#YOU'RE IN A PREPARED SPELL CASTING CLASS YOU NEED THOSE

[floof-writes]

Did-

Did Ally just *shuffle* their spell cards.

#those #those are generally in ORDER #YOU'RE IN A PREPARED SPELL CASTING CLASS YOU NEED THOSE #fhjy spoilers #fantasy high #dimension 20 #ally beardsley

[ancientcraftnoccultism]

Beginner Class - Introduction To Spellwork

Introduction to Spellwork

___

By KB

Introduction

Welcome to Chapter 5 of the beginner Class! Woo-Hoo!! Only 2 chapters to go. We're diving head first into the world of spellwork! Today, we're going to be discussing the key elements and underlying foundation of any spellwork in order for you to begin casting your own spells confidently.

Ultimately, spells serve as intermediaries that unify entities through concepts. Though there are infinite ways to create a spell, there are different types of spells based on how entities are joined. These patterns of connection demonstrate the different ways a spell can create — or break — a bond.

Intention

We've all heard this a thousand times, I'm sure. Spellwork requires focus of intention. While this isn't necessarily the most important part of spellwork, it does play a major role in helping direct energy. Your intention is your reasoning for casting a spell. The important part about intention is to hone in on this as specifically as possible. When your mind is focusing on your intention, it gives less of a risk for scattered or unwanted energies to interfere with your work. It allows you to focus all of your personal energy into one facet, rather than having a hand in every cup. This is one of the most important factors within preparing for spellwork. It's also important to remember to keep your correspondences in association with your intention, as it will help keep your focus.

Raising/Gathering Energy

When you actually begin to cast your spell, you must know how to raise and collect energy in order for it to carry out your intent. Allow yourself to get in a relaxed state of mind until autopilot takes over. You know this feeling - it's when you're so focused on something you're absolutely immersed in the work without even realizing it. You're not thinking about what you need to do, what could happen, or anything else for that matter. Once you have achieved this state of mind, it's time to raise and gather this energy. There are multiple ways of going about this, so let's go over some of the most basic.

Chanting/Mantras

By repeating your intention, you are speaking it into existence, thus raising the energy of your intention. You begin to forge a connection between your mind, your reality, and the intention itself.

Sensory Immersion

Using our biological human senses can be more valuable than you'd like to think. This somewhat ties into correspondences, but if you surround yourself that naturally raise this energy within you - you'll have a much easier time gathering the energy you need to direct.

Visualization

Personally, my favorite way to raise energy is through visualization. Symbolism and imagery has a profound effect on the human subconscious. When you're able to visualize your intentions and symbolism that is directly linked to your intention, it will significantly raise the energy levels for your spellwork.

I'm sure there are several other methods of raising energy, such as drum circles, dancing, activity, and even more, but these are the most common within spellwork. The main thing is to keep your mind focused on your intention. You will begin to feel the energy levels rise through your method of choice. Once you have reached the "crescendo", it is time to move to the next step.

Now, this could take anywhere from 5-10 minutes, to several hours. It depends upon the practitioner, the spell itself, and several other factors. Experiment with raising energy in different methods to find your jam.

Direct & Release

Directing is nothing more than keeping your mind focused on your intention. I know this is a bit repetitive, but human mind's are funny, especially those who are neurodivergent. It's very easy to get distracted - but it is essential that you don't! We don't want any energies that don't align with your working to interfere with anything at all.

As far as releasing goes, there are several ways to do this as well. Burning, breaking, or tearing objects seem to be the most common method, but you could stomp, shout, or use any other motion if it feels right. Sometimes people infuse their spells into food or drinks - in which you would eat or drink in order to release this energy. Once you feel you have released the energy you raised in the initial phase, it is time to "seal" your spell.

Again, there are several ways to seal a spell. Some like to seal it with a phrase such as "so mote it be", others may opt to draw a sigil with an athame or wand in the air, or just a simple gesture. This is all very personal, so just go with what feels right for you. Once you have finished, it is EXTREMELY important to take care of your energy levels. Ground out, eat a good snack, and go outside to let Mother Earth absorb your excess energy.

Create A Channel

This is essentially creating a connection to flow freely between you, your intent, and the worldly energies swirling around. This is the action you must take in order for your work to come to fruition. For example, if I cast a spell to meet new people, I may choose to volunteer at new places, create a profile in a new online space, visit the dog park - anything that puts myself in a position in which the energy has potential to manifest. Without putting action behind your intention, remember, that's just "wishcraft".

#elder witch #baby witch #witchblr #witchcraft #beginner witch #dark witchcraft #astrology #tarot #aesthetic #divination #spellwork #witchcraft 101

[chainofmoon]

In the Shadows of Our Disoriented Love - Chapter One

A Sebastian x Ominis x Reader story originally published on my AO3 under the same pseudonym. If found elsewhere, it’s not posted by me. This work will only be found on my Tumblr and AO3. Do not repost, but reblogging is welcomed.

“Most people are lucky to have even one great love in their life. You have found two.” -Clockwork Princess

one || two

What a very peculiar situation you’ve gotten yourself into. First and foremost, you were attacked by a dragon that caused your delay to Hogwarts. Thus, you made a bit of an entrance to the sorting ceremony (being the last student, and possibly the oldest, to get sorted).

The other students bombarded you with questions about your whereabouts once the Head Wizard and Witch settled everyone down to the common room. You kept the explanation veg as Professor Fig – the man that brought you to Hogwarts and the one who taught you the basics to prepare you for starting the school term so late – had requested.

It was a simple story; you were immediately knocked out upon impact from the dragon biting the carriage in half, so you don’t remember much. Although, you did recall catching a quick glimpse of the Thestrals – your permanent reminder that you have witnessed the death of the Ministry wizard and the poor, innocent driver. Professor Fig had rescued you and safely brought you to the castle grounds. Most were satisfied with that story whilst the rest had expected something along the lines of fighting off spiders and poachers.

Now, your current situation; you are to sneak into the Restricted Section of the school’s library along with your fellow Slytherin classmate, Sebastian Sallow.

You first met Sebastian during your Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You both dueled each other and to everyone’s surprise, you had the upper hand. He was rather impressed with how you easily took him down and you admitted that it wasn’t your first duel. It’s sort of true if you count fighting off those armored guards at that strange place you and Professor Fig somehow stumbled upon. There, you discover you possess the sight to see some sort of “Ancient Magic”.

You invited Sebastian to accompany you to Hogsmeade to replace your lost school supplies – sadly, your books and robes could not be saved, but you're happy your owl found its way back to you.

“You’re the only one who’s ever bested me in a duel. The way I see it, I’d be wise to keep an eye on you.”

True to his Slytherin nature, he would want to keep his competition nearby. It was the perfect opportunity to discover your secrets whilst being an excuse to get out of detention.

Of course, your trip wouldn’t end on a good note and you both had a run in with a troll and Victor Rickwood. You later explained your story, not the made up one, and asked him to sneak you into the Restricted Section.

“See there? That’s the door we need to reach”.

Sebastian didn’t need to point to which door since it was obvious to tell by the two prefects in front, standing guard.

“And those annoying prefects would love nothing more than to rat on us to Scribner”, he informs with slight annoyance in his voice. “So don’t let them see us – understood?”

“I can be sneaky. Let’s go.” You say a bit too eagerly as you immediately head for the last flight of stairs.

“Hold on now,” Sebastian pulls your sleeve a bit to stop you before you could go anywhere. “There’s a spell you should know – The Disillusionment Charm. Good for getting you’re not supposed to be.”

He quickly goes over the incantation and you successfully cast it on your first try. Thankfully, it’s a simple charm. To your disappointment, it doesn’t turn you fully invisible, only camouflage with your surroundings.

Sebastian leads you down the stairs and around the Gryffindor prefect that was standing guard at the bottom. Luckily, it was easier to get through the library entrance since the prefects were distracted with chatting about their weekend plans.

“Blast, the librarian is still here.” Sebastian says and grabs your arm to pull you behind a bookcase.

“You told me the librarian would be gone by now.” You whisper to him.

“I said “usually”,” he whispers back. “Alright, new plan; I’ll distract her and you grab the key from her desk. We’ll meet at the Restricted Section.”

“Wait, why do we need a key? Isn’t there a spell for it?”

“Alohomora? That’s how I always used to get in, but the librarian twigged that I knew the spell and cast an Anti-Alohomora charm on the lock.”

“And now we would need the key, right?”

“Right, but don’t worry. I said I’d get you in, and I always keep my word. Trust me.” He winks before swiftly making his way towards a stack of books to knock them over. Taking advantage of the librarian investigating the source of the sound, you crawl to the desk and fish in the drawer for the key.

You notice that Sebastian was already at the Restricted Section – which wasn’t too far from the front desk. You hold up the key and he nods, indicating that it was the right one.

As the librarian approaches her desk, you practically sprint to Sebastian and hand him the gold key to finally open the lock.

“Don’t get too comfortable, we have ghosts.” He mentions as you were ready to remove the Disillusionment Charm.

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was – now, silent as a grave.”

Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Maybe you should’ve waited until Professor Fig and Headmaster Black were finished with their business, so Fig could easily let you in and you wouldn’t need to do all this sneaking around. But alas, you need that book as soon as possible and you don’t have time to wait.

Sebastian was an expert at this type of situation and you were both able to make it safely around the ghosts. He then gives the signal to remove the charm once you’re out of sight.

“So, what is it you’ve been looking for?” You ask. You take notice that Sebastian is already digging through a stack of books, hidden on the lower shelf. You wonder if he left it there to continue searching for whatever he was looking for. You took this as a sign to explore the room a bit while keeping an eye out for the book.

“I’ve been looking for a cure to help my sister, Anne – so she can return to Hogwarts.” He answers while flipping through the pages of the book he has laying on his lap.

“Why do you think you’ll find a cure in the Restricted Section? Does the Hogwarts matron have nothing that can help Anne?” You didn’t mean to pry, but curiosity got the better of you and you couldn’t help but ask questions.

“No! We’ve tried everyone from Nurse Blainey to St. Mungo’s.” He sounds frustrated and fed up, but it wasn’t directed towards you. It was the memory of going through countless nurses and all were unsuccessful. “But, I can research on my own. Let’s focus on what you’re after – which is what, precisely?”

“I’ll know it when I see it.”

“You’re being awfully cryptic.”

------

After nearly an hour of searching, and going through every nook and cranny of the Restricted Section, you weren’t even close to finding that damn book. Eventually, you reached the attic – which was mainly used to supply outdated textbooks and storage.

You wonder if you missed it somewhere while you and Sebastian were laughing at some of the ridiculous titles of the muggle novels or you simply weren’t looking hard enough.

An all too familiar, annoying voice announces; “Who have we here?”

Damnit. Not now, it can’t be–

“Damnit, Peeves.” You utter under your breath as the poltergeist ghost appears above you and Sebastian. It was obvious Sebastian is annoyed by his furred brows and him groaning, “Fucking Peeves.”

“Sebastian Sallows and his new little friend, out exploring where they shouldn’t be!” Peeves the Poltergeist laughs as he starts chanting, “I’m going to tell. I’m going to tell. I’m going to tell.”

“I’ve got to stop him or at least have a good excuse for all of this.” Sebastian says as he starts to chase after Peeves.

“Wait!” You stop him before he could get too far. “I don’t want you getting into trouble for me.”

“I have a way with the faculty when it comes to disciplinary matters. Besides –” He grins. You don’t like that look; that mischievous grin that all Slytherins seem to possess when they appear to be scheming something. “I like having friends who are in my debt.”

You were going to question what he meant, but he already applied his Disillusionment Charm and darts towards Peeve’s direction.

------

It felt like you had been in that strange Antechamber for hours. You did not expect to be led to a hidden room and you also did not anticipate to fight off more of those enchanted armored guards. But it was good practice for the new Incendio spell you recently learned from Professor Hecat.

When you returned back to Hogwarts, it seemed as if time didn’t even move – like it picked up right where you left off.

You hurry to the front desk and you hope you can catch up to Sebastian, but it appears Peeves got to him first. You scurry under a table when you see the librarian approach Sebastian.

“Sneaking in the Restricted Section – again!” Scribner scolds and there’s no indication she is going to stop any time soon. “That being said, Peeves informs me that you didn’t come alone tonight.”

Her expression softens and she leans to whisper, “If someone has coerced you, I would have you tell me. You’re a bright boy, don’t waste this.”

Sebastian looks in your direction and instantly makes eye contact with you. You cower back a bit, ready for him to point at you and rat you out.

He looks back at Scribner. “There was nobody else. I came alone.”

“Oh, Sebastian. What will your uncle say?” Scribner shakes her head and walks to her desk to write an Owl to Headmaster Black and Sebastian another detention slip.

You crawl out from under the desk and quickly leave the library. You are ready to retire to your dormitory for tonight. You don’t remember the last time you got proper sleep due to the stress of discovering your new capability while balancing school work on top of it.

As you walk to your common, the lingering question of “Why?” played in your head. Why would he jump in and easily take the blame for you even though he barely knew you? He knew you were hiding under the desk and he could’ve easily ratted you.

Perhaps in true Slytherin fashion, he saw some sort of potential in you, thus needing a reason to keep you around.

End Note: i just finished reading The Atlas Six and my brain is fried but i feel so studious :))

#hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #sebastian x reader x ominis #sebastian x reader #ominis x reader #hogwarts legacy spoilers #sebastian sallow fanfiction #ominis gaunt fanfiction

[prince-of-the-comet]

Baldur's Gate 3 Build: The Urge to Theurge

Do you like casting spells? Are you having trouble deciding whether to be an arcane or divine spellcaster? Well, in Baldur's Gate 3, at least, you don't have to. One tiny mechanical change from 5e gives you access to full arcane and divine spellcasting, all in one character.

(Confused by the terminology? Start here!)

Suggested Race: Any. This build does not rely on racial features. Given your lack of skills, any race that can help give you an extra proficiency will give you a little more versatility - Githyanki, Human, Elf/Drow, or Rock Gnome are all good choices.

Starting Class: Cleric (any domain)

Final Level Distribution: Cleric (any domain) 11/WIzard 1

Minimum Level Distribution: Cleric 1/Wizard 1

Recommended Statistics:

Strength: Low to Medium. Your proficiencies don't suck, so Strength will be nice - also, heavy armor is legitimately heavy. 10 is fine.

Dexterity: Medium to dump. Knowledge, Light, and Trickery clerics should aim for 14. Life, Nature, Tempest, and War Clerics should swap Strength and Dexterity - 14 Str/10 Dex - as they will be using heavy armor.

Constitution: Medium to high. Concentration! It's good for you!

Intelligence: Dump. Seriously. You don't need it - yet.

Wisdom: Dependent. You do need this, however.

Charisma: Dump. Go make the warlock talk to people. You have all the power of the Weave to master.

Example starting stats:

Str 10, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8.

Recommended Level Progression:

This one's a bit tricky, since we're waiting on a specific item. Most likely something like this, but feel free to mix it up.

1-3: Cleric

4: Wizard

5-12: Cleric

Variants:

Arcane Hierophant: Druid 11/Wizard 1. This is more or less the same thing, but with slightly less utility and wild shape.

Ultimate Magus: Sorcerer 11/Wizard 1. Swap Wisdom and Charisma. Most of the versatility of a wizard, plus metamagic and Constitution saving throw proficiency? Yes please.

Loremaster: Bard 11/Wizard 1. Swap Wisdom and Charisma. True, it's wizard-only, but that spellbook is the next best thing to Magical Secrets.

Detailed Level Progression:

1: Cleric 1. We're starting as non-wizard for the gear. (An Ultimate Magus starts as Sorcerer for the critical Con save proficiency). Start hoarding scrolls. These will be useful later.

2-?: Keep going as a cleric until you reach the Blighted Village. We're looking for Lump the Enlightened. Lump has eaten a warped headband of intellect. That's the key to this build. Get him killed, then take the headband. Now you're ready.

?: Wizard 1. Put the headband on. Your next level is Wizard. Make a note of all the cantrip and 1st level scrolls you know, and all of the spells that are accessible via your other class (they will be outlined in green). Avoid all of those. Now go through your scroll collection and add all the spells you can to your spellbook. Since you're probably at lest level 3 by now, you'll note you can learn 2nd level wizard spells.

This is the key rules change: a wizard can scribe spells into their spellbook of the highest level spell slot they have available, not the highest level spell slot available to them from wizard alone. So yes, you'll be able to get fireball.

You will only ever be able to prepare 4 wizard spells (1 level + 3 Int bonus), but you can re-prepare them at will, so it's best to make them count. Avoid long rest buffs like mage armor and longstrider, which have to remain prepared in order for the buff to last, and take summoning spells, like find familiar, which don't.

?-12: Cleric. You're one level behind now on your Cleric casting, but your CL is still full. So at odd character levels, you'll gain the ability to cast the next level of wizard spells, and even character levels, one level behind, you get your cleric spells. Make sure to always have a scroll of the next level spell, so you can learn it as soon as possible, and have something to use that high level spell slot on. Your feats should always be either War Caster or Wisdom ASI. You don't need anything else.

Items of interest:

Warped Headband of Intellect - Wilderness, Blighted Village. You need this. It makes the build go. Don't leave the Wilderness without it.

