BiFrost: Spell Effects and Flavor for my Organizations

For the past few weeks I've been working on a class quiz for 5e classes which acts similar to how I want the tailor to act in BiFrost. I've been working the alchemy to get it right with HelloQuizzy, but I'm hitting a lot of snags.

On the bright side, it has given me a lot of time to think about the different subclasses and how the differ. This led me down another path, which is the manifestation of powers and the effects they have. I like the idea that there are themes to the spell effects, but that they can differ based on person and on class/subclass. For example, Incarnates would have halos/circlets when they cast their spells and the effects would have similar qualities. An Incarnate of Light would gain a halo when they cast their spells, and any visual effects would be light-based, while an Incarnate of Knowledge would get a halo of runes and letters around their head, and their effects would be similar. 

I like this becaus it adds a little more magic to the world. Lets see if I can come up with a few effects while I'm here. 

Brawler - Auras: Power=White, Shadow=Black, Elemental=Shifts based off last ki power used

Dynamo - Monstrous gets crackles of energy, Wild gets 

Hero - Eldritch Knight looks like mage (Right triangle & Ovals)

Hunter - Change to bestial eyes

Incarnate - Halos (Runes, Fluid, Light, Horn and Leaf, Clouds, Smoke, Chakram)

Juggernaut - Bulging muscles like Dragon Ball Z for berserker, fur/feathers for totemist

Mage - Shapes within circles (Abjuration - Oval, Conj - Pentagram, Divination - Heptagon,

             Ench - Spiral, Evok - Right Triangle, Illu - Equilateral Triangle, Necro - , Trans - Pentagon)

Knight - Small Wings (Light for Devotion, Animal for Light, Smoke for Vengeance)

Naturalist - Land gets spectral plants, rivers, and mountains; Beast gets spectral beasts

Performer - Musical plays: melodious and playful for Lore, grand and aggressive for Commander

Prowler - Arcane trickster looks like mage (Spirals & Equi. Triangles)

Witch - Fey get faeries and bursts of chills and warmth; Infernal get smoke, cinders, and frost; Void get coiling shadows with hints of eyes and mouths. 

I also have the idea that the spellbooks wizards carry are books they pick and only other wizards and tome witches can see what is inside them. Stuff like that, to just give the world a little more flavor. 

Along the same lines, I've been thinking about how the organizations I came up with are great powers, but lack flavor. That is something I need to work on in the future, Mostly, this post is a reminder to me to not let those orgs be boring. 

TTFN

D&D Avengers: The Hulk

The Hulk! Doing these in the order of their appearance in the cinematic universe is fun, it's helping me see how that area has evolved and how old that world is getting. Officially I could do Nick Fury right now, but he literally just shows up at the end of Ironman, so I don't feel like we've seen enough of him to make a character. At least, not yet.

But anyways...THE HULK!

Dr. Bruce Banner was hit by a blast of gamma radiation that turns his anger management issues into a superpower. Basically he is a Barbarian with a Sorcerer origin. Since that is way too complicated to work with I'm just going to make a new Barbarian archetype that allows a change in size and gets rid of the need to keep attacking, but also gets rid of some agency. That should make it a little more even and give us that nice, rampaging Hulk feel that we love so much. Would it probably be easier to do a later Hulk who has control and stuff like that? Yeah, probably, but where is the fun in easy?

Path of the Giant
Some barbarians don't control their rage, instead it consumes them. The Path of the Giant is a path of great power, but also of of great destruction. As you enter your rage, you become a mindless beast driven by anger and chaos.

Colossal Anger
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you change size when you rage. Your size doubles in all dimensions, and your weight is multiplied by eight. This growth increases your size by one category - from Medium to Large, for example - and increases your stride, doubling your walking speed. Your weapon and armor grow to match your size. While your weapons are enlarged, including unarmed strikes, your attacks with them deal 1d4 extra damage. When your rage ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion.

(DM Option: You can allow the rage to last until all threats are defeated if you also require a Wisdom saving throw with a difficulty of 15 to control the character each turn.)

