#LOVE writing cool powers and spell lists

[monstersdownthepath]

I was inspired earlier today to try and stat out the Bedside Shadow. Let's see if this wave of creativity carries into anything, or if it's just another dusty project...

[wrenhavenriver]

top 5 games you played in 2023!

ayyy good one, thank you!! i'm slowly working on my "games played in 2023" gifset so you'll see all of these again within a week or so but:

unsurprisingly: baldur's gate 3, i was in a terrible gaming/gifmaking slump and bought it on a whim at release despite knowing next to nothing about it (and being gotdamn awful at dnd style combat) and man did it set my brain on fire. would love to actually finish a single playthrough of it one of these days but i'm still having a good time alternating through my files for *checks notes* two different Tavs, one durge, and karlach and shadowheart's origins

death's door - adorable indie featuring a birb protagonist, i was always gonna love it. thematically centered around (obviously) death and how we do/don't accept it as a natural part of the life cycle, which i always eat up

nioh - god i'm still so sad this franchise didn't kick off on tumblr, the combat (and the music, and the art design, and and and) is so fucking good. unfortunately the story is pretty fucken opaque if you're not already decently familiar with warring states era japan (or aren't willing to read a gazillion codex entries piecing together who in the gotdamn hell these people are, which is entirely fair). but sengoku jidai media is my kryptonite and also the main character is voiced by Ben Peel (aka McCullum from Vampyr) and who really needs an excuse to listen to that man talk for a 50 hour video game playthrough, ya know?

ghostwire tokyo - another game centered around death/grief, featuring a cyberpunk 77/venom style "two souls squished into one body and snarking at each other the whole time" relationship. also killer art design featuring lots of cool creatures from japanese folklore, and the powers/combat feel really smooth and satisfying on controller! the gameplay can feel very tedious at times tho (hello, collecting 250,000 souls 100 at a time for the platinum...), so kind of another "i understand why tumblr didn't jump on this game...and yet...what if..." scenario. also managed to break me out of a like 5 year dry spell of fic writing.

you know, i don't think i actually clocked all that many hours of dishonored this year, but if i don't put it on every yearly gaming list i start breaking out in hives. play dishonored 2012 dev. arkane studios okay thanks bye

[janokenmun]

Hey so, I noticed your blog's icon is from the hexcasting minecraft mod, I mean I have no idea what simbol that is, what it does or if it's a combination of symbols but, I noticed!!

Also what does it do?

o haii!!! yeeee its from hexcasting i love hexcasting its so cool!!!!

the symbol in my icon is Hermes' Gambit; it takes a list of patterns, and then executes through all of them! it's EXTREMELY EXTREMELY POWERFUL, it lets you do things like writing a spell (or part of a spell) to a Focus to cast later, it's essential for straight-up if/else statements (in combination with Augur's Exaltation)... it's generally useful for a **TON** of really really advanced things!!!! and also some basic ones, like a fun trick i've found is writing a bunch of spells to a spellbook via introspection/retrospection and Scribe's Gambit, then having a trinket or smth with Scribe's Reflection -> Hermes' Gambit, which will read the thing in your offhand then cast it; it's basically 64 spells in only 2 items!!! it's super handy for putting tons of little things into!!!

[feralkwe]

top five worst tropes, in your opinion?

ooh! a tough one, because there are so many tropes, and so many categories of trope (character trope, relationship trope, plot trope) that i could make a list just in one of them. but just generalized off the top of my head, no specific category:

5. amnesia. oh my GOD i hate an amnesia plot, especially when it is the only thing preventing the conflict from being resolved, or used as the conflict keeping a ship apart. the closest thing to an amnesia plot i have ever liked, and i feel dirty giving terry goodkind anything related to a compliment, but the chainfire spell in the last two sword of truth books was actually compelling because *everyone* magically forgot the character in question existed, every touch of her was wiped away in an actually cool concept. it's too bad tg wrote the most insufferable male protagonist ever committed to the page. he seriously ruined the entire series by existing. i wish there was a chainfire spell to make me forget richard rahl.

4. the misunderstanding. if your whole story arc/plot/reason a ship can't sail is because of some misunderstanding that could have been resolved with a reasonable conversation, you've lost me. it's uninteresting to me. it's just so flimsy as a concept that it cannot carry the weight of a compelling story. it makes the characters feel shallow. come up with a better obstacle. i believe in you.

3. deus ex machina. i love a good twist or unexpected turn, but babygirl you gotta leave us crumbs that lead us there, even if we, the reader, might be too dumb to see them. idc if it's a random convenient power introduced at the exact moment it's needed or a literal deus ex lowered on a crane to solve the problem. if it's too convenient without any context clues, i'm gonna be annoyed because i feel cheated. leave that stuff to the theatre professionals. you're not an ancient greek.

2. the perfect protagonist everyone loves. no, i don't mean mary sues as they've been smeared across fiction everywhere. i love me a mary sue! more people should be so bold! i mean the characters who never seem to have conflict with anyone ever. everyone is their friend. no one ever argues with or challenges them. no one is ever annoyed with them. wronged parties forgive them right away, even when they are wrongity wrong wrong. even the pc of an rpg runs into personality clashes with their closest companions and have to rng their way out of it. give me a little grit or friction, please! bonus irritation points if the characters just bang and it's all forgiven.

1. the love triangle. just... heck off i am so tired of it. no one writes it in an interesting way anymore. it's always obvious who will pick who in the most boring way. more often than not the third person is just mistreated and left hurt and alone or as a lazy plot device to keep the main couple in conflict. let me balance the scales of my terry goodkind compliment from earlier by saying that he did this most egregiously to my poor girl nikki in confessor, building her up in a relationship with the horrible protagonist who did not deserve her until the last minute when she helped rescue his real love. then he just... discarded her. it's boring. give me (believable, well developed) polyamory or find a better conflict for your obviously destined to be endgame couple. heck, even give me a person who genuinely loves both people and *tries* while slapping on a bittersweet ending! if your third person is disposable then your character did not earn their hea*.

*i purposely left off the hea. that's a post of its own.

[deanwinchesterswitch]

October 2023 Fic Rec List

It was an overwhelming month, but I did manage to sneak in a few moments here and there for some wonderful reading.

Enjoy

Many of these blogs and fics are NSFW-18+. Please honor any requests from a blog regarding no minors. I am not responsible for the content you choose to consume; heed the warnings for each fic.

~Big Sky~

Welcome to the Neighborhood ~ @wayward-and-worn. Author's Summary: The new interim Sheriff moves into the airstream across the way.  It started out just being neighborly.  But with an attractive neighbor like Beau Arlen…

~MCU~

Wildflowers At Sunset ~ @princessmisery666. Author's Summary: Bucky uses an inopportune time to let you know how he feels about you.

~Supernatural~

Five-Finger Discount ~ @talltalesandbedtimestories. Author's Summary: It’s supposed to be a simple case. A little undercover. A little burglary. A little spell. Dash of salt and burn. No muss, no fuss. So, why the hell are you getting these uncontrollable thoughts about Dean’s… hands?

The Haircut ~ @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior. Author's Summary: Y/N is trying to Dean a favor. How can he repay her?

