Portal to D&D IC - LairdMaon

[Rizban]

Spoiler

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Byron Park

Byron Park likes playing big characters. Bigger is better at all times, as far as he's concerned. There's a very real chance that comes from being under 5' in real life. Add to this his preference for playing female avatars and you have Pterra, his Lawful Evil Goliath Soulborn and member of the Sad Flutes. Oh yeah, he jumped on the chance to hook Pterra up with the mod-founded assassin's guild. Sure, most Sad Flutes went the sneaky, stealthy route, Byron figured out that the only requirement was that the target was transformed into a corpse.
Lockdown. Covid. Ugh.
Although… His work kept him home when his parents flew to the UK a week beforehand. Turns out Third Shift Manager of the local Bass Pro didn't qualify as an 'essential worker'. At least there's unemployment insurance.
Repeat after me: Perfect. Gaming. Setup.
Byron dove into Pterra with an eagerness that might've been embarrassing if anyone had come home. He looked over his quest log and equipment and came to realize he was way closer to his current goal than he'd had any idea.
One last high value target and he could afford the custom jovar he'd been drooling over. He called it: Polymorph to Dead. With that in mind, he shut off the time/date display and got to work.
Talk about immersion! Byron- no, Pterra parted heads from torsos like she was trying to appease Khorne. Hunger pangs and other physical discomforts didn't nag Byron nearly enough to distract him and, unbeknownst to him, his body quickly suffered.
The final combat was a grand thing. Pterra's heavy blade helicoptered around her like a monster and the target fell. Byron was far too lost in her victory to notice the trauma his own physical body was suffering.
He picked up the target's head and pulled away the helmet covering it's features. Pterra looked into the face of the dead Byron and he collapsed to the ground.

Hm.
Load screen.
Character creation?
No log out button...

The loading screen reaches 99% then freezes. It fills with an intermittent static and spasticly distorts before going completely black.

You are completely insensate in darkness, unable to feel anything but your own thoughts until a popup fills your vision.

Greetings, Player!
You have been offered the chance to remake yourself anew!
Do you accept this offer?
| Yes | No |

Spoiler: If Yes

Show

The popup closes, a second taking its place.

Warning!
This action will delete your current character, forcing you to restart at level 1.
Do you wish to continue?
| Yes | No |

Spoiler: If Yes

Show

The popup closes, as a third popup appears.

Final Warning!
Note that this action cannot be reversed.
Are you ready to leave your life behind and enter a new realm?
| Yes | No |

Spoiler: If you ever select "No"

Show

The popup closes, and the blackness slowly fades into an even darker nothingness as the last vestiges of Byron's life slip away from his failing body.

Game Over

[Rizban]

Spoiler: DM Message

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Here's a link to our Discord server if you're interested in joining the OOC discussion. I'm also much more prompt to respond to messages there than I am on forum PMs.

[LairdMaon]

The loading screen reaches 99% then freezes. It fills with an intermittent static and spasticly distorts before going completely black.

You are completely insensate in darkness, unable to feel anything but your own thoughts until a popup fills your vision.

Spoiler: If Yes

Show

The popup closes, a second taking its place.

Spoiler: If Yes

Show

The popup closes, as a third popup appears.

Spoiler: If you ever select "No"

Show

The popup closes, and the blackness slowly fades into an even darker nothingness as the last vestiges of Byron's life slip away from his failing body.

Game Over

"New content means new gaming experience... Yes, yes, YES!"

[Rizban]

Pain courses through your entire body, pain which should be blocked or at least reduced by the game's pain filters. You have them set to minimum, after all.

The taste of rainbows fills your ears as the sensation of being turned inside out and sucked through your toes overwhelms your senses, causing you to black out.

You awaken an unknown period of time later and find yourself numb, completely unable to feel your body. Your ears hear nothing, and only a black emptiness meets you as you try to open your eyes.

Just as panic begins to set in, a popup appears. You feel relief at knowing that you're still in the game. You attempt to open a menu to determine your status, but nothing happens. The popup vibrates at you, as if somehow agitated that you're ignoring it.

Welcome to your New Life+
Click below to begin character creation.
| Below |

You find yourself unable to do anything but interact with the popup mentally, just as you would with any popup in the game.

Spoiler: After clicking the button...

Show

After clicking the button, a series of numbers, symbols, and random words fly across your vision faster than you can read. You feel an almost intrusive sensation in your mind, as if someone or something is peering deep within and rearranging what it finds there.

