/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

I wrote more than 1400 words about why Posey putting on the tiara pisses me off. I'm not sure I should post it, but it was definitely necessary for me to write it.

>>180968
Okay, so I haven' commented on the nightclub, but first off:

"Neighpone" is not a place in Equestria at war. You could probably insert it... somewhere, but I have idea where that is.

In Occupied Equestria, much like real life, organized criminal syndicates form mostly under ethnic lines by groups of immigrants. Baltimare's "Waterfront Gang" is actually kind of unique within the setting for being comparatively multicultural, and even then, it's lead by a native and has a clear relationship with Diamond Dogs as the main assistants. A random immigrant just walking in and taking over in a location where she is alien just seems... Unnatural.

Baltimare has a very firmly established monopoly on organized crime: The Waterfront Gang, lead by The Lady, and enabled by the Social Democrat Party. Any other operators of illegal gambling or whatever within Baltimare are going to be automatically at war with both The Waterfront Gang, and the Police.

Also, as I said to Posey:

Bat Ponies are not indigenous to "Neighpone." They are specifcally indigenous to the Equestrian Southeast. Whatever "neighpone" is, bat ponies don't come from there.

>>180970
>how, kirins?
This is where my ignorance of EaW starts to shine through,... I sorta always thought of bat ponies as asians or stand-ins, like how ziggers and griffons,....
>>180971
Again, I'm increasingly appreciative about how the idea needs work,.... But uh, you see the direction I'm TRYING to go with it,....

>>180964
>New Baltimare is the former Equestrian colony in Griffonia and is the seat of the Blackhooves's power.
I'm pretty certain she's there from what I remember from the first session with this character years ago. It also makes the sense for her character to be looking for her lost friend who presumably joined the Blackhooves at their seat of power, know that I think about it.

Thank you for your lore insights.

>>180959
>why I think what he is doing (and why) is so cool. :3
^^
You mean like that others need proper setup to get the payoff? Yeah, it is a bit hard to know how to implement such story telling ideas into a game like this. Hopefully, our characters can entertain us.

>>180968
If you're interested in opening a business and not being an adventurer, consider the dragonlance Master class:
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseDragonlance/master.html
The Master class is basically a better version of the Expert NPC class. It lets you optimize certain downtime skills. It absolutely sucks in combat, but you won't care when you're making fat stacks of cash using the Profession skill.
Then check the DMG2 rules for running a business, which involves a specialized profession check. This basically turns it into a business management minigame (pic related).
Your lvl 5 starting gold is about everything you need to buy moderately sized building, as well as the supplies you need for your business.
After you've established your franchise, you could even turn your establishment into a guild, using Favored In Guild, Leadership and GuildMaster.

>>180974
>>180976
There are a couple options for a Japanese-influenced character's origins. You have the kirin cultures, obviously, but there is a pony option out there, however odd it may be. Lake City, also known as Jezeragrad, is a pony country in the Riverlands (Eastern Griffonia) based loosely on Serbia judging from its language, but it also has a lot of Japanese flavor to it at the same time. A couple specific examples are a focus in its Princely Restoration path granting planes the ability to suicide attack (kamikaze), and the various manufacturing Guilds within the nation, including one guild named "Maresubishi". It wouldn't be too hard to develop other varied Japanese-inspired elements such as the Yakuza coming out of Lake City, or from Lakeish immigrants.

>>180971
GM, after a night of rest, I want to say that I apologize for my actions last night. What I did was stupid, inconsiderate, disruptive, broke character, and didn't even make sense in the context at the moment.
I should have considered your feelings when I did what I did. As a DM myself, I should have known that DMs do a lot more work behind the screen than is obvious to the players, and that it can be really demoralizing when a player suddenly decides to do something profoundly stupid, especially when concerning a powerful artifact. A DM is a player too and deserves to have fun with the game, and to have their efforts validated. I'm sorry to cause you so much unnecessary stress.

I could explain the logic of what I did in a way that makes me look better, but it wouldn't change the fact that I was in the wrong.

I hope we can work out a way to resolve what happened (or didn't happen, because technically me neglecting to roll opposed disarm checks amounts to choosing to fail them), in a way that makes things better.

If you want to dump your angry rant, that's fine with me. I won't take it personally or get depressed like I did last week (I was dealing with real life trouble at the time and I was at a breaking point).

>>180974
None of the EaW races are completely 1-to-1 equivalents with real-life races. The closest we get to that is zebras = Africans and kirins = Asians. Other than that we get:
Ponies = Americans and Europeans including British and French (Equestria), Russians (Severyanans), Sami (snowponies), Mesoamericans (southeast tribals), and Czechs + Ancient Greeks + Balkan Slavs (River Ponies)
Changelings = German but Imperial Griffons are also German (don't ask why)
Griffons are also a slew of other European nationalities
Deer = Finns, Gypsies and Indians
Hippogriffs = Americans
Buffalo = Injuns
Minotaur = Greeks
Saddle Arabians = Arabs
Oh, and batponies are some sort of stand-in for Afro-Americans because they are discriminated against and stay up at night, but otherwise have nothing in common.

Confused yet? You should be. The easiest way to learn the basics is to open the EaW map and tag switch to learn which country has which race and which culture.

>>180979
>>180981
Tbh, I'm really not fond of EaW world building in some ways. It's a good pony adaptation for HoI, but it's world-building leaves a lot to be desired. Imperial Japan was a major player in WWII, but EaW doesn't really represent Asia well at all, despite having equivalencies for other countries. When they added Kirin they made them part of the Zebra continent.
As for languages, maybe we could consolidate languages into language groups? 3.5e doesn't account for humanoids if the same race having hundreds of different languages. D20 modern, which is based on real life, makes it much easier for PCs to learn new languages.

>>180981
Herzland Griffons are like this weird mix of Austrians and Byzantines, while Equus Changelings (not Greneclyf Changelings) are German Germans.

>>180975 →
Unfortunately, I loathe HOI4. It took me 170 hours to realize I just don't enjoy it (with at least 100 of those hours being EaW). My autism is simply not alligned with map simulators. Strange, cause I fucking love Risk but I can't get into games like HOI4, Stellaris, or CKII.

>>180978
I'm not interested in ACTUAL values of money, I want the established pretense. I hate accountant shit IRL, I don't want to do it in game. Lacey WILL have an established character sheet, in anticipation of the possibility that GM someday decides "Ha ha, she's getting kidnapped and has to escape", or even something as mundane as her wee sexy frame deciding to give the bouncers a break and fuck up somepony causing a scene. She will not be INTENDED for combat, but she will be well suited to it.
Though, I will admit to having bookmarked this one page that describes how to have absurd money at level 1, and then building her up to level 6 by comparison advancement in the DMG (which I found recently ^_^), so maybe I will get autistic and do that. Idk
>>180979
Well, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to modify what I have to fit in as her family being tied to an existing Kirin dynastic family. Like, historically this family of bats could have been private ninjas or something, who in 'present day' have come to be involved/significant in some area of criminal underground? I want to keep the japanese style/motif, as well as the underlying theme of Brie having stumbled into a specific area of the criminal world that is normally reserved for elite families. Its tropey as shit, I know, but it makes me smile and it is exactly the sort of context that would motivate Brie to seek money and power. NGL, unless inspired I'm not big on the specific details; I don't have any specifics about her appearance yet other than "Looks like Lucky, and has a weird sclera effect for her family's eyes". Eventually I will be inspired to include details, and those details will always have been so.
>>180981
Very confused. I've been pouring through one of the many, surprisingly many EaW wikis.

>>180980
I wasn't affected since I wasn't playing at the time but
pat pat
>>180982
>Tbh, I'm really not fond of EaW world building in some ways.
It comes from a bunch of disparate headcanons being reconciled with each other and with an increasingly disjointed canon world. It could certainly be improved upon.
>As for languages, maybe we could consolidate languages into language groups? 3.5e doesn't account for humanoids if the same race having hundreds of different languages. D20 modern, which is based on real life, makes it much easier for PCs to learn new languages.
I'm totally in favor of this, but it's not something that's easily done on the fly. We really could use an official OE handbook to help with all this. A lot of good stuff from DnD Modern and other systems could be ported over.

>>180985
>I've been pouring through one of the many, surprisingly many EaW wikis.
All of them are probably out of date
>weird sclera effect
If you really want it, go for it, but changeling infiltrators are singled out for having weird eyes so keep that in mind.

>>180985
It's not really all that complicated. It's just a few d20 rolls using your skill mod. If you can handle playing a rogue, you can handle running a fictional business.

