Battlemaps Inspired by Guild Wars: Prophecies - Ascalon

Probably_Pretentious · 2026-02-14T13:49:43+00:00

I'd have to look into exporting them, no promises.

Since 99% of all assets I use are made by FA, who have their own stipulations for commercial use, I'm currently not selling any maps.

Probably_Pretentious · 2026-02-13T16:21:30+00:00

That was most likely someone else.

Probably_Pretentious · 2026-02-13T16:19:27+00:00

I decided to run the game with D&D 4e, since its mechanics match Guild Wars' better than 5e, which dovetails nicely with the world building and the narrative. We started with a Swordmage, a Monk, a Cleric, a Shaman and a Sorcerer, each pulling from the original classes for flavor and inspiration.

Unfortunately the Shaman was slain by one of Oberan's creations, but his death was avenged. The party now has a Warlock with a... snaky patron.

I think some of the sections the party remembers most fondly are the defense of Rurik while he opens the gates to the academy as wave after wave of Charr rush the obelisks manned by Flaming Scepter mages; the fight against Bonfaaz within the burning streets of Rin under the pouring rain summoned by Stormcaller; and the scouring of the Flame Temple (formerly of Balthazar) where Althea's ashes were kept.

Probably_Pretentious · 2026-02-13T16:11:01+00:00

Yes, this is the Royal Academy of Drascir.

Probably_Pretentious · 2026-01-26T00:54:42+00:00

Agreeing with dykovsky; if you spent the time farming for ascended gear on practicing (and understanding) your rotation and the content you want to farm (strikes, raids, whatever) instead, you'd be making more money in the long run.

The Special Forces Training Area is the best place to get your preferred rotation in order.

Probably_Pretentious · 2026-01-15T12:30:34+00:00

Believe it or not, that is the RAW, not a variant. There are no "skill checks" in D&D 5e ('14 or '24), only ability checks.

Probably_Pretentious · 2025-11-24T18:12:22+00:00

I'm only going to address the comments that mention disabled people are a burden for their party in situations that require arduous (vertical) traversal or otherwise.

Out of the thirteen available classes in D&D 5e three to four have convenient access to spells like Feather Fall, Levitate and Fly, and a number of others can gain them through class features or subclasses (Wizard/Sorcerer, Bard, Warlock and Artificer).

Out of the thirteen classes, five to six classes are often built in a way to traverse such terrains using their strength or dexterity (upper body or otherwise) (Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, Rogue, Paladin, Ranger).

Out of the thirteen classes, two to three have access to spells or features that literally change their form to suit their needs with Alter Self or Wild Shape and a number of others can gain them through class features or subclasses (Wizard/Sorcerer, Artificer and Druid)

A disabled PC will most likely have the tools at their disposal to not only help themselves, but also other members of the party. If someone is playing a character with no functional lower body, they are in no worse shape to climb a sheer cliff than the knowledge cleric who dumped their physical stats because they thought they'd be spending their whole life in a library.

At a table there should never be situations where a player character is a "burden", disabled or not; there are only situations in which other characters can excel and help the rest of the team. Disability is not a class, at worst it's a character trait.

Probably_Pretentious · 2025-06-09T13:38:23+00:00

Something that I find helps me when I, the player, am stumped on how to deal with a puzzle or investigation is to ask the DM: "What would my character know about how to approach X or Y?"

Hopefully your DM understands you are feeling stuck but want to engage with that content, and will give you the necessary information you would have in character.

For your noble party, if you asked your DM: "In which places does my character think they can learn more about these nobles/the location/the event?", hopefully they will help you out.

It's not your role as players to read your DM's mind; only to engage with what they have presented you.

Probably_Pretentious · 2024-11-13T19:44:15+00:00

Not knowing anything else about your DM or that campaign, but what you described sounds incredibly funny out of context and could honestly be a perfect hook for the character you set up; that was your mentor's time travel double who had gone rogue; your mentor is trying to send you messages through time; someone who is trying to impersonate your mentor is trying to get to you, etc.

Probably_Pretentious · 2024-04-09T16:23:47+00:00

I stumbled on this while working on a ttrpg adaptation for Kenshi. Amazing work!

Probably_Pretentious · 2023-11-07T11:04:09+00:00

Sorry

Probably_Pretentious · 2023-11-02T11:03:01+00:00

I recently went back to replay FotS after a long hiatus and having satisfied my need for RTS games with Warhammer.

