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Honest Handling Review after 15 hours of play
2024.06.02 18:01 WilliamisMiB Honest Handling Review after 15 hours of play
After hours in Time Trial and races on multiple tracks my thoughts:
Grip is improved as many have said. I found it’s harder to lose the car than in previous games, especially when you spin out of a slower corner it can be saved much easier. I do think this improves some of the racing because even after 10 hours of racing I was more confident in my breaking and acceleration than maybe I was ever was on 23.
Overall, I am slower relative to AI by around 10 AI (usually play on 100 now about 90). I find that I am faster on faster tracks like Saudi and Australia and slower on tracks which have low speed corners. This may be just getting used to getting in power earlier in this game.
It also feels easier to drive these cars. You can really throw them into corners and actually not lose it the rear fully right away. The tire degradation seems more authentic than in previous games too.
I don’t really feel the gimmick grip like others have claimed it feels twitchy but having watching f1 for years the cars have gotten twitcher. Watch the slow motion replays they can maneuver these cars mid corner now with ease in real life. F124 feels more “thrilling” to drive has a distinct racing feel compared the more muted predecessor.
We’ll see if they patch the handling to improve it but having gotten used to it, it’s been quite fun.
submitted by WilliamisMiB to F1Game [link] [comments]
Grip is improved as many have said. I found it’s harder to lose the car than in previous games, especially when you spin out of a slower corner it can be saved much easier. I do think this improves some of the racing because even after 10 hours of racing I was more confident in my breaking and acceleration than maybe I was ever was on 23.
Overall, I am slower relative to AI by around 10 AI (usually play on 100 now about 90). I find that I am faster on faster tracks like Saudi and Australia and slower on tracks which have low speed corners. This may be just getting used to getting in power earlier in this game.
It also feels easier to drive these cars. You can really throw them into corners and actually not lose it the rear fully right away. The tire degradation seems more authentic than in previous games too.
I don’t really feel the gimmick grip like others have claimed it feels twitchy but having watching f1 for years the cars have gotten twitcher. Watch the slow motion replays they can maneuver these cars mid corner now with ease in real life. F124 feels more “thrilling” to drive has a distinct racing feel compared the more muted predecessor.
We’ll see if they patch the handling to improve it but having gotten used to it, it’s been quite fun.
2024.06.02 17:52 ming-ming618 My hidden life
If Christian reddit will indulge me in one of my musings:
Ever since I became a Christian I have had a strong desire for holiness. Although it’s not a bad thing to strive for perfection in Christ (Phil 3:14, 1 Peter 1:13-16), it’s often paired with inclinations toward self-righteousness and pride. I call it DIY sanctification. Not only am I unable to produce righteousness in myself, but the God of all creation is opposing me in my efforts since they are steeped in pride. If you have ever dealt with this particular issue you know how frustrating and exhausting it can be.
About a year ago I started on a journey of radical consecration, which carried me off into the proverbial wilderness with God. Through this season I have enjoyed more intimacy with God than I ever thought possible. I now better understand the significance of baptism. There is a difference between shyly dipping a toe into the waters of God’s presence and being fully immersed so that you have an alarming sense that you're out of your depth.
In this season of intensive sanctification there has been no shortage of opportunities for legalism and attempts at making myself righteous and holy before God. It is a wonder to me that I continually fall back into my old MO when I know that the whole point of the gospel is that I can’t do it. Like seriously, what is my problem? That has literally been my prayer on numerous occasions.
Now recently God has blessed me with a bout of depression. Depression is something I have seldom experienced since coming to Christ. God has so often shown himself to be faithful in my endeavors to draw nearer to Him that even in the hottest fire trial I tend to have an ardent hope that things will eventually turn in my favor. Not this time. My soul floated aimlessly like an abandoned pool toy deflated by the merciless summer sun. I remained in this condition for a couple of weeks, offering up petitions for heavenly assistance and doing my best to continue to keep up my daily devotions although I had no desire to do so.
Now an answer has presented itself in Colossians 3. I see now that I was thinking about this all wrong. My old MO is to mortify my flesh for the purpose of killing it. Nothing wrong with that, we are supposed to be dead to our old nature and alive in Christ, right? The problem with that line of thinking is according to the Bible your old nature is already dead:
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” Col 3:3
So I realize now this isn’t a matter of me causing what is external/visible to line up with God’s word, but that I must receive by faith the truth of God’s word and allow my actions to follow suit. The phrase “put to death” means to regard as dead, not to make dead. It is also defined in a concordance as to deprive of life or energizing power or to cut off everything that energizes. So we see that there is an expectation of action on our part as we are to mortify our flesh (cut off life to/deprive) but we do this by regarding it as already dead. Instead of mortification being a means to an end (I will be dead if I keep killing myself through mortification) it is the end and the means is regarding myself as dead by faith. How silly would it be to try to accommodate, feed or care for a corpse? Likewise, how odd would it be to try to murder a corpse? There is nothing left to be done except bury it.
Now if I am dead how am I living? Paul says my life is hidden with Christ in God. Then are we in limbo as long as we are in our mortal form? The old life is dead and the new life hidden somewhere in heaven? It would seem so, but Paul also advises us to do this:
“Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Col 3:1
The word “seek” here means: search for, require, desire, demand, get to the bottom of a matter. So even though our new life is kept secret, as it were, Paul is telling us we need to seek it out even now while we still live on this earth in a body of flesh. He also says to “set our mind” on these things that are above where Christ is. That denotes an attitude that leads to action.
It seems I was putting the cart before the horse, thinking that flesh mortification will one day lead to death and new life in Christ. There is my life in Christ somewhere far off in the distance and if I work hard enough hopefully one day I will attain it. God’s truth is this has already been accomplished for me and all I have to do is believe it. I’m dead, end of story.
Moving forward, when my flesh demands a feeding I only need to see that as being ridiculous since dead people have no need of sustenance. Since I’m no longer occupied with wrestling a corpse into submission, that frees up my time and energy to focus on getting to the bottom of this secret life I have in God. How fun is that?
Although I am slightly embarrassed to share that I’ve been a Christian for over half a decade and just now getting this, I hope that it serves to encourage or edify someone else. Let me know if any of you have had similar struggles with legalism and self righteousness in your pursuit of God and how the Holy Spirit helped you to overcome😊💜
submitted by ming-ming618 to Christianity [link] [comments]
Ever since I became a Christian I have had a strong desire for holiness. Although it’s not a bad thing to strive for perfection in Christ (Phil 3:14, 1 Peter 1:13-16), it’s often paired with inclinations toward self-righteousness and pride. I call it DIY sanctification. Not only am I unable to produce righteousness in myself, but the God of all creation is opposing me in my efforts since they are steeped in pride. If you have ever dealt with this particular issue you know how frustrating and exhausting it can be.
About a year ago I started on a journey of radical consecration, which carried me off into the proverbial wilderness with God. Through this season I have enjoyed more intimacy with God than I ever thought possible. I now better understand the significance of baptism. There is a difference between shyly dipping a toe into the waters of God’s presence and being fully immersed so that you have an alarming sense that you're out of your depth.
In this season of intensive sanctification there has been no shortage of opportunities for legalism and attempts at making myself righteous and holy before God. It is a wonder to me that I continually fall back into my old MO when I know that the whole point of the gospel is that I can’t do it. Like seriously, what is my problem? That has literally been my prayer on numerous occasions.
Now recently God has blessed me with a bout of depression. Depression is something I have seldom experienced since coming to Christ. God has so often shown himself to be faithful in my endeavors to draw nearer to Him that even in the hottest fire trial I tend to have an ardent hope that things will eventually turn in my favor. Not this time. My soul floated aimlessly like an abandoned pool toy deflated by the merciless summer sun. I remained in this condition for a couple of weeks, offering up petitions for heavenly assistance and doing my best to continue to keep up my daily devotions although I had no desire to do so.
Now an answer has presented itself in Colossians 3. I see now that I was thinking about this all wrong. My old MO is to mortify my flesh for the purpose of killing it. Nothing wrong with that, we are supposed to be dead to our old nature and alive in Christ, right? The problem with that line of thinking is according to the Bible your old nature is already dead:
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” Col 3:3
So I realize now this isn’t a matter of me causing what is external/visible to line up with God’s word, but that I must receive by faith the truth of God’s word and allow my actions to follow suit. The phrase “put to death” means to regard as dead, not to make dead. It is also defined in a concordance as to deprive of life or energizing power or to cut off everything that energizes. So we see that there is an expectation of action on our part as we are to mortify our flesh (cut off life to/deprive) but we do this by regarding it as already dead. Instead of mortification being a means to an end (I will be dead if I keep killing myself through mortification) it is the end and the means is regarding myself as dead by faith. How silly would it be to try to accommodate, feed or care for a corpse? Likewise, how odd would it be to try to murder a corpse? There is nothing left to be done except bury it.
Now if I am dead how am I living? Paul says my life is hidden with Christ in God. Then are we in limbo as long as we are in our mortal form? The old life is dead and the new life hidden somewhere in heaven? It would seem so, but Paul also advises us to do this:
“Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Col 3:1
The word “seek” here means: search for, require, desire, demand, get to the bottom of a matter. So even though our new life is kept secret, as it were, Paul is telling us we need to seek it out even now while we still live on this earth in a body of flesh. He also says to “set our mind” on these things that are above where Christ is. That denotes an attitude that leads to action.
It seems I was putting the cart before the horse, thinking that flesh mortification will one day lead to death and new life in Christ. There is my life in Christ somewhere far off in the distance and if I work hard enough hopefully one day I will attain it. God’s truth is this has already been accomplished for me and all I have to do is believe it. I’m dead, end of story.
Moving forward, when my flesh demands a feeding I only need to see that as being ridiculous since dead people have no need of sustenance. Since I’m no longer occupied with wrestling a corpse into submission, that frees up my time and energy to focus on getting to the bottom of this secret life I have in God. How fun is that?
Although I am slightly embarrassed to share that I’ve been a Christian for over half a decade and just now getting this, I hope that it serves to encourage or edify someone else. Let me know if any of you have had similar struggles with legalism and self righteousness in your pursuit of God and how the Holy Spirit helped you to overcome😊💜
2024.06.02 17:43 Smie27 Reverend Insanity CYOA 4.0
You are being reincarnated into the Gu world, luckly you have been granted access to this character creator. Pick and choose your perks, etc.
You don't need to pick options from any category except, timeline, Innate traits, location and aptitude.
Start with 1.500 Character Points
Timeline:
Choose your timeline.
First timeline. +300 CP
You are born on the 11th of November the same time as Fang Yuan. Some 17 years later Fang Yuan is forced to join a caravan and leaves Qing Mao mountain. Spectral Soul's heaven defying plan succeeds, however Spring Autumn Cicada is never refined instead Fang Yuan refines blood deity and becomes a demonic powerhouse.
Second timeline. Free
You are born the same time as Fang Yuan in his first life. After 15 years, the night before the awakening ceremony, Fang Yuan's will travels 500 years back in time, and the events of Qing Mao mountain ensues…
I Am Fang Yuan! +100 CP
You are born Gu Yue Fang Yuan, the Fang Yuan we know will never transmigrate to the Gu world. The world will be as it was, when set in motion in chapter 1 of reverend insanity. Will Spectral Soul resurrect and dominate the five regions and two heaven? Will you destroy fate? You do not have Spring Autumn Cicada, but every other benefit from this character creator. Skip the location and innate traits section.
Late Antiquity Righteous Era. +250 CP
You are born many years after Spectral Souls demon venerables death. Shadow Sect haven't been created yet and the rise of an immortal venerable is inevitable. Soul path is flourishing and the demonic path has a foothold in the mainstream, but the tides will turn with the birth of paradise earth. Cultivate to your hearts desire.
Late Antiquity Demonic Era. +450 CP
You are born at the end of the medieval antiquity era. Giant Sun immortal venerable is dead and the Huang Jin tribes are flourishing in northern plains. Soul path has yet to be created and a murderous demon venerable is inevitable going to rise. May you leave a footprint in history.
Innate traits:
You may choose which sex you are born as for no cost
Variant Human. +250 CP
You may choose to be born as any variant human. If you choose dragonman then you start your own bloodline, with you as ancestor instead of Duke Long. Thereby being immune to Duke Long's Dragonman Extermination killer move.
Human. Free
You may choose to be born as a human, a safe choice. Although nothing is safe in the Gu world.
Location:
You may freely choose which of the five regions you are born into.
You may choose any tier of clan and additionally choose which status you are born into in that clan.
If you choose central continet you will be born to a sect member instead of in a clan.
You may choose to be born into any clan/sect from the story or to be born into one at random according to the chosen criteria.
Mortal Village +150 CP
Mid-tier clan +50 CP
Rank 2 heir +50 CP
Heir of an elder Free
Heir of the clan leader -50 CP
High tier Clan -50 CP
Random +50 CP
Rank 2 heir Free
Heir of an elder -50 CP
Heir of the clan leader -100 CP
Super Clan -100 CP
Random +50 CP
Rank 2 heir Free
Heir of an elder -50 CP
Heir of a rank 5 -100 CP
Child of an immortal -200 CP
*In the mortal village you and one of your parents are the only Gu masters.
*If you pick Child of an immortal, you will be the child of a random immortal from the super clan you picked or a random super force.
Aptitude:
If you pick a grade you will get a random aptitude within that aptitude range. You can roll a 2d10 or use a number generator to get a number between 0-19.
If you buy one of the ten extreme physiques, you are guaranteed a super grade blessed land.
Random +50CP
D-Grade Aptitude (20%-39%) +100 CP
C-Grade Aptitude (40%-59%) Free
B-Grade Aptitude (60%-79%) -50 CP
A-Grade Aptitude (80%-99%) -100 CP
Ten(Eleven) Extreme Physique (Your choice of physique) -150 CP
*If you picked random you can roll a d100.
*If you choose A grade, and get 99% you can't evolve into an extreme physique.
Soul:
Throw a d10, that number is where you are in your bought category. Meaning, if you pick Ten Thousand man soul and get a 6, on the d10, you will have a 60.000 man soul.
You body also gains the necessary Dao marks to contain such a powerful soul.
Ten thousand man soul. -50 CP
This is the soul foundation of a rank 5 expert. A clan leader of a super force, with all the resources that comes with, can expect to reach this soul foundation in 30 years, 20 if they use special or detrimental methods.
Hundred thousand man soul. -100 CP
The soul foundation of a rank 6 immortal who has spent a great deal of effort strengthening their soul.
One million man soul. -200 CP
The soul foundation of a great expert of a path that benefits from soul foundation, like refinement path, wisdom path, enslavement path, etc. Any higher and the Dao mark interference from your soul will become too great.
Ten million man soul. -300 CP
Only a soul path immortal would have a soul foundation this great. At this level the interference from the soul path Dao marks on your soul would be detrimental to cultivating other paths. That is, unless you have a way to get around this Dao mark interference.
Attainment:
You can buy attainment in a path. When you gain the attainment, it acts as if you had gained the attainment through practice and hard work. Not through dream realms or true meaning. You can only buy a limited amount of grandmaster and great grandmaster attainment.
You can only buy grandmaster attainment in 6 paths.
You can only buy great grandmaster attainment in 3 paths.
Master. -50 CP
You can choose to gain master attainment in 3 paths each time you buy this option.
Master attainment is the attainment level of an expert among mortal Gu masters often taking decades to achive. This level attainment gives the Gu master uncanny intuition concerning their path.
Grandmaster. -50 CP
Among mortals only once in century genius' can become grandmaster in a path. Usually grandmaster attainment is reserved for rank 7 experts. Having this level of attainment, one will be able to mimic other paths and to create immortal killer moves using immortal materials, instead of immortal Gu.
Great grandmaster. -100 CP
Only experts among rank 8 have great grandmaster attainment. This level of attainment will allow the user to easily think up new recipes for mortal level Gu worms of their path. Great grandmaster's can even utilize the natural Dao marks of the Gu world.
Immortal ascension:
The quality of ones blessed land is dependent on ones accumulated human Qi. To accumulate human Qi one need to deep ones foundation, by increasing attainment level, experiencing the multitudes of life as a cultivator and attuning oneself to ones chosen path, by carving the apropiate dao marks onto ones body, mind and soul.
Immortal aperture
Immortal aperture are divided into four grades, low, medium, high and super grade. Each grade is defined by the size of the arear inside the blessed land, the immortal essence production and the size of the tributary of the river of time.
The spaciousness of your aperture determines the room for development inside it. The more developed an immortal aperture the more immortal essence it produces, and the more resource it produces to use, sell and trade. You will be rollling for how much space is inside your aperture.
The immortal essence production of an immortal aperture is indicative on how vigorously or often an immortal can fight and use immortal cultivation methods. Without immortal essence beads immortal Gu can't be activated, leaving the Gu immortal impotent. You will be rolling for how many immortal essence beads your aperture produces for each year that passes inside it.
The size of the tributary of time decides how much faster time passes inside your immortal aperture, compared to the five regions time (FRT). This determines how fast you pass tribulations and calamities. As an immortal at rank 6 or above, every 300 years that pass inside your aperture ascends you one rank until you reach rank 9. Meaning it takes 900 years of time inside your aperture to become rank 9. You will roll for how many times faster time flows in your aperture compared to the five regions time.
If you ascend as a time path immortal double the tributary of the river of time in your aperture
If you ascend as a space path immortal gain 50% more space in your aperture.
Low grade blessed land. +400 CP
Starting blessed land size:
2000 km2
Base tributary of the river of time (TRoT):
1d6 = x TRoT
Immortal essence beads (IEB) production per year:
1d10+10 = IEB at
Medium grade blessed land. Free
Starting blessed land size:
(d4+1) * 1000 = Area km2
Base tributary of the river of time (TRoT):
2d10 = x TRoT
Immortal essence beads (IEB) production per year:
1d10+20 = IEB at
High grade blessed land. -100 CP
Starting blessed land size:
(1d4+4) * 1000 = Area km2
Base tributary of the river of time (TRoT):
1d10+20 = x TRoT
Immortal essence beads (IEB) production per year:
1d10+30 = IEB at
Super grade blessed land. -300 CP
Starting blessed land size:
(1d6+6) * 1000 = Area km2
Base tributary of the river of time (TRoT):
2d10+20 = x TRoT
Immortal essence beads (IEB) production per year:
2d10+50 = IEB at
*you don’t have to be an extreme physique to buy super grade blessed land.
Immortal Gu
When the immortal aperture is created there will be heaven and earth Qi left over that can be used to refine immortal Gu. You as a privileged CYOA participator, can use your points to refine immortal Gu. However you can't refine any immortal Gu from the or any Gu that was the vital Gu of a venerable, including Fortune Rivaling Heaven.
These Gu worms will be created from nothing, and Heavens will doesn't need to approve of you having these Gu worms.
*Purchase immortal Gu responsibly, it's more fun if you don't break the setting.
Rank 7 and 8 immortal Gu are very powerful, therefor there is a limit to how many you can refine at ascension:
You can only buy 3 rank 7 immortal Gu
You can only buy 1 rank 8 immortal Gu
A rank 6 immortal Gu cost 200 CP.
A rank 7 immortal Gu cost 400 CP.
A rank 8 immortal Gu cost 800 CP.
Grab bag:
Grab bag perks are minor perks that are nice to have but not substantial enough to be full perks by themselves.
Pick 3 of any grab bag perks -50 CP
Pick 5 of any grab bag perks -100 CP
Pick 7 of any grab bag perks -150 CP
Reading materials.
You have a popup window where you can read Reverend Insanity and the Reverend Insanity wiki, only you can read it.
Gu professor.
You always know if an immortal Gu exist or not.
Polyglot.
You can speak and read the language of every region.
Thousand man soul.
You are born with a 1.000 man soul. With this soul foundation you could control more then 100.000 beast with enslavement path methods. As a Gu master your soul is also strong enough to beat all but rank 5 experts in a battle between souls.
Otherworldly Dao.
Choose what otherworldly Dao mark your soul comes with.
Settra.
Slavery Gu, of any rank, does not work on you.
Instant success.
Gu worms that carve Dao marks on the user, like Black Boar Gu, Iron Bone Gu etc., will have their full effects shown immediately and painlessly upon use and they won't need primeval essence to activate.
Mutated soul.
You may choose for your soul to be a mutated soul. For example if you chose to have a wolfman soul, your soul would have wolf characteristics and would be many times stronger when controlling wolves. You can also choose to have mutated soul of a path. For example an ice soul, which will boost the effect of ice path Gu worms.
Flying master.
You now have master level attainment in flying.
Extremely attractive appearance.
You have an extremely attractive appearance, and people will subconsciously treat you better because of it.
Eidetic memory.
You gain perfect eidetic memory. However, you may still forget things if you so wish.
Aptitude reroll.
You get to reroll your aptitude and choose the higher number. You can pick this grab bag perk multiple times.
Perks:
Perks are divided into tiers.
Any perk that gives Gu worms or recipes for Gu worms may not give Lifespan Gu or the recipe for them, unless otherwise stated.
Tier 1 perks
Primeval wealth. -50 CP
You gain a rank 4 Primeval elder Gu containing ten million primeval stones. This is the wealth of a mid sized clan. You may buy this option multiple times.
Gu set. -50 CP
You may pick 10 Gu worms of the same path from rank 1 to 5, they will individually appear in your aperture when you choose. If the Gu worm you have chosen can be refined to a higher rank, you can do so instantly at no cost when you wish, but not to a rank higher than 5. You may buy this perk as many times as you want.
Mortal recipes. -50 CP
You may pick any 10 mortal Gu worms and gain their rank 1 through to rank 5 recipes. The recipes will use modern materials. Meaning, if you choose an ancient or extinct Gu worm, like All-out effort Gu, you will gain a recipe containing materials that are reasonably available. You may purchase this perk multiple times.
Close combat master. -50 CP
You are a battle genius and you have mastered of Krav Maga, Boxing, Brazilian Jujitsu, Grappling and Mauy Thai. Furthermore, you have master level proficiency with longsword, spear, axe and polearm.
Inhuman transformations. -50 CP
If you transform into a less then human form, you will automatically have the ability move and control your body as if you were born in such a form.
Flying grandmaster. -50 CP
You now have grandmaster attainment in flying. Geniuses renowned for their flying skill, at most have qusai-grandmaster flying attainment.
Longevity. -50 CP
You gain a hundred year lifespan Gu. You can use it to increase your lifespan or keep it for a different use.
Tier 2 perks
Dual Dao. -100 CP
You may choose two paths. Those paths do not interfere with each other when you use them.
Variant Dao. -100 CP
If you are a variant human you gain great grandmaster attainment in the path of your Dao. Meaning dragon men gain great grandmaster in enslavement path, hairy men gain refinement path, etc. This doesn't count towards your great grandmaster attainment limit.
Second aperture. -100 CP
You can awaken your second aperture at a time of your choosing. The second aperture functions as if created by rank 6 Second Aperture Gu, meaning it has no restriction of which rank it can rise to. Ascended to an immortal aperture this aperture will be have the same characteristics as your first one. If you picked Dual Dao and Second Aperture, you may also choose two paths that don't interfere in the second aperture.
Superior Gu set. -100 CP
You may pick 10 Gu worms they will appear in your aperture when you choose. If the Gu worm you have chosen can be refined to a higher rank, you can do so instantly at no cost when you wish, but not to a rank higher than 5. Furthermore, these 10 Gu worms do not need to be fed. You can buy this perk twice.
Immortal recipes. -100 CP
You can choose 10 Gu worms and you will obtain the rank 1 recipes, and the rank 2. etc. all the way to rank 9 for each Gu you choose. That is, you will receive the recipe for the lowest possible rank that the Gu worm can be and up. You can choose when you receive each recipe. Whether or not you recive the whole family of recipes at the same time or not. The recipes will only contain materials that can all be found in the current era, with the higher ranked recipes being possible exception. They may contain very exotic or necessarily extinct, but still existing, materials. Some Gu can't exist at the mortal level to a functional degree. You will still recive the recipes for these, but they can at most serve as reference value. You may pick this perk twice.
Auto balancer. -100 CP
When undergoing immortal ascension your Heaven, Earth and Human Qi will automatically be balanced for you. It's guaranteed that you will pass immortal ascension, the only thing that can stop your ascension is being killed by the tribulation itself or outside influences.
Year essence pool. -100 CP
Your immortal aperture gains a year essence pool. This is a enviroment mimicking the river of time, that exist parallelly to your aperture. Meaning that the year essence pool doesn’t take up any space in your aperture. The year essence pool also allows you to control the size of the tributary of the river of time flowing into your aperture. Meaning that you can slow the time of your aperture to anywhere between the time you rolled for, in the immortal ascension section, and that of the five regions.
Wealth of Food -100 CP
Upon immortal ascension a resource point is created inside your aperture for each rank 6 immortal Gu. Each resource point produces food for a corresponding immortal Gu.
Tier 3 perks
Great era inheritance. -150 CP
You gain a rank 6 immortal inheritance, that guide you from rank 1 to the peak of rank 6. However, the inheritance will be 500 years ahead of time from the time of chapter 2 of Reverend Insanity. Furthermore, you may choose for the inheritance to be a path of the great ere like weapon path, pill path, etc. The inheritance contains a myriad recipes for mortal Gu worms of the path that you choose and 5 rank 6 immortal Gu recipes of that path. The inheritance contains no Gu in it of itself.
Dream realm. -150 CP
A dream realm appears at a time and location of your choosing. It will contain true meaning pertaining to a path of your choice. It will be big enough for one person to achive great grandmaster attainment and another one to achive grandmaster attainment, or for three people to attain grandmaster attainment.
Immortal killer moves. -150 CP
You can choose 10 immortal killer moves. You learn the lowest to the highest rank possible of these killer moves. You can pick the same killer move more then once. This means that if you picked time cutting edge you can learn it again when it disappears from your memories.
Life and death aperture. -150 CP
Upon immortal ascension you will experience tribulations at half the strength they normally would be, but you still gain the same amount of Dao marks. With this perk you are also guaranteed to get a high grade blessed land. Unless you posses an extreme physique then you will gain a super grade blessed land like you normally would.
Reinforced physique. -150 CP
If you have an extreme physique you suffer non of the down sides. You will not need to fear exploding by cultivating too high in the mortal ranks. You won't need an immortal Gu corresponding to your physique to ascend. You will soar through the mortal ranks. Your ascension will be on the high end of what a normal immortal might experience, so relativly tame compared to ten extreme physiques. After this Heaven's will isn't going to hold back on tribulation.
Dao physique. -150 CP
Don't pick anything in the aptitude section. Choose a path, you now have an extreme physique equivalent in that path. Meaning, if you chose sword path, you would have a sword path physique with all the benefits and drawbacks of a normal extreme physique.
Tier 4 perks
Anti-divination. -300 CP
You have a rank 9 perpetual killer move applied to you. Only a rank 9 wisdom path immortal with a rank 9 Gu will be able to deduce anything about you. Anytime someone makes deduction about you, they either fail or get an obfuscated answer. You can toggle this killer move so if you want Heavens will to be able to send you tribulations can toggle the killer move off.
Gu house. -250 CP
Choose 5 immortal Gu houses, you gain the blueprint of how to create each of these Gu houses.
Imperial staff. -250 CP
You gain a staff with three teleportation opportunities. You have three opportunities to teleport to any place mentioned in the novel that exist in your era. Except you cannot go to the 9th layer of crazed demon cave.
Rank 8 inheritance. -250 CP
You may choose one or two paths and gain a rank 8 inheritance of the path(s) you choose. You may not pick heaven path. If you bought 'Great era inheritance', this rank 8 inheritance may also be of a great era path along with the other features of 'Great era inheritance'. Regardless of if you bought 'Great era inheritance', you may pick three aspects that the inheritance specializes in. If you only choose for the inheritance to contain one path you may instead pick five: Offense, Defense, Movement, Investigation, Concealment, Healing, Aperture Management and path specialty.
Path speciality meaning, whatever your chosen paths speciality is. For wisdom path it would be deduction, soul path would be soul cultivation, etc.
If you choose two paths then the inheritance contain an excellent method to duel cultivate these two paths. The inheritance does not contain any Gu worms, however it contains the knowledge or how to refine, feed and use a myriad of Gu including several immortal Gu. The inheritance also contains peak strength mortal killer moves that cover all aspects, and how to empower these killer moves to immortal level by using immortal materials. Of course, the inheritance also details these killer moves when used with apropiate immortal Gu. The inheritance also comes with a battlefield killer move, you may choose one specialization for the battlefield killer move : Activation speed, Killing power, Concealment, Suppression. With this inheritance you cultivation will be smooth sailing from beginning to end.
Dao carver. -300 CP
You now gain twice as many Dao marks, from any source, as you otherwise would. Heavens will doesn't take into account how the existence or effect of this perk when sending you tribulations as an immortal.
Pocket paradise. -400 CP
You gain an orb with an blessed land inside. The orb can be carried inside your aperture. When not in your aperture you can activate it, which makes the orb immobile. When placed the orb functions like a blessed land with a land spirit you are in control of. When outside of the blessed land you can deactivate the orb and put it inside your aperture again. The orb supplies the blessed land with heaven and earth Qi, so you can move place the orb any of the five regions without problems. The blessed land has an interior size of 7.000 m2 and time that moves 40 times faster then the Gu world. The blessed land has enough resource production to earn 50 immortal essence stones every year that passes inside the blessed land. There is still a lot of room for development. The resources are related to the path of the blessed land, which you may choose. The blessed land is a paradise, and therefore won't experience tribulations.
Tier 5 perks
Prodigy. -350 CP
In a path of your choice, you now great grandmaster attainment and venerable talent in that path. Meaning you can reach supreme grandmaster without needing outside help. This includes dream realms or absorbing true meaning. Though it may take a few centuries to reach your potential. This does not count towards the limit of how many great grandmaster attainments you can buy.
Small Dream Immortal Venerable. -400 CP
You have master attainment in every path. Master attainment gives have an uncanny and accurate intuitions about everything in the Gu world. For example, when searching for a person or object you will have an accurate, if vague, intuition about which way to search. There are no longer restrictions on how much attainment you can buy.
Legendary expert. -400 CP
You have quasi supreme grandmaster attainment in two paths of your choice. You are now the undisputed expert in your field alive today, but you will still need to exert a great deal of effort to raise your attainment to supreme grandmaster. If taken with prodigy you will immediately gain supreme grandmaster attainment in the path you picked for prodigy.
Gugle maps. -400 CP
Gain a perfectly accurate map of the entire Gu world. The map is in your head but can also be projected as a 3d hologram, and you can choose if others can see it. The map is in google earth like detail and contains information on resource points, hidden inheritances, blessed lands and grotto-heavens, secluded domains. You cannot use the map to see into blessed lands or grotto heavens, but you can see where they are located. The map is not merely a videogame map, it also contains highly detailed information on demographics, infrastructure, detailed economic data, beast territory and more. This map is accurate enough for fixed immortal travel Gu to work with, but activation becomes more likely to fail, the longer since it was updated. To update the map as a mortal sacrifice 100% of your current essence type. As an immortal sacrifice 300 beads of your current immortal essence.
Venerable traits:
You may pick only one of these, but they are free.
Primordial Origin immortal venerable.
You gain ten one thousand years lifespan Gu. You can choose when to recive each Gu individually.
Star Constellation immortal venerable.
As an immortal, every time your aperture produces an immortal essence bead, you can experience the effect of the light of wisdom as if from a rank 9 wisdom Gu, but without the loss of lifespan, for 10 minutes. You can save up these minutes.
Limitless demon venerable.
Chose a path. For as long as you cultivate only that path, and don't use immortal Gu of a different path. you will gain 5x the amount of dao marks in that path as you otherwise would. If you use other paths you permanently loose this perk. This stacks multiplicatively with dao carver.
Reckless Savage demon venerable.
You gain 3 slots. Each slot can be filled with a path. The paths your slots have been filled with don't interfere with each other. You also have great grandmaster attainment in these paths while you have them slotted. You can change the paths of in your slots once every week, central continet time.
Red Lotus demon venerable.
Choose a moment. From now on, whenever you die you or when you choose, your are sent back to that moment. You cannot change the moment that you regress to, it will always be the same moment. Every time you regress, your luck gets massively worse. After 10 regressions, it will be as if everyone but you has Fortune Rivaling Heaven.
Genesis Lotus immortal venerable.
As a mortal your primeval essence regeneration is a 100 times what it normally would be. As an immortal, your origin core produce ten time the normal amount of immortal essence. Meaning if your have an average high grade blessed land with no development, you will produce 300 beads of immortal essence every year that passes in your aperture.
Thieving Heaven immortal venerable.
