Inserted tally
A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
-
- Tags
- a song of ice and fire a sword without a hilt d&d 3.5 dungeons & dragons 100% high octane dragon fuel ave corvidae battle action dragon diplomacy best sister bureaucromancy delicious soul-stuff dragon dreams come true dragon ta'veren greatest uncle hubris is a coward's word in defiance of gods and men mammon's folly mutually assured mage's disjunction qm murderhobo top tier coatl
- Location
- France
Well then. This is actually an amazing challenge, mostly because of the italicized part. Not only is there a way to go home (but only after years have passed and after you're stuck in an animal's body), but there's a good reason not to immediately rush to see Viserys ! You don't want to be available while Tiamat is making strange demands of Daenerys, do you? That probably wouldn't end well for you, at least not in the short term.ROB
A great Sorceress was locked in mutual stasis with a Frost Dragon at quest start in the Deep North, the return of magic disrupted the stalemate and both were released.
Unfortunately, while both were equally unsettled, it does not take much effort to use a Breath Weapon.
You are the Familiar of the Sorceress, you retain all abilities granted to you for being a familiar of a level 20 Sorcerer.
You do not remember her, nobody does
You may be any creature that explicitly counts as a familiar.(No "this is equivalent in power to an existing familiar")
You otherwise start with no class levels, templates etc. You may obtain and retrain class levels, you may not change your race.
You cannot become or obtain a familiar ever again.
Alternative start:
Improved Familiar with ECL equivalent as stated in base creature/Familiar mechanics. LA buyoff not allowed.
Edit:
Forgot the most important part, incentive for action.
Mind and Soul: Your Extra-planar Soul resonates as non-native to existence and distinctly different to Farspawn.
You register as a Planar Beacon and are obviously from somewhere new.
You cannot Planeshift yourself back to Earth but you will go with anyone who Planeshifts you, ROB will let you flee to Earth if you so choose and your companion is capable of obtaining another beacon quite easily.
Being the familiar to a 20th level Sorceress means Int 15 (two extra skills, yay!) and +10 to AC as well as Improved Evasion. Nice! What's the point buy? Or do we just use the Elite Array, or start with a 10 each each stat and racial modifiers like your average MM monster?
My first thought was to play a Raven, because they can speak and have good mobility. But there is a far better choice of familiar for a level 20 Sorcerer.
Have you ever heard of the Dragon Familiar feat?
I'll be a Wyrmling Steel Dragon (from Dragons of Faerun, page 140), please. 4 racial HD, 2 LA, Small size, Alternate Form (I can be a human again!), first level Sorcerer casting... Add in Loredrake (perfect for a mage's familiar!) and it's an interesting if atypical Dragon. Steel Dragons are physically rather weak, but still better than most other familiars (their breath weapon and natural stat bonuses are shit), but they get Sorcerer progression and SR fast and it stacks with any Sorcerer levels I manage to get despite my ECL of 6.
Dragons apparently tend to get Sorcerer levels naturally in ASWAH if they manage to get enough XP to level, which is great for me. No need for special training, just challenges!
A Loredrake Wyrmling Steel Dragon casts as a level 3 Sorcerer, so I'll start with Grease, Comprehend Languages, and Power Word Pain. Cantrips : Prestigiditation, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Launch Item.
I suffer from low spells DCs if I have to use a Steel Dragon's base stats or fight enemies appropriate to my ECL, so no Charm Person. Whatever, I'll simply rely on social skills.
Feats : 2 Flaws (fussy, shaky), Precocious Apprentice (I trade the spell and slot away for Draconic Aura (Vigor) as per rules in Dragon Magic, because healing is great), Flyby Attack, Improved Flight, Versatile Spellcaster
Skills : Max Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Knowledge (arcana), Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, [Collector of Stories], and stick the remaining 5 points in Knowledge (nobility and royalty) for the synergy bonus to Diplomacy. From then on, either train (by dreaming? learning?) or spend future skill points to dip many Knowledge skills, and simply keep maxxing the skills I have.
