/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

>>167414
Both nod affirmatively

"Whatever gets us there"

>>167415
And so Amber continues on to the train station…

I need to sleep now

>>167404
"And we have machine guns. I think we can make do with these."

>>167373
I'm kind of stuck on the "getting into the country" part. I thought new players started already there.

>>167419
I like to start players at their point of entry in Baltimare. Union Station if they enter from Equestria, or Locust Promontory if they are from abroad. I suppose it can be skipped.

I made a very, very rough draft:
Rosie "Posie" Ring - Necropolitan Half-vampire Unicorn Dread Necromancer 3, Major Vampire Bloodline 3; spellstitched (not represented)

Medium Undead [augmented monstrous humanoid] [Unicorn] [Pony]

Init: +11 (Nimble bones, Improved Initiative); Senses: Darkvision 60 ft, Spot +4, Listen +4
Languages: Pony, Abyssal, Infernal, Griffon

Armor Class: 18, Touch 13, Flat-footed 17 (2 grotesque Griffon leather , plus 1 dastana, plus 4 natural)
HP: 47 (3d12+22 HD); Corpsecrafted
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +7

Speed: 40 ft (leather armor; nimble bones)
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+1
Attack: Charnel Touch +5 Melee touch (1d8+1 negative), Slam +5 melee (1d6+7 bludgeoning + 1d6 cold), Compound Bow +4 Ranged (1d8+5 piercing)
Full Attack:
Space/Reach: 5/5
Special Attacks: Spells, Rebuke Undead 7/day, Charnel Touch, Telekinesis, Negative Energy Burst, Winter's Chill, Destructive Retribution, Charming Gaze
Special Qualities: Undead Traits, Lich Body, DR 2/Bludgeoning And Magic, DR 2/Slashing; Fast Healing when below full HP; Enery resistance 5 for electricity and 10 for cold, Turn Resistance +6
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +8
Abilities: St 21 (+4 enhancement corpsecraft), Dex 16, Con-, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 19
Skills: Bluff 12, Climb 6, Concentration 9, Craft (stitching) 3, Decipher Script 3, Diplomacy 6, Disguise 6, Hide 7, Intimidate 11, Knowledge (religion) 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Move Silently 7, Sleight Of Hand 5, Spellcraft 12, Use Magic Device 7, Hypnosis 5
Feats: Apprentice (bonus) (lvl 1 flaw); Magical Affinity/Aptitude (bonus) (Occupation); Necromantic Bloodline (lvl 1); Defiler (lvl 3); Reserves Of Strength (severe taint); Cerebrosis (bonus; Rite Of The Blot); Iron Will (bonus; Otugh Hole); Evil Brand (bonus; elder Evil); Evil Brand (bonus; Elder Evil); Versatile spellcaster (bonus; Vampire Bloodline; Stealthy Redundant); Improved Initiative (bonus; half vampire); Stealthy (bonus, Ironwyrm vault)
Possessions: Nightcaller; Unholy symbol, spell component pouch, grotesque griffon leather barding, compound bow + 20 arrows, Gloomy (slave), 2 zombies (bound to nightcaller); "self" (slave price)
Organization: Unique plus thralls (see text)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: Combat Gear
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +0 (Half Vampire LA bought off)

Undead Traits:
Spells: (see Dread Necromancer)
Posie casts spells as a third level Dread Necromancer. Her caster level is 5 for all non-necromancy spells, and 7 for all necromancy spells (Major vampire bloodline + spellgifted).

Expanded Spell list
Her spell list has been expanded and modified as follows:
Apprentice Spellcaster: Posie's time as an apprentice has given her the option to replace a number of her spells known. She has replaced six of the redundant spells she knows from her necromantic bloodline:
Cause Fear -> Ebon Eyes
Ghoul Touch -> Desecrate
Vampiric Touch -> Gaseous Form
Contagion -> Clutch Of Orcus
Eyebite -> Antilife Shell
Control Undead -> Ethereal Jaunt

Rite Of The Blot: Posie has dealt with eldritch horrors from beyond the void, which has resulted in a mutated mind in the form of Cerebrosis. Her scarred, necrotic brain matter gives her access to the following Cerebritic spells, rudimentary and difficult to control conjuration magic, mostly in the form of summons:
Lvl 1: Aching Dread
Lvl 2: Call Amoebic Crawler
Lvl 3: Far Realm Visitation; Dimsensional Rift
Lvl 4: Call Cranial Encyster; Lingering Raver
Lvl 5: Soul-Blasting Dread
Lvl 6: Call Kaortic Hulk
Lvl 7: Finger (hoof/horn) of Expulsion
Lvl 8: Call Nightseed
Lvl 9: Welcome Amoebic Sea
Although Rosie knows all of these spells, her current level of Sorcery only gives her lvl 1 slots, so she has only been able to cast Aching Dread.

Mother Cyst: As a physical manifestation of her corruption, Rosie possesses a Mother Cyst; the ugly black lump where her heart used to be. The cyst is internalized in her chest, beneath her ample floof, and "beats" with a painful throb. Posie, in her prophetic hubris, considers her cyst to be sign of The Mother's "love". The cyst gives her access to the following spells, of which she can only cast lvl 1 spells (or lvl 2, if straining with versatile spellcaster):
1 Necrotic Awareness
2 Necrotic Cyst, Necrotic Scrying
3 Necrotic Bloat,
4 Necrotic Domination
5 Necrotic Burst
6 Necrotic Eruption
7 Necrotic Tumor
8 Necrotic Empowerment
9 Necrotic Termination
Rosie Typically uses Necrotic Awareness to seek out Gloomy, should she lose sight of him. Since she has to strain to cast Necrotic Cyst, she has yet not shared her "love" with anyone but Gloomy.

Defiler: In research of the impure arts, Rosie has delved into the forbidden practice of Defiling Magic. Defiling magic scars the land and coats it in toxic defiler ash. Rosie is aware of the destructive nature of this magic, and uses it sparingly, not out of goodness of her cyst, but to keep her practice secret, and for the backlash defiling deals on her own body and mind.
Defiler Points (defilement of self): TBA
Defiler Score (permanent moral burden of defilement): TBA

Spellstitched SLAs: TBA

>>167431
Charnel Touch (Su): (As Dread Necromancer ability) In combat, Posie prefers to use her endless negative energy to hex living creatures. At will, but no more than once per round, she can deliver a touch attack that deals 1d8+1 points of negative energy, or heal an undead creature 2 HP

Negative Energy Burst (Su): Once per day, Posie can create a burst of negative energy that harms living creatures. Creatures within 5 feet of her take 6d4 points of damage (DC 17 Will for half). Undead Creatures are healed the damage living creatures take.

Rebuke Undead: as a 7th level Cleric (major vampire bloodline + Bloodtouched Rite)

Charming Gaze: From her vampire heritage, Rosie can charm humanoids and monstrous humanoids with her cursed eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that she must take a standard action.

Unicorn Telekinesis:

Undead Weaknesses (work in progress): Rosie Ring possesses the following unique weaknesses
Delusional (-1/3 CR): Posie believes that she is born of Holy Blood and that her powers are a gift from The Mother. Her desire for this to be true is her internal justification for her continued existence. Creature's that become aware of this can manipulate
Phobia (CR -1/3): Princess Celestia, a figure of myth and horror in the Dread League, is a terrific sight to those brought up there. Her phobia refers to Princess Celestia herself, and any holy sites or consecrated temples dedicated to her honor. In the presence of the Princess or on the princesses sanctified lands, Posie takes a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, ability checks or skill checks
Code Of Honor (-1/3 CR): Until Rosie surpasses her Master, she can never disobey an order from a higher ranking member of the Dread League. This binding includes not causing excessive damage in Equestria that might interfere with the Society Of Bone's infiltration goals, or the Coven Of Blood's diplomacy goals. Posie's binding has caused her to leave battles unfinishes and flee before she risks exposure.
Considering
Distractible (-1/3 CR): maybe put something about her adopted 'son' in there.
Energy Vulnerability (CR -1/2; LA -1/2): maybe
Turn Submission (CR -1/3; LA -1/2): would wipe out most of her turn resistance, probably worth the option
Sunlight Vulnerability (-1/2 CR; -1/2 LA): debilitating, but thematic as a vampire descended creature.
Phobia (see above): could include basic vampire weaknesses to represent vampire heritage

Note: the undead weaknesses with no LA adjustment are mostly for flavor. They do, however, reduce her overall CR, and thus her price as a thrall (buying self out of slavery is to represent tithes paid to her Master, as debt for creation).

