#voiding dnd

[joshay98]

Oh yeah, never actually showed them here. New DnD character. T3M1R the framebilt. Homebrew class and species. But you can imagine him as an advanced robot. Love the visor face idea. Get to be creative to describe expressions. :D

The longcoat is actually the only clothing. The rest of his "outfit" is part of their body. And yes, those are knife-fingers. They are actually just common kitchen and garden tools. Repurposed for the adventure.

Really adore him already. Very quiet and grumpy because of backstory reasons but does have a soft heart if you try to break through. Maybe gonna tell his story. But hope you enjoy them. ^^

[joshay98]

So, I might have noticed something with how the DnD campaign goes.

[Levee might be going on a "Hero's Journey."]

Y'know, the writing trope. Very common in a lot of stories.

It's very fascinating because I don't think my DM even notices they are doing this to Levee. Don't have any evidence to support that, so as far as I know they could've planned all of this. I did mention in this post that I accidentally based Levee's personality on the song "Hero" by Mili. And Hero is just the trope in song form.

But this is DnD and the group has a very "just go with the flow" kinda mentality. I think it's mostly because the Hero's Journey is such a common trope in media and it's a very effective story-telling tool. DM might genuinely not be aware they are making use of it. More so subconsciously putting it in.

Especially since I kept Levee's backstory very open on purpose. It would fit her perfectly too since she freshly left home so she already got the "call to adventure" there.

[From my guess she would be around here: Challenges and Temptations.]

It is a pretty significant and big part of the Hero's Journey so there might be a lot of trials. Levee sure has failed and succeded in a lot of things. Mounting trials and all.

Which would also mean she will sometime soon reach the Abyss (which - considering the setting - could be the very literal Abyss) and get her "revelation", marking a change in her character.

There is also the thing that, during Levee's abscence, Hallownest got infected. So she doesn't have a true home to return to, really. But DM did already say that we get back to Hallownest at some point. My only guesses would be that either she returns to her family, who have hunkered down somewhere and are very alive and well (I'm looking at you, Tech!) or she finally joins the menderbugs and gets her new home there.

Ah, we will see. I could also be very wrong and read to much into it.

[joshay98]

Hey Mom, Dad and Lil' Bro!

38. A Dark Nest of Predators

“Hey Mom, Dad and Lil’ Bro, I… uhm… hope you are doing well. It might take a bit longer than we thought.

Just finished a couple things before we finally went back. Orah and Serwacy seemed to enjoy themselves a bit before the return. Gonna be likely a longer journey so I can understand if they want to relax a bit before it. Samson is nice enough to accompany us for this. Probably just wanted to get out of the court for a bit. I can understand that. Such a busy place. But I finally get to show the others more of Hallownest!

Well, that’s what I thought. We just arrived back and, of all places we could’ve landed, it was right in the lowest parts of Deepnest! I don’t want to be here! I heard of all the horror stories. Individuals getting snatched down here and never returning. I… may be a bit scared. Oh, who am I kidding. I lost my nerves down here! I don’t want to be down here! I Want To Get Out! I Want To Get Out! I Want Out! I WANT OUT! NOW!

I don’t want to end in the darkest pits down here! I hear creatures everywhere! Either everything is way too loud or there is not a single sound. And both make me worry! One of the creatures was hiding in the corpse of a common bug! Such a vile thing to do! There are garpedes digging holes around this place, all the walkable tunnels are way too cramped, most of them even have stalking beasts inside them. There was a single clearing so far where we could take a breather!

At least it’s a calm clearing. As calm as it can be down here. It has a hot spring and a bench and hole in the ceiling that Samson investig-... Wait. A bench! That means menderbugs must’ve maintained it! There has to be a path that leads back into the main kingdom! Maybe we aren’t as lost as I thought! Ok, maybe there is a chance. We got this!

Ah, but there is a small problem. Orah might’ve found her brother. She apparently saw him sprint down a tunnel and she swiftly took after him. I was able to catch up to her before she went too far in and halted her. I really don’t like the idea of splitting up down here. Orah was so eager to continue. I mean, I understand that she wants to reunite with him but I… didn’t see him there. I saw S- Ah, I just got a really bad feeling about this. The others quickly reached us. Thankfully.

I guess there was no arguing about it. Orah would’ve gone with or without us. And I’m not letting her wander through these tunnels alone. And curiosity did get the better of me. He couldn’t be down here. He should be with y- Uuh, right. So we chased after Orah’s brother. Down a… dark… tunnel. Oh, by the Pale King.

Took a bit of wandering but we did reach a pretty big chamber. It has uh… a bunch of bugs strung on the ceiling with silk. They are all… dead. This is a beast’s cave. And behind us the way closed as dark webs just suddenly appeared. A trap…

In the middle of the chamber, what I believe, was Orah’s brother. He let a high-pitched scream and then his head just… turned like a wheel. Out came these really thin, dark legs. It has a big, orange-glowing body and its head just hung off a long neck. Upside-down… I don’t think that was Orah’s brother… And whatever it is, it doesn’t like us. I added at the end what it looks like. It’s not the best caricature but I think it gets the idea across. Maybe you have seen it before? We… have to fight it. Shouldn’t have come here.

