Game Discussion Board

This is where all the out of character comments (OCC) will take place. It is also the area for our initial discussion and preferably the player wish lists for this game that is to be.

Note: I mean what I say in the description, in that I am hoping that this will be a game created out of the player's wish lists. So the more comprehensive the wish lists that I am given (both wanted to see and do not want to see) the better I can weave a story that is much more fun for all. I have been able to, in the past, weave every element I have gotten in wish lists into the story that I ran and this includes items of inclination that occur as the game progresses. Next I go with the player flow. This means (since we are not face-to-face) that you should chat things up in this thread. I sometimes draw inspiration from player comments and speculations about this or that. I have found sometimes players enjoy it even more when their speculations come true even though those speculations initially were wrong. Still I never fully reveal my cards. You will only get to see the ones I play ;-)

Okay again looking forward to seeing everyone's wish lists. Yeah I know, getting that from players is like pulling good teeth. Extremely difficult and often very painful ;-) but you all can do it.

Edit: This post has been edited to help ease translation

Okay things as player you will need to be aware of and something I warn all new players to my arena:

1) The Game is about Fun -- if you are not having fun please speak up -- your fun is your direct responsibility. That being said there are other players and my job is to balance the fun for all but I cannot do that if I am unaware of what you feel would be fun and what you feel is not fun. Further fun can change as things progress. Also the fun may not affect your character directly such as: I think it might be fun if so-so happened to us or to that character. This is not say I ask players to wish bad things on one another it is that sometimes players can come up with very interesting twists to the story line that does prove to be quite fun for one and all. Be it a good happening, neutral happening or bad happening.

2) Okay just because the Guidelines say so does not mean it has to be so. Yes I will use the Guidelines outlined in the books most of the time but at no time do I view them as Rules. But if you want to point out what the Guidelines state feel free to do so but please do not refer to them as rules for even the designers have called them guidelines since the very beginning. Also this means I am open to alternatives if it helps one make a character that better reflects the concept a player is wanting to play. As such I have over the years tailored many a character class to better allow for the concept the player wanted to play but this concept must be expressed clearly and generally in advance as the is balance between static pre-plotted things versus dynamic on the fly things is just that a balance to keep it fair for all.

3) Everything you encounter you are not guaranteed to be able to handle part of adventuring is figure out what can and cannot handle. That being said Dragons are extremely dangerous and my best image of this is in a picture where a group of 5 seasoned adventurers that currently look very worse for the wear are holding up their combat victory which is a dragon that is only about 6 feet long (aka basically a baby dragon).

4) In relation to the above -- if you find that you are fighting everything you encounter you are probably doing something wrong and this generally means you can expect an early demise. As I will guarantee you that not every encounter is meant to be resolved via force but I will never stop you from doing so. What you do is up to you. Further I generally let the dice speak in most situations, I have had minor encounters nearly kill the entire party and I have had situations where my planned epic battle was walked over by the PCs in such a manner that they thought it had just been a minor encounter and they were still looking for the epic finale to their current episode which due the dice would now never come.

5) But we only get XP from killing things -- hog wash -- only if you do not have a creative GM because frankly I always hated that concept. I give XP for encountering things... regardless of how you choose to encounter it. I mean if you learn that is best to hide from that big dangerous dragon then you learned not only that but perhaps how to hide from a big dangerous dragon but this always depends on the particulars of that situation. Of course creative means of handling encounters can warrant more XP while poorly handling an encounter may reduce the XP -- it kind of depends on how much I felt your character's learned from a specific encounter. Further treasure is its own reward so you do not get XP for that (although I am not even sure they even do that anymore aka give XP for the gold value you gain but that ought to tell how long ago I implemented that rule)

6) If you find your character's without something to do then chances are you have been adventuring with blinders on as your first adventure will hold the seeds to at least 2 or more adventures and every adventure after that will have often have at least one additional adventure weaved into it and may have more. Some of these adventures will be time sensitive meaning if you do not deal with them in a timely manner they will either disappear or get worse. While some others maybe red herrings that dead end into nothing and yet seem extremely promising and/or enticing. Further some adventures might lead into extreme and deadly danger. For instance I had a group go out adventuring and they came across some Orcs putting rocks in a small river. They killed and/or chased off these orcs and scattered the rocks. On their way back the found Orcs again putting rocks in the same place and they again killed and/or chased off these orcs and scattered the rocks but it never occurred to them to investigate the why of it. Then later on they went on a prolonged adventure in another direction and when they returned they found the village they had been staying in had been razed to the ground and something heavy and wheeled had rolled into the village from the direction of where those orcs had been putting rocks into the small river. Yes it was a time sensitive adventure that they just happened to miss out on and there ignoring it carried the consequences of the place they had been briefly calling home along with the friends they had made there now were all gone.

7) Creatures act accordingly. This is to say if they are losing and are not fanatical they will most like break and run. Further depending upon the situation you may be able to scare them, bluff them, bribe them, or just about anything them that you can imagine. I had a party enter a place that No One returns from (hmm did they ignore the clue that it might not be something they would be able to handle) and nearly got themselves killed and barely escaped by fleeing as fast as they could hotly pursued. They were then spotted running out of that place that No One returns from. One of the players spun a grand story (lie) of how they barely escaped the death from the monsters that are believed to exist within that place. When the truth of the matter was much different but the populace did not know this and they soon became local heroes with the perks that came with that. Note prior to that they had been treated with suspicion as some townsfolk will do with adventuring types which by the way was a random roll as to how they would be accepted or not based on the those particular townsfolk.

8) Role play your character do not do something just because it might be good for the story and further do not do something that is totally out of character unless you have a solid reason for it. I only use alignments as guide posts this is your character's tendency (or average) personality. Extreme stress can alter ones normal modus operandus and you do not get penalized for that. However if you are supposed to be lawful good but consistently are acting chaotic evil we are probably going to have a chat about that. Also if for whatever reason your character becomes a villain it has become an NPC -- as I only run the heroes of the story, be they reluctant, dark, or gung-ho they are still the heroes in some way -- and Evil is not going to be heroic over time just due to its nature so PCs cannot be evil and since most players struggle with NN I tend to nix that alignment as well and the latter is just to help prevent arguments over whether someone is being NN or not. Note there exception to almost every rule with that said I have made a few exceptions to LE but only if the player outlined a specific code of conduct that the character strictly adhere's to that can allow them to function in a heroic manner for prolonged periods and that the character is on the path of redemption of some sort which they have mapped out - in some general way - for me in advance.

So what do these alignments mean to me:

Lawful : What is most important is Order/Laws
Chaotic : What is most important is Freedom
Neutral : What is most important is The Cause

The Cause if there is none generally ends up being Me

Good : Basically Help Others
Evil : Basically Hurt Others
Neutral : Basically Me

Alignment Balance Chart
Good Alignments (LG, NG, CG, LN) - NN - (CN, LE, NE, CE) Evil Alignments

Please pay very close attention to CN -- it is by this old (since the beginning of alignments) chart of alignments that denotes that it is on the evil side of NN making it an evil alignment -- so personally I feel I need to go no further and as such I will no longer argue the minutia of it.

If something else comes to mind I will expound upon it. If you have any questions about the above fire them off as the only bad question in my book is the unasked one.

Hello DM. I just wanted to say thank you up front for agreeing to DM for us. I onow it can be pretty difficult to just jump in and DM for a group of players and I appreciate that extra work.

Now as for what I persoanlly like in a game. The first item on my wishlist are nice clear objectives in my adventures and I really enjoy proactive DMs who lead from the front rather than reactive DMs. I have found that games where DMs try to be reactive don't work well here but that may just be my own personal experience and I am open to discuss it. For example, I think having a clear objective e.g. 'some goblins came into the village and kidnapped the blacksmith's daughter, go and save her!' Is better than 'you arrive in a new town, what do you do?' With a whole bunch of quests.seeded around the town.

Okay as a heads up I have allowed eyetyrant in but this is (as I mentioned above) subsequent to player agreement and no need to feel like you have to accept anyone as gaming dynamics can be greatly affect both positively and negatively by adding one more character. So eyetyrant please note your inclusion is still tentative at this time but have been allowed in so you can let the others know more about yourself should they deem they are open to allowing another player in.

Arina - I do a hybrid of what you have denoted - this is to say you will have at least an initial clear objective - but as I said unless you adventure with blinders on you should be able to stumble upon additional ones as you proceed. Some of these may even seem like part of the current objective while actually being something totally different. The key is I do my best to remember what it is like to be on the other side of the GM screen and the pitfalls and hang-ups that can occur from that much different perspective. Oh and btw unless you all just want to dungeon-monger I prefer GM to DM as I like to run Games not just Dungeons ;-)

Now nicely you all are currently working from a base of operations which can be a fairly easy mechanism for presenting things to you in a more mission based manner but I find that leading the players around by the proverbial nose tends to be less enjoyable in the long run than the more organic means of discovering those adventures on your own. So thanks for the heads up on your wish on this as I WILL take that into consideration as I plan out things and start the weaving process.

Now to be even more specific instead of -- You arrive in a new village, what do you do? -- what is more likely to happen would be -- Some Goblins came into Village A and kidnapped the blacksmith's daughter, please rescue her! Then as you are tracking those Goblins down you come across Village B whose blacksmith's daughter was kidnapped by Goblins, please rescue her! Then as you continue tracking the Goblins they appear to have encountered some Orcs. In a not to friendly manner. The groups split. Now what do you do? Aka you have a decision to make that may carry with it consequences but you will need to make a decision. Of course, you might have additional information that you garnered along the way that might help but then again you might not.

Questions that might have come up...
1) Why are Goblins kidnapping blacksmith's daughters?
2) Who has those daughters now, the Goblins or the Orcs or both?
3) Was the Goblin encounter with the Orcs just happenstance or purposeful?
4) If purposeful why?

This is just a minor example...

Still to also help more with understanding I will state I had a group once decide to investigate something and they each discovered something and one of the players was a bit miffed as they felt their endeavors were redundant. I had to explain to that player that was only because everyone else had been fairly thorough as well. This is to say if there is a much needed piece of information there will always be several ways to obtain and/or simple stumble across that information and the same is true about additional adventures.

On that note and reflecting back upon something I mention previously -- during an investigation one of the players was solidly convinced that there must be something strange about a building and that there had to be something hidden below it. Well initially there was not but they were SO convinced of it that well I created something. It made them extremely happy to be right and everyone had fun exploring this hidden space. I have often seeded adventures with meaningless things of mystery only to upon player's choosing to purse it in earnest turn that bit of mystery into a full-blown adventure. So sometimes these adventure seeds are not even of my own doing ;-) but you may never know which is the case. This is why I encourage you all to kibitz here in this thread about the game as it helps me to make the game more yours and thus more fun for you all.

The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned.

And with regards to the rest, nothing wrong with complications and surprises! You're the god here not us. We cannot see all and it would be boring if we could.

Hi, everyone, acquaintances and companions old and new!

I'm fine with another player being added, but I would really prefer the group to stay at no more than the current number of players. The bigger the number, the more jumbled and slow the game often becomes, especially if players are being descriptive, and I'd rather have a small group! Of course, it's very much a personal preference, I wouldn't be completely against new players. :D

Now, DeJoker, you asked for a wishlist, so let me offer mine! Most of my request don't really have much to do with your terms above, as I mainly count them as acceptable, but there are some things I want to ask or note.
1) Please don't take it the wrong way, but I'm struggling with reading your posts a bit. I have a very poor eyesight and my native language uses punctuation way more frequently than English, so long posts without punctuation make me miss imnportant details sometimes. Can you maybe accent the main thoughts in OOC posts, like with bold text or something? I'll try my best to read through anyway, but sorry in advance if I miss something!
2) I'm a player new to DnD. The previous GM didn't mind a newb, and I hope you won't too - I'm a fast learner, if I do say so myself. ;D Still, I'm going to be asking questions and probably making mistakes sometimes, bear with me please!
3) I don't much care for the DnD's alignments, to be honest. It shouldn't be a problem, as my character is Neutral Good, and I imagine it will be hard to mess that one up. XD But as you made it a separate point, I thought I'll mention this anyway.
4) Don't really have anything to say about the narrative style - I can do both railroad plots and freeplay investigations.
5) I'm okay with 4 posts per week, but please don't make it more frequent. I'm going to be less active during holidays, and post per day will not be very doable. :D
6) Do you prefer posts including introspective from characters? Like, should I avoid including thoughts in my posts, or will that be fine?

And I also have some questions in regards to the game's mechanic - namely, transition for us old players.
1) Should we reset health, experience, used slots, etc.? I imagine we should, since it's a new adventure in (probably?) a new world, but just making sure.
2) Are we keeping Evolved Cantrips?
3) Our old GM didn't yet made the game public, but I imagine they wouldn't mind us sharing the rules if they agreed to share the game. Do you want us to give you the survival rules I mentioned? I can copy them from old forum~
4) What is the new game's setting now?
5) May I adjust my equipment? XD

PS: I edit posts a lot, but that's often just typo corrections.

Item 1.1 of your lists
Okay I saw nothing that seemed necessary to take the wrong way. I can easily adjust my posts to be more language friendly. In fact I will go back to my previous posts and adjust them as well. This way you should not miss anything important. Note I have friends whose native language is not English and or my native language Anglish (American English) so I fully understand.

