The Adventure continues
Six years after season 6, Occupied Equestria presents an alternative history where Chrysalis chose a different approach to her second attack on Equestria. The Changelings have conquered half of Equestria, while a former Equestrian colony - soured to Princess Twilight's notion of harmony with all creatures thank to their dealing with griffins - Invaded and took the other half. In Baltimare and the Equestrian Southeast, the magic of friendship has weakened, as Communists, Changeling infiltrators, Fascists, gangs, and corrupt creepy politicians threaten the city. This role play is based in large part upon the Equestria at War mod for Hearts of Iron 4, and uses D&d 3.5e mechanics.
The Eastside Tavern Gang has broken through the house and pool-house of the politician Comte Burgher. What they found has been nothing short of astonishing. Deeds for properties bought by secret societies, seditious communications, cryptic booklets, concerning academic interests, and above all else, a sex dungeon with two young colts chained up, and traumatized. With these, they found something else: two caged and chained up adolescent Changeling drones. So doing what any logically minded group of people would do when encountering caged life-force vampires, they let the things suck on them, then took them home and hugged them and loved them and squeezed them and called them 'George.'
Dark Star is coming to terms with loss in the Stallion's room of the Eastside tavern, while Iron aids him. Silver dreams of an Equestria that is no more and his long lost family (while sleeping in a fairly awkward position). Ash awaits a new dawn of service, Onyx a new life of possible employment, while Brie and Spark stay in a small room with two strange guests
1812 replies and 48 files omitted.
>>88894This is more or less successful. The foals go on
>>88895"Hiss!"
Kerr boops back
>>88896She smiles, and extends her wing in front of Silver's face. Her feathers seem to be a little bluer on the tips and edges.
>>88897She does not kill the plants
>>88899Iron now awaits a foal that gets too close to his unarmored hoof.
>>88899More boops to each of them to get them distracted.
>>88899He smiles back as he gets an idea. His horn lights up and creates a telekinetic sheath around the fleshy part of the wing, and he uses his magic to gently massage it from base to tip. He looks at her feathers as he does so, finding the coloration rather mesmerizing. "Your wings are very beautiful. There are not many pegasi I have met with gradients in their feathers."
>>88901And now
both start aggressively counter-attacking
>>88900Roll for luck
>>88903I keep it up and then have it run along the floor.
>>88902Her throat makes a soft purring sound, and she keeps her wings out.
"Thank you. That feels good"
Another thing, her feathers
are shinny>>88904His prey does not come in range
>>88905Kerr runs right after it
[1d20 = 15]>>88906Iron waits a little longer. If nopony comes, it should be safe to move out. If somepony comes, he'll be in for a surprise.
He's thinking Star is taking a little too long. He may have to tell Ash to move out to the tavern and tell a nun to relay the message.
>>88906"I imagine with amount of use these get, there would be fair amount of stress built up." As he keeps the massage going, he extends his focus to use his magic to get her other wing to unfold, and extend the massage onto that wing as well. He watches as the feathers on this wing catch the light. "There is shine to your feathers I do not think I noticed before."
>>88907At last, one comes near
>>88908She slowly raises her other wing until it is fully extended. Her wingspan is rather great, taking up a decent portion of the width of the room. She explains the shine
"I use olive oil on them sometimes"
>>88909He is watching intently
[1d20+11 = 13]>>88910Iron suddenly boops the poor foal's nose. "
Golpe de gracia!" Iron exclaims as he does it.
>>88910I watch Kerr as well, having the doll run around the room, hiding in several spots.
>>88910The realization of her true wingspan is nothing short of jaw-dropping to Silver, who momentarily pauses in the massage. "О, моя Селестия...wow...your wings are incredible..." He shakes his head clear, and returns to his work, making an almost milking motion throughout the muscle groups. "Olive oil. I suppose that is Nimbusian custom to use it on your wings?"
>>88911And... he over extends himself and trips
>>88913Kerr buzzs around with his wings, pouncing
>>88914She looks at him with an intense grin, continuing to purr
"Yes, we use it regularly to clean our feahers"
>>88915"I do not believe Storm used olive oil for that purpose." A particularly lewd memory of Storm and her wings enters his mind, making him grin. "Though, I will say she occasionally did use
another kind of oil..."
