#or if i want to make yet another aasimar pc...

[thedragonagelesbian]

hmmmm harbinger aasimar + moon druid leveraging the fact that exanimate's glory still triggers in wildshape................

[welcometokelll]

1, 2, 22 :>

Answering questions from here about my BG3 Tavs/Durges! Treat this as an intro post to my many (so many.) PCs. My asks are open if anyone has specific questions they'd like to direct at one, several, or all my Tavs! I'm sorry this is so long, it turned into a major infodump.

(in order: Tally (he/they), Cosima (she/her), Sorrow (she/her), Cassia (he/him), Fen (she/her/???), Tigris (they/she/he), and Lethe (he/him).)

1. What is their backstory and why did you choose it?

Tally: Charlatan, half-drow. Tally was raised in the Underdark with extreme prejudice because of their impure blood; he was separated from his drow mother young and never knew his father. When he realized he wasn't female, he ran away, not needing to have another level of derision cast on him for desiring to be masculine in a matriarchal society. He conned his way into a comfortable if not wealthy life and was traveling the surface to catch up on what he missed when he was taken by the Nautiloid.

Cosima: Haunted One, high elf. Cosima was my first Dark Urge, and she has no memory of her life before the Nautiloid apart from the flashes she was granted throughout the course of the game. It's disconcerting to her, as an elf, to not see anything but blood when she meditates at night.

Sorrow: Noble tiefling. Sorrow was born in Baldur's Gate to a family of some import, but (to shorten a very long story) she was kidnapped in adolescence and has not returned to the city since. She remembers and loves her family, but feels as if the door to that part of her life is closed and does not particularly desire to return to it. However, even living humbly in the interim, she can't completely shed the hallmarks of nobility that show in her stance and her speech.

Cassia: Outlander half wood elf. Cassia was born in a dragon cult and raised as a sacrifice. When the time came for his blood to be spilled, his human mother couldn't bear to see her child's death and secreted him away to his elven father to take care of the boy while she took Cassia's place as an offering. Cassia was then raised solo by his hands-off father, and had only just begun learning how to join society when he woke up on the Nautiloid.

Fen: Urchin githyanki. Fen grew up in alleys with a crew other wild children, far away from any creche or other gith influence. She's a street-smart orphan who learned how to make deals to survive.

Tigris: Acolyte tiefling. Tigris is a devotee of Kelemvor who was cloistered for most of their life. (Also, my honor run character who has died maybe three times already.) Another orphan to add to the list. There's not much more to say; they hadn't yet struck out on their own before their adventure began.

Lethe: Haunted One aasimar (I play with mods). My second Dark Urge, whose memory was taken from him by Orin, but returned with far more clarity than Cosima's. He remember the atrocities he committed in his father's name, and looks on them not with horror, but acceptance. He sees himself a tool, and in his past life, his hand was guided by Bhaal. He accepts his murderous streak rather than denying it, but is aiming to surround himself with companions who guide him the weapon that he is towards those that deserve it after being given a crash course introduction to morality.

2. What is their class (+ subclass) and why did you choose it?

Tally: College of Valour Bard. Tally was my first character and bard seemed like the most fun to play for a first run; there's no particular in-character reason, though I'm sure they earned a living more by performing than adventuring when they first left the Underdark.

Cosima: Vengeance Paladin turned Oathbreaker. My second character, I had to try paladin because I saw that it was the most-picked class by players and I'm usually playing either a paladin or warlock in tabletop. Cosima swore her oath on the Nautiloid, wanting vengeance on whoever took her past from her, but her urges led her to inadvertently forsake her oath when she killed the tieflings after they attacked her first.

Sorrow: Way of Shadows Monk. Sorrow was born a sorcerer, but had her magic ripped out of her when she was used as a ritual conduit after her kidnapping. She found new power and solace in the routine and spirituality of joining a monastic order when she escaped her kidnappers. Her order is not devoted to any deity, but she finds comfort in both Ilmater and Loviatar in private and channels that in her fighting.

Cassia: Draconic Sorcerer. Cassia's draconic bloodline comes from the dragon cult he was raised in; his mother had draconic blood before he. He spent his years in solitude refining his magic to deadly precision in the name of pragmatism.

Fen: Fiend Warlock. Fen made deals to stay alive, and her source of magic is no different. She'll likely become pact of the blade when I hit her specialization, but she's my lowest level character right now.

Tigris: Life Cleric of Kelemvor. Mostly, I wanted a good healer for my honor run. Their character is definitely shaped by their class rather than their class being chosen for their character.

Lethe: Wild Magic Barbarian. An unstable magic user made by the warring of the good celestial influence and evil Bhaal blood in his lineage. He channels his magic into hitting hard and hitting fast, rather than spending the time to hone his magical capability into something he can control.

22. What is your Tav's first impression of the other companions (Astarion, Gale, Karlach, Wyll ...)

For this one, I'm going to pick one or two companions who made a strong initial impression on each of my Tavs rather than doing every companion for each character.

Tally: Tally became fast friends with Shadowheart, finding her delightfully interesting and stuck between two worlds just like himself. He even found himself accidentally pulled into a relationship with her as they both sought comfort, but they quickly broke it off and decided friendship better suited them. On the other hand, Tally was infuriatingly smitten with Astarion from the moment his knife rested against Tally's neck. He was endlessly frustrated with Astarion's self-centered nature when they met, and Astarion was likewise unimpressed with Tally's altruism, but gods, Tally couldn't get over Astarion's stupid fluffy hair or his stupid pretty face.

Cosima: Gale was so easy to kill. His hand stayed in her pack all the way to Baldur's Gate, and helped her win the favor of the murder tribunal. She doesn't like to think about how good it felt, to rip him to pieces and condemn him to death in an unstable portal. No, she doesn't like to think of it at all.

Sorrow: Sorrow hated Astarion when she first met him, though they've become friends since their early hiccups. He was so slimy and obsessed with her despite her best efforts to be mean and push him away. Why did he want to sleep with her so badly, she'd never shown him a shred of interest. Gale, on the other hand, intrigued her. He was dorky, and strange, but so powerful, and he made her feel connected with the magic she lost through his control of the weave. Finally, she took a shine to Lae'zel early on, not necessarily out of friendship, but an immense respect.

Cassia: Cassia was not particularly drawn to or friendly with any of his companions, seeing them as circumstantial coworkers more than anything else. Until he met Wyll. He'd never met someone so genuine, but concealing something so dark. He knew he had to unravel Wyll's mystery from the moment they first spoke.

Fen: Fen latched onto Lae'zel because she had never met another gith before. She inadvertently slotted Lae'zel into "big sister" box in her brain and would probably do just about anything Lae'zel told her to do from the word go. She also gets on well with Wyll, due to their similarities in class, patron, and to some extent, their history.

Tigris: They panicked when they met Astarion, and again when Astarion asked to sample their blood, and allowed him to live twice. Kelemvor save them, Tigris is traveling with the undead and hasn't found the courage to run a stake through his heart. Completely separately, they mourn preemptively for Karlach, and hope they can help her transition to the next life with acceptance and grace.

Lethe: If he had to pick a side, Lethe would back Lae'zel in a fight against Shadowheart in a heartbeat (luckily, the later conflict between the two was resolved without bloodshed). Shadowheart rubbed him the wrong way for a long time despite their similarities. Lae'zel, on the other hand, was another hard-hitter with a direct plan of action, and her capacity for bloodshed was admirable. Lethe also found a kindred spirit in Astarion, and was only moderately annoyed when the vampire lost control and drained him dry. That's what Withers's services are for.

[altospammers]

"do you think we're all still friends in another life?"

[Art from 2022]

i'm getting real sick and tired of posting art on Instagram!! the cropping makes me sad!!!! i am returning to my roots!!! (aka i'm posting the art i posted on my instagram here too)

these are the characters from current DND campaign with my friends in a modern setting! (i got their permission to post art of their PCs by the way, and im gonna write about them) under the cut

(From Top Clockwise)

Aldus Hucrele (he/him), Harengon Fighter: the estranged son of a noble lord who is looking for revenge against his family that wronged him. My friend Abby's PC! (@_chortt_ on Tiktok)

Akira (she/he/they), Liouin Barbarian: a stoic and mysterious mercenary from the Mountains. We don't know too much about them yet. My friend Charles's PC!

Tempest (they/them), Air Genasi Monk: a nomad exiled from their tribe looking for the cause of a landslide that killed their sibling. They have an inexplicable tie to dragons. My friend Emma's PC!

