#i'm also playing a cleric for the first time which is exciting

[warlordfelwinter]

playing the dnd starter kit adventure so my friend can try dm’ing for the first time (she’s doing AMAZING, i can’t wait to be extremely annoying with celeste in a full campaign) and the only problem is i’m the only one who has listened to taz and the starter kit is at least the beginning of here there be gerblins and she described gundren and [checks notes] sildar walking in to the tavern and it took everything in my power not to shout “BARRY!!!”

[revvethasmythh]

me: how come this fight with lorroakan [lvl 8 wizard] was so easy?

also me: *came into the fight with an entire lvl 12 party*

me: oh right

[bananasfosterparent]

Update on my current runs!

Silkina the Bard Waveservant -

She got the Volo eye (not pictured) and has been helping her friends while looking for a cure. This is my first "good" solo run, so it's a lot of content, more than I'm used to! Definitely going slower than my usual, but still a lot of fun! Also never realized how funny Karlach is lmao. Just getting to the goblin fight so we'll see how it goes! Very excited to get Wyll's party scene!! Silkina is sassy, but kind and really an outlier among other waveservants because of it. Well, she's really good at connecting with others at least. Despite it being odd, since most Waveservants (especially clerics) are quite standoffish and introverted, Silkina focuses on making her outgoing nature work for her, sharing the might and fury of Umberlee with her words (and music).

Also.. after getting the Volo eye and almost everyone disapproving, I noticed Wyll didn't.. but he didn't have a ! either. I had her talk to him anyway and he was like "Welcome to the one eye club! A woman with one eye is very intriguing c:" and I giggled.

Efeniti (Spawn Astarion ending AU run) -

In the exact same place it's been for a few weeks lmao I have not touched this playthrough. I AM SCHTALLING. I know what you're thinking... because I'm an AA fan... but really, I just can't emotionally handle the break down scene after he brutally stabs Cazedor. Or the brutal stabbing. I am really not ready for that. I have my own feelings for why and what it makes me experience, but maybe if I actually go through with it this time, I can talk about it (it's not that bad, I'm just procrastinating).

This version of Efenity is who she would be if she hadn't lost the woman who was like a mother to her. If she had been able to have a somewhat normal life and become a private magic teacher in the upper part of the city. She's much kinder and able to temper herself much better.

Efenity (Canon AA romance run #whatever) -

This is idk like the 5th time I've played as Efenity. I've lost count 🤷🏽‍♀️ Most of these runs, I only got to Act 3 and only 2 I've gotten to the final fight and couldn't win it after trying over and over. This time I plan to finish it!!! I want my epilogue, dang it! I killed Minthara this time, at the party. There was a leftover from EA with a voiced Tav scene. If you killed Minty and the goblins at the party, that night or morning after(?) there's some conversation and Tav says something in the cut scene! ANYWAY... I tried it and it didn't happen 😭😭😭 I either did it wrong (I attacked before Minty had her murder cutscene) OR they patched it out of the game! I could go back and try it again, but I barely won that fight and it took me SO many tries (mostly due to needing to long rest).

But! Regardless! Even though I didn't get that cool voiced Tav scene... I have added Efenity killing Minthara and the goblins at the party to her canon story. Because it just makes sense that she'd do that. Originally, she just uses her to get to Moonrise but I scrapped that. While Efenity just sees the tieflings as collateral damage, she knows Shadowheart was struggling with that whole ordeal which did bother her... she cares for SH and she is her first real friend. And with Minthara insulting her for not wanting to sleep with her, on top of it...

Efenity was like OKAY. Time for you to go, ma'am.

Solenia Omraebra, the Drow Cleric -

I've only had her for about a week and I love her. She's also been through at least 6 different hairstyles 😭 Solenia is my newest Tav, a Drow and cleric of Eilistraee! She's very studious and scholarly. I don't know much about her beyond that yet. Still working on her backstory and whatnot, BUT she is good to a fault. She wants to save everyone, in every way that she possibly can. Even those she probably shouldn't get close enough to, to try to save. Even those she is told are irredeemable. She's romancing Gale! She's just getting through Act 1 stuff and almost to the goblin camp!

[freetobeeyouandme]

Chapter 1: The Cleric Zone-of-Truth's Me

It's time!! The first chapter of my Byler Isekai AU is now up on Ao3.

I'm finally ready to start posting this and y'all have no idea how excited I am! All fanfic is self-indulgent, but this one has been more so than others, which feels very appropriate, considering it is 100% the kind of thing Mike would daydream about in class (Cin's words). I also have to credit @iryfic and @fizzseed for the concept. They were discussing a different fanfic idea, had a misunderstanding and came up with this��and since we all wanted to see it, I sat down and wrote it :D

Tags: M, Graphic Descriptions of Violence, Fantasy AU, Canon Typical Violence, Canon Typical Horror, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn

Summary:

Mike Wheeler hates High School, so when he almost dies and falls through a portal to another world, he’s not going to complain. Especially not when that world does not only have swords and magic but seems to work exactly according to the rules of his favorite tabletop role-playing game. But his euphoria might be short lived because the party of adventurers he falls in with turns out to be the target of an evil god and the fate of the world might rest on their shoulders. So, exactly like his games of D&D. Except the wanna-be Paladin soon realizes that being a hero is much harder in real life than it is in-game. - Or, Mike gets isekai’d into a world where D&D is real.

An excerpt and taglist below the cut:

Excerpt:

High School has, thus far, been the worst period of Mike Wheeler’s life, so it’s not really a surprise for him when spring break starts the way it does. In many ways he should have seen it coming, and in many ways he could have prevented it. If he’d just biked home right after school, accepting that his one week’s vacation would be nothing but hiding out in his basement some more, playing Atari on his own and working on school assignments, none of this would have happened. But Mike has had a bad year, and it being the anniversary of the week his life went from ‘kinda bad’ to ‘absolute hell’ only makes him stubbornly cling to a moment of reprieve all the more. So what happens is this: He takes the long way home, and he drowns.

The way from school to the Wheeler’s house is a straightforward one, cutting through downtown and then the suburban neighborhood he calls his home. It’s a safe path. But when school lets out, Mike doesn’t feel safe, and he sure as shit doesn’t feel straightforward. He has a weird sense of foreboding, as if tomorrow he’ll wake up to find the police at his doorstep with questions about the disappearance of Eddie Munson – except Eddie has been gone for a year now. Mike would know where the former leader of Hellfire Club was these days if he bothered to ask Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, but Mike hasn’t. He knows Gareth and Jeff were in contact with Eddie through Wayne, but Eddie only sent postcards to his uncle, choosing to ignore his friends, and, well, two could play that game. Eddie was fine, that much Mike knew, but Hellfire had fallen apart in his absence – and worse become the source of ridicule and persecution for its remaining members. So, Mike couldn’t care less what Eddie was doing. Eddie didn’t care about them either, after all.

With Eddie gone, Mike only had his basement, the safety of his own four walls, the only place in the world where the bullies could not get to him. And even at home safety was a strong word considering how concerned his parents still were about him falling prey to satanism and the evil doctrine that they, like the rest of Hawkins, couldn’t quite not believe Hellfire had propagated. They had hidden it better than most, but Mike knew their feelings on his hobbies didn’t differ much from the rest of town. Their opinions rarely did.

And so Mike, contrary to what he had promised his mother, contrary to common sense and every reprimand he can bring in retrospective, doesn’t head straight home. He swings onto his bike and veers sharply in the opposite direction, speeding past houses and streets and those wonderfully concerned citizens who all judge him silently as he runs past them – must judge him, for he is known. His face had been plastered all across town on those posters that had been circulating for months even after Eddie had been found at the end of spring break, alive and hale with his runaway girlfriend, who had been everyone’s real reason of concern, let’s be honest.

He doesn’t slow down until he hits the line of trees outside of town, then jumps out of the saddle to push his bike along their shade.