Halloweenaversary ~ @thinkinghardhardlythinking. Author's Summary: Dean and Y/N spend their Halloweens together every year, but year, something is different

Heart of Stone ~ @jensengirl83. Author's Summary: None (Dean x Reader)

How Much Can I Take-Take it All ~ @wayward-and-worn. Author's Summary: Part 2 to How Much Can I Take.  So much for a One Shot.

Louder ~ @impala-dreamer. Author's Summary: Dean’s got you right where he wants you…

No Title ~ @girl-next-door-writes. Author's Summary: (None; Dean Winchester)

No Title ~ @supernaturalfreewill. Author's Summary: (None; Drabble; Dean Winchester)

Underneath It All ~ @impala-dreamer. Author's Summary: Jensen’s grown out his beard, hair, muscles for The Boys, and Y/N has some issues with all the extra hair. Luckily, together, they find a new kink that neither knew he had…

What Happens In Vegas Stays Doesn’t Always Stay in Vegas ~ @rizlowwritessortof. Author's Summary: Sam and Dean head to Vegas, this time for Halloween. Dean’s pumped about the huge Halloween costume party being held at their hotel, and he can’t wait to dress up as his favorite superhero.

The Winchesters Care About Your Titties!!! ~ @wayward-and-worn. Author's Summary: Now that she’s gone to the exam.  They are pretending NOT to be waiting for her when she comes home.  

~On Patreon~

Rebekah Jordan (Impala-Dreamer)

Captive Audience ~ Author's Summary: Y/N gets invited to a party but fails to realize that she's the favor... (Soldier Boy/Ben x F!Reader)

Eternal Charm ~ Author's Summary: Waking up next to your lover has never looked so hot. (Chris Evans x F!Reader)

Pondering Fate While Ignoring The Obvious ~ Author's Summary: Priestly has got it so bad for Tish that he can barely see past the end of her... well, her back end, anyway. He's love sick and forever rejected, constantly stuck inside his own head. When a new girl in town starts messing with him, he quickly loses his cool...

Tourniquet-Chapter One and Two ~ Author's Series Summary: Y/N has been by Dean's side through his worst days, always there if he needs her, forever just a call away. Love is impossible to fight and more impossible to live with. Just a side character in his epic life, Y/N would give anything just to give Dean a moment's peace.

Try It On ~ Author's Summary: Y/N and Dean like to spend their days off fooling around in the Bunker, and one particularly foolish day, they stumble into a room, and some items, she's never seen before...

thinkinghardhardlythinking

Someone To Watch Over Me-Parts 28-29 ~ Author’s Summary: (AU) Y/N is married to a very rich, decidedly unscrupulous and powerful man.  A man whose inability to trust means he hires someone to watch over his wife while he isn’t around. He hires Dean Winchester, a handsome stranger to Y/N, who is soon to become a very big part of her life.

[helluvapurf]

Out of curiosity, what are your Top 10 Fave HB ships overall?❤️‍🔥

My "overall" top 10 faves? ...Hmmmmm-

Honestly a lil tricky 'cause alot of my main HB ships rn aren't exactly "canon" (save for like, one or two lol), and I do like to multi-ship alot as well depending on my mood. Sooo if I had to name just the top ships currently in my head rn (even if its not a full 10 list), here ya go!

Fizz x Ozzie Beautifully lustful bfs not afraid to be doofuses together whilst always lifting the other up when they're down... honestly, what more can one ask for in a Hell-ranked power couple?~ 💞🔥 If they ever made a spin-off for Fizzarolli, I’d SO be down for that if it means more Fizzmodeus duets~ 😍

Blitz x Fizz -Biiiit of a controversial one I know, since ofc Fizzarolli is in a relationship rn/Blitz having his own issues wouldn't spell too much success for a romance atm... but like, ughhh I can't help it they're SO good, man T-T 💕 Like, two torn-apart childhood friends who grow up into a petty rivalry, sassing eachother out whilst learning to work together in danger, hashing out their feelings enough to forgive (whilst taking it slow friendship-wise) BUT also having Blitz stand his ground to protect Fizz at the Mammon event?

...Honestly, if it weren't for Fizzmodeus (+Stol*itz) existing, these two would THE perfect endgame, fr~ 👏👏

Loona x Bee "Peppy x Moody" aesthetics are always a huge soft spot for me in ships, so I couldn't help getting drawn to these gals maybe being more than just "pals" lol ;p

Esp with the potential of Bee not being afraid to call out Loona on her crap (unlike most others who deal with her lol), Loona lowkey finding Bee attractive & super cool (despite still being a lil jealous over her Tex crush), and knowing how intuitive Bee is as a whole... I feel like she'd be the best influence to soften up Loona to get her to express herself & have fun~💖

Bee x Tex Prob my fave (canon) hetero pair atm, I think these two are pretty lovely on their own accord too~ :3 Surprisingly subtle with their affections compared to other couples... but you can still tell how much they fit well given their laidback natures, abilities to "read" people (like Blitz when he got too drunk), and just overall care for eachother in that bit after Bee shrank down to size. Really curious of how they got together ngl (esp given how Hellhounds are pretty low in the hierarchy system as-is), I think it'd be pretty fun to read about~ 🥰

Blitz x Striker Ahhh yes, def a classic in terms of the alternate Blitz ships out there (though I guess not as popular these days, given Striker's current writing .w.; ). From how much they oozed chemistry from their first meeting, Blitz's respect for Striker's skill almost giving them good coworker potential, their similar insecurities/frustrations with Hell's hierarchy system (even with Striker going a more "corrupt" route with it in later appearances... the fact that even he declares that Blitz deserved "better" than how Stolas' treats of him speaks volumes ngl-). Like, there's SO much potential imho; whether its a slowburn-redemption pair, an "flirting-on-opposing sides" pair, a "come to the dark side- we have cookies~" pair... the possibilities are endless~ 👀❤️

Blitz x Mrs. Mayberry

-Ok, now this one's proooobably the least popular overall of the Blitz ships out there... but idk, just thought it'd be a cute idea the more I thought about it lol .3.

Blitz may be a goofy lil jerk, but he's clearly a devoted family man at heart whenever you see him with his loved ones (Loona, Fizz, occasionally M&M, etc.). And with Mayberry having that strong desire for a family (despite how she was cheated/unfairly-bashed on after her death), I feel like she'd lowkey be a sweet influence to balance Blitz's chaotic nature (whilst he'd be able to make her laugh/bring "excitement" to her current life in Hell). Idk, just something light & cute like that, yknow? :3 💜

[greenflamethegf]

What is your favorite TTRPG and why?

After seeing your answer, I supposed I should write a one to match. I have played so many different ones, I simply no cannot being myself to name just one. This to say nothing on system I have made or am working on.

