#I like meta asks I used to get lots in Arcane for some reason

[space-blue]

Quaritch and recom Quaritch are not the same characters. I mean second is a clone with implanted memories so why always I read about this character all people write like both are the same? Recom Quaritch feels and acts because of memories from human Quaritch. For me it's weird because I hated a lot original Quaritch but when I watched Avatar 2 I was like nooo way I like his clone?. haha Just to add other point of view. Greetings, thank you!

Dear anon,

I'd like to preface this reply by saying I don't know how the fandom depicts him, really. I discuss him with friends in the recom-centric server, and I read their snippets and some of their fics, but I'm one of those writers who avoids reading the characters they write.

My brain is aggressively pantser oriented. If I read a story, if I even imagine it in full, then "it is told" and I lose interest in writing it. "Two cakes" only exists as a reader for me. I can't write the second take on a concept I've read. It feels like a chore. I also dislike reading a really smart idea about the character because I might feel like I can't implement it.

I like to give myself time to come up with my own strong vision of a character before I start reading them written by others. If I pick up a fic with them it'll usually be with a concept/style I'd never go for (that includes smut).

So yeah, I don't know how "the fandom" portrays him. I'll give you my two cents though, for free :

Quaritch and Recom Quaritch ARE the same person. By design. They share the same memories. I am totally writing a fic in which the memories are edited, but that's not hinted at in canon.

A clone with memories is meant to be the same, on day 1. He is designed to be the same. He's made in universe by the RDA to be the same, and by the Avatar team to be the same.

What makes recom Q interesting is that he starts diverging from that day 1 onward. Every experience he has is filtered through the qualia of a fundamentally alien body. Taste, smell, vision, hearing, touch, experience of pain, not to mention the sensory blast of having new limbs and organs!

And then new experiences a smart recom can't miss : potential discrimination, bottom of the company totem pole (a loss of privilege a white man with titles like Quaritch must feel keenly), the way they're turned into disposable guinea pigs from the 1st mission, the impossibility of going back home, the fact they're basically slaves, company owned bodies and endlessly duplicable minds...

They get time to think on all that. Does it affect them? Do they double down on their mission out of spite? Hope for a better future? A shot at freedom? Are they brain-dead killers looking to shoot things no matter what body they're in? (Looking at you Lyle..)

That's where the tasty lives. In that dichotomy between a human mind that makes them the same, and an alien body that makes them different. That's why recoms, Q and others, are so compelling. There's a ton of room for emotional angst, and a lot of directions to take character growth in as we patiently await.

I feel like different writers will make him go places at different paces, and that's fine. He hasn't changed that much over the course of the film. We don't know Avatar 1's Quaritch that well, so how much atwow changes Recom Q is really up to interpretation.

But I feel like this is just arguing on philosophy.

You, as an individual, are in constant flux, but you are also informed by your past. Do you believe in determinism? In fate? In Free Will? Because there's a whole branch of philosophy/neurology that makes a VERY compelling argument that we don't have free will. It doesn't help that science has proven that our brain often sends signals before we've made a conscious decision to act.

It's still a very hot topic, as we don't know where consciousness resides/how it works (the philosophy of mind teacher in Adelaide uni opened his class by saying if we were smart about it there was a nobel prize to be won lol)

What's compelling about Recoms is that even if you believe in the absence of free will you have to admit that the change in qualia by definition alters their character and takes them down new roads. But it's fine to me if writers think the mind inside the recom is still human and struggles to remain true to itself for a long time.

A Quaritch desperate for change is as tasty as a Quaritch who struggles to hang on to his past as a raison d'être.

He's a babygirl because he's cursed. He carries the "sins of the father" in the most literal manner possible. Not only in universe but IN FANDOM. People actively blame Recom Quaritch for what Human Quaritch did in A1, not realising they are not the same person, even if Recom Quaritch still feels like they are and can replay the whole scene in his mind.

It's FUCKED and I'm soooo here for it!

It's also why it's so different with recom Q. He's not the same visually, and he's got so many new layers added by his situation that you're face first in a blue cake.

[velvet-games]

intro post

I'll probably add more to/change this later; I've just needed an intro post for a while, and this is what I could think of. you should probably remind me to update it if this section is still here after like six months lol.

name/pronouns/age/gay shit~

honestly you can call me whatever, but I probably won't know you're talking about me unless you use vel/velvet.

prefer they/it; any pronouns are fine.

I'm probably non-binary I guess.

I'm an adult.

I basically just identify as queer at this point, but I'm like,, vaguely aroace-spec probably? still figuring it out. I'm actually very happy to talk about it more specifically, but I might have to sit you down for an entire day to explain it lol.

what I do/post~

I mostly post fandom stuff, and my original posts include a lot of art + occasional meta. I'm starting write fic too, so that might be a more regular thing in the future :)

other accounts~

@/velvetygames -- explicit nsfw twitter/x account, not very active

@cornerbytes -- old dragon prince account that I will probably revisit when the new season comes out

@/velvet_games -- ao3 account

nsfw~

I post occasional nsfw here (never super explicit; that's saved for my twitter); it'll be tagged #nsft.

fandoms~

current fandom: hazbin hotel

previous fandoms:

hannibal (will always have a very special place in my heart)

arcane (will revisit when the new season comes out)

ofmd (literally so happy this exists; devastated it's not getting a new season)

the dragon prince (will probably revisit when the new season comes out)

good omens

lotr (I also read like 2/3 of the hobbit and will hopefully finish it this summer lmao)

things in media that make me go insane (in a good way)~

friendship

happy endings

cannibalism

(WELL-WRITTEN) romance (THAT RESPECTS THE CHARACTERS AS INDIVIDUALS AS WELL AS WHO THEY ARE IN RELATION TO OTHERS)

surrealism

good visuals (even if everything else is shit; extra points if it's animation)

angst

fake-hating

this one's weird but I love situations where a character is really helpless; I thought I liked whump because I can be borderline sadistic about it sometimes, but whump is really not necessary at all to this concept

religious stuff, mythology, angels specifically for some reason (especially when they're terrifying and/or fallen)

gay people

requests~

you are welcome to send in ideas through comments, DMs, asks, etc., but I can't guarantee I'll draw them. if I don't, it doesn't mean that I don't like your idea; I'm probably just busy or have too many brainworms about a specific thing to draw anything but what's on my mind.

notes~

I randomly get really anxious about feedback on stuff sometimes lol, but I promise I read every single comment/tag and cherish them very deeply <33

also, like/rb spamming is totally fine and welcomed! I know some people don't like it, so I just wanted to make it clear that it's completely cool with me.

mutuals~

for a really long time, this was my pinned post, and it's still true! definitely welcome any interactions from mutuals <3

I do have a problem with randomly ghosting people though; I've been much better with it recently, but please try not to take it personally if I don't respond to DMs quickly. I'm probably just being insane and in my head about it. I'm really sorry.

misc~

this is an account that is purposely removed from my irl stuff; I'm here to have fun and relax on my mostly fandom-oriented blog.

I don't block often since I mostly meet nice people on here, but I am very happy to block accounts that make my experience on this app shitty.

I try to tag triggers when appropriate, but please let me know if you need me to tag anything I haven't.

art for me is just a hobby I use for fun and self-expression, so while I really appreciate concrit, keep in mind that my goal is ultimately to make stuff that makes me happy.

I am also very protective of young artists that get made fun of for being beginners or making unconventional art; you should never assume why someone is making art, and you especially should not assume that they are focused on becoming more skilled or making things that are beautiful to you. if they're not hurting anyone and you're not their target audience, get the fuck out.

I am of the mindset that media is not real, but that your reaction/the things you learn are. liking cannibal media does not make you a cannibal, but seeing bigoted portrayals of minorities can feed your biases (doesn't necessarily mean you can't consume it; does mean its effect on you/others irl should factor into if/how you decide to interact with it).

I'm vaguely fucked in the head. just keep that in mind.

[azazelsconfessional]

((so i was gonna open up my askbox again but I got distracted doing this and watching streams i think idr what i did the past few hours, buuut there's something I need to cover first, especially since there are so many new people around! Hello! Especially since so many of you are playing OCs/MCs.

Don't worry, it's a tip to hopefully help you along! It may get a little long, especially as I try and provide examples. . .but hopefully it'll help.

I'm gonna talk a lot about OCs but this applies to canon characters too a bit. It certainly helps.

Tl;dr, you should have a character profile page.

(also remember that tumblr mobile doesn't really have direct access to Pages made with the Pages function on desktop, so you'll have to link them manually in your pinned or description or host them on another site(I used Google Docs in the apst) or in a regular post(this makes it very easy to lose as a forewarning) for maximum accessibility!)

(rules pages are also really really handy if you have alot of resteictions.)

So, in general, OCs have a bit of a lower reception rate in rp. Idk if that'll be the case here with MCs because they're, well, the main character. Housamo is also a series that lends itself well to OCs pretty well, especially non-human ones, but I figured I'd warn for that.

BUT. That doesn't mean you shouldn't play an OC! It just means there are things you need to keep in mind!

Think of all of the OCs you've seen--you all seem to be fun and wonderful people, and your characters are surely interesting. But. . .if you don't tell anybody about them, nobody will know what's going on or where to start, which makes asking questions a little hard, right? That's easier to work around with MC characters--we've played the game, we know the story, we know the characters, so we can figure out questions fairly easily based on that alone and go from there.

But with other OCs, especially those that don't represent charactera from mythology or fiction like many other characters in housamo do, there's like. Nowhere to start. We may see a face or some dialogue, but otherwise we don't have a frame of reference.

That's where a profile comes in!

Azazel-mun, I don't want to share all of the info about my character at once!

What if I don't know everything about my OC yet and want to figure it out along thw way?

The profile doesn't have to be super detailed! At most it shoule include things like the character's name and age and probably things like their location, profession, grade in school or place of work, etc., and anything you'd notice on the surface like their apperance. It's never a bad thing to include a description of their personality too, or a small section about their history/background. Little things that even you should probably know, too.

You can also section your profile off a bit into things like "surface info," "meta info," "things you could easily figure out about them," etc. That way, no one can spoil themself. Making lists like this can help you think these things through if you haven't already as well.

Let's use Azazel, a character that you probably know already, as an example here. I don't have a profile set

Name: Azazel

Species: Fallen Angel; Capra Therian - an anthropomorphic Goat (?)

Gender(pronouns): Male(he/him)

Age: difficult to calculate; several thousand years old?

Apperance age: hard to say, he's not human. Adult.

