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[D&D 4E] The Twisting Halls (An Introductory D&D Essentials Adventure)
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Warabit:
Does this sound like what you have in mind for your character?
If not, go back and make a new choice.
If so, read on:
You stand up in the wagon and draw forth your wand or staff--an arcane implement that helps you cast your spells--from the back of the wagon.
In game terms, you just used a minor action (drawing an implement) and a move action (standing up from your seated position). Each time it's your turn in a combat encounter like this, you can take three actions--a move action, a minor action, and a standard action. Attacking is a standard action, so you still have time to attack on your turn.
When you make an attack with a spell, you roll a twenty-sided die and add your attack modifier. Here's how to determine your attack modifier:
First, write down your character's Intelligence score on your character sheet. Since you're an elf, your Intelligence is 18, and your Intelligence modifier is +4. However, if you want to change your character's race, you can.
Your attack modifier is the same as your Intelligence modifier. Now you get to decide which spell to cast!
Your character knows that these goblins aren't a significant threat, and it's probably not worth using your most powerful spells against them. Fortunately, your spellbook contains everything from mighty spells so difficult to cast that you can only muster the energy to do so once each day (called daily spells) to lesser spells that you can cast with hardly more than a word or a gesture (called at-will spells). In between are moderately powerful spells you can cast as often as you like, as long as you take a few minutes between castings to rest your mind and review the spell in your spellbook. (These are called encounter spells, because you can normally cast them once per encounter.)
Part of being a wizard is identifying the right tool for the job. What would you like to do?
Do you want to blast some of the goblins swarming the wagon with a spell that affects an area?
Do you want to concentrate on the archer in the distance?
bratr:
Does this sound like what you have in mind for your character?
If not, go back and make a new choice.
If so, read on:
You draw your dagger, leap down from the wagon, and sneak around toward the nearest goblin.
In game terms, you've just used a minor action (drawing your dagger) and a move action (sneaking up to a goblin). Each time it's your turn in a combat encounter like this, you can take three actions--a move action, a minor action, and a standard action. Attacking is a standard action, so you still have time to attack on your turn.
When you make an attack with a weapon, you roll a twenty-sided die and add your attack modifier. Here's how to determine your attack modifier:
First, write down your character's Dexterity score on your character sheet. Since you're a halfling, your Dexterity is 18, and your Dexterity modifier is +4. However, if you want to change your character's race, you can.
Starting with your Dexterity modifier, you then add +3 to determine your attack bonus. That's because you're wielding a dagger, which is a very precise weapon even if it doesn't deal much damage. Your total will be +7.
Now roll a twenty-sided die, also called the d20, and add your attack modifier.
What did you roll?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Attack Goblin Archer: 1d20+4 19
The phantasmal force spell creates an illusion of a terrible moster that threatens your target. If the attack hits, the target believes the illusion is real and takes damage. If you want to try this, write down phantasmal force on your character sheet as one of the powers you know.
The magic missle spell has a simple, reliable effect: a magical bolt of energy streaks toward your foe and hits it, dealing a small amount of damage. This spell has the benefit that it never misses its target, If you want to do this, write down magic missle as one of the powers you know.
Do you want to cast phantasmal force?
Do you want to cast magic missle?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Attack Goblin Archer: 1d20+4 19
Monster attacks work pretty much the same way as your attacks do: the monster rolls a d20 and adds its attack modifier. It compares the result to one of your defenses--in this case, your Armor Class (AC).
When you attacked the goblin, you were also comparing your result against its AC, which was a 15. As a rogue, you wear light leather armor that doesn't interfere with your ability to jump around or hide. Leather armor gives you a base AC of 12, and you add your Dexterity modifier to that number for a total of 16.
I roll a d20 and add the goblin's attack modifier of +5. If it gets a total equal to or better than your AC, it hits you.
Goblin attacking Flipan: 1d20+5 19
The goblin's sword bites into you, but it's just a minor wound. Pain shoots up your leg from the attack, but you can fight on.
The goblin's attack does 4 damage to you. (Minion monsters don't roll damage like you do, but other monsters do.) You can take a lot more damage than that before you fall unconscious. Your hit points measure how much damage you can take. The goblin's damage is subtracted from your hit points, but you'll get them back soon enough.
Because you're a rogue, you start with hit points equal to your Constitution score + 12. Write down your character's Constitution score on your character sheet. Since you're a halfling, your Constitution is 13, your Constitution modifier is +1, and you have 25 hit points.
Make sure you write down your full normal hit point total. Then, in the space for "Current Hit Points" write down the total after subtracting the damage dealt by the goblin.
You should also note your bloodied value, which is one-half your full normal hit points (rounded down). When your hit points are reduced to that number or lower, you're bloodied--and that's a sign that you might be in trouble.
Now it's your turn again! Your options this time depend a bit on what kind of rogue you think your character is.
If you see yourself as strong and athletic, you can try to use your superior strength to overpower a goblin and create a bit of space between you and your enemies. Do you want to bump and run?
Or you could use your training in acrobatics and tumbling to go on the defensive. Do you want to perform a defensive strike?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Flipan attacks in a carefully. Concentrating on being able to defend against the goblin's next attack. Staying on his toes ready to quickly leap away.
Defensive Strike
You hit the goblin! It believes the illusion is real and falls back from the attack.
Whenever you hit with an attack, you roll another die to see how much damage you deal. Since you used phantasmal force, you roll a ten-sided die (a d10). You add your Intelligence modifier (+4) to the damage.
Your damage isn't enough to defeat the goblin archer. This goblin has 31 hit points. A creature's hit points measure how much damage it can take before it loses a fight. The damage you dealt is subtracted from the goblin's hit points.
You don't need to keep track of the goblins' hit points in this fight, because the goblins aren't going to stick around long enough to run out of hit points.
Your spell draws the attention of the goblin archer, who knocks another arrow and takes aim at you.
Now it's the goblins' turn to act. Several of the nasty little creatures are swarming around the wagon, but they're keeping their distance from you, having seen what you can do with your magic. The goblin archer, though, takes careful aim and looses another arrow at you!
Monster attacks work pretty much the same way as your attacks do: the monster rolls a d20 and compares it to one of your defenses--in this case, your Armor Class (AC).
As a wizard, you don't wear heavy armor--you have nothing but your clothes, your reflexes, and your wits to protect you. Your AC is 10 + your Intelligence modifier.
I roll a d20 for the goblin's attack, adding its attack modifier of +7. If the goblin gets a total equal to or greater than your AC, it hits you.
Goblin archer attacking Edendir: 1d20+7 16
The goblin's arrow cuts across your arm, dealing a light wound to you. You feel a jolt of pain, but you can fight on.
The arrow deals 1d6 (one six-sided die) + 3 damage to you. Fortunately, you can take more damage than that before you fall unconscious. Your hit points measure how much damage you can take. The goblin's damage is subtracted from your hit points, but you'll get them back soon enough.
Goblin archer's damage: 1d6+3 5
Because you're a wizard, you start with hit points equal to your Constitution score + 10. Write down your character's Constitution score on your character sheet. Since you're an elf, your Constitution is 12, your Constitution modifier is +1, and you have 22 hit points.
Make sure you write down your full normal hit point total. Then, in the space for "Current Hit Points", write down the total after subtracting the damage you took from the goblin's arrow.
You should also note your bloodied value, which is one-half your full normal total hit points (round down). When your hit points are reduced to that number or lower, you're bloodied--and that's a sign that you might be in trouble.
It's your turn again! Remember that you can use a standard action, a move action, and a minor action on your turn. However, you have such a good vantage point where you are so there's not much reason to move, and there's nothing you really need to do with a minor action. You can concentrate on casting another spell against the goblins.
Because you're using at-will spells, you can use the same spell over and over, but it's worth trying something different so you can learn more about what your various spells do and how they work.
Do you want to blast some of the goblins swarming the wagon with a spell that affects an area?