The woods had been another place of safety, back when he had still been a child. If the rain and the years hadn’t washed it away, the wooden castle that they had played in must still be standing, hidden away in between the trees, safe from the town and their judgment. Sometimes he misses that boy who had been so long gone now that Mike doesn’t even remember his name anymore. His best friend, once, and then overnight nobody as his mother packed him and his brother up and hid from her ex-husband on the other side of the country.

They had only sent a single Christmas card, no return address. Reassurance that they were fine – still alive, happier, even – but also the goodbye they never got to say in person as they disappeared just the same way Eddie had. For a while Mike had kept it in a frame on his desk, as if by clinging to the picture he could keep their friendship alive. He’s not sure where the card had ended up afterwards. Probably the trash.

Mike considers walking into the woods, considers looking for the castle, but he knows he’ll be better of with the memory instead of the real thing. The memory is bittersweet, reality can only disappoint.

Maybe if he had gone down the path of nostalgia, things would have turned out differently. Instead, he continues along the edge of the trees and, eventually, inevitably, into the arms of Troy and James.

He doesn’t see them at first, but they see him.

-

Unofficial Tag List (aka you interacted with my snippet posts, please tell me if you want me to not tag you in the future (or want to be added)): @smalltownwheeler @wheelerpilled @wrong-energy @willthelies @foodiewithdahoodie @doggo9 @gardenfairie @beelikesbyler @beverlysclown @yickarus @sourdough-el @hessolivagant @hesquietoday

[videochess]

What are three (among your) favorite fantasy weapons/tools? If you fell into a Dive to the Heart, which one would you Wield to gain its Powers and which would you Sacrifice to augment your stats/build?

ohhh man this is a tough one. favoured Fantasy Weapon for me kinda depends on context… i love to be contrarian so in a game thats primarily melee i wanna do ranged and vice versa, for instance. in a game thats all swords, if theres One axe or mace or an option to use fists, thats the one im attracted to.

if i free myself from the chains of Context… ok i think im gonna have a REALLY hard time picking three so im just gonna list some weapons/tools used in fantasy stuff that i think are cool (not strictly Fantasy Weapons because some of this shit is real But Not How THEY Use It!)

shields: not a weapon but so cool. i love shields. you can use them to attack if you want and there's so many styles.

chakram: i didn't really think much about these until playing dancer in ffxiv and now i'm really chakram pilled. also if you play the xena: warrior princess game for psx you can throw a flying chakram that you then directly control in near-first-person and explore the entire level using it. which i think i would be able to do also

staves: magic ones. not a boring bo staff. but also i want to use it like a bo staff & not just as a Spell Focus. fact: i was really excited for palutena in smash 4 because the idea of a staff+shield moveset was REALLY exciting to me but she barely swings the staff around at all… wasteful!

maces, flails: i'm a cleric at heart so i always feel warmed to see one of these guys. it's unfair to bundle these together because they're vastly different technique wise but whatever

kanabo: this is like, a little bit from column Staff, a little bit from column Mace. (ok you dont use a staff like youd use one of these but maybe i would.) its like a giant baseball bat from demon's hell. awesome toy

katars: these are more of a childhood fav but my very first 2nd class in ragnarok online was Assassin because i was obsessed with those cool hand blades. when i was a kid i asked for a katar (real) for my birthday and got one. & it sucked ass

pickaxe: just a cool shape

Just Throwing Shit: im always enchanted by this option when it's present. i love the idea of specializing in just Throwing stuff. Any stuff. the little bouncy hammer you can throw around in destiny 2 as a solar titan is a favorite example of this but many rpgs have "thrown weapon" specializations that dont necessarily correspond to any one weapon Shape. its awesome.

bows: i think they are cool. not much else to say

OK and if i fell into a dive to the heart and i had like a whole armory waiting for me ummmmmm i would… probably pick Staff and sacrifice Sword. this Literally matches what i did in my kh playthru stream which makes it sound kind of boring but, whatever! if magic exists im gonna wanna use it!!! if it doesnt im still gonna have a cool long stick!!!! cant lose!!! actually though if magic DOESNT exist i want a kanabo or chakrams. Thank you!

Honourable Mention: in ultima online there's a weapon called "Hammer Pick" thats like a normal claw hammer with an inordinately long handle. i always thought this was cool. food for thought

[feyspeaker]

Hey, Fey!!

I hope you're taking care of yourself with the holidays coming up 🧡🖤

We obviously see a lot of your art and love for BG3, but I was wondering if you have any Tavs/Durges that you love? (As in your own characters!)

Or who is your favorite NPC/NPC interaction outside of the companions? 🥰

Lots of love from Ellie!

Hi there!! Thank you, doing alright!! You too!! I have 1 Tav, named Iiyola! She's in the portrait I painted for my icon. A draconic sorcerer with a few points in rogue. She's shown up in a few of my pieces, and I have like 100k words into a fanfic I may never post about her being childhood friends with Astarion. Halsin is her uncle- she's half Drow half Wood Elf which is a source of great inner turmoil for her spiritually. I'm a huge Frogotten Realms elf nerd so my fanfic about her only has Astarion, Halsin, Minthara, and Shadowheart from the game, and it's exploring each of their relationships with their culture and navigating life as elves who have very different opinions on what that means. And, Iiyola kind of bridging that gap in the party as she really belongs nowhere, not Drow enough for their society, but also too "tainted" to belong in Seldarine elf society. (I personally think that the new D&D lore kind of scoured the intrigue from elf politics so I am writing with more of a Neverwinter Nights/BG1&2 approach.) She's a Vhaeraun worshiper, as her father was a high up cleric within their order, it's a whole thing and I'm rambling now! Her faith is tested when she learns that Halsin is her uncle (to his surprise as well) and she learns some ugly things about her father that really flip her world more upside-down than it already is! I only make 1 PC for RPGs and that's it (99% of the time), so I've remade Iiyola for my Durge run. I never play evil in RPGs so I'll be doing a resist run for sure. As far as outside NPCs, I'm not really sure, I do like Gortash a lot. I do think that, unfortunately, both he and Orin seem to have been shafted a bit in the plot pacing. I was so excited to get to see Baldur's Gate again and I was kind of bummed out the upper city was kind of a letdown. I wish I could say Viconia but I really dislike that canon had to be forced on us, because I LOVED Viconia in 1&2 and the canon one just isn't my Viconia. Also wish they'd brought her original VA back and given her her goddamn beauty mark!!!!!!!!!

Kind of a ranty tangent but I also think it's a shame we didn't get to see as many noble houses- I would have liked to have seen Cazador's place actually be a manor, visit Gortash's estate, etc. I loved breaking into noble's houses in the first game. :( I think it's a dreadful missed opportunity that we did not get some kind of super important ball/masquerade/social event a la DA: Inquisition where we get to dance with our LI and do some intrigue that inevitably ends in crazy bloodshed and a battle with limited gear... Oh I am rambling again.

Overall I think the NPCs are all pretty compelling, probably my favorite little nest of NPCs was the Myconid 'village'.

thank you for asking and sorry for rambling!!!

[thunderwavesolveseverything]

Romance anyone but Astarion challenge....

So I've done 3 playthroughs, and each time I fallen into the trap of making the same character and romancing Astarion 😶🙃

It's just so difficult not to. I love Phayelynn (my Tav) so much. She's the character I play in my actual DND campaign. And in my defense, the first playthrough I was so excited the game had finally come out that I missed a crap ton of stuff in Act One & Two, so it made sense to do another playthrough with her to make up for it. Then I did her again because I had decided to get mods and I needed to see her in all her new pretty outfits also, I wanted to use the mod that allows you to recruit both Halsin and Minthara sooooooo like.....

I love Phay with all my heart and as close to me as she is.... I really wanna try a new playthrough with new choices and a new class.

BUT

I know me, and I know even if I made a new character, I'm just going to be Astarion's juice box again.

Soooooooooo I made up a challenge for myself and I guess anyone else who faces the same struggle as I do 😂🤣

Keeping specific companions in mind, I made 5 new Tav's STRICTLY not to romance Astarion and the challenge is to see if I actually pull through and finish the playthrough with which companion I had intended them to end up with.

