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tigerkirby215 · 3 years

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5e Katarina, the Sinister Blade build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games. In b4 Tumblr gives me ToS for this picture.)

In my defense I had this build planned since pre-Tasha’s. With Katarina being absolutely nuts in preseason right now along with her just generally being one of League’s most popular champs I’d have to get around to making a build for her eventually.

Look it was either her or Zac. The only other build I really want to do right now is Miss Fortune and truthfully I’m kinda stumped on her. This build isn’t a build it’s a cry for help.

GOALS

Preparation - We’ll need to always be ready for a fight, with a weapon in hand and ways to rush in.

Shunpo - We’ll also need a way to jump on our foes, or jump away.

Death Lotus - When push comes to shove we’ll need to shred through everyone close by spinning and throwing daggers at a rapid pace!

RACE

Katarina is a human but with some special, magical talents. I’m sure by now people know my aversion to Variant Humans and my love of Eberron Dragonmarks so the Mark of Finding is perfect for finding marks and ending them.

With the Mark of Finding you get some Ability Score Improvements but thanks to Tasha’s we can get a +2 to our Intelligence and a +1 to our Dexterity. You also have Darkvision up to 60 feet, and Hunter’s Intuition, letting you add a d4 to Perception and Survival checks. Finally Finder’s Magic giving you some innate spells.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re an assassin who hops, skips, and jumps around the battlefield.

14; INTELLIGENCE - For whatever reason Katerina does AP damage? I mean she did. Now she builds Kraken Slayer because lol Rito balance.

13; CHARISMA - People don’t only main you because you’re strong.

12; WISDOM - Kata in lore is a bit of a hot-head but Wisdom is attached to many skills that an assassin needs.

10; CONSTITUTION - You’re a squishy midlaner.

8; STRENGTH - We simply don’t need Strength and with your build I doubt you have much. Even if jumping around like that requires a lot of muscles in the legs and chest.

BACKGROUND

So apparently Katerina is part of a Noxian Noble family? Regardless as a Noble you gain proficiency in History but I’d suggest swapping your Persuasion proficiency with Intimidation instead. You also get proficiency with a gaming set and a language of your choice.

Thanks to your noble birth you have a Position of Privilege, meaning that other nobles will welcome you within their circles and common folk will do their best to please you in order to avoid getting a dagger in their throat. You can even secure an audience with a noble if you need to! Perhaps you need to put a knife in their throat? An assassin doesn’t ask questions.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue for skill proficiencies also because yeah duh. As a Rogue you get proficiency in four skills from the Rogue list: Acrobatics is an obvious choice, Athletics will help your poor Strength score, Perception will help you spot incoming hooded assassins, and Stealth will let you do Rogue things. Rogue things like Sneak Attack if an ally is near an enemy or you have advantage, granting you an extra d6 on the attack roll.

You also get Expertise in two of your skills: both Stealth and Acrobatics make sense for an assassin. Speaking of assassin Thieves’ Cant will let you communicate with them in a way that your enemies can’t understand. And to top it off Finder’s Magic you can cast Hunter’s Mark once per Long Rest. Smite and Ignite to get First Blood.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Second level Rogues get Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. "Never play fair."

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Third level Rogues get to choose their Roguish Archetype and there’s two important things about your knives:

They do magic damage (for some reason.)

You throw them a lot.

With that in mind we shall be going for the Soulknife from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. As a Soulknife you get Psionic Power for a pool of d6 Psionic Energy die that can be used for a variety of features. Psi-Bolstered Knack will let you boost your ability checks as long as you’re proficient, and Psychic Whispers will let you keep assassination plans to team chat.

Of course what we’re really here for is Psychic Blades, a magic d6 psychic damage knife that you can make when you attack which can be dual-wielded and thrown up to 60 feet. You can also attack again with your Bonus Action if you already stabbed with your main action, but the extra attack will only do a d4 instead of a d6.

Speaking of magic: you also get Locate Object from Finder’s Magic. Perhaps not as useful as Find Person, but thievery isn’t beneath you. Your Sneak Attack also increases to 2d6.

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

4th level Rogues get an Ability Score Improvement: turns out Dexterity is pretty important for a Rogue so increase that by 2.

(Artwork by Jennifer Wuestling. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 5 - WIZARD 1

Time for an AP boost. First level Wizards get Spellcasting because what else did you think they got? You learn three cantrips and six leveled spells when starting out as a Wizard, even if you can only prepare a number of spells equal to your Wizard level plus your Intelligence modifier:

CANTRIPS

Instead of making a dinky d4 knife empower it with Booming Blade for some Thunder damage, and even more damage if the enemy moves.

To twirl around with Voracity Sword Burst will strike everyone near one of your daggers with your knives.

For a long ranged damage tool that inflicts Grievous Wounds Chill Touch will let you make sure your lane opponent doesn’t run away and heal up.

SPELLS

Mage Armor will help you avoid a few more hits.

For a Bouncing Blade (sorta) take Ice Knife to hit your target and anyone close to them.

For a shield thanks to Gunblade (like it’s TFT) take False Life to bolster yourself somewhat.

Disguise Self will be helpful for any infiltration missions.

Detect Magic likewise is useful to locate any magical traps.

Every good Rogue has a backup plan: Feather Fall is always useful in a pinch.

You also get Arcane Recovery, allowing you to recover spell slots with a combined total level of half your Wizard level.

LEVEL 6 - WIZARD 2

Second level Wizards get to choose their Arcane Tradition. There is actually a school for magic knives and that school is the art of Bladesinging! As a Bladesinger you get Training in War and Song for proficiency in Performance along with a one-handed melee weapon of your choice: for whatever reason Rogues don’t get proficiency in Scimitars so grab that I guess?

But much more importantly you can invoke a Bladesong as a Bonus Action, which lasts for 1 minute but ends early if you are incapacitated. (Or if you don medium or heavy armor or a shield, or if you use two hands to make an attack with a weapon. I guess.) You can also dismiss the Bladesong at any time with no action required.

While your Bladesong is active you gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Intelligence modifier, your walking speed increases by 10 feet, you have advantage on Acrobatics checks, and you gain a bonus to Concentration checks equal to your Intelligence modifier. You can activate Bladesong a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

You can also learn more spells like Color Spray for a getaway option, or Cause Fear of incoming ganks.

LEVEL 7 - WIZARD 3

Third level Wizards can learn second level spells like Mirror Image to be everywhere at once, and Misty Step for legally not Flash.

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 4

4th level Wizards get an Ability Score Improvement: more Dexterity means more AC and deadlier stabs with your knife.

You can also learn more spells like Invisibility for some Duskblade resets, and Enhance Ability (ty Tasha’s) to make sure you’re the best around. And you can learn another cantrip like Prestidigitation for some generic utility sorcery.

LEVEL 9 - WIZARD 5

5th level Wizards can learn third level spells like Haste to up your APM, and Spirit Shroud to make all your stabs all the deadlier.

LEVEL 10 - WIZARD 6

At 6th level you get an Extra Attack as a Bladesinger, but unlike most Extra Attacks you can also cast a cantrip along with attacking! The interesting thing about this is that (rules as written) you can attack twice after casting Booming Blade with this! And depending on your DM you might even still have your Cunning Action!

And on the subject of spells you can learn two more such as Clairvoyance for some Farsight Alterations, and Nondetection to... not be detected...

(Artwork by Atey Ghailan. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 11 - ROGUE 5

5th level Rogues get Uncanny Dodge. When you’re hit with an attack you can use your reaction to halve the damage. Additionally your Psionic Energy die increases to a d8, and your Sneak Attack increases to 3d6.

LEVEL 12 - ROGUE 6

6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills: Perception will help you avoid ganks and Intimidation will help you extract information.

LEVEL 13 - ROGUE 7

7th level Rogues get Evasion. If you’re forced to make a Dexterity save you can make some pro plays to dodge, taking no damage on a successful save and half damage on a failed save.

Your Sneak Attack also increases to 4d6, so you can jump onto them after dodging their skill shot.

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 8

8th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement: since your Dexterity is maxed let’s invest in that Intelligence... sorta. The Observant feat will let you increase your Intelligence by 1 along with granting a +5 bonus to passive Perception and Investigation so you can watch those wards, and the ability to read lips! Definitely helpful for an assassin.

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 9

Hey how about we get your actual abilities at total level 15? Finally with level 9 in Soul KInife you get Soul Blades for two new abilities that use your Psionic Energy die. Homing Strikes will let you add your Psionic Energy die to an attack roll if you miss, and Psychic Teleportation will let you throw out a knife and teleport to it!

Something something read how the ability works yourself because these are guides on how to make a character and I won’t tell you what every class in Tasha’s does. Oh your Sneak Attack also increases to 5d6 now.

LEVEL 16 - WIZARD 7

7th level Wizards get 4th level spells like Phantasmal Killer to make your own jungler (one who’ll actually gank!), and Dimension Door to Teleport into lane. Or out!

LEVEL 17 - WIZARD 8

Level 8? How about an ASI? You may notice that we have two uneven ability scores: increase both your Intelligence and Charisma by 1.

You can also learn more spells but there honestly isn’t much I want from fourth level so hop back to level 3 for Sending. But you can also take Greater Invisibility for some Duskblade resets. Look I just really need a 5th level spell but it’s hard to justify magic on a champion who throws knives and nothing else.

