Anything BUT whatever dumb ass 💩 WotC has recently done or is currently doing, literally ANYTHING

Quote from SpiderTrapper >>

Ok, so, I had a great (at least, i think it's great, though i'm usually wrong) idea: instead of build an adventure? what about build a character? most of y'all know how this works, its like create an adventure: someone (me, in this case) posts a list of questions for each aspect of the character/adventure & someone answers each of the questions, building off previous answers.

1. What is the Character's name? Why did their parents (or themselves) choose this name? what signifigance does it have in their life?
2. What is the Character's race? Do they connect with the culture of that race? if so, how?
3. What is the Character's class? how did they gain the abilities & powers of that class? how does it tie into their backstory?
4. What is the Character's background? what made them choose to become an adventurer? what was a profound experience they had relating to their background before they became an adventurer?
5. Who are 5 Individuals who have made an impact on this Character's life? was this impact negative or positive? does the character still interact with these individuals?
6. How did the Character meet their current adventuring party? who among this party are they close to? do they have any interesting dynamics (IE, friendly or not so friendly rivalrys; romantic relationships; ETC)?

Anyone is free to answer these questions, but please respect others contributions and build off them. if you have any questions, just ask, and me or another one of the participants will provide answers. (god, I feel like such an overbearing employee at some big store)

Quote from TheFriendlyArchfey >>

1: Their name is Lavender. This is because of the color of her eyes, a strange shade of lavender that the parents thought was some sort of sign from the gods.

Quote from WoodsGirl0402 >>

2. Lavender’s family are wood elves, but they identify as a high elf because they’re more in tune with the arcane mysticism of the Weave than the simple beauty of nature.

Quote from Fry_Doodles >>

I made a new thing!

3: lavender is a necromancer, and they love collecting bones to adorn their staff.

Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

Quote from IamSposta >>

Quote from Fry_Doodles >>

new thread!

 
Why?

 I think they mean they made a new thread in the RP section.

4. Lavender's parents were adventurers long ago. They retired after they realized the lich they slew at the peak of their career wasn't actually evil. When young Lavender began showing a strong interest in necromancy, her parents decided to ignore everyone's opinions and the infamous history of necromancy, and move to the abandoned lich dungeon where she could pursue her dream. They hope to somehow redeem themselves for what they did back then, and can't imagine that their own daughter might have a dark side.

Quote from Wysperra >>

5a. Jandalf, a friend of Elves for hundreds of years. Mostly known for his kind smile, warm heart, and fireworks. Old folk know he is a wizard of great power. First to introduce Lavender to the world of magic. 

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Who are 5 Individuals who have made an impact on this Character's life?

Kryniss Everweave - This is a the home/dungeon of an ancient elf - who had grown fearful of his own immortality. He began taking in students - to teach them magic - all the while siphoning their life essence very slowly to place into his own. Because his students were often young elves, the ritual of taking their life essence went unknown for centuries. It was only when Kryniss had clearly outlived so many that suspicion that something else was at play. Kryniss was scorned - and sealed in his dungeon - where he created an infinite circle of trying to use his own life essence to make his own last longer. Many would come seeking things from this dungeon that was now unsealed after a massive earthquake - and those who did, found death instead. Kryniss - from beyond the grave - now whispers to those eager to learn the darker sides of magic...

 

Next NPC they know? I don't want to do all five - and give folks a chance to add. :)

 
Also bumping this - as we still need 3 more NPCs for the above.

Oxaen Vultris- A friend of Lavender and their family, they owe him a favor.

You see, a family running away from a village (or wherever they lived before the dungeon) after being accused of necromancy isn't the best look. So, they pursued and tried to find this family. Oxaen is an adventurer, hired for a few gold, that was sent to find these "foul beings of necromany". They had leads on the dungeon, and Lavender's family would have been exposed if another adventurer had come. But Oxaen, seeing the family is completely normal, lied to the rest of the wood elves and said nothing was there, causing them to search elsewhere until they gave up. And so, since the family practically owes him his life, they all treat him with the utmost respect (he lives near the dungeon, and visits now and then).

