Retroactive Interpretation

Ok, so I finally figured out, over the course of a couple months of active posting, what my blog topic is going to be. Obvious to anyone who's been reading along, it is roleplay (primarily Dungeons & Dragons) and anime. By no means a new combination, but as I rarely combine the two I felt a little bit of explanation was in order.

For this explanation I point out the name of this blog; the Iron Wolf. Certainly the words making up the title have little in common. Wolves are commonly used as symbols of wildness and natural things, where iron is representative of civilization, technological progress and warfare. Even the banner for my wordpress blog expresses this contradiction.

But if you get creative enough it's easy to link the two. Iron can be used to make daggers which are sharp as wolves' teeth. Even my name, Lironah, contains both iron (in the spelling) and wolf (in the inception - Liro has always and ever will be tied to the wolves in some way). So let us equate the title of this blog with its content and claim it as intent, even though it was incedental, that both contain two different aspects of myself.

New Warlock Class Feature: Familiar

Warlocks with the Familiar class feature have bound a spirit into physical form. To select this class feature, you must give up the pact boon associated with your Eldritch Pact.

Familiar: You gain a familiar, its type determined by your Eldritch Pact. Its physical form may be anything from a tiny animal to a simple construct. The familiar is capable of whatever tasks its body is equipped for (i.e. a mole can dig, a bird can fly, a doll can walk around), and may range in size from a mouse to a small dog. It has no combat abilities and may not be targeted by an attack as long as it occupies the same space as its master. If it leaves this space, it may be attacked as normal; any damage taken returns it to its master's space.

FAMILIAR STATISTICS

• Ability Scores: Strength 6, Constitution 12, Dexterity 16, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 10, Charisma 12
• Size: Tiny
• Speed: 4 squares
• Defenses: AC 14 + level, Fortitude 10 + level, Reflex 14 + level, Will 10 + level
• Hit Points: 1
• Trained Skills: Perception, Stealth

Directing the familiar is usually a minor action. The familiar may move on its own to any distance, and may return to its master's square as a free action when directed or summoned. A familiar understands all languages its master speaks, and can communicate freely with its master, but not with others. It is intelligent and can execute complex commands such as using an item, but it must possess the necessary appendages for the task, and instructing it takes the same type of action as it would take a character to perform the action.

A familiar's level is always equal to yours, and its defenses improve with level. Its ability scores increase in the same way a player's do. A familiar always has low-light vision.

D&D 4E Monster Stat Template

@Name

@Level # @Elite/Solo @Role (Leader)

@Size @origin @type (@keywords)

XP #

Initiative +# Senses Perception +#; @other senses
@Aura aura #; @effect.
HP #; Bloodied #; see also @power reference
AC #; Fortitude #, Reflex #, Will #
Immune @immunity; Resist @resistance; Vulnerable @vulnerability
Saving Throws +#
Speed #, climb # (spider climb), fly # (altitude limit #, clumsy, clumsy grounded, hover), overland flight #, swim #
Action Points #

@Melee Basic (standard; at-will) @Keywords

Reach #; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Ranged Basic (action, recharge) @Keywords

Ranged #/#; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Melee (@action, @usability) @Keywords

Reach #; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Melee Recharge (@action; recharge ) @Keywords

Reach #; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Ranged (@action, @usability) @Keywords

Ranged #/#; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Ranged Recharge (@action; recharge ) @Keywords

Ranged #/#; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Close (@action, @usability) @Keywords

Close @blast/burst #size; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Close Recharge (@action; recharge ) @Keywords

Close @blast/burst #size; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Area (@action, @usability) @Keywords

Area @burst/wall #size within #range; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Area Recharge (@action; recharge ) @Keywords

Area @burst/wall #size within #range; +# vs. @Def; #d# + # @type damage, and @other.

@Continuous Effect

@Effect.

@Non-Attack Power (@action, usable only @; @usability)

@Effect.

@No Action, Triggered Effect (when @trigger)

@Effect.

Alignment @Alignment

Languages @Languages

Skills @Skillname +#

Str # (+#)

Dex # (+#)

Wis # (+#)

Con # (+#)

Int # (+#)

Cha # (+#)

Equipment @equipment

Here is a stat block template for displaying a monster from the new D&D 4th Edition Monster Manual, as presented in the SRD. Theoretically, this is a complete template, and thus contains more information than anyone should need for a single monster.

There's a few things I'm not quite satisfied with, as far as this template goes - some indentation issues I want to clean up, for example - but for the most part it should work for presenting any monster created by myself or my fellow gamers.

My next project is building CSS templates for each type of power; At-Will, Encounter and Daily. Mostly it's just busy work now; I've got all the presentation stuff figured out, including an annoying glitch which was shortening one of my images by 10 pixels every time I edited the content of the block. I'm still not sure what was causing it, but the fix is simple and seems to have done the trick.

Speaking of CSS and all that, my current theme is based on one I found over at Blogger Templates. It was a little too narrow for my uses originally, but it was much easier to edit than the standard template I started with, and adding a couple hundred pixels (just enough for this text right here, in fact) was a simple matter of trial and error. Then I just had to undo a few changes which adversely affected my monster template, such as extra line space and borders around each of my images. Nice in theory, but not very helpful.

My motivation for building this D&D monster template and others to come is a surprise for later; we'll just say they're part of a couple of much larger projects. For now we'll call it a successful test of CSS as well as a learning experience.

What's in a Name?

Have you ever noticed that when you're trying to do something creative, particularly a writing project, half the time seems to be spent just deciding what to name things?

Take this blog, for example. Before you ever write your first post, possibly before you even know what you're going to be blogging about, they make you choose a name. Somehow this name has to relate to whatever you intend to write about, encompass any future topics you might decide to expand into, and sound cool all at the same time. And the burden of choosing is forced upon while you sit staring at your monitor pondering your first post and wondering if you really have anything worthy of publishing for all the world to see.

Then, once you have your title, as wonderful and creative as it could be, you suddenly think to wonder whether somebody else might not have thought of it first.

Assuming your name is unique enough to be available, you then have another name to choose - the post itself. Sometimes this is easy enough to come by, or it comes to you during the process of writing your post, but other times it feels like pulling teeth to come up with something meaningful and yet still original. Then there's the pressure to finish and post before your browser decides to forget who you are and dump all your hard work.

Of course, you could always decide to put off naming things like your NPC's and cities and World of Warcraft pets, hoping that just the right name manages to come to you before crunch time, before you're forced to name the recurring NPC Reggie just to get your friends off your back. Or you could pick a throw-away name, only to realize later that everybody you want to talk to knows you by a screen name that you never liked in the first place.

They should have a Cool Name Generator for all those of us whose writing is inhibited by the search for the perfect name. It needs to be able to simultaneously look up every related wikipedia page, scan every foreign language dictionary, filter through all those baby name websites, and read your mind. Then you can just push a button and DING! instant name!

Now, what was I blogging about again?