#but I like the idea of not adding classical warlock abilities

[chuchotements-de-le-radiateur]

DnD character concept: Artificer

So, despite my interest in DnD I have never had a chance to play it. This means jack shit to my fantasy, which immediately latched to the whole concept and started imagining characters, locations, etc.

So i just decided to go through the classes and come up with some interesting concepts for them. Let's go alphabetically and start with the Artificer.

"The clockwork heart"

Cracked glass and bent gears. Pocket watch dropped by a careless nobleman, stomped and forgotten, picked up and traded by a curious kid. Traded for what — you don't remember. The glass is removed, the shards are melted and cover is reformed anew. The gears are taken out one by one, by steady hands holding the tiniest of pincers. There is rhythm and order to things. You know that. You feel that. Hands keep moving, pick up the pieces and slot them into their place. A clank of metal, a tug of a spring, a turn of a screw. Then another. Three more and the hands rest. The ticking is rhythmical, steady, but something is amiss. Your eyes follow the hands with curiosity, watching what they will do next. After a brief pause the cover is removed again, the edge of a spring is bent just a tiny amount and everything is covered again. And pause. The ticking continues, but there is a note there now, one that you feel more than hear. All is right. Your hands rest. For now, the panic subsides. But soon the the chaos will become to much again, demanding to be ordered, to be fixed, and the hands will start moving again. You hope you will find something to fix by then. The ticking inside you used to be soothing, calming, reassuring, but lately you can barely sleep, as it grows louder and louder with each passing day, and subsides ever slower.

There was an explosion. Or so you've been told. You were an apprentice to a talented artificer, helping them make their ambitions a reality, push the limits of what is possible, weaving magic and technology together in ways you couldn't imagine. You weren't as well educated, as experienced, as driven, but you were talented and willing to put in the work. They inspired you, and though it was hard, you kept working. But days, weeks, even months prior to that day turned into a blur, with shattered fragments flashing in the dark. Fire. Pain. Sound. Hands. Their voice. You were found in the smoking ruins of their laboratory, alive but covered in bruises, cuts and burns. One wound was different — a big scar on your chest, almost healed, but one that was not there just a day ago. And the artificer was nowhere to be seen.

Days spent trying to remember what happened, you finally realized: whatever you did together, whoever made a mistake, you paid for it with your life. You remember dying. And then their hands, their voice, arguing with someone. You don't know what your master did to save you, but you are alive, and they are gone. And where you once heard heartbeat, you now hear ticking of gears and twisting of springs.

But as the days kept flowing, you understood that that's not all that changed. You see the world differently, understand it more clearly, sharper, ideas filling your head and your hands being more precise than ever. You build things you never thought you could. Except that you are getting less and less certain, if it is an ability, or a compulsion.

What you don't know, is that your master did not save you, or build the heart that keeps you alive. You were not a victim, You were a sacrifice. A price that your master paid for their communion and ascension with something beyond your comprehension. But whatever it was, it wanted you alive. It gave you this heart, it filled your head with ideas and kept your hands steady. And as you encounter more danger and make mistakes, as you fall in battle and come close to death again, even after your allies bring you back, even after you heal, you feel the ticking getting louder. And one day, as an dagger cut your hand deep as it could, as you were pushing the assassin away, you could swear that instead of the white bone, under the blood flowing from your hand you saw a dull shine of bronze and gold.

#artificer #dnd #dnd ocs #dnd character #dnd character concept #dnd backstory #dungeons and dragons #This reminds me of that wierd japanese horror? Tetsuo #the iron man #And a little bit of Hoffmann stories #like sandman etc #This backstory might be used for a warlock #but I like the idea of not adding classical warlock abilities #and instead expressing the horror and the power through the inventions #gadgets and gizmos #from beyond #Oh and just in case - feel free to use this in any way you want #as I am not likely to

[blorbologist]

Hi 👋 sorry to bother and I hope it's okay: I have a question about AooD (my brain decided to randomly scream Thoughts at me today)

Will characters fit into classic DND classes or are you planning to step away from that? I was wondering if Vex will still be a ranger/rogue or some other multiclass, like adding some paladin because of her close connection to divinity. Or maybe some other characters would have minor changes because they're living in a different age and society looks much different from what we know from VM campaign.

