Remove ads

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

Reader mode
Annatar said:
What would you say Aura would grant as a mechanical benefit? Extra AC? Temp HP? A plus to certain modifiers? What would you count a Semblance as? Would it be an SLA or something else?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
At the minimum an untyped bonus to his physical attributes, a bonus to his AC, and a secondary pool of Temp HP. His Semblance would probably just be his innate Richardocity.
 
Annatar said:
What would you say Aura would grant as a mechanical benefit? Extra AC? Temp HP? A plus to certain modifiers? What would you count a Semblance as? Would it be an SLA or something else?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
AC, temp hitpoints and boosts to physical stats from what little RWBY i know
semblances would probebly be either SLA or EX skills
 
Annatar said:
What would you say Aura would grant as a mechanical benefit? Extra AC? Temp HP? A plus to certain modifiers? What would you count a Semblance as? Would it be an SLA or something else?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Aura would be slowly regenerating, provided by a template which also boosted all physical stats a certain amount, probably increasing based on HD in all respects. Likely, it would translate your current health pool into a Gamer like system, turning all incoming damage nonlethal and healing it. When it broke, you would start taking damage to your regular health pool, and also probably gain Fatigued status effects.

RWBY shows semblances (if not physical benefits, and even then who can really say, most fights are over soon after that point) are still accessible even with a broken Aura, so I'd say it provides a steady stream of power but you can't spam it if fatigued... something magic can help bypass.|

Overall, I can't say how this would be particularly balanced stacked on top of the D&D system. If I was making a RWBY quest with 3.5/Pathfinder rules, I would say Aura forcefield basically was your pool of HP, in addition to what the template provides, and that overall the human body is hilariously fragile without it, which would line up with the show and either -10 to death or -25% total HP per DP's house ruling about downed characters.

Me and TNE discussed it briefly in the past.

If I had to say what would happen if Richard awakened his Aura, and I'm not sure if it's even a thing he could do (he's got his own metaphysical weirdness happening with him), it would probably be a really flat and underwhelming boost in power. For a Level 5 character, +6 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution is a big deal, but it hardly makes a difference for a Level 20 Martial Initiator who needs CR 20+ Psionic Illithid Cerebramancers to vaguely pose a threat to him, or something like a Great Wyrm in melee range with feat selections optimized for rip-and-tear (like Amrelath).

Except for the Semblance, which would, given his personality, be very straight forward, and very fucking lethal.
 
@Goldfish For Richard's Semblance, I'm thinking allowing him to reroll attack rolls and choosing after the fact which one to take, and allowing him to do the same on all AoO-related abilities, such as ones made by Manuevers to intercept attacks (Wall of Blades) or Feats (Smash/Cut From Air). Effectively making it less likely he will Crit Fail (and thus miss) an attack and more likely he will Crit.

Effectively, Eye of the Mind (False).

It's not a flashy Disintegration Blade or teleportation or any other edgy ability, but Richard would never have a Semblance you could easily see or explain without careful and rigorous observation of its usage / magical senses.
 
Last edited:
Rovos said:
also the fact that richard can literally cut bullets out of the air is fun to me
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The funniest part of that is the ability Richard is using to cut down projectiles only cares about his awareness of the ranged attack (and mass, but that gets loosened in another feat). With something like Foresight or Visions of the Future he could by raw cut down things moving at arbitrarily high speeds.

Who needs modern technology when you can just cut down Mach 10 projectiles fired at you from over the horizon using a sword?
Crake said:
Except for the Semblance, which would, given his personality, be very straight forward, and very fucking lethal.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Or it could play into his "fuck this magic shit" theme. Spending aura to generate his own broad spectrum anti supernatural bullshit field would be an entertaining surprise for his enemies.

It'd be especially great if he didn't realize he was using it and ended up skeptical about the whole semblance thing as a concept; since he never sees anyone manage to do much with one after all, even when he's been warned about how dangerous x person's ability is.:V

edit: fixed errors.
 
Last edited:
Crake said:
@Goldfish For Richard's Semblance, I'm thinking allowing him to reroll attack rolls and choosing after the fact which one to take, and allowing him to do the same on all AoO-related abilities, such as ones made by Manuevers to intercept attacks (Wall of Blades) or Feats (Smash/Cut From Air). Effectively making it less likely he will Crit Fail (and thus miss) an attack and more likely he will Crit.

Effectively, Eye of the Mind (False).

It's not a flashy Disintegration Blade or teleportation or any other edgy ability, but Richard would never have a Semblance you could easily see or explain without careful and rigorous observation of its usage / magical senses.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That sounds quite fitting for Richard.

I wonder how that would be applied visually, though? For example, could be make three obvious attacks which seem to hit an opponent but with no apparent effect, then a moment later after he lowers Oathkeeper, decide that he wants the enemy's arm to fall off due to the second attack?
 
