A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover
- Thread starter DragonParadox
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- 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
- United States
Yeah.... I can see why she's so dead-set on getting some ties with us. She's just terrible at going about it.
The Orange Emperor would have had far better luck had he sent Pol Ning as his envoy, ironically.
Viserys gets the sense that it's not just that. Now that the vote's closed I can say this much, you guys will see more in the next update
- Location
- United States
My theory is that she's a very successfully covert Rakshasa, and that the rebellion was her idea.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
Can Viserys eat a [name-an-energy-field]?
Probably not, but he's sure as hell gonna try!
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
*slaps roof of dragon*Can Viserys eat a [name-an-energy-field]?
Probably not, but he's sure as hell gonna try!
YOU CAN FIT SO MUCH DIVINE POWER IN THIS TRUNK!
- Location
- Who knows?
Oh God it was honestly kinda ridiculously stupid and required Cheese, WHICH I FELT COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED IN DOING and the DM kinda played the Dragon a bit angrier and more impulsive than perhaps you'd think but jeebus. It was obvious that the DM was looking at potentially killing off people and even gave a fucking JoJo style pre-death character flashback for a dude's character who was leaving soon.
The DM ended one session with angry blue dragon lightning-breatheing the roof of our inn as part of a "TEACH THESE STUPID MONEYS (plus cat person plus rat) THE FOLLY OF MESSING WITH MY MINIONS" (we found an ancient temple with kobolds, lizardmen and serpentfolk). Cue frantic searching to try and figure out how to survice this Oh shit.jpg.
So session opens, I fail my save against the frightful prescne even though I have like +12/13 to the will save whomp whomp. DM Gleefully tells me I am now panicked and might run away screaming. While dropping everything I have, which kinda doubly sucks since I am a Dual-Cursed Covetous/Haunted Oracle (sue me I wanted to get UMD as a class skill, be blingy and get more spells known) and I dont wanna loose my bling.
Me: Wait, you sure its panicked? Not shaken or frightened?
DM: *Looks it up* Wait, yeah its just shaken you can use abilities
Me: Cool, I'm gonna use one of the two Rope Trick Scrolls I insisted on buying like 4 months ago and we never used and fuck off into Rope Trick Space.
DM: Haunted means retreiving the scrolls is a standard, so you'll have to wait to activate it!
Me: Wait, is the lighting breath a surprise round?
DM: yes
Me: Cool, temporal celerity means I always act in a surprise round, so I use my surprise round actions to get the scroll act, and then during normal initiative, I go first, immediately activate it (while using an 1 gp worth of Magnesism to boost the duration) and fuck off into Rope Trick space. FuckDissuShittuIMOut.
DM: Fair
Dragon rolled pretty bad for initiative and so everyone else decides fucking off into Rope Trick Space is the bees knees and does so. Rope Trick says it can hold a max of 8 creatures. Well, our adventuring party had
* Me Half-Elf Oracle
* Ratfolk Alchemist (Grenadier archtype)
* Human Barbarian
* Catfolk Rouge
* Summoner + Eidolon (not there for the battle, but there in spirit I guess)
* DMPC Scholar Bard meant to give us some exposition on our temple crawling
* A Level 2 Kineticist DMPC. He's a rando slave we saved and brought along since we didn't have anywhere to drop him off essentially. i kept on encouraging him to find his inner strength and after enough session of making him shoot at things from afar with a crossbow+other trauma the DM finally decided to humor me and make him a particularly sweaty kinesticist. He is not optimized in the least.
So yeah exactly 8 people. And now we have 9 hours to freak out about this and try to plan. I have taken Arcane Eldritch Heritage for the familiar (our party has kinda been collecting pets, but thats another story) and decide to Paragon Surge myself Calcific Touch with Greater arcan Eldritch Heritage. I start freaking out about surpassing the Dragon's SR and start to look into various drugs that might boost Caster level. I find this thing called Mumia and ask the DM if the alchemist could whip up a dose from the "Crafting Reagants" Pool (thanks thread for that idea!). The DM reads the page and then agrees.
