Decided to post the OOC first this time, so we can discuss things while we see if anyone else wants to join.

A few questions for each of you before we begin:

First, If I roll no random encounters, would you like me to create a combat (or other type, depending on your next answer) encounter anyway, or just grant the XP and gold for an uneventful patrol and possible start another patrol immediately?

Second, if there are encounters, would you prefer a focus on combat encounters, social encounters, or a mystery to solve?

Third, considering at least one of you is already level 2, would you like to leave as soon as you've all answered these questions, or wait for a fourth player?

1. I like the idea of getting the free gold and XP, and then immediately reapplying. I don't know how likely this is, but it would be a nice little bonus, since we wouldn't actually end up not doing anything (well IC it would be uneventful, but would be timeskipped so from a player perspective it would be like getting free stuff and then starting the patrol)

So, I'm strongly in favor of the latter option, if this comes up.

2. I like all three of those ideas, since Larwick can certainly deal damage, and has a high charisma. The mystery could also be really fun, but I don't know how much time I'd want to spend on a low level quest like this... so if it's a complex mystery, it could end up tiresome for the party...

So, my preference is either combat or social. Though, combat is much more straightforward than some types of social encounters, so it may be a better starting point for a new character whose personality and responses I haven't fully developed yet.

3. I think we are probably strong enough, but it's up to the others. The strength of a level 2 character over a level 1 is pretty high, but whether or not it can make up for two whole other characters probably depends on what class features are unlocked.

1. I like the idea of a created encounter. But if we can do a quick cash in and go again to get to the next part, that works for me. I know I'd love to hit 4th, but that is a ways to go.

2. Doesn't have to be combat, but I like the idea of a story hook even if it is a short story. Mystery works rather well for that. Plus it can have all three things listed depending on how social interaction goes or some superb negotiating in a battle with something that can be reasoned with.

3. That's me! Artificer 1 + Forge Cleric 1. Wanted to get the multi locked in and towards the Artificer archetype sooner than later. I can tank, but I'm also a healer. I just have crap for personality as Cha was the dump stat. So someone else will be doing the negotiating. But 6 Cantrips and 10 spells with 3 1sts per long rest at my disposal.

If there is a 4th ready and willing I can wait for them. No rush here.

Action economy is the big thing. If the level two character only attacks once, their not nearly as good as two level ones.

A fourth has been added. Its 1AM for me, so we won't be starting the adventure until I've had some sleep.

Hi all.

FYI, Golun is a cleric and also a tank. He’s a bear for gods sake!!!

GM, I’m happy with whatever you want to throw at us. If nothing appears then I guess we get a some freebie XP and cash, but if so I would look to patrol again immediately to get to lvl 2+.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:12, Sun 02 May 2021.

It's four AM over here. I was joking with my family earlier (technically yesterday, i guess!) that I've basically added 12 hours to my sleep schedule, but that's actually turning out to be horribly accurate.

My body is telling me that it's four PM right now. Yare yare daze.



I think it's purely beneficial from an OOC perspective, and the only difference in-game would be we'd have had an uneventful trip, which doesn't seem like a harmful story beat.

As a side note, I actually prefer created encounters over random encounters, since I think the GM's creativity can shine through more with those. But, I don't think that's what they were offering, they were saying if they don't roll any random encounters, then they can make one custom one...

So, I guess in a sense we would be losing out on the possibilities of custom encounters for the sake of a free set of rewards... I don't know if that was the GM's intentions or not, but that's how my current interpretation of their words appears.

In that case, it's hard to say which is preferable, since this is all hypothetical and reliant on them not rolling any random encounters (which I don't know the probability of, but I'd presume it's a rather low chance). In my case, since Larwick isn't level 2 yet, the free rewards to push him to 2nd level is super appealing... but from a perspective of my overall enjoyment as a player, the possibility for unique encounters and story hooks are highly appealing...

