Out of Character

Hi! :D
Anyone has a character in mind already? I'm open to play any class, so I can fill in the blanks in our group.

Hello everyone!

Regarding classes, I'm tempted to take something with a wilderness flavour - a ranger or scout rogue.

We have two Queni in the game according to game details. :0

Haha. You're right! How odd. So, from what happened - I applied to join + got sent an invite. Somehow both got accepted?

I can choose leave for each of them which is what I'm going to do for one. Hopefully, that gets rid of my doppelganger. Here we go...

Oh no, doppelganger took the original with them! D:

A cruel twist! The changeling and its original were soul-bonded, and one could not be slain without slaying the other.

Hopefully Scrol can get Queni back in the game soon. :)

Actually this has happened before, but I cannot recall how it got resolved.

Whew, I'm back. I am definitely the original, you guys. Trust me.

I don't know you suspiciously look like a doppleganger too me and that is likely what a doppleganger would say too... things that make you go... hmmm

Who is to say we aren't all doppelgangers without knowledge of our true nature?..

No no not true I am not a Fetch I am the real deal your lying

Sorry about the silence! I should be able to post today/tomorrow (it's kinda nearing midnight for me right now, so whichever it will be), but do feel free to move ahead in the meantime. I'll probably be able to justiify lack of Melianne on the deck by her outright sleeping through the initial discussion. XD

Looking forward to Melianne's introduction!

Knocked it out of the park on both counts. The gradients add a surprising sense of warmth and the tattoo looks great. I like how the 'F' is stylised.

Thank you! :D I love gradients, especially overlay ones - easy to make, and to great effect! A nice substitute for backgrounds as well, haha.

Is it Rizzoxiii? Fully recommend him! Best dwarf dialogue I've ever seen.

Oh no! I hope I'm not pigeonholing him but yes, he's that good 🤩

By all means, more folks are always welcome :)

As it is, is it fairly obvious where everyone is on the river, or is there too much debris to clearly see folks?

I have no issues with adding a new player. :D Hi in advance, Rizzoxiii!

Also, do we all get to keep out equipment via it conveniently washing up besides us? I don't see Melianne carrying all of her supplies on her person to the deck, but... XD

Okay well Solra is still desperately clinging to some floatsam ;-) and unless it just conveniently floats to shore it might be sometime before she gets there

Okay thanks for the option Scrol but I see Solra in need of rescuing, she is currently deathly afraid of falling off her floatsam and drowning -- aka irrational at this point -- I had already updated my character sheet to cover this flaw of hers

OK hafling ranger coming up and aw shucks Queni lol

Hi DeJoker and FlyingSucculent and everyone else

Howdy, Rizzoxiii! Welcome aboard! :D

@Scrol: So, would it be feasible then to fashion some sort of lifeline out of a cooking pot and some rope to fish Solra out of the drink, and if so, Athletics to chuck it and reel her in? Sorry. Still getting a feel for 5e mechanically, so apologies if that's a silly question :p

@DeJoker: I'd imagine Raskell knows, but is she so irrational about her fear of drowning that she wouldn't even risk grabbing hold if he could? I can't see him leaving someone -- anyone -- stranded out in the river unless there was no other real alternative, but also don't want to leave the party short if combat's about to become a thing and he knows Solra's either going to have to muster through or float there for a spell until the group can assist her in getting back to shore.

Super interested in how the Solra dilemma gets solved!

Depending on how Rizzoxiii feels, that might be a good introduction for his character to help out then the group can deal with whatever's being a pest to Rada if we can be a little handwavey with the timing.

Not sure that Raskel knows as they have never had never been on a boat before and why speak of a fear you yourself are not fully aware of. Yes she was hesitant to board the ship and has been irritable ever since boarding but I am not sure they had time to discuss why -- I am willing to work that out with you but so far that is how I see it having come to be.

As for irrationality well right now her fear is if she lets go of that floatsam she is going to drown and even if that floatsam was in shallow water she would not be aware as her eyes are tightly closed as she continuously prays for help.

I concur this might be a good seque for Rizzoxiii character as if they can swim they could use and push that floatsam to shore.

