The old OOC thread has reached its post maximum. Here's a new thread for any Out of Character chatter.

Krackor will be asking for Augury spell in place of Wyvern Watch in the morning, so before dispel magic is cast, will cast Augury (save spells for after sojourn to silversmiths)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Thu 10 Sept 2020.

Yep, I get that.  Was adding flavour as he may have 'forgotten' but then recalled.

Okay, great. I just didn't want you to think you didn't know about all the spells you are able to cast.

Apologies for my sudden and extended bouts of inactivity.  This has all been suddenly caused by the following factors:

1. Father of 4
   
2. Public School Teacher
   
3. In a Pandemic
   
4. Cub Scout Leader
   
5. Debate Coach on the National Circuit
   
6. 3 Worship Assemblies per Week
   
7. Training a student teacher

My student teacher is starting to take over more of my classes, and I'm jumping on before class today to post on my hotspot because RPOL is blocked at work.

My back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate that Corym and Kitheras both gained in their rogue levels (thief and bard respectively), which should just mean that a couple of their thief skills get better and they have @ 2 more hit points.  I'll get that updated ASAP as well as their spell selections.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:02, Fri 18 Sept 2020.

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 5):

No worries! That is a lot and real-life always comes first. Please take good care. Stay safe out there! :)

Hey all! My mother was placed on Hospice care yesterday. I have to meet with the Hospice team today to see if he requires 24-hour care. I may be away for a bit. Sorry for any delays.

So sorry to hear that. Take your time; we'll be here.

In reply to Euin Hawkhand (msg # 7):

Hope she gets what she needs soon.  Hope you get what you need too.

I got home from work last night to find one of my pet rats, Monica, stone cold at the bottom of the cage, she was my current favourite (equal with another), in her own right and because she reminded me of one of my other past rats, Millie.
I'll try to post but last night was very hard for me.

Thank you for bearing with me.

Hey! Sorry for your loss Krackor. My thoughts are with you. My Mother has stabilized but is not improving. I shall be away for a bit longer. Thank you all for your thoughts and patience.

2020 keeps passing out the love around here.

Very sorry for both of you.

Cheers peeps
At least your mother has stabalised Euin.  Fingers crossed she starts improving more.

Does anyone want to do anything, or are you following Corym? I want to give folks an opportunity to interact, and not have it just be the Corym Show. :)

Compared to some places the group has explored, this one is pretty simple. Corym and I rp'ed the checking over the whole main floor via skype earlier tonight. I'll get a summary posted tomorrow.

Very basic plundered/ruined first floor.

I wanted to stop before going downstairs to see if anyone wanted to dig through the rubble.  The old boxed set had a 'dig through the rubble' chart that had some interesting stuff on it, so it's probably something we ought to do a little more frequently.  I'm sure the subterranean lair will prove a little more tricky.

DM--maybe tomorrow night you and I can start the descent?

Hey there! My Mom passed yesterday. I do not know when I will return but I plan to. Just wanted to touch base and keep everyone informed. Thank you all for your kindness and patience.

In reply to Euin Hawkhand (msg # 17):

Oh man.  Big hugs.
Puts my collecting my pet rats remains yesterday to shame but Hugs.

So sorry to hear about your mom. Take your time; we'll be here when you're ready.

Happy Birthday to Me :-)

Thoughts and Prayers

So I had this nice little encounter that I planned to spring on the entire group. Then your thief decided he didn't need to call anyone downstairs for backup. Oops. We're resolving it over Skype, and I will get it into IC tonight or tomorrow.

Hello Post 11600.  How cool is that :-)

Been rather busy having a week off and celebrating two birthdays.  Will get on this tomorrow.  Sorry for the delay.

Just fyi, Kas's player has confirmed that she's leaving the game. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do with the character, but I'm leaning towards having her, Katarn, and Sirenya all leave the ruins together. They're almost a complete adventuring group just by themselves.

In reply to DM (msg # 25):

That is a shame. I know there hasn't been much beyond searching just yet, I imagined a test for evil intent in the room to help locate the creature and to see if it was leading us astray.
Hope Kas' player is ok.

I'm hoping for responses from Krackor, Karilla, Euin, and Elorfindar. Corym and Kitheras can keep talking to each other, but it doesn't look like we're going to get a lot more info from the DM at this point.

OOC:  I think we should go in.  Corym is a master of disarming magical traps, and we know that Qas is going to leave.  I hate to think of such a wonderful character in these terms--but if we don't use her, we're going to lose her.

Moreover, hitting it indoors minimizes its ability to fly/levitate which are abilities that we have a tough time dealing with.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:20, Sun 25 Oct 2020.

Silence was Krackors only defense when invisible and so is the potential threat.

I just threw that line in there to encourage people to respond.  I keep going back to the sense that a lot of times we're all just waiting on each other to post, when really sometimes the others don't feel like they should be posting.

Nah, too many cracks and rough bits, more Gnomish or Halfling ;-)

Oh My Goodness....Karilla, I really don't want to see your memories, even the snippets you are showing us are making my skin crawl and my stomach tighten....Flipping heck.

She was stuck on Dark Sun's Athas for over a century. She's seen some stuff.

To say the least. Couple decades of being a slave will do that.

Exactly.  And the rest, all those things encounted (I've ran a Dark Sun campaign, I'm aware how harsh it is and that's just the people)

Silver shingles =\= gnome place with Nagas

IMO—the Naga place has got to be pay dirt, and OOC a combat would be nice. Random encounters suck because they aren’t oriented toward our objective. We can get in a fight that supports our exploration objective here.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:24, Sat 21 Nov 2020.

Right.

On the annotated Myth Drannor Map:

#7: Silvershingles, where you interacted with the disembodied voice
#6: Building with the trolls and alhoon
#13: Dwarven bunker that you're currently in, which is currently being used as a hide-out by four people
#12: Former gnome home with the skeletal snakes standing guard

Kra kor just knows its got something to do with Silver and then the disembodied voice. Its how he is thinking.

To be clear--Corym is asking about everyone's preference on ambush vs diplomacy.

Sorry, really confused with the Map and locations.  Can't find our current base.

Can we have a key at the right side with just a couple words please like:
1: Glass Base
2: Halfling Tavern
3: Dwarven Pillbox - Other Group
4: Treehouse with Bees
5: Gnome Silversmiths

All the descriptions are great but I'm just trying to find out where our base is in comparison to this groups and any place we go.

This is my head not playing properly, sorry.

Sorry about that. I've rearranged the Map post slightly. The neighborhood map is now at the top, followed by a brief key of the buildings the group has explored. Below that is the Kitheras/Sirenya expedition if people want to refer to it. I'll update the key as the group explores and gets first-hand experience with a given building.

Krackor, take a look and see if that helps clear up where things are. You're currently in #13.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:12, Wed 25 Nov 2020.

In reply to DM (msg # 40):

Much better thank you :-)

Sorry; I meant to update this yesterday, but got distract by other matters. And today I had a headache all day. I'll update first thing tomorrow.

I've gotten verbal go-ahead from Karilla's player to proceed to the battle. I also can't find a good battle map for the initial fight. But since it's just the group against two bone nagas, I'm not going to overly stress it. We'll do it theater-of-the-mind.

Krackor, unless I'm mistaken you don't have resistance to lightning damage, so you should take 12 damage with your successful save.

In reply to DM (msg # 44):

That would be correct. (notes were updated in bio)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:11, Tue 29 Dec 2020.

Great. Are you moving forward to attack, or hanging back on the stairs and remaining invisible?

In reply to DM (msg # 46):

The latter unless it seems the rest are not able to handle it.

Okay, thanks for the clarification.

I don’t know if you’re waiting on me to reply, but I felt that there’s been enough conversation for one round of combat

I'm not. I meant to update yesterday, but got distracted by the election. I'll update today.

I think I must be daft. I honestly don’t understand what you’re saying. Of course, you’re the one that’s been much more mindful about the invisibility than I’ve been. Can you break your plan down for me OOC, so that I can comprehend it IC?

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 51):

The Naga don't seem to notice invisible beings.  Krackor was going to stand in the corridor and hoped to get by them as they came, Then attack from behind and then the rest can come in, without being targetted for Lightning.

The other plan was, go out, get as many invisibilities as we could, come back and just walk passed the Naga's.

However, there is a door that hasn't been opened and if that doesn't have Naga's in it, we are safe-ish
This message was last edited by the player at 19:32, Sat 16 Jan 2021.

Is the gap both narrow and low? Height is an issue for everyone else, width kindof for Krackor, even as a thin Dwarf, still as wide as a human thanks to the magicalplate mail.

It's both narrow and low, yes. Everyone in the party would be able to make it through, but it would be uncomfortable for everyone (if in different ways).

Will Krackor have to shuck his plate armor before doing so?

There sure seems to be a lot of cracks and fissures all around here.  I'm thinking about going Gaseous Form and getting hit with a Haste spell and doing a speed run just to open up the map a little bit and identify obvious points of interest to focus our investigation.

No, neither Krackor nor Kas will need to get out of their plate mail. If they're attacked in the narrow places, though, there will be penalties to basically everything.