When you kill someone you can guarantee that they can't destroy a certain amount of immortal Gu. If you kill a rank 6 immortal, they can't destroy one of their rank 6 immortal Gu. If you kill a rank 7 immortal Gu they can't destroy one rank 7 immortal Gu and two rank 6 immortal Gu. If you kill a rank 8 immortal, they can't destroy one rank 8 Gu, two rank 7 Gu and four rank 6 immortal Gu. Etc.
If there are multiple choices, the saved Gu are chosen at random.
Giant Sun immortal venerable.
You have enourmous luck, like a child of human path. Only Red Lotus and Feng Jin Huang are above you in terms of luck.
Spectral Soul demon venerable.
You are born with a one thousand desolate soul, you soul alone has the strength of an high tier desolate beast. But you might be more susceptible to enslavement path methods, but it hardly matters since your soul is so devastatingly powerful.
Paradise earth immortal venerable.
As an immortal you gain natural inspiration, every time you face one of your major tribulations. Heavenly tribulations as rank 6, grand tribulations at rank 7, etc.
Heaven Refining demon venerable.
You gain unlimited willpower and motivation. You now have the perseverance to casually swim through the reverse flow river. Your will to power will never waver.
Missions:
These are objectives that you give you extra points, but you have to complete them within 300 years or you explode and die. Spectral Soul eats your soul, Heavens Will foils any rival methods. You cannot escape the consequence of not completing your missions.
You may pick as many mission as you want.
Extra time. -100 CP
You gain 200 more years of time to accomplish your missions.
Easy missions
Traditional. +100 CP
Create an inheritance and a suitable inheritance ground. Describe what the trials and requirements there are to get your inheritance.
Imperial Court. +200 CP
Enter the imperial court blessed land at least once.
Medium missions
Paradise. +200 CP
Enter the Grotto-Heaven Blue Dragon Whale at least once.
Secluded Domain.+200 CP
Obtain a secluded domain of heaven and earth. You have to have had ownership of a secluded domain for a month for this mission to be considered successful. You can take this missions three times. You have to obtain three different secluded domains for it to count. You can't 'loose' one and obtain it again later.
Supreme inheritance. +300 CP
Obtain a complete true inheritance of any venerable. Thieving Heavens three refinement opportunities from Lang Ya isn't a true inheritance.
Problem? KILL!. +350 CP
Destroy a super force. You don't have to kill all the members of that force, although it would be a good idea. You simply have to make it so that the super force doesn't exist anymore. This also counts if you can convince someone to exterminate for you, by trickery, commission, or other means.
Hard missions
Homewrecker. +400 CP
Your mission is to destroy 88 True Yang building. If 88 True Yang building is destroyed without your direct involvement, you fail.
Founding ancestor. +500 CP
Create a super force, it may be a clan, sect or other. The force has to span the five regions and each branch must have at least one entity with rank 8 battle strength. Be it a rank 8 Gu master, a rank 7 Gu house or ancient battle formation. 5 immemorial beast also counts as rank 8 battle strength. You have an extra 500 years to accomplish this missions.
Grand theft Gu. +400 CP
Obtain Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu. With the time limit, you would probably have to complete this mission by either stealing it from Spectral Soul at Yi tian mountain. Or, you could refine it again using it's user, be it Spectral Soul or Fang Yuan, as a refinement material.
Become venerable. +400 CP
Break through the heavenly dao blockade and become venerable. Heavens Will isn't interested in you becoming venerable so you have to destroy or control Fate Gu. You only have 300 years though, so you have to be very quick.
Heavenly court. +600 CP
Join Heavenly Court and loyally serve it's interest. You don't have to save Fate Gu, you might even think it preferable if Red Lotus' plan comes to fruition. But, you have to do what you think is best for Heavenly Court.
Supremacy. +800 CP
As a variant human, make your race dominant in the five regions. You have a 10.000 year time limit.
Specific missions
These can only be picked if you chose the following timelines: Late Antiquity Righteous Era and Late Antiquity Demonic Era.
Pseudo venerable. +300 CP
You must reach pseudo venerable battle strength in all of your aspects of combat. E.I. having pseudo venerable defensive methods isn't enough.
Dao opponet. +300 CP
Defeat one of the coming venerables in battle. You must not be more then one rank above then when you defeat them, and you must not fight them while having immortal level cultivation while they are still mortal.
Drawbacks:
You may take as many drawbacks as you want. However you may not take drawbacks more then once.
Drawbacks overwrite other options picked in this character creator.
Easy drawbacks
No spoilers. +50 CP
You cannot share the contents of Reverend Insanity with anyone. You may still act on the information but you may not try to explain it to others.
Dao monogamous. +100 CP
Other paths interfere twice as much with the path of your vital Gu as they normally would. If you have dual Dao or Reckless Savage Demon Venerable as your venerable trait you cannot pick this drawback.
Un-undead. +100 CP
You cannot turn into a zombie. For good or ill you cannot become a zombie. Lifespan is always in short supply and you no longer have a fail safe.
Local dao. +200 CP
You are no longer an otherworldly demon. You will not have otherworldly dao marks and others cannot figure out your origin no matter what method they use. Not even soul searching you will let them find out you aren't from the Gu world.
True to your word. +200 CP
Alliance agreements become empowered. Dao marks related to any contract or alliance can only be forcefully removed by a specialized rank 9 killer move. You will have to be very carful with what you sign up to and always add a time limit.
Weakness. +200 CP
Choose one path, you are now twice as vulnerable to that path as you normally would be. You can pick this multiple times.
Medium drawbacks
Inhospitable enviroment. +300 CP
Choose a region, you cannot enter that region. This goes away when the regional walls disappears.
Like a mistress. +350 CP
Gu worms you own need twice as much food to be properly fed.
Halved lifespan. +300 CP
Your lifespan is halved, meaning if you are human you only have 50 years to live. Lifespan extension methods are as effective as they normally would be.
Clear Conscience. +300 CP
You cannot knowingly lie, and you are compelled to answer any question asked truthfully.
Indivisible. +300 CP
You cannot create clones. Others may not create clones of you either. You may still create external wills.
Forget me now. +400 CP
You loose all memory of reading Reverend Insanity upon rebirth. You still remember the options you took in this CYOA, and your previous life. If you picked reading materials in your grab bag it is removed and you can pick another.
Hard drawbacks
Dao dunce. +800 CP
You cannot increase your attainment level beyond what you buy in this character creator. Unless you buy prodigy, then you can become supreme grandmaster in that chosen path.
Multiplayer:
The Gu world is a capricious thief and has stolen not just but another unfortunate soul. But, this CYOA is fair to all, and so, you will not be the only one who gets too go through this character creator.
Convince another person to go through this CYOA and be reincarnated with you. You will have to both decide on a
Timeline.
This is entirely optional, I just thought it would be fun for people to test out builds together and against other people. I have also create some rules/objectives to facilitate the multiplayer, but you can make up your own.
Twin start:
Two players pick the 'I Am Fang Yuan!' timeline, one person will be reborn as Fang Yuan, the other will be reborn as Fang Zheng. Flip a coin to determine whos who. Optionally, you can also pick one of the two options below.
Co-op:
Each player picks a starting location and they have to collectively accomplish as many of the Missions as possible.
Feud:
Each player picks a separate starting location, and they have 300 years to kill each other. Come up with strategies to reach immortal level, and how to aquire the strength to fight each other
submitted by Smie27 to ReverendInsanity [link] [comments]
You don't need to pick options from any category except, timeline, Innate traits, location and aptitude.
Start with 1.500 Character Points
Timeline:
Choose your timeline.
First timeline. +300 CP
You are born on the 11th of November the same time as Fang Yuan. Some 17 years later Fang Yuan is forced to join a caravan and leaves Qing Mao mountain. Spectral Soul's heaven defying plan succeeds, however Spring Autumn Cicada is never refined instead Fang Yuan refines blood deity and becomes a demonic powerhouse.
Second timeline. Free
You are born the same time as Fang Yuan in his first life. After 15 years, the night before the awakening ceremony, Fang Yuan's will travels 500 years back in time, and the events of Qing Mao mountain ensues…
I Am Fang Yuan! +100 CP
You are born Gu Yue Fang Yuan, the Fang Yuan we know will never transmigrate to the Gu world. The world will be as it was, when set in motion in chapter 1 of reverend insanity. Will Spectral Soul resurrect and dominate the five regions and two heaven? Will you destroy fate? You do not have Spring Autumn Cicada, but every other benefit from this character creator. Skip the location and innate traits section.
Late Antiquity Righteous Era. +250 CP
You are born many years after Spectral Souls demon venerables death. Shadow Sect haven't been created yet and the rise of an immortal venerable is inevitable. Soul path is flourishing and the demonic path has a foothold in the mainstream, but the tides will turn with the birth of paradise earth. Cultivate to your hearts desire.
Late Antiquity Demonic Era. +450 CP
You are born at the end of the medieval antiquity era. Giant Sun immortal venerable is dead and the Huang Jin tribes are flourishing in northern plains. Soul path has yet to be created and a murderous demon venerable is inevitable going to rise. May you leave a footprint in history.
Innate traits:
You may choose which sex you are born as for no cost
Variant Human. +250 CP
You may choose to be born as any variant human. If you choose dragonman then you start your own bloodline, with you as ancestor instead of Duke Long. Thereby being immune to Duke Long's Dragonman Extermination killer move.
Human. Free
You may choose to be born as a human, a safe choice. Although nothing is safe in the Gu world.
Location:
You may freely choose which of the five regions you are born into.
You may choose any tier of clan and additionally choose which status you are born into in that clan.
If you choose central continet you will be born to a sect member instead of in a clan.
You may choose to be born into any clan/sect from the story or to be born into one at random according to the chosen criteria.
Mortal Village +150 CP
Mid-tier clan +50 CP
Rank 2 heir +50 CP
Heir of an elder Free
Heir of the clan leader -50 CP
High tier Clan -50 CP
Random +50 CP
Rank 2 heir Free
Heir of an elder -50 CP
Heir of the clan leader -100 CP
Super Clan -100 CP
Random +50 CP
Rank 2 heir Free
Heir of an elder -50 CP
Heir of a rank 5 -100 CP
Child of an immortal -200 CP
*In the mortal village you and one of your parents are the only Gu masters.
*If you pick Child of an immortal, you will be the child of a random immortal from the super clan you picked or a random super force.
Aptitude:
If you pick a grade you will get a random aptitude within that aptitude range. You can roll a 2d10 or use a number generator to get a number between 0-19.
If you buy one of the ten extreme physiques, you are guaranteed a super grade blessed land.
Random +50CP
D-Grade Aptitude (20%-39%) +100 CP
C-Grade Aptitude (40%-59%) Free
B-Grade Aptitude (60%-79%) -50 CP
A-Grade Aptitude (80%-99%) -100 CP
Ten(Eleven) Extreme Physique (Your choice of physique) -150 CP
*If you picked random you can roll a d100.
*If you choose A grade, and get 99% you can't evolve into an extreme physique.
Soul:
Throw a d10, that number is where you are in your bought category. Meaning, if you pick Ten Thousand man soul and get a 6, on the d10, you will have a 60.000 man soul.
You body also gains the necessary Dao marks to contain such a powerful soul.
Ten thousand man soul. -50 CP
This is the soul foundation of a rank 5 expert. A clan leader of a super force, with all the resources that comes with, can expect to reach this soul foundation in 30 years, 20 if they use special or detrimental methods.
Hundred thousand man soul. -100 CP
The soul foundation of a rank 6 immortal who has spent a great deal of effort strengthening their soul.
One million man soul. -200 CP
The soul foundation of a great expert of a path that benefits from soul foundation, like refinement path, wisdom path, enslavement path, etc. Any higher and the Dao mark interference from your soul will become too great.
Ten million man soul. -300 CP
Only a soul path immortal would have a soul foundation this great. At this level the interference from the soul path Dao marks on your soul would be detrimental to cultivating other paths. That is, unless you have a way to get around this Dao mark interference.
Attainment:
You can buy attainment in a path. When you gain the attainment, it acts as if you had gained the attainment through practice and hard work. Not through dream realms or true meaning. You can only buy a limited amount of grandmaster and great grandmaster attainment.
You can only buy grandmaster attainment in 6 paths.
You can only buy great grandmaster attainment in 3 paths.
Master. -50 CP
You can choose to gain master attainment in 3 paths each time you buy this option.
Master attainment is the attainment level of an expert among mortal Gu masters often taking decades to achive. This level attainment gives the Gu master uncanny intuition concerning their path.
Grandmaster. -50 CP
Among mortals only once in century genius' can become grandmaster in a path. Usually grandmaster attainment is reserved for rank 7 experts. Having this level of attainment, one will be able to mimic other paths and to create immortal killer moves using immortal materials, instead of immortal Gu.
Great grandmaster. -100 CP
Only experts among rank 8 have great grandmaster attainment. This level of attainment will allow the user to easily think up new recipes for mortal level Gu worms of their path. Great grandmaster's can even utilize the natural Dao marks of the Gu world.
Immortal ascension:
The quality of ones blessed land is dependent on ones accumulated human Qi. To accumulate human Qi one need to deep ones foundation, by increasing attainment level, experiencing the multitudes of life as a cultivator and attuning oneself to ones chosen path, by carving the apropiate dao marks onto ones body, mind and soul.
Immortal aperture
Immortal aperture are divided into four grades, low, medium, high and super grade. Each grade is defined by the size of the arear inside the blessed land, the immortal essence production and the size of the tributary of the river of time.
The spaciousness of your aperture determines the room for development inside it. The more developed an immortal aperture the more immortal essence it produces, and the more resource it produces to use, sell and trade. You will be rollling for how much space is inside your aperture.
The immortal essence production of an immortal aperture is indicative on how vigorously or often an immortal can fight and use immortal cultivation methods. Without immortal essence beads immortal Gu can't be activated, leaving the Gu immortal impotent. You will be rolling for how many immortal essence beads your aperture produces for each year that passes inside it.
The size of the tributary of time decides how much faster time passes inside your immortal aperture, compared to the five regions time (FRT). This determines how fast you pass tribulations and calamities. As an immortal at rank 6 or above, every 300 years that pass inside your aperture ascends you one rank until you reach rank 9. Meaning it takes 900 years of time inside your aperture to become rank 9. You will roll for how many times faster time flows in your aperture compared to the five regions time.
If you ascend as a time path immortal double the tributary of the river of time in your aperture
If you ascend as a space path immortal gain 50% more space in your aperture.
Low grade blessed land. +400 CP
Starting blessed land size:
2000 km2
Base tributary of the river of time (TRoT):
1d6 = x TRoT
Immortal essence beads (IEB) production per year:
1d10+10 = IEB at
Medium grade blessed land. Free
Starting blessed land size:
(d4+1) * 1000 = Area km2
Base tributary of the river of time (TRoT):
2d10 = x TRoT
Immortal essence beads (IEB) production per year:
1d10+20 = IEB at
High grade blessed land. -100 CP
Starting blessed land size:
(1d4+4) * 1000 = Area km2
Base tributary of the river of time (TRoT):
1d10+20 = x TRoT
Immortal essence beads (IEB) production per year:
1d10+30 = IEB at
Super grade blessed land. -300 CP
Starting blessed land size:
(1d6+6) * 1000 = Area km2
Base tributary of the river of time (TRoT):
2d10+20 = x TRoT
Immortal essence beads (IEB) production per year:
2d10+50 = IEB at
*you don’t have to be an extreme physique to buy super grade blessed land.
Immortal Gu
When the immortal aperture is created there will be heaven and earth Qi left over that can be used to refine immortal Gu. You as a privileged CYOA participator, can use your points to refine immortal Gu. However you can't refine any immortal Gu from the
These Gu worms will be created from nothing, and Heavens will doesn't need to approve of you having these Gu worms.
*Purchase immortal Gu responsibly, it's more fun if you don't break the setting.
Rank 7 and 8 immortal Gu are very powerful, therefor there is a limit to how many you can refine at ascension:
You can only buy 3 rank 7 immortal Gu
You can only buy 1 rank 8 immortal Gu
A rank 6 immortal Gu cost 200 CP.
A rank 7 immortal Gu cost 400 CP.
A rank 8 immortal Gu cost 800 CP.
Grab bag:
Grab bag perks are minor perks that are nice to have but not substantial enough to be full perks by themselves.
Pick 3 of any grab bag perks -50 CP
Pick 5 of any grab bag perks -100 CP
Pick 7 of any grab bag perks -150 CP
Reading materials.
You have a popup window where you can read Reverend Insanity and the Reverend Insanity wiki, only you can read it.
Gu professor.
You always know if an immortal Gu exist or not.
Polyglot.
You can speak and read the language of every region.
Thousand man soul.
You are born with a 1.000 man soul. With this soul foundation you could control more then 100.000 beast with enslavement path methods. As a Gu master your soul is also strong enough to beat all but rank 5 experts in a battle between souls.
Otherworldly Dao.
Choose what otherworldly Dao mark your soul comes with.
Settra.
Slavery Gu, of any rank, does not work on you.
Instant success.
Gu worms that carve Dao marks on the user, like Black Boar Gu, Iron Bone Gu etc., will have their full effects shown immediately and painlessly upon use and they won't need primeval essence to activate.
Mutated soul.
You may choose for your soul to be a mutated soul. For example if you chose to have a wolfman soul, your soul would have wolf characteristics and would be many times stronger when controlling wolves. You can also choose to have mutated soul of a path. For example an ice soul, which will boost the effect of ice path Gu worms.
Flying master.
You now have master level attainment in flying.
Extremely attractive appearance.
You have an extremely attractive appearance, and people will subconsciously treat you better because of it.
Eidetic memory.
You gain perfect eidetic memory. However, you may still forget things if you so wish.
Aptitude reroll.
You get to reroll your aptitude and choose the higher number. You can pick this grab bag perk multiple times.
Perks:
Perks are divided into tiers.
Any perk that gives Gu worms or recipes for Gu worms may not give Lifespan Gu or the recipe for them, unless otherwise stated.
Tier 1 perks
Primeval wealth. -50 CP
You gain a rank 4 Primeval elder Gu containing ten million primeval stones. This is the wealth of a mid sized clan. You may buy this option multiple times.
Gu set. -50 CP
You may pick 10 Gu worms of the same path from rank 1 to 5, they will individually appear in your aperture when you choose. If the Gu worm you have chosen can be refined to a higher rank, you can do so instantly at no cost when you wish, but not to a rank higher than 5. You may buy this perk as many times as you want.
Mortal recipes. -50 CP
You may pick any 10 mortal Gu worms and gain their rank 1 through to rank 5 recipes. The recipes will use modern materials. Meaning, if you choose an ancient or extinct Gu worm, like All-out effort Gu, you will gain a recipe containing materials that are reasonably available. You may purchase this perk multiple times.
Close combat master. -50 CP
You are a battle genius and you have mastered of Krav Maga, Boxing, Brazilian Jujitsu, Grappling and Mauy Thai. Furthermore, you have master level proficiency with longsword, spear, axe and polearm.
Inhuman transformations. -50 CP
If you transform into a less then human form, you will automatically have the ability move and control your body as if you were born in such a form.
Flying grandmaster. -50 CP
You now have grandmaster attainment in flying. Geniuses renowned for their flying skill, at most have qusai-grandmaster flying attainment.
Longevity. -50 CP
You gain a hundred year lifespan Gu. You can use it to increase your lifespan or keep it for a different use.
Tier 2 perks
Dual Dao. -100 CP
You may choose two paths. Those paths do not interfere with each other when you use them.
Variant Dao. -100 CP
If you are a variant human you gain great grandmaster attainment in the path of your Dao. Meaning dragon men gain great grandmaster in enslavement path, hairy men gain refinement path, etc. This doesn't count towards your great grandmaster attainment limit.
Second aperture. -100 CP
You can awaken your second aperture at a time of your choosing. The second aperture functions as if created by rank 6 Second Aperture Gu, meaning it has no restriction of which rank it can rise to. Ascended to an immortal aperture this aperture will be have the same characteristics as your first one. If you picked Dual Dao and Second Aperture, you may also choose two paths that don't interfere in the second aperture.
Superior Gu set. -100 CP
You may pick 10 Gu worms they will appear in your aperture when you choose. If the Gu worm you have chosen can be refined to a higher rank, you can do so instantly at no cost when you wish, but not to a rank higher than 5. Furthermore, these 10 Gu worms do not need to be fed. You can buy this perk twice.
Immortal recipes. -100 CP
You can choose 10 Gu worms and you will obtain the rank 1 recipes, and the rank 2. etc. all the way to rank 9 for each Gu you choose. That is, you will receive the recipe for the lowest possible rank that the Gu worm can be and up. You can choose when you receive each recipe. Whether or not you recive the whole family of recipes at the same time or not. The recipes will only contain materials that can all be found in the current era, with the higher ranked recipes being possible exception. They may contain very exotic or necessarily extinct, but still existing, materials. Some Gu can't exist at the mortal level to a functional degree. You will still recive the recipes for these, but they can at most serve as reference value. You may pick this perk twice.
Auto balancer. -100 CP
When undergoing immortal ascension your Heaven, Earth and Human Qi will automatically be balanced for you. It's guaranteed that you will pass immortal ascension, the only thing that can stop your ascension is being killed by the tribulation itself or outside influences.
Year essence pool. -100 CP
Your immortal aperture gains a year essence pool. This is a enviroment mimicking the river of time, that exist parallelly to your aperture. Meaning that the year essence pool doesn’t take up any space in your aperture. The year essence pool also allows you to control the size of the tributary of the river of time flowing into your aperture. Meaning that you can slow the time of your aperture to anywhere between the time you rolled for, in the immortal ascension section, and that of the five regions.
Wealth of Food -100 CP
Upon immortal ascension a resource point is created inside your aperture for each rank 6 immortal Gu. Each resource point produces food for a corresponding immortal Gu.
Tier 3 perks
Great era inheritance. -150 CP
You gain a rank 6 immortal inheritance, that guide you from rank 1 to the peak of rank 6. However, the inheritance will be 500 years ahead of time from the time of chapter 2 of Reverend Insanity. Furthermore, you may choose for the inheritance to be a path of the great ere like weapon path, pill path, etc. The inheritance contains a myriad recipes for mortal Gu worms of the path that you choose and 5 rank 6 immortal Gu recipes of that path. The inheritance contains no Gu in it of itself.
Dream realm. -150 CP
A dream realm appears at a time and location of your choosing. It will contain true meaning pertaining to a path of your choice. It will be big enough for one person to achive great grandmaster attainment and another one to achive grandmaster attainment, or for three people to attain grandmaster attainment.
Immortal killer moves. -150 CP
You can choose 10 immortal killer moves. You learn the lowest to the highest rank possible of these killer moves. You can pick the same killer move more then once. This means that if you picked time cutting edge you can learn it again when it disappears from your memories.
Life and death aperture. -150 CP
Upon immortal ascension you will experience tribulations at half the strength they normally would be, but you still gain the same amount of Dao marks. With this perk you are also guaranteed to get a high grade blessed land. Unless you posses an extreme physique then you will gain a super grade blessed land like you normally would.
Reinforced physique. -150 CP
If you have an extreme physique you suffer non of the down sides. You will not need to fear exploding by cultivating too high in the mortal ranks. You won't need an immortal Gu corresponding to your physique to ascend. You will soar through the mortal ranks. Your ascension will be on the high end of what a normal immortal might experience, so relativly tame compared to ten extreme physiques. After this Heaven's will isn't going to hold back on tribulation.
Dao physique. -150 CP
Don't pick anything in the aptitude section. Choose a path, you now have an extreme physique equivalent in that path. Meaning, if you chose sword path, you would have a sword path physique with all the benefits and drawbacks of a normal extreme physique.
Tier 4 perks
Anti-divination. -300 CP
You have a rank 9 perpetual killer move applied to you. Only a rank 9 wisdom path immortal with a rank 9 Gu will be able to deduce anything about you. Anytime someone makes deduction about you, they either fail or get an obfuscated answer. You can toggle this killer move so if you want Heavens will to be able to send you tribulations can toggle the killer move off.
Gu house. -250 CP
Choose 5 immortal Gu houses, you gain the blueprint of how to create each of these Gu houses.
Imperial staff. -250 CP
You gain a staff with three teleportation opportunities. You have three opportunities to teleport to any place mentioned in the novel that exist in your era. Except you cannot go to the 9th layer of crazed demon cave.
Rank 8 inheritance. -250 CP
You may choose one or two paths and gain a rank 8 inheritance of the path(s) you choose. You may not pick heaven path. If you bought 'Great era inheritance', this rank 8 inheritance may also be of a great era path along with the other features of 'Great era inheritance'. Regardless of if you bought 'Great era inheritance', you may pick three aspects that the inheritance specializes in. If you only choose for the inheritance to contain one path you may instead pick five: Offense, Defense, Movement, Investigation, Concealment, Healing, Aperture Management and path specialty.
Path speciality meaning, whatever your chosen paths speciality is. For wisdom path it would be deduction, soul path would be soul cultivation, etc.
If you choose two paths then the inheritance contain an excellent method to duel cultivate these two paths. The inheritance does not contain any Gu worms, however it contains the knowledge or how to refine, feed and use a myriad of Gu including several immortal Gu. The inheritance also contains peak strength mortal killer moves that cover all aspects, and how to empower these killer moves to immortal level by using immortal materials. Of course, the inheritance also details these killer moves when used with apropiate immortal Gu. The inheritance also comes with a battlefield killer move, you may choose one specialization for the battlefield killer move : Activation speed, Killing power, Concealment, Suppression. With this inheritance you cultivation will be smooth sailing from beginning to end.
Dao carver. -300 CP
You now gain twice as many Dao marks, from any source, as you otherwise would. Heavens will doesn't take into account how the existence or effect of this perk when sending you tribulations as an immortal.
Pocket paradise. -400 CP
You gain an orb with an blessed land inside. The orb can be carried inside your aperture. When not in your aperture you can activate it, which makes the orb immobile. When placed the orb functions like a blessed land with a land spirit you are in control of. When outside of the blessed land you can deactivate the orb and put it inside your aperture again. The orb supplies the blessed land with heaven and earth Qi, so you can move place the orb any of the five regions without problems. The blessed land has an interior size of 7.000 m2 and time that moves 40 times faster then the Gu world. The blessed land has enough resource production to earn 50 immortal essence stones every year that passes inside the blessed land. There is still a lot of room for development. The resources are related to the path of the blessed land, which you may choose. The blessed land is a paradise, and therefore won't experience tribulations.
Tier 5 perks
Prodigy. -350 CP
In a path of your choice, you now great grandmaster attainment and venerable talent in that path. Meaning you can reach supreme grandmaster without needing outside help. This includes dream realms or absorbing true meaning. Though it may take a few centuries to reach your potential. This does not count towards the limit of how many great grandmaster attainments you can buy.
Small Dream Immortal Venerable. -400 CP
You have master attainment in every path. Master attainment gives have an uncanny and accurate intuitions about everything in the Gu world. For example, when searching for a person or object you will have an accurate, if vague, intuition about which way to search. There are no longer restrictions on how much attainment you can buy.
Legendary expert. -400 CP
You have quasi supreme grandmaster attainment in two paths of your choice. You are now the undisputed expert in your field alive today, but you will still need to exert a great deal of effort to raise your attainment to supreme grandmaster. If taken with prodigy you will immediately gain supreme grandmaster attainment in the path you picked for prodigy.
Gugle maps. -400 CP
Gain a perfectly accurate map of the entire Gu world. The map is in your head but can also be projected as a 3d hologram, and you can choose if others can see it. The map is in google earth like detail and contains information on resource points, hidden inheritances, blessed lands and grotto-heavens, secluded domains. You cannot use the map to see into blessed lands or grotto heavens, but you can see where they are located. The map is not merely a videogame map, it also contains highly detailed information on demographics, infrastructure, detailed economic data, beast territory and more. This map is accurate enough for fixed immortal travel Gu to work with, but activation becomes more likely to fail, the longer since it was updated. To update the map as a mortal sacrifice 100% of your current essence type. As an immortal sacrifice 300 beads of your current immortal essence.
Venerable traits:
You may pick only one of these, but they are free.
Primordial Origin immortal venerable.
You gain ten one thousand years lifespan Gu. You can choose when to recive each Gu individually.
Star Constellation immortal venerable.
As an immortal, every time your aperture produces an immortal essence bead, you can experience the effect of the light of wisdom as if from a rank 9 wisdom Gu, but without the loss of lifespan, for 10 minutes. You can save up these minutes.
Limitless demon venerable.
Chose a path. For as long as you cultivate only that path, and don't use immortal Gu of a different path. you will gain 5x the amount of dao marks in that path as you otherwise would. If you use other paths you permanently loose this perk. This stacks multiplicatively with dao carver.
Reckless Savage demon venerable.
You gain 3 slots. Each slot can be filled with a path. The paths your slots have been filled with don't interfere with each other. You also have great grandmaster attainment in these paths while you have them slotted. You can change the paths of in your slots once every week, central continet time.
Red Lotus demon venerable.
Choose a moment. From now on, whenever you die you or when you choose, your are sent back to that moment. You cannot change the moment that you regress to, it will always be the same moment. Every time you regress, your luck gets massively worse. After 10 regressions, it will be as if everyone but you has Fortune Rivaling Heaven.
Genesis Lotus immortal venerable.
As a mortal your primeval essence regeneration is a 100 times what it normally would be. As an immortal, your origin core produce ten time the normal amount of immortal essence. Meaning if your have an average high grade blessed land with no development, you will produce 300 beads of immortal essence every year that passes in your aperture.
Thieving Heaven immortal venerable.
When you kill someone you can guarantee that they can't destroy a certain amount of immortal Gu. If you kill a rank 6 immortal, they can't destroy one of their rank 6 immortal Gu. If you kill a rank 7 immortal Gu they can't destroy one rank 7 immortal Gu and two rank 6 immortal Gu. If you kill a rank 8 immortal, they can't destroy one rank 8 Gu, two rank 7 Gu and four rank 6 immortal Gu. Etc.
If there are multiple choices, the saved Gu are chosen at random.
Giant Sun immortal venerable.
You have enourmous luck, like a child of human path. Only Red Lotus and Feng Jin Huang are above you in terms of luck.
Spectral Soul demon venerable.
You are born with a one thousand desolate soul, you soul alone has the strength of an high tier desolate beast. But you might be more susceptible to enslavement path methods, but it hardly matters since your soul is so devastatingly powerful.
Paradise earth immortal venerable.
As an immortal you gain natural inspiration, every time you face one of your major tribulations. Heavenly tribulations as rank 6, grand tribulations at rank 7, etc.
Heaven Refining demon venerable.
You gain unlimited willpower and motivation. You now have the perseverance to casually swim through the reverse flow river. Your will to power will never waver.
Missions:
These are objectives that you give you extra points, but you have to complete them within 300 years or you explode and die. Spectral Soul eats your soul, Heavens Will foils any rival methods. You cannot escape the consequence of not completing your missions.
You may pick as many mission as you want.
Extra time. -100 CP
You gain 200 more years of time to accomplish your missions.
Easy missions
Traditional. +100 CP
Create an inheritance and a suitable inheritance ground. Describe what the trials and requirements there are to get your inheritance.
Imperial Court. +200 CP
Enter the imperial court blessed land at least once.
Medium missions
Paradise. +200 CP
Enter the Grotto-Heaven Blue Dragon Whale at least once.
Secluded Domain.+200 CP
Obtain a secluded domain of heaven and earth. You have to have had ownership of a secluded domain for a month for this mission to be considered successful. You can take this missions three times. You have to obtain three different secluded domains for it to count. You can't 'loose' one and obtain it again later.
Supreme inheritance. +300 CP
Obtain a complete true inheritance of any venerable. Thieving Heavens three refinement opportunities from Lang Ya isn't a true inheritance.
Problem? KILL!. +350 CP
Destroy a super force. You don't have to kill all the members of that force, although it would be a good idea. You simply have to make it so that the super force doesn't exist anymore. This also counts if you can convince someone to exterminate for you, by trickery, commission, or other means.
Hard missions
Homewrecker. +400 CP
Your mission is to destroy 88 True Yang building. If 88 True Yang building is destroyed without your direct involvement, you fail.
Founding ancestor. +500 CP
Create a super force, it may be a clan, sect or other. The force has to span the five regions and each branch must have at least one entity with rank 8 battle strength. Be it a rank 8 Gu master, a rank 7 Gu house or ancient battle formation. 5 immemorial beast also counts as rank 8 battle strength. You have an extra 500 years to accomplish this missions.
Grand theft Gu. +400 CP
Obtain Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu. With the time limit, you would probably have to complete this mission by either stealing it from Spectral Soul at Yi tian mountain. Or, you could refine it again using it's user, be it Spectral Soul or Fang Yuan, as a refinement material.
Become venerable. +400 CP
Break through the heavenly dao blockade and become venerable. Heavens Will isn't interested in you becoming venerable so you have to destroy or control Fate Gu. You only have 300 years though, so you have to be very quick.
