WotL OOC Thread

[BishGada]

I thought Tulbas told them to go to his uncle shop, since Raetmal can protect her and even send her to the Tower of high sorcery.
Beside, Kynaston house location already been exposed once. He thought it wouldn't be good idea to use it again.

[JadedDM]

Did he? I don't remember that.

Kynaston said they could use his house for a meeting house here (end of the third paragraph). Kendra, Tulbas and Darga all seemed to agree.

"Whether we succeed or fail, we should have a place to fallback on if we get separated. How about my house?"

"Your house will be fine."

Tulbas nods his agreement. "OK, that sounds good to me as well."

"That sounds like good sense ta me."

[BishGada]

At the meeting place he nods to the others, having his first apple only half eaten and few more in his pockets he asks if someone would have any. Then to Kynaston he answers, "First I'd collect some more sling stones and put them near my post, second, I'd like to practice fast descent from the roof to the ground to help you down there if the need arises, third, lets make sure once again everyone knows perfectly their escape routes, and last just to remind you, we all wait until I cast the 'Sleep' spell. I'll do it when their group will be more or less in the middle of our posts and focus the spell around Daxia. Hopefully you will see some fall to the ground and there will be some confusion. At that time we all attack. If none will fall to the ground I'll whistle hard, draw their attention to me and then we all attack from all directions." Tulbas waits to see if there are any comments. Then he adds, "If we find ourselves at major disadvantage and someone manages to kidnap Daxia back and run, he should signal the rest and all of us will fold. If we split, try to hide her and bring her to my uncle's shop tomorrow. He will be able to defend her and bring her to safety if needed. May the old gods smile upon us tonight." 'Or even Fistandantilus' he thinks to himself bitterly.

Two last lines. Taken from here (post 13 in the page)

[JadedDM]

Even though his uncle isn't there anymore and they have no way of getting inside without Tulbas and so would have to wait outside until he showed up to unlock the place?

Well, guess it's up to Darga and Gregeddin really, as they have her currently.

[Haahque]

Well I made my uneventful post for today, so it's unlikely that I'll be able to post again until next monday. Good luck everyone!

[JadedDM]

And that takes care of chapter 3. And everybody levels up!

Here are my notes for that chapter.

The title of this chapter was a reference to the fact that so many magic users are introduced in this chapter--Raetmal, Tulbas, and Daxia. Plus, possibly Darewind. And Gregeddin took an interest in sorcery, as well. The actual phrase comes from an internet meme.

The Group Meets Tulbas
I really enjoyed this scene. Normally introducing a new PC can be awkward or require bending or even outright breaking of character. But this really worked out well. Sure, Tulbas didn't exactly trust the party nor did they trust him. But they had to work together, as Tulbas had the intel and the party had the muscle. Neither side could succeed without the other.

We also saw some characterizations of the party members. Kynaston is quite the tactician (not actually part of his original character, but something I added so he would have something to do), Kendra is rather cynical toward her own faith, Tulbas is very distrustful of the Seekers, Haahqae is easily distracted, Gregeddin is fairly perceptive, and so on and so forth.

Tulbas and Raetmal Bond
The little story Raetmal told Tulbas about the gnome who tried to invent indoor plumbing and disappeared into the sewers was something I made up on the spot. The mention of 'rodents of unusual size' is an reference to The Princess Bride.

The whole scene between the two was meant to expand on their backstories as well as turn over the Ring of Wizardry. I figured Tulbas would need the extra help, as a low level mage is by far the weakest class in the game. Plus, I figured he should have some kind of memento of his family and old life. I figured I'd make Tulbas' mother some kind of prodigy to help explain Tulbas' own massive INT score (19!).

Greylock's Gorgeous Gems
The scene at the jewelers was also fun for me, as the storekeeper is Kendra's lover. She never told him where she was going and only mentioned it in passing to her family. So it occurred to me that there was a riot and Kendra vanished and nobody knew where she was or if she was safe! So I had fun playing that up.