Do you want to continue concentrating on the goblin archer in the distance?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
You have chosen to go with the acrobatic option for your rogue. Write down defensive strike on your character sheet under "Powers and Feats".
Defensive strike, in addition to dealing damage, grants you a +1 power bonus to all of your defenses until the end of your next turn. That's huge. Not only do you get to try to reduce the number of goblins swarming around you, but you wind up making yourself harder to hit for an entire turn!
Roll a d20 and add your attack bonus. You need a roll of 15 or better to hit the goblin.
If you hit, you deal damage. For this attack, that's 1d4 + your Dexterity modifier. Since this goblin is a minion, it doesn't matter how much damage you deal. Minions fall when they take 1 point of damage.
You go on the defensive, expertly countering each attack made against you by the swarming goblins. The goblins hesitate, glancing around at their comrades and then looking back at you. Suddenly the goblins realize that capturing this wagon isn't going to be as easy as they thought. They turn and run, scattering in all directions.
The whinny of a horse catches your ear, and as you look around for the source of the sound, you see a rider at the crest of a low hill, a few hundred yards away. The rider seems to be human, but as the goblins flee, he shakes his fist in frustration. His jet black horse rears and whinnies again, and the rider's red cloak billows behind him in the wind. Then the horse gallops off toward the southwest, into the Moon Hills.
You'll never catch the mysterious rider on foot, but determining his identity might bring some insight into the reasons for this attack on the merchant's wagon. This is a major quest you can note on your character sheet: find the mysterious rider and learn his identity.
Congratulations! You've completed your first encounter. For driving off the goblins, you receive 100 Experience Points (XP). Each time you complete an encounter or a quest, you gain XP. When you earn enough XP, you gain a level, which is one of the biggest rewards you can receive for your success in the game. Each time you go up a level, your character improves in several ways--your attack bonus, defenses, and ability scores increase, and you learn new powers.
When a combat encounter ends, you usually have a chance to take a short rest. A short rest lets you recover hit points you lost and regain encounter powers you used up. You didn't use any encounter powers in the fight, but if you took damage, here's how to heal up so your're ready for the next encounter.
You regain hit points by spending healing surges. Each time you spend a healing surge, you regain hit points equal to one-quarter of your normal maximum hit points. Make a note on your character sheet of your healing surge value (1/4 of your hit points, rounded down).
Each day, you can spend a number of healing surges based on your class and your Constitution score.
Since you are a rogue, you have 6 surges, plus your Constitution modifier (+1), for a total of 7 surges per day.
During a short rest, you can spend as many healing surges as you want or need to, in order to get your hit points back up to their normal maximum. Since you've taken damage, spend surges to heal that damage. Keep track of how many surges you've used.
The merchant is not seriously injured, but as the goblins run away he glances into the back of the wagon and swears vigorously. "They stole it!" he shouts. Then he turns to you. "You... you were incredible in that fight. You probably saved my life. But I need your help again. The goblins stole something from the back of my wagon--something precious. I need to get it back."
How would your character respond to the desperate merchant's plea for help?
Do you immediately volunteer to help?
Do you ask, "What's in it for me?"
Do you promise to bring the goblins to justice for this crime?
Do you wish the merchant luck and climb back in the wagon?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Thats right, run away, don't mess with a halfling.
Feeling adrenaline and excitement coursing through his veins, Flipan considers chasing after the goblins, but settles for sticking his tongue out at their backs. He sees the mysterious cloaked rider. Flipan shudders, not the nicest seeming man. He goes back to think about how he fought of the goblins.
And Stab and Slash YAH Flipan swings the dagger around. He halts mid movement realizing the merchant is talking to him.
"Blah Blah Blah, retrieve an item"
Oooh I wonder if its shiny, it be fun chasing down the goblins too, but I ain't doing something for nothing.
"Alright, but what's in it for me?""
Traevus nods at your question, thinks for a moment, then promises you a reward of 30 gold pieces if you return the stolen item. "It's a small wooden box with a lock," he explains. He asks you not to look in the box if you find it, though, blushing slightly as he explains that the contents are personal.
This is another major quest you can add to your character sheet.
Most adventurers who are driven primarily by self-interest are unaligned. Alignment is a simplified designation of your character's dedication to a set of moral principles, or lack of dedication to any principles. Unaligned characters don't actively seek to harm others or wish them ill, but they also don't go out of their way to put themselves at risk without some hope for reward. They support law and order when it's to their benefit, but they're primarily concerned with their own freedom, without worrying too much about protecting the freedom of others.
If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "unaligned" in the alignment space on your character sheet. If you'd like to consider other alignment options:
Good characters believe it is right to aid and protect those in need, which certainly seems to describe this situation. If you're good, you're not required to sacrifice yourself to help others or to completely ignore your own needs, but you might be asked to place others' needs above your own... in some cases, even if that means putting yourself in harm's way. In many ways, that's the essence of being a heroic adventurer: this merchant can't defend himself from the goblins or fight them to retrieve his stolen goods, so you volunteer to track them down at significant personal risk. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "good" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
Lawful good characters respect the authority of personal codes of conduct, laws, and leaders, and they believe that those codes are the best way of achieving their ideals. Just authority promotes the well-being of its subjects and prevents them from harming one another. Lawful good characters believe strongly in the value of life, and they put tremendous emphasis on the need for the powerful to protect the weak and lift up the downtrodden. The exemplars of the lawful good alignment are shining champions of what's right, honorable, and true, risking or even sacrificing their lives to stop the spread of evil in the world. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "lawful good" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
Unaligned characters don't actively seek to harm others or wish them ill, but they also don't go out of their way to put themselves at risk without some hope for reward. They support law and order when it's to their benefit, but they're primarily concerned with their own freedom, without worrying too much about protecting the freedom of others. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "unaligned" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
Evil characters don't necessarily go out of their way to hurt people, but they're perfectly willing to take advantage of the weakness of others to acquire what they want. Chaotic evil characters have a complete disregard for others. Each believes he or she is the only being that matters and kills, steals, and betrays others to gain power. Their word is meaningless and their actions destructive. Their worldviews can be so warped that they destroy anyone and anything that doesn't directly contribute to their interests.
Playing an evil or chaotic evil character can sometimes seem appealing, but it's rarely good for the game. When you're playing the Dungeons & Dragons game in a group, portraying an evil character can disrupt an adventuring party, and, frankly, make the other players angry at you. The Dungeons & Dragons game is about playing a hero. Though there are certainly examples of antiheroes in fantasy literature (characters who lack the morality of true heroes), they're harder to pull off in a game that relies so heavily on the players working cooperatively as a team.
If you want to play a character who's not concerned about morality, or one who acts from selfish motives, it's probably better to be unaligned rather than evil.
As a rogue, you've already filled in your Dexterity and Constitution scores on your character sheet. Now it's time to fill in the rest of your ability scores.
The other four ability scores are Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.
Strength measures your physical power.
Intelligence describes how well you learn and reason.
Wisdom measures common sense, self-discipline, and empathy.
Charisma measures force of personality and leadership.
You can assign the following scores to these four abilities: 14, 12, 11, and 10. You decide which score goes to each ability, depending on whether you imagine your character being particularly strong, smart, perceptive, or charismatic. (Note that Charisma is important to the rogue, so you probably want to put the 14 in that score.)
Since you're playing a halfling, you get +2 to either your Charisma or Constitution, and you already got +2 to your Dexterity.
Once you've assigned your ability scores, look at the following to fill in your ability modifiers:
Skills are essentially extensions of your ability scores. A skill check works just like an attack roll: you roll a d20, add your skill check modifier, and see if the result is high enough to achieve what you want to do. The starting point for your skill check modifier is the ability modifier for the ability the skill is based on. For example, Athletics is based on Strength, so when you try to climb a sheer surface, you make an Athletics check (a specialized Strength check).
