Minor Update · 12:53pm Dec 29th, 2015
This is pretty unimportant, but I totally forgot about fighter bonus feats, so I went back and changed Grenlow's character sheet to mirror the change. RD's character now has four total feats, welcoming Power Attack into its fold.
Furthermore, I know there have been inconsistencies with the source material and its parallel in the story, and I could easily chalk that up to EQG analogs being in-congruent with their human counterparts, but the truth of the matter is it's just lazy writing, and as a lazy writer, I refuse to go back and change it (half on principle, half on laziness... So, 100% on principle, actually.)
Still, the story has been infinitely more popular than I had imagined. Many of you enjoy seeing the DnD references and story-style set in an EQG analog, so I guess I need to devote more and more time to this premise. This will detract from my other writing, which I've been trying to get back to of late, but hey, small sacrifices, am i right?
The story, as some readers have pointed out, is reading strongly like a DnD fiction than anything else right now, and they would be right. But, much like new players devouring content from their first campaign in a frenzy of fantasy-fueled lust, so too are the girls playing devotedly. Over the course of the next few chapters (chiefly after the party is done with their three-way split) we will see more and more of the story taking place in the EQG world itself, especially as the girls move into playing while going to school, juggling the stress of their senior year, impending college applications, and the monotony of a teenage girl's life, as one would suspect.
Yes, there will be sub-plot with Sunset Shimmer.
Yes, Fluttershy may or may not play an integral role to another, different sub-plot
Yes, Rainbow Dash may or may not have feelings for Applejack
That's what this story was designed to be; an analogue for me to transpose some of my personal knowledge and DnD experiences onto while simultaneously exploring a little of the EQG drama, which, as any devoted reader of mine would know, I've pretty much left untouched.
I assure you, between the tears, teenage heartache, school-related stress, and general girlishness, there will be critical hits and misses, rocks will fall, references will be made, and someone WILL roll a bear.
I'm walking a fine line between 'DnD Fiction' and 'EQG Side-story,' so I appreciate those of you who are sticking with me through this relatively new journey.
On a more personal note: It brings me both great joy and gut-wrenching dread to see the comments for the story do what they've been doing. I absolutely despise rules-lawyering (and have been known to bend said rules in favor of a more cohesive campaign more often than not) so I'm glad to see that, for the most part, many of you have been keeping that to a minimum. Please, continue to do so, because I'll be the first to admit that there's more than my fair share of dust on the ol' PDF's for my player's handbook. Simultaneously, seeing the myriad of personal experiences and general praise in the comments is helping to fuel my creative fire. I doubt I'll have any amount of content to write for this story for some time, it simply becomes a matter of perseverance and motivation (both of which I lack.)
This is rambling.
I will cut myself off and conclude by saying thank you, to everyone who's stuck with the story, and for all the wonderful praise I've recieved thus far. I hope I can continue to bring you funny chapters in a seemingly time-sensitive manner. Long-standing fans will know I can go six months to a year without an update before publishing four in a week and then crapping out for another six months. Throw on top of this the half-dozen other stories I've resumed updating (not to mention immense professional distress thanks to the holiday season,) and I'm left with an inconsistent update schedule.
Bear with me, friends. There's potential for many laughs and maybe even a few tears before the story's done. And as always, thank you.
-Loyal
One of the systems I enjoy using is the Fate system, particular the Dresden Files RPG, and it has a rule where, if one of the players has an awesome idea that is clearly worth doing, do whatever you can to make it happen, rules be damned. So if the rules play second fiddle to telling a good story I am A-OK with that.
Another thing you've forgotten about was character alignment, you might want to go back and fix that little bit.
3651688
I mentioned it in a previous comment; character alignments tend to muddy up character interaction, and they really don't help the player identify with their character. If anything, they lead to a strange disconnect between the player and their creation; they REALLY have to stop and think 'I want to do this, but what would my character want to do?' For new players, alignments make things just one more facet of complication to an already dauntingly-sized and complex game. When you have to factor in race, current company, player/character information, and the disconnect between the world itself and the human (EQG) realm, throwing in a relatively-arbitrary nine-point alignment system only makes it worse.
Imagine Chaotic-Neutral Pinkie Pie running amok while obligatory Lawful Good Applejack and Sunset pick a fight with her at every turn, all the while missing out on everything gone missing from their packs thanks to the cleverly-disguised neutral/evil Rarity, until something important is found in said rogues pack, and the whole fucking party flies into bickering overdrive, leading to hurt feelings, the dissolution of the campaign, and flared tempers.
Yes, I am speaking from experience.
Trust me, when Sunset rolls her true-neutral cleric with the holy and fire domain (Can you say drop Eagle's Splendor - Mass, take Flamestrike?) ... and Rarity surprises everyone by rolling a Lawful-Evil Paladin of Tyranny, alignments will enter into the fray. For both new players and the girls at their point in their respective tabletop gaming careers, however, alignments are some of the last things they need to worry about.
I excluded them for a reason.
Okay, so it's been ages since I've been on this site. Hey Loyal, it's Remnant o/ maybe you'll remember me.
I think I'm gonna have to stay, this sounds interesting. So welcome my new face, I look forward to getting back into your work <3
3652807
Welcome back, Rem ^.^ glad to see you're still alive, and happy belated birthday.
You may recognize several of these scenarios from our own little DnD game.
3653356 Thanks
Glad to see you're still writing, you're the first I checked back on.