I also got to show how bad things were after the riot, revealing the damage to Norris' shop and to Norris himself.

Speaking of which, the reason Norris originally low-balled the party wasn't because he's a jerk or anything, but I felt it was realistic. In these economic times, I figure high priced jewelry isn't selling well. But I didn't want the party walk away empty handed, so I came up with the idea of Norris agreeing to buy the goods in exchange of a promise from Kendra.

Magic Items
I tried to give each item the party acquired some manner of light backstory. Kendra's sword belonged to a white wizard and bore the inscription 'Never raise me in anger or for selfish reasons.' Darga's staff belonged to a monk who took a vow of pacifism. Gregeddin's sword belonged to a knight who died, sold to Raetmal by the knight's widow to start a new life.

Darga's Night Out
While Darga's moral outrage of the Tankard's innkeeper was understandable, I felt his plan to sleep in the streets was a bad idea. He probably could have gotten away with it, except for the fact he was carrying hundreds of steel pieces with him.

Originally I was going to do a scene where he wakes up as a pair of bandits attack and he has to fight them off or flee. But everyone else had wrapped up their scenes and I didn't want to keep the whole group waiting. I briefly considered just having Darga be killed in his sleep and asking djhyland to roll a new character, but that felt too harsh--and rather unfair. So I compromised and just had him be robbed of all his money, but left the door open for him to try and track the thieves down and reclaim it. (I also ruled he didn't heal any overnight, as he slept on the floor in the cold.)

I'm glad djhyland decided to stick around after that. Kynaston offering him the use of his home while he was gone will hopefully prevent something like that from happening again.

Aaron, the little boy pickpocket Darga ran into, by the way, was the same little boy introduced in the beginning of the game in Khush's scenario. Khush came across a woman and child being attacked by goblins and rushed to their rescue. However, he got himself and the woman killed, but the little boy managed to get away.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice
A lot of the stuff Raetmal told Gregeddin about was from the original novels. The strange bandaged men looking for a blue crystal staff and a green-gemstone man, for instance. All of the stuff about Fistandatilus, Belzor, and the three moons, as well.

The bit he said about the White Robes, that they believe 'magic must serve man, not rule over him' is a line from Dragon Age Origins.

Actually, Raetmal's whole explanation of the differences of the three orders of High Sorcery was my own twist on things. I love Dragonlance, but one thing I don't like about it is how it treats alignment. It's too...metagamey, you know? In the real world, evil people don't call themselves 'evil.' Nor do neutral people tend to call themselves 'neutral.' People will always justify their actions, no matter how immoral.

I mean, would anyone in their right mind actually follow Takhisis, Goddess of Evil, the Dark Queen? (Maybe angsty teenagers rebelling against their parents.) I can just imagine the recruitment posters. "Join the side of Evil today!"

I like to think that Takhisis would call herself the Goddess of Ambition and would preach that power belongs to those strong enough to take it, and the weak deserve whatever they get. So she's still Evil, but she wouldn't go around calling herself Evil, nor would her followers. Same with the Orders of High Sorcery. The White Robes are Good, the Red Robes are Neutral, and the Black Robe are Evil. But I doubt they say that out loud (well, probably the White Robes do). The Red Robes would just consider themselves academics, indifferent to politics or morality. The Black Robes wouldn't 'praise evil' but just believe that might makes right and their magic makes them better than other people.

So, long story short, alignment works the same as always, but people don't go around saying "I work for the forces of Neutrality" or "Praise Evil!"

Battle Strategy
I kind of let Kynaston take over in all the battle planning. Mostly since this was going to be his last hurrah anyway, as he was leaving the game soon. But also to hopefully give the other players ideas on future strategies once he's gone. (First we lose our healer, than our tank...it's going to take some creative strategizing for this party to survive from here on.) This includes ambushing, height advantage, flanking, charging and basically any way to squeeze as many +1's to your rolls as possible.

