#rifts edge

[mtkft]

apropos of nothing.

called him, snapped, said “kneel, hound.” waited for no longer than it took him to moan, gave the quasi perfunctory “good boy”, and hung up.

I know damn well he kneeled,

because there isn't a world where he could have resisted.

[flaminfelix]

To say that Old Oron bristled with life would no misrepresentation of the facts. The castle and its surrounding campus were thick with megaflora. Massive trees stretched heavenward for hundreds of feet, their branches stretching for acres. In the half-shadows beneath, vines webbed the ground and walls. Thick mosses, sprawling ferns and elephantine flowers filled in the gaps. Though impossible to spot amongst the titanic plants, the chirps and calls of birds, frogs and insects could be heard under the constant susurrus of leaves.

Despite this thriving ecosystem, the derelict castle of Senan Beville bore the unmistakable stench of death.

It wasn’t a smell in the traditional sense, not really, elsewise the petrichor and mould and decaying leaves would have long masked the scent. This was the sharpness of the first inhale on the coldest winter night; the dry bite that would leave your nose bleeding and your lips cracked if you weren’t careful. It was the scent of life cut short. Of souls unbidden by Mother Sonali’s warmth.

It was a smell that Magister Olstad Beville, second of his name, knew better than anyone else alive.

[flaminfelix]

Ykw? Fuck it. Rift’s Edge Rambles #1: Riftstone Giants, pt. 1/?

…

You’re an adventurer who was woefully underprepared for your trip into the Rift. Starving and exhausted, you’re about to pass out when the ground shifts beneath you. You’re lifted upwards. Out of the seemingly endless darkness above, two impossibly bright lights blink on, shifting about like eyes. A rumble shakes the platform beneath you – a chuckle, the circular lights narrowing as if squinting through a smile beyond your view – and voice that seems to shake the Rift itself begins to speak.

You can’t understand, of course. The sound is reminiscent of the crushing and scraping of stone, or the thunder of a shifting fault line. But somehow, though you’re held fast by fear and fatigue, you’re left with the impression of someone gently removing an insect from their home. The lights flicker, and the last thing you remember is another voice, speaking softly in a mixture of Common and the other language. You catch “Child of Sonali” and “Guide the Lost” before consciousness slips from your grasp.

[flaminfelix]

looking for advice about how can a human body be improved!!

ok but seriously im making a character (dnd, artificer, surgeon by trade, more of a backalley doctor nowadays) who is experimenting with archano-mechanichal human augmentation, using alchemy and some basic engineering (this is set in the fantasy version of the far east so there are some things avaliable that would not be in a classic fantasy setting). these experiments so far include replacing his skin with metal plates, adding some tools to his wrists, replacing his eye with one that he can use to focus his spells and inhance his vision(seeing in the dark, detect magic etc.), oh and transing his gender. he also made a heart transplant to make someone who wasn't a sorcerer into one by taking a dead one's heart. So my question is: what other experiments could he be doing? in what areas does a human body need improving? because this is a world with dnd rules magical healing also exists but it always is focused on returning the body to status quo, so he works kind of in opposition to that because what if it could be enhanced instead? im looking for any ideas, from the silly and practical ones (better knees) to the most off the wall ideas that can exist

Ooh, I like this! Modifying the human body is always a fun thing to do when given the flexibility of magical healing.

Let’s see… yes, there’s the practical applications. Joint replacement/reinforcement. Prosthetics, having tools quite literally on–hand, etc. and so forth. I suppose these are possible in the real world as well, to a tamer extent (but no less significant — shoutout to the wonders of modern medicine). These tend to be the things you normally come across, but with a little bit of creativity (or, if you find yourself stuck, just a touch of plagiarism🤭) you can find yourself with some fascinating concepts. I could also probably come up with several that are rather silly, potentially war crimes, or maybe both. I gotta keep myself from rambling, so let’s dive straight into some examples. Even so, this could end up being a long one.

Tattoos

The first — as well as the most recent — type of body modification that I’ve played around with is tattoos. They’re not particularly invasive, pretty quick to heal, can be both decorative and functional, as well as other things I’m likely forgetting. The first villain I wrote was for a PJO au fanfic I was working on, shortly after finally getting ahold of The Demigod Diaries. Son of Magic’s Alabaster C. Torrington placed spells of protection on his clothes, but my character took that one step further, tattooing both defensive and offensive spells on her arms. It was a hell of a dangerous process for her to get the tattoos — literally risking life and limb — but they make complex spells faster and less taxing, and reduce the time she has to worry about defense, so she can spend more energy wiping the floor with the opposition. These spells can’t be infinitely spammed of course; they only activate under specific conditions, and can burn up if used too frequently(or whatever balancing strategies your GM agrees to — you should check in with them before implementing anything that’s not base game content!)

The more recent implementation of magical tattoos is in an NPC I spoke briefly of in a recent reblog; the badass but awkward one. He’s something I’m working on that I’m tentatively calling a Dragonsoul Fighter. I won’t go in depth into those game mechanics here. What’s important is that his tattoos contain the soul of a dragon, which he can summon and ride like a flesh and blood dragon mount. It grants him some spells as well, though this guy much prefers to whack things with swords until they die. Again, this is all homebrew, and still very much under construction, so I’d consult your GM.

Next!

