#probably operates as a paladin

[mscribblz]

Ghislaine (Ghizzy) of the Order of the Silent. Stoic and undersold class clown who has been one of the prominent character ideas in my head for the next fantasy campaign I get to play in.

[shatinn]

Fallout 4 - alternative magazine - the PRYDWEN - 3 issue #20

[essektheylyss]

I think Orym is a fascinating character in a way that is often underappreciated, because he is fundamentally a soldier, he was trained as a soldier, and that's... not a bad thing? It has no moral indication, and certainly doesn't imply that Orym is going dark. In fact, in the current circumstances, Orym acting as a soldier is very important and may actually get them through this in one piece.

I do feel that this aspect of his character is frequently approached in the fandom as an afterthought or even swept under the rug, or flat out viewed as a flaw to be overcome (especially given the overall landscape of military conflict in the real world), but being a trained soldier is not inherently indicative of specific morality or ideology. I think it's a judgment that also gets levied against paladins, because, much like any organized forces in fantasy are equated with modern militaries, fantasy worship is equated with Christianity (sometimes in the guise of 'organized religion' with all of its problematic connotations). It's incredibly black and white, and it doesn't fundamentally make sense in much of Exandria, but in this case especially.

You cannot fundamentally map the Tempest Blades onto any real life military, because the task of the Tempest, and Ashari culture as a whole, is protection against both extraplanar threats and also the malicious or misguided intentions of those on the Material Plane trying to fuck with the elemental planes. This is distinctly different even in universe from, for instance, Caleb, who was trained as an assassin in the name of nationalism, or Yasha, who was trained to be a leader in the name of tribalism.

And these two threats that the Ashari are tasked with resisting are both frequent, credible, and existential! Failing at this task is liable to have major sweeping repercussions for the rest of Exandria! It is highly probable that a soldier with Orym's training is expected to need to make incredibly difficult decisions in defense of the common good at more than one point in their life—decisions that would make every person who laughs at the premise of the trolley problem shit their pants.

And crucially, Orym wants his friends to get out of this. He has in fact already promised his entire life to ensure that they do, because he also fundamentally needs them to be able to do what they came for, without hesitation, because the singular mandate that he has devoted himself to is protecting the Material Realm from extraplanar threats, and regardless of the fact that the rest of them do not have the same training, that is also the task that the Hells have chosen.

If Nana Morri can get the Hells out in one piece, regardless of what choices they make, then their personal risk doesn't matter. I imagine that Orym isn't going to tell them that, because given the scope of the threat, there's not necessarily a guarantee that Morri can make that happen, so the rest of the Hells have to make the choice themselves to take the risk and trust that the others have their backs. And in the end, if Orym has to live with that no matter which way fate plays out, he will. He's already had plenty of practice.

They're at war, and that's how soldiers operate. Because when they're behind enemy lines, it's the only way missions get completed and they have a chance of making it back alive.

[thisisnotthenerd]

justification below the cut because it got long but is probably valid to read before you answer anyway:

battle of the brands:

the gunner channel are a 6-person party with the assistance of a large creature/mount (aurora nebbins, CR 3). while they are level three in terms of ship deployment, they are not using those skills in this encounter.

at this point they were level five. they had access to third level spells for the spellcasters, extra attacks for the gunners, uncanny dodge for skip and multitasker for margaret.

they had the opportunity to shop for items before the encounter: this included shield generators, armor, lots of grenades, new weapons, extra psychodrones, and critically, the charge fragmentation used in operation slippery puppet

they were fighting in the battle of the brands-- a free-for-all against other brand champions in an arena with a significant drop; one of the win conditions against each opponent was sending them over the edge to suffer max falling damage.

objectives: fulfilling their contract with acme-ashmun as brand ambassadors, surviving the fight, and defeating the other brand champions

they faced four opponents: smaggy squirrel, brobbin bunny, brutus the corn brutie, and the triangle mint plinth.

smaggy squirrel and brobbin bunny were at the very least 9th level rogues--this puts them at a CR 5

the plinth was a homebrewed statblock--i evaluated it at a CR 14, similar to an elder brain.

brutus the corn brutie was based on an adult green dragon, at a CR 15.

if we go by XP with no multipliers, they would get 28100 for the encounter. well into deadly, with an overall encounter CR of 22.

the last stand:

the bad kids are a 6-person party with the assistance of 4 CR 1/2 summons (mephits) and 2 CR 3 mounts (daymare and hangman)

at this point they are level 13. they have access to 7th level spells for the full casters, paladin smites and functional smites (fandrangor), 7d6 of sneak attack, and the new barbificer subclass, which allows non-concentration spells to be held while raging

they also have access to many magical items: the infaethable bass, the heavy metal ax, the sword of sight (sword of the elven oracle), fandrangor (sword of the elven kings), the teddy bear of helpfulness, the sword of shadows and arquebus, all of which grant unique abilities, including +5 to performance and retaliatory damage, crits on 19 and 20 and max damage to objects, bonus action divination cantrips granting the dodge action (true strike), added d6s of damage using spell slots, the ability to hold multiple concentration spells, misty step, magical tranq, net, and signal flare bullets.

they were fighting in the last stand; a simultaneous academic exam and fight against an endless horde of monsters.

objectives: answering questions correctly, protecting the proctor, and lasting as long as possible. the bad kids were granted a preparation round for spellcasting and ability activation and a surprise round on the first wave of creatures. read my notes here for their academic preparation.

they faced a total of 39 opponents of varying CRs. these are sorted below into the waves that the bad kids faced them in.

first wave: otyugh (CR 5), 3 ochre jellies (CR 2), gorgon (CR 5), hydra (CR 8), 8 skeletons (CR 1/4), and a mimic (CR 2)

second wave: manticore (CR 3), shrimp dragon (CR 7), roper (CR 5), umber hulk (CR 5), and 8 stirges (CR 1/4)

third wave: wyvern (CR 6), crab man (CR 5), 8 rust monsters (CR 1/2), pentacorn (CR 6), and a purple worm (CR 15)

if we go by XP with no multipliers, they would get 37500 for the encounter. well into deadly, with an overall encounter CR of 27.

[lunastrophe]

Oh, and I had questions, likely unrelated to each other.

1) How do you think transgender Drow are viewed in their society (both transmen and trans women)?