>>88915Iron falls to the ground unceremoniusly, without the pretense of being knocked down by running foals. He decides to lay there for a while, contemplating his bad luck for this encounter.
[1d20+2 = 11]>>88916He tries to get that pony
>>88917"In Nimbusia olive oil was used for many purposes, feather-wash among them... She used oil too? Like cottonseed oil? Hemp seed oil?"
>>88918A small crowd of ponies gather round and stare in fascinated horror
>>88919Iron notices the ponies staring at him. He pokes his chin, then decides to stand up deliberately slowly while the crowd watches. He can feel the fear emanating from them. He shall see if their curiousity wins over it.
>>88920A smaller one
runs. A couple stand still, and a few move a couple steps back
>>88919He chuckles. "No, more of the '
midnight' variety."
[1d20 = 4]>>88921Iron now stands still. He wonders if anyone will attempt to get closer again, just to prove their bravery with their peers.
I'll roll luck for this.
>>88922Blue Skies frowns slightly
"I would think petroleum would be unhealthy for feather growth"
>>88923They back away
slowly [1d20 = 18]>>88925Iron remains steadfast on standing still. He wonders if at least one pony will try to approach his intimidating presence.
>>88925He chuckles, though now once again awkwardly. "I, uh...I am trying to imply ejaculate, not petroleum." He keeps the wing massage going, however.
>>88927She stands there in complete silence... for all of about five seconds. Then she laughs out loud, slumping down closer to the floor a little
>>88926A little colt
*poke*
>>88919I finally move the doll toward him for a final confrontation!
>>88928If there ever was a better icebreaker than laughter, Silver doesn't know of its existence. He happily joins in her mirth. He has to readjust his telekinetic sheath a little as her position changes, but it doesn't have much of an actual effect on the experience.
[1d20+11 = 20]>>88928Iron boops the brave colt on his nose for his efforts with his unarmored hoof.
[1d20+2 = 22]>>88929"RAAAAAAA!!!"
He attac
>>88930"
That I can say definitively I try to keep off my coat and feathers"
>>88931"Ahhh!" He screams, and the foals start to run away
>>88932"Yes, but such is life of love and desire. We would always have to scrub each other down afterwards. Sometimes it ended up counter-productive, but we did not much care." As she
presumably returns to a more normal sitting position, Silver moves to sit behind her. He presses his forehooves onto the sides of her withers and makes small, slow massaging circles with them.
>>88932Iron remains still again as the foals run away again. He snickers a little bit at the colt's exasperated scream of terror as his muzzle got booped.
>>88934>>88934Perhaps something like pic is appropriate
>>88933Her back, naturally, is the same azure white as her feathers, mostly a solid color. She coos lightly at the rubbing. The hair of her tail is mostly straight, and the same sky blue as her mane.
She moves her head down laughing a bit more
>>88935Too bad it isn't Nightmare Night.Iron wonders if the foals would call a nun to deal with the 'living' statue.
>>88935He focuses on her withers for a few more seconds before moving onto her shoulders. "Let me know if you want it harder or softer.
"We were as busy as rabbits, somedays. Especially early on, before we started to have foals. I remember there was one day during her heat, we managed to fill our bedroom with such potent smell of love and sex it took half week for it to clear out completely, then another weekend as we could not help ourselves any more and negated all progress we had made."
>>88936It doesn't seem to be the case. That, or any nuns they told didn't take the threat seriously
>>88937Her head moves down a little again, giggling. All she says is,
"light a candle"
>>88938Silver gets a chuckle out of that. "As much as I do enjoy reminiscing about long nights of passion I had with Storm, I would like to know some more about you. I feel as though I have shared so much without giving you chance to express yourself adequately."
>>88938Iron shrugs mentally. Somepony will come back, since foals are curious first and foremost. As long as he puts a pattern that leaves them wondering, they'll come back to learn.
>>88939She looks straight ahead
"What... What do you want to know?"
>>88940Some peer on, observing from a distance the mysterious booping statue
>>88941Iron remains still, eager to see who will approach him now.
>>88941He's a little concerned about this behavior. "Did you have many friends when you were growing up, or when you were in your school days?"