WISH ME LUCK!!!!

(pictures below because omg I'm actually already in love with them all. they're all so pretty. I'm slowly coming up with their backstories- also Karlach's feature girlfriend literally leaves me CACKLING)

Gale's Tav

Elowyn, Ranger, Wood-Elf (favorite enemy: Mage Breaker, because we live for the drama- a wizard killed her family and destroyed her village??? backstory, is a wip)

Wyll's Tav

Renona, Druid, and Wood-Elf (uses her wild shape to change into cute animals, sneak into people's homes, and rob them. Not the kind of girl Ulder would want Wyll bringing home. She's a hot mess and gremlin besties with Astarion and Karlach. She's also like Viking vibes)

Shadowheart's Tav

Rhea, Cleric of Selune, Human (I really haven't fleshed her out, she's a noble- kinda want to give her Starfire vibes. I just really want to do enemies to lovers lol)

Lae'zel's Tav

Talice, Pladdin- Oath of the Ancients, Zariel Tiefling (I want her to have been besties with Karlach as a kid and when she got sold to Zariel she goes craaazzzy- but then years later she realizes she rather be a beacon for hope and save little girls from ending up like her long lost friend Karlach. Also, like huge Gamora/Angela from Guardians of the Galaxy vibes for her and Lae'zel)

AND LASTLY----- WHO I THINK IS MY FAVORITE JUST FROM HOW UNSERIOUS THIS CHARACTER WAS WHILE MAKING HER......

Karlach's Tav

Xaci Digglefiggle, Monk, Forest Gnome (First off- Digglefiggle---I'm crying 😂😂😂I used fantasy name genrator cause I've never made a gnome before and I fell in love. Xaci's family was caught in a forest fire and she was the only survivor- found by a group of Lathander monks, she was raised in their ways. Wanting to explore, she starts traveling around Faerun. Due to her secluded upbringings, she's unaware of how most treat gnomes, but she's still a little ray of sunshine and wants to prove that gnomes are just as tough as anyone else.)

[venusdevotea]

My Tavs!

I've been lurking on BG3 tumblr for a while, but I wanted to finally make a proper post showing off my characters! I've got a couple of campaigns going on, and I'm always looking to make new characters and explore different playstyles and think of fun lore. It's been so awesome to connect with other members of the community too, namely @basketobread's gorgeous mind and OC's, creator our best girl Lunara!

Without further ado, here is my first Tav Tal'riia!

I had originally named her Karliah after the legendary archer of the nightingales in Skyrim, but then got annoyed that her name was too similar to Karlach's, so I changed it. I usually run rogues or clerics in my irl dnd campaigns, so again she was originally a rogue but then quickly realized Astarion was a rogue too so.... to make more sense having him in my party all the time, I changed her class to ranger and holy hell was that sick as FUCK. I made her strong type at first so she gives off femme himbo vibes (lovable loser rizz) because GOD I missed like half of the content in my first run.

She is a Seladrine Drow Ranger!! Honestly haven't thought much of her personal lore because I just went for what I thought sounded super awesome to me off rip. I don't have any pictures of her in scene, because I just didn't think to take more tbh and I wasn't super proud of many of my choices and the things I missed in my excitement to finish the game asap to then.... start my next run!

Which brings us to my next two OC's, a re-run of Tal'riia's story and my first Durge Muerta! I... ended up deleting my first campaign and ran a whole do-over, since like I said, I felt increasingly dumb as time went on and after consuming more and more bg3 content online, I realized just how much I had missed in my first campaign.... SO brings us to a re-realized Tal'riia with a different skillset and playstyle. I went for sorcerer/tempest cleric, because I had heard how strong that build was, and with the cheats ring I got from the basket equipment mod, I had a lot of fun playing around. I've got a couple pics of her here:

Tal'riia 2: Electric Boogaloo Seladrine Drow Sorcerer/Tempest Cleric (I'll post more pics of her when I get back to her story!)

Of course had to also start my first Durge Run, which I chose to go a good route (I'm too nice even in rp to go full evil, but idk, I might try it soon!) and I decided to run an eldrich fighter Durge because I feel fighter makes more sense of a chosen of Bhaal than a sorcerer? But idk that's just me. Here's Muerta!

I actually have such an unhealthy obsession with her Muerta Half Wood-Elf Eldrich Knight Fighter (Yes the lightning jabber build) Heart of gold, little murder-y at times, but ultimately does resist her Urges. What's a little murder between friends!! Red rum is my drink of choice at a bar! POV: Durge is also casually your bff. Honestly pretty normal. Just don't meet the parents...... or the sister.

I'll share my next campaign in a separate post here. This campaign I'm running based on my dnd character I'm playing in an irl campaign with friends! I made our whole party in the character selection screen, but only moved forward with my character because.... there's only so many unfinished adventures I can have lol.

[fanstuffrantings]

Fantasy high spoilers:

I would like to give a big fat thank you to Murph for asking if the God's name was redacted or simply unable to be spoken because I was wondering the same exact thing and would've been desperate for an answer.

This episode was amazing and I was fairly certain Lucy wasn't dead. So the idea of her potientially managing to reach the plane with her new God is so fascinating. Either that or she's been chilling on another plane I don't currently have my mind on.

I was thinking maybe one of the other rat grinders died and she took their place disguising herself which was why ivy wasn't phased by her appearance. Convoluted I know which was why I had my doubts.

This episode of us getting to see the group be actual teenagers and us seeing how they exist on their own has been so much fun.

The rat grinders are incredibly interesting and I'm excited to see how their dynamic develops with the Bad kids over the course of the season. I'm also curious to see how fig is going to change stats wise over the course of Junior year and what will end up happening. Kristen getting more serious about cleric duties and making things up to Cassandra is going to be an arc that destroys me I just know it, especially since for the first time she won't have any romantic relationships to fall back on and avoid the pain. Gorgug absolutely nailing his Artificier classes but struggling in barbarian fully makes sense, especially with Porter's treatment of him but I am happy Hopclap is being supportive when he definitely needs it. Fabian trying to play the field to use Ivy for information and failing was entertaining but I was so stressed he'd mess up his tentative friendship with Mazey, curious about what Lou plans to take disadvantage on in his rolls. Adaine's idea to have the AV club help with the video didn't cross my mind but it was a nice try. Riz was of course doing fantastic and I hope for his success in the coming future. Congrats on being Murph proof my boy.

The confirmation that Brennan did indeed add a DMPC just to catch fig and give her consequences and he still can't actually manage to do that.

All in all looking forward to things.

[kelpie-bael]

Bg3 epilogue spoilers and thoughts below. I have romanced no one except the Emperor and all companion quests were completed. Orpheus was killed.

First off, I talked to Lae'zel first and foremost expecting to be hated for killing Orpheus but she calls me old friend 😭😭😭. I love you so much, thank you for still liking me!!

Ajdjdjddj she calls herself Zealous, bossy, and insistent and that it's all part of her charm. God she's really making me regret not romancing her.

Lae'zel says she missed me 😭😭 It's confirmed she's Bael's best friend

Shadowheart says she missed me and then says I've gotten fatter XD She's much more soft spoken and calm. She truly seems at peace and happy. And then she makes fun of herself for spouting sharran drivel lol HAHA still so sassy!

HAHAHAHA SCRATCH HAS THE ASTRAL PRISM AND WANTS US TO THROW IT

For some reason Volo is fucking here lmao and Withers didn't invite him XD he fucking showed up on his own. He's fucking forging our signature for release forms. Arrogant bastard but he's hilarious

Gale is a professor! Esteemed and honored! I got to hug him!! He unfortunately gave the crown to Mystra and no longer has the orb yet threatens the students with blowing up XD LOLOLO references how I failed at his magic lesson

TARA MY BELOVED!!

!!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to get the Cleric option!!! Roleplaying Bael as super devout and getting this is a blessing <3 AND THEN! Gale says he expects nothing less!

