pronouns: Elle. Favourite tv show: J’aime bien Malcolm (surtout pour Hal), New Girl, Please Like Me et Parks and Recreation et et et et et….. Hair colour: Brun très foncé. Long or short: Courts. Crushes: Aucun. En tout cas, pas des personnes de la vraie vie. (Enfin, y a un gars de ma classe qui me fait un peu gnniiii mais vite fait quoi, rien de ouf). Tattoos: Nope. Righty or lefty: Gauchère et fière de l’être ! (La seule gauchère de ma famille, j’ai un peu de mérite quand même).

FIRSTS… First surgery: A deux ans. C’était ma première réaction allergique à la cacahuète. Mes parents m’ont emmené aux urgences. First piercing: Aucun. Mes oreilles ne sont pas percées. First best friend: Olyane (son prénom est inventé, je précise hein). Et ça s’est plus où moins bien terminé. First sport you joined: Ma mère m’a inscrite à un cours de multisport quand j’étais en CP et j’ai détesté ça. First vacation: Aucune idée. Je pense que c’est l’immeuble de ma famille, à Bayonne.

RIGHT NOW… Eating: Rien, mais bientôt je vais sentir les Prince craquer sous mes dents. Drinking: Rien, mais bientôt du sirop. I’m about to: Goûter !!!!  Listening: Mes parents jouent à un jeu avec Gaspard et ils ont mis un CD de Françoiz Breut que j’entends. Want kids: Je ne sais pas.

WHICH IS BETTER? Lips or eyes: Les lèvres, sans hésitation. Hugs or kisses: Câlins. Shorter or taller: Plus grand. Older or younger: Je m’en fout un peu, mais je vais pas sortir avec un 3e ahah. Donc par défaut, on va dire plus vieux. Sensitive or loud: Ça dépend vraiment. J’aime les deux. Hook up or relationship: Relationship ? Troublemaker or hesitant: Troublemaker ? 

DO YOU BELIEVE IN… Miracles: Oui. Love at first sight: Non. Heaven: Pourquoi pas ? Santa Claus: Malheureusement, ça n’est plus le cas. 

Eh bien, c’était fort cocasse ! Qu’est-ce qu’on a ri !! Je tagge @jesuisunebibliophage, @suzu-uya et le mignon @to-the-pine. (25 personnes, tu peux aller te faire voir)

[gwythaint]

For several years, I have been running a Wuxia pastiche campaign within my Northport setting.  The population of Northport is quite mixed,  having a large number of goblin artisans (the goblins have lived in the city since its founding a few thousand years ago), humans, orcs, and a fair amount of mixed folk, given the situation to the east, where the nation of Shevnia lost a war with orcs because of a lost paytrain for their army, sort of like the post goblin war of Lesserton & Mor.  There are nations with different cultures to either side of Northport, which is set in an area inspired by Banestorm, in the old empire of Aral, with Valdassya to the west, and Shevnia to the east.  In addition to the Aralaise speaking Orcs, Goblins, and humans, there are two other communities: Little Shevnia to the east, and Little Sahud to the west.  I was sort of looking at Tredroy as an inspiration for part of this.  (Of course my city was also informed by the advenure Banrnacus, City in Peril. from Dragon Magazine # 80, as mentioned on my last podcast, along with my frequently recommended Ruins of the Undercity)

I know that using a pan-Asian pastiche like Sahud in my campaign is pretty crassly not PC, but I had a request by several players armed with google translate and wikipedia articles and a general knowledge base of cheesy kung fu films that wanted to play in that kind of setting. With apologies to the large number of people who may be offended by this kind of colonial cultural appropriation, this is how the long running conflict between Sakemoko , the patron of these characters, roughly 450 points:

Sakemoko is a squire+treasure hunter+ 50pt genin lens with born warleader 3 ,charisma +2, social regard 2: respected, (Social stigma minority, code of honor: bushido, sense of duty to Sahudese,) guild rank 4, status 2 filthy rich Large ally group of catfolk ninja office:master of funerals, He also has several points in independent income based on His involvement in numerous side businesses

and Akira Aku No, his enemy, roughly 500 points

half oni boss, head of rival ninja clan Brute +treasure hunter+ 50pt wizard lens+ 50pt ninja lens+ infernal + half ogre, has bloodlust, berserk

Both of these figures had extensive ally groups, each having at their service numerous ashigaru, and rival ninja clans.

