TES God-Killing Campaign (featuring the Blitzwing Diaries)

[Darth Rabbitt]

...And this is why I shouldn't let Shrapnel handle updates.

The hiatus is true, though.

[Aryxbez]

Nooooooooooooooooooo

Could always make use of the hiatus, by posting statblocks of used stuff, ideas for materials, running an Elder Scroll game, perhaps what D&D doesn't do well for Elder Scrolls?

Is Morrowind the best timeline to run an Elder Scrolls game, would Oblivion or Skyrim Timelines be worse to utilize? I myself would want to make use of Dwemer, locales of interest being Elseweyr (refuse to call it "elsewhere"....) and Akavir. Because seriously, to those that haven't, read up on Akavir and realize why the place is so hardcore and would make an AWESOME Elder Scrolls game.

Speaking of Khajit, aside how one might stat them, more importantly, how would you put Skooma in D&D terms?

Oh, and good work Shrapnel, Pepsi Transformer = awesome.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Re: Races

Actually, I wrote up Argonian and Khajiit races for the game.

Spoilered to keep the post nice and tidy:

Argonian
Medium Humanoid (aquatic, reptilian)
Move 30’, swim 30’ (and therefore +8 to Swim checks if it ever matters)
Water breathing (ex)
+1 natural armor bonus
2 claw attacks (1d4 each)
+4 on Climb and Jump checks.
+4 on saving throws vs. disease and poison
Resistance to acid 10
Automatic proficiency with the glaive, halberd, ranseur, and guisarme (in Morrowind Argonians were said to be really good with polearms, although later games lacked spears and thus don't mention it one way or the other)

Khajiit
Medium Humanoid (Khajiit)
+2 Dex, -2 Wis
Move 30’
Darkvision 60’
+4 Balance, Jump, and Tumble
+2 Hide, Move Silently, and Sleight of Hand
2 claw attacks (1d4 each)
Eye of Fear (Sp): cause fear as a spell-like ability 1/day, caster level equal to character level
Automatic proficiency with the short sword, shortbow, longbow, and kukri

Most of the elf races wrote themselves; Altmer are Gray Elves, Bosmer are Wild Elves, and Dunmer are Fire Elves.

Orcs are Gray Orcs (which shouldn't have a level adjustment, and didn't in our game... no one played one anyways.)

Imperials, Nords, Bretons, and Redguards are all Humans, with the extra human feat flavored towards their race's background.

Re: Running an Elder Scrolls game

Morrowind is the best IMO, since it has the best story/setting of any of the Elder Scrolls games.

Even barring the main story, you have a number of interesting factions (spoilered for the same reasons the race writeups are)

The Fighters Guild is almost completely in the pockets of the Camonna Tong, with the exception of a few uncorrupted members... the quest line in Morrowind is literally determining whether it completely becomes the Dunmer Mafia strongmen or a band of freelancers keeping the peace in Morrowind.

The Thieves Guild is under attack from the above, since the Camonna Tong hates competition, so you can basically save or destroy it.

The Mages Guild is filled with all sorts of crazy old wizards trying to prove their theories and disprove those of their rivals, and with time you can eventually solve shit like the Mystery of the Dwarves for them.

House Hlaalu is basically a bunch of modern day politicians who all happen to be adventurers (or formerly such) as well, and so you can have all sorts of crazy Watergate shenanigans going on.

House Telvanni is run by Isolationist Libertarian Slave-Owning Dunmer Wizards who range from hundreds to thousands of years old while living in crazy mushroom villages, and their philosophy literally states that they don't mind if members kill off other members if they don't get caught... there's no way that you can't make interesting stories with them, you can all have Harry Potter style adventures where you steal from, or even kill those pesky student rivals and enemy wizards.

House Redoran is probably the least interesting philosophically, just being a band of honor-bound warriors, but they are probably the weakest of the three Great Houses in Vvardenfell, which means that you can probably make the biggest political differences in House Redoran territory (barring killing all Telvanni leadership so you're the undisputed rulers and do whatever you want.)

House Indoril and House Dres have very little established about them (since they're not found in-game, as they control the mainland,) which is both a blessing and a curse.

It is clear, though, that you can totally use any number of American Civil War analogues with House Dres (as they are basically the slave plantations of the Old South) and Indoril is a conservative and basically dead political entity ever since the Empire took Morrowind, so you can be doing all sorts of crazy stuff to finish them off for good or to make them a valid power player in Morrowind's politics again.

The Morag Tong are a band of honor-bound assassins in the service of the government, so they're basically a somewhat less evil Dark Brotherhood (which is specifically a break-off organization that's grown bigger than its original faction since they'll kill anyone they're hired to, other than their own members.)

This is the chance to play Star Wars Bounty Hunters, any Special Ops game ever, and/or Assassin's Creed in Morrowind, so I can't fathom even the most unimaginative DM having trouble with that.

The Tribunal Temple is a total parody of the medieval Catholic Church, only the Jesus-equivalents are also its Pope-equivalents and their Clerics are of the D&D variety.

You've got a super corrupt priesthood at the top with a bunch of idealists at the bottom, and a bunch of free-thinking "heretics" that you can squash or protect.

The Imperial Cult is probably the most boring faction, but I'm sure you can come up with something if you really want to.

