#it's a really small party it's just me the dm and one other player

[steampunk-raven]

playing dnd rn :) it feels like it's been forever and it's been under a week lol

[psychhound]

the more i dm vs play other ttrpgs the more frustrated i get with how npcs work in 5e. my game centers around a small town with a recurring cast of npcs, as well as newly introduced npcs each arc that my players frequently adopt, and every time i open my Documents (tone: weary) filled with npcs i just wish 5e npcs were Built Different(tm) to pcs. obviously theres statblocks and stuff you can use but if youre working under the assumption these npcs are Full People who are going to take up space in the pcs lives youre going to be building them like you would a pc and frankly it sucks for a couple reasons

one, if i want to introduce a new batch of npcs of a level that will prove imposing for my pcs to fight, it shouldnt take me 10 hours to make them. two, once the fight is happening it would be great if they didnt have so many abilities and spells that im just hoping and praying i can make them function even a little smartly without grinding the whole fight to a halt every time its a spellcasters turn

and third, which i think deserves its own paragraph(s), i wish npcs didnt have the same set of skills that pcs get

i like trying to give my guys, pcs or npcs alike, pretty high mods on things, bc, you know, good for the game and also big numbers fun. but some skills are either inherently useless for an npc to have, or imply a loss of player agency if i was rolling them

like, charisma skills. deception is really useful for an npc to have, because then pcs have to roll insight against it to learn information. persuasion, however, is not something an npc should really ever roll. if theyre rolling persuasion on a pc, that player is experiencing a loss of agency over how their pc reacts to a request. if theyre rolling it on another npc, youre now just playing dollies with yourself while the pcs watch. if im ever choosing between persuasion and deception for an npc, im always going to give them proficiency in deception even if that makes less sense for their character. same problem for intimidation. either youre telling the pcs how to feel or playing dollies with yourself

stealth and sleight of hand are overall way more helpful for npcs than for pcs who arent rogues. and perception is far more useful for an npc to have than like ... survival. when are your npcs going to be rolling survival? if you have a ranger or ranger-like character whos helping your pcs navigate wilderness then why does it make more sense for them to be rolling survival and potentially mess up something they are meant to be good at, causing potentially unfun complications for your party, than just ... knowing that character can help them navigate, so they do? especially if thats the reason that npc is there?

idk like my players respond very well to the npcs being Full People and i do think theres a level of enjoyment to like. comparing pc and npc stats or players learning what feats an npc took or lore around subclasses but also. also im so miserly and decrepit and my google doc of my four bad guys this arc and their spells is 59 pages long im Tired Save Me

[cryptids-and-muses]

Post canon homestuck crew play Dungeons and Dragons

Karkat and terezi

Co dms

Unstoppable when actually working together

Terezi will get sidetracked messing with karkat

Karkat trying to write a deep and well fleshed out campaign that’s thematically resonant vs terezi’s desire for chaos and traps and trying to “trick” her players FIGHT

Terezi believes in karma and will make the world bend to this

Karkat is trying to set up romance arcs and argues about how it adds to the theming

Dave draws them fanart of their characters. Terezi loves it while karkat argues about accuracy before admitting yes he also appreciates it

Calliope also does fanart and karkat praises her skill and accuracy unlike some people

John

Arcane trickster rogue

Forest gnome

Just a goofy little guy!

Mostly just playing to have fun, starts off with a fun but simple character who develops over time

Ends up SUPER invested and taking this so so seriously

Karkat worked a dramatic reveal into the, in his words, “bare ass bones two paragraphs that a fucking wiggler could have written backstory” and John did not see it coming and loved it

Goes head to head with terezi a lot on her various traps she designs for them. She is getting more and more absurd with it. Karkat had to talk to her about breaking the world building with things she’s introducing. He is the only rogue. Send help.

Rose

Drow warlock

Tries to justify picking drow as anything other than she just thought it was cool

Nearly went old ones for patron but settled on archfey for story reasons

Has a 10 page lore document detailing her tragic past and her toxic relationship with her patron

It became 15 pages after going back and forth with karkat for a bit and adding even more

Only her and one other person are taking the romance arcs seriously and they become karkat’s favorite players

Tries playing morally ambiguous but terezi can be annoying about that and claims it’s just “the consequences of her actions”

Her and karkat both get very very into the scenes between her and her patron, the drama! The acting! Dave is uncomfortable and karkat brushes it off, it’s not like him role playing as his sister’s abusive girlfriend is weird. It’s in fact very important to the plot Dave

Has written fanfic of the campaign

Jade

Dragonborn barbarian

Path of the beast

Don’t ask me I just know

Her GLEE when she says “I’m gonna rage :D”

ANIMAL COMPANION! She nearly went ranger just for that but knew she wouldn’t have as much fun. Found a way to get one anyway.

It was harder naming her animal companion than her character

Having fun and likes the problem solving side of things, but likes breaking things with her massive strength just as much

Terezi likes to throw stuff at her, both traps and encounters, and finds it funny if she can just wreck her way through

“See John that’s how you deal with a pressure plate trap”

Takes the rp side of things very seriously

Once argued with Karkat over if her favorite npc would do that and cursed him out

Has read roses fanfic of the campaign

Dave

Plays a teifling with grey skin and orange horns

“What are you talking about karkat this is just my dude, don’t you like him?”

Hellus Jeffus

He’s a valor bard, eventually multiclasses paladin

Starts out just trying to mess with people but like John starts getting into it, though he tries to down play it

Have hellus more of himself than he realized and it’s making him face things about himself

Eventually hellus self sacrifices to save the party in this deeply intense moment. There were tears, Dave was wrecked, they went on a whole quest to revive him. It was touching and karkat is smug

Dave might have worked through some things

Jane

Halfling cleric

Her and John are small buddies!!!

Started out life but wasn’t having a lot of fun with it so with terezi’s permission switched to war or tempest with later s few levels in fighter

Her John and Jade are the biggest front liners, John’s character ends up really close with both of them as it’s easier for the rogue to bond with the person giving them sneak attack

Jade and jane’s character have an in game arm wrestling match

Took a bit to get into the rp side of things but eventually got the hang of it

Roxy

Tabaxi, easily, it’s so obvious

After much deliberation settles on glamour bard (though wizard and rogue were tempting for the joke, she wanted to branch out)

So many horny bard jokes but very little actual follow through, karkat gets frustrated by this as she’s all this talk but isn’t pursuing any of the romance options he’s giving her

She has SECRETS! She is HIDING THINGS!! Her cheery persona is a FASADE!!!

Cue complaining to karkat about how hard it is to wait to tell the others about her secrets and him threatening violence if she tells anyone before the in game reveal

She tells jake

Lots of egging on Dave and helping him with his fucking around

The BOND between her and Dave!!! They are the duo to end all duos. Team rocket type shit. There is nothing stronger than the bond between the bards of the party. My theory is it has to do with trading bardic inspiration.

Dirk

Half elf Druid circle of spores

Wildfire seemed fun to him but wasn’t as good

Wasn’t originally planning on being a Druid but after going over all the classes he liked all the customization and decisions that go into Druid like prepared spells and such

Didn’t really think about his backstory much, just improved something. He keeps improving new additions and it’s getting more and more elaborate and complicated. He has multiple hidden and long lost siblings by this point. Still doesn’t write any of this down. If he messes a detail up he justified it with more improv.

Yes his character has spiked up red hair and sunglasses. Don’t question how the Druid got sunglasses karkat.

Really likes the tactics side of things, he’s even pitched a few things to terezi she updated and later worked in

Sometimes works on plans and strategies out of game or making a million back up characters that play off the others in interesting mechanical ways

Is considering becoming a dm some time

Jake

Needed some help making his character, he just didn’t know where to start

Eventually after much discussion settles on a teifling bladesong wizard

Wanting to get away from his usual adventurer style Roxy helped with the backstory and they came up with this evil scientist raised in a cult who’s good hearted but was never taught right and wrong

He gets very into playing him and his moral struggle but can lean a little too good for his backstory, karkat points this out and Jake swears to get better at it

Dave pitched a lot of names for them and it was eventually settled on “Bernard Gunn” even though he has a sword. Jake just likes how it sounds

“Why is he blue jake?” “…..uhhh” “why is he blue?”

Calliope

SHE LOVES THIS SO MUCH

Teifling Druid with a focus on healing

Circle of shepards

Not a troll color pallet like Dave though, honestly it might get a bit trickster

Beautiful backstory that she coordinated with one of the others to make joint. The most obvious choice is Roxy but I think it was actually jade, Jane or John.

She gets so into it you guys, like so into it

Gives at least one dramatic speech completely on the fly

The other character who takes karkat’s romance arcs seriously and his other favorite player

Has also argued with terezi about world building and consistency. This may put her above rose in karkat’s eyes

Was also allowed to read rose’s fanfiction and offered full on reviews

Also considering going into doing but for the opposite reasons to Dirk

Vriska

Fairy artillerist artificer with a dip in war magic wizard

Min maxxed to hell and back

(Technically there was a better race, but fairy has its own advantages and she couldn’t resist)

An elaborate backstory too with some secrets of her own, I’m thinking full on lost princess

Yes she is That Player, you know the one

Has nearly been kicked multiple times and now won’t leave on principle

Not the best at sticking with the party and not just doing whatever she wants, but suprisingly Dirk has been able to talk her into it with his talk of tactics and playing smart

Second most effective is John who just looks at her like “vriska you’re not making this very fun :(“

Kanaya

Fire genasi ranger

Really tried to get into it but this just isn’t her thing so eventually decided to leave the group

Karkat came up with a fun story reason for her to leave and eventually brought her character back as an Npc

Did help rose make a cosplay of her character, after which John, Calliope, and Roxy wanted to make ones too

Vriska eventually tried to “manipulate” into helping her make one for her character

[paris-geller-was-straightwashed]

M*A*S*H 4077 & DND

guess who started their m*a*s*h rewatch around the same time they've gotten into d&d and now cannot stop thinking about the utter chaos and hyjinks of The Gang trying to play a campaign. it starts with none of them really super into fantasy roleplay, but they're all So Fucking Bored they might as well play to have something to do.

it started off imaging just what role they'd each play, but now I couldn't stop myself from imaging each person's race, class, AND, just for fun, the dice they'd use!

hawkeye: isn't that bothered about races, probably either an elf or just a human. class is paladin, relating the paladin's 'call for good' something like the oath doctors take to always help and heal patients, no matter what (and, let's be honest, probably feeds into his egotistical nature at being a naturally skilled surgeon, as if he was 'called'). cannot be Asked to care about ability scores (only to deeply regret it when he's nearly off'd the first battle) except for pouring most of his points into charisma. mostly likely of the party to Fuck his way out of a confrontation (no matter the other's gender #bihawkrights). spends most of the campaign messing around and forgetting what his spells are, but when the party hits a serious battle, is the first to throw himself in and use any spells to help his friends before himself. originally wasn't that interested in the game, but overtime becomes one of the ones who gets really into it, screaming across the board at ppl's bad roles and cheering & trying to pick ppl up in glee when they win. dice of choice:

(just the most wack-ass coloured dice I could find, metaphor for the inside of his brain (also this way he can tell if anyone tries to conceal any as theirs)).

radar: while interested in the fantasy stuff (being a comic reader), was a little intimidated with all the math & rules involved until hawkeye and bj convince him. part of me thinks he could be a halfling or dwarf, but then I think he might enjoy being a humanoid creature like a minotaur (farm boy) or a satyr bc of his love of animals. class is bard, where he carries/plays the drum. enjoys and gets really into the story, but is always flummoxed when it comes to the battles, asking what everyone else thinks his character should do (only for everyone to yell back several different answers). always needs a couple of seconds of mental math to add his modifier to dice rolls (me too radar) but when the party comes across a riddle or puzzle, is usually the first to figure it out. keeps trying to pick up small creatures to put them in his sack. is not allowed to talk while people make their roles bc of too many times where he's predicted the number before they can read the dice (the moment of hawkeye's saving role during a Big Bad battle was kind of ruined when radar elatedly jumped up at the nat20 before the dice even left hawk's hand). dice of choice:

(cute little puppers!)

margaret: at first is staunchly against it, calling it childs' play, but eventually is worn down by hawk & bj and is also so bored, she gives in. thought she might be an elf, but in the end chooses genasi, picking fire power. chooses the fighter class, leaving hawkeye to make a remark that gets a dice thrown at his head. doesn't really get super into the meta of the game or the story (often tells the dm to get on with it and cut to the action) but does love to play, where it overtime becomes a good outlet for anger ('the demon tries to approach you, margaret what do you-' 'I SLICE OFF HIS KNEECAPS WITH MY BATTLEAXE!'). is a good player until the roles don't go her way ('you only rolled a 10, so your attack doesn't hit-' 'SCREW YOU! KLINGER GIVE ME YOUR 18 ROLE!'). is pretending like she isn't having fun but everyone can see through her. dice of choice:

(these seemed the most like margaret, elegant but not too girly).

henry: is also peer-pressured into joining. picks barbarian class so he doesn't have to think about spells. tries to pick human bc all the other races were 'too complicated' but got told due to his class, he has to pick a more built character like an orc, so an orc he ends up being. but he's bad at it, often either trying to escape a battle or by being a peacemaker, trying to persuade the monster out of battle but with such a low charisma score, it usually ends up with him getting clonked over the head and margaret jumping in before he's killed. keeps trying to give his gold to poor peasants they meet along the way. doesn't understand any of the mechanics. rolls so many nat1's that nobody will switch dice with him anymore, thinking his are cursed. the game is often more stressful for him then not, but he enjoys the time with his friends. dice of choice:

(I dunno, for some reason when I think of henry I think of a dark orange/amber).

potter: prolongs joining, thinking he's too old for it, but is also peer-pressured and eventually caves, thinking it'll be good for morale. chooses dwarf and for his class to be an old wizard. doesn't understand half the rules, spends most of the time muttering under his breath as he goes over the manual, radar (un)helpfully leaning in beside him to explain. but once he gets the hang of it is a good team member; is the only other person besides margaret to take the hints and puzzles seriously and without him (+her) the party would probably be making circles lost in some boundless woods somewhere. cheers his teammates on when they make a high roll or powerful move and only occasionally has outbursts ('well colonial sir, you need a 16 or higher to cast-' 'MULE FRITTERS! I said cast magic missile and that's an order!!!"). dice of choice:

(same thing - when I think of potter, I think a dark blue).

charles: the last of the group to get into it. completely refused and repeated that 'he was far too smart for that kids' stuff' and everyone was wasting their time. but when someone had to dip out of the campaign last minute to deal with a medical thing, charles was brought in as filler with the promise of a day's R&R. at first I thought high elf, but switched to dragonborne, of the noble variety of course. chooses sorcerer (blessed with some innate magic, as his ego prefers). constantly complains about the needless complexity of the rules and why bother having ability scores when it's the modifier that counts???? is always arguing with the dm on his rolls. uses up half of his turns to use mage hand to steal hawkeye's things or cast ray of sickness on him when he's being annoying - but, when it comes down to it, is one of the more strategic players and has gotten them out of many sticky situations. like margaret, is pretending he isn't having fun, but isn't immune to jumping up with the others over a saving nat20 role, at one time even excitedly picking up a confused radar. in the end, swallows his pride to shyly ask if he can join the party finally ('you know, it'll, uh..it will give me something to do during those boring intervals, and clearly this group needs all the brains it can get..' '..charles, you wanna come play with us?' 'well, if I must..'). dice of choice:

(the snootiest of dice, a pure gold colour).

mulcahy: also initially intimidated by the mechanics, but is happy to play a game with his friends. a possible half-elf or maybe a wise owlin. cleric, obviously. gets invested in the storyline, often applauding the dm's story or asking 'what happens next???" only to be told to wait till the next meet. one of the few who has actual healing spells and probably the only reason everyone didn't die in their first battle. a nerd who enjoys solving the puzzles. actually gets into the lore and one time had a deep, 2 hr conversation with radar & hawkeye about the disenfranchisement of some of the races and the hierarchy of the class/rule structure within the fantasy realm, and how it relates to theirs. the next day, radar came to his tent to show him a little sketch he did of his character in cleric robes, shrugging it off, but mulcahy loved it so much he pinned it up on his tent walls. dice of choice:

(inspired by one of my favourite mulcahy lines, when he's talking about missing holding services in real churches - 'I am rather fond of stained glass', which I always think of whenever I see stained windows. tried to pick the ones that emulated the colours best (also would've liked maybe a light, forest green colour; it just feels mulcahy-esque to me).

klinger: one of the first to join bc what else what he gunna do but sit in his tent, sewing up pantyhose? rogue class, of course, relating to the 'urchin' background. changeling race, so that way with his class he can hide at any moment, and also, as he says, 'can perfectly match his outfit no matter what he looks like!' tries to follow the storyline but doesn't have the attention span for it, half the time guessing the wrong answer to any clue or puzzle (will come and poke the dm awake in the middle of the night with his patrol gun, claiming to have figured it out). second after hawkeye to try and Fuck his way out of a situation. cannot do math to save his life, making margaret often rip his dice away from him to add it herself. will gang up with hawkeye to use his pickpocket skill on charles. resourceful enough to have tricked the villains multiple times and gotten away with it but will also roll to try and kick the villain in the nuts to see what happens. dice of choice:

(these just screamed klinger to me; I like the dark, 'masculine' colour contrasted with with the colourful flowers).

bj: thought I missed him? well, I saved the best for last bc bj...is the dm! ha ha! no one really in particular stood out, but after thinking on it, he seems like the best fit. first, I was thinking of the episode 'the kids' where he gets really into the story he's telling, full of voices and sound affects and all. and secondly, our kindly mustacheo'd doctor loves Mind Games and pranks - what better way then stringing his friends along into one big, zigzag puzzle? bj loves nothing more then having his friends on the edge of their seats, only to pull out a bad guy the group thought they got rid of months ago, glee in his eyes watching them combust into screaming and table flipping. getting a thrill during off hours, hearing hawkeye & charles hastily whisper across bunks to each other on the campaign thinking he can't hear them, or getting shaken awake by margaret in the middle of the night, demanding answers. he spends hours planning out the campaigns in the tent (and finding new places to hide his papers from hawkeye), sometimes writing peg about it and occasionally - if the timing of the mail is right - using her suggestions she writes back. but mostly, bj just loves watching his friends have a good time - cheering each other on and hollering with each battle won, feeling proud of them for everything accomplished (when he doesn't have to babysit hawkeye & charles from casting spells on each other, trying to answer radar's 49th question on how rolls work, or keep margaret from solo fighting the demon fifteen levels above her). dice of choice:

(idk, these just feel 'bj hunnicutt' to me).

other camp members: - frank: was only let in Once after margaret begged hawk & bj, saying it was only fair. initially picked human bc 'they're clearly the purest and most civilized race!!' (causing eyerolls), quit thirty minutes in after being told he couldn't be a fighter 'cause they already had margaret and that he couldn't just 'set all his abilities to 20', calling them all nerds and angrily throwing a d20, only for it to bounce back on the tent beam and hit him in the eye. - some of the nurses have occasionally filled in, but otherwise don't play outside of margaret (most of their time was filled up with hawkeye using his character to flirt with theirs). one time nurse kellye filled in; she played a cute little halfling druid, and her and radar teamed up to help rescue all the forest animals, much to the groups chagrin. - zale & igor: permanently banned. both tried to eat the dice on a dare.

campaigns are held twice a month in the swamp, with drinks and stale pretzels to go around. use to sometimes go all night but after one too many nights of clambering arguments over each other's rolls, the whole camp banded together to force a curfew. while the game only exists within the swamp's quarters, they'll once and a while jokingly call each other by their character's names (and if you're margaret, one time accidentally using it to call hawkeye to surgery, which he now never lets her live down). during the last campaign of the story, radar pulls out another drawing he did - this time of everyone's characters, standing valiantly over the dragon they slayed. it now has a place of honour hung in the swamp.

[utilitycaster]

speaking of jasmine bhullar, she and brennan had a great convo about min-maxers and i was wondering what your own thoughts on min-maxing were? i'm new-ish to actually playing dnd and i still worry about making myself a problem to the dm as opposed to an asset.

First off as someone who enjoys Adventuring Academy but never has the time to watch the full episodes, thank you for bringing this up - I watched just the debate, and it was incredible and hilarious.

