#AtoZChallenge2024: L is for Larian Studios

 I have been talking a lot about D&D history this month, but today I want to shift focus for a moment and talk about D&D's present. Honestly, the best Dungeons & Dragons content is not coming from the current owner and publisher, Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro), but from other companies. One in particular is Larian Studios, and the content is Baldur's Gate 3.

It is not really hyperbole to say that Baldur's Gate 3 is the biggest video game of the last couple of years and might be the best video game I have ever played.  Larian is a smaller independent video game company located in Belgium. They have had a great track record of producing engaging, high-quality games for a small studio. Their big claim to fame prior to BG3 was their Divinity series. In their game Divinity: Original Sin 2, you can see the elements that would later be enhanced and perfected in BG3.  They are notable for their constant and rapid support, their desire to listen to their fans and give them what they want, and their games do not have microtransactions. These are little features in other games. Want some cool armor? Great, just $0.99 on your credit card. Cool sword? $1.99. For Larian, if you want those things, they are in the game for you to find somewhere.

They are a small independent studio producing games that rival, and in many cases surpass, the ones made by larger and more well funded companies.

Baldur's Gate 3

Larian Studios shocked me with this. Baldur's Gate 1 was released in 1998, and Baldur's Gate 2 was released in 2000, with updates up to 2016. They had been rumors before of a Baldur's Gate 3, but nothing ever came from it.

Then in 2020 Baldur's Gate 3 went into "Open Beta" with little fan fare and almost no mention in the wider Dungeons & Dragons community.

In August 2023 it got its official release on PC and PlayStation with Mac and Xbox versions close behind.  To say it blew up is putting it rather mildly.

Right now, the game has an aggregate score of 96/100 from all reviews. I has also won pretty much every Game of the Year award for 2023 there is, including sweeping all five of the industry's top Game of the Year Awards. It even won more BAFTA awards while I was writing this post!

Like all the other Baldur's Gate games, this one takes place in the Forgotten Realms, but 120 or so years after the first two events (and a few months after the published book adventure Descent to Avernus). This corresponds to the published Forgotten Realms game books and novels, which had 100 or so years between the 3rd and 4th editions. This game uses some of the same mechanics and feel of Divinity: Original Sin II, and it is heavily influenced by the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules.  It feels like a 5th Edition game. The classes, spells, magic, and combat are all from the 5th edition rules.

Want to know how D&D plays but don't have people to play with? This is not a bad substitute.

I am currently on my third play-through with an eye toward's completion. I am half way through Act II. In this one I am running as a "companion run" to my 2nd play through. Same basic outline with similar characters, only swapping who is the main character. 

My first full play-through was with Larina. This was followed by Sinéad. Now, I am mirroring my Sinéad run with Taryn. They were "NPCs" in each other's run.

Larina

Sinéad

Taryn

I have incomplete runs with Kelek, Skylla, Rayne (Bloodrayne), and, of course, my Paladin Johan.

Rayne

Kelek and Skylla on an "evil run."

Johan's run with NPC Larina

Johan

I have been using a combination of hirelings, "Withers" (an in-game guide), and the "Magic Mirror" to turn the various NPCs into previous playable characters. So my Johan run for example has Larina in it, She can't interact like Johan can, but game-play wise she is the same. 

Same with my Taryn/Sinéad runs. In my mind they are the same run, just from each character's point of view. 

This has also allowed me to try out different "romance" options. Karlach for Johan, Gale for Taryn, Shadowheart for Sinéad, and Shadowheart, Halsin, Wyll, Mizora, Sorn and Nym Orlith, (!) all for Larina. She is a lover. She is also a fighter, but mostly a lover.

Bloodrayne *might* go for Astarion. She is based on the video game character Rayne from Bloodrayne, after all. But I have never had my approval rating high enough with him in any run. My Kelek and Skylla runs are all about violence, not romance. Which come to think of it, might be what I need to do for Astarion. 

The game is bloody, violent, very often NC-17 and NSFW, and an absolute ton of fun.

I am just over 350 hours into all my runs and I am STILL finding new material. Both of my kids play it, and they tell me about things they found that I haven't! I even found another hidden door last night in Act II. So yeah, I have in no way exhausted all of this game's options. 

This is the most fun I have had with a video game in a very long time.

Sadly Larian will not be doing Baldur's Gate 4 despite their overwhelming success. They have been super gracious about it online, saying they loved doing BG3, but they want to do new things now. Reading between the lines, it was obvious that Hasbro was asking for a LOT more in licensing fees for the Forgotten Realms world, and Larina didn't want to lay people off to pay for it. So, kudos to Larian Studios.

Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro now has full rights again to all these characters. Back when Baldur's Gate 2 came out Wizards published game material to support it. Now? Nothing for Baldur's Gate 3. I hope they do something; otherwise, they are leaving money on the table. 

Tomorrow is Sunday, so there will be no A to Z post, but I will continue my Sunday Specials. So tomorrow is Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition.

October Horror Movie Challenge: BloodRayne (2005, 2007)

I have been playing a lot of Baldur's Gate 3 with my oldest recently and it has been an absolute blast. We are having the best time. He asked me one night what was the last video game I had enjoyed as much as this. A few came to mind, but I had to say the first BloodRayne PC Game I played in the early 2000s. He asked if I still had it and I told him not my originals (no idea what happened to them) but I did have the "updated" versions that came with the the two Uwe Boll movies. That got us talking about the movies and Uwe Boll...and here we are. I checked at found it odd that I had not watched them for my October Horror Movie Marathon before. Well. I had, but never here, save for the third movie. 

So. Let me correct that.  I am pulling the wild card and taking "Video Game Movie" today.

Yes. I own both of these.

BloodRayne (2005)

This one stars Kristanna Loken as the titular dhampir Rayne. Ok. Let's get to this right now. This is an Uwe Boll movie. Don't expect much. BUT along the way I discovered the secret of Uwe Boll. They guy is not Spielberg, or Scorsese, or even Corman. He is though a guy that likes to have a movie with a lot of over-the-top violence to level of cartoon and maybe tell a fun story. Once you get that, settle in with some corn and enjoy.

Ok Kristanna Loken has the right look to be honest so I can buy into her as Rayne. The story is similar enough to the video game with some interesting details. First Rayne is not yet the bad ass she is in the game. Secondly instead of this taking place in modern-day America and Europe, it is in Easter Europe of the 18th Century. Ok. Honestly, I am cool with that.  Ben Kingsley plays the master Vampire Kagan in only what can be described as "I got bills to pay too."  Michael Madsen is here playing Michael Madsen. Michelle Rodriguez is also here because I think her and Loken were a thing at the time. But none of that matters because we also get some great cameos. Bill Zane is here at his Billy Zaniest. I am guessing his request was "can I play an arrogant count?" Udo Kier is here, because...well why not, I mean if you need a creepy priest member of a secret cabal dedicated to stopping vampires and Mads Mikkelsen is busy. And Meat Loaf (credited as "Meat Loaf Aday") here as a vampire count. I am guessing his request was "I want to be a pompous vampire lord. Oh. and I want 6 or 7 naked women in bed with me."

Surprisingly, even given the game, there is not a lot of gratuitous nudity (save for the above-mentioned scene) here. Lots and lots of gratuitous violence and lots of fake blood everywhere. Hell. The last 10 minutes is just a slow-mo super cut of grisly deaths from the movie. 

The story is simple. Rayne is a dhampir. Her vampire father Kagan wants to rule the world. He wants the relics of Beliar (here a super vampire, in the game a demon) to become unstoppable. The Brimstone society is hunting them both. 

Don't go looking for a bigger plot than that. 

BloodRayne 2: Deliverance (2007)

Up next is BloodRayne II. Also from Boll. But this time our heroine is played by former model-turned-actress Natassia Malthe.  Now set in the 19th century and headed out to the American West. Rayne must stop the most dangerous vampire on the American frontier. Billy the Kid. Played by Zack Ward.  Because let's be honest here. When the casting director gets request for Vampire Billy the Kid the list likely begins or ends with Zack Ward. Since Michael Madsen's character died in the last one we go to the next name on the list and bring in Michael Paré. I'll be honest here. They sold me on it. Yeah. 

Would I have bought this DVD if it didn't have the PC game included? Probably not, but I am glad I did because like the 1st and 3rd movies it was just a lot of over the top blood and gore and silly fun.

But also like the other two in the "BloodRayne Trilogy" (that's right. That's what I am calling it!) there is a kernel of a good idea here.

Vampires wanting to take over Eastern Europe with the power of a near-mythical relic? Great!

Vampires wanting to take over the American frontier with an army of vampires? Yeeh hah!

Vampires wanting make a race of immortal vampire Nazis? Sure!

I mean the execution leaves some to be desired, but that is fine really. 

Natassia Malthe is not as good as Kristanna Loken (now there is a sentence you don't get to type a lot) but no one here is winning awards for acting and honestly, Rayne is a video game character.

Like I have said before. This is a slider, don't pretend it is steak.

As far as I can tell. The "Unrated" bits are largely due to blood and violence.

