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DM Nagging: It's pretty much my job

Started by Anastasia, April 12, 2018, 12:35:58 PM

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Iron Dragoon

Quote from: Anastasia on June 22, 2019, 05:44:48 PM
Quote from: Iron Dragoon on June 21, 2019, 10:21:11 AM
No, energy immunity will open a bunch. Let me re-do my list tonight and I'll follow up then.

Anything else here, Iddy?

I don't think any of my other buffs any of the other characters can really do since they all need Chain Spell, but... I guess Magic Vestment?
This is not the greatest post in the world, no... this is just a tribute.

Anastasia

As noted, Emily already has that, Iddy.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

Quote from: Corwin on June 19, 2019, 01:42:43 PM
Prismatic Dragon Template

Prismatic dragons are the result of Seira Aryn's research into draconic perfection. Rather than seek enlightenment through balance, the dragons follow Seira's lead down a fresh path to perfection approved by Io.

Creating a Prismatic Dragon

"Prismatic Dragon" is an acquired template that can be added to any creature of the dragon type (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

Size, Type and Speed

The base creature's size, type and speed are unchanged.

Special Attacks

A prismatic dragon retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains the following special abilities.

Spell-like abilities: At will-Hypnotic pattern (Wyrmling), rainbow pattern (Juvenile). 3/day-sunbeam (Adult), sunburst (Old), prismatic wall (Ancient), prismatic sphere (Great wyrm). Caster level equal to the prismatic dragon's hit dice. The save DCs are charisma based. The abilities are gained upon reaching the indicated age category of the base creature.

Prismatic Breath (Su): A prismatic dragon has two breath weapons on top of any breath weapon the base creature has. One is a prismatic spray in the shape of a cone. This cone is as normal for a dragon of its size, not the size of the spell. The second is known as the Fivefold Breath. Five separate breath weapons are exhaled at once, each one matching that of a chromatic dragon. Each breath weapon uses d8s and deals damage equal to one half of the chromatic dragon's hit dice. The save DCs are constitution based.

Special Qualities

Prismatic Immunities (Ex): Prismatic dragons cannot be harmed by any light, including spells with the light descriptor, searing light, and the various prismatic (sphere, spray, wall) spells. In addition, they are immune to any spell or effect that causes blindness. Prismatic dragons are immune to sleep and paralysis effects.

Prismatic Cloak (Su): A prismatic dragon is protected by a shield of shimmering light similar to a cloak of chaos that provides a deflection bonus to its AC. The deflection bonus is equal to the dragon's Charisma bonus.

Prismatic Nature:
Damage Reduction (Ex): A prismatic dragon's damage reduction changes from the base creature's. It can now only be bypassed by epic, adamantine weapons that are colorless. If the base creature did not have damage reduction, it gains damage reduction 10/epic, adamantine weapons that are colorless.
Regeneration (Ex): A prismatic dragon takes lethal damage from attacks that penetrate its damage reduction.

Abilities

Increase from the base creature as follows: Int +4, Wis +4, Cha +4.

Level Adjustment

+4

Yeah sure, we'll try it out and see how it shakes out. I'll format it up tomorrow and post it.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

Prismatic dragon template is up.

Changelog from nagging version: Added 21+ hit dice requirement for the template. Dropped the lower age categories requirements on SLAs in light of that, kept the adult and older age category limitations since they're still relevant. Added a bit of clarification to how the DR interacts with existing DR. Added the actual amount regenerated each round to regeneration, that was needed.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Corwin

QuoteCor's take on this was rather dragged out, too much so in retrospect, so yours will be sped up a bit.

Admittedly, some of that was due to other things distracting, but you're free of that right now

I don't suppose this insight will carry over to the new thing I'm reading?
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Anastasia

Quote from: Corwin on June 16, 2019, 11:29:49 AM
Incidentally, Kascha has the following on her sheet. We should plant them!

