Remember to say hello!

Hello!

I will be your resident outdoorsman sorcerer who may have some Jotun blood flowing through his veins :)

Hoping we can keep this game going and running for a long time!

GM - do you have a preferred character sheet for us to use?

Ahoy!  I'll be the party's Halfling mother hen/skill monkey, nice to meet you.

I don't know if the DM has a preferred character sheet template, but this is the one I always use for ease of visibility and editing.

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<table width="800">
<tr><td><b><small>  Basic Information  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Name        :                     Height :
  Race        :                     Weight :
  Background  :                     Age    :
  Class       :                     Eyes   :
  Alignment   :                     Hair   :
  Deity       :                     Size   :
  Total Level : 1                   Speed  :
  Experience: : 0/300

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Ability Scores  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Strength     : 00 (+0)     00 + 0 racial + 0 misc
  Dexterity    : 00 (+0)     00 + 0 racial + 0 misc
  Constitution : 00 (+0)     00 + 0 racial + 0 misc
  Intelligence : 00 (+0)     00 + 0 racial + 0 misc
  Wisdom       : 00 (+0)     00 + 0 racial + 0 misc
  Charisma     : 00 (+0)     00 + 0 racial + 0 misc

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Skills and Languages  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  [R] Denotes skill proficiency from racial abilities
  [B] Denotes skill proficiency from background
  [C] Denotes skill proficiency from class abilities

  <u>Proficient Skills                                      </u>

  <u>Non-Proficient Skills                                  </u>

  [ ] Acrobatics         : +0    0 prof + 0 Dex + 0 misc
  [ ] Animal Handling    : +0    0 prof + 0 Wis + 0 misc
  [ ] Arcana             : +0    0 prof + 0 Int + 0 misc
  [ ] Athletics          : +0    0 prof + 0 Str + 0 misc
  [ ] Deception          : +0    0 prof + 0 Cha + 0 misc
  [ ] History            : +0    0 prof + 0 Int + 0 misc
  [ ] Insight            : +0    0 prof + 0 Wis + 0 misc
  [ ] Intimidation       : +0    0 prof + 0 Cha + 0 misc
  [ ] Investigation      : +0    0 prof + 0 Int + 0 misc
  [ ] Medicine           : +0    0 prof + 0 Wis + 0 misc
  [ ] Nature             : +0    0 prof + 0 Int + 0 misc
  [ ] Perception         : +0    0 prof + 0 Wis + 0 misc
  [ ] Performance        : +0    0 prof + 0 Cha + 0 misc
  [ ] Persuasion         : +0    0 prof + 0 Cha + 0 misc
  [ ] Religion           : +0    0 prof + 0 Int + 0 misc
  [ ] Sleight of Hand    : +0    0 prof + 0 Dex + 0 misc
  [ ] Stealth            : +0    0 prof + 0 Dex + 0 misc
  [ ] Survival           : +0    0 prof + 0 Wis + 0 misc

  Languages : Common

  Conditional Bonuses and Penalties :

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Inspiration  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>
  Inspired : Yes / [No]   Using inspiration gives you Advantage.

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Combat Statistics  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Hit Points    :            Current HP :
  Proficiency   : +          Temp HP    :
  Initiative    : +          Total HD   : dX [1/1]

  Base Melee    : +0     0 Prof + 0 Str + 0 misc
  Base Ranged   : +0     0 Prof + 0 Dex + 0 misc
  Base Spell    : +0     0 Prof + 0 Mod + 0 misc

  Armor Class   : 10    00 armor + 0 shield + 0 Dex + 0 misc

  Vulnerability :
  Resistance    :

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Senses  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Passive Perception     : 00  10 + 0 prof + 0 Wis + 0 adv* + 0 misc
  Passive Investigation  : 00  10 + 0 prof + 0 Int + 0 adv* + 0 misc
  Passive Insight        : 00  10 + 0 prof + 0 Wis + 0 adv* + 0 misc
   *Add or subtract 5 to passive based on having advantage or disadvantage.

  Vision :

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Saving Throws  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Strength     : +0    0 prof + 0 Str + 0 misc
  Dexterity    : +0    0 prof + 0 Dex + 0 misc
  Constitution : +0    0 prof + 0 Con + 0 misc
  Intelligence : +0    0 prof + 0 Int + 0 misc
  Wisdom       : +0    0 prof + 0 Wis + 0 misc
  Charisma     : +0    0 prof + 0 Cha + 0 misc

  Conditional Bonuses and Penalties :

  Death Saves
  Successes : [-],[-],[-]
  Failures  : [-],[-],[-]

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Racial Abilities and Features  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Subrace :
  ASI     :
  Size    :
  Speed   :
  Vision  :
  Language: Common

  Ability :

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Background Information  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Background  :
  -Other      :
  -Skill Prof :
  -Tool Prof  :
  -Language   :
  -Feature    :

  Personality Traits
  - Name
    Description

  - Name
    Description

  Ideal
  - Name
    Description

  Bond
  - Name
    Description

  Flaw
  - Name
    Description

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Class Abilities and Features  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Armor   :
  Weapons :
  Tools   :

  Saving Throws :
  Skill Prof.   :

  Features :
     -


</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Feats  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Name : Description

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Money and Equipment  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  Armor     :
  Belt      :
  Body      :
  Chest     :
  Eyes      :
  Feet      :
  Hands     :
  Head      :
  Headband  :
  Neck      :
  Ring #1   :
  Ring #2   :
  Shield    :
  Shoulders :
  Wrists    :
  Trinket   :

  Weapon    :

  Other Equipment :

  Money :

</Mono></td></tr>
<tr><td><b><small>  Spellcasting (DC = 8 + Prof + Ability mod)  </small></b></td></tr><tr><td><Mono>

  * Denotes a bonus spell gained by a Racial feature

  Spells Known:
  Spell Slots
  1st 0 | 2nd 0 | 3rd 0 | 4th 0 | 5th 0 | 6th 0| 7th 0 | 8th 0 | 9th 0

  DC:
  Spell Attack Mod:  (Prof + Casting Stat Mod)

  Bardic Inspiration
  [ ]

  Level 1 Spell Slots
  [ ]

  Cantrips
  -

  Level 1
  -

</Mono></td></tr></table>

Thanks Moira, hope that one works as I used it :)

GM - I'm finished with my sheet I think if you want to check it over.

No preference on sheets, I like the look of the one you sent - let's use that for everyone.

I'll check your sheet and PM you directly Thente.

Once again, welcome to the game. Hoping this goes well too :)

Funnily enough I took this as a personality trait as well... it'll be fun to see how that plays IC:
  - I watch over my friends as if they were a litter of newborn pups.

Nice to meet you all! Sorry I'm late to post, I just got back from a skiing trip. I'll be the party's vanilla human tanky-ness - looking forward to playing my first rpol campaign (introduced to the platform by the DM)! I'm not new to RP and DnD in general though, but writing and other feedback is very welcome!

Thanks for the template Moira, as I mentioned, I'm new to rpol, so the formatting helps me a ton.

Hey, welcome to the fun!  You got here just in time to dodge the tail end of the yearly slump where RPOL grinds to a halt over the winter holidays.

So the initial hook I had set up was intended to be generic, -but- if Veradda doesn't sound like something your character would be in on, you could simply be in the Nightstone area when the rocks fall. Or maybe in Nightstone itself.

However, if you are interested in tying your backgrounds with Veradda (or even tying your backgrounds with each other) this is the place to discuss it :)

Hello folks.

I'm your cook turned abjurer after his clan had a nasty run in with giants. So we will clearly all look oit for one another.

I think there is a lot of backstory potential between us, especially halflings (and maybe arcanists).

Another cook!  Wonderful!  :3  Our party is going to be so well-fed.

In reply to Moira Ruadh (msg # 11):

Between my Outlander feature and the fact that I can cast Goodberry 1/day, there will definitely be plenty of food to be had!

GM - I've had some DM's rule that Goodberry nourishes you but the characters still feel hungry/empty. What are your thoughts on that? I.e. Goodberry keeps you on your feet, but you still want to eat a meal.

Doderic - I don't think Thente would have a bond with other Arcanists per se. As an outlander sorcerer, he knows nothing actually about the arcane, he just does his thing.

Claire - hope the ski trip was great! You going for Fighter as a tank?
This message was last edited by the player at 06:17, Tue 08 Jan 2019.

IMO, Goodberry sustains you but doesn't actually make you feel full. It's like being on a nutrient drip or eating soylent. You don't feel hunger, though you could probably still eat. The entire point of the spell is to feed people after all (and healing with life cleric I guess.)

yeah, i didn't think it makes you feel full, other DMs said that you actively feel hungry since you're just eating a berry but that you wouldn't waste away, so I wanted to check on that.

I could select another spell for his 1st level magic initiate spell if people don't think Goodberry is worthwhile, I just tried to pick my spells based on things I thought a loner sorcerer trapper might have learned/developed.

