Sunday, September 22, 2013

Shadows of the PCs #3: Shadow Sheska

So, back again later than I thought. So I'll just get on with the article.

So, continuing my list of articles on bringing my PC's Shadows to life, well, continues. Up this time is Shadow Sheska. Sheska was the Swordmage PC mentioned in an earlier article. Her Shadow was created the way it was due to the fact that Sheska's Player was starting to get bored of the Swordmage Class and was seeing the limitations of it as well. So, that is why her Shadow has an Anti-Magic theme to it. So on with the statblock!

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Shadow Sheska    Level 10 Solo Soldier
Medium shadow humanoid (human, shadow)    XP 2,500
HP 412; Bloodied 206
AC 26; Fortitude 23; Reflex 21; Will 22
Speed 6
Saving Throws +5; Action Points 2
Initiative +9
Perception +14

Traits
O Anti-Magic Field • Aura 1
Arcane attack powers have a -2 penalty to hit Shadow Sheska and any other creature in the aura.
Standard Actions
m B.F.S. • At-Will
Attack: +15 vs. AC
Hit: 2d12 + 6.
C B.F.S. Sweep (weapon) • Recharge 5 6
Attack: Close Burst 2 (Enemies in burst); +13 vs. Reflex
Hit: 3d12 + 6.
Double Trouble • At-Will
Effect: Shadow Sheska makes 2 Basic Melee attacks and Shifts 5 squares in between the attacks.
Minor Actions
Curse of the Broken Wand • Daily
Effect: Sheska is Weakened until the end of the encounter. When Shadow Sheska is Bloodied, Sheska has Ongoing 10 Damage. When Shadow Sheska is destroyed, Sheska loses all Arcane Powers if she is still weakened by this power..
Skills Athletics +15
Str 21 (+10)    Dex 15 (+7)    Wis 18 (+9)
Con 15 (+7)    Int 15 (+7)    Cha 15 (+7)
Alignment chaotic evil     Languages Common, Elven
Equipment fullblade, scale armor

© 2010 Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This formatted statistics block has been generated using the D&D Adventure Tools.

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So details about the Powers...

--Anti-Magic Field--
Basically, this Shadow sucks the Magic from the World just by her presence. Mechanically, this is represented by giving a penalty to Arcane attacks against her and things near her. This was bad for two of the PCs, Sheska and Vorgh. Vorgh had regained his Humanity and Living status after his last Level Up and was now a Chaos Sorcerer. However, this pretty much never came up in the fight since their players rolled like bosses for the whole battle!

--B.F.S. & B.F.S. Sweep--
the abbreviation stands for "Big Freaking Sword". :P An early Build of Sheska used a Fullblade so I did these as a throwback to that.

--Curse of the Broken Wand--
This is how Sheska the Swordmage became Sheska the Brawler Fighter.

So, next on the List will be Shadows of the Parties Elven Sentinel Druid, Dara Silverleaf, and Her Bear Companion, Peevo. See you next time:)


GF

Saturday, August 10, 2013

GenCon 2013 is coming.

And I'm going there! You should too! And if you are, you need to know some basic things for Convention Goers. So here are some of the more important things....

--Section #1: Things for the Trip to and from the Con.

Portable Entertainment(Portable Video Game System, Smart Phone, Tablet Computer, a Big Fat Book, ect.)
MP3 Player(iPod, Zune, ect.)
GPS(If driving)
Copy of your Flight Information(If Flying)
Wallet
ID Card

--Section #2: Things to take along for at the Con.

Cell phone/Smart Phone
Camera(If you don't have a Phone that can take good Pictures)
Backpack(For carrying stuff)
Dice
Snacks
Personal Health related things(Eye Glasses, Hearing Aid, Dentures and Adhesive, Medications, ect.)
Credit or Debit Card/s
Padlock and Key
Collapsible Bags(for purchases)
Money for the Dealer Hall

 --Section #3: Things to Wear at the Con

Comfortable Shoes!(Very Important! You WILL be Walking a LOT!)
Funny or Clever T-Shirts
Costume and extra Material for it(If CosPlaying)
Extra Shirts(In case of Food Accidents)
Antiperspirant
Sunscreen
Long Sleeved Shirt/Hoodie(Some areas of the Con will be significantly colder than others.)

--Section #4: Thing to Do at the Con

Play An Old Favorite Game
Play The most recent thing to peak your interest
Play The Game you never know you would Love
Kill Orcs
Play as an Orc
Buy awesome stuff for your home games
Get Inspiration for a New Game/Campaign
Learn new Painting/GMing/Playing Techniques
Run a Game or two
GET SOME SLEEP!

So, there they are. See you at the Con:)

GF

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Random Warforged Names

 So this is set up as a Random table to make it easy to pick a name on the fly. Enjoy:)

Roll a d6 and a d20 and use the following table to pick a random name for your warforged PC or NPC. If the d6 comes up as an Odd Number use the Odd Table. Otherwise use the Even Table.