As a rogue, you start with training in Stealth and Thievery. You also have training in Acrobatics and Athletics. Then you gain training in two more skills. You can choose these additional skills from the following list:
Bluff, Dungeoneering, Insight, Intimidate, Perception, and Streetwise.
Here's a quick rundown of what each skill can accomplish:
Athletics is used to climb, jump, swim, and perform similar feats of strength.
CONSTITUTION-BASED SKILLS
Endurance is useful for surviving harsh conditions.
DEXTERITY-BASED SKILLS
Acrobatics lets you balance, tumble, and reduce the damage from falling.
Stealth lets you move around while avoiding notice, staying out of sight and moving quietly.
Thievery enables you to pick pockets or open locks, disarm traps, or perform other feats of sleight of hand or fine manipulation.
INTELLIGENCE-BASED SKILLS
Arcana is all about the study of magic, and you can use it to analyze strange magical effects or recall knowledge about magical creatures.
History and Religion are skills that measure your knowledge in those areas of learning.
WISDOM-BASED SKILLS
Dungeoneering and Nature represent both knowledge about the natural world (and subterranean environments) and your ability to get by in the dungeon or wilderness.
Heal lets you perform first aid and stabilize allies who are dying.
Insight is used to read other people's intentions and get a feel for situations.
Perception helps you notice things that are hidden or not obvious, using any of your senses.
CHARISMA-BASED SKILLS
Bluff helps you deceive other people or monsters, whether you're trying to feint or tell a convincing lie.
Diplomacy is used to negotiate with other people in the world and sway them to your side.
Intimidate lets you exert your forceful personality to encourage others to comply with your will.
Streetwise reflects your ability to get by in civilization, including making contacts, gathering rumors and information, and finding what you need.
When you choose training in a skill, put an X or a check mark in the Trained box next to that skill's name on your character sheet. Training gives you a +5 bonus to checks you make with that skill. For each trained skill, add 5 to the appropriate ability modifier and write the total in the Check space for that skill.
You should now have two major quests on your character sheet: identify the mysterious rider and find the stolen box. Those two quests might take you in the same direction, or they might lead to two separate adventures. You might decide to head off in the direction you saw the rider go. You could try to determine which way the goblins went. Or you could check to see if any of the goblins that fell during the fight are still alive and able to give you information.
What do you want to do?
Do you follow the rider?
Do you track the goblins to their lair?
Do you question a goblin survivor?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
The stone blood spell affects a group of enemies, hardening their blood and slowing their movement. The pain of the transformation deals damage as well as slowing the enemies down. If you want to try this, write down stone blood on your character sheet as one of the powers you know.
The freezing burst spell creates a magical eruption of cold and ice that could engulf several of the goblins swarming toward the wagon. Not only does the freezing cold damage the goblins but also the resulting coating of ice slides them around the battlefield. If you want to try this, write down freezing burst as one of the powers you know.
Either spell does damage to any goblins you catch in its area. Whether you cast a spell that deals damage to multiple enemies, it's a good idea to first determine how much damage the spell deals, then roll to see which creatures you hit with the spell.
With these spells, you do 1d6 damage, plus your Intelligence modifier, to each goblin you hit. Roll a six-sided die (d6) and add your Intelligence modifier (+4).
You roll a separate attack for each goblin in the area, and with this burst you can attack three of the creatures. So roll a d20 three times, once for each goblin, and add your attack modifier each time. (In Orokos, you would type "3#1d20+4".)
Here's the good news: the goblins swarming around the wagon are a special kind of monster called minions. Minions go down with one hit, no matter how much damage you deal. However, they're usually found in large numbers!
If you cast stone blood, you hit a goblin if you get a total of 13 or better on your attack roll. If you cast freezing burst, you hit if you get a total of 15 or better on your attack roll. That's because goblins are nimble and have a better chance of dodging the full brunt of the cold and ice than they do of resisting your spell of transformation.
Any goblins you hit shriek in pain and fall on the ground, dead or dying. If you missed any goblins, they leap out of the are of the burst of cold, or fight through the pain of transformation.
Your display of magic has convinced the goblins that capturing this wagon isn't going to be as easy as they thought. They run away, scattering in all directions.
The whinny of a horse catches your ear, and as you look around for the source of the sound, you see a rider at the crest of a low hill, a few hundred yards away. The rider seems to be human, but as the goblins flee, he shakes his fist in frustration. His jet black horse rears and whinnies again, and the rider's red cloak billows behind him in the wind. Then the horse gallops off toward the southwest, into the Moon Hills.
You'll never catch the mysterious rider on foot, but determining his identity might bring some insight into the reasons for this attack on the merchant's wagon. This is a major quest you can note on your character sheet: find the mysterious rider and learn his identity.
Congratulations! You've completed your first encounter. For driving off the goblins, you receive 100 Experience Points (XP). Each time you complete an encounter or a quest, you gain XP. When you earn enough XP, you gain a level, which is one of the biggest rewards you can receive for your success in the game. Each time you go up a level, your character improves in several ways--your attack bonus, defenses, and ability scores increase, and you learn new powers.
When a combat encounter ends, you usually have a chance to take a short rest. A short rest lets you recover hit points you lost and regain encounter powers you used up. You didn't use any encounter powers in the fight, but if you took damage, here's how to heal up so your're ready for the next encounter.
You regain hit points by spending healing surges. Each time you spend a healing surge, you regain hit points equal to one-quarter of your normal maximum hit points. Make a note on your character sheet of your healing surge value (1/4 of your hit points, rounded down).
Each day, you can spend a number of healing surges based on your class and your Constitution score.
Since you are a wizard, you have 6 surges, plus your Constitution modifier (+1), for a total of 7 surges per day.
During a short rest, you can spend as many healing surges as you want or need to, in order to get your hit points back up to their normal maximum. Since you've taken damage, spend surges to heal that damage. Keep track of how many surges you've used.
The merchant is not seriously injured, but as the goblins run away he glances into the back of the wagon and swears vigorously. "They stole it!" he shouts. Then he turns to you. "You... you were incredible in that fight. You probably saved my life. But I need your help again. The goblins stole something from the back of my wagon--something precious. I need to get it back."
How would your character respond to the desperate merchant's plea for help?
Do you immediately volunteer to help?
Do you ask, "What's in it for me?"
Do you promise to bring the goblins to justice for this crime?
Do you wish the merchant luck and climb back in the wagon?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Edit: I might be on briefly in the morning, between 8:00 and 10:30am PDT.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Does this sound like what you have in mind for your character?
If not, go back and make a new choice.
If so, read on:
As a cleric, one of your most basic prayers is called healing word. You can use this prayer to channel your deity's power and heal a wounded ally.
Bending over the wounded merchant, you utter a brief prayer and watch in satisfaction as divine radiance washes over the arrow wound, knitting the flash back together and stopping the flow of blood. Color returns to Traevus' face and he smiles his thanks. Confident that he's all right, you stand up in the wagon to assess the situation.
In game terms, you've just used a minor action (using your healing word prayer) and a move action standing up from your seated position). Each time it's your turn in a combat encounter like this, you can take three actions--a move action, a minor action, and a standard action. However, you're still in the wagon and you don't have a weapon in your hand to attack with. You can trade in your standard action for another minor action, namely, pulling a mace from your belt so it's ready to use on your next turn.
Now it's the goblins' turn to act.
Several of the nasty little creatures rush toward the wagon, but they're not heading for you. The archer that shot the merchant, though, takes careful aim and looses an arrow in your direction!
When a monster attacks, it rolls a d20 and adds its attack modifier. It compares the result to one of your defenses--in this case, your Armor Class (AC).
As a cleric, you don't wear the heaviest armor, but you're still better protected than the merchant. Your chainmail armor gives you an AC of 16, and your heavy shield adds +2 more, so your AC is 18.
I roll the d20 for the goblin's attack, adding its attack modifier of +7. If the goblin gets an 18 or higher, it hits you.
