This is for discussion of the arena, and to keep track of who signs up.
So far: Victor Iusticia and Wendel have signed up.

Oh, good idea making this a thread :)

We have room for [6] more participants, everyone!

If we get [2] more players, I'd be willing to have the other half be filled in with NPCs.

ALSO REMEMBER; All the matches will be randomized by rolling d8s, and you get a long rest between each round of matches.

As for pre-casting spells, or activating abilities before combat; This will only be allowed if both parties agree to it. Thus, say a fighter gets against a cleric, they would likely not want them to get the benefit of casting shield of faith, when they have no such boon.

ANOTHER REMINDER; If you are out on a quest, YOU CAN STILL FIGHT in the tournament :) This is a downtime activity, so you do not need to be idling around between missions to join in :)

[because wibbly wobbly timey wimey]

Sure. Why not. I'm in.

I love the idea of it, but sadly it goes against Verbannt's character. He doesn't like bleeding. Honor duels he gets, but glory duels are outside his wheelhouse.

Sorry!
This message was last edited by the player at 22:46, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

I'm game.

Oh no... Well it was fun while I had a shot lol. I look forward to facing y'all in the arena.

No worries man :)

@Izayah and @Malkus:

If either or both of you want to post yourselves signing up in the Battle Arena thread, then feel free to do so. If you don't, that's also okay, we'll just pretend you did off-camera.

So, right now, the current cast is:

1. Victor Iustica
2. Wendel
3. Izayah Hamadrell
4. Malkus
5. ???
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???

---

I'll wait another day for more participants, before requesting the GMs to fill in the rest of the slots.

Looking forward to it :)

This may also be something we want to run next weekend, so that everyone has adequate time to make entries throughout the days. If not, it will still work totally fine, but it will be a fair bit slower to get through.

I'll leave that up to the players whose characters are on the list above so far to decide, what their preference will be.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:10, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

One way to speed up the process may be to allow multiple wibbly wobbly fights to be posted in simultaneously. But that could lead to some confusion potentially.

I originally thought to run one at a time for that very reason; and also because it feels only fair to give each match it's due attention, which would be hard to achieve while running more than one simultaneously.

I figure we run the first match alone, and if it turns out that the format is too slow for anyone involved, we can increase the rate.

Thoughts?

Sounds good to me mate!

Two clarifications:

1. Is there an entry fee for the combatants?

2. Are familiars allowed?

You could run fights in a private message between the combatants and Tidelan (plus anyone who wishes to spectate 'live') then once it is finished Tidelan posts a summary of the combat as well as a result. That way you can run parallel combats without things getting too confusing in the arena thread. Have the final match be posted 'live' in the arena thread.

I suggest this over the one at a time method because you are looking at 4 + 2 + 1 = 7 matches for the tournament and it could otherwise take a very long time to resolve IRL.


1. I don't think there was, only for spectating or otherwise gambling. We're paying with our blood, sweat and tears!
2. Please no, unless both combatants have one/agree. The help action is soooo strong. Same goes for tamed animals.

Or, each fight could end in 2 rounds, like all of the 1v1 so far :)

I might sign up once I'm debt free!

I'm fairly certain it doesn't cost to sign up, just to make bets. I may be wrong though

1. Combatants don't have an entry fee, but they are also banned from betting

2. Hm... I was originally going to say 'yes' since it's magic, but since it might be considered a prep, then I wanted to say 'no'. I've decided that as long as your familiar is withdrawn into your pocket space before your first turn, then you can feel free to use an action to summon it.



Unfortunately, I've already had Tidelan set up the idea that tournament rules aren't made to limit power levels or make matches more balanced. So, I can't really renege on that and ban something 'cause it's powerful.

As for tamed animals, they are completely banned since they are independent characters. The reason familiars [and other summoned creatures] are exceptions is because they are magically created, and thus are a large part of a caster's wheelhouse.

---

TL;DR: You can have as many magical characters fight with you as you want, but only if you summon them during the fight itself. They can only be summoned before actual combat is as a preparation, meaning you would follow the previous rules for preps in that case.

---

Edit: Also, since the order of sign ups have changed in the main thread, so does the order of the participant list [this has no mechanical benefits, it just determines how you will be matched, but since it's all random, this doesn't really make much of a difference, it's just for record keeping]

1. Victor Iustica
2. Wendel
3. Carmen Diaz
4. Malkus
5. Izayah Hamadrell
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???
This message was last edited by the player at 14:16, Mon 15 Mar 2021.

Only three more combatants needed to make a full tournament roster!

So when it comes to betting, can you only bet For someone or can you bet Against someone as well? Because with the current lineup, folks, there's some obvious favorites, and then there's Wendel.

I'm asking for those folks who can bet, IE all non-combatants, because I want more of y'all to jump in on this opportunity. You could always bet for the underdog, that's me :D

You can only bet 'for'. These gambling rules are very barebones as I created them impromptu.

If we do a second season, I'll probably add more complexity to the betting system.

Thank you all for the suggestions and clarifications, I'm keeping them all in mind for a possible second run of this.

Also, remember that the majority of bets are likely not to come from actual players but by however many citizens of Smith's Gambit that the GMs decide are interested. Otherwise, this endeavor couldn't be fundable. Also, I made the minimum bet in silver pieces because I assumed the average lifestyle was medieval serf... Though, I likely misjudged, since I've never seen the GMs hand out anything less than Gold, except for food products...

If it is allowed by the GM, I'd like to know what is a 'reasonable rate' for minimum bets. The idea was that even a peasant could take part, if they desired. If it should be higher, I wish to be able to change that before the tournament starts...

In all honesty, I have no idea how many people live in this fledgling town. I assume it's at least 50 judging by the presence of guards, but that would make it hardly a village, but more or less a hamlet... Though, there is also an Inn, and merchants, so it's probably more like at least a couple hundred, maybe even a few hundred.

Then again, this is just the surface layer. I wouldn't be surprised if there is as many as 1000 people living here. I kind of need to know the population and average wage if I am going to make an appropriate entry fee.

I saw a bard strongarm seventeen silver from some unfortunate kobolds, so occasionally the GMs provide less than 1gp.

In reply to Malkus (msg # 19):

17 silver is the equivalent of 1 gold and 7 silver.

Guess I'll just put my foot in my mouth now...

I'd say the population is around 1000. 500 unskilled laborers, 200 skilled laborers. About 100 guards (the rest are unemployed spouses or children of the guards and laborers.) After lifestyle expenses, unskilled laborers bring home about 1sp a day, skilled laborers 1gp, and guards make an average of 5.5gp a day. Many of the townsfolk send a lot of their money to their families abroad.

Thanks for those statistics, really helps me to paint a better mental picture of the town :)

Also, since the population is so high, I don't think I need to alter the minimum bet.

Regardless, I presume that there will be a small portion of people from at least the well-paid groups who will bet more than the minimum amount.

Though, even if the showing was rather awful and nearly everyone went for the minimum bet, I still think it would be enough to scrape by on, without owing future debts.

Fortunately, that's a major lower-bound, so it's actually quite a lot more likely that Tidelan may actually rake in some money from this. Though, he will still be losing out in total I'm sure, but he won't have empty pockets, ha ha.

