Matovilka

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
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Graveslinger (Gunslinger Archetype)

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(art by 0xConfig on DeviantArt)

From grimdark comic books to video game shooters to dozens of other gunslinging “exorcists” with guns, media is full of characters that face demons and the restless dead not with prayer, but rather a nice, hefty boomstick, though plenty of them wield blessed tools of destruction to ensure that such foes stay dead.

No matter the source, we love such badass warriors for the power fantasy they represent (unless you’re a conservative Christian that considers being able to slay evil with gunplay as an affront to your “only prayer can defeat evil” beliefs, of course, but that’s the sort of dogma designed to make others feel dependent upon you).

In any case, today we’re tackling a gunslinger that emulates these bullet-spouting titans of righteous destruction, specifically targeting the undead!

Graveslingers may be former priests that lost the faith to rely upon their deity to face the horrors of the night, or they might be laypersons who lost everything to the dead and learned enough to make them pay, or they may be genuinely empathetic souls seeking to use their knowledge of the occult sciences and gunsmithing to put the dead to rest.

Whatever origin you come up with for them, these slingers prove lethal to the undead, even those that lack a physical form, and today we’re going to see exactly how!

Early on in their careers, these gunslingers learn occult secrets for using powdered bone and grave dust to imbue a handful of bullets with the ability to strike the ghostly dead as if they were corporeal.

Later on, they improve the technique enough to infuse their shots with ectoplasm, causing said spirits to become partially solid so that others might strike true against them.

As they grow in power further, all undead learn to fear their bullets, which gain baneful properties against the restless dead.

They even learn to strike the undead in just the right places to leave such foes reeling from their powerful shots.

Whether it be ordinary sense honed by years of training or living among unliving dangers, or a supernatural sense they are blessed with, these graveslingers has a seemingly paranormal ability to react to and sense the dangers of the undead and haunts alike, reacting instinctively even if they are not otherwise aware of the danger.

As we can see, this variety of gunslinger is all about providing an answer to incorporeal undead, which others might have trouble with. You can still build them pretty much any way you wish, though you lose out on some mainstay deeds and those that target living foes are a result. Overall, this is a fun archetype perfect for a character adventuring in an undead-haunted land.

This sort of character trope tends to be the jaded yet pragmatic type, the guy who will save you from a ghoul and then instruct you on how to protect yourself in the future without even looking at you and probably move on unless you follow them. However, this is hardly the only possible character, but such hardened outlooks seem pretty common.

Those who have ventured into the Dead Lands have reported seeing a figure known locally as the Masked Usher, a gun-toting warrior who has a knack for putting down the walking dead with blessed bullets. What none realize is that this figure is undead themselves, a skeletal champion who has devoted their unlife to destroying those similarly cursed to such a blighted existence.

Grimstone is unique among gargoyles in that he is something of hermit, living in the parapets of the necropolis alone, picking off the undead from afar with a powerful rifle. Exactly why this figure preys upon the dead rather than the living is unknown.

The End Times are coming, the signs are already here as multitudes of undead rise up, including the rotten form of the undead thunder behemoth The Emptier of Graves. However, prophecy also claims that one scarred by the dead will take up a weapon of thunder and fire and become a scourge upon the deathless horde alongside their companions, who have the potential to turn back this horrific tied and preserve the world.

pathfinder pf tabletop roleplaying roleplaying rpg
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Grasping Vine (Shaman Archetype)

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(art by OlchaS on DeviantArt)

Ah yes, the Green Mother, the fey Eldest associated with all the ways that the natural world plays tricks on itself, everything from eyespots frightening away predators to the light lure of a deep-sea fish, to the stink of carrion from a carnivorous plant. All of these things are her purview, but as one might expect from the name, she favors plant life most of all.

So too, then, do her adherents, particularly the shamans that are sometimes called “grasping vines”.

However, the grasping vine shamans don’t actually have to be adherents of her to tap into this power, they instead must simply favor plants above all else and call upon a spirit that shares this interest, even if their primary powers lie elsewhere.

Regardless of how they got their powers, these shamans boast great power over plant life both in their spells and other magic.

As we’ll soon see, these mystics are well-rewarded for their devotion.

The shamans are not restricted in the type of spirits they call for their primary, though Life, Nature, and Wood are of course the most common. Others might be fairly unique beings that blend their aspect with a love of plant life, such as a spirit of rain that nourishes a forest, or a fire spirit of the flame that clears undergrowth to improve the health of a forest.

Instead of an animal familiar, these shamans instead call upon a small animated plant that loosely resembles such an animal, a gift from their spiritual patron.

No matter what their patron spirit’s spells normally would be, they instead provide a variety of plant-based spells, conjuring barriers and entrapping fields of plants, animating and conjuring plant monsters, hardening the flesh like bark, commanding plants, and even destructive plant spells such as wilting vegetation or imbuing seeds with explosive fire.

These mages also learn how to communicate magically with plants, even implanting the seeds of certain behaviors in plant monsters when necessary.

They also gain the ability to shapeshift into progressively larger and/or more complex plant creatures as well in an almost druid-like manner, though for a much shorter period.

Interested in playing a more plant-focused shaman? This archetype may be what you’re looking for, what with the ability to shapeshift into plant battle forms and speak with plants. Fair warning though, the replacement spirit spells are all magic that is already on the shaman spell list, so you aren’t getting anything normally unavailable to them, but it’s still a fun archetype overall. If you really want to play into the plant-focused nature, I’d recommend taking the Summon Plant Ally feat to add a bunch of classic plant monsters to your potential summons.

While they no doubt have a lot of love for all plant life, grasping vines probably share their largest love for carnivorous plants and plant monsters, especially if we assume they have a connection to the Green Mother. The question of whether they adhere to her more predatory aspects themselves, however, is another story.

