This is for your OOC discussion related to the patrol group. Before we start, can I get everyone's opinion on something? Would you prefer I roll randomly to see if you have any combat encounters, possibly getting none, or ensure you get into at least one fight, even though it might give the impression the area around town is more dangerous than it really should be?

At least one fight is great. We will learn more about our skills that way :)

Woot!

I'm down for the random and possible no encounter option... But I'm not against having a sure fight if the others want it. Looking at you Carmen.

I'd like at least one encounter please :)

By the way, if you want to be called something other than "Patrol Group 8" just let me know!

I think we should leave it mostly to chance but if we get to the last one and have gotten nothing till then we should automatically get that one. And I think we should perhaps come up with a group name if we intend to stick together.

Dread Locks 😄

Was that Dead Locks?

Speak for yourself. With 18ac I'm hoping to not get hit much!

Dread Locks works fine for me, we'll just stick Wendel in the back so he dies less often :P

I also like Helga's proposal of leaving it random but snagging one combat right at the end if we had a clean run of things before hand. Either way is fine.

How about a Wendel sandwich just in case anybody comes up from behind? Also then I can all you lot as partial or total cover :D

Dread Locks seems a bit out of the blue but I can deal with it. Also am I gonna have to just fireman carry Wendel out of danger??

Only when he goes down for the sixth time in the day :P

I like the Dread part given I'll be building Victor for frightened effects as a Conquest paladin.

If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them. Three Warriors and a Baby?

Maybe we could have the group name come up organically in rp as our characters get to know each other better?

Absolutely. Group 8 is good for now.

The Half Glass Crew. Since none of us have pure heritage?

But also I like the idea of an organic name coming about down the road

Edit: Wait I confused Carmen with someone else. Are you actually human? For some reason my mind was thinking half elf as well.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:16, Sun 24 Jan 2021.

I'm absolutely not a half-elf, unless you want me to be....

Ah perhaps a changeling then. I almost went that route myself. Dang there goes the Half Glass idea not that it held much water to begin with lol

I don't think you should change your character for something as minor as a group name.

I'm betting on this being what they were referencing.

... Ok who ever told you I was smart was lying. XD

Not having a database like knowledge of the mechanics of a game designed for pretending to be fantastical things in a fantastcal world does not make you not smart lol. It just means you've got more brain power for other, probably more significant/important things.

Switching lanes slightly here, what sort of builds are you lot rocking or intending to head towards?

I'm assuming Helga is swinging a big old greataxe, Carmen is perhaps a spear wielding hexblade and Wendel is a squishy pew pew warlock?

I intend to run Victor with a greatsword until level 7 or so before switching to polearms but I've got the glaive on standby for swinging from the midline if Carmen and Helga want to take up the front.

Squishy pew pew is right for now. Down the line I'll be a squishy pew pew with a lot of utility as well.

I'll probably keep my build simple. But there isn't much going on with barbarians, and that's fine by me. All I need is my greataxe.

That is part of the beauty of barbarians, straightforward and damned good at what they do.

I'm not really sure what I'll do. I thought this would be a nice idea but who knows.

Haven't ever played a character with a spear, thought this would be perfect. Always thought that spear users were underplayed compared to historical usage!

That has bugged me for 20 years! Such an underused weapon in games, especially D&D. But hey, at least they're monk weapons now!

I've got to get to bed soon, but I'll open the quest thread so you guys can roleplay a bit if you like.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:26, Sun 24 Jan 2021.

A note about time: In Smith's Gambit, its always assumed to be the time most convenient for the activities being undertaken. Thus, you can decide what time you want to begin your patrol. As mentioned before, there is extra pay for night patrols, which includes any patrols that start up to four hours before sunset, or at least four hours before sunrise (the patrols tend to take about 8 hours, plus any time spent on encounters.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:38, Sun 24 Jan 2021.

Looks like we've begun a night patrol.

How's everybody on Darkvision and torches and whatnot? I've Darkvision but no way to light anything up.

I've got darkvision as well.

I've got people with darkvision watching out for me....

I also have darkvision out to 60 feet but a light source will improve our range of visiblity, I have 10 torches available for anyone that has a hand free.

A torch is 20ft radius of bright light plus another 20ft of dim light which will be super useful.

Unforunately the greataxe is a two-handed weapon so I don't have a free hand.

Exactly my problem with either the greatsword or glaive, and I'm assuming Carmen holding a torch in her shield hand is a no go. Do you mind being our monster beacon light bearer Wendel?

I have hand axes I can use if all of us need both hands

I could hold a torch if necessary but I'm not sure how it would interact with the shield. Might get hot!

In terms of my spear, it's not a short spear, but it's about 8' long. Definitely something to be mindful of.

I would love to be the monster beacon light bearer!

I'll be back at the computer for an IC post in the next 6ish hours.

Good work putting passive perception 10 and 11 at the front guys :D

A torch requires a free hand. You can attack with it for 1 fire damage (when lit,) though, and I would be willing to treat is as a light weapon for the purposes of dual wielding.

Spears are versatile, they can be one-handed or two-handed.

BTW, a lantern could be hung from a belt, if anyone has one.

Assuming I can retcon my purchases at Schmit's then I'll pick up a hooded lantern (bright 30ft dim another 30ft) for that purpose, we'll still have Wendel hold a torch in his offhand as an extra light source methinks.



My 10 at the back balances things out ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:06, Mon 25 Jan 2021.

That's fine, go ahead and retcon in a lantern.

A good investment to be sure :)

I already had oil for RP on maintaining armour and weapons but now I can burn some for light and a little warmth.

Does my half orc have the most passive perception??

No, Wendel has a 14 but won't have much luck beyond the radius of our light sources. Darkvision is strong at night, who knew?

Wendel has darkvision, 60 feet (which is commonly the same distance monsters have.) Just remember, you don't need darkvision to see someone who is standing in light, even if you're in the dark.

Ah I must have misremembered, it was Carmen without darkvision rather than Wendel.

All good, since you have a lantern now did you still want me taking up a torch or shall we wait on that?