There was some concern during the planning stages that the Ergothians might have a caster with them. I did consider it, briefly. But I decided against it because I realized it would cause a bit of a plot hole. If the Ergothians had a mage, they could have theoretically tracked down Daxia just like Tulbas did. Ultimately, I decided that they wouldn't work with wizards, since Ergoth struck me as a pretty prejudice place as it is.

Toughest Battle Yet
This really was the toughest battle the party has faced so far. The kobolds were numerous but unorganized and very weak. The sligs were strong, but the party's clever use of a pit trap kept them from being too hard. The battle with Sekla was nearly anti-climatic, she fell so quickly to Gregeddin and Haahqae's tactics. So this really felt like the first 'true' boss fight of this game. It was really touch and go there toward the end. The cavalier's AC was just so high, and the only ones who really had the THAC0 to come close to piercing it wielded slashing weapons, which were particularly ineffective against plate mail.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
As I'm sure you've all figured out by now, this was my plan all along to get rid of Kynaston. If the party succeeded in rescuing Daxia, he would go with her as her bodyguard. If they failed, he would chase after her on a suicide mission. If she died, he would blame himself and leave the city to go 'find himself' or whatever.

If Just_Ice ever decides to return, we can have Kynaston come back. But if not, we'll likely never see him again. Daxia, on the other hand, might reappear some day.

So that's that. First we lose our healer, then we lose our tank. The party may need to start looking into some hirelings (they certainly have the cash) or really rethink their battle strategies. Because as it stands now, their only real front-liner is Kendra now.

Leveling up!
Haahque, you need to roll 1d6 for your new HP total. Whatever you roll will be divided in half, and added to your HP max. You also get 30 thief skill points to distribute as you please--with the exception that you cannot add any points to Read Languages yet and you cannot assign more than 15 points to any one skill. As a mouse burglar, you also get another 5 points that can be added to one of the following skills: Open Locks, Move Silently, or Find/Remove Traps. Whichever skill you choose receives all 5 points, you cannot split them up any.

Horizon, you just need to roll 1d10 for your new HP total.

mgbevan, you need to roll 1d6 for your new HP total. You also get 15 thief skill points that you may distribute however you like.

Darga, you need to roll 1d6 HP for your new total. You also get 30 thief skill points and may distribute them how you like with two exceptions--you cannot add any points to Read Languages yet and you cannot assign more than 15 points to any one score.

BishGada, you need to roll 1d4 for your new HP total. You also now have the power to summon a familiar. In my games, this is a class ability instead of a spell. It functions exactly as the spell, though, so you'll need 1,000 STP worth of herbs and incense to perform the ritual.

As always, if anyone wants any advice on how to level their character or how to build them a certain way, just ask. Furthermore, if anyone has any feedback about the game so far, please feel free to speak your mind.

Something you'll all need to think about is rest. Most of you are badly injured. You may want to consider taking a day or two off, spending the whole time in bed to heal faster. (You get 1 HP a night normally, but if you spend the whole day in bed, you get 3 HP back instead.)

I'll get the new chapter up soon.

[Haahque]

I agree Tulbas's meeting was nice. I've been in groups before where I have literally met a new character that was joining us, saw him fight some monsters who my character had allied with (even if some of the rest of the party didn't agree) and say "He looks trustworthy, let's travel together."

Sometimes I find it hard to be as verbose as I'm trying to make Haahqae, especially when there's just a few posts about something which Haahqae wouldn't really care or doesn't want to get involved in to work off of. However Haahqae thinks that his idea to pass off his illusions as gnomish toys that no-one outside the mountain would have ever see is brilliant, and I expect to continue doing that in the future. One idea was to use a cantrip as a "Noise Box" anyone questioned him about the goblin mage. It's quite likely that Haahqae will use this trick in the future with his Audible glamor.

It turns out Darga might not agree with Haahqae master plan, if he ever manages to pull the pieces together to make anything happen. Chances are that's well down the road. I plan to continue having Haahqae lie through his teeth about as many things as possible, and work together with the party convincing himself that what they're doing is the best way to get his own hidden goals done.

Agreed, very few people would actually call themselves evil, if any, however many people could and would do evil acts, justifying it in any of a variety of inventive ways.

