Remove ads

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

Reader mode
BeepSmile said:
@Crake @thread dunno how valid this may or may not be, so I'm just gonna leave this here for people to consider/not consider depending on what they think. Also, pretty damm sure that a)I'm using some words incorrectly here b)my general point of concern is apparent regardless :p

While cutthroat politics might make for excellent viewing on television, I feel that displaying such as the norm for Scholarium, or hinting that it goes on a lot is a bad idea. Maybe if it was cast in a negative light perhaps? [extension: to (potentially) avoid (some) negative consequences of that portrayal, have the cut-throat villan be defeated by cleverness, thoughtfulness and courage]

I suppose my perspectives comes from; that as a state, it benefits us more to not imply or suggest that cutthroat politics in the Scholarium is ok or the norm, as opposed to... doing so. Because cutthroat politics in one's subordinates sounds tiresome as hell imo.

Also, I'm pretty sure that there are a few low level spells that can be used to create visual illusions, and some for sounds, so, that's all of your special effects right there, to be used on a mirror with no will save. You know, assuming that the mirrors work like that :p
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Easy. Depict the staff as trying their best to curb it and explicitly bust a few students for scheming against each other. Draw a clear line between Heroic Scheming (protecting yourself from Evil schemers and trying to advance yourself by trading harmless favors and sucking up to tje teachers) and Villainous Scheming (blackmail, extortion, threats, sabotage) and drop a few anvils on the latter now and then, showing that it's BadTM​ and will get you nowhere.
 
@BeepSmile @Azel Also, conversely, selling the message heavily that "scheming is EVIL BAD FOR BADDIES" isn't exactly good for us. The real baddies are Schemer McSchemersons with their Plots and their Schemes. And the Jon Arryn School of Hard Knocks To the Noggin isn't exactly any more laudable.

Basically, think of your underdog High School movies, where the bullied strike back and use their brains and their moving in different social circles and empathy to outsmart and outplay the bullies/jocks/whatever, and score a win with the power of friendship. Or just being the lesser asshole. There's also the fact that it is somewhat preferable if your average Scholarum mage at least expects a little underhandedness and trickery from their peers, because doubtless this is stuff we have to contend with. If you give someone either very used to power and exercising it, or unused to it and proud of it, power unforeseen, they will, at best, play around with it, and at worst, actively try to get ahead with it, and not always how everyone would view as "fairly".

Better that they at least know that some stuff is actively punished, still put on an entertaining show that allows people to use their brains, and also encourage an inquisitive mind who asks questions and is willing to take risks (within reason) since... that is in essence what it means to be a mage (as we would like to sell it).

We already are going to have an excess of people who will play it safe, seeing as how we pay our mages very well, we're just cultivating more exceptionalism.
 
Last edited:
Crake said:
Tagging @egoo for next turn minor actions. @Goldfish @Azel as they expressed mild interest.

So we're obviously going to add more entertainment to our MirrorVision broadcasts, to make them a huge fixture to life in the Imperium. With that in mind, beyond the classics of plays, we should obviously innovate.

