#bard laudna

[thisisnotthenerd]

started thinking about laudna and her magic and then i thought

but what if she was a bard?

taking away all of her sorcerer features or warlock features would make laudna into something that she isn't, so i've settled on 1-2 levels of each, with sorcerer as base class, then warlock, then bard as the class she actively takes levels in.

picture this: before her death, matilda bradbury was a commoner's daughter. a weird, slightly eerie young woman with a knack for the creation of puppets and telling stories.

dies at the hands of the briarwoods. pops back up as a hollow one due to ancestry in the shadowfell (first level of shadow sorcerer gives you strength of the grave) along with necromantic fuckery from dying in an almost ritual act of cruelty in whitestone.

the woman who wakes up is pale and gaunt--she looks human at first glance, but a closer look tells a different story. doll-like eyes, pretty countenance that you could swear looks otherworldly in the right lighting. when you look into her eyes, you know she has already faced deep tragedy and pain and yet chooses to keep going. she clawed herself down from the noose, mutilated but still willing to keep moving forward. she'll never see her family again alive.

this is where the Haunted One background would fit very well: proficiency in arcana, investigation, religion, or survival. for laudna i'd pick arcana and survival. with a bard level she can pick 3 other proficiencies: given her existing list, i would take intimidation, persuasion, and stealth. from warlock, i would take investigation and deception. as a variant human, she can take one other proficiency; to round out from her existing list i would add perception. that gives her eight to choose from in terms of expertise.

the woman who clawed herself down from the tree is no longer matilda. no longer the dutiful daughter who marched to her death willing but unknowing.

what she does have is her puppets. her stories. her melodies carrying haunting stories on the wind. she travels from town to town with only her voice to accompany her--creepy little ditties and whispers of a witch's magic follow the woman who becomes laudna, named for a tincture of poppies that soothes the mind and body that easily leads the path to death.

when the necromancer who killed her takes up residence in her head she refuses to speak, simply using the poison that drips from delilah's words as fodder for more stories, for more whispers. she folds into a distorted form sometimes, wearing a widow's veil and aspect, forever yearning for lost love and life, frightening those who look upon her. (form of dread from one level of warlock)

this brings us to the next point: subclass. there are a few routes that she could take. one with potential for both humor and utility would be college of spirits. a ghostly woman telling ghost stories? come on. i think marisha could pull it off. also, pate and the other puppets as her spiritual focus? if she took magic initiate as a feat she could get find familiar still.

i do think making laudna a bard also gives her a little more reason to be a voice that imogen seeks out, and gives her a little more reason to be trying to become a student at ascension's rise and/or starpoint. it gives her a point of connection with dorian--while she would be a fundamentally different type of bard, i think it would serve the party well to have someone that can do non-personally damaging buffs in dorian's absence and have access to more spells from a variety of backgrounds. the other spellcasters have leaned into their specialties while laudna has been more lower level utility spells--i don't see why laudna couldn't be a bard and still perform that role.

also knowing that she came from a dream that marisha had, i think it would be interesting to hear what horror stories could emerge from laudna on the battlefield. she could really lean into the spooky. fun scary indeed. also taking every charisma caster class in one? fun concept.

[danwhobrowses]

Since I have some free time on the weekend, Downfall is next week and it's Missing Bells Hells hours for me, I'd like to share with everyone my vision for when the Hells return to table

[bruitist]

Watching the new intro and someone was paying attention in flower symbolism class! That's Lycoris Radiata, baby!

[lilpandrea]

How juicy would it be if the Delilah/Laudna shenanigans happen multiple times and Dorian reaches his breaking point then casts 7th level Geas because as Robbie has mentioned during the Exu: Unlimited Wrap-up for Dorian, "Friends above all else."

[starsisbig]

I want the juicy repercussions of a cornered defensive laudna insinuating dorian doesn’t know a thing about the tragedy of her corruption

[willowbirds]

Little rough doodle I did during 4SD for my Devil went down to Georgia AU I have planned for Halloween!

[blorbologist]

Oh nooooo Pâté is really taking the abuse to heart.

Baby boy considering what is free will, his independence in relation to Laudna, his nature as a construct, you know - things extremely relevant to Laudna...

