I ended up taking Devil Drill Beam for my free mana shape. It was the OG, the very first shape I’d ever learned, and couldn’t be replicated through the codified shapes on our list without using at least two of them. So, it was a two-for-one.
DDB turned any ‘touch’ skill into a thirty-foot beam that went straight through all obstacles. Oblivion Orb was my only touch skill, making the shape less versatile than most of the others I knew, but since I could slap it onto my hammers an...
2025-03-23 15:37:30 +0000 UTC
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a/n: No matter what I try, Patreon strips my formatting when I copy+paste. I already struggled mightily with getting this chapter edited due to an inordinate number of interruptions and have something I have to take care of, so rather than delaying pubbing yet again (since it takes me like half an hour to hunt for all my italics and shit) I'm just putting it out. The attached PDF and epub should have the appropriate formatting, so if you'd like to read it as gawd intended, it's there for ya. ...
2025-03-21 18:23:27 +0000 UTC
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***
SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY: USER NAME [Ruler 4]
ADDENDUM NOTE: There was a comment here. It’s gone now.
***
Her Royal Highness Princess Ishi of the Silver Lounge was having an intriguing sort of day. She’d had the privilege of overseeing the evaluations of new Dimensional applicants to the club for some years now, ever since her mother had decided that her daughter was capable enough to se...
2025-03-18 19:25:34 +0000 UTC
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The body of Nuralie’s new Mecha was formed from a set of Zng armor. The dark color naturally lent itself to stealth work in dim environments, and Nuralie had augmented it with a variety of deep forest hues. She could make the coloring adaptive once she got her hands on the appropriate essence.
For the internal components, she used a combination of hardware to scrape together a chassis, finding sufficient materials between the Zng parts, her trapping supplies, and the other odds and en...
2025-03-17 17:04:19 +0000 UTC
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As with many of Nuralie’s problems, the solution involved math.
Before deciding on the best delivery system for her toxins, Nuralie first needed to make sure she could actually kill the Domininth. A quarter million health was quite a lot, and it was slowly ticking ever higher with each hour that passed. Nuralie wasn’t one to rush, however, so she focused on the problem with the same patience and attentiveness as she normally would.
Her best soul toxin had a base Toxicity value...
2025-03-17 00:16:07 +0000 UTC
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The Asimanth were taking their prey to some kind of… thing.
Nuralie didn’t have a good frame of reference for it. This problem was compounded by her inability to get close to the ‘thing’.
Nuralie had started experiencing the same spiritual divergence that the rest of the forest was undergoing once she got within a mile of the distant mass of gleaming silver and bone. Her divergence wasn’t so extreme as what she’d observed in the rest of the forest, but the sensation of...
2025-03-15 03:24:31 +0000 UTC
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Each piece of jewelry Hep had passed to Varrin was simple, but their effects vastly outstripped their requirements. These were a different sort of treasure, precious for how easily they could be worn.
Blackthorn Ring of the Dark
Requirements: INT 10, LCK 10, Reconnaissance
+20 Mystical DR
+20 Divine DR
Your Darkvision range is increased by 30 feet.
You may ca...
2025-03-13 07:04:24 +0000 UTC
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The pair clashed through the air and sent new plumes of ash reaching for the sky when they landed. Varrin recovered quickly, standing to meet Hep, but found another bolt of lightning instead. It bucked Varrin’s chest like a ten-thousand pound horse, sending the man skipping back across the terrain, followed by orbs of flame that detonated all around him. When Varrin recovered, he realized that Kazandak was gone.
Hep swung his blade, deflecting and parrying attacks from Varrin’s seco...
2025-03-10 20:20:26 +0000 UTC
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Your Physical Magic skill has increased to Level 29!
Varrin hadn’t used any skills during Hep’s ‘introduction’ but Bleeding was based in the Physical school, and he had many bonuses to that. The Dungeon was generous with its skillups, it seemed.
Varrin dismissed the notification and toggled them off. He didn’t want even a small glimmer in the corner of his eye distracting him.
Hep evaluated him for a beat, then shifted his sword so that it was agai...
2025-03-10 14:29:55 +0000 UTC
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***
SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY: USER NAME [Ruler 2]
ADDENDUM NOTE: Despite receiving multiple warnings that this is an inappropriate use of the System Addendum feature, Ruler 3 has requested that a complaint be logged concerning Ruler 2’s testing of the Physical petitioner. This request has been denied. Ruler 2 has requested the addition of the following text, which he claims is unrelated to Ruler 3’s request: “Get fucked.”<...
2025-03-09 05:05:20 +0000 UTC
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Hey folks!
