For out-of-character chatter...

Welcome, everyone!

We have five characters and will probably be adding a sixth soon, once I am able to make a decision on who gets that last spot.

You should all have editing privileges on your Character Details page; if not, let me know. Also, if you need a character sheet template, let me know as well. Otherwise, I don't mind what template you use, as long as it is complete and easy to read.

For character creation, use the 27-point-buy method for generating your Ability Scores. Don't roll for starting gold but take the equipment provided by your class and background. And feel free to sell (at full price) anything you don't want.

Send me a private message when you get your sheet done and I'll look it over. Once everyone is done, we'll get started.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Hello for everyone!

Can we use the gold that comes from most backgrounds to buy addional items? Same for the gold that is possibly gotten from selling some of the items from background?

Nice to meet you all, I'll be running the harmless mascot of a Wizard, casting spells to...  Throw stuff on the ground and hope nobody comes swinging I guess?

Greetings! I should have my character sheet done tonight.

Yes, of course; you can use the gold however you want.

A fellow spellslinger. I'll be starting off as a Sorcerer but may multiclass into something to add a bit more martial capability.

Heyas, my guy is called Bencor 'last guy picked for the dodgeball team' Dekarrac. I'm playing a druid. *bows*
This message was last edited by the player at 02:15, Mon 21 Jan 2019.

Hello. I'll be playing Isolde Glibhammer, Shield-Maiden of the Mithral Hall (mountain dwarf fighter).

I'm the resident rogue.

Exited to get started. I don't know how the module is going to start, but if someone wants to have met before the adventure, I'm open to connections. Inanah has spent most of her time in or around Waterdeep.

The characters will start the story just outside of Greenest around sunset. They can be together already (perhaps guarding a caravan, etc.) or traveling individually. Once they arrive in Greenest, they will all come together as a group rather quickly.

Guarding a caravan fits my guy well as an excuse to travel to Greenest.

N'Rell wouldn't have a problem joining on as a caravan guard in order to get to Greenest.

All I have left is to finalize equipment. Otherwise, I'm pretty much done.

Caravan guarding would be something Inanah would work on, too. So well met, partners.

I could see Isolde traveling with a caravan out of convenience, but probably not as a hired guard. Not that she wouldn't lend protection to the company, if a threat arises. Also, I'm just fine with having arrived separately from the others.

Description up, sheet submitted. This is my 2nd ever 5e game so hopefully I haven't made any mistakes.

Hasan probably wouldn't be guarding a caravan as a paid job, but he could very easily be traveling along with one.

The game thread is up. You should have access to it once your character sheet is approved.

If your character is not traveling into Greenest on the road, s/he can meet up with the others once they get into town. There will be an encounter in town once everyone arrives. Be sure to let me know if your character is already in town, so I know not to wait for you.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Oh, we don't have to be with the caravan? I was agreeing to it assuming we had to be arriving the same way. In that case, I would rather have a different entrance.

Sorry for making an edit after someone had already answered, but I only now figured out how to do the language group thing and wanted to use it. The content of my post didn't change, just the line spoken in dwarvish.

Oops. I didn't realize you had said that in Dwarvish in your initial post. Hasan doesn't speak Dwarvish. I edited my post now, too, to reflect that.

Oh hey!  We kicked off!  I'll post tonight now that I'm off work for a few days.

There is not really any cover in the approach to Greenest; you are indeed in open land.

N'Rell has indicated to me that he will make his appearance once the party makes it to town.

Emmi, are you with the caravan? Once you have posted, I'll move us along.

:D

The GM gave my ear a tweek earlier to adjust the concept so to be more civilized. I have a concept in mind I want to play too but do speak up OOC if its too grating on the nerves.

Emmi didn't indicate that they wanted to be with the caravan, so maybe we could move on. They can join us when the real adventure starts and we don't get held up in the introductory phase.

Emmi will not be joining us after all. I'll post later today. Thanks for your patience.

Whats 'PP: 16 PI: 14' in your bio, Inanah?

Passive Perception, Passive Insight. One of my previous campaigns had everyone put those up there for convenience of not having to check the character sheet for those.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:32, Sun 27 Jan 2019.

In reply to Inanah Nightbreeze (msg # 29):

Sounds like a good idea.

The humans and kobolds appear to be working in concert. The lizards are medium-sized, not actually "giant" in game terms (but definitely giant for a lizard). Most of the human raiders wear hooded cloaks and appear to be members of some religious group or cult.

Holding on my post till Isolde's mechanic question IC is answered. I'm happy with free flowing theatre of the mind style combat or super detailed map with pogs; either is good.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:14, Mon 28 Jan 2019.

Same here. Once we get clarification on that, I'll go ahead and jump in.

I would also like to know about combat before posting.

And generally about rolling. GM, do you want us to be proactive about rolling our skills, if we think they would apply to a situation? Or do you want us to wait for you to ask for rolls?

Thanks for the questions. I don't use battle maps; I tend to go for a more "theatre of the mind" style, as Bencor put it. Also, I generally ask everyone to post their actions for the round at once and then resolve the round in a single post.

As far as rolling goes, you can post your rolls whenever you think it is necessary. In combat, I will generally ask for your rolls. In either case, if you post your action but not your die roll and the action requires a roll, I will generally roll for you to speed things up.

And, yes, Isolde, you are within 25 feet of at least one of the kobolds, so you can attack in melee this round.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

The whole dramatic entrance thing would have probably had more impact if I had rolled high enough to actually hit something. Haha. Maybe it was just a warning shot?

I'm at work. Will post when I get home. (4 hrs)

I updated my last post with the initiative and attack rolls. Looks like a swing and a miss, but maybe ... ?

Initiative... I knew i forgot something. I updated my post as well.

Can we get a list of what labels are being used for the language groups to make sure we'reall using the same code? For example, if I were speaking to an Elf, I would have labeled it "Elven" instead of "Elvish" and would, apparently, have been wrong to do so.

*prods Hasan and N'Rell for character descriptions* (pretty please?)

Hello all! Your healer has arrived.

Dwarven cleric of Moradin here. And gosh, it's SO nice to meet you all. My, you're all quite tall aren't you? Even the Shield Maiden! *whispers* Please don't tell my father you saw me here.

Oh, thank the gods.

Y'all won't have to rely on Bencor's 'benevolence' now. Welcome Kathra!

Can somebody explain this language group thing to me? I've been on rpol for a few years and this is the first I've heard of it.

I hope it's ok I made my post out of initiative order, because my next slot for posting would have been 24 hours from now.

Welcome Kathra!

If I understand correctly, using a language group in your post means that only those that the GM has tagged as understanding the language will see the text in English, the others see gibberish/made up language.

For example: [Language unknown: "Wilithanyvor ulilwh! Asni acar ut for fiasna ratineany io, ion ilos he semo eenthuhis le set."]

Also see more examples in the IC.

You will find available language groups at the bottom of the “insert a private line”’ drop down list.

That was the bit that I was missing! Thanks.

I dunno about this game, but every other game on rpol I've played, players just post once each turn whenever they're online, the GM sorts it out, posts the results, and then everybody posts again. Loses some of the value of having initiative at all, but keeps the game flowing.

Moradin's anvil! Did I really manage to join a game at the very beginning of the campaign?? That's a first for me.

Sorry guys, I'm an editing fiend. Not trying to cheat at all, I promise. I want to make my posts readable and I've got to overcome my bad grammar.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 49):

I'm in the same boat, I keep seeing typos only after I post.

After reading Karthra's post Ben will have 5 berries left over if he's allowed to eat the other 5 before the party charges into more baddies. Thanks for the heals!

Edit: rereading your post... are you interrupting Bencor's spellcasting?
This message was last edited by the player at 04:58, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 51):

Yeah, we seem to have posted at the same time. I'd prefer to keep the casting, since the goodberries can be distributed later. Plus, it establishes my bonafides as a cleric.

