#EARTH GENASI GO EXTRA!!!

[masterqwertster]

How about some speculation on what powers waking up the Shard of Ka'Mort will grant Ashton.

This list is compiled based on the abilities of the Titanstone Knuckles, Earth Elementals, and just general earth/rock-themed spells pulled from the Druid spell list.

I, in no way, expect Ashton to pick up even half of these. It's just a fun exercise in possibilities. And a very long post.

From the Titanstone Knuckles:

I'm gonna use their Exalted state for the full ability list. And while I don't think Matt's going to go one-for-one with the Shard, I won't be surprised if there's a fair bit of overlap given the Knuckles were crafted from a fragment of an earth titan's heartstone.

Increase Strength Score to 26

Honestly, considering the Quintessence Array is supposed to boost Stat Scores from other items and such, I expect some Stat boost. And given that the basic earth genasi racial boost goes to Constitution and Strength, those are the ones I'd expect it for. And a big strength one like this given a) Belts of [Type] Giant Strength give similar boosts and a titan, who is essentially a walking mountain, should be stronger, and b) Evontra'vir literally said "the dormant strength of the empress."

I would personally like to see Ashton's Constitution restored to what it was, if not further boosted. But also understand that it's probably not gonna happen because that was their (further) punishment for trying something crazy and stupid.

Double Damage to objects and structures (siege damage)

Considering this is also in the Earth Elemental abilities, I think Ashton should get siege damage. It's very situational, but definitely could be useful down the road seeing as Destroy the Malleus Key is on the To Do List. And it's helpful for the bane of all adventuring parties: Doors!

Once a day Enlarge/Reduce, though they may only choose the enlarge effect. The spell lasts for 10 minutes rather than the usual 1 minute

Very much a take it or leave it ability. Titans are impossibly huge, being able to take on a very small fraction of that size makes sense. But the bonuses besides size/weight it offers are kind of meh for a barbarian when Rage already offers advantage on Strength roles, so only a d4 of extra damage is new.

Resistance to cold, fire, lightning, and thunder damage while enlarged

I honestly doubt Matt is going to give Ashton Resistances. Certainly not multiple ones like this unless it strictly follows the Knuckles' rules or some other similar restrictions on use.

From the Earth Elemental:

Guardian Pillars: The guardian creates pillars of stone. Allied creatures within 5 feet of the pillars are protected in some way.

So this was shown by the Earth Guardian Elemental that Abbadina summoned for the assault on the Dawnfather Temple. We don't know what protection the pillars offered, but this is an Earth Elemental ability and Ashton does want to protect Bells Hells, so I think this would be a fun one to pick up.

Darkvision 60 ft. Can see in the dark within a specific radius. Can see in dim light within the radius as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. Can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

More Darkvision for the party is always good. And, in the more recent release for genasi (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse vs Elemental Evil Player's Companion, which Ashton was built off of), they do just get Darkvision. So not a bad little upgrade to slip Ashton.

Tremorsense 60 ft. Can detect and pinpoint the origin of vibrations within a specific radius, provided that the monster and the source of the vibrations are in contact with the same ground or substance. Tremorsense can't be used to detect flying or incorporeal creatures.

Basically an earth-based Blindsight. Useful for keeping an eye out for invisible enemies following them and navigating and keeping an eye out when using Earth Glide. I would think Ashton would only get Tremorsense if they also got Earth Glide.

Earth Glide: The elemental can burrow at a speed of 30 ft through nonmagical, unworked earth and stone. While doing so, the elemental doesn't disturb the material it moves through.

This could be an interesting ability for Ashton to pick up too. It can open up some interesting mobility work, both in and out of battles. Definitely some potential for sneaking around some places if Ashton can semi-walk through walls at will.

Slam Attack: Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. 2d8 + 5(STR bonus?) bludgeoning damage

I mostly put this in as a different/upgrade to an Unarmed Strike for Ashton's new arm. Very doubtful it will happen.

Siege Monster: double damage to objects and structures

As mentioned up in the Titanstone Knuckles, it's an easy gimme that has very situational good use.

Damage Immunities: Poison

Considering I think Ashton getting Damage Resistances is low, I also doubt he'll get Damage Immunities.

Condition Immunities: Exhaustion, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Unconscious

I could see the Immunity to Petrified happening, since Ashton is, technically, already made of stone. I really doubt any of the other Condition Immunities would happen.

From general earth-themed spells pulled from the Druid spell list:

I don't expect many, if any, spells to be picked up. Ashton can't use them while Raging. And no spell above 6th level at the moment since that's as high as Imogen and FCG can go currently. But I also wanted a full list, so here we are.

Cantrips

Magic Stone:

You touch one to three pebbles and imbue them with magic. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the pebbles by throwing it or hurling it with a sling. If thrown, it has a range of 60 feet. If someone else attacks with the pebble, that attacker adds your spellcasting ability modifier, not the attacker’s, to the attack roll. On a hit, the target takes bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your spellcasting ability modifier. Hit or miss, the spell then ends on the stone. If you cast this spell again, the spell ends early on any pebbles still affected by it.

Use a bonus action to make magic rocks to throw at people. Semi-useful, and it provides a range option with a bit of prep time since Ashton can't cast while Raging.

Mold Earth:

You choose a portion of dirt or stone that you can see within range and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You manipulate it in one of the following ways: 1) If you target an area of loose earth, you can instantaneously excavate it, move it along the ground, and deposit it up to 5 feet away. This movement doesn’t have enough force to cause damage. 2)You cause shapes, colors, or both to appear on the dirt or stone, spelling out words, creating images, or shaping patterns. The changes last for 1 hour. 3)If the dirt or stone you target is on the ground, you cause it to become difficult terrain. Alternatively, you can cause the ground to become normal terrain if it is already difficult terrain. This change lasts for 1 hour. If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have no more than two of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action.

Definitely strikes me as a powerful, primal entity of earth ability to do some shaping of earth to your will. Good for traps, brief navigational markers, and easing travel for the party or making it difficult for pursuers.

1st Level

Earth Tremor:

You cause a tremor in the ground in a 10-foot radius. Each creature other than you in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone. If the ground in that area is loose earth or stone, it becomes difficult terrain until cleared.

Another one that definitely makes sense. A titan shakes the ground with its mere footsteps. This also has the potential for crowd control by making a decent sized circle of them all fall down.

2nd Level

Dust Devil:

Choose an unoccupied 5-foot cube of air that you can see within range. An elemental force that resembles a dust devil appears in the cube and lasts for the spell’s duration. Any creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of the dust devil must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 1d8 bludgeoning damage and is pushed 10 feet away. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn’t pushed. As a bonus action, you can move the dust devil up to 30 feet in any direction. If the dust devil moves over sand, dust, loose dirt, or small gravel, it sucks up the material and forms a 10-foot-radius cloud of debris around itself that lasts until the start of your next turn. The cloud heavily obscures its area.

Useful for distractions and a bit of ranged coverage. Also calls back to Ashton being spat out in a desert when they were teleported upon receiving the Shard.

3rd Level

Erupting Earth:

Choose a point you can see on the ground within range. A fountain of churned earth and stone erupts in a 20-foot cube centered on that point. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d12 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Additionally, the ground in that area becomes difficult terrain until cleared away. Each 5-foot-square portion of the area requires at least 1 minute to clear by hand.

Heaving earth always makes sense to me as something a titan can do, and thus an ability one would grant.

Meld into Stone:

You step into a stone object or surface large enough to fully contain your body, melding yourself and all the equipment you carry with the stone for the duration. Using your movement, you step into the stone at a point you can touch. Nothing of your presence remains visible or otherwise detectable by nonmagical senses.While merged with the stone, you can’t see what occurs outside it, and any Wisdom (Perception) checks you make to hear sounds outside it are made with disadvantage. You remain aware of the passage of time and can cast spells on yourself while merged in the stone. You can use your movement to leave the stone where you entered it, which ends the spell. You otherwise can’t move.

If Ashton gets Earth Glide, this is useless. And honestly? Pretty low value for Ashton in general.

4th Level

Conjure Minor Elementals:

You summon elementals that appear in unoccupied spaces that you can see within 90 feet. You choose one the following options for what appears: One elemental of challenge rating 2 or lower Two elementals of challenge rating 1 or lower Four elementals of challenge rating 1/2 or lower Eight elementals of challenge rating 1/4 or lower An elemental summoned by this spell disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends. The summoned creatures are friendly to you and your companions. Roll initiative for the summoned creatures as a group, which has its own turns. They obey any verbal commands that you issue to them (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to them, they defend themselves from hostile creatures, but otherwise take no actions. The DM has the creatures’ statistics.

Considering the Spark idly spat out the Doompa Loompas, which probably fit in this category of Elementals, I think it wouldn't be out of the question for Ashton to get their own minions once the Shard awakens. Number games are useful. So are scouts.

Stone Shape:

You touch a stone object of Medium size or smaller or a section of stone no more than 5 feet in any dimension and form it into any shape that suits your purpose. So, for example, you could shape a large rock into a weapon, idol, or coffer, or make a small passage through a wall, as long as the wall is less than 5 feet thick. You could also shape a stone door or its frame to seal the door shut. The object you create can have up to two hinges and a latch, but finer mechanical detail isn’t possible.

Shaping earth feels like a titan thing. And this can take some burden off of Fearne and FCG to have this spell prepared.

5th Level

Conjure Elemental:

You call forth an elemental servant. Choose an area of air, earth, fire, or water that fills a 10-foot cube within range. An elemental of challenge rating 5 or lower appropriate to the area you chose appears in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of it. For example, a fire elemental emerges from a bonfire, and an earth elemental rises up from the ground. The elemental disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends. The elemental is friendly to you and your companions for the duration. Roll initiative for the elemental, which has its own turns. It obeys any verbal commands that you issue to it (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to the elemental, it defends itself from hostile creatures but otherwise takes no actions. If your concentration is broken, the elemental doesn’t disappear. Instead, you lose control of the elemental, it becomes hostile toward you and your companions, and it might attack. An uncontrolled elemental can’t be dismissed by you, and it disappears 1 hour after you summoned it. The DM has the elemental’s statistics.

A titan probably should be able to whistle up a full Elemental. And given what happened in Hearthdell, I feel like it wouldn't be impossible that Ashton wouldn't have to worry about Concentration since he's higher up the Elemental food chain as a baby titan. But if Ashton gets a summon ability, it's probably going to be one or the other on full or minor.

Transmute Stone:

You choose an area of stone or mud that you can see that fits within a 40-foot cube and that is within 120 feet, and choose one of the following effects. Transmute Rock to Mud. Nonmagical rock of any sort in the area becomes an equal volume of thick and flowing mud that remains for the spell’s duration. If you cast the spell on an area of ground, it becomes muddy enough that creatures can sink into it. Each foot that a creature moves through the mud costs 4 feet of movement, and any creature on the ground when you cast the spell must make a Strength saving throw. A creature must also make this save the first time it enters the area on a turn or ends its turn there. On a failed save, a creature sinks into the mud and is restrained, though it can use an action to end the restrained condition on itself by pulling itself free of the mud. If you cast the spell on a ceiling, the mud falls. Any creature under the mud when it falls must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 4d8 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Transmute Mud to Rock. Nonmagical mud or quicksand in the area no more than 10 feet deep transforms into soft stone for the spell’s duration. Any creature in the mud when it transforms must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature becomes restrained by the rock. The restrained creature can use an action to try to break free by succeeding on a Strength check (DC 20) or by dealing 25 damage to the rock around it. On a successful save, a creature is shunted safely to the surface to an unoccupied space.