Though, the allure of an unfolding story is drastically decreased for me, because at this moment Larwick is a brand new character and I feel like powering him up a little before engaging heavily with him in roleplay or long quests, if that makes sense?

Frankly, that might be an unfounded caution, since I'm sure I'd end up enjoying it all anyway, but I can't help but be wary of that, as most of the quests I've taken have run long... When that happens, it can cause long waits to reach the milestones where a character's power can increase.

That's the major reason why I decided to do a bunch of re-equipping at Jessop's, even though it puts me in a perilous position with this fellow's finances. Since I plan on going along with this whatever the decided outcome is, I decided to play it safe and by subpar equipment that is objectively a waste of money if I resell it (which I would absolutely once Larwick gets his first pay day), just in case the perimeter patrol spiraled out of control without a sense to return to town with new funds and restock.

It's unlikely, but it could definitely happen. So, I feel like my worries are mostly assuaged now, since Larwick at least has passable gear for the moment.

TBH: It's majorly annoying that the hexblade warlock starts with medium armor and martial weapon proficiencies, but doesn't get any as starting equipment... I guess it makes sense, because IIRC there is a way to manually buy your equipment, but I don't remember how to do that, and i think it was an optional rule anyway, so I couldn't rely on it.



100% agree! This is exactly my point :)

There are a couple of cheap martial weapons, war pick and pike only 5gp each. Not great, but a start...

Hi all, Narbu's a melee ranger (though he can definitely handle some ranged attacks), and not the most social of creatures.

1) I don't mind either way, and wouldn't know the difference between a random and planned encounter (isn't a random encounter also planned, just not tied to a specific timing?). Coming back for another patrol after an uneventful one is fine.

2) Any and all! I don't want to know what's coming unless my character has gathered information first.

3) Moot now. :)

I roll to determine whether or not there will be an encounter, and when, then build a custom encounter for the situation. Narrator created a random encounter chart, and re-rolls if the party has already had a certain encounter, plus has set encounters tied to specific places. Since she runs all the exploration quests, and I mostly run stuff near town, that seems to work pretty well. On the occasions I get to take a party out to unexplored territory, I also have encounters tied to certain places, but I still prefer custom building random encounters, though it does sometimes slow things down.

I usually prepare a custom random encounter table for each area, and then roll to see whether there's an encounter, but I'm usually working with an area that won't be traversed many times, so the encounter list can be quite short. For larger areas, longer encounter lists take more time to prepare, but they offer a good vehicle for some worldbuilding. Lots of ways to run things, though. :)

In reply to Narbu Thalikko (msg # 10):

I quite enjoy scrolling through the monster books and finding weird stuff then going “oooh, that looks fun, let’s go and throw that at the party and see what happens!”

When I ran the Returner FFRPG it did not have an established bestiary, but rules and formulae to quickly make monsters as you went. Really kept the party on their toes when they couldn't have any idea what the next encounter could be, but knowledge skills still existed to help. One of the players even made a simple program I could run on my laptop to quickly spawn things as needed.

Does someone more face-y want to step up to greet our suspicious stranger, or should the no-nonsense goliath just holler at him?

Larwick can be a decent face, but he's already decided to stand back.

I don't think it matters if you holler at him, 'cause if he's not up to anything and is just a regular joe, he'll explain himself without getting riled up by your attitude.

At least, if he decides to be difficult, Larwick would argue we'd have 'just cause' to dispose of him... though a more good-aligned party member may disagree with that :wink:

That brings up the interesting social dynamic we have going on:
- An elf with terrible people skills and rambles.
- A seemingly polite giant goliath
- A huge freaking bear in armor
- A devilman with a cockney accent

Matters who has any Persuasion or Intimidation, I guess?

Haha what a great party!

Larwick has a +3 to Persuasion, and a +5 to Deception and Intimidation.

He can definitely be the face, if you guys want, but he'd be shouting from a distance of 60 ft, since he wants to stay out of attack range, while retaining the ability to attack himself.

