[x] Plan Magical Crocodile Hunter
-- Name: Alison Erwel
-- Gender: Female
-- Ethnic Background: Australian
-- Age: Just out of high school
-- Concept: "I am the Crocodile Dundee of the Magical World, and Crikey that's a Big Vampire. Let me stick my head in its mouth. Oh my, it seems a bit testy! I'll have to wrassle it first."
Sure, put 'er on and I'll decide on which one I like later.
[x] Plan Magical Crocodile Hunter
-- Name: Alison Erwel
-- Gender: Female
-- Ethnic Background: Australian
-- Age: Just out of high school
-- Concept: "I am the Crocodile Dundee of the Magical World, and Crikey that's a Big Vampire. Let me stick my head in its mouth. Oh my, it seems a bit testy! I'll have to wrassle it first."
I normally think of mechanics so I can at least consider how actual play would run when I'm making a character, and I have no idea how this character would work, but it's such a evocative statement for something that actually sounds cool that I'm voting for it anyway.
[x] Plan Magical Crocodile Hunter
-- Name: Alison Erwel
-- Gender: Female
-- Ethnic Background: Australian
-- Age: Just out of high school
-- Concept: "I am the Crocodile Dundee of the Magical World, and Crikey that's a Big Vampire. Let me stick my head in its mouth. Oh my, it seems a bit testy! I'll have to wrassle it first."
I joined this quest just for the potential to see this happen.
Hey, @Chloe Sullivan , I'm curious. Is transforming into a robot or cyborg something we can do? Like some sort of mechanization that then reverses itself when we turn back? If so, I might have an idea for another thing for the slate.
Hey, @Chloe Sullivan , I'm curious. Is transforming into a robot or cyborg something we can do? Like some sort of mechanization that then reverses itself when we turn back? If so, I might have an idea for another thing for the slate.
D&D fluff is highly mutable, so converting magic to hypertech is basically just renaming and reimagiing things. I already noted Metriod as an option.
Indeed I have dug up a partial version of the incarnum to metroid conversion. both incarnum and some of the pact magic stuff work surpisingly well for power armor re-fluff. and the Formbound Spiritist is basically a discount Iron Man
[] Name: Anne Jones
[] Gender: Female
[] Concept: Sickly girl fused with magical robot parts to save her life!
[] Can transform into a robot form, somewhere between magical girl and cyborg fighting machine. So, sorta Magical Girls but high-tech and focused on monsters of the week?
[] Setting: A small town in the American South
@Chloe Sullivan , would something like that work? Can I vote for more than one thing to add to the slate? Just trying to fluff things out.
[] Name: Anne Jones
[] Gender: Female
[] Concept: Sickly girl fused with magical robot parts to save her life!
[] Can transform into a robot form, somewhere between magical girl and cyborg fighting machine. So, sorta Magical Girls but high-tech and focused on monsters of the week?
[] Setting: A small town in the American South
@Chloe Sullivan , would something like that work? Can I vote for more than one thing to add to the slate? Just trying to fluff things out.
[] Name: Anne Jones
[] Gender: Female
[] Concept: Sickly girl fused with magical robot parts to save her life!
[] Can transform into a robot form, somewhere between magical girl and cyborg fighting machine. So, sorta Magical Girls but high-tech and focused on monsters of the week?
[X] Plan: We can Rebuild Her!
--Name: Anne Jones
--Gender: Female
--Concept: Sickly girl fused with magical robot parts to save her life!
--Can transform into a robot form, somewhere between magical girl and cyborg fighting machine. So, sorta Magical Girls but high-tech and focused on monsters of the week?
--Setting: A small town in the American South
You dig giant robots, I dig giant robots. And not-giant ones as well!
[X] Plan: We can Rebuild Her!
--Name: Anne Jones
--Gender: Female
--Concept: Sickly girl fused with magical robot parts to save her life!
--Can transform into a robot form, somewhere between magical girl and cyborg fighting machine. So, sorta Magical Girls but high-tech and focused on monsters of the week
--Setting: A small town in the American South
I likewise like the idea and so add a multivote there
If you build it, they will come. Eg, make a proposal, and maybe people will vote for it.