Item 1.2 of your lists
I enjoy newbies as well as those experienced and my motto is: The only bad question is the unasked one. So always feel free to ask if it is something you are curious about. Note when it comes to game specific things I may not directly answer if its a current thing. However, once it has become a moot game point I will explain things to help all get a better understanding.

Item 1.3 of your lists
Great I am glad to hear this. Always makes the game run smoother when there are not arguments over petty things like alignments.

Item 1.4 of your lists
Okay well do not be concerned here because I really do not do either extreme. I do not railroad the players but I do not do complete sand box style (You find yourself in a town what do you do now?) either.

Item 1.5 of your lists
I denoted 4 posts per week because I had no clue what you the players were wanting and that seemed a fair number. I personally tend to check a game on a daily basis as I know how slow PbP can be. Still do not stress over it just try to get at least 1 or 2 posts in during a week. To slow and the game can lose folks interests. Still whatever the pace I will not be going anywhere, unless real life intrudes on my plans.

Item 1.6 of your lists
I prefer story style narrative like posting. So yes add as much color to your posts as possible. Denote what the player is thinking. Denote what the player is physically doing. Denote how the player looks while doing it. The more details you put into a post the better the picture is for the others reading it. The more narrative (story-like) you make those posts the more fun they are to read. Note I do not expect any to be an accomplished writer but I have played with some in the past that were.

Item 2.1 of your lists
Yes consider your characters reset to their beginning states. Especially since we do have at least one new player. Is it a new world? Hmm that is an interesting question as did you know what world you were in previously? But yes it will be a new setting and you will have not memories of the old. Which leads me to a question. What were the character creation parameters that the previous game used? I need them for the new player. Oh and once I get these I will post my final parameters in a new thread as these may differ slightly, or not, to the ones you used.

Item 2.2 of your lists
I plan to keep Evolved Cantrips in some form. This is to say I am tweak those guidelines and I may not. If I do tweak them I will post those tweaks within my own guidelines thread.

Item 2.3 of your lists
Okay I also looked that player up and sent him a PM. Thanks to whomever for mentioning who they were. Still yes I can make the game public or invite Ornux to this one whichever you players wish. Still yes it would greatly speed things up if you were to share the survival rules with me. As that has been the only solid wish item for the game I have gotten thus far. ;-)

Item 2.4 of your lists
You will be in the a remote northern outpost just south of, and in the shadow of, the Great Barrier Peaks. I have a full write up on the general information for this area and the outpost. I will be posting a general map of the local region that is displayed on a wall in the outpost. I will posting a visual aid (an artist rendition so to speak as it is not exact replica) of the outpost you are currently in.

It will borrow heavily from the Forgotten Realms since someone in the group belongs to the Harpers. Still I will be posting the prospective patron's of this realm as well in order to define that list in detail. I further expect everyone to chose a patron. Further, if you wish and feel it is in character, please list any others that your character pays homage to and or placates. This is a world where the deities are actively present you would have to be insane to not pay them homage or placate them and it is very common to to do both to many. Note when I say actively presents this may mean nothing more than they have direct agents (clerics and such) that they empower.

Item 2.5 of your lists
Feel free to make any adjustments you like to your character that fall within the character creation guidelines. Which I hope to have posted soon.

Hey all, managed to jump on board this one. Feel free to catch me up with what's going on. I'm thinking of porting across an old Grave Cleric of mine whose adventure also got cut short by a busy GM.

DeJoker, as we're starting, you may also want to invite McDunno into this game. He played in the previous campaign from the beginning, and was the sole remaining player from the original group. Our characters had not yet interacted with his.

A couple of paragraphs from the original house rules thread, which don’t include any original rules:

You might use anything from the Player Handbook (PHB) or the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (SCAG). You may also include spells from the Elemental Evil (EE), but need my approval for those.
I'd prefer you to stick to those books, but if a character option from another official published book would allow you to come up with an awesome concept, ask me: I'll take a look and let you know if I open this option.

For starting equipment, we'll follow the DMg p.38 guideline: you'll start with 500 gp plus 1d10 x 25 gp, plus normal starting equipment. You may spend them as you see fit, but the only magical items available are the consumables ones (scrolls, potions etc). Reference prices and availability are right here : Vikaastea is supplied as a Urban Locale but, being far from the Sword Coast and all its mages, magical items are priced Expensive and limited to consumables. Permanent magical items are out of your league for now.

Thanks rpgventurer can I get the "prices and availability are right here" link? Also since you seem to already know McDunno you will you please shoot him a PM to shoot me a PM if he is interested in joining. Note I generally cap a group at 5 in PbP because there always seems to be 1 or 2 more that get added and my actual cap is 7.

Okay I see some things will be changing. For instances starting money perhaps. I mean if you all are 5th level characters that is not typically what you get from what I remember. Still I will double check as I know they sometimes change from version to version and I might be remember the wrong version.

Also I am waiting to see the base rules for character creation can someone share those please. Also the homebrew rules used and any other particulars that helped set the base feel for the game.

The prices he is referring to is a pdf linked through google drive. I'll seeif I can link it to you.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V_udNPxlTk_ufSyLsZ4caIO5LqFmE5LO/view

I'll try it too: D&D Shop Catalog v1.8. (Sorry about that. I should've included it originally.)

Also, I sent McDunno a PM asking if he'd like to join us.

Great I have PM'd McDunno as well and applied to his still existing game -- still I believe we have an okay on that homebrew stuff and but its the character creation rules that we need the most right now. That way can post my version and the players can make their characters and the current players can tweak theirs if they so desire.

Also I will have a surprise (a pleasant one I hope) once all the characters have been created.

Okay what just occurred was not my surprise I was adding another Sub-Form and for some reason when I did it deleted my previous one along with all its contents. Now while I as able to reinstate the other Sub-Form it appears its contents were not restored -- how very annoying. I will recreate its basic contents tomorrow I have copied most of the important stuff out so no major loss there just probably have lost a few things. Please repost anything you want to have included once I have reinstated the threads just in case I did not get that copied out.

For the record, I received a PM from McDunno that he will not be joining us as he has moved on to other GP games.

Yeah I got a message from him saying that he was tickled you all like the characters enough to continue and would be opening that forum. Can one of you either point me to that forum or at least give me the name. I thought I knew which one it was but I guess I was wrong.

About your response - all sounds cool! Just some more notes on the topics~

1.1
Thank you! The latest posts are easier to read for me, I appreciate you doing it! Also, my own English is a mismatched mix of British and American with random Russian grammar rules sometimes sneaking in, forgive this - and do please tell me if I keep doing the same mistakes, I'll be happy to correct 'em. ("The" article is giving me a lot of trouble.)

1.2
I'll keep that in mind! I'm mostly worried about things like missing and forgetting more obscure rules, but I usually can find them with a quick search if there's any doubt. I'll be sure to ask for input if the search doesn't help.

1.5
I can check the game almost daily, but I sometimes miss a day or two in succession or just don't have inspiration to write something I feel will be worthy for a post - but I sure can do 1-3 post per week! I'll warn you if there'll be any prolonged absences... unless my network access suddenly goes down, but that happened only twice this autumn.

2.4
If we're kinda including forgotten realms, may I keep Egret's background of being from Underdark? :D

And as for the old game, if no one's linked it yet, here it is: Vikaastea Settlers: clearing out the Marsh of Tun.

And also, welcome, Bleak!

The previous game is marked as public now. This is a link to the game adventure threads.

Arina, FlyingSucculent, and my characters first appear on page 22 of the "Rifeur, the deserted outpost" thread. However, the entire thread features some outstanding writing and role-playing.

@DeJoker, I do see the separate character creation threads on the Latest Posts page available on the main page. Keleth, the administrator, might be able to get the threads back where they belong.

Yes FlyingSucculent your character can be from the Underdark as that does and/or will still exist here

Thanks for the information rpgventurer both about the Character Creation SubForum, who to talk to and the link to the interior of the old game. I will be grabbing that information you posted above so that is why I deleted it.

The posts above are the character generation and house rules, except for some rulings on cover and disagreements with Sage Advice on long and short rests. DeJoker, do you want those?

No I do not need them now -- having access to the old game was all I needed -- and I do not want those lingering as they maybe confusing for when I go to paste my version of them. I should have those finalized and up either tomorrow or the next day now that I have seen everything.

Okay I have not heard back from the moderator so I am going to recreate the character creation threads and get things rolling forward and I would like to have things up and running if at all possible by this weekend at least for the core 3 players if the 2 new players are ready by then I will incorporate them at that time as well. I will try to get all the Character creation and Houserules post either today or tomorrow -- if any of these affect your character feel free to tweak them.

Okay current players and you 2 new ones -- I have posted the Basic Character Creation rules -- if anything affects your character please bring it to my attention -- notably perhaps the new Hit Point rolling guideline that I added

Next I will be working on finalizing the starting resources (coinage) and the House Rules in that order please stay tuned

Question about rolling hps. Do we still add our con bonus to the roll? So as a sorcerer, do I roll d4+2 per level or do I get d4+2+con?

Yes the Con bonus still applies -- I was strictly talking the Class side of things not its totality

Note you players who have already rolled your Hit Points do not have to roll them again that is a choice you get to make

Will you be creating new threads for each character as you did before?

Also, regarding hit dice, do we roll for the first level and or get the maximum?

Yes as normal Max HP at 1st Level

And yes but I planned to give that moderator 48 hours first -- just hoping I did not have to recreate them

I took average value in the previous game (my actual roll of 4d8 resulted in 5 XD), may I keep it? I kinda like number 33. :D

About starting resources: my background gives me extra 5 gp, can I keep 'em in money form?

@FlyingSucculent if you took the average of a d8 (4) then I might suggest you reroll because the minimum you would get in my system would be 5 per die (aka 1d4+4) And your total roll wold look like this (4d4+16) for a minimum of 36+8+(Con Mod x 5) but if you want to keep that 33 by all means ;) feel free to do so

Okay you can keep the 5 gp as long as the total gp you are starting the game with is 10gp or less and everything else is reflected in your equipment

Note: If anyone is struggling to spend their money let me know as you are probably overlooking something.

@Arina, @FlyingSucculent, @rpgventurer will the 3 of you be ready by this weekend to get things started -- if and when the other 2 are ready I will bring them into the game -- I am just waiting mainly for the 3 of you to tell me you have finalized any tweaks that you are needing -- note -- you will be allowed to tweak again IF any the House Rules I implement affect you directly which they may but only for the better... generally

Keep in mind you 3 I am expecting all you to have a Patron diety if you not familiar with the Forgotten Realms dieties let me know others just pick one of the main ones and if they are not on my finalized list (as I trim it down a bit ... okay a lot .... way to many of them in the full pantheon) --- and Moradin exists as do other racial dieties -- they just have different names associated with him by different races

I'll be working on tweaks tonight, and tomorrow night if necessary. I should be ready this weekend. Brindel has a deity on the character sheet: Gorm Gulthun, dwarven god of vigilance (LG, Domain: War). I'm not opposed to changing it to another in the War domain.

Question: I picked the Harpers faction for Brindel to get the mix of skills I wanted on the character. If you want, I can come up with a custom background instead if factions aren't an element in this campaign.

Good to go.

@rpgventurer -- the Harpers work fine and in fact will be interesting for you as things unfold -- but keep that pin out of sight it is a highly dangerous thing to have known publically ;)

thanks @Arina I will look your sheet over then and get it finalized into the game

Okay well nothing happened after talking directly to the moderator and sending them a link so I recreated all the threads -- was so hoping to recover them instead oh well

Is that a hard set requirement? I can't really see my character being at all interested in theology, even a little bit. I guess if it's an important aspect, he might have "interest" in more nature-oriented deities, but that's not really a patrontage?
Is 36 a typo? XD
Let me just make sure I got it right, the formula is 8+(4d4+4)x4+CONx5? The minimum for that is 28+CONx5. (Which is exactly my current health, huh.) Hmm, may I reroll and then decide if I want old HP or new?

Also, will work on buying more equipment today/tomorrow. Don't think there's anything more to tweak except HP and background details.

Oh, and also, are magic items available to buy? You only listed consumable ones.
Edit: right, and also what about weight limits?

Well, this part is not in this game's house rules, so I'm just making sure.
It's a different location, after all.

If you look under character creation parameters (which I fixed the HP thing to make more clear) I have posted the Starting Resources which does answer those questions.

As for weight limits I will be using the carrying capacity rules but I have to find my information that or recreate it as I think their parameters were a bit off but again -- for know if you are okay with the basic Str rule you should be okay with the extend one

Okay a heads up because I just clarified this -- Normal Items will include non-magical special metal items

Eh, I saw it more as a list to clarify the prices than the list of only options, but okay. I guess it's a question of perception. XD
The backpack capacity is kinda questionable - it's supposed to hold about 30 pounds, which is already less than even the standard Explorer's pack. Can we ignore backpack capacity and the practicality of carrying a lot of weaponry on person? :D

Also, as always, the last message on previous page was lost. XD I'd still like the answer.

