Friendship is Dragons
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Page 993 - New Placemats
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43 Comments:
*adjusts monocle*
The hardest trick of any GM in building a reoccurring villain is how to have them meet the players without getting killed in the encounter. You could have minions stand in for the villain, or have the BBEG call the players by phone or magic spell, but there's just no presence like having the villain show up for a civil chat. On the other hand, players tend not to be civil toward BBEGs.
I find that for certain types of BBEGs, you can try setting the meeting someplace public, where a show of violence on the PCs part is only going to make them look bad. Can work well if the BBEG isn't publicly known to be evil (or wanted by the local authority).
One of my favorite BBEGs was from Shadowrun, a former Johnson turn traitor who would on occasion invite the players to dinner at a very fancy (and well policed) restaurant just to gloat. He even pays for the meal! Players eventually stopped showing up because they couldn't stand it. XD
#67B takes on some new dimensions in a world where pegasi are a character race. On the one hand, the PCs can more easily confirm the BBEG's survival. On the other, he can have henchman waiting with an air chariot.
And then the villain cast quickened polymorph and flew away in hawk form. The egg on the player's faces was epic.
(bonus lol: auto-correct thought I meant ponymorph)
Let's not forget, he's also a unicorn. He may also be able to cast teleportation magic as well.
I operate strictly on the 'no body, didn't happen' approach to boss recurrence.
And sometimes the boss is a warforged or similar artificial lifeform, which I can make more dynamic by giving them upgrades to compensate for the horrible injuries the PCs inflicted in their last encounter.
(For the record, I was doing this LONG before 'Shadow of Mordor' and its ORCS THAT WILL NOT DIE.)
And sometimes the boss is a warforged or similar artificial lifeform, which I can make more dynamic by giving them upgrades to compensate for the horrible injuries the PCs inflicted in their last encounter.
(For the record, I was doing this LONG before 'Shadow of Mordor' and its ORCS THAT WILL NOT DIE.)
@Digo: A team of shadowrunners who have that much time to plot and can't pull off a public assassination are barely deserving of the title.
Although I will admit, if they couldn't kill him, most of my characters would stop showing up too. They can buy their own fancy meals, thank you very much.
Although I will admit, if they couldn't kill him, most of my characters would stop showing up too. They can buy their own fancy meals, thank you very much.
One thing I will admit to as a GM is that I will cheat when it comes to having mastermind and tactical genius type BBEGs escape. I simply declare that whatever happened was planned for or actually controlled by the guy who is way smarter and/or far better at tactics than I ever could be.
That said, one BBEG escape I want to use is for an elderly Pathfinder Psychic that the players will think that they defeated at ~10th level. Sure, they killed the cult leader and rescued the young noble that was going to be sacrificed.
Or rather, they killed the _body_ of the cult leader and rescued the _body_ of the young noble. How were the PCs to know that the cult leader was of much higher level than they thought and their rescue was a convenient way of getting his new body, (acquired by Major Mind Swap just before the PCs broke into the sanctum), into society without suspicion.
That said, one BBEG escape I want to use is for an elderly Pathfinder Psychic that the players will think that they defeated at ~10th level. Sure, they killed the cult leader and rescued the young noble that was going to be sacrificed.
Or rather, they killed the _body_ of the cult leader and rescued the _body_ of the young noble. How were the PCs to know that the cult leader was of much higher level than they thought and their rescue was a convenient way of getting his new body, (acquired by Major Mind Swap just before the PCs broke into the sanctum), into society without suspicion.
The BBEG had a sidekick, a large sentient snail by the name of Escamon, who (for irony's sake) had super speed. Partway through the campaign, the PCs got the boss - but Escamon got away, and kept trying to pull off his adored boss's plan, more competently than the boss had. His catch phrase, every time the PCs tried to trap him: "Escamon, escape!"
Yeah, the BBEGs always have a plan to escape, that's their shtick. Though as much as I would love to have Elusive come back as a returning villain with so few scenes with Blue Blood it's unlikely.
About the only way to keep him around would have him become the 'man behind the man' for everything but never come out of the shadows, or go the Blofeld route and having him change his face every time they encounter him.
And I just realized that would mean that Elusive is really Chrysalis.
About the only way to keep him around would have him become the 'man behind the man' for everything but never come out of the shadows, or go the Blofeld route and having him change his face every time they encounter him.
And I just realized that would mean that Elusive is really Chrysalis.
It would make sense that Elusive was Chrysalis. I suspected it all the way back when the animals were saying there were all sorts of suspicious ponies traveling in and out of Elusive's rooms. Sure it could be thieves, but the way the scene was played up, I realized it could be Chrysalis ponies as well.
So yes, that would be a way to make Elusive a recurring villain, and if so, it would be epic! :)
So yes, that would be a way to make Elusive a recurring villain, and if so, it would be epic! :)
Not showing up basically just seals the victory for the BBEG by default.
They shoulda at least gone and stuffed their faces so they'd be full for like, maybe a week. Maybe try to stick it to the BBEG by doing it with caviar and the most expensive foods.
Still. I like your GMing style, lol.
For once, I'm glad I rolled a one.
Ever said that before?
Ever said that before?
I seriously don't understand how people can identify me that easily... all I do is play paper dolls with body parts sourced directly from screenshots. Is it something to do with the proportions (since all of the pieces come from DIFFERENT shots and I size-match them by comparing line weights)?
Not if my current view counts are anything to go by. My pages used to get up to 3000 views clicking through from EqD and now I'm lucky to break a thousand :(
Still, you do great work on these panels. They have good posing and layout to work with the text.
