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utilitycaster · 1 year

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So you're playing a D&D class

(had these thoughts while thinking about CR character builds, but relevant to D&D in general).

Here's just a brief list of three questions per class that are intended to be helpful if you're playing that class and are working on fleshing out that aspect of your character. Note that I'm only covering officially published classes for 5e. If you're a blood hunter I am just going to assume you know what you're about, and if you're a mystic then you are beyond help or hope. Also, obviously, there's way more to a character than their class! But understanding why the character is that class is pretty crucial to overall character build.

Artificer:

Did the magic come first or did the tinkering come first?

Did you apprentice or were you self-taught?

What do you dream of creating - or if you don't, what outside goal drives your creations?

Barbarian:

Is rage a cultural or family trait, or is this unique to you?

What do you feel like when you rage?

What do you feel your purpose is, outside of combat? Do you have one or are you not sure? (note - feel free to ask this about other martially focused classes, but barbarians skew especially hard towards combat skills above all others)

Bard:

What led you to be able to tap into the echoes of creation (not guaranteed for all artists!)

What is your medium, and how did you come to it/learn it?

You have a ton of skills - how did you acquire them?

Cleric:

What is your relationship with the deity/entity/concept that grants you your powers?

Since many sources have multiple domains, why this domain specifically?

What does your worship look like?

Druid:

Is your relationship to nature cultural, or personal?

What drew you to your circle?

How do you feel about wildshape? Is it a tool available to you, or an enjoyable experience?

Fighter:

Who trained you or how did you pick up your skills?

What led you to focus on fighting? Is there something you wished to attack or to protect?

Fighter is REALLY modular/subclass dependent, so dig into your subclass; if you're a champion, the 'what is your purpose outside combat' from Barbarian may apply, but if you're say, an eldritch knight or rune knight, you may have had two teachers and should dig into that.

Monk:

Who trained you?

What does Ki feel like for you?

Not a question, but: with the caveat that I know very little about martial arts, I do think that having a concept of the martial art style your monk uses is a huge help in bringing the character to life.

Paladin:

What drew you to this oath?

What continues to motivate you?

You're in a very versatile role; which part speaks to you the most- do you see yourself more as a protector? a healer? is the versatility itself what matters?

Ranger:

How did you learn your nature skills?

What is your relationship to your magic?

Why are your favored terrain and enemy what they are?

Rogue:

How did you learn to pick locks?

Did your thievery/stealth come as a necessity for survival, or was it a choice?

As with bard - what specifically led you to develop the skills you have?

Sorcerer:

When did your powers first manifest? If it was not when you were very young, what were you doing beforehand?

Are you interested in where your powers came from? How far would you go to learn about them? Or do you already know?

What would you do if your powers disappeared?

Warlock:

What led you to make the pact - even if it was accidental or a trick?

How do you feel about your patron generally?

Because warlock is truly very modular - that is, extremely reliant on the boon and evocations for flavor, analyze the choice of evocations and boon. If you picked agonizing blast, why specifically did your warlock want to make eldritch blast stronger? What drew your character to the blade vs. chain vs. tome?

Wizard:

What role do wizards play in your society?

How were you trained?

What do you most desire to learn or achieve?

#d&d

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razberrypuck · 1 year

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miscellaneous things about gillion that I think are interesting: a compilation

the fact that he's religious, calls lunadeus his moon mom, and is believed to be the chosen one of his goddess, but prayer isn't something he regularly participates in

his clear love of the arts vs constantly saying he isn't any good at them. not doing anything related to art or music unless jay and chip are also doing it with him. the fact that he can play guitar and knows instruments well enough to create functioning ice versions of them. I'm convinced he would've become a bard if he hadn't had paladin pushed on him

nearly his entire life, he was taught that people from the oversea were evil, and that they were liars who wanted to get rid of the ocean. he was taught to kill on sight, because they're the bad guys. but he didn't try to harm jay or chip when they found him. he happily accepted their offer to help them

in the edison kingdom, when they were making their plan to get into the castle, right? chip asked what servants of the elders wore, and gillion motioned to his own outfit. I haven't seen anyone mention this ever and it's so weird to me. I understand they (the elders) would want gillion to be in uniform, but you'd think the chosen one and champion of the undersea would have his own uniform, right? or, at the very least, something to separate him from everyone that works in the palace

charlie saying in a rolled that if gillion was forced to relax and not do anything he'd break down

his connection to lighting

the fact that magic was particularly difficult for him to learn, and how apparently he would accidentally blow things up. personal headcanon that he used to have wild magic before he got it under control

his coral. I wanna know the fucking deal with that. it's growing out of his skull. he can feel when it's broken. it glows when he uses magic. it can be used to make water breathing potions that physically mutate the user's body to be better suited for swimming. it's apparently sacred. we have never seen anyone else with the same condition. nobody asks about it and I'm upset I want to KNOW

ik this is just a d&d thing but the fact that he can lift like?? ~500 lbs?? without having to roll strength?? beefy boy. jay and chip weigh nothing to him. it's like holding a couple of grapes

just the way he talks about the undersea. it's beautiful, it's dangerous, it's dark and cold and wet, i just want to go back, it's a nightmare, i miss it, i know the rules necessary but they're so strict sometimes it feels like they're strangling me, i want you to see it someday

feel free to add on/talk about any of these points :]

#jrwi riptide #jrwi #just roll with it #jrwi show #gillion tidestrider #jrwi gillion #gillian tidestrider #jrwi gillian

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tea-earl-grey · 5 months

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Voyager character dnd classes

see the other series here!

Janeway: paladin. literally no question she literally made an oath to get her crew home, she is a prototypical paladin. i started this series of posts because i realized how much of a paladin Janeway is.

Chakotay: paladin. i struggled a bit with Chakotay but he is obviously someone very dedicated to truth and justice and was willing to go off on his own path to fulfill that dream of justice when he joined the Maquis and that's very paladin of him.

Tuvok: monk. i think a lot of Vulcans have big monk energy due to their intense almost monastical studies and devotion to logic and Tuvok is a prime example who is highly trained in both physical and mental discipline and sought to help others (Kes, Suder) exercise that same discipline.

Torres: sorcerer. Torres very much lacks the formal training that a usual Starfleet engineer (or wizard) would have but (in my opinion) has even more natural talent for ambitious engineering and manages to be a miracle worker not through some pact or intelligence but just through sheer force of will.