2) Are there any other education paths available to noble women besides priestess/paladin?

These are very interesting questions! I will try to answer, making references both to Lolth-sworn drow culture and to drow societies that do not follow Lolth - because of some fundamental differences between them.

🕷️ Foundations of a Lolth-sworn drow society are heavily woven around male-female axis: drow who is born as a male will be raised as a male and expected to identify as one; drow who is born as a female will be raised as a female and expected to identify as one.

As far as I know, a typical Lolth-sworn drow culture does not really offer a person other options - and does not even allow them.

🕷️ Male-to-female transition (social, legal or physical) would probably be seen as an unthinkable sacrilege: an unworthy jaluk (male) trying to usurp the female's power and higher station. Female-to-male transition, on the other hand, could be perceived as a sacrilege of even worse kind - since it would be connected not to elevating, but to drastically lowering one's social status. For a typical Lolth-sworn drow, ambitious and constantly focused on "climbing the ladder", the very idea would be hard to understand.

In a Lolth-sworn drow society, a drow longing for transition of any kind would likely end up being punished, sacrificed or simply killed after being revealed. The same probably goes for drow who would be discovered using magic or magical items that alter their body and make it look like the one of the opposite sex.

The safest option would probably be to escape and start a new life away from Lolth's influence.

🕷️ Fel'rekt Lafeen is an example of a young male drow who was born female. We do not know much about his background, though - only that he was not happy with the treatment of males in his society (Lolth-sworn, most likely), so he decided to join Bregan D'aerthe and later became one of Jarlaxle's most loyal lieutenants operating in Waterdeep. He is mentioned in Waterdeep - Dragon Heist (5e).

🕷️ Corellon's blessing - according to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (5e), some elves blessed by Corellon can assume whatever sex they like and this rare ability can sometimes also manifest among drow:

Dark elves find this ability to be terrifying and characterize it as a curse, for it could destabilize their entire society. If Corellon's blessing manifests in a drow, that elf usually flees to the surface world to seek shelter among those dedicated to Corellon.

🕷️ I imagine that in societies that do not follow Lolth - but Eilistraee, for example, or Vhaeraun, or Ghaunadaur - transgender drow need not fear persecution and are treated as equals.

In fact, Vhaeraunan societies often lean towards patriarchy and they oppose Lolth and everything she represents - so I suppose that among followers of Vhaeraun, especially female-to-male transition might be celebrated in some way. It might be perceived as a big f-you to Lolth, especially when concerning a former Lolth-sworn.

🕷️ Professions For Noble Females - in a Lolth-sworn drow society, noble females are typically priestesses.

There are rare cases of female drow wizards of noble houses, but a noble female practicing arcane magic instead of divine one is generally seen as an oddity. In Menzoberranzan, there was a whole noble house once that produced female wizards of considerable power (House Shobalar), but it was ultimately destroyed - as a punishment for teaching their females arcane magic instead of one given by Lolth.

Liriel, daughter of Gromph Baenre, was exceptionally skilled in arcane magic, but still, she was forced to enroll into Arach-Tinilith (academy for priestesses of Lolth).

In House Oblodra, some noble Lolth-sworn females were priestesses and psions, like Matron Mother K'yorl Odran - but in the end, this house was destroyed too.

Matron Mez'Barris Armgo of House Barrison del'Armgo loved battle and she was a formidable warrior... but still, she was also a priestess.

🕷️ So generally, in a Lolth-sworn drow society, the best (and the safest) option for a noble drow female is to finish her obligatory training as a priestess - and then pursue some other career, in addition.

🕷️ In drow societies that do not follow Lolth, no restrictions of such kind apply, most likely.

Among followers of Vhaeraun, almost entire clergy consists of male drow, so noble females are likely encouraged to choose a different career path.

Hope you will find this information useful in some way 🙂

[wolfewritings]

My theory for the unnamed god/Cassandra's dead spouse is that their domain was something related to dawn/morning, revelations, and "blinding" faith, in addition to being a spring deity, that might have probably had a familial relationship with Sol, and potentially was "corrupted"/shaped/transitioned into current day Helio.

If Cassandra is the goddess of night, mysteries, and doubt and is related to Moon goddess Galicaea; then to me it stands to reason that a power couple/arranged marriage would happen between two siblings of the major Celestial bodies representing equal but opposite sides.

And if their domain was related to faith/conviction/knowing, that would be easy to corrupt into rage from a conviction and devotion standpoint, with a paladin's Smite being an evocation of the radiant dawn which could be corrupted into fiendish fire. Especially given how Cassandra has multiple corrupted aspects; the Nightmare King (from my view, corrupted nighttime peace) and the Night Yorb (corrupted night and eternal darkness).

These aspects, again to me and my overworked brain, would also explain why it's a Helio follower that replaced Lucy Frostblade. Sol and whichever god(s) are also involved want Helio either back at full power or operating with additional domains to potentially establish a singular god or a select few all powerful gods.

This would also allow the Ratgrinders' paladin to fill the roll of the "Deus Vult" / "smite the heretics" problem paladin player archetype.

[tea-earl-grey]

my brain has been operating at 10% power today but i have been deep in thought about what Star Trek characters' dnd classes would be and here's what i got (taking into account a character's career, skills, hobbies, and general vibe). i also tended to sub science skills in Star Trek for being some sort of magic user because otherwise this would not work.

*disclaimer. i like dnd, i've played dnd but i'm very far from being a dnd expert so please add your opinions if you have them!

TOS:

Kirk: fighter (specifically with a Battle Master archetype). i think there's a tendency for Captains to be paladins given that they're sworn to uphold Federation values and be a sort of holy warrior but Kirk is both a physical fighter and a tactical strategist as well. plus i think fighter is maintaining Kirk's "just some guy who happens to get into wild adventures" energy.

Spock: wizard. yes yes i know it's kinda stereotypical but Spock is such a classic wizard build i don't know what to tell you. i don't know a ton about the schools of magic but i could see Spock in school of transmutation maybe?

McCoy: wizard. honestly? i was stuck on McCoy because he's obviously a healer but sticking to the handbook classes, the only real healer option is cleric but i don't think McCoy could ever kick it with a god long enough to be a cleric (plus then by default every doctor would be a cleric). however i thought about the hilarity of McCoy and Spock as arguing wizards with extremely different philosophies around magic and couldn't get the image out of my head. (he would probably be school of abjuration)

Uhura: BARD. Uhura is such a bard. her job is communications officer and she's a singer? no other option.