Melf's First Staff - Underdark, Myconid Colony. Your spell save DCs aren't going to be ideal, especially not on your wizard spells - a mere 17 at level 10. Make up for it with items with Arcane Enchantment or High Spellcasting, of which this is the first one available.

Half-plate/Full Plate - various locations. You want the heaviest armor you can wear, as fast as you can find it. In Act 1, that's probably Githyanki Half-Plate; by Act 2, heavy armor builds should upgrade to Flawed Helldusk or Adamantine Splint. Leave the exotic materials to rangers and archers.

Ketheric's Shield - Moonrise Towers. Arcane Enchantment, again, and your shield proficiency means you can use it.

Cloak of the Weave - Lower City, the Devil's Fee. Arcane Enchantment, the third. 20 is a much better save DC, don't you think?

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 builds

[hragon]

hi! i’ve been following you on twitter and insta for a while and ive seen a lot of your DND stuff that i love, like your artificer Ren.

i’ve recently started playing DND and i chose an artificer, i was wondering if you had any advice on playing one?

i adore and admire your art

Hi, thank you so much!!

I saw this ask days ago but I knew the answer might get lengthy, so I had to wait until I had a chance to sit down and write it. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Artificer, and it's actually replaced Rogue as my favorite DnD class.

Full disclosure though - I actually have yet to take a close look at the other artificer subclasses (battle smith, armorer, alchemist). My artificer, Ren, is an artillerist. Any thoughts I have may very well apply to other subclasses as well, but just know they'll be coming from the angle of artillerist!

So basically, bottom line, the artificer is good at just about everything (limited only by what you have prepared and available at the time), is really, really fun to play mechanically, versatile, and the class features are packed.

The rest of this is going under a read more.

Utility

While you can definitely build your artificer around a specialty (usually according to subclass), the base class is designed first and foremost for utility. Artificers are prepared casters that can swap out their spells for any other on the artificer spell list every long rest. Being half-casters means the number of spells they can have prepared at once is more limited, but the sheer number of spells they have access to is still impressive. If you look at the base artificer spell list, you might notice that very, very few of them are geared towards actual damage. Many of them can be handy in a variety of circumstances, especially if you get creative! There are excellent options for disguise, flavor, defense, and support. Also notice that many of the spells can be applied not only to the benefit of you the artificer, but to you team as well - more on that when I get to buffing. Also, casting the spells is fun! The idea behind using your tools as your spellcasting focus is that you're actually using inventions you have created, so you can flavor it however you imagine. To cast the Invisibility spell, Ren has an sphere that separates into lots of tiny butterflies with glass wings. They gather around the target of the spell in a formation, and the light reflects and refracts on the wings to bend light around the target and hide them.

And then, when you choose a subclass, you automatically get MORE SPELLS! By level 5, artillerist has gotten Shield, Thunderwave, Scorching Ray, and Shatter (more at higher levels I just don’t want to list them). Three very good, effective damager spells, two AoE, and one sniper. And then - shield. SHIELD. This spell is so important to me. Usually when you create an artificer, you may be able to lean towards higher defense armor to make up for the fact that Dexterity probably isn't one of your higher stats. Ren doesn't have that luxury, because he can fly. If I want him to be able to fly, he is limited to light armor. He is very squishy, with an AC of only 14. His team is very, very good about covering him, but if Ren does find himself in a situation, or if he needs to jump into the fray to cover a teammate for a round, Shield gives him a +5 bonus to his AC if he's hit. Imagine that +5 bonus on a character with a higher AC! You could be the one covering your teammates with that kind of defense!

And then on top of all those spells - infusions!! Not only is there that lovely list of infusions that grant defense or attack bonuses or let you create a metal homunculus servant, you can also replicate magic items! There are so many ways you could take this depending on the campaign. You could make items that let you fly, maneuver in water, or items that replace spells to either get access to other spells or just to free up room for a few more spells on your prepared list. A lot of artificer can turn into resource allocation. Or, you can make infusions and give them to your teammates, again, more on that in a bit. Take Ren's homunuclus though, a metal bird he named Joule. Joule can attack if Ren spends a bonus action. Joule can also deliver touch spells. This means that Ren can send Joule in to an enemy to deliver a Shocking Grasp without endangering himself, or he can send Joule to a teammate to deliver a Cure Wounds without spending his own movement. This is a tactic I've used a lot, it's come in very handy. Furthermore, Joule (situation allowing) might be able to use the Help action to give advantage on a roll (this ACTUALLY saved Ren's life, and recently assisted our Fighter when he found himself in a situation) and often acts as a messenger/lookout for the party. Whenever the party splits, Ren sends Joule to keep an eye on them and report back if there's trouble.

There's another part of the utility aspect here that I think often goes overlooked - CRAFTING. Artificers have SO many tool proficiencies. Use them!! Talk to your DM about crafting rules. Crafting takes time and it isn't until the higher artificer levels that trying to craft magic items on the regular becomes feasible. But there are other things you can do even earlier. For example, Ren is proficient with smith's tools. He came into some money during the first act of the game and spent it on silver, then borrowed a forge, hired a few of the apprentices for just a couple of gold a day. In only a day and a half, he silvered 20 arrows for the ranger, one of the ranger's swords, and the fighter's glaive. This was right before the group went to Avernus, which is filled with fiends and demons and devils that are resistant to non-silvered weapons. That contribution alone from Ren has made a HUGE difference in combat. My DM introduced some other crafting options (The Complete Armorers Handbook Weapon and Armor Upgrade System from DM's Guild), so Ren also muffled the armor of our fighter and cleric, allowing them to wear the heavy armor with higher defense without any penalties to their stealth.

Class Features

This is where I am only able to comment on artillerist. But OH DO I HAVE THOUGHTS-

Artillerist gets some nice features like a 1d8 bonus to attacks with Arcane Firearm, but what I really want to talk about is, of course, their cannons. Their class features revolve around this. You can spend a turn action to create one of three options: a force cannon (delivers 2d8 damage and blasts the target back 5 feet), a flamethrower (delivers 2d8 damage on a failed save in a 15-foot cone), and a protector cannon (grants temporary hp to anyone of the artificer's choice within 10 feet of it). You can make one cannon per day for free, but you can spend spell slots if you need to make another one later.

I need to emphasize that while it takes a turn action to create a cannon, it is only a bonus action to fire it. You can attack with the cannon on the same turn you make it. Also, on subsequent turns?? You have an entire turn action to do whatever you want with!! You can cast a utility spell to help with battlefield control, or a buff spell to help your teammates, or a damage cantrip like Firebolt (the artificer's bread and butter) which stacks with the 1d8 damage bonus, or whatever else you want to do - and you'll still have your cannon left for the bonus action.

You can make these cannons either tiny, so they are small enough to hold, or small objects, that occupy their own space. Small cannons can be fixed, or can move 15 feet as part of your bonus action. I used to favor the handheld cannons because of their mobility. We had several combats that involved a chase, so it was easier for Ren to just carry the cannon with him. However, I recently discovered the true power of the cannons. All of them have an AC of 18 and hit points equal to 5 x your artificer level. Which leads me into...

Battlefield control

An AC of 18 and hit points equal to 5 x artificer level is basically a whole other character on the battlefield with you!! We found ourselves in an intense combat recently with two powerful enemies moments away from flanking our artillerist and our fighter. Our fighter was already fighting one, and a helmed horror statue (bad!!) just knocked down the door to the room. Ren dropped a cannon in the doorway.

That statue could NOT get through that cannon. That AC of 18 kept it out of the room for the rest of the combat. The one round where the statue actually did hit the cannon, and with a multiattack, it wasn't enough damage to take it out. Ren then cast Mending to restore the cannon's hit points. Hilarious. And it bought our fighter enough time to take out the other enemy, and the rest of our group time to get to the back of the building and assist us. Plus, at higher levels: the cannons count as half cover...AND you can make and command two of them at once...AND they can explode!

Also consider all the AoE spells and how they can be used to help the flow of combat in your favor. There are damage dealing spells like Fireball, or utility spells like Grease. Consider the force cannon and the 5-foot pushback it delivers on a hit. We ran into some trouble when an enemy was physically stopping our vehicle from moving forward, and all we had to do was make it let go for an instant. Ren constructed a cannon with his action, fired at it with his bonus, and forced it just 5 feet away - but it was enough, and we were on our way. Imagine using that to knock enemies around the battlefield - away from your friends, or in the range an AoE spell you can unleash on the same turn.

Versatility

Artificers can swap between offense, defense, and support/buff in an instant.

Artillerists can snipe with Firebolt or Scorching Ray from a distance. They can unleash AoE attacks like Thunderwave or Fireball. They can heal their teammates. They can use their homunculus to deliver touch spells if they need to. They can jump in and play defense for a round with Shield. They can give their allies a temp hp bump with the protector cannon.

Another sometimes overlooked power of the artificer though - BUFF YOUR TEAM.

Looking at the artificer spell list, consider spells like Faerie Fire, Sanctuary, Aid, Enhance Ability, Enlarge/Reduce, Invisibility, Magic Weapon - all of these and more that can give your team significant advantages. I really believe that part of the reason artificer is so based in utility, and so versatile, and so adaptable, is not to stand alone but so the artificer can cover the team - fill in any holes and enhance their strengths.

With infusions, it's totally understandable to focus on giving your build those bonuses. Especially if your build is meant to be combat effective and you're handling a lot of the front-line action yourself. But for Ren, who is quite squishy, and who isn't built for front-line combat, it's much more advantageous to give those infusions to his party members. Since he silvered one of the ranger's swords, he infused the other one to be a Radiant Weapon. He also gave our cleric a defense bump (so there wouldn't be TWO people with low AC lol!!). This works well in this group, because the better protected his companions are, the better protected he is, too. But it might not work for everyone!

Just consider your party makeup and decide where your artificer would be most effective with spells and infusions.

Multiclassing

Artificer isn't a class I would personally recommend multiclassing with. Being a half-caster means artificer doesn't see higher level spells for quite some time, and the class features are good enough that sticking primarily with artificer is worth it. However, I do think you can get away with multiclassing 2-3 levels into another class. Wizard is the obvious pick, since they are also Intelligence-based casters. This is actually quite a good move, especially for artillerist. Just two levels in wizard will get you the Sculpt Spells feature, which lets you carve out areas of safety within your AoE attacks. That means you can cast Fireball without frying your teammates. Additionally, and this would be the case with a multiclass into any full caster class, you more spells and more cantrips that you can have prepared at one time, and more spell slots, which of course is incredibly useful. My recommendation here would be to move utility spells onto the wizard list, making room for damage spells on the artificer list that can stack with Arcane Firearm in the case of artillerist.

Of course, Ren's situation is a little unique. Being in an Avernus game, most of the enemies we encounter are resistant or immune to fire. And artillerist is skewed towards fire, with its signature spells including Firebolt, Scorching Ray, and Fireball. Resistance you could actually get around very easily with the Elemental Adept feat. Immunity is the BIG problem for me because there is no feat to get around that. However, the sorcerer class has a Metamagic feature that lets you change the damage type of your spells. You could take a feat that gives you this as well (Metamagic Adept), but you would only get two uses of it per day. Given that Firebolt is Ren's main attack, and every enemy we encounter has a high likelihood of resistance/immunitiy, I felt that two uses wouldn't be enough. So, I multiclassed into sorcerer and with that got some fun abilities, the extra spells and cantrips to free up my artificer list, and am one level away from the Metamagic I need. It's a steeper dip than wizard (3 levels instead of 2) and generally wouldn't be the most optimal option for artificer, but it was the best option for Ren considering the environment of this campaign.

But yeah! There are a ton of ways you can build out artificer. Check out the other subclasses and see how they stack, because I'm sure they have similar strengths as artillerist does! Artificer is my favorite class and I hope this gave you some ideas for how to play yours!

#artificer #replies #edits post to add 'i cast gun' gif #ren #my baby boy

[wh3r3sth3l0ve]

Sora x Tifa

Part 20

Part 19 below

- This way. - Cloud led them down the corridor.

They found a crossroads and took the left path.

- 5… 6… 7… - Cloud was counting the doors they were passing by.

- This one. - Barrett pointed at one of the doors. - Tifa, Sora, you're going in, we're right after you.

- Ladies first. - Sora opened the door and smiled at her girlfriend.

Tifa smiled back and went through the door, followed by him. Barrett turned around to enter as well and ran into the force field.

- What the…

The rest of his words were drowned out by the loud siren. Red and blue lights started flashing all over the corridor as Shinra guards were running out from every single door. Tifa and Sora made a quick look at each other and immediately got ready to fight. All of the enemies were armed with machine guns so they had to dodge a lot during that fight. They both rushed the guards and took them one by one. Luckily for them, the corridor was quite narrow so it was impossible for them to get surrounded.

After his 25th man down Sora lost count as the enemies just kept on going in. He decided to speed things up a bit with a different move. He started throwing his keyblade onto the guards and it kept coming back to him, hitting a few of the fiends at once, both ways.

Tifa needed to power up so she jumped back a bit, gathered her energy and after a few incredibly fast punches she jumped up and landed between the guards with her fist hitting the ground. It caused a wave of energy that knocked down quite a big group.

Finally they noticed that the number of Shinra guys was getting down but Sora saw something that freezed him for a second. At the end of the corridor there was a man with a rocket launcher, already aiming at them. Sora looked quickly at Tifa and noticed that she’s not aware of what’s coming.

- Tifa! - he tried to get her attention.

She looked at him and that moment was enough for one of the guards to shoot her. The bullet threw her back as her face twisted into a grimace of pain.

Sora’s heart stopped as he acted intuitively. He jumped towards her, catched her in his arms and stood with his back to the enemies, casting a barrier around them. It was the last possible moment to do that as they heard an explosion right away. Before he took the barrier away he laid Tifa on the floor, glad that he could still feel her breathing. Then he turned around to see how many people were left to fight but it occurred that the rocket took down all of the gun guys and the last one standing was the one with the launcher who, seeing Sora looking straight at him, ran away.

Tifa sat up, holding her shot arm when she suddenly felt the pain going away. It was Sora who casted a healing spell on her. She looked at him with gratitude. He helped her stand on her feet and hugged her really tight.

The siren went silent as Cloud was finally able to turn the force field off. He and Barrett ran quickly to the couple with both concern and admiration on their faces.

- That was somethin’! - Barrett complimented them. - You okay?

- Yeah, we’re good. - Tifa answered.

- It shouldn’t happen. They had to be prepared for us. - Cloud thought loudly.

- You think we have a snitch? - Sora asked.

- Seems like it but now it’s not the time to think about it. Let’s find those papers. - Cloud made his way forward.

They quickly found the room they were looking for and searched it thoroughly.

- Found it! - Tifa waved at them with some files.

All four rushed towards the exit. They gathered with Biggs and Wedge and stepped out of the building. About twenty 3rd class SOLDIERs were waiting for them but this time it was no challenge. Two minutes later the fight was done and the whole squad was ready to go back to the slums. Barrett called the other group and confirmed that everyone’s alright.

Half an hour later they were back in 7th Heaven where Tifa told Biggs and Wedge what happened when they were absent. All four guys were impressed with the couple’s skills and wondered why they even had to use them. Soon everyone was going home, tired after a successful mission. Sora and Tifa were the last ones to leave and headed home, holding hands in silence.

- You know, for a second there I thought that… - Sora’s voice was trembling.

Tifa looked at him and noticed his whole body was shaking and his eyes got wet. She made him stop and hugged him. She was able to hear his heart beating really hard.

- Everything’s alright.

He sighed deeply to calm himself down. He just couldn’t imagine his life without her. “That would be the end. I wouldn’t stand another loss.” He wasn’t able to tell his thoughts out loud and was grateful that he didn't have to.

- Let’s get going. - she broke the hug and pulled him forward.

Soon they were in bed, ready to fall asleep after a long day.

- Promise me that you’ll always be careful. - Sora whispered to Tifa’s ear, cuddling. - I can’t lose you.

- You won’t. I promise.

She kissed his cheek and in no time they were both sleeping.

#fanfic #story #ff7 tifa #kh sora #cardiophilia

[suddencosmology]

Antimagic for the Soul: a brief exploration of bullying casters in Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition.

Magic is scary. There are plenty of ways to protect your squishy or poor-save allies from getting ratioed by the local evil wizard, but just like reproduction, prevention is the best defense. A proactive stance vs magic not only reduces the stress of preparing your spells for the day, but reduces the need to fill your head with staple spells like Protection From Energy.

So how does one prevent spellcasting? With Counterspell! Problem is, Counterspell in it default state is a reactionary ability. Not only do you need know what spell is coming at you, have that spell prepared yourself, and you need to ready your action to Counterspell it. That just won't do.

First we look at the feat Improved Counterspell. This alters the requirement of readied spell to be any spell of the same school, provided it can match or beat the spell level. Good, but not perfect. You still need to know the spell is coming.