Makez perfect sense, I've used that before.. no, don't chuckle, resist, resist.. Chuckle chuckle... Resistence is futile

Hahahahahaha... Well, maybe if I get some decent sleep tonight, my die rolls will get better.

That second save you wanted Krackor to make, I rolled a 4 lol

Everyone, please welcome the new player who has agreed to take over Euin!

Hello! Catching up now!

Everyone, please also welcome Sirenya's new player!

Hey all

Hello and welcome to the party. From your Dwarven Guardian Priest

Not sure when you'll see me (even when I'm in the party :D )

Glad to meet y’all!

So, as you can see this game has been running continuously since 2012. The old players and DM have gotten to know each other pretty well in the last 9 years and we tend to banter about the game and other life-oriented things in a Skype chat (we’ve never video/voice chatted so far—time zones are hard). I’m hoping you guys are here for the long haul. It’s a special game and a special group. If you want to look me up on Skype, I’m Walker Perkins from Texas, and I’m pretty sure that the email it’s registered under is wdperkins@live.com

Hope to see you there!

I can see you now, you are there, look, there you are :-)
Wait, sorry, that's at another level...or is that something else?

Any who, Hi again

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 66):

Let me guess....you're a ranger, right???

In reply to Sirenya (msg # 68):

Talindra, I'm sure someone did, was asked about where she'd go to find something that would help us, you are aware that she won't let you take anything from the Manor where she is.

Love the way you asked that question of her though.  We'll get on fine.
_______________
Me, Nope, not a Ranger.

I'm a Guardian Priest.  High Old One, Barakor, Lord Protector Steelfist of the Vigilant Host and the Warden of Oak Haven at your service.

I'm happy to see if the Naga has anything in its belly. I can update my post or post something new whichever would be preferred.

You would post something new, either going over there yourself, or asking other people to come with you.

Once you're actually doing the naga exploration, roll a Hunting check to see how well you do.

Sorry about the bloodstained scrolls.

I'm sure a cantrip or some such will remedy the situation

We’ll get back to you Sirenya! We’re just grabbing the loot from what we’ve already cleared.

I was planning on going solo hunting, but the GM put me on bedtime stories instead :(

Thought I might have *bumped* into you by mistake that way :D

Welcome to Build-a-Backstory! We welcome you here to while away as much time as you need, while the rest of your group is otherwise engaged in the mall!

Seriously, though, I'll try to get the group back to the mansion as quickly as possible.

To that end, Corym, I need you to say what you're taking from the northern lair. And Krackor, could you go check your trap spells by the entrance? I think you'll find something interesting. :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:25, Tue 09 Mar 2021.

Everyone, I've updated the Experience and Treasure thread with the xp for the naga fight, and with all the treasure found so far. All PC's get 6,000 xp. Sirenya, you get it as well. This does not include the 10% bonus for high ability scores; if you qualify for that, you get 6,600 xp. Please update your character sheets.

I am sure I could carry some extra weight :)

The uncut gems are bulky, but only by gemstone standards. The group easily has enough space spread across all of your pouches and backpacks to carry them all.

Corym has suggested returning to the manor immediately. Anyone have any objections?

What, aside from the remaining silver, do you want to store in the secret chamber?

Corym was the only one that wanted to stay behind and keep going—so I’m assuming that returning to the manor was everyone else’s default position.

Corym wants to go.
Kitheras wants to take care of his people--so go.
Elorfindar wanted to go originally.
Qas should want to go.

Krackor- ?
Karilla- ?
Euin- ?

and, for the record, Sirenya would like us to return.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:15, Wed 10 Mar 2021.

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 82):

Krackor wants to tell Sirenya all about the escapade and the invisible voice throwing entity.

You said that there were almost new backpacks, therefore we could potentially laden ourselves down carrying two packs each if there are enough.  Krackor would have had an empty pack, why carry EVERYTHING when you are only 10mins from your base?

Most of the backpacks aren't in good condition, looking like they've been dragged over a lot of sharp rocks. They're new as in modern, likely brought to the ruins within the last few years or months. You could get one carrying bag out of them if you did some repairs.

But everyone in the party is wearing a backpack unless you tell me otherwise. It's part of your equipment.

Caveat Lector: Long Awkward Post

So now we found treasure, and we need to divide it up. Our group does this in a really strange way.  The DM, Krackor, and I have talked about potentially revising this in order to accommodate new players.  I'm happy to do that if it helps you to be engaged in the game and become long-term players.  But Krackor really likes the system, and I designed the system, so I wanted to OOC explain the situation and see if it would make sense to you.

Our system came up as a solution to a couple of problems:

1) Equity--if we're exploring a wizard tower, we're going to get all wizard gear, and no one else will get anything.  My kit tends to make us target wizards (long story), and we wanted to make sure that everyone was equally benefiting.

2) Players leaving--so, as you can tell by the long list of former players, we've had players come and go. No one wanted to have short-time PbP players leave with the stuff that we had collectively worked to get/find.

3) Artifact Recovery--a big part of what we do is try to find LOST pieces of lore and reconnect what we find with the heirs of that lore.  So this House Echorn robe?  The first thing most of the party members will want to do is see if it can be reunited with House Echorn.  We're the Dreams of the Ancients Exploration Company, and part of that is a social mission to try to revive those dreams.  So, again, not really a cut and dry distribution of loot scenario.

The Solution--

We formed our company as a sort of corporation/commonwealth.  Whatever you had with you before you joined us--that's yours.  Whatever we find TOGETHER that is NOT currency (which is easily divided) is owned by the corporation/commonwealth and is distributed to the party members as best befits the strengthening of the party.  If you end up REALLY liking a piece of equipment and you want it to be yours free-and-clear, you can buy it from the company from your share of the currency.

Example: Say we find a +5 holy avenger.  Qas would obviously want that.  Qas' player is no longer around, and the DM could yank that NPC any old time.  The company would vote to remand the sword to Qas' custody, but it would still be owned by the company.  So if Qas leaves, and she hasn't purchased it from the company, then she leaves the sword too.

Benefits:

Collective bargaining:  We might have a bunch of different rinky dink magic items that no one in particular cares for.  If they were individually owned, that would reduce your bargaining power to get what you want.  Because they are collectively owned we can make a decision to swap things out and leverage our collective position in order to strengthen our weaknesses. This directly addresses the problem of EQUITY.  Maybe we've got a lot of wizard stuff from hitting a bunch of wizard towers--but most of us aren't wizards.  Now the other party members can exercise their corporate interest in making sure that we can buy and trade stuff that is useful for them.

Vows of Poverty: If you're a paladin or ranger and you're restricted from owning too much, this is a perfect solution--you don't own your gear (in the case of a Paladin), or you can use your currency to buy your gear (in the case of a ranger).

The Tithe: The corporation skims off of the currency and creates a slush fund for building construction, resurrection, traveling expenses and the like.

Euin, Sirenya--are you good with a system like this?  IMO, what we don't want is old players in a company and new players not in it because it seems weird to them.

I am great with this! It sounds like a great group-first approach!

It’s how I believe all groups should play. I don’t think you have a shiny robe in your packs any more though......;)

That's fantastic!  The details of the charter are here: link to a message in this game

The charter requires that players 'stake in' so that the company's holdings aren't diminished by the acquisition of new partners.

Current company holdings are 4,125

There are currently four partners--Corym, Krackor, Karilla, and Kora.  The current stake-in would be 1,031gp.  If you don't have it on hand, we can extend no-interest credit to paid back as you're able.  Of course, you could probably pay it out of your share of the tradebars/gems.

Kitheras' original player¹ was dubious of the company, as was Sirenya's.

I don't think that we ever offered it to Euin/Qas given how skeptically the other new players had taken to the idea last time.  The offer is open, though--and I'll formally extend the offer IC in a moment.

I suspect that Qasida and Katarn will decline the offer and leave (as the DM has been planning for awhile).

---

¹Kitheras' player wasn't here that long, but I LOVED his character concept--a tolkienesque archtype, Ranger/Bard.  After 9 years in this game, I was needing to do *something* else, so I asked the DM if I could take him on as a second PC, and he acquiesced considering our need for a front-line fighter and his suitability for the campaign concept.

That's probably because she only had 32gp to her name....

Like I said, we'll stake you in.  No worries.

Cool. I'm happy to join up. Clearly I've been thinking about it during my time at the manor :)

:-o
It's too b.... Ok, tuck it up. I see now ;-)

I don’t see any money on my sheet so you’ll have to stake me too but count me in.

you'll note that I tend to try to use these characters as foils for each other in order to guard against over-coordination.

@Euin--I'm glad that you put it as 'introduce yourself.' I really liked Qas and Euin--both were well-suited to the party's interests, but both of these players dropped off really fast.  We didn't really get to know them.

I'll be writing a 3rd person narrative introduction for Corym and Kitheras to help you guys orient yourselves.

I am assuming that was the first and most rushed of my introductions here as I was being pushed to go eat.

That wasn't being pushed to go eat, that was being encouraged to go rejoin the rest of the group.

