Author Topic: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!  (Read 4330 times)

Offline ImperatorK

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[3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« on: March 24, 2013, 07:40:48 PM »
I'm making a character that is supposed to be a D&D-ish magical version of a DJ. Thus I'm looking for suggestions on what classes, spells, tricks, items, etc. to use and how to best use them. I don't know much about DJing, so any ideas for cool tricks and effects you could make to create that DJ-ish feel and enhance the character's performances would be appreciated. Personally I can come up only with Fearie Fire as lighting effects and Ghost Sounds/Minor Image for audio/visual effects. That's it.
The character is a legendary artist and party organizer, high level. Generally he works solo, but occasionally hires some good musicians for particularly important events, like when performing in front of a powerful king, for example.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2013, 07:43:13 PM by ImperatorK »
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Offline sirpercival

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2013, 08:12:21 PM »
Homebrew allowed?  Because Powerbard sounds like a perfect fit...
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Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2013, 08:23:58 PM »
No.
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Offline Raineh Daze

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2013, 08:26:57 PM »
Normal bard? Possibly the most painfully obvious suggestion. :lmao

Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2013, 08:48:56 PM »
Yes, the most obvious. But there's more to my request than what class to take.
Disclaimer/Clarification: The request for help isn't just about mechanics. If you have some good fluff ideas I'd be happy to read them. I'm not very familiar with DJing, to be honest, so I need input from someone who is.
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Offline Kethrian

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2013, 10:02:11 PM »
Prestidigitation.  Illusions to create mist effects and light shows, and possibly to create sounds (make music with magic!).  Ranks in Perform.  Fascinate.  Mass Suggestion.  Hypnotic Pattern.  Good Hope.
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Offline Tonymitsu

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2013, 12:24:47 AM »
Assuming you are talking about a club DJ (the kind of person you'd see mixing at a dance) or a mobile DJ (same as above, but has his own sound system) I don't really think there is a fantasy equivalent to what you are looking for.

Bare minimum equipment is pretty much the songs you want to play, either on vinyls or digital, speakers so people can hear it, a 2 or 4 channel audio mixer with a crossfader (to transition back and forth between songs), and headphones so you can listen to one song while something else is being played for the audience.

Optionals include a microphone to talk to the audience, a digital synthesizer to add audio effects (distortions, echo, reverb, etc), and maybe sound samplers.

FYI, the DJ who performs at an event just picks the music.  He's very rarely the same guy who organizes the entire event.

To be a club DJ in D&D you'd probably have to first invent a medium upon which music is recorded, since, as far as I know, even huge events with kings involved are all played live.

What you want is probably more akin to an event coordinator.  These are the people that make the big money.  They are responsible for choosing the location, the entertainment (which could be a DJ), the guest list, speakers, and content.  They also deal with smaller details like staffing, food, the budget, advertising, etc.
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Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2013, 12:45:50 AM »
Um... you know there's magic in D&D, right? Magic that can basically do all that stuff? :huh
« Last Edit: March 27, 2013, 12:48:44 AM by ImperatorK »
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Offline Tonymitsu

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2013, 01:51:11 AM »
Um... you know there's magic in D&D, right? Magic that can basically do all that stuff? :huh

Well then there you go.
Just say he uses magic can create any kind of performance you want and call it a day.

If he's a good character he probably uses illusions to create entire shows as a backdrop to his music.  Like the holophoner from Futurama.

If he's evil he probably dominates or hypnotizes the audience into believing his show was awesome.
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Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2013, 02:14:07 AM »
You're joking, right? This is a poor trolling attempt, it has to be...
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Offline SolEiji

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2013, 02:22:15 AM »
It's amusing, one of my players is doing exactly this.  She's a DJ from the future (it's a time traveling campaign).

His build is a sonic focused sorcerer, bard may not be actually required (but should be able to pull off the same).  The trick here is spell selection, and if you wish, the type of music.  Sonic damage in general is just really loud music.  Enchantment buffs can be inspirational themes and montages.  And of course, prismatic anything for disco fun.

And ranks in perform too, just for enjoyment.

Given the need for good spells, yet have a bardic feel, I recommend Sublime Chord so you can have the best of bard and sorcerer, and justify those perform ranks.  And the rest is just engaging in fluff and reflavoring.
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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2013, 02:26:21 AM »
Combat capabilities aren't important for this character.