I mean I've got 10 of them burning a hole in my pocket (pun intended) so you may as well take one/some.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:42, Mon 25 Jan 2021.

Alrighty, keep in mind they only burn for an hour so by the end of an eight hour shift you'll be down to only two.

I don't mind at all, they're only a copper each and I'll be all about that hooded lantern life from now on :P

Righto! Well, shall we?

I love the "I have a bad feeling about this" trope Helga, so felt obliged to suggest we split up :D
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 04:56, Mon 25 Jan 2021.

Helga is very much moma bear. She'll sooner walk strait into deaths door than let someone else get hurt.

And then they were torn apart by a pack of wolves :P

Well shit.

Hey somebody's gotta say or think it, otherwise how is the GM supposed to know when to drop the hammer :D

I'm ready for my Thor flavored wreckening.

I'm assuming our lovely warlocks both have high charisma, Victor has a +5 for both Persuasion and Intimidation so tag me in if you need me for the Good Cop Bad Cop routine :P

Of course we do :)

Do you have deception also? I do.

I figured having Athletics would come in more useful and be a better fit for Victor given he already has Persuasion and Intimidation covered and probably won't need to be terribly deceptive. That being said he does have a +3 charisma and I intend to it up to +4 at level 4 with the Menacing feat.

Nice! You can definitely be bad cop then...

If all else fails we can always resort to Bad Cop, Bad Cop, Bad Cop, Axe Cop.

Helga might not have very good stats but she is a good person

Pretty sure we all have the same spread of stats, which is a great thing about 5e I love!

what do I roll for "fix wagon wheel"?

I have no idea

Probably strength or dexterity plus proficiency in any relevant tool would be my guess. We'll have to see.

Let me know if you need Help being strong and righting the cart when the wheel is back on.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:58, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

Horace can take care of the technical part. He needs somebody to hold things in place as he works, though. Though if somebody is proficient in carpenter's or tinker's tools, and has a set of them, they might do better than him.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:07, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

Victor or Carmen wanna hold the wheel on?

I'm assuming Victor held it, since he was volunteering to help. He's strong enough to hold it without need for a STR check.

Just remember to lift with your legs not your back.

*back snapping noises*

Just out of curiosity what was the dc on the cart lift?

Is there anything else we need to do at this cart before moving on with our patrol?

I was waiting on responses to Carmen's questions then was going to suggest we escort Horace back into Smith's Gambit before resuming our patrol.

15: Moderate difficulty according to the DMG.

In reply to Conspirator (msg # 77):

thx :)

Aaand Wendel is encumbered... Hold on a few minutes I'll make a post and give most of those torches back lol.

Edit: You know what, I think he'll try to grin and bare it after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:23, Thu 28 Jan 2021.

Switching over to present tense writing as it seems to be the go to. Sorry for any disruptions with my previous past tense style.

No worries. We don't have rule about tense, but we do appreciate attempts to keep consistent.

I'm alright with moving faster given that my character just suggested it lol.

So I don't think these are friendlies and that bundle might be someone they intend to drown. Victor would probably rush forward to engage at this point unless someone calls out a different strategy.

Also, do we want initiative at this point?

If you intend to make a move, yeah. As long you keep trying to communicate peacefully, initiative is unecessary.

Oh my god. I misread fishmen as fishermen in the original post.....

Wondered why they were so hostile.

I did exactly the same thing.

Wendel rolled 7 using 1d220+3 Initiative

So unlucky to roll so low when using a d220!

Haha I did a double take too. I'm guessing the post was done on mobile so he retyped the rolls rather than using copy pasta.

Was a phone post aye. Lol corrected now though.

Now I've seen a d100 and those things are scary enough I can only imagine a d220...
This message was last edited by the player at 23:39, Sat 06 Feb 2021.

Perhaps we need to give a Helga a *bump*.

I think that's the only party action we're waiting on right?

Looks like HElga was just talking and maybe didn't realise we were going all supernova :)

Possibly, I just figured life is busy and Helga just hadn't had the time to post just yet.

Guys I'm so sorry I've been very dnd'd out for a few days and idk why. I'm back now. so sorry for holding everything up
This message was last edited by the player at 01:13, Thu 11 Feb 2021.

S'all good :D Just glad you're back!

If you want to run forward Wendel won't mind just moving to get behind you again :D

Helga doesn't wanna lead him right into danger

In reply to Helga Arstophka (msg # 96):

Pfft he'll be fiiiiiine, I can do lay on hands like 5 times if it comes to it...

Yeah... about that...

New plan: don't get hit, or die trying.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 05:18, Thu 11 Feb 2021.

Nice one Carmen!

Yeah! Hope you guys don't get ripped though. I think I've done 18hp on enemy 2 now so I'm really hoping its dead.

I'm still happy with my first round action. Should I wait for the fishmen again or do ahead and post a round two action without knowing what they're doing for round two?

Nah, wait until GM resolves the actions then you can respond to what the fishymen do instead of having to retcon.

Yeah, it looks like the gym is doing what I would do. First round is tough because only a few might act before monsters, then after those go it’s literally just monsters then players.

Yep. We post up until the monsters actions, then let everyone who goes after but already posted change their posts, then rearrange the initiative list to put the monsters on the bottom. So everyone but Carmen puts their round 2 actions in after I post the round update.

It looks like we are good to go for round 2 to take place at least :)

I figured I'd give Helga a day to respond.

Ah of course. I see there was no attack from Helga so far.

And they're right in swinging range. Perfect for mama bear :D

Hope Helga is all good. They were consistent before the last week.

Me too. You guys mind if I wait another day for her response before going with her previously stated action?

It would be better to do so. I mean, she's right in the face of one of the enemies which may or may not go down to my hits and I think it would be more fitting that she gets to either kill it or do something other than glare menacingly.

Especially when its just done enough damage to her that would knock me on my arse!

I don't mind waiting. They may have just not realized the opportunity given to them. Sometimes reaching out individually with a summation of expectation helps too since things tend to get lost in all the many threads.