Also, I will reference your post quite a bit, so let me just link it [here]

My first love is pathfinder 1e, but from even from there two really cool variants

Sphere Finder

a PF 2e before PF 2e. This takes PF and add a some system of sphere and talents, from supplants published by Drop Dead Studios. Effectively getting to choose marshal or magic powers to mix and match with feats and class abilities. A lot of death while being simpler then base PF 1e. Especially as caster no long had a list of 20+ spells, rather a few abilities and ways to modify. Similarly, for marshals, they even got cool thing like inspiring shouts or cutting a whole in space to teleport. So there wasn't much of gap between caster or marshals

Perhaps still speak TTRPG expirance, but It is quite taxing on the GM, and it largely still has the issues you mentioned in your post. Still, I would REALLY like to play it again. Heck, I would probably run it if I could, that instead of my day job. Anyway, largely in the same vain is

3.P

Perhaps a term you have heard being around in time of D&D 3.5, as was used to describe any amalgamation of PF 1e and D&D 3.5e. My favourite way to play it was to use PF a base and add more reasonable 3.X (D&D 3.0~3.5) rule books, as well as from 3pp (third party published) suppleness for both. It's difficulty, a crown king of complexity, but it did and still dose made my brain go 'woooo'. I still have oh so many indexes and lists for it. I get immense satisfaction with crazy fancy builds that are still rules legal.

however, they aren't I play and run these days... on that honour goes to

Uncommon Words

A cool hack of Dudgeon World that is simpler than 5e while providing more options, interesting characters. In many ways it's what people you don't play TTRPGs thing 5e is. And since this a post about enable TTRPGS, this the last mention of 5e.

DW and pbta (pawed by apocalypse) games in general have this cool three outcomes system of: Yes and..., Yes but... and No and.... This keeps the action going, often one action crates opportunity or danger that will be to relent for then ext one. Specially the way I run combat, it's just a consent stream of "This tread approaches, what do you do?", "This allay is gander, what do you do?", "This enemy is exposed, what do you do?".

Similarly, rules little means you can improve a lot of stuff. You can make a monster on fly with a simple questioner, and by deciding they do any actions appropriate for their kind.

Still, unlike other rules lite system (for example 2d10), it does offer some rule. Some character builds and dice mechanics. This is just enough to have a solid base for a character.

It's by one means perfect. The HP and damage rolls are a bit of a jarring departure from typical PBTA fun. Singularly, I it makes you count individual coins, then it comes to wealth, and I must it's a rather annoying bit of bookkeeping. Really, in D&D, I would never have played arc hares because those systems made you track how many arrows you use. Luckily, DW has that ones solved in quite an elegant way

Honourable mentions

So that dose were the contenders for my favourite. However, I should at lest named drop a some other of very cool systems I played, Mutants and Master Minds 3e, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Savages Worlds, Chronicles of Darkness, 2d10, Magical Burst and Blades in the dark

[victorluvsalice]

Another Game To Add To The List

So -- you guys all know that I like video games. I mean, I post on a pretty regular basis about the antics my Sims in my latest Sims 4 save file are getting up to. And you all know that I love to put my favorite characters in my favorite video games if I'm able to -- or even if I'm not. My current Sim family is my Valicer OT3; my Fallout 4 protagonist is Victor Van Dort (or as close as I can get with FO4's character creator and artstyle), and my Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines Malkavian Fledgling is Alice Liddell (I may not be able to actually reflect that with her appearance in the game, but I can sure as hell write about her adventures doing all the quests!) I have a vested interest in this sort of thing.

So -- when my friend @gaydragonwizards got me into Baldur's Gate 3, leading me to purchase the game for my birthday using the Steam gift cards my parents had gotten me, I immediately thought, "Okay, so -- Alice has VTMB, and Victor has FO4...but a certain newbie roller coaster OC does not have a game yet. And this one DOES allow you to do a custom character..." Which led to me deciding that Smiler was going to be my "Tav" in BG3! I haven't gotten very far in the game yet (I had to do an early restart to add in a mod patch that the creator was VERY SURE shouldn't be put in an existing playthrough because it fucks with XP and leveling a bit, and then recent hotfixes possibly breaking quest items made me too nervous to play for a bit), but I have gotten my Smiler set up, made it past the Nautiloid segment, and have started exploring the wilderness around the ravaged beach! Here's some shots of Smiler in the game:

Smiler's look from the character creation/level up screen! They're a half-elf with Body #2 and Head #5 because that was the combo that actually looked the most like my Smiler Sim -- have a comparison shot:

It's not a PERFECT match, but nothing was going to be -- it's pretty close, though! The hairstyle is of particular note because that is in fact one of the very first mods I picked up for this game: Alt Lae’zel Hair For Tav! None of the in-game hairstyles had the right sort of "bangs" that my Sim!Smiler sports, so I was REALLY happy to spot this on Nexus Mods to give my Tav!Smiler the right look, at least from the front. :) (And, hilariously, the mod was in fact uploaded ON MY BIRTHDAY, so I'm counting it as an inadvertent birthday present.)

Smiler's arrival on the Ravaged Beach, having just woken up from their little fall out of the Nautiloid! As you can probably guess by the outfit, I started them out as a Bard. That was the class that seemed to make the most sense for them, both from a "the roller coaster in Alton Towers is often associated with upbeat music and dancing, especially after the original Festival of Thrills and The Smiler Takeover, and bards DO get access to a good number of mind control spells" and from a "my personal take on Smiler is that they are super charismatic and want to make as many people happy as possible, and the Bard's high Charisma start combined with the Entertainer background suits that perfectly." XD However, they're not JUST a Bard these days -- thanks to the further power of mods, upon their first level-up, they became a Bard/Artificer! :D I picked that class because it has a whole sub-class dedicated to Alchemy, and one of my headcanons for my Smiler is that chemistry/alchemy (depending on the universe) is their thing. Plus it just looks like a super-cool class and mod. (And yes, I do have 5e Spells and Unlock Level Curve to enhance things further, with the appropriate patches (including ULC's patch to smooth out the weird XP valley while leveling up -- learning about THAT was what prompted me to restart so I could install it). Oh, and the exclamation mark is from Camp Event Notifications -- it's telling me that Smiler should Long Rest soon to get one of the special camp events.)

Smiler hanging out in the Wilderness camp! I came here for the first time after picking up Shadowheart, Astarion, and Gale, and was amazed at just how PRETTY the camp is. I mean, look at that waterfall over by the ruin that houses the Magic Mirror! :D Seriously, this game is gorgeous -- I've spent a decent amount of time just wandering around with the camera, admiring the scenery. XD Anyway, as you can see, Smiler picked up some new clothes -- the main outfit is some basic leather armor, dyed with the dye available in the Traveler's chest (I first dyed their starting jerkin, but hated the resultant color scheme -- I'm not wild about the red arms on this set, but at least the yellow pants and black chestpiece feel right!), while the cape and their new lute are from the Digital Deluxe content -- the "Cape Of The Red Prince" and the "Lute of the Merryweather Bard." (Hey, I got this for my birthday, I wasn't not going to get the Digital Deluxe content!) I had them give the lute a little try in-camp -- the upbeat Bard song DEFINITELY suits them. XD

And finally, Smiler with their current companions, ready to head to the nearby chapel on the beach -- Shadowheart (in some new, slightly better Sturdy Armor), Gale (in his robe and wizard hat), and Astarion (sporting more DD content, the "Bicorne of the Sea Beast" and the "Needle of the Outlaw Rogue" (the dagger on his hip)). They are indeed a motley group. XD Hopefully Smiler's 17 Charisma will allow them to talk their way out of most binds!