Origins: banished from his home world of Eden, has been in the human world for several thousand years

Profession: Priest of dubious denomination, most likely Catholic or Protestant; teacher at Daikanyama Academy; de facto head of the Missionaries Non-Profit charity Organization; supervisor of the Aoyama Missionaries

Role & Rule: Watcher; Revelation - allows him to see anything within the territory of the Aoyama Missionaries and anywhere the pages of his Artifact see

Apperance: Azazel is a 5'10"(180cm) tall, anthropomorphic goat of ambiguous breed, with fawn fur all over his body and lighter fur on his head and around his neck. He has brown, riged horns which curve out and back. Though his eyes are often closed, when opened they're red. He always carried around a leather bound bible with an eye on the cover, and is never seen without several chains on his person, although only the one(s) around his neck can be seen unless he's undressed.

He wears a black priest's cassock with a maroon sash and a capelet of the same color, with the same eye as on his bible on the shoulders of the cape, and brown dress shoes. The front of the robe is always open to expose his bare chest and the chains beneath.

Personality: Azazel is kind and doting, very fitting of both a teacher and priest, although his openly flirtatious, lustful, and secretive nature causes others to distrust him. He doesn't mind this at all. He has a strong adoration for humans, and values love in all of its forms more than anything. He's a bit of a passive person, often being unmotivated but working hard regardless, and seems to prefer to watch others and the world go by, although he won't decline most invitations to take part in it. He is always aware of anything that happens within the extensive territory of the Missionaries, and seems to know and see just about everything about anyone he meets, from their surface to their soul. . . .

If you know Azazel, or take note of some of the wording or question marks, you'll note I didn't explain everything(although I may have shared more than you want to.) This is just a bare bones exampe of how I do my profiles--but it can get even more bare!

I'll do two this time, a more vague version of Azazel's, and another that obscures information all together, using the same or a similar format to the above.

Name: Azazel

Species: anthropomorphic goat

Gender(pronouns): male (he/him)

Age: unquestionably an adult

Origins: Eden

Profession: Priest; teacher; head of a charity NPO; member of the Missionaries

Apperance: Horned goatman of slightly above average human height. Light brown fur, blond fur-hair, red eyes. Wears priest robes and a gold chain around his neck and chest. Carries around a bible with an eye on it?

Personality: Kind of eerie, but friendly and affectionate. A little flirtatious, especially towards humans. Seems to know everything about people for some reason?

Compare it to the one before--see how I've left even more things off or left things ambiguous while still sharing what's necessary or surface level? However, it's also not as engaging or as informative as the other one where I gave more information.

As someone who plays him, profiles like this aren't as helpful for me lol since he knows so much about everyone and everything, having a lot of details helps me play my character!

Now, as helpful as this is, this is also a character you probably know. So how about I do this with an OC? Normally I'm extremely detailed in my profiles and such, especially for OCs, sharing headcanons and ideas for relationships between characters. But, again, I'll try and show how you can show some info while leaving some up to people to ask about to later be filled in.

Name: Kezia

Faceclaim/Art Source: [this is where you would put where you get the art for any icons you use--if you draw it yourself, say so; if you use official art from a series, credit the name of the character and the series; if you use picrews, link the specific picrews. DO NOT USE ART YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PERMITTED TO USE. DO NOT STEAL ART. IF YOU CAN'T FIND THE CREDIT, ASK SOMEONE TO HELP YOU, DO NOT JUST SAY THAT IT ISN'T YOURS. DO NOT USE ART YOU HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN PERMISSION TO USE OR THAT ISN'T FROM A SERIES OF SOME SORT.]

Species: Human

Gender(pronouns): Female (she/her)

Age: mid 20's~early 30's?

Apperance age: older than she looks?

Origins: Tokyo?

Profession: Professor; Witch

Apperance: A fidgety woman who looks older than she is. She looks anxious and confused as often as she looks curious and confident. Wavy light brown hair. Often carries around schoolbooks and is never alone, always with a Rattus Therian and often with a Nyarlathotep.

Personality: seemingly anxious, but curious and exploratative nonetheless. On the awkward side, but can still keep up with the Nyarls that accompany her. Gets into trouble when she gets ahead of herself in exploring and learning about the arcane, but her Rule allows her to disappear easily.

History: Has always been curious about magic and attempted to run through a Gate when they began to open up. Performed a summon and brought a certain transients to Tokyo and recieved her familiar and the magic to use her Rule as a result. Currently teaches at a college. She stumbled into a certain someone while attempting to explore time, and became a fan ever since.

That tells you a fair amount, doesn't it? Even for someone you don't know? It may even raise some questions that you could ask. At the same time, it doesn't tell you that much, and that can be as much of a hindrance for coming up with questions as saying too much can. It's really up to you what's too much and too little. Here's a more detailed version! Some things have been left vague or confusing in such a way that they could be filled in after being revealed through asks and play. That way, people are encouraged to/given ideas of what to ask--and you can still share things in the long run.

Name: Kezia

Faceclaim/Art Source: [N/A]

Species: Human

Gender(pronouns): Female (she/her)

Age: mid 20's~early 30's?

Apperance age: somewhere in her 30's, maybe even a little older

Origins: Tokyo, with some sort of connection to at least one other world

Profession: Professor of [?] at [?] Academy; Witch

Role & Rule: [?] & [?]

Artifact, Summon, Familiar?: Always accompanied by at least one Nyarlathotep and some sort of man-rat? She also carries around a book that's labeled as a Grimoire, but it's rare for someone to be both a summon-user and an Artifact-user. . . .

Apperance: A fidgety older woman wearing a labcoat and a witch's hat. She looks quite stressed and has trouble sitting still. Her ashy brown hair is thin and a little wavy, with some strands of gray. Although she often squints, she doesn't wear glasses. She carries around a lot of books relating to maths and sciences and one labeled 'Grimoire' decorated with arcane symbols from Gehenna and Old Ones. She's always accompanied by at least one Nyarlathotep and a very short, bearded man who can best be described as a brown rat therian with a human-like face. Sometimes there's a normal rat on her person or in her pockets.

Personality: Kezia is a fidgety and anxious magic practitioner. She's very curious about other worlds and has been since the Gates appeared in this Tokyo since she was a child, however she has been pursuing magic before then. She often appears somewhat confused about or fascenated by even her usual surroundings, but, at other times moves through the world with confidence even in unfamiliar territory. She also likes rats and other rodents, and as such will often avoid felines and birds of prey. She has a tendency to disappear, seeming to walk through walls despite assuredly being alive.

She's a little bit awkward with people, but somehow keeps up with Nyarlathoteps nonetheless. She's a good teacher, once she figures out how to explain things in ways others can understand easily, but can be a bit difficult to follow and flighty up until then. Aware of this, she's rather patient, if a little down on herself at times. However, she most often simply has her mind elsewhere. Despite this and the company she keeps, she's relatively sane. . .most of the time.

She shares a name with a witch from the world of Old Ones who made a pact with Nyarlathotep, believing him to be the Devil. . .and the ratman always at her side uses the same name as that witch's familiar as well. It's. . .probably just a coincidence. . .who would rightfully make a pact with Nyarlathotep?

History: Kezia is an adult human from this Tokyo before the apperance of the Gates and construction of the Walls. She's explored various witchcraft pursuits since she was a child, with what was originally a mere imaginative curiosity and fascination. After the arrival of the Gates when she was still young, she snuck over the fences built around one and attempted to go inside the massive pillar of light, which she attributes to the reason she often seems to struggle with her vision. Several years later, she performed a successful summon and she recieved her familiar, Brown Jenkin, transformed into a somewhat therian form from one of her pet rats, and was given some powers from Nyarlathotep. She has no discernable control over any of the chaotic creatures, however they seem to spend time around her regardless.

At present she's a professor of a subject that interests her at a certain college. She's had other dangerous run-ins due to her excitement over the arcane and "darker" arts, but doesn't seem to show any signs of stopping. However, after an incident in an attempt to explore time itself, she encountered a certain guardian of time and feels reluctant for once to explore it further. . .although she's become quite a big fan of his.

. . .i ran out of steam amd kinda lost track of where i was going. idk if that helped at all really. But maybe it did! I hope it did. You don't need to use any of those things exactly by any means, but that's the kind of thing you usually see in profile pages. Basics like someone's name and birthday and age and apperance and a little about their personality, maybe some history. Oftentimes things like powers and weapons and the like. Interests, hobbies, ways they could be intereacted with, etc. Just stuff that'd help you know the character.

I write everything in paragraph form, but everyone is more than welcome to use a more script format. I love making profiles, myself--it really helps to think about the character and details about them. Normally I make really, really detailed profiles, but maybe I'll try and be more simple about it this time around. depends on how i'm feeling.

I know this seems weirdly hypocritical given I don't have one but when I first made this blog there were like four of us including myself. I didn't see the need for a rules or profile page because I didn't anticipate that there'd be so many of us or, like, people from other fandoms or who aren't familiar with certain characters. I'll rectify that soon hopefully. But I figured I'd pass along this idea/knowledge to others.

. . .I'm gonna go reopen my askbox now. Feel free to send asks again, ask about this, etc! You can send me an IM too if you want. I'll properly close up the guest event tomorrow. I'm real tired rn lol so idk how much i'll get done, but i usually do things super late at night my time, so i have some time to pull my shit together haha))

[daphnedirose]

for the writer ask, #3, #4, #20 👀

First of all, I may or may not have screamed when I saw the ask was yours (lowkey fangirling ngl). Noks (can I call you that?), you just made me the happiest human alive by feeding my procrastination, thank you so much <3

Now to the questions:

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

Viktor and an OC I'm working on fighting over augmentations. Like this heated argument where they are screaming to each other and cursing, saying all they wouldn't even be able to pronounce with a calm mind while Viktor just slips a truth he wishes he didn't —not because is an insult, but because it's a feeling, and he didn't meant to get the oc more involved in his transformation than she already was.— I want it to be filled with anger and held back feelings, but i need to really build their relationship before I get to that.

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

"Your hearts beat to the same rhythm as he pressed his chest against yours, making sure you were still there with him, holding you into his arms just for a few more seconds.

Or at least that's would have happened if he decided to open the door."

One Last Night was supposed to have a completely different ending, where Jayce caught Viktor and the reader sleeping together and (maybe) stepped back from the engagement. That was the original plan, but it made the story seem pointless. I cry with my own writing more than I'd like to admit and the idea of an angsty "what if?" just kept stuck in my head waiting for me to write it, and what could be more heartbreaking than a goodbye you couldn't say? If you read that fic carefully, you can tell that the reader entering the lab seems off because I never mentioned Viktor opening the door, but I know that's a detail that's hard to perceive.

I actually had my roommate read the fic and when she got to that exact sentence she gasped, cursed at me in german, and looked at me in disbelieve; and from what I saw in the reblogs and comments, you guys had a similar reaction, so that's why I love it so much hehe.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

I'LL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT THE PARALLELISM FROM THE EXTRA STORY IN ENCHANTED TO MEET YOU OKAY? LIKE THE READER FIXING THE MISTAKES BLITZCRANK'S POWER UNIT HAD, WHEN VIKTOR MISSED THAT FACT WHEN BUILDING HIS OWN AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT CAUSED HIS ENDING. Also, the brief description of their first meeting in the beginning, and the extended version on the extra story... Enchanted To Meet You is probably my favorite fic I've written so far, mainly because it was my first ever idea to start this blog (even if it wasn't the first I posted).

