#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.

Character Creation Challenge: Keller the Silent for Wasted Lands

 Working on moving to my Forgotten Realms characters for my upcoming deep-dive into all editions of the Forgotten Realms. I decided to try a few more of those this week. I have already done Sinéad, who will be my eyes and ears in the Realms, plus others that are likely to appear in my games, like Nida, Jassic, Kelek, and Skylla. 

Today, though, is something a little different. I wanted to do a monk character (or mystic if I was using the D&D Rules Cyclopedia), but I don't really have any I want to try! There was Kurtzen, the monk I made for AD&D 1st Ed way back when, but he isn't really all that interesting. Spoiler: I was trying for a Night Crawler (from X-Men)-like character, but I never got it to where I wanted. So instead today I will take on a character I "adopted" rather than rolled up. Keller the Silent.

I detailed Keller's story a bit back. She is a wood-elf monk (I said she was a Siswa from the adventure B7 Rahasia), and she joined my party in Baldur's Gate 3.

Now, I could do her sheets for a post-2000 game (3e, 4e, or 5e) where elves can be monks, but for now, I will stick to Wasted Lands and see what I get.

Keller the Silent

Class: Mystic Martial Artist (from NIGHT SHIFT's Night Companion)
Level: 4
Species: Elf
Alignment: Light
Background: Elf (Wood Elf)

Abilities
Strength: 16 (+2) N
Agility: 18 (+3) A
Toughness: 15 (+1) N 
Intelligence: 10 (+0) 
Wits: 10 (+0) 
Persona: 9 (+0) 

Fate Points: 1d8
Defense Value: 5
Vitality: 30
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +3/+2/+1
Melee Bonus: +2 (base) +3 (Agility) +1 (Heroic Touchstone)
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base) +3 (Agility)
Saves: +1 to magic and spells (elf), +2 to Toughness and Agility saves.

Mystic Martial Artist Abilities
Martial Arts, Agile (+3 to Agility), Melee and Ranged Combat, Lightning Fast (+1 to Initiative), Powers: Danger Sense, Supernatural Attacks

Stealth Skills
Climb, Hide, and Move Silent as 1st level Survivor/Renegade

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: +1 to Defence
2nd Level: +1 to bare-handed melee attacks.

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Combat

Gear
Staff, Leather Armor, thieves tools

Wasted Lands Mystic Martial Artists

Now, this is a version of Keller I would have fun playing. The Mystic Martial Artist, while having its origin in Wuxa or Wire-fu cinema, makes for a great addition to my Wasted-Lands-as-D&D game. I admit I wish I could run my upcoming Forgotten Realms games using the Wasted Lands rules. It would be easier than moving through the various editions. 

I really had not considered using Keller in this at all, but this makes me want to. I have to figure out where she is from now and when she joins my little party of explorers. Also, I need to figure out how a character who has taken a vow of silence would work in my games.

On another note, I think I have settled on a Heroic/Divine Touchstone on every other level. It feels really powerful, but it also is a great way to customize characters. Maybe every three levels is also good.

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

Character Creation Challenge: Kelek for Wasted Lands

 One more magical character. This time, I want to do Skylla's partner in crime, Kelek the Cruel.

Kelek is a fun character. He was the only Dungeons & Dragons action figure I ever purchased when they were new, except for special edition ones that came out later/recently. And I have used him in a few games. In particular, he is the main bad guy in my War of the Witch Queens. 

Now Kelek, in my games, has a bit of orc somewhere in his bloodline. So he gets better than expected Constitution/Toughness scores and has slightly pointed ears.  In Baldur's Gate 3 I managed this with carefully editing the half-orc facial features. 

In BG3 and D&D 5 he is a Sorcerer. So he gets magic on the fly. I am able to do this in Wasted Lands by having him take the Street Mage or Hedge Mage arcane power. Like Skylla he is a Persona (Charisma) based caster but his sorcery is different than her witchcraft. He is also one level higher at 7.  

Old hands at D&D B/X or BECMI will note that a 6th-level Magic user has the level title of "Warlock," and a 7th-level Magic user has the title of Sorcerer. Works out here as well. 

