Your relief from the dark horrors of the nether realm.

Adventure Options!

Now this is a pre-fab adventure, so whatever you choose will meant that you will inevitably wind up in the same place. But these will determine why you're here and participating, how I start the adventure, and the reactions of certain NPCs. Choose one or two that you like, or invent your own, and I'll go with the most popular one or two.

But Is It Art?

The affable merchant Tulin Fairweather has been quietly approaching adventurers with a rather embarrassing request. He had been recently hired to transport an expensive objet d'art from Furthinghome to Glarondar, and tried to cut costs and time by taking a shortcut through the Yuirwood. And then lost it. He's not sure where, but suspects it went missing near a certain menhir circle. He was unwilling to interfere with the mysterious henge, and now seeks qualified adventurers to find and retrieve the item. There will of course be a reward for the item's return.

Save The Princess, Save The World

Berask Trameldor, a prominent half-elven noble of Furthinghome has been making secret visits to the city's taverns and seedy dens, making discrete inquiries of the adventurers he finds there. He needs a certain lost treasure found and returned. That treasure is Duladora, his disobedient and adventurous daughter, who went into the Yuirwood after rumours of a functioning portal and has not returned. A reward is available for anyone who can return her alive and safe and with the minimum of shame upon his household.

At The Woods Of Madness

The ancient stone circles that lie in the green depths of the Yuirwood are a favourite legend of the adventurers passing through Aglarond. One old stone henge lying at the edge of the forest is reportedly haunted, and strange lights and missing travelers in the region give credence to these stories. Other tales claim that the old stone rings lead to abandoned citadels of the star elves, where treasure is free for the taking. And one mad old ex-adventurer claims to have seen insane horrors and twisted alien worlds beyond comprehension. It sounds like a grand adventure, doesn't it?

The Ghost Who Walks

A powerful oracle's divinations have revealed that the Duskwalker has awakened and once again threatens the Yuirwood and the world beyond. Of course, the predictions are frustratingly vague, but all signs point to some disastrous occurrence if this threat from a bygone era is not stopped. The Masters Of The Yuirwood have put out a call for brave adventurers to patrol the forest, investigate unusual signs, and help them thwart this ancient evil.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:50, Fri 09 Nov 2007.

Now, before we begin... has anyone played The Twilight Tomb already? No? Good. :)

Massively looking forward to the game.

Same here.  Pleasure to be gaming with you, Coby.  :-)  Would you be our Ranger/Rogue or our Swashbuckler?

Ranger Rogue.

Splendid.  :-)  Ranged or hth?  Duncan's a favoured soul of helm in the buff n' bash style, but I intend to take cure spells at every level, so I'm guessing I'll be our healer/tank.  And possibly our face.  Which is a scary thought.  It's not that Duncan isn't good at talking to people, far from it, he just doesn't have the ... temperment.  And probably won't, until he's forced to grow up.  ;-)  Just thought I'd warn you - Duncan probably will annoy you tremedously.  I know he annoys me...

Just force some emotional maturity on him and I'm sure he'll be a wonderful lad to be around.  ;-)
This message was last edited by the player at 21:07, Mon 12 Nov 2007.

hth.  Coby is a bit socially awkward as well, a bit shy, really.  I've taken the ranger levels for a survivability boost and because it fits his background, but am going to go utility/skills rogue from here on out.

Opposite problem with Duncan.  He's not shy, he's self righteous, egotistical, opinionated and more than a little prejudiced.  In other words, the sterotypical image of a paladin, and therefore although on occasion charming, at other times he's just a pain to be around and needs a good kick up the arse.

...

You can tell I have issues with paladins, can't you?  ;-)
This message was last edited by the player at 21:07, Mon 12 Nov 2007.

hth? I guess that means two-weapon fighting, but I'm not sure what that acronym stands for, I've never heard it before.

Between a Rogue, a Favoured Soul and a Swashbuckler, you guys will have plenty of faces to go around. :) And there will be a few opportunities to try it out, don't worry.

The Swashie should be in soon, and hopefully I'll be able to find some more PCs to join you. Then we can get off to a start. For now, chat.

Actually, it means hand to hand combat - a holdover from my wargaming.  :-)  Same difference, so meh.

Well I'm pretty much melee too. Well at least we will have ample flanking opportunities.

Welcome aboard Gildor!  Pleasure to be gaming with you too.  :-)  By the by, Coby, as I only just noticed (lil' observant me...), if you're from the Sword Coast you might be familiar with the Faithful Blades and possibly the Radhes.

The Radhes are minor Neverwinter nobles (Duncan's father Edward is a knight-captain of Neverwinter), and as the Faithful Blades maintain their chapterhouse just outside the city, they're quite active in the region.

Unfortunately Coby has no ranks in knowledge (nobility) and has spent little time in cities or towns, so he really doesn't have a lot of familiarity with anything but the big groups; Harpers, Zhents, Red Wizards, that kind of thing.

Fair enough.  The Radhes are so minor, knowing about them would probably be obscure, even if you were from Neverwinter itself.  And while the Faithful Blades are big on the local scene, even for a native like yourself they're nowhere near that level.  Unless you took a civil case to court, in which case one of them might have been the judge.  But given your character, unlikely I imagine, yes?  Ho Hum...

Hey boss, do you want me to go ahead and explain the mission, or would you rather we wait to see if more players turn up?

Carry on. Anyone new can catch up later.

Grom the Dwarven Fighter here!  If ya could fill me in quickly on what's goin' on, I'd be mighty obliged.  Thanks!

'standard dwarf barbarian' - isn't that an oxymoron?  ;-)  Good to have you with us Grom!  :-)  Let's get you joined with the group, and I'll post about Duncan's quest.

So to review, on an adventure heavily featuring undead we have:-
1. A dwarf barbarian
2. A swashbuckler, many of whose class features don't work on undead as well
3. A ranger/rogue, when sneak attack doesn't work on undead
4. A favoured soul, who unlike a cleric can't turn undead
Yep, well prepared we are!  ;-)  This is why I love roleplayers rather than rollplayers - it means even the simplest things can be interesting.  :-)

Well, undead are my favored enemy, so there's that.

Or rather, a bunch of random PCs. :)

Fortunately there won't be too many undead, they just tend to be the most problematic, and there will be plenty of other creatures besides. I'll just keep them as surprises. :) I think each of you will have something to add in various situations, be it skills, diplomacy, magic or brute force. :)

I hope to get in an arcane spellcaster of some kind to round things out, before we begin.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:00, Sat 17 Nov 2007.

And I suppose I'm the arcane caster, though the light armor, the waraxe, and the fact that Jorn's a dwarf might skew the image a bit for some observers.  Jorn's also definitely focused toward the conjuration side of magic.

Glad to meet all of you.

Well, several things to get through in a hurry, so I hope you'll pardon me for not welcoming you properly, Jorn.  :-)

Firstly, my apologies for not making this post sooner.  I meant to do it earlier than this, but due to circumstances beyond my control I've been unable to.  Those circumstances are that I'm moving house today, hence why I've been a bit intermittant of late.  And that's likely to continue - I'm not getting a phone line till the 26th and I don't know how long it'll be to get broadband set up in my new place.

My parents, (who conviniently live just two junctions down the motorway) have very kindly offered me their computer for the duration.  But I don't want to impose on them by dropping by to go online every night.  So to play it safe, I'll post when I can, and can you npc me as necessary until I'm back to regularly scheduled service and all that boss?  [Private to DM BadCatMan: Please have Duncan suitably affronted at the suggestion he'd do anything improper and especially that he'd hurt innocents.  This is just a delicate matter to him as he views it as a shameful failure on his part.]

Of course, due to the potential difficulties involved in this, and the potentially long (though hopefully not too long) duration, I fully understand if you want to drop me and seek a replacement.  If so, it's been a great pleasure, if only for a short while, to game with all of you.

It'll only be about a week, won't it? I think we can wait or slow down a bit until then.

Perhaps Duncan takes a trip to loo while the others talk? :)

Theoretically.  (borrowing parents pc atm)  I get my phone line on monday, but given it's getting near to Christmas my broadbad might not arrive/be activated until January.  And meanwhile I'm bored out of my mind while I unpack, get another load packed, and unpack again....

I really am sorry about this. :-(

That's a long trip to the bathroom.

Is there an orphan game for orphans while we wait, or should we just forge on ahead?

Sorry, I missed this.

Carry on chatting for a bit. I'll figure something out in time.

Okay, Plan, uh, A. :)

Right, phone line has been installed.  I got lucky with my broadband and it's been booked in for Friday, so it should be active by next Saturday.  So, theoretically, normal service should resume in a week.  I don't want to say definately as we all know what these things are like...

Okay, best of luck with that. I know all too well the torments of broadband installation. :(

Okay, okay, put this to rest you two. No more threats of violence. You'll be adventuring together for a long time.

We have an Arena for this sort of thing:
link to "RoA: Arena"

Rule one - You don't attack another player.  Not unless he attack you or your pets.
I have never forgotten it.

I don't think Slove and Coby will get along but I happy to play it that way.
Slove not most friendly elf anyway.
However my last post does push the game towards NPC and adventure so that should clear thing up little.

I know that, and you know that, but my character has no reason to believe you won't shoot him in the back.  He thinks you're probably a Zhent or a follower of Malar, due to the way you've been talking.

