Character Spotlight: Princess Cadance, Chosen of Lashtada · 9:20pm Apr 21st, 2019
Note that this blog post will reference events through chapter 346 – Curses Foiled.
It's been far too long since I've made a blog post showcasing an example of the game mechanics that Lateral Movement bases itself on. I'd planned on following up the previous entry, which discussed how curses worked, with a listing of the game rules for the curses that Lex has used throughout the story so far. Unfortunately, that's taking longer than I anticipated, so in order to put something out there I've decided to post another character write-up, this one for a pony who's presence is starting to weigh more heavily on the events of the story:
Princess Cadance, 7th-level alicorn princess and Chosen of Lashtada (ECL 9)
Princess Cadance and her husband, Shining Armor, suffered a terrible tragedy during the elemental bleed. When heretofore unknown creatures started appearing across the Crystal Empire without warning, Cadance acted quickly to try and prevent an outbreak of violence. While Shining Armor helped to get everyone to safety, Cadance tried to talk the rampaging creatures down, realizing that they were just as confused and frightened by their sudden appearance in Equestria as everyone else was. Unfortunately, her attempt to settle things peacefully failed, and Shining Armor returned to Cadance's side just in time to see her be attacked. While her wounds weren't life-threatening, they nevertheless had a dire effect, causing her to miscarry the baby that she had only just confirmed she was pregnant with.
Heartbroken by what had happened, Cadance found solace when Soft Mane – Spike's new half-human/pony girlfriend from Everglow – introduced her to the religion of Lashtada, the pony Goddess of Love. Finding a new purpose in adopting Lashtada's gospel, Cadance has devoted herself wholeheartedly to spreading Lashtada's word throughout Equestria. But as the gods of Everglow look to spread their influence across Equestria, it seems to be only a matter of time before their mortal champions encounter one another...
The pale cerise of this alicorn's coat highlights the mixture of violet, rose, and gold in her mane and tail. Her cutie mark is a heart made of faceted crystal and surrounded by gold filigree. Looking casual and relaxed despite the crown on her head, she turns her purple eyes toward you. "Hello there. I'm Cadance. I'm sure we'll love getting to know each other," she says warmly.
As is typical for the characters in this story, Cadance's stats are built with Eclipse: The Codex Persona.
Available Character Points: 192 (level 7 base) + 18 (levels 1, 3, and 6 feats) + 14 (duties) +7 (restriction) + 3 (disadvantage) + 3.5 (very limited spell list) = 237 CP (rounded down).
Like all Equestrian-born ponies, Cadance is built to 3.5 standards, rather than Pathfinder. That means that she doesn't receive 6 CP for character traits, receives 6 CP for feats every third level instead of every other level, uses the 3.5 skill list, etc. She could change this if she found a way to alter her mode of existence to match that of Everglow or similar realms. But while that's a fairly minor change to make, it's not one that she's familiar with, so it doesn't seem likely at the moment.
Cadance’s duties are her responsibilities as Princess of the Crystal Empire. Her restriction is against using manufactured weapons. Her disadvantage is Unarmored. Her very limited spell list is a variant/only spells that she can actually cast (i.e. her clerical Spells Known, her Innate Enchantments, etc.) are treated as being on her spell list for the purposes of activating spell completion and spell trigger magic items.
Ability Scores (32-point buy): Str 12 (+2 racial = 14), Dex 12, Con 12 (+2 racial = 14), Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 15 (+2 racial +1 level = 18).
As a major character in Equestria, Cadance has a 32-point buy from which to generate her ability scores.
Alicorn (62 CP/+1 ECL race)
- +2 Charisma (12 CP).
Innate Enchantment, caster level 1 x spell level 1 x 2,000 gp x .7 personal-only modifier where applicable. (11 CP; 10,200 gp).
- +2 enhancement bonus to Strength (1,400 gp)
- +2 enhancement bonus to Constitution (1,400 gp)
- Cloud walk (1,400 gp)
- Greater mage hand (2,000 gp).
- Greater mage hand (2,000 gp).
- Calm negative emotions (2,000 gp).
- Immunity/stacking limitations when combining innate enchantment effects with external effects (common/minor/trivial; only covers level 0 or 1 effects) (2 CP).
- Immunity/the normal XP cost of racial innate enchantments (uncommon/minor/trivial) (1 CP).
- Workhorse, corrupted for two-thirds cost/subject to dispelling, antimagic, and similar effects (4 CP).
