/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

Welcome to thread two of AnCap's Epic Pony Adventure.

As we left off last time, the party of ponies and a cow had been teleported away by Discord. They are waking up in the back of a wagon, as a creamy colored pony with a multihued brown mane gazes at them over the wagon's edge.

That's right random anon who happens to read this post, it's /vx/'s third DnD campaign!

>What's this one about?
Chaos Ascending is an epic level campaign for DnD 3.5e. It takes place roughly 10,000 years before Celestia and Luna assume rule over Equestria. Technology is at a medieval level plus magic of course.
Equus during this era was a land of peace, the ponies and few other creatures inhabiting Equus living in harmony. The gods of this realm, know to the ponies only as The Unknown Ones, decided that nothing would disturb their harmony and moved on; only granting their power to the most dedicated of ponies. Soon, the ponies' society expanded across the planes. A Utopia was built on its own plane, serving as a hub of travel, politics, and trade. Ponies lived in happiness, nothing to disturb them. It was a land of peace and harmony, but rumors existed. Rumors that there were ponies who thought that harmony was worthless. Ponies who wished to disturb the order of the planes. Ponies who wished to ascend the agenda of...
Chaos...

>How long will it last?
Until I can progress through the entire story, which should take at the most three months of weekend play and about two months at the least, or until Atlas personally smites me. Whichever comes first.

>When does it start?
This is an advance notice so players have time to build characters, ask questions, and seek GM approval. The campaign will start in 2-3 weeks.

>When will we play?
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And then only if all players are available.

Here are the guidelines for building a character:
Level: 25
Sources for classes, feats, spells, etc.: Any as long as they are approved. No breaking my game
Wealth: 35,000,000 GP
Stats: Point buy with 34 points at your disposal. Buy your stats then apply racial stats. Here's the calculator I use: http://www.propelled.de/extern/chargen
Races:
Evil characters are not explicitly banned, but chaotic and neutral evil are HEAVILY discouraged against.

Earth Ponies:
+2 Str +2 Con
One maxed out skill related to cutie mark.
Earth Ponies receive Toughness as a bonus feat.
Earth Ponies can hold a two-handed weapon with their maw. Light weapons can be held with hooves.

Pegasi:
+2 Dex -2 Con
One maxed out skill related to cutie mark
Glide: A pegasus of any level can glide when falling at a speed of 40ft, negating all fall damage. This ability takes affect even when unconscious, though the user takes 1d6 falling damage.
Flight: A pegasus can use their wings for flight with a speed of 40ft (good maneuverability) beginning at lvl 5.
Pegasi can use two-handed weapons by holding it with their maw and using a wing to help maneuver the weapon, sacrificing flight. Light weapons can also be held with a wing, sacrificing flight.

Unicorns:
+2 Int -2 Str
One maxed out skill related to cutie mark
Unicorns receive Eschew Materials as a bonus feat.
Unicorns have two "handslots" using the magic of their horn, these extend to 10ft of reach. Two-handed weapons can be used with a unicorn's maw and a handslot or both handslots, either way rendering them unable to focus their magic on other tasks. Light weapons can be held in each handslot.

Crystal Ponies:
+2 Con -2 Dex
One maxed out skill related to cutie mark
Crystal Composition: Crystal ponies can turn their bodies crystalline, invoking different sets of bonuses and penalties. In this form they receive a +3 bonus to AC, and +3 to fortitude saves. As a tradeoff they take a -2 penalty to the following checks: Reflex, Swim, Tumble, Hide, Move Silently. This ability can only be activated 1/day.
Crystal Ponies use two-handed weapons by employing their maw and one hoof to control the weapon. This reduces their speed by 5ft.

Kirin:
+1 Wis +1 Cha
Nirik: A kirin's temper can ignite, making them rash and fierce. 1/day a Kirin can fly into a fury of emotion, turning into a Nirik for 1 round per level. This form grants the Kirin a +4 bonus to attacks, +1d4 fire damage to melee attacks, but invokes a -3 penalty to any wisdom related check or save.
Kirins have two "handslots" using the magic of their horn, these extend to 10ft of reach. Two-handed weapons can be used with a kirin's maw and a handslot or both handslots, either way rendering them unable to focus their magic on other tasks. Light weapons can be held in each handslot.