Again, shaping and manipulating earth is very much in the titan wheelhouse. Could be useful for ambushes.

Wall of Stone:

A nonmagical wall of solid stone springs into existence at a point you choose within range. The wall is 6 inches thick and is composed of ten 10-foot-by-10-foot panels. Each panel must be contiguous with at least on other panel. Alternatively, you can create 10-foot-by-20-foot panels that are only 3 inches thick. If the wall cuts through a creature’s space when it appears, the creature is pushed to one side of the wall (your choice). If a creature would be surrounded on all sides by the wall (or the wall and another solid surface), that creature can make a Dexterity saving throw. On a success, it can use its reaction to move up to its speed so that it is no longer enclosed by the wall. The wall can have any shape you desire, though it can’t occupy the same space as a creature or object. the wall doesn’t need to be vertical or resting on any firm foundation. It must, however, merge with and be solidly supported by existing stone. Thus you can use this spell to bridge a chasm or create a ramp. If you create a span greater than 20 feet in length, you must halve the size of each panel to create supports. You can crudely shape the wall to create crenelations, battlements, and so on. The wall is an object made of stone that can be damaged and thus breached. Each panel has AC 15 and 30 hit points per inch of thickness. Reducing a panel to 0 hit points destroys it and might cause connected panels to collapse at the DM’s discretion. If you maintain your concentration on this spell for 10 minutes, the wall becomes permanent and can’t be dispelled. Otherwise, the wall disappears when the spell ends.

More earth manipulation. And hey! Potential camping spell. Could make a little rock tent to protect everyone while camping. ...And potentially destroy it really easily with siege damage in the morning.

6th Level

Bones of the Earth:

You cause up to six pillars of stone to burst from places on the ground that you can see within range. Each pillar is a cylinder that has a diameter of 5 feet and a height of up to 30 feet. The ground where a pillar appears must be wide enough for its diameter, and you can target ground under a creature if that creature is Medium or smaller. Each pillar has AC 5 and 30 hit points. When reduced to 0 hit points, a pillar crumbles into rubble, which creates an area of difficult terrain with a 10-foot radius. The rubble lasts until cleared. If a pillar is created under a creature, that creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be lifted by the pillar. A creature can choose to fail the save. If a pillar is prevented from reaching its full height because of a ceiling or other obstacle, a creature on the pillar takes 6d6 bludgeoning damage and is restrained, pinched between the pillar and the obstacle. The restrained creature can use an action to make a Strength or Dexterity check (the creature’s choice) against the spell’s saving throw DC. On a success, the creature is no longer restrained and must either move off the pillar or fall off it.

This is, essentially, the Guardian Pillars from the Earth Elemental section. Just without whatever protection those were supposed to offer.

Investiture of Stone:

Until the spell ends, bits of rock spread across your body, and you gain the following benefits: You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons. You can use your action to create a small earthquake on the ground in a 15-foot radius centered on you. Other creatures on that ground must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone. You can move across difficult terrain made of earth or stone without spending extra movement. You can move through solid earth or stone as if it was air and without destabilizing it, but you can’t end your movement there. If you do so, you are ejected to the nearest unoccupied space, this spell ends, and you are stunned until the end of your next turn.

Honestly, this offers a mix from earlier spells and abilities as well as some of Ashton's barbarian abilities. So it's got potential to be highly redundant. So probably not this spell, but maybe the small earthquake ability in general.

Move Earth:

Choose an area of terrain no larger than 40 feet on a side within 120 feet. You can reshape dirt, sand, or clay in the area in any manner you choose for up to 2 hours. You can raise or lower the area’s elevation, create or fill in a trench, erect or flatten a wall, or form a pillar. The extent of any such changes can’t exceed half the area’s largest dimension. So, if you affect a 40-foot square, you can create a pillar up to 20 feet high, raise or lower the square’s elevation by up to 20 feet, dig a trench up to 20 feet deep, and so on. It takes 10 minutes for these changes to complete. At the end of every 10 minutes you spend concentrating on the spell, you can choose a new area of terrain to affect. Because the terrain’s transformation occurs slowly, creatures in the area can’t usually be trapped or injured by the ground’s movement. This spell can’t manipulate natural stone or stone construction. Rocks and structures shift to accommodate the new terrain. If the way you shape the terrain would make a structure unstable, it might collapse. Similarly, this spell doesn’t directly affect plant growth. The moved earth carries any plants along with it.

Yet more earth manipulation. Also another potential camp spell, though honestly more limited in such applicability than Wall of Stone.

8th Level

Earthquake:

You create a seismic disturbance at a point on the ground that you can see within 500 feet. For up to 1 minute, an intense tremor rips through the ground in a 100-foot-radius circle centered on that point and shakes creatures and structures in contact with the ground in that area. The ground in the area becomes difficult terrain. Each creature on the ground that is concentrating must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature’s concentration is broken. When you cast this spell and at the end of each turn you spend concentrating on it, each creature on the ground in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is knocked prone. This spell can have additional effects depending on the terrain in the area, as determined by the DM. Fissures. Fissures open throughout the spell’s area at the start of your next turn after you cast the spell. A total of 1d6 such fissures open in locations chosen by the DM. Each is 1d10 x 10 feet deep, 10 feet wide, and extends from one edge of the spell’s area to the opposite side. A creature standing on a spot where a fissure opens must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or fall in. A creature that successfully saves moves with the fissure’s edge as it opens. A fissure that opens beneath a structure causes it to automatically collapse (see below). Structures. The tremor deals 50 bludgeoning damage to any structure in contact with the ground in the area when you cast the spell and at the start of each of your turns until the spell ends. If a structure drops to 0 hit points, it collapses and potentially damages nearby creatures. A creature within half the distance of a structure’s height must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 5d6 bludgeoning damage, is knocked prone, and is buried in the rubble, requiring a DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check as an action to escape. The DM can adjust the DC higher or lower, depending on the nature of the rubble. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and doesn’t fall prone or become buried.

Ah, the big earth spell. I'd love to see Ashton become an earthshaker with this spell, but also know that if the Shard is going to give them access to this, it's not going to be until they're at a level that the full casters can use 8th Level spells.

#MQ blathers #critical role #cr speculation #cr meta #ashton greymoore

[theaviskullguy]

D&D Obey me- Lucifer, Mammon, + The Twins!

@trash-opposum here you go. seperate post so people can find it but here!

Disclaimer, if i do the rest, im going to avoid making EVERYONE a tiefling or aasimar, those are just for who i think are exceptionally appropriate/is how im playing them as my current dnd character is just Belphegor. If yall want me to make the others (Asmo, Levi, Satan, maybe Diavlo but who knows) let me know!

so let's GOOOOOOOO

Lucifer

Aasimar, the kind from Mordenkainen so no special extra type

Noble background, mainly cause i cant think of anything else

As for class, we have four potential options

Two varieties of Paladin, cleric, or warlock

First paladin variety- Oathbreaker

In this case he was probably originally Devotion before the revolution, and whoops! Oath Broken!

It'd either be a point of pride for him ("I fought for what I believe is right, and there is no shame in that") or he'd hide it from everyone

Second paladin- order of the Crown! obviously because of Diavlo. fellas is it gay to swear undying devotion to your future ki- *gets shot*

Cleric, then Order Domain. clerics are sworn to gods and not demons but shush his patron might still be Diavlo. in an actual D&D setting i can see him instead swearing to like Tyr or something.

he wont be healing. clerics are tanky he's out here ordering people to drop their weapons and then fucking murdering them

Warlock, gotta be fiend patron. im not sure if its possible to be your own patron but itd be funny as shit. worse case its fiend patron with some flavor homebrew as i call it to literally just be a fiend in his own right climbing the infernal ladder as he levels up

i promise the others wont be as long

Mammon

Earth Genasi as those are descended from the Dao, which are the greediest genie. Also, they just look rich with gem-like stuff growing in cracks on their skin you just know Mammon's one of them

Charlatan background. he is scamming people left and right and it works

Rogue, thief subclass. Honestly any subclass other than Arcane Trickster (hes not smart enough) or Scout (hes not equipped for the "outside of civilization" shit)

Unlike for Lucifer, the others have Backstory! Woo!

Mammon is the son of a Dao and a human. His human parent helped him escape from the Elemental Plane of Earth, but then he was left on his own

So. He quickly learned how to con people. At first it was for survival, and then greed.

He found Lucifer while running one of these cons. In particular, his "con" was a vanishing act. He claimed he could become "one with the earth" when really he was curling up on the ground and casting Pass Without Trace. Lucifer saw through this illusion and threatened to out Mammon as a conman, unless he joined him as his ally. So, he did.

Lucifer keeps him in check, but that's not to say Mammon isn't fully on the straight and narrow

Beelzebub

Tiefling!!! variant tiefling favored to have fly wings.

Outlander background, ill explain why in a sec

Barbarian. Need I say More?

actually i will- Totem animal, spirit of the bear. Since bear gets resistance to all damage (other than psychic) while raging and i feel that works with Beel more than anything

now for his backstory! he isnt canon in the campaign im playing belphie in but his backstory has the same catalyst. When he was five years old, the kingdom he lived in was caught in a rebellion against a tyrant. In which, Beel saw his older sister get killed by a royal guard. Belphie was going to be killed- but was protected by a tiefling in a knight's armor (my previous character who was killed. rip avi)

Beel, in his five-year-old mind, just ran. He took off without a second thought- a decision he now regrets deeply.

He ran into the surrounding woodlands. And gets an Atalanta-style backstory. For those who dont know, Atalanta was a princess who was abandoned in the woods and raised by bears

So Beel is raised by bears. Which is way better than being raised by wolves

They teach him how to hunt, gather, and its all well and cute. He sometimes entered the rebuilding kingdom to trade in leftover meat for clothes and weapons- and, to try and find Belphie. No luck.

Eventually, Beel grows to be a powerful warrior. Hangry, sure, but his rage hold the rage of freaking bears. so keep him fed. please.

Anyways Lucifer and the gang (everyone minus belphie) encounter Beel in the woods, watching the cubs. Beel agrees to adventure with them. He says goodbye to bear mom and promises to visit- hopefully, with his twin, next time.

Belphegor

hehe its ME

Zariel Tiefling but i dont give a shit about the infernal legacy its just There. tail is a cow's tail he basically just looks like his demon form

Hermit background. again ill explain in a sec

Druid, circle of stars! to people about to scream "i just checked the wikidot why he no circle of dreams??" because that doesnt have to do with dreams and sleep as i wished it did. its the obligatory faewild subclass. i hate the faewild subclasses (other than the bard one that ones fun)

Currently n the campaign im in we're level 5, so his two wildshapes are wolf, and a bull. But he also has his three starry forms due to being circle of stars.

now. backstory! strap in this is Long

he's saved by my previous dnd character- Avi- and is taken in by him and his husband when the rebellion was over.

Except. due to seeing his sister die and not seeing his twin after that, Belphie assumed the worse and thought that Beel also died and he was the last one of his family

He fell into a pretty deep depression and had no motivation to do anything besides sleep, cry, and eat very tiny portions of meals.

eventually his adoptive dads start telling him stories. and. surprisingly. they seem to help! Belphie is still a shrinking violet but he eats more and can cook and do basic chores!