LEVEL 18 - WIZARD 9

Time to finally get the last ability we’re missing: Death Lotus. Or more precisely Steel Wind Strike to hit everyone with your daggers and then maybe Shunpo to them after the fact. Speaking of Shunpo for seemingly unlimited jumps take Far Step, allowing you to be everywhere at once. Just know that you’ll only have one 5th level slot.

(Artwork by Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 19 - ROGUE 10

Picking up our last two levels in Rogue: level 10 means another ASI. Capped off Intelligence woo!

LEVEL 20 - ROGUE 11

11th level Rogues get Reliable Talent, meaning that you can’t roll below a 10 on any skill you’re proficient in. As a capstone skill let’s check what the minimum roll you can get on your skills is:

27 on Acrobatics and Stealth

24 on Intimidation

23 on Perception

21 on History

18 on Performance (Bladesinger lul)

15 on Athletics

And to top it off your Psionic Energy die increases to a d10, along with your Sneak Attack capping off at 6d6!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

They fear my weapons? I am the weapon - Regardless of your choice of tools you are extremely deadly. On one hand 6d6 sneak attack daggers you can apply 3d8 Booming Blade damage to, and on the other hand plenty of potent spells like Haste and Spirit Shroud.

If you run, you won't see me stab you! - You are also incredibly mobile with Misty Step, Far Step, Psychic Teleportation, Bladesong, and just general Cunning Actions. Not to mention that Bladesong gives a big boost to AC which combines well with Uncanny Dodge and Evasion.

A victory is sweetest when it leads to another - Rogues are meant to be skilled professionals and you are certainly that. The skills you are proficient in can be boosted by psionics. Oh and 28 Passive Perception thanks to Observant is just a little bit nutty.

CONS

Ready for trouble? - While you have many a skill you have many more that are lacking. You can put on a mean face sure, but for an important check like Arcana your psionic potential won’t save you.

Better dead than dull - Your spell slots are limited, and quite notably you only have one 5th level slot for Death Lotus IE Steel Wind Strike. While magic can supplement you nicely remember to ration yourself appropriately.

Come on, live a little... while you can! - You know what class doesn’t have a lot of health? Wizards, and half your levels are in Wizard. With a 10 in CON and most of your hit die being d6s your enemies won’t even need to hit you to Power Word Kill you.

But as an assassin you prove why your house is the best in the business. Talk is cheap and you’re always prepared: go in with knives at the ready, take out your target and anyone in their way before slipping out unscathed. You can always reset after a rest; just be sure to remember your cooldowns.

(Artwork by West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

#dnd #dnd build #dnd guide #League of Legends #League of Legends Katarina #dnd rogue #dnd wizard #please nerf kata #why does she do on hit #kraken slayer #kata is so dumb #rito plz

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cassabi · 3 years

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Also, with regards to the image I just posted:

I know it was long, so I didn't want to clutter it too much with these details, and I certainly won't share all of them, but!

One thing I wanted to point out was this overlay I used for the background (enhanced for readability):

I'm no batok expert, but I'm decently familiar with the basic symbols and this pattern, specifically, was an interlocking of a symbol for sun and a symbol for moon. When my brother was an only child, my mother naturally sang him lullabies, and the staple she'd always sing was "You Are My Sunshine," like many mothers do. It's something we reference to this day.

... The thing is, when I came along, I was very adamant that I had something different, because my dear brother was already her sunshine, and we couldn't both be her sunshine because sunshine was a singular noun, obviously, so I had to be something different. Which is how I came to be known as "Moonshine" for a period in my life, where she sang the same song to me but.. changed just the one word!

And it's kind of hilarious, and also has had meaning kind of forcefully stacked upon it throughout my life. I'm the kind of person who does, in fact, pretentiously look upon my own experiences through the lens of symbolism as if I were some classic novel protagonist being analyzed by... me, who is reading a classic novel. Which would never happen, because I take terribly long to do anything and it would make for probably a very boring, stream-of-consciousness style book about intrusive thoughts, but regardless, this is something I do. And I think, without delving too much into it and writing paragraphs upon paragraphs upon paragraphs, my brother and I did turn out to give each other that kind of balance... as the prophecy foretold! One might say!

The second detail is that I'm wearing wedges; now, it's not like wedges don't exist at all in traditional Filipiniana (which is what the dress is, actually, and it is kind of an amalgamation of all my favorite bits of the different clothing pieces that you might find in traditional wear), but I have a fucked up body and I wouldn't be able to wear any of those! I almost drew them in anyway, just for the aesthetic, but it seemed kind of funny to give myself shoes that would inflict 1200 psychic damage on me in a drawing that was supposed to be a self-indulgent reflection of my own identity, so I gave myself some sexy, stylish wedges, just as the podiatrist prescribed when I told her that sneakers made my legs curl and explode with shooting pain. 😎

That's all! There's nothing terribly Filipino going on that sparked this; it has just been heavy on my heart for a long, long while-- heavier than ever since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and how it affected my family both Stateside and in the Philippines-- and I had just enough of a confidence boost tonight to finally assert what I'd been wanting to for so long now.

... But, as there is a large Chinese population in the Philippines and we often end up celebrating as a result, happy late Mid-Autumn festival! I hope everyone had lots of mooncake and lovely memories.

#cass talks #also when we were driving my brother to the airport i had to listen to him staunchly defend pacquiao's decision to run for president #while my mother vehemently opposed him #while neither of them know anything at all about his policies or his personality #my brother just likes him bc he's a cool boxer #and my mom loves him but thinks that he doesn't know shit about politics #which is a fair point but she's also hilariously (and i say that sardonically) a white supremacist so #so her political fair points get kind of canceled out

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dunamanticarchivist · 6 years

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The Munchkin Nein - Mollymawk Tealeaf

Explaining this series

A Mollymawk is a genus of albatross...i honestly have no idea what that means, I am not a taxonomist, I just know it’s something birdy. And I can read wikipedia to get a feel for what they are culturally. Something something sailors and mariners (maybe that explains why he rooms with Fjordy our resident shady sailor)

Anyway, we’re here for the crunch. And admittedly, this character is one of the reasons I got into thinking about this series to begin with, since there has been discussion about how ...well, unimpactful Mollymauk has been in fights. Going to lay out a couple of my thoughts before we actually get into the mechanics.

[Also, edited one day after the post, before M. Mercer decided to whoop dee doo, it’s time to put an end to the naysayers and give the poor Ghostslayer some buffs. And here I was defending Molly as he was; oh well, gonna update the crunch]

First off, if you’re going to compare each character’s output with one another, there can only be one eventual winner and that’s no damn good for anyone. If you compare the options taken as compared to those available, then you’re going to be critiquing on choices and once again, De gustibus non est disputandum, so I’m not gonna go there.

So let’s take a step back and see what Molly has thus far presented himself as and is, from what we can see. I think first and foremost, Mollymauk Tealeaf is a carnie, possibly influenced a great deal by Taliesin Jaffe our pyramidal fey lord and saviour ‘s extensive carnival experience. I will admit, I have never met a carnie, or know what they actually do or are. But from my internet gleaning and perusing (and Talks Machina thank you Brian Cabbage head), I’ve come to think of them as style over substance, highly extroverted and verbose individuals. Competence is optional. Laughter is not. Which really makes for an interesting character, in D&D or real life, I would love to meet a carnie and talk about the meaning of life with them while being as drunk as a sailor on shore leave.

Anyway, back to Mollymauk, there is actually a very recent post on reddit on his actual performance in combat that paints him in a better light, and the usual reddit discussion shenanigans. The one part of that that shifted my view decisively, is the realization that dual wielding is an aesthetic. Molly isn’t a fighter; he isn’t a master swordsman whose blades are an extension of himself nor does he have an instinctive feel for moving his blades in a fashion to cause harm. His scimitars are made out of cheap carnival glass for god’s sake; it's a miracle they haven’t shattered yet. I get a sense that those blades were mostly for show, until they had to be more than that. Still, that isn’t the comfort zone of Molly, who would rather talk and charm his way out of a situation. Which is reflected in his repeated use of Charm Person, Enthrall, and the infamous Vicious Mockery.

So in my opinion, the combat style of Mollymauk reflects his partially revealed backstory. He wants nothing to do with his potentially violent past and is all in on his solely carnival memories. If he could choose, I think he would be a pacifist.

Nonetheless, this is D&D where unless you are an Oath of Redemption paladin, pacifism is not going to be all that attractive since there are so many things that want your hide. So violence it's going to be. With that in mind, that doesn’t always mean you leave behind what you are, going into combat. I can write a whole other series on the human behind the soldier, but that’s for another time, so I’ll just leave this quote from LotR here

“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” -Faramir, The Two Towers

Right so, proper crunch time. Level 5 Tiefling (Devil Tongue Variant), Blood Hunter Order of the Ghostslayer.

Armaments: 2 Scimitars that do 1d6 + 3 (DEX mod) apiece, due to the Two-Weapon fighting style. Two attacks with the main weapon, and using a bonus action, can attack with the second scimitar, giving three strikes tops.

