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A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover

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I was about to criticize Heartfire Fanner, @Artemis1992, but the ability to give extra fighter bonus feats is pretty amazing.
Nevertheless, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the existence of a few other fairly thematic classes for her. Ardent Dilettante really fits her "explore and experience" vibe, and it is quite solid mechanically despite the lack of bardic music progression. Amazing skills, multiple bonus feats, spellcasting progression, and a patchwork of abilities ranging from "cute" to "quite good".
Then there's Virtuoso, which does increase bardic music and give additional music types. "Jarring Song" is stupidly good against spellcasters!
Let's not forget about Lyric Thaumaturge, which is mechanically the best (no lost spellcasting level). It progresses bardic music well, and it allows Moonsong to learn sorc/wiz spells on top of her excellent but limited Bard selection.
 
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Adhoc vote count started by Goldfish on Feb 23, 2020 at 4:53 AM, finished with 41 posts and 17 votes.
  • [X] Hunt down more of the Risen Nine
    -[X] Return to the site where the Nine's meeting chamber once stood, dealing with hostile Undead as the situation dictates. We will attempt to capture any of the Nine who remain intact and retrieve the remains of any that have been destroyed.
    --[X] Viserys Blood Wishes True Seeing on himself, heals his Charisma damage using his Orb of Mental Renewal, casts Searing Agonizing Mass Fire Shield on everyone, then expend an 8th level spell slot to Summon a Greater Earth Elemental to clear away the structure in which the meeting chamber is located.
    -[X] Malarys, Vee, and Lya will each activate their Beads of Karma to increase their caster levels by +4 for the next ten minutes.
    --[X] Lya will cast True Seeing on herself, then Aura of Vitality and Life Bubble on the group. While the site is being excavated, Lya will use Wild Arcana to cast Greater Arcane Sight in order to examine Liomond for hidden contingencies or traps which he may not be aware of.
    --[X] Tyene will cast Fickle Winds, Mass Aid, and Mass Conviction on the group.
    --[X] Malarys will cast True Seeing, Battlemagic Perception, and Stone Body. If an opportunity presents itself and one of the Nine is found intact, before we attempt to destroy or capture them, Malarys will attempt to Rebuke (Command) them, gaining permanent control over that member of the Nine until he relinquishes it.
    --[X] Vee will begin Summoning as we go, casting two Summon Monster VIII spells, each time Summong 1d3+1 Monavic Devas. She will then start casting Summon Monster VII spells, each time Summoning 1d3+1 Shield Archons. The first three Summoned groups will be sent out into the town to destroy marauding Undead and to protect any mortals which appear to be under threat.
    ---[X] Vee, along with her last two Summoned groups, Tyene, and Waymar will try to find out what the general population of the city is doing (looting, hiding, escaping, etc.) and deal with it as necessary. Our goal is to bring the city under control, so they'll be mainly concerned with restoring order, preventing atrocities, and generally showing the flag.
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Part MMMCCCLVII: The Twice Fallen King
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    • The Twice Fallen King ​

    Fourteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC

    The seven of you return to the sound of screams and the clash of steel on steel. You had expected to need spells of finding and of warding, you had expected to fight a battle. A battle there was indeed unfolding beneath you, but not against you, not against the ones who had set afire the sanctum of the Risen Nine. Instead you watch in horror as the dead slaughter the living, skeletons held together by sorcery and the will of the necromancer cutting down the living with dreadful efficiency, arrows of withered vinewood rain down upon those few living soldiers trying to stem the tide. It seems the Once Tyrant of Tyrosh had decided he could trust no one and nothing but his puppets.

    "My knights," Liomond says urgently. "I have to go to them..." For a moment you think he had meant to stop the carnage, and perhaps he does mean that in some distant secondary regard, but his next words reveal the true source of his worry. "With me vanished Maelys and Silvertongue will think them tainted by treachery also. They'll be put down like dogs."

    "Where is Maelys?" Tyene asks, angrily turning her gaze this way and that in search of the black armored 'king' of the damned. "He should be stopping this."