And Then Avi Goes Missing

His husband- Skull- asks the now 11 year old Belphie if he wants to come along to find him. Belphie declines, saying he needs to get in control of his life and some big quest is probably just gonna leave him with more trauma

Skull lets him stay home, and gives him one of his feathers. So if Belphie ever needs a hand, he can call Skull over and. well. have one of his dads at least

For five years, Belphie took to studying druidcraft, and the stars. He also enchanted his favorite pillow to float and be able to carry him. So he had a little more comfort when going out to buy groceries. He'd make detailed star maps to sell in return

When the sun rose on his 16th birthday, he left a note at home saying he felt ready to tackle his own destiny, and left.

He had a brush with Lucifer, but not Beel. so close, buddy.

Anyways he arrives at The Hunters Guild, finds his parents again, and takes residence in the observatory, where he studies his stars and druid magic again. But also, sleep and dreams.

and. yeah thats where we leave off! god that was long im sorry

#obey me! #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me belphegor #obey me beelzebub #im sorry this got So Long #also to people who dont follow me for obey im sorry about the sudden hyperfixation #but its my blog yall just visit here

[inconmess]

I am soooo here for Orym finally figuring out Ashton may well be a misplaced Ashari on one kind or another and patterning on hard like mother bird with a new chick. If only because their sheer size difference makes the image of the sort-of-adoption so freaking HILARIOUS.

I mean, it's Orym. What else can you expect? He IS the dad of the group since the Crown Keepers, even if it were unwilling. And let's get it real, he sees Imogen as his daughter, Fearne as a sister/daughter. Ashton as a son/younger brother wouldn't be much of a stretch in the longer run, related to Ashari or not.

He'll be all "You're Ashari. You need to know this! Have you tried this? Have you tried that? Are you related to the Earth Ashari? You probably are given the fact that you are Earth Genasi. How did that come by though?"

Orym the mother hen has me so hyped. Especially since one possible speculation I have is that the two have the same father so it'll be like... the man's dead? Good, he escaped my clutches for experimenting on you. He's still alive? I am going to fucking hunt him down for all the pain he's caused.

And when they meet up with the other group later on, they are gonna be so confused as to why Orym is extra protective over Ashton and all the inside jokes they have...

#cr speculation #orym of the air ashari #ashton greymoore #I mean #He is a mother hen on a normal day #now it'll just become 10 times worse #critical role #ask answered #messy thots

[goldscalepaladin]

Grand Theft Agriculture

As winter set in in the city of Guldoon, crops & livestock had been long since harvested & stowed away. After another bountiful year, there was more than enough to get the populace through the winter, no matter how harsh it might be. At least, until food started going missing from the storehouses by the crate-full. Even with the surplus of supplies, such rapid & repeated theft could have led to the starvation of the masses if something wasn't done...

Enter the party. After an official request was submitted to the Adventurer's Guild, the party was assigned to investigate (because are you really going to trust law enforcement with this? No. You're not.). Heading to the nearest storehouse, Jason took the lead on interviewing the staff, first speaking with the Storehouse Manager, Onyx, a gruff but kind female Earth Genasi who was relieved that someone was FINALLY doing something to help. Afterwards, Jason & Fareem inspected the Storehouse for clues. Poring over the various staff logs & cross-referencing them with the various thefts, Jason discovered a pattern of workers who had missed work due to sudden illnesses, then picked up extra shifts on the days when things went missing. Further interviews with a few of these workers revealed a likely pattern of them being poisoned during after-work drinks, as well as a likely culprit-a human worker named Johan.

Some less than stealthy tracking led to an impromptu interrogation of the suspect, which in turn led to a surprise date at Coochie's Bordello. Meanwhile, Fareem, using her keen eye for details, managed to figure out which routes through the Storehouse were being used to smuggle out the stolen crates, &, though she wanted to be a fly on the wall for Jason's date, she decided to set up in a corner for a stakeout. A wise move, in the long run, as she managed to catch Johan sneaking back in after hours (but before his date) to apply an Arcane Mark to a crate, as well as a magical rune that would make the eventual theft even easier.

Later that night, Jason & Johan met up at Coochie's. There, Jason employed some less than savory seduction techniques to overwhelm Johan, who promptly folded, spilling all the details of the operation (or, at least, everything he knew). His employers, a quartet of mysterious men from Feywild settlement of Ärlen, had hired him to drug/poison random coworkers for them to impersonate, so that they could get in & out without raising suspicion. Said employers would be meeting him the following night to get the details for the next theft. A perfect opportunity for another stakeout.

The following evening, as the party hid nearby, Johan met his employers in an alleyway near the docks. There, he gave them the details, both real & fake, for the next theft, & they were on their way, with the party in pursuit of the would-be thief. After some expertly stealthy tracking, the party managed to subdue their target (It helps to have a 7 foot Dragonborn powerhouse sometimes), &, through the ancient art of "just talk", Fareem & Jason managed to convince him to help them talk his friends down. And, after picking up some beer & steaks to aid in their diplomatic efforts, the party managed to talk down the others, learning that they themselves were just hired help for a mysterious benefactor from out of town. Said mysterious benefactor was likely, given some documents uncovered, tied to the Cult that they had encountered the previous summer. But those details are for later. For now, Quest Complete.

@magicsugarbaby @graspingthorn

#party quest #party post #magicsugarbaby #graspingthorn

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms Viewer's Choice #4: Chalchiuhtlicue (Caster of Calamity)

(art by @vanillachaldea, commissioned by @hasquetzdoneanythingwrong)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're getting a little bit self-indulgent (selves-indulgent?) by building a fanservant that appears on the award-winning fate fanblogs @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong & @hasquetzdoneanythingwrong, Chalchiuhtlicue! She was one of the twenty-ish options in our Viewer's Choice list, and she got lucky. On top of being an OC she's also a headmate of ours, so this one's gonna feel a bit weird. We'll also give her some time to talk about the build as we go.

Just to get y'all caught up on the lore: The Mexica split the world's history into five eras, each run by their own god taking a turn as the sun: Quetzalcoatl was the second sun, our current sun is Huitzilopochtli, and the fourth sun was Chalchiuhtlicue. Despite being a goddess of earthly water, she was doing a great job as the sun for about 600 years until Tezcatlipoca rolled up and claimed her love for humanity was fake. Her tears flooded the earth, bringing an end to the fourth world.

So she's gonna be an Ancients Paladin to get some godly force behind her forks, plus we're checking out the new (at time of writing) UA to make her a Circle of the Primeval Druid to both get her the power needed to flood the earth and give her a Deinocheirus companion on par with Quetz's Quetzalcoatlus.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here! Also there's a rough idea of her actual skills and whatnot in FGO over here.

Race and Background

Calamity is a goddess, and that would usually mean Aasimar, but she's an elemental goddess so we're going Water Genasi instead. On the plus side, Mordenkainen gave us a lot of cool new options there. As a lineage, Water Genasi can choose their ability score improvements, and can even split them into +1 bonuses between three ability scores. Our most useful options are Strength, Wisdom, and Charisma, so pick those. They can also choose between a small and medium size, but to no-ones surprise we're picking the normal size here. They can also use Darkvision to see in dim light like bright light and darkness like dim light up to 60' away. They have a Swimming Speed equal to their walking speed, and are Amphibious so they can breathe underwater. On top of all that, they have Acid Resistance and can heed the Call to the Wave to cast Acid Splash at will. They can also cast leveled spells once per long rest for free or by using spell slots- Create and Destroy Water at level 3, and Water Walk at level 5.

Wizards of the Coast still has woefully few options for their god players, but Acolyte will have to do in the meantime. This gives her/me proficiency in Insight and Religion. Shame you didn't have that before the world ended. Well that's why I have it now.

Ability Scores

Wisdom is really useful, so make that option 1. You can't live a couple million years without learning a thing or two. Our second highest stat is Strength. Calamity is a caster, but she's a caster form the same pantheon as Quetz, so she's not scrawny. The third highest stat is Charisma. A god should be majestic, or at the very least terrifying. This means the build's Constitution can't be that high, though it is passable at the very least. We're also making Dexterity pretty low, but Chalchiuhtlicue's literally named after her armor, so it's not that big a deal. That means our lowest score is.. Intelligence. Care to explain? We needed some way to explain in-build how Tezcatlipoca could fool you and low wisdom clearly wasn't an option? So you gave me the same intelligence score as Kijo Koyo, who can't even speak half the time. You're lucky we have a build to explain.

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: I wish we could start as a druid for their skills, but if we want heavy armor we have to start as a paladin. You also get extra HP, so that's nice. As it stands, we get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saving throws, as well as Intimidation and Medicine. Fun fact: Calamity is also a god of childbirth, so it's a good thing you know how to midwife. I still can't believe that's a verb.

To help with the midwifing, you can Lay on Hands as an action, using a pool of HP equal to five times your paladin level per day. These points can also heal diseases and poisons by spending five of those points.

You can also use a Divine Sense as an action to sense celestials, fiends, and undead within 60 feet of you. You work with most of those guys, so it makes sense that you can recognize them.

2. Druid 1: Bumpin over to druid teaches you some Druidic, it's a language all druids know, so now you have more in common with Koyo than just your int score. You literally made up that score why are you- never mind. You can speak it, or write it down to create hidden messages. Speakers of druidic can pick up on those messages instantly, while other creatures need a perception check to even see them, and they still need magic to understand what they say.

You can also cast and prepare Spells using your Wisdom. For cantrips, pick up Druidcraft to tell the weather and Shape Water to control the shape of water. For leveled spells, Cure Wounds is a mild blessing, but always appreciated. Fog Cloud and Ice Knife are the closest we get to water spells at level one, but we can pick up Goodberry for a good harvest.

Chalchiuhtlicue's also a god of the harvest, which makes perfect sense when you think about it. Crops need water, duh. Kinda makes me wonder why Poseidon didn't get in on this racket, maybe he'd've won Athens over.

That's because Poseidon is a coward, and he stays downstream where he belongs.

Noted. One last thing to mention: Druids technically can't use metal weapons or armor, which would normally put a crimp in anyone trying to run one with good armor and weapons. Thankfully, the Mexica don't use metal in their weapons or armor. Obsidian your sword and jade your skirt and you should be set! Hopefully.

3. Druid 2: Second level druids can Wild Shape. It's wordy and we're not really using it, so I'll be brief: transform into animals 2x a short rest. Change your Strength, Dex, Con, and HP, keep everything else. Can't swim or fly yet, and your limited to CR 1/4.

Oh nice, that was much shorter than the first time! The reason we're not using Wild Shape is because those two uses per short rest can also be used to fuel the Primeval circles' ability: Primeval Companion! Its full stat block is in the character sheet, but in short, you can create a creature and choose its physical appearance. Like a steel defender, it only moves and attacks if you spend your bonus action to command it, or you are downed. You can only have one companion at a time, but each one lasts until it is destroyed, so they're a good investment.

At this point she/I am also a Keeper of Old, gaining proficiency in History checks and adding a d4 to all checks as well. Living for millions of years has its perks!

4. Druid 3: Third level druids learn second level spells. Enhance Ability and Lesser Restoration are useful blessings. The first spell gives a creature advantage on one kind of save, as well as some other benefits. If you choose Strength, their carrying capacity doubles. Dexterity prevents fall damage from 20' or less. Constitution adds an extra 2d6 temporary HP. Whatever effect you pick, it lasts for up to an hour.