As a bloodhunter, one of the ways to increase your damage output is crimson rites to imbue your weapons with magical damage. In Molly’s case, he has Rite of Dawn and Frozen, to add d4 radiant or cold damage respectively. He will gain an additional option at Level 6, that’s just more versatility, but more importantly the damage die increases to d6 (which on average is worth 1 point more). Having 3 damage types is not really versatile, but not completely one dimensional either. Each rite comes at the cost of 1d4 HP deducted from the maximum that only recovers when the rite is deactivated (he isnt healed by that d4 when max HP returns)

At the moment however, this makes his scimitars 1d6 +1d4 + 3 if activated. As many have pointed out, it takes 1 bonus action to activate each scimitar and Molly only has 1 bonus action each turn. Also, striking with the second scimitar takes a bonus action. It doesn’t help that many of the blood curse options, one of which we do not yet know when Molly leveled to 5, takes up a bonus action as well.

Speaking of blood curses, the one we do know Molly has used is Blood Curse of the Eyeless, which has saved the asses of many of the Nein by inflicting disadvantage on one or two of the incoming attacks. Being a reaction with 60 feet range has contributed greatly to its usability.

Molly’s archetype of Ghostslayer is a situational benefit that contributes a WIS mod to damage undead creatures (+3), at level 11 this will affect all creatures, but for now, only undead creatures will feel this dual wielding sword swinger’s wrath.

[7/6/18 11pm GMT+1 update: Crimson Rite die is now d6 at level 5 bloodhunter, instead of the d4 mentioned above. Also, the Ghostslayer archetype halves the damage suffered when activating Rite of the Dawn. Considering the damage taken also increased, this is a welcome change (though compared to previously, on average, Molly suffers .75 damage less (rounded up to 1) per activation of Rite of the Dawn, though 1 damage more when using Rite of the Frozen. This downside would have happened anyway at Level 6, but now there’s at least a slight improvement.

Also, as part of the update, Molly would have the option to switch out Blood Curse of the Eyeless. I suspect he would, based on more metagaming logic of a greater variety of playtesting. So might bring us up to 2 unknown blood curses. There are many many other fascinating options, and we might see them within 4 hours of this update]

A couple of things grant Molly some durability in combat. He took the Feat “Tough” which gives more HP when levelling, so at Level 5, he already has the highest HP total of the Nein. Also, his AC is listed as 15 which implies either studded leather or chain shirt. That’s probably on the lower end for the Nein, but sufficient for combat (i guess? depends on how hot Matt’s dice are). Finally, he purchased the Periapt of Wound Closure, which stabilizes him if he goes down. Also, when he rolls dice to regain HP, the results are doubled. (I’m unsure if it applies to healing done to him, or just healing he does on himself; if its the former I can already see the disaster tiefling combo come to life).

Edit: I’ve asked around and it appears to be specific to interactions involving self healing with hit dice (d10s for Molly) such as healer’s kit and short rests. Still the point stands.

Regardless, it allows Molly to function like a glass cannon, just like his swords. Yes he’d take hits, but he’ll return the favour, and the difference is that he won’t break, while the monster will eventually be shredded.

And we move onto the Tiefling part of Molly, which mechanically, has 3 spells. Vicious Mockery, Charm Person and Enthrall. All of them involve the target making a WIS save against Molly’s DC 11 [ 8 + 3 (proficiency) + 0(CHA mod)] and if succeeded, the spell does nothing (which has fuelled the perception that Molly hasn’t done much)

The first is a cantrip, while the latter 2 are level 2 spells that can only be cast once per long rest.

For vicious mockery, failing the WIS save causes the target to suffer 2d4 psychic DMG and suffer DISAD on its next attack roll, functioning as a second blood curse of the eyeless. Of note, this and Enthrall, are the only abilities of Molly at >30 to 60 feet ranges, unless he chooses to pick up a rock and throw it. Not very effective, but definitely worth a laugh.

For Charm Person, up to 2 humanoids can be affected. The WIS save is made with advantage if Molly or the Nein are fighting it (debatable if they are being attacked and not fighting back would negate this). Failing the WIS save imposes the “charmed” condition for one hour, unless the spell ends prematurely or they start harming the target. The charmed condition gives advantage to social interactions checks, which with Molly’s CHA mod of 0, would probably be very helpful. Also, for 1 hour, the target cannot attack Molly with weapons or harmful spells

Finally, Enthrall targets visible creatures of choice. The WIS save is made at advantage if in combat. Failing it gives the target disadvantage to WIS (perception) checks on any creature other than Molly for up to a minute. Once again, probably not a combat spell. But Taliesin did use it successfully against the alligators to distract them temporarily from Kiri, so who am I to judge?

The only thing I could think of for these two spells, is possibly to use them together. So while Molly, this colourful spray of bright clothes, tattoos and energy of a tiefling, charms and enthralls a high value target, the rest of the Nein slaughter their guards and entourage.

So there it is, Mollymauk Tealeaf, performer extraordinaire and occasional sword swinger! I personally think that if this is what Molly is, there could be advantages in going full carnie. Make use of that acrobatics proficiency to climb the head of a giant, wield a scimitar in your tail with that sleight of hand +6, hell juggle swords in combat to look threatening and maybe force a WIS save or two to take the heat off of others. The options are endless outside of the book rules and it is up to Taliesin Jaffe to play out this disaster of a tiefling. Hopefully, Matt is kind in these rulings, to reward good RP which is what everyone is here for.

Fortunately, Taliesin is a very experienced D&D player as demonstrated by his extensive knowledge of other character’s abilities (I think he, Matt and Liam together could probably recite half the rulebook and write out the other half by instinct). If I had to make one mechanical optimization choice, for the next ASI, take a +1 to DEX and +1 to CHA to round that score up and get that bonus. It’s also an upgrade without drastically altering the RP choices that can be made.

Thank you everyone who’s reading and liking this series! It’s almost thursday and I’m pretty excited about the next episode like I always am. Maybe even more so now I’ve got a blog. Might liveblog it idk it’s at like 3am in UK when it goes live so depends on my sloppy schedule.

#critical role #taliesin jaffe #bloodhunter #the munchkin nein #cr2 #cr2 spoilers #kinda not really #theorycrafting #mathhammer #power of roleplay #disaster tieflings #mine

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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The Devil All the Time Ending Explained

https://ift.tt/35NHAfn

This article contains The Devil All the Time spoilers. You can read the review here.

After so much bloodshed and tragedy, few could expect to find peace at the end of things. That includes Tom Holland’s taciturn Arvin Russell. Yet sitting in a Volkswagen next to a long-haired gentleman, one who appeared to be part of the vanguard for the next generation, the often hyper-observant Arvin is letting his guard down, and a sense of ease washes over him for the first time in probably his whole life. On the radio, President Lyndon B. Johnson is droning on about some type of troop build-up in Vietnam, but Arvin’s mind is on his past, and the bodies it left buried. Or perhaps it’s on his future too, as he mildly considers the prospect of joining the U.S. Army.

The truth is he doesn’t know. As author Donald Ray Pollock’s own voice narrates, “Grandma would tell him to pray on it, and he’d laugh at her, but maybe she knew something he didn’t? Right now he needed sleep and just felt lucky someone was giving him a ride.” This is a far cry from the Arvin who seemed to all but swear off religion after the horrors inflicted on him by his God-fearing father, as well as the young man who only days ago was able to deduce that smiling Carl Henderson (Jason Clarke) was hiding a gun in his pocket. But here he is now, open to the first time since boyhood to the concept of God and the kindness of strangers.

Should his innocence be reborn, and is this a happy or dark ending? By design it’s left ambiguous. As director Antonio Campos told Esquire, “I always struggle with happy endings. I like endings that leave you with the hope for something better but the chance for something else and you have to kind of pick your own version of it.”

But if that is the case, allow us to dig a little deeper by picking our own destiny for Arvin after he falls asleep, dreaming both of a better life and the violence wrecked on him by his parents’ own traumas.

If there is a point to The Devil All The Time, it would be how the culture of a place, and the people who occupy it, predetermine for us the outcome we do not want. While the presence of God is a nebulous thing in this backyard fried noir, ‘the Devil’ of the title is present to just about every character inhabiting Pollock and Campos’ fictional town of Knockemstiff, Ohio and its surrounding areas: It is the hell they make for themselves and their heirs by pretending to be better than they are while ignoring the pain underneath. Consider almost every narrative thread of The Devil All the Time ends in calamity for its protagonists, often after they delude themselves into thinking they’re making a noble gesture.

Take Holland’s Arvin. A quiet and skeptical boy after he saw his father’s piousness drive him to suicide, Arvin very much is the product of his father’s upbringing. His Dad Willard (Bill Skarsgård) came to this part of the world by accident. He was passing through after seeing the horrors of the South Pacific when he met the woman who would be Arvin’s mother, Charlotte (Haley Bennett). While the chance romance might have been coincidence, his fate was already sealed by what Arvin said was “the Devil all the time” in him. Arvin did not mean that his father was possessed by a supernatural spirit—Arvin is as close to an agnostic as we have in the plot. Rather there was something horrible eating at Willard’s mind from the war. And while Arvin never saw the flashback of the American G.I. Willard discovered crucified, we know this violence haunts Willard every time he stares at a cross.

For violence very much is the religion on which The Devil All the Time’s fatalism is built. Violence is the only thing Willard bequeaths his son. While Arvin as a boy is wary of praying before his father’s outdoor cross, he remembers well Willard’s lesson about beating the lecherous poachers they’d let escape after an earlier insult. Finding them scenes later and pummeling them to a pulp, Willard returns to his son and says, “You’ve just got to pick the right time.” This lesson of optimizing your anger and need to destroy was the happy part of Arvin’s childhood. The narration even confirms it was “the best day he ever spent with his father.”