No, the exact opposite. She is probably healing you as you are casting the spell, then sees you are occupied, so instead of moving you, see positions herself on your outside, but she doesn't recognize what you're doing as spell-casting.

Also, I want to canonically accept that some people hear Kathra's name as "Karthra," not that it happening in game. It fits with the accent I imagine her having.

Longterm Kathra certainly will be. At these low levels though druids really trounce the other classes in out-of-combat healing (only). Horde of the Dragon Queen is meant to be super hard, apparently, so we need every edge we can get.

I prepared healing word as well before you were recruited. It will be nice to drop that and free up the slot for something else in the future.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 05:02, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

Maaaaaybe keep that one anyway until we see how things go for a while? ...just in case.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 54):

Once we establish as a team, we can discuss optimal spell prep strategy. I'm certainly not worried about proving clerics are useful :) I just like the way my character's introduction to the team is going, as I've managed to imply some things about her background that only those who speak dwarf will get now.

I'm having a lot of fun dusting off my FR knowledge. Haven't thought about this setting in....over 25 years? Yeesh, it's terrifying to do that math.

In reply to N'Rell (msg # 55):

Especially for 1st and 2nd level, I tend to want to prep every heal path we can.

I've also got proficiency with Healer's Kits and the Medicine skill. If somebody has proficiency in Herbalism Kits, there's supposed to be a way we can make healing potions, but I'll be arsed if I can find the rules online.

In reply to N'Rell (msg # 55):

I could've had Animal friendship prepared. Charm us some Giant Lizards for 24h!

....but I don't XD
This message was last edited by the player at 05:28, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 58):

I guess you're going to have to figure out another way for your loner druid to beef up his effective combat capacity. Maybe find something besides animals to befriend? =duck=

In reply to Kathra Silvernode (msg # 59):

Funny you say that. I do have Charm Person prepared. Unrelated question: what's your Wis save?

The majority of the characters I've made over time have, generally, been of an agreeable disposition. This character will probably be a bit of a departure from that.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 60):

Well, I'm a cleric, which prefers Wisdom. On the other hand, 5th Ed dwarves are no longer naturally curmudgeonly, so you've got that going for you. You should absolutely spend your spell slots on trying that while there's a rampaging dragon. What's the worst that could happen?



Hmm, and I'm trying to play a wallflower this time. I will have to figure out how those two will interact. Will your character be the type that enjoys making people needlessly blush?
This message was last edited by the player at 06:32, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

It's official. When this all goes south, we get to blame you for using that phrase right there. ;-D

In reply to N'Rell (msg # 63):

I could absolutely work that into my character's linguistic quirks, if you want :)

I'm with everyone about the editing thing, I don't do it to change the meaning of my posts, but to correct mistakes. My weakness is forgetting to write in past tense and then having to go through the whole post for that. English isn't my first language so there might be other peculiarities, too, that I just don't notice, so pardon me in advance.

Also we'll see if Inanah becomes lizard meal right of the gates for separating from the group, always a good idea. :-P

Edit: 100+ posts party!
This message was last edited by the player at 14:52, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

I often post from a very tiny phone and usually make typos that I have to correct later on I'm on my laptop.

Edit: See?!! “When I’m on my laptop.”
This message was last edited by the player at 16:15, Wed 30 Jan 2019.

Once I find out if N'Rell found anything he's looking for, I'll post my next action and how he proceeds with the others.



I'm in the same boat. If you see a post of mine was edited it's just grammar or formatting related.

N'Rell does not find any notes, etc. on the fallen kobolds.

I'll post more later today.

In reply to Inanah Nightbreeze (msg # 65):

I always try to write in present tense, but honestly my verb tenses are all over the place. The entire FR wiki I found is written in past tense, and it really kills the sense that you could still be playing in that setting.

In reply to Kathra Silvernode (msg # 69):

I've read that wiki, too and it feels a little strange to see past tense in it.

Question to GM: How religiously do you want me to count my arrows? And what method for getting back any from the ones I shot? 1/3rds rounded up?

DM, is there any reason you're not moving us forward to either the next encounter or the keep? N'Rell looted the bodies, we've picked a marching order.....what am I missing?

I think we're waiting for me to react to some private info I got. Sorry to be the bottle neck here but I'm on my way to work and can't post next 12 h. (European timezone here.)

If GM figures out a way to move us on without me, I'm fine with that.

In reply to Inanah Nightbreeze (msg # 72):

Oh, that's totally fine then. Thanks for the explanation. I thought I was missing something obvious.

Yes, that is correct. I sent Inanah a private message about what she sees ahead.

And to answer your question about arrows, retrieving 1/3 is fine. And I'm not too meticulous about things like that, especially if you make a point of restocking regularly.

Sooooooo... I'm pretty sure the one guy who didn't fall asleep is gonna die with that many people jumping on him like that. Haha

In reply to N'Rell (msg # 75):

Hasan and I both held our actions to attack anyone who comes in range. But I'm guessing the hooman is dead from Innah's arrow alone.

Isolde also made some significant damage.

In reply to Inanah Nightbreeze (msg # 77):

I'm not discounting anyone's contribution to the fight. Rather, I was speculating that the attacker had less than 12hit points, since he was probably 1st level, and not a barbarian.

Hey, DM, can we get confirmation on whether the one guy was taken out? I think that's what we're waiting on to see how we are going to proceed.

He's probably out for the weekend, bud XD.

Tried to Google just how one would go about restraining someone with rope in reality. Many pages of softcore BDSM did I get......

I swear I don't Google anything anymore for that reason ... .

I've got a Charm Person spell lined up for this raider guy if he's a real nuisance but my DC isn't the highest in the world. Should hopefully fast track any interrogations without the PCs having to channel their inner Ramsey Bolton.

Hey, fun fact about me! I teach classes on that subject internationally. There are three main styles: Damsel in Distress, Kinbaku, and Fusion Bondage.

My personal favorite method of tying people up is Hojojitsu, which is the Japanese martial art of takedown, capture, restraint, and prisoner transportation. It's really pretty fascinating the stuff people did in a low-metal culture during their feudal era.

However, in this case, you probably just want to tie a quick Texas Handcuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty7ov-K3DRA

That's a pretty cool job, hah, I'd love to whip that out at the next party next time someone boasts about being a doctor or a lawyer.

Hmm. Kinbaku is news to me, didn't know it was a thing in feudal Japan. Not just paintings and poems, eh? XD

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 85):

Well, it's more a volunteer thing. Pays for a lot of my vacation time, but not what I do full time. I don't know many educators who do it full time, though there are performers out there who make a living doing shows.

Rope is a hugely important element of Japanese culture. For one thing, the method by which they weave braids is remarkably similar to how they make cloth (google "Kumihimo" and "takadai" if you want to see more), and so the "fabric of society" metaphor can get really granular with them. Ceremonially crafted rope is used to mark temple entrances, braids are used in place of belts, there's an entire artform dedicated to wrapping packages in cloth and tying them shut.

Like, you know how in western culture, you can express a lot through a bouquet of flowers? In the Meiji Era, you could insult someone by the way you tied their wedding present.

I mentioned hojojitsu before. One of the really neat things there is that they used the way in which people were bound as part of their record keeping on their prisoners. You just won a major battle, you've got 400 people to march back to base, but THREE of those guys are nobles who you can ransom for hard cash money, but the other 397 are all useless peasants you'll be sending to work your rice farms. How do you keep track? After a two week march, stripped naked and bound by rope, pretty much everybody looks the same. So what they did was, they tied up the guys who were worth money in a restraint that also contained coded messages about their rank and ransom value!

Anyway, that stuff didn't get sexualized until the Reform, as the nobility lost power and a lot of samurai tried to figure out ways to make money. All they knew how to do was fight, tie people up, and paint. Weren't allowed to fight anymore for income, so....
This message was last edited by the player at 01:41, Sun 03 Feb 2019.

I admit my knowledge of Japanese history is woefully limited to the infamous https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o video.