5. Druid 4: At fourth level druids get a Wild Shape Improvement, increasing the CR limit of their beast shapes to 1/2 and allowing you to pick creatures with a swimming speed. (Technically your beast shapes already had one thanks to the Water Genasi's racial ability, but now you can swim without getting into an argument with your DM.)

Your jade skirt also gets a little bit tougher to cut through thanks to the Heavy Armor Master feat, rounding out our Strength and reducing nonmagical slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning damage by 3. Plus you can use Guidance to be a little better than everyone else, adding a d4 to your next ability check. And yes, this stacks with Keeper of Old.

6. Paladin 2: Heading back to paladin doubles down on that jade armor with the Defense fighting style for an additional +1 AC while wearing armor. We also gain a second Spell list which is prepared and cast using Charisma. There aren't that many spells we'd need from this list though- Bless offers the benefits of Guidance over a minute, while Command will help you impose your will on mortals. To ensure a healthy harvest, make sure to pick up Purify Food and Drink.

The best use for spell slots at this point might just be Divine Smite, spending spell slots to add extra damage to melee attacks. This only adds radiant damage to attacks, but the damage is appreciated nonetheless.

7. Paladin 3: At third level this Calamity takes their oath, and the Oath of the Ancients is an appropriate choice, given their companion. Now you can Channel Divinity once per short rest in one of two ways. Nature's Wrath forces a strength or dexterity save on a target, restraining them if they fail, and lasting until they succeed on a save. Turn the Faithless forces fiends and fey to run away for up to a minute, a reveals their true form for the duration they're turned. The flavor text for Nature's Wrath suggests vines entangling a creature, but muddy soil is a great way to hold someone in place as well.

Ensnaring Strike has a similar effect, though it deals piercing damage which complicates re-flavoring it. We can always Speak with Animals though. What are you, Aquaman?

If you'd rather not use either Channel Divinity, you can use it to Harness Divine Power once a day, spending the use of Channel Divinity to regain a low-level spell slot.

Finally, you have Divine Health, giving you immunity to disease. But just in game. Wear a fucking mask, please.

8. Paladin 4: This level is simple, bump up your Charisma for stronger paladin saves and for another feature later on.

9. Druid 5: Third level druids get fifth level spells, finally giving us a boost in elemental power. You can turn your fork into an Elemental Weapon to add 1d4 cold damage to your attacks, as well as a +1 bonus to attack rolls. For larger bursts of water, Tidal Wave creates a 30' wide wall of water that crashes down on anything inside of it, dealing bludgeoning damage before spreading out and dampening fires in the area. For a longer-lived wave, Wall of Water creates a defensive barrier that gives disadvantage on ranged attacks through the wall, as well as halving fire damage. If hit by cold damage, the wall freezes, and can be broken apart.

10. Druid 6: As a sixth level primeval druid, her/my Primeval Companion becomes a Prehistoric Conduit. That means you can cast spells from the space of the Companion if they have a range other than self. Additionally, the Companion now has advantage on all saving throws caused by magic; if they fail the save they'll only take half damage, and if they succeed they take no damage instead. That's right, this 30' tall duck is now more agile than a monk! Don't ask me how that works out.

11. Paladin 5: As a fifth level paladin, we gain an Extra Attack each action for two strikes per turn. We also gain second level spells. Moonbeam and Misty Step are useful, but the only blessing we want more than a divine smite is Aid, giving a few creatures additional HP for several hours.

12. Paladin 6: Sixth level paladins get their strongest blessing yet, an Aura of Protection. Friendly creatures within 10 feet of us now gain a +3 bonus to all saving throws. That duck just isn't gonna get hit by anything, huh?

13. Druid 7: Seventh level druids get fourth level spells! Once again, there's actually quite a few we like here. Grab Conjure Minor Elementals to throw some living currents at people, or use Control Water to properly flood the place. One non-water spell we need from here is Guardian of Nature, which turns you into a primal beast for up to a minute. While transformed you get that scaly look from the profile pic, plus your speed increases by 10', your darkvision distance doubles, you make all strength-based attacks with advantage, and you deal extra force damage on a hit. Force damage could be anything! It could even be cold damage! If you can't figure out why permanent advantage on a paladin is huge, I can't help you.

14. Druid 8: Eighth level druids get another Wild Shape Improvement, so we can transform into beasts of CR 1 or lower that can fly. We also gain another Ability Score Improvement, so we can improve our Wisdom for stronger spells.

15. Druid 9: Speaking of, fifth level spells give us even more options, such as Cone of Cold and Conjure Elemental. We should also pick up Mass Cure Wounds while we're here to keep our followers healthy.

16. Druid 10: Tenth level druids get another cantrip, and there aren't any more watery ones so let's go out like your husband did with Create Bonfire. You also form a Titanic Bond with your PC, making it Large and giving it a swimming speed so it can keep up with you no matter the terrain. Also, once a turn after hitting a creature with an attack or spell you can force a wisdom save, frightening them if they fail. Turns out a walking apocalypse is scary, who'd've guessed?

Make another joke about my husband and I'll make sure you don't forget again.

17. Druid 11: Moving right along! Sixth level spells! Those are good. Pick up Investiture of Ice to make the area around you swampy difficult terrain, as well as giving you immunity to cold damage and resistance to fire. As an action you can blast out water in a 15' cone to deal cold damage, making whatever you hit too slippery to move more than half its speed next turn if they fail their constitution save. Also, pick up Heroes' Feast for a guaranteed great harvest and Druid Grove for a little home away from home. For 24 hours you can create several protective effects in a 30-90 foot cube of outdoor space. There's a lot of options so we won't mention them all here, but if you cast it in the same place every day for a year it becomes permanent.

18. Druid 12: Use your last ASI to pick up the Tough feat for an extra 36 HP now and 2 more every time you level up from here. Again, just because you're a caster doesn't mean you're squishy.

19. Druid 13: Frankly, I don't think theRE'S any spells we'd wanT frOm the seventh level list. Realistically, just upcast eleMental weapon or smites.

20. Druid 14: With our final level, another option appears to spend our higher level spell slots on, when we become a Scourge of the Ancients. As part of the bonus action used to command the primeval companion, you can also spend a spell slot for several benefits, all lasting an hour. The creature becomes Huge if there's enough space and gains 10 times the spell slot's level in temporary HP. (Amazingly, this actually downplays the size of the Deinocheirus. Huge is only 15' tall, while the real thing was almost 30.) The companion also deals 1d8 plus the spell slot's level in extra damage on an attack, and their speed increases by 5 times the spell slot's level.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Your dino buddy is extremely powerful against magic, and is probably large enough to get full cover behind. Including your aura, your companion has a save with at least a +4 bonus in all three of the most common saves, as well as advantage with those saves and evasion to prevent damage from those attacks anyway. This is one dinosaur the meteors can't kill.

You're also skilled at supporting the rest of your party as well, without sacrificing self-sufficiency. While you can deal plenty of damage with smites and the like, you can also heal and bolster the party just as well.

This build is also quite good at shutting down movement in a way that only you can move through easily, flooding the arena to give yourself easy pickings against whatever you're hunting.

Cons:

Technically we've only got heavy armor and solid weapons through a loophole. Rules as written there's no way to get heavy armor without breaking some kind of druid law. TBF if you showed me real-life examples of jade armor of w/e I'd at least give you a some kind of homebrewed set of armor, but don't expect this to work in adventurer's league.

The Deinocheirus is strong against magic, not physical attacks. I'm told 19 AC is good, but only having 80 HP is not. At least we can make more. Also its damage sucks balls at high levels. Don't use this as an extra fighter.

Despite getting so much magic, we don't have any in-character ways to deal with flying enemies. Anything that can stay above sea-level will definitely be a problem for this build.

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #DND #Chalchiuhtlicue #paladin #druid

[honeyboyfelix]

ah shit did i tell you guys about the deck boy?

so in my netherdeep campaign our dm gave us a deck of many things (if you dont know what that means,,,, oof. if you do know,,, 👀) all of us immediately freak out and promise not to pull on it cause the chance it goes bad is very high and who knows what bullshits in there (the dm homebrewed some cards,,, extra scary) so anyway a few sessions later were trying to convince this guy (verin theyless) to let us into a dungeon (bazzoxan) and he tells us to get a boon from a giant tortoise

one of the boons the tortoise offers us is to 'pick two cards from the deck of many things' and we get to choose which card takes effect and the other disappears from the deck but doesnt take effect. only one of us gets to pull. we of course pick it cause its a better change than normal to get something good. i suggest rollies for fareness. i win the rollies by accident oops 😬

one of the cards is like proficiency in any skill or something i dont remember and the other is the knight card

the knight card basically gives you what it says on the tin: a knight (changed to fit our lvl and homebrewed for fun cause og rules is we get a lvl 4 dmpc at lvl 4 💀)

the group decides theyre going to light bully me into picking the knight card (and tbh most interesting choice but rip our dm who has to rollplay 20 npcs ever session)

now the dm has been trying to integrate romance into the campaign, asking us what our characters type is and all that fun stuff. so of course this knight card comes with options (4 very fun options lmao) but i choose earth genasi artificer cause artificer is something our team doesnt have a niche in and itd be cool and now we have a team boy who my party thinks my character has a crush on 👀

#todays going so slow :( #i think i put this on a side blog but i didnt put the full story #does my character have a crush? no #could! my character have a crush?? at some point?? maybe #sam plays dnd #personal #i needed to post this so i could post the art i drew of my deck boy :3c

[raisingcain-onceagain]

fic authors self rec! when you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. let’s spread the self-love 🤍✨

asdfdljkgfjlkg thank you!! ✨✨✨ Whew, it was hard to pick favorites because they feel so different, but here we go:

dear fellow traveler (14k, rated M, The Silmarillion, Edrahil/Finrod) -> Findrahil is my #1 Silm ship, and this was the first time I sat down and wrote a whole history for them with everything I headcanon'd about Edrahil's background. Plus fealty kink, liege-and-lord to lovers, cultural differences, angst, foreshadowing... RC catnip, basically XD

Of The King of The Alders (9k, rated E, The Silmarillion, Annatar/Celebrimbor) -> Canon divergence horror in which I tried to make everything worse, and I think I did :::sweats::: I.e., Finrod and Beren's quest for a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown goes sideways from the beginning.

i'll wait for you, just like you'd do (14K, rated E, Critical Role, Orym/Dorian/Imogen/Ashton puppy play all the way down, folks ) -> aka, I saw an ask on the CR kinkmeme that just grabbed me by the id and a month later, this fic is what came of it...

A Brief Treatment of Certain Winter Carols (5k, rated M, The Silmarillion, ensemble cast) -> Playing around with which carols would be sung in Beleriand and Middle-earth, who would know them, and why... Each carol comes with a story, and idk, I just think it's neat! If You Want It, You Can Reach The Sky (WIP, 34k, rated M, Critical Role, Orym/Dorian, Silken Squall AU with OCs) -> I got stuck on the last chapter when show canon raced ahead, BUT. I still love this idea and will get back to it! i.e., the fic where Dorian is drawn back to the Silken Squall for reasons (tm) and has to deal with going "home," worrying he'll lose his friends, and seeing more of himself than strictly comfortable in an outcast genasi boy. and the cheat/extra answer, an entire series: Fresh Cut Ass (affectionate) (33k, ratings from T to E, Critical Role, Ashton/Fresh Cut Grass, Krook House polycule) -> When I started this, I *thought* I was writing halfway-crack fic, hence the series name. But no, it was only the tip of the iceberg into what's still my #1 CR ship...

Thanks again @maybetwice!! Now to tag some fellow writers...

