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malaismere · 3 years

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Campaign 3 Predictions - Compiled

So, as a fan of compiling statistics, I've been keeping track of race/class predictions for campaign 3 for the past...at least a year, from tumblr, reddit, and twitter. with EXU over, and my spreadsheet hitting 400 (?!), I figured I'd share the fandom's current predictions

Travis

Human (30), Dwarf (29), Elf, Shifter (11), Half-Elf (10)

Cleric (103), Bloodhunter (63), Wizard (50), Fighter (49), Druid (46)

Lycan bloodhunter (41), Forge cleric (26), War cleric (16), Eldritch Knight fighter, Bladesinger wizard (14)

Marisha

Elf (16), Genasi, Tiefling (14), Dwarf (13), Dragonborn (11)

Paladin (112), Rogue (53), Fighter (43), Cleric (40), Warlock (37)

Eldritch Knight fighter, Glory paladin (14), Artillerist and Armorer artificer, Battlemaster Fighter (8)

Liam

Dwarf (25), Halfling (18), Tiefling (13), Elf (12), Warforged (11)

Druid (77), Cleric (72), Bard (71), Fighter (59)

Stars druid (16), Dreams druid (10), Eloquence bard (8), Alchemist artificer, Whispers bard, Twilight cleric (7)

Sam

Dwarf (34), Kobold (24), Goliath (17), Warforged (15), Kenku (13)

Sorcerer (106), Cleric (98), Druid (63), Wizard (47)

Wild Magic sorcerer (61), Wild Soul barbarian (14), Twilight cleric (8), Life and Forge cleric, Wildfire druid, Divination wizard (7)

Laura

Elf (21), Human, Tabaxi (19), Genasi (15), Gnome, Aasimar (10)

Barbarian (75), Sorcerer (74), Bard (64), Warlock (60)

Wild Soul barbarian (14), Wild Magic sorcerer (12), Glamour bard (10), Shadow monk (9)

Taliesin

Warforged (16), Elf, Changeling (14), Gnome, Genasi, Tabaxi (8)

Sorcerer (68), Rogue (65), Warlock (55), Bard (45), Wizard (43)

Aberrant Mind sorcerer (18), Whispers bard, Phantom rogue, Soulknife rogue (11), Mastermind rogue, Clockwork sorcerer (9)

Ashley

Elf (26), Human (18), Tiefling (17), Half-Elf (12), Dwarf (11)

Rogue (95), Bard (91), Monk (43), Ranger (41), Warlock (38)

Swashbuckler rogue (21), Glamour bard (13), Mercy monk (9), Drunken monk, Wild Magic sorcerer (8)

I also (although less consistently) collected continent/setting predictions. Marquet was the top (49), then Issylra (29) and the Shattered Teeth (22). For non-continent settings, some form of Spelljammer was the top (19), followed by the Age of Arcanum (17), and Planescape/Planehopping (15). Underdark, Ravenloft, Blightshore, and a return to Tal'Dorei were also suggested multiple times.

Much longer and rambly discussion (and my own predictions) under the break.

Top predicted races were Dwarf, Elf, and Human (~100). Dwarf and Elf haven't been played before, so that tracks, and I don't think it's out there to assume we'll get at least one human again. Also, post the whole thing with Essek and long rests, people really started jumping on Elves (which, fair). Warforged, Dragonborn, Tabaxi, Genasi, Tieflings, and Changelings all are pretty prominent (~50).

Of the races not yet established as existing in Exandria, Warforged and Changeling were the most popular (Warforged now dubiously canon post-Aeor, and Changelings dubiously canon with the LoVM bartender), followed by Shifters, Leonin, Kalashtar, Fairies, Grung, Ravnica races (Loxodon, Simic Hybrid, Vedalken), Van Richten's Races (Dhampir, Reborn, Hexblood). Locathah and the other Feywild/Strixhaven races are the only officially published races at 0 suggestions. The lowest previously seen race is Gobins at 2, one of which was for Sam again, and the lowest PHB race was Half-Orc at 17.

Class wise, Sorcerer was actually the most predicted class (which kind of tracks, as it's the one that hasn't shown up even as multiclass), followed by Cleric (generally assumed as compulsory), Paladin (only as a multiclass), and Rogue (also assumed as compulsory, but way less so. Not surprisingly, Bloodhunter, Ranger, and Artificer were the lowest.

Wild Magic Sorcerer was far and away the most suggested subclass, the only one to break 50, although it hasn't hit 100 quite yet (I think it will by the time the final characters are announced though). EK Fighter, Lycan Blooodhunter, Forge Cleric, Swashbuckler Rogue, Wild Soul Barbarian, Stars Druid, Glamour Bard, Bladesinger Wizard, Eloquence Bard, and Echo Knight Fighter are the other top subclasses.

Every official subclass has been suggested except for Berserker Barbarian, Grave Cleric, and Transmutation Wizard (previously played), Battlerager Barbarian and Banneret/Purple Dragon Knight (SCAG subclasses, which are widely unpopular), and the dubiously-official Planeshift subclasses. Open Seas Paladin is the only Matt homebrew to not be suggested at least once. For dead UA, Satire Bard, Brute Fighter, Giant Soul and Stone Sorcerer, and Raven Queen Warlock have all been suggested, usually only once, although many of the suggestions were collected while classes were in UA for Tasha's, Van Richten's, and Fizban's which is technically still UA but announced so...

With Travis, the predictions bounce between two main ideas - a melee spellcaster (Forge/War/Tempest cleric, Bladesinger/War wizard), or going back to a melee class (Bloodhunter, Fighter) but with a bit more mechanical interest (Lycan, EK/Echo/Rune/Battlemaster). I think those are both solid predictions, and while I really, really doubt we'll see a Lycan bloodhunter or a Forge cleric, I think the general vibe is probably spot on.

My own prediction is one of the more out there, but still in line with the general thinking - Artillerist Artificer. Travis is definitely a very tactical player, and it would be cool to see him get a turret for the battlefield, plus all the general utility/versatility of the artificer. Alternatively, I really could see a rogue, although more like what Mastermind or Inquisitive is trying for as opposed to how they actually turned out, if that makes sense.

Race wise, the top guesses are fairly plain, outside of shifter (which is mostly tied into the "werewolf" vibe). None of them would shock me, but I don't have any predictions.

I think that everyone's right on the money with Marisha as a paladin. Her next character being high charisma seems spot on, and I think moving to a half-caster also tracks. EK/Echo/Rune/Psi fighters would also fit, although they don't lean towards high charisma, or a warlock, maybe a more melee one.

Rogue seems unlikely purely due to the fact she's played one before, kind of. Matt and Marisha have both talked some, but her first game wasn't Vox Machina, but a previous game Matt had run where she'd played an assassin. You can do non-assassiny rogues, but still.

(Other fun facts about this game because it's wild: apparently the session she sat in on before playing involved half the party getting eaten by ghouls. the party joined up with another half-tpk'd party (marisha and the replacement characters) to get the raven queen to bring their dead friends back, and a fate-touched rogue swore service to the Raven Queen in order to bring the last party member back.)

My prediction for Marisha is also paladin, although I don't have any thoughts on the subclass, with genie warlock as a second because they are fun. No real thoughts on race other than I too would love to see tiefling Marisha.

Most people are going with a support caster for Liam, which I totally buy. Caleb definitely leaned towards support caster, even if he usually did end up played as DPS. Druid has taken the top given the polymorph->wildshape vibe, although it's still very yclose with Bard and Cleric. Suggestions for fighter dropped after EXU, and while Liam does play a lot of fighters, I doubt we'll see it for C3.

Honestly, Liam is the one I have no predictions for outside of 'support caster'. I'd lean away from Cleric and towards Druid or Bard, but it's hard to say. I also think Artificer deserves to be in the running, as it seems like something Liam would really enjoy, but also...might not want to go Int-caster to Int-caster. My only real thought on race is that I want to see whether Marisha and Liam choose the same again.

Top guesses for Sam is, far and away, Wild Magic Sorcerer. This was also the top guess for C2. I do not think Sam will play a Wild Magic Sorcerer. In general, though, the vibe is going back to fullcaster - Sorcerer, Cleric, Druid, Wizard. I think full caster is probably right.

Sam is so hard to predict because it isn't what he'd choose, but what Liam chose for him. I think it's either something really standard or something really out there, and since I can't guess the really out there, I'll go for the standard - Elf Wizard or Dwarf Cleric, leaning towards Dwarf Cleric, due to the support class and the fact that Sam's mentioned never playing a religious character.

The main vibe for Laura is definitely "DPS" which is understandable. I don't know if I agree with it, but I understand it. Aside from Barbarian, the rest of the vibe is spellcaster - and I don't think we'll see a completely no magic character from her either.

Prediction wise...I understand barbarian, but I'd actually go with Ancestor or Beast over Wild Soul. I could actually see a Bloodhunter from her too, although leaning away from Vex vibes. I think I'd want to go with Wizard, though I'm not certain on that. I would bet Tabaxi but idk, I could see her avoiding that for Travis' sake.

Everyone always names Taliesin as the hardest to predict (he had the lowest count at 354, under even Ashley at 365, to everyone else's ~380/400) but I don't think he's harder to predict than Sam. The thing that makes him hard to predict is that he likes to build characters to fit the party, which he (probably) won't be doing, same as with Molly. The other main thing he tends towards is mechanical complexity in a way that suits his characters.

The main driving influence in the top suggestions is Eldritch Weirdness. Aberrant Sorc, Whispers Bard, Phantom Rogue, Warlock in general. I don't disagree with any of the subclasses, but I really don't think he'd go eldritch for eldritch sake, if for at the very least being...he has always been this weird and it's yet to be a driving force behind any of his characters before. Like the Taliesin-is-an-elder-god thing, I think this is mostly people who don't hang out around occultists. Look, I've had multiple people sell me their actual souls, and you don't see all my characters being warlocks.

That being said, I don't think I disagree with the top classes, just the subclasses. I definitely agree with Sorcerer as a good choice for him, although I'd actually go Clockwork, as I think it has a fuck-with-the-DM vibe. Taliesin is the most heavily suggested for dunamancy subclasses, which wouldn't surprise me, but I think he might avoid on the sole point of not wanting something too tied with the last campaign. A lot of people also name the psionic subclasses, which I'd be more likely to second if they had kept the weird mechanic from the UA, but don't disagree with, excepting my issue with Aberrant Mind.

My out there guess is that he's going to choose a multiclass build. He definitely enjoys playing around with weird builds (Owlbear, he did a non-CR oneshot as a monk/stars druid). On the one hand, a lot of these builds work best for oneshots or starting at higher levels, as they can take a bit of time to come online, but with such a large party, I think it will still function.

