OOC Megathread

Its a lot easier over text medium where we have time to think about what our characters say and think haha!

May 28, 2015 12:12 am

It would truly be the best way to play D&D if it moved a bit faster! Great fun thus far!!

May 28, 2015 3:40 pm

As a reminder, there is no door - there is a rubble pile in front of the broken door such that you will have to scramble up the pile and squeeze through, one at a time, a narrow opening.

May 28, 2015 4:12 pm

Oh fun! Sorry I missed that detail. Corban will still go first of there's no objections.

May 28, 2015 10:07 pm

Cool. Once the other two post their intentions with respect to the plan/situation, I'll move things forward :)

May 29, 2015 2:19 am

What sort of dimensions are we looking at inside this tower?

May 29, 2015 2:49 am

40 x 40 foot square-ish

May 29, 2015 6:50 am

Would I be able to use investigation to gain any sort of meaningful information from the animal carcass?

May 29, 2015 11:01 am

Nature or Survival would be better. But you can try investigation

May 29, 2015 2:31 pm

How do rolls work on here? Is this all of need to do?

Rolls

Investigation - (1d20+3)

(19) + 3 = 22

May 29, 2015 4:38 pm

Yes but I'd prefer you make a post describing what your character is doin and include the roll in that post. In this case I'll use the result of this roll. But I still want the post :)

Also anytime you think a roll might be called for include it. In this format every roll you anticipated me calling for can save hours or days of time.

May 29, 2015 4:48 pm

Understood, and I can re roll in the game proper, I've never PbP so I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything I missed. Thanks!

May 29, 2015 7:42 pm

I'm going camping for a couple nights, feel free to npc Corban if necessary. I'm happy for him to lead and take a swing with his longsword if anything looks at him funny :)

May 30, 2015 12:14 am

Morrowlife Inactive forever!

Not going to lie, I'm investigating but in my head I'm seeing Witcher vision. I may be playing too much xbox

May 30, 2015 11:42 am

I'm out of town for the next couple days and can't reply either! D:

May 30, 2015 12:00 pm

Well you're all lucky, because I am too (but I'm at a conference so I occasionally get down time with wifi)!

May 30, 2015 12:10 pm

Also, in the name of speeding things up, instead of calling for rolls I tend to just make rolls for the characters (as I have just done). This, along with anticipating rolls, can help keep a play by post game moving quickly (for a play by post game). I'd rather keep our attention collectively on the story and action instead of waiting 2-3 days to collect initiative rolls :)

Also, if you're ever unsure about whether an action may or may not require a skill roll of some kind, you can just include a plain d20 roll and if it is a skill roll, I'll look up the appropriate skill on your sheet and add the modifier (one thing I do love about this site is that I can access your character sheets from your name as long as you post as character -- which you all have been).

May 30, 2015 12:24 pm

Candi, you certainly know how to move a PbP game along nicely!

Weekends are often spotty for me as well given I have a four year old son running around!

Enjoy the conference.

Jun 2, 2015 12:57 pm

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Let's do this! :)

Jun 2, 2015 8:03 pm

Onward!

Jun 3, 2015 11:33 am

We won't be able to get too much farther ahead until Morrowind posts, as Reina is still "loading" on the second floor ;)

EDIT: You can call still have conversations and look around of course.

Jun 6, 2015 1:23 pm

If Reina hasn't posted by Monday I'm going to just move things along :)

Also, expect a "guidelines for playing" post soon with all of those recommendations for speeding the game up and smoothing the play by post expertience out :) I'm going to try and compile it tomorrow.

Jun 6, 2015 11:16 pm

Hopefully we will get back to the smooth start that we began with!

Jun 8, 2015 12:55 pm

Let's move! :) where to next my lovely adventurers?

Jun 8, 2015 4:21 pm

Agreed. To the Tavern! I mean... wait. There was something about gnomes wasn't there? This fungus must have affected me.

Jun 10, 2015 6:20 am

I don't have my book with me. In case someone sees this and posts before I get home, can you answer this for me? I can't remember if 5th edition has a "fight defensively" option like 3.5e did. That was a -4 to attack rolls and +2 to AC if I remember correctly. Is this on 5th edition?

Jun 10, 2015 12:18 pm

The only option I can see is to use the Dodge action which makes all enemies have disadvantage on attacks against you and gives you advantage on dex saves. That, of course, would be your action for the round. There's no way to go on active defence and still attack.

Jun 10, 2015 12:32 pm

Well crap. Ok, nevermind.

Jun 10, 2015 1:16 pm

What were you hoping to do? Just fight defensively I suppose?

Jun 10, 2015 4:06 pm

Yeah that's it. No biggie though.

Jun 10, 2015 4:11 pm

Should we keep track of our HP on the character sheet, or are you doing that elsewhere? Those bats bite hard :)

Jun 10, 2015 4:44 pm

I'm keeping track of your current HP (I have a lovely app on my iPad that I'm using to run this game). That said, if you want to be aware of your current status you might want to track it too ;)

Jun 10, 2015 5:47 pm

I just wanted to say, the way I'm reporting combat results makes me feel like the server running a MUD must feel. It's kind of fun.

I'll give Reina another 24 hours before I take her turn on her behalf to keep things moving.

Jun 10, 2015 6:56 pm

Whoooo! First attack and I hit!

Jun 12, 2015 12:01 am

Don't die Rurik! Once the cleric gets to you... Oh wait...

Jun 12, 2015 12:39 am

And, in case you are wondering, I will permit Rurik to use Hellish Rebuke before falling unconscious (that's why I've let you post your turn, in case you wanted to react to the damage with Hellish Rebuke - and so you can roll your own Death Save and feel that agony ;)).

Jun 12, 2015 1:15 am

Man I need to check every forum before I post :( oh well I know for next time

Jun 12, 2015 1:19 am

I'll still let you do it, even though you posted. I'm not going to punish you for getting excited and posting quickly!

Jun 12, 2015 3:06 am

One must enjoy the tension of the first battle involving death saves!

Jun 12, 2015 3:25 am

FYI. I'll be out of town from tomorrow afternoon until sometime Sunday and most likely will not be able to post. Zaris will continue to fight the bats around Corban, using his sword or ray of frost. If he drops to ½ hp he will defend and move away as best he can.

Jun 12, 2015 3:39 am

I'll be camping this weekend, so I'll be out as well until Sunday at some point. Corban will carry on swinging at whatever's left alive, and if he takes a decent sized hit, say >4 dam he'll pop his second wind.

I love low level lethality. As much as high-level epicness if fun, I really like the tension of being a couple lucky swings away from certain doom.

Enjoying this game so far, seems to me a great example of how to run D&D in a PbP environment.

Jun 12, 2015 4:18 am

Quick update before I head to bed, Corban killed giant bat 2 and bat 1 and swarm 1 are blind.

Story update when I wake up, but this way the remaining characters can act knowingly

Jun 12, 2015 11:54 am

Have great trips!

And I appreciate the compliment on the game's running.

I've consistently found the most enjoyable portion of a d20 rpg has been sub level 10. Adventures that take you from 1-8 or 9. I think a big part of that is the tension of low level not being very far from memory when you finally finish the epic finale of the adventure.

Jun 12, 2015 4:05 pm

Look at those timely successes!

A reminder to everyone as well, you can make a Medicine Check to try and stabilize unconscious players. It's an Action, and success stops them from making death saves. Also, if you have a Herbalism kit, you can spend an Action and use a charge to stabilize a character without making a check (this kind of information will be important, the adventure you are going to soon be embarking on isn't known for being gentle).

Jun 12, 2015 4:29 pm

So a Medicine skill check can be tried without proficiency, tools/kits, or whatever? It's kinda like first-aid? "Put pressure here" LOL

Jun 12, 2015 5:27 pm

Put the poultice on the wounds or it gets the bats again?

Jun 12, 2015 5:27 pm

Yes. If the game normally prohibits checks based on proficiency, I don't. I like to think of you guys as above the average cut (and as such a bit luckier than most. I mean, that's what really makes a good adventurer, a fair bit of luck ;) )

Jun 13, 2015 4:36 pm

I had an idea about swinging my shield around. Since a shield might allow me to hit several bats at once. Is this even an option? Looking through the PHB, I guess that would be an improvised weapon. Since I'm proficient with shields, would I add my proficiency bonus? It would only be 1d4 damage. Just a thought.

Jun 13, 2015 6:38 pm

I'm on board with that. Proficiency bonus, 1d4+str damage and against the swarm it ignores the swarms resistances.

EDIT: That hit though probably did just as well as you would have with the shield ;). But, in future, you can use your shield as an improvised weapon against swarms and while doing so you ignore their resistance to bludgeoning damage.

Jun 13, 2015 6:57 pm

Yay! Thank you! :-)

Jun 15, 2015 5:15 pm

Someone save Corbin!

Jun 15, 2015 5:19 pm

Whose left? Reina (whom I am controlling, heheheh)?

Jun 15, 2015 5:39 pm

Oh yeah. I wasn't counting. Reina, get to it! :p

Jun 15, 2015 6:16 pm

Oh yes, as a matter of prudence I should inform you that in my 5e D&D, short rests work as follows:

Minimum of 10 minutes and for each block of 10 minutes you may spend 1 hit die or recover 1 ability that may be recovered during a short rest.

At level 1, this conveniently means that you have no reason to short rest longer than 10 minutes (except perhaps a wizard who may prefer 20 minutes if they want to recover a spent spell slot, if I am recalling that correctly)! I find this is a nice way to keep the game flowing (instead of requiring parties to retreat to town every 2 rooms of a dungeon to recover - since the core rules are 1hour for a short rest).

EDIT: I've added house rules to the etiquette thread just so this stuff is tracked for easy reference later :)

Jun 15, 2015 6:20 pm

Awesome! I saw we take a short rest to recover and get our wounded companions back on their feet.

Jun 15, 2015 6:31 pm

Indeed. A short rest is definitely called for. Corban could probably go for twenty minutes, as I could use a second wind, then a hit die at rest. Though that's getting pretty gamey. I'll run with the regular rest HD.

Jun 15, 2015 6:35 pm

Don't you say that exemplar, say it in character! (and post!)

And Grendel, getting gamey is fine (it is a game after all! I do encourage you guys to strategize in OOC, and you can totally get gamey about things like action order when your initiative is clumped like it was in this battle), as long as you justify it in character. Corban has taken a pretty hefty beating, and I'm sure that he would (upon regaining consciousness after the first 10 minutes) request a wait for another ten to "catch his breath" (i.e Second Wind ;p).

The important thing is not to hold the game up too much with discussion. Keep the main thread moving at a good pace and no one will disconnect.

Jun 15, 2015 6:41 pm

Ah yes, I totally intend to suggest it in character. I was just letting everyone know here first. Was thinking I'd wait until the others regained consciousness first anyway.

Jun 15, 2015 6:51 pm

They need a short rest for that (you remain unconscious until you are at > 0 HP. Unless you guys have healing spells or potions, the only source of HP is Hit Dice, which require a minimum 10 minute short rest ;)).

Jun 15, 2015 7:08 pm

Oh I see! So we rest until they're conscious. Wouldn't they need another 10 min rest? That's fine, just making sure I understand it all.

Jun 15, 2015 7:12 pm

So spending hit die, does that mean rolling whatever our hit die are? (Sorry this part confused the heck out me reading it)

Jun 15, 2015 7:14 pm

Indeed, you roll your class' hit die + CON modifier

Jun 16, 2015 3:51 pm

Hit Dice is the most complicated mechanic to explain in 5e (in my opinion). Mostly because it gets confused with the dice you roll to gain hit points whenever you gain levels. Here's the skinny:

Every character has a number of hit dice equal to their level. The value of those hit dice is the same as the die you use for gaining hit points when you level up. You may spend your hit dice (one per 10 minutes of rest by my rules) to recover hit points. When you spend a hit die, you heal a number of hit points equal to the result of the roll + your CON modifier. Your hit dice pool is replenished when you take a long rest.

So, right now you have 1 hit die and it's a d8. After 10 minutes of rest you may spend it to heal 1d8 hit points. Once its spent, you won't recover it until your next Long Rest.

Make sense?

Jun 16, 2015 4:09 pm

Yup.

Jun 16, 2015 4:38 pm

I really wish they gave "hit dice" a different name to make it clear that it was a separate mechanic from levelling up. Like, call it your "Stamina" pool. Or your "Resolve" and BAM, infinitely clearer. I find players brain new to RPGs struggle the most with Hit Dice and spells per day/spell slots vs known/prepared spells.

Jun 16, 2015 4:45 pm

I think they were afraid to bust out 'healing surges' again, and 'hit dice' evokes some 1/2e feel to monster progression or something.

Jun 16, 2015 4:54 pm

Yeah, but appeal to 1/2e feel as a justification for clunky terminology that makes the game harder to teach and grok is not a good argument. I mean, of all the things to borrow from 1/2e design principles, clunky terminology should be the thing you learn *not* to do.

Jun 16, 2015 5:11 pm

Agreed. Two of the groups I play with regularly play pretty hardcore with limited healing (not 5th edition), so I felt pretty dirty explaining the liberal heals you get in 5th when we played as it was. It certainly didn't help that it was also extra difficult because of the clunky terminology.

Jun 16, 2015 5:40 pm

One really nice thing is how flexible it is. The healing doesn't have to be that liberal. My weekly game that I play in is doing temple of elemental evil updated to 5e. The gm is using the core, short rests are an hour, rule. Since we are always crawling a dungeon, what this means is that except in rare cases, we don't get to take short rests. You can't just sit down in a dungeon corridor and rest for an hour without a bugbear patrol running across you!

Jun 16, 2015 6:44 pm

That's a good point. One hour is a long time when a lot of things can happen :) Especially in the temple of elemental evil.

Jun 17, 2015 11:54 am

What the he'll was the paralysis all about? LOL An effect of the bats? Kinda freaked me out for a minute.

Jun 17, 2015 1:01 pm

Fungus (any character trained in Nature would know, I just didn't check to see who, if anyone, would piece it together).

If you had delayed more upstairs you might have had that happen while fighting the bats.

Jun 17, 2015 1:03 pm

Yikes! Good thing we didn't. Also, I kinda doubt anyone has that sill proficiency, but oh well.

Jun 18, 2015 4:17 pm

The kick will be necessary as the door is barred. The good news is, the kick is well beyond good enough to break the old thing.

I say this here so you can all carry on posting after Rurik has his response and there's no need to wait for me to get around to replying.

Jun 19, 2015 6:14 pm

Kicking in all the doors! though this last roll was a little weak, maybe 5e bounded accuracy will throw me a bone on this one.

I'll be away this weekend, if we encounter anything, Corban will perform his fighterly duty and charge forth, swinging his longsword.

Jun 19, 2015 6:55 pm

I'm going to guess a were-rat is attacking us. Initiative time!

Jun 19, 2015 7:00 pm

If it was attacking I would have posted initiative. He's brandishing a weapon and asking a question but he hasn't struck out to attack. You could attack though, that's one available response.

Jun 19, 2015 7:03 pm

Oh that's right. Sorry to jump the gun.

Jun 19, 2015 7:06 pm

Lol, that's fine. This little tower adventure is an Intro to both the game, the format and my idiosyncrasies as a gm.

Edit: and attacking is a totally valid option, I'm not trying to force you to have a conversation ;)

Jun 19, 2015 7:16 pm

Kaiakas will not hesitate to attack someone or something already attacking, but not a sentient being appearing to defend his home and question intruders.

Jun 20, 2015 11:36 pm

Gotta love rolling a 20. :-)

Jun 22, 2015 12:12 am

Sweet! I got loot for making a friend! :)

Jun 22, 2015 11:33 am

You would've found the loot either way. Making a friend got you an NPC combatant for the upcoming battle :)

Jun 22, 2015 12:35 pm

I know, but I like that I made a friend :)

Jun 22, 2015 4:03 pm

And I'm glad you did! It has shown nicely that not all conflicts need to be resolved with a blade (and that even wererats can be circumstantially nice creatures ;)).

Also, I will continue to control Reina. Once this prologue is over (you're nearly there), if Morrowind hasn't surfaced at that point then Reina will go into stasis and I will put out a call for a replacement player (you really need a full party for this adventure... oh boy do you).

Jun 22, 2015 5:07 pm

That sounds ominous...

Jun 22, 2015 9:49 pm

Grendel, I think your plan will work. I don't know if anyone else wants to call dibs on the silver stuff. I don't care. I was thinking about using my Thaumaturgy spell for something. Get their attention or scare them... Not sure yet

Jun 22, 2015 9:54 pm

The silver will cover 1 melee weapon or 10 pieces of ammunition.

Jun 23, 2015 12:21 am

I could have Zaris use some sort of minor illusion to distract them as well. It will depend some on the numbers we are against.

Corban Alladar

Jun 23, 2015 2:29 pm

So. How about, I stand out there conspicuously, perhaps with a minor illusion making it look like I have backup. Then when the wolves arrive, assuming I have any warning whatsoever, I quaff the enlargment potion. Then Kaiakas and Reina slam into the flanks, perhaps with Kai silvered up. Meanwhile Zaris and Rurik can rain down some arcane hatred before the Dwarf joins the fray.

How does this sound? I'm not super familiar with Warlocks, so this might not be appropriate for Rurik, but with Gnarl in the mix somewhere we might not die. Thoughts?

Jun 23, 2015 3:00 pm

I like the sound of that. I would think any area of effect spells would be of use now.

Jun 23, 2015 9:07 pm

Oops, put that post in the wrong thread.

I'll need to rethink this as the illusion is limited to a five foot cube. Perhaps an army of little Corbans?!

Last edited June 23, 2015 9:15 pm

Jun 23, 2015 9:09 pm

Can you make multiple small illusions? Perhaps a squad of angry looking Gnomes?

Jun 23, 2015 9:30 pm

That just sounds hilarious. Do it! :-D

Jun 24, 2015 3:26 am

Everyone post a single action describing your preparations.

Jun 29, 2015 6:55 pm

Let's do this!!

Jun 29, 2015 6:59 pm

Indeed! The battle is on :)

Jun 29, 2015 7:25 pm

Good start. Get all of those "1"s out of the dice rolling system before the monster's turn. I approve ;)

Jun 29, 2015 7:27 pm

I'm just glad it wasn't on the attack roll! Brutal. Guess Corban isn't used to his new size. :)

Jun 29, 2015 7:33 pm

Just want to apologize for the change in voice. I'm going to try to post in 1st person from now on in order to get into character better.
Also, I'm away from my book right now. Does charging add a bonus to attack rolls anymore?

Jun 29, 2015 8:12 pm

There are no longer rules for charging. It's not treated differently from move + attack.

I'd be happy to add a Reckless Charge option, Move + Attack to move your speed, Attack with +1 Attack but get -1 AC for the round. Only possible if you have 10+ feet between you and your target.

Jun 29, 2015 8:17 pm

Also, the first person voice is nice.

Jun 29, 2015 8:18 pm

Thank you.
And I don't see Kaiakas as recklessly charging.

Jun 29, 2015 10:33 pm

I guess I haven't been doing first person present. Do you have a preference for present or past tense?

Jun 30, 2015 2:14 am

I've been writing in present tense.

Jul 1, 2015 3:05 pm

Did my eldritch blast miss? I didn't see the results of the strike

Jul 1, 2015 3:20 pm

Oh sorry! It hit for 7, I missed it because I was focussed on remembering to include Zaris having already acted on the subsequent round. Edited!

Jul 1, 2015 3:40 pm

Thanks!

Jul 3, 2015 1:06 pm

failed its save and is dead.
the other small one will hit gnarl for 3
the big one hits Corban for 6

I'm traveling for the day, but will post officially tonight. you can, however preemptively post your turns.

Jul 3, 2015 1:27 pm

also you can even include descriptions of the results above in your post if you want :)

Jul 3, 2015 2:44 pm

hit and dead

only the big wolf is left

Jul 3, 2015 8:18 pm

Out of town for a wedding this weekend, posting will be interrupted. Feel free to NPC Corban if things need to be moved along.

Jul 6, 2015 10:26 pm

Just curious Candi, as I know you're keeping track, is Corban at 3hp or 6 remaining? I think 3 as I don't believe I completely healed after the last short rest.

I'll definitely be popping my second wind soon :)

Last edited July 6, 2015 10:27 pm

Jul 7, 2015 12:24 am

3 HP :)

Jul 8, 2015 3:33 pm

C'mon folks! Wrap this up! :)

Jul 8, 2015 3:55 pm

Oops! looking back here, I remembered my initial plan! Editing before anyone else jumps in!

Jul 9, 2015 3:44 pm

Ok, I've pushed things along. Please level up to level 2, and feel free to RP a bit while we get through that.

Also, you can still post in the prologue if you want to continue roleplaying back there too. The one lovely thing about play by forum is that we can explore both ends of the timeline :)

Jul 9, 2015 4:22 pm

:o as I level up I've noticed that I'm a dirty cheater. It might not have made a difference at the end of the last battle, but I didn't actually have access to 'Action Surge' yet.

I apologize.

Rolls

Corban HP lev 2 d10+2 - (1d10+2)

(6) + 2 = 8

Jul 9, 2015 4:35 pm

Don't worry, it didn't make a difference :)

Jul 9, 2015 4:48 pm

On our travels would I have an opportunity to pick up a shield? I originally didn't buy one because I didn't think it worked with the Duelist fighting style, but it appears it might.

What would you rule on that? Can I get the duelist bonus (+2 Dam w/ single weapon) with a shield?

I was originally playing it that I would be used to fighting with one hand free so when I become an Eldritch Knight down the road, I can be slinging spells with the free hand. But I might as well enjoy the AC bonus while I can...

Jul 9, 2015 5:02 pm

I would permit the shield (as long as it doesn't say *only* a single weapon, or something like that). And yes, you can pick up a shield on the road.

Jul 9, 2015 5:51 pm

So here's a question for the rest of you folk, since I'm having trouble settling on a characterization. What's the tone of the game that we're going for? More light hearted, semi-serious, or leaning more toward grim dark?

Jul 9, 2015 5:59 pm

From my perspective I'd put us at semi-serious, I'm willing to try harder if Candi is going for something more dark. I'm only laying on the light-heartedness thick because of Corban's "inappropriate sense of humour".

And for Candi: Thanks, I've spent my 10gp on a shield for future use. New AC is 18, total HP 20

Jul 9, 2015 6:11 pm

The campaign you're about to embark on is definitely not light hearted. It's going to get serious, but it doesn't have to be dark and grim (it can be though). I'll let the overall tone be set by the way you guys RP - I've tried to stay plausibly realistic (but I haven't yet edged towards dark and grim).

Jul 9, 2015 6:13 pm

Also, it's perfectly apt (and perhaps, even necessary) to have some light-hearted banter between companions. Especially apt in light of horrific, dark and grim events ;) Which is to say, the back-and-forth about were-drool fits perfectly well in a light hearted game as it does in a dark and grim game.

