#the assassin and the dragonlance

[tildeathiwillwrite]

✍️ "when did you get started writing?"

✏️ “what are your current WIPs about?”

(in response to this ask game)

✍️ When did you get started writing?

I don't have an exact year, but by my estimation I was 10 or 11 when I got a sparkly pink notebook and began what is in hindsight shitty videogame fanfiction. I never finished it, and I wanted to crawl put of my skin when I found the notebook recently. Shows how much I've grown as a writer, we all have to start somewhere!

✏️ What are your current WIPs about?

Okay so I got eight WIPs that I post about: 5 original novels, 1 original short story (that might end up being a novelette) and 2 fanfics. Listed in order of current priority. Long post incoming hehe

The Hunter, the Myth and the Cure from Tales from Valaria (Original Novel)

Valaria is in turmoil. An outbreak of lycanthropy has swept across the planet, halting trade and sending everyone into panic. The elves have closed their borders, the Draigo have barricaded themselves into their strongholds, and it is left to the humans to quell the plague before the infected kill or spread the disease to the entire population. Ten years after the outbreak, the plague is somewhat handled. Draven Cozenson is an infamous lycanthrope hunter, someone tasked with tracking down werewolves and putting them down before they can infect others. While on a job in the vast forest known as the Fells, he discovers a strange elf trapped beneath a frozen lake. Octavian de Silv has unknowingly been imprisoned for a decade, held in a magical stasis the likes of which are unheard of. Still reeling from events that concluded a decade before, he is forced to get his bearings in a world vastly different than he remembers. Reese Takari is trapped. Not just by the walls of the place where she was taken, but also by the fear of what would happen to her father if she takes any opportunity to escape. And now she's trapped by her value as a subject for unknown experiments. The search for an antidote or a vaccine against the outbreak is ongoing. Researchers are desperate, and ethics have long been tossed out the window. Magicians roam freely, no longer afraid of Draigo agents hunting them down for wrongdoing. Perhaps it will take a new---or rather, old---perspective to turn the tide. Or, more likely, perhaps not.

A Musician and a Curse (Original Short Story/Novelette)

A story that began as a one-shot about a musician cursed to have the siren affect on those who hear her music.

The Legend of Orian Goldeneye (Original Novel)

On the planet Somnia, there are two worlds, hopelessly intertwined: the physical world, and the dream. In the dream, anything is possible. ...Unless it involves black glass. The city of Saint's Shoal is in a state of unrest. A dreamshaper by the name of Azura Lazuli seeks vengeance, and she will stop at nothing to see it through. The responsibility falls to Orian Goldeneye, mythical child of balance, to stop her before her actions harm innocents. But he's only one dreamshaper, and every battle between them ends in a draw. He's getting desperate. So what happens when two strangers get tossed into a prison designed for dreamshapers? An opportunity is siezed, and it just might tip the scales in his favor. But time's running short, and Orian's new allies, Jas and Killian, may be far more than meets the eye. Will they aid him and put an end to Azura's reign of terror? Or will they bring more problems than he started with?

The Watcher and the Thief from Tales from Valaria (Original Novel)

A Watcher (glorified detective/bodyguard) seeks out a magician to reverse a curse placed upon his apprentice. A thief steals a gemstone from the Draigo that is much more valuable than it seems. And a devar messenger, tasked with an urgent message, is instead drawn into the conflict between a Stalker and her prey.

Trials of the Six (Original Novel)

A group of ragtag Mages set out to smuggle Mages out of the Permafrost and accidentally get drawn into a conflict between two countries. But not everything is as it seems, and the stakes might be bigger than any of them can imagine.

The Assassin and the Dragonlance (Dragonlance and Death Gate Cycle crossover fanfiction)

In Which Alfred accidentally causes Hugh the Hand to regenerate somewhere… different after his second death on Arianus. Not posted yet.

Forsaken: the Doomed City (Original Novel)

The story is about a group of four young adults (Rowan, Victoria, Ollie, and Sam) who are trapped in a city full of other superheroes that has had a shield put up around it to keep everyone stuck inside. The team seeks to get out of the city before a villain called Whisper kills Rowan in a Russian roulette-esq game occurring every full moon.

Defy from Demigods of the Death Gate (Percy Jackson and Death Gate Cycle crossover fanfiction)

Demigods of the Death Gate is a crossover fanfiction series with Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Death Gate Cycle. It features characters from PJO in the setting of the Death Gate Cycle alongside the series' own characters. Annabeth has a mission: to find the fabled Sartan strongholds. To do so, she must translate journals left behind when the humans, elves and dwarves were exiled into the jungles of Pyran long ago. But when the mythological tytans resurface, Annabeth discovers another source of information, power, and problems. Join Annabeth as she translates the Sartan rune language, learns to use the Sartan rune magic, and pries answers out of a mysterious, quiet man with a dog.

[bardnuts]

gonna be real one of my dreams is to write licensed fantasy novels

[wileycap]

Further Excerpts From The Fire Nation Royal Palace Servants' (Unofficial) Handbook

Or: More Revisions To Normal Protocol After The Ascension Of Agni's Exalted Flame, The Dragon Of The Sun, et cetera, Fire Lord Zuko

Part 1:

7. If His Majesty offers you advice regarding martial arts, camouflage, theatre, or any other subject which he is commonly known to be well-versed in, accept it gratefully. If His Majesty offers you advice on emotional matters, listen politely and then disregard it.

7.1. If His Majesty uses the phrase "silver sandwich", you are entitled to a longer lunch break. So you can take a longer bite out of your silver sandwich.

7.1.1. Please do not vandalize the handbook, even if you think it's funny.

7.1.2. Especially if you think it's funny, Chikao.

7.2. If you share something tragic with His Majesty, and he replies "that's rough, buddy", it means he empathizes with your situation.

7.2.1 Alright, maybe he did need to learn that it's not a great way to respond to tragedy. But "rough like the boulders that crushed my father?" was a bit much.

8. Prince Iroh has advised the servants not to reveal to His Majesty what the meat in turtleduck dumplings is. Apparently, he thinks the name comes from their shape. The dumplings are not shaped like turtleducks.

8.1. Now that His Majesty knows, be ready to recite the names of all the turtleducks in the palace at a moment's notice, and also to reassure His Majesty that they are all safe, accounted for, and uneaten.

9. His Majesty should be kept apprised of any "sightings" of the Blue Spirit. The Blue Spirit is an entirely fictional creature. However, his belief in it is entirely benign (and as far as eccentricities go, we've all seen worse) and likely something he will outgrow with age.

9.1. Do not lie about any "sightings". If His Majesty is told that the Blue Spirit was sighted near his window, he will be extremely distraught for the entire day. The Fire Lord has too many real assassins to worry about already. There is no need to add imaginary ones to the mix.

9.1.1. And whenever he is distraught, his footsteps are even quieter than they normally are. It is hard enough to keep track of his movements as it is.

10. While His Majesty has approved the "Kick Ozai Retreat" for servants who were mistreated by Ozai of the Fire Nation (titles rmvd, dishon.), it will never be organized. Please suggest other activities for the Servant Wellness Day.

10.1. Yes, that is because Avatar Aang found out.

10.1.1. Specifically because of the very heartfelt and very long speech he gave on the matter. And the fear that he might give one again.

10.1.2. And no, we can not "simply tell the Avatar to shut up." He is the Avatar. And he is also a 13-year-old boy. His dragonling eyes are very effective.

11. Princess Azula is at the stage of her treatment where she will take regular trips to the palace, dividing her time between her island and here. We're all terrified, but there's nothing we can do.

11.1. Lady Beifong has offered to act as protection, should the need arise. On an unrelated note, the kitchens will now be serving a number of delicacies from the State of Gaoling.

11.2. At the specific and undeniable request of Master Toph, The Blind Bandit, her titles and styles have been updated and they will be enforced effective immediately.

12. If Avatar Aang is seen on a rooftop with no apparent purpose, that means that Fire Lord Zuko is also on that rooftop. Get him down.

12.1. If Master Katara appears to be discreetly looking for someone, that usually means that one or all of His Majesty, Avatar Aang, Master Toph, the Honorable Tribesman Sokka, or the lemur Momo are in some kind of trouble. Assist her. Before one of those idiots gets themselves killed.

12.2. Do not vandalize the handbook, even if it's true. Also, please do not call our Fire Lord, the Avatar, Master Toph, or the Avatar's beloved pet an idiot.

13. Any senior officials who wish to challenge Fire Lord Zuko to an Agni Kai should be directed to the Fourth Scribe's office. They should also be told that there is a waitlist.

13.1. If the Honorable Tribesman Sokka wishes to challenge the Fire Lord to an Agni Kai again, he should be denied. No matter what he tells you, he has not developed Firebending abilities by means of "Spirit World shenanigans" or by Avatar Aang "just giving them to him, Energybending style, like best buddies do, you know."

