Traveled to see my mom over the Labor Day weekend

Awesome!

For the record, I wasn't being snarky. I've been so busy that I've had a brief bout of euphoria because of the down time.

Got to play DnD w/ my group yesterday - first time in months. It was fun, though I'm finding our campaign a bit stale these days. We're all at 9th or 10th level, which is when it's supposed to get epic. It doesn't really have an epic feel to it though.

I've always said that I love playing lower level characters, mainly because they're so simple to play.

Oh well. The curse of heightened expectations, I guess.

I personally like how things get epic over time.

As do I.  It takes a some time to develop characters to that level, personalities can be developed.

The problem I've found is a change in Dungeon Masters - the guy who was running the show wanted to spend some time playing, and the guy who replaced him is very disorganized and drinks too much.

Just discombobulated at this point. I'm sure it will get better. And like golf, gaming beats work any day of the week.

post coming tonight, I believe.

In reply to The Seer (msg # 402):

If all goes as planned, I will be rolling real dice on the 16th! Pretty stoked, even though it is 5E > at least it's D&D with actual people around the table.

Of course, Hurricane Irma could have some say so in that; we'll see.

Yeah, I'm keeping fingers crossed in that regard too. Even though I'm in the midlands of SC, we get a lot of the excess slop when hurricanes hit. Of course, 2 years ago we had our own version of Harvey - that generational storm kicked our ass but good. Think it got up your way a bit too, iirc.

Have to say that ImageShack is SOOO much better than photobucket. So much better...

New map is up - lower level.

This will save a good bit of time for me, as I don't have to map you along. That said, you have to figure out where you are first.

LOL!
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:00, Wed 06 Sept 2017.

In reply to The Seer (msg # 404):

Well, from the latest update, that big bitch looks to be turning eastward for the Carolinas! The sphincter factor around here just tightened up another notch or two.

Still trying to figure out a good resource. I have an account with ImageShack so I might settle there. Also, I heard Google Photos is an option. Just have to figure out how to use it.

Howdy - my hiatus is over, I think.

I'll post tonight.

I got a chuckle out of this:

So, a couple of posts with visual aids for your viewing pleasure.

This'll be a tough fight. Should be fun for all of us - it'll be a good gauge of your strength as a party.

Cheers.

No internet (again) last night - will try to get a post in tonight.

Happy with the slow pace.  Currently we're staying in a dog friendly motel whilst the floorboards of our house are sanded and polyurethaned.  Last day today thankfully.

If you're having trouble visualizing, let me know and I'll put together a map of the room this weekend.

My end game here isn't a TPK, for those wondering. There's enough fire power among this particular group of 1st level characters that most, if not all of you should survive.

That said (and I know I'm getting way ahead of myself) - the Land of Song campaign is all about undead, and it is incredibly difficult.

Tough luck on that roll, Uthecar. The good news is you have two priests standing over you.

Posts this weekend. Heavy workload all week, same thru tomorrow - although that's a good thing (I am commission only), it sometimes severely curtails my gaming pleasure. Sorry for the delay.

Waiting on some folks. No worries or hurries.

So, this has turned into an interesting fight from my perspective. Difficult, and we'll see what casualties we have at the end, but I actually think you guys have done well, considering your level.

For those wondering, there is a purpose to all of this. It gets lost in the labyrinthine structure of the dungeon, but you might recall some of the back story that started the adventure. Now's time to start thinking in terms of the end game, and what the over arching campaign will bring (recall also my thoughts regarding the land of song modules).

All that to say: good luck. I'm nudging here and there, but most of the heavy lifting is from you guys. Survive this and your percentage for survival will go up. I think it's likely you'll survive, unless you just roll atrociously.

Oh, and I think I will have an after action Q & A as you guys recover to focus on things you did well, and opportunities missed. That may help a bit moving forward.

Cheers,
The Seer!

So, a few things to help you along:

1 - Myrrick finds that he's able to look at the map in the lower room and see where you guys are after brief study
He also gets the sense that you guys should be safe in this suite of rooms, given they're accessed only through secret doors.