>>88943"I had many associates and classmates. They tried form close bonds between the pegasi as early as possible"
>>88942Though many peer, none dare come within booping range
>>88944"Did any stand out among others? Those you would spend time with outside of classroom?" He moves from working on her shoulders to working on her upper back, very slowly moving down it with each circle his hooves make.
>>88945"when I was younger there was... Velvet Vanguard I guess. We would run through the meadows picking flowers, or go down to the stream. She wasn't really fond of how I was with the colts in later years"
>>88947He nods. "It sounds like she desired your 'company'."
>>88948She looks back at him
"No, I assure you that if she were after me the way the colts were, I would have known"
>>88949"Really? Then what do you think caused her to not be fond with how you were with colts? How were you with them?"
>>88944Iron just remains still for now. He may need to move out soon.
I'll go to bed now. Night. >>88952He maintains the massage on her lower back while they converse. "She did not approve about what exactly?"
>>88954The look on his face suggests he doesn't fully understand. "...Elaborate?"
>>88956"Then I will not push you." He moves his hooves lower, from her back onto her loin, now pressing into them than making circular motions. "Could you tell me about her? Velvet Vanguard?"
>>88957"Red pegasus. She was somewhat adventurous. Like me she liked the stories of the old Hoplites holding back the hordes. Unlike me she was better at martial exercises. She was relatively outgoing
>>88959"She sounds much like counterpart to you. I can see why you and her were friends."
>>88960"It seems about so. She was my closest bond for most of school"
>>88961"So...what happened to her?"
>>88962"We drifted apart in later years. I think I saw her around before I left"
>>88963He nods, momentarily pausing the massage to lean down and rest his head against the side of her neck, speaking softly. "Thank you for sharing, Blue."
>>88964"You're welcome" She responds
>>88965He leans back and continues the massage, his hooves moving now from her loin to her croup. Though her current position of sitting means Silver can't get much lower than this, and he can't work quite as effectively. "Could you lay down, if you still want this massage to continue? I can not quite reach like this."
>>88966She does so, laying her barrel down on the ground so that she lay on her belly, forelegs in front of her
>>88967"Thank you." He repositions to better be able to reach with his forehooves. The circular motions continue, now with them spread across both her croup and her flanks. "So, how has work been treating you?"
>>88968>>88968“Slightly better than your work has been treating you it seems like. It’s more dangerous than normal work by far, but I suppose there is more so.” She says
Her croup is one of the more muscular areas, but still more boney, and with fluffed up fur overtop
>>88969"Compared to nearly getting eaten alive by undead? Having part of my soul bitten off is like vacation." He thinks for a second. "Well, minus spider jumping on my face." He presses here with a slight bit more force than before.
>>88970“Ooh!” She remarks, as her hindquarters reacts to the hooves pressing into and just above them.
“Well, I cant say that I have to deal with getting eaten alive or... getting eaten alive. But being exposed or caught can lead to getting shot instantly”
>>88971"I suppose that is key to your occupation: to avoid exposure or getting caught by...well, whatever subversive groups I assume you are trying to tackle. None of my business, I am sure."
He grins at her reaction, and repeats what brought it about. "Enjoy that?"
>>88972She giggles
“Somewhat. And mostly it’s communists and their assorted permutations. Not that there aren’t many ‘harmonist’ troublemakers out there”
>>88973"Oh, I imagine there are plenty of Harmonists out there, with Equestria being home of Harmony and all. I know on my way back home after end of war, I came across couple surviving army groups in Western Equestria who had gone into hiding rather than get killed, captured, or forced to surrender. They're probably long gone from where I met them, though, if they managed to survive."
He moves onto her flanks, his hooves making faster circles and pressing at a similar force to how he did so at her croup. "It seems as though there is significant Communist influence here in Baltimare. More so than I would have expected."
>>88974She seems to like the rubbing, with her tail occasionally easing slightly up before being forced down
“Western Equestria? Oh I would imagine they’ve been completely ravaged by now. The communists are worse here than they are in most places in East Equestria by far.”