    "Alas, I do not think one mad tyrant will be much more likely than another to care about those under his rule," Malarys says coldly as Vee sends her storm spirits to sweep aside a trio of hungering ghouls swept up in the bloody madness before they could break down a storage room door.

    "Face me, craven!" the words bellow above the din of battle, two voices speaking as one, and even before your eyes can find the misshapen figure among a company of scarred madmen frothing at the mouth you know that Maelys the Monstrous had taken to the field. He charges through the bloody courtyard cutting down all who stand in his way, be they living or dead. Of all his sins at least no one would ever accuse him of cowardice, though folly is another matter. Good thing that you will not have to chase him down.

    "Does he mean us or the the corpse-raiser?" Vee asks disgusted.

    "We can kill him even if he doesn't ask us for it," Ser Richard says in a moment of rare humor in the midst of battle. You suppose a few hundred feet of air between you and enemy with no wings in sight would satisfy even him that you have the time to speak. "It would be my honor to bring you his head, Your Grace."

    "We don't know where the others are," Malarys points out.

    "They are not warded against divination," Tyene replies swiftly as below you Maelys slices the arm off of something halfway between an stitched up corpse and a golem. Appropriate as it might be for your enemies to kill each other in their own madness, every moment passing could be another life senselessly lost.

    A shard of amber flies from your hand. For a moment the dead warrior's gaze catches yours and you see more than rage, you see ambition at a legacy lost and hopes for a kingdom that never will be. He almost shakes off the spell, but Lya whispers a command to turn his fate darker and so it is.

    His guards begin to rip and tear at their master's prison seeking to free him, knowing even in their rage that they must free him beyond even the siren call of battle.

    They are not fast enough. They die by fire, light and lightning from the clear blue sky.

    What do you do next?

    [] Try to secure the town

    [] Try to track down Silvertongue, he is the only one you cannot find by divination

    [] Write in

    OOC: Tiamat was a little tired after yesterday to help Maelys as much as she would have preferred (low roll for her intervention).
     
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    • I am impressed that Maelys managed to carve a path out of that trap we laid.

    I am a bit confused though, this update implies Alequo is still around, but if Maelys got himself free of our dimensional trap, so did the lich.

    Beyond not wanting to give up his slaves... OH SHIT.

    [X] Go for the children Alequo was keeping, right now. He's going to kitbash a ritual together, which could have disastrous effects, beyond the horror he intends for them.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    The Twice Fallen King ​

    Fourteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC

    The three of you return to the sound of screams and the clash of steel on steel. You had expected to need spells of finding and of warding, you had expected to fight a battle. A battle there was indeed unfolding beneath you, but not against you, not against the ones who had set afire the sanctum of the Risen Nine. Instead, you watch in horror as the dead slaughter the living, skeletons held together by sorcery and the will of the necromancer cutting down living men with the dreadful efficiency, arrows of withered vinewood rain down upon those few living soldiers trying to stem the tide. It seems the Once Tyrant of Tyrosh had decided he could trust no one and nothing but his puppets.

    "My knights," Liomond says urgently. "I have to go to them..." For a moment you think he had meant to stop the carnage, and perhaps he does mean that in some distant secondary regard, but his next words reveal the true source of his worry. "With me vanished, Maelys and Silvertongue will think them tainted by treachery also. They'll be put down like dogs."

    "Where is Maelys?" Tyene asks angrily turning her gaze this way and that in search of the black armored 'king' of the damned. "He should be stopping this."

    "Alas, I do not think one mad Tyrant will be much more likely than another to care about those under his rule," Malarys says coldly as Vee sends her storm spirits to sweep aside a trio of hungering ghouls swept up in the blood madness before they could break down a storage room door.

    "Face me, Craven!" the words bellow above the din of battle, two voices speaking as one and even before your eyes can find the misshapen figure among a company of scarred madmen frothing at the mouth, you know that Maelys the Monstrous had taken to the field. He charges through the bloody courtyard cutting down all who stand in his way be they living or dead. Of all his sins, at least no one would ever accuse him of cowardice, though folly is another matter. Good that you will not have to chase him down.