Heavenly court. +600 CP
Join Heavenly Court and loyally serve it's interest. You don't have to save Fate Gu, you might even think it preferable if Red Lotus' plan comes to fruition. But, you have to do what you think is best for Heavenly Court.
Supremacy. +800 CP
As a variant human, make your race dominant in the five regions. You have a 10.000 year time limit.
Specific missions
These can only be picked if you chose the following timelines: Late Antiquity Righteous Era and Late Antiquity Demonic Era.
Pseudo venerable. +300 CP
You must reach pseudo venerable battle strength in all of your aspects of combat. E.I. having pseudo venerable defensive methods isn't enough.
Dao opponet. +300 CP
Defeat one of the coming venerables in battle. You must not be more then one rank above then when you defeat them, and you must not fight them while having immortal level cultivation while they are still mortal.
Drawbacks:
You may take as many drawbacks as you want. However you may not take drawbacks more then once.
Drawbacks overwrite other options picked in this character creator.
Easy drawbacks
No spoilers. +50 CP
You cannot share the contents of Reverend Insanity with anyone. You may still act on the information but you may not try to explain it to others.
Dao monogamous. +100 CP
Other paths interfere twice as much with the path of your vital Gu as they normally would. If you have dual Dao or Reckless Savage Demon Venerable as your venerable trait you cannot pick this drawback.
Un-undead. +100 CP
You cannot turn into a zombie. For good or ill you cannot become a zombie. Lifespan is always in short supply and you no longer have a fail safe.
Local dao. +200 CP
You are no longer an otherworldly demon. You will not have otherworldly dao marks and others cannot figure out your origin no matter what method they use. Not even soul searching you will let them find out you aren't from the Gu world.
True to your word. +200 CP
Alliance agreements become empowered. Dao marks related to any contract or alliance can only be forcefully removed by a specialized rank 9 killer move. You will have to be very carful with what you sign up to and always add a time limit.
Weakness. +200 CP
Choose one path, you are now twice as vulnerable to that path as you normally would be. You can pick this multiple times.
Medium drawbacks
Inhospitable enviroment. +300 CP
Choose a region, you cannot enter that region. This goes away when the regional walls disappears.
Like a mistress. +350 CP
Gu worms you own need twice as much food to be properly fed.
Halved lifespan. +300 CP
Your lifespan is halved, meaning if you are human you only have 50 years to live. Lifespan extension methods are as effective as they normally would be.
Clear Conscience. +300 CP
You cannot knowingly lie, and you are compelled to answer any question asked truthfully.
Indivisible. +300 CP
You cannot create clones. Others may not create clones of you either. You may still create external wills.
Forget me now. +400 CP
You loose all memory of reading Reverend Insanity upon rebirth. You still remember the options you took in this CYOA, and your previous life. If you picked reading materials in your grab bag it is removed and you can pick another.
Hard drawbacks
Dao dunce. +800 CP
You cannot increase your attainment level beyond what you buy in this character creator. Unless you buy prodigy, then you can become supreme grandmaster in that chosen path.
Multiplayer:
The Gu world is a capricious thief and has stolen not just but another unfortunate soul. But, this CYOA is fair to all, and so, you will not be the only one who gets too go through this character creator.
Convince another person to go through this CYOA and be reincarnated with you. You will have to both decide on a
Timeline.
This is entirely optional, I just thought it would be fun for people to test out builds together and against other people. I have also create some rules/objectives to facilitate the multiplayer, but you can make up your own.
Twin start:
Two players pick the 'I Am Fang Yuan!' timeline, one person will be reborn as Fang Yuan, the other will be reborn as Fang Zheng. Flip a coin to determine whos who. Optionally, you can also pick one of the two options below.
Co-op:
Each player picks a starting location and they have to collectively accomplish as many of the Missions as possible.
Feud:
Each player picks a separate starting location, and they have 300 years to kill each other. Come up with strategies to reach immortal level, and how to aquire the strength to fight each other
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2024.06.02 17:11 Artistic-Fee-9938 Welcome!!!
👋. It seems our itty, bitty, ‘the cats titty’ community has grown since EF and Jessica’s posts/announcements last night! We have grown by about 65 members, so WELCOME to all our newbies!!
What we know so far - (feel free to add!)
*Abbey claims responsibility for asking Jessica to leave, but ALL comments call bs and say it was Gio’s decision and Abbey was the delivery person for the news.
*We know nothing of the terms of Jessica’s departure, only that she is waiting for their instructions on when/how to leave. People are offering up assistance financially and Jessica’s responses to all of those are pretty much, “I may have to take you up on that”. Personally, I think she needs to leave on her own terms, and quickly at that. She doesn’t need to give them any more power.
*All of the Bad Chicken girl AND OF content is still up. And here I am, all traumatized again after taking one for the team and confirming the OF content 🤢🫣.
*Their EF IG is still there and is surprisingly very wholesome compared to their TT and other content. No pics or mentions of Jessica or any other info on their attempts at ‘growing their family/community’.
*The price of Jessica has gone up overnight. It WAS 10k and now they are saying it was 15k to get her there. No idea of what is so costly? They tried to originally say plane tickets/travel/visas/paperwork basically, but I don’t know why they wouldn’t have just done a one way ticket, so a trial and go from there. I have no idea of how long Visas are supposed to take, but from my understanding in watching 90 day fiancé, it’s typically a very lengthy process. Maybe a fiancé visa and work visa are super different, but either way, something doesn’t make sense there.
*As much as EF says they don’t care about what other people think of them, they sure are responding A LOT to comments on their most recent post. All of the comments are juvenile, satire and salty (so I’m suspecting they are by Gio) but they are responding nonetheless. That makes me think they care a little bit more than they want to admit.
*People are boycotting their business and unfollowing them like crazy and even their partner Goat N Soap was brought up as well (due to them attacking commenters). Goat N Soap removed all their comments, but we have screenshots 👍.
*General consensus is that people are very concerned about Jessica’s safety, and Abbeys wording in her video about a ‘safe exit’ didn’t help.
*Its hard to tell who the people/public are supporting more. Most everyone on Jessica’s post shows support for her. A huge amount of people on EF post surprisingly supports Jessica as well. Of course they have a ton of people still on their side, but I was a bit shocked to see how many people were bashing them for the current circumstances. There may be a split on actual, visible commented feedback, but considering the amount of followers that EF has compared to Jessica, I would say it doesn’t look great for EF as a whole.
submitted by Artistic-Fee-9938 to encompassfarmgossip [link] [comments]
What we know so far - (feel free to add!)
*Abbey claims responsibility for asking Jessica to leave, but ALL comments call bs and say it was Gio’s decision and Abbey was the delivery person for the news.
*We know nothing of the terms of Jessica’s departure, only that she is waiting for their instructions on when/how to leave. People are offering up assistance financially and Jessica’s responses to all of those are pretty much, “I may have to take you up on that”. Personally, I think she needs to leave on her own terms, and quickly at that. She doesn’t need to give them any more power.
*All of the Bad Chicken girl AND OF content is still up. And here I am, all traumatized again after taking one for the team and confirming the OF content 🤢🫣.
*Their EF IG is still there and is surprisingly very wholesome compared to their TT and other content. No pics or mentions of Jessica or any other info on their attempts at ‘growing their family/community’.
*The price of Jessica has gone up overnight. It WAS 10k and now they are saying it was 15k to get her there. No idea of what is so costly? They tried to originally say plane tickets/travel/visas/paperwork basically, but I don’t know why they wouldn’t have just done a one way ticket, so a trial and go from there. I have no idea of how long Visas are supposed to take, but from my understanding in watching 90 day fiancé, it’s typically a very lengthy process. Maybe a fiancé visa and work visa are super different, but either way, something doesn’t make sense there.
*As much as EF says they don’t care about what other people think of them, they sure are responding A LOT to comments on their most recent post. All of the comments are juvenile, satire and salty (so I’m suspecting they are by Gio) but they are responding nonetheless. That makes me think they care a little bit more than they want to admit.
*People are boycotting their business and unfollowing them like crazy and even their partner Goat N Soap was brought up as well (due to them attacking commenters). Goat N Soap removed all their comments, but we have screenshots 👍.
*General consensus is that people are very concerned about Jessica’s safety, and Abbeys wording in her video about a ‘safe exit’ didn’t help.
*Its hard to tell who the people/public are supporting more. Most everyone on Jessica’s post shows support for her. A huge amount of people on EF post surprisingly supports Jessica as well. Of course they have a ton of people still on their side, but I was a bit shocked to see how many people were bashing them for the current circumstances. There may be a split on actual, visible commented feedback, but considering the amount of followers that EF has compared to Jessica, I would say it doesn’t look great for EF as a whole.
2024.06.02 17:00 Blaziy Dev Diary #66: Ruins, Revolts, and Revelations Part 1
 | Welcome to the 1st part of Dev Diary #66: Ruins, Revolts, and Revelations! That’s right, this is a 2 part Dev Diary, the South Aelantir team has been very hard at work these last 6 months giving our favorite continent the love it so desperately deserves, and it turns out we made too much and can’t show it all in one post! So we’re splitting it up, today we’re showing you our work on Taychend and the Effelai, so I’ll pass it over to Takasaki and get right to it. submitted by Blaziy to Anbennar [link] [comments] TaychendThe Oren Nayiru & The Kamrayakval’s WarSlavery – as immoral as it is immortal. Slavery has been an integral part of Taychendi society from the rule of dragons to that of the slaver nobles, and finally to the post-post-apocalyptic warlords who rule the region now. Slavery’s longevity, however, has been accompanied by fragility – and the arrival of the Sun Elven Jaherian Exemplars heralded the latest threat to its existence. However, try as they might, it would not be the abolitionist Exemplars who would pose this existential threat – it would be the group they inspired, and who will be a big part of your Taychendi playthroughs during the 1500s: the Oren Nayiru.https://preview.redd.it/kvzazc4pz34d1.png?width=1170&format=png&auto=webp&s=9b0c47562040ed7dec1bfd5028f8fe0bffe25670 Forming from the injection of the Exemplar’s beliefs in both abolition and the nature of Surael as the last remaining “higher god” into the abolitionist Hero-Cult-turned-secret-society, the Cult of Vherenar, the Oren Nayiru are as radical as they are revolutionary. Warrior-monks, religious fanatics, terrorists or freedom fighters, slave rabble or highly organised military force – the Oren Nayiru live up to every title you could give them. Ruled by the warlord-priests of the Kavalali, the Oren Nayiru believe in a theocratic “democracy”, the overthrow of existing hierarchies, land reform, the absolute abolition of slavery everywhere, and more – and they believe that will all come about as the result of a great war – they have hid in the shadows for too long, and so they believe that “Dawn” will now come, a mass uprising that will sweep over Taychend. As they build up for that uprising, and their ideas and religion spread like wildfire through the slaves, serfs and peasants of Taychend – be they ruled by the native Taychendi or foreign invaders like Ameion or Rezankand – they will constantly undermine your rule, their secretive “cells” harassing the institution of slavery and everything opposed to it. Slowing the spread of the Oren Nayiru will be a proactive but difficult endeavor – while most of these events seem purely bad, some also offer the opportunity to remove the religious zeal modifier, allowing the conversion of Oren Nayiru provinces, or to convert them back outright. They will even attempt to bring Dawn about sooner rather than later. This attempt, the Calsithara Revolt, will however prove a false start, with half the faith not joining in – giving you ample opportunity to crush those cells that did. Persecuting the Oren Nayiru is a race against time, however. Because unbeknownst to even the Oren Nayiru themselves, divine salvation – Dawn – is coming. Once the faith has spread to enough provinces, a certain mercenary, born to a Rezankandi Sun Elven father and a Taychendi mother, will stumble on a simple iron collar lying in a stream – and as the dragon awakens, the next Great Relic Lord of Taychend, Elrandar Silverspite, will be born. Taychend is a feast for those who love reading – I, the great and powerful Takasaki, creator and writer of Gemradcurt, wrote the localisation for both the Oren Nayiru religion, the Kamrayakval’s war disaster AND the three Taychendi trees you will see in the rest of this diary! Clad in the Armour of Yodhan – quite literally a dragon in armour form – that was once used by its namesake 1000 years ago to conquer Taychend, Elrandar Silverspite, once named Kamrayakval, or leader of the faith, is as cold and cunning as he is army-shatteringly powerful, the armour giving him immense durability, strength, and command over gravity itself – imagine Captain Levi from AoT if you gave him power armour. And 12 shock pips. A two-paragraph taste of a Great Relic-Lord’s power. I wonder what would happen if he managed to sneak his way into your capital…? When the disaster starts, Orenvalyam – the tag representing a united Oren Nayiru – will spawn in a single state (with up to 100,000 soldiers), and then declare war on all non-Oren Nayiru tags in Taychend, making those that have already converted vassals and bringing them in on his side. Should he win the resulting cataclysmic war? He will annex the entire Taychend superregion. With the future of the entire region is at stake, only one thing is for certain – the fields of Taychend shall be furrowed with blood once more. The Oren Nayiru have numbers, a cadre of skilled generals, and of course Silverspite himself – as the struggle continues, the people of Taychend will pay the price. RoyakottarRoyakottar, the city of scrap and salvage, is the first Taychendi nation to get a MT, courtesy of yours truly, Takasaki! A city built around the remains of the Steel-Scorched Citadel, a massive precursor ruin buried under thousands of tons of rubble by Ebenanth, the First Emperor, Royakottar is the third biggest city in Taychend, and stands as one of the best candidates to resist Larankarha or Kheionai invaders!Pre-Formable Taychendi mission trees are short but packed with content, lasting until you unite the region and bring the cycle of Warlordism to heel. Stay tuned for the formable MT after this update, exciting things are in the works! However, Royakottar is not exactly united. It has long been dominated by the Four Families, a group of scavenger-guilds turned crime families: the Vustarin, masters of reshaping and reforging precursor scrap, the Kattyva, dedicated followers of the Great Relic-Lord Kadradar, and masters of digging up that scrap, the Ursibadur, jovial but ruthless providers of every vice and pleasure, and finally the Nymkorai, ruthless mafia-like caravaneers and traders, feared far beyond Royakottar’s walls. These families squabble and fight often, and any ruler of the city will have to work hard to keep them from tearing the city apart. Royakottar is Taychend’s New Reno – with a little less scum and a lot more scrap. But division is not the destined fate of Royakottar. For centuries, the Four Families have been placing puppet rulers on the throne of the city, while they wage war against each other in the shadows. But in 1444, with the threats of the city mounting, their latest puppet ruler, the young and skillful mercenary Kalazhil “Bronzewing” Rekkatemir, has decided that he will not stand idly by. Kalazhil is capable, but so are the other families! As you progress through the tree, you will get an event for each one showcasing them in action. And yes, they are as “flavourful” as the one of the right! As you fight to conquer Taychend, you will also fight against the Families very nature. It’s all or nothing, and either you will be successful in your endeavor to unite the Families, or one of them may end the power struggle once and for all – as the last Family standing. By diplomacy or by force, as a city with Four Families and one King or one Family alone, Royakottar will be united. RakkabuttaiThe Bulwark of the West, the Bloodcloak Brotherhood of Rakkabuttai stand firm against those that seek to conquer Taychend from without, such as the Chendyhans from whom they most hate. This is Iceytheknight, and I am here today to showcase the mission tree for Rakkabuttai!https://preview.redd.it/5j70tsec044d1.png?width=1267&format=png&auto=webp&s=dd2c7bdf6f1e9923c3744b16fb2629eae7c5f6ad A Brotherhood forged to fend off Chendhyans hundreds of years ago, Rakkabuttai is now done sitting within their fortresses, especially as the Chendhyans have brought forth a new resurgence with Zaernmaera. Now is the time to strike back and strike hard, seizing the plains and taking the island of Assakadil for yourself to bring retribution. https://preview.redd.it/lqvnr5he044d1.png?width=559&format=png&auto=webp&s=e0ffadaf91a9f251c24692e11cfa35091a6e0f81 Once the threat of the Chendhyans has been subdued enough, it is time to reflect upon the future of Rakkabuttai and of Taychend. Disunited, Taychend is weak, fragile. It would bend to any invaders, as it had in the south with Ameion, and who knows what could come from the east. A united Taychend, on the other hand, would be able to fend off any that oppose those. If no-one else could do this, then Rakkabuttai shall themselves, for Taychend must stand strong. As you conquer your way through Taychend, you will seek to further chain the Chendhyans within your lands to your will, reform your military into a true fighting force, and construct fortifications across the region so that none may walk in unopposed. Bound Taychend with blood and stone! Sthanan ith VussamBetween the devastating Kamrayakval’s War, the scheming Four Families of Royakottar and the slaver Bloodcloak Brotherhood, it might seem like Taychend is not leaving its cycle of war and destruction for some time. How about we go with a different path next? Pivert08 here to present to you the third Taychendi mission tree coming this update, this time for the - quite frankly unpronounceable - country of Sthanan ith Vussam!A nice little mission tree to accompany you through the rapid early game of Taychend’s glory system. Having recently lost its westernmost territories to Ameion during Laskaris’ Invasion, the city-state of Sthanan ith Vussam is in a precarious position, but might very well be Thektoram’s best chance at fending off the Kheionai. Once the capital of the Dumrusvarn, a prosperous kingdom that ruled over most of Taychend’s southeastern peninsula for over two centuries (an amazing feat in Taychend, a.k.a. Warlord-Land), Sthanan ith Vussam is known for its highly-professional Goldsword infantry and the influential religious order of the Violet Brotherhood. In Sthanan ith Vussam’s mission tree, you’ll be led to fight back against Ameion to reform the Dumrusvarn, create a truly professional army in the example of the Goldswords, bring the city of Sthanan ith Vussam to new heights of prosperity and reunite with old acquaintances that may have already been covered in this dev diary, all while spreading the word of the Violet Brotherhood: that blood and fire are not the only true paths to glory. Once the Dumrusvarn reformed, you might want to take your ambitions even further… Taychend will see prosperity under your rule, whether it likes it or not. New NIsI hope you have fun discovering all this new content! But, before we leave you to the eerie workings of the Effelai, there’s still one last thing we need to show you for Taychend: new national ideas. While this might sound less exciting than new religions or mission trees, all Taychendi nations (except Ahartadyam, sadly) have now received fully unique national ideas which paint a very diverse cast of nations and marks great potential for future development of the region. A total of 16 national idea sets were made for this update, so we picked nine of the most interesting ideas for your reading pleasure.By order of appearance: Parahechend, Korrimutren, Sarihaddu and Ethanamara by Pivert08, Imarchend, Marhed Rayodana and Uesrennu by Takasaki, Zaernmaera by Ottokard and Airoa Naditari by Dreknar. EffelaiHello, u/Blaziy here to show you the new mission tree(s) for the Effelai tribes! Though credit where credit is due, this is not my work, but instead all the work of River Doge, who you may remember from Dev Diary #60 where he talked about the Effelai system. Well he’s back this update with a shared mission tree for the 5 tribes of the Effelai!Written by River Doge, Bojnik, and Grymhar The mission tree will accompany you during the initial migration part of the Effelai, with each tribe having unique missions to complete during their pilgrimage. There’s Ingani’s Blood Hunts, Ae’n Saldayno’s Festivals, Kamaraka’s Great Hunts, Sel’ Parura’s Trials, and Xoti’Guao’s Planting, each with their own unique flavor to spice up the migration period. Once you’ve finished the migration loop and have settled in the Heart of The Effelai, it’s time to settle the land, survive the Effelai’s trials, and unite the other tribes under your banner. As you’re doing this you must also discover the precursor relics lost throughout the forest in order to upgrade the Heart of The Effelai Monument and start the Effelai Bloom https://preview.redd.it/jo8w2sel044d1.png?width=515&format=png&auto=webp&s=0fc6b8e11a623a8879ccaecf2aeccae9df0df974 Once you’ve finally done all that, it’s time to reform your nation into a modern theocracy and form Aráya, spreading the beauty of the Effelai to the rest of the world as you break free from your mortal form, and embrace perfection. The Effelai’s government mechanic now has art, done by the amazing Tators! That’s all for part one of the South Aelantir Dev Diary everyone! Check back on the subreddit in 2 days on Tuesday to see what the Kheionai, Devand, and Amadia have in store, fun fact, it's even longer than part 1! |
2024.06.02 16:56 Consistent-Cut1711 what do you think about my pc
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Mfwyn6)
TypeItemPrice
:----:----:----
**CPU** [AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/X6XV3C/amd-ryzen-9-7950x3d-42-ghz-16-core-processor-100-100000908wof) $547.37 @ Amazon
**CPU Cooler** [NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB 78.02 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/pbKscf/nzxt-kraken-elite-360-rgb-7802-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-rl-kr36e-w1) $273.99 @ Amazon
**Thermal Compound** [Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1 g Thermal Paste](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/XHqbt6/thermal-grizzly-kryonaut-1-g-thermal-paste-tg-k-001-rs) $6.99 @ ModMyMods
**Motherboard** [Asus ROG STRIX B650-A GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Gjt9TW/asus-rog-strix-b650-a-gaming-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-rog-strix-b650-a-gaming-wifi) $220.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** [Corsair Vengeance RGB 128 GB (4 x 32 GB) DDR5-5600 CL40 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PNsV3C/corsair-vengeance-rgb-128-gb-4-x-32-gb-ddr5-5600-cl40-memory-cmh128gx5m4b5600c40) $459.99 @ Amazon
**Storage** [Enmotus FuzeDrive 1.55 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kwzhP6/enmotus-fuzedrive-155-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-p200-1600128) -
**Video Card** [Asus ROG STRIX GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/V8hFf7/asus-rog-strix-gaming-oc-geforce-rtx-4090-24-gb-video-card-rog-strix-rtx4090-o24g-white) $2079.99 @ B&H
**Case** [HYTE Y70 Touch ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JHrqqs/hyte-y70-touch-atx-mid-tower-case-cs-hyte-y70-ww-l) $359.99 @ HYTE
**Power Supply** [be quiet! Dark Power 13 850 W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/42FmP6/be-quiet-dark-power-13-850-w-80-titanium-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-bn660) $189.90 @ Amazon
**Operating System** [Microsoft Windows 11 Pro OEM - DVD 64-bit](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yjbTwP/microsoft-windows-11-pro-oem-dvd-64-bit-fqc-10529) $149.99 @ Adorama
**Monitor** [LG 65EP5G-B 65.0" 3840 x 2160 120 Hz Monitor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yMytt6/lg-65ep5g-b-650-3840x2160-120-hz-monitor-65ep5g-b) $7217.99 @ Amazon
*Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts*
**Total** **$11507.19**
Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-06-02 10:55 EDT-0400
submitted by Consistent-Cut1711 to pcpartpickerbuilds [link] [comments]
TypeItemPrice
:----:----:----
**CPU** [AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/X6XV3C/amd-ryzen-9-7950x3d-42-ghz-16-core-processor-100-100000908wof) $547.37 @ Amazon
**CPU Cooler** [NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB 78.02 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/pbKscf/nzxt-kraken-elite-360-rgb-7802-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-rl-kr36e-w1) $273.99 @ Amazon
**Thermal Compound** [Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1 g Thermal Paste](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/XHqbt6/thermal-grizzly-kryonaut-1-g-thermal-paste-tg-k-001-rs) $6.99 @ ModMyMods
**Motherboard** [Asus ROG STRIX B650-A GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Gjt9TW/asus-rog-strix-b650-a-gaming-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-rog-strix-b650-a-gaming-wifi) $220.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** [Corsair Vengeance RGB 128 GB (4 x 32 GB) DDR5-5600 CL40 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PNsV3C/corsair-vengeance-rgb-128-gb-4-x-32-gb-ddr5-5600-cl40-memory-cmh128gx5m4b5600c40) $459.99 @ Amazon
**Storage** [Enmotus FuzeDrive 1.55 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kwzhP6/enmotus-fuzedrive-155-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-p200-1600128) -
**Video Card** [Asus ROG STRIX GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/V8hFf7/asus-rog-strix-gaming-oc-geforce-rtx-4090-24-gb-video-card-rog-strix-rtx4090-o24g-white) $2079.99 @ B&H
**Case** [HYTE Y70 Touch ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JHrqqs/hyte-y70-touch-atx-mid-tower-case-cs-hyte-y70-ww-l) $359.99 @ HYTE
**Power Supply** [be quiet! Dark Power 13 850 W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/42FmP6/be-quiet-dark-power-13-850-w-80-titanium-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-bn660) $189.90 @ Amazon
**Operating System** [Microsoft Windows 11 Pro OEM - DVD 64-bit](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yjbTwP/microsoft-windows-11-pro-oem-dvd-64-bit-fqc-10529) $149.99 @ Adorama
**Monitor** [LG 65EP5G-B 65.0" 3840 x 2160 120 Hz Monitor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yMytt6/lg-65ep5g-b-650-3840x2160-120-hz-monitor-65ep5g-b) $7217.99 @ Amazon
*Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts*
**Total** **$11507.19**
Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-06-02 10:55 EDT-0400
2024.06.02 16:31 TheBlaringBlue Shintoism, Nature and the Storm in Ghost of Tsushima
There’s a lone peasant on the beach of Saru Island in Ghost of Tsushima’s Iki Island DLC.
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a gameabout slicing up bad guys while dressed as a cool samurai-ninja dude heavily tied to nature and spirituality. It mirrors and puts to use a staple of Japanese culture; Shinto — a spiritual tradition which holds that deities are found in nature.
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
submitted by TheBlaringBlue to VideoGameAnalysis [link] [comments]
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a game
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
- Minimal HUD for maximum eye candy
- Minimal music during open world traversal to lean into the sounds of nature
- Rule of Thirds camera angle at all times gives plenty of room to see the sights
- Camera pull-outs on horseback and in select locations (shrines, certain mountains & fields) to drink in even more beauty
- Incredible vistas and plenty of rocks, mountains and hills to summit to view them from
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
- Hotsprings — encourage the player and Jin to reflect on the story
- Haikus — encourage the player to meditate on circumstance and emotion
- Sanctuaries — encourages Jin to reminisce on his childhood and contemplate music’s place in his life
- Keirei (Bowing) Interaction — encourages Jin to honor and then interact with the locale’s fauna
- Freeing Caged Animals — encourages the player and Jin to value natural life
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
- Jin’s honoring of deities at Shrines (all placed in secluded, naturally wonderful locations) grants him gifts and upgrades.
- Haiku meditation grants Jin a vanity piece, but also represents his grappling and overcoming of circumstance and emotion, balancing his spiritual well-being
- Yuriko mentions that Jin’s deceased father, Kazumasa, is the Guiding Wind and his late mother the Golden Songbird
- Foxes leading you to Shrines of Inari are implied to be Inari themselves leading you to their graces
- There’s a subconscious realization that nature sees you in GoT
- The Guiding Wind points you on your way, it knows where you are and where you need to go
- The more Ghost actions you perform, the more stormy Tsushima becomes. Nature sees your actions and reacts to them.
- Inari foxes and Golden Songbirds know where you are on the map and jump in to help you when you’re near something you could miss. In both instances, that thing makes you stronger, leading me to…
- Hotsprings add to your maximum health
- Charms gifted by Mother Nature bolster Jin’s abilities
- Storms sweep the trees and send startling cracks of thunder across the land
- Mount Jogaku is frigid and dangerous to summit without additional sources of warmth
- Jin & co. rely on the strength of a storm to aid their final attack on the Khan
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
- Where he brought wildness, she brought calm.
- Where he brought brute force, she brought emotion.
- Where he brought seriousness, she brought lightheartedness.
- Where he brought conquest, she brought peace.
- Where he was uncertain, she brought thoughtfulness.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
2024.06.02 16:31 TheBlaringBlue Shintoism, Nature and the Storm in Ghost of Tsushima
There’s a lone peasant on the beach of Saru Island in Ghost of Tsushima’s Iki Island DLC.
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a gameabout slicing up bad guys while dressed as a cool samurai-ninja dude heavily tied to nature and spirituality. It mirrors and puts to use a staple of Japanese culture; Shinto — a spiritual tradition which holds that deities are found in nature.
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
submitted by TheBlaringBlue to truegaming [link] [comments]
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a game
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
- Minimal HUD for maximum eye candy
- Minimal music during open world traversal to lean into the sounds of nature
- Rule of Thirds camera angle at all times gives plenty of room to see the sights
- Camera pull-outs on horseback and in select locations (shrines, certain mountains & fields) to drink in even more beauty
- Incredible vistas and plenty of rocks, mountains and hills to summit to view them from
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
- Hotsprings — encourage the player and Jin to reflect on the story
- Haikus — encourage the player to meditate on circumstance and emotion
- Sanctuaries — encourages Jin to reminisce on his childhood and contemplate music’s place in his life
- Keirei (Bowing) Interaction — encourages Jin to honor and then interact with the locale’s fauna
- Freeing Caged Animals — encourages the player and Jin to value natural life
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
- Jin’s honoring of deities at Shrines (all placed in secluded, naturally wonderful locations) grants him gifts and upgrades.
- Haiku meditation grants Jin a vanity piece, but also represents his grappling and overcoming of circumstance and emotion, balancing his spiritual well-being
- Yuriko mentions that Jin’s deceased father, Kazumasa, is the Guiding Wind and his late mother the Golden Songbird
- Foxes leading you to Shrines of Inari are implied to be Inari themselves leading you to their graces
- There’s a subconscious realization that nature sees you in GoT
- The Guiding Wind points you on your way, it knows where you are and where you need to go
- The more Ghost actions you perform, the more stormy Tsushima becomes. Nature sees your actions and reacts to them.
- Inari foxes and Golden Songbirds know where you are on the map and jump in to help you when you’re near something you could miss. In both instances, that thing makes you stronger, leading me to…
- Hotsprings add to your maximum health
- Charms gifted by Mother Nature bolster Jin’s abilities
- Storms sweep the trees and send startling cracks of thunder across the land
- Mount Jogaku is frigid and dangerous to summit without additional sources of warmth
- Jin & co. rely on the strength of a storm to aid their final attack on the Khan
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
- Where he brought wildness, she brought calm.
- Where he brought brute force, she brought emotion.
- Where he brought seriousness, she brought lightheartedness.
- Where he brought conquest, she brought peace.
- Where he was uncertain, she brought thoughtfulness.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
2024.06.02 16:31 TheBlaringBlue Shintoism, Nature and the Storm in Ghost of Tsushima
There’s a lone peasant on the beach of Saru Island in Ghost of Tsushima’s Iki Island DLC.
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a gameabout slicing up bad guys while dressed as a cool samurai-ninja dude heavily tied to nature and spirituality. It mirrors and puts to use a staple of Japanese culture; Shinto — a spiritual tradition which holds that deities are found in nature.
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
submitted by TheBlaringBlue to ItsAllAboutGames [link] [comments]
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a game
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
- Minimal HUD for maximum eye candy
- Minimal music during open world traversal to lean into the sounds of nature
- Rule of Thirds camera angle at all times gives plenty of room to see the sights
- Camera pull-outs on horseback and in select locations (shrines, certain mountains & fields) to drink in even more beauty
- Incredible vistas and plenty of rocks, mountains and hills to summit to view them from
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
- Hotsprings — encourage the player and Jin to reflect on the story
- Haikus — encourage the player to meditate on circumstance and emotion
- Sanctuaries — encourages Jin to reminisce on his childhood and contemplate music’s place in his life
- Keirei (Bowing) Interaction — encourages Jin to honor and then interact with the locale’s fauna
- Freeing Caged Animals — encourages the player and Jin to value natural life
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
- Jin’s honoring of deities at Shrines (all placed in secluded, naturally wonderful locations) grants him gifts and upgrades.
- Haiku meditation grants Jin a vanity piece, but also represents his grappling and overcoming of circumstance and emotion, balancing his spiritual well-being
- Yuriko mentions that Jin’s deceased father, Kazumasa, is the Guiding Wind and his late mother the Golden Songbird
- Foxes leading you to Shrines of Inari are implied to be Inari themselves leading you to their graces
- There’s a subconscious realization that nature sees you in GoT
- The Guiding Wind points you on your way, it knows where you are and where you need to go
- The more Ghost actions you perform, the more stormy Tsushima becomes. Nature sees your actions and reacts to them.
- Inari foxes and Golden Songbirds know where you are on the map and jump in to help you when you’re near something you could miss. In both instances, that thing makes you stronger, leading me to…
- Hotsprings add to your maximum health
- Charms gifted by Mother Nature bolster Jin’s abilities
- Storms sweep the trees and send startling cracks of thunder across the land
- Mount Jogaku is frigid and dangerous to summit without additional sources of warmth
- Jin & co. rely on the strength of a storm to aid their final attack on the Khan
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
- Where he brought wildness, she brought calm.
- Where he brought brute force, she brought emotion.
- Where he brought seriousness, she brought lightheartedness.