Jul 9, 2015 6:21 pm

Thanks! That should make things easier for me. Though now I have to find a new home for my Kender-inspired fanfic

Last edited July 9, 2015 6:22 pm

Jul 9, 2015 7:50 pm

I'm out of town until tomorrow night and doubt I will be able to level up my player or post much. I'll catch up post haste on Saturday hopefully.

Jul 9, 2015 7:54 pm

No worries Arjen, I'm going to be in Ann Arbor until Sunday (as of tomorrow morning) so the main plot won't go anywhere without you :)

Jul 9, 2015 10:39 pm

Can you remind me what happens at level 2? Something with hit dice?

Jul 9, 2015 10:46 pm

You just roll your class' hit die, and add your CON modifier to calculate your total hit points.

Confusingly, you will also have 2 Hit Dice (same as your class' hit die) for use during short rests for healing. Otherwise the rogue just adds the 'Cunning Action' class feature.

Jul 9, 2015 11:33 pm

Oi! Hit Dice! The most confusing mechanic in 5e... luckily I already explained it in this post: http://gamersplane.com/forums/thread/617/?p=12090#p12090. Let me know if you're still confused after reading that.

EDIT: All things considered, they could have just borrow language from 4e (instead of pretending it didn't exist at all) and called the damned things Healing Surges and no one would be confused anymore. (instead of being inspired by 2e and making things confusing for confusions sake).

Jul 10, 2015 1:52 am

Some days I think about running a 2E game, and then I flip through the rule books and just laugh and laugh and laugh
Also, second level hit points, hooray!

Last edited July 10, 2015 2:12 am

Rolls

Warlock level 2 Hit points - (1D8)

(3) = 3

Jul 10, 2015 2:10 am

Hey all! Sorry for the lack of posts. Y'all have been blowing up my phone and I feel so bad for not responding. I've been working third shift for the past week and I'm all screwed up. I'm off tomorrow though all I hope to catch up with everything. (Ya leveling up!)
Just wanna say again how much I'm enjoying this.
Thank you! :-)

Jul 12, 2015 1:54 pm

I never played 2e. I played red box then never gain until picking up 5e last summer. I missed quite a bit it seems!

Sorry about the third shift UE! That sounds rough.

Jul 12, 2015 2:06 pm

Candi, what is your say on new spells for my wizard? Can he pick a new one for gaining a level?

I will take 4 + CON = 6 for my hit points. Up to 14 now.

Will pick my arcane focus when you rule on my spell question.

Jul 12, 2015 10:07 pm

I'm still not 100% sure on what I'm supposed to do with hit dice...

Jul 12, 2015 11:27 pm

Moffsalot, you just need to note that you now have two hit dice to use during short rest healing. Its a separate mechanic from rolling your hit dice to add up your new hit points.

Jul 13, 2015 1:36 am

Ok, for my HP I roll a 1d8 (got a 2) and add that to my CON modifier, and then add that to my current HP?

Jul 13, 2015 3:01 am

yup, you got it

Jul 13, 2015 1:12 pm

High five for crappy HP rolls Moofs! ^5

Jul 13, 2015 7:53 pm

Arjen says:

Candi, what is your say on new spells for my wizard? Can he pick a new one for gaining a level?

I will take 4 + CON = 6 for my hit points. Up to 14 now.

Will pick my arcane focus when you rule on my spell question.

Candi, your ruling?

Jul 13, 2015 8:32 pm

Oh right. I forgot to reply to that question:

Yea, Wizards that don't get new spells aren't as fun as ones that do. Each level you can add 1 spell that you can cast to your spell book. You, of course, can also add spells to your spell books by transcribing scrolls you find (or, should the opportunity arise, the spells from another wizard's spell book). But, each level, you get a free one (that will represent the product of learning and experimentation and the fruits of self-discovery).

Jul 13, 2015 8:36 pm

Wizards and their "self-discovery"...

Speaking of which, Arjen, I was going to start laying on a bit thickly about Corban trying to learn things about magic from you, so that when(*if) he gets to level 3, the transition to Eldritch Knight won't be as big of a conceptual leap. Does that sound ok to you? And Candi for that matter?

Jul 13, 2015 9:06 pm

that sounds amazing to me. have i said how much of a pleasure it is to gm for you folks?

Jul 13, 2015 11:28 pm

I'm fairly certain Kaiakas is going with Order of Vengeance at level 3.

Jul 14, 2015 2:03 am

^5 'dro!

You guys are just gonna have to keep me alive long enough to single-handedly kill all our enemies!

Jul 14, 2015 3:35 am

Yes, Grendel! I think that will be a nice direction to take them.

Okay, I'll read through the spells tonight and pick an arcane tradition and get my downtime post up sometime tomorrow.

Agreed Candi, this has been a great experience thus far. I'm truly excited about this one going the distance, a rarity for PbP!

Jul 14, 2015 10:46 pm

I just have the free version of 5e. What other specialties can a Rogue pick up at level 3?

Jul 14, 2015 11:12 pm

Assassin and arcane trickster (magic type). Assassin is pretty badass for busting out nasty critical hits.

Jul 15, 2015 3:49 pm

So what's stopping folks from posting in the new thread? Do I need to push things along? I was hoping this level up time would be filled with causal in-character RPing (and maybe even our new rogue stalking the group from the woods?)... If you folks are uniformly unsure how to get involved with where I staged things, though, then I'm happy to oblige and throw some action your way to get the pot stirring ;)

Jul 15, 2015 4:16 pm

I was going to throw something up last night, but shall do it now.

Jul 15, 2015 4:37 pm

Great! Bonus points for Corban (disclaimer: bonus points aren't not used for anything). And, as an added kicker, you've dragged the new party member into the group. That was probably the best way, as 'already a member' avoids possible conflict when meeting new prospective party members in other ways.

Jul 15, 2015 11:07 pm

I was going to grab a drink at a tavern or something but I'm fine with joining the group however you'd like!

Last edited July 15, 2015 11:08 pm

Jul 15, 2015 11:31 pm

Kaiakas is probably going to come off as a big ol grump.
Also, does anyone have the survival skill for us to eat and have shelter during this long journey?

Last edited July 15, 2015 11:31 pm

Jul 16, 2015 12:16 am

Moofsalot says:

I was going to grab a drink at a tavern or something but I'm fine with joining the group however you'd like!

The group won't be back at a tavern for a bit, so it's probably better this way ;) (I fast-forwarded to the front end of the action... I left a time gap on purpose actually; which I may eventually tell you guys about ;))

Jul 16, 2015 1:30 am

If Corban gets a little too cheeky Kaiakas, feel free to back hand him, Corban won't escalate the situation ;)
I mostly think it'll be interesting to play the lawful Paladin off of the chaotic fighter when both are essentially good hearted.

Jul 16, 2015 1:59 am

I have a feeling Corban and Xara will get along famously.

Jul 16, 2015 4:04 pm

Which is why he and Rurik are buddies!

unique_exemplar says:

Kaiakas is probably going to come off as a big ol grump.
Also, does anyone have the survival skill for us to eat and have shelter during this long journey?

Jul 16, 2015 4:24 pm

Corban's got a solid -1 in survival ;-)

"That plant looks edible enough..."

Jul 16, 2015 4:26 pm

I'm going to assume you've been able to find food, one way or another. You might have some funny stories about Corban eating mildly poisonous berries, and you may have had to eat stale rations on more than one occasion, but you managed to get to where you are.

Once Rurik has posted I'm going to get things rolling (in a way, this lite RP is a roll call :P)

Jul 16, 2015 4:27 pm

"Corban... that's a rock."

Last edited July 16, 2015 4:28 pm

Jul 17, 2015 2:53 pm

Which map are you referring to that we are at the bottom of Candi?

Jul 17, 2015 3:47 pm

I forgot the link. Ha!

This one (updated the post to include it).

Note: I use battle maps like this only to provide bearings, we're not actually counting squares or anything (mostly a note for Moofs, the rest of you probably figured that out by now ;))

Jul 17, 2015 5:03 pm

Are the hobgoblins all armed with melee weapons?

Jul 17, 2015 5:13 pm

They have both Longswords and Long Bows.

Jul 18, 2015 12:55 am

Try to only post during your initiative bracket (this way, you can be sure you're target is alive when you roll! And also, it may help strategizing. That said, you're free to post ahead of your bracket, in which case I'll resolve your action when your turn actually rolls around) -- of course you're free to post in any order within a bracket. For all future combats I'm going to split initiative into only two brackets (no splitting the PCs up with a single monster group like this combat). But for now, we're committed to this way.

Jul 18, 2015 1:59 am

I figured my turn would happen in initiative order. Also, Xara is not one to follow any sort of plan. :)

But hey, we've got some efficient killers on our team! Hooray!

Last edited July 18, 2015 2:02 am

Jul 18, 2015 2:15 am

Yeah, I usually do just resolve turns in order (and I do encourage posting when you can, so as to maximize speed) but in this case, the poor hell hound was obliterated well and truly before either Xera or Zaris (that's going to trip me up more than once) were even close to acting.

Jul 18, 2015 2:16 am

That said, I realized I can make initiative "bands" even smoother if there are only every 2: PCs and NPCs, so that's what I'll do starting with the next battle and this little hiccup will never be so pronounced again.

Jul 18, 2015 2:03 pm

Candi says:

Try to only post during your initiative bracket (this way, you can be sure you're target is alive when you roll! And also, it may help strategizing. That said, you're free to post ahead of your bracket, in which case I'll resolve your action when your turn actually rolls around) -- of course you're free to post in any order within a bracket. For all future combats I'm going to split initiative into only two brackets (no splitting the PCs up with a single monster group like this combat). But for now, we're committed to this way.

Sorry about that! I've been used to playing games with Good v Bad INIT blocking and just moving attacks over to what baddies are still alive if need be.

Jul 18, 2015 2:09 pm

Yeah I could've just moved the attack over... But, well, I know more than you ;)

Jul 18, 2015 2:10 pm

Also maybe I should've left them. At least yours, Zaris had a really nice shot!

Anyway, no harm done and as I've said, good v bad init blocks is the way this will be done here on out (probably as soon as next round).

Jul 19, 2015 4:11 am

Works for me.

Hopefully my next shot will be as good!

Jul 19, 2015 4:38 am

Gonna jump on the sorry wagon. Must not have seen the other attack posts. I'll try to pay better attention.

Jul 19, 2015 3:05 pm

No apologies needed - the other posts got deleted by me in a hasty decision (and you were posting within turn order).

We're now effectively in Us vs Them Initiative so you can all post at will. I won't delete any posts anymore (sorry!), and if your target is dead by the time yours resolves (they will resolve in *posting* order) I'll just give you a new (and sensibly chosen) target.

Also, for future combats this is how initiative will run in the background (so you can post accordingly -- note I'm going to add this to the house-rules thread for reference):

Enemy Initiative will be the AVERAGE of all monster initiative rolls. Player initiatives will be rolled individually. Those whose result is higher than the Enemy Initiative will act first (no other players can post! This is something like a 'bonus turn' for them). Then, after that initial mini-player turn, combat will proceed in Us vs Them fashion.

Jul 19, 2015 3:14 pm

That seems efficient.

Jul 19, 2015 4:16 pm

And, it makes players who invest in/have high init not feel like they wasted effort having high init (because rolling well on init makes it almost like getting a 'bonus round').

Jul 20, 2015 2:18 pm

Channelling my inner Reina with that flurry....

Jul 20, 2015 5:27 pm

Whoo! I was so sure I was going to roll in the single digits for that attack (Thanks Demon master!)
Whoops sorry Candi :/

Last edited July 20, 2015 5:37 pm

Jul 20, 2015 5:37 pm

When making a ranged attack while in melee, you have Disadvantage (roll 2d20, take the worst) -- I have done so in my resolution post (and you still hit)

Jul 21, 2015 3:34 pm

Ouch, Arjen! The die is a cruel mistress!

Jul 21, 2015 4:49 pm

What was Zaris' disadvantage for? Just curious.

Jul 21, 2015 5:42 pm

Shooting through the trees at the cleric on the other side (you guys are at the fork in the road in melee, Zaris is behind you, the cleric is on the path between hte fork and farmhouse -- hence, the intervening space between Zaris and his target is wooded)

Jul 21, 2015 6:07 pm

Grendelthebrave says:

Ouch, Arjen! The die is a cruel mistress!

It happens!

Jul 21, 2015 6:56 pm

Do I have clear enough line of sight to rebuke the cleric in a manner quite Hellish?

Jul 21, 2015 7:25 pm

You can see him, yes. But you don't meet the conditions to cast Hellish Rebuke (you need to be damaged by the creature you plan to target):

"Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take in response to being damaged by a creature within 60 feet of you that you can see."

Jul 21, 2015 7:57 pm

Oh rats. On a somewhat related note: is there an app or anything that I can access the PHB from my phone (which is how I post at work)

Jul 21, 2015 7:58 pm

It is a great tragedy that only the basic rules are available digitally at the moment. Barring pirated scans of the PHB of course.

Jul 21, 2015 8:55 pm

do you have an iphone? if so there is. if not i have no idea, but you can typically find spells with a Google search

Jul 21, 2015 11:40 pm

I have an Android app for 5e spells "D&D 5 Spellbook Cards" but nothing for rules.

Jul 22, 2015 1:50 am

What's the iPhone app? Is it the Dragons+?

Jul 22, 2015 2:42 am

"Your pitiful God can do nothing to protect you."

Except a natural one roll on the die that is!!

Jul 22, 2015 2:57 am

Yeah....I talk better than I kill >

Jul 22, 2015 3:04 am

It's the app that this Reddit is about... they have both a DM and a Player App. Get either one, then message the creator of that reddit thread for a dropbox invite, when you get the invite you can import the XML files in the dropbox into the app and v'oila, you will have access to all the 5e content from your phone. If you use the character app, you can even put your character in there and have Rurik at your finger tips.

I'm using their GM app (but I have the character one too for the weekly game that I play in).

Jul 22, 2015 11:17 am

Do you have to have a reddit account to message them? Is there any other way to contact them?

Jul 22, 2015 12:04 pm

You can create a reddit account just to send the message and never log in again.

Jul 22, 2015 1:19 pm

I updated everyone's HP in the app... but I had created this encounter's information before doing that and apparently my encounter tracker has your lv1 HP, so hopefully you've been tracking yourselves because for this battle it's on you! (and I'm learning the quirks of this little app)

Jul 22, 2015 1:40 pm

Oh crap, I don't think I ever updated my hp from leveling up. I never rolled, so I'm gonna take average roll (5) so I'm at total 17 hp.
I took 8 and then 11 damage now so I'm at -1 hp. Editing my previous post and character sheet now.
Sorry.

Jul 22, 2015 2:11 pm

Heh, no worries! No harm done (well, except to Kaiakas).

Jul 22, 2015 2:13 pm

Yikes! I think I'm at 8 HP.

Jul 22, 2015 4:27 pm

Corban's been slouching and letting everyone else take damage :p

EDIT: Ouch... prowess indeed...

Last edited July 22, 2015 4:31 pm

Jul 22, 2015 4:40 pm

Moofsalot, can you try and remember to post as Xara when posting in the game thread -- not only does it provide me a helpful direct link to your character sheet, but it means I don't have to double-take when checking which characters have acted (because, as usual, I know you all more by your character names than user names ;)).

Jul 22, 2015 5:30 pm

Yes sorry am posting from my phone! Have revised the previous posts!

Jul 22, 2015 6:24 pm

Moofsalot says:

Yes sorry am posting from my phone! Have revised the previous posts!

Yeah, if you start typing and then go to advanced it resets who you post as in the new page

Jul 22, 2015 7:07 pm

Aha! That explains it. Good to know!

Jul 22, 2015 10:57 pm

This roll-and-miss exchange is running the risk of growing tedious (unless of course Xara hits, because the sneak attack damage is very much truck-like). As such I'm going to add a new action to the action list:

Standard Action: Draw Attention - You harass the target in such a way that it is forced to focus its attention on you. The next attack made against it before the start of your next turn has Advantage.

Jul 22, 2015 11:14 pm

Wow we suck at rolling.

Jul 22, 2015 11:18 pm

Lol yes we do, Moofsalot.

Jul 22, 2015 11:33 pm

Hence the new action option :P (it helps me too though.. hehehe)

Jul 22, 2015 11:34 pm

Of course, you guys hit like TANKS for the first two rounds, so maybe it's just dice-roller karma balancing the probability distribution out ;)

Jul 23, 2015 3:14 am

As a scientist, I'm going to support the probability explanation.

Jul 23, 2015 11:50 am

Yes, half movement. Where are you dragging him to? Down the escarpment onto the middle of the road (where three new hobgoblins are charging towards)? Into the woods?

Jul 23, 2015 3:16 pm

Into the woods.

Jul 23, 2015 11:56 pm

Apparently my dice roller hates me as much as the forum roller hates you guys.

In other news, I remembered that I had a second hell hound.

Jul 24, 2015 1:44 am

Did I nail the cleric?

Jul 24, 2015 1:58 am

You did! In remembering the Hell Hound I forgot Rurik. The Cleric is very hurt, but not quite dead (edited my summary post).

Jul 24, 2015 2:09 am

Someone stabilized me, right? Lol sorry, at work and phone is being a pain

Jul 24, 2015 11:47 am

Yeah you got stabilized by Zaris last turn.

Jul 24, 2015 1:36 pm

Sorry that you're KOd for all the action.. You did a good thing before you went down (one less arrow flying at Corban.. and apparently absorbed all of the dice-luck that the archers had)... I've run this adventure (partially, never finished) a few times before and this battle tends to unravel in one of two ways (no matter what edition I use):

1. The players smash it to pieces (and you guys were on track to do this until the dice decided to punish you)
2. It drags out and there are (or nearly are) some PC casualties

Lesson: Never engaged in a protracted battle, it's bad for everyone (and in this case, the badness is asymmetric -- it's more bad for PCs than NPCs ;))

Jul 24, 2015 2:23 pm

Should I keep hammering away at the cleric? Or start picking off the rank and file?

Jul 24, 2015 2:54 pm

The cleric is probably the biggest threat for us at the moment given the casting ability. I'm hoping Zaris will be able to pick off a rank and file himself this next turn.

Jul 24, 2015 3:10 pm

While, as a GM, I resist offering this kind of advice, if you were familiar with Cleric spells you would keep hammering the Cleric.

Some facts you might not have inferred:

He's demonstrated that he can cast level 1 spells, he must be able to cast at least 3 per day and so far he's only used 2 (Cure Wounds and Guiding Bolt), which means he has at least 1 Cure left (which would really set you back on the demonstrably hard to hit armoured guy) or he could use another Guiding Bolt (which will almost certainly lead to a PC KO -- it's 4d6 Damage and the next attack on the target has Advantage. That greatsword also hits like a truck).

This last round he cast Guidance on the big guy, which gives the big guy a d4 he can add to any one attack roll after rolling. Cleric PCs are pretty good, but Cleric NPCs are really good (because, since NPCs usually die, they tend to burn ALL of their spells in the course of a single battle; while PCs spread out the good stuff over several battles by necessity).

Jul 24, 2015 3:13 pm

Lovely. Thank you.

Jul 24, 2015 4:14 pm

Oh he is getting pounded like a bottle of vodka at a college party!
He shoots he scores!

Last edited July 24, 2015 4:22 pm

Jul 24, 2015 5:00 pm

Maybe we should take a nap and let others do the killing...

Jul 24, 2015 5:38 pm

Moofsalot says:

Maybe we should take a nap and let others do the killing...

On the other hand, Xara and Corban are providing alternative targets of attack that aren't Rurik, whose slowly blasting his way through the enemies.

Jul 24, 2015 5:39 pm

Clearly that was the plan!

Jul 24, 2015 6:50 pm

I'll suck it up next time, and take the new "hey look at me" action, Xara's probably got some better damage potential with the sneak attack, and the advantage should help.

*Assuming Tymora doesn't give up and let the hail of arrows pincushion me to death.

Jul 24, 2015 11:04 pm

I sure hope so. If Xara fails with an advantage then clearly we are not meant to attack anyone.

Jul 25, 2015 2:53 pm

That was a very exciting round :)

Jul 25, 2015 3:13 pm

Can Kaiakas block an incoming attack to defend Zaris just as I'm coming to? Probably with his shield.

Jul 25, 2015 4:21 pm

Sure (I'll grant Disadvantage on the next attack roll against Zaris if you spend your Action "Defending" him). Or, you could spend your Action attacking and wake-up and kill the hobgoblin (if you roll well).

If, on the other hand, you were just asking permission to include some dramatic fluff in your post and this wasn't a question about game mechanics - yes, of course!

Jul 26, 2015 12:57 am

WTF YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. *cries*

On the plus side, I am glad that I am not playing Dungeon World, where Bad Things Happen on a miss, because Xara would surely be dead by now.

Last edited July 26, 2015 12:58 am

Jul 26, 2015 12:58 am

:o Lol, I was about to post virtually the same thing... Wow! That is the most perfect example of 'sadvantage'

Jul 26, 2015 1:12 am

Yes, Candi. I was thinking of dramatically interrupting the hobgoblin's attack. Wasn't sure what you would require for that.

Jul 26, 2015 3:49 am

What you've done is great. We'll see how the attack goes with the disadvantage.

Jul 27, 2015 2:28 pm

Even the academic is gonna land more blows than us at this point. Hmm, maybe there's something Xara can do that doesn't involve fighting?

Jul 27, 2015 2:55 pm

Really, the big problem Xara and Corban have had is bad dice rolling. You're living in the tail of the bell curve, and that sucks.

(it's why, in general, I dislike the way RPGs tend to use dice -- because it's clear designers didn't spend time actually thinking about the statistically unlikely, but actually possible, incomprehensibly long string of bad luck. If enough copies of the game are sold, *someone* will experience that, and it's worth designing a game, I think, so that worst experience is fun. It's also why, when I build D&D characters, I always optimize "to hit". I'd rather hit and do a little damage, than to miss most of the time and do big damage when I hit... because missing is sucky and not fun, but hitting, even for a little bit, makes progress).

What's kind of funny, is the enemies have been living in the same probability tail and so we've had a wonderful combat experience where almost NOTHING has happened for 3 turns. Them's the breaks of dice-driven combat resolution I'm afraid. You're best bet is to hedge your bets and use and gain Advantage.

Actually, there is something *I* can do and I think it's called for - Corban and Xara gain Inspiration (if they didn't already have it). You can spend that before your roll to gain Advantage (roll 2d20, take the better). You gain Inspiration for RPing well, and the two of you have been RPing DAMNED well, especially given that nothing has happened, you've kept a lot of the life in the particular exchange you're engaged in.

