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dmsden · 2 years

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My Filing Technique Is Unstoppable - Organization at the table

Hullo, Gentle Readers. This week’s Question from a Denizen comes to us from crustygaymer. They ask, “ Hey, I'm new to DMing and I'd like some advice! I'm having trouble finding all the notes I need when we get the different parts of my sessions - how do you organize your notes (tabs in the books, printed sheets of notes, computer with multiple screens, etc...)?”

Great question, crusty. Speaking personally, I’m almost completely electronic these days. I still love to grab a notepad when I’m planning a campaign, but for the day-to-day running, I’ve got most of my notes, calendars, etc online. So here’s a bit of a glimpse into how I work and what I have active when I’m running a game.

Most of my note-taking these days is in an organizational program called Notion, which you can find online at Notion.so. I like this because it’s cross-platform and updates live. So if I take notes on my iPhone while I’m on the road, when I next connect my phone to the internet, any version of my notes I look at, on my iPad, Desktop, or Laptop, will be updated with what I had written.

Before any given session, I sit down and prep a Game Notes sheet for that session. In there, I jot some bullet points for a Recap. I also add in a few bullet points for the various plot points I feel we might hit for the evening. If, for example, I know they’re likely to head to a specific tavern, I may have some notes like:

Tavernkeeper is Liam Whitetree, ex-soldier, human, male, salt & pepper hair, scar along right cheek makes him look like he’s always grimacing.

Tiefling bard with purple skin plays lute in the corner, golden eyes looking at each newcomer warily

Many rumors about the war in the west. Gnolls have some kind of secret weapon.

Gnome drinking everyone under the table. She has fiery red hair and a gap-toothed grin.

Sometimes these carry over session to session. If they don’t go to the tavern, I don’t toss the notes out; I copy them into the notes for the next session. If they leave that area, I might not include the tavern notes each session, but I won’t delete them. I’ll either reuse them when they finally do visit that tavern, or I’ll rename the tavern and use the notes for another such establishment down the road.

Most of my world-building notes now exist on a website called WorldAnvil. I found that I liked the format of this site much more than others. It’s fairly easy to organize and make it useful for both myself and my players. As the campaign has moved along, I’ve made entries for most NPCs, items, places, and so on that the PCs have heard of or encountered. This makes a robust wiki for the players to use to look up details they may have forgotten. It even allows me to note DM secrets about the various entries and to have secret notes that some players can see and others cannot.

For combat encounters, I’ve been using D&D Beyond’s encounter creator. I also like to use D&D Beyond in general for looking up monsters, spells, magic-items, and rules.

When I’m running a session, I have a number of websites up in their own windows. I have my Notion page up with the notes for the week’s game session. I have a D&D Beyond up for looking up references and to run any needed encounters. I have a WorldAnvil up in case I need to refer to any worldbuilding info. And in general, I find this is all I need to run a solid session.

After any game, I make notes about any new NPCs, places, or important info I may have improvised over the course of the session. I will then generally make sure I make a new WorldAnvil entry for them before the next session. I’ll also make some brief notes about what seems the likely next move for the PCs, and I’ll use these notes when I’m prepping for the next session as well.

I hope this helps, crusty. If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to ask. Until next time, Gentle Readers, may all your adventures lead back home in the end.

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mapsmonstersamazing · 1 year

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Alright, I'm just back from D&D: Honor Among Thieves, and this is gonna be a joint review PLUS things it's inspired me to try in my games. More under the cut...

INSPIRATION

Number one: attunement.

They did really cool things with attuning to magic items, which made it challenging and personal to the characters. I know it's been said before "don't make attuning automatic", but the way they did it worked really well!

Number two: drop-in characters.

I ran public games for a while, and there were always people who could only play for one session. This film has a great example of how to make their characters stand out - making them powerful, making them the centre of attention for their brief span, and allowing them to teach the party and help them improve.

Number three, and arguably most important: FAT. DRAGONS.

Thermofarrar or whatever his name was. It doesn't matter. He's fat dragon. He's huge and clumsy and eats anyone who gets remotely close to his lair. He's terrifying, adorable, and hilarious. More dragons should be fat.

REVIEW

Okay, we've finally got a D&D movie that's a solid 6 outta 10. Bad Things: some very exposition-heavy scenes which aren't really disguised, they basically tell you "hey, we're gonna be doing exposition here" and let you zone out. It's... not great, everyone has a tragic backstory they need to impart as soon as you meet them. And the plot meanders, it feels in a way to get names on the map for fan value. It makes a heist movie - which should be pretty tight - feel a bit aimless in the middle, and as a result it drags a bit.

Good things: the comedy is on point, there were times I almost spit out my drink from laughing. Hearing the theater laughing along was great. As with D&D at the table, the parts where people were just riffing were the most engaging and entertaining. The acting and direction were good, it gives you a pretty clean plot and the heist resolution feels earned and clever without being glaringly obvious. They bring back a lot of things they set up early on and as soon as we're into the final act it feels tight and zippy as a heist movie should. And while I take issue with early exposition dragging things down, the problems I have with the film are things that tend to happen in your typical campaign anyway. All in all, it feels like a proper D&D movie, flaws and all.

#dungeons and dragons #d&d #honor among thieves #dndmovie #movie review

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yourfavsinbg3 · 13 days

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Honor Mode Live Blog p2

(for part one go here)

Shorter update today, but still some good progress made!

It was a nice surprise to find that i Forgot I'd just gotten to level 4 by the end of last time. I'm no longer as worried about the Sunlit Wetlands/ Auntie Ethel/ Goblin Camp, though i will still be procrastinating them as long as I can. those fights are scary

Speaking of Ethel: was going to run right towards the wetlands before realizing I hadn't cleared out the apothecary or the blacksmith. I realized this while talking to Ethel at the entrance of the wetlands, though, so....

Failed that initial insight save to see if she was lying about Mayrina, but figured that having made a save at all was enough of an excuse to have Lyra be suspicious. I'm a recovering metagamer irl, I'm allowed to indulge in my video games.

After Ethel poofed away into the wetlands, I turned around to finish clearing out the Blighted village and...

Lyra was very bold in walking directly up to the ogres and striking up a conversation, considering how bad she is at Deception checks.

Perhaps Predictably this resulted in a fight. Thank god for the trip maunoever and command, otherwise we would've had some fatalities. Shadowheart was already being aggroed non-stop for some reason. Speaking of--

"hey where's shadowheart?"

"oh... oh right,, she flew onto the roof to stop being targeted by the ogres...."

Got her down with a handy feather fall potion but the momentary panic was real.

Directly after the fight Lae'zel attempted to start a romance, but Lyra is both Chaste and Carrying a Candle for Wyll, so I had to turn her down for now.

(At this point I crumbled and starting looking up builds for one of my other four save files. I'm incorrigible.)

From there it was a quick jaunt through the apothecary's basement, where I answered all the Magic Mirror's questions right for the first time in any play-through. Go me!

I also did some releveling shenanigans and now shovel is a permanent fixture of the party :D Shovel's my favorite, and she'll also be a lot of help when it comes to getting surprise rounds with my majority non-stealth party. (Guide to get shovel here. Lyra was briefly a proper spellshite)

Jumped over to the blacksmithy, learned about sussur made masterwork weapons, and was about to engage with the ettercaps before I realized two things

First, I had two total spellslots.

Second, it was very late at night and I was very tired. The last time i initiated combat while tired I nearly died three times in a row. Having learned that I make dumb mistakes when tired, I was eager to Not Do Combat for once.

when long resting for the night, gale ate the first magical artifact of the campaign. I waved goodbye to the silver guidance pendant because i forgot to go to my absolute hoard of unused magic items before talking to him. Remember what i said about dumb mistakes?

I'm also back up to over 1000 camp supplies. It was getting close to 1,100 when I logged off. i might have a problem.

#lyra #bg3 honor mode #honor mode #act one #recap #long #also #about the camp supplies #i realized that my food hoarding comes from skyrim #where i pick up every piece of food without question #it's serving me well here but i think i have enough food to make it through act 2 without picking up food between now and then #does this mean i'll stop? absolutely not.#you'll only take my 25 salamis from my cold dead hands

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daxieoclock · 10 months

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for prim: what emotions does she have trouble dealing with?

how would she fit into other fictional worlds/aus? what worlds/aus would like to try?

for puck: what is his comfort breakfast? fave foods?

what is his most prized possession? what does he value?

Ty for the ask!!!! : D

Prim’s default emotion is a mixture of anxiety and bitterness that manifests externally as anger. She’s more recently allowed herself to trust the Hunters (the party of the tabletop campaign she’s an NPC in) and even form affectionate bonds with some of them, @cattownartist ‘s PC Sammy most notably, whom she refers to sweetly as her “little snake.” She’s got a lot of guilt about her inability to protect Puck from the horrors of the world, and feelings of inadequacy as his big sister, but she still loves him very much and makes sure he knows.