--Odd Table--

1: Copper
2: Boomer
3: Torch
4: Threeseventhreethreeone
5: Ate
6: Blues
7: Johnathan Five
8: Better Tom
9: Arsenal
10: Drum
11: Shield
12: Finder
13: Brother
14: Noonian
15: Thursday
16: Clockwork
17: Wheels
18: Legion
19: Prometheus
20: Shovel

--Even Table--

1: Crowbar
2: Spike
3: Gems
4: Shiney
5: Rusty
6: One-Eyed Jack
7: Lefty
8: First
9: Last
10: Off-Switch
11: Iron-Jaw
12: Painter
13: Tinker
14: Pace
15: Chestnut
16: Maple
17: Club
18: Mr. 288
19: Medal
20: Prime

Friday, June 28, 2013

Shadow of the PCs: Part 2

So, time for the second of my PCs Shadows, Shadow Adiah. Well, Adiah is a Deva Avenger. Devas reincarnate when they die and the current version of Adiah has no memory of his last two "Lifetimes". So, I'm foreshadowing the reasons why that is so. And that is what most influenced my design for his Shadow. so, let us get on with the Statblock, then?

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Shadow Adiah    Level 10 Solo Brute
Medium shadow humanoid (deva, shadow)    XP 2,500
HP 436; Bloodied 218
AC 22; Fortitude 23; Reflex 22; Will 22
Speed 6
Immune poison; Resist 10 necrotic, 10 radiant
Saving Throws +5; Action Points 2
Initiative +7
Perception +7
Darkvision
Traits
Betrayer of Friends
Whenever Shadow Adiah makes an attack against its Oath of Destruction target, each of the target's allies adjacent to it or Shadow Adiah take 10 Poison damage.
O Void of the Soul • Aura 1
Enemies in the aura lose all resistances.
Standard Actions
m Death Blade (poison, weapon) • At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (1 creature.); +15 vs. AC
Hit: 2d10 + 6 Damage and Ongoing 5 Poison damage(Save ends).
r Ray of Noxiousness (implement) • At-Will
Attack: Range 5 (1 creature); +13 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 3d6 + 5 Poison damage. The Target is also pulled adjacent to Shadow Adiah or Falls Prone, the targets choice. If the target is Shadow Adiah's Oath of Destruction target, both happen instead.
C Poison Death Shroud (implement, poison, zone) • Encounter
Attack: Close Burst 1 (Enemies in Burst); +13 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 2d10 + 6 Poison Damage and Ongoing 5 Poison damage(Save Ends).
Miss: 5 Poison damage.
Effect: A zone is made in a Burst 1 centered on Shadow Adiah. The Zone lasts until the start of Shadow Adiah's next turn. The Zone provides total Concealment and Blocks Line of sight.
Double Trouble • At-Will
Effect: Shadow Adiah makes a Basic attack, then teleports to any square adjacent to one of its Oath of Destruction targets and makes a basic Melee attack against it.
Minor Actions
C Oath of Destruction • Recharge first bloodied
Effect: Close Burst 10 (1 Enemy in Burst); Until the end of the encounter, the target is subject to Shadow Adiah's Oath of Destruction. While under Shadow Adiah's Oath of Destruction, the target has Vulnerable 5 All to all damage dealt by Shadow Adiah's attacks.
Triggered Actions
Memory of A Thousand Lifetimes • Encounter
Trigger: When the Deva makes an attack roll, skill roll or saving throw and dislikes the result.
Effect (Free): The Deva adds 1d6 to the triggering roll.
Str 15 (+7)    Dex 15 (+7)    Wis 15 (+7)
Con 21 (+10)    Int 15 (+7)    Cha 15 (+7)
Alignment chaotic evil     Languages Supernal
Equipment greatsword, cloth armor (basic clothing)

© 2010 Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This formatted statistics block has been generated using the D&D Adventure Tools.
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Going through this Shadows abilities out of order is counter intuitive but necessary for it.

Oath of Destruction-- So Avengers have an ability that makes it better against a certain foe. This is his version of it. Also, Shadow Adiah recharges this when he becomes Bloodied, allowing him to have multiple targets under the Oath. Of course, the first thing he did in the battle was make real Adiah his first oath target.

Betrayer of Friends-- This trait serves two purposes: 1: Foreshadowing that Adiah Betrayed his friends in a previous life. And 2: Allowing Shadow Adiah to Spread the damage around even while concentrating on his Oath target.

Void of the Soul-- Several PCs had Poison resistance at the time of this encounter, so I put this in to make him a bit more of a threat to the whole party.

Ray of Noxiousness-- I like giving my Players a choice between two very bad things. This was also a way of dealing with the Parties Swordmage's Mark. At the time i designed this, that PC had the Shielding Aegis. That PC retrained in to the Assult Aegis at 8th level. In other words, just before this was encountered. So, I made a bad choice by giving them a choice between being pulled around and falling down. BUT it was a learning experience and I learned from it.