[] MirrorVision Killed the Playwright... Then Performed Necromancy On Him: Part I.
-[] We have Azema, Rhaella and Tyene put their heads together, to do some, well, headhunting, basically.
--[] Azema will go to each and every Free City we have strong ties with hunting through all the Playhouses, all the street shows and the like, looking for hidden gems and famous mummers to form a new social elite: Actors. She will also spearhead formation of an Actor's Guild, leaning on some of our administrative and legislative people for assistance.
--[] Rhaella will search for the most talented musicians to help with the acquisition of talented musicians and composers who can provide accompanying music, and perhaps among them some who have studied sound and could do many aesthetically pleasing things with it using magic that would ordinarily be out of their reach, for aesthetic purposes.
--[] Tyene will acquire the services of many famous brands to help provide costumes for productions, as a form of advertising and perhaps even partnership with her and Viserys' enterprise.
---[] MirrorVision Killed the Playwright... Then Performed Necromancy On Him: Part II
---[] A Production Company will be made and folded into Red Scales Holding, Name TBD.
----[] Three concurrent "productions" will be created for the purpose of regular broadcasting across the Imperium (and affiliated soon-to-be-annexed provinces), beginning in the writing phase, undergoing numerous revisions and leaning on all the available resources, researchers, educators and proofreaders that Azema can provide through us. Furthermore, sets will be constructed, determined to be modular or purpose-made depending on the needs of the performance. Depending on the circumstance and as an example, creative uses of environment like the recent play using a real sinking ship for authenticity will be considered.
--[] Titles Placeholding
---[] Dictates & Divinations - A production following interrelated yet separate character arcs set in Sorcerer's Deep or outlying lands in the Three Daughters territory (for availability and constraints). It will follow a Lawmen department responsible for investigating the burgeoning, elaborate and sometimes dangerous smuggling trade, featuring characters that range from the cut-throat and cunning to the colorful and sympathetic on both sides. An Advocate pursuing justice for and against different high profile figures involved in trade enterprise with the eastern fringes of the growing Empire, where magic is strong, and the wild frontier where dark artifacts might be recovered. And finally an Investigator searching high and low for the most illegal contraband of all: a certain missing egg, caught in the middle of a quiet struggle between different interests.
---[] Chainbreakers - The story of a company of daring Outriders serving in the Legion, freeing slaves, fighting evildoers and slaying monsters with pluck, courage and a bit of grit. Braavosi flamboyance in abundance, here. This is lighter, softer and perhaps more blatantly propaganda. While no outright lies are being told, it does take more than several fistfuls of artistic liberty and runs wild with it.
---[] Arcane Thesis - This show struggles hard to remain as accurate as possible when in classroom setting. Any ritual or spell knowledge which could be seriously dangerous is essentially useless to a amateur cultist or unregistered/unsupervised mage. It follows the advancement of a talented but naive young mage who moved to the Deep to deepen their craft and perhaps gain the attention of an experienced master to apprentice under, swept up in life in the Scholarium, both academic struggles, romance, intrigue and cut-throat politics, with some action thrown in where appropriate. The conception of "stunt doubles" using mages and Disguise Ribbons for use of real magic during such scenes (to say nothing of special effects) will certainly see its beginnings here, and likely feature heavily in the other two for similar purposes.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Taena was actually an actress for most of her life.
Ask her opinion and help.
 
@Crake, my full agreement. We got Essosi nobility in the Scholarium so scheming is a given, we just need to make sure it's the useful kind.

Hence promoting non-destructive scheming and alliance building while presenting government officials (teachers) as referees. You don't plot against the state. Not if you value your life.
 
@Azel @Artemis1992 Also, I just thought about it, and if we shot things scene by scene with our theoretical magical camera, we could place Divine Insight/Grand Destiny and similar buffs on the actors for each take so that they give a supernaturally good world-class performance.
 
Crake said:
@Azel @Artemis1992 Also, I just thought about it, and if we shot things scene by scene with our theoretical magical camera, we could place Divine Insight/Grand Destiny and similar buffs on the actors for each take so that they give a supernaturally good world-class performance.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Indeed. And liberally buff the scriptwriters too. Quills of Literary Insights and encourage the writers to use the Philosophers Tree.

Has the added bonus of exposing the Old Gods to even more mortal affairs.
 
Azel said:
Indeed. And liberally buff the scriptwriters too. Quills of Literary Insights and encourage the writers to use the Philosophers Tree.

Has the added bonus of exposing the Old Gods to even more mortal affairs.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

And in the same stroke gives our production company an unprecedented advantage. No need to write up draconian non-competing clauses into their contract, if they leave to work somewhere else, they will be tremendously disappointed by their (probably still good) but nowhere near as good performance.

Edit: Well technically we have control of the broadcasting medium too, which basically means we're the only game in town... but they could always try to sell their portfolio to a famous playhouse for better pay, suckering some pie-in-the-sky owner about weeping worthy plays being done by them weekly.

@DragonParadox Suddenly we're in the Showbiz!?
 
Last edited:
Crake said:
@DragonParadox Suddenly we're in the Showbiz!?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Sure why not?