Waiting another day is fine with me as well. Hopefully it's just that the busyness of life got in the way.

I see one of you have reached out to Helga's player. If no one objects, I'll move on with the previously posted actions later tonight (or early tomorrow morning, depending on your timezone.)

By all means, let's keep moving forward and hope that she can join in on the next round.

Please do so. It looks like Helga has logged in yesterday and not reacted. On a personal level, I'd love to assume that she actually takes a shot at an enemy rather than sitting there pulling a mean and scary face...

So would I, but its probably better to assume that if she wanted to change her action, she might have said something by now.

Edit: Ouch! Lucky for that half-orc endurance!

Funny, I rolled the same damage twice in a row, even though the second spear attack on Helga was a crit!
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:22, Tue 16 Feb 2021.

I appreciate the use of toothy maw, nice one!

Thanks. Fight enough of these walking piranhas, though, and I'll eventually need to go to dentist school to avoid the descriptions getting stale!

Hoping Helga didn't get DnD burnout and decide to give things up here :(

Likewise. Come back to us Helgaaaaaa...

Four days since a new round was posted. We may need to skip Helga again :(

I agree, as much as I want to include Helga I also want to keep some forward momentum.

Okay, I'll be controlling Helga until your patrol ends or her player returns. I won't be making full posts for in combat, I'll list her actions in my combat post.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:31, Sat 20 Feb 2021.

Copy that. Thank you for helping things move forward. Hopefully they make it back from whatever is going on. Hope all is well.

You're welcome. I hope all is well, as well.

Do they seem to be slowed at all by carrying the bundle or does it seem to have no impact?

That's a nat 1 on the complication roll, ruh-roh...

Ah what's the worst that could happen?... Oh right we're not supposed to say that :P

Hey do either of y'all visibly carry a bow or crossbow or similar missile munition weapon? I've an idea for something but one such weapon is required.

Victor has a set of 5 javelins but no bolts/arrows/bullets.

Hmmm a javelin might work actually. I'll let you know after this round resolution.

Still no hide nor hair of our beloved Helga?

Last logged in on the 15th. You can check that out on "The Cast" section.

Now that the bundle is over one's shoulder, it doesn't seem to be slowing them down.

Problem with writing out my post before rolling that chase roll is... I have no idea what might happen now.

The chase complication applies to the next round. If I ask for a save in the orange text after describing your action, please include it in your next post. If not, I will roll it for you when I do the next round's post. (Carmen's good, but Victor was supposed to make a save.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:33, Wed 24 Feb 2021.

Oh no, Con Save, my worst nightmare...

I'll make an IC post hopefully before end of day. For now, Wendel barely survived the motion sickness...


Wendel rolled 11 using 1d20-2.  Con Save (fingers crossed).

 Sorry about that, can't believe I missed it!

13:06, Today: Victor Iusticia rolled 17 using 1d20+5.  Athletics check.

Currently on a quick lunch break, will get to the most recent post after I get home :)

Hopefully this round the fishman legs it or tries to get around Victor, I think he's out of spears to throw now.

If Victor is up next round and Helga is not threatened by melee attacks within 5ft (auto crit = 2 failed saves) I intend to use Lay On Hands. Thoughts?

Keeping Helga alive would be nice. It's what she'd do for us I think.

Nice throw by the way, Victor. Now to play it out. Hopefully I can make this work without dying myself.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:38, Thu 25 Feb 2021.

Don't worry too much about Helga. We don't let inactive characters die unless their players confirm they're leaving the game. Save Victor!

I'm assuming it's a left over bit of text from the previous round, but did fishman 2 throw a third readied spear and hit Helga with it?

Victor! Oh no...

And I teased you about being the squishy one :P

I'm so squishy dude. I'm scared. Wendel is terrified...

Bah, all level 1 characters are squishy enough to go down in two or more hits. If you keep your distance and keep landing Eldritch Blasts you'll be golden.

I'm actually quite tanky with AC 18 but you're right, one or two hits and I'll be down too!

As long as we don't All go down

Nah, you two have got this. Who knows, my next death save might be a nat 20.

I think we will find that. The lead fish an goes down this round, then the one between us the round after. Here’s hoping!

You assumed correctly. Can't believe that's the first time I've made that mistake.

Haha that 1 on the EB damage roll after we get called out for 1s and 9s...

Did you use your Hexblade's Curse on one of the other fishmen earlier? Nevermind, found the post :)
This message was last edited by the player at 08:05, Sat 27 Feb 2021.

Yeah I know. Was hoping for a 9!

An 11 misses anyway, so you should be glad you didn't waste a high roll!

Plus you gotta be 30ft for hexblade curse I believe anyway.

Was thinking about using my inspiration to reroll but here's hoping a 15 hits em so I can hold that for another clutch moment...

It's the mobile target that makes it hard to aim *nods sagely*

Aye that must be it. If he doesn't go down this time I get the pleasure of being the meat of a Fish-Wendel sandwich it looks like...

Carmen I know IC you are more concerned about helping Helga up but maybe remembering that Victor mentioned being able to heal with his hands at one point in our patrol could give you reason to help him up instead so he could better care for your friend?

Victor'll be fine, it's long odds that he would die before hitting the third success now.

Get in on some of that sweet fishmurder action while you can.

Uhm... Are we the good guys here? Or did we just see some dudes running and decide, yep, this calls for murder...

I'm pretty sure they drew first blood and I believe there was a notice on the board that fishmen were planning to sacrifice someone and summon a devil.

Might as well just call our group murder hobos and get it over with...

We started off trying to talk to the nice fishermen, then it all went night joggy and we retaliated in force.

Honestly, I know that’s the sensible and correct call. Carmen is a bounty hunter, she wouldn’t want the fish men to get away as her priority, followed by Helga being saved and then Victor. It’s nothing personal, just her own set of beliefs.

As a player, I’m wishing I had a healers kit right now.

Something we will all never forget to have on us ever again I imagine.

And, fair enough, to the rest of that.

You should absolutely have Carmen act on her priorities.

