BiFrost: Effects of Magic, Magical Items, and Gold overview

Before I get into the specifics of organizations in this new world. I need to go through some of the big changes.

The big overview:

• Portals to dungeons appear across the world
• Anyone who enters these portals and returns comes out with magical powers
• Yes, this includes fighter and rogues, suddenly being proficient with weapons, and self-healing and super speed no one else can do are definitely powers. Hit points just make you tougher/faster/dodgier. Criticals and death blows might leave you without a limb. Any other "hit" is a near hit that might leave a bruise or cut and fatigues you. 
• Many of these people also return with precious gems, art, artifacts, gold, and even some magical items
• Survival upon entry is not guaranteed. About 25% of people who enter are presumed dead. 

Alright so now I want to try to imagine peoples reactions to each of these main points.

Portals to dungeons appear across the world

• Ownership issues of people trying to get to the portals on private land
• Ownership issues of who owns what comes out of the portals
• Difficulties getting rid of/hiding portals
• Government would prefer, for safety reasons, no one finds or enters portals
• Some people will worship the portals   

Anyone who enters these portals and returns comes out with magical powers

• Some conservative religions would see magical powers as the work of the devil
• Science would want to study those who have magical powers
• Some religions would see the powers as holy gifts
• Some people would use these powers for evil: robbing, carjacking, murder, mobs
• Some would use them for good: vigilantes, cops, military, relief workers
• A sport would likely come up around it, and many scandals about athletes using powers in other sports. This new sport is likely just up and coming, but the scandals are everywhere. 
• Schools would have to look out for it in cheating on tests
• Safety laws would come up for the more obscure magics. I think most charges would cover using magic against someone as assault or battery, and necromancy would fall under rules about human remains; though non human animations would be a different matter. 
• Those with powers might get employment opportunities others wouldn't 
• To counteract this, there would likely be a a large public opinion that delvers were dangerous miscreants and that delving should be illegal. 
• To counteract this, there would like be an Adventurer's Guild with a lobby that pushes for safe delving and tells the benefits of powers. 

Delvers return with precious gems, art, artifacts, gold, and magic items. 

• At first, delvers would make a lot of money
• However, after a few years, the prices would go down
• What we currently need more of in the world is not gold, but copper, so eventually copper pieces would be worth more than gold pieces. Maybe. Gold bullion is currently worth an insane $38.98 a gram. To put that in perspective, a penny weighs 2.5 grams. So a piece of gold the size of a penny would be worth $97.58 dollars. If I leave a dungeon with just 10 gold, I have made $1000 dollars. But most 3rd level dungeons, assuming one character, would roughly yield only (look up later on donjon website)
• Precious gems would follow the same thing, check the market value
• Artifacts would be different; there would likely by many collectors and scientists out there looking to study the dungeons, look for any benefits, look for any clues to their existence. I'd say probably $20 usually, maybe more depending on the quality or interest. 
• Magic items. Given that most dungeons will be for level 3 characters, even using the random treasure generator there would not be many magic items, and also not many. However, I like the idea that sometimes these amazing items and artifacts fall in to the world and cause chaos. Deck of Many Things anyone? There would very likely be a good market out there for these, especially for healing potions. THERE WOULD BE NO MAGIC ITEM CREATION. In 5e, since it is unnecessary I can do this, which makes magic items so much cooler in the real world. That scroll of fireball is a deadly and rare weapon, not just like "oh cool." Especially since magic items can be used by non-delvers. 

Survival is not guaranteed; there is a 25% disappearance rate for delvers. 

• People should be scared to be a delver. It is definitely an alternative choice, especially at first. Eventually those who catch on to it might get a little zealous, even taking children with them to have them access their powers early. What could a five year old do with a sorcerers spells? Mayhem. Heck even a fifteen year old with even low-level powers would be scary. 
• Many people, riding on the backs of "think of the children" and "drugs are bad because they are addictive and kill you, mkay," will want to limit and outlaw delvers and delving in general. 
• The government probably is on their side, I mean its hard to police those with powers, and you don't to waste 1/4 of your force seeing if they can make it out of the dungeons alive. Military would do the same thing. 
• Violent forces (police and military) would likely have special forces teams with delvers on them, or might spread them out over more regular teams. 

To summarize:

Will have some religious orgs. for and some against

Will have some political orgs. for and some against

Will have some social groups for and against

Majority likely against because of danger and fear, and they aren't wrong

D&D Young Justice: Robin

For the past few weeks, I've been making Young Justice characters from the TV show into D&D characters. Oftentimes, this under powers them severely, but that is okay with me. I'm making up new rules, as I need them and so far I have always needed them. Alright, let's do any easy one this week. Or, at least, easy in theory it should be easy. Robin: Boy Wonder.

Now, most people like to argue about the class of Batman. Is he a rogue or a monk, or maybe an urban ranger? Well I'm here to end that argument. He is a rogue - a noble rogue, to be precise. This is the word of the Lord- thanks be to god. He has lots of skills, is very sneaky, and mostly tries to intimidate people. That's Dex, Cha, Int character if I ever saw one. Sure he is strong and tough, and  perceptive too. Heck, he is kind of perfect from a stats perspective. Batman's only flaws lie in his personality and his past.