(my actual prediction for Taliesin is that his character is weirdly reminiscent of either the aasimar echo knight or the elf blood cleric from the exandria game I'm running.)

Ashley is being predicted as a Dex/Cha build, and I'm totally here for it. Pre-Fearne, I was leaning Ranger, especially Fey Wanderer for a fey build, but post-Fearne, I'm going Rogue, especially Swashbuckler. I agree that seeing a high Cha Ashley would be great, especially to let her be more center-focused than Yasha had been, and swashbucklers are just...really fun. Also, the whole Aeor arc really left me wanting to see Ashley as the go-ahead-and-scout character, just to watch her push buttons.

For continents...I understand why people are guessing Marquet, since it's currently the most explored. I think that if they're going to do Marquet, then Matt will sit down with a cultural consultant. I say will over should, because I won't make any value judgements, but I think it's in line with what Matt and CR would do in that situation.

I can't really tell whether this is a prediction or what I'd like to see (the two are distinct but often difficult to untangle) but I'd actually go with Issylra, and specifically playing up the (at least initial) set up of explorers and adventurers heading out into the wilds. I will also place my bets on them having some sort of more steady home base, and my hopes on that they get an airship. My wildest out there guess is that the plot will move towards either planescape/spelljammer in the upper levels, tying into some of the seeds from the end of C2.

I have seen a handful of people predicting table seating order, which is both very minor and also the thing that I may be most interested in. A while back, someone made a post pointing out that the main romantic relationships were all cross-table, while the strongest platonic relationships were same-table or side by side. Because I am the sort of person that I am, I did statistical analysis on ao3 fics....and it's statistically significant. So I am trying to see whether or not, based purely on C3E1, I'll be able to predict what the top ships for the campaign will be.

This rambling has mostly gotten out of hand because I don't have much opportunity to talk about this, but, you know. If you send me predictions I will give you the current odds gambling style, so that you'd know how much you'd win if you'd place a bet, because I did the tables up as a joke for something else and now I kind of want them to be used for something.

#critical role #critical role campaign 3 #cr campaign 3 #critical role predictions #critcal role meta #cr meta #cr stats

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sacidraw · 2 years

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So, this is my Descent into Avernus party in all its glory

From left to right, top to bottom we have:

- Moon, shifter Barbarian (we haven't seen him in a looooong time)

- Shaq, Drow Paladin (he's a freak of cleanliness)

- Lulu (it's Lulu)

- Will, human Grave cleric (And his jar of rats)

- Aron, reborn Drow sorcerer (and his Familiar Shadow)

- Ryder, reborn human Paladin (he woke up with half of his body being replaced by the one of his dead girlfriend)

- Altichero, halfling Bard (he provides nourishment to the party in the forms of giant cheese wheels)

- Elizabeth, human wizard (she's actually a magical girl)

- Penelope, Dragonborn artificer (my character, she's having too much fun with the war machines)

#art #my art #drawing #d&d #dungeons and dragons #dnd character #artists on tumblr

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acepalindrome · 4 years

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So Critical Role is on hiatus this week, and they’ll be taking another break over Christmas and New Years. Are you bored and needing another tabletop show to scratch that itch? Yes, there’s TAZ too, but they’re biweekly so you’ll still have off weeks. And everybody knows about Critical Role and TAZ. Don’t you want to try some of the lesser known but still very very good roleplaying shows?

I hope the answer is yes, because I’m gonna rec some of my favorites! Please feel free to reblog and add your favorites too! There are so many very good D&D/tabletop podcasts/web shows that get overlooked and a Critical Role hiatus is a great time to shine some light on those gems! And without further ado:

Not Another D&D Podcast: the campaign after the campaign! NADDPOD is set in a world that has already been saved by a team of legendary heroes...except maybe the legendary heroes didn’t do such a great job saving the world as we thought and fucked up quite a lot and left mountains of problems to be solved in their wake! NADDPOD has a great story and drama and heartbreak, but mostly it’s wildly hilarious. The Band of Boobs consists of Hardwon Surefoot (a human fighter raised by dwarves who left home for adventure and is used to be being a big fish in a small pond,) Beverly Toegold V (halfling paladin boyscout and Very Good Boy who’s trying to earn his merit badges) and Moonshine Cybin (wood elf druid, hillbilly and chaotic bi who flirts with every woman she meets. She has a possum companion named Pawpaw. I love Moonshine.)

Dungeons & Daddies (Not A BDSM Podcast): Four dads from our world gets transported into the Forgetten Realms on a quest to rescue their sons! This podcast is extremely goofy and if you thought the McElroys played Calvinball, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Dad jokes cause psychic damage, and there are a LOT of dad jokes. It’s 90% hilarious shenanigans and then 10% feelings (I cried about a character called Lizardboy Scales McStuffins.) The dads are Darryl Wilson (barbarian and stay at home coach dad, big softy on the inside,) Henry Oak(druid and mega crunchy hippie dad,) Glenn Close (bard and rock’n roll pot-smoking dad,) and Ron Stampler (rogue, emotionally detached stepfather and honestly probably a cryptid. What the fuck is Ron? We just don’t know.)

Dimension 20: Escape from the Bloodkeep: this is a fairly short webshow, just 6 episodes long, and I admit that I only checked it out because Matt Mercer and Erika Ishii were on it, but I absolutely loved it! Escape from the Bloodkeep follows the subordinates of the Lord of Shadows right before the great final battle of good vs evil that they were totally going to win...except a couple halflings threw some magic jewelry in a volcano and fucked everything up. It’s wildly funny as a LOTR parody but the evil villains end up becoming a found family at the end, because of course they do. The vile villains include Efink Murderdeath (elven grave cleric who turned evil to rebel against her dad,) Sokhbarr the Boglord (half orc ranger and basically the Steve Irwin of monsters,) Kraz-Thun AKA Leiland (anxious insecure Ringwraith warlock,) Lilith (queen of the spiders and wine mom to thousands of tiny spider kids,) Maggie (tiefling barbarian and daughter to the Lord of Evil) and Marcus St Vincent (human pirate who sided with evil to get rich.) Dimension 20 has some other shows like Fantasy High and The Unsleeping City that I’ve heard good things about, but I haven’t gotten around to watching them yet!

Rusty Quill Gaming: I’ve only just started this one but I love it already! It’s set in an alternate 19th century London that has magic and all the usual fantasy trappings, but also Lord Byron is there? It’s a lot of fun so far but I’ve been told that there’s a lot of pain coming and I’m very scared. The squad (at least where I’m at) includes: Sasha (socially awkward human rogue,) Hamid (halfling sorcerer and Fancy Lad,) Zolf (dwarf cleric, has a peg leg and possibly the owner of the team’s only brain cell) and Bertie (human fighter and loud, flashy buffoon.)

And it’s not a tabletop/roleplay podcast but I only got into Rusty Quill Gaming because of one of Rusty Quill’s other podcasts, The Magnus Archives, which I can’t recommend highly enough. It’s a horror series that follows the new head archivist at the Magnus Institute, which is an organization that documents all manner of supernatural and spooky shit. What happened to the last head archivist? It’s a ~mystery~. At first it seems like a bunch of stand alone stories but soon you start to realize that there are all these threads connecting everything and I can’t really say much more because a big part of the fun is seeing how the overarching story comes together. Also lots of LGBT+ characters. The main character is canon ace. Please listen to The Magnus Archives.

Hope you’ll give some of these a try, and again, feel free to add your own! Give some other shows some love!

#critical role #the adventure zone #naddpod #dungeons and daddies #rusty quill gaming #escape from the bloodkeep #the magnus archives

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grailfinders · 4 years

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Fate and Phantasms #46: Carmilla

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re building Elizabeth Alter, a.k.a. Carmilla. This is what happens when you feed Eli after midnight. She’s a Cleric/Sorcerer mix who can deal a lot of necrotic damage to whoever’s unlucky enough to fall into her traps. If you want outright torture though, you’ll have to get creative-it’s like you’re supposed to be the good guy in D&D or something.

You can check out the build’s summary spreadsheet here, or read the level-by-level breakdown below the cut!

Race and Background

Carmilla’s a special case: she was a human when she was alive, but as a servant, she’s kind of a Vampire. It’s close enough for us though, and Planeshift Ixalan was kind enough to give vampires a playable race. As a vampire, she gets +2 Charisma and +1 Wisdom, 60′ of Darkvision, Vampiric Resistance to necrotic damage, and two skills related to bloodsucking. Bloodthirst lets you make a melee attack on a willing, incapacitated, or restrained creature, dealing 1 piercing and 1d6 necrotic damage. The victim’s current and max HP is reduced by the amount of necrotic damage taken until their next long rest, and you heal equal to that amount as well. Your Feast of Blood means that for one minute after draining someone’s blood, your speed increases by 10′, and you have advantage on Strength and Dexterity saves and checks. It’s not quite getting younger, but it’s certainly nice. The damage from Bloodthirst doesn’t improve on its own, but we’ll be taking care of that ourselves.

For our background, we’ll make a variant of the Noble background. Carmilla may be queen, but she didn’t sit on the throne peacefully. This will give you proficiency in History and Intimidation, and your Position of Privilege means you’ll always be welcome in high society, or else.

Stats

First off, make your Wisdom as high as possible. You did rule a kingdom after all. Next is Charisma, because you ruled that kingdom mostly through fear. After that is your Constitution; you siphon your health from others, but that just means you have plenty to spare. I’d say you’re not that ripped, but you do somehow lug a massive iron coffin around with you, so let’s pick Strength next. After that is Intelligence; you’re not stupid, but we need other things more. Finally, we’re dumping Dexterity; for an assassin, you’re terrible at being discrete. Your best bet is to be so terrifying everyone pretends not to notice.

Class Levels

1. Cleric 1: Starting off as a cleric might seem an odd choice, until you remember Death Clerics exist. At first level, death clerics are proficient in Wisdom and Charisma saves as well as two skills, which for you are Medicine and Insight. The key point of torture is to hit where it will cause the most pain, not the most damage. Now you’ll know their weak points, both physical and mental.

You also learn spells at this level, which you can cast with your Wisdom. Death Clerics can prepare first level spells from the cleric list, as well as the spells False Life and Ray of Sickness. You also learn three cantrips. Toll the Dead hurts more on creatures who are hurt, which is great, and works well with another feature you get at level one. Sacred Flame’s branding is a bit iffy, but setting people on fire is always a fun time. Finally, most of your torture gear is going to have to be handmade, so use Mending to keep everything together.