Plus right now we don't really have much magically healing, and a Goodberry is as good as at getting people back on their feet and keeping them on their feet as a CLW spell :)

Goodberry is terrible unless you're dipping life cleric! You should play a cleric 1/warlock 2/sorcerer x multiclass with elven accuracy. Take magic initiate for find familiar and booming blade! Convert warlock points into metamagic! Blow three horns of the vahalla with your nose, mouth and b-

Honestly, just take the damn spell and play it out. Its fun, it fits the character, and you guys have no cleric at the moment. and has various RP uses.

Interestingly, per wording of the spell you can't actually "feed" someone a goodberry to let them heal from unconsciousness, since the beneficiary has to spend an action to eat it, but I think I'll allow it as a 'houserule'.

Ok, I'll stick with Goodberry then. Great point, I never noticed that it requires an action to eat, so thanks for that houserule!

I've always played it as food that's produced via magic always tastes a bit off.  Flatter, less flavorful, maybe a little odd in texture.  Not inherently inferior, mind you, just objectively different to what everyone's grown up with all their life.  A steak's just not the same without a nice cast iron sear on it, y'know?

Then there's also the logistical matter of magical seasoning.  "Prestidigitation" lets you flavor food however you please, but it's essentially just an illusion since you're not actually transforming matter or creating food.  Thus you don't actually get any nutritional benefits from the results.  So you could make all the water you drink look, smell, and taste like orange juice but you're still gonna get scurvy since there's no actual vitamins in it.

For things like Goodberry, I'm with the DM.  It nourishes you - as in, it meets your body's nutritional/caloric requirements so that you remain functional and healthy.  But you've still only got a single berry in your belly, so a character won't actually feel satiated and may risk over-nourishing themselves if they want to eat more food to get the feeling of a full stomach.  I imagine Moira, being a down-home Hobbit type, would consider Goodberries in the same vein as emergency rations rather than actual food.

"Eating" a Goodberry
Honestly, I'd classify it under the same ruling as feeding an unconscious person a Potion of Healing.  The person administering the healing item has to use their Action to do it while the person receiving it just has it force-fed down their throat.  If they were conscious and unwilling then there'd likely be a matter of Grappling checks to be made to resist being force-fed anything, but if you're out cold then you automatically fail, sooooo... yeah.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:16, Tue 08 Jan 2019.

Sure, Thente agrees, it's just that he eats it more often than not historically for convenience sake, not having to carry rations with him, and also not "eating" into sales of meat profits :)

Basically he's a lazy bachelor who doesn't cook much, so Goodberry is his top ramen ;)

If it helps our healing worries, I was planning to go Paladin!

Sort of like microwave/electric-plate foods vs a nice open flame stove. It's impossible to get a nice char with electric stoves IMO :x

Moira - I envisioned her as a dancer or something, not a cook. But the more the merrier (let's disregard the pesky "Too many cooks" saying)

Claire - Welcome. RPoL can be a bit moody until you get to know it. We hope we'll help you along and make this a great experience for you.

Thente - Well, a stark contrast is a bond as well. I can't wait for the clash of Doderic's formulas and recipes with Thente's intuition.

GM - Could you please unlock my character sheet?
And regarding the prologue, is each of us making our way to the Nightstone on our own, or are we already traveling together?

@Doderic: Done!

The prologue isn't a must, more of a "where were you the night before" type scenario. The party will come together at Nightstone when we start the campaign proper. Before that, you guys can be traveling together, separately, or even be in Nightstone itself (though the last would be a completely different scenario). I don't expect any posts there until everyone's concepts are firmed up. And even then, I might split the thread and scenario depending on how everyone's backstories turn out.

So no pressure to post immediately. Think of it as anchor of sorts for the kind of flavor I'm going for with this campaign. What would your character do? What sort of reactions would they have? Why are they even traveling to Nightstone in the first place? That sort of thing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:13, Tue 08 Jan 2019.

And that's our 5th party member! Everyone say hi to SheynaCeryna!

Quick Timeline
You guys work fast, so here's the rough timeline I'm shooting for getting the game started:

11/1 - Backstories done
13/1 - Character sheets finalized
14/1 - First Post for chapter 1

Prologues
With how things are going, I will make individual prologue threads for each of you guys sometime tonight. Do tell me if any of your characters might be traveling together and would like a different "starting" thread to do some RP a bit before we begin, get used to each other's styles...etc

Also, somethings I'd like everyone's opinion on:
1) As part of character creation, I'm thinking each of you guys can start with a Common Magic Item from Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Just something for you guys to add a bit more flavor to your characters. PM me if you need a copy of the list (courtesy of Moira!)

2) SKT will likely involve a good amount of traveling, which messes with the rest system of "x encounters per long-rest". I am considering adopting the Gritty Realism rest rules (1 short rest every 24 hours, 1 long rest every week), though I understand some players really do not like it. What are your opinions on this? I'm willing to experiment with variations on the usual rule as well (one long rest every 2 days, only rest at specific places...etc).
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:16, Wed 09 Jan 2019.

Hi Sheyna!

1) I'm down with a common item, not sure which I'd want, but wouldn't mind
2) Why don't we try the gritty realism rest to start and see how it plays out. If it doesn't work we can revert to the normal rules.

Hi all!  Apologies for  those who saw our DM‘s  initial post. My character went through a small name change. She is now Ceryna...a human Cleric of the Arcane, with loose connections to one of Waterdeep’s oldest noble Houses.  I will have a description and portrait up tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to writing/playing with all of you...

 As to the short rest, long rest options, my preference is for the standard version rather than the gritty realism version. But I am open to either.   I also have no problem with trying one for awhile, and switching to the other if it proves preferable.

Here's what I'm leaning towards:

Resting - characters still need to sleep every day, and short rest/long rest durations remain the same (1 hour min. for short rest, 8 hours min. for long rest). The following changes apply however:

1) Characters only gain the benefit of a Long Rest if they rest in a "safe zone". This is loosely defined as any civilized area 'sanctified' by a shrine. Other exceptions may present themselves - I will indicate as appropriate.

2) In all other scenarios, characters will only gain the benefit of a short rest. This does not restore HP, or recover Hit Die regardless of the number of hours spent. Characters can still spend HD to heal as with any other short rest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For most part, all towns and villages are 'safe zones'. Lodges, old temples, even certain groves may be 'safe zones' as well. A campfire isn't a safe zone, neither is the inside of a tiny hut or rope trick. But a well-hidden traveler's lodge dedicated to Mielikki might.

I figure that this fits with how prominent the Gods are on Faerun - this also rewards cases where adventurers might find an abandoned shrine to Lathandar or similar and clean/restore it, turning it into a 'safe zone'. Of course, shrines to deities that oppose the party (most evil deities, in the case of this group) may not confer the benefit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of Gods - for those not so familiar with the setting, one of the elements of Faerun afterlife is that if you die without worshiping a specific 'patron deity' your soul ends up in the Wall of the Faithless, which is literally a giant wall embedded with the screaming souls of faithless atheists that exist in agony for all eternity. Having a deity is generally recommended :P

Welcome Ceryna!

1) I don't mind getting a free item!

2) I think that's an interesting spin on the standard rest system, but I'm also open to experimenting, seeing how it goes and changing back if we find it doesn't work for us.

Welcome, Ceryna!

As for the questions/plans:

Magic item - sure thing, I'll have to take a look at them again (if you can post them in character creation, that'd be great)

Rest - this is an interesting twist. I have to say I kinda like it.

Prologues - I can see Doderic teaming up with any of the other characters while on the road. I'm also somewhat partial to characters knowing one another at the start of the adventure.

Equipment-wise, do we get to start with a (random) trinket?

I've PMd you the list.

At the moment, I believe Claire and Thente are starting out in Nightstone. I don't think anyone else has voiced any other preference yet.

Yes you may start out with a randomly rolled trinket if you wish. Use the games dice roller. Note that all trinkets come with a 10% chance of PLOT.

I'm torn on a common item and am soliciting advice:

Thente is a lone woodsman friendly with the wood elves of Ardeep, which of these things if most fun/makes most sense:

• Clothes of mending - very practical for a loner in the wilderness
• Moon touched sword - i'm not proficient, but leave it to the elves to give someone a magical gift they can only use for light!
• Orb of Direction - great for navigating and trekking
• Rope of Mending - super useful and practical. I think Thente's would only be 43' long, not 50 though... ;)

What do you guys think?

One or both of the cooks needs to have Hewards Handy Spice Pouch!

I totally already snagged a Heward's Handy Spice Pouch.  :3  For me, it was that or a Pole of Collapsing, as a 10-foot pole that can shrink down to fit in a pouch is unbelievably useful for any adventurer.  The Pole of Angling was a close third, because who doesn't enjoy fishing?

@Thente
You have the Outlander background, right?  You should be able to manage trekking in the wilderness already, so between that and a good Survival skill, you shouldn't really need an Orb of Direction.

