#as the dnd player of the group can i just say this is GENIUS | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

guiltyblogging · 1 year

Text

Thought just floating around my brain while I do dotting

Pre Vecna/no Vecna

Steve is lounging on some props in the drama room of to the side while Hellfire and his shitheads play dnd. There was some grumbling about this from the older members and Eddie but he reminded them that he’s driving them home and it’s cold out so either he leaves with them now (pointing out that it would take 4 of the players out - which are kinda needed) or he stays out the way and they play their little nerd game.

Cut to 3hrs in, the game still going. The group huddled around trying to make a plan and getting increasingly frustrated. They rattle off some numbers for the monster. Eddie grinning maniacally as they have got their stats wrong. Cue Steve saying “hey shithead, your not thinking straight, so much for genius" and rattling off the correct monster stats without thinking or even looking up from his sports mag.

Hellfire explodes.

The older teens altering between ‘shut the hell up Harrington’ and ‘that can’t be right’

Dusting screaming at a distracted Eddie ‘told you he’s badass and my friend. He listens to me………….[speech rattles on]’

Mike is shocked and glaring at Steve

Lucas and Erica are searching through the monster manual and their notes to double, triple check that it’s correct. [which it is]

Jeff finally noticing Eddie’s look, taking command of the room and ushering everybody out, offering rides to anybody who was supposed to be ferried by Steve and pinching eddies keys from his bag. Wanting to get the kids away from eddies lack of impulse control that will result in a scene not meant for their eyes or their beloved hero decking their DM.

Eddie staring with lust at Steve and not noticing anything that’s happening around him.

Steve dropping his mag in shock of what he said and staring at Eddie like a goldfish oblivious to eddie himself.

Eddie then saying something like ‘not just a pretty face then are you, big boy’

Steve’s instant defensive ‘hey, I listen to those shit heads 24/7…’ winding up for a rant against mister super senior before his brain reboots and takes in what was said, face heating up as he just stares at this obnoxious boy, with long unruly curls and cow eyes looking like he wants to bite him.

And that’s where my brain transitions into criticising my writing in the reflective commentary essay for uni and how to make my bullshit sound more plausible and remembering sources from within the module I can use to justify why I’ve written the way I’ve written as though it’s not just something that flows out that I cannot control otherwise I won’t write a single word or delete the whole lot in frustrations.

#steve x eddie #steddie #steddie brainrot #steve harrington #eddie munson #hellfire club #stranger things #should be doing my uni work #procrastination #procrastinating my procrastination

29 notes · View notes

badpancakelol · 1 year

Text

The new school year brings close bonds between the Hellfire Club’s existing and new members. Eddie is dead set on graduating this year (and for your information, no, it is not because he’s going to be phased out and legally too old to attend anymore. He just thinks he can do it. Actually do it).

DND sessions run later than ever, and, you know what? It does actually bring a tear to his eye to see the youths enjoying the campaigns so much. Normally, the club will only bring in one or two new members every year — just enough to keep the club a club by school standards and regulations, but not enough to have a fully fleshed out group. But this time? This time, they’ve pretty much doubled their numbers.

And it’s not like they’re inexperienced players, either. From the way that the kids talk about their friend, Will, it seems like they used to play all the time before their friend-slash-dungeon-master moved states.

(Eddie tries not to dwell on it too much — how they talk about what happened to Will. Sometimes it’ll seem like they’re talking about something completely different until he walks in, until they see him. He’s heard their not-so-quiet whispers about how Will was taken or how he had been hurt, how there’s nothing that can hurt him, now that he’s far away. That it stopped last year.

There are context clues within there, and even though they never mention his last name, Eddie knows that their friend is Will Byers. He knows about how he went missing, how his body was found, how it wasn’t actually his body. He knows how people talked about him, about Jonathan. It doesn’t take a genius to know that there’s something that happened there that he’s not meant to be privy to, that nobody is really meant to be privy to.

So, Eddie takes to coughing loudly, or stomping his feet, or talking to the other guys in a way that is just loud enough to be heard, not loud enough to draw more attention to himself. If they want to, they’ll tell him. It sounds like they’ve been through enough mistrust).

The trio are weird in what, and especially who, they’re talking about. One day, they’re talking about how shit their grades are, who’s house they’re sleeping over at, normal teenager stuff, and then the next they’re talking about how they were there when the mall burned down. They talk about people he’d expect (Will, Jonathan, Nancy, Max) and then people who really just leave Eddie scratching his head (Steve, Robin, Hopper).

He hears so many out of context conversations, even when they know that he’s there. Yeah, maybe he doesn’t outright hear about Will and what happened to him anymore, but instead he’ll hear stories about Hopper being soft, and taking them to the pool, and how he one-hundred percent had a crush on Will’s mum, did you see the way he looked at her? There’s no way there wasn’t something going on. And, because they’re pre-teens, Dustin’s question (statement. It was a statement), is rewarded with a chorus of gross! and ew! and dude c’mon!

Eddie will hear about Robin, and how she’s doing at work, how she’s doing at school, how they think she and Steve should just get together already. Well, it’s less Mike and Lucas talking about Robin like that, and more of Dustin pushing for the two to be together which — ouch? Eddie doesn’t know what exactly he feels when Dustin talks about how Robin seems to be doing better, or how she seems to be happy. Maybe a little bit of regret or guilt or something else that stings a little bit to know that he could have just came and said hello.

What he does find a little funny though, are Dustin’s continuous failed attempts to bring Robin and Steve together. It’s safe to say that he doesn’t know Robin’s secret, doesn’t know that she doesn’t swing that way at all, but whenever lunch rolls by, every week on a Thursday, and he’s talking about yet another failed date between the two, it makes Eddie huff a laugh.

“Dude, Steve said that were just friends—”

“Platonic with a capital P, I know, Lucas, but they spend all their time together! Every waking moment!”

Eddie watches as Mike flicks off the tomatoes from his sandwich towards Dustin’s lunchbox. “Okay, and? Didn’t Steve say he was going on a date this weekend?”

“Yeah,” Lucas says, humming appreciatively slightly as the tomatoes are passed to him. “He had to move it so he could pick us up from DND tonight. Remember?”