Jellyfish schools are a common danger in the Shimmering Sea, but the real danger lies in the predatory kelp that dwells there as well. However, certain merfolk tribes dwell there regardless, revering the predatory plants as the fingers of their kelp god, led by mystics that can command them.

The Sunhide Rainforest, so infamously thick that light barely reaches the forest floor, has always had ties to the plane of shadow, and the wayangs living there have an affinity for the plant life there, as not only does it grab up all the light that would hurt their eyes, but the also long ago contacted spirits that embody the carnivorous plant monsters therein.

Said to be the soul of a treant elder and lorekeeper, the spirit Longspeech commands eons of experience, as well as plant life. However, to contact and bond with him, the shaman must devote themselves to nature more so than other shamans do.

pathfinder pf tabletop roleplaying roleplaying rpg
paint-lady

matovilka asked:

Hi! What system are you using for Secret Wrold RPG? thanks! :)

paint-lady answered:

We are using DND 5e from the Raw Backer PDF from Star Anvil Studios. The official PDF has not come out yet, but we were too eager and got started anyways based solely off the early release (knowing full well stuff was probably going to change).

I ended up transposing the PDF and making a word document to add and rebalance a few things to streamline it for 5e. I also added or modified a lot of spells and mechanics to better suit the story my table wants to tell with me.

matovilka

Oh, I forgot about that. Hope it comes out soon.

Thank you!

secret world legends the secret world tsw swl
bogleech
cipheramnesia

I gotta start carrying some sugar cubes or a little tiny bottle of honey or something.

We were having tea outside and a yellow jacket came over and starting buzzing all over us. Since we had some honey, I put a little drop to one side and she just instantly chiller out. She did some little zoomies around the drop then settled in to have some, and popped by a few more times to grab more. Left my wife and I completely alone. I have never seen an insect go from investigation buzzing and circling to fully cool like that.

100% recommend this, don't forget bugs are friends.

cipheramnesia

I did not get pictures because when I peaked in on her she was startled and went buzzing in circles a minute so we let her in peace.

darcy807

This does make me wonder, however, if you're just training them to return to the same spot for food - and what might happen if you don't have it.

cipheramnesia

As someone else mentioned in the notes and I've seen written up elsewhere, some hornets can learn to recognize individuals, so if we had been home and I were to bring out treats regularly it would potentially start seeing me as relatively safe to be around. Anecdotally, the upshot of this is less "harassed for treats" and more "left alone instead of constantly buzzed for investigation."

Also anecdotal, some people have reported this "non-threatening status" as passed down generationally for some wasps - potentially you could form a long term relationship with a wasp family something like can be done with corvids, the major difference being your benefit is not "friend who brings you presents and expresses empathy and concern for your specific well being" and more like funky little guys who control pest insects and aren't agitated when you are outside. Kind of like house centipedes except afik there's no hack for getting house centipedes to register you as non-threatening, some just seem to be chill around people.

But there are hundreds of breeds of wasps and such so you can't 100% generalize, even to types common across the USA. I tried the same thing with some kind of hornet nesting in our attic and had zero success. The good news is most of them usually just want to check you out and maybe have a sniff like very small, very startling dogs, and then fuck off to something more food oriented. The bad news is the fuckers still make me flich and freak out when they go NYOOOM past my head, and I'm constantly worried about them landing in my hair so this isn't me being some super chill wasp whisperer. I love em but they scare the crap outta me every time.

I forgot what I was saying. Anyway they probably won't come back just because one person fed them honey one time at one place.

bloodanna

Just a warning though: this might make them look to you as a gauge for who is a threat:

I had several wasp nests around the house this summer and gave them snacks/left them to their business. They never bothered me and would move out of my way if they were on the hand railings. They also left my spouse alone.

Then the neighbours had to have a tree removed. The wasps were chill as could be... until the workers fucked something up and I had to go tell them to fix their shit. The moment I walked out of that door in anger, the wasps hated that work crew. They went from annoyed, but tolerant to defensive and stingy in an instant.

So, yeah... you can make friends with wasps. Just, uh, be careful with that power. XD

bogleech

I don't think this has ever been properly studied but someone really should because we know wasps can tell when you are agitated, we know they can get to know individual people, we know they share food with each other and we know when one wasp gets mad it sets the rest off.

So there isn't any literature on this but I think this completely checks out. You were an honorary wasp.

bees
catbatart
mypunkpansexualtwin

@catbatart's Inktober Challenge: Day 7 - Dragon

(Admittedly belated, but I'm still making way better progress than I anticipated.)

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Known as the Stinging Cockatrice, the Habroptile Manticore, the Gremlin Drake, or the Chimeric Sloth, Strigops Draconis is actually an unusual form of pseudodragon. This specimen, known as Pepper by her handler, has taken to pilfering apples in an attempt to incubate them. Don't let her cuddly appearance fool you, her strong brooding instinct has led to a number of her keepers being brought to a medic after experiencing her very painful sting, and still more losing good trousers and boots to her foul, caustic breath weapon. Best to let her keep her "egg." And we all know what they say about apples and doctors.

Worth zooming in on this one. I have no idea how I managed to make the wings actually look like translucent skin, but by god I fuckin did it. And once again, I'll be reblogging a version with a Hero Forge link, because Pepper here started out with "what if I put ears on a penguin?" And just escalated from there.

dragon here there be dragons
oldcomputerhardware
my-computer-and-videogames

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Last Ninja 2, 1988 System 3
Commodore 64, Cassette

A Commodore 64 classic to be sure but time hasn't been kind to the controls or the difficulty level!
Graphically and sonically it still holds up though and that box art is gorgeous.

High Res versions on my Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_mealor/albums

games gaming commodore retro gaming