#ask game #tag game #my writing #rc replies

[rubydart]

A friend’s tiefling-base labradorite earth genasi wizard.

#dnd #D&D #dungeons and dragons #earth genasi #tiefling #EARTH GENASI GO EXTRA!!! #gemstone hair #ocs #completed #labradorite #earth genasi renaissance let's gooo #genasi

[dnd-homebrew5e]

Air and Earth Genasis get pretty much nothing from their abilities.

Air Genasi can cast Levitate once a day and can hold their breath indefinitely while not incapacitated. That spell and ability is super fucking situational. I think they should get resistance to thunder damage.

Earth Genasi can cast Pass Without Trace once per day and can go through difficult terrain of earth or stone without costing extra movement. That's also really situational. I think they should get a natural armor of 13 + Constitution.

#dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #dungeons & dragons #genasi #air genasi #earth genasi

[tiamat-zx]

New Stats, Who Dis (Campaign 3 Spoilers)

So… Campaign 3 finally debuted on October 21st, 2021, which just happened to be Matt and Marisha’s wedding anniversary. YAY! And as such, we were introduced to our brand-new adventuring party.

Well… “brand-new” may be stretching it, to put it mildly.

Why? Because there are quite a few familiar faces who have the opportunity to explore their stories further: three of the “Crown Keepers” from Exandria Unlimited!

And as part of their inclusion into this new group, as Matt had mentioned on Twitter recently, the Keepers had been given the option of rerolling their stats. And while Orym of the Air Ashari did not get his stats rerolled… the same cannot be said of our favorite fiery faun and breezy bard, Fearne Calloway and Dorian Storm.

To start with, Fearne’s Dexterity of 14 is unchanged, and her Armor Class and Maximum Hit Points remain unchanged at 17 and 24, respectively. However, her Strength and Intelligence did get a respective ashy reduction from a 8 to 7 and 10 to 9. But on the upside, she DID benefit from a scorching boost in her Constitution (14 to 15) and while that does not affect her HP, her Wisdom and Charisma are definitely noticeably better, stoked from a 16 to 17 and 13 to 15, respectively.

And you know what’s ironically funny about the Charisma increase? It’s been stated that her mini had to be redesigned four times, just to make her bosom bigger. Fittingly enough, that would add to her fey charm, and she was already charming in EXU, if her effective Charm Person gambit on Poska were any indication. Plus, Ashley just wanting that for Fearne? I mean, who would refuse a request from Ms. Johnson, right?

Meanwhile, Dorian has received quite the drastic “second wind” in terms of his ability scores. While his Wisdom score did take a dive from 10 to 9, and his Intelligence remains a stagnant 12, the rest of his scores definitely ascended skyward; his physical scores all getting a soaring increase (Strength from 14 to 17, Dexterity from 14 to 16, and Constitution from 10 to 17), while his Charisma only slightly receiving a tailwind boost from 15 to 16. (It should be noted that his maximum HP at the time this card was shown was not updated correctly, so if the rolled HP did not change, then it should be increased from 17 to 26.)

…

And now, as an honorable mention, the silverfox of the Search for Grog (and Bob): Sir Bertrand Bell.

Seeing as Campaign 3 begins in 843 PD, a good 30 or so years after the trek to Pandemonium, Bertrand has definitely seen better days. And as such, he lost 13 levels due to old age and with them a lot of his higher stats, though ironically getting a boost in Intelligence and still being at level 5, thus having Extra Attack as a fighter. But despite being in his 80s or so, he wasn’t so feeble as to not be useless in a fight; he still had enough vim and vigor to be of assistance to the rest of the group in their first ever combat outside the Spire by Fire tavern.

Of course, while Orym and Fearne are said to be in it for the long haul, it’s still up in the air as to how long Dorian will be here as he seems to be a long-lasting guest at best. Not just that, but there are questions as to whether or not Bertrand will be a permanent fixture in the group because of his old age, or whether he truly IS Bertrand and not, say, someone masquerading as him. But perhaps we’ll find out more this week.

But all the same, I am excited for this campaign, especially with the rest of the group being eccentrically unique in their own rights. I mean, when you have a psionic southern sorcerer, the goth queen to out-goth every other goth in CR to date who is actually rather sweet, an earth genasi who is literal punk rock, and a healbot named after one of their maker’s favorite smells… there’s a lot of roleplaying potential here. And when you mesh the fresh faces with those whose stories we’ve only scratched the surface of, it’s definitely going to be a wild ride.

#critical role #campaign 3 #critical role campaign 3 spoilers #exandria unlimited #fearne calloway #dorian storm #bertrand bell #Travis Willingham #Robbie Daymond #Ashley Johnson

[masterqwertster]

As I've already said, I would like the Rau'shan Spark to go to Ashton, let them be a Super (Dunamantic Volcano) Titan.

And it could also be fun in the more immediate, before the Titan powers wake up from their dormant state, in that the Spark would probably give Ashton fire genasi traits to stack on top of the earth ones. I mean, it's essentially the same deal as what Ashton already got from Ka'Mort's Shard, which made them an earth genasi, except with fire.

(And I don't think a fey like Fearne could/would turn into a genasi. Ashton at least started out in the humanoid lifeform category before Ka'Mort's Shard changed him)

So Ashton could pick up the three fire genasi specific mechanical traits that he didn't have before: Darkvision, Fire Resistance, and Reach for the Blaze (Produce Flame cantrip and 1-per-day 1st Level Burning Hands).

More Darkvision in the party would be very useful for night watches. Especially since Bells Hells has no Safe Camp spells, and kinda never will. So having a third for watch pairs who won't have any form of impairment to nighttime Perception Checks would be useful. And yes, I know Orym won't ever roll Perception at less than straight thanks to his Sentinel Shield, but it really doesn't hurt to have more Darkvision, which at least won't face DM description penalty based on in-world vision capabilities.

Damage Resistance of some kind is always a boon. And given the wizard (and other casters) penchant for Fireball, Fire Resistance is a good call. And would offer full Resistance to Meteor Swarm when Raging (Bludgeoning and Fire damage), which is a big spell favored by late-game boss fights (and funnily enough would mean Ashton could survive/not go down on a maximum damage roll for Meteor Swarm while failing the Save with their current health).

Reach for the Blaze grants a little extra magic. With it, everyone in Bells Hells can cast at least one cantrip, so that's another fun new first for the All Can Cast a Spell Without an Enchanted Item party. It also would give Ashton one attack per day where they don't have to roll to hit, and is a non-Bludgeoning hit. Sure, a chaos burst can add some other type of additional damage, but the majority of the damage is still going to be in Bludgeoning, so Burning Hands is a nice little one attack workaround. Or you know, Reach for the Blaze just gives Ashton the ability to set things on fire at will. Start an arson competition with Fearne with the targets being their enemies.

As for the fire genasi aesthetic, I think it'd be really cool if Ashton's new carving tattoo became burning lines/fissures. A light-up tattoo would be awesome. Also a fire beneath/beyond the crystals of his hair lighting things up when he gets angry alongside shimmery heatwave breath (Leaving the glass alone because that's dunamancy/Luxon territory). And when Ashton gets cut open/cracked, the fissures light up like magma peaking through. Magma blood would also be pretty cool, but probably just a very hot version of the usual for Ashton.

So yeah, there could be some fun consequences to Ashton taking in the Spark of Rau'shan.

#mq blathers #critical role #cr spoilers #cr speculation #ashton greymoore

[dmsden]

Touched by the Elements - Personal Plot for Genasi

Hullo, Gentle Readers. It’s time once again for another Personal Plot article. This month, we’re delving back into the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion for the fascinating Genasi. If you need a copy of this free official supplement, you can download it at https://media.dnd.wizards.com/EE-Players-Companion_0_0.pdf

By the lore of the EEPC, Genasi are unique, one-off creatures, usually stemming from a mortal and a genie of some kind producing offspring. This is a perfectly acceptable bit of lore, and it would work for any campaign. In my own campaign world, Genasi originated as mortals from the country of Bedourin who were taken prisoners by the Primordials during the ancient war at the dawn of time. They were imbued with elemental power to help them survive their time in the Elemental Chaos. When the Primordials lost the war, the Genasi returned to the world, profoundly changed, and have done their best to rejoin Bedourani society. Whether your campaign uses one of these kinds of origins or something totally different, looking at what makes Genasi unique gives all kinds of fertile ground for storytelling.

Let’s say you’re using the “one off” origin. You could do all kinds of storytelling related to the Genasi’s Genie parent. After all, if the people you think of as Mom and Dad are human, and your skin is light blue, a breeze constantly follows you, and you have crystals embedded in your scalp, you’re probably going to realize there’s something different about you. Eventually, a child in that situation is probably going to have questions and maybe want to meet the parent they’ve never known. This could be the basis of a major adventure, as the players find a way to get into the Elemental Planes, seek out the parent, convince them to grant an audience, etc.

What will this meeting be like? The EEPC suggests that most genies don’t desire contact with their genasi offspring. That could make the meeting very bittersweet at best and almost hostile at worst. On the other hand, what if the genie decides this mortal spawn is useful to them? They could send their child on all kinds of adventures. Or what if the efreet general they’ve been seeking to help bring down turns out to be the genasi’s parent in the end? It’s a rich tradition of storytelling to explore.

On the other hand, if genasi are elementally-charged race with their own communities and such, how does the rest of the world react to them? You could have people react poorly, being suspicious of the possibility that they worship the Primordials. Or, conversely, people could start showing up to seem to recognize the genasi PC as a chosen one among his kind, seeking to have the Genasi lead a cult dedicated to Imix, Ogremoch, or the Elder Elemental Eye. If a PC chooses a race like a Genasi, they are saying they want to be marked as different, and you should discuss with your player where they want to go with that idea.

One thing that might be interesting to explore through story is the PC’s relationship with the element they embody. Do they love and accept it, or do they fight against it? The story of someone trying to fight their own nature can always be an interesting one. What if the fire genasi lived in a tavern as a child, but the building burned down, killing their parents? They fled, as townsfolk pointed accusing fingers, and now they have a hatred of fire and try to suppress their nature. A fire genasi monk trying to maintain an inner calm to avoid any flare-ups would be quite interesting. 

On the flipside of this, learning to love one’s own nature gives a lot of story potential. Perhaps the earth genasi lived among miners, or the water genasi was a sailor, or the air genasi plies a trade on an airship or guiding people high into the mountains. The character could be seeking to more strongly build their affinity to their element, which could mean seeking elemental fonts around the world which grant boons based on the element they’re charged with. Once again, a jaunt into the Elemental Planes is something that should definitely happen at least once, to allow a genasi to really embody their power.

One thing you might want to consider is that, since genasi embody the classic four Greek elements, each element had an element in opposition. Fire and water are in opposition, as are earth and air. You could use this idea to craft a nemesis or rival for the PC. It doesn’t have to be a literal other genasi or genie, but maybe it is. A fire genasi might have a childhood rival who’s a water genasi. A water genasi might be opposed by an efreet. An air genasi might have an enemy who’s a xorn. An earth genasi could be hunted by an invisible stalker.

It’s always a great idea, often around the middle of the campaign, to ask the player where he’d like to see his PC end up. Asking at the beginning yields some interesting ideas, but it often isn’t until they’ve been in a character’s skin for a while and seen them evolve and change that they know where the character would want to go. Maybe the PC decides they want to throw down their efreet pasha father, crush the attack on the Prime Material Plane they were planning, and take their crown. Maybe the air genasi PC wants to free their djinn mother who has been imprisoned in a lamp by an evil sorcerer. Maybe their goal is to get purged of the elemental influence and become just a mortal human. Odds are, at the beginning of the campaign, that they won’t have an idea what that goal is yet. They may have a goal they think is the final one, but it’s likely to be different as things move along.