Note on a world where Deities absolutely exist and it does not take faith to believe because you have solid evidence that people are granted divine magic. Further Forgotten Realms states that woe to someone who does not have a Patron for their souls are condemned for eternity and they even have that canonized in fictional literature. So you are raised in a world where this stuff is 100% real and as common as a captain in the military. Okay you might not see evidence every day but would be pretty confident that it exists. With that said I actually have a mechanic for this that effects PCs on a regular basis for good or ill. Next you do not have to have knowledge in Religion to know this stuff. You would if you needed to know how to pray effectively -- aka who to direct your prayers to, what kind of offerings would be best, and when best to make those offerings and basically things like that which improve your chance of getting a positive response to a prayer kind of thing. Further if not praying for help perhaps placation is in order, if you placate an evil deity because you are not sure you are protected by a good one then that evil deity is less likely to hose you over just because its what they like to do.

On to the math thing -- I am going to guess I was way off
Minimum (4d4 + 16) = 20 + 8 (1st lvl) = 28 + ConMod x 5 = ??

So if your current health is exactly minimum then rerolling means that you will most likely raise it a point or 2 and may raise it by as much as 16 points the average being a raise of 10 points to 38 + ConMod x 5 In short not only would I roll it again but I would expect to be taking that reroll regardless as the worst case I am exactly where I started from.

Brindel can introduce Egret to a great deity. :-) (I'm sure he's tried to recruit Egret a few times in the past.)

Okay so let me explain what is in this... first there is the statement that before you enter the game you need to spend all your money such that you only have 10gp or less --- if you have more than 10gp when enter the game then you will have only 10gp as the rest just evaporates -- your choice spend it or lose it -- and note I did say I would help if you are stuck.

Next I state you get all that starting equipment -- which if you do not want something you can sell it back for Normal price so that you can buy something else.

The next two little things are outlining what the pricing and availability is that goes along with that link because it has 3 different costs (Normal, Cheap, Expensive) and 4 different availability (Limited, Rural, Urban, Premium) and that link denotes all the stuff you can buy and from whom you would most likely buy it (which is fairly irrelevant unless an item is restricted some how) so go shopping perhaps a price in one category is cheaper than in another I do not know but it seemed like a solid table and it is what was being used for starting characters so I kept it to be fair to everyone (and decrease the work for me up front). The last thing of course is the shopping list that you can use to buy stuff from. Note if there is something you want that is not available and/or simply not on that list let me know and we can figure out whether you could get your hands on it prior to getting to your destination.

Lastly I added an addendum for clarity here in saying that items made from special metals (Silvered, Mithril, Adamantium)... as normal items are available as "Normal Items" they do not fall under permanent magic items because frankly they are not magical nor do they take magic to make. They are just usually rather expensive.

Oh and Darkwood items are available as well as normal items.

So you have 2 Categories of potential Items denoted
.....1) Normal Items : Which includes non-magical special metal and wood items
.....2) Consumable Magic Items : Which include potions, scrolls, dusts, ointments, etc...

Did that clarify everything ?? Sorry if was confusing btw


Note on Backpacks : Some things that go with the backpack do not go IN the backpack -- rope for instances hangs on the outside ... bedrolls are generally fastened on outside ... torches are generally bundled and attached outside ... lanterns are usually attached on the outside --- waterskins are not put in a backpack --- this being said most items should fit within a 30 lbs capacity backpack -- either that or you are simply carrying far to much. Note I play 5e I have characters with backpacks so I do know just how much will fit in a back pack.

Yeah, I do agree - I just really like pretty numbers, so between, say, 34 and 33 I'd pick 33. XD But I'm going to count your response as a green light on rolling then picking and will see what I'll roll first.

As for the deities, I guess it makes sense! I'll check the lists of deities and see if there's someone fitting. Otherwise, yeah, can probably go with being slowly converted by a dwarven friend. XD
...I'd question how characters even manage to dodge with all that bulkiness, but it's an advantage of fantasy, I suppose. XD
I'll just list everything together, it's probably not that important what's in the backpack and what's on it, since it'll be about equally difficult to get items from either inside or outside. XD

Quick question to anyone who knows: do scimitars take one or two units of metal? I'm not entirely sure if they count as short swords.

Edit: and another question, too. Spiritual wood is a material that can replace metal in medium/heavy armor (or so the web told me), but what specific types? Namely, can I have a Chain Shirt made from Spiritual Wood? XD

Oh spot on observation -- once I find my backpack write up that expands backpacks -- but the reason for that expansion is to present players with quicker options to shedding a backpack --- if you chose to fight with a backpack on you will be fighting with Disadvantage but until I have the expanded backpack stuff posted and you all have add the opportunity to adjust your equipment -- it is simply a free action to drop the backpack just before combat

No you cannot have "chainmail" made of spiritual wood as chainmail is interlinking pieces of metal and you cannot interlink wood

Also I think in Forgotten Realms spiritual wood might be called Darkwood -- but please point me to where they describe/outline this spiritual wood so I can look it up.

On a side note to that what you be wanting is Lamellar which can be made out of Darkwood and its what the Elves use ;) in my campaigns

Can you list which types of armor can be made with it, then?
Shopping list has both Darkwood and Spiritual Wood. I mostly read about it here, but I'm not sure if it's a valid source, to be honest.
...it's not on the shopping list, what is it, if I may ask?

PS: in case you missed it, I commented on HP and deities in the character thread. :D Let me know if the deities I picked are in your allowed list, thanks!

Okay because some folks wanted special non-magical armor -- I went and got my guidelines that I use to address this. As such I have merged mine with current 5e and and made a more complete list of Armor Types and Shields followed by a section on using special materials to adjust normal type armor. This may affect the armor/shield you which to have.

I will be using some of the information supplied within the Complete Crafter book that FlyingSucculent presented BUT keep in mind that not all of it will be verbatim from the book -- however some of it may be. It being a rather large collection of information I will address each item on a case by case basis based on player interest. Note a few Armor Adjusters have "Special" listed this means they have minor property that does not fit easily into the table. If you are curious just ask.

Also you may not want to buy a horse, or other mount as most (but not all) the adventuring will not be able to benefit from having one since animals will not enter the Marsh of Chelimber (or locally referred to as simply The Dead Marsh) and if you own one you have to pay a stabling fee. So it might be easier to rent a horse (this is basically buying a horse and upon returning it getting refunded some of your money based on the condition of the horse).

Well, now I'm completely confused by the equipment rules. I think I'll just give up on using special materials. XD Edit: actually, I'll just make my shield from a fancy wood. That should be easy, right? ...right?

I'm going to repeat myself, but I kinda really would like an answer at least to these questions, since I'd like to finally finish with the setup already.
1. Can I sell starting equipment (acquired from background/class) or modify it? (We could in old rules, but as you modified armor/shield I'm not sure what price they'll even sell as.)
2. Is Windstrom okay for a patron deity? (If not, is Eldath?)
3. Is this a correct formula for my HP - (8+CON)+(4d4+16)+CONx4?
Edit: 4. This is a more general question, but do shields benefit from DEX? Namely, Darkwood allows +1 on max bonus from DEX, would shield made from Darkwood have that? (Will it be AC+3?)

Okay let us do it this way --

1) Yes any starting equipment you begin with can be sold at Normal price
2) Whatever Patron you choose will work as I will simply fold that Patron into another aspect of one of the Patrons that will be
3) If you are using 1d8 for all 5 levels then HP = (8 + ConMod) + (4d4 + 16) + (ConMod x 4)
4) No shields only benefit from the weight reduction because they do not restrict your Dex Mod in anyway

Also please give me time it is the holiday season but what I can assure you is that I will help you get whatever it is you are striving for if I am clear what it is you are striving for --- that being said I plan to augment that chart with an example of a how to modify the chain shirt/lamellar category using all the elements in the adjuster list -- this should help everyone with understanding how it works but also specifically present you with numerous version of the chain shirt that you can just directly choose from. Also I do not mind doing this because if you have questions then likely someone else will as well.

Okay I will outline what the 3 specials are as well

Okay --- I had to do a bit more tweaking (my bad) as when I posted that armor stuff I had miscalculated a few things when trying to use the 5e guidelines and merge them into my guidelines for armor --- however that is complete. I think I have properly listed every non-magical light armor that you could make form the materials (did not include masterwork) but you will notice that my masterwork guidelines are different.

I never understood for instance why it cost the same to masterwork a dagger as it did to masterwork a great sword or better yet why does it cost the same to masterwork a chain shirt versus a full suit of chain mail. So my masterwork is a multiplier rather than a flat value and effects both armor (as shown) and weapons (will post that one later). That is unless there was someone that wanted some kind of special material weapon.

Was hoping to start the story this weekend by RL got in the way so I will do my best to get it out Monday/Tuesday

Again I am confident any wrinkles can be ironed out and those things you might want will either be available directly or eventually.

Gotcha!
And I'm not trying to hurry you, I bet we're all busy with the holidays! You just asked us to finish by weekend, so I was trying to - but I should be set soon now, just gonna buy some more stuff. :D

I'll try to finish with the equipment now...

Yes I did -- and by all means do hurry me ;) as that shows me we have interest and helps motivate me to get things moving that much quicker..

Great and thanks for the heads up -- I hope the other two are about ready as well -- either tonight or tomorrow I will post the intro...

Hey, one question! Do you allow silvered weapons (and at what cost for martial melee)? (Not silver weapons, specifically silvered ones. I though I might spend the rest of gold at silvering my scimitrs just in case. XD)

Ah okay so if I were to add an Adjuster table like the one for armor would you be comfortable in using it -- or would you rather me just answer this specific question directly?

I'm not sure if we need a table, unless it's very complicated pricing? Beyond just says that it's 100gp extra for simple weapons. (I though it'd be a simple markup for martial as well, just maybe higher price?)

No its not a simple flat rate -- as silvering a dagger cost far less than silvering a two-handed sword as the two-handed sword would require more material, more effort, and more time --- but that being said its pretty straight forward -- Base Cost x Multiplier like with the Armor Adjusters

The official site lied! XD (...they do have both maces and daggers as simple weapons, with +100gp for silvering - I do agree that it makes sense for multipliers though!

What would be the multiplier?

As stated Silvering is a simple process and so for out of game or pre-game I am going to say x5gp plus 1gp per pound of the weapon.

However in game this would change to x1d4 x2gp plus 1gp per pound of the weapon -- the latter reflects that it takes 10sp to make one unit of Silvering material and 1 unit per pound of the weapon is required -- but keep in mind prices in game are negotiable and trade goods might be accepted in exchange and/or offered

Also I am going to be tweaking the masterwork rules as I found an excellent write up on those that made wonderful sense. Thus going forward you are not going to find +1 tohit/damage magic weapons but instead you are going to find magic weapons with magic properties that may or may not have a +1 tohit/damage based on whether they are of masterwork quality and what level of masterwork quality they are -- note my magic items never needed to masterwork anyway -- I liked the story about the Misenchanted Sword

But I will outline this in more detail as it will only apply to in game unless someone is wanting a masterwork weapon or masterwork armor -- as I will have multipliers for those as well that change what I had posted previously based on the level of masterwork you are wanting

Oh a totally unrelated but related question -- would any of you players like me to make a Discord message server for this game to facilitate kabitzing and asking questions and such?

So a silvered scimitar (25gp, 3lb) right now will be 25x5 + 1x3 = 128gp, right? Or is silvering adding to a base cost, so 128 + 25?
I'm going to get one then, and then buy some extra potions, maybe~

I'm not currently on Discord for gaming purposes and I'm not sure if I want to change that, but i wouldn't mind its existence if other players want to. :D

The latter the Silvering is just the price for the silvering process I am assuming you were supplying the weapon ;) to be silvered but to be absolutely clear the full price to silver a scimitar based on your post would be

3 lbs 25gp Scimitar Total Cost with Silvering : 25gp + (1gp x 3 lbs) + (25gp x 5) = 153 gp

Oh and no, I would not force anyone to join Discord, so no issue would be there -- it would only be for those who wanted to use it to augment what can be done here. Further no one would be penalized in any way for not using it either, as that was not its intent.

Okay got knocked down by one of the colds that are running through our house slept most of yesterday and the day before feeling better today but then today is XMas so not sure how much time I will get for writing still if I can beginning post out today

Okay I am working on finishing up the Patrons (could not find my old write up) -- there is the prime name and race and a list (not necessarily complete) of the things they are associated with. Then there is the other names associated with the race that they are worshiped by and appear as.

I will complete the next section as time permits which will give the more nuts and bolts of each patron but unless you have some knowledge in Religion above a 1 -- most of that stuff you will not know anyway. So I will focus on the folks patrons that have Knowledge (Religion of a 2+) and then the rest

Okay I am expecting everyone to make their intro post responding to what was posted as well as indicating their preference to the OCC query -- in case you all were not aware -- however it being the holiday season I can see delays in posting -- so awaiting 2 more posts as of right now

@DeJoker Glad you're feeling better. My time is back to being my own now that Christmas is over. Question: Do we have a mission besides "guard the caravan to the village"?

Not at that point in time you did not -- but that is/was past -- the current "assignment" if you will is to report to the Garrison for an assignment -- but I gave you all room to do as you want so if you wanted to wander/explore the village you could or you could go straight away to the garrison -- I just needed to know which you were wanting to do

FYI, I think after the caravan reaches its destination in the village and the other travellers are safely where they want to be, Brindel will want to find a church to pray for those who didn't survive the journey. That would be before we report to the garrison.

Okay that works but you might be a in for little surprises as you go ;-)

Certainly Brindel would wait for the others to weigh in before walking around the village. They may want to accompany and/or have other places to check out. We wouldn't be looking for trouble.