The Imperial Legion are literally Roman Soldiers, so you can have all sorts of fun there, I'm sure.

Oblivion anything should not be used for anything, really; that game's setting and/or story makes me sad in the pants (even most of the bad Skyrim story elements stem from Oblivion's plot.)

Unless it's the Dark Brotherhood or the Shivering Isles, in which case it's awesome.

But if you really want to run an Oblivion Crisis game, fighting off the Daedra in places other than Cyrodil could make for a really effective campaign, since nothing really good is given as to how those fights went.

Skyrim could work, since the game makes you feel like you can't solve any problem in the world that isn't dragons the game has a lot of locations that need way more fixing/ruining than the game allows for (for example, eliminating the corruption in Riften, or taking it for your own, could totally be a whole campaign in and of itself.)

You also could have campaigns where you fight or work for the Thalmor, since they're being led up to be villains for either an add on or the next game a major power in the world that has yet to make its next big move.

Skooma would basically give a small temporary alchemical boost to Str and movement speed, and a similar penalty to Int and Dex, and you might (or might not) want to come up with addiction rules for this.

[Aryxbez]

Very nice, thank you kindly for the response, I've found this post fairly useful, if not enjoyable read on the fun content possible in Morrowind.

Though some questions I have on race interpretations, is why do Argonians have claw attacks, wasn't it not till Oblivion (small bonus), or Skyrim that they secretly had good unarmed attacks (recall they had poison immunity)? Though I agree with LA being dumb and they don't really deserve one (scent being strongest ability), not sure how it fits Orsimer. Are Orsimer naturally quicker and smell better than most races? As I recall, they're honorable dudes that smith good equipment, and occasionally go berserk on people. I'm not familiar with the "extra human feat", or rather if referencing their racial feat for certain element, what feat(s) would help represent one playing one of the human races?

As for "Oblivion anything", I did find this awesome piece of Lore that revolves around the Oblivion Crisis, and also makes Argonians that much more awesome in my eyes. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Hist

What elements of D&D don't translate well into Elder Scrolls series? Important question I feel, since if one is going to be telling stories in that universe, there is likely some obvious stuff that could mess with things. In addition when ye have classes like the Tome Soulborn, who has superpowers, and thus can superspeed all over the setting for example.

As well what would the four power level stages (1-5th, 6-10th, 11-15th, 16-20th respectively), look like in terms of adventures and goals PC's would be doing? Since I know Elder Scrolls series seems to show itself as mostly a 1-5th level world, with the opposition itself not being much higher. So when you've mentioned here that some Daedric lords are mid level, or rare fewest even 15th!, I start to wonder how that is so, given the low level effects being thrown around.

Hell yeah for Addiction rules (Book of Vile Darkness?), though I recall in the games, Skooma gave a substantial boost in Strength and speed (I know it was like 60pts in Oblivion for the former). Wasn't sure if you had a write-up for Skooma in your games or not.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Re: Races

I thought Argonians had bonuses to Unarmed in Morrowind, but that was where they had the Spear bonus from, oops.

Me and the friend of mine who alternated running were at odds whether or not to give them poison immunity or resistance to acid and saves vs poison (I was in favor of the former, but agreed to the latter, since in Morrowind there was a [Poison Damage] spell effect, which was fairly close to [Acid] as far as we could tell.

And for Orismer, Gray Orcs were just the closest fit I made eyeballing them.

Had bonuses to Strength and Willpower, practiced with lots of martial weapons, and were good at charging at people for big damage (IIRC the Gray Orc had a feat that made you do x2 damage on a charge, which was good for pounce builds.)

I could write something better up pretty damn quick, but because of the hiatus I don't consider it essential.

Re: Oblivion and the Hist

Fuck, I had forgotten about that part of the game.

The Blackwood Company were actually kind of awesome, being druggie mercenaries, and I actually laughed my ass off during the Fighters Guild quest line (at the point where you join the Blackwood Company and things get all trippy resulting in killing people who you think are Goblins since you're so damned high.)

I think the game wanted me to feel bad about that, but it was just so damn hilarious.

Re: Power Levels

Pretty much everyone (humanoid or otherwise) on Nirn (barring console shenanigans) is Level 5 or lower.

The stronger members of the Psijic Order and the Greybeards might surpass this, depending on how seriously you take the tales of their powers (certainly the books in-game kind of contradict their actual stats in game where they're just high level)

The Tribunal, Dagoth Ur, and Alduin all are around a few levels above that (although all are demigods so this is understandable,) and even this is mostly because plot contrivances are needed to kill them (Kagrenac's Tools or Dragon Rend, respectively)

Lesser Daedra are all around the "mortal" level of things.

All of those things are the reasons why we chose 6-10 as the point of the game (Gestalt was to make for more Elder Scrolls-like characters, since most player characters end up with decent to full spellcasting, good skill points, good attack bonuses, etc.)

Since that's the point where at the low end the demigods are BBEGs, and at the high end you should be able to go a whupping and a stomping on the Divines' lazy asses; if the game ever continues, here's hoping the final showdown with Akatosh is a memorable final encounter.