Kelek

Class: Sorcerer
Level: 7
Species: Human* (Orc-men)
Alignment: Dark
Background: Sorcerous

Abilities
Strength: 15 (+1) 
Agility: 10 (0) 
Toughness: 14 (+1) 
Intelligence: 15 (+1) N
Wits: 13 (+1) N
Persona: 17 (+2) A

Fate Points: 1d8
Defense Value: 5
Vitality: 32
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +4/+2/+1
Melee Bonus: +1 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +1 (base)
Spell Attack: +4
Saves: +3 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer) +1 to Toughness saves (Orc-men).

Sorcerer Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (3): Street Mage, Enhanced Senses (magic), Detect Thoughts

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Arcane Dart, Command, Read Languages, Sleep
Second Level: Beguile Person, ESP, Unlock
Third Level: Concussive Blast, Fly

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: First Level Spell: Chill Ray
2nd Level: 

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Magic

Gear
Robe of Protection, Staff of Sorceries

Wasted Lands Magic-users

Class-wise, Skylla and Kelek are the same class. At least that is how they are in the Wasted Lands. Consequently, this is also how they were in D&D Basic. Both were Magic-users. It has just been the last few years where they have been different things, warlock and sorcerer respectively.

Just like Basic (and OD&D and AD&D) you make them feel different by how you play them.

Wasted Lands adds an additional level of arcane powers; this is the first split. By given Kelek Streer or Hedge Mage we free him from the need of spell books. Though it also means that his big desire of stealing Ringlerun's spell book is sort of lost. For Skylla I give her the arcane power of innate magic to allow her to use Arcane Darts more, a she would an Eldritch Blast. 

I can further separate them with a few choice Divine Touchstones.  Simplicity is the key to flexibility here. 

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

Character Creation Challenge: Skylla for Wasted Lands

 Continuing some magic characters, I also want to do one that I have meant to do since Wasted Lands came out. 

Skylla is a character I have talked about a lot here. She is one of the old LJN Dungeons & Dragons figures (who never got a proper figure), was an NPC in the Shady Dragon Inn, and was to appear in the D&D Cartoon. I was talking about her for years before she came back into popularity. Not only have stated her up for various D&D-like/OSR RPGs, I also have her in an "evil run" in Baldur's Gate 3.

While she is a D&D-owned character, I have done quite a lot with her here, and a comparison should be made.

Since I am using Skylla and Kelek together in both Baldur's Gate 3 and my War of the Witch Queens (and Witchlight), I am going to do them both here. Both are magic user, but I also want to highlight their differences.

First up. Skylla.

Skylla is often depicted as a 6th-level Magic-user; this makes her level title "Warlock," which is often how she is described. I my posts on her I have used a variety of classes, but most often a witch. For the purposes of this post I am going to keep her at 6th level.  In the D&D 5e version of her she has Warlock as her class and this is what I went with in Baldur's Gate 3.

Wasted Lands only has a Sorcerer class. So I'll need to make some tweaks to her and Kelek (who will also be a Sorcerer) to make them feel different. 

Skylla

Class: Sorceress
Level: 6
Species: Human
Alignment: Dark
Background: Sorcerous

Abilities
Strength: 9 (0) 
Agility: 11 (0) 
Toughness: 14 (+1) 
Intelligence: 12 (0) N
Wits: 15 (+1) N
Persona: 17 (+2) A

Fate Points: 1d8
Defense Value: 5
Vitality: 28
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +4/+2/+1
Melee Bonus: +1 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +1 (base)
Spell Attack: +3
Saves: +2 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer) +2 to Intelligence saves (Sorcerous background).

Sorcerer Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (2): Innate Magic: Arcane Dart, Begulie Person

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Arcane Dart, Glamour, Gout of Flame
Second Level: Beguile Person, Magic Lock, Paralyze Person
Third Level: Dark Lightning, Dispel Magic

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: First Level Spell: Mystic Senses
2nd Level: 

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Magic

Gear
Robe of Protection, Staff of the Demon, Necromancies of Thay tome. 