YES YES YES, MY EVANGELIZING BABE!! Lol he's still attempting to rizz me up and inviting me to stay in his tower

Right out of the gate, Astarion is flirting with me too X3 LOLOL if you ask him if he's been drinking and he calls us cheeky and that he's been well behaved. Aww little grumpy cat became respectable and a hero, killing the right people. He still doesn't consider himself 'good' which tracks. Aww he's accepted himself and seems happy, good for him. He's now less wet cat and more satisfied and happy. And he still wants the sun which of course he does

Halsin is still so formally articulate. Awww you offer a hug and he makes a joke about never declining and he's a doppelganger otherwise. Which hits because Orin did kidnap him 😭 Aww the Shadow lands are healing well and they've done wonders with reconstruction! Aww everyone is welcomed! What a shift from what we see from the grove at first. HALSIN HAS CHILDREN, 'CHARGES' TECHNICALLY BUT CHILDREN!! HAHA he jokes about tucking us in and telling bedtime stories. It's a little disappointing telling him about your time is less descriptive than the other companions.

Oliver and Thaniel are happy!! Yay!! Also he stills loves bear form and the children love it <3 Also he doesn't fuck as much anymore XD He's settled now and is happy!

He's not involved in the grove at all now but things are going well! I killed Kagha, good riddens. One last Halsin hug 🥰 HE GAVE ME A WOODEN DUCK!! I'm very happy about this duck

Jaheira is such a mom right out of the gate makes fun of me for being presentable for once lol And then I give it right back. Baldur's Gate reconstruction is going well! Jaheira still has a rough relationship with her kids but it seems to be better. Aww she doesn't truly care for the city but she helps for her children <3 Adopt me Jaheira! Aww unfortunately not too much to talk about with her. Very dry but I didn't bring her with me much.

Karlach is doing well in Avernus! Her and Wyll have been fighting hard to survive! AND! She might be able to fix her condition!! She does immediately make fun of me being clean though XD Aww and she really wants to come back to Baldur's Gate and she asks if she can find us 😭😭. Of course you can!!

LOLOLOL Withers is torturing a bard who owes him a favor to play for is. AJDHDJDJFJS EXCUSE ME??? THIS BARD IS AN ALLY OF MY GOD??? I just made fun of him... And then I said it is an honor to meet an ally of Oghma.

Honestly this feels so nice to be called a fellow Oghmanyte! Bael loves her god so much and to meet a peer is wonderful! I really appreciate how much I can bring up my class in this. He also pepped up so much knowing I worship Oghm

Awww Minsc and Boo are already so cute!! Lmao Minsc and Boo were locked away by Zhentarians for execution. He is so very happy to get a chance to beat his way out ... I don't think he'll survive tho... Aww he says don't cry because you've missed us! Also he's gonna get himself presentable which is fair, he's literally in prison garb

Baldur's Gazette articles are very interesting. Lol Astarion gets in the paper for sparing people!

Lol bug

OMFG THE LETTER CHEST!!! I DONT GET TO TALK TO THE EMPEROR BUT HE LEFT ME A LETTER!!

It is less than I wanted but I'm still so so so happy we got anything

I won't be going over all the letters in here lol, but they're great! Actually no, fuck you Valeria. Barcus you lovable bastard lmao. Arabella you're growing well and I love you! Aww the gur to Astarion is cute. Araj, wtf. Voss doesn't seem to hate me much anymore either 🥹 Aww zevlor, stop being so hard on yourself

Finally saved the best for last, Wyll. Enjoying the fresh air!! Obviously much more enjoyable than sulfur. He missed me too <3 Hes very soft and saying he can't imagine doing everything again without us <3 He's still deadly as ever without his powers, get fucked Mizora!! His father is proud of him and they've seen each other often. I still hate his father and he should be a little bitter but he's happy so I won't intrude. Also the fists have been forgiven and are back in good order. Hes getting fucking wasted!

Withers!! You've done wonders to this dilapidated building!

Lolol withers gives us a speech and says it's over for now with a naughty little finger wag. I love you Withers so much!! <3

[miodiodavinci]

omg i get so excited hearing about dnd!!!! how many campaigns have you been in if u mind answering?

i don't mind at all ! ! ! ! i enjoy talking about dnd ! ! ! ! our group got together in 2020 has run a total of (counts on fingers) 6 campaigns and 5 one shots, with our average campaign length being around 20 to 30 sessions. each person's taken a shot at DM'ing thus far, but the forever DM and i have both run about four of those each w

also, outside of one or two one shots, it's all been exclusively homebrew ! ! ! which is fun because we've all gotten to create our own regions and design overarching lore that connects each campaign to the other ! ! ! (surprisingly, hannus barbarous is usually the connecting factor. we did not plan this but that's just how it is now KJSFLKJH)

and because i love talking about dnd so much i'm taking this opportunity to dump a whole lot of summary of each campaign/one shot in chronological order under the cut w

ON A SCALE of ONE to TWENTY .. campaign

After being shut off from the world for over a hundred years, the region of Celosia finally opens its doors, sending out an open letter to all would-be adventurers asking for help. Our party just so happened to be the fools who decided to answer (and who got lucky enough to not get eaten by wolves on the way there), and have been tasked with taking down the shadowy Emerald Division that has seemingly come to power. They'll get to it as soon as they visit the dump (it's on the way).

Our DM's first homebrew campaign and the result of all of us being stuck inside and realizing we finally had time to play together w. This was the origin of both Hannus Barbarous as a running gag (along the lines of "this is JUST like Thomas and Jeremiah") and the name Scott as a throwaway bit, and also the origin of "The Coolest Emerald Division" title w

Characters

Roachcock the Tiefling Barbarian (played by me) .. bastard at heart, just wants to split heads, get coin, and buy a boat

Babey Möd the Halfling-Tabaxi Cleric (played by @anonprotagging) .. here to eat gravy and spread the good word of Lyra

The Storm the Water Genasi Barbarian .. he's super famous dude just trust me i heard he once fought like thirty turkeys

In'hala the Tiefling Paladin of Pan .. looking for her lost moms and also stealing this guy's boots hahaaa sick

Opus Whitfield the Human Wild Magic Sorcerer .. trying to use this opportunity to set up a new storefront for his family's gem cutting business, is actually using this opportunity to get bullied

note: i don't know if the other players use tumblr so for now they'll just be identified as "Xs player" from here on out w

GRANNY'S COUNTRY APPLE PIE .. one shot

An aging wizard wishes to taste the sweet delight of Granny's Country Apple Pie™ one last time (despite the bakery closing decades ago) and thus tasks our heroes with scoping out the place and seeing if they can find a recipe. Somewhere along the way, things got weird and it turns out Granny was just an immortal 65 year old who was taking a vacation in the outer planes with her wife but she's back now :)

Pre-built one shot that very quickly went off the rails, as to be expected for my very first go at being a DM after being a player for less than 4 months. The first appearance of Hannus as an actual character and not just a running bit.

Characters

Hannus Barbarous the Half-Orc playwright and Bard (played by @anonprotagging) .. he's taking a break from his prestigious play writing career to see the sights and reconnect with the little piece of him that was shattered when his troupe broke apart (but not too much of a break not to sign every autograph he can eyyy)

Sir the Eternal Flame (and sorcerer i guess) (played by Opus's player) .. still frustrated at being locked in human form, this giant immortal moth is off doing busy work until his curse wears off (which apparently includes bakery heists???)

Tehn the Sun Elf Ranger (played by the Celosia campaign DM) .. with their giant bumblebee Spoobin and frankly obscene lack of dietary standards at their side, there's no meal that they can't tackle

THE OSSIFIED GARDENS .. mini campaign

Taking shelter from the rain in an unearthly structure, the gang is snatched away from the physical realm and into a crab bucket-like hotel for the fae. With their most prized possessions taken from them as an entry fee, the gang has to endure arduous tasks to receive the stamps of each of the five Managers in order to receive audience with the minor god who runs the establishment. Whether or not she'll be willing to give their possessions back, however...

My first solo campaign as a DM!! Heavily inspired by Spirited Away and mostly an excuse to put old game dev content to use (including a literal circus of NPCs), but ended up serving as an important event in the Hannus Barbarous lore.