Uh, oh yeah. Can you also maybe ask Shen how he is doing? He might miss me or, y’know. Just want to make sure he is doing well. Love you all and wish us a safe return, Levee!”

[joshay98]

Hey Mom, Dad and Lil' Bro!

36. Back in Business

“Hey Mom, Dad and Lil’ Bro, hope you are doing well. It felt like a bit since I wrote a letter, huh. Ok so, we had an uneventful night. Thankfully. But sadly it seems that Maximilian’s group left overnight. Just a couple trails in the sand left. Didn’t even get to say goodbyes.

Oh, but Orah got a message from Prince Valendan over the sending stone. Apparently he tried to contact us for a while now. Guess we did end up in the middle of nowhere. Whoops… But he decided to make us return back to the court because he has other plans. He would open a portal in a bit.

In the meantime we got some delicious breakfast from Val! Was a nice mix of meat and eggs. But not those rancid ones. These actually tasted nice. Very delicious meal!

A couple hours later we got kindly welcomed by Kyoko, as she pranced through the portal. Was genuinely nice to get to see a familiar face for once. She got really curious about the vehicle we managed to fix. Definitely found some treasure beneath all the dust here!

Just one short travel and we end up at the bottom of the tower of the court again. Uuh, we should’ve maybe kept an eye on Val because she already sprinted inside. We only found her because we heard a really high-pitched squeeling. Apparently she “found” a gadget and really liked it. I wasn’t aware Val was such a snitchbug. Uuh, hope this was just a moment of weakness for her. Sure feel the same about advanced technology. Not that I imply I stole something or anything like that! Uuh, y’know forget it. Prince Valendan allowed her to keep it. Or rather sell it to her. Really tough, first expressions they leave here. Doesn’t look good on our part either…

Ah, right! So, Prince Valendan had some good news for us! We get to come back home to Hallownest! Well, not quite actually. It’s a temporary thing. Wouldn't want to leave August and Bowl here. But that means I can possibly come visit you! The problem is that we don’t actually know where we end up in Hallownest. Something about not being able to use the same road back because it’s getting watched. Something like that. So pray we land somewhere close to the city!

I can’t wait to see you again! I know it’s been only a bit over three month but it felt like an eternity by now. So excited! Get to talk about a bunch of our adventures. Can introduce you to the travelers I met. Oh, and the tea! It’s really good! I will see you soon hopefully, Levee!”

[joshay98]

So I have such a bad case of choice paralysis now. Last DnD session I won a special potion, from effectively a potion gacha.

A potion homebrewed by my DM. It's called a "Blank Potion" and these allow you to put a spell into it and gain the effects of that spell permanently. Not even Dispel Magic can counter it. This specific one goes up to 3rd-level spells.

Now I'm playing a very up-close, unarmed fighter. Don't have any spellcasting and don't plan on getting any. Luckily the party has more than enough spellcasters, so they can just enchant the potion for me instead.

But the question is now: Which spell? There are so many good 3rd-level spells. Even upcasted lower leveled ones would work.

The only rules are that the spell has to directly target a creature and needs some kind of duration. Also we don't have access to Paladin spells. But most popular homebrew books are valid so there are a ton of options there as well.

I'm currently thinking having perma Haste would be a great choice but there are so many options. Kind of just throwing this out there to get some input so my choice paralysis isn't so bad.

[joshay98]

Hey Mom, Dad and Lil' Bro!

28. Old World Blues

“Hey Mom, Dad and Lil’ Bro, I hope you are alright! Get yourself something nice.

So the tea shop owner is called Delmir Arsen. Was actually… pretty confused how to spell that. Really exotic names out there. Was nice enough to write it down. I could’ve never guessed how it was spelled. Lovely shop, gotta say. Definitely will give it a visit again!

Uhm, so finally got called by Prince Valendan. New mission! Mostly a scouting mission. But got barely any real information. Took us a bit to finally arrive. Well mostly Orah and Serwacy. I’m a responsible bug and arrived in due time! I swear!

Lune is gonna mostly sit this one out. Yeah, thought she wouldn’t feel in a good mood. Might bring her something back. Or make her something. Have to see.

The usual spiel. But this time there wasn’t a problem with traveling there. Guess Granny really did work on the safety precautions.

Yeah, the Prince wasn’t kidding. The entire place is desolate. Just shades of brown everywhere. And the sun was beating down on us. Barely any plants as well. Most of the buildings have been stripped clean. Not even the doors were safe. And so much rough sand. It gets everywhere! I don’t like it. Of course curiosity got to us and we searched the buildings for any signs of life in one of the abandoned buildings.

Yeah, mostly empty. There were these metal crates. Had some labels on them like “Browning” and “9mm.” Not sure if it is pronounced “Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm”, or. Always with the weird names for everyone but I guess that’s what you gotta expect out here.