Taint Score: 20
Corruption: 10
Depravity: 10
Symptions Of Taint:
Paralyzed Face; Bones Thicken
Hubristic; Prophetic

Occupation: Hedge Wizard (if not using d20 Modern rules ignore)
Region (Dread League); regional quirks tbd

Tactics: Until lvl 8, Posie is effectively a melee warrior. At lvl 8 she'll be a master of undead minions.

Military Rank in Dread League
Commander Rating: 2
Commander Aura: Necromantic Commander
Benefit: Undead allies within 30 feet of you that have an Intelligence score of 1 or higher deal an extra 1d6 points of damage on melee attacks made against living creatures. This benefit is considered a morale bonus.

Master: Dread Necromancer of at least 8th levels. The stats above assume Posie was created by a cabal of the Dread League who possessed the appropriate corpsecrafter feats in a desecrated area. This price is represented in her WBL.

Magical Location Bonus feats: the bonus feats Posie Gains from her starting equipment represent training and torture dealt to her by the Dread League, this price adds up to the 5500 gp, the same cost as having been imprisoned in the Otyugh Hole (Iron Will), The Ironwyrm Vault (Stealthy), and the Cerebrotic Mire (Cerebrosis).

>>167432
Almost 3 hours typing that and I still forgot something:
>Flaw: Test Subject (-2 to all saves vs necromancy and Enchantment spells).
Painful since Command Undead is a lvl 2 spell, but appropriate as a product of dysgenics by the necromantic Society of Bones and the enchanting Coven Of Blood.
Pick up Haunted at lvl 6 to pick up Undead Leadership.

I figured spending money on thralls was an exercise in futility when I can't even cast Animate Dead myself. Roleplaying four characters felt obnoxious to do starting off, so I'm would like to start just with Posie and her apprentice. It also makes getting into the country easier so I can actually start.
I'll post Gloomy's sheet shortly. 200 gp of Posie's starting equipment goes towards "conditioning" him, to give him Iron Will, which helps him avoid insanity from taint. He'll otherwise have no starting equipment. I want him to eventually be a cohort, so I'm making him a Binder.
>>167423
I could just go with that. Gloomy's illness wouldn't be too visible, so Posie could go through regular border control with him. It sounds like a good test for her infiltration abilities and charisma skills.
As for cover story, I had an idea for the occupation of "Neurologist": a person who studies death, both mundane and magical. Part mortician, part doctor, part mage, such a skilled pony would be in high demand in a war-torn region where death, disease and amputation are widespread, so I could come with a work visa. That way I have an excuse to skulk around graveyards and carry dark magic implements.
Maybe the Society of Bones could forge me a fake ID (or I could buy it, but I'm cutting it close with starting equipment).

>>167433
*Necrologist

>>167431
>>167432
>>167433
>>167434
This is really cool! It must have taken a lot of thought.
>Dread Necromancer 3, Major Vampire Bloodline 3
Is she level 5 or level 6? I'm still relatively new to playing DnD so I'm not the best at reading and interpreting character sheets.
>neurologist necrologist
Reminds me of the Lovecraft story "Herbert West–Reanimator"

>>167373
>In terms of military equipment, Equestrian is British, Changeling is German (so is Imperial Griffonian, don't think about it too much), Stalliongrad is Soviet, Aquilea is French, and the River Republics are Czech iirc. There's no hard-and-fast rule about having the exact same equipment that was used in our world, it's more about what's cool while fitting the setting.
The Dread League is pretty low tech in favor of having tons of skeletons and thralls, and I want to honor that, since Posie was brought up as a mage in the Dread League and I intend to go cowabunga with minions once I get to level 8. I spent most of my starting equipment on training and perks, and a trusty Nightcaller so I can pretend to be an actual necromancer despite being level 3 with no ability to raise the dead for a long time. The compound bow is as far as I'm going to go in terms of modern weaponry for now, although it synergizes well with my high Str (also the White Horseman has a bow, so I'll use one too). I should be good against anything except paladins and golems.
>There's no real official "party"
I would hope to interact with the other active PCs at some point, because that's part of the fun of roleplay. I guess it wouldn't be too bad just to talk with NPCs or do solo quests, although it feels like a bit of an undue burden on the DM to make solo quests though.
>I highly recommend going to the start of the game and reading through every thread to see how the story has progressed, though it's by no means required and it would take an extremely long time to get all the way through
Yeah, I tried that, but it's admittedly hard to follow. Thanks for pointing out who's active and who isn't, btw; it made it easier to tell what relevant.
>I'm looking forward to seeing you play here!
Thanks. I'm interested in seeing how this will play out.
>>167435
Is she level 5 or level 6
She's actually level 3. The bloodline levels don't contribute to total ECL, but you still have to pay XP to get them; thus, it's best to take them all at level 1. They do count as class levels for certain level based parameters though, including LA buy-off, which has good synergy since it reduced the cost of buying off the half-vampire LA, which let her reduce the LA for half vampire from +2 to +0. Posie is ECL 3, with the same XP as a level 3 character.
Tl;Dr, she spent 7K out of 10K XP to get some perks, and is now lvl 3.
>I'm not the best at reading and interpreting character sheets.
This sheet is an unfinished mess, so I don't blame you. I forgot how complicated it was to make characters in 3.5e. I haven't played in years, and I had to spend a few days looking stuff up.
>Reminds me of the Lovecraft story "Herbert West–Reanimator"
Yeah, something like that.

>>167423
I'll do that, because doing what you're used to should make it smoother. If I get arrested for dark magic, then so be it.
I'm close to finished, so tell me when you would be open to start.
Rosie counts as coming from abroad, since she's from another continent.

After escaping prison through the sewers, Gibs is ready to hustle again! But first, he gotta get off all the shit on his body. He gotta find the closest store with pony-axe so he can spray his whole body clean. He was lucky that toilet couldn't tell the difference between him and turd, otherwise he would never have gotten out. Yeah, zigga!

>>167438
>He was lucky that toilet couldn't tell the difference between him and turd,
I'm sorry, that was a bit too gross. :S

>>167432
I've fucked up. The both of those magical locations are 3K gp, which means on top of the night caller they add up to 9k, which doesn't leave room for my basic equipment or cost of emancipation. I'm either going to have to drop one of those bonus feats, or the Nightcaller.
I could plausibly rank up my defiler score to cover the cost of spellstitching, although that's meant to be for emergencies.

>>167436
I can't wait to see your character in the game, new fren!

>>167441
I'm almost ready with the sheet. I'm open to start posting whenever.

>>167440
>>167433
>>167432
>>167431
>>167437
>>167436
That's a lot to sort through

>>167438
>>167439
Gibbs has escaped his imprisonment Shawshank Redpemption style, but he ain't ready to go to his beach in Zihuatanejo just yet.

Gibbs observes that his stripes... is gone, He now a pure brown stallion. Like an earth pony.

>>167416
Helder tries to take the lead, although it becomes apparent fairly quickly that he's only feigning familiarity with the street pattern. The quaint cobblestone streets of the riverside are repeated one street in further inland from the river, as are the multi-colored blocks of apartments and shops that line the roadway. The further the group goes into the town, the older the buildings become, tending towards closely spaced red roofed, white-walled, half-timber constructs, with dirty stone roads that exist not in any planned-out grid pattern, but haphazardly angling out in which ever direction, occasionally cut by alleys or small squares. Not much time elapses before Federklied calls Helder's bluff, and exposes that no, he does not know where he is going, and she asks a local for directions to the train station. The griffins find and move through the central market square, lined by a large, green stoned temple of boreas with twin spires and a vaulted room, and the rathaus with its square, peaked red roofed tower and rink brick construction. The sight of a set of police passing through the market square encourages the group to move behind a set of stalls set up in the middle, selling vegetables, and to pretend to take interest in buying cabbage - probably a sincere interest for Erich by now. But there is no time to waste. More walking, past packed streets with now lowered buildings, and more trees with falling, brown leaves. The town is only a fraction of the size of Katerinburg, but it's still a proper town. It's a few more blocks before they arrive at Kronburg Hauptbahnhof.

Kronburg Hauptbahnhof is fairly long building with a black roof, and though it is only one story tall, it is as tall as two floors at many points. The building has a reception area in the fore, and two open air platforms with covers on the side away from the street. The building is accessible from the main street, and actually has space for the parking of automobiles, though only a small number are present.

>>167468
Another strange town, though quite similar to Katerinburg. Amber could not wait to get to the train station, and now that she is here, she looks for where staff rooms may be at.