MORE than okay! I'm always looking to talk about this AU and poke at it more <3

I do want to broadly work with the constraints of the world; in Calamity characters still had classes, so I'll be sticking to that.

Here's where things get a lil interesting:

I'm sure you'll have noticed Trinket was not in that first chapter :)

Vex is a rogue/paladin in this AU! This was mostly inspired by Laura's responses to a question about alternative classes; she noted that she initially wanted Vex to be a rogue (but went with ranger so Liam could be rogue), and that the idea of late-campaign Vex being a paladin was pretty cool. The fact this exactly mirrors Vax's canon multiclass (bar the last level in druid) is also very intentional. ;3 However I'm letting Vex have ranged smite, because though everyone bickers that it'd be OP to allow... she's the twin of a god. Beastmaster was chronically underpowered in C1. She deserves this.

(Trinket is in the fic I repeat the boy is in the fic he's just not Vex's ranger companion!)

I'm a bit indecisive about Percy. Either he's an artificer, flavored that all his abilities are just gadgets and tinkering, or he's straight fighter like canon. He's 100% magic-free though, without any warlock abilities, and that definitely puts a chip on his shoulder in this mageocratic society. I fully intend for him to flatly call himself a diversity hire at some point. In much the same way that Cerrit has a bit of hubris for being a rogue keeping wizards in line, Percy has a lot of pride staked in doing just what these fancy mages can without any arcane abilities of his own, using SCIENCE!! to accomplish what they do. Not many people in Aeor who know him personally like him lmao.

As a hint of what's to come, most of the other characters remain the same class as canon, if potentially a different subclass or with a multiclass/different multiclass level distribution. Ex: Tary is either a pure artificer or artificer/wizard, Grog might be a zealot or giant barbarian instead of berserker... Ripley is still fighter/wizard, if an opposite split ;3

The one other major class change might be Pike, due to the lack of strong religious belief during the Age of Arcanum. Back in the day Vasselheim placed at least some importance in the divine, hence labelling attempts at ascension hearsay; see Calamity episode 1. But I don't think even they would be quite as zealous as they are in the modern day; Vespin was a mage, a titled archmage, within the city, and we don't know if Vasselheim had the amount of space devoted to temples it does now. She might be a Divine Soul Sorcerer with one level dip into Cleric, but I'll see how my Vasselheim arc shakes up.

Oh. I lied. There's one more major class difference, but it's with an NPC, and that I'll keep to myself ;3

#critical role #cr fanfic #age of arcanum AU #also!! YOU'RE THE FIRST ONE TO CALL IT AOOD! I love it. Aood. *Aood!* #vox machina

[raeynbowboi]

How to Play as Prince Philip in DnD 5e

When it comes to Disney Princes, Philip was the first active hero of the story. He didn’t get a whole lot of screen time, but he’s always been a personal favorite ever since I was a child. Hell, before Flynn Rider came along, he was also my Disney Prince crush. So, we need to examine his abilities to figure out what’s the most accurate portrayal of his character.

Philip isn’t very special. He’s just a normal human. No fairy blessings here.

He’s willing to break tradition in the name of love, wanting to marry a peasant girl instead of a princess. It’s not enough to make him Chaotic Good, but it is enough autonomy to knock him out of Lawful and into Neutral Good.

For background, Philip is a Noble, proficient with History and Persuasion.

Classic Hero

BARD  College of Swords 

He sings, he dances ballet, and he swings a magic sword. Seems like a good fit. While this is a much more magical build than he realistically should have, the fairies literally are with him through the entire climactic fight. So, just flavor any spells he casts as being cast by one or more of the Good Fairies flanking him.

FIGHTER Cavalier

Phillip charges through the forest of thorns atop his trusted steed, and seems skilled at mounted combat. However, even in application, this subclass embodies the idea of the classic chivalrous knight from fairytales.