Finally, death clerics become a Reaper, learning the one necromancy cantrip that isn’t already on the cleric list (Chill Touch), and allowing you to cast single target necromancy cantrips on two creatures if they’re within 5′ of each other. The iron maiden’s doors are wide enough for everyone. Also, chill touch prevents its target from being healed, which would really cramp your style.

For weapons, you’ll mostly be using a Morningstar. You have a staff, but it’s really pointy, and you’d want to keep a hand open for spells and your Bloodthirst anyway.

2. Sorcerer 1: First level Sorcerers also get Spells, using their Charisma instead. Use Minor Illusion and Control Flames to mess with your victim’s mind. Gust will push back the unsightly creatures you can’t even bring yourself to touch. Poison Spray is also there. For first level spells, grab Mage Armor to set up that nifty thorn outfit you’ve got going on and Charm Person to make using your torture implements that much easier. You can’t make the victim intentionally hurt themselves, but there’s nothing inherently harmful about chaining yourself up, right?

First level sorcerers also get their Sorcerous Origin. The Bathory’s draconic bloodline has mutated in you to something... darker. Shadow Sorcerers get Eyes of the Dark, which at first level enhances your darkvision to 120′. You also learn the Strength of the Grave, allowing you to make a Charisma save when reduced to 0 hit points to instead hang on at 1 hp. You can only succeed on this save once per long rest, and it won’t work if you’re taking radiant damage or a critical hit. As it turns out, vampires are pretty hard to kill.

3. Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers become a Font of Magic, gaining sorcery points that will later be used for metamagic, but right now can only be used to make more spell slots.

Speaking of spells, you learn Sleep at this level. Sleeping enemies are a good target for your Bloodthirst, or to get dragged into a torture device.

4. Sorcerer 3: Third level shadow sorcerers get an improvement to their Eyes of the Dark. You can now spend three sorcery points or a spell slot to cast Darkness, and if cast with sorcery points you’ll be able to see through the darkness as well. Seeing is a privilege, and one you’re happy to revoke.

Sorcerers also get Metamagic at this level. Heightened Spell is expensive, but combining your saves with disadvantage is practically a sure bet. Having to stop mid-monologue to cast inflict wounds is so passe. That’s not a problem any more, thanks to Subtle Spell.

Speaking of spells, you learn a second level spell now. Crown of Madness isn’t that painful for the target at first, but they’ll have to live with what they’ve done for the rest of their lives. That’s where the true psychic damage kicks in.

5. Cleric 2: Second level clerics learn to Channel Divinity once per short rest. As a death cleric, you know two channel divinity options. The standard Turn Undead forces undead around you to make a wisdom save or run away from you. You should probably skip this one, especially since you’re undead too. Maybe. RAW Ixalan Vampires aren’t listed as undead, but they are vampires, so that probably falls under DM fiat.

For better use of your divinity, look no further than the Death Cleric’s Touch of Death. When you hit a creature with a melee attack, you can add 5 + twice your cleric level in necrotic damage to that attack. Your Bloodthirst is a melee attack that likes necrotic damage, and this adds a lot of necrotic damage to a melee attack. It’s a match made in heaven.

6. Cleric 3: Third level clerics get second level spells, and death clerics can add Blindness/Deafness and Ray of Enfeeblement to their spell lists. You’re going to want that last one: dumping dexterity means your AC is... not good. Best to mitigate the damage where you can. Some other spells you should check out at this level include Silence to abuse your subtle spell ability, and Spiritual Weapon. Technically it can be whatever form you choose, so why not a floating iron maiden? Sadly, this can’t restrain a creature, but you can also use Hold Person to keep one opponent steady while you find their jugular.

7. Cleric 4: Use your ASI to bump up your Wisdom for more and better spells. You also get another cantrip at this level; Thaumaturgy lets you really make an entrance, and gives you that “demon eye” look you have at your lower ascensions.

8. Cleric 5: At fifth level, your turn undead becomes Destroy Undead, instantly killing any undead of CR 1/2 who fail their wisdom save. The jury’s still out on you being undead, and you’re probably well over CR 1/2, but why risk it?

You also get third level spells, including your domain spells Animate Dead and Vampiric Touch. Getting some extra use out of your torture victims is nice, and Vampiric Touch uses wisdom instead of strength for more consistency in exchange for less healing. Some other spells to check out include Bestow Curse and Speak with Dead for more on-brand spells, and Life Transference just in case someone else in your party needs healing. You’ll just get it back from someone else anyway.

9. Cleric 6: Sixth level clerics can now channel their divinity twice per short rest, meaning you can add a total of 34 necrotic damage to your attacks between rests. You also learn the art of Inescapable Destruction, meaning your cleric spells and channel divinity ignore resistance to necrotic damage. Good news for you, bad news for those half and 2/3rds god types.

10. Cleric 7: Seventh level clerics get their fourth level spells, including your domain spells Blight and Death Ward. The former does a lot of necrotic damage, but it doesn’t really fit in with what you want to do. Blight removes someone’s bodily fluids, but you want to take them for your own. You can instantly kill a tree though, so congrats on learning a pokemon move. Death Ward also adds another layer of Not Dying to a creature of your choice, namely you. Not dying is good, you should try it.

Another fourth level spell you should check out is Freedom of Movement; forcing a villain into their own deathtrap is cliche and your strength isn’t that high. Don’t be a fool.

11. Cleric 8: Use your next ASI on your Charisma. You don’t have many sorcerer spells, but charisma is also tied to how terrifying you are and more importantly, your Not Dying roll. Destroy Undead increases to CR 1 if you were interested, and you gain a Divine Strike, which adds 1d8 necrotic damage to a weapon attack you make once per turn. This doesn’t work with your Bloodthirst, but a bit more pain on your normal attacks never hurt. You, anyway. It’s going to hurt a lot of other people.

12. Cleric 9: Ninth level clerics get their fifth level spells, including your final domain spells, Antilife Shell and Cloudkill. Melee combat is for peasants, and antilife shell lets you live your best life, with everyone at least 10′ away from you. Cloudkill’s also nice, but poison is more Semiramis’ thing. Another spell to look at is Contagion, which afflicts one of a number of dreadful diseases on a creature. Flavor these into some torture techniques, and you’ve got your favorite spell ready to go.

13. Cleric 10: Tenth level clerics learn to rely on Divine Intervention, possibly allowing a deity to help you in any way your DM sees fit. This does mean you’ll have to figure out who your deity actually is, though. Since we’re on a MTG kick with your race, there’s always the Piety options from the new Theros book. You strike me as an Erebos sort of woman.

Aside from all that, you also get a new cantrip at this level. Guidance lets you add 1d4 to one ability check. You can have a little imperial privilege. As a treat.

14. Cleric 11: At eleventh level, you can see your Destroy Undead climb to killing CR 2 undead. Or you would if not for the fact they’re probably your undead to begin with. More constructively, you get 6th level spells! Create Undead lets you make more useful minions out of your victims, and Harm lets you deal a massive blast of necrotic damage to a creature while eating up a chunk of their maximum HP.

15. Cleric 12: Twelfth level clerics get another ASI, which for you is maximizing your Wisdom for even stronger spell saves.

16. Cleric 13: Thirteenth level clerics get seventh level spells. Divine Word lets you cash in all that HP reduction you’ve been getting to deafen, blind, stun, and even kill creatures based on their current HP.

17. Cleric 14: Destroy Undead increases again to CR 3, and in only slightly more useful news your Divine Strike improves to adding 2d8 necrotic damage per turn.

18. Cleric 15: Fifteenth level clerics get eighth level spells. There isn’t much in the way of high powered spells that help out your build, but the high level slots are good for empowering spells you have and for making more sorcery points.

19. Cleric 16: Use your last ASI for higher Constitution. That gives you better concentration and a lot more health.

20. Cleric 17: Your final level brings your Destroy Undead up to killing CR 4 creatures, and you learn ninth level spells. Despite their power, ninth level spells don’t really do much for your build; you can’t even True Resurrection the original Elizabeth Bathory. However, you do get Improved Reaper, letting you double up on necromancy spells up to the fifth level.

Pros: Your sorcery points and Improved Reaper mean that you have a lot of energy in you for low level spells, letting you stay active for much longer than other spellcasters. You also have several spells that can effectively shut one enemy out of a fight. You probably aren’t strong enough to kill someone in the duration of a single Hold Person, but that should be enough time to mutilate them with some Contagion-based torture techniques. Finally, you’re pretty okay at not dying: you can heal yourself while still attacking enemies, you have pretty high HP for a full caster class, and you have two get out of death free cards you can punch per long rest.

Cons: You need to be hard to kill because you’re definitely not hard to hit; dumping dexterity did you no favors there. There’s also a dearth of high level spells that fit with this build-the consistency of low level spells is fine, but that’s never going to make up for not having a wish-tier spell to use. Finally, specializing in necrotic damage might be an issue in a world where the undead exist. This problem is easily solved by breaking character a bit and grabbing some radiant spells or using your other Channel Divinity option, if you’re really pressed for choices.

Next up: We’re making the strongest build in the world!

#fate grand order #fgo #carmilla #dnd 5e #Fate and Phantasms

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tiefling-queer · 3 years

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For D&D character ask, for any and/or all of your characters;

1, 5, 8, 15, 23, 29, 64, 65, 69(Nice)

i’m gonna answer these for whichever characters have the most interesting answers, skipping some for repeats:

1. why did they choose their class(es)? their subclass(es)?

kip (wizard, school of necromancy): crisis of faith midway through grave cleric training, spurred on by him sucking at the whole cleric thing (9 wisdom babyyy) while also being a nerd (18 int babyyyy)

baylock (shadow sorcerer/rogue): the sorcerer part is a side effect from being born dead during a cataclysmic event that tore portions of the material plane asunder. the rogue part is because he got in with a bad crowd as a kid. he’s been gaining levels in sorcerer as he traverses the freaky magic wasteland, utilizes his magic more, and gets a little closer to death each time someone hits his squishy arcane caster frame too hard

izak (gunslinger, graveslinger): sometimes you’re a jaded teen-equivalent runaway bumming around the river kingdoms and some dude comes up to you and is like ‘im a neutral evil mercenary, but if you take this gun and learn to shoot, i can also be your dad’. and then later you’re a 20-something equivalent who just realized that you don’t actually want to be an evil mercenary so you run away again and this time some dude comes up to you and is like ‘i’m a priest of sarenrae and an exorcist, and if you believe you can be redeemed, i can also be your dad.’ and then you learn how to shoot ghosts so you can be useful while this guy teaches you about being a better person.