Hrmm, nice ideas for nasty, backstabby courtly RP. Love that period drama stuff. I'm off to see The Favorite sometime this week.

Nrell has gagged him. don't need to knock him out.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 88):

Any ruckus he makes could alert the new threat to our presence. Short of hog-tying him to a pole and carrying him, there's no way to keep him completely unable to alert others to our presence.

If I had a knife, I'd put it to his throat and make a meaningful glare. But Kathra is a warhammer-carrying kind of lady, and you know the old saying about having a hammer, right? :)

That's actually what I intended to do. I may be a magic user but that doesn't mean I'm completely unarmed. ;-)



If your only tool is a hammer, treat every problem as though it was a nail. I use that line all the time IRL. Haha

In reply to N'Rell (msg # 90):

On the one hand, my character really wants us to sneak past them unnoticed.

On the other hand, *I* really want the XP.

That's why I use milestone xp whenever I run a game. I prefer players to make decisions motivated by more than numbers. I had a tabletop game run where one player had a Ranger who, every time the party made camp, would go out and hunt wolves. His character would never do anything with the kills (use the skins/fur/etc). It was motivated by greed for xp (specifically to get more than anyone else in the group). I warned him that it was kind of a jerk move and should probably stop (insert evil GM grin) but he kept doing it... until he fired his bow at a wolf that didn't drop right away. It was a wild-shaped Druid who was tracking whoever had been hunting wolves for sport. It didn't end well for the Ranger. He rolled up a new character and didn't pull stuff like that with me again. ;-)

Depends on GM naturally, but smartly avoided encounter should still give XP, not just killing enemies.

I prefer advance-by-expenditure systems like Shadowrun. For a tabletop session I also like it when you get XP rewards for things like "stayed in character the most this session" and "best scene this session." That's obviously harder to do on a PbP system like rpol.

Gaining experience points won't be much of a problem in this part of the story; surviving might be. I'd recommend saving your resources as much as possible. But you're free to ignore my advice.

Assuming there's no other obstacle between here and the keep, I'm OK with continuing. N'Rell got what he needed so far. If I don't reply today (busy day), assume I continue on.

Bencor still has a good hold on that rope. Right?

Yessir.

Just realised that I can't actually use move after the held action, so I guess Inanah would have run after the others but taken a path that doesn't bring her to melee.

In reply to Inanah Nightbreeze (msg # 99):

You can't move the save turn you hold an action?

You can move on the same turn you hold action, but you can't hold the movement for later. So the movement needs to happen before the held action as part of the actual turn. (The held action uses your reaction when the triggering event happens or otherwise it is wasted.)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:16, Wed 06 Feb 2019.

I have houseguests for the next two weeks. I don't know how much it will affect my ability to post, but I thought I would give you all a heads up in case I'm around less than normal.

And I'm really tired tonight and need to get caught up on some sleep, so, unfortunately, I won't be posting anything else today.

Mispost
This message was last edited by the player at 23:12, Fri 08 Feb 2019.

Are the raiders not fighting back?

They are, just not very effectively; they failed to hit anyone last round. The list of opponents at the bottom of my last post shows who they are attacking.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 105):

Got it. Thanks!

In reply to Isolde Glibhammer (msg # 106):

Flanking = advantage is an optional rule? I was not aware

I checked and I'm ahead of Isolde in initiative. I'm mostly just testing what we can do gracefully in a pbp.

Flanking does not provide Advantage unless you use the Help action, though it does allow a Rogue to use his/her Sneak Attack ability.

Luckiest Kobold ever!

So, if I'm reading the intentions correctly of the last few posts, is N'Rell the only one who wants to take the time to interrogate the prisoner before going back out there? I don't want to hold up the whole group or disrupt the posting flow if I'm the only one who wants to question him. That being said, my character background comes from this Adventure Path and gives him very strong IC reasoning for wanting to find out if specific people are part of the attack. If noone else wants to take part in the questioning, DM, maybe we can have a short side-thread of the interrogation that can be posted and played out without disrupting the overall posting rate of the group's main thread? We can just explain it as taking place while everyone else is preparing to go back out into Greenest?

Bencor's background is also tied up in info gathering. I just figured it was a time issue that the party couldn't interrogate the prisoner while Rome burned.

That's my position. Clerics don't seem to get anything from a short rest, but if others need one, I could see the argument of taking a short rest while someone interrogates and the dragon looms.

It's pronounced nah-RELL for those trying to sound it out, btw.

I wasn't trying to be snide about the name. Sorry it seemed that way.

No worries. I didn't see it that way. I just know there's been times I've had trouble figuring out how a player intended their character's name to be pronounced based on the spelling alone. I just figured I would clarify is all.

Ooooooh yah... N'Rell is going to want to have a word with him later. ;-)

(*ﾟヮﾟ*)

Well, this will be interesting since Frulam is a female. On the bright side, N'Rell no longer thinks Bencor might have been in the cult... so, that's something at least.

Hoi boy... social skills. The only roll you have to justify with your own ability before you get success.

'Yes, Alice, if you want your barbarian Ragnar to jump across the chasm I'm gonna have to get you to longjump 10 meters.'
This message was last edited by the player at 13:21, Tue 19 Feb 2019.

I once ran a tabletop DnD game with my old group where we played ourselves transported into a DnD setting. INT, WIS, and CHA stats were voted by the group and the players had to actually perform demonstrations of STR, DEX, and CON to get their starting stats. That was a fun process. Haha

I've also played in a game like that, we voted for all stats, though. It was a fun experiment, but I wouldn't want to do something like that with a group that isn't close friends.

It was interesting to try to think about your own reactions and motives in a horror setting, though. Like would you really chop the head of your dead friend, so they don't turn into a zombie.



EDIT: I also don't have anything to add to the interrogation scene until the prisoner actually starts to talk.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:34, Tue 19 Feb 2019.

Absolutely. We took it all in stride when someone was voted by group consensus to have a lower INT than someone else.



Depending on how the prisoner reacts next, N'Rell may step in with a line of questioning of his own with a decidedly different tone.

My college-era gaming group had been gaming together for so long that the idea of playing ourselves in a setting seemed redundant. We all knew each other's preferred character archetypes, even though those archetypes were pretty nuanced. Like, I couldn't tell you what those archetypes were, but we could also have conversations like this:

Player A describes character.
Player B: "So, you're trying to play Player C, huh? Do you see the ways in which you've already failed?"
Player C: "Hey! I don't always play that guy!"
Everyone else: "Uh-huh."
DM: "So long as you guys don't get into a turf war once you realize how your political agendas are going to butt heads, I don't care."

I like Kathra's backstory. What has been revealed of it.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 124):

Thanks! The concept is almost entirely based on a very memorable moment that I had at a party a few years ago. I was in Atlanta, visiting some friends, and a completely different friend just happened to be having a housewarming party that weekend. I was talking to this lovely couple that had just moved from the Back Side of Nowhere, Alabama into The Big City. This was the first week they'd ever been in A City(tm), and this was their very first Cityfolk Party. I made some passing comment, and the young lady's eyes bugged out.

"Did you just make a Terry Pratchett reference?" she asked. "You've read Terry Pratchett?"

I told her that I was about to make her night, and got the attention of the entire party. When everybody shut up and was listening to me, I asked for a show of hands of people who'd read Pratchett, and the entire party raised their hands. Man, I cannot even describe how happy she was. She'd spent her entire life up until that moment feeling like an outsider, reading books nobody else had even heard of. She spent the rest of the night running around talking to EVERYONE about those books, catching up on like 15 years of conversations she wished she could have.

Her boyfriend was amazed, he kept talking about how shy she usually was. She had a thick rural accent, but had taught herself accent-free Japanese entirely from watching anime.

Anyway, all the backstory I started with is viewable in my Character Description, and it's all based on that one meeting at that party.

I'm from a rural part of New Zealand. I know a few women that have lived a similar life with the small details changed.