Jul 27, 2015 4:42 pm

Thanks Candi, that should help. I've still been enjoying myself and as you said before I think, Corban has still kept three hobgoblins busy for a time.

Jul 27, 2015 5:54 pm

Looks like I'm going to get tuned up shortly

Jul 27, 2015 6:58 pm

Hello everyone!

I'm leaving tonight with my wife and son to vacation in Alaska for a week with her family! As you may expect, my availability to post most likely will be nonexistent. We return late in the evening on 4 August and will be looking forward to update the next day. Please PC my character as needed.

See everyone in a week!

Jul 27, 2015 7:43 pm

Have a great trip!

Jul 27, 2015 7:43 pm

Have fun, Arjen!

Woohoo, Xara got one hit in! Now she can die happy.

Jul 27, 2015 8:42 pm

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!
Damn dice.

Rolls

test 1 - (1d20+4)

(16) + 4 = 20

test 2 - (1d20+4)

(20) + 4 = 24

test 3 - (1d20+4)

(9) + 4 = 13

Jul 27, 2015 8:49 pm

Sorry, I passed the torch to you. Only one of us is allowed to roll high at a time!

Jul 27, 2015 9:56 pm

Have a fun trip Arjen!

Jul 28, 2015 2:40 pm

When I'm engaged, do I provoke opportunity attacks for firing a ranged spell?

Jul 28, 2015 3:50 pm

No, but you have Disadvantage.

Jul 29, 2015 10:52 pm

How do bonus actions work? Could I attack and then disengage, or would that leave me open to an aoo?

Jul 29, 2015 11:51 pm

You get 1 Move, 1 Action and 1 Bonus Action a round -- although you can only spend the Bonus Action if you have an ability (as Rogues do) that lets you spend it. One use of the rogue ability is to do exactly what you describe (Attack, Disengage, then Move - so that you attack and escape without getting an attack of opportunity).

Also, I will post tomorrow. My wife and I went on a day trip to Niagra and wine-country (she's napping right now but I don't have my notes here!)

Aug 2, 2015 4:20 pm

Wellll I think I'm dead.

Aug 2, 2015 11:03 pm

Straight dead is if your HP drops to negative your maximum. If that happened, then I'm afraid yes, Xara is dead. If you didn't drop that far into negative, your HP sets itself to zero and you will begin making death saves (d20 roll at the start of your turn, success on 10+, failure under 9). Fail 3 and you die.

EDIT: You succeeded on the save, so you only took 5 Damage. So you're at 0 HP and you owe me 1 Death Save (an unmodified d20 roll which is what you would have done with your turn this round). Not dead yet, but three failures on Death Saves and you will be (but a party member could, as Zaris did for Kaiakas, stabilize you with a Medicine check or by using a charge on a Herbalism Kit).

Aug 2, 2015 11:05 pm

Oh I must have missed that. I thought dead was still -10. Cool!

Aug 3, 2015 12:03 am

Oh! I read that wrong and thought that we had to roll a 17. Whew!

Aug 3, 2015 2:23 am

unique_exemplar says:

Oh I must have missed that. I thought dead was still -10. Cool!

I've been running it as minus half maximum (and as minus maximum until level 3, because at level 1 and 2 half maximum is almost the same as zero).

EDIT: I may not actually be following the rules as written. Now that I think about it, I don't know where I got that idea from :P

Aug 3, 2015 1:31 pm

Hooray for temporary hit points! I'm barely clinging to consciousness at 1hp

Aug 3, 2015 2:50 pm

You can also take your turn Rurik, if you're not down.

Aug 3, 2015 8:51 pm

Whew!

Aug 5, 2015 2:57 pm

I'm safely back from Alaska! Nothing like hiking out there in Denali to get inspiration for rpgs! I kept imagining orc patrols off in the distance on the ridges.

I'll read through the posts this morning and get back into the game. Crossing my fingers that my wizard stayed out of trouble...

Aug 6, 2015 3:33 pm

Will attacks against the commanded hobbo be at advantage?

Aug 6, 2015 3:47 pm

nope. The effect of "Drop" via command is that they drop whatever they are holding and end their turn.

Aug 6, 2015 3:47 pm

Actually wait, yes heck yes. He is now unarmed and that's a huge disadvantage.

Aug 7, 2015 1:03 am

Am I still unconscious? I assume I made my death save since I rolled a 20 but I'm not sure what happens after that...

Aug 7, 2015 1:17 am

I just checked the rules on rolling a 20 on a death save, and you are actually conscious with 1 HP now!

Aug 7, 2015 3:41 am

Hooray for a natural 20 when your life is in the balance!

Aug 7, 2015 3:26 pm

Yay for 20s! Also high five to Moofs for joining the "dropped during the first fight I was involved in club"!

Aug 7, 2015 5:08 pm

Sweet! FYI am away for a wedding this weekend but will try to post late this evening.

Aug 9, 2015 12:06 am

I would be far less annoyed with rolling missed attacks if a) it didn't feel like we're all about to die, and b) my spells wouldn't be wasted.

Aug 9, 2015 12:28 am

You have advantage on that attack FYI (edit it and add a second d20).

Aug 10, 2015 10:49 pm

What do I roll if I want to throw my rapier at one of the archers? Could I follow it with a move to pick up and load my crossbow?

Aug 11, 2015 5:04 am

To *throw* a rapier? That's a fancy move! I'm all for fancy moves. Let's say: Ranged attack (use dex for attack and str for damage).

And you'll need to use your move to get into range to do that, so you won't be able to load the other weapon (although loading might be a standard... I dunno, never had reason to check).

Aug 11, 2015 11:06 am

Ah well, it was worth a shot!

Aug 12, 2015 1:58 am

Congrats guys! That's the first encounter of The Red Hand of Doom. I've run this encounter three times now, and this is the first one that didn't feature a player death (but boy was it close a few times there!).

Some awesome roleplaying in the midst of the battle as well, big thumbs up for that. I'm giving everyone Inspiration, because all around the table the performance was superb.

Aug 12, 2015 11:14 pm

For some reason, I've stopped getting email notification over the last few days. Gonna try re-subscribing to get that back.

Aug 12, 2015 11:39 pm

Thank you Candi! This has been an absolutely terrific experience thus far!

Poor Zaris is down to one lonely hit point. Hopefully we can rest now.

Aug 13, 2015 12:46 am

To remind everyone:

Short Rests
Minimum of 10 minutes. For each block of 10 minutes you may spend 1 hit die or recover 1 ability that may be recovered during a short rest.

Aug 13, 2015 12:51 am

Xara is also down to one sad HP. Close calls for most of us!

Aug 13, 2015 12:52 am

Rurik would have dropped if not for temp HP, I say we call ourselves the 1HP party

Aug 13, 2015 1:08 pm

Where on the Elsie vale map are we again? Are we north of the river in the Witchwood?

And time of day now is midmorning?

Aug 13, 2015 4:17 pm

You aren't in the Witchwood yet, you are about a mile east of Drellen's Ferry on the road from Terrelton (I think that's how its spelled) and Drellen's Ferry.

@Rurik: History Check

Aug 15, 2015 2:38 am

Alright, it would seem we are in agreement to make our way to the town from here along the road. Save for any unexpected encounters...

Aug 15, 2015 2:52 am

Just need confirmation from Corban :)

Aug 17, 2015 12:47 pm

Corban last posted 10 days ago, so I moved us on (assuming he follows suit and rests a bit). Grendel hasn't gone "sleepy" so he's been around, just hasn't posted.

I felt that we were due for a new thread, that one combat was pretty intense so I created a new one and we've moved on down the road. Also, I'm going to post the map of Elsir Vale at the top of every new thread, so you can always find it easily.

Aug 17, 2015 1:01 pm

Sounds good.

Aug 25, 2015 9:26 pm

I'm sorry team. I've kind of been having a rough few weeks.

Not sure what the status thing was talking about, I haven't been checking any forums on here, just receiving notifications.

Anyway, I'd love to jump back in if I'm still welcome. Sorry for stunting progress.

Aug 25, 2015 11:05 pm

Welcome back! I've tried to leave Corban's presence or absence vauge. You can just assume he's at the table with the rest of them and pipe up as if he's always been there.

:)

Aug 25, 2015 11:59 pm

Hello again Grendel! I'm sure all of us understand that real life always takes priority over PbP games. Hope all is well.

Aug 26, 2015 12:03 am

Hope things are better now, Grendel! Welcome back!

Aug 31, 2015 3:39 am

Ahh Zaris, ever the optimist.

Sep 1, 2015 12:10 am

Lol Xara that reminds me of Minsc from Baldur's Gate.
"Butt kicking! For goodness!"

Sep 1, 2015 3:37 pm

Does anyone have anything they want to do before we move onto morning?

Also, consider this a roll call. Say no if you have no plans. We've had a newcomer who immediately went silent, and Grendel appears to have come and gone again and I want a sense of whose still properly with us before I decide to recruit another (if everyone's still here, that's 6 and I'm fine with 6, but 7 will make balancing encounters and events difficult so I'd rather not overshoot further if we're all still here but some of us are quiet).

(I'm going to leave the current thread open if people want to keep RPing out the evening, but if the uniform answer is no I will also open a new thread starting in the morning to keep things moving).

Sep 1, 2015 5:06 pm

I'm here. No plans before morning. :)

Sep 1, 2015 5:27 pm

Back guys sorry. Ièm back at my desk this week, so I'm readily available to get to posting. Sorry for sucking.

Sep 1, 2015 5:39 pm

No plans, unless something comes up in conversation.

Sep 1, 2015 6:10 pm

Grendelthebrave says:

Back guys sorry. Ièm back at my desk this week, so I'm readily available to get to posting. Sorry for sucking.

No apologies needed :) I'm glad you're still with us.

It's a play by forum game, there's a certain amount of 'weaving in and out' that's expected (just like some players miss a session or two, not everyone can post every day or every week). I just like to check in every now and again (because sometimes players do vanish, which we've already had happen once, and I like to be on top of it and replace them quickly to minimize slow down).

Sep 1, 2015 6:22 pm

No plans till morning for Rurik or myself.

Sep 1, 2015 8:22 pm

Well, we're onto the next thread then -- you can continue to post in the previous thread if you want to continue RPing the in between time.

http://gamersplane.com/forums/thread/923/?p=20358#p20358

Sep 1, 2015 9:06 pm

I'm a bit confused as to where on the map of Elsir Vale we are at present. Apologies if I am missing something.

Sep 1, 2015 10:04 pm

No worries - you are at Drellen's Ferry (bottom left city icon) just on the other side of the river (thick blue line). The Dawn Way is the road hat continues through the Witchwood to Skull Gorge, the Witch Trail is not marked (and neither is Vraath Keep).

That help?

Sep 2, 2015 1:54 pm

Yes. I was just confused when you said we were "at the I on the top left"

Thank you.

Sep 2, 2015 2:38 pm

Oops! I mean't "top left" of the Drellen's Ferry map!

Sep 2, 2015 4:08 pm

Got it! Now we are all clear.

Sep 2, 2015 10:40 pm

Xara is going to get punched in the face isn't she.

Sep 3, 2015 3:03 pm

It could happen. I'll roll the dice to give it an element of chance!

Sep 5, 2015 5:59 pm

Just as a refresher, our main motivation at the moment is to find a vault filled with loot right? I can't recall what we know about it.

Sep 5, 2015 6:24 pm

I wondered if you all forgot about that -- I should keep a Quest Log thread going perhaps.

Yes- you originally came to Elsir Vale because you had a treasure map indicating a place call Vraath Keep in the Witchwood that probably has an untouched treasure vault from ages past. It just so happens that your current main quest (deal with hobgoblin menace) hasn't required you to go a different path than you otherwise would have (in so far as it has brought you into the Witchwood)

Jorr

Sep 7, 2015 6:52 pm

As long as you pay him, Jorr will be your guide and companion for a while so he's got a face now. Should combat come up, I'll handle him but he's a level 2 Human Fighter (for those whom are interested in details).

Sep 9, 2015 8:37 am

Since we can't physically see each other, I really hope Kaiakas didn't actually offend anyone.

Sep 9, 2015 4:53 pm

Did I give everyone Inspiration? I meant to.

Everyone has Inspiration.

Sep 9, 2015 4:56 pm

Can we have more than 1 inspiration? I already have 1.

Sep 9, 2015 5:03 pm

Inspiration is not *intended* to be hoarded (but spent and regained). That said, as a player in a D&D game I always find that frustrating (and means that when I have it, I'm not really incentivized to RP or get into character as much). So, that's a long way of saying, yes you can have more than 1 inspiration point.

Sep 9, 2015 5:05 pm

Lol. I'll make sure to use it soon.

Sep 9, 2015 5:14 pm

Whoops I keep forgetting to use it! I now have 2...

Sep 9, 2015 6:41 pm

Note: while the thread used to be called morning, we're now into mid-afternoon. Lots of walking, and it's been about 45minutes since Xara left to go scouting and returned.

Sep 9, 2015 9:23 pm

Lovely. I didn't know we could collect the points. I'll update my sheet to include 2 and use one at the first opportunity!

Sep 9, 2015 9:52 pm

It's a houserule that I just made up, but you can!

Sep 9, 2015 9:54 pm

To clarify, you're all still at the bottom of the hill - only Xara scouted ahead, and she's now returned (and presumably told you what she saw). If you're all planning to march up the path and look around, then I can pretend that happened between Kaiakas' last post and Zaris'.

Sep 10, 2015 12:38 am

Ah, I thought I messed that up. I would do the same thing as soon as we marched up, so I will keep it unless the group decides otherwise for our actions.

Apologies.

Sep 10, 2015 1:00 am

I'm cool with it, I'll post something, but all I really need to do is ready some weapons just in case.

Sep 10, 2015 1:35 am

Looks like we're carrying on as if we all wandered on up. Cool :)

I'm about to board a flight to heathrow and I'll post when I get settled in the UK. Zaris, your little spark thing causes nothing to happen.

Sep 10, 2015 1:43 am

Have a good flight. Give our best to the Queen! And if you follow football and end up on Fulham Road on Saturday, give my best to Chelsea Football Club as well.

Last edited September 10, 2015 1:44 am

Sep 12, 2015 3:52 am

Sorry team, my posts will be slow this weekend, I'm out of town until Sunday.

Sep 12, 2015 1:39 pm

Is there a way for me to stealth and go around to the other side of the worgs (behind them)?

Sep 12, 2015 5:48 pm

They've definitely seen you. You could go into the bushes and use cunning action to hide, then next turn come out behind them.

Sep 12, 2015 7:36 pm

Can't remember what rolling a nat 20 on attack rolls does. Auto crit? Double damage? Not at home to look up rules, sorry.

Last edited September 12, 2015 7:36 pm

Sep 12, 2015 7:37 pm

Critical Hit! You roll twice as many damage dice (but your static modifier is not doubled, just the number of dice rolled).

Sep 12, 2015 7:38 pm

Cool! Thanks. I'll add another d8

Sep 12, 2015 10:28 pm

Started listening to Dungeon Master's Block podcast and there's a paladin episode that's giving me ideas for Kaiakas.
I don't suppose we'll happen to find a temple of Tyr or similar deity when we level again? Thinking about going to a temple to take my oath.
Also, does anyone else listen to gaming podcasts? I listen to Gamers Table, RPG Academy, NPC cast, and Game Master's Journey.

Last edited September 12, 2015 10:42 pm

Sep 12, 2015 10:37 pm

Just a good ol' temple to Tyr?

Sep 12, 2015 11:44 pm

Eh, it's just an initial thought. Could be one for any of the Triad (Torm, Tyr, Ilmater), but perhaps there doesn't need to be a temple, per se. Kaiakas could just take some "alone time" and meditate/commune w/ Tyr and take his oath. Maybe be given some sort of symbol that his church would recognize as Tyr accepting his oath? Oh, I like that. Anyway, just some thoughts. :)

Sep 13, 2015 5:35 pm

Well, I'm always happy to help enrich character development, so we'll see what we can do as we get near level 3 :)

Sep 14, 2015 2:40 am

Looks like level 3 might be a big one for a few of us :) I love your idea for Kaiakas exemplar, I've always loved paladins for some reason and that sounds awesome.

Sep 14, 2015 2:51 am

I love what WoTC has done with the classes in 5e. These options make them not boring (as I kinda thought of paladin before). I noticed how a lot of the classes had them kinda become fully around level 3. I like that. Immediately after reading through the class descriptions when I first got my PHB, I wanted to play either a Tiefling paladin (hello Kaiakas) or a Dragonborn monk.

Sep 14, 2015 3:03 am

Oh wow, a dragonborn monk would be pretty awesome. Breath weapon, followed by angry dragon fists? Yup, might have to try that some day.

Sep 14, 2015 3:16 am

I just have the free .pdf. One of these days I'll go to a store and buy the PHB so I can see what all the options are...

Sep 14, 2015 3:21 am

I highly recommend it. Amazon is my friend since the closest game store is 30 miles away.

Sep 14, 2015 9:07 am

The PHB is definitely a good buy. Especially before you hit level 3. I'm not sure if all of the Rogue paths are in the free document, of course my favourite - the Swashbuckler, isn't in the PHB either. It's in Unearthed Arcana (official supplements released for free). The full list is on this page:

D&D Resource List

The specific document you will be interested in is here:

Waterborn Adventures

Sep 14, 2015 9:12 am

Also, great tactics Corban and Kaiakas! That was a terrible turn for the hobgoblins (they are within an inch of their life, with 1 and 2 hp respectively; AC 18 - so you know if you hit and kill; feel free to take the liberty to describe it if you do).

Haven't heard from Rurik in 4 days (that was his last post in this game), but instead of GMPCing him, I've decided he can take two turns at once (a bit spaced out perhaps, still shaking off that mighty hangover maybe). Gotta keep the game marching on!

Sep 16, 2015 9:55 am

I'm liking this "if only one player is left and 24hours since the last post or so have gone by, monsters act and the 'slow' player gets 2 turns on their next post" approach to combat. Helps keep the pace moving, and gives people the flexibility to live their lives and also play :)

Sep 16, 2015 10:09 am

Would Kaiakas be able to move around the worgs - opposite Corban - so as to flank them? I'm thinking that's moving within threatened areas so it's just like 5 ft steps.

Sep 16, 2015 10:48 am

As long as you stay engaged with everyone, yes you can (so I'll say you can circle around). Flanking, in 5e, doesn't mechanically do anything (as such, the maneuver is welcome descriptive detail and I'm not going to mechanically punish you for it!).

Sep 16, 2015 11:20 am

Huh, I thought flanking gave advantage or something like that. Oh well.I'll be able to hit both enemies from there I think.

Sep 16, 2015 12:01 pm

Nope. That's you're 3.5 intuitions tingling :) Some GMs make houserules for flanking, things like while Flanking you can take the Help Action to give a flanking Character Advantage. I'd be happy with that in fact.

Sep 16, 2015 2:30 pm

Darn that confusing 3.5e intuition! Always making me think of something that doesn't work anymore. I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't... nope, wait. Wrong line. Carry on.

Sep 18, 2015 11:39 pm

We can't hit anything can we right now?!

Sep 18, 2015 11:48 pm

nope. :(

Sep 19, 2015 7:04 am

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure you got through that without a single injury.

Sep 23, 2015 12:01 pm

Where did Corban and Kaiakas go? I remember them moving forward before Xara

Sep 23, 2015 12:06 pm

Good question: Map

First Corban and Kaiakas scrambled over the big hole in the south wall (bottom of map) of the keep. Then, everyone else followed. Then, Xara followed her nose, through the hole in the wall of the building tucked in the bottom left corner.

EDIT: The rest of the party is still just inside the couryard, on the other side of the hole in the main keep wall you climbed over (so bottom of the map, but inside the wall perimeter) Make sense?

Sep 23, 2015 12:14 pm

Yeah I get it now. Thanks :)

Sep 23, 2015 12:16 pm

I do wish that I could upload files to this site and then draw on them (like super basic paint functionality). Uploading files to my personal website is such a pain, but sometimes a little "x" or two on a map would go a long way to clearing up things.

Sep 23, 2015 6:32 pm

In another game I'm in the GM seems to have decent success using Google slides,it allows players to move themselves around, and apply little condition markers and so on.

Sep 23, 2015 6:34 pm

I don't want to get caught up in the miniature-like details of movement, but that could be a quick way to provide a sense of where everyone is without the awkward descriptions :)

Sep 23, 2015 6:37 pm

Yeah fair enough. I do enjoy this more descriptive style.

Sep 24, 2015 6:02 pm

Gmail starts putting gamersplane posts in my 'updates' folder every few months, pretty annoying.

Sep 24, 2015 10:05 pm

I posted in the wrong thread, so I'll continue here.

I can see my character forming a major bond with Xara, as she seems like the type of person that would most-likely be found in the thick of things and therefore the opportunities for glory ought to be good. Ideally Xara wouldn't make fun of Pawetha's height or abilities; it tends to sour Pawetha's opinion of those around her (if her personality is the type that she would, it might not work).

If Candi approves, I'm initially thinking the two got together at some point a while back, wandering from place to place or wherever Xara's adventures went. Perhaps when Xara joined the party, my character was off-screen doing something on the side? Maybe Xara needed something delivered or retrieved, or I'm on a mission outside of town and am now in the process of catching up?

I also don't know if this relationship would have room for minor bonds with the other characters. Any suggestions?

Sep 24, 2015 10:22 pm

You can assume I approve of any backstory that links characters together in a positive way :)

Sep 24, 2015 10:32 pm

That could work. Or maybe Xara told you she'd be done with the treasure-hunting mission within a week and they'd meet up then, only to forget about it when the group started this side-mission.

You could have easily met one of the other party members without her having known it. Or maybe Xara introduced you to Corban at some point.

She's not likely to make fun of Pawetha since they have the same goals. The same can not be said for the more "serious" members of the party. Even so, it's more light-hearted ribbing.

Last edited September 24, 2015 10:32 pm

Sep 25, 2015 4:35 am

Thanks Moofsalot, I think that will work. Pawetha heard tales of a legendary adventurer capable of great feats, and sought out the flamboyant Xara to partner up and find the biggest stone upon which to carve their names.

I'd like a minor bond with Corban; if he agrees, perhaps a joint dungeon-delve in the past brought him to my character's acquaintance. That's assuming Xara knows Corban and would have done such a thing.

I think Pawetha's absence could be explained with her temper; a bar brawl landed her in minor trouble with the local constabulary, and she had to spend time in custody before being released. It's an unspoken agreement that Pawetha would not hinder Xara's quest for glory, and indeed Pawetha is self-sufficient enough to survive on her own. She knows the direction Xara went and how many days ahead, and is now catching up.

Hopefully that's enough to work her way in?

Sep 25, 2015 5:03 am

Sounds great. Corban is a former military man, who did the merc/adventurer thing to get him in contact with Kaiakas, so another delve somewhere in there would work.