For Sorcerers, Wizards, Clerics, and classes that use those spell lists, there is the spell Battlemagic Perception. A 3rd level spell, this baby gives you a boost to Spellcraft to identify the spell coming at you, and with 5 ranks in Spellcraft, you instantly sense all spells happening within line of sight/100 feet of you. Also, it gives Counterspell as a free action. Doing so ends the spell which is a bummer, but sometimes one 'lolnope' is enough. Until you're high enough level to be dealing with Quickened Spells, you've effectively stolen the caster's turn.

But it can go further. The feat Divine Defiance allows you to spend one use of Turn Undead or similar ability to immediate action Counterspell. Given the situational value of Turning, a Cleric probably has two to six more Turn attempts than they need in a day.

A character with all of these can fire off two Counterspells in the same round if need be. Very sexy.

But there are more fish in the sea, and lots of them like hitting people with sharp/blunt objects. The inherent martial solution to casters is hitting them, and the threat of hitting them. A caster within a threatened space must make a Concentration check (DC 15+(2xSpell level)) to cast their spells without provoking attacks of opportunity. At low levels this is a gamble, but at higher levels, with higher bonuses, this is an easy check.

The Disruptive feat increases the DC to cast defensively by 4. Improves the odds of failure... but what if you could guarantee failure?

Look no further than Mage Slayer. This feat makes defensive casting impossible.

The feat Supernatural Instinct covers a different, but important base. It causes any supernatural ability (such as spell-like abilities and breath weapons) used by a threatened foe to provoke an attack of opportunity.

Now, a caster can always Tumble (DC 15 to move safely) away or take a five foot step to get out of melee range. The solution here is twofold: either increase your reach, or make moving not an option.

Tactical use of the environment can force this caster up against a wall, a cliff, or just in the reach of another character.

Creating or emulating Difficult Terrain (halves move speed, cannot five foot step) has a myriad of options. There are spells galore, either produced by a friend, a magic item, or yourself if you multiclass.

For feats, Difficult Swings creates Difficult Terrain in your threatened space when you unleash a full attack. Scorpion Style cuts an enemy's speed down to 5 feet (Fort save negates), and Footslasher halves their speed on a successful attack.

Reach is often increased by being bigger (either magic or playing a Large character), but there are also reach weapons and the Extending weapon property to get an extra 5 feet between you and your enemy.

So these are all well and good, but what if you just really hate magic? What if other people casting spells at you is just the worst? Try Antimagic Field. A ten-foot radius bubble of Fuck You, available as a sixth level spell. No spells, no supernatural anything, and no magic items. Nothing works.

Oh yeah, you're a player character. You probably have and like your magic items. Recalculating bonuses is annoying, even with an app or digital sheet. Also, Antimagic Field means you, the caster, can't cast. Sadge.

But what if... haha, just kidding.

Unless? Selective Spell. A metamagic feat. +1 to the spell level, and one designated creature within a spell's area is unaffected by the spell. Select yourself, and enjoy all benefits of antimagic with no downsides.

Thank you for reading and remember: every caster is beyond salvation except the ones on your side.

#dnd #pathfinder #dnd 3.5e #character building #antimagic #all my homies hate magic #except my magic homies #solutions to problems the DM doesn't want you to solve

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #249

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're building the hero we need, Asclepius! He is an Alchemist Artificer to brew up experiments for his vic-patients, and... that's it. Artificers are good, y'all.

Check out his build breakdown below, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: The Maoudonalds combo meal!

Race and Background

Asclepius is part god, so you can probably guess he's an Aasimar by now. What you might not have guessed is we're trying out the new Mordenkainen book! That means he gets +2 Intelligence and +1 Wisdom, as well as Celestial Resistance to radiant and necrotic damage, Darkvision to peek into all those crevices in a person's rib cage, the Light cantrip for the other doctors, and Healing Hands. Healing your proficiency bonus in d4s per day with just a touch feels like cheating, but let's take what we can get.

You're also something of a Cloistered Scholar, giving you proficiency with History and Religion. You might not like the gods but you at least know about them.

Ability Scores

Your healing comes from your Intelligence since you're always pushing the boundary of medical science, so make sure that one's high. After that is your Dexterity. That staff you fight with is a giant scalpel. Giant Scalpel = dagger, dagger = finesse. Plus most people don't trust a surgeon with a twitch. Your Wisdom is also pretty good, since that's the ability score medicine is actually tied to. Your Constitution has to at least be passable, otherwise you'd be getting sick as often as your patients. We're not dumping Strength since you were tutored by Chiron and I can't imagine he'd let you get out of Phys. Ed. that easy. But we are dumping Charisma. Experiment with a patient one time and you never hear the end of it...

Class Levels

Starting off as an artificer is cool, it gives you proficiency in Constitution and Intelligence saves, as well as Medicine for the whole point of this build and Sleight of Hand for expert scalpel work. You also get Magical Tinkering, so you can implant minor effects in tiny objects. Scalpels that emit noise are super useful since it lessens the chance of leaving them inside the patient. You also learn Spells that you cast and prepare using your intelligence. Since you can change your spells over short rests they aren't super important to get perfect, but spoiler: grab healing spells. Cure Wounds, False Life, Purify Food and Drink, etc. Also, pick up Identify to figure out magical ailments quickly, and Tasha's Caustic Brew. Sometimes treatment requires your patients to have less skin than they came in with, no biggy. For cantrips, Spare the Dying helps stabilize your organic allies, and Mending will help Babbage and Katou Danzo.

Second level artificers get one of the biggest draws of the class, the ability to Infuse Items with magical effects. You get four blueprints to play with, but you can only have two of them up at a time, swapping between them on long rests. Check out Enhanced Weapon for a sharper scalpel, Enhanced Arcane Focus for a stronger snake, or the Alchemy Jug for your base alchemical needs. You can also create a Mind Sharpener for when you need a bit of adrenaline to keep your concentration going.

When you hit third level you finally become an Alchemist, allowing you to expand the limits of medical science with some Experimental Elixirs. At the end of a long rest you can create one of these elixir for free, or by spending a spell slot for each extra. Upon creation, roll a d6 for each one to determine its effects. There's a lot, so we won't go over them here, but they're all good. Probably. You also get some alchemist spells, like Healing Word and Ray of Sickness. You can also create The Right Tool for the Job at the end of a short rest, magically crafting any kind of artisans' tool you might need, though you can only have one of them at a time. Finally, as a third level Aasimar you undergo a Celestial Revelation, granting you a Necrotic Shroud for up to a minute per day. You can transform as a bonus action, forcing a wisdom save on nearby creatures and frightening them if they fail. Also, once per your turn you can deal necrotic damage on an attack. This is pretty similar to the old version, though there are differences. Your necrotic damage is now equal to your proficiency bonus, not level, but to balance that out you can't frighten your allies any more. I'm not saying you'd ever use a dirty scalpel, but it would get those wounds infected really quick.

For our first Ability Score Improvement pick up the Skill Expert feat to round out your Intelligence score as well as get proficiency in Perception and doubled proficiency in Medicine. Still weird that it's attached to wisdom, but it's not like you care now.

Fifth level alchemists are Alchemical Savants, adding your intelligence modifier to the healing/ acid,fire,necrotic,or poison damage of a spell. (And since necrotic shroud deals necrotic damage, this works on any spell you cast while transformed, bringing your total bonus damage to +7, which is better than it'd be right now as an old Aasimar!) This only affects one person hit by the spell, but most healing spells are single-target anyway. You also get second level spells now. Your freebies are Flaming Sphere and Melf's Acid Arrow, but if you'd rather heal than deal (damage), check out spells like Aid, Lesser Restoration, and Protection from Poison. Also maybe Enhance Ability to make your medicine checks even stronger.

Sixth level artificers get an extra free elixir per day, plus some Tool Expertise. Your proficiency bonus gets doubled in every artisan's tool check you can use it in, which annoying doesn't include healer's kits. On the plus side, you get two more infusions, and can use up to three at a time. Radiant Weapon is just cool, turning your scalpel into its own flashlight! Handy. Alternatively, use Resistant Armor to avoid disease by getting resistance to necrotic or poison damage. Or other types, but the cleanliness factor is the most important one.

Seventh level artificers have Flashes of Genius, letting you add your intelligence modifier to a check or save near you up to your intelligence modifier times per day. That means you can now have a +12 to your medicine checks, which is pretty nice for this early in the game.

Remember how I was complaining about healers kits not working with tool expertise? Well the Healer feat just about fixes that, letting you stabilize a creature at 1 HP instead of zero when you use a healer's kit, or you can use it as an action to heal a creature for 1d6+4 plus their level once per creature per short rest. Sometimes people just get regular scrapes, and if you're not keeping them alive until they contract something incurable, who will? Medea?

You know what this build doesn't have enough of? Healing. Thanks to the Restorative Reagents you put in your elixirs, drinking one will also give the drinker 2d6+your intelligence modifier temporary hit points. Plus, you can cast Lesser Restoration Int modifier times per day for free using your alchemist's supplies. You also learn third level spells. Gaseous Form isn't that in character, but you bet Mass Healing Word is. You can also use Catnap to speed up your allies' metabolisms, granting an hour of rest in 10 minutes. Dispel Magic can remove a lot of disease-like magical effects, and Revivify is a much less complicated way to bring people back from the dead compared to waiting for your NP to charge.

Tenth level artificers are Magic Item Adepts, so you get an extra attunement slot and you can craft low-grade magic items in a quarter the time and half the cost. You also learn Guidance to boost your medicine checks further, and can learn two more infusions, with one more up at a time. The Periapt of Wound Closure is an automatic stabilization device, while Ventilating Lungs are the best plague doctor mask money can buy. They let you breathe in any environment, and you have advantage on saves against harmful gases. (You can also use them to create a gust of wind once per day, but we're here for medicine, dammit.)

At eleventh level you can create a Spell-Storing Item at the end of a long rest. This sticks a 1st or 2nd level spell into a weapon or focus, and a creature wielding that object can then cast the spell using your intelligence. They can use that spell up to twice your intelligence modifier times per object.

Now that you can heal good, you can use this ASI to max out your Intelligence for the smartest spells and flashes.

Thirteenth level artificers get fourth level spells. Blight isn't really your style, but Death Ward is about as close to reviving the dead as you can get in FGO, so it's cool that you get it for free. You can also use Summon Construct from this spell level to create your very own giant metal snake. Technically it's supposed to resemble a golem or modron, but flavor's free and flaming robo snakes are cool.

At fourteenth level you become a Magic Item Savant, giving you yet another attunement slot, and you can ignore all requirements when it comes to attuning magic items. You can also cast Sword Burst for a melee snake attack, and you get the standard infusion boost. Pick up Amulet of Health to give you (or an ally) a 19 in their constitution score, and also pick up a Helm of Awareness for more adrenaline for advantage on initiative rolls and immunity to surprise.

Fifteenth level alchemists get a third freebie elixir per day, as well as some Chemical Mastery. You now have permanent resistance to acid and poison damage, as well as immunity to being poisoned. You also can cast Greater Restoration and Heal for free once a day. This is a great boost to your already impressive healing, and also the sole reason you're not also a divine soul sorcerer. Their healing boost doesn't come online until level six, so they're mutually exclusive.

Use this ASI to finally bump up your Wisdom score, for better medicine checks. Yep, we're out of ways to get around it, we finally have to deal with the stat that medicine is actually attached to. The horror.

At seventeenth level you can finally cast fifth level spells like Cloudkill and Raise Dead. You can also cast Greater Restoration more frequently. Yeah, there's not a lot of fifth level spells we need here. Feel free to experiment though, I think Asclepius would enjoy that.

Eighteenth level artificers are Magic Item Masters. There aren't many more item-based bonuses you can get, so this is just a sixth attunement slot. That being said, you get another infusion of infusions. The Spell-Refueling Ring is always useful for an extra spell slot, and the Eyes of the Eagle will help you with finer surgeries.

I guess we can't get around it. Use your last ASI to boost your Dexterity for better AC and scalpel usage.

The capstone of Artificer is flat out busted. Thanks to your Soul of Artificer you get +1 to all saves for each attuned item you have, and you can prevent getting reduced to 0 HP by destroying and infusion. So that's a +6 to all saves, and you can die six times before it sticks. Oh sorry, forgot about death ward. seven times.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

Yeah no artificers are strong. You can just say no to so many bad things. Dropping concentration? No. Dying? No. DM not giving you magic weapons? No! You'd be really good even if you don't keep that amulet of health for yourself, but if you do you've got almost 200 HP, which is huge for a healer.

You are so good at supporting your team. Not only do you have so much healing, you can also just hand out your medical equipment if you want to make your entire party a bit stronger. Plus you can use Enhance Ability and/or Flash of Genius to help them with their skill checks, if you want.

Speaking of skills, you're good with them. Obviously your medicine is best with a +15, plus 5 from flash, and plus advantage from Enhance Ability or an extra d4 from guidance. But those last three things can be added to just about anything you're doing, and with good intelligence and wisdom a majority of skills are your playground.

Cons:

The big caveat in that team support thing is "if you want to", since with your dumped charisma you'll likely see a lot of friction when it comes to working with them.

You're also terrible at dealing non-magical damage, with only a +3 in dexterity and a knife at your side, getting stuck in an anti-magic field will not be fun.

You're also heavily dependent on your equipment like most artificers. If you end up in the wilderness or a gladiator arena, pray your party members are willing to help out.

#fgo #fate grand order #DND #D&D 5e #Asclepius #Artificer

[jaesvelvet]

aparecium — takata mashiho

warnings: grammartical errors

words: 1.8k words

pairing: hufflepuff headboy mashiho! + fem reader

notes: this is my first hogwarts imagine of treasure.... i hope you guys enjoy this!!!

You quickly close your thick black book as Professor Flitwick walks towards your table, hiding the book under the table, and practices the charms he has been taught for that day.

"Give it a flick, Y/N" Professor Flitwick said

"Ascendio" you point to the feather in front of you, lifting it.

Professor Flitwick nods, murmuring a good job to you before passing through you.

You sigh in relief the professor is cool unlike Professor Snape, he surely will take the books and read what you've been writing on in front of the class.

"Mashi! Help me" you look up to the person who calls Mashi or Mashiho. You smile as the boy in the yellow tie helps the boy with their spell. You head over heels towards the head boy of the Hufflepuff, in your eyes, he is like Ron Weasley to your Hermione Granger.

Mashiho is boyfriend material, he is head boy, teacher's pet, he is the seeker in Quidditch, and one of the students who take NEWT. Everyone knows it is hard to study for NEWT, and yet this boy takes the NEWT like it's nothing to him, nobody has ever seen him struggle studying NEWT. He is indeed Hermione number 2.

"Okay, class dismissed, for those who take NEWT, there's only a month left since your examination, I hope you are all prepared and of course you welcome to my office if you need any help" Professor Flitwick announce class about NEWT making you sigh. Yes, you are one of the students who take NEWT, at first you want to take O.W.L instead of NEWT but your mom said it will be great if you try to take the exam, and here you are struggling to get a good grade for your final year in Hogwarts.

You left the class and walk towards the library, it is your free time, you are willing to study for the upcoming exam than joining your friend watching Quidditch training.

You enter the library, feeling calm by the silence, you making your way to the potion section to study more about potions that you need to do on your examination soon.

You frown as you see the book you've been searching for is on the top of the shelf, you tiptoe to reach the shelf, but who are we kidding here? The top shelf is too high for you like in a usual k-drama scene, someone grabs the book you make you turn around, eyes getting bigger when you realized the person that helps you.

"Mashi?"

"You know, it's your last year in Hogwarts, why don’t you just cast Wingardium Leviosa?" he asks, handing you the book while showing you his sly smile

"Uh, we can't depend on everything on magic you know?" you answer

"I see, you're an independent girl," he said making you blush, you also didn't know why you're blushing at his word? Perhaps he talking to you while being this close making you shy?

"Uh, thanks? I guess?"

Mashiho laughs at your awkwardness

"You take NEWT too right? Why don't we study together?" he offers.

Now your brain is malfunctioning. Mashiho offers you to study together?? Is this not a dream? You mentally slap yourself and look at him again

"Sure, what do you want to study?" you ask

"Potion. I need to pass if I don't want to see Professor Snape's face again" he said making you chuckle, a teacher's pet tattle behind them? Impressive.

"Yeah me too," you said and he leads you to his usual spot.

“So Y/N tell me why you take NEWT?” he asks. You raised your brow to him, did he just... Underestimate you?

“Uh, don’t misconstrue my words. I'm just curious since almost all students at Hogwarts refuse to take NEWT and you take– you know what? Just ignore my question” he said, his face turns slightly red making you smile, you can’t be mad at him for too long, he is so cute! You just wanna pinch his cheek.

“Well my mom made me, and I thought it’s not hurt to give it a try” you answers

“Well, your parents must be proud of you for study hard, I admit this exam is so hard I felt like crying when I study the same chapter again and again,” he said

You are surprised to see he is openly sharing his thought with you, well you’re not that close with him and even his friends doesn’t know he is struggling to get a good grade.

“I heard a rumor that you never struggle at study but I guess it’s all wrong then”

“Well, I don’t think showing my struggle changes anything? I don’t even know who’s spread all the news, why don’t they just minding their own business?” he whines

“Yeah, true” you replied, and focusing on your book, but in your head, you already screaming at the top of your lungs because Mashiho is so cute when focusing on something. You were surprised you didn’t explode at this point.