Or, to put it another way, I was setting one NPC to watch another NPC, so the PC's could talk amongst themselves. :)

Hahaha! Fair enough

BTW: The next post is post 12,000 :)

For the newcomers, this game was originally created by a bunch of folks on the Candlekeep message boards. That's the reason why the group has always had a focus on the history and lore of the Realms. And because of that, I occasionally give requests for lore creation. Basically, it's a way for players to pick up areas of the game that I've created but not filled, and put their own spin on it. In return, they get to pick a lore reward.

For example, Kora is the result of a lore creation; early on the group wandered up to Hill's Edge with a runaway noble, and Corym created the entire noble family for me. And as a result of later interactions with the family, Kora decided to attach herself to the group.

In this case, I'm giving folks the option to create the two journals for a lore reward. Each journal was written by an adventurer, who came to the ruins some time in the last two years. I'm not looking for someone to write out the entire journal. To qualify for the reward, a journal submission would need some summary information:

* Who the writer was, where they were from, and what adventuring group they were with (or if they were solo, why they were solo)
* Why they came to the ruins
* Some sense of how long they were in the ruins or the surrounding woods

And:
* Two written journal entries, either from within the ruins or the surrounding woods. Each entry should have at least one adventure hook that I can pick up and develop

Anyone who's interested in making a journal entry, send me a PM.

Here's a repost of what the rewards are for creating lore. They're in the Experience and Treasure thread, for future reference.

Rewards for lore creation

On occasion I will request players' help in creating lore to fill in the game world. Previous examples have been creating the family tree of a local noble family or unique treasures found in an abandoned gnome hold. Once the lore has been accepted, the creating player can select one of the following rewards. In all cases the player suggests what they think is a fair award, and they and the DM will negotiate. The options are:

1) Money: Gold or gems of a certain amount
2) Experience: Bonus XP, awarded immediately
3) Minor magic item: Usually potion or scroll. Scroll can be either protection, or single spell scroll. Spell is player’s choice (subject to DM approval) of a level up to one higher than character can currently cast.
4) Lead: If your character has a quest or goal that they want to accomplish, this option gives a lead to that goal. It won’t solve the quest on its own, but it will be a true lead, pointing in the right direction. Alternately, if your character wants a magical item more powerful than those in Option 3, this will provide a lead to where one can be found
5) DM Intercession: Basically, this is a favor you can call in with me at a later date to get you out of trouble in some way. If you have one of these and you are killed, I’ll use it automatically and you’ll instead stabilize at -9 hit points, and your attacker will go menace someone else. Or you’ll make your save-or-die saving throw, etc. Note that this isn’t limitless; you can dig yourself in so deep not that even this can get you out.

Both your character and Qasida were stripped of everything, maybe any money you had was used to supply for the trip and the rest taken by the Hobgoblins that squandered it!  Never know, if you get the Lore reward, you may find a Gem or 3 in the grips of your boots enough to 'buy in'

Is there anything specific about the Harpers that made anyone excited? Krackor you reacted quite enthusiastically.

Krackor has been trying to join the Harpers for (real-time) years.

It seems like people don't have really strong opinions on where we should go next.  So instead of pain-stakingly RPing through this, let me propose a barebones plan for how we should proceed.

Corym's going to rest and prepare spells.

Krackor's Ioun Stone will heal everyone in the party to full health over the course of the next 18 hours.  We should let it do that and use our spells for other useful things during that time, like further securing the manor.

((I'm not super familiar with the priest spells available, but it seems like Glyphs of Warding at the various entrances wouldn't be amiss.))

If there are buffs or utility spells with super long durations we can bend those matters to our advantage.  Sirenya--typically Corym will cast an Invisibility spell on himself before he goes to sleep.  It lasts for 24 hours, or until attacked, so when he wakes up he's still got 16 hours of invisibility and he ends up saving a spell slot.  If anyone has buffs with comparable durations, consider doing the same.  Every bit helps.

If we have Dispel Magic around, we can also continue our assault on the basement door. ((Euin, Sirenya--there's a crypt beneath this tower that was sealed BEFORE the fall of Myth Drannor.  The tower was built on top of it, and the Archmage that lived here didn't let anyone mess with it.  He put a SUPER Wizard Lock on it--such that we basically have to roll a 20 on a Dispel Magic to break it.  So we've been giving it a shot here and there when we have a left over Dispel Magic at the end of our day.))

Then we rest, prepare spells for exploration, and

1. Return to the Naga Lair--finish it out.
2. Hit the Glass Menagerie (seems like the least controversial)
3. Catch the ruined inn on the way back if we're in a condition to do so.

Good?

Works for me!

To help out, Sirenya is happy to share her spell list/selection to aid with party planning:

1ST LEVEL  (5/DAY)  [M] Memorised [X] Used
[ ] Audible Glamer
[ ] Charm Person
[ ] Dancing Shadows
[M,M] Detect Magic
[ ] Enlarge
[M,M,M] Phantasmal Force
[ ] Spook

2ND LEVEL  (4/DAY)
[ ] Blindness
[M,M] Detect Invisibility
[ ] Forget
[M] Improved Phantasmal Force
[ ] Invisibility
[ ] Knock
[ ] Tasha's Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter

3RD LEVEL  (3/DAY)  [M] Memorised [X] Used
[M] Fly
[M] Invisibility 10' Radius
[M] Slow
[ ] Suggestion

4TH LEVEL  (2/DAY)  [M] Memorised [X] Used
[ ] Minor Creation
[M] Polymorph Self
[M] Shadow Monsters

I'm actually not quite sure why she doesn't have invisibility memorised also!

Sirenya, a bit on how the party has been using your illusions:

The two main doors to the mansion open automatically when an elf touches them, sinking down into the ground and then rising when everyone has passed. Since the group has been entering and leaving the mansion under invisibility spells, the only visual cue that the house is inhabited is the door going up and down. The group came upon the idea of Sirenya using phantasmal force to create the illusion of the door over the actual door, to hide it opening and closing.

While Sirenya was an NPC, that was fine. You can still do it now that you'll (presumably) be joining the expeditions, though the illusion would fade once you stop concentrating or cast something else. So you'd need two spells if you wanted to cover both the group leaving and their returning.

As far as Krackor is concerned, he has joined from Balder's Gate in Twilight Halls, not sure if he was made associate or a proper member.  Already has a few contacts.

Krackor has put this in place previously at Oak Haven with the access being the Company Symbol and a few words.  This is doable but will need to be memorised, we have a few spare symbols for the newcomers.  Not sure if Karilla was there or not when we Krackor had the Badge & Rings made in Balders Gate.


Yes.  Sounds like a plan.
Krackor's Spells Already memorised (strike through means aleady cast for the day):


Also:
At 1st : Sentry of Gorm or Blessed Watchfulness (Makes it harder to surprise you and additional protection against Sleep)
At 3rd : Sacred Guardian (casts on group member so he knows if in danger) or Iron Vigil
At 5th : Spike Stones (one of his favoured spells) or Shield
At 7th : Fire Eyes (can burn through armour and stone)

Hi, it's me again.  Can you tell I'm working from home today?

Wasn't one of these given to someone and did Kitheras take the fancy one as it suited him or have I recalled incorrectly?

In reply to Krackor Steelfist (msg # 111):

Yes, one was given to our apprentice :)

No, no decision has been made on the thinblades yet. They're still being held in common as group treasure. Corym went on a bit of a rant about them, then Kora said she wanted one. But nothing was decided at the time.

I'm having a really hard time looking at the St. Patrick's Day color scheme, so I'm probably not going to do much with the game today. Does anyone have any other business they want to take care of during the remainder of the current in-game day?

Sharing Krackor's healing ioun stone will mean you're all up to full hp around 10 AM "tomorrow." Since you're keeping a watch on the surrounding area during the night, it won't be hard to pass the stone along.

Speaking of the watch, Krackor, Kitheras, Corym, and anyone else who would be taking part, please roll Intelligence checks. Also let me know if there's anything in particular you're watching for.

In reply to DM (msg # 114):



Do you need me to roll % instead?

Regarding the Swords, that's it.  Kora asked, so Krackor took one and just gave it her, saying something like "That's my share, you can have it"

Sure, roll percentile dice.

21:15, Today: Krackor Steelfist rolled 79 using 1d100.  80% Chance.

Talk about cutting it fine.

16:27, Today: Corym Ildroun rolled 11 using 1d20.  Intelligence check.

16:28, Today: Kitheras Sunblade rolled 12 using 1d20.  Intelligence check.

I also have the observation NWP if that's relevant

21:15, Today: Euin Hawkhand rolled 8 using 1d20.  Intelligence.

I want to react to the Herzou's with Kitheras, but I also don't want to interrupt the conversation he's currently having, so I'm going to hold until he's done, i hope that's ok :)

You can have the conversation with Kitheras now, if you like. Just put a bolded header at the top, like Night so that we can keep track.

Yeah--by all means. Waiting to be polite is the kindness that kills PbP games.

Don't wait on my account either. Although it was very nice of you to say that.