So during the 8-9 hours we spend in Rope Trick space, we all rest (our sleep was interupted) except for the alchemist who didn't use spells anyways and I desperately ask people to see if they have some way of inflicting Dex Damage. No go. We buff up (protection against energy, protection from evil, etc). So the Dragon found us because one of its serpentfolk Mesmerists sucessfully cast Dominate Person on the Catfolk Rouge and used the ability to look through his eyes to rack us down. (And yeah, we went straight from the temple to here and when I asked about the days of travel we couldve used to fix it DM said too late, too bad--used soul soap and other stuff to fix it in Rope Trick space). Dragon gets bored and decided to completely wreck the town we're inn before flying off to the sea to get some fish. During this serpentfolk is tasked with watching the rope trick space. The rougue decides to go invisible and shank muderize the sperpenfolk mesmerist. Dragon sees and DM rolls, says it'll take 3 rounds to get back. Rouge manages to kill the serpentfolk and not get re-Dominated, and then uses his Ring of the Earth to hide in a demolished wall. Dragon is now super pissed and starts to demolish the wall.
I use a wand of mage hand, give myself Calcific Touch and cast Sure Casting. The rest of us head out. Time for the moment of truth! I roll for the SR and I get a 17 on the die. Whooo I beat the SR
DM: Lol You didn't need the Mumia, by the way did you roll for addiction?
Me: Yes. I failed. I am super addicted, but thats future me problem
DM: Cool, just checking
Sweet, time to roll for that sweet sweet Dex Damage! I get a 1 in a 1d4. Okay, next time should be better, right?
Alchemist attempts to use stink bombs on the dragon, doesn't work cause sky high Fort, Barbarian uses a single move action to get closer to the dragon, but decides to not go right next to it since Full Attacks are Bad (we aren't really sure what to have him do), Rouge continues hiding and the bard sticks his head out to sing at us. Level 2 Kineticist continues to hide and cower.
The dragon sees us finally coming out and decides to use its mighty Breath Weapon! Which putters out on our Energy Protection. I respond by Bad Touching it again and yet again only get a 1 on the Dex damage die. Shit.jpg. Dragon does something else on the next round I don't really remember? But it decides to use its mobility adavantage and fly 200-feet up. To pick us off. Well shit, thats out of the range for my Ghost Hand until next round. The alchemist asks if she can still toss bombs at the dragon. Per rules as written she can at like a -9 to -10 penalty. DM finds the idea a touch attack could actually miss now amusing and lets her try. The dragon ends up rolling a 2 on the Fort save and is now nauesated! At this point its late, the dragon's demoralized from puking its guts out , its AWEOMSE BREATH WEAPON doing nothing, + while it didn't roll Spellcraft to determine Calcific Touch, the DM rules that since the spell has the specifcal petrifying effect, the Dragon could feel shit was going wrong in its bones, it decides to just fuck off with its 200 foot fly speed and fuck us over another day. We have no good way of following.
DM: Cool, through careful planning (?) you've managed to survive. Now the Oracle is addicted
Me: Yup I guess it's future me's time
DM: This drug has a cumulative 5% chance of turning you into a goul every week you stay addicted. And Fort DC is 18.
Me: Fuck
DM: And you didn't even need it! Lets resolve this next session.
So session opens, I fail my save against the frightful prescne even though I have like +12/13 to the will save whomp whomp. DM Gleefully tells me I am now panicked and might run away screaming. While dropping everything I have, which kinda doubly sucks since I am a Dual-Cursed Covetous/Haunted Oracle (sue me I wanted to get UMD as a class skill, be blingy and get more spells known) and I dont wanna loose my bling.
Me: Wait, you sure its panicked? Not shaken or frightened?
