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some dnd backstory ideas that give your character a reason to leave home that isn’t “everyone in my family died.” (just to say: i have nothing against those backstories (i use them a lot), but its fun to mix it up!)

family/friends/personal

someone close to you is sick. you need to adventure to find a cure

someone stole something important from you and you need to find it

you’ve received a message from a long lost relative and are trying to find them

someone that you love has been kidnapped (maybe you have to earn money to pay a ransom or complete some deed…)

adventuring runs in the family! everyone is expected to complete one quest in their lives

your family/culture sends people out to complete certain tasks when they reach a certain age as a rite of passage

another player’s character saved you in the past so you feel indebted to them and travel with them, protecting/aiding them

there’s a magical drought in your hometown and you have to fix it

your hometown doesn’t have a lot of jobs so you have to travel and send money back home

some childhood friends and you made a “scavenger hunt” where you try and complete a checklist of certain tasks (ie. defeat a barbarian in hand to hand combat, steal x amount of gold, slay a dragon, etc) in an allotted amount of time

quests/jobs

a god/patron has sent you on a quest to do something for them

you’ve been hired by someone to complete a task (and you get sucked into the big adventure along the way)

you’re on a quest for knowledge. maybe it’s to learn the best ways of fighting, maybe it’s something more academic related

your priest received a vision from your god and they sent you on a quest

you’re writing a book about the world and different cultures and you need first hand experience

you’ve found every map you’ve come across is shitty, so you decide to become a cartographer and make your own

you’re a detective who helps solve crimes and need to travel to solve a particular case

you’re a collector of a certain object and travel across the land to find it

you’re apart of an adventuring academy and have to complete a quest to graduate

you’re an artisan and you travel with your wares, trying to sell them. alternatively, you’re trying to spread word of your business and gain new business partners

you worked at a tavern your whole life where an old bard would sing songs of their adventuring party and that inspired you to go and do some adventuring of your own

feel free to add some of your own!

Honestly as a blind person I’m so tired of seeing fictional blind characters who don’t use white canes or other guides. “They have special powers so they know what’s around them” or “they’re confident enough to not need a guide” are common tropes, and I’m tired.

Are people scared that using a white cane will make their blind character seem weak? They can’t use a cane because they’re so special that they already know what’s around them, and other blind people who use guides are inferior because they’re not special?

I’m tired. Give your blind characters white canes and other guides. Let them hold onto their friends, let them have guide dogs. Don’t make white cane users feel ostracized for not being “strong enough” to go without.

Another thing that pisses me off is when a sighted character comes up with the fantasy equivalent of braille and teaches it to the blind character. Braille was invented by Louis Braille, a blind man, in 1824. The blind character should be the one coming up with it.

Tldr I’m blind and tired of sighted people lol

🔪 Sighted People MUST Reblog This 🔪

Reblogging future reference

List of resources for dnd

roll20: Make an account to play the game

Orcpub: For hosting and editing your character sheet

DND Wiki: Homebrew things, races, classes, misc

Players Handbook: Rules how to play how to make a character, all basic information for playing a game

Discord: to talk during and about the game

This makes so much sense

I think we need to rework the whole “needing routine as an autistic person” thing because for the majority of allistic people, “routine” looks something like:

-wake up at 6am

-shower at 6:15am

-eat breakfast at 6:30am

-do important outings at 7am

-come home at 3pm

and so on..

And that is nothing like what I and many other autistic people experience (though it is what some experience).

Routine can be more accurately described as needing to do things in order to feel comfortable.

For example, I have no set time I wake up, I have no set time I do anything. But when I do wake up, I need to do my morning tasks in a specific order or I’ll struggle to function.

I get out of bed, turn on my lamp, switch my computer on, go to the bathroom, make my bed, get dressed, and sit down at my desk. That’s what a routine looks like to me.

If I’m cooking, I need to do things in a certain order or the food will be “wrong” (this could possibly be down to ARFID, but that is also comorbid with autism.)

There are other things like this. I guess you could call them mini routines. They aren’t a typical routine you’d see in a neurotypical or even someone who’s allistic.

For the longest time, I thought this was a symptom of autism I did not have at all but I do.

Just because a symptom doesn’t present in a neurotypical way, doesn’t mean it’s not there.

The water ripple effects on the floor of Palace might hint towards the Sea of Unconscious, a reoccurring idea in Persona. Maybe?

I just thought of something.

So people have pointed out that rain seems to be making an appearance again in Persona 5. The floor of the Palace seems to be wet (as judging by the ripples the characters make when they walk on it), and in that big sequence at the end of PV04 it’s raining pretty heavily, going up to their ankles.

I was wracking my brains as to what the symbolism here would be (it’s Persona, it’s symbolic), when I figured it out.