Quintana Laerulin (they/she), Aasimar Bard: a disgraced daughter of another noble lord who wants nothing to do their cultish family, but her ties to the goddess Mystra keep bringing her back. She's MY PC!!!! I Love Her So Much You Will See So Much More Of Her.

Moz Ag (he/they/she), Changeling Sorcerer: a orphaned shapeshifter desperately searching for anything about his Fey lineage. They and Aldus were both survivors of a strange ritual by Szass Tamm's Red Wizards. My partner Ben's PC!

And also a shoutout to our gracious and benevolent dungeon master, Trenton, who is an absolute gem of a person for helping us bring these characters to life for over a year :)

please please please talk to me about quintana i love her to bits you will see her so much

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #142: Ishtar

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making Best Goddess and, according to @hasishtardoneanythingwrong, a servant who has done absolutely nothing very little wrong, Ishtar! 

In this build, Ishtar is a Divine Soul Sorcerer to balance her blasting abilities with her divine nature and a Zeal Cleric to push her explosive capabilities and godhood to the max.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: The second part of the oldest bromance in human history.

Race and Background

Unfortunately WotC hasn’t figured out how to balance literal god PCs yet, but since Ishtar is a demiservant we can still technically call her a Protector Aasimar, giving her +1 Wisdom, +2 Charisma, Darkvision, Celestial Resistance to radiant and necrotic damage, Healing Hands to heal some hands, and the Light cantrip.

Since she protects Uruk in her own special way, we’ll call her a Goddess Alliance Anarch. This gives you Animal Handling and Religion proficiencies, as well as some bonus spells as you level up!

Ability Scores

As the goddess of love and also blowing up mountains, your Charisma needs to be as high as possible. Follow that up with Dexterity, you can literally fly, that’s pretty fast. After that will be Constitution, you can take a lot of abuse, especially if it’s coming from the writers. Your Wisdom has to be next so we can multiclass, keep that in mind if you’re rolling. Your Strength isn’t amazing, but it’s not like you’re using it anyway. Finally, dump Intelligence. Not gonna dwell on that one, let’s just move on.

Class Levels

1. Sorcerer 1: Honestly I think “Divine Soul” is kinda selling yourself short, but we’ll work in the framework we’re given. You can cast Spells now, including your Divine Magic from the cleric spell list, using your Charisma. You’re also Favored by the Gods, giving you the option of adding 2d4 to a failed save or attack roll once per short rest.

For cantrips you get Thunderclap and True Strike for offensive options (I mean you do aim. Even if your target’s a mountain, aiming is important.) You also get Minor Illusion and Friends to manipulate people into doing what you want.  Finally, your stand against the Three Goddess Alliance grants you the cantrips Fire Bolt and Produce Flame to make the battlefield a little bit spicier.

For first level spells, you get Bless from being a divine soul, as well as Compelled Duel, Speak with Animals, and Thunderwave from being an Anarch. For your actually chosen spells, Mage Armor makes your outfit feasible, and Feather Fall will be very helpful once you start flying.

2. Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers become a Font of Magic, giving you sorcerer points equal to your sorcerer level. Right now you can turn points into spell slots or vice versa, but it’ll get more interesting later. 

You can also cast Disguise Self, in case you have to, I don’t know, organize a servant-based wacky races kind of event? Idk, whatever.

3. Sorcerer 3: Third level sorcerers get Metamagic, letting you alter your spells to suit your mood by using sorcery points. A Transmuted spell lets you swap out its acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage for another option on that list. Meanwhile, you can use a Distant spell to double a spell’s range, making your archery much more effective.

You also become a Radiant Soul, spending an action to transform yourself and gaining a flying speed for up to a minute. You can also deal extra radiant damage to a creature you hit with an attack or spell once per turn. You can do this once per long rest. It’s not a long trip, but it’s free.

On top of that, you get second level spells this turn. Distort Value lets you halve or double an object’s apparent value for the duration, perfect for haggling with a certain someone. You also get Beast Sense and Shatter from your Anarch spell list. The former isn’t that in-character, but the latter is a good start to taking down that mountain.

4. Sorcerer 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to round up your Constitution and Charisma, giving you more health, better concentration, and stronger spells. What a glow up!

You can also cast the cantrip Resistance to add 1d4 to a creature’s next save, or use Find Traps to make sneaking into Gilgamesh’s many treasure vaults slightly easier. If it works.

5. Sorcerer 5: You’re a god, so you probably shouldn’t be messing up that often. To help with that, Magical Guidance lets you spend a sorcery point to re-roll a failed skill check. Maybe it’ll help.

You can also cast Fly this level, giving you more frequent flying miles at the cost of your concentration. You can also Conjure Animals if you want to show up that gazelle-loving sister of yours. More on-target, however, is your other Anarch spell, Conjure Barrage. Gosh, it’s almost like you’re an archer or something.

6. Cleric 1: This whole flying around exploding things is great, but I think we can put more pizazz on it. Or, as they say down in Amonkhet, let’s add some Zeal. That’s right, we’re stealing from two MTG planes this build! As a Priest of Zeal, you can attack as a bonus action if you attack as an action a number of times per long rest equal to your wisdom modifier. That sounds kind of useless, but as a Zeal Cleric you also get proficiency with martial weapons, meaning that yes, you can use a bow and arrow. The archer class really is made up of archers!

You can also cast and prepare Spells using your Wisdom, but we got the really good ones in your sorcerer list, so don’t worry too much here. You do get some more cantrips, though! Thaumaturgy lets you throw your godly weight around, Light lets you cast light again using a worse casting modifier, and Guidance gives a creature some helpful advice from their favorite goddess, adding 1d4 to their next check.

You also get some domain spells, but they’re both smites and you’re an archer, so...

7. Cleric 2: The real reason we’re dipping is for your Channel Divinity option, which you can use once per short rest. You could  use it for Turn Undead, forcing a wisdom save against all undead near you (with a dc of 8 + proficiency + wisdom modifier), but the much more fun option is Consuming Fervor. This turns one fire or thunder damage roll into its maximum instead of rolling. That will be very scary later.

8. Sorcerer 6: Sixth level divine souls get Empowered Healing. You might not have any healing spells, but just being around people makes them feel a bit better. This lets you spend a sorcery point to re-roll any dice being used in a healing roll near you once per turn.

Speaking of healing, we’re still not doing that! You can now Bestow Curses onto people. Serves them right, calling you a “useless goddess”. This is one of those creative spells, so have fun with it!

9. Sorcerer 7: Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells! Anarchs get Dominate Beast and Stoneskin, and while neither are technically in character the latter could be very useful given your less than stellar AC. Also, literally turning yourself into gemstones is a real power move.

Your spell of choice this level is Ice Storm, letting you pummel a 20′ radius area with plenty of hail (or fiery debris, or just pure force), enough to turn the area into difficult terrain for a round.

10. Sorcerer 8: Use this ASI to grab the Spell Sniper feat, letting your spells ignore most cover, and spells you cast that require an attack roll have two times their normal range. You also learn Eldritch Blast to further flex on those dumb warlocks. They have to sell their soul and waste an invocation to get 300′ range blasts, and here you are with 480′ range and your soul’s intact! Hah!

You can also exude an Aura of Purity now, preventing disease, weakening poison damage, and granting advantage on a ton of status effect saves. 

11. Sorcerer 9: Ninth level sorcerers get fifth level spells, including your final Anarch spell, Destructive Wave. It’s only got a range of thirty feet, but it never hurts to prepare for an ambush. For longer range attacks, Flame Strike will do nicely. We’re still not quite at “blasting a mountain to smithereens” level power, but we’re getting there.

12. Sorcerer 10: Tenth level sorcerers can get the most out of their spells by making them Empowered, letting them re-roll a number of dice on their damage roll, up to their charisma modifier.

You can also cast Dancing Lights for a bit of a dramatic flair, or Creation to make gemstones out of thin air. Heck, you could even make a proper Boat of Heaven with this!

13. Sorcerer 11: Another two levels have passed, that means you get another spell level. Sunbeam gives you a reusable sunlight blast, dealing radiant damage and blinding creatures that fail their constitution save. You can use this attack again as your action each turn for up to a minute. Sadly this isn’t affected by either of your range enhancements, but you’ve still got plenty of airspace to work with.

14. Sorcerer 12: If we’re going to blast a mountain apart we’ve got to get serious. Use this ASI to get the Elemental Adept feat, focusing on Thunder damage. Once you take this feat, all dice on thunder damage rolls coming from spells always count as at least a 2, and they ignore thunder resistances.