At 11-15 you are basically on par with the Daedric Princes, if not actually stronger than them (At full power Meherunes Dagon can destroy a city smaller than the town where I live at a rate slower than Godzilla destroys Tokyo, and gets his ass handed to him by an avatar of Akatosh, an avatar of Hircine gets schooled by the Nerevarine in Bloodmoon, and even the hero of Oblivion takes on the Daedric Prince Jyggalag at the end of Shivering Isles, and then becomes Sheogorath... probably to make up for being the hero of Oblivion)

At the high end of that you start your own Oblivion Crises, forge your own legendary artifacts, and can probably take on any challenge that has ever existed in the Elder Scrolls series.

At 16+ the setting starts falling apart, like any D&D setting, and that's OK, since things are pretty much inherently borked up when 9th level spells come into play.

Re: Skooma

I only suggested small bonuses just for the sake of not breaking the game the way one would if using the relative effects of Skooma in Morrowind or Oblivion on a D&D character.

Didn't write it up, although Evil Neo-Ysmir got wasted on the stuff at one point (when we were meeting Caius, I took some of his Skooma, which pissed him off but not enough to actually fight us, since he knew we'd kick his ass and he could fairly easily get more)

[Shrapnel]

This isn't much to do with the Blitzwing campaing, but it's more akin to those filler episodes from Dragon Ball Z where Son Goku and Piccolo learn to drive.

Last Saturday or so, me, DR, and some other shmuck who isn't me did a one-shot campaing. So, I feel obligated that it is my DUTY to you, the THE GREAT, HUDDLING, HEADBANGING MASSES to deliver to you, in painfully vauge detail, what had transpired.

(DR may chime in and clarify some things I miss)

Basically, the set-up was was that there were two warring factions: The Goverment, and the rebel Stinkeyes, who had that name for reasons that escape me at the moment. We, an adventuring group, comprised of Whirl, Vile, and some lich dude who isn't worth mentioning 'cause he doesn't exist .

We went to some village and were approached by some dude . The dude worked for the Stinkeyes, his name was Max Mad. He wanted us to kill the leader of the Goverment, Mad Maxine. Then some stuff happend, we killed some trolls that threw unicorns and such , and eventually found Max Mad, who turned out to also be Mad Maxine, which should have come as a surprise to abosolutely nobody. We did some more stuff, killed Max Mad/Mad Maxine. Then there was a party, we stopped playing, went outside, dicked around, and went home.

THE END

[Aryxbez]

Shrapnel, I wouldn't quite call it "filler", moreso making use of empty time, though I guess one could say we're "filling" things in, by just providing random, or new d20 information for Elder Scrolls campaign. However, I think the analogy is spot on all the same, so let's go with that.

And for Orismer, Gray Orcs were just the closest fit I made eyeballing them.

I could write something better up pretty damn quick, but because of the hiatus I don't consider it essential.

My bad on not noticing that feat actually, it's not bad, increased speed is also fitting for when they get into heavier armor their speed be like normal. Plus heavy armor indicates high defense, so when that feat makes them get attacked back, likelihood of the attack bouncing off on their target. Otherwise, not sure I agree with light sensitivity and scent, to be fitting racial abilities Orsimer.

Actually writing one up now would make it all the better, as I had said, ye got this hiatus, time all the better to make use of free time refining, and creating some Elder Scrolls D20 content to enjoy, and be enjoyed by others who might want to run a game in that universe someday. So for what it's worth, I'd be interested in seeing your quick, but better Orsimer write-up.

At 11-15 you are basically on par with the Daedric Princes, if not actually stronger than them (At full power Meherunes Dagon can destroy a city smaller than the town where I live at a rate slower than Godzilla destroys Tokyo, and gets his ass handed to him by an avatar of Akatosh, an avatar of Hircine gets schooled by the Nerevarine in Bloodmoon, and even the hero of Oblivion takes on the Daedric Prince Jyggalag at the end of Shivering Isles, and then becomes Sheogorath... probably to make up for being the hero of Oblivion)

At the high end of that you start your own Oblivion Crises, forge your own legendary artifacts, and can probably take on any challenge that has ever existed in the Elder Scrolls series.

Though most artifacts seem to be mid level effects at best, like a super special flaming sword, a staff that summons a dremora, or amulet that raises str/con together. Though given Mehrunes razor is like some kind of instant kill weapon pending, but yeah, I'm still digging it.

Is there any other evidence that shows which Daedric Lords supposedly have 11th-15th level abilities or its approximate? Though I understand there are some Daedric Lords that are basically Cthulhu Monsters, but all the same. Since I guess I can somewhat get the idea of his ability to take on a small town, but the rest, don't come off as clear to me, pardon.

On an unrelated note, I'd like to say in Skyrim, I kinda dislike how the Daedra/Aedra, get to be all "Holier than thou", threatening how they would crush me, or whatever crap. Kinda reminds me the standard of Fantasy today, where the DM just has the Gods as devices which to constantly remind and oppress the players of his agenda. Anycase, it'd make me all the more in an Elder Scrolls game want to fight, and beat the crap out of the likes of that Daedra Lord, and then finish him off for good in his own plane (as I recall, can only die in their home plane of Oblivion). It's understandable when gods can "actually" beat the crap out of PC's, but in something like Elder Scrolls, not too convinced their threats have as much merit as they put on.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Re: Orcs and other racial write-ups.