Robin is similarly a rogue. Even more so perhaps- more quick than strong, more smart than wise. That isn't to say he doesn't possess other amazing traits, but he is known for sneaking off and doing covert ops. especially in the show. So a rogue, with an entertainer background that will cover the Flying Graysons. How about all that punching he does? Easy; make a feat called Martial Artist that gives anyone who takes it a bit of that fun Monk ability.

Martial Artist
Trained in a very graceful and specific style of combat, you have learned to strike hard with your body and perform amazing physical feats. You gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Dexterity or Strength score by 1
• You are proficient with unarmed strikes
• Your unarmed strike uses a d4 for damage
• You treat all simple melee weapons that aren't two-handed or heavy as finesse weapons

I like this feat, it will allow him to punch and kick people for okay damage, and most importantly, sneak attack with punches. It might be a little underpowered, but you have to be careful with how things mix. This would be terrible for a monk, for example, but maybe too powerful for that Path of the Brawler archetype I made last week for Superboy. 

Dick Grayson
Level 1 Variant Human Rogue
Background: Entertainer
Str 12 (+1), Dex 14 (+2), Con 14 (+2)
Int 14 (+2), Wis 12 (+1), Cha (+1)
HP 10, AC 13, HD 1d8
Saves: Dex +4, Int +4
Speed: 30 feet
Languages: Common, Gnomish, Thieves' Cant
Proficiencies: Disguise kit, pipes, thieves' tools
Skills: Acrobatics +5, Athletics +3, Investigation +4, Perception +3, Performance +3, Sleight of Hand +4, Stealth +6

Unarmed Strike +4, 1d4+2 bludgeoning
Rapier +4, 1d8+2 piercing
Dagger +4, 1d4+2 piercing, light, 20/60 range
Shortbow +4, 1d6+2 piercing, 80/20 range, 20 arrows

Feat: Martial Artist
Sneak Attack 1d6

Gear: Pipes, a token from your family, a costume, rapier, shortbow, 20 arrows, dungeoneer's pack, leather armor, two daggers, and thieves' tools

Leveling up: Grab the Thief archetype for the climbing and quickness and Use Magical Device. Up your Dexterity and intelligence as often as you can. I made the Martial Artist feat specifically to allow a Nightwing later on assuming you can get a nice pair of Electric Clubs that can turn into a quarterstaff. So get out there and save the world by investigating mysteries you sneaky boy wonder.

Friday Fiction: Lisa and the Light Pt. 4

Oh, Sovereign Host, this story is terrible. I just finished rereading last weeks and I know I did it at work, but that was god awful. But Imma power through, because I can only get better through constant practice. LET'S PRACTICE, BITCHES!

Crumbling around Lisa, the temple - its stone, its glass, its lights, its incense - disappeared into blackness. Lisa now found herself standing outside a cottage, it's back to a piney forest. It was snowing and the tops of the trees were dusted with delicate flakes. In her hand, she gripped the hammer from the temple, and on her back she could feel a heavy weight. On her body and arms lay a quilted tunic and over that, a suit of metal rings tightly fitted together. She shifted the weight on her back to the ground to see a camping pack and thick wooden shield. Lisa tossed the hammer down next to the other supplies and knelt in the snow. It was wet and her still bare feet began to ache. The pain, a sharp searing burn of rime, abruptly interrupted Lisa's survey of her predicament and at that moment she came back to herself, to the woman she was before the beam of light. Memories flooded into her mind, threatening destruction.

Lisa wondered where she was, and why she was dressed like a character from The Lord of the Rings. Her mother must still be looking for her, and yet she would think she'd be here by now if she pursued. Admittedly, Lisa didn't know where exactly she was, or where this outfit came from, or who lived in that house. She had to do something -- to run in case her mother came, or perhaps to get back home, or at least to get out of the gently falling snow. Lisa couldn't believe there was snow. She had never seen snow before, but so far she did not like it. Picking up the pack to throw it across her back, she heard the contents shift.

Curious, she undid the straps to reveal the contents. Tied to the top was a soft looking green bedroll, inside was a closed metal kit that revealed a shallow bowl, a plate, a small cup, and a set of utensils. Another small box contained steel, a piece of rock, and a slightly damp rag that smelled like oil. Next she pulled out a set of thin wooden rods bundled together, each topped with rags. A leather skin filled with some fluid followed, and upon uncorking, the fluid was revealed to be water. Finally, a pouch of hard bread, nuts, fruits, and jerky. The final gift, for how else was she supposed to think of the free swag, was a coil of rough brown rope hooked to the side.

Lisa wondered where this had come from and she wanted to wonder more, but her the pain of her cold feet reminded her that she wasn't safe. She couldn't guess the temperature, but it was colder than Lisa had ever experienced before. Not sure of where else to go, she approached the cabin confidently. Hopefully the people inside would help her figure out what was going on. 

BiFrost: BiFrost Specifics pt. 2

Last week I looked at what happens immediately when you enter the new and fancy BiFrost portals and talked a bit about what they looked like. This week I need to ruminate on what you see in the BiFrost after you pick your class.