Goblin archer attacking Loni: 1d20+7 21
The goblin's arrow finds its way through your armor, but it's just a minor wound. You feel a jolt of pain, but you can fight on.
The arrow deals 1d6 (one six-sided die) + 3 damage to you. But you can take more damage than that before you fall unconscious. Your hit points measure how much damage you can take. The goblin's damage is subtracted from your hit points, but you'll get them back soon enough.
Goblin archer's damage: 1d6+3 5
Because you're a cleric, you start with hit points equal to your Constitution score + 12. Write down your character's Constitution score on your character sheet. Since you're a dwarf, your Constitution is 15, your Constitution modifier is +2, and you have 27 hit points.
Make sure you write down your full normal hit point total. Then, in the space for "Current Hit Points", write down the total after subtracting the goblin's damage.
You should also note your bloodied value, which is one-half your full normal total hit points (round down). When your hit points are reduced to that number or lower, you're bloodied--and that's a sign that you might be in trouble.
It's your turn again! With the merchant cared for, you can turn your attention to smiting these goblins with the wrath of your divine power.
When you make an attack with a divine prayer, you roll a 20-sided die and add your attack modifier. Here's how to determine your attack modifier:
First, write down your character's Wisdom score on your character sheet. Since you're a dwarf, your Wisdom score is 18, and your Wisdom modifier is +4. However, if you want to change your character's race at this point, you can.
You should write down two different attack modifiers: one if you're attacking with a weapon, and one if you're channeling power through the holy symbol you carry (which is called an implement). Your weapon attack bonus is your Wisdom modifier +2. Your implement attack bonus is the same as your Wisdom modifier.
The way you channel divine wrath depends on what kind of cleric you want to play. Some clerics serve deities that emphasize protection, such as the sun god Pelor. If you're a sun cleric, your mace might glow with the light of the sun as you smite your foes, driving away fear and pain from you and your allies as the sun drives away the darkness of night. Or you might surround yourself with a nimbus of sunlight that bolsters your allies while searing your enemies.
Other clerics serve deities that put more weight on destruction, such as the storm god Kord. If you're a storm cleric, your mace might erupt with thunder and lightning as you strike your foes. You might smite a whole group of enemies with a concussive blast of thunder.
Do you want to be a cleric of protection and the sun?
Do you want to be a cleric of destruction and the storm?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Loni is a cleric of protection and the sun
Make a note on your character sheet that brand of the sun is one of the powers you know.
Even before you make the attack, the light surrounding your weapon bolsters you and the merchant, protecting you from further attacks. You gain 2 temporary hit points, which act as a buffer against damage. They don't undo damage you've already taken, but they will effectively reduce the damage you take the next time a goblin hits you. Note the temporary hit points near your current hit points on your character sheet.
Brand of the sun is a weapon attack, so you use your weapon attack bonus (+6). Roll a 20-sided die, also called a d20, and add your attack modifier.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Brand of the Sun: 1d20+6 25
And now I will let you get some sleep at least for tonight.
Whenever you hit with an attack, you roll another die to see how much damage you deal. Since you're wielding a mace, you roll an eight-sided die (a d8).
Roll a d8 and and add your Wisdom modifier to your damage.
In this particular case, it doesn't matter what you roll. This goblin is a special kind of monster called a minion. Minions go down with one hit, no matter how much damage you deal. However, they're usually found in large numbers!
The goblin falls beneath your attack. Suddenly the other goblins realize that capturing this wagon isn't going to be as easy as they thought. They run away, scattering in all directions.
The whinny of a horse catches your ear, and as you look around for the source of the sound, you see a rider at the crest of a low hill, a few hundred yards away. The rider seems to be human, but as the goblins flee, he shakes his fist in frustration. His jet black horse rears and whinnies again, and the rider's red cloak billows behind him in the wind. Then the horse gallops off toward the southwest, into the Moon Hills.
You'll never catch the mysterious rider on foot, but determining his identity might bring some insight into the reasons for this attack on the merchant's wagon. This is a major quest you can note on your character sheet: find the mysterious rider and learn his identity.
Congratulations! You've completed your first encounter. For driving off the goblins, you receive 100 Experience Points (XP). Each time you complete an encounter or a quest, you gain XP. When you earn enough XP, you gain a level, which is one of the biggest rewards you can receive for your success in the game. Each time you go up a level, your character improves in several ways--your attack bonus, defenses, and ability scores increase, and you learn new powers.
When a combat encounter ends, you usually have a chance to take a short rest. A short rest lets you recover hit points you lost and regain encounter powers you used up. You didn't use any encounter powers in the fight, but if you took damage, here's how to heal up so your're ready for the next encounter.
You regain hit points by spending healing surges. Each time you spend a healing surge, you regain hit points equal to one-quarter of your normal maximum hit points. Make a note on your character sheet of your healing surge value (1/4 of your hit points, rounded down).
Each day, you can spend a number of healing surges based on your class and your Constitution score.
Since you are a cleric, you have 7 surges, plus your Constitution modifier (+2), for a total of 9 surges per day.
During a short rest, you can spend as many healing surges as you want or need to, in order to get your hit points back up to their normal maximum. Since you've taken damage, spend surges to heal that damage. Keep track of how many surges you've used.
The merchant is not seriously injured, but as the goblins run away he glances into the back of the wagon and swears vigorously. "They stole it!" he shouts. Then he turns to you. "You... you were incredible in that fight. You probably saved my life. But I need your help again. The goblins stole something from the back of my wagon--something precious. I need to get it back."
How would your character respond to the desperate merchant's plea for help?
Do you immediately volunteer to help?
Do you ask, "What's in it for me?"
Do you promise to bring the goblins to justice for this crime?
Do you wish the merchant luck and climb back in the wagon?
Does this sound like what you have in mind for your character?
If not, go back and make another choice.
If so, read on:
You pull a weapon from the wagon and run toward the nearest goblin.
In game terms, you've just used a minor action (drawing your weapon) and a move action (running up to the goblins). Each time it's your turn in a combat encounter like this, you can take three actions--a move action, a minor action, and a standard action. Attacking is a standard action, so you still have time to attack on your turn.
When you make an attack with a weapon, you roll a twenty-sided die and add your attack modifier. Here's how to determine your attack modifier:
First, write down your character's Strength score on your character sheet. Since you're a dwarf, your Strength is 18, and your Strength modifier is +4. However, if you want to change your character's race, you can.
Now choose a weapon for your character to wield. If you use a greatsword, you have higher accuracy but to less damage. If you use a greataxe instead, you hit a little less often, but do more damage when you do.
If you want to use a greatsword, add +4 to your Strength modifier and write the total down in the space for your attack modifier. The total will be +8 since you're a dwarf.
If you want to use a greataxe instead, add +3 to your Strength modifier and write the total down in the space for your attafck modifier. The total will be +7 since you're a dwarf.
Now roll a twenty-sided die, also called a d20, and add your attack modifier.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Of course I will help you. These leaches cannot be allowed to profit from your hard work. I will recover your property and bring the bandits to justice. I will follow them immediately unless you would prefer me to escort you to Fallcrest first?
Using 1 surge to get back to full HP.
attack goblins: 1d20+7 23
This is another major quest you can add to your character sheet.