>>180987
There's fun tables you can roll for story events related to your business.
The DMGII is full of these fun rules. It's a good book.

>>180987
>>180988
While I can appreciate that that's all appreciable, for me that is the OPPOSITE of what I want to do. I just want the pretense of a modest business that covers for a very profitable and very illegal series of ciminal enterprise, under the auspices of a well established family of japanese-esque origins. Actual in-game money and valuables are of little interest to me as a player, just as long as my players have the "fine things" that their background and story would afford.

I've got plans for a business for my character(s), though that's more just for a little bit of passive income to help support my NPC collection addiction and to provide the facilities for crafting all kinds of equipment for all of the characters.

>>180929
Oh, I can definitely think of ideas for the character I hope I can do her justice.

>>180930
Hmmm... Well, for now, you control her, so I can see more of what your vision for her is. I suppose that if you want longer, interactive flashbacks, then we can do that, if perhaps a little later.

>>180989
Imo, the real draw of it is having rules for running your business and story events related to your business. Profit checks once a month are just icing on the cake.
Suit yourself though. I just wanted to inform you that 3.5e has rules to accommodate all that stuff.
I had intended to pursue that with Posey after she bought some land, it being a Criminal enterprise, with a Research lab (University) as it's front, with the University of Arcane Sciences as it's associated guild.
>>180990
Passive income to support NPCs is probably the best use of it, aside from flavor.
You only make a profit check once per in-game month.
>>180929
Sounds like a Warmage:
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseCarc/warmage.html
Warmage is a class that is easy to play, and even easier to build: all of the spells are already chosen for you. I recommend it for new players who just want to blow things up.
In my games, I typically use it for enemy spellcasters, since it saves me the trouble of having to build a complex character sheet every time.
It's much weaker than Wizard or Sorcerer due to fixed spell access, but it gets all the good SRD evocation damaging spells, and more.
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/spells/classSpellLists/warmageSpells.html

>>180993
I can see the merit for the structure and rules, especially as something of an element for a base of operations or a recurring campaign setting, et al. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, though I'm not sure I want to engage that level of detail. Better first to fix the freakin' backstory.
That's another thing, I like to play fast and loose with the parts of backstories that will never get presented; dead relatives, being an easy example

>>180980
Well this makes me feel much better. You have no idea how pissed off I was. Seriously, for like 14 hours (including sleeping) I was fuming.

>I could explain the logic of what I did in a way that makes me look better, but it wouldn't change the fact that I was in the wrong.
You know what, I would like to hear that.

From where I sit, I am aware that what the tiara actually does is immediately mind control whomever puts it on, makes them more powerful than they were before, and then makes them hostile to whomever is around them. Posey deliberately putting it on comes off as outright malicious, and in a self-destructive way that is impossible for me to understand except extreme dickishness.

I get that the tiara having that effect isn't immediately obvious, but it's definitely telegraphed multiple times. In the notes its described as "possessing" its wearer, the red griffin wearing it is described as "not acting on his own volition" when it's asked why he is immune to Posey's fear effects, the unseen servant is described as "repulsed" by it, when Posey picks it up it is described as feeling like it has a static electrical charge, and then when Posey attempts to put it on, all of the griffins who have experience with it become hostile, and two of them describe it as "cursed" in English and Norwiegen. I get that that's not quite the same thing as explicitly stating that it is the instrument of TPK that it is, but I think that that states pretty clearly that putting it on is not only inadvisable, but inadvised; that is to say, I'm telling you don't do it. Then posts like >>180853 → imply to me that you actually expected the result you got. Combined with the fact that there was no effort to try to identify what it did with Arcana, it's hard for me to interpret this situation as anything other than you explicitly hoping to derail the entire quest line for shits and giggles.

>>180944
What did you think that the situation was?

>>180864 →
Where did this idea come from? Seriously, why would you believe this, and more importantly, why would you not attempt to confirm it in any way at all?

>>180843 →
It's not even actually a crown. It's just a tiara

>>180995
>a tiara
Ha, a dude was wearing a tiara! GAY!

>>180997
You should have seen what Brie was doing with a griffin

oooooo...oowooo?

>>180995
>You have no idea how pissed off I was. Seriously, for like 14 hours (including sleeping) I was fuming.
That makes me feel kind of bad... I'm sorry.
>You know what, I would like to hear that.
Well, here goes nothing.
I'll start by saying that what I did came from a bad place, and nothing I say is to justify my actions. I was tired and trying a new ADD medication, and the result was me acting like an inconsiderate fuck-up.
Anyway
>why would you not attempt to confirm it in any way at all?
>no effort to try to identify what it did with Arcana
Well, for starters, in my experience of playing 3.5e, rolling arcana doesn't usually reveal the effects of an item. I thought it was same for this game, as my arcana checks didn't really reveal the functions of the hyena totem or mask I found last year. I figured the only real way to learn the effects of an item is to try to use it.
>I am aware that what the tiara actually does is immediately mind control whomever puts it on, makes them more powerful than they were before, and then makes them hostile to whomever is around them.
Well, I thought that since it was capable of mind-controlling it's target, it must have a mind of its own, be it and intelligent item, a demon possessing it, or an undead spirit possessing it. I believed it was an intelligent item, as any hostile intelligent item can be considered to be cursed. Because I believed amit was an intelligent item, I treated it as an NPC that could potentially give us information or be negotiated with, and that the best way to know what its deal was was to listen to it by trying it on.
I actually thought of the crown to be something like a character foil for Posey: a evil item cursed by the nature of its making, trying to control others through power and fear, because deep down it's a lonely item that just wants to be treasured, adored and worn in all it's golden glory, since intelligent items universally wqnt to be used. I had typed out lines for what I would have said to it if it tried to communicate with Posey.
I also believed that the item would have a passable saving throw, so I decided to take the risk.
>unseen servant is described as "repulsed" by it, when Posey picks it up it is described as feeling like it has a static electrical charge
>describe it as "cursed"
See, in the moment, I was thinking reverse psychology here, and saw that as a challenge to experience the curse first hand, believing that there would be a detailed description awaiting me for the experience of the crown attempting to corrupt its wearer, kind of like the dream sequences in earlier threads. The description of it being cursed and evil only made it more attractive to Posey in character, and me out of character (I was curious). I know it's self-centered now, but since last week I believed that crown was an item made for Posey to try, even if doing so came with risks. Posey, in-character, believes in destiny, so she thought this was her moment.
>I get that that's not quite the same thing as explicitly stating that it is the instrument of TPK that it is
Well, the item didn't kill us when the griffon used it, so I didn't believe it was powerful enough to TPK us if Posey had it.
Of course, Posey becoming a hostile NPC is a danger to the party, but Silver had a readied action to knock it off her head if she became possessed after I announced my plan to do it, so I thought we would be able to handle it easily while gaining information about the item.
>I think that that states pretty clearly that putting it on is not only inadvisable, but inadvised; that is to say, I'm telling you don't do it.
Yeah... That makes sense in hindsight, but my communication skills irl aren't great, and even worse through text.
Instead of "don't do it" I read it as "Are you BRAVE enough to do it?" Pics related.
>Then posts like >>180853 → → imply to me that you actually expected the result you got.
I fully expected the item to try to dominate Posey (although I didn't expect it was so powerful that only a Nat 20 could pass it; that sounds like a deity-level major artifact), and I was prepared to face the consequences if it succeeded. I was also prepared to rely on Silver's readied action to knock it off of Posey's head as well.
Silver rolled a Nat 20 to knock it off, and Posey would have been flat-footed and unable to oppose the check.
>What did you think that the situation was?
I thought they were attack rolls meant to be resolved after Posey's action, to help Silver disarm the crown if Posey became possessed. This actually made me consider the situation to be even safer, because several characters where there to intervene if Posey lost control.
>Where did this idea come from?
Books, lore, similar items I've seen in d&d.
>why would you not attempt to confirm it in any way at all?
Poor decision making on my part, combined with the above explaination, and foolish impatience to see what the item did to Posey.
>It's not even actually a crown. It's just a tiara
Well, a tiara is like a crown, only for a princess, which made me think even more that this would be Posey's princess moment.

But overall, it was just me being an impatient, foolish, inconsiderate idiot. I am in the wrong. I apologize.

For the tiara situation, there are two basic routes:

Continue more or less with how things happened, with Posey putting on the tiara, Silver knocking it off, the griffins becoming either hostile or at least panicked, and then the tiara being shot by mala thrice, then carried out and dumped in the ocean by Cavaliere or one of the griffins or... something

Or, a retcon. Either to never attempt to put it on, or to Posey having the tiara slapped out of her hoof by the yellow griffin.

