[D&D5e] HgtMh: The Shining Shrine

I kickstarted Helinas Guide to Monster Hunting (HgtMh), just as the OGL fiasco took speed, so I shelved and forgot about it, but was reminded of it recently. It contains 10 hunts with investigation and preparation leading up to the monster confrontation (and a lot of rules for crafting items from monsters ect, but I'm going to ignore those for now).

This is the first in a series of short adventures I will be running. It's short and simple, with severe punishment if you don't pay attention to the clues.

Character creation
D&D 5e version: 2014 OR 2024 rules. No mixing, we will agree on a version together.
Stats: point buy
Level: 6
Character creation will be one in the game forum
Gear: Any standard gear your character would want
Pick 3 uncommon magic items and 1 rare magic item. I will then roll 1d4 and a 1d3, and you will get the item rolled. You will end with 2 magic items. Addendum: Please avoid reaction shenanigans that will influence others' roll. Silvery Barbs spell and similar. If it affects only you, like the shield spell, then it's okey, but if it affects something already published then it is tiresome to rollback and rewrite

What to expect from me as GM
I log in several times a day and have been with few exceptions the last 6 years. I will try to utilise all the elements that GP supports like battlemaps and artworks.
Both from HgtMh and AI if I can't find anything better.

Game Duration and Post Frequency
My aim is 5 posts per week. That 1 post pr day, with allowance for a busy day/weekend.
This is a relatively short game, so 2-3 months of dedicated game time is expected.Player Experience Requirements.
You are playing an 6th level character, so some experience with 5e rules is required. But that's it.
Are you new to Gamersplane (like @Grendar, @Xcylla, @mojo.bojo) then you are more than welcome. I only require that the players show up and participate in the game.
GP technical issues we can handle :)

How to Apply
Make a post here showing your interest.
Once I have 5-6 interested players I will send out invites

Welcome Marginalized Groups
This game is not friendly to monsters, haters and bigots. Everyone else is welcome.

Thanks for the name-drop! I would love to apply. My experience with 5e rules is that I've been GM for a one-shot campaign (in two sessions) with my wife, daughter, and friend and I've listened to a couple seasons of Dimension 20.

Aside from that, I'm happy to research everything I need, communicate a minimum of once a day, and am used to being punished by games (I've been playing Arkham Horror LCG every couple weeks for the past 4 years, so pretty comfortable with unhappy endings :P .)

Also, I am more than happy to not be accepted due to lack of D&D 5e experience, or any other reason. (I am not a hater or a bigot, but have often been called a "monster" by my kid's Squishmallows, so...)

I remember that I saw something about that one but didn't get to back it. While we certainly have some other folks that should get head of the line, if you have any openings left I'd love to give it a shot.

Hey Runekyndig!

I really like the idea of some shorter stories. So - if you are doing 5.5 I am VERY INTERESTED. 5E not so much as I am very keen on finally trying the new stuff.

Hope it is okay, that we are playing together. But I am down to that one game atm, therefore time should not be a problem. :)

Keep me in mind for a replacement if you happen to need one

Short monster hunter runs which require care sounds like a good match for PbP play. I'm in one other game here, another I was in lost our GM, but I've been pretty consistently checking in everyday and posting when I don't feel I'm bookending without it being at all a strain.

Given a choice, I have a preference for 5.5, especially if you allow custom origins which seems to be the bottleneck that most people who've played it complain about. I like it's balance a little better and it's the new shiny toy. :-) So, throwing my helmet into the ring.

I am also interested. No preference on system version here, but while I commit post a day my PC creation in 5.5 may take up to a week and quite some questions. For example combining 5.5 rules and 5.0 magic items may be confusing for me.

I'm happy to see so many want to play. I will send out invitations on Monday.

I have added a restriction to the character creation as reaction shenanigans are troublesome in pbp.

Would I be correct in assuming Diviner Wizards' "Portent" ability is included in this?

I'm glad you asked

Not really as the posting sequence would be something like this
Round 1
Orc: I rolled 14 and I hit squish wizard. Ha! Ha! Ha!
Wizard: For the orc's next attack I will use my Portent that is a "5"
Round 2
Orc: The wizard made me roll a 5. I missed!
Wizard: For my Hold Person spell attack I will use my Portent that is a "2" for the orc's save
Round 3
Orc: Shit! I can't move.

As you see there are no reaction shenanigans here, just alterations moving forward. But let me try with Silverybarbs, where the alteration moves backwards in the posting order
Round 1
Orc1: I rolled 14 and I grabble the squish wizard. You are going no where
Goblin1: Big orc have him. I knife the wizard with advantage. Ha! Ha! Ha!
Wizard: I cast silverybarbs on Orc. Orc must now reroll, fail to grabble, which means that Goblin1 attack roll is without advantage and must be redone.

I hope it makes sense

Popping in to say that's such a good houserule for PbP runekyndig, to restrict reactions that potentially will undo what was previously posted. Combat momentum in PbP is tricky as it is!

Future Path Of The World Tree barbarian here. No such powers in my arsenal, afaik. :)

OF course there are . . . .

Round 1
Path of the World Tree barbarian: I rolled 14 and I grabble the squish wizard. You are going no where
Rogue PC: Barbarian have him. I knife the wizard with advantage. Ha! Ha! Ha!
PC Wizard: Hey guys, we're supposed to be on the same side here!

GM steps in.

Who am I kidding?
Invites away

I'm a little late to the party, but I'd be interested in playing this! Let me know if there is still room, or you need an alternate!

I'm aiming to include new players and you do apply. I will check the adventure again, and see if it can bear an extra player.
I'll get back to you tonight ( about 10 hours from now)

Hahahaha! XD

Conclution
The Heroes did a bit of investigation and then approached the Shining Shrine where they fought a Suneater Owlbear
They quickly realised that radiant damage actually healed the owlbear and after a while they also concluded that sunlight gave it regeneration.
It was a tough fight, and I was truly worried about killing them all, but they managed to beat down the Owlbear and its minions.
Then second wave hit them with a puzzle, and a lesson to myself: I should have given them more time to go back and look at the clues they got. I was too quick to throw them a hit.
They solved the puzzle, completing the second wave, and beating the Owlbear again.

When doing a bossfight, with minions, lair actions and legendary actions I found it helpful to track the actions taken aswell as the conditions
See here for details. Next time I will include a HP% with this simple calculation

Temp hp[_tmphp=0]
Damage taken: [_dam=94]
HP [_$=floor((95-dam+tmphp)*100/95)]%

This would also allow the healers to see if their friends was critically damaged. But as always the players must keep track of their own damage themselves.

Congratulations to have concluded a game!

Thanks again Runekyndig! It was a fast paced, thrilling game. Had me worried with all the charmed partymembers and damage that I got in one round. But we bounced back pretty good. :)

The hint was - in my opinion - only because of mojo.bojo a success.

I hope to see such a game in the near future, as your vignettes and oneshots are always a good time! Have a nice sunday! :D