You might have a lawful good alignment. Alignment is a simplified designation of your character's dedication to a set of moral principles. Lawful good characters respect the authority of personal codes of conduct, laws, and leaders, and they believe that those codes are the best way of achieving their ideals. Just authority promotes the well-being of its subjects and prevents them from harming one another. Lawful good characters believe strongly in the value of life, and they put tremendous emphasis on the need for the powerful to protect the weak and lift up the downtrodden. The exemplars of the lawful good alignment are shining champions of what's right, honorable, and true, risking or even sacrificing their lives to stop the spread of evil in the world. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "lawful good" in the alignment space on your character sheet. If you'd like to consider other alignment options:
Good characters believe it is right to aid and protect those in need, which certainly seems to describe this situation. If you're good, you're not required to sacrifice yourself to help others or to completely ignore your own needs, but you might be asked to place others' needs above your own... in some cases, even if that means putting yourself in harm's way. In many ways, that's the essence of being a heroic adventurer: this merchant can't defend himself from the goblins or fight them to retrieve his stolen goods, so you volunteer to track them down at significant personal risk. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "good" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
Lawful good characters respect the authority of personal codes of conduct, laws, and leaders, and they believe that those codes are the best way of achieving their ideals. Just authority promotes the well-being of its subjects and prevents them from harming one another. Lawful good characters believe strongly in the value of life, and they put tremendous emphasis on the need for the powerful to protect the weak and lift up the downtrodden. The exemplars of the lawful good alignment are shining champions of what's right, honorable, and true, risking or even sacrificing their lives to stop the spread of evil in the world. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "lawful good" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
Unaligned characters don't actively seek to harm others or wish them ill, but they also don't go out of their way to put themselves at risk without some hope for reward. They support law and order when it's to their benefit, but they're primarily concerned with their own freedom, without worrying too much about protecting the freedom of others. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "unaligned" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
Evil characters don't necessarily go out of their way to hurt people, but they're perfectly willing to take advantage of the weakness of others to acquire what they want. Chaotic evil characters have a complete disregard for others. Each believes he or she is the only being that matters and kills, steals, and betrays others to gain power. Their word is meaningless and their actions destructive. Their worldviews can be so warped that they destroy anyone and anything that doesn't directly contribute to their interests.
Playing an evil or chaotic evil character can sometimes seem appealing, but it's rarely good for the game. When you're playing the Dungeons & Dragons game in a group, portraying an evil character can disrupt an adventuring party, and, frankly, make the other players angry at you. The Dungeons & Dragons game is about playing a hero. Though there are certainly examples of antiheroes in fantasy literature (characters who lack the morality of true heroes), they're harder to pull off in a game that relies so heavily on the players working cooperatively as a team.
If you want to play a character who's not concerned about morality, or one who acts from selfish motives, it's probably better to be unaligned rather than evil.
As a cleric, you've already filled in your Wisdom and Constitution scores on your character sheet. Now it's time to fill in the rest of your ability scores:
The other four ability scores are Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma.
Strength measures your physical power.
Dexterity measures coordination, agility, and balance.
Intelligence describes how well you learn and reason.
Charisma measures force of personality and leadership.
You can assign the following scores to those four abilities: 14, 12, 11, and 10. You decide which score goes to each ability, depending on whether you imagine your character being particularly strong, agile, smart, or charismatic.
Your race also influences your ability scores.
Since you're playing a dwarf, you already got +2 to your Constitution and Wisdom.
Once you've assigned your ability scores, look at the following to fill in your ability modifiers:
Skills are essentially extensions of your ability scores. A skill check works just like an attack roll: you roll a d20, add your skill check modifier, and see if the result is high enough to achieve what you want to do. The starting point for your skill check modifier is the ability modifier for the ability the skill is based on. For example, Athletics is based on Strength, so when you try to climb a sheer surface, you make an Athletics check (a specialized Strength check).
As a cleric, you start with training in Relition and then gain training in three more skills. You can choose these additional skills from this list:
Arcana, Diplomacy, Heal, History, and Insight.
Here's a quick rundown of what each skill can accomplish:
Athletics is used to climb, jump, swim, and perform similar feats of strength.
CONSTITUTION-BASED SKILLS
Endurance is useful for surviving harsh conditions.
DEXTERITY-BASED SKILLS
Acrobatics lets you balance, tumble, and reduce the damage from falling.
Stealth lets you move around while avoiding notice, staying out of sight and moving quietly.
Thievery enables you to pick pockets or open locks, disarm traps, or perform other feats of sleight of hand or fine manipulation.
INTELLIGENCE-BASED SKILLS
Arcana is all about the study of magic, and you can use it to analyze strange magical effects or recall knowledge about magical creatures.
History and Religion are skills that measure your knowledge in those areas of learning.
WISDOM-BASED SKILLS
Dungeoneering and Nature represent both knowledge about the natural world (and subterranean environments) and your ability to get by in the dungeon or wilderness.
Heal lets you perform first aid and stabilize allies who are dying.
Insight is used to read other people's intentions and get a feel for situations.
Perception helps you notice things that are hidden or not obvious, using any of your senses.
CHARISMA-BASED SKILLS
Bluff helps you deceive other people or monsters, whether you're trying to feint or tell a convincing lie.
Diplomacy is used to negotiate with other people in the world and sway them to your side.
Intimidate lets you exert your forceful personality to encourage others to comply with your will.
Streetwise reflects your ability to get by in civilization, including making contacts, gathering rumors and information, and finding what you need.
When you choose training in a skill, put an X or a check mark in the Trained box next to that skill's name on your character sheet. Training gives you a +5 bonus to checks you make with that skill. For each trained skill, add 5 to the appropriate ability modifier and write the total in the Check space for that skill.
You should now have two major quests on your character sheet: identify the mysterious rider and find the stolen box. Those two quests might take you in the same direction, or they might lead to two separate adventures. You might decide to head off in the direction you saw the rider go. You could try to determine which way the goblins went. Or you could check to see if any of the goblins that fell during the fight are still alive and able to give you information.
What do you want to do?
Do you follow the rider?
Do you track the goblins to their lair?
Do you question a goblin survivor?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Trained in History,Insight and Diplomacy
Whenever you hit with an attack, you roll another die to see how much damage you deal. Since you use an axe, you roll a twelve-sided die (a d12).
Add both your Strength modifier and your Constitution modifier to your damage. Record your damage next to your weapon and attack bonus:
Write down your character's Constitution score on your character sheet. Your constitution is 16 (since you're a dwarf), and your Constitution modifier is +3.
Go ahead and roll a d12 and add your Strength modifier (+4) and your Constitution modifier (+3).
In this particular case, it doesn't matter what you roll, just that you hit the target. This goblin is a special kind of monster called a minion. Minions go down with one hit, no matter how much damage you deal. However, they're usually found in large numbers!
The goblin falls under the force of your attack, but another one quickly leaps up and swings its crude sword at you!
Monster attacks work pretty much the same way as your attacks do: the monster rolls a d20 and adds its attack modifier. It compares the result to one of your defenses--in this case, your Armor Class (AC).
When you attacked the goblin, you were also comparing the result against its AC, which was a 15. As a fighter, you wear heavy armor called scale armor. Scale armor gives you an AC of 17.
I roll a d20 and add the goblin's attack modifier of +5. If it gets a total of 17 or better, it hits you.
Goblin attacking Klopfer: 1d20+5 7
Now it's your turn again! Remember that you can use a standard action, a move action, and a minor action on your turn.
Last turn, you used your minor action to draw your weapon. This time, you can use it to enter a stance. Stances are special abilities that fighters have, reflecting a combination of careful positioning, mental focus, and athletic skill. As a 1st-level fighter, you know two stances: poised assault and battle fury. It's a minor action to enter a stance or change your stance. Note these two stances on your character sheet, under "Powers and Feats".
Poised assault gives you a +1 power bonus to your attack rolls. Battle fury gives you a +2 power bonus on your damage rolls. Since you're fighting minions and your damage rolls don't matter, poised assault is a great choice. Go ahead and add the attack bonus because of your stance.
You don't really need to use your move action on this turn. You could take a careful step into a better position--that's called shifting. When you're using a battle map like the ones on the poster included with the Red Box, you can shift 1 square as a move action. You can also move a number of squares equal to your speed (which is 5 squares), but this movement is less cautious than shifting. But since there's a goblin right next to you, there's no need to move at all.
Instead, you can use your standard action to attack! Roll a d20 again and add your attack modifier. (Don't forget the bonus for your stance.) The goblin's AC is 15.
Did you hit the goblin?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
attack goblins 2: 1d20+8 25
dmg goblin 2: 1d12+7 12
ooc: in case this one is no minion.