The Team consisting of Chye Isuel, an ashigaru with some distant dragonman heritage, Chou-Zen Mou, an elder infused wizard specialized in lightning spells, Ales Konstantin, a Shevnian Squire+Adept, Iskander, a Valdassian martial artist (the player was using mostly 3e to build him), Tanaka Kojimaru, a Samurai warrior poet. Jin the Yak and Airis Moonshadow were no longer with the group.

Along with them were Di San Ge Er Zi the one eyed Ashigaru, and a number of mercenaries they hired away from Akira Aku No’s mercenary recruitment drive  for promises of better pay, the swordsman Xu, and his partner Chung Wang (Thank you Jackie Chan) as with most of my npc’s, I give a super brief stat block pulled usually from DF15 until more details are needed.

Chung Wang is a Brute St 15 DX 12 IQ 10 Ht 12 Hp 15 per 10 will 10 fp 12 T/s 1d+1/2d+2 Bs 6 mv 6 dodge 9 parry 10 DR 3 torso 5 Skills brawl 13 Two handed sword 14 tetsubo, 2d+4 crushing Gluttony, overconfident, compulsive carousing, greedy

  Xu is a Skirmisher St 11 dx 14 iq 10 ht 11 Hp 11 per 10 will 10 fp 11 T/s 1d-1/1d+1 Bs 7.5 mv 7 dodge 11 parry 12 Dr 3 Combat reflexes, ambidexterous Extravagant, impulsive, compulsive carousing Ambitious, suspicious, jealous Broadsword 16 1d+2 cut Shortsword 12 1d cut Karate 12 Fastdraw katana 15 Fastdraw shortsword 15 Light lamelar and helmet with ear and neck protection, Cheap ornate katana and wakizashi

Having decimated the forces of Akira Aku No on the initial raid to recover the tea set containing a divine being or two, and then by robbing his casino, the oni blooded boss had to resort to hiring mercenaries, including, initially Xu, and Chung Wang and a couple of naginata wielding ashigaru, along with Ale’s enemy, Bresnark, a magic user equipped with Rain of Stones and also accompanied by a Created Brute Warrior, who was defeated and robbed of his mundane gear by Iskander and Tanaka. Bresnark could probably have been taken out, except that he has plot protection as an enemy, and has to be defeated by Ales.

During the assault on Sakemoko’s compound, with rooftop ninja archers and assorted poorly armored mooks attacking the gate, a couple of ninja’s got in ( one disguised as a new ashigaru hireling, who was spotted as odd by Di San Ge er Zi,) and  poisoned the food stores in the kitchen  and then through poison shuriken at the two ashigaru it was hired with. They then led a chase through the complex, cutting holes in shoji paper walls and hiding in the rafters before being cornered in the library, where they were cornered and threatened to burn the place down (Ales stepped in and used Extinguish Fire) They were locked in irons, from which they made an escape, and were eventually hunted down.  Chou-Zen had eliminated another ninja who had been on the roof, by casting grease and causing them to fall into the koi pond in the courtyard. Another one was dispatched after the shoji walls were all collapsed and it had no place to hide. The poisoned Ashigaru were treated by the house physician, Yodoko no Hana, who is based on Ehi Shiina from Audition

Yodoku no Hana (poisonous flower) 125pt sage, with Alchemy, poison, physiology first aid, physician, herbary and esoteric medicine, Psychology diagnosis and surgery and detect lies, but no modular book learned wisdom. (Instead, she has the ninja lens) She has callousness, sadist and curious and has torture, pressure secrets and massage? She is attractive and immune to poison and has high pain tolerance. She makes poisons and potions That cause sensitivity and reduce will

In the end, Sakemoko siezed a coveted office, MAster of Funerary Services, from Akira Aku No, who had botched things when his barrels of salt packed dead waiting shipping to the homeland were animated by a toxifier demon, and arranged for all of the funerals of the people who had attacked him, and even gave stipends to the families, building him more Social regard.

Akira Aku No appeared a day later with a full procession including dragonmen and musicians, and sued for peace, saying that he was relocating to Little Shevnia for a beaurocratic job, and sold off his remaining interests in Little Sahud to Sakemoko.

From here, the crew will be heading to Veroigne, a region south of Northport where rice is grown for the Sahudese of Northport.