No betting on ourselves? Pssh! What a rip! LOL! =)

In reply to Izayah Hamadrell (msg # 24):

Yep - some of us need the money that badly. I know I do lol

In reply to Izayah Hamadrell (msg # 24):

Maybe you should bet on your opponent! ;)

I think that's called "getting paid to take a fall".

Elisar, are you interested in joining the tournament?

In reply to Malkus (msg # 27):

Shhhh, don’t tell anyone, it’s my get rich quick scheme!

In reply to Tidelan Wavyrus (msg # 28):

Not this round. Close to levelling up and lots of RL stuff to sort out so will plan to join the next bout.

Okay then :)

So, I think it's about time for the GMs to fill in the rest of the roster with npcs.

No rush to do that, but since I don't know what your plans are, I don't know how much time this will take.

If you want my advice for quick builds for this situation, I'd just make three level 1 class characters of random classes.

Ex. a Level 1 Rogue, a Level 1 Wizard, and a Level 1 Barbarian.

Then, give them each a random species, gender and name.

If [for some reason] you want them to have a personality or appearance, just pick your favorite stereotypes, ha ha. Or, base it off someone you know IRL or a celebrity.

Though, I'm not here to boss you around and I'm sure you have a better sense of balance than I do, anyway.

When that's done, I will add them [in the order they are presented] to the 8-part list, and then roll up some matches :) in the dice roller

We're almost ready to begin, hurrah :D

In reply to Tidelan Wavyrus (msg # 31):

This is a good tool for quick NPCs - https://fastcharacter.com/index.htm

We've got a few combat-ready NPC's and plenty of old player characters, I'll pick a few of those.

1. Victor Iustica
2. Wendel
3. Carmen Diaz
4. Malkus
5. Izayah Hamadrell
6. Nef, the Void-drinker
7. Kaern
8. Avreene Dalancia
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:58, Wed 17 Mar 2021.

Those rolls mean:


Funnily enough, we actually have two npcs facing off against one another, lmao.

Today is a decent day for me to have Tidelan start off the first match and announce the tournament, since I'm off from work on Wednesdays. Since he won't be needed much beyond announcing the beginning and end of a match, it doesn't really matter what IRL day I start us off on, though the fighters may rather have a weekend where they are more free to write.

Soon: MAJOR Announcement going in the Battle Arena thread, keep your eyes peeled :)

Nef, the Void-Drinker?? Ominous.

My group brought him to town, actually, he seems like a cool fellow :)

Though, I don't really remember if we learned anything about his abilities. I do recall that he was the last of his tribe, though... that is some anime protagonist levels of extreme danger right there LMAO

You actually brought 12 goblins that were each the last of their respective tribes, though he's the only one among them with any fighting ability.

Victor, my preference would be to not use any pre-magick'ing or abilities, but I'm open to suggestions all the same.

What is your preference?

In reply to Malkus (msg # 38):

As you’re both paladins maybe you should have a prayer-off, let your gods decide!

In reply to Elisar Moonraven (msg # 39):

That's not very sporting. Obviously, Helm > Lathandar ;)

Careful, them be crusading words... lol

Also, once the GMs decide how much serf money is going into Tidelan's satchel, then we can start the first fight :)

Since Elisar is out attracting crowds, maybe that could factor into the GMs' equation/decision ? Something like have him make a charisma skill check of some kind, and then add X new audience members for each multiple of Y in the end sum?

Just an idea.

So we're all here just to make Tidelan money. Lol!

In reply to Izayah Hamadrell (msg # 42):

And hopefully win some for ourselves!


But yeah, mostly Tidelan I think

Ha ha, it might look that way.

In total transparency though, it's not at all true.

The two best fighters are going to be raking in 150 gold , and a solid gold item [which will be melted down from coins, so anywhere from 50 to 100 gold]

Thus, Tidelan will be giving out 200 to 250 Gold. He currently has 150 Gold in his inventory, and so I'm relying on the civilian's betting money and forking over entry fees to be able to give out these rewards without taking a mortgage on my next quest reward.

Even if he gets incredibly lucky and the GMs are incredibly generous by him getting hundreds of gold from bets, he will still have less money than he started with.

The most likely outcome is he will have no money at all when this is over.

So, in the case that Tidelan is practically bleeding money in this endeavor, will he be charging entrance fees for each fight or just for the tournament as a whole?

Maybe for the next one, once you have a reigning champion, you could charge a special entrance for the 'main event' or have something unique go on there.

The idea of mixing up tournament / event lists sounds intriguing.

Maybe charging a fee for each day of future tournaments, that way you don't need to track who has paid in previous days, just man the gate as they come in. You could charge more for the final day as the "main event".

@Malkus, I'm happy with no pre-casting of spells or abilities.

No unskilled laborers (that's like 2 months savings for them!) 67 skilled laborers, and 41 guards paid the entry fee.
33gp was bet on Victor, 38 on Wendel, 37 on Carmen, 27 on Malkus, 30 on Malkus, 33 on Nef, 32 on Kaern, 32 on Avreene.

Note, none of this factors in any fees or bets from PCs.

I think he made the entry fee waivable for anybody placing bets at a minimum of 5 silver pieces so those unskilled laborers would only be spending a few days earnings, right?

Maybe my math is off though

A week's, actually. some of that would be factored into how much was bet on each player. Though after thinking about it: if the entry fee is 10x the minimum bet, and betting gets you in for free, why would anyone pay the entry fee?

It's like one of those pay "pay what you will" things that also has a buy at price option that encourages people to spend a certain amount while also leaving the door open for folks that otherwise wouldn't be able to afford the full entry fee.

I'd think it also encourages more bets which means more winnings for the fighters = more incentive for fighters to sign up = more opportunity for the whole thing to be an ongoing deal

Edit: Maybe someone paying the entry fee in lieu of betting could have other 'benefits' in the future. Preferred seating comes to mind. There's probably other things as well

May also become a sort of sign of affluence. Oh look I can pay the entrance without needing to bet like you common folk look at me. Or 'investors' "I'm a connoisseur of the fighting arts"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:54, Thu 18 Mar 2021.

I...wow...should I be offended? Or am I just that unknown?


Can participants bet on fights that don't involve them at all? Like could Izayah bet on the Malkus vs Victor fight?

I think it's a bet on the overall winner.

Clerical error I'm sure, all of the Wendel bets were actually meant for Izayah. That or these folks never met Wendel.

Lol Izayah, I'm on there twice. I think I see what happened

Malkus was written twice, so I'm sure one of those was meant for you lmao

Well, one of me or Wendel will be out in no time at all, so it was nice knowing you :)

In reply to Carmen Diaz (msg # 56):

Well, of the five PCs, roughly half will be out first round =)

How do you work that out Malkus? :)

In reply to Carmen Diaz (msg # 58):

I'm proficient at Insight ;D

Dang, I knew there was something at was lacking.

I think bets are placed for an overall champion not on a match by match basis.

Do any players want to place any bets or are we ready for the paladin smackdown?

I've placed my best for the overall champion. I'm hoping my two travelling companions both make the final!

Correct.



It's not what I intended, but it seems fine to allow.