15. Sorcerer 13: The first step to launching the literal planet Venus at somebody is actually getting the damn thing, and that means we need to leave the atmosphere at a moment’s notice. The closest we can come to that here is Plane Shift. You can also use this on enemy creatures as a melee attack

16. Sorcerer 14: Fourteenth level Divine Souls get an Angelic Form you can transform into as a bonus action. This gives you a flying speed of 30′ that is basically permanent until you’re incapacitated or you just get rid of them on your own. Have fun with those orbital bombardments!

17. Sorcerer 15: Sunburst sounds like a good pick for your eighth level spell. This one actually does get a range boost, which is good because it deals damage in a 60′ radius. Creatures within that radius get a constitution save, and failing that means a lot of radiant damage and being blind until it makes the save on the end of its turn. Sadly, it’s stuck on radiant damage, but it’s still an effective blasting spell.

18. Sorcerer 16: Use your last ASI to max out your Charisma so that whole “making the save” thing from last level never happens.

19. Sorcerer 17: To make those saves even less likely, our final metamagic option is Heightened Spell, causing one creature’s first save of the spell in question to be made at disadvantage. Basically you’re saying “like you had a choice in the matter”.

Speaking of spells though, we can finally pull Venus through for a charged shot, thanks to the ninth level spell Meteor Swarm. With a max range of 1-2 miles this truly is nuking the planet from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

Here’s a step by step guide for removing a mountain. 1. Hang out in the Troposphere. 2. Cast Meteor Swarm, swapping out Fire for Thunder damage. 3. Channel Divinity, maxing out the thunder damage for extra fun. 4. Deal 120 Thunder damage that ignores resistances, on top of 20d6 bludgeoning damage. 5. Enjoy your new crater.

20. Sorcerer 18: Your capstone level of sorcerer gives you an Unearthly Recovery. When you’re bloodied, you can spend a bonus action to heal yourself for half your HP, once per long rest. You had enough trouble in the underworld as it is, no point in going back again.

Pros:

As I just mentioned in level 19, you can deal a lot of damage. Like, Sanson level damage, without all the nonsense attached to it. You’ve got big booms, and multiple ways to make those booms hurt even more than they should.

Flying on a spellcaster is just. Really, really good. Especially on one built for range. There’s almost literally nothing they can do to you up here. Like, arrows, maybe, but you can just retaliate with the literal wrath of god. Plus, you’re probably out of counterspell range, so there’s nothing the DM can do to you!

A lot of your spells are focused on damage, but you do still have plenty of variety in your spell list, just in case. And on the off chance you’re fighting someone in a silence bubble, you can just change your thunder spells to acid or something.

Cons:

For most of this build we’re relying on the Flight spell to get off the ground, which eats up your Concentration and has a chance of failure when you take damage. It’s not ideal.

Those Cleric Levels are very useful, but they still push back your spell progression by 2 levels, which means you’ll have even less time with your An Gal Ta Ki Gal Se than you would normally.

You can’t fly everywhere. Caves exist. Buildings exist. I mean you totally can blast holes to get where you need to, just don’t expect to be that popular with whoever owns the building. Also, fighting in cramped areas plays to your biggest weakness: squishiness. Your AC is only 15, and you’ve got barely over 120 HP, which as we just discussed, someone built like you can take out very easily.

[bigmeatymudcrabchitins]

A not-so-brief overview of my Skyrim Dova OCs bc i need to scream to the digital void about my ideas

Freyora Lind, more commonly known by her strange alias “Bjorne Icepick”

A Nord-eventually-turned-werewolf who orphaned during the Great War and taken in by a Dunmeri mercenary whose residence was in Windhelm’s Gray Quarter. Grew up in a cramped boarding house setting among desperate mercenaries of varying backgrounds. Many of them would all come and go, but there was always some sort of a familial bond between them all.

From a young age she got in a lot of fights against people who insulted her for living in the Gray Quarter among the dark elves. Eventually she took a fight too far and was jailed for murder around 14, but was broken out shortly after by a band of masked vampires. Turns out some of her mercenary comrades unwittingly caught vampirism during a contract to clear out a vampire den and had to skip town, but not before ensuring one of their own wasn’t left to rot.

Lived in Cyrodil for about 15 years, but returned to Skyrim pursuing rumors surrounding a cure to vampirism, as her adoptive father would be nearing the end of his elven lifespan and had wished to die a normal death.

Seeing as she was literally a fugitive, and her long-belated parents were somewhat renowned for their battlefield prowess, she took on a false identity. AND an act to match it.

She’ll eat raw meat, chase prey with swords instead of using a bow like a normal person, harp about irrational conspiracy theories, and more. Everyone’s foul reactions to her outlandish act are plainly hilarious to her and only encourage her to act even stranger.

The alias “Bjorne Icepick” was simply the most ridiculous name she could think of.

Not the most morally outstanding. Besides drunken brawling, she’ll steal from anyone who angers her, even if it’s things she literally won’t ever need such as all the goblets in a household. It’s the pettiness that counts. “Try drinking your damn high-end wine now, jackass.”

Calls Dwarven Automatons “Gundams.” Including she herself, no one knows what that means.

Joins the Companions out of homesickness and a desire to fill in a gap that leaving home left.

Hasn’t bothered curing herself of lycanthropy because her whole schtick is being incredibly resourceful, and that includes using any means of power necessary. Still doesn’t fancy Hircine’s Hunting Grounds as her desired afterlife, though.

As her journey goes on, however, her lightheartedly eccentric face starts to fall off as a number of events push her to begin to question the legitimacy of her actions up until that point.

Some of which include the eventual death of her adoptive father (and how she was indirectly responsible for it even if it was what he wanted), Delphine’s ultimatum, the civil war as a collective, learning the tragic history behind the Falmer and the original Companions’ role in it, and killing of Vyrthur (no matter how much he genuinely deserved it).

She grows disgusted by herself down to the core. She takes to skooma to cope, and starts to be plagued by serious skooma-induced side effects. She ends up shutting herself away from all her responsibilities and distancing herself from her friends.

Does she get better? Maybe. I haven’t thought up anything past this point lol

Moureneris Alta

A very, VERY ancient vampiric snow elf, (though it’s notable she was born a considerable amount of time after the razing of Sarthaal)

Survived many atrocities. Stayed in isolation with a band of vampires for countless years out of sheer disgust for the nature of the sapient races. (I’ll explain her full story some other time. It’s pretty complicated)

She was abducted from her isolated lifestyle by a certain person i’ll talk about later. She managed to free herself south of Skyrim, and uh, walks right into that Imperial ambush. The rest is history.

Super ignorant to modern society as a result of centuries of isolation. Exploited for comedic relief. (“What in the name of Oblivion is a Cyrodilic Empire? Are you messing with me? And please, how does levitation magic simply get outlawed by this hypothetical Empire? What are you to do when you fall down a crevice? Just... let yourself perish? How degrading.)

She reintegrated herself into society with vengeance in mind under the belief that all humans are savage bloodlusting murderers who had to answer for their treachery. (And she was royally angry there was no Dwemer left to spite, but partially satisfied at the same time). But she grows conflicted after being shown genuine kindness, even as early as being freed from her binds in Helgen.

Subsequently has a very muddled redemption arc. Queue Dragonborn hero stuff

She has impaired vision, but she cultivated detect life magic to aid her in daily life and combat (think Hyakkimaru from Dororo ‘19 and his soul detection or Toph Beifong from ATLA and her seismic sense). At her peak, she can detect life from about a kilometer away.

She can just barely read, but only if she holds the text incredibly close to her face, not to mention her Cyrodilic lessons were left unfinished after her abduction, making reading a very taxing process. Weary travelers are often spooked at the sight of a floating, ghastly looking elven woman with her nose pressed up against crossroad signs, and it has become somewhat of an urban legend.

Isn’t as nearly as skilled with detecting the dead and tenses up in burial crypts or around other vampires for that reason. Unfortunately, being the Dragonborn and all, she finds herself in a lot of crypts...

When questioned about her background due to her unique appearance: “Oh, yeah. My mother was one of those mer from the east. You know the ones. Dark elves, I think? And my father was one of those er, tall elv- no, sorry, HIGH elves. Yeah. They both died in a big fire or something though. It was horrible. I can’t get the noxious smell or the deafening screams out of my head. Good talk, but never ask me about that again.”

Queue sheltered old immortal antics: “Wow, you’re THAT old? Enlighten me on how it felt witnessing the fall of the Dwemer. Or perhaps the rise of Tiber Septim’s Empire. The Gates of Ob-“ “Oblivion if I know. I lived in someone’s basement for thousands of years. And I still don’t know what everyone means by Empire. You all are messing with me, aren’t you? That really annoys me.”

