Re: LSO OOC Thread II
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 9:17 am
Here are my notes for this chapter.
I rolled for random encounters at the very beginning of the chapter. That way, I knew what was coming and could foreshadow a bit. That's why I had the party encounter that statue of the flying snake, to foreshadow its appearance later on. More on that later.
This chapter had a very heavy focus on survival; I kept strict track of movement rates, food and water supplies, and so forth. This allowed Baeros, the newcomer to the group, to really be allowed to shine with his forest lore and hunting skills. Who knows when we'll ever be in a forest again, so I felt this was a good time to let him shine for a bit.
The battle with the giant toads was fairly easy, but it really helped emphasize the party's lack of coordination and teamwork. I was glad to see them making efforts to fix this later on.
The dead elven woman was again foreshadowing, this time of the stirge swarm. Looking back, I see I misread Ouragana's intention with her Web spell in that battle. She meant to create a wall of webbing to force the stirges to reroute, not to actually ensnare them. I guess it's a good thing I misread that, because if I had not, we likely would have lost more than Thunder in that battle. The stirges had a movement rate of 18 (that is, they could move 180 feet per round in battle), so that could have flown over or around the webbing without missing a beat.
It's a shame about Thunder, but I suppose Baeros would have had to give him up later on anyway, since a horse isn't really that useful in a game with lots of boats and sea travel. Ironically, if Baeros had sold the horse in Condletun, they could have hopped a boat instead and had a very different adventure along the way. Hindsight is 20/20, I suppose. (On the other hand, then you all wouldn't have acquired so much XP and treasure.)
The flying snake--a couatl--was a benevolent entity. They are Lawful Good and quite powerful. Baeros' assumption that it was deaf was wrong. It could hear quite well, and knew of his presence. It was deliberately ignoring him to see what he would do. If Baeros had attacked it, the couatl would have judged him 'evil' and probably killed him (9 HD, instantly deadly poison, and magic-use; I doubt he could have survived). If Baeros had attempted to communicate with it, it would have spoken to him (via telepathy) and once it judged him 'good' it would have offered him a boon. The boon would have depended on what he asked for, but it could have been food, a quicker way out of the forest, protection from dangerous beasts, or whatever.
Ultimately, Baeros decided to leave it alone. So the couatl judged him 'neutral' and just left him and the party alone. Nothing came from the encounter. The statue, as I said earlier, was meant to foreshadow the couatl's appearance. Andar's story about how they helped lost travelers was meant to convey that they are benevolent. Just goes to show, not everything you find in the wild will try and kill you.
Fortunately, the party did decide to follow the blink dog. Sure, he basically led them into a trap, but he didn't know any better. He just wanted to help his mother. And although he's just a pup now, in a couple of years he'll be fully grown and a valuable ally should Baeros decide to train him.
Now a personal note to each of you.
Horizon
To level up, roll 1d8-1 to determine your HP. If you roll a 1-1, you still get 1 HP.
Jocelyn basically saved Andar's life this session, whether she realizes it or not. She also seemed fairly proud of herself for helping Andar work on his emotional problems, before this adventure began. Maybe you can use that in her on-going character development?
Breila
To level up, roll 1d4 to determine your HP.
I suppose Ouragana learned the valuable lesson in that last fight that you can't just rely on the same spells every time. The ettercap, being a spider-kin, was immune to Web and too strong for Sleep. But now that she's level 4, those extra spell slots should grant her some additional versatility.
Jenara
Well, since her player is gone, I'll level up Areilon and continue to NPC her for the time being, if only because the party needs a thief and I can't come up with a plausible reason for why she'd leave the party now. Unless she happens to die before then, I'll permanently remove her from the party when the third arc begins. Either with a new PC or failing that, an NPC.
Nuke
I can't really think of anything to say. We didn't really learn anything about Val.
BishGada
To level up, roll 1d10+1 to determine your HP.
I'm curious to see how Thunder's death and the close call both Baeros himself and Andar had with death might affect the ranger.
I noticed nobody seemed overly concerned that Baeros could die, as well. Jocelyn treated Andar, giving him a +2 to his save, but didn't bother with Baeros. So either the party hasn't really accepted him and doesn't care much if he lives or dies (which is ODD, as Jocelyn risked her life to try and save his horse!) or people were metagaming the fact that you rolled that poison save too soon.