That is all the more revealing when one realizes Arvin thinks this of the day he and Dada discover Mama has cancer. The slow-killing disease ruins what little innocence there is left in the lad. Before his mother is in the ground, Willard inflicts permanent psychic damage on Arvin by attempting to appease what he thinks must be an angry God via the ritualistic sacrifice of Arvin’s dog to their Maker. It doesn’t work, and after the mother is dead and buried, Willard soon follows her by his own hand.

Willard’s primitive reliance on violence as a form of salvation is of course backwoods craziness, but then everyone in this story believes violence will save them, and likely live to regret it in their dying breath. For if Arvin’s bitterness and irreligiosity was borne out of his father’s slaughtering of the family dog in the vain hope it would give him the power to save his mother, the piousness of his “sister” Lenora (Eliza Scanlen) is the fruit of similar delusions.

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The reason Arvin and Lenora became orphans in the same house is because her Born Again preacher pappy, Roy Laferty (Harry Melling), was also blinded by his lunatic ideas. Roy killed Lenora’s mother Helen (Mia Wasikowska) in the woods, under the fallacy that God would grant him the powers to resurrect her. Instead he just murdered his wife and ran for the state line, escaping far enough to never be seen again, and allowing Lenora to grow up with her own eventually self-destructive delusions about her father and his faith not being so warped. Thus Lenora attempting to replace the hole left by the violent act of her father by believing the silver-tongued lies of another fire and brimstone orator (Robert Pattinson), who for all his zealotry really only liked his flock when they were young, childlike, and suggestible.

Pattinson’s Preston may be the evilest character in the story besides Clarke’s serial killer Carl. For these are the only two men who lack any self-doubts about their hypocrisies or cruelties. Willard took his own life after he discovered devotion conjured neither gods nor devils; Roy Laferty was wondering if he’d really fly to Heaven before his last breath. Both left broken legacies to their children. A man like Preston, however, only takes what he wants and cares about nothing else, including the girlhood of Roy’s underage daughter Lenora.

The resulting pregnancy leads to Lenora’s semi-suicide (again with the second-guessing at the last minute that no one will know about), and to Arvin committing his only premeditated murder in the movie. While he would kill again, as with how he handled the bullies who attacked Lenora earlier, Arvin has already taken his father’s lessons of violence to heart when he claims his other birthright, a German Luger his father bought off another G.I. from the war, and annihilates Preston in cold blood.

Later in the movie, we learn that copper Lee Bodecker (Sebastian Stan) told Arvin as a child, “Some people were born just to be buried.” Whether this is the actual point-of-view of the movie is murky, but it’s an actual religious tenet Arvin can get behind, and the world of Knockemstiff quietly prays to.

Most of the characters of The Devil All the Time lead empty, fractured lives that they inherited from their folks. Lee Bodecker himself was saying this as a comfort to Arvin after the boy’s father committed suicide. Hence Lee recalling that he and his sister Sandy (Riley Keough) also grew up without a father since the old bastard abandoned them. The sentiment was meant to speak just of their fathers. Yet those traits seem inherited, with Lee becoming a corrupt lawman who commits and covers up murders as the years pass, and his blonde free-spirited sister falling in with her serial killer boyfriend, Carl.

The revelation late in the picture that Lee told Arvin some people exist to die creates a self-fulling prophecy to Arvin’s life. He is here to make good on that promise, as most of these broken people would be better off in the ground where they can’t hurt anyone. It begins with the calculated murder of the predatory Preston, but through a series of convoluted circumstances, he also winds up bumming a ride with Carl and Sandy, who’ve lived in their own separate little movie as mass murderers. The only killing we see in depth is how they slaughtered Lenora’s missing father, but they’ve been collecting “models” for 15 years by the time Arvin gets into their car.

Like their victim Roy Laferty, Sandy is having second thoughts about her life as a serial killer before she dies. She did it mostly just to please Carl. Years later though, she wanted out. She even daydreamed about running away with Arvin before the young man puts a bullet in her lover’s head. Soon she follows him across the bar, unaware the path she is on has been set for years—a cynic might say since the day her father walked out—and now all that’s left is the sudden surprise of oblivion.

And this brings us back to the ending where Arvin soon sends the man who told him some folks are just here to be buried to an early grave. He didn’t want to kill him, but Bodecker wanted revenge for his murderous sister. And after that showdown, all the people who an Old Testament God might say had it coming have met their fates. But Arvin doesn’t believe in God, per se, even if he returned to his childhood home to make peace with Him and the father who created a world in fear of spirits. Arvin buries the dog his father killed, plus the Luger, which is an obvious metaphor of him trying to bury the trauma his father imparted to him. With the dog given the rest he hoped his mother and father found, he’s free to leave this dark corner of America.

But is the rest of it any better? Sitting next to a proto-hippie as he falls asleep listening about escalation in Vietnam, Arvin can imagine a world where he breaks the cycle of violence he and everyone he knows lives on. He can find a girl and settle down without the trauma that manifested itself as the Devil in his papa. But he’s already embraced Willard’s inheritance for violence, hasn’t he? Sure, he buries Dad’s Luger in the final moments, but only after using it to kill four people, the first of which was not in self-defense.

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And then there are his own second thoughts about trying to find a peaceful life. It’s troubling he entertains the idea of signing up for the Vietnam War while thinking of a better tomorrow. And then he is also considering that maybe his grandmother (and father) could be right about prayer. Even outside of Knockemstiff, he is still in a vision of America that is violent, circular, uncaring, and doomed to repeat the sins of its fathers. One war has ended but another is begun. The narrator even says Arvin “wasn’t sure if he was going backwards or forwards.” His end is his beginning.

As his father went to a war that defined him, Arvin is already on the path to repeat that horror. Hell, he’s already haunted by visions of ‘Devils’ and dead bodies he left to be buried. The greater devil is the culture Arvin’s in, and as teased by the prospect of the Vietnam War, that culture extends beyond Knockemstiff’s town limits or that of its neighbors. It’s the American legacy and a predilection toward violence The Devil All the Time seems to suggest is inescapable. Arvin can have hesitations and hopes, but like those experienced by Sandy before he shot her, or Roy before her lover shot him, or Roy’s daughter Lenora before the rope around her neck tightened, they’re just illusions of escape. And the end of the line is fast approaching.

The post The Devil All the Time Ending Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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sueboohscorner · 7 years

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The Vampire Diaries 813 Recap “The Lies Will Catch up to You” #TVD #FreeCaroline

Last week ended with the awesome surprise of Kai’s arrival from hell. This week, we go back a few days to see how that happened. While the Maxwell bell was being rung by Matty Blue, enabling Cade’s crossover into our dimension, Kai caught a glimpse of Mystic Falls through his haze of torture. He leapt and made it through before the gateway closed again.

Delighted to be alive, Kai eagerly orders a meal fit for a family of four. Impatient for satisfaction, he rips open a packet of jelly on the table and takes a taste…except he can’t taste it. He grabs another customer’s food and takes a bite…nothing. He picks up a knife and stabs himself in the hand…no sensation either. The poor waiter comes along and stares at him in shock…Kai magically impales the waiter on his blade.

This scene is ingenious. We are reminded in the course of moments why we’re happy to see Kai: Chris Wood’s portrayal is hilarious and terrifying by turns. But we’re also reminded how truly unpredictable and dangerous he is.

Back to the present, Alaric’s ready to take righteous vengeance against Kai for murdering Jo at their wedding, and Damon restrains Alaric in the interest of getting Kai to revive Elena first. Alaric is pissed, and he’s right to be. Damon is overconfident as usual; he will not be able to control this situation.

Speaking of out of control situations, Matt calls Caroline into the police station to help him deal with a bizarre flood of complaints coming in over the last couple of days…against Stefan Salvatore. Caroline immediately realizes they should have seen this coming; the moment Stefan became human, all his past compulsions started to fade. Everyone he’s ever compelled to forget a horror he inflicted on them or carried out right before their eyes…and Caroline will dutifully sit with a great many of them, listening to her fiance’s hit parade of cruelty. She hears their stories, then compels them all over again with a new version of the memory that might be easier to bear. Matt even compliments her creativity, noting that she’s coming up with a lot more variety than her mom used to; there were a lot of “animal attacks” in the town records.

But one of the people whose memory suddenly returned didn’t run to the police to file a report, because he knew Stefan personally and understood what was happening. Armory intern, Dorian, whose backstory included a fire that killed half his family…well, until today, when he woke up and remembered who told him that backstory in the first place. Seven years ago, he came home to a gut-wrenching scene of horror, but Stefan set the house on fire and compelled him to forget everything. Of course, we in the audience instantly understand the significance of the time frame: Seven years ago, Klaus Mikaelson forced Stefan to go on a Ripper road trip with him.

Once again, this scene is utterly brilliant. By placing the murder of Dorian’s family in the timeline of the series, the show has put us in the same position as Caroline. We have to uncomfortably deal with the notion that we knew about Stefan’s acts of evil, but we were just happy to get him back. As viewers, we sided with the bad guy and forgave him, and sure, okay, we had the excuse of his humanity switch and his desire to protect Elena from Klaus…but we were able to move on and forget his victims. Now, here’s a tragic case of Stefan’s collateral damage, and we hadn’t given him a thought. Lives have been lost and ruined, and we kept rooting for this guy. It keeps getting harder, though, doesn’t it?

Dorian forces Stefan to dig his own grave, then shoots him. It’s dark and hardcore, and Dorian immediately knows he’s no longer the victim or the hero in this story.