13.1.1. The Matron has made it known that if the Honorable Tribesman Sokka offers to demonstrate his so-called "Firebending abilities" again, servants are allowed one free kick. The last time he did it, the stench from his blubber bombs lingered for three weeks.

[variouspolltournaments]

Submissions Closed

Next up is the Villain Protagonists Tournament. So long as the protagonist is, was or becomes a villain, they count here.

Submit a Villain Protagonist, along with where they come from and (if you want) propaganda through ask or submit a post.

Submissions will be closing on the 12th of June. Will be doing prelims on the same day, scratch that I'll be doing as many prelims as I can before submissions close, any left over will be done the day of the submissions closing. This is because there a few submissions I'm not sure about.

Top 4 submissions are the ones I submitted myself.

@tournament-announcer

Submissions in bold have propaganda, submissions not in bold do not have propaganda. Whether they do or do not have some already, you are still free to submit some. Those with a line through their name were eliminated in the prelims.

SUBMISSIONS:

Ellen: The Witch's House/The Diary of Ellen

Light Yagami: Death Note

Roxie Hart: Chicago

Alex Wake: Beyond Eden

Yato: Noragami

Koro-sensei: Assassination Classroom

Bucky Barnes: Avengers

Xeno Wingfield: Doctor Stone

Victor Vale: Vicious

Barry Lyndon: Barry Lyndon

Footsoldier D: Go Go Loser Ranger

Medea: Euripedes Medea

Taylor Hebert: Worm

Scourge: Warrior Cats

Tigerstar: Warrior Cats

Megamind: Megamind

Setsuna Higashi: Fresh Precure

Invader Zim: Invader Zim

Valkyrie Cain: Skulduggery Pleasant

William James Moriarty: Moriarty the Patriot

GoodTimesWithScar: Secret Life.

Shen Qingqiu: Scum Villain's Self Saving System

Nimona: Nimona

Ballister Blackheart: Nimona

Artemis Fowl: The Fowl Adventures

Vegeta: Dragon Ball Z

Hiei: Yu Yu Hakusho

Gru: Despicable Me

Dr. Horrible: Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog

Wu Zetian: Iron Widow

Magneto: X-Men

Catherine Foundling: A Practical Guide to Evil.

Nick: Anna and the Apocalypse

Elphaba Thropp: Wicked

The Batter: OFF!

HAL 9000: Space Odyssey

Anakin Skywalker: Star Wars

Darkstalker: Wings of Fire

Alastor: Hazbin Hotel

Zhou Zishu: Word of Honor/Faraway Wanderers

Mr. Wolf: The Bad Guys

Jafar: Twisted

Sauron: Lord of the Rings

Morgoth: The Silmirilion

The Witch of the Waste: Howl's Moving Castle

Dracula: Dracula

Hades: Disney's Hercules

Hannibal Lecter: Hannibal

Heinz Doofenshmirtz: Phineas and Ferb

Raistlin Majere: Dragonlance

Petey: Dog Man

Eric Draven: The Crow

Ainz Ooal Gown: Overlord

Harley Quinn: Harley Quinn 2019

Dexter Morgan: Dexter

Hector con Carne: Evil Con Carne

Mandy: The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy

Rick Sanchez: Rick & Morty

Rusty Venture: The Venture Bros

Eric Cartman: South Park

Utena Hiiragi: Gushing Over Magical Girls

Yuno Gasai: Future Diary

Lucy: Elfen Lied

Belkar Bitterleaf: Order of the Stick

Tomie: Tomie

Punie Tanaka: Magical Witch Punie-chan

Azazel: Yondemasu Yo! Azazel-san

Lucifer: Sin: Seven Mortal Sins

Venom: Venom comics

Ren Hoek: Ren & Stimpy

Demitri Maximoff: Darkstalkers

Sweet Tooth: Twisted Metal

Slappy: Goosebumps Slappyworld

The Warden: Superjail!

Herbert West: Re-Animator

Joker: Joker 2019

Patrick Bateman: American Psycho

Monami: Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl

Sagiri Tengai: Korokoro Soushi

Shion Sonozaki: Higurashi When They Cry

Ai Enma: Hell Girl

Johnny C.: Johnny the Homicidal Maniac

Lenore: Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl

Takuyoshi Masuoka: Marebito

Deadshot: Secret Six

Catman: Secret Six

Scandal Savage: Secret Six

Ragdoll: Secret Six

Bane: Secret Six

Jeanette: Secret Six

Dennis Reynolds: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Dee Reynolds: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Frank Reynolds: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Charlie Kelly: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Mac McDonald: Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Zhu Yuanzhang: She Who Became the Sun/The Radiant Emperor

Baru Cormorant: The Traitor Baru Cormorant/The Masquerade

Penelope Akk: Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain

Li Hongzhang: Towards the Republic

Empress Dowager Cixi: Towards the Republic

Cao Cao: Three Kingdoms

Mapleshade: Warrior Cats

Quenthel Baenre: War of the Spider Queen

Jeggred Baenre: War of the Spider Queen

Pharaun Mizzry: War of the Spider Queen

Ryld Argith: War of the Spider Queen

Halisstra Melarn: War of the Spider Queen

Danifae Yauntyrr: War of the Spider Queen

Valas Hune: War of the Spider Queen

Victor Frankenstein: Frankenstein

Adam,Frankenstein’s Monster: Frankenstein

Zuko: Avatar: the Last Airbender

Horus Lupercal: Horus Heresy

Lorgar Aurelian Horus Heresy

Angron: Horus Heresy

Mortarion: Horus Heresy

Magnus the Red: Horus Heresy

Fulgrim: Horus Heresy

Perturabo: Horus Heresy

Konrad Kurze: Horus Heresy

Alpharius Omegan: Horus Heresy

Vorx: The Lords of Silence

Lucius the Eternal: Lucius: The Faultless Blade

Fabius Bile: The Fabius Bile Trilogy

Honsou: Iron Warriors series

Talos Valcoran: Night Lords series

Asdrubael Vect: Path of the Dark Eldar trilogy

Ufthak Blackhawk: Brutal Kunnin/Da Big Dakka

Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka: Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh!

Trazyn the Infinite: The Infinite and the Divine

Orikan the Diviner: The Infinite and the Divine

Cryptosporidium-137: Destroy All Humans

Han Jaeho: The Merciless

[canonkiller]

hello I would like book recs about dragons

Hmm, pretty wide net! Depends what sort of genres of dragon you like and what demographic. Here's a bunch off the top of my head, for varying age groups. I'll star my personal favs

If you want fantasy adventures like LOTR or DnD

YA pick: ⭐ Dragon Codex series by R D Henham

Older YA/Adult pick: Dragonlance

If you want dragons and humans coexisting, but less of the huge prophesied evil high stakes:

Grade school: Dragon Girls series, My Father's Dragon,

Teen/YA: ⭐ Dragon Slippers series, The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart, Dragon Rider, The Dragon in the Sock Drawer series, Dragonology novel series, Enver and the Ice Dragons, Dragon Assassin

Older YA: Seraphina series

Adult: ⭐ The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan, Temeraire series, Dragon Blood series by Lindsay Buroker

If you want dragon riders:

Teen: Dragonsdale series

Adult: Dragonriders of Pern series, Temeraire series

If you want dragons as the primary protagonist(s):

YA: Wings of Fire series, a few of the Merlin's Dragon series, a few of the Tales of the Frog Princess series by E D Baker

Adult: Age of Fire series (the titles are coincidental, but funny), Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton

If you want dragons that aren't the four legs two wings european kind, but this category is kind of slim pickings in the books I've read so the genres are wildly different sorry:

YA: Dragon Keeper series, Dragon Pearl series

Adult: Priory of the Orange Tree (I'm counting it because I like it)

[mysticstarlightduck]

OC Fun Facts Tag!

Thanks for tagging me, @thecomfywriter (here)!!!

Let's go with Aelia and Emrin from The Crystal of Ash, and Tarah & Kye from Supernova Initiative for this one!

Aelia 🍂

She is the daughter of a man who once was the most successful thief and the most wanted man on the continent across the sea. Once he amassed wealth to rival that of most, he changed his identity and moved to the main kingdom of the story, where he posed as a powerful merchant and became a very influential man. Thus, Aelia both has thief skills and knows upper-class etiquette - as she was raised in both environments.

She is a wild spirit at heart, spending most of her time sparring in the chateau's courtyard, riding horses, exploring the woods, studying secret magic, and trying to learn more about the other kingdom, where she was born.

She thinks that Declan is endearing, though at first when they met he used to be concerned, a bit creeped out by the fact that she could sneak like a spider anywhere without being noticed.

She has a flying cat (those creatures are called Gryphers in their world), who is just as much a menace to society as her, and who adores stealing tarts from the kitchen because he knows he'll get away with it.

She has shown some talent for magic, though hers is a bit foreign to the local scholars when compared to the usual magic in Callonor.