“I remember.” Dustin says, rolls his eyes. Eddie thinks that he’s a little bit of a know-it-all, but it’s endearing. Most of the time.

That’s another thing — the pickups. It’s not like the kids use the last names of their friends all the time, and Eddie had really, really hoped that their older friend called Steve was very much a different person. But there’s only so much denying that he can do before he sees him, face to face, in the school parking lot after dark.

It goes like this: every week, every day that they have planned to sit through a session, inching their way to the end of the campaign, Harrington will waiting for them in the parking lot. He’ll sit on the hood of his car, close enough to still be illuminated by the school’s lights, far away enough that he’s hard to spot, smoking. And when the doors open and the kids rush out, he throws the cigarette to the floor and wafts away the smoke as if it’ll get the smell off him, as if the kids don’t already know. It is not endearing, and Eddie is note staring. Nope. Nuh uh.

But, sometimes, it’ll go like this: the session will run long, and since Eddie is the one that does most of the planning, brings most of the snack and drinks, the others clean up. He goes to the carpark in lieu of a smoke break while they pack, and he’ll go to the edge of the lights, where Harrington sits on the hood of his car. Eddie will say got a light? and Harrington will nod, and hold his hands over the end to shield the flame from the light breeze.

The first few times, they don’t even speak. Just smoke in silence.

“Thank you.”

“Hmm?” Eddie looks away from the doors of the school, towards where Harrington as leaned back a bit, tilted his head up to the stars.

“For looking out for them.”

Eddie nods, stores away the little bit of info that he has been gifted, that says that a heart exists within the boy next to him, and that the heart is filled with care. Just not for Eddie.

They’re normally short conversations, and Eddie thinks that they both seem jealous of each other. Like, Eddie will mention how Mike will be so engaged, and Harrington will get this faraway look in his eyes, and then say that he’s happy that Mike seems so comfortable, that he’s found his people. Or, sometimes, Steve will say something about how Dustin invited him over for dinner, and there’s something that builds in his gut, roiling and bubbling and ugly.

Maybe Eddie’s just projecting. He hopes he’s not just projecting.

He thinks there’s a part of him that wants Steve to be jealous of him. Because everywhere he goes it seems that Steve is already there — picking up Max, being friends with Dustin and Lucas and Mike. It’s… weird. To say the least. That they went from having nothing in common whatsoever to just— this.

The dam breaks open, then. Conversations are stilted and awkward, still, but it’s something. Eddie tries not to gush too much to Jeff and Gareth after they happen, lest he looks like a fool. With time, he realises that Steve is careful about what he says. He pauses in almost hidden movements, and he directs conversation to flow to something more meaningless, safe.

It’s like a little game that he plays. Eddie crosses off little conversation topics within his brain, too afraid to write them somewhere someone will see. Steve won’t talk about his family, his house, his money, reputation, holiday plans. Occasionally, he’ll talk about work. But work normally leads to Robin, and that still kind of hurts, but he pretends it doesn’t, because, really, why is he the one hurting, and finds himself happy to hear that she’s okay. He’s seen her sparsely since that time in Family Video, but from the way Steve talks about her, it seems like she’s got more life in her eyes.

There is one topic, though, that Steve is always willing to talk about, and it’s a surprise to no one: the kids.

Eddie thinks it’s a little cute. The way that he gushed over them like a proud mother, or the way he drives them everywhere, cooks them food. When Eddie had asked why he did it, why he cared is much for this little misfit group, Harrington had paused. “I’m like a halfway house.” He sucks a breath in, and Eddie follows the movement as he taps ash from the cigarette to the ground. “I’m just making sure that they’ve got all the support they can get before they move on.”

I get it. Eddie wants to say. I don’t want to be left behind, either.

-- -- --

another opening for a new chapter!! "THE SECRET"

#steve harrinton #steve x eddie #steveddie #eddie x steve #steve harrington #eddie stranger things #eddie munson #stranger things 4 #stranger thing #stranger things #ao3 #ao3fic

5 notes · View notes

grimaussiewitch · 2 years

Text

So I’ve got a friend group that wants to play dnd and our dm wants to create a TMA themed game. He’s created the mechanics for the classes that are basically multi classed warlocks. (Eg the hunt has a lot of ranger abilities and the desolation is a glass canon)

So I’ve been a beta reader for him to look over anything if it sounds confusing, missing somethings, spelling/grammar and making sure the abilities are clear. For example, I wanted to make sure that the ability drown doesn’t mean the player could just waterboard someone over and over again as long as that enemy fails their saving throws.

Now months and months ago is when the idea of the campaign arise and my good friend the dm told me and another friend what scares him in regards to some of us as players.

Me: I will figure out how to break the game through logic and game mechanics.

Friend A: will figure out how to break the game but through creativity and less on bending the rules, just doing whatever

Friend B: a bloody wild card, he doesn’t know what runs through her head

So I’ve come to a realisation that yes, he was very right. Why? When looking into the abilities and spells, I was quick to ask questions on how many times you can do this.

But the funny thing is is that he has an extra rule, that is he will let you push yourself. So you have me asking stuff like “how many times can I use this ability or how many spell slots will we have?” And him responding with “fuck around and find out”

I’m not 100% sure if this rule will be put in (double checking with all of the players) but theoretically if you didn’t have any spell slots, you can still cast a spell but there will be consequences. Like a first level spell might make you gain a level of exhaustion or have the spell back fire on you. While at higher levels it gets worse…

This man knows that I will break the game through logic and now has put risk onto the table. The evil genius…

Also sucks I can’t say anything about my character on here because I know at lest ONE player follows me on here; mr will-break-the-game-through-creativity

#grim talks

0 notes

maybe-homestuck-now-or-something · 3 years

Text

I really wanna talk about homestuck in relation to this post but like, idk if I wanna add to it because it might be a total derailment of the topic but homestuck is such a weird apocalypse narrative.

like... the way it handles it is so odd because earth itself is not very well characterized before the characters leave it. the characters themselves are massively well characterized, and that takes up the bulk of the narrative, but like... we never even hear them talk about school? or much of anything more than their shared interests and what's immediately happening to them. and in a way, that is kind of authentic. because when kids get together to hang out, the last thing they ever wanna talk about is dry, boring stuff about their mundane lives. they'll mostly just yell memes at each other, talk about anime, play video games... it's possible to simultaneously know nothing about your friends, but feel closer to them than ever, because you're mostly around for the parts of their life that they want to experience when they're having the most fun. you see them as they are when they have the most agency to choose that. and that might be totally divorced from the reality of how their day-to-day life unfolds.