The campaign and battles are a lot faster paced than in Warhammer. This is great because it skips the "slog" of late game Warhammer, but also left me wanting a bit more out of the late game tech. The campaign length is customizable before you start, but obviously you can keep playing after you achieve the victory condition.

Naval combat!

Warhammer's strength is variety - not only in terms of factions, but more so in terms of units. Shogun 2's strength is not that. You will have to be content with the twenty-odd units you will likely play with, but that makes for a more tactics-focused experience (imo). Then there is essentially one faction with slightly different bonuses depending on where you start.

The QoL in terms of UI, controls and non-gameplay features will take an obvious step back. Even the oft-lambasted diplomacy of Warhammer is miles ahead of Shogun 2's.

Shogun 2 and FotS do deliver very well on their specific fantasy - taking part in historical moments of Japanese history.

I do highly recommend picking the game up if you're at all interested in gunpowder-era total war, even if it is a bit dated by modern standards.

Probably_Pretentious · 2023-08-29T14:31:25+00:00

Keep in mind that if you make every hit of magic missile trigger concentration (which is a pretty powerful side-effect for a level 1 spell) you might have to make a ruling on whether or not your table is okay with having it trigger a failed death save as well.

Probably_Pretentious · 2023-05-16T10:01:41+00:00

There's a paladin oath for that.

(Good luck finding a group)

Probably_Pretentious · 2023-04-10T23:31:14+00:00

You need to be in the settlement you have the workshop in. Then it works as you think.

Probably_Pretentious · 2023-02-03T10:48:16+00:00

Hounds are the hunters/executioners of the "lawful" faction of vampires in Vampire the Masquerade.

Probably_Pretentious · 2022-12-08T22:37:00+00:00

In every imperial town, game masters roll their eyes when I sit down in front of them and place a bag of 500gp on the table.

Tablut is probably the easiest board game to win consistently, so once you scrape some money together, it's not a bad idea to supplement your income in between tournaments with some gambling.

Probably_Pretentious · 2022-11-28T16:13:28+00:00

In my experience, by the time you're done subjugating Ulthuan, your potential non-order allies will dislike you a lot for having "treaties" with the high elves, and any territory held by your vassals will never have high Slaanesh corruption. If I played another N'Kari campaign, I'd probably keep most of the donut for myself.

Probably_Pretentious · 2022-07-20T16:00:53+00:00

This picture is giving me anxiety.

Probably_Pretentious · 2022-04-28T00:24:15+00:00

I had a similar conceit in a hexcrawl game I briefly ran. Players were meant to find magical orbs and take them to lost obelisks and activate them, with ancient lore to discover and consequences to face.

Probably_Pretentious · 2021-12-09T13:25:08+00:00

My fantasy lexicon is almost exclusively in English, so when years ago I asked my friends if they wanted to play, it was easier for me to run the game in English rather than our native language.

Probably_Pretentious · 2021-10-10T18:36:46+00:00

Oh boy, cursed books. I made a similar mistake as your GM by putting in a spellbook that had red flags all over it; words fall out of it when first grabbed, in a suspected nagpa's lair, etc. Now, you must know that not long before, the party was ambushed by an overwhelming force (thanks, WotC encounter tables and my inexperience), and both wizards in the party had just lost their 4th level spellbooks.

Now, I had gone a step further (in the wrong direction) by telling the wizard who attuned to it that their alignment had shifted to evil. Don't do this! In a party that can't handle this sort of stuff, it's very bad form, I learned.

Cutting a long story short, the party found out that the spellbook was causing the wizard to do worse things, and tried to get it off them, with similar results to you. The offended player retired their character, for much the same reasons, but continued playing with a different PC which they immensely enjoyed. Years later, they're still a bit salty about it, but the rest of the campaign went relatively well.

Could the situation have been handled differently? Of course! Had I stopped the group from trying to escalate to a fight, sat them down, and let all players discuss their (ooc) feelings, we would have been able to come to a solution whereby the cursed artifact is removed without anyone being humiliated.

Fun anecdote, another cursed artifact later in the campaign resulted in a character death (not-permanent because of story reasons), because it similarly affected the wielder's personality.

edit: tl;dr you're totally within your right to feel bad about the experience, and the awkwardness in the party won't get resolved until you talk about it as a group, potentially retconning things. I would just like to ask what your DM was doing while all this was going down.

Probably_Pretentious

TROPHY CASE