Scotty: warlock. the only explanation for being that good of an engineer is that he made a pact with some supernatural eldritch entity.

Sulu: fighter. did you see how happy he was when he got a gun in Shore Leave? have you seen Sulu leap down the halls of the Enterprise with a fencing foil?

Chekov: gonna be honest and say that i only have memory of watching the first season of tos and the movies so i don't actually know Chekov that much but he has rogue vibes.

this is already so long but i'm having fun so i'm gonna go through the other shows later and tag them here: star trek dnd fusion

[racefortheironthrone]

Which X-Men (or X-Men-adjacent characters) do you think are the best fits for each of the core D&D classes - in a sort of "using this character to illustrate what the class is" way? Leaving out artificer, if only because that's so obviously Forge.

This is hard, because I would describe a lot of X-Men characters as Sorcerors both in terms of how and where they get their powers, but also a lot of the subclasses work very well with the various mutant gifts. Most psychics (Charles Xavier, Jean Grey, Emma Frost) would probably work best as Aberrant Mind Sorcerors, for example (although Kwannon probably works better as a Soulknife).

For Rogues, there's no question that it Gambit, cher.

For (Berserker) Barbarians, it's absolutely Logan.

For Fighters, I'd go with Cyclops (a ranged Battlemaster who took all the Warlord manuevers).

For Warlocks, I'd go with Nightcrawler as a Fae Pact Bladelock.

For Druids, you absolutely go with Storm - although most likely, you'd build Storm as a Druid/Tempest Domain Cleric multiclass - although Rictor is not a bad pick either after he hooked up with [A] and got into mutant magic and druidism.

For Bards, I'd go with Doug Ramsey as a College of Lore guy. (And in keeping with the Bard stereotype, Doug's a transhuman bi-poly twink who's secretly a schemer and political operator behind the innocently slutty facade...)

For Paladins, I'd go with Betsy Braddock, since choosing between the Amulet of Right and the Sword of Might to embody the mystical bond between the land and Otherworld is very very much an Oath of the Ancients moment.

If we're going with Rangers, I would definitely go with Dani Moonstar as combining archery powers with animal companions - although I'm not sure whether she'd be a Fey Wanderer (heh) or a Gloomstalker.

For Monk, I would actually go with Kitty Pryde as a spin on a Shadow Warrior build, considering her time training as a ninja under the demonic Ogun and her current incarnation as the vengeful Shadowkat.

And for Wizards...that one is hard. Probably Amanda Sefton.

[jacks347]

Thanks to the brilliant GB here on Tumblr I was reminded of the dreamscape episode of Bastard Warrior with that whole debacle and you know I wouldn't be here if I didn't have an opinion.

Let's talk about how Albus’s perfect world didn't have Faith in it until she put herself into it.

I've brought up this point singularly in the Discord before but this is my Tumblr where I'm making it a habit of going way too into detail about shit so here we go again.

My singular point was "Even in a world of his own design, Albus refuses to make a world where Faith loves him because he doesn't feel he deserves her."

Which is...arguably correct for the time it was proposed but far too surface level for my liking.

Because even if that is the case, why would she be completely excluded? It's not exactly like Albus is known for having a lot of friends so why would he completely cut out one of the only people that has ever treated him with genuine kindness in his life? Why not add her as just a friendly face like Devlin? He made his brother a bartender so that he's never away from him but couldn't even make Faith a passing merchant?

And then I remembered something literally as I was typing this. Yes, the world is based off of Albus’s desires and what he believes his perfect world would be but he didn't actually make it. Kravitas did.

Y'know, the demon that Faith kicked in the dick literally two episodes earlier? The one that already didn't like her and now likes her even less? The one who knows she's one of Albus’s weaknesses because he cares about her whether he likes it or not? That Kravitas?

Yeah you can see where I'm going with this, can't you?

What if Kravitas purposefully cut her out so she couldn't have an effect on Albus? Completely blocked her from his memory and made a world where she didn't exist so that Albus’s love for her didn't break the illusion and snap him out of the dream.

Am I using my own lore point of "love transcends all" to justify this? A little bit, yes. But I fully believe that if Kravitas had given Albus that storybook ending where he gets the girl and has the white picket fence life, he would eventually realize something wasn't right. He would eventually realize that this wasn't Faith, that something was missing. There's something inherently real about being in love with someone that you can't just replicate, especially with someone in Albus’s situation. And in a world with untraumatized Albus, there would be something crucial missing from his relationship with Faith that Kravitas would have no way to replace.

So what do you do with something you can't fix that will eventually break down your entire operation?

You get rid of it.

So in order to preserve Albus’s dreamscape for as long as possible, Kravitas got rid of Faith. Let Albus have his name, his brother, his career as a paladin, and never tell him that his heart is far beyond the clouds with a woman he forgot exists.

Obviously it didn't work cause Faith is so headstrong she could crack diamonds and wasn't gonna let some silly thing like a dimensional barrier keep her out but an attempt was made and I respect it.

Do I also believe Kravitas could've gone the complete other end of the spectrum and given Albus a harem so he wouldn't need Faith? Yes. Do I think it would've worked any better? Maybe. Possibly. Though I think Albus’s need to attach his self-worth to his sex drive comes from that trauma I mentioned earlier so in a world where that doesn't happen, maybe not. Who knows. I never claimed to be good at this.

Also can we talk about Faith entering that dream world? Just dropped out of the sky and faceplanted into the dirt, I'm shocked she didn't break anything. Albus finds some random lady face down in the grass probably looking like she was contemplating every decision she's ever made in her life and was just like "?? You good?"

100/10, no notes, absolutely flawless.

[jahiera]

"you’re lucky you got away with only a scratch." for astarion/emrys? or whoever you feel inspired to write for it

prompts list. thank you! <3 this got away from me a bit. hereeeee's astarion bloodied up a bit, and paladin's lay on hands can be so personal. intimacy is stored in the healing spells and the snarky comments.

He likes this part the most. 

