Skye Prower

"Thewe thwey awe!" said Stacey, interrupting the conversation as he spotted Dominic, Zoe and Lance unconscious in a cell.   "Why is it all you bothersome creatures have the same annoying sense of humour?" growled Eggman, backing off towards on of the control panels.

Day 16 – Favourite Monster: Aberration? Sometimes, you just want to send a Dalek against your players. An insane, evil genius, convinced it is superior to all others, compelled to destroy or dominate all those it sees as inferior, armed to the teeth with long range energy blasts. Step (or rather float) forward the Beholder.  A large, floating head with a single eye in the center, and several eyestalks.  Each of these eyestalks, as well as allowing the Beholder to see, can fire a different type of blast, from a fear ray, to turning living flesh to stone, to outright disintegration.  And the main eye, on top of that, can shut down all magic in a wide area.  And to that it can fly, and half the challenge is just reaching it, when you have no magic to help you. While I have never faced, or used, a Beholder, I certainly hope to someday.  They are an iconic part of DnD.

Thankie!  And thanks for the origonal as well Shinomi!

"Yweah you dwid!" insisted Stacey as he ran after Sarah into the cells "Sir, we have restored camera function," Orbot reported. "Finally, let's see what.... WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN THE CELL BLOCK?" yelled Eggman angrily as he spotted the kids breaking in.  Any reply was drowned out by the sound of the control room door being sliced apart and falling to the floor.

Thanks guys!

So I got this made in a commission by Chacolachao ( http://chacolachao.tumblr.com/ ).  The design is based on the Avatar Shinomi designed a while back.

Day 15 – Favourite Monster: Undead? When I first looked at this question my first thought was some of the higher level undead, such as the various flavours of Liches.  But after a bit of thought, I went in the other direction.  The humble Skeleton. Like the Zombie, Skeletons have the whole unnatural undead element of something walking around that shouldn’t be, and being face to face with mortality.  They can do most things Zombies can, from hordes to bursting from the ground. But what I like about Skeletons is their flexibility.  Now, Zombies have this two, but in a different way.  It’s easy to make different types of Zombie.  But for Skeletons, their flexibility is how they are used.  Are they slow, shambling undead?  Are they eternal and loyal guardians of some sacred or unholy place?  Are they a regimented army?  All of these can fit Skeletons no problem.  Heck, if you want to repeat the scene in The Phantom Menace of the mass droid activation and advance, but don’t want to use constructs as that would be too obvious, again, Skeletons can fit in as a metaphor for it perfectly. They don’t even need to be mindless.  They might retain some or all of the person they were.  Something you don’t usually get with your average Zombie.

Day 14 – Favourite NPC? Gonna cheat a little with this one.  Because my favourite NPC is… *drumroll* Deekin from Neverwinter Nights. Doom doom doom doom doom doom! This cute little kobold is a loyal companion to you, dedicated to charting the grand adventure he has no doubt the two of you will have.  He will follow you through the Nine Hells, all the while singing his little Doom song!

Huh.... day 12 wasn't posted.... wierd!  So double bill!   Day 12 – Favourite Dungeon Type?   Ice!  First, I just really like how ice can look, from simple icy caves, to elaborate structures created from ice.  And then you can have lots of interesting (and fun for the GM) environmental effects.  Finally, it can be fun to come up with ice based variants of monsters to use. Just be careful if your arcane spellcasters have a fondness for fire magic.     Day 13 – Favourite Puzzle or Trap? And we’re back!  So, this is going to be a little bit of an odd answer.  Rather than a typical ‘do X or Y to open the door’, the puzzles I prefer are the ‘working out what happened’ style of puzzles.  Not necessarily an investigation, just subtle clues around that explain, if you look for them and work things out, what happened to, say, cause the castle to now be a haunt of the undead or somesuch.  And of course, finding these clues could make certain elements of the adventure easier as it continues.

"Thwa... fewt wike mwagic...." said Stacey, looking curiously at Sarah. "Do it!"  said Ziona, drawing her sidearm and opening fire at a couple of approaching Egg Swats.

