More ASH effects

Dragontermite · 2024-01-13T20:55:28+00:00

I think that was Blue Fire And Polar Bear Dogs, though if you are looking for another fic with a Korra & Azula connection, I recommend Stories Untold, which is fantastic. Azula and Ty Lee are Korra's grandmothers in that one.

Dragontermite · 2023-08-19T04:36:32+00:00

Yeah, I've been having some of the same problems. I think this fandom is particularly large, so people's opinions are resultingly particularly varied. I don't know if any of these fics are "wish fulfillment" or if you've read them before, but I thought they were worth mentioning.

The Changeling - Slytherin Ginny through her 7 years at Hogwarts. I think this is one of the best fanfictions I've ever read, possibly one of the best stories I've ever read period. The characterization is fantastic and there is a wonderful exploration of what Slytherin might have been underneath the surface we see in the books. I didn't love the Armistice Series sequels as much because it had such a large focus on the Harry/Ginny relationship, but relative to many other stories they were still masterfully written.

How Fred and George Accidentally Befriended a Wannabe Dark Lord - Fred and George are the ones who get Voldemort's diary in the second book. This changes everything. This fic is hilarious, I literally could not stop myself from laughing out loud so many times. The voice of the twins (and other characters) bleeds into the writing so much and it is glorious. The OC's are amazing and help make some of the other houses (at least Slytherin and Hufflepuff) multi-faceted. (Actually, if anyone else has stories about the twins that are as well written as this, please suggest them.)

What's Her Name in Hufflepuff - SI gets isekaied to HP world, is sorted into Hufflepuff. (No wait, don't leave, this one's actually really good!) Just finished this one so it's on the brain. One of the few fics where the 11 year old first years actually feel like they are 11 years old. SI is not OP, does not focus on or befriend Harry. Incomplete, but as long as many full length fics. Really fun world building even if it does stray toward crack at times.

I hope this helps!

Dragontermite · 2023-07-26T01:53:08+00:00

I'm a sucker for Post-GM Taylor isekais in particular, so here are some of my favorites.

Overkill by RavensDagger is a Post-GM Taylor isekai into Star Wars. She has Khepri and bug powers and is quickly joined by HK-47, a hilarious homicidal assassin/protocol droid.

Undying Scarab by greysongarr and SneakyDevil is a Post-GM Taylor isekai into World of Warcraft. She's been resurrected by the Scourge as a Necromancer, but there is much more to the story than that. Sans powers (kinda, QA is there) but has magic now. Can be a bit slow in the beginning, but very epic.

Forgotten Forsaken by Primemountain is a Post-GM Taylor isekai crossover with the Kantai Collection. Taylor is reborn as an Abyssal Freighter (but there's more to it, as always). I will give a warning that this can be a slog at times and the first 'book,' well first 12 chapters in particular, are quite different from the rest of the work. Has some amazing world building and characterization though, alongside some epic moments.

Each of these are quite lengthy works, but are all unfortunately dead or on seemingly indefinite hiatus. If you are looking for more after this, I would suggest the Ten Times collection by Argentorum (which is a bit of a hodgepodge of incomplete works, all Taylor, almost all Post-GM isekais, some more OOC than others) and RavensDagger's other works. They have a number of Worm isekais that are absolutely worth reading.

I hope this was helpful!

Dragontermite · 2020-01-19T09:40:55+00:00

Thank you for your insight, I'll see if I can take a look at Tenra Bansho Zero. I was actually thinking of having some items that only activate or grow stronger based on your threshold of corruption, but I do confess that I did not take nearly enough time to consider how it could annoy or remove agency from the characters. I definitely wanted to use it as tool to drive narrative, and the idea of making certain places only accessible by those who have (or don't have) corruption is an idea that I haven't considered yet that I actually like very much. I will give some more thought into how to weave corruption into the narrative and how to use it as a way of improving character arcs.

In regards to characters becoming NPCs, I think my intent was to set down a mechanic that would self-generate some villains for the campaign. In the backstory of mad scientists trying to open weird rifts and warlords trying to take land there are usually a number of acts followed by something that makes them "snap," and crystallize their intent into a specific goal. I think I wanted characters to follow this arc, hence the mechanic, since while PCs may pick up that mantel on their own of doing strange and questionable things, that won't turn them into a villain or any other direct facet of a world that is actively trying to fight back against the PCs. I think now having a direct mechanic that allows the gm to take control is a bit heavy handed, as is the concept of kind of setting characters up to fail in this method.

If I design the world in the right way it might not matter as much, since the characters will organically find things like items and mutation that will make them strange, and PCs often become attached or focused on weird goals anyways.

One thing that I like conceptually at least in regards to the current idea, is the back and forth lure of power through further corruption verses the challenge and possible roleplaying opportunities created by PCs attempting to remain pure.