5. do they follow a higher power? what are their thoughts on divinity?

izak: (deep lore dump) izak’s family was, at one point, pious people, and it was some ancestor’s warped perception of what piousness is and what was worth sacrificing in the name of good that led to the entire mess that is izak’s face. izak’s a devout worshiper of sarenrae now and hopes to maybe be the assistance someone needs to put themselves on a better path the way brak was for him, but there’s still a part of him that believes that, because he’s a tiefling, he’s never going to really be saved, and that his soul will eventually belong to the asura it was promised to.

8. what are three songs that suit them?

sydel: buckets of blood by rufus rex (tw for self harm, link goes to spotify because i can’t find this track on its own on youtube), thank god that i’m not you by himalayas, and bruises by fox stevenson (full playlist here)

15. do they trust their party? why or why not?

kip: he trusts them with his life, he just doesn’t trust them to understand where he’s coming from. he’s hiding some really heretical opinions that he knows at least maya (the celestial warlock) won’t agree with. he doesn’t like to talk about his family trauma, his past, or anything that he thinks the party can use to cleverly deduce that the notes he’s been scribbling are about raising the dead and theoretical conduits, prices, and replacements for the soul (he’s a little paranoid and might be giving them more credit than they deserve)

baylock: baylock might trust morgran, but he doesn’t trust surina at all, not since she and the (presumed deceased) swashbuckler tried to use him as a scapegoat when they were being interrogated by evil government warlocks. and even then, he only trusts morgran to not leave him for dead. baylock’s a fiercely loyal person by nature, so he’s been trying to keep his party at arms length so he won’t be betrayed again. the closest he came to starting to trust them was right before he found out that they told the evil government warlock that they’d turn him in in exchange for their freedom when they were captured a while back (whether or not they actually intended to do so is irrelevant for baylock - he spent 5 years in prison after being his old thieve’s guild’s fall guy, he’s not about to let it happen again)

23. how do they feel about nicknames, titles, or labels that have been given to them? how do they feel about their name?

kip: kip’s given name is joffric ravenhall. he’s been going by the alias of ‘greenbough’ on the offchance that people have heard of his family or knew his father at some point, since he really doesn’t want to explain why he’s not a priest of the raven queen by now. ‘kip’, however, is what his family and friends call him, so it was a bit of a big deal to him when he told the party to call him kip, since he hadn’t been around anyone he considered family or friend in a few years. kip’s reeling a little bit over suddenly being called an ‘adverturer type’ - to him, he’s still just a transient weirdo who picks up odd jobs.

baylock: baylock craft’s name isn’t actually baylock craft (not yet anyway lol), he stole his late cellmate’s identity to take advantage of the jailbreak that came a few days too late. his name, ekleipsis caldor, isn’t exactly something he identifies with so much as what he was once called. his father never wanted him but got stuck with him when his mother bounced, so ‘caldor’ is more a formality than anything. ‘ekleipsis’ is the greek root of ‘eclipse’, for the eclipse he was born during - but moreso, ‘ekleipsis’ doesn’t mean ‘to be covered’ - it means ‘a disappearance or abandonment’. an event where the sun abandons the sky. baylock is a walking abandonment issue. he hasn’t taken a virtue name because he thinks it’s performative (which is where him officially taking the name ‘baylock craft’ as his name and not the identity of someone he’s pretending to be comes in - it’s the equivalent of naming himself for the virtue of rebellion without naming himself something stupid and embarrassing like ‘rebel’.)

izak: izak just got done being haunted by a ghost wizard who’s obsessed with names, probably because he’s had 4. izak was born dalethiel oakleaf back when he was an elf, but when he ran away after waking up as a tiefling he went by dally. then he was a mercenary for a while and his edgy mercenary name was viper. and then, when asked for his name by the cleric of sarenrae who rescued him in the wilderness, he said he didn’t have one worth giving, so the cleric told him he’d just call him izak then. that’s who izak is now, as far as he’s concerned, or at least who he wants to be. as he told the ghost wizard who tried to torment him with his birth name, that’s not his name anymore. dalethiel oakleaf was a young elf who died on his 50th birthday. izak’s got a perfectly good name, given to him by a kind man, and he doesn’t want to think about the time in his life he went by dally or viper.

karif: karif always introduces himself formally with his full name, in the family-given-familiar name pattern - ‘ixenvari karifgethisk fraurirthos, er, but you can just call me karif.’ this is because karif’s nickname, fraurirthos, the one his childhood friends and family call him, translates from draconic literally to ‘breathes secrets’. his nickname is snitch. he’s a little embarrassed about it. but ‘karifgethisk’ is a bit of a mouthful for those who don’t speak draconic, so shortening it to ‘karif’ suits fine.

29. who would they save? who would they be saved by?

this has been a tough one, i’m not sure how to answer it for anyone.

64. do they value mercy or justice more?

kip: this honestly depends on his mood and your definitions of both ‘mercy’ and ‘justice’. he’s very easily led away by his emotions - both pity and compassion that could sway him to lean more towards mercy, and rage that tends to harden his heart and clear his head. he’s more than down to torture someone if he deems them evil, and he’ll destroy creatures like aberrations, fiends, and undead without a second thought, but he views life as a very precious thing - even when torturing an evil demon-summoning spellcaster, he still was trying to find ways out that resulted in that spellcaster getting out alive. this has come back to bite the party in the ass, since it was kip’s insistance that the party not kill all the guards on their little anarchy stunt that got them blackmailed to infiltrate the evil army of darkness, which is something he most certainly DOES NOT want to do.

65. what is holding them back?

kip: kip’s hang-ups about the soul and how he was raised are holding him back from becoming a stronger necromancer, while his grief and refusal to accept mortality hold him back from possibly still being some flavor of raven queen follower.

baylock: baylock’s hesitance and confusion over what he wants are holding him back from either fully embracing the rebellion or ditching it to get vengence

izak: izak’s self-loathing and fear of himself hold him back from interacting with people and forming meaningful relationships outside of the handful of people who’ve found out he’s a tiefling.

69 (nice): how would they describe their party members?

kip:

maya is... complicated. kip admires her pragmatism and her faith - it reminds him of his older sister, and he’s been missing that rock in his life. however, he butts heads with her a lot, because he finds her cold duty-bound outlook to be pointlessly cruel.

meera is wicked smart and talented, if a little misguided at times. he’s very big brother protective of her, always trying to offer her his dagger because ‘it’s a nice dagger’ (it’s +1)

amity is a good kid, and smarter than some may give him credit for. he’s fun to be around, and usually a level-headed presence, which makes it even more surprising just how ok he is with killing.

baylock:

morgran is an asshole, but is also probably the only person in the group who believes in this whole rebellion thing, so that counts for something. he’s decent people, can probably be trusted to see a mission through and not do anything completely stupid, but since he’s decent people he’s probably going to insist on staying on this path of lunacy with delusions of ‘taking down the Summit’. also, morgran shouldn’t be allowed to talk to anyone they meet, because he’s an asshole, and doesn’t bother pretending to be personable like baylock does.

surina is insane. she’s deranged, like everyone who tries to live outside the sanctums is. also just racist at times. when their cover gets blown or when they get mixed up with people they should be talking down, she’s gonna be the reason they all get killed.

porthos is was an idiot and a liability and just proved him right by running off and doing something rash and probably getting himself killed and also maybe compromising the whole rebellion which baylock doesn’t care about, so why does he feel like he should have done more to stop Porthos’ demise?

#really excited about these questions! thanks anon!#emo poetry #ask games #Anonymous #sorry this one took longer than the others #ask game from 3 billion years ago

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dearsheroozle · 3 years

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1, 7, 9, and 69 for the d&d character ask! Dealer's choice on which character

hey anon,

thanks again for asking this

i think... i will do Both characters that i’ve actively played a bunch. bc... i want to.

under a read more bc this will probably get Rather Long (update: it did.)

1. why did they choose their class(es)? their subclass(es)?

- for Llyr, my half-elf paladin, she was kind of, ah, chosen? i guess? the way she thinks it happened was that she did something heroic and her goddess came to her in a dream, and the next day she woke up with a holy symbol tattoooed on her body. she was a kid, then, but eventually did take an oath. she’s oath of the ancients, because the tenets of sheltering and kindling light means a lot to her. fuck off, darkness, basically. she’s multiclassed into warlock, mainly because she caught the attention of an archfey. her ex was wreaking some havoc with some water stuff, and the archfey had a vested interest in not letting that happen, so Llyr was again....,,., chosen. in a sense. kind of.

- for Art (full name #ART920304690201), he was created to be an artificer. a warforged, created to fix other warforged soldiers. he became a battlesmith because he wanted to make a friend. and also be better with weapons, because he loves weapons. his steel defender is a baby elephant named Patches. he multiclassed into a twilight cleric, because he and his party were all cursed by Shar. in his research, he discovered she had a twin sister named Selune, so he prayed to her for help, and dipped into cleric. it was something i had kinda meant to happen, since his arc was how he came to terms with his own soul. can’t be a cleric without a soul, right?

7. which party member do they understand the least?

- oh, man. for Llyr, i’m tempted to say Erimenthea, Minty for short, our halfling wild magic sorcerer. but they actually have a lot in common because of they both have connections to the FeyWild, and Llyr kind of thinks she understands Minty quite well, lmao. it’s honestly probably Ja’el, our half-elf shadow monk/death cleric. they’re really good friends, but they do tend to clash sometimes because of how different their lives and experiences in the world have been. they’re both half-elves, but the way they tend to look at things is... extremely different. like, they’re bros, though.

- for Art, he probably truly understands Wu Guei, tortle wild magic barbarian, the least. not because they don’t get along, but Wu is less forthcoming about things, and Art is not very good at social interactions. in fact, Wu intimidates him immensely. so yeah, probably Wu Guei.

9. do they care about their appearance? how much effort do they put into presentation?

- i wouldn’t say Llyr cares about her appearance. she just... happens to be extremely hot. sorry, i don’t make the rules. bitch has 20 strength and 18 charisma, so yeah, unapologetic jacked queen. the 18 charisma is just how hot she is. she actually can be kind of awkward when she speaks, but she’s so hot it doesn’t matter.

- Arty boy is a rusty-lookin’ fella. he doesn’t care about his appearance very much, and it shows because he didn’t really do much upkeep. several decades of wandering a desert will mess a guy up, physically.

69. how would they describe their party members?