Now, you may be thinking at this point, "Well, this is going to spark another AU, isn't it?" And you would be -- partially correct. Allow me to explain by excerpting part of my and Squid's conversation while they were recommending mods to me and I was telling them about my plans to do Tav!Smiler:

Squid: ((though -- there is one thing that has popped into my head. with playing Smiler, obviously you can't have any of your Valicer stuff going on in BG3 by default. and do you really want to give yourself ANOTHER AU by playing as them again :P )) Me: ((Oh, that's not really a worry -- the Valicer in the Dark crew already fucking claimed the game as a potential AU ))

YUP. Much like how my brain insisted that the Alice in my Fallout of Darkness stuff be a variant of my Malkavian!Alice from Londerland Bloodlines, thanks to me getting into BG3 at the same time as my obsession with Valicer In The Dark ramped up, the AU in my head is now the VITD trio going through the game. And while it's only a partially-formed pile of shitposts as of yet, that idea PROBABLY deserves its own post...

[basedkikuenjoyer]

And now the big one. The first two as a set seemed like a good deal and worth trying, this one had me excited. It was a hunt to find it too! Even had some high drama for my young self. I think my brother stole some of the money I set aside for it, but I had enough spare change to make up for it. Nintendo Power mad the GBC rerelease look so cool, I could be a girl hero and there's a personality system that affects your stats? A human board game?

Now you're a party of four and aside from the main hero's special class you get to pick the other three! Leading to one of my favorite aspects of early Dragon Quest. The simple, elegant brilliance of its multiclassing system. You can start a character over at level 1 in a new class, with half stats and all spells/skills retained. A warrior who can double up on the handful of key buff spells. A speedy cleric. Making an absolute physical juggernaut out of the dealer/fighter. It's all possible and never that complex to get what you want.

Picking up from the first installment, this series may be simple compared to other RPGs but it is tight. As long as you are using your head a little, you can do wildly different strategies and they will all work. Maybe Dragon Quest games never have the massive spell lists counterparts like Final Fantasy do...but you know how those often have a couple dozen you never really use except once? That's not true in DQ. Most bosses will be susceptible to a status ailment or at least lowering their stats and the latter does it enough to be relevant. It might just be playing with numbers, and it's impossible to truly get without playing, but the design makes these boss fights have so much more of an exciting flow to me than more graphically impressive contemporaries and honestly what will follow for many years.

When you have rock solid mechanics like that, the game writes it's own stories. Like...last time I played a couple years ago I had a lark naming my party Kiku/Neko/Inu/Kawa(matsu). One dungeon that's never been iconic to me or anything took on new life as Kawamatsu was the sole survivor of the boss fight. Which meant my quick exit mage was dead. So Kawamatsu had to make a harrowing escape and it sticks with you. Or using my hero being Kiku as an excuse to try the Noh Mask exploit in the hero's solo dungeon. Now I'm going to say a word on the main story and the iconic twist, I'll hide for those who may want to try these.

I got to play these as a kid perfectly unaware of one of the most legendary twists in gaming. It blew my mind to finally beat Baramos and have more game left ahead...in Tantagel no less. Then we finally beat the real demon king Zoma only to find out I was Loto the entire time. This was a prequel, not a sequel. Which made the fact the world we started in reminded me so much of Earth even cooler!

That plus the legitimately good drama around the search for Ortega. It gets me when you come so close to a happy reunion only to have that dashed. What if you had been just a little quicker? Zoma was scary too if you're unprepared. Dragon Quest makes good use of buff spells and they're the golden strategy in this installment. So that iconic debut of the Icy Pulse ability that wipes them is backbreaking. Also love the Divine Dragon stuff in the post game for the remake. They went all out on that GBC re-release to a degree you didn't often see in those days.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms Viewer's Choice #4: Chalchiuhtlicue (Caster of Calamity)

(art by @vanillachaldea, commissioned by @hasquetzdoneanythingwrong)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're getting a little bit self-indulgent (selves-indulgent?) by building a fanservant that appears on the award-winning fate fanblogs @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong & @hasquetzdoneanythingwrong, Chalchiuhtlicue! She was one of the twenty-ish options in our Viewer's Choice list, and she got lucky. On top of being an OC she's also a headmate of ours, so this one's gonna feel a bit weird. We'll also give her some time to talk about the build as we go.

Just to get y'all caught up on the lore: The Mexica split the world's history into five eras, each run by their own god taking a turn as the sun: Quetzalcoatl was the second sun, our current sun is Huitzilopochtli, and the fourth sun was Chalchiuhtlicue. Despite being a goddess of earthly water, she was doing a great job as the sun for about 600 years until Tezcatlipoca rolled up and claimed her love for humanity was fake. Her tears flooded the earth, bringing an end to the fourth world.

So she's gonna be an Ancients Paladin to get some godly force behind her forks, plus we're checking out the new (at time of writing) UA to make her a Circle of the Primeval Druid to both get her the power needed to flood the earth and give her a Deinocheirus companion on par with Quetz's Quetzalcoatlus.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here! Also there's a rough idea of her actual skills and whatnot in FGO over here.

Race and Background

Calamity is a goddess, and that would usually mean Aasimar, but she's an elemental goddess so we're going Water Genasi instead. On the plus side, Mordenkainen gave us a lot of cool new options there. As a lineage, Water Genasi can choose their ability score improvements, and can even split them into +1 bonuses between three ability scores. Our most useful options are Strength, Wisdom, and Charisma, so pick those. They can also choose between a small and medium size, but to no-ones surprise we're picking the normal size here. They can also use Darkvision to see in dim light like bright light and darkness like dim light up to 60' away. They have a Swimming Speed equal to their walking speed, and are Amphibious so they can breathe underwater. On top of all that, they have Acid Resistance and can heed the Call to the Wave to cast Acid Splash at will. They can also cast leveled spells once per long rest for free or by using spell slots- Create and Destroy Water at level 3, and Water Walk at level 5.

Wizards of the Coast still has woefully few options for their god players, but Acolyte will have to do in the meantime. This gives her/me proficiency in Insight and Religion. Shame you didn't have that before the world ended. Well that's why I have it now.

Ability Scores

Wisdom is really useful, so make that option 1. You can't live a couple million years without learning a thing or two. Our second highest stat is Strength. Calamity is a caster, but she's a caster form the same pantheon as Quetz, so she's not scrawny. The third highest stat is Charisma. A god should be majestic, or at the very least terrifying. This means the build's Constitution can't be that high, though it is passable at the very least. We're also making Dexterity pretty low, but Chalchiuhtlicue's literally named after her armor, so it's not that big a deal. That means our lowest score is.. Intelligence. Care to explain? We needed some way to explain in-build how Tezcatlipoca could fool you and low wisdom clearly wasn't an option? So you gave me the same intelligence score as Kijo Koyo, who can't even speak half the time. You're lucky we have a build to explain.

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: I wish we could start as a druid for their skills, but if we want heavy armor we have to start as a paladin. You also get extra HP, so that's nice. As it stands, we get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saving throws, as well as Intimidation and Medicine. Fun fact: Calamity is also a god of childbirth, so it's a good thing you know how to midwife. I still can't believe that's a verb.

To help with the midwifing, you can Lay on Hands as an action, using a pool of HP equal to five times your paladin level per day. These points can also heal diseases and poisons by spending five of those points.

You can also use a Divine Sense as an action to sense celestials, fiends, and undead within 60 feet of you. You work with most of those guys, so it makes sense that you can recognize them.

2. Druid 1: Bumpin over to druid teaches you some Druidic, it's a language all druids know, so now you have more in common with Koyo than just your int score. You literally made up that score why are you- never mind. You can speak it, or write it down to create hidden messages. Speakers of druidic can pick up on those messages instantly, while other creatures need a perception check to even see them, and they still need magic to understand what they say.