I just realized that I have repeatedly inaccurately refered the Changeling-occupied Equestria as “East Equestria,” when really, it’s West Equestria >>88975"I certainly hope they are still alive, giving everything they have against Hegemony. They were good ponies, and anything that weakens Chrysalis's hold in Western Equestria is good for us all."
He keeps the massage going, seeing her reaction. "I wonder how much influence Stalliongrad has in this region, and how many resources they are funneling to Communists here. I know that chairpony they elected some years ago is not nearly as aggressive and expansionist as other options they had, but it would seem like them to try to force revolution here like they did when they first started in Severyana."
>>88976I wouldn’t count on them being an effective fighting force against the hegemony. Facing down a million well armed and well organized enemy’s troops is one thing. Facing down a million hostile who can shape shift and mimic voices is another thing entirely. All it takes is accepting bread from the wrong ‘friendly civilian.’ Or having sex with the wrong alleged mare when stopping into town. Or listening to the cries of help from the wrong lost filly. I don’t think they could hold out for very long. Not in numbers, anyways. As for Stalliongrad.. uck! Subversion is their modus opperindi. More so even than the Hegemony. They’ve been a nightmare overseas in the past. But things have changed somewhat with their new neighbor in the West”
And yes, she likes the massaging
>>88977"I imagine they are mustering every able-bodied pony they can into joining up with their 'Ponies' Army' to act as deterring force on border. I also imagine they are investing heavily into anti-tank rifles and their own armored division, even if one-on-one no Stalliongrad design can survive against Changeling Panzer. Well, perhaps except for most expensive and heavy of their designs, but this is Stalliongrad we are talking about. They invest in numbers and cost-effectiveness, not quality.
"For subversion here, in Baltimare? They are likely starved of support internationally, something that was core to their ideals in Severyana when they took over. 'Worldwide workers' revolution'. Having even small part of Equestria be on their side would be major boon for them, both for resources and for any planned assaults and counter-assaults against Hegemony, and likely also Black Hooves occupiers. And from what little I have heard, all of their potential allies in Griffonia have either been absorbed into Empire, conquered by New Mareland, are too far away, or are too preoccupied with their own problems to be of any help."
An evil grin forms on his face as he gets an idea. He surrounds her dock with a telekinetic field, and uses it to stroke and massage the little nub of flesh that connects her tail to the rest of her body.
>>88978The top of Blue Skies' dock is covered in much the same azure white fur as the rest of her coat, albeit it is a bit shorter than elsewhere. The underside is naked skin. It is a light grey coloration, and feels particularly soft and smooth. She must put effort into her skin as surely as her coat and feathers. She allows her tail to rise moderately for him. The tail itself is behind her is straight, probably until it makes contact with Silver's legs. It is of moderate length, almost tomboyish but still more feminine than not. Except for allowing her tail to rise Blu Skies does not react.
Blue Skies, for her part seems deep in contemplation about how much to reveal (about the political situation) to Silver
"They punch well above their weight militarily. It's a good thing that they are scared now by a different threat, otherwise, they would be a major problem"
On a completely unrelated note, I think my character should probably be taking care of animals a lot more.
I've been considering how Fluttershy seems to feed and heal pretty much every creature in the forest, and I think I should probably follow her example to be a proper Druid. It a question if animals in Equestria are even capable of taking care of themselves, since it seemed as though they didn't even know when to wake up from hibernation, if Fluttershy didn't wake them.
>tfw no Flutterdruid to teach me about taking care of animals
It was actually supposed to be Sister Ash's primary motivation in traveling Equestria to study ponies as the engine of their ecosystem, and caretakers of nature. The poverty services were meant to be her response to working in an urban environment (since she considers poverty to be one of the horrors of the modern world); since she considers ponies to be natural creatures.
>>88980He drops the field around her dock, a little surprised by her lack of reaction, and finding that her dock is not as ticklish as he would have expect. He's not disappointed, however. He moves his hooves up to massage the sides of her barrel.
"When Communists took over and made Stalliongrad independent, not all of Severyana joined them. Most southern reaches remained in Equestrian control, thanks to higher amount of Harmonist support in region than what Communists could manage. And now that territory is in your control."
>>88988I really don't see many chances to help out animals in an urban setting, but I'll be sure to remind you if I can.