You may have noticed that this build doesn't have a way to generate income or even the Survival skill. This is because according to Draconomicon, Dragons can and will eat anything. They can live on a diet of rocks and tree bark, easy! They're also pretty amazing hunters, with great senses and mobility. They don't need shelter either, although I'm sure it makes life more comfortable. Making some money legally would be nice if I can ever reach a city, but I'm sure I can figure something out with magic or social skills or something.
Dragons don't need spell components, either. Convenient.
Note that I took Precocious Apprentice to grab that healing aura. Sadly that doesn't work if I don't get any kind of point buy or stat array (it requires a casting stat of 15, and Wyrmlings only have 12). I can take the Riddled Psychosis (switches casting to Int where I have 15), but if that doesn't work either I'd replace Versatile Spellcaster with Lost Tradition to switch my casting stat to Int. If that's also impossible, I'd take Healing Devotion and weep internally.
Dragons apparently tend to get Sorcerer levels naturally in ASWAH if they manage to get enough XP to level, which is great for me. No need for special training, just challenges!
A Loredrake Wyrmling Steel Dragon casts as a level 3 Sorcerer, so I'll start with Grease, Comprehend Languages, and Power Word Pain. Cantrips : Prestigiditation, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Launch Item.
I suffer from low spells DCs if I have to use a Steel Dragon's base stats or fight enemies appropriate to my ECL, so no Charm Person. Whatever, I'll simply rely on social skills.
Feats : 2 Flaws (fussy, shaky), Precocious Apprentice (I trade the spell and slot away for Draconic Aura (Vigor) as per rules in Dragon Magic, because healing is great), Flyby Attack, Improved Flight, Versatile Spellcaster
Skills : Max Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Knowledge (arcana), Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, [Collector of Stories], and stick the remaining 5 points in Knowledge (nobility and royalty) for the synergy bonus to Diplomacy. From then on, either train (by dreaming? learning?) or spend future skill points to dip many Knowledge skills, and simply keep maxxing the skills I have.
You may have noticed that this build doesn't have a way to generate income or even the Survival skill. This is because according to Draconomicon, Dragons can and will eat anything. They can live on a diet of rocks and tree bark, easy! They're also pretty amazing hunters, with great senses and mobility. They don't need shelter either, although I'm sure it makes life more comfortable. Making some money legally would be nice if I can ever reach a city, but I'm sure I can figure something out with magic or social skills or something.
Dragons don't need spell components, either. Convenient.
Note that I took Precocious Apprentice to grab that healing aura. Sadly that doesn't work if I don't get any kind of point buy or stat array (it requires a casting stat of 15, and Wyrmlings only have 12). I can take the Riddled Psychosis (switches casting to Int where I have 15), but if that doesn't work either I'd replace Versatile Spellcaster with Lost Tradition to switch my casting stat to Int. If that's also impossible, I'd take Healing Devotion and weep internally.
What now?
Well, assuming that ROB lets me survive the enraged Ice Dragon right in front of me who just killed the Sorceress, my path home is clear. I am a Dragon, and can therefore simply fly South. The Wall may have some weird magic that could stop me, but to beat that I have the amazing magic of Diplomacy + skill points to try to talk my way through ! And if that fails I'll spend time looking for weirwoods and/or Bloodraven and bargaining with them to get through the Wall. Surely they'd like another minion, right? Or at least a promise of favors from a Dragon who will one day grow to CR 18?
I'm definitely not staying in the North though. While I'm a Dragon and Dragons don't really care about things like "bad weather", but the place sounds terribly boring to live in (and eventually quite dangerous once the Others start returning). I'm sure I'll enjoy traveling across it (so pretty!), but living there for more than a few days sounds very tedious.
Being a Dragon in Westeros is rather unhealthy, but I can stay disguised as a human for ages. I'll try to work freelance as a minor sorcerer (I can help healers, repair broken things, provide Spellcraft advice, detect magic, etc) in a port city somewhere that doesn't worship the Seven. Maybe White Harbor? If that doesn't work, I'll go for Myr or a tributary city somewhere in Essos.
I won't be starting some big crusade against slavery while I can so easily be killed by angry men with crossbows
And Viserys will end it all soon anyway !I'm not about to go chasing levels - although I certainly wouldn't refuse to gain some ! No, what I will do is try to hitch a ride as soon as possible with someone reasonably trustworthy who will be able to Plane Shift me home, and who I can trust not to mess around with Earth in ways that are too horrible. Please don't accidentally start World War III.