>>181002
Well... That's much better than what I though

>>181007
>destroyed
Granted
>discarded
Let's not get hasty,....

>>181007
I would really strongly prefer a path where the Tiara is still intact (also, RAW, a major artifact can only be destroyed in a single, specific way, so bullets really shouldn't hurt it), because I'm really interested in it and I believe it could be a source of amazing story or character development, but I also know that because I recklessly tried it on my opinion probably doesn't matter...
>Either to never attempt to put it on
Well, we could roll those Arcana/Religion checks.

>>181007
>retcon
A lot of the involved posts were deleted already, so maybe retcon is the best path.

>>181009
Ngl, Brie also wants to keep the tiara intact, even if it means voiding the badass rifle disarm Brie pulled. He doesnt want to use it, he wants to appraise it (hes good at that too). He sees potential value to,... well somepony like Rosie, and he would like a share in that value.

>>181009
>Noooo you can't destroy it with 12 gauge buck shot!
Who said it was a major artifact? And in any case, you don't need to destroy it. Just throw it into the sea and it's gone forever.

>>181011
I wasn't sure how to handle it in the moment. My first instinct was to just say out of character "Are you sure about that?" Then I figured I could have the characters do it in game in character. When that was ignored, I figured any out of character "Are you sure?" would be equally ignored, so I went into just describing the "find out" portion of "fuck around." I guess the players were into it, but I wasn't, because at that point the whole session and probably more had been thoroughly derailed and I was just sick of it.

>>181013
I should have been more considerate, sorry to derail your session.

Well, on the one hoof, I know Brie's player wants to use this event as an opportunity for Brie's character development. On the other, retconning would let us find ways to safely make use of the crown such that we can profit off of it, such as dismantling it to sell.

>>181009
pet pet pet
No, it matters, it's just...conflicted with GM pone's current feelings.

>>181013
What if it falls on the head of a whale? Or worse.... A whale pony?

>>181013
I assumed that Rosey wouldn't be permitted to cause any irreparable damage, except to themselves, by putting on the crown. It is expressly what I would have done in your case (lit "Drop to 0 health"), but I'm not happy about your experience of it all

In any case, I can work with it whichever way we decide to go, but retcon seems the easiest for everyone so I vote that.
The actual specifics of the retcon will only determine whether Brie has a rifle in his hooves, so I abstain on that

>>181041 →
Posey also appreciates amoebas. Some of them are her friends.

>>181042
^^
Well, sorry to tell you this. I ate them.

>>181021
One of Posey's few downsides is that, being undead, if she drops to 0 health she instantly disintegrates. There is no way to render her unconscious or incapacitated, which makes balancing danger more difficult. With a regular character, losing a fight isn't the end of the world but Posey tends to go ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK and there's no way to stop her without permanently ending her.

Okay, two options:

After Posey has tried on the tiara, with it knocked off on the ground, the griffins riled up, Brie holding the rifle, Mala attempting (failing?) to shoot it.

Before Posey decides to put it on.

Take your pick

Anyone have the 3.5e Dungeon Master's handbook?

>>181056
I don't have physical copy but I have this:
https://archive.org/details/dungeon-masters-guide-v-3.5/page/n15/mode/2up

>>181057
Thank you!

>>181052
I suppose in the former you can try to keep the tiara, but the griffins become hostile again.

Here is my proposed resolution of this whole tiara debacle.

Lots of rolls to insist on, but the one I WANNA focus on was Silver's ready-action to slap the taste/crown out/off Rosey's face/head, nat 20.

I say we go with that, the crown is off and on the ground.

Idk where initiative is, but I would HOPE that being connected to and unconnected to phenomenally ebil magics would produce a 1 round stun effect, kind of like an ill timed sun grenade (sorry Dust, thats gonna be a thing).

Going from memory, that would allow 2 of the griffons to react to the crown being on the ground

If not moved before his turn, Brie would kick the tiara away, and if this could be said to be a free-action interim, then Brie would kick the tiara away from everyone and then return the disarmed rifle to the gay griffon

For sake of brevity:

We can argue about where/what, or we can continue on and try not to nerf this whole game. ^,_,^

>>181052
>>181066
In the latter case, Posey would just immediately put the Tiara in her purse after snatching it off the griffon.
This would delay having to deal with the Tiara until later.

Ill ammend my previous to offer a choice:
1. Posey puts the crown away - saying something about how "These types of magics must be studied in a carefully controlled environment, the captain is lucky to be alive." - and Posey can collaborate with GM on what will.occur with it later.

Or

2. The tiara is on the ground and Rosey is stunned.

>>181075
>1. Posey puts the crown away - saying something about how "These types of magics must be studied in a carefully controlled environment, the captain is lucky to be alive." - and Posey can collaborate with GM on what will.occur with it later.
That does sound like something a smart and responsible Necrologist would say...

Not to discourage other player input here, Im speaking for myself, but am also drawing something of a line in the sand. As one of the most disruptive players in this game, I'm increasingly impressed with how easy it is to 'want' to spin their character in a particular manner that "makes sense". The problem is, while.plausible, the reactions that the player in the moment decides are one of 1000 actual options; its not inevitability, its impulsivity driving the actions.

Scenario 1 allows Rosey to reset and act the calculating pseudo-villain they seem to want to be.

Scenario 2 allows Rosey to indulge those fantasies strategically improperly and prematurely

I'm heavy-camping on GMs professed intent to 'let Posey have it just dont do the thing' here

As a GM, I HATE when players try to 'surprise' me with freak actions and shit. Im here for the shenanigens, but allow me to help YOU make it fun for everyone, while not disrupting all my hard work.

Is what Id say if I were GM

>>181071
Reeee it wasn't a grenade! It was divine zigger magical arts! Though now that I think about it I probably could have popped a thunderstone for similar effect without inducing eardrum bleeding....
Oops?

>>181080
You... have thunderstones...? I expressly asked for thunderstones... ;_;
It would have the same effect, I wanna say my save roll was a 9?

>>181081
The zeeb is trained in alchemy, and uses small alchemical weapons as ammo for his sling. I'm sure he can spare a few in the future.

>>181082
Just use em on enemies. No dex bonus means sneak attacks :3

>>181083
>but anon, thunderstones dont remove dex bonus
They do if you do it right ^_~

Ugh,I'm doing it again, sorry.
Stealth killers rely on one or both types of stealth, auditory and visual.
Impairing the hearing of oppnents can be exploited with certain skill checks, enabling a crafty ninja to land almost all strikes as sneak attacks, which Brie has at a 3d6

>>181059
Np, fren ^^

But back to the tiara
Im seriously and deliberately trying to structure this in a particular manner.

The underlying theme of the scenario compromise that is being proposed is this:

Yes, Posey can have the tiara if she is going to be responsible with it, and we can consider what transpired as a flash image in Rosey's mind as she briefly contemplated putting on the crown but deciding better of the idea.

We should retcon Posey putting on the tiara and have the party deliberate over what to do with it. Silver could have an interest in giving it to Pear and her university for study. Posey who is ostensibly from another university could contest it.

>>181081
I could give you Posey's eggshell grenades. They're more suitable for Ninja-like characters anyway.

>>181092
Once I have blind fighting, he'll only need smoke bombs.
There was no other way unless we were supposed to take 2 feats at 1st level for some reason.
He took weapon focus:dagger, to open up Advanced dagger mastery, and then weapon finesse.
Advanced dagger mastery enables a character who is not a monk to do flurry of blows but only with dagger and dagger-like. It also grants quickdraw and a few other perks, but thats the main benefit. A little cheesy on its own, but more understandable since Brie has the 1 monk dip, which technically allows him to do that anyway EXCEPT when armored, which ADM would seem to not prohibit.

Okay, so Cavaliere votes retcon, Brie votes let it play, I think Posey is in favor of a retcon? We need fluffernoodle and Grenazebra.

>>181019
pls don’t

>>181024
That’s just expressway not what the tiara is and the function it serves in the story. In the story, the tiara mind controls a griffin, causing him to be a danger to those around him. (I mean, more so). It’s a danger to self and others device.

>>181076
What would Posey say?

>>181079
Oh no, Posey explicitly stated “I’m going to wear this crown that I know has the effect of mind controlling people, giving them them extra powers, and making them hostile.” And everyone else was like “Nah, it’ll be fine.”

>>181080
You basically did throw a grenade in the room.

>>181081
Brie had one job: don’t explicitly give the friendly NPCs hosting the mission a reason to distrust you. Brie failed at this one job. So he didn’t get the goodies.