in this way, homestuck presents these characters as people who have shed that mundane portion of their lives. they are now left with only the part that they typically share with their friends. and in reality, if a SBURB type apocalypse were to literally happen to you, it'd be traumatic as hell. but this is the place where homestuck chooses to ask you to suspend your disbelief. let's just believe that John didn't have any other friends or family to think about when the world ended. let's pretend they left zero people of any interest whatsoever behind. all they are shaking off is the society that they were obligated to participate in so mundanely. they no longer have to make any compromises with anyone... they get to fully center themselves.

okay, so that's obviously not entirely true... playing SBURB is a cooperative experience, and being friends with someone doesn't always mean that your relationship is easy. but homestuck allows the narrative to become self centered. it's about one individual and the tiny sphere of influence they have, among solely the people they've developed meaningful bonds with. it allows them to become a case study.

so when the world ends, the world is not necessarily what matters. what matters is the identities of a few specific individuals who we spend a lot of time cultivating our own connections with as a reader.

and that all becomes incredibly interesting when you consider classes and aspects.

basically, in terms of the post linked above, classes and aspects are the harry potter houses, the factions, the "what bender are you" or MBTI type... they're not the only way you could categorize the characters, but they're the most universally applicable to all of the characters that are important in the narrative. and what's interesting is just like... what classes are for, and how complicated it actually is to know what aspects are, or what they mean.

starting with classes, these are basically a series of archetypes that are specialized so that everyone has a role to play that makes them uniquely valuable to a collective. if we're considering this in terms of DnD, you can think of what classes might make for a balanced party, and how having a balanced party makes it satisfying to play the game. no one player could handle everything on their own, and at the same time, everyone feels needed. nobody is useless.

this already seems fundamentally different from some of the means of categorization that I listed above. a lot of these systems are meant to divvy up the characters into societally recognized in-groups and out-groups... people who can be identified as allies or enemies. even if the groups are ascribed certain archetypal skills, the goal is rarely so explicitly for the archetypes to work together, or cover each other's weaknesses. Avatar is probably what comes the closest to this idea, with its underlying endeavor to find harmony between the elements, but homestuck uses classes both as a way to communicate unique specialization, and as a way to unify the characters by their need for support.

and that's a little weird isn't it? these characters just shed all of their obligations to a broader society, and we're taking that as a freeing event... right? but there is a difference between society and community, and while homestuck might use the destruction of society as a catalyst for adventure, it uses the formation of community as the driving force behind the story's progression. the characters are all motivated to work together and help each other... and that doesn't always mean that it works. even within a community, one person's drive to center themselves and their own personal growth can trample others who were trying to do the same thing. perhaps not everyone in the community consents to being cooperative. perhaps the difference in archetype could drive someone to become competitive instead. and these are all value-neutral observations... no archetype is specifically acknowledged as being evil, even when they have friction with one another.

basically... this is character writing. and I find it funny that these broad categories that kids like to identify themselves with are seen as ways of flattening characterization into broad strokes like "the brave one" or "the sneaky one" or what have you, because in the case of classes, the characterization becomes deeper. and I think that's because the categories are used well... the characters all have specific relationships with the stereotypes they're ascribed by others, and the archetypes they're told they must fulfill. the classes don't define them, but they do give them something to contend with. can they fulfill their role? can they live up to their purpose? is there a place in the story for someone with an archetype like theirs? do they want to be this?

aspects get even trickier, and for this I might just link to a video I really love that covers a lot of the thoughts I've been having. it's kind of front loaded with a lot of technical talk about computer science and philosophy, and tbh I love that homestuck does actually link up those concepts with so much of it's presentation, but the main bit that intrigues me is the way the video talks about aspects as irreducible components of thought. like the periodic table of elements, but for ideas.

this drastically elevates the importance of each character's assigned category, and makes it function so much better as a tool for characterization. because, like, the aspects are actually really abstract. when someone says their aspect is "wind" or "light" you could take that 100% literally if you wanted to... but by the time you've read enough of homestuck to connect those to John and Rose, you probably understand that it's not that simple. and other concepts, such as astrology, have taught you that this is the sort of system that you're supposed to interpret, right? what is a capricorn if not a loose collection of traits that give you a certain vibe? that's what we're working with when it comes to aspects. otherwise, how would you know what void, or doom, or mind are? tbh it's actually pretty genius that astrology was worked into the comic as an aesthetic element, just so we'd all be mentally primed to do this kind of categorical interpretation... hell, even the actual signs themselves constitute a framework with which you could analyze the characters, like, how does Nepeta display typical leo traits, or how is Vriska a stereotypical scorpio... it all still works, even as you understand that each individual is more complex than the traits which support that interpretation.

in this way, the aspects are never really explained exhaustively verbatim, and are almost solely defined by the traits you've observed from individual characters, who act as representatives for what these categories actually are. or at least how they function in this instance, which is what's relevant. it's not just superpowers, and it's not just archetypes... it's both at the same time, and you come at them from a character-first perspective when you're trying to figure out what they mean. the characters inform your knowledge of the categories, and the categories act as a framework for analyzing the characters. and I love how homestuck tricks you into assuming that it has a lot of little rigid categories for the characters to slot into, and how quickly it becomes apparent that everything is way more abstract than it first appears. and yet, it all still means something. and it's really interesting to, say, compare two different time players to try to piece together what is typical for that archetype, while also accounting for their class, and trying to understand how that changes the roles they play and the ways they behave. and then you have the trolls' caste system on top of that, and the astrology angle I mentioned earlier, and there are honestly so many overlapping ways to think about it all, and I think that's the point.