After meeting Zaris however , I imagine Corban spent a lot more time with him, so unless we link you with Zaris as well, it would work better with Corban of they'd met earlier in their respective careers (or at least Corban's, I'm not sure of Gnome lifespan off the top of my head).

Sep 25, 2015 11:41 am

All sounds good to me!

Sep 25, 2015 11:53 am

To answer your question in the game thread: yes! Roll another attack, and always include damage rolls just in case :)

Sep 25, 2015 3:49 pm

Gnomes live a long time, so it's very conceivable to have met Corban a while back. I also wouldn't mind a connection to Zaris, but that would depend if Xara also knows the elf.

For now I'll wait in the green room until Candi gives me my cue.

Sep 25, 2015 6:04 pm

Welcome aboard!
Do advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out?

Sep 25, 2015 6:31 pm

Yes they do.

Sep 26, 2015 9:01 am

As for the character-in-waiting, it's a bit of an awkward moment to include you (middle of combat and all). However, given your backstory this is a good location for you to suddenly turn up in (as you knew Xara was heading to Vraath Keep, and they just happen to be at Vraath Keep.. and happen to have taken a bit of a detour to pick up Jorr before going there).

Keep an eye on things, and follow the thread. I'll tap you in the thread when it's time for your entry.

Sep 26, 2015 3:20 pm

Oh man if that Minotaur has allergies, I'm going to be his worst enemy with the amount of dust I drop on him!

Sep 29, 2015 2:10 am

In some of my games I draw out a basic map on grid paper, take a picture of it, and then load it into google sheets. Then there is a letter/number grid to refer to as PCs move around the board. It never feels like a miniature game but certainly helps situational awareness.

Sep 29, 2015 3:49 pm

That's a good idea, I've made one that you can view. I'm not going to give you folk power to move things around,because it's horribly clunky and I clearly don't abide by squares. It's meant as a reference/guide.

Map Link

Sep 30, 2015 9:17 am

CancerMan, if you like we can roll you in on the this initiative round with your character entering into the map on the road at the far right hand side (which is the top of the sloped path leading to the keep). She can hear the sounds of battle coming from inside keep.

Sep 30, 2015 3:42 pm

Nice post Caedron, I like the description of command.

Sep 30, 2015 4:12 pm

Sure, I'll enter stage right, from the road.

Sep 30, 2015 4:18 pm

Thanks Grendel!

Sep 30, 2015 5:26 pm

I really hate dice sometimes.

Sep 30, 2015 5:33 pm

Your god is really not impressed with you helping this Heathen next to you.

Sep 30, 2015 5:40 pm

Ha

Sep 30, 2015 6:39 pm

That's it. No more mister nice tiefling. You're on your own. Only spending spell slots to cure myself from now on. At least then they won't go to waste.

Oct 1, 2015 6:53 am

Well... you'll need it ;)

Also, the plot thickens! Or, at least, the pools of blood on the floor thicken. At the moment, that's a good substitute for plot ;)

Oct 1, 2015 1:49 pm

Owwww down to 1 hp unless I start dropping some nerds

Oct 1, 2015 2:45 pm

Ceadron says:

Owwww down to 1 hp unless I start dropping some nerds

Apparently my dice are (un)skilled, as that's the second of you that has been dropped to exactly 1 HP.

Oct 1, 2015 3:10 pm

It just keeps getting better. :p

Question: wouldn't Xara's disengage action prevent the opportunity attack by the sorcerer?

Oct 1, 2015 3:19 pm

The worst part about PbP games is when the RNG isn't working for you, you can't swap it out for a new one like you can with dice

Oct 1, 2015 3:58 pm

Xara got an opportunity attack form the hobgoblin archer (that she engaged on the previous round) when she moved towards the sorcerer. Her disengage action did prevent the OA from the sorcerer when she moved away from him.

Oct 1, 2015 4:35 pm

Candi says:

Xara got an opportunity attack form the hobgoblin archer (that she engaged on the previous round) when she moved towards the sorcerer. Her disengage action did prevent the OA from the sorcerer when she moved away from him.

Cool, just trying to look out for our dwindling supply of hit points :)

Oct 1, 2015 4:51 pm

Did we rest before this journey? I had my hp down as 7 from the previous encounter (I think I used a hot die to heal) but now I can't remember. If not then I am unconscious.

Oct 1, 2015 4:54 pm

This is your first encounter of the day, you should have started with full hp and full hit dice.

Oct 1, 2015 4:55 pm

Oh wait sorry, you fought the worgs at the top of the castle before this one.

Oct 1, 2015 4:57 pm

I believe you rested before continuing into the castle (otherwise Zaris would also be down, and maybe even dead). So you should be up, but barely (as you if you'd spent a hit die).

Oct 1, 2015 6:41 pm

Ceadron says:

The worst part about PbP games is when the RNG isn't working for you, you can't swap it out for a new one like you can with dice

No dice shaming. :/
Also, if Kaiakas dies, this will be my first character EVER to die.

Oct 1, 2015 7:17 pm

unique_exemplar says:

Ceadron says:

The worst part about PbP games is when the RNG isn't working for you, you can't swap it out for a new one like you can with dice

No dice shaming. :/
Also, if Kaiakas dies, this will be my first character EVER to die.

Ditto for Rurik

Oct 1, 2015 7:39 pm

We'll resurrect Kaiakas as a mean-spirited African Swallow -- of Tyr!

Oct 1, 2015 7:39 pm

Ok just almost dead. Whew?

Oct 1, 2015 7:41 pm

Next town we visit we'll have to kidnap--er, hire, a cleric to hang out in the back row.

Oct 1, 2015 7:49 pm

Well, if I end up as manticore food thanks to shoddy rolls, I could look into that.

Oct 1, 2015 10:33 pm

FYI I am entering my busiest time of year at work (I'm also on a staycation the last 2 weeks in Oct.) so may not be quite as active. I still hope to post at least once a day tho.

Oct 2, 2015 1:04 pm

Opportunity attacks, are they ONLY melee basic?

Oct 2, 2015 1:31 pm

I *believe* so; I don't actually have access to the PhB though until December, so I'm open to being corrected.

Oct 2, 2015 2:10 pm

PhB says "you can use your reaction to make one melee attack against the provoking creature" for an opportunity attack.

Oct 2, 2015 2:14 pm

Confirmed!

(My face-to-face group, which my wife is now running, has retroactively chastised me for messing up the rules of the game. I don't like to look up rules mid-game, so I make stuff up to fill rules gaps; and I'm almost always wrong. Probably because there are dozens and dozens of RPG systems in my head, and it's very easy to remember the right rule from the wrong system. Anyway, since I handed the game over they've been discovering all sorts of rulings I made were wrong. So, when possible, in PbF, it's nice to actually refer to the rulebook... I just don't actually have one right now :S)

Oct 2, 2015 2:51 pm

Bugbear isn't surrounded, or in the building. You could still move to him, but he ,is outside (the map is updated to reflect this). The surge of attacks were opportunity attacks caused by his moving away while surrounded,

Oct 2, 2015 6:33 pm

Rolling a 1 on your critical damage die:

Last edited October 2, 2015 6:33 pm

Oct 5, 2015 3:29 pm

High five Moofs!
Also any chance that if our two blows drop the bugbear, my blow is the killing one so I can get some HP to survive slightly longer?

Oct 5, 2015 3:43 pm

It's all in the hands of the GM, although in Xara's mind she did the killing regardless of what actually happened. :-p

Oct 5, 2015 9:04 pm

Oh snap, might have just Leroy Jenkins-ed myself by rushing out there.

3 HP left...

Oct 5, 2015 9:06 pm

I'm out. So, who wants to multicast as a priest?

Oct 5, 2015 9:08 pm

Moofsalot says:

I'm out.

Make a death save.

Oct 5, 2015 9:09 pm

What do I roll? + nothing?

Oct 5, 2015 9:14 pm

Yup. d20 + nothing. You'll roll one every round now until either you stabilize or perish.

10+ is a success (3 successes and you stabilize; roll a 20 and you get set to 1 HP and regain consciousness) 9 or lower is a failure (3 failures and Xara is done for).

Oct 5, 2015 9:14 pm

Yup. d20 + nothing. You'll roll one every round now until either you stabilize or perish.

10+ is a success (3 successes and you stabilize; roll a 20 and you get set to 1 HP and regain consciousness) 9 or lower is a failure (3 failures and Xara is done for).

Oct 5, 2015 9:15 pm

Dammit I knew I should've bought some healing potions!

Oct 5, 2015 9:16 pm

Moofsalot says:

Dammit I knew I should've bought some healing potions!

Everything will become a lot better if/when you guys make it through this. I promise :) Well, I mean, better in this respect (worse in others ;)).

Oct 6, 2015 1:42 am

Zaris will continue to wet himself under the hobgoblin's bed. Sorry I am not off more use everyone!

Oct 6, 2015 2:06 am

Well at least one hobgoblin will sleep uncomfortably once they finish moping the floor with us

Oct 6, 2015 2:25 pm

Would I be able to use detect magic to find the invisible bugbear?

Oct 6, 2015 2:27 pm

As long as his Mage Armour is still up, that will definitely work.

Oct 6, 2015 6:15 pm

I'm definitely grinding my teeth in anticipation of Zaris' shot. Might have just totally saved the day.

We'll, I suppose there's still that pesky Manticore to deal with, but first things first.

Oct 6, 2015 6:53 pm

I'm just going to let that post simmer for a bit before I take the bad guys turn.

Oct 6, 2015 7:24 pm

You're a mad man Candi! A mad man!

Oct 6, 2015 7:36 pm

I had considered not even putting the OOC note in there. #nexttime

Oct 6, 2015 8:07 pm

Fortunately I beat you by seconds to posting Arjen, might want to read that post of mine and edit yours (then maybe pass out if it suits you). ;)

Oct 6, 2015 8:25 pm

Hopefully fortune favours the bold! I looked at the map and saw the Manticore was indoors, thought maybe it hadn't been updated. Doesn't change my bold (read: stupid) plan of charging the beast. :)

Oct 6, 2015 8:26 pm

Yeah I realized I forgot to describe it swooping down into the building. I assumed (accurately it seems) that you would carry on with your plan regardless :)

Oct 6, 2015 9:39 pm

Yes!!! Apparently I save my natural 20s for death saves!! :-D

Oct 6, 2015 9:39 pm

And Xara's dreams spring her to consciousness! You're at 1 HP, prone, conscious and you get a full round of actions.

Oct 7, 2015 9:50 pm

Is passive perception just a perception roll? I'd like to make one if possible, to spy the bugbear.

Oct 7, 2015 9:53 pm

In 5E, passive perception is just 10+ your perception bonus. Passive = no roll.

Oct 7, 2015 10:08 pm

Pawetha's passive perception is 14, so she sees him!

Oct 8, 2015 12:12 am

I probably don't since I'm too busy coming back into the world of the living.

Oct 8, 2015 12:13 am

Corban's busy counting Manticores in dreamland.

Last edited October 8, 2015 7:06 am

Oct 8, 2015 12:16 am

Kaiakas definitely did not see the hobgoblin.

Oct 8, 2015 6:54 am

Moofsalot says:

I probably don't since I'm too busy coming back into the world of the living.

It's all about that passive perception, which is 13, and so is enough (isn't abstraction great :)). Also, you apparently forfeit your turn last round so Xara has 2 sets of Actions to take (then turn you roll 20 and 'wake up' you get to take actions as normal). Once of you 2 moves will be to stand, I'm sure, but that leaves you with 2 actions, 1 move and having noticed the bugbear flying away.

Oct 8, 2015 6:47 pm

Should I keep making death saves?

Oct 8, 2015 7:13 pm

Does any character have a healer/herbalism kit? If yes, then you can stop making saves.

If no, make one for the end of combat, and then we'll see if anyone tries to stabilize you.

Oct 9, 2015 2:12 pm

I also am down to 1HP. Zaris, are you unconscious due to 0HP?

Oct 9, 2015 2:13 pm

I think Zaris may ALSO be at 1hp.

Oct 11, 2015 12:57 am

I should have two spell slots, so one more for Zaris!

Oct 12, 2015 7:00 pm

I'm at 1 hp. I'm having him passed out as it is fitting for him as a character!

Oct 12, 2015 7:17 pm

I gave Zaris 11 hp, while Xara took 7. That's it for my spell slots. Hopefully someone has something for Rurik!

Oct 13, 2015 2:28 am

Thank you very much!

Oct 13, 2015 9:21 am

Is the image of the dragon well known enough (common knowledge) or is a knowledge roll needed?

Oct 13, 2015 9:36 am

Kaiakas, being religiously well informed, will recognize it as Tiamat (I think earlier on you guys already identified a holy symbol of tiamat, I'll prowl back through the aftermath of the first battle and dig up some links)

Oct 13, 2015 9:40 am

Yes, you did indeed already identify a holy symbol here, so it should be no trouble to recognize this as a more realistic depiction of the chromatic-dragon god. Kaiakas might even know that Tiamat is presently thought to be banished from the mortal realm, and followers of her faith are very uncommon in civilized lands (and of course, little is known about followers in the wilds). Long ago she was revered by many, but she isn't even recognized amongst the gods of the realms anymore (only those who've taken time to read tomes on ancient faiths know of her and her followers).

Oct 13, 2015 11:34 am

Theives' tool use is not attached to a skill. You just roll 1d20, and if you are proficient with them you add your proficiency bonus. That said, trap checking is a Perception roll anyway :)

Oct 13, 2015 5:14 pm

Corban sees the same thing as Xara.

Oct 13, 2015 9:17 pm

For the curious- I've called the weapon a 'bastard sword' because we're actually playing a 3.5 module and I was just copying right out of the module text when describing the loot. There's no bastard sword in 5th ed. Mechanically, it's a long sword (so either Corban or Kaiakas would be happy with it).

Oct 13, 2015 9:23 pm

Cool, I was going to ask if it was a d10 longsword or something, but an enchanted longsword is still awesome.

Oct 13, 2015 9:26 pm

I thought about it, then I realized that (1) I like 5e's simplified weapon chart and (2) longsword is versatile so can be used 2-handed for d10 damage.

Oct 13, 2015 9:26 pm

My guess is that we'll have to identify/attune magic items.

Oct 13, 2015 9:29 pm

Aye! But, in 5e that's pretty easy. A short rest spent examining an item identifies it (since I we're using my modified short rest rules, say "3 units" of short rest, so 30minutes), and if it requires attunement then another (3 units, so 30min) short rest attunes it.

Oct 14, 2015 12:54 am

I know what identifying magical items is, but what does "attune" mean in this context?

Oct 14, 2015 1:53 am

In previous editions of D&D, you could wear all sorts of magical gear. In 5th edition, you get to have only a limited number of magical items "Attuned" to you so that you can use them/benefit from their magic.

Oct 14, 2015 2:04 am

Does attunement also mean that someone else can't wear it and get the magical effect?

Oct 14, 2015 2:46 am

They can spend time attuning it to themselves if they want the benefits.
It does stop someone from picking up their dead comrade's sweet new sword and using it right away.

Last edited October 14, 2015 2:48 am

Oct 14, 2015 4:32 pm

Are we in Vraath keep? Cause if so, we can stop being murder hobos and join the ranks of murders with a home!

Oct 14, 2015 4:35 pm

Hell yeah, we can go hire a bunch of gardeners to fix the place up. I hear hobgoblins are cheap labour... Oh wait

Oct 14, 2015 4:36 pm

Ugh, I hate the term "murder hobos". Ever since I first heard it I've tried to distance myself from any behavior that would seem like it.

Oct 14, 2015 5:15 pm

Grendelthebrave says:

Hell yeah, we can go hire a bunch of gardeners to fix the place up. I hear hobgoblins are cheap labour... Oh wait

Well when we do have gardeners, we'll have a ready source mulch

Oct 14, 2015 5:32 pm

So long as no one thinks of turning my gnome into the garden-variety.

Oct 14, 2015 5:36 pm

unique_exemplar says:

Ugh, I hate the term "murder hobos". Ever since I first heard it I've tried to distance myself from any behavior that would seem like it.

Perhaps, Violent Vagabonds would work? That might be too alliterative.

I do kind of love the idea of protecting one's garden with dangerous ranger Gnomes. "Oh look a sweet little gnome!" Boom, arrow to the eye.

Oct 14, 2015 5:40 pm

Okay, fine, I can work with that. Just don't expect her to wear the pointy hat, much less if it's red!

Oct 14, 2015 9:02 pm

By the way, I just want to thank you all for the activity. I joined another game and am still waiting to be introduced.

Oct 14, 2015 9:06 pm

Sometimes it's the only thing keeping me sane during a crazy work day.

Oct 15, 2015 4:16 pm

I don't suppose we've done enough to hit 3rd level? I'm excited for D&D puberty!

Oct 15, 2015 4:17 pm

Haha, thanks for reminding me! You, infact, need that level... hehehe

Level up you lot - Lv3 is upon us!

Oct 15, 2015 4:17 pm

Yay we're about to find magic where there wasn't magic before!

Oct 15, 2015 4:19 pm

Ooo, shiny!

Oct 15, 2015 4:20 pm

Corban and Zaris getting hitched?

Oct 15, 2015 4:21 pm

Yes! Time for a crash course in fire bolt slinging Zaris!

So we have a tonne of shinies now, how should we divvie it up? Let me know if I miss anything:
Chain shirt
Staff
Gauntlets
Sword

Is chain shirt still a thing in 5e,or is it just chain mail?

Oct 15, 2015 4:25 pm

There was also a pair of gloves with the skeleton holding the sword I think?
I'd like to use anything charisma boosting, if it exists.
Also do we want to rest here and ID this stuff?

Oct 15, 2015 4:29 pm

Damned 5e!

Here's the deal - for whomever wants it, it will become an appropriate bit of armor for that character (and I'll retcon appropriately -- that's actually how I prefer to do "module" loot anyway). Let me save you all some time as well (note I've modified some of these from their stats in the DMG, so whomever takes it will need to record the details on their character sheet):

1. Chain Shirt is +1 Mithral. +1 means +1 AC over its normal rating, and mithral means that if it normally imposes disadvantage on stealth, or has a strength requirement, it doesn't.

2. +1 Frost Brand Longsword. +1d6 frost damage; once per hour you may draw the weapon and extinguish all non-magical flame within 30 feet of you; while wielding it it glows faintly blue (with the light of a torch). This glowing cannot be suppressed.

3. Staff of Healing. 10 Charges max (7 at the moment). 1 action to expend charges to cast a spell in the staff with DC set by your spell casting ability (only useable by spell casters): Cure Wounds (1 charge per level, up to level 4); Lesser Restoration (2 charges); Mass Cure Wounds (5 charges). The staff recovers 1d6+4 charges daily at dawn. If it is ever reduced to 0 charges, roll 1d20. On a 1, the staff turns to dust.

4. Gauntlets of Ogre Power. While wearing these, your Str is set to 19.

5. Giant's Spiked Gauntlets. These are magical gauntlets sized for a giant (being magical, however, they'll resize if you try to wear them). As a reaction, when you are hit by an attack, you may deal 1d10 damage to the attacker.

Oct 15, 2015 4:30 pm

The time you're spending looking around and looking at things constitutes enough 'resting' to figure out what all this stuff does. You've been (and will continue to be, with all the looking about Pawetha is doing and discussions I'm sure you'll have) at least 30min.

Oct 15, 2015 4:36 pm

Candi says:

3. Staff of Healing. 10 Charges max (7 at the moment). 1 action to expend charges to cast a spell in the staff with DC set by your spell casting ability (only useable by spell casters):

What DC would there be for these spells or is the DC to use the device?

Oct 15, 2015 4:37 pm

Ceadron says:

Candi says:

3. Staff of Healing. 10 Charges max (7 at the moment). 1 action to expend charges to cast a spell in the staff with DC set by your spell casting ability (only useable by spell casters):

What DC would there be for these spells or is the DC to use the device?

No DC for those spells. That was me just uncritically copying the full staff rules out.

Oct 15, 2015 4:38 pm

Ah, this is my first experience with magic items in 5E

Oct 15, 2015 4:39 pm

In brief, they just work (although some require you to take half an hour to attune -- everything except the staff requires attunement)

Oct 15, 2015 4:47 pm

I could benefit from either set of gauntletsgauntlets, though I've got a decent strength already so if someone else wants that boost that's cool.

Oct 15, 2015 4:54 pm

There's not really anything that makes sense for Rurik, as a character, to take (not a complaint Candi, promise)

Oct 15, 2015 5:00 pm

Maybe I'll take the chain shirt?

Leveling and such will have to wait until tonight.

Oct 15, 2015 5:14 pm

I'll let you all have first dibs, even on the money. There was also a wand on the bugbear.

I do have a hilarious image of a short and skinny gnome with oversized gloves picking up ogre-sized boulders, though.

Slightly off-topic, but for spells known by classes such as bards and rangers, is the selection of spells fixed? Meaning that if I picked a spell a while back, but decide that I want to change it for a different one, is that not allowed?

Oct 15, 2015 5:18 pm

I believe Xara has the wand (of magic missile) in her pockets (with all the gold).

Oct 15, 2015 5:20 pm

I believe you can swap out one/level
Related to that, I think I'm going to focus on more controlly type spells since the rest of you have damage pretty well on lock

Oct 15, 2015 5:50 pm

Terrific on the level up. I won't be able to work on that until tonight or tomorrow morning though.

Oct 15, 2015 5:51 pm

Xara likes to hold all the things! Trophies, really. We should probably rest and divvy stuff up soon.

Oct 15, 2015 5:52 pm

The level up won't need to be done until we get into another fight (as mostly that's what your character sheets are for, and skills don't change much, if at all). So, don't let needing to level up hold you up on posting!

Oct 15, 2015 5:55 pm

Since Corban offered the sword, I think Kaiakas will accept graciously.

Oct 15, 2015 6:02 pm

Can Corban use the wand, or only Zaris? Rurik?

Oct 15, 2015 6:13 pm

I was thinking that I'd go with the staff o'hewling since I'm not usually running into melee...but also wondering if Rurik would use something that wasn't at least partly metal or stone

Oct 15, 2015 6:44 pm

Hey Candi, would this be a good time for Kaiakas to do his solo act with taking his vow?

Oct 15, 2015 6:50 pm

As Corban is going to be a fancy new eldritch knight now, he might be able to use the wand, it was described as for use by spell casters only.

Oct 15, 2015 8:37 pm

Anyone who can cast spells can use the staff and/or the wand. The wand has 7 charges, for 1 charge you can cast magic missile at level 1. Expend an additional to charge to raise the spell level. Regains 1d6+1 charges each day at dawn. If reduced to zero charges, roll 1d20, on a 1 it turns to dust.