Emrin 🏹

Emrin is considered an aberration both by the humans of the continent and the Levaethia, the draconic elves from beyond the mountains because she is of half-human, half-Levaethia blood.

She was taken in by a young Levaethian outcast, who had been banished by his tribe for disagreeing with their people's Way - since he believed maintaining peace with those invading their land would only lead to their people's death. He was a leader of a rebel movement, and along with his friends - became like siblings to the young Emrin, who was an outcast too, and taught her to be a ferocious assassin to any humans who invaded their land.

She's a talented archer, who rarely - if ever - misses her mark, and has a strong tie to earth/nature sorcerer, being considered a very powerful and dangerous Caster.

When she was around twelve years old, she saved a dragon pup from a trap. Much like her, dragons were seen as murderous monsters by humans and Levaethians alike, and so, after she saved the young dragonling, they developed a close bond and friendship based on that understanding.

Emrin loves wildberry juice and has quite a sweet tooth.

She blames her human blood for her being considered an outcast, which makes her alliance with the main cast very fickle, born out more of necessity than trust.

Tarah 🪻

She loves making woven bracelets with her best friend, it's their little tradition.

She's the daughter of a genius Junction scientist who had his life's work stolen from him and then found out the corruption the Director was involved in - and made the mistake of threatening to expose it. Which got him killed.

Tarah has anxiety and does not know how to properly interact with people she doesn't know, gravitating between a people-pleasing personality and a skittish one.

She has a love and a talent for learning languages.

She likes to gift people unique gifts on their birthday but often forgets her own. Not because of any self-esteem issue. Just because she is forgetful.

Tarah loves music but hates loud noises.

She has a big dog who follows her everywhere and looks like an alien version of a pitbull.

She is actually pretty good at baking.

Kye 🐍

Kye's "weapon of choice" against his enemies is poison, and he is an expert on lethal chemicals and the deadliest poisons in the galaxy. The reason why he chooses to use poison for his enemies is that poison was the cause of the death of his Dad (something that traumatized Kye deeply) - so it's kind of a way for Kye to make his enemies "suffer like his Dad did."

Kye is incredibly sarcastic and is capable of being a sassy lil' shit when he wants to.

When he was a teenager, Kye met Artemis Zreeth and they temporarily became best friends, but after an unfortunate string of terrible circumstances and misunderstandings, they went their separate ways and became rivals.

Kye hates the smell of roses - especially the artificial ones - and one of his triggers is the sound of platform heels (because his abusive mother, Eldora, used to wear rose perfume and platform heels)

Kye loves animals, especially weird ones, but also puppies and kittens. He really has a soft spot for cuteness.

One of his hobbies is embroidering, and his favorite designs to embroider are flowers

He starts out as incredibly morally grey and ruthless, but through his friendship with the main cast, slowly learns how to be kind and honorable again, while not losing his dangerous side towards his enemies.

Tagging (gently): @sleepy-night-child, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @smol-feralgremlin, @oh-no-another-idea, @littleladymab,

@winterandwords, @eccaiia, @sarahlizziewrites, @illarian-rambling

@agirlandherquill, @anoelleart, @ray-writes-n-shit

@writernopal, @anyablackwood, @unstablewifiaccess, @forthesanityofstorytellers, @finickyfelix

@i-can-even-burn-salad, @cakeinthevoid,

@lassiesandiego, @thepeculiarbird, @clairelsonao3, @memento-morri-writes, @starlit-hopes-and-dreams and OPEN TAG

[corsair-princess-nenime]

NENI DM

officially dm'd my first dnd session :) using the final chapter of dragons of stromwreck (set in dragonlance, populated with red dragon enemies). Went well, brought 2/3 (lvl 5) players close to death like twice, brought one of them down, a good nights work for a one shot!

my players awakened (after a night of drinking) on a river boat to discover they had volunteered for a dangerous mission to stop a dark ritual. there was a beach map, then the dragons of stormwreck observatory map, all with around 2 dozen enemies total and the boss

player shenanigans included nuking a lot of enemies with fire spells

of note was the appearance of actual dragonlance NENIME, the character i wanted to make before i realized it would be an all elf-party

the boss was an armored kid WHOS ACTUALLY A RED DRAGON WYRMLING wearing a ruby imbued with change shape. she was gona stay out of the fight to mess with her relic-takhesis-holocron-rubix cube for 3 rounds, unless someone messed with her enough times to piss her off

feeling that my players needed some help, i had minotour guy try to repair a ' damaged' istarian drone - he succeeded. in the fight, the istarian drone would eventually go on to bind our boss, and the elf assassin got two back to back nat 20s on her with frost touch. with the relic finding her unworthy, our boss fled badly injured

here are some of my notes:

Nini sea elf (dimernesti) TALL STANDING AKIMBO bluegreen skin, frekled face w sunburnt cheeks, silver hair / green eyes bonespear - some hatchets , HER ARMOR IS a shirt of clam shells over a kalaman military TUNIC SHE HOLDS UP HER WEBBED HANDS > GREETINGS! Are you ready for the mission? > the highly dangerous mission we volunteered for?

(wizard elf tried to seduce her, he had to save it for after the mission, where i would have him do a charisma check w adv - he failed)

/////////////////

the chamber is bathed in a baleful, ruddy light. high in the air, a pyramid of red glass and red gold burns with a furious, suffocating aura beneath it, a pair of draconians flank not a grizzled warlord, but… a little girl, seething at this interruption as only a child can seethe > morons!

Ayveryhys head is a rats nest of black hair - bound behind her back her features are pale, shes unmistakably 9 or 10 years old strangely, her widdle eyes glow with flecks of molten light she even wears armor - exquisietely crafted, wraught in black steel and edged in gold, not unlike the votive images youve seen of Takhesis of course, the armor bears the dragon queen's clawed spiral a glowing ruby is set prominently in place of the claw representing fire dragons > YOU WILL NOT STAND IN MY WAY!

(despite previous hints, they did not see her being a dragon coming)

[sorrowssinger]

I am on mobile and I can’t find your muse list anywhere

So this is actually a mixed blog. It's mostly a hub for my other rp blogs and a blog for my OC characters as well as Tolkien muses I want to try out.

My semi-active OC list:

Mithenaro (Noldor Elf)

Sarnaro (Sindar Elf)

Amaurea (Half Telerin half Noldor)

Turelio (Amaurea's brother)

My other muses/blogs (I do have more but these are the most active of them and so got listed)

Turgon

Maglor

torturedbrilliance (multi-fandom multi-muse the listed muses change here a little but it is a mixed bag with Assassin's Creed, Dragonlance, Naruto, and others)

lordsxfgondor (Tolkien Humans from Gondor)

thiefxking (Zelda blog currently Ganondorf main but also Link both OoT inspired)

[rhokisb]

Nelly Finds Love

So an IRL bestie of mine plays in my DnD campaign. She wanted to play a Dragonborn...in Dragonlance. Alright, bet Queen let's goooo.

So she's been playing her character for 7 sessions now and as per usual she's made him quite angsty. His name is Neltharion and he's got a bad boy with a dark past vibe like no other. He's currently running around with the heroes of Krynn, confusing literally everyone.

She likes making these angry characters and they generally stay quiet. Lately, her character (Neltharion) has made friends with the Assassin (Rodriggo) in the group and that's led to some humourous interactions which I adore, but I wanted a little more.

Enter a love interest, pre-written into the campaign. Her name is Laurana. She is an elf. She is SUPPOSED to be a love interest with a pre-existing campaign character. Those characters don't exist in my world so I could have:

A) Gotten rid of it

B) Kept the character minus the love interest bit

C) Have fun.

My motto is always have fun. So I wrote down my PCs names and rolled a dice.

Hehehehe. It landed on the Dragonborn. The angsty-ass Dragonborn who isn't a Draconian but still confuses and terrifies all who come across him. The Dragonborn whose main interaction with the party so far has been hiding a rotting fish in one of the member's packs (he also was the one who made BlipBlup his braided iron crown *sigh* my heart).

So they get to the city, have a lot of dialogue with the elves, and then BAM enter the gorgeous elven princess. Who immediately is taken with this strange creature gracing the halls of her father's nation. She's got diamonds braided into her hair. Her brown skin SPARKLES like it's been rubbed with gem dust (going for an Edward in the sunlight vibe here). Her eyes reflect shades of green, teal, and hints of amber. She is GORRRGEOUS.

And she is the first person to ever treat Neltharion with any sort of kindness. I even checked that, I asked his in-game friend (Aello), "How do you generally treat Neltharion? You've known him your whole life, is it a brotherly relationship? Are you friends? What's the deal between you two?" And Aello's player agreed that they would treat Neltharion kind of like a sibling (i.e. they're not "kind" to one another but would die for each other).

So I throw my poor bestie into this role-play scene where this elven princess is flirting with her 7-foot-tall Dragonborn and just being overtly caring and kind. Answering his questions, speaking quietly, lightly touching his arm, etc.