For overall utility?  I'd say probably go with the Moon-touched Sword.  It's a never-ending heatless torch, a +1 weapon, and is still combat-viable even if you aren't proficient with it.  Just because you lack proficiency doesn't mean you can't use it - you just can't use it well.

@DM
Question about traveling: how viable will it be for us to invest in mounts and vehicles?
For example, I have juuuuuuust enough GP to buy myself a Mastiff and would absolutely love a riding dog, because dog!  :3  But it would also break my heart if I had an adorable companion critter only for him to be killed immediately because of incidental damage or circumstances.  So long as mounts aren't used in combat or intentionally used to confront danger, can they essentially be deemed as "safe" from harm?  Like, if danger suddenly appears they'll just sort of scamper off to safety or otherwise remain out of the line of fire because of basic survival instincts we silly adventurers ignore?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:30, Wed 09 Jan 2019.

The spice pouch seems so nice. As Moira went for it, I'll take the Staff of Flowers and grow fresh herbs when needed :)

Ceryna's going with the Cloak of Many Fashions.  While it has little practical use, it is very RP appropriate to her concept.

In reply to Moira Ruadh (msg # 31):

@Moira - you raise good points about Survival & Outlander, so there goes the Orb ;)

I can cast heatless light with a cantrip that is brighter and lasts an hour on my dagger (which with I AM proficient), though it doesn't count as magical for over coming resistances like a moon touched sword. The Common version doesn't give you a +1 sword, it's just magical so overcomes resistances, and sheds 15' of bright/15' dim light.

I guess if I can get it as a Moon-touched Dagger (GM?)

I like the idea of a partiall used Rope of Mending for my guy ;)

@Claire should get a moon-touched greatsword so she can whomp things that have Resitance: B/S/P from non-magical weapons!

Might we talk a little bit about group synergies?  I'm absolutely a Character/RP/Storyline First sort of player; I'm not one to maximize based on the least thematically-effective choice in order to wring every single millimeter of positive probability out of a situation.  But knowing just a little about each of our member's talents and weaknesses can definitely help us not to be duplicative (at the least).

Ceryna is an Arcana Cleric of Mystra.  Her build focuses on Wisdom (big surprise), but she'll be decent in Int and Cha as well, mostly for skill benefit purposes.  I  don't know if we have a natural "Face" in the group, but she may be able to be the fill-in there if not.

She will NOT be a front-line fighter by any stretch, but can provide some decent, ranged backup.  She'll be making frequent use of buffs and debuffs...

Sure!

Thente is a Storm Giant Soul Sorcerer raised in the woods with rare contact with other people or elves. So while he's Charisma heavy, his only skill in the area is Intimidation! Though he could grow and learn Diplomacy and Deception, right now he doesn't have much social skill outside his natural Charisma. He is also decent at Con and Wisdom stuff.

Thente actually doesn't have any ranged cantrips. He will be in melee probably too often for my liking. Though he does have a Crossbow for when ranged is required ;)

Moira is a high DEX/CHA Rogue, going into the Swashbuckler archetype at Level 3.  Dual-wielding shortswords (and possibly rapiers later, if I go for the matching Feat) for melee and a shortbow for ranged.  Her skill focuses are in DEX, WIS, and CHA skills, so she can serve as a Face for the group pretty well overall.

Given that she's bound to Light Armor and a d8 HD, Moira is not made to wade into melee.  Her role is to either snipe from afar, or bounce in, do a huge amount of Sneak Attack Damage to a single target, and then bounce out so she can reposition and do it again next turn.  Because she's a Swashbuckler she can avoid triggering Opportunity Attacks from people she hits.  Because she's a Lightfoot Halfling, she can move through other creatures' spaces if they're bigger than her, so she has a lot of capacity for being able to move around the battlefield for advantageous positioning.  If we're using "Flanking" rules, that's extra important for us to keep in mind.

So it sounds as though we're short on melee options given our current group composition.  Assuming Claire is a Paladin (or Cleric?  I can't quite tell) then it looks like she and I will be getting up close with baddies on priority.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:14, Thu 10 Jan 2019.

Not using flanking rules at the moment. The rest rules and initiative posting changes are the only ones I'm making for now.

@Moira
Modes of transportation will be important in this campaign, though not immediately. I usually prefer that Companions will not be randomly killed from damage during combat if they don't participate. Some narrative events may result in harm to them though, but I'll refrain from randomly killing favorite pets :x

Mounts, depending on the situation, may be targeted even out of combat. Bandits may attack horses to stall a cart for example.

@Thente I was thinking exactly of getting a moon-touched greatsword, since it's entirely plausible that Claire gets one from her veteran father.



Yup, Claire is mechanically a Paladin! Mechanically I figure she's more offensively than defensively built (with Great Weapon Master)? So I expect she can handle a good amount of the group's damage dealing. While she's not the squishiest (with 15 AC I think, and +1 CON modifier), she's also not as punishment-absorbing as a shield paladin. Buffs, debuffs and other support will be very nice! Not having a lot of melee holding power could be fun too, if it makes us more careful with where, when and how we choose our engagements.

Claire also has relatively high CHA, but in a kind of contrast to Thente, she only has Persuasion as a skill proficiency rather than Intimidation or Deception, since helping villagers with daily tasks generally involves being approachable and sociable, rather than being quick-witted, discerning or intimidating. With average WIS and no Insight proficiency either, I feel like Moira could be a more natural 'Face'. I notice we have a lot of characters with good CHA, but I think that's fine!

Other stronger stats include STR and DEX. Claire will be bringing some healing capacity to the party too, so perhaps between her and Ceryna and items, it sounds like we'll be quite fine.

The party selection is actually sort-of intentional! I fully intend to match encounters to the party strengths (and sometimes weaknesses). Or rather, if I design things correctly there should also be alternative routes beyond "toss the barbarian in and hope everything shoots them first". So don't worry too much about not having a tanky type.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:09, Thu 10 Jan 2019.

@Claire Perfect! I'm getting me some mending rope and keeping my light cantrip then ;)

For emergency healing/stabilization we'll also have Thente's Goodberry spell!

Thente has an AC 14 and shield as needed, but my giant blood gets me to 16 hit points, so I can take a hit or two.

I think we'll be ok in melee as long as we're fighting smaller creatures to start so we can survive to get better armor and higher hit points! ;)

Claire can lay the hurt, Thente can provide a second target and also lay some hurt, and Moira can bound in and out dropping some sneak attack hur. Ceryna can help with buff/debuff and healing. Doderic can help with ranged spell (cantrips, etc.) and buffs as an abjurer as well I think.

 I am really pleased to hear that we have so many Charisma-Heavy character types.   Honestly, my girl’s charisma is decent, but not awesome. So I’m pleased to hear that we have a couple of other strong options for group Face aside from her. In fact, I may even make a few minor tweaks to her build, now that I know that role is comfortably covered. Gracias!

I'm bopping along at 14 AC for the moment, as I couldn't quite afford Studded Leather at character creation.  It pains me to be such an easy target.  T_T

Fair warning when it comes to the Face role for the party: Moira is going to step up more often than not.  She's a Halfling and a Rogue - either one of those is a "take initiative when meeting new people" trait and both together means she's generally the one to put her best fuzzy foot forward but quick.  Her highest trained CHA skills are in Persuasion and Deception, and in nature she's a very honest and earnest sort of person.  She's not going to be lying to people and absolutely isn't going to be doing any thieving.

So with that in mind!  Please do not let me, the player, take center stage too much in those situations.  This is cooperative storytelling and a game for all of us, so everyone should get their turn at handling situations.  Nobody here should feel like they can't participate in a certain event just because another player usually takes the lead on it or may have a higher number.

Doderic is Abjurer Wizard, and currently his DEX is higher than INT (until lvl. 4). He's mostly lore oriented in skills. He'll stay in the back and provide support, but he should be able to keep himself alive, especially with his decent CON.

Doderic is certainly talkative as well, but his interests probably won't have much to do with advancing the adventure, so glad to have Moira take that over.

DM, any preferences for the content of Bio lines?

Ah! Thanks for bringing this up.

AC, Passive Perception and Saves would be ideal

If you have a spare line, put whatever else you like in it.

NPCs will not have this information unfortunately, but I'll be fine with letting you guys tag them :P

Also @Doderic: I'm starting up a prologue thread for Moira and Ceryna on the road, would you like to join in?

I'll put it up, and yes throw me in, please.

Did we chat about speech color in this game?

I can't find it in this thread, did I miss it?

I'm going to take Sea green bold if that is ok? If bold doesn't work for people I'll still stick with sea green.

I'm personally rather fond of Lavender.

No ones claimed anything, far as I know.

Brown is reserved for NPCs in general, though some NPCs may have different colours.

I'm fine with bold, especially if Thente speaks in a powerful voice.