I don't think we're murderhobos just yet though, so far we've acted reasonably as people on patrol.

I think the GM can tell we were waiting for an update :)

Aye, I don't know how I keep waking up in the middle of the night at just the right time to get a post in but I'm happy it keeps happening.

Ahh! Victor whatever you do don't roll a nat one on the next roll!

Is it possible to donate one's inspiration to another player simply for wanting to keep them alive? I could play it as an extremely minor wish through my patron that could come with some potential drawbacks if need be.

I’m pretty sure you can donate inspiration

Well unless we get an official ruling from our GM saying otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd like to do that. Victor I'm inspired by your willingness to go down for the cause ;) Here you go. (Unless otherwise told, have my inspiration.)

How are we looking in terms of an update for our group? I noticed Conspirator has been absent for a day or two. Hope all is well ;)

I think somebody recommended that they take out locations as pinned notices and convert them to non-notice threads so they are busy updating that side of things.

Ah, fair point!

How are y'all fairing in the day to day?

Currently quite busy. Paid for some leads for my business and working on them. Wish I could implement the same systems they use to get me the leads as they are quite good leads so far!

Doing okay on my end, I'm looking forward to Friday as we have a long weekend :)

Eh! Long weekends are great :D

What sort of industry are you in, Carmen? I used to generate leads for solar energy companies the old fashioned door to door method. Pain in the rear that was.

Mortgage broking. The guy I used managed to get me 34 leads in 1 week. It's way more than I was used to. If I got that much in leads per week regularly I'd be doing amazing

That is a lot of possible mortgages!

Aye, that's amazing! Sounds busy like you said but a very good busy.

It is, but the rule of internet advertising seems to be 10-15% conversion so it will be interesting to see how it works out.

Looks like I earned my own Inspiration with my index post but thank you for the offer :-)

In reply to Victor Iusticia (msg # 179):

Aww alright well it's good that you are doing so well for the game then. Sorry we can't stack inspiration.

Hey, no worries, now we've both got inspiration :D

I guess I'm not inspirational enough for the team :(

Give it time ;)

In reply to Carmen Diaz (msg # 182):

You'll get there eventually. Victor and Wendel both got inspiration for doing something that helped the game as a whole, but this is not the only way we give out inspiration. Just keep playing your character to the best of your ability and you'll get one eventually.

Alas poor Victor, I knew him so well....

Dang... Wish you luck on the next one mate...

Well, he's either dead or alive the next round and nothing more I can do to influence that!

Aye this is true. You've done all you can.

Its not like I can even argue that inspiration for me is any better than a straight extra roll for Victor either :( +0 to my medicine check is just the same outcome, albeit we might know sooner if he would be safe :)

Ah good point. My reasoning was that Wendel still wouldn't have known until you cried out. Which happened after our turns but I could shift that. It would make sense since it is Carmen who' screaming out.

Edit: I think I'll stick with sending it Victor's way as I further process what's occured. I think it might be cheesing to hard to give it to Carmen AFTER she rolled already.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:57, Thu 04 Mar 2021.

I'm happy to let Victor's fate lie with his own dice roll luck :)

Aye. We'll leave his fate in his hands. And the whims of the dice roller of course.

If the worst case happens, we just sell their bodies to the local morgue for gold, sell their gear and set out on our first expedition with a new party and some brand new healing kits from the sale of funds.....right? :)

I mean, two warlocks went out on patrol with some heavy tanks and came back uninjured and slightly wealthier. No no no, nothing going on there now, is there???

Oh my goodness... We will look so suspect! Agreed.

Nothing going on here at all folks. Don't mind us lol

And I mean...it's not like Wendel has many HP or a high AC now, does he? >:)

Oh dang... Oh crap... Well good thing he left all his gear with his sister back in town, you won't be getting much off his person cause his best stuff just goes away when he dies :P

You got an inspiration, Carmen! Welcome to the club :D

All the better for my eldritch blasts vs you Wendel ;)

Oh no oh no oh no nononono. I'ma just keep running then... See ya

That nat 20 sure would have been handy on a death save haha, well I'm going to count not dying as a win :)

My goodness that was indeed a rollercoaster indeed.

Dang, Carmen.. He's still alive... What's the melee against unconscious rule? Auto crits right? :P

Glad to still have you with us mate!

Edit: I can grammar..
This message was last edited by the player at 05:13, Fri 05 Mar 2021.

Shhh, you never know what toxins have been poured into those stab wounds. We still have time for them to work their way into his system >:)

In case its not clear, yes Carmen, your roll is being applied to Helga. She is stable. If you take a short rest now, Hit Dice can be spent by Victor and Helga, so they can regain consciousness. Or the two of you who are up can try dragging three unconscious people back to town on your own :)

Were we closer to the guard tower we were headed to?

Yeah, you're about a 15 minute walk away, at a normal pace.

I'm setting up for a short rest so that we can get Helga and Victor up. I don't think either me or Wendel are the burly people carrying types!

Probably a good idea to get a fire going if you can, to warm up elf woman as well.

By all means rummage through Victor's pack he bought a couple of winter blankets before coming out on patrol.

Shush you unconscious person, lol

In reply to Carmen Diaz (msg # 208):

I mean "Zzzzzz..."

This corpse is talking, what do we do to make it shut up???

Pretty busy today. I may not be able to get a post up.

In reply to Wendel (msg # 211):

Fair enough, RL always comes first :)

Got one in. Carmen if you want to just progress us through a short rest I'm all for it. That way we don't keep Victor out of the loop for to long. Wendel has some thinking to do but putting everybody together and kinda close to the fire. Tent or not depends on how long we plan on being out here.

Since I forgot to mention it in the IC thread, the elven woman doesn't seem to get any warmer, nor does she wake up, even after being in the tent for an hour. She doesn't seem to get any worse, though. Helga does get up, though rather than exit her tent when she hears voices, she grabs her axe and waits by the flap, in case the party approaching is hostile.

Another weird day. Sorry folks. I'll get something up tomorrow.