Give me an IC reason to trust - or at least tolerate - you.

[Private to DM BadCatMan: Namedropping the person I'm trying to meet with for the Harpers would work.]

TBH Slove would not care if you join us or not.  However the last post should give you reason to at least tolerate him.  Or at least realize he not going to shoot Cody in backside.

Yeah.  He still doesn't trust Slove or his capabilities, but he'll just keep an eye on him for awhile.

You may have noticed a distinct lack of posting - as you can no doubt tell my broadband was not installed so I'm still without a modem.  I've been yelling and bawling over the phone about it but it does look like it's going to be after New Year's.  Apologies.  :-(

That's alright. It's a long bathroom break. :)

Merry Christmas and enjoy your XP.

Thanks.

A late Merry Christmas to all!  And a Happy New Year.

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas,I look foward to playing with all of you:)

And away you go!

Oh, and armour check penalties don't apply to Listen, just to certain physical skills.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:43, Mon 31 Dec 2007.

BCM, are you a 'strict initiative' type of DM, or an 'act when you can and the DM will sort it out' type of DM?

Do you want actions from everybody, or do you want us to wait our turn?

Oh, and hello Viijan.  Looks like you might be off to a rocky start if you're planning on joining up with us... ;-)

No rockier than the rest of you. :)

I'm not strict on initiative. Act when you like, though close to the order if possible. Unless an enemy happens to have a turn ahead of you, in which case wait for me, though I usually try to keep the enemies acting at the same time.

Sadly, all too true...

*wanders off to write a post...*

Ohaiho all!  Long time no post.  A belated merry christmas and happy new year all round - I hope those who are old enough didn't get totally pissed and make complete fools of themselves...  gods know I did!  ;-)

After many rather icy phone calls on my part I discovered my suppliers didn't actually update all their databases with my new address, so they sent my new modem to the old one - suffice to say I made my displeasure known...

Apparently it'll be dispatched on Monday, so hopefully I'll be up & running again a couple of weeks after that at most.  That's one long trip to the loo - I really don't want to know what that stew's done to Duncan's guts...  Though I suppose it could be because he has to get out of and back into all that enamelled steel...

Anyhow, welcome Viijan and hopefully it'll be a pleasure to be gaming with you in a couple of weeks. :-)

Considering we're currently trying to kill him...

As an aside, I've made 4 attacks, none of which have rolled higher than 9.  My e-dice are cursed.

Hello Duncan,your fellow players attacked me unprovoked!That's what I shall tell the judge :)

With Slove he tends to be judge - jury and executioner.
So that maybe little hard on you.

Also it up to you how you play your character as Coby found out.  However you character was in rage and was attack by own group.

It that was slove he would have turn on spell caster attack then and given them good belting.

Looks like that is just what will happen. :)

Sorry for the delay. I hadn't realised that everybody had posted and was waiting on me.

See you soon, Duncan. Hopefully you'll be back up and running in time to help out in this fight.

I don't know what happened to Grom, but Gildor should be back sometime. Like Duncan, they're back in the inn and can come to your aid later.

No saving throw on the spells?

Nope. It's a Ray Of Enfeeblement.

I'm not using Critical 1s. I mean, I once heard of a guy accidentally stabbing himself in real life martial arts knife training, but it's not something I see happening 1 in 20 times.

Slove's been AWOL for more than a tenday, so I'll just NPC him until he gets back.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:00, Sun 27 Jan 2008.

Battle's over folks! Well done!

It will take a minute for the sickened states and nausea to pass, and Slove's strength penalty.

Sorry - I was on holiday from 21 - 31.
I thought I posted being away in this game (I am in 3-4 games here so must miss this one or it got lost.
Sorry - I am back now.

Welcome back!

Okay, a bit of a problem. Viijan hasn't checked in for over a week, and it wouldn't do to leave a new PC dying in the gutter. Meanwhile, Duncan and Gildor are still away, and I don't know what happened to Grom. And we're almost ready to set off on the expedition, once you get your info from Tulin.

If the others don't show up in time, I'll send you three off on your own. If they check in later, they can join in on a back-up expedition later.

I hope no-one minds about the fast forward; there wasn't much to do anyway. Ask some questions, then we can get to exposition, and we can be underway.

I'll carry on with you three for now. If the others don't return in time, I'll advertise for new PCs at the last minute.

Make sure that you're stocked and prepared before you leave. I recommend hiring mounts or some other means of transport so that you make good time.

And be prepared. You might not be back in civilisation for some time...

What's it going to cost to 'hire' a mount?  Jorn doesn't have much money.  He might buy a donkey, but that's not a speedy transport.

Should have read the IC first...  Off to buy a horsey... ;-)

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equi...mountsAndRelatedGear

You can sell the horse back when you return, which comes to the same as just hiring it, with a deposit, I guess. A rancher won't just give an adventurer a horse for tuppence on the off chance he survives and returns to pay the full rent. :)

I have to just say Coby I am so enjoying adventuring with you.
Your character brings out the worst in Slove and just so funny.

This my way say I have no problem with the way you playing your character.
Jorn your dwarf has the patients of saint as do you.

:O

Okay, that bet seems a little unbalanced: 10% of life's earnings vs 10% of life's earnings plus building a forest, building a temple, becoming a forester and a priest for the rest of one's life... No.

I'd like to limit that to a flat even amount of GP, either now or from your final reward.


[Private to Slove: And may I remind you that a light horse is capable of 60ft, has the Endurance and Run feats, and you are only capable of 50ft and don't have those feats, and it's not hard for a rider like Coby to reduce weight.]

Coby's not foolish enough to take a sucker's bet.

Okay, that bet seems a little unbalanced: 10% of life's earnings vs 10% of life's earnings plus building a forest, building a temple, becoming a forester and a priest for the rest of one's life... No.

Just to clear this up - 1) The money was be used for buying land so nothing extra.
Second you talking about human life vs a elf life.

But Coby did not take it up.

[Private to DM BadCatMan: Slove was made in the days of 3.0 and 3.5 had just come out.  Slove was then faster than most horse.  But it be hard to carry all his equipement and still be at horse max speed.  Which was cover by the bet.  Only reason I said it is coby keep telling Slove what can can't do - that just does not go down well with 130+ year old barbarain (he he)]

What you've purchased is fine. Add it to your sheets and take off what you've spent.

[Private to Coby Koensson: Perhaps you should buy some feed for Felix too. :)]

Now just one last opportunity to do something before you set off. Final words, maybe?

I'll advertise for a new PC shortly as I don't want you guys understaffed. :p

Oh, yes.

True.  Dunno how the grazing will be along the way.  10 days of feed for 5sp.

It will take you about two days of travel to get to the area you need to be, maybe a little longer depending on how you go exploring the forest.

Some new PCs will be joining up soon.

Of course, your characters don't know that. :p

Hi, everybody!

Indeed, hi!

Greetings!

Iodaem will be away for a few days, and Authiel had some trouble with her internet (should be better now?). So I need filler material.

I guess you know what comes next...

So, Coby left the game? Seriously?

Hi Gurgun.  I don't know if left or not.  The two charactor have never gotten on.  I don't take it personal.  Slove not most easy of elves to get along with it true.
Just so you know I been playing him over 2 years and come from another thread what lost its GM twice at least.
As for Coby I don't know.

Hi Slove! I was under the impression that neither of you took it personally, and I hope that Coby didn't either and that his reasons for leaving (if he did) were of another nature.
Oh well.

Make your checks if you haven't already, and roleplay as you like. I'll try to sort this mess out.

Hi there.  :)  Yep, the dsl issues have all been fixed, thank goodness.  I should be good to go, just let me know what to do, when, how, the whole bit.  :p

Authiel, Gurgun and Iodaem can feel free to chat for a little bit (hint, hint).

In the IC thread that the other PCs are posting in?  I'm not sure I can start anything off, it'd be better if Iodaem or Gurgun did.  I might try, though.  :p

Yeah, just join in 'further down the road'.

Is this 'The Twilight Tomb: The Rains Fell On Furthinghome' what you mean?   I couldn't find anything that said further down the road.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:13, Sat 08 Mar 2008.

Yeah, that's the thread. Your group is hundred-odd feet down the road from Coby, Jorn and Slove. You're all travelling towards the Yuirwood.

Okie dokie, I'll do my best, then.  :p

Btw, I saw the cost of a heavy horse and will not pay 200 gp for a mount. Gurgun still buys a large working horse, but something in between a light and heavy horse. I've deducted 120 gp for the mount and simple riding gear (saddle, etc).

Oh, that's right!  Remind me tonight or something to look that stuff over.

Gurgun, if you'd like the heavy horse instead of what you got, just let me know.  Perhaps DM BCM will let me buy one for you using DM XPs I've earned.  I don't remember off the top of my head how much gold Authiel has.  :p

EDIT: BCM, may I get all three of us a horse, saddle, and saddlebags using DM XP?  Three heavy horses (not that Authiel needs one, per se, but it kinda makes sense they'd all have similar horses from wherever they got them), three military saddles (+2 to ride checks), and three saddlebags would run 672 gp or 3360 DM XP.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:55, Sat 08 Mar 2008.

Sweet!