As always, feedback is welcome. I'll get the new chapter up soon.
I rolled for random encounters at the very beginning of the chapter. That way, I knew what was coming and could foreshadow a bit. That's why I had the party encounter that statue of the flying snake, to foreshadow its appearance later on. More on that later.
This chapter had a very heavy focus on survival; I kept strict track of movement rates, food and water supplies, and so forth. This allowed Baeros, the newcomer to the group, to really be allowed to shine with his forest lore and hunting skills. Who knows when we'll ever be in a forest again, so I felt this was a good time to let him shine for a bit.
The battle with the giant toads was fairly easy, but it really helped emphasize the party's lack of coordination and teamwork. I was glad to see them making efforts to fix this later on.
The dead elven woman was again foreshadowing, this time of the stirge swarm. Looking back, I see I misread Ouragana's intention with her Web spell in that battle. She meant to create a wall of webbing to force the stirges to reroute, not to actually ensnare them. I guess it's a good thing I misread that, because if I had not, we likely would have lost more than Thunder in that battle. The stirges had a movement rate of 18 (that is, they could move 180 feet per round in battle), so that could have flown over or around the webbing without missing a beat.
It's a shame about Thunder, but I suppose Baeros would have had to give him up later on anyway, since a horse isn't really that useful in a game with lots of boats and sea travel. Ironically, if Baeros had sold the horse in Condletun, they could have hopped a boat instead and had a very different adventure along the way. Hindsight is 20/20, I suppose. (On the other hand, then you all wouldn't have acquired so much XP and treasure.)
The flying snake--a couatl--was a benevolent entity. They are Lawful Good and quite powerful. Baeros' assumption that it was deaf was wrong. It could hear quite well, and knew of his presence. It was deliberately ignoring him to see what he would do. If Baeros had attacked it, the couatl would have judged him 'evil' and probably killed him (9 HD, instantly deadly poison, and magic-use; I doubt he could have survived). If Baeros had attempted to communicate with it, it would have spoken to him (via telepathy) and once it judged him 'good' it would have offered him a boon. The boon would have depended on what he asked for, but it could have been food, a quicker way out of the forest, protection from dangerous beasts, or whatever.
Ultimately, Baeros decided to leave it alone. So the couatl judged him 'neutral' and just left him and the party alone. Nothing came from the encounter. The statue, as I said earlier, was meant to foreshadow the couatl's appearance. Andar's story about how they helped lost travelers was meant to convey that they are benevolent. Just goes to show, not everything you find in the wild will try and kill you.
Fortunately, the party did decide to follow the blink dog. Sure, he basically led them into a trap, but he didn't know any better. He just wanted to help his mother. And although he's just a pup now, in a couple of years he'll be fully grown and a valuable ally should Baeros decide to train him.
Now a personal note to each of you.
Horizon
To level up, roll 1d8-1 to determine your HP. If you roll a 1-1, you still get 1 HP.
Jocelyn basically saved Andar's life this session, whether she realizes it or not. She also seemed fairly proud of herself for helping Andar work on his emotional problems, before this adventure began. Maybe you can use that in her on-going character development?
Breila
To level up, roll 1d4 to determine your HP.
I suppose Ouragana learned the valuable lesson in that last fight that you can't just rely on the same spells every time. The ettercap, being a spider-kin, was immune to Web and too strong for Sleep. But now that she's level 4, those extra spell slots should grant her some additional versatility.
Jenara
Well, since her player is gone, I'll level up Areilon and continue to NPC her for the time being, if only because the party needs a thief and I can't come up with a plausible reason for why she'd leave the party now. Unless she happens to die before then, I'll permanently remove her from the party when the third arc begins. Either with a new PC or failing that, an NPC.
Nuke
I can't really think of anything to say. We didn't really learn anything about Val.
BishGada
To level up, roll 1d10+1 to determine your HP.
I'm curious to see how Thunder's death and the close call both Baeros himself and Andar had with death might affect the ranger.
I noticed nobody seemed overly concerned that Baeros could die, as well. Jocelyn treated Andar, giving him a +2 to his save, but didn't bother with Baeros. So either the party hasn't really accepted him and doesn't care much if he lives or dies (which is ODD, as Jocelyn risked her life to try and save his horse!) or people were metagaming the fact that you rolled that poison save too soon.
As always, feedback is welcome. I'll get the new chapter up soon.