Also, I'm happy to amend the staff to have a bit of copper coiled into the vines as decoration; or Rurik could add his own personal touch and put a bit of metal on it himself.

unique_exemplar says:

Hey Candi, would this be a good time for Kaiakas to do his solo act with taking his vow?

What did you have in mind for this? An extended thing, or would finding an old, worn shrine in the woods nearby the keep be sufficient? (Because if so, feel free to take the reigns on it).

Oct 16, 2015 12:11 am

Candi says:

What did you have in mind for this? An extended thing, or would finding an old, worn shrine in the woods nearby the keep be sufficient? (Because if so, feel free to take the reigns on it).

No, I think what I posted its all it'll be. I had to go before I saw you reply so I just went ahead and posted it. Nothing too big a deal, just a private (important) moment between paladin and deity.

Oct 16, 2015 7:46 am

unique_exemplar says:

Candi says:

What did you have in mind for this? An extended thing, or would finding an old, worn shrine in the woods nearby the keep be sufficient? (Because if so, feel free to take the reigns on it).

No, I think what I posted its all it'll be. I had to go before I saw you reply so I just went ahead and posted it. Nothing too big a deal, just a private (important) moment between paladin and deity.

That's perfect then. I'm happy to let you guys have free reign with stuff like this :)

Oct 16, 2015 4:51 pm

so, just so we finalize it a bit, should I take the gauntlets of ogre power? I was thinking that someone else might need the strength boost more than myself, but only Kai and I are usually swinging melee. Xara? I don't recall if there is a weapon finesse or the equivalent, but you could have some deadly backstabs with 19 strength.

Zaris do you want the wand for some more offense in your spell list?

Oct 16, 2015 4:55 pm

Both Corban and Kaiakas would benefit from the Str boost, no? Raising from 16 to 19 means +1 to your strength modifier (so +1 attack and damage).

Kai would go from 15 to 19, which is a net +2 (but, he took the +1 sword all ready, so in terms of balancing party power, he's already 1 up).

Anyone can benefit from the Giant Spiked Gauntlets, although a character who gets hit a lot might get more use out of it.

(EDIT: Not trying to tell you all what to do, just some observations from the peanut gallery)

Oct 16, 2015 8:49 pm

I would gladly take the wand if it is offered to me!

Oct 17, 2015 10:37 pm

I'm in the process of moving so my attendance may be a touch spotty. I have a description of getting the tome class feature that will need to be typed up

Oct 18, 2015 8:52 am

Noted! It's the weekend, so as usual things slow to a crawl anyway. So far magic item claims have been the following:

Kaiakas - +1 Frost Brand Sword
Zaris - Wand of Magic Missile
Rurik - Staff of Healing
Corban - Gauntlets of Ogre Power
Xara - +1 Mithril Chain Shirt (which will become, statistically, whatever kind of armour you want when you claim it; but once it's settled it'll never change again! Probably Studded Leather I expect)

What's left: Giant's Spiked Gauntlet (which lets you spend your Reaction to deal 1d10 damage to an enemy immediately after they hit you with an attack, useful for anyone).

Oct 19, 2015 2:13 am

I'm thinking of picking up the Assassin archtype since I haven't actually done a lot of thievery. And then maybe I'll take the gauntlets if no one else wants 'em?

Last edited October 19, 2015 2:14 am

Oct 19, 2015 2:23 am

Anyone have suggestions for Ritual spells to take? I have two 1st level slots to fill

Oct 19, 2015 2:52 am

Anyone can take the spiked gauntlets. Pawetha would find the design a bit impractical for her line of work.

Oct 19, 2015 10:58 am

Ceadron, you picked Pact of the Tome, right? I see in the Phb it lists cantrips, not rituals, as being from that Pact Boon. Or is there something else I'm not understanding?

Oct 19, 2015 12:26 pm

Unique, there's an invocation that lets me snag two 1st level spells with the ritual tag, I believe it's called book of shadows

Oct 19, 2015 12:38 pm

Ah, I see it. Book of Ancient Secrets. Requires Pact of Tome feature (which you just got). Well it looks like these are your choices: Alarm, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Find Familiar, Identify, Illusory Script, Purify Food and Drink, Speak with Animals, Tenser's Floating Disk, Unseen Servant.
So, any of those pique your interest?

Oct 19, 2015 2:30 pm

Just below Cinder Keep there's a tower marked "Koths Base". That's where you are.

Oct 19, 2015 3:08 pm

Ah, I see. I didn't keep good notes on our location. Thanks.

Oct 20, 2015 9:08 pm

Ahh Group decision making. Once I see 50% party consensus on the point of decisions (press on! or long rest!) I'll take that as definitive (so if three party members agree on the same course of action, Jorr will 'vote' in their favour and we'll do this all democratic like to keep the pace going). If you're are not 100% sure that your character's wishes are transparent from your RPing posts, you can make clear your intentions in blue text at the bottom of the post :)

Oct 20, 2015 9:37 pm

The continual flame spell was, conveniently, cast on a rock that is not difficult to life for Pawetha, but does require two-hands. Corban can probably handle it with one hand. Not really a burden, to say the least.

Oct 21, 2015 9:34 pm

Are we downwind of the worgs?

Oct 21, 2015 10:03 pm

No.

Oct 22, 2015 9:48 pm

Could Corban possibly just throw on the hauberk from his chain mail, for a reduced AC?
Otherwise it's all small clothes and ogre gauntlets!

Oct 22, 2015 10:05 pm

Grendelthebrave says:

Could Corban possibly just throw on the hauberk from his chain mail, for a reduced AC?
Otherwise it's all small clothes and ogre gauntlets!

For 1 round, I'll give you +1 AC

Oct 23, 2015 4:47 pm

Do I get to perform an attack, or was my signal all I could do this first turn?

Oct 23, 2015 5:10 pm

Yu still have your full turn.

Oct 23, 2015 5:11 pm

I hope I didn't overstep by 'finding' a firefly. I'd be willing to spend an inspiration for it.

Oct 26, 2015 2:36 pm

So moving is more arduous than expected, I don't know that I'll have the time to post too much this week, so rather than hold things up if you'd either npc me for now, or have me studying the crap out of the new book. Whichever is easier. Thanks and sorry

Oct 26, 2015 2:43 pm

Or, Rurik sleeps like a boss and snores his way through the hobgoblin attack - whenever you get back, you can decide what's kept Rurik out of the battle :)

Oct 26, 2015 11:40 pm

Oh I like that. The dwarf warlock slept through the whole thing. HA!

Oct 30, 2015 9:12 am

Just to clarify - the present time is something like 10-11pm :)

Oct 30, 2015 2:49 pm

Oh, geez, I thought it was the last watch and close to dawn.

Oct 30, 2015 2:52 pm

You started your 6-8 hour rest at like 2pm. The last watch is indeed over, and the rest is indeed over. But as often happens with adventurers, you're internal clocks are all mussed up ;)

Oct 30, 2015 5:06 pm

Well that's ... interesting. Uh, why not just go on with our plans? Does the time of day really matter?

Oct 30, 2015 5:09 pm

Agreed. Corban might be the only one without darkvision, so Kaiakas can lead Corban by his tail.

Nov 2, 2015 7:40 am

I don't normally like to deal with encumbrance, however, if Xara is planning on lugging the ridiculous amount of coinage she's got with her then I'm going to have to insist on sorting that out.

Nov 2, 2015 12:04 pm

Ha- ok.

Nov 2, 2015 12:13 pm

At the very least, she's going to have disadvantage on stealth checks :P (but advantage on checks to disguise herself as a Dragon's hoard :P)

Nov 2, 2015 12:35 pm

Shared. I seem to recall some chars weren't interested in the gold. If that's still the case, I can either give some of it to Pawetha or just hold onto it as party gold. Let me know!

Nov 2, 2015 12:43 pm

Kaiakas doesn't have much interest in gold. He'll carry it for you, but will insist on recording how much belongs to who. It's a paladin thing.

Nov 2, 2015 12:45 pm

So, the plan is to haul the gold (and share the burden) and not store it in the vault while you do recon at the bridge?

Nov 2, 2015 12:52 pm

Eh, the vault sounds like a better idea.

Nov 2, 2015 12:52 pm

That's the plan for now. Everyone can do what they want with their gold. Xara is not one to plan too far ahead.

Nov 2, 2015 2:06 pm

I'm finally done moving so I should be able to post later this morning

Nov 7, 2015 4:54 pm

So maybe sending the fighters in was a bad idea... At least we'll be there to absorb his early wrath if it turns stabby.

Nov 7, 2015 6:41 pm

Oh sweet Jesus. We rolled a 3, 4, & 5. God, I hate dice sometimes.

Nov 7, 2015 6:44 pm

This is what happens when Xara doesn't take the lead. :-P

Nov 10, 2015 12:11 pm

I'm wearing the giant's spiked gauntlet...

Nov 10, 2015 12:12 pm

Well then, Xara realizes that she's wearing the giant spiked gauntlet (I checked back in the OOC thread, not the main thread).

EDIT: I edited my last post to reflect this.

Nov 12, 2015 6:42 pm

Can both of you edit your posts to include a Diplomacy check (then post here to let me know you've done so!) :)

Nov 12, 2015 6:52 pm

With CHA?

Nov 12, 2015 6:55 pm

Aye!

Nov 12, 2015 7:38 pm

Done

Nov 12, 2015 7:41 pm

I added one too, though I'm not sure if you meant for me to roll.

Nov 12, 2015 8:13 pm

I did, both of you! As I read it, one of you was trying to convince him to come along and the other was trying to convince him to stay home. As he's already willing to help and likes you, I figured I'd let your (opposed) diplomacy rolls settle his decision ;)

Nov 17, 2015 12:53 am

Whoops! Sorry for the bad stealth!

Nov 17, 2015 1:11 am

If we get caught and killed, Paws will be blamed. :-P

Nov 17, 2015 11:52 am

Hope you're all ok with trying out this initiative idea. I've been a bit worried that the Us vs Them style (which I find is great for pace) might lead to a "surprise, you're all dead" should, say, the monsters in this battle have won initiative (as then Paws would've absorbed the full force of their might). So, if players *always* go first (with the exception of surprise rounds), then the system doesn't punish players for bad luck on init rolls... BUT, this makes init useless (and some of you may have put your Dex where you did just to improve your init scores, I dunno. Or you might take a feat to do that, but you wouldn't under this system). So, I thought we could do this Advantage thing instead.

If it works out, I'll be creating a feat to support it as well (something like: Fast Reactions: +2 Initiative. Your initiative Advantage bonus lasts for the duration of the combat. At the end of each round, your initiative result is reduced by 4).

Nov 17, 2015 9:45 pm

Are we on the east or west side of the bridge?

Never mind. Just saw the combat map.

Last edited November 17, 2015 9:48 pm

Nov 18, 2015 12:18 am

I can't help but feel that, as last in the initiative order, as everyone rushes off Kaiakas will be standing there like "what, what are we doing?"

Nov 18, 2015 7:31 am

Maybe with this variant I ought to rename initiative to something like "reaction speed" - it's a purely mechanical thing that is a source of advantage not a posting order/action order thing.

Nov 18, 2015 8:56 am

Paws is down by the bridge, hiding by a tree - if Kaiakas wants to move up to her he definitely can. He may want to make a stealth check though (unless he doesn't want to avoid being noticed). You can edit that in if you want (or change your plan).

Nov 18, 2015 10:19 am

Oops! Missed that.

Nov 18, 2015 12:39 pm

"Remember the time Xara had a chat with a dragon before getting killed..."

Nov 18, 2015 2:40 pm

If you read the last post right away, and it didn't have a giant block of blue text, go back and look at it again. I realized how long Xara and the Dragon have been chatting, and made some executive decisions (in the party's favour).

Nov 18, 2015 4:21 pm

Does the dragon know about Paws specifically or just that someone else is hiding?

Nov 18, 2015 4:25 pm

Dragon knows about Paws, as well as the "crossbow skulker" which I think is Kaiakas.

Nov 18, 2015 4:25 pm

I'm pretty sure the dragon saw her since the two of us were sneaking together.

Nov 18, 2015 4:26 pm

That information is classified! What you could infer, though, is that the dragon noticed paws sneaking at the same time Xara proudly announced herself. Whether or not the dragon identified paws, or just saw a figure, depends on the dragon's passive perception. Which is classified ; )

Nov 18, 2015 4:27 pm

In other news: Xara's plan is to double the bait count! More bait = more loot, right? :P

Nov 18, 2015 8:01 pm

Xara, professional staller and attention stealer. I love how all of you are terrified of shooting first. :-p

Nov 18, 2015 11:47 pm

Map updated.

Nov 19, 2015 5:24 am

Where is the map again? I seem to have lost track of it. Also, how many do we see on the bridge at this point?

Nov 19, 2015 5:28 am

Map

I'm planning on attacking next round, just so no one is surprised. :)

Nov 19, 2015 5:34 am

I am shocked and appalled.

Nov 20, 2015 12:39 pm

I don't suppose we've gotten any inspiration lately?

Nov 20, 2015 12:47 pm

Oh, I think Xara has earned Inspiration from this event.

Nov 20, 2015 12:51 pm

Sooo can I use it to alleviate my 1 roll? :D?

Nov 20, 2015 12:57 pm

Lol, sure!

Nov 20, 2015 4:00 pm

That's an attack roll, with advantage.

Nov 20, 2015 4:26 pm

Edited!

Nov 20, 2015 4:31 pm

Candi says:

That's an attack roll, with advantage.

Is this for me?

Nov 20, 2015 4:37 pm

Moofsalot says:

Candi says:

That's an attack roll, with advantage.

Is this for me?

No, b/c I'm going to use your sleight of hand as an attack roll (and it happens to be sufficient so advantage doesn't help).

Nov 23, 2015 3:58 am

Sorry guys, we are taking way too much time out of this encounter. Feel free to jump in and attack! Our characters can all play the blame game later when it all goes wrong...

Nov 23, 2015 4:23 pm

Sorry guys had a busy weekend and week before. Back to action...

Nov 23, 2015 5:03 pm

Don't have my PHB on hand, can I spend inspiration to force a saving throw reroll?

Nov 23, 2015 5:34 pm

Ceadron says:

Don't have my PHB on hand, can I spend inspiration to force a saving throw reroll?

I'll allow it.

Nov 23, 2015 7:36 pm

Sorry if I get is all killed gang

Nov 23, 2015 11:30 pm

I dont have time right now to resolve everything pending, so instead of posting in thread I'll just note here two things:

1. Warning: Pawetha that will incur an opportunity attack from the hobgoblin you formerly held hostage

2. Corban reaches the bottom of the stairs without being noticed (there's an archer at the top, but it will take spending your whole turn moving to get up there - is that the plan?).

3. Kaiakas has Advantage on that attack (for surprising everyone)

Nov 23, 2015 11:31 pm

Yes, I expect the opportunity attack. The whole thing is a gamble, might as well gamble hard!

Nov 23, 2015 11:32 pm

Ok cool. Just checking!

Nov 23, 2015 11:33 pm

That is my plan, the archer will die hard soon. Then... I have no idea.

Nov 23, 2015 11:43 pm

Then we do our level best to give the dragon indigestion when it eats us

Nov 24, 2015 2:44 am

Xara will make sure to at least carve "Xara was here" on the dragon's hide before she's eaten.

Dec 4, 2015 2:24 pm

Rurik, what spell are you using? If it's not a 'touch' spell and requires an attack roll, then it's at disadvantage since you are in melee!

Dec 4, 2015 2:41 pm

Eldritch blast, whoops was getting my pathfinder and my 5E mixed up. Fixing now

Dec 4, 2015 11:26 pm

Sorry, I've gotten lost on who I'm engaged with and where anyone is. Help?

Dec 5, 2015 1:07 am

Map! (you are the "k")

Dec 7, 2015 3:17 pm

Sooooooo I just realized I did not roll hit points for third level as I see imminent death looking at me.

Rolls

3rd level HP - (1d8)

(2) = 2

Dec 7, 2015 3:21 pm

Those 2 HP will make a huge different ;) Don't forget to add your Con bonus as well (if any)

Dec 7, 2015 3:24 pm

....so how does damage work now in 5E, am I dropped to 0 and the extra damage ignored or am I just this side of alive at -9?

Dec 7, 2015 3:27 pm

First, you check to see if you die outright (did you go to - half your maximum? If yes. Dead). If you didn't, then your HP is set to 0 and you are merely Dying. Then, your turn consists of rolling a death save: roll 1d20. On a 20 you wake up with 1 HP. On a 10+ you score a 'success'. On

Dec 7, 2015 3:30 pm

Oops. It's negative max, not half max. Just checked the book, page 197 is the rule:

Instant Death
Massive damage can kill you instantly. When damage reduces you to 0 hit points and there is damage remaining, you die if the remaining damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum.

Dec 7, 2015 3:36 pm

Oh whew, if it were negative max I'd be toast, but right now I'm just 4 points from toast

Dec 7, 2015 3:36 pm

So then your HP is set to 0, and you make a death save.

Dec 7, 2015 4:06 pm

Well.....phooey

Dec 7, 2015 4:17 pm

I just realized that when I selected my Favored Enemy of Goblin, I could have selected a second humanoid type. Would it be possible to add Hobgoblin to the list?

It doesn't help in combat, of course, but it seems appropriate.

Dec 7, 2015 4:22 pm

I'd think they are already included the class of humanoid you should have written down is 'Goblinoid' (Goblinoid = Goblins and Hobgoblins, and also Bugbears). Hobgoblins are to Goblinoid as Deep Dwarves are to Dwarf. But you do, indeed, have one more humanoid type to add to your list!

Dec 7, 2015 4:31 pm

Ah, that makes sense. I'll add Kobold, since it would make sense for Paws to defend her community from them.

Dec 9, 2015 12:58 pm

Zaris: Do you mean to target the captain (engaged with Pawetha) or one of the two hobgoblins standing on the bridge ?

Dec 9, 2015 1:48 pm

The dice roller is punishing me for playing at ranger. Time to play my part properly and take some dragon claws to the face.

Dec 9, 2015 9:56 pm

Candi says:

Zaris: Do you mean to target the captain (engaged with Pawetha) or one of the two hobgoblins standing on the bridge ?

The one on the map directly west of me (up on the map)

Last edited December 9, 2015 9:57 pm

Dec 9, 2015 9:57 pm

Ahh yes that one. So none on the ones I thought you were targeted - you're targeted the one that 'dodged' the dragon poison breath. Got it! :) He's dead :P

Dec 9, 2015 9:58 pm

Candi says:

Ahh yes that one. So none on the ones I thought you were targeted - you're targeted the one that 'dodged' the dragon poison breath. Got it! :) He's dead :P

We are talking about the one west on the map (using the maps cardinal directions as written. i.e., up)

Dec 9, 2015 10:01 pm

Yeah. The one right between the towers.

Dec 9, 2015 10:01 pm

Candi says:

Yeah. The one right between the towers.

Okay. Good!

Dec 10, 2015 9:49 am

Edited my last post because rolls.
Sorry I haven't been active much lately. New job is 50 hrs/week and I didn't realize how much of my time that would eat up.

Dec 10, 2015 4:21 pm

Would I be able to swing at the dragon with my short sword for the opportunity attack? Then make another melee attack on the captain? I think I can't switch to a bow for a ranged attack on the dragon without incurring disadvantage due to the captain's proximity.

Dec 10, 2015 4:29 pm

Yup you can do that. The opportunity attack uses your 'reaction' from the previous round, which doesn't stop you from making attacks on your next turn.

You are also correct about the bow. It would be an attack at disadvantage due to being in melee. Probably better to just take out the captain or the hobgoblin beside him.

Dec 10, 2015 9:21 pm

Hey unique_exemplar, high five for team unconscious!

Dec 11, 2015 8:55 am

Kaiakas, don't forget to make a death save.

Dec 12, 2015 2:54 pm

Ceadron says:

Hey unique_exemplar, high five for team unconscious!

LOL Right?!

Dec 12, 2015 11:43 pm

Dragon fight ftw

Dec 13, 2015 4:17 pm

My medicine skill is sorely lacking to assist, I probably can drag Kaiakas from more acid breath though at least, though that might not be enough...

Dec 13, 2015 4:20 pm

The death save Kaiakas just rolled will be for next round - Rurik went down 1 round before Kai, and so will be 1 save ahead of him (Kai rolled his first save for the round as the first player post made this round), which is to say - there's a bit more time for helping Kai than it appears at the moment.

Dec 13, 2015 5:40 pm

Rurik also has the staff of healing on his acid soaked self

Dec 13, 2015 5:54 pm

Oops! Lol oh well, better to get that outta the way.

Dec 15, 2015 9:43 pm

Should have rolled a cleric. Now we all gonna die- yikes!

Dec 16, 2015 12:03 am

I gave you a "cleric" in that awesome healing staff... Just turned out the first character to drop was the one with that staff... Maybe Xara remembers Rurik had that thing?

Dec 16, 2015 12:45 am

I even took it thinking "oh, I'll always be in the back I can be a healer!" And then the first major combat we get in after finding it, I taunt a dragon.....

Dec 16, 2015 12:49 am

Does Rurk have it or Kaiakas? I can't find where it went. Would I even know how to use it?

Dec 16, 2015 3:15 am

Rurik had it, and as for if she can even use it, that's a good question... If it requires attunement, no. Otherwise, yes.

Dec 16, 2015 5:21 am

Poking with the glowy stick HAS to work ;)

Dec 16, 2015 5:02 pm

Here is a link to the magic items you guys found -- if you took one, please put its stats on your character sheet! Especially if you have a staff or wand as you need to keep track of charges.

The staff *does not* require attunement, but only 'casters' can use it... so that's a bit tricky. But, it's a moment of stress, and need - so Xara can spend an Inspiration to use the staff this once :) It's spells are here, which is she casting:

Staff of Healing. 10/10 Charges. 1 action to expend charges to cast a spell in the staff (only useable by spell casters): Cure Wounds (1 charge per level, up to level 4); Lesser Restoration (2 charges); Mass Cure Wounds (5 charges). The staff recovers 1d6+4 charges daily at dawn. If it is ever reduced to 0 charges, roll 1d20. On a 1, the staff turns to dust.

Dec 16, 2015 5:14 pm

Alright, I suppose it's only fair that at some point I'll multiclass so as to attempt to (poorly) upstage my buddies.

Dec 19, 2015 5:05 pm

Kai wasn't healed by the staff, just Paw's spell ;)

Also, as per my usual treatment of this circumstance, Kai gets a full turn this round (if you regain consciousness and haven't taken actions, I give you your actions).

Dec 19, 2015 9:59 pm

Whoops! Read that wrong apparently. Is that Hobgoblin captain still nearby?

Last edited December 19, 2015 10:01 pm

Dec 19, 2015 10:06 pm

Nope, he got made airborne by the giant. The latest map post is up to date I think.

Dec 21, 2015 1:16 pm

Ok I see "H/" next to Paws and Kaiakas. Wasn't sure what that was. Only the dragon left?