If I was in your place, I'd just rule that RWBY humans and faunus Are Different. Specially since we know people from before the Brother Gods departure used to use magic, and they didn't seem to have Semblances or Aura, but people from after they left can't use magic at all unless Ozpin or Salem do the work on their behalf.

So basically they are all born with a hereditary template that lets Aura be unlocked but bars them from learning magic. The Brothers would even have reason to add this after a bunch of mages attempted to rebel against them.
 
Last edited:
Goldfish said:
That sounds quite fitting for Richard.

I wonder how that would be applied visually, though? For example, could be make three obvious attacks which seem to hit an opponent but with no apparent effect, then a moment later after he lowers Oathkeeper, decide that he wants the enemy's arm to fall off due to the second attack?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It would probably look like the Tsubame Gaeshi from Sasaki, except instead of attacking three times, he attacks twice and chooses which one hits.

Now apply this to his insane high number of attacks, and realizes that he's actually going through his routine twice. He will never miss an opponent, ever again.
 
Last edited:
Goldfish said:
I wonder how that would be applied visually, though? For example, could be make three obvious attacks which seem to hit an opponent but with no apparent effect, then a moment later after he lowers Oathkeeper, decide that he wants the enemy's arm to fall off due to the second attack?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I would say yes. Sort of like projecting false echoes of possible choices he could have made, with only one of them being real. Maybe this lowers the opponent's AC in addition, as they try to block an attack that was never there.

That would probably be an upgraded variant-usage of the same Semblance, which would have its own robust system and Progress defining turn actions to refine a technique, so long as its root usage is related to the theme of the Semblance.

ryuan said:
It would probably look like the Tsubame Gaeshi from Sasaki, except instead of attacking three times, he attacks twice and chooses which one hits.

Now apply this to his insane high number of attacks, and realizes that he's actually going through his routine twice. He will never miss an opponent, ever again.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Richard at maximum Richard-ness can make 15 attacks in a round through usage of five iterative, belt of battle and Time Stands Still.

Add Kurt Angle his Poor Man's Tsubame Gaeshi to the mix and you got a 141 and two-thirds percent chance of being sashimi sliced into oblivion.

The numbers don't lie.
 
Last edited:
BronzeTongue said:
The funniest part of that is the ability Richard is using to cut down projectiles only cares about his awareness of the ranged attack (and mass, but that gets loosened in another feat). With something like Foresight or Visions of the Future he could by raw cut down things moving at arbitrarily high speeds.

Who needs modern technology when you can just cut down Mach 10 projectiles cored st you from over the horizon using a sword?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'm going to say Richard could absolutely do this, due not only to Rule of Cool, but mostly justified in being able to slightly change his stance and striking at the precise moment necessary to slightly divert the path of the projectile, using a metamaterial, high enhancement bonus weapon, and innate monstrous strength.

So at some point expect an Atlesian battle ship's main cannon to aim an AP shell at him from the other side of the city.

I think most people there would shit bricks by RWBY's own standards. I mean there's regular Grade-A bullshit, and then there's S-tier fucking Bullshit.

God-Tier Bullshit is refracting Salem's Ranged-Touch Attack ray spell back at her. Using the flat of Oathkeeper's blade.
 
Last edited:
065tdsa said:
If I was in your place, I'd just rule that RWBY humans and faunus Are Different. Specially since we know people from before the Brother Gods departure used to use magic, and they didn't seem to have Semblances or Aura, but people from after they left can't use magic at all unless Ozpin or Salem do the work on their behalf.

So basically they are all born with a hereditary template that lets Aura be unlocked but bars them from learning magic. The Brothers would even have reason to add this after a bunch of mages attempted to rebel against them.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Nice take, but Maiden transference throws a wrench in all this.

Magic seems to be somewhat hereditary, but not something incompatible with Remnant humans/faunus overall.
 
Crake said:
Nice take, but Maiden transference throws a wrench in all this.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I count that as Ozpin Did It. He's adding something they would otherwise not be capable of. That's why he had to lose much of his powers and also why he made it permanent and transferable. Otherwise he could have just taught some Wizards.

The bird transformations are the same except probably not transferable because he wanted them back when Qrow and Raven died.
 
Last edited:
065tdsa said:
I count that as Ozpin Did It. He's adding something they would otherwise not be capable of. That's why he had to lose much of his powers and also why he made it permanent and transferable. Otherwise he could have just taught some Wizards.

The bird transformations are the same except probably not transferable because he wanted them back when Qrow and Raven died.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
A fair enough take.

The way I look at it, if Ozpin could do that, the definitely clairvoyant and nigh-omnipotent Dragon Deities wanted him to be able to. They know their own magic system better than he does, even with thousands of years to refine it. Probably far better, since he doesn't have other people to make stringent observations and comparisons with in order to advance the field, given his own sole peer is genocidally insane.