Also on a road trip, Damon and Kai are en route to Elena’s coffin. Sure, this will go well. Damon calls Bonnie and tries to play off his questions as hypothetical, as if she doesn’t know him better than that. She instantly figures out Kai is there with him, and while that pisses her off, it also gives her hope: If Kai found his way through from hell, Enzo could too.

Btw, props to Chris Wood for his physical comedy throughout this scene. This guy is a star.

Damon and Kai talk through the Sirens situation, and Kai gets an idea. Maybe he could follow the “sexy Sirens” playbook to anchor him to this dimension. He needs to kill some bad guys and consume their flesh. Conveniently, there’s a guy sexually harassing his employee nearby, and Damon approves of murdering an ass-smacking SOB. I’m with you, Damon.

Stefan’s lying in his shallow grave, bleeding out slowly, inviting Dorian to take a second shot, and this time, please try to actually hit something vital, because slow deaths are wicked painful. Dorian is freaking out in a million different directions, including the realization that he’s now probably also going to go to hell, and it wasn’t worth it. He walks Stefan back to cell phone range and calls for help. Caroline can’t heal Stefan, of course, but she can compel the paramedics to record this as an accidental shooting among hunting buddies.

Driven by her desperation to find Enzo, Bonnie lets a psychic magnetism draw her to Cade, who offers to help her hone her gifts. They take hands and she reaches out for Enzo, drawing on Cade’s power to help her. It works! She finds Enzo, but he quickly tells her not to trust Cade, and to leave before Cade is able to use her to locate him. She breaks off the connection and Cade reveals what’s really happened. Cade is fascinated by her, because she’s proven to be so much like him; he thought he was the only being who could psychically create a new dimension without even trying. Just as he created hell, she created a new pocket dimension and sent Enzo there. But of course, Enzo’s soul is on his list, so he can’t just let her keep him.

Recovering from his bullet wound, Stefan again tells Caroline she should be done with him. I’m inclined to agree. I know Caroline has a deep sense of loyalty, and I also think there’s a certain resistance to giving up a goal you’ve sacrificed so greatly to attain; if she lets this relationship go, then all the things she’s done in the name of being with Stefan are suddenly pointless, and she has to regret them all over again. But seriously, girl, you can do better. Cut bait and start the healing process. #FreeCaroline

Also trying desperately to make good on a foolish investment is Damon, who’s quickly realizing he has little hope of controlling Kai. He tries offering the hope of redemption, because hey, that works on him every time…but he’s making the classic mistake of misunderstanding what Kai is. He’s not a vampire whose humanity flips on and off; he’s a sociopath, which means his humanity has always been in the off position. More importantly, Kai is amoral, not unintelligent. He can tell he’s being played by a desperate man. Dangling redemption in front of Kai is like dangling a masters degree in front of a dog.

Shocking absolutely no one, Kai siphons Damon and disappears with the coffin.

Speaking of siphons, Alaric brings the kids for a visit. They’re hitting a developmental stage he can’t handle on his own–they can’t control their magic.

I loved this episode. Between the pure joy of watching Chris Wood work, the brilliant plot and scripting choices that placed the audience in the position of uncomfortable self-reflection, and the discovery that Enzo is (at least for now) safe from hell, I give this a 10.

What about you? Comment below with what you liked, what you didn’t like, and any theories about Kai’s next moves!

#The Vampire Diaries #The CW #Chris Wood #Damon Salvatore #Caroline Forbes #Alaric Saltzman #Matt Donovan #Stefan Salvatore #Kai Parker #Ian Somerhalder #Paul Wesley #Candice King #Zach Roerig #Matt Davis

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ianmrid · 5 years

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...It's The Master Plan!

OK, strap yourself in; this one is a bit of a roller coaster.

For a good long while, I was pretty convinced that there was no way I could glitch either Mew or Deoxys into the Gen3 games, as I had done in Gen1 for Mew and Gen2 for Celebi, until I stumbled across a glitch known as Glitzer Popping. I have no idea why it is called this - it seems that it was intentionally picked to mean nothing specific, but also to not sound too generic.

A French hacker known as Metarkai fond a way to exploit some pre-existing glitches even further, allowing you hatch any pokémon you could wish for, and then these exploits were then documented in video guide form by a YouTuber called ChickasaurusGL. And man, are they ever complex. I am not going to even pretend I understand this stuff - it is way more complex than any of the glitching I have tried out previously - but I’m going to summarise the process in really basic terms. However, if you are interested in the original video, it’s linked below, but beware: it is is over an hour long!

youtube

In very basic terms, the glitch uses a bug known as the Pomeg Berry glitch in order to allow you to access the pokémon in your PC boxes during a battle - something you shouldn’t be able to do. This works by taking a Ghost-type pokémon that knows the move Curse. Curse reduces the HP of the pokémon by half - rounded down - in order to inflict damage each turn on your opponent. The ‘rounded down’ part is how to exploit the glitch. You essentially use Curse twice with a Ghost-type that has an odd number of HP, guaranteeing you are left with just 1HP. You can then use a Pomeg Berry on the pokémon, which reduces it’s Hit Point EVs, dropping it to 0HP without it having to be in battle, so it doesn’t truly faint. Now, when you enter a battle, you have no non-fainted pokémon in your party and the game glitches, sending out a placeholder icon known as Decamark (??????????). Once this happens you can open your pokémon party screen and scroll off the bottom, accessing pokémon that are stored in your PC boxes.

Accessing the pokémon in this way can cause them to become corrupted, turning them into eggs. You can then repeat the process an double ‘corrupt’ into something referred to as indicator pokémon. This part is where it gets tricky. To achieve it you need to use pokémon with specific stats, specific EVs, specific moves, and specific hidden IDs. These hidden IDs can’t be known in-game with the exception of the pokémon available as trades from NPCs. Since these are predictable values you can corrupt them by giving them the stats/EVs/moves needed.

I figured the easiest way to try it out would be to attempt it alongside the video. The glitch only works on either non-English EU cartridges or US cartridges, so I was going to have to buy another copy of Pokémon Emerald since mine was an English EU copy. This was fine - it’s not like I would risk corrupting my existing save file, containing all the hard work I’d put in so far, so I turned to the internet and eventually managed to obtain a US copy of Emerald. It took a while as there are a huge number of fake GBA cartridges on eBay and, despite my best attempts to be careful, I ended up with a few duds before I got a genuine one.

I threw together a very random team, since I needed to play through Emerald again to get to a certain point where I could try out the glitch. They needed to b high enough level to make things easy but not so high they wouldn’t listen to me. I’m not going to do a full entry on this team but here is a brief round up below:

Moone the Lunatone: I flip-flop on whether I prefer Solrock or Lunatone - and I was obviously in a Lunatone mood when selecting this team. The Rock- and Psychic-typing came in very useful in the early game where you normally wouldn’t see it.

Zippy the Banette: The key pokémon for this glitch as it is a Ghost-type that was able to learn curse. Curse behaves differently with non-Ghost-types so Banette was one of the few options available to me to execute the glitch.

Banquet the Swalot: A rather under-rated pokémon, it was nice to give Swalot an outing as it had a suitable level to make the game easy, but not risk getting too over-levelled.

Guy the Breloom: As with Lunatone and Swalot, Breloom was fully evolved but not too high a level to be useful. The part-Fighting type made short work of the early game Normal-types.

Humph the Camerupt: Since the glitch involves hatching eggs, I sent over Camerupt who has the Magma Armour ability. This reduces the amount of steps it takes for eggs to hatch, which could be handy.

Demi the Sharpedo: Originally a member of XD team until Walrein and Sableye ended up providing the same type-coverage. I needed a Water-type to get about, so I decided to give Demi a second chance to shine.

And here they all are (they still get a pic as I still played a full game with them pretty much!):

After smashing my way through the game as quickly as possible, and obtaining the in-game trade pokémon required, I configured them correctly and I was able to make the stages above work correctly. I used Bannette to correctly carry out the Pomeg Berry part of the exploit with no issue, and I even succeeded in the single/double corruption required to get he Indicator Pokémon. So far, so good.

The next bit is where it got really complex. I had to capture some Smeargle to transform them into Mew and Deoxys. It had to be Smeargle, due to it’s ability to learn any move through the use of its signature move, Sketch. Again they had to be set up a certain way - including being fed certain combination of pokéblocks to ensure the created Mew/Deoxys would be obedient, since this flag was usually set by the event item - a step we were skipping completely. I finally obtained and set up my Smeargle and now all I had to do was to double corrupt them, however...

I. Just. Couldn’t. Make. It. Work.

I just don’t know why. Things started out OK; I managed the single corruption stage after a couple of attempts, but try as I might I just couldn’t manage the double corruption step. Every single damn time, the Eggs remained the same. Now, it could be pure dumb bad luck since there is only a percentage chance of each corruption/double corruption working, but the chance is high enough that I would have thought I’d have seen a success at least once, given the number of times I tried. Additionally, there is no way to know for sure whether or not you are just endlessly trying out the same procedure over and over, with no hope of getting the desired result because you have screwed up a step earlier in the process. At one point, to try and mitigate that possibility, I started all over again, right from Step 1 of the glitch, but I ran into the same brick wall.

This was so disappointing. It was worse knowing there was a way to do this that I just seemed unable to achieve than when I thought Mew and Deoxys were simply impossible to obtain. In my frustration, and after spending many hours failing, I turned back to the internet and searched even deeper, looking for any other articles about the glitch, some clearer or easier instructions, anything! And then a ray of hope: Distribution ROMs.