I'll go with Rose.

Can we all agree on the usual default that Orange is reserved for OOC mechanics text?

I believe that's already in the Rules and Posting threads, which I've been gradually updating as we go along.

Ah, right you are.

Cool.

Doderic you raise a good point, he probably doesn't speak powerfully normally, having spent so much time in the woods with just elves for company, so I'll not use the bold for him unless he is raising his voice or something/emphasis.

GM - rules thread says that you're using language groups, but I don't see an Elven group for Thente. I hope you do set those groups up, that is one of my favorite features of rpol and doing RP on here, the verisimilitude that language groups bring to the "table".

Hmm odd. Try again?

Language groups are working now.

On the note of Roll20, I have an account but never used it. I'm willing to give a live combat a try, although I'm sure that the timezones will not make it easy.

I don't seem to have any language groups set?  I should be in Halfling, Giant, and Thieves' Cant.  Assuming we want to designate Thieves' Cant as an alternate language rather than a string of lingo and innuendo that can be spoken in any language, like it actually is.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:23, Thu 10 Jan 2019.

That's because I apparently scrambled your language choices with an NPC.

It should be correct now.

Looks good, thanks.

[Language unknown: Eauillset acwi rut, plous!]

Thanks :)

EDIT - I also have a Roll20 free account though I don't use it much. Not sure how much availability I have for "live" sessions, but I can pop in there for maps and such. Any way to DL or copy paste things from there to here?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:56, Thu 10 Jan 2019.

My usual habit is to grab a screencap, put things together in Photoshop, then upload to Imgur for hosting.

Am I guessing correctly that Moira is a Lightfoot?

And maps can be uploaded directly as files to the game. Art that is embedes in postes needs to be hosted elsewhere.

Correct.

I'll pick Goldenrod for my speech color if that's okay.

Speaking of colors, just a note that the hair color in my portrait is inaccurate, sorry about that - it was the best I could find considering 90% of portraits on this site look like they're from the previous century. x.x

I used to have a Photobucket account for this sort of thing. I might look at imgur for this.

Speaking of portraits, I'll be making combat tokens for you guys for the maps. Simple stuff with an online token stamper- any preference on pics to use? I'll likely default to your current portraits.

I'm good with my portrait, makes recognition a bit easier so we don't have different pics on portrait vs. map.

I've talked to a couple of people about an art commission for Thente, but they are expensive! :)

I am fine with my portrait as well...

I have chosen purple as Ceryna’s dialogue color.

My portrait works fine by me.

Custom art is hard to come by, yeah.  I have a number of artist friends who take commissions for pretty good prices though, so I'm in luck.  ^_^  I've got one commission currently being done for a Goblin character of mine, and the second picture of Moira in my bio page was actually a surprise gift made for me by another player/DM here on RPOL.

GM - I might be missing it somewhere, but is there a game map of Nightstone itself? And some highlights on locations that Thente and Claire would be familiar with coming from there?

There is! I made the village somewhat larger than the original however, so the gamemap is no longer accurate.

I'll update the Nightstone info page for you guys. Give me 10mins.

Great, thanks!

Updated! If you want more specific details on the locations and the NPCs feel free to ask in the PM thread.

So, if it wasn't a noticeable pattern yet, I'm most active at approximately 1000 hours and 2200 hours (GMT +8), plus/minus an hour. I'm wondering if folks here have a similar posting "timeslot" they set aside for rpol (in addition to all the random checking in throughout the day) and might want to put a schedule of sorts.

As a DM I intend to at least indicate 1 daily time-slot at which I will be actively online (think office hours) so you guys can at least expect a reliable update schedule (Weds and Fri nights excluded because I have my IRL games then). Would you guys want to do something similar on an individual basis? I know some games here have players put up a 'schedule' so individual PCs can sync on posting.

But if its too much hassle I honestly don't mind just keeping it as it is right now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:56, Sat 12 Jan 2019.

I'm available from 1000 to 1800 hours GMT +1 on weekdays. Sometimes that might run a bit longer (to 2100), but that's quite variable. While I will see anything posted during that time, I might not be able to put up a complex post right away.

I'm most active between 0800-1700 GMT -8 while I'm at work actually. Though I usually check in at night as well from home.

I'm active between 0900 to 2300 GMT+9, but mostly after 1630. Before that it really depends on whether and when I have classes.

Everyone's sheet seems good. I should have PMd you about any changes needed.

I'll be looking to move both groups into the starting thread sometime after the next 24 hours. Expect something of a times in later tonight once everyone has posted for the Caravan group.

Unfortunately, I will have limited internet for two days this week due to RL commitments. I believe I should still be able to respond at least once a day. Just a heads up that my replies will be delayed.

At the moment, I intend to at least start the main chapter while my net is still up so both groups can introduce themselves to each other.

I'm most active in the late mornings and mid-afternoon of weekdays (CST; GMT-6), as well as most evenings.  On the weekends, I can check in several times, and probably post once or twice, but in general I will be less active.  My travel schedule for work can wreak havoc on this pattern at times, but I will try to give some advanced warning if it looks like its going to.

As with some others, I can check for updates regularly on most days, but I really hate trying to compose a meaningful response on my phone.  :)

Thought I'd note that Ceryna has the Guidance cantrip, and as a general rule, she will be using it freely as needed to buff checks for herself and her companions.

I'll try to remember this, but because of the nature of play-by-post games, someone might take an action before I can react with the buff.  Consequently, if I forget, or just don't have a chance to jump in, don't hesitate to have your PC ask Ceryna for some 'good karma' before attempting some important ability or skill check.  If she can, it's reasonable to assume that she will...

The fun part here about Moira's inventory narratively being mostly cooking supplies is that's really the case.  I spent more GP cooking items, tools, and foodstuffs than I did on weapons.  :3c

In reply to Moira Ruadh (msg # 81):

That is awesome :)

I'LL really sorry, but u will need to delay the update to Thursday. In the meanwhile, please feel free to continue discussing/rping in the existing threads.

Unfortunately I overestimated the degree of wifi access I would have for the coming week or so, please excuse this hiccup at the start ><

Ok rather than leave you guys hanging, I decided to just open the main thread since i had it ready anyway. The main thing was the lack of a lead up, but after some thought i believe that its fine.

I'll leave the other prologue threads open for folks wanting to continue to banter, but now the party can at least introduce themselves to each other until I get back to goddamn civilization (i.e. places with electricity and wifi)

See you guys in a day or two.

*raises a fist in mock anger* Curse you Moira, now I'll have to learn about cooking just to RP properly.

Thanks for moving us forward GM, good luck in the wilderness.

In reply to Doderic Cookingpot (msg # 85):

I don't see this as being a bad thing.  :3c

But yeah, part of the reason I enjoy playing Halflings is because I love to cook IRL, so getting to play what is essentially Hobbit living really works for me.

You should see if DM's will let you take the UA Feat Gourmand (https://media.wizards.com/2016.../dnd/ua-feats-v1.pdf)!

It's great fun!

I made an NPC for my group one time who was basically useless (yes, even in 5e that is possible, but he had the Gourmand feat, so the party didn't want to let him die or leave because of the awesome benefits of the feat. Healed them really well and once kept a PC from being poisoned, or at least consuming a poisoned dish.

I already talked to the DM about it prior and we're actually going to be using the expanded Artisan Tool rules from "Xanathar's Guide".  So, given Moira's tool proficiencies and some homebrewed "quality cooking ingredients" I spent quite a bit of gold on, she can actually make meals that will yield different mechanical effects for the party.  The basic one I know of is enhanced healing during rest periods, which is always useful, though the DM also mentioned:



So between my proficiencies, the Halfling "Lucky" trait that lets me re-roll a 1, and Doderic to assist and grant Advantage/lower the DC?  We should all be eating really well more often than not.  :3c

Nice! I dont' think I've read the expanded rules for cooks utensils in XGE, I'll have to check them out.

Maybe the just re-worked the UA concept into expanded tool rules rather than have it as a feat.

It's not just the Cook's Utensils - it's all Artisan Tools.  The developers seemed to realize that the tool sets didn't actually do anything and it was left entirely to individual DM homebrewing, so they made various functions and skill checks for every tool to give them more use.  There's naturally still plenty of room for homebrew on their usefulness, but it's nice to have guidelines.

Does anyone have a copy of those rules handy? I'm not really familiar with 5e beyond the base PHB.

I believe both the DM and I have a copy of the book, so we can field any questions thereof.  Did you have a particular tool kit you were curious about?

Yeah, the herbalist's kit! How does that work in the expanded rules? Also, is there anything relevant to the healer's kit?

Mind you, this is right out of "Xanathar's Guide".  The DM may have their own customization or house rules to add to these, so take them with a grain of salt for the time being.




This message was last edited by the player at 05:38, Wed 16 Jan 2019.

Thanks!

I'm back!

