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.
). 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).