I always imagined you'd be dropped off at the entrance to a dungeon, or you'd be dropped off at town being overrun by orcs, or something like that. Por ejemplo: You pick your class then poof your in a cavern with carvings on the walls, ahead of you are sounds of fighting, there is no way back, you must go forward. Or instead: You show up in a town of gnomes, the inhabitants busily buzzing through their lives and barely noticing you until a stampede of bandits crashes through the gates and into town, or a quest giver approaches you, etc. etc. When you finish the dungeon/quest you are sent back or a portal opens for you to go home through.

This brings up a good question. Can you leave before the quest is done or the dungeon explored? Can you choose to stay when the quest is done? I will make the decision now that time passes the same in both places, though it's not necessarily the same season or time of day. But at least this way you won't be Narnia living like twelve lifetimes or space traveling coming back young when everyone else is old. I like eliminating issues, it feels nice. Now, I used to like the idea of people basically opening up a dungeon and colonizing it. Trying to find new places to live, new worlds, new communities, getting a bit of the feel of the attempted utopian communities of early American history. However, leaving the portals might cause some problems in terms of when the dungeons "reset." Do the scenarios presented to adventurers when they enter a dungeon remain finished after they leave? Well then no one else would know what to expect when they enter, but I kind of like the idea of previous adventurer's putting info. Could you reenter a dungeon you've always been in? That would mean people could just farm the same dungeon over and over again, but I like the idea that you have to travel to keep up their "jobs" as adventurers. 

Alright, I've been working on this post for a few days by now. Lets make some hard and fast rules. 

• When you enter a dungeon you create an instance that will last until you and anyone else who entered with you has completed the quest. 
• Other people can enter your instance while the instance is open, but you can only start leaving after the quest is completed. 
• As long as there is someone still inside the instance, it will not reset. 
• You can transport an item you can carry through the instance. It has to be in your hands or touching your body. For exmaple, if you tie a car to you with a rope and try to enter, only the rope tied to you comes with you. If you try to drive a car in, only you enter, the car just keeps driving through. 

Alright. I think I've got the basics down now. I need to decide how loot will work, but then I can start using my rules to affect the world as we know it. 

D&D Young Justice: Superboy

So I've been procrastinating putting up my BiFrost homebrew materials until I've talked more about exactly how I want the world to be. Until then, I'm just tuning Young Justice characters into D&D character, mostly because they are actually a pretty good example of an adventuring party (besides missing a healer, which luckily isn't necessary in 5e.) I've already done Aqualad and Miss Martian, and this week I'm going to tackle a tough one: Superboy.

Now Superboy is special. He was grown in a lab, and since then has learned to how to be a teammate and generally a good guy. He's got daddy issues (always fun), anger issues, and just general issues. His powers are mostly coming from his Kryptonian genes. He is resistant to damage and super strong. He isn't super well trained but has recently started picking up some training with Black Canary. Most of his fighting is built around his strength and his durability. Later in the show he gains more superman powers like laser eyes, flight, and super speed. However, this can be called a magic item rather than a class capability.

Given the anger issues and focus on strength we are going to go Barbarian. He will always be strong, but get even stronger when he really cares. Now, super people punch things, no weapons for them; however, the standard unarmed attack is measly and so is the tavern brawler feat. I'm thinking of making a Path of Strength for the barbarian that would increase unarmed damage and give big jumps, but so many of what the Totem Warrior abilities work well, Bear for the first two choices for resistance and strength, and eagle for the last ability for the jumping. Heck it even gives him his connection to Wolf. However, I wanted to keep the flavor for all the characters appropriate, and it isn't his connection to the spirits that makes him strong, but instead his own amazing strength. However, I can pull a lot of similar things that still fit. Maybe even give them sooner since it isn't a choice.

Alright, background should be Hermit? What does "grown in a tube" count as? I should probably come up with something like a Foundling or a Born Yesterday background, but they take so much work to do correctly. Hermit it is. Trapped in stasis, alone, learning...it's close enough.

Now for his race. I could do one of two things: A) Use the human or variant human, B) Make a Kryptonian race and give them big bonuses to Strength and Constitution and resistance to all damage except from magical sources. This could be extremely overpowered in a low-magic world, but actually pretty darn balanced in a magic heavy world or campaign. Or even just magic uncommon. Commoners couldn't bring you down easily, but rich people and magical things (most things) would have an advantage against you unless you destroyed them quickly.

Kryptonian
Ability Score Improvement. Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by 4.
Resistance. You gain resistance to all damage which doesn't come from a spell or magic attack.
Kryptonite Sensitivity. While within 30 feet of kryptonite, you lose the benefit of your Resistance race trait and you gain disadvantage on attacks, checks, and saves.

...oh Jesus. This is terrible. Kryptonite could show up in your games as little or as often as you'd like, which I guess has a good comic book feel. I think he'll just have to be super depowered from the show. What then to make his race? Half-elf fits the half-something/daddy doesn't love me vibe. Oh...oh....half-orc. You may think I'm crazy, but I don't care because then that means Superman is a full-blooded Orc with sunlight sensitivity. Some people would freak out about Superman not being human looking though. Let's be honest here, Kryptonians are sorcerer like people who get scorching ray from their eyes and cone of cold eventually and bonuses to Str and Con.