Spot: [1d20+2 = (7+2) = 9]

>>167467
Gibs sniffs his unquiely colored hoof.

"Sheeeeeit."

He sneaks around like he's about to steal shit cuz yo ass don't get any respekt points with nasty ass sheeit in yo fur. Sadly for him, he turns the corner and walks straight into a crowd of bitches.

>>167467
Is there anything that stands out to you?

>>167480
>>167467
>>167432
I am going to wait to finish this, but I'm ready to roleplay or talk about backstory or exposition changes whenever.

>>167431
>Rosie "Posie" Ring - Necropolitan Half-vampire Unicorn Dread Necromancer 3, Major Vampire Bloodline 3; spellstitched (not represented)
I can't say I am familiar

>Init: +11 (Nimble bones, Improved Initiative)
That's... a lot

>Languages: Pony, Abyssal, Infernal, Griffon
There isn't really a single unifying pony language, nor a unifying griffin language (although Herzlander is probably a pretty good contender)

>Armor Class: 18, Touch 13, Flat-footed 17 (2 grotesque Griffon leather , plus 1 dastana, plus 4 natural)
HP: 47 (3d12+22 HD); Corpsecrafted
The 3d12 is 3 levels of undead, but where does the +22 come from?

>Skills: Bluff 12, Climb 6, Concentration 9, Craft (stitching) 3, Decipher Script 3, Diplomacy 6, Disguise 6, Hide 7, Intimidate 11, Knowledge (religion) 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Move Silently 7, Sleight Of Hand 5, Spellcraft 12, Use Magic Device 7, Hypnosis 5
116 skill points at level 3? Come again?

>Feats: Apprentice (bonus) (lvl 1 flaw); Magical Affinity/Aptitude (bonus) (Occupation); Necromantic Bloodline (lvl 1); Defiler (lvl 3); Reserves Of Strength (severe taint); Cerebrosis (bonus; Rite Of The Blot); Iron Will (bonus; Otugh Hole); Evil Brand (bonus; elder Evil); Evil Brand (bonus; Elder Evil); Versatile spellcaster (bonus; Vampire Bloodline; Stealthy Redundant); Improved Initiative (bonus; half vampire); Stealthy (bonus, Ironwyrm vault)
I can't say I familiar with many of those

>Three paragraphs of spells
I am not familiar with these

I don't know what books these came from, but just to be completely honest, the odds that I am ever going to be familiar enough with the powers of these spells in order to create encounters that are balanced are probably pretty low

>>167432
I can follow this post pretty well. I can definitely work with these

>>167433
>but appropriate as a product of dysgenics by the necromantic Society of Bones and the enchanting Coven Of Blood.
Don't the two societies hate each other?

>Roleplaying four characters felt obnoxious to do starting off,
We could have them under my control. Which characters do you want to control? Gloomy as well as Posie?

>As for cover story, I had an idea for the occupation of "Neurologist": a person who studies death, both mundane and magical. Part mortician, part doctor, part mage, such a skilled pony would be in high demand in a war-torn region where death, disease and amputation are widespread, so I could come with a work visa. That way I have an excuse to skulk around graveyards and carry dark magic implements.
Maybe the Society of Bones could forge me a fake ID (or I could buy it, but I'm cutting it close with starting equipment).
As Baltimare is well known for its medical school, that works pretty well.

>>167437
>If I get arrested for dark magic, then so be it.
Immigration isn't going to be looking for magic. They care about tuberculosis, weird foreign parasites, and leftist radicals

>>167483
Sure, what do you want to talk about on backstory?

We could definitely start Posie soonish, although I sort of want to bring other characters in a position where they could join her

>>167475
These bitches be fiiiine. Like, solid 5/10s. One of these is even a pony, and she only got one chin! But he still smells like shit.

>>167469
Well... it ain't in the center of the building. That has the entryway, the time tables, and the ticket office.

>>167488
>There isn't really a single unifying pony language, nor a unifying griffin language (although Herzlander is probably a pretty good contender)
I want to be able to speak the most common language in Equestria (or at least Ponyville and Canterlot, i.e places in the show), so whatever that is I'll pick that. I'll pick whatever language the griffons of the Arcturian Order at the border of the Dread League would be speaking too. I probably should have read a bit more into that.
>where does the +22 come from?
It comes from being created by another Dread Necromancer of at least 8th level, who personally possesses the Corpsecrafter feat or is assisted by another necromancer who has it, after being ritually crucified in a desecrated area on the altar of an evil deity (Desecrate spell), and then gaining Cha bonus once through the Blood Touched Rite.
>I can follow this post pretty well. I can definitely work with these
I'll try to rewrite it in that format then.
>Don't the two societies hate each other?
I see them as more of competing factions who are rather passive aggressive in their bid for dominance in the same country. Posie, being level 3, probably wouldn't be high ranking enough to be an official member of either faction (since everyone who isn't a powerful necromancer is either a mindless monster or basically enslaved).
I mention both groups because it's unclear if the Society of Bones or the Coven of Blood is dominant in the Dread League in this game: should one particular group rise to power, that would be the group Posie would be loyal to.
>116 skill points at level 3? Come again?
Those are modifier, not skillpoints. I posted them in the format of an NPC statblock. If you want her skill point allocations, I can do that.
>Three paragraphs of spells
I put every resource I could into expanding my spell list, since her biggest weakness is her limited spell selection.
>We could have them under my control. Which characters do you want to control? Gloomy as well as Posie?
Well, when I was writing her I got all cocky and kind of wrote a lvl 20 backstory forgetting she's actually just a lvl 3 apprentice. She can't even have cohorts until she's level 6, although she could make Gloomy her own apprentice at lvl 5.
I think it might be better to make the other two show up when she's level 6, if she even gets there.
I would control Posie because she's the actual player character. Gloomy, until he becomes an apprentice, is an NPC, that I technically have no control over. I could roleplay him, although I wouldn't mind you roleplaying him either if you're down for it. He has the personality of a heavily-brainwashed anemic child who's somewhat numb to witnessing unspeakable evils, but still child-like in his own way.

>I can't say I am familiar [3]
Do you want me to cite the sources? I can explain or source any of the stuff, if you want.
The Elder Evil thing was kind of stupid, in hindsight, considering I made a stupid assumption about the "Prime Mover" cosmology. I'll cut that feat. I only wanted it because it could give me Lichloved as a bonus feat at lvl 5.
>I don't know what books these came from, but just to be completely honest, the odds that I am ever going to be familiar enough with the powers of these spells in order to create encounters that are balanced are probably pretty low
I see your concern. Is there a particular aspect of it that you think needs cutting down, so I could amend it? The game didn't come off as very combat-intensive to me, and I didn't build for that in mind, but if you feel like it's unbalanced I wouldn't want to be disruptive.
I would like to point out that most of the stuff her sheet comes at the expense of starting at lvl 3 instead of lvl 5 (7000 XP loss), in addition to allocating almost all of her money to creating her own body, so she's not as powerful as her bare stats might reflect in comparison to a lvl 5 character with full equipment.

>As Baltimare is well known for its medical school, that works pretty well.
That's cool. I'll go with that.
>tuberculosis
Don't have that. I'll just make sure to clear the spiders out of my lungs before the oral examination.
>weird foreign parasites
Do vampires count? Jk
>leftist radicals
Death is a preferable outcome to communism.

>what do you want to talk about on backstory?
Do you like it? Too edgy? Too obscure? Not appropriate for the setting/game? Too boring? Anything that could be improved? I'm open to suggestions.
The Dread League doesn't have very much going for it in terms of lore other than being a country of wicked mustache twirlers, so I was hard pressed to imagine what sort of twisted pony would be born and raised there. I'm not sure if I want to go through with the part of being a clone who grew up in a tank, since I think having childhood memories might actually be better for character development. I like the idea of being bred as thrall stock for vampires though: the kind of nightmarish abuse she would have lived through would make for a good foundation of development.
>I sort of want to bring other characters in a position where they could join her
Take your time then. Current players take priority. I wouldn't want to derail them with my stuff. I'm more than willing to wait while I work on the fine details

>>167497
>I want to be able to speak the most common language in Equestria (or at least Ponyville and Canterlot, i.e places in the show), so whatever that is I'll pick that
Yeah, Equestria and New Mareland speak what we'll just call "Ponish," but be advised that native tribes in the Equestrian South East, as well as Ponies from Griffonia usually don't. Posey woud definitely speak Ponish, as otherwise it wouldn't make much sense to send her to Equestria.