But the single emotion she struggles with the most is helplessness. Prim fears that tyranny is her birthrite, that being the daughter of Idmon makes her a monster; or, worse, a survivor past the paying-back of her debts. She longs for a sense of control, a sense of wholeness and catharsis. And she fears helplessly that both are out of her reach forever.

In terms of AUs…the Hunters campaign is already a Persona spin-off, so main series Persona could be interesting. Sort of a grim greymoral vigilante take on Strega or Black Mask. Someone who isn’t against the party fundamentally, but who doesn’t yet trust them, and whose methods are far more direct and distinctly bloodier. Otherwise, she might fit well into a magical girl story as a former hero turned violent antihero.

For Puck…he doesn’t get hungry the same way humans do. He can eat and enjoy food, but won’t actively seek it out. That being said: his entire in-game shop is a barter economy based on snacks, with the highest value being a very well-baked brownie made exclusively by resident landlocked surfer dude and bisexual disaster Theo Logan (no relation).

And for prized possessions, Puck isn’t much of a hoarder. He lives in a junkyard of precious things that have gotten so lost they’ve fallen out of reality entirely, so he kind of conceptualizes losing track of an object to be an important part of having it. When Puck loses something, he goes to look for it, and finds different interesting things he wouldn’t have thought to look closely at.

He gets gifts from his sister every year on their shared birthday (April 1st), but habitually misplaces and forgets where they are, as the natural process of things. They’re scattered around his junkyard kingdom, and he’ll find them when he finds them.

But I think it’s actually a very recent gift that he probably won’t feel similarly towards. Cause like. @lilyhoshikawa ‘s PC Blake carries around their childhood journal as an important anchor to their Persona and a personal item of significance and comfort for them. And a couple sessions ago, they tore out a few blank pages of that journal to give to Puck as coloring paper. And that is a gift of fucking terrifying significance to Puck.

Like…he was just given a chunk of someone else’s untapped potential, a future they might never reach now. A gentle friend of his just snapped off a shard of their own soul and handed it to him. And now he’s responsible for it. It isn’t a “prized possession” in a conventional way, it’s closer to a child than a token. Something that doesn’t belong to him, but that is in his care and he has to take care of it, treat it with respect and kindness and NEVER forget where it is. Which is…very new for him.

#the hunters #prim #puck

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cassiebankscr · 1 year

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3 Years Later...

THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED MID-2022.

I found my book characters again. I found my way to write again. I'm writing every moment I can get. Sometimes real life obligations get in the way and I miss being able to write, but it's usually only for a few days and I'm able to get back into it.

When I first started writing again, it came out in bits and pieces I stored in my scenes list. I've already written the last chapter of my book even though there are MANY more chapters to be written before that time. Just like most writing, it came to me one day. I knew how the story would end and so I wrote the ending. After finally settling down I went back to the beginning and started writing in order. I've only had to switch over to a scene listing once.

In the last three years I actually played D&D for the first time in my life! It was a nice little campaign called Lost Mine of Phandelver, great for my first time (the digital adventure source material is now free on D&D Beyond). It was an online game I applied to so I was thrilled to be allowed to play as a newbie.

After the end of the campaign, one of the people in our group told me one of the guys had min/maxed his character. I didn't really understand it at the time because he was getting crappy rolls too, but I was told when he DID hit, it was higher than normal. We killed a lot of things, managed not to die, I accidentally figured out you can remove runes from something and cause it to no longer function as a magic item. It was a big deal for me to have had an original thought at the time not having ever played before (although I did have two Critical Role campaigns under my belt by that time). LOL!

The DM was going to do a homebrew mix and go into the Waterdeep campaign, but we needed to replace the min/maxer who had his fill of us by the end of the Lost Mine. We picked up one really nice guy, but I learned first-hand how it only takes one person in a group to completely up-end the group dynamics. Then energy turned bad and I had to leave. It convinced me that D&D, like anything else in life, can turn into an unhospitable place for women and sometimes you have to choose to go. I didn't play D&D for over a year after that.

Critical Role went into Campaign 3. To be honest, I felt the end of Campaign 2 seemed a little rushed, but COVID was making it hard for them to function in the studio and they were in the throes of getting The Legend of Vox Machina finalized. The TV show Ashley Johnson was working on that kept her away from Critical Role so often concluded and she came back home. It seemed like just when we were finally able to have the whole cast vaccinated and at the table, the campaign ended.

Campaign 3 of Critical Role started October 21, 2021 with some great, new characters. Two months later and through the Critical Role discord, I somehow wound up in another D&D Campaign online. It was a total shock to me. I was sure I'd never feel safe enough to play again. I dusted my Life Cleric off, reworked her story for the DM's homebrew world and had to figure out how to use the Roll20 character sheet. I found my dice rolls on Roll20 were mostly horrible. After being in the group for three months, I finally got my D&D Beyond character sheet together and was getting in stride. Then the game fell apart due to major life changes; one pregnancy, two college schedule changes. I was a bit sad not to be able to get my Life Cleric into double-digit levels, but with barely a blink of an eye the DM had a new campaign ready and we did several one-shots to build our new crew.

And now? The DM wanted something new from us (me and the one guy from the previous campaign that stayed). I said good-bye to my plate armor and chose an arcane cleric.

I'm on the precipice of some amazing life changes for the better. Along with working on my book, I seem to be drawn back to my tarot/oracle decks. I don't know if I'll end up doing readings for other people again (opportunity is everything), but I've managed to increase my deck collection to feel a bit more versatile. Trying to figure out where I'll store information for people to choose which decks they want to be a part of their reading will be a thing. It's a lot to think about and prepare for.

Will I write another post to Tumblr before another three years passes? I don't know. I forgot I even had a Tumblr account. I do need to start another avenue for the correspondence my new character will be writing in our new D&D campaign. There's so much to do and time is passing so quickly of late.

Be well blessed and well loved, always. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

#Critical Role #Critters #D&D #Dungeons and Dragons

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vewordoc · 2 years

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General dnd 5e character builder

#GENERAL DND 5E CHARACTER BUILDER GENERATOR#

#GENERAL DND 5E CHARACTER BUILDER FREE#

You can google either one of their names and pathfinder sheet and you can find downloads to it. I would recommend their sheets a lot less bugs then mine but auto calculates stuff less then mine. That is the only part of their original sheet left it mine it. and setup I can't even tell in their coding, where the data is coming from and when I contact them about it they could not even remember how they did it either. Some times you may want to tweak a background for some of its features then it is better fits your campaign or character setting. So read the below steps to know more about the 5e backstory generator.

#GENERAL DND 5E CHARACTER BUILDER GENERATOR#

I was try to make an adjustment to that to replicate a fake increase such a teifling Fiendish Sorcery ability. With the d&d 5e background generator we can create our own 5e background and customize it as like as we want. I know one of them I can't remember which one, auto calculates bonus spell from high ability scores. If you don't want my strange little bugs in the sheet, I would check out their sheets. Both are based off of Nercos and Abellius sheets with some teaks that allow for changing which bonus go were, like lunar oracle replacing dex for reflex saves and dex. dispite the coding for that section being the exact same as the other sheet, but this one does not have any issues with the hit and power attack. I got unchained one also that uses both consolidated skills and background skills for my home game, but for some reason on that the max dex will freak out on it. I often have to untype and retype a number to get it to fix it self. When trying to meet a specific word count in writing a personal biography, Derek sometimes adds Oscar Wilde quotes, like, “Be yourself everyone else is already taken.I am working on one my self but it is not ready for a public release still has a lot of bugs when calculating to hit when I try to add it power attack it freaks out. A fan of classics as well as the latest and greatest, Derek balances sampling the newest entertainment media with revisiting the well of a (thankfully) never-ending backlog. After being immersed in nerd culture for many years, Derek is now happy to write about the media he enjoys instead of just ranting to his friends. He is a fan of science fiction and fantasy, video game and tabletop RPGs, classic Hong Kong action movies, and graphic novels. This creator only determines the basic aspects of your character, enough so that Ana can figure out the statistics that go along with the options youve picked and can make a completed. Derek majored in journalism and worked for a print newspaper before discovering the internet. Welcome to Anas homemade character creator for the ART DnD group This will be the character that you play as during our adventures in DnD. When he is not writing, playing video games, watching movies or television, or reading novels or comic books, he occasionally takes some time to sleep. He lives with his wife, three dogs, and a likely excessive number of video game consoles. With the right items, and a well-planned character build, an Artificer can excel in and out of combat, functioning as a Dungeons & Dragonstrap expert, versatile spell caster, and ranged or melee damage dealer.ĭerek Garcia is a Game Feature Writer for ScreenRant. A Ring of Spell Storing is another solid choice, though this cannot be replicated through infusions. All of these are items that could be created as Artificer Infusions if they cannot be found or purchased. Other helpful options include a Brooch of Shielding for resistance to Force Damage and immunity to Magic Missile, and Cloaks and Rings of Protection for bonuses to Armor Class and Saving Throws.