Agree that scent and light-sensitivity aren't that good, but again, I had been looking for a quick equivalent.

Swapping the scent and light sensitivity (and maybe speed bonus) for +2 on saves against magic and a similar bonus to Craft checks would pretty much be perfect

Will look into writing up more.

Re: Daedra Power Levels:

Meherunes Dagon's artifact is basically a dagger version of the Nine Lives Stealer.

Hircine's Avatar (end boss of Bloodmoon) and Jyggalag (end boss of Shivering Isles) are both killed by the player character of that game.

By the endgame, Elder Scrolls player characters are equivalent to level 5 (maybe level 6 at most) D&D characters.

Hence CR 11-15 seems like a really generous estimation, and is given since the Nerevarine and Champion of Cyrodil both have ten shitloads of artifacts each, and of the two Daedra, one is just an avatar, and the other has just been awakened after generations of dormancy.

Also, in Redguard, the protagonist Cyrus defeats Clavicus Vile in a contest of wits.

Admittedly that's not a fight, but since Clavicus Vile is the Prince of Deals, it's indicative that an intelligent mortal hero can school a Daedric Prince at his own game.

Hermaeus Mora is Lovecraftian in design and personality, but nothing really indicates that he has their level of power (and remember that mid to high level spellcasting and/or psionic manifesting characters can basically be Cthulhu Mythos if they want to... Ethergaunts and Expanded Psionic Handbook Illithids come to mind, but a powerful humanoid character works just as well in all but appearance, which alternate form/polymorphing/shapechanging can take care of just fine)

Hermaeus Mora is really smart, can give out the books that give inherent bonuses to stats in D&D, and has some pretty boss divinations and enchantments, meaning he's probably the equivalent of a mid/high-level Wizard.

My guess is that he's the strongest Daedric Prince, but that's not very impressive in a D&D sense.

Re: Daedra and Aedra are pricks

That's exactly why we chose the Elder Scrolls pantheon (that and we think they're suitable mid/high-level challenges for D&D characters.)

[Shrapnel]

Plus, we get to punch in the face of gods cause they deserve it, which is not what you were saying at all. No.

And, for the Blitzwingers out there (all one of you), heres some Blitzwing related trivia, brought to you by Rewind and tfwiki.net:

Did you know:

- That this is Blitzwings Tech specs and bio?

"Destroy first, think later."

Ability as Triple Changer to rapidly transform makes him one of the most dangerous Decepticons. Cruel sense of humor, loud-mouthed, belligerent, and brash. Flies at mach 2.7, range 1500 miles, has heat-seeking concussion missiles as plane. As tank, has track-mounted cannon that fires explosive shells 3.5 miles. As robot has electron-scimitar and gyro-blaster rifle. Often gets stuck in mid-transformation.

STR 8
INT 5
SPEED 9
END 8
RANK 6
COURAGE 7
FIREPOWER 7
SKILL 7

- That the earliest Diaclone catalog artwork to show the "Jet Fighter Type" Triplechanger depicted it with a less humanoid-looking face; this art took its cues from an unused, pre-production design for the toy's head. Images of both were featured in the booklet included with Japan's "Megatron Laserdisc" set in 1995?

- That Blitzwing's Tech Spec Bio has a probable typographical error on it which gives him the function of "Ground and Air Commander" at a rank of six. The actual function, which appears in other merchandise (such as the Action Cards) is "Ground and Air Commando"?

- That in the episode "Cosmic Rust" several of the Stunticons fit inside of Blitzwing in his jet mode in a similar way to how Decepticons usually go inside of Astrotrain in his shuttle mode. It would seem as though Blitzwing can mass shift to make his flying alternate mode large enough to fit other Decepticons the way that fellow Triple Changer Astrotrain often does.

- That a Cybertronian battle scene from TV Magazine (reprinted in Transformers Generations) appears to depict (one of?) Blitzwing's original alt mode(s) as a double-barreled tank - a good decade and a half before he received a Cybertronian makeover in The War Within?

- That the opening sequence of Season 3 features a large row of identical tanks that look suspiciously identical to Blitzwing's tank mode, before zooming in on the barrel of one particular tank. The reason for this is unknown?

- That Blitzwing was redecoed into an eHobby exclusive called Overcharge, who is colored in Blitzwings original Diaclone colors?

- That Blitzwing betrayed the Decepticons so as to save Cybertron from the Quintessons? And that Galvatron told Blitzwing that he'd never be able to be a part of the Decepticons again? And that Rodimus Prime offered to let him join the Autobots?

- That my Blitzwing toy has none of his accessories, and that it's turret is somewhat loose? And that some of the stickers are missing and/or in a worn condition? And that the left shouldery bit is somewhat loose as well?

- That despite this, I use my Blitzwing toy as my miniture, even transforming it during encounters so as to accurately reflect his current form in the game?

- That Blitzwing has no feet, and requires no need nor neccessity for them?

- That Blitzwing really doesn't like the Milwaukee Badgers?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Well, pointless trivia aside, this game might be starting back up sooner than expected due to recent developments.