Veroigne developed in the campaign because a new player wanted to play a member of royalty and his husband, captain of his guard. I had little trouble building them, except for the general absence of Social Status in DF, and settled on giving him a couple of levels of Courtesy Rank. The two, both handsome  Chivalrous knights, had a backstory that created some campaign setting. By not accepting an arranged marriage, Baronet James forfeited the barony to his sister Loraine, who had married Marcel Pequenaud, the baron from a neighboring comunity that had serfs, while most of the Veroignese had died during the plague forty years ago, leaving the small barony struggling.  Pequenaud is a horrible ruler, and most of the family retainers loyal to Sir Percival and James have become Robin-Hood like bandits dedicated to protecting the peasantry from the Barons predations. As his soldiers are largely collecting taxes, Several other PC’s from Northport (Kirpich Rockson the Priest of Grom, Syvanus the elven archer/thief/wizard,  Marlena the Seasoned Apprentice and Snorry Rosslovich the Seasoned Guard, all of whom searched for the lost paytrain in the Shevnian Hexcrawl, along with Dionysus the faun swashbuckler, Aethul the ranger, and Balir Ironhide the Dwarf are on their way to hunt the Terrible Beast of Veroigne, which is terrorizing the peasantry.  Along the way they have met a party of Dolmenwood creatures,  a moss dwarf, a woodgrue, a frost elf and a grimalkin, and had little issue with them except for the compulsive playing of the woodgrue, that affected a party member or two, and a fantastic creature, the Stag of Veroigne, which gave Aethul a blessing when he approached it nicely. Killing it would have brought on a curse, which would have intensified if they had eaten it. It would have resurrected itself like Frey’s Goats the next day had they done so.

As to what James and Percival were up to in Northport? Thjey joined up with a pair of warrior /wizards, Sederic and Grimaldi to hunt down the racketeering Connard DuMenteur (Asshole the Liar) who had informed the Guard of Vilgar’s underground fighting operation at the very start of the campaign, back in August of 2013.  Connard had a fortified building with all access to the undercity cut off, so as to prevent an attack from below.  Among his personal crew of kneecappers and fingertakers who collected money for him were five brutes (including Lourdad and Chienne LaChatte, a gigantic elder infused brute that collected fingers as trophies.

After bashing through the brutes, one surrendered (Lourdad) and they went after DuMenteur. He had holed up in his Magelocked lower appartment, and had time to load up on paut, and  set up a trap. He opened a secret door that lead into an L-shaped closet, and hid in an alcove behind an arras, and waited for them to break in the door. They had been using sense foes earlier, but they all blindly ran into the close, and had it Magelocked behind them, and were stuck for an hour. when they got out ( the door was stone, and the knights were in front, unable to squeeze past to attempt to break down the door), Both DuMenteur and Vilgar were waiting for them, having come to a financial arrangement. ( I have a lot of bosses parlaying).  Grimaldi and Sederic of the cursed, dancing sword went on to do some advertising work for the underground tavern, standing watch while some laborers nailed signs.

  Another group, the one that had negotiated a truce with the ogres in the winecellars and are travelling with a four-armed demon hunting celestial descended from a servitor of Kali had tracked down a couple of cultists who were on their way to buy cuttlefish. The cultists of Saturnos the Devourerer have an initiation rite in which the supplicant dyes theyr robes in cuttlefish ink by placing it in a barrel with them and agitating the squiddos by drowning a cat. This leads to the typical markings of the cultists, blackened hands and scratches all over their faces.  Typically, they are led into what they think is a sex cult with offers of carnal relations with succubi and incubi, and up until now, the assorted groups of PC’s had thought they were dealing with a demon cult, especially due to all of the petty demons and Demons of Old that they had faced. They were forgetting about the Demons from Between the Stars… As it was discovered by this group, which included Oly the thief, who had funded the paytrain Hexcrawl with loot from fighting the cult when Ludlow the Munificent  accidentally blocked their ceremony and created a gate to Hell, Mancini the Guild agent (Agent+Treasure Hunter) and his guard ally Norman, Aoife the Leprechaun Druid who was on the mission to negotiate with the Trolls and entered the Library of Flax, Ardenas Barehand, who had been involved with Oly  in stealing the Jugga Trophy from the Orcish Dojo, along with Kalima, they discovered what the cultists were really about.

