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shepherds-of-haven · 3 years

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Lena, What are the martial arts styles in Blest? They are similar to modern ones (Taekwondo, muay thai, krav maga and such) or entirely different one on their own?

Hi @johnsoapmactavish58, thanks for the great question!

I didn’t really imagine the Blest martial arts to be based on real-life ones, so they’re not too similar to the martial art styles we have on Earth. However, like Earth, there are thousands upon thousands of variations and styles and regional subsets, so there is a lot of room to imagine and play with! Most Ket city-states employ different styles of martial arts, for example, or Elves in the North fight a different way than Elves to the South. I hope that makes sense!

Ket

The Ket teach their soldiers the five most universal Ket fighting styles. (In other words, all fighting Ket including Blade should be trained in these martial arts, but there are many different variations and more advanced styles, as well, and every individual may specialize in one over the others). These are:

1) Par shei - loosely translated as “The Flowing Way” - sometimes called “tsui ka” in different regions. This style is relaxed and loose, and focuses on reading the currents and flow of battle, minimizing the amount of energy used, and tiring the enemy out. This style is defined by redirecting movement and momentum, economy of movement, quotidian fighting, and its very loose, fluid stance and movements. I would liken this to tai chi mixed with aikido (at least in a spiritual/conceptual sense), but it’s not exact by any means.

2) Par vol - loosely translated as “The Lightning Way” – hard, aggressive, fast strikes, bone breaking and crippling, snapping movements – somewhat similar to kung fu, North Shaolin kung fu, bajiquan, bak mei, wing chun, with some krav maga thrown in there

3) Pax anemi or pax emka – sometimes called pyra na or prana – loosely translated as “The Blooming Way” – focused almost entirely on arma, nerve centers, pressure points, and arma gates, shutting down movement, damaging internal organs, and channeling arma and utilizing it in a variety of martial, combat, and even anatomical purposes. In this martial style, a Ket may use his arma to make an opponent’s heart explode, blind them, superheat their blood, or shut down their liver--or in turn, he may channel arma through his limbs to leap incredibly high, heighten his senses and reflexes, or slow down his perception of time. Little bit of “dim mak” and wuxia visuals in there, most similar to bak mei, certain styles of wushu kung fu, and kyoshu jitsu.

4) Thar ven - loosely translated as “The Whirling Way” – combines boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, wing chun, and many other styles in a flurry of acrobatic attacks with lots of kicking, punching, flipping, spinning, and jumping – focuses on speed to confuse and terrify the enemy, sometimes also intended to disorient

5) Vox sumeni or vox thera - loosely translated as “The Silent Way” – focuses on stealth and silent/discrete combat, sweeps, takedowns, grapples, locks, holds, pinning, and silencing moves

Fighting Ket are expected to combine these styles as needed, so that their fighting may look similar to this (overall similar to mixes of tai chi and bajiquan with different techniques thrown in as necessary):

(Animation by Weilin Zhang.)

Finally, there are "hard" and "soft" styles in most Ket martial arts, as well as "hard" arma and "soft" arma. I'm not going to get into that because it's totally unnecessary, lol, but it exists!

In addition, there are styles of fighting involving weaponry, separated into the schools of megil-aith (traditional weapons such as swords, knives, bows, and spears) and galvorn-aith (modern weapons such as guns, explosives, and crossbows).

There is even a special martial art that's sometimes badly translated as "the naked way," which leads to a lot of jokes by non-Ket, until they figure out it's a style of combat that turns everyday objects like books and cups into deadly and sometimes horrifying weapons...

Elf

The Elves focus less on hand-to-hand combat and more on martial arts depending on weapons. There are only two famous Elvish martial arts that don't employ weaponry: the Discipline of the River Stone, which is an extremely flowing, fluid way of barehanded combat (think the circular, deflecting movements of tai chi mixed with a little bit of capoeira and bagua zhang)--this is a more ancient form of combat and is less used in modern day--and the Discipline of the Elements, which mixes different styles, forms, and defenses based on the elements and forms found in nature (think the stances of Earthbenders in Avatar, which in turn are based on Hung Gar kungfu, etc).

There are more commonly-known Elvish martial arts, but they all focus on weapons. There's the Discipline of Bladesong, which is a more practiced, extremely disciplined and extremely fast martial art utilized by Elven knights and knight-mages, and almost always with a sword, saber, or scimitar. It's not exactly like fencing--it's more like dancing with extremely fast and graceful slashes, stabs, and parries, staying in constant motion, and also with a military slant. (??) I don't know how else to explain it lol.

And there's the Discipline of the Falling Leaf, which focuses on archery (and especially carving your own bow and arrows from sacred trees). Mastery of this discipline demands that a fighter can pierce a falling leaf with an arrow from five hundred steps away!

There's also the Discipline of Winterspear, which focuses on spears, and the Discipline of White Fangs, which focuses on daggers!

Hunter

Hunters have their own method of fighting/martial arts, which is mainly taught to their trained exorcists. The two most universal styles are the Shield Form (focused on defense, blocking, leveraging, and especially defending others while minimizing injury to oneself) and Blade Form, focused on offense, powerful striking techniques, binding moves, and even full-body tackling and charging. There are other Hunter martial arts, including those focused on weapons, but these two are the main, basic ones taught to exorcists like Halek and Naolin.

Notably, there's a famous move in Blade Form that involves swinging an ally around and, like, throwing them at an enemy. Halek finds this great fun.

Norm

Soldiers in the Army of the Sun (aka the Autarch's military) are taught a form of martial art similar to krav maga, but more simplistic--really they're taught to handle their weapons and military formations, but there is hand-to-hand combat training as well. I would liken this to the training that Roman soldiers might have received.

There are also multiple forms of street fighting that blend MMA, boxing, kickboxing, a little bit of muay thai, and jiujitsu/Brazilian jiujitsu: this is what Trouble learned and what other panton-keras practice! (You can learn a bit more about it on his short stories on Patreon). This doesn't really have any other name other than "street fighting." Biting and eye-gouging are sometimes legal moves in these bouts.

Interestingly, the Inquisitors are taught a special and highly-secret martial art called colloquially "unification" that helps them subdue Diminished, especially Mages (it's not so great against Ket). Unification involves striking nerve centers, binding and paralyzing, and brutal attacks that aim to maim.

#johnsoapmactavish58 #uh for whatever reason I ran out of text (I didn't know that could happen??) so I will continue with Mages in a reblog #basically it's rare for Mages to do barehanded combat that isn't just battle magic #which you could consider its own martial art #there are different types of battle magic too depending on your needs and style!#but uh yeah it's just mainly battle magic for Mages #there wasn't this huge need to develop martial arts outside of that #Shepherds of Haven #worldbuilding #fighting #combat #martial art #long #long post #martial arts #fight #battle #races #reference

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yasuda-anis · 3 years

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A Blessing for a Friend

One of my first released works for Anis, I wanted to give something to a friend of mine. To @writer-and-artist27, Vy I’m glad to have met you and I love your stories. I hope we can keep being friends for a long time.

As for what I listened to while I wrote this it’s Wonderful Future or Prekasno Daleko. Just cause I really like it and the mood got me excited. May your future be bright.

The heavy smell of bread blew into Anis’ face, fogging her glasses in a few seconds. It seemed that despite all the enchantments that Medea and others had placed on them for protection and preventing them falling off, some things could just never be avoided. Anis waited a few seconds for them to clear up, enjoying the rich scent of vanilla and almost drooling. But it was important that the last part be done right.

If she messed this up, the whole thing would lose more than half the impact. But the heat coming out of the oven was still intense enough that she hesitated reaching in, even with her gloves and apron. “Need a hand there Master?” A cheerful voice called out behind her before a large heavy paw settled on her shoulder. It was a familiar feeling, but something she hadn’t felt for a while.

“Thanks Tamamo,” Anis sighed as she stepped aside. “I’ve been out of the kitchen for a long time so-” “No problem, no problem Master!” She grinned as her tail whapped her master gently. “I see you when you come to eat everyday so I do see you. But this is certainly something new.”

Back in the days of Chaldea… that was - never mind. When she had first arrived Tamamo had been there for her. Making sure she ate, making sure she had someone to talk to, and more importantly, being there for the warmth Anis had been missing. Back then, Anis would always stop by at least once a week to be with her- to talk, be pampered, spar, or just to get some motivation. It had been some time since Anis had come back to see her. Cat had come to visit herself mainly. But that was enough of that. “It’s a bit of a special occasion,” Anis confessed, breathing in the warmth from the tray Tamamo passed under her. “I really wanted to do something for her.” The fresh pastry was then quickly flipped over into a small basket, the smell of vanilla a bit more muted now. Cat moved over to bring over the picnic basket and pack in plates, utensils and some drinks. Anis put on her gloves- made out of materials she was sure a regular mage would kill her for- and reached into a small box to pull out small clay figurines. She then cut small holes into the pastry and inserted them, quickly closing up the holes with nata. The figures had been a group effort between her, Medea, and Nito. Making them heat resistant and non toxic had been a bit trick, but according to Medea the materials were easy enough to come by. “All ready here!” Tamamo saluted with feral glee. “Now! Quickly before that other cat burglar comes in!” Anis had factored in anyone coming in to try and steal it. But even the best laid plans need to adapt quickly, she thought as she wrapped it up in cloth and shut it in the basket. But alas, the smell, however faint, still escaped the basket. She would have to hurry. Or else…

“I’m off then! I’ll be back later!” Aniis yelled as she started moving quickly to the door. She could run. But the chances she could trip weren’t her main concern. Gotta act natural. I have an important appointment! But too fast and they’ll catch on!

Tamamo waved her away with a handkerchief, calling out all sorts of fun jokes at her. Anis waved back and went off the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hallways of Novum Chaldea were packed. The early days of an empty Chaldea faded in the first months, and Anis was used to wandering both in her old Chaldea and in this one like a metro station. Staff and servants moved in their flows- the main speed being kept except for a few who were assumed to just be beyond reprimand. Anis would normally be a patient walker, her pace easily adjusted to suit whoever she was walking with. Today though she wove and dashed through the flow, trying to minimize her impact by calling out warnings to those ahead.

Excuse me!

Pardon me!

Sorry!

Hi!

Sorry, a bit busy!

No problem, just gotta go!

Not right now thanks!

Oops! You good? I’ll make it up to you later!

Sadly though, the kids had caught her. As she expected. The child servants were always on top of any delicious snacks and treats in the base before the other two threats of Jaguar, who would demand them, and Ibaraki, who would never bother to ask and just take it. I lost 5 minutes to negotiations, but hopefully I can still make it on time! The kids had realized quickly what the occasion was, but demanded an equal treat and participation in one of their tea parties. Apparently, Mori was hosting this one as his first foray into western tea ceremony.

But there it was! The door to Vy’s room! With one of her servants waiting out front as usual. Today it happened to be Emiya and Artoria, or Art as Vy called her. The pair had been chatting in front of the door before noting Anis, a bit winded, approached them.