In my tabletop game, we've had some success with stating our intent and that we don't have the energy to RP it. It's a bit tricky, though, since you want to RP the conversation to stay in the story. Hard to juggle precisely. I like how the FATE system tries to mirror the conflict resolution systems for combat, social conflict, etc.

Edit: Isolde, I'm speaking like I know which dwarf clan you're from, but I don't actually know OOC if your clan name would mean anything to any of us. Would we?
This message was last edited by the player at 07:46, Fri 22 Feb 2019.

In reply to Kathra Silvernode (msg # 128):

Glibhammer is a high-ranking clan very close to the throne of the Mithril Hall. Some of the Glibhammers are in the line of succession.

Not sure what circle to go for 2nd level guys.

I was fond of Circle of the Land, forest, but I'm not sure this is gonna be a game where we short rest that often.

Circle of the Shepard would be my second pick but summons mean more dice rolls..

Circle of the Moon is so strong but our frontline might already be okay if Hassan dips into martial.

Circle of Dreams treads on Kathra's toes for healing, and doesn't really suit Bencor's personality.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 130):

Healing isn't my schtick, it's just one of my duties. I'm happy to share that load.

I'm Forge Domain, which seems pretty popular anyway -- every dnd game I've been in on rpol has had one. Don't worry about stepping on my toes. Play a character you want to play.

I’m going to rely on short rests to be effective, so we’ll have to make opportunities for that.

In reply to Isolde Glibhammer (msg # 132):

I don't think we need to take one yet, but I already suggested we take a short rest while the captive was interrogated

It depends if the DM has some house rule but by raw I don't think nat 20's have any special privilege in skill checks.


RE: Circle. If Isolde, one half of our Isolde/Inanah slaughter chimera, is gonna need short rests then I'll go Land druid... if Hassan still wants to multi into a front liner.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:41, Sat 23 Feb 2019.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 134):

Man, it's like this is a completely different game than what I'm used to. I'll wait until I have a ruling from the DM then.

The line of reasoning was something like:

In combat an ungainly commoner might toss a slingstone directly into a dragon's eye and it really hurts

but...

no matter how lucky a dumb, savage warrior is he's not going to spontaneously produce a written forgery good enough to fool the viscount's seneschal.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:46, Sat 23 Feb 2019.

When level 3 comes I'm planning taking Scout rogue from XGtE. That and all rogue abilities really don't rely on rests at all, I don't think I have anything that requires short or long rest.

I will however get expertise on Nature and Survival, in addition of four other skill like rogue normally would.

I'm also in the opinion that you choose what you enjoy playing. Although I have no experience in if modules require certain skills/combos to be successful.

You all have been talkative!

I was gone all day yesterday and didn't have the opportunity to post. I'll get something up later today.

Edited my post to include an answer to Bencorr's Insight check.

Quick question before I post:

Did Escobert ignore Isolde’s questions, or was that an accidental omission? Isolde’s reaction with depend greatly on that. Thanks.

There were so many posts with so much going on that I just missed the questions.

As they walked Escobert would have told her that they are still assessing the situation as far as the numbers go, but that the keep is secure and that there is still a significant portion of the population of Greenest unaccounted for.

Thanks

Hey everyone. Just checking in briefly to say I may not have a chance to make a solid post tomorrow. Things should calm down here by Monday.

Sorry about the back to back posts, but it'll be at least 12 hours until I can post next, so I thought to bunch them up. If someone wants to interrupt her, go ahead and I'll edit my post.

Time to see what I've missed... post coming this evening.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:08, Tue 26 Feb 2019.

As if you thought you could gloss over that little revelation with half a post. Tsk.

Better explanation for you?

Heavy. I asked for that, I guess. Will post when I get home from work.

Can I get an official marching order from you? So far it looks like we have:

1. Inanah
2. Isolde
3. ?
4. ?
5. ?
6. Hasan

That leaves Bencor, Kathra, and N'Rell for positions 3, 4, and 5.

Happy to pick up 3.

I was near the back. If 6 is already taken, I'll take 5.

Puts me in position 4, it looks like.

I get the feeling Isolde has found herself in the company of people she did not expect to when she woke up today? Haha

Well, yes, but a Shield-Maiden of the Mithral Hall doesn't normally roam the Realms seeking adventure without a good reason. Or even with a good reason. This should be interesting.

How close do you want to let them get before you spring the attack?

I was thinking 30 feet, so most should be able to reach them and make an attack in one turn.

Unless anyone else has other thoughts.

In reply to Inanah Nightbreeze (msg # 156):

OOC, that's good by me. IC, you're the one calling the ambush, no time to debate. Kathra wouldn't care what choice you made, so long as you made a reasonable one, which this counts as.

I've got plenty of range to work with. It's up to you.

30' is fine. 25' is better, but if we go at 30', I'll just head as far as I can and ready an attack. Better for Isolde to be the target than anyone else, I suppose.

You won't hear argument from me on that. ;-)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:29, Sun 03 Mar 2019.

Inanah, you're leading the ambush, so it's your call. Go ahead and post IC to begin the attack when you're ready, indicating how close you're going to let them get.

Sorry for the delay. Was a busy, busy day.

You will get a surprise round against the raiders. Please roll initiative and post your actions for the first round.

And Sneak Attack doesn't necessarily apply, as you don't have Advantage, Inanah. If you hold your attack until Hasan or Isolde engages your target in close combat, it would apply, though.

I'll edit my post

Was Inanah hiding? That would give her advantage.

Yeah, I guess so.

I kind of just assumed all of were hidden, but if we were not then by all mean subtract the sneak from it.

I added initiative to my post. It sucked btw, so I'm not holding anyone to the plan. Maybe all others got trigger happy and Inanah was the only one that waited. ;-)

DM, could you verify my Spell DC? Seems a bit odd to me that my melee attack is +5 but my spell DC is only 12.

I think it should be 8+ proficiency modifier + your wisdom modifier.
Melee attack is proficiency modifier + strength (or dex for some weapons)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:59, Tue 05 Mar 2019.

In reply to Inanah Nightbreeze (msg # 169):

Thanks for confirming. The base 8 seems odd to me. The formula you quoted, which is the one I saw & am using, boils down to start at 10+relevant stat. It's still weird to me that my cleric at 1st level is a better fighter than spellcaster.

That is just the save though, your ranged spell attack would still be proficiency + wisdom.

I think it's meant that the save spells are easier to resist than the targeted attack spells (because they often do AoE damage, or are otherwise game changing). Or that is how I see it anyway. When you start from the base of 8, even at lvl 20 you can only get to spell DC 19, with +6 proficiency and +5 (assumed 20 in your spell casting stat).

My wizard in my roll20 campaign only has 12 spell DC.... 15 intelligence blows.

In reply to Kathra Silvernode (msg # 170):

Just keep in mind that in many cases your target's modifier on its saving throw will be low, while the modified to the AC will be higher, so your chances of success aren't necessarily lower with a spell vs. save than a weapon vs. AC.

In reply to Isolde Glibhammer (msg # 173):

Good point. I haven't really looked at saving throw modifiers at all yet.

So, the question for this combat really boils down to: ranged spell attack with Dex save vs my DC 12, or melee attack with my +5 to hit? Given that we waited until they were 25ft away, I went with melee. If I recall correctly, on the way in we tended to have 2 ranged (Inanah and N'Rell), and everybody else was doing melee, yes?

So a garden-variety kobold will fail a DC12 DEX save 9 times out of 20, and you'll hit the same kobold in melee 14 times out of 20.

Save your DEX save spells for heavily-armored clumsy opponents.

Were their attacks enough to take out the last 2 enemies or do I need to act, too?

I got a private line about how much damage I took. A lot of us have "HP #/#" in our bio lines. DM, do you want us to keep our current health secret?

Kathra, you don't have to keep your health secret.