OOC: Going out drinking now so might not be able to answer for a few hours
to keep this going i will guess the next decisions based on the others and on the pregen sheets from wotc:
Single out over resurgence.
Ask for money. Allignment good but Klopfer is still a dwarf
Stat importance highest to lowest: Str, Cons, Dex, Wis, Char, Int
Stone Blood Attack: 3#1d20+4 10 15 6
Stone Blood Damage: 1d6+4 6
...and chuckles to himself as one of the goblins lands face down in the grass, while the rest of his buddies scurried away out of sight.
Edendir takes a short rest and uses 1 healing surge making his HP 21/22
Edendir offers to help the dwarf retrieve what had been stolen.
I was hoping to relax in Fallcrest for a while before endeavoring into another adventure...oh well!
"Well that sounds like a grand offer, I'll be off after the orcs immediately, thanks for the ride."
Grabbing his hat off of the wagon, Flipan plops it onto his head and heads off in the direction the orcs were fleeing. He runs quickly, his small feet moving rapidly, good thing he is athletically inclined. As he runs he starts humming a children's song about chasing shadows; at least until he runs out of breath.
Do you track the goblins to their lair?
Can I have a hat? Also I will totally get a walking stick even though its useless as a weapon for a rogue.
Flipan Took, Unaligned, Male Hobbit Rogue
Str 12
Con 13
Dex 18
Int 10
Wis 11
Cha 16
Trained: Athletics, Acrobatics, Stealth, Thievery, Perception, and Bluff
HP 25/25
Healing surges Used: 1 of 7
Sorry I haven't been able to get on earlier. I have been cooking almost nonstop since 4pm today.
Failsafe:
Make a Heal check to see if you can keep a dying goblin alive long enough to provide you with information. Heal is based on Wisdom; if you were trained in Heal you'd make a Wisdom check with a +5 bonus, but since you're not, it's just a Wisdom check. Roll a d20 and add your Heal check modifier.
What did you roll?
The whinny of a horse catches your ear, and as you look around for the source of the sound, you see a rider at the crest of a low hill, a few hundred yards away. The rider seems to be human, but as the goblins flee, he shakes his fist in frustration. His jet black horse rears and whinnies again, and the rider's red cloak billows behind him in the wind. Then the horse gallops off toward the southwest, into the Moon Hills.
You'll never catch the mysterious rider on foot, but determining his identity might bring some insight into the reasons for this attack on the merchant's wagon. This is a major quest you can note on your character sheet: find the mysterious rider and learn his identity.
Congratulations! You've completed your first encounter. For driving off the goblins, you receive 100 Experience Points (XP). Each time you complete an encounter or a quest, you gain XP. When you earn enough XP, you gain a level, which is one of the biggest rewards you can receive for your success in the game. Each time you go up a level, your character improves in several ways--your attack bonus, defenses, and ability scores increase, and you learn new powers.
When a combat encounter ends, you usually have a chance to take a short rest. A short rest lets you recover hit points you lost and regain encounter powers you used up. You didn't use any encounter powers in the fight, but if you took damage, we'll go over how to heal up so you're ready for the next encounter.
First though you need to calculate your hit points, a measure of how much damage you can take. If the goblin had hit you, its damage would have been subtracted from your hit points, but you would have to take a lot more damage than that before falling unconscious.
Because you're a fighter, you start with hit points equal to your Constitution modifier + 15, for a total of 31.
Make sure you write down your full normal total of 31 hit points. If the goblin had hit you, you would subtract the damage from your hit points and record that value in the space for "Current Hit Points".
You should also note your bloodied value, which is one-half your full normal hit points, or 15 (round down). When your hit points are reduced to 15, you're bloodied--and that's a sign that you might be in trouble.
You regain hit points by spending healing surges. Each time you spend a healing surge, you regain hit points equal to one-quarter of your normal maximum hit points. Make a note on your character sheet of your healing surge value (1/4 of your hit points, rounded down).
Each day, you can spend a number of healing surges based on your class and your Constitution score.
Since you are a fighter, you have 9 surges, plus your Constitution modifier (+3), for a total of 12 surges per day.
During a short rest, you can spend as many healing surges as you want or need to, in order to get your hit points back up to their normal maximum. Since you haven't taken any damage, though, you do not need to spend any surges right now. In future encounters, make sure you keep track of how many surges you've used.
The merchant is not seriously injured, but as the goblins run away he glances into the back of the wagon and swears vigorously. "They stole it!" he shouts. Then he turns to you. "You... you were incredible in that fight. You probably saved my life. But I need your help again. The goblins stole something from the back of my wagon--something precious. I need to get it back."
How would your character respond to the desperate merchant's plea for help?
You ask, "What's in it for me?"
There's no shortage of heroic characters in fantasy and other literature who help others from mercenary motivations.
Traevus nods at your question, thinks for a moment, then promises you a reward of 30 gold pieces if you return the stolen item. "It's a small wooden box with a lock," he explains. He asks you not to look in the box if you find it, though, blushing slightly as he explains that the contents are personal.
This is another major quest you can add to your character sheet.
Most adventurers who are driven primarily by self-interest are unaligned. Alignment is a simplified designation of your character's dedication to a set of moral principles, or lack of dedication to any principles. Unaligned characters don't actively seek to harm others or wish them ill, but they also don't go out of their way to put themselves at risk without some hope for reward. They support law and order when it's to their benefit, but they're primarily concerned with their own freedom, without worrying too much about protecting the freedom of others.
Since this did not sound like what you have in mind for your character, you chose to consider other alignment options:
Good characters believe it is right to aid and protect those in need, which certainly seems to describe this situation. If you're good, you're not required to sacrifice yourself to help others or to completely ignore your own needs, but you might be asked to place others' needs above your own... in some cases, even if that means putting yourself in harm's way. In many ways, that's the essence of being a heroic adventurer: this merchant can't defend himself from the goblins or fight them to retrieve his stolen goods, so you volunteer to track them down at significant personal risk. Since this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "good" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
As a fighter, you've already filled in your Strength and Constitution scores on your character sheet. Now it's time to fill in the rest of your ability scores.
The other four ability scores are Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.
Dexterity measures coordination, agility, and balance.
Intelligence describes how well you learn and reason.
Wisdom measures common sense, self-discipline, and empathy.
Charisma measures force of personality and leadership.
You can assign the following scores to these four abilities: 13, 12, 11, and 10. You decide which score to apply to each ability, depending on whether you imagine your character being particularly agile, smart, perceptive, or charismatic.
Your race also influences your ability scores.
Since you're playing a dwarf, you already got a +2 bonus to your Strength and Constitution scores.
Once you've assigned your ability scores, look at the following to fill in your ability modifiers:
Skills are essentially extensions of your ability scores. A skill check works just like an attack roll: you roll a d20, add your skill check modifier, and see if the result is high enough to achieve what you want to do. The starting point for your skill check modifier is the ability modifier for the ability the skill is based on. For example, Athletics is based on Strength, so when you try to climb a sheer surface, you make an Athletics check (a specialized Strength check).
As a fighter, you gain training in three skills. You can choose these skills from this list:
Athletics, Endurance, Heal, Intimidate, Streetwise.
Here's a quick rundown of what each skill can accomplish:
Athletics is used to climb, jump, swim, and perform similar feats of strength.
CONSTITUTION-BASED SKILLS
Endurance is useful for surviving harsh conditions.
DEXTERITY-BASED SKILLS
Acrobatics lets you balance, tumble, and reduce the damage from falling.
Stealth lets you move around while avoiding notice, staying out of sight and moving quietly.
Thievery enables you to pick pockets or open locks, disarm traps, or perform other feats of sleight of hand or fine manipulation.
INTELLIGENCE-BASED SKILLS
Arcana is all about the study of magic, and you can use it to analyze strange magical effects or recall knowledge about magical creatures.
History and Religion are skills that measure your knowledge in those areas of learning.