#GENERAL DND 5E CHARACTER BUILDER FREE#

An Amulet of Health is a worthwhile attunement, and other universally helpful attuned items include Boots of Flying for Concentration-free flight, and a Ring of Free Action to avoid many mobility-related spells and effects. The selection of D&D magic items is key to helping an Artificer excel in battle. A ranged D&D Battle Smith should instead start with Crossbow Expert, and after maximizing their Intelligence they can add feats like Sharpshooter, Toughness, and Lucky. This can be of help in games where the party lacks a dedicated melee specialist but the player wants more flexibility than classes like Barbarian afford outside of battle. A Variant Human melee-focused Battle Smith can start with Polearm Master, then pick up Great Weapon Master, Mobile, and Sentinel at higher levels, after using their levels 4 and 8 choices to increase Intelligence to the natural maximum of 20.

#General dnd 5e character builder

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tigerkirby215 · 2 years

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Ranking the Strixhaven Magic Items

(”Elemental Summoning” card artwork by Marta Nael. Source. God I fucking love the Prismari MTG cards.)

Got exams in a week so I’ve still been a bit too busy to make builds. (That, and LoL champion drought has made it hard for me to think of anyone to build.) That being said I do still want to make content for this blog, and between either this or the Strixhaven waifu tier list and one other post I’ve considered making this was the easiest.

Strixhaven didn’t give us many magic items unfortunately, but there were some nice simple toys from the school that I think are worth talking about. Despite the fact that there weren’t many additions in this book I think they all have a really nice place in the standard D&D campaign.

I did my best to avoid spoilers for the book but I will obviously be talking about content it added, so if you don’t want to see that don’t read this post. I’m not going to be talking about anything from the prewritten adventures, although that being said I did find one magic item that isn’t listed in the “magic items” section of the book thanks to D&D Beyond! I don’t think talking about it is a spoiler so I’ll be mentioning it too!

Bottle of Boundless Coffee

(common)

In the words of Reddit: the Cloak of Billowing has been surpassed as the best common magic item! Jokes aside this item is super flavorful (again: jokes aside) but essentially useless. Depending on your DM this will either range from a game-breaking survival tool, something to help with exhaustion, a neat option for roleplay, or completely useless.

But common magic items shouldn’t bring any huge power to them. They’re meant for roleplay, and my do I love this item for roleplay! It’s so cute for any character (overworked Wizard or otherwise!) to carry around an endless coffee thermos with them. Get a DM who allows some reflavoring and you can make this contain anything your heart desires: tea, juice, Monster energy drink, whisky, or even just plain old water.

I have a few small complaints: I feel like you should be able to fill some cups with the coffee but have it so that if the coffee is spilled it disappears. (This isn’t a common rarity Alchemy Jug!) I also feel like it would be fun if you could put something in the bottle to change its contents? I dunno: the aesthetic of a magic student pouring their favorite latte into their magical thermos to always have it at their fingertips is just adorable.

But I am picking at the tiniest of pet peeves with an item that’s entirely meant for fun roleplay. It’s absolutely wonderful and I think it’s the perfect gift for all you Barbarians and Rogues out there to give to your overworked Clerics who take care of you.

8/10

Cuddly Strixhaven Mascot

(common)

The fact that this item is arguably one of the strongest common magic items in the game is freaking hilarious to me. Fear is a very common debuff across all stages of play and it can be extremely debilitating, especially for melee characters. Having pocket advantage, even if it’s just for one saving throw is still huge, especially because of the wording of:

If the save succeeds, you can't use the toy in this way until you finish a long rest.

This means that this is a guaranteed once per day success against a frightening effect. Of course it’s not that simple (see the True Strike flow chart) but for the low low price of 100 gp (if you buy it from the Strixhaven campus store) this is an absolute steal of a deal.

I find it especially funny that this item is ironically best served on the typical “macho” classes. Fighters and especially Barbarians are going to want a cuddly buddy to help them face down the bad guys. Any Barbarian player can tell you how awful it is to be hit by a strong fear effect (it’s one of the few boons Berserker has over other Barbs) so having pocket advantage is really helpful.

Again a few small grievances: the fact that the plushy only stays attached for an hour is odd. Also why can’t you stick it onto your bag or something? Really feels like a missed opportunity to have a little plushy keychain or something. But again these are nitpicks: all I know is that I showed this item to my DM and we both had a good laugh at how adorable this item is. I love the “reluctant hero” character trope and having a character who carries their stuffed best friend around with them (Strixhaven branding not withstanding) brings a wonderful bit of lighthearted fun into what’s ultimately a game. It’s just the right amount of silly to me. Pass this to someone who’s trying to play Annie in your D&D campaign.

9/10

Lorehold Primer

(uncommon, attunement)

The first of many “Primer” magic items. I will start out by saying that these items are great at pretty much all stages of the game. Guidance on two specific checks (that stacks with regular Guidance!) and one first level spell of your choice from two classes. In almost all situations grabbing Find Familiar is the best pick but you can still opt for spells like Shield, Detect Magic, Identify, or even Mage Armor depending on your class. Well that is if the book gives you Wizard spells anyways: other schools do vary far more in power.

The restriction to spellcasters only does make it a little hard to use but it could genuinely be worth taking a 1 level dip in a caster class just to be able to use these depending on your build. (Rogues can get a lot of value out of a light dip into Warlock just to use these books.) Overall I think the Primers are A+ tier items, and I’m ranking them in comparison to each other.

With that being said: what does the Lorehold Primer provide?

A d4 to either History or Religion checks. These both come up frequently enough that this item will find its use in the average adventuring day.

Spells from either Cleric or Wizard. Seeing as the skills provided by this book are tied to Intelligence it’s likely that this book will belong to a Wizard, so having access to Cleric spells for a variety of useful utility spells is nice. Bane, Bless, Healing Word, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith; hell even spells like Create or Destroy Water and Purify Food and Drink can be nice to have in a pinch.

Lorehold coming in strong with one of the better magical textbooks. Brushing up on history is always useful, and the Cleric spell list has strong options if you don’t want to opt for Find Familiar.

9/10

(Lorehold Command Art by Jason Rainville)

Masque Charm

(common)

This is that unlisted item I found! And it’s... odd. It’s a once per day Disguise Self (DC 13) with an added option to pop it for 6 hours instead, destroying the magic item in the process. This item is almost identical to the Masquerade Tattoo from Tasha’s Cauldron with the exception of the 6 hour option, but an enemy can remove the charm from your character to disable the spell. One has to ask what the point of this item even is.

It’s not an attunement item. This is obviously very important. Not only can you keep attunement on all your items and still have this in a pinch but (if you use vanilla attunement rules) you can pass this item around quite easily. Does the Bard need to sneak in to butter up the guards instead of the Rogue hiding in plain sight? Just pass this pin around! I also think this item has very interesting implications for an Artificer who can essentially give one party member Disguise Self for 6 hours a day. I think that could result in some very interesting RP depending on if the DM allows it. Perhaps pick up the Faceless background from Descent Into Avernus and use this item to hide your true identity?

The 6 hour option also has some interesting implications but I don’t know how often it’ll be used in standard gameplay. I think this item is one that a DM has to design around because the limitations allow for a lot of fun gameplay. The fact that the pin can be removed to disable the spell creates some fun RP interactions. But I think every player has their one story of an amazing Disguise Self use that lead to some crazy problem solving. The only unfortunate truth is that this item’s usefulness plateaus hard if the party has a lot of spellcasters, becoming near-useless if there’s even a single Warlock who took the Mask of Many Faces invocation. But you’ll hardly ever have a D&D party that doesn’t have at least one Paladin or Fighter who can’t use a Disguise Kit and doesn’t have casting abilities of their own.

6/10

Prismari Primer

(uncommon, attunement)

Primer #2, this time for the art college. How does it differ from the last one?

Your skills are Acrobatics and Performance... Ima be real with you chief: unless you’re the type of player who likes forcing the DM to let you make these checks this will hardly ever come up. And it’s not like anyone other than Bards will be making Performance checks. Acrobatics at least has its use to escape grapples but there are better options than a book that a book on how to do backflips.