+.*

A week passes since you and Mashiho’s studying together in the library, it was a good day because after that he offers you to eat dinner together with him. You couldn’t stop thinking about that day if only there's a spell to freeze time.

Secretly bringing out your thick black book, you open to the blank space and writes something on the page using invisible ink. There’s one thing you like about magic, you can do whatever you want without others knowing.

“Oi” your friend whispers to you, scrunching her face seeing you doing something else instead of brewing a potion

“What?” you whisper back, your hands still jotting something on the book

“Snape will kill you if he saw you do something else, you fool!” she slaps your hand, you roll your eyes, you didn’t prefer to study now because since morning you have class nonstop. You can't take it anymore all you need now is rest or a hot bath.

“Ugh fine,” you said and put your book above some random book.

A sigh comes out from your mouth and continues to brew your veritaserum— the truth serum for your NEWT, you lazily stir the potion that looks like water, you wonder if someone drinks a drop of this potion how much truth will they spill out? Since Professor Snape said that 3 drops of this serum are enough to make a person reveals their deepest secret, this potion is scary no wonder the process is difficult.

You heard a laugh from across your table making you look up, your exhausted body feels recharged by his laugh. Mashiho’s laugh, you smile seeing him joking around with his friends which later being scolded by Professor Snape, he noticed you look at him and wink at you.

You feel like time stop for a moment, did he just wink at you? Gosh, he really driving you crazy.

You break the gaze and focusing on your potion, frustrated by his wink.

Minutes later, Snape dismissed the class and Mashiho walks towards you

Why? Why is he coming here? You thought

“Y/N, you free this evening?” he asks

You slowly nod your head, although you don’t want to go anywhere and rather spent your day in your dorm, you still nod to his question like hypnotized by his gaze.

“Cool, so do you want to study together again? You great at potions, really” Mashiho said

You blushing. Again. You thought he must think you a fool, blushing for no reason.

“Ah yes I would love to!” you said

“So, I meet you at 5, in the library?”

“5 it is” you answers and take your books while smiling at him.

+.*

Your chest becomes tight as it becomes hard to breathe, you wander around your dorm, as you realized you take the wrong book! This black book on your bed is not yours. It fills with some charms and potions notes. Your book is empty— well not empty, it’s just written in invisible ink. But still, you feel nervous if someone cast an aparecium spell on it, which is a spell to reveal secret messages that are written with invisible ink.

You take the book and run towards the potion class, hoping the book will be at the last place you put it.

“Professor Snape” you pants, holding on your chest catching on your breathing.

“What did you want L/N?” he asks in a monotonous tone

“Did you see my black book here?” you ask

“Is your responsibility to take care of your things L/N. There’s nothing here” he said sternly

You mentally roll your eyes at him, he could say no and you don’t waste your time here and search for your book.

“Alright, thank you, professor,” you said and your looks at your watch it was already 5 pm.

“Oh shoot, Mashi must be waiting for me,” you said and running again to the library.

You assume you will die anytime soon if you keep running like this, you enter the library and catching your breath before approaching Mashiho at his usual place.

“Hey” he frowns when he sees your forehead cover with sweat.

“Did you run?” he asks

“Uh yes, I’m afraid if I'm late,” you said and wipe your sweat using your sleeve

Mashiho let out a chuckle

“I don’t mind waiting, you shouldn't run you could fall,” he said

You smile at him, you could feel butterflies in your stomach. How is he even real?

“Oh, before we start– um I think we exchanged books at potion earlier” he hands you the black book that you have been searching this entire evening

“Oh my, you’re life savior— wait how did you know this is my book?” you raise one brow to him, you didn’t write your name in this book unless...

“I’m sorry I didn't mean to cast that spell but I need to know who's this book belongs to! And when I saw my name on the first page I couldn't help myself but read...” he said, you could see guilty in his eyes

“I- I'm sorry, you just think that I'm creepy right?” now you realized how creepy if someone writes an entire book about you without your consent.

“No, I appreciate you noticed my details when I play Quidditch. No one ever notices my strategy for Quidditch, you’re the first one” he cracks up.

“Oh..” that’s the only words you could say, well the atmosphere is awkward right now!?!?

“Did you like me that much, Y/N?” he tease you

“Based on the book, it will be a lie if I said no,” you said

“Well, don’t worry because I like you too. I didn’t know how to approach you at first but luckily you can’t reach the top shelf” he said

You finally can look at him in his eyes. Well, this is one of the benefits to not use magic all the time, right?

#treasure imagines #treasure scenario #treasure blurbs #treasure mashiho #takata mashiho #mashiho imagines #mashiho scenario #treasure hogwarts au

[enchantedblackrose]

All the Pieces Pt 3

Gif not mine. Full credit to the owner. Taken from Google Images

All the Pieces

Sirius Black/Fem Reader

Warnings: unedited, mild language, alcohol consumption, brief mentions of underage drinking, small mention of bullying. Lengthy author's notes at the end. Also this was a huge PIA to write so hopefully it doesn't read too disconnected

Part 1|| Part 2|| Part 4|| Part 5

Part 3 of ?

When you touch me gently I remember how you know And the sun shines rings around your smile And I'm here laughing like a child -Pieces, Dan Powell

If it was any other person on your doorstep, you'd probably berate them for inducing that almost heart attack you just experienced. Instead you grab the familiar face by the sleeve of his worn jacket, pulling him into your living room.

"I could deck you, Remus John Lupin. I thought someone came for him. Ugh. Come here." Your arms wrap  around him for a tight hug, which he returns. "He's here, Remus. He's safe." You feel Remus let out a deep sigh of relief. Pulling away, you look at him with gentle scrutiny, knowing what a toll last night took on him. "You look awful. Did you walk far? You should've told me you were coming. I could have met you."

Remus shakes his head. "I caught a train and apparated most of the way."

"Stop fussing over him, y/n. Let the poor man get past the door."  Sirius's teasing voice calls out from behind you; no doubt his canine ears allowed him to hear the familiar voice even through the closed bedroom door and knew it was safe to come down.

The two men embrace; this encounter being much more relaxed than their last. No Peter, no warranted need for revenge, no threat of execution.

As you all stand in your living room, a haunting thought hits you: you three are it, the last of your true friends. Peter is the traitor. You suppress a shudder, swearing to make the most of this moment.

"You know," you say with a grin, "I happen to have a large bottle of firewhisky. Fancy a drink, boys?" Sirius's grin mirrors your own. Remus has a small tentative smile, but it's all the encouragement you need to send you to the kitchen to fetch the bottle.

The small, quaint kitchen appears even smaller with the disregarded dishes from breakfast still sitting out on your table. The sight causes a small frown to appear on your face. All the rest of the morning and most of your afternoon had been lost to the unplanned nap with Sirius. You fill your sink with soap and hot water. A few flicks of your wand and your dirty dishes are submerged in the water, scrubbed, and rinsed. The process begins again as now clean plates make their way to the drying rack, which is concerning because you dont believe you cast a spell for that. Confused, you turn to see Remus in the kitchen. He winks and wordlessly reaches your top cabinet without so much of a stretch to retrieve the bottle of firewhisky. You follow him back to the livingroom, toting three glasses.

"Cheers to freedom," you say once everyone has a full glass, "and to being reunited with old friends."

"You hear that, Remus? She thinks we're old." You roll your eyes good naturedly. Remus rests a hand on Sirius's shoulder, giving it a brotherly pat. "We are old," he says simply, before all three of you raise your glasses to your lips, sipping at the burning liquid. You each settle comfortably in your living room. Remus sits in the armchair, leaving the overstuffed couch for Sirius and you. You sit at an end, while he opts for the middle seat, but in a respectable distance of your space. The bottle of alcohol sits in arms reached on the coffee table.

"I thought you swore off this stuff y/n." Remus says with a twinkle in his eye as he takes another drink from his glass. "You know, considering your history with it.." You groan and Sirius throws his head back in laughter.

"I almost forgot," Sirius says breathlessly from laughing. "Was that seventh year?"

"Sixth. Just before we got together. I suppose I was trying to impress you," you tell him.

"You matched me drink for drink that night."

"Which was mad seeing how I never had a drink before. I spent all next morning and afternoon in bed, throwing up. It was awful."

"You're forgetting the best part," Remus interjects.

"Dancing on top of that old table in the Shrieking Shack, singing the chorus of "Rock and Roll all Nite" at the top of my lungs was far from the best part. I only wish I could forget it."

"That wasn't singing, love. More like cats dying," Sirius quips while he and Remus laugh. You say nothing, well aware how accurate the description fits. You take a long drink from your glass.

"Yes, well as, uh, entertaining as that moment was, I wasn't referring to it," says Remus. You look at him questioningly. "Have you forgotten sneaking into the Slytherin boys' dorm, stealing all their robes, turning them hot pink, changing the crest to a mountain troll, and then returning them to the dorm?"

"Oh,  Merlin. That was the same night wasn't it? James had never been so keen on lending me his invisibility cloak until I concocted that plan!" The two men laugh and you join in.

"You know most of my other friends thought I was strange for being into muggle music." You say as the laughter dies down.

"Lily shouldn't have?" Sirius asks after he swallows his drink.

"No. You're forgetting Lily and I weren't friends first. We didn't really talk or hang out until she and James started dating."

"That's right. I forgot. I remember the two of you constantly together."

"Because we bonded over you two idiots. Prior to that, she never came out and said it, but I think she thought I was daft hanging around you lot most of the time. The other girls were more forgiving, but they had crushes on you all." You give a careless shrug. It was no secret how sought after the boys had been in their schooldays.

"I never quite understood how you became friends with us," Remus says.

"It was easy with you. You were so nice, calm, dependable, and not obnoxious. Peter…" you pause, choosing words carefully, not wanting present feelings to influence memories. "He was quiet and lonely. Pretty much agreeable. Again, easy. James and Sirius? I was determined to never speak to either after that boat ride our first night."

"We saved your life that night!" Sirius interjects.

"You two were the reason it needed saving! Standing up in a fucking boat because you two saw whatever in the lake. James knocking me overboard in the process."

"It was a giant squid and we rescued you."

You roll your eyes. "I was drenched, freezing and completely mortified. And as apologetic as James was, he kept calling me the wrong name." You all laugh. 

"It wasn't until second year that I thought they might be okay. We had already become friends," you say looking at Remus. "I missed about a week of classes due to acute bronchitis. You spent time with me afterwards, helping me catch up. When you missed later that month, I was ready to return the favor."

Remus nods, remembering the time fondly. "You were an excellent note taker. Much better than the other three."

"Did you even take notes?" You ask with a playful glance to Sirius.

"In second year? Probably not." He grins ever so cheekily. You shake your head, but are smiling.

"So we became friends and you befriended James and Sirius by default?" Remus muses.

Sirius feigns hurt. "Are you implying we were some sort of consolation prize?"

"Actually," you interject, "They saved me once again. A group of four older boys were harassing me, just dumb taunts and knocking my books out from my hands. They came right over, not caring about being outnumbered. Got the gits to leave me alone. James finally learned my name and I realized Potter and Black weren't so awful after all."

"Those guys were jerks. It didn't sit well with us to see anyone bullied like that."

"Unless of course it was Snape," you counter.

"That was different," Sirius's free hand clenches into a fist as he takes a hard drink.

Remus is quick to change the subject. "Do you still have that remembrall?"

"The one we enchanted to go red only for James? Mhm! It's at my flat in the city."

"Do you mean our flat?" Sirius asks.

Your smile falters. "No. Sirius. I got a different place. After…everything. It was too hard."

A deafening silence falls. Each of you taking long sips from your glasses.

"Oh!" You jump up suddenly, which given your somewhat inebriated state is not the brightest idea. You stumble slightly, but Sirius steadies you, grabbing you by your hips. His fingers linger and your eyes meet. You lose yourself; for a moment you're sixteen again and his touch is more intoxicating than the alcohol. His gaze tells you he feels the same.

Remus clears his throat loudly before taking a drink from his glass.

"Thanks," you mumble, setting your glass on the table.

Sirius releases you from his grasp, though you still feel the ghost of his touch. "'Tis no trouble, darling." You sense his eyes on you as you disappear from the room, heading upstairs. Your head is buzzing, but you blame that on the alcohol…

You return downstairs to the living room, the fetched item tucked securely out of sight under your arm, and find the boys, men talking with easy smiles. It makes you so happy to witness and spend this time together. Your presence has their full attention.

"Follow me, please." You fill your glass with more firewhisky. Sirius mimics the gesture and offers Remus a refill, but he just shakes his head no and silently indicates to the liquid still in his glass. You grab your wand and lead your little group outside to the backyard. The sun sits low in the west, the sky becoming more plum and black than pink and gold. Buckbeak sits on the ground near your shed, one wing tucked over its head.

You hand Sirius your wand and then produce his prisoner robes. He laughs and even Remus looks as if he approves. Sirius waves your wand and the dingy, tattered garment is set ablaze. 

After a while, you all make your way back inside. You prepare a light dinner and the eating and drinking continue with more laughs and shared memories. Hours pass. The contents of the bottle nearly drained signal the night coming to an end.

"I'm one drink away from dancing on tabletops and singing, or, screeching some A-ha, or something equally as embarrassing." you laugh. "I'm going to bed. Remus, I offered Sirius your room, but you're welcome to the couch. There are blankets and pillows in the hall closet." 

"Thank you, y/n. But I should be going."

"What? No. Stay. I insist. I need to see your bemused face sipping tea when I come downstairs with a bloody hangover and you're just fine."

Remus grins. "I hate depriving you both of such a moment, but I have an appointment tomorrow morning. I've already rented a room." You frown but don't press the issue any more. "Though if you don't mind, I thought I'd travel by floo."

"Of course. Help yourself. Powder is on the mantle." You hug him close and kiss his cheek. You excuse yourself, giving the other two time to say goodbye.

As you head for the bathroom, you pause hearing their low voices.

"I'm so sorry, old friend, for believing you... betrayed them. I should have known better. I-"

"There's nothing to forgive. I doubted you, too. The war made us all fear the worst.."

Mentally, you chastise yourself for eavesdropping and begin washing your face.

Sirius has made his way upstairs. In passing his room, you say goodnight. You're about to close the door to your bedroom when he calls your name and you turn to see him stepping towards you. Without warning his lips crash down on yours. Your fingers intertwine in his dark curls at the nape of his neck as you let the kiss deepen. His hands grip your waist and he hoists you up off your feet with little effort just as he did many times all those years ago. Your legs wrap themselves around his waist as he carries you to your bed. He drops you gently and only breaks the kiss to look at you. Still hovering over you, his gray eyes search your face for the answer to an unasked question. You nod in response, but he continues to gaze at you longing to hear you say it.

"I want you."

A slow breath of relief leaves him and his mouth finds its way back to yours. 

The night ends with two former lovers once again completely losing themselves in a perfect moment.

//

There's an unspoken understanding that the night you and Sirius shared together was more than a drunken hookup after a long night of reminiscing. But you don't repeat the night, though you share your bed with him. Nights are hard for him. Sleep doesn't always come easy and he often wakes in the middle of the night screaming, or panicked with sweat pouring off his body. But your presence brings him a comfort he can't otherwise achieve. And so, you spend your night together in your bed. Sleeping.

As days turn into weeks, a comfortable routine has set. Remus visits about once a week. Surprisingly, Sirius has taken to caring for your garden. You go into town as needed and you and Sirius cook dinner together most nights. Buckbeak, now known as Witherwings per a letter from Hagrid that reached Sirius, roams your yard freely, occasionally taking flight in the safety of the countryside night skies, always returning by daybreak. As precautions for the hippogriff and Sirius you casted Protego totalum over the cottage and yards. 

During this time together, Sirius learns how you took over your parents' shop*, how you've taken on a promising young woman who mostly looks after it, leaving you to spend more time here at the cottage, which also belonged to your parents. With tears in your eyes, you told him how they died months apart just over two years ago. He comforted you, remembering them both fondly and told you they'd be proud of you.

The day is still young when you tell him you have to go to the shop to take inventory. Before you leave you call out to him.

"Since it looks like rain, can you please go through some of your things in the attic?"

"Yes, dear," he uses the term mockingly and you playfully glare back at him.

"Try not to burn the place down while I'm gone." With that, you close the door behind you.

It's late afternoon when you return home. Sirius is waiting for you. A midnight blue box in his hand.

"Will you marry me, y/n?"

*a/n: I kept this vague so you can imagine a shop that fits your personality/likes/whatever. I'll only specify this later if needed for storylines. I wanted something where you could be allotted time off easily. Personally I imagine maybe an apothecary? Or maybe an antique shop. What about you?

2: I'm thinking of writing a prequel? More like blurbs, highlighting moments between you and Sirius. But I need to know what you want to read. First engagement? First kiss? When Sirius realizes he's in love? Time at Hogwarts? Post Hogwarts but pre Azkaban?

Taglist <3:  @oingo233 @marimorena06 @medalloway-blog

#sirius x y/n #sirius x you #sirius black x reader #adult sirius #harry potter fanfic #sirius black fanfiction

[utilitycaster]

Going to sum this up to avoid yet another "M says she doesn't like changelings->this has turned into Let Me Tell You Of My Changeling PC Hour" scenario. I really do love questions about D&D mechanics and I want to encourage them, but sometimes it feels like people just want to talk about their PCs and like...I don't know what to do with this.