The slide–the click–the turn of a deadly mechanism. Hands steady, heart not pounding, dead in his chest, but he thinks it would be if it could. Astarion plies open the tiny compartment in the gargoyle's mouth, revealing the tiny ticks and turns of the incinerator within. Tools touch metal gears and teeth, twist, a slow... slow... turn. 

It's nothing to pick it apart; a twist, a flick of the wrist, job well done, rendering these deadly, stone beasts obsolete. 

Satisfied, he rolls back on his heels, stands, his knee-joints aching from the held crouch. 

That should be the last of them. There are two more incinerators a little further back, cracked open and unmade the same as this one. Alongside that, several pressure plates litter the temple's hallways, but he's marked them in his mind. 

The others tend to have enough collective sense to mind when he points them out. Tend to, being the operative word. Whether they explode or not, he'll smugly declare them all inept without him either way; wink and sly and, oh, she'll call him unbearable, and he likes it ever so much when she does.

Emrys comes into view first. She leans set against a wall, her head bowed low, red curls sweeping over her brow. Sunlight floods through the cracks in the ceiling, dappling her in shades of armored silver and fire and deep blue. Gale stands beside Emrys, leaning on his staff, and Shadowheart next, clenching and unclenching her aching god-wound. 

"Your temple awaits," he does a little bow and turn of the hand, tilts up his chin, waits patiently for his well deserved praise.

"Good." Emrys gruffs, straightening up. 

"Oh, not even a thank you? A little appreciation for how you’d be lost without me, perhaps?" 

Emrys gives the smallest, smallest shade of a smile, then turns away. 

Tch. Typical. Astarion steps back as she reasserts herself in the front, greatsword set on her shoulder. 

Gale says, "thank you kindly," and Astarion waves him off with an augh. Just not as fun. He thinks he hears Gale mutter something about no niceties for him anymore.

"Let's get a move on, yeah?" Emrys says. "Want to be out of here by sundown." 

"Worried about something?" says Astarion. He points out one of the pressure plates, and they all move to the side, stepping where he steps.

"Place feels wrong," she shrugs, "don’t want to spend the night here unless we must, is all." 

"I'd rather not linger either," Shadowheart pipes up from the back, looking around cautiously–as she tends to, so he doesn't feel much about it. "There's the stench of death all over this place."

"Yes, that's probably the death." He says, maybe a little snidely. "There's tombs at the end of this hallway. Might have valuables left behind. Worth a look at least..."

"No, we came to investigate. No dallying. No grave-robbing." Emrys returns, sidestepping another one of the plates. Ah, of course. The pitying little village girl they'd met on the road told them such sordid tales of disappearances in the night. Tadpoles, cultists, an unfortunate accumulation of greater enemies looming in the distance, and they stop to inspect strange sounds and, quote, "screaming in the night."

Lots of reasons for there to be screams in the dark, and not one of them could be less fun than this. He sighs dramatically again–far be it for him to not declare his general displeasure at any given opportunity–even as Emrys keeps her back to him, pointedly not taking to the bait. 

After another sigh, and still no reaction, he finally says: "Not even a little?" A little pouty and cloying maybe, but.

Emrys pauses. Grunts. Then gives him that particular headshake that says she won't interfere so long as it doesn't slow them down, and she doesn't see it happen. 

Excellent. For all her stubbornness, she really isn’t hard to wear down. A victor's grin spreads across his lips, and he waggles his eyebrows at Shadowheart. Shadowheart rolls her eyes and steps forward, ahead of him.

Pity. Well, he won't be sharing the spoils with her then.

"This architecture is fascinating, you know..." Gale babbles in the background, pointing out the unique nature of the struts or some such. Truth be told, Astarion isn’t really listening, and they make their way further in. 

The corpse-stench floods his nostrils as more and more tombs come into view. Tombs recently disturbed, it seems. 

Well, that could mean anything. Including undead, a very likely possibility, or worse, someone’s already raided this place for its valuables; also a very likely possibility, and terrible for him. If he doesn’t get someone’s family jewels out of this little expedition, there really will have been no point to it.

Turning all of this over in his mind, he misses it. 

There's a soft hiss, and the floor dips under his left foot.

Shit.

"Stop," he barks out, and the others freeze instantly, their heads swiveling to him. 

He points at the triggered plate with one finger, not daring to do much more. What did this trigger? How did he miss it?

At once, juts in the wall open with a soft, mechanical clank; inside, pointed spears are aligned and ready to fly. 

In a second or less, several things happen at once: Gale steps in a blur of magic, there and gone across the room. Shadowheart darts for cover, a radiant shield thrown up as she does. Shit. Shit. He’s too far from cover himself. He dodges, slides, too exposed, and–

A shout, hers, "move!" and the soft shing! of metal, tipped and cutting, flies past him.

The full weight of Emrys’ hard human body slams into him, throwing them both to the ground. Stinging. Ringing ears. His teeth knock into her pauldrons. Her greaves dig into his leg. Scent of sweat and iron. Her forehead cracking on his. A clatter as she covers his head with her grated arm, hand curling into his hair, forcing him to the metal. She curls over him, and a shimmering ward covers them both.

The piercing darts bounce off her armor in rhythmic thumps, hard exhales with each blow. Cheek to cheek, he can hear the way her teeth grind as the last darts and spears fly free. Not all of the darts hit them, but one cuts a chunk out of his thigh, and he swallows a groan through his teeth. 

A heartbeat passes, thigh burning and with it–hot breath on his scalp, warm throb of blood pulsing under her skin, her neck as close to him as anything now. 

They wait for another wave of projectiles to fly loose. One second. Two. 

No new darts, or flying spears. Not even a minor wave of fire. Emrys pulls away, just enough to meet his eyes. 

There’s a cut on her cheek, small and red and vibrant as paint. She murmurs, soft and low: "Are you alright?" 

"I’ll live," he grunts, hardly able to breathe and speak beneath her, "but you are crushing me."

"Ah. Sorry."

She comes off near completely, setting herself up on one propped foot. Her hand rests heavy on his shoulder, her downed knee between his own two, everything about her still coiled, tense and ready to dive again if something goes wrong. His chest twists a little, an ugly churn of something. 

Resentment. That’s what it is. He would’ve been fine without her interfering.

Emrys says, "you’re bleeding," and whatever the soft of her was, it’s gone again, returned to a hardened frown. Good. 