No Wizard spells... that hurts. Bard and Sorcerer don’t exactly have the best spell choice at first level, is the sad truth. At least Sorcerer still gives you Shield and Bard still gives you Healing Word, but there isn’t much that Sorc and Bard get which other classes don’t.

No shame in going to art college, but I wouldn’t buy any art textbooks. You’ll likely know how to do everything that this book could help you with.

3/10

Quandrix Primer

(uncommon, attunement)

Textbook number #3!

Arcana checks come up fairly often. Nature checks... lol no. That being said a pocket d4 for the occasional Nature check is very nice to have. If you’re dealing with Arcana checks often this item could genuinely be worth it just to boost those checks, with Nature being a nice added bonus.

The Druid spell list is about on-par with the Cleric spell list, but there are some notable outliars. That being said I think the Cleric spell list is better overall. Guess it doesn’t matter since you’ll probably be taking Find Familiar anyways.

Not as good as Lorehold but still useful in its own right, as long as you’re fine with being the nerd who carries a math textbook with them everywhere.

7/10

(Artwork from the Bace’s Sanctum Tumblr account.)

Silverquill Primer

(uncommon, attunement)

Textbook #4. This one makes you good at talking!

Persuasion and Intimidation checks are both extremely common, and being able to bump them in a pinch is a great boon. That being said the class that benefits the most from this (Bard) probably won’t need it, as they’ll likely have Expertise in those skills anyways. I actually think this would be best served on a Sorcerer, Warlock, or even Paladin: someone who’ll be doing the talking but won’t have a +8 to the roll.

See above for my thoughts on the Cleric and Bard list: Cleric is good, Bard less-so. No Wizard so no Find Familiar, but depending on your class you can take a bunch of nice utility spells from the Cleric spell list. As a Bard at lower levels I genuinely think it’s worth it to take a more powerful Concentration option like Shield of Faith or Bless. At higher levels a pocket Healing Word is still nice.

About what you’d expect from a book on magical writing and speechcraft. Very good to get over speech anxiety but it won’t help you if you have nothing to say.

7/10

Strixhaven Pennant

(common)

A common item before the last W-named Strixhaven primer. I may as well quote it verbatim because the description is literally two sentences:

While you wave the pennant, the symbol on it glitters, and the pennant sheds bright light in a 10-foot-radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet.

tl;dr it’s a magic penlight. Also doubles as a lighter if you’re at a concert and want to do that thing people do at concerts.

This is objectively worse than the Moon-touched Sword, and you can’t even turn it off! You can cover it more easily but you probably have a sheath for your Moon-touched Sword. It’s also worse than the Light spell, or just lighting a torch. Trying to figure out what use this item has other than lighting up a concert, especially in a world with Darkvision. I feel like it’s intentionally bad to replicate those dinky little pen lights which every university sells for like $2.

It’s harmless as a Common, but man if you spend 100 gold on this you’re being scammed lmaooo. Feel like Strixhaven should just give you these for free when you join the school. As a DM I’d charge 50 gold for these at most, and more likely charge something like 25 gold. But hey if you’re buying this you know what it does. And I guess you can reflavor it like the flashlights they use in Arcane.

(Source.)

2/10

Witherbloom Primer

(uncommon, attunement)

Our final primer and our final magic item. How does this item differentiate from the others?

Nature and Survival... These skills won’t come up enough unless you’re in the wilderness. If you are in the wilderness and you brought a survival guide I applaud you, but in the average campaign you won’t ever be making these checks.

Druid spell list is meh, but hey: Wizard is an option. So Find Familiar is an option!

The Quandrix Primer does practically the same thing but provides you skills that are going to be far more applicable in the average campaign. But if you’re going to go into the wilderness feel free to pick up a guide on the local plants and animals.

4/10

(Artwork from the MTG Wiki.)

I find it really funny that the commons are arguably the best magic items in Strixhaven, with the Cuddly Mascot unironically being S tier. But overall the magic items are all at an acceptable power level. Perhaps to be expected of overall low tier magic items but it’s still nice that the new toys in this book won’t be locked to Strixhaven, the same way that many magic items from Ravnica were too wacky to take out of that setting.

Overall I’m very happy with Strixhaven as a book. I think everything in the book is fun, flavorful, and MOSTLY balanced.

#dnd #dnd 5e #mtg #magic the gathering #strixhaven #curriculum of chaos #magic items #ranking

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wellbelesbian · 2 years

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my old post explaining my Carry On themed d&d campaign has been lost to time because i apparently never tagged it with anything, so i’m gonna recap again because i’m passionate about it.

so basically, it’s a TTRPG i’ve been working on since march of 2020 that i really hope i will eventually get to play. it’s a homebrew that i just modelled off D&D 5e, and set in the World of Mages, because i find the spell system and the lore we got fascinating and easy to build off. i’m fairly new to D&D so hardly an expert but it works for my friends and i because we’re all amateurs.

i’m pretty sure this isn’t breaking any copyright laws and Rainbow once liked a post i made about the campaign, so I think i’m fine to do this?

so it’s based on a throwaway line in Carry On, where Penny says there’s a family in Scotland who loses a family member every 20 years as a killer goes after whoever they think is most likely to get a Visiting and avenge the previous murders.

Simon and co aren’t in the campaign, instead, one of my players is the new person in that family to get Visited. the first murder was 100 years ago, but the ghost of the murdered woman, an uptight Old Family woman named Susanna Kelly, absolutely refuses to let go, and keeps asking her descendants to solve her murder. the killer- or their descendent, as surely they must be dead by now (this is foreshadowing btw) stole a magical artefact from her body that allows them to control dark creatures, and she wants it back in safe hands.

as dark creatures, bonety hunters, and impatient ghosts begin to hound the players (one of whom is the unlucky descendant, the others who have incurred the killer’s wrath for other reasons), they will have to come together to solve the murder and catch the killer before the upcoming equinox, at which point a cryptic prophecy indicates it will be too late.

last time i checked in, our characters were:

Cassandra Kelly, tortured secret werewolf and the unfortunate Kelly heir;

Justin Mendoza, a scholar who won’t stop digging into long-buried secrets;

Bridget, no last name given, the first in her family to get into Watford and a strong believer that everything worth doing can be done without magic;

and Cecily, a half pixie for whom my friend has never given any more information about.

they’ll explore Watford’s catacombs, investigate the crime scene in a manor in Scotland that is chock full of magical contraband, break into the Coven Headquarters to bargain with the Tooth Fairy and a phoenix they keep under lock and key, make friends (or enemies) with selkies, sirens, and satyrs, be mentored by an axe wielding werewolf, and finally (hopefully) defeat the Big Bad Evil Guy without dying.

just in time to return to Watford and find it overrun with fae and rapidly having students go missing, because sequel bait is a must.

i have a lot of tricks up my sleeve to frustrate and traumatise these characters, but mostly i just hope it will be fun! the players can come up with their own spells so long as the table agrees it’s a phrase they’ve heard, and i have ideas for all kinds of Gareth’s-belt-buckle reminiscent magical items i can give them.

#carry on campaign #this will be my official tag for this now

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quasieli · 3 years

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top six: fictional characters that give you gender envy, flowers, little things that make you happy and d&d moments :D

Ooh lotsa questions!

Gender Envy:

1) Bow from She-Ra (2018). Something about buff athletic dude who wears crop tops and is soft as hell is very Gender to me.

2) Vax from Critical Role. Pretty boy, kinda goth rogue? That’s sexy as hell and I wish that was me.

3) In a wildly different idea of gender envy, I’ve been thinking about it lately and @quantum-lesbian’s character in the Frostmaiden game I’m in with them, Ambrose, is Big Gender. Beautiful non-binary drow with a starry and kinda witchy aesthetic that dresses super grandly and ostentatiously no matter the occasion? Yes please.

4) Pete from The Unsleeping City, specifically season two. I adore season one Pete but season two Pete that works in a queer bookshop and has a teapot arcane focus, is artsy and is unapologetically a trans man who doesn’t give a shit about gender roles? Sign me the fuck up.

5) Beau from Critical Role. Buff GNC lesbian mixed with academia, but like academia from the prospective of a grad student with ADHD trying to learn everything about their special interests? A+, I love her and I’m jealous.

6) I’m gonna cheat a lil bit for this last one. I know the prompt is fictional characters, but Julia Lepetit and Jacob Andrews in their Hitman streams? Simultaneously both of them were Gender for me. Jacob esp felt like that for me, which is weird cause dresses can make me dysphoric, but I am also slightly envious of the Dude in a Dress type of gender presentation.

Can you tell that I’m a confused trans masc enby

Gonna put it under the cut from here cause oof, there’s still a lot more.