Adding to that, I have used (and will continue using) flowers as symbolisms. Every flower has a completely different meaning and whenever I use them on a fic it's for a reason (Little White Lie, for example, and another fic I hope to finish by Valentine's day) Flowers are beautiful but people only seem to associate them with love, but they hold so many motives and meanings hidden that I just adore bringing to light in some fics.

As you can tell, I like flowers, a lot.

I also have some strong symbolisms planned for a future long fic that follows the arcane timeline, but that's something I'll talk about later since it's angst and I can't it to hurt bad <3

[lairofsentinel]

Hiii!! I’m the last anon. I loved reading your take on the Oskar situation! To be honest I was a little paranoid because of all the Gale hot takes on Reddit. Most of them seem to think he will betray you in the end and it’s a little discouraging! Your post made me feel better tho :)

Hello there again!

Ah... Reddit... Honestly, I'm so TIRED of reading their bullshit when a friend of mine shares with me some post there. Most of the time they do stuff based on plain lies. Like, all the drama about “Gale asks you to cheat your LI to whom you are married” XD like 5 shades of lies… it is just such a level of garbage. People doing that can't read, and can't understand a game which qualifies for +18. They should play tetris, please. XD

I think Gale can betray you like all chars can: it depends on your actions. If you go evil, and do the goblin path, Gale leaves the party unless you roll the dice and get a very high number. In that case, he remains, but he is super bitter and filled with regret. I can see that this Gale will “stop” an evil main char from doing more evil if you keep going on that path. Gale is a char who defends life. Like Ifan in DOS2 [a char I can speak a lot, and I can do a lot of comparisons with Gale, and even though both games are different world, the “larian style” with which they write their characters is kind of “obvious”, but that's another topic, I jump a lot in different topics XD sorry], As I was saying… the most sacred thing for Gale is Life. If Gale starts seeing that you are a menace, bigger than his own orb problem, you are going to be killed by him. Or attempt to be so. Specially if he can see you are beyond redemption [which is something he believes, but he needs to see you trying].

I'm pretty convinced of that. We already have a char who tries to kill you, and in fact he kills you if you fail the dice. If you know about datamining stuff... There is a situation where 2 companions are going to struggle to kill one another in their sleep. Swen said in some interviews that this mechanic is going to happen. So, it seems fair to expect this from the rest of the chars, Gale included. But it has to be “in character”. After all, it's the same style we find in DOS2. Again, I know I've said that it's pretty poor to compare BG3 with Dragon Age games... BUT comparing it with DOS2, you can see certain patterns in Larian style that make you suspect certain things. If you played DOS2, you can remember that ALL your companions can betray you, if you give them reasons enough to do it. Which is, to no one's surprise, how most RPGs with companions work. Again, Reddit just does a drama out of nowhere, and magnifies everything related to Gale just to make people hate him even if nobody played with him. XD So… how can you criticise a char you never played with??? Meh.

Gale is a flawed char. Perfect chars are boring. Gale's main flaws are emotions, but we also see him in a moment of his life where he has reflected about his mistakes. A lot of his approvals and scenes and comments are DEEPLY related to “forgiveness” and to “accept the mistakes of the youth”, and “learn from your mistakes”, “second chances”, and “take responsibility for it”. He approves if you redeem Kagha, he asks you to be kind to children who do big fuck-ups, he approves and is relieved when he is forgiven for not having told you about his orb after the party [which is pretty weird… because we have like 4 scenes where we are hinted that whatever is happening in his chest is pretty wild, but well, maybe we can fail ALL the dices and inferring that fact with the death protocol is too much for us... who knows]. If we know how Larian works, we know that most of their chars represent “concepts”. I think Gale explore all the concepts related to mistakes and forgiveness [which are very human concepts] : accepting to make mistakes, but taking responsibility for them, even if it's a bit late, even if it's harder, even if it's beyond forgiveness.

Gale, in the second dream, speaks very clearly: he knows the tadpole dreams are not true because [we can infer] he saw Mystra forgiving him. And he KNEW that was a lie. Because he has accepted he is beyond forgiveness. He desires it, sure, because it's human nature to desire things you can't have, but also he is a pragmatic, realistic man: it cannot be her. Because he knows that when he uses magic, when he taps from the Weave, she is “disapproving” him [all this info is in that video, people only needs to think about why he says what he says and check lore in wiki, that’s all].

After the romance you can ask him if he is in love with Mystra. I found a meta in tumbl pretty long but very worth reading that I share in many points: human love is not just that sexual, romantic love. Love can get complex shapes, including the divine love. And Gale has that: he has the ashy love for an ex, that played with him because that's what a Goddess does in Faerûn [people should learn SO much lore before thinking that Mystra needs to be defended of anything XD], but he also is a devote to her, because she IS and REPRESENTS all what it's life for him: Magic. So, any person expecting him to “get over her” as you do with a normal ex.... are ignoring the immense religious and arcane part his story has—inserted in Faerûn. So yeah, he may have a complex love for Mystra, but betraying you if you are not an asshole to him, or evil, I cannot see it. Because that’s not what Larian has done in previous games either. I wish people could understand that Larian is not Bioware, and DOS2 and BG3 are not Dragon Age.  You see... People see Gale as if BG3 were a high-school sitcom. I have no idea how much can I stress the fact that Mystra is a goddess in a world where gods play their wars between them by using mortals as paws.... Anyway. I have some few, old metas in my blog [probably too out-of-date since I did those in patch 1 I think], and like I said, there are some really good deep metas in tumblr too on this matter. Reddit is just a pit of brainless hatred. To me, reading Reddit seems a waste of time (and mental sanity, too). And I hope Larian doesn't focus only on the crap that appears there, because it's very discouraging to think that these people with so little ability to understand contexts will shape the game eventually.

Have a good day!

[dittomander]

Hi! I’ve been thinking, I’ve seen a couple of people in the fandom who seem to confuse Elena as a Wizard. But even though she has magic and has used it on several occasions, seeing as she doesn’t practice or study magic the way wizards do. Whenever she needs to practice using or controlling her magic, she goes to Mateo, a Wizard for help. I’m kind of struggling with this myself, so would you mind explaining why Elena wouldn’t be considered a Wizard?

Heya, thanks for the ask!

Funnily enough, when Elena first discovers she can use magic in The Scepter of Light, Francisco asks “since when did [she] become a wizard,” and Elena immediately denies that she is one; also, in Not Without My Magic, Skylar has to repeatedly remind her of that, so there seems to be some in-universe confusion about what she actually is.

The reason she doesn’t classify as a wizard in-universe is likely because she draws her magic from herself, not from a wand or other arcane focus. All the Avaloran wizards we see in the show use a tamborita, even in the case of powerful malvagos like Zopilote that can use some magic without one. Additionally, a wizard gains the ability to wield this magic through study, typically learning a wide variety of spells that they can then perform with that wand. Elena, in general, does not do this. She does learn some spells for the Scepter of Light, but it’s a narrow set, and frankly, she learns a lot of them on accident. It’s also made clear that although the Scepter of Light is a powerful magical tool, it is still channeling Elena’s magic, not its own (this gets a bit fuzzier after The Magic Within, but I imagine the principle remains the same). Additionally, Elena and Esteban are the only characters in the show that we know for sure have that kind of internal magic, so that does set them apart from the wizards of the show in general. If Mateo’s training from the Spring Cleaning short continued, then I suppose Elena would be a wizard as well as... whatever else she is.

As for what she actually is, though... It’s never specified within the show, just that she can use magic. I’ve seen the fandom draw comparisons to sorcerers in Dungeons & Dragons, which seems apt: they're typically born with magic, not acquiring it from study, and though they have a much higher magical throughput than their wizard counterparts (i.e. more spells per day), their spell list is more narrow, and this seems to describe Elena’s magic in comparison to, say, Mateo’s.

I’m hesitant to say that sorceress is the correct in-universe term for her, though, since the semantics of spellcaster types are kind of unclear. Mateo uses the words “sorcerer” and “wizard” interchangeably when referring to himself in “Cast a Spell With Me”. The meta explanation is that it’s just a reference to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice -- y’know, the story about an over-zealous apprentice to a powerful mage that took one of his magical items and used it to wreak water-related havoc up until the sorcerer came back and fixed things -- and not any indication of what Mateo canonically is. For what it’s worth, though, Cedric in Sofia the First is referred to as a sorcerer, and there doesn’t seem to be a striking difference between how he does magic and how Mateo does, barring the regional differences between Enchancian and Avaloran magic. I mean, Cedric studied in an actual magic academy, he still needs his wand, and he still learns spells and potions from books. So it seems likely, or at least possible, that “sorcerer” and “wizard” are functionally identical terms in-universe, which would mean that Elena is actually not a sorceress.

Personally, I try to stick with the generic umbrella terms of “spellcaster” or “magic-user” to describe her.

And as for why she goes to Mateo for help, despite the fact that he’s a wizard and she is not: he's kinda the only option. Magic is still poorly understood in Avalor following Shuriki’s reign, so a wizard’s understanding of Elena’s magic is still better than no understanding of Elena’s magic. Presumably, there’s some basic “theory of magic” that’s generally applicable regardless of the magic type, even when the specifics of how it works are different. And the thing is, he actually does get it wrong sometimes! Most notably, pretty much the entirety of S3 seems intent on disproving and discrediting his advice from The Magic Within, but that’s another post entirely.

[nightwingshero]

Rosemary, abatina, dill, hollyhock, and sweet pear for whoever you feel like talking about! 💜

Thank you, hun!!! I did a mixture, because I’m missing some old OCs of mine, and some need serious development. Yeah, so it got really long, I am so sorry!

Rosemary: What's their fondest memory?

Blair: It would probably be laying out in the backyard with her dad while they watched the stars, or her dad buying her that nice telescope that he’d use with her. It meant a lot to her that her parents indulged when it came to her interests, they were always supportive. Most of her time was spent at aquariums, the observatory, zoos, and just doing a lot of stuff with her parents. Science fairs were always a blast, because her parents would help. 

Emma: This would be either her and her brother Mark playing in the pond they had or playing football on the beach in the summer. Em would also work on an old Mustang, one she’s still helping him build, and Ash would come over most days and they would all just have a huge dinner in the backyard. Georgia gave decent weather for it. Most of her fondest memories are with her family or Ashton, because they grew up together and did a lot together when Emma’s family moved there. A beautiful, sunny day in Summer always takes her back. 