This is a good question. I am 100% in agreement with Jasmine here and she said it better than I could: min-maxing simply means that you read the rules to D&D and decided to use them to your advantage. Reading the rules to D&D is great and everyone should do it (in fact, this a reliable way to be an asset to the DM: know how your character's abilities work). There are a few cases where it sucks but most of those aren't actually due to min-maxing so much as shitty player behaviors that can occur in min-maxers.

I think one reason people dislike min-maxers is that the stereotypical min-maxer builds a character who truly can't do anything except for massive damage, and that does kind of suck, but I also think that that is really hard to build in 5e. You're going to have some other abilities. I think it was much easier to truly min-max in 3.5e, and perhaps in older editions you could really break things (in fact, having listened to some pathfinder 1e actual plays, I know you could).

There is also, as Jasmine points out, a false assumption that min-maxers aren't interested in RP or won't do it. This is very clearly untrue and a few examples off the top of my head from Actual Play that are debatably min-maxed are: Deadeye Cybin (played by Brennan, natch) in NADDPod (damage dealer); Laerryn Coramar-Seelie of EXU Calamity (optimized for survival, especially against non-magical foes); Caduceus Clay and Deanna Leimert of Critical Role (both optimized to be healers, incidentally); Orym and Vex, also of Critical Role (optimized to have a stupidly high perception score), Theo Gumbar of A Crown of Candy (optimized to tank and have a stupidly high AC). These are all fantastic characters with profound RP scenes who happen to also be really, really good at a narrow band of things, but they're also not just good at that. Many of them also can serve as the brains or the face of their party; many have utility spells far beyond their area of specialization.

Another reason people dislike min-maxers is they have a reputation for being ungenerous - for swooping in and stealing the spotlight. The above characters, played by some of the most generous people in actual play, show that's clearly not the case. Also, to be honest, a spotlight hog doesn't have to be min-maxed. It's just a shitty "hey, hey look at me" player. I think attention hogs might be a bit more inclined to try to build a character who is really really good at something (again, usually damage more than say, healing) but that doesn't mean that everyone who builds a gunslinger is here to steal all the glory.

Specialization also isn't bad! The reason D&D is a game where people are in a party is because not everyone can do everything! There are a small handful of characters who are a utility knife who can basically do a little bit of almost everything (Keyleth, Fjord, Moonshine) but they are the exception rather than the rule. Barbarians, for example, are a class that usually is structured around tanking and doing damage. This is fine! You probably don't want a party that's all barbarians because it is useful to have healers and ranged attackers and people who can sink all their high stat rolls into the mental side of things because they don't live and die quite so much by their physical stats, but it sure is nice to have a barbarian in the mix to balance out the glass cannon wizard, isn't it?

If you show up to a table where there is a clear gap in party composition (eg: healing) or there's a clear story the GM wants to tell (eg: very social, requires a lot of diplomacy) and you decide not to fill it because you are too busy building Guy With Stealth Bonus of +20, then that's a problem, but that's ultimately a failure to collaborate. Min-maxing for something that doesn't really help the party is simply the way in which you happened to fail that compromise.

I'm sure there are edge-case, dark corners of D&D Reddit builds that do suck, but honestly most of them suck in that they are actually not good (eg: coffeelock). Your typical case of dumping one stat to max out on another? totally normal, totally cool.

Anyway to get to the part of your question regarding not being a problem: you probably aren't! You're thinking about how to not be a problem to your DM, which people who are problems tend not to do. However, the big takeaways of the above are 1. read the rules of your character and 2. build a character who fits into the world. In the session zero, build a character who has a reason to be doing the things the DM outlines in broad strokes, and who complements the other PCs. If you do that, then it doesn't matter if you min-max or not.

[bloodyshadow1]

wishlist for Junior year

Since Junior year is happening in January I thought I'd make a quick list of a few things I personally want to happen next season. You're free to tell me what you think, disagree, agree, hell add more if you're interested.

I want the maps back- I completely understand why they did the show like they did for their live show, but I miss the Rick Perry maps that were so cool. Also Brennan has a lot of epic battles that are kind of hard for me to visualize because I have adhd and missing one thing he says can confuse me for the whole battle. Seeing mini's really helps me keep things straight

less NPC interactions- the NPC's are not bad, by any means, I love the hirelings and the romance partners, but I feel like including them on the adventure lessened the interactions between the Bad Kids. Like Tracker and Kristen for a large part of the adventure were attatched at the hip, and other places, Gorgug spent a lot of his time trying to patch up his relationship with Zelda, Ayda gets a lot of interactions with Fig and Adaine, but there isn't a lot of time for the three of them just one on one leaving the other out more. Just me personally I would like if the season focused more on the party and their relationships

(I want to be clear, I don't want no interactions with our beloved NPC's just less them being part of the adventure and more them being NPC's that help and exist but aren't the DM's Player Characters)

I hope they stay in Elmville or at the very least Solace- I loved Sophomore Year, but a lot of the charm of the first season of Fantasy High was the unique setting they were in. An urban fantasy world where a large part of the population were adventurers. It felt more unique compared to Sophomore year's more high fantasy, but with people who know modern technology. Even if they leave Elmville, I wouldn't mind them exploring Solace as a whole to see what their country is like outside of their small town. (I want to more campaigns exploring Spyre too, but even with the Seven they leave Solace by ep 3 and spend most of their time in other countries in Spyre, I want to see what a modern urban fantasy setting is like)

Adaine using the Sword of Sight, wizard or not, as a high elf she's proficient in swords and with her boosted strength and her desire to punch/hit people it's perfect. I know cantrips will still be the better option, but when has Adaine, I punch my sister in the face, Abernant done the more efficient option. Adaine is my favorite character so I'd just like to see her being the terrible chaos gremlin that I know she's capable of being.

Hallariel- I'd like to see her in battle if only once. I know I said I would like the NPC presence lessened, but I still want to see what Fabian's hot mom can do in a real fight. We've only seen her talked about as the best swordswoman in the world by Bill who himself is fearsome with a blade, but we only see her train/threaten her son. Even if it's a possession or mind control situation I'd like to see her in battle, even if it's against the Bad Kids.

For some reason I want a battle at a Fig and the Sig Figs concert- I don't really know why I want this, but I really liked the Broadway brawl ep of Unsleeping city, it made for some cool rules and the like and I would like, a less stressful, but still fight in the crowd of people while Fig and Gorgug are on stage.

Consequences for the Bad Kids and their friends/family- I don't really know where I'm going with this, but I just feel like the Bad Kids get away with a lot of stuff because that's how Elmville works, but I kind of liked how they suffered consequences near the end of Freshman year, even if I think months in Jail was a lazy way for Brennan to do a time skip until the finale battle. (I love the guy, but I believe what I believe). But specifically about YES! the god Kristen created and abandoned, creating a god and orphaning it should have more consequences than throwing out a sweater that you don't like any more. Are Adaine and Aelwyn treated differently given that their parents started a war over Aelwyn and wars have consequences, people died and have people to mourn them who probably aren't too keen on the two abernants in their country after that.

I'd like cameos by the Seven, not just Zelda.- again, I know I said less NPC presence, but still, they don't necessarily have to be NPC's just saying if someone wanted to drop by and play for an episode or 2. The Seven is probably my favorite D20 season and I would love to see what my girls are up to.

There's more that I might add, but this is it for now

[lookbluesoup]

Seeking Bojza DR Help

NEXT Saturday (May 13th) a few people in my FC are tentatively hoping to clear the Bojza duty Delubrum Reginae, the 1-24 man duty that unlocks weekly quests for gold coins and the second region, Zadnor.

We've poked at it before but three of the four of us have some chronic health issues and DR is... intense. If you've only got a small party. Which has made it hard to get through the whole thing before we hit that pain threshold and have to stop.

Even thought there's a 10 min queue built in, this is fairly obscure content with quite a few steps to unlock. So there's just not that many people running DR on a whim and we can't usually expect randos to end up with us to help

So I'm putting feelers out to see if anyone would like to join us next week! I THINK that since world visiting is now a thing, anyone can team up, but I'm not 100% sure. At the very least folks in the Crystal DC should have no issues?

We're pretty chill, casual players but all four of us have cleared MSQ and have at least a couple classes up to 90, one of us is a Mentor - we're experienced! Plus we've got a tank and a healer, so you'd be welcome to play any class you like.

We're looking for friendly, patient folks to help us out! It will PROBABLY happen somewhere around 2-5pm US Eastern time - we really only have this window due to the wide time zone spread of our group, sorry!

If you don't have Bojza unlocked, it's a bit time consuming but not too difficult and has some really cool rewards. You'll have to rank up a bit to reach DR, but hopefully a week's notice gives anyone who wants to join but isn't there yet time to prep!

If you're interested, comment under this post or DM me! I'll keep the original post updated as much as I can with how we're doing on numbers, so if you're coming from a reblog, give the main post a look!

Currently at: 17/24 (possibly 18/24) @/skostoflight @/tallbluelady @/chiclet-go-boom @/thelongestway @/sinus-lacrimarum @/ashenbun @/meatball-headache @/meganemaryam @/shadowmoses (+3-4) @/dire-catgirl

Maybes: 8 @/boggleoflight @/thorneyes @/eorzeashan @/meeshster @/shebaa

Reserve:

@/lark-mage

If we fill up a party I'm happy to keep adding others to sit in reserve in case someone can't make it, but ofc can't guarantee we'll be able to fit everyone into the run. Thank you all so much for the interest! ;w;

Also turning reblogs off since we have so many maybes now!

[queencaramilflinda]

Can I ask why you're a shriek week hater? Genuinely curious! I never watched it

Ok so I am putting this below a cut in case anyone doesn't want to look at discourse which is completely understandable. Also this got kinda long oops

Shriek week... where do I begin? Since you haven't seen the season, let me step back and explain the premise. Shriek Week was a season set at a university for monsters, DM'd by Gabe Hicks. It used a system made by Gabe called the Mythic System. Each PC (Ally Beardsley, Lily Du, Ify Nwadiwe and Dani Fernandez) plays a student at the school for monsters.

I should also preface by saying I havent seen the season since it came out years ago so this is all based on my best memory and posts about the situation

The plot. It is said in the adventuring party that the original premise for this season was for it to be a straight up and down dating sim style game, but that Gabe decided to go another direction between episodes 1&2, which means that the plot was clearly scraped together extremely last minute and is generally nonsensical. It involves clones and an evil plant and a bunch of other stuff, it's just kind of bad. The fact that the plot was shoe-horned in last minute also really effects the pacing of the season, because it was only 4 episodes long and only ever originally supposed to be a fun and quirky dating sim game.

The rail-roading. This problem is deeply connected to the previous point. I havent seen Gabe in literally anything else so in no way am I making any statement about his abilities as a DM, and I am not the type to throw the phrase rail-roading around willy-nilly. The thing is, that because the clones and evil plant monster plot got thrown in so last minute with so little time to be resolved, it a little bit took away player agency, with players consistently attempting/asking to do things only to be told no, and instead led down a very particular path. Usually I am very forgiving of this sort of behavior as DMing is very hard and it can be easy for players to get distracted from the plot at hand... however the players were brought into this game under the pretense that it would be rom-com in genre, not plot heavy. So it kind of makes sense for them to be confused and not on board with the plot that they didn't know to expect.

Terry Talbo. Ok this maybe a me thing, because I do not particularly like Ify Nwadiwe in general, but the way he plays his character Terry Talbo has always made me uncomfortable. To quote a post I made several months ago " Ify plays his character as being kind of pushy towards women, not taking no as an answer when asking them out, and generally being toxically masculine in a way that was not criticized by the narrative or even really the players at all." A scene that distinctly sticks out in my head as both bad manners and bad gameplay is when Terry attempts to ask out a woman at the gym, and rolls low on his check. As a result, the woman says no. Instead of backing off like a normal person Terry doubles down and insists on rolling at least one or two more times to try again, and eventually the lady relents and agrees to go on a date with him. It all just felt icky, and it was not just a one time occurrence.

The cast. (This may also just be a me thing). Each member of that cast individually are deeply funny and talented individuals. However the majority of them did not know each other and the chemistry of the group was way off and did not pass the vibe check to me. One of my favorite things about actual play shows is the secondhand feeling you get of being in a friend group and playing dnd. Shriek Week did not have this, which reduced my enjoyment.

The University Setting. I am putting this last because it's such a small complaint comparatively speaking, but the seasons that came immediately before Shriek Week were The Seven and Misfits and Magic. It was the third season in a row to take place in a school as one of its primary locations, and I think im not the only one who was feeling burned out of this premise by this point.

This is what I have off the top of my head without fact checking anything, so I apologize if I am missing something major or am incorrect about any of the details! I love d20, and while Shriek Week was not for me, it has in not in anyway impacted my devotion for the show.

[1000punks]

bonding. ˡᵒʳᵉ//moonlight sonata & the tri-soul dossier.

this song is very important to Festé's backstory, and let me tell you why. (pathfinder/d&d canon lore to follow!) ⇘⇘⇘⇘⇘⇘⇘

okay! so in our pathfinder campaign i've talked about the bits of the time loop fandango that led to what we players lovingly call the Edhest Crisis which, the gist of it is that a very powerful sorceress obtained the means (by way of magic, obviously) to manipulate time itself. this threw the world (Edhest) into an infinite timeloop/simulation situation. wherein; everyone who was in the world was shoved into a simulation-version of Edhest while in reality-Edhest their very life forces were being sapped. so, now that you have that context....

JANUS

Who was the first person in the simulation? janus! Colloquially (and sometimes, only) known as "Two-Face" (just, by their nature in general), janus is a charlatan rogue (half-elf dhampir) who landed in Edhest and is trying their hand at toppling the local thieves' guild to establish their own. when i made them, i had two fictional characters in mind that they were a "blend" of: daario naharis and jack sparrow. honestly that is kind of cringey to me now but i made them ten years ago! i'll let past me live for that! janus' backstory, that they're aware of anyway, is growing up as an outlander in a local "camp" (i'm sure you can guess what kind) for dhampirs - dhampirs in this society are hated by most other humanoid races. they escaped that life and now they're a small time thief and big time loudmouth charlatan.

so, they ended up infiltrating the local thieves' guild, and one of the right hand people (named Borisu, an undine witch) to the leader (the sorceress in question, although it wasn't yet clear at that time) defected from the guild to join their party. the sorceress took that rather personally, and began to target them. with the help of a god, their party, and some new allies along the way, they began to forge an assault on the sorceress. the god in question (his name was Lhosdir) was a former adventurer that apotheosized to godhood through you know, heroic actions (not unlike the awe and pomp & circumstance with Balduran in baldur's gate). Lhosdir ended up making janus king of his city in his own stead once they and their party got some hero points breaking up the local corrupt government and putting a stop to the illegal human trafficking ring.

that was, until they discovered a deeper, more evil plot! :D Lhosdir got captured by the sorceress, who merged her consciousness with his before everyone's eyes in the middle of an abandoned clearing in the forest. essentially she corrupted him! this is where the song comes in: every. damn. time. something pivotal happened in this campaign, our DM would play this song. this is one of the first times i remember her ever playing this song. :)) there would be many more times after that! janus' motivation after this was to save the man he loved and the god he was now devoted to. the full weight of knowledge of the simulation, and the sorceress' actions, were unknown at this point. but she was, quite literally, just getting started.

i don't really have good ending notes here besides the fact that irl, the campaign party split up so it ended :')

ROIBEN

next we have roiben: a drow assassin, who's lore can only be pieced together with scraps of parchment and hearsay (i.e. i haven't decided on it yet ahahah) in a different campaign (with a different DM!) entirely, he was involved in a conflict with a man only known as the Quartermaster, and was well on his way to forming a guild of adventurers to defeat him. unfortunately, one of his allies (another drow) turned on him and poisoned him, killing him!

all i can really say with roiben is that he has vile relationships with almost everybody in his life due to most of his life being spent in the underdark. (isn't that nearly always the case with drow? sheesh) if someone had ever shown him an ounce of kindness, he would have been surprised and paid it back in full - but nobody ever has! :))

roiben is around 85, quite young for a drow in consideration that they live for up to 400 years (according to the wealth of FR lore). in human years, he'd be about 17.

his introduction into edhest was falling quite literally out of the sky into a tavern. he, at the time, had an inkling that he had never been in this land before, the world was unfamiliar to him, and had little to no conscious memory of his time before this day. then he started having flashbacks. memories that weren't his began to flood his mind at seemingly random intervals, and he wanted desperately to make sense of things and piece them together. unbeknownst to him, the memories were ones that janus had made. all he inherited was a lifetime of trauma and even more amnesia. his timeline, in canon, happens before the events of baldur's gate 3, but not too long before. imo, this is the reason he embraces his urges so easily in baldur's gate. it gives him a sense of purpose, and killing is easy to carry out when you lack the skills to make personal relationships.

the sessions i played him were quite short-lived due to irl stuff, but his crowning achievement in terms of lore was being the first of the tri-soul to meet mordren! mordren is one of the characters that is also really essential to this story, but we'll get more into him later. roiben and co. ran across the tiefling in a mountainside hideout, but they didn't really stop to chat. this was one of the other times moonlight sonata started playing, mysteriously. i wonder if that has anything to do with anything at all. /s :)

FESTÉ

lastly, we have festé, the gods' (apparently) least favourite princess, the them that really ties it all together in the end. festé is a mephistopheles tiefling sometimes ranger, sometimes rogue. you've met them! probably.

what can i say about them? a lot of stuff i've made mention of in this post, this post, this fic chapter and in their tag on my blog in general. their life in edhest takes place after the events in baldur's gate 3, and i can't get into why yet, because the reasons will become clear later in bonding. winks and cries

in edhest, they were part of the group that effectively halted the sorceress and the-who-knows-how-much-time-has-passed-potentially-hundreds-of-years of corruption with the land, the simulation, and life in general. one of their companions, jeinko, was the first to mention that something didn't seem quite right with their surroundings. a simple comment, even: "you can hear the birdsong, right? i don't know about you, but i've never seen a bird in this forest."

and he was right, there were no birds in the forest, just simulated birdsong. then he punched a tree in half (he was a monk) and that was pretty much it, the tree went up i was gonna say like a christmas tree but like a vegas show, like it glitched. and then we all lived in mortal fear of jeinko, the catfolk monk who punched through the simulation for the rest of our days, amen

the jig was up, the only issue now was figuring out the way to stop it. but before all of that, came mordren.

mordren is special: he's a tiefling sorcerer who is unaffected by this particular brand of time magic. he had been doing research for years on how to halt the progression of the sorceress' agenda, and the magic that went along with it. all of his research (and a spell that could potentially break the timeloop and the simulation itself) was in an unassuming cave in a cliff face of the mountains. and one day, a thief found it and stole it. :) he carved what he remembered of the spell into his face, and went about rebuilding his wealth of research from scratch. he has never found the culprit. many years of meeting the same people who do not remember him (as well as his own special backstory) had turned him into a recluse.

festé and mordren met through a comedy of errors. being that, after a long battle one night, festé happened to bathe in the wrong waterfall in front of the wrong cliff, and almost ended up losing their life due to the right sorcerer. this was another time that moonlight sonata played. :)) long story short, mordren ended up joining the party for a time, until another time jump happened and he disappeared.

the next time festé heard of him, a mysterious sorcerer was holding an arguably more mysterious contest for groups of adventurers to guess his true name - as it had been lost to time. festé didn't remember him or his name until they made eye contact. so romantic

this was the last time moonlight sonata played, because the gang was back together, and the only thing on their schedule was to take down the sorceress. cue a very matrix-esque scene

of all of them busting out in the real world. borisu and jeinko didn't make it, unfortunately. :(

anyway, the sorceress was finally defeated, and the timeloop was effectively broken! after five years irl of trying to finish this campaign

LASTLY...

another interesting bit of context regarding mordren and festé is that mordren. remembers. everything. every time they've met, every kiss, every touch, every wayward glance, every soft whisper of his name. every. timeline. and when a time jump happens, there's no use for the vessel body anymore. he's seen festé keel over and be a dead lump every time he meets them again. it's only a matter of time, really. nobody can really predict it, but it's as sure as death taxes!