OOC:  I've burned 2 first level spells taking care of the Scroll identifications.  I can prepare the rest as Identify and look at the Robe and Arrow and other things.  From there I can start the work of deciphering the scroll with the assistance of Talindra, Kitheras, and Sirenya it could be done somewhat faster than if I did it on my own.

My first level spells--Magic Missiles--were the MOST effective in the last dungeon, and I'd hate to go back out without them.  I genuinely think the robe might help save some lives if we can identify it--and TBH, it's been a really busy and bloody 48 hours.  Any objections to taking one more day? Kitheras and Sirenya could potentially use the time to swap/make copies of spells
This message was last edited by the player at 18:44, Fri 19 Mar 2021.

Sirenya

There's one other way we've used your illusions--as distractions to save us.  There are Tanari'i and Ba'atezu here.  You've studied them both and have conjured an illusion before to draw them away from us and toward their Blood War Enemies.  It may seem like you've got very one-dimesional spell selection right now, but between the door and the ability to manipulate the random encounters--Sirenya's been really clutch in terms of keeping us from getting jumped in the night or engaged in meaningless fights that draw attention.

Corym's Spellbooks--
1st:
Armor Detect Magic Audible Glamer
Alarm Enlarge Tenser’s Floating Disc
Burning Hands Identify Unseen Servant
Change Self Magic Missile Shield
Charm Person Read Magic
Color Spray Sleep

2nd:
Invisibility Blindness
Glitterdust Knock
Wizard Lock Ray of Enfeeblement
Past Life Melf’s Acid Arrow
ESP
Agnazzar's Scorcher

3rd:
Fireball
Wraithform
Alamir's Fundamental Breakdown
Item
Invisibility 10’ Radius

4th:
Stoneskin
Blacksphere

At 1st level I keep mostly magic missiles.
At 2nd I keep an invis 10' to get us back to the tower, and a personal invis as a way to escape with my life if necessary
At 3rd I carry a Wraithform for scouting buildings quickly, and Item for bringing back large bulky items

4th:
I have a stoneskin on me still (haven't taken any physical blows--just spells), but I keep a Blacksphere prepared to be able to "pause" a big fight that's going poorly.  It traps a creature in a globe of force for X rounds and does damage in the process.

I can put stoneskin on other people if we're taking a down day, but the DM and I agreed that there should be a financial cost to doing so since the material component is diamond dust and the advantage is pretty enormous.

1ST LEVEL  (3/DAY)  [M] Memorized [X] Used
[ ] Cantrip
[ ] Detect Magic
[ ] Feather Fall
[2] Magic Missile
[ ] Read Magic
[1] Shield

2ND LEVEL  (3/DAY)
[ ] ESP
[1] Invisibility
[ ] Knock
[1] Rope Trick
[1] Strength

3RD LEVEL  (1/DAY)
[1] Dispel Magic
[ ] Fireball
[ ] Suggestion

I have no spells :)

In reply to Euin Hawkhand (msg # 130):

Euin, this could be arranged.  Have you considered the understanding of Gorm ;-)
I have access to the spell "Imbue with Spell Ability" and can pass over a couple of CLWs if interested in the future, just not right now.

This is for when we go out to finish the job as it were.  NOT the day of rest.
Spells Memorized:
1st: Invisible to Undead : Command : Bless : Cure Light Wounds (CLW) : CLW : CLW
2nd: Silence 15' Radius : Draw Upon Holy Might : Snake Charm : Aid : Chant
3rd: Prayer : Negative Plane Protection: Thieves Lament : Summon Insects
4th: Cure Serious Wounds (CSW) : Defensive Harmony : Protection from Lightning : Protection from Evil 10' Radius

Granted Spell:
- Sentry of Gorm or Blessed Watchfulness
- Sacred Guardian or Iron Vigil
- Spike Stones or Shield
- Fire Eyes

If anyone is planning on going scouting on their own, expect to be asked to eat a rose to activate the Sacred Guardian. Corym is already covered, everyone else's was set off in the Gnome Complex (Corym was never in danger, the little sneak lol).

In Ioun Stone of Spell Storing:  CLW, CLW, Dispel Magic, CSW

The Trapdoor that we can't get through is surrounded by large stones yes?  I'm thinking STONE SHAPE so get by it.  Just need some soft clay as component, which I'm sure there is some around.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:43, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

Nah, I like being the big dumb fighter:). I mean Euin isn’t the biggest and definitely not the dumbest but I like knowing more or less what I am going to do in combat so I can have more fun elsewhere.

In reply to Euin Hawkhand (msg # 132):

No probs, if you feel like going walk about with a days notice, since healing potions are not around, next best thing, give you ability to "Heal Thy Self".

Since there will be a REST DAY, Krackor will fill up with CUREs and other things for whilst in the Manor.  The list shown a few posts ago will be for when group goes back out into the city tomorrow.

1st: CLW, CLW, CLW, CLW, CLW, Sacred Guardian
2nd: Iron Vigil, Iron Vigil, Alert Allies, (Cure Moderate Wounds x 2 if allowed)
3rd: Stone Shape, Stone Shape {for getting passed a magical door}, Glyph of Warding, Glyph of Warding (Front and Back Doors or Back Ddoor and Roof Access)
4th Imbue with Spell Like Ability, Imbue with Spell Like Ability, CSW, CSW

{Imbue with Spell Like Ability, with either:
 - Iron Vigil (defensive) = This will then allow the recipient to not feel cold or heat, not require food, water or sleep (meditate instead).  Lasts for Days.
 - Allert Allies (defensive) = This allows you to wake allies up in one go, great for when on Watch.  Lasts hours.

Cast Twice, one for Euin and one for either Karilla if she'll take it or Sirenya}

Does anyone object to taking a day off to identify things and change magic around?

If so, I need Intelligence or observation checks for those keeping watch, and what people are doing in the morning. I'm going to stop things in the early afternoon, since that's when Kas will wake up and she has some things she wants to say.

That’s fine by me

In reply to Sirenya (msg # 136):

Defo good for me.

Works for me.

Corym will perform the requisite identifications, but save one for Kota to practice the Identify spell.

Thereafter, Corym will gather the arcane spellcasters + Talindra to consult on the Mega Scroll.

We can RP that if y’all want—just declaring my intention for the day.

Sirenya—I know that Krackor is planning to explore the basement a bit by making a “Sirenya-sized” hole. I can prepare a Wraithform to accommodate that, and I know that may take you out of a work shift today.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:03, Mon 22 Mar 2021.

GM, I rolled amazingly well on that D20 roll you asked for, look.


21:00, Today: Krackor Steelfist rolled 6 using 1d20.  GM Asked.

(If you close one eye and squint it looks like a 20 :-D lol)

Sorry, I always write these posts wearing my glasses. ;)

In reply to DM (msg # 141):

You should wear mine, they are very positive about things like this lol

Jesus, those robes are insane

I had a self-funny.

I just read Krackor as Crack-whore.

I like you.

I know its a risk, but a +1 AC and extra's would keep me more survivable with the robe. However, I'm fresh to the group.

There's also a 20% fail for me using it anyway, so whatever nasty effects might happen I could potentially not be subject to them and discover what colour the robe is?

The 20% chance is only for items that "are not specifically suited to the character's class." The robe is a wizard-only item, so it'll work for you without any chance of failure.

I like you too, that was Sssooo funny, I literally did lol
This message was last edited by the player at 02:48, Tue 23 Mar 2021.

Well thats good and bad then :) Thankfully Sirenya is neutral, so worst case scenario she becomes evil or good and loses some xp and takes a bit of survivable damage.

I'd rather have the other mages take it if they need though, but I can donate bracers ac 6 back to the lewts

Scary times. Wish me luck!

Hmm, wonder what personality an evil Sirenya would have!!!

With the sexy dress on? Clearly like the Gene Roddenberry mirror universe Uhura. Bad Spock gets a goatee. Bad Uhura gets assertive!

Hmmm, I might need to cast invisibility more often now, lol

This whole encounter with the robe has been fun to watch :)

Well, it's a shame it prevents the use of pretty much all my magic items. I'd have turned good for that robe, lol

Yeah—fortunately you got hit with like the weakest version of the penalties. This will be a lot more valuable to the Wchorn’s than us. If we had a high level Incantrix, it’s possible that we could hack the restrictive enchantments. By why would you want to? It’s a work of art—you’d ruin it with your hodge lodge adventuring gear.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Wed 24 Mar 2021.

Nah, you'd make a good distraction with your glowyness.

Corym's player has injured his hand; posting from him may be light for awhile as it heals.

Just to address the "set something up in Glen" idea out of character, I'd like to avoid derailing the Myth Drannor game for a second time due to players who aren't around anymore. I'd rather you leave Myth Drannor either because you choose to, or because you screw up and are running for your lives. :)

So I'm going to state outright that Katarn and Kas will be able to either make an arrangement with the Forgesmith, or buy a house in Glen, whichever the party asks them to do. The house will just be a shell, however, so you'll need to do the work in character to make it suit your needs when you're next in Glen.