#homestuck #classpect #my rant

166 notes · View notes

jq37 · 3 years

Text

The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 4

The Case of the Puzzling Painting

Welcome back to Loam Hall where our Sylvan Sleuths are still hanging out in a room with a dead body. When we left off, Gangie had been snooping into Sly’s conversation about Fletcher Cottonbottom and now, he uses his Criminal Contacts feature to see what he knows, if anything, about a recent return. With a 26 he knows that his family used to be well respected but after the whole business with the insurance fraud and Sly busting it, the family kind of fell out of favor. So Fletcher was in a weird position where he was rich and a part of high society and had enough dirt on everyone to get them to do things for him but couldn’t actually show his face because he was disgraced. Gangie also knows that it’s rumored that Fletcher’s weapons running scheme was actually a front for moving art.

With regard to more recent news about Fletcher, Gangie was never in direct contact with him but he knows that 3-4 years ago, his most trusted henchmen started going missing--people attributed it to some kind of “Cottonbottom Curse” and that rumor is part of why Gangie decided to get out of dodge in the first place.

Buck does an insight check on the rest of the PCs and, with an 18, doesn’t clock anyone there as especially suspicious (Lars isn’t there but like..it’s Lars). Ian tries to give Squire Badger his last rites but ends up pulling the knife out, putting it back in, flapping blood everywhere with his feathers, and sending Constance into a badger rage. Buck tries to help smooth over things, claiming his big screw up was a new style of avant garde church ritual (Ian appreciates the support--who ministers to the ministers, you know?) and in the process sees his knife for the first time. Which, you know. He obviously suspected before but never nice to see.

While this is going on, Daisy sneaks off to try and check on the secret door and everyone sees her do it/eventually follows her but we’ll get back to her once we check in with Lars who is en route to the kitchen. Once in the hallway, they do a perception check and, on a 15, there are 3 doors and Ally gets to pick one. There’s a kitchen where Gilfoyle is talking to a group, a door where someone is crying behind it, and a door where they can hear nothing. Ally, the galaxy brained genius, goes for the quiet door. That’s the money door and with their ears pressed against the door, they can hear Edwina and Carolyn--the two mice maids that overheard Buck’s conversation with the Badger--whispering about what happened there and wondering if they should pay back the money they were paid to by Buck.

Gilfoyle walks out and sees Lars snooping but on a Nat 20 deception check, Lars is able to play dumb and skate by suspiciousness. Also, with a dirty 20 perception check, when the mice maids leave, Lars sees that they’ve been stealing silverware.

OK, back to Daisy who is getting to the séance room as quickly as possible. She has two rounds before people catch up to her so she’s trying to make the most of it by Investigating the painting she noticed was bolted to the wall earlier. She first rolls an 11, getting no new information. This is so frustrating to her. She’s good at this dammit! But being around Sly is rattling her terribly. She has feelings for him--strong ones. But she isn’t herself around him. How can she be with him if he makes her so unlike herself? Her introspection is enough to earn her advantage from Brennan on her second roll and boom! 25! Daisy is back.

With that roll, she notices that the eyes in the painting actually move and can be used as a spying post on the other side. Then Sly runs in and they start bickering immediately. Daisy throws a crystal ball at him and absolutely brains him on a nat 20--the first combat roll of this very RP oriented season.

Buck and Ian are still in the room with the body for the moment and Buck asks Ian about the first few names on the list Gangie gave him. There were a bunch of members of the Burrows family--a working class family that all died of a consumptive illness. And then the Diggories who died in a carriage accident. The connecting thread? All badgers. Buck then zooms away to follow Daisy, Ian follows, and Lars, seeing them as they leave the kitchens, also follows.

So all the PCs are in the séance room now and they kinda have the sense of, “OK y’all, we’re all screwed but we’re al screwed together so we better throw our lot in with each other and start working together so we don’t die because no one else here is on our side.” Buck proposes an alliance and they all agree to share info. Sly asks about Buck’s knife and Buck admits it’s his but says he didn’t do it. Sly believes him--not because he wouldn’t do it but because he has no motive (that he knows about anyway. Buck doesn’t spill about the contract).

Gangie shares the list of names from before with the whole group.It’s like half badgers and then some other critters (full list here). Sly doesn’t share any of his secret info Grant got texted. Daisy and Buck don’t share about the key (though Sly you’ll remember sat her steal it). Buck does however mention his suspicion about the fact that Gilfoyle wasn’t around when Squire Badger gave his speech and Daisy does the same about the fact that he said he would call the cops but the cops haven’t arrived yet. Lar’s remembers that Jez’s husband is gunning for at seat in parliament and wonders if this is related somehow. Daisy mentions the eyes in the painting and everyone is like way to bury the lede dude! Especially when they’ve just all spilled their secrets. Everyone checks on the painting and with a 25 Gangie can intuit that this is probably used to spy on rich people when they’re mid-séance and vulnerable and spilling secrets (which he doesn’t share but Daisy comes to a similar conclusion on her own). Buck on a 23 can smell ledgers (idk how but the DM said so and I’m reporting it) and guesses that that’s where the Squire’s real office is which means that’s probably where the contract he needs to find and destroy is too.

The group makes a list of their loose ends which are what’s on the other side of the painting, what’s up with Fletcher, and the smell of ozone. Plus Ian remembers that the date on the bust in the study is wrong and shares with the class.

Lars tries to get to the other side of the room by ripping the painting off the hinges with a very impressive 26 but there is fully a wall behind it and the noise brings Gilfoyle, Harding, and the Badger kids running. Lars notes that in the stone behind the painting it says “⅓” and then hurriedly puts the painting back. Daisy thinks that might refer to a secret third floor or basement accessible by the elevator (but my first thought was that there were 2 other spying paintings in the house somewhere).

Everyone in the room hears the Gilfoyle and co. coming and try to act natural. There is a group stealth check that they all tank so heavily that all the suspicious staff and kids need to do to suss them out is roll above a 5.

AND THEY ROLL A TWO.

With that, Lucretia appears, totally buys that they’re doing very important spiritual work in there, and in fact guards the door for them. They use the privacy bought by their very vigilant sentry to plan their next steps. Sly, Daisy, and Ian will check out the study while they rest of them check out the elevator. As they exit, Lucretia asks if they got the answers they needed out of the spirits.

Oh yes, says Daisy, echoing Lucretia’s nonsense prediction from last episode. Either something good or bad might happen. Either way, I’m excited!