OKAY... SO WHAT IS THE POINT?

why did i give you all of this context? well, now that the wedding chapter of bonding. is out, you might start to notice funky passages like this one:

Festé could hear the music before they reached the far end of the aisle. It was a slow melody, one that could easily be mistaken for a dirge. It had a hypnotic, dream-like quality about it that the tiefling could have sworn was familiar, but only just. They grasped for a moment, trying to recall where they had heard it first, but the moment of realization didn't come. The melody reached a small peak, climbing an octave as Festé started up the aisle. They closed their eyes as it climbed back down slowly, getting lost for a moment in a memory they had no idea of the source. They imagined themself walking into a clearing, one they had never seen before in their life. Their eyes snapped open and they shook their head. Wyll pulled at their arm gently, and smiled.

seems a little out of place, doesn't it?

well, i'll leave that for you to decipher. happy hunting! ♡

[sky-whale-creations]

So I love martials as Dynasty Warrior wuxia type of adventurers, that martials should get some of their own crowd damage and wipe the floor with minions

My pcs were a monk, a ranger/vessel, and a rogue with an artificer dip

So I made this thing called Overkill which is pretty simple

When you reduce a creature to 0 hp with a melee attack, you deal an amouny of weapon damage equal to your level to other creatures of your choice within reach, up to your proficiency bonus

It enabled players to do splash damage, rewarding them for getting up to the enemies and enables me to throw more monsters their way instead of just 1 giant sack of hit points.

This was naturally coupled with 2 things

- Using 1 hp minions for weaker enemies, usually their proficiency bonus or less

- Using swarm-like statblocks as units for soldiers and organized forces to show their strength in numbers

My players felt like badasses being able to take out whole hordes of skeltons or soldiers in troop formations

I took a lot of pride in my party taking on trained soldiers in their own castle! It was one of the coolest victories they had! 100 trained, armed soldiers with lair actions couldn't stop them! It kicked ass

I know dnd 5e has done fuck all with teaching dms to be game designers, but small changes like using 1 hp minions, mob combat rules (with the online calculator) and allowing sheer quantity of combatants to be the spectacle has really let my martials shine and be the cool action heroes they are

[sorcerous-caress]

My Dm just gifted me the 5e Monster manual for when I started running campaigns again, and it made me think.

What do you think are some common non-pc race crushes that most human adventurers would have?

My bet is on something charismatic like a Rakshasa

Side note, how was your new years?

I went to flip through the monster manual to jog my memory.

Okay, so the most common would probably be the "human" looking ones with cool features, aka angels like devas and solars. In a world of dnd, i feel like they'd be the most socially acceptable ones.

The most common but considered problematic to admit it in public would be the same but with fiends like cambions or succubus/incubus demons. Some small sub-group likes the less humaniod fiends, but people never count them.

Also I had a tiger plushie as a child that was twice my size, I would always bring it with me and sleep besides it. If kid me ever saw a rakasha in the streets, I would've ran up to them and hugged their leg.

I think all animal based races would be loved by humans but maybe in a condcending way. Look at ancient fables and furries, humans always had a thing for humaniod animals.

They'd make bank at children birthday parties tho if they ever looked over the human condescension. I know I would've screamed my parents' ears off to invite a rakasha to my birthday party if I had known this was a possibility.

There is also a group of non-playable characters that humans would fawn and obsess over but in a platonic way? Like just adore their beauty. Examples are pixies, unicorns, pegsuses, satyr, will-o-wisp, androsphinx and gynosphinx, faerie dragons, and dryads.

You'd definitely see a post or two about these races trending on social media every other week. Like twitter's "white boy of the month," except it's the blandest pixie you've ever seen with an aftershave shadow and in boxers, still the humans are obsessing over them.

Peguses and unicorns would have like ultra hardcore horsegirls fans.

Now, me personally? I would make it my life mission to meet a centaur. You know why, we all know why. I'm willing to risk it all. I'd suck up to an elf who would introduce me to the centaur tribe their city trades with and then my plan will be set into motion.

And I am doing humanity a favour! We will finally find out what a half centaur looks like.

Mimicks would be a niche interest with cult followings for some, doppelgangers and changelings too.

I think kobolds would end up being loved by humans more than actual dragons, which would piss off the said dragons when a kobold wins a scales beauty contest.

I think no matter the charisma of a race is, humans will sadly only judge them based on their looks. As a society we tend to be vain, even with pets. We only keep the cute or cool looking ones.

People who keep rats or mice still get hate comments under pictures of their pets. A lot of exotic pets we keep will kill us if given the chance, but we still keep them because of how cool they look.

But I think there will be humans who will see beyond looks, I mean, look at you. You have clear love for the gith race even when most of dnd players don't care about them or just see them as ugly. You saw beyond the exterior and found something beautiful, even then you still considered the exterior as beautiful.

For me, I actually hate pointy ears. I don't think i will ever be able to look at an elf irl without feeling nauseous. They're pretty, but god, the pointy ears really make me feel so off. And so many races have them too. Still I keep writing about them because they are a part of them that should be celebrated despite my personal opinions.

For gith, they feel different because they're not human skin coloured, you know? Like the ears don't feel off. But with elves, i can see the flesh and the blood veins, and oh my god, get away from me.

And I hope you have fun with the campaign you'll eventually start! Tell me any funny stories or moments that happen.

My new years went well. I made a flower crown and watched the fireworks. I baked cakes in the morning and made creme caramel with fruit toppings and chocolate covered strawberries. Mostly spent it home watching movies with my family. I hope yours went well, too <3

[kirchenaere]

How goes your Curse of Strahd campaign? I really love your art for Van Richten! He's my favorite in that campaign module ngl

Hey Anon, and thank you for the compliment! Thanks for asking, get ready for a small essay because I love talking about DnD haha XD I'm throwing this behind a cut so I don't spoil anybody for CoS on accident.

We're on a little bit of a break while our DM does real life job things, but we recently hit level five and cleared Vallaki and the Feast of St. Andral and all that came after it, and we're about to head out to check on the Martikov's delayed wine shipment. Our DM is doing an amazing job fleshing the module out and we love to take our time with things, so we're definitely going pretty slow - the Feast was followed up by another fight that ended in almost every single key player in Vallaki dying (Fiona, the Baron, Victor, and Izek all went down in one big dramatic Shakespearean fight, it was a wild ride). There's a lot of questions still open about the town, like why are our buddies the ravens hanging around the Blue Water and what was with some of the stuff we found in the Reformation Center our DM fleshed out for us, but we're leaving our good friend Rictavio behind to do whatever business he needs to do and keep an eye on things in the meantime. He hasn't told us what his business is beyond "collecting stories" but we're pretty confident he's trying to built a circus in the woods. A totally normal circus. A very normal thing to do. Anyway, we are definitely currently in the process of trying to convince him to come with us when we finally depart the area.

On a totally unrelated note (jk very related), Van Richten is also easily my favorite at the moment and despite the fact that I love all the NPCs we've met so far, even the ones I hate, I don't expect that to change because one of my favorite character types is "salty sarcastic old man who screams at the sky and has A Lot Of Baggage" - plus the whole aesthetic is just A+. This old man really rolled into Barovia saying "time to fuck around and find out" with those shoes and those sideburns, a vibe which is amplified by the fact that our RvR has not disguised himself beyond possibly changing a few facial features and the kinds of clothes he's wearing (we still haven't seen him without the hat on, but my boy Vrinn has Eldritch Sight as an invocation and has narrowed down the general categories and whatever disguise he has on is subtle). The party at large has yet to meet him properly, but Vrinn ,who was immediately obsessed with the old man, managed to get his hands on a copy of Van Richten's Guide and rolled a nat 20 to notice some similarities between the writer and wonderful not-a-big-deal-don't-worry-about-me-I'm-normal Rictavio.

So that's where we're at. Our DM has changed a bunch (for example, he let Vasili be a real Vasili and not a Strahd disguise which added a lot of depth and a really really really REALLY intense dinner where we assumed we were with a man who might be Strahd even though Vrinn has Eldritch Sight and Divine Sense and has used it multiple times and detected nothing, only to have him use both of those while sitting next to Vasili at dinner for a totally unrelated reason because I thought there might be an imp and realize oh fuck they're two different people and I'm five feet away from THE DEVIL disguised as Vasili and have to ACT NORMAL, truly one wild session) and so there's a lot happening that probably doesn't compare super well to other campaigns. I'm currently working on 1 or 2 more poster-style illustrations for our little stint in Vallaki, and possibly some small comics, but it's slow going!

[avatar0ftheeye]

Tw for described violence, abuse

Wow

y’all really liked my silly little campaign

My players and I geeked out over y’all last night we were so exited that people LIKED our story!

so without further ado, here’s part 2 of Dungeons and Teenagers!

the players begin their walk toward the town of Phandalin. 4 human teenagers, a Half-goblin, and a goose. As they walk, the kids try and press Jim for questions. He is VERY secretive, only giving vague answers.

once they reach the town it isn’t as deserted as they thought. Mostly humanoid looking animal people, all walking around doing their daily tasks.

Jim, getting straight to the point, says they should get some weapons. The players are suspicious of Jim, what is this lanky teenager doing acting like he’s the boss of them? However, they fail their insight checks so they won’t know for another like 4 sessions.

They find a closed down weapons shop, several weapons and armor line the walls of it. the party suggests they rob it, and Jim doesn’t refute

They lock pick the door and have 5 minutes to gather anything they need.

Maisie, with an unnatural 20, find 16 god damned daggers underneath the table. 10 are rusted, only one good use, 3 are new, and 3 are slightly used. Good enough, it’s 16 GOD DAMNED DAGGERS

Damien, being the rouge he is, just grabs anything and everything he can find. Beautiful bows, cases of arrows, swords, daggers, etc. life is great when the DM uses minecraft inventory mechanics

Goose goes straight for a giant ax. That’s it. The biggest ass ax he could find that is about 5x his size. Jim is fearful for his life.

Thomas just wanders around the shop, gawking at everything. He’s was a sheltered kid, doesn’t even have a phone. The most he was allowed out was going to school, so the sight of all this weaponry was a shock to him.

Alex began eyeing the armor. Large pieces of leather, iron, chain mail, and a material he can’t quite place. Though he knows nothing of magic in this world, the armor is glowing a bright neon blue and, when he got closer, emitted ice cold air.

he reached out to touch the armor, enamored by it. Yet once his hand reached the glowing chest plate, it disappeared. A sharp, ice cold pain shot through his arm and through his entire body. His blood felt like it was freezing, yet all at once, it stopped

“oi, Morekai!” The players hear from outside, “Theres some people in yer shop! Call the guards or ey dunno, get em!”

They’ve been spotted through the window! They really need new dice! They keep failing their stealth checks! Seriously guys! Please get new dice! (/directed)

They begin to scramble out the door, Goose and Damien dropping everything they had on the way out

Thomas, in his panicked state, trips over his own two feet and face plants into the floor. The glass shards from the window dug deeper into his skin and he let out a small whimper of pain, just as the door opens

in the doorway stands a tall, humanoid blue jay. He had thin stick like legs, blue feathers, and the face of a man who works in retail

he begins to comfort Thomas, offering to take him downstairs and remove the shards from his skin. Thomas, failing yet another insight check, agrees and follows him down

outside the shop, the players catch their breath. After a quick headcount, they realize they’ve lost Thomas. They must go back inside to get him, much to the dismay of damien.

You can’t blame Damien though. born to a neglectful father and a mother who would die a week into his life, he doesn’t understand why these people care about others. Damien has long scars across his face, old and faded with time. These scars were caused by his father, an abusive man who cared about nothing other than himself and who he was sleeping with that day. Damien was raised as a solider, who knows how long it would take to undo that damage.

back inside the shop, Thomas and morekai descend the stairs to the basement

“so,” started morekai, “what’s your diet like?”

“????? Excuse me????” Asked Thomas, “who???? Asks that??,, kind of question??,, what’s your diet like then man?”

“Fish and gum! It’s not an unusual question, It’s just small talk, jesus!” Replied Morekai, annoyed and seemingly offended

“fine, I guess normal???”

“would you consider your self poisonous?”

The party breaks back into the building and rushes into the stairwell to the basement. It is long and winding, seemingly going on forever. They descend slowly, trying to not be spotted by Morekai (they finally succeeded their rolls!).

as they reach the bottom, a low, hungry growl is heard. A kind of hungry growl that you only hear from a stomach that hasn’t eaten in days. A growl of pure feral hunger.

Morekai grips the back of Thomas’ shirt “you seriously thought I would be HELPING you?? After you broke into my shop and stole who knows what?” Morekai mocked, “seriously man, get less gullible”

morekai shoved Thomas into the room, and that’s when Goose took his strike

Goose leapt off the top of the staircase and began freefalling downwards. Unbeknownst to him, Maisie had tripped and fallen at the same time, taking Jim and Damien with it. now, 70% of the party was freefalling down yo the bottom of a cavern. Alex, being the only sensible one, just kept running down the stairs.

Jim reached into his bag and grabbed a pair of boots. He slipped them on and began to fall slower, leaving Damien and Maisie to continue freefalling. Realizing this, he turned upside down and began falling FASTER

Damien reached out to him and latched onto his arm, but due to the way physics work idk they begin to spin in the air, faster and faster until they’re just a circular blur

goose flies over to Maisie. Maisie reaches up and grabs his legs as they begin to slowly descend to the ground. Maisie and Goose Are fine

Damien and Jim, on the other hand, are violently still freefalling toward the floor. With a final roll of dexterity, Jim grabs onto Damien and flips him on top of him. When they crash to the ground, Jim took most of the damage instead of Damien, leaving a cartoonish hole in the floor

A surprised morekai screamed at them. Goose saw this as a challenge and, after a quick argument and a Google search, started biting his legs with his teeth that he apparently has. He gnaws and gnaws on his leg until the thin ass stick snaps in half

morekai falls to the ground, bleeding profusely. Maisie takes the opportunity as well, and begins stabbing at morekai with the stolen daggers

Thomas, witnessing his friends murdering his captor, beings to cry. He just kinda does that

the sound of his cries alerts something

something big

something hungry

out from the shadows emerges an enormous raccoon named Rigabus

he glared down at the party and begins his slow, predatorial walk towards them

the party must think fast

Jim, being the idiot he is, grabs Damien from on top of him, sits up

and throws him over Rigabus

With a strength check from Jim and a nat 20 performance check from Damien

Damien backflips over rigabus, Doing a triple twirl in the air, and spiderman poses onto the ground, causing Rigabus to be so enamored better just stares at damien

the rest of the party takes their chance and begins to sprint up the stairs. They make it about a 1/3 of the way before they realize

oh yeah

Damien’s down there

Damien screams at them as he begins to run, breaking the trance with rigabus

Now, picture this dear readers

a goose, a 6’0 goblin, 4 teenagers, and a giant raccoon I plagiarized from Regular Show, all running up a giant staircase to freedom

I couldn’t believe it either, and I was there

the players run as fast as they can. Jim manages to grab Damien like a cat and begins to run faster

With a final jump, the players make it through the door, trapping Rigabus in the doorway. They sprint out of the shop into the street, running and running as fast as they can

finally, once they stop, they realize they had run to the edge of town, and are standing in front of a giant coliseum

inside, as seen through the glass ceiling, a woman stands trapped inside a cage. She is tall, beautiful,

and Calluna Grace, Maisies Mother

[seyaryminamoto]

Leap of Faith: Sokkla Saturdays 2022

Day 5: College AU

On FF.net//On AO3

A/N:

And now... a lighter and much more comedy-oriented entry for today. I really hope you guys enjoy it, I had so much fun writing this one!

"Look, I get where you're coming from, I do… but every time we try to recruit more people, no one wants to join us!"

"But that doesn't mean we can't ask again, Zuko. We should give it a try!"

"Well, be my guest, but I don't think there's much point to it. The three of us can pull off another campaign just fine together, can't we?"

Aang sighed: Zuko's stubbornness could have its perks in certain circumstances, but sometimes it grated on his nerves instead, no matter how patient he tried to be with his friend. He glanced at Sokka, who sat with arms crossed on the couch. Their party's dungeon master stroked his stubble, raising an eyebrow slowly before saying:

"There's a rather important proverb that we must abide by, in these situations…" Sokka stated. Zuko scoffed.

"Proverbs? Who'd you think you are, my uncle Iroh?"

"Do tell, do tell!" Aang said, excitedly. Sokka cleared his throat before making his big, insightful revelation.

"The more, the merrier!"

Zuko groaned, and Aang laughed while clapping approvingly. Sokka chuckled: Zuko's despair always amused him, even if Sokka suspected that the grumpiest among the three of them would win at this particular argument, in the end.

Sokka had met Aang and Zuko in college. At first, they were brought together by their career choices, then their bond tightened over their love for tabletop games: so far, they had played through four short adventures in which Sokka had served as dungeon master. Aang and Zuko would build up powerful characters who eventually prevailed against the forces of evil Sokka controlled… and it was fun. Their grasp on their games strengthened every time, and Sokka had so many stories in mind to tell in the future…

But Aang wasn't wrong to believe it would be more fun to tell them with more players in their party.

Just so, Zuko had a point as well: all their attempts to invite other people to join their Dungeons and Dragons sessions went to waste without fail.

Typically, their games were held in the house Sokka and Zuko had been roommates in for well over half their college careers – by now, however, Zuko's relationship with Suki had advanced enough that he spent more time at her place than at Sokka's. Sokka certainly didn't look forward to finding another roommate once Zuko inevitably moved out, but he'd have to look for one anyway… which was a problem to worry about on some other day. Right now, all he needed to think about was who to recruit for their next, full campaign… one he hoped would be a much longer campaign than the ones they'd done so far. He had so many ideas for it, ideas he hoped Aang and Zuko would enjoy, but it would be so much better if more people joined them…

"Well, I'm not going to make a public post on social media to call for new players," Zuko growled, shooting down Aang's latest idea, one he had put forward while Sokka wasn't paying attention. "That sounds awful."

"Then we should just ask people we know! Why not, right?" Aang said, glancing at Sokka. "We could ask Katara…"

"She always says she can't trust me as her DM," Sokka admitted, with an awkward smile. "She thinks I'm going to kill her character on the very first action sequence just to be a shithead of a brother…"

"Well, then, swear you won't do that and she'll join in!" Aang pouted. "Come on, and there's others who could join too…!"

"Well, I don't know if…" Zuko grunted, but his words were cut off abruptly when the doorbell rang.

He frowned before rising to his feet. The living room of the small house wasn't far away from the front door, allowing both Aang and Sokka to see glance in that direction as Zuko pulled the door open… and he groaned immediately at the sight of the woman standing right outside.

"What are you doing here?" he blurted out at once. Sokka glanced as best he could, only making out a few details past Zuko's silhouette… enough details to bring him to suspect the identity of this visitor even before hearing her teasing voice.

"Well, now, my parents raised me to greet people properly before asking questions… especially asking them so harshly. How uncivilized of you, Zuzu."

"Oh, please," Zuko huffed, stepping aside and allowing Azula to march into the house, a devious smirk upon her face.

Sokka's heart jolted lightly at the sight of her: he was an idiot, of course, for having any manner of crush on his roommate's sister. It was a strange trope he wasn't sure he should be trying to live out, but curses, she was pretty. She was clever and devious, and the way she teased Zuko never failed to make Sokka laugh. His lips instinctively curved into a smile as he waved like a fool in her direction.

"Ah, see? Sokka's much wiser than you," Azula smirked, nodding in Sokka's direction.

"Good to see you," Sokka grinned – happy tingles in his stomach urged him to talk to her more, to make the most of any opportunity to spend time with her…

"Hi, Azula!" Aang smiled too, waving at her, and Azula sighed happily.

"Ah, thank you. You all prove my point marvelously," she said, turning towards Zuko with her mischievous grin.

"They're not your brothers, and they don't realize you're only here because you want something," Zuko grumbled, glaring at her… and then allowing his eyes to drift down to the laptop bag she carried with her. "You broke your computer again?"

"I… did nothing. The updates are at fault here," Azula said, raising a finger pointedly in Zuko's direction.

"And now I have to backtrack them for you, as usual," Zuko huffed, shaking his head. "Well, I don't have my stuff here, if it's too serious I won't be able to fix it right now."

"Heh. I did go to Suki's place first, seeing as you've basically moved there, but she told me you were here," Azula said, with a shrug. "And I wasn't about to pretend that I could leave my laptop at your apartment without personally requesting that you fixed it, you were bound to ignore it if I wasn't there needling you about it the whole time, so…"

"You do realize me specializing in computer science doesn't mean I'm your go-to IT guy, don't you?" Zuko grunted. Azula huffed, shaking her head.