Roger-dodger there, Scrol. And I'm all for our new halfling pal saving our shipwrecked cleric. It'd make a neat intro, in my opinion 😄

I'll take it as Raskell just can't spy her in all the commotion, and slap a post out once I finish my rounds at work.

Kadeton, I like the way you structured the actions and track the stats. I'll be stealing it from now on, thanks! It's so much easier to read.

Yeah, feel free! If I could remember who I stole it from I'd give them the credit. ;)

It is a nice way to track actions indeed! I guess we're unanimously switching to it. XD

I'm not sure how we're dealing with bardic inspiration, especially seeing as I usually post after everyone. I think I'll just declare its target in advance for next turns? PbP probably doesn't work well for it.

It's neat and concise, which I can totally get behind :D

OK it is neat and concise but being new to 5e I have questions lol
Can someone break down easily what exactly some bonus (actions I guess) are and give a few examples for all of the different categories please.
And are there other options? Make it for Dummies lol

Bonus: None
Move: None
Action: Taking aim

Korrin | HP 11/11 | AC 15 | Axe 2/2 | Dagger 2/2 | Arrows 20/20

I use this site as a cheatsheet.

For bonus, it depends on your class, feats e.t.c

Rhys has the Crossbow Expert feat which means if he attacks with an one-handed weapon, he can use a bonus action to also attack with his hand crossbow.

If a spell specifies bonus action then it can be used as a bonus e.g the warlock's Hex spell.

That page was very helpful, I will be using as well from now on.

And I will be adding those to my list, now I need to find something similar for the pathfinder 1e game I am in... If anyone has any suggestions for PF please pass them on ).

DnD Beyond explains bonus actions like this.
I think the only common bonus action that doesn't (strictly) depend on class is a second attack if you wield two light melee weapons. Edit: oh yeah, and some spells!

OK can anyone recommend a good DND language site?

What are you looking for? A list of languages or a translator?

Translator

This is what I have saved. Not complete and maybe there are better alternatives, but here you go!

Thanks Queni

Scrol, are we able to retrieve bolts after combat? Or do we need to do some rolling? Not sure about what to do in that situation.

Per the Guidelines if you have time to collect then you recover half (round down) the number you used

Thanks for the info!

Wasn't sure if I should roll for Bardic Inspiration - Rhys is the next target? Did it anyway. Ignore the roll if that's a misstep.

Yeah, I did target Rhys with it. :D
Also, post coming soon, I usually don't go online often over the weekend.

Question: is it possible to cast a spell that uses bonus action as a normal action?
Edit: found the answer, nope. Gonna heal Annika next turn then, if we don't finish combat by then.

(Posted the edit at about the same time, haha. Thanks anyway! I'm gonna think what to do now for a moment then...)

Not going to argue with the GM nor the Guidelines but I have to say that sounds so wonky that it makes next to no sense.

Okay personally I would have no trouble with someone using a Bonus Action as an Action since as they state conceptually a Bonus Action is supposed to be faster than a standard Action so if its faster than logically you should be able to use it during the longer Action time frame. I would have to hear a solid argument otherwise (beyond the lame - that's what the guidelines say) since so far there is no conceptual reason for it not being so. Kind of like that forever unexplained reason why Wizard's cannot cast healing spells. However, I am one of those folks that analyze Guidelines to see if they make sense rather than just always take them at face value. I mean designers are not omnipotent they make mistakes just like everyone else and sometimes more so as they are rushed to complete things to meet deadlines (and implement the 80% solution) and thus cannot put into the product the full quality it truly deserves.

Now someone said its unbalancing, to that I say hogwash, as Bonus Actions are designed to be weaker than what you can do with a standard Action and really I am guessing if one went through and made a thorough listing of all the Bonus Actions along with their denoted criterion (as some have specific pre or post requisites) that we would find that they truly are not unbalancing to be done as an Action as opposed to a Bonus Action. Again I am not saying the GM is wrong for going with it as it is but it is just one more of those anomalies that denotes that the guidelines as a whole are basically broken as they stand. Still overall they are fairly solid guidelines and much better than some of the other guidelines that are out there.