Coby's player has chosen to retire due to RL work time problems, not because of his argument with Slove. Goodbye Coby.

You don't need to make checks again. I'm using the ones I asked for earlier.

Ah, ok.

No map this time. Not for a random encounter. :)

There's no real need to follow the initiative order, as the NPCs will all act last. Jorn's player is unwell, so I'll be NPCing him too.

I assume you all bought ordinary horses. If for some reason you have a warhorse, then it doesn't get startled.

And how did you know they were going to be gnolls, hmm? Large furry barking dog-like creatures could have been, umm, werewolves, or, uh, some obscure monster race.

Do I need to make any kind of check for dismounting?  It's highly unlikely Authiel could keep either horse calm, let alone both.  And if one gets spooked the other would have no choice but to go with that one as I sort of tied them together after a fashion.

You can mount or dismount as a move action, with no check. If you make a DC 20 Ride check, you can do it as a free action, and failure just has you do it with a move action.

Actions I'm not so good at...If I dismount as a move action, I would still have a standard action during which I could cast a spell, if I so choose?  (So long as the casting time was a standard action, of course.)

Yep, that's right.

Gurgun clearly stated he was guessing ;-)

And I always thought werewolves, errr, howled... :-)

Sorry.  Looks like this was a game I missed with my notice that I'd be out last week.  Hopefully BadCatMan saw it in the Lounge.  I'm back now, but still having problems.  I'll be doing my best to keep up.

Those poor clumsy gnolls. :(

Welcome back. I did see the message and was about to NPC you.

*giggles*

Too bad we can't cast unlimited MM each and every day.  :p

I should probably be thankful you're not a Warlock or something.

*giggles*  How funny!  I was just going to say that a warmage is almost as good as a warlock!  :p

Last night, I was busily RoAing when our power blacked out, just for a moment. Then it came back on, my computer restarted, and we noticed an odd smell and a cloud of smoke in the room.

Cue a lot of frantic searching and unplugging and switching off of electrical equipment, fearing a fire somewhere.

Eventually we tracked down the source - the power supply of my computer, industriously pumping out fumes. Something must have shorted or whatever during the blackout.

Just in time for the Easter break too*. :(

So my computer and internet access will be limited for a time until we get this fixed. I have this unfamiliar other computer to work on, but all my notes and resources were on the now-broken one. And I have to share this one with family.

After Easter, I'll get back to work and my office computer so my access will improve then, but I won't be fully operational until my home computer is fixed.

Until then, continue to shoot retreating gnolls in the back like the brave heroes you are. :p

* Additionally, our Foxtel account expired (we only get free intro offers over summer; lots of NatGeo documentaries). We'd hoped all the shows we taped could still be watched over Easter, but they're now inaccessible.

Long weekend at home. No computer and no tv make BadCatMan a very dull boy...

Okay, the computer now has a new power supply and I'm back to relatively normal operation.

That battle was almost over before it started, but there you go.

A new PC will be coming in soon, of the Cleric variety.

Hi everyone,
I am the new PC of the cleric variety.

I am just wrapping up some final details and hope to post in game later tonight (this morning already?).

Welcome (back) Alessandra! Glad you "found" the horses! ;-)

Welcome to group.

Sorry about me not posting - I made one and the site did not take it.
I have not had the time to make a new one.  I ususally post a lot more often even if slove does not speak a great deal.

Sorry for the delay. You posted some good knowledge checks and so I had a lot of research to do and tales to tell. :)

Reading some HP Lovecraft today helped. :D

I don't know what the problem is with Slove's face. I'll let him explain it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:33, Wed 09 Apr 2008.

NP it best if you do :)

Just a reminder: Tulin told Jorn and Slove earlier that a Master Of The Yuirwood would likely meet them at the edge of the forest or thereabouts. It's a case of "don't find us, we'll find you".

You should enter the forest after an hour's travel the next day.

Thanks, I'd forgotten that.

To sum up, Round 1 was just Gurgun vs the Gnolls. Everybody else wakes up in time for Round 2. You wake up prone (ie, laying down). To stand up is a move action. That triggers an AoO if you have a gnoll in melee range of you. But I guess it's possible to cast some spells and make some attacks when on the ground.

The spell is Bane. The effect is -1 attack and -1 on Will saves vs Fear effects. It does have the Fear descriptor, but so far it causes no effects beyond what I said.

Though it softens you up for a real fear spell... :D

Wow, these gnolls have probably been the luckiest of all my monsters. :D

Did Authiel's spell hurt the shaman or anything?

It did. But he's been buffing up a bit. :D

Okie dokie.  It wasn't mentioned, so I just wanted to make sure before doing anything else.  Thank you.

Actually, it was:

Oh gosh, sorry.  My bad.  I was so tired and not feeling good that it didn't register at all.  So sorry, please forgive me.

Forgive you? What for? It's nothing. :)

Thank you.  :)

Hi everyone,

unfortunately, I am going to be out of town starting around noon monday the 21st (PST). I am going to be traveling to visit some family who have just had their twins a bit early and they little boys are in neo-natal ICU.

I'll try and check in before leaving monday and I expect I will back back Tuesday, but if for some unforeseen reason, I am not. I am leaving some standard actions here for the DM.

hope the fight goes well, if i can post from teh road, i will.

bright blessings to all.
allessandra (barry).

[Private to DM BadCatMan:
Allessandra will first make sure the gnoll she is in combat with is down. a dead priestess is no good to anyone after all.

next, based on her observations of conditions, if someone is about to die, lesser vigor or convert her 2nd level command spell to cure moderate wounds. next order of business is prot from evil as a domain spell on someone who needs it. hold person can be used after that. if things really go south, obscuring mist. if it gets more than a round, i'll be surprised. ]

Safe travels!

Your friends and their sons will be in my prayers.  I've had two children in the NICU, so I know all about what they're going through.  How early were the boys?  Weights?  Pray for them to get off the ventilator (if they're on one) within 72 hours because that's a big hurdle to beat early and great news if they can.  Have a safe trip.

both are just around the 6lb mark, but 6 weeks early.

one developed pneumonia after the second day and the other had to be rushed into surgery for two hours to correct a blockage in his intestines.

thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, off i go on a jet plane in a bit.

b

That's actually very good then.  Only six weeks early and weighing in at around 6 lbs. is very good.  The vent is one of the scariest things and a good indicator of what will happen in the future.  Pneumonia isn't going to be as bad as it sounds almost always.  RSV is a bit more dangerous for preemies, so we want to avoid that.  And the surgery for one of the boys is very routine for preemies, so that shouldn't end up being too bad either.  All in all, it's a lot more positive than it seems.  I'll definately be praying lots and lots.  And tell your friends, if you happen to get this before you leave or while you're there, that fellow parents of preemies everywhere, no matter how old their children now are, are pulling for them!

I know little of looking after children.
I have had close friend lose 2 however before they born so know how hard it can be.

My prayers are with your family.

Okay, I'll try to look after Allessandra. :)

I hope the bubs will get well.


PS: Everyone please keep your bio-lines up-to-date. Especially hitpoints...
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:14, Tue 22 Apr 2008.

Slove
 player, 55 posts
 +9 Int AC 20 / 15 / 15
 HP 22/34 Sa: +7 +7 +3
Fri 18 Apr 2008
at 19:47
PM | rMail | info

 [edit] | [delete] | msg #283
Re: The Twilight Tomb: The Rains Fell On Furthinghome

Slove moves to place himself a good 90ft away from the Gnolls.
He still want take down the shaman but a second hit on Allessandra is to much.  He turn his arrow on to the creature firing both shots at it.
"Come you dog face worm.  I killed some of your friend now it time for you to die unless you come over here and stop me.  Pick on someone that uglier than you and see what happens."

I don't wish to be a pain but use Slove the way I put him together distance is important.  You can over rule me but the gnoll should be 10 feet away at least and that would require a failed charge.

Apologies. I just recalled that you were calling the gnoll over (which I allowed, as you were putting arrows in his back), but didn't notice your position.

We'll say Slove was 90-100 feet away from the gnoll in question. So the gnoll (30ft base speed) can't charge, withdraw or double move, but he can still use the run action for up to 120 feet. Which he will, since you called him over. :)

So Slove still has a gnoll next to him, but fortunately the gnoll loses its Dex bonus to AC versus your next attack. (Just realised basic Gnolls don't get high Dex anyway).

While we're at it, Allessandra did get an AoO, which now I think about it (she doesn't have a sheet yet) actually did hit - and knocked out the gnoll anyway.

Huh.

Okay, never mind that gnoll. I'll go edit my post.

HP reduction done!

As this is open area Can Slove move back 20ft and fire his arrows at gnoll without provoking an attack of opportunity?

Ok forget that:-
The last gnoll warrior sprinted off after the other pesky elf who'd been putting arrows in his back. But this left the delicate priestess at his back. The gnoll hardly thought her worth worrying about, but immediately regretted it when she buried her mace in the back of his skull. The gnoll dropped like a ton of bricks, whimpering over a bruised head and ego.

go priestess go
This message was last edited by the player at 16:38, Tue 22 Apr 2008.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and support. I have returned, and will be posting soon. The babies are indeed doing well, they are getting top notch care at a childrens hospital and the level of technology is astounding. Even the little guy who had abdominal surgery is recovering like a champ. The other one is a serious chowhound, 45 ml of food and he cried for more.

cheers,
b

That's good.