Kim: wizard. look in the show, Torres and Kim were kind of presented as opposites (the Maquis vs Starfleet) with the personality differences to match despite having a vaguely similar set of skills and capabilities. so it really makes sense that if Torres is a sorcerer, Kim would be a wizard with all the traditional by the book learning that entails.

Paris: fighter. Tom Paris is a fighter and i don't have much of an argument other than ~vibes~ and the fact that only a fighter would think he could tank the damage from going warp 10 and then start turning into a salamander.

EMH: cleric/bard multiclass. look the EMH was literally designed to be a doctor. when he was first activated that was his entire purpose and nothing else so i don't think i can really argue that he isn't a cleric. but as he started to exist for longer, he consistently wanted to be something more (specifically a singer, see Virtuoso). i need to emphasize. he's not a good bard. he doesn't provide inspiration or support to anyone. but the fact is that he needs to prove he can be something more.

Neelix: bard. do i have to explain myself? Neelix is very much a jack of all trades master of none kind of character. he dabbles in pretty much everything and 90% of his scenes exist to give support and encouragement to other characters.

Seven: warlock. even in-universe, the Borg (when they're at they're best) are portrayed as this eerie eldritch entity so i think it would make sense that in dnd mechanics, even though Seven broke away from the Borg, she maintained that pact with them in order to keep performing sorts of magical acts (like her increased strength and like. bringing people back from the dead). but she also very much has that same darkness and melancholy that a warlock has from a pact with an ambiguously evil being.

Kes: druid. no question about this one. she has an affinity for plants and vague but powerful supernatural abilities drawn from the literal energy of the universe.

please feel free to reply with your own headcanons! i'd love to read them.

#voyager #star trek #kathryn janeway #chakotay #tuvok #b'elanna torres #harry kim #tom paris #emh #neelix #seven of nine #kes #star trek dnd fusion #i'm this close to starting to type up everyone's character backstories and pretending like i'm actually going to write something #but for real voyager would make a great ttrpg campaign (whether it's a dnd skin or not)#my posts

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cryptids-and-muses · 6 months

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Post canon homestuck crew play Dungeons and Dragons

Karkat and terezi

Co dms

Unstoppable when actually working together

Terezi will get sidetracked messing with karkat

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

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

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

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

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

John

Arcane trickster rogue

Forest gnome

Just a goofy little guy!

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

Ends up SUPER invested and taking this so so seriously

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

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

Rose

Drow warlock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Has written fanfic of the campaign

Jade

Dragonborn barbarian

Path of the beast

Don’t ask me I just know

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

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

It was harder naming her animal companion than her character

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

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

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

Takes the rp side of things very seriously

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

Has read roses fanfic of the campaign

Dave

Plays a teifling with grey skin and orange horns

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

Hellus Jeffus

He’s a valor bard, eventually multiclasses paladin

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

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

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

Dave might have worked through some things

Jane

Halfling cleric

Her and John are small buddies!!!

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

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

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

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

Roxy

Tabaxi, easily, it’s so obvious

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

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

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

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

She tells jake

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

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

Dirk

Half elf Druid circle of spores

Wildfire seemed fun to him but wasn’t as good

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

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

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

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

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

Is considering becoming a dm some time

Jake

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

Eventually after much discussion settles on a teifling bladesong wizard

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

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

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

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

Calliope

SHE LOVES THIS SO MUCH

Teifling Druid with a focus on healing

Circle of shepards

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

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

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

Gives at least one dramatic speech completely on the fly

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

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

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

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

Vriska

Fairy artillerist artificer with a dip in war magic wizard

Min maxxed to hell and back

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

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

Yes she is That Player, you know the one

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

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

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

Kanaya

Fire genasi ranger

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

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

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

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

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bloodyshadow1 · 2 months

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just my feelings on the bad kids and their class levels/classes right now. It's just my opinion, I am not bashing the multiclasses or the players choices

Adaine- Love it, she's an 11th level wizard, i get that multiclassing can be fun, but for some classes it's just better, imo, to just stay the course because having access to upper level spells can be more useful than a multiclass. I'm sure there's a broken wizard multiclass, but I think it just fits her better to stay a wizard throughout. Sometimes with full casters, I could see dipping into monk or Barbarian for the ac buff, but neither would help her so It's probably best for her to stay a wizard since she has access to 6th level spells since leveling up

Kristen- Same as Adaine, I personally like full casters to stay the course and keep on keeping on. again I'm sure there's a broken cleric other class build, like Saccharina from ACOC, but I'm not sure anything other than paladin would fit Kristen. A lot of her issues are mental and Tracker was right about her not wanting to do the boring stuff. I like her having to discover what she wants out of being a cleric rather than her dropping it because it's not exactly what she wants for something new.

Riz- 11 levels of rogue, though from the beginning of the season he's now an arcane trickster instead of an inquisitor which I think is more helpful and just a better fit. He's still a detective, but he's also kind of a secret agent so having access to magic helps and fits his character growth. Also he never really used a lot of the inquisitor abilities that often and his perception wasn't that good to justify the subclass. I'm also glad he is staying a full rogue so far, I think given the mechanics of Junior year so far, it would put a lot of strain on him to try and do more than just a single course track

Now for the multiclassers

Fabian- I think both taking levels of bard and going from champion fighter to battlemaster was the best choice for him. I think overall he was a fighter because he was taught to be one, but overall the boy is a bard at his core. The flourishes the spells, the charisma proficiency, they're what Fabian wants more than what he gets from being a fighter. Fabian has always wanted to be popular and stand out while being a great warrior and a swords college bard fits that better than being a fighter, a class he seems to have very little attachment to. Currently he is a 6 fighter 5 bard, since he was a level 8 fighter and gave up 3 levels to take in bard when he was depressed he has boosted up 2 levels in that class vs 1 in fighter. After the initial class level trading he hasn't decreased his levels in fighter, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does in the future.