    "Does he mean us or the the corpse-raiser?" Vee asks, disgusted.

    "We can kill him even if he doesn't ask us for it," Ser Richard says, in a moment of rare humor in the midst of battle. You suppose a few hundred feet of air between you and enemy with no wings in sight would satisfy even him that you have the time to speak. "It would be my honor to bring you his head, Your Grace."

    "We don't know where the others are," Malarys points out.

    "They are not warded against divination," Tyene replies swiftly, as below you Maelys slices the arm off of something halfway between a stitched together corpse and a golem. Appropriate as it might be for your enemies to kill each other in their own madness, every moment passing could be another life senselessly lost.

    A shard of amber flies from your hand. For a moment the dead warrior's gaze catches yours and you see more than rage, you see ambition at legacy lost and hopes for a kingdom that never will be. He almost shakes off the spell, but Lya whispers a command to turn his fate darker and so it is.

    His guards begin to rip and tear at their master's prison, seeking to free him, knowing even in their rage that they must free him beyond even the siren call of battle.

    They are not fast enough. They die by fire, and they die by light, and they die by lightning from the clear blue sky.

    What do you do next?

    [] Try to secure the town

    [] Try to track down Silvertongue, he is the only one you cannot find by divination

    [] Write in

    OOC: Tiamat was a little tired after yesterday to help Maelys as much as she would have preferred (low roll for her intervention). Not yet edited.
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    Here's an edited version of the chapter, DP.
     
    egoo said:
    And again Alter Fortune wins the day.
    It is everywhere.

    How soon we'll learn we have been annoying some cosmic force of casuality with this AF-spam and will have a fight with it?
    [:V]
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    If only there were Inevitables to enforce their arbitrary rules of order upon the fabric of reality...

    ...oh well.

    [X] Crake
     
    If the universe is so faultily made that it starts to break down when you break out the dev console, it's a poorly designed universe.

    Therefore, we should make a new one and sell it for 59.99 IM a pop for a copy.
     
    Crake said:
    I am impressed that Maelys managed to carve a path out of that trap we laid.

    I am a bit confused though, this update implies Alequo is still around, but if Maelys got himself free of our dimensional trap, so did the lich.

    Beyond not wanting to give up his slaves... OH SHIT.

    [X] Go for the children Alequo was keeping, right now. He's going to kitbash a ritual together, which could have disastrous effects, beyond the horror he intends for them.
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    That's a bit far-fetched.
    I mean, I can agree with hunting down Alequo, but I doubt he prioritizes ritual-casting over more mundane ways of escape or defence right now.
     
    Well, would could go wrong with a crazed blood-magic ritual done during a mass slaughter?
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    That's a bit far-fetched.
    I mean, I can agree with hunting down Alequo, but I doubt he prioritizes ritual-casting over more mundane ways of escape or defence right now.
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    They are quite literally the only reason I can think of for him to stick around the moment he's left translocation shutdown range.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    That's a bit far-fetched.
    I mean, I can agree with hunting down Alequo, but I doubt he prioritizes ritual-casting over more mundane ways of escape or defence right now.
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    It doesn't even need to be a ritual. He might just go for a brute force sacrifice to Tiamat, which we would still want to prevent.
     
    Goldfish said:
    It doesn't even need to be a ritual. He might just go for a brute force sacrifice to Tiamat, which we would still want to prevent.
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    Or a 'get short-term power boost from blood'.
    In the Book of Vile Darkness (I think?) there was a table for 'power for sacrifice'. A couple of unwilling children might be enough for a Wish.
     
    @DragonParadox, just to be clear, Waymar, Tyene, and Vee are still splitting off with her Summoned Shield Archons to investigate and pacify the rest of the city, as previously voted on, right?
     
    Goldfish said:
    @DragonParadox, just to be clear, Waymar, Tyene, and Vee are still splitting off with her Summoned Shield Archons to investigate and pacify the rest of the city, as previously voted on, right?
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    Yes.