Day 11 – Favourite Adventure you have run?   Hmm, another question I can’t really answer.  At least for DnD.  I’ve only run two DnD campaigns, and both of those are not only still ongoing, but in their early stages.   If I’m allowed to expand outside of DnD, then it would be Project Angel, my long running superhero campaign.  There were three main campaigns in the game-world, one that was inspired by The Incredibles/Watchmen, one that was more low powered, more about conspiracies, and the last was more classic style super-heroic with magic and time-travel thrown in.  There were also some short mini-campaigns, and the whole storyline concluded with a massive final game with around a dozen players.  Not a number of players I’d normally run for, but it was fitting for this finale.

"Let's look!" said Stacey, running towards the door.  He frowned when it didn't open. "Think you can cut it open?" Ziona asked.  

Day 10 – Craziest thing that happened that you saw?   This is gonna call back to my Day 4 question about my setting of Caladain, and also yesterday’s question about the character of Maybelline, as it’s the same game.   As I mentioned before, this setting contains some elements of Magi-tech, and an antagonist in this story-arc had created magical drones.  As in the modern term.  Flying machines with camera’s attached, which could also turn (almost) invisible and silent.  However, their power-source contained an unstable magical component called ‘Nitro-magyceine’ (named by my players!) which meant that when destroyed, the drones would explode in a fiery explosion.   At one stage, searching for a runaway girl in the poor district of the city of Lanton, the party detected a drone, and so promptly shot it out of the air causing it to explode.  Right above the wooden buildings with wooden, and in some cases thatched, roofs.  The only thing that stopped it from becoming the Great Fire of Lanton was the Druid quickly making it rain before the authorities arrived to deal with the fire, as our heroes exited stage left.  And before you ask, yes, they knew that the drones exploded before this happened.   But that wasn’t the end of their popping of drones.  They had managed to capture one intact, and the Kobold tinkerer of the party managed to reprogram it to try and track down it’s controller.  So they tied a rope to it and let Maybelline hold onto it like a crazy balloon.  All went well, until they reached their destination.  At which point, Maybelline took the drone into his hands, asking if they were done with it.  Given the answer of yes, he proceeded to crush it with his bare hands. BOOM! Thankfully, he survived, and the altered guards were convinced that the explosion was caused by some wizard sending an unstable package to be delivered.   And as one extra silly thing, for the same game but an earlier story.  Looking through the monster manual as I planned the session, due to skimming through and speed reading I misread one of the entries at the back as ‘Saber-Toothed Horse’.  After a WTF moment I explained to my friends what I’d been confused by, to some amusement.  But then I thought, as this adventure was dealing with the Fey and some weirdness and oddities, a Saber-Tooth Horse would fit right in.  So yep, the party did indeed engage in a fight with a man-eating Saber-Tooth Horse.

Day 8 – Favourite Character you haven’t played?   Given a later question is ‘the character you want to play’ I’m assuming this question means ‘Another player’s Player Character’.   In this case, it is Maybelline, the strikingly handsome, fashion obsessed half-orc barbarian.  (Because he’s worth it!)  He is liable to given the opponents he fights advice on their fashion.  Right before going into a mad rage and cleaving them in twain.  This is coupled with a low intelligence, which means he’s speech is something like “Me need to go shopping!  Me know shop with seasons fashions!”   One of the reasons that Maybelline works well, and doesn’t overstay his welcome, is how often the game is run.  Week after week, Maybelline might overstay his welcome.  But the game is only run when me and my University friends all meet up, which is 2 or 3 times a year.  Which keeps him fresh and fun!

Day 8 – Favourite Character you have played?   Oh, this is where I wish the challenge wasn’t DnD only.  Most of my DnD games as a player were when I was starting out, so my characters were kinda terrible.  After that, I tended to play in different systems.  I’ve only recently come back to DnD, and then as a DM rather than a player.   However, for DnD, my favourite character would be Nurik Stouthammer, a Dwarven Fighter.  (Some people reading this may recognize the name!)  This was a character I made back when 4th Edition just came out, and the group I was with was giving it a go for the first time.  I wasn’t sure if I could make it at first, and the plan was to have a mix of characters and races, to try all the different options out.  As I was late, most of my usual picks were gone.  So for a change of pace I went for the Dwarf.  And had a blast playing him.  Nurik’s attitude could best be summed up by, after being the only member of the party to pass a fear check save “What are you all worried about? It’s just a dragon!”

