Sune's Solution (D&D/MGE)

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Erien said:
… But the scent, the scent of rotten food, that miasma that had grown all too familiar over the years. The scent you had learned to ignore, so that you didn't simply go crazy and mete out justice damn the consequences. It wasn't…

It wasn't only coming from her.
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In retrospect, this isn't really surprising. Baeran might say he champions beauty, but he's long since lost or otherwise denied himself the ability to truly appreciate such things. He's slowly turning into an automaton, fulfilling his mission as efficiently as possible.

Much like with him eating or drinking, he's just going through the motions.

[X] [Accept]
 
[X] [Accept]

No two ways about it, Baeran needs an intervention. Ilias is well placed to give one, in the sense that she serves as much as an example of what not to do and the consequences of doing it as much as a source of council. If she's up to any skulduggery, I would trust Fuyao to call it out if she seems to be having bad effects on Baeran.

I'm glad Ilias won the vote. Damn, she just rolls into the room like an avalanche when she has something to say.
 
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Erien said:
"I have no desire to become evil," you say quietly.

"Then why do you no longer radiate good?"

You…

You…

That…

You draw in a breath, steadying yourself. A lie, the evil goddess is lying.

… But the scent, the scent of rotten food, that miasma that had grown all too familiar over the years. The scent you had learned to ignore, so that you didn't simply go crazy and mete out justice damn the consequences. It wasn't…

It wasn't only coming from her.
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Oh. Oh, wow. This is a bold writing decision.

I guess not every Oathbreaker immediately turns into an edgelord.
Dragontrapper said:
Much like with him eating or drinking, he's just going through the motions
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And that, in some interpretations, is a form of Sloth. That would explain why Baerun smells Evil on himself instead of nothing.

Now that I think about it, Baerun has never described the scent of Good. He should have smelled it in Sune's temple if nowhere else. Does his own Evil overpower it, or is the smell of Good another sense that the lich took away?
 
Calico J said:
[X] [Accept]

No two ways about it, Baeran needs an intervention. Ilias is well placed to give one, in the sense that she serves as much as an example of what not to do and the consequences of doing it as much as a source of council. If she's up to any skulduggery, I would trust Fuyao to call it out if she seems to be having bad effects on Baeran.

I'm glad Ilias won the vote. Damn, she just rolls into the room like an avalanche when she has something to say.
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Goddess. It's what she does.
Dead Pann said:
Now that I think about it, Baerun has never described the scent of Good. He should have smelled it in Sune's temple if nowhere else. Does his own Evil overpower it, or is the smell of Good another sense that the lich took away?
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It doesn't have a scent in D&D. It comes with the sound of music, I haven't really bothered showing it is all.
 
Dead Pann said:
I guess not every Oathbreaker immediately turns into an edgelord.
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I don't think he's broken his Oath. He's an Oath of the Crown paladin. He upholds Law, Loyalty, Courage, and Responsibility quite well (that last one a bit too well, to his detriment). The issue is that Oath of the Crown doesn't require you to be good. The backstory for the Oathbreaker Knight from BG3 sounds a lot like an Oath of the Crown paladin, and he brutally slaughtered many in the name of his liege.
 
Erien said:
Adhoc vote count started by Erien on Jan 22, 2025 at 6:49 PM, finished with 26 posts and 20 votes.
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Locked~

Ya'll like Ilias?
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It's definitely an interesting take on her. I doubt she can be truly redeemed, but her "Don't make the same mistakes I did" attitude makes for an intriguing plotline.

I wonder if there was any significance to her perfume-y smell when she arrived, or if that was just her natural scent before Baeran's supernatural senses took over.
 
Erien said:
Ya'll like Ilias?
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Very much. Ilias here is... she's like an open wound. There's a raw and visceral quality to her. Her rage over being rejected by humanity. The sheer hatred she has of monster girls. The crushing guilt that makes her reach out to the one holding her prisoner, because she can see how close he's come to the edge. All the while she's trying to drink herself to death.

She's emotionally unstable and violently depressed. I think the most chill she's ever shown was when we stuck a sword in her hand and made her fight kabolds. I don't know if she had much chill in the past, but it's clearly gone. Terrible to see someone in that state, but she's been amazing terrible in the past, and it seems like it's only now she's starting to get how bad she was, so I expect the drinking habit to continue.

It's great stuff.
 