As one extra little note, there used to be five kinds of genasi. Stormsoul genasi were kind of an odd bit, but I always liked them. Since they exist in my campaign setting, I did create them as a subrace for Genasi in D&D Beyond, and you’re welcome to use them. You can find my work ready to play at https://www.dndbeyond.com/subraces/12762-storm-genasi

I hope this article has helped spark some ideas for you. Next month we’re back to the Player’s Handbook for the Outlander background. Until then, may all your 20s be natural.

[vantaray]

When @inthesoupbowl made Kobal years back, Genasi weren't a playable race and the information on them was scattered, so some of this lore is goes against bits of DnD and Pathfinder canon, as it didn't exist at the time and we (well, mostly soup) had to go in and make it all up. I wanted to make a sheet for them to keep all of our different game's lore together (for players and DMs bc we keep expanding the universe lmao) and for others if they wanted, so feel free to use! I have some extra info for those super curious or want to use this in their own games below:

About the 4 Main Elements: This part is pretty simple, but can be expanded on. For example, not only can their be regular fire genasi, but in our lore, this can include other types of magic fire (Blue, Holy, Black, etc). For water, they could be salt or fresh water specifically, or even ice. Those who have a strong grasp on their element can even turn their body into it to avoid physical attacks, etc (with a roll of dice, of course). About passing genetics: So, like it says, a genasi can only be produced with elemental x mortal, or genasi x genasi. There are no half genasi, which is part of why they are so rare to begin with.  I thought I'd give an example to help explain this, because I think it's the easiest way. Human x Fire Elemental = Fire Genasi. That same fire genasi x Human = 75% chance human child (likely with a elemental sorcerer bloodline) 25% Ifrit child. Fire Genasi with human parent x Elf = 75% Half elf, 25% Ifrit. Fire Genasi (any mortal race parent) x Water Genasi (any mortal race parent) = 25% chance fire genasi, 25% chance water genasi, 50% chance subset (ex, steam) The types of elementals a genasi can produce works as followed: Fire = Ifrit. Water = Marid. Earth = Dao. Air = Djinn. If a genasi's child does not come out as an elemental race, they won't pass on the genetic possibility to have one in their bloodline, but they WILL pass on the aptitude for elemental magic for several generations. Some of these Genasi on the sheet are PCs and NPC's, such as Kobal (topmost left) and Lymeria who is under him. Across from him is Enlil. The two in the center there are Wilhelm (mine) who has an Aasimar parent and Dormir who is black fire specific and has a tiefling parent. The green one under them is my Serpentine stone NPC Genasi. Might add more later! lemme know if I can clarify something!

#genasi #dndlore #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #fire genasi #water genasi #earth genasi #air genasi #genasilore #kobal lavis

[diceforanaltmode]

Team Ice: Adventure 5: The One Where the Spymaster Befriends the Dog

Team Ice continues their adventure and we’re bringing you the latest summary! Last time the party defeated a sea snake on their way sailing to Caminus. What - or who - will they encounter this time?

The Cast - TEAM ICE

Skids by Soundwave (human rogue) Tailgate by Butter (dwarven barbarian) Cyclonus by Ren (tiefling paladin) Nautica by Robophelia (half-elf wizard) Velocity by Cee (high elf cleric) Brainstorm by Bex (air genasi wizard)

First Session | Second Session | Third Session | Fourth Session

After the party gets their various loot from the dead sea snake, and Prowl rejoins them on the deck of the ship, they are met by a bright magenta aarakocra - Misfire - and a bronze dragonborn - Grimlock. Shortly after realizing that the commotion has all been resolved, Grimlock goes over to the side of the ship to throw up, hiccupping fire over the side as well. The crew yells at him that he better not set their ship on fire. 

Misfire explains that Grimlock was seasick, which is why they hadn’t left their room until they heard the commotion and Grimlock insisted on coming up topside to make sure everything was okay. Skids comments that staying belowdecks is actually worse for seasickness, and Misfire says that that explains a lot. “Grimsy! Hey, did you hear -” And Grimlock flips him off.  

A goblin climbs out from under Misfire’s wing - it’s Spinister! He climbs up to Misfire’s shoulder and says “I don’t like the scaly thing, I’m going to shoot it.” He hops off and goes to shoot the sea serpent’s corpse repeatedly with his crossbow. Misfire comments offhandedly that when Spinister had said ‘I don’t like the scaly thing, I’m going to shoot it’, it could have gone either way - it was a good thing he hadn’t meant Grimlock. Velocity is a little concerned about the wasted arrows, but Misfire says that Spinister always recovers them - and indeed, he comes back with bloody arrows. When Velocity asks if he’s going to clean them, he pokes Misfire in the shoulder with one - which Misfire is not amused by - and, having confirmed it’s still sharp, puts it back in his quiver.

Grimlock compliments Lotty’s bright hair - she believes that hey, why let nature set the colors when we can have prettier ones,  and Misfire approves - he has bright magenta feathers. So does Grimlock - apparently some dragonborn paint their scales for similar reasons. The parties introduce themselves. Misfire says there would normally be more of them, but Krok and the others stayed back at the clinic. Velocity makes a mental note of this in case she ever wants to look for another job. The three of them - Grimlock, Misfire, and Spinister - are on assignment from someone called the Curator to retrieve up some kind of Camien artifact, it’s supposed to be good money. When the party all jumps to ask further questions about the artifact, Misfire says he wishes he knew more, but the Curator is being unusually cagey for this one, even for him - he’s supposed to find out more when they get to Caminus.

Grimlock asks if Velocity and Nautica are from Caminus, because he doesn’t see a lot of elves going away from Caminus and coming back. Velocity awkwardly extricates herself from the conversation - but it’s not for bad reasons and she’s not lying! - and goes to huddle with Nautica to decide what they should say, because … they didn’t really talk about what they were going to say, they ran away from home, and no one really knows that, in Camien terms, they’re pretty young. They decide that they should tell the truth, they’re from Caminus. Velocity comes back and says this, and promises it’s not a lie even though they had to go off and talk about it. Misfire says she may be giving Spinister a run for his money. Velocity says she’s not great at socializing yet because on Caminus you could be set for a three hour conversation just by commenting on someone’s painting and letting them talk and not listening. Here you actually have to talk back and forth. 

Skids drags Prowl for not having shown up to help with the sea serpent, and Prowl says he wouldn’t have hired a ship that couldn’t defend itself, but he’s glad the rest of them had it handled when they decided to get involved and didn’t manage to get themselves killed. Velocity and Skids ask Prowl if he’s heard of this Curator. Prowl says he knows of several people who trade in powerful artifacts who go by that handle. Tailgate asks if we can’t just patent these things; Prowl says people sticking to one name, (that is, one person per name) would make his job a lot easier. 

The ship docks in Caminus, and after getting through the checkpoint at the docks, Prowl gave everyone pendants that made them look like elves so they could blend in. Luna was disguised as a normal dog. Tailgate became Tallgate. The group ducked into the only bar on this side of Customs, so Prowl could ask the barkeep where to find his contact, Arcee.

When they come into the bar, they find Javelin standing at the door of the bar, with a pirate eye patch, dyed purple hair, and dressed in lots of purples and pinks. She carries a shortsword by her side, and is standing as the bar’s bouncer. Acceleron, an elf with dyed pink hair, is standing behind the bar and gives them all a friendly wave. At the bar, Skids and Prowl order the beer on tap, Lotty gets a non-alcoholic version of the house cocktail and Nautica gets a very alcoholic version. Prowl asks whether Arcee still lives here, and Acceleron tells him that she and Aileron just moved to a house by the beach, on the southwest side. Prowl tips her extra for the information.

In the time the party is there, another elf, with dyed blue hair, white and blue clothing, gold sunglasses, and a three-eyed parrot on her shoulder, Proxima, who comes in through the back door of the bar. She kisses Acceleron before walking across the bar to give Javelin a kiss and take Javelin’s place so Javelin can go watch the lighthouse. Acceleron introduces them as her wives, and says that the three of them run both the lighthouse and the bar. Proxima sees Luna where she’s waiting patiently outside the bar and immediately goes into full dog-lover mode with lots of pets.

Looking at the dyed hair all around him, Tailgate decides he wants to dye his hair, probably blue or purple. Acceleron says that Lotty’s hair looks really good, so he can probably go to whoever she has do it, but if he wants to go to someone in town, she has a recommendation for the stylist who does it for her, which she gives to Tailgate. Prowl, however, reminds them that they’re all on mission, and if they could have some baseline minimum level of efficiency… he doesn’t sound terribly optimistic about this request paying off. Lotty insists that he needs to let the party have their silly sidequests, like learning to bake a cake! She says Prowl needs a hobby. Prowl insists that that’s not a real word, he would have heard of it.

The party notices when the Scavengers come into the bar, having clearly also bypassed the checkpoint. Meanwhile,Tailgate is still adjusting to his new center of gravity as Tallgate, as he now looks like an elf and is much taller. When Acceleron, seeing him looking kind of wobbly, asks if he had one too many before getting here, the party just says he’s seasick, and Acceleron makes him up a tonic for seasickness. Hearing this, Grimlock comes over to the bar - he could use a seasickness tonic too. While waiting, Grimlock gets very flustered by Lotty. “Anything to help pretty a lady - fuck!  Anything to help lady a - fuck!” He flees the bar. Velocity asks the party if it seems like he was okay, or if he needs help. Skids says he was just flustered, but Velocity doubts that. Skids asks if she has an ulterior motive for wanting to go over and check on him, like a crush. Lotty uses shameless obliviousness. It's super effective.

Nautica, stressed out by returning to Caminus, had a strong drink. Lotty talks to her, asking if she’s okay, and if she’s only okay because she’s drunk enough to feel sort of okay, to which Nautica says yeah, probably. Lotty says that if it ever gets to a point where it’s too much and she wants to leave, they can leave together.

The party considers how to get through customs into the town itself where Arcee lives, and the rest of Caminus - particularly whether they’ll have to smuggle Luna through customs. Prowl says they aren’t going through customs - he’s trying to say it so Acceleron can’t hear, even though Acceleron wouldn’t give a fuck if she did. Proxima, on the other side of the room, is immediately distracted by the mention of a potential new animal friend, looking out the window and dashing out to pet the cute dog. 

After leaving the bar (Lotty waving goodbye to the Scavengers) and extricating Luna from Proxima, the group sneaks along the rocky beach, Lotty carrying Luna. As they go, Prowl does a walk-and-talk about the people they also saw disembarking the ship - the blonde man he recognized as 7-of-12, and the other two humans he assumes are guards based on their dress, but he didn’t recognize the half-elf, and he doesn’t like that. Skids suggests that she might just have been brought along so that someone part-elven was with them to help pacify the Camiens, Prowl says he hopes that’s true.

They arrive at Arcee and Aileron’s door, and Aileron answers. Aileron is an elf with her red hair kept short. She’s short for an elf, wearing layers of ones, one of which is magenta and too long for her. Aileron realizes that is the Prowl she’s heard of when he’s particularly brusque in asking for Arcee, and she calls for her. Arcee comes to the door, she’s a tall, ripped, goliath woman in pirate clothes, wearing lots of magenta. The party can guess that the two women borrow from each other's closets. Arcee asks what on earth Prowl is wearing, and recognizes Skids (by pictures and description, they haven’t met before.)  Arcee also recognizes Nautica from her time living in this town, calls her ‘little minnow’ and asks how she got mixed up with all of these folks.