Blimey, I don't think I've ever had critters do this well before. They're doing especially well for a random encounter, and they aren't high above you in level. Just lucky. It's a good thing for you I can't roll d20s above 1 below the threat range.

Let me know what spells you cast. Some of the effects are important.

this is quite the butt kicking.

we really ought to come up with some battleplans pretty quickly. we designate a combat leader and a secondary in the case of silence spells. plan "a" can be "hey, we need some sort of battlefield control that works in our favor, like obscuring mist. won't help in this case, but they got the jump on us and now we need to turn the tide somehow.

Try and take out the shaman by any means possible: glitterdust, grease, web, or brute force :-)
Someone needs to assist Alessandra or the ranger will slice 'n dice her, besides I'm hoping for her to get me back on my feet so I can get close enough to grapple the shaman; wrap my arms around him in a vice-like grip and crush him like would a python.... grrrrrrr (wrestlemaniac roar)

Yeah, the two big gnolls have high ACs and HPs. I recommend more disabling tactics and spells, and thoughtful use of where you direct them.

Of course, it's not the end of the game if you do get defeated by the gnolls. At least, not until their suppertime...

*sighs*  I've been having the worst luck in combat in BadCatMan's games, ever since my Warmage managed to disrupt the spell cast by the near-epic elven lich in Sword Coast South, with a lucky Magic Missile.  :p  I have a feeling we could just skip Iodaem's turns the rest of the combat, and it wouldn't hurt anything. . .

Trying to Curse the shaman wasn't wise. :p

Okay, there's been some confusion. We're still on Round 5, and waiting for Authiel's action. Anyone who's acted since then will have their actions shifted to Round 6 when I update next.

Okay, Slove, Iodaem and Jorn have already acted this round, as they went and did it  last round. Only Allessandra and Authiel can act now.

I need to calculate my current HP before posting any more actions.

And there you go. Well done! That was a close-run thing, until you started working together better and turned your fortunes around at the end.

I gave the XP out, but I'll let you decide how you respond to the fleeing gnoll ranger. The result, I'm guessing, a foregone conclusion...

Was there a problem with my handling of the battle? Updating events in the middle of the round meant less work-load for me (like a few PC resolutions and an NPC action, instead of making time to account for everything at once), but it seemed to confuse you, with folks acting before their time. Should I have made it clearer?

Let me know if you have any other complaints, criticisms, ideas, or whatnot for my DMing style.

All this time, and we still haven't actually gotten to the published adventure yet.   Partly due to the early hassles, and PC introductions, and random encounters, and efforts to bring everyone together on the mission. I was almost ready to abandon the whole thing and start an 'escape from the gnolls' plotline when it looked like they would win. Once you're ready, I'll speed things along to the stone circle.

Or, in Iodaem's case, did nothing at all that could qualify as 'useful' through the whole encounter.  :p  Lousy fear-spells. . .  at least they're not as bad as Confusion-spells, though.  :p


And, the mid-round updates were a bit confusing, yeah - this last update, I had no idea if I was supposed to post yet or not, so I ended up delaying in the hopes that you'd clarify it after Allesandra had posted.  *shrugs*

I had strangely enough not any trouble following the flow of battle. Could perhaps help with a: round# at the top of the post?

I didn't have any significant issues either, but i think a round # at the top would help.

also, when you recap actions, what i've seen in the past is the msg # in parens so we know that actions were acknowledged.

edit: round #s would help, sorry.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:35, Sun 04 May 2008.

Level up!

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to remember to implement it.

And if you level up, you may do so, just let me know what you change.

Hi all - sorry I been away for 4 days - been married now a year so had take wife away.

In answer to the combat.  I could follow the combat but it was little confusing.
May I suggest that if you update half way through say 3 people have posted (Allessandra, Jorn Slove) and you deal with the actions they made.  Then you put a colour make on the next person that need to act.

This way player will know if there action are already do this round, waiting other players to post or have to post themselves.
It mean just by looking at Initiative if has not colour on it you know beginning of the round.  If has colour it half way thought.

Does that make sense?

Round 6:

Gnoll Ranger is in melee with Iodaem. Everyone else is wherever they want to be.

Initiative:

22 - Gnoll Shaman
19 - Allessandra
19 - Jorn
12 - Slove
<r>11 - Gurgun</r>
11 - Gnoll Ranger
 7 - Authiel
 7 - Iodaem
 5 - Gnolls


Iodaem - bows.
I have to say the best composite longbow need to go to Slove.
Also any magic arrows that good.
On any other magic I happy for anybody else to have first go.
At the moment I have +1 Might Composite (+2).
So +3 would be better.
I would be happy to give my bow to someone else if get better bow.

The reason I say this is as you have all seen from last combat.  Slove main way of attack is bow and he really good at it so this area he should come first.
On the other side I happy to let other have magic items before Slove.
Again this open to general agreement with everybody.
However the better slove's bow and arrows are the better the group in in combat.
Slove only close if has to with melee and with feat I have taken this meen he be using bow and running around enermy unless GM prevent it (which I sure he will now and again).

Wouldn't a +1 Composite Longbow [+2 STR] be better than a Masterwork (I'm assuming that's what BCM meant by 'well-made') Composite Longbow [+3], though?  The damage output is exactly the same (d8+3, assuming you have a strength of 16 or higher), but the one you've already got can bypass DR/Magic, which this new one presumably can't do.  Of course, if you really want this new one, I'd be happy to take your +1 bow off your hands, no problem.  :p

It depends on what is is.
Well made means at is at least a MC longbow.
All magic longbows have to be well made so until someone cast detect magic and then someone else work out how good it is we not know.

Happy anniversary! (a bit belatedly)

BadCatMan, I didn't have any real problems adapting once I figured out what you were doing.

I've tried that style a few times and I always seem to end up waiting for one player or having people waiting for me, if I'm playing.

You're the boss here.  I'll adjust to whatever style you like.

I doubt we'll be picking up much magic loot off a random encounter, though.  :p

You'd be surprised. :) All from NPC write-ups or treasure table and hardly fudged. Well, apart from the pearl.

I'm never sure how much info to let slip related to looted items and whether or not they are magical or simple masterwork. But I guess most adventurers have an eye for a good weapon or armour, and an archery-focused elf like Slove would know his bows.  Some items I say are masterwork (mw) may turn out to be magical, but they might not be.

Congrats Slove. :)

Once we can get to a defensible spot, or camp for the night, Jorn can always cast Detect Magic on stuff too.

+4 STR rating?  Too high for me to use - if Slove is that strong, he's more than welcome to the bow.  :p  It doesn't look like any of the loot is going to be of any use for Iodaem, then, though if we want to haul with us all the 'good' stuff (anything masterwork or better), Iodaem could probably carry a bit - he has to stay under a light load, but he's got a strength of 16, so he can still carry quite a bit.

HP question: when leveling do I up my remaining HP with the added HD or do they go "on top"?

Increase your remaining HP. That's the way I always do it. Besides, you might need them... :)

Uh, let's say it's a +3 Str composite longbow. That's better. (Thank you, WotC...)

Gurgun has no real use for the weapons or the armor. Gold or magic is more interesting (like the cloak).

Unless it's magical, then, I'm calling it, and some arrows (I think my old ranged weapon was a crossbow, heh).

I am going to take risk.  I have new bow and you have mine.
If we have give it back to the elves of forest then Slove have find new one or make one himself.

If it fine elven bow then Slove just have make sure it in elven hands.

if the cloak turns out be magic in the morning, we can re-evaluate who takes it. i didn't think it was magical at first. apologies.

at any rate, i take notes on what beasts my characters fight, after years of rpga play, and having to make knowledge rolls on beasts i had seen before, i started marking dates and monster types that i was able to identify or others in the party.

Whew! There's the quick skim forward. I should get you to the stone circle itself once we're done with this scene.

Cast whatever healing spells you have left the night before, and remember that you gain +1 HP per character level for overnight healing.

I assumed you'd work out what the treasure was without a lot of work, as it was pretty basic stuff. You can save those pearls for later, when you'll really need them. :)

Someone else should probably take the cloak of resistance... we don't need our bad guys exerting their battle field control over our front line fighters.

I'd take it, but I've already got one, heh.

I could use it though I have good saves already.

And you're there!

You know, a published adventure's text boxes don't really do enough for a PbP game.

I will be away for two weeks on vacation starting tomorrow. There will be access to the internet on the trip, but not always, so NPC me when needed.

Okay, will do.

I didn't explain it well enough, but I meant that the spell itself would sing to open the gate. If or when it works. :p

Just as an FYI, I will be unavailable this friday - sunday, my girlfriend will be in town.

Okay, I'll try to keep you safe. ;)

You should all probably add the effects of the Light Gravity planar trait to your character sheets, as some of them (like -2 attack but increased reach) will come up a lot.

Could you list them?

I did. :p

link to a message in "RoA: One-Shots and Orphanage"

If anyone else wants to know what's up with owlbears, Hennet the Sorcerer has the answer for you here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw1pgKtcYt8

Sorry, Light Gravity doubles range for ranged weapons, not reach as I mentioned above.

There's a wall around that map and the area the owlbear is in (meaning it will have to squeeze through the door), but it was obscured by the gridlines.


