Avatar of Raineh Daze

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5 mos ago
Current i'm not sure the appropriate use of an OLED TV is to play random scenic train videos but here we are
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7 mos ago
swish
8 mos ago
Being truly on my own is a bit of a weird feeling. It's never really happened.
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9 mos ago
Let it never be said that sometimes extreme brevity isn't the most appropriate post, though. Everything is a tool.
2 likes
11 mos ago
a loaf is a surprisingly hard thing to make
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I personally prefer roleplays where the maximum power level of the player characters is equal to that of a semi-powerful NPC from the videogames, like Lydia or an Ordinator or Hieronymus Lex.


I think that's probably a bit low a ceiling for TES, if you're capping things at "just about the level of a competent guard". If Jauffre or the Grey Fox or something isn't within reason, there's probably a few too many things that would just... blow you over. Unless I'm misunderstanding.

But without the major compression the games experience, it seems like it would be a bit... painful to have the maximum level of ability one that would make dealing with a bandit camp a life-threatening struggle?




Nevertheless, since both opinions given seem to be in favour of not reaching single-handedly reshaping continental politics, how does this sound for a plot hook/starting point:
  • After the Dragon Break has resolved, the Empire has found itself pressured into accepting a Dragonborn emperor (details unforthcoming unless people specifically approach them, including what plots they specifically were involved in)
  • Whilst their focus is on opposing the Aldmeri Dominion, they've got the reformed Blades working in High Rock to try and reestablish ties diplomatically/through bribing them with problem solving.
  • The PC's are therefore a mix of official agents and local mercenaries.
  • Rough starting equivalence would be level 10 or something--enough to get steel/non-rubbish tier equipment, and accomplishment in a skill or two, in plain terms.
  • The level and equipment thing isn't exact. It's possible to have better or worse, but anything really noticeable is going to be a thread I will take far too much glee in using at some point. By which I mean: really expensive stuff or any lore item.


Much like Morrowind, this is a perfect excuse to run around establishing local cover, doing completely unrelated things, and totally ignoring the main quest until it's convenient.
And for reference, if Nero knows who they are, once Saber and Ozy earn her vague approval, she's got titles for them! Legatus and Praefectus (Praefectus Aegypti at times) respectively. After all, when you're a former Emperor and they merely ruled over some of your provinces, it's only appropriate to refer to them with the appropriate titles for their station. I don't think any other Servant is going to get that sort of title, though. :p
Make that tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to be posting tonight.