I noticed it said we get long rest benefits. Did you mean short rest?

In reply to Wendel (msg # 215):

No worries bud.

I assumed a short rest given we spent an hour or so.

That's what I'll assume as well. Won't make much difference for Wendel except for time lost.

Just added the experience to my sheet and now I'm only 50 away from leveling up! How do y'all want to handle the spears and coins from earlier?

Carmen iirc is a spear user so should have first dibs on those if she wants multiples for throwing but if not then just split everything evenly.

1 spear each then coins as follows
C:3gp 20sp
H:2gp 29sp
V:3gp 19sp
W:3gp 20sp
This message was last edited by the player at 23:00, Mon 08 Mar 2021.

I’m only lookin*at using a single spear, so let’s split them evenly.

OOC: From my point of view, happy to get up and go back to the settlement now. Not sure if we can get a fast forward so we can meet up with Chelsea and get her adventures started? I'm hoping its straightward enough :)

Yes, short rest. We can fast-forward to get you back to town, if you'd all prefer. There aren't any more encounters planned for this job.

Sounds great. Looking forward to seeing if there is a reward for these fishmen and the safe)ish) return of the cold elf.

Sounds good to me as well, we can do some post adventure RP in the Dragon Den if people want.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:33, Wed 10 Mar 2021.

This is now the OOC thread for "Under the Moonless Sky." No rush to begin, the thread is waiting until everyone's ready.

Ooh boy y'all.. Anybody have a way of handling the need to cross freezing water? Wendel doesn't have any magical way of overcoming it. Maybe we could get a raft or small boat or something of the sort? As long as I could carry it, even temporarily, I could put it away in my ring until we get to where we'll need it. Destroy the ring and then spend an hour getting a new ring to still be ready after the fact. But that's time wasted if we've an easier route.

Carmen, Smith already paid for Nalnya's return. 25gp each.

Victor and Wendel, make sure you check the battle arena thread again for your xp, and remember, you got a long rest after the fight.

Thank you much. I didn't know experience came with it but I'm happy to have it! I believe Carmen's statement was from before returning to Smith's

D'oh!

I don't have anything to help with the freezing water, sorry. And magical solutions are probably out of my price range right now...

If we all chip in, we might be able to afford a ring of water walking which doesn't require attunement. When it comes to wading the freezing water we have someone with a good arm walk across and then throw it back for the next person to use and repeat until we all make it over. Just an idea, not a great one, but it's something.

Victor has some experience throwing weapons with rings on them

Yeah, me neither.

I can probably shrink myself down to halfling size and get carried across though :)

I'm under 20 gp after buying studded leather, so I can't quite cover my own share on the ring. However, prestidigitation can warm a few articles of clothing, maybe that can mitigate the effects of the water a bit?

I can also cast prestidigitation, so we could be providing warm boosts all teh way over :)

Also, I just OOC'd this in the town hall thread to avoid double posting here, but that was a silly place to put it, so here it is again: I have no need for the +1 crossbow bolts, as I'll be eldritch blasting (and I doubt I'm the only one). So whoever needs them to get past weapon resistance can split them, as far as I'm concerned.

If I get stuck in melee range, I'll switch to sacred flame I guess (no attack roll so no disadvantage); I'm still a level away from getting that pact weapon...

Only level 1, so no special frills yet as a Ranger. I can at least be the tracker and watch for hazards. As far as freezing water it will all depend on the layout of the area around it and how wide.

If anything, I can take the loaner crossbow and the bolts if no one else is going to split them since I have nothing magic to deal with damage reduction as well as being a longbow user.

@ Carmen the Prestidigitation would come in handy after we get out of the water to dry the clothes out and not worry about freezing afterwards.

I think Nutcracker taking the bolts might be a solid idea, Victor might need a few but if I remember correctly he had just picked up a few options to deal with the magic resistance.

As for potential magic item acquisition, I can scrounge up about 75gp which leaves us 75 shy of a single resist cold potion or 100 shy of a ring if water walking from the triton embassy right next door. I might try talking to them about a payment plan option or something of the sort if we can't make up the rest.

Is there anyone else who might have ideas about dealing with the water? I think prestidigitation is a good plan as well if it comes down to it.

I mean, depending on the terrain around the water...

• If one person can cross (or is good with a grappling hook), maybe we can set up a raised rope and try to climb across.
• Maybe we could fashion some kind of makeshift bridge (a log or two)? Felling trees might draw too much attention, though.
• Ride a mount? Not sure if there are any animals around here, but a furry animal might do better with the cold.

I'd favor the first one, or the second one if there are sturdy logs close by that don't require chopping. Otherwise, roughing it and warming up with prestidigitation seems best.

I really don't have any plans. I have 0 gold since I repaid as much of my loan as possible for the Dragon's Den. Unfortunately nobody is buying my stuff or gambling :(

In reply to Carmen Diaz (msg # 238):

Aww, sorry about that. I'm saving up for a home/shop to live and work in, hoping this job will get me just about there. I'm not sure how much Chelsie will want to gamble (she did gamble a bit by getting into a warlock's pact, so maybe...), but she'll surely offer to buy drinks at the Dragon's Den whenever she wants to ply someone for intel. ;)

I too shall use the Dragon's Den more frequently going forward. I didn't realize how much of an investment you put into it. Where did you get a loan by the by?

The head honcho. Hopefully it will be repaid quickly, but it cost me 175gp which I didn't have. I spent all our earnings minus 5gp for the healers kit repaying it :)

My thought was on option two being the best with option one being secondary. I at least have a handaxe for chopping and some rope from my starting pack, but no grapple or anything. Hemp rope is definitely too heavy to try to shoot across the way.

But, if someone can scrounge up to get the ring of water walking, they could take the rope across to secure and option one is the most viable. Just a matter of an Athletics check at that point, iirc.

You were all busy while I was at work :P


Nice, thank you. Should we also mark off a downtime unit?



I think that you are the best option for those +1 bolts. Victor has a +0 Dex so will probably be better off throwing cantrips like the others.