Wasted Lands as D&D 

Early on in the Framingham, MA test trials of the anti-Breast cancer drug Tamoxifen it became so obvious that the drug was effective given the obvious differences in the two sets of participants (experimental vs. control) that even though it was a double blind study everyone knew the the drug was working, and working well. They stopped the study and put all the participants on Tamoxifen. 

That is where I am at now in this experiment. 

I am going to say I can emulate any sort of D&D-like experience with Wasted Lands.

Tomorrow, with Kelek, I'll focus less on this obvious point and more on how to emulate different sorts of spellcasters.

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

Into the Forgotten Realms: Baldur's Gate 3 Characters (and HeroForge minis)

 For my personal foray into the Forgotten Realms, I will name this series exactly that: Into the Forgotten Realms. This is also appropriate because my very first recollection of the Forgotten Realms was not the "Grey Box" but rather an adventure in the pages of Dragon Magazine.

When Ed Greenwood was exploring the Realms in the pages of Dragon, he had a guide, the Sage of Shadowdale Elminster. Elminster told him stories of the Realms and was the intermediary between his world and ours. 

But Elminster, like Ed, was an expert on the Realms. I am not. I am not even good. I am an enthusiastic novice with no idea how much I am trying to bite off here.  So. I also need a guide. But my guide has to be as naïve as me so we can discover it together. 

Generally, for these explorations, I have characters on hand. When I was writing about vampires and undead it was my Paladin Johan. When it is magic, the occult or witches, it is my witch Larina. They are great characters, but neither is appropriate here. Neither has anything to do with the Realms for starters and I need a native.

So introducing (again) Sinéad. She is a half-elf from the Moonshae Isles and her elven mother claims to have ancestry from Evermeet. And...that is all I know. Fun right? Now to expand her out I used her as a character in Baldur's Gate 3 and of the many games I have played of it I liked her run the best.

As I progress through the material and books I am taking the literary license of having her tell me what she shows me as my guide, munch in the same way the Ed has Elminster. Plus it feels like a fun little nod to Ed and Elminster as well. 

Sinéad

What do I know about her? Well looking back at my 2nd Ed idea I know she is a magic-user of some sort and a Bard. Given some of the material I have read I also like idea she has wild magic, something she is not quite capable of controlling. This is why she leaves home. She needs a reason to go away from a loving family after all and I am not reverting to the trope of dead parents. 

This worked great in my run with her in Baldur's Gate. But I'll get to pencil and paper details in future posts.

Since I had such a great time with her and I'll be using her in tabletop games next year I couldn't help but get a new HeroForge mini of her as an early Christmas present to myself.

Sinéad from HeroForge

Not too bad really.  Here is how she looks on the HeroForge site AND in Baldur's Gate 3.

I rather like how she came out.  Of course, I had to do two of my favorite characters from the game, Shadowheart and Karlach.

I rather like how they all came out.

Shadowheart:

And Karlach: 

Yeah. If I am going to do this, then I will do it right.

I am also doing runs with Skylla and Kelek in BG3. Those have also been fun.

Not Yet a Mail Call Tuesday: ReAction D&D Figures

 Well...not exactly a Mail Call Tuesday today. Though it will be sometime in June/July.  But I had to mention these.

ReAction, the company that makes action figures for various properties in the style of the old Kenner Star Wars figures (3.75" scale), has a new series coming out.

Wave 1 of their Dungeons & Dragons line has some very familiar faces.

There is the Sorceress (D&D Moldvay Basic), the Efreeti (DMG), and the Githyanki (Fiend Folio) in the first wave for preorder now.

Damn it. Just when I was in a good place NOT to give WotC any money out of protest for the OGL shenanigans. 

Anyway. As someone who really went hardcore with D&D with the Moldvay Basic (my first proper D&D) and writes so much about witches, I am morally obligated to buy the Sorceress.  I owe it to that 11-year-old I once was. Besides, she is certainly popular.

The other figures also look great.

The Efreeti also has another advantage. At 3.75", that translates to 18.75' in D&D 3/4/5 scale.  So I could use it as the Efreeti Pasha. It would have a certain level of "street cred" to use the same figure as the front of the DMG for it.  Everyone in my current gaming groups knows all about 1st Ed AD&D, so to them, pulling this guy would have the same effect as pulling out Tiamat or Orcus.