Then let's send those dudes on their way--done and done.

This...or the Forgesmith idea.

Forgesmith

Corym, I think you were still exhausted from casting the Identify spell (the exhaustion lasts 8 hours), which would have made higher thinking like working on the scroll impossible. But if that was the previous "day" I'll go back and give you guys an extra day of work on it.

Nope, didn’t have it memorized then. Forgot about the exhaustion aspect of that spell. At least sleeping won’t be a problem!

I'm putting more of the game calendar together, mapping out how long the Deepingdale Diversion took. While I was rereading the threads, I was reminded that the group supposedly agreed to find Syndra, a moon elven scout from Bristar who disappeared with a human group exploring Myth Drannor back in summer. It's not something that the group has mentioned again, and we've had some player turn-over since then. So I wanted to check and see if you wanted to keep that rescue mission as part of the canon before I put the entry into the game calendar and continued with my dastardly schemes for the poor elven woman. :)

On the one hand--forgot all about it.

On the other hand--haven't really seen any sign of her.

On the other other hand--we really need to build some trust in Bristar, so yes, let's please keep this side quest.

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 165):

Krackor wasn't party to that conversation so he hasn't even thought about it.  Also, we haven't seen any Elven footprints when the people were out scouting, not that this means anything, those pesky Elves can walk on snow without.....oh wait, that's just in a film, pretend I didn't say that bit about snow.  Lalala.

Anywho.... If we see any Elves, that is when we can do something.  To be fair, we have tried to get in touch with a local group of humans and maybe the person in question is or was with them.  Win win.

Wow you guys are silent!

I'm waiting on a couple of rolls from Kitheras, and then that branch will move forward.

Heading out on a 4 day holiday. My posting will be sparse during that time!

Enjoy your holiday!

19:47, Today: Kitheras Sunblade rolled 47 using 3d20 with rolls of 16,13,18.  Tracking.

19:46, Today: Kitheras Sunblade rolled 20 using 1d20.  Intelligence check (17).

Refresher for old players, and Sirenya.  Euin hasn't been taught these yet.

These are the signals that we practiced on the road for several weeks while traveling to Myth Drannor.  Visual signals are for when we're not invisible.  Audible signals are for when we are.

Patrol Signals
Audible---------------------Message----------------------Visual
Tyrant Flycatchers-----enemy in sight (left)--------------point index finger at the enemy and thumb pointing down. All other fingers will be curled.
Becards and Tityras----enemy in sight (right)------------point index finger at the enemy and thumb pointing down. All other fingers will be curled.
Shrikes----------------enemy in sight (forward)----------point index finger at the enemy and thumb pointing down. All other fingers will be curled.
Vireos-----------------take cover------------------------extend the arm at a 45-degree angle from the side, above the horizontal, palm down, and then lower the arm to the side.
Ravens----------------Map Check------------------------point at the palm of one hand with the index finger of the other hand.
Larks------------------Halt-------------------------------raise hand to head level, fingers extended and joined.
Swallows--------------Take a Knee-----------------------lower hand from the halt position to waist level, palm facing down, fingers extended and joined
Chickadees------------Danger---------------------------draw the right hand, palm down, across the neck in a throat-cutting motion from left to right.
Verdins----------------Freeze---------------------------- raise the fist to head level.
Bushtits---------------stop, look, listen, smell------------ raise the open palm of the non-firing hand to ear level.

Who you calling old?


Sorry, this had me laughing.  Reason:  Invisible so how you going to check the map without making it visible again? lol
This message was last edited by the player at 10:11, Tue 06 Apr 2021.

Burnt at the stake or invited in for tea :-)

I woke up with the Adam Savage quote "Here comes chaos!" from Mythbusters ringing in my head. I guess it's time to unleash the chasme. :)

In reply to DM (msg # 174):

I don't know who Adam Savage is but I know I've got the 12200th post :-)

I'm such a Numpty.  Just transferred this weeks recordings for my religious broadcast/youtube, ready for editing (managed to record from multiple angles) and then thought I'd transferred twice so pressed Control+Z to undo.  It only went and took ALL the recordings out of the folder but didn't put them back where they had come from.  This means I've lost EVERYTHING.

Problem is, it was all unscripted and it went brilliantly, but I can't recall what I said.  Someone pass me a CHASME to take away my pain please.

If only Sirenya could see the fleeing woman or get the illusionary monster to chase after the Chasme

Adam Savage was one of the five main hosts of the Discovery Channel tv series Mythbusters, which ran from 2002 to 2015. For nerds like me it was a staple of our tv watching.

Here's a compilation of some of the show's best one-liners, put together as part of the series finale. It's a great show; if you have a chance to watch some of it, I definitely recommend it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxhF7iBueeE

In reply to DM (msg # 178):

Oh, I've seen Mythbusters but took no notice of names.
I enjoyed it.

Just waiting to see if Sirenya comes with Kitheras before moving forward.

Just woke up at 4am, going back to bed but yeah, sirenya will follow.

Thanks! Now go back to sleep! :)

Sounds exciting to roll the battle :)

It's been informative, I'll say that. ;)

Euin and Krackor did see the aerial battle, since they were on watch. I'll get a post up in another hour or two with what they saw.

Apologies all, I have had a bit more activity at home / work over the last few weeks and haven't kept up all that well. I will try to catch up in the short term but please forgive my slow posting.

No worries. Real life happens to all of us. I'm glad it was just life being busy.

In reply to DM (msg # 187):

Good luck with fighting the side-effects of that 2nd vaccine GM.  I'm having mine on Thursday PM too.

Hey all.  I'm still alive.  Had my second COVID-19 Vaccine this afternoon.  I'm dreading the next few days as when I had the first Vaccine, I was really ill 2 days later for a further 5 days.  So if the thread moves forward but I don't post, please be assured, it is not because I'm upset at constantly missing any target for dispelling the spell on the cellar door.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Thu 29 Apr 2021.

Well, that was an unpleasant two days. I'm back to normal, however, and can move the game forward once folks determine what you want to do next.

We're going out tomorrow morning to revisit the Naga hold and then move on to the glass house (no throwing stones!)

No objections, right?  it's one of that last destinations we have that doesn't have something really scary we know about

I'm good with that

In reply to Sirenya (msg # 193):

Have we not set off already?
Ok, who's holding us up, it's Kora again isn't it! She knows we need her to bring the torch and her skills.
Yes I know she's an NPC
ahem
Yes I know she's awesome
oh well
Yes I know she's under our protection, you try telling her not to do something, rather you than I....again

Okay, just to be clear, you want to rest for tonight and then tomorrow go back to the naga lair and investigate the glass house. Is that correct?

If so, I'll move things ahead. Anyone who is keeping watch in the night, please roll an Intelligence check.

12:34, Today: Sirenya rolled 13 using 1d20.  Int check. – [roll=1620102877.63709.321144]

correct

Sirenya--you, me, and Kitheras can cast as many invisibilities as we're capable of before resting tonight, and they'll still be active in the morning.  That'll give more flexibility in spell preparation.

Can spells be traded out by spending some time memorising them again? My old regular gaming group used to use that rule.

Yes, you can switch out memorized spells without haven't to cast them for a different set of spells.

Post moved to main game thread
This message was last edited by the player at 10:03, Wed 05 May 2021.

Kora is a NPC
Corym is a PC = active
Kitheras is a PC = active
Euin is a PC = busy but active when able
Elorfindar is a PC = busy but active when able
Krackor is a PC = I like to think he's active unless asleep
Sirenya is a PC = active
DM is NPC a GOD = omnipotent
Talindra is a NPC

Hope this helps
Edit: Karilla is PC = Active
This message was last edited by the player at 19:42, Thu 06 May 2021.

Thanks.

Krackor, Sirenya and Corym are my night time invis targets. I could target Kitheras, Euin and Elorfindar in the morning if required.

Elorfindar and Euin are going to be staying behind (I don't want to clutter things up with people I need to DMPC). So one invisibility for Kitheras would cover everyone. On the other hand, he's very nearly invisible anyways with his cloak and thief skills, so you may want to save it.

No probs, thats why I chose the targets I did to start with. With my own skills I probably don;t need invis anyway but it can't hurt to have it :)

Well, the advantage of a Vanisher is that if you cast invisibility, it gives a chance of evading everything up to and including True Seeing, whereas just hiding in shadows does not.

In that case, I'll cast on Kitheras anyway

So Sirenya can literally hit most of us?  Wow.  Okay.  I can get Karilla and anyone else that's left.

I'm going to carry 1 invisibility and 1 invisibility 10' for the return trip.

One is too small to blow an illusion on, and some times the illusions escalate matters. It will come to us, it fights in melee, Karilla and I have alternative stealth methods, and now that we’re down to one cleric—Krackor has to be safeguarded

I'm on a short hiking trip this weekend, so posting may be delayed until Monday. If folks could respond to Corym's suggested list of things to do so I know what you're doing next, that would be great.

edit: Oh, and Kitheras will return safely in mid-afternoon. He and I worked most of it out over Skype.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:50, Sat 22 May 2021.