"You're my brother, and you picked your career as you pleased. How is it my fault that you wanted to be an IT guy?"

"I'm not an IT guy!" Zuko squealed, as Azula sank in the couch, right next to Sokka. He tried not to react, but yet again, his idiot heart fluttered over her closeness.

"If you were studying to be a mechanic, I'd come to you for car trouble," Azula continued, nonchalantly. "If you were studying to be a doctor, I'd ask you about every single potentially alarming health sign I find, if I found any. Therefore…"

"That's just…! Ugh, at the very least pay me for my efforts!" Zuko huffed. Azula gasped, affronted.

"That's… you've gone too far. You'd charge me for your services? Me, your own sister?" Azula said, dramatically. Zuko groaned, his hands on his head while he heard Aang and Sokka chuckling at Azula's wicked teasing. "Oh, but you're so cruel…"

"Okay, now, not to brag but I've beaten your brother at grades every semester," Sokka smiled, folding his arms over his chest. "If you really need that fixed, I can do it for you."

Azula blinked blankly, turning her head towards him with undisguised delight… and Sokka saw the spark of mischief in her beautiful golden eyes well before she spoke anew.

"Why… such a generous offer," she said, showing him what she no doubt believed was an angelical smile – the deviousness was nowhere near gone, however. "I couldn't possibly impose on you, though…! How much should I pay you for fixing it?"

"Oh, so you would pay Sokka but not me?!" Zuko squealed: Sokka covered his face with his hands as Azula smiled brightly, her latest stunt to irk her brother achieving the expected effect. "You're just…! Ugh!"

"You're my brother. Different rules apply there," Azula said, smirking. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'm not charging you, Azula, so different rules don't have to apply at all," Sokka said. Azula's teasing intent dwindled then, as she eyed him with curiosity.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I have no idea how tricky this is…"

"Rolling back an update isn't a big deal, I can do it right away. I'll do that and throw in a few security checks too to make sure things are running smoothly," Sokka offered. Azula smiled and shrugged.

"Well… be my guest, if you're serious. Thank you," she said. Sokka grinned proudly, hoping he wasn't blushing like the idiot he felt he was…

"Wait, so you're going to focus on that now?" Zuko huffed. "We were talking about the campaign, it's the whole reason why I dropped by…"

"We can take a break for now," Aang said, with a shrug. "And we can use the break to brainstorm ideas for how to get new players to join us!"

"Campaign? Players?" Azula repeated, eyeing Aang and Zuko with a dismissive sneer. "Oh, goodness. Another of your, uh, Rooms and Roaches game, I suppose…"

"Dungeons and Dragons! Seriously, could you be more of a textbook annoying younger sister?" Zuko groaned, dropping on his seat as Azula smirked deviously, shaking her head.

"Ah, he just makes it too easy, doesn't he?" Azula said, nudging Sokka gently with her elbow. "I imagine your sister torments you as often as I torment Zuko and you don't whine about it half as much, do you?"

"Oh, yeah. I've accepted my fate as her favorite source of entertainment," Sokka admitted. "Though Katara's very easy to annoy right back, you know? We get even sometimes. Zuko, though…"

"Anything I say can and will be used against me," Zuko growled, glaring at Azula, who smiled brightly at him.

"You know your fundamental rights, at the very least. Good on you," Azula said, nodding sagely. "Anyway, I had no idea the three of you were playing Prisons and Penguins. Did Zuko scare away the rest of your team's players with his temper, or…?"

"The right term is 'party', and no. It's always been just the three of us," Zuko said, bluntly. Azula hummed.

"Aang and I thought we should get more people on board, but Zuko says it's not going to work… and after hearing you call Dungeons and Dragons literally anything other than Dungeons and Dragons, I can't say that I'm surprised by his refusal to look for more players anymore," Sokka smiled. Azula offered him a devious grin of her own.

"Well, you see, if Zuko could explain reasonably how the game works, perhaps I would be interested in it. But every single time I asked him, he started talking about stats or whatever number of sides a functioning dice can have, and how 'the dice tell the story', which happens to be a concept I still can't pretend to understand… he makes it sound as entertaining and appealing as a visit to the dentist, in short."

"I… that's not true!" Zuko huffed, though his cheeks lit up – he had definitely tried to teach Suki how to play, only for his girlfriend to decide to stick with her favorite videogames instead. While he knew Azula made a sport of making fun of him, perhaps she wasn't entirely off-base with that assessment…

"Well, then, maybe Aang and I can do better," Sokka chuckled. "It's a roleplaying game, Azula."

Her eyebrows rode surprisingly high upon hearing those words. She stared at Sokka with a slowly growing grin, and Sokka blinked blankly.

"What?" he said. She bit her lip before leaning closer, covering her mouth as she spoke into his ear.

"Roleplaying, as in… sexual stuff?"

Sokka nearly jumped out of his seat upon hearing that: his cheeks lit up fully, much as Azula blushed as well while laughing at his reaction. Sokka's jaw dropped, he gasped, and then he shook his head quickly.

"N-no. No. Absolutely not. RPGs… have you never heard of them? Really?" Sokka asked, still flustered as Azula laughed against the backrest of her couch. "You… you're trolling me too. Just like you troll your brother all the time. You're a menace… a wonderful menace, but a menace anyway."

"The look on your face…!" Azula chuckled, covering her face with her hands as Aang and Zuko reached their own conclusions regarding what Azula had just whispered into Sokka's ear.

"Well… romance can be a thing in Dungeons and Dragons?" Aang clarified, with an awkward smile. "If that's what you meant…"

"Azula, seriously…" Zuko grimaced, shaking his head as he rose back to his feet. "I suppose I take it as a victory that you're choosing to mess with someone other than me for once…"

"Don't worry, you'll do something silly for me to ridicule any moment now. I'll just be patient until you do," Azula smiled. Zuko sighed.

"Well, then, at least hold back the ridiculing until I finish ordering pizza. Or else I'm not asking for pepperoni just to annoy you," Zuko huffed, pulling up his phone. Azula gasped.

"You wouldn't dare!" she said, dramatically. Sokka, beside her, yelped as well.

"Seriously, don't you dare!" he said, far more seriously than Azula had.

"Make sure mine's got none…" Aang, the sole vegetarian in the house, smiled awkwardly.

As Zuko busied himself with picking a delivery option, with Aang glancing over his shoulder to make him choose his favorite pizza restaurant, Sokka took it upon himself to begin patching up Azula's laptop – he sighed at the blue screen error that greeted him moments after powering up the computer, but he took to repairing the software quickly with the expertise he had developed over three years of studies. And as he worked, unless he had to ask any questions about the computer, Sokka explained more about Dungeons and Dragons to a surprisingly receptive Azula.

"… So, basically I'm the Dungeon Master, I come up with the story, the non-playable characters, the setting, all that stuff. The rules can be the ones established by the original game, or you can come up with a few new ones depending on whatever you feel like doing," Sokka said. "Basically, Dungeons and Dragons' system is more of a means to tell a story, you see? The idea that the dice tell the story isn't completely wrong, but without further context it probably sounds pretty weird…"

"Zuko never bothered providing any context, but I think I understand better now," Azula said. "You, the so-called Dungeon Master, build an adventure, you help your players build their characters too, then you have to be ready to either improvise with whatever their choices are, or plan so extensively to be prepared for anything they choose to do…? It seems a rather complicated way to play a game, frankly. Almost sounds like the Dungeon Master doesn't have as much fun as everyone else does."

"Oh, don't worry, that's not the case at all. Not once you get to the fun stuff of being the DM," Sokka chuckled: the computer booted up again, and this time, everything flowed perfectly. "Alright! It's running now."

"Ah, so quickly, too. Zuko would've kept me waiting for three days," Azula sighed, shaking her head.

"You're his sister, that's his revenge for all your teasing," Sokka said. Azula groaned.

"I know, but he's just so easy to annoy…" she sighed, before smiling at him again. "Thank you for your work, though. As for what Aang said before, though… romance is allowed in these games too? Is that how broad their scope is, truly?"

"Oh, yeah. Some people even livestream their games, get huge fanbases, their fans fall in love with their characters and with the relationships between those characters…" Sokka explained, with an awkward smile. "I mean, sure, it's a little crazy to roleplay being in love with a friend, I imagine, but if you're doing it right, I'm sure it can be lots of fun."

"Huh. Has Aang ever fallen in love with Zuko, then?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka snorted.

"Well, no. Though I had to play Aang's wife in one of our first campaigns," Sokka chuckled. "But that's what I get for being the DM, always got to play every other character in our D&D world. Anyway, I think as long as the players and DM are in agreement about romance, it's doable."

"Hmm… if so, I don't see why it's so hard for you to get Suki to play with you, Zuko," Azula said, raising her voice so her brother, finished placing his order, would hear her.

"Say what?" Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"Sokka says romance is a thing. Tell her that, and that you're at risk of being romanced by Aang… might make her jealous enough to join in just to make sure she keeps you to herself," Azula smirked. Zuko scoffed.

"We're not teenagers, she doesn't think Aang's going to steal me away," Zuko huffed. Aang chuckled.

"The characters are the ones who tell the story, though. If you happen to build a character that my character finds appealing…" Aang said, wiggling his eyebrows teasingly: Zuko scoffed in disgust.

"Maybe mine won't find yours appealing, then," he said. Aang whimpered, a hand on his chest.

"Unrequited love? Oh, no! Whatever shall I do?"

"Are you three in league today to pick on me or something?" Zuko huffed, glaring at his two friends and his sister, who laughed at his irate reaction.

"Oh, lighten up, Zuzu," Azula chuckled, shaking her head. "Anyway, I think you really ought to try recruiting Suki. She likes videogames, I bet she'd enjoy this if she gets the hang of it eventually. If she's too difficult to coax into it, though… hmm. Maybe not Aang, then. Maybe you should invite Mai to join in, too."

"No. I… no!" Zuko whimpered, cheeks flushing. "You're not getting my ex entangled in this just to amuse yourself, damn it!"

"Well, it would be amusing, but I'm not just trying to tease you," Azula chuckled. "Seriously, the way Sokka puts it, he wants to tell a big story, right? The more…"

"The merrier! That's what I said!" Sokka exclaimed, beaming. Azula smiled at his reaction too.

"For that matter, instead of pushing other people to join in, maybe you should consider doing it yourself," Zuko huffed. "How about it, Azula? Want to play a game of Jails and J-… J-…"

"Jellyfish," Azula supplied, helpfully, and Zuko huffed in irritation at her response. "What? Perfectly valid animal…"

"It sounds like you have a set for every possible synonym and word you can use for this joke of yours…" Sokka smirked. Azula blinked blankly, a hand on her chest as she acted utterly shocked by his apparent accusation.

"What, innocent old me, coming up with a whole reservoir of names for Chambers and Chameleons? Vaults and Voles? Oubliettes and Owls?"

Sokka couldn't hold back the laughter anymore. Azula smiled with undisguised satisfaction as Zuko rolled his eyes at her.

"Anyway… sure," she said, with a shrug. "I will require some thorough coaching so I won't mess up, as well as a copy of this rulebook and whatnot, but…"

"Wait, what?" Zuko's dismissiveness froze… transformed now into sheer terror. Azula blinked blankly, gazing at him questioningly.

"What? You just said I should join in, and I said I'm perfectly happy to attempt it," Azula said. Zuko's face paled. "Oh? Is this not the outcome you were looking for?"

"Well… maybe Zuko wasn't, but Aang and I? Absolutely!" Sokka grinned, turning towards her in amazement. "Welcome to the party!"

"Heh. Sounds even more fun when you say it that way," Azula grinned in a rather devious way at Sokka. Zuko winced. "Have something to say now, Zuzu?"

Zuko's jaw had dropped in sheer horror: it was one thing for Azula to visit once in a while over computer trouble. It was a very different one for her to do so on a weekly basis for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign… especially with his two friends basically enabling her constantly, laughing at her jokes and encouraging her to poke fun at him left and right.

He couldn't refuse her now, though: she was bound to show up every week even if he did, and Sokka and Aang would welcome her without a hitch. No… what he needed was backup. Strength in numbers. More people to help him keep her in check…

Which was exactly what he hadn't wanted to do, but damn, Azula left him no choice.

"I… will convince Suki," Zuko grimaced. Aang gasped happily. "Sokka… get Katara too. And someone should get Toph. Maybe Jet…"

"I'll tell Mai and Ty Lee, then," Azula grinned. Zuko grimaced but sighed: at this point, he'd gladly endure the awkwardness of being around Mai if it meant Azula might have someone else to bicker with at some point or another.

"See? That's better payback for computer repairs than money," Sokka chuckled, smiling brightly at Azula. "You convinced him all on your own! I'll finally get the big party I was looking for…"

"You needn't mention it, though… I do need that rulebook, don't I?" Azula asked. Sokka chuckled.

"We'll get you one. You might need help with setting up your character, but I can give you a hand, maybe on videocall if that's easier for you than coming here," Sokka said. Azula huffed.

"It's not that hard, my own house is barely a few blocks away," Azula said. "Technically, I would have been staying in the same place as my brother if only Zuzu hadn't been so adamant about finding a roommate so he could have an excuse to stop living with his wicked sister…"

"Well, he's bound to move out sooner than later. He barely comes here anymore," Sokka said, with a shrug. "Anyway, if you'd rather drop by, that's fine by me. No idea if you have a lot of work to do for your classes, so…"

"My semester shouldn't be that heavy. I'll be able to spare a couple of evenings to come here, be it for building characters or whatever you need," Azula said. "Just let me know when you're available and I'll swing by."

"Awesome," Sokka smiled – he wasn't stupidly misunderstanding this as a date of some sort, was he? No one had dates over Dungeons and Dragons… but that she'd be willing to visit even if Zuko was absent was a surprisingly agreeable sign. One that, of course, didn't have to mean anything, but he'd always welcome spending more time with Azula and her delightfully devious wit.

After comparing schedules – both, it seemed, were rather oriented towards planning their schedules to the utmost detail, something rather convenient for people who would play Dungeons and Dragons –, they chose to hold their character-building session four days later. Azula asked many questions about the game that night, while also reiterating her gratitude towards Sokka after he finished all checkups of her computer, confirming it was functional and that it would stay that way – at least, until future updates crashed it. Her numerous queries about Dungeons and Dragons were hilarious, especially the ones she blurted out carelessly while they ate, and Zuko groaned in despair at every devious concept Azula ran by Aang and Sokka, who seemed to find her ideas hilarious instead of painful.

By the next day, the four of them contacted the rest of their potential party and confirmed that their player group would increase in size considerably. Jet even offered to bring his younger brother, a faithful Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast who, while still in high school, was as experienced a player as Aang, Sokka and Zuko were. The kid in question agreed to help his brother with building his character sheet, and Sokka took care of helping Katara and Azula while Aang handled Mai, Ty Lee and Toph. Zuko's sole assignment was Suki, who still hardly understood the point or how to play the game, but she agreed to join it if just for her boyfriend's peace of mind.

As much as preparing a big campaign was the greatest highlight of his career as a Dungeon Master, Sokka looked forward to building Azula's character more than anything else. He welcomed her in his house, offering her refreshments, making the most of the opportunity to talk about their respective careers – it was rather amusing that Azula's demeanor changed so starkly once Zuko wasn't around, for while she snuck in a few barbs here and there to tease him, it was nothing compared to how she acted when her brother was present. Her attention was on Sokka constantly, even helping him in the kitchen when she noticed he was struggling with their dinner, and they ate together while exchanging ideas on the very first character Azula had ever created for a tabletop roleplaying game:

"So… I've decided I shall be a tiefling," Azula declared, with a proud grin. Sokka bit his lip and shrugged.

"They're a pretty popular choice for players… unpopular in-world, though. You're sure?" he asked. Azula nodded sagely, and Sokka smiled. "Alright, then. You'll get some intelligence and charisma bonus which, I suppose, is quite fitting…"

"Is it, now?" Azula smirked. Sokka chuckled.

"Not going to pretend you're not smarter than everyone in any room you're in, are you?"

"Well… I mean, I'd love to say that, but you're in this room too and that makes it rather difficult to sustain such a claim," Azula said. Sokka blinked blankly and glanced at her in perplexity. "What? You're not going to pretend someone as competent as you, with such an ability to grasp this crazy game and build an entire, massive narrative the way you seemingly have, isn't basically a genius, are you?"

"I'm not…!" Sokka snorted, cheeks flushing as he shook his head. "No, no, no. I'm not a genius at all, Azula, I… I mean, it's flattering that you'd say so, but I'm not."

"Suit yourself…" Azula said, smirking as she focused on her character sheet, as well as the many notes she'd made about her plans, some of which she had already discussed with Sokka and discarded. "I've thought about it a lot… and the Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer sounds perfect for my character. Do you agree?"

"For someone who thrives in mocking the 'dragon' in Dungeons and Dragons, you sure seem to be a fan of them," Sokka smirked. Azula chuckled.

"Oh, that's just what my contract as a younger sibling entails, nothing more. I've always liked dragons. I've even wanted a tattoo of one, but I suppose maybe in the future…" she said, offhandedly. Sokka blinked blankly as Azula smirked at him. "What? Think it wouldn't suit me?"

"Might suit you too well, I'd say," Sokka smiled awkwardly. "Where…? Uh, where were we?"

No, he was not about to ask her where she wanted the tattoo, damn it. He had to focus.

"I'm a sorcerer," Azula repeated, smiling. "As for my personal storyline…"

They continued to discuss the details of her character, whom she named Fyrelith Krylla, the female tiefling who traveled the world on a quest to find a purpose in her life as an outsider to society. Once their main work was done, though, Azula continued asking questions about the campaign and, most of all, about Sokka's work as the Dungeon Master. He was surprised that she'd be so intrigued by it, but she wasn't secretive as to why:

"It's just… odd to me that it sounds like the Dungeon Master is the one who puts the most work into it while the rest of the players have lots of fun navigating the storyline you'd be creating," Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "Have you never wished to be a player instead?"

"Oh? Heh, I've done it and it's not as fun for me, honestly," Sokka laughed. "I mean, I'm not going to pretend I'm the greatest storyteller there was or so, but I love seeing the way people react to the twists and turns a story can take. I love improvising when things don't go as I planned… and honestly? My dice rolls are way better when I'm a DM. Or maybe I don't mind much when I roll poorly as a DM? Unless it's a big character, you know, by then it's unnerving to get lots of natural ones in a row, or so…"

"Well, then… I suppose I must ask you to forgive me for being judgmental, but this sounds like you're a bit of a control freak," Azula smirked. Sokka blinked blankly. "Not that it's too outrageous if you're one, I am one myself, but…"

"I wouldn't… say it's a matter of control, no," Sokka chuckled.

"Then you're just a self-sacrificial guy who wants his friends to have fun and doesn't care if he has to be the bad guy in order to help them do so?" Azula asked, her elbows on the table. She leaned in slightly, as if studying Sokka's true motives… and his heart raced far faster than it should have because of it. "It's very noble if that's how it is… but it feels unfair, too."

"Unfair because… what, you think I never win?" Sokka asked, amused, leaning slightly as well. Azula shrugged. "Zuko does say you're terribly ambitious and try to win at every game…"

"Suki's utterly frustrating in Mario Kart. I've probably only beaten her twice at it for as long as she's been dating Zuko," Azula said, an eyebrow twitching as Sokka chuckled at her confession. "But that's neither here nor there…"

"No, I'm sure it's not," Sokka said. Azula scoffed, though she smiled at his response.

"I'm just saying… it's very noble, but I wonder if I'm overthinking things," she said: her eyes wouldn't leave his, as if defying him, and Sokka refused to back down from the challenge she was offering him. "You deserve to live out your own epic story yourself, I'd say, rather than always building them for other people. Perhaps you're particularly good at that, but… aren't you curious about what might happen if you were a player instead?"

"I…" Sokka blinked blankly. Azula raised her eyebrows: she was trying to get at something that was absolutely going over his head… and that was her fault entirely.

She was so close. He was so close to her. The table was too big suddenly, no matter if they were that close indeed… he could push himself up slightly, lean in fully, catch her by surprise with a kiss, but would it even surprise her? The way she looked at him now, it was as though that was exactly what she wanted him to…

The sound of keys in the front door caused Sokka to gasp and jump to his feet, as if he had been caught by his mother or a schoolteacher doing something out of bounds. Oh, he was an idiot. A total idiot. His heart was racing and it wouldn't calm down – he hadn't really been about to kiss Azula, had he? And he hadn't just blown his first and only chance to do so, had he…?