All three of these figures have also, in one form or another, have had premium statues made of them. The Efreeti and the Githyanki from Wizkids and the Sorceress, in her modern guise of Seoni, from Dynamite. These figures are a lot cheaper.

You should be able to preorder these anywhere.

I am getting mine from Super7, which has better shipping. But I have seen them at Entertainment Earth as well. They will likely be on Amazon soon.  Of course you could order them from your FLGS or FLCS.

These are not the same scale as the new D&D Cartoon figures, but they are close to last year's NECA Skyla and Kelek figures. Come back around in June/July, and we will see.

Oh, Oh Shelia!

Busy day at the day job today (Fall term is starting) so a quick one today.  I picked up the Icons of the Realms: Dragons of Stormwreck Castle minis over the weekend. I mentioned these back in June and had hoped they would at least include the thief Shelia.  Well...they didn't.

 

I do like the way they all look.

I was never a big watcher of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. I worked on Saturdays and often missed it. BUT I picked up the DVD boxed set back in the early 2000s and my kids LOVED it. It was the set with the 3rd Edition stats for everyone.  

You might notice that this set is missing Bobby, Uni, and Shelia. I will get to that in a bit.  It does include someone just labeled "Cleric."

I can't help but think that this Cleric is none other than Aleena.

The outfits are not perfect. And I thought I read somewhere that Aleena was a blonde. But this certainly works.  I have been using Aleena as the Patron Saint of Adventurers for a while now.  Though like the D&D cartoon, the D&D Red Basic set for BECMI was not something I was into then.

Since Kelek was in the D&D Cartoon and Skylla was supposed to be they seem to work well with this set.

Oh Shelia

I said I did not watch the D&D cartoon much, but I was aware of it. I can't help but wonder if the red-headed girl with a penchant for wearing purple and hoods in 1983-85 didn't somehow influence my red-headed witch with a penchant for purple dresses and black hoods in 1986?  I honestly can't say.

In fact, I did even think about it until I scored this D&D Cartoon "kids" book at my local game auction.  It is called "The Witch's Spell Book."

The basic plot is you have the Golden Wood by finding Agnes the Witch's Spell Book. For reasons, only Shelia can read the spell. You would think Presto, but no it is Shelia. 

Now not to go out on a limb too far, but those that make Shelia an initiate witch?  It would in my games. She is 13 in the show, the age witches often "hear the Call of the Goddess" in my game worlds. (BTW this is what makes Larina special, she heard the Call at age 6.)

But sadly I don't get to add Shelia to my War of the Witch Queens yet. But all is not lost thanks to Hero Forge!

I could get the print from HeroForge and for the Invisible Sheila download the STL and print her here at home in clear resin.  Like I did for my "Ghost" of Aleena.  Click on the pictures above to buy your own from HeroForge.

I think we have some clear blue resin still.

If Shelia has a theme song then Aleena should too.  It kinda works. Or maybe this one, if I go with the idea that she was a blonde. At least the timing of all three is right for me. 

So that only leaves a question for me.  Should I introduce Shelia to my War of the Witch Queens campaign?  I might need to revisit the dual classing or multi-classing rules from OSE Advanced.

They do all fit on my shelf rather nicely together.

Mail Call: Dungeons & Dragons The Lost Wave Figures (2022 SDCC Exclusives)

Nice little treat in the mail today.  A while back I had arranged to get some of the new "Lost Wave" Dungeons & Dragons figures produced by NECA and sold exclusively at the 2022 SDCC.  The set included a full version of Skylla and a "new" version of Kelek.  So you know I could not say no.

Well, today they came!

Full unboxing.

No real desire to keep Pulvereye or Valkeer, but I'll put them in with the other D&D toys for my kids to sell to pay for my medical bills in 30 years. 

I am pleased with the Skylla and Kelek figures. 

Kelek also looks good. Wish I had kept my original one from the 80s.

Right now my youngest is 3D printing my Kelek on Warg. But it was not ready at the time of this posting so maybe next time.