- Where he brought conquest, she brought peace.
- Where he was uncertain, she brought thoughtfulness.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
2024.06.02 16:30 TheBlaringBlue Shintoism, Nature and the Storm
There’s a lone peasant on the beach of Saru Island in Ghost of Tsushima’s Iki Island DLC.
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a gameabout slicing up bad guys while dressed as a cool samurai-ninja dude heavily tied to nature and spirituality. It mirrors and puts to use a staple of Japanese culture; Shinto — a spiritual tradition which holds that deities are found in nature.
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
submitted by TheBlaringBlue to ghostoftsushima [link] [comments]
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a game
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
- Minimal HUD for maximum eye candy
- Minimal music during open world traversal to lean into the sounds of nature
- Rule of Thirds camera angle at all times gives plenty of room to see the sights
- Camera pull-outs on horseback and in select locations (shrines, certain mountains & fields) to drink in even more beauty
- Incredible vistas and plenty of rocks, mountains and hills to summit to view them from
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
- Hotsprings — encourage the player and Jin to reflect on the story
- Haikus — encourage the player to meditate on circumstance and emotion
- Sanctuaries — encourages Jin to reminisce on his childhood and contemplate music’s place in his life
- Keirei (Bowing) Interaction — encourages Jin to honor and then interact with the locale’s fauna
- Freeing Caged Animals — encourages the player and Jin to value natural life
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
- Jin’s honoring of deities at Shrines (all placed in secluded, naturally wonderful locations) grants him gifts and upgrades.
- Haiku meditation grants Jin a vanity piece, but also represents his grappling and overcoming of circumstance and emotion, balancing his spiritual well-being
- Yuriko mentions that Jin’s deceased father, Kazumasa, is the Guiding Wind and his late mother the Golden Songbird
- Foxes leading you to Shrines of Inari are implied to be Inari themselves leading you to their graces
- There’s a subconscious realization that nature sees you in GoT
- The Guiding Wind points you on your way, it knows where you are and where you need to go
- The more Ghost actions you perform, the more stormy Tsushima becomes. Nature sees your actions and reacts to them.
- Inari foxes and Golden Songbirds know where you are on the map and jump in to help you when you’re near something you could miss. In both instances, that thing makes you stronger, leading me to…
- Hotsprings add to your maximum health
- Charms gifted by Mother Nature bolster Jin’s abilities
- Storms sweep the trees and send startling cracks of thunder across the land
- Mount Jogaku is frigid and dangerous to summit without additional sources of warmth
- Jin & co. rely on the strength of a storm to aid their final attack on the Khan
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
- Where he brought wildness, she brought calm.
- Where he brought brute force, she brought emotion.
- Where he brought seriousness, she brought lightheartedness.
- Where he brought conquest, she brought peace.
- Where he was uncertain, she brought thoughtfulness.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
2024.06.02 16:30 TheBlaringBlue Shintoism, Nature and the Storm in Ghost of Tsushima
There’s a lone peasant on the beach of Saru Island in Ghost of Tsushima’s Iki Island DLC.
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a gameabout slicing up bad guys while dressed as a cool samurai-ninja dude heavily tied to nature and spirituality. It mirrors and puts to use a staple of Japanese culture; Shinto — a spiritual tradition which holds that deities are found in nature.
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
submitted by TheBlaringBlue to patientgamers [link] [comments]
Last night he burned the final pieces of wood from the Bamboo Strike to stay warm under the moonlight. If Jin wishes to practice his swordsmanship, he’ll need to supply his own wood.
…at this point in the game you have 9827346 bamboo pieces. A few to spare should do no harm.
After three perfect slices, Jin and the Peasant exchange words again. Noticing the lack of any other humans in the area, Jin asks why the peasant makes his home in a location so remote. The Peasant replies:
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
--
Ghost of Tsushima (GoT) is a game
I do not pretend to be an expert on Shinto or Japanese culture. Au contraire, I'm a basic-bitch white dude in America. I just like writing about video game elements that catch my attention, and GoT uses nature in ways that really capture me. If you'll allow me to explain with a nice wall of text...
ELEMENTAL EMPHASIS
You don’t need me to tell you that GoT is a visually and audibly incredible game.
You don’t need me to remind you of its golden forests, its snowcapped mountains and its rugged seaside cliffs — you’ve seen them for yourself.
It’s clear that jaw-dropping visuals and natural environments were something the devs wanted players to experience rather viscerally — take, for instance, sunrise and sunset being their own distinct times of day, not just a few scant moments between the day/night cycle. Or the sheer dramatic bombast of the autumnal forests, floral fields or sun-splashed mountains of Tsushima and Iki.
The realism in audio as well still impresses me — crackling bamboo forests, crashing waves, rushing waterfalls and powerful wind gusts all sound incredible. They sound more than that, they sound enveloping, three dimensional — they sound as they should; like you’re really there.
These are all great, yeah, but plenty of games look and sound great. What I noticed was the subtle ways the devs prompt additional emphasis on them.
- Minimal HUD for maximum eye candy
- Minimal music during open world traversal to lean into the sounds of nature
- Rule of Thirds camera angle at all times gives plenty of room to see the sights
- Camera pull-outs on horseback and in select locations (shrines, certain mountains & fields) to drink in even more beauty
- Incredible vistas and plenty of rocks, mountains and hills to summit to view them from
Again, the game was crafted in such a way that tells me that the devs want you to slow down and experience these things. Take, for further evidence, some of the game’s activities and waypoints:
- Hotsprings — encourage the player and Jin to reflect on the story
- Haikus — encourage the player to meditate on circumstance and emotion
- Sanctuaries — encourages Jin to reminisce on his childhood and contemplate music’s place in his life
- Keirei (Bowing) Interaction — encourages Jin to honor and then interact with the locale’s fauna
- Freeing Caged Animals — encourages the player and Jin to value natural life
GoT’s activities aren’t all combat, time-trials and races. They’re communion with nature, and GoT is telling you that it must be achieved slowly, with respect and in the quiet.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
ELEMENTAL POWER
But the landscapes and vistas of GoT aren’t just pretty pictures for the sake of being slowly-consumed eye candy. Sucker Punch leans deeper into Shinto than just the aesthetic, nearly personifying Tsushima’s natural wonders.
Nature is Spiritual
- Jin’s honoring of deities at Shrines (all placed in secluded, naturally wonderful locations) grants him gifts and upgrades.
- Haiku meditation grants Jin a vanity piece, but also represents his grappling and overcoming of circumstance and emotion, balancing his spiritual well-being
- Yuriko mentions that Jin’s deceased father, Kazumasa, is the Guiding Wind and his late mother the Golden Songbird
- Foxes leading you to Shrines of Inari are implied to be Inari themselves leading you to their graces
- There’s a subconscious realization that nature sees you in GoT
- The Guiding Wind points you on your way, it knows where you are and where you need to go
- The more Ghost actions you perform, the more stormy Tsushima becomes. Nature sees your actions and reacts to them.
- Inari foxes and Golden Songbirds know where you are on the map and jump in to help you when you’re near something you could miss. In both instances, that thing makes you stronger, leading me to…
- Hotsprings add to your maximum health
- Charms gifted by Mother Nature bolster Jin’s abilities
- Storms sweep the trees and send startling cracks of thunder across the land
- Mount Jogaku is frigid and dangerous to summit without additional sources of warmth
- Jin & co. rely on the strength of a storm to aid their final attack on the Khan
WHERE MAN MEETS NATURE
So GoT emphasizes natural wonder and gives it agency… Cool, whatever.
Where do we come into this? Where do man and nature meet and how do they interact in GoT?
SuckerPunch (and myself) are hitting you over the head with it; Man meets nature respectfully, in the tranquility of the quiet. When he does so, he receives its blessings.
He becomes stronger of body (hotsprings, shrines) and sounder of mind (haikus, sanctuaries).
GoT interactions, activities and more demonstrate to us that when man communes with nature and approaches it carefully with reverence and appreciation, he grows.
He learns, he sees, he remembers, he feels, he discovers, he opens.
Even the seemingly trivial headband vanity rewards we receive at haikus represent this — their namesakes denote some mastery or acceptance of the quality, circumstance or emotional subject of the poem. Consider the Handbands of Strife, Fear, Uncertainty, Perseverance, Rebirth and Hope, for example.
Jin is facing his mental struggles and conquering them not with force or ignorance, but with quiet contemplation using nature as the vessel.
Respecting nature brings it joy (Keirei interactions at signposts). It allows nature itself to thrive (sanctuaries) and allows us to thrive (haikus). Even freeing hawks and monkeys at Mongol camps grants us additional awards.
Conversely, when man meets nature violently, destruction is usually reciprocated in return.
Consider the storminess of the game’s major battles, or the increase in rainfall as you perform stealth kills and your Ghost Meter fills. The Mongol’s burning of the Endless Forest leaves death and devastation; their final battle with Jin is shrouded in storm.
Antagonistic and wrathful actions bring about destruction — they upset nature’s balance.
WHERE JIN MEETS NATURE
What if, genetically speaking, you were… “the lightning in the storm?”
That sounds an awful lot like destruction.
And that is the fate of Jin Sakai. Aside from the fact that the devs have more-or-less confirmed this, consider not just Kazumasa’s words above, but also… well, the game’s default sword kit, passed down in Jin’s family — it’s the Storm of Clan Sakai.
Not to mention Jin’s ownership and use of the flute, a mechanic that allows him to change the weather.
Jin is the storm. We, the player, are the storm.
We sweep across Tsushima, wreaking havoc in our wake of bloodshed, piling up countless Mongol corpses and stirring the island’s inhabitants.
Jin’s descent from honor into becoming the Ghost is his own internal storm (represented externally by, well, storms), and creates a similar uncertainty and disjointedness in Jin’s character as the island of Tsushima is experiencing under the Mongol invasion.
With such internal and external unrest, how can Jin achieve his goals and halt the Mongols?
PERFECTLY BALANCED
Jin may be the storm literally genetically, but remember that only half of his parenthood bore the Sakai name.
If Jin’s father — by his own admission in so many words on Iki Island — embodies a wildness, a propensity for conquest and might, then Jin’s mother brought him the opposite.
Indeed, it was two mothers — one biological, and one of nature.
We mostly learn of Jin’s biological mother through his own recollections at Sanctuaries. I wish I had a bank of this dialogue for further support here — I couldn’t find it while searching around.
What I remember is that she contrasted Kazumasa.
- Where he brought wildness, she brought calm.
- Where he brought brute force, she brought emotion.
- Where he brought seriousness, she brought lightheartedness.
- Where he brought conquest, she brought peace.
- Where he was uncertain, she brought thoughtfulness.
But, under the stress of a terrifying invasion on his homeland and, as a result, mentally and emotionally unbalanced, he’s bound to land more on his father’s side. He’s bound to bring that wildness to his endeavors and potentially cause unnecessary harm and destruction.
Thankfully, with his mother’s principles swirling subconsciously, Jin remembers the importance of the land around him. He remembers to honor the very ground he is trying to liberate.
Rather than rushing Castle Shimura off rip, Jin engages with the land of Tsushima.
He rests at hotsprings, contemplates haikus, pays homage at shrines and reaps the physical, mental and emotional benefits that follow his reverence.
He does not ever quell the storm that lies inside of him — no, he is clan Sakai — but because of his attention towards and engagement with nature, he does gather it. He does control it. He does master it.
Through his late mother and through mother nature herself, Jin takes the weight of saving an entire island off his shoulders. Sound of body, mind and spirit, he becomes perfectly balanced. As all things should be.
--
Jin can do incredible things on the battlefield and in the shadows. He’s an absolute freak of nature when it comes to swordsmanship and athleticism.
Jin Sakai is, indeed, the lightning in the storm. All its power, all its might, all its destruction — importantly — captured in one single space. Honed into one prong, one moment, one man.
By prioritizing Shinto practices, Jin is not a reckless, swirling, chaotic typhoon — he has balanced his internal turmoil with peace and meditation and is now a controlled force, focused vigilantly at Khotun Khan.
“As you just demonstrated, the quiet helps one focus.”
2024.06.02 16:26 KADuncil Dynamic Maps
Not sure if this is something already put in place on some trials or MK challenges, but I think having a rotation of maps per trial/challenge would be really fun. For example: Kill The Snitch A, B, and C.
Different routes you push the snitch that scale in difficulty, new tasks to do in the parking garage that brings the power back on, other ways to kill the snitch besides charging the electric chair, etc.
Would it increase que times? Sure, but I think it would tackle the “this game has no replay-ability”.
submitted by KADuncil to OutlastTrials [link] [comments]
Different routes you push the snitch that scale in difficulty, new tasks to do in the parking garage that brings the power back on, other ways to kill the snitch besides charging the electric chair, etc.
Would it increase que times? Sure, but I think it would tackle the “this game has no replay-ability”.
2024.06.02 16:06 SushiShenanigans Upgrading PC CPU + Mobo (any advice appreciated :D)
Dear buildapcforme, I would appreciate any help on upgrading my 10 year old PC's CPU and MOBO. A year or so ago I purchased a new GPU, and while it works great, it would be nice to supplement this with a newer motherboard and CPU chip.
CPU: Intel(R) Core(™) i5-6500 CPU @ 3.20 GHz
CPU Cooler: Arctic Alpine 11
Motherboard: ASUS H110M-K
Memory:
Case: AZZA CSAZ-207S Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (something like this, but with a DVD/CD-ROM slot)
Power Supply: Xilence XP600R6 600 W ATX
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home version 10.0.19045
Monitor: Samsung S22F352FHU 22" • 1920x1080 (Full HD) • 60Hz • TN • 5ms
submitted by SushiShenanigans to buildapcforme [link] [comments]
- New build or upgrade?
- Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (List with models/links)
CPU: Intel(R) Core(™) i5-6500 CPU @ 3.20 GHz
CPU Cooler: Arctic Alpine 11
Motherboard: ASUS H110M-K
Memory:
- G.Skill F4-2400C15-8GNT (8GB DDR4)
- G.Skill F4-2133C15-8GIS (8 GB DDR4)
- WDC WD3200AVVS-63L2B0 (320 GB)
- Samsung SSD 750 EVO 500 GB
- TOSHIBA DT01ACA100 (1 TB)
Case: AZZA CSAZ-207S Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (something like this, but with a DVD/CD-ROM slot)
Power Supply: Xilence XP600R6 600 W ATX
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home version 10.0.19045
Monitor: Samsung S22F352FHU 22" • 1920x1080 (Full HD) • 60Hz • TN • 5ms
- PC purpose? (Gaming, editing, etc. List apps/games)
- Purchase country? Near Micro Center? (If not US, list local vendors)
- Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate)
- Budget range? (Include tax considerations)
- WiFi or wired connection?
- Size/noise constraints?
- Cololighting preferences?
- Any other specific needs?
2024.06.02 16:05 RidingPinePSN Lou Gehrig Day (Show Us Your cards)
 | Today is the 4th annual Lou Gehrig day, a day to celebrate one of the greatest players in MLB history and to raise awareness of ALS. If you are lucky enough to own a vintage Gehrig card share it with all of us. I personally do not own one yet, so Graig Kreindler has been kind enough to let me share one of his amazing paintings of the Iron Horse. Please take the time to check out his website, www.graigkreindler.com, and follow him on social media. I hope that you get lost in his paintings like I do. submitted by RidingPinePSN to baseballcards_vintage [link] [comments] Although he is known for playing in 2,130 consecutive games, a record that stood for 56 years, Lou Gehrig’s impact on the game extends far beyond that single dimension. A quiet man that was overshadowed by his larger than life teammate Babe Ruth, Gehrig was just as talented on the field as Ruth was. Gehrig’s numbers are mind boggling. A high contact hitter with tremendous power and an uncanny ability to drive in runs, his numbers in just over 14 seasons worth of games place him as arguably the greatest first baseman of all time despite a shortened career. His career stat line: .340 batting average (single season high of .379) .447 on base percentage (single season high of .478) .632 slugging percentage (singe season high of .765) 1.080 OPS (single season high of 1.240) 2721 hits (single season high of 220) 534 doubles (single season high of 52) 163 triples (single season high of 20) 493 home runs (single season high of 49) 1,888 runs scored (single season high of 167) 1,995 runs batted in (single season high of 185) 113.7 WAR (single season high of 11.9) Just to put that in perspective, despite only playing 14 full seasons, his average rank in career leaders for the above categories is 21.5. Perhaps Mr. Gehrig’s greatest feat on the field came on July 4th, 1939, when he stepped up to the microphone and showed us a grace that few possess. “Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I’m lucky. When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift – that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies – that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter – that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body – it’s a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed – that’s the finest I know. So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.” ALS quickly took Lou Gehrig’s ability to play the game at the age of 36, and took his life at the age of 37. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells and pathways within the brain and spinal cord. It is the most common adult-onset progressive motor neuron disease, affecting half a million people worldwide. The disease does not discriminate and it affects people of any age, gender or race. There is no cure for ALS, and a patient that receives a diagnosis has the same terminal prognosis today that Lou Gehrig had 85 years ago. Research continues, and many clinical trials are actively studying the effectiveness of potential therapies to stop or slow disease progression. |
2024.06.02 15:58 ming-ming618 My life hidden with Christ
Ever since I became a Christian I have had a strong desire for holiness. Although it’s not a bad thing to strive for perfection in Christ (Phil 3:14, 1 Peter 1:13-16), it’s often paired with inclinations toward self-righteousness and pride. I call it DIY sanctification. Not only am I unable to produce righteousness in myself, but the God of all creation is opposing me in my efforts since they are steeped in pride. If you have ever dealt with this particular issue you know how frustrating and exhausting it can be.
About a year ago I started on a journey of radical consecration, which carried me off into the proverbial wilderness with God. Through this season I have enjoyed more intimacy with God than I ever thought possible. I now better understand the significance of baptism. There is a difference between shyly dipping a toe into the waters of God’s presence and being fully immersed so that you have an alarming sense that you're out of your depth.
In this season of intensive sanctification there has been no shortage of opportunities for legalism and attempts at making myself righteous and holy before God. It is a wonder to me that I continually fall back into my old MO when I know that the whole point of the gospel is that I can’t do it. Like seriously, what is my problem? That has literally been my prayer on numerous occasions.
Now recently God has blessed me with a bout of depression. Depression is something I have seldom experienced since coming to Christ. God has so often shown himself to be faithful in all my endeavors to draw nearer to Him that even in the hottest fire trial I tend to have an ardent hope that things will eventually turn in my favor. Not this time. My soul floated aimlessly like an abandoned pool toy deflated by the merciless summer sun. I remained in this condition for a couple of weeks, offering up petitions for heavenly assistance and doing my best to continue to keep up my daily devotions all though I had no desire to do so.
Now an answer has presented itself in Colossians 3. I see now that I was thinking about this all wrong. My old MO is to mortify my flesh for the purpose of killing it. Nothing wrong with that, we are supposed to be dead to our old nature and alive in Christ, right? The problem with that line of thinking is according to the Bible your old nature is already dead:
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” Col 3:3
So I realize now this isn’t a matter of me causing what is external/visible to line up with God’s word, but that I must receive by faith the truth of God’s word and allow my actions to follow suit. The phrase “put to death” means to regard as dead, not to make dead. It is also defined in a concordance as to deprive of life or energizing power or to cut off everything that energizes. So we see that there is an expectation of action on our part as we are to mortify our flesh (cut off life to/deprive) but we do this by regarding it as already dead. Instead of mortification being a means to an end (I will be dead if I keep killing myself through mortification) it is the end and the means is regarding myself as dead by faith. How silly would it be to try to accommodate, feed or care for a corpse? Likewise, how odd would it be to try to murder a corpse? There is nothing left to be done except bury it.
Now if I am dead how am I living? Paul says my life is hidden with Christ in God. Then are we in limbo as long as we are in our mortal form? The old life is dead and the new life hidden somewhere in heaven? It would seem so, but Paul also advises us to do this:
“Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Col 3:1
The word “seek” here means: search for, require, desire, demand, get to the bottom of a matter. So even though our new life is kept secret, as it were, Paul is telling us we need to seek it out even now while we still live on this earth in a body of flesh. He also says to “set our mind” on these things that are above where Christ is. That denotes an attitude that leads to action.
It seems I was putting the cart before the horse, thinking that flesh mortification will one day lead to death and new life in Christ. There is my life in Christ somewhere far off in the distance and if I work hard enough hopefully one day I will attain it. God’s truth is this has already been accomplished for me and all I have to do is believe it. I’m dead, end of story.
Moving forward, when my flesh demands a feeding I only need to see that as being ridiculous since dead people have no need of sustenance. Since I’m no longer occupied with wrestling a corpse into submission, that frees up my time and energy to focus on getting to the bottom of this secret life I have in God. How fun is that?
Although I am slightly embarrassed to share that I’ve been a Christian for over half a decade and just now getting this, I hope that it serves to encourage or edify someone else. Or at the very least give someone a good laugh:D Grace+peace.
submitted by ming-ming618 to endtimeBelievers [link] [comments]
About a year ago I started on a journey of radical consecration, which carried me off into the proverbial wilderness with God. Through this season I have enjoyed more intimacy with God than I ever thought possible. I now better understand the significance of baptism. There is a difference between shyly dipping a toe into the waters of God’s presence and being fully immersed so that you have an alarming sense that you're out of your depth.
In this season of intensive sanctification there has been no shortage of opportunities for legalism and attempts at making myself righteous and holy before God. It is a wonder to me that I continually fall back into my old MO when I know that the whole point of the gospel is that I can’t do it. Like seriously, what is my problem? That has literally been my prayer on numerous occasions.
Now recently God has blessed me with a bout of depression. Depression is something I have seldom experienced since coming to Christ. God has so often shown himself to be faithful in all my endeavors to draw nearer to Him that even in the hottest fire trial I tend to have an ardent hope that things will eventually turn in my favor. Not this time. My soul floated aimlessly like an abandoned pool toy deflated by the merciless summer sun. I remained in this condition for a couple of weeks, offering up petitions for heavenly assistance and doing my best to continue to keep up my daily devotions all though I had no desire to do so.
Now an answer has presented itself in Colossians 3. I see now that I was thinking about this all wrong. My old MO is to mortify my flesh for the purpose of killing it. Nothing wrong with that, we are supposed to be dead to our old nature and alive in Christ, right? The problem with that line of thinking is according to the Bible your old nature is already dead:
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” Col 3:3
So I realize now this isn’t a matter of me causing what is external/visible to line up with God’s word, but that I must receive by faith the truth of God’s word and allow my actions to follow suit. The phrase “put to death” means to regard as dead, not to make dead. It is also defined in a concordance as to deprive of life or energizing power or to cut off everything that energizes. So we see that there is an expectation of action on our part as we are to mortify our flesh (cut off life to/deprive) but we do this by regarding it as already dead. Instead of mortification being a means to an end (I will be dead if I keep killing myself through mortification) it is the end and the means is regarding myself as dead by faith. How silly would it be to try to accommodate, feed or care for a corpse? Likewise, how odd would it be to try to murder a corpse? There is nothing left to be done except bury it.
Now if I am dead how am I living? Paul says my life is hidden with Christ in God. Then are we in limbo as long as we are in our mortal form? The old life is dead and the new life hidden somewhere in heaven? It would seem so, but Paul also advises us to do this:
“Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Col 3:1
The word “seek” here means: search for, require, desire, demand, get to the bottom of a matter. So even though our new life is kept secret, as it were, Paul is telling us we need to seek it out even now while we still live on this earth in a body of flesh. He also says to “set our mind” on these things that are above where Christ is. That denotes an attitude that leads to action.
It seems I was putting the cart before the horse, thinking that flesh mortification will one day lead to death and new life in Christ. There is my life in Christ somewhere far off in the distance and if I work hard enough hopefully one day I will attain it. God’s truth is this has already been accomplished for me and all I have to do is believe it. I’m dead, end of story.
Moving forward, when my flesh demands a feeding I only need to see that as being ridiculous since dead people have no need of sustenance. Since I’m no longer occupied with wrestling a corpse into submission, that frees up my time and energy to focus on getting to the bottom of this secret life I have in God. How fun is that?
Although I am slightly embarrassed to share that I’ve been a Christian for over half a decade and just now getting this, I hope that it serves to encourage or edify someone else. Or at the very least give someone a good laugh:D Grace+peace.
2024.06.02 15:51 FeraKun Rate my PC Build. Planning to buy it next month.
PCPartPicker Part List
submitted by FeraKun to buildapc [link] [comments]
2024.06.02 15:43 moondog151 A 16-year-old girl would google her mother's new boyfriend and discovery that he was a notorious double murderer who killed his previous girlfriend and child, stuffing their bodies into barrels and burying them on his property. She soon went missing, her mother having chosen the murderer over her.