Quinn: There were times where they would travel back to Russia to visit the remaining members of his mother’s family, and he would love it. Quinn absolutely adored his babushka, and the stories she would tell. His mother would tell the same tales, but it wasn’t the same as how his babushka would tell it. There was also sailing with his father. That was something Quinn thoroughly enjoyed, and it was something they continued on doing until his father died. 

Wren: Definitely playing piano with her mother! That is probably the most precious moment for her. When she plays it now, she still feels as if her mother is there with her. Not only that, but her music teacher was her one good thing growing up. Mrs. Hall taught Wren how to actually play, and when Wren would sneak to lessons (under the guise of studying or going to the library), Mrs. Hall would often bake cookies and brownies for Wren, as if she were her own grandmother. Wren attended her funeral when she passed, and it actually felt like she had lost her grandmother when she heard. But those are memories she holds dear. 

Abatina: Are they very picky or particular about anything?

Blair: Not really, no. Blair is rather easy going and goes with the flow. I think the one thing would be don’t touch her work station. It’s organized chaos with an actual system that only she knows, and she will absolutely lose it if you mess with anything because that’s her life’s work you’re messing with. I think that could be said for any scientist though, and she is very verbal about it. It’s a light reminder, or a happy request until you get too close and she becomes slightly frazzled and makes you keep your distance. 

Emma: She can be an absolute control freak and has to have things a certain way (whether that’s because she was in the Marines or if she inherited it from her mother, who’s to say?) No eating in her cars, don’t touch her guns, and if you’re going along with her on something, you’re following her lead. Ashton, Nora, and even Roach give her hell for it, but honestly? Sometimes she can’t help it. Emma has a habit of taking control of a situation when it calls for it and she’s a super organized and neat person. Everything has it’s place, things are cleaned or done a certain way, and she would rather just do it herself. 

Quinn: His hair and shoes. Listen, Quinn is very boyish in looks (there’s a reason Ryan Gosling is his faceclaim) and his hair is usually neat or done how he wants it. He’s not overbearing about it, he just takes his time with it because he does put care into his appearance. His shoes are shined, his clothes match and his outfit is sharp, he doesn’t go more than a few days without shaving. Once the Collapse happens, it’s one of the things he can control, so he does. Grayson often jokes he’s the prettiest guy of Armageddon, but Quinn laughs with him. 

Wren: She doesn’t like it when other people drive. Having been in a traumatizing car accident, she prefers to be at the wheel for that sense of control. It’s honestly makes her so damn anxious when that’s not the case, and Quinn drives like a damn maniac from time to time in New Dawn. She will cling to something for dear life, and absolutely will backseat drive. It leads to a lot of spats between her and Jane, Quinn, and Ivy. 

Dill: Do they have any rivals?

Blair: I would say that one of the biggest would be John Constantine. Blair is skeptical when it comes to the mystical and supernatural, needless to say, she absolutely does not believe in magic. However, when the Particle Accelerator went off, someone close to her was wearing a totem or a spiritual pendent that got mixed into her meta powers (it’s how she can cosmic project and do some of the things she can with energy manipulation...it also helps balance out her going supernova and such), so...some of her powers are part of the arcane. Johnny knew that the second he met her, so when she gave him grief and became skeptical when he was helping Ollie bring Sara’s soul back, he just smirked at her and went “hate to burst your little bubble, love--” and honestly, they’ve been at it from there.  

Emma: Ha! Emma is competitive and very proud, so yeah, she has rivals, some more fun than others though. For example, her rivalry with Nikolai (and sometimes Price) is who can drink the other under the table. Yuri...well, they ended up in a fist fight on a misunderstanding when they first met, so while he’s working with her and the 141, there’s definitely some rivalry there with them trying to one up the other. She’ll spar with Ghost to see who is better too. Honestly, she’s always up for a challenge, and its something she shares with a lot of her fellow Marines back home--including her cousin and her teammates. 

Quinn: John fucking Seed. Listen, they hate each other, full on loathing, because Quinn isn’t afraid to point out that he’s in a cult and we all know how John is when someone makes him feel insecure and inadequate...with Quinn he very much does, even if that isn’t his intention.  It also doesn’t help that John notices how Quinn looks at his wife from time to time, and he doesn’t appreciate it, but the biggest thing is that Quinn openly challenges him on everything. To Quinn, he wants to poke holes in his logic and show that John isn’t at all what he thinks he is. Quinn is a natural leader, he had been in the Navy, he knows what that looks like and he’s quick to call John out on shit. Wren gives him a bit of a run, too, their rivalry just happens to uh...turn into something else. 

Wren: Holly Pepper and Mary May Fairgrave. Those are the two that gives her the most trouble. In any other scenario (and in most AUs), Wren and Mary May get along just fine, but in canon? Wren straight up punches her in the face. There’s more to it, of course. Wren is being worn down by people wanting her to do this and that for the Resistance, her constantly being pulled in every direction and being forced to give to people without them giving in return. And Mary May wouldn’t shut up about the truck, while saying Wren was dragging her feet on what the Resistance needed done (mostly because Wren was sleeping around with John, but they didn’t know that yet), and Wren just gets overwhelmed with frustration and anger, and straight up punches her in the face and tells her “if you want the truck so damn bad, go get it yourself”, and storms out. Holly Pepper later becomes an issue because she knows John slept around with her, and Holly loves shoving it in Wren’s face. So...Holly ends up dying because she straight up attacks Wren, and Jane helps her with it because she knows that John has a soft spot for Wren. Plus there’s that little shit Quinn in New Dawn...they’re a lot of fun. 

Hollyhock: What's their biggest goal right now?

Blair: Currently, it’s to find her place and stride with the team and her powers. She just wants to not have to lay awake at night and worry she’ll lose control again and hurt her friends and loved ones. Her whole life has changed, and there are still things that are throwing her off. She needs to find her footing again and feel more confident in what she’s become. Helping people, including herself and teammates/friends, is what’s most important to her. 

Emma: As of right now, it’s to regroup and hunt down Makarov. She’s still healing from when Shepherd took out the 141 base and tried to kill her, Ashton, and Nora. The stitches are still healing a bit, but she’s pumped up and ready to take him down. Her goal, and focus, is doing whatever Price and Soap need her to do. It’s almost tunnel vision at this point. 

Quinn: Take down the Highwaymen and fix whatever bullshit Whitney and Wren have going on. He won’t at all pretend he knows what fucking type of politics they have in New Eden, or what rules they’re going by, but it’s very damn clear that Ethan is no good and needs taken down. Him and Grayson came because Carmina asked Rush, and they were never ones to back down from a challenge, not when it comes to helping those in need. So, he’s gonna take down Mickey and Lou, allow Grayson to avenge Rush while protecting Prosperity, and then stand with Wren and Whitney as they take over New Eden.

Wren: That depends on if we’re talking Far Cry 5 or New Dawn, but she’s mostly taking out the head Seed and establishing peace. She’s trying to do what’s right, and whether that’s for herself (which is the eventuality of her changing sides) in Far Cry 5, or for their people and her family in New Dawn (overthrowing Ethan and opening New Eden to more freedoms.) It’s all revolved around Eden’s Gate though, and she agrees to help Quinn and Grayson because she still cares about Kim and Nick, and much of the others, so it’s just a pitstop on her plan. 

Sweet pea: If you had to choose a favorite dessert for them, what would it be?

Blair: Crème Brule, strawberry shortcake, or chocolate lava cake. You could say all of the above, to be honest, she loves sweets. Blair is always snacking, and they’re usually little cakes, fruits, or something sweet. There’s a reason crepes are her favorite breakfast foods, fruit and sweet? Yes. Which I guess you could  add porfait on the breakfast menu too, in that case...anyway, snacking is usually something her and Mick has in common, though she’s not constantly looking for it the way he is. Mick finds food in missions and randomly...Blair is more disciplined than that. She will grab stuff for him a lot of the times if they’re in the same room or if she’s working near him. Leonard just stares between them, he’s not sure what he thinks of their comrade (he also lost his more recent memories, so he can shut it.)

Emma: Dark chocolate cake or tarts. Anything that has a bitter or sour tinge to it, because she’s not really a sweets person. Not when it comes to that, at least. She loves her mom’s sweet tea (and homemade lemonade). But she just would have something like raspberry butter cookies, cherry pie, or even an old fashioned ice cream (yes, with bourbon). She loves dark chocolate though. And tiramisu. 

Quinn: Oh, he loves the Russian desserts his mom would make, and honestly, Quinn has such a sweet tooth. Bird’s milk cake, Russian rugelach, waffle cakes, and especially kartoshka. He would help his mom (or babushka when they would visit Russia), and would eat them with Russian tea they would make. He also enjoys many flavors of gelato. 

Wren: Cheesecake. Without a doubt. She has always been, and will forever be, in love with cheesecake. And all kinds, if we’re being totally honest. She will eat any flavor, she feels strongly about it. You wanna piss her off easily? Eat her cheesecake. Wanna get on her good side again? Bring her cheesecake. John does. Whenever he’s in trouble, he throws a cheesecake on it. She’s constantly eating it to the point Whitney and Rowan have both reminded her that it’s not a meal. Does she listen? No. 

[tigerkirby215]

5e Twisted Fate the Card Master build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games)

Never lost a fair game, or played one.

Twisted Fate is one of the oldest champions in the game and despite never being extensively changed he’s always found his way in and out of the meta. A very simple kit makes him a great champion for skill expression among pros.

There isn’t much reason for this build other than “I thought it would be cool.” Twisted Fate has always been a champ that I wanted to learn and while doing some brainstorming I felt it would be fun to try to make him in 5e!

GOALS

It's all in the cards - Throwing cards aren’t the most practical choice of weapon, but they’re Tobias’ weapon of choice. By the way did you know that Twisted Fate’s real name is Tobias?

Shinin' gold - Twisted Fate’s iconic ability is to pick a card for either more damage, an AoE burst, or a stun. We’ll be taking all of them.

No fightin' destiny - It wouldn’t be Twisted Fate without the ability to teleport behind you. Nothing personnel, kid.

RACE

The people of the Serpentine River are human, and henceforth Twisted Fate’s a Variant Human with some card skills. You can increase two skills by 1: choose Dexterity and Intelligence for card reading and slight of hand. And for your skill you have to persuade people to sit at the table after all, so take Persuasion.

As for your Feat take the Observant feat to watch the cards: increase your Intelligence further and watch for any cheats at the table. And for your language there are no doubt a lot of sea creatures that speak Aquan in Bilgewater, so pick Primordial to speak to them and any other elementals.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - Jack be nimble and Jack be quick, since you need mobility to survive in Bilgewater.

14; INTELLIGENCE - Poker is a game of smarts as well as luck, and while lady luck is smiling you also need your own skills.

13; CHARISMA - Not as high as I’d like but we need other skills more, and 13 is still more than enough to charm I’m sure.

12; WISDOM - Wisdom is tied to both Perception and Insight which you need to watch the cards.