... and he's asked to be fishing tackle.

[screamingatmyfandom]

Any time Liam O'Brien roleplays how tiny Orym is hilarious 😂

I'm currently at the "Orym looks up at the three giant women [offering to cuddle]" and the image in my brain makes me wish I could draw humanoid figures better so I could draw his perspective 😆

[rann-poisoncage]

oh Dorian how have I missed you sweet bard ! His interactions are my favorites, with orym of course but I love his interactions with the others as much ( especially chetney and laudna)

[mdr-mardek]

For the people in the back that say Bells Hells haven't earned their titles. These titles doesn't necessarily represent what they've done, but what they ARE. You just have to look at the character. To quote Travis: "Y'all, read your lore".

Lady Fearne Calloway, Fey Scion of the Ancient Flame: Daughter of the Fey Sorrowlord Athion Zathuda and bearer of the shard of the Primordial Titan Rau'shan, Emperor of Fire.

Laudna, Veil Mistress of the Shadow Tree: Callback to her death, the Shadow Realm with the Sun Tree, and the fact that she has control over Delilah Briawood now.

Ashton the Reforged, Hammer of Paradox: He's a living paradox between Primordial and Dunamancy that has been rebuilt and wield a giant fucking hammer.

Chetney Pock O'Pea, High Hunter and Lupine Paragon: A werewolf that constantly defines himself as a model of perfection.

Dorian Storm, Master Muse and Son of the Wind: Bronté Wyvernwind. Loving Bard and heir for the leadership of the Silken Squall that has a connection with the Air Ashari of Zephrah.

Imogen Temult, Exaltant Hope of the Red Storm: Exalted Ruidusborn that has decided to go against the call of the Red End.

Orym of the Air Ashari, Savior Blade of the Tempest: Devoted protector of Keyleth who risked his life to save her from incurable wounds.

Braius Doomseed, Nascent Might of the Platinum's Call: In a way, he responded to the call of the Platinum Dragon.

[ariadne-mouse]

In honor of our new extremely flirtatious and available paladin-bard Braius Doomseed, in good fun here are some possible very serious ship names for him with, well, everyone, with my personal very serious faves in bold:

Braius + Dorian: Stormseed, Doomstorm, Brorian, Doriaus

Braius + Laudna: Braudna, Loomseed, Skinny Cow, Black Ooze Inc, Doom & Dread

Braius + Imogen: Imogus, Brimogen, save a horse ride a minotaur, Doomult

Braius + Ashton: Greydoom, Doommoore, Brashton, Just Don't Me

Braius + Fearne: Bearne, Fraius, Callowseed, Doomway, Callowdoom

Braius + Orym: big doom little moon, Brorym, Seedseed

Braius + Chetney: Chetius, Brockopea, Doom Pea, Pock o' Seed, Chaius, Bretney (it's bretney betch)

Braius + Essek: Bressek, Doomshadow, Shadowseed

Braius + Teven: Doomklask, hero worship, Braiueven (sorry), Traius, HR Violation

Braius + Ludinus (look, he's here and being on a mission to defeat him does not preclude hotness): Brudinus, Da'Doom, Luaius (sorry)

Braius + Veth (she's not here but she would if she could be and I have to respect that): Breth, Doomatto, Vethseed, Doomveth, Broomvatto, seagull at the buffet table

Please pipe up in the tags/comments with your favorites and additions to this heavy-hitting discussion.

[danwhobrowses]

Okay so I was gonna do a big gush over all the new Bells Hells outfits on the recent cr episode (a surprise since I had expected that they'd show them for the live show), but instead I'm gonna encourage you to check out @agarthanguide who is answering asks about the process of designing them, they're very insightful, and I'm sure they're more than happy to answer more - within reason ofc.

[southern-gothic-comic]

Page 68

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(Author Notes)

Panel 1: Nighttime. Pâté does a dance in accompaniment to Laudna’s singing by the light of a campfire.

Panel 2: They have made camp in the woods, Imogen lies on the bedroll with her chin cupped in her hands, watching the performance.

Imogen: Wanna know somethin' funny? This is my first real night away from home.

Laudna: Oh! Are you feeling homesick?

Imogen: No. Not yet, anyway.