>>181095
Nono, my vote is retcon, I PREFER we let it play
>but the whales and fishes
Ngl, I was thinking it as well
>it'll be fine
Brie trusts Silver, more or less
>you were bad and got coal in ur stocking
Fair

>>181087
This one

>>181095
>What would Posey say?
Something along the lines of that, followed by "trust me, I'm a professional" as she vows to bring it back to the cursed items department at the university where it can be safely disposed of.
Or, that would have been the smart thing to say. Pic related
>and making them hostile
I thought there would be a saving throw to not be controlled by the item and to instead control it, but I guess I was patently wrong. You already saw my explanation.
>pls don’t
Rolling up and anthropomorphic (equipomorphic?) whale sea pony Bard character :3
just kidding
unless...?

>>181098
One thing you and I as GMs have in common is an appreciation for cursed items, however I am more like GM (seemingly) in that I condition my players to NOT play with the obviously evil thing - at their own emphatic risk/consequence - without preventative measures in place, and ESPECIALLY don't let it out of your hands/sight, thats how you get eldritch-kaiju field mice.

I hate Ziggers and jewelry

This image of Virgin Flame, I felt turned out great, so this is how she looks from here on.

>>181104
Okay. You can all stop dying of laughter. Here's the real pic.

>>181100
>I hate Ziggers and Jewelry
That was exactly the vibe after the session on Saturday...

>>181098
I'm kind of falling in love with leviathans. I need to make them show up as monsters or background pieces or even as interactable NPCs/creatures.

>>181104
It's so pretty. The exquisite singularity and application of just one color invites an almost synesthetic depth, imbuing the piece with a warmth that transcends mere chromatic selection.

>>181105
Oh. She's an earth pony, right? I did figure she was white.

>>181104
Kek

>>181107
>I'm kind of falling in love with leviathans. I need to make them show up as monsters or background pieces or even as interactable NPCs/creatures.
I can link you third some edition resources related to Leviathans if you want.
There's a leviathan in the MM2, which is basically a collosal whale. The MMII is not known for it's stellar monster editing, and I consider it's statblock to be a bit weaksauce for it's CR (no spells or ranged attacks), but the MMII leviathan is closest to the large whale you described. There's also also The Leviathan in Elder Evils (very good book), which is a titanic apocalyptic monster with am outline of a quest concerning it's awakening and containment; it also has less-apocalyptic-aspects that the party can fight. I believe there's also another version of Leviathans in dragon magazine that comes with its own article concerning its ecology.
There's also the anthropomorphic baleen whale race in an index of Savage Species. Anthropomorphic animals are somewhat poorly written, but the baleen whale is one that I have played before.
There are also many more leviathan-like collosal sea monsters in several other books that may fit your description, as well as several whale-like monsters (elsewhale, soarwhale, etc) and races. Several templates that can be applied to SRD monsters as well (aquatic template on a tarrasque, Kaiju template on a mundane whale, half-celestial/fiend/dragon whale, guardian monster, monstrous beast, etc).
I think there's a mention of Leviathans somewhere in Stormwrack, the book for aquatic/naval campaigns.
>>181105
Pretty. She shares Rosey Ring's color scheme.

>>181107
>I did figure she was no monkey
>>181111
> She shares Rosey Ring's color scheme.
The mane is the same but she had a light tan fur coat but she looked so good in white I decided against it.
>>181111
Thanks. ^^ Sadly, she has a nine in charisma.
>>181107
>She's an earth pony, right?
Indeed, she is.
>synesthetic
Didn't know what that was before. The more you know.
Also: ^^
>>181108
^^

>>181116
>9
Could be worse, mine is 6 ~_~
For roleplay purposes, Ill suggest 'slighly rude'

>>181123
>pic 1 related
^^
>>181118
>pic 2 related
^^
>Ill suggest 'slighly rude'
I came up with something similar but I worded it more like clumsy with her words. She means well after all. It's essentially the same.

>>181126
A Cute

>>181126
>Badger... Bear
Awww, Brie is cuddly :3

>>181095
>fluffernoodle
ur silly

I'd vote retcon, mostly because we weren't thinking straight and as a result our characters were decidedly out of character, and if we were thinking straight then things would have turned out much differently and this whole debacle wouldn't have occurred in the first place. I'd want Brie to get that moment of character development that his player wants, tho.

>>181133
>CM
I mean, thats gonna happen one way or another, its a question of "what memories/thoughts are gonna get triggered when it happens"

One of the main conditions for the CM trigger is "genuinely fearing for his life", which I intend that GM will see to. The rest is more or less established, and will be detailed when the time comes.

>>181126
"Bask in my celestial radiance! [Kraken noises]!"

>>181138
"Fear me! [whale pone noises]"

Zeeb here, I don't care what we do. I wasn't really involved. So I guess I abstain

Okay, so we have four(?) votes for a retcon... I think, and one abstention. Either way, retcon wins

poof

We're back to the very end of combat

>>181137
When did he fear for his life?

>>181133
wha

no ur silly

>>181147
When he was a colt, but never since, thats the thing

>griffon, gay, black
>jew nigger-faggot
Well played GM

>>181147
is silly
bleps

and
so
r
U

>>181143
> I abstain
I vote we take the zigger to the zigger-boiler and have him boiled immediately.

All in favor reply "Boil that zigger!"

>>181163
Nah, this one a qt. He can be granted honorary ponyship.

It's been a long time. When Amber got that invitation to Club Maurice, was it Dark Denizen or another pony that Dark Denizen sent? I haven't looked at it but I'm certain it was a bat pony and probably Dark Denizen.

>>181163
Boiling the zigger results in zigger distillation. You will seperate him by the stripes into two beings.

>>181123
Amber has 17 charisma. Her cuteness is just too much to handle.

>>181208
Is scared

>>181208
>>181226
Relax, its prolly the antag statblocks

>>181208
Lets see
17
17
... 17
Ooh 11
13
And another 17

And THEN
8
14
16
11
11
14

>>181208
>>181258
Aren't these hero-grade stats? When you roll stats for an average character you use three die instead of four, and you don't discard the lowest.

>>181264
Dont look at me, Im just tallying

I usually just use elite array when I make NPCs. Rolling is more fun for some, but I try to minimize the trouble I go through to make a character that the party is probably going to kill in the third round of combat.
Nice roll on the first one though.

>>181270
I only roll for adversaries that are likely to survive

>>181271
If they're important, I use point buy.

>>181274
If theyre important, I give them a mid-combat objectives. Simple versions are "dospel the armor buffs sp can hit"

So*

>>181271
What if they're gods? You don't use the Divine Array?

>>181281
>what if stuff that wont happen
You seem to need established rules

>>181282
>wont happen
Pfft, says you. There's no less than five demigods in this setting alone.

>>181270
>I usually use elite array
<I only roll for adversaries that will live
>what if theyre gods (cuz that matters?)
>what about
Muted

>>181291
And if they're relatively weak allies that are useful to be kept around?

>>181292
Weakness isnt a function of stats. Its not about the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog.

Also, if we're all good and all,....

That grenade took off 1/3rd of Brie's health,....

>>181296
Also, GM isnt allowed to roll damage for me anymore, especially not together with everyone. Call me paranoid, but these dice can lick my balls.

>>181297
>He thinks that his feeble decrees can save him from Fortuna’s malevolent whims
Darling. Bro. I haven’t rolled damage for you even once this whole game.

>>181128
^^
>>181130
Indeed. ^^ Olways lookon the bright side of life.~
>>181138
^^

>>181123
So your oc can sell mine anything
>>181226
and yours can turn her into a comfy footstool. Sorry, hoofstool.

Btw, GM I came up with few things that I'd like to run by you. As stated Hope's is yours so feel free to ignore these ideas if you feel like it.

Virgin Flame's character has continue to grow and I have come to realize that I'd prefer if she was more of bulky strong, hard-hitting kinda archetype. I like her best state to be str and I like her to buck hard that's why I was drawn to the barbarian class. However, I still want to keep the style of, well, her entire character but particularly the monk aspect. I still want her to fight unarmed for example. And while I know one can just used the aesthetics of a monk with barbarian with the feat unarmed, I like the idea of cross classing.

The idea is that during her time in the monastery, Vir was taught the monk ways but when she gained more independence due to different reasons, the her barbarian nature came out and she excelled in it instead.

Same idea goes for Hope's who was taught to heal, as in she gained levels in cleric before she later became a wizard or some other mage class of that kind.