PALADIN Oath of the Ancients 

Not only does Phillip serve an oath to the Good Fairies, but the Aura of Warding feature allows Phillip to resist spell damage, which will aid Phillip’s ability to fight Maleficent. The smites are also a nice way to flavor Flora guiding his sword into Maleficent’s heart.

RANGER Conclave of the Fey Wanderer

Not only does this subclass stand to protect the mortal plane from evil fey creatures, but you have advantage against being frightened so you can charge down a dragon, and can deal additional psychic damage. Rangers can also pick favored enemies, which can give Phillip a leg up on fighting fairies, monsters, demons, dragons, or whatever else Phillip needs to slay to protect Aurora. Better yet, Philip can have advantage against both Fey AND Dragons, making him well-equipped to fight Maleficent in either form.

WARLOCK The Archfey Patron

The good faeries supply not only Phillip’s weapons, but offer him boons and help him escape from Maleficent’s Dominion. The magic is also extremely limited. You could give him a Pact of the Chain and pick a Sprite for his familiar and cast your spells through the familiar (with DMs permission) which follows the idea of the faeries flanking Phillip in battle. Otherwise, Pact of the Blade works just fine.

BUILDING PRINCE PHILIP

THE GALLANT KNIGHT    Cavalier Fighter (12)    Ancients Paladin (8)

This build prioritizes Philip as a physical fighter, with his magical aid deepening the strength of his physical strikes. Paladin levels will give him access to powerful smites, and is the best defensive option for fighting a dangerous witch. Aura of Warding will give him resistance to all magical damage, making him much harder for Maleficent to take down easily.

THE DRAGON SLAYER    Cavalier Fighter (12)    Fey Wanderer Ranger (8)

While the Gallant Knight is the best defensive option, this is the best offensive option. Between Fighter’s added attacks and Ranger’s Hunter’s Mark and Favored Enemy, Philip is well-armed to fight off all sorts of wicked fey and horrific dragons. On top of this, his Dreadful Strike doesn’t just add on 1d6 Psychic damage, but it makes his weapons magical, making him more effective at fighting a dragon. At 7th level Ranger, he gains Blessings of the Courts essentially getting a smite feature that deals 3d6 psychic damage when he eats up a spell slot, which can stack with his Dreadful Strike for some serious power.

THE CHARMING PRINCE    Cavalier Fighter (12)    Archfey Warlock (8)

Philip himself is not much of a mage, this build still prioritizes melee combat with only the occasional use of magic as help with his ability to fight. This also lets him literally be joined by a fairy in battle with a Chain Pact with a Sprite, or a fairy boon sword with a Blade Pact.

THE FAERIE KNIGHT    Ancients Paladin (12)    Archfey Warlock (8)

The most magical build, this one leans the most on Philip’s reliance on the fairies to help him. This one also has more and stronger spell slots to make use of the Paladin’s smites. It loses out on the Fighter’s number of attacks, but makes up for it by having more magic.

There were many good ways to build Philip, but if I had to pick the best, I’d likely suggest the Dragon Slayer build. You just apply Hunter’s Mark and use your spell slots to apply psychic smites, and watch things die in front of you. I used a similar build once in a campaign and I took down level 10 NPCs built like player characters in a single turn. It was marvelous to watch them crumple or scurry to escape from me. If you’re going to make a habit out of slaying dragons, this is likely your best bet.

#prince philip #disney #sleeping beauty #disney philip #dungeons and dragons #dnd 5e #dnd fifth edition #dnd 5th edition #sleepingbeauty #maleficent #prince charming #disney prince #disney princes #prince phillip #disney phillip #5e #d&d fifth edition #d&d 5th edition #5th edition #fifth edition

[comiiical]

I have two muses wanting to be added, 2 ocs and technically a canon character. 