ANYWAY: any barbarian/full caster class will at best probably break even at best. Maybe if you rolled really well on stats and are only going to take out-of-combat utility spells where the DC doesn't matter and only take a level or two it's not the worst idea, but even then...look me in the metaphorical eye and tell me you're not doing this more for story than for mechanics. Which is fine! I completely respect that, and I would do the same!

The reason why, for example, charisma caster with a two level dip into paladin is considered incredibly good is as follows:

Uses the same casting stat; you just need to have a decent strength score as well.

Adds combat-readiness through better armor and weapon proficiencies

Doesn't interrupt spell slot/leveled spell progression too much.

Gives sorcerers and warlocks access to L1 paladin spells like cure wounds which then scale up.

L5 spell slots can be used to smite and do ridiculous amounts of damage.

There's a synergy here. Whereas if you're a barbarian and branch off into a spellcasting class, you're deciding if you want to rage or cast because you can't do both, and even if you have other things that you can do, you have to make that decision and you can't switch back and forth (vs say fighter, which does mean no spell slots for those levels, but you can attack, action surge, and cast all in one turn where as a barbarian is always one or the other and if you chose wrong and the battle shifts, you've burned a rage that you have to drop or you've lost a lot of HP and might get KO'ed even if you start raging.

Cleric and druid are a little better, but even then it's like...if you're mostly a light cleric then you're rarely using that rage and you'd probably be served better by just getting better armor and putting ASIs into CON, and if you're mostly a barbarian then wow is that always-prepared faerie fire just going to waste 99% of the time.

Druid/Barbarian is I think the least contradictory at least, and the main drawback is whether it's worth waiting longer for those spells and class features. Again, it just feels like you're breaking even mechanically at best and playing for the edge cases rather than the day-to-day; is rage really worth waiting several more levels for better wildshape abilities?

I think the other thing is that people really want their barbarian to have more utility out of combat, and that just isn't the class! There are some good options - Storm Herald with the Desert aura, for example, has pyrogenesis which is super useful - but that is not what barbarians are here for, and that's fine! I think there's value in trying to play a swiss army knife...but there's not a lot of value in trying to turn a giant hammer into a swiss army knife, if that makes sense. I see why people might do this, especially if your party is small or not that balanced; but it might make more sense then to multiclass into battlemaster fighter (from barbarian) or take the tough feat as a full caster. If things are really bad, you can talk to your DM! I have some weird UA features as a bard because our party composition changed dramatically; something like that might be a better option if you're trying to fill a legitimate gap with this multiclass.

#d&d

[nerdythebard]

#3: Ah Muzen Cab, God of Bees

Hello again, gods and goddesses!

This time, we focus on a very unusual figure. I'll be(e) honest, I had no idea there was a separate function as the God of Bees, but apparently, several ancient religions do have somebody for that specific task. Plus, there is surprisingly very little information on Ah Muzen Cab, who holds that position in the Maya pantheon, but when you think about it, it actually makes sense: honey was believed to have medicinal properties, it has an almost infinite shelf life, and is used as the main ingredient for mead... no wonder people would think of bees as divine creatures and honey as a sacred food. Sure, why not. Let's see what all the buzz is about!

Next time: When there's no more room in hell...

Now, let's set up some goals for this build. What do we need to make Ah Muzen Cab sting:

Bees: Goes without saying, what's a god without his minions? We gotta get those lil' buzzers somehow;

High Movement Speed: Pretty obvious, you're a bee god, you gotta zoom around;

High Attack Speed: Your sting stings and many stings sting even better. Let's make sure we can get a few extra hits on our turn;

Honey: Bees are cute and their puke is delicious. We have to include it somehow.

When it comes to Ah Muzen Cab's race, there were several options. I could've made him a Simic Hybrid for the nice carapace feature; or maybe a Gith, to reference his mysterious origins; at some point, I believe I even considered a winged Tiefling... but luckily, Wizards of the Coast came to my rescue with their latest Unearthed Arcana 2021: Folk of the Feywild.

Ah Muzen Cab is a Fairy. He's not the largest of gods in SMITE, so making him a size Small shouldn't be an issue. Fairies get a ground speed AND flying speed of 30 feet each, and a +2 and +1 to two stats of your choice; let's go with +2 Wisdom and +1 Dexterity. Instead of humanoid, we're now considered Fey creature type, and we have innate, unlimited flight ability (with hovering). We know Common language and one more of our choice (I suggest Sylvan) and we get the Fairy Magic feature, which gives us two spells from the start: Druidcraft, a cantrip that lets us interact with nature in one way or another (by for example opening flower pods, making them bloom, creating harmless sensory effects, etc.), and Faerie Fire, which marks everything in a 20-foot cube range with a bright aura, essentially preventing invisibility if a creature fails the saving throw (it's normally Dexterity, but we can pick Wisdom here, and so we shall). Another curious ability is Fey Passage, which allows us to squeeze through an opening even 1 inch wide.

For Ah Muzen Cab's background, to reflect his solitude and mystery around his very being, we're gonna pick the Hermit. We get proficiency in Medicine and Religion skills, proficiency in Herbalism Kit and we get to learn one language of our choice. We're now prepared to gather pollen and make our own honey. We also get the Discovery feature, which means we possess a particularly important piece of information. It honestly can be anything, from a crucial part of the campaign's plot to something more personal (for example 1001 recipes involving honey).

ABILITY SCORES

For the quick and nimble Ah Muzen Cab, Dexterity will be our first stat. We will be a caster in some degree, and our casting ability is going to be Wisdom. Follow that up with Constitution, for some Hit Points, then Strength and Charisma, and finally we'll dump Intelligence.

CLASS

We have yet another no-multiclass build. Ah Muzen Cab is going to be(e) nature-themed, quick, and ready to deal a plethora of ranged damage. He's a Ranger (Revised) start-to-finish.

As a Ranger, our Hit Dice is a d10. We start with Hit Points of 10 + our CON modifier, proficiency with light armour, medium armour and shields, as well as simple weapons and martial weapons. For Ah Muzen Cab, I think we should go with studded leather armour and a hand crossbow to mimic his carapace and stinger. We don't get proficiencies with any tools, and our saving throws are Strength and Dexterity. We get to choose three class skills, I'd say Animal Handling, Perception, and Survival fit Ah Muzen Cab's personality best.

---

Level 1: We start this build by choosing our Favoured Enemy. That's right, using the power of fantasy racism we can select a type of creature we are most effective against. We have an option of being the natural enemy of beasts, fey, humanoids, monstrosities, or undead. I'd say to choose either humanoids or fey, but this is to be adjusted to the campaign played. What's important is that we gain +2 damage against the chosen enemy type, we have an advantage on Survival checks related to tracking an enemy of said type, and Intelligence checks to recall any information about that type. We also get another language of our choice.

Another 1st-level feature we get is called Natural Explorer. As a master of the wilderness, we receive various benefits:

We can ignore any difficult terrain;

We have an advantage on initiative rolls;

On our first turn of combat, we have an advantage against enemies that hadn't acted yet.

Additionally, we grant the following benefits if we travel for an hour or more:

Difficult terrain doesn't slow our group's travel;

The group cannot be lost (unless by magic);

Even if we're engaged in some activity while travelling (foraging, tracking, etc.), we cannot be surprised by enemies;

If we're travelling alone, we can move stealthily at a regular pace;

We find twice as much food while foraging;

While tracking creatures, we learn their exact size, numbers, and how long ago they were at our current location.

Level 2: At this level, we get to learn some spells. Although we don't get any cantrips, nor can we cast ritual spells, there are a few tricks that will enhance our build. Wisdom is our spellcasting ability and we begin with two 1st-level spell slots and we learn two 1st-level spells: Alarm lets us put a 20-foot cube under magical surveillance for 8 hours. If any undesignated creature enters the cube, we are notified of the intrusion. We can flavour this spell by creating a small hive with bees buzzing around the perimeter. Hunter's Mark puts a target on one enemy for 1 hour (or until our concentration is broken); until the spell ends, the marked enemy receives extra 1d6 damage and we get an advantage on any Perception or Survival checks we roll in order to find it. If the enemy dies while marked, we can spend a bonus action to mark another creature.

At this level, we also get to pick our Fighting Style and Close Quarters Shooter lets us eliminate the disadvantage while shooting at a target that's within our melee range. We also ignore half-covers and three-quarters covers within 30 feet, and we get +1 to our ranged attack rolls.

Level 3: Our bond with nature deepens at this level. We get the Primeval Awareness feature; we can establish some basic-level communication with a non-hostile beast - we can learn of its emotional state, or if it's under any magical influence. Additionally, we can spend a minute of concentration to detect our Favoured Enemy within 5 miles of our current position.

This is also the level at which we pick our subclass and the Swarmkeeper Conclave finally lets us get our bees!

Our Gathered Swarm is a buzzing bundle of bees, which stays with us until we die. On each of our turns in combat, the Swarm can assist us in various ways. After we successfully hit the enemy:

The enemy receives additional 1d6 piercing damage;

The enemy has to succeed on a Strength saving throw, or be moved by our Swarm up to 15 feet horizontally in any direction;

We can be moved by our Swarm up to 5 feet horizontally in any direction.

We also gain access to Swarmkeeper's Magic feature, which grants us extra spells when reaching specific levels. At the 3rd level, we'd get Faerie Fire but we already know it because of our racial features. So we either forget about it or ask our DM if we could replace it with an extra 1st-level Ranger spell.

We also get another spell: Ensnaring Strike is applied to our ranged attack. On a successful hit, the enemy has to make a Strength saving throw or be restrained up to 1 minute (or until the concentration is broken) by magical thorny vines sprouting from the ground... or perhaps a puddle of extra-sticky honey? While restrained by the spell, suffers 1d6 piercing damage at the beginning of their turn (perhaps some bees hide within the honey and sting them).

Level 4: We get our first Ability Score Improvement! Let's raise our Constitution by 2 points, to get some more Hit Points later on. Survivability is important for the quick and nimble ones.

Level 5: At this level, we get our first subclass upgrade and it's... Extra Attack. We can now attack twice instead of once during a single action. It helps with our target goals, so it's good.

We also gain access to 2nd-level spell slots. Animal Messenger lets you select a critter and charm it to act as your courier for the next 24 hours. You speak a short message (up to 25 words) and describe a target and the creature does its best to deliver your words. I don't need to tell you what kind of creature to use, right?

Your Swarmkeeper's Magic feature also gives you an extra spell: Web fills a 20-foot cube space with sticky webbing. Creatures caught in the web must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be restrained. Once again, we flavour web as honey and we're good to go.

Level 6: Our power of Fantasy Racism grows even stronger with Greater Favoured Enemy. We can pick another type of creatures to gain advantages against. This time, we get to choose from aberrations, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fiends, or giants. We once again learn another language, and our bonus damage against both types of Favoured Enemies changes to a +4. Once again, choose whatever suits the campaign best.

Level 7: Time for another subclass upgrade. Writhing Tide lets our Swarm form a pair of wings around us, giving us flying speed of 10 feet for 1 minute. This ability seems a bit pointless, since we have a much better one from our racial background, so I would consider asking the DM if we can apply this for our party members and give them some slow flight instead.

For this level's spell, I think we should get Healing Spirit - we call upon a nature spirit (gee, I wonder what form it would take) to reside in a 5-foot space. If we or our allies movie into that space, or start our turn there, we get 1d6 points of healing. The spirit can heal only 1 + [our spellcasting modifier] number of times and disappears after the final healing. As a bonus action, we can move the spirit up to 30 feet to a space we can see.

Level 8: Another ASI! Let's put one point in Constitution and one in Wisdom.

At this level we also get Fleet of Foot, which lets us use the Dash action as a bonus action.

Level 9: We get access to 3rd-level spells: Conjure Barrage lets us magically multiply a projectile we shot. Each creature in a 60-foot cone must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 3d8 points of damage (half on a successful save), the type of which is the same as the projectile used.

We get another spell from our Swarmkeeper's Magic feature: Gaseous Form transforms us or whoever we touch into a cloud of smoke (or perhaps pollen). While in cloud form:

We have flying speed of 10 feet;

We can occupy another creature's space;

We have advantage on non-magical damage;

We have advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws;

We can slip through cracks and narrow openings;

If we're stunned or incapacitated mid-air, we don't fall.

While in this form, we cannot speak, use items, attack, or cast spells.

Level 10: At the midway point we get Hide in Plain Sight, which helps us hide so well we reach Drax levels of invisibility

When we choose to Hide, we can decide to not use any movement on our turn. If we do so, any creature that attempts to detect us receives a -10 to their Perception check until the end of our next turn. As long as we do not move, we can use this feature indefinitely.

Level 11: Another subclass feature! The Mighty Swarm feature gives us more bees than before. The damage dealt by our Swarm increases from d6 to d8; if a target fails their saving throw against being moved by our Swarm, they are also knocked prone; when we are moved by our Swarm, we get the benefit of half-cover until the start of our next turn.

We also get another 3rd-level spell: Protection from Energy gives us, or any creature we touch, resistance to one damage type of choice - acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder - for up to 1 hour (or until our concentration is broken).

Level 12: Time for another ASI! Let's raise our Dexterity by two points.

Level 13: We don't get new class features, but we do unlock 4th-level spells; Grasping Vine creates a wiggly plant tendril in a point within 30 feet from you, which can be directed to lash at a target within 30 feet from it. The target has to make a Dexterity saving throw or be pulled 20 feet towards the vine.

We also get another Swarmkeeper spell: Arcane Eye creates an invisible magical beacon that we can use to scout our surroundings for up to 1 hour (or until our concentration is broken). As an action we can move the Eye up to 30 feet without any distance limit; although it cannot enter other planes of existence, or pass through solid barriers, it can enter through an opening even 1 inch wide.

Level 14: We get to put a little extra sneaky to our build with Vanish. This allows us to take the Hide action as a bonus action (which pairs really well with our Hide in Plain Sight).

Level 15: For our final subclass upgrade, we get Swarming Dispersal. When we take damage, we can use a reaction to transform our body into a swarm of bees for the best representation of Naruto's Substitution Jutsu.

We gain resistance to the damage dealt to us and we teleport into an unoccupied space within 30 feet of where we started. We can use this ability the number of times equal to our proficiency bonus and we regain all uses when finishing a long rest.

We get to pick another 4th-level spell: we use Locate Creature to name a creature familiar to us and learn their location as long as they're within 1.000 feet from us. If the creature is moving, we will detect that as long as they don't live that range.

Level 16: We get another ASI! Let's cap our Dexterity with those two extra points.

Level 17: Here we unlock our spellcasting limit - 5th-level spells: Swift Quiver is a bonus action spell that turns our ammo supply into the infinite quiver of Legolas. For 1 minute (or until concentration is broken) on each of our turns, we can take a bonus action to make two additional attacks with ammo from our quiver. Combined with our Extra Attack, this lets us attack one target four times during our turn for 1d6+5 piercing damage.

Level 18: We get a feature called Feral Senses, which helps when fighting invisible enemies; when we attack something we cannot see we no longer get disadvantage on attack rolls. We are also aware of any invisible creatures within 30 feet of us, provided we're not blinded or deafened and the creature isn't using its Hide action.

Level 19: Final ASI of the build. Let's round-up our Wisdom into 18, and with one point to spare we can't do much so allocate it wherever.

We also learn our final spell for the build: Steel Wind Strike lets us do a flourish with our melee weapon, and turn it into an invisible blade of slashiness. Up to five creatures within 30 feet of us have to make a Dexterity saving throw or take 6d10 force damage. Additionally, we can choose to teleport within 5 feet of one of the targets that we hit or miss.

Level 20: For our capstone we get Foe Slayer: once on each of our turns, we can add our Wisdom modifier to the attack roll or the damage roll of an attack we make.

---

Now, let's see what came out from this build for Ah Muzen Cab.

I think we've reached all of our goals. We got our bees, we've got honey-flavour in some abilities, we get extra Movement Speed with Dash as a bonus action... we even get a good Attack Speed with Extra Attack and Swift Quiver.

Our Spell Save DC is 18, AC is 17 if paired with the studded leather armour, and we've on average 164 Hit Points.

Unfortunately, our Intelligence and Charisma scores are pretty low so any checks and saving throws involving those might give us trouble. We are also pretty much range-oriented, with just +1 in Strength.

But that's it! Hopefully you guys enjoyed this ride, and I'll see you for the next one!

Nerdy out!

#ah muzen cab #SMITE #ranger #d&d 5e #dungeons and dragons #fairy #dnd 5e

[thesoujishow]

S01E02 - Raimei Tsubusu

[vaporwave lo-fi song]

Souji: Testing? Hello?

Raimei: WUUUUSSSSHHGFGSHSHSHSHSHSHSHS...SSHAAAAAAAA....

Souji: Ok. There we go.

[INTRO - glitchy transition music]

Souji: Hello, and welcome to the Souji Show. I'm Souji and this is a show where I talk about anything I want. 'Cause this is my show, and not yours.