“Hello there you two,” Anis panted, checking inside the basket to make sure nothing had spilled. “Is she back yet?”

Opening the basket had apparently been a mistake, since the culinary duo immediately caught onto what sort of treat Anis had brought and smiled. “She is not back yet, but if what you brought tastes as well as it smells I should believe my master will enjoy it,” Arotria smiled, her gentle gaze clearly showing her desire to try some as well.

“It’s been a while since I smelled something like this. Is that-” Emiya approached, starting to reach out to the basket.

Anis flinched back, covering the basket with her free hand. “Sorry about that, it’s best as a surprise ya know? Don’t worry though, it’s meant to be shared.”

Artoria nodded. “Indeed. You should learn to be patient like me. After all, Miss Anis has told us quite clearly it was meant as a surprise for all of us.” A letter had gone out to Vy’s main servants last week, indicating that on her birthday, they should split into two teams- one to distract Vy, and one to stand guard and prepare the room. Anis had barely made it to the room before the deadline.

Anis held out the basket to Emiya, until he took it with both hands. “I’ll just leave this with yall then and head off after telling her-”

“Telling me what?”

“YA!” Anis yelled and stomped her foot hard to prevent from accidentally swinging her elbow towards the voice. A very bad habit that had been the sad result of both martial arts training and poor nerves.

“Eeep! I-I’m sorry Aqui! I didn’t mean to scare you like that…” Vy mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself. “It’s been a while since we saw each other, so-”

Anis breathed out, trying to relax. “It’s fine- fine” Anis breathed out again, her heart rate returning to normal. “Happy birthday Vy.”

She said it in the gentlest tone she had. Because it was her. One of the kindest souls she’d ever met, and deserved all the respect and charity the world had in return. Even Anis’ servants would treat her kindly and take time to chat with her from time to time.

“Thankie Aqui,” she smiled back in the way that had made her so warm to all she met. “What's that? It smells delicious~” “Hold on there little sparrow,” Robin grinned as he put a hand on her shoulder, earning a small pout from her. “I think we should all go inside and get the full surprise right?” Anis nodded, glad to not disappoint. “We came up with a nice little thing for you Vy!” Anis smiled, something she wasn’t too familiar with, but she was glad her tone at least matched the mood. “I wanted to give you something as thanks for what you’ve given me and others here. And sorry to say, I won’t take no for an answer.” “Muuuu. This better not be something too big Anis.” _________________________

It was a simple affair. Anis had simply planned to leave the gift after explaining, but Achilles and Emiya had forced her to take a seat at the table. Apparently, she had a responsibility to see it through to the end. The cake sat at the center of the table- a Rosca de Reyes, a delicious pastry in the shape of a round loop topped with concha sugar in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. There were also some fruits as well, but only on half of the cake since Anis didn’t care for them.

The main gift though was the act of cutting the cake, Anis explained. “See, this is technically a celebration cake that’s eaten either on christmas, or on the actual feast day in January,” Anis explained as she passed the knife to Vy on the opposite side of the table.

“Let me get that for you,” Robin said as he started to reach out for the knife only to have Anis give him the look she usually gave those who started deviating from the rules in board games.

“The main thing is cutting it, Robin, so she needs to choose what part she wants and cut it herself,” Anis explained, tapping the cake. “It’s not just a cake you know, it’s a game.”

Vy tilted her head and squinted at the cake. “A… game? Like, with rules?”

“Not that kind of game,” Anis chuckled as she waited for Vy to grip the knife. “See, it’s about making choices and seeing if you get lucky.” Vy still looked a bit confused, but eventually started cutting into the Rosca, the rich smell leaking out with each cut.

Crshh!!

“W-what was that?!” Vy pulled the knife out and looked inside the cut. “Is there food inside too? But it was so hard?”

“Got one already?” Anis asked, a bit surprised at the game starting off so quickly. “I tried to mix up the placement, but with your good fortune it makes sense you’d hit it off on your first try. Make your next cut for now, okay? But only cut as much as you can eat.”

So Vy, still a bit confused, cut again, and hit something she couldn’t cut again. The look on her face though was more of curiosity and interest though, which helped relax Anis a bit. She held out a small spatula and Robin took it to lift her piece out, pulling a bit hard to separate the piece, revealing-

“What the? Is that?” Robin asked, not entirely sure of what had just happened.The other servants were all mostly curious as well, leaning forward to see.

A small blue bird’s head poked out from the left side of the slice, the rest of its body supposedly buried inside. On the right side though, was a small tile with a flower motif that fell onto the plate with a small clink. Vy picked it up and looked it over. The small white ceramic tile was two sided- a lily on one side and a lotus on the other.

“Two prizes so far Vy! Congrats!” Anis clapped, excited to see the reactions of surprise. “The game is meant to be that each person has a chance to find a prize and get good luck! I kinda adjusted it though and just made plenty of small prizes so every one of y'all could get something. So please, go ahead and enjoy it.”

Vy and the other servants started to get excited and began to cut their own slices to find prizes. A large variety of small figures and decorated tiles came out- a miniature crystal horse, a golden chariot, a lion cub, a golden ram, even a miniature Fou! The cake wasa soon gone and the figures were gathered in front of the empty plates, with Vy enjoying the rising atmosphere.

She deserves it honestly. She’s been working hard to take care of so many people. I just gotta give back something. Anis knew how late Vy stayed up at times- both working and because of stress. She also knew from how Fujino treated her that there were obviously more details about her past that shouldn’t be approached. But the unconditional love her servants had for her… Honestly, it made her a bit jealous. But that was fine. She had her own servants she cared for and could rely on. And a fellow master who she could always count on to hear a lovely tune sung or performed. A wonderful flower that bloomed once in the ice and now again in the sea.

Thank you for being born Vy. I’m glad to have been able to meet you. And more so that you could consider me a friend. May you overcome all your hardships, and keep your kindness forever.

#mastersona Anis #A gift #my first long writing attempt!#Sorry I couldn't proofread it #I wanted it to be a surprise #I hope you like it though #Vy #Happy birthday

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izakaya-jinh · 3 years

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FAR EASTERN MADO

A brief concept for a non-canon far eastern mage job called “madoshi” that I’ve come up with. Some notes taken from FFXIV canon, others taken from real life traditions such as onmyodo, Daoism, Buddhism, Shinto, etc.

The term “madoshi” is often used pejoratively to describe those who have turned to the ways of “evil” sorcery. Unlike traditional practitioners of magic belonging to specific schools or sects with rigid rules and regulations governing their behavior, madoshi follow no such orders, instead following their own way as rebels against magical orthodoxy. It can be said that even amongst madoshi, there is no agreement as to what the art means. If pressed though, some might say that it is defined by a disdain for restrictions and a reverence for magic alone.

The ultimate achievement sought in mado is the proposed combination of knowledge from multiple practices to create a unified master form of all far eastern magic. Known as the “Majutsu Taiho,” or “Grand System of Magic,” this total unification of far eastern magic is believed to be the restoration of magic to its root form as known to the gods.

Those considered madoshi often possess unusually strong magical aptitude and a complex knowledge of ancient magical theory and philosophy. With their propensity to mix knowledge from different sources, it is not unheard of for madoshi to wield innovative techniques derived from the orthodox arts of geomancy, onmyojutsu, and more. More skilled madoshi may even create unique personal techniques.

Below are described some tools and techniques wielded by Far Eastern madoshi.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE:

Hijutsu Zosho – Literally “collected books of secret arts”, these tomes are jealously sought after and guarded by madoshi. While many tomes are compilations of techniques from orthodox far eastern magic disciplines, the most valuable manuals contain the secret techniques of legendary madoshi. The rare madoshi who does accept disciples will often record their techniques in secret manuals that are magically locked so only those with the proper aptitude may read them.

Senkai Hoju – Functioning similarly to soul crystals, these rare and precious stones are believed to have fallen from the land of the divine and are prized by madoshi as such. Containing the sum of each owner’s life and techniques in a compact form, many stones are lost to time when lone madoshi disappear from history, while others are passed down from master to successor. Without one of these stones, a less experienced madoshi may find it difficult to attune to the elements of nature or communicate with the kami.

Madogu – A broad classification of magical objects that are created and used by madoshi, the best recognized madogu are martial weapons imbued with magic that may be activated using the wielder’s internal energy. Defensive and supporting devices also exist, however these are less famous owing to the fearsome reputation of certain madogu weapons. Many powerful madogu may be found in ancient tombs and burial grounds guarded by high-level magical seals.

MIGHT MAKES MAGIC:

With the sheer variety of spells and techniques that various madoshi have collected and created, it is impossible to catalogue all of these at this time. However, a brief selection is provided for insight into some techniques one might encounter from a madoshi.

Latent River – A fundamental technique mastered by every madoshi is the control of their internal energy. Agitating its flow like that of a rushing river allows the madoshi to increase the speed and potency of their spellcasting at greater cost to their internal energy reserves.

Gogyo Sokoku – The madoshi applies the opposing natures of elements against each other, striking their foe with the appropriate elemental magic to greater effect.

Gogyo Sosei – The madoshi applies the generative natures of elements towards each other, using the appropriate elemental magic to heal and strengthen themselves or their allies.

Genjutsu: Meido – Entrapping an enemy’s mind within an imaginary purgatory, the madoshi condemns the enemy to a torturous mental journey that depletes their resolve to fight.

False Nirvana – The madoshi enters a state of heightened universal awareness, curing them of enfeeblements imposed by enemies.

Sansui Fuin – Drawing upon the energy of mountains and waters, the madoshi activates an arcane geometry that erects a field around themselves and their allies, protecting against enemy attacks while increasing the benefits of healing magics.

Gishiki: Eikon Fukkatsu – The madoshi gathers life energy from the battlefield to perform an ancient magic, restoring the vitality of their allies and reviving the fallen.

#scholarly scribblings

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lavendairs · 3 years

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♚ ━━━ ❛ ALL ABOUT AUGUST.

G E N E R A L —

NAME. his full birth name is august ahn-evergreene, his last names being a combination of his maternal and paternal last names because his mother wasn’t going to allow her children to not have her last name in some fashion. however, in his twenties he drops evergreene and only uses ahn as his last name due to a rift with his mother / wanting an identity separate from her ( he’s not fond of his father either but he has a habit of leaving town so it’s easier for august to distance himself from that part of his family’s ‘legacy’ ).

AGE. he appears in his late 20s ( 27-30 ) but is around 60 years old due to the extended lifespan of a mage.

HEIGHT. he stands at 6′1 ( 185.42 ). no, he’s not a sloucher and is the type to internally judge people who do because stand up straight wtf?

WEIGHT. 170 pounds ( 77.1kg ). he’s lean and not overly muscular; doesn’t do much heavy physical activity anymore due to his current ‘condition’.

ETHNICITY. korean-filipino american mage. he comes from a bloodline of magic-users. if commenting on his natural magical prowess, expect a dry ‘of course, i was breed to be.’ in response.