You can also cast and prepare Spells using your Wisdom. For cantrips, pick up Druidcraft to tell the weather and Shape Water to control the shape of water. For leveled spells, Cure Wounds is a mild blessing, but always appreciated. Fog Cloud and Ice Knife are the closest we get to water spells at level one, but we can pick up Goodberry for a good harvest.

Chalchiuhtlicue's also a god of the harvest, which makes perfect sense when you think about it. Crops need water, duh. Kinda makes me wonder why Poseidon didn't get in on this racket, maybe he'd've won Athens over.

That's because Poseidon is a coward, and he stays downstream where he belongs.

Noted. One last thing to mention: Druids technically can't use metal weapons or armor, which would normally put a crimp in anyone trying to run one with good armor and weapons. Thankfully, the Mexica don't use metal in their weapons or armor. Obsidian your sword and jade your skirt and you should be set! Hopefully.

3. Druid 2: Second level druids can Wild Shape. It's wordy and we're not really using it, so I'll be brief: transform into animals 2x a short rest. Change your Strength, Dex, Con, and HP, keep everything else. Can't swim or fly yet, and your limited to CR 1/4.

Oh nice, that was much shorter than the first time! The reason we're not using Wild Shape is because those two uses per short rest can also be used to fuel the Primeval circles' ability: Primeval Companion! Its full stat block is in the character sheet, but in short, you can create a creature and choose its physical appearance. Like a steel defender, it only moves and attacks if you spend your bonus action to command it, or you are downed. You can only have one companion at a time, but each one lasts until it is destroyed, so they're a good investment.

At this point she/I am also a Keeper of Old, gaining proficiency in History checks and adding a d4 to all checks as well. Living for millions of years has its perks!

4. Druid 3: Third level druids learn second level spells. Enhance Ability and Lesser Restoration are useful blessings. The first spell gives a creature advantage on one kind of save, as well as some other benefits. If you choose Strength, their carrying capacity doubles. Dexterity prevents fall damage from 20' or less. Constitution adds an extra 2d6 temporary HP. Whatever effect you pick, it lasts for up to an hour.

5. Druid 4: At fourth level druids get a Wild Shape Improvement, increasing the CR limit of their beast shapes to 1/2 and allowing you to pick creatures with a swimming speed. (Technically your beast shapes already had one thanks to the Water Genasi's racial ability, but now you can swim without getting into an argument with your DM.)

Your jade skirt also gets a little bit tougher to cut through thanks to the Heavy Armor Master feat, rounding out our Strength and reducing nonmagical slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning damage by 3. Plus you can use Guidance to be a little better than everyone else, adding a d4 to your next ability check. And yes, this stacks with Keeper of Old.

6. Paladin 2: Heading back to paladin doubles down on that jade armor with the Defense fighting style for an additional +1 AC while wearing armor. We also gain a second Spell list which is prepared and cast using Charisma. There aren't that many spells we'd need from this list though- Bless offers the benefits of Guidance over a minute, while Command will help you impose your will on mortals. To ensure a healthy harvest, make sure to pick up Purify Food and Drink.

The best use for spell slots at this point might just be Divine Smite, spending spell slots to add extra damage to melee attacks. This only adds radiant damage to attacks, but the damage is appreciated nonetheless.

7. Paladin 3: At third level this Calamity takes their oath, and the Oath of the Ancients is an appropriate choice, given their companion. Now you can Channel Divinity once per short rest in one of two ways. Nature's Wrath forces a strength or dexterity save on a target, restraining them if they fail, and lasting until they succeed on a save. Turn the Faithless forces fiends and fey to run away for up to a minute, a reveals their true form for the duration they're turned. The flavor text for Nature's Wrath suggests vines entangling a creature, but muddy soil is a great way to hold someone in place as well.

Ensnaring Strike has a similar effect, though it deals piercing damage which complicates re-flavoring it. We can always Speak with Animals though. What are you, Aquaman?

If you'd rather not use either Channel Divinity, you can use it to Harness Divine Power once a day, spending the use of Channel Divinity to regain a low-level spell slot.

Finally, you have Divine Health, giving you immunity to disease. But just in game. Wear a fucking mask, please.

8. Paladin 4: This level is simple, bump up your Charisma for stronger paladin saves and for another feature later on.

9. Druid 5: Third level druids get fifth level spells, finally giving us a boost in elemental power. You can turn your fork into an Elemental Weapon to add 1d4 cold damage to your attacks, as well as a +1 bonus to attack rolls. For larger bursts of water, Tidal Wave creates a 30' wide wall of water that crashes down on anything inside of it, dealing bludgeoning damage before spreading out and dampening fires in the area. For a longer-lived wave, Wall of Water creates a defensive barrier that gives disadvantage on ranged attacks through the wall, as well as halving fire damage. If hit by cold damage, the wall freezes, and can be broken apart.

10. Druid 6: As a sixth level primeval druid, her/my Primeval Companion becomes a Prehistoric Conduit. That means you can cast spells from the space of the Companion if they have a range other than self. Additionally, the Companion now has advantage on all saving throws caused by magic; if they fail the save they'll only take half damage, and if they succeed they take no damage instead. That's right, this 30' tall duck is now more agile than a monk! Don't ask me how that works out.

11. Paladin 5: As a fifth level paladin, we gain an Extra Attack each action for two strikes per turn. We also gain second level spells. Moonbeam and Misty Step are useful, but the only blessing we want more than a divine smite is Aid, giving a few creatures additional HP for several hours.

12. Paladin 6: Sixth level paladins get their strongest blessing yet, an Aura of Protection. Friendly creatures within 10 feet of us now gain a +3 bonus to all saving throws. That duck just isn't gonna get hit by anything, huh?

13. Druid 7: Seventh level druids get fourth level spells! Once again, there's actually quite a few we like here. Grab Conjure Minor Elementals to throw some living currents at people, or use Control Water to properly flood the place. One non-water spell we need from here is Guardian of Nature, which turns you into a primal beast for up to a minute. While transformed you get that scaly look from the profile pic, plus your speed increases by 10', your darkvision distance doubles, you make all strength-based attacks with advantage, and you deal extra force damage on a hit. Force damage could be anything! It could even be cold damage! If you can't figure out why permanent advantage on a paladin is huge, I can't help you.

14. Druid 8: Eighth level druids get another Wild Shape Improvement, so we can transform into beasts of CR 1 or lower that can fly. We also gain another Ability Score Improvement, so we can improve our Wisdom for stronger spells.

15. Druid 9: Speaking of, fifth level spells give us even more options, such as Cone of Cold and Conjure Elemental. We should also pick up Mass Cure Wounds while we're here to keep our followers healthy.

16. Druid 10: Tenth level druids get another cantrip, and there aren't any more watery ones so let's go out like your husband did with Create Bonfire. You also form a Titanic Bond with your PC, making it Large and giving it a swimming speed so it can keep up with you no matter the terrain. Also, once a turn after hitting a creature with an attack or spell you can force a wisdom save, frightening them if they fail. Turns out a walking apocalypse is scary, who'd've guessed?

Make another joke about my husband and I'll make sure you don't forget again.