N'Rell, I don't know, as I haven't resolved the round's actions yet.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 178):

Unless the kobold has extra levels, it's dead on the first attack. 17 pts of damage after that which probably hit.

I'm aware of that.

N'Rell and Kathra, if you don't want to act this round, please post that, so I know how to proceed.

Sorry DM, that was meant to be aimed at N'Rell, not you. I just clicked "Reply" on the last message.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:17, Sun 10 Mar 2019.

Didn't intend to not act. I was just asking because I knew I wasn't going to be able to post for a while and didn't want to hold things up.

Wow, we posted essentially the same thing at essentially the same time, Inanah! I'm glad to see we're on the same page.

Great minds think alike and all that. :-)


Question to all: I'm OOCly a bit fuzzy on what we are supposed to accomplish in the town. Create a safe way for the citizens to escape to the tunnel? Kill all the enemies (probably impossible)? Escort the citizens to the tunnel?

I don't think we're supposed to try to kill all the enemies; I doubt six of us could do that anyway, as you said. Escobert told us right before he left to make sure the tunnel is clear so they can work on getting villagers inside. If we can rescue some villagers ourselves, I'm sure that would be looked upon favorably, though. But if we need to get Isolde and Kathra back to rest, at least we know the tunnel is clear.

I've still got 5HP of goodberry healing if needed.

I don't believe that we were given a specific task other than a general request to help other townsfolk get into the keep safely.

So we clear a path to the bolthole and then start ferreting out hidden pockets of hiding villagers?

Looks like our scout has got her work cut out for her.

This is my understanding. Killing isn't even on the task list, just something we'll need to do to get the project done.

So much slaughter. so few XPs.

This is why I prefer milestone xp. It's more about the journey and less about the bodies left behind along the way... then again, I still leave my fair share of bodies, too.

On the road, so no dialogue in my post. Everyone ok with spending an hour cleaning up white the injured trying a short rest? If not, we can use the healing magic. Id just rather save it.

Is there a reason you're going to try to rest outside of the keep rather than taking the short walk back inside?

N'rell, I don't think hiding the bodies is a good idea. Considering how narrow it was. Either we take them all the way to the basement or hide them in bushes like Inanah was planning.

As for the short rest, Inanah can come and unlock the doors for those needing the rest

No reason, except perhaps an overestimation of how much time it was going to take the others to move the bodies. Moving inside makes sense to me.

I forgot about the width when I made that post. I've since edited it.

I think we should move the bodies to the bushes and then retreat back into the keep. We can let Escobert know that the path is clear and then take a short rest inside the keep.

I guess I significantly misunderstood how long the tunnel was. I thought it was more than an hour's walk back.

No, it's more like a minute or two's walk back.

So do you want to take the short rest inside the keep then (after moving the bodies)?

And N'Rell, there is nothing on the raiders' clothing that indicates group membership, but you could still take a cloak from one of the humans; it will fit you.

Is there any similarity indicating any sort of makeshift "uniform" as in all of them having an article in common of the same noticable color?

Since nearly all of us are new to the city, I vote we camp at the tunnel entrance and plan our next moves from what we can see and surmise. Can you please give us a view point in the IC thread? Also, do we need to roll to form a plan of attack or guess where people might be hiding out?

I'm guessing we won't see much other than the stream from the tunnel entrance. Safer to retreat to the keep and make a foray in an hour to scout out the lay of the land. But I'm wiling to wait to hear from the DM what it is we can see from the tunnel entrance.

The tunnel entrance is next to the stream and facing away from the keep and most of the town, so you can't really see much from there. And your chances of getting an uninterrupted hour of rest there are pretty slim.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 204):

Rest in the keep, then?

Yes, we’re resting in the keep.

Sorry for the slow response. I was really tired after work yesterday. I don't know if I will have time to post today but I will try.

While waiting for the DM, do we want to come up with a plan of attack? Where should we look for survivors? Temples? Manor houses?

Looking for temples seems like a good idea. Or any solid, non-burning building.

Maybe ask Nighthill 9r Escobar where people would seek shelter if there was an emergency and they couldn't get to the keep?

Kathra, as I read it we are stealthing out the tunnel to circle around to the western wall to seal the sally port from the outside. Or am I wrong? I could be wrong.

I hadn't intended you to do that. You are already inside the keep, so it would be much faster and safer to go directly to the sally port from there, rather than taking the tunnel outside the keep and then sneaking back to the keep from the outside.

I assumed we were going through the interior to push the enemies back and out.

Okay, that makes sense. Let's do it, in whatever marching order is needed. I suppose if we're not moving through the tunnel, our single file arrangment doesn't make sense.

I really didn't mean for anyone to analyze that. I was just trying to describe her unfamiliarity with unit tactics.

DM, would you be able to give us a little better picture of the situation? For instance: Are the enemies aware of us? How far away are we?  What are they doing? Are there other defenders in the area? Should we assume a standard door into the ready room?  What’s the area outside that room look like?

Thanks

Got any sleep spells left nrell?

Sorry about that. I had to make posts in several games last night and this was the last one, so I got a little lazy. I have now updated my last post to include a little more detail.

Great, thanks!

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 217):

Bencor, remind me what we've seen you do so far in combat?

Melee attack or cast frostbite. My slots were used out of combat.

Alas, low level Sorcerers aren't great for multiple encounters. I have one lvl 1 spell slot left. If we can clear out the smaller threats, I may be able to subdue the more substantial enemies if we can isolate them.

GM, is the robed figure's head/face covered?

Unfortunately, N'rell, in 5e you can't seem to delay your turn or even change your order in the initiative. Best you can do is ready an action, but that won't change your init count.

Finding it real pesky in the other game I'm playing in.

Not even before combat actually starts? I know I can't change once things are underway, but I figured I would try and wait until after the melee characters have gone so as to not spoil the surprise.

You can Ready your attack/spell for when something specific occurs and then use your reaction to attack or cast your spell.

The raiders will spot you so you won't get a surprise round, so please post your initiative and your actions for the first round if you haven't already.

And anyone shooting through the barred window will have Disadvantage on the attack.

Edited the second roll to my post.

Edited my post.

Thanks!

We're still waiting on Isolde and N'Rell to post their actions.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 228):

Given low our initiatives and the layout, it feels like there's an above average chance of getting AoOs from enemies running past Isolde and I to get to the rest of the party, or creating a choke point at the door. Do I have a correct understanding of the layout, and if so, do you want us to roll for AoOs?

As much as I like everyone having a chance to play their character, it's been several days since N'rell has logged in.

DM, could you perhaps make his roll or decide if he is just standing there without doing anything? Or at least express your usual method of dealing with a situation like this so we know after this.

I am not able to post much (other than this brief message) right now but I will move us along tonight whether or not N'Rell posts.

Had a wisdom tooth taken out. Bit of a meh post today, sorry folks.

DM, did I take another hit this combat, or does my character sheet's HP still reflect my totals from before our short rest?

You were not hit this combat, Kathra. I did not update your hit point total after the short rest.

Hodor!

How far away are the current batch of bad guys?

They are about 50 feet away from the sally port.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 237):

How wide is the sally port? How many Hand2Hand'ers do we have? Can we funnel them in so we have more h2h'ers at the front line, and still have our ranged characters contribute?

If you leave the ready room, you can fit three people across the sally port gate to block the raiders. The ranged fighters can stay behind them and still be able to attack. Otherwise, only one person can stand at the door of the ready room.

Real sorry guys. Wisdom tooth complications over the weekend. Feeling sorry for myself and not creative, or in a mind to post.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 240):

My sympathies. That sounds miserable. Take your time.

I also forgot to ask the obvious question: How much help would the Mending cantrip be?

I suppose it's in character for a Lvl-1 Cleric to forget what cantrips she has that might aid combat situations.



Presumably the damage is greater than 1 cubic foot of volume, and enemies are approaching faster than it takes to cast, anyway.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:20, Tue 02 Apr 2019.

It looks like we lost N'Rell.

It appears that we have lost him.

