Our Hero, our Hero, claims a warriors heart~

Meet Valkari~ I was flipping through the Skyrim art book and got inspired by the mage's outfits to find some awesome Skyrim character art for 5th Edition character concepts - and Valkari was discovered. She, in her original form, belongs to an artist credited in her character sheet.

The inspiration was awesome and the ideas poured forth. Daughter of a Jarl in the north. Shamed as a child and looked down upon by the nobles of her court. Blessed with the gift of magic since young age, she is cursed with visions of disaster. She would do anything to prevent the flames of suffering and torment that greet her nightmares. Her shameful past caused her father's name to be called into question, and in defence of his daughter and house, her father was slain in battle by his age-old enemy. She blames herself for his death, and at the bidding of her nursemaid she fled to the south. One day she vows to ride triumphantly into the halls of her birth and retake the throne that is her birthright.

覚悟、バカ萌やし！！

I must protect the Wilds!

Just a little something I whipped up for one of the players at my table: A feral druid style character that shifts into a partial animal form to use claw and bite attacks while still standing upright. The general theme of this character is "cat-girl".

Name: 
Race: 
Class: Druid
Size: M
Age: 
Gender: Female
Height: 
Weight: 
Alignment:
Deity: The Wild, The Earth Mother, The Moon Goddess 

Class Features:
Aspect of the Primal Predator
Implement: Magic Totem (necklace)
Background: Wild Elf (acrobatics added to skill list)

Ability Scores: 
STR: 8
CON: 10
DEX: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 18
CHA: 11

Skills:
Nature
Athletics
Acrobatics
Endurance

Feats:
Primal Fury

Powers:
Wild Shape (Cat-like ears, hands and feet turn to paws, tail, sharp teeth)
Pounce
Savage Rend
Darting Bite
Savage Frenzy

Notes:
She remains mostly in her shifted form, feeling most at home with the senses of a feline. 

Busy night, but there's always room for another!

With how busy things have been lately, there's been a bit of a dry spell in terms of story development - but fear not! There's more more than enough of the creative juices to go around, and as soon as this busy phase passes, it'll be full steam ahead!

In the mean time however, there are a few topics which have been neglected but are in desperate need of some loving attention! 

Hearthstone!! I know, right!? Its been old news for a long time now, but with open beta season having started, I've finally been given a chance to play and let me tell you - it's everything I hoped it would be and probably more. It may look like a pared down version of Magic: the gathering, but don't let its simplicity fool you! The mechanics, and the game as a whole is incredibly intuitive, rich with Warcraft flavor and within that simplicity lies a breadth of strategy that would keep even the most seasoned of magic players satisfied. At tthe same time, being digital in nature, Hearthstone has been able to explore a whole new design space that wouldn't necessarily work with a paper game. In short, its AWESOME and being FREE to play, there's really NO reason not to check out and love this game!

For the record, Kallen the priest is BACK, baby! You better believe it! :P

You could say its almost criminal how little love this game has gotten, and you wouldn't be wrong! Whats NOT to love about it? The style? The incredibly open and customizeable game mechanics? The overall-retro-JRPG-sprite-based combat system? Certainly not! 

More game-time, painted figures, custom dungeon layouts, additional monsters, an overarching story with character progression and role-playing opportunities. Enough said!

Nothing special or new here, just good ol' EM TEE GEE! But more specifically, Duels of the Planeswalkers. There's just a special something about that series of games that I find appealing - maybe it hearkens back to a simpler time when card pools weren't infinite and we only have one or two copies of our best cards - maybe its the hyper-thematic deck styles that still have more than enough power to compete among themselves - or maybe the inclusion of awesome legacy legal cards to mostly modern decks - who knows, all that matters is its hella' fun!

I'd recommend it to anyone, player or not, and at a prioce point of well under $20, its virtually free! Now, the only trick would be to find a way to replicate that experience in paper magic, without outright copying it.... hmmmmmmmm... something to Ponder.

I-Its not like I wanted to show you this because I like you, Baka!

Irrelevant-Kirino or Always-Totally-Relevant-Kirino?
と、とにかくちゃんと読みなさいよ。バカ兄貴！

Way back when, I was enamored with the idea of forum-based RPGs. Complete with somewhat elaborate game systems, levels, equipment and items, combat stats - the whole 9 yards. And don't get me wrong, I STILL think that kind of thing is awesome, but as with everything in life, it comes down to a matter of time and not enough hours in the day.

But none the less, to the point of the matter. In my semi-recent rekindling of my writing spark I came across a post I had worked on for a Naruto RPG. We had to have a character approved, and then if we wanted them to belong to a specific established ninja clan, write a post that would showcase our ability to role-play to maintain a sense of prestige or quality. That said, this was my application to become a member of the Hyuuga clan - showcasing my characters discovery of her Byakugan, and a realization that she had been a Hyuuga all along.

Its by no means perfect and remains in its unedited state from a few years ago, however I do think its at least on the right track to being good~

Enjoy this bite-sized writing sample and stay tuned for more Sword Arte Online!