Prosthetics and Replacements

Sometimes, ya lose a limb. Or two. Or all of ‘em. Maybe you were born that way. Maybe it was an accident, or maybe it was a punishment. Or maybe you just wanted an excuse to replace what you had with something far, far cooler. Whatever the reason, you’re finding yourself in need of a body part. Let’s shoot some ideas off, somewhat rapid fire-like.

Prosthetic arm made from a length of enchanted rope. The hand can scuttle ahead or climb on its own, dragging the rope behind it and securing itself to a suitable anchor point so its user can use it to climb or reel things in. It doesn’t grant you much in the way of extra strength (unless you manage to Macguver a pulley system, but that’s still technically your own strength), but just about anything you can do with rope can probably be done with this.

Arm cannon. Ballistic, energy or magic, depending on the setting. Go wild with that one. Ammo could be an issue. Recoil and heat dissipation too.

Remember the poison gas(?) tooth Dr. Yueh put in the Duke’s mouth in Dune? Yeah, that, except you can put whatever you want in there. Use that tiny storage space to smuggle something small but plot–relevant. Have just enough of a potent healing potion to keep you from dying. Or use it for assassination. Whatever you do, be careful when chewing your food.

Replacing body parts with those of a different creature. Gain another creature’s strength or abilities. Give your human the eyes of a species with darkvision, or just give them the ability to see shrimp colors. Follow your (or someone else’s) heart.

The previous point, but for more specific purposes. The divine blade can only be lifted by the hand of a god, and I, a mortal, have the hand of a god right here.

Additions

Prosthetics 2, basically. But also enhancements and things I didn’t feel fit under the previous category. (Tbh my categorizing is shite, ignore it if you want.)

Wolverine style retractable claws. I did say light plagiarism is fine if you get stuck.

Had a dream once about a bard with like… hamster-like cheeks? But they held air in there like a bagpipe bag and used circular breathing to refill them while playing. They could play insanely long pieces of what looked like one or two breaths to the audience, it was insane. Semi Dizzy Gillespie core ig.

Wings. Feathered. Fleshy. Insect-like. Mechanical. Take your pick, Icarus, but keep your hubris in check. The human body was not designed with wings in mind; how might it react to the additional weight/shifted center of gravity/changes that might need to be made to the skeleton? The additional energy burned by flight? What additional steps might a character need to take to keep their wings clean/healthy/operational?

Venomous fangs/the ability to spit venom/excrete poison. With the amount of bacteria in our mouths, if a human bite breaks skin it’s probably getting infected. Actual venom on top of that? I hope you have your affairs in order.

Partially inspired by Obojima’s Belly brewer barbarians, partially by how organisms can be genetically modified to produce certain chemicals/medicines. Modify your body to magically produce and store a liquid of your choice. Generate a little bit of a GM approved substance a day. Or do some human alchemy jug shenanigans. Regurgitate two gallons of mayonnaise a day at will or. Get freaky with it. I extend my apologies to y’all’s GMs in advance. I did say I could have weird ideas. If you’re one of my players reading this… No. Do NOT. I’m begging you. Please don’t.

Anyway. These are what I could come up with relatively fast. I’m sure I’ll come up with more as soon as I hit post. If I feel they’re important enough to mention, I might make a part two. I hope this at least somewhat helped you/answered your question, love! Thanks for the ask!

[flaminfelix]

Rift’s Edge Rambles #2: Adventurer’s Wayfinders

…

A type of Magic item that is definitely going to be included in my setting, but still has some details that need to be hammered out: the Adventurer’s Wayfinder.

Named after (and heavily influenced by) the Wayfinder from Pathfinder. A magnetic compass with two extra hands; one that points to the nearest Rift’s Edge Adventurers’ Guild Lodge, and one that can be programmed to point to a location of the bearer’s choice. This Wayfinder can also cast Light or Sending a certain amount of times per day (I’m thinking 2).

This is a Very Expensive piece of equipment. Given as a reward to seasoned adventurers, either after x years as an active member of the guild, or after successfully completing n successful commissions, whatever comes first.

Wayfinders can be bought at major Guild Lodges, but if people find out you just bought yours you’ll get one hell of a stink eye from adventures who earned theirs.

Some get theirs personalized; these become prized family heirlooms, passed down through generations of adventurers in the same family. They often program the third hand to their family home, the hand spinning round and round and emitting a gentle whirr as they cross the threshold and greet their loved ones.

Adventurers receive Calls from the Guild on their Wayfinders. This can be summons for specific commissions or quests, updates on quest information, notifications of available commissions, etc.. Adventurers can set their availability at any Guild Lodge to specify when they can receive calls.

Adventurers may also contact each other through the Sending feature, storing a (probably limited) number of contacts. I reckon it takes about two turns (12 seconds) to pair Wayfinders.

[flaminfelix]

The most devastating part of being a GM rather than just writing for myself is that all the people I normally yap about Rift’s Edge to are now players, and I can’t bounce ideas off of them the way I used to without the risk of spoiling my evil GM plans 🥲 yapping is one of my enrichment activities, I’m not cut out for the gaslight gatekeep girlboss life. I’m in a prison of my own design.

[ole-zai]

Rift's Edge - Not as scary when it's empty. 

[bubblebuns-x]

When no one can dodge the quake in REHM