It's somewhat refreshing having someone other then Haahqae coming up with battle strategy, since it's hard for me to justify wis 3 being a master tactician.

I figured that this ways your way of getting rid of Trench, and I spoke with Just_Ice about it yesterday. He pretty much said ok, that sounds about right. In terms of if he ever comes back, he said he's considered it, but for right now it doesn't seem likely in the near future, perhaps some time later.

True enough we're running out of front-line tanks quickly, without either a tank or a healer. If 2e is anything like 3e, a congerer can be a makeshift tank with a few summons, although not as good as a good fighter-cleric combo (or you know, cleric-cleric, or just druid). It might be wise to look into hirelings or grouping up with DNPCs who are more fighter/cleric like to keep us safe.

Now for the Level up:

I'm always scared about rolling my HP and tend to take average when it's an option, because I'm scared that I'll roll 1s on my fighter and end up with less HP then the wizard who rolled 4s, however it appears I managed to roll a good roll on my first HP die.

HP: 1d6/2 = 2.5 (So does the .5 carry over to later rolls?)

As for thief skills:
Thief: 5% Open Locks
Thief: 15% Move silently
Thief: 10% Hide
Mouse: 5% Find/remove Traps

Note: I noticed my thief xp was 1812/1250 while everyone else who leveled had their NLA xp updated.

Are you going to post XP breakdowns for this chapter?

[JadedDM]

I've been in groups before where I have literally met a new character that was joining us, saw him fight some monsters who my character had allied with (even if some of the rest of the party didn't agree) and say "He looks trustworthy, let's travel together."

Haha, this is almost exactly how BishGada's other character in my Lost Souls game joined the group.

But yeah, I think Tulbas' integration into the party worked really well and I think I might make that a regular thing whenever a new person joins--start them in their own private thread, let them work on their own goals and agendas, and then introduce them to the party when ready. This gives the new player a chance to flesh out their character before joining the group, and if the player should disappear before they join the main group, I can just close the thread and call it a day, rather than being forced to NPC them for awhile.

It's somewhat refreshing having someone other then Haahqae coming up with battle strategy, since it's hard for me to justify wis 3 being a master tactician.

Well, I'll tell you what. It's always tough when you are playing a character who is smarter/wiser/more experienced than you or dumber/more foolish/less experienced than you, so how about if you have an idea that you feel is beyond your own character's ability, post it in the OOC thread. And then another party member, who does have the appropriate scores, can bring it up in-character instead. This way if you have a good idea but your character wouldn't think of it, you can still share it. And if you can't think of anything to say/do/whatever, but your character should, you can use the given idea in order to stay in character. How does that sound to everyone?

I figured that this ways your way of getting rid of Trench, and I spoke with Just_Ice about it yesterday. He pretty much said ok, that sounds about right. In terms of if he ever comes back, he said he's considered it, but for right now it doesn't seem likely in the near future, perhaps some time later.

I didn't realize you two were still in touch. Well, he's welcome back if he ever changes his mind. Same deal with NoTrammeling, if he ever comes back.

(So does the .5 carry over to later rolls?)

In the official rules, you are supposed to 'round down' so that would make a total of 2 HP. But I've always liked to round up instead, so we'll say 3 HP.

Note: I noticed my thief xp was 1812/1250 while everyone else who leveled had their NLA xp updated.

Oops, fixed.

Are you going to post XP breakdowns for this chapter?

I thought I did, unless you mean something else by 'XP breakdown'?

[Haahque]

I didn't realize you two were still in touch. Well, he's welcome back if he ever changes his mind. Same deal with NoTrammeling, if he ever comes back.

I'll tell him that if it comes up.

In the official rules, you are supposed to 'round down' so that would make a total of 2 HP. But I've always liked to round up instead, so we'll say 3 HP.

Thanks, this would mean my average HP per 1 level in each is 3.5, instead of rounding down, where it would be 2.5, This puts the average HP/level at the higher end, of my 2 classes (2.5 for mage and 3.5 for thief) instead of at the lower end.