Characters

Hannus Barbarous the Half-Orc playwright and Bard (played by @anonprotagging) .. on the road with Tehn to visit a trinket faire in the next town over, about to experience beginning of a long and scalding beef with a petty minor god

Tehn the Sun Elf Ranger (played by the Celosia campaign DM) .. Hannus and Tehn are best friends now—they're having soft tacos later! :)

Piers the Minotaur Cleric (played by Opus's player) .. he's just along for the ride—maybe there will be cool books! :oooo

Tess the Halfling Rogue (played by In'hala's player) .. laying low until the folks in charge of her latest warrant lose track of her (and by laying low i mean just stealing at waist height instead of top shelves)

ROLL to PHOTOBOMB .. campaign

A seemingly normal winter festival goes astray when our heroes poor fools accidentally soul-bond to an extraplanar device meant to be a birthday present for the renowned sculptor hosting the ball (spoilers: it's a camera). They have four months to take it north to Cobalt City, get the re-calibration redone, and get it back in time for her wife to give it to her for their anniversary. The only problem is, the mountain pass is closed and the only other way there is a several hundred mile road trip by wagon...

Time to take some photos in front of some kitschy roadside attractions, I guess.

Opus's player's first time DM'ing for our group (though they'd DM'd before, and frankly—their experience shows). This campaign was home to some of our most beloved NPCs like Cassidy the subterranean super organism, Barry the extraplanar knife slime, and Sir the Eternal Flame Moth (he got that curse figured out finally!)

Characters

Fafnir of the Boreal North, the human knight Mimic Berserker (played by me) .. they just wanted to leave their dungeon to find a better, damper place to sit and eat and somehow accidentally took part in the funniest case of mistaken identity this side of Alcione

Ranger Rain Rainer the human Ranger (and literal park ranger, played by @anonprotagging) .. originally here to supervise the environmental impacts of the ball on the local landscape, now soul-bound to an extraplanar camera and havin' a good ol' time hangin' with the boys :) y'want some soy sauce with that? i bought a gallon back in brass junction

Kit the Elven Ranger (played by Tehn's player) .. legitimately so traumatized he wraps back around to being the most normal person in this group—just don't mention Celestine Grove

Babu the Hobgoblin Artificer (played by the Storm's player) .. having been separated from his parents and raised by Kobolds, Babu, his steel defender Babu, and his clockwork creation Little Babu are on a long journey to reunite with them in Grand Arbor .. please do not look at him he's sensitive

THE GREAT COCKATRICE RACE .. one shot

It's that time of year—the Great Cockatrice Race is upon us!! But just as our party is soaking in the sights and staking out the perfect spot to watch, they witness a young tiefling have his cockatrice's racing gear shredded by a local gang. Desperate to win so he can help pay to treat his father's worsening eyesight (they're cartographers by trade), he asks the party for help, and they quickly oblige.

Another one shot run by me, based loosely on a one-page campaign document. Not much to say about this one beyond the fact that everyone was ready to kill for Noodles the bantam cockatrice.

Characters

Actias Saturnid the Aasimar Paladin (played by @anonprotagging) .. on a quest to popularize his deity's chosen form of entertainment—tinker vision (TV for short)

Squish the Changeling Bard (played by Tehn's player) .. here to have fun and maybe also look for his friend that went missing have you seen her please tell me i miss her ;_____;

Kai the ??? Swashbuckling Rogue (played by Opus's player) .. it's a big festival, and that means plenty of eyes and plenty of cash! not a half bad time to try negotiating some new patrons for her artist friends

TROUBLE at PORT MANDRET .. one shot

What was originally supposed to be the 58th annual showcase of Umbergate University's horticultural collection is turned sour as an incensed former professor unleashes a powerful awakening spell on the entire town. With only a few hours before the plants release spores that will spread the spell to the entire world, our party has to act fast and cooperate with a local mycologist who seems to know just the fix to this predicament.

Another one shot from me, this time entirely homebrewed! This is also the origin of Scott as a character and not just a throwaway bit, and very much the source of his dynamic with Hannie. They found him tangled up in a bunch of kudzu in a coffee shop and he sent them on a long fetch quest to help him make a cup of coffee using stolen coffee beans.

Characters

Hannus Barbarous the Half-Orc playwright and bard (you know his player by now w) .. you know, he was just trying to lay low after the whole "committing arson" thing, but now he has a gay little mushroom twink to look after and that's (????)

Tehn the Sun Elf Ranger (played by you know who w).. also laying low after helping Hannus commit arson, but mostly here to eat a bunch of plants when no one's looking

Hank the Aarakocra Barbarian (played by Opus's player) .. he's a goose who only says "HANK" and i love that so much about him

Quinn the literal, unawakened, plain old animal tiger and Rogue (played by the Storm's player) .. the reason Hannus and Tehn committed arson after discovering she was being kept in squalid conditions by a wealthy family .. i cannot stress enough that she is a literal, un-enchanted tiger

THE ENIGMA of DAHL CREEK .. campaign

Their boat having sank in a storm, the party washes up on a seemingly once populous island now drowning under webs of unidentifiable blue-green vines and the eerily human-like shapes it creates. Working to unravel the mystery of how the entire town disappeared one August day, they find the past and present blurring together in a strange and haunting way.

The Celosia campaign DM's next big campaign, and frankly the one that haunts me most to this day. I cannot put into words how fucking good this campaign was. Legitimately gave me chills and occupies a region of my brain that cannot be vacated.

Characters

Hannus Barbarous (you know him) .. just trying to recover from the fae thing and the tiger incident and then the Port Mandret fiasco and really doesn't need this right now (but deal he will)

Biscott Cortinarius the human mycologist and Necromancer (played by me) .. putting a little distance between himself and the university due to the ""legal ramifications of interviewing university property without familial consent,"" but mostly sticking with Hannus because he's a bard and... well... bards aren't exactly beefy are they ;)

The Destitution of Mires the Lizardfolk Circle of Spores Druid (played by the Storm's Player) .. to this day i still don't know what their deal was, only that they sensed and so they came, and they left just as easily

Theo the ??? Circle of Dreams Druid (played by Opus's player) .. wanted to get out there and see the world, managed to sneak onto the one and Only boat that shipwrecked that day, now paying for it dearly

TIDECLEFT ISLES .. campaign

When the great Captain Wicke died, he arranged in his will that his treasure was to be given to the pirates of Tidecleft—so long as they could find it. Having arranged a massive, death-defying posthumous treasure hunt, several teams (including our heroes) must now compete to locate Wicke's treasure if they want to claim it all for themselves. What the late captain has in store for them, however, may call the worth of the treasure into question.

The Storm's player's first time DM'ing for our group, but not his first time DM'ing by far (read: he was Tehn's player's forever DM long before he came to our group). This was a grand old romp around a bunch of islands and sea caves that culminated in a frankly off-the-walls batshit final battle.

Characters

Acanthus of the Western Isles, the Mano (shark man) Scholar (played by me) .. a doctor and academic seeking to pay off a massive debt he incurred thanks to the Silver Lampreys and their web of loan sharks .. he doesn't care for jokes... or laughing, or puns, or metaphorical language or

Lemon the Warforged Circle of Stars Druid (played by @anonprotagging) .. realized she's accrued like twenty years in paid time off from working as a docent in an observatory, now taking her first vacation with her best friend Owen Gnome :) (he's a garden gnome she found outside and decided to keep in her pocket) (may or may not be venomous)

Bellamy the ??? ??? (played by Opus's player) .. ever grateful to the squid trawlers that took him in, he's competing in this hunt to earn enough to turn their venture into a franchise .. he is shockingly normal despite the whole "may not be from this plane" thing

Rayin the Tiefling Storm Sorcerer (played by Tehn's player) .. having received that sweet sweet "got hit by a magical explosion on campus" money and gotten magical powers out of it, Rayin is ditching academia to do COOL things like throw lightning bolts and meow at people

these character descriptors are getting long sorry

MIETTE SIMULATOR .. one shot

Somehow, our band of unfortunate souls has wandered into a town caught in a frenzy, raving for the execution of a seemingly normal tiefling man for an unspeakable crime (literally, no one will say what it was). The gang decides to get to the bottom of this, only to discover the very laws of reality are essentially optional in this neck of the woods.