    Vote closed.
    Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Feb 23, 2020 at 2:20 PM, finished with 20 posts and 9 votes.
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    Part MMMCCCLVIII: Passing Judgement
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    • Passing Judgement ​

    Fourteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC

    Waymar raises Purity aloft like a beacon of light in dark places as Tyene, Vee and her court of summoned spirits scatter, seeking to establish some order in the doomed town by striking down the dead mindless puppets and voracious monsters alike. Liomond Lashare trails in their wake, hoping to secure the aid of those he has raised in death to his side, but for you, Lya, Ser Richard and Malarys another task awaits, if you are not already too late.

    You take draconic form, knowing that wings can carry you swifter than spells, occasionally spitting out a cone of flame when you see a gathering of mindless shambling things. Others among the unliving might be reasoned with, but the world can only be better off without more of Silvertongue's puppets, especially if your guess is right.

    The house Liomond had spoken of does not look like a prison or a monster's lair at first sight. There are no bars on the windows nor heavy locks upon the door. Soft curtains whisper in the warm Sothoryosi air. Those within are already prisoners within their own minds you suspect. The spells of unbinding you utter upon the wards are heavy with anger that burns upon their edges like fire upon silk. "Can you see anything?" You turn to Lya, then Malarys. Perhaps your fears had been for naught, there is no whisper of a ritual, no baleful light in the windows shining.

    A shadow passes before a third floor window, a skeletal finger pointing. There is someone on the bed... a child.

    Though you reach for magic Lya is faster, a line of almost unseen power, enough to shatter adamantine. For all the magic he had gathered and all of the plans he had made Alequo Adarys falls back to grave dust in an instant, unable to consume so deep a spell.

    "He was just... killing them. Why?" Lya asks slowly. This is not the 'why' she so often uses when questioning the underpinnings of the world or the mysteries of the soul, only horror that has not quite sunk in.

    "The children were connected to him somehow," you muse aloud, the worlds like rumbling thunder in your current form. "If he did not kill them all before running we could have used them to track him." The irony of the fool being killed by the very plot he had enacted to cheat death would have been amusing under other circumstances. Now you just want this whole sordid mess dealt with.

    ***​

    It takes several more hours with no sign of either the Ebon Prince or the restored Spotted Tom to obtain full control of the town, or what is left of it at least. It counts perhaps two living thousand survivors of all ages, nine and twenty unliving, mostly from among those recruited by the Lord of Battles and looking to be restored to life as he is. Of the hungry dead only five decided to take their chances surrendering, all newly turned and they claim innocent of indulging their dark impulses. There is no one alive to gainsay them.

    You glance towards Malarys. "My Lord High Justice, I realize these are far from ideal circumstances, but these people will have to be given their due one way or another. There are doubtlessly traitors and madmen aplenty, but some are blameless also and I am loath to deliver so many unusual cases upon ordinary judges."

    "Of course, Your Grace." You can hear only the slightest trace of a sigh in his voice.

    Somewhat to your surprise Tyene decides to stay and help. "I've had enough fighting for this month, some arguing over points of law sounds restful."

    Ser Richard's expression is that of a man who would rather swim to Sorcerer's Deep in full armor. He takes out his own lingering frustrations by decapitating the Ebon Prince, though not before the man delivers a jagged cut along the knight's calf, springing from ambush.

    Spotted Tom does not even have that much satisfaction. He was the one you were scrying for after all. He too is sealed in amber like Maelys, awaiting his fate.

    "Wonder how many of the bastards escaped into the jungle?" Vee asks darkly, looking around the pillars of green stretching out around you, the broad leaves greedily drinking in the sun's light. Most undead would find the endless twilight under the trees pleasing.

    "I would wager not many of them will see the end of the month," you laugh tiredly, the roar of a painted lizard in the distance seeming to underline your words.

    What do you do next?

    [] Identify magic items

    [] Continue interrogations
    -[] Write in

    [] Return to Yi Ti to see the aftermath of the battle and speak to Lady Xue, now that the last of Tiamat's plots have been uprooted

    [] Write in

    OOC: There wasn't really any point in dragging out the fights with Spotted Tom or Xhobar, both of them were little more than elite mooks. XP will be coming up next update regardless of what you guys choose.
     
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