Arcee and Aileron let the party into their house, have a whispered conversation in the kitchen, and then bring the party water and finger foods. Arcee wants to know why they’re there, and - she adds - it better be important, because she’s retired, Prowl explains about the Functionist party and the potential alliance with Caminus. In the discussion, Prowl mentions Arcee having settled down in an obviously disparaging way, Velocity objects, even if that’s not what Prowl wants, he has to respect other people’s choices. Skids and Velocity get into a discussion about Prowl and relationships “- not everyone wants -” “He doesn’t have to get married, but everyone wants friends,” and Chromedome gets brought up “he clearly cared about Chromedome, maybe they were friends, maybe they were something else -”

Prowl, to Arcee: “I’ve changed my mind, just kill me now.” 

Arcee: “Nah, that’d probably get these kids in trouble.”

Arcee breaks up the discussion and says not to be too hard on Prowl, he chose the mission and she couldn’t, she has something to lose now.  

Arcee says that she saw a few human men and a half-elf coming out from customs, who she assumes were the Functionist Delegation, because otherwise non-elves wouldn’t be allowed beyond the fence in Caminus. Aileron saw the half-elf in the context of her work at the library, and also around the temple. She says the half-elf claims to be a devotee of Solus Prime, but that her holy text looks like nothing Aileron recognizes, and that the half-elf messed up simple prayers to Solus Prime. Maybe the Functionists thought they were bringing along an expert on Solus Prime, but that wasn’t what they got. Whatever she’s here for, she’s probably up to no good.  

Arcee lays out the most likely route the Functionist delegation would take to the capital, based on how expensive goods are transported - it’s not like an isolationist country has foreign dignitaries travelling to the capital regularly. The route, Velocity notices, but doesn’t tell the others, goes through her old hometown. 

The group discusses their next move. Skids suggests that if, say, they killed the Functionist party, now, looking like elves and able to be presumed to be Camiens, their deaths would be blamed on Caminus, and the Empire would no longer want to seek an alliance with Caminus. Others point out that they would still eventually be identified as outsiders, even if they look like elves, Caminus is insular enough to be able to identify when people aren’t from there - and it’s not like elf-Skids looks that different from human Skids. Lotty doesn’t want to murder anyone. Lotty and Skids argue about the difference between murder and killing someone in a fight, and whether putting their own lives at risk makes the consequence of someone else’s death morally different - is there a difference between stabbing some and yelling ‘hey, we’re here to stop you’ and then stabbing them when they start to fight? Tailgate suggests that yelling ‘hey, let’s fight’ would be an even more efficient way of starting a fight, if that’s the necessary prereq. Lotty says that she won’t be involved with flat-out murder; she’s not trying to blackmail the rest of them into changing what they’re going to do, she’s just saying what she’s going to do. Cyclonus doesn’t think that murder should be their first option but he acknowledges that it might be a necessary last resort. Nautica is with Lotty on team ‘no murder’ - she’s also concerned that if the Empire does blame Caminus, it will drag Caminus into an international incident; even though she doesn’t have great love for this place, she doesn’t want to see that happen to it. Skids would prefer something else to murder, but still thinks it might be necessary. 

The party also discusses whether it makes sense to try and warn Camien officials about the Functionist delegation. The issues discussed include the fact that they don’t know what the Functionists’ plan is exactly, so they don’t know what to warn of, and they have no idea if Camien officials would listen to them. The party asks the two Camiens whether Camien officials would listen to them. Velocity appeals to Prowl. “I’m a cleric, I don’t know anything about politics. Prowl, do you know about politics?” Prowl chuckles - he’s been looking amused through this whole conversation. Looking at Skids, he says, “Well, at least you haven’t lost all the sense that made you a good agent.”

Arcee laughs and looks at Prowl. “Well, I guess you still pick them the same - he almost reminds me of me.” More seriously, she continues: “Look, Caminus is a little island, they’re isolationist, they want to be able to defend themselves - I certainly wouldn’t want to take on all the Torchbearers at once, though,” she adds, “it would have to be all of them for it to be a fair fight - still, wouldn’t want to if I didn’t have to. But, that said, you don’t come to Caminus for an army, or military might. Now, when I was working for you,” she looks at Prowl, “what we were finding on the Functionists was that they were looking into artifacts connected to the Guiding Hand, mainly Primus. Now, I don’t know why you’d come to Caminus for that, but that seems like the only explanation. And if whatever they’re after here is important enough, they won’t stop after one dead delegation. I’d bet the priority needs to be figuring out what it is what they’re here for. Arcee continues, “Now, I’ve never found Camien officials to listen to much, unless it’s,” and she raises an arm and flexes. “But they’re nobs and they’re going to be travelling like nobs, so if you’re willing to cut off the road a little - not into the deep woods, of course - but you should be able to keep up with them, keep track of things and figure out what they’re after, if you haven’t lost all of your spy skills.” She elbows Prowl teasingly.

The party generally agrees this is a solid plan. As it’s getting into the evening, Aileron offers the party a meal and to stay overnight as the Functionist party probably won’t be leaving town until morning. Aileron offers to let them stay in their guest room and living room - though some of them will probably end up sleeping on the couch and the floor given how many of them there are. She adds that they’re welcome to go to the inn across the way if they want to try and fool the staff there that they’re all actually Camien. Skids says that staying here is probably safer, so they decide to accept the meal and stay over. Skids stretches out on the couch as people get up to get food, and Aileron asks if he’s okay and if she should bring food over to him. Lotty drops Luna on him in retaliation for the murder plan and he sits right up to lift Luna off him. While they eat, Luna - who’s still slowly getting used to the concept of not being used as a ‘lean and mean’ guard dog and being regularly fed - has scarfed down the bowl of food Aileron provided and is shamelessly begging for food from everyone at the table. Prowl is feeding Luna scraps under the table, and Arcee, noticing this, grins in amusement. Skids, disapproving of the dog being fed elven food, suggests that Luna should have a bowl of food. Aileron, not having noticed that Prowl was feeding Luna under the table, looks over at Luna’s empty bowl and goes to refill it. Prowl keeps feeding Luna under the table anyway, Lotty allows it, not seeing any apparent harm in his actions. The party considers that they may need to get Prowl an animal, since he’s clearly trying to befriend Luna.

Over dinner Nautica catches up with Arcee and Aileron. Since Arcee moved in with Aileron and left the shipping/spy business, Arcee and Aileron got married (“We would have sent you a wedding invite, but we didn’t know where to send it!) Arcee’s still working the docks, unloading, doing repairs and other odd jobs, and Aileron has moved from working in the church to working in the library, and she really enjoys the work.

After Arcee and Aileron gave the party the appropriate host tour of the house so they could find places to sleep and everything they needed, the two of them turned in for the night. The rest of the party stayed out and huddled in the living room. Everyone wanted to know how Nautica knows Arcee and Aileron. Nautica explains that she’s known them for most of her life; Aileron has lived here for as long as Nautica’s been alive, and worked as a cleric in the church in town for most of that time. Arcee’s been in and out of town for much of that time, working shipping and sometimes stopping in when her trade routes took her to Caminus. She’d left the shipping business and moved in with Aileron shortly before Nautica left Caminus. Nautica says that Aileron is one of the few elves who treated her like everyone else despite her only being half-elven; and that Arcee helped inspire her to leave Caminus, because she made her curious about the outside world. Nautica’s not feeling great about being back here... Tailgate comments that if she hadn’t left Caminus, she would never have met this whole new party. Lotty adds that she wouldn’t have met Luna. Or Prowl. She would have missed out on friends! And Prowl.

At the mention of Luna, everyone looks around for her, and notices her and Prowl both over by the kitchen. Not everyone can quite tell what’s going on, but the more perceptive party members realize that he’s got some leftover table scraps that he’s using to try to get Luna to practice ‘sit’, keeping his voice low to try and go unnoticed by the others. Tailgate sees All, and could probably tell you what cut of enchanted ‘meat’ the table scraps were from and what kind of dog training school Prowl ascribes to, had the DM come up with either of those details to share. Lotty asks Prowl how he knows Arcee. He looks a little abashed at having been caught out feeding Luna, but keeps patting Luna’s head while he answers. He explains that he and Arcee used to work together, and when she got into shipping and transportation she served as a cough informant, letting him know what was going on in other places, who and what was going where, doing things when they needed to be done somewhere else. She stopped doing that when she decided to settle down in Caminus, but Prowl acknowledges that she’s still keeping her eyes open and helping them out now, and admits that Aileron is keeping her eyes open too, and being helpful.

Eventually the party all falls asleep, ready to head out in the morning... session 6!

#game recap #team ice

[toastytime]

The Arcana playing D&D

I’m a nerd and decided I’d take a crack at making characters that I think the main 6 from the arcana would play as sooooo

Asra- 100% a bard. Every campaign. Always. He will switch back and forth between playing as an Eladrian/High Elf or as a Air/Water Genasi. His alignment is Neutral Good and he somehow always gets super high charisma stats. One time he completely derailed a campaign because he rolled a nat 20 and seduced an NPC.

Nadia- She is the Dungeon Master for most games. She’s a tarrific DM but she does have the tendency to get annoyed at the party memebers, especially with the insane amount of bar crawls and other shinanigans she has to improv on the spot. When she isn’t dm-ing though, she’s often times playing as a High Elf/Arrakocra paladin or wizard. Her alignment is Lawful Good and she is the voice of reason for the party.

Julian- You guessed it, he’s a Rouge! He has the tendency to switch from race to race, but he has a softspot for Tieflings and Dragonborn. His alignment Chaotic Good and he claims that he’s a ‘Robin Hood’ type character. Don’t be surprised if he runs out of gold within the first half-hour of the campaign in some random tavern offering to buy anyone and everyone a drink.

Muriel- Druid!!! Y’all really thought I was gonna go for Ranger, but no. Druid. Muriel is a Neutral Good and while he doesn’t really care about his characters race, he often leans towards Wood Elves, Earth Genasi, Half-Elves, or Humans. One battle strategy he tends to use frequently is turning into a big ol’ bear or wolf. Sweet boy will 100% give you some of his extra potions.

Portia- Portia is a badass ranger. You can count on her animal companion being any one of the big cats or a bobcat at the very least. She is a True Nutral at heart and will heckle (and slightly threaten) any shop owners with high prices. She’s often playing as a gnome, hafling, or dwarf! While she enjoys the off task random adventures the party gets into, even causing a few herself, she’s often the first one to get everyone back on track so that she can save Nadia the pain of pulling 10 extra NPCs from out of thin air.

Lucio- More often than not, Lucio is playing as a Goliath or Tiefling barbarian! His alignment is almost always Chaotic Evil. He has died more times than any other party member combined. He tries to blame his party members and the DM for his death, but in the end it’s most likely because he rushed headfirst into battle.

#The Arcana #The Arcana Game #dungeons and dragons #d&d #muriel the arcana #asra alnazar #asra the arcana #julian devorak #portia fanart #nadia satrinava #the arcana lucio #the arcana nadia #the arcana julian #the arcana portia #Montag Morgasson #bard #barbarian #paladin #ranger #druid

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #143: Enkidu

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re forging the Chains of Heaven and world-famous actor best known for their part in the 1990 smash hit Ghost (they were the pottery), Enkidu!