The Plot New
  • Informational
    • So, wanted to get the mood of the thread. I'm on break at the moment from writing due to burnout, so I'm figuring some things out. Sune is... an interesting one. I'm quite happy with it, but it went places I didn't expect. This story was... actually meant to be crack at first, and also just showing off the MG universe since that fandom is very... dead. But then I started to focus more on the culture clash, the drama, and heavily on Baeran's own mental health which surprised me. Baeran was meant to be a perfect, shining figure, a parody of overpowered D&D characters, and he was meant to basically have an unwanted harem due to him being immune to their charms.

    That, as you can see, didn't happen. And as of late it has been heavily focused on Baeran and his issues. Was hoping to get ya'lls thoughts so far on the story.
     
  • New
  • Informational
    • It's entertaining, and I'm invested in the drama, you can only eat so many empty calories before you die of starvation
     
    I am amused at the direction it took. I probably wouldn't have liked a hard turn into drama, but having been part of it since the beginning, I am finding myself enjoying where we are now.

    Was Baeran always supposed to be a headcase, or was that something that started getting added on more and more?

    Also, I am curious when Baeran officially shed his original alignment.
     
    SpacePaladin said:
    Was Baeran always supposed to be a headcase, or was that something that started getting added on more and more?
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    He was meant to be very dense more than anything, so focused on heroics that he wasn't spurning people, he just flatout never noticed their advances. That didn't last.
    SpacePaladin said:
    Also, I am curious when Baeran officially shed his original alignment.
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    When he was yelling at Cidrom chapter before last.
     
    At first I expect it to be a typical harem fantasy, and it was a very entertaining one at that, but it got really interesting once we learned more about Baeran. And the romance was very well done in my opinion. Brynhild in particular had me going *squee* a few times. That said, I think a balance between the fun monstergirls shenanigans, the wholesome romance and the drama of Baeran backstory would be for the best. The last one in particular can get a bit overwhelming without the other two.
     
    I've been enjoying it meself. MGE stuff would need addressing in any good crossover because of the massive culture clash, and it honestly gave the characters on both sides a depth I really like.
     
    Metalbard said:
    At first I expect it to be a typical harem fantasy, and it was a very entertaining one at that, but it got really interesting once we learned more about Baeran. And the romance was very well done in my opinion. Brynhild in particular had me going *squee* a few times. That said, I think a balance between the fun monstergirls shenanigans, the wholesome romance and the drama of Baeran backstory would be for the best. The last one in particular can get a bit overwhelming without the other two.
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    I have a small army of monstergirl shenanigans waiting in the wings once Baeran sorts himself out, which should be shortly. He won't be fixed, but he'll be better.

    I have so many characters to introduce.
     
    I do like the direction the story has taken overall. But I also like how we got here. If Bearen had been like he is now from the start, I feel like it would've been harder to want to get to know him. The slow descent he's been through has hurt, but it comes from a good place of knowing he has genuine ideals and convictions. It keeps the story feeling like there's real hope for him, especially with the people who haven't even thought about giving up on him. Not just the monster girls, but Fouyo, Sune, his mother, people like that. They might not know just how bad it's been for him, but that's partly on Bearen for shutting them out.

    That said, Bearen's drama is the meaty center. If this story was a hamburger, his drama is the patty. But of course, a good burger has things like cheese and lettuce, onions and tomatoes, plus a bun to hold it all together. The monster girls are definitely the other layers, giving more texture and flavor, while what's actually happening in the world, the portals and the other monsters being dumped out of them, is the butter fried bun holding it all together. It's a strong central mystery that enables lots of fun encounters, whether that be another monster girl causing problems for Bearen to solve peacefully as he can, or a pack of monsters that must be put to the sword, it's great for the story.

    And it can't be overstated how much fun all the monster girls bring to the story. Ignis' dumbassery rooted in being a weirdo living by herself in the woods, Brynhild's whole thing with what happened to her and how she tried to deal with it, Gorefiend's antics, Miki hitting that cultural divide hard. Illias especially has been a treat this chapter, and I always just liked her being in the background even before. As a character she's got a lot of potential. That Hakutaku from early on especially showed how interesting they can be as antagonists, especially if it's not a contest of strength.

    So yes, I'm very happy with the story. The three major components come together to make something greater then the sum of its parts, like any good adventuring party.
     
    The setup of a dramatic difference in cultural mores plus living in close daily contact is more than a good opportunity for a work to be a character study, it nearly demands it to some extent. I really don't see how you could avoid doing a lot of character development without the work suffering sharply for it. And since it's such a diverse, vivid and endearing cast, frankly every one of them so far would be worthy of doing a deep dive into.

    Sorry, but if this was intended to be disposable fluffy crack, you executed it with too much quality for your own good.
     
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