In reply to DM (msg # 210):

I'm in a field camping with other Pagan Chaplains.
It's magical.

I’ll post tonight

Just checking, we are all good to go almost?

I sent the DM a Skype message to check on him.

The only thing I can think of that we need to do is to orchestrate the ambush and the illusion that will bring them in.

No, you're good. I've been kinda out of it for the past couple of days. Plus, after a year of stasis things are starting to move, family-wise, so that's been taking extra bandwidth. I'll update the game today or tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

Krackor had cast Cloak of Bravery cast on Sirenya, Corym, Karilla and Kitheras. Get +1 vs First Fear encounter.

Unfortunately doesn’t help with a roll of 1 :(

In reply to Sirenya (msg # 217):

Remove fear does though

I have a bad feeling about this...

In reply to Kitheras Sunblade (msg # 219):

Hugs.

Between the slow, defensive harmony, and now the prayer, my poor chasme has a Thac0 of 22... :(

Hahahahaha.
I mean oh, poor thing.

Yay. Almost back to where I was before putting on the robe...

Hey, Krackor had a 14,000 xp spell. :)

I've updated the neighborhood map in Myth Drannor Maps to give the buildings on the other side of your ambush site numbers. They're in black, since I could not for the life of me get my image editing software to change the text color. Some of their exteriors were scouted by Sirenya, Kitheras, and Corym when you first arrived. I'll post a refresher of what was seen (that will probably have a few retcons from the original version, as I now have a better understanding of what I want in the area) either today or tomorrow.

Awesome.
May even make another level with another 8 of those each lol

Sorry peeps, I was rushed and knackered this weekend. Also, I thought I'd posted.
Kitheras gain 8hp (if CLW = d8)

Sirenya will tell the group where the circlet came from. Apologies, not a lot of time in the past few days

I'm going to be driving with my sister across the country starting tomorrow. Posting will likely be spotty until I get back on July 5.

In reply to DM (msg # 229):

Enjoy the journey and the company.

One day down, and both of the kids were fantastic. Here's hoping all of the other travel days go as smoothly.

Wow, over 12.5k posts.  We do post a lot don't we :-)

I'm back from the trip. Thank you everyone for your patience.

Also, Karilla is currently without internet. It should get installed later this week, but for the moment she won't be posting much.

Way too early planning:

I think we may need to return to Glen.

We've stirred up a hornet's nest in this neighborhood.  I still feel confident about being able to take the Alhoon, but with Vrocks on alert and a probable dragon/dracolich nearby--I think we may need to let this neighborhood cool down for a bit.  It's going to take awhile for this place to get back to homeostasis.

The other issue is that with the tradebars and the archival packages that Talindra is preparing, I think we're going to start to get to a logistical issue as it concerns being able to get everything back in one trip.  A lot of that will depend on a DM ruling (inviting the DM opinion here).

We also have some things we can do in Glen that will change up the pace of the game.

1. Sirenya/Corym have a spell that they want to research.
   
2. Krackor/Corym have talked about acquiring some real estate.
   
3. We could check in Bristar about the family that owned the Robe of the Archmagi.
   
4. At the same time we could see if there's any response to the correspondence that Kitheras/Elorfindar sent.
   
5. Acquiring Clairaudience/Clairvoyance would clearly be beneficial.
   
6. Equipment for dealing with planar creatures would apparently be nice.

Downside: given the DM's thoughts on the subject, if we haven't heard from Georg by that point, I suspect that he'll have Elorfindar leave the party. Losing those nap spells and a back-up healer will be a problem for sure, but I get it.  And tbh, it seems like if Elorfindar has to hang out somewhere, doing it in Bristar next to a holy magical lake dedicated to his faith would be a great place.

I agree but we need to wait a day or two.

  Yes but we also spoke with the "invisible" creature and, did we say we would consider doing something or that we would be doing something?

  If this where Corym casts ITEM on a chest holding these?




It would be a shame to lose Elorfindar, however, he would be able to keep tabs on the construction.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Thu 08 July 2021.

Enough time to get everything identified, finish deciphering the scroll, etc...



We demurred.  That's the one I'm assuming is some form of dragon.



I can do that for ONE, but there's like three.



This message was last edited by the player at 19:57, Thu 08 July 2021.

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 236):

By the time we kill the Dracolich ;-)  I'll have acolytes.

Maybe the robe is like a world of warcraft quest :) Non-functioning robe, perform quest, get working robe in return.

Would be nice! (*curses loss of xp*)

Sirenya is open minded about staying or going. I do feel that her loadout isn't quite right in terms of magic items. Would be nice to score some more elvenkind gear so that this invisibility casting can be reduced. Maybe there's somewhere close that has something similar for sale.

That *would* be a game changer on our spells. In terms of campaign continuity Elvenkind has to be discovered or bestowed. Bristar/Highmoon would be the nearest place for such a bestowal. They asked us to find out about a maiden of theirs that has disappeared, but we’ve never really found a clue for that side quest ( unless that was the shadowy figure—I guess Corym might be able to find out more about that depending on the situation when he returns ).

I'd be open to searching for that maiden.

There’s a girl from Bristar. She set out to find Myth Drannor. Never came back. That’s the extent of our leads.

This is why I mentioned about keeping an eye out for that other group.  In the hopes that she is part of it and maybe they have a cleric that is still alive too.

You haven't seen any hints of Syndra. But you haven't particularly been looking. And you don't know where in the ruins her group entered.

It all seemed pretty vague.  She went looking for Myth Drannor, never came back is what I recall.

We could go around asking NPC villagers if they'd seen her, but that seems pretty random.  It's probably meta-game of me to have thought this way, but I assumed some story-based clue would be forth coming after that.

If only we had a cleric that could cast augury or the like in our party.....

:)

It was meant to be a general hook to provide the in-game reason the group went back to the ruins, since the players wanted to continue doing Myth Drannor things. It's deliberately incredibly vague, so that it could be as important or not the your "Myth Drannor story." But yeah, it's not something you're going to be able to solve without getting creative. Or just stumbling into the right place at really, really random.

Received and understood.  It'll be reprioritized accordingly.

I'd only heard about her 3 days prior to now. Reflection Pool has been in Krackor's repertoire (arsenal). Tend not to use Augurt as he "knows" lol

I’m not sure who told you I  can cast identify but it’s not a spell I know

Well, that was a stomp. Shows why you don't mess with Shevarashans on their home turf. Fun, though!

Well, this feels like it was worth it.

Krackor? Drow boots?

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 251):

I had to put down one of my pet rats last night or would have posted yesterday evening, she was really poorly and had large cancerous lumps that we couldn'tget operated on as she was so thin after previous limps removed.

I didn't get to sleep until 04:48hrs but then dropped off straight away.  Will post when I've had my brew as only just got up (11:05hrs)

So sorry to hear of your loss!

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 253):

Thank you

I'm sorry to hear about your rat.

In reply to DM (msg # 255):

Thank you

Krackor, I can roll the dispel magic checks, not a problem. Once I know how much down time we're taking, I'll let you know the results.

Corym, I'll get in touch tomorrow about the Shevarashans. Too many headaches and moving preparations over the weekend.

In reply to DM (msg # 257):

Thank you.  It looks like at least 2 rolls, one for the day after the finding of the Halfling and potentially another when Corym arrives and recovers.  Could do one for the day we lost Corym as there is a Dispel Magic in the Ioun Stone of Spell Storing but only if someone takes over from Krackor when it gets dark.

I've updated the Experience and Treasure thread with XP for the inn exploration and Corym's Shevarashan side quest, as well as the treasure Corym is bringing back. I just realized I also need to update that thread with what you found in the tree house. I'll get that done next.

I haven't awarded XP for Jalanus, because he's not out of danger yet. If you can get him safely out of the ruins and to a safe haven (meaning, any town in the surrounding dales), you'll get awarded XP for him.

In reply to DM (msg # 259):

Please Mr DM, could you put dates against the XP for when you post it please  helps me know which I've updated.

Is the Naga XP including the trek back and the avoiding of the conflict of lots of monsters? We caused it and it meant we overcame an obstacle or two.

I don't have the full game calendar written up yet. When I do, I'll post it. For XP, just update your character sheet with the last XP award, and use the XP award names. That way we know what the last xp award you put in was.

The party doesn't generally get experience for escaping. Your reward for a good escape is that you don't get dog-piled by every nearby monster and have to flee the ruins.

In reply to DM (msg # 261):

We caused the deaths of them though. We effectively cast a spell of Monster Summoning or Sirenya did with that illusion.

Us "summoning" the Monsters actually represents a failure of our intended goal.  We were trying to be quiet and unnoticed. Instead two expert climbers fell out of a tree and the echo resounded around the block.

Our reward, in this case, was survival.

Everyone done with Jalanus?

Right. You don't get experience for screwing up and then running away. Your reward is that you survive, without expending any additional resources, and without your base being discovered.

I think you guys are misinterpreting things. We got the XP for the 2nd chasme fight where we summoned shadow monsters and did our thing.
We didn't get xp for the fight where the woman was watching us and the chasme came down and I cast the illusion that caused the chasme to obliterate the abishai.