 | (This case was sent my way via this post asking for case suggestions from my international readers since I focus on International cases. submitted by moondog151 to TrueCrimeDiscussion [link] [comments] So I would like to thank xzwkimin for informing me about this case. And as this case is from a country that I skipped over during America's Series, that means I am delaying the Japan case and going backward to do this one There is also a very lengthy 1 hour long video on this case by Jackie Flores which I used as a guide since it was helpful. But rest assured, I did my own research, used by own words, included additional information and didn't just copy her. And as you my expect from that prior statement, this is a huge case so information is surely missed so like always your own research is encouraged in case I missed anything.) Ámbar Cornejo Llanos was born on February 14, 2004, in Villa Alemana, Chile to her mother born in 1982 and father Ulises Cornejo. Ulises was mostly absent and seemed to have separated from Denisse before Ámbar was even born. Not long after their separation, Denisse began dating a new man named Juan Carlos Pérez Aguirre, a friend of Denisse's since before Ámbar was even born. This relationship would result in them having two children and thus Ámbar having two step-siblings although one tragically passed away at 4 months old due to malnourishment brought about due to improper care. After the death, Denisse would fall into a depression, heavily drink and neglect Ámbar and her surviving brother. It got to the point where their school requested the two be removed from Denisse's custody as they were visibly not being taken care of. The request was granted and the two were removed from her custody and held in an Institution for minors. Ámbar Cornejo Llanos Denisse Llanos Lazcano In 2009, Denisse had her final break up with Juan, their relationship was a dysfunctional on-again-off-again relationship with constant break ups and reunions but eventually, their final break up would come. Also in 2009, Denisse had improved enough for a court to deem it safe for Ámbar and her brother to be returned to her care. After the break-up, Denisse and Ulises appeared to reconcile and Ulises grew close to Ámbar. On September 27, 2012, Ámbar confided in two of her school teachers that one of her friends had been sexually assaulted, after they called her friend's mother, she broke down and admitted that she had lied and was in fact talking about herself. Ámbar was taken to the police to give a statement and she told them that whenever her mother took her and her brother to visit Juan back when they were dating, Juan would sexually assault her during these visits. Juan was arrested and on November 25, 2013, The Oral Criminal Court of Viña del Mar sentenced him to three years imprisonment, ordered him to pay and cover the entire cost of the trial, prohibited him from even having any contact with Ámbar or her family, and had to disclose his address to the police. The court also again, took custody away from Denisse and sent her to live with Ulises for a few months, The no-contact order went both ways as Denisse was ordered to have nothing to do with Juan either so long as she wanted to raise Ámbar. Eventually, Ámbar was returned to Denisse's custody after she obeyed this court order. Ulises, viewing Denisse as an unfit mother, and since he saw her as manipulative wanted to keep Ámbar. When Denisse found out, she prohibited her daughter from ever visiting her father and tried to manipulate her into disliking him, saying that it was his fault and that he was trying to break up their family. Ulises would also send money to the family for Ámbar but Denisse would often, not tell her when the money arrived and simply pocket and spend it for herself. Denisse's plan to turn Ámbar against her father backfired and the older Ámbar got, the more strained her relationship with her mother would become. They would constantly argue and one time, Ámbar had a friend over when she and Denisse had another argument and Denisse moved to strike her daughter. Ámbar and the friend ran to another room and locked the door but Denise was so angry over whatever the fight was about that she hit the door with enough force to break it open. The only reason that Ámbar never defended herself was simple, according to friends, Ámbar told her that since Denisse gave birth to her, she was obligated to respect her mother and could never raise a hand to her. Soon Denise would date another man, the landlord of their apartment, Manuel García Queirolo. Tragically, Manuel wouldn't be any better than Juan. Whenever he heard that Ámbar was showering, he'd use his position as the landlord to go to a room on the second floor that gave him a clear view through the bathroom window so he could watch Ámbar. Ámbar would eventually find out and inform her mother to which she told her and her brother to just not shower unless she were home. But beyond that, she took no action, she didn't even stop seeing Manuel. She actually did the opposite and got mad at Ámbar for being the subject of Juan and Manuel's lust. The worst of Manuel's depravity wouldn't come out or be known by others, even Ámbar until years later, that will be discussed further in the write-up. With all this tragedy and her dysfunctional and abusive home life, one may expect Ámbar to have been troubled. But on the contrary, all her friends said she was happy, outgoing, kind, would do anything for them and loved to engage and share her hobbies with them such as dancing. Ámbar was deeply liked by all her classmates and was very popular. She had managed to not be defined by all that was going on in her life. In late 2019, Denisse had found her next boyfriend, a man named Hugo Humberto Bustamante Pérez with the two moving in together in relatively short order. Ámbar was not very keen on Hugo and how fast their relationship was progressing, she also felt uneasy about him as well and how he looked at her. Ámbar told one of her friends about her mother's new boyfriend and her friend felt his name sounded familiar to the two looked him up and did not at all like what they had found. Hugo Humberto Bustamante Pérez Hugo Humberto Bustamante Pérez was born on March 28, 1965, in Quilpué as the third out of four siblings. His father worked as an electrician, and his mother a housekeeper with domestic violence a frequent occurrence in the household. His mother was described as neglectful while his father was actively abusive and had him put to work at the age of 8 to sell fruits and vegetables at markets. To escape his father's abuse during his most violent outbursts, he would go stay at his grandparent's house. At the young age of 13, he would fall into a drug addiction, starting with marijuana before escalating to opium and cocaine. At the age of 15, his father kicked him out of the home so he went to Mendoza, Argentina and lived with a classmate. There he claimed to have travelled all to Bolivia, Peru, Spain and Brazil. He returned to Chile at the age of 18 and began stealing goods to sell back as well as trafficking drugs. When he was 20 he would, with the help of an accomplice take part in a scam where he would get on a bus, gain the trust of the passenger sitting next to him, offer a drink laced with sleeping pills and then steal their belongings as they passed out in the street. He would also attempt this on beaches as well. Several times, Hugo would attempt to start romantic relationships but none of them would last particularly long usually breaking up almost immediately due to a lack of commitment from Hugo. For legitimate income, Hugo got into bodybuilding and according to him, he owned a nightclub. On May 27, 1987, Hugo was arrested for the first time on a charge of theft but he doesn't appear to have suffered severe consequences for this. He later began another relationship but this one seems to have lasted a little longer with them even having a child and Hugo getting employed as a serial guard. But they broke up shortly after the birth and in 1989 Hugo was arrested for nine counts of robbery, four counts of theft and 5 counts of armed and violent robbery earning him a 10-year prison sentence. Hugo had a rough stint in prison, with his drug habits routinely sending him to a hospital in Valparaíso and often had extra security and shackles because he once tried escaping during a transfer. In 1992, he suddenly had a mental health crisis and was admitted to a mental hospital for 25 days. In 1995 he was granted parole but was sent back to prison 8 months later after violating it. He was finally released after serving his sentence in 1999. After serving his sentence he again attempted to turn his life around, getting a job painting and repairing cars and saving enough money to open his own store. He also took an interest in yoga and spiritualism. At a yoga class, we would meet 49-year-old kindergarten teacher Verónica Vásquez Puebla (born in 1955) who had a son named Eugenio Honorato Vásquez. Verónica Vásquez Puebla and Eugenio Honorato Vásquez Unlike Hugo's prior relationships, this one actually appeared to be promising. Eventually, Hugo asked Verónica for money for "home improvement" and initially she wouldn't hesitate to give her money away. Tragically, Hugo would begin squandering the relationship and would become abusive and temperamental. So on January 8, 2005, he came to ask for money, money that he had never paid back any time prior, Verónica finally said no having now wanted nothing to do with him. When met with this reply, Hugo was left enraged. In his fit of rage, he grabbed a baseball bat and struck Verónica with it before strangling her. All the commotion had woken up 9-year-old Eugenio after being witnessed, Hugo set his sights on the child and began strangling him as well. Now that both were unconscious, he shoved a cloth down Verónica's throat, tied her hands and feet together and slit her throat. Afterward, he finished them by wrapping their heads in plastic wrap and tying a plastic bag around their heads. He then got a metal drum and hit their bodies repeatibly with a cane and breaking their bones so he could better fit Verónica and Eugenio's corpses inside. Then to hide the smell of decomposition, filled the drum with water, line and plaster before sealing it. He then proceeded to ransack Verónica's house to look for the money he had asked for and left once he found it. He left the barrel in Verónica's home for a few days and blew her money on his old habits, that being drugs, drinking and prostitutes. Eventually, despite his methods to mask the odour, the bodies inside the drum began to smell. To deal with this, he bought a house with a patio and transferred the barrel to that property. He then asked his father if he could help him dig a hole in his yard. The hole was two meters deep and one meter wide. He asked the movers, moving in his furniture to help move the drum to the back of his house. Hugo was almost caught right then and there because liquid began leaking from the barrel but Hugo said that he worked in the food (specifically French Fry) industry and that it was a chemical from making the product. After everyone left, he buried the drum in the hole he had his father dig. Verónica's brother noticed she was missing and called her only to be answered by Hugo and said that she had gone on a spiritual retreat. Eventually, he and her family went looking for her and found her identification documents in a ditch. Hugo was again called and simply said she was bored with Verónica and hung up. On January 26, Hugo's new neighbours called the police to report the smell and when they arrived, despite how confident Hugo was that he'd get away with it, and despite all the work he put into hiding his crime, he confessed immediately. The police placed Hugo under arrest while they excavated his yard and recovered the drum and the bodies. Tragically, the news broke at the same time as Hugo's daughter began making plans to reconnect with him. This murder gained Hugo the moniker of "The Drum Psychopath" The police outside Hugo's house. The police in Hugo's yard The drum. Hugo spent his first few months in a mental hospital where he boasted to the doctors about his economic situation and martial arts talent. Hugo's trial took place in November 2005 held by The Guarantee Court of Villa Alemana, and he was handed down a sentence of 27 years imprisonment with his release date set for January 26, 2032. Hugo would now be one of Chile's most infamous criminals and was the subject of an episode of "Mea Culpa" Hugo being brought to court Hugo was even given interviews while in prison, in one of these interviews he was asked if he would ever kill again if released and he would tell the interviewer that he didn't know because "I am not the master of destiny". He also told the interviewer that he was triggered by a whistling sound in his ear and he said that it was like watching a movie while he was killing Verónica and Eugenio. On April 29, 2016, Hugo was put before a parole board and even though Hugo publically said to an interviewer that he was uncertain about whether he'd kill again or not, and even though the prison itself told the judges in charge of the parole hearings not to release him, they outraged all of Chile by granting him parole regardless on the basis of him serving 10 years, learning an actual skill he would use at a job while in prison and good behaviour meaning, legally, they had no reason to deny parole and he was released amongst 788 others. Hugo was despised by all the locals he was now living with, no employer would hire him for any more than a day so he mostly worked odd jobs. Even those who reluctantly admitted that Hugo was nice, added that he still seemed odd and one of his neighbours said "When he looked at you, it felt like he was undressing you with his eyes" Neighbours would even put up flyers all across the area warning residents about Hugo and to make it clear to Hugo that he wasn't welcome. Parents even refused to let their children go outside alone now that Hugo was back and living alongside them and women wanted to be driven to work and driven home from work instead of walking. Even the mayor of Villa Alemana had ordered an extra police presence in the neighbourhood he moved into. As soon as she finished reading up on his lengthy and disturbing history, Ámbar was left horrified. Denisse had had 4 partners, one sexually assaulted Ámbar when she was 8, the other was a blatant pedophile who would stare and watch her shower and now her newest one was a man who killed his girlfriend and her 9-year-old child. The only one of Denisse's partners that she actually treated with disdain and contempt was Ámbar's father who cared for and had her best interests in mind. Ámbar explained this all to Denisse who got mad at her daughter and started another fight since she saw Ámbar as judging her newest boyfriend without getting a chance to meet and know him. She even told her that everyone deserves a second chance despite barely knowing Hugo herself at this point. Seeing as her mother remained stubborn, Ámbar went behind her back and wrote a complaint letter to the apartment's manager requesting that Hugo be banned from the premises. This complaint found its way to the public and soon the other residents of the apartment learnt that Hugo was living with them and essentially, they all came together to demand that they all leave and take Hugo with them. Leave they did but Denisse took Ámbar's brother and moved into Hugo's own home. But Denisse, now on the verge of hating Ámbar for not accepting her relationship with Hugo, punished her by abandoning her underaged daughter and having her live alone in the apartment with a very minuscule amount of money. After only a week, Ámbar would have to leave the apartment and would go back and forth between staying at various different friend's houses but none were able to let her move in full-time. And she couldn't move into her father's place because he lived in Northern Chile and that would involve abandoning her brother and mother with Hugo. In December 2019, Ámbar moved in to live with Manuel's daughter who was old enough to have her own children and for Ámbar to refer to her as an "aunt". She was described as a much better mother figure than Ámbar's own mother and she was completely ignorant to Manuel's crimes so Ámbar felt safe around her and didn't hold her father's actions against her. And by this point, Denisse disowned Ámbar in all but name. She ended up having to repeat a grade and the school and teachers took note of this and tried to call Denisse 6 separate times for a parent-teacher conference only for her to get aggressive toward the teachers for even calling her at all. The only interactions she would have with Denisse would be when child support was sent and Ámbar still all these years later had to go to Denisse's house to collect the money in person before her mother spent it all herself. And often she wouldn't even go inside, she'd just knock on the door, Denisse would give her the money without saying a word and close the door. And even if she didn't behave that way, Ámbar steadfastly refused to ever step foot inside Hugo's home. The latest payment was sent on July 29, 2020, when Ámbar told her "aunt" that she was going to head over. After three hours had passed Ámbar had yet to return home from Denisse's and wouldn't answer her phone her respond to any messages. Her Aunt actually called Denisse who blatantly didn't care about her daughter's disappearance and actually hung up the phone. Afterwards, the police were finally called. Both the police and the entire neighbourhood dismissed the possibility of a runaway and together with the police, the entire neighbourhood began a search effort for Ámbar. Ulises also heard of what had been going on in Ámbar's life as well as her disappearance and immediately travelled to Villa Alemana to join in on the search and of course call and confront Denisse who would never answer or respond. Even when the police themselves showed up, Denisse refused to cooperate or help and ignored even those tasked with finding her daughter. Some witnesses even said that she just stood on her porch and drank a beer with Hugo while others tried finding her daughter The police would put several flyers all across the local area appealing for information, questioned every neighbour they could find, and together with the Red Cross, firefighters and local volunteers searched the nearby grasslands, bushes, forests, mountains and so on utilizing sniffer dogs, drones and even thermal imaging cameras with the searches continuing into the night. A witness would also come forward and say that in the morning he drove by Ámbar and saw her crying as she walked away. One of Denisse's neighbours also said that in an unusual course of events, Ámbar actually entered Denisse and Hugo's home instead of waiting outside and that she didn't leave. This statement was supported by a CCTV camera showing her walking toward their house but never walking away. Ámbar's missing notice This time, simply ignoring them wouldn't work. On July 31, A large group of neighbours went to Hugo's house and waited for him to come outside so they could all gang up on and confront him and some wouldn't even let him go back inside. Hugo acted strangely amicable this time and even invited them to come inside and said the police could even bring in search dogs. Hugo even confidently stated, "If I had a body in here it would smell, Don't you think a body that's been here for 2 days would smell". This statement had the opposite effect of what Hugo had intended since as of now, most people thought Ámbar may still be alive. Since he gave consent, everyone agreed and entered his home on August 3, including police with search dogs and although no human remains were found, they did find clothing with traces of human blood which were seized to be analyzed by forensics. The blood would end up being a red herring as it was old and belonged to Denisse. Even though Hugo seemed to have been in the clear for now, having just invited police onto his property and them finding nothing, he decided to, on August 3, with Denisse, leave Ámbar's brother in the care of one of his sisters and then the two would just flee and leave the area without notice. By now the search expanded to find them, as suspects to be arrested. On August 6, photos were uploaded on social media showing Hugo and Denisse at a camp ground in Lilu Lilu trying to find someplace to hide, police also pulled CCTV footage from a store near the camping ground and saw the two buying clothes, hats and sunglasses in an attempt to hide their appearance. The police searched the nearby woods and found the two relatively easily and began interrogating them separately. Hugo and Denisse at the campground Denisse who clearly had no concern for her daughter's safety and disowned her over not accepting Hugo, turned on him very easily. She confessed that Hugo had murdered Ámbar and that she knew he did but was too afraid to come forward as Hugo had threatened her, her son and her parents and that he forced her to run away with him. According to her, Hugo had dug and torn up his living room floor to make a 6-foot ditch, bury her in it and refill the living room. The police believed Denisse and figured she'd be a valuable witness so they released her. Hugo exercised his right to remain silent and told the police nothing. It was fortunate for the police that Hugo didn't need to speak. They checked his cell phone and found that from July 20-July 28 he had searched the following terms "Price of electric weapons, Ranged stun gun, Using chloroform to sleep, Sale of straightjacket psychiatry, Chinese bamboo torture, Chinese water drop torture, Ether sleeping spray, Using ether to put people to sleep, Medical use of scopolamine, Where to buy hydroxybutyric, Total and absolute power, How to change your first and last name, Psychological torture, Torture methods, Meat grinder price, Blows to faint, sleep or immobilize," and so much more which clearly showed that not only did Hugo premeditate Ámbar's murder, but that the murder was likely horrific. Inside his backpack were two knives, a hatchet, rope and a receipt for paint and paraffin wax. The police easily obtained a warrant to search Hugo's home that same day. They broke up the floorboards in his living room and dug up the soil underneath. There they found three plastic coolers upside down and wrapped into plastic bags. The police removed the bags and opened up the coolers, there they found the decomposed, eviscerated and partially skeletal remains of a young girl, dismembered into 15 separate pieces. The remains were easily identified as Ámbar's based on her clothing. The autopsy revealed that Ámbar had been attacked and suffered numerous blunt force injuries across her body but especially to her hands, arms, forearms, buttocks and thighs. a cloth was stuffed down her mouth as seen with her head, and there were signs on the remains that she had been violently raped. According to the medical examiner, a saw and knife were used for the dismemberment https://preview.redd.it/yobqrydqv54d1.png?width=710&format=png&auto=webp&s=8713a8ee0d0efdb04689406f2d9897214a07e97b https://preview.redd.it/wfpw4m47u54d1.png?width=760&format=png&auto=webp&s=ddafe2a0402d76e0c2cc8d3cd6c729feb9f73dbd https://preview.redd.it/ygeyfrwbu54d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=8019b513bad529d81215e0a2452b41ecb4cf9e54 Police and forensics Meanwhile, the police faced backlash for releasing Denisse and not investigating her further, many did not believe her to be as innocent and a victim of Hugo as she portrayed, her prior history and actions during the search made that hard to believe. And even after her daughter's dismembered body was found under her living room, Denisse wasn't sad, mourning or even. After several threats including her apartment being vandalized as she was led home under her police guard and threats over the phone, Denisse was sent to a psychiatric institute after attempting to take her own life. The backlash continued after it was revealed that the institute was being kept anonymous as a "witness protection" situation. And speaking of outage, outrage toward the Chilean government and judiciary was immense as Hugo's release led to Ámbar's death. The families of Verónica and Eugenio were also furious that their killer got to go free to kill again instead of serving his sentence. The outrage was in fact so intense, that the judge who approved Hugo's release was even suspended and investigated for misconduct. Eventually, though, she was reinstated with no consequences because although the law was flawed, she was doing her job as a judge by following it. Instead, Chile changed their laws to make the parole process much more thorough and over all harder to have parole answered as opposed to the rubber stamp process it was before. On September 24, Denisse was removed from Witness Protection and instead placed under arrest with now the police labelling her a murderer instead of a witness. The police ended up going through Hugo's entire phone history, Denisse's, and CCTV footage around the area before and immediately after the murder which showed that Denisse was an active participant. Denisse's motive was simple yet heartbreaking and horrifying. She had on some level wanted to do this ever since their neighbours forced them to leave their apartment because of Hugo, she and Hugo both said that Ámbar wasn't letting them live together as a romantic couple in peace and she saw Ámbar as coming in between him and Hugo and that as long as her daughter was alive, she would never be with the man she wanted. Denisse's arrest While in prison, she was the most hated inmate by her fellow inmates and her own cellmate said that she would "make life impossible" and went out of her way to stay up late just to make sure that she could keep Denisse awake and not let her sleep. This led to Denisse being moved to solitary confinement after a "lynching" attempt. A move that infuriated the public and her fellow inmates. It also upset Hugo who was said to have been begging the courts to let him visit Denisse. Denisse and Hugo were both tried together with the trial beginning on October 26, 2021, at The Oral Criminal Court of Viña del Mar. During the trial which was held over video link due to COVID-19. Denisse somehow found a way to play Ámbar's favorite music which the court and her relatives saw as a provocation. with the prosecution calling over 54 witnesses, 113 relevant documents, 30 expert reports, and the prosecution presented strong DNA evidence, Psychiatric reports showing them to both be sane, and biochemical reports. According to the prosecution, this is what happened. Hugo and Denisse during the trial On July 29, 2020, Ámbar was called by Denisse to pick up the money sent by Ulises. Before Ámbar arrived her now 14-year-old brother was sent to school to pick something up so that he couldn't be a witness to the crime. When Ámbar arrived, Denisse refused to go outside, meet her and hand her the money like always, instead, she insisted and demanded that she enter the home if she wanted it. Somehow, she did convince her and Ámbar went inside where she was immediately attacked by her mother and Hugo with Hugo proceeding to rape Ámbar. Soon a problem in their plan emerged when Ámbar's brother returned home much quicker than Denisse had expected him to. When Denisse saw her through the windows she hurriedly ran outside and told him that they needed to go to their old apartment because they had gotten a call that someone was breaking in. He couldn't see anything that was going on and really needed to use the bathroom, but his mother insisted that they had to leave now and when he moved past Denisse to use the bathroom, Hugo from the inside kept pushing the door shut so he couldn't enter, something he found odd. He was only allowed in after Hugo dragged his sister's body to another room and closed the door. When he was finally let in to use the bathroom, he heard a loud thumping noise coming from the other room. He left the bathroom and didn't even ask about the noises but Hugo felt the need to frantically explain them away and say it was his mother coming over for a visit and folding clothes. Ámbar's brother was one of the prosecution's star witnesses. Hugo, now left alone, began dismembering Ámbar into the aforementioned 15 pieces and placed them into the coolers while CCTV cameras showed Denisse and her son at a metro station on the way to their apartment. Denisse showed no reaction to helping her boyfriend rape and murder her daughter. While at the metro station, she sent the following text messages to Hugo. "I'm more calm now, I love you, kisses", "I hope everything goes well for you", "See you tomorrow" and "Good night love" That second message was her wishing Hugo luck in disposing of her daughter's body. They also exchanged 14 phone calls. When they arrived at the apartment, Denisse had her son stay there while she rushed to a store to purchase paint and paraffin wax. Denisse was caught on CCTV doing this and the cashier was called to testify. To keep him away from their home, Denisse had her son stay at the apartment alone for the night as she returned. Hugo and Denisse then went to the living room to remove the wooden floorboards in the living room, dig a six-foot hole through the soil underneath the floor, dumped the coolers into the hole, filled the hole back in, and placed new replacement floorboards where the old ones were and nailed them back to the floor sealing up the makeshift grave. The paraffin wax was used to try and keep any search dogs from detecting the stench of decomposition. Neighbours heard the sound of equipment such as drills and hammers being used but that the sounds were spaced out as if Hugo and Denisse were trying to be quiet with them. Denisse then wrapped Ámbar's cell phone in aluminum foil, burnt it and discarded it in a crawl space. Denisse's fingerprints were pulled from this foil. Denisse's shoes were also examined and traces of wax were found on the soles. Hugo seemed supremely confident that he would never be caught but as soon as he was confronted by his neighbours he was suddenly terrified and frantically told Denisse that they needed to run away. On November 26, 2021, the two were found guilty and on December 7. both were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole until at least 40 years into the sentence meaning the two won't even have the possibility of release until Hugo is at least in his 90s. It wasn't just murder the two were convicted of, they also were sentenced for rape and abuse, tragically not just that of Ámbar. Ámbar's brother wasn't just a major in the murder case, Hugo and Denisse had been sexually abusing him as well this whole time and the two were sent to prison for those crimes. For the sake of his protection, specific details involving his case have thankfully not been made public. They were both acquitted on the charge of illegally burying a body and Denisse was acquitted on the charge of raping Ámbar. They both appealed the verdict and sentence but on June 2, 2022, the Chilean Supreme Court upheld the decision. Now I mentioned that Manuel García Queirolo would be brought up again as his actions were even more heinous, Well, during her disappearance and murder, the Cyber Crime Unit was investigating Manuel for completely unrelated reasons, he was suspected of producing and possessing child pornography on his cell phone and other sex crimes from 2016-2020. On August 17, 2020, he was placed under arrest while investigators went through his phone. As they expected, he did possess mutable inappropriate images of minors. Manuel's arrest Horrifyingly enough, 400 of which were all of Ámbar back when she lived in his property. Aside from photographing her while she was showering, he also had pictures of upskirts and pictures taken up her dresses and the phone camera zoomed in to focus on her privates. Ámbar never found out about these images. On December 15, 2021, Manuel was convicted by The Oral Criminal Trial Court of Viña del Mar and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment on December 27. Ámbar's other relatives, friends and various women's rights organizations were satisfied with the verdict and even celebrated in the streets. The families of Verónica and Eugenio were also pleased to know that he was back in prison. For Hugo and Denisse, they are likely to never see each other face to face ever again. Ironically, that is despite being in the same prison. On April 27, 2022, Denisse was transferred to the same prison as Hugo after an apparent "lynching" attempt which led to lacerations on the scalp, bruises on both sides of the neck, an orbital hematoma, a laceration in the right eye, a wound on the lower lip, a hematoma in the lumbar dorsal area and on the left elbow. Although she has been attacked several times before this was the most brutal one. Ámbar's brother is now 17-18 and is living with other family on Ulises's side. He is said to be doing well, has made several new friends and has moved on and put this incident behind him with his life looking up for him. Sources (In the Comments) |
2024.06.02 15:41 Ok-Bowl696 Bob's Burgers comically relevant to this trial
 | Okay, something a little light here. Any other Bob's Burgers fans here? I rewatched "Some Kind of Fender-Benderful" (S11E18) last night. It is a perfect allegory for natural human responses to stressful situations, specifically involving the law. submitted by Ok-Bowl696 to KarenReadTrial [link] [comments] I was initially sucked into this trial because I just couldn't believe that someone asking "did I hit him?", or even straight up saying "I hit him" while experiencing a traumatic shock, could possibly be used to implicate them beyond a reasonable doubt. I then felt further frustrated by the notion that every single player would have to be actively involved in an elaborate conspiracy for the defence's theory to be possible. People seriously underestimate the power of suggestion, love and loyalty, bias, etc. If you have ever had the misfortune of being closely involved with a master manipulator, you will be familiar with how one person can wind up an entire group of people and manipulate memories and opinions. The episode is about a 4 car fender bender. Bob wants to believe that no one acted in bad faith so he tries to be friendly with everyone else, thinking that that everyone will be okay and will tell the (un-skewed) truth. He is warned by his friend not to be so naive, and that he should consider making an alliance with another driver. He dismisses his friend as unethical and is then approached by a driver to make an alliance. He rejects that driver's invitation, only for that driver to form an alliance with another driver. Those two then start using identical language to describe their stories (cough coaching cough). The alliance building driver, even though he wasn't actually totally at fault, decided to pick one driver to pin all of the blame on to avoid any level of responsibility. His sneaky ways convinced the cop at the scene. Bob experiences a whole wave of emotions and doubts his own innocence. In the end everyone was a little big wrong (except for the driver who got blamed) and the real culprit was an external event out of all of their control. I donno lol it's been a long week, I'm tired and looking for a bit of joy. Hoping there is somewhat of a crossover between other people who live stream court and also love Bob's Burgers. |
2024.06.02 15:15 Pyro979 Red Mask Inn: a scalable horror one-shot (levels 1-10)
[PWYW] Red Mask Inn: a scalable horror one-shot (levels 1-10)
This is my favorite thing I've written so far. My players who play-tested the adventure had a blast so I hope you all will enjoy it as well.
Upon entering a seemingly innocuous tavern, players quickly realize it’s not the refuge they expected. The innkeeper and his ‘daughter,’ the serving girl, are not what they seem. Beneath their facades lie malevolent beings with a taste for their guests. Facing both mental and physical trials, the players must outwit these monsters before they become the evening’s special.
The players will start their ordeal facing terrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, they must navigate a series of horror-themed rooms intended to weaken them before the ultimate showdown with the “hosts.” Victory over them will not be the end, as they must then escape the crumbling pocket dimension in which they’re trapped.
This module can serve as a standalone one-shot adventure or seamlessly integrate into an ongoing campaign. It’s adaptable to any location or setting and offers scalability for various levels. While the default tone leans toward the darker side, feel free to adjust it to suit your campaign’s ambiance.
This adventure may last between 3 to 6 hours, varying based on the extent to which you utilize the module’s content and your players’ decisions.
Includes:
A wooden sign, hand-carved and swinging in the evening breeze, reads "Red Mask Inn" in neatly scrolled letters. Below the name are two theatrical masks, the smiling Comedy and crying Tragedy.
Describe the inn as an unassuming, typical roadside establishment, creating an atmosphere of a routine stop for travelers. In a campaign, it's ideal to introduce this inn after the group has already faced some encounters in the days before. This timing helps to set the stage for what follows, making the inn seem like a normal, much-needed, resting point in their journey.
Behind the bar stands Redd Traskin, the owner and bartender of the inn. He's a robust man with a warm smile, busy polishing glasses but always ready to strike up a conversation. As you approach, he greets you with a jovial voice, "Welcome, travelers! You must be famished. Our stew today is particularly good, made with fresh herbs from the garden!"
Moving between the tables with a tray in hand is Nara, Redd’s daughter. She seems to be in her own world, efficiently serving patrons but with a distant look in her eyes. If players attempt to interact with her, she responds politely but briefly, maintaining a professional distance.
Seated at a corner table is a young couple with their child. The man, Brent Haskill, has the sturdy build of a blacksmith, while his wife, Raida, radiates warmth and friendliness. Their daughter, Breeni, is a bundle of energy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looks around the inn. Breeni seems particularly interested in the adventurers, especially if there's a female-presenting member or someone who looks like a seasoned adventurer in the group. This presents a great opportunity for roleplaying and helps to engage the players with these NPCs.
After some time if a player is not asleep because they (1) did not eat or drink at the inn, (2) succeeded on their Constitution saving throw, or (3) are immune to magical sleep (e.g. due to a feature like Fey Ancestry), they notice something peculiar. The lights in the tavern, if any were lit, suddenly dim, and the normal nighttime sounds from outside the tavern abruptly stop.
This player may try to help wake up the other players as they have their nightmares (see next section). This gives the players advantage on their saving throws.
Upon opening the door, the players will discover themselves in a long corridor, extending hundreds of feet. The only doors in this corridor are those leading to the PCs' rooms, the room of a young couple, and a black door at the far end of the hallway. Horrified moans and screams emanate from the young couple’s room. If the players choose to intervene and break in, they will find the couple and their daughter inside, all of whom are also experiencing nightmares and can be awakened by the players.
As the PCs make their way down the hallway, they come across a collection of strikingly realistic portraits. Each one captures a different being - humans, dragonborn, gnomes, and more - from a wide spectrum of ages, genders, and races. The subjects are dressed in everything from opulent clothes to plain rags, and some are even armored, weapons in hand. But there's one unsettling similarity across all these portraits: every face is frozen in an expression of sheer terror.
At the end of the hallway, they find the black door, which is unlocked.
Choose a character's favorite or iconic attack or spell and use it against each player. A single hit on the mirror version or the mirror itself is enough to destroy it.
If anyone gets within 5 ft of the bathtub, tentacles will try to grapple them (MEDIUM Escape DC). The tentacles will also deal MEDIUM amount of bludgeoning damage on a successful grapple. Any damage to the tentacles (AC 12) will release the PC.
Monster encounter, balance for your party:
To make things more difficult for the players, you can also add an additional MEDIUM CON saving throw against the fog's effects, with the players taking LIGHT poison damage on failure. Altering the number of monsters is another effective method for adjusting the challenge level. Additionally, if you're looking to incorporate different types of monsters, don't hesitate to use homebrew or reflavored monsters.
If players choose to consume any of the bottles, roll on the table below to determine the effects. Generally, it's not recommended to allow more than one potion per player (drinking more than one results in vomiting). If an effect doesn't apply to a character, or another player already drank the potion rolled, roll again. The effects last until the end of the adventure. A MEDIUM DC Alchemist Tools, Herbalist Kit or Arcana Check will reveal the properties of the potions. An EASY DC check may reveal partial properties.
You can treat this room narratively to unsettle the players, or turn it into an encounter. For an encounter, roll initiative (the statues always act at the end of the initiative order, and only on rounds when the lights are out). Every other round, either cover the map if playing in person, switch to a blank map on a VTT, or, if using theater of the mind, simply narrate the lights going out. The statues can only move in darkness, which is magical. Some players may have the ability to see through magical darkness. In such cases, the movement of the statues is visible to those players. Players who cannot see in the darkness can move but must declare their directions and distances. The door at the end of the room is unlocked when all statues are destroyed or by using the Knock spell.
Armor Class :: 18 (natural armor) Hit Points :: 3 MEDIUM hits Speed :: 20 ft (can move only in darkness)
Damage Immunities :: poison, psychic Condition Immunities :: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned Senses :: Blindsight 60 ft. Languages :: None
Antimagic Susceptibility. The statue is incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the statue must succeed on a CON saving throw against the caster's spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute. : False Appearance. While the statue remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal statue. : Dark Step. The statue can only move in darkness. It moves silently. It may not take the dash action. All attacks automatically hit.
Above, cured meats hang from hooks, swaying slightly in the draft. The countertops are littered with a variety of sinister-looking knives and butchery tools, their edges catching the light with an ominous glint.
At the center of this daunting scene stand Redd and Nara. Redd greets you with a malicious smile. “Now that you’ve been properly tenderized, it’s time for the main course!” he says. In a chilling display, he reaches for his face and peels it away as if it were a mask, revealing the ghastly sight of raw muscles, pulsing veins, and exposed nerves.
Next to him, Nara stands with an unsettling calm. Her hands begin to unnaturally stretch and contort, transforming into deadly claws. As she grins, her mouth widens unnervingly, unveiling a row of sharp, predatory teeth.
Initiative :: At initiative order 20, use one of the lair action options
Scalding Water: Boiling water erupts from pots in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Slippery Floors: The floor becomes slick with oil and grease. For the next round, any creature moving across the floor must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw or fall prone. You can avoid this by moving at half speed, but you must declare this before moving. : Whirling Blades: Blades whirl in a line 50 feet long and 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Flour Explosion: A cloud of flour ignites in a 30-foot radius centered on a point within the lair. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Speed :: 30 ft
Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: fire, acid, poison, necrotic Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Terrifying Unmasking. When the mask comes off, each creature within sight must make a WIS or CHA saving throw against an EASY DC. On a failed save, the creature becomes frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. : Magic Resistance. Red Mask has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. :
She will try to Bite as at least one of her attacks to keep regenerating hit points.
Speed :: 50 ft
Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: necrotic, piercing, bludgeoning, slashing Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Voracious Perception. Once The Hunger has tasted the flesh of a creature, it can track the creature by smell, effectively gaining blindsight with a range 30 feet for that creature. : Wall Crawler. With spider-like agility, The Hunger adheres to terrain, crawling along walls and ceilings to approach its victims. : Fleet-footed The Hunger's rapid movements give it a speed of 50 feet, and enemies trying to make opportunity attacks do so with a disadvantage.
Ideally, these should be rooms the party have already encountered, but you can also introduce new rooms they haven't seen yet. The players can to select any Skill for their roll, as long as it fits the narrative context. Set the DC based on what they're attempting to achieve and its level of feasibility. Spells and other actions taken by the players should also have an impact, provided they logically align with the situation at hand.
Achieving one or two successful outcomes should be sufficient to pass through a room. In case of failure, introduce a complication, such as a character sustaining an injury, acquiring a level of exhaustion, or suffering a temporary condition like being frightened, poisoned, or even blinded. In such scenarios, other party members may need to assist the affected player.
As you land the final blow, a momentary stillness ensues, briefly allowing you to reflect on your victory. But there's no time for celebration. A low hum begins to resonate through the space, growing louder with each passing second. Around you, the walls and ceiling start to crack and splinter. Suddenly, a wall in front of you collapses, revealing one of the rooms you passed through earlier. Behind you, the ceiling is collapsing. The way forward is through...
[Note, I had to cut the descriptions of rooms on the way back to fit into char limit - see PDF]
You stand at a crossroads, where an old structure looms, clearly long abandoned. It leans precariously, a silhouette against the night sky. Moonlight filters through its collapsed roof, casting ghostly shadows across the crumbling walls. The scene, bathed in a silver glow, is both haunting and strangely serene.
You can use the rules for Treasure Hoard Tables from DMG p133 to see what the players can find.
submitted by Pyro979 to DungeonMasters [link] [comments]
This is my favorite thing I've written so far. My players who play-tested the adventure had a blast so I hope you all will enjoy it as well.
The players will start their ordeal facing terrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, they must navigate a series of horror-themed rooms intended to weaken them before the ultimate showdown with the “hosts.” Victory over them will not be the end, as they must then escape the crumbling pocket dimension in which they’re trapped.
This module can serve as a standalone one-shot adventure or seamlessly integrate into an ongoing campaign. It’s adaptable to any location or setting and offers scalability for various levels. While the default tone leans toward the darker side, feel free to adjust it to suit your campaign’s ambiance.
This adventure may last between 3 to 6 hours, varying based on the extent to which you utilize the module’s content and your players’ decisions.
Includes:
- 10 nightmares for your PCs
- 10 horrifying rooms
- An epic showdown with an action-oriented final boss "Red Mask" as well as his companion "The Hunger".
- Instructions for scaling the adventure.
- Helpful DM tips that will make prep and running a breeze
- 3 battle maps created in Inkarnate
- Custom Monster stat blocks and tokens
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mask_(Tragedy_comedy)_(2768529820).jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dunwich_Horror_-_Wilbur_Whateley%27s_twin_by_Reuben_C._Dodd.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potions_Classroom_(47307949392).jpg
- https://www.deviantart.com/abandonedfalcon/art/Meet-me-at-the-bar-888760727
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cincinnati_-_Spring_Grove_Cemetery_%26_Arboretum_-_Weeping_Angel_statue.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortezza_Verrucole_Archeopark_interno.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_state_peniteniary,_13_(14107969638).jpg
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/shando_/9875265043/
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/diegopianarosa/16339757676/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_reveries_-_Flickr_-_kr428.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n04pg006_Tell_Your_Fortune.png
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n4pg075_At_the_End_of_the_Corridor.png
Previous Work:
- The Library - Level 3 one-shot (Easy for New DMs and New Players to learn)
- Project: Fragmentation (Rogue-like, PWYW)
What other DM's have said:
- Tossed this lil adventure in our D&D world and the players had a blast with all the twists and turns. As a DM I enjoyed the fact that it was well written and easy to run, I didn't have to flip through a lot of mess to run it like I've had to do on some other adventures. Highly recommended. -Jason T via DMsGuild
- Incorporated this last night into our campaign and had a blast. Biggest hits were the dream sequences, the library lore, bar potions, and the dynamic of having a family of commoners to protect. Players were also impressed with the lair and villain actions. I would recommend this to other DMs as it was easy to prep for, fairly simple to run, and the party had fun! -Ty R via DMsGuild
- I gave my party trauma and trust issues with this one! It was great time! Chibi_Disaster
Preview
Adding what I could fit into this post - had to cut some info to fit into the limit:NPCs
- Redd Traskin - At first glance: The welcoming face behind the bar, always ready with a drink and a story about his culinary adventures. Lurking beneath is a creature known as Red Mask: a malevolent being who ensnares victims with harrowing dreams, rendering them helpless before he claims and cooks them.
- Nara Traskin - On the surface a seemingly aloof barmaid, introduced as Redd's "daughter", with a penchant for keeping to herself and often notably reserved. But beneath that exterior she is The Hunger, a fearsome entity with a singular, overpowering mission: to satiate her eternal appetite.