17. Druid 11: Moving right along! Sixth level spells! Those are good. Pick up Investiture of Ice to make the area around you swampy difficult terrain, as well as giving you immunity to cold damage and resistance to fire. As an action you can blast out water in a 15' cone to deal cold damage, making whatever you hit too slippery to move more than half its speed next turn if they fail their constitution save. Also, pick up Heroes' Feast for a guaranteed great harvest and Druid Grove for a little home away from home. For 24 hours you can create several protective effects in a 30-90 foot cube of outdoor space. There's a lot of options so we won't mention them all here, but if you cast it in the same place every day for a year it becomes permanent.

18. Druid 12: Use your last ASI to pick up the Tough feat for an extra 36 HP now and 2 more every time you level up from here. Again, just because you're a caster doesn't mean you're squishy.

19. Druid 13: Frankly, I don't think theRE'S any spells we'd wanT frOm the seventh level list. Realistically, just upcast eleMental weapon or smites.

20. Druid 14: With our final level, another option appears to spend our higher level spell slots on, when we become a Scourge of the Ancients. As part of the bonus action used to command the primeval companion, you can also spend a spell slot for several benefits, all lasting an hour. The creature becomes Huge if there's enough space and gains 10 times the spell slot's level in temporary HP. (Amazingly, this actually downplays the size of the Deinocheirus. Huge is only 15' tall, while the real thing was almost 30.) The companion also deals 1d8 plus the spell slot's level in extra damage on an attack, and their speed increases by 5 times the spell slot's level.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Your dino buddy is extremely powerful against magic, and is probably large enough to get full cover behind. Including your aura, your companion has a save with at least a +4 bonus in all three of the most common saves, as well as advantage with those saves and evasion to prevent damage from those attacks anyway. This is one dinosaur the meteors can't kill.

You're also skilled at supporting the rest of your party as well, without sacrificing self-sufficiency. While you can deal plenty of damage with smites and the like, you can also heal and bolster the party just as well.

This build is also quite good at shutting down movement in a way that only you can move through easily, flooding the arena to give yourself easy pickings against whatever you're hunting.

Cons:

Technically we've only got heavy armor and solid weapons through a loophole. Rules as written there's no way to get heavy armor without breaking some kind of druid law. TBF if you showed me real-life examples of jade armor of w/e I'd at least give you a some kind of homebrewed set of armor, but don't expect this to work in adventurer's league.

The Deinocheirus is strong against magic, not physical attacks. I'm told 19 AC is good, but only having 80 HP is not. At least we can make more. Also its damage sucks balls at high levels. Don't use this as an extra fighter.

Despite getting so much magic, we don't have any in-character ways to deal with flying enemies. Anything that can stay above sea-level will definitely be a problem for this build.

[sapphic-woes]

Hi! Just wanted to say I really enjoyed part 2 of the tlk au and I hope you continue it because you're such a wonderful writer! Also I just got through season 3 and I can't believe they did that to Thyra she was such a sweetheart 😭

NO BECUASE LITERALLY WHY. IT SERVED NOTHING RLLY OTHER THAN SEEING BEOCCA THROW HANDS????

Ok. Deep breath. I am calm :) this was kinda mentioned in another ask I got today, but like, tlk is notoriously so bad with writing women it's insane. Like... Like it's not even the women themselves MOST of the time that are badly written (tho some lack substance tbh), it's just what happens around them or who interacts with em or if they. Yk. LIVE. ...okok imma go down the list I'm srry

Iseult: her death REALLY made no sense. Her character was interesting and even tho they had that classic "he's MY grubby good for nothing man" trope going on with Midrith (I dunno if that's her name, can't remember) her whole thing with seeing and saving Alfred's kid was like. Actually really good. And then to have her ask Uthred to essentially fuck the prophetic powers out of her only so that she can't see her death coming.....boo. boo she was so cool fuck uuuuu. But yk she was set up to fail from the start tbh

Hilde: I won't get into her but I'm thinking if you're at season 3 you must be starting to be like 👁️👄👁️. That feeling will continue they fail her high-key

Gisela: I HAVE NEVER SEEN. A DEATH MORE WORTHLESS. literally died OFF SCREEN TOO if I remember and like why. She was a good character that didn't REALLY drive the plot but she literally was just That Girl yk. Every line was iconic and awesome (also we get Uthreds iconic "now I will never be taken away from you" line which was!!!!!!!!) Also how did she move the plot along more with her death than when she was alive I mean. C'mon.

I won't talk abt brida :)

Stiorra: actually just brida-ed. You'll get what mean later.

Eadith: godsent. Perfection. She can do no wrong. Somehow she made it through amazing and iconic

Aelswith: ICONIC AMAZING. YOU HATE HER YOU LOVE HER. IN THE END YOU STILL TALK ABOUT HER. WISH I WAS HER. (SEASON 5 I THINK EP. 7?? THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.)

Skade:..... Imagine having an entrance like a god. And then being done so dirty. They way she was reduced to three men fighting over fucking her was like. When Uthred LITERALLY TEASES FUCKING HER THAT WAS IT FOR ME. NOT HIM BEING LIKE "YO DONT PROTEST BEING TRADED AND ILL COME BACK FOR U AND FUCK U :)" BITCH LICK HER FEET U GODDAMN– (fun fact I went thru my very first watch thinking everyone was better than Uthred. I still kinda do...other than Alfred lmao...also I still don't know how skade dies. I always skip thru somehow????)

Uhh I forgot how to spell her name, the lady of Mercia: I feel like she had the most character. Like everything that happened to her was iconic. I don't know why she loved Uthred tho. Like the romance was neat but like that guard dude was. There. Anyways won't say more but she and Erik for life.

I can't think of anyone else but as u can see I am very invested into tlk :)

[brick-a-doodle-do]

You asked for this

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30.

ORCHIDDDDD WHAT THE FUCK?? !!!!! I WILL ANSWER THESE GLADLY BUT WTFFF 😭

1 : sleeping in or getting an early start?

for weekends, sleeping in

2 : coffee or tea?

i don't really drink either but probably tea

3 : favorite breakfast food?

everything bagels with way too much butter

4 : opinion on brunch?

too fancy for me

5 : how many houseplants do you have?

personally speaking i own none (why take take of a plant if i can't take care of myself?) but my grandparents house has a lot of them that i don't know the count of,,,,

6 : favorite flower?

calendulas (did i spell that right?)

7 : things that always make you smile

interactions between ccs idk why i like them sm but like seeing crimebois orrr alliumduo interact brings such a smile to my face :D maybe it's just the ccs in general? okay people hanging out with tommy is what always makes me smile. okay tommy often makes me smile. but wil does too, and quackity. okay all the ccs make me smile :)

8 : tv show you're currently obsessed with?

unbreakable kimmy schmidt!! binging it atm and am obsessed with ittt 💕

9 : favorite smell and why

gas & those chemical induced markers. if you like them too then you know why :)

10 : your hopes/wishes for the coming week

actually i started like trying to lose weight so i'm hoping i can actually follow through with that instead of fantasizing about it like i do with everything

11 : have you ever been to any pride (activities)?

no i have not, but i'd absolutely love to!!

12 : tattoos or piercings on your wish list

for piercings i want one on my upper ear and MAYBE in my nose but i'm on the fence about that one,,,, and for tattoos i might get like a flower tattoo of a calendula or maybe a brick? lol that sounds dumb but idk. i also want another one but i'm embarrassed to say pff

13 : what helps you fall asleep?

ycgma :D i fall asleep to it every night

14 : any cleaning or organizing life hacks?