WISDOM-BASED SKILLS
Dungeoneering and Nature represent both knowledge about the natural world (and subterranean environments) and your ability to get by in the dungeon or wilderness.
Heal lets you perform first aid and stabilize allies who are dying.
Insight is used to read other people's intentions and get a feel for situations.
Perception helps you notice things that are hidden or not obvious, using any of your senses.
CHARISMA-BASED SKILLS
Bluff helps you deceive other people or monsters, whether you're trying to feint or tell a convincing lie.
Diplomacy is used to negotiate with other people in the world and sway them to your side.
Intimidate lets you exert your forceful personality to encourage others to comply with your will.
Streetwise reflects your ability to get by in civilization, including making contacts, gathering rumors and information, and finding what you need.
When you choose training in a skill, put an X or a check mark in the Trained box next to that skill's name on your character sheet. Training gives you a +5 bonus to checks you make with that skill. For each trained skill, add 5 to the appropriate ability modifier and write the total in the Check space for that skill.
You should now have two major quests on your character sheet: identify the mysterious rider and find the stolen box. Those two quests might take you in the same direction, or they might lead to two separate adventures. You might decide to head off in the direction you saw the rider go. You could try to determine which way the goblins went. Or you could check to see if any of the goblins that fell during the fight are still alive and able to give you information.
What do you want to do?
Do you follow the rider?
Do you track the goblins to their lair?
Do you question a goblin survivor?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
This is another major quest you can add to your character sheet.
You might have a good alignment. Alignment is a simplified designation of your character's dedication to a set of moral principles. Good characters believe it is right to aid and protect those in need, which certainly seems to describe this situation. If you're good, you're not required to sacrifice yourself to help others or to completely ignore your own needs, but you might be asked to place others' needs above your own... in some cases, even if that means putting yourself in harm's way. In many ways, that's the essence of being a heroic adventurer: this merchant can't defend himself from the goblins or fight them to retrieve his stolen goods, so you volunteer to track them down at significant personal risk.
If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "good" in the alignment space on your character sheet. If you'd like to consider other alignment options:
Good characters believe it is right to aid and protect those in need, which certainly seems to describe this situation. If you're good, you're not required to sacrifice yourself to help others or to completely ignore your own needs, but you might be asked to place others' needs above your own... in some cases, even if that means putting yourself in harm's way. In many ways, that's the essence of being a heroic adventurer: this merchant can't defend himself from the goblins or fight them to retrieve his stolen goods, so you volunteer to track them down at significant personal risk. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "good" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
Lawful good characters respect the authority of personal codes of conduct, laws, and leaders, and they believe that those codes are the best way of achieving their ideals. Just authority promotes the well-being of its subjects and prevents them from harming one another. Lawful good characters believe strongly in the value of life, and they put tremendous emphasis on the need for the powerful to protect the weak and lift up the downtrodden. The exemplars of the lawful good alignment are shining champions of what's right, honorable, and true, risking or even sacrificing their lives to stop the spread of evil in the world. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "lawful good" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
Unaligned characters don't actively seek to harm others or wish them ill, but they also don't go out of their way to put themselves at risk without some hope for reward. They support law and order when it's to their benefit, but they're primarily concerned with their own freedom, without worrying too much about protecting the freedom of others. If this sounds like what you have in mind for your character, write "unaligned" in the alignment space on your character sheet.
Evil characters don't necessarily go out of their way to hurt people, but they're perfectly willing to take advantage of the weakness of others to acquire what they want. Chaotic evil characters have a complete disregard for others. Each believes he or she is the only being that matters and kills, steals, and betrays others to gain power. Their word is meaningless and their actions destructive. Their worldviews can be so warped that they destroy anyone and anything that doesn't directly contribute to their interests.
Playing an evil or chaotic evil character can sometimes seem appealing, but it's rarely good for the game. When you're playing the Dungeons & Dragons game in a group, portraying an evil character can disrupt an adventuring party, and, frankly, make the other players angry at you. The Dungeons & Dragons game is about playing a hero. Though there are certainly examples of antiheroes in fantasy literature (characters who lack the morality of true heroes), they're harder to pull off in a game that relies so heavily on the players working cooperatively as a team.
If you want to play a character who's not concerned about morality, or one who acts from selfish motives, it's probably better to be unaligned rather than evil.
As a wizard, you've already filled in your Intelligence and Constitution scores on your character sheet. Now it's time to fill in the rest of your ability scores.
The other four ability scores are Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, and Charisma.
Strength measures your physical power.
Dexterity measures coordination, agility, and balance.
Wisdom measures common sense, self-discipline, and empathy.
Charisma measures force of personality and leadership.
You can assign the following scores to these four abilities: 14, 13, 11, and 10. You decide which score goes to each ability, depending on whether you imagine your character being particularly strong, agile, perceptive, or charismatic.
Your race also influences your ability scores.
Since you're playing an elf, you already got +2 to your Intelligence. You also get +2 to your Dexterity.
Once you've assigned your ability scores, look at the following to fill in your ability modifiers:
Skills are essentially extensions of your ability scores. A skill check works just like an attack roll: you roll a d20, add your skill check modifier, and see if the result is high enough to achieve what you want to do. The starting point for your skill check modifier is the ability modifier for the ability the skill is based on. For example, Athletics is based on Strength, so when you try to climb a sheer surface, you make an Athletics check (a specialized Strength check).
As a wizard, you start with training in Arcana, and then gain training in three more skills. You can choose those additional skills from this list:
Diplomacy, Dungeoneering, History, Insight, Nature, and Religion.
Here's a quick rundown of what each skill can accomplish:
Athletics is used to climb, jump, swim, and perform similar feats of strength.
CONSTITUTION-BASED SKILLS
Endurance is useful for surviving harsh conditions.
DEXTERITY-BASED SKILLS
Acrobatics lets you balance, tumble, and reduce the damage from falling.
Stealth lets you move around while avoiding notice, staying out of sight and moving quietly.
Thievery enables you to pick pockets or open locks, disarm traps, or perform other feats of sleight of hand or fine manipulation.
INTELLIGENCE-BASED SKILLS
Arcana is all about the study of magic, and you can use it to analyze strange magical effects or recall knowledge about magical creatures.
History and Religion are skills that measure your knowledge in those areas of learning.
WISDOM-BASED SKILLS
Dungeoneering and Nature represent both knowledge about the natural world (and subterranean environments) and your ability to get by in the dungeon or wilderness.
Heal lets you perform first aid and stabilize allies who are dying.
Insight is used to read other people's intentions and get a feel for situations.
Perception helps you notice things that are hidden or not obvious, using any of your senses.
CHARISMA-BASED SKILLS
Bluff helps you deceive other people or monsters, whether you're trying to feint or tell a convincing lie.
Diplomacy is used to negotiate with other people in the world and sway them to your side.
Intimidate lets you exert your forceful personality to encourage others to comply with your will.
Streetwise reflects your ability to get by in civilization, including making contacts, gathering rumors and information, and finding what you need.
When you choose training in a skill, put an X or a check mark in the Trained box next to that skill's name on your character sheet. Training gives you a +5 bonus to checks you make with that skill. For each trained skill, add 5 to the appropriate ability modifier and write the total in the Check space for that skill.
You should now have two major quests on your character sheet: identify the mysterious rider and find the stolen box. Those two quests might take you in the same direction, or they might lead to two separate adventures. You might decide to head off in the direction you saw the rider go. You could try to determine which way the goblins went. Or you could check to see if any of the goblins that fell during the fight are still alive and able to give you information.
What do you want to do?
Do you follow the rider?
Do you track the goblins to their lair?
Do you question a goblin survivor?
Make a Perception check to see if you can find tracks showing which way the goblins went. Perception is based on Wisdom, and since you're trained in Perception you make a Wisdom check with a +5 bonus. Roll a d20 and add your Perception check modifier.