She could have refused it, kept going with her angst; but, she's BLUUUSHING, cannot handle her boy being romanced. Fully into it.

When the elven princess leaves, she looks right at the Rodriggo and says, "Nelly's in love."

She's never referred to her character as anything but his full name. Just the instant personality switch was amazing.

The princess later got captured and our Nelly boy (my heart forever) angrily roared in despair as he watched her disappear on the horizon on the back of a stinky Wyvern.

I can't wait to see how this plays out, I'm still reeling. It was a heavy RP session, only a couple minor combats, but it was so worth it.

[tildeathiwillwrite]

🤪 - Have you ever written fanfiction?

(in response to this ask game)

I have indeed! Not a lot, and only some of it actually posted, but I have.

Completed:

Inside the Standing Stones A Brave (2012) oneshot featuring an oc. 4,600 words. Summary: Gwendolyn's been trapped inside of the standing stones for a long time. But when a red-haired lass stumbles across her, Gwendolyn watches as a chain-reaction of events unfolds, helpless to stop any of it.

Demigods of the Death Gate, Book 1: Dry 31,800 words Summary: A Death Gate Cycle and Percy Jackson Crossover, set in an AU where the son of Stephen and Anne is the reincarnation of Percy, with a similar power set. Follow Perseus as he attempts to unravel an evil wizard's plot to take over Arianus, the world of air.

Ongoing:

Demigods of the Death Gate, Book 2: Defy Sequel to Dry. Technically a WIP as I'm basically posting chapters as I write them. 9,000 words so far. Summary: Annabeth has a mission: to find the fabled Sartan strongholds. To do so, she must translate journals left behind when the humans, elves and dwarves were exiled into the jungles of Pyran long ago. But when the mythological tytans resurface, Annabeth discovers another source of information, power, and problems. Join Annabeth as she translates the Sartan rune language, learns to use the Sartan rune magic, and pries answers out of a mysterious, quiet man with a dog.

WIPs:

Cinderheart A story that takes place shortly after season 3 of Netflix's The Dragon Prince, exploring what happened to the soldiers who were transformed into dark magic monsters against their will.

The Assassin and the Dragonlance A Dragonlance and Death Gate Cycle crossover featuring one of the characters from the first book in DGC (Dragon Wing), Hugh the Hand. 4,000 words so far. Summary: In Which Alfred accidentally causes Hugh the Hand to regenerate somewhere… different after his second death on Arianus.

It's been a bit since I've worked on Defy or TAatD due to life events and other projects, but I love working in preexisting worlds with (mostly) preexisting characters as a break from my original WIPs.

[brittanybwrites]

November (hopeful) TBR

Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith

The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard (reread)

Curio by Evangeline Denmark

A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair

Warhammer 40k: Penitent: A Bequin Novel by Dan Abnett

Electric Idol by Katee Robert

Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchao

Doctor Who: The Blood Cell by James Goss

The Iron Assassin by Ed Greenwood

Fire in the Blood by Erin M. Evans

[buckyvibraniumarm]

so i’m supposed to be doing english stuff and we have to write 6 personal responses on 6 different texts and its due on monday and i have covid and my teacher doesn’t believe in covid and its so dumb but it also means that i don’t get an extension and it’s saturday and i’ve only done 3 and a half and just ugh i’m so sick of it and i had to spend my 16th birthday in isolation with covid and it was ok but like who would want to spend a birthday like that 

also when i said we had to write 6 on 6 texts i mean i have to do 2 on movies one of the teachers choice and one of my choice i’m doing green mile and captain america: the winter soldier and i have to do 2 on novels lord of the flies was the teachers choice and dragons of an autumn twilight was mine and i have to do the last 2 on whatever i want i’m doing them on assassin’s apprentice - another novel - and something else originally it was going to be mythos - another novel - but now i have like a day and i don’t have time to read a whole novel so i might do it on steve by jeremy messersmith which is a song that just is pure stucky vibes and i’ve been listening to it on repeat for the past 5 and a half hours and yes i know i have issues but it’s a good song and it’s literally about a guy that falls in love with his best friend who is literally called steve and it’s amazing

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Were you the person who had a post about "what if Rayla had died on the mission and Runaan had lived"? I was thinking about that... is there a possible scenario where Rayla had escaped with the egg and princes the same way as in canon, but Runaan and the other assassins had survived and now believed Rayla was dead and both somehow missed each other? The angst possibilities from Runaan's end, at least until he got back to Silvergrove, but even then he would angst over having 'abandoned' Rayla...

You know, I don't remember making a post like that, but I can tell it's an angst I could get behind, so maybe I did?

Fam, I love a good honest misunderstanding, oh man, those are great! Very tasty stuff. So let's see here... oh gosh this really took off, huh? Yas.

________________________

"Runaan, please," Rayla begged, planting herself between her mentor and her new allies the human princes, "this is a miracle, a chance for peace."

"No," came a smug, raspy voice from behind her, "it's not."

Rayla whirled in surprise. How had the dark mage gotten free of her manacle so quickly?

Claudia stood beside Callum, smirking confidently and holding the primal stone she'd just stolen back from him. But her smirk dropped at the sound of Runaan's bowstring. A green-fletched arrow whispered past Rayla's shoulder, headed for the dark mage's heart. Rayla's eyes widened as she realized she was about to watch her first human die.

"No!" Callum held his sketchbook in front of Claudia's chest. Runaan's arrow punched through it with a heavy thunk. Claudia, Callum, and Rayla stared at its poison-dipped broadhead in shock. The deadly metal fell just short of cutting through Claudia's tunic.

Rayla spun back to face the older assassin. "Runaan, wait-" But he was already loosing another arrow. Rayla cut it out of the air.

"Callum!" Ezran called plaintively. Bait, perched in his hair, croaked too.

"Get out of here," Rayla told the humans. "And keep that egg safe." She spared Claudia a single glare.

Runaan began striding closer, and he whipped another arrow from his quiver and nocked it. Rayla knew he'd loose that last arrow before he got close enough to use his swords instead. And that, she did not want to see at any distance. Not when so much else was at stake!

"That's far enough, elf," Claudia called threateningly. She held up the primal stone and began to chant in Ancient Draconic. The air started to crackle with lightning.

"Claudia, wait!" Callum shouted. He grabbed her wrist again, but this time, the primal stone wobbled and fell as they both scrabbled for control of it. Rayla gasped, watching it tumble. Neither of them were going to be able to catch it. She suddenly wasn't sure she wanted to, either. She shot Runaan a regretful, pleading look.

Runaan's arrow loosed. With everyone in motion, Rayla couldn't be sure if Callum would be in his line of fire when it arrived. She folded her swords and turned her back on her mentor, squeezed her eyes shut, and stepped into its path.

"Rayla!" Runaan's voice cracked the air like a whip.

"Rayla, look out!" Ezran shouted.

The primal stone hit the stone walkway and shattered.

The first massive gust of wind struck Rayla and tumbled her just as Runaan's arrow found its mark. With a cry of surprise, Rayla rolled across the high stone walkway, flanked by Claudia, Callum, and Ezran, who was somehow still holding onto the egg. Rayla thumped against the parapet and scrabbled for a grip against one of its crenellated edges, feeling her feet kicking in midair while a screeching gale scattered everyone and everything that had been on the castle roof a moment ago.

Runaan stood on the other side of the walkway, barely on his feet as he braced against the wind. His ponytail whipped like an angry snake, but his face was full of pain and alarm. "Rayla!" he shouted.

"Runaan..." Why was her voice so weak? Shouldn't she want his help?

Crumpled against the crenellated wall below Rayla's tenacious grip, Callum, Claudia, Ezran and Bait huddled together for dear life.

"Rayla, this isn't what I wanted!" Runaan shouted over the wind. He tried to stagger toward her through the strongest of the winds, but they only shoved him back against the far parapet.

"Claudia, help her!" Callum called.

But Claudia was distracted by the alarming amount of rainbow-hued magic that had begun crackling off the egg of the Dragon Prince. "What's happening?" she blurted.

"Help..." Rayla called.

"Fine, I'll help her, then!" Callum stood in the storm and reached for Rayla's hands.

Another arrow zipped past, whirling madly off target in the howling wind. Callum flinched back, then grasped Rayla's hands firmly. "I've got you!"

"And I've got him!" Claudia said. She pulled a glowing orange thing from her bag and started chanting, and she squished the orange shape until it oozed meatily between her fingers. Its gory remains caught fire, quickly swelling to a fervent blue heat that made the princes flinch away.

"No!" Rayla's grip slipped in shock, but Callum braced his feet hard and held on tight.

Then Claudia threw it, just as the storm grew an eye of calm.

Runaan was already leaping high with his swords in his hands. The fireball landed directly beneath him. Rayla's last sight of her mentor, as the blast struck Callum and forced her hands free of his, was of Runaan's tumbling, silent figure flying back over the outer wall of the castle and vanishing into the fury of the storm.