So I was thinking something like this (1-2 lvl monk) + (5-4 lvl bar) for Vir and (1-2 lvl cleric) + (5-4 lvl wiz) for Hope's.

This could also be interesting for Hope's since she's an atheist now so it makes it interesting to see how she uses her cleric spells now or if that she's unable to use those spells (which is also interesting, I think).

Hehe, and Pew Seat could have been raised to be a paladin and then she returns as a death knight. ^^

Anyway, tell me what you think?

>>181301
Youre correct, I accepted Dust's roll, and should have contested at the time
>feeble decrees
I had to try

>>181296
Sensitive ears, weak to sound.

>>181316
Thats what the earplugs are for ;>,_,<;

>>181318
Become undead: Then you can just cut off your ears and stow them in your back pocket when you're not using them.

>>181320
Here, hold this
stab
(Not really)
>>181302
>athiest cleric
Im not saying it can't happen, but Im very curious how that works

>>181321
>Im very curious how that works
It's in the SRD:
>If a cleric is not devoted to a particular deity, he still selects two domains to represent his spiritual inclinations and abilities. The restriction on alignment domains still applies.
Power comes from faith itself, not just from the gods.
If you want specific lore, I can dig up examples from half a dozen books.

I actually considered making Posey a godless Cleric (Clerics are the best necromancers), but I chose Dread Necromancer because it has Dread in it, and also because u have powergaming tendencies so I figured I should avoid tier 1 classes in favor of a specialist tier 3 class.
I'm normally not fond of godless Clerics though, at least in most conventional d&d settings.

>>181302
Hmm, actually. I haven't decided yet how I wish Vir to play. I'll think about it.
>>181321
>Heals teammates by the power of God she doesn't believe exist. ^^
Yeah, Idk. Maybe, it could just be a level of exp that she doesn't use anymore, like for story purposes.

>>181322
>Power comes from faith itself, not just from the gods.
Okay. I feel like I heard and extended diatribe about this topic but I don't remember it.

>>181323
>how I wish Vir to pla
Or, rather her aesthetic.

>>181322
>Tfw Cleric gets to cast Animate Dead at lvl 5, but Dread Necromancer needs to wait until lvl 8
Ffs....

>>181322
>>181323
I know it can be done, Im just interested to hear this particular take. My favorite is faith in the divine essence of the self, but theres many ways to do it in rules or just in essence

I heard of another that believed they were a god sealed in a mortal form to strip them of their power/area of dominion, and so it was

>>181296
I'm sorry it did HOW MUCH? HOW SQUISHY IS THE BAT?

>>181332
He is currently at 22/30 hp

>>181302
> I'd prefer if she was more of bulky strong, hard-hitting kinda archetype.
What was she before? I mean, I think you made it clear in the petting scene that she was much larger and stronger than the already reasonably sized Heather.

I suppose if you want you can make a barbarian multiclass. Barbarian is kind of an odd class as it generally refers to a tribal character. Maybe a homeless alcoholic with PTSD can be like a barbarian? It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

When you mentioned Hope’s Anchor being a spell caster I assumed Wizard or sorcerer. I had contemplated an atheist cleric before for other reasons. However, because of the other discussion on that subject in the thread, I’ll abstain from comment for now.

>>181307
> he rerolls for himself, hoping for a better roll
>only goes from an 8 to a 7
Hehe

>>181322
First of all, that isn’t atheism. That’s “I’m spiritual but I’m not religious” or “Non-denominational” or Prince Charlie’s “Defender of the Faiths.” That’s a very different thing from being an atheist.

>lore
Darling. Bro. This world is, first and foremost, at its core, a recursive fanfiction of my little pony. A fanfiction of a fanfiction of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This ain’t faerun. You can most certainly draw inspiration from that, but the reason I chose Dungeons and Dragons as a system was because I needed a system, I already knew dnd 3.5e, and the system was not important enough for me to justify the effort of finding and learning a new system. It isn’t because I wanted to be wedded to its lore.

Personally, I think it’s best to be creative with religion. Not every single fantasy religion needs to be I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Hellenism/The Vikings! It’s okay to have Pantheistic faiths. It’s okay to have faiths that believe in a single, non-personal god. It’s okay to have a faith that believes in a single, universal life force. It’s okay to have dualistic faiths. In fact, if you look at most civilizations that made it past the Iron Age, you’ll see that the vast majority practiced something other than what we’d recognize as European paganism. He’ll, it’s even okay in fantasy settings, I think, to have religions that believe in a, shock and horror, a single personal creator god. There’s so much more out there than just Odin and Zeus.

>>181325
To quote a D&D forum I visited years ago
“Yeah, but immunity to wizard and resistance to fighter kind of makes up for it.” In this case it’s more like immunity to fighter and resistance to wizard, but it’s the same idea.

>>181331 →
>As we are talking about it, Zigger went ahead and made a hippie cleric that doesn’t want to follow any kind of god but just wants those good feeling vibes. You know, without clearing by the GM first.
Nigger are you for real?

>>181335
I didnt think it counts, I was just curious if it would have made much of a difference, which obv the dice hate me like they hated Infernius

>>181335
>When you mentioned Hope’s Anchor being a spell caster I assumed Wizard or sorcerer.
Yeah, that's how I imagine her too, I'm just thinking that she could have a level in it as a vestigial feature or something. Its mostly that I think it fits that she'd be a cleric type, specifically life domain, since she learnt it from a nun. But again, I'm just throwing out ideas. Feel free to do whatever you want with her. ^^

>What was she before? I mean, I think you made it clear in the petting scene that she was much larger and stronger than the already reasonably sized Heather.
Yes, but I don't know it it comes through in her stats, or rather, I might want to make her strength the core part of her character. There are other personality reasons too but i haven't decided yet.

>Maybe a homeless alcoholic with PTSD can be like a barbarian? It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
She prefer between homes.^^

>>181326
The Cleric class supports just about any type of religion/culture you can think of. Some Clerics have faith in gods, others in the elements, some in abstract esoteric forces, some in the planes themselves, some in philosophical concepts, acts of war, dragons, extraplanar masses of mana, sometimes even in themselves.
Worth noting that although the default setting in 3.5e is Grayhawk, the Cleric class is meant for any setting, including settings where gods are complete absent (Dark Sun) or indeterminate/mystery/fictional (Eberron), or even irl-like (d20 Arcana)
That being said, any Cleric should be a religious character. In most conventional mileau I, as a DM, and not fond of players who play "ideal" Clerics just to mix and match their favorite domain abilities without roleplay restrictions, because I see that as tasteless munchkinry. I've only encountered a handful though.
It's the GM's choice for how he wants to treat Clerics in his mileau.
>>181335
>First of all, that isn’t atheism. That’s “I’m spiritual but I’m not religious” or “Non-denominational” or Prince Charlie’s “Defender of the Faiths.” That’s a very different thing from being an atheist.
You are correct. I was mistaken. An "atheist" Cleric would be something more like an Ur Priest.
>This world is, first and foremost, at its core, a recursive fanfiction of my little pony. A fanfiction of a fanfiction of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
True.
However, wouldn't the Harmonist Cleric we encountered who wasn't devoted to the princesses be the equivalent to an "ideal Cleric" in this mileau?
>Personally, I think it’s best to be creative with religion. Not every single fantasy religion needs to be I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Hellenism/The Vikings! It’s okay to have Pantheistic faiths. It’s okay to have faiths that believe in a single, non-personal god. It’s okay to have a faith that believes in a single, universal life force. It’s okay to have dualistic faiths. In fact, if you look at most civilizations that made it past the Iron Age, you’ll see that the vast majority practiced something other than what we’d recognize as European paganism. He’ll, it’s even okay in fantasy settings, I think, to have religions that believe in a, shock and horror, a single personal creator god. There’s so much more out there than just Odin and Zeus.
I totally agree. 3.5e has mechanics and lore to support all of those. Deities and demigods has a lot of tips on how to support various approaches to faith (monotheistic, dual theistic, completing pantheons, etc).

I think there are at least a couple actual deities in MLP FiM. Discord is an lesser-to-intermediate deity, easily statted as a great wyrm ascendant chaos archdragon (chaos dragons look exactly like discord). Celestia is something like a demigod, probably base her stats on a half celestial unicorn with divine stat array and several levels in Cleric and Radiant Servant. Same with Luna, except she'd be a Shadowcaster, and lower rank.
.... But there's no real reason to make statblocks for characters that the party won't interact with...