In fact...
Kryptonian (Second attempt)
Ability Score Improvement. Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by 4.
Resistance. You gain resistance to all damage that doesn't come from a spell or magic attack.
Kryptonite Sensitivity. While within 30 feet of kryptonite, you lose the benefit of your Resistance race trait and you gain disadvantage on attacks, checks, and saves.
Solar Powered Superhero. You can cast the x-ray vision spell once per day. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the scorching ray spell once per day. When you reach 11th level, you can also cast the cone of cold spell once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. If you haven't been in the sun for 24 hours

Oh man, I'm way off task because this wouldn't work for Superboy, only Superman.
I think we'll just do a human, or half-orc if you're okay looking funny. God, it is boring, but it works.
Well Superboy is a bit boring, so it fits.
Alright, now for the new barbarian path. Path of the Brawler? Sure.

Path of the Brawler
Some barbarians find their power, not in violence or spirits, but instead in the strength of their arms. The Path of the Brawler is a path of pure power and an expression of peak physical condition. You do not rely on weapons to destroy your enemies, and your rage only strengthens your resolve to destroy your enemies.

Powerful Blows
When you choose this path at 3rd level, you learn to strike forcefully. Your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 damage instead of the usual amount. While raging they instead deal 1d8 damage.

Massive Leap
At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you gain the ability to make amazing jumps. While raging, your jump distance is doubled and you gain advantage on all checks related to jumping.

Iron Body
At 6th level, your proficiency with brawling has increased the hardness of your body. Your unarmed attacks count as magical for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. In addition, when you begin a rage you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to your barbarian level.

Shockwave
At 10th level, you gain the ability to create a shockwave when you land. As a bonus action when landing from a jump, you can force all adjacent enemies to make a Dexterity saving throw against a difficulty equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier; on a failed save the creatures are knocked prone and take and take 5d10 force damage, on a successful save the creature still takes damage but remains standing. This ability recharges at the end of a short or long rest.

Knockout
At 14th level, you can use a bonus action to knock a Large or smaller creature prone when you hit it with an unarmed strike.

There we go. I will likely revisit this later once I do some testing with it, but I like how it looks. Now let's put it all together.

Connor Kent
Level 1 Variant Human Barbarian
Background: Soldier
Str 16 (+3), Dex 14 (+2), Con 16 (+3), Int 10 (+0), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 8 (-1)
HP 15, AC 15, HD 1d12
Saves: Str +5, Con +5
Speed: 30 feet
Languages: Common, Orc, Elvish
Skills: Animal Handling +2, Athletics +5, History +2, Intimidation +1, Perception +2

Unarmed Strike +5, 1d4+3 bludgeoning, can use bonus action on hit to attempt a grapple
Scimitar +5, 1d6+3 slashing, light
Dagger +5, 1d4+3 piercing, 20/60 range
Javelin +5, 1d6 piercing, 30/120 range

Feat: Tavern Brawler
Rage 2/day
Unarmored Defense

Gear: An insignia from those who created you, a monsters head, a set of common clothes, a shortsword, a dagger, an explorer's pack, four javelins.

Leveling up: Get Strength and Constitution up first followed by Dexterity and Wisdom for those amazing senses and reflexes. Choose the new path I made and enjoy punching and jumping things to death.

Since he was given some weapons, I figured we might as well use concealable ones that would let him do other kinds of damage. Also, I changed his background to soldier; the skills fit better and he was created to be a soldier. I still think half-orc superboy with full-orc superman sounds amazing. Or you could use elves and half-elves, but then the improved strength is harder to get. Heck, I still love that Superman isn't even a man. Humans are odd.

Friday Fiction: Lisa and the Light Pt. 3

This is a continuation of the Lisa and the Light story. Click the tags to read the previous entries.

This was not how Lisa imagined walking down the central aisle of a church. She imagined wearing a soft white dress that accentuated her breast. She imagined a tiara. She imagined a man in a tuxedo waiting for her at the altar. She imagined it was real. As she walked toward the empty altar, past the empty pews, she got the distinct sensation this was all a dream. And yet, the floor below her was solid enough, the musty smell was real enough, the sunlight through the stained glass windows, whose pictures depicted only geometric patterns, stung her eyes after the cool darkness of the unreal antechamber.

Arriving at the altar, it was hard to tell what the temple was worshiping. It seemed vaguely Catholic, but there were no crucifixes or other Christian signs. She thought she saw a yin yang symbol, and then perhaps that skinny Buddha she saw sometimes, as shapes in the windowpanes, but when looked at directly it was obvious they were only her imaginings. It was peaceful here though; she would admit that. Before she reached the altar, which seemed the obvious goal, she sat for a moment in a pew and tried to remember how she got to this place. She didn't care that she couldn't remember, not really, it just seemed odd. Lisa wore a tank top and jeans, she was barefoot, her hair was messy and she could feel a light layer of makeup on her face. Her survey gave Lisa little clues. Having expended her options for consideration, Lisa walked towards the altar, a wooden masterpiece at waist height covered with red velvet. At the altar were four items, from which she knew she needed to choose.