Dec 21, 2015 1:29 pm

The "h/" is a regular hobgoblin that's injured (the "/" indicates injured).

Dec 21, 2015 2:12 pm

Ah, thank you.

Dec 30, 2015 1:54 pm

Back to normal after the holiday period. Looking forward to the game getting back going! Happy New Year everyone!

Dec 30, 2015 2:05 pm

I have an annual NYE dinner party followed up by a New Years Day brunch that I need to prep for soo I may not be back to normal til after that. Or maybe I'll procrastinate and be even more active! ;)

Dec 30, 2015 3:09 pm

Thanks for the heads up. Im going to post the next round a bit later today. I expect things to continue to be slower than usual until after New Years anyway :)

Dec 30, 2015 4:21 pm

I have somehow misplaced my PHB. In the interest of not holding things up, does a 3rd level Warlock have at least 3 spell slots

Dec 30, 2015 4:25 pm

This should help answer that (most of the class summary charts are available online with a quick google, which is helpful to know as it can save time finding your book flipping through to find the chart).

Dec 30, 2015 5:21 pm

Well, bugger there goes my plan for the dragon.

Jan 5, 2016 2:27 pm

Sorry, I'm the hold up on this one now. I'll get to this today (probably tonight).

Jan 6, 2016 9:35 pm

Happy New Year to all of you! Looking forward to picking back up with our game!

Jan 11, 2016 4:22 pm

Sorry for the delays, finally got my stuff together for this. Let's finish this dragon off folks! We're nearly at the end of the first chapter of the story :) (also, I think we're the most active, most highly posted in game here on the Plane, so lets not slow down now else some other game could catch up!).

Jan 12, 2016 12:42 pm

That's acutally pretty motivational. Let's do this!

Jan 13, 2016 6:59 pm

Ready to eventually do some damage!

Jan 13, 2016 10:34 pm

Virtual dice hate me.

Jan 13, 2016 10:36 pm

Virtual dice hate this party, I think. If you look back there's been a bout of 'everyone misses' in every major battle... One more player is left before the dragon (Corban).

Jan 13, 2016 11:00 pm

I tried, but apparently all the advantage in the world can't save me from the dice gods.

Jan 14, 2016 12:43 am

I have been scouring the book for anything that might grant a better To-Hit (I've already got Archery). Looks like I'll have to wait until 4th level to get the Lucky feat, if I'm lucky enough to live that long.

Jan 14, 2016 12:45 am

Yeah, other than raising your primary attack stat to 20, being a halfling and having the lucky feat there isn't much you can do. That's always been my biggest issue with D&D, and why I can't help but build characters that have the maximum possible value in their 'do stuff' stat (ie. primary attack stat -- whatever you roll 'to hit').

Jan 14, 2016 12:47 am

There's a half-orc character I play that I initially was excited about to have Savage Attacks, Great Weapon Fighting and later the Great Weapon feat. But then there's the cold realization that none of that matters if I can't hit a goblin!

Jan 14, 2016 12:48 am

Exactly. Which is why my half-orc rogue dual-wields -- twice as many attacks, equals twice the opportunity to hit, and twice the opportunity to crit.

Jan 20, 2016 7:05 pm

Should we move on from Corban's turn, maybe take over his character for the time being? He's got the Zs.

Jan 20, 2016 7:06 pm

Yes. Was waiting for the Zzz's. I'll have him smack the dragon.

Jan 20, 2016 7:07 pm

It's a nasty di-Zzzs, innit?

Jan 21, 2016 12:43 pm

Hmm. If "he's got the Zs", then if I were the GM I would play his character. Adult life can wreck free time, so for the sake of the game I'd take this option but I'd like to yet to get a hold of an absent player.
That being said, if anyone would like to get a hold of me outside this site, Twitter might be your best bet. I'm @unique_exemplar but if Twitter isn't your thing ... How would you like to be in contact? My email gets fill and sometimes I miss or put off checking it. Also, I don't get notified about PMs on here.

Jan 21, 2016 3:51 pm

I'm @kosherSamWich be prepared for puns however. Horrible horrible puns

Jan 21, 2016 4:41 pm

Quaffing potion = Action, and yes you can move under it. Why not.

Jan 21, 2016 7:35 pm

Just making sure, as I was assuming the dragon was two sizes larger than Pawetha's Small frame.

And someone remind me on my next level to swap Hail of Thorns for Hunter's Mark. I don't know why that slipped my notice when it came to selecting spells. :)

Jan 22, 2016 4:08 am

Ceadron says:

I'm @kosherSamWich be prepared for puns however. Horrible horrible puns

Son of a bitch! I didn't know that was you! You are one funny fucker!
(Sorry-not-sorry for the language. Just got off work. Been a long day.)

Jan 22, 2016 4:30 am

unique_exemplar says:

Ceadron says:

I'm @kosherSamWich be prepared for puns however. Horrible horrible puns

Son of a bitch! I didn't know that was you! You are one funny fucker!
(Sorry-not-sorry for the language. Just got off work. Been a long day.)

Thanks! I do what I can!

Jan 26, 2016 5:04 pm

If I get behind the dragon to attack, do I get to use sneak attack? Did I already use it? I've missed so many times I've lost track.

Jan 26, 2016 5:10 pm

Pawetha and Kaiakas are within 5' of the dragon, so you wouldn't need to get behind it for the Sneak Attack bonus to apply. I don't think anything has given you disadvantage so you should be good to go.

Jan 26, 2016 5:47 pm

SIGH.

Jan 26, 2016 6:13 pm

Quote:

If I get behind the dragon to attack, do I get to use sneak attack? Did I already use it? I've missed so many times I've lost track.

Sneak Attack in 5e doesn't require you to be "behind" or to "flank" as it used to in previous editions. All that matters is that you either A) have Advantage or B) have at least 1 ally within 5" of the target.

Jan 28, 2016 10:27 pm

I want to use Vow of Enmity on the dragon. It's a bonus action. Can I use it before I attack?

Jan 28, 2016 10:53 pm

of course!

Jan 29, 2016 3:51 am

If a 15 doesn't hit, I'm flipping a mother fucking table.

Jan 29, 2016 4:17 am

Well, it IS a dragon.

Jan 29, 2016 4:48 am

*glare*

Jan 29, 2016 9:38 pm

Do spells get crit in 5E?

Jan 29, 2016 10:07 pm

Why not! Roll double damage.

Feb 17, 2016 3:19 pm

I've put up a recruitment to replace Corban. As is my usual policy, if Corban does return down the line I'll just up the difficulty and we'll run with a bigger group.

Feb 17, 2016 5:22 pm

Sounds good! It's a weird week- I think most peeps are on winter break with their kids? Otherwise I bet there'd be a lot more people jumping in.

Feb 17, 2016 5:25 pm

I swear I saw someone looking for a 5e game, or any game in particular. We'll see if they jump on this.

Feb 17, 2016 5:57 pm

It's okay, I shall take over tanking duties!

Feb 17, 2016 9:02 pm

Lol, don't worry about that - I'd rather you guys played characters *you* want to play. I'll handle rebalancing to compensate.

I say this as the person who *always* ends up playing the 'gap filling' role; in the 5e game I play in I'm the Bard - which is, for that group, basically a heal-bot-tank. Because that's what the group needed. I rolled a Bard because we made characters separately, and I've been gaming with this group for 4 years now and I *knew* they'd need a gap filler, and it would have to be me. Bard was my best bet for conforming to fill whatever gap the party had. So, just play and build what you find fun, and trust in me to keep it fair (even if 5e 'expects' a healer, tank and dps are within every party)

Feb 21, 2016 4:13 pm

Just a note - the offer to do the armour in 4 days requires that you supply the armorsmith with already fitted armour (so, if you want to have the dragon-enhanced armour given to Xara, Pawetha will need to get Xara's leather armour from her as well as the incentive; the incentive, let's say 100 gold per item, so 300 gold total. All three items will be done in 6 days, with the armour done after 4, one weapon after 3, and the third weapon being finished after 6 days). If you want new armour, it's 7 total days (because the armour takes 7 instead of 4, but he can still work two projects at once).

Feb 23, 2016 8:00 pm

Hey guys! Thanks for having me to your game. I left my books at home so I won't be able to start on my character until tonight but I wanted to introduce myself to get the ball rolling.

Feb 23, 2016 8:36 pm

Welcome to the game!

Feb 23, 2016 8:40 pm

Welcome!

So, is the group going to hang out in town for a week while the items are being made??

Feb 23, 2016 8:42 pm

Might depend on how our conversation with the town elders goes.

Feb 23, 2016 9:26 pm

Hello and welcome. We've got a fun game going here!

Feb 23, 2016 10:32 pm

Hiya! Hopefully work will slow down enough soon that I can post more than this!

Feb 24, 2016 3:54 am

Welcome JoHoover!

Feb 24, 2016 4:49 am

So what's the blacksmith order then? A short sword, leather armour for Xara (an upgrade to her existing armour, or new?), and one other weapon..

Feb 24, 2016 7:02 am

Honestly, I think we'd have to wait until we speak to the leaders. If they listen to us and want to evacuate now, I'd hate to keep the smith back.

I'll let Xara decide if she wants a new set or not.

Feb 24, 2016 12:44 pm

Waiting for the leaders may add a day to the total delay, as they may not meet until the following morning.

Feb 24, 2016 2:26 pm

Also, you don't know how advanced the hoard is. You have their timeline (the map) but don't know where they are within it (nor how much of a delay the bridge collapse will cause; as you haven't seen the hoard and so couldn't estimate how much longer it will take them to use the Old Forest Road to cross the river).

Feb 24, 2016 6:03 pm

OK, I dusted off my Players handbook and since I couldn't find any rules about character generations I was tempted to roll a Dragonborn Monk.

If that's cool I'll get started on him. I'm still trying to read through your guys adventure so far, but you guys have been busy :-)

I'll catch up soon enough though.

Feb 24, 2016 6:04 pm

Dragonborn Monk is perfect, as we have neither Dragonborn nor Monk's in the party!

Feb 24, 2016 6:25 pm

I've never played one either so this should be fun! I'll get him up in the library by tonight.

Do you want me to incorporate major and minor bonds with the other group members?

Feb 24, 2016 6:37 pm

Since you're joining late, a single minor bond will suffice. If you want to do a major as well, that's fine too. The pressure of the advancing hoard will make quick allies of even the strangest folk, so the primary function of 'glue' that the bonds play isn't needed. I leave it up to you :)

Feb 24, 2016 10:21 pm

A minor bond could be an interaction I had in a city with several of the group while I was on an emissary mission for my clan.

Rolls

lvl 2 & 3 HP - (2d8, RA)

(81) + (1) = 10

Starting gold - (5d4)

(44222) = 14

Feb 25, 2016 5:18 pm

OK so here is Ghunril Let me know if I messed anything up. I will jump into the story as soon as Candi introduces me.

Feb 25, 2016 5:22 pm

Submit the character to the game so you can post as the character, and you're ready to go (already got you started in the main thread).

Feb 26, 2016 1:26 pm

Sorry if I missed it, but can you give a description of Ghunril? Kaiakas will scrutinize him because of the whole dragon's working with hobgoblins thing.

Feb 26, 2016 2:04 pm

Btw what was the color of the dragon we killed again?

Feb 26, 2016 2:11 pm

green

Feb 26, 2016 4:12 pm

That will make for some interesting engagements. A brief description of Ghunril:

Height 6' 7", weight 375 pounds, He is of exceedingly large frame and very muscular. He is of green dragon decent with deep forest green scales. He is mostly unadorned due to his monk heritage but he does display his clan sigil in a medallion attached to one of his horns. His garb is plain and functional for travel across rough terrain.

As for armament, no visible armor is worn and he carries 3 light spears in one hand. He also has a bandoleer of darts strung across his chest.

Feb 26, 2016 4:45 pm

Oh yeah this is gonna be fun.
When I first got my PhB I imagined playing Dragonborn monk or Tiefling paladin first.

Mar 1, 2016 10:25 pm

I'll give it a day or so more for you guys to keep chatting if you like, otherwise if you're character is just going to retire for hte night post as much. Also, I think Im' still waiting on Zaris to finish shopping.

Mar 3, 2016 1:14 am

I've created a new game thread, as we move into Day 5. You may, as you wish, continue to RP out the night of Day 4.

Mar 3, 2016 3:36 pm

Kai: I believe chain mail, as heavy armor, takes 10 minutes to don, so yes that would be time consuming. Pawetha is taking 1 minute to don light armour, so it's 4 extra minutes to get into your mail. Grabbing your sword and shield doesn't 'take time'. I'd also allow you to partially don you armor, taking 5 minutes and receiving the benefits of a chain shirt (13 + Dex mod... which I think your stats reflect actually, so you have a chain shirt not chain mail).

If you indeed have a chain shirt, then donning time is 5 minutes. If you have chain mail, it's 10 minutes but I'll allow you the benefits of a chain shirt with only 5 minutes of effort. If you have chain mail, I'll also allow the benefits of padded armor (11 + dex mod) for 1 minute (as no set of heavy armour doesn't include a padded shirt underneath it all).

Mar 3, 2016 5:29 pm

Ugh. This is the part of the game I thought particularly like: logistics. 5 minutes sounds fine.

Mar 3, 2016 5:50 pm

Also, if you don't actually have heavy armour, might be something Kai should consider trying to acquire (assuming he's proficient?)

Mar 3, 2016 5:53 pm

I think the only one missing on this roll call is Rurik, whom mentioned late last week that work was busy and posting difficult.

Mar 3, 2016 5:54 pm

So hey, I recently got a new position where I work and it is way more involved than my old one. That being the case I think I'm going to have to stop playing, for a while at least. I just wanted to post something rather than disappearing altogether. So thanks for the game and being awesome people.

Mar 3, 2016 5:55 pm

Ceadron says:

So hey, I recently got a new position where I work and it is way more involved than my old one. That being the case I think I'm going to have to stop playing, for a while at least. I just wanted to post something rather than disappearing altogether. So thanks for the game and being awesome people.

As is always my policy, if I'm still running this game when life allows you to come back, and you want to come back to it, you will be warmly welcomed :)

Mar 3, 2016 5:57 pm

Thanks! I'd also like someone to take that staff of healing that I got from that first castle

Mar 3, 2016 6:02 pm

Rurik will, unless you want otherwise, have an ambiguous disappearance like the rest of them. The staff will be inconspicuously amongst the belongings of whomever you decide it should belong with (probably Kai?) when they return from fending off this raid.

Mar 3, 2016 8:57 pm

was there any indication of the color of the dragon that Xara killed when she mentioned it to me? She didn't say green dragon in the conversation but was there anything about the necklace that would have identified it as a green dragon?

Mar 3, 2016 9:13 pm

I was thinking the room he was in is now empty, save for the staff and all but 100g of his share of the gold. No note no explanation

Mar 3, 2016 10:22 pm

Xara can hold it for him. He would have wanted it that way.

Mar 3, 2016 10:33 pm

Moofsalot says:

Xara can hold it for him. He would have wanted it that way.

But Xara can't use it.

Mar 3, 2016 10:35 pm

wouldn't it still be in his room since we haven't actually gone looking for him yet? any word on if I know the color of the dragon Xara killed?

Mar 3, 2016 10:46 pm

JoHoover says:

wouldn't it still be in his room since we haven't actually gone looking for him yet? any word on if I know the color of the dragon Xara killed?

Indeed it is still in his room. And I'm sure Xaras trinket has a green dragon scale on it.

Mar 4, 2016 2:27 am

Candi says:

Moofsalot says:

Xara can hold it for him. He would have wanted it that way.

But Xara can't use it.

No, she'd likely at least carry his gold for him. The magic stick can go tho whomever.

Mar 8, 2016 2:57 pm

Hello mates, I'm sorry for disappearing. I'm about to dive back in. Hopefully it won't be too disruptive to the current flow.
I guess Corban got drunk again...

Mar 8, 2016 3:05 pm

Jump right into the battle, Corban can round a corner (already having been on this side of the river, woke up in the commotion, and has been cutting down hobgoblins as he worked his way to the landing. Then, sees the party... having passed out in a farm field - take 1 level of Exhaustion to represent having passed out; that doesn't affect your combat prowess happily)

Mar 8, 2016 3:27 pm

Welcome back!

Mar 8, 2016 7:01 pm

Glad to have our resident dwarf Warlock back :)

Mar 9, 2016 2:48 pm

That was rurik lol.
So who's left, hobgoblins and hell hounds?

Mar 9, 2016 2:50 pm

Everyone's left, fight just started :) 3 hobgoblins mounted on worgs and a couple hell hounds.

Mar 9, 2016 5:44 pm

Grendelthebrave says:

That was rurik lol.
So who's left, hobgoblins and hell hounds?

UUUUUGH I always mess up pc & player. I'm sorry. :(

Mar 12, 2016 12:34 am

Don't forget the sneak attack damage Xara!

Mar 12, 2016 1:40 am

woohoo!

Mar 12, 2016 1:42 am

You get that anytime you had Advantage, or an ally is engaged with your target ;)

Mar 13, 2016 8:40 pm

Add another 1d6 and 1d8 for the crit!

Mar 15, 2016 8:18 pm

I'm not an 'arrow counting' GM - but I do appreciate the attention to detail! Keep that up (and Pawetha can have an Inspiration in the mean time).

Mar 23, 2016 4:22 pm

It's times like this I wish this forum had a poll feature... anyway, what's the plan here? Waiting for the armour / sword to be finished while the town packs and prepares? Keeping a watchful eye for other hobgoblin attacks in the meanwhile and otherwise trying to relax?

Mar 23, 2016 4:30 pm

Given Zaris' booby trap, Pawetha avoids that road being non-human herself. She will instead help the blacksmith pack his belongings while he works on the armor and sword.

There's probably a lot of swearing going back and forth in that smithy as they snap at each other.

Mar 23, 2016 6:19 pm

could you post the map again, I can't find that post? Just wondering if this is the only other spot for the horde to come across the river.

Mar 23, 2016 6:21 pm

This is the map recovered from the bugbear mage detailing the hoard's plan, and This is a detailed map of Elsir Vale.

Mar 23, 2016 6:50 pm

And this is the map of Drellin's Ferry.

Mar 23, 2016 6:56 pm

CancerMan says:

And this is the map of Drellin's Ferry.

Yes! And the left side of the map is the side that leads to the Witchwood (the right side is the road that eventually leads to Bridnol)

Mar 23, 2016 8:33 pm

So, how fast do we regenerate HP? seems like its been several hours since our last battle?

Mar 23, 2016 8:35 pm

Is it nap time?

Mar 23, 2016 8:37 pm

Full rest - you went back to bed.

Mar 25, 2016 12:11 pm

Staff of Healing 10 Charges max (10 at the moment). 1 action to expend charges to cast a spell in the staff with DC set by your spell casting ability (only useable by divine spell casters): Cure Wounds (1 charge per level, up to level 4); Lesser Restoration (2 charges); Mass Cure Wounds (5 charges). The staff recovers 1d6+4 charges daily at dawn. If it is ever reduced to 0 charges, roll 1d20. On a 1, the staff turns to dust.

Mar 28, 2016 5:53 pm

I just love how Pawetha is always manipulating Xara by appeal to her nature. Excellent character interaction there - Inspiration for Paws!

Mar 29, 2016 8:29 pm

An soon as you depart Drellin's Ferry you will have reached the last milestone of Chatper 1. Thus, in the interest of getting ahead of the delay, everyone: Level up!

Mar 29, 2016 9:34 pm

I'm away on vacation with my wife's family until Friday afternoon. I should be able to check in once a day for a bit but if you need to move things forward, please do so.

Mar 29, 2016 9:48 pm

Enjoy the vacation!

Mar 30, 2016 7:37 pm

Rolling for increase in HP. I added my skill point to dexterity.

Rolls

HP lvl 4 - (1d8+1)

(2) + 1 = 3

Mar 30, 2016 8:39 pm

Oh snap. Sweet!

Mar 30, 2016 8:41 pm

Paws took the standard HP increase, and applied a +2 to her Dexterity attribute.

Mar 30, 2016 10:43 pm

As it is sunset, do you folks want to rest the night in the abandoned town and set out in the morning, or set out immediately?

Mar 30, 2016 11:04 pm

Paws would suggest resting the night, presuming we were active all day.

Mar 30, 2016 11:49 pm

Final night's rest before being the tow's rear guard sounds good to me.
Alo, sorry I haven't been tive much during non-combat. Work and school have got me stretched thin. I'm reading along but not responding. :/

Mar 30, 2016 11:53 pm

unique_exemplar says:

Final night's rest before being the tow's rear guard sounds good to me.

To clarify, the plan is not to rear-guard the town. Instead, you will be heading north through the witchwood towards the ruins of Rhest, to deal with the blockade of the Rhest trail, investigate the city ruins to see if the 'Saarvith' marked on the map is indeed another leader of the Red Hand and to secure an alliance and support from the Kiri Tritor Elves (right?)

Mar 31, 2016 12:04 am

Candi says:

To clarify, the plan is not to rear-guard the town. Instead, you will be heading north through the witchwood towards the ruins of Rhest, to deal with the blockade of the Rhest trail, investigate the city ruins to see if the 'Saarvith' marked on the map is indeed another leader of the Red Hand and to secure an alliance and support from the Kiri Tritor Elves (right?)

That's my intention!

Mar 31, 2016 1:05 am

Whoops! That's right. Apparently I'm not following along as well as I thought. Right. Rest before setting off. Sounds good.

Mar 31, 2016 2:39 am

So, now that I'm actually prepping the next chapter, I have some information that might affect you decision to walk vs take boats. Here's a Handy Map of the Elsir Vale (CancerMan might want to add this one to the collection, it's simpler make it easier for figuring out travel and distances, I find anyway).

It's 50 miles up the river to lake Rhest, then another 80 miles across the Blackfens to reach the old city. Taking the boats down the river, you can average about 12 miles per day according to the adventure, but I'll round that down to 4 days to reach lake Rhestin (which puts you in the Blackfens). Crossing the Blackfens on foot is another 80 miles, at 15 miles walking distance per day which is 5 days (rounding down because I'm nice, so very nice... ; ) ).

If you walked through the woods, looking at the PHB, and treating the woods as difficult terrain, you could do 15 miles per day (still 4 days, but you won't have a boat should you decide to cross the lake instead of the Blackfens), and in fact you could go 'direct', which is about 100 miles instead of 130 were you to take the river first then walk... So 6.7 days, which I'll round up to 7 days because if you don't take a boat you have to cross the river somewhere (and I'll assume that takes .3 of a day to manage safely). So walking is in fact the best... cool!

So we all know it's: 7 days journey total, 3.5 days in the Witchwood followed by 3.5 days in the Blackfens.