Oh, but we did find someone! Well, Serwacy found someone. Well, the someone more so found Serwacy, ok so. Getting out the back of the building, Serwacy was struck by lightning. Again. He really has the worst luck with those. Maybe I should make something for him to help that problem. Uhm, so the lightning came from this someone. Her name is “Val” and quite the, I hope this doesn’t come across as rude, awkward type. Very shy and has a hard time voicing her thoughts. But I think she just needs a bit of time to warm up.

Has a real knack for inventions! Has created this tiny ranged weapon. A “Flintlock” she called it. It has a lot of moving parts, seems very powerful. But also actually reloading it seems to take a while. I’m not sure if making something this complicated to use is a good idea for a fight. Gonna leave you unarmed for a bit. But I can’t deny the sheer power it has. Probably not for me… so loud as well. Something about using controlled explosions to propel the ammunition at an incredible speed. Controlled explosions, hmmmm.

Ah, so she is here with a… partner? Affiliate? Colleague? They have a rough association. Can’t really stand one another. So, his name is “Samson”. A very, uhm, sad one. Angry? Kinda a mix. Doesn’t really need a scholar to see he has a lot of sorro- ah, wait don’t wanna use tha- Uhm, pains? Emotional scars? Yeah, I guess that sounds accurate. But definitely more confident in his ideas.

The duo had set up camp nearby. Oh and they are a bickering bunch. But they have been here for a week. They seem friendly, though! Just a bunch that have been stranded here. The heat must’ve really gotten to them. They had thin-as-paper patience. Or just are generally not trusting. I mean we are strangers, so I can’t blame them. But they would make a good team. If they just sat down and talked a bit. Thinking of taking them back with us. For now, first the mission.

Got a bit of info about this world from them. A long time ago there was a war that effectively destroyed a majority of life here. The land has yet to recover from this. One must imagine what weapons they used to have devastated the land like this. Always going back to war. Everyone just thinks about destroying everything around them. Can’t have one nice place…

We were warned that the land has been overrun by scavengers of all sorts. I really wish I could help them. Help the land. The kingdom that used to be. There surely have to be some rulers or important folk that try their best here. Wouldn’t just leave everything as is.

Maybe we can help? But we saw some maps and the land is huge! Massive even! Far larger than anything in Hallownest. The duo had a map that showed the entire kingdom. We are currently in a place called “Vegas”? I think? Hard to read the maps. They have a lot scribbled on them. Especially the names. This kingdom needs help from powers far beyond our capabilities. Still! I will assist any soul! If they cry for help, I will try my best!

It will be fine! I hope I will see you again soon! I miss you, Levee.

PS: Also, Sir Serwacy Marzec II. I respect you as a party member and capable fighter. But if you read this… Scram!”

[joshay98]

I swear that was a coincidence! I didn't mean for that to happen! ;_;

[joshay98]

Hey Mom, Dad and Lil' Bro!

34. Melting Pot

“Hey Mom, Dad and Lil’ Bro, hope you are doing well. Maybe get yourself something nice? Mom could make that nice meatloaf again. That one is always so delicious!

So uuh, ah yeah. Actually managed to get some sleep on that vehicle. Despite the bumpy ride. Oh, my poor wings. Did get pretty far considering how big this land is. Definitely better than walking.

Uh, so Val was currently the one steering this thing and at some point she halted it. Apparently some folk were nearby. Wore these masks. The masks had a longer snout on them. Huh, unique designs even here. But it is nice to see some familiarity here.

One of the folk, Maximilian was his name, uuh approached us and asked Val a bunch of questions. They were very curious about the vehicle we were in. Apparently working vehicles are a rarity here. Val tried to explain how we got it running but “magic” didn't convince them. Even called me to see if I can explain it better. They didn’t believe me…

But the folk seem nice! Samson was very quick on getting along with them. They had some good laughs. Maximilian took a look under our vehicle. It was rusty. Rust everywhere. Kinda surprised that it held together for this long. We might have to, uuh, replace a bunch of parts. There was some kind of base nearby. For flying machines. Really big ones as well! So there should be enough supplies there to get the vehicle fixed up. Mostly need hardy metal to build a frame and some softer ones for springs.

Maximilian and his folk were nice to escort us there. Probably looking for supplies themselves. So similar goals. Good to help one another. They are so tactical and careful as well. Have a proper command system with their group. Maximilian seems like a good leader.

The base has a lot of machines and loose tools. The others even got some energy into this building going. Lit up the lights inside. And even found a basement. It was told to us that normally these bases don’t have basements. So whatever this is, it isn’t supposed to be here. A very dark basement. Val and Theia explored a bit ahead. Our party and two of Maximilian’s team went down there after Val and Theia made sure it was clear. The entire underground is grimed over and hasn’t seen any use in such a long time. Everything was covered in dust. Doubt we will find anything here then. Otherwise more folk would’ve visited this place, right?

Ah, I will keep you informed on the rest. Getting a bit too dark to continue writing. Wish me luck, Levee.”