Kalima - 250 pt celestial avatar of Kali Att 80 Adv 149 Dis -50 Q-5 Sk 44 Sp 32 Total: 250 Attributes: ST 15 [0]; DX 12 [20]; IQ 13 [60]; HT 13 [10]. Damage 1d+1/2d+1; BL 39 lbs.; HP 15 [0]; Will 14 [0]; Per 13 [0]; FP 14 [0]; Basic Speed 7.00 [-10]; Basic Move 7 [0]. Advantages: Celestial [75] (ST+1, dx+1,iq+1, ht+1, will+1, fp+1, bs +.5, attractive , fit, spirit empathy, celestal nimbus,divine gifts, Divine curse (preferred enemy of demons) weakness to evil areas) Half Ogre [20] ST+4 [40]; IQ-1 [-20]; HT+1 [10]. Advantages: Damage Resistance 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3]; Fearlessness 1 [2]; Night Vision 3 [3]. Disadvantages:Appearance (Ugly) [-8]; Social Stigma (Savage) 2 extra arms [20] Higher Purpose, Slay Demons [5] Sharp Teeth [5] power Investiture 2 [20] signature gear, spear [3] Charms [6] Dis: Unattractive [0] Honesty [-10] Pacifism, Cannot harm Innocents [-10] Sense of Duty [-5 ](Adventuring Companions) selfless [-5] Bloodlust [-10] Bad Temper [-10] Unnatural Features 3, (3rd eye, Black glossy skin, flame red hair) Q usually wears only silk loincloth, coral bracelets and anklets, marigold wreath, likes to dance Charms Aura Invisibility Turn Spirit Final Rest Steal HT Eviscerate Skills: Brawling 8 15 Wrestling 4 13+2 Spear 12 15 Garrotte 4 13 Theology 2 12 Thanatology 2 12 Hidden Lore, Demons 4 14 Meditation 2 12 Intimidation 1 15 Detect Lies 1 11 Diplomacy 1 11 Stealth 1 12 Observation 1 12 Dance 1 12 Spells: Protection from Evil 4 15 Invisibility 4 15 Final Rest 4 15 Aura 4 15 Steal HT 4 15 Turn Spirit 4 15 Eviscerate VH 8 15 Equipment: Spear Pussiant +1 vs Demons Currently wearing a bolt of reddish linen as a sari.

When they followed the cuttlefish seekers back to their lair, finding their signature trap, Evil Runes that drain FP,  and stealthily took them and a couple petty demons out, they found a large crowd of cultists about to sacrifice a demon of old! the demon, along with some petty demons participating in the ceremony, immediately attacked Kalima, a favored enemy. The feeling was mutual, and she drained health on a couple, like her ancestor, and the demon ripped free of his silvered chains and flew up to attack her (he had berserk). She killed him by eviscerating him and eating his heart.  Unfortunately for the PC’s all of the deaths (and there were many) enhanced the ceremony in progress, the summoning of an Elder Servitor.  It took a lot, including Ardenas using Winged Knife on the cult champion’s silvered greatsword to kill the servitor but they did. The cultists of the Devourerer, who started the campaign by killing everyone who had the spell divination or any kind of oracular ability, are Cultists of the Elder Gods!

This was noticed by the Ymid, with his Sense Weird ability, but he was two bothered by the destruction of his skiff ( a nifty little contragravity craft he had parked on the other side of the Bone Gate) by a Bhole passing through the gate. Yaay there is now a super Dire Rot worm  somewhere in the dungeon (pencilling in a purple worm encounter). The Juniors group will be fetching alchemical components for the repair of the skiff. Additionally, they have just acquired some cultists of their own; some serfs fleeing Veroigne who were met on the road by thatr gorup, who are all worshipers of Vejovis, the roman defender of injustice, worshiped by Nodwin, the Initiate travelling with the Juniors group.

Now for some art updates:

These two are going to be in Gabor Lux‘s Echoes from Fomalhaut 5.

I am also working on a bundle of Dungeon entrances:

Links coming soon when I get a few more drawn.

In the meantime: Support my Patreon!

Buy my Stuff!

I am an affiliate of Drivethru, all of those links are affiliate links, except for the SJ Games stuff that goes to their website.