Also, since the damn Orc writeup has been in development hell, here's a (probably final) draft I've cooked up (spoilered for your convenience, as always):

Orismer
Medium Humanoid (Elf)
+2 Str, Con, and Wis, -2 Dex and Cha (stat bonuses and penalties Orcs get)
Move 20' but move normally in medium or heavy armor or while carrying a medium or heavy load. (forgot Orcs actually had a speed penalty in Morrowind and Oblivion, and the armor thing comes from racial Medium/Heavy armor bonuses.)
+2 on saves vs spells and spell-likes. (resist magic 25% bitches!)
+2 on Craft and Appraise regarding weapons or armor. (Orcs make good armor and weapons)
Automatic proficiency with hand axe, battle axe, and great axe.
Familiarity with the dwarven urgrosh and war axe and the orc double axe.
[Orcs get a big ass Axe (and Blunt in Oblivion, and both melee weapon types in Skyrim) boost in Morrowind so they get proficiency and/or familiarity with axes here.]
Berserk (Ex): Rage as a PHB barbarian 1/day, only not fatigued afterwards. (self-explanatory)
Automatic Languages: Common and Orc. Bonus Languages: Any, other than secret languages (same with all other races in this campaign)
Favored Classes: Barbarian and Cleric

Probably slightly worse than the Gray Orc but slightly better than the core Dwarf (depending on how much you value stability, darkvision, stonecunning, and bonuses against goblins, orcs, and giants vs. one extra stat boost) and is much more accurate to the source material.

[Shrapnel]

First, it's not pointless. It's pointy.

Second, Blitzwing's swath of carnage shall begin again, for when the gates of Hell the Pit Oblivion overflow, Blitzwing will walk the Earth Cybertron Tamriel once more to do battle with The Skiver the Gods. Who are involved.

Because I know, Darth Rabbitt knows, and, since you're pretty much the only one who reads this thread, Aryxbez, I hope you know this, too.

[explodes]
DECEPTICONS FOREVER!

[/explodes]

[Korgan0]

I'm reading this, and I'm legitimately terrified.

[Darth Rabbitt]

That is a wise response.

[Shrapnel]

I'm reading this, and I'm legitimately terrified.

Just doin' m'job.

[Aryxbez]

[explodes]
DECEPTICONS FOREVER!

[/explodes]

aw....yeah, Beast Wars is possibly my favorite Transformers series, grew up with it, and Dinobot did have one of the best Last Stands ever (even if a story element later tried to kinda cheapen it).

(depending on how much you value stability, darkvision, stonecunning, and bonuses against goblins, orcs, and giants vs. one extra stat boost) and is much more accurate to the source material.

Perhaps its just me, or how you phrased it, but it does sounds like those abilities would weight out to be a little better than the stat boost, unless it was core to their function. Such as an Intelligent boost to a wizard, or str to a fighter, but if it's like more dex, it's nice, but probably not necessary for them to do their job. Could probably just mention how they're proficient with axes in general, and then list out those exceptions that aren't obvious, like the Urgosh, halberd, and Double Axe. Also wouldn't technically a twenty fiver percent be +5 vs. spells in D&D, nah joke aside, that's probably better idea than Spell Resistance, like a Drow has.

Nonsense, Blitzwing is like a giant flying murderous kitten, harmless by all stature. But yes, I look forward to hearing more of these ventures (though when I looked up "The Skiver" just got a MMX5 boss, or some kind of magical dagger).

[Shrapnel]

[explodes]
DECEPTICONS FOREVER!

[/explodes]

aw....yeah, Beast Wars is possibly my favorite Transformers series, grew up with it, and Dinobot did have one of the best Last Stands ever (even if a story element later tried to kinda cheapen it).
...
Nonsense, Blitzwing is like a giant flying murderous kitten, harmless by all stature. But yes, I look forward to hearing more of these ventures (though when I looked up "The Skiver" just got a MMX5 boss, or some kind of magical dagger).

To the first: Yeah, I loved Beast Wars, too.

To the second: Blitzwing can see when his teammates are being played by unseen forces. Of course, if he thinks the trap is amusing enough, he might just let it happen anyway.

I mean, he would never hurt a fly, and he doesn't afraid of anything.

(Focusing on his football coach that he consults whenever he casts Divination type thingys: for something that's extrapolated from a football coach's vague, irrelevant musings by a guy basically depicted as a moron throughout the episode, Blitzwing's strategies are surprisingly effective.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About The Skiver:
(this is off topic, so please forgive me, as I'm obviously always great at not being tangential)

I was referring to the former. MMX5 is a really bad game (or at least, the English version is), in one of those "it's so bad it's good" type deals, like the Mortal Kombat movie or the Howard the Duck movie or Gary Hart.

In MMX5, for whatever bizarre reason, each of the eight main Mavericks' English names are based off of the name of a member from the rock band Guns N' Roses. You get things like Izzy Glow, Dark Dizzy, Axle the Red, Duff McWhalen (my personal favorite), Mattrex... I could go on and on.

The Skiver in particular is named after GNR collaborator Michael "High in the Sky" Monroe. In Japan, he (the Skiver, not Monroe) is known by the much more sensible moniker Spiral Pegasus.

On a related note, Darth Rabbitt's new avatar is a reference to a particularly ridiculous cut-scene from the game. I'm sure he could tell you more about it.

And finally, I, too, am super psyched about the impending carnage as well.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Perhaps its just me, or how you phrased it, but it does sounds like those abilities would weight out to be a little better than the stat boost, unless it was core to their function.