And yes, we are using variant rules on skills and tools. For most part, I like to reward creative use of abilities, so if you want to try something but aren't sure if it would work, just ask (PM or otherwise)!

Also, I'm really enjoying the posts so far, especially the level of detail some of you guys are going with your crafts. Just want to add that not every post needs to be of top quality! I rather have a consistent, shorter post each day than one longer paragraph every now and then with a whole medley of actions.

Expect your usual update in 12 hours or so.

I'll see if anyone else wants to chime in, then push things forward again at in 8 hours or so.

Huh, I just realized when writing my last post... I don’t think anyone in our group has Darkvision. From the looks we’re 3 humans and 2 halflings!

Not sure I’ve ever been in a game where NONE of the characters had Dark/Infravision, in any edition, let alone 5e where everyone and their mother’s race comes with it.

This should be fun!

That's why I have a lantern.  :3c

It really surprised me that Halflings didn't have Darkvision at first, until I thought of it in relative comparisons.  Halflings are to Humans what Gnomes are to Elves, and the parallels are pretty solid between them.

But yeah, this is by far the most "mundane" party I've ever been in.  Haven't seen a game yet that didn't have a gaggle of Tieflings and Dragonborn among the lot of them.  Though, to be honest, I was this close to playing a Goblin for this game.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:38, Mon 21 Jan 2019.

In reply to Moira Ruadh (msg # 99):

When feats and variant human are in play 7/10 I’m playing one. If standard humans are the option I probably only select that if I rolled and like all stats are odd numbers.

Otherwise I’m choosing a race with more flavor/abilities

Since I was playing a Swashbuckler Rogue, Lightfoot Halfling was pretty much a no-brainer for me.  Racial abilities like "Lucky" let me reroll a 1, I can move through Larger creatures' squares at no extra movement cost, I can hide behind anything Medium-sized and larger to easily proc Sneak Attack, and I get a +2 DEX +1 CHA boost.  Waaaay too much good synergy there to pass up on.

Goblins are less ideal since they have a racial trait that overlaps with the Rogue's class ability for movement-related bonus actions, so it's a waste due to redundancy.  But they're still tons of fun regardless.  :3

FWIW, Ceryna does have the Light cantrip.  With no concentration requirement, she can glow a bunch of stuff for folks as needed.  That will help somewhat...but it makes stealth at night a little more challenging.  :)

As does Thente. So we can light up two objects (as soon as you cast it on another object, the previous spell goes out). Not saying we're blind, but nighttime stealth or cave stealth is NOT going to be us :)

This wasn't really intentional, I mostly picked concepts that I liked and gelled well with each other. For whatever reason the blander races had more interesting personalities :x

But yeah three humans and two halflings is pretty vanilla as far as adventuring parties go. Plus at least there won't be arguments about whether to have light sources.

I've pocketed the potion for now, but does anyone want it in particular?

Might be useful to hand over to our primary damage dealer for the sake of better combat odds.  Otherwise, it could also serve as an emergency "get back up at two failed death saving throws" potion.  Not sure if anyone invested in Potions of Healing.  I certainly couldn't afford any.

Speaking of which, who is our primary damage dealer? I'm not too familiar with 5e classes and build possibilities in general.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:08, Tue 22 Jan 2019.

Probably Moira or you. Moira is capable of doing the most damage to a single target, but she lacks the AC and HP to stay toe-to-toe.  Your martial weapons have the most pure damage potential, and once you gain spell slots, you can burn them for an extra 1d8 radiant damage on each attack, giving you pretty effective extra damage as well. I’m fine with you or Moira keeping the potion for now.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Tue 22 Jan 2019.

Claire as the Paladin is going to be the "tank"/damage dealer, especially once you get Divine Smite going.

Moira will hopefully be bouncing in and out and sneak attacking regularly.

Thente, though a sorcerer, is planned to be more melee heavy (16 hit points, mage armor/shield). He's going to use Shillelagh in combination with Green Flame Blade and Eventually Booming Blade in combat along with Shocking Grasp when best/necessary. He doesn't have any ranged cantrips. His ranged spell is his light crossbow! Should be an interesting challenge, but I thought it worked well with the "giant soul" origin, trying to be up close, etc.

Keep in mind that I don't necessarily have to be in melee.  I can Sneak Attack at range so long I'm Hidden first (which should be easy enough for me to manage in most cases thanks to race/class skill synergy) and/or so long as someone more tanky is all up in an enemy's business.  Given my currently low AC and HP, it's better for me to keep out of melee until I level up at can get the Swashbuckler Archetype, which will make me more brawl-ready.

Doderic is a support/defensive caster, but with time he'll have some AOE spells to get rid of swarms of smaller enemies. Although, might not be many of them among the giants...

But he'll stick to ranged either way. Although with Abjurer's ward, he' can take a hit or two before being in trouble (famous last words -.-)

Ceryna is more of a support/defensive type as well.  Her AC is pretty decent for level 1, but she'll be attacking from range with cantrips as much as possible (probably trying to maintain concentration on Bless or some other Buff!).

If things get too up-close, she's gonna be forced to go stabby-stabby with a dagger (Finesse).  I'm hoping to avoid that.

Fire Bolt and Sacred Flame will be her go-to options at this point, assuming she can't think of a beneficial way to use Minor Illusion...

Oh...and because I made the RP choice to heal that child NPC, she is down to one 1st level spell as we head off to adventure.

Yay!  Level one PCs are so much fun.  ;)

Errr... I might have some good news for you.

I've got two Shortswords, Ceryna, so you can borrow one if you need the boost from a d4 to a d6 in a pinch.  I'll really only be focusing more on dual-wielding in combat once I get my archetype and can more reliably evade Opportunity Attacks without needing to burn a Bonus Action to do so.

Honestly, our current set-up for having the majority of us being ranged is pretty solid from a strategic standpoint.  It only makes sense for us to pick off as many enemies as possible from a distance before resorting to melee on any surviving attackers - likely softened up by that point - who manage to close the gap.

Crud!  How in Mystra's name did I miss this?  Our good DM even checked my character sheet and blessed it as bueno!  Yikes!

Ah well...mistakes in my favor are awesome!  I'll adjust accordingly.

Thanks muchly for the sword offer, Moira.  I may take you up on it at some point.

Yea that was my bad. I was mostly looking for wrong math/stats and missed something far more egregious. Will make another check this weekend in case I missed more things ><

IC suggestions on what, if anything, Ceryna should try to buy?  I'm speaking of common stuff; she doesn't have the gold for major purchases.  But she can swing 10-15 gp worth of stuff.  Do we need cold weather gear?  Extra rope?  Some oil?  IC-ly, when it comes to travel in a non-urban setting, she's kind of a babe in the woods...

If not, she'll try to buy a bedroll, an extra healer's kit, a few more days of rations and call it good.

Well, it depends on whether or not you had any equipment packs as part of your starting gear.  A ranged weapon like a bow or crossbow is always useful.

Things like rope, a tinderbox, oil flasks, torches, pitons, and hammers can be very useful if we're going into caves.  Crowbars are one of those "I never knew I needed it until I needed it" items since they grant Advantage on STR checks where such a tool could be applied.  I got one of those myself since my STR is in the pits and thus I need all the help I can get.  A bag of Ballbearings or Caltrops are good if you want to influence a battlefield since they can be used to slow down enemies.

Things like Bedrolls and Tents don't offer any actual mechanical elements at all and their relevancy is highly based on narrative, so it's best to get the DM's word on whether those would be worth having.

Ceryna - not sure we need her to buy... anything really. Maybe a bedroll if she doesn't have one already so she can rest at night.

I'm assuming you have the noble background and cleric class here.

Cleric you can start with a light crossbow if you you wanted.

Did you take the priest's pack for her from the Cleric starting equipment? If not, explorer's pack has all this:
• a Backpack
• a Bedroll
• a Mess kit
• a Tinderbox
• 10 torches
• 10 days of Rations
• a Waterskin
• 50 feet of Hempen rope

vs. priest pack:
• a Backpack
• a Blanket
• 10 candles
• a Tinderbox
• an alms box
• 2 blocks of incense
• a censer
• vestments
• 2 days of Rations
• a Waterskin

So depending on which you chose there you might have much of that stuff already.

We were just given 2 healing kits by Vesawick, so we have at least 3 of them between those two and the one Claire has in her stuff. 2 climbing kits by Morak, so this is probably the most geared up party I've ever started with! :)

So... I like Moira said, depending on what kit you have, maybe just a bedroll and rations depending on what you've got in your packs from starting gear.

Thanks to both of you.  Yes, OOC-ly, I know the sort of gear that can be useful.  IC-ly though, Ceryna would not have.  Plus, she didn't know what others already had. Her offer was to help supplement the group's needs.  If everyone is good, she will probably go with the bedroll and rations, since even a city slicker like her is aware of the need for these...at least narratively.  Since Moira just gave her a healer's kit, she probably won't buy another.