[]---[]
ONWARDS QUEST HO!
[X] For it is in passing that we achieve immortality
The ritual Ms. Green instructs you in seems almost painfully simple. First, you draw a magic circle on the ground, with chalk. You feel almost like you are back in preschool, doodling chalk drawings on the sidewalk. Shouldn't magic be more... magical? exciting? not like homework?
Green is exactingly precise, using a stake-and-string protractor to get a near perfect circle. She insists you do the same. "In a rush, you can freehand a seal," She tells you, "But it's disrespectful and careless. Precision gets you better results. And you should always remember that this is fundamentally not a safe thing we do. Practicing the art of Pact and Seal is nothing to be taken lightly, no matter how silly you may feel doing it.
"Right, don't relax and get careless during the ritual to bind the scary not-thing from beyond reality, gotcha." You do get it, really. Maybe for green, the sheer novelty - and terror, of 'magic, magic is real!' has long worn off, but for you this is actually pretty nerve wracking. So of course, you cope as you have always done. By mouthing off.
Green slaps a knife down onto the floor near you, causing you to jump. "Yes, it is scary." she says, "sometimes these rites call for shedding blood. But I don't like to lead with those. Lets try to stick to something simple." She uses the knife, which you note idly appears to be made of real silver - or at least, coated in it, to point at the design she has drawn,which you are doing your best to copy. "Each of these ideograms inside the circle represents part of the narrative of the Vatic Spirit. They exist as much as story and theme and desire as they do as anything you or I would thin of as entity. Summoning them means living out a bit of their story to create the sympathy the allows the formation of a connection. We use a visual medium in the seals we draw to carry and channel part of it, but the true medium is our own bodies and minds. You must make yourself part of the story, not only draw it but feel it, breath it, live it."
"Be part of the story, got it," you tell her, "So what character am I getting into?" At Green's raised eyebrow, you point out "Look, like half the girls in this town, I was a Holywood hopeful, once. I know a thing or two about pretending to be someone else."
"All the better," Green tells you, and as you begin the laborious process of copying her various glyphs and symbols and carefully plotted curves and lines, she explain, in loose terms what they indicate. This intersection of a straight line and two curves indicates an alignment with a cosmic principle of benevolence, with this particular curvature indicating self-sacrifice. That curling snail-shell symbol indicates tragedy and loss. The story, well, a story comes together in your mind between green's comments and your own imagination.
A young man in love, scorned by his beloved because she does not credit his expressions of affection. So, unwilling to give upon her, he gives his very life for her, the capstone of a series of ever more exaggerated attempts to win her affections through grandstanding. But though he dies, his spirit is unable to move on, still set on his beloved, who still thinks his actions unseemly rather than romantic. So he lingers, a ghost, forgetting who it was he was lingering for, bit by bit, until his haunting is just longing for feminine attention, his whispers and spectral passion a curiosity for daring or playful maidens who brave the manor house he haunts on a lark.
You consider the story. And then you decide that it's kind of bullshit. Calling this spirit Gwendolyn's Ghost is an insult to women. Gwendolyn wanted nothing from the man who would become an empty spirit, and implying that his ghost was hers, that she was somehow responsible, for the actions he took out of his own grandiloquent desire for melodrama, despite have let him know she wanted nothing of him. It reminds you too much of smug casting agents with roving eyes and innuendo laced comments, of rude young men at the cafe who thought that they had a God-given right to your cheerful obeisance.