BTW, Eiji, did you miss the PM I send you some while back?
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Offline Kethrian

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #12 on: March 27, 2013, 02:30:19 AM »
This would actually be a great concept for the Spell Thematics feat, too.   Give all your spells musical sound effects, mist and laser lights for visual.

You're joking, right? This is a poor trolling attempt, it has to be...

I agree.  He basically just ignored what you were asking for, then went and generalized my first post....
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Offline Tonymitsu

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #13 on: March 27, 2013, 03:16:55 AM »
You're joking, right? This is a poor trolling attempt, it has to be...

Yes, I suppose it is a little difficult to offer advice when you, the OP, don't even know what the hell you want.



Quote
The character is a legendary artist and party organizer, high level.
Ok fine.  That's an event coordinator, not a DJ.

Quote
Generally he works solo...
So he routinely puts together high society events all on his own?  I don't think so.  Perhaps if he is the avatar of the god of event coordinators...

Quote
...I'm not very familiar with DJing, to be honest...
Obviously.


Quote
cool tricks and effects you could make to create that DJ-ish feel and enhance the character's performances would be appreciated.  Personally I can come up only with Fearie Fire as lighting effects and Ghost Sounds/Minor Image for audio/visual effects. That's it.

...uh, yeah?
What else do you need?
You are aware that the entire school of illusion spells is limited only by your character's imagination, right?  Anything you decide to create is immediately justified by the fact that it's not real.
"That DJ-ish feel"?  Your performance is basically creating a mix tape in front of a live audience.  You choose songs with compatible keys, based on the kind of reaction you want from the crowd.  Usually the goal is a smooth transition from one song to the next, keeping high energy on the dance floor.  Just treat the turntable like it's a musical instrument.  Today, the basic techniques like phrasing and beatmatching can be almost completely automated with digital software, even in a live show. There are beat-counters that can analyze the tempo and tell you the exact BPM of a song, and programs which can compare musical keys in different tracks to help with harmonic mixing.
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Offline SolEiji

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #14 on: March 27, 2013, 03:18:27 AM »
A PM, eh wot? 

....oh!  Well damn, I'm late on that.  *Types away*

In the meantime, lack of combat use is good, in that case lemme see which spells would be fitting for your selection.  Performance boosters and ranks are assumed.

(click to show/hide)

Looks like your best bet, magicaly, is using the illusion line (multiple persistent images seem best), and edit other sounds with sculpt sound and ventriloquism.  Then apply lasers as appropriate.

You can also summon musically talented creatures (such as those fey, what are they, Grigs?), or friendly noise making Destrachans.

To make it more like a DJ, you could have aforementioned persistant image spells be contained on reuseable discs.  When activated, they begin playing their pre-determined track until its done or its canceled.

-------------------------------------

And some mundane or item based options for you...

Actual Fog Machines: Something sufficiently cold can get you some dry ice and subsequently fog effects.

Continual Flame Iuon Stones: Get hundreds of them in different colors.

Harmless Traps: Have floor traps which light up on contact.  You can have an entire disco floor like this.

Strobe Light: Place a rotating shutter or spin a bullseye lantern around at high speed for instant strobe effects.

I hope this works.
Mudada.

Offline ImperatorK

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #15 on: March 27, 2013, 03:20:56 AM »
@ Tonymitsu
Okay, that's enough from you. You're not being helpful, only annoying. I appreciate the lesson on DJing, but please refrain from further posting in this thread, I'm not in the mood to deal with your bullshit, thank you.
« Last Edit: March 27, 2013, 03:24:32 AM by ImperatorK »
Magic is for weaklings.

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Offline SolEiji

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Re: [3.P] DJ Magician in da house!
« Reply #16 on: March 27, 2013, 03:32:11 AM »
More on the subject of monsters, lantern archons are living balls of light (who surprisingly are not incorporeal) who are unlikely to startle due to being evil or monstrous.  You could summon a swarm of them and enlist them in a complex light show, possibly while doing things on their own with their light rays attack at will.  These guys were made for disco parties.  Not the right color?  Prestidigitate them into a new hue.

If you're wondering, I'm coming at this from a very Daft Punk-esque angle, so you may need to adjust as needed to your musical stylings.
Mudada.