As a side not, she chose the Priest's pack.  It was the more appropriate choice from the perspective of her character, even if less useful for a campaigner.  :)
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 19:41, Wed 23 Jan 2019.

Doderic started with Scholar's pack, but got most necessities with background's gold. Also, speaking to innkeepers can grant you what you need (which isn't necessarily what you wanted).

We'll certainly make due.

Aside from her cooking supplies, Moira is traveling light with a heavily pared-down Burglar's Pack.  She's used to roughing it and presently was traveling from one point of civilization to another directly via wagon, so she's not packing a Bedroll or anything like that.  She's only got the bare necessities - food, water, rope, illumination, a crowbar, and playing cards.

Morak gave out only 1 climbers kit. Plus some rope, pitons and grappling hook

I wouldn't worry about buying things Ceryna. Stuff like cold weather gear csn be bought near places where they are needed.

EDIT: also, regarding rhe latest post, in cases where the party needs to make multiple simhlatanous but proactive rolls like this, Ceryna can guidance 1 of the checks for 1 individual at each phase, since guidance is single target concentration. So for phase 3 for example, you can guidance thr survival check for Thente or the stealth check for one pc, but not both.

As mentioned in announcements, posts today will be delayed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:37, Wed 23 Jan 2019.

GM - I made the additional roll(s) and just edited my previous post.

Depending on when Guidance is given to Thente I have both #'s in there for you to use.

I will also add my stealth roll in there for good measure just to go ahead and have all mine in one place.

When it comes to things like Stealth, can Moira "Help" party members if they substantially bork their roll?  She has a +7 Stealth modifier, so she's likely the sneakiest of the bunch and - given her background - accustomed to leading groups through quiet infiltration.

This will be a group stealth check, so Moira helping them is considered part of the roll i.e. Moira rolling high but someone else rolling low, success is because Moiras high roll "covered" them.

Stealth: 16

I'd suggest someone with a positive WIS mod take the Animal Handling check.  Moira has experience with pack animals as part of the narrative, but doesn't actually have any mechanical proficiency.  She only has a +1 to WIS, so anyone with a higher WIS mod is better suited.

@GM
For the second phase with the rocky terrain - could we use a Nature, Survival, or Acrobatics check to try and manage a more efficient path through the terrain to cut down on time?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:23, Thu 24 Jan 2019.

@Moira Sure! I'll say make a nature check at moderate DC to see what you might know specifically about the area and what hazards to avoid. Anyone prof can make this check. I'll take the higher score, or the second person can grant advantage to the first for the roll.

Note that I already took into account Thente's familiarity with the area as a lowered DC for survival.

I can make a nature check - Claire would be a little more familiar with the area than the average outsider, though not to the extent that Thente is.

Moira isn't proficient with Nature, so I can't help in that regard.  I'd almost call for Halfling Luck to kick in since we have two in the party and all Halflings are literally divinely blessed to be supernaturally lucky, but I don't think that's something I should try and actively use.  ;3
This message was last edited by the player at 02:02, Thu 24 Jan 2019.

...oh. Now there's a thought.

*Scribbles in notebook while cackling*

 I will try the animal handling check. I’m going to guidance that one for phase 1. After that, I can offer guidance to whatever required checks need it in the next two phases.  I am inclined to let our guide have them, but I’m open to suggestions

In reply to GM (msg # 131):

Just to be specific:




This message was last edited by the player at 02:58, Thu 24 Jan 2019.

In reply to Ceryna Vantellon (msg # 132):

I'll take it for the phase three Survival check which was my worst roll! ;)

I'm fine with it now, mostly because rpols posting format makes this sort of thing messy, but for future reference try not to ask for guidance after you have made the roll, since the spell specifies it must be cast before the action it is to be applied to :)

Also, do tell me if anyone wants to take any other actions while traveling.

Work stuff ended up not taking as much time as I thought, so I've be able to respond much more often than I thought.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:02, Thu 24 Jan 2019.

In reply to GM (msg # 135):

I did note a with and without Guidance for all of my survival checks when I rolled them initially because I wasn't sure if/which of my rolls were going to get Guidance if any.

Yup, that's part of why I'm fine with it. But retroactively getting the spell cast on your PC after you know your roll is something I would like to avoid. But pbp is messy for stuff like that.

Part of why I laid things out like that was so that you guys could decide how to distribute advantage and guidance in conjunction with the post. It may have made things more confusing though, apologies.

For most part, i would like to keep guidance to "ensure that really important roll in each situation succeeds" instead of "everyone has +1d4 to all skills"
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:23, Thu 24 Jan 2019.

Anyone who has anything to prep for the first phase (donkey ride) feel free to post as per what Doderic did. Otherwise I'll just use the rolls so far and resolve it accordingly, say 12 hours from now :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:59, Thu 24 Jan 2019.

 I forgot to roll for stealth yesterday. Oops. Just did. Oops again.

I guess she had the hiccups or something.  At least the Animal Handling roll was decent.

 I will be in meetings all day today, and may not get to post again until this evening. I will be checking the posts occasionally though.

No issue, and yes that handling roll was good :)

Just to be sure, could I get a tally on what direction the party wants to travel?

Cave - Moira, Ceryna, Thente
Forest - <none>

EDIT: that pretty much settles it, unless Claire and Doderic have arguments against
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:22, Fri 25 Jan 2019.

Thente is good with cave as well

Will post in a bit indicating so, but cave is good!

Thente, the cave is not that near. It's more of "if you keep heading up this path, you'll reach it" than "the cave mouth is right there".

I'll edit the original post to make it a bit clearer, apologies. Would you like to edit your actions as well?
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:41, Fri 25 Jan 2019.

Nah, better safe than sorry! Though I'll edit for clarity as well.

Sure! I'll wait and see if anyone else wants to investigate the scene before replying to Doderic's attempt.

So, we're climbing further till we reach the cave and then Thente starts the light show. Do we need another set of stealth checks GM?

Sorry on the quiet - things picked up for me.  I'm going to be busy for most of today, but I'll be able to get some posts up this evening.

I must have accidentally read off Thente's block instead of Doderic. This is what I get for trying to update off mobile >_>

Shall I assume the entire party is going straight for the main cave entrance that Thente knows then?

In reply to GM (msg # 149):

I’m pretty sure that was the group choice, yes.

I'm on the road with spotty internet access.  Further, I think my wifi network card is going bad as I keep getting dropped requiring frequent adapter resets when I do have a connection.  Always great when you are away from the office.

I posted this, and my last IC note, on my mobile phone.  Please be patient with me over the next few days.  I promise not to fall behind, but my posts may be shorter and less frequent..

@Moira - understand your point, but I would say to just roll damage each time anyway. Would rather not list ACs outright, since it does affect some decisions. If it turns out to slow things down that badly I'll consider doing it.

@Ceryna - no issue. Would you mind if I assume a default set of actions for Ceryna? I aim to update 1 round a day (2200, GMT +8). Shorter posts are fine in combat - just actions and rolls will do. Not expecting quality, unless the combat is simultaneous with story elements, but this one is a rather straightforward 'intro' fight.

Question re our battle plan with the gobbos, are we plinking at them from the outside and trying to provoke them out, charging into the cave with intent to pursue, or fighting them at the cave entrance? If I'm understanding correctly, Thente is in melee range at the entrance. Is it okay if Claire goes in?

Well, goblins are great at running away, so I don't think we're goin to provoke them outside. At least that is Thente's thought.

I think between Moira's arrow and Doderic's Firebolt that the one Thente ran up to is dead and gone now. There are probably 4 more we can see, but Claire is more than welcome to move up next to Thente so he's not the only melee person out there right now! ;)

If it helps, I can confirm the gob is dead (unfortunately Moira's shot was slightly off from oneshotting it). I was going to resolve it as Thente running up and dodging there.

Round will be updated again within the next 14 hours, or when everyone has posted. I'll try to ensure there is a 24 window between each update for folks that have lives :P

Do I get to act again in this current round of Initiative, on the idea that my first attack was outside the actual combat round?  Or was that just an automatic "I go first for this round" sort of event?

The entire party was acting in a surprise found. The actual intiative rounds start now.

 That’s fine. Again, I believe I should be able to keep up, even if I’m stuck responding on my cell phone until I figure out what’s going on with my laptop. However, I don’t want to hold things up. I think you can already see that my cleric will be a support type. On these early fights, she is likely to stay in the background and use ranged attacks —Fire Bolt and Sacred Flame.  She will try to hold Bless until the party faces a significant challenge. Obviously, as necessary, she will use healing if the situation warrants it.  But she will avoid short-term healing in battle to conserve spell slots.

When opportunity permits, she may also use Minor Illusion for rocks to hide behind, tripping hazards to camouflage, etc.

@DM
I want to use my Movement to get to I-12 for a better shot at the Goblins.  Doing so puts Moira behind cover against the rock wall and also behind her allies - since she's a Lightfoot Halfling and a 2nd level Rogue, she can Bonus Action: Hide even behind Medium-sized creatures.