- Celerity with the Additional modifier, all set to flight, corrupted for two-thirds cost/subject to dispelling, antimagic, and similar effects (12 CP).
- Immunity/needing to concentrate on spells (common/major/trivial – only for spells of level 0 or 1), specialized for half cost/only applies to innate enchantments (1 CP).
- Immunity/verbal, somatic, and material components when casting spells (very common/major/major – only for spells of level 5 or below) (15 CP).
- Eldritch, an alicorn’s horn glows when using innate enchantments or spellcasting, and a matching glow surrounds the target (0 CP).
- 1d6 Mana, with the spell enhancement natural magic, corrupted for two-thirds cost/may only be used to pay for spell enhancement or other special abilities (4 CP).
- Skill Focus (Sense Motive) (6 CP).
- Accursed. Any damage, or other harmful effect, that befalls an alicorn’s horn (e.g. must target their horn specifically, rather than the alicorn overall) causes all innate enchantments and spells cast to immediately end. No more can be used until the effect is healed (-3 CP).
- Valuable. Dark forces tend to target alicorns for their magic (-3 CP).
Cadance's calm negative emotions Innate Enchantment represents the power that we see her use in Twilight's flashback in A Canterlot Wedding – Part 1 (season two, episode twenty-five), where she uses her magic to end an argument two ponies are having. It functions exactly like calm emotions except that it's a 1st-level spell, has a duration of 1 round per level (it doesn't require concentration), and it only affects one creature per caster level to a maximum of ten, all of whom must be within 30 feet of each other. Most ponies who have this spell used on them typically can't remember why they were upset by the time the spell wears off.
Basic Abilities (108 CP)
- No weapon or armor proficiencies (0 CP).
- 7d8 Hit Dice (28 CP).
- +5 Warcraft (30 CP).
- Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +5 (36 CP).
- 14 skill points (14 CP).
Not coincidentally, Cadance's basic abilities match those of a cleric, and that's not too hard to believe when you compare the stats here to how she's acted in the series. She's certainly tough, justifying her Hit Dice and Fort save bonus, since we've seen her endure being trapped underground for what was probably a few days without food or water and be only a little ragged for it, and she likewise maintained the spell protecting the Crystal Empire without rest for what seemed like quite some time as well. She also presents herself as being quite wise and insightful (justifying her Will save bonus), but no more fast or agile than a standard pegasus (hence her reduced Reflex save). Nor does she seem to be highly schooled nor multi-talented, so we can safely only give her an average of 2 skill points per level. The only oddity is her Base Attack Bonus; we'll say that she's raised it up thanks to some training from her husband.
The Crystal Princess (8 CP)
Witchcraft II/corrupted for two-thirds cost, only for two powers (8 CP):
- Healing, specialized for increased effect/spending 1 Power lets an hour's rest be treated as one day of complete bed rest (only with regard to natural healing; does not allow for spells or powers to be replenished) and grants a +5 check against diseases, toxins, or negative levels. This is also used to throw off the effects of drugs and intoxicants with a flat duration. It cannot, however, be used to immediately restore hit points.
- Hyloka.
- Nightforge (6 CP).
- Guardianship Pact/protect the Crystal Empire (-6 CP).
Cadance's Nightforge power answers how she was able to make crystals cover a broken water main in Princess Spike (season five, episode ten). Hyloka, by contrast, answers how Cadance was collapsing by the time she couldn't keep King Sombra out in The Crystal Empire – Part 2 (season three, episode two) and yet apparently regained her strength after Shining Armor flung her at the Crystal Heart; she simply used this to give herself a small, temporary boost. Healing isn't really something we see her use, but its subtle enough that it fits with her overall theme, especially now that she's in service to Lashtada.
Cadance has 13 Power total, and her caster level for these abilities is equal to her Hit Dice. They have a range of 20 feet, plus another 20 feet per additional point of Power spent. The save DC is 13 + her Charisma modifier (normally a +4 bonus, so typically DC 17). If her Power falls below 5 she becomes fatigued, and is exhausted at 0 Power.
Alicorn Magic (39 CP)
- Blessing, specialized for one-half cost/only to donate Mana (3 CP).
- 8d6 Mana with the spell enhancement natural magic, corrupted for two-thirds cost/may only be used to pay for spell enhancement or other special abilities (32 CP).