A visual representation of dice scatter across your screen. The final result of each becoming large enough to fill your vision for less than a second.

(1d100)[1]
(1d100)[21]
(1d100)[42]

(1d20)[9]
(1d20)[5]

[Rizban]

Congratulations!
You have received one [1] Moderate Boon.
You have received one [1] Minor Boon.

Please choose your race.

A representation of the major races appears standing nude in front of you. Or rather, you see yourself in front of you, slightly altered to appear as each of the major races. A hazy line of individuals stretching off into the distance, which you intuit to be subraces that would be available for selection after making your choices.

Your available choices are

Human

__

Dwarf

__

Giant

__

Orc

__

Lizardfolk

There is a pair of buttons hovering in front of each which reads

Select Race

Information

Almost obscured near what you would expect to be the floor, if such a thing existed, are two nearly invisible buttons which read

Apply Moderate Boon to Race

Apply Minor Boon to Race

There is no further information about these two buttons.

Before you click anything, you feel a foreboding sensation that any and all choices you make at this time will be permanent.

[LairdMaon]

"Well, human, dwarf, and lizardfolk are right out. That leaves orc or giant..."

Human

__

Dwarf

__

Giant

__

Orc

__

Lizardfolk

"Giant it is." With something that could be a mental shrug, Byron makes his selection.


He looks more closely at the two selections at the bottom...

Apply Moderate Boon to Race

Apply Minor Boon to Race

[Rizban]

As soon as you touch the button for giant, all of the race representations disappear, and you are presented with four variants of giant instead.

The two Boon buttons at the bottom vanish the instant you select your race, leaving you no opportunity to select them.

Half-Human

__

Eneko

__

Irda

__

Stonechild

Each has the same two button options as the races did before.

Select Subrace

Information

Down below, the minor boon button is slightly more visible than before.

Apply Moderate Boon to Subrace

Apply Minor Boon to Subrace

[LairdMaon]

Half-Human

__

Eneko

__

Irda

__

Stonechild

Byron twitches over the Information options for Eneko and Irda, curious about their details.

Select Subrace

Information

Apply Moderate Boon to Subrace

Apply Minor Boon to Subrace

[Rizban]

A popup with a brief description of each subrace appears when you click "Information" on that subrace.

Eneko
Descended from a mix of giant races and some of the larger humanoid races, eneko tend to have a more monstrous appearance than most, leading them to live as outsiders. They are pejoratively called "ogres" by the ignorant.

Irda
Bestowed with grace and beauty, the rarely encountered Irda are often likened to statues of marble and alabaster. They are tall but slender and fine-boned and often think of themselves as the only mature race among child-like mortals.

[LairdMaon]

"So close, Irda, so close. That fine-boned bit just kinda kills it." Without a second hesitation, he chooses the minor boon button.

[Rizban]

The options available to you flash with a faint light. You option choices have changed, though not in any significant way that you can tell...

Half-Human+

__

Eneko+

__

Irda+

__

Stonechild+

Neither of the boon buttons previously available are visible.

[LairdMaon]

Half-Human+

__

Eneko+

__

Irda+

__

Stonechild+

"Stonechild plus! Bangarang, baby!" He selects Stonechild+ with authoritay.

[Rizban]

The other figures disappear from your sight, and you find yourself able to customize the appearance of the Stonechild+ to you liking, including changing the sex.

When you're finished, your point of view shifts instantly, and you find yourself in the character you just shaped. You once again have feeling, the numbness gone. However, you still feel weightless in the black nothingness around you.

An extremely sparse character sheet appears in your vision.

You find yourself able to fill in a few minor blanks, including your character's name. You also have 2 points to spend on your ability scores, increasing any chosen score by 1. However, you can't assign more than 1 point to the same ability score.

[LairdMaon]

"Huh. One into strength, the other into constitution. And female. This is going to be good."
He further chooses bronze hair, yellow eyes, and 19 years in appearance. Average height and weight for her 'age' and race.

[Rizban]

Spoiler: DM

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Please mark that on the sheet I linked.

[Rizban]

You tweak the appearance of your character and enter a name. When you finalize your choices, the editor dissolves away.

As you finalize your point distribution, you receive a notification that you will receive 2 points to spend on any ability score at each future level.

Your vision blurs again as you are given a choice of classes, basic gear sets appearing before you, representing each class option.

Barbarian	__	Duskblade	__	Psion
Totemist	__	Warblade	__	Wu Jen

The same buttons appear floating in front of each class option.