Powerful Transformation
At 6th level, your transformation into a huge monster also toughens your skin. While raging, you have resistance to all damage except psychic. In addition, you deal double damage to objects.

Improved Metabolism
At 10th level you become immune to disease, poison damage, and the poisoned condition. In addition when you enter a rage, you heal a number of hit-points equal to your barbarian level.

Thunderclap
At 14th level you can clap your hands together with amazing force. As an action, while raging, you can clap your hands together to create wave of thunderous force that sweeps out from you. Each creature in a 30-foot cube originating from you must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 8d8 thunder damage and is pushed 40 feet away from you. One a successful save, the creature takes half damage and is pushed only 20 feet.
    In addition, unsecured objects that are completely within the area of effect are automatically pushed 40 feet away from you by the effect of the thunderclap, and the clap emits a thunderous boom audible out to 300 feet. You regain the ability to use this thunderclap after a short or long rest.

I tried to make it pretty dissimilar from the Path of the Brawler I did for Superboy and his super-strength ilk. I ended up taking away the madness, allowing it to be role-played instead, though I could see it as the downside to Colossal Anger instead of the exhaustion. This build is definitely all about a crazy strong rage. I could also see a mechanic more similar to the Druid wilshape, but that feels a little like stepping on the druid's toes. I think it's okay that this isn't min-maxed at all. In fact, I could see explaining a high strength as being residual effects, where the monster only shows up when raging. I like this explanation.

Bruce Banner
Level 1 Variant Human Barbarian
Background: Sage
Str 16 (+3), Dex 10 (+0), Con 14 (+2)
Int 14 (+2), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
HP 14, AC 12, HD 1d12
Saves: Str +5, Con +4
Speed: 30 feet
Languages: Common, Gnomish, Orc, Giant
Skills: Arcana +4, History +4, Medicine +2, Nature +4, Perception +2

Unarmed Strike +5, 1d4+3 bludgeoning, on a hit use a bonus action to grapple
Longsword +5, 1d8+3 slashing, versatile 1d10+3
Dagger +5, 1d4+3 piercing, 20/60, light, finesse
Quarterstaff +5, 1d6+3 bludgeoning, versatile 1d8+3

Feat: Tavern Brawler
Rage 2/day
Unarmored Defense

Gear: A bottle of black ink, a quill, a small knife, a letter from a colleague about your "condition", a set of common clothes, a shortsword, a quarterstaff, an explorer's pack, four daggers

Leveling Bruce: As Bruce explore his hulk personality more and more, he will grow in power. Up his Str, Con, Int, and Wis. This expresses his conquering his base nature and also growing in strength as the magical radiation spreads within him. Take the Path of the Giant to grant him size, speed, and eventually destruction, healing, and thunderclap. He will be a veritable monster when raging, and still pretty useful when not. I would probably play him mostly as a skill monkey who chooses to fight only when it is necessary. He calls on his gifts (a high str, and con) when he must and maybe looks more muscled then. But when he rages, the beast is unleashed, growing in size and power.

I might do this again as a druid. We'll see. I added a DM option on Colossal Anger in the hopes of adding some fun if both the DM and player are comfortable with it.

D&D Avengers: Iron Man

I decided I'd go in order of the release of the movies leading up to the Avengers. This is mostly by memory, so if I get htings out of order I apoligize. What I do remember is that Ironman and one Robert Downey Jr. started it all.

First lets pick a race, thats the easy part. Tony Stark is human to the core, he is good and pretty chaotic, but can be neutral to evil when upset or worried about the safety of those he loves. I would love to see people change his race to something more fun like gnome, or half-elf, but for now we'll go with our canon human.

Next up is background. Looking through our options, Noble looks like the best bet. He grew up in money and inhereted his daddys firm and important name. If that isn't aristocrat entitlement I don't know what is.

Finally, we've got class. You could jury rig something out of a Warlock and add a Technology pact, but a long time ago I created an Artificer class, and given Mr. Starks ability to tinker and create, I think it would be the best fit. I'm not sure between Tinkerer and Battlesmith. Ultimately, while battesmith would give him better armor, tinkerer gives him more spellstoring items, which works better. We'll just make the armor an artifact.