"Guess it's Zuko?" Azula said as she pulled back too: Sokka's chest almost collapsed upon itself as he heard the front door swinging open.

"Sorry for barging in without warning," Zuko's voice echoed in the house, and Azula grimaced. Sokka smiled awkwardly as he stepped out of the kitchen: Zuko had a rucksack with him, and Sokka raised an eyebrow at the sight of it. "No, she didn't kick me out: she's spending a couple of days at her parents' place, and…"

"And you need someone to cook for you or else you'll order takeout for every meal?" Sokka asked, curtly. Zuko scoffed.

"I mean, if you don't want to cook enough for two…!"

"Three, actually," Azula announced: Zuko's face paled upon hearing her voice. Azula rose to her feet, stepping past the kitchen's threshold and smirking deviously at her brother. "How rude of you to interrupt us, Zuzu."

"I-interrupt… what?" Zuko said. Sokka's face flushed again and Zuko's paled just as much. "Sokka. Sokka. I don't… I don't want to be the Ross to your Chandler. So please tell me this isn't…"

"We were building her character for the campaign. That's all," Sokka said, with a dry grin, a hand on his face as Azula laughed deviously at her brother's utter horror.

"Azula!" Zuko roared, and she couldn't seem to stop laughing as she wrapped an arm around her stomach, bending over forward at his wild reaction.

Sokka couldn't help but smile as he watched her, no matter how flustered he was by her insinuation – it genuinely made him think he hadn't misread things at all before. Oh, he liked her a lot, and she was smart enough to realize it, Sokka guessed… he'd have to talk things over with Zuko if it looked like dating Azula was an actual possibility in his future. Zuko was bound to reject the notion completely, Sokka guessed… but Sokka couldn't help but be delighted by the sight of Azula's genuine laughter. She was beautiful when she smirked, of course… but her honest smiles were the best of them all.

Zuko wound up eating from the leftovers from their meal while Azula gathered her things, keeping all information about her character secret from her brother for the time being. Zuko seemed genuinely shocked that Azula would be taking the campaign so seriously, but he still eyed her warily constantly, until Sokka accompanied her to the front door while Zuko remained in the kitchen, eating to his heart's content.

"Is this it, then?" Azula asked, smiling at him as they stood at the front door. Sokka's heart was back to racing wildly just upon being alone with her. "I mean… I don't have to do anything else in preparation for the campaign?"

"Oh, uh, not really. I'll be painting the minis next week, but…"

"The… what?" Azula blinked blankly. Sokka smiled shyly.

"The stuff that makes us nerdier still, I guess. We make figures of our characters in Dungeons and Dragons, see? They help us keep up with what's going on during battle sequences. As the Dungeon Master, I place the minis on the maps where the fights are happening, that way I know how far anyone can move, the range of attacks and so on…"

"Ah… and you'll be painting my character?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka smiled.

"Everyone's characters, actually?" he said. "I'll ask for occasional input, send pictures to each of you of what it's looking like and what colors to pick, but…"

"Pictures? And how do I know you won't mess up Fyrelith by, I don't know, giving her a huge wart somewhere?" Azula asked. Sokka laughed, covering his face with his hands. "No, no, no. I can't trust you with this. You're too dangerous with all this power, Dungeon Master…"

"What are you saying? That you'll come by to help me?" Sokka chuckled.

Azula grinned.

Sokka's heart raced even faster.

He returned to the kitchen with wide eyes after Azula took off. Zuko continued eating, though he noticed Sokka's daze as his roommate sank in an empty seat. He bumped Sokka's knee with his own, grunting as though to make Sokka speak his mind.

"Zuko…" Sokka blinked blankly.

"The heck is the matter with you? Did she say something that drained all your happiness, or something?" Zuko asked. Sokka swallowed hard.

"I swear… there's nothing going on between me and your sister," he said. Zuko frowned. "But… would you kill me if I told you that I wish something was?"

Zuko stayed silent for a moment. He set down his fork after a moment. His face twisted slowly into a grimace… and then he dropped his head heavily on the table.

"My best friend and my sister…?"

The quote, spoken in an unusually soft, shrill voice for Zuko's standards, actually brought a burst of laughter from Sokka. He covered his face with his hands while Zuko groaned in frustration over the apparent, inevitable match that was bound to happen between Azula and Sokka…

A match that had another chance of cementing itself the next weekend: Azula was ready to exert her artistic chops and prove herself capable of painting minis along with Sokka. It was, without a doubt, the nerdiest thing she'd done, but she enjoyed herself thoroughly with it while Sokka's dumb, stupid heart continued to pound faster… she didn't really like him. She was just having fun, right? And that was great! He wanted her to have fun. But she couldn't possibly fancy him on any level, not necessarily because he thought himself lacking in appeal in any way… no, it was simply too lucky. He wasn't that lucky, was he? Unrequited love was typical, expected… he couldn't possibly have bottled up a crush on her since their very first encounter, when she had visited Zuko on campus once, only to discover years later that perhaps she felt the same way about him…

"Hmm… who's this?" Azula said, eyeing one of the characters she was painting with disapproving eyes. Sokka chuckled. "It looks like a plain, boring human…"

"That's Jet's character, actually. I won't go into details, though. You really shouldn't be here, you're getting spoiled, to a fault…" Sokka smirked. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Really? Does this mean I, by some chance, am your favorite player already?" Azula asked. Sokka snorted. "It's quite alright to have some biases, I'd say. Better, even. As long as it means you favor me, of course, favor someone else and I'll decry it as utterly unfair…"

"Of course you would," Sokka chuckled, shaking his head. "You're the one who asked to be here, you said you couldn't stand letting me and my clumsy computer nerd hands handle your character, so…"

"Oh, I didn't say anything about your hands. They're not clumsy, I'm sure," Azula said. "As a computer nerd, I'm sure you have to work with some very… delicate parts, don't you?"

Her wording might not have been odd if it weren't for the inflection of her voice upon speaking them. Sokka didn't respond, eyeing her again as she smirked deviously.

"You… are really a menace," Sokka chuckled, and Azula laughed too. "Honestly…"

"Computer parts, of course! Goodness, Sokka, really… everything is an innuendo with you," she said, shaking her head. Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"Right. It's me. Of course it's me," he said, face red as Azula laughed again.

"Fine, fine, I'll stop if you're uncomfortable…"

"I'm… not that uncomfortable. But I admit it's kind of surprising that you'd poke fun at me with this sort of stuff," Sokka said. "I suppose Zuko will be grateful if you decide I'm your new target for teasing…"

"Oh, he'll never get out of being tormented by me. Sibling contract, remember? Lasts forever," Azula said, smirking. "But you're… fun to tease, in your own way, for sure. Still, it's just… I'm afraid my character is the prettiest of the bunch, you know?"

"Probably," Sokka admitted. Azula smirked at him.

"See? Of course she is. No wonder she's your favorite…"

"Yes, no wonder," Sokka chuckled: he'd do best to focus on the next figurine he had to work on, or else he'd never get anything done if he solely paid attention to Azula.

"Whereas the rest of them look lame," Azula sighed, shaking her head. "How could I possibly romance any of them?"

"Oh? That's the problem?" Sokka asked, amused. Azula nodded, feigning genuine consternation as she closed her eyes. "You might like their personalities, though…"

"Say that I don't…" Azula said, eyeing Sokka warily. "I suppose I'm just trying to set the record straight here… you play lots of NPCs, right? Non-playable characters?"

"I do," Sokka blinked blankly.

"Romance… isn't restricted to player characters, is it?" Azula asked, with a slowly growing grin.

Sokka's heart jolted. Azula raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer as Sokka seemed to forget how to speak altogether. His lips parted, but no words came out as Azula chuckled, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Oh, my: your blue eyes are flashing some weird code… it's a blue screen of death! Damn it. I guess I might need that USB stick to fix you, don't I? Where did you put it, I wonder…?"

"N-n-no need. I'm… here. Somehow. I think," Sokka swallowed hard. Azula chuckled, biting her lip as she eyed him questioningly.

"You played Aang's wife once, you said? Is it that much worse to come up with a character I could romance?" she asked. "A way prettier one than this lot, too…"

"Heh. I mean… I could, but, uh… probably not right away?" Sokka said, with an awkward smile. "I mean, I do have the whole campaign planned and all, so… might be better to save it for when we're close to the end, heh. T-that way… Fyrelith could even have a happy ending with someone. Right? Could be… that's the purpose she wants in life? Well, if we end up playing things and it feels right, of course…"

"Hmm," Azula said, frowning. "It's a little strange to plan the ending, though. I mean, you could, but I shouldn't be involved in preparing for that… no matter how much of a DM's pet I may be, right?"

"Uh, right," Sokka said, cheeks flushed as she pointed out he was being terribly unprofessional, quite accurately too. "You should roleplay, that's the point, heh. Just… roleplay with whatever feels right for your character."

"Whatever feels right?" Azula repeated. Sokka nodded promptly. "And… what about you? Would you set any boundaries, as a DM? You really should…"

"Well, if someone ever went out of line I'd definitely try to reel them back in," Sokka said. Azula hummed. "I don't think anything like that has ever happened… but I guess with so many new players, things might be different. Still… I think if anything makes me too uncomfortable I'd just say it, yeah."

"Hmm. I suppose that's how it is," Azula said, with a slow smile. "Well, then… I think my questions have been answered now. Fyrelith might be lucky, or perhaps not so much… we'll see depending on if you can come up with NPCs up to her standards, of course."

"That's not a lot of pressure, no…" Sokka chuckled, focusing on working on the minis once more now: his heart was still racing, but he felt slightly better now that Azula's curiosity appeared to be sated.

He really wasn't crazy for thinking there was a strange kind of energy between them, was he? It was an attraction he wasn't sure he had experienced in such a way ever before. Zuko nearly had a meltdown over the concept of Sokka and Azula dating, it was true, but he seemed to be over it by now – that was, as long as texting him links to the 'MY BEST FRIEND AND MY SISTER?' scene from Friends every two days meant he was over it – and his opposition to the concept appeared to be mostly over the realization that Azula would be the most obnoxious girlfriend to Sokka solely to make her brother uncomfortable… but that didn't mean this was a certain thing. Sokka liked her… he really did and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise. Sometimes, he couldn't help but imagine she felt the same way… but did she? Her satisfied smirk as she worked on Jet's character suggested she was up to something… and Sokka couldn't help but want to learn exactly what it was.

He didn't on that day, of course: before they could get too comfortable, before they could even hope to discuss whatever was going on between them, the doorbell rang and Sokka had to open the door to his sister, who was bringing a food parcel their parents had left her with… and upon finding Azula and Sokka were deep in the process of perfecting the minis, Katara rushed in to join them, delighted by the chance to work on her character as well. Thus, once again, their privacy was no more… but judging by Azula's pleasant mood that afternoon, she was genuinely unbothered by that. She and Katara had plenty of conversations about their expectations from the campaign, and Sokka laughed at their assumptions while clearing up his sister's questions and fielding off Azula's relentless, clever teasing.

By then, Sokka only had a few more preparations left before the campaign could begin, and he handled them as quickly as possible: the whole party agreed upon a regular schedule, and they would attempt to make their encounters a weekly appointment, if possible. Once Sokka was done with his final tweaks to the story, as well as with building the maps he expected he'd need, at least for the initial adventures, he texted the group chat to inform them of the date on which their campaign would begin, and he received full approval from everyone.

Thus, on the appointed day, Sokka's biggest campaign as a Dungeon Master was finally ready to begin.

Some introductions were in order, as several members of the group hadn't met before: Jet's little brother was adamant about being called The Duke, and he was entirely into his roleplaying from the moment he arrived. His character was a dwarven noble called Dain, an artificer with magical aptitudes. His brother, Jet, chose the most straightforward and simple character, a human fighter, only to irritate his brother by how utterly basic he was – and to top it off, he called the character Jet, too. Toph, on her part, chose to play as a male half-orc barbarian called Stout, and she warned everyone that she'd go all out with this game, seeing as it was finally a game where being blind wasn't much of a detriment, for she had Braille dice and she would be able to feel her rolls directly. Katara had chosen to be an elven wizard called Ilyrana, Ty Lee was a monk Air Genasi whom she had named, Aerya, Mai was a rogue aasimar with the name Andril, while Suki had chosen to be a gnome ranger called Selwyn. Aang's halfling druid was called Anrin, and Zuko had picked the name Ixuus for his dragonborn warlock.

Once everyone sat at the long table with their respective gear fully ready, the game finally began. Sokka weaved his storytelling wonders upon the group gradually, hoping to ease the process of introduction into the game for those who had never played Dungeons and Dragons before. He encouraged them to interact among themselves, Zuko and Aang helped him in teaching the others how to roleplay by example, though they hadn't needed to do so for the Duke, the only other experienced player at the table.

While things started slow, they picked up speed quickly: a set of missions gone wrong had caused all their characters, mercenaries attempting to make a living, to converge at a suspicious tavern that all leads had pointed them towards. A perfectly innocent innkeeper had provided them with no further information, though, as well as no means through which to investigate the inn's room where the suspicions were leading them.

"This guy's not going to crack easily, huh?" Jet said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not if we keep rolling so poorly," Aang groaned, glaring at the natural one on his dice tray.

"How about we just go upstairs, bust the door open and get this over with?" Toph growled, in-character, and the others shut her down immediately. "What? It'd make it way easier! Aren't we a bunch of scary mercenaries or whatever?"

"That doesn't mean we have to pick fights everywhere we go," Katara said, with a dry grin. "We could, uh, sneak in from the window, maybe? I don't know, I suppose Andril and Aerya might be able to do that…"

"What we require…" Azula cut in, her voice ringing with authority and a sultriness that Sokka shouldn't have found as appealing as he did… "Is a distraction, is it not?"

"A distraction?" Zuko replied. "Uh… okay? We're listening."

"If I can distract the innkeeper, you lot can, perhaps, find a spare key and head upstairs. Find whatever leads you can while I ensure the innkeeper is properly occupied…" Azula said, with a shrug. "And that way we'll finally make some progress."

"I think that sounds reasonable," The Duke said, firmly. "Let's listen to the tiefling, though I warn all of you, tieflings can be tricky, but…"

"Oh, please. What would I have to gain from tricking any of you?" Azula said, rolling her eyes. "I'm only in this for… uh, well, that's my business, isn't it?"

"That doesn't make you any more trustworthy, you know?" The Duke hissed. "But… we could use your abilities. So… do your best, tiefling."

"I have a name," Azula said. "But… to be entirely fair, I can't pretend I'd care if you use it. Anyway…"

She turned towards Sokka, smiling deviously. He chuckled and shrugged.

"You walk up to the innkeeper," Sokka said. Azula nodded.

"What does he look like?"

"Oh, uh… human, about mid-thirties? Dark hair, tan skin, not too bulky but not weak either, his duties at the inn keep him in alright shape," Sokka reasoned. Azula hummed.

"Good sir… may I ask for your name?" she smiled. Sokka slipped into character immediately and smiled.

"I'm Goldric, my lady. May I help you?" he said. Azula's smile widened.

"Oh, you may indeed," she said. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Is there, um, a drink I could bring you, or…?"

"Perhaps instead of bringing a drink here, you could, uh… bring me into your cellar instead? I have a good eye for the best wine vintages, you see," Azula said, with a wicked smile. "Perhaps we could even… share a bottle in private, if you would be so inclined?"

The whole table fell silent as Azula smirked at Sokka. He blinked once, then twice… then he cleared his throat, hoping not to blush too profusely.

"Okay, then… roll a d20 for persuasion?" Sokka blinked blankly – he had thought the innkeeper might have been a family man, with young children… but if that roll was too high, he'd scrap that notion immediately. Azula didn't need him to cause unnecessary drama for her character on the first time she had taken the initiative in the campaign, so…

Azula picked out the dice of twenty sides from her set, and she rolled into her dice tray. Aang, sitting beside her, gasped when the dice stopped…

"Natural twenty?!"

Sokka's jaw dropped. The entire table broke out in laughter as Azula stretched her arms out in a most arrogant gesture, clapping her hands as if to say her job was complete. Sokka, still shocked, blinked himself out of his amazement and smiled at Azula.

"Well, then. Heh. Okay," he said, swallowing hard before getting into character. "O-oh, uh… sure! That sounds lovely. I… gladly. Come, come. This way…"

"How very generous of you. I assure you, you shall be rewarded with sufficient generosity as well," Azula smirked. Sokka broke out of character with laughter as he shook his head.

"Congratulations: you seduced the innkeeper."

Azula raised a fist in the air in proud celebration while the others laughed at her unexpected solution for their predicament. Sokka chuckled too as he continued the story: the group took to rummaging through the innkeeper's things, found a master key and opened the door to their suspect's room. The man they were looking for was there… but not in good shape: a Shadow was sucking the life out of him, it seemed, and the party had to attempt to save the man in order to learn what his true purpose and intent were.

"Okay, so… roll for initiative! Roll your d20s and add your dexterity modifier," Sokka smiled. Azula frowned.

"Uh… this is to determine the order of combat, is it?" she asked. Sokka nodded. "I see."

"It is, so… why aren't you rolling?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow as the others began announcing their initiative numbers. Sokka ignored them, though, as Azula smirked at him.

"Because I'm not in combat, am I?"

"You… wait, what?" Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"A natural twenty means… a critical success, doesn't it?" Azula said, arms folded over her chest. "If I was that successful at persuading and seducing that guy… well, it's pretty obvious I'm going to be busy for at least the next, uh, fifteen minutes, give or take."

"Azula…?" Zuko blinked blankly, staring at her from across the table. Beside him, Suki snorted in amusement.

"You're actually fucking the innkeeper while the rest of us are in the middle of a fight?" she asked.

Azula's response was a perfectly shameless shrug: the whole room rang with laughter as she smirked proudly at an utterly flustered Sokka. His face probably had never been as red… for he had never allowed himself to picture, not truly, the notion of himself and Azula engaging in any manner of sexual activity. Nope. And he wasn't about to start thinking about it now. He wasn't going to. He wouldn't…

Oh, well. Why deny it? He'd pictured it now, and it was more than enough to send his brain into overdrive.

The combat scene was difficult to focus on, especially with the relentless teasing of the rest of the players, asking Azula to make performance rolls to find out just how well things were going for her and the innkeeper. Sokka told her not to bother – she still tried, scoring a 17 and a 15 on the first rounds, and Sokka's flustered face spoke for itself regarding what a successful result that was. Still, the battle against the Shadow resulted in victory for the party, Azula apparently was quite satisfied with her cellar adventures with the innkeeper, and their first session ended in utter triumph for the whole party.

"I know it caught you by surprise, but it was my very first idea on how to resolve the situation," Azula laughed that night as Sokka walked her to her car, parked right outside his house. "Did I go too far?"

"Well… I don't know. Depends on how you went about fucking the innkeeper, I suppose," Sokka said, with an awkward smile. Azula laughed, shaking her head.

"More like how he went about fucking me, I suppose, but…"

"Don't play coy now: your tiefling's got to be some sort of incredible dominatrix, accept the truth already," Sokka said, and Azula's laughter seemed to ring across the neighborhood at his accusations.

"Fine, then, fine," she smiled, pulling her car's door open. "You're sure it's okay, though?"

"It is," Sokka nodded, smiling at her. "I'll put my foot down if I change my mind, alright?"

"Sounds about right. I'll play nice if you do. And I'll keep playing naughty in the meantime," Azula smirked, winking at him before slipping into the driver's seat.

Sokka swallowed hard, struggling to suppress the shudder of delight that had rushed through his body over her words and gesture. Maybe he shouldn't be so thrilled about their next session merely for the sake of seeing Azula again, of being the target of her wicked teasing, as he had been today, but he couldn't quite help but look forward to it for that reason all the same…

On the next week, Sokka prepared himself as best he could for a wholly different adventure: the party's investigations into the previous session's events resulted in a journey that took them out of the city and into the wild forests beyond it. Sokka had a few plans for what they'd find… but first off, he wanted to cause some chaos by featuring a few surprise combat encounters along the way. The first ones weren't all that tricky to handle, but then he released his grand threat upon the party…

"Everyone: roll initiative!" Sokka declared, setting the large orc's mini on the map he'd prepared as everyone gaped at him in horror.