Sorry, wasn't around for the last few days! Holidays are only picking up for me, so I'm likely going to be absent for the majority of time from 31st to about 3rd. I'll finish up with the equipment (and patrons? Do we pick one of the ones you posted?) and post the intro today~!

Edit: Okay, equipment's done - I silvered both scimitars at the cost of dropping one potion. (If you want to check if it's correct, I had a list with all prices in my character thread. :D) I even managed to almost precisely spend all resources. XD

Great and yes I will peruse everyone's character sheets just to double check the math -- as I know I mess it up sometimes myself ;) As for the patrons if you will notice while their are 27 listed they have numerous identities that they go by and while you might worship Entity A.1 and someone might worship Entity A.3 when all is said and done you are both worshiping the same Entity just different aspects of them. And much like religions of today there are sub-cultures within the same Entity such that while you might worship A.1.2 and someone else worships A.3.4 again your are still worshiping the same base entity although again they may have a totally different outward appearance. This may seem a bit confusing at first but really to put a deity into such a tiny-limited-box seems counter intuitive to what they should be at least to me.

That said if their is a deity flavor you like that you feel fits your character concept well and that you can follow their precepts within character then just let me know who it is -- I will dive into their details and tweak them perhaps and let you the player know under what major (which of the 12 good-like aligned) deity it falls under. Your character of course would not know this information without having a lot of skill levels in Religion and being an active member of the clergy

Oh and yes I am expecting that the holidays are delaying many such as the 2 new players whom I have barely heard from ;-) however if I get nothing from them by mid-January I will assume they have gone elsewhere and see if anyone else would like to participate.

Hmm, can I get more info on Dukagsh, Mystra and "very-long" (is that a name, or is her name too long? XD)? I wanted a nature-oriented deity originally (which would be "very-long"), but I don't think that Chaotic alignment really suits my character, so the first two might be better for him.

I picked Eldath and Gwaeron Windstrom as example deities - which major patron would you say they fall under? :D

Okay first Gwaeron Windstrom if you look at his description he is a servant of Mielikki (Human Personna) as such Gwaeron Windstrom could simply be an aspect of Mielikki -- as such that falls under Dukagsh (Yrok) but keep in mind I highly doubt your character would worship a Yrok(orc) persona unless you happened to be Yrok or Uriak (half-yrok/human) -- or hmm maybe Tiefling. So Gwaeron Windstrom is a viable patron.

Eldath on the other hand due to her extreme pacifistic ways rarely makes a good patron for adventurers still she would simply be an aspect (Human persona) of Istus(Gnome persona).

So if I were to suggest one of those two I would say go with either Gwaeron Windstrom or his boss Mielikki I do not think those two differ a lot in overviews but I would have to look at them in more detail -- of course if you want something that might have an interesting twist to the game that you might enjoy Dukagsh would also work. So while he will be much like Mielikki and Gwaeron Windstrom he will have more Yrok influence to him. Focus more on the ideals a Yrok would hold to. Think Klingon by the way if that helps any.

Just keep in mind that deities have more than one Domain and the area a cleric focuses on for that deity denotes the philosophies that they favor for that deity as such you get many different teaching styles just within the basic clergy and the actual entity, which has no actual persona, covers all Domains equally. Granted Good Deities are never going to cover the Evil Domains and vice-versa so yeah there are some Domains a Deity will not cover. Also Druids do focus on one of the more Nature oriented deities and there are some not so nice Druids out there. I just want to limit the actual core deities to 3 per alignment as I feel this gives plenty of diversity and if someone has a patron they really like this allows for the inclusion of the patron without too much incident.

As a final Note I only have 2 sources of magic -- you are either getting them from a Deity directly or you are accessing the Weave the former is Divine magic and the latter is Arcane magic. I do this to keep things simple and explainable.

Hope that helps

Oh and feel free to ask questions that you think your character might ask as the Dragonborn does not seem to be in a rush right now. While I never force players to be well informed all I can say is that one of my players once noted -- "Every time we are well informed and well prepared we kick their butts but whenever we are not we get our butts kicked" It was something they learned and as such they began being more prepared rather than going about blindly rushing into trouble. Still there is room for both styles of play.

@DeJoker
1. Can we consider Lex, Egret, and Brindel as re-uniting for this adventure after some time apart?
2. Before we ask the Dragonborn any questions, do we know who rules the village? Is it the "seven Paladins" or is there a mayor and/or ruling council?
3. Now that we arrived at the village gates, is our obligation to the caravan fulfilled?

1) Okay whatever occurred with the 3 of you prior to joining the caravan and traveling to Boareskyr Bridge is part of your past -- which is up to you to all decide on how that looks. I start with the 3 of you on the really long caravan trip.

2) As stated it is rumored that the governing body of the Village are 7 Paladins but not having been here before you have no way of knowing for sure you do know the general information I have posted thus far about Far Reach except you have not seen a map of it yet as far as I know. And I am sure you will fairly quickly learn the things I posted about Boaresky Bridge.

3) Yep your obligation to the caravan was to help it arrive here intact or as intact as possible. You accompanied the caravan as mutual protection for the long trip so basically a one way trip. Still you may have contacts within that caravan at least for as long as they remain here.

I didn't see a chat thread so I'm dropping a note here to say hi everyone! I remember this game to have arisen from the fact that the existing players wanted to carry on playing together, and I commented on the thread as I was considering at that time to start a 5e game. In any case, I'm here at DeJoker's invite as a player, and hope to have a good game here.

Welcome!

Cool, I'll stick with him then! :D He was my first pick, in fact.
Thank you for the detailed explanations, too!
Do we get to pick which way we're using or is it separated by schools of magic? I prefer the idea of the Weave for my character. :D


And welcome, Bedzone! I remember seeing you around the site a lot, excited to have you in our group! :D

Okay I will make it simple :) as that is how it was meant to be

Divine Spell Casters : Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Bard, Ranger

Arcane Spell Casters : Wizard, Sorcerer, Eldritch Knight, Arcane Trickster

Basically the major difference is this -- Divine Spell Caster are capable of casting Healing Spells and Arcane caster are not. That basic age old rule that they never chose to explain but I did. So my reason for the restriction goes like this: Necromantic magic by its nature is prone to feed back which is why a lot of Necromancers become Liches or some other form of Undead as the Negative feedback only heals them. However there is no counter part to that on the Positive side of things and what happens (if you are not protected by a deity) is that your Mental faculties (Int, Wis, Cha) slowly get burned out and only the insane wizard (who does not tend to function as wizards for very long) considers dabbling in positive magic to figure out how to allow them to actually cast those kind of spells as the learning process would be fraught with a lot of feedback. Oh and the negative feedback slowly destroys your Physical faculties (Str, Con, Dex) which as stated stops once you gain the Undead status. Thus the reason Arcane caster do not cast healing spells and many do not mess with the Necromantic spells in general

Thus as a final note I missed any spell caster class / sub-class the general rule is if they have a Cure spell or such on their spell list they are divine.

Although with that said Forgotten Realms has something called the Nature Weave which was a different form or Arcane magic that did have healing within it but it also had very specific restrictions and such on how to use it. I can introduce a 5e version of that if you like.

Oh and BedzoneII this is the Chat thread but I would prefer the chat be game related thus the subject ;)

Huh, that's quite an interesting take on things. Thank you again for the details! :D

No problems -- I have always asked GMs why Arcane spell casters cannot cast healing spells -- and the reasons are never in-game reasons just lame mechanical excuses -- and it took me a long time to answer that question myself even though most players did not bother to ask me the why of it ;) probably because they figured I might answer like all those other GMs -- because its in the rules that way.

It appears to be that that ball is in rpgventurer court :)

"Healing" is Brindel's middle name. (Actually his true full name is a deeply-held secret, as is the way with dwarves.)

Welcome BedzoneII !

BedzoneII I still have your post as it was -- I am guessing you missed the part where I said you had been traveling with your now cohorts for the last several weeks -- fighting the good fight along the way. Oh and there are actually 4 of you now and maybe 1 or 2 more but not sure on them

Also the Tiefling is not next to Brindel he is hanging back but within earshot -- if I understood his post correctly.

I normally do not fix posts but I figure that this was a post in haste mistake but again just in case you take issue with it I can replace your previous post.

Let me retcon it then, will edit the post!

Edit: Oh I saw that you've helped me do it already, thanks!

Okay I have replaced your old text --- keeping a copy of what was just in case we cross-posted and you had edited my tweak

Thank you, I was going to use your version, but since you kindly reverted, I did the necessary edit instead. It works now. :)

Note I am going to give the other 2 until January the 4th to get something submitted as I know both of them are currently active. If nothing by then I will drop them and see if I can find one more active player that would fit well into this party mix. However if any of you have a friend let them know because frankly since I have heard nothing from either of the other 2 I am not expecting them to do anything before then.

Okay in case it is not clear I am I think waiting on the Dwarf at this moment as he put the Dragonborn on hold ;) -- I could interject if you like though

@DeJoker Regarding when the Dragonborn says "check your weapons" in the sentence below, Do we need to just show them what all of our weapons are, or also hand them over for safekeeping? Or something else?

Ask the Dragonborn he was the one that said it ;)

Note -- if you encounter something I feel your characters should know you will be informed but different regions have different customs and they use similar terminology so no you do not necessarily know what the Dragonborn meant when he said what he said.

I wonder if I'll be able to hide the fact that my mistletoe is my druidic focus and smuggle it in, since Egret's not gonna be happy about leaving it. XD ...probably not, as my Stealth's 2 (and Persuasion is even lower).

Well you can always try

Still you might want to think about that a bit ... do you really need that specific focus to cast spells?

@FlyingSucculent Egret and Brindel might be sleeping outside the village. :-)

Note I made some mistakes with extending the armors -- had to go through them and correct my errors -- please look at the armor you purchased and see if it changed any -- again my apologies for the mistakes

Well that is an option I suppose ;) of course it does not come without some risk --- perhaps maybe they might choose to sleep on the roof instead --- of course actually camping within the village is dang near the same thing as camping outside the village

As things progress I will be adding to the Home Rules as I can get to them -- my first addressing was fixing the armor lists and that is done.

Okay folks Bleak officially dropped out and theeyetyrant seems to be very busy with starting their own games so I have posted a request for one more player -- however if one of you have someone you think might enjoy the game let them and I know and will get them included

I'm all in for that. XD Just gotta make sure there's no undead roaming around!

I checked mine, doesn't seem like anything changed. :D

Glad to hear

@FlyingSucculent you may not believe this but I accidentally deleted your Character Creation thread but I am hoping you still have access to it. If you do I have posted a new Recovery thread would you please post the old messages into the new thread -- my sincerest apologies for my faux-pa --- at least it was a mistake this time

Do you actually need these posts back? It was only a list of bought items, if you already checked it for prices and what-not, I don't think there was anything important besides it. XD
I think I do have a saved list of equipment prices though, if you do need it! (Not anything else, but there only were my notions on deities and HP rolls.)

@FlyingSucculent if do not if you do not want to and/or do not feel there was anything important lost do not worry about. I am seeing if there is another means to retrieve inadvertent deletions.

If you need the equipment prices, I still have the list, everything else was just fluff. :D

Oh and I am always open to feedback from the players -- I realize we just started but if there is anything you like let me know if there is anything you dislike let me know. This is all about fun enjoyment and if I am hitting the mark that is good to know if I am missing it that is good to know.

Hi everyone. I definitely could use some help with my character. Any and all input is welcome! I'm a fresh fish to 5e.

@A_True_Believer
Hello, and welcome to the game! :D I'm somewhat new to DnD in general, so I'm probably not the person to offer advice - but I like your character so far! And Kroog is a great name.

Thanks! I'm definitely new to 5e. I played a 3.5 variant several years ago. But, I'm attempting to learn on the fly and as quickly as possible.

Hey A_True_Believer, I'll take a look in A_True_Believer Character Discussions and see if I have some insights for you

Okay I will chime in as well -- sorry cold took me down today could not even stay awake at the keyboard so too a prolonged nap

Checking in with everyone, no one bought horses or riding animals right?

Not I

I hadn't realised, but as @flyingsucculent pointed out, horses won't be that useful. It was mentioned earlier.

They are available to be rented (aka you buy the mount and then if you return it they buy it back for less than you paid for it)

Thank you - I'll take my horse to the butcher then :D

@runekyndig
Don't you hurt my druid feelings like this. XD

If you bought a quality horse and do not want to adjust things before we really get started then sell it to the stables of course if you bought a nag yeah there is a butcher or two in the village ;)

Is this what the druid want's?
https://youtu.be/y688upqmRXo

:D

In all seriousness, I have some minor details to sort out with equipment and a bit of filling out in the backstory, but otherwise, I think Kendra is ready to join the rest of the team

Jokes on you, I got over it after I first read the book! I had years to get over it! I... will go cry in a corner now. XD

But yeah, yay for Kendra joining! :D

I will be hopefully posting later today -- had a cold knock me out most of yesterday and thus why I am up now -- but going to bed shortly

Okay folks if you have not please check the newer armor rules as I have found at least one that was incorrect to what is now as some of the basic armors have changed as well.

Now that would be interesting to see a hawk hunting oysters, is he even aware of what oyster is ;)

Oh and @Arina and @rpgventurer please check your character discussion threads

Saw it and I will respond when I can. Extra busy day at work.

Note everyone I am working on everyone and their "special" present I hope you all enjoy them when they come to light ;)

That sounds ominous.

(Armor rules checked, didn't see anything that affects me.)