- ooooh, boy. i mean, i already talked about Minty and Ja’el. Llyr would call Minty chaotic, but fun. super smart, super crazy magic user. she loves animals, and is always the friendliest, even to her detriment. Ja’el would be, well, her homie. he’s paranoid, but means well. despite his best efforts, he cares so much. kickass fighter; really fast, really sneaky. Eldon, halfling lore bard, she would call hilarious. she finds him really funny, but she would also call him talented and creative, even though he’s young and it shows. Maz, shifter beastmaster ranger/grave cleric, she’s probably closest with currently. mom friend, definitely, but also like a little sister. really wise and dependable, but frustrating, because of how similar she is to Llyr in a lot of ways. like holding up a mirror you don’t think you wanna look at lmao

- and lol i already talked about Wu Guei. like i said, Art finds them intimidating, but admires their strength and convictions. Art feels safer with them around. Luc, high elf bladesinger wizard, Art can relate to because they have a lot of the same interests. he would say Luc’s really resilient, with all he’s lived through and seen. smart, too. Py, drow/wood elf swashbuckler rogue, also really funny. the sneakiest, best darts player ever. also would not want to face him in hide and seek. Py’s got a big heart, and the longest arms. Aurora, drow light cleric, has probably the strongest personality. she’s extremely friendly, and is always there to listen, even when she has no idea what you’re talking about.

#uhhhhhhhhhh this is what happens when y'all let me talk about dnd #i get #verbose #Sheree feels feelings #SK5 #Doomed Patrol #i don't think i regularly tag the party names but like #it's fine #dnd #for my personal records #oh Llyr #does this unit have a soul?#thanks again anon i'm sorry you truly do not have to read all this #i hope the formatting isn't a Nightmare #Anonymous

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thevalleyisjolly · 4 years

Text

What the Taste Buds Had Left: A Crown of Candy PVP Scenario

[THIS POST IS ALL SPOILERS FOR A CROWN OF CANDY’S SEASON FINALE]

Like many fans, I was relieved that the last episode of A Crown of Candy did not end in PVP. Like many fans, I was also a little excited to see how a PVP would have played out. Now, obviously we can’t reliably predict any outcomes. There’s always roleplay and player agency, to say nothing of dice rolls, so even the most likely outcome is never guaranteed. However, we can look at the circumstances of each character going into a theoretical PVP, and potentially how that might affect their performance.

First, a huge thanks to Kyber Bonsai, Tillie the Paladin, and gluegunshots, who put together the transcripts for Episodes 16 and 17 on the D20 wiki! The transcripts were my main resource in gathering data, and saved me a lot more time and effort than if I had to go through the episodes, pausing every five seconds. Thank you for your invaluable work in making D20 more accessible! Thank you also to the D20 wiki editors! Most of the stats and information about magical items came from the character pages on the wiki, so thank you for your hard work! Thank you to Samir Barrett (@sketchmasterskillz), whose amazing official art for ACOC is included below. And a quick shoutout to the folks at CritRoleStats, whose pre-combat “What Do The Mighty Nein Have Left” posts inspired my own efforts here.

Data Collection

The data reflects the current HP and remaining abilities of each character at the point when Saccharina and Ruby make their decisions. Data collection began with the first spell slot used in Episode 16 (a 2nd level Pass Without a Trace from Liam before the battle started), and ended with Calroy’s death. I focused on HP and limited-use abilities such as spell slots and magical items.

For the sake of brevity, I have chosen not to include in this post every single class feature that each character has, and have instead highlighted limited-use abilities. Unless otherwise stated, assume the character has access to their regular class and sub-class features. Most of the class features that I’ve omitted can be found in the standard 5th edition Player’s Handbook, and the D&D 5e wiki contains the information for additional subclasses. I’ve also assumed that apart from magical items and Lou’s Great Weapon Master feat, no homebrew edits have been made.

For magical items, I’ve elected not to describe every single magical ability, except those with particular homebrew features (e.g. Payment Day, Swirlwarden). All magical weapons are +1 weapons (except Payment Day, which is +2).

While I was able to determine max HP for most of the characters going into the final battle, I was not able to determine Saccharina’s, as she did not take any damage in the fight, nor in the episode after she levelled up. At Level 9, her HP max was 58. She has an unknown Constitution modifier. If Emily followed the Player’s Handbook when building Saccharina, Constitution would be her second highest score as a sorcerer. Whether or not Constitution is her second highest ability score, I think it’s safe to assume that Saccharina would not have a negative modifier, giving us a range from +0 to +4 (I’m assuming she does not have a Constitution of 20).

Given those factors, we can estimate her Level 10 HP to be between 59 and 68. She already had her two levels of cleric when we met her, so every level up since then has been sorcerer levels. Sorcerers have a d6 hit die, so the lowest increase she could potentially have is +1 (1 + 0 CON mod) and the highest increase is +10 (6 + 4 CON mod). Since she has healing spells, her exact HP doesn’t matter too much unless it comes to very high damage from a single attack (à la Lapin and Keradin), which it could, but that’s impossible to predict. Suffice to say that for the purposes of this scenario, Saccharina has full health.

And now, on to the fun stuff!

Saccharina - Storm Sorcerer 8, Tempest Cleric 2

[ID: The official art for Saccharina Frostwhip by Samir Barrett @sketchmasterskillz. Saccharina has green skin and a neapolitan mohawk. She wears a silver tiara, a blue-green outfit dotted with dark spots and a light brown front panel, a white cloak, chocolate pauldrons with cherries on the shoulders, and waffle shinguards. She holds a spoon-shaped staff in one hand which crackles with lightning energy, and her other hand outstretched to the side also crackles with lightning energy. She stands with a confident posture, and is looking to the side with hooded eyes and a smile.]

HP: Full (between 59-68 HP) AC: 20 Remaining Spell Slots: 1st level (4), 2nd level (2), 3rd level (1), 4th level (3) Sorcery Points: 5/8 Luck Points: 2/3

Feats: War Caster, Lucky

Magical Items Winterscoop Staff: 0 remaining charges; resistance to cold damage Freezerburn: Magical sword

Cinnamon HP: 65/178 Breath Weapon: Unknown

Cinnamon was one of Saccharina’s greatest assets in the battle. Thanks to the enemy soldiers targeting Cinnamon with their attacks, Saccharina ends the battle with full health and most of her resources. While both her 5th level spells are gone and the Winterscoop Staff is out of charges, she still has a good number of higher level spells, as well as access to healing spells. There is the caveat that depending on how long it took between the end of the battle and the start of the PVP, the Haste spell she cast on Cinnamon in Round 4 of the battle may wear off (the battle ended during Round 11). If it wears off before PVP starts, Cinnamon can still attack on her turn. If it wears off during a round of PVP, he is stunned for a round, which could prove decisive.

In a PVP, Cinnamon could once again be her greatest asset, provided he is not stunned. While it isn’t clear whether or not his breath weapon recharged after its last use in the battle, he’s still a large enough threat with his HP and melee attacks that an attacker would most likely focus on downing him first. Lou revealed in the Adventuring Party’s for Episodes 16 and 17 that he’d been tracking Cinnamon’s HP and that in the case of PVP, he’d eliminate Cinnamon first to try and deescalate the situation. Given that Amethar is one of the characters who could drop Saccharina to 0 in one turn (depending on her HP), this may give Saccharina the round advantage she needs to bring down Amethar first.

Lou was absolutely correct in identifying Saccharina as his biggest immediate threat (other than Cinnamon, of course). With a 4th level Lightning Bolt and a Channel Divinity to deal maximum damage, Saccharina could easily drop Amethar at his current HP to 0 with one attack if he fails his save. In fact, despite having the lowest max HP of the party, Saccharina is easily one of the most dangerous PCs, thanks to Emily’s excellent build. With a 20 AC, a spell save DC of 17, and her levels in cleric, it would take a massive single attack to pose an immediate serious threat to her. However…

Ruby - Arcane Trickster Rogue 9, Shadow Magic Sorcerer 1

[ID: The official art for Ruby Rocks by Samir Barrett @sketchmasterskillz. Ruby has pink skin and red locks of hair tied back into a high tail. She wears a jewelled red tiara, an all-red outfit with puffed sleeves, and curved toe black shoes. She is standing partially crouched, with her hands before her in fists, and looking to the side with a focused expression.]

HP: 55/78 AC: 17 Remaining Spell Slots: 1st level (4), 2nd level (3)

Feats: Squat Nimbleness, Magic Initiate

Magical Items Sour Scratch: Grasping Arrow (once/long rest), Acid Arrow (once/long rest) Flickerish: Shield (once/day), 1d6 Superiority Die (Disarming Attack) Locket of the Sweetest Heart: Advantage on death saving throws if other locket is within 5’ Water-steel Dagger: Imposes three conditions requiring saving throws - extra damage, poisoned condition, prevents target from speaking

Ruby has been very strategic throughout the battle, saving her spells and limited abilities for a potential PVP at the end. The battle has taken out a chunk of her health, only about a third, but enough to put her in danger if she takes an attack from Cinnamon or Saccharina. As a rogue, she does have Evasion and Uncanny Dodge, which could allow her to mitigate some of the damage from such an attack, although she would still be brought down low and could potentially go down at the next attack.

Of the six PCs, Ruby is one of the best placed when it comes to her resources and abilities. She has all her spell slots, and full access to all her class abilities. In particular, as a first level Shadow Magic sorcerer, Ruby has the feature Strength of the Grave. If damage from a non-critical and non-radiant hit reduces her to 0, she can make a Charisma saving throw (DC = 5 + damage taken) to instead drop to 1 HP. Paired with the Locket of the Sweetest Heart (if Liam is nearby and on her side), this provides her with a little more wiggle room if she drops to 0.

Rogues in general are very versatile. Most of their class features are not limited use, and can be used in a variety of situations. For a partial caster, she doesn’t have very many damage-dealing spells, but her hefty weapon arsenal compensates for that, with Sour Scratch, Flickerish, and the Water-steel Dagger all having considerable abilities and also meeting the requirements for a Sneak Attack weapon. As we saw with Ciabatta, 5d6 Sneak Attack paired with the Water Steel Dagger is a deadly combination. Ruby also has Yak, who can grant her advantage on an attack or check. She may not be as openly formidable as Amethar, but she is just as dangerous in many ways.

Amethar - Storm Herald Barbarian 5, Battle Master 5

[ID: The official art for Amethar Rocks by Samir Barrett @sketchmasterskillz. Amethar has pink skin and a green beard. He wears a jewelled crown of purple and gold, an elaborate outfit of striped red and purple, a purple suit of armour and boots, a furred purple cloak, gold vambraces, and various jewels decorate the ensemble. He holds Payment Day, a gold-coloured sword with an enormous blade, in his hand, and has a strong stance with a serious expression on his face.]