10; CONSTITUTION - A little lower than I’d like (feel free to swap the 12 in WIS for this) but Twisted Fate’s hardly a tank.

8; STRENGTH - Again: Twisted Fate’s hardly a tank and it’s up to Malcolm to do the heavy lifting. (Oh god now I need to do a Graves build...)

BACKGROUND

Fun fact: Twisted Fate is a Gambler, which is a background in Acquisitions Incorporated. You get proficiency in Deception and Insight (not Slight of Hand, for some reason?!), one language (pick your poison), and one gaming set (which will of course be a Playing Card Set.)

Your feature is Never Tell Me the Odds, letting you scout out tables to swindle or more rough pirates who won’t take kindly to being scammed.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ARTIFICER 1

Starting off as an Artificer because I really like this class and we need both their saving throw proficiencies and their skill proficiencies for Slight of Hand and Perception at the table. You also get an Artisan’s Tool of your choice and I’d pick whatever since it really doesn’t matter.

As an Artificer you have Magical Tinkering which lets you do a bunch of fancy tricks to your cards. You touch a tiny non-magical object and can make it shine light, play a message, let out a smell or a sound, or change in visual appearance. Read over the ability to see everything you can do but the effect lasts indefinitely but you can only have a number of these active equal to your Intelligence modifier. You can touch an object you Tinkered with to end the property early but if you try to make a new one the oldest effect ends.

You also get access to Spellcasting as an Artificer. You get two cantrips from the Artificer list: Guidance will give you some luck with the cards and Acid Splash will let you throw out a red card for some AoE damage.

Artificer’s are a prepared spellcaster, meaning you can swap out your spells for others on the Artificer list at the end of a Long Rest. Regardless these spells will be suggestions for the most in-character spells to take: Detect Magic and Identify are both good to make sure no one’s cheating at the table, and Disguise Self is useful to hide in a crowd if needed.

LEVEL 2 - ARTIFICER 2

Second level Artificers can Infuse Items to create a variety of magic items. As I say whenever I make an Artificer build I’d suggest picking Artificer Infusions that help your party but with only two levels we won’t be getting many.

The Returning Weapon infusion is the main one we’re here for. It lets you turn a thrown weapon magical and will cause it to return to your hand immediately after throwing it. Playing cards aren’t a “weapon” but a Dagger is pretty close, and it’s the only Finesse Thrown weapon you can take.

An Enhanced Arcane Focus is better if you want to go straight for spells. You don’t have any spell attacks yet but...

Is Graves asking you to look over his gun? Well pass him a Repeating Shot weapon so he doesn’t have to waste as much time reloading.

Fun fact: as an Artificer you can recreate common magic items from Xanathar’s Guide. Feel free to craft yourself some Loaded Dice with the Charlatan’s Die.

You can only make two of your infusions, and since one will be more-or-less permanently locked into Returning Weapon I’d choose your other option wisely.

You also get another spell: the Sanctuary spell will force any enemies that attack you to make a Wisdom save or be forced to attack someone else, which can be good in case they get pissed off when you swindle them. The effect does go away as soon as you attack though.

LEVEL 3 - FIGHTER 1

Now that we’ve got our cards it’s time to stack the deck. Level 1 Fighters can choose a Fighting Style and the Thrown Weapon Fighting style from the Class Feature Variants UA is perfect for a card-slinger. 

IF UA ISN’T ALLOWED see if they count Archery for thrown weapons. If not I’d probably opt for Dueling so if you get into a melee fight you won’t be completely defenseless.

You also get a Refillable Potion with Second Wind, letting you regain hit points equal to 1d10 + your fighter level once per short or long rest.

LEVEL 4 - FIGHTER 2

Level 2 Fighters can use their Stacked Deck to Action Surge, letting them take one additional action on their turn once per short or long rest. The cool thing about Action Surge as a spellcaster is that you can use the extra action to cast a spell and then attack or do something else, but you can only cast one leveled spell per turn. Why am I telling you this when most of your spells are utility-based? No particular reason.

LEVEL 5 - FIGHTER 3

Level 3 Fighters can choose their Martial Archetype and Battle Masters are great at card tricks. I assume because you’re throwing a knife not a playing card. Regardless Battle Masters are Students of War, letting them gain proficiency in one Artisan’s Tool of their choice. Again pick whatever or see if your DM can let you take a Gaming Set instead.

But more notably you Combat Superiority die. You have four superiority dice, which are d8s and regain any expended dice when you finish a short or long rest. You can use your Superiority die to do a variety of Maneuvers:

Trip Attack will be your golden ace in the hole. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack you can expend one superiority die to attempt to knock the target down. You add the superiority die to the attack’s damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw. (8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier btw.) On a failed save, you knock the target prone. Note that knocking a target prone will make it harder to hit them with ranged attacks but it will make it easier for melee characters to hit them, and also slow them down for a moment.

If you’re fine with your stunned target moving then Distracting Strike will give your allies an opening to attack with Advantage, and also let you add the Superiority die to the damage.

Disarming Strike isn’t something TF can do in the Fields of Justice but it’s very in-flavor to knock the weapon out of an enemy’s hand (with a Strength save) and do some more damage.

LEVEL 6 - FIGHTER 4

That uneven Charisma score is annoying me, and you can’t be a silver-tongued swindler without the Silver-Tongued Feat from the Feats for Skills UA. Your Charisma score increases by 1 and you get Expertise in the Deception skill since you already had proficiency in it to begin with.

IF UA ISN’T ALLOWED feel free to grab the Prodigy Feat instead for Expertise in Deception (or Slight of Hand) and some more skills. This won’t increase your Charisma however so you’ll have to find another way to even out your ability scores.

In addition when you take the Attack action you can replace one attack with an attempt to deceive a humanoid you can see within 30 feet of you as long as they can also see and hear you. Make a Deception check contested by the target’s Insight: if you succeed your movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from the target and your attack rolls against it have advantage; both benefits last until the end of your next turn or until you use this ability on a different target. If your check fails, the target can’t be deceived by you in this way for 1 hour.

You do only have one attack currently but with Action Surge this will let you have Advantage on that attack and any attack on your next turn. And speaking of extra attacks...

LEVEL 7 - FIGHTER 5

5th level Fighters can get value out of that silver tongue with an Extra Attack. This means that by replacing one attack with a Deception check you can get Advantage on three attacks over two turns, or up to five attacks if you Action Surge.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 1

Now that we’ve got our deck it’s time to du-du-du-du-du for a date with Destiny. As a level 1 Wizard you get access to Spellcasting with 3 cantrips and 6 spells known. For your cantrips Prestidigitation and Minor Illusion will allow you to do some more card tricks and Friends will let you con your way through life with ease. As for your spells...

Color Spray will let you toss out a whole deck of cards, blinding your opponents with blues and reds.

Distort Value is good for any con, allowing you to make an item seem more valuble.

Ice Knife can be red, since it’ll explode in an AoE and chill your opponents. (But not slow them.)

Jim’s Magic Missile will let you throw out three cards that do considerably more Force damage than a regular Magic Missile.

Protection from Evil and Good can be good help for your partner in crime.

And Tenser’s Floating Disk will be helpful to haul all that loot.

You also get Arcane Recovery, letting you recover spell slots equal to half your Wizard level rounded up.

LEVEL 9 - WIZARD 2

Now you’re probably wondering what Wizard Twisted Fate would be right? You’re thinking obviously Divination, or maybe Illusion? Perhaps even Enchantment to further the con?

Nope; Conjuration baby! Put bluntly Twisted Fate conjures cards into his hand, which you can do with Minor Conjuration. You spend an action to conjure up an inanimate object that’s no more than 3 feet cubed and weighs no more than 10 pounds. The object must look like a non-magical object you’ve seen before and is visibly magical, radiating dim light out to 5 feet, and it lasts for 1 hour unless it takes damage or you use this feature again, so you can only have one fake card at a time. There’s a lot of really funky stuff you can do with this and it’s up to your creativity to make it shine!

For your spells of choice Magic Missile is a far more accurate blue card, and Feather Fall can help you make sure you don’t lose your hat.

LEVEL 10 - WIZARD 3

3rd level Wizards can learn second level spells like Jim’s Glowing Card Coin to distract the table while you make your getaway and Darkvision, to help with the fact that your pitiful human eyes can’t see in the dark.

LEVEL 11 - WIZARD 4

At 4th level you get an Ability Score Improvement: increase your Dexterity for more precise card throws and an easier time avoiding damage.

You also learn another Cantrip: seeing as we’re still a pitiful human who can’t see in the dark the Light spell will let you light up a golden card to illuminate the path ahead.

You also learn two spells: Hold Person will let you Paralyze (not stun!) a target for your teammates to beat them down and Misty Step to pickup Flash.

LEVEL 12 - WIZARD 5

5th level Wizards can prepare third level spells like Melf’s Minute Meteors for a whole pack of red cards! As an action you create six floating red cards around your person and as a bonus action you can shoot one or two of them up to 120 feet away. Each creature within 5 feet of the point where the card explodes must make a Dexterity saving throw or 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Alternatively if Malcom is looking for you grab the Nondectection spell to make hiding just a little bit easier when he doesn’t have any tricks up his sleeve.

LEVEL 13 - WIZARD 6

6th level Conjuration Wizards get Benign Transposition, allowing them to use an action to Flash up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space they can see. You can also instead choose a space within range that is occupied by a Small or Medium creature and swap places with them if they’re willing. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest or you cast a conjuration spell of 1st level or higher. Remember that this does take your action, meaning that you most likely can’t cast spells or attack after using this, but it’s still an insanely good utility.

You also learn more spells and I think everyone knows what Fireball is; full-AP red card go boom. If you’re looking for someone to give a date with Destiny then Clairvoyance will let you create a sensor in a familiar location to either see or hear what’s going on within.

LEVEL 14 - WIZARD 7

7th level Wizards get access to 4th level spells, which is what we were looking for with Dimension Door. As an action you teleport up to 500 feet away to a location you can either visualize or describe. You can bring objects that you can carry and also bring one willing creature of your size or smaller who is carrying gear up to its carrying capacity. This spell actually pairs very well with Clairvoyance that we got last level because you can use that spell to peek into an area so you can visualize it for Dimension Door.

For your second spell? Eh; how about you jump back to third level for Counterspell? You’ve gotta protect the gang after all. And remember that as a Wizard your spell list is only restricted by what spell scrolls you can find.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 15 - FIGHTER 6

Now that we’ve finally made out date with Destiny it’s time to learn some more card tricks. 6th level Fighters get another Ability Score Improvement and we’re going to want to cap our Dexterity for sharper cards and thicker leather chaps.

LEVEL 16 - FIGHTER 7

7th level Battle Masters get one more Superiority Die and two more Maneuvers: Maneuvering Attack is great to set up an ambush, letting your jungler use their reaction to speed up at your command. Precision Attack helps if your opponent is building armor, letting you add your Superiority Die to your accuracy.