On the subject of projects that take on a life of their own. I thought I'd drop a few lines and a simple character sheer for Roger Reyne and before I knew it I was making a Fighter/martial rogue sheet with all the feat and skill allocation that implies. Here is his life story and sheet copied from the front page:

Ser Roger 'Reyne'

Ser Roger 'Reyne' was not destined for the life of a knight from the start, the son of a merchant of middling wealth and excessive ambition and a bastard daughter of House Tallbow, minor Reacher knights with a seat near Old Oak, he was nonetheless groomed to take up the family business, not dream of sword and bow. Still Roger was nothing if not ambitious in seeking out those very things proving quite skilled in the knightly arts for one who could not give them his full attention.

When his father overreached and lost first his business, to a series of poorly thought out investments, then his life at the bottom of a bottle of spirits Roger decided to place what little coin he had left towards a horse and armor before presenting himself to his uncle, the current lord of Tallbow, . Given his predicament the old man did not have the heart to refuse him a knighthood, for though the life of a hedge knight could be harsh, it was better at least than that of a penniless son of a disgraced merchant House.

Not wanting to presume too much upon his uncle's generosity and wishing to give his knightly persona a certain flair he decided to take inspiration from his mother's supposed sire Ser Reynard Reyne. With the passing of years he would dare to venture further and further into the Westerlands to see just how far he could twist the lion's tail before it batted at him. His daring eared him only about half as many surreptitiously passed drinks as it did kicks out the inn door but Roger was content enough with the way it spiced up his life, though after one fateful morning on the Searoad near Crakehall life seemed bound an determined to upend the whole spice rack.



Name: Roger 'Reyne'
Alias: N/A
Age: 39
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Race: Human (Medium Humanoid)
Level: 5
Class: Martial Roogue 3/ Fighter 2
Feats: Education, Skill Focus (Appraise), Weapon Focus (Mace), Power AtatckB​, Power Critical(Mace)B​, Weapon Focus (Lance), Weapon Specialization (Mace)B​,
Flaw: Brash
Class Features: Bonus Feats

Languages Spoken: Westerosi Common

HP: 37
AC: 10 +2 + 9 (Reinforced Segmented Plate)
Initiative: +1 (DEX)
Attack: +4 (BaB) + 3 (STR) +1 (WF) = +8 (1d6+5)
Weapon Proficiency: All Simple and Martial

STATS:
16 (+3) Strength
14 (+2) Dexterity
13 (+1) Constitution
12 (+1) Intelligence
10 (+0) Wisdom
8 (-1) Charisma

SAVES
FORTITUDE: 4 + 1 = 5
REFLEX: 3 +1 = 5
WILL: 1 +0 = 1

SKILLS:
Appraise: 8 +1 (INT) +3 (SF) =12
Bluff: 6 -1 (CHA) = 5
Diplomacy: 6 -1 (CHA) = 5
Disguise: 6 -1 (CHA) = 5
Gather Information: 6 -1 (CHA) = 5
Intimidate: 6 -1 (CHA) = 5
Jump: 4 +3 (STR) = 7
Knowledge (local): 8 +1 (INT) +1 (Education) = 10
Knowledge (geography): 4 +1 (INT) +1 (Education) = 6
Listen: 4 +0 (WIS) = 4
Search: 4 +0 (WIS) = 4
Sense Motive: 3 +0 (WIS) = 3
Spot: 3 +0 (WIS) = 3
 
Last edited:
Azel said:
We have our grubby little fingers in every pie there is and keep making new pies to stick them into.

So why wouldn't we enter the Showbiz?

On that note, we need to invent the casino.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

That seems precipitous... but we already regulate one type of gambling, I don't see how this would do more than regulate other preexisting kinds.

Azel said:
Ah. That explains why he was so openly hostile in our interactions when he didn't like something.

Most people aim for terrified silence these days when they don't like what we tell them.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I don't see why, either, we're always so polite... is it the teeth?
 
@Crake, @Azel, you forgot that show the incompetence of the Baratheon rule on an age of rising magic, where betrayals, trysts and conspiracy abound.

We shall call it... Game of Thrones! :V
 
Last edited:
So, to recount for our autobiography:

Viserys Targaryen invented...

The Modern Police State
Television
Space flight
The Stock Market
Modern Medicine
Public Education
Infomercials
Edit: Reality TV! MV?!

Correct me if I'm missing anything.
 
Last edited:
Takesis said:
@Crake, @Azel, you forgot that show the incompetence of the Baratheon rule on an age of rising magic, where betrayals, trysts and conspiracy abound.