Ooooo. Presents!

Kendra's smile is the ultimate weapon. XD

Right! What a killer roll she had! haha

Okay I am just checking -- has everyone read the House Rules on how Inspiration is going to be working and understand it?

Also as we progress if you feel that you are developing a Trait, Ideal, Bond, or Flaw that you would like to add to your character please do so. I often have numerous ones even in systems where you get no reward for it because it makes the character more fun and more consistent if jot them done for my use in role playing the character -- keep in mind its a role its not you (hopefully) so feel free to explore that role like any quality actor would do.

How often have you heard an actor state -- I did research to better understand this character so that I can portray them better -- or how much fun they had playing a role that was not themselves -- or any of those other comments about playing a role within a movie -- you are basically an actor playing a role in an interactive on going movie that has no video ;-) so have fun with it

Note: If I say anything that you already know then fine that statement was not for you ;-)

Do we start with any inspiration, or do we start at 0?
And, are we still using Evolved Cantrips? Since they're not mentioned in magic rules, I wanted to clarify.
(Also I just noticed your changed to Goodberry, fixed it on my sheet.)

Best of luck to you all on this adventure. I need a bit more experience and really brush up on D&D 5e and whatnot. I hope to view a bit more PbP. It's a little overwhelming for me right now, but I hope you all have a great time. I hope to join a D&D group in the future. Thanks! ~Best.

Yes I am going to be using the Evolved Cantrips so go ahead and use that general guide that was given -- and as I get time I will post them so that they are official.

Yes I am going to go with my original thought on what is the difference between Arcane and Divine magic and that is that Divine magic is maximized if not rushed and static in nature -- while Arcane magic is dynamic and mutable. I am hoping this does not interfere with any of the current divine spell casters but if it does I will address it to maintain balance.

Okay just a heads up to you all A_True_Believer felt he was in a bit over his head and I said good ;-) because that was the best way to learn but that he fear not drowning as I and the other players would make sure he was just fine. So they are coming back to give it a go. If they ask a question and you feel like lending a hand please do. Otherwise I will do my best to make sure they and everyone else has a solid grasp on the game mechanics as well as the in-game whatever. As I stated to them -- the only bad question in my book for someone serious about learning is the unasked question. So if you have a question please ask.

Also I am not a dictator this game is as much yours as it is mine -- my job is to maintain balance amongst the players and to set forth challenges for you all to do your best to overcome -- but be forewarned that I make no guarantees in that department -- some challenges I put on the table are going to be best avoided while others might be a red herring in disguise. It will be up to you all to decide what you do with them. Oh but I can make this guarantee if you find yourself fighting everything you encounter chances are you have missed something and you are on a road that will lead to an early demise.

Next I believe in player kibitzing as I find this helps reflect the character attributes that cannot be portrayed easily in any other way. So feel free to talk out the encounters share your knowledge and if you need to see whose character came up with the idea in the game roll off on it ;) as that seems the fairest way --- sometimes its the simpleton with a really simple look at life that comes up with the best answer.

@DeJoker Do you use the rules where you attune to magic items to learn/use their powers?

@A_True_Believer Don't worry if you don't know all the rules -- frankly, no one does. Every GM and group customizes their games in some manner. The best way to learn is to play. Just be true to your character concept, which will grow and morph over time as you respond to different situations.

Yes I use the guideline that you have to attune magic items to be able to use them -- I also use the guideline that just because you have attuned to it does not mean you automatically know how to use it -- I also use the guideline that some magic items need you to do certain things in order to unlock them -- I also use lots of other things in regards to magic items to make them something more than just a piece of jewelry. To me as is suggested in the DMG magic items are kind of special and yeah sometimes you will just get a nice utilitarian magic item but -- "special" presents are rarely if ever utilitarian and your "special" was easy peasy ;-) to figure out -- I hope you enjoy it and all that it will entail

Just a heads up folks -- I like to give players "special" something early on so that they can enjoy it through out most if not all the game -- waiting to get really cool stuff later on to me is kind of bogus -- because if done right they can be a lot of fun and still not be over powering. What I will try to do is examine your character, and your style of play and what not to try and figure out what kind of "special" you might enjoy as well as what kind of "special" might be of use to you as the game progress. Also what might be useful in augmenting the story that surrounds your character. It is just something I have found kind of fun to do.

rpgventurer just a not you might want to retcon your last post to -- "the symbols that had once glowed red" as they are not glowing now they only glowed briefly as Kustaa touched each one after his finger stopped touching a symbol it diminished down to not glowing at all -- sorry if that did not come across that way.

Forgive me for being to quick. I'm back and I'll give it a go. Just please forgive a newb if I make some mistakes along the way. I can retract any posts that don't jive the right way. lol :)

Don't worry about it. Ask and you will get help. Being new to play-by-post and a new system is daunting

Again ATB (A_True_Believer) I did not see any posts that I felt was out of alignment and you made no assumptions -- you followed along with someone else's assumption but I do not accredit that to you and frankly in a game that happens sometimes -- I just let players know that they stepped a bit to far and let them adjust from there. So no that is not even a newbie thing, its just a -- it happens sometimes kind of thing.

Okay runekyndig and A_True_Believer your characters have entered the room with everyone else I will give everyone a chance to post something if they want prior to moving things forward.

Also would you all care for a thread where you can check in to let everyone know that I here but not posting at this time kind of thing this way if you wanted to post I do not inadvertently push forward too soon. Also am I posting too fast for anyone at this point?

@A_True_Believer
Hey, welcome back! :D
And I'm quite new to this whole thing myself! I played like, a very tiny part of 5e campaign on this site, and that's all - never got into actual tabletop playing before. I'm pretty sure no one here would mind if we make mistakes! ^...^

@DeJoker
Do we start with any inspiration or zero? (Sorry if I missed the answer.)
Also, I'm going to be inactive the next two to three days. Feel free to assume Egret tagging along with the group!

Okay I have updated the Inspiration guidelines (had to go find how many you were supposed to start with) -- and yes at the beginning of every Episode you will get 1 Free Inspiration and get to keep any previous Episode Inspiration halved rounded-down -- so if you had 1 Inspiration point from the Previous Episode you would get 1 Free + (1/2)v = 1 + 0 = 1 Inspiration points in the next Episode but if you had say 9 Inspiration points from the Previous Episode you would start the next Episode with 1 Free + (9/2)v = 1 + 4 = 5 --- This means hording Inspiration points is counter-productive as the more you horde the more you lose.

BIG NOTE: Just remember though you can only spend Inspiration points on things associated with a Triat, Ideal, Bond, and/or Flaw -- they are not carte blanche bonuses that you and can use willy nilly --- there whole purpose is to reward you for role-playing your character and augmenting the story by doing so

Note everyone has a Trait that is not listed and that is your alignment but again I do not want to get into arguments over alignments so as such I will probably play those a bit looser -- still if a situation pops up you can request a Setback or request to use an Inspiration due to your Alignment

Also if as we progress you want to add Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and/or Flaws let me know -- my characters always have more than one of each and I am not even putting them there to gain inspiration I use them to help me define my character

Oh and thanks for the heads up FlyingSucculent that is always appreciated

I have a busy schedule this week at work and won't be able to post during the day (US Central Time).

Okay -- evening posting is perfectly fine ;-)

Scene 1 Episode 1c : The Arrival --- Feliani and Katsmon

I'm back! :D

Okay a word of warning -- which I will start off by saying: I do not care if you read the Monster Manual or even memorize it -- just be warned that the information found within may or may not be applicable -- I do this for 2 reasons (1) I have encountered players that had the MMs memorized and used that information meta-gaming style (2) I do not always agree with the MM guidelines as that is not how I want a particular creatures to be -- so often I change them some how.

For instance Dragons in my world ARE extremely dangerous to encounter and there is good reason they are feared by many. Also as you have learned the common Zombie and Skeleton that you see in Monster Manual are not actually undead they are just animated corpses which means you cannot Turn them any more than you could Turn an animated chair. Undead in my world ALL have a connection to the Negative Plane in some way as such they can drain physical stats. However you do not have to worry about losing levels as that will never happen -- and you only have to worry about permanent HP & Attribute drains if you cannot get it Restored within 1 weeks time

Also keep in mind this basic concept -- Zombies and especially Skeletons do not have functioning sensory organs -- so you cannot blind them, deafen them, or any of those things further they can sense something it just has not been accurately determined what it is they can sense nor how. Still in that regards it is known that Feign Death does work so that ought to be some clue to there sensory powers.

So then the animated corpses would not radiate evil as an undead would, correct?

Jesus! Stat drains? That's really taking me back!

That is correct the animated zombie and or skeleton have no minds no souls no alignment -- any more than an animated chair would -- they are for all intense and purposes just constructs not really undead

Now on the other hand undead well they do radiate this aura even the most minor of them because of that direct connection they have to the negative plane

Yeah well I find the stat drain is inline with undead far more than level drains -- as I could never figure out how having your life essence drained (which is what they called it) effected your memory (which they did not state it did) so I altered to be a life/physical drain and this was potent and scary enough to not need to do level drains -- although I will have to double check 5e to see if it has either -- also not all undead have this quality as it depends on the measure of connection certain undead do not possess the draining quality due to the nature of their undead state

I hate that. I almost kicked a player out of a campaign when he complained about an encounter was too high CR for the party (then don't fight them you idiot, go around as I planed). So I am total with you here.

Kendra had an in-game conversation about undead weakness to holy water, but that was to start an in-game-conversation about the challenges ahead.

@runekyndig my statement about the monster manual was directed at your comment about holy water and such --- as I had not even seen that post when I posted mine -- mine was just a general warning because I did not want unexpected expectations when the group started encounter critters in game

also I have posted a thread outlining the Coinage of the Realms -- with a complete list (I believe) of all the names the various coins may have

A question: can we assume holy water affects the undead as described in the Monster Manual? I think the PCs, being higher level, would know in general what works against certain types of creatures; for example, silvered weapons against lycanthropes and running water against vampires.

Oh yeah the normal things outlined affect things normally -- which is to so basically positive energy things adversely affect negative energy things always -- that include spells -- as has been updated in some of the necromantic-positive & negative spells already posted. The only thing -- I put forth was that normal zombies and skeletons are no longer considered undead they are constructs made up of rotting human flesh and bones or just bones and as such have no connection to the negative energy plane and other than not being undead any more are just pretty much the same -- note I will be looking at Animate Undead and Animate Object to better theme them as these seem a bit off thematically

So technically the spell "Animate Undead" only animates a pile of bones or a corpse which is really no different than "Animate Object" as such Animate Undead is just a Transmutation spell -- again I will be addressing these spells when I get to them because thematically the are off IMO -- Now "Create Undead" on the other hand actually does what it says it does in that it transforms a corpse into an actual undead creature thus creating that negative energy connection that once created continues to exist until destroyed

Hey if a thread gets going a bit to fast let us know we can slow down a bit -- I just have a tendency with conversations to move forward as things fairly fluid -- still there is an art I agree to being able to post to a conversation without breaking its flow and yet participate in the conversation -- you just kind of have to post time lineyish --- break your post into sections -- that way you can fully participate without slowing anything down but I would much rather slow things down than exclude anyone

I'm usually quite content to be excluded from conversations, actually. :D Especially with a lot of people participating - it gets hard to keep track sometimes if a lot of posts happen in-between, and sometimes it's easier to just observe. And it makes sense for a dialogue to focus on main participants!

...also, I'm not good at dialogue. XD Don't feel obligated to slow down for me, at least as long as there's nothing important for Egret being discussed! :P

Well, even if it isn't dialogue, there's always third person interior thoughts and stuff to post. :)

I concur with Bedzone if you have never done it you might give it a try it not only augments the story but it keeps you involved in the action so-to-speak and maybe its a bit tough to begin with but you eventually get the hang of it -- that is how I began -- just started doing it with others and then also paid attention to how others might do it until I found a method that I liked -- still if you do not want to dive in ;) I understand not everything is for everybody but really I know the water will be cold at first but after plunging in the body adjusts fairly quickly

Yep and you never know that added flavor may have results now and/or later as to me that is basically role playing your character and I keep those things in mind as I move things forward -- but then again I generally let the dice (or in this case that pseudo-random number generator) to make certain decision -- so had you gotten a note worthy roll on the performance that would have mostly gotten some kind of result and even a 10+ would have probably been noted but had you not gotten that 15+ on your history check you would have had penalties on your performance check or course with a 20+ on the history check I would said yeah you just strangely happen to know that song making your other check easier. So frankly you did good for not knowing the language nor the actual song ;)

Honestly, I think posts with only character thought need good balance as to when to use them. No one else except yourself is going to be invested in the character enough until at least some group bonding, and the abudance of inner monologue will be out of place and not exciting for the others to read if utilized too often.

Also, I was pretty sure I was doing this already?.. Apparently, I was doing it badly if you think I'm not doing it. XD In my defence, Egret doesn't exactly care for socializing and cultural oddities, so the only things he's gonna be thinking about the inn are probably about his previous travels or something along these lines.