I don't think we have the needed funds and either way Hexia's is accessible only by portal that is open for 1 minute each day and I believe the Triton's have a 1 week turnaround on delivery after payment iirc. A good idea otherwise.



Handaxe to chop down trees seems our most likely option but I'm happy to buy a grappling hook if we think that is a better choice. Depending on how light our Kenku friend is and how wide the water, Victor might even be able to toss him Gimli style.

Fly~
74 lbs of kenku plus worn gear.

So, as far as the danger of the cold water is concerned, it would be a matter of making a CON save once a minute (with the first save at the end of the round in which you enter the water) until you dry off, or taking a level of exhaustion. If you wish, I can tell you the DC of the save before you decide whether or not to risk it. There is 100 feet of water to wade through, and it counts as rough terrain.

Oh thats easy enough...I think. 30' per round, 4 rounds of movement.
Although I don't fancy having 4 levels of exhaustion at the end!

Once a minute, so it's only the one save if you're quick enough.

Is that true about the turn around on triton purchases? If so, dang

Yeah, the Embassy orders the items from the court mage in Torrakum, which is about 7 hexes south of Smith's gambit, in the middle of the Triton Sea.

Alright then, mundane means it is. This will be interesting... How close to our end target is this wading hazard? Since we've a map and Smith's guidance on it

If anyone happens to have any crafting ability with wood, there is the possibility of making long poles and something to float on and push ourselves across.

Alternatively, there is side-tracking to find a shallower point to cross.

Doesn't look like we'll be finding another crossing point seeing as we are wading into a cave...

The water you have to cross is right outside the cave the ritual is to take place in. There is one alternative route, but it might be even more risky. A 20 minute hike (or a 30 second climb up a very steep ridge) will get you on top of the cave, and you can possibly climb a rope 100 feet straight down into the entrance. See, the cave is in the underside of a cliff that juts out into the the sea. The original group who told Smith about it found it by following stones than only some of them could see glowing in the dark. They don't glow in the sunlight though, and they never figured out why not all of them could see the glow.

Alternatively, a very athletic character could try climbing the cliff sideways into the cave!

So just to clarify, a 100ft descent from above the cave via rope would land us on dry ground, or does the water level cause the water to flow into that cave itself?

I'll get a post in tonight. If y'all don't mind, Wendel is probably gonna chill in his ring for this one...

Isn’t this how the lord of the rings started?

One ring found at the bottom of a river? ;)

Don't drop me please :D

Following that note, you've just given me a new ambition for Wendel. He's got to become the Lord of the Rings. I'm going to get every ring I can... Really bling him out... Wendel Lord of the Bling... No no I can't do that to Wendel

Chill is probably the wrong word...

Victor can hold your pocket dimension ring if you like.

@Conspirator, is there any mostly dry wood on the way or in the vicinity that Victor would be able to carry across? I'm figuring an oil accelerated fire might dry us off enough on the other side to avoid the cold Con Saves.

Whoohoo, first roll of the game that has real impact and it is a Nat 1!

All good. You've got plenty of kindling we can use to start a fire :)

Feathers should be fairly dry once we prestidigitate them, right? :)

Are you saying its time for some roast kenku? After the wing debacle, how could you :P



I'm thinking this for the ring Wendel wears. Maybe Reddish purple gem instead.

Edit: Oh, and Carmen, did your health go up with level up? Your bio still shows 10
This message was last edited by the player at 23:50, Tue 16 Mar 2021.

I'm still in negotiations on that one :)

Lets just say that I rolled 1d6 instead of a 1d8 and got a 6 (max).
Then I realised my mistake and rolled a 1d8 and got a 1.
I'm hoping I can take the average of a warlock level instead! Thats only 5, which is less than the first roll, but much better than a 1 or the average of the two dice combined.

Wow, I hadn't realized that ring ability existed, neat!

The genie patron for warlocks has some neat new features I've been messing around with. It doesn't have to be a ring, any genie vessel does it, but I like the ring as a vessel for this character.

The spot where you would land if you dropped from the top of the cliff, has ankle deep water, and there are puddles here and there inside the cave entrance.

Victor, there are rocks at the entrance to the cave, and some driftwood has washed up on top. One prestidigitation will dry it enough to light, but there will likely be smoke.

Carmen, go ahead and take the 5 this time. And stop picking on Nutcracker ;p

Yay, and sure :)

If I set myself on fire, will that end the Con saves? HP damage I can heal...

Yay, passed that check due to advantage. Didn't need an extra level of exhaustion. I was worried for a but until I double-checked and it is at exhaustion 3 that you suffer on attack rolls.

Might I suggest someone with lots of in-game creative skill craft/develop Inuit clothing? I know the AD&D Ranger's Handbook had a lot of different outdoors gear that could be loosely translated into 5e.

Also, if I need to make another CON save please let me know. I think I have the timing right on being by the fire right out of the water and then getting the drying after Victor.

Let me know if you think you need me!

Get your lazy ass out and soak up some damage :)

Well hopefully we can handle the two visible on the map without you and then you'll be able to have the element of surprise when things get hectic.

If you didn't know already, the minor illusion is supposed to create a barrier between me and the fishmen that I can see through but they can't, so I get full cover hopefully!

Minor illusion is great. I almost took the invocation that gives it to you at will. Went with more blasting power instead.

Edit: Also I've always wanted to sit through a fight in luxury. Its not laziness it's strategy :P
This message was last edited by the player at 11:52, Thu 18 Mar 2021.

I thought about the riskiness of the fire, but we were freezing and Victor set it up and asked, so I went with it. We could snuff it with prestidigitation, but we're already adding light so let's roll!

Golly, exhaustion is just a rough mechanic. Really drives home how difficult survival out here in the cold can be though.

Quick thinking on everybody's part so far. I like it. And everybody but Wendel gets to go before the fishfolk it looks like!

We can do this y'all :D

Of note: I do believe there is a radius of light coming from Victor and his lamp. 30' bright, 30' more of dim.