I don't know why I thought he couldn't speak earlier, those two things aren't mutually exclusive LMAO. We're on patrol anyway, so we don't need to sneak around either.

Post incoming.

Also, the accent is kind of meant to be Southern American, but I've also been writing it a bit weird, so it does sort of sound Cockney! Either interpretation is fine, since it's not likely to be an exact match in-world anyway, due to linguistic development, and the fact that we're not technically speaking ' English ' in the first place, lol.

Ah, I seem to have been quicker to the draw there, didn't see this last post until I finished. Sorry (but not sorry, because chaos is fun).

Narbu's nice enough, but he has an 8 charisma, no social skills, lived off the land as a hermit for long periods of time, and is usually bigger and scarier than whoever he's talking to. So.. you get that.

In reply to Qitris (msg # 15):

And tonight the role of Larwick will be played by Dick van Dyke...!

Haha no worries! If you end up having to roll intimidation, the GMs might let you use strength instead of charisma, so even if you roll low, you probably won't roll low enough to throw off a juicy 25.

Confirmed; Cockney devilman spookier than giant goliath?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:36, Mon 03 May 2021.

In reply to Narbu Thalikko (msg # 17):

More charming than Qitris' 7 Charisma. =D Working a forge and studying arcane constructions was much more fun than silly things like having friends and being social.

Edit: Chaotic urge to use thaumaturgy for fun and profit foiled by the voice amplifier only being usable on one's self.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:49, Mon 03 May 2021.

Sorry, I didn't mention: if you're not sneaking, than anyone close enough to be seen, can see you, assuming there is sufficient light, they aren't blind, and you aren't invisible.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:20, Wed 05 May 2021.

Two things:

1 - how far away is this man?

2 - is it too late to use Vigilant Blessing to give myself Advantage on Initiative?

Narbu will act after the man's turn.

09:20, Today: Narbu Thalikko rolled 6 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.

I'll be going after the man, too. Barely.

11:18, Today: Qitris rolled 12 using 1d20+2 ((10)).

Going after the fella :) Also, I told this guy not to run, and here he goes anyway? Someone has a defiance disorder.... lol

15:24, Today: Larwick rolled 7 using 1d20.  initiative.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Wed 05 May 2021.

At the time of initiative, he's about 60 feet away, and you may use vigilant blessing this time, but in the future please use it before we announce initiative. Its not like it wears out or there's a limit to how many times a day you can use it.

In reply to Conspirator (msg # 26):

That is fair, thanks.

I think we're waiting on adjudication?

Just checking, but which countries are each of you from, again (remember, you don't have to pick from the ones already named, if you don't want.)

Narbu's from the foothills of the Umbretal Mountains, but he's traveled in various unknown places for a few years.

Larwick came straight here from Zantum, the capital of Alemakia :D

He probably visited some smaller towns near Zantum, depending on if better work was available there, but the criminal headquarters he was a part of , and his personal residence were both in the capital.

This is his first time leaving Alemakia.

Also, I threw together some crap in ms paint. I was hoping a GM could check it out to make sure I have the correct geographic alignment of the region (I'm not really worried about scale, since it's not been divulged yet): https://i.imgur.com/6eC6Nyj.png

Nope. If you look at our game map, the city of Estro (Alemakia's southernmost city) occupies a the area just off the bottom-left side of the map between the Umbretals and the sea. The Shifting Dunes of Darua lie between Alemakia and Wuaden, and run perpendicular to the Umbretals.

BTW, Living in the Capitol, Larwick has been around enough people from to different cultures to recognize how the most common ones talk. This guys accent is a pretty good fake Wuadenian, though "the man, Smith," is a construction most common in those from midwest Varna.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:30, Mon 17 May 2021.

Just wait this guy is just a normal dude who can't even use the crossbow he's firing and is only hesitating to say anything because he's embarrassed about getting lost from the boy scouts or smth while we're all just dragging him through the mud, half of us are straight up threatening to tear him to shreds, and at least one of us actually means it.