Gorgug- this is where I get a bit critical, I don't really know if Artificer Barbarian is a good multiclass. I've seen some people say it's amazing while others say it's terrible, I have no clue. from what I can tell it doesn't look like it's super good, it's a support class and a tinkerer so it does fit Gorgug, but I don't think it really is that efficient with the Bad Kid's party comp. Fabian and Gorgug were the front line fighters, Gorgug being the tank and DPS while Fabian was a striker dps with a good hp pool and ac, but Barbarians soak up damage better than any class. It's also hard to be a caster (even a half/third caster like Artificier, and be a barbarian because you can't cast spells or even concentrate on them when you rage which is obviously a problem. It's just hard to imagine gorgug as an battlesmith, which I assume he is, since other than the steeldefender it doesn't give him anything he doesn't already have as a barbarian. We also don't know any of his infusions so it's hard to really be attached to Gorgug as an artificer when we don't really seem him artifice. That being said, he's Zac's character so whatever he wants is gonna happen. Since Gorgug has been trading an additional level in barbarian for artificer (6 barb/5 art) I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually drops barbarian all together. I think a barbarian is more useful, but I can understand why Zac would want Gorgug to go down the artificer path instead and I support it.

Fig- Honestly, Fig's multiclassing is the strangest to me because I can't really wrap my head around it. She so far only has 2 levels of warlock to her 9 of bard, even last level up she took another level of Bard, the two levels she took of warlock were in freshman year and she never really looked back. That being said, from the recent eps, it seems like she likes the warlock classes better, she isn't even sure if she wants to be a bard anymore. which I find kind of a shame because she also liked the 1 bard class she took. Emily is a master multiclasser so I'm sure Fig is gonna be great whatever and will be who Emily wants her to be. I'm hoping she doesn't become a paladin because, even if it's to replace her levels in Bard, despite hexblade being one of the best combos with paladin. It just feels like Fig as the character took levels/are planning to take levels in other classes to make other people happy. She became a warlock because she found her devil father and wanted to be closer to him, she offered to become a paladin for Cassandra to help out Kristen, but I think that's selfless, but it doesn't help her as a person. Sometimes you can be too selfless to a point where it's bad for you. Emily can of course do whatever, but I'll be a bit sad if has Fig giving up on being a bard. Like with Kristen it seems like Fig just doesn't want to do the uncool stuff and that's gonna be with anything she tries. I think she's running away from what she wants herself to be to make things easier/more exciting and I think it's going to backfire.

I will also say, it's not exactly fair for Brennan to poison her bardic abilities. I'll say more on the topic on another post but it's still how I feel.

#fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fantasy high meta #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #d20

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thettrpgtournament · 11 months

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Why you should vote for each of them and full art below!

Lucy Amano (by @ficklepenguin for D&D)

Lucy Amano (they/she) is a just a normal human ranger with a pet bear, except they're actually an aasimar and have no idea. They figured out maybe something was up when their friend went down in combat and they exploded into searing light, which is not a normal thing humans do. Their bear is named Nita, and he's the goodest boy. They also have a boyfriend and a girlfriend, or they would, if the trio would ever figure their shit out. And they also just found out that their dad is from the moon, which they didn't even know people lived there.

(art by @everlastingrandom)

Felix Ambercreek (by @ghostbrawl for D&D)

felix is honestly just my beautiful boy. that's all i can say. unfortunately, players from his campaign will read this so i have to be brief. felix is a newly-paladined paladin of sarenrae who is taking to redemption, forgiveness, and virtuosity like a special interest, but carrying it out in practice incredibly badly. when felix felt sarenrae call him to work at a mercenary guild, he left home with full support of his (also religious) family and took advantage of not seeing his family for a while in order to totally reinvent himself - changing his name and swearing himself to always be veiled, even in combat, so that nobody could see who he is. even as a novice paladin, this has already started to cause him problems -- for example, a band of goblins tried to steal his armor to summon a metal eating monster, and took his veil along with it. out of fear and desparation, felix split from his party and chased the goblins alone, almost dying to the metal monster (and a particularly cruel goblin) and strangling and killing one of the goblins that tried to kill him out of anger and frustration, marring felix's relationship with his god. though he does get his veil (one with embroidery done by another party member) back, it is torn and dirty at the end :-(. maybe one day felix will truly "get" what being a paladin is about, but for now he's largely controlled by fear, rather than the drive to value and redeem others - and he ends up using his responsibility as an escape instead of a duty.

Levlith Craephin (by @the-web-of-iris for D&D)

Levlith is a tiefling Bloodhunter, a mother of two who originated in the town of Icehaven, A woman of wits and courage, yet her calloused hands hold endless kindness and love. She spent her time caring for her own children, and many other children and adults alike in her hometown, a pillar of her community and someone trusted with the protection of many. Married once to a Drow bard named Briza, the two are now separated (but not divorced. it's complicated) she now reserves herself and has little interest in romance in her middle age life. After a terrifying incident and a close dance with death she came into possession of her ragged sword, as well as her newfound blood-hunter abilities, and soon left her adult children to roam across the empire and beyond in her mission of hunting down dark blots within the world from the shadows. After entering the coast with the intention of making a deal with the leader of a mercenary guild, she begins to meet new people and make new friends, and comes to realise she is now working in the same environment as her once lover briza. Together, the Silverlinings guildmates will follow requests, find themselves in trouble, and explore the unknown. However, what is Levlith's motives? What is she truly looking for? What is she hiding from? |O|nly time will tell.

#tournament poll #season 1 #s1 round 2b

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monstersdownthepath · 7 months

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Concerning dragons: So, dragons can turn into a full humanoid form with its own stats / equipment / class levels. Kazavon has/had a dragon form with four Fighter levels and a human form at Fighter 20, and I think Terendelev in the WotR game is like Paladin 16 since I can't find any stats for her in my books. Are there any guidelines or rules or conventions to what a dragon has from its humanoid form vs its true form? Levels? The effects of any equipment it might be carrying (it might not need swords or armor but a +5 Resistance Bonus from a cloak, or permanent Resist Energy 30 would be pretty sweet no matter what)? Or is it purely up to the GM to decide?

because I was curious myself: according to Dragons Revisited, pg. 51, Terendelev is an Ancient Silver Dragon, and her mention in Wrath of the Righteous: The Worldwound Incursion doesn't mention any class levels. The other shoo-in for class levels I could think of, the Gold Dragon Mengkare, has no class levels mentioned in any source, and by the time he shows up in Age of Ashes, the editions had shifted and discerning if he has any class levels has become impossible.