All those film theory classes finally paying off, I guess :)
Though I'd also go as far as to argue that MLP animation fans are exceptionally more eagle-eyed than your average animation fan, and that's not necessarily a compliment to them.
I wouldn't necessarily give them that dubious honor, given the number of threads I've seen on anime review sites complaining about tiny things in one studio or another's animation style that I would never have noticed, but which apparently make them the Worst. Thing. Ever.
The one thing common to every fandom is hyperbole.
The one thing common to every fandom is hyperbole.
I've yet to pull the paper doll trick with screenshots, but I've done the same with original art by other people that I was working with but didn't want to bother (I can't really draw myself). I had wondered if anyone else had thought of that trick, as it seemed both obvious and under-used. :P
I did suspect there was some vectoring copy-paste going on as most of the styles looked like they were actual show art artfully rearranged.
I did suspect there was some vectoring copy-paste going on as most of the styles looked like they were actual show art artfully rearranged.
The accuracy of some of my vectors may be impeded by the resolution of the screenshot I took them from.
For the most part, whenever I need a new body part or face, I do a Google image search for "MLP (desired pose or expression)" and pick the best-quality screenshot I can find, trace just the part I need, and then set the line weight to 6 pixels and resize the vector and the original screenshot together until the lines are about the same size. Unfortunately, sometimes I get a really good source image and sometimes the only one I can find is really tiny or has terrible compression (and finding shots from certain angles is nigh-impossible - front and rear views are particularly troublesome).
For this, I needed to color-match the clothing to the video source used for the rest of the screenshots anyway, so I actually used the color-corrected video file instead of Google for once.
For the most part, whenever I need a new body part or face, I do a Google image search for "MLP (desired pose or expression)" and pick the best-quality screenshot I can find, trace just the part I need, and then set the line weight to 6 pixels and resize the vector and the original screenshot together until the lines are about the same size. Unfortunately, sometimes I get a really good source image and sometimes the only one I can find is really tiny or has terrible compression (and finding shots from certain angles is nigh-impossible - front and rear views are particularly troublesome).
For this, I needed to color-match the clothing to the video source used for the rest of the screenshots anyway, so I actually used the color-corrected video file instead of Google for once.
A lot of it's the facial expressions. I clearly recalled a few from last page that I previously saw a few times on <i>Star Mares</i>.
Also, artists just tend to have a distinctive style. It's a bit like how you can tell the difference between a Rolling Stones and Doors song, or between a piece by Bach or Mozart, after just a second or two of listening.
Also, artists just tend to have a distinctive style. It's a bit like how you can tell the difference between a Rolling Stones and Doors song, or between a piece by Bach or Mozart, after just a second or two of listening.
RAWs for this page available here: http://fav.me/dbvb8sv
I'm sure those grappling hooks are just part of the scenery...
Well, it IS a thief's balcony. They just accent the style of the wrought iron railings so well.
That said, the climactic moment the job was built around seems to have worked well.
Ahh, the classic "trapped, but not really" trope. Gonna play it straight, I wonder, or some form of subversion?
You know what would really be a subversion? If he jumps over in an attempt to escape, but screws it up somehow and actually jumps to his death. Won't happen, of course; good villains are hard for a GM to make, while good PCs are up to the players to make. Always the Law of Least Work Possible. ;p
You know what would really be a subversion? If he jumps over in an attempt to escape, but screws it up somehow and actually jumps to his death. Won't happen, of course; good villains are hard for a GM to make, while good PCs are up to the players to make. Always the Law of Least Work Possible. ;p
I really feel like they did a wonderful job here from the work shown! You don't suppose you'd be willing to let them make more comic pages like this for your story would you?
Man, this is turning out to be rather epic! Great job guys, get hype!
PS; OOoooo, so this is why Star Mares slowed down! Way cool!
PS; OOoooo, so this is why Star Mares slowed down! Way cool!
Actually it was because my workplace moved across town :) And I also edit RPG books for an indie publisher and needed to catch up on my backlog for them. And also each page became more complicated and I couldn't keep up the every-other-day pace.
This project only took about three weeks altogether.
This project only took about three weeks altogether.
@ChrisTheS: Editing RPG books you say? You got any examples of your previous work?
Holy, you're a busy-busy man Chris!
Aaaa, well I gotta admit that I was checking FiD more frequently than Star Mares. Still enjoy the hell out of both works!
Also, 'This project only took about three weeks'... Man, I wish I could say that about anything. xD
Aaaa, well I gotta admit that I was checking FiD more frequently than Star Mares. Still enjoy the hell out of both works!
Also, 'This project only took about three weeks'... Man, I wish I could say that about anything. xD
I wanted this episode, along with this grand overarching plot, to end in a certain way that screencaps of the show simply cannot carry. And the only way that could happen without changing mediums entirely was if someone could make "fake" screencaps in the style of the show, right? A tall order.
As the clock ticked down, I remembered ChrisTheS of Star Mares and his several guest comics. So I contacted him again starting in late June, and now here we are.
What saddens me a bit is that I'm only using a portion of this art and covering the rest up with word balloons. Thankfully, it looks like ChrisTheS is posting the full-size raw sequences for each comic if you want to follow his deviantART account and check them out.
On top of all that, there's a ton of Dusk City Outlaws/Tales of New Dunhaven content to push out this week! First up is a session that I managed to find someone else to run.
Tales of New Dunhaven Session 9 - The Castle Antidote Job: Libsyn YouTube