A resolution to part of a campaign, and some play reports For several years, I have been running a Wuxia pastiche campaign within my Northport setting.  The population of Northport is quite mixed,  having a large number of goblin artisans (the goblins have lived in the city since its founding a few thousand years ago), humans, orcs, and a fair amount of mixed folk, given the situation to the east, where the nation of Shevnia lost a war with orcs because of a lost…

[thecreaturecodex]

Keeper

Image by Tony DiTerlizzi, © TSR. Accessed at Monstrous Manual here

[”We are normal.” Unlike the yak folk, @canwefixitnoitsfucked actually did get to play a keeper at one point. They were also a running presence in both my senior year high school game and the Planescape game I ran as a college undergrad. Part of what made them so intimidating was that the players never actually fought any of them. This was good, because the 3.0 Fiend Folio version was greatly over CRed for its power level. @thecreaturechronicle did a version more in tune with its 3e CR, whereas my version is aiming more at the power level of the 2e Planescape version.

Also, the reference to Kazik is in honor of Alfred K. Bender, the creator of the Men in Black, of which the keepers are a definite homage to.]

Keeper CR 4 LN Aberration This gray-skinned creature looks almost human, but is slightly off, as if it were an incomplete sculpture. They wear dark goggles and a leather coat, and bear a grim expression.

The keepers are a mysterious race of vaguely humanoid creatures obsessed with information and secrets, and willing to kill or die to protect them. If asked of their origins, they say only that they are from “Kazik”, but whether Kazik is a city, another plane, another planet or all of these is unknown—even divination spells do not reveal this information. Although keepers are superficially humanoid, they lack many of the details of humanoid bodies—they are hairless (although some wear wigs) and have no nails or claws, and they have a single block in their mouth with lines to give the appearance of separated teeth. They have no eyes, but typically wear goggles or dark glasses to obscure this fact.

Keepers are information brokers who desire to suppress dangerous or sensitive information, particularly that relating to new technologies or magical breakthroughs. They typically do this through intimidation, threats or even outright murder. They have no regard for good or evil, and find the behavior of most other creatures to be chaotic and unpredictable. In conversation, keepers are often unthinkingly rude or offputtingly polite, and their lack of understanding social norms often walks a fine line between comical and unnerving. They can be enticed to reveal less important secrets through barter or bribery, and what information a keeper considers “unimportant” may still be fantastically valuable in the right hands.

In combat, a keeper reshapes its body to form weapons from its hands, moving into flanking position or striking from ambush to take advantage of its sneak attack. They rarely fight alone, and may leave some of their numbers in reserve to attack in waves. Keepers can switch positions with each other through teleportation, swapping fresh forces in as the old wave is exhausted. A keeper would rather die than be forced to reveal its secrets, and they can will their bodies to collapse into a pile of quickly evaporating toxic sludge.

A keeper stands as tall as a human being, but their strange composition makes them one and a half times heavier than a human of their height and build.

Keeper                 CR 4 XP 1,200 LN Medium aberration (extraplanar) Init +2; Senses blindsight 120 ft., Perception +10 Defense AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+2 Dex, +2 natural, +1 dodge, +2 armor) hp 32 (5d8+10) Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +5; +4 vs. disease, paralysis, poison, mind-influencing effects Defensive Abilities amorphous, constructed; Immune gaze attacks, visual spells and effects; SR 15 Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee 2 armblades +7 (1d8+4) Ranged poisonous spittle +5 touch (poison) Special Attacks body swap, death throes, sneak attack +1d6 Statistics Str 18, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 7 Base Atk +3; CMB +7; CMD 22 Feats Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack Skills Acrobatics +14, Climb +12, Escape Artist +14, Knowledge (any one) +11, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +11, Perception +10, Stealth +10; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Escape Artist Languages Celestial, Common, Infernal, telepathy 240 ft. SQ areas of expertise, hivemind (240 ft.) Ecology Environment any land or underground Organization solitary, pair, team (3-12) or platoon (13-36) Treasure standard (masterwork leather armor, other treasure) Special Abilities Areas of Expertise (Ex) A keeper can treat one Knowledge skill of its choice as a class skill. Armblades (Ex) As a swift action, a keeper can transform its hands into hooks, blades, clubs or any other simple, lethal shape. These act as natural weapons that deal 1d8 points of damage, but can deal slashing, piercing or bludgeoning damage. A keeper can switch between damage types as a swift action, or revert to having hands. Body Swap (Su) As a standard action, a keeper may teleport to the square of any other keeper within its hivemind radius, teleporting that keeper to its original square. This is a teleportation effect. Constructed (Ex) The construct-like body of a keeper grants it a +4 racial bonus on all saving throws against disease, paralysis, poison and mind-influencing effects. Death Throes (Su) When a keeper is slain, its body dissolves into a pile of poisonous sludge (treat as the keeper’s poison). This sludge remains for 1 minute before evaporating entirely. A keeper may also cause its body to dissolve as an immediate action—doing so kills the keeper. Hivemind (Su) All keepers within 240 feet are in constant telepathic communication with each other. If one is aware of something, all are aware of it, and they cannot be caught flat-footed unless all of them are flat-footed. Poison Spittle (Ex) As a standard action, a keeper can spit a glob of toxic slime. Treat this as a ranged touch attack with a range of 20 feet and no range increment. A creature struck by this is exposed to the keeper’s poison. Keeper poison—contact; save Fort DC 14; effect 1 Str damage and staggered 1 round; duration 1/round for 4 rounds; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution based.

