TieflingWritings

This blog will be dedicated to writing and I will try to update every week with theories, suggestions, or various other writings.

[thatwest0nkid-deactivated202106]

My super advanced mapmaking technique - a handful of dice makes the map nice

[somethingdnd]

interesting method

[takeo14]

My question is do the die affect topography any or just set the borders?

[somethingdnd]

I imagine it’s up to the person making the map. But maybe the more dice in a single spot, the more mountainous or forested the area. Maybe choose a few dice to be deemed cities, and some dice for ruins.

[onion-ice]

Maybe let the dice choose, like a nat 20 would be the world capital, and 10’s would be mountains or something like that.

[somethingdnd]

1-5: Plains and fields

6-8: Forests

9-11: Mountains

12-14: Tundras and snow covered lands

15-17: Farms and towns

18-19: Larger cities

20: Capitals and castles

[captain-forsyth]

what would happing if all the dice landed on a 20?

[somethingdnd]

then you have a very busy continent

[muck-raker-deactivated20181222]

not all of those are d20s though, so you’d have to come up with another method for the other ones

[somethingdnd]

Adjusted for all dice you might have

D20

1-5: Plains and fields

6-8: Forests

9-11: Mountains

12-14: Tundras and snow covered lands

15-17: Farms and towns

18-19: Larger cities

20: Capitals and castles

D12

1-3: Plains and fields

4-6: Forests

7-8: Mountains

9-10: Tundras and snow covered lands

11: Farms and towns

12: Larger cities

D10

1-3: Plains and fields

4-6: Forests

7-8: Mountains

9: Tundras and snow covered lands

10: Farms and towns

D8

1-4: Plains and fields

5-6: Forests

7: Mountains

8: Tundras and snow covered lands

D6

1-3: Plains and fields

4: Forests

5-6: Mountains

D4

1-2: Plains and fields

3: Forests

4: Mountains

[words-are-chaos]

Holy shit. Definitely using this.

[jonkakes]

I swore at how simple this motherfucking thing is. You’re all bastards and i love you.

[askcommisaryarrick]

((This is genius, seriously))

[magnetic-ace]

You guys forgot Deserts, Volcano and Wastelands Use the d100′s If the dice hits: 80 - Desert 90 - Wastelands 100 - Volcano (If ya got a lot of 80, 90, 100, you can always pick a few and change them!) Since the S/O had 2 giantic 20′s we’re using those for speicifically Volcano’s And we’re using Bottle Caps for “places of power” be it magical, deties or abundance of precious mineral And don’t forget that once you’ve drawn Landmass, you can do the same thing to spec out your Oceans! Coral reefs, archipelago’s, underwater cave systems, hotsprings, Icecaps, deep Trenches!

[dungeons-and-danis]

How I Introduce a Main Villain

So recently, I introduced my campaign’s main/top villain. Basically, the villain that they’re gonna be chasing around the entire campaign in their travels. And I wanted it to be extra special. So I wanna talk a little bit about how to really build up to a villain and make their first appearance truly terrifying, from the perspective of a creative writing major who’s entire life has revolved itself around good storytelling and narratives.

Introduce a common goal and get your players asking questions.

It’s very important to not just throw the villain at the players and say “fight them”. You want to build up to the experience, really set up the reputation of this villain. My villain is a prophet to a forbidden goddess of war who wants to reign war on the continent for both it’s punishment and salvation. So with her being so worldly, I intertwined her into each character’s backstory without telling any of the other characters. I’d drop something simple like a symbol they saw in each background, and told them this is their only clue to their goals. Then, when they finally all saw the symbol again, they were all like “OH FUCK! I KNOW THAT! Wait… you know that too? Wtf is going on?” And from there, they start asking questions about this symbol. You don’t have to do it this way, as it’s just one example of course. But your goal is to get them asking questions. Maybe have your players witness a brutal execution, or solve a murder, and eventually relate it back to the villain without actually having them show up. Just get them asking questions. Make them care about stopping whatever is going on, without actually knowing who is behind it.

Set the reputation of your villain and introduce some foreshadowing.