Our fair enby is a Monster Slayer Ranger, mixing in their anti-divine properties, self healing, and ability to sense movement through the earth around them. And that’s it. I know, I was surprised too.

Check out their build breakdown below the cut, or their character sheet over here!

Next up: If you haven’t watched No Evil yet, you should. 

Race and Background

You’re made out of clay and have a lot of robot tropes slapped onto you, so Warforged is a pretty good pick for you. This gives you +2 Constitution and +1 Wisdom, as well as Constructed Resilience. This gives you  advantage and resistance to poison, and you don’t need to eat, breathe, drink, or sleep. You’re also immune to disease. 

To supplement the whole “not sleeping” thing, you instead take a Sentry’s Rest, standing still and conscious for 6 hours instead of sleeping over a long rest.

You look like you’re not wearing armor, but that might just be because of the robe. Regardless of your stance on putting Enkidu in armor, they still get Integrated Protection anyway, giving you +1 AC, and making your armor unremovable if you’re not incapacitated. This also means it takes an hour to put on and take off, but y’know, checks and balances.

Finally, your Specialized Design gives you proficiency with one skill of your choice. You were made by the gods, so it might be a good idea to remember their names. Religion it is!

Thanks to hanging out in the woods for a while after being made you’re an Outlander. This gives you proficiency with Athletics and Survival.

Ability Scores

Since Enkidu’s stats are literally described in terms of point buy, we’re going with that too. You’ll want your Wisdom as high as possible at 15 for the sharpest senses points can buy. We need to be able to speak to animals and sense vibrations through the earth, dammit! After that is Strength set to 14... and I just realized that despite going with point buy I ended up with a stat array identical to the standard array. Oh well. Anyway, strength is next, gotta hold together when you’re locking gods in place. After that is Intelligence (13), you’ve got a perfect memory and you’re great at adapting to change. Your Dexterity (12) isn’t amazing, but your body’s tough enough to deal with issues. Your Constitution’s (10) even lower, but it gets bumped up with your racial bonus. Finally, dump Charisma(8). You have a lot of issues when it comes to understanding other people.

Class Levels

1. Starting out as a ranger gives you proficiency in Strength and Dexterity saves, as well as three ranger skills. Animal Handling will help you get along better with your master, while Investigation and Perception make finding new information to digest a lot easier.

You also make celestials your Favored Enemy, giving you advantage on survival and intelligence checks about them. It’s a shame this doesn’t enhance your magic against them, but we’ll take what we can get. You’re also a Deft Explorer, making you Canny with one skill, doubling its proficiency bonus. Double down on Perception for an even stronger radar sense.

2. Second level rangers get a fighting style, and Blind Fighting lets you feels through your feets, sensing any creatures within 10′ of you as long as they aren’t specifically hiding from you. You can also cast Spells now, using your Wisdom to do so.

Cure Wounds is a good way to get your healing factor started early, and Hunter’s Mark is effectively mandatory for rangers. Deal more damage when you hit the thing and track said thing easier.

3. Joining the Monster Slayer conclave sets you down the path a turn against your creators and chain the heavens. (This also works for bunch of other types of creatures, but hush.) Your Monster Slayer Magic gives you a bonus spell each time you reach a new spell level. Right now you get Protection from Evil and Good, which forces disadvantage on extraplanar creatures attacking them, and makes it so they can’t be charmed, frightened, or possessed by them. Fighting gods would be a lot harder if they could just assume manual control, wouldn’t it? 

You also get a Hunter’s Sense, letting you spend an action to learn a creature’s damage immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities. Despite what FGO has taught you, taking down Godmode Ishtar will be harder than slapping every lancer you have into a team and hitting red buttons.

Your last Slayer bonus for now is the Slayer’s Prey, a bonus action to tack on even more extra damage to your first weapon attack against a designated creature each turn. You can only keep it up on a single creature at a time though.

That’s not all, though! You also get Primal Awareness, giving you even more spells when your magic levels up, and you can cast these spells once per long rest without using a spell slot (or whenever if you use a slot, like duh). Right now you get Speak with Animals. I don’t know why your master is a wolf, but you make it work.

Finally, the spell you normally learn at this level is Ensnaring Strike. You go Enkidu! Ensnare those strucken enemies!

4. Your first Ability Score Improvement is going towards Strength so you can stab things deader.

5. Fifth level rangers can make an Extra Attack as part of their attack action. You also get a bunch more spells. 

From your subclass, Zone of Truth. Force a charisma save (dc 8+proficiency+wis) against creatures in the zone, and if they fail they can’t lie. It’s not really in character, but it is neat.

Primal Awareness gives you Beast Sense, letting you see and hear through a beast’s... senses... (hence the name) for up to an hour. This one’s a bit closer.

Your normal spell for the level is Barkskin, giving you a minimum AC of 16 for up to an hour. It’s not ideal since it’s a concentration spell, but it’s there if you want to be a stickler about not wearing armor.

6. At sixth level you can apply your Favored Enemy feature to Beasts as well. I don’t think Enkidu’s one to hold a grudge, but I doubt they like snakes much by this point. You also become Roving, adding 5 feet to your movement speed, and giving you a climbing and swimming speed equal to your walking speed.

7. Your next slayer goody is a Supernatural Defense, which adds 1d6 to your saves and grapple escape rolls against a creature you stuck your Slayer’s Prey on.

To further increase your adaptability, you learn the spell Enhance Ability this level, giving you advantage on any one kind of skill check for the duration.

8. Use this ASI to bump up your Wisdom for stronger spells and senses. You also become Fleet of Foot, letting you pass through difficult terrain without extra movement. You also ignore nonmagical plants when moving through them, and have advantage on moving through magical plants.

9. Another spell level up, another massive burst in how many spells you can use.

Thanks to being a slayer you learn Magic Circle, letting you trap an extraplanar creature either inside or outside of a 10′ radius circle. It’s... almost the chains of heaven, but there’s still some leeway in there. 

You can also Speak with Plants thanks to your Primal Awareness. This one’s more of a stretch, but it’s part and parcel of speaking with animals now, so have at it.

Finally, the spell you learn by choice is Meld into Stone, giving you the perfect hiding spot for up to 8 hours. You are clay after all, this really isn’t much of an issue for you.

10. Tenth level rangers are Tireless, giving you a nonmagical healing factor you can activate as an action, and your exhaustion levels get reduced on short rests now too.

You can also shapeshift into Nature’s Veil, effectively making yourself invisible for a round as a bonus action.

11. Eleventh level slayers are a Magic-User’s Nemesis, letting you react to a creature casting a spell or teleporting nearby to foil it. The creature has to make a wisdom save against your spell save DC or waste its spell/teleport. Gods tend to cheat, and the easiest way out of chains is teleportation. Don’t let them do that. You can use this feature once per short rest.

You also learn the spell Healing Spirit for another long-term healing solution. It does require you staying put for a bit, but you can always meld into stone first if you really wanna.

12. We generally front-load feats, but there’s never a bad time for a Keen Mind. This feat rounds up your Intelligence, you always have a good sense of direction and time, and most importantly you have perfect memory for up to a month. Your memories are literally carved into your being, they’re hard to get rid of.

13. Thirteenth level rangers get fourth level spells, and you get three of them!

From the slayers: Banishment lets you force another creature back to its own plane. That’s literally the opposite of the chains of heaven, but it might be the best option for something like Tiamat.

From Primal Awareness: Locate Creature helps you keep tabs on a creature within 1000 feet of you. Gods are notoriously tricksy shapeshifters. This will help deal with that a bit.

You also become a Guardian of Nature, letting you transform yourself for up to a minute in one of two ways. As a primal beast, you can move faster, get darkvision, have advantage on strength-based attacks, and deal extra damage on a hit. As a great tree, you gain temporary HP, make constitution saves and dexterity/wisdom based attacks with advantage, and the ground within 15′ of you is difficult terrain for enemies. I’d say the former is more useful, but the latter also has its charms.

14. Your last Favored Enemy are Aasimar and Genasi, so you can be just as effective against demigods as you are against their full-blooded family. You also learn how to Vanish, letting you hide as a bonus action. You also can’t be tracked unless you choose to be or it’s done magically.

15. Your penultimate goody from the slayer’s conclave is a Slayer’s Counter. If a creature you’ve hit with the Slayer’s Prey tried to force a save on you, you can use your reaction to make an attack against it. If it hits, your save automatically succeeds. We might not be able to make all your saves good, but we can make it so you can ignore them entirely.

To protect you from physical attacks, you learn Stoneskin this level, giving you resistance to physical damage types while it’s up. Your skin is literally made out of clay, so it tracks.

16. Use this ASI to bump your Strength up more for stronger attacks and a better chance of your Slayer’s Counter connecting.

17. At seventeenth level you finally gain fifth level spells!

Your spell of choice is Greater Restoration, so you can remove all those debuffs from yourself. 

Your final goody from your Primal Awareness is Commune with Nature. Now you can become one with the great outdoors and learn three facts about the area around you, up to a 3 mile radius. You can pick from: terrain and bodies of water, prevalent plants, minerals, animals, or people, powerful extraplanar entities, influences from those planes, or buildings.

Last but not least, your ultimate Slayer spell is your Chain of Heaven, Hold Monster. Force a wisdom save on a creature to paralyze it until it makes one on the end of its turn or up to a minute. No shunting it off to another dimension, no giving it space to wander around, just good old sit the fuck down.

18. At eighteenth level you gain Feral Senses, effectively giving you blindsight out to 30 feet. This renders Blind Fighting completely useless, but don’t worry about it.

19. For your last ASI, max out your Wisdom for the strongest spells, the strongest senses, and the strongest counterspells you can get. Also, in what I think is a first for this blog, you’re going to use Martial Versatility to switch out that useless Blind Fighting for something scarier, like Dueling. Your chains are pretty light if you’re trying to keep your human form, so I’d call them one-handed weapons.

If you want to launch those suckers for some distance though, I can’t recommend Conjure Volley enough. Get this, it conjures... a volley of projectiles, throwing them all over the place for damage.

20. The capstone ranger feature is the Foe Slayer, letting you add your wisdom to an attack or damage roll against your favored enemies once per round. It’s honestly underwhelming, but extra damage is extra damage.

Pros: 

Thanks to blindsight and your obscenely high perception, you’re hard to sneak up on. Also, you don’t sleep, so you’re the perfect guard for a party on the run.

You’re a tireless ranger with a lot of healing spells to burn through, which makes you pretty self-sufficient if you need to go off on your own. You don’t need another person to take watch, and you don’t need another person to lug around healing potions!

You have a lot of ways to lock down enemies, ensnaring them in place for future attacks or escapes. This is especially true of extraplanar creatures, but Hold Monster works on literally anything, especially with your maxed out wisdom.

Cons:

We weren’t able to invest much in Dexterity, meaning your AC can be a problem if you’re playing to character. Barkskin uses your concentration, and wearing medium armor isn’t super flavorful.

Speaking of, like most rangers you have problems with Concentration. Your con saves aren’t great, and you have a lot of spells vying for the same position.

While you can do consistent, decent damage, it’s damage that takes time to ramp up. You need a turn for hunter’s mark and a different turn for slayer’s prey, and that’s assuming HM stays up the entire time.

#D&D 5e #Fate Grand Order #FGO #Enkidu #Fate and Phantasms #Ranger