You find yourself in sympathy for Gwendolyn, her name besmirched by association with the tale, told as if she were the villain who spurned an earnest suitor rather than a girl who wanted nothing to do with a presumptuous would-be-lover who could not take a hint. The words come spilling out of your mouth almost against your wish, the emotion of a suppressed dissatisfaction, finding form and expression. You find yourself giving voice to Gwendolyn, speaking with an authority ought not have on her feelings and giving life to the scathing remarks she was too polite to voice directly to Azon. Some part of you mind notes with alarm that Green never mentioned a name for the spirit, but now the act, the drama has you in it's grip and you carry on; even as the room seems to shimmer with light that had not been present, even as your voice ceases to declaim in English and takes up a tongue that seems utterly natural and completely unfamiliar all at once, even as your half-lucid mind panics slightly at green's shocked expression and sudden backpedaling. Yet you go on, driven, ridden by the story rather than telling or acting it now, hear the wailing keen of anguish that erupts from the seal as a ghostly figure seems to rise out of it, an hand outstretched in impassioned plea. You reach out and take it, still in a fugue, and some part of you registers shock that you feel touch and warmth. And then everything seems to snap into place as you fall out of the trance.
You look at Green, who is still slightly pale, but recovering. And is holding up a Mirror. So that's where that light is coming from. The source of illumination is your forehead, upon which a bright sigil is shining, with additional color and shadows provided by the lesser runes that circle in a halo above your head.
[]---[]
Notes:
Welp, who saw that coming? Serena has gained the legacy of the Illumians, and gets to pick her first sigil (vote further below). Note that i have taken some liberties with the appearance of Illumians.
I'm going to introduce some quest mechanics (as opposed to D&D mechanics) at this point.
The first of these is stunting. Stunting works basically like it works in Ravena Quest. However since D&D doesn't use dicepool mechanics, I will be using the bonus dice system for Action Points from Eberron. Roll a number of d6's equal to the stunt rating, take the best result and add it to the relevant d20 roll.
Like with Exalted, there are three levels of stunt:
1-die: Write in an interesting description that adds some flavor or humor.
2-die: Like 1-die, but also interacts with the quest world somehow - introduce new background or expand on existing background, or give a callback to previously mentioned events or setting elements.
3-die: Write something totally awesome.
Notice how I used Serena's background as once having been an Actress hopeful to flesh out her ritual. That's a stunt. I'd get stunt die on the binding check normally, but eh, I'll just give myself a performance roll instead.
Instead, write in something cool about what Serena looks like in her Heshin mode for a stunt bonus on the Binding check. Or supply art, if you like. Remember that death, undeath, and rebirth are a major part of Serena's theme and should be reflected in her appearance.
D&D has a lot of D20 rolls, so stunts will only apply to really dramatic rolls. Still, think of it as incentive to write in stuff. Besides stunt dice, I may also award XP for good write-ins or Omake,or even give you bonus Perks. If you write stuff for me, that makes this quest easier and more fun, so I will try to reward you.
Speaking of, the second quest mechanic I am introducing is Perks. Perks are basically me tweaking the usually D&D rules in your favor to allow cool stuff. I have allotted three perks for Serena's story, but you may get more for coming up with cool stuff. You'll have an option to pick up Perk in the votes further down.
Re: That Binding Check:
Well, succeed or fail the check, Serena has bound a Vatic Spirit. I'll ask for someone to roll for it, but we actually need to make some decisions first. The outcome of the roll will merely decide whether or not Serena gets the capstone ability (requires success +10), as well as if she is influenced by the spirit (on a failure). She gains the basic abilities of the spirit regardless.
Here is the flavor text for the Vatic Spirit Serena just bound. Note that I took a lot of liberties with it. DM's get to do that. So do you, if you stunt.
» "A noble named Antoros committed suicide after being scorned by his love Gwenolyn, and his magnificent estate passed to a successful hobgoblin merchant named Azon."
» "Azon discovered Antoros's ghost and convinced him to help make the estate a ghostly romantic getaway for lonely noblewomen. "
» "Sure to his plan, ever more women visited to experience the estate's haunting lover."
» "After Azon got one of the patron's pregnant, priests arrested him and an exorcist destroyed Azon's ghost, or so it was thought."
» "Who knows if Antoros continued as a spirit out of lingering love for Gwenolyn, or a desire to continue tasting the fruits of the world, or as a fitting afterlife delivered by a spirit called the Living Flame."
Influence
Physical Sign: You become ghostly pale. At your option, whenever you use a granted ability, you become somewhat transparent, as a ghost. The effect is a harmless illusion.
Alignment Shift: When you fail your binding check by 10 or more, your alignment moves a step closer to neutral good for 24 hours.