On the other hand, I have no issue with them wanting to learn how to Fabricate AR-15s and giving the Deep Ones a little surprise. And who knows, perhaps they can help our world too eventually!
Whatever happens, I now have a body that makes it reasonably possible to get my old life back (shapeshifting, yeah!), or at least some semblance of it - getting home will likely take years, and I'll probably have been declared dead by then. Inconvenient.
Long-term, however, I can see 5 outcomes from this (ordered from worst to best) :
- Our world is now somehow a full part of the D&D cosmology. Seems unlikely (otherwise why would I register as "new" if the planes were receiving dead soul from Earth?). This is a bad end (tm) so let's hope that it doesn't happen. ROB can't be that evil, can it?
- I end up giving direct or indirect access to our world to someone Evil, powerful, and who will make things worse for a large fraction of Earth's population. Tiamat, Deep Ones, whatever. Ouch. Let's hope this never happens.
- I end up giving access to our world to Viserys, who keeps it to himself and keeps it as secret as possible. However he grabs technological knowledge from earth (Polymorph Any Object into Antimatter, or knowledge to industrialize or build advanced weapons with magic to make it all incredibly quick) to give the Deep Ones a thrashing. Whatever. Our world isn't affected much, or at least not openly.
- Same as the last option, but our world becomes deeply affected. Perhaps knowledge of magic spreads, or interplanar trade/communication does. Hopefully things will go well, and it will spur improvements in quality of life for all without sparking a war. Adding magic to tech could produce great things for mankind! It'd wreck the current economy, but that doesn't have to be 100% bad if we get competent leadership on both sides to manage things and limit downsides as much as possible (yay Viserys, use those ethics and don't wreck our shit!)
- I alone can get home (for example, I get someone to Plane Shift me over and kill them on arrival, or simply bind them never to come here again and make sure they don't have a Plane Shift focus to come back). This will eventually mean I'll be a high-powered caster IRL simply due to Dragon ageing. I wonder if I can reduce the negative impacts of global warming? Make space exploration and colonization easy? End world hunger? Teach magic to others, or spread it the classic Relath way? Long-term, this is an interesting thought experiment. There are A LOT of ways for this to go wrong, of course.
You filthy degenerate.
...
On another note, if you're setting out to seduce someone, you should go for Oberyn! Isn't he amazing? I mean, you'd never get him to stay monogamous, but if that's not a huge problem for you he's clearly the closest thing the setting has to Mr Perfect.
Don't we already have Bards and Arcanum for that?
Actually, I wonder what became of those local PR actions that we started way back when (recruiting bards, etc). Are they still alive?
For a second there I misread, and thought that you'd quoted the previous post and were asking for the Elder Evil's skull instead of Maegor's
Last edited:
Just to be clear which companions do you guys want to pull? Does this include Xor and Lya?
- Location
- Australia
Thanks for the response, I was beginning to think I was too rushed and left out too many boundaries for the idea.
I like what you're thinking.
You escape the Frost Dragon and the Others do not yet recognise you as special, lucky for you they chose the stupid Dragons.
Consider this the third alternative start with the same LA penalty.
Default: Obtain Familiar.
Second:.Improved Familiar.
Third: Other Familiar Feats.
Getting Planeshift yourself is your safest bet, ROB will neither punish nor protect you or the world from any of the flow on effects but you coming by yourself and managing not to be followed likely makes the least waves.
Outcome 1 is not a thing insofar as it won't happen immediately and automatically.
Souls exist but they just go into the Earth or something otherwise, think of it as equivalent to nutrients.
If the population of Earth starts worshipping DnD God's they'll get the afterlife treatment.
Planar portals can be constructed in theory.
I think if you went with Viserys he'd try to do the right thing, but you're now on the receiving end of his Diplo score.
Better hope you make good arguments and that you're both right about the ability to keep the secret because 7 billion untapped, unprepared human souls are up for grabs and there are no supernatural entrenched powers.
I like what you're thinking.
You escape the Frost Dragon and the Others do not yet recognise you as special, lucky for you they chose the stupid Dragons.
This was the intention. You get the greater of your natural stats or 15 for Intelligence.