Yaas :) I'll start y'all off :)

Figures... First 20 I've rolled for initiative and it's for nonlethal combat lol

Ha ha, same thing happened to me when I fought Victor.

This arena truly is blessed by the dice gods.

Once Victor introduces himself, Tidelan will count you both in.

Since you [most likely] won initiative Malkus, you'll post after Tidelan, and then I won't be posting until the fight ends :)

Also, Feel free to use the battle map from my fight with Victor. It should be a few pages past. It hasn't changed, since Tidelan would have replaced the ground he tore up, by now.

One more thing; The braziers are 10 ft tall, and they are on fire. If, for some reason, someone were to stand up there, they would certainly take some fire damage and be set on fire.

I'll grab it and add it to my post, thanks!

Oh man... Victor I wish you luck.

What's the tie breaker on initiatives when folks have the same dex modifier as well?

A d20 roll, I figure.

No tie breaker today, though if Victor is to be on the receiving end of a nat 20 I think I'd prefer it to be on the initiative roll haha.

Aye, fair enough.

Will there be a specific range within the tournament area that we need to start our fights? For example, could somebody start all the way in one of the corners behind a brazier of maybe right in the middle of the field. Or even right next to each other?

I know I keep throwing a lot of questions your way I'm just trying to plan for survival as best I can when it comes to Wendel's turn.

It's a small arena, I don't think there is really anywhere you could run haha.

No but there's places you could start so that a single round doesn't put you in melee range which really hurts a ranged mage build.

That's true I suppose. Do warlock get access to magical flight later on?

I do believe they do. Which raises another question. Are folks restricted to ground combat only? May not be important until much later but once it becomes possible well...

Tidelan wouldn't want to limit it to ground battles... but just getting one-sided aerial bombardment on your character is not very fun, and also the audience would be bored.

If I do allow flying, you'd have to stay within the arena boundaries, or be disqualified.

As for starting locations, I figure you should be allowed to start wherever you wish.

Now that I say that, I realize one or more of you may want to choose different locations in the arena. I will announce the beginning of the fight, but before Malkus' first turn, either of you can edit your previous posts to change your location, if you wish.

You both have the opportunity to do so, so make sure you both sign off with a final 'ready' before you actually engage combat. Retconning - even one round - is a hassle.

I'm good with these starting positions.

I'm ready.

Regarding aerial combat: I'm happy to chuck javelins at a flying Warlock, but is the crowd so close that I would endanger bystanders if I miss?

Surely collateral damage is part of the fun?

Dispel magic on a flying opponent could be funny.

Does that mean you're ready Victor?

I could be funny... now to find a counter to that...

Another question. Getting knocked out of the arena, what does that mean for the match?

A counter, if only there were a spell...

And yes, I am ready if that wasn't clear.

Dang... I legitimately didn't even see this one... Now I feel like a fool. My bad

Go go victor :) nice smite!

I wanted at least one good hit in before he gets put down, maybe the frightened effect might allow him to get in another.

Well hey that one good hit also forces a con save or he loses shield of faith as well. One good round, goal achieved mate!

Yeah, even with a decent bonus to Wisdom saves a DC13 save isn’t too easy to make. Perhaps a 40% failure rate?

I forgot about that, we'll have to see what the diceroller has to say about it :)

Youch! Nice hit.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:34, Fri 19 Mar 2021.

Thankyou very much, we were both very close to critting.

Booooo, both saves made :(

Stop refreshing the die roller real time :P

Oh wait, that was me too...

He’s used his best rolls for saves. He’s gonna miss his attack roll....fingers crossed :)

You can't go and try to jinx the guy like that Carmen, they'll think we're rooting for the underdog or something

Hey, it worked ;)

No spoilers, you!

Haha, I appreciate the team spirit.

Does the arena have a cheer section and does Tidelan throw out hecklers?

Oof... Called it to soon Carmen... Called it to soon. It has one (a cheer section) now, as for hecklers... Well I guess that is up to the master of the arena.

Edit: Nicely done Malkus. Nicely done. Somebody better go help Victor now.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Fri 19 Mar 2021.

GG Malkus, good luck in the next match :)

Thanks, Victor, you as well! That was quite the hit.

I was actually in the middle of writing Tidelan's next post, but since you already healed Victor before I got it out, ignore the dice logs lmao :)

Boooooo, hisssss, damn cheaty paladin abilities ;)

That was a very cool fight :) It actually seemed rather close, which is exactly what audiences love to gobble up :)

On a side note: I never realized how awesome paladins are until I ran a game for my twin where he played as one. They are the most interesting martial class during combat, IMO. I love how quickly they come online, too.

It's late for me, so I will announce the next fight tomorrow. This also gives time for anyone who wants to write in the battle arena thread to do so, and for the GM[s] to add anything if they feel the need or desire to do so :)

Me and Wendel would be done by tomorrow if you announced today :D

I reckon in about 2 rounds to be fair, lol.

Hm... well, if you insist :)

Edit: actually, I believe Izayah and Nef are going next, ha ha my B
This message was last edited by the player at 00:49, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

It's not a long fight when we have only barely double digit hp :)

Yeah, in all honesty it most likely starts and ends with whomever wins initiative...

Paladins are great for RP mining and have a lot of super fun mechanical options. Fun fact: this is the first time I've ever played a Strength based Paladin, I've only ever built them with Dexterity as a main stat before. That being said, I do intend to max Charisma and leave Victor's Strength where it is. I may multiclass him into Bard later on but Warlock would probably make more narrative sense given his ties to Zariel.

I'm looking forward to seeing this next fight. With a name like Nef the Void-drinker and the description of the black teeth and tongue, I'd be watching out for some evil magic if I were Izayah!

You could always run them out of sequence and just maintain the match-ups if the players are online/offline. Time is wibbly wobbly in Smith's Gambit...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:53, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

Ruh roh...my initiative roll...

I do believe we are match 3 Carmen. That being said, when we do get to fight, how do you feel about pre-fight prep? Yay or nay?

Lol Carmen, don't judge! It isn't like Victor didn't use Divine Smite or anything =)

I was chuckling reading your play-by-play in here. It took me a while to get my posts up, because I was on my phone out in the boonies going back and forth between my digital rules on DND Beyond, the combat post, my character sheet, the dice roler, and the scratchpad where I write my posts. Thanks for being patient.

As an aside, thanks to Elisar and Victor, my phone doesn't try to autocorrect "royalred" anymore...

I had thought about multi-classing into Warlock, but just decided the other day to probably not, so I am glad you might in my stead. I typically play a cleric, but so far this paladin is a blast.

Oh, we are? Shucks.....might have to reroll my initiative then, lol

Preprep? Nah, just start as normal unless you want guess which steel box I’m hiding in :)

The middle one! Always pick middle.

You just want to reroll because you lost to me :P

But for real, I'm down for a reroll when our match comes up.

I think I missed it:
How many downtime units does this take, and is the cost on a per-fight basis or per-tournament?

I believe it was 1 dtu for the whole thing

That's what the GMs decided, yessir.

Match Two is starting :)

Sorry for the delay, everyone: I got distracted lol

Also, it's really funny trying to have someone with no head for business figure out a way to gouge crowd members between fights...