Back in the day, before all games were online and internet compatible, whenever there was a event during which you could be transferred a rare pokémon, you actually had to go to a specific location - usually a store or festival of some sort - between certain dates and take your GBA with you. You would then be linked up to an on-site GBA which was running a specific cartridge that just distributed a rare pokémon or item direct to your save file. A good example of this would be the Old Sea Map which was an event-only item that was required in order to encounter Mew in-game. The distributions ran only in Japan during part of 2005, for attendees of either the Pokémon Festa convention or the PokéPark theme park. Incredibly, over on the site digiex, someone has manage to obtain ROMs of these original distributions, meaning it is theoretically possible to receive the event pokémon as if you were actually present at the time it occurred!

Now. Does this count as legitimate? The obvious answer is no - and that is true in as much as it only really ‘counts’ if you obtained it via the event legitimately at the time. But since this also means my Gen1 Mew and my Gen2 Celebi also don’t count ‘officially’ as they were obtained by glitching, I think this is an acceptable solution to my problem. I would argue that this is actually more authentic than if I had been able to glitch the game as described above, and certainly doesn’t violate my ‘no Action Replay’ rule. It is as close to the genuine experience as it is possible to get nearly 15 years after the fact. Now fulloy self-justified it was back to eBay to buy a GBA flash drive and a memory card.

First up; Deoxys. Deoxys was able to be encountered in-game once you got a hold of the item the Aurora Ticket. This could be used on the ferry to reach the otherwise inaccessible Birth Island. I loaded the Aurora Ticket distribution ROM onto my flash drive and managed to send my Emerald save file an Aurora ticket at my first attempt - it worked perfectly! As soon as I had the ticket, I headed to Birth Island and captured Deoxys - something I never though I would be able to do in Gen3! It was immensely satisfying and I enjoyed being able to battle and catch Deoxys rather than just being gifted one directly.

Next up is Mew. The Old Sea Map - the Mew-equivalent in-game item to the Aurora Ticket was something that was only ever released in Japan and unfortunately there is no ROM that has been discovered for this yet. However, I’m not too sad as there was also a direct distribution of Mew where you were gifted it directly - and the ROM for this has also been made available on digiex.

Getting directly the pokémon is slightly less cool, but at this point it is not a concern for me! I loaded up the ROM for the Mew distribution and attempted to send myself one. This actually took a couple of goes ot get right as it seems the GBA link cable I was using needed to be in a specific way round to distribute Mew - but once I fixed that, it worked like a charm. I’d finally done it!

Hoenn National Pokédex: Completed!

I quickly sent both Deoxys and Mew over to my final Emerald save file and my National Pokédex stats read 386 seen / 386 caught. With all the extra time I had spent in Emerald leveling up all the different evolutions, my total play time was up to a whopping 103 hours, 40 minutes! That isn’t even counting the additional 17 hours, 42 minutes that I spent on the US version, trying to get the glitch to work...

I am absolutely dreading what Generation 3 will have done to my graphs. But honestly? Worth it!

#pokemon #pokemon playthrough #e plays pokemon #nintendo #game freak #Pokemon Emerald #US version

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spanlish-blog · 7 years

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Patriarchy and toxic masculinity are dominating America under Trump

(Credit: Getty/Rick Wilking)

Donald Trump’s election was a victory for toxic masculinity and patriarchy, two issues psychologist Terry Real has spent a career exploring. Since the 1998 publication of his groundbreaking book “I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression,” Real has been one of the most incisive voices on men’s issues, with an emphasis on the destructive effects of male trauma. With Trump’s ascension to the White House, Real sees the re-emergence of a dangerous form of masculinity with potentially far-reaching psychic and emotional consequences. He argues that recognizing and addressing our personal and collective trauma — much of which was inflicted even before Trump entered the political arena — is the only way to heal.

AlterNet publisher Don Hazen and associate editor/senior writer Kali Holloway sat down with Real to discuss the role of toxic masculinity in Trump’s presidential win; “blue” and “red” masculinity; the destructive notion of intimacy as a gendered trait; and the trauma created by psychological patriarchy.

Kali Holloway: Can we start by discussing what toxic masculinity is, how damaging it is and how exactly we got here?

Terry Real: Sure. About Trump — someone in the Trump campaign spoke to me off the record and said that every time Trump did something outrageous and the Democrats and liberals would be up in arms, [the Trump team] was happy because they would watch his numbers dip momentarily and then come roaring back. The chilling thought is that for at least a sizeable part of the population, Trump wasn’t elected despite his horrible misogynist behavior, but to some degree because of it, and that what America seems to be after is an old-style masculinity. Of course, men and women both can participate in patriarchy.

Let me say something about patriarchy. I distinguish between what I call political patriarchy and psychological patriarchy. Political patriarchy is very straightforward. It’s the oppression of one cohort, women, by another cohort, men. It’s about sexism. Of course, it’s still going on in America and all over the world. As a psychotherapist, what caught my eye was not so much the politics of sexism, but a dynamic that exists at the core of the patriarchal system that I see as a psychological dynamic, but I’d like to spell it out.

I like to think of psychological patriarchy as occurring in three rings. Think about it as three concentric rings, three processes. The first ring I call the Great Divide. It’s when you take the quality of your androgynous self — the qualities of one whole human being — and you draw a line down the center. You say all the qualities to the right are masculine, and all the qualities to the left are feminine. We all know what the breakdown is. It’s what [renowned family therapist] Olga Silverstein called halving, or the halving process. Halving a human being is intrinsically traumatic.

Don, as you know, this halving process is traumatic and is imposed by violence. If anybody dares to step outside of the box, the retaliation is swift. I have to say, after 50 years of feminism, the retaliation against “tomboy” girls has softened some over the years. The retaliation to “mama’s boys” and “sissy boys” is just as violent now among peers as it has always been. This halving process takes place whether you want it to or not.

The other thing I want to say about the halving process — when boys learn to suppress half of who they are — is that it takes place between the ages of three and five. It’s very young, almost preverbal.

The second concentric ring is what I call the Dance of Contempt, and that is simply that these in traditional patriarchy, these two halves of masculine and feminine are not held as separate but equal. The masculine qualities are exalted. The feminine qualities are reviled. The essential nature, the dynamic between these two halves, is contempt: contempt for the feminine.

Don Hazen: Contempt is one of the worst elements of any kind in a personal relationship.

TR: I agree. It’s like cancer. It’s toxic. That’s the dance of contempt.

The third concentric ring is one of the unsung great psychological forces in the world. It’s important to remember that the feminine side of the equation can be man, woman, boy or girl. This equation can play out between a man and a woman, but it’s not embodied; it can play out between a man and a woman, it can play out between two men, it can play out between a mother and a child, it can play out between two races, it can play out between two cultures, it can play out in your head.

The point is, whoever inhabits the feminine side of the equation has a deep compulsion to protect the disowned fragility of whoever is on the masculine side of the equation, even while being hurt by that person. Whoever is on the feminine side protects the masculine side from its own disowned fragility. You don’t speak truth to power. You protect the perpetrator. You protect power.

DH: Does that have anything to do with why so many women voted for Trump?

TR: Yes, I think that has a lot to do with it, in the sense that the offensive and perpetrating behaviors were minimized. But I think there’s a simpler answer, actually. I think that what has more do with it is a resurgence of the traditional vision of patriarchy, which is appealing to some, both men and women. To understand that appeal, I’d like to talk to you about a couple of apes, if I could.

You know the whole thing about the alpha male. Everybody’s heard about the alpha male who gets all the females, and the biggest and strongest and toughest gets access to mating. Well, that is a narrative that it turns out was spun by alpha anthropologists who were all male. When women were allowed into the field of anthropology, they discovered a very different kind of male. They call it, lo and behold, the relational ape, or the relational male. That male spends a lot of time grooming the females and is good with their kids and is a nice guy.

DH: Is this the beta male model?

TR: I don’t know what you would call it. We’ll call it “factor R,” for relationship. Anyway, it turns out that the relational male gets as many females as the alpha male does, and they take turns. It’s really very straightforward, and it doesn’t take Darwin to figure this out. In times of peril or scarcity, females tend to favor the alpha male. In times of prosperity and peace, females tend to favor the relational male.

What’s happened, if you have been alive on this planet, is that at 9/11 we were attacked on American soil, and that was trauma. Let me tell you about masculinity and trauma: I wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times, which never got published, right after 9/11. I said there are two ways to respond to trauma. You can embrace your own vulnerability and deal with the reality of what happened to you and start to put it together piece by piece. Or you can deny your vulnerability and fly into grandiosity. The flight from shame to grandiosity is central to masculinity.

James Gilligan, [psychologist] Carol Gilligan’s husband, wrote a brilliant book 25 years ago called Violence. Jim was the medical director of Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane for 25 years. He writes about himself as a young resident going into this place for the first time. He says to himself, “If I can figure out the mind of a serial killer, I can figure out the mind of any violent person to the most extreme.” What he comes up with is the role of humiliation and self-esteem.

He tells the story of a serial killer who killed women, and usually upper-middle-class, attractive women. He would sew their eyes and sew their mouths. The analysis of this man revealed that there was a pivotal moment where some pretty young women of some prosperity were laughing at a street corner, and in his paranoia he imagined they were laughing at him. He was humiliated, and he righted his humiliation by closing the eyes that were gazing at him and closing the mouth that was laughing at him.