Hannus's player's first time DM'ing as a dry run for his future one shot, and it was a hoot. Also the first time we got to meet Ranger Rainer's brother, Shine Rainer (who is the polar opposite of his brother thanks to all the trauma that comes with being a record keeper).

Characters

Lark the Aasimar Gunslinger (played by me) .. just trying to do as many good deeds as possible to get her dad off her back so she can get a girlfriend without him scaring her off with his whole "incomprehensible being of holy light" thing

Clare the human ??? (played by Tehn's player) .. i don't remember why she was there she just was and she was probably the most okay with everything that was going on

Hank the Aarakocra Barbarian (played by Opus's player) .. he's playing it cool after the Port Mandret thing, except this is not cool this is chaos

MOON TOWN .. one shot

It's Actias! And he needs help! For some reason, they've been disconnected from their god, and they can't figure out why! When our heroes decide to help, they end up getting snatched away to an otherworldly version of the long abandoned Sun Town and need to solve the mystery of a long cold case in order to find their way back home.

Hannus's player's main group DM'ing debut. Full of fun puzzles and good laughs (I'll never forget Actias asking us for help with a puzzle and showing us one of those shapes and holes boxes you give to kids) with plenty of throwbacks to old running gags. Felt like a nice homage to what DnD had been for us thus far.

Characters

Calamund Galbraith the Reborn Echo Fighter (played by me) .. a completely average guy who just so happened to get roped into getting "engaged" to a wraith that now endlessly pursues him .. he just really wants to go home and eat soup with his birds

Squish the Changeling Bard (played by Tehn's player) .. really worried for his good friend Actias :(

Tiel Alleywollow the Halfling Warlock (played by the Storm's player) .. a girl of few words (literally, she only speaks when casting spells) and eternally fond of her fiendish patron, an asshole imp named Dition

In'hala the Tiefling Paladin of Pan (played by the same guy as before w) .. hit her head on a ship and somehow ended up far, far south of Celosia. who knows what happened? certainly not in'hala, but EYYY SHE STILL HAS THE SICK BOOTS YEAAA

Teller Artax the Warforged Gunslinger (played by Opus's player) .. originally out to hunt down his lost creator, but got sidetracked, and then got sidetracked from that sidetrack, and then got sidetracked from that sidetrack's sidetrack, and then

THE CURIOUS CASE of ACTON RIDGE .. campaign

50 years before the events of Dahl Creek, a similar event is taking place—after a shoot out in the canyon, the town of Acton Ridge is also carpeted in strange, blue-green vines and locked in time. Our heroes must unravel the mystery of their pasts and the two intertwined fates of a pair of brilliant inventors who were seemingly on the hunt for something not of this world. Ongoing!

The Celosia DM's latest campaign and prequel to Dahl Creek. A little different vibes from the last one considering most of us apparently lived here before things went to shit, and many of us have tie-ins with the events taking place. Cool, eerie mystery fun ! ! !

Characters

Outis the Warforged Paladin (played by me) .. an archaic tour guide emissary from the Feywilds who's trapped on an endless journey towards an unseen destination .. it's sassy as hell and just the right amount of british to be infuriating

Emeril the Sea Elf chef and Fighter (played by @anonprotagging) .. retired from being a soldier and running from his past to owning a small tavern (and running from his past) .. very blunt (like his cast iron frying pan)

Spinifer the ??? Bard and travel-book writer (played by Opus's player) .. looking for the scoop on the local scene in hopes of bringing more folks over from her homeland .. common isn't her first language and she delights in learning cool new words, like "paranormal" and "clusterfuck"

Phira the Deep Gnome Monster Hunter (played by the Storm's player) .. haunted by her past and now interested in that which is haunted, this little conspiracy theorist is going to get to the bottom of this mystery if it's the last thing she does (but not actually—she'd like to live you know)

[tarotcard0]

A while back I asked if anyone knew of any (Video Game) RPGs with Party Building similar to Final Fantasy 1, or Dragon Quest 3.

Someone suggested Etrian Odyssey. What makes me upset about making this post is that they seemed pretty excited to suggest that game to someone who had not played it.

I absolutely hated Etrian Odyssey.

I started the game up multiple times, building and rebuilding my party to find out what worked, what didn't, which classes I liked, how big of a team I should go with etc.

I can't remember how many times I hit New Game to test a different loadout, but one thing that happened was that in earlier runs I cast myself as a Protector, but in later runs I cast myself as a Landsknecht instead.

From my experience, Protectors are supposed to be Tanks, according to the in-game description, but as far as I can tell, their high HP / Vitality comes largely from level-ups, meaning that near the beginning of the game, they're no better at tanking than a Landsknecht, and a Landsknecht kills enemies faster.

Landsknechts are also the only class that can wield Axes. Axes are my favorite medieval weapon, so they were the obvious backup choice for me. Unfortunately choosing Axes was a mistake.

In terms of abilities, a Landsknecht's Axes have "Attack a dude, but ostensibly stronger" "Attack a dude, but with a chance to stun." and "Attack a dude, but with a chance to silence."

Meanwhile, a Landsknecht's swords have "Attack a dude while moving first" "Attack 3 dudes at once" "Attack randomly chosen dudes 2-4 times" and one each of Magical Sword Slashes of the elements Fire, Ice, and Lightning.

So, Axe Wielders kinda-sorta have the ability to cause status ailments, which isn't great because the better solution is always to solve the problem permanently, meanwhile Sword Wielders have multiple forms of Crowd Control, and control over the Elemental Triangle. Ostensibly, Axe Wielders are better at single target damage, but remember; Sword Wielders have an attack that hits multiple times at the cost of hitting randomly chosen Targets, but if there's only one Target they can randomly choose, it's not gonna be a Target for very long.

A sword wielding Landsknecht could potentially solo the entire dungeon.

Giving me a huge list of choices like this, then effectively telling me that there's a "right" way to play is... shitty.

"You want a Protector on your team? Maybe wait until everyone else is level 3 first. How about a Landsknecht for now?"

"You want to use Axes? Axes are lame! Now Swords; Swords are cool. You should use Swords."

the whole thing reeks of a D&D campaign where the DM is choosing classes for the players.

"You want to be an Acrobat? Well, we've already got a fighter, but you could try playing as a Bard, or a Cleric, or a Paladin. We don't have a healer yet, after all."

I've played Dragon Quest 3, of course, so I'm no stranger to certain classes simply being a "wrong" choice, but Etrian is also really mean-spirited on top of it all. Using the D&D analogy again, the DM is an asshole.

In the game's defense, my first run was only such a disaster because I ignored the game's advice to bring at least a party of 5. Bringing a party of 3 wasn't exactly healthy for my action economy. But even a full party of 6 would struggle against some of the games harsher events or... "Formido Oppugnatura Exsequens" - Wow, they really wanted that to spell FOE.

The game goes on and on about how dangerous the Dungeon is. How many people have died exploring it among other things. And I appreciate that the game is at least honest in that regard, that it's dangerous mechanically, instead of just in the lore. But it goes too far.

For example, on the very first floor, there's an event where you come across a field a flowers the DM suggests you can rest in. But anyone familiar with Wizard Of Oz will very likely recognize the setpiece as a trap. For the majority of my runs, I just said "No"... Which caused my team to back away, and then I remembered I need to map the entire first floor, so I went back in to do that and the event was simply gone. On my very last run, I decided "Eh, fuck it. I just saved. Worst that happens is I die and lose a bit of progress." so I clicked "Yes"... and a bunch of Venomflies spawned in and left me as the standing-room-only member of my party (I got a couple of lucky crits and miraculously won). Not only is poison damage outrageously high compared to other JRPGs, but Venomflies don't even appear until your like halfway through the game's second floor!