When we fell out the tree, there were no monsters involved that we had any involvement in so should not get xp. This was after the events I just mentioned.

Hadn't considered that.

At most, though, we'd split that XP with the Chasme, since they're actual entities, not summoned thrall or illusions.

In reply to Corym Ildroun (msg # 267):

Quick post for #12600
Sorry I've been delayed, not been well.

Spoil sport ;-)

Agreed.
Well spotted Sirenya.  Hadn't thought of it that way.

You right.

Planning discussion.  I'm taking this OOC just because I think that it tends to go faster without speaking through the filters of our characters.  There are several items that I think need addressing, and I'll list them in the order I think they need to be dealt with.

Item 1: Accounting
We need to know what we have.  Someone getting killed in a random encounter when we have a piece of equipment sitting in a sack that could have made a difference just doesn't appeal to me. I propose we remain in the tower until our accounting is complete. 

Vote: Aye/Nay

Item 2: Cessation of Neighborhood Operations
Our last time out we stirred up a lot and this isn't even a particularly old/interesting part of Myth Drannor. The risks in this neighborhood are at an all time high, and I thus propose the cessation of neighborhood operations.

Vote: Aye/Nay


Item 3: Penetrating the Basement
It's been a project for awhile.  At minimum that door is super valuable.  Penetrating the basement won't further stir the neighborhood.  I propose that we continue attempting to breach the wards for the time being, and that after our accounting is completed--if time permits--that we concentrate our efforts on doing so until we depart.

Vote: Aye/Nay

Item 4: Temporary Withdrawal
Our capacity to carry what we have acquired is approaching its limit.  Our opportunities in this neighborhood seem to be played out--unless we steel ourselves against the Alhoon. I propose that we withdraw to Glen to reconstitute ourselves and re-evaluate our opportunities.  I further propose that we do so in such time that we will arrive there two days prior to Midwinter in order to prepare for the celebration of the New Year and to allow Krackor sufficient time for the religious observances that Gormites may observe on that day.  I further propose that this ought to take priority over Item 3.

Vote: Aye/Nay


Item 5: Regarding Jalanus
Jalanus is a decent fellow, but we don't know him or his loyalties.  I propose that we should escort him from these premises blindfolded, and see him delivered to Ashabenford.  I further propose that he should be sequestered from our accounting.

Vote: Aye/Nay
This message was last edited by the player at 15:06, Thu 29 July 2021.

05:49, Today: Sirenya rolled 77 using 1d100.  Learn Spell. – [roll=1627595370.42492.321144] - Failed by 2%. GRRRR!!
Hopefully there's some kind of Mythal effect that boosts chances to learn spells by 5%, lol.

Yikes! Maybe having a dedicated academic like Talindra involved will help? You’re not doing it all on your own…

Sadly, no, the mythal doesn't help with learning spells.

Ah well. Sorry Corym. Looks like its just you doing the identify spells :(

Item 1: Accounting
Vote: Aye

Item 2: Cessation of Neighborhood Operations
Vote: Nay - I think its the opposite. We are thinning down the enemies


Item 3: Penetrating the Basement
Vote: Nay - I think using the dispel magic 1/day is about as good as we will get. Maybe the magic will be easier to dispell if we rise in level?

Item 4: Temporary Withdrawal
Vote: Aye


Item 5: Regarding Jalanus
Vote: Aye - removing him from our location and Myth Drannor just gives us more peace of mind

Ok, granted Karilla really wants to GTFO of here, but I will put my two cents in.

Item 1: Aye - Knowing your inventory is paramount to survival

Item 2: Aye - Once again, Karilla wants to leave ASAP, but doesn't want to go alone

Item 3: Aye - Karilla will volunteer to go through the wall for scouting if needed

Item 4: Aye - See item 2

Item 5: Aye - Dude is shifty and if he proves to have evil intent there is a good chance that Karilla will deal with him for the benefit of the group.

Pretty much Karilla would have dipped a while back, but her familial ties keep her with the group. That doesn't mean she's thrilled about it though.

So since it looks like you're going to be leaving Myth Drannor soon and spending at least some time in Glen/the Dales in general, I wanted to open the floor to what the group wants to do when downtime ends. Obviously there's plenty more of Myth Drannor to explore, if you want to return. But there's plenty of other things to do in Cormanthor and the Dales. So what are everyone's thoughts on next steps?

Corym's obviously the most dedicated to continued exploration and he thinks that Glen would be a good place for him to establish a hold near Myth Drannor but also the markets where he can transact his trade.

In terms of priority he'd like to

• Restore Talindra
• Research the Whisper spell with Sirenya
• Find Syndra (though that's going to entail a lot of Krackor work)
• Design and build a hold in Glen.
• Establish a relationship with the elven community

Kitheras is burdened with some Secret Agent backstory that I inherited that I don't think suits the character.  But even at its most abstract, here are the things we know about Kitheras:

• He's a highborn noble
• He's been forced to live without that status as he works in the service of King and Country
• He's now far outside the purview of King and Country

I think when he told Karilla he needs to find someone to love--that's true.  He needs to get grounded and have some purpose in his life.  I think he's definitely the sort that would raise his banner and take followers once he hits 9th level Bard (which will happen a LONG time before 10th level Ranger)--but for what?

Things that are nearby Myth Drannor that could arouse his interest would be:

• Encroaching Sembian interests disturbing the Bucolic Dales or clear cutting the Elven Woods
• Hillsfaran racist policies and persecution
• The Chaos of Post War Scardale (raise a banner and restore peace)

He needs to find a Short sword specialist to study with for Grand Mastery.

As a Bard though he'd always be up for some swashbuckling romance that might make a good tale.  Finding Syndra could definitely be a good start for him.

For Kitheras, Myth Drannor is a resource. A place where he can get arms/armor/wealth/magic for the achievement of ends. He just doesn’t have any ends yet. He’s sympathetic to Corym’s aims, but those aren’t his aims necessarily.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:08, Fri 30 July 2021.

Elorfindar's player is still swamped, thanks to rebounding COVID. He's okay with Elo being put into semi-retirement, with the option of being able to be brought back if his life settles down to something more normal.

I also spoke with Karilla's player, since without Elorfindar and once away from the ruins, she really doesn't want to return. We've agreed that Karilla will leave with Elo, and they'll both go to Bristar. Elo has pastoral duties he wants to take up, and both of them hope the sacred waters of Lake Eredruie can heal some of Karilla's trauma.

So in addition to Sirenya being swapped out for a new character, Karilla will be swapped out. If Elo comes back, Karilla will likely come back as well.

It shouldn't take more than a day in anyone's book.

but only as far as other can explore before he awakens and one day afterwards. Same time it should take for the Accounting.

only until time to go, Krackor can do 3 Dispell Magic's a day. One day of Accounting should be plenty, if not, what is going on?

Can we go yet?


We've rescued him, he hasn't been a part of the group. Like Kas and Euin, his stuff would be his but we didn't find anything unless it's connected with Bane.
Therefore not a member of the company.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Sun 01 Aug 2021.

We don’t know how many hours/days are required to decipher the scroll.

We’ve also got LOTS of magic items now. If I were DM, I don’t know that I’d let us do them in a day.

Cory can start using all of his 3rd level spells as Dispel Magic’s as well to penetrate the basement.

So here are the current unidentified magical items:

* Magical Pearl
* 7 potions
* Magical rod
* Obsidian horse sculpture
* Magical circlet
* 1 cut glass earring that radiates magic
* arachnoid cloak
* high priestess's ring

14 total items, seven of which are potions. It'll probably take 3 days to identify all of them, unless something weird happens with them.

As for the encrypted scroll, you're making a bit of progress, but the thing is a beast. Someone very smart and very sneaky did the encryption. It could take a month or two, or maybe more, to make it readable. You wouldn't necessarily want to stay in Myth Drannor just because you're dealing with the scroll; you can do the decryption anywhere.

In reply to DM (msg # 284):

To be fair, we don't need to be in Myth Drannor to cast Identify and as only 1 person can cast it plus no chance of deciphering the scroll any time soon, it makes more sense to go back to Glen sooner rather than later. Identify the Horse Scupture, if it is one of those magical beings, that will helps us move back to Glen quicker.

Accounting means counting, not only counting 2 items a day, that's a waste of our time in Myth Drannor, elsewhere or if we were not wanting to leave, then fine.

We’ve got two players that need to swap out characters.  I propose we leave ASAP and get to Glen. Identification can be done there. It’s not what Corym/Kitheras would want to do IC, but it’s an OOC expedient for the good of the group.

Seems like given Krackor’s feelings and the fact that the other two players are the ones getting new PCs that there should be little argument about that?

I'm so looking forward to having my own concept in the game and hopefully I can do you guys proud.

Fingers crossed the item selection I chose sits well with the GM and we can kick on with some goals together!

Welcome to the game!

I know that we are in the same tavern so if you would like to approach Kali, go for it.

I would but I’m still doing character sheet stuff

Tarron! It's like we're the same person!