Bat Ponies:
+2 Wis -2 Cha
One maxed out skill related to cutie mark
Glide: A bat pony of any level can glide when falling at a speed of 40ft, negating all fall damage. This ability takes affect even when unconscious, though the user takes 1d6 falling damage.
Flight: A bat pony can use their wings for flight with a speed of 40ft (average maneuverability) beginning at lvl 5.
Dark vision to 60ft
+2 racial bonus to listen
Bat Ponies can use two-handed weapons by holding it with their maw and using a wing to help maneuver the weapon, sacrificing flight. Light weapons can also be held with a wing, sacrificing flight.

For those looking at the divine classes here's the pantheon:

The Unknown One Above All Earth Ponies
The Unknown One Above All Pegasi
The Unknown One Above All Unicorns
The Unknown One Above All Crystal Ponies
The Unknown One Above All Kirin
The Unknown One Above All Bat Ponies
The Unknown One Above All Dragons
The Unknown One Above All Evil
After the gods of old moved on, their names fell out of common use and slipped from memory. Now known only as The Unknown Ones, their clerics and paladins are often of the same race. Though there are always exceptions to the rules. Domains are not set, except the domains of Death and Evil, which are restricted to The Unknown One Above All Evil.

What if,and just bare with me a second, skin Walkers are just changelings in desquise.

This week, in "Occupied Equestria":

Wondering through through the Changeling lands at night on the road between Bales and Whinnyapolis, Onyx, Brie, and Spark have stumbled upon a set of farm ponies trying to hide their cattle in the forest, away from their changeling occupiers. While rescuing a cow, Onyx and Brie have taken heavy damage, and so they followed them to the cabin of a local woodspony. But they found the woodspony and a farmer replaced by changelings, and after a skirmish are alone and wounded in the cabin in the woods.

Over in Baltimare, Dark Star has decided to give up his life as Dark Star, the Earth Pony farm colt, to become Tyrel Jackson, or "Gold Chains," a zebra and aspiring rap artist. Through the magic of Valmorification, it is possible. Iron is freaking out after possibly having received a message from God herself. That, and his usual social awkwardness. Silver is cashing out on a long standing set of projects, and is readying himself for the next phase

What is the best Rasberry Pi-based classic game console out there, and why?

I have been busy figuring out how to change different parts of this game to be pony related. While I was swapping pictures with whatever pictures I could run across first on my computer, I was wondering what else I could potentially do in terms of modding. The game's launcher has a link to a PDF about the way it processes txt files, making stat changes and AI behavior modifying relatively simple. I decided to mess with that just a little and also found that they have a tool that will access the files and give you neatly organized boxes to change the data with. I highly recommend it to anyone that is interested in playing the game.
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4030377

It isn't perfect as you have to still change a few things manually, such as if you add too many races you have to add more values and pictures in the main files to draw from and some values are 0 which must be at least 0.001 to get the game to run, but it is most definitely a huge timesaver. Just be sure to make a backup of your mod because if anything does go wrong, you may have to delete the whole mod folder to get the game back to a playable state, then you can copy the folder back in.

I then wanted to change a couple of other things like the background in the main menu, but that was baked into the .exe, so I looked for a solution in the forums there and found another mod which I will be using.
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4263783

This mod adds several tweaks to the game, some new features, and the ability to make your own background image. While I was at it, I found the WVM file for the starting cutscene and replaced it. I'm still looking for the right video to fit the feel of the game, but I can essentially change most everything in this game eventually.

But for now, this is a simple skin change of the races and a couple of stat changes while I was messing around... and a few to give me an unfair advantage. I'll make another thread as I figure this game out and work on the balancing of the races. I have only had time to flesh out the main Equestrian pony faction and the Zebras a little.