"Shit! I didn't think we'd get attacked by anything right before we got to the summit…" Katara winced, looking at Sokka in horror. "You're mean, Sokka! We're almost there, you said…!"

"Hey, it's the way the game works. Take it or leave it," Sokka smirked: everyone rolled, and everyone offered Sokka their respective initiative results as the battle against the terrifying orc began.

Of course, all was going well right until Azula's character stepped up to the orc Sokka had placed on the battlefield. The orc's turn came right after hers, he had already taken a few blows by the other players – ranged blows, mostly – and her choice to be in such proximity with the orc seemed a rather wild one to make…

"It's pretty unsafe to be in close quarters with this guy. He'll get an attack of opportunity…" Sokka pointed out, and Azula huffed, brushing through the rulebook.

"From what I understand, even if we leveled up to second level last week, I actually cannot use second-level spells yet?"

"Uh, you can't yet, no," Sokka said. Azula huffed, shaking her head.

"Well, that's too bad but I suppose Charm Person will do?"

Sokka's jaw dropped. The others let out a deep 'ooooh' while eyeing Sokka deviously, since that wasn't something he'd planned for at all. Azula smiled wickedly again, closing the book and shrugging.

"Mind making a wisdom saving throw for me, mighty orc?" she asked. Sokka huffed, shaking his head before rolling the dice.

"What's the DC?" he asked. Azula hummed before finding the right stat for Sokka to measure himself against.

"That would be a fourteen, yes," she said. The Duke, Aang and Zuko hummed at the surprisingly high number while at such a low level. "Indeed, my charisma is quite high. You're most unfortunate for that, my lovely orc."

"Well… the lovely orc has rolled a fifteen, so I'm afraid your spell didn't take hold," Sokka smiled. Azula gasped in horror as the table groaned.

"That's not fair," she said, huffing. Sokka shrugged. "And here I was thinking we could have so much fun…"

"Wait, what?" Jet snorted. "Again?"

"Are you slutshaming Fyrelith? Are you?" Azula asked, glaring at him playfully from over Aang's head. Jet cackled, covering his face with a hand as Ty Lee's jaw dropped.

"Azula! I didn't know you had this in you!" she said. Azula scoffed.

"Me? It's what Fyrelith wants, I'm only channeling what the character requires. Simple," Azula said, with a bright grin.

"Well, I'm afraid you're not going to bang an orc that's hellbent on trying to kill you for trespassing on his territory," Sokka said, with a sarcastic smile. Azula scoffed.

"I can still try again…"

"Don't waste all your spell slots on this nonsense!" Zuko squealed: Azula groaned, waving a dismissive hand at him. "Azula!"

The fight continued once her turn was over – and of course, Azula took damage from the orc once his turn arrived. He roared before delivering a sharp slap across her face: Azula dignified that with a whimper of pain… and then a devious smile.

"I see you like it rough, do you? How delightful…" she said, and the others laughed again as Sokka groaned, looking at her in disbelief.

"He attacked you! This is an unhealthy fixation you're developing with this guy!" Sokka said. "Don't try to bang people who hurt you, Azula!"

"Oh, now, I wouldn't! But Fyrelith is a whole other story, you see…"

"He's a hideous-looking orc! Look!" Sokka's voice cracked as he picked up the mini, showing it closely at Azula while the rest of the table roared with laughter. She tilted her head to the side, smirking and biting her lower lip.

"There's just this rugged handsomeness about him, though…"

"Holy crap, you're completely incorrigible," Sokka surrendered, setting the mini in place again as he smiled in disbelief at her. "I really hope you guys go to a temple soon. I feel like someone has to exorcize Fyrelith…"

"If only one of us were a cleric…" sighed The Duke, shooting a glare at his brother, who stuck a tongue out at him.

"Why should I be the cleric? You be the cleric…"

The sibling argument unfolded carelessly then as the fight carried forward: a full round was done, and the orc was not in the best of shapes once Azula's turn came around anew. Sokka shot her a wary look. She responded with a devious smirk. Sokka raised a menacing hand.

"Azula…"

"I… would like to persuade him," she said. Sokka's jaw dropped. "Regular, plain persuasion. No spells, or Zuzu won't let me live it down. So…"

"Right. Well, then. Go on and try!" Sokka said, with a disbelieving smirk. "Disadvantage, because you're talking to a dude who's bleeding pretty profusely after the rest of your party hacked away at him like nobody's business…"

"Disadvantage, then. I see," Azula nodded before breathing in and getting into character once again, eyeing Sokka luridly. "Please, now, we can resolve this in an agreeable way, can we not? A specimen as strong and sturdy as you… I'm sure I could heal your wounds from this fight and, I don't know, learn a thing or two about orc anatomy while we're at it?"

She wiggled her eyebrows and Sokka shot her a defiant glare. He gestured with his chin, and Azula picked up her twenty-sided dice: the first result was a fifteen… and the second, an eight.

"Well, then, disadvantage says you failed," Sokka smiled in relief… only for The Duke to hum, eyeing him questioningly.

"I'm not sure about that, you know? Because you probably should do an Insight check yourself," The Duke said. Sokka froze, glaring at one of the more experienced players at the table. "I mean, I don't know how smart you want to make this guy sound, but…"

"That's a good point. He doesn't sound all that smart to me," Aang laughed.

"This could work? You could actually seduce an orc with a roll as low as eight?" Mai asked, skeptical. Azula shrugged carelessly.

"I was about to accept my failure but if that sounds reasonable…" Azula said, smiling at Sokka again: his eyebrow twitched as he glared at Aang. "Oh, come on, it's an eight, isn't it? Hardly like you're bound to fail it."

"Well… the orc's wisdom modifier is minus two," Sokka revealed, and the whole table gasped in amazement. Azula blinked blankly, a slow smile spreading over her face. "And that's what affects insight. So… as long as I get ten or higher, sure, I'm fine, but… fuck."

He hadn't thought to do an insight check himself – it seemed to him that this orc could very well just be a violent asshole who was uninterested in a seductive tiefling. But it might be entertaining to roll against Azula's roll…

His d20 rolled in his dice tray before settling on a seven.

Sokka yelped. Azula gasped happily, even if she hadn't seen the number directly.

"Did it work?! Did it work?!" Ty Lee exclaimed: Sokka covered his face in his hands as a response…

And the entire table erupted in a spree of wild cheers. Azula laughed harder than anyone – she had assumed it wouldn't pay off, she seemed resigned to an adverse result… oh, but seeing her laugh that way was more than enough for Sokka. Even if it meant his orc was a smitten fool now, of course.

"U-uh, I, uh… What? What? You're, um… pretty," he said, roleplaying as the orc again. Azula laughed and nodded.

"Aren't I? That's wonderful of you to say. But now I'd very much like it if you would stop fighting my comrades?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows meaningfully. Sokka groaned.

"I… fight them. You're my snack for later," he decided, turning his focus on the others again: the whole table gasped at the way he had circumvented the situation, preventing a strange, diplomatic solution just when it seemed to be at hand.

"Wait, what?!" Suki gasped. "You can't just ignore her, she persuaded you!"

"She persuaded him of her value as a healer and as a snack, I suppose," Sokka smiled. "But you lot? You didn't persuade him of anything, he's not very bright, so he won't decide you're all harmless just because he thinks she is. See?"

"Let me at him, I'll tear that orc a new one…" Toph said, cracking her knuckles. "It's my turn after he's done with his, right? I'll finish him off…!"

"Wait… I have a bonus action, don't I?" Azula said, stopping Toph on her tracks.

"Sure…?" Sokka blinked blankly.

"I didn't really attack, so I'm not sure if this whole thing about offhand action is plausible?" Azula said. Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Can I bargain with you to make, uh, a manner of attack, I'd say?"

"A manner of attack?" Sokka asked. "What, you're going to smack the orc with your staff? Kind of a little too much if that's what you…"

"No, no, no… I'm going to flash him."

"You're…" Sokka started… then he froze on his tracks. His jaw dropped as the table fell utterly silent. Azula blinked blankly a few times, as if waiting for him to speak. "You're… going to flash him. Like… pull your corset open and…?"

"Exactly."

The table roared with laughter again at Sokka's utter perplexity. Azula shrugged, mimicking the potential action with one hand hovering by her chest.

"See, tugging the binding loose quickly isn't going to be that hard, then Fyrelith just has to push her chest out and…"

"Okay! That's a visual!" Sokka exclaimed, face red as he huffed, eyes wide in horror. Azula laughed, and even she was slightly flustered now.

"Too much for a bonus action? Damn. Guess Toph might have to finish him off, then," she chuckled.

"Azula… roll two d8s," Sokka sighed, shaking his head.

"Oh?" she asked.

"Yep. One for each breast," Sokka snorted: a gasp, and another spree of laughter overtook the table as Azula chuckled, rolling the two dice.

"What exactly is this roll supposed to even be?" Katara asked, eyeing her brother in utter confusion.

"If you must know… psychic damage," Sokka said, bluntly, and the others laughed again at his earnest answer. Azula chuckled.

"I wonder if you'd have picked a die with more sides if her rack was any bigger," Azula said. "I got a 12, by the way."

"Twelve?" Sokka asked, with a widening smirk as he eyed his creature's remaining ten hit points. "Azula… you did a great job! You killed a guy by flashing him!"

"What?!" Azula gasped, horrified as the others laughed and cheered her on. "B-but…no! I was trying to…!"

"You could definitely call it a killer rack now, I have to say…" Sokka smirked, as the others laughed even harder. "Nice move. Never knew it was a doable one, but hey! That was pretty damn clever of you. See how great roleplaying can be? You let the dice tell the story…!"

"Even if it results in death by tits," Toph smirked.

"Curses… this isn't over, DM," Azula hissed, raising a menacing finger in his direction. "One way or another… I will have my revenge."

"Well, be my guest and continue to attempt it," Sokka smirked, shaking his head. "You know, I thought your character was seeking a purpose in life…?"

"Apparently that purpose is banging every eligible individual in the realm," Mai said. Azula smiled deviously at her.

"Well, not every eligible one. As far as I can tell, you lot are single, ready to mingle and yet…"

She eyed everyone in the table with distaste and judgment, resulting in another spree of laughter by them all. She waved a hand dismissively in their direction as Jet, the more affronted of the group, cleared his throat.

"And what if I try to romance you?" he asked – Sokka scolded himself for feeling any manner of jealous pangs at the notion of Jet hitting on Azula, even if just her character. "I'm a human and, while my brother thinks that's the most boring thing in the world…"

"It is!"

"I'm perfectly handsome too," Jet grinned. "And, uh, I suppose technically my guy is still looking at your rack…"

"Oh, is he?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. "Azula, roll another two d8…"

"Okay no! Okay, stop, I'm a decent guy! I'm not looking!" Jet squealed, as the table laughed again – it wasn't likely that he'd die over the result of that roll, but he wasn't willing to risk it.

"Ah, how unfortunate. How will I ever find anyone who can withstand looking at my chest without dying in the process?" Azula sighed dramatically, before nodding at Sokka. "And so, I tied up my corset again and my, uh, C-cups are properly hidden once more."

"Ah, and they're C-cups?" Katara asked, amused. Azula nodded sagely.

"You see, I'm theorizing that it'd be a d4 of psychic damage if it were an A-cup, a d6 if it's a B-cup so a d8 if it's a C-cup, I'm assuming, d10 for a D-cup, so…"

"Are you seriously coming up with homebrew rules for the psychic damage in terms of bra sizes?" Sokka asked, gawking at Azula in disbelief. She nodded sagely.

"Well, why not? The other girls might need to do this sometimes to get out of trouble, I'm just offering some helpful resources…"

"Yeah, you know what? I'm writing that down, definitely going to keep that damage chart handy for the future…" Suki declared, making notes of Azula's new ideas while Sokka struggled with his own laughter.

"This… is either the best campaign of all time or the worst. Still too soon to tell," he said. Azula chuckled, and Sokka was delighted to find her eyes seemed even sympathetic and slightly apologetic over the utter embarrassment she had subjected him to with her relentless teasing.

They talked matters over again afterwards, with Azula confessing she had worried that her latest idea was slightly too bold, but Sokka reassured her: this strange tug of war they were holding in the game was thoroughly entertaining for the two of them, as well as the rest of their friends.

So, after confirming yet again that no worrisome boundaries had been breached, their amusing clashing continued in the next sessions: every new character Sokka introduced was immediately a potential target for Azula's wicked ideas. Sometimes her checks succeeded, just as sometimes they failed: on occasion, Sokka would make up new, appealing characters on the fly just to mess with her whenever she was trying to have her way with another one, but sometimes Azula would improvise upon his choices, down to even having her character engage in a rather wild situation with a pair of elves, both too naïve to understand what she was up to as she dragged them into a private room. Her deviousness knew no boundaries, and the people at the table seemed to find her character's antics a grand highlight of each session: they'd even start placing their bets on which newly-introduced character Fyrelith might attempt to sleep with, while also even making their own attempts at bonding with each other as well as her character – Jet continued to attempt to flirt with her, and her deadpan responses caused everyone to roar with laughter as he continued to wonder what, exactly, was so unappealing about his human fighter.

It was a genuine miracle that their group managed to stick to their schedule almost flawlessly, and their campaign flowed quite successfully because of that. New friendships and bonds had been built between everyone, both within the story and outside it, and their genuine enjoyment of the campaign was palpable as their characters gained further strength, now having reached level seven and finally becoming a proper adventuring group, according to the more experienced players.

But something carried over from the first session until the fifteenth: Azula smirked in a telling way as soon as Sokka finished introducing a new character…

"Hey. Hey!" Sokka glared at her menacingly. "Careful where you tread, young lady!"

"What? I'm just thinking… a blacksmith? That's… interesting," Azula laughed as Sokka huffed, shaking his head.

"She's a married woman, damn it!" Sokka squeaked. "And besides… she's straight!"

"Oh, really? As if seeing a lady as hot as Fyrelith wouldn't cause her to question her sexuality at least a little bit…?" Azula said, smirking deviously at Sokka. He huffed. "Come on. Just let me roll for it. I swear I'll leave her alone if I fail."

"So… you're saying you don't mind that she's married?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"Well, I don't think Fyrelith would, no. She's terribly amoral, remember? Chaotic neutral," Azula grinned, with a careless shrug.

"If you become a homewrecker after this, you might actually be chaotic evil," Katara smirked. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Semantics…" she said, dismissively, and everyone at the table laughed. Sokka huffed, glaring at her meaningfully.

"You insist on giving it a shot?" he asked. Azula smirked.

"You do realize you're supposed to be the boss here? If you want to put your foot down and say this lady's days of experimentation are behind her, go for it. But if you think she'd be even slightly curious…"

Sokka held her gaze, and Azula's smirk didn't dwindle at all. He breathed deeply… before giving her his verdict:

"Roll for persuasion with disadvantage," he hissed. Azula laughed deviously.

"Oh, I don't know about this blacksmith but you, DM, have a soft spot for Fyrelith for sure…" Azula snickered, rolling two twenty-sided dice, as commanded…

Aang, beside her, gasped. Azula raised her eyebrows upon looking at the numbers on the pair of dice…

"What? What?!" Sokka whimpered. Azula smirked again, though there was a smidge of remorse as well.

"Natural twenty… and natural nineteen."

Sokka's eyes widened. His face paled. Azula couldn't muffle her laughter as the rest of the table broke out in laughter as well: Sokka groaned, shaking his head in horror before taking his own dice: he could do this, he could do this, if he rolled high enough he might counter her roll…

A nine, of course, wasn't going to be a high enough number to defeat her.

"Ugh. Fine. Fine. You win," Sokka groaned. Azula giggled wickedly.

"You could say I have a… weakness for strong arms. I'd never seen any quite so strong in a lady before, too," she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Mine are pretty strong, though!" Ty Lee exclaimed, beaming: Azula shot her a deadpan glare, like the ones she typically shot Jet. "I mean, I'm not saying I'm interested, but…"

"I… found a much better offer right here. A delightfully strong woman, right? Right?" Azula said, teasing Sokka into roleplaying. His tense smile spoke for itself.

"I… I must say, I don't really know what you mean…" he said, trying to sound as feminine as possible while everyone laughed. Azula chuckled, gazing at him with teasing affection.

"Now, now, don't be so modest… though if you'd truly like to know what I meant, dear, there's one rather interesting way of going about it," she said, biting her lip. "Mind introducing me to your… forge?"

"Uh… sure! You'd like to see it? Perfect!" Sokka grinned awkwardly before letting out a deep sigh. "And so, Fyrelith has gotten laid, officially, six times."

The table erupted in cheers as Azula cackled with deviousness, clapping as well at Sokka's declaration.

"Does that include the two elves?" asked Toph, smirking.

"Six times, seven partners. The distinction is worth pointing out, I suppose," Azula laughed. "Ah, it could be more, but you have been terribly stingy with some characters, Sokka. Like that wonderful orc. He might have been Fyrelith's soulmate and yet…"

"Fyrelith killed him herself, so don't guilt me about it," Sokka chuckled, shaking his head.

"Come to think of it, shouldn't you roll the damage against the blacksmith lady?" Mai smirked. "Probably against all the people who've seen your breasts by now, Fyrelith…"

"Oh, well, it's not a combat situation, so I don't think it'll be necessarily damaging then…" Sokka said. Azula let out a happy sigh.

"Ah, I did worry about that, but it's good to know that's your verdict, Sokka," she said.

"You should do some sort of performance check to make sure it doesn't do damage, though," chuckled The Duke. "I mean, the lady's never been with a female tiefling before, right?"

"So, you think… what, that a low roll would mean she'd faint as soon as I take off my clothes?" Azula scoffed. The Duke shrugged, and Sokka grinned.

"Hey! That's a good idea! Performance checks to find out how this tryst turned out!" he said. "Come on, Azula, it's a performance check…!"

"Well, I suppose at least performance works with the charisma modifier, better than athletics for someone like me…" Azula said, raising her eyebrows as she picked up her dice and rolled it… and she snorted, throwing her head back in amusement. "Why can't I roll this well for initiative calls? Got a sixteen, my charisma modifier is plus four, so…"

"Another twenty?" Sokka's eyebrow twitched. "Well… I got a fifteen here. So… ehem. You guys are just waiting for Fyrelith to be done with her business which, I suppose, means that you'll get all your equipment repairs for free since a performance check that high would get you that much of a discount…"

"Hell yeah!" The Duke laughed.

"Okay, Azula: you're banging the clerk of the potions shops next time," Zuko said, smirking. "I wouldn't be encouraging you to do this, normally, but…"

"Ah, finally accepting my life's choices, brother: thank you. I've always waited for this moment…" Azula responded, dramatically: even though he was usually quite irritated by Azula's antics, it seemed her primary focus on Sokka during these games had eased up Zuko's tension and irritable behavior at his sister.

"After about thirty minutes or so," Sokka continued. "You see Fyrelith is leaving the forge room, looking… eh, like she usually does. Meanwhile, the blacksmith is following her with lovestruck eyes and trembling hands…"

"Oh, no!" Katara snorted, covering her mouth with a hand as Azula's eyes widened. Sokka smiled deviously at Azula.

"Oh, my lady! T-that was incredible! Where did you learn such techniques? I… I am, uh, of course, talking about forging techniques, haha! Yes, yes, do not judge me, please…!" Sokka roleplayed, acting bashful and shameless all at once as the rest of the table broke into laughter while Azula, for once, dropped her face in her hand. "My lady, would you like to stay? For a day, maybe! The night! Surely you need a place to stay! My husband, oh, he'll be delighted to meet you as well…!"

"I… don't think so," Azula said, with a weak smile. "Goodness, if you're this thrilled about my performance, I sincerely doubt he's any good in bed himself…"

"Oh, he's not! But you, my lady…!" Sokka said, his voice as greedy as could be. Azula couldn't keep a straight face anymore as she closed her eyes in laughter. "I'm sure you could teach him so much if you stay and…!"

"We… have a journey to continue!" Zuko cut in, with a dry grin. Sokka scoffed at him. "I'm afraid we cannot stay any longer than we have."

"I can get you some food! Some drinks, too…!"

"Hell, yeah!" Toph roared.

"Toph!" the others rebuffed her, and she shrugged carelessly in their direction.

