OOC Chat II

[JadedDM]

It's been awhile since I played those games, but if memory serves, yeah, that's accurate.

[Jenara]

Loved those games, night have to get an emulator for them or something!

And haste is a last resort, getting aged a year isn't ideal.

[JadedDM]

DOSBOX is a free emulator that can run them easily enough. I have physical copies of the three Eye of the Beholder games, but you could probably find them online at an abandonware site.

Haste can be a life-saver, but at a cost. Although that cost isn't as bad for some races as it is for others.

[Jenara]

I'll check it out.

And for humans losing a year is a major cost.

We only have five items, yeah?

[JadedDM]

From the dragon's horde, there's the wand, two potions, the chain mail and the plate mail.

From previous adventures, there's the Fungus Staff, the rusty long sword, and the wand and ring taken from Timir-i-Ling.

[Jenara]

So two spells needed. Locky might get a pearl too, for Jerrard - Jen

[JadedDM]

Something I've talked about before is the party having goals, or rather the fact that they don't really have much beyond 'finish the current adventure.' Imani wants to free her son. Jeremy wants to find a little tranquil forest to call home. The others, though, are mostly just along for the ride and don't seem to have any tangible goals beyond 'get stronger' and 'see the world.'

But it occurs to me that this thing with Malika could be a goal for Jerrard. I've toyed with the idea of somehow turning it into a personal sidequest of sorts for him, giving him an opportunity for some character growth, among other things.

However, I want to ask specifically--what are Jerrard's intentions toward Malika? I think I have a good idea, but it's probably better to hear it straight from the player. What exactly is his end-game, at least in regards to her? Knowing this will help me in working it as a goal into the story better.

Is he hoping to train her to become his henchman? He's clearly interested in her on some romantic level, but does he just want casual sex? A girlfriend? Wife? (First wife?) The clearer the picture I have, the easier a time I'll have working with this.

[Jerrard]

My next post should make his intentions clear actually, and his goals are still something I am deciding on.

He isn't the type to want causal sex, he had the chance in Khur and wasn't interested.

[JadedDM]

I will have XP up later today, as well as the beginning of the next chapter.

Also, sorry everyone for that scene taking so long; I hadn't meant for that to happen, and to leave everyone twiddling their thumbs except Jerrard and me. My internet hasn't been very cooperative lately, which stopped me from answering posts as quickly as I normally would.

Thanks for your patience, things will get rolling again as soon as the next chapter is up.

[Jenara]

I wouldn't worry, we were away (and Jerrard is still away) over the weekend, that last post was dictated over the phone and posted by me!

Neither of us could have replied any sooner anyway.

[JadedDM]

Jenara, go ahead and roll 1d8 for Locky's new HP total.

Here are my thoughts:

This first chapter was designed for 4-8 characters of levels 1-3. The random encounters would have devastated a group of that level, ironically enough, even with Aleaha helping them. Of course, I was using 'standard' forest encounter lists. This is because my Dragonlance Monstrous Compendium was on my harddrive, which I didn't have access to at the time. I do now, though!

I sat down and calculated how long it would take the party to cross the Silvanesti Forest, and it was about four months. (They're basically moving 1 1/2 miles a day!) It's the end of summer now, so winter will likely be just starting at that point. I suppose that's the trade-off for the party growing in size. Still, I wouldn't worry about it. The party isn't in a big hurry right now anyway, and it's not like we'll roleplay out the entire four months. There will be time elapses.

The 'treant' the party encountered on the first day was actually a hangman tree (a random encounter). They're quite lethal, so it was a good thing Jeremy thought to wake Aleaha and seek her advice about it. Fortunately, hangman trees are extremely slow (it takes hours just to move a few feet), so as long as they avoided it, they were in no real danger.

Aleaha is an interesting character. For those who are wondering, she's a 10th level ranger, which is why she can cast spells. I was very curious to see how Babushka and Jeremy would take to her talk of Habbakuk. I thought having her use a Speak with Animals spell would really impress them, and it seemed to.

The two-headed troll was also a random encounter. (Indeed, the draconian battle was the only scripted one in this chapter of the module.) Horizon groaned and rolled her eyes at the sight of it, because I had thrown a couple at her in another game recently. Had anyone searched the remains of the troll, they would have discovered two gems (both worth 50 STP).

Likewise, the three evil treants were also a random encounter. The dice were harsh on you guys this chapter. Still, you did fairly well. Aleaha took the brunt of the damage, but her ring helped her. (Don't expect Lareth to do likewise, though!) Had anyone searched the remains of the evil treants, they would have found a number of gemstones of varying values, an Elixir of Youth and, ironically enough, an Oil of Fiery Burning.

So, the Baaz encounter. It was actually not meant to be so tough, but I hadn't anticipated Jerrard splitting the party up. I was just about to have them appear when he announced the men would leave to let the women bathe.

Anyway, Baaz! We haven't encountered them since Sarcophagus Legion. It was nice to bring them out again. Draconians make for such interesting enemies, I think. Anyway, had anyone thought to search the Baaz remains, they would have found some steel coins, gemstones, and of course, food and waterskins.

The next chapter will be more difficult (each chapter grows in difficulty, actually). We had some close calls in this one, and this was the easiest one! So, keep on your toes, remember your strategy, and watch each other's backs.

As always, feedback, thoughts, opinions, questions and so on are more than welcome.

[Jenara]

Well we left the baaz, they are next to the camp, I thought we'd check them in the morning actually.

[Jenara]

Level six locky! Yay.
1d8=3 wow, 3hp

[JadedDM]

Yep, only three more levels until she's a Lady. Better start saving up for that keep now!

[agamotto]

I try to remember that Jeremy is not used to being around large groups of people for a protracted period of time. It will take him a while to get used to group dynamics and trusting others with his life.