Maybe there are bonus actions that affect standard actions, and using them as standard actions would create a paradox of them affecting themselves? I'm not too familiar to know if there are such actions, but it's what comes to mind immediately as a possible reason. XD

In this topic someone mentioned that bonus actions aren't always narratively faster, too. I guess it depends on specifics, and it's easier to forbid all than list exceptions?

Ah yes that is why I said some would not be viable due to pre- or post- requirements such as the Bonus Action affects your standard Action or one that might need to follow a standard Action. As for them being faster than standard Actions that is actually within the description of what a Bonus Action is supposed to reflect so I would consider a Bonus Action that is not faster than a standard Action to be an error of some sort.

Again I will just hold with it being just another one of those bad totally contradictor elements contained within the guidelines that cause the guidelines to be faulty in places. It is not like it is the first and most likely will not be the last.

Fully understood and I assumed that was what you were doing. I mean determining if this would be an unbalancing change or not would require some rather in-depth research but my gut-feeling is that it would not be unbalancing.

I am so sorry for the silence. I've had some pretty serious work-related issues come up, and I've been pulling some extra shifts until I can get some more staff hired. It's not my intent to slow things down, so I do apologize. I'm just incredibly exhausted after getting home and don't have much left in me to... well, do anything, really. I know that's sort of a cop-out, but I have to prioritize work first and fun second. In the well-meaning intent not to be an albatross, I'm going to bow out. I had a blast, but I can't realistically count on myself to put out a post regularly right now.

Sorry to hear that wonderwaffle, but reality first. Hope things get better as soon as possible

Aw, sad to hear that. I really enjoyed Raskell's character. But yes, real life definitely comes first.

I hope things get easier for you soon, WonderWaffle. And I enjoyed your writing a lot, I'd love it if you rejoin us later! :D Though life's first, of course!

Yes we can leave WonderfulWaffle's PC with the regulars as I would soooo hate to lose my bff -- still if RL takes you away and you cannot return best of wishes -- otherwise hope you can wrap things up well enough to return to at least check in from time to time and once you get a bit more time rejoin us once more.

P.S. And no I did not accidentally misspell your handle ;)

Haha. Poor Melianne! Maybe she can teach 'em the finer points of diplomacy if they're still alive after this.

...she's going to challenge them for a few rounds of strip poker as a demonstration. XD I do have the tool proficiency for it...

Hey guys thank for having me.

Glad to have you onboard! :D
...are you cool with in-character flirting? Asking just in case?

Not a problem, played a lot of games with a lot of crazy things and and lot of crazy ppl, after all that is part of roll playing..

Glad to have you in the game

I'm really amused by our party's lack of in-character cohesion. XD Which is understandable, since different personalities and all that, it's just pretty funny to read. Wonder which way of getting into the village will prevail...

Also, I'm really enjoying all of your writing. :D

Yeah It is utter chaos isn't it? I am enjoying it as well, too many Indians and no chiefs lol

Yeah, it's great - the interactions between the PCs is so fun. I seriously have no idea what's going to happen next.

I love the story you're weaving. It's full of colourful characters! I'm glad we got to meet Cuurtinoax, and I wonder about Solra's reaction to him. Should be interesting.

Yeah I agree with Queni, this is the same...but different lol

Make sense? And the characters are really good as well.

BTW there is no such thing as the Barrel Riders Oar Society I was being a dummy, and I guess if you are the only one laughing at your jokes they aren't funny? I think I read that somewhere..but that one just sank with the Jolly Wanderer lol

Question: are we *all* in the village? As in, the entire mob? XD

Also, I agree with Queni, our GM's doing a fantastic job! :D

Yes keep up the good work

Jep. The frog people are either very confident or dumb. Maybe a bit of both? Who knows? 🤷

Or maybe they are secretly our supporters? :D Since, you know...

I know, right? The light must've gleamed on the coin when it got displayed.