DM: *Looks it up* Wait, yeah its just shaken you can use abilities
Me: Cool, I'm gonna use one of the two Rope Trick Scrolls I insisted on buying like 4 months ago and we never used and fuck off into Rope Trick Space.
DM: Haunted means retreiving the scrolls is a standard, so you'll have to wait to activate it!
Me: Wait, is the lighting breath a surprise round?
DM: yes
Me: Cool, temporal celerity means I always act in a surprise round, so I use my surprise round actions to get the scroll act, and then during normal initiative, I go first, immediately activate it (while using an 1 gp worth of Magnesism to boost the duration) and fuck off into Rope Trick space. FuckDissuShittuIMOut.
DM: Fair
Dragon rolled pretty bad for initiative and so everyone else decides fucking off into Rope Trick Space is the bees knees and does so. Rope Trick says it can hold a max of 8 creatures. Well, our adventuring party had
* Me Half-Elf Oracle
* Ratfolk Alchemist (Grenadier archtype)
* Human Barbarian
* Catfolk Rouge
* Summoner + Eidolon (not there for the battle, but there in spirit I guess)
* DMPC Scholar Bard meant to give us some exposition on our temple crawling
* A Level 2 Kineticist DMPC. He's a rando slave we saved and brought along since we didn't have anywhere to drop him off essentially. i kept on encouraging him to find his inner strength and after enough session of making him shoot at things from afar with a crossbow+other trauma the DM finally decided to humor me and make him a particularly sweaty kinesticist. He is not optimized in the least.
So yeah exactly 8 people. And now we have 9 hours to freak out about this and try to plan. I have taken Arcane Eldritch Heritage for the familiar (our party has kinda been collecting pets, but thats another story) and decide to Paragon Surge myself Calcific Touch with Greater arcan Eldritch Heritage. I start freaking out about surpassing the Dragon's SR and start to look into various drugs that might boost Caster level. I find this thing called Mumia and ask the DM if the alchemist could whip up a dose from the "Crafting Reagants" Pool (thanks thread for that idea!). The DM reads the page and then agrees.
So during the 8-9 hours we spend in Rope Trick space, we all rest (our sleep was interupted) except for the alchemist who didn't use spells anyways and I desperately ask people to see if they have some way of inflicting Dex Damage. No go. We buff up (protection against energy, protection from evil, etc). So the Dragon found us because one of its serpentfolk Mesmerists sucessfully cast Dominate Person on the Catfolk Rouge and used the ability to look through his eyes to rack us down. (And yeah, we went straight from the temple to here and when I asked about the days of travel we couldve used to fix it DM said too late, too bad--used soul soap and other stuff to fix it in Rope Trick space). Dragon gets bored and decided to completely wreck the town we're inn before flying off to the sea to get some fish. During this serpentfolk is tasked with watching the rope trick space. The rougue decides to go invisible and shank muderize the sperpenfolk mesmerist. Dragon sees and DM rolls, says it'll take 3 rounds to get back. Rouge manages to kill the serpentfolk and not get re-Dominated, and then uses his Ring of the Earth to hide in a demolished wall. Dragon is now super pissed and starts to demolish the wall.
I use a wand of mage hand, give myself Calcific Touch and cast Sure Casting. The rest of us head out. Time for the moment of truth! I roll for the SR and I get a 17 on the die. Whooo I beat the SR
DM: Lol You didn't need the Mumia, by the way did you roll for addiction?
Me: Yes. I failed. I am super addicted, but thats future me problem
DM: Cool, just checking
Sweet, time to roll for that sweet sweet Dex Damage! I get a 1 in a 1d4. Okay, next time should be better, right?
Alchemist attempts to use stink bombs on the dragon, doesn't work cause sky high Fort, Barbarian uses a single move action to get closer to the dragon, but decides to not go right next to it since Full Attacks are Bad (we aren't really sure what to have him do), Rouge continues hiding and the bard sticks his head out to sing at us. Level 2 Kineticist continues to hide and cower.