Oh no no you did just fine -- I was not talking directly at you just in general in response to what Bedzone had said is all --- please if you feel a negative angle has been put out there do say so -- now if it that was how it was received then I will apologize as that was never the intent and I think Bedzone was only trying to encourage you to stay involved as all -- I think like me they may have experienced folk that comment like that and then kind of check out because they feel they are being left behind -- and we were not trying to do that either

We will eventually get to understand one another it just takes communication and patience -- so again I think your posting has been quite good so please do not think otherwise --- and by all means play within your character concept -- but remember we do not know what that is unless you reflect on that some how ;) -- we just got a bit thrown by the OOC was all

Ah, no, that's okay! I wasn't taking it as a critique, it was more of an observation. XD Same as my comment about the pacing, actually! If I ever feel left behind, I'll make sure to let you know, but I'm okay with being less involved in dialogues, truly. Just let me do some druiding when it gets to fighting, and I'm set. ;D

Also, thanks for the compliment, haha! :D It's been quite a long time since I properly played with anyone (meaning just RP, I actually never played tabletop RPGs), nice to know I'm doing well anyway~

Yep yep thanks DM for clarifying my intent too. Hope it came across as encouraging! For PbP I admit I enjoy reading both the narration, the interior thoughts as well as the dialogue of other characters. You're right in that lengthy interior monologues don't do very much, and player-knowledge vs character knowledge I wouldn't be able to act on it. I do read very carefully into description of character behaviour and action though, even if the character doesn't speak.

Thanks again for speaking out, I appreciate how different players bring different approaches to PbP, it certainly has some differences from tabletop sessions.

Hey I know non-combat is not for everyone but you will find that out of combat role playing can be as important as in combat stuff but I will flow with whatever the players want to do -- so if you all want to get down to the action just speak up here so I know what the majority wants to do.

For the record, I'm fine with non-combat roleplaying. I have a background of early versions of D&D where there was little role-playing so I find it a great change of pace.

Yeah the thing I found that I liked most about PbP was that you had a lot more time to explore your character which is another way of saying you got to do more role playing but I also understand that DnD is a lot about the action as well -- so I try to keep a good mix of the two

That is what I really like about PbP, and that is why I'm looking forward to playing a 5e warlock at some point who is struggling with the deal he/she made with the patron. But you needed a rouge, so I made a faction agent-bard

I'm okay with no combat. :D (...I'm enjoying seeing the other group interact with yrocs quite a lot. XD)

Okay I finished the Brewhaws, Taverns and Inns post in case you saw the work in progress post most of that is historical information with a few modifications but not many.

loved that typo ;) no not like bad rice at all --- by the way that was actually a half portion but I would not expect Egret to know that if he is not much of a meet eater so seemed like a viable mistake on his part just wanted to be sure you the player knew was all

I love rice. XD
And I'll let Feliani handle the negotiations on price. But I guess I'll keep it in mind if we ever need to buy more oysters. :P

Also, just to clarify: Egret is fine with meat (although he does prefer greens), the oysters just reminded him about his homeland. Weird slimy thing and all, even if the Underdark probably doesn't have oysters per se among local fauna.

No more fungi but they do have shellfish down there it just has a tendency to eat you rather than you eat it ;)

Had to spend most of yesterday on the road and have obligations later today but I will try post some time today if at all possible if not tomorrow then Monday

Okay not happening tonight -- my apologies -- another long day with quite a bit of driving drains the creative juices -- I should be able to get stuff up tomorrow

no worries. Thx for the update

That's fine, DeJoker! And yeah, thanks! :D

BedzoneII and FlyingSucculent I will be posting an addendum to your thread as soon as I get back home need to look something up that I do not have with me at work but you can go ahead and respond to Zin as my addendum will not affect that

Okay I figured that Brindel had the defacto lead in that thread which is why I asked where he was leading the others -- that being said an in game in character post of what he is doing is what I am looking for here as I would rather not just guess.

The Rock Inn is straight ahead, the Tankard Inn is to the right, and the north gate is to the left.

If you want me to post Brindel's and Lex's walk through the village in the "Episode 1a" thread, I'll do that, but he'll start at the closest one, the Rock Inn, and move clockwise through the village until he finds Feliani and Egret. Brindel wants to get everyone together to discuss the next step. I don't think all the characters know we have an assigned mission and therefore, neither does Brindel. :-) Since the town is not in immediate danger, Brindel wants his companions to finish taking care of whatever business in town they have.

As a player, I don't want to step on anyone's RPG experience.

Okay -- All I was looking for was something to the effect of an in-game post that denotes where Brindel was headed... aka
Nothing complicated -- I was just getting OOC posts and nothing In-Game and was not sure why

Sorry for the delay, last few days were busy.
In case I stay silent for a few days again during the following week, feel free to ghost Egret, he'll usually agree with others' lead. :D

Okay folks I want to clarify something -- what is going on in town is role playing -- and that is what the game is about -- further this kind of role playing can be as important or more important sometimes than hacking-n-slashing -- the rewards might not always be immediate but you never know. That being said if you are looking for a predominately hack-n-slash kind of game you are going to be missing out on a lot of stuff.

One of the things I like the most as a player about PbP is I get a chance to explore more of my character and do a lot more actual role playing rather than roll playing as tends to happen in FtF games -- so I encourage you -- dive into your character and explore them get to know them the combat will come.

Also one of my players once stated to me -- every time we go into a combat situation without fully investigating and preparing for it we get are butts kicked and every time we go into a combat situation after fully investigating and preparing we kick there butts -- and it happened to be quite true and was nothing that I planned it just happened -- so apparently that ounce of prevention is actually worth a pound or more of cure

I'm not sure how gathering food for Kezzel can help us on a mission, but I guess you never know what knowledge an inventor can offer. XD

I was just concerned about the fact that Shump allegedly left the group until next morning, so he won't participate in anything until then - and the longer we are going around visiting the inns, the longer it will be. But if GeneCortess is fine with it, then I'm all in for long roleplaying of this side-quest. XD

lol -- well I know you do not know me all that well yet -- but I rarely do nothing for no reason ;)

Further I believe in you get out of it what you put into to it -- as for Shump yea that is that player's choice -- they could have chose to explore their character a bit more if they had wanted too I would have created another thread.

Hmm side-quest -- are you so sure its a side-quest?

Are you telling me our inn tour is part of the main quest? Well, that's intriguing, now I'm really wondering what Kezzel is going to say. XD

Let me put it to you this way and perhaps you might better understand my style -- everything is a potential main quest -- and when I say everything I mean everything -- even stuff that I have not even considered yet. This is because what will make it part of the main quest is whether or not you the players choose to pursue it.

You see I build adventures as we go -- I have created a skeletal framework of potential things and if you all go to the left leg I start putting flesh on that left leg if you stop and change directions I begin fleshing in things over there. However I will warn you that sometimes pieces of skeletal framework might have time limits on them. For instance maybe for a week (in-game) the frame has 3 legs but since you never pursued any of them one disappeared and another one of them got all gnarly making it even more difficult to pursue still that third leg currently remains unchanged.

This way I do not waste time creating things that you all are not interested in -- thus free my time up to better implement those things you are interested in. Further the world does not wait for you so some things may be here today and gone tomorrow while other things might be real easy today and horrible hard tomorrow. As I run timeline adventures as well as static ones.

So pursue what you think is fun to pursue and see where it leads you but keep in mind something else might be going on while you are doing that. I had a group once stop and assess what they had discovered and what they had pursued and they found that they had like over a dozen things to do and had only accomplished three things so far. Further they felt some of those things on the to do list were time sensitive and that they had nearly forgotten their main quest which was the whole reason for them being where they were. They were fairly surprised, and had to take a few to strategize what to pursue immediately and what could be put on hold. However they also had the feeling that as they proceeded they were going to encounter even more things to put on their to do list.

Like I said I run a semi-sandbox game -- that is to say I can give missions but you are also going to discover things while on missions that might become missions of your own or might lead to further official missions. So keep your eyes open. And just know that I rarely do anything for absolutely no reason.

Oooo and someone asked what their familiar was up to -- I have not forgotten that btw ;)

Okay if at any point you as a group want to fast forward we can do so.

Also we can assume (if you all like) that everyone has been taught how to activate their symbol and basically it shines brighter with your sense of commitment to the oath.

Also keep in mind the magic interprets your intent although if you end up harming the village or a citizen it does register that as well and depending upon the intent and the action it glows a different variance of red (aka accidentally hurting someone or hurting someone while protecting another light red -- intentionally killing someone deep bright red). You then just have to report for adjudication to get the Oath cleansed -- or course the latter will most likely not report willingly.

As for meeting with Kezzel, the Oysters will not be ready until tomorrow after midday so if you want to visit Kezzel before you strike out [which I personally would encourage you to do ;) but it is your call] then we can fast forward until that time as well. All I would need would be your intentions for the rest of the day and first half of the next day.

I'm fine with continuing playing through this day, but if others would prefer to fast forward, I'm onboard for that as well. :D
But we do need to get other things than oysters as well, so maybe that should be the intentions if we do end up skipping the day. And I wanted to visit the Book Inn anyway~

Okay -- as an alternative I can do a split thing since I am guessing that the inbetween actions are not going to collide with the initial get going actions I can start that one while continuing with the current one.

I am pretty good at juggling multiple timed event threads.

I would prefer to fast forward to visit Kezzel in the afternoon with his requested food and assume we learn about activating the symbol.

Egret wants to go visit the Book Inn to acquire the food item there -- does anyone want to join him

Lex wants to go shopping for Holy Water and Salt -- does anyone want to join him.

Brindel seems to be opting to stay at the Rock Inn and call it a day, still all stressed out from going to Mamz Inn ;) and then pick up tomorrow after the Oysters arrive and go see Kezzel did anyone want to pitch in on the oysters to help Feliani perhaps acquire enough for everyone to partake?

Shump and Kroog are at Mamz Inn enjoying their time in town for now (I guess) until its time to leave town

So that would be 3 different time threads (no issue here) just need to know who else to include in where...

Who is going to go to the Book Inn just Egret?

Who is going to the market place just Lex?

Who wants to go visit Kezzel in the afternoon, Brindel and?

And I am assuming everyone is going to be ready to leave by the next morning, unless they accidentally get turned into a newt.

So please speak up so I know who to include in which threads.

Lex would like to go shopping for holy water and salt. Do you want to roleplay that out or just give me a flat cost and I'll deduct some gold from my character sheet?

That is up to you Arina -- which would you prefer -- things can sometimes occur under the most mundane of situations ;) -- then again maybe it will be just that simple -- I let the dice speak and let them choose many things it makes for a more interesting story that way.

And you could go with Egret to the Book Inn and then swing by the market place or you can each take separate journeys makes no never mind to me.

Also are you planning on visiting Kezzel with Brindel?


Basically I can hand-wave what you want to hand-wave (within reason) and role play what you want to role-play.

I'm re-reading my last post above and would like to clarify it. When Brindel visits Kezzel in the afternoon, he would like to bring the food Kezzel requested and is willing to contribute up to 5 Dragons (what he has left) to the shopping effort. Brindel would be glad to accompany anyone on their shopping trip but will let others take the lead in talking to the merchants. Brindel hopes others will join the Kezzel meeting. Perhaps the party can learn more about the tower and the swamp as well as his axe.

The symbol I'm referring to above is the one on the characters' hands for the oath.

Finally, sometime between now and the afternoon meeting, assume those in the party who didn't hear the assignment got briefed out of earshot of the villagers.

Thanks rpgventurer -- yep and I got what symbol you meant but again thanks for that clarification -- just waiting for others to chime in so I can set things up appropriately

rpgventurer if Egret and Lex go 2 different directions who would you accompany?

Well, Brindel would go with whoever is shopping for Kezzel, but it's fine if Lex or Egret want a solo journey.

I do not think either was necessarily wanting a solo -- they were just going after 2 different set of items -- Egret was shopping for Kezzel

Arina will join Egret and Brindel is more than welcome if he would like to join us.

So if we're fast forwarding a little, consider that Feliani would've been briefed by the main party on their quest, and that she is agreeable to go along with it. If the party is moving out only tomorrow, after meeting Kezzel, that gives everybody some time to pursue whatever threads they need to pursue (or fast forward them). Feliani will continued to amass the food items necessary before calling it a night.

Okay I think Shump wanted to head out in the morning as that would allow the group to travel a normal distance during the day and get to a normal stopping place rather than having to scout a new one out kind of thing.

So the events would go -- Today: Finish gather supplies/food Tomorrow: Get Oysters/See Kezzel Next Day: Head out

Of course that could change but that is currently what I am understanding

However it would be nice if the rest of the other players would chime in here so we know they are still there

DeJoker, your understanding is the same as mine.

Brindel will join Lex and Egret.

I missed a lot of planning, but I'm okay with the result! Just let me get this straight, we're going to play it out, or are we skipping it and just declaring what we're doing? (I had an impression that you were talking about playing it out, but I'd like to make sure just in case.)

To clarify I am going to be doing several things -- but basically it boils down to running threads for the various aspects --

A) Thread(s) to cover shopping today
B) Thread for visiting Kezzel tomorrow
C) Thread for everyone leaving the next morning after tomorrow

These will all be launched basically in tandem but will be functioning obviously during different times. However, I do not feel there will be any issues with this unless someone decides to through a spanner into the gear box.

All I am doing is trying to give a day or two more for the others to chime in -- then I launch and/or sum things up depending on what happens

Thanks for the summary. I foresee Feliani will participate in threads A and B for sure, before she gets to thread C. I'm open to having these threads be as fleshed out or fast forwarded as necessary, as I'll simply adjust the level of detail I will put into the RPing.