OCCUPATION. he is what the people of crescent creek call ‘the overseer’, the highest sitting member of the council of novema ( or just ‘the council’ for short ). they are the ones who ‘govern’ the town and its people, establishing laws and stepping in to resolve high-level matters between residents if it should come to it. with the council needing to hear matters from the magi, vampires, fae, werewolves, and other beings, august has a constant headache.

GENDER. cis-male.

SEXUAL & ROMANTIC ORIENTATION. he would state that he’s heterosexual but admittedly he’s never fully explored his sexuality enough for that to be a definite statement. he hasn’t seriously dated in a very long time™ and it isn’t interested in changing that.

MBTI. INTJ-A, The Architect — it can be lonely at the top. as one of the rarest personality types – and one of the most capable – architects ( INTJs ) know this all too well. rational and quick-witted, architects may struggle to find people who can keep up with their nonstop analysis of everything around them. these personalities can be both the boldest of dreamers and the bitterest of pessimists. architects believe that, through willpower and intelligence, they can achieve even the most challenging of goals. but they may be cynical about human nature more generally, assuming that most people are lazy, unimaginative, or simply doomed to mediocrity.

S P E C I F I C S —

FAVOURITE FOOD. he’s very particular about getting his three meals a day in if he can but he probably has the most fondest for food that was often served at dinner time with his family or when all his cousins spent time at his lola’s house when they visited her. dishes such as bopis, kimchi, pancit canton, tocino and rice, korean styled steak, etc. are personal favorites.

FAVOURITE DRINK. his day isn’t complete without having a nice, chilled glass of vintage red wine during dinner ( and maybe just drinking straight from the bottle by the end of the night ). he does enjoy drinking rosé during a nice breakfast or lunch depending on the bottle.

FAVOURITE HOBBY. brooding. joking aside, he does enjoy sparring matches, ‘magical’ based sparring matches. he does practice taekkyeon ( korean martial arts ) and enjoys mixing spells in by shocking opponents, blocking their spells with his own wards, etc.

FAVOURITE SCENT. the smell of freshly cut grass as well as the scent of pomegranates, vanilla, cinnamon, and musk. the former is bittersweet and nostalgic, reminding of his years as a teen: when he was young, oblivious, and only had to be concerned about being late to football / soccer practice. the latter reminds him of someone he would rather forget.

FAVOURITE PERSON. i. his twin brother, ansel ahn. his death still hurts and he’ll always partially blame himself for it - despite the fact that there would’ve been nothing he could’ve done to change it. ( this is the part where that wand.avision quote is inserted in ). the loss of his brother dramatically changes the course of his life. ii. his lola, nora evergreene. she grounds him a lot. one of the few times he’s at peace is when he visits her for brunch every third saturday of the month. iii. his ex, audrey cramer. he would never admit it out loud though - at least not anymore.

T E N F A C T S —

he’s well versed in magical creatures : one of the 'gifts’ of being the overseer is the ability to traverse pass the veil - a barrier / entry way that exist between ‘earth’ and the many dimensions that exist beyond it. this ability, however, is one that has fallen out of use over the past few decades. ever the abnormally, august makes use of this ability for his own personal agenda. outside of the different races that already live within crescent creek ( witches, vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc. ), there are those that prefer to live freely in their own worlds rather than live in secrecy on earth. so yes, he has met unicorns and he thinks most of them are actually assholes.

on the nature of the veil : the origin of the veil itself is a mystery. all that is known that about its existence is that many millennium ago, those from different dimensions ( or ‘worlds’ ) were able to freely pass through it without the need of assistance or a spell. as time progressed and humanity began to rise, passage through the veil became increasingly more restricted, leading to entry ways within the veil being sealed and only accessible through the leader in each world ( ex. the overseer in crescent creek ). although the town of crescent creek has always traded with other towns, cities, etc. pass the veil, many of those trades have slowed to a stop entirely as those dimensions have become inaccessible. to somewhat ease panic and concern, the council has framed the issue being due to other dimensions permanently closing themselves off from earth ( a situation that has previously happened some worlds ). in truth, the veil itself has become 'infected’ by a foreign spell that’s led to the blocking of entry ways that lead into other worlds. due to not knowing the source of the spell and its affect on the veil, the knowledge of its presence is unknown to most people in crescent creek. // note: this is more of an overall ‘lore’ fact that explains the backdrop of what’s going on in this ‘world’ to understand other facts about him. in the grand scheme of things, this wouldn’t come up when interacting with him.

he doesn’t believe in astrologists, psychics, fortune tellers, etc. : which may seem contradictory considering he’s a literal magical being but in his experience, it’s typically humans pushing pseudoscience or mages using their magic to con clueless humans. people in that line of ‘work’ are hacks to him - especially since he’s seen it first hand with his own father’s profession.

over the past twenty years, he’s been continuing his brother’s research : ansel, his older, twin brother, had been studying the distortions within the veil in secret before his death a decade prior. although the status of the veil was supposed to be concealed to those outside of the council’s reach, ansel confided in his brother before his death. in august’s eyes, whatever spell that’s taken over the veil is an active threat and with the backing of onyx crane, a vampire on the council, and his cousin, faye evergreene, he began an almost obsessive-like determination to complete his brother’s work and find answers - even if it’s to his own detriment. // *note: with a big soap opera trope being people returning from the dead, it shouldn’t be shocking to discover that ansel, is in fact, not actually dead. he used a storm that hit the town as a means to fake his own death ( disasters that kill off characters is usually a soap opera storyline that happens during ‘sweeps’ period ) and left town for his own agenda.

the youngest overseer to sit in the council : his status as the overseer is one steeped in controversy due to...a variety of reasons: an overseer typically is replaced by another council member by vote or an apprentice to the overseer should they have one after an overseer’s death, resignation, or if they’ve been forcefully discharged from the position. none of these things applied to august’s own mother, tala ahn-evergreene, when he usurped her - blackmailing the council by threatening to expose the truth about the current threat of the veil. // *note: in every ( american ) soap opera, it is a staple to have a ‘thing’, whether it be a business, a central institution in town ( ex. a hospital ), or a position ( CEO of a company, chief of staff at a hospital, etc. ) that many of the characters are tied to or even fighting for control over. ELQ, the quartermaine’s family business on general hospital, often have storylines where family members are fighting over shares of the company, who should run it, or the family teaming up to oust an outsider that’s taken over the company ( funnily enough, there is a story like the latter happening on the show right now ). the point here is that being the overseer or even sitting on the council of novema is that ‘thing’ that people fight over to be on for various reason.

he takes his personal upkeep very seriously : there’s a lot of things one could say about crescent creek’s current overseer but no one can ever say they’ve seen august ahn not look put together when he’s out and about ( this is him going out publicly basically ). as someone who values consistency and control in his life but pretty much never has it, august actually highly treasures the time spent doing his morning / nightly skincare routines, getting his acupuncture treatments, and so on. he supports the self care movement essentially.

he ( as well as his siblings ) once witnessed one of his father’s affairs : it was an awful experience. -10/10. doesn’t recommend. this incident shapes his attitude towards relationships in general and how he operates within them. august has a very black and white attitude about relationships: you are either with him 100% or you’re not with him at all. it’s unhealthy and he has to unpack that. // *fun fact: this is actually a real event that happened with this family back in the sims 2 over ten years ago - they just all had different names, were a different race, and so on at that point.. they’ve changed a lot:tm:.

may be an active suspect for murder : it happens. when marlena cramer, a former council member, suddenly passes on, the town is overtaken by a wave of a grief...that soon becomes shock and suspicion when her death is rules to be from unnatural causes. between being one of the last people to see her alive and reports of him wanting her off the council, august becomes one of the prime suspects for her murder case. // *note: whodunit’s are probably up there with ‘who’s the daddy’ storylines in terms of being the most common soap opera staple ( ex. who shot j.r. on dallas ).

voted most likely to be successful in his HS yearbook : august was the picture perfect prom king, the jock that was friends with everyone on campus, and the one everyone expected ride off into the sunset with his hs sweetheart. on paper, august was well rounded - some would say outright perfect. today, those who knew him in high school would shake their heads and ask themselves what happened to the boy who always smiled at them when he passed you by in the hallway or whose laughter could easily be heard the loudest in a classroom. august, as he is now, is a stranger to those that once knew him.

it’s happening gradually but he is, in fact, dying : many of the worlds that had become unaccessible were not only blocked off but were actively decaying - many of its residents fleeing to other worlds before they were forever trapped in a dying one while others locked their entry ways to stop the spell from spreading to their own homes. the overseers in crescent creek were restricted from traversing the veil themselves due to the unknown risk of the spell, a rule that august actively ignores. every time he travels through the veil, the more the spell slowly eats away at him - a fact that he is well aware of and he has no desire to stop. he will keep traveling worlds ( and helping those he can ) until he finds the source of the spell and kills its caster himself.

FIVE THINGS HE LIKES.

visiting the sauna. the heat helps with his internal pain.

eating home-cooked meals.

getting hydrafacials ( james_franco_so_good.gif ).

smoking with his cousin, faye.

blasting emo music as he gets drunk, questions his life choices, and stares at the ceiling

FIVE THINGS HE DISLIKES.

feeling used.

disloyal / uncommitted people

selfishness.

tough, chewy steak.

cheap wine.

COMMON WORDS / PHRASES THAT ANNOY THEM. during a misunderstanding or argument, the worst thing to tell him is that he ‘doesn’t understand’. even if the person is somewhat correct, august is a person that prides himself on being an objective observer of a situation, rational in his thinking, and not someone who lets his emotions dictate his choices. saying something like that to him would just further annoy him.

PERSONALITY TYPES THEY PREFER. those who are smart, loyal, and efficient. those who are willing to dirty their hands on occasion, and believe that the ends do justify the means.

PERSONALITY TYPES THEY AVOID. selfish and incompetent people, those who proceed to waste his time, useless people in positions of powers, jerky unicorns.

WHAT DO YOU FIND DIFFERENT / DISTINCT ABOUT YOUR PORTRAYAL?

the whole concept of this ‘world’ is based around soap opera cliches and tropes so the character is intentionally ‘tropey’ and meant to pull from different fictional men from the genre - as well as outside of it. i would say him being the leading man is unique within itself because people of color in soaps ( at least within american soaps which this is all inspired by ) are generally never the leads or involved in what i actually watch soaps for: the drama, the love stories, the scheming, the cheating, etc. they’re usually the straight men to the white characters; living well off but boring lives and are rarely given front burner stories. all black people in a soap opera are usually always going to somehow know each other, only date each other, etc. you can switch black people out with latinos, asians, etc. and it would still be true. the characters of color are easily written off as a result of this.

in general, soap operas are very white - and still are today. they have a history of casting white people as mexican characters, ex. lindsay hartley as theresa on passions. asian american soap characters are severly lacking - i could probably count the amount of i’ve seen on screen. a black actress formerly on general hospital mentioned how people jokingly called the show ‘generally white hospital’ behind the scenes. chad.wick bos.eman left all my children because of how much of a stereotype his character was - and he was right ( ironically, michael b. jord.an was his recast ). some shows are getting better, bold and beautiful currently has a story involving two characters cheating ( one of which is black ) and it’s hot af but it’s still not enough for the times we’re in. this isn’t a problem exclusive to soaps either - most media has a problem with this. people of color aren’t getting lead roles and especially not romantic lead roles - even if they do, the shows always make it a interracial romance with a white person ( ex. bridg/erton ) as if people of color of different races are incapable of dating each other.

finally, i’ve noticed that you rarely see asian american men portrayed as romantic leads or desirable ( at least in a non-fetishized way ) in western media. that’s pretty lame:tm: so that was also a factor when i revamped audrey’s love interest ( parts of ‘old’ him still exist, ex. him being a jock / king of the school as a teen, a complicated relationship with his brother, etc ). anyway, stan august uwu.

tagged by: i took it from myself. tagging: anyone who wants to.