Mending could fix the door, but it will take 5 castings (for a total of 5 minutes) to do so.

If you haven't already posted your initiative and actions for the first round, please go ahead and do that. I just realized I hadn't asked for that yet.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 244):

Edited my previous post to include initiative, assuming I can cast a spell while they're still 50ft away -- I rolled 19 for initiative, so I'm guessing I can get to them before they move up, even if I don't get an entire round in before they make it to the door.

I figured, since Isolde's backstory seems to rest on needing to keep track of her kill count, and I've agreed to help her keep track of Moradin Approved Kills, I might as well actually count them out. So, up to Greenest msg #291, this is entirely based on finishing blow, not number of successful attacks, and does NOT include the 3 kobolds Kathra murdered in their sleep.


Bencor's made a point of not participating in a few fights, saving lives rather than taking them, so despite my urge to mock Isolde's combat roles, we're all actually on par with each other.

Inanah doesn't have a grudge against humans's, I swear. :-)

So much dwarvern and elven being spoken guys. I've missed out on more than 50% of the spoken text in the game last several weeks. Nrell was also human and left out of the mix. Just saying.

RE: Kill count tally. I'll try and lift my game XD
This message was last edited by the player at 23:12, Fri 05 Apr 2019.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 248):

I try to provide enough context clues that other people can figure out what I'm saying in Foreign.

It's an interesting impact on the game, and certainly accurately models the frustration of living in multilingual cultures. I can see why it could be frustrating. If you'd like, I can promise to start including translations in spoiler tags.

Kathra, you should get an additional 1d8 of damage for that last attack, since it's a critical hit with a natural 20.

In reply to Isolde Glibhammer (msg # 250):

Thanks, after screwing up the rules on Aiding and Flanking that I thought still worked from 3.5, I'm hesitant to make any assumptions.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:43, Sun 07 Apr 2019.

https://media.wizards.com/2018..._BasicRules_2018.pdf

Chapter 9 is a good, easy-to-digest 10 pages of 5e combat rules.

In reply to Isolde Glibhammer (msg # 252):

Yeah, the problem is that I've played every version of D&D ever produced, over the last 35 years, and trying to remember which rules go with which game is getting a bit weird, especially as I'm in several rpol games using different editions.

Still, thanks for the link. I'll use it to verify the rules before posting from my computer.

Sorry DM. I've been generous with my PC's willingness to chase the storyline but Bencor has a rough IC inkling that he's a lvl 1 nobody who's got no spell slots left. Its too much of an ask to go up there on the battlements.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 254):

Tenuously connected groups shattering in the face of a dragon attack? Seems pretty realistic RP to me, anyway.

No need to apologize. Don't feel obligated to take on an adult dragon at 1st level. :)

Yeah Ben will roll with Hasan.

I'm waiting on little more description of the surroundings, since if Inanah can't find another place for shooting, she might well also join the guys that don't go on the walls.

Sorry, but I've been sick for the past two days. I'll post something tomorrow.

Take your time. We've decided to split and double your workload.

I'm at a convention starting tomorrow. My responses will be slow and probably less speaking, whether in common or other.

Sorry for being a baddie, I will post today.

Before this kicks off Hasan can heal up to 5 HP.

Thanks! That will almost heal me completely.

I'll say you get within 80 feet of the mill/raiders before Isolde begins her charge. You'll have a surprise round. Go ahead and post your actions for that round if you haven't already.

I have been unable to check RPOL from last night until just now; I kept getting a 404 not found error. Of course, now that I can get on, I don't have time to post. I'll get something up later tonight, barring any further technical difficulties.

Me too. Rpol's problem, not yours.

Isolde, how did you get a 13 for damage? I'm not seeing how you get +5 to your damage rolls. Perhaps I'm missing something...

Bencor, how many hit points do you currently have? Are you at full hit points (10) right now? Your sheet says 1/10. Also, I'm not sure how you are adding +4 to your damage rolls, too.

+3 damage from strength, +2 damage from the dueling fighting style.

Got it. I missed where it said Dueling Fighting Style on your sheet (I see it now!). Thanks!

The bio lines should be accurate, I might not be changed the sheet since kathra healed me up way back when. +4 is from dex + proficiency.

On phone. Will post tonight.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 271):

Proficiency bonus  doesn’t generally apply to damage rolls.

Isn't dmg doubled in a crit in 5e?

Roll double dice, but crits don’t double any static modifiers.

Thanks!

DM, ya reckon we could pace the game to take a long rest sometime? That, or a level up, or both. I've played Bencor for 4 months and cast two non-cantrip spells. I feel like its time to evolve. *flex*

Edit: I do have to ask, are you sure you're calculating XP correctly?
This message was last edited by the player at 10:41, Tue 30 Apr 2019.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 277):

I'd expect us to level up within the next two encounters.

Don't expect a long rest anytime soon, but Kathra's estimation about leveling up is accurate.

I don't suppose that gaining a level has any long-rest-like effects on our spell slinging capacities? Because otherwise that's a pretty raw deal for us spell-using types, or at least, it would have been in 3.5.

If it's really going to be like a year IRL of gameplay before I get to recover my spell slots, then first off, that's going to suck for healing, and second, does not sound like a lot of fun.

Any windows or openings in the mill or only the one door?

Random question about the world setting:

How many priests of any particular religion are granted spellcasting ability? In other words, what percentage of those working for religion are Clerics? How high up the bureaucracy can you get without getting any class levels at all?

I'm also curious what the numbers are for the other players' past campaigns. I suspect that my old college crew's answers were very different than bog-standard.

I apologize for the delayed response. I had connectivity issues all weekend.

Thanks to Inanah's high Perception, the cultists will not get a surprise round.

DM, I would like an explicit answer to this question, please. If I have 0 spell slots left for casting, what's going to happen at the end of this combat when I level up? Will I have the full 3 1st level spell slots available again, or will I only have one 1st level slot (the additional slot gained by the level)? Or will I not even get that additional slot until I rest, which you've indicated will be a very long time from now?

---

Edit: Also, just to verify:

Clerics can prepare a number of possible spells to cast equal to Level + Relevant Ability, regardless of spell level, and that's total number of spells, not (Lvl+RA) per each casting level. They can cast a number of spells based on the advancement chart with no additional modifiers. Additionally, they get a number of cantrips which can be cast ad nauseum, also based on the advancement chart with no additional modifiers.

Is that correct?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:23, Tue 07 May 2019.

You'll need a long rest before you are fully leveled-up. However, with a short rest, which you should be able to get after this fight, assuming you survive, I will let you all increase your hit points and gain that additional spell slot (and other new 2nd-level abilities).

Not to give a spoiler, but after this fight, you will only need to cast spells again in one more encounter before you get a long rest. You just need to help the town make it through the night. It's supposed to be a long, grueling night for you.

I had to read what you wrote below several times, but it seems your understanding is correct (though I don't have my books with me to verify for sure). Don't forget that you always have your Domain spells prepared and they don't count against your total. Did you have a specific question about something relating to preparing spells?

And regarding your comment/question about N'Rell: We'll assume that he stayed at the keep to help with defenses there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:11, Tue 07 May 2019.

Good to know! From the way it was discussed before, I was worried we would be at 5th level or something before getting a long rest -- which would be neat in concept, but painful for us spell slingers.



Thanks. I made a typo on my character sheet where I confused number of prepared spells with spell slots, and given the number of mistakes I've made already converting to 5th Edition, I wanted to make sure I was correcting it, you know, correctly.

I'm glad that helped, Kathra. Just get through this fight and you'll have a level up and a short rest coming your way!

Good questions, Isolde:

You could get up the stairs and to the attackers in the loft in two rounds.

The loft goes all the way around the room, and there are attackers stationed on the loft on both sides of the door, so you won't be able to get to cover very easily, unless you retreat out of the mill completely, which is possible.