Was he coming to save me, or to kill me? she wondered as she fell too, engulfed by the same winds that took him. She closed her eyes, expecting to meet her fate, but a fluffy and overstuffed cart of hay had other ideas and Rayla flopped safely down into the courtyard.

Her first instinct was to jump up and go find Runaan. But then she remembered: his side of the castle roof had a much farther drop. She'd finished climbing it herself not an hour ago. And with all those rocks dotting the river, she couldn't imagine how he'd survive such a fall.

"Oh no... Ethari, I'm so sorry," she murmured brokenly.

But the storm was only growing stronger, and the rainbow lightning up on the roof grew brighter and brighter. Rayla stared in awe and amazement. Was the egg... hatching?

A newborn dragonling would need more protection than an egg. She scrambled out of the hay and darted through the wind, trying to find her way back up. Before she could, though, the storm wore itself out, and she ran into Callum, Ezran, and Bait as they bolted down a curving flight of stairs.

Rayla whipped out her swords. "Where's the dark mage?" she demanded.

"She ran to find her dad," Ezran said.

"Yeah, , but after she got giant heart eyes and squeed over the baby dragon," Callum added, looking starry-eyed in a conflicted way.

"The wot?" Rayla asked.

"Look!" Ezran opened his coat and showed her a cuddly, fluffy dragonling nestled quietly against his chest.

Bait grumbled, but Rayla gasped in delight and held the dragon's little face. "Oh, he's just so cute! Why is he allowed to be so cute?" she demanded playfully.

"His name is Zym," Ezran said.

"Hello, Zym," Rayla said quietly, ruffling his soft fluff. The dragonling sniffed at her hand and licked it, and then he nipped at her binding ribbon, pulling it off. Rayla stared at it in shock, allowing Zym the opportunity to nibble off the other ribbon, too. "Huh," Rayla mused. "Guess these things were just decorative after all."

They ran to the bottom of the stairs and began to hurry toward the main gate. "But what about Dad?" Ezran asked, looking worriedly at the uneven towers.

"He'll be alright," Callum said. "He has the finest guards in the kingdom defending him."

"Yeah, of course!" Ezran piped up.

Without Runaan, the others won't stand much chance, Rayla thought angstily. They'll soon fall too, if they haven't already-

"Rayla, uh..." Callum gingerly touched something stuck in the back of Rayla's hoodie. "You've got something on your back. Ez, go hide for just a second, okay? I need to help Rayla with something."

"...Okay, but hurry," Ezran whispered, as he darted into a shadowy tunnel. "Bait, no glowing, he didn't mean that kind of hiding."

"It's an arrow," Callum murmured to her, once Ez was out of earshot. "Is it, um, does it hurt? I didn't want him to have to see any blood or anything..."

The arrow. Rayla straightened her shoulders to see if she'd actually been hit. "I think it just missed me," she said lightly, not wanting to think about what would've happened if it had pierced even one more layer of clothing and scratched her skin with its deadly poison.

Callum tugged it out of the cloth and awkwardly offered it to her. Rayla took it and stared for a moment. The arrow's shaft had broken when she fell, and it dangled like a felled bird in her grip.

Runaan. He'd fallen, too. Probably permanently. Rayla's shoulders slumped, and she added, "I... We need to hurry. They'll be comin' for us soon, and it's a long journey to Xadia."

"Rayla!" It was Callisto, perched overhead in full Moonshadow form. "Where's- It's done?" he blurted, interrupting himself. His eyes locked onto Rayla's wrists.

A clamor of guards ahead drew his attention, and he leaped toward them, staff at the ready. Rayla grabbed Callum by the arm and ran, snagging Ezran's sleeve a dozen steps later. "Don't look back," she hissed, shifting into full Moonshadow form mid-stride. They didn't need to know she was only talking to herself.

In a few minutes, they reached the forest. Its cool shadows swallowed them whole, and they ran all night. There was no reason to wait anymore.

***

Runaan woke to gentle hands pulling him from the water. He coughed himself awake and sat up slowly, holding his head. When his focus returned, he shot an alarmed glance at the sky and saw that the Moon had nearly set. "We must hurry-" he began, trying to stand.

Four sets of hands pressed him back onto the grass.

"Easy, Runaan," Callisto said. "It's done. It's over. We can go home."

With wide-eyed disbelief, Runaan checked Callisto's wrists, then Andromeda's. Then Ram's and Skor's, too. Their binding ribbons were indeed gone.

A strange sort of lightness flitted through Runaan's chest, heady, intoxicating, and refreshing, erasing his injuries--or his perception of them, at least. His reward for a job well done. The ribbons around his biceps loosened and turned red before drifting to the grass as softly as newly fallen leaves.

Runaan reached back for his shadowhawk arrow and found his quiver gone. No... Ethari's arrow! He scanned his squad's expressions hopefully.

"Sorry. We couldn't find it. But we did find your bowblade," Skor said, offering it.

Runaan took it gratefully, feeling a bit of calm returning along with the familiar weight in his hands.

"We did it. We actually did it," Andromeda said as she got to her feet. Her smile beamed like the Moon. "I can't wait to get home."

"Unless Runaan needs a moment first," Callisto said mildly.

"No, we should leave now, and we should hurry," Runaan said. "Without the shadowhawk, the Queen of the Dragons will be waiting on my personal word. I should not keep her, not in her condition." The rest of his team stood immediately, and he took the hand Callisto offered and stood with focused effort. "We only need to make one stop along the way."

But the rock he'd parked Rayla on was empty. And so were the next dozen rocks. "You're certain you saw her?" he said, clasping Calisto by the shoulders, turquoise gaze boring into his eyes.

"Aye, clear as moonlight," he replied. "But only for a moment. And..."

"What?"

"The human with her pulled your... a-an arrow... from..." Callisto looked aside awkwardly.

"If she took even a scratch..." Andromeda breathed.

"Shh," Skor hushed her.

The assassins went quiet, waiting respectfully.

Runaan's eyes widened. He thought he'd struck true when Rayla stepped into the path of his arrow. Then he thought he'd missed, when she survived long enough to cling to the parapet and call his name. Then he thought the explosion had taken her. Then, hope again, only to have it ripped away one final time. He knew how terribly deadly his chosen poison was. His face froze in a mask of pain, and he shut his eyes. He felt like he was falling from the parapet again, except this time, there wouldn't be any merciful oblivion to put him out of his misery at the bottom. There'd never be a bottom to this fall from grace.

Ethari gave me one job. And I failed him. Does he know yet? Did he watch her flower sink?

Runaan gulped and gritted his teeth. Mourning would have to wait with all his other feelings. He still had a job to do.

He stood straight, gripping his bowblade, and met everyone's eyes, one by one. "We run for home. Ethari can make me a new arrow there. Move out."

They flowed into motion, and Runaan let them take the lead. It was only logical to track and follow the other elves, he reasoned, since he was having such trouble seeing the forest clearly through the tears in his eyes.

[dmsden]

A History Lesson - Looking back at D&D’s history

Hullo, Gentle Readers. Well, this is the 5th Monday in March, and that means I get to write about anything I want! It’s also my birth month, which means it’s my anniversary of getting into D&D (42 years!), and that has me feeling nostalgic. Coupled with a discussion I had recently with some friends, I thought it would be fun to look back at the various editions of D&D and give you all a bit of history. I’m not going to get into Gygax vs Arneson or any of that. I’m only talking about the published game itself, not its creators or its storied origins.

The original D&D (or OD&D as it’s sometimes called) came in a small box. It had three booklets inside - Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures - along with reference sheets and dice. Each was softcover and roughly the same dimensions as a DVD/BluRay case. The game was pretty rudimentary - for one thing, it assumed you already had a copy of Chainmail, D&D’s direct wargame predecessor. It also recommended you have a game called Outdoor Survival for purposes of traveling through the wilderness. It had only three classes - fighting man, magic-user, and cleric - and nothing about playing other races. It did have the insane charts that 1st edition would ultimately known for, and it was possible to play a pretty fun game of D&D with it, as its popularity would come to show.

The game expanded through similar chapbooks - Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry, Gods Demigods & Heroes, Swords & Spells. With the exception of the last one, each brought new facets to the game - new classes like Thief and Monk, new spells, new threats. It was clear the game was going to need an overhaul, and it got one.

I consider this overhaul to yield the real “1st Edition”, as so much of the game didn’t exist in those original games. The game split into a “Basic” game, just called Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

The basic game was a boxed set that included a rulebook, a full adventure module, and dice...or, well, it was supposed to contain dice. The game was so popular and new in those days that demand for dice outstripped production. My copy of D&D came with a coupon for dice when they became available and a sheet of “chits” - laminated numbers meant to be put into cups (we used Dixie Cups with the name of the die written on it), shaken, and a random number pulled out without looking. It was meant to introduce new players to the game, so it was a trimmed down version. Races were human, elf, dwarf, and halfling, and classes were fighter, cleric, magic-user, and thief. The box only included rules for going up to 3rd level, with the intention that players would then graduate into AD&D. This is where I joined, with the old blue cover box set and In Search of the Unknown, before Keep on the Borderlands even existed.