Case Notes

How baller of a player move is it to say a line so poignant that the DM is forced to let you roll with advantage? I have been on the other side of that as the DM and it’s so great. MAD respect to Rekha for that. AND THEN THE DICE COOPERATED. You simply love to see it.

The other best Rekha line is Daisy to Sly upon being called out about stealing the key in his normal, coy, quippy way: You saw me bitch.

Shout out to Grant also for being constantly on as Sly. The guy is on point always. Impeccable.

I am SO SO SO happy Daisy and Sly are on the same mission team. If I was friends with either of them I’d be like, “This is a toxic relationship, they make you too crazy.” But as an outside viewer I want them to be within crystal ball throwing distance always.

The question I’m sure we’re all asking: Is Brennan enough of a minx to invoke the butler did it trope? I know everyone at the table is thinking it even if none of them have said it outright. I figured the reason the cops haven’t showed up yet was the storm but who knows?

Two pieces of housekeeping, only Buck and Gangie know what the room behind the painting is with their high rolls and, after the bit of passing it back and forth with Buck, Daisy has the key.

I really can’t do the bit about Gangie’s mom justice. I wish there was a comedy Emmy for actual play DnD shows so D20 could get the accolades it deserves just for that bit.

Brennan indicated that the conversation between the mice maids was the most interesting info (Gilfoyle convo to staff was too public to be juicy/they could get the info from one of the many gathered staff people and crying is info on its own--though I am curious about who the crying person was) but I’m wondering what he meant by that. Because the fact that Buck paid them might be interesting if Buck did it. But we know he didn’t. Is it the fact that they were in the room at all? Again, info that the party knows if not Lars specifically. The fact that they were stealing silverware? What’s Brennan’s game here?

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #mice and murder #mice and murder spoilers #the case file

23 notes · View notes

plounce · 5 years

Note

what is, in your brave and genius opinion, the best characterization of mollymauk

okay here’s a couple things i think people should keep in mind

the first thing is that taliesin is a player who chooses when to speak, rather than speaking all the time. so molly isn’t actually super talkative or hyperactive or always starting shit - he goes along with things, steers himself where he wants to be sometimes, but is pretty chill except for when he goes ham.

molly is yasha’s best friend. this is his most significant relationship by far in the party. they both love their independence, but he has to be someone who is yasha’s best friend and who yasha feels safe and comfortable around.

if he feels sad or bad, he’s not going to dwell on it. this bitch is living to be happy! he’s not going to mope and sulk and sigh, he’s going to distract himself as best he can. “why let myself feel sad when i can NOT think about what’s making me feel sad and instead think about something that i LIKE?” so there’d be a tendency towards repression, but i think he tries to talk with yasha (who he feels really comfortable and not-judged around) before he explodes. he’s pretty self-aware.

he isn’t given to extreme outpourings of emotion, and would honestly hate it if other people (besides yasha) saw him having one. i think the most unrestrained we saw him in canon (regarding negative emotions) was when he was blindingly angry that yasha was abducted. after that - probably his frustration and defensiveness when he was being interrogated in ep 14.

genuinely doesn’t give a shit what people think about him. he’s spent his whole life being chased out of town with his family unit, he’s got a pretty thick skin. laughs or shrugs off people who reject him. it isn’t a forced coping mechanism - it’s just what he does. he’s got no time for that - onto the next town.

he is a herd animal. has only ever existed in a big dysfunctional found-family unit. he’s not going to cling to people, he knows that sometimes things end, but he needs to be in a group. doesn’t super care much about people outside of that group beyond basic human decency (see: giving money to people the m9 were attempting to cheat), such as his treatment of toya vs his deliberate distancing from kiri. he only lets himself be close to people who are more of a sure thing (for given values of that).

likes taking care of people. knows the value of creature comforts. remember when he bought all that nice food for the party in like ep 25? he likes cooking for people, likes feeding people. he can’t solve all your problems, but he can make sure that being hungry isn’t exacerbating them.

values control over himself. he’ll get drunk or high, sure, but that’s him doing that to himself. a part of him is always very paranoid that lucien is going to subsume who he is now (which adds to his ‘live for the life you have now bc you could die at any moment’ lifestyle). i personally like to take this a step further and make him kind of annoyed when other people make him feel things he can’t control. however, through all of this, he copes pretty well - unless it’s lucien, obviously. having a crush on somebody that he can’t make go away: annoyance, attempt to repress, attempt to ignore. more of lucien’s powers coming to the surface: drink all night.

would not sexually harass people.

is genuinely a very fair person. will do a lot of things for a laff. weird sense of humor in certain ways - see when he put the gold in the burnt out tree. superstitious, but only about certain things. thinks a lot of common superstitions are total bs (walking under ladders, black cats, etc) but he has ones he’s quietly very mindful about. spiritual.

he is a good person, but he’s a bitch for laughs. he is careful not to go over The Line, but The Line is different for everybody and he was raised in a circus - he’s okay with using charm person if it isn’t going to harm or traumatize somebody (and speaking of charm person - cmon yall, it’s dnd, people use charm person, it’s not really a valid thing to put on a yfip post unless they do something super evil with it). he’s a bitch and a bastard but one of his core tenets of existing is “leave every place better than you found it.”

likes to give little gifts, and is willing to share what he has with others as long as he can experience it with a friend or two. see: giving yasha the silk flowers, constantly asking caleb if things are magical (which imo is born both from curiosity bc he’s never hung out with a wizard before so magic is an interesting weird thing he isn’t interested in learning, as well as wanting caleb to feel valued and included in a way that caleb is capable of accepting), and sharing the skein with beau.

he has middling charisma. he talks too much when he’s trying to get information from npcs - he has more fun asking than actually being good at getting what they need to know. he’s off-putting and kind of weird and a bit mean? it’s kind of ironic that the member of the m9 least likely to cheat you (besides caduceus) gives off some of the least trustworthy vibes. he’s not gonna be the party face and honestly isn’t inclined to be. he has his people and that’s what matters to him.

can i just say that it bugs me that so many people have made him a lounge singer in their aus? 1. his charisma isn’t good enough for that 2. his default attack is making his voice so bad to hear that people taken damage from it! his singing voice is probably more of a joyful yowl than a smooth croon.

tl;dr he’s chill. be chill about him. he’s genuinely just here for a laff m8 x

#robcr #mollymauk tealeaf #Anonymous #chirps #also can i just say - this is the only way i want people asking me for thought-out responses from now on #critical role

615 notes · View notes

silverclawz · 4 years

Text

Just had a stroke of potential genius.