She ultimately returns to faith in Auri-El and makes it her life’s purpose to help the Betrayed find peace, as well as to seek out any remaining snow elf groups. Probably good friends with Gelebor or something.

Had a crush on Serana. We all know how THAT went. Damned temples.

Was originally gonna spiral into a much darker corruption arc (another ATLA comparison being Jet or Hama) but I just felt bad for her. Moureneris can have a little found peace. As a treat.

That’s her preliminary design made. I’ll need a mod to properly play her, because that right there was made by choosing Dunmer as her race. But I can’t do that. I’m on console, and while I got the Steam port a month ago, my PC’s stone age specs can’t handle Skyrim yet and I’ll need to wait until I can afford a better graphics card (thanks economic inflation)

Alexandre Armasi, jokingly nicknamed Alexandre the Curious

A complete and unapologetic export of my character from a dead and unfinished DND campaign. Except there are no Aasimar in Skyrim, so he’s half Altmer half Bosmer. And his initial last name was Armas but I thought Armasi suited his Skyrim counterpart more, as subtle a change it is.

He’s mainly Bosmer in appearance and constitution, save for his hair and eyes, which are more similar to that of his Altmeri father’s.

I can’t really export his original backstory though because the campaign wouldn’t translate well into TES lore at all.

He’s a writer who came wandering into Skyrim in search of inspiration. While he mainly writes dramatic fables, he wanted to divert his focus to crafting his own bestiary and herbal compendium surrounding Skyrim’s fauna and flora. The ones at home are simply too vague to him!

He’s very altruistic, wishing to spread cheer wherever he goes, through the art of song (even though he was a cleric in DND and not a bard. My bad.) However, many of his verses are just blatant self promotions of his published fables.

But he’s too naive for his own good. Dangerously so. In fact, he says what’s on his mind with little forethought, with little grasp on the consequences of his actions, which lands him in lots of trouble. “I don’t favor him myself, but you guys kill people over Talos worship? That’s not very cool. A bit scary, if you ask me.” or “A Stormcloak rebel? Didn’t your leader kill a bunch of Reachmen rebels years back, or so I’ve heard. By the divines that’s not a man I’d make a symbol of nonconformity.”

He’s also insatiably curious. The type to ACTUALLY shove alchemic ingredients in his mouth with no knowledge of their properties, experiment with dangerous rune spells, throw rocks at pressure plates, and more. Needless to say he’s very accident prone.

Doesn’t know common curse words. People exploit this for laughs. Think that episode of Spongebob.

Everyone is a little baffled that HE of all people is the prophesied Dragonborn of legend. This agonizingly imbecilic writer who has absentmindedly wandered into burial crypts, troll dens, bandit forts, and more, too busy juggling his manuscripts to pay attention to his surroundings.

His past doesn’t exactly reflect his outlook on life. His mother and father fought in the Great War aligned with the Imperials despite their elven background. Both managed to live to see the war’s conclusion, but his father vanished without a trace shortly after, and it seems his mother knows something she won’t tell him.

With plenty of exposure to bad influences, his innocence is slowly lost throughout the course of his journey, and his altruism begins to grow twisted. But nevertheless, he maintains his jovial, social persona, except this time with much darker undertones. Kinda like a creepy dentist or something.

Whoops. He winds up becoming a feared Dark Brotherhood assassin. (Haha get it “Innocence Lost”???) He somehow deluded himself into thinking that the life of an assassin was the right thing to do. But he’s a funky little guy so he gets a pass for his heinous crimes against society

[trinket-buddy]

Hey, congratulations on your first game going so well! I've been DMing for over a decade now, and it always makes me really happy to see new people getting into it. Would you tell us a bit about your party, and your first session? (Also I would totally be a sounding board for you if that's ever something you need!)

Thanks! As nervous as I was/am about DMing I hadn’t a lot of really fun playing experiences, so I wanted to create that for my friends. Happy to share a bit about my characters. So they are a bit of a mixed bag, which I am really looking forward to learning more about them and how they’ll interact as a group. I gave my players pretty free reign on character choices since we were heavily restricted our first time playing because the DM wasn’t too keen on learning anything new - so there is a mixed bag of races. Firstly the characters:

Valorin - she is a Kalashtar cleric, think a more chill Jester with a 90s emo kid vibe (though definitely has the begrudging healing down). She’s about 30 with no memory beyond the last 10 years. But does have a penchant for hard candy.

Garlan - an Aasimar druid (also playing as a Hollow One), he’s the son of a noble, so he’s got a bit of a pretentious vibe at the moment. But seems like the type of person that sees the value in helping people. Definitely daddy issues.

Marco the unremembered - he’s a Leonin barbarian (oh the backstory this man has). There is tragedy upon tragedy in his past - a lot self inflicted. At the start of the campaign though he is serving as a slightly unfit, drunken bodyguard of Valorin (he’s gotta get money for ale somewhere).

Delphira - a half-elf fighter (her player is the newest to D&D and was mostly looking for simple initially) not much is known about her past yet, she’s keeping things mostly close to her chest. Though she definitely seems to like having control.

Larora - she’s a Tiefling rogue who multi-classed into a wizard at the first opportunity (we’re working together on how that’ll fit in her backstory & how to make that work for her in general). Also keeping things pretty close to home so far. But did help Valorin steal some candy, and seems to quite like it a lot herself.

First session had the group meeting at a Harvest close festival held in Felderwin. Lots of food was had, and games played. Though all were keen to get to the new event this year, a battle royale was being held for adventuring parties with gold as the reward. The Starosta’s son was home from the Soltryce Academy and was able to conjure creatures for battle - so the first two rounds the group fought a handful of lesser demons each round.

They were cocky going in - given the opportunity to plan and discuss strategy they instead sat around drinking. Leaving the battle with single digit HP each got them to wise up pretty quick. The third round was against another group (I loved getting to use my old PCs levelled down for this - also monks are the shit and my little Shifter monk NPC stood toe to toe with the barbarian for a long while, and went down grinning. She might be a recurring NPC for the group, the barbarian had a bit of interaction with her after the fight as well.

After winning, they were ushered off to speak privately with the Starosta who needs their help in tracking down his runaway daughter. A drunk in town has been spouting end of the world predictions with the gods supposedly returning. Apparently she might have taken that seriously and has run off - for what purpose? The party is not yet sure. But after a night to rest and recoup they’ll be heading north in search of her.

[theworldbrewery]

A playlist for my current party: 4 idiots + their honorary cult grandma, four with new names and one with someone else’s--god I love them. they requested a playlist breakdown so i’ve placed it under a cut for brevity. I’m always soft for making fan content for the campaigns I’m in tbh.

Alice: an elf-turned half-orc after a reincarnate spell went awry, her wild magic caused her marriage to fall apart when she accidentally burned down her home. She’s looking for control over the magic that is ruining her life.

Remmy: a man of many names, Remmy is an aasimar cleric with more secrets than even the other party members are aware of. He’s untrusting and full of fear, but the party gets him to open up--against his better judgment.

Gadao: an earth genasi from an isolated monastery, he’s looking for an identity of his own after realizing he may not be an incarnation of an ancestral spirit after all. Looking for his place in the world, the party’s fast-paced life contrasts with his steady nature.

Leap: an elderly tiefling ranger, she grew up in a cult of pain and left it only by good fortune. Her taste for adventure--and a need for closure--keep her on the road, though she looks forward to seeing her family again.

Blue: an aarakocra bard, Blue awoke with no memory and promptly joined a shady merchant vessel as a good-luck musician. They’re always down to fight, curious, and ready to hoard as many items as they can get their hands on.

Anger | Sleeping at Last

I love the way this song opens, the energy it has. Favorite lyrics are “it all spills out/reckless but honest words leave my mouth,” which maybe speaks to my love of intra-party conflict… but I also have a soft spot for “and suddenly I’m someone that prays/last-minute man of faith” given the campaign’s attention to the divine. I’ve really loved leaning into that. It feels like this song has threads that connect to every character.

Hellfire | Barns Courtney

God, I love the chorus to this song. I feel that in this party, Leap and Remmy have the strongest links in these lyrics, between Leap’s simmering fury at her cult and Remmy’s...everything. There’s a period of the song that isn’t quite an instrumental, but has sort of mangled lyrics/rap, and though I can’t quite make it out, one bit sounds like “roll the dice” -- a fun nod to D&D as a whole and the risk-takers among the party.