Souji: This episode is sponsored by WcDonalds! WcDonald’s wants to remind you that the most important meal of the day is breakfast. [ominously] So why would you let a morning go by without staring deeply into the mirror until you no longer recognize the face staring back at you – mimicking your every gesture, mocking your every movement?

Souji: [confused + ominous] How else will you get the energy you need for a full day’s work or recreation if you aren’t silently screaming into the visage of a person who gives you such uneasy spirit, such unshakable terror, a queasy feeling every time you make the connection between what that thing is and what you are becoming? What you have become? Where does the void end? Where do you end? When do you end? What time is it now? You’ve been crying, but for how long?

Souji: [cheerful] WcDonald’s! I’m lovin’ it.

[MAIN - glitchy transition music]

Souji: For this very special episode, we have an extra special guest. You may know her as the Violet Vendetta or the captain of the baseball clan. Everyone, give it up for Raimei Tsubusu! You look fantastic today, can you tell our listeners what you're wearing?

Raimei: My sincere apologies for the white noise that was the sound of a closing inter-dimensional portal.

Raimei: It's good to be here. And a great sacrifice on your part, Souji. Not a lot of men would have the guts to expose themselves to this level of danger. As for my attire, these are unique garbs crafted by the Lunarian Moon People, forged in the pits of the thirty-second moon crater. They have plus fifty resilience to all forms of stabbing, cutting and elemental weapons, and the shirt comes with the added benefit of granting me the unique ability: Instantaneous Gangstah Charm. With this ability, I can instantaneously cast any Gokudō spell written within the Book of Yamaguchi.

Souji: Gokudō, that's a synonym for the yakuza, right?

Raimei: Yes, it is. It means the Extreme Path, the hidden school of mysticism I and others subscribe to—one of the five routes to enlightenment, alongside the Mafioso talent tree, and Mexican Cartel Member.

Raimei: In terms of appearance, I had the most excellent designers from Gucci collaborate with the moon people to compress it all down into a pair of pearl white trousers, a tuxedo jacket, white dress shirt, and leather shoes. The Gucci Glasses of Information allow me to see in infra-red and night vision, and I've also got a watch made of platinum that tells me the timezones of all the countries on the world, the moon people's time cycle, and of course, it also dual functions as a holographic mind reader.

Raimei: Some people believe Prada is better. They are wrong.

Souji: I'm more of a thrift store kinda guy, but to each their own. I'll have to get some tips from the Lunarian Moon People on how they make clothes. Most of my clothes are custom made for my Quirk to work on them so I like to sew them myself. Does your inter-dimensional portal go to the moon as well?

Raimei: I lived in this dimension for almost three hundred years before I finally managed to make my first slip into the dream-zone, and that was nearly one hundred years ago. It isn't precisely possible to take a direct, inter-dimensional portal to the moon itself. But it is possible to reach the mirror version of it in the ninth dimension. In that dimension, the moon's where the earth is. So that solves a lot of things. Has to do with the Lunarian's Mystic Mirror view. As you probably already know, portals like these are dependent on reflections. So their mirrors make that impossible by reflecting everything back onto the earth. That's why the moon looks white. It's actually a verdant landscape, filled with grass and trees and everything. But it seems like a rock because we're just looking at a dull reflection of our own planet.

Souji: That's a very unique way to look at the moon. Shoutout to the huge unknown object that smacked the shit out of the Earth billions of years ago and gave us the moon. The sun is cool but that was the real MVP.

Souji: I gotta say, you do look very gangstah. Not to mention a holographic mind reader? Quick, what am I thinking of right now? [laugh]

Raimei: I'm... not sure if that would be appropriate for me to say. Last time I mind read a guy... didn't end well. Besides, this holographic watch would also immediately turn it into a visualization, which can be very embarrassing. So I'll spare you that. But maybe I'll show you a glimpse of my power at the end of this podcast. Sounds good?

Souji: Sounds good. Guess the listeners will just have to stay tuned and find out. Tell me Raimei, how does a multi-dimensional creature end up in Kyoranki Academy? What motivates you to become a hero?

Raimei: That's a good one. There are several reasons. I've lived for about four hundred years in total, so technically speaking, there's no reason for me to go to school. But you might've noticed that there's an expansive underground movement hidden beneath the shadows... the recent events were just one example of that. The CIA, FBI, Interpol, Europol, they're all part of it in some way, preparing for the inevitable Todeskrieg Event. All the major crime groups are getting ready for that, so we are too.

Raimei: On a different level, related to my current incarnation, I'm not unfamiliar with thrift stores either. My dad works long hours... so I want to find a way to help him. I don't know, it's not really black or white. But why Kyoranki Academy? It's one of the best schools in the country. A lot of my middle school friends didn't even get to go to high school. So I consider myself very privileged. I think that alone is motivation enough to be here.

Souji: I get what you mean about helping your family. I think that's a noble cause, Raimei. I grew up poor and mum and dad were mostly out making ends meet. The money's still my number one motivator but it makes me happy knowing that I'll make the city a little bit better for everyone living in it.

Souji: I'm excited that we finally get to go on missions. It makes you think how much far we’ve come. It’s been a crazy year and now we’re actually doing our part to be heroes. I don’t know about you but I’m excited to take down my first villain.

Raimei: I'm concerned people are going to be misinterpreting their roles in this entire thing. Based on what you said earlier, you're from a poor neighbourhood as well, right? So you know what it's like on the streets. What I'm just concerned by is that a lot of the people in our class, like, ... I watch them. I see that the majority don't have that. They don't have any street smarts, they don't know what it's like to be in that situation, to be poor... to be under the influence of junkies across the street. Yea, we've been trained, but I'm unconvinced that we've been prepared to deal with those situations.

Raimei: I think we can take down villains, sure. And there might even be a few out there we could stop. But I'm not excited about running into one; nothing is exciting about meeting someone that potentially wants to kill you. And I'm not sure we're helping the city by pushing our authority down people's throats, especially by a bunch of teenagers that have been told this is their big shot at heroism. Your local twelve-year-old marijuana seller doesn't need juvie, they need role models; good, role models that can inspire them—structural improvements to their lives, like decent food.

Raimei: You know how crazy it is that I can buy five fast-food hamburgers for the price of one piece of supermarket vegetable? If people wanna help the neighbourhood; go help out at a shelter—a soup kitchen. Hand out food; give your homeless newspaper salesman some cash to get him through the day. Japanese society is harsh, man. The second you fall out of the boat, your chances are pretty much zero. Everyone despises you. Your family ousts you. It's not fun. I know it, I've seen it in friends; how they're getting torn apart just because they're like, half-Chinese or something.

Raimei: I hope our peers just remember that when they're going out. If you're going in there guns blazing, you're just going to hurt more people than you'll save.

Souji: I get what you mean. I grew up in the middle of downtown Osaka, nothing but skyscrapers. Our high rise apartment was small, but it kept us safe from the streets. The news spoke of heroes that roamed the streets, shutting down crime wherever they went. People spoke of bright, shining icons in colourful suits, flashing cheesy grins at the camera. But only a few came to ours.

Souji: Growing up in the poor meant that at a young age, I was very cognizant of how the money would and could limit me and my life as I attempted to get to the place where I am supposed to be. Most people our age will never know about ketchup sandwiches, adding water to milk or to an empty shampoo bottle to get more shampoo. Hand-me-downs clothes, books, toys. Having a ‘candle day’ because the lights don’t work. [chuckle]

Souji: When I say to people I know downtown Osaka like it's the back of my hand, I really do mean it. I know which places to avoid during certain times of the day. You had to be street smart to survive, those are the rules of the game.

Raimei: Mhm, mhm. That's what I'm saying. I'm from the outskirts of Airin-chiku, so it's pretty much the same issue.

Souji: It's easy to get caught up in the title. A hero. Believe me, I'll admit that fame is enticing but at the end of the day, we're here to protect the whole city. Trust is a fragile thing. I think most of us in Kyoranki know that because of what happened. Villains and heroes are two sides of the same coin. We're both them in nature. Both are corrupted by the noble illusion of spreading ideas and helping others who on the 'good' side defined by them respectively. It's always been the human struggle in defining 'help' more importantly 'the others'. I don't know if I'm making sense but that's how I feel. [chuckle]

Raimei: And there's a couple of areas in between that too, mind. Not everyone's a bad guy, and not everyone's a good guy like the heroes that just pander for attention or the bad guys that are in it to support their families financially.

Souji: This Todeskrieg Event sounds interesting, what's going to happen?

Raimei: The Egyptian Pyramids. The moon landings. Global warming. Why did they happen? Did they happen? Or were these just small glimpses out of a much larger conspiracy? Why dedicate millions, tens of millions of dollars only to put a guy on the moon?

Raimei: The various gangs around the world know the answer. At least, the established ones. It's all a part of this cybernetic A.I that has kept us trapped in a virtual reality dimension, Souji. You think all of this is real, but like, do we have any proof? How can we reliably say that this isn't just...computer generated?

Souji: I'm a big arcade, video game fan so this is right up my alley. I had the same hunch as you, Raimei. The truth is that there’s much we simply don’t understand about our reality, and I think it’s more likely than not that we are in some kind of a simulated universe. Now, it’s a much more sophisticated video game than the games we produce, just like today World of Warcraft and Fortnite is way more sophisticated than Pac-Man or Space Invaders. If we develop the ability to produce even one simulated reality, we will almost certainly produce more than one.

Raimei: That's what confuses people. They think I'm going on about some sort of magical thing. But magic and science are one and the same, magic's just another way of trying to add rationality to it. And that's part of the Todeskrieg event. It's French for "Totem Pole Disaster"... it's written about in various religions. Some call it the Apocalypse, others Ragnarok ... basically the end of the world. When the simulation will be using too much data for the computer to handle.

Souji: Maybe we're just figment of imaginations and our creators are just forcing their every whim to us for fun. They're our writers, and we are their characters. Maybe they're just a bunch of roleplayers in a Discord server together? Do you hear that creator? I'm The Glitch now, a bug in your system. A disruption to the simulation.

Raimei: Based on archaeological data, humans, in our current shape and form... have existed for about two-hundred thousand years. Now, of course, imagine you're a person living in those sorts of environments. Yes, you'll be stuck most of the day, collecting food and whatever. But do you think those people were dumber than us? Of course not! They might've not had the schooling, but they had the same type of brain.

Raimei: Now, imagine that sort of situation. Okay, so, the first generation of Humans... they got it hard. The second one does as well. The third generation, well, it's a bit easier. And the fourth one... we're talking about everything within the span of a hundred years, considering people lived shorter lives.

Raimei: Now multiply that by a hundred. One hundred thousand years and they're trying to convince us that people only invented farming techniques twelve thousand years ago? It doesn't make sense. You can't convince me, people, before that time didn't... invent something. Didn't create something. Didn't create a civilization. Imagine, with our technology, with our A.I systems, our virtual reality capacities... I mean, if you're into gaming, look at the last fifty years.

Raimei: Now multiply that by four. Imagine just how bizarre that technology would be. Already, we've got games that are borderline lifelike. So how can we know that this isn't just.. some giant simulation? We can't. And we have to look at the empirical, most logical type of data. There's more evidence to suggest all of this is just a program than there is evidence to the contrary. But scientists aren't willing to recognize that.

Souji: I know! I can't believe no one is talking about this. Paranormal events like hauntings or alien encounters can be glitches in the simulation. Stuff like the Mandela Effect is supposedly proof that whoever is in charge of our simulation is changing the past. And don't get me started on Quirks! Superpowers born from radiation. You’re not going to get proof that we’re not in a simulation, because any evidence that we get could be simulated. If I were a character in a computer game, I would also discover eventually that the rules of our universe seem completely rigid and mathematical.

Souji: We’ve spent billions sending probes through outer space and should probably have found evidence of extraterrestrials by now, right? Not so fast: Aliens would likely be far more technologically advanced than we are, the thinking goes, so the fact that we haven’t located them suggests we live in a simulation they’ve figured out how to escape from. Or maybe the computer we’re in only has enough RAM to simulate one planetary civilization at a time?

Raimei: That's what we've been preparing for. The drug trade, the crime cartels, it all has to do with that.

[ASK SOUJI - glitchy transition music]

Souji: Now, let's shine the spotlight back towards the main focus of his podcast... me! Now, Raimei, it's your turn to ask me questions. C'mon, don't be shy, ask anything you'd like.

Raimei: are you sure you want to give me that sort of power? Because if I get to ask anything I like... First up, what's the deal with you and Ken? I don't want to pry into your love life, but you two looked very cosy in that meeting room.

Souji: Me and Ken? Love life? Oh, umm. I mean, umm. No, we aren't. You know. Together like that. [stammering]

Souji: We're just rivals! Yes, rivals. We started talking over the summer and we got closer during the campfire trip. Bunk buddies. Yeah, that. No love life here.

Raimei: Uh-huh. ... Bunk buddies. Well, if that's the official answer...

Souji: ...yes! Bunk buddies. That's the official answer.

Raimei: And I guess, another question is... why did you start this podcast? I'm not exactly famous or especially well-liked around the school, so I'm wondering why you're inviting someone like me to do this sort of thing.

Souji: I started this podcast because of Starlight. He's my favourite hero as you can probably tell. I always watched his talk show growing up, and it was what inspired me to enrol in Kyoranki in the first place. So this podcast is me passing it forward. I want to inspire other kids just like what Starlight did to me. One interview at the time.

Raimei: That's good. That you got a role model to follow, I mean... that you know what you want to do, and who ya wish to emulate. It's the same thing with the guys I mentioned earlier. ... Don't have plushies of them though, unfortunately.

Souji: You say the weirdest stuff in our group chat and I like it! You're interesting, zany and fun. You have a unique point of view, and having you in my show is an honour in it of itself.

Raimei: And I appreciate that about inviting me on your show I mean. Glad I could mention those frustrations I've been holding up. Don't have to go out of your way for me though, I'm okay with sticking to my own little bubble. That's just the life of a made-man. Forever in the shadows.

[Qs from the GC - glitchy transition music]

Souji: Let's move on to our audience questions! These were submitted by our classmates in our group chat. Ready?

Raimei: Yea, audience questions. I'm honestly surprised anyone finds me interesting enough to ask questions, but okay, let's go

Souji: Chia wants to know who are the special people in your life? What's something you're proud of and embarrassed by?

Raimei: Special people, huh? Well, I've got my dad. My mom ran out on us when I was little, so it has always been us versus the world. I've been going to a gym now for about... five years? And the people there are my role models, I guess. They inspired me to get into sports, like boxing. One in particular... the guy's a genuine sumo wrestler. But of the old generation? But yea, those guys have made a significant impact on me.

Souji: Haruto asks, why is your skin purple? Likewise, Ao inquires, do you know the girl who turned into a blueberry in Wonka's factory?

Raimei: As for my skin colour, ... I guess I've gotten a bit desensitized to questions like that. It's a skin mutation on my mother's side, supposedly to do with Quirks. I don't know, I always find it a bit weird to talk about. That nickname they gave me too, it's like calling someone with a darker skin pigmentation the "Black Vendetta". I mean, not that I mind. Asking about the pigmentation's no problem because it's odd. I'm just saying, it feels a bit shitty to compare me with some fucking Willy Wonka scene when like six months ago a kid got bullied out of school because people kept comparing him to a video game character; so, uh, Ao, you're cool. No hard feelings. I'm just going to subtly compare you to a fucking Star Wars Droid if you try that shit again.

Souji: Ken wants to know what you think of the recent baseball team tryout. And to that I say: we have a baseball team? Can I also try out just to beat that monkey boy?

Raimei: Yea, we got a baseball team! I mean, we got teams for nearly every popular sport, right? It's a prestigious school, after all. But we're doing our best to try for the nationals. And you're welcome to join up if you want, we can definitely use a few more clan members. As for our most recent try-out... that all depends on whether he joins up or not.

Souji: Kotoe inquires, do you play the bass?

Raimei: I don't play the bass or any other instrument.

Souji: And finally, Fumi wants to know your favourite genre of book.

Raimei: My favourite genre of books is crime novels.

[ENDING - glitchy transition music]

Souji: Well, we're nearing the end of our show, Raimei, is there anything you'd like to remind our audience, maybe plug whenever they can find you online? Maybe some tips on how to prepare for the Todeskrieg Event?

Raimei: I had an excellent time Souji. Thanks for inviting me. As for preparations, the people can make for the Todeskrieg Event, consider this a bit of an unofficial announcement; we are in fact a highly secretive group. But we, that being me and a few other highly skilled individuals steeped knee-deep in the criminal underground, decided to create a sparring group a few months ago. A fighting ring, as it were.

Raimei: There's no real focus on anything other than fighting a lot, gaining that sort of experience. I don't really bother with rankings or who's best or whatever either, I mean, my choice to just not participate in that tournament should prove of that. So there's no ego thing going on. Whether ya win or lose, it's all good. It's like a clan...But our meetings are sorta irregular, so you can still be part of another, like how I'm still in the baseball clan.

Raimei: As for the best way to contact me, all the usual underground channels work.

Souji: You've been pretty cool to talk to, so before you leave, I have a special surprise just for you. But don't forget, you promised to show me a glimpse of your power.