--

Since my kid and I talked about these I figure I might as well have some fun. So here is my Rayne for Baldur's Gate 3.

Right now a dual-wielding Ranger. Yes. Those are katanas. If you are going to cheese, go extra cheesy. I even know a place in the game where I can get her eye replaced with a magical one, just like the first video game (and first movie). I'll do some more with her, give her some levels in Rogue (Assassin) and maybe some undead fighting buffs. Perfect for when I take on the vampires in Act 3!

There are solid connections here. Laura Bailey was the voice for Rayne in the video game and now is better known for her Critical Role participation (Vex, Jester).  And Michelle Rodriguez was in the first movie and the D&D movie, playing more or less the same character.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 15
First Time Views: 8

Character Creation Challenge: D&D 5th Edition, Van Richten's and Tasha's

 It's the 1st of October and that means a new Character! 

The Game: D&D 5th Edition
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft & Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

While I did 5e way back in January, I wanted to revisit character creation with the new details from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.   This is also the closest I can get right now to what might be the standards for D&D 5 Revised. 

For this build, I went with the Soulknife Rogue from Tasha's and the Dhampir from Van Richten's. Yes. I had something in mind already.

The Character: BloodRayne

One of the best ways for me to test out a character in a new system is to take a character I already know well.   If I am going to test out the Dhampir rules in D&D then I am going to need a dhampir I know well, and that means Rayne.

I have done stats for Rayne, the titular character of the BloodRayne video game series (and movie series from Uwe Boll), for both Unisystem and Superbabes.  She does have a D&D 5e connection with Laura "Jester" Bailey voicing the character in the video games long before she rose to geek fame in Critical Role.

Rebuilding Rayne with the new features in both Tasha's and Van Richten's was actually rather easy.  I had a concept in mind and the rules allowed me to re-create her with no issues.  Mind you this is a "D&D Rayne" not the BloodRayne from the video games.  Despite the grief D&D 5 gets for being "superheroic" I could not emulate all her moves or powers.  I suppose I could have gone with a little bit of warlock and in particular a Hexblade (and I still might). But I wanted something that would fit in well enough with a D&D party. 

I wanted to take advantage of all the new features, so I used D&D Beyond.  You can see her character sheets here and PDF version here.

Bloodrayne: Superbabes

Yeah. I couldn't stop.

Bloodrayne was one of the first characters I ever stated up on my blog.  In fact you have to go back all the way to post 200 (just over 1700 posts ago) to see her.
In many ways Rayne is the antithesis of what Superbabes is all about.  She has questionable morality, ended up in Playboy (NSFW), and usually solves her problems by killing them.

Also her powers are not a great fit for the game.  She drains blood to gain extra power and killing by hand (as opposed to the guns she has) sets off her bloodlust.  If she does that enough she can enter Bloodrage.
Normally I would use Mental Muscles for this, but the rules specifically state that Mental Muscles can't be used by characters with Muscles above 20.  So instead I went with the weaker Hit Em Harder and Run Faster.

Like the other characters in this batch I am going with a modern day version, so this is Rayne in 2013 (reflected in her age).

Character: Bloodrayne
Secret ID / AKA: Rayne
Age: 96   Apparent Age: late 20s
Origin: Supernatural Accident (15cp)
15 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 31  Damage: +2d6 Max Press: 3,100
Health: 31  Regen, Combat: 1pp/5rds Regen, At rest: 1pp/1rd  HTK/Day: 4d10
Moves: 51  Bonus to hit: +5 Movement: 10" Hittability: 10 Initiative Bonus: 5
Brains: 15   Mental Attack Bonus: +1 Mental Hittability: 5
Will: 21  Regen Rate: 1pp/1rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6+4
Personality: 8 ("Unpleasant")
Looks: 25
364 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 183
HTK: 100
Fame: 5
Bimbo Points: 2 (Appearing in Playboy was her idea)
XP:
Level: 9
CPs: 2 left to spend

Powers
Hit Em Harder +2d6 20cp
Immortality 80cp
Invulnerability 4 20cp
Psi Invulnerability 2 8cp
Run Fast +10" 30cp
Super Senses (Vampire)
- See in the Dark 5cp
- Smell Good 10cp
- See Far Away 10cp
Suck It Up I (Health) 100cp
283 CPs

Gizmos
Blades (obvious)
- Sharp Stuff 20cp
- Concelalment 10cp
10 CPS

Skills
Martial Artist 4 levels 200cp
Acrobatics 20cp
Catwalk 20cp
Climbing 20cp
Fire Pistols/Rifles 50cp
Melee Weapons 25cp
Quickdraw 20cp
Survival 10cp
375 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'10" (6'3" in heels)
Weight: 135 lbs
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green (Red in in Bloodlust)
Skin: Extremely pale
Unique Characteristics: She wears blades on her arms, has two strips of leather hanging from her hair.
Quote: "Stop whimpering... it's unattractive."