Panel 3: The campfire scene transitions to a similar one, with a group of kids in scout uniforms, including Imogen at about 8 years old, gathered around the fire listening to a scout leader telling a story.

Imogen: (VO) One time when I was a li'l kid I went on this campin' trip with my Highlands Scout troop. I'd been excited about it for weeks, collectin' all the badges you had to earn to be allowed to go. We all stayed up late, listenin' to the Scout Masters tell stories about all the horrible things that happened in those very woods we were campin' in . . . you know, the bard who gambled away his soul to the antlered man at the crossroads, the weepin' woman with a snake body slitherin' around lookin’ for children to replace her own that she drowned, the three kids who went in the woods after their parents told 'em not to and got eaten by the mountain hag . . . that kinda thing.

Laudna: Sounds like my kind of party.

Panel 4: Later. Young Imogen is lying awake in her bedroll, petrified with fear.

Imogen: Well, I couldn't sleep for terror after that. One of the Scout Masters had to take me home to my dad. Never did live that one down at school.

Panel 5: Back in the present. Smiling at her warmly, Laudna snuggles down to sleep.

Laudna: And now here you are.

Imogen: Here I am.

Laudna: Sleeping in the woods next to a dead girl.

Imogen: Laudna, don't say that about yourself. And don't believe any of that horseshit they said about you back in Gelvaan, either. You're alive. (a pause, during which Laudna does not contradict her) You're alive!

Laudna: Goodnight, darling. I'm glad you're here with me.

[its-your-mind]

fuckin shit I'm just so glad Dorian's back!! he just slots back in so easily bc he was there when they started and he's been a lingering part of them this whole time! he was the one who Chetney started tormenting first when he first joined up! and none of the rest of them are as fun to torment for him as dorian has always been for both chet AND ashton. ash just gets to be dumb and joke at dorian because dorian always takes it with grace but also is kinda a shit about it. imogen of COURSE noticed Dorian’s new look, because the two of them have ALWAYS been on the same page about the importance of how you choose to show yourself to the world, and BOY OH BOY she can get up to so much more charisma mischief now that her partner-in-lies is back. and laudna has immediately started once again delightedly horrifying him with her various dead things and he is delighted and ALSO horrified bc he loves her so much and fearne who LOVES HIM and finally has one of her people BACK WHERE SHE CAN SEE HIM which is so so important and good. and of course ORYM. Orym is smiling and he seems more relaxed and I know he loves all of the Hells so very much but like. ya know how when you've been away from Your Person for a long time and then they're there again and it's like you finally are able to be relaxed? and it doesn't matter how safe and relaxed you were before, because there was always something missing and then all of a sudden it's not missing anymore and everything is just. better. and something that’s been tight inside of you finally loosens. because your world was wrong, and now it’s all right again. and so Orym is less tense, he’s taking up more physical space, his smiles come faster, his laughs come easier, his emotions aren’t set on a four second delay behind his duty and so they show on his face as he’s feeling them.

and yes, everything is horrible. fcg should be here for this. dorian has just lost so much, and he’s coming to tell fearne and orym that they’ve lost people too. but at the same time…

all of that is easier to bear. because they’re together again. there is still an empty hole where fcg should be, but at least it’s not side-by-side with the space the Hells have been holding open as they waited for the winds of fate to finally guide their bard back where he belonged.

[utilitycaster]

You've mentioned a few times about Matt making this the Moon Plot Campaign and the cast not realizing it was the Moon Plot Campaign and how the characters aren't necessarily the best for a Moon Plot Campaign and I'm just curious: if you could pick what type of character build the cast played to best fit a Moon Plot how might that look?

Oh man I think I've answered this before but I will always answer it again because my answer is evolving.

