[D&D-5e] Uncaged: Journey to the Wilds

[Lazer]

'Voice of Antiquity' - it seems so. Praise be to Elanir!

[Elanir]

Originally Posted by Lazer

'Voice of Antiquity' - it seems so. Praise be to Elanir!

I blame Mairien for my „title“…

[neverknew]

I think my application for Yěshēng is finished. Let me know if you need any additional information.

[Lazer]

I wanted to add to Yangchen's description but I feel like switching to (mere) physical descriptions would be too stark a change in style and it would be jarring so I'm going to leave it be.

I have made final decisions on Race and Class, so those can be updated on the table if you wish. I also changed the name of the spirit in my second RP sample because I had somehow managed to pick the name of a major character from Journey to the West before. That could have been confusing.

[Wynamoinen]

Neverknew, you've been marked complete. And I've removed the question marks from Lazer's and Osse's completion indicators. The table should be up-to-date. About 7 days to go, today inclusive (I'll stop taking applications at *my* end of day next Monday, and I am in US eastern time.)

[Inuvash255]

WIP Name: Shanyang Race: Maybe a Custom Origin, maybe a refluff of something else. We'll see when we get there.Celestial Goatfolk Gender identity: Male Class: Bard (Glamour) Appearance: tbd The Seeker: No You were once caught between two loyalties. How did you resolve the conflict? Once upon a time, Shanyang was known not just by this one name, but as Shanyang Gequ Dashi, the Master of Songs in the court of the Jade Emperor in the realm of the heavens. His songs held great power, to build, to transform, and to make beautiful that which is not. In the Gardens of his home, Shanyang was approached by an old, estranged friend from the days before his service to the Jade Emperor: the celestial deer, Lu. "Shanyang," said the deer, with sorrow in his voice, "It was not without great pain that I came to understand why you left me on that river bank so many years ago. Look at this place, look at you. You've come so far. I forgive you, but... I need for you to make it up to me. The river is still too deep for me and many to cross - you only crossed it with great danger; and I only crossed it with the help of a rare ferryman. The ancient tree is so large... were you to use your powers to transform it into a bridge, you would do right by everyone." Shanyang smiled graciously, "That is no problem at all, my friend," He hugged the deer close, "After the Jade Emperor's birthday festival, I'll use the whole of my powers to transform that ugly old tree into a bridge for all to journey across." He patted his friend on the shoulder, and after some catching up, he retired for the evening. All night long, he considered the special notes he'd need to play to form that heavenly bridge, to stretch it across such a span safely for all the traffic it was sure to get. The following morning, Shanyang reported to the Jade Emperor along with the other members of his Zodiac. The morning's meeting was about each of their roles in the coming festival. The Emperor pointed to Shanyang, and ordered, "To you, my singing Goat, I request that the ancient tree in the center of the city be transformed. Now, it is an eyesore, but through your gifts, you shall turn it into a statue of me for all to see my majesty, before a crowd of thousands." The Emperor moved onto the next part of the festivity, and Shanyang's heart sunk. A direct request from the Jade Emperor could not by denied; and yet, to betray his friend a second time after being offered forgiveness... to see Lu's disappointment among the faces in the crowd... The days and nights before the birthday flew by. Shanyang could not sleep, nor could he compose a song for either purpose. Both songs felt like a betrayal. Finally, he broke down, and brought his problem to the Jade Emperor. He kneeled low, in reverence, and explained, "I've thought long about your request, my lord, but I cannot bring myself to transform the tree as you ask. A dear friend of mine had already asked it of me; he humbly request it be transformed into a bridge, so that he and others may visit your palace as well, without being made to brave the river that divides the land." The Jade Emperor, though powerful and wise, was not without a heart. He pet the goat between the horns, "My dear Singing Goat, what you ask has a simple solution: build my statue at the center of your bridge." Shanyang wept then, overcome with relief. He worked hard to compose just the right song to do right by both his friend and his ruler. At the day of the festival, he played a song that willed the tree to dance to the river, then stretch across it. The timbers flexed into a walkway, the branches intertwined to become railings, the roots sunk deep into the earth to become a sturdy foundation, and the leaves parted to reveal a statue of the Jade Emperor - at his right hand was a goat, and at his left was a deer. Forevermore, whenever an animal crossed the wide river into the heavens, they'd know for sure who's domain they were entering, and would leave offerings to give thanks for a safe way to cross. Even the mighty can fall to simple words. Describe a scene where your powers failed to solve an important problem, where other methods might have succeeded. [the story of how Shanyang becomes a Glamour bard]

[DialPforPickles]

Some interesting stuff in the later additions.

[sammichweasel]

How much refluffing is too much refluffing? I'm looking at portraying a penanggalan that has lost her body, through use of a fairy and either a monk or a rogue kit, and something like a rejigged Apparatus of Kwalish. Basically, fancy mechanical walking suit so that she's not just ALWAYS a head with some guts.

[Inuvash255]

Holy guacamole! Sammich! Long time, no see!

[sammichweasel]

Oh hai! Yeah, LOTS of RL weirdness and issues, but all sorted for the better, so I'm back to do some fancy WRITIN

[Wynamoinen]

Thanks for the app, Inuvash. You're on the table.

And good lord, yes, welcome back sammichweasel! I'm glad to see you back and kicking around! As far as how far one can push re-fluffing... your idea is definitely pushing the edges. I don't have any objection to the concept in a broad sense. But... you would need to obey the RAW of a standard character build. It seems like that would be pretty hard to do, while playing a penanggalan "truthfully". As two examples, flight speeds are difficult to get in PCs and vampiric abilities are not exactly a dime a dozen. I wouldn't give you those abilities just because it's your character concept, and without those things, you're really not going to be able to do standard penanggalan stuff. With the right combination of spells and magic items, I bet you could replicate the abilities that give you the mechanics to match the fluff. And you could easily have a lot of spells and magic items. But that's a lot of character-creation effort and mechanical real estate just to tell a particular emotional journey. I'm not saying you can't do it, but I don't know if it's worth it.

To all, we're now at 3.5 days away from the deadline.

[sammichweasel]

Oh totally bizarre to manage within RAW! That's why I was going to start with a Fairy, although I just realized that perhaps Wild Beyond the Witchlight doesn't fall into your allowed sources, in which case I may have to rethink the whole dang thing (which is fine!).

[Wynamoinen]

Yah, I can change your "perhaps" to a "certainly." That's not a resource that's permitted.

[sammichweasel]

That settles that, don't it! Okay, changing gears. Concept check -

A giant river catfish who is jealous of all those carp swimming up stream and jumping the Dragon's Gate, who get to become dragons! How rude. Except, catfish are pretty terrible at jumping, so [reasons and methods TBD], our hero becomes a very wet person walking the road, hoping to some day soon find the Dragon Gate and climb it with these very useful hands they've acquired. Initial thoughts are hazy on race, probably Fathomless Warlock (out of Tasha's), refluffing tentacles as manifested catfish whiskers.

Workable?

[Wynamoinen]

I think I'm hearing "drippy human with tentacles who's actually a fish on a quest". I don't see any big problems with that. It's easy to say "I've always got whisker-tentacles" but then only be able to use them functionally by using your warlock abilities (or as fluff for when you could have used your hands anyways). There's also a Tasha monk that gives you extra hands. A Mage Hand spell could also easily do some of the re-fluffed work, there.