[Misc]Black Rose Seeds: These seeds are for black roses said to be native to the Deep Ethereal plane. Grow them and who knows what magic they'll have.

Ghost's Roses: These roses are semi transparent and need no sunlight to grow, instead prospering in cool, dark conditions with high humidity. The roses have a pleasing black color that complements traditional red roses.

When a single rose's petals are ground into a paste, it produces a single use paste that grants a weapon the ghost touch quality for one round.

When a dozen or more roses are used to make jam, the jam is capable of being eaten by ghostly and ethereal creatures. This causes them no harm, even if they normally do not eat and lack the facilities to deal with eating.

The thorns of these roses can be used in the creation of slashing and piercing magic weapons with the ghost touch special property.

If several dozen roses are used to make an incense and that incense is breathed in, it results in a night of vivid, lifelike and powerful dreams. These dreams are strong and prevent nightmares and dream intrusions of various magical and supernatural types.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Corwin

Seira will send some incense to Oberuth as a gift.
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Anastasia

Sure thing. Just make a note of those flowers somewhere for future reference, in case you ever need to call on them.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

I plan to get back to knocking out the DM work backlog soon. It's just been an RL fest of job hunting and other things lately.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

A few notes about upcoming schedule interruptions.

1. I haven't taken a downtime/rest up day in some time. All of my misses have either been family obligations, unavoidable errands or doctor visits. As such a few days are on the agenda within the next several weeks. This won't be a full vacation, probably along the lines of a long weekend instead. If any particular days are good or bad for this for y'all, let me know.

1a. There's no game burnout behind this, purely RL stress. It's been a rough week+ for me behind the scenes. My posting's felt drained at times the last few sessions, which is a pretty good sign I need to recharge. Blame life being life.

2. My next vacation will be in September, probably something like September 5th to September 11th or 12th. It straddles a weekend in the middle due to it being the start of the NFL season. I usually like to focus on Week 1, so I may as well combine a vacation and not be distracted.

3. Speaking of football, here's the likely interruptions from the NFL season.

- Every Thursday from August 8th to August 29th has the Redskins playing that evening. It's preseason so no big deal, but expect a bit of distraction from that. These shouldn't be cancels barring maybe August 22nd.

- Thursdays in the regular season, which is from September 5th to essentially Christmas, have football on. This increases my distraction but isn't critical, but bear it in mind. This also applies to Mondays from September 9th onto Christmas.

- Evening session for September 23rd will be canceled, as the Redskins play on Monday Night Football.

- Evening session for October 24th will be canceled, as the Redskins play on Thursday Night Football.

<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

The problem with feedback is getting out of the habit makes it hard to start again. Replies encouraged, as that helps me feel like the feedback is worthwhile and thus want to do more. This is going to be whatever I feel like commenting on rather than tightly focused, just to get the creative juices flowing.

---

Alicia

Obviously, the big story here is Eblis. That's the conclusion of a long storyline that was done early, and as such has a few unusual bumps and angles to it. You can chalk up the Bel revelation to that, it wasn't meant to be revealed that way. On consideration I deliberated but kept that reveal there, as I wasn't going to penalize you for succeeding early. I normally guard reveals to avoid that, but with the risk that went into this entire story chain, I felt it wasn't fair to.

Anyway, with that said the Eblis event chain was incredibly dangerous but incredibly rewarding. One day when this game is farther along I'll explain where and when it was 'meant' to happen, but early or not, you gained from it and gained well. I won't belabor the luck involved and managing to have the perfect weapon to strike at Eblis's psyche, but that's a factor too. Still, you deserve tons of credit for seeing it through and risking things. Each time you went to visit him, I did it with the knowledge you were going to die if it came to combat. This wouldn't be a final death for Alicia since it's not her home plane, but that's still a tremendous risk to take.

