• Member Since 5th Dec, 2011
  • offline last seen Aug 11th, 2023

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Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy. Applejack. Pinkie Pie. Rarity. Sure, these names mean nothing to you now, but once these fledgling warriors pass the trials to join the prestigious Pathfinder Guild and become official Adventurers, their destiny awaits!

As long as they can keep the infighting and metagaming under control.

Chapters (46)
Comments ( 150 )

Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy. Applejack. Pinkie Pie. Rarity. Sure, these names mean nothing to you now...

Yeah, obviously not. I've never heard of them in my life.

Oracle loophole abuse. I love it. Of course f strong winds happen she won't be able to fly and will have to...oh.

Best RPG with Ponies? You have my attention. I especially like that you're using different classes for the mane six than the standard interpretation.

4311480 Well, yeah. I was going for 'characters they might want to play' as opposed to 'characters they would be'.

Although I think in semi-canon (the comics) Twilight played a wizard. :twilightblush:

Aww, well done, Fluttershy! I'm glad Mr. Obnoxious Orc didn't die. Even if the rest of her group had to bully the cleric into doing it.

It's nice to see the ponies not exactly playing themselves. Or trying not to, at least. n_n

Hmm! Looks like there's more going on here than it seems. :trixieshiftright:

Ah, the traditional hijinks of a low-level D&D party. Made all the better by imagining the Mane 6 having so much fun acting as un-Harmoniously as possible.

Huh. Targeted bomb admixture? That's a fairly obscure one. I guess Twilight got all the extra sourcebooks.

In any case, I'm loving this story so far, especially Pinkie's continued use of the Throw Anything feat. Heck, it makes me want to make a unicorn-exclusive "telekinetic fighter" class archetype. Eagerly looking forward to more. :twilightsmile:

Hmm. If the charging character is a horse, does she still deal double damage with a lance?

In any case, a very interesting development. Though I have to wonder if the party's leveled up at all, if only so they have somewhat fewer near-death experiences.

Looking forward to more.

4483104 in the rule set I'm using (Ponyfinder, from a kick starter) there's a rack mount they can get that gives a lance the charge bonus.

They started at level 1, hit level 2 after the test, and just got to level 3 after this encounter (using fast progression).

I'm going to assume that last scene took place mostly in Spike's mind.

I don't know how Ponyfinder does it, but in my homebrew, I replace special mounts with squires. (After all, it's usually a paladin ability.) Basically, your magic horse friend gets warrior levels. (Yes, as in the NPC class.)

I have fond memories of using prestidigitation to clean. It made my wizard the fussy, fastidious cleric's best friend, which is never a bad thing.

And I have to wonder, was Rarity using Heal or Craft (taxidermy) on the drake corpse?

In any case, looking forward to more.

4552083 Ponyfinder has rules for pony familiars and animal companions, but says that 'they're usually too proud to serve as mounts'. Actually. I just thought it would be funny for her to abuse 'pony' being on the ridiculously restrictive list that nature oracles get.

The last scene was narrated to the party even though they were too far away to hear the dialog. They probably had AJ watching, though.

Rarity used profession (undertaker) to tidy up the corpses. :raritywink:

Ah, concentration checks. Because it's hard to channel the infinite power of the arcane when your lung just got pierced.

“And by somepony, I mean Applejack.”
“Somecat, then,” Pinkie Pie said.

Somekitty?

I have to admire the in-character mechanics discussion. I've never seen crunch and fluff melded like that. Of course, I've never had the privilege of being a group who attempted the meld, either...

Death is never fun. At least it's somewhat reversible. I just hope Fluttershy knows gentle repose, unless character!Rarity doesn't mind a bit of organic dishabille. I'm actually surprised that the DM didn't fudge the damage dice. Good to see he's being fair to all, for good or ill.

And five charges from a wand of CLW? That's some terrible luck on the d8s.

In any case, looking forward to more.

Well, that could've gone better. Not completely disastrous, but still could've gone better. Also, Twilight's going to be loopy for six hours. Probably best to leave her under for a while, even if her player isn't going to be happy with that.

Also, I quite liked how you handled the shield extract. More alchemist effects should involve belching out the magic.

Looking forward to more. :twilightsmile:

A) Rarity should've picked up Protection from Arrows the moment she hit level 3
B) The LA and free HD for being a ghoul is going to bite(Ha!), unless she also got the Undead Lord template(which would make her officially f'ing scary). *checks* Gets access to some nice feats though. And extra class skills.
C) So is that Geas or Dominate Person on Twilight? And did she slap a Permanency on it? And will they take the cost of getting it dispelled out of Twilight's share?

And Dash is a terrible Monk.