  • Name: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, proud owner of a stupidly long name.
  • Class: Saber
  • Appearance: Still just letting you see.
  • Abilities:
    • Strength: D
    • Endurance: B
    • Agility: A
    • Mana: B
    • Luck: B
    • Noble Phantasm: -
  • Class Skills:
    • Magic Resistance: C. Despite being a Saber, Nero boast a pitifully low magic resistance due to her own lack of interaction with the art.
  • Personal Skills:
    • Divinity: A++ (D). With the family descent from Mars, and holding a direct descent back to the founding of the family tree through her mother, Nero holds a natural level of Divinity. However, through Imperial Privilege--and specifically the Imperial Cult, which holds the dead Emperors as deities and in places and parts held select Emperors as living gods, including Nero--she has achieved the highest possible level of Divinity. Not that this does terribly much, but it's good for her ego.
    • Imperial Privilege: EX. A function of Aestus Domus Aurea, Nero's insistence that a certain ability should be the providence of the Emperor can make this a reality for a period. Such insistence is the entire basis for her class, granting the Emperor a truly impressive grasp of swordsmanship for one that would never have needed to use it, and skills in the various fields of athletics the Romans entertained (including wrestling, even if you're a lion). Such insistence gives her a truly diverse skill set despite her lack of direct combat power, from Riding through to all aspects of leading, arranging, and planning a military campaign from the tactical to the strategic level. These skills also work on the less relevant civic level--legal matters, politics, architecture and city planning; the role of an Emperor is vast. Finally, Nero's belief in her own artistic talent can be fully vindicated through the expression of this skill, whether or not it is required.
      Only in two regards does this give Nero an ability that could be considered 'supernatural': augmenting the Divinity so attributed to the Emperor, and a link to the Emperor's role as Pontifex Maximus in the guise of casting and reading various auguries. Why would an Emperor possess some power not of this world, save for the gods' favour?
    • Migraine: B. The greatest limitation on Nero's exercise of her considerable talents is, of course, the frequent recurring migraines. At least her ability to swing a sword is undiminished.
    • Thrice-Setting Sun: A. Perhaps a true sign of the divinity of the Julio-Claudian Emperors, magnified further by the ascension to godhood (or at least being a Servant) is this seeming ability to defy death itself three times over, should it be prepared for, and even if not find time for a last speech long past the point of death, as Nero once did.
  • Noble Phantasms:
    • Aestus Domus Aurea. Type: Reality Marble. The manifestation of the Emperor's unyielding belief in her own abilities and ego, even in the face of an uncooperative Senate, a coup, and even her own madness. It takes the form of the theatre that at once expresses the combination of her civic abilities in rebuilding from the fire, architectural skill, and a venue for her artistic ambitions. Passively, it grants her the ability to access skills she never learned or at a level superior to her life (see above) and justifies her position as the strongest class of Servant.
      Activated, the world created is a perfect venue for whatever the Emperor might desire--cooking or arts, gladiatorial combat or simply fighting. In the face of the Emperor's magnificence, enemies' statistics are ranked down, progressively getting more severe if the theatre is maintained for long enough, such that none may outshine the theatre's star. And of course, Nero herself is strengthened--the environment of her theatre is always going to match her desires, and within its confines the truly theatrical like a flaming sword and roses are all but guaranteed.
  • Personality: There are several words that can be used to describe Nero's attitude, but inevitably it all comes round to the obvious: if there's anyone in the world that can possibly compete with her by ego alone, then it's the King of Heroes, followed shortly thereafter by the King of Conquerors. She assumes, from the start, that she is the greatest of artists, able to rival the very gods themselves, and that everything she does must be perfect. To that end, she puts a truly vast amount of passion into everything that she does--a passion that she expects to be reciprocated, even if her subjects cannot possibly match it or understand the art produced.
    Her driving desire, besides art, is beauty (and for some reason, competing with Heracles. Given that she's a short girl, wrestling a lion might be impressive but it's a long way off), and it doesn't matter if you're male or female to that end in getting her interest. Because of this, she has little direct interest in wealth or treasure--but the trappings of it greatly appeal to her interests.
    Despite her general attitude being upbeat, she's quite easily angered by criticising her art or refusing to experience it, believing that it is something to be admired and praised even if beyond your comprehension. On the flip side, flattering her is an easy way to get into Nero's good graces and manipulate her.
All greek heroes are fair game. All beautiful things are fair game.

Nero's going to have a LOT of fun here.
As I mentioned elsewhere to the GM, here's a pretty modified Nero (NP and statwise) Nero. I mean, it fixes one glaring omission in her skill list when you look at the other heroes even from the main timeline. And it fixes the shenanigans about something not being a Reality Marble despite being functionally identical and even high thaumaturgy...