Raimei: And I did promise to show you a sample of my hidden, mystical power, didn't I? Alright- I'll try and make sure to contain it so that we don't blow up this entire office.

[sounds of moving chairs]

[sound of an 80s disco beat from silly cartoons transformation scenes]

Raimei: Ultra-Mobster, transformation! Percentage; three hundred!

Raimei: Yamaguchi-Gumi spell; Fifty-Five! Gokudō code, page three. Entering heat mode. Specialized skill; DISROBE.

[sounds of thunder]

Raimei: Looks like I got a new favourite shirt. Thanks, Glitch.

Souji: What a way to end the show! [applause]

Souji: Well listeners, if the world does turn out to be just a simulation, remember to make the most of it. Make a point of seeing some good in every day. Drop your resentments. We all have them. Make every day count. The end of the world is coming but until then, to keep up with the show follow me @thesoujishow, and to support my small clothing business, follow @glitchgear on all social media platforms. Once again, this has been Raimei Tsubusu and Souji Yoshihiro, and you’ve been listening to the Souji Show! A show where I talk about anything I want. 'Cause this is my show, and not yours. Until next time. Insert catchphrase here.

[vaporwave lo-fi song]

[EXTRAS - glitchy transition music]

Souji: If you listen to this podcast, chances are you go to Kyoranki Academy. Kido Kotoe is looking for a bass player for her band. So if any of you are interested, please contact her at [Kotoe's school email].

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #271: Florence Nightingale (Santa)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're celebrating Christmas with last year's Santa, Florence Nightingale! She's a Circle of Stars Druid to heal the sick, fly like Mary Poppins, and ratta some tatta. She's also a Rune Knight Fighter. You might not be a berserker any more, but that doesn't mean you don't have some sweet sweet madness enhancement.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Time for the gun show.

Race and Background

She might be hopped up on Christmas right now, but Nightingale is still a Variant Human at heart. She gets proficiency with Medicine as well as +1 Constitution and Wisdom. She also picks up the Skill Expert feat for one more point in Dexterity, proficiency in Stealth to santa her way down chimneys, and expertise (doubled proficiency) in medicine. Berserkingale was a field medic, but this Nightingale has the full force of the earth's greatest (and technically only) clinic. She's still a soldier: that's Athletics and Intimidation proficiency. Nobody likes going to the doctor. The gun certainly doesn't help.

Ability Scores

Medicine is a Wisdom check, so that's number one. After that is Dexterity. Guns and not dying in a santa suit are both dexterity-based skills, this probably isn't news to you. Constitution comes next: you're still partly a berserker, so you can tank some serious hits if it means you can fight disease. Your Strength isn't as high as I'd like it, but we'll deal with it later. Your Charisma is also pretty low.. You can scare people into following your orders, but you're not exactly winning any prizes for your bedside manner. Finally, dump Intelligence. You know exactly what you need to cure illness, and nothing else.

Class Levels

Fighter 1: First level fighters get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves as well as two skills from the fighter list. Grab Insight to tell if a kid's been naughty or nice and Perception to make sure your aim's steady. getting a needle in properly is hard in melee range, let alone 100 feet out. To help with that, you also get the Archery fighting style for a +2 on all ranged weapon attack rolls. Your health is important too, so use your Second Wind once a short rest to heal up as a bonus action.

Fighter 2: At second level you can use your Action Surge to take a second action in a single turn. Time is of the essence when it comes to treatment, after all. You can do this once per short rest.

Druid 1: First level druids learn Druidic, a written language that can only be decoded by other druids. Have you ever tried to read a doctor's handwriting? Exactly. You can also cast and prepare Spells using your Wisdom. It's important to prepare adequately for the weather to avoid pneumonia or heatstroke, so pick up Druidcraft to pick up the weather forecast. You also pick up Primal Savagery to get a little unarmed attack power going. Since you can swap out leveled spells overnight, don't get too worked up over what you pick. For first level spells I'd suggest Cure Wounds and Healing Word for the obvious medical uses, Faerie Fire for an attack boost worthy of being your third skill with that ridiculously long name, Jump for your first taste of lifting off the ground, and Purify Food and Drink. This will purge nearby food of all the toxins (and sugars) in it, rendering it much safer for the kiddos.

Druid 2: Second level druids can Wild Shape, turning you into a beast of CR 1/4 or less twice a short rest. This lasts 1 hour and goes up an hour every 2 levels. Your beast can't fly or swim, and you keep all your soft stats while in beast form, effectively gaining the beast's HP as temporary HP. You can't cast spells, but you can concentrate on them. But that's not what we're here for. We're here because Star druids can also use those Wild Shape charges to take on a Starry Form. It only lasts for 10 minutes, but while transformed this way you get all decked out for Christmas with lights and all, plus you can choose between three forms. As an archer you can turn that crossbow into a machine gun with a bonus action attack, launching radiant damage at your foes. As a chalice you can heal a nearby creature whenever you cast a healing spell. As a dragon your intelligence and wisdom checks, along with your concentration saves, always have a roll of at least 10. You're now as good at medicine as a rogue could get at eleventh level, and we're still level four. You're a good doctor, is what I'm getting at. One last thing: while you have your Star Map on you, you'll know Guidance and Guiding Bolt, and on top of that you can cast the latter without spending a spell slot up to proficiency times a day. It's a damage spell that gives advantage on the next attack to hit your target after you do. Nightingale's a great support, and you'll make sure your foes know why.

Druid 3: Third level druids get second level spells. We're still not flying yet, but Warding Wind will give you some protection, at least. Lesser Restoration is obvious, I hope, but pick up Barkskin too. A Santa outfit is not armor, so this can help keep you safe during the Santa tournament.

Druid 4: Fourth level druids get a Wild Shape Improvement, so you can turn into swimming animals now if you want. You also get your first Ability Score Improvement, so pick up the Piercer feat. This lets you re-roll one die of piercing damage a turn, and you can add an extra die to a damage roll on a critical hit with a piercing weapon. You really like needles. You also get Thunderclap. You had to leave most of your grenades at home for this gig, but it won't hurt to keep a few on hand. Won't hurt you, at least.

Druid 5: For third level spells, grab Aura of Vitality for more healing without having to sacrifice offense, and Revivify for your targeted guts ability. Druids don't really get the better resurrection spells, but hopefully you won't need those.

Druid 6: Sixth level star druids can foretell a Cosmic Omen- when you finish a long rest, roll a die. Then, depending on your roll you can add or subtract a d6 from nearby attacks, saves, and checks as a reaction Proficiency times a day. It's a shame you can't make both options work for the perfect translation of Assault Medicine, but we'll take what we can get.

Druid 7: There aren't many fourth level spells we want, aside from turning you into a Guardian of Nature. This transforms you for 1 minute, and during which you can pick one of two modes. A Primal Beast is a good pick to lean a little more berserker-y, bumping up your speed, giving you darkvision and advantage on all strength attack rolls, plus you deal extra damage with melee weapons. Alternatively, the Great Tree works for your archer form, giving you temporary HP, and you make dexterity-based attacks and constitution saves with advantage. You also slow down nearby creatures, which doesn't quite flavor well, but it's a cherry on top at this point, why not.

Druid 8: Eighth level druids can turn into any CR 1 beast, and they also get another ASI. Bump up your Dexterity again for a stronger gun and armor.

Fighter 3: Now that the Christmas spirit has welled up inside of you, we can spread it to others. As a Rune Knight you can wield Giant Might, making you a large creature with advantage on strength checks and saves. Your weapon attacks can also deal extra damage once a turn- interestingly, not just melee attacks. You can grow up like this proficiency times a day, but there's a bigger reason we're here. A rune knight is also a Rune Carver, giving you 2 runes you can carve into a weapon, suit of armor, shield, or jewelry over a long rest. The Stone Rune is an effective tranquilizer and naughty/nice detector. While holding it, a creature gets advantage on insight checks, plus darkvision for your dumb human eyes. You can also use your reaction to invoke the rune once a short rest, forcing a wisdom save against the target. If they fail, they're charmed for a minute. Every doctor these days knows you need anesthetic before you start the surgery. You also pick up the Fire Rune, doubling your proficiency bonus with all tools. More importantly, you can invoke the rune while hitting a creature, shackling them. They take extra damage, and if they fail a strength save they'll be restrained for up to a minute. Now you could take, say, a nonmagical lance and turn it into a weapon that can tied down your foes. That's right, we put Nightingale's ability to turn Astolfo into Saber Astolfo in this build.

Fighter 4: Fourth level fighters get their own ASI, and we're grabbing the Crossbow Expert feat. I'd consider your umbrella more of a light crossbow than a hand one so we're entirely here for letting you ignore loading, but really you can play the character how you want.

Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack, putting that feat we just got to good use. If the name didn't give it away, it's an extra attack each attack action.

Fighter 6: Our last stop in the fighter levels is another ASI, bumping up your Wisdom for stronger spells and better medicine.

Druid 9: Ninth level druids get fifth level spells, and there's a lot here to like. Control Winds might just get you the lift you need for takeoff, and there's the big healing spells like Greater Restoration and Mass Cure Wounds.

Druid 10: Tenth level druids get another cantrip, so pick up Resistance to buff your saves so you don't get sick with whatever you're treating. You also get Twinkling Constellations, buffing your Starry Form. This increases the damage and healing from Archer and Chalice, respectively. Best of all, your dragon constellation can now fly, and even gets a hover speed. Even better, you can swap between forms each turn your Starry Form is active. Umbrellas might not be the fastest way to fly, but at least you can't get knocked off your mount.

Druid 11: If you want to get the lead out use your sixth level spell slot on Wind Walk, giving you and up to 10 other creatures a flying speed of 300'. The downside is you can't attack while this is going on, but you can always revert the transformation. (It's worth noting it takes 1 minute to get into and out of this form.) If you'd rather do something simple, Heal heals people and removes status effects, Heroes' Feast adds to your friends' HP and prevents them from getting frightened in the first place. An ounce of prevention, a pound of cure, etc. etc.

Druid 12: Use your last ASI to bump up your Constitution for more HP and stronger runes.

Druid 13: There's really only one seventh level spell I want, and it's Regenerate. You can now reattach severed limbs, it's sweet.

Druid 14: Our final level makes you Full of Stars, making you resist bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage while in your Starry Form.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Compared to the old Nightingale, this new one's even tougher, with more HP, ways to reduce damage, and a higher AC. The healer's the last person you want to go down on your team, so this is great for your party.

Speaking of damage, you also deal more than the original. Two light crossbow shots + an archer hit deals 4d8+12 damage in total, about as much as if you were a maxed out fighter. A "proper" barbarian could probably do more, but you've got consistency.

Speaking of consistency, the dragon constellation means you have super consistent skills for a large portion of the game. It might not effect every skill in the game, but an eleventh level ability at level 4 is never bad.

Cons:

While your constellation transformations are longer than your typical rage, they're still pretty limited in terms of dealing with multiple encounters before taking a short rest. With only 2 uses, you can run out really fast.

Your AC is better than the original, but that's still not saying much. 14 AC isn't terrible on an archer, but you can do better- just put on some medium armor.

Multiclassing has plenty of benefits, but you miss out on high level spells. Tsunamis are cool, it's a shame you'll never cause one.

#D&D #DND 5e #Fate Grand Order #FGO #Florence Nightingale #Druid #Fighter

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #270: Astolfo (Saber)

Yahoo! Summer might be over, but that doesn't mean we're done with mixed up spirit origins yet! Saber Astolfo has come to wish you all a merry Christmas! ...In April!

Yeah, that 5% sanity boost doesn't fix too much.

Astolfo's still Astolfo, so they're still a Devotion Paladin, though that extra 5% knightliness means they're a Swords Bard now. We also dip into Battle Master Fighter a bit so your whip sword can do all sorts of tricks.

Check out their build breakdown below the cut, or their character sheet here!

Next up: They say laughter is the best medicine. This is incorrect. The best medicine is Gun.

Race and Background

Keeping the theme of FGO's power creep in mind, Astolfo is still a human, but now they're a Variant Human instead. That gives them +1 Dexterity and Charisma, as well as Animal Handling proficiency and the Slasher feat. This also bumps up their Dexterity, and attacking with a slashing weapon (like a whip) reduces their target's speed once a turn. Also, scoring a critical hit gives them disadvantage on all attacks for a round. We're not even level 1 yet, and your whip/sword/net is already tripping people up!

And yes, Astolfo is still Astolfo, so Astolfo is still a Knight of the Order for Persuasion and History proficiency.

Ability Scores

Astolfo is, as usual, best when he can factor her Charisma into a fight, so that's ability #1. They can shame even the most stalwart of servants into doing the right thing. After that is Dexterity. Not sure if you noticed, but a bunny suit still isn't armor, and whips are finesse weapons. The Stolf still has Monsterous Strength, (and we need to multiclass), so even without wielding a lance they still have a lot of it. This does mean our Constitution is lower than I'd like for a melee character, but we'll work with it. That leaves Intelligence being pretty low and Wisdom getting dumped entirely. A 5% boost doesn't do that much to help out.

Class Levels

Paladin 1: As a first level paladin of Charlemagne you can activate your Divine Sense Charisma times a day, finding any extraplanar beings nearby as an action. You can also Lay on Hands, healing yourself or another creature with a touch. You have a pool equal to five times your paladin level per day, and you can spend 5 of those HPs to fix a disease or poison affecting someone. Astolfo is a delight to be around, he's kind of a living pick-me-up. Even though servants technically aren't living, just don't think about it too hard, ok? Paladins also get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, plus Insight and Athletics. Tying someone up with a whip is still, sadly, an athletics check, so if we're not beefing up your strength we'll have to go the 'weak but skilled' route.

Paladin 2: Second level paladins get a Fighting Style, and yes, Dueling would be a great pick to bolster a whip's terrible offense. But bards get dueling as one of their two fighting style options, so we'll wait on that. Instead, grab the Interception fighting style to tie up the baddies even more. If another creature in 5' of you would get hit, you can use your reaction to tangle up the creature hitting them and reduce the damage by 1d10+ your proficiency. I'd argue it could be a 10' range if you use a whip, but I'm not your DM so I can't help you there. Fortunately, if you still want to deal tons of damage there's always Divine Smites, letting you spend a spell slot to shove a ton of radiant damage in a creature's face as long as you're using a melee weapon. Despite the increased range, a whip's still melee. You could use these spell slots to cast Spells that you prepare and cast with your Charisma, but where's the fun in that? I guess Heroism would give you immunity to being frightened and more HP and Wrathful Smite would let you deal damage and pull out La Black Luna at the same time, but raw damage is nice too.

Paladin 3: Third level paladins are immune to disease thanks to their Divine Health. Just the character, not the player, please get vaccinated and wear a mask. You're also a Devotion paladin, so you can Channel Divinity in one of two ways once a short rest. You can turn Vulcano Caligorante into a Sacred Weapon, adding your charisma modifier to your weapon attacks (not damage) and your whipsword shines 20' of bright light then 20' of dim light. Slasher only works if you hit the target, and a +6 to your attack rolls will help make that happen. Alternatively, you can Turn the Unholy, turning fiends and undead that fail their wisdom save. Mephistopheles and Shuten Douji are both casters, sometimes, and you have class advantage over them. It's not hard to make them want to run away. Wait, that's rider you... ah well, just use the Sacred Weapon thing then. Finally, you get subclass spells that you'll always have prepared. Protection from Evil and Good will keep your friends from getting frightened or possessed by ghosts and the like for up to 10 minutes. I mean yeah you actually helped your friends get possessed by the spirit of Santa, but you could probably do that in reverse too, right? On the other hand, Sanctuary prevents the targeted creature from getting attacked directly, forcing would-be attackers to make a wisdom save which redirects their attack on a failure. If there's nobody around to take the hit, they waste the attack. A lot of talking happens in Fate duels, it would be nice if there was an excuse for it.

Paladin 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Dexterity for a higher AC, more accurate whippings, and more damage. That +1 per hit actually means a lot when you're stuck with a d4 damage die.

Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack for two attacks per attack action. That's 2d4 a round, which is practically a d8! That means you're dealing damage on par with a level 1 paladin with an actual sword now! Mean whip-based jokes aside, you also get second level spells. Your freebies are Lesser Restoration and Zone of Truth, but to be honest there aren't many second level spells I want from the paladin list. Magic Weapon is useful though- all your weapons are powerful ancient artifacts, after all.

Fighter 1: Did you think we had enough knightliness? Of course not! Going over to fighter lets you knight while you knight with another Fighting Style. As a taste of what's coming up, grab a Superior Technique for one Superiority Die per short rest (a d6) for the maneuver Parry. Now you can do the Interception thing when someone hits you, though you reduce damage with a smaller die plus your dexterity modifier. You also get a Second Wind you can use as a bonus action to cheer yourself up for extra HP.

Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge for another action in a turn once a short rest. That's up to 4 whip attacks in a single round! More importantly, that's 4 chances to smite something, or you can use this to heal multiple people with Lay on Hands. It's flexible, like you are. At least according to some fanfic I've read.