4 - Grimnoc the Foul - A hobgoblin who sought to claim the dungeon for his master, Grimnoc had no soldiers and no battle prowess of his own. Instead he spent an entire year harassing the family with Animal Messengers, trying to get them to leave. Some carried rancid remains, some were drenched in various pheromones or sewage, others only had rude messages. Eventually the warband moved on but Lavender will never look at small woodland creatures the same way again.

The raccoon was an NPC for the build a char thing, the “stud ghost” was talking about the art that Drakenbrone posted. The question of a good char creator site was for a different character I’m currently playing. Canonically, the 1/2 Asii, 1/2 Tief will now be called the Dut-stogh (try to guess why)

Anybody read or watched the Demon Slayer manga/anime? I just started and I'm tying myself into knots trying to think of how it would fit into a D&D game. Makes me remember the end of 3.5e fondly, when the Tome of Battle was written.

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

 Anybody read or watched the Demon Slayer manga/anime? I just started and I'm tying myself into knots trying to think of how it would fit into a D&D game. Makes me remember the end of 3.5e fondly, when the Tome of Battle was written.

 
So, I have to ask:

Do you mean the overarching storyline?

Do you mean the unique powers of the swordsmen?

Do you mean the Demons themselves and the hierarchy for them?

Storyline and demons are fairly easy, so I suspect the key is to give the fighters some kinds of gishy abilities.

The answer is right there in the show -- they are subclasses built around breathing styles.

Been developing out Wyrlde for 5 years -- and that means I had a LOT of asks from the younger and the anime loving players to find a way to add such things into the game, lol.

For me, I worked them into my "Orders", which are like feats that classes can get (and are the counterpoint to "Mysteries", which are about magic, so you can only have one or the other). not precisely those things, but ultimately it would be possible.

Subclasses or feats.

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

 Anybody read or watched the Demon Slayer manga/anime? I just started and I'm tying myself into knots trying to think of how it would fit into a D&D game. Makes me remember the end of 3.5e fondly, when the Tome of Battle was written.

 
So, I have to ask:

Do you mean the overarching storyline?

Do you mean the unique powers of the swordsmen?

Do you mean the Demons themselves and the hierarchy for them?

Storyline and demons are fairly easy, so I suspect the key is to give the fighters some kinds of gishy abilities.

The answer is right there in the show -- they are subclasses built around breathing styles.

Been developing out Wyrlde for 5 years -- and that means I had a LOT of asks from the younger and the anime loving players to find a way to add such things into the game, lol.

For me, I worked them into my "Orders", which are like feats that classes can get (and are the counterpoint to "Mysteries", which are about magic, so you can only have one or the other). not precisely those things, but ultimately it would be possible.

Subclasses or feats.

 
To be clear, I'm looking into this as a thought experiement. I don't really like playing characters out of existing fiction.

But to answer your question, the swordsmen mostly. The demons have interesting abilities, but monsters are easier to balance than PC-facing features, in my experience. The breathing techniques seem to exist in a space between subclass, spell, and feat. That's why I'm thinking back to the Tome of Battle. Maneuvers in that book were granted by the classes introduced in that book, but fit perfectly in this space. The breathing techniques also would fit perfectly in 4e as exploits. But in 5e? Not so easy.

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

 Anybody read or watched the Demon Slayer manga/anime? I just started and I'm tying myself into knots trying to think of how it would fit into a D&D game. Makes me remember the end of 3.5e fondly, when the Tome of Battle was written.

 Never watched it. Two of my players are heavy into anime - and have told me about some - and I've watched some they've recommended that they think I'd enjoy.

Over all, the general "genre" of anime isn't for me - but the ones I was recommended (like recently, I think it was called The Far Away Paladin... I could see how some of it could be churned into a D&D type thing if someone wanted to go that route).