Dungeon Masters, hear me out, ok?

One of your players that you’ve known a long time, long enough to realize they arent just part of the crazy lot that either dont know what they’re doing or don’t care about the consequenses, comes to you with a new character for the next campaign. Everything looks to be in order, up until you look at their power allotments.

They’ve put everything into charisma.

What does this earn them?

Are they now able to BS their way through anything, even other XP checks? Are they now considered a unique kind of god with their own following because no one can say no to them or deny what they say?

Or?!

Are they now constantly falling over themselves, constantly getting hurt or knocked out, but anytime your faction needs help talking out of a guaranteed fatal situation, they are the one pushed to the front?

I’ve never been given the honor of having an actual DnD master guide me through any knind of dungeon or even had the pleasure of joining a regular DnD group, but sometimes, sometimes I think I might be boththe beloved member of the team but also the Dungeon Masters worst nightmare.

Because I’d likely be the kind of player who, 99.9% of the time I play like everyone else, but there will always be that remaining 0.1% of the time where I would pull things like this. Chaotically unpredictable, but typically a good player.

#dndmasters #dungeonmaster #dnd #questions

3 notes · View notes

grayisholi · 5 years

Note

@ the DND ask game: ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS, I CAN'T CHOOSE!! XD (or if not that, the ones you rlly wanna do!!

BOY OH BOY OH BOYIve been answering these throughout the day and I’m too lazy to reread the full document so sorry if I’ve left gaps or whatever but here it is! All 35 questions about dnd! Matt you unstoppable Madman.

1. A favorite character you have played.

You can’t just make me pick between my children!!! I think I might have to say Atticus Sallow, my faeborn bloodhunter, partially because he’s like 100% homebrew content which I LIVE for, but also because he’s probably the most kinda self-insert character I’ve ever played? Almost became the kinda angsty, brooding asshole character before he was like “get your shit together” and learned that loving people isn’t so bad.

2. Your favorite character that someone else has played.

I almost, ALMOST had the pleasure of DMing for @no-more-good-omens and their character was gonna be SO RAD and I’m a little heartbroken he never came to be. A half-drow paladin of Vecna, pretending to be your typical good and wholesome paladin? Dude, I love that kinda two faced backstabbing in a player. It’s such a shame it never came to anything (although if yall still wanna play hmu ;))

3. Your favorite side quest.

Ooh, there’s been so many good ones. Probably when i was playing as Adrian Smirks and went off on a tangent to rescue his brother ? That was the first time I ever got to see Adrian’s more raw and emotional side beneath the suave mask he wears and it was fun to explore his character in that way ^.^

4. Your current campaign.

That I’m DMing? It started inspired by Guy Fawkes and was gonna be “your party blows up parliament” but I got bored of following historical accuracy so it ended up being “blow up the palace in a magical city that just happens to be called London”. I accidentally wrote myself into a hole with this campaign tho, so once they’ve finished this arc I’m handing over the DM hat to my sister @philosophical-wanton because she seems to love it and I kinda miss being a player lmao. I can’t wait for it.

5. Favorite NPC.That I’ve written? Probably Hai Shen, the youngest son of a group of circus performers who were killed and the party got blamed for their murder. He had such a great attitude and his dynamics with the party kicked ass. And the twist that he was actually dead the whole time and it was his soul that had stayed behind to help solve his family’s murder? ICONIC.

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

NPC death would probably be Hai Shen, actually. After the party had brought the real killers (A cult to the demon Prince Orcus) to justice, Hai’s time on earth had come to an end. He had really beautiful moment with the party before being reunited with his family. Alternatively, the time I broke my entire party’s hearts? “Artagan’s staff comes cracking into Ellios’ chest, forcing him onto the ground. Artagan raises his sceptre in hand, pointing it menacingly at the young prince. And for the first time, you see him. Like, REALLY see him. He’s not the strong and powerful leader you’ve all come to know him as, he’s not Prince Ellios of the Four Realms. He’s just a boy. A boy who is much too young to be involved in such a grand scheme. And the fear in his eyes. You see the fear he’s managed to keep buried for so long, finally coming to the surface. And then? You don’t see anything, aside from his cold body hitting the ground.” I got punched three times for that moment, but GOD was it worth it.

7. Your favorite downtime activity.

Like in game? A healthy lil bit of vandalising the local law enforcement buildings is always a good time.

8. Your favorite fight/encounter.

Aw man, how can I pick ? I gotta say, that one time we, a level 6 party, managed to take down two earth elementals was pretty rad. The DM kind of expected it to be one of those encounters that we saw and immediately tried to run from, but what she didn’t take into account was that ALL of us had chaotic alignments so we just went crazy. The DM was rolling really badly (thank God) and we were getting really creative (“I use the produce flame centripetal to light my bottle of ale on fire and create a molotov cocktail” “you do WHAT”) and after like an HOUR we won and it was amazing. The rush I got from that victory was better than any drug my dood.

9. Your favorite thing about D&D.

I know I say it a lot, but I legit can’t choose. There’s so many great things about ttrpgs that a lot of people don’t really think of. The creative fulfilment I get from a session is incomparable, the friendships you can build that you couldn’t form in any other way. And like, not to get too real for a sec here, but I grew up with undiagnosed autism and didn’t understand how a lot of social situations worked, and DnD was such a good mechanic for me to try communicating with people without many real world consequences, and I appreciate that experience so much. It’s just such a great thing my dood.

10. Your favorite enemy and the enemy you hate the most.

Can they be the same thing lmao? I mean, I’m obviously partial to Count Cassius, the vampire lord that Adrian slept with lmao. I also always appreciate a good beholder, until I get hit with three disintegration rays IN A ROW.

11. How often do you play and how often would you ideally like to play?

We’ve got kind of a monthly schedule with my main campaign, and I manage to get a couple online games in-between them, but honestly I’d kill to be the kind of group that got together every weekend.