Looking up Kazavon, his statistics found in Curse of the Crimson Throne suggests his human self is almost an entirely separate entity from his draconic self; killing the former reveals the fully-powered latter without doing the latter any harm, unlike how shapeshifting normally works in Pathfinder. His human shape doesn't actually have class levels, but it does for some reason have different ability scores. According to his rules for Change Shape, this is a unique ability granted to him by his god.

The only dragon I know off the top of my head with class levels is the Red Dragon Aashaq, who's a 7th level Cleric of Dahak in addition to her already titanic stats. She hasn't been blessed like Kazavon has, presumably because Dahak would think a human form is useless. I believe this firmly puts it in the realm of "GM gets to decide," or the storyline gets to give them whatever they feel like. But since the Dragon creature type has the largest available hit dice (d12), maximum BAB, maximum saves, near-maximum skill points per HD with an enormous spread of 'class' skills, proficiency with all simple weapons plus specific weapons depending on their breed, AND innate spellcasting power that scales with their age category, a shapeshifted dragon can convincingly masquerade as a HUGE number of different classes without actually having any class levels! Any other class levels on top of that just add to whatever illusion they're trying to project and feel unnecessary unless you're trying to give them abilities they can't already emulate, such as those available to Druids, Warpriests, Bards, Alchemists, et cetera.

If you want to give your dragons class levels but really want to futz with how those classes interact with the dragon's alternate forms, the only real rules are the ones you decide to make... though, as written, they retain whatever powers they could as defined by the Polymorph/Transmutation rules.

#asks #arch-arsonist

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thessalian · 6 months

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Thess vs MCM Comic Con, Day 2

So today was the day. It was, I will admit, a very hard day, but it was A Day nonetheless.

Obviously, Comic Con was fun, despite ... well, public transport, home plumbing woes, whole bunches of nonsense and it just being Saturday at one of the UK's biggest conventions when you are less than mobile because of having a fucking cane. Still. Fun.

So, yeah, the usual public transport malarkey happened and when we arrived at the Excel Centre ... well, it turned out that their provisions for those requiring accessibility assistance were ... lacking. Or, to be less kind, an utter shit-show. We were crammed behind the main queues with a stall maybe four feet from our backs, with people trying to a) walk to some other part of the convention hall, or b) join a regular queue. But they finally figured out that this was actively stupid, and they moved us towards the rear, where we could kind of slip into the back one at a time after every two of the people in the regular queue had got their autographs. And there were some chairs. And good conversation. And Marion bonded with somebody over Fruits Basket. And that helped the fact that I was in a fair amount of pain and feeling very squished. Then again, it kept me from feeling any "I am meeting people I very much admire" anxiety too much.

Finally, my turn came. Matt Mercer came first, and he was an utter sweetheart who was actually really impressed by the couple of bits of my campaign that came up in conversation. (I think he was also probably slightly chuffed that I got inspired by some of his things and did something unique and interesting with them.) And @fauxfire76 got a specific shout-out because the Bunny-Bard story came out and he did seem to like how we handled it all, players and DM both. Plus he was really touched by the fact that them having people Skype in was what made me realise I could play with my dearest friends online. (And also being responsible for me meeting one of my players, and thus dearest friends.) Also, nearly forgot - he was well chuffed at what I brought for them to sign - the original Green Ronin version of the Tal'dorei Campaign Setting. I saw other people bringing sourcebooks but I think I'm the only one who brought that one. I thought it might be nice for them to see a) how far they've come and b) that we've been there since the beginning, frankly. It seems to have worked.

Little less conversation with Marisha, but I very much praised her acting / RP in Sagas of Sundry: Madness. I really do need to watch that again.

Laura, I praised her singing voice and we talked about Stray Gods (which will have to move back to the top of the Steam wish list). She was really sweet (and, later on in the photos, gave me a side-hug. It was really kind of her, given she could probably see I was struggling by then.)

Travis ... I don't think anyone's called him an "avatar of positive masculinity" to his face before, but he was really ... somewhere between flattered and touched, I think. That feels like that "someone lit up his face from the inside" expression's best description, anyway. Also we may have mentioned how good a job he and Laura seem to be doing with raising Ronin, because so many parents have doubts as to how they're doing and it's nice to hear that kind of validation.

Ashley ... equally touched by being responsible, through her Skype presence in Campaign 1, for the group I value so much today ... and also for having been company for a much younger me who had TV sitcoms for company, and thus having seen a lot of Littie!Ashley.

Sam ... Sam I saw on Broadway, so that came up. My accent came up (he was one of the few who flagged up that I in no way sound like I'm from the UK), and I mentioned having lived in New Jersey, and that @hyperewok1 lives in New Jersey, and how it was interesting that @hyperewok1 and Liam both lived in New Jersey and both played Oath of Vengeance Paladins to some degree. And together we came up with, "New Jersey breeds vengeance".

Which I then told Liam, which also got a laugh. As did my remembering about him in Dragon Age: Origins and his being various voices in Guild Wars 2, particularly this one crafting vendor who would say something every time you walked past him and my general response to any time I hear Liam's voice being a casual, out loud, "Hi, Liam!" Which I said a lot when I was playing Guild Wars 2, I can tell you.

And I was just about to get to Taliesin ... and then one of the stewards, who'd been helping me along the whole time, said that they were breaking for lunch and the photo ops, and she was really sorry, but I'd have to wait for the Talisein autograph. But I should go straight to the back area when the afternoon set came and I'd be let straight in. Okay, fine, that gave us time to find some food and a sit-down before photos.

Photos ... thankfully it was a little easier with the accessibility stuff that time, but the first photo (which was probably the better one) got nixed because of flash glare on our glasses. We didn't even get the option to see that photo - just got sent back for a second one, with head tilted down, which ... I did not need that much displayed double chin, thank you very fucking much. I'd rather have the lens flare. I can live with being in a JJ Abrams film. Anyway, the picture exists but I dislike it a lot. Marion looks great, though.