I haven't perished or slipped into a coma, I've just been a zombie for a few days.
Our peak after the book 1 launch ended up being 622, which is pretty fucking great, and I cannot believe how well everything went. I was also really pleased with how the audiobook turned out and that it's also doing so well. It was a lot of fun hearing how Daniel Wisniewski interpreted the characters. Once again THANK YOU for doing so much to support the launch, and for all the really hea...
2025-03-08 13:25:45 +0000 UTC
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After two stone-shattering bounces, I managed to control my trajectory with Gracorvus, using its flight ability to bleed momentum as rapidly as I could. I’d lost about a third of the speed while using my entire body as an emergency brake, so a few seconds of deceleration with the shield let me hit the ground running and come to a stop on my own.
I glanced at my health. I’d taken about fifty damage from the impact, which wasn’t bad at all. There hadn’t been any magic behind it, s...
2025-03-04 23:43:27 +0000 UTC
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My first move was to get more information about the space I’d somehow gotten stuck in. I hadn’t been teleported, since my Extradimensional Entity subrace would have tried to stop it. I should have at least gotten a notification. Given that this was a Dimensional Dungeon, it was possible that we’d walked into it. Everyone else had probably been teleported away from me, rather than the opposite.
Dungeons were something new in System phase two, but we hadn’t run into one y...
2025-03-04 17:45:04 +0000 UTC
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Patrons, friends, colleagues, co-conspirators, the day is upon us.
The dark rituals are complete. The blood gods have been appeased. My tentacles ache from the ceaseless keyboard hammering.
Book 1 of Mage Tank is live on Amazon Kindle, KU, and Audible.
>>AMAZON/KINDLE LINK OF BEARDED MAGNIFICENCE<<
>>2025-03-04 14:23:00 +0000 UTC
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I'll have another post tomorrow, with links and stuff, but I wanted to let you all know that I've got some bonuses lined up for launch day.
If you've been on the Royal Road page recently you may have seen these. Patreon will also share in these rewards, so if you saw that list already don’t worry, you folks aren’t going to get left out.
Here’s that list: (Based on Amazon Best Sellers Rank)
LAUNCH DAY RANK REWARDS
TOP 10K - BONUS C...
2025-03-04 02:07:25 +0000 UTC
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“Etja’s Spiritual and Mystical defenses are probably better than mine now,” I shouted up at Varrin. We were blasting through the frigid winter wonderland once more. I was wearing thicker socks this time, but my toes were still going numb.
Varrin grunted in response. I was only able to hear him because Wisdom gave a big bump to my senses. It was an inquisitive sort of grunt. I interpreted it as “Okay, and?”
“I mean, my Physical defense is definitely better,” I continu...
2025-03-03 20:41:06 +0000 UTC
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The week passed without incident. My idea for a smithy wasn’t anything new, and I’d commissioned the materials months beforehand. It was a quick jaunt over to Eschangal to pick all of it up and stuff it into the Closet via my inventory screen. By the time I was done, everyone at the workshop had stopped their projects to stare at me while I lifted thousands of pounds of metal one piece at a time, only for it to disappear.
I said hi to Zenithar Zura along the way, who’d been meetin...
2025-03-03 07:47:09 +0000 UTC
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[The rifle’s spell is curious. It is designed to maximize mana efficiency and penetration with the trade-off of doing very little actual damage.]
Vaulty stepped forward, the hulking golem’s legs clanking against the ground.
“The spell is called Break,” said the golem. “It bypasses most defenses and deals a small amount of Spatial damage. It is designed for use in swarm-style tactics. A large group of weaker individuals can destroy a...
2025-03-03 01:04:58 +0000 UTC
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Hey there!
We finally have a beta release for the TTRPG system. This system was primarily developed by Sir Raiu Koren while I ran support. It's the inverse of how we work on the books, so it's some proper symbiosis we've got going on here.
Attached to this post you should find 5 things:
1) The Delver System Core Rulebook v0.1, which contains the game's primary mechanics for both players and game masters.
2) Delver System - Crafting Items & Enemies v0.1, which detai...
2025-03-01 01:57:32 +0000 UTC
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MT 241 - Liquor and Stolen Goods
Hysteria’s manipulations of Joma’s soul would encourage her sense of injustice, her outrage at inequity. There was a simmering disgust at organized religion that had been set to boil over, alongside a powerful thread of anarchist rage at the abuse of power structures.
However, what stood out most was that there was one set of relationships that didn’t embolden itself with the past trauma. In fact, it was a bastion of solace against it....