>>88990Well, we're not going to be in an urban setting forever, and there's still a forest behind the abbey. I just want to explore my character's niche.
Besides, as a Druid, making sure the forest/animals/wilderness is taken care of is really her whole job; like, if it's supposed to be as mandatory as a Paladin's code. If she failed to serve her role to protect nature too many times, or showed and lack of reverence to the natural world, she'd lose the favor of the earth, and thus all of her class features.
>>88991Understandable.
By the way, I was thinking of leaving Star to interact with the foals and tell a nun to notify Star that we left and where we are going.
Either tavern of directly to the mademares,
but Spark should come in handy to do the pacifist route.>>88992I know. It must be tough to reel in the need to do some stupid shit for instant gratification,
like how I'm 'terrorizing' foals as a booping statue. >>88993Yeah, I really do want to finish up this sidequest so that my character can explore her niche a bit more.
Nopony said playing an Exalted character in a WWII setting would be easy...
I'm hoping I can select the feats I actually want after the level-up though.
>>88989“Oh I assure you, we know. There is and has been the concern they they will Invade south, to try to take the areas they think theirs. Even for creatures that do not appreciate the nation or the homeland, they still try to claim it... Their greatest window has passed, however. If they had struck during the war the Hegemony would have stalled, and the State would have been pushed back into the sea.”
>>88996"There is threat of Nova Griffonia to north. They might be worried that declaring war on one of their neighbors will give free pass to others to do same to them. No matter how highly Stalliongrad's officer corps thinks of themselves, they know they can not fight three-front war with ocean at their back."
>>88998>>88997Actually, I think I'll try to do that now.
>>88999Can Sister Ash tell a nun that she's leaving with Iron to run an errand, and to inform Dark Star that they left?
>>89004What errand? I know players like to be suber duvet sekret with their intent, but if this campaign is going to run continuously, be actually three delegate campaign for different groups of players, and I have to improvise half of it, then I need to know what I am supposed to be making up before I am asked to generate a scene
>>89005Well, I wanted to go investigate what was going on with those mademares, but I guess could hold that off until the weekend too.
>>89005"What Communists have claimed, however, is no match for what self-proclaimed Tsar Peter IV claimed was extent of Severyanan territory. I remember back when I was teenager and he was young and just starting out in politics, I read about then-infamous debate he and his Tsarist faction had against Loyalist faction that had been spread throughout all of Severyana. They claimed not only what Communists have claims on today, but also Grivvish Isles, Village-Up-North, and all of Nova Griffonia and Griffon Frontier, all way up to border with Pingland. Essentially, he claimed all territory ancient Severyanan tribe had control over back in times of Three Tribes."
>>89006>>89005Basically what Iron said.
>>89009Go to tavern, fetch Spark and go to the mademare OR just go to the mademares.
Of course, I will not take Spark away from the smol bugs until Silver comes back to his home or any other pony can take care of them.
Today, in Stable Mare News!
Openia has been defeated by the sickening insects that call themselves the changelings! Those disgusting monsters tore through the poor deer's defenses with their advanced weaponry and underhanded tactics befitting of parasites.
The Equestrians did nothing about this situation, further showing the true, hypocritical colors of those 'harmonists' which want to sacrifice everyone else for the sake of 'world peace'. First it was us New Marelanders, now it's the deer who live right next door. This is proof that they do not care about anything more than themselves.
This is a call to action! Vote the Duke on the upcoming elections! We must choose the pony who'll vouch for our safety instead of some cake-eating, backstabbing princesses that don't care about us! New Marelanders, choose the pony who will protect you against the pesky birds and the parasites around us! Choose the pony who will help restore this country's former glory! Vote the Duke!
So, I'm guessing there was some post number manipulation for the creation of the new bread at >>89000 because I accidentally took the millennial trips without realizing it. It's weird seeing (You) next to the name field when I'm not the GM.
>>89016Pretty much, yeah.
Thought it was weird too.
I'll take a smol nap for now. I'll be back in either old or new thread in about 1 or 2 hours.
>>89020Woah, where did the new thread go?
>>89022Spooky. Was there any posts made there in the last hour I wasn't away?