It’s this shift from inferiority to superiority, from inadequacy to attack, which is central to masculinity. I wrote in the piece, if we don’t deal with our trauma, we’re going to find somebody to go attack.

DH: It didn’t take long.

TR: It certainly didn’t. Women are no less prone to this than men are, but they’ll do it vicariously. In times of stress, they turn to that grandiose, powerful, strong, protective man, which Trump clearly positioned himself as being. His rhetoric was very clear about women needing to be protected. He says this explicitly, “And I’ll protect them.” The only difference is that apes don’t generate or amplify times of scarcity or threat in order to make a political point, but Republicans do. You exaggerate the “bad hombres” flooding in from Mexico, and you exaggerate the terrorist on every street corner. You generate the need for that strong alpha male, and that’s part of the machinery.

KH: Trump functions as a man in what you call the ‘one-up position,’ right?

TR: Yes. He’s one-up and boundary-less. You can be one-up and boundary-less, one-down and boundary-less, one-down and walled-off, or one-up and walled-off. Trump is one-up and boundary-less.

DH: What does it mean to be boundary-less?

TR: That he’s uncontained.

DH: Literally, there’s no constraints on him.

TR: Little to none. Certainly less than one would imagine. I’m writing a piece right now and tentatively titling it “Patriarchy Under the Age of Trump.” I start off by saying that as a family therapist, I’m preaching to the saved. You guys are already progressive, but as a couples and family therapist, I’m terribly concerned about the rise of traditional masculinity and traditional patriarchy. Not just in America, but around the world.

One of the ways I describe this is “an ill tide floats all boats.” There’s no surprise that with inflamed rhetoric follows violent actions. I think that traditional masculinity, or toxic masculinity, is dangerous. It’s dangerous to the man, and it’s dangerous to the people around the man.

DH: How much reemergence of this toxic masculinity has there been since Trump, or even before? Is this a trending thing, or is it always true?

TR: No. Ask the Republican baseball players [who were shot by a gunman in Virginia] whether there’s been a reemergence of this kind of toxic masculinity. The most extreme version of this masculinity is a gun.

There’s a great trilogy which has influenced my thinking enormously. It’s by a cultural historian, literary historian Richard Slotkin. It’s a cultural history of America in three volumes. The name of the trilogy, the name of the whole history of America, he sums up as “Regeneration Through Violence.”

DH: Wow. Powerful.

TR: I wrote about this in my book on men and depression, “I Don’t Want to Talk About It.” I wrote about the myth that you find in almost every boys’ adventure story or movie. The myth of the good man, the innocent man, who’s pressed to the wall unfairly. It’s Rambo just walking through town and getting picked on by people. It’s Dustin Hoffman in “Straw Dogs.” There are a million of them.

Somebody gets pressed. At first they don’t do anything, and then the worm turns. They pick up an Uzi and they start blowing people away. The audience cheers. This is a celebration of regeneration through violence, the central theme in masculinity, from one-down to the one-up.

DH: Which can be enabled by many people, including women and mothers, because everybody wants protection, right?

TR: You can have women who inhabit the masculine side of the equation, and you can have men on the feminine side of the equation. You can have women on the feminine side of the equation who buy into the alpha male and think that someone like Trump really will be strong and protect them, and that somebody like Obama was Hamlet-like and too indecisive and weak. That’s the narrative: Trump is a real man.

KH: For Trump’s base, this is the offending from the victim position.

TR: Yes. That’s from one of my mentors, Pia Mellody. Offending from the victim position is, “I’m your victim, you hurt me, and so therefore I have the right to hurt you twice as hard back. I have no shame or compunction about retaliating because I’m your victim.” It’s that righteous indignation, that righteous anger.

I believe that offending from the victim position accounts for 90 percent of the world’s violence. The rest is a scramble for resources. You killed my brother, I’ll kill your family. You kill my family, I’ll rape your grandmother. You rape my grandmother, I’ll burn down your village. And on and on and on. Yes, there’s a resurgence of hate crime, and yes, there is a continuing trend toward increased violence.

DH: Do you also find this true in male/female relationships: husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend? There just seems to be constant case studies of murder, of men stalking women they are in relationships with — finding them, shooting them and then often killing themselves.

TR: Yes.

DH: How does that dynamic work?

TR: Abusive men inhabit the same quadrant that I was just speaking about, one-up and boundary-less. They’re love dependent. One of the few characteristics that distinguishes a normal cohort of men from a cohort of abusers is increased sensitivity to the issue of abandonment. You show film clips and the batterers will pick out themes of abandonment much more readily than normal people. They’re boundary-less and they’re dependent.

DH: Are there biochemical things that go on when that abandonment happens?

TR: What being a love addict means is that you’re an addict. If the drug is flowing — and for a love addict the drug is the woman’s warm regard — if her warm regard is flowing, then I have warm regard for myself. I supplement my bad self-esteem for her esteem of me. When she separates from me or disappoints me in any way, I go into withdrawal. I go into a crash, and it feels ugly to be in that crash.

DH: We’ve all experienced that.

TR: We have. It feels dark and jagged and cold and lonely. When you’re one-up and a love addict, you have about two seconds’ worth of tolerance for those feelings, and then you go up from shame into grandiosity. You bounce up into grandiosity. Now you’re an angry victim. Now you’re a self-righteous victim. Now you’re a revenging angel, and you’re going to get that mother.

I write about this extensively. The problem with shifting from shame into grandiosity is that it works. It’s a great self-medicator. It takes away the depression, takes away the impotence, rights the injustice, does it all. It will create utter havoc in your life, but it does pump up your flagging self-esteem. And so you lash out. Then there’s remorse and shame, and the cycle just continues.

DH: What do you imagine is going to happen going forward, assuming Trump continues to be president and act in the ways he does, looking for wars, destroying people’s safety nets, the kinds of things we’re increasingly aware of. Are we going to see more and more of this kind of masculinity? Is there an antidote for it?

TR: I really feel, what is absolutely not in doubt is that we’re at war. There are two halves to this country. There is a blue masculinity and a red masculinity and they don’t get along.

DH: I’ve felt that so many times, but I’ve never quite heard it expressed that way. In fact, one of the things that seems to be Trump’s most potent weapon is to demonize us, make fun of us, poke at us.

TR: Yes. One of the things that he’s tapped into, as several people on the left have written about, is the humiliation of that group at the hands of our contempt for them for years. These are the deplorables. These are the unwashed masses. We have been elitist. We’ve been culturally elitist, and we have looked down our noses at them. Meanwhile, they’re struggling to put food on the table, and they don’t like it.

DH: Do you see any relationship between the opioid crisis and the toxic masculinity crisis?

TR: I do, for young people in particular. Not in Europe or Mexico or South America or Canada do young people, college-age people, get together and socialize by getting shit-faced. That’s not how it’s done in other countries. I think the reason why our young people socialize through extreme intoxication is because they have trouble relating to each other and they have difficulty knowing how to be with each other without getting smashed. They learn over time. Millennials are a mixed bag. I have great faith in the millennials. They will take over, and that Trumpian masculinity will decline when they do.

Millennial men are hands down the most gender-progressive men on the face of the planet, for all their narcissism and all their immaturity. Part of it is economic. Millennial men expect that they’ll be dual career families. They expect that the women will work. They expect to divvy up the housework. That doesn’t mean they always do it, but they expect it. They expect to share decision-making.

I’m writing a piece now about how we therapists cannot be neutral on this issue. We must stand for moving beyond these patriarchal norms. They’re bad for everybody. We know, for instance, that egalitarian marriages breed substantially greater rates of marital satisfaction and happiness, and that traditional marriages breed greater rates of anxiety and depression and dissatisfaction. We as therapists knowing that cannot say, well, you want a traditional marriage, you want a more modern marriage, this is a matter of opinion between the two of you. No, this is a matter of health.

DH: There’s a great book called “The Mirages of Marriage” about systems and relationships. And the secret was the quid pro quo — that if two people could agree that they were both treated fairly, whether one took out the garbage and the other did the dishes or vice-versa, that sense of equality was what kept the relationship going and solid. It’s when one person was exploited that the relationship failed mostly.

TR: Yeah. That’s a relational point of view, one of the things I teach people. It’s really something we’re all concerned about.

KH: We know what the wages of toxic masculinity are: shortened lifespans for men, and often covert depression. We also know more than 60 percent of white men voted for Trump. They’re also the people dying off at increased rates; they’re the only group that for a while there, was seeing increased mortality, often because of reasons that were self-caused: suicide, the kind of self-medication that leads to death. What does that mean, in terms of the kind of toxic masculinity being replicated because of Trump, for his base? Isn’t it likely to exacerbate that stuff among his supporters?

TR: It’s not even a question, absolutely. Trump has been at rallies and has said somebody should punch people’s lights out. I don’t know of more direct inciting than something like that. Absolutely.

It shows up in my office in terms of vulnerability. I had a woman in my office who was crying. She wouldn’t let her husband near her physically, sexually. Since the election, she’s just been in a state. It turns out her father was one-up and boundary-less, and maybe a sex addict, and was very sexual with her. [After the election] she just started crying, and I said, “You know, your father’s now in the White House.” She said, “I know. I feel so unsafe. I just feel safe in my own skin.”