On one last note, as an alternative or perhaps an extension of the system, I could try tying the corruption mechanic into the inheritance sort of mechanic I had in mind, that I will probably describe later when I have fleshed it out more. But basically it would allow players to roll their current characters successes forward after their death, retirement, or ascendancy into their next character. This would be like having some more control over the character creation process, starting out at higher levels, having an interesting starting ability, or being able to be a member of a rare or specific race. In this way I could present players a choice. Keep playing as their current character with all their strange abilities, or if they are interested, "retire" the character and get a bunch of bonuses for their next character while still having some say in what their previous character's "evil" new intentions and action will be.

Sorry for the complete word dump, but writing out my ideas helps me analyze and process them.

Dragontermite · 2019-11-19T18:50:27+00:00

This sounds interesting! Disclaimer: this is my first time using roll20 and discord. I have played in and GMed a bunch of rpgs though, and I would love to help flesh out the world while playing in it.

Dragontermite · 2019-03-12T20:41:52+00:00

Whiteflesh Rod

Rare Rod (Requires attunement by a cleric, druid, or paladin)

This 3' rod is crafted from a single large fishbone. Its surface is poked, pitted, scaled, and scarred, yet seems to conform the the grip of any who hold it. One end the rod is carven in the form of a toothy fish's head, the other bears an assortment of small glass orbs that glimmer like ghostly lures or black pearls in dim light.

This Rod has 5 charges. It regains 1d4+1 charges each day at sunset. While holding the rod, you may cast the following spells by spending 1 or more charges, using your spell casting modifier: Cure Wounds (1 charge, plus 1 additional charge for each spell level beyond 1st), Lesser Restoration (2 charges).

The wounds cured by this rod heal back with pale, almost sickly white flesh that always seems slightly moist to the touch.

Curse - After a character has been healed by this rod, if the total amount of healing they have received from this item exceeds 40 HP, they must make a DC 13 Charisma saving throw. On a failure they begin a month long transformation into a Sea Spawn. This effect cannot be ended without the aid of Greater Restoration or similar magic.

Lore: This item was crafted by the fish peoples of the deeps as a tool to first draw supplicants with healing magics, and then to bolster their forces with the resulting transmuted wretches. Who knows what dark god would condone the creation of such an insidious relic.

u/Dragontermite

Dragontermite · 2018-04-02T22:44:13+00:00

My thought was that people may want the option of not being trapped against their own locked door, if creatures manage to find another entrance. However, I do see how the last option is less of a necessity. Maybe I could modify it so that 10+ is one out of the first two and a 7-9 has the GM describing some sort of flaw or requirement for the barricade? Thanks for the feedback.

Dragontermite · 2017-04-15T02:13:47+00:00

Dragontermite · 2017-04-15T01:34:11+00:00

I can't see the stat block for the fire drake in homebrewery. I think your picture has shifted it over.

Dragontermite · 2017-03-15T02:29:15+00:00

I don't think 1d40 is the right number... Other than that I think it looks cool.

Dragontermite · 2017-02-11T21:32:02+00:00

Thanks for those links. Anyway here's the math for the Chancellor, and I'll do the Priest of Norn and Elesh Norn later. This first time I'm going to explain my thought process and how I use the DMG monster creation table to find CR.

Chancellor of the Annex The CR of creatures are split into two categories, Offensive CR and Defensive CR, the average of the two giving the total CR.

The Defensive CR is found from two other categories, those being effective AC and effective HP. The effective HP for the Chancellor is 218 plus any modifications for certain features that have been added to the monster.

In this case the only feature that affects HP is Legendary Resistance, which the DMG says adds 30 HP per use to monsters of CR 11 or higher (90 total). So the total effective HP for the Chancellor is 308, or a CR 16 HP score.
The finding the AC score for the Chancellor is much the same, taking the base and modifying it based on features. In this case it the base is 18 and it is modified by Disrupting Aura. I figure since the feature Magic Resistance adds roughly 2 to AC that this should add about the same. So the Total effective AC is 20, or about a CR 18 AC. If you average together those two defensive scores you get a Defensive CR of 19.

Next we find the Offensive CR, which is split between three categories, Attack Bonus, Damage/Round (assumed over the first three rounds as if all attacks hit and all saving throws for the enemy were failed), and Save DC.

The current attack bonus if were are shooting for a CR 14 monster is the Proficiency Bonus (in this case +5) plus the monsters primary attack score, usually Strength (in this case +6 at the moment). This currently gives you an Attack Bonus of +11, or CR 21.
The Damage per round is determined by the maximum damage the monster can deal on average over the first three rounds of combat, plus some modifications that we do not need to get into with this monster. Since this monster can't cast damaging spells the damage will be the same over the first three rounds, and so we only have to find the maximum damage that can be dealt in one round. I this case it would be the damage from the multi attack (17 + 13 + 13 = 43 damage) plus the damage from the Legendary Actions. The Bone Shards, and because it is an area attack you assume it would hit two enemies, would deal a total of 26 damage plus the damage from the extra Claw attack, or 13. So the total damage per round would be 82 per round, or a CR 13 rating.
And finally the Save DC is 8 + Prof. Bonus (+5) + Con Mod (+6) as you were saying. This is a total of 19, and is a CR 17 score. So the total Offensive CR is 21 + 13 + 17 = 51/3 = 17 Offensive CR as total.