Eblis aside, I feel like your node's found its voice and rhythm. Every voice in the node (plus Marie, who I consider a member for the sake of this) feels distinct and has a purpose. You've forged a tight group together, one with a unique feel that I appreciate. There's a lot of seriousness in the node, especially regarding the events of the overarching plot. At the same time, there's a lot of emotional interdependence and support between the members, a feeling of being a group of close friends and family that have been through a lot. They're a somewhat solemn group due to what's hanging over them, but it's also a group I can see getting together for a family dinner.

Bonus points for Syala, who I took the longest to feel out. She's had the most interesting transference and adjustment from B1, both from how she's changed with her divinity and how she's grown into her role in Sylica.

I'll refrain from commenting on the God-King situation until that's done. There's a lot to say but most of it boils down to 'it sucks that you can't do this due to plot but it's at least nice to see it finally happen', and the rest is best said once it's finished. It is interesting to see that sort of plot from such a different angle of execution, though. Anyway, in light of that, let's save comments on it for another time.

Moore

This is a little dated, but the biggest recent event for Moore is overcoming anathemic knowledge. Worlds are powerful things as shown by things such as the Fairest Star and the tarrasque, so using that to help power past the cosmic level information override makes a decent amount of sense to me. Regardless, it's good to see a long term goal like that come through. While not dangerous or even pressing, it was a hard thing to overcome and took a lot of work, thought and time to get past. Congratulations.

Beyond that, I feel like your node's found its groove. There's a sense of companionship with everyone, each person having a distinct personality and perspective on things. Cresiel shines here and often does much with relatively little, while Kaja has his own position and Jetina anchors the party with a lighter perspective. Xandra feels somewhat above it all at times, but that fits who she is and what she does. One could say she's often distracted by things beyond normal vision, at least to how I feel she plays at times. I feel like if nothing else, she emotes directly less than others, giving her a sense of reserve.

Incidentally, I use Villisa sparingly, but I feel she works best when used sparingly. She's the sort of character who can easily go from amusing to irritating depending solely on how much screentime she gets.

I feel like your node's relationships feel a little harder to define than Alicia's, though there's a lot more time in those relationships so that's likely just a consequence of that. Another point is that I can feel and sense what it's like, but finding the exact words eludes me at times. To me, your node is a feeling, a way of certain words being said between NPCs and perspectives. I dunno. I'm trying to pin the right words here and it's tough. Almost like there's a sense of etherealness to them all, or perhaps they're ever so slightly in the light already.

Perhaps all of that is merely a consequence of being close to the light of Chronias. Every person in your node quietly works with that in their own way, and often the revelations from it defy words.

Tryll

First of all, I don't know if you having Fridays off was your idea, a work thing or merely pure chance. Nonetheless, I want to say one thing about that: Thank you. It's awesome having you around more to game.

That being said, I'm enjoying the current storyline quite a lot. I like seeing Tryll try to find the truth of the irrigo, this has been a long running mystery for him. He's in a position to ask questions of entities that should know, as well as ones who have a fair reason to answer him, or at least not bullshit him if they won't answer. Here's hoping that how it works out is interesting and engaging for all of us.

Tryll's node is the most challenging to work with. Most of this is simply the rate of posting, which can make those sort of runs where you really spend an hour or two in a character's mind and get flowing rarer. That aside though, Dana is absolutely the big personality in the node and I feel other personalities either orbit her or struggle to stand out against her.  This isn't a bad thing by itself, Dana has a strong, distinct voice and this is a point in her favor. It tends to tamp down Miranda a lot, who was envisioned to have more out spokenness, but tends to be preempted by Dana. Likewise, it tends to slot Benyen into a particular role, though I feel he stands out better with his personality.

Let me say I don't think it's a bad thing by itself to have the node's personalities orbit around Dana. She's that sort of person and has a particular personality that gets attention. It can be a challenge to properly develop characters in her orbit, something I'm continuing to work on. I like Dana as long as she keeps the bitchiness within reasonable bounds.