The longer this fight goes, the more I look forward to 25% xp instead of 20% :)

Lol, the longer this goes on? It's literally been the first six seconds. You're just jealous of my mini dimension :P

As much as you are of my gorgeous locks no doubt.

Aye, you've got me there. Wendel always fancied himself a good looking red head. He just lacked two things. Red hair and good looks

Given the number of paladins and warlocks we have, we must be the most charming group ever!

Depends on if any of you went with an Archfey patron...

Not I

I'm just meaning we will have high charisma :)

Hey, Chelsie's celestial patron probably gives her a subtle shimmer! ...

I rolled to see if Chelsie has even realized Wendel's not here (he went into the ring after Chelsie entered the water), and nope. With a higher roll, she would have asked where he was.

That's alright, depending on what he hears next he's probably coming out of the ring for round two to do some damage. It would have been sooner if my initiative was higher but I don't get to go til after the fish guys unfortunately.

I may actually have to be holding Victor's hand to get the most damage now that I think about it... I've got to be touching my ring for Genie's Wrath to come into play.

What's in the hand with my ring on it, Victor?
This message was last edited by the player at 14:58, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

Both hands would be supporting the weight of his greatsword.

Any chance he could let one be free for a moment?

Wielding a two handed weapon doesn't require two hands on at all times hopefully. If I could only slip the ring off once I come back that would be great.

Had to rework the post a little but there's your chance!

I could also do with having a higher Charisma for Mimicry. Nothing like fooling others into thinking there is a cougar or bear in the room with them. =D

Also someday, some day far away, I will start rolling better. ='D

Nice Victor! Way to make an opening :D

And that's alright Nutcracker, we all get our bad rolls now and then. It just means you're due for a good one soon.

19 damage to a single fishman at least, maybe 30 if Chelsie's beam hit. We got this folks! Just don't let them hit you. They don't play around...

Yeah, they bite...

There’s a reason I set up cover for myself :)

No magic until next level. Until I get anything of the sort I just resort to the shooty-shooty that is so far missy-missy.

Ah but your arrows clanging against cavern walls shall surely serve as a decent distraction ;)

I don't think it's mattered yet, but I just realized that disadvantage to ability checks also means -5 to passive perception, so I won't be noticing anything for sure!

Victor, I can throw a little healing your way next round if you take another hit. I'll try to conserve the healing for now since it may be vital later. I have a pool of 3d6 and cure wounds, but I might need one of my slots for expeditious retreat to keep up with everyone (15 ft. speed due to exhaustion).

24 damage on the remaining fish an already. Maybe I’m too quick to judge, but hopefully it’s dead before victor and nutjob get in on the act :)

In reply to Carmen Diaz (msg # 299):

Hope so! Taking care of one wave before the next one arrives is key; we'll struggle to pull this off if we get swarmed.

Well done y'all. If that is the end of this fight maybe we can figure out a way to help Chelsie move quicker without expending a spell slot. Alternatively we could all go half movement to be all stealthy and such.

Wendel, you're always posting such  cheerful, encouraging posts!

As for Chelsie's speed, at least eldritch blast has a long range, so hopefully we'll manage. I'll avoid the spell until needed though, as it's concentration and we've seen my luck with Constitution checks even with advantage, now I'll have disadvantage...

Given how effective it is, I'm expecting to be casting Minor Illusion quite often. Thankfully there are no verbal components to it...We could have cover at each opportunity.

Luckily, Chelsie, concentration checks are actually Con Saves I believe. So at two levels of exhaustion you shouldn't have disadvantage on those yet.

Some form of cover is always nice to have, conjured or otherwise.

Now I'm out of the ring, I hope we find this ritual within the hour, otherwise I'm out my frost armor. If not though, I've still got another slot if necessary.

Do we think we'll be taking any rests in here?

Ah, good catch, concentration is a save!

My guess is this cave will be too small/dangerous to get a rest in, and we don't want to rest through the sacrifice. But a rest before returning might make sense. Oh, I'm not looking forward to crossing that water again!

Aye, my thoughts reflect your own. Perhaps somewhere in this cave, after we stop the ritual of course, we can find something useful for said crossing.

Well, post-mission we could take the extra time to find that shallower crossing upriver and not have to worry about more exhaustion.

Except the water comes right to the cave mouth, so I don't think we can cross anywhere else.

I may be misinterpreting what is written here, but it seemed like there was an alternate route we could take that would avoid the wading at the cost of time.

As I understand it, we'd need to climb straight up from the cave to get to the other route. I'm not sure that's possible now (but if it is, it's worth considering!). I think we'd need to climb up a good distance before reaching the rock face.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:13, Mon 22 Mar 2021.

Yeah, the rock face above is about 30' high. If someone else wades across, though, they could hike the long way to the top, and drop rope down, though they would need to tie a few ropes together to reach all the way.

Put that in the wrong spot.

Any other light further back in the cave? I'm assuming no. Perception won't do much in the dark I'm afraid. Shall we move the light forward?

I can also cast light, if someone wants to throw/shoot something bright into the cave.

Okay, now I'm considering comprehend languages, but I don't know that understanding the chanting will change anything since we know what they're doing anyway. The struggler might just be poisoned with that poison you encountered before; even if not, healing might still be possible.

Meh, I'll go with light. We've got to act quickly.

Yay, I got to mimic one of the oldest D&D memes!

Haha Nice!

Great work folks now we get to see the Aboleth hiding in the shadows!! Oh I hope not.

I wonder if we're to late to stop the ritual though.. we did go the quick route so there's at least that. Or maybe we prompted them to start to early and it wont work :D Here's to hoping we can mess things up for them even more

Maybe the ritual stopped because they spotted our arrival.

Fingers crossed :)

I have a feeling there will be a group of warriors blocking us while a group of chanters try to finish the ritual. Good luck, team!

Good luck!

Hoping that at least one of them only has 18hp :) Preferably the one with the knife!

We can hope! Because I doubt I hit anything with that roll. Would have been a nice one to. Ah well, we will see what happens with Chelsie and Nutcracker's initiative. There's still a chance we can interrupt this!