We shall call it... Game of Thrones! :V
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Is this just a shot-for-shot recreation of the actual show? :???:

Minus all the "Targaryens doing stupid things like pretty much ever" parts.

And all the unintentional Dorne bashing... unintentional because they tried to make the Dornish characters in the latter seasons seem "cool".

Kinslaying is never cool. If you're going to bash the Dornish, at least do it with a Stormlander accent, over a mug of ale, damn it. :anger:
 
@Crake, we also need a show titled "The Daring Adventures Of Captain Moonsong, Lady Adventurer".

On the note of projects spiralling out of control, the casino blurb has began transmorphing and growing. Expect something grand.
 
Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by Azel on Apr 6, 2019 at 11:39 PM, finished with 96 posts and 17 votes.
  • [X] Plan Setting Policy
    -[X] Tell her that you have no reason to doubt the word of House Mormont after all the times you've spoken to the Lord Commander and the fact that a Lord wouldn't flee his home without very good reason, but proper procedure must be followed.
    -[X] You will Scry Jorah and proceed to talk with him to get his side of the story. Unless he can offer good arguments against his guilt and pass a Divination check, you will gladly turn him over to House Mormont to face proper justice for his deeds.
Click to expand...
 
Azel said:
@Crake, we also need a show titled "The Daring Adventures Of Captain Moonsong, Lady Adventurer".

On the note of projects spiralling out of control, the casino blurb has began transmorphing and growing. Expect something grand.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

So to recount... again... I seem to be doing a lot of recounting.

1) Show about Law Enforcement.
2) Kids show about the Legion (meaning made by adults for kids which adults enjoy, obviously).
3) Show about our Magic School. And probably magic in general.
4) Show about the Inquisition.
5) Reality MirrorVision... oh gods. Add that to the OTHER list!
6) Show about Baratheon and Lannister incompetence. This writes itself. Literally. It writes itself.
7) Show about Captain Moonsong... does this count as power leveling? I'm pretty sure it does. Watch her become a Godlike entity in less than a decade.
 
Crake said:
Viserys Targaryen invented...

The Modern Police State
Television
Space flight
The Stock Market
Modern Medicine
Public Education
Infomercials
Edit: Reality TV! MV?!

Correct me if I'm missing anything.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
We weren't the first to invent it, but at least for our world the long-distance communication via Brazier was new.
Propable that the valyrians had something similar to that in their Glass Candles though.

We didn't invent modern medicine. Maybe the Healthcare system, but the actual medicine is nothing new, just the same profession as always beefed up by magic.
 
Artemis1992 said:
We weren't the first to invent it, but at least for our world the long-distance communication via Brazier was new.
Propable that the valyrians had something similar to that in their Glass Candles though.

We didn't invent modern medicine. Maybe the Healthcare system, but the actual medicine is nothing new, just the same profession as always beefed up by magic.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

That was all more tongue in cheek, I mean if you think about it, with how much DP liked to trade around credit early on, we have only officially invented a few things.

The Stock Market
Infomercials (accidentally, and sharing credit obviously)

...and that's about it, actually.

We do kind of share a lot of the credit for the other stuff I'm sure, since we had to help legislate it no doubt, but the people on the ground did most of the conceptualizing.

But Viserys was all the Stock Market, which I'm kind of laughing at, because the impetus behind it was "I NEED TO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY REALLY FUCKING QUICKLY!"
 
Crake said:
So to recount... again... I seem to be doing a lot of recounting.

1) Show about Law Enforcement.
2) Kids show about the Legion (meaning made by adults for kids which adults enjoy, obviously).
3) Show about our Magic School. And probably magic in general.
4) Show about the Inquisition.
5) Reality MirrorVision... oh gods. Add that to the OTHER list!
6) Show about Baratheon and Lannister incompetence. This writes itself. Literally. It writes itself.
7) Show about Captain Moonsong... does this count as power leveling? I'm pretty sure it does. Watch her become a Godlike entity in less than a decade.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Slice of life show (see Lindenstrasse), that shows how 'normal' Empire citizens live and work.
Crake said:
The Stock Market
Infomercials (accidentally, and sharing credit obviously)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
State propaganda writ large.
 
Last edited:
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top