Whooops. Of course I meant "to the aid of the emporer" 😅

I just like the fact the Melianne is hypothetic ;) rather than being hypnotic

I think you (or Solra?) overestimate her friendliness, since she doesn't actually think that the emporer is any kind of art connoisseur (especially not with his table manners) or someone who cares about higher matter at all. Definitely not someone respect-worthy from what we've seen. XD
She is just buttering him up (or at least tries to), so he gets satisfied with Rhys' offer and they can leave without a fight with the freed prisobers in tow. No battle, goal achieved, win-win in her book! :P

...Though she is pretty much ready for a fight. You know, if some amphibian gets too greedy...

Oh I the player have no expectations I am just watching things unfold.

As for Solra, she is not liking what she sees but then I basically feel her low Charisma is due to her lack of diplomatic panache. Instead she is a straight forward and frank and a bit abrasive with those she does not know very well. Got roleplay is in some manner.

So do I, and I do enjoy our interactions a lot. :D They are kinda the opposites personality-wise, at least on the surface/first interaction level. It's fun to observe!

Hey, maybe Melianne can get Solra to play cards with her later to try to see Solra's bluffing skills and attempt to explain the concept of a poker face. :D

(...I did take proficiency in cards, and I intend to use it at least once.)

I guess I did not spell hypnotic right..'Oops not a very good speller

No issues DarkJedi79 I just thought it was kind of cute, so hypnotized by her beauty you stumbled over your own words, which seems almost fitting

Thank You..No Issues
Funny how beauty does make us stumble.

Sounds good Scrol, enjoy

No worries. Enjoy your vacation!

May I ask a rules question? :)
I thought that healing an unconscious character stabilizes them, negating the need for death saving throws. And I don't think anyone attacked Raskell to destabilize him after Melianne's healing - so what am I missing that resulted in him rolling again?

Healing someone at 0 hp generally doesn't just stabilise them, but returns them to positive hp and consciousness. Perhaps Melianne's healing of Raskell was just overlooked?

Sooorry. I wrote the post on the train back from my vacation and overlooked that Raskell was already healed by you. Of course Raskell is alive and well because of Melianne's valiant effort. I corrected for this in my post

Sorry everyone, but I won't be around for a couple of weeks or more...

Blimey! Okay I can totally understand that you may be off for a time. I wish you well and hope that you'll only have mild symptoms. Rest a lot and don't worry: I'll take good care of Scags in the meantime

Best wishes - fingers crossed you make a quick and easy recovery.

I hope you get better soon, @mormegil, all the best wishes to you! :)

@mormegil, wishing you a speedy return to health!

Hey, I'm not going to be posting from 31st to 3rd! If time for my turn comes in the meantime, feel free to count Melianne as using Vicious Mockery or Healing Word, whichever makes more sense; she can't cast much else while concentrating on Faerie Fire anyway. :D

Just following on the "how do we indicate temporary hp" conversation so as not to clutter up the adventure thread. It occurs to me that the way I was doing it (e.g. 23/15 for 15 hp and 8 temporary hp) doesn't deal well with the situation where a character has taken damage and then gains temporary hp on top of that (e.g. 20/15 for 12 out of 15 hp and 8 temp hp) - they need to be kept more separate than that, because it's good to be able to see that you've suffered damage even though you're currently over your hp maximum.

Not sure how best to do it in a simple format, though. "HP 15/15 +8" is probably fine. If anyone has other ideas, let me know. :)

Just got home from the hospital...the first few days were touch and go to say the least...I would like to come back to the game, If you'll have me back ^^

Very glad to hear that you're okay!

Glad that you are okay as well.

I'm back too! :D Good to see we're all together again, and I'm happy that you're okay, @mormegil!

First off: I'm really sorry for my terrible posting frequency in the last two weeks and my occasional mistakes. I was quite busy and had hardly any time to read your posts, let even react to them.
I'll try to better myself but for the next three or four weeks I it may be a bit rough for me. If I'm not reacting immediatly to anything it's not that I don't care, just that I don't have time at the moment. I'm really sorry for that again.

Nevertheless I'm still 100% interested in running the game. You are all wonderful players and this is a really good group.
I think 15/15 +8 is the best solution. It's concise and clear. Let's do it like this!
Welcome back. Sorry to hear that you had a rough time but I'm happy to have you back again. ;)

Hey, sorry for the disappearance (again), but I think I'm properly back this time. :D Thanks for posting for Melianne in the meantime!