DH: Wow. This is exactly what we’re talking about. (And what we’re writing about with our Trump Trauma project.) The men’s group I was in back in the early ’70s was set up so there was a women’s group that we had to meet with once a month to hold us accountable. We all thought that was great. But we discovered that the problem was we couldn’t be intimate with each other as men. That causes a lot of the sexism because as soon as you get intimate, you feel you’re becoming your feminine part.

TR: One of the great paradoxes is that in the rubric of patriarchy, intimacy is feminine. Closeness, relationship itself is feminine — it’s a chick flick, and we devalue it. We idealize it in principle and devalue it in fact, which is what we do with things we deem feminine. Yeah, you’re right there. Of course we have to learn to be vulnerable and talk to each other.

KH: The last time I spoke to you, you said something that stood out for me, which is, ‘So many men fear intimacy. I think that those men don’t actually know what intimacy is. What they fear is subjugation.’

TR: What they fear is being dominated. What they fear is being overrun. In the one-up, one-down world of men, you’re either in control or being controlled. So men don’t know much about what [author and cultural historian] Riane Eisler calls “power with.” Instead, it’s always power over, and you’re either up or down, one or the other. When women come in, particularly if they’re critical or controlling in any way, men are really phobic about that. They’re really paranoid about being controlled, and paranoid and phobic about being criticized, which doesn’t make them very good listeners.

There’s work that women can do about how to speak with more skill, to be honest. I talk to people in general and women in particular about what I call standing up for yourself with love; cherishing your relationship and your partner and standing up for yourself all in the same breath. It’s very powerful. I really am angry at my brethren in the therapy world, because all over America women drag men into therapy so that the therapist can make them more relational, more responsible, more open, and more open-hearted. The therapist, under the rubric of neutrality, throws the woman under the bus.

I know you are aware of [poet and leader of the men’s movement] Robert Bly. On YouTube, evidently somebody recorded a talk. Bly asked me to teach with him, and I went to Moose Lake. We did the drumming and the Sufi dancing and the whole thing, and I gave a talk to the men. Funny thing, you’re in these cabins in the woods, and whenever anybody would want me, Bly would say, “Get the feminist out here.”

I gave a talk to the guys. It was very well received, and I said, “Look, it’s great that we’re opening our hearts to each other off away from life and our families like this, but when we go home we have to treat our wives and kids well, and we have to bring this back to our families.” They really responded to that message. It was lovely.

DH: There are many millions of men who need to go through that experience. It’s too bad it’s not available to them.

TR: I talk to parents, in particular, about forming relationship subcultures around their families and generating the values that are relationship cherishing instead of relationship despising. This interview is part of that, and you guys are lights in that string of lights, so thank you for your work.

DH: Thank you. We need your inspiration and your analysis. A lot of us don’t fully understand this stuff, and it’s enlightening to have a theory that makes sense and is useful.

Source: Patriarchy and toxic masculinity are dominating America under Trump Source: Patriarchy and toxic masculinity are dominating America under Trump

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dunamanticarchivist · 6 years

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The Munchkin Nein - Nott the Nightingale

Explaining this series

A bit of shoutout to Emmy-award winning Sam Riegel and his acapella background (which Nott most assuredly cannot emulate cos -3 to CHA and performance)

Rulebook mechanics wise, there isn’t all that much complexity to a level 5 rogue at the moment. So a great deal of hilarity can be found from the unwritten options available to every DnD player. Nonetheless, lets work through them for simple reference and completeness.

Rogues tend to be rather physical characters, so most of their output comes from their weaponry and class abilities. That being said, Nott is an Arcane Trickster, so that opens up a fair few magical options and increasingly more to come.

So let’s start with the bread and butter for Nott, her trusty hand crossbow. It does 1d6 piercing DMG + Nott’s modifer of +4 DEX. With the feat “Crossbow Expert”, it greatly improves the action economy of the diminutive goblin. She effectively does not need to load her crossbow, is able to fire it at a target within 5 feet without suffering disadvantage and finally; she can take a second shot using a bonus action on top of her usual attack with either the crossbow or short sword.

With regard to the short sword, we have yet to see too much of it in use since killing the manticore baby I believe, due to it performing similarly (1d6 + 4 slashing DMG) except only in melee, while the hand crossbow has the ranges of 30/120 with ranges falling between the numbers imposing disadvantage on the attack roll and beyond that impossible.

Disadvantage is a crucial thing to take note of in utilizing a rogue’s arsenal. Sneak attack has two possible conditions

Having advantage on the attack roll

Target has a hostile within 5 feet, said hostile isn’t incapacitated AND Nott doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.

As we can see, having disadvantage on the attack roll automatically precludes sneak attack from occurring. How important is sneak attack anyway? At level 5, something to the tune of 3d6 DMG, once per turn. On average, that’s worth more than an additional crossbow shot and then some. More so when it’s a critical hit, since dice rolls of damage are doubled, but not modifiers. Thus if Nott wishes to maximize her damage in combat, she’d be looking for every opportunity to fulfill the conditions of sneak attack at least for one attack roll every turn.

These conditions can be imposed as a result of a variety of maneuvers. A characteristically roguish way is simply to hide, then literally sneak an attack. Mechanically, hiding takes an action, requires a DEX (stealth) check which Nott has a solid +8 to versus whatever DM Matt decides is appropriate to roll. Fortunately, being a goblin (well rogue also gives that ability), hide can also be taken as a bonus action, giving Nott a greater range of options whilst attempting to hide.

Speaking of goblin racial traits, a nifty DMG boost is Fury of the Small, a once per short/long rest ability that gives +5 DMG at level 5. The condition is that the target has to be larger than Nott (so medium or larger), which is pretty easily met. Usually.

Anyway, back to sneak attack. Aside from giving advantage on attacks (which, frankly everyone wants when trying to kill something, rogues are just more rewarded for getting it) the Mighty Nein can assist Nott quite readily by just getting up close and personal. Nott herself also has to get relatively close at 30 feet, to avoid disadvantage on her ranged attacks.

Aiding her in this is the rogue’s ability to use a bonus action to dash and disengage if things get too hairy. Though, once again, with “crossbow expert” she can hold her ground if she so wishes. And hold it she can, since Uncanny Dodge halves the incoming damage of a single attack. Though probably not for too long since it’s once per turn (costs a reaction).

Now let’s talk spells, which shouldn’t take too long so I won’t split this post like Caleb’s. Take a breather first maybe.

Cantrips. The usual fall back plan of spellcasters if they’ve got nothing else. But in Nott’s case, they are more for adapting to non-combat situations, with the extremely useful Mage Hand enhanced by being a rogue, and “You can reply to this message” that is so endearing.

The one combat cantrip Shocking Grasp, does 2d8 lightning DMG, is a melee spell attack that has advantage if the enemy is wearing metal armor. Hopefully you still remember that rogue bit about sneak attack and advantages. Also, if Matt is kind, he may rule that alternative situations warrant the advantage on this kind of surprise zapping. (Nvm, sneak attack requires finesse or ranged weapons) If Nott were ever to be inclined to get into melee, a creature hit by this cantrip is also unable to take reactions, so no opportunity attacks if she chooses to move away without disengaging.

At the moment, Nott has 4 level 1 spells, with 3 slots available each long rest to cast with. Disguise Self has mostly non-combat applications, though it would certainly be fun to see if Sam can come up with a creative way to wrangle something out of that. Silent Illusion is in the same vein, though it acting on something other than Nott gives a much wider applicability for any potential combat situation. Feather fall is a simple reactionary spell to save people from falls 600 feet or less.

Tasha’s Hideous Laughter is where things get interesting. It has a range of 30 feet, the effective range of Nott’s hand crossbow, takes up an action and the ability of everyone to endure a terrible joke from Sam Riegel (I am sincerely impressed how awful each and every one of them has been). The target mercifully only has to succeed on a WIS save, while possessing an INT score of 5 and above. Upon failing the save (which honestly, what wouldn’t and the success rate has been pretty good so far), the target falls prone, becomes incapacitated and cannot stand up while affected. Prone and incapacitation are pretty strong conditions to impose. The latter prevents actions, bonus actions and reactions from being taken. The former prevents the target from moving normally, only crawling (each foot of movement costs an additional foot, effectively halving movement). The target also makes attacks at disadvantage, which in this context is moot since it cannot attack. Finally, attacks against the target from 5 feet away are at ADV. Any further, however, and they suffer DISAD which Nott learnt in ep21.

These conditions can be negated by the creature making a successful WIS save (against Nott’s DC 14). It has the opportunity at the end of each of its turns, as well as whenever it takes damage. If it is from taking damage, the WIS save is rolled at advantage. Therefore, against a single opponent, it could be beneficial for the whole party to take a few quick moments to optimize their choices or positioning while they are given this breathing room. Against multiple opponents, it would be an opportunity to temporarily have one less threat to deal with. As long as they don’t hit it over and over with multiple attacks. By default, the target has to spend half its movement to stand up, so still limiting the target’s movement as a final touch.

And so there we are, Nott the Brave! Once again, a solid range of options that have great scalability with effective RP like hiding, bad jokes (really, those things deserve to inflict psychic damage) and insanely rushing into melee despite being a squit of a goblin. Not much to say, except I think Nott is pretty fun to watch in combat and in general.

Also, we are on the internet cos it’s tuesday!

#critical role #cr2 #cr2 spoilers #kinda not really #nott the brave #nott the goblin #rogues #sneak attack #the munchkin nein #talks machina today #submit #mine

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