As for music requests, since Tidelan didn't discuss this with Elisar earlier like he did with the first thing; He'd be willing to split the money evenly with the performer, rounding in Elisar's favor [if need be].

The animal rides are also hilarious, because I can just imagine him racking his brain for eight of the last ten minutes trying to figure out what talents he has that would draw a crowd. Since he cannot be using his magic, in case he needs to do emergency healing, he's resorted to humiliating himself for children. I giggled.

Also, these 'delicious drinks' are just gonna be twenty gallons of freshwater from create and destroy water... Not even a scam, because Tidelan legitimately believes water is delicious. I mean, what else would you assume from a water genasi? LMAOOO
This message was last edited by the player at 19:24, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

Am I supposed to copy the map from Malkus's post and put myself on it when I post?

In reply to Tidelan Wavyrus (msg # 116):

I'm imagining you talking with with a heavy and distinctly Eastern European accent (over the years I've had customers with Polish and Russian accents so it isn't exactly difficult) and I've been entertained by your mannerisms.

In reply to Izayah Hamadrell (msg # 117):

I just quoted one of Tidelan's posts with it which copied the code, then modified it to my liking.

Of course, I also yoinked Victor's signature line so if I was involved in a combat on our quest, I could keep my stats separate (compared to tracking my hps and stuff in my biography).
This message was last edited by the player at 19:37, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

Thanks, Malkus, Victor and Tidelan then, lol.

Nat 20 on init. Heh.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:51, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

Yeah, I see you're off to a good start, too!

Well, I'd say it helps to have advantage (and it does), but the other 'lower' roll was still a 19 total, lol.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:07, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

My first two d20s came out the same. I think Tidelan got a better arena than he bargained for.

That's just amazing!

Can't wait to see how this one goes

In reply to Wendel (msg # 124):

