WotL OOC Thread IV

[Chris1234]

@Jaded - Please would you clarify does this:

Gobax and Shima (Central Haven Sewers) ...There is no sound of rushing water or dripping pipes. Just complete silence.

seems to be magical silence, (easily enough tested by trying to may a minute amount of noise)?

[Haahque]

Haahqae doesn't know how to disarm the trap without triggering it; but does he know how to trigger the trap intentionally? That's usually the 2nd best option.

[JadedDM]

Chris, I was just trying to build a mood and create some tension. There's nothing magical going on. It's just quieter in that section than the previous ones.

Haahque, yeah, setting off the trap deliberately is a piece of cake.

[Haahque]

I was more going for how he would trigger the trap. Could he do it with a cantrip that he could delay until he's far away or jerry-rig some sort of triggering device for it etc.

If the trap is triggered by something as simple as moving the chest or hitting the triggering mechanism or something; these things shouldn't be too hard to complete; but if it's only triggered by attempting to open the chest it might be a bit harder to set up a remote-trigger for the trap.

Also; is both the chest and the carpet trapped; or only the chest?

[JadedDM]

In order to trigger the trap, he just needs to open the chest. So if he unlocks it and opens it, it should go off.

He could use an enchantment cantrip to open the lid without touching it (after unlocking it), but the range of a cantrip is only 10 feet--so that's the maximum distance he could move away from it and still trigger it.

The carpet isn't trapped. It is, however, 15 pounds and about 5 feet by 10 feet. So if his intention is to take the carpet, not only will picking it up drop his encumbrance level, but it won't fit in any bag or pouch he has, so it will remain at least partially visible while carrying it.

[Chris1234]

@Jaded, Why were the first two lines of this ignored:

The dwarf looks round the corner to the east.
If nothing untoward is revealed he then moves slightly east to look southward.
If still nothing untoward, Shima returns westward to go slightly north and look around the corner to the west.
If still nothing untoward he tries to pick the padlock.
Failing that, he leads on north and west to see if it cuts to the south..

I did try again here:

"I haven't been further than this so we're figuring it out as we go along now," answers Shima.
(And continues as previously stated).

If it's because you're trying to move us towards the SW exit, which is admirable, then can't you simply say "You arrive and it takes xxx hours", maybe roll 1d10 times or whatever for encounters etc.
At the moment it's hinting at feeling like another campaign I played on this site where the character doesn't do things that the player states (and does things that the player didn't state).

[JadedDM]

I'm not trying to maneuver you anywhere. In fact, I'm not entirely certain what you're even doing down there, to be honest.

You seem to have forgotten some key words in your own post that you quoted, though. Namely, 'if nothing untoward.' He peeked down those halls, saw nothing 'untoward' and then moved on. I thought that was obvious. Nothing is being ignored, there was just no reason to go into great detail about all of the nothing that he saw.

[Chris1234]

It's obvious to you that there's nothing there but that's because you know.
To us, each tunnel in the sewers is full of potential risk.
You're wrong on me forgetting "if nothing untoward".
You said above "He peeked down those halls, saw nothing 'untoward' and then moved on. I thought that was obvious."
Obvious to you but my powers of telepathy are underdeveloped.
It would be a huge help if you said in the main thread something similar to "He peeked down those halls, saw nothing untoward and then moved on." That saves me having to guess whether the "...saw nothing..." is to be inferred or whether there's a GM oversight and there actually is something relevant and unpleasant lurking there.

[JadedDM]

Thanks for the input. I'll keep it in mind.

[Haahque]

How apparent is the appearance difference between a kender and a gnome?

[JadedDM]

While the two races are roughly the same in height, there are quite a few differences. Gnomes are dark skinned with light hair, males have facial hair, and they tend to be stocky in build. Kender, however, are fair skinned with varying hair color, males are incapable of growing facial hair, and they tend to be more lithe in build.

Gnomes are super rare in this part of the world, though, which is why some people keep mistaking Haahqae for a very small dwarf, because they've never seen a gnome before (as I've said before, there are in fact two gnomes in the entire city of Haven). Kender are quite commonplace, though, all over the world. Most people can identify them easily enough.

[Haahque]

It sounds like the major differences you listed are:
Skin colour -> Do Kender tan?
Facial Hair -> I imagine this is not a difference in females?
Stockier build -> is this significant enough that the average person can immediately recognize that a gnome is not a Kender?

And for curiosity sake; how dissimilar are gnomes to dwarves? They're smaller, sure, but I think dwarves come in a variety of skin colours and are more commonplace here but perhaps not commonplace enough that they can be immediately recognized by their build.

[JadedDM]

Kender do tan in the summer, yes (they are almost always outdoors, due to wanderlust).

Most female gnomes do not have facial hair. Kender of any gender lack facial hair, much like elves.

As for build, I'd say most people could easily tell a kender from a gnome based on how stocky they are. Unless the kender/gnome is heavily cloaked or wearing thick clothes. Or they are at a distance. Or the person isn't paying all that close attention to them. In which case, they are probably just as likely to mistake a kender or gnome for a human child.

Hill dwarves are usually tanned. In Haven, they are more common than gnomes, but not as common as kender. (Dwarves make up 2% of the city's population, whereas kender make up 8%.) They are also taller and tend to be more muscular.

[Haahque]

Sorry for the delay.

Looking for a couple more details here: First of all, do the empty cells have doors open/unlocked or are they closed/locked? Secondly it looks like (from the map) that there is another door to the room in the south-east corner. Is this a door and if so what does it look like?

[JadedDM]

No worries. I just assumed you were busy with Canada Day weekend and all.

To answer your questions, the other cell doors are closed but do not appear to be currently locked. And yes, there is a door to the southeast. It looks a lot like the door he just entered from. Reinforced steel with a little window (that can be slid open or close--currently closed) to allow a man-sized person to peer through it.