The dungeon isn't just "Dangerous" - It's so absurdly dangerous that it becomes a parody of itself! No one would realistically be able to make it through this. And frankly, "The adventuring party rests in a forest clearing, only to be accosted by monsters that aren't even native to the area resulting in a party wipe (except for the team's only lady, of course)" is something I expect to see in a poorly written anime porn.

At the start of floor 3[sic] I found an alcove I could examine, and when I did... A snake bit me, and I lost 5 HP or something. That's it. It was relatively minor, but after that moment I just... stopped interacting with the game's events. I just said "No" to everything after that, and even started skipping text. Whatever the DM was selling, I wasn't buying it. The risk was never worth the potential reward. So I simply ignored every event moving forward, and sadly, it was the best decision I made the whole game.

It also made the game really boring.

The game was stripped down to its barest of bare parts. I drew a map, and I fought monsters, and nothing else.

"But TarotCard0, isn't that how you played Dragon Quest 2?" Dragon Quest 2 was charming and adorable, shut up.

The last thing I remember was my one and only attempt at fighting the first boss. An NPC told me that the boss was "Beyond this door" so I did the logical thing; I healed to full and opened the door, expecting to fight a boss. When a fight didn't start immediately, I made a B-line to where I thought the boss would be.

... Apparently by "Beyond this door" what she meant was "2 floors down" and despite descending multiple flights of stairs, it never occurred to me that it was a bad Idea to keep going. I was pretty sick at this point of using magic tethers to heal at the Inn and go back to the start of the dungeon making baby steps of progress until we were too injured to continue and repeating the process over and over, but apparently that's what I was supposed to be doing, because by the time I actually reached the first boss I was severely underleveled (if its damage output is anything to go by).

The game offers to save Map Data on death, but it's in the player's best interest to refuse that so they have an excuse to re-map those areas. More steps = More encounters = More EXP. But I was exhausted. I didn't have the energy to grind enough to take on the boss. I just didn't want to play anymore.

And so, Like a player at a D&D Table with an abusive DM, I eventually realized that the pain of playing the game wasn't worth the opportunity of playing the game, and dropped it like a rock. But only after hours and hours, days and days of convincing myself that it would be worth it, that the DM wasn't toxic, that because this was the first time in so long that I've found a game like this that I can't quit. Until it was finally to much.

[philcoulsonismyhero]

While I'm on the subject of yelling about writing things, that short comic I mentioned last month that dropped suddenly into my brain has been progressing!

It's got a title now, No Place For A Doctor, and I've got it fully written and roughly thumbnailed out as 24 pages, which I'm starting to take a second, more detailed pass at.

The basic gist, like I mentioned before, is that it's my old DnD character's backstory, but slightly rejigged to disconnect it from the specifics of the campaign I played him in since that was in an entirely homebrewed setting that belongs to the DM. The whole thing is a monologue (so all narration boxes rather than having dialogue), and it follows Sam through his stint as a conscripted army surgeon, feat. the incident that granted him cleric powers and eventually the reason he ended up becoming an adventurer.

It's set in a fantasy field hospital, so that means quite a lot of miscellaneous one-panel patients, but I've now gone through the script and figured out exactly how many side characters there are (about. 50 or so, but it's Fine, that includes a lot of 'person in background in hospital bed' and people that are only partly in view) and started designing the more major ones. I've also got all of Sam's outfits designed, and figured out how I'm drawing him given that here he's younger than usual. There's still a bunch more work to do (coming up with the layout of the field hospital, aforementioned cast of NPCs, some more outfit designs, a few panels I'm still not quite settled on), but I'm making really good progress, I think!

It's exciting, having something that feels like it's Going Somewhere on the comics front. I'm even kind of hopeful that I'll be able to get enough of it done to apply for an indie-comics-focused event at the end of the year when they open their applications in about a month, although we'll see if 'it's not done Yet, but it's well on the way' will get me anywhere there.

I'm going to throw them up on the art blog when I've got a few more test panels and sketches, but in the meantime here's my first pass at tiny!Sam immediately before and a couple of years into his Horrible No Good Very Bad Time:

[n1ghtcrwler]

The story so far:

Carol and I were excited to play Baldur's Gate 3, and decided to play it together, so we bought two copies. We livestreamed the first bit of the game as part of our Couple's Game Night show, in a multiplayer game hosted on her computer. The next day, due to scheduling, we each started a single-player campaign as well on our respective computers. Everything is fine.

I had started getting into mods due to The Sims 4, and expanded into using mods on Fallout 4, so I happened to be on Nexus shortly after installing Baldur's Gate 3 and noticed there were already over a thousand mods for the game, which blew me away. I didn't know about the early release, so I thought the community had somehow busted out 1.6k mods for the game in the span of just a few days and was deeply curious about what kind of mods they could possibly be, so I started looking through the list. End result: one dozen mods and a mod manager downloaded and running. Nothing major, just stuff that gets me new dice or access to camp clothes at a shop, one thing that makes feats available more often, that sort of thing. Most of them just make the game more closely aligned with the 5e books. One set of mods stands out; a mod that makes WASD move the character instead of the camera, because the "move the camera and then click somewhere" mode of moving around drives me nuts, as well as a camera fix required for that and the special mod loader needed to run both. These are installed directly in the game's bin folder instead of through the mod manager. There is an Improved UI override in the mod manager that does not turn off when I turn off other mods. Everything is working fine.

Carol and I load a second multiplayer game hosted on my computer, which involves turning my mods off because she doesn't mod, except the WASD set and the Improved UI because I can't directly turn them off and they don't affect anything that matters for multiplayer anyway. Besides, after talking about it, Carol decides to install the WASD set on her computer as well. The idea was to avoid playing the streamed campaign off stream, but we didn't want to not be able to play together when we weren't streaming. So a second multiplayer campaign was the best solution. The next day, I also join another multiplayer campaign being hosted by a couple guys in my Discord server. Everything is working fine.

My Dwarf druid/cleric reaches level 5. I go to level her up and the game crashes out. No message, no hesitation; click the level up icon, and I'm back on the desktop with the Larian crash reporter opening. I start experimenting with the mods, removing them one at a time and trying again, to see which one is causing it. Nothing fixes the problem. That same day, Carol and I decide to jump into our non-streamed multiplayer game, so I turn off all my mods in the mod manager just like before. But we can't connect. When she tries to join my lobby, she gets a message that "GustavDev" is different between our computers and therefore preventing her from joining. We try switching to the streamed one hosted on her computer; it won't let me connect, but doesn't give an error message. Carol tells Steam to validate her installed files and walks me through how to do the same thing. Finish that process, but still can't connect. We don't know which computer is the problem.

Carol reaches level 5 on her game and is able to level up her character just fine, so we now have ample reason to believe the problem is my install. She explains that "GustavDev" is a core game file, and has me uninstall and reinstall the game. This does not fix my leveling problem, so I start testing mods again. This does not work. I switch to my Shadar-kai (yes, a modded race) bard playthrough, which is at a lower level, so I can at least enjoy the game a little bit until we sort this out. But this is a temporary solution, as I know I'm going to be constantly frustrated with the game and unable to finish it if I never figure out how to get past level 4.

Last night, we tried to join a party with a different pair of guys from our Discord server. Carol gets in just fine, my attempts fail. I have my mods off, so I start poking around some more, and fully uninstall the Improved UI override. Now the game still won't let me join the lobby, but does at least give me the "GustavDev" error message. I validate files again and Steam reinstalls one. Still can't join. I go into the game's bin folder and manually delete every file added or altered by the WASD mod set. The game crashes without opening; presumably, one of the files I deleted was necessary. So I validate files again, hoping that will notice the missing file and reinstall it. It doesn't find any errors. I try to load the game again, and it crashes without opening. So I uninstalled and started a new install and went to bed.