#❀ . ❛ august : study : headcanon .#❀ . ❛ august : study : worldbuilding .#this is the closest you're getting out of me for an about page tbh #i might do a separate lore dump but i kind of don't want to lol #adultery //

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grailfinders · 4 years

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Fate and Phantasms #40: Hassan of the Cursed Arm

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re building one of the old men of the mountain and king of “he’s a really nice guy despite every aspect of his appearance”, Hassan of the Cursed Arm. Surprisingly, Hassan is not a rogue, but a monk/warlock mix thanks to the titular arm.

Originally, this build gave you a weapon with reach to act as your cursed arm, but that puts a lot of strain on a character that already needs multiple stats to work properly. I still think slapping someone from across the room is funny though, so I’m including both the original and variant build in the spreadsheet. I’ll also bring up the differences in the level-by-level breakdown below the cut when they come up.

(EDIT: This one required a bit of fixing up, but I’m too lazy to completely rewrite everything. This has less to do with Tasha’s and more to do with me suddenly remembering whips exist and don’t have the Special tag. Just focus on dexterity, and you’re good.)

Race and Background

Despite his looks, Hassan is a Human, giving him +1 to all abilities. He’s also an Acolyte, a much nicer and less accurate title than his real one “Cult Leader”. This gives him proficiency with Insight and Religion. He also gets the Shelter of the Faithful feature, meaning he can perform religious rites and receive free healing and care at temples related to his god. This makes sense, considering you’re the second highest rank in the cult, and the first highest only shows up to kill you.

Stats

Your Dexterity is your best stat, you’re nimble and really good with throwing daggers. Everyone you’ve met generally agrees you’re a pretty nice guy, probably because of your high Charisma. You’re a major religious figure, so your Wisdom is pretty high. You also lead a bunch of assassins, and if you couldn’t tell when they show up to meet with you that would be pretty embarrassing. We’re not dumping Constitution, because we’re not masochists, which means our last stat is Intelligence. You learned enough to summon and forcibly amputate a demon, and that’s all the schooling you needed. Finally, dump Strength. You’re pretty wiry, but we just don’t need it for this build.

Class Levels

1. Monk 1: As a monk, you get proficiency in Acrobatics, Stealth, and Strength and Dexterity Saves. For a religious figure, you lead a pretty active lifestyle.

First level monks get Unarmored Defense, meaning your AC is equal to 10 plus your dex mod plus your wis mod. You also learn Martial Arts, letting you use your martial arts die in place of your normal damage for unarmed attacks and attacks with monk weapons, as well as use dexterity for those attacks. You can also use your bonus action to make an unarmed attack if you use your action to attack with a monk weapon.

Also important to note, your monk weapons can scale their damage with your Martial Arts, which will improve your throwing knives and cursed arm a bit.

2. Monk 2: At second level, you get a number of Ki points equal to your monk level. You regain spent ki points on short rests, and can use them to add options to your bonus action. Flurry of Blows lets you attack twice, Patient Defense lets you dodge, and Step of the Wind doubles your jump distance and lets you disengage or dash. You also get Unarmored Movement, adding 10′ to your movement when you aren’t wearing armor.

You can also make a Dedicated Weapon at the end of a short rest, turning any one weapon you choose into a monk weapon pretty much indefinitely. Spend a little quality time with your arm, get to know it.

3. Monk 3: At this level you can Deflect Missiles, reacting to reduce ranged attack damage. If the damage is reduce to 0, you can also spend 1 ki point to throw it back at an enemy.

At this level, you also become a Way of the Shadow monk. At this level you can spend 2 ki points to cast Darkness, Darkvision, Pass without Trace, or Silence without material components. You also gain Minor Illusion as a cantrip. Smashing out the lights with some throwing daggers also works, but a lot of creatures have darkvision naturally, so you’ll need something to fall back on.

4. Warlock 1: We’ve got the Hassan, but no Cursed Arm. It’s time we fixed that. We’re not sure why the demon you tore an arm from rewarded you with supernatural powers, but we’re not complaining. At first level, fiend warlocks get the Dark One’s Blessing, meaning you gain temporary hit points equal to your charisma modifier plus your warlock level when a hostile creature is reduced to 0 HP. You also learn some Pact Magic, limited spell slots you regain on short rests. You use charisma to cast spells. At this level that includes Mage Hand because you couldn’t reach far enough as is, Eldritch Blast as a magical stand-in for all those throwing knives, Hex to curse your enemies, and Expeditious Retreat to bolster your already impressive movement skills.

5: Warlock 2: Second level warlocks learn Eldritch Invocations, little ways your patron shows you they care. You get Devil’s Sight and Agonizing Blast, which grants you darkvision even in magical darkness and extra damage for your “throwing knives”. You can also cast Sense Emotion; assassination requires manipulation as much as murder.

6. Warlock 3: At third level you get your pact boon, specifically your Pact Weapon, any melee weapon that you want, though since this is supposed to be your arm you should keep it consistent. Whips are good, use that. You can unwrap your arm as an action, and counts as magical for resistance and immunity’s sake. You can also turn other magical weapons into your pact weapon if you really want, but again, this is supposed to be your arm. I know you’re already playing fast and loose with limb ownership, but there needs to be limits.

You also learn how to make a Shadow Blade, a finesse weapon that gives you advantage in the shade.

7. Warlock 4: Use your first ASI to become a Martial Adept, giving you one d6 to use two maneuvers from the battle master list. You regain the die on short rests. Your maneuvers are Evasive Footwork, which adds 1d6 to your AC while you’re moving, and Lunging Attack, which adds 1d6 and 5′ of reach to a single attack. Congrats, you can now slap someone from fifteen feet away.

At this level you learn the spell Cloud of Daggers, letting you set up very painful traps. You also learn how to cast the cantrip Poison Spray. Poison isn’t your gimmick, but it’s important to be flexible. Being flexible also isn’t your gimmick, but... you know what I mean.

8. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks don’t get any more features, but they do get another invocation: Improved Pact Weapon. When attacking with your pact weapon, add 1 to the attack and damage rolls. You can also use the weapon as a spellcasting focus. Honestly this invocation is so useful you may want to swap out an invocation for it at third level.

You can also cast the spell Gaseous Form, turning a willing creature into a cloud of smoke for up to an hour. The spell’s great for infiltration and is the closest thing you’ll have to a spirit form. You aren’t truly incorporeal, though: you only resist nonmagical damage.

9. Warlock 6: You have the Dark One’s Own Luck, and can add 1d10 to an ability check or save you make once per short rest. You can also cast Spider Climb at this level so you can sneak into a building without having to become a cloud.

10. Warlock 7: You get another invocation, Ghostly Gaze. This allows you to concentrate like you would a spell and see through objects up to 30′ away. This is especially powerful given a number of spells require line of sight to be used.

Shadow of Moil is not one of those spells, though. With this spell, you don a cloak of shadows, heavily obscuring yourself and dimming the light around you. You also retaliate to being attacked with tendrils of darkness.

11. Warlock 8: Use your next ASI to round out your Wisdom and Charisma for better spell saves and AC. If you’re using the variant build, round out your Constitution and Charisma instead.

Regardless, you also learn how to Summon Greater Demon. They’re still a bit miffed about the whole “ripping off their arm” thing, so you’ll have to convince it to work for you, otherwise it will turn on your party. You’ll need someone’s blood to do it, but that’s still much better than ripping off your own arm.

12. Monk 4: There’s still a couple things we want from the monk class, so lets take a break from demon summoning for a bit. At this level, you can Slow Fall, reducing falling damage by five times your monk level. Given the amount of climbing and flying you’ve been doing, you’ll definitely want this.

You also get another ASI. Bump up your Dexterity to improve the damage you can do with your pact weapon.

13. Monk 5: Fifth level monks get an Extra Attack, letting you make two attacks in a single attack action. You also have the ability to perform a Stunning Strike, spending 1 ki point to ruin your DM’s attempts at balancing encounters. Your martial arts die also become a d6, slightly increasing your power when you’re caught without a weapon. Which is never, so it’s not that useful.

14. Monk 6: Sixth level monks get Ki-empowered Strikes, making your unarmed strikes magical, just like your arm already is. You can also move an extra 5′ per round, and learn how to Shadow Step, spending an action to teleport from one area of dim or darker light to another, so long as it’s within 60′ and you can see it. (This is one of those things that’s a lot better with Ghostly Gaze.) After teleporting, you have advantage on your next melee attack, meaning you can pop into your target’s inner sanctum, snap their neck, and then pop out with any guards none the wiser.

15. Warlock 9: Your next invocation, Otherworldly Leap, lets you cast Jump at will for free. This is another good mobility option, as well as being a vital component to Posing Dramatically In The Moonlight, a mandatory part of being an assassin.

You can also cast Infernal Calling, which is kind of like Summon Greater Demon, but you don’t have to worry about the demon betraying you if you have its talisman. I’m pretty sure its arm counts for this purpose, but that’s up to your DM.

16. Warlock 10: Tenth level fiendlocks get Fiendish Resilience, giving you resistance to damage of one type from weapons that aren’t silvered or magical. You can swap your resistance types at the end of short rests. I’d recommend bludgeoning for a proper Protection from Wind.

17. Warlock 11: At eleventh level, warlocks get their first Mystic Arcanum. Your spell slots stay at fifth level, but you get a sixth level spell you can cast once per long rest.

This level, pick up Psychic Crush from Unearthed Arcana. There isn’t a spell that lets us grab a person’s heart, so we’ll have to settle for grabbing their brain.

18. Warlock 12: At this level you get your last ASI and last invocation. Bump up your Strength (or Charisma if you’re doing the variant build) and pick up the Eldritch Spear invocation to have a lot more range on your throwing knives.

19. Warlock 13: For your seventh level Mystic Arcanum, grab Finger of Death. You should have five of these already, but this lets you deal a lot of guaranteed damage to a creature. Just try not to get the final blow with this-explaining the zombie it makes would be a headache.

20. Warlock 14: Your final level gives you the ability to Hurl (creatures) Through Hell. After hitting a creature with an attack, you can send them on a guided tour through the lower planes until the end of your next turn. When they come back, they take 10d10 psychic damage if they’re not a native of those planes. You can only use this feature once per long rest. This and Psychic Crush are about as close to your Delusional Heartbeat as we can get. Neither can cause instant death, but let’s be honest it’s not like your NP does it that often either.