Mostly a commentary on how Dwarves get so many little fiddly bonuses, and by any metric most of them add up to something.

Could also be seen as how stat boosts were seen by WotC as super awesome (see Planetouched and Hobgoblins as ECL+1 when they're not much compared to Forest Gnomes or Grey Elves) and all.

Could probably just mention how they're proficient with axes in general, and then list out those exceptions that aren't obvious, like the Urgosh, halberd, and Double Axe.

Yeah, but I'm too lazy to edit it, at least now.

Using some version of the Weapon Group rules in Unearthed Arcana would be a really good idea for an Elder Scrolls-style game in general.

Again, in a week or two the hope is that Neo-Ysmir (as the evil version calls himself) and Blitzwing and whoever else decides to join them will go off killing gods all happy-like, and my posts will be significantly more substantial.

[Shrapnel]

I'm jumping a bit ahead here, because I hate waiting: Here is Blitzwing's final fate in the Blitzwing Chronicles (aka TES Godkilling Spree, a lesser name by all accounts):

WARNING! A SPOILER DRAWS NEAR!

BLITZWING MEETS HIS END AT THE HANDS OF THE WRECKERS
TAMERIAL REJOICES!

The Wreckers! From left to right: Impactor, Rack 'n' Ruin, Top Spin, Whirl (in background), Roadbuster (also in background), and Twin Twist.

Note that Rack 'n' Ruin are holding one of Blitzwing's legs, Top Spin is holding the other, Whirl and Roadbuster are tossing his arm in the air, and Twin Twist is holding Blitzwing's head.

All while smiling for the camera.

This is HARDCORE.

CONGRATULATIONS! THOU HAST DEFEATED THE SPOILER!

THY EXP INCREASES BY 2
THY GOLD INCREASES BY 15

This will all happen at the end of the campaign. We swear.

EDIT: I realize this is a tad late, but... Aryxbez, when I referred to "filler" a while back, I was actually referring to the non-Blitzwing campaign featuring Whirl and Vile, which was a stand-in, one-off campaign we did to pass the time between Blitzwing's bouts of childlike wonder and fits of chaotic rage, not the discussions between you and DR. I apologize for the confusion. I could've worded the post more better.

Oh, and I'm serious. Blitzwing will get his ass handed to him, because he will be a perfectly good ruler in Tamerial, and Whirl* doesn't like that kind of thing.


See, no more suspense. I learned that trick from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

I'll still bring updates on everyone's favorite sociopath, though.

Till next time, OOP-ACK!

*(Whirl is the blue one-eyed guy flipping Blitzy's hand in the air.)

[Darth Rabbitt]

Should've mentioned: the next session's on Sunday.

Be afraid, people.

[Shrapnel]

Tomorrow, Tamreil BURNS!

[Darth Rabbitt]

So...

Yesterday, the game continued, although this session seemed rather brief compared to the last two.

Probably because I'm DMing, and I'm a much worse DM than my friend enjoy playing more than DMing.

But enough of that, here's Operation Elder Storm, part I!

So, after the shenanigans resulting in the deaths of the old power players in the province of Morrowind, things have gotten pretty good for Ysmir, Blitzwing, and a new "friend," an insane rogue dragon (who takes human form usually) that stole some power from Alduin, who was to be released early by Akatosh, who is afraid enough of the party to try and send shit after them, but not enough to try and kill the party (since getting into Nirn takes a lot of work for him, and he's an arrogant and lazy bastard, being a dragon god and all.)

So the dragon, who plans to become a dracolich, and whose name I don't remember off the top of my head (he's played by another friend who has joined the game) has been awarded land in Morrowind (Ysmir controls Redoran territory, Blitzwing controls Hlaalu, and our dragon friend here controls Telvanni; the Empire has made all three of us provincial governors (although the Blades hate dragons and all, our dragon here is in human form, and has just taken the position that was to be given to the Hobgoblin from earlier.)

Ysmir basically killed himself and came back (from destroying the Heart of Lorkhan, remember?) twice as powerful, twice as crazy, and ten times as rude.

According to the Empire, and the public at large, these heroes stopped Dagoth Ur's plan to destroy the Empire after he hired the Dark Brotherhood to assassinate the Nerevarine, Morrowind's Royal Family (primarily Helseth and Barenziah,) and the Tribunal.

The Mournhold Sanctuary was taken care of promptly by Imperial forces, and for our services in saving the Empire, we've taken the place of the old Imperial-sanctioned rulers (and god-kings.)

Now, we all know that's bullshit, since we killed these figures, and the Dark Brotherhood just got pinned with the blame because of Helseth's constant use of them and their getting caught in the crossfire, but it works out for all of us, doesn't it?

Well, eventually a guy by the name of Lucien Lachance, who says that he's a Speaker of the Dark Brotherhood, meets up with everyone, and informs them that he's talked to the Night Mother and knows what's really up.

However, he congratulates the party for being that damn good at killing and (inadvertently, although Lachance assumes it's tactical brilliance) covering up their tracks.

As it turns out, the Brotherhood's reputation as god-killers is so great that the loss of the Mournhold Sanctuary is basically nothing to them.

