Nightmare Moon: Oh, my beloved subjects! It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious little sun-loving faces.
Pinkie Pie: Hey, maybe Diplomacy can help! <roll> Oh, natural 1.
DM: You start calling Nightmare Moon names. Queen Meanie, Black Snooty…
Applejack: I shove some food into Pinkie Pie’s mouth.
DM: While you’re…?
Applejack: Yes.
Rarity: Well…! This is fairly calm for a hostile takeover. No minions or armies?
Nightmare Moon: There is no need. Without your precious Princess of the Sun, nothing can stand against me!
Nightmare Moon: Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night… will last… FOREVER!
Rainbow Dash: Boo! The night sucks!
Nightmare Moon: I- what- WHO SAID THAT?! WE SHALL SMITE THE PONY WHO SAID THAT!!
The threat of Nightmare Moon is an unusual one. Not bad, just unusual.
Most villains are threatening because they have yet to fully achieve their plan, but everyone wants to keep them from winning. Nightmare Moon, by comparison, apparently completes her goal within seconds of escaping from the moon. She just shows up and instantly claims victory.
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Selective use of the Royal Canterlot Voice?
Now headcanon, thanks.
Similar things tended to happen to the group I play with, although the scenarios don't involve ponies.
"We'll show you that dragons are inferior!" [gets punched by dragonborn party member for 1d4 and falls through a trapdoor]
I never cared much for smite attacks. 1d6 extra damage just doesnt cut it for me in most cases. Only reason I have ever played a paladin was to run around saying "Lawful good is lawful great!"
But this imposes the question for teh night pony, is she rocking a few blackguard levels and looking to actually smite good or is she just just tossing the word smite out there in place of another synonym such as destroy or decimate?
Royals do more than just rule the country. They represent the country; they ARE the country. And since countries usually consist of more than one person, royals use 'we' when speaking to remind the listener that when the King or Queen speaks s/he speaks for ALL.
Actually, use of the Royal We when a nobleperson is speaking of themselves in the modern era is generally traced to the various Louis of France. They used We to refer to themselves and God, a not-so-subtle reminder that they supposedly ruled by divine right.
This theory is not uncontested, however. Others believe the modern origin comes from Queen Victoria's England, where We was used to refer to the Queen and the royal household, on the assumption that no-one in the royal circle would dare disagree with their ruler.
In either case, other nobles began copying the trend as a way to make themselves seem more regal, and it's stuck around (albeit mostly as a joke these days) ever since.
In Denmark (where I am originally from, I am now living in Sweden), the "Royal We" does indeed refer to the whole of the Danish people. I.e. when the queen speaks, she speaks for the people of Denmark.
On the plus side, she is quite humble and friendly.
Playing mind games with the players is fun. There was one time when my group's DM admitted that he was planning to send the players into Valhalla for three hours or so a la Final Fantasy VI. The reason that didn't happen was because the players brought up perfectly valid points against the villain's plan to banish them ("If the tower doesn't exist, then what's the harm in letting us look for it? By your own admission, we're clearly insane/delusional and should therefore be kept away from society SOMEHOW").
I say "the players" but I wasn't really included because I was the Pinkie Pie in that session. Lucky One is the best homebrew class.
Applejack once more shows her wisdom in dealing with the situation. Why isn't her Wisdom 13 like I suggested? She clearly is above average in that attribute.
I think thats more due to the player PLAYING Applejack rather than the character themselves.
I know a few players like that. They're bros, and usually seasoned and helpful in a teamwork/everyone gets what they want sense, but they get really exasperated by some of the more action-focused and non-planning characters really easy. You gotta watch out as the nerves on those players start to shorten, though.
Which is really to say something about the Dwarf Fighter with 8 Int sketching out battle-plans for a 300 mile ground assault to effectively shutdown the enemy encampment in one fell swoop
Huh, the use of the traditional Canterlot voice might mean that "Luna" takes control whenever NMM gets angry. Whether that is an advantage for the ponies are not has yet to be seen.
Sad thing is, even after NMM smites the guards, RD will still try to chase her if it follows the show). No self-preservation instinct whatsoever.
Rarity raises a good point, though. Nightmare Moon may have banished Princess Celestia to the sun, and is now in complete control over the sky and hence the ecosystem, but she doesn't try to do any, y'know, ruling. She seems to spend her entire time in the episode lurking in the Everfree Forest trying to stop the mane cast from getting the Elements of Harmony. Which is a good idea, but you'd think she'd actually make an appearance at Canterlot and establish herself as the new Queen.
Preventing the heroes from getting the ONE THING that banished you last time is still the logical thing to do. She can always go to Canterlot afterward to claim her throne, since nopony else has the power to oppose her once the Elements are taken care of.
Which is pretty ironic considering trying to stop the girls from finding the elements is basically how Twilight figured out they represented the elements in the first place.
If she had just hung out in Canterlot twilight would just be lugging around five useless stone orbs with no idea how to use them.
Who said that? Who the **** said that?!? Who's the slimy little communist manure twinkle-hooved filly-fooler down there who just signed her own death warrant?
All the ponies fail their SAN checks at one time or another. Keeping everything from blowing up is a cooperative effort to ensure that at least some of them remain sane at any given point.
What's really impressive, though, is that they can go completely off their rockers despite D&D not having a sanity mechanic.
Why would you want a SAN mechanic in D&D? Last time I was in a Cthulhu game, someone blew their SAN check in a graveyard, panic-fired with an automatic shotgun, and killed the party!
Sanity is relative. The last thing you want to do is invent rules that railroad it... unless you *want* the PC's to have multiple backup characters ready.
Didn't you just answer your own question?
That story is A)hilarious
and B) true to the source material for Lovecraft.
Plus, in D&D pre-fourth, resurrections aren't that hard to get.
Oh look, taunting the main villain while she's making a speech... why does that seem familiar?
*does it ALL the time*
TAUNT AND INTERRUPT ALL VILLAIN MONOLOGUE!!! (because we can)
Most villains are threatening because they have yet to fully achieve their plan, but everyone wants to keep them from winning. Nightmare Moon, by comparison, apparently completes her goal within seconds of escaping from the moon. She just shows up and instantly claims victory.