Nef sounds like some sort of monk to me. Go Izayah!

~~~Hopefully the DMs have fun too (thanks, you two!); you know, in case no one is rooting for the NPCs~~~

Let me know if you're following, Victor. If so I'll edit for some introductions unless you want to do something else.

Once the fight starts in earnest I'll keep the non combat post out of the mix. But until then I hope some RP betwixt folks is alright.

I have no issues with it at all, Wendel. I actually think it's good since - in a way - it sort of aids in splitting up the fights, thus making them each more individually digestible.

Also, roleplay is just generally fun IMO. Sorry about interrupting you to move on the next round, by the way; I just figured it would be good to start on saturday since everything in pbp moves more quickly on the weekends.

Though, now it seems that the GM[s?] aren't here yet, which is still fine. I theorize that they thought us players were handling this event well enough and went off to go do real life stuff or other online activities, and we're just sitting here like; "Yo guys it's your turn... oh", but idk lmao

Happy to meet the sister and watch the fights, as long as we settle down once the action begins.

LMAO what are 'genes'? Is that an elvish word for 'family blood' xD

Or maybe Wendel has obtained some incredibly rare knowledge about genetics recently, lol.

Oh man, that was a slip for sure...

And I don't think you were interrupting at all Tidelan. Y'all gotta move things forward, I'm just filling the space until there's something else to fill it :D

Also Luna will definitely enjoy the refreshments once they arrive. A glass of fresh water is always a great refreshment! Anyone who says otherwise is out of their mind

Haaaaave you met Carmen?

Also, is wingman a reference to aasimar in this setting?

Truly, I have no idea :)

I think your match is happening today after this one Carmen, or is she being deliberately forgetful?

Maybe!

Actually, I don't tend to post much on Saturdays.

Eh! And we're underway!

I used to rarely get on during weekends as well. Of late that's been different just due to some RL circumstances but either way it's understood. We all have lives and other things to do so it only make sense to be down with the GMs having the same. To expect otherwise would be madness lol.

I'm interested to see how Nef fights and what's they're capable of.

I find I’ve got more spare time on the weekends....no work!

I mean - what are the odds this is all a trick?

Place your bets now! LOL!


And no worries, no rush. =)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Mon 22 Mar 2021.

In reply to Izayah Hamadrell (msg # 138):

Lol. I bet Nef is being sincere.

In reply to Malkus (msg # 139):

If he IS, then I like him. I'll buy him a drink after. =)

I heard he drinks the void

In reply to Malkus (msg # 141):

Oh my goodness I actually laughed out at that one. Nice

In reply to Wendel (msg # 142):

I have dad-jokes for days

He's sincere. To avoid making the timing confusing in the battle post, I'll just mention here, that after the handshake, he walks back to collect his spear before Tidelan's count, and then Izayah gets to go first.

Thank you. I appreciate you clarifying (and yes, I was waiting to see if Nef did anything lol).

Sadly, even with advantage on the attacks I still missed on one of them (with rolls of 3 and 5).

Voiddrinker is a monk folks! Dang, struck by your own arrow...

You got this Izayah, don't forget your basic con save for hunters mark

The way Izayah and I are rolling, this may be the longest fight yet!

That seems very likely :O

Also, damn Deflect Missiles is so fricking cool.

[missing with advantage. feels bad man. can relate to the fear as a reckless attacker]

Quite the trick shot, there!

Man. You aren't kidding. Watch Nef get like 3 hits full-on this next round, lol.

If your dice rolls don't get luckier this turn Izayah, I think the goblin will actually win this match :O

I mean...this is par for the course as far as I and Izayah are concerned. With 2 attacks per round, 0-1 attacks usually hit.

Could have used those concentration check rolls to attack, lol.

Figure...two more rounds maybe, unless Nef gets really lucky again this round.


EDIT: CRAP! Been forgetting the +2 damage for favored enemy (not that it would matter too much the way I'm rolling, lol).
This message was last edited by the player at 00:47, Tue 23 Mar 2021.

To be clear, I'm not whining, so my apologies if it came off that way. I'm used to mediocre-to-bad dice luck online, but I enjoy roleplaying and the occasional victory. =)

The dice-gods giveth and they taketh away.

But damn those are some dope monk moves. On the plus side Nef has probably burned through most of their ki by now.

BEWARE THE TINY GREEN NINJA!!!

More worrying are the thousands of unseen ninjas.

I need to stop copying previous dice rolls so I can remember to put the +2 damage in there for the once per round hit, lol.

So... Do you get to add the +2 this round?

I had to edit my post to add it, yeah, lol.

Dang... This fight's a nail-biter!!

I think next hit will win...

Sigh. Yep. Likely to be Nef who gets the hit in. Ah well. =)

Wow, you both have been getting really terrible attack rolls...

Also Izayah, are you using TWF, or have you somehow reached level 5 and unlocked Extra Attack?

Actually, it may be a subclass feature I don't know about...

One more thing; this is certainly the coolest fight yet... I mean, it's been an absolute slog... I'm sure that's what crowds love :)

Two-weapon fighting for the most part, that's why I've been listing it as Action and Bonus Action. Extra attack is at 5th level.

He just got a lucky roll or two, Izayah. You've got this!

Thought Nef won for a moment, then I remembered Izayah's AC went up when he drew that second sword!

Given all the misses I'm picturing them both as being tired and flailing at each other with wet noodle arms :P

I mean....so did I? I saw your post and had to do a double-take.

Nice fight!

Wow :)

I'll leave time for Conspirator to have Nef respond before having Tidelan step in to congratulate the winner, and heal the downed fellow so he doesn't stay unconscious for hours.

Hey! watch it Tide! I've got this! Stop trying to horn in on people healing their downed foes, okay??

LOL!

Don't worry Tidelan, Carmen or I will probably need your healing.

Ours will be over quick too, with luck!

A decisive battle eh?

Haha, fine by me :) It's best to save the magic in case two combatants down one another.

Also, I was wondering why a fighter would be able to use any healing magic then I realized your actually a ranger, lmao. The funny thing is even with you using a longbow, and getting +2 damage against goblins you could still just be a DEX Fighter with the Duelist fighting style.

Oh wait-- you cast hunter's mark on the first turn, didn't you?

Well, this is embarrassing, but it also goes to show why I never play rangers. I will always forget hunter's mark.



I'm not sure whether to feel good about this or not , lmao :)



You're teasing, but it's legitimately good advice, tho :D

If I were paying more attention to the combatant's healing abilities, I wouldn't have had to rewrite my post after Malkus won his fight, which was a pain, and I also feel like it was subpar writing on my behalf, since it had really clunky timing.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:00, Thu 25 Mar 2021.

Nice fight! I definitely got my money's worth watching that.

Bring it on Wendel...

*spits hands*

Immediately forgot that I wasn't needed to heal the goblin.

But I already rolled max healing... and since Tidelan has taken respect in the fellow, I had him bring him back up to tip top shape rather than waste the healing :)

Edit: Also, the barrel is for Create and Destroy Water, which needs a container.

I googled it and a barrel should be large enough
This message was last edited by the player at 19:26, Sat 27 Mar 2021.

And we move into the halftime :)

Everyone, feel free to continue your conversations, or just partake in the fleeting affairs.

After I feel like enough time has passed that I'm not hogging the limelight, I'll have Tidelan become a pony and give rides for a while, and then he can be a cute baby goat or a doggy and people can pet him... okay maybe this idea is weird if you look to deep into it, but kids won't think about that stuff, and that's the point.

I wonder how much money this and Elisar's song requests will make ;) It would be nice to have some money left over after all this is said and done, lol

Elisar, make a performance check to determine how many more people you bring in after half-time. You have advantage thanks to Tidelan's one-man petting zoo (damn that sounds wrong!)

In reply to Conspirator (msg # 180):

At least he's doing a dog and pony show, rather than a donkey show...


...



I'll just show myself out now

Well, he is making an ass of himself ;)

If you want to make an ass of yourself, feel free to use the heated stables at the dragon's den at your convenience :)

Are we waiting on anything in particular before continuing with the fighting pits?

I think Tidelan was giving time for more people to come on in but it's been a while so you could probably just start up your fight.

I'm realizing now that I never added up the money from this GM post:



Adding the eleven pony-ride tickets, which Tidelan said was a small price... so like 1 gold each. I don't know if the water made any money or not, but if it makes any at all it would have to be absurdly overpriced, like when you go to the movie theaters lmao.

Thus:

540 Gold in entry fees, and 262 Gold in accumulated bets. Adding the last eleven gold, becomes 813 Gold.