- Rite of Chi with +4 Bonus Uses, specialized for one-half cost/only after a full night’s rest, corrupted for two-thirds cost/may not be used additional times for negative levels (4 CP).
Unlike Twilight Sparkle, Cadance has had sufficient time to build up a hefty reserve of alicorn magic. She's able to grant it to others, but when she does so the restriction about only using it to fuel spell enhancement or other abilities that require Mana to active remains. With this and the 1d6 Mana she has from her alicorn racial abilities, Cadance has a total of 31 Mana.
Clerical Training (68 CP)
- Seven levels of clerical (package deal) spellcasting, Charisma-based, with the following limitations: conduct, noncombative, restrained, studies/spontaneous (21 CP).
- Seven caster levels, specialized for one-half cost/only for clerical progression (21 CP).
Channeling:
- 3 + double Cha modifier uses per day (15 CP).
- +4 Intensity (6 CP).
- +1d6 Magnitude (3 CP).
- Add searing light to spells known (2 CP).
Cadance originally dabbled in some unicorn-style spellcasting after she became an alicorn, but has since abandoned it in favor of learning the clerical magic that Lashtada grants her. The sole exception is the searing light spell she learned after the back-to-back attacks of the changelings and King Sombra. It's currently the only combat spell (i.e. spell capable of inflicting hit point damage, negative levels, or ability damage or drain) that she's capable of learning on the cleric spell list, thanks to her noncombative limitation on her magic progression. (There's a loophole to this, however: she can use positive energy spells against undead and other creatures that are damaged by such effects just fine.)
Note that since Cadance is taking the "package" version of the clerical magic progression, she has access to two of Lashtada's domains. She's selected Charm and Community. While it's not technically allowed for a 3.5 character, Lashtada has permitted Cadance to take the Love subdomain for the Charm domain. This doesn't change the domain power (since Cadance is using the 3.5 version), but does change the 2nd-level domain spell she has access to, and will do the same to the 8th-level spell if she manages to grow strong enough to use it.
Advanced Alicorn Abilities (8 CP)
- Immunity to aging (uncommon/minor/great) (6 CP).
- Skill Focus +1/Heal (2 CP).
The fandom often makes note of a tweet from a member of the show staff in response to a question as to whether or not Twilight, now an alicorn, would outlive her friends, answering in the negative. Even if that's held to be canon, however (which strikes me as dubious), that still leaves us with nothing in regard to Cadance. To that end, I'm positing that she's ceased to age, and will continue living unless and until something kills her. Likewise, her focusing on the Heal skill isn't much right now, but if she keeps pushing her limits (i.e. she buys the Stunts modifier, Eclipse p. 44) she'll be able to perform miraculous feats of healing.
Miscellaneous (6 CP)
- Reflex Training/three actions per day variant (6 CP).
Given that taking the time to heal someone in combat is often noted as being a poor use of the action economy, this seems particularly useful to Cadance.
Equestrian Princess (Package Deal; 0 CP)
- Privilege/Princess of the Crystal Empire (normally 3 CP).
- Improved Reputation/reputation score of 4 (normally 9 CP).
As a package deal, Cadance receives this for free, representing how she simply became ruler of a kingdom almost by default. Normally being royalty would be worth a Major Privilege, but neither Equestria nor the Crystal Empire seem to have much in the way of laws that royalty can ignore, regulations that they can flout, or other advantages that the peasantry doesn't have. Hence, this is only a minor privilege.
Chosen of Lashtada (33 CP template/+1 ECL)
- Obligations/must proselytize Lashtada's faith (-3 CP).
Conversion for four level 3 effects (9 CP).
- Heal (level 6 effect reduced to level 3 by costing 3 Mana per use)
- Raise dead (no gp cost; level 6 effect reduced to level 3 by costing 3 Mana per use)
- Purification (combination break enchantment and restoration with no gp cost; level 6 effect reduced to level 3 by costing 3 Mana per use)
- Atonement (no focus or XP cost; level 6 effect reduced to level 3 by costing 3 Mana per use)
- Occult Sense/detect relationships (6 CP).
- Touch of Hathor (6 CP).
- Glorious Touch/Empower (6 CP).
- Major Privilege/Lashtada’s religion (6 CP).
- Privilege/may remove negative levels and Constitution loss from being brought back to life via this template’s use of purification (3 CP).
