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AnimeFreak40K β Temple Knight
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Published: 2009-06-17 00:23:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 1854; Favourites: 20; Downloads: 78
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Description
It's been awhile now, but the D&D game I was playing in for 3.5 Edition has ended with all of the characters actually managing to get to 21st level alive (as in, none of the PCs died once) in the terribly brutal (and optional) Wounds/Vitality and Adjusted AC mechanics.For those that don't know (and may care), the Wounds/Vitality system and how weapons do damage (especially on a critical hit) is very VERY deadly...as in even your hotshot upteenth level fighter can be killed in one hit by a CR 6 Orc. To help facilitate this, the Adjusted AC mechanics took the armor bonus from armor and split into two values equally with one being a bonus to AC, and the other Damage Reduction. Helpful in that any hit sent against you was reduced by a little bit...but worthless if the bad guy lands a crit.
Anyway, this is a pic of Azrael Kezef in his full suit of armor at the end of the campaign (and into the current campaign as well, though he will be an NPC). Long story short, he ended up being in command of a secret order that was established a long time ago to protect the legacy of the High King of the lands, called the Order of the Black Rose.
The overall design is the logical conclusion of the older version ( [link] ), as Azrael had taken to carving his exploits and history onto his armor.
The sword has not gone through many significant changes other than it becoming more powerful as he grew in power...and he eventually named it Scharfrichter der SchwΓ€rzung, or Executioner of Darkness. Why the German name? Well, the GM set the world in a celtic/norse setting and he said that a Germanic name would be appropriate. Why the name in particular? Because Azrael had this nasty habit of finding the big-bad guys in any conflict and, well, putting an end to them in a suitably dramatic and painful manner.
...though why Azrael was "gifted" with the name of something from the Middle East instead of a Germanic one is quite simple. He was named based on the being that brought him into existence. Yeah, that's right, towards the end of the campaign, the GM revealed that Azrael, the Angel of Death, was imprisoned by some really nasty evil beings in their plans to pretty much wreck the world. With no way to escape, the Angel of Death made a last-ditch effort for freedom and pretty much willed Azrael Kezef into being with the hopes that the human would one day free him. We did...and it was epic.
Yeah, we all were pretty much floored by that big reveal. The only one that topped that (I think) was that the wizard that we had been going to for assistance all too often turned out to be the big-bad from the very beginning...who was really this epic-level Red Dragon of doom.
...Azrael kicked his ass too...
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Comments: 16
That is an awesome fucking design. With the writing all over the armor.
And how the hell do you all stay on task long enough to reach those kind of levels? My groups all dissolved after one or two games.
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Thanks ^_^
I'll be honest, most of the so-called campaigns that I've been in haven't lasted more than 5 or 6 sessions. However, I managed to find a good gaming group and before set down anything for long-term, we get together and find out what each of us expects out of the GM and what the GM expects out of us. We walk into a game fully understanding what we expect out of each other and what we can expect to get out of the game as well.
Then there is the fact that most of us are fairly "mature" gamers and we actually expect more or less long-term campaigns, except when we decide that we want something short-term instead.
Either way though, we start with this knowledge even before rolling characters. This way everyone, even the players, has some sort of plan, concept and idea of what they want to do with the game and where they want to take their characters.
...oh, and very few of us could be considered "hard core gamers". I consider myself more of a casual gamer...but there are a couple of folks who are even more casual than I am too.
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Well that sharply contrasts my experience with RP games.
We all show up, two or three people fuck off and make jokes and piss the GM off. I roll my eyes a bunch and then we don't meet up a second time.
Aaahhhh wellll XD
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Wow... that... sucks.
You need to find yourself a good gaming group
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ieeeee!!!! cool
must of been anoying to draw though
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The hardest part was the runic script on the tabard, cape and sword. I had to find the right font the GM used and go from there.
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lol cool how long did it take?
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No bloody clue
I worked off and on for about a week on this, suffering through more than a couple of 'restarts' where I just had to toss everything out because it didn't look right.
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lol alight den keep up the good work
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I'll do what I can ^_^
...no promises though...
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repairing damage to that armor would be a big bad biatch, especially trying to re-scribe the story on any specific piece
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Yes... yes it would. Even though the suit ended up getting enchanted later, maintenance was a bit of a pain.
But that was actually part of the concept too as maintaining the armor was part of his daily rituals and whatnot, and replacing armored plating did not necessarily mean lost history, but rather a place to continue.
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interesting, so instead of rewriting some of the same stuff, he would use the replacement plates as new "pages" for what some might consider his memoirs?
most interesting
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Pretty much. Also prayers and similar rituals are also written upon the armor as well.
I played Azrael as a very religious man...to the point of being the "perfect" paladin. Unfortunately, due to his righteous zeal he tended to follow the letter of whatever was handed down by the Church rather than the intent or spirit. This is, of course, counter to what a Paladin is, so he was always just out of reach of attaining that level heroism.
A good example of this would be to look at the typical Warhammer 40K Space Marine, specifically the Black Templar chapter...especially as they served as an inspiration for both his attitude, zeal and his armor design. Space Marines are utterly fearless and are wielded like a sledgehammer against an opposing force. Nobody calls upon the Space Marines for anything unless they are willing to deal with pretty much everything (and anyone in their way) being burned to the ground.
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or to reference the movie "The Siege" a broad sword compared to a scalpel
so basically he was overkill to most situations. more of a tool of religious fervor than a true holy warrior, correct?
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Never seen The Siege...
And yeah that was about it...fortunately the Church he worked for were good guys through and through. He eventually did become more of a holy warrior, but that was an evolution through character development though.
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