Wow. I was worried I'd be broke, but I'm actually turning a large profit. This is what I get for forgetting to do my homework , ha ha.

---

I will introduce your fight now, Wendel and Carmen :)

GL :D

Oh man this is going to be interesting... If I'd lost initiative I wouldn't have stood a chance. Now there's the tiniest glimmer...

In reply to Wendel (msg # 187):

Time to bring out your cannon!

Well... That or try some of my new tricks

I mean, you just used your first round talking...what a waste.

Ah man dangit ya got me, lol. Should've known we weren't waiting for the countdown. Carmen's got no time for silly things like that ;)

Aaaand I've got to hit the hay. So probably another 8ish hours before in back to posting. See y'all then.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:20, Sun 04 Apr 2021.

Battlemaps are hard on a phone...

Sorry for the delay y'all. Hopefully I didn't miss something vital

Can I get some dm rulings on cover etc for the map? I’m not an expert on this stuff!

This might help: https://5e.tools/quickreferenc...ookref-quick,3,cover

I think from your position Wendel has full cover, one square to the right would be 3/4 and 2 squares to the right would be 1/2 cover. In 4th edition I think it was calculated by drawing lines from corners of squares but 5th seems to be DM discretion (makes sense since grid is not assumed).

Depending on what the DM rules it might be time to bust out the old Misty Step.

Still does the lines thing in 5e when a grid is used. But gm discretion can absolutely change that.

I guess since its important, I'm trying to find out if I can "see" Wendel or if he has total cover. The braziers may well have spaces underneath or over where I can see Wendel but he has 3/4 cover and the like.

The 'lines thing' is correct. As for the braziers, I'd say full cover.

So they aren't on legs? Box style 5' square braziers?

Oh....and Victor. What gives dude? I'm sure Wendel never spent 3 rounds of his life trying to save you from bleeding out. Some thanks I get!!! :)

Did you forget our little contest regarding Wendel's sister ;)

Gotta cheer for the underdog, you've got this!

In reply to Victor Iusticia (msg # 200):

I have no idea why Wendel is the underdog btw. He's got 2nd level spells and I don't!

He also has a hitpoint maximum of a small puppy.

Sadly I'm just 4hp above him currently.

IIRC, the braziers are made of marble, so I assume they're not on legs. Tidelan can correct me on that.

but rusted cast iron braziers located in the four corners of the arena

Cast iron? That's a bit trickier, because I've seen plenty of cast iron braziers with legs, and plenty that rest directly on the ground. Do you guys mind waiting until Tidelan clarifies what kind he intended?

I don't mind waiting for confirmation. And if that changes what you want to do on your turn Carmen feel free to do so before I go next.

Thanks Wendel. There are a few things that I've got that rely on sight such as hexblade curse etc so it makes a big difference :)

I originally pictured that the cast iron braziers had legs.

I ballparked that they stand somewhere between 5 and 10 ft tall.

Let's go with 5 ft tall, since it might be pushing the availability of resources to have such large constructions that I haven't paid a lot extra for.

So, these things are 5 ft tall. That means a standing opponent would likely have three quarters cover. However, since Wendel is prone, he definitely has full cover.

Though, like people above said, a little bit of positioning on an attacker's part would allow for 'sight', though still with a decent amount of cover.

Then again; these braziers aren't polygonal objects. It's not impossible that you may be able to get a glimpse of him behind the rickety legs, even if he were curled up...

Yet, that would be very difficult, especially since the flames in his foreground would mess with the illumination beyond [I cannot recall the name for this phenomenon, but it is well-known in the field of optics, iirc]

---

I'm laughing over here, 'cause now both contestants have huddled up in their respective corners, more or less... If that continues, Tidelan might have to start throwing ice knives or introduce some other kind of environmental hazard... the show must go on, it seems...

Also, if Wendel does win this fight, it's gonna be tragically comedic when he realizes that means he has to participate in another one, LOL :)

---

This is a surely frustrating strategy Wendel is using against Carmen here... It's very effective against her build and level...

To be honest, this is a damned situation for her either way. I mean, if she attacks, she's as likely to fall to the spike growth [which was a genius move btw, I never even consider that spell for some reason]. Otherwise, it's plausible that any defensive preps she makes will be outdone by Wendel doing similar things on his turn.

Also, for the record; I'm not at all against you guys sitting in corners self-casting buffs, because as the viewership and prolonged success of the Dragonball series goes to show, audiences are more than happy to watch two enemies power themselves up while screaming for absurd periods of time :wink:

In reply to Tidelan Wavyrus (msg # 209):

It has been amusing to watch, and very enlightening. Those are some annoying spikes, to be sure.

Ok, if 3/4 cover it should mean I can see him.

Mess him up Carmen!

Updated round to reflect new status.

Hex damage doesn't add to save spells unfortunately, but luckily this was a really low roll of hex damage anyway. Making my int save now...

Edit: Ouch, and nicely done
This message was last edited by the player at 00:23, Tue 06 Apr 2021.

Thats all good. I rolled 2 separate dice for that reason.

So, if we assume I'm looking at where Wendel is moving to, and given I know he loves hiding in his ring...

My actual planned move (believe it or not, I thought you would do this) would be to pick you up and throw you out of the arena to disqualify you...

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!

Sweet! I'll take loss by technicality over loss by unconsciousness any day. And Wendel will learn a valuable lesson. Nice thinking ;)

Quick question for Tidelan. Is getting knocked out of the arena a disqualification? because if so does that open up a whole lot of opportunities for the future of the games.

And follow up, if she can't Prove that Wendel is out of the arena and he's shows back up inside it? How would that be managed?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:54, Tue 06 Apr 2021.

What 'ring' allows him to hide in it? Is he a Genie Warlock?

Yes, he has a Dao patron I believe.

Yes it is , and yes it does :D



Honestly, I don't know. That question is Pretty vague, so there could be a lot of answers dePending on the situation.

I've never read about the Genie warlock before, so I had no idea you could get access to extradimensional sPace at such an early level... I hadn't Planned ahead for how to deal with telePortation let alone that sort of Planar magic...

That's definitely a huge advantage on your Part if you decide to stack buffs, but it's not an illegal move whatsoever , as long as the crowd doesn't start getting bored... So don't decide to take a short rest in there :)

However, since Carmen is totally caPable of just busting that thing uP until you PoP out, or simPly tossing it out of the arena, it's not likely to be a good strategy, since when you reaPPear, you would be immediately disqualified.

Another examPle: Let's say you decided to become invisible, and nobody noticed when you got kicked out of the arena: Tidelan would rely on you in that case to use your honor to call out that you were defeated.

Though, I don't think you can get access to that sPell at your current level?

I think invisibility is a 2nd level spell so 3rd level spellcasters might have it already.

In reply to Tidelan Wavyrus (msg # 220):

Is there something wrong with your 'p' key?

Was a little strange reading all that.

I think he's mocking my capital P -_- maybe.

But also, understood. Thanks for the clarifications mate!

In reply to Wendel (msg # 223):

how imPolite

Nah it just made me hear Tidelan as Gilderoy Lockhart for a little bit there

I think I said in general OOC a few weeks ago how my keyboard doesn't work very well...

That's not to say I couldn't have easily stolen a lower case letter from elsewhere [even in the first half of his questions], but I noticed that Wendel made a minor mistake, and so I decided to mock the hell out of him <3

Friendly mockery accepted :D
So this raises a question for me. Do you have a keyboard with both capitals and non capitals on it? I haven't seen one of those ever

No, I don't have such a thing; I doubt they exist; at least not in english, maybe in other languages? even then...

What I meant by 'stolen' was 'could have used the ctrl+c and ctrl+v feature' and by 'elsewhere' I meant 'somewhere on my screen, or somewhere in another tab'.

The saddest thing is I can't even make numbers without using ones on the right-hand side of the keyboard, which are majorly inconvenient.

Oftentimes I won't even include that accursed letter in my writings, because I'm just too lazy to go and get one, and my vocabulary is large enough to manage without.

Here; I'll rewrite this entire thing as I would have if I had the lost letter.

---

No, I don't have such a thing; I doubt they exist; at least not in english, maybe in other languages like japanese? Even then...

What I meant in my previous post by 'stolen', was 'could have copy and pasted' and by 'elsewher' I meant 'somewhere else on the page, or somewhere in another tab I have up'.