Question for everyone: I'm trying to think of a good title for Krenmuth, a warrior priest for a storm god. In my mind, he is not formally part of any military force, so sergeant or captain wouldn't apply. "Father" doesn't seem right. I used "Master" in a post, but I'm not thrilled with that. Does "Brother" sound good, or "Chaplain", or "Protector"? I'm open for suggestions (including that I'm overthinking this).

Brother Krenmuth sounds about right to me. or if you are particularly daring, you can use Warhammer 40k's Reclusiarch title lol

"Brother" is certainly the go-to for male initiates of pretty much any religious order, and is most likely how any common folk would address him. However, that shouldn't stop you from coming up with a title that would be used by others of his order or those who knew the correct forms of address for his specific faith. There are probably different sects or cults of his church each with a different focus (protecting the weak, contemplating the mysteries, studying the heavens, etc) and each one would have multiple layers of seniority - there would be a lot of potential names depending on how deep you wanted to explore it.

"Storm-Warden" has a nice sound to it for someone in the militant sect who strives to protect others.

Reading the Forgotten Realms wikia entry for Valkur, gives me some idea what to call him.

Wave-Tender
Storm-rider
Stormbringer

although the last two titles might have some conflicts with followers of Talos IMO...

just sifted through some marine rank designations and I could add the following suggestions:

-Mate (A deck officer onboard a merchant vessel)
-Bosun or boatstwain (Supervisor onboard a ship, had to keep the ship in good shape)
-Quartermaster

All of them could also be modified to better fit the rank of a naval storm god's cult. (Like storm mate)

But I also think that mormegil's and Kadeton's suggestions are really great and pretty fitting for the setting.

I hope you're not overwhelmed by choices ;)

Thank you @mormegil, @kadeton, and @Scrol. Everyone's ideas were helpful. I'm going with a combination of suggestions: Wavewarden.

It oozes with the Rule of Cool. Awesome title!

Nice!

Hey there.
I want to wish you all a merry christmas and happy holidays.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! ^...^

Happy Holidays! May 2022 bring joy and love to everyone.

Hey there. We are currently down to three players. I'll try to top up on players again. If it's okay with everyone, I'll reactivate the Game Tavern thread and maybe we can get some nice new fellows.


If Mormegil or Rizzoxiii want to take up on their characters again they can certainly to so at any time btw.

I'm okay with adding a new player! Maybe they can take over some archaeologist/worker/soldier waiting outside and join before we clear the encounter even. :D

(I do hope Mormegil and Rizzoxxiii are alright, and that perhaps they'll rejoin us later.)

I'm fine with opening recruitment and also hope that @Mormegil and @Rizzoxxiii are OK.

Sounds good!

Hi new people! :D

Hiya! Looking forward to getting a character all set up.

Hello there!

You know, I really like Bane. I think I want more debuff spells on Melianne (if bards have those, that is). XD

I am currently ill so please NPC me. Hopefully will clear in a few days.

@Khulod, I hope you're feeling better.

Feel better soon, Khulod! (Hopefully you already feel better, but if not, wishing you a swift recovery! :D)

I am certainly improving, enough that I can breathe freely once more and feel up to posting. And a good thing I can, for it would seem I have acquired one magic ring! It's mine! My lovely! My... precious! O.O

@FlyingSucculent - Yes, Tharadin is a dwarf! Sorry for not stating it earlier, I thought I had. Reading back through it, I see that I never actually stated it anywhere just the picture.

Thanks for confirming it! :D

Hey all, I'm going to be less active over the next 2 weeks or so. I did something that screwed up my shoulder and it puts me in a lot of pain to sit and type. I've seen the doctor and am on a 2 week course of steroids to get it under control. I should be back sooner than 2 weeks, but it may be that long if it takes the full time to be not painful. Apologies all around and I hope to be back soon.

My sympathies, shoulder injuries are awful. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Same from me.
Take your time and hopefully you'll soon be even stronger than Tharadin.

Possible interim solution?

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5wfDbRBlzY[/youtube]

Wishing you the best of health and a fast and full recovery!

Feel better soon, Dramasailor!