>>89025Bummer. I hope GM's alright
and did not abuse any possible mod powers he has.Or was it Brie the post manipulator? Who knows? >>89028The new thread was also missing it's title, iirc
>>89028I noticed it. It stayed up for about an hour, didn't get any replies in that time, then got delet.
>>89030>>89029Interesting info. I guess GM willfully deleted it to remedy the lack of title. Hopefully this will give Star enough time to come back and gain his plot relevance again.
Maybe I could whip out my bard as compensation of Star's loss, if the GM allows to multiroleplay.
I'll be fair with it. She's a friendly bug that goes along with everyone, because she knows that's the best way to obtain love. Well, I guess I'll go to bed.
I have things to do tomorrow.
>>89036Well, I guess I can add "cussed out by GM" to the list of reasons why today has sucked donkey balls. Thanks for that.
>>89037Well, that sucks in general.
It's not as if he's actually mad. Maybe it was a drunk post at worst.
>>89044Oh, whoops.
I wonder who's here at the moment, apart from you and GM. Maybe we could unite with Spark still.
Unless the GM needs some time to plan out the mademare encounters.Also you get to interact with the bugs while w wait. >>89045I've accomplished everything I needed to do today.
>>89046Alright, just need Spark boi and Silver present. Maybe Brie, if he can get into it
and is not too weighted down by Star's absence Reposting spells, cuz I'm bored.
Orisons:
Detect Magic
Create Water
Read Magic
Scarecrow
Mending
Light
Animal Trick
Naturewatch
1st level:
Regenerate Light Wounds
Vision Of Punishment
Enrage Animal
Animal Friendship
2nd level:
Regenerate Moderate Wounds
Chill Metal
Kelpstrand
3rd:
Celestial Aspect
Downdraft
>>89052I'll post my bard spells to appease your boredom. Tell me if you have any suggestions.
Zero-level
Detect Magic
Flare
Lullaby
Daze
Mending
Mage Hand
First-level
Charm Person
Disguise Self
Comprehend Languages
Sleep
Second-level
Heroism
Detect thoughts
Is fascinate a good spell? >>89053>FascinateBards get Fascinate as an at-will supernatural ability.
>>89053Also, if Changelings are at all similar to Changelings in Eberron, their Disguise ability shouldn't stack with the Disguise self spell.
>>89053Heroism doesn't stack with Inspire Courage, since they're both Morale bonuses. I wouldn't suggest it, unless you just really want to buff without playing.
Bard is the Buffer class: Knowing the difference between a competence/morale/luck/enhancement/circumstance/luck/flanking/dodge bonus is the first step to guiding your allies to success.
Forgot pic.
Also note that Bards get the most powerful skill in the game: Use Magick Device. They're also encouraged to have Int and Charisma too, so they're the best core UMD class.
PC's get roughly 60% of their power and versitality from the items they have on them, and a Bard of sufficient level can use any item he wants.
>>89055You're right.I'll exchange disguise self for animate rope.
>>89056How about replacing it with glitterdust?
>>89057I actually have just 1 rank in it. Should I increase it? >>89058Yeah, you want to increase UMD. It's your best skill after Perform, Diplomacy, and Bluff.
Always max those out as a Bard.
Note that Bards are as Int based as they are Charging based. You'll want to max out Int as your highest stat at the very beginning.
Animate rope isn't that great, tbh. Sleep won't be helpful at this level either.
Silent Image is useful at every level though.
You don't need Mage Hand, since you have telekinesis. Take Prestidigitation instead.
Glitterdust is okay.
There's a great spell called Improvization in the Spell Compendium, which will be useful at every level.
https://dndtools.net/spells/spell-compendium--86/improvisation--3531/The luck bonus to a skill check is great for any Bard.
Also, Pyrotechnics: You get a choice between two different kinds of debuffs. Not to be underestimated.
I'd suggest Alter Self, but you already have disguise abilities and flight, so no need for that.
>>89059*As they are Charisma based
>>89059>You'll want to max out intReally? How come? Is it really that useful? Or is it for the extra skill points?
>2 level 1 spells are mehIs alarm a good replacement for any of these two?
>No mention of detect thoughtsShould I place glitterdust as better than detect thoughts or no?
>>89061Changelings are pretty versatile.