>Griffins
Probably Herlander?

>It comes from being created by another Dread Necromancer of at least 8th level, who personally possesses the Corpsecrafter feat or is assisted by another necromancer who has it, after being ritually crucified in a desecrated area on the altar of an evil deity (Desecrate spell), and then gaining Cha bonus once through the Blood Touched Rite.
I'm a little skeptical of what seems to be combining multiple source books to give a mage the HP of a Fighter. It's seems a little bit unfair to our fighter, and the several characters with half that HP.

>I mention both groups because it's unclear if the Society of Bones or the Coven of Blood is dominant in the Dread League in this game: should one particular group rise to power, that would be the group Posie would be loyal to.
Just sort of as a general rule the world of Occupied Equestria follows the "historical" playthrough of Equestria at War save for New Mareland's Empire. I think that The Dread League will usually be Society of Bones in a historical playthrough, so that may make most sense.

I don't want to discourage you from doing something with vampires, but I am going to mention the following because it could become relevant: I have a sort of blood-loss phobia/vascovagal reaction that causes me to literally feel numb or limp in my limbs just by thinking about blood loss or blood draws. Don't expect any sort of roleplay around vampiric draining or extraction of blood

>Those are modifier, not skillpoints
Oh, okay

>I put every resource I could into expanding my spell list, since her biggest weakness is her limited spell selection.
I'm just not familair with them

>Well, when I was writing her I got all cocky and kind of wrote a lvl 20 backstory forgetting she's actually just a lvl 3 apprentice. She can't even have cohorts until she's level 6, although she could make Gloomy her own apprentice at lvl 5.
I think it might be better to make the other two show up when she's level 6, if she even gets there.
Honestly, I might be more comfortable with more characters than with supernatural qualities, since it's easy for me to quantify the effects of another melee fighter, and more characters allows for roleplay possibilities.

>Gloomy, until he becomes an apprentice, is an NPC, that I technically have no control over. I could roleplay him, although I wouldn't mind you roleplaying him either if you're down for it. He has the personality of a heavily-brainwashed anemic child who's somewhat numb to witnessing unspeakable evils, but still child-like in his own way.
There's a pretty firm consensus that my best skill as a GM is my writing and handling of NPC characters; I like controlling NPCs. Conversely though, if you want to control an NPC that's okay. Although writing realistic children isn't exactly a strength of mine. You're probably going to get something closer to an adult or a dog

>Do you want me to cite the sources? I can explain or source any of the stuff, if you want.
Yes. I don't know what any of those spells do.

>The Elder Evil thing was kind of stupid, in hindsight
I'm not a super big fan of having Posie or Gloomy have much connection to Elder Evils, because I think that having knowledge of or allegiance to Elder Evils kind of underminds the alien, mysterious, and hostile quality of these forces that make them compelling in the first place

That Cthulhu, through the power of his dreams, unintentionally projects nightmares into the minds of artists through some unknown power, highlights how beyond our understanding he is, and how dangerous he is that he causes harm to people thousands of miles away without even desiring to do so. The cults that worship him are atavistic callbacks to an era before civilization whose simple existence calls into question just how disposed towards reason and civilization humans really are. If Cthulhu is like a Pope to whom you pay tithes, I think it looses much of that.

In EAW, in the Dread League playthrough Rosa Maledicta feels faint and experiences periodic loss of consciousness, and generally has the feeling of being controlled. Then one day, a not-entirely solid creature the size of an elephant appears to her, floating in the air. Rosa recognizes the creature as a Wendigo and realizes that the creatures have been controlling her and directing her on her crusade, as it serves their ends. The way this is done is genuinely unsettling to the reader, and Rosa, though she is making progress in the Black Crusade, is unsettled and shaken in her beliefs by the Wendigo and the fact that she's not even able to completely control her own actions. That's a "traditional" depiction of eldrich powers as something possessing great and unknown powers that is intentionally or unintentionally hostile, and I think it works very well.

I do need to say that for many of the characters in Occupied, who have no magical abilities, I like to contrast them against the supernatural, especially against cosmic horrors, as it is something alien to them. Posie, because she will be by far and away the most knowledgeable player character, and frankly above most non-player characters in the setting, is most likely going to receive mundane horrors as a contrast because it would be alien to her. The setting is modeled on the world wars, so there is a lot of mundane horror to work with.

>>167497
>I see your concern. Is there a particular aspect of it that you think needs cutting down, so I could amend it?
Most likely, the majority of enemies that Posey will face, and certainly the vast majority of enemies faced by the party so far, have been "humanoid" type enemies with melee or ranged weapons. Ponies, Changelings, Diamond Dogs, and Griffins with talons, machetes, and bolt action rifles. Sometimes, there are zombies or animals or monsters with teeth and claws. And sometimes, there is something more exotic, like machine guns, explosives, or combat mages who use deflective shields to bolster their submachine guns. Sometimes there is armor, or cover, or many enemies. But in all instances, combat is ultimately about dice rolls and modifiers. Chance of hitting multiplied by damage against health. It's all about math. I can balance things just by changing the numbers.

Spells, by contrast, tend to be more qualitative, and a bit harder to quantify. When Posie has a spell that I've actually worked with before like vampiric touch that does something like, let's say 2d6 damage, I can say to myself, okay, she's doing twice the damage of a knife, let's put her up against at least one diamond dog with a knife, or maybe even put her against a pony who has a pistol that does 2d6 damage. But if Posie has [spell that I can't remember the name of] that does [I have no idea because I couldn't even name the source book], then... what do I put her against? Four changeling drones who guard a fifth and a sixth with a machine gun? It's an apples to orange comparison, so I really don't know what to expect here. Either she is going to win and win very easily to the point that it's boring, or she is going to lose and lose massively to the point that it's frustrating.

I guess you can just post sources, or what these spells do. If the spells are too powerful I'm probably still going to be hesitant because I'd rather Posie be comparable in power to the other characters when she is alongside them. So long as she's in solo combat though, it shouldn't matter, as the enemies can be adjusted accordingly. There's also the danger that she could be too weak, especially as what are essentially MG42s have been used in combat before, although this is usually easily fixable by adjusting enemies.

>The game didn't come off as very combat-intensive to me
It really isn't. It really isn't. There can be vast stretches with no combat. Also, warning ERP has happened in the past and is probably going to happen in the future. Obviously if you don't want to you don't have to, but other players... probably will

>she's not as powerful as her bare stats might reflect in comparison to a lvl 5 character with full equipment.
Well, this highlights why I need to get a feel of how powerful she is. If I assume she's way OP, but she's not even close, her challenges are probably going to be a bit higher than they ought to be.

>Do vampires count?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvRWniTDxys&pp=ygUZeW91IGxlZnQgbGVhbmluZyBwYXJhc2l0ZQ%3D%3D [Embed]

>Death is a preferable outcome to communism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=FGaosBHdFMA&pp=ygUNbGliZXJ0eSBwcmltZQ%3D%3D

>Do you like it? Too edgy? Too obscure? Not appropriate for the setting/game? Too boring? Anything that could be improved? I'm open to suggestions.
Mostly I'd like to flesh more out. What jumped out to me was Gloomy's woobie status; he'd probably become a favorite of the other players quickly

>>167498
>Equestria and New Mareland speak what we'll just call "Ponish,"
Then that's what I'll know.
>It's seems a little bit unfair to our fighter, and the several characters with half that HP.
Really? Even with constitution boosting items in play? That doesn't quite sound right, but I believe you. If the Fighter doesn't like it, then I guess I should be more considerate...
I do have a lot of hitpoints, but I have very few means of increasing them later due to no constitution score, and can't use conventional healing items. I put all the resources I could into getting those now, instead of having equipment, because that would be hard to increase later. I guess I could drop the corpsecrafter benefit, or take the feat myself to burden the cost instead, if it's too much. I was kind of fond high HP though, since I'm outright destroyed if I go to 0.
>phobia
I understand. I won't be too graphic. I'm not really into bloodplay myself, even if my character would be based on her background.
>realistic children
Gloomy is not a realistic child. He's a tortured soul bred and raised for pony-sacrifice, possessed by an ancient demon, and comes from a society where being raped by vampires or eaten by ghouls is a fact of life, and by some latent talent/insanity remains alive anyway. He also acts affectionate to his "mother" despite her being demonstrably evil, narcissistic, cruel and generally insane. His chaotic nature means he can be roleplayed however, although I would like at least a little bit of autonomy over him if I'm going to make him a proper cohort later.
My inspirations for him were Stygian (season 8), Chrona (Soul Eater), and various Binding Of Isaac characters.
If Posie is the White Horse, Frenzied Red, and Caligo Black, Gloomy is the Pale Horse.