From right to left there was a hammer, about a foot and a half long, made of iron. The head of the hammer had the symbol of scales inscribed into it. The weapon looked heavy. Next to the hammer was a gilded small box with a chain. The device was beautifully wrought with images of hands and leaves and celestial bodies. As Lisa inspected the device wisps of sweet smoke began to rise from the device, she knew the smell of sandalwood from her friends who were stoners. The smell of the incense wanted to guide her away, but she turned to consider the other objects. Next was a string of wooden beads made from a light wood and well varnished. Each bead carried an engraving; they reminded Lisa of rosaries or of the beads she had seen Buddhist monks carry in pictures. Finally, her eyes carefully examined the last object, a heavy worn tome with gems encrusted and sigils hastily drawn on. It looked like it would take years to comb through fully.

Lisa immediately knew what she wanted: justice. Her hand extended to grasp the hammer and before she was transported again, her fingers traced the golden engraving of scales.

BiFrost: BiFrost Specifics Pt. 1

Before I can get into how society is affected by this whole new "you can have the powers of an rpg class" thing, I have to decide how those powers actually work and how they show up. I'm not sure where to start, so I figure I'll start with the process as an adventurer would see it.

The look of the BiFrost is important. If you couldn't tell from the name, it's kind of based on the rainbow bridge from Norse Legend of the same name. Now I don't want it to be straight up a rainbow; that idea lacks any fun and brings up too many leprechaun jokes. I also don't want to just completely copy the recent Thor movies and have it be a mineral of some sort. They way I've described it before is as a white light that has short streaks of other colors. Here a white-blue, a white-green, a white-indigo. It is always a column, and it bursts from the ground, creating rubble and scorch marks around it.

When you touch a bifrost you are teleported to a dungeon, however if this is your first time going through a bifrost you go on a detour. This is the choosing area. As I described it, it is a thick and heady area, that is meant to feel dreamy. There are three portals - a forest, a market, a temple - that eventually lead to four items per portal, twelve items in total. Each item represents a different rpg class, currently it represents those from the 5e PHB, but could easily be switched to Pathfinder or a different system. The forest leads to classes that have to do with the wilderness and chaos: barbarian, druid, ranger, and sorcerer. The market leads to civilized, but perhaps corrupt, classes: fighter, bard, rogue, warlock. Finally, the temple leads to classes of contemplation: cleric, paladin, monk, wizard.

I used to have all twelve items out, but that was overwhelming. I also thought about using the basic four classes only (cleric, rogue, fighter, wizard), but that really limits the options people have. Instead there are now four basic archetypes: warrior, expert, priest, and mage. Each archetype gets three flavors. Warriors can be barbarians, fighters, or paladins. Experts can be rogues, rangers, or monks. Mages can be sorcerers, warlocks, or wizards. Lastly, priests can be clerics, druids, or bards. Alright, the bard as a priest is a bit of stretch, but honestly I think entertainment is cathartic for most modern people. So currently you pick your flavor first, then your class. Do I like this? Maybe, I could switch it to where you pick your skill set first, then your flavor. I'll think on this, however currently I like the portals to items progression.

Alright, you pick your class. Boom, you've got its starting gear, along with anything you brought in with you. But what about guns? Use the gun rules from the DMG and make them simple weapons. What about other electronics? There is no service to satellites or anything and certainly no chargers, so a lot of things become useless. Can I drive a car in? No, it needs to be able to fit on your person. So you could probably fit some pretty big things, but likely not a car.

Alright, you are in the dungeon. You've got a weapon, you might have some spells, you might have some armor, and you've got your explorer's pack. What now? What does a dungeon look like?

Good question, I'll talk about that next time.

D&D Young Justice: M'gann M'orzz

Making Kaldur'ahm was extremely fun. Like exceedingly. And satisfying too. It was like finally playing with a PC you created and seeing them work perfectly. Like planning your main months before the MMO comes out and then when you play it's perfect. I want more of this feeling. I'm going to create the rest of the animated young justice main crew.

No one else is quite as standard fantasy as Kaldur, but that just means I'm going to have to be more creative. I might even have to give up trying to not change the flavor of the classes from that presented in the PHB. That's a long way off however because Wizards just released a perfect race for my challenge this week. 

First, who is the character I'm creating? Hello, Megan! It's M'gann M'orzz a.k.a. Ms. Martian. Another Young Justice character, she gets most of her powers from simply being a Martian. She and her uncle are similar to superman in that way. However, instead of being weak to kryptonite she is weak to heat. A little more common. Most martian powers boil down to telepathy, telekinesis, shape shifting, and its cooler cousin density shifting. 

Like I said earlier, Wizards made my job easier by releasing the Changeling class last week. Officially M'gann can also shift her clothes, but this works so well, that I don't really see an issue. So the race covers the cosmetic shape shifting, but what about the rest? Well to get telekinesis and telepathy and better shape shifting we are going to need to go arcane caster. M'gann doesn't study anything and she is extremely charismatic, so probably Sorcerer or Warlock. Looking at both options I really like the Warlock pact for all the telepathy and stuff, but the sorcerer chassis as a whole for being more powerful and having that innate feel to it. Her background is oh jeez this is hard, I want to say charlatan although see if your DM will let you switch sleight of hand for insight. She is good at reading people, not so much at stealing. 