12. Your in game inside jokes/memes/catchphrases and where they came from.

Oh MAN. “I say we do this.” “Yeah, but that’s coming from the guy who decided to tie 3 50ft ropes together to escape the palace.” “iT wOrKeD dIdN’t iT ???” i.e that time I forgot I gave the gnome rogue flying boots so when I planned for them to get arrested at the palace, they managed to escape by tying their ropes together, sending the gnome with it to the top and climbing the wall. I had to improvise the rest of the session. Also “FLINTON BELINDA SKINTON” bc as a role-play exercise I got my party to come up with rumours about their characters and the gnome rogue called Flint AKA Flinton B Skinton decided that one of their rumours was that the B stood for Belinda, and it was GLORIOUS.

13. Introduce your current party.

My current group consists of Flinton B Skinton, gnome rogue. He’s a quick-fingered, silver-tongued gay disaster who can sell anything to anyone. He’s a charming flirt, and a veritable genius in his own right. Kava Daardendrian, dragonborn ranger who loves nothing in life more than her animal companion - her pig Snortin Norton. She’s fun and sassy and shameless, she’s great. There’s Sparks, the fire Genasi Monk, and full embodiment of a disaster lesbian. She drinks, fights, and gets laid, and doesn’t deal with her problems in healthy ways. An icon. And finally Milo, the halfling Bard who falls in love at the drop of a hat and just wants everyone to get along. I call them “The Shenanigang” and I love them.

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

A party I joined late? We had Sylvia Moondrop, the half elf sorcerer who was just trying to get along with everyone despite what the world seemed to want. Orland the half orc bard who was just trying to shake off the Barbarian stereotype his family left him with. Rose Morleen, air Genasi fighter who was literally born to kick ass and take names. I joined as Mason Terrai, the Earth Genasi Alchemist with a perchance for explosives. The very definition of chaotic neutral.

15. Do you have snacks during game times?

Of COURSE. What manic wouldn’t ?

16. Do you play online or in person? Which do you prefer?

I used to play online a LOT back before I had friends who were into dnd, but I VASTLY prefer playing in person. The chemistry that’s built not only amongst the players, but also the actual characters themselves is unparalleled. It’s just such a great experience.

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

Anyone can attempt anything, the only restriction is the dice. Don’t question the DM unless it’s out of session, then bully the dm on the groupchat until he’s so pissed off he gives you inspiration just to get you to shut up. And also canon lore and canon rules are bullshit when it’s convenient. That’s about it

18. Does your party keep any pets?

Our ranger, God bless her, has her pack pig Snortin Norton, sold to her by one Flinton B Skinton. And Flint really wants a monkey, he’s been trying to find one for ages.

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

Not really ? I’m the kind guy that if my dice rolls a 1 I will bench it for a bit, but tbh all my dice are cursed af and I’ve kinda just learned to roll with it by making my characters canonically terrible at everything lmao.

20. How did you get into D&D? How long have you been playing?

Aw man I can’t remember when or how, it’s been so long. I had a couple friends who were kinda into it, but all the games they tried to run were complete disasters. I only really started playing I’m the past year or so? Maybe a little more ? Adrian was my first character, and he was a very RP heavy character in a party of tanks and they all hated him but MAN was it fun.

21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done?

Oh all the time. One time my character was careless and didn’t check for traps on a legendary artefact and it lead to the death of a party member. One time my character got angry at his party and walked out. My characters don’t make good decisions, but that’s part of the fun.

22. What color was your first dragon?

White! I thought it was silver at first and went to go say hi, and it clawed me within half my HP straight away lmao.

23. Do you use premade modules or original campaigns?

Oh dude, original all the way. I live for that shit.

24. How much planning/preparation do you do for a game?

Depends on the session, but usually a good few hours, couple of days if I’m DMing.

25. What have your players done that you never could have planned for?

“You wake up in a mysterious forest. The strained autumn sun shines through the trees. The only thing you can see it each other, the trees, and an old sign post leading to a path that says "Myrrill” on it. What do you do?“ "We walk in the opposite direction of the sign deeper into the forest.” “…of course you do.”

26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters.

I wrote a full carnival show one time for them to watch, and then it got derailed when a horrific monster attacked. But writing all the characters and their acts, and watching my players get entranced as I described it ? Magical, my dood.

27. Do you allow homebrew content?

I live and breathe homebrew content. I don’t know what my games would be without it. I LOVE homebrew.

28. How often do you use NPCs in a party?

I make some pretty sick characters if I do say so myself, so I throw them in a LOT.

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

Oh dude, role play all the way. Fighting and killing stuff is great, but role-play is just so good. We can go from laughing with a bartender to crying over a backstory reveal and it’s just beautiful.

30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos?

Depends on the party, but i find the best players are a little bit of both XD

31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race?

Official ? I’m a fan of the hexblade warlock? Bards are always a good call, and to be real playing monks make me feel like an absolute badass. Race wise, there are just so many. If we’re only talking players handbook stuff, half elf is always rad. Outside of that? I’ve been researching the Shadar-Kai lately and I’m LIVING. They’re so rad.

32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?)

What would you call the disaster gay? I don’t really gear my characters towards usefulness in combat, so it’s just whatever the class happens to lend itself to.

33. How do you write your backstory, or do you even write a backstory?

I usually write my character, personality, backstory, alignment etc, before I even pick a class or even a race. I basically just make OCs and apply them to dnd rules, and it’s SO much fun. 10/10, would recommend.34. Do you tend pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor?

FLAVOUR. My party usually hates me, but what I lack in combat utility I more than make up for in creative out of combat skill checks XD.

35. How much roleplay do you like to do?

Boi, I even RP my combat, and the great thing is it rubs off on my party too. I’ll have a really low initiative and everyone else will be like “I attack and do 10 points of damage” but then on my round I’m like “I use my staff to leap across the battlefield towards the opponent and launch out with a spinning kick to their jaw” and everyone else is like “oh, okay, that’s what we’re doing.” and the battle becomes so much more dynamic and cinematic, it’s amazing !

5 notes · View notes

goothemighty · 5 years

Text

I had a strangely detailed dream DnD session last night.

Everything played out “in fiction”, with the dream based background knowledge of the “real world” setting. At least five players, six player characters, and one devious DM.