Select Class

Information

Apply Moderate Boon to Class

[LairdMaon]

On a hunch, Byron selects the moderate boon. "I wonder..." And he probes the info button for each available class.

[Rizban]

Your vision seemingly blurs again as the gear sets in front of you change slightly.

Barbarian Brawler	__	Duskblade+	__	Meditative Psion
Totemist+	__	Warblade+	__	Wu Jen Mystic

The same buttons appear floating in front of each class option.

Select Class

Information

Barbarian Brawler
A warrior often hailing from a primitive society, barbarians use raw bloodlust to fuel their strength but can quickly exhaust themselves.
As a barbarian brawler, you are more adept at fighting unarmed and with improvised weapons than most.

Duskblade+
The duskblade specializes in merging the arcane arts with physical prowess, charging his weapon as he charges into battle.
As an advanced duskblade, you find some of your class features are more powerful than normal.

Meditative Psion
Harnessing the power of his mind, a psion uses the power of thought to reshape reality to his whims.
As a meditative psion, you are more easily able to find inner balance and unlock the power of your chakras.

Totemist+
By shaping and binding primal soul essence, a totemist can recreate the abilities of pwoerful magical beasts.
As an advanced totemist, you gain essentia slightly faster than most though not as fast as an incarnate.

Warblade+
The warblade was born for conflict. Swift, strong, enduring, and utterly confident in his martial skills, he seeks to test himself against worthy foes.
As an advanced warblade, you learn additional maneuvers slightly faster than normal.

Wu Jen Mystic
With power over the elements and spiritual forces of nature, a wu jen is an unusual arcane spellcaster who gains powers by ritually purifying their minds and bodies.
As a wu jen mystic, you are able to call on the power of elemental spirits directly, granting you access to limited divine magic.

[LairdMaon]

Byron looks past the Psion and Wu Jen classes, spell-casting classes are not his forte. Totemist and Barbarian are decent enough... Duskblade+ though... Sure, there's casting, but a focus on getting it and casting touching his foes with Polymorph Living to Dead...

He braces himself and selects Duskblade+

[Rizban]

You select Duskblade+, and the starting gear appears equipped on your body.

Your character sheet appears again, and begins to fill itself out.

You have the option to select two [2] feats. Your choices are anything you qualify for from the Player's Handbook I or II or from Complete Warrior.

[LairdMaon]

Byron hesitates for only a moment as he chooses his feats. No jovar this time, spikes instead! The benefits are too much not to take... "Exotic Weapon Proficiency Spiked Chain and Power Attack. Done."

[Rizban]

Error
You do not meet the prerequisites for Power Attack.

[LairdMaon]

"Right. My bad. That'll be best opportunity. Let's go with... Weapon Focus for that Spiked Chain."

[Rizban]

Your selected feats populate to your sheet.

When that completes, a selection of skills appears, and you are informed that you have 8 Skill Points to assign. Clicking through a few of the skills, you discover that the Duskblade has the same class skills as you would expect and cross class skill ranks still cost two points. So, nothing has changed with this process as far as you can tell.

[LairdMaon]

Byron allocates his skill points with some hesitation. With some luck his avatar should be able to make the most of his choices.

[Rizban]

You invest 4 ranks in Knowledge (arcana) and 4 ranks in Knowledge (local).

As you finalize your skill point distribution, you are able to choose your Duskblade spells known.

You get two [2] 0-level spells known and two [2] 1st-level spells known, as normal for a Duskblade.

[LairdMaon]

"Hm... Ray of Frost, Acid Splash... Let's take Shocking Grasp, and... Color Spray to finish the list."

[Rizban]

You hear the clatter of dice in the background...

(5d100)[3][54][88][95][16](256)

As your sheet begins to fade away from your vision, you notice two additional abilities appearing on your sheet.

---

Your vision goes completely black.

You feel something cold and hard on your back, the air around you damp and cold.

You are surrounded by silence, broken only by the sound of your own breathing.

You realize that you are lying on the ground, your eyes closed.

[LairdMaon]

I'm in! Byron thinks right away. Probably a good time to adjust my state of mind...

Agate opens her eyes and looks around as she gets to her feet.

[Rizban]

You seem to have been laying on the ground in a small room built of what was once carefully fitted stone. Age and weathering have given it a rough appearance. The room is about 10 ft by 15 ft and has a stout wooden door on one of the narrow walls.(2d100)[44][73](117)