HP: 48/116 AC: 17 Rages: 2 Superiority Dice: 2

Feats: Great Weapon Master (modified - roll +2d6 damage instead of flat +10)

Magical Items Payment Day: Extra damage die against creature who hit you in the previous round; if you roll a Natural 20 against a creature who has killed a member of your family, they must make a constitution saving throw (DC 16) or be killed

Amethar has been in the thick of battle, getting the kills on Grissini and Calroy, which is reflected in his HP (under half of his total). However, he has not used his Second Wind yet, which could give him the boost he needs to withstand a round of attacks from Saccharina and Cinnamon. While he’s already used up his Action Surge, he still has two attacks per round, and if anyone kills Ruby, Payment Day’s special ability could come through once again.

By design, high level barbarians are really difficult to kill, and Amethar’s levels in fighter make him even more scarily efficient in dealing damage. Rage halves any bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage, which effectively makes Saccharina and Cinnamon the only ones who can consistently deal full damage to him, since Liam has used up almost all his magical attacks. Unless Saccharina or Cinnamon deal significant damage in the early rounds of combat, Amethar is unlikely to go down until the end.

Having said that, Amethar is such an obvious threat that from a purely mechanical perspective, it makes sense for all the other characters to focus on him (à la Critical Role’s Battle Royales where nearly all the players focused on Grog). Ruby can be very deadly in her own right, but she’s not going to present the same immediate danger as someone who doesn’t take full damage from an attack. If Amethar tanks and absorbs attacks from other PCs, this could give Ruby leeway to either get her own attacks in or to make an escape.

Theo - Eldritch Knight Fighter 10

[ID: The official art for Sir Theobald Gumbar by Samir Barrett @sketchmasterskillz. Theo is a red gummy bear with big white moustache. He wears an entire suit of golden plate armour and a golden helmet, with a purple sash and a red cloak. He holds a purple lollipop shield in one hand, and a sword shaped like an orange popsicle in the other. He stands at attention, with a focused expression on his face.]

HP: 116/140 AC: 21 Remaining Spell Slots: 1st level (2), 2nd level (2)

Feats: Heavy Armor Master, Tough, Alert

Magical Items Battlepop: Compelled Duel (once/day) Swirlwarden: Use reaction to move up to 30’ and take attack meant for ally

Yeah, you read right. Theo’s HP max is 140, with an AC of 21 (I had to calculate this three times because I couldn’t believe it). His current HP is equal to Amethar’s total max HP. Theo may not be a barbarian, but he’s not going down any time soon. He’s also been fairly conservative with his abilities, leaving him with the majority of his spell slots, as well as his Action Surge. He also has a good list of cantrips, notably Blade Ward (resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage until the end of his next turn) and Green Flame Blade (1d8 + spellcasting ability modifier fire damage to target w/in 5 feet). And of course, he has Princess to give him Help on attacks and checks (Find Familiar is so, so useful).

As Murph remarked in the finale, Theo doesn’t do what the other characters do, which is deal lots of damage. As Brennan subsequently remarked, Theo doesn’t do that because what Theo does do is not get hit by attacks. One of Theo’s potential roles in this hypothetical PVP scenario is to tank in the action economy. Like Amethar, he’s a big threat because he’s difficult to down. Thanks to the feature War Magic, he can cast cantrips as an action and make a weapon attack as a bonus action, so if he casts Blade Ward on himself each turn, he essentially becomes a foil to Amethar. If Amethar and Ruby focused their attacks on trying to down Theo, this could allow his allies the breathing space they need to heal or make their own attacks.

In Lou’s strategy that he discussed in the final Adventuring Party, he placed Theo as the last on Amethar’s kill order. While his order of kills is heartbreaking from a roleplaying perspective, it’s a very astute calculation. Given his build, Theo is likely to be one of the last characters left standing, if not the last. Even if he consistently uses Swirlwarden to tank damage for his allies, his considerable HP makes him unlikely to drop anytime soon, short of some really impressive damage rolls. Amethar could try and team up on Theo with Ruby to bring him down to more manageable health, but that would leave them open to other attacks. Murph really went a 110% in making Theo a bodyguard, and honestly, good for him, it’s what he deserves.

Liam - Gloomstalker Ranger 6, Assassin Rogue 4

[ID: The official art for Liam Wilhelmina by Samir Barrett @sketchmasterskillz. Liam has pink skin, a red nose, rosy cheeks, and short dark red hair. He wears pink overalls, a red and white striped shirt, red boots and gloves, and a red and white hat. He carries a large pack containing a bed roll and a lantern, and has a quiver of arrows and a book attached to his belt. He is mid stride, looking down at his feet with a neutral expression. A small pig with peppermint stripe markings trots beside him, wearing a purple collar with the letter “P” and looking up at Liam with a happy expression.]

HP: 77/90 AC: 16 Remaining Spell Slots: None

Feats: Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter

Magical Items Crossbow: Bursting Arrow (once/day - used), Ice Knife (once/day) Locket of the Sweetest Heart: Advantage on death saving throws if other locket is within 5’ Seed of Change: ???

First, props to Ally for their roleplaying! Most of the characters going into the battle anticipated a possible PVP at the end and saved their resources, but in-game, no one told Liam the full —or even half— story. This means Liam did not have any reason to hold back during the final battle, which is exactly how Ally played him. Liam used up all of his spell slots during the battle, as well as the Bursting Arrow feature on his crossbow, leaving him with his crossbow’s Ice Knife feature as his sole magical attack.

However, Liam is still a force to be reckoned with. He still has two attacks each turn, and he’s absolutely deadly in the first turn of combat, where Dread Ambusher gives him a bonus to initiative roles, and Assassinate gives him advantage against any creatures who haven’t taken a turn in combat yet, with any hit on a surprised creature being a critical hit. Dread Ambusher also gives him a bonus 10 feet of movement in his first round, and an extra attack with a bonus 1d8 damage if it lands. He also has 2d6 Sneak Attack, which paired with his other features, means that Peppermint Batman’s still got a few tricks up his sleeve.

From a roleplay perspective, Liam is the biggest unknown here. While he told Theo that he would protect Saccharina, that was without knowing the full story, and without being in the circumstances of an actual PVP battle. Ally’s WiFi cut out during the Adventuring Party when the cast discussed what they would have done in a PVP, which means we don’t know for certain who Liam would have sided with. If he defends Saccharina, that increases her numbers advantage. If he sticks with Ruby and Amethar, this potentially tilts the combat in their favour with another big damage dealer. He’s in a good place with his HP, which means he’s unlikely to go down soon, but he’s also got the lowest AC in the party. Who knows what might happen?

(Let’s be honest, Ally rolls a narrative nat 20 that results in something unbelievable, unpredictable, and world-altering happening. They are too powerful, and cannot and should not be stopped)

Cumulous - Long Death Monk 10

[ID: The official art for Cumulous Rocks by Samir Barrett @sketchmasterskillz. Cumulous has blue skin and poofy light pink hair. He wears a pink outfit similar to a sleeveless gi with pants, a purple belt, and purple arm and leg wraps. He holds a white staff in his hand. Swirls of pink cloud come off of him. He is mid action pose, with his legs in a mid-dash position and one of his hands brought forwards in a fist. He looks to the side with a focused, stern expression on his face.]

HP: 85/85 + 6 temp HP AC: 18 Remaining Ki Points: 4/10

Feats: Mage Slayer

Magical Items Fluffwind: Whirlwind Stance; triples long jump; Gaseous Form (once/day)

While not the absolute juggernaut that Theo is, Cumulous is best placed of all the characters in regards to HP, with full health and 6 temp HP remaining from killing a Meatlander. Although monks in general are not going to see the same staggering amounts of damage as other classes, and are more of a support martial class, Long Death monks excel in the kind of combat we saw in the finale - lots of lower-level enemies that are fairly easy to kill and gain temp HP from. With a good AC, Cumulous can take a few attacks before being in trouble.

Unlike other martial classes, monks don’t often get the dramatic killing blow. While they have a lot of attacks, each attack doesn’t deal that much damage by itself. Monks consistently erode away at an opponent’s health, or stun them so that their allies can get their hits in. Cumulous burned through a fair number of ki points during the battle, leaving him with a little under half his total, so he’ll have to be strategic about how and when he uses his ki. Most of the other characters have a good Constitution and decent ACs, so it may be in his best interest to save his ki for mobility.

Cumulous has two big assets in a PVP battle, which are his mobility and the many hogwild (and unlimited) features that monks have. With Unarmored Movement and Step of the Wind, he can move up to 150 feet in a turn, which includes across liquids and on vertical surfaces. He has Slow Fall, allowing him to negate up to 50 points of falling damage, and he’s immune to poison and disease (which may come in useful against the Water-steel Dagger). Thanks to being on Team Saccharina, he doesn’t have to worry about area of effect spells targeted at him. If all else fails, he can book the fuck out of there to a safe distance and use Gaseous Form to escape from there.

Conclusions

As I said at the beginning, there is no real way to predict the outcome of a PVP. Besides raw mechanics, there’s roleplay, player agency, and of course, the dice. Even looking at how each character is placed doesn’t necessarily translate to performance. Mechanically, Ruby has the most resources left available, but that doesn’t mean she’d be able to overcome a worse case scenario of four PC attackers and a dragon. Cumulous and Theo are doing the best in terms of HP, but would have difficulty downing another PC by themselves. Amethar and Saccharina both have the potential to deal massive damage, but sorcerers are called “glass cannons” for a reason, and even with Rage, Amethar is sitting at a low HP. Liam is an unknown quantity who could tip the scales in favour of one side or the other, but he has used up most of his devastating “war guy” abilities.

With the multitude of different factors (e.g. initiative order, possible crits, sheer buckwild shenanigans), it could realistically be either side left standing. Team Saccharina has the advantage of numbers and several very hard to kill PCs, Team Ruby has the advantage of big damage dealers (not to mention rogues and barbarians are A Challenge to deal with on their own, never mind together). As part of a team, each character has a better chance of survival and “winning,” with other characters being able to balance out their teammates’ weaker areas. #teamworkmakesthedreamwork All this, of course, without including the possibility of NPCs being convinced to join the fight.

But if there’s one thing we’ve seen in A Crown of Candy, it’s that there doesn’t have to be just two choices, either or. There’s a third possibility, not between the two but something more, of change. The fact that this is just a thought exercise bears that out. Many thanks to the Dimension 20 cast and crew for an amazing season!