Everything else-- is pretty much self explanatory, I think.

So, that was part two of this series. Part three is coming soon, but first I'm doing a List type thing. I'll be sharing lists of NPC Names regularly and first up is names for "Warforged/Gearforged/Robotfolk!" So, I'm hoping to have that up sometime on Tuesday.

GF

Monday, June 17, 2013

The Shadow of the PCs. Part 1

So, later than I expected, I'm back. And I have a lot to talk about. So I'll start...

Today's topic is inspired by one of my Favorite Video Game Series, the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series. Specifically, the 4th installment of the series. Without spoiling too much of the plot, several High School Students end up gaining Mystical powers by facing the darker sides of themselves, their Shadows, and by first fighting then accepting this other side of themselves, they gain the Power of Personas that let them Investigate a great mystery. I wanted to try something like this in one of my current campaigns. So here is the first of that campaign's PC Shadows...

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Shadow Vorgh    Level 9 Solo Lurker
Medium shadow humanoid (undead, vampire, shadow)    XP 2,000
HP 376; Bloodied 188
AC 24; Fortitude 21; Reflex 23; Will 22
Speed 6, teleport 3
Immune poison; Resist 10 necrotic, 5 radiant
Saving Throws +5; Action Points 2
Initiative +13
Perception +6
Darkvision
Traits
Image of the Reaper
Vorgh grants combat advantage to Shadow Vorgh.
Reaper Man
Shadow Vorgh deals +5 damage whenever it makes an attack where it or its target are Bloodied.
Standard Actions
m Blood Sucker (implement, necrotic) • At-Will
Attack: +12 vs. Reflex
Hit: 2d8 + 6 Necrotic damage and Shadow Vorgh gains 10 Temporary HP.
r Radiant Eyes (implement, radiant) • At-Will
Attack: Range 10 (1 creature); +12 vs. Will
Hit: 1d10 + 7 Radiant damage and Ongoing 5 Radiant damage(Save Ends).
Double Trouble • At-Will
Effect: This creature makes two basic attacks and Teleports 3 squares in between the attacks.
Triggered Actions
C Bat Swarm (implement) • Encounter
Trigger: Shadow Vorgh is first Bloodied.
Attack (Immediate Reaction): Close Burst 1 (Creatures in Burst); +12 vs. Reflex
Hit: 4d8 + 6.
Miss: Half Damage.
Effect: Shadow Vorgh becomes Insubstantial until the end of its next turn.
Skills Bluff +12, Intimidate +12, Stealth +14, Streetwise +12
Str 14 (+6)    Dex 20 (+9)    Wis 14 (+6)
Con 14 (+6)    Int 14 (+6)    Cha 17 (+7)
Alignment chaotic evil     Languages Common, Elven
Equipment scythe, cloth armor (basic clothing)

© 2010 Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This formatted statistics block has been generated using the D&D Adventure Tools.

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So, you most likely realized that real Vorgh is a Vampire class character. If not, well, Vorgh is a Vrylocka Vampire with a bit of Multi-Class Sorcerer in him. Now, why did I do what I did with this Monster? Let us go through all of these powers to so I can explain...

Image of the Reaper--In the VG, the person the Shadow belonged to was pretty much a Non-Combatant for that battle. I didn't want to exclude a player, but I wanted it to seem like they were still pretty freaked out by seeing another version of themselves and trying to fight it. I especially wanted this for the first fight vs a Shadow.

Reaper Man--This is simply a mostly minor buff that fits a vampire type creature.

Blood Sucker--Basic Melee with benifits.

Radiant Eyes--Okay, here is where it gets weird. Real Vorgh is a follower of Pelor the Sun God. Then he caught Vampirism from some random Vampire. So, In the interest of furthering his "Faith", I was going to give him a Divine Boon for defeating his Shadow, Pelor's Sun Blessing. This was a bit of forshadowing of that reward as well as a way to make Real Vorgh's Unlife a bit rough during the fight. He became a Twilight Vampire BECAUSE of this reward. I despise my life:P

Double Trouble--A basic ingredient for a Elite or Solo with a bit of a twist.

Bat Swarm--Most good Solos do something nasty when they become Bloodied. This is it.

Other Stuff- Take note of his Teleport Speed. Also, Resistance to Radiant due to the Reward I gave for beating it.


Well that is about it. Comments, suggestions, ect.


GF

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Update on my Status and that of my Blog.

So, things have happened recently that kept me from my blog and pretty much everything else. There were Holidays, Getting the Plague and a bunch of things I will not mention. But, I'm getting ready to try again. I'm trying to get a buffer of posts ready ahead of time, so I do not have to worry about getting sick or busy as much. The Plan is to have everything ready for early April to relaunch my blogging. So, I hope you look forward to it.

GF