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So for my Friday game, we use the site D20.net - which allows for a virtual map, tokens, etc.

What I did for my token is made the image of my character on Heroforge - and then grabbed a screenshot and colored it. lol

Cool! Very nice job, Tawm. What did the other players say?

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:54 pm Cool! Very nice job, Tawm. What did the other players say?

Everyone has their cool tokens; whether they googled cool images or whatever. It was just me being me. Had a moment to digitally color. Which helps my brain remain calm.

That's really cool. I wish I could paint or digitally colour, but I'm not jealous (much). We're all good at something. It just takes practice to figure out what.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 2:48 am That's really cool. I wish I could paint or digitally colour, but I'm not jealous (much). We're all good at something. It just takes practice to figure out what.

If you have a paint program that can do layers - I think the free program Gimp does layers.

Let me show you my way of doing it (it'd be the same concept; I just use Paint Shop Pro) ... obviously there's people who can do amazing shading and variations of color to show shading... but to start...

Hmm. Now I can see why it's been so difficult for me - I don't have your hand-eye coordination, so when I use the pencil to trace the painting outline, I always get it wrong and get pencil markings inside the drawing, instead of along the outline. Sigh. I'm a klutz. Oh, well.

Nice choice of background music, by the way. "Ballroom Blitz".

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 10:20 pm Hmm. Now I can see why it's been so difficult for me - I don't have your hand-eye coordination, so when I use the pencil to trace the painting outline, I always get it wrong and get pencil markings inside the drawing, instead of along the outline. Sigh. I'm a klutz. Oh, well.

Nice choice of background music, by the way. "Ballroom Blitz".

Well that's the beauty of doing it digitally though; even if you get it inside the line; you can easily pick the color you want and just draw over it or fill it in.

I do that several times in that video.

And yeah; funny thing is - I didn't realize it was going to record that song I had playing in the background. It's a cover by Leo from Frog Leap Studios, which I mentioned in the - Youtube? Music? - Thread. One of those threads. When we were talking about people who do cover songs and then sell them. lol

Found a cool photo that represents my cleric, Barek Lightbringer for my game that Anita DM's.

Photoshopped a layer of blue to create a glow for his eyes since he's Aasimar (angelic bloodline).

I used this as his background with a white, faded layer.

Beautiful. Very "metal".

Does the amulet have any significance? Or the shield, or hammer?

I wonder how D&D art has changed from 2nd ed to now, or even from 3rd ed to now. I don't remember 2nd-ed D&D art being so ... spiky.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 4:44 am Beautiful. Very "metal".
Does the amulet have any significance? Or the shield, or hammer?
I wonder how D&D art has changed from 2nd ed to now, or even from 3rd ed to now. I don't remember 2nd-ed D&D art being so ... spiky.

Both the amulet and shield are actual symbols of a deity; I am going to see if I can photoshop (at least) the amulet to have a symbol closer to the god my character follows.

The art has definitely changed. It's great - I bought this (well wife got it for me for Christmas) - book called "The History of D&D" (or some such) - and it's AMAZING how much the folks of D&D ripped off other art and just changed a few things for some of their advertisements.

Sometimes for the better:
Tiamat then:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/44/da/a5 ... 5919f7.jpg

Tiamat now:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... SX522_.jpg

Some, I like the older stuff, such as:
Medusa then:
https://66.media.tumblr.com/bc72d709e4f ... o1_500.jpg

Medusa now:
https://media-waterdeep.cursecdn.com/av ... 00325.jpeg

Hmm ... I wonder. I agree that Tiamat now is far more intimidating. The earlier Medusa was more threatening but almost one-dimensional ("Grr, I'm gonna do vicious things to you" etc.); Medusa now is more subtle. Anyone looking at her, and being unaware of who she is, would almost think she's a seductress.

This is closer, I think, to the mythical Medusa. Originally Medusa was one of three sisters, known as Gorgons, who all got the snake-hair treatment (the others became immortal). Medusa herself didn't because, while she took sanctuary at a temple of Athena (patron goddess of Athens, wisdom, and battle strategy), the god Poseidon desired her and raped her. (Grr, typical ancient Greek gods).

Athena was outraged at this sacrilege, but Poseidon was a senior god (her uncle, IIRC), and untouchable. So she punished Medusa, instead, with the familiar snake-hair and petrifying stare. Medusa fled to a cave in Aethiopia (near the border between today's Egypt and Lybia, in northern Africa) - and this is where the Greek hero Perseus found and killed her. (Grr, ancient Greek chauvinism).

Interestingly, the story might be a reflection of a real-life war (or invasion, or at least a social disruption). In quasi-historical terms, the legend of Perseus and Medusa means that, in the early 1200s B.C. - around the traditional date of Perseus's adulthood - an actual historic rupture or a sort of social trauma occurred. It's difficult to say what, exactly, but it's fairly clear that The 'Hellenes' - very early Greeks - "overran the goddess's chief shrines" and "stripped her priestesses of their Gorgon masks", these masks being a type of magic faces, intended to frighten away harm or evil influences.

It's difficult to know which goddess is involved, or why. I think we can all fill in the blanks - a religious war? Or did the Greek women worship a goddess (which?), which the Greek men replaced by acts of violence because they were jealous - or frightened - of the goddess's power?

I reckon there could be the start of a D&D adventure, there. Medusa-worshipers, perhaps? Or maybe they worship an older, darker goddess, of whom Medusa is merely a servant. What do you think?