This morning, with a new install, I verify my mods are off and my Improved UI and WASD set are uninstalled, start up the game, and load the multiplayer campaign I'm hosting. Carol is still in bed while our daughter is getting ready for school, so I hop on her computer and see if she can connect to my now-open lobby. She can't, it gives the same "GustavDev" error message. This tells me things are still not going to work on my computer. So I exited the game and uninstalled it again. Then I went through and deleted the mod manager itself, the game folder, and the Larian games folder that contains all the save files and all the mod files. I purge every scrap of Baldur's Gate 3 and the mod manager I can find off my computer, then restart my computer, THEN tell Steam to install the game anew.

The install is at 40%. Carol tells me that if that doesn't work, the next step would be a refresh of my entire Windows system. I'm debating whether or not this game is worth that level of effort. Stay tuned for updates.

[d20-brainrot]

who are your favorite pcs on dimension 20? (either as a whole, per season, whatever you want!)

oh gosh, that's such a difficult decision! i might go based on seasons i've seen? and as a disclaimer: i love every single pc, everyone plays so well on dimension 20 and i love the choices people make, this is all just my opinion!

fantasy high freshman year: god i love gorgug in this season, he was such a goofy guy, and i love him. he honestly was what made me switch to playing more barbarians in my own gameplay

fhsy: fig was sooooo good in this season, the stuff with her and ayda, all the skateboarding away, and just her coming into her own as a person hit very hard for me.

the seven: ostentatia wallace was so good, and izzy was so fun at the table! i'm so excited to watch her in coffin run and in burrow's end. just yelling "i love you" at her dad and all the cleric shit was amazing, and i loved every second of her.

unsleeping city: i've only seen the first season, but i loved kugrash so much!! him being rat jesus was too funny, but he also had his heartbreaking moments. he was a very well developed character and murph played him so well

crown of candy: it's a tie between 3, which i know is so bad, but they are liam, lapin, and theo. they each are just so fantastic and i love them all so much. liam was so sweet, and then when he was a war guy, that was so good too! him and primsy <3. lapin was fucking hilarious, i don't care what anyone else says. his banter with theo was unmatched, and the last episode with him was heart-wrenching and i loved every second of it. theo is also so good. casting knock on the door!!! the banter, sprinkle, the protectiveness all of it!

ravening war: god i love colin and raphaniel so so much! they are such a duo. but so are colin and deli! but then deli and karna! but then karna and amongeux! god, that season was full of top players and i probably couldn't choose one rn.

starstruck oddyessy: god i loved gunnie! the ball is rolling up is in my vocabulary now, and i honestly enjoy everything that lou wilson does, he's phenomenal. also skip is fucking hilarious in the beginning, when he's learning how to talk, it makes me giggle all the time

neverafter: tbh i loved everyone in this season! my top favs were definitely ylfa and pinocchio though. lou's voice was fucking crazy but it was wonderful. his arc with his stepmother slayed. ylfa is a character that i relate to a little too much probably, but she is so wonderful. her and the wolf are crazy. i watch way too many edits with ylfa clips, it's probably something i should work on haha

escape from the bloodkeep: tbh i love leiland! i'm only on episode three but he slays figuratively and literally (though not much literally lol) matt mercer is a great player and i love everything he does!

i'm so sorry that this was so lengthy lmao, can you tell that i like dimension 20 and dungeons and dragons???

[actionsurges]

ooooooh I have a horror story to contribute!! apologies if I've talked abt this before bc it's so. g-d.

rime of the frostmaiden had just come out and I was on an actual-play podcast at the time so I wound up in a discord server full of podcasters and streamers. one of the streamers in the server announced that he wanted to put together a group to play through this fun new module and stream it every other week. the dm put out a survey to see, like, how well ppl's play styles would mesh and whatnot. he told me he was very excited abt my answers and really wanted to play with me. cool. he puts together a group of six players and sends around a google doc character creation template as if we're all new players who don't know how to make a backstory or a character with motivations. but fine whatever I'll fill this thing out. in this template he gave example answers for each question all relating to his dwarf forge cleric who is the most boring uninteresting character I have ever seen. this cleric has no personality no drive and no roots in anything. I don't remember how but I found out at one point that he plays this character in every single campaign (when he gets the chance to be a player) so obv this cleric isn't rooted in anything, he's universe- and plot-hopping without any consistency.

anyway, the dm also tells us that there were too many good candidates for players so he ended up making a second group to ALSO run through frostmaiden, and that this brought him up to six (6) campaigns he's actively running at once. on top of having a very physically demanding full-time job. okay.

he really really wants us to use the character secrets that are written into the module as a way to, like, create drama but also tie us to the setting. some of them are buckwild and most of them create problems. (I got the dopest one bc I knew exactly what I wanted lmao that character was fun I'll tell you abt her sometime.) obviously we don't know each other's secrets in-game but half the group tells each other out of character for various reasons. only the rogue and I keep it entirely hush-hush. I can't remember if the wizard told and I just forgot or if she kept the lid on. the wizard is not important to this story.

we played four sessions, starting at level 3 and leveling up to 4 between the third and fourth sessions. the ranger kept missing games bc of personal and family emergencies, but other than that we had a fun enough time. lots of drama and interpersonal conflict that we all enjoyed.

Rand then in session four (after our first long rest; the first three sessions all took place over one adventuring day), the rogue wakes up with an unsettled stomach. makes a con save. passes. feels kinda bad but keeps trucking. day goes on.

rogue keeps feeling pain throughout the day. makes another con save. passes. makes a third con save. BARELY passes. the dc is increasing. makes a fourth con save. finally fails. a fucking red slaad pops out of his chest. he collapses to the floor, dead. instantly dead. nothing he can do about it; the slaad ate his internal organs. everyone looks at me, because I'm the fucking cleric. there's nothing I can do. we're only level four, I don't have revivify, and even if I DID, I don't have the fucking component. it's impossible to get an expensive diamond where we are. and obviously I didn't prep gentle repose; why would I have possibly assumed the dm would fucking kill one of us without recourse?? we'd had one (1) combat encounter in which everyone joked that I was a cleric who refused to heal anyone but in truth not a single one of us took even one point of damage the entire fight. I was evil but I HAD been saving my spell slots for healing 🙄. so it turns out the rogue had chosen the "slaad host" secret, and the book doesn't say anything about how the dm should run this. from the wording I had assumed it was meant to be a long-term plot hook, like okay in the middle of whatever else we're doing, the rogue has to be looking for a way to get rid of this parasite that will kill him someday. the dm says that that never occurred to him. he had arbitrarily decided that the dc for the con saves should go up by five every time. the check the rogue finally failed was bc the dc was 25 and it was mathematically impossible for him to succeed. this dm, who was running six (6) campaigns and had been doing this long enough to think "hey I should be a streamer and share my dming with the world," hadn't realized that the rogue should only have to make one save a day at most. why would he possibly need to keep saving every few hours in-game?? the session ends. a few days later the dm tells us that he's feeling overwhelmed and burnt out and that running six campaigns was a bad idea and he needs to just step away from the whole thing for a while but maybe someday we can all play again because we're all super cool. I found out later that his OTHER frostmaiden party, the second group he formed bc he got too many cool ppl answering his survey, kept playing off-stream. that was the only game of his six that he continued. anyway he was right in that we were all cool and should keep playing together, so our paladin (who was the gm of my podcast lmao) decided to take this group and turn us into another podcast. the ranger didn't stay but she let the dm be a pc and he made yet again the worst most boring nonsensical character who was excruciating to talk to. he eventually ended up leaving that campaign too and his character's mysterious disappearance became a plot point for the rest of us, and it was a struggle to make it something we cared about at all ghsjgjd. needless to say I have not spoken to this dm in a long time and I hope he got a new hobby bc ttrpgs are not it, man. he was a terrible dm AND a terrible player. also he insisted we use foundry which like. that's fine. but I was playing on a dinky little laptop (as was our wizard) and had to turn off every single feature for the thing to even run, and the dm's response was "oh I forgot not everyone has a whole gaming rig for their computer." okay.

tess this is so bad and yet. so so funny. glad you got a good group out of it, pouring one out for this cringefail dm who for sure was the cause of all of his problems in dming LMAO