I don't think I want to know what's up with owlbears, but I bet alcohol was involved somewhere. After all, it's happened before...
http://www.smh.com.au/news/unu...8/1206207344849.html

I apologise, that news article is really really not as bad as it sounds. No wombats were harmed. :) You may feel stupider for having read it though.

I have up dated my post.
Sorry I was very tired when I posted it.

Often if I am very tired or in a hurry my posts can be very confusing.
I think way faster than I can write or type and that results in a lot of mistakes.
Also when I am tired my spells really bad (not that it the best anyway).


If I make any more post like that just point it out to me and I read thought and change it.

PM GM
[Private to DM BadCatMan: After posting that very strange video clip with sorcerer  I think you may want to re-read your last post and change it. ]

Lathander has two favoured weapons: the light and heavy maces. Your attack hits the owlbear, Allessandra.

[Private to Slove: Iodaem posted the video clip. I was just making a joke on a similar topic.]

Gm PM

[Private to DM BadCatMan: Are sorry, my PM was light hearted to - just did not wish offend anybody but thought you see funny side what you posted in light of the video clip.]

Okay, I sped forward a bit, assuming you'd do the same thing to the next door (seeing as the last one was a non-event) and take up the same formation. So, fight!

I'm going to assume that the double weapon ranges feature of this plane applies to the Point Blank Shot feat as well. So it will work in 60ft range. Slove is even more powerful now.

Don't forget the effects of light gravity (-2 attack), and the need for Balance checks in this encounter, which LG penalizes.

Most of you are already too high level for this adventure already, so I have to enforce these things. ;)

Well my last level really made slove into good character.

If the adventure is to low for us you may want add 1-2 more creatures in per combat to make more closer to our level or add 1HD to some creature.
Just a suggestion.

Of course, Slove's arrows won't work well against neither Skeletons or Zombies, so for this encounter, it looks like it's the rest of us who'll have to go to work on them.  ;-)

Gurgun, you can handle the walking piles of bones, right?  Swords are much better against zombies, after all.  :p

Nah, adding stuff requires effort. I wouldn't be running a prepackaged adventure if I wanted more work. :) Besides, some of creatures later are much harder...

You've got a good mix here, bludgeoning for the skellies, slashing for the zombies.

Ooh, a glowing green sword. Neato!

By the way, since I forgot to mention it, the hobgoblin zombies are equipped with longswords, light shields and studded leather armour, so they have higher ACs than normal. The skeletons are naked, except for the two with longbows.

Yeah, the walking corpse has your name written all over him! ;-)

Lousy zombies - comes with armors and shields, and with glowing green swords that aren't the type I've got Weapon Focus in, anyway.  :p

No problem.  About what I'd expected, which is why I didn't roll it myself.  It never hurts to ask though. :-)

Sorry, I was waiting until it was close to my turn in order, but then I accidentally missed it.  Are the zombie archers also destroyed?  If not, I'll MM them since they don't have full cover, if I read that correctly, before focusing on things that everybody else can be working on.

All the skeleton archers have been destroyed. Only the 2 zombie warriors remain.

Okie dokie, thanks.  I might do something different then.  I need to go look at my spells...

Two battles in a week, you are doing well. :)

Okay, I'm trying out a new way of keeping track of treasure. I'll list everything in the new Treasure & Loot thread.

If ever you decide you want something, and no one else does, then I'll mark down that the item is claimed and who took it. The rest is still available for somebody else.

I'll assume obviously good stuff is collected by one of you, even if no one claims it, so whoever does want it can claim it later. But stuff that you wouldn't really bother collecting, like basic weapons and armour, will be assumed to have been left behind, and may become unavailable if its no longer practical to go back and get it. Like if you suddenly desire a gnollish battleaxe, then it's too late now.

Basic treasures, like coins, gems and jewelery I'll tally up separately, and divided amongst you evenly at the end.

I'll go over the old gnoll battle more carefully later, but let me know if there's anything I missed that had taken, or argue that you would have taken it. :)

Icky. This adventure probably should have come with some kind of warning. D:

Icky?  That's all you can come up with?  :p  Oh my goodness!  My worst nightmares aren't that bad!  Oh my...  *goes to climb into bed with Iodaem to keep nightmares away*

Sorry, I used up all my more expressive words in the post itself: horror, ghastly, nightmare, etc. I mean, I used 'horror' four times. I need a bigger mental thesaurus, obviously.

It could have been worse.  But I'd really rather not think of how.  :p

*giggles*  I googled for you, BCM.  Try dictionary.com.  :p

Huh, no one prepared Grease. :(

Can you can still attack the thing? I can't see any kind of problem where you accidentally strike the wrong person, like with Bull Rush. I must be missing something? Any references?

It's got a lot of hitpoints, and a lot of HD, and high strength. Damage alone probably won't be enough. Try to weaken it, and buff whoever wants to grapple it.

Some ideas from the "All About Grappling" series:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050308a

This one may be what you want:

"Break Another's Hold: This works just like breaking another's pin, except that you use it against a foe that merely has a hold on another character. If you win the opposed check, you free the character you're helping."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:13, Wed 18 June 2008.

these are the other options.

Joining an Existing Grapple: When your chosen foe is already grappling, you can use a melee attack to grab him and establish a hold just as described in Part One, except that the target doesn't get an attack of opportunity against you, and your grab automatically succeeds. You still have to make a successful opposed grapple check to become part of the grapple.

If multiple opponents are involved in the grapple, you pick one to make the opposed grapple check against. In this case, you don't have to randomly determine which foe your grab attack strikes (see Part One). If that seems overly generous to you, you can require a full-round action to choose your target. As part of that action, you make the grab and the ensuing opposed grapple check to try and establish a hold.

Ganging Up in a Grapple: Up to four combatants can grapple a single opponent in a given round. Creatures that are one or more size categories smaller than you count for half, creatures that are one size category larger than you count double, and creatures two or more size categories larger count quadruple. For example, eight halflings (size Small) can grapple one human (size Medium).

There is little point in others than me joining the grapple. I'll pin the damn thing then you can all poke it 'til it stops jiggling. Anyone have enlarge self memorized?

No, but im about to drop a bull's strength on you. get in position.

I don't like to bother with maps for simple single monster battles like this. You are all in position, as you need to be.

::Assuming wrestling position:: Hajime!

Well, there is this:

Huh. I couldn't find that in the actual Grapple section. Oh well.

Everyone go ahead and attack the skin blanket. It's only a 50% chance of hitting Iodaem, and he's not in a position to complain. :p

But those rules are for ranged attacks; melee weapon hit normally, no?

Yep - melee attacks aren't affected (and indeed, since it's flat-footed against them, it's much easier to hit now! :p).

Melee attacks aren't my forte, however...

Oh good then. Go to town on it. ;)

Stinker.  :p  I guess I'll be using some melee touch attacks and perhaps my rapier along with MM, but none of those are as likely to hit (except MM, of course) nor do much damage.

On vacation for three weeks starting tomorrow. Please NPC as needed! Same goes for ol' Gwendol over in Amn!

Can you use Aid Another to help somebody escape from a grapple?  Or do you have to actively get involved in the grapple yourself?

The rules don't exactly cover multiple person assisted grappling very well.

But you should be able to use Aid Another on an Escape Artist check, as normal for a skill check. Beat DC 10 to give an ally a +2 bonus on their next Escape Artist.

Additionally, I suppose you could also make a Grapple check vs DC 10 to give an ally a +2 bonus on their next grapple check. That's a bit of a house-rule, but seems to follow logically from Aid Another for skills and attacks.

Allessandra:  Protection from Evil won't help with grappling, so you might be better of saving the spell for later.  :-)

Well, hopefully my last hold will let Ioadem go. I'll try and pin the blanket next so you all can swing at your leisure.

The battle's updated, and a new round has begun, but I'll let Allessandra change her action if she wants to.

There's no risk. It seems that there's only a chance of hitting the wrong person with ranged attacks, but melee attacks are fine.

But unfortunately, you missed. :(

I have to say the new system of colour green on who can attack and who need to wait is going really well.

The combat moved along very well and everybody clear about if they need to post or not.

Think we found system that works very well.

True enough. But missing and chopping off one of Gurgun's limbs in the process would have really been bad.

Oh good, I'll keep using the initiative system then.


Gurgun's a Monk, and he has another arm to punch with. :)

I should probably give out an early warning. From the 5th to the 11th of July, I'll be in South Korea for a conference, giving a presentation and being science-y and professional and all that. Aargh!

I likely won't have internet access over this period, unless I discover an internet cafe or something, and even then it'll be erratic.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:21, Thu 26 June 2008.

Monks don't need limbs for unarmed attacks - a headbutt works just fine!  :p

[Private to DM BadCatMan:  Hey, you played through Planescape: Torment not too long ago, right?  Do you remember who could train you to become a Mage?  I know Dak'kon will let you switch back to it if you've already been trained, but I have no idea where to get the actual training, which is bad, for my "9 for all physical stats, 18 for Int and Ws" TNO.  :p ]

Yep, any part of me is a lethal weapon! :-P

:D

It's dead! Huzzah!