AD&D was the game in its full glory. Along with the races I mention above, we got half-elves, half-orcs, and gnomes. The four basic classes also had sub-classes, like paladin and ranger for the fighter, druid for the cleric, illusionist for the wizard, and assassin for the thief. There were rules for multi-classing, as well as “Dual-classing”, a sort of multi-class variation for humans only, which, when done in the correct combination, could yield the infamous bard...which didn’t actually yield any bard abilities until around level 13 or so.

This edition had 5 different saving throws for things like “Death Magic”, “Petrification & Polymorph”, “Spells”, and so on. It had the infamous Armor Class system that started at 10 and went down, so that having a -3 AC was very good!  It also had specific attack matricies for each class; you would literally look on a table to determine the number you needed to roll on a D20 based on your class, your level, and your opponent’s armor class. It was fun, but it was very complicated.

It also had some, frankly, shitty rules. There was gender disparity in terms of attributes, which my group totally ignored. Because the game designers wanted humans to be a competitive the game, and because non-humans had so many abilities and could multiclass, non-humans were severely limited in the levels they could achieve in most classes. In fact, some classes, such as monk and paladin, were restricted only to humans.

As the years went on, things got a bit muddled. It probably didn’t help that the rules in Basic D&D and AD&D didn’t perfectly line up. In D&D, the worst armor class was a 9. In AD&D, the worst armor class was a 10. All of this led to an overhaul, but not one considered a separate edition. AD&D mostly got new covers and new books, like the Wilderness Survival Guide and Dungeon Survival Guide, Monster Manual 2, and the Manual of the Planes. It got a number of new settings, too. In addition to the default Greyhawk setting, we got the Forgotten Realms setting for the first time, details of which had been appearing in Dragon Magazine for years, thanks to the prolific Ed Greenwood. We also, eventually, got the whole Dragonlance saga, which yielded the setting of Krynn.

In this new version, Basic D&D broke off into its own game system to some degree. Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling started being treated like classes rather than races, with specific abilities at different levels. Higher level characters could be created using progressive boxes - Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortal, each with its own boxed set and supported by Mystara, a completely different setting that got its own updates over the years. It was odd, because D&D essentially was competing for players with AD&D, and I remember arguments with friends over which version was better (I was firmly in the AD&D camp.)

In 1989, when I was in college, they finally brought forth 2nd edition D&D. This streamlined things a little. Armor Class still went down, but now attack rolls boiled into a single number called To Hit Armor Class 0, or THAC0. It made the whole process of figuring out what you needed to roll a bit less cumbersome, but it was still a bit awkward. The classes got a lot of overhaul, including making Bard its own core class. But what I remember best about 2nd edition was the boom in settings. This was the age of settings, and many beloved ones got started, including Dark Sun, Planescape, Ravenloft, and Spelljammer.

It was also the age of the “Complete Handbooks”. They brought out splatbooks about every class and race in the game, as well as books expanding several concepts for the DM, such as the Arms & Equipment Guide, the Castle Guide, and the Complete Book of Villains. There were also splatbooks about running D&D in historic periods, such as Ancient Rome, among the ancient Celts, or during the time of the Musketeers. The game got new covers for the rule books again, and a bunch of books about options started coming out. It was a boom time for books, but many people complained there was too much.

Without going too deep, TSR ended up in severe financial troubles. They declared bankruptcy, and there was real fear of the game going away. And then Wizards of the Coast (WotC) stepped in. They helped TSR get back onto its feet, and they helped produce some modules specifically engineered to help DM’s bring an end to their campaign...possibly even their whole campaign world...because something big was coming.

That something big was, of course, 3rd edition D&D. The game got majorly streamlined, and many sacred cows ended up as hamburger. AC finally started going up instead of down. Everything was refined to the “D20″ system we’ve been playing ever since. Races could be any class. There were no level or stat limits for anyone. After years of the game being forced into tight little boxes, it really felt like we could breathe. I had stopped playing D&D, but 3rd edition brought me back into the fold. I often say that 3E was made for the players who’d felt constricted and wanted more flexibility.

The trouble with 3E, and its successor 3.5, is that it was still a dense and difficult game for newcomers to get into. It’s been acknowledged that D&D essentially created many of the systems we see and know in other games - experience points, leveling up, hit points, etc. But trying to break into the experience for the first time was difficult. The look of 3E was gorgeous, but I understood that it must seem awfully daunting to someone who’d never played.

4E and its follow-up, Essentials, was an attempt to course correct that. They tried to make this edition incredibly friendly to new DMs, and, frankly, they succeeded. By creating player classes and monsters and magic-items that were all very plug and play, they did a great job of creating a game that someone who had never DMed before could dive into with no experience or mentor and start a game pretty easily. Encounter design was given a lot of ease, and there were promises of a robust online tool system that would help out with many of the more tedious aspects of playing.

There was also a lot of shake up in terms of choices. Suddenly, new classes and races were proliferating like crazy. We got the dragonborn, the tiefling, and the eladrin right in the core book, but we said good-bye to the gnome and half-orc at first. Suddenly the warlock was the new class everyone wanted to try. We got paragon paths and epic destinies that would really shape a character as time went on. The game went very tactical, as well, which some of us loved. The concept of rituals came into the game. Later books like the Player’s Handbook 2 and 3 gave us back gnomes and half-orcs, and also gave us minotaurs, wilden, shardminds, and githzerai. We got new psionic classes, brand new class concepts like the Runeknight and the Seeker...

But there was a tremendous backlash. People felt that, in making the game so very plug and play, they’d taken a ton of choice away from the players. Without the tools (which were never that robust, frankly), it was almost impossible to navigate the massive panoply of options. And, worse, it was harder and harder to develop encounters without those tools. People complained that the game had gone more tactical in order to sell miniatures and battlemats. Given that I have never played the game without miniatures and battlemats (since I started in the days when D&D was still half-wargame), I found this odd, but I also understand my style of play isn’t everyone’s.

The one argument I will never understand is that it didn’t “feel” like D&D, or it was somehow ONLY a tactical game and not a role-playing game any more. Again, given that the original game didn’t even call itself a role-playing game, this felt odd. Personally, I roleplay no matter what game I’m playing. If I’m playing Monopoly, I’m roleplaying, doing voices, and pretending to be something I’m not. I honestly enjoyed 4E, and I know a lot of folks who did, too. A lot of it may simply come down to style of play. But I also enjoyed all the games that came before, including Pathfinder. To paraphrase the YouTube content creator The Dungeon Bastard, “Does your game have dungeons? Does it have dragons? Great. I wanna play.”

As a sidenote, in the months leading up to 4E’s release, a lot of internet videos were released by WotC emphasizing the nature of change and talking about differences in the rules. They also released some preview books showing the direction they were heading. WotC must have anticipated that people were going to find this edition very different indeed. They also cleverly brought in some very funny folks - Scott Kurtz from PVPOnline and Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade - and got them to play D&D for podcasting purposes. Looking back, this must’ve brought in a lot of listeners who might never have played D&D and given them a reason to try it out.

After its release, WotC clearly noted that missteps had been made, as this edition of the game was losing them players. They began work on what they referred to as D&D Next, and, this time, they did massive amounts of playtesting, some of which I participated in.

I don’t feel like I have to describe 5E to any of you, Dear Readers, as you could go to virtually any store and pick it up. I am a big fan of 5E’s simplicity and elegance, and I suspect this is the edition of D&D we’re going to have for some time to come, especially given its popularity. Given the effect of podcasts like Critical Role (and I might save an article on Critical Role’s importance to D&D until my next Freestyle article), D&D is likely more popular now than it’s ever been, with a much wider and more diverse audience than ever before.

I know I’m painting with broad strokes here, but I hope this was, at least, entertaining, and maybe you learned something, Gentle Readers. Until we next meet, may all your 20s be natural.

[dailycharacteroption]

Black Asp (Monk Archetype)

 Normally, the association between monks and poison is their resilience to it. However, for a select few, they instead make use of it.

The Black Asps are a monastic tradition that use their training to kill, rather than achieve enlightenment. Still, they are set aside from the likes of ninja by their focus on their ki and on bare-handed combat.

What’s more, these assassins typically learn forbidden ki techniques that aid in their assassinations, which almost certainly marks them as heretics by the standards of other ascetics.

Very little information is given about the sort of orders these monks belong to, but given they retain their lawful alignments, I’d imagine the majority hail from orders that seek to find balance through order and control of all beneath them and their client leaders, silencing upstarts, rebels, and undesirables. Many may have been started by disgraced students of more benign schools who were more focused on the power that ascetic training could bring rather than the rewards of enlightenment.