2025-02-26 18:34:39 +0000 UTC
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Howdy everyone!
We’ve got ONE WEEK until book 1 launches on Amazon/Kindle/Audible!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGW4XTDH
Everybody here has already done a ton to support the work and we would never have made it to this point without you. You have our deepest gratitude for being here.
For launch day, rank is a huge driver of visibility, so every sale and download goes a long way toward...
2025-02-25 20:43:27 +0000 UTC
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MT 240 - Prison Princess
Joma recovered from Nottagator’s tail whip by landing feet-first against the wall and springing back towards the creature. The Atrocidile juked to one side, but Joma twisted and her trajectory changed in mid-air. Nottagator’s head appeared to multiply as Joma approached, and as she fired off several rapid punches, the heads collapsed back into a single instance, having avoided every blow.
Nottagator shot forward to strike Joma with its skull. Jo...
2025-02-25 07:50:54 +0000 UTC
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MT 239 - Godslayer
I’d begun to brush up against the Revelation of the Eye’s Embrace during my wrangling of the Hysteria fragment. Xim had told me years ago that Embrace would allow me to pull people into a world of my own creation, but my recent insights led me to believe that was a flawed interpretation. Pulling people into a personal world was more or less what Xim’s dreamscape did. Embrace seemed more about exerting authority over another person’s soul, but that idea ...
2025-02-24 15:52:46 +0000 UTC
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MT 238 - Mind Control Builds Your Character (sheet)
Xim and I spent three weeks in the Third Layer, hanging with her folks, participating in revels with the village, and having some heart-to-hearts over our shared experiences. The soul damage left by Hysteria faded throughout, and our moods continually improved with every hour that passed.
My own damage was greater since I’d had the influence cut and burned from my soul, whereas everyone else’s changes unraveled over the...
2025-02-20 14:40:30 +0000 UTC
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*****
SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY USER NAME: [Supreme General Diathemon Tyrianaeonis]
ADDENDUM NOTE: Imperative #2 - The System shall ensure its own survival.
*****
Diathemon went still, reviewing their shared sessions in his mind. “You have drained Hysteria of much mana. I have seen you extract at least one void sphere, but if you sought only wealth from your sibling’s blood, I would think you’d have decl...
2025-02-17 16:00:14 +0000 UTC
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*****
SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY USER NAME: [Supreme General Diathemon Tyrianaeonis]
ADDENDUM NOTE: Imperative #1 - The System shall enable Delvers to ascend through the best means available.
*****
General Diathemon looked over the expansive field where a legion of his soldiers ran mobility drills. The Elder Lich studied their movements, pleased at the superhuman displays of speed and agility. He brought up a d...
2025-02-17 14:38:31 +0000 UTC
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MT 235 - Soul Carving
I felt cold water on my face and realized that Nuralie had thrown something at me. I opened my eyes and glanced at her, then down at the rag she’d tossed. It smelled like spice and peppermint. I took a deep breath of the aroma, feeling my mind clear and realizing I’d almost fallen for a trap.
The fragment was chagrined, and we laughed it off. Then I continued to strip it of its identity, gnashing it between my teeth.
My mind wheeled through a...
2025-02-14 23:28:16 +0000 UTC
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MT 234 - Dreamscape Ritual
Xim rarely got to dive deeply into theological matters with the full party. She and Nuralie had frequent discussions on the topic, and Etja got involved from time to time, but Varrin and I lacked the depth of knowledge they had and weren’t generally looking to attend any sermons.
Not to say that Xim was preachy–far from it–and the following discussion reflected that. She stuck to the concepts that related to our task, focusing on the p...
2025-02-10 12:00:14 +0000 UTC
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MT 233 - Gatekeeping
After accepting the Heavenly Gates evolution, the world went black.
Not entirely unexpected.
I felt a tugging in my chest, like someone had applied a local anesthetic and was opening me up. A presence washed over me, a shadow seen through closed eyes. A jolt of static pulsed through my veins as a connection was made. Minutes passed while I felt these strange sensations.
I was taken by emotions that weren’t my own. I bent a rule to enforce ...
2025-02-09 14:53:05 +0000 UTC
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Hello there,
So it turns out my hands being really sensitive to strain and injury wasn't totally from holding my phone weird and typing a lot, but also because it was a forerunner for a flare up of an inflammatory disorder I have. I have meds to manage it, and flare ups are usually minor but this one is coming at me like I left its daughter at the altar or something, I dunno.
Started with the hands then went everywhere else. Life is basically bed and brain fog right now. Understa...
2025-02-06 12:48:54 +0000 UTC
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