Multi-classing in 5th Edition D&D

Because I don't want to have to retype this the next time the question comes up. It takes too long.

On the Evermoor Way - The Journal of Aisha Yethtai

In the wake of the devastation wrought by the fire giants in their attack, there was much to be done. Fortunately, the giants and most of the orcs were held at the fringes of town. Several of those small, fiery creatures slipped through to wreak havoc, but, by and large the town and the population have survived relatively unscathed. Among other things, there was a massive piece of adamantium to be concerned with.

Survival of the Fittest Misunderstandings

"Survival of the fittest" is a concept I often see misunderstood and misused. This can range from applications of that concept in real life down to making use of it in games and fiction. While the real world misuses are clearly the most problematic of these, I am going to focus on the use of the phrase in fiction and gaming. This is partially because I am writing this bit of a rant after seeing someone speak of a druid with a "survival of the fittest" philosophy refusing to heal others as part of that philosophy. That said, the misunderstandings as applied to fiction and games aren't any different from those applied to real life. Only the consequences are different.

Watch Reports: Paperwork, That Tiefling, and Suspicious Fires

With the matter of my agreement to Lord Anders Ravn's mission, the matter remained to report to the Watch Sergeant Garrison Wyldehunt. I garnered some limited information regarding the others who had been tapped for this task as well as a pair of healing potions. The conversation occurred while I was writing out my official notice of re-assignment to other duties. It is important to keep appropriate records of such things. 

M-Com Mission Report - Operation: Shattered Summer - Monster of the Week Campaign

M-Com Campaign

Stone Cold Slayer - Princes of the Apocaverse - Session Eighteen

The Chapters and Cast of the Ballad

Leaving behind Feathergale Spire;
In the hands of aarakocra scouts;
As their bodies began to tire;
They arrived in Red Larch here-abouts

Watch Reports: Refuse Issue, Overzealous Sweeps, and Summons

I am writing this report to bring to light the issue of a remarkable pile of refuse that is being built up behind one of the tenements on the north side of Athlin. My normal shopping trip this morning was interrupted by the sounds of a scuffle which brought to my attention the sight of a pseudo-dragon being set upon by a pair of dog-sized rats. Myself and a street-performer of some magical talent by the name of Asmodeous engaged the rats and managed to slay them. But it seems that the pseudo-dragon, the rats, and the street-performer were all drawn to the area in the hopes of finding food within this mountainous pile of refuse.

Fate Core Issues

I was recently in a conversation with someone discussing the Wild Talents game among a couple of other things and mention of Fate came up prompting the other person to respond that they hate Fate because it pretends to be versatile and flexible but it really isn't. Her reasoning behind that pointed toward the skill system and how advancement is done. It is an issue I have with Fate Core myself and one of the reasons I shifted to other forms of Fate that still make use of the Aspects without having the skill system I don't like. However, it occurs to me that I missed an opportunity to share understanding that I have gained of the thinking behind Fate's skill system.

Just to warn, I am going to go over a lot of the issues and problems the Fate Core skill system has for me before I start explaining how I came to look at the system from a different direction. That's because, my explanation for how to rethink things really won't work if you don't understand the perspective I was coming from originally that made it seem problematic. This is also going to be somewhat lengthy since I'm actually touching on several different aspects of the game that are tangentially connected to the central one.

Zihna, Fallen Aasimar Paladin

Zihna - 3rd Level

Character Journal

Str 16

Dex 8

Con  14

Int  11

Wis 12

Cha 16

HP: 30

AC: 19 (Chain Mail and Shield)
Aasimar Save DC: 13
Paladin Save DC: 13

Speed: 30

Proficiency Bonus: +2

Pale Washed Out Eyes
Sickly Grey Skin
Blighted Cyan Hair

5'7"

165 lbs

The Tale of the Fallen One

At one time Zihna was not mortal. She was one of the celestial host and was called forth as a part of a battle in which a horrible artifact was destroyed. Unfortunately, in the course of destroying the artifact, her form was inundated with the rancid spiritual filth that poured out of the ruptured item. It stripped her grace away, had she not been celestial then she would have been obliterated outright, but as it stands she was left in human guise. Only a human who bore a terrible and cursed pain and could no longer directly experience pleasant emotions. Instead, she mostly feels rage, shame, disgust, sorrow, and all the rest. Her former compassionate nature has been degraded into one of brutality and rage. A brutality she works hard to keep directed away from those who do not deserve it. At least as much as possible.

The Reports of Mariah the Blue

Mariah is one of five women known, to their distaste, as the Daughters of Tiamat. Students, sisters, daughters, and loved ones to a band of adventurers that had thwarted the Cult a number of times in the past, they were kidnapped, dominated, and infused through ritual with the power of the Chromatic dragons. Eventually the mind control crumbled, and the daughters were freed though nothing could part them from the draconic power in their being now. The Green, The Red, and the Black each embarked on their own business while Mariah and Hellenae the White, a wood elf infused with the blood of white dragons, settled down in Athlin. Mariah had previously been apprenticed to a Watch Master and former investigator and gave her magical talents to the Town Watch while Hellenae set about establishing herself as a simple magus.