Flowers:

1) Big slut for Sunflowers, always have been, always will be.

2) Fun fact, my dad’s family used to own a flower shop (in like the 70s, so I never got to see it :(), and one of their big things was hydrangeas. My dad has always loved them and now I love the snowballs too!

3) A recent favorite, the Baker’s Globe Mallow. It’s a type of flower that only grows from the soils of forests that have been affected by wildfires. It’s a simple little flower but I love the idea of something beautiful rising from the ashes after tragedy. A little dramatic, but I’m queer, ofc I’m dramatic.

4) Roses are another important flower to my family (Rose was a family name for a couple generations), and ya know, they’re a classic.

5) There’s this beautiful magnolia tree in front of my house that blooms with the most beautiful white and pink flowers every spring, and it’s one of my favorite things to see every year.

6) There’s so many different types of Lillies and they’re all very pretty, but the Purple Stargazer is prob my favorite.

Little Things That Make Me Happy:

1) My cat, Maddie. She may be a cranky girl at times, but she is also very sweet and will always be my baby (even though she is 12).

2) Not a little thing really, but my best friend. Just getting a sweet/silly text from her or the two of us chilling in a room, sitting in a comfortable silence because we just like being together, nothing better.

3) Baking, esp if I’m doing it for others. I’m not much of a sweets person myself, a little treat every once in a while type person, but I love baking. It’s a very relaxing process for me, even when it can sometimes get stressful, but seeing people enjoying something I made, especially something that brought me great joy to make, is simply the best.

4) In the same sorta vein, crafting and other art, but that’s a bit more personal. I love making things for others, but art, particularly drawing, is something I do more for me. It’s such a great feeling when you can get into a really good art mood and just sink yourself into a project. I love it.

5) My plush toys. Yes, I am a 23 year old, no I will not stop loving my plushies. I just got a few new friends, which I made a post about recently, and they such good cuddle buddies. However, there is one king amongst them all. I have this old, beat up christmas puppy beanie baby, on his tag named Jingle Pup, but I just call him Jingle. I had one version of him since I was like 6, but he currently lives on a shelf cause he is very beaten up and fragile, but his “brother”, who I got when I was 8, is still in kinda good shape and is currently chilling on my chest as I type this lol.

6) Again, not a little thing, but it’s important to mention; D&D. The game itself is such a joy, but truly the best part of it is the people. I love creating stories and memories with people through this weird little game. Truly one of my favorite things to do.

D&D Moments:

These are all gonna be personal moments, rather than anything from actual play shows/podcasts. RC is Reforged Campaign, where I play Saube, and FM is Frostmaiden, where I play Sparks.

1) RC - Meeting Mahety, Saube’s girlfriend. We met her way back in session 12 and we are now up to like session 73. Saube saw her and was immediately big heart eyes at her but also felt a bit awkward and shy. So, being a game a dice, I decided to roll. 10 or higher, Saube would talk to her, 9 or lower, she’d stay put. I rolled a 17, 17 is now a lucky number for me. I love Mahety and I’d die for her.

2) FM - This was an insane fight that should not have been so crazy, but in a fairly early session, my group went up against an angry druid and her awakened animals. So much batshit stuff happened in that fight, and we unfortunately lost our bread loving bard (RIP Agneyis), but one of my favorite combat turns happened in this fight. Our artificer, Omaren, has a robe of useful items and one of the patches on it creates a large pit. Thinking quickly, Omaren tore off the patch, slid it under one of the dire wolves we were fighting and created a looney tunes style pit under it, allowing us to take it out easily via pot shots. Such a clutch move and such a funny visual, especially because the dire wolf kept failing the checks to get out of the pit.

3) RC - Saube’s Zebrith (I will never remember how this actually spelled RIP). So, for context, Saube ended up with a death curse (long story) that mechanically meant they had disadvantage on any death saving throws. Scary as hell, need to get that fixed! So, Saube and their party had to be smuggled into another country to talk with some religious leaders of a goddess known as The First, the goddess of death. They were told that Saube would have to go through the aforementioned ritual, which included her soul leaving her body for a short period of time. During this ritual, her friends had to call back to her, to say things that would bring her back to her body and I still cry thinking about that game. That ritual was not only important for Saube bodily, but spiritually as well. After that ritual, Saube officially became a cleric of The First!

4) A real sappy one, RC - Saube meeting all of her friends. Anyone who follows along with the rantings on my blog probably knows how important this game is to me. I met this random group of strangers on tumblr and formed a D&D party with them and now, a year and a half later, I honestly think it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I know that sounds silly and dramatic but not only has this game brought me so much joy and comfort, but I also gained a group of really amazing friends who have been nothing but amazing since day one. As much as Saube knows she can depend on SICL, I know I can depend on my group of weirdos lol. We both love our friends very much and even though we’ve all been through some crazy shit, we wouldn’t change it for the world.

5) RC - Just playing Saube in general. I really didn’t intend for it to be this way, but Saube is very much a reflection of myself. She is the first long term character I have ever played and so much of me is in her. I try not to treat D&D like therapy, because that’s unfair to my DM and fellow party members, but playing Saube has allowed me to work through some of my own problems, especially social anxiety, in a lot safer of an environment. It isn’t so much that I’m asking this game to help me fix my life, but playing out these scenarios that, in the real world, would make me anxious or make me freak out, I can stop, take a moment to breathe and work out these issues in a way that makes sense to me. Playing her has led me to understanding myself a bit better, as well, and that’s truly such a wonderfully unexpected gift from this whole experience.

6) Lastly, a silly one: RC - Getting a crit 6. The last session of this game got real interesting. Saube’s party ended up in the ethereal plane and magic got real fucky there. So, any time any of us tried to cast a spell, we’d roll a d20, not look at the result, and then try to guess what number rolled. The closer to the number, the better the result. A few times, a few people managed to get within like 3 or 4 of their roll, but oh the power I felt when I rolled a 6 (on Saube’s die!) and guessed it correctly! So, not only did the spell (Bless) work, but it worked super well. So instead of getting +1d4 to attack rolls and saving throws, Saube and two other party members got +2d4 to attacks, saving throws and skill checks. So powerful I broke the rules of D&D lmao.

#asks #ask games #floralprintshark #D&D #Flowers #Saube #Sauhety #SICL #Sparks #long post #thanks <3 <3

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grailfinders · 3 years

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Fate and Phantasms #80: Charles Babbage

Hey, remember how the Lalter build wasn’t strong? Let’s do that again. Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the King of Steam, Charles Babbage! You should probably check with your DM before bringing a giant transforming mecha to your next D&D game, it might mess with the game feel.

If that’s not an issue for you, you can check out Babbage’s build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Hyde your kids, hyde your wife, and hyde your husband, ‘cuz he’s stabbing everybody out here.

Race and Background

Babbage is (probably?) a human, but his armor is part of him, so this is a great opportunity to make a Warforged. This gives him +2 Constitution and +1 Intelligence, as well as some other racial bonuses. Constructed Resilience grants advantage and resistance to poisons, immunity to eating, drinking, breathing, disease, and sleep, and you can’t be put to sleep through magic. You also take Sentry’s Rests- Your long rests are only six hours long, and you aren’t unconscious during them. Your Integrated Protection gives you +1 to AC, and you integrate into your armor instead of donning it normally. This takes an hour (which can be done while resting), and the armor can’t be removed against your will. Finally, your Specialized Design gives you proficiency in Athletics and one tool. You’re a robot, you don’t really get tired.

You are the foremost expert in steam-powered technologies (although that’s probably not a huge achievement in many D&D campaigns), so you’re a good fit for a Sage. This background gives you proficiency in Arcana and History checks.

Stats

Your highest stat is Intelligence- you’re literally a robot that you made, you’d have to be very smart or very stupid to try that. Second highest will be Charisma; You’re all about the steam-powered dream, and you’ll have to convince the others to help you out. Your Strength will also have to be rather high- you’re swinging a giant club/sword around, and you can’t do that without some muscles. Unless you multiclass into Warlock, but honestly a fourth class would be too much. Speaking of multiclassing, your Wisdom also needs to be passible- don’t worry about getting this to 13 immediately, you’ll have plenty of time. Your Constitution isn’t great- your armor takes most of the damage for you. Finally, dump Dexterity. Being a massive lump of metal will severely impact any potential ninja career.

Class Levels

1. Artificer 1: If you really want to be Babbage, we’ve got to get you into a decent suit of armor ASAP, and that starts with Artificer levels. First level artificers have proficiency in Constitution and Intelligence saves, as well as Perception and Investigation. You can also use Magical Tinkering to add minor magical effects to tiny objects, as well as cast and prepare Spells using your Intelligence.