Alyssa

I admit, the ha naga and slab idea was an idea I liked. If you ever watched the old 80s Ducktales cartoon, the series starts with a five part story about Scrooge and the boys searching for a lost city of gold. When they finally find it, it's in a valley with huge circular medallions of gold set into the slope of the valley and in a few other places. Like giant medallions of gold dozens of feet tall and wide, probably enough gold to retire on for seven generations per medallion. Something about that's stuck in the back of my head all these years, and it finally inspired a particular set piece. (Sorry that the tablets aren't made of tons of gold.)

Meanderings about my sources of inspiration aside, I think Alyssa's transfer to a new domain went well. There's a lot of fiddly establishment stuff that's mostly off screen bait, as we're fundamentally avoiding getting too far into Sim Realm territory, but I'm enjoying it in broad strokes. Combine that with todos and there's plenty going on there and plenty more to come. There's potential here for sure as Alyssa continues to grow and develop, as well as set her sights higher and higher.

Nodewise, I feel everyone's settled in well. I'm still feeling out how Bastian and Dolmaya settle into the node, but each person has a defined personality that works well. Dolmaya's the trickiest while Bastian was a smooth, easy fit. In particular, I'm feeling out the edges of Dolmaya's personality and how it interacts. She has a few things going on and right now I'm sorting it all out. She's very much a work in progress.

Dolmaya aside, I really like how Jarem's settled in, as well as Emily and Ianvasah. The core of the node feels strong and that people in the node know each other well now. Bastian in particular has added shades that work well to help develop a few others - Jarem really needed another guy to bounce off of.

Seira

See Alicia's writeup for the bit about the God-King, it's at the end. I don't see any point in pasting it here since my comments are identical.

I've enjoyed Seira's current arc quite a lot, from the end of the Battle of Father and Son to the current time. Seeing the diplomatic wrangling and hashing it out on both sides is a lot of fun, as well as how everyone pursues their goals in the negotiations. It's interesting to see how pragmatism and goals interact here, especially with trying to get one force or another out of the war. What level of compromise you're willing to accept, where rubber meets road and where morals meet needs are all interesting questions to address in this way.

What I find interesting about Seira's node, Ranbar aside since she's still new, is how they particularly hook together. I tend to compare it to Alicia's since you two have the same background and the same origins, but ultimately a far different flavor of node. Donald and Elle set the tone here, they're simply not equipped to be focused and intensely serious like Antenora or Latha is. It feels like an entirely different kind of family, a loud and boisterous clan where the extroverts get attention naturally and the introverts contrast this.

Amaryl and Kascha are the natural contrast to them. Both are somewhat introverted by nature, albeit in different ways and tendencies. I've always felt it creates an interesting way of portraying the different sides of the node that benefits both (so long as I don't let Amaryl get too quiet), as the contrast is enlightening. Most friend groups have a quieter person and a louder person, the sort of people who grab attention and the other sort of people who go along to get along.  It's always felt very authentic to me.

I migth add a little more tomorrow in a new post, but I'm getting tired so let's just post this as it is. It's past 2 AM.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Corwin

Speaking of major accomplishments, we now have templates! Converting my dragon pals to Prismatics brings me more joy than can be adequately conveyed, and having elemental harmony as a path for elemental uplifting is lots of fun.

As for the people in my Node, I like the Can Do attitude. It's also nice to have their full support and feel like I've earned it IC.
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Anastasia

Quote from: Corwin on July 11, 2019, 11:36:58 AM
Speaking of major accomplishments, we now have templates! Converting my dragon pals to Prismatics brings me more joy than can be adequately conveyed, and having elemental harmony as a path for elemental uplifting is lots of fun.

As for the people in my Node, I like the Can Do attitude. It's also nice to have their full support and feel like I've earned it IC.

Agreed about the templates. I think those are good opportunities, we'll sit down and have a talk this weekend or on my coming days off about those and how they may be used more in depth.