- (Optional) Other guests - a young couple with a child
- Brent Haskill (26) - Husband of the young couple, blacksmith, friendly, introverted
- Raida Haskill (25) - Wife of the young couple, leatherworker, gregarious, warm
- Breeni Haskill (7) - Daughter
Scaling the Adventure
Effect & Trap Damage
| Level | Light Damage | Medium Damage | Serious Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d4+1 (3) | 1d6+2 (5) | 1d10+2 (7) |
| 2 | 1d6+2 (5) | 1d8+3 (7) | 2d6+3 (10) |
| 3 | 1d8+2 (6) | 2d6+3 (10) | 2d8+4 (13) |
| 4 | 1d10+2 (7) | 2d8+3 (12) | 3d6+5 (16) |
| 5 | 1d10+3 (8) | 2d10+3 (14) | 3d8+5 (19) |
| 6 | 2d6+3 (10) | 3d6+4 (17) | 4d6+6 (20) |
| 7 | 2d6+4 (11) | 3d8+4 (18) | 4d8+6 (24) |
| 8 | 2d8+4 (13) | 3d10+4 (20) | 5d6+7 (27) |
| 9 | 2d10+4 (15) | 4d6+5 (19) | 5d8+7 (31) |
| 10 | 3d6+5 (16) | 4d8+5 (23) | 6d8+8 (35) |
DCs
| Level | Easy | Medium | Hard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 10 | 14 | 18 |
| 4-6 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| 7-10 | 14 | 18 | 22 |
The Inn at the Cross Roads
At the crossroads, a quaint inn catches your eye. Its simple two-story structure, with walls of weathered wood and a stone base, exudes a rustic charm. A single horse is tethered to a wagon nearby, hinting at the presence of other travelers.A wooden sign, hand-carved and swinging in the evening breeze, reads "Red Mask Inn" in neatly scrolled letters. Below the name are two theatrical masks, the smiling Comedy and crying Tragedy.
DM Notes
For a one-shot adventure, consider giving the one-shot a different name than "Red Mask Inn" to serve as a red herring. Whether you're running a campaign or a one-shot, you can utilize the classic trope of the characters either meeting at the inn or using it as a place to rest and gather information.Describe the inn as an unassuming, typical roadside establishment, creating an atmosphere of a routine stop for travelers. In a campaign, it's ideal to introduce this inn after the group has already faced some encounters in the days before. This timing helps to set the stage for what follows, making the inn seem like a normal, much-needed, resting point in their journey.
Inside the inn
As you push open the creaky door of the Red Mask Inn, you're greeted by the comforting warmth of a crackling fireplace and the rich aroma of hearty stew. The inn's interior is cozy, with wooden beams and a few round tables scattered across the room.Behind the bar stands Redd Traskin, the owner and bartender of the inn. He's a robust man with a warm smile, busy polishing glasses but always ready to strike up a conversation. As you approach, he greets you with a jovial voice, "Welcome, travelers! You must be famished. Our stew today is particularly good, made with fresh herbs from the garden!"
Moving between the tables with a tray in hand is Nara, Redd’s daughter. She seems to be in her own world, efficiently serving patrons but with a distant look in her eyes. If players attempt to interact with her, she responds politely but briefly, maintaining a professional distance.
Seated at a corner table is a young couple with their child. The man, Brent Haskill, has the sturdy build of a blacksmith, while his wife, Raida, radiates warmth and friendliness. Their daughter, Breeni, is a bundle of energy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looks around the inn. Breeni seems particularly interested in the adventurers, especially if there's a female-presenting member or someone who looks like a seasoned adventurer in the group. This presents a great opportunity for roleplaying and helps to engage the players with these NPCs.
Going to bed
Each room costs 3 sp per night. If your players are cautious, they may decide to set a watch. Ask for the watch order. For the first person on watch: if they ate or drank at the inn, they must make a CON saving throw against the HARD DC ___. Failure results in them falling asleep during their watch.After some time if a player is not asleep because they (1) did not eat or drink at the inn, (2) succeeded on their Constitution saving throw, or (3) are immune to magical sleep (e.g. due to a feature like Fey Ancestry), they notice something peculiar. The lights in the tavern, if any were lit, suddenly dim, and the normal nighttime sounds from outside the tavern abruptly stop.
This player may try to help wake up the other players as they have their nightmares (see next section). This gives the players advantage on their saving throws.
Dreadful Reveries
Party members who fall asleep will experience nightmares. You can create unique nightmares (plumb your player's back stories or campaign events for ideas) or use the provided list for inspiration. Each dream culminates in a save attempt, allowing players to choose between a WIS, INT, or CHA saving throw, depending on their character's mental strengths. End each nightmare description with "Roll a mental save using your preferred stat." If they fail to wake up, they suffer LIGHT, or MEDIUM if they fail the check by more than 5, non-lethal psychic damage. If they roll a Natural 1 on their save, they gain one level of exhaustion. Either way on a failed save they slip into another dream. The initial save DC is set at HARD and should decrease by one level for each subsequent attempt. It is recommended to do not more than 3 nightmares. If another character is attempting to wake them or if they have abilities that aid in resisting mental effects, they may make the save with advantage.Nightmares
- It's night. You are running through the woods. Brambles and thorns rip at your skin. Something is chasing you, and it's gaining. You hear it coming closer and closer. You stumble, fall, and it's on your back, ready to strike…
- You are on a ledge of a narrow cliff. The wind howls, and the rain buffets you. Lightning briefly illuminates the world, revealing jagged rocks hundreds of feet below. Your foot slips, your fingers lose their grip. You begin to fall…
- [Not for characters with water breathing] You are underwater. Seaweed tangles around your legs and feet as you try to orient yourself. There is no up, no down. Your lungs burn, and when you can no longer hold your breath, brackish, dirty water rushes down your throat…
- You are in a coffin. You don't know how long you've been here. You push up on the lid but the weight of the dirt above renders your effort futile. Your fingers bleed as you scratch through the wood, trying to reach the freshly dug earth. The air grows heavier, and you feel yourself slipping away…
- The stars above are beautiful. You try to keep fear at bay, hoping your ship will return. But deep down, you know they won't find you in the vast, uncaring ocean. As you hear a splash to your right, you turn to glimpse a notched fin that was heading in your direction submerge under the water...
- The reflection in the mirror isn't you. You chant this mantra, yet the creature in the glass tilts its head mockingly and whispers, “No, not you. Not yet!” Its gnarled hands creep forward, attempting to breach the barrier of the silvered glass...
- The cave-in is a minor setback. You've found an exit after an hour. A set of hand-holds lead up towards the surface. In your haste, you squeeze through a narrow ledge. Suddenly, you're stuck, the pressure on your chest blurring your vision and clouding your mind, fresh air just out of reach…
- You walk through city streets, unnoticed by the teeming crowd. A growing sense of wrongness intensifies as the figures turn toward you. You only have a moment to dread as you see their faceless heads, when they all then converge on you as one…
- After leaving the warm tent, the cold seemed bearable. But a stinging wind and swirling snow soon disorient you. It feels warmer; you shed layers, mistaking deadly cold for heat. You stumble into the soft snow, deciding to rest, just for a minute…
- It's twilight in the woods. A dead tree in a clearing, covered in birds, crows or ravens, hard to tell. More cawing, flapping wings, and suddenly, the birds take flight, sharp beaks and claws going for your eyes…
Players Awaken
Once all the players awaken, they will likely attempt to figure out their situation. Should they look out the window, they will see the outside world; however, this view is merely an illusion. Efforts to break through walls, floors, and ceilings will prove futile. Furthermore, utilizing teleportation magic, such as dimension door and plane shift, appears ineffective, except for local effects like misty step or dimension door to a visible location.Upon opening the door, the players will discover themselves in a long corridor, extending hundreds of feet. The only doors in this corridor are those leading to the PCs' rooms, the room of a young couple, and a black door at the far end of the hallway. Horrified moans and screams emanate from the young couple’s room. If the players choose to intervene and break in, they will find the couple and their daughter inside, all of whom are also experiencing nightmares and can be awakened by the players.
As the PCs make their way down the hallway, they come across a collection of strikingly realistic portraits. Each one captures a different being - humans, dragonborn, gnomes, and more - from a wide spectrum of ages, genders, and races. The subjects are dressed in everything from opulent clothes to plain rags, and some are even armored, weapons in hand. But there's one unsettling similarity across all these portraits: every face is frozen in an expression of sheer terror.
At the end of the hallway, they find the black door, which is unlocked.
Rooms
Upon entering, the PCs have a series of rooms you will guide them through. You can either craft your own rooms or use those included in this adventure. Players might attempt to take a Short Rest in some rooms, and it's up to you whether to allow it or not. You want the PCs battered, but not spent for the final confrontation. If you choose to deny them the rest, narrate psychic pressure to move out of the room - leading to psychic damage on refusal.The Library
As the party steps into a dimly lit room, they're surrounded by towering bookshelves. The books around them seem to be whispering secrets of forbidden knowledge. Each player needs to make a MEDIUM WIS saving throw to avoid taking MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage from the eldritch knowledge trying to worm into their brain, with the damage halved if they succeed. Those players naturally drawn to knowledge, like Wizards and Bards, will find this more challenging and must make the throw at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, those less inclined towards books, like Barbarians or Fighters, will have advantage. It's up to you as the DM to decide these advantages and disadvantages based on your characters' proclivities.DM Notes
- Use this section as a chance to weave in some of your world's lore. It's a perfect opportunity for players to uncover hidden aspects of your campaign's universe.
- While the books in this room can be physically taken, to avoid players hoarding countless volumes, consider describing how some books disintegrate into ash as soon as they're opened.
The Memory Gallery
In this sparsely furnished room, the walls are adorned with striking paintings of landscapes, ranging from mountain vistas to sunsets over the ocean, and serene forest clearings. As the PCs explore these paintings, focus on one PC and bring a distressing memory from their backstory to life, using the painting they are viewing as the backdrop. This scene then animates before the players. The PC at the center of this memory is faced with a HARD WIS saving throw, with the risk of taking SERIOUS non-lethal psychic damage upon failure, or half the damage if they succeed. Meanwhile, other PCs witnessing this scene must make an EASY WIS save to avoid LIGHT non-lethal psychic damage, suffering no damage on a successful save. Breeni’s past interactions with the affected PC could play a role here. Breeni may hug the PC, granting them advantage on their saving throw.The Mirror Chamber
In the mirror chamber, walls lined with ornate, grimy mirrors reflect distorted and grotesque images of the adventurers. The air is thick, filled with the unsettling scent of iron and decay. Suddenly, their reflections lunge out of the glass, materializing into tangible, malevolent doppelgängers that attack, forcing the party to confront twisted versions of themselves.Choose a character's favorite or iconic attack or spell and use it against each player. A single hit on the mirror version or the mirror itself is enough to destroy it.
The Dining Hall
The long wooden table is laden with rotting food: fruit covered in mold, meat moving with maggots, and bread so stale it looks fossilized, all set among goblets filled with a murky, clotting liquid that might have once been wine. Nearby, a platter holds what appears to be a human hand, its skin cooked to a crisp and its fingernails garnished with sprigs of wilted herbs. The foul stench of decay and spoiled meat permeates the room, mingling with the unsettling, almost palpable aura of dread. Players must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw. On a failure, gain the poisoned condition, lasting for 1d4 rooms.The Hospital Room
Several linen-covered beds on the far side of the room are splattered with dried blood. Bone saws with jagged teeth and other cruel implements are neatly arranged on a side table, gleaming ominously in the torchlight. Drawers with various medical supplies are left half-closed. Several vials labeled as "Healing Potions" sit on a nearby shelf. A MEDIUM Arcana or Medicine check will determine these are actually poison (1d4+1 poison damage). The party may choose to remain here and use some of the supplies to heal up - can be used as a Short Rest opportunity.The Bathroom
A decrepit wooden bathtub sits in the corner, filled with a stagnant, dark liquid that occasionally bubbles as if something lurks beneath the surface. Next to the bathtub, a stone toilet fixture stands as if hewn directly from the chamber's walls, its bowl filled with an unidentifiable, viscous substance that seems to churn of its own accord. Faint, grotesque sketches are etched into the stone around the toilet, depicting unsettling scenes that make you question the sanity of previous occupants. Blood spatters mar the cracked tiles, leading to a cracked tarnished mirror that reflects a distorted image of anyone who dares to look.If anyone gets within 5 ft of the bathtub, tentacles will try to grapple them (MEDIUM Escape DC). The tentacles will also deal MEDIUM amount of bludgeoning damage on a successful grapple. Any damage to the tentacles (AC 12) will release the PC.
The Greenhouse
The greenhouse is a labyrinth of overgrown, twisted plants, their leaves unnaturally dark and thorns menacingly sharp. A misty, almost phosphorescent fog hangs low, casting a sickly green glow over everything, and making it hard to see what lurks in the corners. Amongst the flora, the party can spot several cages containing withered remains of animals and, disturbingly, a few humanoid shapes — all twisted in expressions of agony, as if the plants themselves had consumed them.Monster encounter, balance for your party:
| Level Range | Monster |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Twig Blight (MM 32) |
| Needle Blight (MM 32) | |
| Vine Blight (MM 32) | |
| 4-6 | Shambling Mound (MM 270) |
| Wood Woad (VGtM 198) | |
| Yellow Musk Creeper (TftYP 248) | |
| Animated Tree (VGtM 207) | |
| Assassin Vine (MM 22) | |
| 7-10 | Corpse Flower (MToF 127) |
| Tree Blight (CoS 230) |
The Bar
The barroom is dimly lit by tarnished chandeliers that cast ghostly flickers across worn wooden floorboards. A long, decaying bar counter dominates one side of the room. Its surface is stained and pockmarked, lined with bottles containing strange, discolored liquids. The stools around the bar are unsteady, emitting ominous creaks under the slightest pressure. Notably, one stool bears an unsettling stain, reminiscent of dried blood.If players choose to consume any of the bottles, roll on the table below to determine the effects. Generally, it's not recommended to allow more than one potion per player (drinking more than one results in vomiting). If an effect doesn't apply to a character, or another player already drank the potion rolled, roll again. The effects last until the end of the adventure. A MEDIUM DC Alchemist Tools, Herbalist Kit or Arcana Check will reveal the properties of the potions. An EASY DC check may reveal partial properties.
| # | Name | Liquid Description | Effect Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reckless Fury | A swirling red potion with fiery sparks. | [Primary Melee Classes] Every melee attack is treated as reckless (attack is rolled with Advantage, but any attack against the player is rolled with Advantage as well until their turn). | |
| 2 | Luck be a lady tonight | A two-layered liquid, gold over silver. | Grants inspiration to the player, and GM gets to force disadvantage at a time of their choosing. | |
| 3 | Unstable Teleport | A misty, shifting blue and gray potion. | Gain the ability to cast the Misty Step spell at will. Roll 1d20 for uncertain destination, appearing in a location of DM's choice on 1-10. | |
| 4 | Size Shift | A violet fluid with bubbles. | Changes creature size from Medium to Small. No effect on Small creatures. | |
| 5 | Spell Rejuvenation | A glowing, pulsating emerald drink. | [Primary Spellcaster Classes] Restores one highest level spent spell slot but causes causes one level of exhaustion. | |
| 6 | Speed Surge | A quicksilver potion with streaks of lightning. | Doubles speed but causes jitteriness, disadvantage on Dexterity checks and saves. | |
| 7 | Painful Retaliation | A dark crimson liquid with a thorny vine motif. | As a bonus action you can choose to harm a creature at will, causing MEDIUM psychic damage, but take half the damage yourself. | |
| 8 | Statue Defense | A solid gray potion with flecks of stone. | As a reaction to taking damage, you can choose to become an invulnerable statue to negate the triggering damage. You are invulnerable and petrified until the end of your next turn. | |
| 9 | Charge of the Bull | A red potion with a swirling vortex. | Gain a powerful charge attack: If you can move at least 10ft in a straight line, you can make an attack. If the attack hits, it is treated as a critical hit, and the target is knocked prone. If the attack misses, the player takes MEDIUM bludgeoning damage, is knocked prone, and lands 10 feet past the target. | |
| 10 | Clumsy Might | A creamy potion with bubbles. | Advantage on Strength checks and saves but disadvantage on Dexterity-based tasks. |
The Stalking Statues
The room is a vast, dimly-lit chamber with four stone statues positioned in various states of distress; their faces contorted in silent screams or buried in their hands as if weeping. The flickering light from a dying chandelier dances across their features, casting ominous shadows that seem to move. Describe the chandelier as flickering in and out. In the darkness, the statues seem to move closer and closer.You can treat this room narratively to unsettle the players, or turn it into an encounter. For an encounter, roll initiative (the statues always act at the end of the initiative order, and only on rounds when the lights are out). Every other round, either cover the map if playing in person, switch to a blank map on a VTT, or, if using theater of the mind, simply narrate the lights going out. The statues can only move in darkness, which is magical. Some players may have the ability to see through magical darkness. In such cases, the movement of the statues is visible to those players. Players who cannot see in the darkness can move but must declare their directions and distances. The door at the end of the room is unlocked when all statues are destroyed or by using the Knock spell.
Stalking Statues
Medium Construct, neutral evil| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 (+2) | 11 (+0) | 13 (+1) | 1 (-5) | 3 (-4) | 1 (-5) |
Actions
Multiattack. The statue makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM bludgeoning damage. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM piercing damage. : Grapple. Roll Contested Athletics vs Atheltics or Acrobatics. The statue rolls with Advantage. Reach 5ft., one target. MEDIUM escape DC to break free.Final Confrontation
Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone: : You walk through the door to find yourself in a vast, open kitchen. The air is heavy with the scent of pots boiling over low flames, their contents a mystery. Shadows flicker and stretch across the walls, animated by the dim firelight.Above, cured meats hang from hooks, swaying slightly in the draft. The countertops are littered with a variety of sinister-looking knives and butchery tools, their edges catching the light with an ominous glint.
At the center of this daunting scene stand Redd and Nara. Redd greets you with a malicious smile. “Now that you’ve been properly tenderized, it’s time for the main course!” he says. In a chilling display, he reaches for his face and peels it away as if it were a mask, revealing the ghastly sight of raw muscles, pulsing veins, and exposed nerves.
Next to him, Nara stands with an unsettling calm. Her hands begin to unnaturally stretch and contort, transforming into deadly claws. As she grins, her mouth widens unnervingly, unveiling a row of sharp, predatory teeth.
Monstrous Hosts
Redd Traskin, also known as Red Mask, and Nara Traskin, known as The Hunger, have hidden their monstrous nature for years by disguising themselves as the friendly innkeepers of the Red Mask Inn. They lure travelers with warmth and hospitality, only to ensnare them in a nightmarish trap. Through their powers of perception and emotion manipulation, they torment their victims in an alternate dimension, relishing the fear and suffering they create. All the while, they maintain their facade as ordinary innkeepers, continuing their sinister feast on unsuspecting guests.Lair Actions
DM Notes
HP: The HP listed in the stat blocks are simply a guideline. Balance to your party, making sure that the combat lasts some time, but doesn't drag on too long. : Villain Actions: Red Mask utilizes villain actions. This is an action he can take at any point after a PCs action, but limited to one per round.Red Mask
Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil| APL | AC | HP |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 14 | 30±10 |
| 4-6 | 16 | 60±10 |
| 7-10 | 18 | 90±10 |
| APL | STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 13 (+1) | 10 (+0) | 12 (+1) | 10 (+0) |
| 4-6 | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 15 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 10 (+0) |
| 7-10 | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 17 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 10 (+0) |
Reactions
I think not! (3/day) As a reaction, Red Mask can choose to succeed on a failed check. However, this requires mental fortitude, so he takes MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage to do so.Actions
Multiattack. The Red Mask makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Misty Step. Red Mask can cast Misty Step at will as a bonus action. : Butcher’s Knife. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target.| APL | to hit bonus | damage |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | +4 | LIGHT |
| 4-6 | +6 | MEDIUM |
| 7-10 | +8 | MEDIUM |
Villain Actions
How's My Cooking? Any creature that ate food in the tavern must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw or be incapacitated with retching as rotten, maggoty food comes back up. The effect lasts until the end of the affected creature's turn. : Time to Eat! Nara can move up to her speed towards a target and make a bite attack as part of the same action. : See What Awaits You! Red Mask unleashes a wave of mental horror, showing the victims horrific images of previous guests being butchered and eaten. Each creature within sight must succeed on an EASY WIS saving throw or take MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage.Tactics
The Hunger prefers hit-and-run tactics, targeting the least armored or most injured characters. If the characters try to focus fire on Red Mask, narrate The Hunger turning it's attention to the Haskill family.She will try to Bite as at least one of her attacks to keep regenerating hit points.
Nara, The Hunger
Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil| APL | AC | HP |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 14 | 30±10 |
| 4-6 | 16 | 60±10 |
| 7-10 | 18 | 90±10 |
| APL | STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 13 (+1) | 10 (+0) | 12 (+1) | 10 (+0) |
| 4-6 | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 15 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 10 (+0) |
| 7-10 | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 17 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 10 (+0) |
Reactions
Bloodthirsty Pursuit. If a creature within 30 feet of The Hunger uses a teleportation ability or spell to escape, The Hunger can use its reaction to immediately teleport to a space adjacent to the escaping creature.Actions
Multiattack. The The Hunger makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 10ft., one target. If target not armored, or on a critical hit, add bleed damage for 1d3 rounds. This damage does not stack on multiple hits, instead use the highest rolled value for damage and rounds rolled. This effect can only be removed by magical healing. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target. On a successful hit, deal damage as normal, and The Hunger regenerates half of the damage dealt as hit points.| APL | to hit bonus | damage | bleed from claws |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | +4 | LIGHT | 1d2 |
| 4-6 | +6 | MEDIUM | 1d4 |
| 7-10 | +8 | MEDIUM | 1d6 |
The Collapse
With the death of its hosts, the reality of this pocket dimension begins to unravel. This is a perfect time to deploy a Skill Challenge. Choose any of the following room descriptions, and let the players decide which skills they want to employ to navigate through the room. The focus here is on the Rule of Cool.Ideally, these should be rooms the party have already encountered, but you can also introduce new rooms they haven't seen yet. The players can to select any Skill for their roll, as long as it fits the narrative context. Set the DC based on what they're attempting to achieve and its level of feasibility. Spells and other actions taken by the players should also have an impact, provided they logically align with the situation at hand.
Achieving one or two successful outcomes should be sufficient to pass through a room. In case of failure, introduce a complication, such as a character sustaining an injury, acquiring a level of exhaustion, or suffering a temporary condition like being frightened, poisoned, or even blinded. In such scenarios, other party members may need to assist the affected player.
DM Notes
Here you should aim to instill a sense of urgency and desperation. Monitor your players closely. As they approach their limits, consider making that room the final challenge. Remember, they don't need to complete every room you've planned.Time to Run
Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone:As you land the final blow, a momentary stillness ensues, briefly allowing you to reflect on your victory. But there's no time for celebration. A low hum begins to resonate through the space, growing louder with each passing second. Around you, the walls and ceiling start to crack and splinter. Suddenly, a wall in front of you collapses, revealing one of the rooms you passed through earlier. Behind you, the ceiling is collapsing. The way forward is through...
[Note, I had to cut the descriptions of rooms on the way back to fit into char limit - see PDF]
Conclusion
As you burst through the door, you're back in the long corridor you first encountered as you woke up. At the far end, you glimpse the outside world. You sprint towards freedom as the corridor crumbles behind you, the destruction nipping at your heels. In a desperate leap at the last possible moment, you escape... and the sudden tranquility of the night envelops you. The quiet, so starkly contrasted with the preceding chaos, strikes you with its intensity. Surrounded by the serene sounds of the forest, the peace feels almost otherworldly, a surreal end to your harrowing journey.You stand at a crossroads, where an old structure looms, clearly long abandoned. It leans precariously, a silhouette against the night sky. Moonlight filters through its collapsed roof, casting ghostly shadows across the crumbling walls. The scene, bathed in a silver glow, is both haunting and strangely serene.
Loot
Tucked away behind the inn, the adventurers might notice something peculiar about the compost heap — it seems to occasionally sparkle with the glint of metal and the shimmer of gemstones. Upon closer inspection and a bit of rummaging, they'll discover that this isn't just any old pile of refuse; it's a resting place for treasures that once belonged to the inn's unfortunate previous visitors.You can use the rules for Treasure Hoard Tables from DMG p133 to see what the players can find.
2024.06.02 15:14 Pyro979 Red Mask Inn: a scalable horror one-shot (levels 1-10)
[PWYW] Red Mask Inn: a scalable horror one-shot (levels 1-10)
This is my favorite thing I've written so far. My players who play-tested the adventure had a blast so I hope you all will enjoy it as well.
Upon entering a seemingly innocuous tavern, players quickly realize it’s not the refuge they expected. The innkeeper and his ‘daughter,’ the serving girl, are not what they seem. Beneath their facades lie malevolent beings with a taste for their guests. Facing both mental and physical trials, the players must outwit these monsters before they become the evening’s special.
The players will start their ordeal facing terrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, they must navigate a series of horror-themed rooms intended to weaken them before the ultimate showdown with the “hosts.” Victory over them will not be the end, as they must then escape the crumbling pocket dimension in which they’re trapped.
This module can serve as a standalone one-shot adventure or seamlessly integrate into an ongoing campaign. It’s adaptable to any location or setting and offers scalability for various levels. While the default tone leans toward the darker side, feel free to adjust it to suit your campaign’s ambiance.
This adventure may last between 3 to 6 hours, varying based on the extent to which you utilize the module’s content and your players’ decisions.
Includes:
A wooden sign, hand-carved and swinging in the evening breeze, reads "Red Mask Inn" in neatly scrolled letters. Below the name are two theatrical masks, the smiling Comedy and crying Tragedy.
Describe the inn as an unassuming, typical roadside establishment, creating an atmosphere of a routine stop for travelers. In a campaign, it's ideal to introduce this inn after the group has already faced some encounters in the days before. This timing helps to set the stage for what follows, making the inn seem like a normal, much-needed, resting point in their journey.
Behind the bar stands Redd Traskin, the owner and bartender of the inn. He's a robust man with a warm smile, busy polishing glasses but always ready to strike up a conversation. As you approach, he greets you with a jovial voice, "Welcome, travelers! You must be famished. Our stew today is particularly good, made with fresh herbs from the garden!"
Moving between the tables with a tray in hand is Nara, Redd’s daughter. She seems to be in her own world, efficiently serving patrons but with a distant look in her eyes. If players attempt to interact with her, she responds politely but briefly, maintaining a professional distance.
Seated at a corner table is a young couple with their child. The man, Brent Haskill, has the sturdy build of a blacksmith, while his wife, Raida, radiates warmth and friendliness. Their daughter, Breeni, is a bundle of energy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looks around the inn. Breeni seems particularly interested in the adventurers, especially if there's a female-presenting member or someone who looks like a seasoned adventurer in the group. This presents a great opportunity for roleplaying and helps to engage the players with these NPCs.
After some time if a player is not asleep because they (1) did not eat or drink at the inn, (2) succeeded on their Constitution saving throw, or (3) are immune to magical sleep (e.g. due to a feature like Fey Ancestry), they notice something peculiar. The lights in the tavern, if any were lit, suddenly dim, and the normal nighttime sounds from outside the tavern abruptly stop.
This player may try to help wake up the other players as they have their nightmares (see next section). This gives the players advantage on their saving throws.
Upon opening the door, the players will discover themselves in a long corridor, extending hundreds of feet. The only doors in this corridor are those leading to the PCs' rooms, the room of a young couple, and a black door at the far end of the hallway. Horrified moans and screams emanate from the young couple’s room. If the players choose to intervene and break in, they will find the couple and their daughter inside, all of whom are also experiencing nightmares and can be awakened by the players.
As the PCs make their way down the hallway, they come across a collection of strikingly realistic portraits. Each one captures a different being - humans, dragonborn, gnomes, and more - from a wide spectrum of ages, genders, and races. The subjects are dressed in everything from opulent clothes to plain rags, and some are even armored, weapons in hand. But there's one unsettling similarity across all these portraits: every face is frozen in an expression of sheer terror.
At the end of the hallway, they find the black door, which is unlocked.
Choose a character's favorite or iconic attack or spell and use it against each player. A single hit on the mirror version or the mirror itself is enough to destroy it.
If anyone gets within 5 ft of the bathtub, tentacles will try to grapple them (MEDIUM Escape DC). The tentacles will also deal MEDIUM amount of bludgeoning damage on a successful grapple. Any damage to the tentacles (AC 12) will release the PC.
Monster encounter, balance for your party:
To make things more difficult for the players, you can also add an additional MEDIUM CON saving throw against the fog's effects, with the players taking LIGHT poison damage on failure. Altering the number of monsters is another effective method for adjusting the challenge level. Additionally, if you're looking to incorporate different types of monsters, don't hesitate to use homebrew or reflavored monsters.
If players choose to consume any of the bottles, roll on the table below to determine the effects. Generally, it's not recommended to allow more than one potion per player (drinking more than one results in vomiting). If an effect doesn't apply to a character, or another player already drank the potion rolled, roll again. The effects last until the end of the adventure. A MEDIUM DC Alchemist Tools, Herbalist Kit or Arcana Check will reveal the properties of the potions. An EASY DC check may reveal partial properties.
You can treat this room narratively to unsettle the players, or turn it into an encounter. For an encounter, roll initiative (the statues always act at the end of the initiative order, and only on rounds when the lights are out). Every other round, either cover the map if playing in person, switch to a blank map on a VTT, or, if using theater of the mind, simply narrate the lights going out. The statues can only move in darkness, which is magical. Some players may have the ability to see through magical darkness. In such cases, the movement of the statues is visible to those players. Players who cannot see in the darkness can move but must declare their directions and distances. The door at the end of the room is unlocked when all statues are destroyed or by using the Knock spell.
Armor Class :: 18 (natural armor) Hit Points :: 3 MEDIUM hits Speed :: 20 ft (can move only in darkness)
Damage Immunities :: poison, psychic Condition Immunities :: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned Senses :: Blindsight 60 ft. Languages :: None
Antimagic Susceptibility. The statue is incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the statue must succeed on a CON saving throw against the caster's spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute. : False Appearance. While the statue remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal statue. : Dark Step. The statue can only move in darkness. It moves silently. It may not take the dash action. All attacks automatically hit.
Above, cured meats hang from hooks, swaying slightly in the draft. The countertops are littered with a variety of sinister-looking knives and butchery tools, their edges catching the light with an ominous glint.
At the center of this daunting scene stand Redd and Nara. Redd greets you with a malicious smile. “Now that you’ve been properly tenderized, it’s time for the main course!” he says. In a chilling display, he reaches for his face and peels it away as if it were a mask, revealing the ghastly sight of raw muscles, pulsing veins, and exposed nerves.
Next to him, Nara stands with an unsettling calm. Her hands begin to unnaturally stretch and contort, transforming into deadly claws. As she grins, her mouth widens unnervingly, unveiling a row of sharp, predatory teeth.
Initiative :: At initiative order 20, use one of the lair action options
Scalding Water: Boiling water erupts from pots in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Slippery Floors: The floor becomes slick with oil and grease. For the next round, any creature moving across the floor must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw or fall prone. You can avoid this by moving at half speed, but you must declare this before moving. : Whirling Blades: Blades whirl in a line 50 feet long and 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Flour Explosion: A cloud of flour ignites in a 30-foot radius centered on a point within the lair. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Speed :: 30 ft
Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: fire, acid, poison, necrotic Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Terrifying Unmasking. When the mask comes off, each creature within sight must make a WIS or CHA saving throw against an EASY DC. On a failed save, the creature becomes frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. : Magic Resistance. Red Mask has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. :
She will try to Bite as at least one of her attacks to keep regenerating hit points.
Speed :: 50 ft
Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: necrotic, piercing, bludgeoning, slashing Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Voracious Perception. Once The Hunger has tasted the flesh of a creature, it can track the creature by smell, effectively gaining blindsight with a range 30 feet for that creature. : Wall Crawler. With spider-like agility, The Hunger adheres to terrain, crawling along walls and ceilings to approach its victims. : Fleet-footed The Hunger's rapid movements give it a speed of 50 feet, and enemies trying to make opportunity attacks do so with a disadvantage.
Ideally, these should be rooms the party have already encountered, but you can also introduce new rooms they haven't seen yet. The players can to select any Skill for their roll, as long as it fits the narrative context. Set the DC based on what they're attempting to achieve and its level of feasibility. Spells and other actions taken by the players should also have an impact, provided they logically align with the situation at hand.
Achieving one or two successful outcomes should be sufficient to pass through a room. In case of failure, introduce a complication, such as a character sustaining an injury, acquiring a level of exhaustion, or suffering a temporary condition like being frightened, poisoned, or even blinded. In such scenarios, other party members may need to assist the affected player.
As you land the final blow, a momentary stillness ensues, briefly allowing you to reflect on your victory. But there's no time for celebration. A low hum begins to resonate through the space, growing louder with each passing second. Around you, the walls and ceiling start to crack and splinter. Suddenly, a wall in front of you collapses, revealing one of the rooms you passed through earlier. Behind you, the ceiling is collapsing. The way forward is through...