The dragon sees us finally coming out and decides to use its mighty Breath Weapon! Which putters out on our Energy Protection. I respond by Bad Touching it again and yet again only get a 1 on the Dex damage die. Shit.jpg. Dragon does something else on the next round I don't really remember? But it decides to use its mobility adavantage and fly 200-feet up. To pick us off. Well shit, thats out of the range for my Ghost Hand until next round. The alchemist asks if she can still toss bombs at the dragon. Per rules as written she can at like a -9 to -10 penalty. DM finds the idea a touch attack could actually miss now amusing and lets her try. The dragon ends up rolling a 2 on the Fort save and is now nauesated! At this point its late, the dragon's demoralized from puking its guts out , its AWEOMSE BREATH WEAPON doing nothing, + while it didn't roll Spellcraft to determine Calcific Touch, the DM rules that since the spell has the specifcal petrifying effect, the Dragon could feel shit was going wrong in its bones, it decides to just fuck off with its 200 foot fly speed and fuck us over another day. We have no good way of following.
DM: Cool, through careful planning (?) you've managed to survive. Now the Oracle is addicted
Me: Yup I guess it's future me's time
DM: This drug has a cumulative 5% chance of turning you into a goul every week you stay addicted. And Fort DC is 18.
Me: Fuck
DM: And you didn't even need it! Lets resolve this next session.
this idea. We should probably tell Monford that Varys is a massive traitor.
[/QUOTE]
Hrrrmm, based on what Xue said
"instead I was concerned with picking part the lie of her supposed 'blessing'." A flash of anger passes though Xue's dark gaze, gone so swiftly that you could almost have imagined it, if you had not also noticed how the flame in the brazier behind the sorceress twisted towards her. "She has lied before the Throne and all the wisdom shared nothing but the echo of another's voice"
I wonder if this is less to try and bind Viserys and more really being angry at and wanting to puning Pol Ning for wasting her time and/or making Xue loose face someone with the smoke and mirrors.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Ah, that sounds kinda like what's going through my head when we're trying to plan serious combat, but we normally have much more to work with. Nice job surviving with style, panache, and a slight case of drug addiction.
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Inserted tally
Part MMMCCCLXIV: Seeking Understanding
Seeking Understanding
Fifteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC
"Lya, I need you to find Pol Ning again, and speak to her," you send while feigning deep consideration of the question the shugenja posed to you. Truth be told you have already decided upon the answer and the Venerable Xue will not enjoy the it.
"Lingering demons?" she asks with a tinge of exasperation that she will have to put down her studies unexpectedly, followed by a flash of guilt for all the people that might be suffering at the claws of the abishai she is loath to deal with.
"No, only her kin," you reply quickly. "I need you, Vee and Rina to make an offer of employment or a new life if she so chooses, not a bribe you understand, merely compensation for the aid she has given us."
"Why us?" she is startled now. "Surely Malarys or Garin would be better at talking her into anything, or even at talking to her in general I would wager. It would be a poor time to compare how we weave magic."
You take a sip of tea. It really is quite good. A pity about the company. Swiftly, so as not to let the silence drag on too far, you explain the princess' prospects and your suspicions about them, the pretense of avoiding improper male company.
The flash of anger does not surprise you but her words do. "Do you think we could spare Glyra for a few days? To give Pol Quo's exalted personage all the honor he deserves?"
Once more you have to struggle not to smile, but the impulse is brief as you once more look at the increasingly impatient shugenja, to judge by the ever so slight warming of the tent. "My Lady, I find myself in an odd situation. I have come here with no intention to offend you, but apparently I am not offered the same courtesy. I feel this is most disharmonious." You take another sip of tea before continuing:
"I wonder how our relationship would be if we were to meet at the court in Yin in the future. The prospect seems unpleasant."