Huh, turns out you can destroy it through raw damage alone. Players always seem to surprise me on this, when I expect tactics and clever spells. :p

Though it helps when I don't realise that Constriction damage adds to the natural attack grapple damage of a creature with Improved Grab. D'oh! But then, this CR 6 monster would have positively lethal against the published adventure's intended victims, level 3 characters. I mean, 2d6 + 17 (always Power Attacks) damage on a +12 grapple from a 105 hp creature?

[Private to Iodaem: I went to Mebbeth, the witch in the Ragpicker's Square. Others give lessons, but I think she's the only one to actually train you as a mage.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:16, Sat 28 June 2008.

Well, to be fair, you can't Power Attack when grappling, can you?  Since it's not an attack roll, I'd assume not, anyway.

-5 damage then.

Okay, I should have fixed up the private lines in the XP thread now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:30, Sat 28 June 2008.

Okay, I don't want to start the next scene tomorrow or so and leave you all hanging for over a week until I get back, so for now, please heal up and talk amongst yourselves. I'll shift things along when I get back.

As a reminder:

I should probably give out an early warning. From the 5th to the 11th of July, I'll be in South Korea for a conference, giving a presentation and being science-y and professional and all that. Aargh!

I likely won't have internet access over this period, unless I discover an internet cafe or something, and even then it'll be erratic.

Farewell and wish me luck!

I'm back. Let me know if you have a marching order in mind, then we can carry on.

Oh yes, you're all still under the effects of any spells that you'd cast previous. At least, those with durations in minutes or longer, not rounds.

Does quick draw effect how quickly I can get bow of Iodaem?

Hmm...

I'll say no. Quick Draw seems to be a matter of drawing a weapon from a readied position (like a halter, harness or sheath), into the right position, at speed. It's a single well-practiced movement, like a gunslinger would draw his pistol, or a samurai his sword. To have it dropped into your hands, probably not even the right way up, is another matter.

Ouch - guess I'd better brush up on the rules for encumberment, heh. . .


Edit:  Yeah, I'm at a medium load.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:59, Sat 16 Aug 2008.

I've added a map for the current tower, which you're just about done with... Turns out I'd forgotten about Areas 15 and 16 on the 2nd Floor, but you can always come back through them later.

When I described this creature in Tulin's tale, I'd forgotten which side it was meant to be on. It shouldn't have been there, but I have an explanation in mind for why it did appear.

Did we lose Alessandra over the summer? Facing an undead horde without a cleric: ouch!

Allessandra was played by DM Tarkin of The Devil Box game. Tarkin reported certain problems and I'm inclined to wait a tad longer, but I think we've lost them.

We have also lost Jorn, who's player retired. He's now an NPC.

I'll advertise for new PCs sometime soon - though how they'll show up in a demiplane is anyone's guess. They'd have to be attached to this orc and hobgoblin army.

I forgot that few of you were originally present for the quest-giving at the beginning. I'll have Jorn explain things soon.

Alright, Thraka has said all he cares too. If no one has anything else to ask, then I'll close up the conversation.

You have two options: continue exploring based on anything new that you've learnt, or set about making camp and getting to know your new allies.

Consider the orc/hobgob/taer camp to be like being town. You can camp in (relative) safety, trade for (poor) supplies, and heal up. There's orcs, hobgobs and a few taers about that you can try Gather Information on (don't expect them to be too helpful, and be mindful of the situation...).

Allessandra didn't prepare any Lesser Restorations today, and neither she nor Jorn have it in potion form. You'd have to wait until the next game-day for that. She'll dispense some cure spells later, between the party (first) and the orcs and hobgobs (second). Give me some Heal checks if you want to help out. If you want to see Grrunk the taer wise-woman, then give me a Gather Info.

I vote for setting up camp first, explore second.

I agree camp first explore later.  Slove and other elf have act careful or end up in fight we don't need.

I'll look after you both, see that you don't get into trouble ::nanny mode off:: :-)

C'mon people! Creepy stuff in an adjacent room, undue influence over an ill-liked leader (aren't all orc chiefs though?)? No reaction?

Yeah, I kind of expected that you'd all want to talk about this.

Eh...  not really.  :p  Maybe Gurgun should challenge this guy for leadership, though, to a wrestling match, heh?  :p

I've posted a (rather censored) map for your benefit. You entered via the bridge at B, passed the cthulhu-hound in the Foyer in 25. You can camp in areas 26 and 27 (I'm assuming you took the tight corner in the west end of 27). Areas 28 are rather grotty privies.

Area 29 is (supposedly) a store-room, and the orcs et al will allow you to enter and look around. The door is held slightly open by a crate. The lights are out. It is where Gurgun saw something lurking during the conversation with Thraka.

Area 30 is Thraka's room. By process-of-elimination, the way down to the lower levels is through there (ie Area 31). You are of course not allowed in. :)

But if you feel up to it, you could try abseiling down the outside of the tower. If you don't have climbing equipment, you could buy some from the orcs and hobgobs.

Or, you could say "screw it" and decide to check out the other two towers. :D

I'd vote for exploring the store room, then see what else can be done.

I'm assuming tomorrow morning, when you're all healthy again? :)

Does anyone have an opposing idea, or anything to input, at all?

If I had a potion of Restoration or something, I'd vote for trying to force our way into Thraka's room to check it out.  :p

Yeah, Gurgun is also suffering from weakness. We'll check out the store room once allesandra has managed to get us back up to full strength.

Hm...  yeah, she should be able to cast Lesser Restoration, good idea.  That's 1d4 points of ability damage for each casting.  Iodaem is down 6 points, from 16 to 10, so he'll need at the very least two castings to be at full strength again.  But then, a night's rest might heal one point, as well?

Sorry for slow post rate.  I still here.
Mixture of work and things going wrong (wife ended up in hospital today after being attack by dog - a big one - not nice).

Ouch! Hope she's alright! That can really turn bad.

She just come out of having 6+ stickies in her lips.

I think she will heal but been bad day.

Lips? That sounds quite nasty, she's lucky it wasn't much worse. I hope she gets better.

Sorry about the lesser restoration, there were some very bad rolls. Still, you can both get by on 15+2 strength, right?

I hurried things along to the morning, so now you're ready to continue exploring.

I'll be praying for your wife's recovery.

I hope your surgeon did a good job. I more or less broke my face bouncing at the door of a student club some years ago. Had to wrestle a kid to the ground and lost my balance; hit a stone ledge on the way down. My nose is still somewhat crooked, but the wounds are barely visible (10+ stitches on each), thanks to the skilled surgeon.

Alright, question time.

Firstly, how is everybody? It seems like Gurgun and sometimes Slove are the only ones posting. Authiel and Iodaem, how are you going?

Second, have you all been enjoying this adventure so far? Any problems, complaints, suggestions?

And third, new PCs? Jorn has retired, and Allessandra vanished a two months back and hasn't responded to my PMs. That leaves you without a wizard and cleric, and there's still no rogue-type. Of course, it's possible to get through this adventure without any of those roles, it'll just be a little more... interesting. And you make a good team with just you four (being warmage, hexblade, monk and ranger/cleric/barbarian/fighter-thingey :p).

Sure I could keep NPCing Jorn and Allessandra, except I don't like dragging ex-PCs around on adventures, they get in the way and make my battles harder for me. But I can't think of a good way to write them out (you're stuck in a different plane, and there's no reason to go off and fight the undead without the turning-focused priestess of Lathander). Nor do I really want to kill them off out of hand.

(There is however an already-in-the-module way of bringing in new PCs, coming up soon.)

So, ideas?

In a way you can tell it's a canned module, but the story is good and has been a lot of fun.
I agree about bringing in new players, it makes for a more dynamic game.

Really? You can tell? It's first I've ever run. So far it's been more varied and action-packed than my own work, I think.

Authiel? Iodaem?

I'm happy with whatever is best for you, BCM, and whatever is best for us as a group.

Sorry I keep missing days at a time.  Hopefully life will get less hectic soon and I can keep up with everything across the board.

At least half the time when I check RPoL, I keep forgetting that I'm in a game in this area.  And the other half, I find myself lost as far as figuring out what to do or post, other than 'Iodaem follows the others', especially since entering the orc/goblin camp.  I think it's a combination of playing a brawny character as opposed to a truly clever one (it's a lot easier to think of something creative or fun to do for characters like Isiah or Chave - I guess that's just the character-type I'm best with), and me not being a big fan of this whole 'you have one way to escape this dungeon, and if you fail, you're stuck here forever' thing, where we need to find this lich and kill it in order to get home to safety - which Iodaem values far more than...  whatever it was we came here to find/do.  :p

I'd reccomend getting in some new blood, though - a cleric of some kind, and maybe an arcane spellcaster with more utility-spells than Authiel has available as a Warmage.  Other than that, not sure what to say.  I'll try to have a post up sometime this week, tomorrow if I can, or Wednesday.

Yeah, the adventure is a bit one-track, though I've been trying to add multiple paths where possible (such as the various ways of going to see Savera). And you get to choose which towers/rooms to explore, mostly.

The plot should become clearer later. I missed the bit at the beginning where the major threat is explained, in the haste to get started due to the early troubles, but this way will make for a better narrative, eventually. The old plot hooks seem to have faded away with the characters they were given to, but a fresh one will arise soon.

As far as the canned adventure goes it just reminds me of Icewind Dale II (computer game) for some reason, not saying that's bad at all though.