Regardless, this archetype is built to be compatible with both the standard and unchained monk without any homebrewing, so that’s also a nice touch.

 Poison is a key part of a black asp’s arsenal, so they learn to apply it carefully to avoid poisoning themselves, and even learn the adder strike technique for applying poison to protected parts of their striking limbs.

They also gain the option to forgo more traditional ki powers in favor of the forbidden techniques associated with their path. The first such technique lets them secrete a supernatural poison made from converted ki, afflicting those they strike.

Another allows them to devote some of their daily ki to making their minds concealed from others.

Magic auras can sometimes give away a hidden assassin, so one of their forbidden techniques helps mask the presence of such magical advantages, and even comes with an improved version that makes them nearly impossible to detect.

Finally, another technique lets them blur their personal image, making it harder to pin them down in a fight.

Interested in a monk that uses poison and sneaks around? This archetype might be for you, but remember that it can be hard to reconcile a non-evil member of the archetype. Stealth is of course your biggest friend here, and you’ll love creeping up on casters and high-profile targets, controlling the flow of combat with them.

 I imagine that these monks are regarded poorly by other monks due to their ways, but I also imagine that while no doubt some pay their ascetic peers no mind, I can imagine that among those black asp schools that were formed by ostracized former students, the student body of those monasteries might inherit quite the chip on their shoulder against their “weak” contemporaries.

  A kobold ambassador was found murdered, beaten to a bloody pulp and bearing clear signs of poisoning. The culprit is an assassin hired by a human supremacy group who have no interest in allowing “lesser” races to mingle with humanity, as well as any excuse to start a war of extermination on the little dragonlings, who demand justice.

 In a faraway land, a clan of large-eyed and wide-mouthed monks are the de-facto leaders of a small coastal village. In truth, the monks are in fact deep one hybrids exploiting the town on behalf of their piscine family, but their ascetic skill is no deception, and they are more than capable of breaking bones and delivering the venom of the most toxic sea creatures with their strikes.

 Despite having been born in their monastery and growing up with their ways, Shaji was horrified the first time he killed in the name of the asp clan. Now, the young acolyte is on the run, desperate for a teacher who can show him a different path.

[hypnoticwinter]

Gamifying the Story Outline: A Simple Tool to Revamp Your Writing Process

0. What the heck is this? Ever had trouble figuring out what kind of story you want to tell in the first place? Not a fan of outlines, but end up with meandering, pointless stories that don’t do what you want them to? Do you mainly write pulp fantasy or sci fi? 

This is a tool that will guide you through outlining a story using some of the same concepts as a solitaire roleplaying game. All you need is a few ideas, a pen and paper, and a six-sided die.

You also need to understand some basic concepts: This tool isn’t a substitute for creativity, and if you think you have a better idea, run with it. This tool assumes that you’re going to be writing a fairly grounded story in the vein of a Dragonlance novel or similar - hero’s journey stuff. It’s not very good for more cerebral stuff, or anything more abstract.

With that being said, let’s get started. First, we need to ask some questions and define some notions.

1. Who is the Hero? This section assumes that there’s just a singular protagonist, but there’s no reason you can’t make it work for a small group of characters. 

The story is about a Hero, someone the story will focus on as they go on a journey. They’ll grow, change, face challenges, deal with setbacks, and so on. To that end, we need to know a few things about them. Aside from basic characteristics like name, appearance, etc., we also need to know:

1a. What makes them special? You could be writing the story about anyone - why them? What about them is special enough to write a story about? 1b. What are their strengths? Don’t get too cerebral here. Just list off three or four things they’re good at, and come up with a small backstory or notion for why they’re good at them.

1c. What are their weaknesses? Same thing here. Some weaknesses - real weaknesses, ones that can cause issues, and why they’re there. Remember, the more work you do at this stage, the better you’ll be equipped to move on later. 2. Who/what is the Villain? If there’s a Hero there has to be a Villain. Now, I’m using Villain as shorthand - this doesn’t necessarily mean a literal villain who’s a force for evil, it means whatever overarching force wants to prevent the Hero from accomplishing their goal, whatever that might be. Sometimes the Hero might not know who or what the Villain is, sometimes there might not even be a concrete Villain. But there has to be some kind of conflict or opposition - otherwise the Hero doesn’t have anything to overcome.

Just like the Hero, we need to know some information about the Villain.

2a. Who/what are they? 2b. What are their strengths? 2c. What are their weaknesses?

Remember, this is all the ground work. Put in the effort here and you’ll appreciate it later on. 3. What is the Hero's goal? The Hero always needs to have a goal. It's the reason that they keep going through the story. Their resolve can falter, of course, they can have doubts and misgivings and so on, but the goal has to always be present. This can be concrete or abstract, nebulous or poorly defined, but it has to be there to keep the story moving. If the kind of story you want to write doesn’t really have a goal, this tool probably isn’t going to do much for you.

3a. What is the Spark? The Spark is what some other story outlines might call the 'inciting incident.' The Hero's Spark is what gets them off their asses and starts them actually pursuing their goal for real. This is going to depend on what the goal is, what the setting is, who the Hero is, a lot of different factors, but there has to be some kind of tipping point that makes the Hero realize ‘okay, there has to be a change and I have to be the one to do it.’ 4. Creating the Timeline. The Timeline is a track of major events that will occur during the course of the story. The Timeline begins with the Spark and ends with the Confrontation. Prior to the Spark, of course, you can have as much set up as you want, and a lot of the time you’re going to not want to launch right into the story with the Spark, but that’s something you can figure out later. For our purposes, we’re starting with the Spark. In the space between the Spark and the Confrontation, the Hero will encounter Complications, both Minor and Major. Minor Complications are small incidents that stand in the way of resolving Major Complications. Major Complications are large incidents that stand in the way of the Hero's victory entirely.

You can use any number of Minor or Major Complications that you like, but I recommend 2 Major Complications between the Spark and the Confrontation, and 2 Minor Complications between each Major Complication, give or take. This can change on the fly depending on how the story goes, so remember to be flexible. Between each Complication obviously there will be time to lick wounds, make friends, develop plot, and so on, but that's something you can figure out yourself. We want to get the plot points down, knitting them together coherently is a job for later.

4a. Complications. To determine what kind of Complication you’re dealing with, roll the die. 1-3: A Complication of Circumstance Complications of Circumstance are difficulties that arise for the Hero without malice or intention behind them. Maybe the weather turns at the worst possible moment, or something is rescheduled, or sweeping changes of some other kind affect them.

4-6: A Complication of Intent Complications of Intent are difficulties that arise specifically because the Villain is targeting the Hero and trying to hinder them. They can take forms similar to a Complication of Circumstance but the cause is specifically because of the Villain. They can also take more precise forms than might be appropriate for a Complication of Circumstance, like an assassin, a battle, a conflict, etc. You can also roll the die again to refine Complication type: 1-3: General A General Complication is one that affects many people or a wide area. Blackouts, flooding, famine, wildfires, are all examples of General Complications. The Hero might be the root cause of the Complication, if it is a Complication of Intent, but it will affect many more people than just the Hero. 4-6: Specific A Specific Complication is one that affects just the Hero, or the Hero's immediate allies. An assassin, a theft, a parking ticket, and so on, are all examples of Specific Complications. Even if a Complication is Specific the Hero might not be the cause of it - it may just be random chance without interference from the Villain. 4a1. Minor Complications Minor Complications fill the space between Major Complications. A Minor Complication is an opportunity to learn more about the Hero and the other characters, to explore the world of the story, or to develop the plot in other ways. Minor Complications only have, as the name suggests, minor implications on the story as a whole and don't affect it much, BUT they do still need to affect it in some way.  4a2. Major Complications Major Complications are serious events that have the potential to change the direction entire story. Major Complications are plot points that require several chapters at least to resolve, and will change the Hero for better or for worse once completed. 4a3. Resolving a Complication At a base level, all you have to do is ask the question, "does the Hero win?" and then roll a die. Look on the below table for the answer. 1: No, and... 2: No. 3: No, but... 4: Yes, but... 5: Yes. 6: Yes, and... Now stop. Think about the answer you rolled and interpret it. Apply it to the Complication you came up with. Does it make sense? You always have the authority to roll again, or just say screw rolling and choose what happens. But sometimes it can be fun to just see what happens. You do want a healthy amount of variation, of course - the story will probably be pretty boring if the Hero manages to just effortlessly cruise through every Complication, or if the Hero is getting curbstomped repeatedly by bad rolls, but given how many Complications there are to resolve, most likely there’ll be a healthy spread of wins and losses across the course of the Timeline. Now, moving on - what exactly does ‘no, but...’ or ‘yes, and...’ mean? First, yes or no always answers the question ‘does the Hero win?’ That’s the outcome for the Complication. The story still has to move forward but depending on whether it’s a yes or a no and whether it’s a Minor or Major Complication, you might want to do some brainstorming as to the direction the story will go next. If the result you rolled has ‘but’ in it, that means the result is tempered. A ‘yes, but...’ isn’t a perfect victory, something bad happened as well, and a ‘no, but...’ isn’t a total defeat, there’s some kind of silver lining.

Likewise, an ‘and’ means that the result occurs in the superlative. A ‘no, and...’ means the Hero lost hard, just like a ‘yes, and...’ means the Hero wins hard. Whenever the Hero wins a Complication (i.e., rolls a yes), they get a Minor Boon. Whenever the Hero loses a Complication (i.e., rolls a no) they get a Minor Bane. If the roll includes a ‘but,’ they get both a Minor Boon and a Minor Bane. And if the result includes an ‘and,’ the Boon or Bane they get is Major instead of Minor. Mark down what they got and read on to see what exactly that means.

4a3a. Boons and Banes. Boons and Banes are assets the Hero gains through the course of the story that have the opportunity to render aid or cause harm when the Hero is involved in a Complication. There are three types of Boons and Banes, Minor, Major, and Superlative. Minor Boons or Banes are lost after being used in a Complication, while Major Boons or Banes remain in play but become Minor after being used in a Complication. Superlative Boons or Banes are never lost after Complications - if these are ever changed or lost, it’ll be because you the writer stepped in and changed them. The Hero begins the story with one Superior Boon and one Superior Bane, each based on the Hero's greatest strength and weakness respectively. The Villain also imposes a Superior Bane based on its greatest strength, and a Superior Boon based on its greatest weakness. Banes and Boons can only be used in Complications where they would be relevant. A Hero who has a Boon for fighting, for example, can't use that Boon if the Complication is about socializing. A Boon can be used in a Complication, if applicable, to grant a +1 bonus to the roll to resolve the Complication. Likewise, a Bane can be used in a Complication, to impose a -1 penalty to the roll. The minimum roll is still 1, and the maximum is still 6. 

When you’re resolving a Complication, you can choose not to add a Minor or Major Boon or Bane and instead choose to hang on to a Boon or Bane the Hero already has that would be lost due to being used in the Complication. You can roll the die to refine the type of Boon or Bane a Hero has: 1-2: A Boon of Knowledge / A Secret Bane This Boon/Bane reflects knowledge kept secret from others. As a Boon, it reflects something the Hero knows but the Villain does not. As a Bane, it reflects the opposite. 3-4: A Boon of Improvement / a Bane of Entropy This Boon/Bane represents tangible improvement in the Hero's or the Villain's equipment, assets, skills, or talents. It can also represent the opposite - a Boon of Improvement could represent a new weakness the Villain develops, for instance. 5-6: A Boon of Allegiance / A Bane of Servitude This Boon/Bane represents an ally to either the Hero or the Villain. They may be temporary or they may become a recurring character in their own right. It can also be an organization or group rather than one person. It could also be used to mean a betrayal - a Boon of Allegiance could mean one of the Villain’s servants switching sides, or vice versa. When completing a Complication, you need to keep several things in mind: 1. How exactly did the Hero complete the Complication? 2. What did the Hero use to complete the Complication? What Boons and Banes were involved? How did they affect each other? 3. What's the explanation for Minor Boons and Banes being lost after the Complication? What's the explanation for any gained Boons or Banes? 4. How does this affect the Hero moving forward? Will they have to change their objective, or rethink things? Are they on the offensive or the defensive? Are they confident?

5. The Confrontation. When you've dealt with all the Complications in the way, you get to the Confrontation, which is the final standoff between the Hero and the Villain. Every remaining Boon and Bane should factor into this one - this is the big moment, probably the climax depending on how you structure your story, so all the stops should come out. But don't roll. Whether the Hero wins is something you have to decide, based on the story so far. This one can't be randomly generated.

And after the Confrontation the rest of the story should be pretty easy for you to wrap up on your own. The Hero either accomplishes their goal, or they don’t, and the consequences of each have to be dealt with.

6. Example. Let's work through an example. Let's call our Hero Veronica, and the Villain Louise. Veronica is good at swordfighting and archery, so she gets a Superior Boon for that, but she's shy and standoffish, and can't swim, so she gets a Superior Bane for that.

Louise is an Evil Knight. Louise is good at burning, pillaging, and fighting, so she imposes a Superior Bane on Veronica for her expertise in that, but she constantly underestimates her opponents and doesn't treat her underlings well, giving Veronica a Superior Boon for that kind of thing.

For Veronica's Spark, we decide that her Goal is to rescue her boyfriend Sylvester from Louise's evil clutches, and that the Spark, therefore, is Louise kidnapping Sylvester.

The first step for Veronica is to travel to Louise's fortress, which is a long ways away, through the Windy Woods and over the Moldy Mountains. We're going to go with the standard template, with two Minor Complications between each Major Complication and two Major Complications in total before the Confrontation.

So, to recap, Veronica is a shy, standoffish warrior woman who's excellent with a sword and a bow but who can't swim or handle social situations, who is setting forth on her trusty mount Roanoke towards Louise's Frosty Fortress to rescue her boyfriend Sylvester.

The first Minor Complication is a Specific Complication of Intent. This means that this is an action by Louise specifically targeting Veronica with the intent of preventing her from rescuing Syvester. Let's say that Louise gets word that Veronica is coming and sends an underling to go and push a boulder onto Veronica as she passes under a cliff. Now let's think about our Boons and Banes. Veronica has a Boon for fighting, but that isn't really going to help here. Similarly, her Bane for social situations isn't going to hurt her either. Louise imposes a Bane for her aptitude at pillaging, but I don't think it applies because she didn't come herself, she sent an underling. So it's going to just be a flat roll with no modifiers. Does Louise succeed and avoid the boulder? We roll a 5, which is just a flat yes, with no positives or negatives, but she'll still get a Minor Boon out of it. So, the boulder misses. For the Minor Boon we roll a Boon of Allegiance - let's say that she manages to catch the underling and convince him to join her by promising that she'll get rid of Louise. Let's call Veronica's new ally Bruce. Veronica and Bruce keep going, and there'll be plenty of opportunities to worldbuild, to expand on their character, and so on.

The second Minor Complication is a General Complication of Intent. Let's say that Louise found out what happened through her network of spies. She orders her raiding party to head in Veronica's direction and search through each village looking for her. Their paths intersect in one village when Veronica, riding through, gets stopped by the leader of the raiding party, who thinks she looks an awful lot like Veronica. There are too many of them to fight, and Veronica thinks she'll have to try and bluff her way through it, but Bruce can pretend to have captured her and be taking her to Louise himself. This is a social situation so Veronica's Bane comes into play, giving her a -1, but with Bruce as a Boon that negates the -1.

Now, here I rolled a 6, but we already had a success for the previous Complication, so I'm going to reroll it. This time we roll an appropriately abysmal 2, which is a no. Let's say that the raiding party leader wants all the glory for himself, kills Bruce, and takes Veronica hostage for real, and throws her into Louise's prison nearby. This means Veronica ends up with a Minor Bane - according to our die roll it's a Bane of Entropy. Let's say that Veronica gets hurt when she's tossed into prison, and can't fight as effectively.

Now we come to the first Major Complication, and with Veronica being trapped, there are plenty of opportunities for what it might be. We roll a General Complication of Circumstance, so this isn't anything that Louise is behind, it's just a twist of fate. Let's say that a few days after Veronica is captured, there's a raid on the prison by a group of elves who are trying to free their imprisoned friends, and they end up setting everybody free, but in the chaos the prison also catches on fire. Veronica needs to get out of the prison before she's burned to a crisp, but there's a catch - some of Louise's elite guards have been dispatched to make sure nobody gets out of the prison alive. There's no reasoning with them and there's no time to disguise herself - Veronica will have to fight. She's got a Boon for fighting, so that's a +1 bonus, but she also is hurt, which is a Minor Bane for -1, evening out.

We roll a 6, which is a 'yes, and...' Veronica manages to fight her way through the elite guards, which will be a spectacular action scene when you get around to writing it, and gets free of the prison before it burns down. The Major Boon we roll is a Boon of Knowledge. Let's say that Veronica finds a map of Louise's Frosty Fortress on one of the guards and is able to study it and determine a few sneaky ways in, as well as the likely spot Sylvester will be held in. In addition, the Minor Bane of Veronica being injured and therefore not being able to fight well goes away. It doesn't make very much sense for her to already be healed, so let's say instead that she's able to take some gear off of the elite guards and it makes up for her injury. She returns to her path through the Windy Woods and leaves the burning prison behind her with a renewed sense of determination.

At this point, we can proceed with the story as we see fit, either proceeding onwards with rolling for Complications and Boons and Banes or taking over and coming up with things on our own. This tool is meant to inspire the creative process, not replace it completely. Obviously there are limitations; if you want to write something more cerebral or abstract, while the same base system of Complications is still applicable, it'll be a little more difficult to wrap your head around. What does a Bane of Treachery mean if the Villain is Society or Nature, for instance?