Blood I Bled | The Staves

My favorite lyric here is “raise your banners and ride to war/throwing ‘round your name.” This song feels like a challenge to the world, suitable for a group of adventurers just forming a party. The singers and songwriters mention the song as one of “no, I won’t take this bullshit,” and that strong message really speaks to the PCs.

Hustler | Zayde Wølf

Hustler is all about coming out on top, and y’all are “turning up the heat” all the time. “Looking at the city like I already own it” feels like a foreshadowing moment to me; one day, when you all are level 10, 15, 20, you might reach an unmatchable power, if you live long enough to see it. 

Homemade Dynamite | Lorde

I chose this song for the absolute clusterfuck D&D parties can be. “Don’t know you super well/but I think that you might be the same as me/Behave abnormally” encapsulates something really funny about party members getting to know each other and start to trust each other, even when the rule might still be “I’ll give you my best side, tell you all my best lies,” and your secrets and private problems haven’t yet come to light.

Nervous | X Ambassadors

The chorus of foreboding in “cause what comes up must come down”  is, how do I put this? Iconique. I think this song especially fits Leap and Alice, both of whom are aware of how quickly things can go awry but put a cheerful face on their own worries. Even when nothing’s wrong (“and I can’t complain, it’s amazing”) they know things could go south quickly.

An Act of Kindness | Bastille

This song best fits Leap and Gadao’s relationship, especially when they met. “Oh I got a feeling this will shake me down/Oh I’m kind of hoping this will turn me round” seems to speak directly to Gadao pulling Leap away from the cult and giving her the opportunity to be better than she was. On another level, the party’s bonds are born from acts of kindness and friendship--Remmy buying lorebooks for Alice, Leap making tea, Gadao stepping in to defend the party from the mimic.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World | Lorde

Despite the name, this has something for everyone, I think. “Turn your back on Mother Nature” suits Alice’s vendetta against the Forest Father, “Help me make the most of freedom/and of pleasure” fits Blue’s brand of hedonism, “It’s my own remorse” echoes Leap’s regrets. Gadao alone doesn’t quite fit in here...unless… >:)

Kicks | Barns Courtney

This is a Blue song! “I’ll show you how to live for free” the artist sings, and Blue’s freewheeling lifestyle seeking “kicks” matches this energy really well. If Blue is “a wild one” “singing in the midnight street,” they’re getting their kicks with this party for sure. Blue lives without being tied down, theoretically limitless. 

Hail to the Victor | Thirty Seconds to Mars

This song is about Leap, no question. “Another life, another love/another kill, another drug” fits into Leap’s two lives, one in the cult and one out of it. And in this new mission against Babylon Lionel, she’s seeking a revenge of her own, though it’s one against her childhood more than her actual enemy.

I’m a Wanted Man | Royal Deluxe

Remmy “would kill again to keep from doing time,” without a doubt, so this one’s for him. Constantly warning he’s trouble for his friends, saying that “you should never ever trust my kind” isn’t too far off. Like Remmy, this song is edgy, but with a hesitant moment of emo-ness that makes the performance of darkness something a little more genuine.

Big God | Florence and the Machine

Alice is not a faithful woman, but she’s unfortunately entangled in some religious nonsense she hates. At the same time, I feel lyrics like “you’ll always be my favorite ghost” refer best to Alice’s fraught relationship with her wife. My favorite line here is “Sometimes I think it’s getting better/and then it gets much worse,” which is essentially Alice’s experience of her wild magic. Deep down, she might even be drawn to the magic’s chaos, but she can’t help but resent what it’s taking away from her.

Wisdom, Justice, and Love | Linkin Park

This one’s for Gadao. It starts off so peaceful and hopeful, the instrumentals overlaid with a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. But as he starts to list the evils of the world, King’s voice, so steady and confident, is warped. Gadao’s own faith experience becomes warped by the power games of the people around him, and even as he’s seeking “wisdom, justice, and love,” he can’t escape the effects of materialism and violence around him.

Icarus | Bastille

Some folks live steady lives, but not these people. Adventurer’s lives tend to burn bright, hot, and short. From Leap’s perspective, most of the party is made of kids who don’t know the world yet. Are they “digging their own grave,” “too close to the sun?” Despite their ride-or-die commitments, Leap can see all of you risking yourselves--and for what? Who do you want to be, at the end of it all? A wife and mason? A sage and monk? Or do you want greater things than that?

Losing My Religion | Dia Frampton

I can hear so much of Remmy’s opinions in this song, saying “I’m choosing my confessions, trying to keep an eye on you” but realizing, over and over again: “Oh no, I’ve said too much.” As he tries to keep up his own facades, Gadao and Leap’s own faith collides with the beliefs of a cult leader and Alice struggles with a religion she doesn’t care for at all.

Start a War | Klergy and Valerie Broussard

Like Hail to the Victor, this song is all about Leap’s conflict with the cult of Loviatar and the Mother of Martyrs. Even though the Loviatar cult might be gone, the spirit lives on. My favorite line for Leap here is “bang, shots fired/pain is what you desire,” for the decision to challenge Babs to a one-on-one fight. But is it Babs who is starting this war, or Leap?

Friction | Imagine Dragons

This one kind of gives me Gadao vibes with the lyrics “when you’ve made it/won’t you tell me what to do?” After all that pressure to fulfill the expectations of other people, he has to get out of the middle and move on, maybe even become someone new. Key line is “why can’t you let go/like a bird in the snow/this is no place to build your home,” reminding Gadao that he doesn’t have a place in this world. Not yet.

Transcendental Youth | the mountain goats

“Sing, sing for ourselves alone,” sings John Darnielle, and maybe that’s what makes this feel so much like Blue. Maybe it’s the lyric, “cedar smudge our headbands/and take to the skies/soar ever upwards,” calling to Blue’s dislocation from time and place, flying away from their problems. Blue doesn’t remember their childhood, and has no idea how old they are. Even if they did know, their lifespan is short. They live every day like the halcyon days of youth, footloose and fancy-free indeed.

Champion | Barns Courtney

I swear this is the last Barns Courtney song. But this song is the resilience of coming through fights and perils and dangers. My favorite lyric is “Oh, Lord, save my soul/take my pain and turn it into gold” which, incidentally, is exactly what happens when you level up. The party’s struggles translate to strength, to influence, to skill, and even riches.

In the Woods Somewhere | Hozier

On the one hand, this could be about any combat in the dark woods at night (*cough*, Remmy killing that dragonborn, *cough*). But more importantly, this song is about Alice. She struggles with a power she doesn’t understand, with something’s eyes on her that she can’t fight. The best she can do is run from the danger and try to survive it. Whatever eyes are watching her now, Alice better take care. Favorite line? “I clutched my life/and wished it kept/my dearest love/I’m not done yet.”

Natural | Imagine Dragons

Natural tells the party one way of surviving. The line “you gotta be so cold/to make it in this world” suits Remmy’s outlook so well, the one he pushes at the rest of the party. The line “rather be the hunter than the prey” speaks well to Blue’s tactics--preferring to act from above. Alice and Leap know better than anyone that “nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost,” and Gadao may be the only one ‘holding the line’ against a harder heart. Another song with bits and pieces associated with everyone.

Dead Hearts | Stars

There isn’t a specific lyric here that jumps out at me, no line that tells me who this song is for. This is the song for the ones who die--those who have, and who will. We might not be there yet, but this is a song for acknowledging the sacrifice of your friends and allies. The knowledge that you knew them once, and in some ways, their ghost stays with you. Or maybe they’re revived, or reincarnated, but there’s always something a little different.

The Projectionist | Sleeping at Last

Eventually the session ends, and the story closes, and the lights come up. “We’re leaving our shadows behind us now/we’re leaving, we’re leaving it all behind for now,” Ryan O’Neill sings. We’re putting on costumes, telling a story for each other, and maybe the game ends every time, but maybe it makes us brave. I’d like to think so. 

The lyrics to all these songs can be found at Genius.com. Thanks xx

[ventrue-rosary]

I’d love to hear some info about amaranthe! I’ve seen some posts about her but know next to nothing. I love her name and vibe!

Oh wow thank you so much!! I’ll stuff it under a read more so I don’t clog anyone’s dash

Her full name is Amaranthe Vaenna Ilanis Darcelle, the half-elven Princess of Evermeet, daughter to Ilanis Darcelle, Queen of the elven kingdom Evermeet and her human paramour, Jonathan.

She’s very beautiful, violet eyes, dark hair that has a purple/red tint in some lighting, and prefers to wear darker clothes, contrasting against the elves who favour bright colours or pastels. She wears the fact she is a bastard with pride, as she adores and idolizes her parents. 