Okay, now that the two stealthy guys are in, they know what to look out for, and everyone else can try going in safely. Give me Move Silently checks, with a +2 circumstance bonus. (With Thraka's -9 Listen, it shouldn't be too hard, right?)

Never underestimate the power of the dicebot!

Alright everyone, just forget about the -2 penalty to attack rolls. The creatures in the module don't have it figured into their stats, and I can't remember to add it to every one of them. So put your attack scores back to their normal values.

Oh, and don't forget, you gain a +2 to Climb because you weigh less.

That was actually my reasoning, 'cept I forgot to mention it earlier.

:-)

Great minds think alike?

Mmm, let's leave it at 'mediocre'. :p

I prefer the original and it's AD&D to the sequel and it's 3.0, heh.  :p  Still, having a party consisting of Drow, Tieflings, Duergar and Svirfneblins was kinda neat!  :D

Just say even thought I am not posting I here.  I letting you do talking as that not really sloves place in party.

Alright, thanks for letting me know. I like that.

The mix-up is due more to your forgetful DM than to the forgetful NPC. :)

If Jorn is to be believed, this creature will have DR/Cold Iron or Good, so Elf-friend won't do any better than regular weapons, I'm afraid.  Makes me wonder why people writing encounters decide to add things with such rare types of DR to their adventures, anyway, if they aren't going to give us a chance to pick up proper weapons first.  :p

That's right. As a demon, Savera has a lot of resistances and immunities, and some pretty nasty tricks. And the module doesn't offer any weapons to overcome her DR anywhere.

In fact, the only time the module gives some help was with Elf-friend. That was just an unnamed +1 longsword with the light and the ability to understand spoken Elven, as some of the devices in the towers talk in Elven (some are in this very room). I decided it was too interesting and gave it a name and description and the glassteel property. Perhaps I should have made it cold iron or good instead.

Eh, I think you guys will be fine. Most times my big bad monsters are wiped out with minimal effort by PCs. :)

BTW, I updated Jorn's warning about Savera's resistances and immunities. I recommend force, cold, sonic* or acid damage if you want to deal magical damage. Roll for SR too.

* Don't forget the bonuses to sonic spells.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:27, Sun 16 Nov 2008.

My sword - does that mean it stuck and can't use it again?

Or do I have use strength to get it out?

Sorry, it was just description. I didn't expect you to need to use it again until the taers act again; when the taer does, it will do something gruesome. :D

Just stay I still here - waiting for my go.

What are the rules for jumping under the conditions Gurgun is in? The lectern (or whatever) is outside the webbed area and could possibly be "hopped" up on (DC10 jump check). The text on web does not mention penalties on jumping other than the inability to run and the DEX reduction. Hop up does not require a running start so only the dex penalty applies, am I reading the rules correctly?

Hmm. It says "a small marble platform rises a few feet from the floor". It doesn't say what it is exactly, so I figure that it's an altar or, more likely, a desk or table.

Jump is a Strength skill, so you don't even have to worry about the Dex penalty.



Okay, the Entangled condition puts you at half speed, so if I reckon correctly, it should take 20 feet of movement to carry out the Hop Up procedure onto the table.

I'm fairly certain this will provoke an AoO from Taer #5 however. Fortunately for you, Large Monstrous Spiders only have 5ft reach.

I'm counting on provoking an AoO, it's a calculated risk.

Does any of spell caster have way of increasing slove strength.
although I don't have right weapon type I do enought damage with my sword to overcome resistance if role high.  If I can have strength increase it be even higher as get x1.5 with weapon.

Jorn has one more Bull's Strength prepared, but he couldn't move this round. You'll have to get to him to get it. That means a Strength or Escape Artist check vs DC 10, 5ft of movement for every 5 points you beat it by (according to Web).

Just out of interest - let have role call so I know how many players we have at this time.

So Sloves a player.

The only two active players currently are Slove and Gurgun.

Iodaem and Authiel are unable to play here currently, and will be retiring after this adventure anyway. Jorn's player has retired and Allessandra's has retired. So I've been NPCing all four.

This brings us to a topic I've been meaning to bring up eventually. Slove and Gurgun, do you wish to carry on with this adventure after we've defeated Savera (the first of the Big Bads), or would you like to depart and seek out a proper region to play in again? Either way is fine by me.

If you want to stay, I'll write out Jorn, Allessandra, Authiel and Iodaem (they'll stay to defend the orc base, or exit through the faulty portal) and get in some more orphans. You're about half-way through the module now.

I'd rather stay.

I would be happy to stay.

The reason I ask was thought it was just us to.
I think we work together and we add others over time.

Okay then, we'll organise it after we're done with Savera. There's a few other orphans and newbies waiting around.

I'm trying to get across hobgoblin beauty here, of course, tusks and all. She could probably crack nuts with various parts of her anatomy. ;) I'm not sure what the hobgoblins consider to be beautiful though, so I took a wild guess. Think Red Sonja, or Benny from Looking For Group. :D
http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/208

Well, things are looking pretty bleak for the party now.

Yes I would say another set of hits like before and sloves down.
Had a feeling this not going to go well.

No, Savera is not stunned. As I explained, she took no damage, therefore the stunning fist didn't work. No need to save.

As you can see, she has different tricks in different forms. One foe is enough for drow-form or spider-form. But if you gang up on her, then she will pull out all her attacks in her natural-form: 8 tentacles divided up between 2 foes = 4 attacks each. Her natural form has the lowest AC though.

(She can shape-shift as a free action, by the way.)

Try some strategy. When Iodaem and the others escape the webs, then you can all really gang up on her, with less tentacle attacks to share around, so there's less danger to any one of you. Until then, try to fight her individually so she focuses her attention on you with drow or spider forms.

Slove, your skill is at ranged combat, and you can just about overcome her DR if you roll max damage. Use Point Blank Shot and Divine Favour to increase your damage further.

Gurgun, you have a bunch of potions that you can use to buff yourself and increase your damnage output. Bull's Strength, Enlarge Person. Use them. That's what they're their for. :p

This is a BBEG battle, so it will be hard and dangerous.

Unless my arrows are made of iron?

As a cleric of Solonor Thelandira drow are major enemy.

Well that maybe pushing it.

I am hoping that with Slove close by I have the opportunity to buff some more; have really just played meat shield this far.

Potions. I could never work out if a potion of cure light wounds for example was 1d8+1 for minimum caster level, or 1d8+3 for the minimum level a cleric would need to be to make it. I've gone either way in my time. Do you know where the rule is written down so I can check? Thanks. :)

The minimum level a cleric would need to make it.

Thanks for NPC Slove - had very busy two weeks and was away ( which not planed)
Your NPC better that what I don't - was not sure what to do.

Oh and Savera turn into Zlorthishub.
Privite joke between me and gm.

Face two bosses at same time to charactor one can't wait die other can wait to use every trick in book.

I think Slove Rage has now ended.
If that case I am not sure what both his attack and damage would be as he now tired.

This is why I told you to keep your Rage active. :) Earlier I calculated you had three rounds left, then ended the battle. You've had two battle-rounds since then, so take one more. (And make it a good one!)

I was not sure if we had two or three.  It could been either.
Well usually I role really badly if some one says make it good one.
10 point of damage has got hurt her bad (I hope).

Yep, that would do. I through in a little coup-de-grace to finish her off.

She's dead!

Yay!

Do you feel like reacting that way in-game? :p

How are we going to move on now as own two players active.  NPC must be lot work for you now?

As I've said, I'll be advertising for some new PCs soon. They'll either come through the portal (a second batch), or be found as prisoners later. I'll write out Jorn, Alessandra, Iodaem and Authiel - they'll probably choose to hang around the orc camp and defend, or research the library. It's not the most wise thing for them to do in-game (going after undead, leaving the Lathanderite priest behind?) but the best solution to our problem. Or they'll escape through the portal, which then malfunctions.

But first, I'd like you to go talk to Thraka the half-orc leader, and tell him you killed his girlfriend. :p Okay, she was a drow-demon who pretended to be his girlfriend, then subsequently betrayed and mind-controlled him, so he won't be too upset.

That what I thought.

Something did however come to mind about our Lathanderite priest.
It maybe one few times useful to request a type of player.
You may want ask if someone want take up character as help big time in game.
It also class and character someone may want play.
Give then a change to make or change her a bit but basic would still be same.

I know I be interested in playing character if was offered it in another game.

Okay, I might suggest that. Thanks.

Hi, sorry for being so slow but I'm travelling a lot this month and have less time for RP. I'll get something written this week.

BadCatMan, do you figure Slove and I should soldier on, or do we wait for reinforcements? I guess our NPC's should be phasing out now that the battle is over.

I haven't received any applications for new PCs, bar one mention of a possible Scout that I haven't yet heard any more about.

Soon I'll try to PM all the other game-less PCs directly. I meant to do this earlier, but got distracted by RL.

Hopefully we can get back into action soon.

I guess we can spend some time scouting out the tower and the opposition.

Hello folks, Nikolai here! Elven ranger by profession and a refugee from deepest Chult through circumstances beyond my control ;)

I'm pretty hot on scouting if that's what you need, at least the non-magical variety (move silently, hide, spot and listen in double digits).