>>89062The role of a Bard is the skillmonkey and "jack of all trades". You want to have lot of Int at the beginning, so you have a lot of skills and are able to max out several different skills.
Alarm isn't that great, unless you expect the DM to try to kill the party in their sleep. Even in that case, it's a Ranger spell too, and it's typpically the Ranger's niche to keep the party from being killed in the Wilderness.
>>89063How about rune?
Also, should I sacrifice the two extra points in dex I have that gives my bard an initiative mod of +7 with improved initiative, has +6 chance to hit with all missles and has +3 AC for its dex?
>>89062Both Detect thoughts and glitterdust can be decent.
Wis is your dump stat, which is kind of sad, but ranking up Sense Motive won't be bad either, if you really want to fill the niche of the negotiator.
>>89065>Improved InitiativeI wouldn't go for that, tbh.
Take Melodic Casting: it allows you to sub Perform for Concentration, and let's you cast spells while you're performing. Pretty much indespensible for a good Bard.
>>89066Do Bards even get Erase?
It's not important, unless you find the need to remove arcane marks (which you can't cast) to be a necessity.
Read Magick would be a better choice. Let's you read different languages, and activate cryptic scrolls.
>>89070Oh, I was planning a bard marksman, with a bolt-action rifle. So I should pass the wis stat to str and add that extra point at level 4 to it to use an MP40 or whatever other SMG, right?>>89071Yep, as a first-class spell.
Read magic is level zero.
How about Confusion or Hypnosis?
I'll exchange it for Mending >>89072Before I geek-out over Bard builds, don't you still have a living character to play?
>>89073Well, yeah, but since you and I can't interact with the world for the time being, I think it's a passable time to flesh out a bard character for maximum usefulness in and out of combat when Iron eventually kicks the bucket.
>>89074Tbh, Bard seems like the best possible class for a Skittlebug, since they thrive off of attention and are always so nonchalant.
>>89075To think I almost made her a rogue.
Bards are rather cool.
I think I like character interactions more than combat. >>89076Rogue sounds like it'd be the favored class of Changelings.
It is in Eberron, and their changlings have similar abilities (a transfiguration ability that functions like disguise self).
Character interactions are the main point of the game. That's what role-playing is all about.
>>89077Bards are a patrician tier class. They're admittingly really not the best at anything at all, but they've got everything a creative jackass needs to have fun.
Also, Glibness is the best spell in the game. A mid-level Bard could take over the world by lying to anyone and everyone.
>>89077Pretty much.
I like charisma-based characters now.>>89078With spells like that, changeling bards would have already taken over all of New Mareland already. Sheesh, that's a huge boost.
>>89079Spoiler, because geek-faggotry. (I've played a Bard before, so I know how good they are at causing mischief).
The stupidest, silliest, most unbelievable lie in the world suffers a -20 penalty to its bluff check. A lie that is self-destructive or hard to believe is -10. A simply bad lie is -5.
A Bard with a +15 Bluff modifier, taking 10 on a bluff check through Glibness would have a total of 55; marked down to 35 if he were trying to convince someone that he were Jesus Christ. It would be unbeatable by most characters of his level, and a lvl 20 ultra-paranoid NPC who took more than 5 ranks in Sense Motive for some reason would still need to roll decently to beat his opposed bluff. It even beats Discern Lies and Zone of Truth.
Add on Improvization and Voice Of The Dragon, and the Bard can start and end wars just by speaking.
>>89083Bards can learn Mass Suggestion: you can make your potential enemies do the Cha Cha Slide for 16 hours, if you're at that level.
>>89085Now that I think about it, should I go for two performance skills? I'd like Acting as the performance but I think that some spells would require a musical instrument.
>>89086It's really not necessary.
I'd suggest something that doesn't require an instrument.
>>89087So acting is a good choice or should I go for the safer singing route?
Both should align with the changeling's backstory.
>>89088Either works, but acting sounds like it'd work for a Skittlebug.
Acting includes poetics and drama, so there's still an auditory component.
>>89089By the way. My bug is not skittle-colored. R00d
>>89091Oh. Idk why I assumed that. Maybe I just subconsciously thought that a normal bug wouldn't spend it's time playing music.