[kennethmjoyner]

Roundup of Company and Product News from ILTACON, Part 3: NetDocuments, WindTalker, American LegalNet, AdvoLogix

Last week, I attended ILTACON, the annual meeting of the International Legal Technology Association, where I sat down with a number of legal technology companies for briefings on their latest news and products. I’m posting a four-part roundup of those companies. I started Monday with Part 1 and yesterday with Part 2. Here is Part 3.

NetDocuments

If you are still afraid of the cloud, don’t be.

That, in so many words, is the message being delivered this year by NetDocuments, the cloud-based document and email management platform. At ILTACON, I met with Marriott Murdock, head of global product marketing, and Bradlee Duncan, senior product manager, who said that the company’s messaging this year is emphasizing three value points:

Safe, meaning all the security, data protection, governance, infrastructure, encryption, policies and other protections that NetDocuments incorporates to protect client data.

Proven, meaning that the company, now 20 years old, has withstood the test of time and is now the custodian of some 10 billion files. While other companies are now trying to play catch up with the cloud, Murdock said, “It’s our DNA.” Putting its money where its mouth is, so to speak, NetDocuments recently launched global trust pages to provide real-time transparency on service health and performance. “We’ve pulled back the curtains on what’s going on,” Murdock said.

Ready, meaning that NetDocuments is a global platform that is ready for the end user to work from anywhere and using any of a variety of tools.

The company is maintaining a growth rate of 40 percent or more, Murdock said, adding at least a firm a day (including some in other verticals). Its customers include 20 of the AmLaw 100, and 10 firms this year moved from iManage to NetDocuments, he said. “Ten years ago, we were the underdog. Now it’s a two-horse race.”

As I reported last month, NetDocuments went through a leadership change, naming a new CEO, Josh Baxter, who had been president and COO since joining the company last year, so that Matt Duncan, who had been CEO since 2014, could step into a role that would allow him time to care for his father, NetDocument cofounder Ken Duncan, who is battling late-stage Parkinson’s disease.

On the day before ILTACON, at an event sponsored by the Global Legal Blockchain Consortium, NetDocuments demonstrated a proof of concept for email attachment encryption using the blockchain to publish the email identity and public key. I was not at the event, but Peter Buck, VP, product strategy at NetDocuments, told me in an email that the tool, while still in early development, is “super simple and pretty elegant.”

Also at ILTACON, NetDocuments was demonstrating ndThread, a social collaboration and matter-based messaging tool built within the NetDocuments platform, which it released in May. The product is based on the ThreadKM collaborative messaging technology that NetDocuments acquired last November.

WindTalker

Making its debut at ILTACON with a document-security product unlike anything I’ve seen was WindTalker, a company that has an interesting and unique take on providing security for privileged, confidential or sensitive content. At the conference, I spoke with its founder and CEO, Christopher Combs, who explained that the key difference between his product and others is that, while others secure the container — in other words, the entire file –his secures the content, natively.

What that means is that the product allows a user to protect a document granularly — by the paragraph, by the line, or even by the word. Protected content is encrypted, not redacted, and others are allowed or denied access based on rights-based permissions. Its encryption can be applied to both Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat documents, and it follows the documents, so that if one recipient forwards it, the permissions still apply. A single document can contain multiple sets of permissions.