So are you in the middle of an adventure or what? Do I need to read the entire game thread to get up to speed?

I'll leave that to BCM hehe!

I explained via PM, but feel free to tell tales of your magnificent exploits here. :)

I hope to get things going again when we have a few more PCs.

Hi Nikolai

Sorry to say but I am elven ranger to.  My skill just of double double digits.
But then Slove has few other skills and tricks he can do.

Just please tell me your not a bow specialist that would just be much of an overlap.

However I know Slove will out do you in charisma department right Gurgun Nightwhisper ;)

He's also an archer. I figured that you Rage and get into melee often enough that it won't be too much of an overlap, and hope future PCs will cover the other roles. Archers will actually come in very handy later.

Yeah, with Gurgun being more of a wrestler...

Guess who's baaack~

Okay, not exactly. But I'm a new player whose taking over Jorn's character and making some edits while I'm at it.

"...We can rebuild him! Bigger, better, stronger! With greater alcohol capacity!"

So to everyone here, Hi! Jorn's going to still be your curious, knowledgable wizard-dwarf. He's just going to be fighting more, casting more buffs, and in a few levels time, walking around in the full-plate armor...

Yay! Sounds like a lot of fun!

I thought Jorn was cleric.

Anyway it good to see Sloves drinking partner is back.

I am going for the Order of bow PCr
This message was last edited by the player at 00:11, Mon 30 Mar 2009.

Nope, Jorn was always a Wizard/Fighter, though Jorn 2.0 is now a Transmuter instead of a Conjurer.

We've nearly got a full team again, so hopefully not long to go. We may even have someone taking over Allessandra, and another cleric has applied (those undead are in for some trouble).

Currently, we have:

Slove: Wood Elf Ranger/Barbarian/Fighter/Cleric of Rillithane
Gurgun: Hobgoblin Monk
Jorn: Shield Dwarf Transmuter/Fighter
Allessandra: Human Cleric of Lathander (potential)
Nikolai: Moon Elf Ranger

We still could do with a trapspringer/lockpicker type, but I could always put in an NPC for that.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:19, Tue 31 Mar 2009.

Quick question: How easy will it be for us to access equipment? Will it be one long dungeon trek, or will there be "stops" for us to acquire new stuff? (prefably at each level)

For the Ranger bit, there's a variant that gives up Track for Trapfinding, if the "scout" type doesnt mind too much...
This message was last edited by the player at 09:33, Tue 31 Mar 2009.

It's pretty much long one dungeon crawl from here on. You're all actually trapped in this plane, and need to find the key to unlock the portal to escape. There's items to find though, include spell-scrolls, and limited supplies to buy off the orcs and hobgoblins.

By the way, Authiel and Iodaem will be retiring. They'll hang around to defend the orc camp, but won't join in on the adventuring. I didn't make their characters available to be taken over as they're a couple in-character and out, and their players are still around.

I'll try to summarise the game so far.

Jorn and Slove (and some other PCs no longer with us) were in the city of Furthinghome in Aglarond when they were approached by a merchant named Tulin Fairweather. He was transporting goods across Aglarond when he took a shortcut and got lost in the Yuirwood, he foolishly camped near an ancient star elf structure, a stone circle. The next day, he found the special item he'd been transporting missing, apparently stolen by monsters, according to the nightmares of a young teamster. The item in question was the Grail of Shargrailar, the horn of a notorious black dragon turned into a drinking horn, though with no apparent magical properties or significance. Fearful of the Masters of the Yuirwood (an order of rangers and druids who protect the forest and the ruin), Tulin hired the PCs to retrieve the item on the quiet.

Subsequently, Tulin had some troubles with the people who'd hired him to transport the horn after he returned dejected to Furthinghome, and was mugged by their representatives. The PCs fought off these bad eggs. [I probably should have stuck closer to the module.]

Later, on the road into the forest, Jorn and Slove gained some new PCs (Gurgun, Allessandra) who joined their quest and lost others. They were attacked by gnolls, first in a failed ambush, then in a brutal nighttime assault. [I really should have stuck closer to the module, and avoided this time-wasting.] The gnolls had some stolen elven ranger gear, taken from a mysteriously slain Master found later in the forest.

Eventually, the intrepid explorers found the stone circle that Tulin had camped at. Close study and knowledge of star elven history revealed it to be portal to their otherworldly realm of Sildeyuir (or somewhere in the neighbourhood), though it only functioned at night. They waited, until the portal activated, and spirited them away through the night and across the planes.

What they found was not Sildeyuir, but a complex of glass towers linked by slender bridges, built on rocky outcrops from a storm-lashed sea, beneath an eternal night sky. Exploring they found the place to be called Tir'in'tiral, the abode of an ancient star elven mage, with magic school and library. Except the placed was stripped bare in ages past, and ruined in places.

Exploring, they found the place to be a warzone, and they were wandering through its bloody aftermath. On one side there was a mixed troop of orcs, hobgoblins and taers (yeti-like creatures). On the other, undead, mostly elven skeletons and zombified orcs and hobgoblins. Plus some nasty pets on each side.

By virtue of being alive and not-undead, the orcs and hobgoblins offered alliance with the party, and took them to their besieged camp. Their beleaguered half-orc leader Thraka explained that were a mercenary squad, formerly led by Tolg'byri the Star Worm, who sought the arcane secrets of the star elves. Then they were brutally attacked by the undead, their clerics slain, found to their horror that they could not go back through the portal (it was one-way), and holed up in their current location. To make matters worse, one of their number, a half-orc witch named Savera slew Tolg'byri, mentally dominated her former mate Thraka, drove off an old lieutenant, and made herself leader over the fearful band.

Sensing something was up, the PCs sought out Savera, challenged her and she turned out to be a yochlol, a demon of the drow. After an epic battle, she was slain, and the PCs returned triumphant to the camp, and allowed Thraka to remain as leader. Gurgun, a monk of Oghma, got to tell a rousing story, and gained some credit with the hobgoblins.

Now, they need to explore the rest of the glass towers, and seek out the lich said to rule the undead. Tolg and Savera believed he possesses the key to unlock the way back through the portal. Else, they're stuck in Tir'in'tiral forever - or until the undead finally overrun and kill them, and then get raised again.

To catch up, I recommend reading the 'The Rains Fell On Furthinghome' thread, from post #361 onwards. This will describe the stone circle and your journey through i. Then skim through the current game thread 'The Citadel Of Glass' for anything that looks important, particularly posts 1 (arrival) 7 and 12 (what the place looks like). The rest you should pick up. Also check out the 'The Night Realm' thread for mechanical effects of the plane.

Jorn, and Allessandra if you read this, can begin posting in the current game-thread immediately.

Nikolai, and whoever else joins, I'll try to insert you soon. Either you'll be fresh through the portal, or the generic tied-up prisoners kept by Tolg or Savera. I have to decide which is more practical.

BTW, Jorn's a bit of a veteran. He began in the Shaar / Great Rift region, then journeyed with Slove to here after that closed. So you two are buds, or at least, familiar travelling companions.

Re the trapfinding, it just wouldn't fit with the character concept.

I get the impression Nikolai is several levels below you folks too. Best if he stays back and snipes ;)

Doubt so, everyone here's about Level 4-5 at most.

I guess I'll just start looting items off the monsters instead :D

Levels are 3 to 5. The 5th level guys are little above the module suggested level: 3rd level. The rest of you are (theoretically) fine. :)

Hi all. I have just been added.

To present myself, I am about 37 years old (not sure of the exact count, I don't want to remember) and live in France.

Hope to be joining the story soon :)

Hiya Garel, I raise you 3 years and Switzerland :)

Hello!

I take it you're our cleric then? :P

Nope, I'm a ranger.

Garel! I know Nikolai's a ranger :P

So...when do we start?

When I get my act in order. :) Very soon, hopefully.

Currently, we have:

Slove: Wood Elf Ranger/Barbarian/Fighter/Cleric of Rillithane
Gurgun: Hobgoblin Monk
Jorn: Shield Dwarf Transmuter/Fighter
Allessandra: Human Cleric of Lathander (potential)
Nikolai: Moon Elf Ranger
Garel: Human Cleric of Mystra

That should be more than enough. I haven't heard back from the PC interested in Allessandra yet, but we can wait.

Yes, I am a cleric; just be sure to say a prayer for Mystra before I heal you :p
This message was last edited by the player at 08:59, Thu 02 Apr 2009.

You know, I guess this counts as a "you all meet in a tavern". An orc/hobgoblin tavern. :D

First time I start an adventure in a tavern with orcs and there is no fight (yet).

I'm on vacation and will be infrequently posting, sorry 'bout that.

Okay. Have a good holiday.

Just a note: the 'witch' was Savera, a yochlol demon of the drow, now dead. She was in charge of the orc and hobgoblin mercenary band, not the undead. The next problem is now the lich, who controls the undead. :p

Hm, everyone okay here?

I'm here, and everyone else is still logging in. That means you all just have to, well, talk to eachother.

Unless you want me to wind forwards and send you all off back on to the dungeon-crawl? I think you should check out the lower-level of the current tower first, then any spaces left unexplored in the first, then on to the final one, home of the lich.

I think we're kinda stumped for convesation now :P

Jorn's pretty much said his piece. Just waiting for a reply...(would seem odd to double post)