When the Night Mare granted Lex a template to denote him as being her mortal champion, it was one worth +2 ECL. Lashtada, however, is a considerably weaker deity, having lost most of her mortal worshipers centuries ago and only now starting to make a comeback. As such, the template she granted to Cadance is far weaker than the one Lex received from the Night Mare.
Note that the Major Privilege granted here allows Cadance to act as a living holy symbol to Lashtada, fulfilling the need for a divine focus for spells or channeling attempts. The Touch of Hathor feat is found on page 143 of The Practical Enchanter.
Cadance's detect relationships ability works as per detect thoughts save that it detects the relationship between the people within its area of effect. On the 1st round it detects the presence or absence of relationships between individuals (i.e. Cadance can tell if the people in the area of effect have some sort of relationship or are strangers). On the 2nd round it determines what type of relationship the individuals detected have, if any. On the 3rd round, it determines the strength of the relationship(s) detected (i.e. how strongly they feel toward each other).
Derived Stats
- Hit points: 8 (1st level) + 27 (2nd through 7th level) + 14 (Constitution bonus) = 49 hp.
- Speed: 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Saving Throws:
- Fortitude: +5 (base) +2 (Constitution) = +7.
- Reflex: +2 (base) +1 (Dexterity) = +3.
- Will: +5 (base) +3 (Wisdom) = +8.
- Armor Class: 10 (base) +1 (Dexterity) = AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 10.
- Attacks (melee): unarmed strike +5 (BAB) +2 (Strength) = +7 (1d3+2 nonlethal).
- Attacks (ranged): +5 (BAB) +1 (Dexterity) = +6.
Skills: 14 skill points (14 CP).
- Appraise: 0 ranks +0 (Intelligence) = +0.
- Balance: 0 ranks +1 (Dexterity) = +1.
- Bluff: 0 ranks +4 (Charisma) = +4.
- Climb: 0 ranks +2 (Strength) = +2.
- Concentration: 1 rank +2 (Constitution) = +3.
- Craft (all): 0 ranks +0 (Intelligence) = +0.
- Diplomacy: 0 ranks +4 (Charisma) +2 (competence bonus from Community domain) = +6.
- Disguise: 0 ranks +4 (Charisma) = +4.
- Escape Artist: 0 ranks +1 (Dexterity) = +1.
- Forgery: 0 ranks +0 (Intelligence) = +0.
- Gather Information: 0 ranks +4 (Charisma) = +4.
- Heal: 1 rank +3 (Wisdom) +1 (Skill Focus) = +5.
- Hide: 0 ranks +1 (Dexterity) = +1.
- Intimidate: 0 ranks +4 (Charisma) = +4.
- Jump: 0 ranks +2 (Strength) = +2.
- Knowledge (local): 2 ranks +0 (Intelligence) = +2.
- Knowledge (nobility and royalty): 2 ranks +0 (Intelligence) = +2.
- Listen: 0 ranks +3 (Wisdom) = +3.
- Move Silently: 0 ranks +1 (Dexterity) = +1.
- Perform (all): 0 ranks +4 (Charisma) = +4.
- Ride: 0 ranks +1 (Dexterity) = +1.
- Search: 0 ranks +0 (Intelligence) = +0.
- Sense Motive: 2 ranks +3 (Wisdom) +3 Skill Focus = +8.
- Spot: 0 ranks +3 (Wisdom) = +3.
- Survival: 0 ranks +3 (Wisdom) = +3.
- Swim: 0 ranks +2 (Strength) = +2.
- Use Rope: 0 ranks +1 (Dexterity) = +1.
Spells Known (caster level 7)
- 4th (2+1/day) – cure critical wounds (DC 18), death ward (DC 18), greater statusD (DC 18), heroismD (DC 18).
- 3rd (3+1/day) – cure serious wounds (DC 17), prayerD, remove blindness/deafness (DC 17), remove disease (DC 17), searing light, suggestionD (DC 17).
- 2nd (4+1/day) – cure moderate wounds (DC 16), eagle’s splendor (DC 16), enthrallD (DC 16), lesser restoration (DC 16), remove paralysis (DC 16), statusD (DC 16).
- 1st (5+1/day) – blessD, bless water (DC 15), charm personD (DC 15), cure light wounds (DC 15), protection from evil (DC 15), remove fear (DC 15), sanctuary (DC 15), shield of faith (DC 15).
- 0 (6/day) – cure minor wounds (DC 14), enhanced diplomacy (DC 14), guidance (DC 14), light, mending (DC 14), purify food and drink (DC 14), resistance (DC 14), virtue (DC 14).
