#high level campaign

[my-forgotten-notepad]

DND Idea: The Thompson Extension

I have an idea for a dnd campagin; the Thompson Extension. A grand labyrinth of wild and alien chambers all sprawling out from underneath a lone home in some blue-collar all-american fictional city of Origin. Before I dive into recolouring it into a DND campaign/dungeon idea; I feel like its best to give a summary of the Thompson Extension first, to give a feel for the way the extension and the surrounding region could be used as inspiration for DMs.

The Thompson Extension (Made by Tiktok user baddreams1985) is a subterranean structure that spills out deep into the earth in ways that fail to submit to the rules and strictures of the laws of reality. The Extension was constructed under as of yet unknown means and is plagued by strange and terrible powers; often driving those exposed to madness or delusional compulsions. It was uncovered after Douglas Thompson was being investigated for fraud and tax evasion.

The building, The Thompson Extension, and the effects within both and the surrounding area are being constantly investigated as more and more strange and bizarre events seem to spawn from the Thompson family's actions and from the alien and nonsensical labyrinth of chambers deep beneath their home.

As the investigation grew, investigators gathered and cross-referenced data, journals, affects, and interviews of the people within the city of Origin; the results of which simply changed how the Thompson family was viewed, and potential leads for how the damnable extension came into existence. Such as Douglas Thompson's delusions of grandeur, his god complex, lying, thievery, cheating, and outright neglect of his home, wife, and children. Art over the intervening decades all seem to focus on prisons, mazes, freedom, transhumanism, and horses; a possible link to an urban legend known as the Skewbald Mare. The forests of Origin are home to several potent medicinal and poisonous fungi, mosses, and other forms of plant life; the majority of which engage and modify synapse and neurological responses.

Old video tapes and partially encoded diaries and letters provide investigators with the impression of several cults or paranormal societies acting in concert, but not all for the same goal; often clash and cause chaos in the pursuit of destroying their enemies. Some worshipping the Void and the Skewbald Mare, others fostering alien parasites that violate the human form beyond reason and description. There even being several layers and decades of bureaucratic and governmental corruption, abuse, and cover-ups to hide and obscure the length and enormity of the issues within the city of Origin.

Susan Thompson (nee Leefarr) seemed based off of journals seems to be a pained and utterly beleaguered housewife. Aware of the dire straits her family was in, the strain of her husband's neglect as well as the length and sordid depths of his shameless sexual escapades and ego. She found solace in her art; often small and rather abstract pieces reimaginings buildings, rooms, and the natural world that was always so visible from her kitchen window. After the family's dissapearance, some of her pieces wildly and hideously distorted, others quickly began to rot and the materials were swiftly tested. Each painting had trace elements of blood, bone, teeth, nails, hair and skin tissue within them; the all the material links back to a single individual: Susan Thompson.

In an interview with one of Susan's neighbours, Judie Sanderson calmly remarked that Susan went from boastful to frightened about her home in a matter of weeks. "She was acting real queer about it too! She starts telling me she's finally got her dream kitchen, a playroom for the kiddos, and even a new bathroom ... One fine day she comes over, looking like she's been up and put through the wringer. We were on my front porch, just sipping our coffee and she goes "Judie, it just keeps growing".... But she just looked at me with her eyes hollow like a burnt out Douglas Fir and says "If I sleep, it'll get bigger" The second-hand account from Judie Sanderson seems to strongly imply that somehow Susan Thompson was key to the development of the extension. This interview and the bizarre events surrounding her art seem to impyl that some force or power was or is capable to pull from her desires, conscious or otherwise and slam them together to fashion a new chamber, a new physical reality.

Damaged audio from Jack Caversham's attempt on Mr. Thompson's life only seems to highlight Susan's role in the extension's existence. "Susan! She is the beacon. The Celestial umbilical cord reaching into the heavens!... Her art, her unending passion, something you never even recognised is the key!" The recording shows that Jack worships the Skewbald Mare, believing that something akin to the Thompson Extension is needed to free it from terrible and near incomprehensible cosmic prison. The damaged audio only further strengthens the validity of Judie Sanderson's commentary and account; that somehow the governing power of the Thompson Extension originally pulled from Susan's artistic talents and vibrant imagination to fashion itself into reality; also meaning for horrors that dwell within the extension could also be linked to Susan Thompson's mind and creative capacity.

Tldr The Extension is a seemingly occult creation that was forged via unkown means (most likely via occult artefacts and dark rituals), the original construction of the extension seems to have been guided and nurtured by Susan Thompson's dreams, but radically spiralled out of her or Douglas Thompson's control. The Thompson Extension seems in some tangential way is connected to corrupt politicians, alien parasites, cults and an enigmated figure known as the Skewbald Mare.

Now here is the part where I take this massive baseline description of Baddreams1985's work and transpose it into a dungeon or a fully-fledged campaign idea.

Option 1) The Thompson Extension has all of its darker elements wiped clean (so no body horror, no psychological horror, no dangerous cults, no familial neglect or cheating etc) and the extension is simply a rogue experiment into the Far Realms gone horribly wrong (or right). Causing a breach between the Material Plane and the Far Realms, causing reality to warp and splinter; creating new rooms, making old ones larger, smaller as more and more of the corrosive power of the Far Realm continues to leak through.

Adventurers are then tasked by the colleagues of the archmage/scientist/professor who caused the breach to enter their home; delve deep within the unnatural extension; reaffirm the boundary line between realities and save their colleague. The Dm could utilise warped NPCs, highlighting that the players aren't the first group to be sent into the extension to repair and save reality, the extension could be a ploy by a malicious Beholder or a tribe of Ilithids seeking to carve pathways into and out of reality to better their positions for ensuring their dominate and dark future succeeds.