Or better yet! I'll make a new tradition, the tradition of the Bulwark

Tradition of the Bulwark
Bonus Proficiencies: When you enter this tradition at level 3, you gain proficiency with medium armor, heavy armor, and smith's tools.

Bonded Armor: At 3rd level, you learn a ritual that creates a bond between you and one set of armor. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The armor must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the armor and forge the bond.
    Once you have bonded the armor to yourself, it cannot be removed from you unless you are
incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon the armor onto yourself as a bonus action, causing it to instantly appear on you.
    You can have up to two bonded armors, but can summon only one at a time with your bonus action. If you attempt to bond with a third armor, you must break the bond with one of the other two.
     You can use your armor as an implement for satisfying the material component of spells, assuming the material component doesn't have a listed cost.

Power Armor: At 6th level, you can cast a cantrip as a bonus action while wearing your bonded armor.
    In additon, as a bonus action, you can expend a use of your Infused Equipment die when casting a spell in your bonded armor and add the result to the spell's damage.

Perfect Integration: At 14th level, your understanding of your bonded armor has become transcendant. You can concentrate on two spells while in your bonded armor, as long as both spells only target yourself.

This might be insanely overpowered with multiclassing, but looking at it now it'll just be a cantrip throwing (so makshift wand basically), armored, monster. The only real spell combos with perfect integration are things like Invisbility and Fly, or Stoneskin and Alter Self. Nothing terribly terrifying and you can only do it on yourself.

Tony Stark
Level 1 Human Noble Artificer
Str 11 (+0), Dex 11 (+0), Con 12 (+1)
Int 16 (+3), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 16 (+3)
HP 8, AC 11, HD 1d8
Saves: Con +3, Int +5
Speed: 30 feet
Languages: Common, Elvish, Dwarven
Proficiencies: Tinker's Tools, Playing Cards
Skills: Arcana +5, History +5, Investigation +5, Persuasion +5

Infused Light Crossbow +5, 1d8+3 piercing, 80/320
Infused Dagger +5, 1d4+3 piercing, 20/60
Makeshift Wand +5, 1d8 fire or thunder, 60

Artificer Knowledge
Cantrips: infuse weapon, makshift wand, mending
1st-level Spells: inflict damage, repair damage, mage armor, jump

Gear: A light crossbow and 20 bolts, a wand, a scholar's pack, leather armor, a dagger, tinkerer's tools, fine clothes, a signet ring, and a scroll of pedigree

Leveling Tony Up
Grab the new Bulwark tradition I made to give him some awesome armor and great abilities to go with it. He'll be a blasting tank that can fly and go invisible. Who wouldn't love that?
    With the ability score increases, go for Int and then grab some feats that look fun like Crossbow Expert.
    Finally for spells, Tony is mostly about buffing himself and also a bit about knowledge, grabbing all the buffs and divination spells would fit really well with his character.

D&D Avengers: The Plan

It was a ton of fun to work on the D&D Young Justice, but unfortunately a lot of my friends and supporters had no idea who they were. Well, Avengers 2: Age of Ultron just came out and I'm pretty sure everyone has seen it. So it makes sense to give them the same treatment I gave my favorite animated team. The question is who I should start with. If we look at the Avengers, so many of them are similar to the Young Justice team. Quicksilver is no different from Kid Flash, and Robin and Black Widow are crazy similar, same goes for Vision and Miss Martian. There are differences in background and stats though. I think I'll have to do other homebrew then, things like spells and feats. Also, the team is VERY human, I'm thinking it would make sense to introduce my Modern Races as well. Though maybe I'll start using them before I fully explain them.

Captain America - Human Battlemaster Fighter with a magical shield
Thor - Human Champion Fighter with an artifact hammer
Hulk - Human Hulking Barbarian
Hawkeye - Human Battlemaster Fighter with that quiver I gave Artemis
Ironman - Human Noble Bulkark Artificer
Black Widow - Human Assassin Rogue, with Electric Clubs
Nick Fury - Human Spymaster Rogue

Vision - Warforged Enlightened Sorcerer
Quicksilver - Way of Celerity Monk
Scarlet Witch - Wild Magic Sorcerer

BiFrost: A Question of Genre

I've been working on this BiFrost campaign for several months now. And while I think it is shaping up nicely, it is missing a lot of "things" still. Usually I don't like to be vague and just say "things" I want to tell you what those specific unknowns are, but unfortunately they are currently unknown. In this post I hope unobscured the goals of what is taking the honestly boring world of BiFrost and put it into the "hey this is a real cool setting" area.