4679377 I couldn't find actual LA rules for Pathfinder, so I was going by the CR adjustment rules. For a pure caster, monster HD that don't stack with your caster level count half. So the couple of HD of 'ghoul' put her one level behind the rest of the party.

It's a generous interpretation, but the GM is Spike...

And Twilight was hit with the standard 'Loyalty Spell', Charm Monster. She'll need to report back to get it refreshed in a couple weeks, if the underlying curse is still in effect.

4679769


Ah, I see. Please tell me she invests in learning 'Protection from Arrows' asap, considering that Spike seems to be getting her back for the pincushion treatment.

An adventurer wanting to give away loot? It must be a curse!
(And I have to say, Twilight's roleplaying is fantastic, given how often she's been mind-controlled. That, or Spike's saying half of her dialogue.)

Also, weaknesses between planes? Including the Negative Energy Plane!? That's about seventy-one different kinds of not good...

We found a book that let anypony open a portal to the plain of elemental smoke!

Er, that should be Plane of Smoke. A plain of smoke is what happens after a brushfire. Trust the Magic: the Gathering player on this one. :raritywink:

In any case, definitely looking forward to more. Things are really getting interesting.

Ah. Martial artist archetype, so Dash isn't tied to a lawful alignment. And she'll become immune to fatigue at fifth level... which can be hilarious with barbarian rage.

As for Rarity... yeah, I'm thinking a nice raise dead would be prudent, if only to restore her perspective. Being shoehorned into evil seems to have wrecked her ability to see the bigger picture.

I look forward to more. :twilightsmile:

“Well, yes, but aside from that,” Rarity said. “It means we can do one mission – and get paid twice! Eeeee!

Rarity is channeling Captain Tagon?

4749244 Sounds like every D&D group I've dealt with, too...

Remember, pillage, then burn...:pinkiecrazy:

4749392

My group was really big on the 'burning'. I KNOW what plan would've been suggested the second Sewer Undead came up.

1) Wrangle a ludicrous payment to deal with the undead in the sewers.
2) Fill the sewers with oil, alchemist's fire or other flammables
3) Drop a match

4749403 My group was more into the pillage part. There were times they would practically pull out the tiling for money; one time the party went into real estate and sold the dungeon they had just cleaned out!:applecry:
They were also into sneaky roleplay plans, followed by blitzkreig tactics. They probably would have convinced every good aligned, turn capable cleric in town to be stationed at key points to reduce undead fleeing, followed by plowing through with blessed weapons and magic designed for undead, like the spell that makes incorporeal and ethereal creatures solid, or the spell that makes it rain holy water...:derpyderp2:

4749778 Undead become significantly less fun for the GM once the players discover Death Ward. :applecry:

4749778

Heh. Cha-ching vs. Ka-Boom.

My group once tried to bribe a dragon with a flock of sheep. Sheep that had surgically implanted explosives in them.

Every single damn one of us had Heal and Craft(Alchemy) maxed out in that game.

Well, precautions never hurt, but really, it just means Spike has to give a few more sentences of exposition to explain why the Great and Skeletal Trixie will be harassing the party in the future. And with the Negative Energy Plane leaking as it is, the entire planet may end up unhallowed at some point.

In any case, very tense fight. Spike does seem to love this sort of encounter...

Looking forward to more.

4750361

"Someone broke in, dug her up, then humped her corpse back to undeath". Desecrating a corpse can result in some pretty mighty undead. I learned that the hard way.

Anyways.. Reoccurring villains are why Scrolls(or other items) of 'Trap the Soul' were invented. Plus, you can sell the results to any number of Outsiders.

Does Spike have a grudge with RD? :trixieshiftright:

She keeps getting her ass beat like a drum.

Oh boy. Twilight would probably have stopped and thought about this if she didn't have a bunch of compulsions warring against one another for control of her headmeats. Still, I really hope the party thinks about this. They're facing a paladin. A paladin who hasn't fallen. Not only is this cause righteous in the eyes of said paladin's god, it's also just. Maybe they should listen about the whole potential continent-killing thing?

In any case, looking forward to more.

4819817 I'm using Ponyfinder, which is a published pony expansion for Pathfinder. In the spirit of Pathfinder, it lets you do a bunch of really cheesy things.

Like wield greatswords in your mouth if you take the 'strong jaw' feat.

Or perform, by default, any action that doesn't take two hands with your mouth as a pony or other 'fingerless' character with no penalty. It's assumed that you use specialized tools.

Or build characters with no racial hit dice or level penalty who can fly out of the box. (Keep in mind, though, that around 5-9th level everyone who wants to fly in D+D pretty much can, so this is strictly a lower-level consideration. Not to mention that Pathfinder already has Summoners who can easily make flying eidolons, so a flying warrior shouldn't be game-breaking or the game was already broken. My actual non-pony character that I play can fly.)