Alright, since this is Homebrew Monday (I need a better name for this still), I'll cave and homebrew an Outsider origin for the Sorcerer class. I think it will give most of the easier telepathy stuff, and we'll leave the shape shifting to spells. Will this character be as powerful as the real M'gann? Heck no, but that's okay because this is D&D; we're lower on the power scale.

New Sorcerous Origin: Outsider Influence

Your innate magic comes from the influence of beings outside reality mingling with you or your bloodline. You might have been rescued from an assault by psychic aberrations and their warped magic warped you on accident. Instead, you may have sought out rituals and favors from these beings to not just borrow their power, but to change you forever. Some sorcerers with this origin are aliens themselves, or have the blood of aliens running through them.  No matter how you got this power, it strengthens your mind and your will. It runs through you, altering your physiology and psychology, for good or ill. In Eberron, I'm thinking influence for Xoriat or Dal'Quor could both work well to cause this bloodline. 

Cerebral Transmission

At 1st level, when you choose this origin, the alien influence allows your mind to connect with others. You gain telepathy out to 60 feet of you. You don't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic communication; however, if the creature doesn't speak a language, you only gain a feeling of its general emotions. 

Alien Form

The magic that flows through your body allows it to shift and bend in unforeseen ways. Your melee reach is extended by 5 feet, and you gain advantage on Dexterity checks to escape grapples or bonds. 

Mental Backlash

At 6th level, your experience fending off others thoughts has strengthened your will; you gain proficiency with Wisdom saving throws. In addition, whenever you succeed on a Wisdom or Charisma saving throw, you can spend 1 sorcery point as a reaction to either deal 2d10+sorcerer level damage to whatever creature forced you to make that save, or to instead make it take psychic damage equal to the damage inflicted upon you.

Perfect Adaptation

At 14th level, you no longer need to breathe and you have immunity to the poisoned condition and to poison damage. You also learn to survive in different environments. As an action, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain a swim speed or 2 sorcery points to gain a fly speed. Whichever you choose, the new speed equals twice your current speed and lasts for 1 hour. 

Psychic Superiority

At 18th level whenever you cast a spell of 1st-level or higher that requires the creature to make a Wisdom or Charisma save, you can also make that creature take 1d10 psychic damage per spell level on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. This is in addition to any damage the spell already deals. 

What I'm thinking: Alright, this might be crazy overpowered, but I don't care, because I think the sorcerer origins are a bit under-powered. Mental Link gives her telepathy and DM fiat can make it group telepathy with her facilitation. At one point, it also gave her access to vicious mockery, but she doesn't like using telepathy for fighting in the show, so I scrapped it; well at least not always, so I figure we leave psychic damage for the real spells. Alien form gives her some more shifting, as does perfect adaptation. Mental strength and psychic superiority are likely super unbalanced, but I think super flavorful and the first one won't come up very much and the second is 18th level so should be a pretty big deal. 

Alright, I decided she needs a good force telekinetic cantrip. 

New Spell for Sorcerers and Wizards

Mage Slap

Evocation cantrip

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: 60 feet

Components: V, S

Duration: Instantaneous

You quickly summon a hand of force to slap a creature. Make a ranged spell attack against a creature in range; on a hit, you deal 1d6 force damage to that creature and it cannot take reactions until the start of your next turn.  

   This spell's damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).

Alright, it's time to bring out M'gann.

M'gann M'orzz

Level 1 Changeling Sorcerer
Background: Charlatan
Str 8 (-1), Dex 11 (0), Con 14 (+2)
Int 12(+1), Wis 13(+1), Cha 16(+3)
HP 8, AC 10, HD 1d6
Saves: Con +4, Cha +5
Speed: 30 feet.
Languages: Common, Undercommon, Elvish, Telepathy to 60 feet
Skills: Arcana +3, Deception +5, Insight +3, Persuasion +5, Stealth +2

Reach of 10 feet with melee
Quarterstaff  +1, 1d6-1 bludgeoning, versatile d8
Dagger +2, 1d4 piercing, range 20/60
Mage Slap +5, 1d6 force, 60 ft. opponent can't make reactions

Sorcerous Origin: Outsider Influence (Cerebral Transmission, Alien Form)
Cantrips: blade ward, friends, mage hand, mage slap
1st-level spells: shield, sleep

Gear: Quarterstaff, component pouch, explorer's pack, two daggers, a set of fine clothes, a disguise kit, papers for Megan Morse.

Leveling up M'gann
Ability score improvements should up Charisma and Wisdom
Spell choices should focus around shape shifting yourself, telekinesis, and telepathy
(alter self, levitate, fly, detect thoughts, dominate/hold blank, polymorph)

Extremely Late Friday Fiction: Lisa Pt. 2

Sorry to myself and the one reader that this is so late. 
My brain really wanted me to forget about this blog and give up on it. But no. Let's do this.
More of Lisa!

Lisa felt the breath in her lungs. She could feel it filling her up. The air was heavy and it made exhaling difficult. She seemed to float and when she moved her arms and legs they barely moved. The urge to panic overcame her quickly, but adrenaline failed to save her. Instead, her thoughts were like cotton: soft, pliable, and fibrous. And then her feet were on the ground or at least a ground. The world dark around her, she could not see what her feet landed on, but it held her like a clay tennis court.