Yeah, you've earned their support and they're generally a bunch of go-getters. Again I tend to think of Donald here simply because he's the loudest, but everyone is willing to get things done.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Ebiris

QuoteAlicia

Obviously, the big story here is Eblis. That's the conclusion of a long storyline that was done early, and as such has a few unusual bumps and angles to it. You can chalk up the Bel revelation to that, it wasn't meant to be revealed that way. On consideration I deliberated but kept that reveal there, as I wasn't going to penalize you for succeeding early. I normally guard reveals to avoid that, but with the risk that went into this entire story chain, I felt it wasn't fair to.

Anyway, with that said the Eblis event chain was incredibly dangerous but incredibly rewarding. One day when this game is farther along I'll explain where and when it was 'meant' to happen, but early or not, you gained from it and gained well. I won't belabor the luck involved and managing to have the perfect weapon to strike at Eblis's psyche, but that's a factor too. Still, you deserve tons of credit for seeing it through and risking things. Each time you went to visit him, I did it with the knowledge you were going to die if it came to combat. This wouldn't be a final death for Alicia since it's not her home plane, but that's still a tremendous risk to take.

Eblis aside, I feel like your node's found its voice and rhythm. Every voice in the node (plus Marie, who I consider a member for the sake of this) feels distinct and has a purpose. You've forged a tight group together, one with a unique feel that I appreciate. There's a lot of seriousness in the node, especially regarding the events of the overarching plot. At the same time, there's a lot of emotional interdependence and support between the members, a feeling of being a group of close friends and family that have been through a lot. They're a somewhat solemn group due to what's hanging over them, but it's also a group I can see getting together for a family dinner.

Bonus points for Syala, who I took the longest to feel out. She's had the most interesting transference and adjustment from B1, both from how she's changed with her divinity and how she's grown into her role in Sylica.

I'll refrain from commenting on the God-King situation until that's done. There's a lot to say but most of it boils down to 'it sucks that you can't do this due to plot but it's at least nice to see it finally happen', and the rest is best said once it's finished. It is interesting to see that sort of plot from such a different angle of execution, though. Anyway, in light of that, let's save comments on it for another time.

Yeah Alicia's node is pretty tight knit by their history and it doesn't really leave any scope for someone new to join it. Ebony's really the best bet and she's from B1 anyway, but I like her more where she is right now on Aurora. It does make for a solid group that all has each other's back though.

My only issue I suppose is I don't feel as much chemistry between Alicia and Syala and Antenora and Marie. I think part of it is the post format makes things less snappy and natural when it comes to dialogue, but also the big nature of the stuff that's happening and the pace of the game means there's less 'just goofing around' stuff going on which is where the character dynamics would usually shine.

Glad the Eblis stuff worked out, it all pretty much went the best way it could've overall even if it was rough and scary at times.

Anastasia

Quote from: Ebiris on July 11, 2019, 01:45:09 PMYeah Alicia's node is pretty tight knit by their history and it doesn't really leave any scope for someone new to join it. Ebony's really the best bet and she's from B1 anyway, but I like her more where she is right now on Aurora. It does make for a solid group that all has each other's back though.

Pretty much. Emmaline's the only one who's even pinged on the radar, and she didn't feel right in the end.

QuoteMy only issue I suppose is I don't feel as much chemistry between Alicia and Syala and Antenora and Marie. I think part of it is the post format makes things less snappy and natural when it comes to dialogue, but also the big nature of the stuff that's happening and the pace of the game means there's less 'just goofing around' stuff going on which is where the character dynamics would usually shine.

I would like to do more stuff like that, just invest more time into them since I feel it's needed. Stuff like that date night was good, I just feel we need more of it to build that back up more.

QuoteGlad the Eblis stuff worked out, it all pretty much went the best way it could've overall even if it was rough and scary at times.

Pretty much. Congratulations again, you're been a deft hand at avoiding disaster this game.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?