Anyway, after some cooldown time, and a bit of shopping wherein I found some dice that fit an Alisaie sort of theme (to go with the Scanlan-themed ones I got mostly because Purple and Bard), back to the autograph session. The very American woman helping out was in conversation with I think friends of hers and kind of didn't notice me there, so I spoke to a security guard and mentioned what happened at the morning session and he went back to get her. She came back looking hugely apologetic going, "Were you just there the whole time and I just ignored you? I am so sorry!" I told her it was fine and explained and she said, "Well, you've obviously been through it today so I'm going to just bring you straight in there because ... it's not protocol, but fuck it." Unfortunately, Taliesin was a bit behind schedule joining the others for the autographs (maybe an individual photo session ran long, maybe he was waiting for meds to kick in, all of the above, who knows? We just hoped he was okay), so she put me right at the front of the accessibility queue and even pulled over a chair so I could sit down. So we sat and watched the cosplay go by, had a nice conversation with some other people in the queue, and watched Felicia Day smack a cosplay Pike with a LARP mace. As you do.

Eventually, Taliesin turned up, looked really flustered, so we were just calling out, "It's okay! Take a minute!" So he did, and eventually he got started and I demonstrated my ability to be very fucking organised. I had my QR code out and ready, I still had my original Post-it with the name I wanted used (Thess, I used, because, as I told most of them, "Everyone I like calls me Thess"), and so when the steward looked at me, I just handed him my phone, opened my Tal'dorei guide to the right place and said, "That's the Post-it; I'm all set". I did that a couple of times over the course of the autographs and in both cases I got stares and, "...thank yooooooou..." It was a hard day for the poor sods. Most of them aren't even getting paid for this.

So then I got Taliesin's autograph. He's the only one who pronounced "Thess" properly (a lot of them didn't pronounce the H), and that got mentioned, and he asked where it was from (so Marion got in on the conversation because he asked if it was a Welsh name, and Marion's Welsh, so...) and I told him the Thancred / Therapy story and when I shook his hand, he did the "take hand in both his" thing (Matt did that too) and it was great.

And then Marion asked if I wanted to go home and I said "YES" with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Because as fun as it all was, I was stressed and in SO MUCH PAIN and very tired. And so we are now home after the usual absolute horror of public transport when tired, sore, and fed up.

But one more thing that put an added bit of sparkle to the evening. We were walking towards the door of the block of flats, and some people I don't honestly remember having seen had just come up from the block of flats and one of them stopped me and went, "Hey! We're wearing the same shirt!" And we were - the "Don't Forget To Love Each Other" one, though I'm not sure if his is the original or the second iteration. Doesn't really matter. So I asked if they were going to the MCM After-party. They said no, they couldn't get tickets to the live show so they more or less skipped it and I mentioned we'd just come from the Excel Centre and I had their autographs. From the reaction of one of the women of their little group, if I'd told them we also had a picture, her head might have exploded through sheer "impressed" and "envious". So they wished us a lovely evening and we wished them the same and so I apparently have Critters for neighbours. And I would bet money they're the ones who make the corridor smell of weed, but never mind.

So all in all, for all the OW OW OW OW OW, a good day. And now we're going to wait for takeaway curry to arrive because apparently asking me to cook was a bridge too far and I'm honestly too tired to argue with that.

#mcm expo

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silverspleen · 3 months

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For reference, who in The Party has game vs has no game-

Sethlos - Incredible game disrupted by sabotage. Paladin + Bard he has charisma so fucking powerful he can convince you to do anything anywhere but he keeps getting, honest to god, cockblocked by Morrigan because she hates him and wants to see him fail. This canonically happened. She ruined his flowers!

Varand - Would have game if he tried. Presumably irresistible to women who want a genuine but severely traumatized guy with an edge that they can fix. He is dangerous but so nice and you can fix him! Absolutely terrified to engage in romantic behavior because he's genre aware to know whoever he kisses is gonna die.

Bhalkam - No game in Ferelden. NO idea how much game he had in Par Vollen but in Ferelden he stands out so much and has only the barest grasp of the game culture on top of having to learn everything else. He was trying but had no idea how to broach getting with our blacksmith respectfully besides being like "You have excellent craftsmanship." >:(

Fin - Convinced he has game. Status of actual game unknown. He is striking out big time with Wynne but also his charisma is high. Assuming he could romance a weaker willed and more susceptible NPC if he tried but likes to work for it apparently.

Artoria - Had game. Would have absolutely romanced the fuck out of Morrigan if she hadn't died and was already significantly on her way there. Genuine tragedy.

Terribly now that Art died the party is ENTIRELY straight men, though we learned recently that Bhalkam has a different view on gender as Qunari gender is not the same.

#dragoons big dumb ocs #Bhalkam was like “there's two genders. FIGHTING and NOT FIGHTING.” and... huh cool

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endless-bunny · 8 months

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Pathfinder Iconics Comparison Part 2: Core Classes

[Part 1: Classes with Different Iconics] [Part 3: The Remaining PF2 Classes] [Part 4: Classes Who Got Demoted] [Part 5: Prestige Classes] [Part 6: Who's left?]

The lineup of Core classes didn't change between PF1 and PF2, except that the Alchemist was promoted to Core in PF2. We've already looked at Damiel and Fumbus, the Iconic Alchemists, so let's take a look at the remaining Core classes.

In the lead-up to the launch of Pathfinder 2nd Edition, artist Wayne Reynolds did a series called Iconic Evolution with Erik Mona. He talked about his changing approach to the artwork, and the updates that he made to these characters' designs to reflect the new design philosophy of PF2. I'll be parroting bits of this throughout the post that I find the most interesting.

Note: most of these character designs predate the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Starting with Valeros, Seoni, Kyra and Merisiel, these characters were presented as pre-generated characters for the Pathfinder product line when it was a series of adventures for Dungeons & Dragons 3.5. Maybe at some point I'll talk about the family tree of D&D/PFRPG since it's a very interesting topic, but it's another story for another day.

Barbarian

Amiri (she/her, Human [Kellid] PF1 vs. PF2)

Amiri's design changed very little. While some of the characters have covered up more, Amiri is still showing a lot of midriff since her scars are so important to her character. Her bastard sword (officially called the Ginormous Sword, not a joke) was taken from a frost giant.

Amiri was featured in Pathfinder: Kingmaker, the CRPG developed by OwlCat Games.

Bard

Lem (he/him, Halfling, PF1 vs. PF2)

Most of the Core Iconics are human, but there is one each of the non-human ancestries. Lem is the token Halfling. He's a member of the Pathfinder Society, and the one who inspired Ezren to join (although he refused to sponsor him). His flute is made of silver, so he can use it as a weapon against monsters that are vulnerable to silver. His design didn't change much between the two editions, but he does look a little bit older, perhaps wiser.