1) As I write this, I suddenly realize that my world is missing characters. Presidents, leaders, famous people, outlaws, vigilantes, etc. While I had the foresight to focus in on organizations, I didn't think that maybe some real people, with real personalities, should head those organizations. This is something I still need to do. Not just potential characters, but real power players.

2) I need to pick a genre and tone, or at least have a few possible genre and tones in mind. Currently I'm skimming somewhere around literary fiction and urban fantasy. I like that area, but honestly I don't feel comfortable that I've teased out the parts of those two genres I like to work them into the world.

3) Art. Even if it doesn't fit perfectly, I need to start grabbing inspirational art to help me visualize the world. I imagine this can do a lot for making these posts more palatable as well.

When I think of my favorite fantasy worlds, I want to think about what I like most about them. Eberron, Tortall, Golarion, etc. What do I like about them?

Well from Eberron I like the noir feel, the funky but realistic religions, the inclusion of psionics, and the importance of each race. I also love the prevalence of magic, the dragonmarked houses, and the fact that most races aren't monstrous, thought some segments of them are still enemies. It doesn't completely upend the tropes of traditional D&D, but it certainly takes a good long look at them.

From Tortall, it is mostly the tone of bucking stereotypes and being at the forefront of progressive policies. I also really enjoy that a good chunk of people in these novels are complete assholes, and that the cultures are always treated with respect, even if they might do some awful things like slavery, genocides, etc. Pierce obviously has things to say about the world, and she says them.

Golarion I don't actually like that much. It's regions around that middle lake is all kinds of crazy and it seems a lot of segments of its population east in near isolation. However, I don't think that is crazy, and in fact many of the areas I like a lot. Specifically I love their takes on a an African and Asian inspired continent. With both Garund and the Dragon Empire they are able to pull from stories and history of these non-western civilizations without making them look ridiculous or over romanticizing them. In fact, I would say that of all the real-world inspired fantasy worlds, (Westerns, Faerun, etc.) Golarion does the best job of being inoffensive while still not shying away from different cultures.

I'm not sure what this means for BiFrost, but it was a good thought experiment to discuss it, and hopefully by next time I will have tagged down a tone and a few genres.

BiFrost Homebrew: Modern Backgrounds Pt. 5

Religious
Ordained clergy of all persuasions, as well as theological scholars, are all in the religious occupation. You are a leader of your faith or at least well respected and are recognized by those who share your faith. How did you get called to this profession, was it fate or were you trained for it? Did you attend seminary? Are your views controversial or are you conservative? Is the faith you follow the majority where you are or are you in danger if you get too loud?
Skill Proficiencies: Humanities and Insight
Languages: Two languages of your choice
Equipment: A holy symbol, a set of professional clothes, a holy book, and $500.
Feature: Faithful Flock
You are well respected in the community of your chosen faith. Others will recognize you as a leader or scholar and offer you short term aid if you require it.

Rural
Farm workers, hunters, ranchers, and others who make a living in rural communities fall under this occupation. You work close to the earth and practice one of the oldest and most important professions. Are you the stereotypical simple farmer, or are you cultured, but enjoy working the land? What do you grow or raise? Do you do well, or are you struggling?
Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling and Survival
Tool Proficiencies: One musical instrument and Vehicles (Land)
Equipment: A small knife, a musical instrument, a set of comfortable clothes, and $500.
Feature: Hospitality
You are easily identified as country folk and others of that ilk will take a liking to you and help you when you are in need as long as it doesn’t affect them too much.