Once the players start asking questions, you obviously need to have some answers. And I say “some” very earnestly here. You don’t want them to have all the answers, so don’t reveal too much. Just give them an inch and let them take a mile if they want to. Let them build an idea of this villain in their mind. Have most relevant NPCs have at least a little bit of information on your villain, even if it’s just a name or a title. But be prepared for difficulties such as divination magics and the like. Sometimes players dig too hard before you’re ready, so think hard about what you’re ready to reveal and prepare in advance for spells and trickery. When it comes to setting this reputation, you wanna give tidbits of information like rumors of their atrocities and cruelties. Gossip can be outlandish and crazy, so don’t be afraid to have conflicting accounts of things. It makes things interesting. You can introduce encounters with henchmen of said villain and reveal information that way, too. Mislead, fool, and lie to your players to confuse them if you can. Hell, you can even throw in some things you can parallel much later on in the final reveal. The more mysterious this villain is, the more enticing they’ll be and the more the players will want to seek them out.

Think about what your villain knows about the players and how they try to stop them from getting in the way.

Players love their backstories coming into play. Everyone loves everything being about them. So maybe your villain knows some good shit about your players and uses it against them. Maybe someone gets kidnapped, or tortured, or even killed. You want some motivation to really go after this villain, so have them pull some sketchy shit long before ever revealing themselves. Having someone you’ve never met before come after you from behind a curtain can really piss someone off and motivate them to seek you out. And it can make the final reveal that much more important and dramatic.

The final reveal of your main villain.

This is the biggest and final step. You want to take everything the characters have learned and put it all together in this final reveal. There can be a lot of pressure, and yet a lot of fun involved in this step. The first you wanna do though, is set the mood/atmosphere. How I did it was I turned all the lights down to very low, but still visible lighting. I played eerie music, and then I began to use a little strobe light i got from spirit halloween from behind my dm station, and I used the scariest, deepest voice I could possibly muster when speaking as her. I gave her a long winded introduction that confirmed to everyone that this was indeed the one they’ve been seeking. I believe it went “My name is Nirnasha. Prophet to Apollyon. Among the last of the Aasimar. The only war cleric left in Sephias…. And I am the one who cannot die.” Introductions are important, because it establishes the truth of who this person is and how they carry themselves. But your villain might not even do it like this. It really depends on their personality. Maybe they just go straight for the kill. Maybe they’re super cruel and brutal and attack with a viciousness and intent to mutilate. Really think about how they fight and keep it interesting. And definitely don’t forget dialogue. Please, guys. This part is so important to keep the atmosphere. Bring up rumors, gossip, trickery, lies, shit talk, low blows, anything and everything to piss off the players and make the win even better…. if they win. You can even throw in disadvantages for being so enraged that you can’t control yourself. But the three important things for your final reveal is: atmosphere, dialogue, and descriptions. And finally, don’t forget to ask your players how they wanna do this when/if they get the final blow on their villain. That will make everything feel like a major play off.

[diceprophet]

Costs of a Failed Skill Check

Game Master Tip: Failed skill checks must affect and/or advance something. Otherwise, it’s just meaningless, time-wasting, and pace-breaking padding.

Have you ever had a tabletop experience akin to the following exaggerated strawman example?

PC: “I want to look for tracks.” GM: “Roll for Survival/Nature/whatever.” PC: *Fails to meet the DC* GM: “You don’t find anything.” Party: “Alrighty. We go home, then.

QUEST FAILED, everybody goes to sleep in the game world and IRL

My own personal rule of thumb is: a failed skill check doesn’t always outright fail a quest. Instead, these unfortunate events costs the party in-game resources. Resources include, but are not limited to, money, time, hit points, supplies, etc. Essentially, a failure streak results in depleted resources over time, as opposed to abrupt anticlimactic mission failure. If there is no mechanical effect for a mandated skill check other than “for the rollz,” just get on with it and move the players to where/who they need to be/meet.

Please keep in mind that I’m not stating that parties should be allowed to proceed if they keep failing. I’ll leave it up to individual GM preference, but after enough consecutive failures you gotta drop the axe or move on.

Here is an example of each of the three main aforementioned costs, to get the think-tank bubbling. I usually come up with at least two for all applicable skills, perhaps more if the check is likely be invoked multiple times in a game (Perception, Nature, and Survival come to mind the most).

Money

The usually silver-tongued bard failed to charm a guard (Diplomacy) into letting the party into a quarantined part of the city. The watchman instead offers to grant you passage and his silence in exchange for double his current rate.

Time

[To clarify, I am talking about in-game time, not IRL time. You and your players have places to be, after all.]

The ranger follows the wrong set of tracks (Survival) for several hours, and the party is forced to double back in order to find the enemy encampment. When they finally arrive, the orcs had taken the extra time to fortify their defenses and place scouts along the perimeter. The sky has also become noticeably darker, which would give the enemy’s inherent darkvision a keen advantage in the fight to come.

Health

The druid, in an attempt to regain her bearings, focuses too much on the surrounding foliage and fails to notice (Perception) the wandering mother bear escorting her two cubs. True to its matriarchal and overprotective nature, the bear charges forward, teeth and claws bared.

[Optionally, I’d force a hard DC follow-up check for the entire group to avoid taking damage, just to be fair. Details about who gets hurt and how badly, how the conflict is resolved, etc. is entirely up to GM’s discretion and player’s actions. The point of this is to be a quick hazard, not a prolonged encounter. Quickly resolve it and move on with the quest.]

[intothefey-blog]

Some solid DM advice

[dungeons-and-danis]

very neat idea for anyone who enjoys puzzle making!

[jodirama]

WHO IS THIS CUTIE AND WHEN WILL THEY GET MORE SCREENTIME PLEASE?

[homebrewrefs]

I would like to throw out there that this person might be female though I’m pretty sure they are a boy but, what if they were the spring maiden. They woke up after being talked about panicked but also if you notice they are also working on a garden doing very spring like activities. Perhaps over analyzing but just throwing it out there.

[homebrewrefs]

Halam’shivanas

Walking to where Corypheus was thrown into the fade Solas bent down to the crushed orb. He wore a defeated look upon his face.

“S-Solas?” a gasp comes from nearby.

He turns hearing the sound of death he has heard countless times before but none of them made his heart stop like this one did. “No.”

“I- I’m sorry... The orb... I couldn’t...” Lavellan gasps again struggling to get breath with a boulder laying on top of her body. Any health potions she might have had left after her fight with Corypheus were now destroyed unded the boulders weight.

He goes to her side. Nothing but anguish on his face. He never wanted this... Never wanted her to die... He gathers his strength and throws the boulder away from her body with his magic and gathers her in his arms.

“Ir abelas... I knew but I failed,” she is still gasping for air.

“It isn’t your fault,” Solas holds her close and whispers in her ear tears are formed in his eyes, “Ar lath ma and I will continue to until my Din’an,”

“Ma vhenan, ma melava halani,” she is breathing shallowly now and Solas knows it won’t be long before she passes.

“Emma sa’lath for all time.” He is stroking her hair now trying to soothe her as well as himself

“Sol-las, pl-please one last kiss.” in a bubbling gurgle she spoke. Solas bent his head down gently and pressed softly he tastes a mixture of blood and salty tears both his own and hers.

She lifts a hand up to caress his face only to stop with her hand open showing a ring in it. It was one of her clans rings. It was all that was left after her clan had been slaughtered. Solas grabs her hand after taking her ring and presses it to his face. He then takes his wolf jaw necklace and puts it on her.

She managed to give him one last smile before she stopped breathing. Solas felt his heart shatter and let out a sob as he moved his hand down her face closing her eyes for the last time.

“Inquisitor? Are you alive?” Cassandra’s voice rang out against the empty air.

He had to leave now despite feeling otherwise. As he placed her hands on her stomach he said, “I shall join you soon enough.”

After Solas disappeared her companions found her body, Dorian was the first to break as he screamed, she had been one of his first friends and now... She was gone. Cole couldn’t help he didn’t know how to help everyone when he himself was hurt she saved him from the unknown and now she was gone like a flame snuffed out too soon.

Cassandra just sank to her knees and asked, “Why?” while Sera was in denial saying, “No she can’t, you can’t be dead!” she had to be held back as the Iron Bull held her with tears leaving his one eye. She saved him from losing his family even though it meant being Tal-Vashoth.

Blackwall head hung low yet another who had died who was too good to die. Vivienne stared blankly not knowing what to do she had tried to help her before even though they didn’t agree on everything.

Varric put his head in his hands and said with dry laughter, “Not another, I tried telling you this hero thing ends in tragedy...”

As they brought the Inquistor’s body back to Skyhold all of her advisors were struck. Josephine broke down crying she had come to care for the Inquisitor as her sister. She even forgave her after her clan had been murdered.

Cullen stood stock still he had admired her and even came to care for her despite her being in love with Solas but she still believed him to be a better man and helped him through his struggles with the lyrium.

Leliana prayed to the maker, “Please don’t take another one who has served you well.” Her faith had been shaken but she kept Lavellan’s memory close and will not give up what she believes.

Solas walks now on his din’anshiral but Lavellan continues to watch over him and offers a sort of consul without his knowing of who she really is.

Author’s Note: I don’t know if this has been done but I was playing Dragon Age and was like you know what is angsty? Solas not only losing his orb and walking away from the one he loves but needing to walk away from her right after she died and she was blaming herself for the destruction of the orb. I also added the how the companions would react last cause all the more angst right!

The Elven Language:

Halam’shivanas - The sweet sacrifice of duty

Ir abelas - I’m sorry

Ar lath ma - I love

Din’an - death

Ma vhenan, ma melava halani - my heart, you helped me

Emma sa’lath - my one love

din’anshiral - path leading to death.

[tieflingtiger]

Cosplayers United Against Harassment

There is a group on Facebook whose goal is to stop all forms of harassment in the Cosplay Community so that it once again can be a safe environment for everyone who wishes to participate and join it. Here is the link this is important for everyone. https://www.facebook.com/cosplayersunitedagainstharassment/

[homebrewrefs]

Ruby Theory 8

The Statue

In one of the opening songs Jaune’s looks at the statue and the statue has similar armor and sword to Jaune’s but we don’t see his shield but the shield does compact and we don’t know who the two people in the statue are. The first video linked here is from Volume one opening theme. Go to the 46-48 second mark and you see him staring at the statue before Pyrrha touches his shoulder.

Now you may say it is just one opening song and it just means that he is ashamed/ upset but why be ashamed or upset of looking at the statue? It could have been on that balcony that Pyrrha showed him. What I think is that the reason he is upset is cause that is his Great Great Grandfather on the Statue holding the sword up high. Also the opening themes foreshadow many things and if we know what to look for then we could figure some of the plot points out. But I think finding out who his Great Great Grandfather or one of his relatives at least will be important to his story line.

Sorry I couldn’t really find a really good picture of the statue but I believe that Jaune could be related to the sword wielder because the swords look similar if not the same. Now the armor is not exact but somewhat similar.

Now of course I could be completely wrong on this but I was watching RWBY over again and the thought occurred to me but I think it would add another level to Jaune.

[homebrewrefs]

Rwby Theory 7

Ozpin and Salem

Okay so Salem appears to hold a grudge against Ozpin as heard in Volume 1 Episode 1 the narrator, who I presume to be Salem, is talking to Ozpin and he responds to her. Then at the end of Volume 3 Episode 12 again Salem speaks to Ozpin but he doesn’t respond when she says, “I can’t wait to watch you burn.”

Sorry this was the only gif of Salem that I could find. There is probably another one but I like this one better.

We only see Salem at the end of the Volume 3 and I believe one she is either trapped in that location because Ozpin trapped her there and is constantly fighting to keep her trapped causing him to be weaker than he previously was. This would also mean that Salem would have needed to get a second in command to be her eyes and ears such as Cinder. Thus meaning she would probably have to be stronger than Cinder because Salem had her get the Fall Maiden’s power so knowing that would increase Cinder’s power that should indicate that Salem has immense power if she can control someone with such powers.

[homebrewrefs]

Nope... Jaune's semblance isn't healing. Aura can generally heal every cut and wound. Remember Pyrrha said. "Why didn't you let your aura heal you?" So no its not healing.

True, thank you for the correction. :) I think I jumped to this theory just because we get to see his heal him at least two times but we never really got to see anyone else heal like that. The first time was when Pyrrha activated his aura and then once again when Cardin was about to punch him but again thank you!

[homebrewrefs]

RWBY Theory 6

Jaune’s semblance Okay so we know that Jaune’s semblance can heal him but what if he could heal others?

It is at the very least more of a defensive/ supportive semblance because when Pyrrha unlocked his aura/ semblance a scratch on his cheek heals. The same happens again when he is getting beat up by Cardin and there is a big flash of light his wounds are healed and the strike that almost lands is reflected back onto Cardin. Maybe he could use his powers to save others perhaps revive the dead. But for the tragedy of course each time he does it he gives the amount of time he has left for the amount of time they’ve been dead or they can have only just passed away in order for them to be saved.

[homebrewrefs]

RWBY Theory 5

Ruby’s silver eyes

What if each time the silver eye holder’s shorten their lives each time they are used. It would explain what happened to Ruby’s mom, Summer. So Ruby’s mom found out about her gift with the silver eyes and each time she uses them the after affects get worse and worse Summer starts wondering about it and investigates. If the theory about Raven and Qrow having the ability to predict deaths then they say something because each it is used they get their premonition each time and it gets closer each time. So when Summer is out on her last mission she was in a bad situation and she decides one more time. She would certainly die if she kept on fighting but wasn’t sure if she would live or die if she used the power. The last time was the charm and she ended up passing.

Since Rwby is getting darker, death could be happening more often and perhaps more of our favorite characters/ main characters could be killed off… That would prove to cause many tears.

[homebrewrefs]

The embroidery for my monk cosplay!!

[homebrewrefs]

I made a leather binder cover. I'm quite proud of it! :3

[homebrewrefs]

When you get this respond with five things that make you happy then send it anonymously to the last ten people in your notifications. <3 Have a wonderful day~

Five things that make me happy are…

1. Seeing people enjoy something I make. Whether it is food, cosplays or clothes, jewelry, my writing, anything, because that means they enjoy a major part of my life that I love doing. That always makes me happy. :)

2. Being around my friends. My friends are very important to me so I’m almost always happy when I’m around them unless something is going on. I try my best to be there for them and watch out for them and doing that makes me happy.

3. My pets make me happy I have two dogs, four cats, and two horses and being around them most of the time it makes me happy. Sometimes they are either really cute or really cute and stupid and I love it. They make me happy.

4. My theater department in my school makes me happy. When I’m there I feel my happiest because I’m usually at home doing nothing and being lame. :p So it keeps me active and I also get to hug just about everyone in there and hugs are wonderful too! :3

5. My family makes me happy because they are always there when I need or want to talk to them. Plus they made me who I am pretty much because my oldest sister got me into cosplaying, while my brother and dad got me into video games, my second oldest sister taught me how to sew and was good inspiration on making jewelry, and my mom encouraged my writing so they always make me happy and when we are all together it makes me the happiest. :D <3

[homebrewrefs]

RWBY Analysis

So in all of the Red, Black, White, and Yellow trailers we get a glimpse into Ruby, Blake, Weiss, and Yang’s past. I’m going to be analyzing the trailers and how they correspond to their respective characters. And if you haven’t seen the trailers then I will put a link at the beginning of each of the character’s paragraph.

Weiss’s Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt9vl8iAN5Q&list=PLUBVPK8x-XMhCW2fW7ZYlD9MHjvmT8IGK&index=2                    Weiss's shows, what  I'm going to call a golem, which looks suspiciously like her summon. And actually someone pointed out to me that the golem in the trailer could be her summon. This is also supported by the fact that Winter told Weiss to remember her fallen foes and call them to fight at her side. It also shows how she gets the scar on her face.

Blake’s Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImKCt7BD4U4&list=PLUBVPK8x-XMhCW2fW7ZYlD9MHjvmT8IGK&index=3                                                                                                                  So Blake’s trailer is of her reaching her breaking point during her last interaction with Adam before betraying and deserting him. So that shows their relationship and their fighting styles. Now we could end up seeing Blake being able to use her knowledge of his fighting style to her advantage maybe not herself but maybe tell one of her teammates such as Yang... Though Blake and Yang discussing this could be difficult due to their feelings and be a center point of Blake and Yang character development.

Yang’s Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCw_aAS7vWI&list=PLUBVPK8x-XMhCW2fW7ZYlD9MHjvmT8IGK&index=4                      Yang's shows her first encounter with Junior Xiong. This relates to their interactions in Season 2 when team RWBY is out looking for information. This also shows how brash she is as a character and it foreshadowed how her brashness got her into trouble.

Now all of the trailers give some history and, or foreshadowing about each character but... One of these things is not like the other.

Ruby’s Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYW2GmHB5xs&list=PLUBVPK8x-XMhCW2fW7ZYlD9MHjvmT8IGK&index=1                        Ruby's trailer is just an epic fight scene granted all of the trailers Had epic fight scenes but that was all there was to the Red trailer. So if the Red trailer was showing history then it is basically just stating that yes Ruby was always this bad ass. But since it is already different from each of the trailers then instead of it be of the past why not have it be of the future then what does it make that. I personally believe it could be a last stand sort of ordeal and Ruby is buying others time.