Wayne's design here seems to hearken back to his design for the D&D 3rd edition iconic Bard, Gimble.

There are a few clear differences. Gimble is a gnome, for one. He's got a beard, plays a lute instead of a flute, and seems to favour a crossbow instead of a dagger, but he definitely has whispers of being a proto-Lem.

Champion (Paladin)

Seelah (she/her, Human [Garundi], PF1 vs. PF2)

The class was called "Paladin" in PF1 and was restricted to being Lawful Good. In PF2, the class is now called "Champion" and has been expanded to allow characters of any Good alignment, with only the Lawful Good ones being named "Paladins" (the Neutral Good Champions are named "Redeemers" and the Chaotic Good Champions are named "Liberators"). There are also Evil Champions, but that will have to wait until later.

In her PF1 design, Seelah is carrying a helmet. When she was a young street urchin, she stole that helmet from a Paladin, an act which directly led to that Paladin's death. Stricken with grief, Seelah turned to the Paladins, who raised her into a holy knight.

Like Amiri, Seelah was featured in an OwlCat CRPG, this time Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Cleric

Kyra (she/her, Human [Keleshite], PF1 vs. PF2)

Kyra exemplifies something that I really enjoy about PF2 which is increased colour saturation. A lot of the PF1 illustrations are kind of muddy and washed-out, but for the most part in PF2 they're bright and vibrant. Kyra's blue and yellow outfit really pops.

Kyra is married to the Iconic Rogue, Merisiel (Kyra x Merisiel appreciation post coming soon).

Druid

Lini & Droogami (she/her, Gnome, PF1 vs. PF2)

Lini is the second of our four token non-humans, this time representing the gnomes. With PF2, they made an effort to separate themselves from their D&D roots and do something unique with the gnomes. They tried to make gnome designs cleave closer to their fey origins than they had previously, and I think that comes across in Lini's design. The quiver on her hip carries twigs, which she collects from every forest she visits.

Fighter

Valeros (he/him, Human [Chelaxian], PF1 vs. PF2)

Like Kyra, Valeros is looking much bolder and brighter. He's now got a shield, since shields gained increased mechanical interest in PF2. Also notice the tankard hanging from his belt. Valeros is a worshipper of Cayden Cailean, the Accidental god of ale, bravery, freedom and wine.

Valeros was the first Iconic character ever designed. Along with Seoni, Kyra and Merisiel, he appeared in D1: Crown of the Kobold King.

Monk

Sajan (he/him, Human [Vudrani], PF1 vs. PF2)

Like I said earlier, a lot of the Iconics covered up more in the transition from PF1 to PF2, and Sajan is no exception. I enjoy Sajan's PF2 iteration more not just because the blue of his clothes pops more, but it's also just such a more dynamic pose. I never particularly liked his A-pose key art, I don't feel it does a good job of showing what a Monk actually is.

Ranger

Harsk (he/him, Dwarf, PF1 vs. PF2)

The increased colour saturation really did wonders for Harsk, making his beard and tartan sash really stand out. The crossbow was his main weapon in PF1, but in PF2 they wanted to emphasise two-weapon fighting as a Ranger thing, so while they took away Valeros's off-hand weapon in exchange for a shield, Harsk now takes the role of resident dual-wielder. Notice as well that one of his most prominent accoutrements is his black tea kettle. Tea is Harsk's primary vice, man after my own heart.

Rogue

Merisiel (she/her, Elf, PF1 vs. PF2)

And now we come to the last member of the token non-human gang, Merisiel the Elf Rogue. Her outfit has remained mostly the same, though her rapier has undergone a transformation, and she seems to have swapped her throwing knives for a main-gauche. Wayne mentioned in his video that he tried to make his elves look more alien, moving away from just being "humans, but" like so many fantasy races. Merisiel is slender and waspish. Speaking of wasps, the black and yellow striped cloth is a symbol of her deity, Calistria, the Savoured Sting, god of lust, revenge and trickery.

Merisiel is Kyra's wife.

Sorcerer

Seoni (she/her, Human [Varisian], PF1 vs. PF2)

Seoni was the second character ever designed for Pathfinder.

Like Amiri, she shows off a lot of skin, because her tattoos are a big part of her character design. She got a cool new cloak though, and her staff got an upgrade (Wayne talks about the specific inspiration for this in his video). The cloak actually appears in some PF1 artwork, like her appearance on the cover of Mythic Adventures.

Wizard

Ezren (he/him, Human [Taldan], PF1 vs. PF2)

And last but not least, we have the Iconic Wizard, Ezren. Just like Kyra, Sajan and Harsk, the glow-up really made his robes vibrant, and I love that he's now showing off a little magic for us. His walking cane was upgraded to a staff, but it still has the iconic head. PF1 Ezren carries a crossbow, since in that game low-level magic was incredibly weak and spellcasters often needed a crossbow as a backup weapon. (somebody pointed out to me after I published this post that PF2 does still wear a crossbow on his right hip, don't know how I didn't notice that before)

#pathfinder #pathfinder 2e #pf2e #ttrpg #role playing game #tabletop

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galaxyraiders · 2 months

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Generalists vs. Specialists in TTRPGs.

Generalists and Specialists is a term that is never really heard of in the TTRPG community in my experience, but is a core mechanic of Galaxy Raiders in how I designed the game which allows for the variety of builds to be performed.

The concept of a Generalist and Specialist in Game Design is something mainly done in class based first person shooters, fighting games, and other video games. Each executive decision is made with this in mind: Will this topple the balance between both?

For those that don’t know, A Generalist is basically a character, class, race, or ability that has a wide variety of uses and is balanced in all aspects, in D&D terms, these are three classes, the Paladin, Bard and Ranger. These classes are designed to be able to do all aspects of the game in little ways very easily. A specialist on the other hand, is something that focuses on one aspect of the game, in D&D terms, like Wizard, Fighters, and almost every other class that hasn’t been mentioned. They usually have very in-depth mechanics that change up how the game is played with that style.