From your conversation with the Lion of Brindol, you know the blockade is roughly at the part on the Rhest Trail where you see the road fork (just beyond the edge of the Witchwood). If you want to go directly there, it will be 80 miles from Drellen's Ferry, and so only take 5.5 days, all of that is through the Witchwood.

Mar 31, 2016 2:47 am

With Paws, the woods wouldn't count as difficult terrain. Would that help with travel time?

Mar 31, 2016 2:48 am

Does that rate of travel through the woods take into account Pawetha's ability, where difficult terrain does not slow the group's movement?

Mar 31, 2016 2:51 am

CancerMan says:

Does that rate of travel through the woods take into account Pawetha's ability, where difficult terrain does not slow the group's movement?

I did not take that into account. Damn, 5e rangers are badass! That halves the walking times, so 3.5 days direct to the ruined city of Rhest or 2.5 days direct to the roadblock.

Also, Chapter 2 thread second post updated... you're all in a fight now.

Mar 31, 2016 2:57 am

Candi says:

I did not take that into account. Damn, 5e rangers are badass! That halves the walking times, so 3.5 days direct to the ruined city of Rhest or 2.5 days direct to the roadblock.

Just for you, next character I make for one of your games, I'll roll up a desert or sea ranger even if we're set in the arctic.

Mar 31, 2016 3:02 am

CancerMan says:

Candi says:

I did not take that into account. Damn, 5e rangers are badass! That halves the walking times, so 3.5 days direct to the ruined city of Rhest or 2.5 days direct to the roadblock.

Just for you, next character I make for one of your games, I'll roll up a desert or sea ranger even if we're set in the arctic.

Lol, don't get me wrong, I love rangers (Variant Ranger, actually, I'm quite fond of -- wish WotC would detail that alternate class all the way to level 20 to be honest). I'm also extra happy that the class ability has made a difference for the group (if you haven't gathered, this is an adventure where time really is of the essence. You've essentially made up for the time 'spent' waiting for the blacksmith to finish the short sword and studded leather by being a Ranger and deciding to walk).

My face to face DnD group just finished Rise of Tiamat, and the ranger's special forest/mountain/hill powers didn't ever really make a difference (in part because, especially when compared to The Red Hand of Doom, Rise of Tiamat is a piece of trash adventure... I am REALLY happy we're done, and we only finished because I like to finish things). It's nice when your special feature is actually useful.

Mar 31, 2016 3:21 am

Rolling for HP and I've increased my Dex.

Rolls

HP - (1d8+1)

(6) + 1 = 7

Mar 31, 2016 3:22 am

Ya'll are a lot more dextrous now, I take it. Bring on the tightropes! ;)

Mar 31, 2016 7:43 am

I don't exactly trust these virtual dice. Is it ok if I take the average hp increase of 6 (1d10)? Oh, and I +1 my strength (yay 16!)

Mar 31, 2016 11:16 am

I think a couple of people said they are adding +1 to an attribute, you get two +1 attributes (and you can put them on the same attribute). So if you only took a +1, take +1 more!

And yes, you can either roll for hit points or take the average (don't forget to also add your con modifier).

Mar 31, 2016 2:39 pm

I can't remember, are feats an option on this game?

Mar 31, 2016 2:46 pm

Yup, feats are an option.

Mar 31, 2016 2:48 pm

We get TWO points to increase ability scores?? COOL.

Mar 31, 2016 4:37 pm

Took the average hp, increased int and wis, will update spells when I get to my phb.

Mar 31, 2016 10:39 pm

@Candi, I think that's how that's suppose to work. I took my attack action, then moved up to the owlbear and then used Ki to use flurry of blows. Hopefully I am right there.

Mar 31, 2016 10:42 pm

As it's not a critical moment, but just a random encounter, we'll take it this time - but looking at the wording of flurry of blows I don't think you can attack -> move -> ki, flurry.

Quote:

Flurry of Blows
Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.

The crucial qualifier is 'immediately'.

Mar 31, 2016 10:59 pm

OK, sorry for stretching the wording a bit to far. In the future could I attack with my spear then drop it and attack with Flurry of blows?

Mar 31, 2016 11:01 pm

You don't even have to drop it, I'd say. As long as you have hands, or even feet, available, I'm happy to let you keep it in hand. The problem in this case is that you wouldn't have been able to throw the spear while in melee with the other owlbear (well, you could've, but it would have been at disadvantage).

Mar 31, 2016 11:03 pm

Cool Cool. Thanks

Apr 1, 2016 1:57 am

Can I use step of the wind. 1 Ki to dodge one of those attacks or would I have to do that defore their turn? Otherwise I'm at -2 hp.

Apr 1, 2016 2:01 am

Step of the Wind is a bonus action, so you would have had to have done it on your turn.

Apr 1, 2016 2:07 am

So I'm actually at -6. Sorry basic math is hard :-( should I post my character falling? How does death work in 5e. Is it when I reach -10 or have they changed that? Sorry not near my phb and on my phone.

Apr 1, 2016 2:15 am

If the attack that reduces you below zero reduces you to negative your maximum, you die outright. Otherwise, your HP it set to zero and on your turn you make a death save. A death save requires you to roll 1d20 with no modifiers. On a result of 1 you get 2 failures, on a result of 2-9 you get 1 failure, 10-19 is 1 success. Earn 3 failures and you die, 3 successes and you stabilize (stop making death saves). If you roll a 20 on your death save you gain 1 HP and regain consciousness.

Apr 1, 2016 2:21 am

Wow, that's way more convoluted than it used to be. Ok I'll post my turn.

Apr 1, 2016 10:07 pm

Zaris will gain the Magic Initiate feat for level 4. Gains 2 cantrips and one 1st level spell that can be cast once per long rest in addition to his normal list.

Rolls

New hit points - (1d6+2)

(3) + 2 = 5

Apr 1, 2016 10:11 pm

Don't forget my Wizard spellbook houserule as well (if it even is one, might be part of the rules -- either way do this!):

Wizards and Spells
Each level after the first, a wizard may add 1 Spell to their Spell Book that is of a level that they can cast. This is in addition to the normal rules for adding spells to a wizard spell book.

Apr 1, 2016 10:26 pm

Yes, thank you very much. I'm looking over the second level spells as I type...

Apr 1, 2016 11:46 pm

I've gotta say, I love how Zaris actually says arcane phrases when spellcasting. Do you make them up or...?

Apr 2, 2016 12:44 am

Totally made up. Sometimes I write them down so I can use the same one for each spell but that isn't the norm! I mix bits of the languages I know. At some point I'm sure I'll play with someone who will end up realizing I just wrote "purple monkey dishwasher" in Croatian.

Apr 2, 2016 4:26 am

Arjen says:

At some point I'm sure I'll play with someone who will end up realizing I just wrote "purple monkey dishwasher" in Croatian.

I want to know what this spell does in real life :-)

Apr 2, 2016 4:30 am

I theorize a version of Cannot-Be-Unseen Servant.

Apr 2, 2016 8:19 am

Ha! Fantastic! For my next arcane caster I've been thinking of using/mixing in the Kido incantations from the Bleach anime.

Apr 7, 2016 1:08 pm

It is dusk at the moment, are you planning to travel through the night or stop and rest at some point?

Apr 7, 2016 4:30 pm

I would imagine that Zaris would encourage moving on through the night as time is of the essence. What do the rest of you think?

Apr 7, 2016 4:33 pm

Pawetha advises against it, especially with a wounded Ghunril. The last thing she wants is for the party to be wounded and exhausted.

Apr 7, 2016 4:51 pm

Traveling by night after a short rest seems safer. We can rest in the morning (when it's safer)?

Apr 7, 2016 5:28 pm

A few things: How much longer will we have to travel? Can we get there by morning if we continue? Kaiakas feels a sense of urgency if they can get there by some time tomorrow by continuing now.
Also, Kaiakas is down 3 hp. Does anyone need anymore healing?

Apr 7, 2016 5:47 pm

You will not arrive by morning, several days of travel remain. If you travel through the night, it will give everyone Exhaustion level 1. If you rest in the morning, after a long rest 1 level of Exhaustion is removed. If you continue traveling though, Exhaustion will start stacking up (and the more you have the harder it is to remove, since you only reduce it by 1 level per long rest).

Apr 7, 2016 6:12 pm

Ok then I vote long rest now

Apr 7, 2016 6:24 pm

Long rest it is. Those staying up to guard would be at exhaustion level 1 though I would assume?

Apr 7, 2016 6:34 pm

Typically not, to my thinking. If we camp now and rest, everyone should be fine.

Apr 7, 2016 7:41 pm

It would be nice to be back at full HP for the next encounter. I vote full rest.

Apr 7, 2016 7:42 pm

Full rest it is. I will assume regular rotating watch, so no one needs to gain Exhaustion :).

Apr 7, 2016 7:43 pm

Sounds like a plan!

Apr 7, 2016 7:59 pm

Will post tomorrow, birthday something tonight (my wife won't tell me what's happening), and I need to roll random encounters to see how long you go before a hiccup :)

Apr 7, 2016 8:08 pm

Happy birthday!

Apr 7, 2016 8:18 pm

Haaaaappy Birthday!!

Apr 7, 2016 9:56 pm

Happy Birthday, cool that mine's tomorrow as well!

Apr 7, 2016 10:27 pm

Happy birthday to you both!

Apr 8, 2016 3:47 pm

Happy birthdays!

Apr 12, 2016 12:39 am

So, what's the vote at: to the road and roadblock or through the marsh towards Rhest directly?

Apr 12, 2016 12:47 am

Paws votes to enter the Blackfens and find the elves.

Apr 12, 2016 12:59 am

Kaiakas agrees, but will suggest recon of the roadblock. Perhaps the elves already have.

Apr 12, 2016 1:03 am

Pawetha does agree with the need to recon the roadblock, but reasons that if the party manages to secure an alliance with the elves, they'd might be able to assist in taking out the Red Hand forces stationed there.

Apr 12, 2016 1:43 am

Off to find the elves. We need numbers.

Apr 12, 2016 4:46 am

to the elves!

Apr 12, 2016 4:46 pm

Paws- save those crits!!

Apr 12, 2016 5:46 pm

Yeah, but at least this lets me practice Paws' expression of complete innocence.

Apr 13, 2016 12:58 pm

I'll post the next scene tonight :)

Apr 18, 2016 4:15 pm

Well, that was a lie- I will post tonight. I had a weekend long conference that was amazing, but very time consuming and cognitively exhausting. But, I'm back on the horse today :)

Apr 21, 2016 5:24 pm

High five on back-to-back crits!

Apr 21, 2016 5:27 pm

Speaking of which, you owe me 1d4 crit damage :)

Apr 21, 2016 5:31 pm

Done!

Apr 22, 2016 6:59 pm

Does my racial poison damage resistance affect my constitution save? If so by how much?

Apr 22, 2016 7:41 pm

Damage resistance will just reduce the damage you take (if any) by half, and not effect saves. If your racial ability effected saves, it would say that you gain advantage on saves against poison.

Apr 22, 2016 7:57 pm

gotcha thanks.

Apr 24, 2016 1:20 am

FYI in case I haven't mentioned, I am on vacation this week but should still be able to check in once a day.

Apr 25, 2016 11:35 am

Zaris' CON SAVE

Edit! YES!!

Last edited April 25, 2016 11:35 am

Rolls

Constitution saving throw - (1d20+2)

(19) + 2 = 21

Apr 26, 2016 12:24 am

Nice! So now we're just waiting on the rest of the player turns right?

Last edited April 26, 2016 12:25 am

Apr 26, 2016 12:38 am

Oh was it our turns plus rolling Con saves?

Apr 26, 2016 12:45 am

yup!

Apr 28, 2016 4:59 pm

Does my dodge count against the attack that landed? And did you already take my poison damage resistance into account on the 5 damage?

Apr 28, 2016 5:01 pm

forgot about dodge ...

Rolls

dodge - (1d20+6)

(3) + 6 = 9

Apr 28, 2016 5:02 pm

miss!

Apr 28, 2016 5:16 pm

glad to hear that he missed that shot, poison damage?

Apr 28, 2016 5:20 pm

There is no poison damage. The ongoing 5 was not poison, it was 'bleeding', but it was part of the on hit effect of the serrated-wing-slash attack and so by missing, it also missed the bleeding effect. So, Ghunril it scot free (well, he still has Poisoned from the breath attack, which gives disadvantage on all rolls).

Apr 28, 2016 5:41 pm

since I have disadvantage, can I feint/help everyone else so they have advantage this turn?

Apr 28, 2016 8:00 pm

Yup. Disadvantage only affects actions that make you roll, you can totally 'work around it' by taking actions that don't require rolls (such as Assist).

Apr 30, 2016 1:42 pm

I should've looked things up before I made blanket rule claims! Feint isn't the combat action you are looking for (it doesn't exist!). What you want is "Help" which lets you grant Advantage to another character's next attack. So, pick the character you are 'helping' and they get Advantage on their next attack this combat.

Apr 30, 2016 9:34 pm

is their anyone that hasn't taken their turn yet? Can I apply it to someone that has already gone? That seems tricky since they have already rolled their attacks.

if not Ill just take my disadvantaged attack with spear and unarmed strike.

Apr 30, 2016 10:52 pm

It grants advantage on their next attack, so if they've already taken a turn this round, they'll get to have the advantage next round.

May 1, 2016 5:32 pm

OK Ill edit my post with the info

May 2, 2016 4:15 pm

Xara's a rogue, right? Have you been applying Sneak Attack damage on your hits?

May 2, 2016 4:21 pm

I haven't, to be honest I'm not 100% sure when that applies...

May 2, 2016 4:25 pm

Once per turn, you apply Sneak Attack damage with a finesse or ranged weapon:

* when you have Advantage on an attack
* when your target has another opponent within 5' of it, and you're not Disadvantaged

May 5, 2016 5:51 pm

Ghunril and Xara, can you edit-in Diplomacy checks to your previous posts (and post here once you have done so), thanks!

May 5, 2016 6:12 pm

Added my diplomacy check and man the dice have not been kind to me recently.

May 5, 2016 6:32 pm

I was considering a penalty for Ghunril's implicit insult (whether intentional or not), but the dice roller seems to have 'represented' that with the result ;)

May 5, 2016 7:08 pm

It was intentional but not meant to be obviously offensive. And your right, the elves cursed my role.

May 5, 2016 7:17 pm

Um, I don't see Diplomacy on my character sheet. Would Persuasion work?

Update: Yes. Yes, I think Persuasion does indeed work.

Last edited May 5, 2016 7:36 pm

May 6, 2016 2:48 pm

Yeah Persuasion is what I meant - I learned D&D with 3.5 so some of those intuitions still leap to the forefront of my mind from time to time.

May 6, 2016 10:13 pm

I totally understand. I started playing/learning D&D with 3e. I thought my character sheet was glitched at first. :p

May 11, 2016 12:33 pm

Just waiting on Xara to decide what she's doing with the coffers, and then we're owlbound (unless in the meantime someone else adds something).

May 11, 2016 2:58 pm

Leaving the rapier as well?

May 11, 2016 2:59 pm

you could mention to the elves that there is a chest there...

May 11, 2016 3:02 pm

Yeah... I still want the gold. Decisions, decisions.

May 17, 2016 6:05 pm

I brought up the army last time being connected to Tiamat and these was some discussion about where the map and painting were at. Just so we're clear, where exactly are those? For future reference.

May 17, 2016 6:07 pm

The map was given to the Lion of Brindol you met in the tavern before leaving Drellen's Ferry to bring back to Brindol. Pawetha, however, made a faithful copy of it that you have.

The painting, on the other hand, as far as I recall, was left where it was found? If someone took it, then they still have it (and, thus should be noted on their character sheet).

May 17, 2016 6:10 pm

Ok I was thinking Kaiakas took it, but wasn't exactly sure. Gonna note that on my sheet now

May 17, 2016 6:15 pm

Yeah I'm also thinking it was Kaiakas who last had it.

May 17, 2016 6:17 pm

I've gone back and looked, turns out Pawetha used the canvas to solemnly wrap the corpse that had been used as the 'fake ghost' ti detract people from investigating the keep.

May 17, 2016 6:19 pm

That sounds vaguely familiar. Why did we want to detract someone from investigating the keep? Did we hide treasure there?

May 17, 2016 6:48 pm

No, the hobgoblins used the fake ghost to deter visitors. I do believe we returned to the keep to recover the treasure we stashed there?

May 17, 2016 8:19 pm

You did return and recover treasure. The use of the canvas as a 'burial' shawl happened via a private note to me. I assume it was because the 'fake ghost' was actually a rock with a green continual flame spell underneath the corpse of a human propped up with a stick.... and I just reread the post carefully -- Paws used the cloth that was covering the canvas. So the canvas wasn't destroyed.

Kaiakas can have taken it, but he would have had to roll it up, which will have done significant damage to the painting (it being an oil painting that was relatively new). There's no way to have transported it and not damaged it. So it's a damaged painting. #phew

May 17, 2016 9:08 pm

I Googled "damaged oil painting" so I think that even like that, the contents of the painting should be understandable. Kaiakas has it. He uses it to remind himself of who/what he's fighting (the greater evil). Also, showing it to others to join the cause or to help them understand the gravity of the situation.

May 17, 2016 9:15 pm

Ultimately it depends on how its rolled. It's also not a small painting, so Kaiakas has a rather large rolled up canvas, probably stowed safely (mostly) within his bedroll. A rolled up painting that's been trekked through a woodland and marshland, and 'on hand' for a few skirmishes. That said, as a way of communicating 'these people worship a dragon god' even the damaged painting will do.

May 17, 2016 9:17 pm

Sounds good!

May 17, 2016 9:45 pm

Don't worry, the painting's value will go up after the war's over. It'll be a collectible.

Last edited May 17, 2016 9:46 pm

May 18, 2016 2:11 pm

Just an FYI, I'm in Dallas at a conference for the next 5 days, and so updates my be slow.

May 18, 2016 3:38 pm

Have a nice time in Dallas!

May 25, 2016 7:02 pm

Ba-dum--cha!

May 25, 2016 7:13 pm

[Groan]

May 25, 2016 9:20 pm

[face palm]

May 26, 2016 12:17 pm

What was I thinking?!

May 26, 2016 3:27 pm

Am I right in gathering that the plan is to sleep, then head out to Rhest in the morning? (again, wishing this forum had polls!)

May 26, 2016 3:42 pm

It feels like that's the plan. Paws would suggest we take the boats up the waterway until we get close to Rhest ("C" on the map) and hoof it from there. Anyone can make alterations to that, of course.

May 26, 2016 3:45 pm

I like the boat idea. I would ask that we get ranged weapons of some sort for each of us from the elves in case we are fired upon from the shores.

May 26, 2016 3:47 pm

It's also possible to get a lift from the scouts to Rhest, but that does leave you on foot for the return to the camp.

May 26, 2016 4:00 pm

Personally I think boat is the way to go. At least if we survive, our return wouldn't be that strenuous. I'll ask Killian if his scouts can keep an eye out for us, though, like check on our progress every so often should their patrols cross our path.

May 26, 2016 6:40 pm

The boat idea sounds good. Though I do understand the risk of being fired upon, I think we'll be fine.

May 26, 2016 6:45 pm

Very well then, the boat it is! Let's get sailing!

May 29, 2016 2:30 am

Sorry for the delay, update is coming (hoping tomorrow). Big scene changes take a bit more effort on my end, but I'm still here!

May 29, 2016 2:51 am

No worries, it's a 3 day weekend (Memorial Day on Monday) so everyone's probably out BBQing or something.

May 29, 2016 8:08 am

Yeah no worries. I post from my phone most of the time anyway because I'm running around so much.

Jun 4, 2016 10:06 pm

I think I missed something. What's in the tower? Why is Paws so sure the lizardfolk are with the Red Hand?

Jun 4, 2016 10:33 pm

On the map we got from the Red Hand, the word Saarvith is marked where the ruins of Rhest is supposed to be, according to the Lion of Brindol. I'm guessing "Saarvith" is a name of a Red Hand Lieutenant, similar to how Koth and Ozyrrendion were indicated.

As for my suspicions about the lizardfolk, I'd imagine someone against the Red Hand wouldn't be acting so casually, and instead be on high alert similar to the wood elves.

If we want to try talking to the lizardfolk, feel free to override Paws.

Last edited June 4, 2016 10:35 pm

Jun 4, 2016 11:03 pm

Aw crap. Thanks. No. No talking. Kill them all I guess.

Jun 5, 2016 8:31 pm

We don't necessarily have to kill them all. Given the nature of this Red Hand horde, I think it's safe to say we'll always be outnumbered and/or outgunned.

Maybe we can sneak past some of the lizardfolk huts. It looks like there are a couple of spots where we might be able to avoid detection.

Jun 13, 2016 5:40 pm

How close are we from the lizardfolk? Thinking about moving and casting a spell.

Jun 13, 2016 7:01 pm

Xara is underneath them, Pawetha is about 60 feet away. Zaris, Ghunril and Kai are something like 120 feet away.

Jun 13, 2016 9:47 pm

Yeesh. Nevermind.

Jun 21, 2016 7:11 pm

I just got back from a week of travel, I'll have a post up tomorrow at the latest!

Jun 21, 2016 7:18 pm

No worries here! Hope you had fun!

Jun 21, 2016 7:19 pm

Ah ok cool. Yay for safe travels!

Jun 22, 2016 3:35 pm

Welcome back!

Jun 22, 2016 11:04 pm

Welcome back! I hope it was a productive week.

Jul 5, 2016 5:08 pm

For a short and dirty gnome covered in mud and leaves, Pawetha sure stands out a lot.

Jul 13, 2016 4:20 pm

Sorry about delays - I lost my iPad for a while there, and I'm buried under project proposals at the moment (and resolving that perception check requires both a few minutes to write it up, and my iPad so I can read up on the scene again!).

I'm hoping to move us along tonight!

Jul 31, 2016 8:00 pm

I wondered if we were using group roll rules so that if at least half of us succeed, we're all good.

Aug 1, 2016 12:53 am

Yes I am using group rolls.

Just got home from a conference and have to prep for, then go to, GenCon.

Aug 1, 2016 1:03 am

I'll be there Friday! :D

Aug 1, 2016 2:02 am

At GenCon? Cool!

Aug 1, 2016 2:12 am

Yup. Haven't been able to go for a few years so my brother bought my ticket this year. So excited!

Aug 1, 2016 2:15 am

That's awesome. I might make it to the Friday meet n greet if Keleth organizes it (although I may have a publisher meeting, but I may try to pop in for a hello).

Aug 1, 2016 2:16 am

So far I have nothing planned. Had to switch my day to attend from Saturday (and drop out of a game) because of a wedding.

Aug 1, 2016 2:52 am

Lucky peeps. Have fun!