>Yes. I don't know what any of those spells do.
The Cerebrosis spells come from Dragon #330. They consist mostly of conjuration and summoning aberrations. Every Cerebotic spell has a "Cerebotic Escalation" which allows the caster to attempt to make it stronger at the expense of potentially targeting themselves instead.
Posie can cast Aching Dread, which is a fear-based debuff that makes the targets shaken, or frightened by escalation.
Posie won't get access to most of those spells for a while, so I'm not going to post them all here right now (I will later), but a guy posted all of the spell descriptions here, in addition to monster statblocks.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hum_forgotten_realms/cerebrosis-t314.html
The summons are what you'd expect: aberrations that attack with tentacles and mental debuffs. They're good summons overall, and compliment Posie's undead summoning.

The Mother Cyst spells are from Libris Mortis, and are all centered around the Necrotic Cyst spell: a spell that grows a clump of necrotic flesh within the target to make them susceptible to other spells in the tree. It's basically the idea that by creating an undead tumor in a living creature, you could debuff, harm or control the target by controlling the tumor.
https://dndtools.net/spells/libris-mortis-the-book-of-the-dead--71/necrotic-cyst--1488/
I could post all of the spell descriptions, but since I don't actually have access to those spells I would rather not. Their names are pretty self-explanatory (awareness, scrying, bloat, domination, burst, eruption, termination, etc). The unifying factor is that they only effect targets that have already been infected with a Necrotic Cyst.
Overall, I don't really know how useful they'll really be, but I took it because I wanted to have as many necromancy spells as possible, and because having a throbbing cyst where her heart used to be is a cool aesthetic.
For utility, it would help me keep track of Gloomy using Necrotic awareness.
Later, it could be useful as a de-facto dominate person on certain targets, provided that they're targeted with the necrotic cyst spell first.

>is most likely going to receive mundane horrors as a contrast because it would be alien to her. The setting is modeled on the world wars, so there is a lot of mundane horror to work with.
I like that dynamic. Sounds interesting. It's actually why I chose to play a necromancer in a modern warfare setting.

>>167499
>what these spells do
Posie's spell list is the Dread Necromancer spell list. It contains the necromancy spells in the player's handbook, plus a couple others. It's overall a very limited spell list, consisting only of necromancy spells:
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/spells/classSpellLists/dreadNecromancerSpells.html
Although she has more spell known than a typical Sorcerer, her spell selection is very, very limited. Her abilities mostly consist with causing fear, disease, debuffing or attacking with negative energy. She has Summon Undead which gives her some direct damage options. She notably doesn't get animate dead until level 8, so until then she's basically a melee fighter attacking with her Charnel Touch and Inflict spells.
The Dread Necromancer is a fixed-list caster, like the Warmage or Beguiler. She has a lot of spells on paper, but most of her spells only do different iterations of the same thing (fear, negative energy attack, debuffs, create/control undead), and she can never gain any additional spells other than the ones she gained through the feats I listed. Posie can never learn to cast Fireball, Protection from Arrows, Fabricate, Shield, Shocking Grasp, Tiny Hut, etc. She has no offensive evocation spells, very few utility spells, hardly any battlefield control spells, and even fewer buffing spells.
The Dread Necromancer is a fixed-list casters, based on the Warmage. Similar to the Warmage, which knows almost all of the Evocation spells in the players handbook, it's abilities are consistent because it only knows evocation spells. The Warmage was printed in the Mini's handbook and designed to be simple to play and balance, because it's spells mostly just do different kinds of direct damage. The Dread Necromancer is a similar case.

>what are essentially MG42s have been used in combat before
Are you using d20 Modern rules for modern weaponry? Iirc, that was a reflex save vs damage.
No offense, but the way you describe it, it sounds like my high-HP necromancer with some extra summoning spells isn't exactly the biggest balance concern here when I'm hearing about NPCs attacking the party with machine guns and bombs.
>combat mages who use deflective shields to bolster their submachine guns
That sounds like a pretty brutal encounter, depending on what kind of stats you were using for the gun. d20 Modern machine guns are pretty strong if you have Burst Fire.
I can't do any deflective shields though. My defenses come from light armor, high Undead HP, and a bit of damage reduction.

>has happened in the past and is probably going to happen in the future
Yeah, yeah, all of the rest of us bore witness to it on the overboard. I'm braced for severe autism.
>Obviously if you don't want to you don't have to, but other players... probably will
I originally wrote Posie as an implicit necrophiliac (I am NOT one irl though, fyi), since necromancers like Pale Masters, Thralls of Orcus and Yathrinshee all tend to be sexual degenerates, but she's a Half-vampire, so she'd naturally still have an attraction to living things. I didn't sign up to ERP unsolicited or push obscure fetishes on the game though. The door is open.

>>167506
>Well, this highlights why I need to get a feel of how powerful she is.
Well, to summarize things, her defenses are very strong for a caster, due to undead benefits. She has some self-healing capabilities, high HP, natural armor, light armor and damage reduction. I made her specifically this way because I expected her to get sprayed with bullets in the war setting: I really like the aesthetic of an undead character getting peppered with bullets, but still walking through the gunfire an attacking the enemy, immune to pain and fear. It's like a horror movie trope.
However, in terms of combat with monsters and most of d&d as expected, she's just average defensively, maybe a bit below average, because she's still not an actual warrior.

Offensively, she's basically a mediocre warrior. She has a Slam attack that does some melee damage and a high Str score. She has simple weapon proficiency one martial weapon (I chose the compound bow, since she's the white horseman of the apocalypse, and because it compliments her undead Strength), but she has no base attack bonus or feats to back it up, so it will only be good for a couple levels. I don't know how you handle firearms proficiency, but at least at the beginning I planned to only use the longbow, because the Dread League is low tech. Her offensive options consist of summoning skeletons, casting touch-range inflict spells, and using her Charnel Touch (which is basically a lvl 1 Inflict spell).

Skills-wise, she's a low-skilled specialist mage. I spread out her skills thinly to get synergy bonus from 5 Ranks in each of the key skills. Her main skill specialties are going to be Intimidate, Bluff, Concentration, Spellcraft, and Knowledge (Religion, Arcana). She's meant to be a social character based on deception and fear mongering. Her racial bonuses give her minor stealth abilities that will only be relevant at early levels because I don't have the skill points to increase them.

Magic Wise, she's a specialist in necromancy and black magic, and very little else. She lacks most of the offensive evocation, defensive buffing, utility divination, no teleportation (it hurts, but it can't be helped).
I think after reading her spell list, you'll find that her spells are powerful, but easier to deal with than the selection that a typical Sorcerer or Wizard, because since her spellcasting is specialized she's unlikely to surprise you. She also doesn't have very any of the annoying Wizard tricks like "Skip the adventure plot" (Scry + Teleport) or "break the economy" (Wall Of Iron + Fabricate) or "Hahaha, fuck your monsters" (various offensive spells combined with battlefield control) any of those other tricks that give GM's headaches.
Also, at lvl 3, she can only cast 1st level spells. She can't even animate dead until lvl 8.
At lvl 8, if I get there, your attitude towards her powers might change, because she'll suddenly change from a mediocre pseudo-warrior to a master of dozens of undead minions.
She has no Metamagic feats, so just expect her spells do what they would normally do.

Special qualities wise, she's what you'd expect from a Half-vampire who is also undead. She has some limited ability to charm people, emergency fast healing 1 when below half health. As an undead, she has the usual immunities, which make several of her class features redundant (Mental Bastion, Negative Energy resistance, etc). Her biggest blanket immunity is her immunity to mind effecting attacks, although Terrors Of The Deadlands created an option to give a variant weakness to make the undead vulnerable to mind effecting while decreasing it's LA and CR, so I could take that if you're not fond of the blanket immunity.
Spellstitching could give her a small selection of spell-like abilities with limited use.
She's also made with the benefit of the assumption that at the cost of her starting wealth she could have had access to necromancers from the Dread League who could create her under ideal conditions, her Apprentice feat means that her Mentor is a Dread Necromancer of at least 8th level, so her Mentor would have used Undead Mastery to give her bonus HP and an enhancement bonus to Str and Dex. Desecrate means bonus HP. The Corpsecrafter feat tree means a tiny bit more HP, in addition to a bonus to speed/initiative, cold damage on her slam attack, and increased turn resistance.