Quote from AllMightyLordOfDND >>

The raccoon was an NPC for the build a char thing, the “stud ghost” was talking about the art that Drakenbrone posted. The question of a good char creator site was for a different character I’m currently playing. Canonically, the 1/2 Asii, 1/2 Tief will now be called the Dut-stogh (try to guess why)

 
I use HeroForge to create art for my characters. If you can describe what you want in some detail I’d be more than happy to whip something up for you. I can do some pretty darned amazing things with HF.

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Quote from Gnomarchy >>

 Anybody read or watched the Demon Slayer manga/anime? I just started and I'm tying myself into knots trying to think of how it would fit into a D&D game. Makes me remember the end of 3.5e fondly, when the Tome of Battle was written.

 Never watched it. Two of my players are heavy into anime - and have told me about some - and I've watched some they've recommended that they think I'd enjoy.

Over all, the general "genre" of anime isn't for me - but the ones I was recommended (like recently, I think it was called The Far Away Paladin... I could see how some of it could be churned into a D&D type thing if someone wanted to go that route).

Ya know I'm not a huge anime guy, myself. I just found myself in front of a netflix show with my sister, and fell in love with the animation. Then I started to miss the days of interesting martials.

Demon Slayer is extremely pretty. My interest in it fell off pretty quickly though. It's very much Playing The Hits of the shonen action anime genre, but that's a genre for people younger than me. I need something more to stay engaged I guess. It was the second or third time the hero overcame impossible odds by simply wanting it really badly, when I thought, y'know, I think I'm done here.

The only move I saw was some kind of water style. I don't really recall what made it special in the fiction. Kinda just a really powerful sword strike I think. Looked neat though, but that doesn't exactly translate to a TTRPG, lol.

Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

Demon Slayer is extremely pretty. My interest in it fell off pretty quickly though. It's very much Playing The Hits of the shonen action anime genre, but that's a genre for people younger than me. I need something more to stay engaged I guess. It was the second or third time the hero overcame impossible odds by simply wanting it really badly, when I thought, y'know, I think I'm done here.

The only move I saw was some kind of water style. I don't really recall what made it special in the fiction. Kinda just a really powerful sword strike I think. Looked neat though, but that doesn't exactly translate to a TTRPG, lol.

 
Oh, I'm still pretty early in. Darn. I guess I'll have to stick with my preferred fiction which can only be described as "teh weird stuff". Speaking of which, who else has read Perdido Street Station by China Mieville?

I mean, if you're enjoying it, you certainly shouldn't stop on my account.

I haven't, but I enjoyed The City & The City, so I'd be willing to give it a try.

I am...

Not a teenage boy or young man.

I am not enthralled by power fantasies. Which, yes, I know, makes it odd for D&D and all that, lol, but the major factors that drive my possible interest in any anime show are that 1 - the lead by a woman, and 2 - I like the art style.

outside of that, there is no telling.

But that first one? Yeah, that guts most stuff.

A few exceptions exist -- SAO, Slime, Goblin Slayer, Shield Hero -- but by and large, if it doesn't feature a woman as a lead, it is off my list. The exceptions are there for reasons other than my interest in the show, lol. SAO is conceptual, Slime is skating by due to semi-enby ace lead and worldbuilding, GS is useful for side quests, Shield is just a whole wtf.

on the other hand, I know a shocking amount of stuff about different anime, because, well, I am a grandmother that plays D&D, lol. I get told everything.

Needless to say, I don't watch much anime, and what I do watch usually isn't very popular (two current shows being an exception -- Freiren and Apothecary).

If you're looking for an interesting fantasy world with a female lead, you should try the Monstress graphic novels by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda. It's beautifully done.

Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

I mean, if you're enjoying it, you certainly shouldn't stop on my account.

I haven't, but I enjoyed The City & The City, so I'd be willing to give it a try.

Oh no, I just agree with you in that if it gets repetitive then I'll get bored. I was hoping that they would lean into the demons having different strategic weaknesses that required some brains to work out and beat.