The first OC is the one I mentioned the other day: Aristocrat, mutant, mystical duty, reaper-like character who takes the souls of others to the afterlife and can in fact kill to speed up that. He’s an antihero who does in fact kill those who are deserving of death or in need of it if their lives have been long and good. A character that would fit a Hell Fire Club kind of group, as a member of the aristocracy of old, and what not, but who actually believes riches should be spread among citizen (thus he uses his own money for the betterment of society rather than for engaging in more earnings). Someone who would actually dispose of the classic tyranic businessman, or those who commit fraud to earn more while paying less to their employees. 

The second OC would be a Hexenbiest/Zauberbiest from Grimm (since it has comics). And for those who haven’t  watched it, These are the representaion of fairy tale witches, mages, warlocks, evil witches in general, that have a corpse like figure when turned, the more powerful they are, the more rotten they look like. They have magical abilities, and the most powerful display telekinesis or pyrokinesis among other magical talents with ease. They’re also immortal in longevity terms and age so slowly one can be centuries and still be in their 30s. The strongest, the longer they live and the prettier they are. So the idea would to make an OC that is a very powerful Zauberbiest (male counterpart) whose magical powress is equal to that of Henrietta and Juliette, but who was turned like the latter instead of born like the first. 

Before going with the third. I had considered Russell Tovey for the first first, then since he had no resources, thought about Oliver Jackson Cohen or Tom Hardy, settling on the latter because the former I already have 2 muses with. And then when Russell’s resources happened... I 100% thought about the second. BUT as I was still considering options, I saw Kratos and thought “Tom could play Kratos pretty nicely.” So... there’s my dilemma... I want to use these two faceclaims. I want to add the two ocs over Kratos. But if there’s another FC option for the first muse that I could use I wouldn’t mind adding Kratos? 

So what thou thinkst, my fellow not Scions.

#borriquito como tú tururú ( ooc ) #and those who are scions too xD

[notyourfathersdungeonmaster]

How to Make Powerful NPCs Interesting Again

We all know the trope: the powerful wizard hires the party to go run some minor errand, which inevitably leads to them stumbling onto the World-Ending Plot, which they have to solve, alone, with only the occasional advice from their wizened mentor. It's a trope as old as time; even Hercules got occasional boons from godly beings to help him on his quests. It's a great narrative device, until some player stops and asks, "If this wizard is able to stop time with a snap of his fingers, why doesn't he just stride into the field and shove a ninth-level fireball into the Lich's cranial cavity?"

This simple bit of cognitive dissonance can really ruin the fun and undermine the urgency of an otherwise great adventure. If the party knows that the only reason they're on this quest is because Randalf the Off-White can't be bothered to deal with the horde of undead outside his tower, it can make them feel like chumps or patsies, and undermine any sense of gratitude that comes later during the campaign's denouement.

There's a few simple ways to fix this, though: tricks that can help you, the DM, keep your high level NPCs while also explaining why the great powers of the world are relying on this band of scrappy adventurers to solve all their problems. Below are just a few.

The Balance of Powers

This principle is a great one, but is often sadly overlooked in many campaigns. Simply put, in the above example, the wizard mentor doesn't get involved not because he can't, but because doing so would bring in a whole host of other powerful beings that would complicate the conflict. Perhaps there's a council of archmages who have all agreed, for the sake of maintaining the fabric of reality, that they should keep their Ninth-level spells in their pockets unless they all agree it's necessary. Perhaps the BBEG has a patron on the Council, and the mentor can't interfere on his own without dragging his evil opposite into the campaign. This can actually make for a great part of the climactic battle: the mentor decides he can't stay on the sidelines anymore, and joins the fray, participating in an epic wizard's duel.

This can also be used with deities bestowing boons on the party: they can act indirectly by helping the party, perhaps because one of their rival deities is already helping the BBEG. Thus, the conflict of the campaign turns into a proxy war for a larger divine conflict that can't be fought, because it would annihilate all of existence. If you do take this path, make sure your NPC stresses to the party how essential it is that they solve this issue, because if the major players themselves join the fight, no one will survive.