"Tch." Blood rivulets from his thigh, blending seamless with the black of his trousers, dull-red on the stone beneath. The throb pulses under his skin, through the blood; but he’s endured much, much worse. Still… "So much for your brave sacrifice." 

He goes for the snide blow, and winces for it. She had tried.

But she’s unfazed as always. "I’ll let you get skewered next time then."

"Oh, please do. At least I’ll never have to run errands for whimpering villagers ever again–ah–" 

She takes his thigh in hand, untender with her grip. Fresh burst of burning.

He locks his hand around her wrist, instinct to pull her away right before he restrains himself. There’s a flash, a tinge, a moment like this over and over again, but from one second to the next it's gone.

She freezes, confusion clear across her face. "Do you want me to heal you or not?"

"Gentler, perhaps?" He hisses. Her grasp is clumsy in its armor, and Emrys’ expression flinches. Sympathetic? Or merely irritated? He can never tell. But she considers something, and takes off her gauntlet. It hits the ground with a soft clank. 

Sweat rings around the divots of her fingers, he notes. Her palm is flushed and ruddy and meaty, heavy on the wrist. But she’s gentler, like he asked, and slower too as she bears her grasp on him again. The slightest touch of her thumb ghosts across his unmarred flesh as she turns his thigh over. Her four other fingers, he can feel through the cloth. The weight of them, so certain and untrembling. 

"It’s deep, but not too bad. Lucky it’s on the outside. Missed everything important."

"Ugh, yes. To bleed out in this wretched place would be a horror." He hisses through his teeth, looking at the split in his skin chunked and wretched. "But objectively hilarious."

"Here," she ignores his whine, her hand taking on a soft blue light as she presses it to his thigh. His blood slickens on her palm. The soothing flow of healing magic slides into his veins, warms him down to the bone like morning sunlight. 

This is, he hates to know, a kindness. He didn’t even need to ask. 

Close like this, he can see how sweat makes her curls stick to her forehead. Each individual freckle that spreads across her crooked nose. 

And more than that, he can watch how the cut on her cheek seeps slow like tree sap; it’s a steady streak of red now, curling sweetly under her jaw. And the smell. His throat itches. Sweet. Sweeter-scented than the rot of death and decay and smell of his own blood coating the floor.  

He reaches out with a mindless sort of impulse. In an instant, her free hand wraps tightly around his own. Halting, but not pulling away. 

"Just trying to be helpful?" He tries, blinking innocently.

"Aye. How kind."

"Aren’t I just? You can call it your good influence on me." 

"That would only insult us both." 

"Hm," he swallows the laugh, keeps eye contact, pointed. 

She doesn’t throw his hand aside–noted–and he continues on. His fingers caress to the curve of her ear, a lover’s touch in another scene, but here it’s all the proximity he needs to swipe the trail of blood away with his thumb. Her own grasp on his leg clenches, the blue light dimming out as her spell fades.

He tests the waters, jerking his wrist a little, and she lets him go; watching intently, but not stopping him. And how good that is for him. He never believed in waste; at least, not waste like this.

A pause. A breath. 

He slides his tongue across the red of his thumb, keeping her gaze all the while. She’s robust, like spiced wine, warm in his mouth. Not so satisfying as a drag down his throat, but a thrill all the same. 

He almost thanks her, but it sticks up on his teeth before he can get the words out, so he grins instead, wriggles his eyebrows, just to see what she’ll do. 

Emrys makes a quiet eugh sound, mottles to the cheeks, her face crushing into annoyance so severe he backs out a laugh. But just as he thought, she still stands and offers him that same, bloodied, bare hand to help him up. Gallant to the end, a fact that makes her endlessly easy to con.

He lets her yank him to his feet, muscles fluid and gliding, seamless again with her magic shuddering through him still. 

"Good?" She says, leaving herself open to the blow. 

"Oh, you’re always delectable, darling." 

And she doesn’t rise to that. Spoilsport.

[ponett]

here's another slarpg Q&A roundup from my retrospring! this contains light spoilers for the game

in the past you've gone over how tall each of the main party are, so lemme ask you this instead: How tall are Beverly and Faith?

faith is 6'6". she is very tall. beverly's sprite is probably larger, but that's more a matter of NPC sprites generally being big rather than an indication of her actual height. i'd say she's only supposed to be around 6', give or take

What cartoons does pepper like

bartholomew only lets her watch ones that will be a bad influence on her like invader zim

We know Claire drinks, what about the rest of the Novas?

jodie and allison will drink some at social gatherings. melody tends not to, though, so if they're out together allison will usually limit herself so melody doesn't feel out of place

How do you feel about fanworks of slarpg? Specifically, which mediums would you be okay with fanworks existing in, and how do you feel about people using assets from the game?

fanworks of basically all kinds are encouraged! there's already a (very small) fangame about melody's cat in the works and i think that rules. considering my own roots as a fanartist and fangame creator i think it would be lame of me to discourage that

that being said, a few simple stipulations:

1) i ask people hold off on any sort of mass-produced merch like t-shirts or pins. custom items, commissioning someone to draw the cast, a small run of prints sold at a con table, etc. are fine by me, but i may end up making merch myself and bee and i need to make a living off of this game. when we're an operation this small, putting up a bunch of slarpg designs on redbubble could be a problem for me

2) please do not use visual assets from slarpg (including edits of my sprites) in a commercial product. using them in a mod or a freeware fangame is fine, though

3) if you do make a fangame or mod or whatever, please make sure it's clearly stated that it's unofficial, and also please don't just publicly distribute the entire game for free (modded or otherwise)

Between the 3 types of paladin Melody can become what one is the one that you pick for her?

i do a different one every playthrough >:)

From a story perspective, not a mechanical one: was polyamory ever a consideration for the party members in SLARPG? Can you see any polyamorous relationships working well between main-cast members, even if only for a little while?