A document can be granularly encrypted with different sets of permissions for different types of users. Some sections might be viewable by members of the legal team, while different sections might be viewable only by a CEO. These permissions can be turned on or off remotely and WindTalker automatically logs events for auditing purposes and supports creation of privilege logs.

Introduced at ILTACON, the product will officially launch within the next month or two.

American LegalNet

Given that it has been in business since 1996 and released its first product in 2001, it was surprising that I had never before met with American LegalNet. At ILTACON, I had the opportunity to sit down with its founder and CEO, Erez Bustan.

The company’s product is an end-to-end application for managing litigation dockets, deadlines and documents. One platform includes docketing and calendaring, court rules for all federal and state courts, PACER/ECF automation that automatically downloads and stores the free “first-look” documents, a collection of over 100,000 court and agency forms, and court data feeds for calendar entries and court appearances.

It ILTACON, its major news announcement was a new alliance partnership with Thomson Reuters Elite that will allow American LegalNet’s product to be available to customers of the Elite products 3E and Enterprise.

Bustan described his company as being in the risk management business. Noting that 40 percent of malpractice lawsuits result from calendaring mistakes and missed deadlines, he said that American LegalNet has developed a complete workflow that takes law firms away from risk and that increases their efficiency around the management of litigation documents.

Right now, most of the company’s customers are top-500 firms, Bustan said, including a number of prominent large firms. However, it is working on the release of a cloud product that will allow it to sell to smaller firms.

AdvoLogix

AdvoLogix is a cloud-based, enterprise-level law practice and legal matter management platform for law firms and corporate legal departments. At ILTACON, I met with Steve Stockstill, vice president, product development, who told me that what makes AdvoLogix unique is that it is built on the Salesforce.com cloud architecture. “Our customers are using the same Salesforce cloud that Salesforce uses,” he said.

That means that customers can buy AdvoLogix in either of two configurations — as a standalone or as an addition to an existing Salesforce application. The latter is often how corporate legal departments deploy AdvoLogix, since they are likely to be already using Salesforce within their organizations.

Because it operates on the Salesforce platform, AdvoLogix also integrates with a wide range of other applications that work within Salesforce — more than 3,000, it says. These include applications such as DocuSign, HotDocs, Worldox, NetDocuments, Contract Express, Box, and many others.

At ILTACON, AdvoLogix was highlighting its summer product release, with a number of new features and enhancements related to client intake, matter timelines, conflict checking, billing and timekeeping, calendaring and scheduling, document management, document assembly, and more.

from Law and Politics https://www.lawsitesblog.com/2018/08/roundup-company-product-news-iltacon-part-3-netdocuments-windtalker-american-legalnet-advologix.html via http://www.rssmix.com/

[kennethmjoyner]

Roundup of Company and Product News from ILTACON, Part 3: NetDocuments, WindTalker, American LegalNet, AdvoLogix

Last week, I attended ILTACON, the annual meeting of the International Legal Technology Association, where I sat down with a number of legal technology companies for briefings on their latest news and products. I’m posting a four-part roundup of those companies. I started Monday with Part 1 and yesterday with Part 2. Here is Part 3.

NetDocuments

If you are still afraid of the cloud, don’t be.

That, in so many words, is the message being delivered this year by NetDocuments, the cloud-based document and email management platform. At ILTACON, I met with Marriott Murdock, head of global product marketing, and Bradlee Duncan, senior product manager, who said that the company’s messaging this year is emphasizing three value points:

Safe, meaning all the security, data protection, governance, infrastructure, encryption, policies and other protections that NetDocuments incorporates to protect client data.

Proven, meaning that the company, now 20 years old, has withstood the test of time and is now the custodian of some 10 billion files. While other companies are now trying to play catch up with the cloud, Murdock said, “It’s our DNA.” Putting its money where its mouth is, so to speak, NetDocuments recently launched global trust pages to provide real-time transparency on service health and performance. “We’ve pulled back the curtains on what’s going on,” Murdock said.

Ready, meaning that NetDocuments is a global platform that is ready for the end user to work from anywhere and using any of a variety of tools.

The company is maintaining a growth rate of 40 percent or more, Murdock said, adding at least a firm a day (including some in other verticals). Its customers include 20 of the AmLaw 100, and 10 firms this year moved from iManage to NetDocuments, he said. “Ten years ago, we were the underdog. Now it’s a two-horse race.”