The Protector of Reality

Similar to the Balance of Powers, this rationale places the Epic NPC in a conflict from which they cannot afford to divert their attention or resources, even for a moment. Perhaps there is a constant threat of otherworldly incursion for which they need all (or almost all) of their capabilities; after all, you don't want to be caught with your pants down and your spell slots expended when Tiamat bursts through the material plane like an alien parasite from a man's stomach. Even the threat of such an apocalyptic event would mean that, like a missile in a silo, an epic level NPC would have to sit dormant, never expending his magical capabilities because he never knows when they may be required. This is actually a great archetype to use for the Wizard in the Tower trope; they may have built themselves a convenient magical retreat at great cost because they couldn't afford the spell slot to cast Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion everyday, not while that same spell slot may be needed to banish an archduke of the Nine Hells. So, they sit in the tower, separated from the affairs of the world by necessity - but, still caring about the world and wanting to make sure it's not a shit place to live, they can find and recruit adventurers to handle the more mundane threats that don't shake the foundations of the universe. This is also a great twist finale to use on the party: perhaps the Wizard in the Tower joins them in the final boss battle, expending all his magical power -- only for, at that moment, the threat he's been guarding against for centuries to finally arrive, and now it's up to the party to stand against them where he cannot.

The Otherworldly Being

This works especially well with warlock patrons, but it can work similarly well with questgivers and friendly NPCs that have an otherworldly or spiritual bent. The key idea is that the force recruiting, motivating, and rewarding the players is not located on the material plane itself and is therefore unable to act on it; they need to find a local agent to handle the problem. There is plenty of inspiration throughout myth and folklore; dream visitations, whether by angels, fiends, fey, or Lovecraftian horrors, are particularly common as an impetus to get an uncooperative character to fall into line. There are more tangible methods of communication as well; perhaps they are a being of immense power that is trapped in every mirror in the world and needs an agent to eventually get them free, or perhaps they can only manifest through signs and omens that require interpretation. If you want to pull from Greek mythology, there's also the possibility of a dedicated oracle who acts as the voice of the gods, but gives only vague, ominous prophecies that won't reveal their true weight until later. In all cases, a clear distinction is established between the power of the questgiver and the limitations of their abilities to influence the mortal realm, making the party the ones with agency in the situation.

The Hidden BBEG

You'll want to be careful how you use this one, because you only get one shot to pull it off with a given group, and once the players suspect something it is really, really hard to recover from it. The basic premise is that the powerful NPC who recruited them, who sent them off to fight against the Big Bad Evil Guy, was secretly a villain themselves, trying to bring down their rival or clear the way for their own scheme. Think of Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars, sending the Jedi across the galaxy to deal with the Sith and the CIS, only to betray them all. Unfortunately this has become a major trope, and given how paranoid players typically are, it's very hard to pull off. There's a couple of tricks to making it work, and some of them may seem counterintuitive.

Do not make the Hidden BBEG perfect or flawless. Establish a set of motives for their actions, ones that may seem prosaic but also have a selfish bent. The high priest wants to rid the land of the evil king who is oppressing the population, but who is also stifling the priest's ability to build his church. The noble ruler wants to defeat the opposing empire that threatens the peace and stability of his lands, but also is motivated by revenge for the war crimes committed in the past. Create a pretext that puts them on the same side as the party, but a subtext that leaves the party slightly uneasy. If the party is concerned about their ally having selfish motives, they'll be expecting selfishness, even recklessness, but not duplicity and betrayal.

Do not reveal the full capabilities of the Hidden BBEG. If anything, they should appear to be about mid-level; capable, but not able to handle world-shaking threats. Most often they are hiding their capabilities until some final piece is brought into their grasp. One excellent example would be Fraz-Urb'luu, one of the demon princes of the Abyss, who is obsessed with recovering his staff of power; as a Hidden BBEG, he might pose as a friend to the party, waiting until they recover all the pieces and bring them to him before he strikes, showing his true might. Another excellent example is the Heirophant from the classic geek movie The Gamers: Dorkness Rising.