To be completely honest, I don't think the Skittlebug color designs are really that irredeemably bad. It's just the context that bothered me in the show.
I have to get up a little earlier than other days.
Goodnight, you three people.
Let's pray that Star comes back.
>>89091>>89093Where are you getting this idea that I would let you play a Changeling character? Changelings occupy a unique place within the larger story and lore, and have unique magical abilities that make them hard to balance with the other races. There is no way I am giving one to a Munchkin player
\r
>>89095What about level adjustment?
>>89094Goodnight, I think I'll go to bed too pretty soon.
>>89096Also, Munchkin Bard is almost oxymoronic.
>>89095I did see you challenge Silver's player to feed on love some threads ago if he ever lost Silver. I just jumped into the idea since you offered it to another player.
I can always go for Pegasus, as she was meant to be previously. Maybe she'll need disguise self and other abilities changed, but it should still be fun. >>89097>>89098Sorry, just saw that while in bed. I'll go to bed for real now. Night
>>89096Maybe after finagling. In the mean time, a ban is simpler
>>89097>Munchkin Bard is oxymoronicDid you even read your own posts in
>>89080 >>89057 and
>>89078? You obviously know how to abuse the bard class in a way that breaks the game, offends the story, and is a pain in the ass to everyone else playing
\r
>>89100A "Muchkin" refers to a player who cares exclusively about mechanical power and doesn't try to roleplay or creatively play through character interactions.
Bards really aren't that good in combat at all, but their abilities let them cook up some fun jackass shenanigans, which is really all they're
really good at.
>>89101I guess if you really optimize a Bard hard enough, you could get a moderately powerful spellcaster, through the Sublime Chord class, but you may as well be a Sorcerer if that's what you wanted.
The Bard's real strength is being able to open up new options for the party, buff allies, and manipulate NPCs through use of smooth words. It's a class that great for hardcore, inventive roleplay, because it's got a little bit of everything, and excells in the social skills.
Of course, if you don't play in good faith, it doesn't matter what class you're playing. A Bard could derail entire campaigns by seducing every boss, but that wouldn't be very fun for the party.
Okay, now I'm actually going to bed....
>>89101"Munchkin" is a blanket term for player behaviors including loot hording, game-breaking power gaming, rules lawyering, cheating, psychopathic non-roleplaying, murderhoboing, metagaming, and trolling, which are all unfun for other players.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MunchkinJust in your own posts tonight you've used the terms "good at causing mischief" and "could take over the world" in reference to Bard powers. Don't give me any bullshit about "oh, we're not concerned excessively about mechanical power" when your own damned words directly contradict it.
>>89104Well, when I say "causing mischief", I don't mean being pointlessly antagonistic, as to go in the opposite direction of how the campaign is set.
Bards are good at tricking people. If you play a Chaotic Bard, you'd probably be more of a prankster, using his skills, music and spells to fool his enemies. It helps with the good selection of Illusion, enchantment, and divination spells that Bards get; since confusing the enemy can oftentimes be more effective than outright attacking them.
They're also probably one of the best in Urban settings, second only to Rogues.
You know, I like to talk about meta a lot, but it's never been my intention to break the game or derail the story in a way that wouldn't be fun.
I just feel like it's part of the fun of the game to explore your class features, so that you can better fit your niche in the party. Pointing out powers and abilities, or specializing/optimizing a character shouldn't ever mean using your abilities in an abusive way. Class abilities are fun, but they serve no purpose unless you use them in a way that helps the story develop; otherwise they're
Tbh, if you wanna call me a munchkin-player, just know that's really not my intention. In fact, I made this character with the intention of making her the opposite of a munchkin, since my last character (the greedy, misanthropic, mad-scientist of a Warforged Artificer) kind of was one, admittingly; so I wanted to make this character in a style that valued character, personality and RP over power, kill-counts and loot.
The metafaggotry is mostly supposed to be my way of me trying to be helpful to the less experienced players; since it's easy to overlook opportunities to play a better character, and Fighters especially don't have very much flexibility after they've already decided all of their feats. I can quit it if it really is that bothersome to anyone, although I'll admit that I kind of do enjoy talking about the geeky stuff...