The saddest thing is I can't even print numbers without using the number pad, which are majorly inconvenient.

Oftentimes I won't even include the letter 'p' in my posts, because I'm just too lazy to copy one, and my vocabulary is expansive enough to manage without.

Here; I'll rewrite this entire post as I would have if I had the 'p' key.

Carmen is crouching within her square. I'm only 5 foot 3 tall so I should be totally concealed.

So, mechanically, prone or not prone?

Not prone

Alright, that's me. Gamble didn't pay off, time for you to finish this Carmen :D

I think you're better equipped to handle the future rounds anyway.

It was a bold move, hopefully we see more of this cunning from Wendel when we're in the field together!

That was an interesting fight. I'm wondering if the extra 7 to hit pushes it into a crit to be honest :)

Not how crits work, and dang are you trying to kill me outright with that wondering :P

IC crumple to death reply incoming shortly.

;)

/Evillaugh

So I wonder if we're going to see these two NPCs fight each other, there was a post by one of them but not the other. If there's a no show Victor is happy to step back into the ring and take their place :P

I'm controlling Kaern, and Narrator will be controlling Avreene. I may need to remind her to check the Arena thread, though!

GM vs GM, nice.

I think Avreene is going to win this bout

Inflict Wounds would have been nasty if it hit but Sleep is a great reply.

Daaaaamn Kaern is ice cold. Don't fall asleep when fighting him you guys!
This message was last edited by the player at 22:29, Wed 07 Apr 2021.

In reply to Victor Iusticia (msg # 241):

Well... that was unexpected

Nice fight, dms

19 Hit Points? <brushes his shoulder off> I'm good. LOL! j/k

But yeah...wow...
This message was last edited by the player at 22:39, Wed 07 Apr 2021.

I wonder who will fight each other in the next bracket. I kinda want to see a Malkus vs Izayah fight to be honest.

In reply to Victor Iusticia (msg # 244):

That was it for the first round. I'm sure Tidelan will announce the semifinal matches soon.

So we've got a paladin, a ranger, a warlock, and a wizard, right?

I'm not looking forward to being Izayah's favored enemy / pincushion, tbh

Kaern is a sorcerer, actually. And he doesn't stand a chance in round 2! Assuming Tidelan doesn't DQ him for attacking a sleeping opponent!

Hell Yeah! That was brutal and awesome :)



Not at all, lol :D

I'll edit this post in a few moments after rolling the second round matches <3

thank you all so much for participating so far :)))

---

That means 1 and 2 will fight, which is Malkus and Izayah (sorry Elisar!)

That leaves Carmen to fight Kaern :D

Semifinals Outcome:

quote:

MATCH 1 - Malkus vs Izayah Hamadrell
MATCH 2 - Carmen Diaz vs Kaern

This message was last edited by the player at 00:05, Thu 08 Apr 2021.

Nice match draw!

I'm a bit biased but I hope Malkus and Carmen make it to the final :)

In reply to Tidelan Wavyrus (msg # 247):

Lol! At least it means I have a guy in the final!

In reply to Conspirator (msg # 246):

The sleep spell is an awesome weapon if used correctly, so well played Kaern for using it. Cheap shot to attack afterwards though, especially as it wakes up your opponent!

Technically you’re not defeated even if the sleep spell puts you out...you could have enough HP to wake up after the strike and continue the fight.

In reply to Carmen Diaz (msg # 251):

Yeah, but your opponent has a full minute to wander over and slit your throat open!!!

In reply to Elisar Moonraven (msg # 252):

It only wakes up your opponent if they survive.

There are two situations where I wouldn't attack a sleeping opponent: When walking away is a valid option, or there's a rogue in my party who can do it instead :)

No prisoners, eh? A ransom might come in handy...

I assume any grapple checks would automatically succeed then you can just drag them out of the ring for a pacifist win.

In reply to Victor Iusticia (msg # 255):

Unless you cast that thorns spell on the floor first... }:)

Does that mean I can say Izayah has been back to town and finally bought what he's needed for a while now - rapiers instead of short swords? LOL!

Methinks this is going to hurt

In reply to Izayah Hamadrell (msg # 257):

You know that rapiers are Finesse but not Light, right? So no dual weapon wielding, unless you know something I don’t ;)

In reply to Elisar Moonraven (msg # 259):

I mean he's a ranger... He's probably covered.

I have no qualms about you upgrading your weapons, Izayah.

In reply to Elisar Moonraven (msg # 259):

IIIIIIIII know something yooouuuu don't knooowwwww....

Dual Wielder
You master fighting with two weapons, gaining the following benefits:
• You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
• You can use two-weapon fighting even when the onehanded melee weapons you are wielding aren’t light.
• You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one
This message was last edited by the player at 15:57, Sat 10 Apr 2021.

I mean, you'll probably still win anyway, but thank you. =)

While I'm certainly hoping I do, hopes != reality =)

In reply to Izayah Hamadrell (msg # 261):

Lol! Feats! Damn, I forgot about them buggers!

You're counted in and ready to roll initiative, guys!

Also, I (and Tidelan for that matter) would be pretty excited to have a battle against another level 4 character.

I know for a fact that this build is very strong at early tier play, but I'm also not conceited enough to claim victory beforehand. Neither is Tidelan, in this case.

Hence why I want to clarify that Tidelan's offer of a battle should either of you win would not be a public event, and would not at all impact your winnings or status as champion. He is also not claiming to be the reigning champion, but was simply stating he may be the strongest in town.

I'm personally very interested in a dynamic where Tidelan would submit to one who proves their superiority to him, as I think it would be a big step on the pathway I desire for this character (away from a wiseman-cum-warmonger, to an eventual embodiment of sylvan honor).

Also, (mock-)fighting other players is awesome and bonus xp is also excellent!

Anyway, don't think about that overmuch, and enjoy your fight :)))

In reply to Tidelan Wavyrus (msg # 265):

Oh don't worry, I was just trying to find the response that would call Tidelan out while being as socially graceful as I could.

=)

After all, Malkus doesn't need to come across as a jerk.

Aaaaaaand there's my good luck used up in the first rolls for initiative probably, lol!

Edit: Malkus - since Izayah won initiative, I hope you don't mind I went ahead and kicked it off.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Sat 10 Apr 2021.

In reply to Izayah Hamadrell (msg # 267):

Nope, not in the the least

Ouch! I'm hoping you used up your luck and can't do that again. One fewer attack, no advantage, and my AC is a bit tougher so we'll find out.

Yup. That's how it goes.

You think that's air that you're breathing?.....

Izayah's fighting style is the "Bus Ride Home"...nickels and dimes. Nickels and dimes.

Oh, and very low DC concentration checks...
This message was last edited by the player at 23:22, Sat 10 Apr 2021.

I was expecting at least some smite damage.

From Malkus? As soon as he hits me...

I'm surprised there was no Hunter's Mark/Favoured Foe, I suppose you're saving slots for something else? Throwing out a bunch of attacks is a solid strategy though.

I imagine Malkus's Smites will come through when he lands a crit.

...uh....that IS with Favored Enemy on there. +2 to damage, factored in. And yeah, Hunter's Mark is good and I probably should have. I was trying to press the advantage but...my dice luck is always like that, high initiative and then rollercoaster.

Ah, I must have missed it.

You'll eventually break his concentration this way too which could help.

I think you've got about 10 DPR while that Shield of Faith is up and Malkus has about 6 DPR outside of smites so I think you're in a pretty good position.

And that should just about do it. Next hit from Malkus will end the match.

Yeah, guided strike is going mess you up. You could still get lucky though :D

I'm thankful for that Shield spell. Great fight, Izayah!

You as well, Malkus. I knew Izayah wouldn't fare well against a paladin. They are able to nova very well.

Good effort Izayah!

In reply to Izayah Hamadrell (msg # 281):

Yeah, Palis can hit really hard for several rounds, but don't have a ton of staying power. Once our spells are used up, we're basically just less-effective fighters.

Other than Lay on Hands, it was in my best interest not to let the fight last very long.  As Victor mentioned, your damage per round was about 50% higher than mine over the long haul.

Either way, that was a great fight and I didn't go into it overly-confident of victory.

I think you both have the right attitude. Malkus was favored I believe, but not to any extent where he was certain to win. I'd say there was a decent chance the dice could have determined the victory... Especially so if Malkus acted carelessly, which is why the Lay on Hands was a cautious and worthwhile play.

Good fight you two! I'm excited to see how you'll fair against the winner of this next match in the finals :)

Also, Carmen you're up against Kaern now :D Good luck, I'm rooting for the player character (Tidelan is neutral though, ha ha)

A word of (likely unnecessary) advice; This guy is apparently a sorcerer, which have a really terrible number of spells. I believe this NPC is of a level 1 or 2 character only, so he shouldn't have more than three spells, and three slots (maybe as few as 2 and 2). If we include his 2 sorcery points, he will actually have the possibility of a 4th slot.