Show genuine conflict in the Hidden BBEG. Let them display passion and inner conflict, moments where they are troubled by the methods the party uses and the methods they and their followers are forced to use. There's an old adage that every villain is the hero of their own story; if you can make that ring true for your Hidden BBEG, to make the party invested in not just their cause but in maintaining their moral character, then the betrayal will hurt even more.

The Common Crowd

This might seem counterintuitive, but sometimes the best Epic NPC isn't epic at all, but just a collection of ordinary folk. If your campaign originates in a specific village or town, especially one full of colorful, memorable NPCs with personal ties to the party, then the collective needs and will of that settlement can become a questgiver NPC in its own right. The town is suffering from an unnatural drought? Send the party to seek out aid or a magical cure. The town is displaced following an invasion? Keeping the town safe and finding them a new home becomes a priority. This can also become a source of individualized side quests for the PCs; they're likely to be far more concerned about seeking out the rare medicine required to save the orphan girl who the rogue took under wing than they are about exploring a random tomb for loot drops. Plus, if the PCs invest their time and effort into protecting the town, it can make for an amazing final battle when the townsfolk come to support the party in battle, armed with everything they can get their hands on, ready to die for their heroes (a.k.a. The 'Mass Effect' Effect).

I hope these provide some good inspiration for your campaign! Let me know if there's any tricks you've used on your campaigns that worked particularly well, or any that you think should be added.

[caedun]

Top 5 things you are excited to do (ICly or in-game) in Shadowlands

1. OOC - Sit and wait.

To be completely honest I’ve got no real interest in Shadowlands, from a couple perspectives. I’m not being smug or cynical about it either; I unabashedly enjoy WoW and its stupid, beautiful world, but BFA was such a downer on so many fronts that I’m just kind of burnt out.

Class and spec overhauls are always my favourite part of every new expansion; daring transformations like making Survival spec into melee are incredibly compelling to me. I think that kind of drastic, large-scale upheaval is what this 16-year-old game needs to stay fresh. (Give me my caster Death Knight and tank Warlock, you cowards.) Shadowlands is, I think, one of the least thorough gameplay updates they’ve done in expac history. To me this is strongly amplified by the current blandness of classes/specs overall, and coming off BFA where everyone was defined by Azerite/Corruptions I was hoping for more radical change to reinvigorate my desire to play. Adding back in a layer of specialization-agnostic abilities just isn’t enough for me when I know that picking up a shield as an Arms Warrior after a tank drops is still a stupid idea that will buy your party/raid maybe a handful of seconds before you die from not having passive tank benefits baked in.

Add on to that Blizzard’s unflinching stance on covenants and swapping, the state of ability value by spec/class, and a setting and ongoing story I’m really not at all intrigued by, and I’m just kind of left shrugging.

I genuinely hope it’s good and that I feel it’s worth coming back to. Thanks to a good and generous friend I have a very long sub time left so I can still peek my head in and check stuff out, but I’m going to wait and see how it all settles before I throw money at it. Fingers crossed the canaries in the coal mine are just feigning death.

2. OOC - Level an alt or two.

Very interested by the new levelling system, both as a player and a designer. Excited to try and take a character from 10-50 through Pandaria alone, as it’s one of the better expansions for levelling (imo) but you blast through it so fast in the current EXP schema. Might actually play a Priest for once. I wonder if someone will pull a “Doubleagent” and try to get to max level in Exile’s Reach? Where there’s a will...

3. OOC - 2H Frost.

Just glad it’s back. I mostly play Blood DK when I play DK, but I hated that they’ve been forced to dual-wield for so long. The greatsword look is just so iconic.

4. OOC - TBC Classic.

We all know they’re gonna do it. Classic has been enjoyable, charming, and a great reminder of how ass the game was in Vanilla. I’d carry forward into TBC for sure, it was a great expac with a lot of class cleanup and validation (lookin at you, Ret) and should be a good time, even if the community is too sweaty about it and ruins their own fun with foreknowledge.