Personality Influence: You daydream of your one true love, real or imagined. After 1 minute of conversation with anyone, Gwenolyn's Ghost compels you to harp on plans with your love, such as the castle and quests you will share.
Favored Ally: Undead. Undead, particularly incorporeal undead such as ghosts, immediately recognize your sadness, and feel more favorable toward you.
Favored Enemy: Humanoid (divine spellcaster). An exorcist, not Gwenolyn or suicide, turned him into a spirit. He forever dislikes priests.
Mechanics
Gwenolyn's Ghost grants the following supernatural abilities.
Commune with Spirit: You learn about the local environment from one minor, benign incorporeal creature that is nearby. You may ask up to one question per two levels. Creatures are limited to what they could reasonably know. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Charisma bonus (minimum 1).
Dancing Lights: You can create and manipulate globes of light or a glowing, vaguely humanoid shape, as if using the dancing lights spell. Evoking, suppressing, or altering the lights is a standard action but the ability is otherwise usable at will.
Fearful Visage: You can change your appearance to frighten a creature. This works like the cause fear spell. You must wait 5 rounds between each use of this ability.
Ghost Sound: You can create a variety of sounds, eerie or otherwise. Evoking, suppressing, or altering the sounds is a standard action but the ability is otherwise usable at will. See the ghost sound spell for details.
Last Impression: You can see, hear, and feel everything a corpse did for one round per level before the corpse died. You must touch the corpse. This works like the last impression spell (see Chapter 7: Spells, page 242), except that you are left fatigued after using this ability.
Resistance: You gain a +1 insight bonus on saving throws for 24 hours.
Capstone Granted Ability - You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Ghost Hand: You can use the mage hand spell. You point your finger at an object at close range, and can lift it and move it by mental command. The object can weigh up to 5 pounds. As a move action, you can propel the object as far as 15 feet in any direction, though control ends if the distance between you and the object ever exceeds the ability's range. Alternatively, you can touch or caress an object or creature as if caressing it with your hand from a distance; a touched creature feels the ghostly hand. You must wait 3 rounds between each use of this ability.
Tactical Bonus - While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls (for three rounds) *starting* the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Attempt a Diplomacy check with a humanoid female.
» Interact with an incorporeal undead creature.
» Stand within 5 feet of a corpse.
» Move through water (but not underwater).
It's not the most powerful of spirits in combat, but it's actually quite useful for break-ins, distractions, and interrogations.
Name: ????
Alignment: N
Race: Illumian (?)
Class: Dread Necromancer 1
Attributes: STR 9 (-1), DEX 13 (+1), CON 18 (+4), INT 14 (+2), WIS 8 (-1), CHA 18 (+4)
Hitdice: 1d6
Max HP: 10//? (1d6+4//2d6+2)
Current HP: 10/10; ?/?
Base Attack Bonus: +0//+0
Base Saves: Fort +0//+1, Ref +0//+1, Will +2//+1
Saving Throws: Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +1
Initiative: +1
Movement: 30 ft land (run x4)
Size (Space/Reach): Medium (5ft/5ft)
Attacks:
Charnel Touch: -1 Melee (1d8 Neg/x2)
Special Abilities:
Rebuke Undead (7/7 uses) as 1st level Cleric
Charnel Touch (at-will) 1d8/1 Negative Energy.
1. What is Serena's first Illumian Sigil?
Keep in mind that she will get a second one the next time she levels up on her Mystic side (that second one will be Krau, for reasons that will become apparent).
[] Aesh ("vigor"): +(Sigil) bonus on Strength checks and Strength-based skill checks.
-- Note: This includes grapple checks.
[] Hoon ("life"): +(Sigil) bonus on Wisdom checks, Constitution checks, and Wisdom- or Constitution-based skill checks.
[-] Krau ("magic"): +(Sigil) bonus to caster level for all spells and spell-like abilities (up to a maximum value equal to the illumian's character level).
[] Naen ("mind"): +(Sigil) bonus on Intelligence checks and Intelligence-based skill checks.