No

15 : tell a joke

why did the chicken cross the road?

to get to the other side!!!!!!

16 : i already answered this one!

17 : a book you're currently reading

guided evolution on ao3 💪

18 : what video games do you play?

uhh i don't play video games that often. if i do it's minecraft or roblox or any free games i can find on steam & that one indie website i forget the name of. i also play 2480 or whatever it's called a lot OH OH OH and i love the oregon trail i play that a looot

19 : the last thing that made you laugh out loud

a family member of mine was ordering at a fast food place and they didn't have what the drink he wanted so he said really loudly "WATER PLEASE"

20 : a skill you would like to learn

i would like to develop my writing skills a bit more and learn how to cook better cuz it seems fun

21 : what color would you like to die your hair?

hmm i like my natural color but that's basic so if i HAD to pick one it'd probably be like pink tips? think my pfp's pink,,,

22 : what was the best food you had this week?

oh my god i was on vacation this week so everything was absolutely amazing!! literally everthing i ate would be on this list

23 : a song that makes you feel poweful

idk if it makes me feel powerful but i like am i ready (to be loved) by lizzo like that's a really cool soon the tempo is rlly good and he beat drop is just 😍

24 : how was your day today?

uhh not the best tbh

lots of tears today

25 : are there any big or small decisions you have to make?

at the moment no but if choosing to commit to the weight loss thing counts then yep

26 : if you could be doing anything you like right now, what would you do?

hmm that's kinda hard. there's one thing on the top of my mind rn but that's embarrassing to say so i'll go with continuing my binge of kimmy schmidt :D

27 : what characteristics make a person wonderful?

i've answered smth like this before but honestly it's the aura they give off. if i am alone in a car with them i don't want it to be awkward and completely silent. i want to be able to talk wit the person and yk make memories? i mean it's a given considering my love language is quality time lol

like taking walks with people and enjoying it is just >>>> the best feeling i'll automatically bond with that person even if they don't feel the same way

28 : what characteristics do you like about yourself?

next question

29 : do you play an instrument?

nope but i'm tempted to learn either guitar or piano

30 : how do you feel about this weekend?

uhh saturday was pretty good but today honestly was really hard

it was a fast weekend too so i rate it like a 5.8/10

THANK YOU ORCHID FOR THE ENTIRE LIST LMAO

[contreparry]

Happy Friday! How about a prompt for any character(s)? From your one word prompt list, "Illusion". Happy writing!

Here's some Vivienne for @dadrunkwriting!

Never underestimate the power of illusion.

It was the first lesson she taught any apprentice she happened upon: appearances are powerful, and illusions (well-crafted, carefully applied) would give you the power you needed to survive, to thrive. Vivienne was a master of illusions: not the magical kind, though she had a deft hand when it came to weaving a deceptive spell to ensnare the senses. Oh no, she was a master of the more mundane illusions, the ones that anyone with sense could use if they only thought of it. Perfectly pressed clothing, not the latest style but the type that would forever remain in fashion, elegant and sharp. Face composed, never angry, never pleased, smooth as perfectly blown glass. Perfect memorization of guest lists, of family histories, of every last bit of gossip and knowledge so she could draw the right people in.

It was hard work to craft the illusion of an all-knowing mage who could stare into your eyes and know your very soul, but the illusion was useful. So many people would give up their secrets when they thought you already knew them. Vivienne wouldn't have her tangible pull over society if she hadn't crafted her illusion, her mask, with such loving care. But now... she sighed and tilted her head to the left, tapping the end of her fan on her thigh impatiently. She snapped it open and fluttered it to cool off. Too hot next to the fire, but far too cold to not have one blazing in the hearth. Cursed Skyhold and its eternal winter!

"Brown is not your color. Taupe is... definitely not. What I would give for some amethyst colored silk..." Vivienne declared as her personal tailor flittered around the Inquisitor like a butterfly over a strange new flower. "The blush swatch, if you would. Surely it would serve better than that burlap sack you call a robe."

Trevelyan- no, Evelyn, dear Lydia always called her Evelyn, little Eve, and though they had never met before that little soiree in Val Royeux Vivienne felt as if she had known this girl for years- Evelyn sighed and grimaced, her wide mouth turned into an exaggerated frown and her flat nose wrinkled in disgust as the tailor held up yet another swatch of fabric to her face.

"Madame Vivienne, you said there was a crisis-"

"My dear. This is a crisis," Vivienne interrupted, and she slapped her fan shut. She rose to her feet and circled around Evelyn, taking measure of every flaw, every little thing that needed correction. And oh, what a mess this was- tangled hair, bits of straw and leaves hanging from sleeves and hem, plain robes in dull brown wool that saw better days a decade ago, bags under the eyes... but there was something under it all she could work with, a sweet, soft charm that only needed some coaxing to come out so that the illusion of a gently bred, harmless noblewoman could take the stage for this upcoming feast. Present a dainty princess, then terrify the crowd as they realize that she was the dragon after all. A brilliant plan. Vivienne was almost pleased with it. She would be fully pleased once she saw it with her own eyes, but for now she would imagine it and enjoy the work that lay ahead.

"Illusions, dear Evelyn, are power," Vivienne declared. "Ice blue, Robert, satisfy my curiosity- no no, washes her out. Rose pink. Maybe with cream lace. We need her dainty."

"I've never been dainty in my life!" Evelyn protested as Robert grabbed several more swatches from his box.

"Illusions are power. Carve it into your very soul, my dear," Vivienne said, and she retreated back to the sofa. "Sage green is too mature, save that for a tea gown. Perhaps peach... I really should have brought darling Josephine in." Josephine would take pity on Evelyn and let her wear her brown garb, but she did have excellent taste.

"Maker help me," Evelyn whispered.

"He's busy, darling, and you're hardly in danger. Ah, why not try crimson? Too sultry for what we need, but everyone should possess one seductive outfit at least..." As Evelyn groaned and rolled her eyes to the ceiling, Vivienne opened her fan and hid her smile behind the delicate silk and carved ivory.

Vivienne did so enjoy crafting illusions. She was a master, after all.

[nothingwithdignity]

Oooh that’s a fun ask game! Top 10 keyleth moments? Or maybe top favorite clutch rolls across campaigns? Love your blog! <3

Thank you!! I don’t have a great memory for individual roles so have some top Keyleth moments

10. The first time she uses shape change

I mean if you all of a sudden had the power to be anything, who wouldn’t spend the night as a dragon?

9. Feeblemind

She took a big risk and it paid off. Also I like when she gets to do cool things with big spells.

8. Keyfish

It’s iconic, it has to make it on the list somewhere.

7. Voice of the Tempest

Seeing her achieve the thing she’s worked so hard for with all her friends around her makes me cry every time.

6. “I’ll bring that back I guess”

Also a big fan of the complex moments of grief we see from her in Search for Grog/Bob.

5. when she and Percy toast with a plant and a book

Sometimes theater of imagination leads to some shenanigans and Percy and Keyleth are great shenanigans buddies.

4. Getting drunk in Ank’Harel

Speaking of shenanigans….

3. Sky write

She has a unique ability to bring immense amounts of hope to people with simple choices and I think that’s cool.