Good morning all! I'm back and ready to go. Got all caught up and will be good to take my next action. :)

Great to hear that and I'm glad that you are alright again!
:D

Hey there, hope you're all well, just a short heads up.
The next two weeks I'll probably have difficulties in posting regularly as I'm pretty busy at the moment and I'll attend the Nova Rock music festival next week.
I'll still try to post as often as possible though.

Have fun at the festival! :D
Also, I'm probably going to be somewhat inactive next week too.

Drat, that's what I get for assuming that a virus affecting pigs being called "bovine" means that pigs are under bovine term too. :'D Sorry about that, NPC boars.

I just thought it made for a nice character moment - Melianne being cheery and enthusiastic, and Annika being unable to help herself from raining on that parade. She's not trying to be mean or abrasive, I promise. :)

A nice bit of In-character interaction I think ^^

If you want to we could incorporate the gnoll into our group. If you're all up for it I could make a recruitment post for someone playing the gnoll character.
There's no official character sheet but I'd create one based on this rpg.stackexchanged.com post here
If you don't like the idea or think that the group is fine as it is that's no problem for me too. It was just a spontanous idea...

I don't mind having this gnoll as a new PC in the group. :D The more, the merrier!

I'm willing to try, but Krenmuth would not trust him initially, due to the chaotic evil nature of gnolls. Do any of the PCs speak their language?

As Aravel would be skeptical and rpgventurer is right in that a gnoll couldn't communicate with the group I think we'll don't do this

Hehehe... nice one ^^

What a telling name for the new chapter. XD Time for good old mind control!

I'm on vacation until August 15th. I'll probably post from time to time but it'll be inconsistent.


I'll also not be able to provide maps of potential combat situations

Enjoy your vacation!

Have fun! :D

@Dramasailor Are you still there?
You haven't posted in a while o.O

Hey all, sorry. Real life came in and absolutely owned me for a good while. I (in the last like day or two) have finally gotten to the point where I have the energy to actually post anything, so I'm in the process of getting caught up on things.

Oh yeah I totally understand that. Don't stress yourself.
I just wanted to know whether you're still onboard and I'm glad that you still are ;)

FYI, I'll be mostly offline from Friday, August 19 through Sunday, August 28. I will try to connect if/when I have the opportunity. I made sure Krenmuth is public if you want to use him as an NPC.

Thanks for letting me know. I'll take good care of Krenmuth ;)

Hey all, I just got my first cat so I'm a bit preoccupied with my little furry friend tearing down the house for a few days. I will post when I can but it will be a bit intermittent.

Cat pics please! ❤️

No problem! But I too must insist on cat pics :D

Hey all. I wanted to let you know I've unfortunately fallen ill. I'm constantly nauseous and dizzy so I cannot concentrate on pbp at the moment. Prognosis is that this will last a while unfortunately.

Alas, I had to return the cat. :'(

Sad news. May your recovery be full and as speedy as possible.

Oh, that's a double dose of suckage. Get well soon!

Oh no! Doubly bad :(
All the best wishes to you

After pondering the situation a bit I've decided to shelf the game for now.
Kadeton and rpgventurer you are both great players but 2 players is too small a group for a DnD game.
I could try to bring in new players but to be honest I had to do this two times already and I'm a bit burned out by looking for players, crafting backstories with them, including them in the game and introducing the characters.
Maybe I'll pick up this game at a later time but I can't guarantee this. It will stay open for now though
It was really cool to play with you and you made great characters.
I hope you had a good time too ^^

Totally understandable. I had a great time with Annika, and I really enjoyed the world you created. Thanks!

I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and adventures. Thank you, Scrol, for all of your time and energy putting this together.

Hey all. Sorry to hear the game stalled and I played a role in that. I wanted to let you know I've recovered enough to play a bit again.

No need to feel sorry, we all have our RL challenges and thank you for taking your time to let me know ^^
December will probably be stressful for me so I won't continue the game until the end of the year. I'll check in on the game in January.

Hey there, sorry about the absence! Just letting you know that I'm up for playing whenever this game resumes! :D
(Also, note to self for the future: I caught up the sheet with used spells and HP as per last post.)