[] Uur ("grace"): +(Sigil) bonus on Dexterity checks and Dexterity-based skill checks.
-- Note: This includes initiative checks. Uur is a very popular pick for this reason.
[] Vaul ("soul"): +(Sigil) bonus on Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks.
--> [] Perk: Apply this bonus to Binding checks.
Obviously, Uur and Vaul are the best picks mechanically, though thematically Vaul and Hoon are most appropriate. If you guys want to be crazy and pick Aesh, go ahead. If you guys want to suggest perks for other sigils, also feel free.
2. Feats and Proficiency.
I have already determined the feats Serena gets for being a Dread Necromancer, and her flaws (which would have been different had you delayed initiation). You guys get to pick her Weapon Proficiency (Dread Necromancers are proficient with all simple weapons and a single Martial Weapon), and her feats for being a d20 Modern Human (two at level 1), however.
Martial Weapons:
[] Composite Longbow - Long-ranged weapon that can be used with iterative attacks. (Crossbows or slings cannot be used to make multiple iterative attacks without magic or special feats, and darts and javelins have much shorter range.)
[] Armor Spikes - You don't need a hand free to use them
[] Sap - Deals subdual (nonlethal) damage.
[] Guisarme - Melee weapon with Reach that can be used to trip. (Note that you already are proficient with one reach weapon: the Longspear)
[] Other: Write-in. I think I've hit all the ones with mechanical advantages
Feats. Note some of these are identical to D&D 3.5 feats and count as prereqs. Also note that some of these can be acquired as bonus feats later on, if you are willing to wait.
[] Agile Riposte - gives you an AoO if your designated Dodge target misses you in melee. Pretty cool since this is a unique effect for Modern, not found in D&D. Requires Dodge. On the bonus feat list for Charismatic Hero.
[] Combat Expertise - kinda useless until you get an actual BAB, but a prerequisite for some stuff. On the bonus feat list for Fast Hero.
[] Combat Reflexes - if you choose to focus on AoO's, this is useful.
[] Defensive Martial Arts - A fairly weak feat, but it is a prerequisite to a number of better ones ones. On the bonus feat list for Fast Hero.
[] Dodge - A fairly weak feat, but it is a prerequisite to a number of better ones ones. On the bonus feat list for Charismatic Hero.
[] Improved Feint - Feinting is fairly weak, but you do have bluff in class. Changed this to work per the 3.5 rules. Requires Combat Expertise.
[] Improved Initiative - A classic, and useful for going first.
[] Improved Trip - If you want to knock people down, this helps. Requires Combat Expertise.
[] Iron Will - boring, but it helps with a low save. On the bonus feat list for Charismatic Hero.
[] Lightning Reflexes - see above. On the bonus feat list for Charismatic Hero.
[] Mobility - I've improved it as follows: You do not take AoO's from movement from the designated target of your dodge feat, in addition to the normal benefits. Still meh, unless you are going for Elusive Target. Requires Dodge. On the bonus feat list for Fast Hero.
[] Personal Firearms Proficiency - Guns can come in handy, and taking this means you don't need to worry about ranged weapon proficiency on the Mystic side. On the bonus feat list for Fast Hero.
[] Reknown - useful buff to Frightful Presence if you go for that later (needs level 6). Also means Serena is well known, at least locally. Can have both positive and negative effects, though probably mostly positive. On the bonus feat list for Charismatic Hero.
[] Other: Write-in
Edit : Mechanics post 2 now has notes on Invocations and Shadowcasting.
[X] Vaul ("soul"): +(Sigil) bonus on Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks.
--> [] Perk: Apply this bonus to Binding checks.
[X] Reknown - useful buff to Frightful Presence if you go for that later (needs level 6). Also means Serena is well known, at least locally. Can have both positive and negative effects, though probably mostly positive. On the bonus feat list for Charismatic Hero.
Wow, I must have worded that terribly. Serena will get the Krau sigil automatically the next time she levels up. Right now, Krau is completely useless.
Pick one of the other sigil for her to get now.
Vaul + social skills, can use perk to get + Binding check.