Pros: You’re very good at infiltration missions. You’re very fast, and have a bevy of mobility options available to you, from flight to climbing walls to straight up teleportation. You’re also tough to hit, with multiple ways of obscuring yourself from ranged fighters. You’re also able to perform hit and run tactics without using your bonus action thanks to your arm’s range, saving your disengaging actions for something else.

Cons: You have a low constitution, meaning that the rest of your build being melee focused isn’t the best idea. This also means you have bad concentration saves, which is bad if you’ve got a buff spell on you to escape, and worse if your concentration is keeping a demon in check. Like all warlocks, you also have the issue of limited spell slots, so most of the time you’ll be relying on just your throwing knives and invocations, without much of a safety net if things go wrong.

Your best abilities don’t have saves though, so if you stick to the shadows and avoid that guy whose arm you stole you should be fine.

Next up: MGS 3: Snake Eater

#fgo #fate grand order #hassan of the cursed arm #dnd 5e #Fate and Phantasms

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kaaras-adaar · 3 years

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Kaaras and Magic: 1/?

// Being an apostate his whole life, it means most people don’t look at Kaaras and think he’s a mage. Kaaras is also short and stout in nature, not what a lot of people assume mages to look like (more specifically, those of Circles who may not be given the opportunity for physical training). Mages outside of Circles, I imagine come in all shapes and sizes (please give us more chonky mages BioWare!).

As a qunari, Kaaras is certainly more muscular anyway. Despite being overweight (which he is soft around the midsection), Kaaras grew up on a farm and has been working with his body ever since. Not just that, but he also trains physically most days (he has specific routines he sticks to and due to his OCD he sticks to them rather strictly). Of course, being Inquisitor means his routines can be thrown out the window at times as well, which he’s had to try and adapt to–not easy when you have OCD mind you.

People know Kaaras is a mage because it’s public knowledge. Kaaras does not often USE his magic in civil situations or every day moments. This is for a few reasons: the first being because he was an apostate, so using his magic was dangerous in the eyes of others. The second is because his trainer always told Kaaras to never solely rely on his magic in any given circumstance, especially when magic might not be allowed (things like magebane exist after all, but public displays as well). She taught him how to physically fight before she even TOUCHED upon his magic. Kaaras was always taught to use self defence (hand to hand akin to jūjutsu) first, disarm his opponent, and then deal with as fit.

I have always headcanoned Kaaras’ fighting style (and use of magic) to be akin to martial arts (specifically budō). His trainer was exceptionally spiritual in her understanding of her magic, as well as physical fighting. This is why Kaaras often meditates in mornings, and why Kaaras is very disciplined as a mage. Because of this, his magic is not what others might expect, especially templars who might be used to Circle mages (speaking specifically most lower mages considering some Circle mages are exceptionally powerful and well learned, especially those who are Grand Enchanters–look at Orsino and Vivienne for instance–those with a great knowledge and understanding, and of course the means to learn such greatness where Kaaras does not). I will say that Kaaras is in his element on the battlefield, with a great focus on what is happening around him, but also powerful thanks to being a qunari (I have lots of headcanons about qunari mages and why they are so powerful).

Even with his size, Kaaras has learned how to be graceful with his magic, with his fighting. It doesn’t always mean he’s perfect of course, and what his trainer couldn’t always teach him was what he learned in the real world when he began working as a mercenary: people aren’t fair. At times, there is no honour in a fight. Kaaras learned these lessons in hard ways, but ways that made him adapt in situations where he needed to.

There are of course, areas where Kaaras lacks finesse in his magic. Healing, for instance, is not something he is comfortable with doing, especially since his father died in his arms when he was 12 when he was trying to heal his wounds. Fire is another element that Kaaras isn’t comfortable with controlling, and it often comes out in bursts that are not as controlled as other types.

Kaaras is a force mage (which I’ve said lots of times lol), but what he has learned of it, he has learned WELL. He is an excellent force mage, well controlled and well disciplined in the art, as he is with ice magic and storm magic, but he is at heart a force mage, and that is what you will often see him using.

There are the odd occasional times where Kaaras will use his magic outside of the battlefield, maybe to start a fire for camping, to ease the candles at night time, to warm someone up or cool someone down, small things. Sometimes you can catch him idly spinning a spoon in his tea to mix the sugar and milk as he’s writing or reading with the other hand: small things like that.

Kaaras also likes to show children little magic tricks, that way they can learn that not all magic is big and scary and dangerous. He loves children and telling them stories, and often if he’s in a situation where he can entertain children, he will make little ice sculptures, or make things disappear or float, just to give them something to be excited about.

However, most people may be shocked when they see Kaaras in the field, using his magic. Because he’s WELL disciplined and focused. Because if they haven’t seen him fighting, then they will soon realise just how powerful a controlled qunari mage is, how lethal they are, and honestly, how brutal they can be. Control is so important to Kaaras (for so many reason), but if you witness him on the field, then you’re likely to be impressed with just how powerful a mage he is.

#Kaaras Adaar #headcanons #Meta #Kaaras and magic #magic #magic headcanons

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beautifulterriblequeen · 4 years

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When Aaravos casts spells (through Viren) at the end of Season 2, does it look a lot like he's performing some sort of martial arts? Do you think fighting mages *could* be martial artists too?

Are you talking about Aaravos or Viren, anon? I’m guessing you mean Aaravos, and that you’re looking at his rune drawing as the performance of martial art moves. I can see it!

I love seeing martial arts and magic get mixed. It’s two of my favorite things married together. Ugh, so much fun. And one of my favorite bits about Aaravos’s spellcasting is that it’s simultaneously two-handed. He’s just swiping spell lines out there willy nilly like it ain’t no thang. He ain’t got time for that whole drawing from one end to the other thing, like Claudia does. Nope. We two-hand this spell and we move on to the next one, chop chop.

And his moves are very martial-art-like.

His Sun spell begins with nice prep pose, loading up a bilateral power swing. Finger control is on point. Arms parallel. Large and small muscle groups are highly trained. He’s even dropped into a nice stable stance to cast–all the better to keep his balance as he flings magic in all directions.

Behind this half-drawn spell you can see that he’s drawn his arms in and crossed his wrists. He’s loading up to reach back out with the second part of this spell.

Here, the Sun spell is complete, but you can see that he’s already moving into the next spell–which oddly we don’t seem to get to see, unless this is just an intermediate position for another Sun spell, since Viren does fling more fireballs from his staff. But again, it uses crossed arms as a load-up. He’s casting fast, and he needs the momentum.

The first part of Fulminis. Arms crossed once again, powering up for those fast moves. Fingers extended to draw.

This is one of my favorite poses from Aaravos’s spellcasting. It takes me back to all the martial arts movies I watched when I was younger. Very “bring it,” very actiony.

This one looks like the punch part of a block-punch combo. I can still see my favorite sensei doing this–he really liked it, and he was 5′4″ so his punches were always below everyone else’s eyeline and they never saw it coming. Being 6′6″, Aaravos probably has the opposite effect with the same result.

Double shuto, anyone? Judo chop! Also, my oldest pointed out to me that Zuko does this exact move in ATLA. It’s very pretty. Although this spell move is meant to encircle the rest of the rune, I can see Aaravos slamming into someone/a different rune with a differently directed move of this sort. Simultaneous physical and magical attacks? That feels like the next step with this, doesn’t it?

Between his stable leg position and his bilateral loading and unloading of arm moves, it seems clear that Aaravos’s spellcasting is based on martial arts, though it’s harder to tell from this brief glimpse if there’s much delineation in style among various primal sources, as ATLA had (at least to me, I’m not super skilled in identifying exact styles based on just a few moves).

So I’d say absolutely, anon, there could be battle mages. I think Aaravos could be one, if he were fighting in person. Considering how oddly attached he is to physical things (bug stuff, okay, it’s weird) for an elf whose power lies with the metaphysical and psychic, it’s very possible he specifically trained for physical battle as part of his spellcasting.

Judging by the amount of effort it takes to become truly skilled at martial exploits–judging by Runaan and Rayla–and at magic–looking at Lujanne–it seems that anyone studying both would need many many years to gain true mastery, and they may not have time for much else in their lives. I don’t want to point a finger at the Air Nomads, but… *points a finger at the Air Nomads* A dedicated culture of magical martial arts is probably the best way to get TDP fighting mages. It could be a very small group, or a whole culture. I’d like to see it be the Earthblood elves, or at least those living at the Earth Nexus.

But Aaravos has clearly had long enough to master both magic and martial arts, at least to the extent that he uses them to speed and guide his casting. Even if he got his bending taken away arcana stripped out, he would still be a formidable fighter against any nonmagical opponents–and probably some magical ones, too.

#asks #aaravos #tdp magic #martial arts #magic martial arts #my jam this is hrrm #tdp #tdp analysis

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my-favourite-zhent · 4 days

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MMMAY Match-Up Semi-Final

We're coming down to the wire in our mano a mano, no spells, mage brawling championship!

MMMay Masterpost

#MMMay #Mixed Mage Martial Arts in May #zhentil keep perverts #bg3 omeluum #omeluum bg3 #baldurs gate 3 omeluum #bg3 rolan #rolan bg3 #baldurs gate 3 rolan #omeluum vs rolan #rolan vs omeluum #No Spells Only Fists

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pandorasvalley-rpg · 3 years

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BIOGRAPHY.

you are nameless. homeless. your most vivid memory is you wandering the desert grounds, the whirling, heavy air and sweltering heat bearing down on your tiny limbs and malnourished body. you are alone, helpless. and it takes more energy than you realize to drag yourself through the slippery, formless particles. a convoy, seemingly roaring to life in a blur before you, is your salvation. unexpected, but seemingly appreciated. the men are armored, however, and you don’t quite realize what that means before you collapse.

you awake on a metal sheet. you realize you are not safe, you are nowhere you might claim as home. there are metal tools gleaming in the distance. monitors and electronics humming around you. men you don’t recognize are buzzing about and using phrases your drug-addled brain can’t entirely decipher. the word ‘mage’ seems clearer than most, because of the disgust it elicits. the fear. you are butchered and sliced like a gutted pig, your cries in moments of brief clarity echoing into the nothingness. a sudden crash from a makeshift explosion several days later, the screams of those same men as bullets zip through the air and the commotion it summons, seems more imagined than reality. like a dream. still, you feel your body shifting, carried away.

a man explains what’s been done when you finally awake, what a great favor you’ve been permitted. you’re too distracted by the look of your limbs, how scarred and odd they seem. how heavy. how painful. the man explains what’s expected, what will come. they pass along a strange blade, one you’ve never seen. one you’ve no clue what to do with besides hold. your hands shake beneath its weight, unsteady. there’s a mirror of disappointment in the man as it’s held in your grasp, as if there’s something they expect. something more they need. for a time, that disappointment is something you hope to do away with. you don’t like how it fits their face, how it makes them seem. the threat it poses. they give you a name to claim and for a time, this is what you know of family. of obligation. of expectation.

you age and you come to know different things, better things. dangerous things. the glow of neon is too familiar now. you come to crave more, wish for independence. and you realize the near impossibility of it. how futile it seems. you are a criminal through and through. you only know the lies, the death, the self-preservation. the debt you owe is never-ending, your duties similarly endless. you come to find small escapes, little moments for you and you alone. you plan for more than you’re allowed, and are eventually granted a bit of peace. a proper brush with freedom — though never forgiveness — out in the sands you once knew well enough, though you barely recall this much.

they let you race.

the fame that comes is not a hindrance. you are excellent at what you do, and on some level crave that attention, that adrenaline. you make no secret of that. you get greedy, however, and decide your dues are too heavy. they need an end. and as luck would have it, your work as a racer gains the attention of those that could be of benefit there.

it’s been a year and a half since you joined the crew, making use of the skills you’ve dedicated so much to. the pay, while substantial, isn’t plentiful enough, isn’t worth enough. you’re playing the long game and you know it. and you hope against hope it’s worth it.

FILE.

BASICS.

FULL NAME: remilia quinn. NICKNAME: remi. AGE: twenty-seven. BIRTH DATE: may 2 BIRTH PLACE: city of dust, presumably. GENDER: cis woman. SPECIES: cyborg. ( formerly mage ) PRONOUNS: she/her. ORIENTATION: bisexual. OCCUPATION: driver. pirate. ALIGNMENT: neutral

FAMILY.

PARENTS: unknown. SIBLINGS: unknown. PET(S): none.

PHYSICAL.

FACE CLAIM: ryan destiny EYE COLOR: dark brown. HAIR COLOR: black. HAIR STYLE: mid-back. mostly straight with occasional waviness. HEIGHT: 5’5” (165 cm ) WEIGHT: 122 lbs ( 55 kg ) TATTOOS + PIERCINGS: strategically placed tattoos along the arms and legs to cover insertion scars. a shoulder tattoo resembling a collection of stars in reference to her black star affiliation. several ear piercings, right and left. naval piercing. nose piercing. eyebrow piercing. NOTABLE PHYSICAL TRAITS: covered scars. fuller lips.

MENTAL.

AILMENTS: mental strain. alcoholism. post-augmentation pains. INTELLIGENCE: practical. LIKES: alcohol. driving. smoking. music. money in all forms. a healthy level of violence. gambling. the innocence of children. DISLIKES: being stagnant. emotional vulnerability. needless sympathy. losing money. being taken advantage of. post-augmentation pains. the impudence of children. restrictive clothing. FEARS: attachment. loss of self. loss of freedoms. TRAITS: impulsive. irritable. competitive. easily humored. prone to moments of loud or childish behavior. selfish. vaguely compassionate. stubborn as a mule. shameless.

ABILITIES.

FAVORED WEAPON(S): fists. daggers. blunt objects. WEAPON SKILLS: 7/10. COMBAT SKILLS: 8/10. THREAT LEVEL: 7/10. EXPERTISE: some explosives, hand-to-hand combat, daggers, expert driving

CRIMES.

TO DATE: assault, robbery, impersonation, smuggling, arson, accessory to kidnapping, thievery, murder, blackmail, bribery, possession, gambling

HEADCANONS.

she has no idea where exactly she was born or to who. she doesn’t think about it much. the name she’s been given was done so by black star, on account of where she was initially found, along the border of wheats within the city of dust. her various escapades and the nature of her work have found her with many titles over the years, but she’s grown most attached to remi and has come to prefer it.

despite her blunt and seemingly shameless manner, remi tends to operate in a lot of half-truths if not outright, daily lies. it’s more habit than not, though it also serves as an apparent level of defense as it’s certainly enabled her survival until now. she is rather incapable, it seems, in offering details about herself that are entirely personal without great hesitation. she doesn’t believe anyone in this world is ever entirely honest, either. she can’t see that as ever being a possibility.

her style of fighting incorporates street fighting and mixed martial arts, things picked up among her travels and time with black star. and while she has no trouble using weapons and firearms when needed, particularly those capable of more destructive means, she holds a preference for breaking bones with her own fists.

remi is someone who relishes as little clothing as possible, seeing most fabric as another restriction she cares little for, and tends to dress rather inappropriately on all occasions. unless a job requires otherwise.

rings, dangling necklaces, and a good pair of shades are her go-to accessories.

chain-smoking, various levels of drug abuse, and alcoholism are the vices she most subscribes to regularly.

while some might assume her pro-war given her proclivities for violence, she is, in fact, entirely neutral, holding no preference for or against it. as far as she’s concerned it doesn’t involve her much, with her only goal to see to her own survival and see as much of the world as she can.

CYBERNETCIS.

while the initial phases of her cybernetics were lined in a wish of understanding, to see how far or how much it took to neutralize magic by the mage hunters, the eventual enhancements gifted to her by the criminal outfit known as black star vaguely mimicked a weapon of war. at least in parts. she would by no means receive the same level of biocybernetics a soldier might, but the insidious make of her implants would certainly permit her to be received as a capable threat.

the focus of her enhancements were based in furthering a skill they needed: her driving. this included various implants along the cerebrum and cerebellum, her left and right eye, and implants along the upper and lower half of the body where muscle and neuron collided in the arms, hands, legs, and feet. the end result has given her accelerated reflexes and maneuverability, increased durability, night vision, and better visual attention to detail.

the state of her cybernetics has always been such that it’s allowed her a more seamless, less bulky form with its internal make, preventing more obvious tellings. it’s evident in seeing her in action, however, that there’s strength beneath her bones and quite apparent she isn't entirely human. and though durable with a level of enhanced strength, she cannot hold against sustained fire, stress, or electrical surges.

it took two years to properly adjust to her implants, regularly having them maintained and reviewed when factors like gradual maturity came into play. though seemingly heavier in her youth, she’s since adjusted to the weight and varying aspects of residual pain, learning to maneuver well to compensate or medicate accordingly. sometimes overly so, in regards to self-medication, which can render her less adept, less cognizant.

#driver #remilia quinn #fantasy rp #scifi rp #skeleton rp #former

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sin-emberstalker · 4 years

Text

Character Sheet: Sin

The Basics ––––

Name: Zalaearis “Sin” Emberstalker

Nickname(s): Sin / The Desert Viper

Age: 235

Birthday: November 26th

Race: Sin’dorei (Blood Elf)

Gender: Male

Marital Status: Married to the incomparable Nivaeh Emberstalker

Physical Appearance ––––

Hair: Ivory

Eyes: Naturally emerald eyes accented with the distinct fel glow of his kind

Height: 6′3″

Build: Athletic, muscular but without a lot of mass.

Distinguishing Marks: A distinct serpentine like smirk. Elongated fingers often obfuscated by bandages, each digit adorned with razor like talons imbued with eldritch energy.

Tattoos: A mix of mundane but highly skilled tattoos along with eldritch runes and a permanent stain of shadow ichor upon his fingers and hands all the way to his elbows. He bears two full sleeves of tattoos, a chest and back piece, as well as shamanistic blessings upon his legs.

Piercings: Ear lobes, and helix often wearing serpentine like piercings.

Common Accessories: Unless at some formal event or at home Sin is never seen without his well-worn leather mask. He has worn this item so much that it has perfectly formed with his lower visage and is able to convey a bevy of expressions, no matter how snake like in appearance, through it.

Personal Information––– –

Profession: Void Wanderer / Engineer (Master shipwright) / Dealer

Hobbies: Narcotics, Designing new gadgets, Art, Artifacts (Specifically with regards to the old gods) causing trouble.

Languages: Thalassian, Orcish, Common, Goblin.

Residence: Emberstalker Estate (location unknown)

Birthplace: Dalaran

Religion: N/A

Patron Deity: N/A

Fears: Forever loosing the connections he has made with those close to him due to the madness that he seems to struggle with daily.

Relationships ––– -

Spouse: Nivaeh Emberstalker

Children: None living.

Parents: Genrath Emberstalker (Alive and in exile) Auria Emberstalker (Deceased)

Siblings: Mercilia Emberstalker (Twin)

Other Relatives: TBD

Pets: A shadow raven named Talah

Sex & Romance ––– -

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

Preferred Emotional Role: submissive | dominant | switch | non-existent

Preferred Sexual Role: submissive | dominant | switch

Libido: High

Turn ons: “Thats a long and rather detailed list.”

Turn offs: "Another long list but since I only bed my wife and Jovi it doesn’t matter much.”

Love Language: "What the fuck does that mean?”

Relationship Tendencies: A formally devout poly individual Sin has been in a long term marriage for some time now. His only other lover his is constant companion Jovi.

Traits ––– -

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Additional information ––– –

Smoking Habit: Heavy Use of bloodthistle

Drugs: As one of the Hordes foremost pharmacologists Sin has access to both chemical and mystical components for a variety of moods.

Alcohol: Heavy

RP Hooks ––– –

Illicit Activities: Despite the level of power he has obtained and the vast wealth shared between himself and Nivaeh, Sin still finds it enjoyable to do the things that he got his start doing. Are you looking to get custom narcotics for a club event? Smuggle in a forbidden magic relic? Acquire property that for one reason or another is in the possession of someone else? Well look no further. These sorts of things can be jobs that someone hires Sin to do, but what I find more enjoyable is heists and capers with more than one involved.

Shadow Magic / Void Magic: While Sin may not be a mage or some sort of powerful warlock, he is however very adept at using magical fonts to imbue himself with certain abilities. It was only within the last ten years that he has been able to use this ability due to a long story line that has since been closed out. His focus has always been on shadow magic as it is the most useful for one in his line of work. He can train other individuals in these martial/magic practices if they have the diligence, bravery, and little regard for their own physical and sanity well being. He is also interested in acquiring any sort of relics associated with the void.

Master Shipwright/ Bike Enthusiast: Sin has always had a knack for all things engineering but his true loves are building airships and bikes. Airships are surely more impressive but these are expensive and labor intensive tasks. Lucky for Sin he has a close goblin associate who has access to a lot of skilled hands to aid in these projects. Motorcycles, on the other hand, are a far more personal project. Every one he builds, fabricates, and designs himself. He only takes on maybe 1-3 commissions for a bike per year.

Devil’s Deal: This one is rather vague in nature but the end run of it is a business transaction on either end leaves one of the individuals in a semi-perpetual state of debt that they struggle to get out of. This is handy if the characters seem like they might not get along well ICly but we want to see that train wreck oocly. This way a compulsion exists for both characters where they have to interact which can lead to some funny encounters and sometimes even deep if unlikely friendships.

#Character Sheet

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porthavenhq · 4 years

Photo

Welcome to Porthaven, Reese! We can’t wait to meet Ares Markopoulos!

Please look over the acceptance checklist and submit your blog within the next 24 hours. If there is a problem or a prior obligation and you need more time than provided, just message the main and we will gladly extend!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　OUT OF CHARACTER　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Name: Reese Pronouns: She/Her Age: 28 Timezone: EST Activity Level: Pretty good Triggers: Rape/Sexual Assault

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　CHARACTER INFORMATION　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Name: Ares Markopoulos Age: March 28, 1989 Gender: Male FC: Charles Michael Davis

Character Biography

Growing up, Ares had the perfect life, at least as far as the public was concerned. In reality it was all a carefully constructed web of lies from a mother and wife more concerned with her image than silly things like love and family. The war hero turned politician husband was a serial adulterer with a temper. The eldest child, the perfect daughter who could do no wrong was a product of an affair they were pretending had been with them all along. The middle child, handicapped, unattractive, and unloved; a carefully guarded secret. And Ares, the youngest, handsome and determined to follow in his father’s footsteps as a soldier, the one mother could brag about at her book club and wine tastings. Saying he was her favorite was like picking out a child’s favorite doll.

Joining the military immediately upon graduating high school was just the first nail in the coffin as far as his mother was concerned, and did nothing to gain his father’s approval. Though it did give his mother the push she needed to finally divorce his father, having decided the whole thing was his fault. He struggled to prove himself for a few years, chafing under the strict rules and taking orders from others, before washing out over a failed psych evaluation.

From there it was mercenary work outside the states after an old friend recruited him for his group, and the private sector was good to him. It let him fight, gave him an outlet for his aggression, and it paid well. And best of all, it managed to piss off both of his parents and his sister at the same time. As far as he cared, there was literally no downside to it, and being kicked out of the military was the best thing to ever happen to him.

At least, until his recklessness finally caught up with him. Now he’s stuck laying low in the city of Porthaven, benched by his bosses until the heat dies down, bored out of his gods damned mind.

Headcanons

While he may have been his mother’s favorite growing up, his father made no secret of his contempt for his youngest son. It wasn’t something he had to figure out or guess, but something the man fully and frequently admitted.

Ever since being added to the family in her early teens, Ares and his sister have been rivals in everything; the love of their parents, grades, sports, the military. If there was a way to compete, they’d find it. And they hated each other for it.

As children, Ares and his older brother got along alright, though they weren’t exactly warm and fuzzy. That changed when his brother came home early one day to find him in bed with his girlfriend. The two have rarely talked since then, and only to exchange harsh words.

Ares spends most of his time in Porthaven at the gym practicing mixed martial arts with anyone he can convince to enter the ring with him or on the outskirts of the city keeping his aim sharp.

Having failed a psych evaluation, Ares is not legally permitted to own a firearm in the states.

Mage: Can induce hate and rage in others, enhanced strength, senses an opponent’s move right before they make it, and gets stronger the more he fights.

Inspiration

Playlist

#phqacceptance #disney rp #disney rpg #disney roleplay #rp #cartoon rp #animated rp #multifandom rp

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years

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5e Giorno Giovana build (JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind)

(Official DvD cover for JoJo Part 5 (Volume 1))

I’m first, Tulok!

I’m a big sucker for JoJo, having watched the full anime (so up to part 5 - Stone Ocean when?) and making a few stand users in D&D. (Pro tip: Shadow Sorcerer is the stand for The Wolf by SIAMÉS) It was when I was looking through some of the new UA subclasses I thought: “huhn. That would actually really work for Giorno!”

Tulok the Barbrarian’s JoJo builds are really great but he gets a lot more requests than I do on this humble little Tumblr. I’ve seen Giorno suggested in his comments several times so you can be damn-well sure I’m going to post this on Twitter when I’m done the build.

I’m going to try my best to avoid spoilers in this build, but of course some bits will have to be revealed so take it with a grain of salt. Also while tagging this “Giorno x Fugo” was a suggested tag and now you all have to live with that knowledge. Thanks Tumblr.

GOALS

Life, spring forth! - Gold Experience’s ability is to create new life. Excluding how overpowered that is we’ll be using that ability to our advantage when fighting dragons in a possible dungeon.

Gang Player - Giorno takes a sort of medic role in Bruno’s group, keeping everyone “alive” though they may not exactly be “well.”

MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA - Of course it wouldn’t be a bizarre adventure without the JoJo-branded punching ghost.

RACE

Giorno is technically human but he has the blood of a vampire. While there’s no half-vampire race in D&D Half Elves have a mix of a supernatural race in them. Your Charisma increases by 2 and you can increase another two skills by 1: choose Dexterity and Wisdom for your +1s. You get Darkvision up to 60 feet and your Vampire Fey Ancestry gives you advantage against Charms and makes it impossible to put you to sleep with magic. Would’ve probably been useful on the train.

Half Elves get Skill Proficiency in two skills of their choice: choose Animal Handling and Nature to properly take care of whatever you make with your stand. As for languages Common is probably Japanese and Elvish is Italian; pick whatever language you happen to be localized in since it really doesn’t matter.

ABILITY SCORES

15; WISDOM - Giorno is able to keep calm and level-headed in almost all situations, and the odd ability score from our race will balance this out nicely.

14; CHARISMA - Being the son of a vampire makes you naturally charming, on top of the +2 from our race.

13; DEXTERITY - Giorno runs around in a pink suit with lady bug pins, which in no way is heavy armor. And dodging attacks from La Squadra takes a lot of nimbleness.

12; CONSTITUTION - Damage is... interesting in the JoJo universe. Regardless a bit of extra Constitution will help us shrug off a bullet or twenty... Might want to help Mista with that.

10; INTELLIGENCE - Giorno was a good student before joining the gangs; he’s certainly no dummy.

8; STRENGTH - As the joke goes stand users got progressively less buff through the parts.

BACKGROUND

Giorno didn’t really have much of a background before becoming a Gang Star, but Celebrity Adventurer’s Scion from Acquisitions Inc is perfect for the son of DIO. You get proficiency in the Performance and Perception skills, as well as a Disguise Kit and two languages of your choice.

Your Name Dropping feature will let you use your gang influence to get a place to stay and food to eat, or help from some major figures in Passione’s pocket. At least until the boss knows what you’re doing.

(Artwork from tokkoro.com)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - BARD 1

Starting off as a Bard for the added proficiencies, notably the instrument proficiency to get a piano... or at least a Horn, Lute, and Dulcimer. Regardless Bards can choose three skill proficencies from All of Them: so take Medicine, Persuasion, and Athletics for JoJo chase sequences, speeches about dreams, and healing Mista.

Speaking of speeches Bards get Bardic Inspiration, letting them spend a Bonus Action to give an ally a d6 to add to an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw. Giorno is really good at inspiring his teammates. You have a number of them equal to your Charisma modifier and they come back after a Long Rest.

Finally Bards get access to Spellcasting: you get two cantrips from the Bard list. Mage Hand will let you make a bird to ferry over light object to you, and Vicious Mockery lets you deliver a speech about resolve to your enemy, doing a d4 of psychic damage and giving them disadvantage on their next attack roll.

You also get four level 1 spells from the Bard list: Cure Wounds and Healing Word are both staples for the gang medic, Animal Friendship is great for taking care of frogs, and Distort Value from Acquisitions Inc is great for running scams at the airport. Yes I finally get to use AI spells!

LEVEL 2 - MONK 1

Quickly hopping over to Monk to sort out our AC and give us some non stand-based mudas. Monks have Unarmored Defense equal to 10 plus their Wisdom and Dexterity (which is much higher than Leather Armor for you, and I don’t think your jacket is leather.) You also have Martial Arts to do a d4 of damage with your unarmed strikes, and use your Dexterity instead of your Strength to make unarmed strikes. You can also use your Bonus Action to make an additional unarmed strike if you already made a punch, allowing you to MUDA MUDA.

LEVEL 3 - BARD 2

Second level Bards get Jack of All Trades, letting them add half their proficiency bonus to any skill they’re not proficient in. Giorno is the protagonist and while everyone in Bruno’s group has their time to shine Giorno definitely shines with golden resolve. Just remember to let your allies have their time to shine too!

Second level Bards also get Song of Rest, letting you spend some time during short rests to heal everyone for an extra d6 of health if they use hit die to heal.

You also get another spell at this level and Feather Fall will let you cushion the fall if the gang starts to fall. I’d argue that this is less you slowing their fall and more you making a tree to gently lower them to the ground or something, but its up to you to flavor it. Heck: maybe someone else in the gang can make you a parachute?

LEVEL 4 - BARD 3

3rd level Bards get Expertise in 2 skills and as a Half Elf you have a lot of skills to choose from. Regardless I’d choose Nature and Medicine to know exactly what plants to use to heal Mista with Gold Experience.

Speaking of Gold Experience: the College of Creation Unearthed Arcana subclass can create life! But for a start you can make a Note of Potential, letting you give an ally some transformed life when you give them Bardic Inspiration.

Note of Destruction will let life retaliate when your ally use the Bardic Inspiration for an attack roll, forcing enemies within 5 feet of the inspired target to make a Constitution save or take Thunder damage equal to the roll on the Inspiration die.

Note of Protection will let some branches spawn around your ally, giving them temporary hitpoints equal to the roll on the Bardic Inspiration die plus your Charisma modifier when they use the die on a saving throw.

Note of Ingenuity lets an ally roll the Bardic Inspiration die twice when making an Ability Check... I have no Gold Experience reason for this but it’s still a cool ability to have!

Second level Bards also get access to second level spells like Animal Messenger, letting you send a bird out to inform the gang of an incoming stand user.

LEVEL 5 - BARD 4

Level 4 Bards get an Ability Score Improvement, and naturally we want more Charisma for better speeches and more Bardic Inspiration.

You also get another cantrip and another spell: Mending will let you spawn life to repair a broken object, and Enhance Ability will give your allies a boost of life to aid them with specific skill checks along with another bonus based on which skill you choose to aid them with.

LEVEL 6 - BARD 5

5th level Bards see their Bardic Inspiration increase to a d8 for greater Notes of Potential. They also get Font of Inspiration to recover Bardic Inspiration on a short rest instead of a long rest.

You also get access to third level spells and... hey look at that: life to create! The Spells and Magical Tattoos UA gave us Summon Fey Spirit, and while it isn’t quite normal for animals to teleport around the Fey spirit is still great in its own right. The spirit is friendly to you and takes its turn right after you in initiative. When it dies or you lose concentration it disappears. It has armor equal to 11 plus the level you cast the spell at (so probably 14), hit points equal to its Constitution modifier (2) plus your spellcasting modifier (4) plus 10 times the level of the spell you used to cast it. (30) (Adding up to 36 health total.)

It has a short sword with a 3 + the spell’s level hit chance increase (so a +6), and it does a d6 + 3 + the spell’s level (so another 3) piercing damage and a d6 of force damage. The fey does have multiattack equal to half the spells level, but it’s rounded down so right now it can only attack once. (Though if you cast this spell with a 4th level slot it can attack twice!) It has a 40 foot movement speed and can teleport up to 30 feet as a bonus action. And depending on which fey you summon the teleport will have an additional effect:

Deceitful fey can fill a space nearby where they teleport with magical darkness which lasts until the end of their next turn. Consider this a squid... magic squid... land squid.