i would be lying if i said this was a thing i had never considered, at least a little. it was never a serious plan for the game, but as the story and the character dynamics beyond the main couples evolved there were definitely scenes where i looked at what i'd written and went "oh people are gonna ship this, huh." i definitely see it in my own writing, believe me

the main thing is just that i don't entirely know how i would go about writing poly relationships in a satisfying way. for one i've never been part of a poly relationship, so i can't write from my own experiences there. but also i feel my strongest writing tends to focus on pairs of characters (hence all the one-on-one scenes in slarpg), so it becomes trickier when, for example, a character has two partners. i'd worry about making one more important than the other in terms of narrative focus just because of how i write. i could easily see a version of events where certain characters start dating certain other characters on top of their canon partners, though. i just don't know if it's something that i'd ever really explore myself

but i guess that's what fanfic is for

what's your favorite joke in SLARPG that got left on the cutting room floor?

i really wanted to find a way to make "irony poisoning" a status ailment but could never figure out a good way to do so

how long has claire been on hrt?

i actually couldn't say if claire is on hormones. if she is it hasn't been for as long as melody (who's been on hrt for several years by the start of the game)

I noticed your game seems very deliberate on exactly how it approaches the topic of sex and suggestive content. Obviously it wanted to avoid being "horny furry bait game." But, it also avoided being aggressively chaste as well. It struck a careful balance, where it gives the impression that it's something characters do and think about, but isn't the focus of the story so it stays incidental. Was there ever much consideration on the exact tone in this regard? Or did you just do what felt like a good fit?

this was absolutely something i thought about a LOT. perhaps more than people realize!

i mean for one, yes, the problem of people assuming the game was just furry porn based on the title was always an issue. (not that there's anything wrong with furry porn games, this just isn't one.) the game's origins as a successor to an old fangame also presented an issue, because i was worried that people who knew about the old project but hadn't actually played it might, like, assume that it was extremely horny if i pushed things in slarpg too far? which could, in turn, color peoples' perception of slarpg. they're very distinct projects to me, but i'll never escape the reductive perception of them being Literally The Same Game

at the same time, i started work on the game at age 21 and finished it almost age 29, and in that period my feelings about what i wanted to make and also the attitudes in the wider queer community shifted a lot. there's been pushback against the idea that queer media always needs to be "wholesome" and "pure," with conflicting attitudes about the "wholesome games" marketing label in the indie scene mixing with very valid fears about puritanism growing in the queer community online - stuff like the perpetual "kink at pride" fearmongering. and i didn't want to be seen as being part of some push to erase the sex from sexuality or whatever. even beyond that, i've always kind of rankled at the "cute aesthetic = wholesome" thing. i worried about the idea that the game was "wholesome" and all fluff leading to people getting upset at the more intense parts of the story. and also, just, you know. the characters are all in their 20s. i think it would be weird if they didn't know what sex or alcohol or swear words or whatever were. i think they'd become less relatable and real if it was too sanitized

but of course the flipside is that it's a 16-bit jrpg throwback game and i was absolutely overthinking how much people expected adult themes to be touched upon, queer subject matter or no. i think i struck a good balance in the end where it's lightly acknowledged without disrupting the expected tone of the genre. i'm glad it's speaking to people

(why yes i struggle with RSD how can you tell)

How seriously does Allison take caring for her sword(s)? As an unabashed ADHD sword lesbian myself I gotta say it's a not insignificant amount of (very fulfilling) work.

i think her natural inclination would be to be a little careless with them, but countless lectures from jodie have instilled a sense of responsibility in her when it comes to taking proper care of her weapons

I ask this with no weird intentions - characters like Melody and Jodie have no paw pads on their hands, but do they have them on their feet?

you know what? sure. why not

how did faith get such a big job at 24? did she know someone... is there nepotism in this world. I demand accountability.

faith was always an overachiever and was basically training throughout her teens and early 20s to become guardian. when she put herself out there as a candidate she was already generally popular with the community for her skill with magic and her work ethic, so it wasn't hard for her to win the election in a small town like greenridge

Were there any plans during development for Allison or the other two to meet or confront Harmony in the Astral Plane? Or was she always just meant to be exclusive to Melody's character arc?

the entirety of what was planned for harmony is there in the game

is the city shown in the intro supposed to be brightport?

not necessarily! the identity of the city in the intro is unspecified, although brightport definitely looks something like that

Jodie’s theme from when she was gonna be a dog (apparently?) has a very different feel to it. Was her puppysona a very different character than the danger kitten? Or was her intro in the story simply different?

i was still just figuring out jodie as a character at the time - both her design AND her personality - so bee didn't have the most complete information to work off of when trying to write the fourth character theme

i think initially she was going to perhaps be somewhat more brash, being the one Actually Qualified Adventurer on the team who's surprised that her friends made it so far without her, and she would've been exasperated with claire's shenanigans instead of enabling them. she was also intended to be more of a foil to melody, seeming to be (from melody's perspective) the person everyone compares her to. which might be why i thought to make her a canid? this juxtaposition between the two is still an element in the game, but it's more subtle and i rarely draw direct attention to it. and she was intended to be much more bullheaded, with her arc revolving around her running off and picking a fight that really didn't need to be picked off-screen to set up a side quest that was completely cut

obviously a lot of this doesn't sound very much like jodie at all! she was the character i struggled to nail down the most. if she was too brash and critical of claire's decisions then she'd have way too much overlap with allison, so instead she became claire's best friend who's supportive and trusting to a fault, and who's also the most earnest and straightforward member of the team

[blackjackkent]

The Emperor's hideout had some interesting loot in it - a piece of illithid heavy armor (which none of Hector's team needs or wants), some illithid gloves that give attack bonuses on creatures you've charmed or frightened (which no one really wants either), and the Emperor's old greatsword, which is still not better than the Sussar greatsword Karlach has been running since Act 1. So all in all not an incredibly lucrative visit if you don't count the MASSIVE CHARACTER REVEAL that I figured out in the previous post. (Sorry I'm still freaking out about it.)

Also there are a bunch of githyanki in the front hall that we have to go deal with:

Of all the places for Vlaakith's people to find us, why here???

Ah well.

There were a total of six gith in the next room (a paladin and several mages and fighters), which was a very nice looking area with fancy furniture; I feel like maybe we came in here backwards by finding the entrance from the sewers.

I actually remembered to use some of Hector's rogue abilities by having him sneak attack from stealth to open the fight and taking one of the fighters down to half health to open things up, which felt pretty cool. Luckily we're already running our last remaining hill giant potion.

The exciting gimmicks for this fight were a) all of the fighters had very scary multi-attacks, b) the ch'r'ai has 1234151234 HP (actually only 146 but still) and c) the mage can summon more people onto the field every round.