The Darcelle line is tied to an ancient diety-like creature known as Sanguine, who is also the hexblade parton for the Blood Hunter Order of the Profane Soul. She answers Sanguine’s call to the dismay of her parents, as she has a desire to protect her families lands and their people, and wants to prove herself worthy of their trust. 

Her teenage and early adult years are spent acting as a huntress, protecting those who can’t fight for themselves. Her journeys take her across the Sea of Swords to the Sword Coast, where she meets like-minded adventurers Corvus, Zed and Zazif--unfortunately they all find themselves unwilling players in Strahd’s game. 

Its in Barovia she meets her bestie, Vander, the soft-spoken birb-obsessed ranger, and also the man she would fall in love with - Balthazar, a human barbarian who has loose ties to the Vistani, and was the unfortunate victim of human test experiments, a weapon to defeat Strahd and it shows in his overwhelming strength yet he maintains a sunny outlook on life, cracking jokes and bantering with the party. She admired his light that shine despite all this darkness, and she responded in kind, with levity and good old fashioned ribbing, learning to make the most out of a bad situation. 

So Bal and Amara’s will-they-won’t-they finally came to fruition towards the end of the campaign. Amara isn’t a patient girl, and even though she’s quite shy she though ‘fuck it we could die might as well live before that’ and finally kissed that stubborn jackass (also I should mention like...a few weeks after he first met the party he turned into a tiefling. We didn’t really have much of a reaction other than the initial ‘errr what?’)

Basically she returns home aaand shit has hit the fan. Her Uncle is now on the throne, her father was murdered and her mother had been feeble minded but it was more like...a permanent state. So even after Amaranthe rallies those still loyal to her parents, her mother can’t take the throne. Amaranthe weds Balthazar, is coronated and eventually makes the hard decision to kill her mother out of mercy.  She was basically a vegetable, and she knew her mother enough to know she wouldn’t want to live like that.

She lost both her parents. Amaranthe up to now had always been a little naive, immature even, but now she’s grown the fuck up because she had to. Even though she loves her family dearly, and her uncle’s betrayal and their eventual death hurt, life went on, and she learned to be happy again, birthing four children (two sets of twins), Autumn and Winter, and 9 years later, Spring and Summer. (Yes Autumn is a my PC and Winter is my friends, who we played in Dragon Heist). Autumn, Spring and Summer are all tieflings, but Winter, weirdly, was a aasimar. Autumn’s infernal heritage and the bullying she suffered early in life left her with a serious rage problem that only Winter could soothe. 

But even with the diffculties Autumn face, Amaranthe is happy, a loving husband, beautiful children..until her older twins run away and Winter ends up dying in a fireball intended for another target.

It broke her. She was bitter and angry, even lashed out at her daughter, forbidding her from returning home until she avenges Winter. She regrets her words, to an extent, but knows Autumn needs it. She needs a goal, and something to focus her anger on to help her deal with guilt. It hurt them both, but it also helped Autumn. 

But Dragon Heist has passed, Autumn has returned back home with her boyfriend and now Amaranthe is enjoying helping Autumn to raise her seven children lol

Oh here’s some art so you know what she looks like!! (headsup for slight NSFW)

[master-of-evil-lord-of-the-dark]

Session 2

\A week after session 1′s roaring success and we were back at it again! (this being a week and a half ago).  After this campaign hit the ground with so much momentum, I decided to spring for a few upgrades.  The first was this lovely battle map from amazon, which covered the game table in a most pleasant way and works splendidly.

The second ... was miniatures.  I was in a bind on this one.  I REALLY like playing any kind of tabletop game with miniatures, but have about 5 D&D minis ... and D&D minis are fucking expensive when you need them by the dozen. ... also, I wanted minis for all of the pcs, and just getting the races right started to look difficult.

But then, I had an idea. ...true inspiration struck (which is code for “I don’t even know what thought process got me here”) ...why don’t I *make* the minis??  You see, back when I was little (REALLY little), I used to play with clay a lot.  (I used some foam-based stuff that air dried because I was literally too young to play with Sculpey)  That was eons ago, but like ... maybe I could make this work?

A quick google search revealed that this was NOT a widely used strategy, but the few successes I found really got my creative gears turning, and I set out to Michael’s to pick up some Sculpey.  A variety of colors, soft and easy to work, and bakes in a home over in like 30 minutes.  I definitely recommend it.

So far, this has been working SO MUCH BETTER than I had dared hope, and when four players showed up that Sunday, I had a surprise for them!

The heroes of session 2.  From left to right:

Barton, the Bugbear Barbarian

Halifax, the Aasimar Divine Soul Sorcerer

Malgath, Shadar Kai Grave Cleric of the Raven Queen

Tyna, Halfling Rogue.

Neither Halifax or Tyna had provided character descriptions, so they got the vaguest characters I could muster.  Both Barton and Malgath’s players were ecstatic at the details that I had included.  (Both Killgore and Maiirien got miniature treatments, but they were unable to make it, and I am currently harassing the players for more details so I )can remake them BETTER THAN EVAH!

But enough about the minis!  What of the action?!

Once again, Barton’s player saved my ass from an awkward conversation as they (Barton’s gender remains a mystery, and for WHATEVER REASON, no one is willing to ask the barbarian for clarification, I can’t imagine why) “mistook” Tyna for their good friend Dell.  Malgath, in all his “grim-reaper-looking-motherfucker” glory was simply too interesting to ignore, and with that the new group was discussing plans for their next expedition!

But first, a quick stop at the IMPorium!  You see, last session, Barton had established that they had a love of citrus fruits, something that Westmarch was sadly lacking in.  They had asked Heimdall to procure some.  Oblivious to the fact that they were in a frontier town, and literally a day had passed since they last asked, Barton insisted on getting an update from “My .... good ... friend ... Hei ... ro ... ne ...ous.”  ...there were no citrus to be found.

So they set off into the wilderness.  After some accurate decoding of the map from Halifax, the group decided to head to the south.  I was quite excited for the southern content!

From the crossroads, they followed the “road.”  They reached a river and after some mild parkour, managed to cross the remains of a bridge.

HEY YOU KNOW WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT DISCOUNT BRIDGES?!?!?!  THEY’RE A-FORD-ABLE!!!!!!!!

(Obviously my players love me for my sophisticated sense of humor.)

From their, they made their way into the town of Pike’s Retreat.  A former fishing town long abandoned.  Wide dirt streets lined with dilapidated simple wooden building, all reeking of low-tide.

Following the main road around town to the west, they came across ... mud ...and a lot of it, and beyond it, an abandoned stone church with even more water pouring out of the ajar door.  Barton stealthed up to the door while Malgath took a look around the building, and fish men inside were spotted!  Barton attempted to stealth into the room (failed for lack of cover) and a fight ensued!  ...the players were disgustingly pleased with my fish men minis. (Kua-toas for those of you in the audience who didn’t botch all their knowledge checks)

Violence ensued, barton cleaving heads, and Malgath keeping up.  He got to debut his daily Shadar Kai ability by teleporting through a window, and then showed off his Executionaer Guild background by filleting some fish, live.

After the battle had cleared, the gang located one more hiding in a side room, and pursued it up into the bell tower. (Which Halifax naturally decided to ring.)

The source of the water was a vessel sitting on an alter in the middle of the church.  A vase of sorts... or maybe a “decanter” if you will.  The characters have not yet identified it, but I suspect that several of the players know what they have found.  Additional loot included a faded journal belonging to a priest alluding to a period of horrendous luck in the town’s history, his own disagreement’s with “Pike” and his belief that he was able to procure help from “The sisters to the west.”

Malgath decided to inspect the graveyard behind the church, and the gang was drawn to a mausoleum in the back.  Better still, the mausoleum seemed to lead to a tunnel network!  ...unfortunately, it, and the entire graveyard, was flooded, and after some quick scouting from Barton revealed a cave-in, it was decided that this should be returned to later.  Halifax passed the time playing his bagpipes, and when the party returned to head back through the church, they were ambushed by more fish men!  Another fight ensued.

Having prevailed yet again, the exploration through town continued, this time making their way down to a warehouse by the docks.  As they approached, they spotted movement in the warehouse and approached cautiously, realizing that the fish men were moving boxes and clearing rubble in the warehouse.