At once, blinding light started to rise from the ground in two separate lines in front of her. The line began to grow and rise in a column like a glass being filled until it became clear to be a doorway. As the lights in front of her finished forming their doors, Lisa became aware of a light behind her as well. She turned around quickly to see the blinding light give way to an image of a crowded marketplace. But it wasn't just an image, was it a movie, the people inside, dressed like the people in her history books, moved around and opened their mouths. She could not hear what they were saying, but it was obvious they were arguing over prices and announcing what they had for sale. The market street seemed to stretch on forever, but in the distance she could see the street led to a castle on a hill. Lisa put her hand forward to see if it would give and her hand passed through. But she recoiled it. Something told her she needed to see the other doors first. She wanted to think about how she got here and where she was going, but she couldn't seem to care. The doors were the only things that mattered just then.

The other doors showed two more scenes. One lead to a sunny temple, perhaps a cathedral, but there was no crucifix or other traditional Christian symbol. It looked clean and peaceful, it looked quiet and solitary. The other doorway held a moving image of a forest, the sunlight peeking through leaves to lead a deer path through the underbrush. A few animals moved in the trees and in the distance Lisa could see lake and behind that a mountain.

Never one to offer what movie to watch or where to eat, Lisa hated making decisions. She knew this about herself. And yet, after inspecting each door she quickly made up her mind. The other doors faded into memory as she tentatively thrust her hand into the temple. Her hand suddenly felt the cool air of autumn. She walked through the portal completely and turned around only to see the temples doors behind her, barred. The only way out was forward.

BiFrost: Purpose, Style, and Theme

According to Rich's amazing world building articles, it's good to start off a new fantasy world thinking about purpose, themes, and tone. And style apparently. This is a bit different then how he started because I already have my idea in place. But the more thinking and planning the better.

The main purpose of BiFrost as a setting is to A) Use in campaigns and publish to the world and B) to set up a good fantasy world for some stories I need to tell. Because this is going to be published for others to use it needs to have several adventure hooks and be somewhat interesting to people. This world won't be driven by an Overarching Story, because I kind of hate that. I think it'll be more like Eberron, several power groups, several possible villains.

Since there is no overarching story, the style needs to differentiate it. Luckily this is pretty easy. It's set today, right now, whatever technology you got, whatever is going on is also going on in this world. But with differences. There are the portals to dungeons and adventures called bifrosts because of their rainbow look. The stories you're gonna tell here are human stories, stories like those found in Dresden Files, or Tithe. Yeah, there will be some people with magic, the powers you get from going through a bifrost come back with you.

I'm getting way ahead of myself, but basically that's it. It's a d20 Modern Urban Arcana setting.

Rich posted a nice list of general things taken for granted in a fantasy setting.

1. Humans dominate the world.
2. Gods are real and active.
3. Magic is real and can be used by anyone who learns it.
4. Opposite alignments fight each other.
5. Arcane and divine magic are inherently separate.
6. The wilderness is separate enough from the cities to justify 3 wilderness-oriented classes.
7. There are hundreds of intelligent species of creatures, but 99% of them are considered "monsters".
8. Arcane magic is impersonal and requires no "deal" with a supernatural being.
9. Beings from other planes of existence try to influence the mortal world, usually on behalf of gods/alignments.
10. Magic items are assumed to be available, and game balance proceeds from that assumption.
11. Magic is consequence-free.

Most of this would stay the same for BiFrost. Human's dominate; god's don't walk the earth and realness is up to the individual, but at least no direct intervention; magic is real and you can get ti by going through a bifrost, wilderness may not be that separate in real life, but in the dungeons it is, all intelligent monsters live through the bifrost; magic is just magic and there is no deal or fealty; magic items are available...kind of; magic is consequence-free...as in, no sacrifice or anything.

So now comes the fun part:

THEME

I want BiFrost to focus on power, what it does to people and how it can be used. The way I've got it working in my head right now, when you enter a bifrost you gain a "class" likely just powers to most people. When you leave the bifrost and come back to the real world, you keep it, along with any non-living thing you bring with you (excluding animal companions and familiars).

So what happens when you get the chance to go on adventure?
What is it like when you return with treasure and powers?
How will people react to holding basically minor superpowers in their hands?
How will other people react to people with basically minor superpowers?
How will it affect relationships?
How will it affect the economy?
How will large power players?
How will religion react?
How will it affect crime?
How will it affect politics?

These are some big questions I'll need to answer as I start investigating and worldbuilding, some have already been stewing, but honestly never written down. That's what this blog is for, to start writing stuff down. To really consider how an influx of power, or really just the opportunity for it, (I mean, you have to make it out of the dungeon alive) affects people. Sometimes I like to think of things as metaphors, into the woods is about AIDS, first couple of x-men movies are about being gay, blah blah blah. I'm not sure if this will be metaphorical, though it has the potential to be. The bifrosts are opportunity, dangerous, but obvious. What are you going to do about it?

Eventually I'll have to come up with something to say. A bit of a thesis, an answer to my question, what can people do with power? But for now, it's fun to ask.

Next time I'll get into the more nitty gritty of the bifrosts and how the world reacts. 

D&D Young Justice: Kaldur'ahm

Usually this is where I would post some homebrew rules and start explaining them, but since I'm not that far into the worldbuilding side of my blog yet, I'm just going to turn some beloved characters into 5e characters. Deal? Deal.