Joyful fey can force an enemy within 10 feet of where it teleported to make a Wisdom saving throw equal to your spell save DC or be charmed by it for 1 minute. Consider this a peacock or something.

Furious fey get advantage on their next attack roll after teleporting. Just your good old standard mauler: something like a bear.

I really recommend looking at this spell in your own time to understand the nitty-gritty of it, and I highly recommend talking to your DM to make sure that they’re okay with you making another unit for them to compensate for in combat. But they better be okay with you making summons because...

LEVEL 7 - BARD 6

At 6th level Creation Bards get Animating Performance, letting them use their magic to let life spring forth from inanimate objects! As an action you can target a nonmagical item that’s large or smaller which you can see within 30 feet of you. The item becomes a Dancing Item, as seen in the stat block for this ability, and is under your control for 1 hour or until it is reduced to 0 hit points.

In combat it shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take one of the actions in its stat block or the Dash, Disengage, Help, Hide, or Search action. You can also choose what the Dancing Item does if you use your Bonus Action to give Bardic Inspiration.

Yes I did just copy-paste that from the ability’s description, but it should be mentioned that this does help compensate for the fact that you’re not the greatest combatant yourself. Your animated item can do a lot of the fighting for you while you stay in the backline and support. If you have a Fey Spirit out as well that’s two summons fighting for you while you stand in the back!

You can only have one Dancing Item at a time though, and can only use this ability once per Long Rest or until you spend a third level spell slot or higher to reactivate this ability. If you try to make a second Dancing Item the first one becomes inanimate.

Speaking of third level you also get another known spell: Plant Growth will let you... grow plants. Duh. I suggest reading the spell over to see everything you can do with it. Oh and you get Countercharm I guess, letting you waste spend a turn to give allies within 30 feet of you have advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed.

(Artwork from Wallpaper Cave)

LEVEL 8 - MONK 2

Now that we got the ability to let life spring forth it’s time to get our stand beatdown. But firstly second level Monks get Ki which lets them do a number of things:

Flurry of Blows let you spend a Ki point to attack twice with your Bonus Action instead of once, so you can MUDA MUDA MUDA.

Patient Defense lets you take the dodge action as a Bonus Action, giving enemies disadvantage to attack you until your next turn.

Step of the Wind lets you Dash or Disengage as a Bonus Action for those JoJo chases, and also doubles your jump distance!

Your Ki points come back after a short rest much like your Bardic Inspiration. Yes these all use your Bonus Action, and you’ll probably be using your Bonus Action to command your Dancing Item. But consider these safety nets for now. If it makes you feel better you also move 10 feet faster thanks to Unarmored Movement.

LEVEL 9 - MONK 3

Third level Monks can choose their Monastic Tradition and Way of the Astral Self get to awaken their close-ranged stand. You can use 2 ki points to activate Arms of the Astral Self, allowing you to use your Wisdom instead of your Strength for Strength checks and saving throws, and allowing you to punch at 10 feet while using your Wisdom instead of your Strength or Dexterity for your unarmed strikes. You also get the ability to attack one extra time per turn with your Bonus Action without spending your Ki, but you’ll probably be spending your Bonus Action to direct your Dancing Item.

You can also Deflect Missiles, letting you reduce the damage of an incoming ranged weapon attack by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Monk level. If you reduce the damage to 0 you can catch it and then throw it back as a Monk weapon with 1 ki point.

LEVEL 10 - MONK 4

4th level Monks get an Ability Score Improvement and we’ll continue increasing our Charisma for stronger life-giving stand powers.

4th level Monks also get Slow Fall, letting them any falling damage they take by an amount equal to five times your Monk level. Yes you have Feather Fall but you can reserve that spell for your gang while you land safely on your own.

LEVEL 11 - MONK 5

5th level Monks get an Extra Attack, meaning that you can MUDA MUDA normally, MUDA MUDA MUDA with your Bonus Action, and MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA with Flurry of Blows. It’s not quite a 7-page MUDA but you don’t need that many punches unless you’re dealing with the lowest of scum.

That’s because your punches can overwhelm the senses with Stunning Strike, forcing an enemy to make a Constitution save or be stunned for a round, giving all allies advantage to hit them. Note that this counts for all melee weapon attacks so it will work with your Way of the Astral Self arms, but you can punch with Gold Experience’s strength when in a pinch.

LEVEL 12 - BARD 7

We got all the MUDAs we need so now we can finish giving ourselves Gold Experience. 7th level Bards can cast 4th level spells like Polymorph. You can transform a living creature into an animal of CR equal to their CR / level or lower. They can make a Wisdom save to resist but you can transform one of your party members into a powerful beast to take on the boss. T-Rex Narancia? T-Rex Narancia.

LEVEL 13 - BARD 8

At 8th level you get another Ability Score Improvement: since our Charisma is finally maxed out it’s time to grab the Inspiring Leader feat to give a speech to your allies and bolster their resolve, giving them temporary hitpoints equal to your total level plus your Charisma modifier. That’s 18 temporary hitpoints currently!

You also get another spell and Hallucinatory Terrain will let you mold the environment around you temporarily with Gold Experience. None of the changes you make with this spell will last but you can definitely use it to trick some foes into thinking that they’re in danger when they’re actually safe, or tricking them that they’re safe when they’re actually in danger.

LEVEL 14 - BARD 9

9th level Bards see their Song of Rest increase to a d8, because this ability scales very poorly if you multiclass. You do however get access to 5th level spells like Mass Cure Wounds, allowing you to quickly heal any injuries the gang might’ve taken.

LEVEL 15 - BARD 10

Your next level gives you Expertise in 2 more skills: I’d choose Animal Handling and Persuasion to persuade people not to hit the frog you’re handling with a shovel.

But the main appeal of Bard is of course their Magical Secrets: you can choose two spells from any class’ spell list and guess what? We’re going to Druid. Wrath of Nature lets you supercharge the plant growth in an area to do a bunch of useful things, and Entangle is a lower level spell that also slows down enemies. But of course feel free to take other Magical Secrets if you don’t want nothing but plant growth.

Finally your Bardic Inspiration die increase to a d10 and you get another cantrip: Dancing Lights will let you make some fireflies to light the way. Yeah you probably have better light sources but none of the other Bard cantrips really seem that good.

(Artwork from wallpapertag.com)

LEVEL 16 - BARD 11

11th level Bards get 6th level spells like True Seeing, so you can make sure that you always reach the truth.

LEVEL 17 - BARD 12

12th level Bards get an Ability Score Improvement and we’ll increase our Wisdom for stronger stunning strikes and punching arms.

LEVEL 18 - BARD 13

13th level Bards see their Song of Rest increase to a d10, because this ability scales terribly. You also get access to 7th level spells and Regenerate is the best spell for Gold Experience. You allow an ally to regenerate health for the duration and they can also regrow limbs! Feel free to rule this as you giving them a newly forming body part.

LEVEL 19 - BARD 14

At 14th level Creation Bards get their final ability Performance of Creation, allowing them to create one nonmagical item in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of them. The maximum gold value is equal to 20 times your level in Bard (so up to 300 GP next level) and it’s obvious that the item was made with this ability due to magical music floating around it.

The item disappears at the end of your next turn unless you use your action to maintain it. You can extend it up to a maximum of 1 minute, after which it continues to exist for a number of hours equal to your bard level. Once you create an item with this feature you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest or spend a spell slot of 5th level or higher to use it again. You can have only one item created at a time and if you use this action and when you have an item out the first one immediately vanishes.

It’s perhaps not too Giorno-esque to make weapons and tools but you can make mounts with this! 280 gold is more than enough to make a riding horse or anything else you might need! Giorno’s craftiness and ability to create what he needs in a fight is one of his biggest strengths.

You also get more Magical Secrets because 14th level for Bard is very loaded. We’ll be hopping back to Druid again for Wall of Thorns, a 6th level spell that lets you make a wall... of... thorns... For your second choice we actually have to wait until next level because of interactions with the Magical Secrets feature.

LEVEL 20 - BARD 15

You final level is the 15th level of Bard for a d12 Bardic Inspiration die. You also get access to 8th level spells at this level but I don’t really want any of them from the Bard list so we’ll be hopping back to 7th level to get Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion inside of Coco Jumbo. The spell is really extravagant and is far bigger than the one room turtle is normally: I highly suggest reading the spell over on your own time so you can set up a proper mansion for a mob boss.

As for that Magical Secret of yours... D&D Beyond is very weird with this but according to my understanding this should be allowed. If you want to subject your enemies to a Requiem the best spell to take would be one from Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount: the 8th level Dunamancy spell Reality Break. Reality Break only has 4 different near-death experiences for your enemies but if they fail their Wisdom check you can make sure they never reach the truth.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

I will not order any of you - You are quite the team player, and can make a team for yourself! Your Animating Performance can fight for you while you stay back to heal or cast some heavy nukes.

Don't make me say the same thing twice - You’re incredibly skilled as a Bard with 3 proficencies, Expertise in another 4, and Jack of All Trades in the remaining skills. Regardless of situation you can find a way out of it.

I turned my tooth into a jellyfish - Along with your nukes and your heals you have a ton of utility spells which allow you to travel, rest, and share information safely.

CONS

2 paths - Let me just run down your Bonus Action list real fast: You have...

* Dancing Item commands * Activating your Astral Arms * Unarmed Strikes * Astral Arms attacks * Flurry of Blows / Step of the Wind / Patient Defense * Bardic Inspiration

Mixing two classes with Bonus Action economy results in your overall action economy being very bloated.

In this world, only the results matter! - Everything you have is limited: Ki points, Spell Slots, Bardic Inspiration, and summons. Yes your Ki and Bardic Inspiration comes back on a Short Rest but your spell slots and Bard class features only come back after a Long Rest, meaning that you’ll need a lot more time to recover than others.

Lept past it - This build has a few issues which are more “meta” problems than actual problems with the class. The first issue is that all the spells and features combined result in VERY long turns. In particular if you opt to summon a Fae Spirit and fight with your Dancing Object that results in THREE creatures that need to take their action on your turn.

The other big issue is that the levels in Monk really don’t do much to help you. You would’ve probably been better off investing in Fighter or something for Medium Armor instead of using Unarmored Defense, and while the high Wisdom is nice for skill checks and RP your Astral Self arms aren’t going to be your main weapon by a long stretch, especially since you have so many Concentration spells.

But as a JoJo Protagonist your job is to win your fights and then take a break while the rest of your gang gets their own archs. Inspire their shining resolve but occasionally lay the smackdown on those who truly deserve it. Play the piano so your foes know that they’ll never reach the truth, and spare some paper for the 7 pages you’ll need to do the smackdown.

(Artwork by u/yourfreakyneighbourh on Reddit.)

#DnD 5e #dnd #dnd build #dnd monk #dnd bard #il vento d'oro #golden wind #giorno giovanna #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo's bizarre adventure golden wind

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