It was a short, startup campaign with low level characters that bizarrely started out with one player character betraying the group almost immediately and killing another player character.

This had apparently been planned in advance, with the traitor player and the DM in league from the start.

I’m guessing the murdered character was for a no-show player, or at least that’s what we were told originally, since the murder caught the rest of us(?) off guard.

I say us... there were at least two other non-traitor players, but I never saw their faces or gleaned their character classes. Dreams are like that.

Meanwhile, I was playing a Human Cleric of the Bardic god Finder. The “player” who got murdered was a Wizard and a practical joker, well loved by all and a good friend of my character. So yeah, bummer if a start for my Cleric. His best friend just got murdered, but at least he knows where to find the traitorous bastard who did it, and the rest of the party was just as motivated to find him as well.

So, fast forward through some dream haze, and our party finds themselves in a cozy town apartment, in mock ease across from our Traitor and a DM controlled Priest of the evil god Bane. Apparently the Priest of Bane had seduced our Traitor over to their side with promises of wealth and power (typical Zentarim ploy), and this we had two antagonists to deal with. “Pleasantries” and posturing are exchanged as we sit in comfortable chairs, none the les battle ready, with nothing but empty room between us and our swaggering foe.

Ultimately, “negotiations” petter out, and it’s clear a fight is about to be triggered. The DM, cementing the cocky nature of this Priest of Bane, ends discussions with the priest giving a deliberately mocking prayer to his evil god, thanking him for delivering us, the players, into his waiting hands. This was definitely meant to intimidate the players themselves, but halfway through his prayer, I remember; I’m a Cleric too.

Under my breath, as the DM read off his pre-prepared space of a prayer, I make up my own prayer to Finder for my character to say, under his breath as well, without drawing the attention of the evil priest or the DM. I wish could remember how it went, but basically, as a player, I was just psyching myself up by reminding my self and my character that he had just as much divine backup as the evil priest, if not more. It felt cool.

The fight broke out immediately with “Amen”s on both sides, and was frankly short. I think I did something to hamper our two foes, but the other two players delivered the DAMAGE. The evil priest was dead, and the traitor fled to the roof.

I pursued him, intending to end this, only to realize that the roof is where he had stashed all of the Wizard’s pilfered belongings, including his spellbook, which was now open and ready to be used by the traitor.

He was some sort of Rouge build, but apparently one with enough wizardly training to use spellbooks. We had surmised that he killed our friend in order to steal his magical items and spellbook, but I had neglected to consider that he would be able to use it on me. Our Wizard friend had cast a couple spells before he was murdered, so I knew there was some potent stuff in that travel journal sized tome.

However, as the traitor flipped though the book to find a deadly spell to use, his expression changed from one of grim glee, to confusion, to panic, and my character took the opportunity provided to cut him open and push him off the roof for good measure.

Mission accomplished!

As an afterthought, probably at the prompting of the DM, my character picked up the battered and blood stained spellbook to give a look through, curious about why the traitor failed to cast a spell.

Remember how the dead Wizard friend was a prankster? On every page, the spellbook was filled, not with spells, but with jokes! And terrible ones at that! From beyond the grave, the lovable goof had pranked his own murderer to death, a perfect ironic demise to the would be spell thief.

Roll credits!

I wanted to share this for a couple reasons.

1. Props to the dream DM. I can’t honestly take credit for any of his storytelling, since I never would of thought of half of that if I hadn’t had this dream. Don’t know how that works, but whatever.

2. I’ve never heard of nor would have expected a low level campaign to start with the player party being reduced by two fifths it’s size by a murder and a betrayal of PLAYER characters. Good sneaky nonsense from the DM and the two players!

I’d love to see/hear about other people doing things like this in their campaigns! It was also a good hook to motivate the remaining players, for revenge and honor among party members.

It’s actually a lot like The Italian Job, for the three of you who know that movie, and I kind of love that!

3. The whispered prayer to Finder was what made the dream stick in my head. To have a party Cleric, ready to fight his foes, completely ignore what an evil priest is praying in order to pray to his own not-evil god for aid is such a cool image in my head.

“Yeah, I can do that too, bitch.”

4. Also the fact that dream me didn’t even bother to make said moment known to anyone else is neat. It may not add a buff or anything if the DM is oblivious, but it’s a rad character moment for the player to keep for themselves.

It was also a moment of growth for my dream Cleric, since hadn’t spoken to his god since the murder of his friend. It fit as a resolution/acceptance of loss as well as a rising moment mere seconds before the campaign’s final fight!

Again, I never would have thought of this on my own, but I am totally going to use it, and you should too!!!

6. Finally, the Joke Book/Spell Book! Why a neat punchline!! It’s cool when the murderee gets to Don Giovanni themselves some revenge, especially in a way that is very THEM. But also... he did cast spells with that book at the beginning of the dream...

Finally: As I was waking up, I had reached the conclusion that our poor Wizard was in fact a much more talented spell caster than he had let on, able to cast Wizard spells entirely from memory, like Elminster the Sage, and only “using” the book to keep up appearances and not give away the extent of his skill. Alternatively, he could have been a Sorcerer or a Warlock, who simply disguised himself as a Wizard for appearances sake.

However, I have reached a new conclusion since my commute into work. I have read in plenty of Forgotten Realms novels where Evil or Disreputable Wizards will steal spell books from other masters of the art in order to increase their own library of spells. In fact, that is what the traitor did in my dream. What I didn’t consider until I was driving to work this morning was this: what if Wizards kept their spell books written in code?

My new conclusion is that dead Wizard friend was either a genius spell caster who liked to keep a lid on his real power OR he wrote all of his spells in code that, to anyone but himself, just looks like bad jokes!

I love this idea and definitely want people to steal it if it not already a thing!

Make your wizards FMA level code-smiths! I want to hear about wizards whose spellbooks look and read just like ordinary cookbooks and almanacs!!

Seriously though, use anything from this dream that strikes your fancy, as a DM or a player or even a writer! They weren’t my ideas really, so if you like it, use it!!

Then tell me about it, cause I wanna hear cool stories!!!!

#GO NUTS #I know i will #dreams #DnD #long post #Joke Books #Finder #Cleric #Wizard #The Italian Job

4 notes · View notes