It was yet another victory for Azula, then, as the dice had favored her this time… but a week later, Sokka ensured to turn the tables. He knew Azula had boundaries of her own, there was no way that wouldn't be the case… and after leading the party into a large swamp, filled with festering corpses he introduced that day's main non-playable character…

"You come across a dark-haired, blue-eyed humanoid," Sokka said: Azula's knowing smile tickled him, as he knew what was going through her mind already… and he smirked before delivering the final blow that would freeze Azula on the spot. "He is eight-years-old."

A collective gasp by the entire party. Azula's smile dwindled at once. Sokka smirked at her, proudly.

"He is… a stable boy of some sort, going by the appearance of his filthy attire, but he may have gotten lost during his journey," he said "And just as it has happened with many people you've met, the child has been haunted by Shadows, pushed away from home. He's nervous, downcast… but he smiles at once when your group approaches."

Sokka cleared his throat, and he hitched his voice purposefully, for the sake of impressing further childishness into his upcoming act.

"G-good day…" he said, shyly. "Are you travelers? I… I'm lost. I don't know where I am, I don't know what happened, I…"

"Child," Katara said, offering Sokka a sympathetic smile. "Don't fret. We'll help you, for sure. Are you alone out here?"

"Uh-huh…" Sokka nodded, making his best impression of an innocent child. Azula grimaced, a hand on her face.

"Really? No friends, no family out here with you?" Ty Lee asked.

"How did you wind up here, then?" Suki said. Sokka shrugged.

"I… I don't know. T-these spooky things, t-they scared me and I just ran. And then I woke up… here," he said, glancing around himself warily. "P-please… I just want to go back to the farm…"

"The farm… owned by your parents?" Azula asked. Sokka's eyes narrowed.

"My parents died," he said, curtly, his voice no longer as emotional, though still as shrill. Azula's eyebrow twitched.

"How about… an older sibling?" Azula asked.

"I have no one," Sokka said, bluntly. "I'm alone. It's just little old me."

"Little… as in, how old are you?" Azula asked, swallowing hard. "J-just… to be sure. A human child, right? That's what you are…?"

"I'm a human child and I'm eight-years-old," Sokka repeated.

For the first time, Azula groaned and dropped heavily on the table in a sign of defeat: the entire group gasped in shock, as Sokka raised his head proudly.

"Fine! Fine! I get the picture! It's over!" Azula exclaimed, as everyone laughed at her surrender. "You win, I lose! I cannot seduce a character, or attempt to, on every single session! I accept your judgment!"

"I mean… you can certainly try next week, but not this time," Sokka chuckled, but Azula scoffed in his direction.

"Don't play innocent now. You knew exactly what you were setting me up for here… and I respect it. I accept it. I… will rethink my life choices. Fyrelith shall do the same. From here on out, I shall become the most reasonable, goal-oriented sorcerer you've met. Though… I have no idea what my goal is yet, but I suppose the immediate goal should be coming up with a greater goal, yes…"

"So, you're going to stop seducing everything we come across?" Suki smiled sadly. "I mean, everything eligible, I suppose…"

"I fear your days of entertainment over my conquests are now over," Azula said: the whole table groaned in disappointment, and as much as she seemed resolute about her decision, Azula couldn't help but laugh at their reaction.

"Well, come on, I just wanted to tease you into not doing it all the time…" Sokka said, but Azula huffed in his direction.

"I can acknowledge it when I've been beaten. So… I accept this fate you've bestowed upon me. Rethinking my life, right now," she said, shaking her head. "Do not try to break my resolve, for it will be futile…"

"Oh, really?" Sokka smirked.

The fact that her resolve was, indeed, unbreakable, took Sokka by surprise on the next session: a couple of characters were introduced, and Azula made no move to hit on them or flirt with them at all.

"Oh, wow. Looks like she meant it," Aang blinked blankly as Azula behaved aloofly, shaking her head dismissively at everyone's confused stares.

"I feel like I'm being judged more harshly over not being promiscuous anymore than I ever was over my promiscuity," she pointed out, prompting some of the others to laugh. "Truly…"

"Well, we're worried about you, Fyrelith!" Katara laughed, in character once more. "Are you sure you're okay? That guy was okay-looking…"

"Oh, he was… but I have to be more responsible," Azula said, shaking her head. "In all this time I've sought a purpose… and meaningless, careless romps with random people felt like one, for a time. I fear I may need something greater, though."

"A real relationship!" Ty Lee suggested. Azula's eyebrow twitched.

"Not with any of you lot, I don't," she said, and as ever, everyone laughed at her rejection.

"Well, then, how about friendship?" Aang suggested, with a careless smile. "That can be its own kind of fulfillment… you'll see!"

Azula sighed, but she shrugged and complied: Sokka eyed her with a raised eyebrow, and she stared back challengingly. Did she mean he had to try harder to appeal to her? Was that what she was getting at?

But where nothing could scare her away before, now it seemed nothing interested her, instead. She started taking her character building far more seriously, interacting more with the other player characters, and while Sokka thought the direction she was taking her character in would be nice, she still constantly dropped hints that she hadn't found the fulfillment she sought yet. Multiple sessions went by, and nothing Sokka did got a rise out of her… but the way she eyed him sometimes thoroughly convinced him that she wanted him to try harder. Maybe he was wrong… but what if he wasn't?

The campaign carried on, and the other characters got away with having fun antics of their own, amusing storylines that had everyone at the table laughing often. Their characters continued to seek the true source of the Shadows plaguing the realm, ever hoping to put an end to the threat that constantly appeared to rise with further strength. Their team, too, grew stronger and wiser, enough to finally investigate deeply enough to track down their final foe… as well as to defy him in the opulent castle ruins in which he dwelled.

"I raise my staff and say: who are you? And why are you here?" Zuko growled.

Sokka closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again: he seemed to be fully in-character as the villainous entity they had been chasing for around half a year by now.

"Ixuus, the warlock," Sokka said, eyes drifting across the party members, one by one, in clockwise order starting with Zuko. "Selwyn, the ranger. Andril, the rogue. Ilyrana, the wizard. Stout, the barbarian. Dain, the artificer. Jet, the fighter. Aerya, the monk. Anrin, the druid. Fyrelith, the sorcerer. I see you have come to pay me a visit."

"We had something a little less friendly in mind," Jet said, with a smirk. "We don't know what you're trying to pull here, whoever you are… but the gig is up. We're here to take you down."

"Is that so?" Sokka said, his voice deep and menacing. "Just as you take down everything on your path, of course?"

"Hell, yeah!" Toph exclaimed, tossing a fist into the air.

Sokka sighed, shaking his head condescendingly. A few of the players eyed him skeptically as he relaxed on his chair, a strange air of authority and arrogance to him.

"You solely prove me correct in my choices. Every move you've made, every step forward into this violent world… made violent by your choices, not my own," Sokka said, a hint of mournfulness in his voice.

"Say what? You keep sending those Shadows to kill everything!" Suki scoffed.

"We've saved lots of people from them, you send them to kill us…" Katara said, shaking her head. "If anything, you're the one who's being violent! We were happy to be…!"

"Mercenaries. Murderers for hire," Sokka said, and the others froze. "You pretend to have morals, to fight for what's right and true… but what is right and true? It matters little to the likes of you, of course… to the likes of nature altogether. Of mortals, not solely your group of miscreants."

"Uh… I'm a little confused now," Aang said, smiling awkwardly at Sokka. "Are you trying to say that you hate us for being murderers? You hate… nature altogether?"

"When all began… the first speck of life was but a gift bestowed upon a world deemed beautiful, meant to be shared with others," Sokka sighed. "But as life thrived and grew, cruelty became the default choice by those whose hearts were conquered by greed, by hatred… by the need to covet more than they have earned. Satisfaction? It is beyond the likes of you… of all living, breathing beings across our world. It is not solely the sentient, for it's in the very instincts of all creatures in existence. The world is rotten. Life is rotten. It needs… to be purged."

"Well, I heard enough: let's wreck him!" Toph roared. Aang grimaced.

"But if we just fight him we'll prove him right, won't we? We should… go about it differently!" he said, nodding promptly. "Let's talk things over and convince him that life is worth fighting for."

"Uh, I don't think this was designed to be a situation where we can win through persuasion…" Zuko pointed out, and Aang pouted.

"It could be interesting if it were possible, though…" Azula said: the others eyed her skeptically. "What? I'm only saying, it's entirely possible to attempt it, though it probably will fail, but still…"

"Well, you're the one with the insanely high charisma stat… and a longer history of seduction than anyone else in this world, I presume," Mai smirked skeptically. "Hit on him. Maybe flash him, get that 2d8 damage…"

"You know, that's not a totally awful idea," Katara said, with a smile. "Technically, you were the one least inclined to pick fights because you preferred to sleep with everyone, so… how about it? You should totally talk this guy down!"

"I… am slightly out of practice," Azula said, raising her eyebrows and glancing at Sokka, who stared at her intently. "But I suppose it won't hurt to try?"

"I don't think I trust that guy… though I don't trust the tiefling much more than I trust him, honestly," The Duke said, with a grimace.

"She's pulled off some really incredible feats with her, uh, assets. I'm sure she can do something now," Jet grinned. "Go on, Fyrelith! Convince that guy that we don't just kill everything, we bed everything we can, too!"

"A respectable motto, yes," Azula agreed, nodding as the others laughed at Jet's words.

She breathed deeply then, turning towards Sokka. He stared her down defiantly, much as he had in the past.

"Well, I haven't done this in a while…" Azula said, biting her lip. "Yes, well, a few months, technically, but that's still a long time for me. At any rate… you have yet to answer our main question. Who are you?"

Sokka closed his eyes again, and he kept silent long enough to make them think he might not answer…

"I am Hessik. And I… am the mind from which this world first spawned."

Their jaws dropped. Everyone glanced among each other in confusion: a few non-playable clerics they'd met had mentioned Hessik's name here and there as some old entity, long-forgotten but recently rediscovered... even so, he had been revered as a deity, a god. An intangible, distant entity…

"This world… was my creation," he said. "And I have seen it grow corrupted with the cruelty in the hearts of all who cannot seem to stop reaching for more than they deserve. It is vile, it is vicious… and it is my wish to see it undone."

"Undone? You… intend to destroy this world, do you?" Azula asked. "And, perhaps, create a new one where such cruelty is needless? Yet… life is brittle, fragile. We cannot survive by doing nothing. By watching sunsets and sunrises, by breathing in flowers… for flowers, too, must drain water and nourishment from the earth. In doing so, they may overstep themselves, take more than they should, kill other flowers by stealing what the others need…"

"It is a flawed world, is it not?" Sokka said, bitterly. "I was young… I was foolish and I failed to predict an outcome that, after so many years, seems so obvious. But nothing will change for the better. There is nothing but cruelty and darkness awaiting… nothing but oblivion for the likes of your friends. But you…"

"Oh? What about me?" Azula blinked blankly: his eyes changed, softening slightly.

"You sought to resolve conflicts in unforeseen ways," he said. "I cannot say… that you sought to create life by doing so, no, certainly not… but you sought a higher purpose. Simple-minded mercenaries like your friends could never understand such a calling. You wanted more, did you not? So much more than traveling endlessly with buffoons who cannot appreciate your true qualities, your talents… your boundless wisdom."

"Boundless what? She flashed an orc!" Zuko squealed, as the rest of the table laughed at his intervention. Azula couldn't hold back a smile, though Sokka remained as serious as before. "That's wisdom?"

"Technically, it killed the orc, so…" Suki said, grabbing Zuko's hand reassuringly as he shook his head in disbelief.

"I… suppose my methods did not displease the creator of this world," Azula said, with a slow smirk. "However unethical as they may have been, at times."

"Unethical?" Sokka said, breathing deeply. "A young man in a tavern found his days monotonous and bleak… until you lured him into his cellar and provided him with a most delightful memory that sustains him to this day. An orc died… after you generously provided him, a creature with nothing but suffering and pain to sustain his existence, with the most beautiful vision he had ever seen: that of your bare breasts."

The fact that he managed to speak those words without breaking out into laughter certainly spoke well of his self-control: the rest of the table, of course, erupted in laughter at the surprising spin on Azula's choices.

"Two lonely elves had not known how to admit their affection for each other until you taught them how," Sokka continued. "As for the blacksmith… she enjoys a much more fulfilling life after you showed her the pleasures she had never experienced before. Her husband has learned from what she learned, too, and their marriage has improved vastly for it."

"Wow. See? Being promiscuous pays off!" Azula said at the rest of the table, who continued to laugh at the shocking outcome of the situation. She turned to Sokka again, a bright grin on her face. "Well, I had no idea I'd had such a positive impact on so many things, but I'm thrilled to learn as much…"

"What if he's lying?" The Duke asked.

"He's the creator of this world, so… one would think he has some level of omniscience?" asked Aang. "He knew all our names already, so…"

"I know more than enough. I know everything about everything… and in all the miserable years of being trapped within this world of my creation, a world I have sought to destroy so that I may finally set myself free by doing so, no one has ever impressed me in the way you have, Fyrelith Krylla."

"Wait… wait. Doesn't this mean that the persuasion idea actually might work?!" Suki gasped: the whole table stared at Sokka intently now, and he offered them a simple shrug in response.

"Holy shit," Zuko's eyes widened.

"Azula's going to bang a god!" Ty Lee laughed, clapping happily. "That's so wild!"

"I… might. But it depends on his willingness, of course," Azula said, smirking as she turned towards Sokka.

"Go on and convince me, why don't you?" Sokka smirked. Azula laughed and nodded.

"Well, then, Hessik, creator of this world… I have my own understanding of life and death, of cruelty and kindness, and I believe we may be better served by enlightening each other further in a more… private capacity. I cannot say for certain that I will be up to your standards… you are a deity, of course. But if this is our final attempt to resolve this matter without violence… then I give myself to you, creator. My body shall be yours to do with as you see fit."

"Fyrelith Krylla…" Sokka said, his voice deep and earnest. "Your body… is a generous offer. Perhaps I shall make, then, an offer of my own: the purpose you have sought, the unsatisfaction you have been ailed by all your life, will be quenched. I shall see to it."

Azula blinked blankly. She eyed Sokka skeptically for a moment, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Um… is this supposed to be some sort of mutual persuasion?" she asked. "Do I need to roll, or…?"

Sokka smiled before shaking his head. Everyone gasped as he spread his arms.

"Hessik… has always wanted to bang Fyrelith Krylla, so no persuasion roll was necessary," he announced: the entire table roared with cheers and laughter now as Azula threw her head back, covering her face with her hands. "And that's where tonight's session ends!"

"What?! Wait, no! You can't just leave it off there!" The Duke groaned, looking at Sokka hopelessly.

"He's right! How do we prepare for next week if we have no idea what's going to happen with them?" Toph asked, huffing.

"Well, you won't prepare much, I suppose," Sokka chuckled. "Let's just say, for the purposes of the game… the whole party gets a long rest now. Fyrelith and Hessik shall be alone for… I suppose, a day and a night in order to ensure she, too, gets a full rest, but…"

"Will she? I wonder if this horny god won't demand too much from her…" Azula sighed, shaking her head dramatically.

"He's a very generous god, he'll let her sleep sometimes. Sometimes," Sokka smirked. Azula chuckled, shaking her head – if she was flustered, she certainly was masking it perfectly through amusement.

Even if the rest of the party protested at first, it was getting late by then, and everyone had to go home. Laughter continued to spread in the group as everyone encouraged Azula to do her best and go all out with her performance once she slept with the dangerous deity they'd come across, and she thanked them for it every time. Little by little, the members of their group took off to their respective homes… yet Azula didn't get going as fast as everyone else. She lagged behind, staring at the minis on the table as Sokka began setting aside all his Dungeon Master tools.

"You have a mini of this god yet?" Azula asked. Sokka smiled and shrugged. "I'm just curious…"

"Want to know if he's Fyrelith's type?" Sokka asked. Azula chuckled. "Not sure what her type is, to be honest. I feel like she went for so many different kinds of characters so far that…"

"Ah, so you don't know for sure? And here I thought the creator god knew everything," Azula smirked. Sokka laughed, shaking his head. "I admit… I didn't see that twist coming. A rather interesting one, too. He's trapped, you said?"

"Oh, yes," Sokka nodded, sagely. "He was a being of seemingly boundless power… but loneliness took hold of him eventually. The idea of creating other living entities came to mind, so he decided to create a world with countless others, people, plants, animals, beasts… all so he could have all the companionship he craved. But the cruelty of mortal life got to him quickly… but he had spent too much of his power in creating this world and lacked the strength to change things. Thus, Hessik has spent hundreds, thousands of years amassing as much power as he can, all be it to become strong enough to break this world apart once more, and to create a new, better one in its stead."

"But then… the crux of the matter is loneliness?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smiled and nodded.

"He is a loner, yes. The other deities exist in their own planes, he has no access to them, and they never truly knew of him… they were drawn to mortals, and they're enablers of the sins of mortals, you could say. They encourage them, even… so Hessik is not interested in befriending them," Sokka said, shaking his head. "Anyway… yep, he's lonely and fears no one will ever understand him, but…"

"But now he thinks Fyrelith might?" Azula asked, amused, stepping closer to him. Sokka chuckled, shrugging slightly.

"I admit, I had too much fun with your inappropriate antics at the beginning of the campaign. I don't know if I shut you down too hard when I did…" Sokka said. Azula laughed, shaking her head.

"Oh, please, it was hilarious, don't feel bad about it now," she smiled.

"Either way, it's not like I really wanted you to stop altogether. The whole struggle to see if any characters could resist you was pretty funny," Sokka admitted, smiling fondly at her.

"It was our own personal little war in the middle of the campaign, felt like," Azula said. "Though… I suppose this truly would be the final battle, if so. Is Fyrelith powerful enough to seduce a mighty god?"

"I suppose we'll find out… though we could find out right now," Sokka said. Azula raised her eyebrows. "I… I mean by rolling a performance check! We could very well just leave it for the next session, but I figured it'd be a good idea for me to start building the direction of things for the next session… it's probably going to be the end of the campaign, whether Hessik wins or loses, so…"

"So… you want us to roll a performance check," Azula smiled. "That was it."

"That… was it," Sokka swallowed hard, eyeing her with uncertainty. Azula bit her lip and nodded.

"Very well, then. Very well."

She stepped up to the table, where her dice tray remained untouched. She picked out her favorite twenty-sided dice, and then looked through Sokka's own dice to pick one of his, too: she handed him her own dice, and she took his for herself. Sokka smiled approvingly, stepping up to Azula's cleared dice tray, standing right beside her.

"I suppose you have endless charisma…" Azula said. Sokka chuckled.

"You almost have endless charisma yourself, with a plus six modifier by now…"

"Well, I suppose so," Azula smiled. "Either way… whatever the outcome of our battle may be, you were a worthy opponent and challenger. And if you would have me in your next campaign as well, I shall be delighted to sleep with you constantly through that one, too."

"I shall be even more delighted than you about it, I suspect," Sokka chuckled. Azula smirked proudly at him. "Alright then… moment of truth."

Azula nodded, preparing herself to roll: they stood right before each other, neither one looking at the tray, or the dice… only into each other's eyes.

"Three… two… one…" Sokka counted: Azula smiled as they released their dice at the same time.

Neither one broke the eye contact. Neither one looked at the dice to find out whether this dalliance between their characters had paid off or failed. Sokka swallowed hard, smiling slightly.

"We… should look," he said. Azula smiled and nodded.

"Then why don't you?" she asked.

"Because I'll be really disappointed if I rolled badly," he admitted: Azula laughed, shaking her head.

"Poor godly entity… he wishes to impress a perfectly ordinary woman that badly, does he?" she asked. Sokka huffed.

"Azula… you're beyond extraordinary."

That he hadn't even tried to mask things behind their characters didn't register with him, but by the expression on her face, it did with her: a spark of mischief, and yet of hope as well, lit up in her eyes…

Her hand reached up to fist his shirt: Sokka's hands fell upon her waist by sheer instinct before their lips crashed together in an impulsive, teased, long-awaited kiss.

Her arms locked around his neck, her body leaning fully into his: he didn't lose his grip on her, or his footing, recklessly allowing his hands to caress her flanks. His desperate need for her had only risen constantly, even if he had been perfectly willing not to obey it… but ever since this campaign's preparation had begun, he started to wonder if she was interested too. He had tried to convince himself that it was all in his head… but as he picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his hips while continuing to kiss him deeply, moaning into each exchange, he was happy to let all his uncertainties fade into nothingness.