I thought I did, unless you mean something else by 'XP breakdown'?

Oh sorry, missed that and thanks.

Edit: Noticed a flaw in my math, rounding up, my average HP/level is 1d3 + 1d2 = 3.5, not (1d6+1d4)/2 = 3 as I calculated the first time.

[JadedDM]

Well, I can sympathize with having bad HP rolls. I once had a halfling cleric who, at level 3, had 8 HP, so...

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra's HP Roll (4)

Come on now. Really? During the battle, I kept rolling freaking 10's!

[mgbevan]

I've really enjoyed this chapter once again Jaded.

Come on health!!! (1d6=5)

Woo, big numbers!

Um, 10% into pick pockets, and,
5% into Read Languages, please.

[djhyland]

Another chapter, another day that Darga didn't die! Actually, now that you mention it, I'd have been fine with rolling up a new character had the thieves killed Darga in his sleep. I'm glad I didn't have to, though! I've got a few ideas of what he wants to do next.

Leveling up:
Darga gains 6 hit points!
Darga improves his move silently score by 15% and his hide in shadows score by 15%.

[JadedDM]

Haha, Darga now has more HP than the fighters!

Anyway, I guess that's everyone except BishGada. I've opened up the new chapter, so post at will.

[BishGada]

Hi All!
Sorry I didn't post in the last days and didn't even shown a 'blip' sign. I was in a race against the clock finishing some dreadful assignment.

Anyway, wow! I can't tell you all how I enjoy playing with you guys. The atmosphere is so real, you can almost touch it.
Regarding starting new players at their own thread and then join, I think it's terrific. I remember waiting every day to see what's going on at my thread. I almost felt a little bit sad when it was closed, but the genius about it is that you learn some aspect of the plot the others don't and then you can play much better role play when you meet so it is actually makes good sense to co-operate.

Regarding playing smarter/dumber than your real life self. I can't agree more. I have to play 19 INT! so obviously it's impossible. That's a main flaw with the abilities scores. They are good only for the bonuses and penalties, but it is difficult to role-pley them. This is similar with alignment. A good real-life person will never role-play evil person perfectly. (Luckily I'm not a good person in real-life ). Sure he can try to abuse some and kill some innocents, but he will never be able to fully think like an evil person thinks and therefore won't be creative about his evil deeds. (Even though these days we can learn a lot from the TV regarding evil deeds, which I'll spare you the descriptions just poped to my mind).
But one thing I disagree is to offer your ideas on the OOC thread to let someone else use it. I thought of it in previous threads and restrained my self from doing so. I think it will harm the others role-play creativity. I think I would rather read what others come up with and have my idea die away, than the other way around. The only thing I think is possible is to give hints which are true to your own character role-play. For example, when we wanted to meet Kendra and everyone said they don't know where to find her, Tulbas said 'maybe you know someone who knows her'. And I repeated it in few posts. That should have remind the others about Norris, and eventually we went to Norris. Whether my post helped or not we will never know, but again, if eventually we didn't go to Norris, I'd rather that than post in OOC that we could go to Norris.
Obviously that's how I feel about it and you all can disagree, but I think the ultimate goal in the D&D is the ability of each one to express his own ideas and creativity and it overcomes the goal of succeeding in a mission or something like that.

I know you wanted to get rid of Kynaston, but I tried to prevent it with the suggestion she will go to the Tower. Kynaston has nothing to do there.
Also we can use Daxia's knowledge for a little bit before she goes on her way in the new thread.

Now for the dice. I am also terrified of dice rolling but I had a perfect one 1d4 = 4
Another thing, if there is some time gap to the next thread, Tulbas will cast Armor on himself.

Regarding the Find Familiar. I was never sure casting that spell (or here, using the class ability) is a good thing. It has advantages and disadvantages. But I was younger. I will contemplate on the subject some more, and since I don't have the ingredients required for the spell anyway, I have enough time to contemplate .

See you all in the next thread.