DESPITE BEING INJURED AND RUNNING LOW ON SPELLS, our heroes charged in, only to realize that they may have bitten off more than they could chew!  One fishman, wearing particularly ornate garb, began throwing around some magical spells!  (specifically, he surrounded himself with a cloak of shadowy water, and started throwing fear effects each round.)  First Barton went down, and then Tyna, and it looked as if the fish men were going to triumph.  ...but the tides (see what I did there?) of battle turned, and the heroes prevailed. ...almost.  The High Priest, realizing what was happening, turned, fled through a hole in the wall, and jumped into the ocean!

The first (minor) recurring villain has appeared!  I wonder when we’ll see him next?!

Thoroughly bloodied and exhausted, they called it a day and returned to town to rest.

[spinyax]

Hey there!!! I saw the post asking about dnd character questions if we have them and hey!! I would love to hear an absolute infodump about your dnd characters because I love hearing about characterssss

IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED (under a read more bc its uh. very long)

SO starting off we have Orchid, my true neutral tiefling Ranger/Druid!

(art by @.spectralfelinae / @.spectralscribbles go check him out!)

- he has a pet swarm of butterflies and can turn into them since he's a circle of the swarm druid (the butterflies look identical to anyone else but he can identify each and every one of them)

- he doesn't speak! he's not mute, but in his culture they just don't talk. i haven't come up with a specific reason yet so if he comes into a campaign ill just let the dm figure that out lmao. he communicates with magic sign-language and if a spell requires verbal components he just whistles and makes bird calls instead

- he's lived in the forest for his whole life so any modern technology is VERY confusing to him and he's probably stabbed a train before

- one day im gonna hide him in a flower patch to ambush a target and its gonna look sick as hell

- personality wise he's very calm and serene, but also super brutal and unfeeling. kinda like Shinobu from Demon Slayer. (though the butterfly motif is unintentional aksjdhask)

- - -

NEXT we have Taliesin, my neutral good Dragonborn Grave Cleric!

- He has a Russian/eastern european accent

- Taliesin (or tallie) used to be a battle medic in the military before the war ended and left him real fucked up.

- He eventually found sanctuary in a temple devoted to the Eternal Shepherd and became an acolyte, eventually becoming head of the temple

- That's also where he found his son, Galahad! He was left at the temple a la baby left on the steps of a church but instead of a baby its an egg and instead of a church its a death temple. Talie was the only one who remotely knew how to take care of an egg so he was put in charge of it.

- Admittedly, Talie had no fuckin clue how to take care of a kid, and a lot of his parenting techniques were probably fucked up in retrospect (teaching galahad to read via obituaries, teaching him math with bones, playing hide and seek in a cemetery, etc) but he genuinely loves his son and everytime i think about them i cry

- Galahad is grown up now and probably doing something in the world that makes talie proud

- It's not super well shown but talie wears skirts/dresses bc pants are a Hassle for dragonborn so he said fuck it

- He also has a pet bearded vulture named Carry it's short for Carrion) she helps him find stray corpses for him to bless and properly bury

- Personality: Taliesin is basically a healing/support main that's too old for this shit and is 👌 this fuckin close to snapping

- - -

Xyraga Takimros! My first ever dnd character and the one i've changed the most over the years. She's a chaotic neutral half-elf rogue

[aight so i don't have recent art of her so uuuhhhhhh imagine there's a picture here]

- she's a dark skinned half-elf with long dark curly hair in a ponytail with a little bit covering her face. she has 3 scars on her face (one going over the bridge of her nose, one over her left eye bisecting the first scar, and another one on the corner of her chin) and yellow eyes.

- She used to be a member of the Courtyard of Miracles, a thieves/smuggler's den that focused on going out and stealing from rich cities to redistribute to their poor community

- she joined the court because her unofficial dad/caretaker was a founding member and she kinda got in because of that

- i have a whole bunch written on the court and how it was run but all you need to know is that xyra was the one who got stolen goods from point A to point B

- Xyra was a prominent member, known for being the fastest runner and the one who's been caught the least

- That's also where she met Bharu her orc husband. he was a bodyguard for her sometimes when they were transporting goods and eventually fell in love

- one day the courtyard is raided and xyra loses bharu in the chaos, so she's on a quest to find her dumbass husband and get the fuck out of dodge

- she also has a tattoo of a roadrunner bc that was her nickname when she still worked for the court (design isnt finalized but thats the Vibes im going for)

---

Up next is Oni! Oni's a neutral evil tiefling/half-orc/half-demon/????? barbarian/warlock

(i know the sketch is super rough but it gets the idea across)

- Oni is a half-demon/half-orc who's essentially the antichrist. i'll be honest i'm probably not gonna stat her out like a proper PC but i might make her a BBEG if i ever DM (which is super unlikely but the chance isnt 0%)

- Her patron is her dad and they both loath that fact

- Her entire goal in life is to kill enough gods to gain enough power to kill her dad, since he has her lifeforce in the palm of his hand and can decide on a whim if she dies or not and she's not about that shit

- she looked and grew up like a normal orc until she hit puberty, and then all the demon features came in

- She's like, super tall. even for an orc at about 8 1/2-9ish feet

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THEN we have Halfey! She's my chaotic good high elf monk/bard

[i uh,,,, dont have an actual picture for her but i have a goofy lil sktch that'll just Have to Do]

- she's a dark skinned sun elf with a half-shaved head and bright red/pink curly hair

- she says she's 100 but she's actually only 75 years old (like 16 in Elf years)

- originally she and xyra were going to be twins separated at birth but i decided against it bc that was Too Much

- her parents are both high-ranking nobles and he was supposed to grow to be a proper noblewoman and be a bargain chip to marry some rich duke for the sake of alliances or whatever

- she instead grew up loud and rambunctious as hell and was the exact opposite her parents wanted her to be

- eventually they get fed up with her and sent her to live in a monastery in hopes the strict lifestyle would tame her in some way

- that didn't work lmao and she spent the next few decades miserable before the circus came into town and she snuck out to see it

- she fell in love with the general chaos of the circus and ran away with them, getting a job as a trapeze artist /tightrope walker and occasional dancer

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FINALLY We have Connie! She's a lawful evil fallen aasimar paladin

[uhhhhh no image here, but one day i will]

- she's a pale-skinned aasimar with short wavy blonde hair done in that marilyn monroe hairstyle and has pure white and slightly glowy eyes. she also has a barely-there halo around her head. she's also got a southern belle accent

- her full name is Condemnation Odette Nancy Delilah Elizabeth Maybelle Newman the Third, but her friends call her Connie

- her deity is the first horseman of the apocalypse, Conquest (or Pestilence depending on who you ask) and she does everything in her power to bring on the end times

- tbh she's more of a joke character that i haven't fully thought out yet but she's fun

[kronetalkstabletop-blog]

Let’s talk about Railroading.

Hey guys, Krone here.

 Today, I want to talk about a buzz word that lay heavy on the minds of GM’s old and new. The word that I am talking about, of course, is “Railroading.” Now, for those who don’t know what the word means, “Railroading” is a term used in a tabletop game, where the GM (Game Master) leads the PCs  (Player Characters) from encounter to encounter, trying to set up situations in a way so that they know exactly what will happen, from Point A to Point B, and finally to Point C. Points A, B, and C aren’t usually interchanged, and the prep is entirely dependent on the players following the chain of events that the GM has set up. Railroading is usually an indirect comment on someone’s GM’ing and not an actual playstyle, in the way of, “Oh man, that session felt really on rails today.” The term is usually held in a negative connotation, as many people see it as a restriction of player choice in the fiction. Player Choice and Agency is a big deal; it’s basically the reason why we play tabletop role playing games at all. Unfortunately, the term sometimes creates a blanket effect, and tends to encompass play styles that focus on Mission or Quest Based Narratives, since they are often seen as a restriction of choice for the players. This often shies GM’s away from constructing a campaign based on Missions, instead trying to cover all bases in an expansive sandbox world, which is really freakin’ hard to pull off! It sucks to be put in that position, where your players unintentionally expect you to have answers for every nook and cranny they take their characters. That’s why linear missions are great! They allow you the ability establish the narrative within new games and be able to get the players invested in a setting they previously have no idea of. Yet there’s this fancy concept that sandbox, or open world games, are the only way to go; that you must have prep and a solution FOR EVERY SINGLE THING THAT CAN EVER HAPPEN EVER. No. That doesn’t have to be the case. I’m here to tell you that “Mission Based Narrative” can be a bunch of fun and still grant player agency, while keeping a linear flow that a GM can keep an easier track of.