One of the most significant appearances of rain in any mythology is the concept of a “great flood”, with the most famous of all being Noah’s Flood in the Bible. This flood was created to drown all of the sinners in the world, with only the chosen good people and animals surviving in an ark.

Is a Persona version of the biblical flood coming? I wouldn’t be surprised if our big bad supernatural being with human pawns this time was trying to “wash away” those who don’t fit into its ideas of what is a “good society”. So, it literally and metaphorically floods the Earth, and our heroes have to stop it.

Stunning hairstyles reblogging to remember this. Wow 🤩

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The idea of Squibs and the treatment of them in Harry Potter Wizarding World has always interested/sadden me. To treated so poorly by everyone yet never fit in with neither Muggles (because they can see things Muggles cannot and likely know about magic but cannot talk to anyone about and have to lie to everyone) or wizards (who shun & mistreated). Even if a squib in that world studied all the books and knowledge about magical theory and stuff that doesn’t actually require spell casting, even if they would do better at all the tests that their wizard/witch peers do, since squibs cannot cast their opinions and insights are shunned... I really want to play in a Harry Potter tabletop roleplaying game as a Squib for this reason or maybe run one. It’s just so heartbreaking and fascinating to have character like a squib there but it’s so odd that Squibs never get much attention nor development in any canon works. The recent release of Fantastic Beasts hammers down the Squib situation more with implied opinions and behaviour the wizarding world has towards Squibs in that universe. 

It bothered me that there were no Squibs allowed in Hogwarts. Fine, I can get that Squibs would not be able to do any wand magic, and would not be able to fly a broomstick. They still apparently possess enough innate magic to see the school and other magically hidden locations. Out of the classes at Hogwarts that the kids take, a Squib could take and benefit from the following classes: History of Magic, Astronomy, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, MUGGLE STUDIES, Potions (there will be little foolish wand-waving here), Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and partially theoretical classes on Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms.

That’s a long list of classes. And some of them are particularly upsetting to me because there’s stuff like History of Magic being left out- that’s their own history they’re being barred from learning. Since Squibs are often forced into the Muggle world, a Squib would make an ideal Muggle Studies teacher and would no doubt be able to teach a more realistic and informative class than someone going off of biased wizarding texts. Squib kids looking into living in the Muggle world would absolutely benefit from learning Muggle studies, especially if they’re from a mainly pureblood family who doesn’t venture out all too often.

And then there’s the rest of them! Arguably you could have a Squib gifted with prescience, and Divination is supposed to be a very accessible branch of magic. Squibs being excellent at taking care of magical plants and animals and making groundbreaking advancements, Squibs working in tandem with each other to breed different magical herbs for potions, Squib potion masters creating all sorts of amazing concoctions. Squibs working with muggleborns and using logic and science to advance magic theoretically, Squibs being huge pro-muggleborn/pro-muggle advocates, Squibs making star charts and Squibs going into the muggle world to use their healing potions in their jobs as nurses and doctors.

Squibs being so completely shut out of magical education was such a sore point for me in the books, especially viewing the treatment of our only prominent Squib- an angry, bitter, glorified janitor often at the mercy of brats with wands. I’m not justifying or endorsing his abusiveness at all, but this was an awful character to use to explore people without magic in a society that bases your worth on it. A lot of time Rowling seems to validate Wizarding prejudices more than she challenges them. While I really enjoy reading the headcanons about Hogwarts being very accessible to people with disabilities, I can’t bring myself to see that as the case with Squibs being treated as they are. 

Reblogging so I remember. Character research. I’ve made a half-elf, with a drow mother & half-drow father, raised in drow society particularly in a temple of Lolth. They worship a different goddess currently in the campaign, but it’s good know their roots better.

The Descent of the Drow

Requested by @adrainea​ for the lore giveaway.

Part 5 of 5: Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes & Beyond

So where are we now? On May 18th/ May 29th 2018 (digital version/hard cover) WOTC released Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, and along with it some changes to this tale. Here’s my summary relevant to drow, though I highly encourage looking at the supplement its self. There’s much more to add, but I’m only including what is relevant to the question: What did dark elves do to become drow/banished? 

Elves were formed from drops of Corellon’s blood when he fought a godly war against the orc god Gruumsh. Corellon was like “oh neat” and adopted these blood spawned beings as his children

He favoured a few of them and made them the Seladrine gods. One of them would become Lolth.

Corellon had no fixed form, Corellon could be a flock of birds, a woman, a man, a river. Like Corellon, elves too had no fixed true form and could choose.

One day Lolth picks a form, names herself Lolth and tells the other elven gods that they should choose fixed forms as well to have power and impact on the universe.

The some elven gods agree, some do not. Elves become divided into those who agree with Lolth and those who agree with Corellon.

Lolth tries to kill Corellon for her usual reasons, fails, Corellon finds he can no longer trust his children and casts out ALL elves from Arvandor – they get pushed into the Feywild where they now have fixed forms, even those who stood by Corellon. (?)