Day 7 – Favourite Edition? Out of the three editions I’ve played, I would say 5th Edition.  But it’s hard to explain why without referencing the other two. For 3.5 there is a huge amount of customisation you can do with your character.  There are hundreds of options.  The downside; there are hundreds of options. They can be very overwhelming for a new player, and there are so many complex rules on top of that.  Plus, it is very easy, due to all these options, for there to be a massive power disparity between characters.   4th Edition does two things really well.  It is a solid tabletop tactical fantasy game.  And it is very easy system to learn and play, making it a good gateway TTRPG.  However, for anything else, 4th Ed is very poor.  There is little to know character customisation, and even all the different classes feel very similar to each other, as all follow the same exact rules.   And this is where 5th Edition comes in.  It hits a nice middle ground between the two.  Simples to learn like 4th but does more than just table tactical combat.  More customisation that 4th Ed, but not as much to be overwhelming, or accidentally leading to bad builds as 3.5.  It is a very decent, solid system that isn’t intimidating to newcomers and still allows for many different characters.   On a side note, an amendium on the Day 4 question – Favourite Gameworld.  Since writing that I’ve got my hands on the Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica sourcebook.  And I really like this setting.  It’s sort of a fantasy version of the sci-fi planet wide city, which is an interesting concept,  and the 10 Guilds in charge of the city offer many different story possibilities.  Plus, one of those guilds is pretty much a Technomagic guild, so that’s an automatic bonus for me. I’m not sure I’d want to spend every DnD game in Ravnica, but it’s certainly a setting I’d love to explore at somepoint.

Day 6 – Favourite Deity?   I… can’t answer this.  I don’t have one.  I don’t really get involved with the deity side of things when I play DnD (yeah, I’ve never played a Cleric) so I know next to little about them.  Even less than the official game worlds that we talked about before.

Skye’s Dungeons and Dragons 30-day challenge Day 5 – Favourite set of dice or individual die Just a single d20 for me.  It’s a pretty normal one, with a deep blue and a silver marbling effect.  But the reason I like this is it just rolls well.  Not crazy well, like 20’s all the time, be generally rolls above ten and hasn’t let me down on crucial rolls. Needless to say, I don’t use this die when DMing!

There was a sealed door on front of where the kids were running. "I think he does his own decorating," said Ziona.

Skye’s Dungeons and Dragons 30-day challenge Day 4 – Favourite Gameworld? This is a tricky one.  Not because I have trouble deciding between the different official DnD settings, but because almost all the games I have played and run have been in Homebrew settings. If I have to choose an official one, I guess it has to be Forgotten Realms, which could be considered the ‘default’ setting of DnD, simply because it’s the only one I’ve actually gamed in or know anything about.  Though I do have some issues with parts of it, including with how much the idea Good and Evil is determined by your physical race.  Though, from the little I have gleaned from settings like Eberron and Ravnica those do sound like I may prefer them. On the other hand, if I can chose one of my Homebrew settings, then it would be the land of Caladain.  A large continent which is mostly the ‘standard fantasy setting’, but with some tweaks on the races, and a different mythology to normal DnD, where the Sleeping Gods created the world but left it empty while they slept, only for their dreams to take form as the first Dragons, who in turn created the sentient races.  There is also a chunk of Steampunk, and a little smattering of Technomagic, added to the mix as well.  If you want to read more, there’s a background document here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TwcYTpe6pvf3U72BBaghuxkRhytpFngwODZJnzYINtM/edit?usp=sharing