  • Name: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, proud owner of a stupidly long name.
  • Class: Saber
  • Appearance: Still just letting you see.
  • Abilities:
    • Strength: D
    • Endurance: B
    • Agility: A
    • Mana: B
    • Luck: B
    • Noble Phantasm: -
  • Class Skills:
    • Magic Resistance: C. Despite being a Saber, Nero boast a pitifully low magic resistance due to her own lack of interaction with the art.
  • Personal Skills:
    • Divinity: A++ (D). With the family descent from Mars, and holding a direct descent back to the founding of the family tree through her mother, Nero holds a natural level of Divinity. However, through Imperial Privilege--and specifically the Imperial Cult, which holds the dead Emperors as deities and in places and parts held select Emperors as living gods, including Nero--she has achieved the highest possible level of Divinity. Not that this does terribly much, but it's good for her ego.
    • Imperial Privilege: EX. A function of Aestus Domus Aurea, Nero's insistence that a certain ability should be the providence of the Emperor can make this a reality for a period. Such insistence is the entire basis for her class, granting the Emperor a truly impressive grasp of swordsmanship for one that would never have needed to use it, and skills in the various fields of athletics the Romans entertained (including wrestling, even if you're a lion). Such insistence gives her a truly diverse skill set despite her lack of direct combat power, from Riding through to all aspects of leading, arranging, and planning a military campaign from the tactical to the strategic level. These skills also work on the less relevant civic level--legal matters, politics, architecture and city planning; the role of an Emperor is vast. Finally, Nero's belief in her own artistic talent can be fully vindicated through the expression of this skill, whether or not it is required.
      Only in two regards does this give Nero an ability that could be considered 'supernatural': augmenting the Divinity so attributed to the Emperor, and a link to the Emperor's role as Pontifex Maximus in the guise of casting and reading various auguries. Why would an Emperor possess some power not of this world, save for the gods' favour?
    • Migraine: B. The greatest limitation on Nero's exercise of her considerable talents is, of course, the frequent recurring migraines. At least her ability to swing a sword is undiminished.
  • Thrice-Setting Sun: A. Perhaps a true sign of the divinity of the Julio-Claudian Emperors, magnified further by the ascension to godhood (or at least being a Servant) is this seeming ability to defy death itself three times over, should it be prepared for, and even if not find time for a last speech long past the point of death, as Nero once did.
  • Noble Phantasms:
    • Aestus Domus Aurea. Type: Reality Marble. The manifestation of the Emperor's unyielding belief in her own abilities and ego, even in the face of an uncooperative Senate, a coup, and even her own madness. It takes the form of the theatre that at once expresses the combination of her civic abilities in rebuilding from the fire, architectural skill, and a venue for her artistic ambitions. Passively, it grants her the ability to access skills she never learned or at a level superior to her life (see above) and justifies her position as the strongest class of Servant.
      Activated, the world created is a perfect venue for whatever the Emperor might desire--cooking or arts, gladiatorial combat or simply fighting. In the face of the Emperor's magnificence, enemies' statistics are ranked down, progressively getting more severe if the theatre is maintained for long enough, such that none may outshine the theatre's star. And of course, Nero herself is strengthened--the environment of her theatre is always going to match her desires, and within its confines the truly theatrical like a flaming sword and roses are all but guaranteed.
  • Personality: There are several words that can be used to describe Nero's attitude, but inevitably it all comes round to the obvious: if there's anyone in the world that can possibly compete with her by ego alone, then it's the King of Heroes, followed shortly thereafter by the King of Conquerors. She assumes, from the start, that she is the greatest of artists, able to rival the very gods themselves, and that everything she does must be perfect. To that end, she puts a truly vast amount of passion into everything that she does--a passion that she expects to be reciprocated, even if her subjects cannot possibly match it or understand the art produced.
    Her driving desire, besides art, is beauty (and for some reason, competing with Heracles. Given that she's a short girl, wrestling a lion might be impressive but it's a long way off), and it doesn't matter if you're male or female to that end in getting her interest. Because of this, she has little direct interest in wealth or treasure--but the trappings of it greatly appeal to her interests.
    Despite her general attitude being upbeat, she's quite easily angered by criticising her art or refusing to experience it, believing that it is something to be admired and praised even if beyond your comprehension. On the flip side, flattering her is an easy way to get into Nero's good graces and manipulate her.
And I'll post when I'm not doing D&D elsewhere. :p
Now that there's enough people showing interest, I'd like to ask again about the few points raised before I make the thread proper, especially large group vs small group. ^^;
That is a profoundly alarming avatar you have there.
Excellent!

I have another thing to posit: on the totem pole of character importance, where should this end up? Sidequest "helping people out but not significantly altering the course of history" or directing the shape of the future (where it would be entirely possible for one of the characters to be a Shezzarine or the Nerevarine/Dragonborn). Either way, being Elder Scrolls, everything is probably determined by which cave someone lost things in.
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