I will probably start those threads tomorrow evening but I am hoping the last two chime in to at least let me know they are tracking these discussions and are aware of whats going on.

Oh, I understand the idea now! It probably might create some continuity issues, but hopefully nothing bad... unless shopping goes very, very wrong. XD

Like I said I doubt it unless one of you has a spanner ;)

Over the years, Marvel Comics have taught us that continuity is overrated. :-)

well DC aint done no better -- they have both messed it up numerous times

Regarding shopping, have I missed a shopping budget or something? When we created our characters, we were given a gold budget, and everything over 10gp would be lost. So we each have more than 10 gp for shopping?

Nope, I still only have 10gp, I've been budgeting carefully :D

Note nothing you are getting exceeds the Groups Budget however if only a couple of folks are footing the bill it might not be attainable ;) depending on how much you actually do get -- I sat down and pre-calculated the values of everything assuming that everyone was going to see Kezzel and everyone would be partaking in the meal and thus everyone would be kicking a few coins -- also keep in mind room & board for everyone was supposed to covered until you had a chance to go on an adventure

I still have 10gp which Egret already offered to use for shopping. :D We probably don't need a lot of money for a mission anyway, the undead don't take Dragons. (...accent on probably.)
Also, he refused to partake in the oyster part of the meal, so maybe that can save some of the coin?

thanks Bedzone on that time correction -- I fixed my original post accordingly

Do you mind if I hold off on posting in the Journey thread? It feels too separated in time to write for right now.

Well you can just post that you arrive at the gate and leave it innocuous for now -- I would though like the gear list from all and some have not even weighed in on that so maybe the other stuff will complete before that gets started ?

First thanks @FlyingSucculent for responding to this but the Notes thread is not a place of discussion -- that is what this thread is for but @GeneCortess they were correct in that you are slated for the "Episode 2 Scene 1 The Journey North" but you could if you so desired join them in meeting Kezzel

I'm with @FlyingSucculent. It's hard to post anything of value on the "Journey North" thread until we finish visiting Kezzel. Upon arriving at the gate, Brindel will share whatever he learned from Kezzel with the party members who weren't there.

Also, I need to re-do Brindel's equipment. I noticed that at least one of the spells he has, "Protection from Evil and Good" has spell components that cost money. They will be expended, so he needs to buy them and a component pouch to hold them.

Okay well I tried ;) --

However on a plus note no Brindel does not need to acquire a component pouch as that is the recipe for Arcane Spell Casters and Brindel is a Divine Caster and all they need for most spells (but not all) is going to be just their holy symbol and loud verbal component (aka calling out to their patron for all within close proximity to hear and know where the power is coming from)

arcane focus can replace materials but only if those materials don't have a cost.

Fireball
3rd-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V S M (Bat guano, sulfur) can be replaced by a focus
Duration: Instantaneous


Continual Flame
2nd lev evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V S M (Ruby dust worth 50 gp, which the spell consumes) can NOT be replaced by a focus
Duration: Until dispelled
Classes: Cleric, Wizard

Yes I concur with that -- but I was talking about Brindel who has a Divine Focus which is for Divine Casters required for all spells even if they do not have a material component. Further Protection from Enemies (Evil/Good) material requirement I do not consider costing anything significant and is thus replaceable by a focus be it Divine or Arcane

Protection from CAUFFE (Evil/Good)
1st Level Abjuration
Components V, S, M (Holy Water or Powdered Silver and Iron) can be replaced by a focus

If they had listed a price like they did with Continual Flame I would have considered it as being a significant cost.

Note this spell is not really Protection from Evil and Good as denoted but I currently do not have any better name so for now I will just consider it to be Protection from CAUFFE (pronounced cof-FAE) as these creatures apparently must contain too much caffeine ;) and as such must be protected against. If one of you can give me a better name, one that is more accurate as to what it protects from that would be awesome but this is purely an Aesthetic change (aka only the names were changed in order to protect the... uh... not so innocent). How you want to refer to it makes not never-mind to me as it still does what it does it just annoys me to call something which it is not.

Final note -- keep in mind when presenting things that are contained within the books I do not consider them to be RAW for they are in fact just GAW which is to say they are not Rules As Written but Guidelines As Written and if I find them to either not fit the theme of what I am doing or they interfere with story telling or some other issue I may alter or expunge them but I will at all times inform all if I am going to do this and for the most part with 5e I have little need for it except as already outlined for some Schools of spells

@GM: I assume all RAW as GAW lol. You get the fun of making the rules and we get the fun of breaking them:)

Cool break away ;) because per Red Green's instructions I stock plenty of Duct Tape ;)

Apologies for my silence the last few days, life happened. Back now. :D

Just putting it here, after the shopping thread is done, I'm prepared to fast forward most of the Kezzel dinner date, I think that'll side track us too long before we finally get to the actual quest. Shall we just say we had a great dinner, and maybe Kezzel drops some rumours etc, and go to Episode 2?

Well we could if that was the plan for that little encounter. I have tried a couple of times to state to you all that everything can be and IS part of your adventure and an encounter can be something as simple as meeting some folks and having a friendly discussion. Whereupon certain valuable information can be gotten sometimes if the group is paying attention ;) Note I almost never do anything for no reason. You will not encounter a single orc in a 10x10 room guarding a treasure chest for absolutely no reason. As such I actually need to know certain responses that can derive from that encounter with Kezzel.

Note: You never have to go on any and/or all adventures that might pop up but they are there and available what you all do with them is totally up to you.

Further the assignment is not currently going anywhere and you were not assigned to go to it immediately so the leaders did not think it was a pressing concern -- as to whether or not it is time sensitive that I am not willing to say.

So let me give a gaming example that happened once in a FtF game I was running. A group that had set up temporary long-term residence in a small town set off to get a certain something (I do not recall what) and this was their Adventure so-to-speak. Along the way the encountered a group of Orcs placing large stones in a small river. They killed or chased off these Orcs and removed the stones from the river but never asked why these Orcs were doing this in the first place. Having seemingly solved that encounter they continued with their Adventure. After several days and a bit arduous work they retrieved what they were after and headed back towards the village. Upon arriving at that place in the small river where they had crossed on their way out, they once again encountered a group (a bit larger than the first one) of Orcs placing stones in the water. So they once again killed and/or drove off these Orcs dispersed the rocks and headed on to the village. After a few days, their next adventure took them in the opposite direction and they were gone for a few weeks upon returning they found the town had been completely razed with apparently no survivors or at least none they could find. There only clue was some deep wide wheeled tracks in the ground. They tracked these tracks to that small river crossing where there was now a rock bridge spanning it and determined that it must have come from here and turned and headed the other way. They eventually found and destroyed that machine of destruction and learned why those Orcs were putting the stones in that small river. As that machine would not have been able to ford that river otherwise. They learned a valuable lesson, lost a lot of friends that they had made (encountered) in that village, and lost all the stuff they had left in that village when going out on that prolonged adventure. All-in-all they treated an encounter as a seemingly no-reason event and found out that was not the case.

Yep absolutely. My offer was just to make sure that thread wasn't delaying the Episode 2 thread, for those who weren't interested in dinner. I personally would consider the Kezzel thread very fruitful for what Feliani could glean from it.

Okay as I stated in the Thread -- we have lost Kroog's player but I still have the character so it can be included as an NPC for now and then come and go as need and/or desired ... do you all want me to put Kroog into the pool of NPCs you can recruit to go on missions with you or just have him decide to leave the Village -- for some reason -- he did have a link to a story line that might be something you all might want to explore

By the way that goes for a lot of the recruitable NPCs some of them give access to story lines that you might want to explore -- basically if any of you have played any of the Balder Gate PC adventures think of the NPCs to be like those you find in that game but with a bit more versatility to them as well as perhaps a bit more true personalities to them although not all NPCs will be what they seem to be either as NPC are just NPC -- heck if I could not all PCs would necessarily be all they seemed either but that would require someone to knowingly take a temporary role since once the cat got out of the bag they would be on their own so-to-speak and my games are generally aimed at groups -- you can solo but that gets even riskier because no one there to back you up should you get in over your head

My opinion, but I'm OK to whatever the group wants:
* The party consists of just the PCs for this adventure. We all have our own story lines and don't need others right now.
* Keep Kroog in the village, in case the player returns or the party wants an NPC they can instantly trust.

Okay I am going to attempt to post an update to the Shopping thread and the Tour thread tomorrow

Sorry for the delay in posting! I should be able to post tomorrow, unless anything extra comes up.

Sorry Dejoker, I got a little lost in all of these threads. If Lex wants to shop for holy water, shall I continue in the thread? I'm realtively happy to just skip it, so we can head out.

Actually Lex is pretty smart ;) -- the dark fFolk stated all you needed was someone who can cast divine magic -- aka Brindel

So you do not have to actually go shopping just have Brindel make a bunch of Holy Water you do need the reagents for that though which you can get here as it takes 25sp worth of powdered silver per vial and 4 vials to make a flask or basically 100sp or 10gp per Flask that you wish to acquire -- cheaper than buying it on the market but it does require time and effort

Note when I found this in the PHB I copied it and expounded upon it in the House Rules -- so the full recipe can be found there along with some suggestions of what else might be able to be done by an enterprising creative PC

I may have on and off access problems the next couple weeks. If it seems long, please play my character.

Thanks for the Heads up Gene

@Arina your character is in Episode 1 Scene 2b Touristing and I could use your input there if you plan to do/say anything about the area.

@DeJoker, to answer your question in the "Gone Shopping" thread: Brindel is fine keeping himself busy at the garrison (cleaning his armor and holy symbols, praying, resting in a real bed, etc.). There is no need for another thread.

Okay thanks I do not like to assume as I do not want to leave any player unnecessarily hanging as others finish up their items ;)

Hey everyone, apologies about prolonged absence; I'll catch up with the threads in a few days, need to check on all that shopping that was happening while I was away! :D Hope you're all doing well!

Episode 1 Scene 2b Touristing -- is waiting on acknowledgement that FlyingSucculent and Arina are done here

Episode 1 Scene 3 A Dinner Date -- is waiting on Arina to arrive

Episode 2 Scene 1 The Journey North -- is waiting I believe on FlyingSucculent but understood that we are waiting until the Dinner Date is over


Also I believe rpgventurer is willing to have Brindel make some holy water -- but someone would need to pick up the necessary reagents -- Brindel can make 2 Flasks of Holy Water as he does have 4 1st Level Slots and 2 2nd Level Slots

Cold Iron and Silvered -- added to the Armor and Weapons categories in House Rules

Does this change affect already existing weapons? Both of my scimitars are silvered melee weapons (which can't exist by these rules, I believe?), should I do anything about them? I'll have to recalculate the gold if so, and I'd really rather not do that...

no you cannot have both silvered and cold iron on the same scimitar you can have 2 silvered scimitars and if you like you can switch one to cold iron and if you do not want to recalculate I am good with that -- it would have simply cost less than what you paid for it ;)

I just realized I misread the new description, actually. I thought "both of these properties cannot be applied to a single weapon" meant that they can't be applied to a weapon - only to ammunition. Sorry, my bad! They stay as they are then. XD

Okay if I have no objections I will make a wrap up post for this particular episode -- where-in I am making this assumption

1) Lex agrees to help with the analyzing of the axe and the making of the bee bombs

If you plan to gather any honey (whenever you decide to make that trip) you will need to acquire a container to contain it

I will cover all the other outstanding items within the summation post

Works for me.

Brindel is packed and waiting for the Lyft to take him to the gate.

Oops. Mixing genres.

Okay once everyone that is going chimes in by responding to Brindel's good morning or arriving if they are not already there -- I will kick that one off and we will get underway.

My apologies to everyone by my absence last week and half. I was experience some difficulties, but I should be more or less back in the game. I'll catch up on the happenings - although I don't believe anything very important changes, at quick glance? - and post as Egret when I can!
(But just in case, if I ever disappear like this again, feel free to ghost Egret - his default behavior is to be neutral, after all!)

No big deal I was experiencing delays myself -- and then there are the delays to folks due to the pandemic -- so all-in-all things are moving a lot slower here than usual

Trying to be around.

Okay going to play a bit with the extremely minor cantrips (Druidcraft, Prestidigitation, and Thaumaturgy) -- I would like to theme them a bit more which would involve expanding them and constricting them at the same time.

For instance the Druid deals with the natural world as such their Druidcraft would reflect this, conversely this is different but similar to Thaumaturgy since they both involve deities. Then we have Prestidigitation or the more Arcane spin on this.

What I am considering -- and I am asking for input on this from you all -- is as I said tailoring these to reflect a theme of a sorts. It makes sense that Druidcraft is Transmutation for most of its effects but it seems to have a bit of Abjuration and Divination in there as well. Thaumaturgy on the other-hand seems to be mostly Enchantment in nature with a bit of Transmutation and then I would expand them into the Necromantic realm as well. This would leave Conjuration, Evocation and Illusion for Prestidigitation which interestingly enough seems to fit the bill for the basic things it can do.

This way each caster type (aka specific minor-cantrip spell) would have a themed set of spell types that you could then use more dynamically to create the very-minor effects within the guidelines of what is allowed for that spell and then the "Things you can do" would simply be examples.

So again I would like to hear your input on this if you have any.

nice to have cantrips do stuff.. More is good.

Okay I have tweaked Druidism (aka Druidcraft) to be what I am planning to do with the other 2 spells like it. If you want to see a precursor to what the others will look like.