You can also spend one minute to Know Your Enemy. For every minute your study your enemy you can learn if any of the creature’s following stats are equal, superior, or inferior to you:

Strength score

Dexterity score

Constitution score

Armor Class

Current hit points

Total class levels (if any)

Fighter class levels (if any)

Considering that you have levels in Wizard this can be very useful to determine what saving throws to go for when you start the fight! Is their Dexterity equal to yours? Maybe don’t hit them with the DEX save. Is their AC high? Maybe do hit them with the DEX save.

LEVEL 17 - FIGHTER 8

8th level Fighter? Lady luck is smiling! Take the Lucky feat for an Ace up your sleeve when the going gets tough.

LEVEL 18 - FIGHTER 9

9th level Fighters get Indomitable, letting them reroll a failed Saving Throw once per Long Rest. Consider it a bit of Serpentine luck helping you when you really need it, so use it wisely; preferably on something you actually have a chance of rolling well on your save for?

LEVEL 19 - FIGHTER 10

10th level Battle Masters get Improved Combat Superiority dice, turning them into d10s. You also get two more Manuevers and we’ll be jumping over to the Class Feature Variants UA for Silver Tongue, letting you add your Superiority die to any Deception or Persuasion check you make. The Snipe meanwhile will let you sneak a card into your combo, allowing you to spend your Bonus Action to make a ranged weapon attack with the Superiority die, adding the dice to the damage if you hit. This can be a good way to sneak a bit more damage in if you teleport behind a squishy carry.

LEVEL 20 - FIGHTER 11

Our capstone is the 11th level of Fighter for a third Extra Attack, letting you attack three times per round or six times with Action Surge. If you activated Silver Tongued this equals a total of 5 attacks with Advantage over the course of two turns, or 8 attacks with Advantage if you use Action Surge! With that many cards in the deck someone’s going to have to fold.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Lady luck is smilin' - You have an immense amount of utility with magic and maneuvers to help you both in and out of combat; tons of mobility with Conjuration spells and a good bit of roleplay utility with some strong skills, a great passive perception, and Roguish proficiencies.

Cheater's just a fancy word for winner - If your DM allows you to use the Silver-Tongued feat then you’ll be making almost all your attacks with Advantage, allowing you to maximize your maneuvers. And +14 Deception is great for RP in its own right.

I never bluff - Despite having several abilities that only come back after a Long Rest you’re quite capable of surviving on just Short Rests and Refillable Potions. With Arcane Recovery giving you back up to 4 levels worth in spell slots, Benign Transposition coming back whenever you use a Conjuration spell, and all your Fighter abilities coming back on a Short rest you can keep trucking on even after a bad teamfight.

CONS

Nobody touches the hat - Wizard levels plus a 0 in Constitution results in about a hundred health. Invest in some Ruby Crystals (Amulet of Health) when you can or else you’re just a Power Word: Kill away from death.

All or nothin' - Throwing knives honestly aren’t that practical as a ranged weapon. If you don’t mind not having a melee backup try making a Repeating (Cross)bow instead.

Only a fool plays the hand he's dealt - The biggest truth however is that the 2 levels in Artificer really doesn’t do much for you. All you get is a bunch of spells you could’ve gotten from Wizard and the Returning Dagger. If you have a reliable way to get some throwing cards (either from a DM or an allied Artificer giving you a more reliable ranged weapon) I’d suggest splitting those two Artificer levels among Fighter and Wizard for more Ability Score Improvements and a 20 in Intelligence.

But you can work well alone and with a crew. You’re the ace in the hole for any party, even a party of 1. Keep your cards close to your chest and play what you need at the right time. Just be sure to know when to put down your cards and pull out the big guns.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E45 (Dec. 18, 2018)

Evening, all! @eponymous-rose​ is off tonight with such silly things like family and events and real life obligations, so I’m here to make bad jokes and have opinions instead.

For those who hadn’t heard, Brian & Ashley are engaged as of this week! Brian is taking both her last and first name to be ultra-progressive. Tonight’s guests: Sam Riegel & Matt Mercer. Matt is here willingly. Sam is not. We’re discussing Episode 45: The Stowaway, sponsored by LootCrate. Brian asks Sam for an impromptu song ad; he rhymes moot and loot and jigs and everyone is a little closer to death than they were a few moments prior.

Tonight’s announcements: Pub Draw & Name Drop are two new shows on the Critical Role channel--check out critrole.com for more details.

This Thursday’s episode is the last of 2018; Critical Role then returns on January 10.

Liam’s oneshot, The Night Before Critmas, airs at 7pm Pacific this Friday night. He’s been planning it for two years, and the VOD will be available December 23.

Talks Machina is also breaking for the holidays and will return on January 8, where they’ll have a cast-wide discussion on the state of the campaign so far. The questions open on Reddit, Twitter, and email on January 4th.

CR Stats: Nott has the most kills of the group with 37. The 45th HDYWTDT occurred in episode 45 as well. Twiggy’s dragon kill was the fifth guest kill of the campaign, and the 2nd guest HDYWTDT. In campaign one, guests got 22 kills and four HDYWTDTs. This was the longest episode of campaign two and the fourth longest of the series.

Matt and Deborah had met extensively to discuss backstory and mechanics, but hadn’t discussed much personality. The only person who wanted to check voice/accent was Khary (with Shakaste).

Deborah was one of the first guests they reached out to when they started streaming all that time ago, but she initially said no because D&D was such a personal thing for her and she didn’t want to share it with the internet. Everyone agrees she was worth the wait.

Everyone’s furious about Daredevil’s cancellation. :(

Sam thought it was fun to play alongside another Arcane Trickster because... “she was very good at it, all that great stuff that I forget to do.” Nott was jealous that many of the things that made her unique were present in Twiggy. However, the jealousy was later reversed because of how excellent Twiggy was in the fight.

The Happy Fun Ball was a narrative device Matt had been planning for a long time--he liked the idea of a pocket dungeon with lore attached. When they realized Deborah’s schedule would put her on a boat in the middle of nowhere, he found a perfect opportunity to bring it in.

Sam asks if Matt intended the device to be a one-use single episode thing, or something recurring, something for the party to further explore at their will. Matt explains very circuitously (and hilariously) that certain DMs may have in the planning of the introduction of the Happy Fun Ball originally intended for such Happy Fun Balls to leave with the guest, and were very surprised when said Happy Fun Ball (and all its hundreds of extraplanar rooms to explore) was left behind with the party instead. He then basically dares Sam to press a button and see what happens.

Nott doesn’t resent Fjord for touching the window or setting a time limit on the library exploration. While it was cool in the library, there were too many things attacking them.

Matt doesn’t necessarily intend his traps for Travis, but he likes having good buttons and bad buttons. “I just want shit to happen. Surprise me!” He admires the player that occasionally gets bold, rather than the one who always sends their minions out to touch all the tiles and trigger all the traps before they ever set foot in the dungeon. He also enjoys the meticulousness of Liam being at the same table as Travis’s impulsiveness.

Sam does not want the fans to send him larger flasks. His current flask holds 128 oz, which is exactly a gallon.

GIF of the Week: @criticalschluck with a hilarious movie-trailer-style GIF of Travis explaining he’s got an intelligence of 6 (Grog), then an intelligence of 14 (Fjord), then pushing buttons and experiencing... consequences.

Nott approves of Caleb’s choice to abandon the books to go back to the party. While she wants as much knowledge in his head as possible, it’s because “a smarter Caleb is a more powerful Caleb, and hopefully a Caleb that can stay alive a little longer.” Matt likes watching characters be put in situations where they have to choose between long-reaching character goals and the people they have chosen as their family. He was fascinated to see the struggle as he was ticking down the time on his sheet. He’s very excited to see what’s going to happen this Thursday.

Brian and Matt both fanboy over Sam’s 1hp decision.

Sam reflects on Jester’s being left behind--”not in a malicious way, you know, but sometimes in a big family someone gets left behind at a mall!”

Matt circuitously explains that the stained-glass window could be used to access other places. This man’s being slipperier than soap suds on wet tile tonight.

Nott was aware that the hit she took for Jester could have been a killing blow, but she was ready--”it was what goes through her head around Caleb a lot: ‘I’ve got to protect my friends.’” She’s very protective and very maternal, and Sam would have been okay if that had been the last of Nott.

Both Sam and Liam (and others) have begun to experience the in- and out-of-game changes that come with finally beginning to really know these characters. They certainly wouldn’t have died for each other at the beginning of the game, even knowing how hard their friends worked on these characters. It was originally a “system shock” (as Matt puts it) which required check-ins after certain blow-ups at the beginning of the campaign to make sure they (the players) were all okay. Now, though, they’re closer and closer to being willing to die for each other for both in-game and meta reasons.

Sam reflects on how both Caleb and Nott hate themselves, but manifest that very differently in how they treat other people. Caleb withdraws and puts up thick walls; Nott is quick to trust and care about everyone.

Nott is least close to Yasha at the moment. She’s still a li’l scared of her.

Matt had a few battle options planned out regarding which parts of which chamber were futzed with. The black tapestry was the one curtain they didn’t mess with that would have led to a “very rough encounter.” Matt had six maps built off-stage, just in case.

Sam’s backup character is a handsome actor named Sam Seagull.

Brian is annoyed that every encounter starts with the chat screaming “TPK.” Matt: “I hope not. That’d be my fault if that happened.”

While the dragon was very powerful, Matt had expectations that the party would understand very quickly that the fight didn’t necessarily have to end with the dragon’s death--he wanted them to understand the challenge was the exit, not the dragon. However, they came in in a different order than he’d anticipated, including party staggering, and that was when he started to get nervous.

Whatever magic had first triggered the first crystal would have been the same magic required to open the second door. It was proximity-based.

Fanart of the Week: @tehsasquatch, with this super-cool portrait of Nott.

On whether Nott feels as if she’s earned her comma: sometimes, especially in encounters like these, Nott feels just for a moment that she can be brave, she can be useful, she can be heroic--and then the moment it’s over the world comes crashing back down. When she’s out of those moments, she feels that she’s still just a goblin.

Is Sam ready for Nott to get the spotlight Fjord’s currently in?

Sam: No. Matt: [very intense face]. There’s a lot of backstory elements that he and Matt know that no one else is aware of, and he’s nervous about those coming to light.

The Traveler’s appearance was complete improv. Matt was reading the situation and the emotions and looking for ways to facilitate a heroic story, and when the dice worked in her favor, he felt it would be a wonderful, dramatic story beat to suddenly include--especially since the Traveler hadn’t responded much recently. Matt: “Yeah, that was really cool.”

The Traveler/Jester relationship has evolved in ways Matt both did and did not expect. He wasn’t sure how seriously Jester was going to take it. It’s the difference between believing in something and allowing that thing to define you as a person. He loves it. Sam: “The Traveler...is Taryon, right?”