Day 3 – Favourite Playable Class? For me, it’s the class that seems to have the most inbuilt potential for character and stories.  The Warlock, 5th Edition version. What makes the Warlock different is unlike the Wizard, who studies magic, or the Sorcerer, who is born with magical talent, the Warlock has gone to some powerful entity and struck a Pact with it for power.  Usually a case of ‘I’ll serve you for power’, but not necessarily.  And this is where the potential comes in.  The powerful Patron as they’re known can be anything from a devious Fiend who has tricked some mortal for their soul, to an unknowable old god so unlike a mortal the mere sight of it would drive the mind to madness.  And yet, they will be a force in the game, who may require the Warlock to perform actions for them. But even if they require the Warlock to serve them, that doesn’t mean the Warlock necessarily made a ‘I will serve you for power’ deal.  Maybe they were dying or about to die, and something made them an offer.  Maybe they found some ancient artefact or dusty tome and got more than they bargained for.  Then there is the question of how the Warlock feels about their Patron.  Do they serve willingly?  Do they try to resist?  Are they plotting to somehow overcome them? The Patron and the Pact offer so many potential plot threads for any DnD game, which is why I love the Warlock class as both a player and Dungeon Master Mechanically however, Warlock is maybe… a little lacking.  It does have a bad rep in some circles, and I think there are two reasons for that. 1) People assume the Warlock is a magic caster style class, like the Wizard or the Sorcerer.  But the Warlock is more like a magical warrior in its style.  Because they have limited spells, a Warlock will rely mostly on a single cantrip (very basic spell), usually the excellent Eldritch Blast, or a summonable weapon if they have chosen the Pact of the Blade ability.  Their spells are more for situational use, than something to spam in combat. 2) Unlike other classes, Warlocks really only have two easy builds.  The cantrip caster, or the Pact of the Blade melee fighter.  All their different class options, while cool, don’t fundamentally change how the Warlock plays.  They just give it slight, though flavourful, tweaks.  That means that one Warlock can be very, very similar to each other in how they play, far moreso than say two Fighters or two Wizards. Having said that, despite the limitations, Warlock is still a fun class, as long as you don’t mind casting Eldritch Blast a lot.  But then, that’s like asking the Barbarian if he ever gets bored swinging his axe!

"Yweah!  Wets!  A wook owut of cwages!" said Stacey, starting to run ahead.   "That sound just like him!" replied Ziona.

Day 2 – Favourite Playable Race? This one is easy for me; Half-Elves. I’ve always liked Elves since reading Lord of the Rings waaaaaaay back.  There is always a sense of mystery and etherealness about them, as well as their natural grace and skill. BUT, most Elves often have a sense of aloofness and arrogance about them.  Which is why I prefer the Half-Elf over them.  You still have some of this almost other-worldly feel, but they are somewhat more grounded than your regular Elves. There is also the fact they have the whole ‘a foot in two different worlds but belonging to neither’ aspect.  Anyone who is a fan of Star Trek’s Mr Spock should recognize that trait.  Do they try to fit in one society or the other?  Do they try to live up to both?  Do they reject one or both of their heritages?  There is a lot of character potential there, as well as plenty reasons why a Half-Elf might take to adventuring.  Being the permanent outcast, they are suited to being a wonderer on the road, or trying to prove themselves. Mechanics wise, Half-Elves have historically been somewhat underwhelming, though that never stopped me from playing one.  But in the current 5th Edition they are arguably one of the stronger races, especially for any Charisma based character.

"Hey!  Stop pushing ahead!" called Kimi, before doing the very same thing she just criticised everyone else for.  Amber shook her head, but followed after the group, keeping her distance nervously from the Charizard that had landed near the doors. "That's it!  Everyone over here," called Pine from the meeting room as the group began to arrive.  "Let's see..... I think.... there's still a few more to come," he said thoughtfully, doing a quick headcount of everyone in the room. Outside, a ripple and a murmur started among the crowd as a man in a long blue coat started to make his way through it.

Having got the Lego Incredibles game for Christmas, I have just 100% completed it, plus all the achievements.  And now here is my in depth, highly detailed review of it: It's a Lego game!