Technically, if you aim at the one with the knife and it's the one I put to sleep you might have advantage. Not to mention an auto crit.

Woooh, 6/6 on my heal! We'll find out now whether that man is still alive. I'm not sure if their AC is as low as 12, but if so I'll have a mighty productive turn...
This message was last edited by the player at 14:34, Wed 24 Mar 2021.

Well I rolled low on my initiative (even a Nat 20 in there, stupid exhaustion ='D), but everything else rolled rather well. I guess I'll see if anything comes up on their turn that changes the action.

If my initiative was lower I'd actually be potentially more effective since things would have taken damage.

Ironic really.

You could always hold your action until after they act but they might be in different positions.

In other games people have been able to hold their turn and move to a position in initiative order after someone else has acted but I believe that to be a house rule. Eg "I'll hold my turn until after the wizard" would mean delaying until after the wizard acts and that becomes the new initiative order.

Thats true, but in this case I had hoped to get one of the fishmen down very quickly by using sleep. Just how the dice roll. 18/40 is poor dice for me. The average should be 22.5.

18 might still be enough, though. crosses fingers

I will keep my action as described in my last post. No need to change anything.

I will edit my post based on new circumstances, stand by. DONE.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:24, Thu 25 Mar 2021.

Chelsie, if you still intend to Eldritch blast now that you're in melee, you will have disadvantage. Wendel, you can post your round 2 action now.

Yep, that's my intent. I'll just change my movement and make another roll. Gotta stop this ritual!

And now it's edited in. Thanks for the shield of faith!
This message was last edited by the player at 11:52, Thu 25 Mar 2021.

Well that sure could have gone better. Go team Blasty, go! Also Nutcracker, and the devil failing its sacred flame save!

It would be really nice if we could make the little devil into paste in one round. I don't like the prospect of getting hit by a hail of burning spines. But I would love to repurpose those spines, if at all possible. =D

Just wondered.  Are devils a favored enemy or is that just a carry over from the previous monsters? If it is, well done on predicting our enemies!

Favored Foe is an alternate feature from Tasha's I believe. It let's you be more consistent at the cost of concentration compared to Favored Enemy from the base ranger.

Oh nice one!

Indeed, I believe you might be up next Carmen.

Are supposed to be posting in turn order? We have been but I wasn't sure how much of that was just good timing and how much of it was actual guidance by the GMs.

Posting out of order is fine I think, the DM is making a summary post for each round.

Yeah, I took Favored Foe over Favored Enemy. Like a slightly watered down Hunter's Mark that will get stronger with levels and free up that spell pick. The only limitation is I can only do it once per PB per LR. Used one on the chanting fishman to try to off it before the summon, and now the second on the devil. No more until we can long rest.

But I do love Tasha's. Even have the limited cover version. =D

Yeah, you can post your action for this turn at any time. It just might change based on the actions of those before you.

Tasha's has allowed for a lot more choice which is almost always a good thing. Easily my favourite supplement to the core books.

Particularly to Ranger. When I started playing in AD&D that was my intro class because I really liked the versatility and options. 3.0 goofed by putting everything at the lower levels, but 3.5 fixed that. We don't talk about 4e. Now 5e really shafted them until Tasha's made the UA content official. When I have a hard time deciding on what to pick means I have a lot of good options.

I first started with 4e as a dm so I don't mind it so much, the ranger was quite good iirc. Played a tiny bit of 3.5 then straight into 5e once it came out. As a maths fan the advantage/disadvantage mechanic made me very happy.

And there is the cannon part of glass cannon, nice one Wendel!

I am one who really likes the finer nuances of inventory and the things you carry over the more general supplies that 5e provides, but I can appreciate it as well in making things much more smooth and expedient. Much nicer than the "generate the biggest numbers" that everything in 3.x boils down to.

But it all comes down to personal preferences. No judgement on what you do/don't like in games. They are supposed to be fun & entertaining and if they are neither then that one is not for you.

EDIT: Also awesome shot, Wendel!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:52, Thu 25 Mar 2021.

Thanks folks, just doing my part. Maybe with Carmen's action we can take this thing down in one turn like Nutcracker said :D

Re: Tasha's, I'm of mixed feelings about that book. I like the customization options and alternate features, ranger included. I'm not as keen on most of the subclasses, as they seem a bit too esoteric on the whole. It makes sense, though. With 5e's subclass design, they covered a lot of common archetypes in just the PHB, so it's hard to keep churning out subclasses that make sense for the same flavors of fantasy. And my tastes are a bit more classical.

Here I'll echo Nutcracker hard, though—no judgement on anyone's preferences! I cut my teeth on 3.5 and loved it, but now I look at it as way too complicated for what I'd want in a game. I like the 5e warlock as the complicated option, and I chose it knowing I'd have a lot of choices to figure out between spells, ASIs, and invocations, but the idea of leveling up without having to make any character choices at all is also quite appealing to me.

Also, yes, great shooting!

I love the new subclasses in Tasha's! To each their own, as they say.

Hopefully :)

Not complaining, but how are you getting +3 and +2 to your EB's Wendel? Did you just get access to agonising blast?

In reply to Conspirator (msg # 348):

They certainly have their appeal, and they'll likely grow on me. The genie warlock is already seeming more fun than it looked at first read.

Agonizing blast for +charisma at level 2 and the proficiency bonus bludgeoning damage from dao genie patron makes for a strong level up. The bludgeoning is once per turn rather than per attack so isn't too strong.

I didn't realise wendel was level 2 since he has just 9hp!

How much of a negative con do you have???

It's hilarious/scary how low his con is, that's why he bruises so easy!

Aye, just castimg my magic hurts.

I updated to hit the fleeing fish guy. Disadvantage roll was a 19.

So, wait, we really did take down that devil in one round?! (Not that Chelsie had much to do with that...)

Team magical projectile blasters certainly made short work of them. Let's hope we don't get ambushed on the way out.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:34, Fri 26 Mar 2021.

Let me correct that for you....

someone may want to give them their burial rites