In fact, it's impressed an organization called the Mythic Dawn that wants to allow their god, the Daedric Prince of Chaotic Stupid Destruction Meherunes Dagon to annex Nirn by ending the pact with Akatosh designed to prevent this.

They were planning to end the Septim dynasty to do this, but since the Brotherhood can polish off gods so well, why not destroy Akatosh instead?

They'll send some Brotherhood agents to Aetherius and continue their plan on Nirn (since Akatosh is, well, Akatosh, and much more powerful than the Tribunal, so every backup plan helps) and the Brotherhood can, for a hefty sum, try to take on Akatosh.

Even if the assassins don't kill Akatosh, they will likely distract the Dragon God of Time, making the Mythic Dawn's plans easier to pull off.

For example, this could prevent a potential bastard child of the Emperor from summoning Akatosh somehow (possibly by breaking the Amulet of Kings) to beat the shit out of Dagon just when his victory is assured (and taking all the credit for some hardcore hero who has been protecting that bastard child, while the latter does jack shit) or something like that.

Sithis likes this plan, because he's Sithis and cool like that, and so the Brotherhood agrees, but the problem is that they haven't actually the ability to do this (although they haven't told the Mythic Dawn that.)

So Lachance, who has wanted to meet us anyways, offers us membership in the Brotherhood and passage to Aetherius.

The party agrees, and we're off.

So, Aetherius is a rather boring place, or at least the place we reach is.

Some Aurorans who were sent by Meridia to kill some undead see us, and being two undead and a construct, are instantly attacked.

The Aurorans die in one round, their leader dropped in melee and the other soldiers are killed by fireball.

However, who do we come across but General Talos himself!

Apparently, he has been sent by Akatosh to take care of these upstart mortals.

Having been a mortal himself (and thus out of favor with Akatosh after this fiasco,) he is tasked with destroying the party.

He gets a zombie T-Rex out of the deal, which is pretty sweet.

(Good, but going insane) Ysmir (who remembers a lot upon seeing Talos) informs Talos that it's been a long time, Hjalti, and your wife was fun to visit when you were politicking to consolidate the Empire, back when we weren't blowing things up.

(Note: see the Arcturan Heresy and also the ambiguity regarding Pelagius I's relationship to Tiber's; this is canon in this game because Ysmir is my Mary Sue it makes the game more interesting and the dragon and Blitzwing have had as much, if not more, screen time, and if I'm going to DM the character I made for this game will get some cool backstory too.)

Then we summon the Shade of Pelagius I, who says that Ysmir is his Daddy; now super enraged, Talos prepares to attack.

Neither side can really hurt each other, but we bust out touch attacks and he eventually goes down.

The T-Rex is commanded by the party dragon and now we have a huge zombie T-Rex to ride around.

However, father issues continue as Alduin, firstborn of Akatosh, descends on the party, eager to kill the traitor dragon who weakened him so.

He turns out to be rather easy to beat since he's had much of his power taken, and him going down in a round is probably the only most game-accurate thing that occurs in this whole campaign.

With Alduin dead, we call the session done.

Next up: Operation Elder Storm, Part Deux: The Eight Robot Masters Divines, or the Thalmor would've came if they existed yet, Part I

(Had I not put a tfwiki.net reference in my post, Shrapnel would have pulled me inside out.)

[Shrapnel]

Now it's time for the Decepticon spin machine to go into full reverse.

So Blitzwing and his friends finish their business in Morrowind, and then Blitzwing is like, so what now, bitches? and everyone else is like, I don't know, what now bitches.

So Blitzwing and his blibbering friends go to see a guy called Lucien Lachance, and he's like, haggis? and Blitzwings like shut up, how 'bout a QUEST, and Lachance is like, just what I was thinking.

So Lachance is like, great job in morrowind, and Blitzwings like, shut the fuck up, I know. And Lachance says, Zod Manker Cameron wants to help Kintaro invade Tamerial, and he needs your help 'cause he's a stupid motherfucker who can't breath without choking on his own spit and he needs this Akatosh fucker to die so he can go and cross into Nirn and be all like rar, I'm Kintaro, 'cause Dagon so looks like motherfucking Kintaro, don't say jack shit otherwise.

So Blitzwing is like, sure, after I have some motherfucking SOUP, and Lachance is like, no SOUP, how bout some haggis, and Blitzwings like, nah, let's just go.

So Blitzwing goes to Aetherius with his pals and they meet some Aurorans who are like, oh FUCK, it's Blitzwing, let's attack cause we're nothing but reskinned Xivilai, and Blitzwings like, nope, jokes, and kills them, and then Talos appears and is like, what ho, bitches.

And then Ysmir, who wasn't there until now is like, hey, you look familiar, oh yeah, I banged your wife, ha ha.

And then Ysmir summons the ghost of some emperor dude, who I'll call Jackfat McGee, and Jackfat McGee is all like, yo, Talos, you're my daddy, and Talos is like oh, what, it's ON.

And Talos pulls out his motherfucking TREX and it's all like rar and Blitzwing is all like yaaah and Ysmir is all like yaaah and the third dude, whose name I forget and so does apparently the entire internet so we'll call him Worthless O'Dipshit is like pissing himself and being invisible and dies.

So then Talos gets molly whooped and dies and is like ohshit.