>To quote a D&D forum I visited years ago
“Yeah, but immunity to wizard and resistance to fighter kind of makes up for it.” In this case it’s more like immunity to fighter and resistance to wizard, but it’s the same idea.
I'm not really sure what that poster means, but okay.

Btw, I was thinking, you have before expressed frustration with Posey's durability. I am open to nerfing Posey. Posey has 55 HP, which is admittedly a lot for a lvl 4 character in a low-op game. 8 of those Hit Points come from Desecrate, and 6 of those Hit points come from Undead Mastery (also the source of her enhancement bonus to stats): they are both functions of Posey being created by her Mentor, an 8th level Dread Necromancer that Posey had access to through the apprentice feat. When I made her as a character, I considered Posey's creation to be one of her limited favors from her Mentor. In the interest of balance, I would be open to eliminating both the 16 bonus HP and her enhancement bonuses to Str and Dex that she gained from her master, although I would like for Posey to be able to reapply those traits if she ever gets to lvl 8 one day.
I could remove the spellstitching too, although tbh I like the ability to cast floating disk and unseen servant, and to buff the party with create magic tatoo.

Posey has three sources of Damage Reduction: Her class, (2/bludgeoning and magic; class), her inherited template (5/silver or magic; half vampire), and her applied template (5/silver or magic; spellstitched). These sources of Damage Reduction are redundant; I would strongly prefer to keep the first two, since they are Posey's class and racial abilities, the latter she paid two levels for, but it's your call.

To alter Posey in-universe, perhaps Posey's masters in the Dread League may have determined her to be a lackluster emissary for not having already conquered Baltimare in two weeks, and may have remotely taken away everything they gave her as punishment, telling her to become a master herself and earn her own powers.

>>181340
>the latter she paid two levels for
The middle, not latter

>>181331 →
Kind of sounds a bit more like a Druid, tbh, but you do you.

>>181342
I'm getting more of a devotion/worship of life/death and the natural cycle sort of vibe, rather than nature

>>181340
>I, as a DM, and not fond of players who play "ideal" Clerics just to mix and match their favorite domain abilities without roleplay restrictions, because I see that as tasteless munchkinry
This really gets to the core of the issue. Actual IRL religions impose moral codes and restrictions on what you can and cannot do. They impose duties. There are rituals that have to be followed. They almost always have societal institutions with their own hierarchies and impositions and social relations. People who are “””spiritual but not religious””” want the “everything is permitted” of being an atheist but without the downer parts. They want the feel goody goodness of religion, and the cushy happy ending afterlife, without any of the obligations that religion imposes.

A cleric with a religion has a moral code they must follow. They have a deity whose word they must follow, whose favor they must maintain - and if the BBEG has the power to threaten gods - whose wellbeing they have an interest in preserving. There are rituals that must be performed and customs that be followed. There is an institution with a hierarchy that must be respected and interacted with. There’s a whole theology that adds lore and depth to the setting and campaign. And even besides all of this, there’s a general expectation that if a cleric hears “hey, the BBEG is burning down temples of your religion!” that cleric is supposed to care and react. Bypassing all of this is… well it’s not as compelling.

>wouldn't the Harmonist Cleric we encountered who wasn't devoted to the princesses be the equivalent to an "ideal Cleric" in this mileau?
The character was a deliberate ass pull for Brie. A joke character that pokes fun at the people who stand on street corners and talk about Jesus. I do think he was based on a “””non-denominational””” Protestant. However, even this is a very specific form of a specific faith that follows a specific tradition.

>I think there are at least a couple actual deities in MLP FiM
I don’t think that Discord is a deity. Yes, he is a god in almost every way, such as evidently being immortal and possibly timeless. He represents a force within the universe. He has the power to create things out of air. He is a pagan style deity - or even stronger - in close to every way. However, I do not remember a single instance in the show of any character, be it discord or any one else, using any kind of religious language in reference to him. It’s true that My Little Pony has been deliberately scrubbed of any kind of religious language in order to appease The Guardians, but you’ll still hear religious references to Celestia, like Twilight saying “don’t take Celestia’s name in vain.” The characters don’t seem to think of Discord as a god, so I don’t think we should. I think that the reason for this is that he is based off of a character (Q) from an atheistic setting where it’s understood that gods are just ancient aliens. Thus, Discord is never referred to as a god.

Celestia has religious language associated with her and definitely has something to do with godhood, though whether that means that she’s a god, an angel, a demigod, a buddha, or a paragon of harmony is up to interpretation.

I think the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic setting has one, clear, unambiguous, and ultimately powerful god: Harmony. It’s the source of all ultimate power, it has definite virtues in loyalty & courage, strength & honesty, laughter & hope, kindness & health, generosity & beauty, and friendship & magic. These virtues create magical power. It can spawn and power the elements of harmony, which can one shot even a super powered Luna or discord. And most importantly of all it took physical form and became sentient in the episode “what lies beneath” like a pony Jesus.

In my interpretation, Harmonism is a more or less pantheistic religion that proposes that “Harmony” is a spiritual force that pervades the universe and is the source of all life force. Harmony is associated with the familiar virtues, and these virtues literally create harmony magic and cause it to grow in power. The universe is has always existed, presumably in cycles. This is basically the theology Aristotle seems to propose in his works, with “reason” replaced with harmony, and thus logically “Armonia” and its highest subset virtue of friendship being placed above the non-moral virtues knowledge. Whether Celestia is an outright minor deity, a paragon, or anything in between, is a matter of interpretation that gives rises to the various denominations of Harmonism.

>Nerfing Posey
This is very much appreciated, but at minimum it’s going to need to wait until I’m back at the hotel to address it.

>>181345
>This really gets to the core of the issue.
I've only encountered it a few times, but it's also an easy issue to fix, imo, because I can at this point spot the difference between a person who wants to roleplay a different take on religion, and a tasteless munchkin. Dusty is the former.
First time I detected a player who was only playing a godless cleric to mix and match abilities without roleplay restrictions, I just houseruled that godless Clerics could only choose PHB domains. To this day, how I treat godless Clerics mostly depends on how much I personally like the character presented.
>Yes, he is a god in almost every way, such as evidently being immortal and possibly timeless. He represents a force within the universe. He has the power to create things out of air. He is a pagan style deity - or even stronger - in close to every way.
This can mechanically describe a deity in d&d.
He should statistically be an ascendant Chaos dragon though, because Chaos Dragons look just like him, and live in Limbo.
>I do not remember a single instance in the show of any character, be it discord or any one else, using any kind of religious language in reference to him.
Not all gods are worshipped like mortals, particularly the unknowable Lovecraftian kind of gods, or elder evils that have been sealed alway and forgotten.
Discord definitely falls in the category of "Elder Evil who was sealed away and forgotten".
>The characters don’t seem to think of Discord as a god, so I don’t think we should.
Sure, but do you really want to eliminate the potential for "Chaos Cultists" in your mileau? They sound like they could make good villains. Also, 40k references are fun.
With Discord unsealed, and evidently unwilling to intervene in these chaotic times of war, his cult may re-emerge as a faction of deranged cultists who only cares about spreading mayhem and madness.
>Celestia has religious language associated with her and definitely has something to do with godhood, though whether that means that she’s a god, an angel, a demigod, a buddha, or a paragon of harmony is up to interpretation.
If you're not interested in the cool demigod statblocks I was making for Celestia, and want to give her minimal power, you could probably just use a Solar for her statblock, with some abilities modified.
>I think the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic setting has one, clear, unambiguous, and ultimately powerful god: Harmony. It’s the source of all ultimate power, it has definite virtues in loyalty & courage, strength & honesty, laughter & hope, kindness & health, generosity & beauty, and friendship & magic. These virtues create magical power. It can spawn and power the elements of harmony, which can one shot even a super powered Luna or discord. And most importantly of all it took physical form and became sentient in the episode “what lies beneath” like a pony Jesus.
You could probably stat Harmony as something similar to the monotheistic deity presented in Deities and Demigods, of state the elements individually as deities in a pantheon that join together to become a super deity. I think Clerics who devote themselves to one of the elements over all of them could make sense.
>In my interpretation, Harmonism is a more or less pantheistic religion that proposes that “Harmony” is a spiritual force that pervades the universe and is the source of all life force. Harmony is associated with the familiar virtues, and these virtues literally create harmony magic and cause it to grow in power. The universe is has always existed, presumably in cycles.
Pantheism is a thing in d&d, particularly Eberron with the Sovereign Host.