 So what does “Mission Based Narrative” mean anyways? Well, let’s break it down into two, easier to digest, parts. “Mission Based,” meaning almost exactly as it reads; the campaign you are designing will be mostly mission or quest based. How the players come upon these missions is up to you. You could handle them the traditional way, i.e. have them receive missions from a mayor in a town, from a mega-corporation in the city, a friendly alien race on the planet Hraxmar, etc. Or, you could frame it like a show, with each major “episode” being another mission for the players to do. The point I’m trying to make is, while you create a vibrant setting in which the PCs exist, you want to use missions to help build the world around the characters, allowing your players to create and experience the fiction within them. Missions give you a way to direct the 2nd word, Narrative. “Narrative,” meaning what is happening right now right here as I am talking to my players about orcs and eating potato chips. It is the ongoing idea, fostered to myself by the great mind Adam Koebel, that the idea of story does not exist until after the session happens. This makes narrative about the now, focusing on what is happening from moment to moment. So in a sense, the main definition of “Mission Based Narrative” is the style of GM’ing through constructing missions that unfold in play. Prep is a good thing, but not when it tells you how the session is going to unfold before the dice are even rolled. That’s no fun! It also eliminates possibility of that buzzword that I used a lot before, “Player Agency.” Player Agency is, simply put, the amount of power that the players have to contort and change the fiction through their player characters. It’s an important thing, and something that we as GM’s want to inhibit as much as possible. So how do we do this? Mostly through the prep and rules we set for ourselves as the GM.

While railroading mostly focuses on the idea of going from A, to B, and then to C, we want to have a similar structure, but not exactly to that extent. We want the A’s, B’s, and C’s to be in the game, but we don’t want them to function as stepping stones for the players. Think of them instead as forces of nature driving the narrative into directions that the main antagonist(s) wants them to go. Let them be interchangeable, and let them be interrupted, but  don’t ever let them dictate what happens after the players run into them. Set a situation, give the forces of evil motives to work towards, and let the players place themselves within it. Then, let the dice roll. One of my favorite games of all time, Dungeon World, words this perfectly. “Play to find out what happens.” Don’t ever let yourself create situations that you know exactly what will happen if player x does thing y. Use your imagination and think in the moment. You may think you’re bad at it, but trust me. Once you have the hooks, npc’s, and player motives in your notebook, the next logical thing will come naturally. Personally, what I do to help myself with this, is to ask questions in my prep, not make statements. Why does the Wizard want the staff of xanatar? Who does player x not expect to see again at the tavern? Will the Bruised Knees help out their gang brethren? Questions like these don’t limit you to one possible outcome. They let you brainstorm as the narrative wheel is churning, and when the time arrives, you can make use of one of your questions and turn it into a statement answered by the players actions towards your A’s, B’s, and C’s. If I ever need to include statements about what is going to happen within the next session, I always stick to this rule of thumb: Never include the players in the events that will be going on. Let the player’s be outliers, and the events as turning wheels that won’t stop just because the players ignore them. That way, events will happen unless the players stop them, giving them reason to engage and you opportunities to make their lives a little bit more complicated. We do, after all, play to see what happens, whether good or bad. Let the narrative flow with the players as the main attention point, but don’t feel afraid to let the cogs turn behind the scenes. Last, but not least, let your players do what they want. I’ll say that again. Let your players do what they want. I’m not talking about letting your players grow wings without being aasimar or leviate into the air without a jetpack. I’m talking about things that catch you off guard, things that might sound crazy to start out. If they’re difficult or risky, add extra consequences upon failure, but let them roll if you believe that it is something that is possible for them to do within the mechanics of your game. This is how the stories that all your players tell their friends afterwards are created. They are the life breath of the game. Say yes to rolling the dice.

                 So you’ve reached the end! If you made it this far, thanks! This is such a passionate hobby and I find people who teach me new things every day. As usual, I’m Krone and I like to play the occasional role playing game. I’m pretty new about this writing thing, so if you have some advice to help me with writing, or just want to talk more about we can reinforce linear narrative, feel free to comment! I mentioned two names: Adam Koebel, and Dungeon World. In fact, Adam Koebel is the co-author of Dungeon World, and is an all-around cool guy. He currently GM’s a few games over on YouTube on Rollplay, and is actually one of my main inspirations towards becoming a better GM, so go check him out! I’ve talked about prep a good deal in this post, so I think I’d like to talk a little bit more about the different types of prep there are, mainly the difference between High prep and Low prep, so keep a look out for that. And as always, thanks for reading.

CIA�:

[swordoflight18-blog]

Murder Victims

Hello from the Abyss!

This is a small list of NPCs/murder victims that will be showing up in my next campaign, split up into races. Feeling slightly guilty about killing them off, but I guess that’s the point: to make the PCs care about these characters.

Uncommon

Tyrexia Shand, female Tiefling 

Born to human parents in a rural town, Tyrexia was an outcast from the beginning, due to her silver skin, covered in seemingly random blue designs. She ran away at age 15 and was soon taken in by the matron of a struggling brothel. Tyrexia's appearance and shy demeanor were exactly what the business needed, and the matron has grown fat off of the sudden burst of business. Tyrexia cares not, as she has finally found somewhere she is faced with adoration and lust, instead of fear and disgust.

Brumhilda "The Beast" Bronswine, female Orc 

Once a barbarian known for her prowess in the fighting pits, Brumhilda retired from combat after her win/loss ratio reached 300/0 after only 8 months. She is now pursuing a new goal: find a man with the stamina to keep up. Contenders travel from all around to challenge The Beast; she still hasn't lost.

The Wave, race and gender unknown 

For centuries, The Wave has been known to the populace as an enigmatic figure. One must book an appointment three years in advance, paying 100,000gp just to secure a spot. Without fail, those who visit The Wave leave with the memory of unmatched ecstasy...but little else. Each patron's memory has been wiped, and all disagree on who The Wave truly is. In truth, The Wave is multiple people and has been for some time. Each person who uses the name is a powerful psychic, and the loss of one body does not mean the end of the legend. This particular victim is a female Aasimar, but her name is lost.

Halfling 

Cymbally Shorthill, female halfling

Ever since she was a child, Cymbally wanted to be an entertainer. Jesters, clowns, circus folk, they all spoke to her innate sense of wonder and excitement. She dreamed of making people happy. Unfortunately, Cymbally never quite got the hang of juggling or telling jokes, or any of the other skills associated with her chosen profession. With sex, however, she knew exactly what she was doing. She often wears ridiculous outfits, and caters to the strangest fetishes, as long as her clients enjoy the experience and leave with a smile.

Elf 

Allegro Starshine, male elf 

Elves are all somewhat androgynous, but Allegro embodies the word completely. He has taken great advantage of this and specializes in precise imitations of celebrities and royalty for his customers. With a judicious use of makeup, behavioral adjustments, and no small amount of magic, he can literally be anyone - or anything - his client wants.

Human 

Moira Strident, female human

Orphaned at a young age, Moira lived on the streets, struggling to survive. As she matured, she learned that selling her body brought in more money than begging in alleys. Moira now has a posh apartment and several regular customers that support her, but she fears that as she ages, her clients will be replaced with debt collectors.

Maxine Nordahl, female human

Maxine was a cherished only child until the age of 10, when her parents had a second daughter, Nadalee. Maxine took on the role of protector immediately but ultimately took that role too seriously. Her younger sister constantly rebelled against both parents and sister, eventually running away. Maxine has since joined the local law enforcement and is operating undercover in the criminal underworld, trying to track down her missing sister.

Nadalee Nordahl, female human

Raised on the stories of brave knights and warrior princesses, Nadalee felt smothered by her small home and restrictive family life. She constantly pushed the boundaries, trying to find an adventure to take her away. She fell in love with an older man who promised her a life of luxury, a life of breathtaking journeys into mystical and uncharted realms. Unfortunately for Nadalee, the man had no intention to take her away; he supplied her with highly addictive drugs, and she is now one of his many trafficked sex slaves.

Honeyflower, female human

Advertising herself as an "enigmatic friend", Honeyflower floats through the upper levels of society, accompanying men and women to soirees, parties, and balls of all sorts, improving her date's standing. All of her stories and experiences are false, of course; she's never left the city.

Marsha "Jubilee" Mardow, female human

An accomplished baker, Marsha dreams of opening her own store. Her pay at her current job, however, barely lets her afford to live, let alone save. She's had many suitors, however, and their constant protestations about her beauty led her to a part-time gig at a local strip club. In a few short weeks, "Jubilee" has already saved enough to set out on her own, but she found herself truly enjoying her side job, and has yet to leave. The extra tips from "private shows" are a contributing factor. Another week of shows means a bigger store! And another week after that means she can hire helpers! And another week means...(etc.)