Spells with a superscript "D" after them are domain spells. Each spell level, other than 0, has a "+1" listing for how many spells Cadance can cast per day; this +1 may only be used to cast one of the listed domain spells.
A careful look at this spell list will notice a distinct lack of area-based shielding magic (since even shield of faith only grants a deflection bonus to a single creature). That's not an oversight; while she does maintain the shield around the Crystal Empire in the third season premiere, I interpret that as Shining Armor having raised the shield and simply passed concentration for it over to her (the ability to let her concentrate on his spell also being an ability of his). Likewise, while she does create a shield against Tempest Shadow's assault at the beginning of My Little Pony: The Movie (which doesn't work), that takes place after when Lateral Movement is set. Presumably she'll have picked up a spell for that by then, if things proceed like they do in the canon series.
Further Development
Cadance is very much a support character, specializing primarily in healing and buffing others and having some secondary abilities in protection. However, she's completely lacking in magic items; in Equestria, that's because magic items are either unique creations that aren't easy to come by, or are effetively charms and talismans (see Chapter Five of The Practical Enchanter) that are too weak to be of much practical use in a combat situation. As a major NPC, she should have PC-level wealth, which for a 3.5 character is 19,000 gp. Presuming she finds a way acquire magic items of commensurate value, she'd be well-served to make sure that some of them raise her Armor Class. Right now, she's just begging to fall victim to the "get the healer first" tactic.
Though of course, it's unlikely that Shining Armor would just sit back and let that happen.
I don't understand half the terms here, but this is still very informative!
5047792 Thanks, I'm very happy you like it!
While the game ending being used is the d20 System (the rules behind D&D Third Edition, Pathfinder First Edition, and several other role-playing games), the Eclipse rules that I'm using here are esoteric even among other d20 System aficionados. I suspect that most of the other people who know those rules but don't use Eclipse will find the mechanics here somewhat legible, but still confusing.
I confess, I do hope that some people find this intriguing enough to take a look at Eclipse. The book is free to (legally) download, and it's really a spectacular system. I wish more people knew about it.
5047807
It might be a good experience to get it, and just see what I can do with various characters.
5047809 Definitely check it out and play around with it! Though I recommend looking at some example characters on the co-creator's blog as a reference; that's how I started to fully appreciate the system. He's even got a cool index of pony-related posts that he and I have done (though it needs a little updating; he's since done posts for the Pillars of Old Equestria, and Stygian/the Pony of Shadows, which aren't indexed there yet).
Oh, and I made a quick update to this page also, adding a paragraph about how Cadance's detect relationships power works.
EDIT: Be aware that Eclipse isn't a complete RPG unto itself; it's a supplement for d20 System-based games.
Very cool. I like that you made her being a ruler of the Crystal Empire a minor privilege, since that seems to afford her about the power that Mayor Mare has.
Cadance is fairly unbalanced on her own, and that's ok, she's trained her whole life to back up a more offensive character.
5047904
That's pretty accurate, in terms of how much social clout they have and what (practically speaking) they use it for. Equestria is simply too laid-back of a society for differences in social class to be very exploitable, particularly since virtually nopony wants to exploit them to begin with.
Well, you know what I think about contemporary ideas of "balance" (i.e. having a multiplicity of options that allow for making an effective contribution during each and every round of combat in a variety of ways that are nevertheless broadly equitable with what any other character of an equivalent level could do), since that's not only poorly-defined but also far more concerned with how things work on paper than in actual play. As it stands, Cadance has focused heavily on a particular niche, and is quite good at it, but requires a character with a more martial bent to make the most of her talents.
Makes you wonder what Shining Armor's stats look like, though, huh?
5047908
Yup, I was hankering to see Shiny's Sheet!
A pure support character with only one attack spell. Well, at least she has Shining to keep her out of harm's way. Still, her skillset is all over the place but given her role and status, that's pretty much expected in a land like Equestria.
5047916 Well, that might become relevant at some point, so it could very well turn up when it does.
5047922 Cadance was the Princess of Love even before Lashtada came into her life. Now she's even more focused on her area of expertise, to the point of super-specializing in it. That has considerable drawbacks if she has to attempt something outside of her specialty, particularly if she doesn't have someone with a more martial bent that she can buff, such as her husband. But that's sort of the thing about love: it can't reach its full potential when you're alone.