Moira Ruadh rolled 15 using 1d20+7

Is that high enough vs. the nearby Goblins' Passive Perception for her to go into Stealth and thus get Advantage for a Sneak Attack?

Definitely. For future attacks, I would say

1) Declare hide, roll sneak
2) Roll 2 attacks (assume advantage regardless of sneak result)
3) Roll damage + sneak attack damage

If the sneak is too low, I'll take the earlier roll. Else, I'll take the higher of the two

If the attack misses, I'll just ignore the damage. Same for sneak attack triggering.

This does mean you roll more per post, but it seems faster than having to ask each time, and doesn't disclose too much monster information.

[thumbs up]

Urgh okay the grid overlay I'm trying to use over the Roll20 one is borked.

I'll try to fix the map later today once I have access to the proper tools. For now, if the grid doesn't align properly just give me an approximate description like what Moira did. Sorry.

Tabletalk...

My plan this round would have been to cast Bless on Claire, Thente and probably Moira.  However, now I'm really worried about our Paladin getting one-shotted down on another hit.  We've got plenty of ways to stabilize her if she does, but there's another ogre incoming..

Ceryna can throw a Healing Word to Claire (1d4+3 HPs), and still toss a Fire Bolt cantrip at the injured Ogre.  That leaves me with one 1st level spell slot for another Healing Word, Bless or whatever.  Thoughts?

Something to note - I'm fine with resolving the round actions so if Ceryna casts bless, we can retroactively assume that the bless was cast before Claire attacked. This means she would get an additional 1d4 to hit in her previous post.

I did say I would resolve 'block' initiative in favour of the PCs after all.

Excited to see how you guys handle the Ogres :3

I haven't missed any of my own rolls yet, so retroactively applying Bless to Moira wouldn't cause any issues with my numerical continuity.

Not sure if Healing Word will be enough to take another hit (always the optimist, I know).

Also, let it be noted GM, I liked it more when it was just one Ogre.

I seem to have missed something whilst I slept... stupid sleep. Let me check on the IC thread.

I'm sure you'll be fine? :x

Can't tell if this is a worry or a complaint actually. Do PM me if you have concerns.

In reply to GM (msg # 168):

Came across more as a jest to me.  It helps if you read such comments in Martin Freeman's dry Bilbo Baggins wit voice.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:29, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

In reply to Moira Ruadh (msg # 169):

haha that is how I read it as well!

You should mostly keep in mind that I'm very serious about joking around :D

Moira has it on point.

An excellent point, and one I'd considered as well.  All right, Executive Decision - (somewhat retroactive) Bless it is.

What great news to wake up to haha

Edit: T_T My rolls are so disappointing...
This message was last edited by the player at 04:22, Thu 31 Jan 2019.

Good to know :3

I checked and double checked the math but yea. The Ogre is still standing. Sorry Claire :<

On the plus side, "Bless" affects Death Saving Throws.

This is something I've been debating a little - since I'm running all your turns simultaneously in the same initiative 'block', I'm inclined to let Ceryna's healing word (which is no doubt coming) bring Claire up in the same round and let her act.

It does favor the party quite immensely, but it also makes 'bad combinations' of initiative less painful. Like the current situation - if Claire and Ceryna's init was swapped, then the ideal situation of heal -> Claire acts would happen. With the current config, Claire instead gets a death saving throw and misses her turn, because she happened to roll higher on init than the healer.

What do you guys think?

It seems that you didn't take into account the 8 damage from Divine Smite. So the first ogre might be down after all. It now depends on whether the second ogre will still attack Claire to avenge his friend.

As long as we're all in the same group (i.e. without monsters acting between us), it shouldn't be a problem if we switch around. The intent is much appreciated. Otherwise, we might want to delay the initiative to act together, but it's something we need to state.

Oh my mistake! You're right, I listed 22 as my total damage without adding the 8 smite damage.

I was wondering why my rolls were so bad. x_x

Oh. That does change things significantly. Yes, the Ogre is dead, now I need to remake the map ><

But it's mate will move to where it was, so all previous actions still hold.

And who said wizards can't heal!

Post and map updated. Moira, feel free to edit to recent events, though you may keep your previous rolls if you like. Good on you for catching this Doderic :P

So Ogre is dead and Claire is still up? Just want to clarify as the post still has her at 0 and making saves, but I don't see damage she took?

Also - ow, that hurt ;)

Also Also - I'm going to see what other people do before I declare Thente's actions. Their degree of hitting the ogre or not will determine what spell I use.

Yup, Claire is still up. I'm being really sloppy today. Apologies. That has been fixed

I think I'll hit the ogre with another Smite - hopefully I can do math this time!

Retcon taken into account and post edited.  The rolls all still apply since Moira targeted the other Ogre in the first place, but the fluff has changed accordingly.

Oh wow that was insanely close Thente. You were only a few points off :P

EDIT: moving the feedback stuff to the renamed session 0 talk -> feedback thread :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:33, Fri 01 Feb 2019.

@GM
I assume we can just narratively execute the slumbering Ogre without having to roll anything?  Because there's no way Moira's leaving that thing behind them without making sure it's dead.

You may! Depends on whether the rest of party wants to keep it alive, but yea you can pretty much execute it.

Note that if a sleeping creature was stronger, had a lot more health or had special abilities I might ask you to roll for it, but for this ogre it definitely dies right out to one good crit from Moira.

But the poor ogre...

Practically speaking, it's a sound move. Ordinarily Claire would strongly object to killing helpless creatures, but this one just tried to kill her and her friends, so she'd probably feel ambivalent with a touch of disgust and not protest too much.

hehe I just asked the same question in the IC thread... please ignore the question there.

Thente would help bash the ogre skull using his Shillelagh with Moira just to make sure the deed is done.

Moira is plenty, thankfully.  I rolled damage just for the hell of it and got 17 with just one attack totaled up.  Could have done more with a Bonus Attack too, but I think this one's good and dead.

Interestingly enough, 17 wouldn't have killed it. You were slightly short (like I said, Thente cut it really close with a 21 :P)

But yea, no reason the rest of the party wouldn't have dogpiled it too. So its dead and won't haunt you guys be returning to life any time soon.

The cave is completely unlit, yes. I'll probably push another update 12 hours from now if everyone else has posted, depending on what the party decides.

Rolled bonus damage and bumped my numbers up to 23.  How's that work?  :3

Ye it ded :3

@GM
Regarding the bats - is this a Swarm of Bats combat encounter, or more of an environmental encounter we could overcome via skill checks and use of equipment?

Environmental encounter for now. It may shift depending on your actions.

Additional question for more fun: how plausible would it be for Moira to do the "fire breather" trick with an oil flask and her lantern to try and drive the bats away with a big, bright burst of flame?  :3

If they are shying from the lights, Moira goes right towards the halflings, Thente goes left and maybe we can pen them in?

Side note - I feel like a swarm of bats should be vulnerable to Thunderwave since their sight is primarily auditory based in flight. Not sure if they are or not, but probably not. Probably just standard swarm stuff.

Though you can aim Thunderwave so as not to hit any of the civilians, it might be risky to make that big a boom in an enclosed cave.  Coin toss?  Or everyone lighting up torches to swing around and drive off the bats might be useful as well, assuming anyone else has them.  Some Firebolts would surely work as well.

Either way, Moira is absolutely going to bee-line for the Halflings.  They are her kidnapped family.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:54, Fri 01 Feb 2019.

Go for it :)

I'll probably ask for a (moderate difficulty) check to not burn herself however, since this isn't really something she's normally trained in. How does a Sleigh of Hand check sound?



They aren't by RAW. But this is more an environmental encounter - judge the bat behaviours from what I've described so far and go from there is what I would say. Feel free to clarify things, though I won't explicitly tell you guys how I expect you to 'solve' this.

Sorry for lack of posting, I likely won't manage anything IC for another 16-20 hours.
Flu is making me very cranky and inefficient.

As for fire breathing, I can't wait for lvl 3 to get the spell. And Doderic will likely try to mimic Thente's success with Sleep. Not sure how it will work on swarms, especially with folks around, but hey...

@Doderic
Oof, the flu sucks.  >_<  Rest up and feel better.

@DM
Slight of Hand, or maybe Performance since it's something of a novelty trick?  Same modifier value either way on my part, so it doesn't matter which.  I'd like to hear from the others' ideas first though before taking an action.

I think if we just walk in with our lights held high on opposite sides we should be ok without pyrotechnics?

That's just my thought though.

Ditto!  Feel better, Doderic!



Ceryna doesn't have any spells prepared that are directly helpful to this situation.  In fact, she only has one more 1st level spell slot.

However, she can cast Light on her Shield to maybe confuse the bats' senses somewhat...at least directly around herself  She could also cast Guidance to support someone else on a skill check or two in the challenge.