To the issue of meta, the ability to sufficiently appreciate the potential of the crown would mechanically be based on a knowledge arcana check, probably high dc. 3 guesses what Brie's ranks are, trained only. The only things he knlws about magic items is how to sometimes get them to work (use magic), and a bunch of random tidbits. The odds of him knowing enough to really decipher what hes seen is very low, but he does know theres funny business hes QUITE keen to get to the bottom of.

>>181353
>the ability to sufficiently appreciate the potential of the crown would mechanically be based on a knowledge arcana check, probably high dc
I rolled a 30. 30 is high.

>>181353
Through basic observation on its effects both before and after it was removed from the griffon's head, Silver could probably surmise that the crown has some kind of mind control power/curse and that it increases the natural abilities of its wearer. He has absolutely no knowledge of magic or the arcane (a result of being raised by a single Earth Pony father) outside of what his daughter White Light has told him in excited descriptions of her latest studies when she was a filly, and as such would have no deeper understand of how the crown actually operates than the next pony.

>>181354
Well, heres the thing. I WANT Brie to immediately grasp the significance of what he has so far detected, cuz I appreciate the significance of what he's seeing, but thats meta.
In reality, Brie owes knowledge, insight, and a few other checks to put together what I already know, and several checks he should automatically fail. Im gonna leave it up to GM to weigh on how I can roll to be as prescient as I was trying to overreachingly have him be.

I'm not rolling for the vomiting OR the critical stab thats healed. I did roll to notice the stashing of the magic sword but willfully neglected to sense motive, the crown Ill voluntarily waive/fail, so sense motive on the spoopy obsessive behavior/emotes.
[1d20+8 = (17+8) = 25]

K, so Brie can tell that Rosey is jizzing her pants at the crown but really doesnt want anyone to know. And, he cant know why she would be jizzing her pants, though she did claim profession,... but that captain summoned something, and these Griffons are talking mind control. More questions

>>181358
>>181359
Rosey and Silver were both calling the tiara "cursed" based off of the apocalyptic log of the whalers before shit went down, long before they went on that boat.

This is what happens when you quit for a week and miss part of the game...

>>181362
Even in spite of my tantrum, Brie would not have entered the buildings with them, he would have maintained an arial vantage. He came into this mission:
1. Thinking he had it already figured out, and it was military/commie/mercenary (conventional)
2. Thinking they could be walking into a trap
It actually makes sense for him to fuck off for that portion, even though I was shitting my pants ^,_,^

Brie should get a bonus to bluff checks cuz mask .,_,.

>>181370
Do you trust people wearing masks?

>>181371
I'll grant that that bonus would be removed for the sense motive check (the penalty to charisma is precisely to account for his overall suspiciousness), but it would be harder to spot/easier to conceal tells that account for the perception of the bluff

Alternately, n/pcs could get a penalty,....

>>181353
Posey already said out loud that it was cursed. The journals we read implied that it was cursed. Brie by now knows that it is a cursed items, and the cause of the Captain's aberrant behavior.
>>181356
Even with her 30 on Arcana, Posey does not know the abilities of the tiara or even how it could be useful to her. She wants it because it is pretty, it is cursed (spooky = based), and it matches her color scheme: she sees herself in it. The crown as is not useful to anyone and is only a hazard to its bearer, but that isn't enough to deter Posey.
>>181356
It should be common knowledge in this setting that magic items exist, and that cursed items can drive you insane if not handled appropriately. He might've heard a rumor of a situation in Ponyville (Knowledge: Local) a few years ago where such an incident happened with a certain blue unicorn who came in possession of a cursed amulet.
>>181358
>>181359
>And, he cant know why she would be jizzing her pants, though she did claim profession,...
Posey failed to hide that she is incredibly excited to come in possession of such a heavily cursed item. She is a huge curse geek, like an entomologist discovering a rare poisonous bug after getting stung by it. Pics related.
It might be powerful if used in the right context. Who knows?
>>181370
It's called a masterwork tool. They're not expensive. Buy one.

>>181387
>Even with her 30 on Arcana, Posey does not know the abilities of the tiara or even how it could be useful to her.
It channels divine energy. Do you want like, specific spells?

>>181387
Yes, and one of the questions Brie intends to ask is "whats this about a curse? Like in fairy tales?"
Brie knows magic exists, has even dealt with some useful ones, but has no comprehension and is, not suspicious of but more mindful toward. He has loads of question once we're 86 the freighter (kek)

>>181388
No. I want to figure it out gradually myself. Clues would be fun though.

>>181387
Also, all of bries stuff except the revolver and suppressor is masterwork

>>181338
What are her stats? Have you factored in racial bonii?

I like that you're putting deep thought into what class to choose, and you can choose whatever justification you want, but you don't need to factor in upbringing if you don't want to. Choosing Amber's class as bard was very easy for me: I had a mental image of a farmer pony with a music-related cutie mark who wanted to learn music, and the party never had a bard before. She could've been any class (she isn't even very good at music yet) and with research I might have chosen something other than a base class. As for Cavaliere, I knew he had to be a ranger for gunslinger-related feats. He wouldn't have an animal companion and I wanted him to be very good at unarmed combat so I chose to multiclass into monk. I was close to choosing a rogue multiclass instead but that would work better for a different character concept. Like with Brie, the monk multiclass is for mechanical benefit rather than character lore.

The discussion on religion and clerics is very interesting!

>>181347
>Celestia is a Solar
Actually that would make a lot of sense.
>I think Clerics who devote themselves to one of the elements over all of them could make sense.
Okay but where would the alicorns fit in? They also each represent a crucial aspect of harmony and life. Celestia represents the sun, warmth, and everything related to it. Luna represents the night, dreams, etc. Cadance represents love and family. Twilight is already the Element of Magic but also represents friendship and learning.

>>181392
Why wouldn't his weapon of all things be masterwork?

>>181404
>Okay but where would the alicorns fit in? They also each represent a crucial aspect of harmony and life. Celestia represents the sun, warmth, and everything related to it. Luna represents the night, dreams, etc. Cadance represents love and family. Twilight is already the Element of Magic but also represents friendship and learning.
You could just start them as demigods and have harmonist priests who follow their teachings.
>Actually that would make a lot of sense
Just remove the shapeshifting ability and replace it with something else.

>>181404
One doesnt tend to deface the serial numbers nor possess illegally in commission of a crime such masterpieces (especially threading such a barrel!)

His suit, mask, boots, gloves, blades (2 killing, 10 throwing), all are tho

>>181415
So Posey really has 55 HP, same as Silver?

>>181477
Looks that way. I looked in their (posted) character sheet and the inherent build. Ngl, aside from being broken as holy fuck, it is published

>>181477
4d12 + 6 (Bloodtouched Rite) + 8 (Desecrated on an altar) + 8 (Undead Mastery)
Yep.
The lvl 8 Warblade build based on Silver I made has twice that many hot points, wanna see the progress?

>>181491
Now that is a lot of HP

I was just gonna say it actually makes me a little proud of Silver's stats, being on par with Posey

>>181493
Silver has enormous stats, totaling 43 points, before mods. They're somewhat lopsided though. Those points could be more evenly distributed.

>>181493
Silver's rolled stats are way above average even without counting in free points from the GM with no tradeoff scrunch

>>181491
Both Rosie and Tarnished Silver (you know u wanna)

>>181498
Also, not as an indictment, lets not forget Rosie's damage reduction

Short version: Brie would land one, maybe eben TWO (otherwise) devastating killshots.

And then he would be eaten by something he has no frame of reference to

Final point.
Brie is a kind-of John Wick Baba Yega.

Rosey is the actual Baba Yega

But yeah, its easy to forget that characters dont know to think/look for spoopy shit, when youve spent years playing characters who know - by background, sense, or both - to watch out for and know that shit

>>181489
You and I have a very different perspective of what broken means, tbh....
Notice how Posey has no Metamagic feats? That's because she's not doing any crazy Metamagic gimmicks, and by spellcaster standards she's low-op.
To me, broken means using the writing of Warshaper's Morphic Weapons (technically has no upper limit for how many weapons you can grow) to grow unlimited/infinite crotch tentacles for infinite attacks. Or using Summon Elemental to summon Living Holocausts (technically, they're Small Elementals), at-will. Or using the Spelldance to persist every buff spell (Or really any use of Persistent Spell with Metamagic cost reducers). Or casting Wall Of Salt, and selling the salt (it's worth its weight in silver). Or buying a candle of Invocation, and doing literally anything with it.
High HP has never been on my list of broken things.
>>181502
I was interested in building a castle that stands on chicken feet.

>>181505
>unlimited/infinite crotch tentacles
~oco~

>>181505
We get it. Your character is merely unkillable. Not infinitely powerful on the offense.