The elves decide to explore Toril and other lands because they are naturally curious and emotional creatures, hungering for new experiences after the loss of their “father.”

Some elves continue to worship Corellon, some Lolth, some other gods.

[I get on a plane in several hours so no time for arts. Please enjoy this art “ Temple of Lolth “ by Julian Kok, featured in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes] Closing thoughts:

Drow who repent can be gifted this ability to change form (biological sex) after a long rest. New lore states that all elves worshipped Lolth, not just the Ilythiiri. But they stopped and it was the dark elves who did not pull back. Whether this means all dark elves or only the Ilythiiri, is unclear.

If there’s a core thing to take away from MTOF it’s that: Drow aren’t born evil, not by race. They have a history, culture and environment that encourages certain behaviours. Remove them from that environment and they have a chance to change. If a drow, orc, or goblin, where born say in a good aligned city, grew up with humans, they would pretty much act as a human would, think and have values as their peers would. They’d look different, sure, their biology would have some effects, yeah. But they aren’t “born evil”. If you’re playing a drow (born in the Underdark into drow culture) it’s likely they will struggle with this inner darkness for a very long time, perhaps forever. And that’s fine. Such things are what make drow so thrilling to play. Despite being set up from birth to be drawn to darkness, they may overcome it, or use it in productive ways. I’ll leave you with this Paarthurnax quote, because I adore it and it’s relevant. “What is better ? to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort ?” ~ Paarthurnax, Skyrim Be well friends, and may your characters be as varied and complex as you wish them to be.

Ooh helpful reference

SHOUT OUT TO MY WRITER HOMIES WITH MUSLIM OCS/CHARACTERS;

1. WEARING A SHAWL TO BATTLE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF HAVING GIRLS FIGHT IN STILLETTOS. 

Just so you know, this is what I’m talking about;

-Is it bad-ass? Abso-fucking-lutely. Is it Practical? Not a chance in hell. Especially not if it’s silk. If it’s cotton, you are skating on thin fucking ice. That bitch will NOT stay on. It barely stays on with me just walking down the street to Walmart. Wielding axes and rifles and swords and daggers? I PROMISE you it will not do the job it’s expected to-WHICH IS TO COVER THE HAIR. (Some muslim girls dont wear them-and that’s fine. But those who DO do it to completely cover the hair in public. Is it ~Aesthetic~ to see the flyaway hairs in battle? Sure, but those aren’t usually practical either. )Consider instead; 

sport shawls 

-For one thing, it’s actually DESIGNED to be worn to atheletic activities. Archers tuck hems into the collar of their shirts so they don’t get in the way, and track runners pins (ill get to this bit later) them down into the shirts to prevent flyaway bits and to stop them from getting slapped in the face. It’s breathable, stretchy, presentable without being attention seeking. 

Bawals 

In a pinch, bawals work just as well-as long as you specify that they are COTTON. Unlike the shawl, which are rectangular, bawals are SQUARE, and thus easier to manipulate, fold and pin down. If you wear it right, they carry an equal aesthetic value to shawls, and come in plenty of pretty patterns as well. 

2. I’m not sure about the USA, but the girls I know wear this underneath the headscarf;

Does it kinda look like a beanie? It sort of works like a beanie too. Hair is slippery. It tucks in any extra hair you might miss just by wearing the headscarf, its harder to pull down and on the event the shawl DOES fall down, your hair is still not exposed. It protects the ears-which is important even on a daily basis, because pins, headphones and any other headgear that might pinch them. It comes in plenty of designs, including ones that has open backs to allow long hair and ponytails. 

3.SPEAKING OF PINS; I’M TALKING ABOUT THESE BAD BOYS;

BROOCHES 

though , i suppose most of y’all are most familiar with safety pins, right?

what’s the difference? Well, if your oc/character is an athlete, it’s actually LEAST likely they’ll be wearing SAFETY PINS. They’re cheap and super easy to buy in bulk, true, but they also SUPER easy to wear out even with the smallest amount of strenuous activity. Between the three of ‘em, I’d put the brooches as the best option to wear in battle because 1) it has a large surface area, thus hurts less when pressed on with heavy items, which includes bag straps and weapons, (pins are sharp and can poke you painfully);  and 2) more secure-the latch is covered by the gaudy jewellery above, and theyre usually smaller and tighter. Stays on the stubbornnest, even when headscarf is pulled. very roughly. I’m saying that even the cheapest brooches will allow the shawl to be ripped apart before even letting it go. 

3. They probably ponytail their hair. Because Come On, guys.

Anyway it’s been bothering me and I just thought if yall could bother knowing the difference between skin tones for POC you could bother with muslim practicalities too. Or something 

This is incredible

Join us in our talk on Torterra tree care, much needed after our PoGo community day recently.