Note that I was going to add a couple undead weaknesses from Terrors Of The Deadlands to decrease her CR and thus the cost to create her, so I have a bit left over for a wand. Will probably at least include the ones listed above, plus maybe material vulnerability (wood).

>Mostly I'd like to flesh more out. What jumped out to me was Gloomy's woobie status; he'd probably become a favorite of the other players quickly
Well, I meant him to be cute. I thought he could be fun for character development or comic relief. Something about a psychotic necromancer committing various war crimes, and then speaking sweetly to the colt that she's totally-not-grooming-for-sacrifice humors me.

>If I assume she's way OP, but she's not even close, her challenges are probably going to be a bit higher than they ought to be.
I'm a good sport. I won't get pissy just because my evil little pseudo-vampire dies from an overpowered fight. I might feel a little bit annoyed if I feel like I'm just killed with zero options to fight back or avoid it, but overall it's just roleplay, so throw whatever you have at me.
I just hope that, even if you're not using XP, you'll let me level up with a degree of fairness proportional to whatever challenges you throw at me.

>Equestria follows the "historical" playthrough of Equestria at War save for New Mareland's Empire. I think that The Dread League will usually be Society of Bones in a historical playthrough, so that may make most sense.
Okay. I'll take note of that.

>>167507
>I might be more comfortable with more characters than with supernatural qualities, since it's easy for me to quantify the effects of another melee fighter, and more characters allows for roleplay possibilities.
Well, I also thought I should cut them because I couldn't actually afford them as thralls, but if they're NPCs that represent factions of the Dread League that could be a thing.
I could still make them now though, given some time. What level should they be?

>>167489
Amber turns to the other griffons. "We need to split up and search for it. Let's meet back here in ten minutes."

>>167497
>I'm open to suggestions.
There's not much to add, though I would like to remark on just how different Posie is from everypony else. She's a stillborn alicorn turned into a dark messiah necromancer and none of the other PCs come close in strangeness. By comparison, a kirin druid and a Sevrayanan war hero are decidedly average in comparison not to mention my own character, who is intentionally as boringly ordinary as you can get. It's a very creative concept for a character and I hope to see her in-game, but it will be an "Aerith and Bob" situation unless if she disguises herself. Maybe she will need to balance her need to stay inconspicuous with her true nature's hautiness? And if she does disguise herself she needs to worry about ponies mistaking her as a changeling, since everypony is paranoid about them as they are also disguised as ordinary ponies.

>>167498
>I do need to say that for many of the characters in Occupied, who have no magical abilities, I like to contrast them against the supernatural, especially against cosmic horrors, as it is something alien to them. Posie, because she will be by far and away the most knowledgeable player character, and frankly above most non-player characters in the setting, is most likely going to receive mundane horrors as a contrast because it would be alien to her. The setting is modeled on the world wars, so there is a lot of mundane horror to work with.
This is perfect! I do find it interesting how, compared to OE, threats in FiM are usually the eldritch variety rather than mundane. And the whole point of EaW is that the ponies of the show are contrasted with the mundane horror of world war which they're ill-equipped for.

>>167506
>No offense, but the way you describe it, it sounds like my high-HP necromancer with some extra summoning spells isn't exactly the biggest balance concern here when I'm hearing about NPCs attacking the party with machine guns and bombs.
Actual machine guns (not just SMGs, though those are used by more serious threats too) don't pop up as often as you'd think so you don't have to worry that much about them. I don't think we've encountered actual heavy weapons like tanks or bombs in combat yet either; they will likely be at higher levels.

>>167507
>balance
To me it looks fine. Also balance is a secondary objective compared to fun. I consider Silver Sword the strongest active PC, probably stronger than Iron and definitely stronger than Amber, but that's perfectly OK. It's up to the DM and it might take a little while for him to go through everything since he's often busy.

>>167505
> and can't use conventional healing items
Now if your character can't heal very efficiently, that's a serious reduction in power.
>I was kind of fond high HP though, since I'm outright destroyed if I go to 0
Okay, that's a fair argument for needing more HP
>Gloomy is not a realistic child. He's a tortured soul bred and raised for pony-sacrifice, possessed by an ancient demon, and comes from a society where being raped by vampires or eaten by ghouls is a fact of life, and by some latent talent/insanity remains alive anyway. He also acts affectionate to his "mother" despite her being demonstrably evil, narcissistic, cruel and generally insane.
>I meant him to be cute. I thought he could be fun for character development or comic relief
What

>My inspirations for him were Stygian (season 8), Chrona (Soul Eater), and various Binding Of Isaac characters.
I have seen this pony show, yes. Not those other things though
>Spells
I will look through them when I have the time

>Are you using d20 Modern rules for modern weaponry? Iirc, that was a reflex save vs damage
Mostly I've been winging it so far

>No offense, but the way you describe it, it sounds like my high-HP necromancer with some extra summoning spells isn't exactly the biggest balance concern here when I'm hearing about NPCs attacking the party with machine guns and bombs
scrunches
In the few instances where machine guns have shown up, the players have command over a literal dozen NPCs, and with weapons like machine guns and mortars. There has been no bombs or indirect fire artillery.

>That sounds like a pretty brutal encounter
Yes.

>I originally wrote Posie as an implicit necrophiliac
Well okay then...

>>167522
>What
I haven't really finished writing him. The book is still open. The general theme is sad + cute + a bit creepy. It's still in writing.
Gloomy is conceptually meant to be either the perfect Slaymate or a potential apprentice. Posie does attend to his wellbeing and health and makes him feel cared for, in her own ways.
>if your character can't heal very efficiently, that's a serious reduction in power
I will not undersell you on my abilities: I *can* heal efficiently, just in limited ways.
I can heal, it's just that I can't really be healed by others or by items, which means I have to rely on my class resources (and by extension, my own action economy) entirely.
>Not those other things though
Not super relevant anyway. Only a vaguely allusion that I actually meant to cut out before posting.
>I've been winging it so far
Based.
>players have command over a literal dozen NPCs
Well, that's my plan as a necromancer.
>okay then...
Also not super relevant, plus open to recommendation/development/rewrite.

Anyways, I'll finish up my character and start whenever you're ready.

Per player recommendation, I've been trying to backread (skim) some old posts, although it's pretty convoluted and difficult to follow. Something peaked my interest though. What is this "Curwhinny's Farm" place? I read something about ghouls lairing there.
That adventure seems to stretch across multiple threads, and I can't tell if it was ever really resolved or what it was really about, but the site itself interests me, because although Rosie wouldn't really know anything about Equestrian politics or history, she might know rumors about any local undead.

>>167517
>none of the other PCs come close in strangeness
>decidedly average in comparison
See, that's where I'm a little hesitant to insert my edgy pseudo-vampire special snowflake into your tea party, because I don't want to be a dick. I can rewrite my character however the rest of you would prefer, if you wish.
>It's a very creative concept for a character and I hope to see her in-game
Oh, that makes me feel better about it then.
>Maybe she will need to balance her need to stay inconspicuous with her true nature's hautiness?
>disguise herself
Yeah, that's kind of the point. It's the attitude of undead monsters with any interest in mingling with the living (vampires, etc) have, if they're interested with their continued existence. Also an attitude necromancers carry.
Posie herself looks like a normal unicorn at a glance, being the type of Necropolitan that looks more like a vampire. She's stark white like fresh snow (and just as fluffy) with a crimson mane. Her most monstrous feature is her eyes, piercing and frightful, just slightly sunken in their sockets (which could be mistaken for mascara),
>"Let me into the cemetery. I am normal, and can be trusted around corpses."
>needs to worry about ponies mistaking her as a changeling, since everypony is paranoid about them as they are also disguised as ordinary ponies
Well, I guess that'll be a challenge then. Going to have to beat the changelings at their own game. Sounds like fun.

>>167517
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1dTcUyzQL8 [Embed]

"I don't know if I want to take that long, but let's do it." Erich says

Though Erich and Federkleid are hesitant to split up, they do so all the same, each griffin moving to try to find something of use in the relatively small train station.

[1d20+1 = (8+1) = 9]
[1d20 = 18]
[1d20-1 = (12-1) = 11]

[1d20 = 14]

>>167517
>>167537
Helder returns, stating "I found teh waiting room, restrooms, the ticket counter, the control room... but nothing of direct use."

Erich has little to comment, save that he noted where staff members would stand at the end of the platforms.