I incorporate a lot of the playstyle of a character in Galaxy Raiders to be tied to a Race, the game has no classes, but the general playstyle and feel of the character can be seen from the race, for example, a Supercomputer has the ability to control anything it hacks and become a hive mind with ease, this is just StarCraft for the player. Each race can be classed as a Generalist or a Specialist, each having their own traits and abilities that reflect that. The generalists can do a lot but not focus on something, while the Specialists can do so much by focusing on one thing.

The effect this has caused is a large diversity in roles that players tend to play as, while also always inherently feeling useful, Generalists will be able to play the game and feel helpful because of their role as being able to do a multitude of things, while a Specialist will always feel helpful because they have a niche that others don’t and can be a huge boon with. It balances the Team composition for those who want to make characters that operate as a team, and it also allows for players to play the game solo with great success as some items designed for specialists become used by generalists and vice versa.

Creating a perfect character with the moveset you want was one of my hugest drives nearly 10 years ago, that’s why I removed classes in GR2 and made various abilities to unlock, and now we’re here in GR3 with its large list of abilities to make every character.

Generalists and Specialists improved my games balance a whole bunch, as I was able to create more freedom in character design with those game design techniques. While most TTRPGs nowadays, especially popular ones, aren’t designed with this in mind directly (everyone is usually a specialist to make everyone unique and useful), it would really be amazing if we could see these concepts used more often.

#galaxy raiders #game dev #ttrpg #game mechanics #game design

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agentldiddy · 10 months

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My Favorite DND campaign I played in

We were a group called "The Leviathan Company," but I forgot how exactly we got that name (might've been the leviathan we fought). The players were -Zeta: Warforged Barbarian (my character). The very first thing he did in life was make a religion on their origins (Which involve Red vs Blue references, warforgeds, and gnomes). They then proceeded to absentmindedly harass the country side before joining the party. He has an absurd and nonsensical view of the world, and little thing like "common sense" isn't going to stop him from doing something ridiculous. He has handaxes installed in his hands and a crossbow in his mouth that he ate. While not confirmed, I often joked that Zeta's innard are rather lovecraftian and eldritch. After the campaign ended, he invented Mac n Cheese on accident. -Dar MakDerlad: Human Fighter, noble from a fictional country that his player wrote lots of lore about--including a language--which is Australia and Ireland combined, put in snow, and with the same general views of a warhammer city. He is quickly-angered, prone to graphic threats, heavily racist, but loyal to the point that he'd give his life if he betrayed his friends. He chills out at least a slight bit, don't worry. Also, he is both gay and homophobic, and half the campaign is about trying to revive his dead boyfriend (and other war buddies too). -Anakiir Mortis: Drow Sorceror, skilled in alchemy, a scholar, hails from beyond the lands. He is the smartest of the group and tries to expand his knowledge. Tied with Dar as the morally worst person in the party. He used to have a pet fish named Marvin that he would feed magic items to increase the strength of. However, he released Marvin to fight the Leviathan. He is also gay, but I'm pretty sure his player confirmed that to one-up Dar. His backstory is spoilers, and I might tell this story later (and Dar's player is trying to write a novel on it) -Lily: High Elf Rogue and Sorceress who works in an underground crime syndicate, stealing riches from nobles. Unsurprisingly, she hates nobles with a burning passion. She tries to live her best life. Racist against Dwarves and Gnomes for personal reasons. She joined the party because her syndicate had to lay low as there weren't many jobs at the moment. She is also a Lesbian, and bought a Tiefling slave girl to romance (Btw, her player probably made her for horny reasons, but he ended up giving her excellent development) -Sir Ivan, Human Paladin of Emotep, the God of Food, Money, Bitches. He is the moral compass and straight man of the group (due to being the only one who isn't gay--or asexual, in Zeta's case). He is the standard lawful good, except it's actually done in a good way instead of a stupid way. He also has a backstory that's spoilers, so I'll refrain from telling. Some NPCs that joined them: -Cyren Arafir: High Elf Bard originally hired as a one-night stand for Anakiir, ends up becoming an integral party member. -Doc: Human Cleric of Emotep the party yoinked one day. The DM accidentally gave him Dr Ned's voice from Borderlands. -Lila: Tiefling Rogue, mute slave girl that Lily bought. She got killed in the fight with the Fish King, but she got better. -Marvin: Fish-turned God, was fed magic items by Anakiir until he ascended in the fight against the Leviathan of Kua-Toa making. Current Wherabouts are unknown. -Child: I forgot his name but luckily it's spoilers, so I don't have to tell you right now.

I might detail some of the sessions that happened in this campaign.

#dungeons and dragons #dnd #dnd 5e #dungeons and dragons 5e #leviathan company

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redjennies · 1 year

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ok now i NEED to know your beef with sorcerers. i dont have an opinion but i do have popcorn

I'm going to be honest. It's just a general beef I have with "special characters."

like all the d&d classes have a general story attached to them. you can try to subvert the archetype but it's always present. you're still going to have to interact with it somehow. like there is, and there should be, a difference in character in between choosing to play a barbarian vs a fighter, a cleric vs a paladin, a druid vs a ranger, a wizard vs a warlock, etc outside of just what abilities/stats you want. you don't have to play into an exact archetype (not all paladins are Robo-Cop and all that), but especially with how balanced the classes are in 5e, I think it's important to ask yourself when coming up with a personality for your character: why is this character this class and not something else? how do they relate to their class? what does it add to their narrative?

and I think the sorcerer's flavor just sucks especially when it's contrasted against the other full casters. it lacks the studiousness of wizards, the devotion of clerics and druids, or the cunning of bards and warlocks. at the risk of sounding like Ludinus Da'leth, sorcerer's abilities are boring to me because they don't come from anything intrinsic to the sorcerer's character outside of a vague sense of "I'm a special boy and the rules don't apply to me. oho, where did this new power come from?"

and the proverbial you can try to work with that if you really want to prove me wrong. try to find some way to make Chosen One characters interesting to me in a way a thousand stories before it have never quite managed, but like, why would anyone want to play a lame sorcerer when you could just play a cleric or wizard or bard or paladin or any other class that, I don't know, actually works for a living unlike these sorcerer nepo-babies. /joke

#asks #also like metamagic was fun in 3.5e but i literally just don't care enough to trade a good honest proletariat class for it

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whatisurgatepolicy · 3 months

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My best friend challenged me to figure out what my various Tavs would be like as origin characters, and it's been a very fun thing to consider. So here's something overly in-depth.