The first two things are just general advice:

In retrospect I think Matt should have treated this campaign as sort of a semi-module format. If you will be playing a module (eg: Curse of Strahd, Call of the Netherdeep, etc), your DM should tell you this and essentially say "you can have your own character struggles - in fact you should - but they should be largely internal/things that can be addressed without you going on an extended quest." For example, you can (and should) play a character in Curse of Strahd who is struggling with self-esteem, or religious faith, or cowardice; but you can't have a character who, to address these things, must confront their father, because they're going to be in Barovia and he's not going to be there. I recommend checking out the rivals in Call of the Netherdeep, because their throughlines are great examples - they' develop and engage with the story, but it's very much driven by the plot of the story and not a delving into their backstory. So essentially, have simpler backstories or backstories that inherently tie into the quest, and let the players come up with that by giving them the most spoiler free outline. I think Matt tried to do all that tying up himself, and at times it made things a little too pat; or those characters who had elements that couldn't be woven in as gracefully (Chetney and the Gorgynei; Laudna with Delilah; some of Ashton's stuff) got very brief arcs so we could get back to the main moon plot.

Do not dump intelligence. DO NOT DUMP INTELLIGENCE. Have at least one PC in your party who is not just intelligent but like, educated. Percy, Beau, and Caleb all fit this. Chetney's pretty smart but not terribly educated so he's great at investigation but he's not going to do very well on religion checks. This party should have had a fucking wizard or artificer or cobalt soul monk or knowledge cleric, but also every party should unless you're going full murder hobo. I think it's valid to be into actual play (or d&d itself) for the character moments and the romance but you know what makes that possible? FIGURING OUT WHAT'S FUCKING HAPPENING INSTEAD OF DICKING AROUND CLUELESSLY. My one true house rule for myself as a DM is that one person in the party has to have high intelligence (or like, be a bard or rogue with decent intelligence but expertise/jack of all trades in everything). Play a high int character for the sake of your DM, PLEASE.

On a more specific note:

would have been good to have more Marquesian characters, but also someone from the Empire would have added a significant dimension. I do love Chetney, and I think Travis is the player who pivoted fastest to fit better within this campaign and has a good understanding of what it could have been with a bit more commitment, but yeah I think if Matt had told them a bit more of what was going on he'd have made like, a more serious werewolf member of the Gorgynei who had noticed lycanthropes becoming susceptible to Ruidus and decided to investigate, for example.

I think having more divinely aligned characters would have just made for much more fun interactions. The issue with the god debates wasn't that they were having them, for all I think that anyone who wants to kill the gods is a fucking idiot. It was that none of them knew jack shit about what they were talking about so it turned into an unending Emperor's Nose discussion. Having either someone who was actually trained (a la Braius, who is a welcome addition for this reason, among others) or again just. a person with religion proficiency and a decent INT score would have made it an actual compelling argument of different perspectives, and not a bunch of idiots yelling out nonsense.

It honestly wouldn't have looked much different. In fact, I think you could have kept the bottom table mostly as is with just tiny alterations, and done the following:

Make Chetney a Marquesian member of the Gorgynei with a mission tied to investigating what's going on with Ruidus. He could still be a weird woodworker.

Entirely rework Laudna's premise. You could have kept her creepy and undead, even, but get rid of Delilah and make her a wizard instead. Make her tied to the Grim Verity or an archaeologist who got kicked off the Tishtan site. You could even keep her aligned with Imogen although I'd have made it a more recent meet up of her being on the run and having gone through Gelvaan in trying to avoid the Grey Assassins

I like what happened with FCG ultimately but I think a different subclass would have still helped; make them a knowledge cleric and more intelligent.

Make Imogen and Ashton much more aware of the Apex War and Otohan's history from the get go. Also give Laura a heads up that her character's going to be super central and she will be in the hot seat for much of the campaign.

[thisisnotthenerd]

i think it says a lot about the bells and what they're willing to do that so many of the actions they took involved damage to each other.

like chetney slapping the brand of castigation on fearne.

dorian with the forcecage, sealing the entrance and saving fearne for the moment but leaving a barrier that she had to circumvent.

imogen getting on gloamglut, even though she couldn't fully control it.

all of them (in the radius) taking the snowdinus explosion damage.

braius with the thunderwave to get fearne airborne.

ashton with the gravity assault.

they're all willing to get hurt and take big risks. it's the end of the world. they're willing to hurt themselves and each other to do what they need to do.

also shout out to laudna and her multiple clutch counterspells. she's the only one with it for right now and is holding it down. i'm hoping that one of the bards takes it because unless they've already dealt with ludinus' reaction, she's going to be a single link in a chain of counterspells in every battle they have with him.