It's Federkleid who has the most important information:
"I watched a porter walk through a door by the platforms. I looked inside. All of the rooms for the trainline staff are inside a hallway there, accessible from the platform, and probably a door somewhere to the left of the main entry."

Any chance that I (Rosie) could play soon?

>>167539
Probably. It'll probably take some time to finalize the details of spells and combat powers, but that doesn't really matter because the first instances of combat are probably not going to happen very quickly, and Posie becoming acquainted with Baltimare can happen first

If you want to try to start Posie's arrival into Baltimare, you can state what she's carrying, what the gist of her cover story and purpose in Baltimare is and what have you.

>>167540
>state what she's carrying
I spent almost all of my money on becoming undead and getting bonus feats, so not much in terms of expensive weaponry or magic items.
She'd have:
>a spell component pouch + unholy symbol
>a dagger
>a compound bow + arrows
>forged passport and medical certification
>Medpack
>Mortician's outfit
>Spare robes
>Portable bedroll
>Book of assorted grim fairy tales
>Water bottle
>A week of rations
>A tin of those delicious strawberry candies that grandmas carry
>Brush and comb
>Saddlebags
>grotesque leather barding
>Coinpurse
>Maybe some jewelry

As for her cover story, I'm going with the "Necrologist" gig. She studies the dead, which is a relevant field with the ongoing war and mass casualties.
>Let me into the morgue. I am normal, and can be trusted around corpses.
Gloomy is her adopted son. His condition isn't medical, but Posie simply says he's anemic in case he draws any attention.
Her purpose in Baltimare is one part spiritual pilgrimage and one part military infiltration. She's setting up operations in Equestria so that if the Dread League succeeds in toppling the Arcturian Order and subsequently declares war on the world, it will already have an army yo support it here in Equestria. She's also interested in exploring the supposed ancestral home of ponykind, and increasing her own personal powers.

I'm kind of really tired after work though, so I can't RP right now.

>>167540
>It'll probably take some time to finalize the details of spells and combat powers
While you're at it, I would like you to answer a couple questions about what I made, and/or ask for your specific approval of variant rules that I referenced. I'm not finished with it, but I won't be finished until I know what you're cool with. These are the most iffy parts, so this might make it easier for you:

1. Are you okay with me being created by an "Expert" or by experts in the Dread League? That being, my Mentor is a lvl 8 (Apprentice feat says they're at least lvl 8) or higher Dread Necromancer with all the appropriate undead-creation feats from Libris Mortis and Dragon #312 (Corpsecrafter, Nimble Bones, Uncanny Speed, Heightened Strength, Improved Animations, Bolster Resistance, Deadly Chill, Heightened Agility, Vicious Claws), provided that I use my starting equipment to pay for the services? I made this decision on the grounds that my backstory would mean I had access to multiple necromancers, as per some of the text in their respective sources, but that might have been a wrong assumption to make without consulting you first. I wanted this because it would let me necro-max my undead body, since I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but it does increase Posie's physical abilities greatly.
If you don't want me to pay for those as professional services, I would like to take some of those feats myself.
I should be honest and mention that several of the Necromantic feats in Dr#312 might be considered redundant with the Corpsecrafter feats, so maybe you might not want me to have both if I use one.
If I had to choose one feat category, I would choose the necromantic feats, as the Corpsecrafter tree doesn't stack with items or the Undead Mastery ability.

2. The Bonus feats Iron Will and Stealthy are both boons granted from magical locations in the Complete Scoundrel: the Otyugh Hole and the Ironwyrm Vault. They each have an equipment value in gp for the price of a bonus feat, but they might be too setting specific for your liking; actually, they're completely setting specific and I refluffed them without thought, which was wrong of me. Those feats aren't very important to me (although I would like Stealthy), so I'll cut them if you don't like me spending money on what's intended as a reward for a sidequest. I'm kind of short on money anyway.

3. I picked the Defiler feat from Dragon Magazine with intent to use Defiling magic rules in the pony setting. You may not like that, because turning forests to toxic ash for the benefit of enhancing might not be appropriate for the pony setting where running out of forest to consume isn't a considerable challenge. This isn't essential to my character, but it was an evil aesthetic I liked, and it felt like a nice substitute to the scarce black onyx gems that I'm bound to run out of in making undead.
Cerebrosis is granted by a magical location too, but it's not setting specific.

4. My (future) cohorts, Caligo and Thresher: you mentioned wanting me to put them earlier. I can do that, but should I just consider them two levels below me, as normal cohorts?
This goes for Gloomy too, but he's not supposed to be a combatant or servant.
If you'd like for me to pay for them using my starting equipment as "thralls" (the term used for slaves in the Dread League), I could fit them in at appropriate level budgets, provided that I cut one or two of the magical location bonus feats. In that case, I could control them telepathically using my normal command undead abilities, which was my plan in the first place before I realized I had run out of starting gold. I would actually like this, because starting with a couple undead under my control sounds like fun, since I'll only be able to animate them later.

5. Will it be possible for me to buy spell components and items in the city? I've already considered that I'll probably have to rob graves to get corpses, but the black onyx gems and diamonds to animate them might be hard to get. You don't really need to answer that, since the economy isn't necessarily something that Rosie would know about.

6. I used taint rules from Heroes Of Horror, the same book the Dread Necromancer comes from (also used in Oriental Adventures and Unearthed Arcana). I would like to use this because tain interacts with a lot of other options from that book and the Dread Necromancer class, but it is an optional rule (also, at DM's discretion, a variant to the alignment system),so I guess I should have asked you first. Are you cool with that?

7. The Undead Weaknesses come from Terrors Of The Deadlands. They don't give me any extra powers as I applied then, but I felt like I should cite them.

>>167540
>>167541
>If you want to try to start Posie's arrival into Baltimare
I can start when you are ready, btw. I'm less exhausted than last night.

>>167537
>>167538
Amber looks pleased at these results. "Good work, gang. We should get uniforms there and meet up to board the train. It would look suspicious if we all went in together, one by one would be better. Helder, would you like to be our pioneer? If not, I'll go first."

>>167552
>Are you okay with me being created by an "Expert" or by experts in the Dread League? That being, my Mentor is a lvl 8 (Apprentice feat says they're at least lvl 8) or higher Dread Necromancer with all the appropriate undead-creation feats from Libris Mortis and Dragon #312 (Corpsecrafter, Nimble Bones, Uncanny Speed, Heightened Strength, Improved Animations, Bolster Resistance, Deadly Chill, Heightened Agility, Vicious Claws), provided that I use my starting equipment to pay for the services? I made this decision on the grounds that my backstory would mean I had access to multiple necromancers, as per some of the text in their respective sources, but that might have been a wrong assumption to make without consulting you first
I'm kind of skeptical. This is both because of my aversion to min-maxing generally, and also because I'm unsure how it fits with the character. As I understand it, Posie isn't quite some abomination built by the big bad at the end of the movie to serve as a boss fight; she is one prototype of presumably many in a long line of experimentation as a part of a collaborative project between two factions that presumably was aborted when the factions diverged, leaving Posie as one of the more successful remnants of an unsuccessful project.

>The Bonus feats Iron Will and Stealthy
I'd need to look into this

> My (future) cohorts, Caligo and Thresher: you mentioned wanting me to put them earlier. I can do that, but should I just consider them two levels below me, as normal cohorts?
This goes for Gloomy too, but he's not supposed to be a combatant or servant.
At the moment, just present tag-alongs, unless they are supposed to come over separately.

>Will it be possible for me to buy spell components and items in the city?
If you have to ask that question, you clearly do not understand just what kind of modernist, cosmopolitan hellhole Baltimare is supposed to be. Almost anything, from military weapons, to historical or magical artifacts, to rare and exotic animals, to slaves can be bought in Baltimare, or someone who could obtain them could be found in Baltimare, if only you know where to look.

>I picked the Defiler feat from Dragon Magazine with intent to use Defiling magic rules in the pony setting. You may not like that, because turning forests to toxic ash for the benefit of enhancing might not be appropriate for the pony setting where running out of forest to consume isn't a considerable challenge
It would likely be difficult, though very far from impossible, to find locations that can be defiled subtly in Baltimare or the surrounding regions. It's reasonably densely populated, though there is wilderness.

>I used taint rules ... Are you cool with that?
I'm not familiar with that

>>167556
"But first" Federklied says,
"We must obtain the uniforms"

>>167558
Amber looks unclear. "Aren't the uniforms in that staff room?"

>>167559
>>167556
Wait. I may have misread. uh....