Aug 1, 2016 3:01 am

I've been 3 or 4 times and I live about an hour north of Indianapolis. Getting time off work and money together is what's kept me. I'm amazed at how many people from across the country come here for GenCon. Also, I've yet to ever play a con game. One of those things I've never been able to get scheduled. I'm usually too in awe of everything going on. That, and I have spent way too much money in the Exhibit Hall before.

Aug 1, 2016 8:43 pm

Have fun at GenCon all of you. I'll be leaving on Saturday night to take my five year old to Disney World! Having never been myself, it should make for an interesting experience.

Aug 10, 2016 2:57 am

Each of you may take a turn, if you talk make a stealth check.

Aug 12, 2016 3:28 pm

I added my crit roll to my first post.

Aug 12, 2016 3:30 pm

Ridiculous roll!

Aug 12, 2016 3:36 pm

It was pretty epic.

Sep 8, 2016 8:31 pm

I have a question about flurry of blows, Can I attack with my spear 2 handed for the 1d8 damage and use flurry of blows for the 2 extra attacks? Also would those attacks be made with advantage and what modifier to attack?

Sep 9, 2016 4:16 pm

The way I understand it, once you attack with your spear (one-handed or two-handed, doesn't matter), you spend your ki point and make 2 unarmed attacks as a bonus action. So yes, to your first question. Flavor-wise, maybe you use your tail and a kick. Heck, head-butt 'im!

Monk martial arts lets you use Dexterity or Strength for your attack and damage rolls, so pick whichever modifier is higher. As for advantage, Kaiakas's vow was said to grant one for 1 minute...

... but I think we're reading the Vow of Enmity wrong. I think only Kaiakas gets advantage.

Sep 9, 2016 4:29 pm

CancerMan says:

... but I think we're reading the Vow of Enmity wrong. I think only Kaiakas gets advantage.

Call it divine luck then, I'll let you all keep that advantage for the full minute (or until it dies, which is probably going to happen first).

Also, I believe CancerMan is right about Flurry.

Sep 11, 2016 10:21 pm

ok thanks guys, wasnt sure. Ill post my action.

Sep 27, 2016 6:36 pm

Candi, would you be opposed to respec'ing Pawetha with the revised Ranger rules? From what I can tell, changes would be choosing "humanoid" for Favored Enemy, Natural Explorer, and Primeval Awareness. I'd still be under the Hunter Conclave.

Sep 27, 2016 6:48 pm

Absolutely! I just saw that recently, haven't looked closely at it but I'm certain it's a good change (Rangers are rather lacklustre).

Sep 27, 2016 8:35 pm

You would think with the years that went into development and play testing of 5e they ranger issue would have surfaced before printing the $50 handbook!

Oct 25, 2016 3:10 pm

Technically waiting on me, trying to get to this tonight - been busy (sorry folks!)

Oct 25, 2016 3:22 pm

No worries!

Oct 25, 2016 8:32 pm

I just want to say its been great playing in a game that has lasted as long as this one has! Thank you to all of you for staying engaged. Hopefully we survive this dragon to keep going! ;-)

Oct 25, 2016 8:34 pm

Lol agreed!

Oct 25, 2016 8:49 pm

I'm worried about surviving this Ettin let alone the Dragon.

Oct 25, 2016 8:55 pm

Remind me to give this magic shortsword to someone in melee, like Xara. I haven't used it since it was forged, and applying the Poisoned condition to an opponent would have probably made this fight a bit easier.

Nov 1, 2016 2:32 am

Happy Halloween!

Sure, I'll take the stabby sword!

Nov 1, 2016 2:34 am

I'll throw it at you next round! (J/k)

Nov 1, 2016 2:46 am

You can tryyyy!

Also, I need to get those dragonbone daggers finished at some point. And then, after I kill this new dragon I'll turn its hide into fancy shoes.

Nov 3, 2016 2:58 pm

Apologies for the delays - I'm still here, been swamped with work in an effort to finish this damned dissertation. Will try to post soon.

Nov 3, 2016 2:59 pm

Understandable. I'll be here when you're ready.

Nov 3, 2016 3:29 pm

the longer Ghunril can stave off death the better in my mind ;-P

Nov 3, 2016 3:35 pm

Ya'll are the best, by the way. This has been one of my longest running PbF games, and you guys are great!

Nov 3, 2016 8:04 pm

Ah, I remember the "fun" of writing my dissertation. Speedy finish to you.

Nov 8, 2016 5:34 pm

I had a couple questions...

I don't want to meta game to much but 1) I was wondering if Ghunril can see the Razorfiend and 2) if he can tell that one more hit might fell the Ettin?

I was hoping to make my unarmed attack against the Ettin and if I kill it, throw a poisoned dart at the Razorfiend. But that might be more knowledge than Ghunril might have as a character.

Nov 8, 2016 5:36 pm

You can use all the strategic advantages you can muster right now. But yah, that's all totally fine.

Nov 17, 2016 6:02 pm

I'm kinda lost on things. Can we get a recap or "current status"?

Nov 17, 2016 6:15 pm

You've been in an extended battle, that keeps getting longer as you "discover" new foes (first the dragon, now Xara has opened the door to the hatchery -- good job rogue!)

Looking at the map:

Map

The precise state of affairs right now is:

Xara is unconscious (X), with a razorfiend lingering over her (R) and a Dragon (D*) flying 30ft above her. There was an ettin (E) engaged with Kai and Ghunril, but it is now dead (haven't updated the map because I haven't posted in the main thread the resolution, but as I'm making enemy stats public you know it is dead).

So, current issues: Dragon (D*), razorfiend (R) and unconscious Xara (X)

Nov 18, 2016 9:03 pm

Yeah, we're in a bit of trouble!

Zaris will make his way to Xara on the next turn to stabilize him.

Nov 19, 2016 9:10 am

Thank you! :)
I'll check out the map and if I see/notice Xara, I'll help her out. If Kai is oblivious... I just don't want to meta game.

Nov 19, 2016 11:56 am

I wouldn't worry too much about meta-gaming. You're characters are pretty seasoned adventurers at this point, with lives that happened before this adventure started. And, I'm not a GM that gets too upset about meta-gaming.

Nov 19, 2016 7:37 pm

Candi says:

I wouldn't worry too much about meta-gaming. You're characters are pretty seasoned adventurers at this point, with lives that happened before this adventure started. And, I'm not a GM that gets too upset about meta-gaming.

As evidenced by you giving us the AC and HP of all our enemies ;-)

Nov 19, 2016 7:43 pm

JoHoover says:

Candi says:

I wouldn't worry too much about meta-gaming. You're characters are pretty seasoned adventurers at this point, with lives that happened before this adventure started. And, I'm not a GM that gets too upset about meta-gaming.

As evidenced by you giving us the AC and HP of all our enemies ;-)

Yup! That's also way easier for me too (no need to keep track of anything in the background).

Nov 23, 2016 3:16 pm

I leave today to visit family for Thanksgiving and will be back Saturday. Sorry if the action picks up while I'm gone.

Nov 24, 2016 2:51 pm

Happy Turkey Day!

Nov 24, 2016 3:09 pm

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm thankful to be playing in such a wonderful game!

Nov 24, 2016 7:24 pm

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

Nov 27, 2016 5:46 pm

I hope everyone had a great Turkey day! I am also thankful to be part of such an awesome game.

Dec 9, 2016 8:12 pm

Who is up in initiative order?

Dec 9, 2016 8:16 pm

We do initiative by sides. When it's our turn, we can act in any order.

Dec 9, 2016 8:39 pm

That's what I thought. Baddies are up next then aren't they?

Dec 9, 2016 9:39 pm

I think its our turn since the rider took pot shots at Paws and I.

Dec 9, 2016 10:42 pm

That's a good point. I thought it was our turn, but now I realize that Candi never explicitly said so.

Dec 10, 2016 12:34 am

Yeah sorry, I took it to be implicit (which I've never done before)! It is indeed Player Turn.

Dec 10, 2016 12:55 am

Yeesh. Yeah I'm still here. Life got busy, sorry. Thank you for taking my turn and letting things move on. Is it still Player's Turn?

Dec 10, 2016 1:03 am

I mean, do I have a turn to play.

Dec 10, 2016 1:13 am

Doooo it!

Dec 12, 2016 12:27 pm

Yes, you do!

Glad you're still with us.

Dec 15, 2016 5:16 pm

I've got some oil and a tinderbox. Can I try to set the door or that building on fire?

Dec 16, 2016 1:22 pm

You sure can! Also, to clarify, you're on the outside with Kai - I misunderstood.

Dec 24, 2016 4:13 pm

Merry Christmas eve guys. I hope you are all have a great time with family and friends!

Dec 24, 2016 5:37 pm

Happy Holidays!

Dec 26, 2016 1:34 am

Merry Christmas!

Dec 26, 2016 7:21 pm

Happy Winter Solstice and upcoming New Year!

Let's hope our characters all survive into the next year as well. ;-)

Dec 26, 2016 7:40 pm

Happy holidays everyone!

And we'll see ;)

Jan 29, 2017 1:38 am

Hey everyone, I've been around, but also overwhelmed. Between the situation in the US that I feel helpless with respect to (as a Canadian), and an upcoming job interview for a dream position at CMU doing research on teaching (I fly out in 11 hours) "overwhelmed" is accurate.

I appreciate all of your patience. Will move this along Wed/Thurs after I get home from the interview.

Jan 29, 2017 3:04 am

Good luck!! No worries, see ya whenever you're ready to throw yourself back into the fantasy world. It's the only thing helping me stay sane these days.

Jan 29, 2017 8:48 am

Agreed Moofsalot. Thank goodness for a healthy level of escapism. Candi, good luck on your interview! We'll see you soon.

Feb 2, 2017 1:12 am

Hope the interview went well. Also hoping that one more member of the US senate comes to their senses and votes no on DeVos. As a teacher, I can't imagine what that woman would do to public education! If only I had real magical powers right now! ;-)

Feb 16, 2017 8:23 pm

Hey guys, hows everyone doing? Just checking in, how did your interview go Candi?

Feb 16, 2017 8:37 pm

I'm around, buried under this dissertation thing still.

Alas the interview, I thought, went well - but I was not offered the job. On the other hand, I have a line on a postdoc at Stanford to start in Sept (just waiting on confirmation that my proposed start date coheres with the funding agencies requirements). So, pending that technical detail, I have work when I finish this dissertation.

All of my games I'm running have ground to a halt. I'll try to get this chugging again over the weekend once I submit this chapter to my supervisor.

Feb 16, 2017 10:20 pm

Nice! I'm actually visiting my bestie next week who's a postdoc at Stanford (probably in a different field).

I'm sure I speak for most of us when I say we're ready to jump back in whenever you are! Good luck with the dissertation!

Feb 17, 2017 3:13 am

Keep up the scholarly work! Having done what you have, I appreciate all too well how much work it is.

Last edited February 17, 2017 9:10 pm

Feb 17, 2017 3:41 am

Arjen says:

Keep up the scholarly work! Having done what you have, I appreciate all to well how much work it is.

I'm in the "grind" -- all day writing.

Apr 1, 2017 8:23 pm

Sorry for the delay. I'm at a conference in LA and completely forgot to let everyone know. My apologies.

May 2, 2017 2:36 am

I am shocked. Like, you guys may take on 4 ogres after the big battle against several ogres, ettins, a dragon that you chased off, and a bunch of dragonspawn.

May 2, 2017 11:16 am

That feeling when the DM thinks you're taking on too much.

May 2, 2017 11:30 am

I dunno. I'm starting to doubt my feeling that you're taking on too much!

May 4, 2017 11:52 am

^_^

May 9, 2017 2:30 pm

I have to take my laptop in for repair, keyboard's been acting up, so this may be slower (than usual) for a week while I am restricted to my phone and work computer.

May 9, 2017 10:02 pm

NP, hopefully its not affecting your dissertation.

May 12, 2017 1:34 am

The slow pace that's gripped my PbF games since Jan/Feb has been due to a desire not to impact my dissertation. It's currently with my internal committee, fingers crossed that I can hammer out their feedback and get to defense-ready by end of month

May 12, 2017 10:31 am

NICE!! Fingers crossed!

Jul 18, 2017 7:48 pm

Hows everyone's summer moving along? My wife and I just bought a new house and are in the process of unpacking everything so I thought others might have some big happenings going on.

Jul 18, 2017 7:50 pm

Oh man, GP! I'm defending my dissertation in 2 days, and I've kinda checked out of everything that doesn't drop e-mails into my inbox when my attention is required until then (turns out I only subscribed to this thread!).

Wish me luck all (and we'll get this game back up and rolling in a week or two once things settle down and I figure out how I'm moving to California!)

Jul 18, 2017 7:53 pm

Good luck!

I know you've got a lot on your hands right now. You've been very open about your time constraints, and as such I am willing to stick this out for as long as it takes.

Jul 18, 2017 8:11 pm

Ditto! Good luck y'all!

Aug 22, 2017 12:07 am

Hey Candi- how did the move to Cali go? Or is that still in the works?

Nov 6, 2017 4:07 am

Hope all is well with everyone! I still hold out hope that one day this game may return. It holds a special place in my heart for some reason.

Nov 6, 2017 11:46 am

Agreed.

Nov 6, 2017 5:04 pm

Red Hand of Doom is one of the better adventure modules I've experienced. I hope to one day run it myself!

Nov 6, 2017 5:06 pm

Moofsalot summons Candi....
...
A wild candi appears!

We've been in Cali for 4 days now, so the move has gone well.

Nov 6, 2017 5:07 pm

Glad to hear it!

Nov 7, 2017 4:44 am

Awesome!

Nov 7, 2017 12:59 pm

Great to hear!

Nov 8, 2017 7:14 pm

Yup! It's very nice here, that's for sure.

Hopefully I can get this all up and running again soon, keep bothering me though! It's been so long, do we all have a grip on where the story was at, or is some recapping / catching up in order?

Nov 8, 2017 7:54 pm

I remember we were in the large tower in the middle of a lake. Drove off a black dragon and its rider, set a building full of razorfiends and eggs on fire, and we're now inside the tower fighting four ogres.

And we're here in the swamp because of the map we recovered from the Red Hand which indicated there were enemy forces within. Hopefully driving them out will put in a good word with the elves that live here.

Nov 8, 2017 9:06 pm

Sounds right to me.

Nov 9, 2017 3:17 pm

That sounds all about right. This weekend I'll reorient myself with the status of the combat you're in the middle of, and we'll get back on track :) Then, when we see about how many folks we still have we may have to consider recruiting more players (or introducing companion rules of some sort to keep the difficulty just right in terms of "number of hero bodies" mucking about!).

Nov 9, 2017 4:18 pm

Looks like Zaris/Arjen is inactive but we can try pinging him.

Dec 23, 2017 4:30 am

Happy Holidays, all!

Dec 25, 2017 11:31 am

Happy Holidays!

Dec 28, 2017 3:52 pm

Happy holidays all!

Jan 30, 2018 5:54 am

Quick note of warning, I'm traveling until Saturday so may not be able to post until Suday :)

Also, doe anyone here play Monster Hunter World (and is on PS4?!)

Jan 30, 2018 2:07 pm

I've considered buying it, but I'm just not sold.

Jan 30, 2018 3:21 pm

I could try to convince you, but I'm very VERY into Monster Hunter games, so my viewpoint is very biased. But if you have questions about it that can help you firmly root your decision, ask away :)

Jan 30, 2018 4:01 pm

I've really been looking at MHW but I don't know if I have the time to dedicate to another grindy game. I would be on Xbox though.

Jan 30, 2018 5:01 pm

I've only ever heard of the Monster Hunter series. But if it's grindy, then yeah I don't have the time, sadly.

Jan 30, 2018 5:40 pm

The game is playable in 20 min bites (a hunt typically lasts that long). While you will fight the same monster several times if you are trying to make it's gear, I wouldn't call it grinding because fights are always engaging and challenging, even when you know the monster well. And, if you do start to find a hunt feeling repeative, just grab a different weapon (there are 14), as each feels like it's own game. But, you have to enjoy technical combat. It's like taking an rpg and fighting only bosses.

Jan 30, 2018 8:13 pm

Ok you've piqued my interest.

Mar 1, 2018 11:47 am

I know there's an "absences" sub-forum, but I don't check it and doubt everyone else does. I'm going on vacation March 4-11. I'll still have my phone to get emails and post, but I'm sure there will be a delay.

Mar 1, 2018 2:26 pm

Noted!

Mar 10, 2018 10:56 pm

This trip has been amazing yet torture. Almost no signal since we've been in mountains and desert most of the time until we find a city, a hotel, and crash until early morning and do it again.
If you're waiting for me, NPC me because I don't know when I'll have time to post until at least Monday evening.

Mar 30, 2018 3:11 pm

Have a great time!

Also, folks, question: I'm a big Monster Hunter fan (World is fantastic!) and some brave soul has made a Monster Hunter Monster Manual for D&D. I'm finding myself considering using it to start a new game with a MH vibe (it'll be survival focussed with an underlying ecological mystery, as the "story" of most MH games is). I have no interest in stopping Red Hand (we'll get it done! In fact, we're nearly officially further along than any other attempt I've ever had at running it!), but I do love playing with you lot so I'm mentioning this because I'd be more than happy to just have it be another game we're in together :)

Let me know what you think (traditionally, a hunting party is 4 -- in MH Lore 5 is bad luck ;) -- I believe I have 4 active players here, so that's perfect!).

Mar 30, 2018 4:05 pm

I won't say no to that. Do the same classes apply?

Mar 30, 2018 4:14 pm

They can, I'm not 100% sure how we'll do characters yet. One nifty thing about monster hunter is that the game uses weapon "as" classes, and I would want to capture that in some way. I may just pull together unique weapon (and add some specialization options - so instead of stat increases at the appropriate levels you get the next "Weapon Skill" for the weapon), or use something like this:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZWo8ppyac54vlUaN4gjW5ZptaiiuiH0Sd33bRv10m7s/edit#

And let everyone choose between normal classes or the Hunter. If we go the first option, then I'd only "create" Weapon Sub-Classes for the weapons you all actually want to use...

Mar 30, 2018 4:29 pm

Or, searching the internet, I might find someone's already done it:

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/r1baaj92OM

I'd probably start from here (I'm not 100% in favor of all the rules here - like Sword & Shield's "Wide Range" is not great, but I'd tweak the Weapon Paths based on what ones our 4 hunters wanted to use).

To be clear: I don't know that I'd take this *class*, I'm thinking of taking the weapons out and making weapon specialization a "sub class". Then, characters would be any core class + weapon subclass.... Magic gets weird though. Doesn't quite fit.

Mar 30, 2018 4:33 pm

This sounds interesting.

Mar 30, 2018 4:42 pm

Cool. I created a game, made it private, and tossed up invites (will invite as interest is expressed) so the conversation about details can happen there :)

Mar 30, 2018 5:45 pm

I'm down. I can't play MHW because I lack the hardware, but I've seen a couple of streams and LPs from people I follow and it's gorgeous.

Mar 31, 2018 1:44 am

I'm still trying to decide if I'll get it for PC or PS4. I usually opt for console so that I don't have to worry about hardware.

Mar 31, 2018 1:50 am

If you go for PS4 you can play it now ;) (PC release is late summer/fall)

Mar 31, 2018 1:52 am

I don't own the hardware, nor am I familiar with the game. But I do like hunting monsters (everyone needs a hobby!) so that has to count for something.

Mar 31, 2018 1:56 am

It's all that counts ;)

Apr 2, 2018 3:23 pm

I would definitely be interested in playing a MHW style game!

Apr 2, 2018 3:27 pm

Invite sent!

May 31, 2018 12:10 pm

Hey all, I am still around. I'm at a summer school (2 weeks crash course in neuroscience), and it's quite intense so I haven't had the time/energy to post. Hopefully by the weekend!

May 31, 2018 5:39 pm

As posted in the Absences thread, I'll be traveling from 04 June 2018 through 15 June 2018. I don't know how much wifi access I'll have, so consider my participation to be limited.

Jun 2, 2018 8:32 am

The past month for me has been unexpectedly rough. Within the next month, we'll be moving. I keep trying to watch the game to not drag it down.

Jun 15, 2018 5:05 am

Worry not, I'm still traveling. We're in the middle of a quiet summer period it seems. Set the main thread to email notification and you won't miss us start rolling again :)

Jun 26, 2018 11:58 am

unique_exemplar says:

The past month for me has been unexpectedly rough. Within the next month, we'll be moving. I keep trying to watch the game to not drag it down.

Hope your move went well!

Jun 26, 2018 12:40 pm

Yes, we've now had 2 nights in our new place. It was one of the better moves we've had (5 in the last 11 years). Moving is one thing. Settling is another. LOL but it felt so good to get rid of so much junk and stuff that was just piling around us. Apparently, we've inherited our parent's hoarding traits.

Aug 19, 2018 2:35 am

How goes?

Dec 20, 2018 6:55 am

I'm going to drop this game for now. If it picks up again, let me know and I'll be happy to jump back in!

Dec 20, 2018 4:16 pm

Same!

May 22, 2019 8:14 pm

Saw this and thought about this game. Hope all are doing well.

May 22, 2019 8:23 pm

Wow, blast from the past!

I'm doing well, in spite of dropping off the face of the world of online PBF RPGs. Been living in California for a stint, and preparing to move back home to Canadaland in Sept. How're you?

May 23, 2019 12:29 am

Doing well. That sounds like a lot of moving to me. I hate moving. Last 2 times I moved was 4-5 years in between each time.

May 31, 2019 2:09 pm

Hahha, yeah. One of the reasons I'm not picking up another academic job is because we'd like to not move for a while.

May 31, 2019 3:30 pm

I totally get that. Hoping where we're at now is more like 10+ years. We're on my husband's parent's land. Taking care of the farm and setting up an area for our own home.

May 31, 2019 4:37 pm

That sounds lovely!

Jun 1, 2019 11:31 am

It's certainly a whole new life I had to become accustomed to. It's amazing what we've been able to do over the last year with just our own hands and tools. I just had the golden glow of the sunrise fill my living room with bird song accompaniment. Makes me wonder why we didn't move out here sooner, even if I sometimes miss the conveniences of living in a city (like reliable high speed internet).
Anyway, I look forward to picking this game back up whenever we can. Thankfully GenCon is coming up in a couple months because I have the itch to play.

Jun 2, 2019 6:07 pm

Yeah. Wish I was going to GenCon this year, but alas it hasn't worked out.

I'll sit down and see if I can get this one going again. Really enjoyed gaming with you and the other two regulars (Moofs and CancerMan) and they seem to be still active on the Plane. It's just me that fell off the face of the earth.

Jun 2, 2019 8:08 pm

Hey, life happens. I get it. I've enjoyed gaming with you too.
GenCon is usually an easy thing for me to do (except for a couple years) since I've lived 1-2 hrs north of Indy for most of my life. #Lucky