Getting into the game itself, there is a whole lot going on in the set up alone. I have set up a normal game, everything set to normal save the galaxy size, which is set to large. The galaxy is an elliptical shape with random star layout, as it is possible to load galaxy maps and even edit them in-game to design your own maps for play. We will stick with normal settings because I'm just getting used to everything after all. I also have it set so pirates will not respawn after they are destroyed. This is a blessing and a curse as pirate factions have a higher tech level than most at the start of the game, making them a huge threat to your empire, but they also can be neutral in conflicts, supplying your empire with smuggled goods, especially in times of trade blockades. This means if they are gone, I will have to fend for myself in trade wars. Colonization setting are also left untouched from the defaults.

I'll leave options up to suggestion as I come across them. Please feel free to tell me how to play better or to do something differently.

Set six years after season 6, Occupied Equestria presents an alternative history where the Changelings have conquered half of Equestria, while a former Equestrian colony - soured to Princess Twilight's notion of harmony with all creatures because of their encounters with griffins - Invaded and took the other half. In Baltimare and the Equestrian Southeast, the magic of friendship has weakened, as Communists, Changeling infiltrators, Fascists, gangs, and corrupt creepy politicians threaten the city. This role play is based in large part upon the Equestria at War mod for Hearts of Iron 4, and uses D&d 3.5e mechanics

Dark Star and Silver are preparing a task for the Civil Administration. Iron is drowning in a Lake. Brie has just gotten approval to speak with a Changeling agent about acting as a collaborator, and Spark is petting the weird cat things.

Lefties want games censored because anyone can make a game.
Let's collectively design a redpilled game.

I remember a thread where there was an adventure through the stars. The thrill of seeing what anon would stumble upon next, the engaging writing style, and the fun of shitposting all along the way.

I want to make this thread to summon the original anon of this adventure and to remember the fun with a new game. Stellaris anon, if you are out there, thank you and please come back to us.

Until then, I have set up several mods in hopes to make up for my lack of skill in this game: Ace Combat Music, Additional Traits (adds more positive and negative traits to pick for your species), Astronomical Emblem Pack (adds more items to make the empire flag with), Space German March Collection, Masters of Nature (gives the chance of extra events when clearing land to build on), Utopia Expanded 2.0+ (adds more interesting things to find like Dyson spheres and the like), Pony Mod, Pony Stuff, Pony's Magic Technology (adds unique research for major bonuses that are available for both the player and the AI) Pony OC, Deer Portraits, Ponies: The Music Pack, Ponies: The Voice Pack, Pony Loading Screens, and lastly Equus System (sets up part of the galaxy with more generated planets with names that might be something a pony would name).

With all of that, let's begin. I created the Solar Empire led by Daybreaker. The galaxy will feel the power of the sun! The pony race has a few characteristics to it: Conformists due to their loyalty to the throne and tend to be agreeable with a whole dedicated branch of the monarchy dedicated to find any arguments and resolve them, United for many of the same reasons, Sky Born due to Pegasi building cities in the sky, Slow Breeders due to the extremely long time it takes the fillies we know from the show to age at all, and Prodigal as the economy is run mainly on buying party supplies and apple products.

The monarchy is built on the foundations of Authoritarianism which allows for slavery of species, Militarism which has conditioned the populace to endure longer wars, and Spiritualism which can allow for the building of temples, declaring worlds as holy ground, and boosts our unity.

We also have the Civics of United Pony Monarchy which gives the leader a lifespan increase of an additional 10,000 years to simulate Alicorn lifespans and some boosts to trust gain among other empires and our own happiness, and Cuties Marks that give slight bonuses to gaining energy, materials, and research speed.

I also made some other empires that should make an appearance. It takes away some randomness, but ought to add some guaranteed encounters that will be entertaining as well as challenging.

Our starting situation is a bit peculiar with Equestria's moon being a fully habitable planet. There is also a nearby savannah planet called Lampos and an ocean world called Hippokampoi which is only moderately habitable. Science ship Lux is ready to explore nearby stars and I have set the construction ship Starforge to start building mines for material and energy. I will also try to make this game interactive where I will take the advice of anons that want me to explore a certain direction and colonize certain planets. I might dedicate separate starships to anons later on and we can check in on their own exploration.

I hope you will enjoy this little doomed adventure and may Stellaris anon bless us with his return.

We meme the team

post terrible pokemon teams