Yes in DnD5e in the PHB (page 154) the list of Tools are actually a list of Skills -- Artisan's Tools are mostly crafting skills -- personally I think they were inappropriate named (and/or handled) but whatever -- so basically if you are proficient with at set of Tools you are proficient with the Skill that uses those tools

So if we were to look at the Artisan's Tools you would see that if you have proficiency with:

Alchemist's Supplies ----- then you have the skill Alchemy
Brewer's Supplies -------- then you have the skill Brewing
Cartographer's Tools ----- then you have the skill Cartography
etc....
Thieves Tools ------------ actually means you have the skill Locksmithy (which is also used with traps)

As for the Knowledge Skills -- all I did was clarify (or expand) what they cover -- they are still strictly just Knowledge Skills and nothing more.

Note -- Untrained means you get no proficiency bonus and the best you can obtain as a result is a 10 (even if you roll a 20) further if you are attempting to perform a skill that has tools associated with it and you do not have the necessary Tools/Supplies then you are at a Disadvantage to your roll. So attempting to draw a map without Cartographer's Tools and without being proficient in that skill means you get no proficiency bonus and you make the roll with Disadvantage -- however Disadvantage can be cancelled by having Advantage if applicable ... although in some cases it does state if you are suffering Disadvantage then Advantage simply does not apply (aka does not cancel the Disadvantage).

Does that clarify things?

Sure does! With Shump being proficient in the tool Lute. That means a lot more than I suspected. Someday he will get another Lute. Last one was stolen/lost eta.... Shump has Map Case with Area Maps listed on him as he does guiding for a living. How much does that help in the current adventuring?

Trying to get more a feel for the character. Haven't had much play with him.

Some more info on Dukagsh diety would be good too.

Those would be maps showing you the way points and general path north to the various mines in the mountains to the north as well as a the mines south of the village. The hills northeast have no static points until you get way to the west and no one has mapped the Marsh, Forest of Wyrms nor the Serpent Hills beyond a they be here kind of thing. So you have a map similar to the Far Reach map with a bit more knowledge of what resides in the hills to northeast as that is where you originated from. Granted Yroc clans/tribes do not have maps of that region as they depend on their scouts for that. Still feel free to ask questions or make rolls if you like do know things about the region that you the player may not already know and make notes ;)

When I read p154 I understood that they referred to the granting of proficiency bonuses for a craft. But I totally understand if you want to create a list of skills to describe each of them.

The untrained check seems harsh though: a roll cap of 10 isn't something I'm familiar with in 5e. I suppose I'm more used to defining difficulty using DC. But again, it's a house rule, so no worries. Would you consider not have tools a double penalty though: we're taking away the proficiency bonus for not having the tools AND giving disadvantage. In total that's a triple penalty.

My bad for not understanding this earlier, otherwise it would've made sense for the party to own collectively a set of all the tools.

No the roll cap of 10 is not a house rule its in the normal guidelines although maybe I might be broading its use to cover craft skills as well but the concept is already there.

Not having a proficiency bonus is not a penalty its the basic state of things. You are either proficient and gain the bonus for it or you are not proficient and do not gain the bonus that is not a penalty that is simply a lack of a bonus. Also I am not taking away the bonus those are the standard guidelines

Also not having the actual tools whether proficient or not carries the Disadvantage to your roll per the normal guidelines

And the party owning a full set of every Tool is a rather lengthy list of Tools and perhaps a bit of over kill however yes possessing some of the tools whether you know actually how to use them or not can be handy at times but I would suggest getting tools for only those skills you plan on learning later on. One does not normally go out and buy tools for doing something if they never plan to learn how to do that something.

I'm sorry I cannot find the roll cap of 10, but no worries, I'm not too bothered by this as the DM always gets to determine DC level anyway, so it's essentially a +10 to difficulty, understood.

Still clarifying: so not having the tools means no proficency bonus is granted AND the roll is disadvantaged? Whereas having the tools gives the proficency bonus and does not disadvantage the roll, am I correct?

Or did you mean for PCs to have a skill of craft skills, like what you listed, ie. brewing, alchemy, cartography etc? And this is what grants proficency. And this is separate from whether you own the tools for it or not, which detemines a normal or a disadvantaged roll.

Okay I did a quick look with no success but I am pretty sure the concept is within the DnD5e guidelines somewhere if I stumble across it again I will share that information with everyone here but it only applies to things like Knowledge skills and other skills that are not something you just know how to do. Basically if you are not actually skilled in something of this nature the best you can do are the things that are considered Easy (DC 10).
No having or not having the Tools has nothing to do with ones Proficiency with those Tools (or more precisely the Skill those Tools represent) you are either proficient or you are not proficient simple as that and that is based off of whether you took the set of Tools as a proficiency during character creation or pick that proficiency up later on.

The Disadvantage comes into play when you are attempting to do something with "make shift" tools. Basically anything that is not the precise set of tools you need to do the job properly. Or simply put you are trying to use the Skill associated with a set of Tools without having those set of Tools. And since anyone can use a set of tools, if one has the proper set of tools they do not suffer Disadvantage when attempting to perform a task (aka use the Skill associated with the Tools) that those tools were designed to do.

Now again anyone can use the Tools with or without proficiency in them just those who are proficient with them (aka have the Skill associated with the Tools) are much better at it. Which is reflected by the proficient individual getting to use their proficiency bonus with those Tools (aka its associated Skill) and by the fact that if you are not proficient with the Tools (aka its associated Skill) then the best you can get with a check is a 10 as you simply do not have the know how to do perform whatever task you are trying to perform at a significantly high level nor can you perform the more difficult tasks someone proficient with the Tools (aka its associated Skill) can do.

To Re-Cap for Clarity

1) Proficiency Bonus is applied to any Skill (the Tools represent a Skill) that you are proficient in.

2) Performing a Skill (again the Tools represent a Skill) that requires a certain set of Tools (not every skill requires one to use Tools) without having those Tools in hand suffers Disadvantage but can still attempt the Skill (again Tools represent a Skill)

3) If you are attempting to use a Skill (again the Tools represent a Skill whether you have those Tools or not is irrelevant to attempting the Skill associated with those Tools) that you are not Proficient in that actually requires knowledge of or training in then the best result you can get on a 1d20 roll is a 10. You are still allowed to roll that 1d20 as this just means doing the Easy stuff is still Easy to do even for the non-proficient. So far these kind of Skills are limited to Knowledge based Skills and Tool based Skills
The problem and the confusion in my opinion comes in due to how the Skill is denoted within the Guidelines instead of defining a Skill that needs a certain set of Tools they defined a set of Tools that represents the Skill that is needed to use them. So there becomes a blurring between the actual Skill and the Tools that Skill needs to be performed properly.

For instance say you are a trained Carpenter (proficient in the Skill Carpentry) and you know how to use the many Tools associated with Carpentry (aka Carpenter's Tools). Now you are tasked with putting a complicated wooden box together if you have the appropriate Carpenter's Tools (Hammer, Hand Saw, Measuring Tape, Nails, etc...) doing so is fairly straight forward. However if you have inappropriate tools (Slightly Bent Nails, a Brick, pocket knife, etc...) you could still build the box just not as easily nor probably as well (aka with Disadvantage). Conversely if you are not a trained Carpenter but you have the proper Carpenter's Tools (Hammer, Hand Saw, Measuring Tape, Nails, etc...) while you do not suffer Disadvantage you still cannot do the job better than someone who is trained at being a Carpenter and if the task is something beyond the basics (more difficult than a 10) you will simply fail at trying to do it because you simply do not have the know how. Of course if you are not a trained Carpenter and you do not have the appropriate Carpenter's Tools not only can you not do it as well as a trained Carpenter but just like the trained Carpenter you are going to suffer Disadvantage.

I hope that explains it better

I totally understand your explanation. In which case I think it's probably clearer if we don't think of them as skills at all. 5e lists 18 Skills specifically, from Acrobatics to Survival. Best to leave the tool proficiencies as simply that. Otherwise we'd be trying to figure who's a trained carpenter and who isn't separately from who brought the tools and who didn't.

Unless you want to house rule a new list of craft skills. (And, as a return favour, I can make that list for you if you want).

I don't know -- I am kind of mixed on it -- I mean it is a Skill but its one that requires Tools to do without Disadvantage which implies you can perform the Skill without the Tools. Ultimately if everyone simply understands that when you have a Tool Proficiency you actually have the the Skill associated with those tools and that you can still use that Skill with or without Tools and that you can use the Tools with or without the Skill Proficiency we can leave it as is. Otherwise I would want to rewrite the guidelines to point this out clearly and concisely. If it were a bigger element of the game I might have done that but no one is focused on this so I see no need to go that far at this time. Maybe I will simply post a clarify on the Tool Proficiencies and what they mean and do not mean.

I may be wrong -- which wouldn't be the first time today -- but I believe DeJoker asked a while back for us to designate a caller for the party. Any volunteers? My leadership instincts didn't work out so well in the last game I tried to lead the group.

It would help greatly to have a central group spokes-person for the group as that helps facilitate group decisions like what speed to travel at for the day ;) and such --- further the player group spokes-person does not have to be the defacto in-character group leader

I'm fine with with trusting everyone else to do the group decisions! I do love discussing mechanics, but lately I don't have enough focus for the finest details of these, so discussions like above are mostly lost on me. XD I do think Rpgventurer or Bedzone would be great decision makers! Of course, if they would volunteer. (And I am definitely not suited for this. :P)

As for the in-character leader... The same, actually - Brindel and Feliani! They are the ones taking the most initiative when it comes to the group at large and making things happen. XD

Doughty Brindel gets my vote for party leader! But Feliani is definitely a doer, heh.

If I were to weigh in I would say of the party Brindel seems like the most natural leader of that group with Feliani running a close second if that helps any

I volunteer Brindel as the caller then.

I second (or is it third or fourth?) Brindel as our group's spokesperson.

Good by me.

GeneCortess I have finished the Primeval Awareness benefits within the House Rules under Ranger -- I have also applied them to the current game situations

Yeppers made that change on Primeval Awareness and corrected my Natural Explore. Checked my Gloom Stalkers while I was at it.

So GeneCortess your thoughts on the new Primeval Awareness -- it was a bit tricky to get to add something to what you as a Ranger could already do without making too powerful (aka more powerful than a cantrip based on the other spells similar to it) -- aka see the 5th Level Druid Spell Commune with Nature as a gauge of what I mean

Oh and dang actually forget a small bit sorry I tweaked it again forgot to re-examine Commune with Nature which added a minor piece that does not currently affect you - it was late one I posted that (or early depending on how you view that ;-) )

I believe you have done well on it. I see no problem with it. I believe it is better than the original was.

Hi everyone, it's the inevitable thing that happens to even the most regular of players. I need to review the commitments to my games on GP. Lockdown is almost over, I go back to work next week, and am expecting a hell of a lot of extra work to make up for lost time. I am currently running 2 games, and am playing in another 10, and I'm afraid I will need to cut back. As this is one of my newest games, I've rationalised that it's fairer to let this one go first. (I've dropped one last week already).

My sincere apologies. As a frequenter on GP, I do realise how disruptive player loss is. I enjoyed the characterisation that my fellow players have brought to the game, and want to say special thanks to Dejoker for inviting me in the first place, with whom I've had some very fruitful gaming and DMing discussions.

Story-wise, I'm prepared to spin Feliani as changing her mind about going into the swamp, because of some secret message her familiar brought her, or something like that.

Once again, thank you all.

Best of luck, BedzoneII. It's been a pleasure.

Ah so sad -- sorry to see ya go -- if you want to wander back this way let me know

Will do, thanks again everyone!

GeneCortess please explain the +11 -- I have +1 from Dex / +4 Primeval Awareness / ??

Note I am not saying its not there just want to know where it is coming from

Also the (8) becomes a 4 as I asked for a 1d10 Initiative roll -- I do not like penalizing faster more aware folk by doing the 1d20 I figure if you are fast and/or very aware that should give you a solid advantage where quickness is a major factor.

INIT +10
Rolls INIT - (1d20+11) ( 8 ) + 11 = 19

LOL the +10 on INIT was a fast misread. I corrected it with the proper 1d10 roll right afterwards. I have no idea what I was thinking with the first rolls! Gesh. And stop doing two things at once might help too!

Good luck!

Hey, just letting you all know, my Internet issue's fixed, so I'm back to more active posting! :)

Okay as a heads up -- because I do not know what you all see when I do this -- I have added and/or tweaked the following items under spells

Guidance
Prestidigitation
True Strike

Prestidigitation -- is the on-going effort to formalize but diversify these minor-minor cantrips

Guidance and True Strike -- these are tweaks caused by a deep dive into adjusting the Augury spell in order to make it more game friendly and thematically useful -- aka I am not omnipotent and I hate things built into a game that make me need to be so I would much rather have some kind of static quantitative benefit and leave it at that -- and trying to ascertain a scaling to these various Divination spells that made a bit more sense and followed the scaling factor that is present between spell levels

First thanks Gene for bringing this to my attention not once but twice ;) -- and my apologies for this delay -- getting things back on track slowly.

That said the last post is currently complete -- it takes a bit of work to pull all the elements together

Okay. .just need a boast.. I know that feeling. .been poked before.

Please do not get me wrong -- I appreciate getting poked when needed ;)

Hopefully Arina (Lex) will post today