5. IC - Stories of a man left behind.

Caedun isn’t going into the Shadowlands. It’s just not something he’d care about, and he absolutely does not want to run into anyone from his past life who has died. I don’t know if Blizzard has stated whether or not going to the Shadowlands is “one-way”--in the narrative of course--like Draenor was supposed to be, but if so there’s some neat potential there for being a “champion” simply left in Azeroth to watch it while most of them take the plunge.

I’m interested in writing pieces/stories about what he does on the other side of the veil after acquaintances, friends, and allies make that choice. Spoiler: He’ll probably keep hunting leftover demons.

--

This turned into more of a “things Shadowlands got me thinkin’ about” list than a to-do, but I hope it suffices. I’m really in a wait-and-see kind of status on it for now. BFA just lost me hard on so many fronts, and nothing they’ve shared or my time in the beta on SL jumped out enough to compel me to give it a shot. I hope that changes! Thanks for giving me a platform to slam my tiny fists on my desk and shriek, @newsnerd-ooc !

#ooc #asks

[vanceencounter-blog]

Tracking Down the Winning List

Recently Blizzard released the new Monster Hunt mode for Hearthstone. It is very similar to Dungeon Run, a single player mode released with the Kobolds and Catacombs expansion. You face a series of bosses each more difficult than the last. Luckily every time you beat a boss you will get to pick one of three “buckets” of cards. These buckets contain cards in a similar vein like “Professional”, which focuses on things that get your opponent’s creatures dead. Periodically you will receive Treasures as well. Treasures are very powerful and come in the form of playable cards or passive abilities.

Monster Hunt does away with the classic 9 heroes available in Hearthstone, in favor of four new ones. The new kids on the block are Cannoneer, Tracker, Houndmaster and Time-Tinkerer. I thoroughly enjoyed Dungeon Run before and wanted to give you a look into the incremental deck building process. This won`t be a boss guide but more of a reason why I took the buckets I did and how the final list turned out. I started with Tess Greymane (The Tracker) and liked her quite a bit.

The reason Tess is so interesting is her hero power, scavenge. The activation cost of scavenge is 2 mana, which allows you to discover a class spell that has been played this game. Miss Greymane has access to hunter and rogue spells, giving her access to plenty of traps, direct damage and kill spells amongst other goodies. This ability doesn’t just work on cards you’ve cast but also your opponent. This is basically the warlock hero power on steroids! Having a selection of 3 cards over drawing a random one, was much better and added an insane level of consistency to the deck. I don’t know if Tess is better than the other heroes but it only took me two tries to beat the dungeon with her. The winning run went like this:

 Gobbles

The first beast to be slain was Gobbles. This unpleasant pheasant had a passive ability which drew them a card whenever a beast died. There wasn’t much to this fight as they only had 10 life and the tracker base deck is very low to the ground and aggressive.

Deck Pre-Gobbles:

Elven Archer 

Sinister Strike

Worgen Infiltrator

Bloodsail Raider

Glaivezooka

Snake Trap

Blink Fox

Fan of Knives

Hired Gun

SI:7 Agent

Gobbles Additions: The first treasure I looted was Crystal Gem. A tried and true treasure from Kobolds, the gem allows you to start the game with an extra mana crystal. For the first bucket, I selected Jade in the rough, which included 2 Jade Shuriken and a Sonya Shadowdancer.  The Shurikens were nice to deal some damage and net bodies. Sonya was a pickup that synergized nicely with the ETB ability of Elven Archer, Bloodsail Raider, Blink Fox and SI: 7 Agent.

Niira the Trickster

Niira had a 1 mana hero power that gave all creatures +1/+1. If you can flood the board you can use this to your advantage as it hits your creatures as well.

Niira Additions:  I took the Copycat bucket here which netted me Ethereal Peddler, Undercity Huckster and Swashburglar. The peddler works well with the huckster and swashburglar but also does wonders with your hero power, making any spells you scavenged from your opponent cheaper too. Sonya was happy to see all three of these cool cats too.

Grubb the Swampdrinker

This tall glass of swamp water gave me some serious flashbacks to Fling from MTG. His hero power was 1 mana: Destroy a friendly minion and deal its Attack to the enemy hero. If you can off his minions, his power doesn’t have any text and he can only go face. You don’t have to worry about him killing your creatures with his ability which is a plus.