Nott doesn’t see Caleb as abandoning her at all. “He’s a weak, puny man who needs to get himself out of danger.” It would have actually been harder if Caleb had been there, because if Nott had had to make a choice as to who to protect, Jester would be dead.

After Beau’s emergence from the orb, she probably for a few minutes would have thought that they were all dead behind her. It wasn’t that hours or days had passed--just a few minutes. Matt found Beau’s and Caduceus’s conversation at the end very fascinating and compelling, especially as a way to end the episode.

Nott agrees that Jester is not as happy and fine as she appears to be, especially after their talk about boys, but doesn’t feel it’s as severe as Caleb’s issues. “Jester’s a functional person.” However, Sam’s excited they’re getting past the “flitty person from the first half of the campaign” to the “core of sadness” as the story progresses.

Matt’s sure Yasha was not happy at all that her friends all disappeared without warning. “She spent six days thinking her friends were never going to come back. She doesn’t cry in a corner; she’s familiar with grief and loss. She hardens herself and moves on.” He’s hoping they’ll get to see some of that this week.

Critmas Spotlight: The Blind Weaver, a really, really cool 3D painting by a lady named Elaine Ryan, which has layers upon layers of polyurethane stained to make an amazing effect. See @elaineryanart on twitter and tumblr for more!

Talks Machina: After Dog

They decide where guests sit at the time of the episode. Matt likes to avoid the edges so they don’t feel like the outlier. Sam requests no attractive guests be placed immediately adjacent to him so that it does not detract from his glory. “That’s why I sit next to doggo Laura Bailey.” Brave man. Brave, foolish man.

Sam likes oatmeal raisin cookies. I am DELIGHTED, WHAT AN OLD MAN WHO SHARES MY TASTE. He also likes Werther’s, which is bringing back so many memories of my grandmother’s house. Matt likes ginger snaps, which are my favorite Christmas cookies also. I would kill for ginger snaps right now. Matt and Sam both are excited about pumpkin pie.

Essential D&D gifts, per Matt: dice, PHB, HeroForge custom minis if you really want to get them excited. He finds that getting in there and making a character can really help hook someone on the visual aspect & get invested in their character. Everything else is fluff. Sam suggests a music playlist for the first game; when he ran his first game with his kids, he liked having gridded paper to draw the maps on.

Matt does not feel that the crew of the ship has been mistreated, but they have been “neglected and dragged through places they didn’t expect.” He does think they’ll talk about everything they’ve done to all their friends and family when they get home in a very “you won’t believe this!” kind of way.

Sam always wears the same tie when he’s voice directing and on the first day of a new show. He’s wearing it tonight and can’t discuss the new show.

Favorite holiday movies! Brian: “Love, Actually” and “Die Hard,” as well as “Miracle on 34th Street.” Matt loves “A Christmas Story” (my favorite also, bless this man). Sam likes “Prancer” and “Scrooged,” but realizes mid-sentence that this is Brian’s first Talks as an engaged man.

Brian on proposing: ”It’s...the best.” They’d been together for over six years & met during the first Last of Us game. Brian describes himself as a former “piece of shit” and a very different person back then. Ashley had no expectations that he was going to propose & was totally surprised. Gah, this is too romantic.

Brian: “I always imagined for years what that moment would be like, and this topped all of my expectations... What more can you really hope for in this life than to feel that feeling with another person? It’s to me the pinnacle of our human experiences to be able to say ‘I’ve been through hell and yet found someone that I can definitely say I want to spend all the days of my life on this earth with,’ and the fact that it happened is fucking cool. It’s like heroin with none of the bad side effects.”

It was extremely stressful--but only the logistics. Apparently Matt’s proposal was extremely logistically intensive; Brian sympathizes.

And on that lovely, quiet note, we’re done for the night. Happy holidays, everyone. <3

[savrenim]

Do you have any role-playing tips? Especially for a more ~serious~ character? Cause i want my character to bond with the rest of the party, but im not rly sure where to start, especially since ive established her as kind of closed off

OH WOW OKAY

super honored that you asked

gods lemme see, I have a lot to say and some of it might be contradictory because so much of improvising and character creation and motivation is character, so this is going to be stream-of-consciousness under the cut

things that you can do that are just you—get comfortable improvising things, DnD and roleplaying in general is improv, it’s all say “yes and” and “go with the flow”

—but also get comfortable saying “yes” to yourself and not second-guessing yourself

—ie if you say something or do something don’t second-guess it, let it have happened, let it be canon. and then from there, ask yourself why.

—seriously, the most interesting thing I have ever done and best way that I’ve ever built characters is I thought I had an idea who they were, and then they said or did something during a session that made me go “oh shit, why did they do that”, and it either connected to a thing in their backstory I didn’t realize or indicated that they had a stronger feeling about something than I realized and letting the thing that I’d done be canon that then I post went back and extrapolated from allowed the character to grow and mature and develop better than if I’d been wishy-washy or had stopped myself from doing the thing that came to mind in the moment because I was worried about whether or not it was “in-character” enough

—and you can use that to reverse-engineer a character that better fits the overall party dynamic

—for example, for the department campaign I’d completely accidentally created a character who was a bit of a prissy field librarian here for linguistics and to be the arcane consultant and had never seen a death before and believed strongly in all life was utterly irreplaceable and precious for a party that was way more classic DnD and way less character-driven and VERY murderous even though we’re the good guys on a classic “save the world from demons” quest just very chill about murdering moochs, and so slowly from interactions and reactions it turned out her upbringing was a more extreme high class controlling mother and her morals developed into a way more interesting “I am privileged and detached and am trying to say that I care about not killing but tbh as an elf who’s essentially immortal and the rest of you all die in 50 years anyways it is kind of weird to care about your lives and my family thinks I’m weird and really going through a phase for doing so and it’s hard to stick to that when you all seem chill with killing people so okay I guess we’re murdering people now, gotta stop the demons” and the more I leaned into that, the more interesting it became, because as she became a more powerful arcanist I started leaning into the “the more high level spells she cast the more she started power-tripping/the power affected her brain and the less she stuck to the morals she cared so much about at first that her friends didn’t” that, like. this has been a hella interesting, hella engaging character for me. if I had gone “Seraph Maewel has never seen anyone die before and she refuses to be a part of intelligent humanoid killing so we have to make sure we only knock people out and just kill the monsters and I’m going to throw up after every single fight that we accidentally do murder people” it would have been static and boring and sure, what I initially established, but it turns out what I initially established wasn’t best for the campaign and this was an interesting, in-character transition that happened naturally because I did things as I did them aligned with what I understood about the character and then thought about afterwards how it fit with everything I’d established before and what it implied that maybe was different than I thought

—also people change it’s okay and in fact VERY fun to do character growth arcs you don’t have to feel married to your initial conception of a character

—there’s another concept that’s a little bit tied? that is pretty much IC vs OOC choices, of, like, and this is my strong opinion because I’ve been a counselor who’s been in charge of making LARPs fun for little kids for years now? but basically, on a larger scale than the tiny individual interactions, it is your *job* to come up with IC excuses and still make genuine in character decisions that serve the party and that serve the narrative

—like, for example, a while back, I played a character who actively was planning to leave the party after a year. they hadn’t told the rest of the party they wanted to leave, because it was their business, but they were in a point in their life where absolutely nothing was going to convince them to stay with this group of people, *especially* the fact that they cared about them, mostly because they wanted to Prevent An Event That Had To Do With Their Backstory From Happening To Everyone. out of character, I knew that I couldn’t just Leave The Party, so I made sure the DM knew how my character felt, knew that I wasn’t *actually* going to leave and that my character might be getting uncomfortable or look like they were making plans to leave but that I trusted the DM to do the rest, and the way that it was resolved was my character really didn’t *want* to leave their new friends and just cut it too close when they thought they had more time and the Event Happened and after it happened there was no reason to leave. but I found IC excuses to keep choosing an OOC action that served the narrative way better than going “my character really wants to leave so guess I’m going to leave.”

—you honestly probably do things like that anyways? in terms of, like, there is a Plot Hook so you find an IC reason to care about it. but it’s a very useful skill to develop to look at a narrative, go “what serves this narrative best?”, and then once you answer that question go “so what reason does my character have to try to do something like that or as close to that as they can?”

—right now all of the above advice kind of sounds like “yooo change your character” and the answer is also, *don’t*. balancing meta stuff is a…meta thing? just make sure that you’re having fun, and that you’re playing the character that you want to play, and that you have Strong Feelings and act in ways that give you the Feels that you want and that you’re playing for you too. compromise is compromise all around you aren’t going to get anywhere if you’re the only person who gives any leeway then it’s not fun and easy to get bitter, roleplaying is collaborative and other people should work to reach out to you too and give you hooks

—biggest and maybe most important bit: your DM is your friend. esp if they’re trying to facilitate deeper roleplaying. tell them how yooo you want to try to get closer to the rest of the team, is there any sort of challenge that they can throw at you all that will facilitate teambuilding? a little bit of “we all saved each other’s lives” or “oh fuck we got stuck in this cave in together and have to work together in ways we haven’t to survive” or “oops we all have to be undercover and are relying on each other to keep up this act” or just any situation in a story or piece of fanfiction that you would see and go “aND NOW THEY ARE A FOUND FAMILY WHO CANNOT BE TORN APART”, well, let that happen to your group.

things that you can do immediately to have reasons to care about the party as a whole:

—if you can learn their backstories, do? group bonding happens with sharing of personal backstories, and, like, OOC, everyone wants to talk about their character and stuff. if you don’t like them, a good in character reason is maybe you’re paranoid and don’t trust them and want to do some goddamn background checks on the people that you’re working with. but once you know more things about them, you have so many more reasons that you can use to go “ah yup and here’s something my character would hella care about and maybe might be the start of a bond”

—as a closed off brooding character you still can have feelings that you are just the Dramatic Person In The Corner that you don’t show them but they’re there, that is everyone’s favorite character in tv shows as they wait for said character to Crack and admit that they have Emotions

—for example maybe pick another character in the party and oh wow you love them so much, they are your tiny son, you would never show it but nOpe they are yours now and nothing touches them

—pick another character that you absolutely hate and grumble about and glare at, except they are your asshole and nobody else outside of you is allowed to pick on them and if anyone threatens them you will murder that person

—Marian Daywrym, yet another DnD character of mine, has done both; three of the four other characters in the party are 16-ish year olds and Marian is a gruff 56 year old who oops has adopted three more children because tHEY ARE CHILDREN, and then there’s Djin, space rogue, her ex co-captain of a ship that broke up when they had a huge fight a decade ago and at this point the way that she interacts with Djin is mostly being incredibly passive-aggressive and mean to his face but pretty clearly would Die for him and if anyone else tries to be mean to him she is ready to Fight, and that is how my grumpy standoffish “I’m the medic and I’m here to do my fucking job and stay the fuck alive” space mom captain, who also has a policy of “don’t bond or poke into each other’s personal business no drama on this ship we all just want to scavenge in peace” ended up being So Emotionally Attached To Everyone