#dimension 20 #a crown of candy #long post #acoc spoilers #disclaimer: i am not a professional dm and master combat analyst

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mistyparadise · 5 years

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3, 6, 9, 13 because it's Payback Time, 19 because I want to know about your many dice

ok ya got me

3. Your favorite side quest

This is only sort of a side quests but in my Saturday night game one of the players decided he had to have his wedding RIGHT NOW so we all had toreal quick get ready for a wedding and there was a shopping montage for buying outfits and we had to get a bird in a suit and out dwarf fighter gave a speech full of drunk best man jokes, it was great.

6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc)

Umm I do not know what I killed but it was a bigger boy that I rolled my sorcerer chaos magic to kill and bc I am full of ramdom things it rolled to be high damage but a damage type he was either immune or resistant to so it would’ve been moot. BUT I used a magic item for the first time, a cord that lets me change any rolls related to my spells, so the image of Larissa frantically tugging on her belt and the spell changing types halfway to hitting the monster and juust MURDERING him/

9. Your favorite thing about D&D.

I really like the relationships formed in it? Like real talk I have made like 5 friends this year bc of D&D and it’s great and I could never have imagined That.

Also I like that I can enjoy it and play it without having to learn everything about it? Like I am Bad at lore but that doesn’t stop me from having fun!

ALSO I LOVE DOING FUCKING MAGIC

13. Introduce your current party.

Oh boy you got me here. I’m going from newest to oldest.

FRIDAY - The mess! We are not a very united front and we don’t really know whats going on. You’ve got Darcy, a very normal alchemist who is maybe also an illegal arms dealer who makes bombs out of her house. She is tired and isn’t sure if she even really wants to be doing Any of This. Eliza the Rogue, who eats only bread and paper (she has eaten every note we’ve ever gotten. Destroy the evidence) She hates bad people and guns and wishes she didn’t like dummies as much as she does. Roman the shadow cleric who wears a fedora but we don’t talk about that anymore. He lives in a literal hole in the ground and likes playing tricks on people and is real big into shadows I Guess. Connor, the pretty snake boy Dex Fighter who only has one arm. We think he may have been a pirate captain but he says he isn’t. He has bad morals and won’t tell us anything about himself. And finally It the Goblin and his buddy Handrew. It tried to pretend to be a gnome for all of 10 minutes. He is trying to figure out Secrets and also Handrew is literally just a hand who is his friend. None of us really like each other but we are doing our best.

SATURDAY - Technically we are called the Solar Hawks and it’s a dumb ass name. A fairly normal party, but it’s in the dessert. Zauzel, the Blood Cleric. He is dramatic, pale cursed which is a plot point I still don’t fully understand, and can identify you by the taste of your blood, which, gross. He is MARRIED to Aisha, the half drow glamour bard. She likes flirting and music? And she’s pregnant right now. It’s most likes Zauzels but there is a chance it isn’t! She was queen of the underdark for like a day. Shawn Tootle, human wizard and a little bit of grave cleric who just wants to study ancient artifacts, read for spells, and protect his favorite magic girl bc he is projecting his dead daughter onto her (which YIKES) That magic girl is Larissa, the wild magic sorcerer who just wants to blow things up and not get in trouble for it. Her most redeeming quality is her Perfect Boy Nelson the shadow blink dog who has gotten me out of so many sticky situations I love him. Sirik, the aarakocra ranger and his raptor Hes. Dumb as all heck but so lovable. He likes all animals more than any person. He has a small dragon thing as a pet now. And finally Fick, the dwarven fighter. He’s trying to make the Best Beer, all of his family is Dead, and his sister lives inside a magic gaunlet now. He’s the most racist.

WEDNESDAY - oh boy. Oh man. ok.

Pierce, the fighter with like a sorcerer archetype? He’s an asshole, pacted with a demon who wants him to kill some people, and is TOTALLY whipped for our wizard.

Korona, the theurgy wizard. Smartest BY FAR, just wants to study and for no one to die. Gets upset about all the death and bad things we seem to keep doing. Doesn’t like SOME of our party members but seems to like others a whole lot if you know what I mean.

Wren, the half hexblade half paladin. Has gone through so much shit, used to be much more of a happy go lucky dumbass but not is more Sad. Likes to drink a bit, and had to fight his brother and it went poorly. Learning how to be a holy boy, and of course he had to pick a god that’s illegal, so it’s not going great.

Zod, the good good monk! He’s the best punch boy. He’s the soft boy but also he can just murder you with his hands so. This is a Bad sentence but I once described him as having the softest big dick energy ever? It’s true but I didn’t have to say it.

Gabriel, the bone knight fighter. Look. I don’t know what I can say about this. He’s a sad boy. He’s out for vengeance because everyone in his town got killed, including his Wife (which, yikes) so he’s trying to fix that and now he’s with us and whoops now he maybe is like a little in love with my bard I don’t know how this happened either but I do know that he would die for her and always wants to do the right thing and help people.

and to round it out…

Katri, the lore bard. She’s…a lot. She ran away from home, bc she wanted to be free from their mental abuse. She has a lot of anxiety but is overcoming that. She mostly wants to do the right thing but recently that’s been harder and harder. She’s one with the void bc she stared into it for a while fighting a mind flayer. She is hopelessly in love with Gabriel and will do a n y t h i n g to keep him alive. She canonically has no fear now.

19. Do you or your party have any dice superstitions?

So I never actually get to roll my dice but I do roll them once I open them and I believe that the first roll does set the tone for that set.

#that was more than I expected #dnd #bard life

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themilokin · 5 years

Note

14, 17, 29, 30, 31

14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed.

Oh god. Oh no. The LONGEST LIST…

The Historical Preservation Society of Fandolin - My first ever dnd party playing Lost Mines of Phandelver! This was a bunch of years ago and I still have very very fond memories. We got our name by a scheme that managed to get us a 1v1 fight with a necromancer and then later an invitation to see some bugbears but that turned out less good. Comprised of Flint the Dwarven Cleric who 100% started a table-wide superstition of warhammers never hitting their targets, Taris the Half-Orc Paladin noble who originated the scheme, Tilwynn Syrr (Mr. Sir)- my wood elf rogue- who continued the scheme and butted heads with Taris repeatedly, and Eileer- a wood-elf beastmaster ranger who we called Grandma for her age and general personality. It was a wild few months.

Ghostbusters - A hard-scrabble group of idiots fight off supernatural threats and actual cannibal Shia LeBouff in the Magic The Gathering setting of Innestrad. The first campaign my girlfriend and I got to play together, and her first campaign! Comprised of her Ness (a Hunter Ranger with RIDICULOUS damage output), my Vermillion Kade (assassin and group dad), a Fighter that died to a Shambling Mound and came back as a Bagpiping Bard whose names elude me, Nessnemo (Nemo for clarity- a barbarian whose outfit consisted of primarily straps and little else), and Anders (A druid who caused the tablewide joke of ‘Bear in a Banquethall’ whenever players do something Very Ill-Advised because they missed a detail of description). We also saw a character named Chrodechild in this game while I took over for a Birthday Two-shot DMing stint.

OG Sendra - The first attempt at a full-length campaign. Comprised of Chrodechild the enchantress that eventually face-heel-turned into a villain, Lorelai Elffei the thief from a town of children who died and came back, Nemo (once more, but tiefling this time), Eseka the Halfling Monk/Bard performer in a circus (I THINK to melil, actually) who died and was restored, and Feverfew- the Drow Warlock of the Archfey.It had a pretty high character-swap-and-death rate. Feverfew the warlock died and became Patrin the Dragonborn Paladin who was then ALSO killed, and Kanseif the Human Barbarian Warrior Princess came about to replace him. Chrodechild turned evil and was replaced with Rhadha the crippled tiefling warlock who had made a deal with hags and had a long contract full of stipulations. Brill had to depart after character moments occurred and came back as Sylvienne Ghost- an Aasimar druid and Therapy Dog. There were further character swaps later on, but by the time they occurred the campaign had begun to grind to a halt.

Shards of the Past - A campaign run by a friend. The party was gathering the broken fragments of a rod of Manticores to fight back against the northern Empire. We were contracted by the queen to do so and BOY we sucked at it but we sure did win the war! A human paladin (whose name escapes me) with a lion-steed named Balthazar, Kestral the human Ranger-assassin (who had bird-themed names for her whole family it was rad), and my gnome Wizard Sullivan Orren du Ghislain-Ameritte III, who slowly descended towards lawful evil as the game progressed. It was a WILD romp.

ThreaTTT - My second stab at DMing! The players awoke in prison after a night of wildly out-of-hand carousing and had to pay off their debt to society in service to Drann’s public. Mostly monster hunting and character-driven, the first introduction of The Timeless and Sliver of Moon! Party consisted of Tor (half-elf half-dwarf bard who was locked in an endless one-sided rivalry with Fortesque D’artigan- another half-elven bard), Risc Taxis (an assassin from the Talons, the southern Thieves and Assassin’s guild in Sendra, and an addict to Celadon- a opiate that stains fingers blue), and Atonement/Toni- an Aasimar Archfey warlock who was fleeing an engagement and was beholden to the whims of her 12 year old patron. They more or less made a thrash metal band by level 5, and Cera- a merfolk enchantress prostitute- joined up with them after a trip to the Stormlashed Sea. Her name didn’t fit the scheme, but she was loads of fun.

Pile of Idiots/Fortune’s Favor/Dumb Luck - You know this one, Muffin. ;P Comprised of a Fireball-Happy Endlessly-Curious sorcerer, an Extra As Shit 4 Elements Monk, the Queen of the Sea herself, The Worlds Best Bard, Smol Druid with Smol Doggo frond, and Beefest Lizard Tank, these idiots try and save the world- or at least get by.

Trees Beneath the Seas - A campaign that got very away from us, and where Moon received most of his character development. It was a huge party, which I think detracted a bit from the potential RP fun, but I got to be RECKLESS. We had Damon Pyre the Half-Elf-Half-Dragon Sorcerer, Durieal Durnam the OP monk that was killed by the weapon he carried, Saneva Amailo the hexblade warlock of Garagos and certified Edgelord Supreme, Quv the gnome-turned-elf rogue that left and whose player came back with Rue the Pumpkin Queen the human druid, Amaya Arissius the wood-elf Horizon Walker Ranger (who died and was reincarnated as a human), Verath the Dragonborn bard, Persephone O’Dougal the Canim forge cleric, Braugen Rowcron the dwarf barbarian who came back later as Satsuss the yuan-ti artificer, Arlow Rathers the paladin of Illmater and best baker the world has ever seen, Waruk Flamesong the half-orc wizard/cleric who sank the world, and finally Sliver of Moon who robbed, lied, and smooth-talked his way into and out of worlds of trouble as a swashbuckling rogue-fighter-paladin-sorcerer (we got to lvl 30 shit got WEIRD).