Mariah the Blue - Human Draconic Sorcerer

Mariah the Blue - 5th Level

Character Journal

Str 8

Dex 14

Con  14

Int  10

Wis 12

Cha 18

HP: 40

AC: 15
Sorcerer Save DC: 15
Sorcery Points: 5

Speed: 30

Proficiency Bonus: +3

5'3"

105 lbs

Bad Fruit - The Notes of Lisa MacKenzie

From the notebook of Lisa MacKenzie during her search for the "Yurei Archvies" concurrent with her discovery of the door to Emma-O's palace.

Lisa's Note - Relic Advancement Plan

Lisa has a simple notebook and pen set that she uses to access some of her powers. Currently, it has the following powers:

Lisa's Hair - Relic Advancement Plan

Lisa has the supernatural hair like most yurei, of course, as a scion she has the potential to become a goddess and it's possible her hair will become much more powerful.

Lisa MacKenzie Character Sheet

Lisa MacKenzie
Calling: Knowledge of the Dead
Pantheon: Amatsukami
Patron God: Emma-O (Yanluo)
Nature: Visionary

The Notes of Lisa MacKenzie

Yurei picture by GENZOMAN

Unlike many scions, Lisa MacKenzie was not born with divine heritage but rather found herself infected with ichor which had begun to change her very being. In her case, she had wandered into a cursed ryokan while travelling in Japan and had taken an apple from within its walls. Luckily for her, she did not actually eat of the apple until she was well away from the haunted place and during the middle of the day when it could not manifest. Still, the cursed nature of the fruit would likely have eventually changed her into a violent and monstrous cursed ghost such as seen in many Japanese horror movies. Fortunately for her, she came to the attention of Emma-O, the name by which Yanluo operated when he was acting among the Amatsukami, and he took her up as a ward of sorts forcing the curse to assimilate into her being and render her a half-divine scion.

Lisa appears to be a Japanese woman with long, unruly black hair who is often seen to be carrying a notebook and pen of curious design. It is hard to tell whether the change in her appearance was part of the progression of the curse or some whim of Emma-O's. It is equally hard to tell whether or not Lisa is aware that she no longer appears Caucasian. She is not the most aware of individuals for all her brilliance as a researcher.

Fire Giants at Triboar - The Journal of Aisha Yethtai

We have arrived in Triboar and found it to be a bit smaller than I had last heard that it was. In Silverymoon it is noted as a major settlement in the region and the maps we have on archive showed a small town of close to a thousand people with many inns and taverns and an extensive graveyard tended by a temple to Kelemvor. Instead we have found a few houses and only one inn and one tavern a piece. It is rather as if someone has taken a village or even a hamlet and spread tales of how it was a full town. In any case, there was little more than a shrine to Kelemvor so we remain in possession of the knucklebones and skull fragments much to my disquiet.

Gwenfys reported to speak to Alaestra Ulgar and report the death of her estranged husband. I understand the dwarf bore up the report with the stoicism typical of their people but I myself was not present so I cannot speak to the details.

5e Mice and Men (Worg Warlock Homebrew race)

This is a character I played on the Neverwinter Nights 2 rebuild of Icewind Dale. Via the Races of Faerun patch, I was able to create a worg character. For a laugh I decided to make her a sorcerer and give her a rabbit familiar. I named them Mice (the worg) and Men (the rabbit). Eventually I made her a Favored Soul because I was finding myself in dire need of a healer in the early parts of that game.

Assault on Feathergale Spire - Princes of the Apocaverse - Session Seventeen

The Chapters and Cast of the Ballad

A prisoner was taken to Mystra's home;
And a corpse from Waterdeep's morgue;
From each did they for answers comb;
As to their presence within that burg.

Traditional

Today in class we had a bit of reading that was presented as a student essay discussing ukiyo-e and modern Japanese pop culture. At one point, the 86 word bit reading stated "I think manga and anime will be traditional Japanese arts like ukiyo-e someday." It struck me as curious because certainly manga and anime already are traditional arts. The first verifiable Japanese animated films appeared in 1917 meaning that the art form is now on the cusp of having 100 years of history. The history of manga is more disputed with some people pointing back to the 12th Century and certain scrolls that showed some of the pacing methods of manga and others pointing back only to the 18th Century. In either case, the history of manga is over two-hundred years old and may be as old as nine hundred years. So why are neither considered a traditional art form?

5e Sorrowful Gorgon (Wood Elf Sorcerer Homebrew Material)

This is a theoretical build using some of the stuff presented in another post here. Specifically the one linked through this sentence. This is part of me taking a look at this material in practice, though to get a real idea, I'll have to actually get a game played as the character at some point. The build here is the Gorgon Sorcerous Origin homebrew rather than the race and will also be drawing from the spells as well.

This picture came from Daz3D's website. It's a 3D modeling software.

Gorgon 5e Homebrew (WIP)

This was originally a small collection of spells designed to help represent a PC gorgon. These would be for Warlocks or Sorcerers as the two classes that best simulate an innate power.  However, I have since added other homebrew elements including a sorcerous heritage and a PC race. I am editing as I receive suggestions. Add comments below or on whatever thread you see this linked.

If you know who drew this, please tell me so I can credit them.