Only five of the cultists (those in metal armor) have spears; the others just have scimitars.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 287):

Kathra and Isolde were standing together when Inanah stepped into the mill. Are the stairs wide enough for two dwarves to stand next to each other? Or are we standing in a line? Either way works for me, and I'm happy to let initiative order determine whose in front.

You'll have to stand in a line on the stairs as they are not wide enough for two people to stand side-by-side.

Each of the five cultists with a spear only appears to have one spear, but they might have more on the floor next to them; you can't see from down below.

How high up is that upper level?

Just to double check my assumptions since I'm still untangling my 3.5e vs 5e knowledge -- if I cast Cure Wounds on myself this round, does that provoke an attack of opportunity? The rulebook that Isolde linked me to seems to suggest casting does not provoke an AoO in 5e.

Correct. There is only a certain kind of spell that is penalized for casting in melee, and that's a ranged attack spell like a Firebolt that targets AC, but not ones that target saves like my Frostbite. Ranged spells that target AC get disadvantage to hit while in melee.. just like firing a bow.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:00, Fri 17 May 2019.

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 292):

Man, I phrased my question poorly. Correct, it DOES or DOES NOT provoke an reaction-attack?

Only moving out of someone's attack range does that.

Casting does not provoke.

Kathra, are you trying to cast Shield of Faith, or was that just a coincidence in word choice? I'm assuming the latter because you don't have Shield of Faith prepared and don't have any 1st-level slots left, but I thought I would check anyway.

Pure coincidence. I was casting Cure Wounds on myself.

Good to check though.

Congratulations! You have all earned enough experience to level up. You'll need to rest in order to receive the benefits, though.

Reinforcements from the keep will arrive in about five minutes. Then you can return to the keep to rest. Let me know if there is anything you want to do at the mill before then. Otherwise, we can move things along and get you to your short rest. You've earned it. :)

Hey Kathra what cantrips did you take? I have to pick another one for joining a circle. I was thinking of mending but I don't want to take it if you've already got it.

You can take a short rest now and level up. Send me a message to let me know when you've leveled up so I can look at your sheet. Once I've heard from everyone, we'll move on.

So they were not anything to find on the corpses of the raiders in the mill?

Edit: Do we get to choose if we take average HP or do all have to roll?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:38, Sat 25 May 2019.

No, other than their weapons and armor.

I'd prefer if everyone takes the average HP.

Inanah, Isolde, and Hasan are leveled up; we're waiting on Bencor and Kathra.

Happy Memorial Day tomorrow my American friends.


  - Your D&D pal who lives in a land without Freedom.

I've got Mending, Sacred Flame, and Spare the Dying.

As first level characters though, aren't those weapons and armor pretty valuable? Especially with Blessing of the Forge to turn them into other non-magical items?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Tue 28 May 2019.

Let me know what you wanted to loot from them. The "armored cultists" each had a chain shirt, shield, spear, and shortsword. The others each had leather armor and a scimitar.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 307):

Sorry, I meant Artisan's Blessing. Definitely want all the metal goods from the mill that were on our toes. If we can get the stuff off the enemies at the gate and the secret tunnel entrance, that would be lovely. I'm happy to start worrying about encumbrance issues and whatnot.

I'm a pious, generous yet penniless dwarf whose just been literally blessed with the ability to convert the spoils of war into usable material. There's lots of juicy RP there for us to indulge in! Especially with the ravages of the dragon attack.

Isolde's not interested in loot at this point, but she's willing to assist Kathra in hauling gear back to the keep.

OOC: How far to the temple?

The temple is just over 300 feet from the keep, as the crow flies. Taking the tunnel to the stream will be slightly longer but would allow you to approach the temple from the rear.

Remember that we levelled up so we have another hit die to heal with during that short rest.

These are the bodies that we either previously mentioned cleaning up, or could reasonably have cleaned up during downtime that wasn't explicitly described.

Secret Tunnel:

• two humans and six kobolds  - 2 scimitars?
• Plenty of time to loot

Gate:

• four kobolds, one human in long robes, and a wingless drake - 1 scimitar?
• four kobolds, three humans in cult robes, and a human who appears to be a mercenary wearing a chain shirt and carrying a shield and spear. - 3 scimitars?
• Possibly looted the bodies after we got back from the mill, if undressing corpses is Short Rest Activity

Mill:

• five raiders, four in cloaks and one in chain armor - 4 scimitars, a chain shirt, a shield, spear.
• five cultists, five mercenaries - 5x (chain shirt, shield, spear, and shortsword, scimitar)
• Ten minutes to recover from battle and loot before help arrived, and this is the point at which Kathra would definitely want to start collecting

Total

• 15 scimitars - 375gp
• + 6x chain shirt, shield, spear - 360gp
• + 5x shortsword - 50gp
  ------
  785gp

I run into a few questions here:
1) At what point would Kathra know that she's capable of performing Artisan's Blessing?
Given her history and self-confidence issues, I think it's reasonable to say that she wouldn't have believed that she would ever achieve 2nd level until it actually happened, but there's still the question about the setting: how well understood is the power advancement schemes in this world? Would a cleric of Moradin know that, if their god gifts them with the ability to cast Mending, they will probably someday know Artisan's Blessing?

If I recall correctly, the only person who was interested in looting in particular was N'Rell. So, we probably looted the bodies outside the secret tunnel while hiding them. N'Rell's player disappeared during the gate fighting, so I'm content to let the GM decide if he looted those bodies while we were Mending the door.
2) Perhaps he only had time to collect their weapons, though?

3) Do any of the other players actually care?
It seems like none of the PCs really care about the treasure and accounting aspect of the game now that N'Rell is gone. Personally, I-the-player was pretty stoked at the idea that I would be able to convert 4 scimitars into a gold bar worth 100gp two or 3 times a day, or whatever useful equipment we need, and thus sidestepping the usual haggling that comes with converting loot to cash. Plus, the campaign sounds like we're not going to have that kind of downtime as often as the "standard" 3.5e campaign that I'm used to. On the other hand, all I really get out of 2nd level as a cleric is Artisan's Blessing and 1 additional spell slot, so it's a bit of a bummer to not use it at all.

4) Do any of the PCs actually need/want equipment upgrades that fit under the 100gp limit of Artisan's Blessing?
5) Some people online suggest that you could use Artisan's Blessing to make pieces of equipment, for example I could make the greaves, helm, chestplate etc in separate sessions of Artisan's Blessing and over the course of 15 rituals to make plate mail. Others suggest this is twinky. Which way do we want to go? I am not invested in either answer, but like I said earlier, this is my 2nd level power and this is my 1st time playing 5e, so I want to use it the best way the game allows.

Note that even if players are happy with the studded leather (or whatever) that they've currently got, Kathra would still probably make them a snazzy 100gp-decorated version, and timidly offer it to them as a gift.

6) Could I just use Artisan's Blessing to turn a pile of bodies with their weapons & armor into a 100gp statue of Moradin? There are some other uses that I might try, though again, this all seems like it might be a bit moot, given the adventure.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:49, Thu 30 May 2019.

The kobolds each carry a dagger.

I don't recall you explicitly saying you wanted to loot until after the fight at the mill, so let's start there.

Kathra would know that other clerics of Moradin are often granted that ability. How confident she is that she would receive that blessing is up to you.

I'd prefer not to have Kathra make a suit of full plate piece by piece. Of course, this isn't too much different than her making a bunch of other valuable items and then selling them later to purchase a suit of plate armor, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

I'll let the other players chime in about their wants/needs related to equipment.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 314):

With 14 kobolds dead over this adventure so far, everybody could have snagged 2 or 3 daggers each, if we were scavenging hardcore. We don't seem to be doing that, though.
The daggers and spears, at 1-2gps per, feels like more accounting that I'm interested in doing at this point for Artisan's Blessing. If we ever get a bag of holding or anything, that might change.