[Note, I had to cut the descriptions of rooms on the way back to fit into char limit - see PDF]
You stand at a crossroads, where an old structure looms, clearly long abandoned. It leans precariously, a silhouette against the night sky. Moonlight filters through its collapsed roof, casting ghostly shadows across the crumbling walls. The scene, bathed in a silver glow, is both haunting and strangely serene.
You can use the rules for Treasure Hoard Tables from DMG p133 to see what the players can find.
submitted by Pyro979 to DMToolkit [link] [comments]
This is my favorite thing I've written so far. My players who play-tested the adventure had a blast so I hope you all will enjoy it as well.
The players will start their ordeal facing terrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, they must navigate a series of horror-themed rooms intended to weaken them before the ultimate showdown with the “hosts.” Victory over them will not be the end, as they must then escape the crumbling pocket dimension in which they’re trapped.
This module can serve as a standalone one-shot adventure or seamlessly integrate into an ongoing campaign. It’s adaptable to any location or setting and offers scalability for various levels. While the default tone leans toward the darker side, feel free to adjust it to suit your campaign’s ambiance.
This adventure may last between 3 to 6 hours, varying based on the extent to which you utilize the module’s content and your players’ decisions.
Includes:
- 10 nightmares for your PCs
- 10 horrifying rooms
- An epic showdown with an action-oriented final boss "Red Mask" as well as his companion "The Hunger".
- Instructions for scaling the adventure.
- Helpful DM tips that will make prep and running a breeze
- 3 battle maps created in Inkarnate
- Custom Monster stat blocks and tokens
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mask_(Tragedy_comedy)_(2768529820).jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dunwich_Horror_-_Wilbur_Whateley%27s_twin_by_Reuben_C._Dodd.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potions_Classroom_(47307949392).jpg
- https://www.deviantart.com/abandonedfalcon/art/Meet-me-at-the-bar-888760727
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cincinnati_-_Spring_Grove_Cemetery_%26_Arboretum_-_Weeping_Angel_statue.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortezza_Verrucole_Archeopark_interno.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_state_peniteniary,_13_(14107969638).jpg
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/shando_/9875265043/
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/diegopianarosa/16339757676/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_reveries_-_Flickr_-_kr428.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n04pg006_Tell_Your_Fortune.png
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n4pg075_At_the_End_of_the_Corridor.png
Previous Work:
- The Library - Level 3 one-shot (Easy for New DMs and New Players to learn)
- Project: Fragmentation (Rogue-like, PWYW)
What other DM's have said:
- Tossed this lil adventure in our D&D world and the players had a blast with all the twists and turns. As a DM I enjoyed the fact that it was well written and easy to run, I didn't have to flip through a lot of mess to run it like I've had to do on some other adventures. Highly recommended. -Jason T via DMsGuild
- Incorporated this last night into our campaign and had a blast. Biggest hits were the dream sequences, the library lore, bar potions, and the dynamic of having a family of commoners to protect. Players were also impressed with the lair and villain actions. I would recommend this to other DMs as it was easy to prep for, fairly simple to run, and the party had fun! -Ty R via DMsGuild
- I gave my party trauma and trust issues with this one! It was great time! Chibi_Disaster
Preview
Adding what I could fit into this post - had to cut some info to fit into the limit:NPCs
- Redd Traskin - At first glance: The welcoming face behind the bar, always ready with a drink and a story about his culinary adventures. Lurking beneath is a creature known as Red Mask: a malevolent being who ensnares victims with harrowing dreams, rendering them helpless before he claims and cooks them.
- Nara Traskin - On the surface a seemingly aloof barmaid, introduced as Redd's "daughter", with a penchant for keeping to herself and often notably reserved. But beneath that exterior she is The Hunger, a fearsome entity with a singular, overpowering mission: to satiate her eternal appetite.
- (Optional) Other guests - a young couple with a child
- Brent Haskill (26) - Husband of the young couple, blacksmith, friendly, introverted
- Raida Haskill (25) - Wife of the young couple, leatherworker, gregarious, warm
- Breeni Haskill (7) - Daughter
Scaling the Adventure
Effect & Trap Damage
| Level | Light Damage | Medium Damage | Serious Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d4+1 (3) | 1d6+2 (5) | 1d10+2 (7) |
| 2 | 1d6+2 (5) | 1d8+3 (7) | 2d6+3 (10) |
| 3 | 1d8+2 (6) | 2d6+3 (10) | 2d8+4 (13) |
| 4 | 1d10+2 (7) | 2d8+3 (12) | 3d6+5 (16) |
| 5 | 1d10+3 (8) | 2d10+3 (14) | 3d8+5 (19) |
| 6 | 2d6+3 (10) | 3d6+4 (17) | 4d6+6 (20) |
| 7 | 2d6+4 (11) | 3d8+4 (18) | 4d8+6 (24) |
| 8 | 2d8+4 (13) | 3d10+4 (20) | 5d6+7 (27) |
| 9 | 2d10+4 (15) | 4d6+5 (19) | 5d8+7 (31) |
| 10 | 3d6+5 (16) | 4d8+5 (23) | 6d8+8 (35) |
DCs
| Level | Easy | Medium | Hard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 10 | 14 | 18 |
| 4-6 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| 7-10 | 14 | 18 | 22 |
The Inn at the Cross Roads
At the crossroads, a quaint inn catches your eye. Its simple two-story structure, with walls of weathered wood and a stone base, exudes a rustic charm. A single horse is tethered to a wagon nearby, hinting at the presence of other travelers.A wooden sign, hand-carved and swinging in the evening breeze, reads "Red Mask Inn" in neatly scrolled letters. Below the name are two theatrical masks, the smiling Comedy and crying Tragedy.
DM Notes
For a one-shot adventure, consider giving the one-shot a different name than "Red Mask Inn" to serve as a red herring. Whether you're running a campaign or a one-shot, you can utilize the classic trope of the characters either meeting at the inn or using it as a place to rest and gather information.Describe the inn as an unassuming, typical roadside establishment, creating an atmosphere of a routine stop for travelers. In a campaign, it's ideal to introduce this inn after the group has already faced some encounters in the days before. This timing helps to set the stage for what follows, making the inn seem like a normal, much-needed, resting point in their journey.
Inside the inn
As you push open the creaky door of the Red Mask Inn, you're greeted by the comforting warmth of a crackling fireplace and the rich aroma of hearty stew. The inn's interior is cozy, with wooden beams and a few round tables scattered across the room.Behind the bar stands Redd Traskin, the owner and bartender of the inn. He's a robust man with a warm smile, busy polishing glasses but always ready to strike up a conversation. As you approach, he greets you with a jovial voice, "Welcome, travelers! You must be famished. Our stew today is particularly good, made with fresh herbs from the garden!"
Moving between the tables with a tray in hand is Nara, Redd’s daughter. She seems to be in her own world, efficiently serving patrons but with a distant look in her eyes. If players attempt to interact with her, she responds politely but briefly, maintaining a professional distance.
Seated at a corner table is a young couple with their child. The man, Brent Haskill, has the sturdy build of a blacksmith, while his wife, Raida, radiates warmth and friendliness. Their daughter, Breeni, is a bundle of energy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looks around the inn. Breeni seems particularly interested in the adventurers, especially if there's a female-presenting member or someone who looks like a seasoned adventurer in the group. This presents a great opportunity for roleplaying and helps to engage the players with these NPCs.
Going to bed
Each room costs 3 sp per night. If your players are cautious, they may decide to set a watch. Ask for the watch order. For the first person on watch: if they ate or drank at the inn, they must make a CON saving throw against the HARD DC ___. Failure results in them falling asleep during their watch.After some time if a player is not asleep because they (1) did not eat or drink at the inn, (2) succeeded on their Constitution saving throw, or (3) are immune to magical sleep (e.g. due to a feature like Fey Ancestry), they notice something peculiar. The lights in the tavern, if any were lit, suddenly dim, and the normal nighttime sounds from outside the tavern abruptly stop.
This player may try to help wake up the other players as they have their nightmares (see next section). This gives the players advantage on their saving throws.
Dreadful Reveries
Party members who fall asleep will experience nightmares. You can create unique nightmares (plumb your player's back stories or campaign events for ideas) or use the provided list for inspiration. Each dream culminates in a save attempt, allowing players to choose between a WIS, INT, or CHA saving throw, depending on their character's mental strengths. End each nightmare description with "Roll a mental save using your preferred stat." If they fail to wake up, they suffer LIGHT, or MEDIUM if they fail the check by more than 5, non-lethal psychic damage. If they roll a Natural 1 on their save, they gain one level of exhaustion. Either way on a failed save they slip into another dream. The initial save DC is set at HARD and should decrease by one level for each subsequent attempt. It is recommended to do not more than 3 nightmares. If another character is attempting to wake them or if they have abilities that aid in resisting mental effects, they may make the save with advantage.Nightmares
- It's night. You are running through the woods. Brambles and thorns rip at your skin. Something is chasing you, and it's gaining. You hear it coming closer and closer. You stumble, fall, and it's on your back, ready to strike…
- You are on a ledge of a narrow cliff. The wind howls, and the rain buffets you. Lightning briefly illuminates the world, revealing jagged rocks hundreds of feet below. Your foot slips, your fingers lose their grip. You begin to fall…
- [Not for characters with water breathing] You are underwater. Seaweed tangles around your legs and feet as you try to orient yourself. There is no up, no down. Your lungs burn, and when you can no longer hold your breath, brackish, dirty water rushes down your throat…
- You are in a coffin. You don't know how long you've been here. You push up on the lid but the weight of the dirt above renders your effort futile. Your fingers bleed as you scratch through the wood, trying to reach the freshly dug earth. The air grows heavier, and you feel yourself slipping away…
- The stars above are beautiful. You try to keep fear at bay, hoping your ship will return. But deep down, you know they won't find you in the vast, uncaring ocean. As you hear a splash to your right, you turn to glimpse a notched fin that was heading in your direction submerge under the water...
- The reflection in the mirror isn't you. You chant this mantra, yet the creature in the glass tilts its head mockingly and whispers, “No, not you. Not yet!” Its gnarled hands creep forward, attempting to breach the barrier of the silvered glass...
- The cave-in is a minor setback. You've found an exit after an hour. A set of hand-holds lead up towards the surface. In your haste, you squeeze through a narrow ledge. Suddenly, you're stuck, the pressure on your chest blurring your vision and clouding your mind, fresh air just out of reach…
- You walk through city streets, unnoticed by the teeming crowd. A growing sense of wrongness intensifies as the figures turn toward you. You only have a moment to dread as you see their faceless heads, when they all then converge on you as one…
- After leaving the warm tent, the cold seemed bearable. But a stinging wind and swirling snow soon disorient you. It feels warmer; you shed layers, mistaking deadly cold for heat. You stumble into the soft snow, deciding to rest, just for a minute…
- It's twilight in the woods. A dead tree in a clearing, covered in birds, crows or ravens, hard to tell. More cawing, flapping wings, and suddenly, the birds take flight, sharp beaks and claws going for your eyes…
Players Awaken
Once all the players awaken, they will likely attempt to figure out their situation. Should they look out the window, they will see the outside world; however, this view is merely an illusion. Efforts to break through walls, floors, and ceilings will prove futile. Furthermore, utilizing teleportation magic, such as dimension door and plane shift, appears ineffective, except for local effects like misty step or dimension door to a visible location.Upon opening the door, the players will discover themselves in a long corridor, extending hundreds of feet. The only doors in this corridor are those leading to the PCs' rooms, the room of a young couple, and a black door at the far end of the hallway. Horrified moans and screams emanate from the young couple’s room. If the players choose to intervene and break in, they will find the couple and their daughter inside, all of whom are also experiencing nightmares and can be awakened by the players.
As the PCs make their way down the hallway, they come across a collection of strikingly realistic portraits. Each one captures a different being - humans, dragonborn, gnomes, and more - from a wide spectrum of ages, genders, and races. The subjects are dressed in everything from opulent clothes to plain rags, and some are even armored, weapons in hand. But there's one unsettling similarity across all these portraits: every face is frozen in an expression of sheer terror.
At the end of the hallway, they find the black door, which is unlocked.
Rooms
Upon entering, the PCs have a series of rooms you will guide them through. You can either craft your own rooms or use those included in this adventure. Players might attempt to take a Short Rest in some rooms, and it's up to you whether to allow it or not. You want the PCs battered, but not spent for the final confrontation. If you choose to deny them the rest, narrate psychic pressure to move out of the room - leading to psychic damage on refusal.The Library
As the party steps into a dimly lit room, they're surrounded by towering bookshelves. The books around them seem to be whispering secrets of forbidden knowledge. Each player needs to make a MEDIUM WIS saving throw to avoid taking MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage from the eldritch knowledge trying to worm into their brain, with the damage halved if they succeed. Those players naturally drawn to knowledge, like Wizards and Bards, will find this more challenging and must make the throw at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, those less inclined towards books, like Barbarians or Fighters, will have advantage. It's up to you as the DM to decide these advantages and disadvantages based on your characters' proclivities.DM Notes
- Use this section as a chance to weave in some of your world's lore. It's a perfect opportunity for players to uncover hidden aspects of your campaign's universe.
- While the books in this room can be physically taken, to avoid players hoarding countless volumes, consider describing how some books disintegrate into ash as soon as they're opened.
The Memory Gallery
In this sparsely furnished room, the walls are adorned with striking paintings of landscapes, ranging from mountain vistas to sunsets over the ocean, and serene forest clearings. As the PCs explore these paintings, focus on one PC and bring a distressing memory from their backstory to life, using the painting they are viewing as the backdrop. This scene then animates before the players. The PC at the center of this memory is faced with a HARD WIS saving throw, with the risk of taking SERIOUS non-lethal psychic damage upon failure, or half the damage if they succeed. Meanwhile, other PCs witnessing this scene must make an EASY WIS save to avoid LIGHT non-lethal psychic damage, suffering no damage on a successful save. Breeni’s past interactions with the affected PC could play a role here. Breeni may hug the PC, granting them advantage on their saving throw.The Mirror Chamber
In the mirror chamber, walls lined with ornate, grimy mirrors reflect distorted and grotesque images of the adventurers. The air is thick, filled with the unsettling scent of iron and decay. Suddenly, their reflections lunge out of the glass, materializing into tangible, malevolent doppelgängers that attack, forcing the party to confront twisted versions of themselves.Choose a character's favorite or iconic attack or spell and use it against each player. A single hit on the mirror version or the mirror itself is enough to destroy it.
The Dining Hall
The long wooden table is laden with rotting food: fruit covered in mold, meat moving with maggots, and bread so stale it looks fossilized, all set among goblets filled with a murky, clotting liquid that might have once been wine. Nearby, a platter holds what appears to be a human hand, its skin cooked to a crisp and its fingernails garnished with sprigs of wilted herbs. The foul stench of decay and spoiled meat permeates the room, mingling with the unsettling, almost palpable aura of dread. Players must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw. On a failure, gain the poisoned condition, lasting for 1d4 rooms.The Hospital Room
Several linen-covered beds on the far side of the room are splattered with dried blood. Bone saws with jagged teeth and other cruel implements are neatly arranged on a side table, gleaming ominously in the torchlight. Drawers with various medical supplies are left half-closed. Several vials labeled as "Healing Potions" sit on a nearby shelf. A MEDIUM Arcana or Medicine check will determine these are actually poison (1d4+1 poison damage). The party may choose to remain here and use some of the supplies to heal up - can be used as a Short Rest opportunity.The Bathroom
A decrepit wooden bathtub sits in the corner, filled with a stagnant, dark liquid that occasionally bubbles as if something lurks beneath the surface. Next to the bathtub, a stone toilet fixture stands as if hewn directly from the chamber's walls, its bowl filled with an unidentifiable, viscous substance that seems to churn of its own accord. Faint, grotesque sketches are etched into the stone around the toilet, depicting unsettling scenes that make you question the sanity of previous occupants. Blood spatters mar the cracked tiles, leading to a cracked tarnished mirror that reflects a distorted image of anyone who dares to look.If anyone gets within 5 ft of the bathtub, tentacles will try to grapple them (MEDIUM Escape DC). The tentacles will also deal MEDIUM amount of bludgeoning damage on a successful grapple. Any damage to the tentacles (AC 12) will release the PC.
The Greenhouse
The greenhouse is a labyrinth of overgrown, twisted plants, their leaves unnaturally dark and thorns menacingly sharp. A misty, almost phosphorescent fog hangs low, casting a sickly green glow over everything, and making it hard to see what lurks in the corners. Amongst the flora, the party can spot several cages containing withered remains of animals and, disturbingly, a few humanoid shapes — all twisted in expressions of agony, as if the plants themselves had consumed them.Monster encounter, balance for your party:
| Level Range | Monster |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Twig Blight (MM 32) |
| Needle Blight (MM 32) | |
| Vine Blight (MM 32) | |
| 4-6 | Shambling Mound (MM 270) |
| Wood Woad (VGtM 198) | |
| Yellow Musk Creeper (TftYP 248) | |
| Animated Tree (VGtM 207) | |
| Assassin Vine (MM 22) | |
| 7-10 | Corpse Flower (MToF 127) |
| Tree Blight (CoS 230) |
The Bar
The barroom is dimly lit by tarnished chandeliers that cast ghostly flickers across worn wooden floorboards. A long, decaying bar counter dominates one side of the room. Its surface is stained and pockmarked, lined with bottles containing strange, discolored liquids. The stools around the bar are unsteady, emitting ominous creaks under the slightest pressure. Notably, one stool bears an unsettling stain, reminiscent of dried blood.If players choose to consume any of the bottles, roll on the table below to determine the effects. Generally, it's not recommended to allow more than one potion per player (drinking more than one results in vomiting). If an effect doesn't apply to a character, or another player already drank the potion rolled, roll again. The effects last until the end of the adventure. A MEDIUM DC Alchemist Tools, Herbalist Kit or Arcana Check will reveal the properties of the potions. An EASY DC check may reveal partial properties.
| # | Name | Liquid Description | Effect Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reckless Fury | A swirling red potion with fiery sparks. | [Primary Melee Classes] Every melee attack is treated as reckless (attack is rolled with Advantage, but any attack against the player is rolled with Advantage as well until their turn). | |
| 2 | Luck be a lady tonight | A two-layered liquid, gold over silver. | Grants inspiration to the player, and GM gets to force disadvantage at a time of their choosing. | |
| 3 | Unstable Teleport | A misty, shifting blue and gray potion. | Gain the ability to cast the Misty Step spell at will. Roll 1d20 for uncertain destination, appearing in a location of DM's choice on 1-10. | |
| 4 | Size Shift | A violet fluid with bubbles. | Changes creature size from Medium to Small. No effect on Small creatures. | |
| 5 | Spell Rejuvenation | A glowing, pulsating emerald drink. | [Primary Spellcaster Classes] Restores one highest level spent spell slot but causes causes one level of exhaustion. | |
| 6 | Speed Surge | A quicksilver potion with streaks of lightning. | Doubles speed but causes jitteriness, disadvantage on Dexterity checks and saves. | |
| 7 | Painful Retaliation | A dark crimson liquid with a thorny vine motif. | As a bonus action you can choose to harm a creature at will, causing MEDIUM psychic damage, but take half the damage yourself. | |
| 8 | Statue Defense | A solid gray potion with flecks of stone. | As a reaction to taking damage, you can choose to become an invulnerable statue to negate the triggering damage. You are invulnerable and petrified until the end of your next turn. | |
| 9 | Charge of the Bull | A red potion with a swirling vortex. | Gain a powerful charge attack: If you can move at least 10ft in a straight line, you can make an attack. If the attack hits, it is treated as a critical hit, and the target is knocked prone. If the attack misses, the player takes MEDIUM bludgeoning damage, is knocked prone, and lands 10 feet past the target. | |
| 10 | Clumsy Might | A creamy potion with bubbles. | Advantage on Strength checks and saves but disadvantage on Dexterity-based tasks. |
The Stalking Statues
The room is a vast, dimly-lit chamber with four stone statues positioned in various states of distress; their faces contorted in silent screams or buried in their hands as if weeping. The flickering light from a dying chandelier dances across their features, casting ominous shadows that seem to move. Describe the chandelier as flickering in and out. In the darkness, the statues seem to move closer and closer.You can treat this room narratively to unsettle the players, or turn it into an encounter. For an encounter, roll initiative (the statues always act at the end of the initiative order, and only on rounds when the lights are out). Every other round, either cover the map if playing in person, switch to a blank map on a VTT, or, if using theater of the mind, simply narrate the lights going out. The statues can only move in darkness, which is magical. Some players may have the ability to see through magical darkness. In such cases, the movement of the statues is visible to those players. Players who cannot see in the darkness can move but must declare their directions and distances. The door at the end of the room is unlocked when all statues are destroyed or by using the Knock spell.
Stalking Statues
Medium Construct, neutral evil| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 (+2) | 11 (+0) | 13 (+1) | 1 (-5) | 3 (-4) | 1 (-5) |
Actions
Multiattack. The statue makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM bludgeoning damage. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM piercing damage. : Grapple. Roll Contested Athletics vs Atheltics or Acrobatics. The statue rolls with Advantage. Reach 5ft., one target. MEDIUM escape DC to break free.Final Confrontation
Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone: : You walk through the door to find yourself in a vast, open kitchen. The air is heavy with the scent of pots boiling over low flames, their contents a mystery. Shadows flicker and stretch across the walls, animated by the dim firelight.Above, cured meats hang from hooks, swaying slightly in the draft. The countertops are littered with a variety of sinister-looking knives and butchery tools, their edges catching the light with an ominous glint.
At the center of this daunting scene stand Redd and Nara. Redd greets you with a malicious smile. “Now that you’ve been properly tenderized, it’s time for the main course!” he says. In a chilling display, he reaches for his face and peels it away as if it were a mask, revealing the ghastly sight of raw muscles, pulsing veins, and exposed nerves.
Next to him, Nara stands with an unsettling calm. Her hands begin to unnaturally stretch and contort, transforming into deadly claws. As she grins, her mouth widens unnervingly, unveiling a row of sharp, predatory teeth.
Monstrous Hosts
Redd Traskin, also known as Red Mask, and Nara Traskin, known as The Hunger, have hidden their monstrous nature for years by disguising themselves as the friendly innkeepers of the Red Mask Inn. They lure travelers with warmth and hospitality, only to ensnare them in a nightmarish trap. Through their powers of perception and emotion manipulation, they torment their victims in an alternate dimension, relishing the fear and suffering they create. All the while, they maintain their facade as ordinary innkeepers, continuing their sinister feast on unsuspecting guests.Lair Actions
DM Notes
HP: The HP listed in the stat blocks are simply a guideline. Balance to your party, making sure that the combat lasts some time, but doesn't drag on too long. : Villain Actions: Red Mask utilizes villain actions. This is an action he can take at any point after a PCs action, but limited to one per round.Red Mask
Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil| APL | AC | HP |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 14 | 30±10 |
| 4-6 | 16 | 60±10 |
| 7-10 | 18 | 90±10 |
| APL | STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 13 (+1) | 10 (+0) | 12 (+1) | 10 (+0) |
| 4-6 | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 15 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 10 (+0) |
| 7-10 | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 17 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 10 (+0) |
Reactions
I think not! (3/day) As a reaction, Red Mask can choose to succeed on a failed check. However, this requires mental fortitude, so he takes MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage to do so.Actions
Multiattack. The Red Mask makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Misty Step. Red Mask can cast Misty Step at will as a bonus action. : Butcher’s Knife. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target.| APL | to hit bonus | damage |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | +4 | LIGHT |
| 4-6 | +6 | MEDIUM |
| 7-10 | +8 | MEDIUM |
Villain Actions
How's My Cooking? Any creature that ate food in the tavern must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw or be incapacitated with retching as rotten, maggoty food comes back up. The effect lasts until the end of the affected creature's turn. : Time to Eat! Nara can move up to her speed towards a target and make a bite attack as part of the same action. : See What Awaits You! Red Mask unleashes a wave of mental horror, showing the victims horrific images of previous guests being butchered and eaten. Each creature within sight must succeed on an EASY WIS saving throw or take MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage.Tactics
The Hunger prefers hit-and-run tactics, targeting the least armored or most injured characters. If the characters try to focus fire on Red Mask, narrate The Hunger turning it's attention to the Haskill family.She will try to Bite as at least one of her attacks to keep regenerating hit points.
Nara, The Hunger
Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil| APL | AC | HP |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 14 | 30±10 |
| 4-6 | 16 | 60±10 |
| 7-10 | 18 | 90±10 |
| APL | STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 13 (+1) | 10 (+0) | 12 (+1) | 10 (+0) |
| 4-6 | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 15 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 10 (+0) |
| 7-10 | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 17 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 10 (+0) |
Reactions
Bloodthirsty Pursuit. If a creature within 30 feet of The Hunger uses a teleportation ability or spell to escape, The Hunger can use its reaction to immediately teleport to a space adjacent to the escaping creature.Actions
Multiattack. The The Hunger makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 10ft., one target. If target not armored, or on a critical hit, add bleed damage for 1d3 rounds. This damage does not stack on multiple hits, instead use the highest rolled value for damage and rounds rolled. This effect can only be removed by magical healing. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target. On a successful hit, deal damage as normal, and The Hunger regenerates half of the damage dealt as hit points.| APL | to hit bonus | damage | bleed from claws |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | +4 | LIGHT | 1d2 |
| 4-6 | +6 | MEDIUM | 1d4 |
| 7-10 | +8 | MEDIUM | 1d6 |
The Collapse
With the death of its hosts, the reality of this pocket dimension begins to unravel. This is a perfect time to deploy a Skill Challenge. Choose any of the following room descriptions, and let the players decide which skills they want to employ to navigate through the room. The focus here is on the Rule of Cool.Ideally, these should be rooms the party have already encountered, but you can also introduce new rooms they haven't seen yet. The players can to select any Skill for their roll, as long as it fits the narrative context. Set the DC based on what they're attempting to achieve and its level of feasibility. Spells and other actions taken by the players should also have an impact, provided they logically align with the situation at hand.
Achieving one or two successful outcomes should be sufficient to pass through a room. In case of failure, introduce a complication, such as a character sustaining an injury, acquiring a level of exhaustion, or suffering a temporary condition like being frightened, poisoned, or even blinded. In such scenarios, other party members may need to assist the affected player.
DM Notes
Here you should aim to instill a sense of urgency and desperation. Monitor your players closely. As they approach their limits, consider making that room the final challenge. Remember, they don't need to complete every room you've planned.Time to Run
Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone:As you land the final blow, a momentary stillness ensues, briefly allowing you to reflect on your victory. But there's no time for celebration. A low hum begins to resonate through the space, growing louder with each passing second. Around you, the walls and ceiling start to crack and splinter. Suddenly, a wall in front of you collapses, revealing one of the rooms you passed through earlier. Behind you, the ceiling is collapsing. The way forward is through...
[Note, I had to cut the descriptions of rooms on the way back to fit into char limit - see PDF]
Conclusion
As you burst through the door, you're back in the long corridor you first encountered as you woke up. At the far end, you glimpse the outside world. You sprint towards freedom as the corridor crumbles behind you, the destruction nipping at your heels. In a desperate leap at the last possible moment, you escape... and the sudden tranquility of the night envelops you. The quiet, so starkly contrasted with the preceding chaos, strikes you with its intensity. Surrounded by the serene sounds of the forest, the peace feels almost otherworldly, a surreal end to your harrowing journey.You stand at a crossroads, where an old structure looms, clearly long abandoned. It leans precariously, a silhouette against the night sky. Moonlight filters through its collapsed roof, casting ghostly shadows across the crumbling walls. The scene, bathed in a silver glow, is both haunting and strangely serene.
Loot
Tucked away behind the inn, the adventurers might notice something peculiar about the compost heap — it seems to occasionally sparkle with the glint of metal and the shimmer of gemstones. Upon closer inspection and a bit of rummaging, they'll discover that this isn't just any old pile of refuse; it's a resting place for treasures that once belonged to the inn's unfortunate previous visitors.You can use the rules for Treasure Hoard Tables from DMG p133 to see what the players can find.
2024.06.02 15:14 Pyro979 Red Mask Inn: a scalable horror one-shot (levels 1-10)
[PWYW] Red Mask Inn: a scalable horror one-shot (levels 1-10)
This is my favorite thing I've written so far. My players who play-tested the adventure had a blast so I hope you all will enjoy it as well.
Upon entering a seemingly innocuous tavern, players quickly realize it’s not the refuge they expected. The innkeeper and his ‘daughter,’ the serving girl, are not what they seem. Beneath their facades lie malevolent beings with a taste for their guests. Facing both mental and physical trials, the players must outwit these monsters before they become the evening’s special.
The players will start their ordeal facing terrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, they must navigate a series of horror-themed rooms intended to weaken them before the ultimate showdown with the “hosts.” Victory over them will not be the end, as they must then escape the crumbling pocket dimension in which they’re trapped.
This module can serve as a standalone one-shot adventure or seamlessly integrate into an ongoing campaign. It’s adaptable to any location or setting and offers scalability for various levels. While the default tone leans toward the darker side, feel free to adjust it to suit your campaign’s ambiance.
This adventure may last between 3 to 6 hours, varying based on the extent to which you utilize the module’s content and your players’ decisions.
Includes:
A wooden sign, hand-carved and swinging in the evening breeze, reads "Red Mask Inn" in neatly scrolled letters. Below the name are two theatrical masks, the smiling Comedy and crying Tragedy.
Describe the inn as an unassuming, typical roadside establishment, creating an atmosphere of a routine stop for travelers. In a campaign, it's ideal to introduce this inn after the group has already faced some encounters in the days before. This timing helps to set the stage for what follows, making the inn seem like a normal, much-needed, resting point in their journey.
Behind the bar stands Redd Traskin, the owner and bartender of the inn. He's a robust man with a warm smile, busy polishing glasses but always ready to strike up a conversation. As you approach, he greets you with a jovial voice, "Welcome, travelers! You must be famished. Our stew today is particularly good, made with fresh herbs from the garden!"
Moving between the tables with a tray in hand is Nara, Redd’s daughter. She seems to be in her own world, efficiently serving patrons but with a distant look in her eyes. If players attempt to interact with her, she responds politely but briefly, maintaining a professional distance.
Seated at a corner table is a young couple with their child. The man, Brent Haskill, has the sturdy build of a blacksmith, while his wife, Raida, radiates warmth and friendliness. Their daughter, Breeni, is a bundle of energy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looks around the inn. Breeni seems particularly interested in the adventurers, especially if there's a female-presenting member or someone who looks like a seasoned adventurer in the group. This presents a great opportunity for roleplaying and helps to engage the players with these NPCs.
After some time if a player is not asleep because they (1) did not eat or drink at the inn, (2) succeeded on their Constitution saving throw, or (3) are immune to magical sleep (e.g. due to a feature like Fey Ancestry), they notice something peculiar. The lights in the tavern, if any were lit, suddenly dim, and the normal nighttime sounds from outside the tavern abruptly stop.
This player may try to help wake up the other players as they have their nightmares (see next section). This gives the players advantage on their saving throws.
Upon opening the door, the players will discover themselves in a long corridor, extending hundreds of feet. The only doors in this corridor are those leading to the PCs' rooms, the room of a young couple, and a black door at the far end of the hallway. Horrified moans and screams emanate from the young couple’s room. If the players choose to intervene and break in, they will find the couple and their daughter inside, all of whom are also experiencing nightmares and can be awakened by the players.
As the PCs make their way down the hallway, they come across a collection of strikingly realistic portraits. Each one captures a different being - humans, dragonborn, gnomes, and more - from a wide spectrum of ages, genders, and races. The subjects are dressed in everything from opulent clothes to plain rags, and some are even armored, weapons in hand. But there's one unsettling similarity across all these portraits: every face is frozen in an expression of sheer terror.
At the end of the hallway, they find the black door, which is unlocked.
Choose a character's favorite or iconic attack or spell and use it against each player. A single hit on the mirror version or the mirror itself is enough to destroy it.
If anyone gets within 5 ft of the bathtub, tentacles will try to grapple them (MEDIUM Escape DC). The tentacles will also deal MEDIUM amount of bludgeoning damage on a successful grapple. Any damage to the tentacles (AC 12) will release the PC.
Monster encounter, balance for your party:
To make things more difficult for the players, you can also add an additional MEDIUM CON saving throw against the fog's effects, with the players taking LIGHT poison damage on failure. Altering the number of monsters is another effective method for adjusting the challenge level. Additionally, if you're looking to incorporate different types of monsters, don't hesitate to use homebrew or reflavored monsters.