To your surprise the reaction garnered is not anger or a stiffening of her posture, but a sigh and a brief closing of her eyes as though fighting some persistent headache. "My deepest pardons, I have mistaken skill at sorcery for..." she trails off, reaching for some little used skill. To your surprise she twists her palms towards you in the open handed Valyrian gesture of apology, little used outside Volantis, though with the air of someone who learned it from a book. "You are using sorcery to read the proper way of doing things, are you not? I cannot read the spells upon you as I imagine you cannot read those I wear."
"To a degree, yes," you reply cautiously. Though you had not expected her to back down so thoroughly you see no reason not to be gracious about it, if she is sincere.
"The kami care little for the precise forms by which humankind address each other so they have no blessings to aid in that endeavor. Only the Blessed Ancestors do, but they are not ones to call upon for less than war or high ceremony."
Lady Xue pauses, the silk of her sleeves rustling. "I had assumed you understood the gravity of the princess' trespass and did not wish to linger too long upon it to so as not to bring attention to the shame she has wrought, but you are a foreigner and your laws are not our laws, your customs are not our customs." For a wonder she manages to say all that without her tone implying the word 'barbarian'. You have spent long enough in the company of Volantine and Lyseni magisters before you came to rule those cities to be very aware of that inflection. Perhaps she is sincere, not that it makes her choice to be rid of a rival rather than seeking unity within fair, but it is better than her earlier refusal to bend an inch.
"Where once Emperor ruled under the direct light of Heaven as its favored son now the Mandate given by the grace of the kami. If the kami should lie for love of one shugenja or another there can never be peace, only the Wars of the Clans come again and that I will stand against to my dying day. The risk of her gaining foreign support given her willingness to use such tactics are too terrible to contemplate."
Before you can answer you hear Lya in your mind. "Pol Ning is sad... I think they are going to do something to lessen her ability to contact the kami, but she does not want to betray her 'brother' by leaving even now." The tone is almost uncomprehending that anyone could sacrifice any part of their magic simply because they are commanded. "She asked if we would be willing to accept three of her followers who are not so 'lucky'. They killed several important officers during the unrest recently and being lowborn they are to be executed."
What do you reply?
[] Write in
OOC: And here we are, the unexpected pitfalls of having inhumanly high diplomacy, so high in fact that Xue assumed some of it must come from a deep knowledge of Yi Ti and its culture and politics. Also, Lya just performed some difficult diplomacy of her by burning mythic power on her own buffs, though granted with decent rolls too.
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Dragon Fitness
egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
- Location
- Who knows?
Whelp the Kami thing was apparently a Big Deal (TM) whomp. Well I'm cool with grabbing some commoners tbh.
Keep in mind Pol Ning decided to have the kami lie for her all on her own because she is of a radically different philosophical/theological bent from more traditional Shugenja.
Haha wow, this is a twist. So we Diplomanced her into this crazy horrible crime without even knowing what we were asking?
That's basically like a Devil buying a soul when they thought they were buying a sandwich.
...
Am I finally tired of winning?
Not quite, as I said above this is a matter of radically different perspectives on the same deed. Yi Ti is not a cultural monolith.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I find myself disgusted with Lady Xue and Pol Qo.
I feel bad for Pol Ning, but we aren't going to actually kidnap her against her will. We made the offer and she has rejected it. I don't see much else for us to do here.
I don't even really want to allow Xue to help us track down GC survivors.
I feel bad for Pol Ning, but we aren't going to actually kidnap her against her will. We made the offer and she has rejected it. I don't see much else for us to do here.
I don't even really want to allow Xue to help us track down GC survivors.
- Location
- Germany
Mumia does not seem to raise CL?
Only saves and HP?
This whole conversation with Xue feels like one long gods damned headache to me. While I am myself sympathetic to Ning, at this point this feels like a wash. You can't help people who don't want to be helped, and the longer this conversation goes on, the more the desire to get up and walk and let them rot grows in me.
I want Ning don't get me wrong, but now I'm feeling that we've invested too much for a whole lot of nothing.
I want Ning don't get me wrong, but now I'm feeling that we've invested too much for a whole lot of nothing.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA