#magic-user

[stonedrunkwizard]

Wizard Flash.

[adventuresinnerdliness]

[oldschoolfrp]

Baron Ludwig von Hendriks, The Black Eagle, and Bargle the Infamous, Court Wizard of the Black Eagle Barony (Stephen Fabian, The Grand Duchy of Karameikos by Aaron Allston, TSR, 1987, Gazetteer 1 for BECMI D&D's Known World)

Bargle the magic-user originally appeared along with Aleena the cleric in Frank Mentzer's 1983 Basic D&D Players Manual, in the introductory narration of how to play the game. Allston's Karameikos gazetteer says "Every campaign needs a thoroughly evil magic-user villain, and Bargle fits the bill. On adventures he prefers to wear black robes," which is consistent with Mentzer's description; "at home in the Black Eagle Barony, he dresses in gaudy robes so as to clash with the Baron, who always dresses in black." The text describes Bargle's hair and beard as brown, and he appears to be age 30, details contradicted by Fabian's portrait.

[atomic-chronoscaph]

art by Keith Parkinson

[epithalamia]

[larkaloke]

"Tonight, you dream of blood. Not of blood on a blade or the blood on your hands, but an ichor that runs as a torrent through the Realms. A flood that pours across the fields and forests. An ocean that floats you to the world's edge and threatens to cascade off into the void..." My second attempt at this, which I'm much happier with than the first. Ithenrael looks more himself here, which is important. Ithenrael was the first character I played through the original Baldur's Gate games, and is still my favorite after... ten others? I've somewhat lost track.

He's an elven magic-user who ended up choosing to take Bhaal's place because he wanted the power, but really didn't think the whole 'Lord of Murder' thing through. Very smart, not very wise. A bit naive. (Sometimes a lot.) Broken moral compass, but often did the right thing. I've always created my own party in the Baldur's Gate games with the pretend-it's-multiplayer angle, so while playing BG3 I thought some about how things might have turned out differently for Ithenrael if he'd been travelling with people like Khalid and Jaheira and Minsc and Imoen instead of his own mostly-kinda-evil friends. Probably a bit differently towards the end, at least. (That's what I take to have happened as background in BG3. My opinion of that one novelization is... low.)

[jacscorner]

A person walks towards a table. She's clad in a black kimono, with a dark veil over her face; in the shadowy room, only lit by candlelight, her face was completely obscured. She sat at the head of the table, obscured by a tall, wooden screen. Then, she removes her veil and reveals her face to the camera; Erika, the Celadon City Gym Leader! Erika: Hello. And welcome to Heroes Of The Frontier; my Lamentations Of The Flame Princess virtual campaign. I am the Dungeon Master, Master of Ceremonies, and Host: Erika. Thank you all for tuning in. Now, allow me to introduce you to my players and their characters.

Brock: Thank you for having me, Erika. My name is Brock, I'm the Pewter City Gym Leader. And I'll be playing Gortaf Rubyhorn. He is a Dwarf; the 7th son of the Dwarf Lord, Lot Rubyhorn, the Dwarven Lord of the settlement of Neverrock, a mining town. Gortaf's brothers pursued scholarly pursuits; poets, politicians, painters and such. But Gortaf, enraptured by tales of adventure, decided to train and work their body, joining the Iron Patrol when he became an adult.

Erika: Ooh, excellent introduction, Brock. Does Gortaf's brothers have names.

Brock: Yeah, I'll DM you the family details after this session.

Erika: Good, good. 

Misty: Okay, my turn. Hello! I'm Misty! I'm the Cerulean City Gym Leader! My character's name is Dayfang; she is an Elf who lives in Glimmercoat, a town built near the coast of the frontier. She is the oldest of four daughter of two elves; Wolf, a pot artisan, and Sunlight, an infamous adventurer. Dayfang's tribe of Elves once lived deep within the forest in a traditional treetop settlement, but they were in a war with another tribe of Elves. Sunlight chose the enemy tribe and now their clan are refugees within the human dominant town of Glimmercoast. Dayfang, however, is sure her mother had a good reason for this and carries her mother's sword with pride and wants to find her, if she's still alive.

Erika: Ooh, so much drama! I love it~

Sabrina: ...

Erka: Go on, Sabrina. It's your turn.

Sabrina: *clears throat* I am Sabrina of Saffron City. I'm playing Pepper Hedge, Magic-User. She is a fledgeling Mage who lives in Magehelm; she comes from one of the major cities, far away fromt he frontier. Magehelm is not only home to a lot of magical practitioners, but also to the prestigious Marigold Keep. She was an orphan girl, working for a Mage as a maid, but when the Head Master discovered her potential and aptitude for magic, he sponsored her studies. Mages are traditional men, and many of the illumni are not keen on a young woman becoming a Mage, but because she's being sponsored by the ailing Head Master, they can't touch her...yet.

Erika: Ooh, spicy.

Sabrina: That's not...too much, is it.

Erika: No, no, not at all. This is a dark, cruel world. I think that your character is perfect!

Brock: Yeah, it's a great backstory!

Misty: I actually think it's a little tame.

Erika: Now then, the three of you have been summoned to the town of Sunpeak. Each of you received a letter to meet in a tavern; the Red Brick House. How did you all receive the news?

Brock: It was actually my father who got the letter. But my father is too old to make the trip and his duties as a lord keeps him busy. On top of that, he had suffered a serious injury in his leg, making walking difficult for him, so he's unfit for adventure. So I, his son, was given the task. And I eagerly accepted it, in order to bring glory to my town and my father's name.

Misty: I found the letter on my dinner table on night, two months after I had defended my town from an Orc! It was big, ugly, and rampaging through town. It's not the greatest feat, but in these collection of small towns, mostly made up of farming communities, slaying a raging Orc is a big deal and the news spreads like wildfire. As a local hero of sorts, the letter found its way to me and I made my way to Sunpeak.

Sabrina: The...the letter was sent to Marigold Keep itself, no doubt seeking the aid of a more experienced Mage. Many of whom scoffed at the idea of being a 'Rat Catcher'. I was given the assignment to make the trip to Sunpeak; there's no doubt in my mind that my professors expect me to fail and come back in a box.

Erika: Good, good, all good. I think that should be enough for Session 0. These streams will begin properly this Sunday, when we all have more time. So keep an eye out for this campaign, faithful audience. For in Session 1, our heroes will meet properly at the Red Brick House in Sunpeak. Tune in next time to see how the Heroes Of The Frontier...actually meet.

Okay, so, let's break this down a bit.

I mentioned this one before, but I quite like OSRs - Old School RPGs/Old School Renaissance Games (I just prefer RPG). Lamentations of The Flame Princess has a messy origin, but I'd love to play it at some point with actual people. But schedules are tight, but it's fun to make characters and slowly chip away at planning a campaign.

Lately, there's been a rise in AI Videos, where AI voices talk and are implied to be doing some kind of activity. Or, rather, AI President Videos are on the rise, where Obama, Trump, and Biden are doing stupid shit. Sometimes other Presidents are a part of it. My favorite, personally, are all the D&D videos that exist of them...though they do get a little dull at times. Like, they're funny and I love all the different takes there are on this formula, but I just wish that there was more variety. Like, the technology can have many different characters talking, so why is it always the same three, making the same jokes? It's like if The Three Stooges were being done by three different studios, all copying each other.

And, as I'm sure you know, I love Pokemon.

So, there you go: what if a bunch of Pokemon characters played a TTRPG.

Why Lamentations Of The Flame Princess and not just D&D. Well, for one thing, LOTFP is based off of an older edition of D&D. And the reason I like it instead of just making them 5e is because 5e has a very different feel to older, more archaic games. And I think it'd be more interesting - at least, I feel it would. If nothing else, it'd be different.