As I reported last month, NetDocuments went through a leadership change, naming a new CEO, Josh Baxter, who had been president and COO since joining the company last year, so that Matt Duncan, who had been CEO since 2014, could step into a role that would allow him time to care for his father, NetDocument cofounder Ken Duncan, who is battling late-stage Parkinson’s disease.

On the day before ILTACON, at an event sponsored by the Global Legal Blockchain Consortium, NetDocuments demonstrated a proof of concept for email attachment encryption using the blockchain to publish the email identity and public key. I was not at the event, but Peter Buck, VP, product strategy at NetDocuments, told me in an email that the tool, while still in early development, is “super simple and pretty elegant.”

Also at ILTACON, NetDocuments was demonstrating ndThread, a social collaboration and matter-based messaging tool built within the NetDocuments platform, which it released in May. The product is based on the ThreadKM collaborative messaging technology that NetDocuments acquired last November.

WindTalker

Making its debut at ILTACON with a document-security product unlike anything I’ve seen was WindTalker, a company that has an interesting and unique take on providing security for privileged, confidential or sensitive content. At the conference, I spoke with its founder and CEO, Christopher Combs, who explained that the key difference between his product and others is that, while others secure the container — in other words, the entire file –his secures the content, natively.

What that means is that the product allows a user to protect a document granularly — by the paragraph, by the line, or even by the word. Protected content is encrypted, not redacted, and others are allowed or denied access based on rights-based permissions. Its encryption can be applied to both Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat documents, and it follows the documents, so that if one recipient forwards it, the permissions still apply. A single document can contain multiple sets of permissions.

A document can be granularly encrypted with different sets of permissions for different types of users. Some sections might be viewable by members of the legal team, while different sections might be viewable only by a CEO. These permissions can be turned on or off remotely and WindTalker automatically logs events for auditing purposes and supports creation of privilege logs.

Introduced at ILTACON, the product will officially launch within the next month or two.

American LegalNet

Given that it has been in business since 1996 and released its first product in 2001, it was surprising that I had never before met with American LegalNet. At ILTACON, I had the opportunity to sit down with its founder and CEO, Erez Bustan.

The company’s product is an end-to-end application for managing litigation dockets, deadlines and documents. One platform includes docketing and calendaring, court rules for all federal and state courts, PACER/ECF automation that automatically downloads and stores the free “first-look” documents, a collection of over 100,000 court and agency forms, and court data feeds for calendar entries and court appearances.

It ILTACON, its major news announcement was a new alliance partnership with Thomson Reuters Elite that will allow American LegalNet’s product to be available to customers of the Elite products 3E and Enterprise.

Bustan described his company as being in the risk management business. Noting that 40 percent of malpractice lawsuits result from calendaring mistakes and missed deadlines, he said that American LegalNet has developed a complete workflow that takes law firms away from risk and that increases their efficiency around the management of litigation documents.

Right now, most of the company’s customers are top-500 firms, Bustan said, including a number of prominent large firms. However, it is working on the release of a cloud product that will allow it to sell to smaller firms.

AdvoLogix

AdvoLogix is a cloud-based, enterprise-level law practice and legal matter management platform for law firms and corporate legal departments. At ILTACON, I met with Steve Stockstill, vice president, product development, who told me that what makes AdvoLogix unique is that it is built on the Salesforce.com cloud architecture. “Our customers are using the same Salesforce cloud that Salesforce uses,” he said.

That means that customers can buy AdvoLogix in either of two configurations — as a standalone or as an addition to an existing Salesforce application. The latter is often how corporate legal departments deploy AdvoLogix, since they are likely to be already using Salesforce within their organizations.

Because it operates on the Salesforce platform, AdvoLogix also integrates with a wide range of other applications that work within Salesforce — more than 3,000, it says. These include applications such as DocuSign, HotDocs, Worldox, NetDocuments, Contract Express, Box, and many others.

At ILTACON, AdvoLogix was highlighting its summer product release, with a number of new features and enhancements related to client intake, matter timelines, conflict checking, billing and timekeeping, calendaring and scheduling, document management, document assembly, and more.

from Law and Politics https://www.lawsitesblog.com/2018/08/roundup-company-product-news-iltacon-part-3-netdocuments-windtalker-american-legalnet-advologix.html via http://www.rssmix.com/