Oh feck. I'll choose another pic :)

How's this?

Amazing!  You fit right in!

Oh ffs, I didn't think that was you too!

Ok, maybe this will do...

Same

I'm working on introducing her by talking to Karilla. I just posted about the set up. I'll have Kali take over, I just need to write it.

Okay, I'm all caught up on the IC thread. I know both Tarron and Kali are waiting on my comments on their character sheets, and I have a conversation in mind between Corym and the innkeeper regarding Talindra that I'll start tomorrow. Does anyone need anything else from me at this junction?

Just checking - will we be identifying things now that we are in town or did we manage anything along the way?

Will post about it but as a pre-emptive, we asked those whom left early to look around for property and or areas for us to purchase, so we have a permanent Temple. I can't recall if we'd bought or rented somewhere already or just stayed at a Tavern.

Identifying items is a day-long process that can't be done on the move. Now that you're in town, Corym can identify everything tomorrow.

As for the property, if Katarn and the others made any inquiries or made any deals, it would have been with the Forgesmith where they left Talindra's books. You'd have to check with him.

Also, I'll check the calendar, but Katarn's group couldn't have been more than a few days ahead of you, since you decided to cut your time in Myth Drannor shorter than originally expected.

In reply to DM (msg # 301):

That makes sense. 3-5 days as they were not encumbered.

The Dreams of the Ancients seems to have been founded on Flamerule 22 according to the Game Calendar.  That means that our second Captain election should happen in @ 22 days on Hammer 22.

Just throwing that out there.

Corym being the first captain made sense for whatever reasons--maybe because he wrote the charter.  Who Corym has been for the past six months isn't really who he was designed to be.  He used to be a player of intrigues who had an ulterior agenda (robbing human wizards) that was separate from and unknown to the party.  Me--the player--decided to make him a lot more dynamic and leader-y because I think we sort of needed that to move the game forward.

Kitheras is a much more natural FACE character.  He's high charisma, nobly born, has class abilities that help him organize the team tactically, and has the whole Ranger vow-of-poverty thing that should keep him from making the Dreams of the Ancients his own personal profit machine.  Moreover, he doesn't have a solid ideology except that we should probably be doing good things for people and there's a lot of upside to exploring Myth Drannor.  So he's not a fanatic like Corym.

As a Player, I want Corym to step aside from this role so that he can be more who he was designed to be instead of a by-product of Meta-Party dynamics.  Moreover, if Kitheras becomes Captain, that will also let him become more of who he is designed to be (the ideal elf, a sort of paragon, and a noble leader).

Of course, you guys get votes--we all do.  Maybe you like the way Corym leads and you make him the leader, and then he has to keep evolving organically.  Or maybe we make Kali the Captain. Whatever.  I just thought I'd put out there as a player that I don't think Corym (as I conceive of him) is well suited to the work, and that it could easily pass to someone else.

Ugh. Migraine. Posting will be delayed.

Self-care first.

Easy way to do this is this: You can't be voted in as Captain for consecutive years, this stops complacency and encourages a 'break'.
First Captain vote was after Krackor was rescued, in Balders Gate if memory serves. He was rescued the day before his birthday (or just after).

Krackor advised against being voted in as Captain so he could protect everyone and guard. He voted for Corym who has done a good job but has become obsessive (-ish), Kitheras has improved and stepped up.

Berdusk--we've never been to the coast.

Yeah, that one :-)

EDIT:  Worked it out.  Wow, you are good with your dates.  Can I borrow your memory please.  Pretty please?  Mine is struggling at the moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:02, Wed 18 Aug 2021.

This is the most brilliant reason for staying behind.

It really didn't make any sense to take her back to Myth Drannor. My poor Karilla is so very, very broken.

In reply to Karilla Silveroak (msg # 310):

As long as she doesn't panic at so much water when she sees the river and the pool

Honestly, I think that would be a moment that Karilla wouldn't be able to stop herself from crying. Both from joy and general relief.

Exactly what I was thinking.

So we are very close to entering Downtime, which is our infrequent "skip ahead some amount of time while doing non-adventuring things" pause. We've never combined that before with bringing in new characters. It would be helpful for me if the group and the two new characters could tentatively agree to joining forces, or at least talk about it further. I'll have a blizzard blow in overnight, to keep everyone plausibly in Glen for a bit.

What I need from the group is how long you want Downtime to last, and what things each of you want to do during it. Then we can spin off any necessary conversations.

Finally, I'm going to be posting the identified items in the XP and Treasure thread shortly. I need everyone to divvy them up among the group, including Karilla and Sirenya, as though they were staying with the group (their share of the spoils, to take where they will, as it were). Once that happens, I can get an idea of the total magical item wealth of the party and can adjust the magical item levels of the newcomers appropriately.

Thanks.

In reply to DM (msg # 314):

We don't have any magical items, they all below to the company ;-)

I've updated the XP and Treasure thread with values for all of the non-magical treasure, since Corym rolled a bunch of successful Appraisal checks.

He didn't figure out the elf-head platinum coin's value, though. That came from Neldor, when Corym mentioned off-hand that they had it. The "racial head" coins were an experiment of the Myth Drannan mint in the first decade after the mythal's raising, but were abandoned when someone pointed out that having a race's face on each coin had unfortunate implications for the relative values of each race. Only about 1,000 of each coin was ever struck, and they quickly became collector's items. Even in Myth Drannor's day, it would have been worth about 100x its face value. If you could find the proper buyer today...

I should be able to divide the cuts later this morning.

Think of this post like me showing my work.  It's a little like scatter shooting.



Okay--for things that have static value (coins, gems, non-collectible art, etc...) we have a total value of 10,195.¹



The company's share is 2,039.  From this we can pay for our lodgings and other things (such as travel expenses to sell collectible variable value items to Myth Drannor collectors). This brings the Company's holdings to 6,614.

This leaves 8,516 to be divided between:

Corym
Elorfindar
Karilla
Krackor
Kitheras
Sirenya

1,359.333333

Regarding Kora
I expressed some confusion earlier about whether or not Kora had ever *bought in* as a partner for the company.  I've now audited the thread where we did all that, and she never said so or paid in.  Up until we found Talindra, she shared the danger and she's certainly quite useful in handling the logistics of this company and accounting and such.  Additionally, due to her class makeup, if we can keep developing Corym's apprentice she will be the most powerful spellcaster among us in short order.  I propose that we pay her 500gp as a defacto Affiliate (see the charter) to be taken from the company balance. She earlier *claimed* a 500gp Elven Thinblade, and that could stand good for her payment if she approves. I further think that people that aren't interested in designing towers, deciphering scrolls, and building temples could probably take her out and do some level appropriate random encounters to get her moving along.




The rest of the stuff is either Magical or Highly Variable in value.  By vote of the current partners items may be sold and the proceeds distributed.  Most of the Highly Variable material requires a Myth Drannor collector.  I'd rather not do business with Sembians, but the Elven communities around Deepingdale, Highmoon, and Arabel are all "nearby" places where we could transact such affairs.  Some of our people are going to be heading to Deepingdale in a matter of days. Its possible that some of us can go with them to scout the market.

We still don't know what the BIG SCROLL is IC, but OOC we have a pretty good picture.  It'll be worth A LOT to a very few number of people and functionally worthless to us.  That's Corym's first order of business.  This is like what he's made for.

What remains is whether Karilla, Elorfindar, and Sirenya wish to divest from the company, or leave their original investment in the company and allow it to continue to appreciate.

IF YOU DIVEST, we divide the current balance by the current number of partners, you take your share, and walk away.

IF YOU REMAIN INVESTED BUT LEAVE, your investment waxes and wanes with the fortunes of the company, but you have no claim on coinage/gems/art that you're not present for, just the 20% put back into the company at the end of each mission.




If you feel particularly attached to an item and want it to be yours outright, you can purchase it from the company for half its price in the rule books.


¹that's excluding the marble gnomish animal orgy bowl that I'm waiting on an appraisal for
This message was last edited by the player at 18:05, Sun 22 Aug 2021.

@Kali and Tarron

IF YOU INVEST, we divide the current company balance by the current number of partners, you contribute an equal share of that figure so that the value of the company isn't degraded by taking on new partners.

At that point you'll have a vote, access to all of the inventory of the company, and you'll be eligible to be elected Captain in 22 days when our next election is held.

Proposals for Partner Vote:
YEA or NAY






This message was last edited by the player at 14:36, Mon 23 Aug 2021.

Could the bowl be utilised in the entrance to the temple?  Create Water spell in it, slightly tilted, pouring into a pool for the thirsty!  Just a thoughts, shows diversity of the Dwarven Gods.

Can Krackor have the Ivory Badgers please.
Be mindful that the Four Gold Necklaces or the earrings were Banite and may not go down well with some, may be work melding down or better still, an offering to the Forge Master's God (who if memory serves, likes gems and jewelry in the offerings/sacrifices.)  Worth keeping him on our good side.
Also, would the Magical Theory books be work keeping in case they can help anyone?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:42, Sun 22 Aug 2021.