>>167559
"Well..." Helder places a claw behind his head and rubs his neck

"I think I would be more useful keeping a lookout on the platform..."

>>167560
"Good idea. Federkleid, follow me in after a couple of hours, then Erich, then Helder. Hopefully they don't notice the newcomers or I can convince whoever sees us."

>>167561
"Hours?" Federklied asks, evidently not understanding Amber's plan

>>167563
>>167561
>>167562
>>167558
As this comedy of errors in the posts proceeds, Amber must now discover for herself:

Is she only medium Sneaky? Or is she just the griffin to infiltrate the KaiserlicheBahn?

>>167564
Do I roll move silently, or is it just a matter of looking inconspicuous?

>>167565
Couldn't hurt to move silently. Amber is, unfortunately, largely deprived of her cuteness superpowers in this form.

>>167441
The two medics finish bandaging up their respective ponies. The two ponies are as ready as they can be right now. Silver knows there are enemies across the street, although save for a few open windows, their location is not known with much precision.

Silver hears the roar of a plane, a changeling medium machine gun fire somewhere in the distance opening fire, and then multiple machine guns firing back.

>>167568
>>167565
Amber moves to the door, which she confirms is not locked, and opens it. It leads to a short hallway with foor doors, all along the right. The first is to a small room that seems to hold tickets. The second is for conductors. The third is for porters. The fourth is for guards.

>>167569
Amber looks down at her own stature. Being such an old, wizened griff, Amber is certainly not suited for porter's work, let alone a guard's. It would be much riskier impersonating a conductor, and she has only a basic understanding of what a conductor actually does, yet if anygriff could pull off the look of a conductor, it would be her. Breathing in, Amber opens the door to the conductors' room and steps inside.

>>167567
This is as good a moment to cross to the ministry as any. Silver naturally goes first, keeping his machine gun at the ready and keeping an eye out for any changeling attacks.

>>167570
Breathes in
[1d20 = 2]

>>167571
Just run across? With no cover?

>>167570
Amber sees that there is a griffin inside of the room, sitting in a chair and reading some sort of novella, but in a position that he'd clearly see Amber as she entered. On the positive side, it does appear that that are uniforms on a rack by the wall

>>167572
I mean, is there any cover?

>>167574
Covering fire, or something like smoke. There is no physical cover to cross.

>>167575
Covering fire would mean leaving someone behind, and as far as I know they lack anything like smoke grenades in their arsenal.

>>167572
>>167573
Amber walks in as if nothing is amiss. "At least the weather is decent," she grumbles to nopony in particular.

>>167577
The griffin looks up towards Amber
[1d20 = 12]

>>167576
The radio carried by the white pegasus spontaneously plays a message that Silver can tell comes from the Brigadier General:

"Per Magister Mannis, 'Broken Back' protocols have been enacted. All reserve equipment is now available."

>>167577
>>167578
"You just get here?" The griffin asks, looking back to his novella and not at Amber

>>167578
Before Silver goes, this gives him an idea.

"Can you radio in and request they fire smoke artillery shells into street?"

>>167580
"I can ask" He says. He speaks into the radio

"Are smoke rounds available for the north side of the Transit Ministry?"
[1d20 = 3]

>>167580
>>167581
The response is quick
"Negative. We're working on bringing in mortars. But they are not here yet."

>>167582
"Дерьмо. What is available?"

>>167578
>>167579
Amber nods nonchalantly. "Yeah. They're a little worried about being understaffed today so they're calling in a few extra griffs, specifically those retired or close to retirement."

>>167583
The white pegasus just gives the radio to Silver.

"The mortars exist, it's just a matter of getting them there quickly enough... Planes are circling... There's a tank."

>>167584
He raises an eyebrow
"You're close to retirement?"

>>167585
"What kind of armament are those planes carrying?"

>>167585
"Looking forward to it. I've been saving up for a nice little cottage in Feathisia. Can't come soon enough."

>>167586
".50 Caliber Machine guns and 5 inch rockets." He answers

>>167587
"How?" He asks. "Hard to believe anyone could go without a job who isn't landed."

"Heh" He leans back

>>167588
"Hmm, okay, how long until mortars are ready to fire?"

>>167589
"Could be... ten minutes?"

>>167590
"Дерьмо...every minute we wait is another we risk them setting off any bomb they have. We could use straffing runs on north side of transport ministry so we can cross street to enter building."

>>167591
White Pegasus:
"Your call"

>>167592
Silver calls over the radio:

"We need straffing runs on north side of Transit Ministry to keep changelings pinned while we cross to ministry."

>>167593
"This is Flash Magnus Squadron Leader requesting clarification: Strafing run from North to South for suppression, or strafe in circle Southeast to Northeast for effect?"

>>167588
Amber smiles back. Hopefully it doesn't seem forced. "Scrimping and saving is the way. Oh and how I've done without the finer things in life for far too long." She shrugs ruefully. "But I will have to go without for a little longer." Amber puts on the conductor's uniform.

>>167594
"Straffing run North to South for suppression."

>>167595
>Ruefully
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G629a_3MkkI [Embed]

"If only I had the same luxury. Humph."
Amber now has on the conductor's uniform.

>>167596
"Roger that. In holding position. Making run in 15..."

>>167597
"Alright everypony, get ready to run.'

>>167598
Silver hears the roar of the plane get closer and closer, and then
TAT TAT TAT

Silver can hear bullets pellet the edge of the building he's in, and at points, break through the roof, causing splinters of wood and chips of paint to slowly rain down inside the structure.

>>167597
"Best of luck with the shift today," Amber says as she goes out the door, apparently ready to do this job. She opens the door she came in from, and gives a casual nod in the direction of the group. She then goes the other way, in the direction listing the departing trains.

>>167599
Silver stays calm and looks out to the transit ministry, waiting for the stream of bullets to begin hitting the building for the signal to run.

>>167600
Amber sees the set of arrivals and departures. Trains come in from far away - From Middlehiem to Helhiem to Griffinhiem, or Luxwingbird to Reitschied to Vinnin to Griffinhiem, or Osnabeak to Vinnin to Griffinhiem, or from Katerinburg to Griffinhiem, or all the way from Bronzkreuz to Crona... or From Hellquill to Beakua to Soldau... And all of these back again on the departures. Trains are pretty regular, about every 40 minutes.

The other griffins move past Amber

>>167601
The ponies move to the left of the building, to the vestibule outside of the main room, and to the wide, wooden doors. Silver hears the "thud thud thud" of bullets hitting the building, and then across to the transit ministry. Then he hears a few bullets fire from presumably within the transit ministry. Another roar, and another plane moves in, making another run.

>>167602
As the second run begins, Silver shouts out "GO GO GO!" as he runs out towards the transit ministry.

>>167602
Amber looks for and makes a mental note of the train that will depart to Hellquill, if there is one there. If there is, does it look like it is at an early stage of readiness?

[1d20 = 18]
[1d20 = 13]
[1d20 = 8]

>>167603
With more TAT TAT TAT's, the planes fly overhead. Silver can hear that they tend to hit the upper two floors of the transit ministry, and often hit the building from which they came. Sometimes, the bullets move a little lower, and closer to the street than desired. Silver can hear that at least one changeling is trying to shoot back at the passing planes, or at least does so twice. The shots in response are only a few taps.

Silver looks across to see that there are windows a couple feet above the ground level, some of which are shattered. A few have brick protrusions beneath the windows
[1d20 = 4]

>>167604
>>167606
Not yet. Arriving in 15 minutes.

>>167607
Amber, like any self-respecting conductor, checks her pocket watch, and waits a few minutes for her friends to emerge.

>>167605
Seems like a well-suited entry point into the building when he makes it to the other side...assuming the changelings don't spot them.

>>167608
Her friends emerge after probably two minutes, all dressed in uniforms, though it seems they are porters (for Helder and Erich) and an assistant conductor (for Federklied).

Amber can see that they are not alone, however, with another staff member walking from the central ticket hall to a train at the platform, and at least one police officer moving along the platform.

>>167609
But as the ponies are crossing, there is more "TAT TAT TAT"

[1d20 = 7]
[1d20 = 1]
[1d20 = 2]

[1d6 = 4]

>>167611
Can Silver see where from?

>>167611
>>167609
It's a distance of perhaps 70 feet, with the center being dirt, and the last 15 feet being poured concrete. It's only perhaps two windows that are open, and both require somewhat slowly moving into the window. Silver makes it across, then Streak, the purple stallion, the white stallion, each of the medics, and eventually Azula....

Silver can guess it's likely the third-floor window three over to the right.