So let's start with Rhea Dancer (Seren Lowell), as I just finished playing her through for the second time, hahahaha.

Initial Class: Paladin (Oath of Vengeance), occasionally receives [ex-bard] dialogue options when controlled by the player due to her past.

Quest Title: Nevermore Rhea was the youngest princess of a small kingdom to the east of the Chionthar. She took part in a failed rebellion, was exiled into drow slavery, and returned to try and kill the king again, only to die because he's a level 18 archwizard and she was a level 7 bardadin. Her twin brother, a Chosen of The Raven Queen made a deal with his goddess to bring back his sister. Unfortunately, she was brought back to life about five minutes before the Nautiloid swung by. Found: hiding from intelligence devours in the crashed nautiloid, pretending she isn't hiding from intelligence devours.

Tent: Plain, blue, blue rug. A hammock on the inside. No personal effects, unless the player gives them to her. She's not used to making decisions.

Big secret: the part about being a dead royal. Rhea currently exists in a half-life, under the auspices of a death curse, and her HP will go down every day while she's in the Shadow Cursed Lands. Small secrets: her mother's family worship Sehanine Moonbow, the elven aspect of Selune. Shadowheart's occasional references to Shar worshippers killing Selunites fill her with...something.

Charming quirks: Rhea has todo lists for every occasion, and regularly writes them out for her fellow party members and the player. She has an almost criminally bad taste in men (Aradin, Volo, Barcus), gets flustered around mean women, and will absolutely and shamelessly hit on Nine Fingers if you take her to the Guild in Act 3. Is disconnected from her emotions. Got her fake name from a strip club.

Ways they embody their class: Originally a College of Lore Bard, Rhea is great at history and religion checks, and her high charisma makes her a great persuasion/deception tool. Ways they are the antithesis of their class: Rhea's low con and strength vs high dex/charisma makes her a terrible fighter unless you have her in the back with spells and archery.

Personal quest/choice: In Act 1, in the Underdark, the player is introduced to Rhea's Revenge Todo List: after escaping from the drow, she found a myconid who looked after her. Its grove was destroyed by a demon, whose name is on the Revenge Todo List. In Act 2, an option is offered to Rhea by the Raven Queen: die, become a full revenant, get strong, and finally tick off every item on her todo list. In Act 3, you can find another of her remaining brothers in Wyrm's Rock Prison. If you rescue both him and Florrick, they're eventually able to break the curse keeping her half alive and bring her back - as a bard, who'll likely never be strong enough to overthrow her father.

Live and let go of vengeance as a bard, or exist as a revenant and finally fulfil the queer dream of killing one's father. (Secret third option if romanced: you can convince her to let you go back to Lowell with her and help her assassinate her father. If she's a revenant, she'll die for good. But if she's a bard, the player can help her wrest control of the kingdom and take over. It's implied she's not super happy ruling and would prefer to be doing more important stuff. Like a ton of shrooms. If she has a good ending and neither are romanced, she'll go live on Shadowheart's farm and be entirely useless as a homesteader.)

Green Flags: gives approval options on anything around freeing others, chasing self-freedom, or protecting others. Will critique Raphael's poetry. Is immediately ride-or-die for Wyll. Loves cats and rabbits. Will do anything for a slice of afternoon tea and some cake. Red Flags: is the only companion to not give approval when the player pets Scratch. Gives approval on anything that involves parent/sibling murder. Will talk endlessly about economics and/or the philosophy of statecraft if you let her, until the only person willing to talk to her is Gale. Is definitely stealing books from the other characters.

Relationships with the others:

Lae'zel - Rhea thinks very highly of Lae'zel, and wants to be her best pal. Their parallel is that they're both part of societies ruled by an evil magic user who wants to be a god. They're foils for each other because Lae'zel is an active part of that society, whereas Rhea was a rebel. Shadowheart - Rhea has an obvious crush on Shadowheart but also doesn't want her knowing anything about her. Their parallels involve being half-elves with a history with Selune who turned to a goddess associated with ravens and shadows and have fake names. They're foils for each other because Shadowheart had her memories taken away by her goddess, whereas Rhea now works for a goddess obsessed with memory. Rhea's original name, Lowell, also means little wolf. Gale - Rhea pretends she and Gale don't get along and always has choice words for wizards, but they share a lot of the same academic references and party banter often includes them having excited discussions to the horror of the rest of the group. Their parallel is that they are both nerds. They're foils for each other because Gale accepts his nerd title, and Rhea is in denial. But also because Rhea hates wizards and the weave, and Gale is a wizard who has fucked the weave. Astarion - Rhea keeps Astarion at arm's length at first because she has the blood of an undead. But it's clear they agree on more things than not, especially vis-a-vis murder. Parallels: weird family dynamic might be the key to overcoming your current undead limitations. They're foils for each other because Rhea's could be brought back by her family, whereas Astarion could use his family to ascend. Wyll - both Rhea and Wyll are from noble families. While King outranks Grand Duke, Rhea sees Wyll as being higher up the pecking order, and a lot more put together. Despite being around the same age, she looks up to him. Parallels: noble background, both exiled by their fathers. Foils because: Wyll wishes to reconcile with his father. Rhea wishes to murder her own, and his too, actually. Karlach - Rhea is clearly intimidated by Karlach's power, but enjoys spending time with her and playing songs for her. Later, can offer Karlach comfort about dying. Parallels: both on a fast track towards death. Foils: having been through death before, Rhea is very accepting of it. Minthara - so many toxic noble in-jokes, or comments about drow culture. Rhea warms up to Minthara very quickly when she realises she hates Lolth. Parallels: both vengeance seeking lil murderers from a noble background. Foils: Minthara was high up in drow society, but Rhea was a slave under the House Mizzrym. Their experiences of the drow are very different. Halsin - Rhea refuses to acknowledge Halsin because his height makes her very insecure. Jaheira - new mammy, who is doing her best to keep her new kids in check. Parallels: both are nobles who had to leave their seat of power. Foils: Jaheira has long accepted this and embraced being a druid. Rhea would give Gale's left arm to get out of the wilderness and never sleep on the floor again. Minsc - Rhea speaks only to Boo and doesn't seem to be aware that Minsc exists as anything other than a hamster puppet. Minsc approves.

#rhea dancer #bg3 tav

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