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:39 am Hmm ... I wonder. I agree that Tiamat now is far more intimidating. The earlier Medusa was more threatening but almost one-dimensional ("Grr, I'm gonna do vicious things to you" etc.); Medusa now is more subtle. Anyone looking at her, and being unaware of who she is, would almost think she's a seductress.

I like the old Medusa because it reminds me of the Clash of the Titans Medusa which was the Medusa I "grew up" on (which got me interested in Greek Mythology).
Old Clash of the Titans Medusa.
New Clash of the Titans Medusa.

While new Medusa still had a snake body, they clearly made her prettier.

For D&D - the new Medusa, as you said, looks like a seductress. But how or why would she? Since anyone who gazes upon her is turned to stone. If she could control who she turns to stone, that'd be more in line with her potentially being a seductress.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:39 am This is closer, I think, to the mythical Medusa. Originally Medusa was one of three sisters, known as Gorgons, who all got the snake-hair treatment (the others became immortal). Medusa herself didn't because, while she took sanctuary at a temple of Athena (patron goddess of Athens, wisdom, and battle strategy), the god Poseidon desired her and raped her. (Grr, typical ancient Greek gods).

Yeah; Greek Gods were arses.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:39 am Interestingly, the story might be a reflection of a real-life war (or invasion, or at least a social disruption). In quasi-historical terms, the legend of Perseus and Medusa means that, in the early 1200s B.C. - around the traditional date of Perseus's adulthood - an actual historic rupture or a sort of social trauma occurred. It's difficult to say what, exactly, but it's fairly clear that The 'Hellenes' - very early Greeks - "overran the goddess's chief shrines" and "stripped her priestesses of their Gorgon masks", these masks being a type of magic faces, intended to frighten away harm or evil influences.

It's difficult to know which goddess is involved, or why. I think we can all fill in the blanks - a religious war? Or did the Greek women worship a goddess (which?), which the Greek men replaced by acts of violence because they were jealous - or frightened - of the goddess's power?

I reckon there could be the start of a D&D adventure, there. Medusa-worshipers, perhaps? Or maybe they worship an older, darker goddess, of whom Medusa is merely a servant. What do you think?

That for sure, could be a D&D adventure.

Did some photoshopping to apply my god's symbol onto my cleric's amulet and shield. Definitely sticks out as not being originally part of it, but meh!

This is the symbol of his necklace which is a sunset/sunrise over a field: here. But this is his normal symbol (which is what I applied to the shield and tweaked the colors)... here.

I had an excellent time DMing for my Work People (all virtually through Discord). I loved playing intelligent villains (too often I get into "attack until they die" - but humanoids would be smart enough to run away - and I did that with Drow and Gnolls (though the Gnoll captain didn't get to escape). And I had the Drow going in to kill the prisoner (another Drow) the party captured, and once the mission was done - high tail it out of there. Mission done. Was an epic session! The mystery the party finds themselves in continues to deepen! (No pun intended since they're in my campaign's version of "The Underdark")!

http://tawmis.com/kneurth/adventure-not ... nturers-17

Tawmis wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:09 pm

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:39 am Hmm ... I wonder. I agree that Tiamat now is far more intimidating. The earlier Medusa was more threatening but almost one-dimensional ("Grr, I'm gonna do vicious things to you" etc.); Medusa now is more subtle. Anyone looking at her, and being unaware of who she is, would almost think she's a seductress.

I like the old Medusa because it reminds me of the Clash of the Titans Medusa which was the Medusa I "grew up" on (which got me interested in Greek Mythology).
Old Clash of the Titans Medusa.
New Clash of the Titans Medusa.

While new Medusa still had a snake body, they clearly made her prettier.

For D&D - the new Medusa, as you said, looks like a seductress. But how or why would she? Since anyone who gazes upon her is turned to stone. If she could control who she turns to stone, that'd be more in line with her potentially being a seductress.

Fair enough re: new vs. old Medusa. Maybe they made the new Medusa prettier for love-interest purposes - although I find it hard to think of Medusa as pretty.

Now for the seductress questions:

1. How would she be a seductress? Well, why not? She can hide the petrifying gaze with a veil or hood, right?
2. Why SHOULD she be a seductress? She's living in a cave with her memories, alone, for who knows how long. Why shouldn't she want some friendship - or companionship - or even more?

Yes, she's a D&D monster. But does she have to be evil? Perhaps, through her long confinement, she's learned to overcome her Monstrous Manual "evil" nature. (Think of, say, the dragon Paarthurnax in Skyrim). She knows she can't get close enough to other people for romance, but if she takes enough precautions ... maybe she can make friends - real friends, even!

Alternatively, maybe her plan is to play the "seductress" role, so she can get people to let their guard down - and then, BOOM! Another statue. Like a succubus, but with different powers.
==========================================
Anyway. I like the paint job on the new amulet - quite snazzy, and doesn't look as obvious as you might think.
==========================
I also like the rest of the adventure. Too bad they couldn't keep the drow alive, but they kept rolling nat-1s and the attacking drow kept rolling nat-20s ... so.

I'm not sure why they're allies with goblins??? But that's OK.

As for the attacking gnolls ... maybe someone in the party (if they had a bard) could recite a dirge for him. "Alas, poor gnoll boss. I knew him, Sephrenia - a gnoll of infinite strength--"

Morsus: That will do, lad. He weren't that strong.

Bard: He almost escaped us, Morsus. I didn't think he did that badly.

Don: (interrupts) Um, maybe it's best not to quibble at this point? Here's the map he had. Where do you all want to go?

What do you think?