Not as happy with this build as previous builds,  either for her or for Superbabes.  That's ok, not every system is perfect.

October Challenge: BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2011)

BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2011)

I am a glutton for punishment.  Each year I watch something from Uwe Boll.  And each year I ask myself why.
This year I didn't, because I finally get Boll.  He is not trying to be Spielberg, or Howard or anyone. He is just trying to have a good time and make some movies.

BloodRayne though really has a lot going for it on paper.  Hot half-vampire Rayne who is a little bit of everything (she's half-vampire, half-human, ambidextrous, bisexual) is fun to watch.  You have Nazi's as the big bad, and really watching them die never, ever gets old.  And unlike the first two movies, this one is somewhat closer to the video game.

Don't go into this expecting high entertainment.  This is B-Movie all the way. But it is fun.  The plot holds together surprisingly well. Michael Pare chews up scenes all over the place and Natassia Malthe still can't act to save her life, but that is fine.

It has all the right elements of a horror or action movie and I will say this.  I doubt a "better" director would have done better on this.  Sometimes you get steak, sometimes you get cheeseburgers and sometime you get a slider.  This is a slider, don't pretend it is steak.  That is OK. Sometimes a couple of sliders is exactly what you need.

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit to be honest.

Tally: Watched 33, New 24

I am going to go back over all the other participants (next month) and see what they watched.

What are you watching?

BloodRayne. Post 200

Bloodrayne
"Stop whimpering... it's unattractive." - Bloodrayne.

I love my Wii. Not only does it have awesome games, it allows me to play old Game Cube games. So recently I picked up Bloodrayne (the first one) for the Game Cube and have been playing it. A Lot.

I had it for the PC and would stay up till very late playing, much to my wife's annoyance.   So, here is something old.  My conversion of Ms. Rayne to WitchCraft / Buffy for Unisystem.  And since this is my 200th post, then it seems fitting to use one of my favorite characters.

Might have to kick off a vampire week here!

Ok. So I am totally addicted to this game! Is it because she is a hot red-head with a tendency to kill people and things that piss her off? Or maybe this is what a vampire slayer should really be like? In any case, BloodRayne rocks!

Since I do a lot of RPGing as well, here is my attempt to represent her in the WitchCraft/Armageddon/Buffy RPG game universe. Exactly how does Rayne end up in your game? Well, I figure she gained enough essence over the years to slow her aging, but of course no one has done Dhampires in Unisystem (that I know of) so maybe they age slowly anyway. Either way, she makes a great NPC! Added: New information from Bloodrayne II tells us that Dhampirs can live to 200 years. Bloodrayne II takes place in modern times (so Rayne is still hot at 87!)

Rayne's Background
   In 1932 an American teenage girl was apprehended in Europe after carving a path of destruction trying to track down and kill her biological father. The girl's name was Rayne and she claimed the people she killed, and her father who was still at large, were vampires.
Before more information was attained, the girl disappeared.
   That girl is a Dhampir; a product of her human mother's rape by her vampire father. Born with powers of a vampire without all of the weaknesses. She was taken in by an underground organization calling themselves the Brimstone Society--a top-secret fraternity that hunts down and destroys supernatural threats. Agent BloodRayne, as she is now known, protects humanity from things that ordinary people shouldn't have to deal with.

Storyline

   In the years between the World Wars, Agent BloodRayne works as a killing machine for a top secret fraternity, The Brimstone Society, that hunts down and destroys supernatural threats. Two missions, five years apart, turn out to be connected by one man. For years, this man has been searching the world for powerful occult relics to bring Germany into a new age of domination. Agent BloodRayne must face this man's elite Nazi army to prevent them from releasing creatures of unfathomable terror onto the world in their unwavering quest for the relics. Agent BloodRayne will brave the darkest backwater bayous of Louisiana, a formidable German Sub-bay and mysterious temple in Argentina, and an immense vampire-infested cathedral-like castle in Germany. She finds more than an isolated outbreak of mutated humans and Swamp creatures. She catches a glimpse of a much larger plot - a plot perpetrated by her soon-to-be nemesis, Jurgen Wulf, to find powerful relics that will enable the Germans to rule the world.


Unisystem/Buffy RPG Stats

"Buffy is just a cheerleader, Rayne is a killer!" - one review of the Bloodrayne game.