However, Hector's build is stupidly powerful at this point thanks to all the advice I've received and Karlach is a fucking juggernaut simply by existing, so honestly Jaheira and Shadowheart mostly just stood by and watched while the two lovebirds completely obliterated everyone in the room other than the main boss.

Overall not too bad a fight.

Looking around, we get to read a bunch of the Emperor's old documents and snoop through its mail from the time when it was running the Knights of the Shield. None of it seemed too terribly significant on its own, but it does seem that the Emperor wasn't kidding about the level of influence the Knights had at their peak. A number of documents also seem to chronicle Gortash's rise as a black market arms trader, supplanting out the Knights and the Zhentarim (presumably after the Emperor was re-kidnapped back to the illithids and then escaped into the Prism).

Did find a rather unique self-help book in a chest, titled "On the Inevitability of Moral Decay and Its Benefits":

Some good light bedtime reading.

One thing I did notice that is probably not related to anything (although I'm starting to become wary of making that assumption about anything in this game):

I didn't know the Cowled Wizards operated outside of Amn, so either this is surprising or the Knights had a VERY long reach indeed.

Also found a note that mentioned the location of a cache of supplies hidden "behind the Counting House" so we'll have to keep an eye out for that.

The main entry door leads out into the basement of the Elfsong Tavern, which is somewhere we definitely do want to investigate, but for right now time to get back down into the sewers on the road to finding Minsc.

[thecoffeelorian]

The Transport On The Left, #4

Title:  The Transport On The Left

Chapter:  Four

Genre:  Drama/Mystery

Word Count:  Under 1k

Characters Included:  Crosshair, Echo, Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker.

Brief Description: "Cross is instantly drawn back into his own memories without a sound, back to a nameless, darkened room where nothing but sound and faint pinholes of light can be found. It's here that someone covers his face with one of these blankets, almost like they're allowing him the first real moment of rest he's had in what feels like months--but then, their next surprise comes."

Warnings: There will be mentions of torture/waterboarding in this chapter. Please avoid this if you know your health will be affected in any way, and thank you.

AO3: Click Here

No-Pressure Tags: @megmca @ladykagewaki @talesfrommedinastation @carlycrays @melymigo @momojedi @mysticalgalaxysalad @moonstrider9904 @slenderboo @localcryptid3 @spacemagicandlaserswords @littlefeatherr @gun-roswell @alabyte @sw-2020-1 @lukascastelan @omglisalithium @skellymom  @me-thestarwarsfan @donut1642 @thats-cacti @gray-paladin @idkwhatdoyouwannabecalled @im-not-the-me-i-use-to-be @storminormins @wendywilliamsleftlip @danger-noodles22 @ladylienda @marvel-starwarsfangirl @theosb0rnway and...pretty much anyone else who's kinda had enough of certain Troopers looking like they'd un-alive each other if Omega wasn't watching. ^^; I guess I have to do everything around here, so here's the overture to ALL these stubborn Fett boys having to learn to discuss deep topics, and NOT wait for Omega to tell them!

Special Notes: This divider was created by @djarrex , and so I give all credit to her. :)

One // Two // Three // Four // Five//

(Quick Author’s Note: This story is paying NO attention to the people behind the Twitter curtains. So...for what it’s worth, I’ll do my best to keep the explosions to a minimum, if you get my drift. ;)

Four

The next several minutes tick by in a slow crawl, for this decommission site's newest "visitor" sees no real way to respond to this latest cell in a lifelong succession of cells other than with complete silence. It's been like this for him ever since his decanting day, after all, so it's probably not so out of the ordinary to think that this little fact of life could ever change. Not when the original versions of these Hulls already turned their Deeces upon him, and so drove away any lingering dreams of home. Nevertheless, the Hulls themselves decide to play at being happy, and so force a series of half-hearted smiles onto their faces right after they wheel him inside. Crosshair pays them no mind, though, for he slowly becomes far more focused on the room around him.

Standard, Republic-made medbay; medium size; sleeps two to a room with one other patient here residing. Medbay monitor beginning to flicker repeatedly due to end of shelf life; must alert the nearest available staff. Medbay itself appears to have been cleaned and sanitized recently, though a few faint bloodstains remain visible upon the edge of this blanket, origins unknown-- "...drink?" —What...? Focused enough, even, to very nearly miss the question posed to him by the skull-faced Hull. "I, er...wanted to know if you needed something to drink?" Drinks. Sure. THEY had officially stopped giving him drinks, never mind also food and medicine, as soon as he'd woken up on that operating table. In fact, since it was nothing less than kriffing stupid to even ask him such a thing, if only for the idea that nobody else would have bothered to feed him at this point...he had zero second thoughts about ignoring it. "Okay...that's a no. Got it." In response, the ashen Hull walks past the other three Hulls to a small compartment in the wall, inside of which he finds an extra regulation blanket. He easily picks this up with one hand before returning to Crosshair's bedside, the steady whirr-thump of his footsteps sounding upon the oar. "How about this, then?" Cross is instantly drawn back into his own memories without a sound, back to a nameless, darkened room where nothing but sound and faint pinholes of light can be found. It's here that someone covers his face with one of these blankets, almost like they're allowing him the first real moment of rest he's had in what feels like months--but then, their next surprise comes. Water. Not a slow, steady dripping from a faucet in any corner, but a quick wet plume of it right upon his covered face. Direct. Harsh. Enough to seep through the fabric, into his eyes, down his nose and throat, gagging him-- —Where is the female clone?-- —Making him struggle to breathe, forcing him backwards against the headboard as he gasped for air-- "—All right, all right, I'm sorry! Hell of a time to ask!" "—Corporal, I do not believe that this method is effective--" "—Then fine, let's skip the effectiveness and get that other med droid in here--" "—AW, JUST MOVE IT!" ...And then, the tallest of the Hulls suddenly pushes his way past the others, almost knocking the Skull-face right off his feet as he goes off to grab something upon the floor before anybody else can stop him. "Here, Crossy. Think y' just dropped this." Indeed, before anyone else even has the wherewithal to respond... there's something soft--and yet sturdy--placed behind him in order to keep from banging his own head against the wall. "Wrecker, what are you--" "—HELPING." And out of all these Hulls and their stand-offish approach, it's this one who first reacted to his low state, who actually had the nerve to stop muttering and do something about it--but why...?! "Somethin' you all forgot how to do...but never mind." He doesn't get a lot of time to think this through, because before he knows it, this tallest Hull of the batch is pushing his way through the others, a growing scowl evident upon his face as he goes. " 'M going to go find Fireball. Don't comm me until 'Meg gets back." ... Ooh. Ooh. In spite of the way that neither he nor these others ever saw that one coming, however, Crosshair himself begins to find this experience a bit more interesting than the meaningless chatter of the other three. Within the span of five minutes, this one seemed eager to do more than just stand around, whereas the rest of this group didn't do much else besides ask questions and look terribly lost. In fact... against his usual cold attitude and somewhat better judgment, a faint but curious thought has already crept into his head, if not also come along in search of a true answer. Just who was that mystery Trooper...?!