Fighter 3: At third level you become a Battle Master, giving you four more Combat Superiority dice and turning all of them into d8s. You can spend these on three more maneuvers, so you can use your whip on a Sweeping Attack, dealing that roll's damage to a nearby creature if the original attack roll would hit them as well. You can also Trip up your opponent, adding the die to the attack's damage and forcing a Strength save (DC 8 plus your proficiency plus your dexterity modfiier) or they fall prone. The last big slowing effect battle masters get is a Grappling strike, though that sadly doesn't wrap them in your sword. Instead you can grapple as a bonus action, adding the die to your athletics check, and since your athletics isn't good, neither is this option. We'll get a better wrapping option in a bit, don't worry. Oh right, you're also a Student of War, for proficiency in one kind of artisan's tools. I think a horn counts for that, so we've got your conch now!

Fighter 4: We're sticking in fighter for just a bit longer so we can bump up your Charisma with this ASI. Stronger spells, a better sacred weapon, and your auras are stronger too! Wait, hold on a sec...

Paladin 6: Okay, here we go! Sixth level paladins get an Aura of Protection, adding their charisma modifier to all saves made by friendly creatures within 10' of you. Your lack of wisdom doesn't make you easier to control, if anything it's harder to take you over, with a +7 to wisdom saves despite your dumped wisdom stat.

Paladin 7: Seventh level paladins keep all their friends safe from getting charmed with an Aura of Devotion. There's no way in hell Astolfo's master from Apocrypha didn't try some kind of charm magic on him, to no effect.

Bard 1: Bards have a bit more buildup to knighthood than fighters and paladins, but I promise we'll get there. As usual, you get a second set of Spells cast with your Charisma. Check the PHB to see how your spell slots mix. Aside from that, you can use your bonus action to spread a Bardic Inspiration die, one of four d6s you get each day. When an ally has one, they can spend it to add that roll to an attack, save, or check in the next minute. For cantrips, pick up Blade Ward for even more damage reduction and Friends to stun just about anyone into going along with your Christmas-themed nonsense. After a minute they'll start catching on though. For first level spells, Animal Friendship and Speak with Animals will make sure you still have a good relationship with your Gryphon while you two are separated. Longstrider will help keep your agility up while you're stuck walking like a peasant, and Identify will help you keep all your artifacts straight when a new moon comes in.

Bard 2: At the second level of bard your protagonist powers kick into overdrive, making you a Jack of All Trades for at least half proficiency in all ability checks. You also get a Song of Rest, but at level 13 I don't think a d6 of extra healing each short rest helps much. You can use Healing Word for another kind of pick-me-up as a bonus action though, and you can boost healing spells (or damage too, I guess) with your Magical Inspiration. Now your inspiration dice can be used by allies casting spells as well!

Bard 3: At third level, you finally become a knight threefold when you graduate from the college of Swords. We finally pick up the Dueling fighting style for a +2 to damage with one-handed weapons. You can also use your inspiration dice on Blade Flourishes now. When you take the attack action your speed goes up by 10', and once per action you can spend an inspiration on one of three flourishes. All three add the die's roll to the attack's damage, but a Defensive Flourish adds the roll to your AC, a Slashing Flourish deals the damage to a nearby creature as well, and a Mobile Flourish drags the enemy 5 + the roll feet away, and you can use your reaction to follow them. Most importantly, you can also cast second level spells now, like Hold Person. It's a much more functional net than Grappling Strike was, and it gives any attack against that target advantage, and attacks that hit are always crits. Hopefully you can tell why that's a big deal for a paladin.

Bard 4: Pick up Light for even more holiday decorations and Mirror Image for Astolfo's sealed NP. That's right, we're getting Crazy Trip Drive Idol in here! Sadly the body limit is only 4, not 100, but it'll protect you from getting hit. You also get another ASI, so pick up the Sentinel feat to really lock down your foes. You can ignore a creature's disengage, and you can also attack enemies who attack other creatures. Most importantly, hitting a creature with an opportunity attack reduces their speed to 0 for the rest of the turn.

Bard 5: Fifth level bards get a d8 for their inspiration, and they become a Font of Inspiration, so your flourishes come back on short rests instead of long ones. You also get one third level spell, so pick up Fear for a proper unleashing of La Black Luna. Or that trumpet you got that freaks people out, either or.

Paladin 8: Sadly, we don't have much time to bump up Astolfo's constitution, but we can at least use this last ASI to grab the Tough feat. It's simple: 34 HP now, plus an extra 2 HP each time you level up from here.

Paladin 9: Ninth level paladins get third level spells. Again, there really isn't much we want here, though you get Beacon of Hope and Dispel Magic for free. One good pick here though is Spirit Shroud. It's a bonus action to activate, and then it lasts up to a minute if your concentration lasts, adding radiant damage to all your attacks, preventing healing for a round, and any creature that starts its turn within 10' of you gets slowed by 10'.

Paladin 10: Tenth level paladins get an Aura of Courage, making you immune to frightening effects as well. As long as it's not the new moon, at least.

Paladin 11: Our final level gets us the holy grail of whip paladins: Improved Divine Smite. Now you'll always add 1d8 radiant damage on every attack with a melee weapon.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

With a spirit shroud, flourishes, superiority dice, and improved smites all running at the same time, you can deal a lot of damage before we even touch the paladin's premiere feature. With your action surge, you're dealing 4d4+12d8+24 damage in a single round, or 88 on median rolls. If you're fighting a humanoid you can use Hold Person instead for 8d4+16d8+24 damage, a.k.a. 116 damage, all without smites. With smites that's another 20d8 (90 damage) for the first scenario, or 40d8 (180 damage) for the latter. So yeah you chunk a lotta damage when you need to.

You're also great at locking down enemies, keeping them from getting too close to the squishy party members. Slasher and Sentinel work to keep whatever you're fighting too slow to get at any other party members, and your whip's range gives you plenty of space to control the battlefield.

You don't mind all that attention though, since you're such a good tank. With several ways to reduce incoming damage and/or heal yourself plus ridiculously good saves against magic, it'll be a while before you crack under pressure.

Cons:

All that damage from earlier uses limited resources. You need spell slots, inspiration, and an action surge to make it work, so you can't pull out the big guns too often without exhausting your extra dice.

When you don't have the big damage, you have the little damage. Whips still only do a d4, and while Improved Divine Smite is great, you only get that at level 20.

You also have to put up with conflicting ranges on your skills. Interception is cool, but you have to be within 5' of an ally to use it. Slashing Flourishes also only have 5' of range. Most damming, your auras have the same range as your whip, so if your allies want your buffs they also have to stand in the same area as the monster you're trying to tank.

#FGO #Fate Grand Order #D&D #DND 5e #Astolfo #Fighter #Bard #Paladin

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #265: Artoria Pendragon (Ruler)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're building the arbitrator of the Summer Swordbeauty Duels, Artoria Pendragon! She's the bunny queen of the casino, and... um....

lost my train of thought.

Anyways, she's a Oath of the Watchers Paladin to watch those tables for cheaters, and a Lunar Magic Sorcerer for some bunny power. Don't look at me like that. Rabbits, moons, makes perfect sense.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Talk about a lambda complex...

Race and Background

Artoria's still a Variant Human, giving her +1 Strength and Constitution, as well as Perception proficiency to catch cheaters in the act and the Lucky feat. Three times a day you can give yourself advantage on a check, attack, or save, or give an enemy disadvantage when they're attacking you. Artoria's poker schtick is more powerful in a card-based game, but she can probably mess with dice too if she wants to.

For once we're actually changing your background too, from a noble to an Entertainer. Honestly she's a little bit of both, but the Acrobatics and Performance proficiencies will come in handy running a casino in heels.

Ability Scores

If we're gonna have a supernatural ability to deal with cheaters, our Wisdom has to be pretty solid, so make that the highest score. After that is your Charisma. Artoria's pretty scary, and her magic comes from within. Or from her headband. Either way, that's charisma. Rulers take a lot of hits, so your Constitution is relatively solid, and if you want to fight with an umbrella you'll need plenty of Strength behind those hits. This does mean your Dexterity is lower than I'd like- guess those heels are slowing you down after all. That being said, we're dumping Intelligence. Artoria didn't exactly have a normal childhood, she probably didn't have time for much schooling once she became the perfect king.

Class Levels

Paladin 1: At first level, paladins get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as two skills- Insight will help figure out if someone's counting cards, while Intimidation will keep them from trying in the first place. You can also use Divine Sense to detect an extraplanar being at the craps table (demons are notoriously sore losers, best throw them out now), and Lay on Hands will perk up your dealers on long shifts. It gives you a pool of HP equal to 5x your paladin level, and you can hand off any of them to another creature by touching them as an action. You can also cure diseases and poisons by spending 5 HP per effect, and you recharge on long rests.

Paladin 2: Second level paladins get a Fighting Style, and while Thrown Weapon Fighting might be UA it's still super useful when you fight with kunai and cards, adding 2 to your weapon damage with thrown weapons and letting you pull them out as fast as you can toss them. You can also cast and prepare Spells using your Charisma, and since you can change them up every long rest it's not a huge headache for you like most casters. That being said, check out Compelled Duel for the standard 1v1 showdowns from the event, Shield of Faith to pull luck in your favor with +2 AC for up to a minute, Detect Evil and Good to sense ne'er do wells in your casino, and Divine Favor to add a little radiant damage to your cards. If you're willing to hold on to your weapons, you can use a Divine Smite instead by burning a spell slot. You deal a lot more radiant damage this way, but it only works on melee attacks. So make sure you pull out your umbrella for the big hits, y'know?

Paladin 3: At third level we get a lot more vigilant as we join the Watchers. This gives you Divine Health; immunity to disease. You can't take a sick day when you run shit. You can also Channel Divinity in one of two ways as an action each short rest, or spend that use to Harness Divine Power for extra spell slots once a day. (You can do it more often as you level up, but the sentence was already starting to get run-on-y.) Your flavors of divine favor include Watcher's Will, giving a number of creatures up to your Charisma Modifier advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saves for a minute, so absolutely no illusion magic can get past you. Alternatively, you can Abjure the Extraplanar, turning aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, or fiends nearby if they fail a wisdom save, making them run away for 1 minute or until they take damage. You also get subclass spells, which you always have prepared without using up your prep space! Alarm will keep your halls safe from any phantom thieves, and Detect Magic is your ace in the hole when it comes to keeping games on the level. As far as the players are concerned, anyway.

Paladin 4: Use this ASI to round up your Strength and Wisdom for better card throwing and perception.

Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack each attack action. Cards don't do much damage, but now you deal twice as much. Yay..? You also get second level spells, like your freebies Moonbeam for a blast from Ehangwen that also forces shapeshifters back to their normal forms, and See Invisibility which is pretty self-explanatory. People always look for mirrors, but they never expect the old "invisible guy behind you" trick. You can also Find Steed to get your horse back, Magic Weapon if you have one really cool card you need to pull, and Zone of Truth to make fudging the rules even harder for anyone without a great charisma save.

Paladin 6: At sixth level you and your friends get a great charisma save thanks to your Aura of Protection. Any ally within 10' of you gets to add your charisma modifier to any save they make! +2 isn't a huge bump, but it's still gives you an extra 10% chance to save on literally everything.

Paladin 7: Your last paladin level for a while gives you an Aura of the Sentinel, adding your proficiency to all friendly intiative rolls within 10' of you. You'd think the dealer goes last, but they start the game with all the cards.

Sorcerer 1: That's enough wheeling and dealing, it's time to get that bunny suit. As a Lunar Magic sorcerer you can cast another set of Spells using your Charisma- check the phb to see how multiclassing works for you. That being said, you can use Dancing Lights and Light to set the stage, Gust for dramatic effect, and Sword Burst to swing some knives around without throwing them. But most importantly, you get leveled spells. Combine Mage Armor and Jump to not only look like a bunny, but move like one too! Thanks to the obvious connection between bunnies and the moon, it's perfectly understandable that you're a Lunar Embodiment, letting you swap between three sets of subclass spells each day. You can even cast one of these spells for free each day if you're in the right phase! When in your Full Moon phase, you get Faerie Fire, and eventually Moonbeam and Death Ward. In the New Moon you get Dissonant Whispers, then Darkness and Bestow Curse. In the Crescent Moon you can cast Sanctuary, and later Blindness/Deafness and Phantom Steed. Personally I think Crescent Moon is the best phase, but feel free to shuffle them up, keep them guessing. You also get Moon Fire for a free copy of Sacred Flame, plus you can hit two creatures at once with it if they're standing next to each other.

Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers become a Font of Magic, giving you up to your sorcerer level in sorcery points every long rest. Did I say sorcerer enough? Sorcerer. Anyway, you can spend those points to make more smite slots, or hold onto them til next level for cooler stuff. (Don't actually hold onto them, the reset every day.) Also you can cast Catapult now to actually throw cards at people if you wanna deal real damage.

Sorcerer 3: Third level sorcerers get 2nd level spells, but I don't want any. Pick up Magic Missile instead to play 52 spell pickup with an enemy's face. You can also spend sorcery points on Metamagic, ways to customize your casting. Subtle spells don't require verbal or somatic components, rendering them stealthy and impossible to counter. (Turns out, announcing "I will now check if you're cheating" is a giveaway!" Alternatively, a casting a Transmuted spell lets you shuffle the spell's damage type around if it's a standard elemental spell. A lot of your spells aren't that, but if they deal Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, or Thunder, you can swap at will. If you spend the points, obviously.

Sorcerer 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Charisma for stronger spells and a stronger aura. You can also cast Prestidigitation to mark or unmark cards, and Silvery Barbs to weaken an enemy's luck while bolstering your own.

Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers get Magical Guidance, letting you spend sorcery points to re-roll a failed check. You can also cast third level spells, and we actually want one! You know what Ehangwen really needs? Beams. Let's pick up Lightning Bolt for a really good beam. It forces a dexterity save on creatures in a 100' line, and if they fail they take lightning damage, or half on a success.

Sorcerer 6: Sixth level moon sorcerers get Lunar Boons, making your metamagic cheaper for two schools of magic at a time. If you cast an Abjuration or Conjuration spell as a full moon, Evocation or Necromancy spell as a new moon, or Divination or Transmutation spell as a crescent moon, you can reduce the cost of your metamagic options by 1 sorcery point Proficiency times a day. By the end of the build that's basically an extra 6 points, which considering we've only got 6 levels of sorcerer doubles your metamagic time. You also gain Waxing and Waning, letting you change your phase as a bonus action by spending a sorcery point. Now you can shuffle your spell list on the go! You also get Melf's Minute Meteors, letting you create a bunch of cards at once and launch a couple of them using your bonus action each turn. They explode into fire damage, so they're also a good candidate for transmutation.

Paladin 8: Moving back into paladin nets you another ASI. Bump up your Strength, just in case you need to use your umbrella from time to time.

Paladin 9: Ninth level paladins get third level spells. Your free spells are Counterspell and Nondetection- the former to keep cheaters from trying any funny business with scrying sensors, the latter to hide your security forces from the same. You can also use other spells like Remove Curse and Crusader's Mantle, spreading your radiance to the other knights of the round.

Paladin 10: Tenth level paladins have an Aura of Courage. You can't get scared now. You're part god, I don't even know what you'd get scared of.

Paladin 11: Eleventh level paladins have an Improved Divine Smite, adding a little radiant damage to all your melee weapon hits. Interestingly enough, this will work with thrown weapons, so your cards seriously pack a punch now. (Divine Smite specifies "melee weapon attacks", meaning attacks made in melee. Improved Divine Smite says "whenever you hit a creature with a melee weapon", and throwing the weapon is valid here.)

Paladin 12: At twelfth level you get your last ASI, so bump up that Charisma for stronger spells and auras.

Paladin 13: At thirteenth level you can learn fourth level spells like the freebies Aura of Purity and Banishment. More in character, you can finally use Find Greater Steed to summon a saber tooth tiger as a mount for that star lion from you extra attack animation.

Paladin 14: Your last level grants you a Cleansing Touch, letting you spend an action to end any spell on you or a willing creature you touch up to 4 times a day.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Your magical defense is ridiculous- basically, anything other than direct damage is going to slide right off of you, and probably your friends as well. The only save you're even just okay in is intelligence, which is still a +3. Plus, those saves are rare. Aside from your big saves, you're also immune to being frightened, and you can heal yourself from curses and other spells.

Of course paladins are good at melee fighting, but you also come packing ranged options thanks to your thrown weapons and spells. On the topic of spells, the size of your spell list is just silly thanks to dabbling in lunar magic, since you get nine bonus spells just for being in the class. Believe in the heart of the cards and keep them guessing.

You'll never be guessing though, with high wisdom and spells to cut through illusion. You're also surprisingly speedy given your low dexterity, so you can act on that knowledge before the enemy.

Cons:

Like any paladin you're pretty multi-ability dependent, though you have it worse than most since we spend your best ability score on Wisdom just for flavor.

You'll also burn through resources pretty fast thanks to being a paladin, so you might not get as many chances to use your spell as you'd think.

While you're strong against magical damage, you're weak against getting your shit slapped in. Your low AC means getting a hit in against you is trivial, even if you're in your bunny costume.

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #DND #Artoria Pendragon #Paladin #Sorcerer