Unisystem Character Type: Lesser Supernatural
 Buffy Character Type: (Very) Experienced Hero

Attributes					Secondary Attributes
Strength:	8				Life Points:	105
Dexterity:	9				Endurance Points:	71
Constitution:	8				Speed:	34
Intelligence:	3				Essence Pool:	40
Perception:	6				(Current:)	40
Willpower:	6				Channeling Level:	0

Hair: Red

Eyes: Green (red when Rayne is in Bloodrage)

Born: 1917

Nationality: American

Height: 5'11" (6'4" in heels)

Weight: 115lbs

Relatives: Mother: dead, Father: Kagan a vampire, hunted by Rayne (killed after WWII, but not by Rayne), Siblings: Half-sister (Svetlana Lupescu?[conjecture]).

Allies: Mynce, Mentor and friend. Brimstone Society.


Supernatural Qualities and Drawbacks

Dhampir*
 The Dhampir quality (15 points) can be applied only to the Lesser Supernatural (or Hero) character type. At the start the
character gains the following modifiers. +3 to STR, DEX, & CON and +1 to PER.
They may regenerate 1 life point per CON per hour. They can also drain essence to refill life points on a one to one basis.

Dhampirs are considered Gifted and have access to Gifted and Vampyric powers. They appear human but it costs essence to use
their unique powers. A dhampir does not need to spend essence to maintain a human appearance. Unlike mundane humans Dhampirs cannot self-replenish their essence, they must feed like a vampyre to do
so. Humans only release 1D6(3) Essence points due to fear around a dhampir.

Dhampirs do not gain extra essence due to being a dhampir.
 In addition Dhampirs have the following powers and drawbacks.

BloodLust A Dhampir can absorb Essence to power her BloodRage. This acts like a 2 point Bloodthirst drawback.

BloodRage A Dhampir can enter Bloodlust and for the duration gain +2 to STR, CON, a +1 DEX and PER, and a penalty of -1 to WILL. They also gain 2 extra levels of Hard to Kill. This costs an initial 3 essence points for the first minute and 2 more
essence point for each additional minute. Typically a Dhampir will only use this power when their essence is "full"
or they have the means (i.e. victims) to replenish it.

Enhanced Vison A Dhampir can also see in the dark as if it were normal daylight. They also can see the aura of Essence. Individuals with higher Essence look brighter than people with lower Essences.

Vulnerability to Sunlight Like vampires, Dhampirs are harmed by the sun's rays. Rayne loses 5 life points each turn in full sunlight.

Qualities	Mod
Attractiveness	+4
Fast Reaction Time	+1
Hard to Kill	+9
Nerves of Steel	+1

Drawbacks	Mod
Adversary (Lots)	8
Honorable	2
Obligation (Brimstone Society)	1
Obsession (kill all vampires);	2

Skills ('Buffy' RPG skill equivalent in parentheses)	Mod
Acrobatics	+9
Martial Arts (Kung Fu)	+7
Hand Weapon, sword (Getting Medieval)	+9
Hand Weapon, harpoon knife (Getting Medieval)	+9
Guns, hand gun (Gun Fu)	+9
Guns, submachine gun (Gun Fu)	+9
Guns, rifle (Gun Fu)	+8
Guns, grenade launcher (Gun Fu)	+8
Knowledge, General (Knowledge)	+3
Languages, English, German	+3
(Mr. Fix-It)	+1
Notice	+6
Influence	+2
Occult Knowledge (Occultism)	+2
Seduction	+4

Combat (Buffy RPG format)

Maneuver	Bonus	Base Damage	Notes
Dodge	18	None	Defensive Move
Punch	16	16
Kick	15	18
- (Groin Shot)	12	18	Ouch!
Spin Kick	14	20
Jump Kick	13	27
Sweep Kick	15	8	Knockdown move.
Grapple	18	None
Toss	12	8
Sword (2, mounted on each arm, silver)	18	32	Stabbing/Slashing damage. Can attack with either hand.
- (Decapitation)	13	32	x 5 vs vamps.
Gun, Handgun (Light)	18	15	Covers all light handguns. Can use either hand for multiple targets
Gun, Machine gun (Heavy)	18	20	Covers all heavy guns such as machine guns.
Gun, Special (Special)	17	25	Covers Shotguns, Rifles, Grenade Launchers, usually require both hands
Stake	18	18	Stabbing/Slashing damage.
- (to the Heart)	15	18	x 5 vs vamps.
Thrown Stake	17	18	Stabbing/Slashing damage
- (to the Heart)	14	18	x 5 vs vamps.