Azula didn't go home that night, much as Fyrelith would have spent the night with Hessik, in the campaign: it was easy to imagine that their characters could have had just as much fun as they did, that the feelings of loneliness and lack of purpose could have been swept away so quickly in the wake of so much shared pleasure, laughter and bliss. By morning, they climbed out of bed together and cleaned up, with Sokka handing Azula his bathrobe afterwards while he simply fastened a towel around his waist. She had to attend class later that day, so she would have the chance to enjoy his company at least for a couple more hours – and she intended to do just that.

But before they could eat, before they could reprise their nightly fun too, before they could have any genuine conversations regarding the direction of their relationship, the pair stepped up to the table, where Sokka's half-collected dungeon master's tools still sat… where Azula's dice tray still bore the results of the roll that had finally sent them into bed together.

"We… we really need to take a picture of that," Sokka laughed, running a hand over his loose hair. Azula covered her mouth with a hand, unable to muffle her own chuckles.

"Good thing we have a week left before the next session… because I have a few ideas," Azula said. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "I… think you might appreciate them. That is, as long as it's within the realm of reason in Dungeons and Dragons?"

"Well, if it's anything regarding what our characters did in bed… I'm sure it'll be fine," Sokka snickered. Azula smirked deviously. "But if you mean the direction things will take, going forward…?"

Azula nodded slowly, and Sokka bit his lip.

"I suppose you're not used to having any manner of… co-DM?" Azula asked, smiling slightly.

"I don't think that's exactly common," Sokka admitted, wrapping an arm around her waist. "But I admit, my curiosity has been stoked. What's your plan, huh?"

Azula smirked, hands caressing Sokka's chest again before she kissed him willfully anew. Once they parted, she conveyed her most devious ideas to her new lover.

"Okay… okay. We've been waiting all week… it's time to find out what happened," Aang said, biting his lip once everyone had taken their seats by the table.

"Let's hope the psychic damage was something else this time," Mai sighed, and Azula laughed as she shook her head.

Sokka cleared his throat, and everyone's attention fell to him. He felt rather nervous, of course, even slightly anxious… not so much about the game, but about the fact that nobody at this table had the slightest clue that he and Azula had been a little too enthusiastic about playing out the outcome of the night their characters had shared. Along with that, Azula had spent almost every night with Sokka since the last session, only failing to do so when she had a project to finish for a class, and on one day when Suki and Zuko dropped by for dinner with Sokka – he had asked her if she was ready to reveal their relationship then, but his devious girlfriend had decided that holding back until the next game would be far more impactful.

And so, he wondered what her plan would be. Perhaps she simply wanted to wait until the session was over… or she'd outright try to kiss him in the middle of the fight, taking everyone by surprise once she did.

But that wasn't what he should be focusing on right now. No… his true focus had to be the campaign, and the final battle was about to commence.

"As you recall, you have met Hessik, the god who created your world and now spreads chaos and catastrophes across it," Sokka said. "After claiming to be dismissive of violence and the way mortals seek to destroy each other for advancement and greed, Fyrelith, your party's sorcerer, tried to persuade and reach an understanding with Hessik. He took an interest in her… he had an interest in her all along, in fact. Thus, Fyrelith propositioned Hessik, and Hessik propositioned Fyrelith right back. This is where we left off…"

"And?!" The Duke huffed, eagerly. "Did you kill him in bed, Azula?!"

"Pfft. How uncivilized of you to say something like that," Azula said, shaking her head haughtily. Sokka laughed.

"The rest of you wait for one full day, getting proper rest after your latest, complicated adventures to reach Hessik's dwelling. If you wish to do anything before…"

"No, no, no, move forward now!" Zuko said, grimacing.

"Are you so eager because you're worried that he might have killed me? Ah, brother! So concerned for my fate… I'm truly touched," Azula sighed dramatically. Zuko scoffed.

"I'm not your brother in the game, and I just really want to get to finding out whatever the hell happened! You've kept us on edge for a week, Sokka!"

"And I will keep you there longer unless all of you agree that you don't want to prepare traps or plan ambushes or… anything, really. No preparations? None?" Sokka asked.

The others exchanged glances before smiling somewhat innocently at him.

"We would like to think that Fyrelith will succeed," Aang said, firmly.

"And that we can persuade Hessik not to destroy the world. I mean… technically, there's no amount of preparation that can help us kill a god, is there?" Katara asked.

Sokka blinked blankly before shrugging.

"Okay, then. Suit yourselves…"

"Wait, what does that mean?!"

"Sokka…!"

He laughed, and in the end, he gave the others time to plan strategic moves in case something failed: about thirty minutes later, all their impulsive plans were finished, and it was time to reveal the outcome of Hessik and Fyrelith's tryst.

"You see Fyrelith walking back to where you are… Hessik stands behind her," Sokka said. Azula cleared her throat.

"Worth mentioning… that Fyrelith's walking kind of funny," she said: the table split between groaning and laughing at her clarification. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head. "Come on, he's a god! Be realistic here, that she's still standing is quite an impressive feat already…"

"Let's just say Hessik is a very generous lover and ensured to boost your health with his powers if you needed it," Sokka chuckled. Azula smiled warmly at him.

"How very nice of him," she said. Sokka let out a deep breath before raising a hand in her direction.

"So… Fyrelith. What would you like to do?"

Azula breathed deeply, turning towards the rest of the party. They eyed her expectantly as she smiled slowly.

"Guys… I think I'm in love."

"WHAT?!"

Zuko's voice rose above the gasps and the snorts by the others as Azula giggled in a most foolish way while in character as Fyrelith. The others eyed Sokka warily as he shrugged in their direction.

"I mean, he's just so good in bed. Like, you have no idea how good!" Azula sighed happily, running a hand over her hair. "The places he took me… I'd never thought that was possible! So, well…"

"Fyrelith… Fyrelith," Zuko growled, eyeing her warily. "That's all fine and good… but you're saying he was as happy with you as you were with him? T-that… he's satisfied and thinks mortal lives aren't that despicable because you, well…"

"Because she's great in bed!" Jet announced. Azula laughed and shrugged, glancing at Sokka.

"Well, I don't know. What do you have to say about my prowess, Hessik?"

Sokka hummed, eyeing her with narrow eyes.

"She… is the most unique, special being this world has ever created. Perhaps the cruelty and horrors of this world were not without value, if they were necessary for her existence."

A happy gasp spread in the group as Azula smiled warmly at him: she reached out to clasp Sokka's hand, and he didn't reject her touch at all. They exchanged a tender gaze, their smiles as dreamy as could be…

"And that's why I shall keep her with me, once I destroy everything else."

Sokka's conclusion startled everyone. Their jaws dropped. All their excitement faded when the unexpected revelation hit them at once.

"Woah… woah. What's that supposed to mean?!" Zuko huffed.

"I mean, we are getting a fight, aren't we?" Toph smirked. "That's enough for me!"

"But… wait a minute. Wait a second," Katara said, staring at Azula pointedly: she was still holding hands with Sokka. "If you're going to destroy the world anyhow, just, not her… does that mean…?"

"Well, you see…" Sokka sighed, gazing at Azula with heartfelt affection. Azula let out a soft laugh. "We've had a whole day to discuss matters, and to reach a conclusion. Multiple conclusions, in a sense, but still…"

"Ew," Zuko grimaced. Azula laughed and shrugged.

"He is just… quite persuasive," Azula admitted. "And I mean, he has a point, so…"

"What?! He doesn't have a point!" Aang gasped, horrified. "Azula…!"

"But he does, though! He wanted to make a much kinder world than what turned out to be the case, he's terribly lonely and he needs a companion, I'm perfectly willing, and…"

"And this means we're all going to die?!" exclaimed Ty Lee. Azula raised a hand.

"All of you, yes. Not me, though," she said. Their jaws dropped until the Duke slammed a fist on the table.

"I said not to trust the tiefling since the first session…!"

"Fyrelith, please be reasonable!" Katara said.

"You're just going to stand aside while he destroys us?!" Suki asked. Azula blinked blankly.

"Well… no," Azula said, with a shrug. "I'm going to help him."

Another group gasp shook the room: the betrayal took them by surprise to such an extent that Sokka couldn't even hold back a cackle of evil laughter, one that didn't suit his character all that well, but that he indulged in all the same.

"You two… how the hell is this happening?!" Zuko huffed, glaring at them. "And I mean, out of character: what the hell was your preparation session for this evening supposed to be? I thought you'd sort out…!"

"Well, we did sort out what happened during our happy day together, evidently," Azula chuckled. "But you see…"

Sokka swallowed hard as he pulled up his smartphone: he sent a message to their group chat, and everyone opened the picture attached to it…

Two natural twenties, one in Sokka's dice, one in Azula's.

"What's… what's this roll?" asked Suki, with an awkward smile.

"Performance check, of course. If his roll had been any lower, Fyrelith would have definitely required another persuasion roll on his part in order to join him in his quest…" Azula said, with a dramatic sigh. "And if hers had been any lower, he would have decided against recruiting her permanently. As it happens…"

"This outcome is simply the mandate of the dice," Sokka smiled, with a shrug as everyone gaped at them in horror. "I know, it's shocking even for me, but…"

"Oh, you pair of assholes," Zuko said, shaking his head and cracking his knuckles. "Well, fine, then! We'll kill the both of you, and we'll save the world!"

"Yeah!"

A chorus of cheers and agreement rang in the room as the party took to planning their strategy to defeat Azula and Sokka. Those two only laughed, chatting amicably and quietly while holding hands only for another moment before focusing fully on the battle…

A battle of which the outcome was nothing like what Zuko had hoped it would be.

"For the next campaign…" Sokka announced, five hours later, as everyone sat in utter shock, frozen at the table. "I advise that someone plays a cleric."

Azula snorted and laughed, covering her face with her hands at the horrified faces of their friends. They weren't quite tearful, but they certainly were affronted by the multitude of minis on the board… minis that had been tilted down every time one of them was out of combat. The first to fall was Mai. The second, Jet. The Duke had followed, and then Zuko. Katara, Suki and Aang had fallen to an area-of-effect spell, and Toph had been the very last one left, but even with her barbarian strength and endurance, she failed to counter the godly resistances and legendary actions of Hessik, paired with the remarkable power of Fyrelith, the sorceress who took flight with her brand-new draconic wings, too.

"You frigging… you TPK'd us. You did," Zuko said, with a dangerous smile.

"What does that mean?" Katara said, her voice small.

"Total Party Kill," The Duke and Aang recited together. Suki dropped her head in her hands, Ty Lee's jaw dropped, Mai grimaced, Jet scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and Sokka sighed happily.

"Well, then! That was great. The world shall be torn apart, rebuilt into something different…"

Cries of protest immediately took off after his announcement as everyone took to lashing out at him for the outcome of the game – frankly, had the dice been any less favorable, it could have been a victory for the party, but luck was not on their side, much as Azula wasn't.

"Calm down, calm down," Sokka chuckled, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "We can do another campaign, you can even reuse the characters and we'll have other adventures this time. Oh, I'm sorry it ended up as badly as it did, but it was kind of hilarious…"

"You're a shithead, that's what you are," Toph growled. "I was having a blast! And I'm not going to play a cleric! Katara, you do it!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Oh, unreal. They never learn, do they?" Azula said, smiling at Sokka. "Perhaps I should be the DM next time, and you should be the team cleric so they stop being so ridiculous…"

"Wait, what? No! You'd be a sadistic DM, way worse than Sokka!" Zuko huffed, shaking his head. "Not a chance, Azula!"

"Well, he doesn't have a point and yet he kind of does," Sokka said, smiling at Azula. "You've always been telling me I ought to try being a player, and while I wouldn't mind playing with you as the DM…"

"Would be more fun for us to romance each other as players next time? Hmm… yes, that is a good point," she said, nodding as Sokka smiled, face flushing slightly at her not-so-subtle declaration.

"Romance each other? What, you'll do this madness again?" Zuko growled, grimacing. "You won't get away with playing some god-like character in a proper campaign, Sokka, you hear me?"

"He doesn't have to do that to capture my future character's interest," Azula stated, proudly. "In fact? We should play an already-married couple. That would be unusual."

"Oh? Bold, but… heh. That's an interesting thought," Sokka chuckled: everyone else at the table eyed them with confusion by then.

"Wait, but… why?" Aang asked, with an awkward smile as he drank some water. "Isn't the fun of in-game romance to… play out the romance?"

"Oh, no. Performance rolls to find out if the sex was good or terrible is where the real fun is at," Azula declared, and Aang nearly snorted his drink through his nose. "Good thing it's not up to dice in real life, isn't it?"

"Heh, yeah, it sure… isn't," Katara said, as Azula's words sank in. As the strangeness in her behavior with Sokka also sank in.

Azula smiled proudly at Sokka, who eyed her with a blush and a much shyer grin. The rest of the group at the table gauged the situation slowly, gradually, until…

"You fucks were actually boning in real life too, weren't you?"

Toph's blunt declaration actually got a reaction from them in the form of a spree of guilty laughter: shy in Sokka's case, much bolder and open in Azula's. The Duke blushed, covering his mouth with a hand while Jet groaned, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Guess I had no chance after all, did I?" he said, with a sad smile.

"You actually got away with it?" Mai blurted out, staring at Azula judgmentally. "Well, good for you. Spent ages pining over him and…"

"Mai!" Azula huffed.

"Wait, ages?! You too?!" Sokka gasped, happily. "You didn't tell me that!"

"Oh, she sure did!" Ty Lee confirmed, with giggles. "I mean, I'm still mad that my character died, but oh my gosh, I'm so glad! You two are finally a thing! Yes!"

"Well, Sokka's not going to DM next time for sure! He's just going to keep favoring her because she got into his pants!" Toph huffed, shaking her head dismissively.

"I'm not that biased…! Well, okay, maybe I am," Sokka admitted, with a guilty smile.

"Katara?" Aang asked, smiling awkward at the frozen young woman. "Are you okay?"

"I'm… speechless. I might… stop being speechless eventually. But for now, I'm just… speechless," was her eloquent response, to which everyone laughed too.

"Well, way to go, Azula. I suppose, if all of us had to die, at least it was for a good cause," Suki smiled at her sister-in-law, who smiled and nodded in gratitude for her words.

Naturally, though, Zuko was the last one to react. He had further warning than most everyone at the table, he had already been confronted by the possibility before, and yet he stared at Sokka and Azula, eyes wide before saying:

"My best friend and my sister?"

The whole table erupted in laughter yet again, and if any hard feelings remained after the full party kill from earlier, they seemed to have been swept away in the wake of the revelation of the relationship between Azula and Sokka. The whole group still had much to talk about, much to laugh about, and those two, in particular, had lots of things to discuss regarding their relationship still… and also regarding their next campaign: as he was experienced enough with the game, Aang offered to be the next Dungeon Master. Sokka continued to question his own ability to be a good player, but just one glance at Azula and her devious but heartwarming smiles encouraged him to go forward and live out his own story in the flesh, rather than solely building one for the others: whether in a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons, or in real life, Sokka was ready to indulge in wild, fun adventures beyond his reckoning, adventures he'd be delighted to share with the woman he had fallen in love with.

A/N:

Shoutout to PurplePlatypusBear21 for brainstorming this one with me like... a year ago or however long it was, haha! Thank you so much for encouraging me to write this wild comedy D&D ride!

[sevilemar]

A few more lessons from my fourth session as a DM:

- Playing with atmosphere and using things like music, tone of voice, energy level, ect. is really, really fun. My players gave me the gift of attending an arena fight last session, and it was really fun for me to bring my experiences as a pro wrestling fan into DnD, and creating that sense of pitched battle and high drama that is a pro wrestling show as best I could.

I ended the session with ambushing them in a dark alley with their most challenging fight yet, that ended with one of the players killing someone deliberately, gruesomely, and in cold blood after the fight was over, and another torturing a captive into suicide in their quest for information.

There was a sense of 'we mean business' to them that we haven't seen before at the table. And I wonder what it was that created it. What was it that made them take the fight and especially the aftermath a lot more seriously? The setting, the ambush, the knowledge that the spellcaster had third level spells while they are only 2nd level players, the fact that I did drop a player multiple times? Or was it more that the mage had gained dangerous knowledge, that I put the pressure on in terms of other people beginning to notice the fight?

Maybe it was the fact that I actually gave them one of the people that played a small part in the death they are trying to avenge? Maybe it was one player's decision to kill the man in such a gruesome way, or my decision to narrate it in the most gruesome way I could think of?

Maybe all of the above. All I can say is that even I as the DM got swept up in it and forgot about plot and story; in that moment, I really was the mage who knew too much, who just saw his colleague being killed, who had another enemy carving shapes into his forhead and promising more torture, who had multiple weapons pointed at them, who could not prevent them from finding vital information via Detect Thoughts, and who knew that if his boss found out, death would be a mercy denied many times over.

In that moment, bound and gagged and surrounded by enemies, I made the decision to take his own life. I don't think it was the best decision for the story, but it felt like the only one for the character. Feeling so immersed in the character was a nice change from narrating. Let's see if I can get to it more often.

- When a player expresses interest in an NPC, let them meet if possible. In this case, it would have also countered the imbalance of one part of the party having a meaningful NPC encounter, while the other two players only found information they already knew. Lost opportunity, do better next time.

[blujaydoodles]

what are some of the inspirations for your dnd ocs?

OH interesting question!! Although I think my answers are mostly not very interesting, ahaha ^^;; Elyss was my first 5e character-- I'd always wanted to play a ranger! It's hard to draw a straight line to any specific inspiration there tbh; being interested in animals and the outdoors, wilderness survival, and archery all just happen to be things that have been a part of what I'm like as a person for nearly as long as I can remember, so playing a very classic flavored ranger was a natural extension of all of that. A somewhat more superficial but much more specific detail is that I was inspired to make her a water genasi by the way light creates patterns through ripples underwater: when I found out what a genasi was, I thought it'd be really cool if a water genasi had skin that looked like that.

IDRI was inspired by me wondering about sleight of hand magic in a world with real literal magic-- what role would that play, how would the setting shape the staging and patter for the performance, what would the response be from laypeople and from legitimate practitioners? Then I realized that would be a great backstory for a rogue, and that 'performer in a circus' would give you access to nearly every single rogue feature without having to have a criminal background, and I got really excited by the concept and built it out immediately

Earlier in October I posted about Juniper being partly inspired by Milo Thatch from Atlantis: The Lost Empire :D Otherwise she came from me thinking about motivations for adventuring that aren't either trauma or treasure driven; I wanted her to be adventuring because she wants to, so I made a mapmaker who would be equally excited to travel anywhere the story or the other PCs' personal quests take us

Aubree was built entirely around 'what if... Small sized fighter riding a boar', hahah. Nyssa is mostly just inspired by-- and an outlet for-- my long-running love of satyrs, and my own culture/ worldbuilding for them; her voice and cadence are inspired by Evanna Lynch's performance of Luna Lovegood. Admittedly my halfling bard Kethri was mostly me going 'okay what's this party likely to need 🤔' because her campaign has a lot of first time players ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ambrose and Melliwyk were both initially inspired more than anything by their campaign settings! In both cases I was sort of in a '... I really cannot be in another campaign,' and then the DM was like 'here's the overview for my rich and intriguing setting and where the plot might take you' and I was like WELP!! guess I have to design a character around how badly I wanna sink my teeth into all of that!!! On a slightly similar note, Tsakesh is my Skyrim boi and he was mostly inspired by the way that I like to play Skyrim ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Most of the inspiration for Felix is literally just 'what are all the things I like or that would make me happy to play' tbh lmao. Rogues are my favorite class, so he's a rogue! I love animals and love that dnd lets you talk to animals, so he's actually going to do that! I love lore and solving mysteries, so that's gonna be his whole thing! etc etc.

A tl;dr answer, which feels like a really boring one, is that a lot of the inspiration behind almost all of my OCs is just... my own thoughts on worldbuilding, or race/ culture, or some other thing specific to the character 😅 I'm very much more inspired by Aesthetics and Concepts and Ideas than anything specific I could say 'oh, yeah, This Character' or 'This Story' or whatever. Like, Mel is mad scientist flavored, but not in a way that's direct enough or intentional enough that I could say 'I was inspired By This Or That', you know?

Anyway, thank you for asking!!