Grubb Additions:  As I was mapping out my plan for this deck, Grubb provided a sense of direction, with the option of Cartographer. She was an over statted minion for her cost and netted more card advantage. This was yet another tool to abuse with Sonya. For my extra cards I snatched up the Specialist package, which included: 2 Bloodmage Thalnos and an Eviscerate. The bloodmages upped the damage of my Sinister Strike, Fan of Knives and newly acquired Eviscerate, as well as any other random damage class spells the opponent provided.

Chupacabran

This Chupa could pop his ability for one mana, granting a friendly minion lifesteal. No minions = no sustain, so kill them as they come.

Chupacabran Additions: The professional bucket seemed like the way to go this time. It contained Assassinate, Patient Assassin and Snipe. All three of these acted as kill spells, with the Assassinate and Snipe having the ability to be rebought with the hero power.

Garrow, the Rancorous

There is only one thing that`s certain, Death and Taxes. Which just so happens to be Garrow`s ability. It’s 1 mana and deals damage to your opponent for each minion they control. He poured out damage very quickly but a more spell based strategy can do very well against him.

Garrow Additions: Upon his death I collected my toll which was another Jade in the rough package. This one had Thistle Tea, Aya Blackpaw and Jade Shuriken. The more jade producers the merrier and a refillable cup of Thistle Tea never hurt anyone either (actually that does sound like it would hurt). I grabbed some Caltrops as my treasure to weaken all the creatures on the other side of the board.

Cragtorr

This tough customer`s hero power was One with the Trees, which for 2 mana reduced the cost of minions in your hand by 1. He had a lot of beef in that hand, so being hyper aggressive or having ways to bounce his minions would be very useful.

Cragtorr Additions:  Specialist came back with two Backstab and a Fan of Knives. These were all great with Blood Mage Thalanos and let you machine gun the board with Tess.

Vitus the Exiled

For a guy who was exiled he sure loved company. Vitus had a passive hero power: Your minions have +1/+1. Luckily Thalanos upped the power of my damage spells to mitigate this and crystal gem got me rolling quicker than him.

Vitus Additions:  Apparently when Vitus got exiled he got to take some treasure with him. I picked up a Frenzied Trapper from him, which is a 5 mana 5/5 that puts 5 random hunter secrets into play as an ETB. This can be filthy with Sonya, making the opponent have to wade through an army of secrets to get to you. The last trio of cards I obtained was from the Old Bones preset. It came with 2 Sylvanas Windrunner and a Journey Below. Sylvanas didn’t have a ton of synergy with the deck but is just one of the best creatures in Hearthstone. Journey Below was a nice cheap class card to rebuy over and over.

Captain Shivers

Shiver keelhauled me once before and I was out for revenge. His hero power costs 0 and it was: draw a weapon from your deck. He surprised me with his Kingsbane Rogue deck initially but I was ready for him this time. He was getting me low and had me pretty worried that history was going to repeat itself. The tides turned my way when I used Journey Below to discover a Kingsbane and began to copy all the buffs he was using on his copy. In the end I won the clash of blades and breathed a sigh of relief.

Here is the winning deck list:

2 Backstab

Caltrops

Crystal Gem

Elven Archer

Journey Below

Sinister Strike

Swashburglar

Worgen Infiltrator

2 Bloodmage Thalnos

Bloodsail Raider

Cartogropher

Eviscerate

Glaivezooka

3 Jade Shuriken

Patient Assassin

Snake Trap

Snipe

Undercity Huckster

Blink Fox

2 Fan of Knives

Hired Gun

SI:7 Agent

Sonya Shadowdancer

Assassinate

Ethereal Peddler

Frenzied Trapper

Aya Blackpaw

2 Sylvanas Windrunner

Thistle Tea

 Hopefully this deck list helps you in your picks and gives you an idea of what synergies are available to Tess. Happy Hunting!

#hearthstone #blizzard #monster hunt #tess greymane #tracker