—but there’s actually another potentially interesting route to go, depending on what kind of Brooding, Closed Off character you are that isn’t “oops secretly now I love and would die for everyone”? which is basically…find someone in the party that you decide that your character maybe admires in some way? of, like, maybe they have an Ideal of they’re going to be a Hero Of Justice and you had that ideal as a kid and it only brought you suffering and pain and you never reached it and so fell off that path and that’s one of the reasons that you’re closed off and it’s Painful watching this person with such hope in their eyes try and you don’t know if you want them to succeed where you couldn’t because they deserve to succeed or if that’ll hurt more too, and that gives you reason to be emotionally invested in their storyline and find yourself taking them under your wing and also for everyone else to go “hey are you okay want to open up?” and for you to maybe feel vulnerable enough to talk about your backstory, looking at someone who reminds you of a less broken you. or not even ideals that you had, ones that are “wow are you really the sort of person that I wish I could have been?” or hey, maybe you’re the idealistic one, then is there anyone in the party that is essentially a “wow I resent you so much for starting from a similar point that I did and falling off the path and/or am fascinated because am I looking at what’s in my future, I need to figure out what makes you tick even though it’s like looking at a train wreck in slow motion of whether or not it’s going to happen to me”

—those are all the thing that come to mind to me right now but if you want me to Tell Me About Your Character And Your Party And Your Game I am always down to listen to people talk about their DnD characters (midterms season is coming up so I might be on and off of here but I swear if you ping me I won’t be ignoring you, just answering when I can)

[endexe]

THE HARBINGER OF BEGINNINGS, INNOCENCE, FREEDOM / FOOLISHNESS, RECKLESSNESS, UNKNOWN. No one really knows if Zero is the youngest member of the Arcane, or the oldest, making him known as Twenty Two instead. He simply exists to bring opportunities for those who manages to survive and reach to their next point of life, introducing them to their new beginnings for them to enter, explore, pray that Death will not catch their souls and devour them whole. He is also the reminder that innocence can bring danger, so he is also responsible for creating chaos and pain through his carelessness to “ help “ others see the warning signs in bright smiles and friendly conversations, not really even understanding why he has to do these things and how his ways of creating agony actually impacts others.

Regardless of his status in the Arcane, being either the lowest or highest of the eldritch group, he is the one who the majority of Arcane would take his innocence as an advantage to make him into their terrible tool. Not many of the Arcanists are fond of him with his childish attitude, so they often shun and belittle him until they need him for something, which Zero would be beyond delighted to help simply because he gets bored easily and wants to do so much more in life, even if it results putting himself in danger. Another thing that Zero is most hated for by the group is how often he is quick to change his alliance, sometimes helping the Arcane or those outside the group, especially those who plans to end the Arcane and their horror that can help them take over Earth, such as Noble Bright and Grim Dark. No one can be certain of what he will do next for his own pleasure and curiosity.

Zero is indeed considered to be the most strangest of the Arcane. He has done countless of things that may alarm the beings of the Supernatural or the Natural, even those of his own group. He is outspoken, rowdy, and distractible. It takes a lot to gain control over him as he always wish to wander off doing his own things. One of the most interesting features of him is his ability to break through fourth wall and travel across the universes, meeting the existing media characters within that verse. In the Arcane, only him and the World are capable of doing that, having the awareness beyond this universe of Let There Be. He encourages entities to step into their new beginnings as entering the mouth of the Unknown, while he spreads pain through chaos in order to make them see the danger within the innocence. He is an unpredictable being who is bound to react to any situation with any reaction that no one can expect of.

After all, he is the Fool, the world’s greatest terror.

MORE DETAILS -----------------------

As titled, Zero is the world’s greatest fool. The Arcana of Comedy and Tragedy, Beginning and Unknown and End. He’s very silly and childish, loves to make puns / jokes and pull pranks on everything 25/8. Often gets himself into a lot of troubles getting his dumbass beaten a lot, but he means well… Not really.

He is an expert at manipulating people and tends to stab people in the back ( metaphorically and sometimes literally ). His alliance is constantly changing because at the end of the end, he is on his OWN side and desires to do whatever to fulfill his curiosity. Though he doesn’t understand the influence of betrayal, probably never will, to be honest because he’s pretty selfish.

Still, he does want to be friends with everyone he meets. Only one or two Arcanist would interact with him, but it’s not enough ( n̴o̸t̵h̸i̵n̶g̷ ̶i̴s̴ ̷e̶v̶e̸r̷ ̶e̷n̴o̷u̶g̶h̵ ̷f̷o̷r̴ ̷h̷i̶m̷ ), so despite his tendency to make fun of humanity and toy them around, he does love to be outgoing and form connections with others to reduce his extreme loneliness as he always crave for relationships. Loves to make friendship bracelets and giving them a gift as a gratitude for being friends with him.

He’s usually seen wearing a mask that lights up emoticons from something simple like :) to complex such as (*^▽^*). He also wears other masks that resembles the well known horror villains such M,ichael Myers’ and G,hostface’s. He isn’t afraid to remove it when asked, but only when he’s feeling emotional and at vulnerable state, which happens often, he prefers to keep it on. Though when one sees him without his mask and he smirks, his entire area from his mouth up to the ears opens up.

Have the ability to break fourth walls. Often gets all meta without realizing. Knows that even though the World created them by accident, I created them with a purpose, so he’s not too sad about the fact he was canonically created as a mistake. He is able to travel across universes and meet media existing characters in their universe. He can also manipulate technology and electricity, “ hacking “ into our real accounts and hijacking real time posts. Alternate reality games is a massive factor of Zero

Have a white dog named Smiler. Can be found with having two heads, one naming Grinner, and another Smirker.

Loves gardening. His hands are often covered in bandaids because he keeps holding onto the roses by the stems without thinking about the thorns as he likes to appreciate them with their full glory. White rose is his favourite.

Speaking of bandaids, he always have those cute cartoon ones and he always like to give his friends one, even if they’re internally bleeding, he’ll just place the bandaid on the spot where it hurts the most. He likes to give the bandaid a kiss before he presses it on the person’s injury.

Extremely enjoys performing magic tricks, with or without his powers in use. Though he likes to do them in the “ human way “ because it’s a lot more fun and interesting to be in the level of, his words, “ low capacity “. He will not hesitate to force you to be his volunteer with his most dangerous tricks.

He owns a lot of journal books where he writes the first sentence he hears from his friends to him and the last he hears before they die or after he haven’t seen them for a very long time but usually assumes they’re dead.

For some reason if your character does anything Zero thinks is funny, they will always hear a laugh track in the background and????????? Who knows where that audience is??????????

[explore-the-lore]

Explore the Lore #2 - Arcane Horror

"Upon ascending to the second floor of the tower, we were greeted by a gruesome sight: a ragged collection of bones wearing the robes of one of the senior enchanters. I had known her for years, watched her raise countless apprentices, and now she was a mere puppet for some demon."

--Transcribed from a tale told by a templar in Antiva City, 7:13 Storm

Demons, of course, have no form in our world. When they enter, either where the Veil is particularly thin or through blood magic summoning, they must take possession of a body.

When a pride demon takes control of the corpse of a mage, an arcane horror is born. Although they appear to be little more than bones, these are fierce creatures, possessing not only all the spellcasting abilities of a living mage, but also the capacity to heal and even command other animated corpses.

Category: Creatures

Acquisition: upon first encountering an Arcane Horror in combat

Updates: none

Appearance in later games: yes, identically in DA2 and in abbreviated form in DA:I

So, probably fortunately, there's a lot less to unpack in today's edition of Explore the Lore. Not every edition is going to be an in-depth look at author intent and the different layers of emotion that the writers are trying to convey - and, honestly, thank goodness, because that would get exhausting!

When looking at this entry about the arcane horror, we do see to a certain extent the same kind of disconnect between the clinical commentary on the excerpted writing and the much more emotional transcription that we talked about with abominations, but there's less active condemnation of the mage victim involved. The deliberate wording that makes sure the reader is aware that a demon is controlling a mage's corpse, the quite explicit clarification that the mage was not fault, is almost jarring simply in its presence, compared to other Chantry writings about magic.

A reader might then ask themselves, why, if not to demonise the victim, is the tone of the commentary so cold and commanding? The answer, from a real-world perspective, is that it transforms the gruesome tale into a bite-sized piece of easily-digestible information, such as might invoke a classroom or textbook setting.

This entry about the arcane horror could have been a more narrative-based story about apostates dying and their corpses being possessed by demons to wreak havoc on townspeople. It could have been a story about Grey Warden mages binding pride demons to their fallen companions to continue fighting during a Blight. But instead we were given this: what looks like a page from a textbook, one that might be given out to templars to read during their training.

Bioware has always treated the mages and templars as two diametrically-opposed sides of the same coin, often quite literally in regards to the choices made available to player, and this makes them inextricably intertwined from a lore perspective. Choosing to showcase this codex entry from the perspective of the templar watchers, rather than a fellow mage, gives an opportunity to further build a picture of the environment inside the Circles.

A Chantry scholar is writing about the death and possession of a mage as though it's merely a sad accident that the templars must clean up, with no thought for the mage themselves. The emotive transcription tells the young templar-in-training that some of the things they may be asked to kill will be people they have known well, for years, and the calm, detached commentary serves to normalise this in its reader's mind, reminding the templar that demons must be slain wherever they appear and for whatever reason.

Whether this sort of reading is provided to the templars before they read about abominations or the process of the Harrowing is unknown, but grooming somebody to understand the concept of killing someone they know well, through this lens as a valiant action that allows the mage's body to be laid to rest, could certainly be used by the Chantry as a first step on the path towards far worse actions.

In addition, the words of both a mage Trevelyan and Cullen about the mages and templars barely interacting with each other are thrown into a slightly different light: the templars have been trained to understand that someday they may have to slay the mages they interact with, so they attempt deliberately to limit their interactions, for the sake of the steadiness of their future blades. And yet in doing so, even for what might be perceived as the right reasons, if only in the hopes of stopping an arcane horror, the distance they impose is exactly what leads to the maltreatment of their charges, as they lack a connection strong enough to overcome the Chantry conditioning.

It's a great example of using in-universe authored text to give a very clear picture of both the subject being described, and the environment in which it exists to need description, at the same time. Many authors like to use in-universe books, poems and other texts to convey worldbuilding information (Tolkien is a fairly obvious, but prime, example), and this codex entry shows how effective it can be!

Next entry we move away from the unending saga of mage vs. templar, hooray! We'll be back, of course, but it's always nice to have a break!

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