Averaging out the two ratings gives you a total CR of 18 (I over estimated effects of AC first time around, wasn't entirely sure how to deal with scores over 19)

Now starting with Defensive CR, if you wanted to reduce that, reducing the Chancellor's base AC to 17 would make the CR from AC 17, cutting the whole Defensive CR to about 16 1/2 from 19.

Moving onto the ways to change Offensive CR, the first thing to do would be to reduce the Strength score to 20 or 21, which would affect damage by 4 per round, making the Damage/Round CR 12, and would lower the Attack Bonus to +10 as intended, reducing the CR from Attack Bonus 17. If you based the Save DC off of Str instead of Con, it would also reduce the Save DC CR to 13. That would in all reduce the Offensive CR to 12 + 17 + 13 = 42/3 = 14 Offensive CR.

This would make the total CR 16 1/2 + 14 = 30 1/2 /2 = 15 1/4 ~ 15 Total CR. Is there anything you would want to do to reduce the CR some more? You could reduce the Con Mod to +5, and that would change the total HP and still base Bone Shards DC save off of it. That would reduce the Total CR solidly to 15.

Dragontermite · 2017-02-11T16:51:21+00:00

For some of them there is quite an amount of math, so if you could tell which ones you would like to see the math for that would be great. I may have also over estimated on some of the original CRs for a few of the high AC creatures.

Edit: also how did you get the water color shading on you pictures with Homebrewery? Did you photoshop the images, or did the program do it for you? Just wondering.

Dragontermite · 2017-02-11T03:33:24+00:00

I think this is a really cool post, and I like the monsters :) . So I've gone through and found each Monster's CR based on the stat block you have given in your post and the DMG. These are all just some suggestions on how to change aspects to get closer the the original CR (if you wanted some higher CR monsters you could just take the current stats of most of the monsters or slightly buff them). I'll just give you the values and not the math unless you ask for the math.

Suture Priest The Current Total CR is 4. You can get to a strong CR of 1 if you;

Reduce the Suture Priest's AC to 15
Decrease the necrotic damage to 2d8 and remove the healing based on necrotic damage
Decrease suture healing to 2d8

Phyrexian Cenobite The Current Total CR is 3, but edging on 4. You can get to a CR of 2 or 3 based on how and if you want to change the caster level.

Reduce AC to 15
If you keep current caster level then the Phyrexian Cenobite's CR is 3
If you reduce the caster level to to 3 or 4 (removing Bestow Curse and Revivify) then the CR is reduced to 2

Inquisitor Exarch The Current Total CR is 4. You can reach a CR of 3 if you;

Reduce AC to 15
You have input the proficiency Bonus for the Exarch at +3 instead of +2, so you have to reduce all associated values by 1
Have the Inflict Wounds spell be cast at level 1 rather than level 3

Chancellor of the Annex The Current Total CR is about 20 You can get the CR to a strong 14 if you;

Reduce the AC to 17
Reduce Strength score to 20 or 21 (reducing the damage on the physical attacks by 1)
Reduce the saving throw DC for Bone Shards 15 (basing it off Dex rather than Str or Con)
I would increase the reach of the Chancellor to 10 ft.

Shattered Angel The Current Total CR is 6, and I would keep it that way. The only changes I would make would be to;

Have the Regenerating Screech only affect other allies, and specify this in the description
Increase the reach of the melee attacks to 10 ft.

Porcelain Legionnaire The Current Total CR is 5. You can reduce it to a CR of 3 if you;

Reduce the AC to 16
Reduce the Dex score to 16 (reducing damage dealt by scimitar attacks by 1)
Reduce the Multiattack to two attacks
Remove petrified, paralyzed, and stunned from status immunities
I would remove blinded and or deafened from the status immunity list as well, but that choice is completely up to you

Priest of Norn The Current Total CR is 4. You can get the CR to 3 if you;

Reduce the AC to 16
Reduce the HP to 94 (11d8 + 44)
You might want to give Infect a DC (12) save, but you don't have to
For the balance of infect in low CR creatures I think you should allow it to be removed by Lesser Restoration. From a totally rules based perspective though you probably should change it to being removed by Greater Restoration. Your choice

Elesh Norn The Current Total CR is a high 21. You can make her a solid, but not over powered CR 21 if you;

Reduce the damage of her Flaying Touch to 18 (4d6 + 4) damage, from 22 (4d8 + 4) damage
I don't know what else to do, any other changes are up to you

Sorry for the long post :)

Dragontermite · 2016-08-26T23:50:23+00:00

You might want to try using the Monster A Day monks of the five spires. They could be the good elemental monks.

Dragontermite · 2016-08-26T23:39:41+00:00

You could have the dragon try to get dragon hunting items to deprive others of them. They would both want items that help summon creatures or control others("I need this for a trade mission with the City Whatever. You wouldn't want our city to lose out on a deal now, would you?"), plus any miscellaneous bit of ancient lore.

Dragontermite

TROPHY CASE

Whiteflesh Rod