2. Earthquake against Entropis

Badass Druid with a badass spell

1. Sunbeam against Sylas

Great in the original, better with animation, she’s a badass and I love it.

Send me a top 10 ask about Critical Role!

[isaacathom]

my character got given a fun crisis in the last dnd session and im still like *head in hands* oh christ

the brief context is that my character, Naielle Odelia, was exiled from elf!France for treasonous writings, which she produced incidentally while doing historical research with the aid of her warlock patron, Alcor. Also being a warlock is treason too. Naielle's younger sister, Mariela, is in the french army as a feywalker, some cool feywild traveller type.

When Naielle made a brief trip back (using a daisy chain of Plane shifts and Gates) to see her wife, a resistance fighter, the two of them ended up capturing Mariela to prevent her from doing Some Shit, don't worry about it. It was decided that, because of Mariela's skill set, the best way to remove her from the war would be to take her back with Naielle to the plot of the campaign (set in fantasy South-East Asia, broadly, and which is classified as a separate material plane). Lo, it is done.

Naielle and Mariela do not get along. real contentious sibling relationship. Their first actual conversation in the ~20 years since Naielle's exile was an argument about the Some Shit Mariela was trying to do, and it was fucking BITTER. And yknow, yeah, Mariela has a right to be fucking pissed in this context. ESPECIALLY now she's been kidnapped to another plane several months normal travel away from home. have fun!

Naielle does love her though. She's her younger sister! She's wicked clever, she's very good at her job, the family has long been justifiably proud of her. She's her sister!!! Naielle justified the plane shift as a way to keep Mariela out of trouble and, ultimately, to keep her safe. There's more to that specific sentiment but it's not important.

Well.

Alcor, as Naielle's patron, saw Mariela and went :) Ah! Another member of your bloodline! An ally to assist you in our quest to oppose abominations (mindflayers and so on).

And forcibly formed a warlock pact with her

When Mariela, understandably, objected quite strenuously, Alcor blinded her (temporarily, though uh, not by design i guess). The stress of the magic, one supposes.

And the worst part, for the both of them?

Naielle, functionally though not specifically, has a Geas on Mariela. they're bound together. Mariela has to work with her, has to help her with the abomination shit, or Alcor will keep fully fucking with her shit.

And Naielle is furious.

The whole point!!! The whole point!!! Was she wanted her sister out of trouble. She didn't want her sister to do her Some Shit (which would, whether it went well or not, have technically been Naielle's fault). She wanted her to stay safe. And in so doing, directly brought her into contact with her warlock patron, an entity that has fucking RUINED NAIELLE'S LIFE. She wouldn't've been exiled if not for that fucker! Maybe she's done some good using their power, but has it outweighed the fucking cost to her soul? jesus christ.

And now Mariela has been forcibly roped into it, and now she is bound to Naielle, and NONE of this is what Naielle wanted, and she can't even convey that to Mariela because WHY WOULD SHE BELIEVE HER??? Mariela has absolutely no incentive to trust what Naielle says, and in fact multiple incentives to believe she's a duplicitous bitch. It doesn't matter if, at least on this matter, Naielle is sincere. It's not trustworthy. Mariela's life had already been derailed by Naielle, and now its been completely fucking upended, and she can't even do anything about it bc if she attacks Naielle with intent she takes fucking 5d10 of psychic damage. and i've seen that woman's spell list, she can't bring naielle down before that damage would become a hazard and she doesn't have naielle's sustain. like, whats she gonna do, thunder step a bunch??? good luck. she'd be trading 5d10 psychic for 5d10 thunder on naielle and naielle has more health and other things that would keep her okay that Mariela doesn't have.

It sucks!!! Naielle's genuinely furious about the whole thing, for Mariela's sake, and her own. Her pact ruined her life, and she's been trying desperately to be good and do good through that pact to try and make that "worth it", so that her life being ruined had a fucking purpose. And now she's ruined her sister's life, and it is her fault, even if it very much was not her intention. So what good is it? Has that debt been remotely settled through her deeds? No!! No it hasn't!!

It sucks, man. Naielle's fucking shaken about it.

All that said, I have thought of a fun Bonding Exercise for the two to do which will keep Alcor off both their backs for a while - Naielle has a specific mindflayer she has to kill. Mariela has to help her (in general). So, team bonding, when we get an opportunity you, i, and the robot who hates mindflayers and has custody of the teleporting ship, we go for a jaunt and we fucking kill him, and you can pretend the mindflayer is me the entire time if it makes you feel better :) and my gm has already said that proposal will probably work and be a very fun lil side session in future. especially bc it'll be done without the commodore's permission ;) fuck listening to his orders ive got personal matters to deal with

[blazingrain]

Homebrew Review: Pact of the Archmage Warlock

Hi there! I'm kind of bored, so I decided to write up a quick review for some DnD 5e Homebrew I'm interested in! Today, we're looking at a Warlock subclass from the Ultimate Adventurer's Handbook.

Page 131 of the Ultimate Adventurer’s Handbook introduces us to the Pact of the Archmage Warlock, a spellcaster that gained a mote of magic from a powerful wizard of some kind. As a result, you gain wizard-like abilities to command more spell slots, cast new spells and generally become more wizard-like. This particular flavour of Warlock is one I’m surprised isn’t in the official material yet, and the way it’s executed here is great! Let’s go through the features. Obviously, I’m not going to post them verbatim, but I’ll try to make it clear what a feature is without outright making it pirate-able.

Expanded Spell List: This subclass’ expanded spell list includes some classic wizard spells like Magic Missile and Bigby’s Hand - notably, basically each spell is named after a wizard, which I think is excellent. All of them fit the idea of the subclass and are spells I’d consider picking if I was playing a Warlock.

Arcane Apprentice: New spells, and a change in spellcasting modifier. I think many people would agree that Intelligence makes sense as the default spellcasting stat for a Warlock, but if a subclass had to switch it, it’d be this one. This is a fun habit of the Ultimate Adventurer’s Handbook in general, by the way - when justified, they add a feature that gives a caster a different spellcasting stat! I like that, and it lets you think a lot about flavor.

Archmage’s Excess: The biggest difference between a Warlock and a Wizard is how they handle spell slots. A shotgun versus a machine gun, one might say. Letting you regain a slot occasionally closes that gap, but without making it an easy fall-back.

Eldritch Efficiency: I’ve seen a similar idea in Valda’s Spire of Secrets, but as a feat rather than a subclass feature. And I freaking love to see it here! It makes perfect sense for the subclass and heavily mitigates spell slot problems without making it the same as other classes. It’s super cool, and its bonus action usage makes it viable for in-combat use. It also completely changes how a Warlock might think about spell selection, as they would no longer prioritize upcastable spells like many warlocks tend to do.

Magic Resilience: Once per rest, but an incredibly powerful defense against magical effects. This is going to save you big-time at this level.

Archmage Arcanum: Talk about a capstone! Expanding your Mystic Arcanum options by a significant amount, and making them much more flexible, as well as generally more wizard-esque. It feels like a big change, going from switching them once per level to once per long rest, letting you command this magic much more fluently.

Basically, the Archmage Warlock is a chance to approach a Warlock with a different playstyle, eating a bit from the Wizard’s plate without actually stealing! Each wizard-like feature is approached from a good angle that makes it feel like your character needs to put in work to get this far, and doesn’t take away from the class’ original flavor.