Best worst patrol group ever >:D
This message was last edited by the player at 06:15, Tue 18 May 2021.

In reply to Larwick (msg # 33):

Maybe next time he’ll learn to hide better!

In reply to Conspirator (msg # 29):

Somewhere in Varna for both the hometown and the temple. Specific locations not yet determined as mind is occupied with IRL stuffs.

In reply to Conspirator (msg # 29):

From The Mistvale in the far north.

Qitris would also recognize the speech pattern as rural midwestern Varnese.

Welcome back everyone! So, does our group want to do this in public or in secret?

Since we're getting a free chance to do this covertly, Larwick would definitely vote for doing this all quiet and away from public eyes. You know, in case things get violent.

I guess we put it to a vote?

In reply to Larwick (msg # 38):

Private. Keep it in the Patrol thread so nothing gets mixed up.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:57, Thu 15 July 2021.

Agreed, if only to keep things from getting confusing in there.

Apologies, back from holiday but ipad busted so posting may be sporadic still...

No worries. I'm not sure what else there is for Larwick to do ATM, so im semi-afk on this questline.

In reply to Larwick (msg # 42):

You're Bad Cop!!!

Haha for sure :)

But, I can't really bring this any further without breaking the game rating except by 'cutting to black', and I don't really have any desire to do that either, since they're now fully cooperating.

BTW, still haven't figured out where to take this character. I've decided on running him with a cruel streak, but I'm not sure what mood I'm going for with him.

Do I want him to be sympathetic, as someone struggling with what basically surmounts to a mental illness (in this case, demonic ancestry influencing his mind)

Do I want him to be a selfish and distasteful person who has always taken every opportunity to satisfy his evil urges?

I've run gray-morality mercenaries before, but they always tend more towards 'Han Solo' than generic bad guy #5123

Basically struggling to find any personality traits for this demon boi... thoughts would be appreciated.

In reply to Larwick (msg # 44):

You could go the route of inner dialogue and have conflicting conversations with himself in his mind to show inner turmoil. Good way to explore options by writing them out and then either go with "good" or "bad" Lar's option or go chaotic and take a third path.

I'm still hashing out how Qi's low Cha works out. Instead of being mousy or shy she's very aggressive and short-tempered, but... backs down easy? High Int and Wis, so possibly someone wanting to be more confident and really not going about it the right way?

That makes a lot of sense. I can definitely relate to 'fake' confidence, wherein you try and pretend to be cool until things get seriously edgy, and then you quietly back down while trying to avoid anyone noticing you were just acting tough. Remember that anxiety from elementary school...

As for how that could apply to Qitris, 'acting tough' is a hilarious gag in lots of the DND i've seen been played. And, if you ever find yourself wanting an extra dash of character development, you could have her try and turn a new leaf of earnesty after getting some advice from a mentor (say... a lovely genasi shaman who just so happens to be in town :P)

I like the idea of inner turmoil quite a bit, but I figure I probably need something else to show on the outside, since he'd be keeping a stiff upper lip so to speak... Maybe he has a soft spot for X, or a specific hatred against Y?

Maybe both... Yeah, that could work.

Perhaps given his backstory, he has a specific appreciation for generous people and hates to see them get taken advantage of, but also given the same backstory, he has a specific disdain for those who betray allies.

Another idea: definitely would be pretty fun to play a guy who isn't scared of nothing, since he already thinks himself to be 'bound for hell'... would be a lot more damn impactful than it would normally be, considering he DOES have demon blood in his veins...

Thanks for the push! The ideas are brewing now :wink:

Some simple characterization questions to go on: What do you like? What do you fear? What are you proud of? What are you ashamed of?

I'm guessing that this mission is nearly concluded so we should be free to sign up for the Redfoot scrap...

You guys are done!

Hurrah!

Thanks all, that was fun!

Glad you enjoyed :D