[bdslab]

asterix in d&d is fun cause essentially his highest stats are charisma and dexterity with slightly above average in other stats. I'd say wis is higher cause of his insight and survival skills but honestly his understanding of how people operate is SEVERELY hindered in cities. I'd say class-wise he'd fit more of a paladin archetype imo… now while it may seem weird to have a paladin who largely fights unarmed, i think it works out since most of the time when he doesn't have the potion he's using a sword. other weird thing is the lack of armor but eh for paladin oath… for as chaotic as the series gets i honestly feel like he fits the tenents for the oath of devotion? Honesty, Courage, Compassion, Honor, Duty… Like I said he fits the basic paladin archetype pretty well. DEVOTION PALADINS ARE ALSO KNOWN TO INCORPORATE WINGS ONTO THEIR HELMETS SO Anyway, onto obelix. Obviously highest stats are strength and constitution (like game breakingly high numbers you shouldn't have), mediocre wis and cha, and a serious hit to dex and int to make up for the outrageous str and con stats in order to let unarmed combat be viable for 5e and not be a monk obelix has to have the tavern brawler feat. after that… barbarian would be my best guess. the lack of armor works well with barbarians and there can be something said for the rage kicking in a few times ahtibat1 For barbarian path… I'm not as familiar with these but actually Juggernaut works pretty well. Melee attacks have the ability to launch foes 5ft away, you're impossible to topple, and structures are cakewalk to take down. actually it's perfect Cacofonix is a bard that forgot to spec into charisma honestly cacofonix probably has pretty decent constitution for how often he's hit over the head with a hammer. he probably has some good int as well, mediocre for the rest (charisma dump stat though). College of valor fits well with the large numbers of fights around the village Getafix is a pretty standard druid. good wis and int; decent dex, con and cha; fairly poor strength. Circle of the Land is a pretty literal description of what's depicted in the comics and movies (oral tradition led by elders meeting to keep secrets & magic within the community). vitalstatistix is an up and up champion fighter unhygenix and fulliautomatix are berserker barbarians but because it's a kids book there's no death and blood when they rage geriatrix is a kensei monk except instead of a sword his weapon is his cane now. dogmatix is a dog

people are always like "devotion paladins are boring and have to be perfect angels" but honestly it doesn't say anywhere they can't blatantly disrespect authority if they don't recognize that authority in the first place what im getting at is that asterix being a rude little bastard calling caesar "jules" is fine. honestly can you imagine the audacity. he's less than 5ft tall & caesar's conquered all gaul* and he's like "fuck you i won't use your proper name"

*except a little village in armorica paladins of devotion have to lead by example and honestly, disrespecting caesar and accidentally tanking the economy is a pretty decent example lmao

[tricitymonsters]

Hitting everyone with my nerdification beam: would they be into D&D and if yes, which class/race (or maybe they prefer being the DM)?

OOHUGH OKAY (talking general TTRPG terms here, i haven't played brand name D&D in a hot minute)

mori - that dipshit noob player who has to be wrangled cause they go mad with the power of being able to do whatever. You tried to convince him to play a fighter cause its pretty simple and straightforward but he insisted on a tabaxi monk.

amir - CAN dm but wont, wants to play major political intrigue and his night elf/dark elf bard is a master of manipulation. His in game goal is to amass as much political power as possible, he wants his base of operations to include at least one throne.

akello - would dm but would rather play. Druid/ranger type character (maybe multiclass) with wild shape of something like a huge boar maybe? If he has an animal companion its gotta be some big canine type cause that man loves big ass dogs. Is probably the defacto group leader cause he's best at staying on task and attracts less attention than the others in town.

kazu - berseker, probably human, orc, goliath or some weird combo. Actually plays in character really well. Has an in game moral code that he never deviates from and even though he's a tank, he's pretty good about approaching combat (when he's not raging) as part of a team.

raath - teifling rogue but more of a brawler build than stealth. Tempted to say halfling because he'd be prone to minmaxing with attacking from stealth. Kind of a murder hobo and has to be wrangled to stay with the team. That one player with an annoying amount of secrets.

marcel - dragonborn paladin. probably newish to the d&d scene but willing to give it a real try. does character voices and is that one player who reacts the most dramatically when you throw them into a trap or something.

[sad-sad-detective]

I noticed mentions of Dnd and as a fan I have to ask)))

Do you have any ideas about which race\class any characters would choose?

I'm sure, and it's a hill I'm ready to die on, that Dewdrop would play as a barbarian. He'd probably choose the path of berserker or the path of beast. There is so much anger in this tiny body, and Dew would happily let it out in a DnD session.

Cirrus would choose a fighter or a paladin. Rain would prefer to play as someone with healing powers, a druid or a cleric.

Mountain would play as a druid and/or ranger. As for the race, he'd choose to play as a firbolg. Surprisingly, he's the most thoughtful when it comes to creating a character, and he aims to make the most of a class/race combination.

Swiss would play as a rogue, because rogue he is. Cumulus would choose a rogue too.

No ideas for Sunshine, Phantom and Aurora, to be honest, but I'm pretty sure, none of the band ghouls would play as a bard. You know, like Harry Dresden refused to play as a wizard with his DnD group because it's his actual job, and instead he chose to play as a barbarian or some other fighting class (I don't remember exactly which one).

Copia, though, would choose to play as a cleric, because it seems familiar. He is yet to discover that DnD clerics operate a little differently.

And Aether would be their DM.