Mending will help you repair your armor and self for the time being, and Poison Spray lets you hand out samples of your Demonic Fog. For first level spells to check out, Alarm is a reasonable gadget for you to have, Identify will let you google whatever you come across, and Grease is a holdover from your racing days.

2. Artificer 2: Second level artificers can Infuse Items with magical effects. You can know four right now, but you can only use two at a time, switching them around on long rests. Enhanced Weapon, Enhanced Defense, and Enhanced Arcane Focus will help make up for your low ability scores later on, and Sending Stones are just useful to have.

3. Artificer 3: You can now make The Right Tool for the Job at the end of an hour while resting, as long as that tool is an artisan’s tool. You also become an Armorer, learning how to turn regular heavy armor into Power Armor. You can ignore the strength requirement for that armor, use it as a spellcasting focus, and it also can’t be removed against your will again. So now it’s really on there. Your armor is the Guardian Model, which comes complete with Thunder Gauntlets and a Defensive Field. The former is a melee weapon that uses intelligence and keeps the enemy’s focus on you, while the latter gives you the ability to gain temporary HP equal to your artificer level each turn as a bonus action.

Finally, you gain Magic Missile and Shield as specialty spells, which don’t count against the number you have prepared.

4. Artificer 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to enhance your Charisma- you’ll be needing it soon enough.

5. Sorcerer 1: Like right now! When you become a sorcerer, you have to pick your Sorcerous Origin, and the Clockwork Soul feels like it was made for you. You get another list of Spells that use your Charisma and aren’t prepared, so you pick them every time you level up. You can also Restore Balance, using your reaction to negate advantage or disadvantage on a roll made within 60′ of you a number of times per long rest equal to your Charisma modifier per long rest. Now the roll’s perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

Unlike most sorcerers, Clockwork souls also get specialty spells, which don’t count against the number you know. Your specialties are Alarm and Protection from Good and Evil for added magical defenses. You also learn Booming Blade to enhance your weapon attacks, Create Bonfire and Shape Water to make steam, and Minor Illusion to make fake steam while waiting for the water to boil. Burning Hands will let you shoot superheated blasts of steam from your hands, and Fog Cloud just makes a lot of the regular variety.

6. Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers are a Font of Magic, giving you a number of Sorcerer Points equal to your sorcerer level. Right now you can use them to make new spell slots, or you can turn existing slots into points. You can also blast off on jets of steam thanks to Jump, which triples your jump distance.

7. Sorcerer 3: At third level you get the real reason for last level’s point system, metamagic! When you cast a spell, you can spend sorcerer points to make it a Heightened Spell to induce disadvantage against it on a single target, or a Subtle Spell so you can cast it without verbal or somatic components. That second one is pretty important, since you’re probably running around with a club in your hands anyway.

You also get second level spells this level. Your specialty spells are Find Traps and Heat Metal, but you also get Enlarge/Reduce. Would you really be Babbage if you weren’t a giant robot? The real Babbage would probably say yes, but let’s ignore that for now.

8. Sorcerer 4: Use this ASI to round out your Strength and increase your Wisdom to the multiclassing minimum. Your final sorcerer spells for a while are Control Flames and Enhance Ability. The former is really just more hot steam, and the latter is your awesome robot body making up for your low ability scores.

9. Artificer 5: Fifth level armorers get second level spells again, as well as an Extra Attack when you make the attack action. Your specialty spells are Mirror Image and Shatter. Sometimes all that steam makes people see things.

For prepared spells, Darkvision and See Invisibility uses your robot eyes to see things normal people can’t.

10. Artificer 6: Sixth level artificers get Tool Expertise, doubling their proficiency bonus when used in tool-based checks. They also get two new infusion ideas, and one more that can be used concurrently. The Wand Sheath is very useful for you, as it lets you cast sorcerer spells while your hands are full with fighting. You could also use Radiant Weapon as an upgrade to your Enhanced Weapon if you don’t want to use Darkvision.

11. Artificer 7: At seventh level, you experience Flashes of Genius. When a check or save is made within 30′ of you, you can react to add your intelligence modifier to the roll. You can do this a number of times per long rest equal to your Intelligence modifier.

12. Artificer 8: Use this ASI to become a War Caster, allowing you to cast somatic spells while holding weapons, cast spells as attacks of opportunity, and have advantage on concentration saving throws.

13. Artificer 9: Your final level of artificer lets you make Armor Modifications. Your power armor now counts as four items for the purposes of infusions, and you can use two extra infusions as long as they’re a part of your armor.

You also learn third level spells, including your specialty spells Hypnotic Pattern and Lightning Bolt. Fly further empowers your steam jets to really lift you off the ground, and Protection from Energy gives you defenses against spells and other armor-avoiding types of damage.

14. Druid 1: I know that technically druids don’t like using metal armor, but I have a very good reason for breaking the rules a bit here. Okay, it’s not good, but it is very funny. If your DM (or you) doesn’t like this rule break, feel free to swap this out for more artificer levels.

Anyway, first level druids learn the language of the druids, Druidic, as well as yet another list of Spells that use Wisdom for casting and preparation. You also get Resistance and Guidance for a small boost to your saving throws and ability checks.

15. Druid 2: Second level druids get the reason we’re here, Wild Shape! Twice per long rest, you can turn into a beast of CR 1/4 with no flying or swimming speed, gaining that creature’s physical stats. You also use their HP instead of your own, with their entire health bar acting like temporary HP. You can’t cast spells, but you can concentrate on them. You can also use any class and race features while in this new form. I’m not entirely sure how integrated armor works with druids-that’ll have to be a DM decision.

You also pick your Druid circle at this level, and Moon Druids are experts at transformation. Your Combat Wild Shape lets you transform as a bonus action, and you can spend spell slots to regain HP while transformed. You can also transform into beasts of CR 1 or lower. Now when you need to make a quick getaway, you can Wild Shape into a warhorse and let another party member ride you to freedom! That’s right, I managed to sneak the Babbage Locomotive Form in here!

16. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers get third level spells. Counterspell and Glyph of Warding further enhance your magical defenses, and Haste will let you overclock your armor for extra speed, actions, and AC!

17. Sorcerer 6: Sixth level clockwork souls can make Bulwarks of Law. By spending 1-5 Sorcery Points as an action, you can give a creature an equal number of d8s they can roll to reduce incoming damage as a reaction. The bulwark lasts until the end of a long rest, or until another bulwark is made.

You can also cast Stinking Cloud for a slightly more demonic fog.

18. Sorcerer 7: Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells, including the specialties Arcane Eye and Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere. The former creates a mobile camera you can see through, and the latter gives you a super armor mode where you’re immune to any damage or effects from outside the sphere. You also learn Wall of Fire to create a wall of steam that can burn those who get too close.

19. Sorcerer 8: Use your last ASI to enhance your Strength to make it more passible. You also learn Major Image for larger wind-proof fog clouds.

20. Sorcerer 9: Our capstone level grants you the spell Cloudkill for a truly demonic fog. You can also Animate Objects to create clockwork minions, or make a Wall of Force.

Pros:

You have a high AC, especially for a caster. Without any outside help, you can reach 20 AC normally, or 25 AC with the shield spell.

This also makes you a very durable gish, with advantage and proficiency with concentration saves helping you keep your spells going on the off chance you get hit. You also have multiple forms of damage reduction and healing to keep you in the fight for way longer than you’d think.

You also fit into several niche use cases. You can use Enlarge and your armor to body block enemies from entering locations, or use clouds of steam and wild shapes for quick getaways.

Cons:

This build is very Multi Ability Dependent. You’re three classes, and each one uses a different casting modifier. On top of that, you’re also trying to be good with regular weapons! You should save this one for when you roll really well, I don’t think the standard array is enough for it.

Also, multiclassing into multiple casters means you don’t have the highest level spells you could, limiting your options at higher levels.

If being weak at high levels wasn’t bad enough, you also have to deal with your low scores at low levels too. Levels 1-2 are going to be very rough for you before you get your power armor.

#Fate and Phantasms #Fate Grand Order #fgo #Charles Babbage #D&D 5e

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dmsden · 3 years

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Nuts & Bolts - Personal Plot for Artificers

Hullo, Gentle Readers. Don’t you love when a small town hero makes it big? I know I do. The Artificer has been a class I’ve loved for years, but it’s always occupied a niche existence over in Eberron. I certainly have allowed Artificers to creep out to other campaign worlds, but they’ve never been so completely embraced as they are now. With the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, the Artificer has become part of Core D&D. If you haven’t already gotten your teeth into the Artificer through Eberron, I strongly recommend picking up a copy of Tasha’s...and not JUST for the Artificer. You’ll also get tons of new subclasses, magic-items, spells, and other assorted goodies. It’s a big expansion to D&D 5E, and it’s a lot of fun to read.