Uur + initiative, also bonus to tumble and trip and a few other skills.
Hoon + percetiveness (also concentration and heal checks, but those aren't important).
Aesh + feats of strength.
Naen + knowledge checks (and crafting, but again, not terribly relevant)
Oh, and I updated Mechanics Post 2. Forgot to put that in my update, will fix. It now includes Invocations and Shadowcasting.
Vote for:
1 Sigil (other than Krau)
1 Martial Weapon
2 Feats.
Wow, I must have worded that terribly. Serena will get the Krau sigil automatically the next time she levels up. Right now, Krau is completely useless.
Pick one of the other sigil for her to get now.
Vaul + social skills, can use perk to get + Binding check.
Uur + initiative, also bonus to tumble and trip and a few other skills.
Hoon + percetiveness (also concentration and heal checks, but those aren't important).
Aesh + feats of strength.
Naen + knowledge checks (and crafting, but again, not terribly relevant)
Oh, and I updated Mechanics Post 2. Forgot to put that in my update, will fix. It now includes Invocations and Shadowcasting.
Vote for:
1 Sigil (other than Krau)
1 Martial Weapon
2 Feats.
Okay, this is the point where I double check if you grabbed Tomb-tainted Soul and how long we plan to stay as a Dread Necromancer. (If sounds as if you had plans to multi-class, even if the class is fine for 20 levels.)
Okay, this is the point where I double check if you grabbed Tomb-tainted Soul and how long we plan to stay as a Dread Necromancer. (If sounds as if you had plans to multi-class, even if the class is fine for 20 levels.)
oh, right the other thing i forgot to show you guys, Serena's preselcted Mystic-side feats.
...
eh, you don't need to see them yet. I mean, if you were paying attention, you'd know that Tomb-Tainted Soul is indeed one of them, and Supernatural Exchange is a free bonus feat, but then, I left that information out kinda at random.
You can speculate about what the flaws and other two feats are if you like. I'll probably be revealing them next update.
Depending on quest choices, Serena may not ever pick up DN 2. Early entry tricks FTW! Also getting rid of TTS may end up being a quest goal.
When she tried to bind Naberius, I thought she was going to be a binder. Is she going to be a binder?
Edit: Also, is it possible to enter classes that require metamagic feats or the ability to cast spells of specific levels while using your modified classes?
When she tried to bind Naberius, I thought she was going to be a binder. Is she going to be a binder?
Edit: Also, is it possible to enter classes that require metamagic feats or the ability to cast spells of specific levels while using your modified classes?
In Chullivan games, Supernatural Exchange lets you count as both spellcaster and spirit binder ror purposes of prerequisites. Other DMs may disagree, but this is my quest and I'll early entry if I want to. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, come to think...
As for your other question, you may want to reread what Green tells Serena about the three Keys.
I should probably turn one of those reserved posts into an FAQ, huh?
in the meantime, please do think on name and costume for our heroine's alter-ego, everyone. I'm counting on you all to mitigate my questionable aesthetic sense.
also, it may help to talk about why you want certain feat picks. eg: lets's go with Personal Firearm Proficiency, so we can have a gun, and then take armor spikes as a proficieny so we have melee range coverage along with reach from a longspear.
Weapon proficiency choice will result in you getting a weapon as part of your henshin costume, typically the martial weapon you picked. (unless you picked armor spikes, then you get a longspear - you're going to have to work for armor)
in the meantime, please do think on name and costume for our heroine's alter-ego, everyone. I'm counting on you all to mitigate my questionable aesthetic sense.
aw, mang, you were supposed to continue the joke by spining some BS about the "funerary practices of the Olmepec Injuns"
My default is basically early 1900's widow's weeds, complete with Lace Veil, Lace Gloves and Parasol. but y'know, if we don't wanna look emo, someone should probably suggest something else.
Yes but then that might actually start a bandwagon. Time and place Chloe, I'm a comedian, not a saboteur.
Besides, the Walking Fashion Abomination is a powerful build but you've gotta commit to it from the start if you want to make monsters brains dribble out through their eye sockets, and Dread Necromancer isn't an applicable start.