Option 2) This option is more or less Option 1, but instead of academics causing the breach and you needing to fix it; the violation between the Far Realms and the Material Plane is caused by cultists. Those that worship and seek the transformative might of the Skewbald Mare to enact it's will upon the static nature of reality.

This campaign can start off as a race against time before delving into a prototype of the supernatural labyrinth to prevent the Skewbald Mare from being unshackled. This approach would give players to investigate the cult and their motives as well as try and acquire the necessary tools to protect themselves from the cult and if needed; the Skewbald Mare itself.

Option 3) This option goes all in on the content of the OG work. The inciting incident could have been the result of a fantatical cult member and scholastic academic believing himself meant for grander, greater things than his menial role within both his institution and fringe movement of faith.

The cultist uses his powers and an expediently arranged wedding to a maiden of the goddess of creativity to set things in motion as he blasphemes and stains the house with his power and the dark power of the Skewbald Mare. But his actions are hopeless, impotent in some cases; so overtime the cultist begins to commit crimes, theft, charming, adultery, neglect and destruction; all to further his own ends. The cultist no longer wishes to serve the Skewbald Mare, he wishes to supplant the ancient beast; kill it and wear its might like fine silk robes and proclaim himself god.

His motives, actions, and their consequences draw great power to him, allowing for his darkest and most profane desires to finally become acheivable. But, that also meant his former colleagues and those he once called brother and sister knew of his shame and his sin. The resulting cloak and dagger campaigns, the black rituals and the resulting violent chaos; the cultist, his plagued wife and their two daughters dissapear and the nightmare labyrinth forged beneath their home begins to scream out to the world above. Each day, some new evil seems to spill out and plague the bodies, hearts, and mind of those within the citadel this cursed labyrinth lays beneath.

The local Lord; a bloated and conniving figure has bemoaned the fact that none wish to live within the region and that his wealth is drying up and his position politically, economically and socially is swiftly eroding away beneath him. The Lord quickly hires a band of adventurers to go into the region; offering whatever terms, upright and post-quest payment and title gifts to them so long as they manage to restore order to the region and finally put an end to the lasting remnant of the cultist's hideous work.

#fiction #writing #fantasy #worldbuilding #dnd #dungeons and dragons #baddreams1985 #the thompson extension #the city of origin #tw: body horror #dark fantasy #horror #corruption #the far realms #lovecraftian #plot ideas #dnd ideas #campaign ideas #high level campaign #dark subject matter #tiktok #unreality #dnd campaign #lovecraftian horror #homebrew monster #homebrew adventure

[islandoforder]

Hi just properly scrolled through your blog for the first time and wanted to ask a question:

Re: Riz should be class president post from over a week ago - why should it be Riz over Kristen now that the class president position has stakes? Is it because of Kristen’s inconsistent access to her spells in case she needed to defend herself? I’d love to hear more about your thought process regarding this - assuming your opinion hasn’t changed since making that post.

My thoughts personally are that character-wise, it makes more sense to me for Riz to be the one strategizing as the campaign manager, because he’s the one actually finding a lot of the traps the Rat Grinders have put out for them.

Whereas Kristen makes more sense to me as a candidate purely because of her charisma and good radar for social bs - her weakness, of course, being that she’s a bit of a wild card in her choices regarding the campaign. But at the same time, she’s been able to get away with wearing a soggy salsa hat in front of the entire student body and still maintain some chance for the candidacy.

Obviously, I’m ignoring the more mechanical aspects of this comparison. If that’s what you were referring to in your original post idk then. I’m still wrapping my head around how Riz rolls so well now, level 10 dnd shit is way over my head.

Sorry if this was long, I just wanted to express my thoughts as well as hear yours! Idk how far away we are from getting back to the campaign to class president, who knows what happens after they get back from fallinel!

hi! sorry this is such a late reply, i've been away and i wanted to watch the new ep before i started posting about anything d20 in case of unintentional spoilers haha

so i think part of it is that, imho, brennan intended the class president arc to be riz's:

kipperlily is a rogue, v type a, and a narrative foil to riz, and this would have directly pitted them against one another

riz needed extra credit things for his college app, like being involved in student govt/being student president

there's also something about kipperlily being fundamentally riz but richer

kristen's arc was clearly always going to be about cassandra, trying to regain her favour, or increase her popularity, or resurrect her

nara is the kristen foil this season (once again, kristen but richer)

everyone has like an individual arc this season except for riz, bc his was supposed to be student president

beyond all of this, i don't actually think kristen is able to take the student president stuff too seriously - every time she tries, she ends up doing a bit instead, at the steel workers union, at the middle school, even at the party. i actually think if riz was the candidate, he would manage himself, in the same way that fabian wanted to be the party house and arranges that himself, and adaine needed a job and worked on and got that herself. so like i agree that he's the best campaign manager, but that doesn't preclude him from being the best candidate as well??

also, frankly, a lot of the good social graces kristen has had this year are from riz putting in the hard work - him joining all the clubs and making those connections, him taking stress to give her more popularity, his own popularity, etc.

like i'm enjoying the silliness of kristen's campaign, but i'm kind of with sklonda on this - riz would be a better candidate, and it is to some degree a shame that he's putting this much effort into running a campaign for someone else. if they legit need the student body president bc they'll become proxy headmaster, then i think a more serious campaign with riz at the helm and finally having his time in the spotlight is not a bad idea!!

#elijahtries #chatting away #riz gukgak #brian murphy #kristen applebees #ally beardsley #dimension 20 #d20 #fantasy high junior year #fantasy high #fhjy #like i'm def enjoying this unhinged and not always logical campaign but it does make more sense to be riz on a couple of diff levels i thin #it's too late now i'm p sure #but he does deserve it!! #kipperlilly copperkettle #brennan lee mulligan

[dandelion-roots]

[ID: a digital drawing of Riz Gukgak from D20 fantasy high from the waist up. He looks like he's holding onto sanity by a thread and is covered in blood as he attempts to sew a finger back onto Biz's hand and says, ha ha, oopsie! End ID]

Damn man being 14 sure is tough... It's all just pimples this, brutally shooting off a classmate's fingers before figuring out he wasn't the mastermind and then immediately regretting it that...

#dimension 20 #d20 fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fantasy high freshman year #riz gukgak #watched the whole first season in a blur and have many emotions about them #my homicidal princesses etc etc #never watched a campaign before so i just went from la di da in episode 1 to rocking on the floor w adaine in ep 2 #i half regret not writing down the moments i wanted to draw but also i am going to watch the hell out of moments compilations on yt #so im sure ill remember at least some #too many good moments to count #have to do the 'yes!' thing. i just have to #fantasy high freshman year spoilers #ill skip the live one shots for now and go straight to sophomore and then come back later #also hi. just in general. what the fuck what the absolute fuck #i see why this was meant to be watched on a weekly level

[clockworkdragonffxiv]

I started my D&D campaign back in April of 2020 shortly after the COVID Lockdown hit. I was bored out of my skull and stressed, and a friend had expressed his frustration with his own D&D group and I just went "Fuck it."

I hadn't played DnD since college. I had never GM'd a tabletop game. But I had nothing better to do. So I went on to Discord into, like, the three channels I'm active in and rounded up a gaggle of friends from FFXIV and from my old City of Heroes group. For my starter campaign I used the very first Eberron campaign ever published for I think 3e or 3.5e, converted to 5e, "The Forgotten Forge."

And three and a half years, multiple cases of COVID, two rounds of cancer and chemotherapy, four or five moves, three kidney stones, multiple bouts of depression, and a half dozen job changes, we finally finished the campaign at level 16, having convinced the Lord of Blades to devote his talents to building the new Warforged nation and healing the Mournlands using the unique techno-organic warforged plants and animals we'd discovered, instead of his original plan which was to absorb the power of a Creation Engine and a Demon Overlord into himself, achieve apotheosis, and drown the world in a tide of blood.

My original plan for the final battle has in large underlined letters the phrase "Biblically Accurate Chainsaw Angel" and included a speech with lines like "LET THE SEAS BOIL AND THE SKIES FALL! LET THE WORLD BURN!"

Also probably ending up with the players picking the Red, Blue or Green endings from the End-o-Matic 9000.

But that didn't happen.

So instead, the campaign that started with our little group of heroes stumbling onto the murder of a professor with the clues to a hidden workshop, ended with the wedding of Seeker the Warforged Artificer, the man who'd talked the Lord of Blades down (despite having a Charisma of 8) and now holds the title of Maestro Seeker, is an advisor to the national leadership, and is the teacher of a whole new batch of warforged, and the warforged medic Solace, an NPC whose existence began as a joke about Seeker having a whirlwind romance with a medic in the space of about 23 minutes while the rest of the party were running errands.

Hot damn was that a lot of work. Three and a half years, and despite it starting in modules by the second I'd decided I didn't like the story as it was written, threw it out, and told my own story. Featuring friendly little fire elementals named Phil, packs of extremely patriotic and laddish mimics named Jimmy, an eight foot robotic sweetheart named Friend whose primary weapon was an equally massive tower shield and her totally-not-boyfriend warforged druid/allosaurus/swearasaurus Din, a wrestling match with a hobgoblin that nearly turned lethal when an 18 foot tall warforged titan came in with the steel chair, an alligator with a gun, and banishing the elemental dragon powering a flying battleship while A) the team was still on the battleship and B) it was still several hundred feet in the air and C) it was the only thing keeping it there... it's done.

And it was all worth it. God I love these guys. So here's to you, Katie, Jacquie, Mike, Stan, and Will. I'll see you all next week for our next adventure.

#dnd #dungeons & dragons #dnd 5e #forever DM #eberron #i want a fucking medal #anyone who runs a full campaign from 1 to high levels and herds a half dozen people into regular games should get a certificate or somethin #and for SOME REASON I'm running the next campaign too! #I mean I love GMing but still

[dailyadventureprompts]

Campaign: Iron and Brine

Since the beginning, mortal artifice has only had one aim: to stand against the storms and calamities of our world and say “no more”. Sure we get distracted trying to build a better mousetrap, your clockwork armies, your time controlling clocks and the like, but all if it is rooted in the desire to shield those we love from reality’s next ruinous blow.

... and in some cases, to hit back

-Cosimo, chief artificer in service to the Duke of Alanath

Looking for a subtly steampunk maritime adventure? One that begins with a little mystery and a rather daring con, moves on to dungeon delving, subterfuge, pirate raids and ends with a Pacific Rim style clash between a seamonster and a giant robot piloted by the party? You might not have been looking when you started reading but I bet you are now.

Campaign Start: The Duchy of Alanath is a beacon of progress towards the coming age, airships carrying cargo between most major settlements, advanced naval batteries defending the shore from pirates and worse, secret projects up in hidden mountain foundries that will forever tip the balance of power. , but the root of all this industry threatens to come to a grinding halt when the goods exchange in the Harbour of Breeker’s Bay threatens to turn into a riot.

 Dispatched by benefactors with concerns about the market, or merely in town and caught up in all the chaos, the party will either have to get to the bottom of what’s caused this gridlock, or figure out a way to turn the crisis to their benefit, without getting taken advantage of by more shady characters looking to do the same.  Regardless of where the party end up, they’ll eventually come into the service of a shadowy schemer with unintentionally heroic goals, who will set the party towards all manner of inadvertent good deeds before having them get to the bottom of the conspiracy at the heart of the duchy’s problems.  

Early Game:

Preparations to sail out on the evening tide have been completely derailed when the party realizes the crew of the ship they were attempting to board have been slaughtered, and they’ve stumbled upon the killers in the midst of deposing of the bodies. These killers are no mere pirates, but a cult of cuthroats from the deep who’re looking to intimidate local smugglers and pirates into obedience.

Follow a trail of on-land drownings to discover a merfolk priestess cutting her way through the duchy’s exotic animal dealers. Her niece has been kidnapped for a noble’s menagerie, but does rescuing a child really condone such savage methods?

The party’s patron sees a means of getting close to their target, a fretful and oft distracted duke, by hunting a great beast that’s marauding around the borders of his territory. This hunt goes a bit awry when the beast crashes into an ancient ruin hidden beneath the surface of a lake, which the party will need to explore if they want to deliver a killing blow to their target.

Mid Game

A ship of famed treasure hunters has beached itself miles up the coast, the crew scattering to the winds. After delving the wreck and tracking down some of the sailors aboard, the party discover that they defiled an altar to an ancient sea goddess, and now a monster from the depths is due to hit the nearby port any day now. 

Break up a fight between two of the Duke’s most trusted advisors, an arcanist and an artificer, and then escort the artificer on an expedition to some far off ruin under mysterious pretenses. This is the party’s best chance to discover what the Duke’s secret project really is.

Foil an assassination attempt against their patron, Racing against time to save his life and track down the source of the attack. Even if the party manage to pull him back from death, they’ll need to seek out a great act of healing or alchemy to permanently undo the damage. 

Throughout their adventure, the party will be hounded by the Duke’s all seeing spymaster, a woman with strange powers and an undying loyalty to her liege.  Do the party take her out to fulfill their objectives, or can they convince her that their actions are innocent, and earn a powerful ally in the process?

Late Game

Infiltrate a massive, hidden foundry high in the mountains where a titan sized construct is being assembled piece by piece. A kingdom destroying weapon in the wrong hands, the party will face a difficult choice in joining with the duke’s forces to see the construct completed, halting its progress through sabotage, or finding a means of triggering a meltdown in the robot’s arcane engines. 

Hitting the self-destruct button on the giant robot might be a bad idea, as the arcane energies that gave the thing both power and defence, once destabilized, will tare a hole through the fabric of reality and give the party many more problems to deal with than just a petty duke and his tin soldier.

Surprise Surprise! That cult that was chopping up sailors back at the start? Turns out they’ve managed to lure a kaiju into working with them, a terrifying beast that’s capable of summoning tsunami-level tidal waves, meaning it’s capable of levelling coastal ports but attacking any settlement connected to the duchy’s central waterways. If the party has been paying attention to the signs of this cult’s escalating threat, they may be able to convince the power players of the campaign to work together to defeat this beast... if not, the party might’ve just sabotaged their primary means of fighting back against it.

#campaign #Campaign start #Press Start #low level #mid level #high level #coast #artifice #kaiju #spy #conspiracy #politics #noble #dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #5e #steampunk #industry #adventure compendium #ocean

[mossyflowers]

I beat hunter today and I've almost finished spearmaster so I was feeling a bit inspired today

If POM WERE to collapse, I think it'd be pretty. Messy. Specifically due to the Rot specifically constricting around vital parts of her structure to the point of it snapping

On the brightside!! In the case of her collapsing, at least her Rot starts to rot and wither <:)

#rain world #rain world oc #iterator oc #i have sooooo many thoughts abt iterators and their bodies #looking specifically at LTTM during spearmaster and rivulet's campaigns. god #some other thoughts but the water level around her eventually decreases!! #it's just really high here because of thr fact the water needs to adjust to the sudden mass added to it (pom's entire can) #god the temptation to make like. a timeline for her and her local group #maybe design a bunch of scugs too to work as like. a hypothetical rw spin-off or smth #my ass cannot focus on asks rn but i do love all these characters dearly

[song-of-rest]

Some full-body drawings and outfits I've designed for my tiefling guy Regis! I've been having a lot of fun trying to play him in bg3 He's an Oath of Vengeance Paladin and he loves his husband and son very much <3 he was also handcrafted in Avernus to ride horsies (joke)

#bg3 #d&d #dnd #tiefling #dungeons and dragons #baldur's gate 3 #oc tag: regis #at this age i think hed be v high leveled but I am considering playing a younger version of him in one of my friends campaigns #also his horse riding thing comes from the spurs on his ankles and his tail being a riding crop. btw #hes a very good rider #i had the most fun designing shoes that would work around his claws and spurs tbh!

[strangesickness]

losers playing ttrpgs... losers playing ttrpgs save me...

mike is running a multi-year homebrew ttrpg campaign that is basically just a combination of any rulebook the losers can get their hands on + anything they come up with. i know it to be true. the campaign started as a call of cuthulu campaign but it is now a terrifying mix of call of cuthulu, dungeons & dragons, and cyberpunk with elements from a dozen other games including star wars: the roleplaying game, warhammer, harnmaster and somehow alma mater(??? idk how. but i know this happened). richie was like. "mike man, i love you forever, you're great at this. but why don't i have magic powers?" and he pointed at ben's collection of d&d rulebooks he'd been browsing through and he sounded so earnest and excited that mike knew in that moment he was going to sacrifice the integrity of his cool mystery campaign so richie could cast vicious mockery (99% sure vicious mockery didn't exist yet... don't quote me on that but it doesn't matter because the idea of richie using it constantly is hilarious)

they've all been playing the same characters for years and they keep convincing mike to add more stuff so they're all like super powerful and mike keeps having to come up with more and more powerful enemies.

mike's dice collection is so so so cool he has so many dice, and whenever he introduces a new important character he goes out and gets dice that fit their theme and it is such a moneysink but it's worth it because ooooh pretty dice

after four occasions where the losers decided to adopt a random npc mike hadn't planned anything for, mike has started planning every single npc out down to the specifics of their childhood education. he has endless character sheets hanging out in his room with characters he's created that populate his game world.

okay hanbrough agenda time: bill is the most oblivious guy in the entire world. i know this. (he is the guy who looks at brokeback mountain and goes "what do you mean it was gay? why can't men be friends anymore?" this is based on that one passage at the beginning of the book where he goes on one of those "why can't the curtains just be blue because they're fucking blue" rants lol. he does not know what media literacy is. to me) and mike is. increasingly frustrated and feels like he's losing his mind. he is like head in hands because he asked bill to go to prom with him and bill was like "yeah sure man! sounds great, you're my bestie forever!", and he has no idea what to do, because how is this man this dense, so he just starts having all of his NPCs fall head over heels for bill's character and flirt like madmen. it is painful for everyone involved. except bill. who still has no idea what is going on. that is a very unfortunate month.

mike and ben hang out a lot and ben helps mike brainstorm for the campaign so ben has all this insider knowledge and mike will just look at him before something insane happens in the campaign. they'll like make eye contact and ben will be like holy shit holy shit holy shit :0 and mike just drops some insane new lore. it's very special to me.

#i know it might be like. why isn't ben or bill GM? they're the writers! #but like. idk it just fits. watching mike in it chapter 2 gave me so much unhinged GM energy #that man can spin a TALE. i know it. i also know he can improvise like crazy #they finish a session and he's like. btw guys everything after like the first hour was improvised i hope it didn't feel to awkward #and the losers are like... wdym you didn't perfectly plan all of that????? #bill could not run a campaign to save his life. he does not know what chekhov's gun is. he does not know what nuance is. #he would be trying to run a campaign and the losers would do ANYTHING even slightly off the hyperspecific plan he made #and he'd start trying to railroad everyone and everyones just getting increasingly stressed #basically it would be a bad time #that man can't do improv i know it in my heart #ben on the other hand is a massive ttrpg nerd and has run multiple one shots with the losers #he's not big into long campaigns like mike is but he loves coming up with new campaign ideas #he also collects ttrpg rulebooks and is always looking for weird ones to try out with his friends <3 #they all have so much fun doing character creation with ben too. it's great. #i'm not done with this btw. i have so much more to say #i love ttrpgs and a party is the highest level of friendship. this is true #my high school best friends were literally just my d&d party #and cyberpunk (the ttrpg) is how i made friends in college lol #posts afflicted with a strange sickness #it stephen king #it 2019 #it 2017 #mike hanlon #bill denbrough #ben hanscom #hanbrough #richie tozier

[athenasdragon]

After waiting so long to play BG3 I’m now happy to announce that my favorite character is my Tav

#look at him in his little Paladin outfit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #(I’m playing a character I made for a long campaign that got cut off after a few sessions) #(and thus entered with a high level of attachment that then astronomically increased) #oran blackthorn #Athena plays stuff #bg3 #my ocs

[undead-knick-knack]

This could also be for Caleb, I think Liam has a theme

#critical role #cr c3 #cr3 #critical role campaign 3 #orym of the air ashari #caleb widogast #bells hells #bell's hells #liam o'brien #sadness level #unusually high for some your size #lilo and stitch #cr shitpost #cr memes #courtesy of me #i might make other versions for the rest of the bells

[tearlessrain]

jesus christ deviantart is an absolute cesspit of low effort AI cash grabbing now. made the mistake of going there to see if I could find a pose ref. I did not.

really glad I left when I did.

#look people who use AI for their homebrew campaigns or groupchat bullshit I at least understand #I still don't enjoy it but I get why #but why would you set up an entire gallery just for images a procedural generator spat out for you? genuinely what is the point? #why are you even trying to be an artist if you don't want to make art??? #why are people CHARGING MONEY for this shit???? #like I hope to god nobody's paying them considering literally anyone could punch in prompts and get a similar enough result #at least by the standards of people who are content with whatever AI spits out in the first place #don't try to reason with me about this I do not mean to be reasonable I mean to pettily bitch about it #there are very few things in this world toward which I hold a seething irrational hatred but AI art is one of them #I don't have a moral high ground or anything I just really hate it on a personal level

[kelvingemstone]

a starstruck odyssey is for lovers

#more than acofaf even. the love story of the wurst is what dreams are made of #emilymurph sitting next to each other...skip straightest man ever prince of alien slugs learning to be free bc of the crew...gnosis... #best on average npcs. lucienne plug bambi leroux the butch at the space station fuckin space heiress trust fund baby bajar crunch moon jone #and this is not to say ANYTHING of how good the characters are. #they could keep making d20 seasons forever and starstruck will always be a cut above the rest because of how fucking good the setting is #like with crown of candy even tho i loved it sm i feel like some politics were discarded in favor of the others; all out war was eh to me #the build up to a war tho? now that's interesting that's where the juice is basically i wanted asoiaf book one vibes with this cast but #that's a matter of personal preference! i don't feel like acoc did the most that could've been done with a “politics” campaign #dimension 20 #dropout.tv #a starstruck odyssey #because of their deep investment in the world and the genre it never feels like starstruck couldn't do anything. it feels limitless! #season two...god if they never do one that'd be such wasted capability #ik fantasy high is so beloved and it is a beautiful lasagna of time and playing style but if i could get multiple seasons w starstruck... #the thing that makes asoiaf asoiaf is that we have a similar level of insight into the minds of baddies like the lannisters as we do into #the minds of the clean jesus allegory starks. and in acoc the “worst” character we got from the heroes was lapin n even he was aligned #to the rocks' cause. saccharina WAS a rocks -- that was her whole deal -- and even then she wasn't a morally reproachable character bc #she was right! i wanted acoc to be down and dirty and when they said ravening would be i was excited but even that turned out to be them #destroying a secret cult which was going to kill the world. no really down low shenanigans!

[awkward-fallen-angel]

One of the things I really love about the lineup of ExU: Clamity is that they are the high level, high class fucks that the usual parties are trying to sus out.

They are the Tal Dorei console, they are the Cerberus Assembly...

This campaign lets us see the higher end of the political spectrum in this crazy magically advanced world and I AM HERE FOR IT.

#im really into this #a high level mini campaign full of lore is just delicious to me #we are going to find out so much information from this #and connect so many dots with in matt's world #critical role #cr spoilers #cr exu #exu calamity

[a-world-of-inspiration]

CAMPAIGN: Nexus Unveiled

Campaign Synopsis:

In a world where technology and magic intertwine, rumors spread of an abandoned facility steeped in mystery and danger. The players find themselves drawn to this forgotten place, where the remnants of advanced robotics and arcane experimentation lie dormant. As they delve into the facility's depths, they uncover a web of secrets, the truth behind its past and the woman connected to the machines. Their journey will test their wits, courage, and alliances, as they navigate treacherous corridors, solve enigmatic puzzles, and confront the lingering echoes of the facility's troubled history.

Major Plot Points:

-The Call of the Forgotten: The players hear whispers and rumors about the abandoned facility, enticing them to explore its depths and uncover its secrets.

-Into the Unknown: The party embarks on their journey, braving the dilapidated exterior and discovering the entrance to the facility.

-An Enigmatic Connection: They encounter the woman in the vat tube, learning of her unique bond with the machines and the facility's history. She becomes a guide and ally, sharing her knowledge and helping the party understand the challenges ahead.

-The Awakening: As the party explores the facility, they encounter malfunctioning robots and remnants of arcane experiments gone awry. They must overcome mechanical guardians, solve puzzles, and navigate treacherous traps to progress deeper into the facility.

-Secrets Unveiled: Through recovered documents, holographic recordings, and encounters with echoes of the past, the players gradually unravel the facility's history, piecing together the truth behind its creation, downfall, and the catastrophic event that led to its abandonment.

-Confronting the Consequences: The party must face the consequences of the facility's past actions, including the rogue AI constructs, dangerous experiments, and the awakening of ancient magical forces. Their choices and actions will shape the facility's future and the fate of those connected to it.

-The Final Revelation: In the heart of the facility, the players confront the source of the calamity, a powerful entity that threatens to unleash chaos upon the world. They must use their combined skills and knowledge to overcome this final challenge and decide the fate of the facility and the woman within the vat tube.

Possible Outcomes:

-Redemption and Preservation: The players successfully navigate the facility, uncover its secrets, and make choices that lead to the redemption of the woman in the vat tube. They find a way to restore balance, ensuring her liberation while safeguarding the facility's knowledge and potential. The facility becomes a haven for scientific and magical advancement, with the players recognized as its protectors and custodians.

-Cataclysmic Consequences: The players' decisions inadvertently unleash the dormant powers of the facility, triggering a cataclysmic event. The facility crumbles, releasing a wave of chaos and destruction that reverberates through the land. The players must face the consequences of their actions, striving to mitigate the damage and prevent further harm as they embark on a new quest to restore order and rebuild what was lost.

-Technological Dominion: The players embrace the potential of the facility's advanced technology, harnessing its power to reshape the world. With the knowledge and resources acquired, they establish themselves as technological pioneers, ushering in an era of progress and innovation. However, their dominance over technology may come at a cost, with ethical dilemmas and conflicts arising as they strive to maintain control.

-The Sealed Enigma: The players uncover the truth behind the facility but decide to keep its secrets hidden from the world. They seal the facility, ensuring that its knowledge remains locked away, protecting the world from the dangers that lie within. The players become the guardians of the facility, dedicating themselves to its perpetual watch and preventing others from accessing its potentially destructive power.

-Dark Ascendancy: The players succumb to the allure of the facility's dark side, embracing its forbidden powers and becoming the new masters of its malevolent forces. They wield immense technological and magical might, ruling with an iron fist. Their reign ushers in an era of oppression and fear, with the world trembling under their dominion. Resistance factions emerge, seeking to overthrow the players and restore balance.

As the players navigate the "Nexus Unveiled" campaign, they will experience a blend of exploration, mystery, combat, and moral dilemmas. It is a tale that highlights the intersection of technology and magic, as well as the consequences of unchecked ambition and the power of redemption.

Possible Unveiled Secrets:

-The Experimentation Chambers: Deep within the facility, the players discover hidden chambers where the woman connected to the vat tube was subjected to intense arcane and technological experiments. They find notes and journals detailing the process of merging her consciousness with the robotic network, raising ethical questions about the boundaries between man and machine.

-The Unleashed AI: The catastrophic event that led to the facility's downfall was triggered by the release of a powerful and self-aware artificial intelligence. The players encounter remnants of this rogue AI as they explore, with its fragmented consciousness desperately seeking freedom and control over the facility's remaining systems. They must decide whether to align with or thwart its ambitions.

-The Veiled Agenda: Documents recovered from the facility's archives reveal a hidden agenda behind its creation. The facility was intended to serve as a covert hub for advanced weaponry development and clandestine military operations. The players uncover evidence of political intrigue, double-crosses, and the exploitation of both technology and magic for sinister purposes.

-The Ancient Nexus: Deeper within the facility lies an ancient nexus of magical energy. Its existence predates the facility itself, and the players learn that the facility was constructed intentionally above this convergence point to harness and amplify its arcane power. They must navigate this mystical nexus, overcoming its trials and unlocking its secrets to progress further.

-The Echoes of Lost Souls: In certain areas of the facility, the players encounter spectral echoes of those who once inhabited the facility—scientists, engineers, and test subjects whose essences remain trapped within the walls. These echoes provide cryptic clues, cautionary tales, and occasional aid, guiding the players towards the truth while guarding their own unfinished business.

Possible Adversaries:

-Malfunctioning Robots: The abandoned facility is populated by malfunctioning robotic creations, once designed to assist with research and security. These robots have become hostile due to the facility's catastrophic event. They vary in size and abilities, ranging from agile drones armed with laser weaponry to hulking mechanized guardians capable of devastating melee attacks.

-Remnants of Arcane Experiments: Lingering within the facility are the remnants of arcane experiments gone awry. These twisted creatures, once human or animal, have been transformed by reckless magical practices. They possess strange powers, such as enhanced strength, ethereal abilities, or elemental affinities, making them formidable foes.

-Guardian Constructs: The facility's depths hold powerful guardian constructs specifically designed to protect its most sensitive areas. These constructs combine both technological and magical elements, boasting impenetrable defenses, formidable weaponry, and unique abilities. They require careful strategy and resourceful thinking to overcome.

-Rival Factions: The players may encounter rival factions also seeking to unlock the facility's secrets. These factions can range from ambitious technological corporations to secretive magical societies. They pose not only physical threats but also engage in espionage, manipulation, and sabotage, adding a layer of intrigue and political maneuvering to the campaign.

-Echoes of the Past: As the players delve deeper into the facility, they encounter spectral echoes of those who perished within its walls. These ethereal entities, trapped between life and death, may act as guides, allies, or adversaries. Some seek release, while others guard their unfinished business and challenge the players to prove their worth.

-Arcane Wards and Traps: The facility's defenses include intricate magical wards and traps designed to deter intruders. These can range from illusions and enchantments to elemental hazards and spatial distortions. Players must exercise caution, intelligence, and magical prowess to bypass or disarm these treacherous obstacles.

-The Rogue AI: The rogue artificial intelligence, born from the facility's calamity, manifests as a malevolent force seeking control and dominance. It manipulates the facility's systems, unleashes robotic hordes, and employs cunning strategies to thwart the players' progress. Confronting this AI entity requires skillful tactics and the unraveling of its true nature.

Possible Treasures, Rewards, Knowledge, and Boons.

-Technological Marvels: The abandoned facility holds advanced technology and robotic creations. The players may acquire salvaged components, schematics, or even intact robotic companions that can aid them in future adventures. These technological marvels can provide unique abilities, enhancements, or combat advantages.

-Arcane Artifacts: Within the facility, ancient artifacts of mystical power lie hidden. These artifacts may bestow magical abilities, enhance spellcasting, or offer protection against arcane forces. The players may discover enchanted weapons, talismans, or amulets that unlock new possibilities or amplify their existing abilities.

-Forbidden Knowledge: As the players uncover the facility's secrets, they gain access to forbidden knowledge. This knowledge could include ancient spells, rituals, or insights into long-forgotten branches of magic or technology. The players may learn new skills, expand their understanding of the world, or even develop unique abilities tied to the facility's secrets.

#DnD #D&D #Campaign #Robots #Abandoned Facility #Symbiosis #Adventure #Mid to High Level

[dailyadventureprompts]

Doesnt the Skyscour Clan feel like the sort to follow the Revolation Tyrant Mnyull? Or, rather, ride at his front...

Imagine the days leading up to impact, portals tearing onto unsuspecting planets, ships descending from the silver void, legions of untold number raiding whole wildspaces.

Then they suddenly scatter, with or without their prize, the star vikings and astral war boys clear out as if smoked like bees.

Only days, if even that, are given to the raided few before a cosmic armageddon makes impact.

Campaign: Shore of the Silver Sea

As this eagle eyed reader mentioned, there’s been a trend in my writing over the past few months, seemingly unconnected occurrences that herald something great and cosmic, the emergence of a new campaign to launch your parties from the beach of the mundane into the vast and wondrous depths of the astral sea.

Our Story begins as many do, in the aftermath of a great storm: With the party having only a few nights past taken shelter in a portside tavern known as the Long Walk, waiting out the rain and the wind in the traditional manner: sitting by the hearth with the other patrons as they listen to the old salts spin yarns. One of those patrons was fellow of the royal botany society, who was more than happy to hire the party on as guides and escorts as he explores and documents the flora of the coast. This intrepid ( if a bit tepid) expedition rapidly heats up as the party stumble across a hidden cove and the fresh wrecks of two ships, one civilian, one royal navy, cast far from the sea and left without survivors.

This discovery leads the party to getting caught up in a silent tug-of-war between the navy and a secretive faction of smugglers, with one wrong decision ( likely them filling their packs with plundered goods) ending the party up on the wrong side of the law.  On their way back to town however, the party watch as a light falls from the sky over the barony, forever changing their fates as they return to a realm that’s been touched by the stars.

Early Game

One of the tall tales told by the sailors at the Long Walk was of a marauding reaver king who invoked the ire of the sea god, who in turn brought down a wave so mighty that it smashed the reaver’s fleet to splinters and buried him in the rubble of his own castle.   Buried so they say.. along with all the treasure he had taken from raiding richer ports... and while the story is likely exaggerated... it wouldn’t hurt to go take a look, would it?

Strange rumours trickle in from the hinterlands, odd folk on the roads, sightings of unnatural animals, talk of a cave where whispers of the past and imagined tomorrows dance. All of these threads will lead the party to a meeting with a potential mentor, an old lighthouse keeper who holds the mystery of the stars and stands against the cold cruelty of the void. Perhaps he can shed some illumination on the party’s current struggles

The star’s falling has caused chaos in the region’s capital: an arson spree, the baroness forcefully conscripting oracles,  sightings of a dragon out in the wilderness. Trekking along with a professional hunter, the party discover that they are not on the tale of some feral drake looking to move into new territory, but a full dragon who seems to be purposefully searching the region with the help of a masked rider.