2 - With most of the heavy healing done, you all search the place. Surprisingly (or perhaps, not) there are no traps or such on the cabinets on the north wall. After but a perfunctory search, you find 1 wand and 1 potion (to go along with the ring and the potion you found in the lower room).  Might be time to experiment or identify.

3 - one of the most easily overlooked, but most useful tool for a cleric to have is holy water. It might behoove the clerics to pray and bless some water. I will allow for five vials of holy water to be created per bless spell. There are plenty of vials in the workshop to suffice.

4 - You guys are doing well. My only advice at this point is get to know your classes' and races' special attributes better. The holy water was a good example - I was pretty surprised that no one had bothered to procure any - that's not a criticism - I've made far more egregious errors in my history of campaigning...and it pays to mind that clerics aren't the only ones who should be carrying the stuff.

5 - I'm not the man on the mountain casting down judgements. If you guys have thoughts to share with one another, now's the time to do so, as you have an enforced rest in the wizard's workshop to get to know one another better - and a couple of tales to tell as well.

Cheers, and well done!

You make some fair points, but I would say we are seasoned players not seasoned characters, so maybe inadvertently truer to form.  For me I find carrying around glass vails of holy water or oil, with it being freely available to throw, yet never getting damaged in melee starts to niggle at my sense of fair accomplishment.  If we drilled down into that the same could be said for carrying around a coil of rope.  Luckily most DM’s don’t enforce the encumberance rules, but imagine if they did.  I do still like to consider them, but all too often turn a blind eye to them.  Funny how I can do that easily for magical items, but have trouble doing it for other mundane items carried.

If we add in the bulk of water or oil, rations become a much more sensible option, but I’ve never heard of someone’s rations getting damaged in melee either, unless they fail a fireball saving throw.

It is probably the shortfall of the Rpol medium that we haven’t spoken much about our characters abilities OOC, unlike if we were all TT.

I’ll take the well intended DM advice and start the ball rolling, since there’s not a lot to tell about my simplistic friend.  Uthecar is a fighting dwarf, unskilled in magical knowledge, so he’s not going to venture an opinion about magical stuff he knows nothing about, he’ll wait for those in the know to tell him something.  Battle is his first and close to only solution for most situations.

Given how detailed my Equipment list is I an assure failure to include holy water was a goof. Thanks for permitting us to fix it!

As far as thoughts on the current situation and Bruno's approach, etc.:

Bruno is wise enough to have a good sense of what he does not know. That is, as a fighter/cleric he knows how to bash a thing and how clerical magic works. Given the role clerics of Moradin play in Dwarven culture this means he's also go a sophisticated sense of the politics and culture of his people and the role they play in the ArchBarony.

Beyond this, however, he does not have a particularly deep understanding of other races and their cultures outside of how they have intersected with his own.

Metagaming aside, I think a conversation on tactics and a review would be normal, given the circumstances. Perhaps a discussion on distribution of labor - certainly seems like Weasel is an impetuous wild card - his actions almost undid you guys.

I would also suggest that you look at the creatures fought thus far, their abilities and strengths, and come up with a game plan to defend against their attacks. You pretty much know what a ghoul can do, and ghasts as well, by default. Shadows might still be obscure, but at least you have a sense of what one is.

Anything that might prepare you for other encounters would be a good planning and strategy session, and definitely in the realm of what y'all would talk about. I mean, you're all stuck in this room for 2 days - you have to talk about something, right?  LOL!

Yes you are right, but it is a magic user spell and there isn’t an equivalent in the priest spell arsenal.  Given it is a 4th level spell a magic user would need to be 8th or 9th level to cast it.  (Not near my books). By that level I would consider a +1 blade bonus as a weak waste of time when compared to other spells of that level.  Besides most characters would be sporting a +2 weapon or maybe even +3 if they got lucky by then wouldn’t they.  An example of an inappropriate level for the spell in my opinion.  If it was a lower level it might be used as it would have a far greater value to characters.

Sorry to hear your news, Uthecar. Take care of yourself!