Cloudwalking is honestly the sort of thing I'd expect to see in a race -- it's 'neat' but not really game-breaking in any way. Weather manipulation in Ponyfinder takes several feats (one to push clouds, one to kick them, a third that Pinkie doesn't have yet to shoot bolts of lightning from them -- no tornado feat though! I am disappoint!).

But yeah, overall... it's a but unbalanced. Things about it are powerful. Ponies can do things with minimal or no feat support that normal characters can't (like wield a two handed weapon and a shield -- a rack-mounted pole arm + shield requires zero feats). But that's what makes it fun. :twilightsmile:

There were no immediately obvious effects of the Griffon’s curse

Of course there weren't. :trollestia:

Pinkie grinned. “This should be fun to watch.”

Pinkie confirmed for chaotic neutral. Or chaotic pyromaniacal. So, chaotic. :pinkiehappy:

You seem to have crystal ponies as pony-dwarves. I like it. Especially since that means that Spike's doing his best Durkon Thundershield impression at the table, which is a fantastic mental image.

And really, in an entire town made of coal, how can you tell which bit's the stockpile? I understand not wanting to use wood for fear of even worse reprisals from the rebels, but this just seems ludicrous.

The logistics of spontaneous undeath are confusing, aren't they? Still, while it's good to be prepared, it's probably best to decide such plans away from the deceased's loved ones.

Looking forward to more.

I always enjoy these. Keep up the good work.

Is Rarity going to be taking a doggy bag home with her?

5006310 There's probably some amount of snacking going on, at least.:raritywink:

They’d also been forced to take a rod of Sleet Storm

:rainbowhuh: I'm confused. Why would player characters need to be forced to take a magical item. Now, giving it back, that's going to be like pulling teeth, but taking it?

Also, vampiric mist in a coal mine? That's just evil. I'm definitely going to have to remember that one.

An excellent chapter, and one where none of the party almost died! Wonder of wonders! I look forward to more.

"When can we get back to the killing?"

Now that ghoul has real PC potential.

I am nauseated by this story's continued existence. Please cease to be.

Well, at least the gloomwings didn't implant any eggs in anyone... I hope. :twilightoops:

Also, that was one of the greatest uses of command that I've ever seen.

And Rarity speaks Auran. Who knew? (Though this is why I always invest a few points in Linguistics when I play druids.)

Looking forward to more.

Yup. Dash made her Will save, so all baleful polymorph did was lessen her damage output and buff her Dexterity. And "lessen" is a relative term.

Still, a lich!? I have to imagine there was yelling at the table. Mostly from Dash.

The party really stepped in it. They're going to need a new source of income fast. Hopefully they'll be able to redeem themselves to the miners. Still, I get the feeling that this is something of a microcosm of the entire world. It's sinking by inches into less savory planes. This can only go on for so long before it's irreversible...

Looking forward to more.

So, Twilight's finally back in her right mind... and she doesn't like it. Life's just easier when magic makes your decisions for you. After such a long time spent under mind control, having free will back likely would feel like a heavy burden. Still, at least now she can finally focus on what's truly important in life: getting paid.

Also, I had to laugh at Dash's epic fail of a Bluff check.

Looking forward to more, especially since there's no way guarding the caravan is going to be easy.

Damn. This chapter got dark in a hurry. Still, that's the fun of moral neutrality. You get to dabble in less savory tactics from time to time. Still, yikes. That's some cold calculus right there.

Also, grease bombs are, in fact, a thing. I hadn't realized that until now. Neat!

So, that's a definite victory for the party, though a messy one. This will certainly restore some of their credibility, but I get the feeling they've paid a steeper cost than they realize, at least in terms of reputation. Looking forward to more.

Twilight Sparkle wants these moon-forsaken mephits out of this moon-forsaken basement!

5449413 Reputation with who? The only ones who saw are themselves and the bandit. Of course, they're letting the bandit loose to tell his story, and the place he's most likely to tell it (aside from 'to other bandits') is the already not-entirely loyal unicorn city. I guess Twilight should probably care about ever being able to face her family again. :derpytongue2:

You know, it really is amazing how completely the Mane Six are missing Spike's increasingly blatant hints that the Unicorn Bandits are good guys. I imagine that it will either get to the point where Celestia literally descends from the heavens to tell them, or this will go full Darths and Droids and the Mane Six will completely derail the plot.

5465921 What do you mean? Right from the start they proved that they were out to get the party by, er, saving their lives from a rigged test designed to murder them. Eheh.

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