I love Young Justice. Something about it just tickles me, probably because the first comic book I ever owned was Young Justice #3. 12-year-old me loved the fact that they were teenagers (hunky ones at that) and that they kind of ruined everything. The animated show delivered that and more. The characters had depth, the stories engaging. The death of that series is truly a tragedy.

Before its death, that amazing production introduced one of my favorite characters ever, Aqualad a.k.a. Kaldur'ahm. Kaldur was awesome; partly because he was a good but reluctant leader, partly because he made water weapons and had lightning!

Story-wise, he was a student at a magic academy in Atlantis who left to be Aquaman's sidekick. As far as background goes, we'll make him a sage. He was studying before he started adventuring, and he is pretty darn clever; seems appropriate. Now we need to represent his physical prowess and his more limited magical prowess, likely with a class. I want to avoid multiclassing if possible, partly because some DM's don't allow it, and partly because I want you to be able to play Kaldur from level 1. I also want to keep the same flavor for every D&D game so no Tempest cleric despite how easy that would be.

I think the best option is to actually do some homebrew. I'm thinking an Atlantean Sorcery Otherwordly Patron for the warlock class. I could give him electric powers, he could "summon" weapons of water, and...alright, while that fits, wouldn't it just be easier to let him multi-class and do 1 level of sorcerer before going eldritch knight. In fact, wouldn't it be easier to just make him a variant human with a magic initiate feat and instead convert some Pathfinder spells that control water. Good compromise Matt. Thanks, Matt. I should also homebrew an Atlantean race...

New Race

Atlantean

A race of underwater humanoids that look suspiciously human. Atlanteans live in their submerged cities, studying the mystic currents of the ocean, protecting it's creatures, and constructing beautiful feats of architecture.
Ability Score Increase. You Strength score increases by 2, and two of your other scores increase by 1.
Age. Atlanteans mature at the same rate humans do and reach adulthood around the age of 18.
Alignment. Atlanteans are almost always good, and usually lawful; however, there are always outspoken rebels.
Size. Atlanteans are about the same size as humans, ranging from 5 to 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet and your base swim speed is 30 feet.
Amphibious. Atlanteans can breathe both air and water.
Darkvision. Accustomed to the dark ocean floor, you have perfect vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Atlantean.

Variant Atlantean
If your campaign uses feats, your dungeon master might allow these variant traits, all of which replace the Atlantean's Ability Score Increase trait.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2.
Feat. You gain one feat of your choice.

What am I thinking?
Atlanteans are supposed to be able to withstand crazy pressure and be super strong. I don't want to get too crazy with bonuses, so +2 is enough. They are also human enough to get the feat variant to show differences. (Maybe I should add this option to all races?) Darkvision is also for living in the depths of the ocean. Hopefully, the swimming and water breathing should be obvious enough.

New Spells for Druids, Sorcerers, and Wizards

Hydraulic Push
1st-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
You summon a blast of water that knocks over and soaks one creature or square. Make a ranged spell attack against a creature, if it hits the creature takes 2d8 bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone. This spells also extinguishes any normal fire on a creature or object, or in a 5-foot square which it is targeted against. Magical fire is unaffected.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 1st.

Slipstream
2nd-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes.
You create a low-cresting wave of water that carries the target as they move. The target's land speed improves by 10 feet. In addition, the target's swim speed increases by 20 feet; if the target does not have a swim speed it instead gains a swim speed of 20 feet.

Hydraulic Torrent
3rd-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 60 feet.
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
You summon a powerful stream of elemental water 60 feet long and 5 feet wide at the base. Everything in the line must make a Strength saving throw. A creature or object in its path takes 6d6 bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The water extinguishes normal fires it encounters along its path. Magical fires are unaffected.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd.

Kaldur'ahm
Variant Atlantean Fighter 1
Background: Sage
Str 16 (+3), Dex 12 (+1), Con 12 (+1)
Int 12 (+1), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 12 (+1)
HP 11, AC 16 (chainmail), HD 1d10
Saves: Str +5, Con +3
Speed 30 ft., Swim 30 ft.
Languages: Atlantean, Common, Draconic, Elvish
Skills: Arcana +3, Athletics +5, History +3, Insight +3
Feats: Magic Initiate (Wizard)

Scimitar +5, 1d6 +3, slashing (has two and attacks twice)
Light Hammer +5, 1d4+3, slashing 20 ft./60 ft.
Shocking Grasp: +3 1d8 lightning

Fighting Style: Two-Weapon Fighting
Second Wind
Cantrips: shocking grasp, true strike
Shield once a day

Gear: Chain mail, two scimitars, two handaxes, an explorer's pack, a bottle of black ink, a small knife, a clue to your father's identity, a set of common clothes, a belt pouch containing 10 gp.

Leveling up Kaldur:
I would say get the War Caster feat ASAP.
Choose Eldritch Knight for your Martial Archetype.
Pump up his Str first, then Int and Cha.
Inspiring Leader would be another flavorful choice as well as Battle Master.

Your DM won't let you play with my new race? Just use a Variant Human for the feat, if no feats then Half-Elf to get that half-human feel and some nice bonuses.