So then we take his motherfucking TREX and Blitzwings all happy but then Alduin appears and is like rar but he dies so it's okay.

Preview for the next episode:

So then Blitzwing is like, hey, maybe I'll take my motherfucking COACH and cover him in motherfucking RUNES that go all boomy and give him to Akatosh, and Akatosh will be all like oh, awesome, a football COACH, I always wanted one, and then he'll read the football COACH and die and Blitzwing be like, hah, fucker, I'm flying away from the blast radius, and now I'll become king of the land.

[Aryxbez]

EDIT: I realize this is a tad late, but... Aryxbez, when I referred to "filler" a while back, I was actually referring to the non-Blitzwing campaign featuring Whirl and Vile, which was a stand-in, one-off campaign we did to pass the time between Blitzwing's bouts of childlike wonder and fits of chaotic rage, not the discussions between you and DR. I apologize for the confusion. I could've worded the post more better.

Ah, that's quite alright, looking back, I can see what you meant, and its understandable for the confusion on both sides. Moreso the pacing which I was posting at the time, that seemed to be you voicing your disagreement.

By the way, nice catch on calling Mehrunes Dagon "Kintaro" it's pretty much fitting, other than dagon's gargoyle like appearance otherwise.

Though question I have, what happened to the hobgoblin samurai, was he the PC that died, or we referring to the dragon, and said dragon became a Draco-lich already? Since I was under impression Ysmir was the only pseudo-undead.

Also a pity the "Aetherius" was a boring land, considering it's mutter effin outer space by the Nine (Eight now) Divines! Speaking of said divines, I found myself somewhat disappointed in the fight of Talos, though I guess it's in part I was rooting for him. He's like the Chuck Norris of the Elder Scrolls universe, there should've been more roundhouse/drop kicks. I guess I cna find solace in that he actually took awhile, and didn't just get one shotted in the first/surprise round, kind of deal. Though speaking of Tiber septim, I do wonder why in Skyrim he simply doesn't just descend from the heavens, crushing between his thighs, the leaders of the Aldmeri Dominion (unless Skyrim explains this bit in its story,which case probably wouldn't want to know that SPOILER yet).

Additionally, more I learn about stuff that happened between Oblivion and Skyrim, bit more interested I think I would be in changing those courses of history in Elder Scrolls fiction. I think its awesome how Hammerfell goes all "Black Power!" on Dominion, making them flee, and thus putting themselves up as a neutral faction of power, but I do feel bad for stuff like Shadowscales, Khajit League disbanding, or Dark Brotherhood shrinking up in the world. Stuff like this disappearing seems like it'd make the Elder Scrolls world bit more dull as a result. Even if it's good to change the setting,and it does give me a feel of sympathy and care for these elements I suppose.

Lastly, does anyone think the Tome Soulborn could be used to represent the Shehai?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Re: Talos

A lot of Lore implies that Talos/Hijalti was hardcore, but his lieutenants Wulfarth and Zurin Arcturus were much more so.

Essentially, he was a really good propagandist, and probably Hero-level warrior (knowing at least some Shouts, although his best seem to be using Wulfharth's Shouts, Arcturus' magic, and all three of their military strategies; he may or may not have been Dragonborn depending on how seriously you take the Arcturan Heresy) but he seems to have mostly piggybacked off more powerful people than him, and then disposed of them when he could.

Kind of like a Nordic Vivec, or Darth Malak, who despite me making fun of him a lot, is actually a pretty cool guy, being the bastard child of Aang and Tom Hardy Bane (despite predating both of them) and serving as a foil for Revan.

Canonically, it is also possible that he died either when the Mantellum or the Heart of Lorkhan was destroyed, as it is heavily implied (from dialogue with the Underking, the Arcturan Heresy, the plot of Morrowind (mortals siphoning power from Lorkhan, and some sidequests in Skyrim, [notably the one with the mercenary who mistakes you for Hijalti Early-Beard, Talos' birth name according to the Arcturan Heresy]) that his path to power was similar to Vivec's.

So like Vivec, he could've died and/or weakened when the source of Lorkhan's power was destroyed and thus he was unable to do shit on Nirn.

Also, the Divines may have some sort of gentlemen's agreement on noninterference other than answering prayers (they are implied to be weaker than the Daedra, and thus might be more cautious in intervening in mortal affairs.)

That being said, yeah he was designed to last a while in a fight, and he did that quite well.

Re: Undead PCs

The guy playing the Hobgoblin asked if he could play a different character and we agreed that was fine, since we already had plans to write the Hobgoblin off if we needed to.

So there was a Dracolich-to-be, a Death Knight type (God Ysmir) and a robot (Blitzwing.)

Hence why the Aurorans were all pissed.

Re: What happens between Oblivion and Skyrim

I agree, hence why shit involving the Thalmor or shit involving Hammerfell, Black Marsh, or Elsewheyr would be so damn interesting to me.

Re: Sword-Singers

Tome Soulborn and/or Samurai would represent them best.

[Shrapnel]

[joking]

You know, I used to think Aryxbez was the only one who read this thread, who shared any interest in Blitzwing's fun. Now, I don't believe anyone does anymore. I only visit it to remind myself of how lonely my life is.

What's the deal, Ary? I though we meant something to each other.

[/joking]