A little grain of salt must be taken here. Your DM is, of course, the final arbiter of what works and what doesn’t in their campaign world. If they say that their world has no artificers, then that’s the final word. For my part, I’m happy to welcome the Artificer to D&D’s wider reality, and, even before I knew Tasha would feature these crafty folks, I had planned to write a Personal Plot article for them.

Someone playing an artificer is likely looking for a different kind of story. Their character, after all, is an inventor...maybe he got tossed out of magic school for praising works of metal and the forge. Maybe he’s always been drawing ideas for inventions in the dirt or on any surface she could. They might be a bit of a loner, or they may be super-excited to show their beloved inventions to the world. They may be excited to explain everything, or they may be more comfortable around mechanical devices than people. I find myself thinking of Entrapta from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

If I had an Artificer in my campaign, I would definitely talk to the player about what they’d like to see in terms of other inventors. If they’d like to feel there’s a more firm backing and to have their curious bit of technology somewhat supported, I’d likely introduce some kind of Inventor’s Guild. In a situation like this, there might be rivals, mentors, guildmasters, and all sorts of NPCs that your PC could have a relationship with. Maybe they have tasks they need to perform for their mentors or guildmasters, or maybe their rival’s made need for validation will lead to a climactic battle with a Warforged Titan.

A thirst for knowledge is likely to be driving the PC along. Did they create the technology they’re using, or are they drawing on ancient technologies recovered from a fallen Warforged Colossus, the mysterious “City of the Gods” from Blackmoor, or even a curious “metal cave” in the Barrier Peaks? If the PC salvaged and modified existing technologies, it would make sense for them to seek out other instances of this technology. In my own campaign ,the mystic technologies of the Old Ones would be a perfect springboard for an Artificer’s storyline.

To flip this idea on its head, the Artificer could understand how dangerous the technologies they unleashed are, and they could be acting to stop it. Percival de Rolo of Critical Role’s season one would make an excellent example of an Artillerist Artificer. A number of the campaign’s plots involved others who learned to use the guns that Percy more or less invented and trying to keep those out of the hands of those who would do evil with them. Imagine a Battle Smith Artificer whose father created a mighty mechanical servant that was stolen by an evil warlord. Perhaps a major storyline of the campaign would involve going after the warlord and finding a way to destroy the servant so that it could not be corrupted again. This adds a touch of Tony Stark/Iron Man 2 to the blend as well.

An interesting concept to examine would be if there were a reversal of the roles of technology and magic from how they are perceived in our world. Perhaps magic is considered natural and proper, and technology is viewed with suspicion and superstition. It might be entertaining if you had a well-respected wizard turning his nose up at this new-fangled tech, or even calling for an artificer to be burned for the heretical teachings they’re espousing!

I hope this has you planning some fun inventions to tantalize your techie pal, the Artificer, should one end up at your gaming table. If you have ideas for an Artificer plot, let us all know!

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tired-college-student-writing · 4 years

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If you're into Black Butler, maybe something with that and Miraculous ladybug? Or Black Butler with Demon Bim? I just think you'd do a good job with the Black Butler characters.

Oh boy! I just finished rewatching Black Butler actually! I had forgotten how much I loved the show. So here’s a bit of Miraculous Ladybug/Black Butler :D

ASK BOX IS OPEN SEND ME PROMPTS

________________________________________________

Marinette was different.

Her family tried to keep her oddities to themselves when they could as the few that found out had branded their daughter as a freak, making the usually sweet girl’s icy glare freeze their very souls before they would leave and never talk to her again.

When she was born her parents were shocked to see she not only had a sapphire blue eye, but her right was a transfixing purple as well. The doctors had said they should fade into more usual shades as she aged but they never did. Heterochromia they called it, when the eyes were different colors due to a mutation in how the melanin concentration in the eyes, but it was nothing to worry about and about 1% of the population had heterochromia in one form or another. It didn’t stop Marinette from showing a clear disdain for anyone looking at her purple eye.

By two she was speaking in full English sentences which would have just been advanced for her age if they ever spoke anything, but French and Mandarin around her. But it wasn’t just English no, she could perfectly speak French, Latin, and German with little effort on her part. Never truly understanding why people would look at her strangely when such a small girl would be able to use five-syllable English words in normal conversation.

When she was five her parents saw the first major mood shift. Chloe Bourgeois, the little terror, had been placed in the same class as Marinette. The girls were at odds from day one, but three months into the school year Chloe had tripped little Nino and almost landed him right into traffic. The sunny little girl had flipped in an instance, ripping into the other girl with the ferocity of a black mamba, controlled strikes verbally reducing the bully into shocked and fearful tears as she tore into everything from the girls clothes and hairs to her parents failing marriage and her father’s inability to fulfill his the campaign promises. She had then turned to Nino who was watching with wide shocked eyes and melted back to the soft caring girl she normally was, fussing over him and basically ordering him to come to her house so her mom could check over his scraped knee. It was months before Chloe said anything negative in front of Marinette for fear of the same attack, only it didn’t come, just earning a scowl and the usual banter that the blonde had come to expect from the baker’s daughter. It seemed there was a line for how far Marinette was willing to let Chloe go, and the blonde was careful never to toe that line.

When she turned six her hatred of others seeing her right eye had reached its peak as she continued to make makeshift eyepatches out of anything she could get her hands on. Finally, her mother had taken her to the ophthalmologist to get colored contacts, to hide the purple hue. The ophthalmologist hadn’t wanted to give her contacts until her face had faded from the bright smile into a blank mask and she ran through the care and instructions that she had already known on contacts. The doctor decided to just hand them over after that. A blue contact for one eye and a clear one for the other with the prescription that fixed her lacking depth prediction. A single icy glare that nearly bordered on the one she gave Chloe many moons ago stopped any of the students in her class from commenting on her now same colored eyes.

At eight her parents noticed her new ‘friend’. A raven that seemed to have made a nest on her balcony, well maybe not a raven if the blood-red eyes had anything to do with it, but the lack of white tips on its wings ruled out anything else other than a hybrid. They decided it better not to ask why this raven had roosted there as Marinette grew oddly attached to it quickly, though it was an odd bond they shared. Marinette could often be heard talking to the raven in English as if conversing with it, but gone was her normally cheerful demeanor, instead she would snark and ridicule the raven as if it was an unruly child. In turn, the raven would caw, peck at her and swat her with its wings. At the same time, however, they undeniably cared for each other. Marinette always made sure that the nest was warm and dry, though she never offered food to it, simply taunting the pastries in front of it with a remark about how they tasted so much better than ash.

The raven took great care to bring trinkets back to the girl, expensive items it had no way of getting, jewelry, sets of high-end buttons, the finest threads, rich untouched chocolates, once they even found an entire bolt of new fabric on the balcony. If it wasn’t for the cameras they had installed after that event they would have feared someone was visiting their little girl, but the raven was the only visitor to the balcony. Marinette was smart however, knowing where the holes in the camera's view were before they had been there for two months. She had been offended that they thought she would accept presents from strange humans. They relented that they trusted her and that she was a bright young girl but kept the cameras up.

They asked her about her comments of ash and she didn’t remember ever saying anything like that.

They asked her the raven’s name and she got a far off look in her eyes before she came back and said she doesn’t remember.

Tikki appeared when she was thirteen and the little goddess almost recoiled in horror at the dark twisted magic radiating off of the girl chosen to be her holder. Demonic energy, nauseating to see this close around a soul so pure. The book being swung at her and high pitched screech was the only thing that convinced Tikki there hadn’t been a mistake. The magic was too intertwined with her soul for it to be a new development, for her to have sold her soul in this lifetime. No this was a deal that never got sealed, never allowed for the demon to consume her soul. It didn’t take her long to locate the raven on the balcony. They came to an agreement of mutual distance, realizing they were both here for the same reason to be here, to keep Marinette safe.

During the Akuma battles where the heroes’ win is a close call, and her miraculous cure is stretched to the limits from bringing back countless lives, there was often a flash of red in the corner of her eye, simply waiting off in the distance to see if she could pull off the save once more. Sometimes it would be replaced by a silent black figure or a golden blur, but they were always there. Simply waiting, watching. The raven always seemed more ruffled on the days the red was around.