If players choose to consume any of the bottles, roll on the table below to determine the effects. Generally, it's not recommended to allow more than one potion per player (drinking more than one results in vomiting). If an effect doesn't apply to a character, or another player already drank the potion rolled, roll again. The effects last until the end of the adventure. A MEDIUM DC Alchemist Tools, Herbalist Kit or Arcana Check will reveal the properties of the potions. An EASY DC check may reveal partial properties.
You can treat this room narratively to unsettle the players, or turn it into an encounter. For an encounter, roll initiative (the statues always act at the end of the initiative order, and only on rounds when the lights are out). Every other round, either cover the map if playing in person, switch to a blank map on a VTT, or, if using theater of the mind, simply narrate the lights going out. The statues can only move in darkness, which is magical. Some players may have the ability to see through magical darkness. In such cases, the movement of the statues is visible to those players. Players who cannot see in the darkness can move but must declare their directions and distances. The door at the end of the room is unlocked when all statues are destroyed or by using the Knock spell.
Armor Class :: 18 (natural armor) Hit Points :: 3 MEDIUM hits Speed :: 20 ft (can move only in darkness)
Damage Immunities :: poison, psychic Condition Immunities :: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned Senses :: Blindsight 60 ft. Languages :: None
Antimagic Susceptibility. The statue is incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the statue must succeed on a CON saving throw against the caster's spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute. : False Appearance. While the statue remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal statue. : Dark Step. The statue can only move in darkness. It moves silently. It may not take the dash action. All attacks automatically hit.
Above, cured meats hang from hooks, swaying slightly in the draft. The countertops are littered with a variety of sinister-looking knives and butchery tools, their edges catching the light with an ominous glint.
At the center of this daunting scene stand Redd and Nara. Redd greets you with a malicious smile. “Now that you’ve been properly tenderized, it’s time for the main course!” he says. In a chilling display, he reaches for his face and peels it away as if it were a mask, revealing the ghastly sight of raw muscles, pulsing veins, and exposed nerves.
Next to him, Nara stands with an unsettling calm. Her hands begin to unnaturally stretch and contort, transforming into deadly claws. As she grins, her mouth widens unnervingly, unveiling a row of sharp, predatory teeth.
Initiative :: At initiative order 20, use one of the lair action options
Scalding Water: Boiling water erupts from pots in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Slippery Floors: The floor becomes slick with oil and grease. For the next round, any creature moving across the floor must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw or fall prone. You can avoid this by moving at half speed, but you must declare this before moving. : Whirling Blades: Blades whirl in a line 50 feet long and 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. : Flour Explosion: A cloud of flour ignites in a 30-foot radius centered on a point within the lair. Each creature in that area must make a MEDIUM DEX saving throw, taking MEDIUM fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Speed :: 30 ft
Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: fire, acid, poison, necrotic Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Terrifying Unmasking. When the mask comes off, each creature within sight must make a WIS or CHA saving throw against an EASY DC. On a failed save, the creature becomes frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. : Magic Resistance. Red Mask has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. :
She will try to Bite as at least one of her attacks to keep regenerating hit points.
Speed :: 50 ft
Condition Immunities :: frightened, charmed Damage Resistances :: necrotic, piercing, bludgeoning, slashing Senses :: darkvision 60 ft. Languages :: Common, Deep Speech
Voracious Perception. Once The Hunger has tasted the flesh of a creature, it can track the creature by smell, effectively gaining blindsight with a range 30 feet for that creature. : Wall Crawler. With spider-like agility, The Hunger adheres to terrain, crawling along walls and ceilings to approach its victims. : Fleet-footed The Hunger's rapid movements give it a speed of 50 feet, and enemies trying to make opportunity attacks do so with a disadvantage.
Ideally, these should be rooms the party have already encountered, but you can also introduce new rooms they haven't seen yet. The players can to select any Skill for their roll, as long as it fits the narrative context. Set the DC based on what they're attempting to achieve and its level of feasibility. Spells and other actions taken by the players should also have an impact, provided they logically align with the situation at hand.
Achieving one or two successful outcomes should be sufficient to pass through a room. In case of failure, introduce a complication, such as a character sustaining an injury, acquiring a level of exhaustion, or suffering a temporary condition like being frightened, poisoned, or even blinded. In such scenarios, other party members may need to assist the affected player.
As you land the final blow, a momentary stillness ensues, briefly allowing you to reflect on your victory. But there's no time for celebration. A low hum begins to resonate through the space, growing louder with each passing second. Around you, the walls and ceiling start to crack and splinter. Suddenly, a wall in front of you collapses, revealing one of the rooms you passed through earlier. Behind you, the ceiling is collapsing. The way forward is through...
[Note, I had to cut the descriptions of rooms on the way back to fit into char limit - see PDF]
You stand at a crossroads, where an old structure looms, clearly long abandoned. It leans precariously, a silhouette against the night sky. Moonlight filters through its collapsed roof, casting ghostly shadows across the crumbling walls. The scene, bathed in a silver glow, is both haunting and strangely serene.
You can use the rules for Treasure Hoard Tables from DMG p133 to see what the players can find.
submitted by Pyro979 to DungeonsAndDragons [link] [comments]
This is my favorite thing I've written so far. My players who play-tested the adventure had a blast so I hope you all will enjoy it as well.
The players will start their ordeal facing terrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, they must navigate a series of horror-themed rooms intended to weaken them before the ultimate showdown with the “hosts.” Victory over them will not be the end, as they must then escape the crumbling pocket dimension in which they’re trapped.
This module can serve as a standalone one-shot adventure or seamlessly integrate into an ongoing campaign. It’s adaptable to any location or setting and offers scalability for various levels. While the default tone leans toward the darker side, feel free to adjust it to suit your campaign’s ambiance.
This adventure may last between 3 to 6 hours, varying based on the extent to which you utilize the module’s content and your players’ decisions.
Includes:
- 10 nightmares for your PCs
- 10 horrifying rooms
- An epic showdown with an action-oriented final boss "Red Mask" as well as his companion "The Hunger".
- Instructions for scaling the adventure.
- Helpful DM tips that will make prep and running a breeze
- 3 battle maps created in Inkarnate
- Custom Monster stat blocks and tokens
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mask_(Tragedy_comedy)_(2768529820).jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dunwich_Horror_-_Wilbur_Whateley%27s_twin_by_Reuben_C._Dodd.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potions_Classroom_(47307949392).jpg
- https://www.deviantart.com/abandonedfalcon/art/Meet-me-at-the-bar-888760727
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cincinnati_-_Spring_Grove_Cemetery_%26_Arboretum_-_Weeping_Angel_statue.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortezza_Verrucole_Archeopark_interno.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_state_peniteniary,_13_(14107969638).jpg
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/shando_/9875265043/
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/diegopianarosa/16339757676/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_reveries_-_Flickr_-_kr428.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n04pg006_Tell_Your_Fortune.png
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeirdTalesv42n4pg075_At_the_End_of_the_Corridor.png
Previous Work:
- The Library - Level 3 one-shot (Easy for New DMs and New Players to learn)
- Project: Fragmentation (Rogue-like, PWYW)
What other DM's have said:
- Tossed this lil adventure in our D&D world and the players had a blast with all the twists and turns. As a DM I enjoyed the fact that it was well written and easy to run, I didn't have to flip through a lot of mess to run it like I've had to do on some other adventures. Highly recommended. -Jason T via DMsGuild
- Incorporated this last night into our campaign and had a blast. Biggest hits were the dream sequences, the library lore, bar potions, and the dynamic of having a family of commoners to protect. Players were also impressed with the lair and villain actions. I would recommend this to other DMs as it was easy to prep for, fairly simple to run, and the party had fun! -Ty R via DMsGuild
- I gave my party trauma and trust issues with this one! It was great time! Chibi_Disaster
Preview
Adding what I could fit into this post - had to cut some info to fit into the limit:NPCs
- Redd Traskin - At first glance: The welcoming face behind the bar, always ready with a drink and a story about his culinary adventures. Lurking beneath is a creature known as Red Mask: a malevolent being who ensnares victims with harrowing dreams, rendering them helpless before he claims and cooks them.
- Nara Traskin - On the surface a seemingly aloof barmaid, introduced as Redd's "daughter", with a penchant for keeping to herself and often notably reserved. But beneath that exterior she is The Hunger, a fearsome entity with a singular, overpowering mission: to satiate her eternal appetite.
- (Optional) Other guests - a young couple with a child
- Brent Haskill (26) - Husband of the young couple, blacksmith, friendly, introverted
- Raida Haskill (25) - Wife of the young couple, leatherworker, gregarious, warm
- Breeni Haskill (7) - Daughter
Scaling the Adventure
Effect & Trap Damage
| Level | Light Damage | Medium Damage | Serious Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d4+1 (3) | 1d6+2 (5) | 1d10+2 (7) |
| 2 | 1d6+2 (5) | 1d8+3 (7) | 2d6+3 (10) |
| 3 | 1d8+2 (6) | 2d6+3 (10) | 2d8+4 (13) |
| 4 | 1d10+2 (7) | 2d8+3 (12) | 3d6+5 (16) |
| 5 | 1d10+3 (8) | 2d10+3 (14) | 3d8+5 (19) |
| 6 | 2d6+3 (10) | 3d6+4 (17) | 4d6+6 (20) |
| 7 | 2d6+4 (11) | 3d8+4 (18) | 4d8+6 (24) |
| 8 | 2d8+4 (13) | 3d10+4 (20) | 5d6+7 (27) |
| 9 | 2d10+4 (15) | 4d6+5 (19) | 5d8+7 (31) |
| 10 | 3d6+5 (16) | 4d8+5 (23) | 6d8+8 (35) |
DCs
| Level | Easy | Medium | Hard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 10 | 14 | 18 |
| 4-6 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| 7-10 | 14 | 18 | 22 |
The Inn at the Cross Roads
At the crossroads, a quaint inn catches your eye. Its simple two-story structure, with walls of weathered wood and a stone base, exudes a rustic charm. A single horse is tethered to a wagon nearby, hinting at the presence of other travelers.A wooden sign, hand-carved and swinging in the evening breeze, reads "Red Mask Inn" in neatly scrolled letters. Below the name are two theatrical masks, the smiling Comedy and crying Tragedy.
DM Notes
For a one-shot adventure, consider giving the one-shot a different name than "Red Mask Inn" to serve as a red herring. Whether you're running a campaign or a one-shot, you can utilize the classic trope of the characters either meeting at the inn or using it as a place to rest and gather information.Describe the inn as an unassuming, typical roadside establishment, creating an atmosphere of a routine stop for travelers. In a campaign, it's ideal to introduce this inn after the group has already faced some encounters in the days before. This timing helps to set the stage for what follows, making the inn seem like a normal, much-needed, resting point in their journey.
Inside the inn
As you push open the creaky door of the Red Mask Inn, you're greeted by the comforting warmth of a crackling fireplace and the rich aroma of hearty stew. The inn's interior is cozy, with wooden beams and a few round tables scattered across the room.Behind the bar stands Redd Traskin, the owner and bartender of the inn. He's a robust man with a warm smile, busy polishing glasses but always ready to strike up a conversation. As you approach, he greets you with a jovial voice, "Welcome, travelers! You must be famished. Our stew today is particularly good, made with fresh herbs from the garden!"
Moving between the tables with a tray in hand is Nara, Redd’s daughter. She seems to be in her own world, efficiently serving patrons but with a distant look in her eyes. If players attempt to interact with her, she responds politely but briefly, maintaining a professional distance.
Seated at a corner table is a young couple with their child. The man, Brent Haskill, has the sturdy build of a blacksmith, while his wife, Raida, radiates warmth and friendliness. Their daughter, Breeni, is a bundle of energy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looks around the inn. Breeni seems particularly interested in the adventurers, especially if there's a female-presenting member or someone who looks like a seasoned adventurer in the group. This presents a great opportunity for roleplaying and helps to engage the players with these NPCs.
Going to bed
Each room costs 3 sp per night. If your players are cautious, they may decide to set a watch. Ask for the watch order. For the first person on watch: if they ate or drank at the inn, they must make a CON saving throw against the HARD DC ___. Failure results in them falling asleep during their watch.After some time if a player is not asleep because they (1) did not eat or drink at the inn, (2) succeeded on their Constitution saving throw, or (3) are immune to magical sleep (e.g. due to a feature like Fey Ancestry), they notice something peculiar. The lights in the tavern, if any were lit, suddenly dim, and the normal nighttime sounds from outside the tavern abruptly stop.
This player may try to help wake up the other players as they have their nightmares (see next section). This gives the players advantage on their saving throws.
Dreadful Reveries
Party members who fall asleep will experience nightmares. You can create unique nightmares (plumb your player's back stories or campaign events for ideas) or use the provided list for inspiration. Each dream culminates in a save attempt, allowing players to choose between a WIS, INT, or CHA saving throw, depending on their character's mental strengths. End each nightmare description with "Roll a mental save using your preferred stat." If they fail to wake up, they suffer LIGHT, or MEDIUM if they fail the check by more than 5, non-lethal psychic damage. If they roll a Natural 1 on their save, they gain one level of exhaustion. Either way on a failed save they slip into another dream. The initial save DC is set at HARD and should decrease by one level for each subsequent attempt. It is recommended to do not more than 3 nightmares. If another character is attempting to wake them or if they have abilities that aid in resisting mental effects, they may make the save with advantage.Nightmares
- It's night. You are running through the woods. Brambles and thorns rip at your skin. Something is chasing you, and it's gaining. You hear it coming closer and closer. You stumble, fall, and it's on your back, ready to strike…
- You are on a ledge of a narrow cliff. The wind howls, and the rain buffets you. Lightning briefly illuminates the world, revealing jagged rocks hundreds of feet below. Your foot slips, your fingers lose their grip. You begin to fall…
- [Not for characters with water breathing] You are underwater. Seaweed tangles around your legs and feet as you try to orient yourself. There is no up, no down. Your lungs burn, and when you can no longer hold your breath, brackish, dirty water rushes down your throat…
- You are in a coffin. You don't know how long you've been here. You push up on the lid but the weight of the dirt above renders your effort futile. Your fingers bleed as you scratch through the wood, trying to reach the freshly dug earth. The air grows heavier, and you feel yourself slipping away…
- The stars above are beautiful. You try to keep fear at bay, hoping your ship will return. But deep down, you know they won't find you in the vast, uncaring ocean. As you hear a splash to your right, you turn to glimpse a notched fin that was heading in your direction submerge under the water...
- The reflection in the mirror isn't you. You chant this mantra, yet the creature in the glass tilts its head mockingly and whispers, “No, not you. Not yet!” Its gnarled hands creep forward, attempting to breach the barrier of the silvered glass...
- The cave-in is a minor setback. You've found an exit after an hour. A set of hand-holds lead up towards the surface. In your haste, you squeeze through a narrow ledge. Suddenly, you're stuck, the pressure on your chest blurring your vision and clouding your mind, fresh air just out of reach…
- You walk through city streets, unnoticed by the teeming crowd. A growing sense of wrongness intensifies as the figures turn toward you. You only have a moment to dread as you see their faceless heads, when they all then converge on you as one…
- After leaving the warm tent, the cold seemed bearable. But a stinging wind and swirling snow soon disorient you. It feels warmer; you shed layers, mistaking deadly cold for heat. You stumble into the soft snow, deciding to rest, just for a minute…
- It's twilight in the woods. A dead tree in a clearing, covered in birds, crows or ravens, hard to tell. More cawing, flapping wings, and suddenly, the birds take flight, sharp beaks and claws going for your eyes…
Players Awaken
Once all the players awaken, they will likely attempt to figure out their situation. Should they look out the window, they will see the outside world; however, this view is merely an illusion. Efforts to break through walls, floors, and ceilings will prove futile. Furthermore, utilizing teleportation magic, such as dimension door and plane shift, appears ineffective, except for local effects like misty step or dimension door to a visible location.Upon opening the door, the players will discover themselves in a long corridor, extending hundreds of feet. The only doors in this corridor are those leading to the PCs' rooms, the room of a young couple, and a black door at the far end of the hallway. Horrified moans and screams emanate from the young couple’s room. If the players choose to intervene and break in, they will find the couple and their daughter inside, all of whom are also experiencing nightmares and can be awakened by the players.
As the PCs make their way down the hallway, they come across a collection of strikingly realistic portraits. Each one captures a different being - humans, dragonborn, gnomes, and more - from a wide spectrum of ages, genders, and races. The subjects are dressed in everything from opulent clothes to plain rags, and some are even armored, weapons in hand. But there's one unsettling similarity across all these portraits: every face is frozen in an expression of sheer terror.
At the end of the hallway, they find the black door, which is unlocked.
Rooms
Upon entering, the PCs have a series of rooms you will guide them through. You can either craft your own rooms or use those included in this adventure. Players might attempt to take a Short Rest in some rooms, and it's up to you whether to allow it or not. You want the PCs battered, but not spent for the final confrontation. If you choose to deny them the rest, narrate psychic pressure to move out of the room - leading to psychic damage on refusal.The Library
As the party steps into a dimly lit room, they're surrounded by towering bookshelves. The books around them seem to be whispering secrets of forbidden knowledge. Each player needs to make a MEDIUM WIS saving throw to avoid taking MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage from the eldritch knowledge trying to worm into their brain, with the damage halved if they succeed. Those players naturally drawn to knowledge, like Wizards and Bards, will find this more challenging and must make the throw at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, those less inclined towards books, like Barbarians or Fighters, will have advantage. It's up to you as the DM to decide these advantages and disadvantages based on your characters' proclivities.DM Notes
- Use this section as a chance to weave in some of your world's lore. It's a perfect opportunity for players to uncover hidden aspects of your campaign's universe.
- While the books in this room can be physically taken, to avoid players hoarding countless volumes, consider describing how some books disintegrate into ash as soon as they're opened.
The Memory Gallery
In this sparsely furnished room, the walls are adorned with striking paintings of landscapes, ranging from mountain vistas to sunsets over the ocean, and serene forest clearings. As the PCs explore these paintings, focus on one PC and bring a distressing memory from their backstory to life, using the painting they are viewing as the backdrop. This scene then animates before the players. The PC at the center of this memory is faced with a HARD WIS saving throw, with the risk of taking SERIOUS non-lethal psychic damage upon failure, or half the damage if they succeed. Meanwhile, other PCs witnessing this scene must make an EASY WIS save to avoid LIGHT non-lethal psychic damage, suffering no damage on a successful save. Breeni’s past interactions with the affected PC could play a role here. Breeni may hug the PC, granting them advantage on their saving throw.The Mirror Chamber
In the mirror chamber, walls lined with ornate, grimy mirrors reflect distorted and grotesque images of the adventurers. The air is thick, filled with the unsettling scent of iron and decay. Suddenly, their reflections lunge out of the glass, materializing into tangible, malevolent doppelgängers that attack, forcing the party to confront twisted versions of themselves.Choose a character's favorite or iconic attack or spell and use it against each player. A single hit on the mirror version or the mirror itself is enough to destroy it.
The Dining Hall
The long wooden table is laden with rotting food: fruit covered in mold, meat moving with maggots, and bread so stale it looks fossilized, all set among goblets filled with a murky, clotting liquid that might have once been wine. Nearby, a platter holds what appears to be a human hand, its skin cooked to a crisp and its fingernails garnished with sprigs of wilted herbs. The foul stench of decay and spoiled meat permeates the room, mingling with the unsettling, almost palpable aura of dread. Players must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw. On a failure, gain the poisoned condition, lasting for 1d4 rooms.The Hospital Room
Several linen-covered beds on the far side of the room are splattered with dried blood. Bone saws with jagged teeth and other cruel implements are neatly arranged on a side table, gleaming ominously in the torchlight. Drawers with various medical supplies are left half-closed. Several vials labeled as "Healing Potions" sit on a nearby shelf. A MEDIUM Arcana or Medicine check will determine these are actually poison (1d4+1 poison damage). The party may choose to remain here and use some of the supplies to heal up - can be used as a Short Rest opportunity.The Bathroom
A decrepit wooden bathtub sits in the corner, filled with a stagnant, dark liquid that occasionally bubbles as if something lurks beneath the surface. Next to the bathtub, a stone toilet fixture stands as if hewn directly from the chamber's walls, its bowl filled with an unidentifiable, viscous substance that seems to churn of its own accord. Faint, grotesque sketches are etched into the stone around the toilet, depicting unsettling scenes that make you question the sanity of previous occupants. Blood spatters mar the cracked tiles, leading to a cracked tarnished mirror that reflects a distorted image of anyone who dares to look.If anyone gets within 5 ft of the bathtub, tentacles will try to grapple them (MEDIUM Escape DC). The tentacles will also deal MEDIUM amount of bludgeoning damage on a successful grapple. Any damage to the tentacles (AC 12) will release the PC.
The Greenhouse
The greenhouse is a labyrinth of overgrown, twisted plants, their leaves unnaturally dark and thorns menacingly sharp. A misty, almost phosphorescent fog hangs low, casting a sickly green glow over everything, and making it hard to see what lurks in the corners. Amongst the flora, the party can spot several cages containing withered remains of animals and, disturbingly, a few humanoid shapes — all twisted in expressions of agony, as if the plants themselves had consumed them.Monster encounter, balance for your party:
| Level Range | Monster |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Twig Blight (MM 32) |
| Needle Blight (MM 32) | |
| Vine Blight (MM 32) | |
| 4-6 | Shambling Mound (MM 270) |
| Wood Woad (VGtM 198) | |
| Yellow Musk Creeper (TftYP 248) | |
| Animated Tree (VGtM 207) | |
| Assassin Vine (MM 22) | |
| 7-10 | Corpse Flower (MToF 127) |
| Tree Blight (CoS 230) |
The Bar
The barroom is dimly lit by tarnished chandeliers that cast ghostly flickers across worn wooden floorboards. A long, decaying bar counter dominates one side of the room. Its surface is stained and pockmarked, lined with bottles containing strange, discolored liquids. The stools around the bar are unsteady, emitting ominous creaks under the slightest pressure. Notably, one stool bears an unsettling stain, reminiscent of dried blood.If players choose to consume any of the bottles, roll on the table below to determine the effects. Generally, it's not recommended to allow more than one potion per player (drinking more than one results in vomiting). If an effect doesn't apply to a character, or another player already drank the potion rolled, roll again. The effects last until the end of the adventure. A MEDIUM DC Alchemist Tools, Herbalist Kit or Arcana Check will reveal the properties of the potions. An EASY DC check may reveal partial properties.
| # | Name | Liquid Description | Effect Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reckless Fury | A swirling red potion with fiery sparks. | [Primary Melee Classes] Every melee attack is treated as reckless (attack is rolled with Advantage, but any attack against the player is rolled with Advantage as well until their turn). | |
| 2 | Luck be a lady tonight | A two-layered liquid, gold over silver. | Grants inspiration to the player, and GM gets to force disadvantage at a time of their choosing. | |
| 3 | Unstable Teleport | A misty, shifting blue and gray potion. | Gain the ability to cast the Misty Step spell at will. Roll 1d20 for uncertain destination, appearing in a location of DM's choice on 1-10. | |
| 4 | Size Shift | A violet fluid with bubbles. | Changes creature size from Medium to Small. No effect on Small creatures. | |
| 5 | Spell Rejuvenation | A glowing, pulsating emerald drink. | [Primary Spellcaster Classes] Restores one highest level spent spell slot but causes causes one level of exhaustion. | |
| 6 | Speed Surge | A quicksilver potion with streaks of lightning. | Doubles speed but causes jitteriness, disadvantage on Dexterity checks and saves. | |
| 7 | Painful Retaliation | A dark crimson liquid with a thorny vine motif. | As a bonus action you can choose to harm a creature at will, causing MEDIUM psychic damage, but take half the damage yourself. | |
| 8 | Statue Defense | A solid gray potion with flecks of stone. | As a reaction to taking damage, you can choose to become an invulnerable statue to negate the triggering damage. You are invulnerable and petrified until the end of your next turn. | |
| 9 | Charge of the Bull | A red potion with a swirling vortex. | Gain a powerful charge attack: If you can move at least 10ft in a straight line, you can make an attack. If the attack hits, it is treated as a critical hit, and the target is knocked prone. If the attack misses, the player takes MEDIUM bludgeoning damage, is knocked prone, and lands 10 feet past the target. | |
| 10 | Clumsy Might | A creamy potion with bubbles. | Advantage on Strength checks and saves but disadvantage on Dexterity-based tasks. |
The Stalking Statues
The room is a vast, dimly-lit chamber with four stone statues positioned in various states of distress; their faces contorted in silent screams or buried in their hands as if weeping. The flickering light from a dying chandelier dances across their features, casting ominous shadows that seem to move. Describe the chandelier as flickering in and out. In the darkness, the statues seem to move closer and closer.You can treat this room narratively to unsettle the players, or turn it into an encounter. For an encounter, roll initiative (the statues always act at the end of the initiative order, and only on rounds when the lights are out). Every other round, either cover the map if playing in person, switch to a blank map on a VTT, or, if using theater of the mind, simply narrate the lights going out. The statues can only move in darkness, which is magical. Some players may have the ability to see through magical darkness. In such cases, the movement of the statues is visible to those players. Players who cannot see in the darkness can move but must declare their directions and distances. The door at the end of the room is unlocked when all statues are destroyed or by using the Knock spell.
Stalking Statues
Medium Construct, neutral evil| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 (+2) | 11 (+0) | 13 (+1) | 1 (-5) | 3 (-4) | 1 (-5) |
Actions
Multiattack. The statue makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM bludgeoning damage. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: automatically hits, reach 5ft., one target. Hit MEDIUM piercing damage. : Grapple. Roll Contested Athletics vs Atheltics or Acrobatics. The statue rolls with Advantage. Reach 5ft., one target. MEDIUM escape DC to break free.Final Confrontation
Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone: : You walk through the door to find yourself in a vast, open kitchen. The air is heavy with the scent of pots boiling over low flames, their contents a mystery. Shadows flicker and stretch across the walls, animated by the dim firelight.Above, cured meats hang from hooks, swaying slightly in the draft. The countertops are littered with a variety of sinister-looking knives and butchery tools, their edges catching the light with an ominous glint.
At the center of this daunting scene stand Redd and Nara. Redd greets you with a malicious smile. “Now that you’ve been properly tenderized, it’s time for the main course!” he says. In a chilling display, he reaches for his face and peels it away as if it were a mask, revealing the ghastly sight of raw muscles, pulsing veins, and exposed nerves.
Next to him, Nara stands with an unsettling calm. Her hands begin to unnaturally stretch and contort, transforming into deadly claws. As she grins, her mouth widens unnervingly, unveiling a row of sharp, predatory teeth.
Monstrous Hosts
Redd Traskin, also known as Red Mask, and Nara Traskin, known as The Hunger, have hidden their monstrous nature for years by disguising themselves as the friendly innkeepers of the Red Mask Inn. They lure travelers with warmth and hospitality, only to ensnare them in a nightmarish trap. Through their powers of perception and emotion manipulation, they torment their victims in an alternate dimension, relishing the fear and suffering they create. All the while, they maintain their facade as ordinary innkeepers, continuing their sinister feast on unsuspecting guests.Lair Actions
DM Notes
HP: The HP listed in the stat blocks are simply a guideline. Balance to your party, making sure that the combat lasts some time, but doesn't drag on too long. : Villain Actions: Red Mask utilizes villain actions. This is an action he can take at any point after a PCs action, but limited to one per round.Red Mask
Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil| APL | AC | HP |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 14 | 30±10 |
| 4-6 | 16 | 60±10 |
| 7-10 | 18 | 90±10 |
| APL | STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 13 (+1) | 10 (+0) | 12 (+1) | 10 (+0) |
| 4-6 | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 15 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 10 (+0) |
| 7-10 | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 17 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 10 (+0) |
Reactions
I think not! (3/day) As a reaction, Red Mask can choose to succeed on a failed check. However, this requires mental fortitude, so he takes MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage to do so.Actions
Multiattack. The Red Mask makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Misty Step. Red Mask can cast Misty Step at will as a bonus action. : Butcher’s Knife. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target.| APL | to hit bonus | damage |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | +4 | LIGHT |
| 4-6 | +6 | MEDIUM |
| 7-10 | +8 | MEDIUM |
Villain Actions
How's My Cooking? Any creature that ate food in the tavern must make a MEDIUM CON saving throw or be incapacitated with retching as rotten, maggoty food comes back up. The effect lasts until the end of the affected creature's turn. : Time to Eat! Nara can move up to her speed towards a target and make a bite attack as part of the same action. : See What Awaits You! Red Mask unleashes a wave of mental horror, showing the victims horrific images of previous guests being butchered and eaten. Each creature within sight must succeed on an EASY WIS saving throw or take MEDIUM non-lethal psychic damage.Tactics
The Hunger prefers hit-and-run tactics, targeting the least armored or most injured characters. If the characters try to focus fire on Red Mask, narrate The Hunger turning it's attention to the Haskill family.She will try to Bite as at least one of her attacks to keep regenerating hit points.
Nara, The Hunger
Medium monstrosity, chaotic evil| APL | AC | HP |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 14 | 30±10 |
| 4-6 | 16 | 60±10 |
| 7-10 | 18 | 90±10 |
| APL | STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 13 (+1) | 10 (+0) | 12 (+1) | 10 (+0) |
| 4-6 | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 15 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 10 (+0) |
| 7-10 | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 17 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 10 (+0) |
Reactions
Bloodthirsty Pursuit. If a creature within 30 feet of The Hunger uses a teleportation ability or spell to escape, The Hunger can use its reaction to immediately teleport to a space adjacent to the escaping creature.Actions
Multiattack. The The Hunger makes two melee attacks if the APL is 4+, and three melee attacks if the APL is 7+. : Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 10ft., one target. If target not armored, or on a critical hit, add bleed damage for 1d3 rounds. This damage does not stack on multiple hits, instead use the highest rolled value for damage and rounds rolled. This effect can only be removed by magical healing. : Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: reach 5ft., one target. On a successful hit, deal damage as normal, and The Hunger regenerates half of the damage dealt as hit points.| APL | to hit bonus | damage | bleed from claws |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | +4 | LIGHT | 1d2 |
| 4-6 | +6 | MEDIUM | 1d4 |
| 7-10 | +8 | MEDIUM | 1d6 |
The Collapse
With the death of its hosts, the reality of this pocket dimension begins to unravel. This is a perfect time to deploy a Skill Challenge. Choose any of the following room descriptions, and let the players decide which skills they want to employ to navigate through the room. The focus here is on the Rule of Cool.Ideally, these should be rooms the party have already encountered, but you can also introduce new rooms they haven't seen yet. The players can to select any Skill for their roll, as long as it fits the narrative context. Set the DC based on what they're attempting to achieve and its level of feasibility. Spells and other actions taken by the players should also have an impact, provided they logically align with the situation at hand.
Achieving one or two successful outcomes should be sufficient to pass through a room. In case of failure, introduce a complication, such as a character sustaining an injury, acquiring a level of exhaustion, or suffering a temporary condition like being frightened, poisoned, or even blinded. In such scenarios, other party members may need to assist the affected player.
DM Notes
Here you should aim to instill a sense of urgency and desperation. Monitor your players closely. As they approach their limits, consider making that room the final challenge. Remember, they don't need to complete every room you've planned.Time to Run
Suggested flavor text - read in your own voice / tone:As you land the final blow, a momentary stillness ensues, briefly allowing you to reflect on your victory. But there's no time for celebration. A low hum begins to resonate through the space, growing louder with each passing second. Around you, the walls and ceiling start to crack and splinter. Suddenly, a wall in front of you collapses, revealing one of the rooms you passed through earlier. Behind you, the ceiling is collapsing. The way forward is through...
[Note, I had to cut the descriptions of rooms on the way back to fit into char limit - see PDF]
Conclusion
As you burst through the door, you're back in the long corridor you first encountered as you woke up. At the far end, you glimpse the outside world. You sprint towards freedom as the corridor crumbles behind you, the destruction nipping at your heels. In a desperate leap at the last possible moment, you escape... and the sudden tranquility of the night envelops you. The quiet, so starkly contrasted with the preceding chaos, strikes you with its intensity. Surrounded by the serene sounds of the forest, the peace feels almost otherworldly, a surreal end to your harrowing journey.You stand at a crossroads, where an old structure looms, clearly long abandoned. It leans precariously, a silhouette against the night sky. Moonlight filters through its collapsed roof, casting ghostly shadows across the crumbling walls. The scene, bathed in a silver glow, is both haunting and strangely serene.
Loot
Tucked away behind the inn, the adventurers might notice something peculiar about the compost heap — it seems to occasionally sparkle with the glint of metal and the shimmer of gemstones. Upon closer inspection and a bit of rummaging, they'll discover that this isn't just any old pile of refuse; it's a resting place for treasures that once belonged to the inn's unfortunate previous visitors.You can use the rules for Treasure Hoard Tables from DMG p133 to see what the players can find.