With that knowledge in mind, Remnant's populace is about as magically active as your typical mortal, but Domain granted magic (Divine magic granted by a patron intermediary / pseudo deity / Mythic Character) is perfectly obtainable, and interbreeding with a sorcerous bloodline has no problems either.

As far as Learned (Wizard) magic goes... maybe it's just not something Ozpin or Salem ever thought of? They both seem to act more like Sorcerers than Wizards, and they're both stubborn and rather set in their ways.
 
I don't think Richard has TSS yet, though he might get it on the RWBY series.

What I think should be hilarious is that if Ozpin could take a glance at all of Richard's magical auras it would be like staring at the sun.

What's more interesting, is that if the number of Grimm ever gets so great that it will gain the "Swarm" template it will actually be easier for Ser Richard to mow down through them like Doom Slayer fantasy cousin.

EDIT: It would seriously reach Dawn Caste levels of bullshit.
 
Last edited:
ryuan said:
What I think should be hilarious is that if Ozpin could take a glance at all of Richard's magical auras it would be like staring at the sun.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Ozpin doesn't have much mojo going for him anymore to be able to make casual observations like that without then playing out their spell effects right in front of him. He can make Green Lantern-esque energy constructs, and he can do a few other tricks like giving out Polymorph SLAs by proportioning out some of his own Mythic-provided power.

I'd argue he's even rusty on his Spellcraft overall. It's not like he'd have much opportunity to practice it.
 
Crake said:
The way I look at it, if Ozpin could do that, the definitely clairvoyant and nigh-omnipotent Dragon Deities wanted him to be able to. They know their own magic system better than he does, even with thousands of years to refine it. Probably far better, since he doesn't have other people to make stringent observations and comparisons with in order to advance the field, given his own sole peer is genocidally insane.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Of course they wanted him to be able to do that, his doing that is harmless since the Maidens basically cast no high level magic, they are just a big bundle of SLAs taped onto a fighter variant. Him teaching a lot of full, reality warping casters would be what they'd want to prevent.

Really, giving up most of his magic just to help four Aura-boosted fighters be less one note is a bad trade for him to make, mostly born of the fact that he didn't feel like doing anything at the time. People often don't make smart decisions when they are depressed, see also Salem's whole life.
 
Last edited:
065tdsa said:
Of course they wanted him to be able to do that, his doing that is harmless since the Maidens basically cast no high level magic, they are just a big bundle of SLAs taped onto a fighter variant. Him teaching a lot of full, reality warping casters would be what they'd ban.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'd say their gross misapprehension regarding human nature would allow a high Magic Empire to form naturally. In fact, one could argue they might have expected it. They could curbstomp one. They are flatly that powerful, still. And Salem wanted to do exactly that, before Ozpin betrayed her.

They could build a enormous military machine, with dozens or hundreds of archmages supporting them, and the Brothers could still stomp them flat. I don't care if that's RWBY canon or not, that's flat-out Unkindly Scattered canon. And just observing casual feats from them, I'd say literally nothing we've seen them do was particularly difficult or strenuous, aside from what they did with Ozpin and Salem, which might have taken some thought, but not particularly much power.

If I had to pin it, given their complete gun-ho willingness to smite the entire world's population into the dust, they're Primordial-tier deities who's power is self-sustaining, much like Tiamat and Bahamut.

I would argue if Tiamat was not constrained by ASWAH / Ao's system, she wouldn't find it particularly difficult to blow up a moon, it's just managing the fallout from it that would be difficult since any godling can throw a temper tantrum, but avoiding the consequences of contested rolls to divine another god's actions, Elder Evils, Epic level PCs and other Powers and Principals would be a doomed effort, something neither of the Brothers have to worry about in that particular backwater.
 
Adhoc vote count started by egoo on Jan 3, 2021 at 10:37 PM, finished with 90 posts and 22 votes.
  • [X] Use the above outlined buffing scheme and have everyone Telepathically brainstorm a way to tap into the power gathered by the Illithid for their "Drowned God" persona.
    -[X] Minimum Goal: Introduce a weakness that prevents the Doom of Wyk by harmlessly discharging all power invested into the ritual into the Ley lines.
    -[X] Lesser Goal: Discharge it in a way that the power becomes available for us by the Ferryman and / or the Old Gods.
    -[X] Regular Goal: Introduce a backdoor in their construct so that you can take the power of the ritual for yourself, storing it in some fashion to be later used to empower the Stillborn God of the Imperium.
    -[X] Power Goal: Make the backdoor big enough that you can not only grab the ritual power, but as much other power, knowledge, souls or whatever else you can get.
    -[X] S-Rank Goal: Wrest control of the whole construct from the Illithid to use it as you see fit.
    -[X] God-Tier Goal: Also urinate into the Elder Brains brine pool while you are at it.
Click to expand...
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top