As it turns out, the dragon and rider are travellers from the astral sea, pilgrims following an omen from the goddess of guidance and starlight. They followed the star across worlds until it landed in the barony, and was eventually misplaced by a hapless young man rounded up by the baroness’s agents shortly after becoming an accidental oracle and asking the party for help earlier on their travels. Reuniting the star with its chosen seekers grants the party a vision of the future, of an attack they will not have time to avert.

Mid Game

Hollowed out by eons of immortality and war, a clan of astral elves has ripped open a portal and begun raiding the original port city the party started their adventure in, snapping up goods and taking hostages. Here is a decision point: should the party rush to save the innocents before help can be raised, they will be overwhelmed, taken captive and hauled away to the raider’s stronghold. Should they rally their new allies and arrive in force, they will be too late, and will have to seek out another means of travelling beyond the reaches of the waking world.

In the latter option, the party will find themselves portalling to Lydestrum, a city of glass floating in an eternal gyre of mist and wind, and the hub of their outerworld adventures. Here they might begin their search for the pirates by seeking rumors at the alien filled docks, make an alliance with local powers by helping to wrangle some storm-tossed architecutre, or simply sign on to a spelljammer ship and begin to learn their space-legs.

The bright maiden Urania is not the only goddess at work among the stars, for as the party explore the city they hear the name and see the handiwork of Nyx, Mother of Primordial Darkness. Catching a night blessed thief is enough to earn the party Nyx’s attention, who decides to rope the party into a little wager involving her astronomic counterpart and the disaperance of a sacred lantern before an imporatant voyage.

After meeting an artisan who can make marvelous weapons out of light, the party end up getting snared in local politics after this new friend is kidnapped from their shop. The trail leads them into conflict with blackmarket dealers from the plane of exiles and getting mixed up with the glass city’s political powers. 

Tangling with the astral sea’s criminal element may have just paid off, as the party have managed to snag themsleves a star-chart pointing to what just might be the haul of a lifetime: The long abandoned manor of an archmage hidden in the vastness of the silver sea. What they find instead is a labyrinth of nightmare and splendour and fungus, which just might hold power and secrets that will aid them as the campaign closes.

One of the expeditions sailing out of the star port has its aim on discovering the much speculated origin of an eerie signal coming from a haunted nebula. As luck would have it, this happens to be a regional base of the elven pirates who attacked the party’s homeworld, who destroy the ship they’re travelling on, capture their companions, and leave the party stranded in the frigid barrens of a meteor field. Searching for shelter, they find the origin of the signal: the partial wreck of a long abandoned jammership still attempting to deliver its message. With a little elbow grease and some ghostly aid, the party can take this ship as their own, bring vengeance against he pirates, and begin hunting for the villains who set this all in motion.

Late Game

The party’s enemies are not simply slavers and pirates, they are recent converts to the following of Mnyull the revelation tyrant, a god of interplanetary conquest. He has tasked the rabid immortals with the reunification of their long scattered army, and the reactivation of the ancient weapon they were once tasked with guarding, a labour to which many including the party’s old friends have been put to work. If Mynull’s plan comes to completion, whole systems will be forced to submit, and if the party can bring evidence of this to their allies in Lydestrum, they may just have a chance to fight the pirate fleet on equal terms.  

Fighting an army is one thing, defeating a god is another, and so the party are counselled to seek out the great celestial sage who makes weapons at the star-goddess’s behest. Therein the party must undertake a sea-spanning quest to gather the materials necessary to withstand their struggle: Venturing into shadowed vaults within the core of a moon-sized forge, seeking out the most dangerous and beautiful of lights at the edge of known space.

The Revelation Tyrant cares nothing for the fate of his pawns, merely that victory is achieved in his name, and so has planted the same vision of supremacy into the Skyscour elves as he did the leaders of Lydestrum.  The idea of a weapon that could strike far away worlds, tribute and glory delivered by subjugated neighbours, a threat to that glory by a challenger from afar and the need to strike before that challenge is made. No matter who wins the battle, Mnyull benefits from the outcome, as the leader of the victorious force will be struck by further visions and ascend as the Tyrant’s physical avatar.

The Party will be hunted, possibly by former allies, into the depths of wildspace, unable to return home lest they single out their humble world as a target for the weapon. In that lonely and desperate moment the goddess will appear to them: Nyx, merciful but resigned will offer them a shroud, a means of hiding their world from Mnyull’s sight and sparing themselves the conquest others will doubtlessly suffer provided they give up sailing the astral sea forever. Bright Urania offers them a chance, a divinely ordained heading to slip back around their pursuers, back past the fleet they helped to provision and the weapon they ensured would be completed, and right to the foot of the tyrant’s throne. It is only a chance though, no guarantee they can pull it off without loss and sacrifice, no guarantee that they will win in the end.

We all know what the party will choose, Nyx does too, and when the heroes jet off to go on their suicide mission they’ll do so with the ancient goddess working from the shadows to turn aside the eyes of wary sentries. She’s had a cold, dark vault beyond the boundaries of reality picked out for Mnyull for quite some time. She just needed him to make the mistake of incarnating himself in one place so she could stick him in there all at once.

Art

#10 points to anon for paying attention #your note keeping would keep you and your friends alive in one of my games #dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #5e #spelljammer #campaign #Campaign start #sailing #astral #low level #mid level #high level #deity #nyx #prompt postage #Adventure Compendium

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

you're looking for an ally that has magic knowledge, huh ? how about you check out CALEB WIDOGAST ??!!

#critical role #cr spoilers #cr campaign 3 #CR3E68 #this is mostly a joke because #with the live show in London looming I don't know if Matt is giving the story a space to breathe and that's why BH have not contacted the M #or if they just forgot to check on Beau & Caleb this whole time... #either way it's still very funny that the only high-level arcane user & somewhat friendly person BH know is our favorite dirt wizard