It wasn’t until near her 14th birthday did an Akuma come along with the power of fire, did something change. The Akuma was tall and black as night, swift and dancing like the flames they created, willing to kill and burn all of Paris down with them. Cheated on, backstabbed and burned, the woman wanted all of Paris to feel the pain her ex-girlfriend had made her feel. Each human that burned turned into its own flame beast, with the single-minded

They had been chasing the victim through the streets when they rounded the corner. The bakery was engulfed in flames, inky black smoke billowing from the windows. She felt her heart leap into her throat. Her head screamed at her to run, they were coming for him, how her parents were dead, he wasn’t safe. Why was he out of the manor on her own anyway? He needed to get back, the servants would keep him safe. He needed to find-

Her mind snapped back into place as she realized the implications of her thoughts. Of his memories.

“Are you alright?” The voice in front of her made her register the black figure in front of her, Chat Noir. Her knight. It seems as if she has one every lifetime.

“Yes,” She said firmly, pulling away, “But I think it’s about time we got some assistance.”

“Need to go get a miraculous?” He asked, knocking some advancing flame beasts back with his staff.

She shook her head taking a step back as he kept her safe and tossed her yoyo as high as she could, no miraculous would help now. This victim was nothing short of a demon, and to fight a demon…

“Lucky Charm!” She shouted, catching the item and began pulling out her contact before she even looked down at the red and black contact case, filled with contact solution.

“M’lady?”

“Chaton,” She said with firm determination, turning her two-toned eyes to him, “I’m going to do something that will seem very strange and might scare you but please trust me.”

His eyes were wide and tail lashing, but he didn’t hesitate to nod his head, never faltering in keeping the beasts away, “Of course, Bugaboo.”

“Don’t call me that,” She snapped, voice slipping into English, before turning her eyes to the burning remains of her rooftop, “Sebastian, get down here you bloody mongrel. Don’t make me order you.”

A large black blur flew from the nest she couldn’t make out anymore due to smoke, swooping high into the air before shifting in and gliding down, the once raven now kneeling in front of her, a cunning smirk pulling on the man’s lips, “Sorry for the wait mistress.”

He was exactly as he was before, silky black hair falling elegantly around his face, framing the burgundy eyes that burned into her as they did the day they had made the contract. The only thing that changed was his clothes, gone was the tailcoat, polished silver pocket watch and crisp white gloves of a victorian butler, replaced by a sleek black suit and white button-down, black nails on display along with the sealing mark on the back of his hand.

“Best to keep it, my lady, while I’m transformed. You couldn’t tell me the truth before, because…” She trailed off in question, eyebrow quirked.

“Memory restoration requires a strong emotional response that plays on memories of your first life, my lady,” the demon gave her an innocent look as he rose, “I didn’t think you would appreciate me burning down the bakery before Miss Tikki could repair it.”

“Sebastian,”

They turned to look at the cat who had frozen beside them, noting the thinness of his pupil.

“Chat,” Ladybug said slowly, “This is Sebastian, an old… friend of mine. He can help us.”

“I-” Chat suddenly leaped forward, staff striking out between Sebastian and Marinette to knock away the beast that had appeared there, darting between them to continue fighting.

His footwork had changed, becoming lighter than before as the ferocity grew.

“Of course,” He spat, accented English spilling out of his lips, “Of course Sebastian was never human! I should have guessed,”

“What?”

The green eyes were sharp as they turned to the stunned pair, “Are you going to help me, Sebastian? I’m guessing that’s why my lady called for you. I can’t believe I didn’t put it together before! No human could run the manor as you did, I heard stories of the impossible feats you pulled but never did I think, ugh I’m an idiot!”

Marinette couldn’t help but gape and she could see her butler’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline from the corner of her eye as she sputtered out, “Lizzie?!?”

The blond just glared at her as she batted another beast away, “Ceil, I love you dearly but we’re going to have a serious talk about keeping demonic secrets from your fiance. I don’t care if it was a lifetime or three ago, we’re going to talk once the fires are gone and Sabastian if you think for a second you’re getting out of it, you are strongly mistaken. Now let’s finish this.”

“Right,” Ladybug spoke slowly in French, “Head in the game Chat, yell at me later.”

He shook his head as if to clear it, before returning to their normal tongue, “Right, sorry Elizabeth’s memories hit me like a brick wall... It is nice to see you, Sebastian!”

“Likewise,” The demon hummed, tossing a flaming demon away.

The victim was easy to seduce with Sebastian at their side, the purple butterfly mask flared early on into the fight leaving the victim terrified as if Hawkmoth knew what Ladybug’s purple eye meant and what the man at their side was. Ending the battle was short work.

“Pound it!” The teens cheered only for Marinette to turn a sly eye at Sebastian, “You two, Sebastian.”

The demon raised a challenging brow, “Really now? How childish.”

“Exactly why I want you to do it,” The sugary sweet smile held a hint of cruelness in it, “You’ll feel like a fool doing it, now come here.”

The demon’s eye twitched but he raised his fist either way, “You haven’t changed at all.”

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #ceil phantomhive #sebastian michaelis #Adrian agreste #elizabeth midford #reincarnated au

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aritel-does-dnd · 3 years

Text

Yes, I am alive and so is my campaign. :’D

So, apparently I forgot I wanted to do a kind of sum up of my sessions here. So this post will be a bit bigger.

We're catching up from the beginning. Starting with the updated version of my party (since our fire genasi had a change of looks).

Adventure started with some easy "escort some newly-weds" mission. They got off in Waterdeep right down to Phandalin where they stayed a night and made their way back. Found a broken wagon and inspected it. Insert stolen cragmaw-hideout encounter from Lost Mines of Phandelver. They rescue some kind of minor noble and cleared the hideout, sparing one goblin who helped them.

Big rescue party in Waterdeep, drinking games and fun stuff. Shady soldier guy askes them if they want to go on an adventure, since his homeland always needs adventures. They all drunkenly agree.

Ship sets sail right the next morning. Nobody even questions this dude. :^) Five days of journey on the ship go by pretty fast, some light sea encounters, nothing of big interest.

First town of the new land, everything is super nice and super uneventful. Some farm animals are missing, they discover an ogre who took them. End the ogre and bring back the animals. Townspeople are happy and give them all sorts of gifts.

Adventure goes on. Travel to the next small town. On their way pick up a cursed brooch and a creepy puppet one player now swears is his childhood puppet (it's a magic item that'll stabilize you once per longrest, if you go down). They meet some circus people on their way and get some info about the country.

In the town there's a festival in preparation. One to honor the fey and nature gods. They agree to help setting up some festival stuff and to collect flowers for decoration and a dress-making-contest. In the woods they discover a temple with sun-cultists. They seem to be praying and the earth around the temple is already cracking and dry. Unsure what to do they ask the festival-organizer (a lvl 16 firbolg druid) to help. As they re-arrive, the cultists are gone.

Festival is a blast, they visit a fortune teller, give her back her cursed brooch and get some foreshadowing of plot details. Afterwards they get to draw from a remastered Deck of Many Things. Most of the cards they draw don't do too much, but the party druid loses 3 wisdom and gets a permanent -2 AC penalty. Ouch.

On goes the festival and our artificer shows interest in one of the girls they met. Cute RP scenes happen, they seem to fall in love, but everything is pretty shy and all fluff. She askes him to come visit the graveyard, but because it seems haunted, she doesn't want to go too deep. Artificer sees some kind of ghost. Mayor of the city tells the party of their former priest who died mysteriously on the graveyard and some weirdo living outside town who tells stupid stories like "There's a super huge red salamander outside of town." and that the characters might wanna check on him.

Party decides to check the graveyard first. Banshee encounter is pretty intense, but they give their best and kill her. Find her skull inside a well. "Yeah that's probably why she's here." I am assuming at this point, that they'll probably just bury her skull and go on. I was wrong. Our paladin just crushed her skull with his warhammer. Yes, my party may be chaotic stupid. They bring the remains to the local priestress who scolds them. Paladin has a mild existential crisis on why he was so stupid, but eventually begs for forgiveness.

Afterwards they go check up on our weirdo outside of town. Find him and find the huge red salamander. It's actually a red slaad. They manage to fight him off, but two are now infected with slaad eggs. Session is about to end, when our sorcerer asks to perform his magic trick (basically I allowed him a homebrew spell 1/shortrest, where he will roll on a 10.000 wild magic effects table). So he rolls. And replaces his inner organs with rattling chains. (Insert a big face palm here). Session ends. --

Okay, so basically this is where we are now. Next session will be in roughly two weeks. And I am super hyped. They will advance to level 4, our sorcerer will be revived by his soon-to-be patron, since he wanted to multiclass into archfey warlock anyway. I am very curious on how the party will react next session when I describe how on of them just lies there, without a heartbeat, cold and heavy.

It's gonna be intense. I'll try to update more regularly but can't promise anything. :) If you're interested I'd love to hear opinions and am willing to answer questions.

#homebrew #a burning horizon #story #dnd #session #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #OC

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