I agree that, mechanically, there's no difference between crafting iplate and selling loot to buy it. On the other hand, there's a big difference in availability, not to mention the emotional weight of Kathra Of Clan Backwater Bumpkins presenting Isolde of Clan Glibhammer with a set of full plate armor forged by Moradin's grace from the blades of her fallen enemies.

This is all number-crunchy and munchkin'ing for the sake of future roleplay, not for the simple sake of kitting out in the best gear. I'm already going through everybody's descriptions and taking note of possible gifts for the other PCs. The question really is what kind of gifts she's capable of making, and again, I'm fine with either option, I just need a firm decision one way or the other and "I'd prefer not....but I guess it doesn't matter" feels like it's still open for discussion.

Ok, so Kathra never believed she was going to be so blessed by Moradin until her level-snap in the mill. After that, she asked the Governor for whatever gear came off the bodies at the Gate, suddenly realizing the value those weapons could have, and he said we'll deal with such stuff later. We did, as a group, hide the bodies by the secret tunnel, so those are presumably still stashed away. We'll see if Kathra ever manages to collect either of those stashes.

It's trivial to collect the weapons and shields from the mill and drag those back with her. Do you want to give her the chain shirts? We don't have a room or anything at this point, so they're basically getting thrown in a corner somewhere.

Unless Kathra can make Inanah's leather armor be studded leather or her shortbow be longbow, then right now Inanah doesn't care much. She would care if Kathra told that she can turn the looted gear directly into gold and planned sharing it with everyone. Otherwise she would consider the gear too heavy to carry.

Edit: I went and read the ability as I wasn't familiar with it before. So if I understand correctly, you have to use amount of material that is of the same value as the item that is to be produced. So to make a long bow, you'd need materials worth 50 GP etc. So it's a lot of daggers collected to make that 100 GP gold bar, considering dagger is valued at 2 GP in PHB, and that's the finished product price, not the material price. That said I do appreciate the possibilities of it, if we had the time to spend on it, I would definitely love to upgrade Inanah's stuff.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:06, Thu 30 May 2019.

There's a lot to respond to here. I'll do my best to cover all the questions.

First, I agree that Kathra should get to use her class ability. That's only right.

As a player, I don't care much about treasure. As a character, Isolde is above looting the dead for treasure, unless it's a very special enemy. She would definitely take stuff out of practicality -- to keep stuff out of the hands of enemies, or to supply arms and armor to the keep's defenders, for example. Isolde does want to acquire wealth. How she hopes to do that without looting bodies is an open question.

Neither I nor Isolde need any equipment upgrades in the 1-100 gp range (although that fancied up armor that Kathra mentioned sounds like fun). I'm torn about the piece-meal plate mail creation. On one hand, it's clearly circumventing the spirit of the limitation of the class ability. On the other, it's tough to justify that limit and to maintain verisimilitude. On the third hand, having a suit of plate would increase my AC by "only" 2. So ... I don't know.

Should I Goodberry with my regained slot to keep us topped off?

In reply to Bencor Dekarrac (msg # 318):

I'm down 1hp from max, but I can't see us using spells for anything right now when we can use them for healing.

Entangle might be of benefit here. Do you have that prepared?

In reply to Isolde Glibhammer (msg # 320):

Yup

Panther gives me a possibility at a multi attack, decent stealth but slightly poor hp (but at least it isn't my real HP)

Hey! I have another game that is just about ready to start and has one spot open: link to another game.

We currently have:

• Dwarf Fighter
• Halfling Rogue
• Human Wizard
• Human Rogue
• Half-Elf Sorcerer

Preference would be given to a female character, as there is currently only one female in the party of five.

If you are interested in the last spot, let me know ASAP.

Also, please note that the game is set in the World of Greyhawk, not the Forgotten Realms.

EDIT: Inanah has claimed the last spot!
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:29, Mon 03 June 2019.

Ha! I just signed up for a different Ghosts of Saltmarsh game. Have fun!

Hey, am I supposed to be getting a proficiency bonus to my initiative, or is there a typo on my character sheet?

No, you shouldn't be getting a proficiency bonus to initiative.

Sadly, we lost Bencor, so you'll have to get through this fight as a quartet.

Oh, and the kobolds and cultists are equipped like all of the previous kobolds and cultists you have fought; I forgot to include that in my last post.

DM, could you describe the back door and surroundings with more detail.

Is there a lock on the door? Are there windows that you can use to see inside?
Is there anything to hide in around the door?
And things like that.

DM - You said the challenge comes a short time after our return to the keep. Do we get a short rest, or is it too short a time for that?

I had intended to include the short rest in the post but I forgot. The post is updated to indicate that you can take a short rest.

Isolde was at 15/22 hit points. Prior to the short rest, she expends second wind for 4 points of healing, and during the short rest she uses her hit die to recover 6 more ... back to full health. And of course after the short rest she had access to second wind again.

20:28, Today: Isolde Glibhammer rolled 6 using 1d10+3.  spend hit die for healing.

20:27, Today: Isolde Glibhammer rolled 4 using 1d10+2.  second wind.

I already spent my 2nd hit die before the last fight, but I got hit again, so no value to me taking a short rest. Do we have any healing? Or am I the last healer still in play?

I can, however, use that hour to do an Artisan's Blessing. So Inanah, you're getting an ornate longbow.

Will post IC tomorrow. I celebrated my birthday a bit too hard to write well tonight.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:20, Thu 13 June 2019.

All I have is second wind. It refreshes on a short rest, but it doesn't help anyone but me.

I don't think anybody else in our party has healing, but maybe we could check with that priest we rescued from the temple.

80 yards is 240 feet, right? That's beyond the comfortable range of a long bow (150 ft) not to mention short bow (80 ft).

And sorry, no healing, the only spell I have is the high elf cantrip and I chose Message.

I'll get an IC post up tonight.

Yes, there are three feet in a yard.

There are 16 kobolds lined up behind the half-dragon.

You will be able to take a long rest before we move on to the next part of the story.

Also, we are about to a point where we could add one or two more characters to replace those we lost, so unless there are any objections from you all, I'll start recruiting later this weekend. Let me know your thoughts.

No objections from me! Quite the opposite.

Agreed. One or two more would be good.

Yes, let’s get some casters!

I agree.

Honestly, I'd be happy with letting new players pick whatever they want, so long as they have distinct personalities/back stories. Lopsided parties make for interesting RP, while a balanced party really only offers a wider range of tactics.

Okay. I'll bump the advert now.

Hello everyone, I'll be your spellslinger!

Hi! Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to the game.

Just a heads up, folks. RPOL doesn't seem to like telling me when there are updates to the game, so I might take longer to reply to stuff in character.

Nice to meet you, Saya.

Welcome to our new additions!

Saya's sheet is done and Talik said he'll get his done tonight, so we should be ready to get them into the story soon.

We can assume that Saya and Talik were present in Greenest during the attack and that they will be present later in the current day when Governor Nighthill meets with the others.

FYI, Inanah, it was dawn when the fight between Hasan and the half-dragon took place. It'll be afternoon by the time the party finishes a long rest.

Oops, should not make posts late at night. :-) I'll edit it to make more sense.

Talik got delayed last night with RL stuff. He should have his character finished soon, though.

I'll have Governor Nighthill address everyone tomorrow.

Thanks for your patience.

I guess that's when we new ones will be introduced, so I'll wait patiently.

I hope we haven't lost Kathra! If we don't hear from her by tomorrow, we'll keep moving. Thanks for your patience.

She said she wasn’t getting notifications. I’ll rMail her when I get a chance.

I received a message from Kathra, so I know we haven't lost her. She said she'd try to catch up soon.

The town will restock everyone's ammo (bolts and arrows), as well as provide rations and any other basic supplies you need, but not weapons and armor, though you can purchase those at normal prices if you want.

DM, is it possible to find enough cloaks or robes from the raiders to provide disguise to all of the party? If not, then at least for Inanah and Talik.

Yes. The cloaks aren't anything special, though; they don't have any special insignias or colors on them.