Harder Than We Thought - Thrush’s game! We played on the continent of Sivaan- slowly coming under siege by a power called The Parody that wanted to make the whole world just a liiiiiiiittle more interesting. Evelynn Mercado (Parsippany Olapieros) the half-elf blade-bard with ten tons of swagger in a ten ounce body who was looking for her father and making her own name in the world, Thrush Marigold the endlessly sunny sun-soul monk who was learning about his tiefling heritage while looking for his mother, Sir Tim the Halfling Hero For Hire Paladin who was making his tiefling lover and his son proud, Dune the bloodhunter with a Big Problem with hags, ‘The’ Wothe the more traditional halfling bard who was potentially about to be Thrush’s uncle by marriage, Perryn the Air Genasi Beastmaster Ranger and prankmaster general, and a dragonborn sorcerer I cannot recall the name of with terrible eyesight.

Punk! - A portal-fantasy run by our Innestrad DM, with a fantastic set up where he said he had to take a call during our session 0 and walked out. We then all got messages at the table saying he’d been replaced and to not trust him, and when he came back his whole body language was changed and then ‘sucked us into a portal’ via his tome of handbooks he got rebound into one HUGE book. We all played ourselves but better, and it was wild.

Umber Wilds/Aspiring Cryptids - One I’m currently running on mondays! A group of adventurers Doing Their Best. Audhilde Stoneforger is the Eldritch Knight and Battle Goddess who can leap up to 170 feet because I’ve broken my own will. Larken Delmare is the human shadow sorcerer who used to be an elf and came back wrong, she’s got ties to the first lands of Thielle and is dealing with Coming Back Wrong as best she can. Yseult Brighton is a water-genasi grave cleric with both Selune and Shar claiming portions of her soul, she’s been dubbed the World’s Okayest Cleric and is basically a fishbowl made of friendship. Lastly there’s Ekaterina Sheralova, a drow Gloomstaker Ranger with the most flamboyant fashion and cat-like personality whose family is probably going to wind up killing her or trying to.

17. What are some house rules that your group has?

BIG CRITS! You max your primary damage die and then roll the second, so you’re always hitting big when you get that nat 20! I have to beef so much health because of this.

Flanking - Instituted around the In-Person table: when you flank you get a +2 to hit, not advantage. It’s less OP that way.

29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions?

Usually RP heavy sessions are my favorite thing, but sometimes you just want to hit something. XD I’ve found I really like a healthy dose of both, but I love it when the combat functions to fuel RP, so RP is probs my more favorite kind.

30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos?

They’ve trended more diplomatic! I’m grateful for it, and it’s neat seeing what pushes characters into ‘murder’ when they start out with diplomacy.

31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race?

Oh golly, probably Rogue or Paladin for favorite class, but Bard is up there too. I love versatility, and Rogue and Bard are skill monkey classes that are super fun. Paladin’s whole ‘strength from your belief in an ideal’ is also hella fun tho, I like it when paladins draw power from belief not in a god, but in a principle that guides them. Favorite race is harder, I don’t really have a favorite- but I know I dislike playing as Dragonborn, Aarakokra, and Lizardfolk personally. They’re just not for me, I think.

#dnd #long post #look at that wall of fucking text #sweet jesus

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anewbiegm · 7 years

Text

Tales from Saturday RP

With a break in our usual A Song of Ice and Fire game, R, who plays Ser Percy ‘Big Train’ Clearwater, offered to run an Arcanis one-shot using their 5th Ed D&D version. Only N - Anthor ‘Shit-Heel’ Waterman - and R had ever played any Arcanis before and that was the older version using their own rulset, so we weren’t sure what to expect. At this point, @thewenglishwarlock has been running 5th Ed. longer than time itself has existed and would have probably chewed off her own arm to get a game of it, even if it was a F.A.T.A.L 5th Ed. conversion. Ok, maybe not, but you never know.

Anyway, I’ve no idea what pre-written adventure it was that R ran, but there will be spoilers ahead.

The group is quite a diverse group Race-wise, Class-wise we’re fairly typical for a D&D party.

Ai'konu'tlax-Ga ‘Lash’ - my Ss’ressen male Barbarian. I didn’t know too much about the setting so used a Warhammer Fantasy lizardman name generator for him, giving him a slightly Aztec sounding name. He wears very little clothing - Natural Armour + moderate Dex is always fun - and fights mostly with his tail. He carries a khopesh, but has only used that for clearing vines and plants, machete style. I was talked into Barbarian as it’s not something I ever really think of playing in games. Although I had GRAM in Shadow of the Demonlord who had some similarities here - they’re both 7+ feet tall, hulking brutes - I chose this guy to offset the amount of talking Garrick is doing in ASoIaF, whilst avoiding my usual roles of Magic, Stealth, or Magic/Stealth.

Sabine - @usmelinuk‘s Val’Sheem Bard. The Val are basically the settings equivalent of Aasimar. She wanted a character that was a bit more talky, and Bard is great for talky, lots of Skills, and has the added bonus of magic abilities. To top it all off, being a Val noble, she has access to the flintlock weaponry, so is running around with a fancy little pistol.

Gwella - @thewenglishwarlock‘s Dwarf - I want to say Solani(?) enclave - Cleric of the Grave Domain. A tiny, and somewhat naive, healer off out exploring the wider world. Servant to the Goddess of the Underworld, yadda-yadda.

Khangir - human Rogue, part swashbuckler, part duel-wielding mercenary. A northerner out for adventure and coin.

Theren - a Kelekene elorri wizard- NotElves! although they are more ‘Primal’ in their heritage. The two elorri in the Quickstart are Life and Fire, the Kelekene being the latter of the two. Seems knowledgeable about many things, although perhaps not quite so well travelled as others in the group.

We’re introduced to each other - although Lash has been serving as Sabine’s bodyguard and retainer for some time - inside the yurt of the leader of the Ying-hir - NotMongols! of the setting - who believes his son has been killed during a coming-of-age ceremony in the wastes to the west. He had sacrificed himself, apparently in an attempt to distract marauding beasts that had attacked the group of boys, allowing the others to flee to safety, returning to the Ying-hir to tell the tale.

Supplied with travelling rations, the group heads out on the trail of his son. The journey is uneventful to begin with, the group slowly getting to know each other during the travel. On the horizon, several days out, a single dead tree sits in the wasteland, an iron cage hanging from one of the boughs.

Suspicious, Lash and Khangir scouted ahead, allowing the others to hang back, their ranged weapons drawn and at the ready. Satisfied there are no immediate dangers, everyone regrouped at the cage. Inside, a robed, unconscious human, his hands cut off and the stumps crudely cauterised. Lowering the cage to the floor allowed Gwella the chance to tend to his wounds, calling on her Goddess - Beltine, the Goddess of Afterlife - she managed to rouse the human, many of his wounds healing before our eyes.

Waking, he explained he was an etzara - a spirit talker. In lands that are aggressively patrolled by the servants of Ymandragore, the Sorcerer-King, seeking out Arcane spellcasters, he took a great risk. Sadly, whilst it was not the harvesters who encountered him, he had still run afoul of those that took offence to his practices. Witch hunters, of which faith he didn’t seem to know, but he remembered vividly their pure white armour. They had demanded he renounce his heresy, and turn away from it. Refusing repeatedly, the pair of white-armoured witch hunters, hacked his hands off, and locked him into the iron cage, leaving him to die in the arid hinterlands.

Angry at this act, we made sure the etzara was loaded with supplies and sent him on his way, whilst we continued on our hunt for the missing Ying-hir boy.

Sometime later, sounds of growling and chattering could be heard of a nearby rise. Charging over the low-rise, a bunch of hyena headed creatures are chattering to themselves, beside them and buried up to his neck is a man, his white armour scattered around the area/. The body of another man, clad in white armour lies dead a short distance away.

The battle is short, and painful for Lash, taking several painful blows from a pair of the hyena beasts, thankfully the Dwarfen Cleric of of Beltine ensures he doesn’t visit her Halls before his time, and the group free the buried man.

A lot of arguing occurs, Sabine and Lash both think he should be put to death, Lash because he views him as a coward, and torturer, and Sabine for justice for his actions to the etzara. Ultimately, the group allows him to go free, burying his comrade. Glares, and dark thoughts plague the group as we all agree to rescue the missing boy before deciding whether we should part ways.

Eventually, we find the cave the boy was last seen running towards, it is marked by tattered strips of cloth and other decoration, the symbolism lost on our ignorant group. Clambering up the rocky slope, we venture in.

Inside, a small living space has been created, another robed man and a Ying-hir boy waiting for us. The man, another etzara explains the boy took shelter here after being chased by giant panthers. The boy, is the Ying-hir tribal leader’s son, but explains how he is ‘dead’, crossing the tattered banners a huge taboo for his people. The boy is given a choice, remain with the etzara as an apprentice - he seems quite keen on it - or flee into exile. Unsurprisingly he chooses the apprenticeship route, giving the group his familial ring, he asks us to pass it to his father as proof of ‘death’.

Heading outside, we’re confronted by a trio of panthers, one significantly larger than the others. Although some way off, they’re clearly waiting for us to descend, something about the ave an the banners keeping them away.

A ferocious battle ensues, slashes, pounces and tail-whips abound. Inevitably, we triumph, Lash taking the head of the largest panther as a token for the Ying-hir leader, small recompense for the ‘death’ of his son at the paws of the beast.

Our return is uneventful, the ring and head are received gratefully, and a reward of a Ying-hir riding horse - a princely gift - is provided to each of us.

With little reason to remain in the Hinterlands, we head south, although not necessarily as a group, to Milandir, Lash’s birthplace, and more civilised lands.

A quick introduction into Arcanis, it was ok. I had overestimated how good 18 A.C. was going to be at level 1, and as I’m the kind of player who gets to final section of a CRPG toting more potions than any 35,000 people could carry, I’d heavily rationed by Barbarian Rages, this lead to the slightly embarrassing situation of being taken down to 0 H.P. in our first fight. On the plus side, I’ve learnt from my mistakes and will be a bit less stingy with Rages in future.

The issue with the Witchhunter did lead to some serious IC arguing and some OOC wondering about whether this party had the cohesion most of our RP groups do, but thankfully we’re still all adventuring together, at least for now.

#Arcanis #Dungeons and Dragons #5th Edition #RPG #Tales from Saturday RP #Roll20 #Discord

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