>>181505
Okay, Broken may be hyperbolic. Spellstitching is kinda hax, and Im - in good faith no less - warning you now that the same concentration rules that apply to spells apply to spell like abilities

>>181509
Will fucknoff to ooc for the remainder of this

>>181507
Well, I offered to cut 16 HP off of her, along with the other benefits of her Mentor's modifications. Would you be satisfied with that?

>>181511
No. I WANT Posey to be powerful. I want GM to give a threat to justify it.

You know, if she turned the Tiara into a legacy item, she could sacrifice some of her max HP to make it usable.

Some of the things Rosey has applied are kinda intended to not be used together (or worse, they were e_e)
But, lemons and lemonade.
Bring on the Leviathan *clap clap*

>>181507
I know this probably isn't helping, but I'm not even sure I'd describe her as unkillable. Exceptionally sturdy, sure, but she's already nearly died twice...or was it three times? I forget how that battle against the griffon paladin went. As for the current party - not saying anyone is currently planning anything hostile towards Posey because we really aren't - I can see a couple creatures actually posing a serious threat to her in battle. Defiant Dust absolutely could turn Posey to dust, and Silver could hold his own with the help of his sword.

>>181512
GM has explained multiple times that the design of the campaign is for a lot of mundane threats and a few eldritch threats that should terrify the PCs, but for Posey is "just another Tuesday."

>>181515
She's not unkillable by any means, but definitely really tanky.

>>181517
I know, Im trying to reframe. Rosey can be ridiculous, but that means being clutch ridiculous (and not 'yet' in a villain mastermind sense) 'for the time being'. I get it

Im perfectly okay with Brie being amazed at what Rosey is capable of, the same as deducing what Posey up to.

The race is on, and the clock is ticking Batpon (oh, thats me)

>>181515
>Exceptionally sturdy, sure, but she's already nearly died twice
In both of the encounters where Posey was substantially threatened (the fight with Luminous, and the hydra fight), she only barely won with single digit HP.
>>181515
>I forget how that battle against the griffon paladin went.
She had literally 1 HP left on the final round.
>Defiant Dust absolutely could turn Posey to dust
Also this. If he rolled high enough, he could instantly destroy her.
Posey is also vulnerable to any of the other various spell effects that control or destroy undead.

And if she goes to 0 HP, she's just destroyed, not dying, and she can't be raised.
And she can't benefit from conventional healing magic.

And also, she can't just go walking through machine gun fire in broad daylight in front of witnesses, can she? She's a spy, she has to keep her true nature secret.

>>181515
>>181512
Yes yes yes yes, I know, you an just infinitely inflate the numbers on both sides until fights are superhero fights where they punch each other and shoot lasers at each other and there is no visible damage.

>>181521
>And also, she can't just go walking through machine gun fire in broad daylight in front of witnesses, can she?
Posey literally tried to do that after the Luminous fight

>>181521
In the fight with luminous, the only reason it was like that at all was because I told you No, there is not 5 damage reduction, and no, Posey is not immune to criticals. Remove that Critical - which, by your own rules for the character should not have existed - and that fight was not a single digit HP fight. Luminous got ridiculously lucky on a critical hit on a smite AND I told you to fuck off with immunity to crits AND fuck off with the damage resistance.

The hydra fight was just... Every singe round was calculating three or more different dice rolls for each attack. There were so many saving throws involved. I lost track of it because of how complicated it was. It was not fun. It was a convoluted slog.

>>181521
>Posey is also vulnerable to any of the other various spell effects that control or destroy undead.
Okay, so she's completely immune to multiple types of harm, but vulnerable to enemies specifically designed to fight undead. Do I need to redesign my entire world around fighting undead?

>And she can't benefit from conventional healing magic.
What does that matter when with her fast healing, she's back to full health in four and half minutes? Fuck healing magic that cost spell slots, just stand still for five minutes.

>>181524
>superhero
Kaiju, please
>>181524
Addy, who can be said to be in something of the background, suddnly starts busing herself cleaning, not in anybway cuz shes guilty of kinda the same thing

>>181506
My stat block for Chrysalis would had a level in warshaper>>181524
>Posey literally tried to do that after the Luminous fight
No, she tried to use gaseous form to escape, but at the time I didn't understand the situation.
>In the fight with luminous, the only reason it was like that at all was because I told you No, there is not 5 damage reduction
I must have missed this, because at the time Posey had given Luminous her silver sword.
> I told you to fuck off with immunity to crits
At the time, I understood it as Luminous having a feature that let him crit undead, because paladins have access to several.
>The hydra fight was just... Every singe round was calculating three or more different dice rolls for each attack. There were so many saving throws involved. I lost track of it because of how complicated it was. It was not fun. It was a convoluted slog.
Oh... Well, I had fun. Sorry that it was so complicated for you though.
>Do I need to redesign my entire world around fighting undead?
That would be interesting, but I know your question is rhetorical.
>Do I need to redesign my entire world around fighting undead
Most of her healing comes from her Charnel touch, which is an active ability that takes actions.

Idk what to say though. Would you be satisfied if I cut Posey's bonus HP?

>>181524
>In the fight with luminous, the only reason it was like that at all was because I told you No, there is not 5 damage reduction, and no, Posey is not immune to criticals. Remove that Critical - which, by your own rules for the character should not have existed - and that fight was not a single digit HP fight. Luminous got ridiculously lucky on a critical hit on a smite AND I told you to fuck off with immunity to crits AND fuck off with the damage resistance.
I understand your perspective, but I also would like to propose a counter point: players are supposed to win.
I did enjoy that fight that ended with 1 HP, but is every fight supposed to end with me at 1 HP?
If Posey had immunity to crits, that fight would have ended with her around ~10 HP. Isn't ending a fight with 10 HP fine?

I had neglected your DR ruling during the hydra fight: without the DR/Silver or Magic, Posey would have just died. She expended all of her spell slots, took a ton of damage, and was fighting an enemy underwater with only one way to counter it's fast healing (summoning amoebas). Was your intention for her to die in that fight? Posey, an ECL 3-5 character, was fighting a monster that would have been a hard fight for an entire party of her level. Was she supposed to just lose?

I'm not trying to be adversarial, but how do you want encounters to go in your game? What's the lethality level that you are interested in?
As far as I can tell, none of the characters have died, everyone has ended their hardest encounters with around a quarter of their health. It didn't seem like high lethality was the intended atmosphere to me.

>>181527
Ngl, thats a very compelling argument. I dont have any issue with OP characters, I have issues with OP characters who vomit blood for a whole flight, go Smeagol around spoopy.magics, and generally express an intent to entertain themselves at the expense of the party, and I admit a.dying prejudice to that conclusion

Before I made Posey, I took this interaction into account:
>>167499 →
GM:
>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.
Me:
>>combat mages who use deflective shields to bolster their submachine guns
>That sounds like a pretty brutal encounter
GM:
>Yes.

I came into the game believing that there would be wizards with machines guns and changeling firing squads, but that Posey was supposed to win.
I took into account the skepticism with spell balance, so I made Posey a character that was more focused on combat and less reliant on spells. That's why I didn't take any Metamagic.
Of course, I did try that defiling thing at first, but I removed it on my own volition because it was too cheesy for my taste.

Maybe I misunderstood what the point of this game was going to be. I thought the characters were going to be fighting actual wars with machine gun Wizards, so I focused on durability. I would not have paid two whole levels of spellcasting for that durability if I didn't think it would be necessary.

And overall, Posey has only had between four and six serious encounters in this entire campaign: the equivalent to a single adventuring day. Isn't it a bit early to judge how "broken" she is?

>>181529
Machine gun wizards sound kinda badass, honestly

>>181529
I can remain silent, nut Im offering to ne constructively critical. I leave it open for reception.

I even voluntarily abstained from using any kind of firearm, just to handicap myself and follow the abysmal tech level of the Dread League.
I played an inferior dread necromancer instead of a cleric, because I decided that delayed spell progression was worth the name. I could have cast animate dead on day 1, but I let it be 5 levels away.
I spent all of my starting gold on becoming a monster, instead of buying items.
I made my character all-but-die when she passed over running water, compulsively knock on door to forfeit surprise rounds, and

Am I really power gaming that hard? What problems have I caused with my build? What issues has Posey created (besides the crown which is irrelevant to her build)? Has her high HP, immunities, or DR ever been an actual issue before? Are there any fights that Posey has been involved in that should have gone differently than they did? Was she supposed to lose some of those solo encounters?
What's the problem with Posey? Tell me what it is so I can fix it.