I don't really know anything about sorcerer subclasses (I personally despise the class and never play or think of them), but I did some research and of the most dangerous ones to watch out for, I'd say:

1. Aberrant Mind since it gets three useful combat spells

2. Storm Sorcery since it will make it hard for you to remain in melee (I recall you are a hexblade? so you may be stuck with regular old eldritch blasts)

3. Shadow Magic because it appears surprisingly strong what with darkness spell at 1st level (and the ability to cast it normally or directly with sorcery points. he also won't be affected by his own spell if cast the latter way) plus strength of the grave is a pseudo-relentless rage again at 1st level.

4. Divine Soul because it can make a vital attack hit or a vital save succeed, plus it basically makes him half cleric. scary stuff.

5. Draconic Bloodlines improves his HP and AC, which probably won't matter too much, but worth bringing up.

Regardless of whatever subclass he has, keep in mind to not let your guard down, because even if you run him out of resources completely, it will probably mean you will be low on health. If so, he has access to a large number of cantrips and may even choose to attack with a dagger if backed into such a corner. While neither are majorly effective techniques, they could be the different between victory and defeat if it comes down to the wire between you two in your fight.

They have more spells than a warlock does for sure :)

But their cantrips are deadly even so...

Oh yeah- That's true, isn't it?

I may just be biased then- I've heard nothing but bad reviews on their power level as a class; but I could be mistaken, I've not played one myself before, and I don't actually follow nearly any of their subclass content.

GL!

Sorcerer often get seen as a lackluster wizard but the two new subclasses in Tasha's feel a lot more compelling to me both in terms of RP and power, particularly the Aberrant Mind.

Assuming Victor survives that long, I'll probably have him multiclass into Clockwork Soul Sorcerer.

I'm not sure anyone beats warlocks when it comes to deadly cantrips, if only due to Agonizing Blast and other invocations that make eldritch blast better. BTW, shadow sorcerers don't get darkness until level 3. Kaern is level 1.

Eldritch Blast with Agonising Blast is right up there with a Two-Handed Weapon Fighter of similar level, I think they set the baseline for what is considered powerful for sustained damage.

Congratulats, btw to Malkus! You got 200xp for the fight, and Izayah got 100!

In reply to Conspirator (msg # 290):

Thanks!

Damn, Carmen, nicely done. That was brutal.

Glad you got your aggression out on him instead of me...

Luck rolls, could have been a whiff for sure.

One point higher on that dice roll and it would have been a crit....would have been a death scene!

So ... You are why we don't have nice things?

This is why we like her on our team. Sucks to be one of her bounties...

I've realized that Carmen actually posted her first turn before I did a countdown.

How about we all agree that she didn't attack until after Tidelan finished his countdown? (I can edit my last post to include that for posterity's sake, if anyone desires).

Otherwise, she'd be dishonorably disqualified from the tournament...

Let's assume the countdown happened.

agreed lol

No objections there.

Yikes...I'm sure I did wait. Was I too eager to thrust my spear through Kaern's heart? Maybe!

I thought the arena should be renamed to Kaern's Cairn :)

Kaern's lucky. Two more damage, and he'd have died!

Okay! Moving on to the finals! Carmen will be doing battle against Malkus! And vice versa!

IC Post incoming :)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:23, Thu 15 Apr 2021.

Dammit! I was hoping to get to 4th level before my fight so it would be more interesting :)

I don't mind waiting, but it's Malkus' call.

By "interesting" do you mean "darkness?" That sounds... less than interesting.

How far out away are you? Like, if you're close just use level four stats early, I guess?

It's about 600xp away but it's all good. I mean, it's not like it's level restricted as an arena. We knew we were outmatched from the start!

In reply to Carmen Diaz (msg # 307):

Up to you, but close enough I don't mind if you want to "level" for this fight.

It's all fun for me =)

Niiiice.

Go Carmen!

Alrighty :)

Let's see how interesting this gets! Gotta do the level ups etc, shouldn't take more than a day.

Hmm, as it turned out, it took less than 30 mins, lol. There's a lot to be said for Aurora!

Cool. So I assume you're warlock 1 | sorcerer 3 now?

Opposite way around

Interesting, can't wait to see what you can do :)

I've missed a lot but just a quick question. Was pre fight prep permitted in this one? Because if not, Carmen may have violated the rules by having a familiar out and about ahead of time

Isn't a familiar already with you?

I think it was only if agreed, otherwise you had to summon it from the pocket dimension as part of your turn.

Edit: copy paste from other thread,



I think it's an action to hide, Malkus can try to attack what he can't see but with Carmen being total obscured I think his attacks will be with disadvantage.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Fri 16 Apr 2021.

That's why I thought the stealth check was appropriate. He's likely going to want to percieve me so I rolled an opposed Stealth check to help out. Maybe there's just a set DC though. Didn't want to slow things down.

I guess since I missed, its not like the round turns out any different if I used my action to summon the familiar from the pocket dimension. I hadn't considered it pre-fight prep, it's just like saying you need to put on your magic items/armour at the start of the arena combat but I'll follow whatever rules are in place.

I think the Familiar specific ruling being pre-fight prep was made by Tidelan at some point but fair point.

I think Tidelan's judgement on limiting pre-fight prep to one thing ahead of time by agreement is a good idea, especially moving forward as we get access to higher level spells. That being said, having a special show match were both sides power up Dragonball Z style could be pretty fun.

Edit: check msg #16 in this thread for what Tidelan was saying.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:45, Fri 16 Apr 2021.

Thanks for finding that! Ok, well I guess instead of the EB, Carmen ends up summoning the familiar from its pocket dimension. Ignore the fluff about the cloak etc, though it did sound cool to me at the time :)

Unless you're trying to hide something from him, PM Tidelan. Within the Arena, he needs to know what's going on!

So I guess I have some questions:

1. What's the range on my Perception? I certainly can't pinpoint Carmen across a thirty-foot sphere with my nose or ears (I'm not a bat).

2. Is performing the Perception check my action or bonus action for the round? Bonus question: if it is neither, how many times can I perform it per round?

3. Carmen, you didn't tell me what square you started in. I'm happy to edit my initial post if that's information my character wouldn't have.

4. So what things took place during your turn? I'm still waking up but am not following. You cast Find Familiar. You used your cloak to cast Darkness (nice cloak!). You hexblade-cursed me. You attacked me. You moved. Am I missing anything?

There are probably more questions once I get these answered.

3. I started in E3
4. I summoned my familiar, it flew up 5', cast darkness (15' radius, magical darkness), hexblade cursed you, then moved. I've PM'd the arena master of my location.

The other 2 questions I'd have to bow down to an adjudicator! (GM or Arena master if he has the authority to rule on such things).
This message was last edited by the player at 09:03, Fri 16 Apr 2021.

In reply to Carmen Diaz (msg # 323):

Got it, thanks. Sorry, I haven't played much 5e.

5. Was Find Familiar cast as a ritual spell or something?

6. Does the familiar act on your turn, or have it's own initiative?

5. Once summoned, it’s permanent. The arena rules allow for use of a familiar but it must be in its own pocket dimension and summoning it costs an action.

6. Good question. For simplicity I kept it all together on my turn. I understand that you may want the familiar to have it’s own initiative for round one given the timing implications. I’ll await the arena master/GM call on this.

I rolled initiative for the familiar just in case. It’s better than you or I so I’m assuming it could act before your actions.

17:17, Today: Carmen Diaz rolled 10 using 1d20+1.  Familiar initiative if required. – [roll=1618564634.86199.352983]

One thing you might also want to keep in mind is that when using the grid, because diagonals don't count as extra distance, circles are squares and spheres are cubes :)

Since these are more general rules, I will ceremoniously hand them over to the GM to answer.

---

Also, how did Carmen cast darkness and summon a familiar in the same round ? Aren't both of those things actions ? I heard something about a cloak with a special ability ?
This message was last edited by the player at 15:03, Fri 16 Apr 2021.

I didn’t cast darkness. Cue familiar.

Ah, I see.

Since the familiar has a higher Initiative it wouldn't get to do the darkness thing after being summoned, its turn already passed at that point and it would be able to go at the top of the round next time I believe

This is why familiars acting on the masters turn makes so much more sense.