Finally, she could cast Sanctuary on herself; if the others can keep the bats frightened and/or distracted, Ceryna can start escorting groups of villagers out of the cavern, under the combined "protections" of her Sanctuary spell and her lighted shield.

If we can do light twice and use Moira's lantern I think we'll have enough to circle the hole and create a cordon for the villagers to escape

So what I'm reading are:

Moira is going to use her lantern + maybe a flame breath to scare off bats
Thente + Ceryna are spamming light spells to create a cordon for the villagers
Ceryna may use Sanctuary and ferry villagers out personally
Doderic will try to KO a large number of bats with the sleep spell

How many of these actions are you guys going ahead with first?

I'll hold off on trying to breathe fire for the moment.  The other options are much safer for the villagers in general and don't risk a bunch of flaming debris or burning oil splashed around if I mess up the skill check.

For the moment, Moira will stick with using her lantern to help Thente and Ceryna.

Though it should be noted that if this turns into actual "Swarm of Bats" enemies, then they'll be immune to Sleep.  A whole bunch of individual Bats would fall victim to a Sleep spell, but Swarm-type enemies are immune.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:28, Sat 02 Feb 2019.

I've already used up both my spell slots unfortunately, so I'm out of tricks up my sleeve. Except the greatsword of course.

Alright, let's go with the cordon of 'light' spells - Thente and Ceryna + Moira, please make your posts. I need to know how you are using the light spells to scare off the bats (likely an Intimidate check or Animal Handling check with Advantage), any actions you are taking besides that, and how many villagers you are attempting to transport each time (there are about 28 or so in the cavern).

EDIT: I made an edit to the original post, I initially said that all villagers were rescued in one attempt, but in hindsight that was a little too quick, even with the Claires speech and the Cordon.

Apologies for the misdirection, I have amended the post. You did move a significant portion of the group in a round.

I...might be nearly dead again at 4/18 HP, so a heal would be nice! ^^

15:12, Today: Doderic Cookingpot rolled 13 using 1d20+1.  Deceptive bugs.

Also updated my post with the roll for reference

Alright. I'll wait to see what Moira, Ceryna and Claire do, then update the post :)

Incidentally, for any who might celebrate it, Happy Chinese New Year!

@DM
Would an Acrobatics check (heh... bats) be useful for evading bats in the effort of ushering out the remaining villagers?

Hmm...yes that would would work. Roll away!

*shakes fist in mock anger*
I knew I should have taken the Floating disc....

I love that spell, it just feels so thematic. Well, maybe you'll find some scrolls or books of it in the future :x

Spells like Tenser's Floating Disk and Unseen Servant are the best, especially when in the possession of characters who normally wouldn't have them.  Long ago in another game, one of my buddies was playing a Fighter who got his hands on a Ring of Tenser's Floating Disk (our DM was in the habit of using randomized magic item loot tables, which made for chaotic fun).  Which, when paired with a 10-foot pole and his frankly ridiculous STR stat, he rode around like a flying gondola.  :3
This message was last edited by the player at 14:45, Wed 06 Feb 2019.

In reply to Moira Ruadh (msg # 218):

I'm playing a halfling (child) Tomelock in my homegame (long story). She uses Unseen Servants and Tenser's Floating discs as ritual spells all the time to move/do/haul things around for her since she's less than 2' tall ;)

Luckily she has a Broom of Flying so she can hover at eye level and talk to people too ;)

Apologies for the silence.  Got slammed by RL.  I will get a post up today.  Appreciate everyone's patience.

No issues, you did tell me you would be occupied over the days. Glad to have you back :)

Sorry for the delay too! Exam season means panicking teachers need me in for more lessons at short notice @.@

Go teamwork!

Just to check, is the room that the villagers were the only part of the crave (in addition to the entrance where we encountered the ogres), or is there something more to the left?

pretty sure there is more as we haven't seen human bodies but they keep talking about others who were dragged away...

I presumed that was the folks that went to the forest. *shrug*

Well, we still need to examine the cave or ask the survivors if they know anything about the situation at hand.  We've only gone where we can see/directly where we heard sound coming from.  There could be more to the cave.

Ah! This was a while ago, but there are at least three other tunnels further into the cave that you have not explored yet.

As a reminder, here's some of the options you guys have (though other options might arise depending on what you look for/ask):

> further explore the cave tunnels, looking for the remaining villagers
> escort the rescued villagers back to Nightstone (note that you have 1 sick and multiple injured)
> go to the forest to search for Claire's father
> investigate the body at the bottom of the cliff

Given that so many things seem rather urgent, do you think it would be a good idea to split up? Going separately might mean we can't brute force the problems as they come, but maybe some creative thinking might work?

I was afraid to suggest something similar.
Not sure how well we can handle it, but maybe Moira (and Doderic as support) can try to sneak into the cave and see what's the status of the taken villagers.

And then take the villagers back home, while the rest of you go to the forest?
Investigating the body at the bottom of the cliff seems like least time sensitive.

But still, not a fan of splitting up, especially considering we're quite away from full strength. Maybe we can take a peak while the three of you have a short rest and see where we go from there?

Splitting up to do some scouting seems reasonable.  How many people can cast "Light"?  If we can get at least two, then Moira and Doderick can each take a partially-smothered glowing rock with them to have dim light to navigate by.  That way they're not going full torch light when trying to stealth around.

Meanwhile, everyone who needs it can take a Short Rest.  We won't get any spell slots back that way, but it'll give y'all time to get a little HP back and make any necessary Medicine checks to help the villagers.

When it comes to the villagers themselves, it may be best for them to remain at the mouth of the cave while we investigate the rest.  Those who are still hardy can arm themselves with the Goblin weapons and protect the others, just in case.  I'd feel better about sending them back to the village on their own if we can at least escort them to the split in the road before we proceed on to the forest path to search that one ourselves.

Just chiming in - you can definitely try to Short Rest at the mouth of the cave. There's the possibility of it getting interrupted by goblins, wild animals or the outcome of the scouting mission, but as long as its dealt with quickly I would say it just extends the rest, and doesn't cancel it: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Resting#content

Doderic doesn't have light, so yea... oooops.

And he did cast Armor, so he would actually get a slot back (potential Sleep for the gobbos). More decisions.

Claire's gotten the ball rolling! Didn't mention the short rest idea, but I'll leave that for another character who's more level-headed in the moment to suggest it!

No need for a check, but remember to deduct Healing kit charges for each person you're treating.

If Claire is providing first aid for everyone - the breakdown is roughly:

28 villages
-21with serious injuries (the sick woman and one of the guards cracked his head)
-7 with moderate injuries (combat wounds, fractures)
-10 with light injuries (deep cuts, sprains, large bruises, bat wounds)
-9 with superficial injuries(scraps, bruises, small cuts)

Each will require one charge of the first aid kit regardless. No check needed, but whether you treat them might make a difference later.

EDIT: Forgot Ceryna already treated the sick woman, so disregard that one.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:35, Sat 09 Feb 2019.

I think we can limit the treatments to the serious and moderate injuries.  Ceryna can take on a total of five of these, four new ones, plus the original treatment of the seriously injured woman.  That would leave her with five uses left in her healing kit.

Ceryna will definitely want to check out the fallen red-head, whom she suspects is her contact, Veradda.  If the party takes a short rest, she will use that time to investigate, as she's uninjured, and wouldn't regain any spells anyway.  If the unfortunate victim is dead, as it appears, perhaps she will have something on her person that will benefit one of the three missions.  If the group votes down a short rest, she will still want to check the body before leaving with Claire.  She considers it a duty for the Temple.

REALLY don't like splitting the party up, especially when our resources are way down.  But ethically (and narratively), I don't see another choice.

Apologies again for a nearly two-day absence -- work and travel, travel and work.  The life of an itinerant consultant in the oil patch...

Let's do a quick checklist on our resources:


Following that: it took us several hours with the help of a pack animal to avoid taking Exhaustion to get from the village to the caves, so there's no way whatsoever a bunch of badly injured villagers are getting there before the end of the day.  Anyone who attempts to escort the NPCs back home is going to be reasonably be out of play for the rest of the rescue scenario, so let's keep that in mind here.

The caves can't be that big, so it shouldn't take us too long to sort the rest out since we already have an idea of where to go.  My proposal is:

1) Those healthy among the villagers arm themselves with the Goblin weapons.
2) Moira and Doderic scout ahead into the caves.
3) Meanwhile, the rest of the party stays put and attempts a Short Rest.
4) Any of the current party who can spare not Short Resting slips out to investigate the dead body outside, then returns immediately.

Depending on what Moira and Doderic find, they can either confront it themselves if it's a reasonable risk or one can call back to the rest while another tries to hold the line.

When it is time to finally leave the caves, one way or another, we can decide at the crossroads who goes with the villagers (presumably those in the party too spent to be of much use in further combat) and who goes with Claire in search of her father.