I definitely recommend Perdido Street Station. It's delightfully strange.

I love SAO. I have the first book of Shield Hero but have yet to read it. 

Bubblegum Crisis

Madoka Magica

Sailor Moon - which I found surprisingly entertaining for a time

Appleseed

RWBY

Blade and Soul

Quote from Gnomarchy>>

If you're looking for an interesting fantasy world with a female lead, you should try the Monstress graphic novels by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda. It's beautifully done.

Met them at a con a while back, bought the first three books when they were still very new, been following ever since.

Quote from Wysperra >>

I love SAO. I have the first book of Shield Hero but have yet to read it. 

Bubblegum Crisis

Madoka Magica

Sailor Moon - which I found surprisingly entertaining for a time

Appleseed

RWBY

Blade and Soul

• SAO. ✅
• Shield Hero ✅
• Bubblegum Crisis ✅
• Madoka Magica ✅
• Sailor Moon
• Appleseed✅
• RWBY
• Blade and Soul✅

Staying with D&D relatable, lol (or you get Sakura Quest and food and camping and...added)

• Chaika, Coffin Princess
• A Certain Scientific Railgun (used this for subplots!)
• Fena: Pirate Princess 
• Ascendance of a Bookworm
• Yona of the Dawn
• Wandering Witch
• To Your Eternity
• in/Spectre
• Lycoris Recall (sorry, it must have slipped in there)
• Violet Evergarden
• Bofuri (really. I use it because it is exactly what happens when players go nuts)
• Kino’s Journey 
• Akame ga Kill

A handful of others, but they aren’t all that influential for me in D&D or haven’t given me useful story stuff.

(edited for bullets, formatting)

I've yet to see a euro-fantasy anime that I appreciate for its fantasy elements. Log Horizon and Shield Hero were engaging for their game elements, mostly. (And Shield Hero has a lot to answer for in terms of troublesome isekai tropes.) But I haven't seen most of those, either. Idk. It's not something I look for in anime.

I would be curious to see how much of the "I want anime in my D&D" crowd is clamoring for anime in the same genre as D&D, vs other stuff. Like I bet there's a fair amount of isekai enjoyers, probably a reasonable amount of eastern-fantasy fans, but how many are like... Mecha fans? Or shoujo romance? Are people trying to inject Death Note into their D&D games, do you think? Lol.

Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

I've yet to see a euro-fantasy anime that I appreciate for its fantasy elements. Log Horizon and Shield Hero were engaging for their game elements, mostly. (And Shield Hero has a lot to answer for in terms of troublesome isekai tropes.) But I haven't seen most of those, either. Idk. It's not something I look for in anime.

I would be curious to see how much of the "I want anime in my D&D" crowd is clamoring for anime in the same genre as D&D, vs other stuff. Like I bet there's a fair amount of isekai enjoyers, probably a reasonable amount of eastern-fantasy fans, but how many are like... Mecha fans? Or shoujo romance? Are people trying to inject Death Note into their D&D games, do you think? Lol.

So, by and large, the folks wanting to inject anime into their stuff tend very strongly to avoid any isekai (which, especially among the younger crowd, is considered trashy and passe). No, what they want to do is

• One Punch,
• Death Note,
• JuJutsu Kaisen,
• JoJo,
• Dragonball,
• Demon Slayer, 
• One Piece,
• Attack on Titan,
• Pokemon,
• Naruto,
• Boruto,
• Chainsaw man

And other hard shonen of that sort where there is a very overt, very "extra level" kid of power fantasy element. At least, based on the kinds of stuff Im seeing  and hearing them talk about in the youth groups and online. They also are very keen on creating those worlds for them to play in, and model villains and the like after wat they see in them. So they have their PCs as the pirates seeking the one piece, and then the Villain is some super pirate able to kill things in two swipes.

Also, I forgot Claymore on my list. Which given that Blade and Soul is on my list, I feel very remiss, since I think Claymore is actually better.