Student
A high school, college, or graduate student. Your main activity is learning. This might be in preparation for your future career, or it might be for the love of knowledge. What are studying? Why are you studying it? Are you on scholarship, are you taking out loans, or are you working as well? Do you socialize with other students or stay focused on your studies?
Skill Proficiencies: Current Events and one of either Humanities or Science.
Tool Proficiencies: One set of artisan’s tools, musical instrument, or gaming set
Languages: One language of your choice
Equipment: A set of comfortable clothes, a book, a pen and pad, $250.
Feature: Find your Tribe
You’ve got some larger group - a sorority, professional society, anime club - that will help you in times of need and give you what information they can.

Technician
Scientists and engineers of all types are technicians. A technician focuses on the application of science to invent, study, experiment, and create useful tools. They are focused on technology either through hardware or software. You have immense technical skills, more than just how to fix, but also how to create. What kind of technician are you; do you work with robotics, on bridges, or with some form of a telescope? Do you enjoy your work? Are you at the forefront of your research or do you work below someone else who receives the glory? What are you hoping to create?
Skill Proficiencies: Science and Investigation
Tool Proficiencies: Chemist’s Tools and Computing Kit
Equipment: A set of professional clothes, pen and pad, and $750.
Feature: Mechanical Acumen
You can attempt to fix and create small devices with the materials you have. The DM is ultimate decider of what you can create or fix quickly and the difficulty of doing so, but where others would need hours, you need minutes to jury rig something mechanical.

White Collar
Desk jockeys, lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, bank personnel, financial advisors, tax preparers, clerks, sales personnel, real estate agents, and a variety of mid-level managers fall within this occupation. A white collar worker is usually considered average, but some have loftier jobs like CEO or Partner at a law firm. They are usually good with business in some respect. What kind of job do you have; are you a clerk or a manager? Do you enjoy your job, or is it a means to an end? Do you like your coworkers, or are they the bane of your existence?
Skill Proficiencies: Persuasion and Insight
Tool Proficiencies: One gaming set
Languages: One language of your choice
Equipment: A set of professional clothes, business cards, a pen, and $750.
Feature: Networking
You have skill using your contacts and affiliations to move forward in the world. After spending some time in a location, you can use professional contacts to get certain favors such as finding a new job, clients, or even discounts. If you have notice you can arrange for favors in other cities as well through your contacts.

BiFrost: The Daredevil Effect & The Tailor

1) Sorry this is late

2) Like most people with Netflix, I have just finished watching Daredevil. I love it. I really enjoyed the gritty feeling, and the various skills everyone brought to the team. I actually liked that the plot of the "mundanes" and that of Daredevil ran side-by-side, especially getting to see all the villain stuff as well. Kingpin was a bit of a wildcard, but it was all very solid.

Something that the show did well is making the inclusion of the ninja's, the "fire-vision," the Stick, and the mystical Madam Gao, feel seamless. Even their offhand mentions of the events of the Avengers film fit in really well. Overall I think it was a good show, go watch it.

My real point is that it got me thinking about how surely some of the delvers in this setting would try to be vigilantes. I'm going to guess, to little success if they try and go the superman route of being out and proud.A good chunk of the police and villains can and likely will be delvers as well, so their acceptance of those outside the law will likely be little. However, it's nice to imagine a few vigilantes who are able to either successfully work from the shadows or are a dirty little secret of the local police.

So the real point of this post is to be a post-it note. There will be delvers who try to better the world from behind the scenes, and would likely take up superheroesque personalities. The Black Witch of San Diego, the St. Louis Hero, the Badger of Ann Arbor, etc.

3) I've been thinking and rethinking how characters will choose a class. And I keep thinking back to something like the Sorting Hat, but I want there to be a little more choice. I kept trying to do something where the characters choose from symbolic locations and items. However, everyone interprets things very different ways, and I hate the idea that someone would get the wrong thing just because they think differently from me.

My solution is an entity, similar to the sorting hat, who I'm calling the Tailor. He helps people find a set of powers that fits them best, he looks at their natural talent (ability scores) and makes suggestions and explains what's going on. He'll likely offer them symbolic items and energies and do a little explaining, but he'll still be enigmatic and mysterious.

The more I talk about this idea, the better I like it.