I have, a mistake on my part it was actually intended that you can only be a Familiar available to the Obtain Familiar Feat or equivalent Class capability.
Consider this the third alternative start with the same LA penalty.
Default: Obtain Familiar.
Second:.Improved Familiar.
Third: Other Familiar Feats.
You quickly realise why that's not unlikely.
Getting Planeshift yourself is your safest bet, ROB will neither punish nor protect you or the world from any of the flow on effects but you coming by yourself and managing not to be followed likely makes the least waves.
Outcome 1 is not a thing insofar as it won't happen immediately and automatically.
Souls exist but they just go into the Earth or something otherwise, think of it as equivalent to nutrients.
If the population of Earth starts worshipping DnD God's they'll get the afterlife treatment.
Planar portals can be constructed in theory.
I think if you went with Viserys he'd try to do the right thing, but you're now on the receiving end of his Diplo score.
Better hope you make good arguments and that you're both right about the ability to keep the secret because 7 billion untapped, unprepared human souls are up for grabs and there are no supernatural entrenched powers.
Last edited:
egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
Owwwww, damn it all.
@everyone please not Lya?
Unless she got herself another body already, we won't finish research into Fey Wards - and we need that shit next month to act against Tiamat (and later against squids)
Yeah that is mostly why I asked, it would get in the way of her research. Anyway Yi Ti interlude next.
- Location
- France
I'm trying to find the update when Daenerys freed herself from Tiamat, but I just can't remember when that was. It was before we took Tyrosh but after we took Tyrosh's military outpost, right?
The only search tag I could think of was "Rock Shaker" or "Unravelling" but those both brought up an awful lot of results.
The only search tag I could think of was "Rock Shaker" or "Unravelling" but those both brought up an awful lot of results.
- Location
- Greece
Traitor Priestess AKA Targaryens directly slap down a Power, Volume 1
Tiamat, Mamnon, that mantis thing, worst! Snek, Bloodstone Emperor, Ymeri, Elder Brain..
Last edited:
She freed herself on the road to Mantarys because she was afraid of what Tiamat would ask of her there.
- Location
- France
Ah, that explains why I forgot the date. The Mantarys arc isn't one I've ever wanted to reread (or think too much about). I don't quite know why... It just wasn't my thing.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
The intention was to bring her as well. She's too powerful to leave behind for such a potentially dangerous confrontation.
She hasn't had time to grow a new body yet, but it should be in progress now. @DragonParadox?
egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
I'm against taking Lya because of the following:
that research is more important than any one fight, even this one.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
This should not take very long, dude. @DragonParadox?
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
@egoo Even if a point of progress got shaved off, or even a couple, wouldn't it finish early in the next month if given a recurrent action?
Unless we're intending upon doing our Tiamat action right at the start, which we never do, because planning combat actions for the middle or end of the month just makes the most sense to deal with minutia upon which action and plot heavy updates would distract from, we should be fine.
Unless we're intending upon doing our Tiamat action right at the start, which we never do, because planning combat actions for the middle or end of the month just makes the most sense to deal with minutia upon which action and plot heavy updates would distract from, we should be fine.
- Location
- Germany
We will have to convince Mel to come along, right?
Piracy in the name of our profit is propably not as automatic as slaying undead was.
Piracy in the name of our profit is propably not as automatic as slaying undead was.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
This isn't piracy, though. We're going to stop the Efreeti from taking something really important to the Brazen Throne, something powerful and durable enough to survive the Doom. Preventing them from acquiring that is important work. I don't think Melisandre will balk at helping.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
She also wanted to team up to recover Valyria's lost treasures, arts and secrets. This qualifies in extremis, since it's one of the most important of Valyra's "Great Works". It has a goddamn fucking segment of its own on the front page!
- Location
- Germany
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
We didn't pull anyone from the Yi-Ti mission.
tarrangar
Fat arctic chicken
It's piracy against Efreeti, you know scions of corrupted flame, as a Priestess of Rh'llor, such beings are something to be abhorred.
- Location
- United States
Interlude in beta. It's a rather long one as usual for Yi Ti.
You already pulled her off her project once for Sothoryos, the rule is if you do it twice in a month she loses progress.