What did you roll?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Heal Roll: 1d20+4 19
Klopfer decides to question one of the goblins. If you want to find a bar ask a drunk man.
The first two candidates have little to say. It is hard to talk when you are missing a head or half of your torso. Fortunately the third goblin wasnt Klopfers opponent and was just injured by the merchant.
Resting his axe lightly on the monsters neck Klopfer asks with a winning smile: "You wanna tell me who the nice guy on the horsy was and where your friends went off to?"
Intimidate without modifier: 1d20 14
I am trained in intimidate, athletics and endurance. So I assume i get a 14 + 1 (12charisma =1 modi) => 15 ...correct?
I was thinking that Klopfer should have 2 flavor items that are very important to him.
1. BBB His big book of brews. A large tome that is hanging on his belt. Klopfers left his home on the traditional Bierzug. All the recipes he is collecting on his travels will be recorded in this book. Its pages are made from the skin of a young drakeling that encroached on the mines of Falkenfels when Klopfer was still a wee little lad hardly able to lift his own flagon. It is bound in metal and 3 chains of silver, copper and mithral hold it close so nobody is able to steal the knowledge Klopfer is gathering.
Since the recipes have to be tatooed on the drake skin klopfer is a skilled tattoo artist. +10 on tatooing
2. This is a pair. Klopfer wears a chain around his neck. On this chain is a tiny tankard of pure mithral. It is sealed and contains one drop of his mother's and father's blood mixed with the ale his parents drunk when he was born. Every man in Falkenfels crafts one of these mysterious charms when he is told by his wife that they are expecting a child. The high priest of Moradin then starts to craft a normal size tankard in its image. When the boy or girl turns 20 the parents hand over both items to the child to wear and use until his death.
It is said that as long as the dwarf wears the amulet he will never lose his tankard or his way.
To drink from another dwarfs tankard is a grave offense and has lead to many fights with Falkenfelser dwarfs. The only other person allowed to drink from the tankard of a Falkenfelser dwarf is his husband/wife leading to the common marriage proposal: "Will you share your ale with me."
When the dwarf dies his tiny tankard is cracked open by his family and the liquid contained within is poured into the next batch of ale brewed in the Falkenfelser brewery so that the departed may be drunk for all eternity.
(I would like the amulet to be able to have the property to be able to 'point' towards the tankard. Traditionaly this is used when the dwarf was so drunk he cant remember where he left it but it can also be used as a great adventure hook
I know I am taking the concept of drunken dwarf a bit far but I like it
STR: 10(+0)
DEX: 13(+1)
WIS: 14(+2)
CHA: 13(+1)
INT: 18(+4)
CON: 12(+1)
"sounds like a deal" Edendir replied to the merchants offer. Now to find out where they ran off to. Edendir looked over at the goblin he felled.Maybe he will know...
Diplomacy roll: 1d20+6 19
Just in-case he is still alive
You have to roll a Heal check before you can interrogate a goblin, but give me a moment and I will post the appropriate text for you to read. Also, "trained" means you add an additional +5, so with a Charisma of 12 you would roll 1d20+6 on Intimidate checks, giving you a final result of 20 on that roll. Untrained skills are 1d20 plus the base modifier, so if you were using Diplomacy instead, you would roll 1d20+1.
As far as the item requests go, the amulet, tankard, and tome are all fine; however, the amulet does not have the ability to point toward the tankard (though your dwarf may certainly believe it can, especially since he hasn't really had the chance to test it, since he's never before let anyone else handle his tankard. Or maybe they are linked, but in a more metaphysical manner rather than a physical or directly-observable magical one).
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
You can try to soother the goblin's fear and use Diplomacy to get information from it, or you can play on its fear and use Intimidate to make it tell you what you want to know.
Do you want to use Diplomacy?
Do you want to use Intimidate?
Make a Heal check to see if you can keep a dying goblin alive long enough to provide you with information. Heal is based on Wisdom, so if you're trained in Heal you make a Wisdom check with a +5 bonus; otherwise it's just a Wisdom check. Roll a d20 and add your Heal check modifier.
What did you roll?
Make a Heal check to see if you can keep a dying goblin alive long enough to provide you with information. Heal is based on Wisdom; if you were trained in Heal you'd make a Wisdom check with a +5 bonus, but since you're not, it's just a Wisdom check. Roll a d20 and add your Heal check modifier.
What did you roll?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Heal Check: 1d20+2 12
Your proficiency in Diplomacy and your winning personality convince the goblin that you not only mean it no harm, you're actually a friend. In confidence, the goblin tells you, "We serve a human wizard named Malareth. We live with him in an ancient, buried temple hidden in the caves to the southwest. Malareth was the rider you saw."
The leader of the goblins is a bugbear named Kurrash, who carries Malareth's orders to the other goblins. "Kurrash told us to raid this merchant wagon," the goblin says. "He told us where and when the wagon would pass on the road. We were ordered to steal a small box from the back of the wagon." The goblin has no idea what's in the box or why Malareth wants it.
The goblin's injuries are quite severe. You can let it die in peace, or you can attempt another Heal check to try to save it. If it survives, it will certainly remember your kindness, but it might still fall into a life of evil. You can decide how to treat the goblins. If you try a Heal check, you need a 15 or better to keep it alive.
Either way, you follow the goblin's directions to the goblins' lair without alerting the other goblins to your approach.
You've found the goblin lair! Before you begin to explore it and deal with the goblins there, though, it's time to flesh out your character a little more.
You should have this information filled in on your character sheet already:
Your class
Your character's race (elf) and gender
*Your character's alignment (good)
The experience points you have earned so far (100 XP)
Your ability scores and trained skills
Your Armor Class (AC)
Your attack bonus and damage with your spells
Your hit points, bloodied value, healing surge value, and surges per day
Fill in your Initiative modifier. This is the same as your Dexterity modifier, and you use it in combat to determine the order in which characters and monsters take their turns.
Fill in your passive Insight and passive Perception. Your passive Insight is 10 + your Insight check, and your passive Perception is 10 + your Perception check.
Other information on your sheet depends on your class.
Fill in your speed, which is 7 since you're an elf. Elves are naturally quick. Your speed is the number of squares you can move with a single move action.
Fill in the rest of your defenses. Your Fortitude is 10 + the greater of your Strength and Constitution modifiers. Your Reflex is 10 + the greater of your Dexterity and Intelligence modifiers. Your Will is 12 + the greater of your Wisdom and Charisma modifiers.
Under "Equipment and Magic Items", write one of these three kinds of implements: orb, staff, or wand. Implements are special items that wizards use to focus magical power into their spells. Your choice doesn't have any in-game effect--it just has to do with what your wizard looks like. As you adventure, you might come across magic implements you can use, which give you bonuses to your attack and damage rolls with your spells. You can use any magic orb, staff, or wand you find. Also note that you have a spellbook that holds all your spells and an adventurer's kit, which includes a backpack, a bedroll to sleep on, flint and steel to light fires, a belt pouch, 10 days of trail rations to eat as you travel, 50 feet of rope, 2 sunrods you can use to light your way in a dark cave, and a waterskin. Under "Wealth", write "25 gp" (25 gold pieces).
Under "Powers and Feats", you should already have listed phantasmal force and stone blood, which you used in the first fight with the goblins. You also get mage hand, ghost sound, and light. These are simple spells called cantrips that you can use freely.
In addition to the at-will spells you used against the goblins, you also get magic missle.
Choose two of these encounter spells to go into your spellbook: burning hands, charm of misplaced wrath, illusory obstacles, and leaden transmutation.
Next, choose two of these daily spells to go into your spellbook: fountain of flame, slimy transmutation, phantom chasm, and sleep.
Each morning, you prepare the encounter and daily spells that will be available to you in the coming day. You can prepare one encounter attack spell and one daily attack spell.
You can choose one feat for your character. A feat is a small benefit that reflects concentrated training or natural aptitude in a certain area. Choose one of these feats and write it under Powers and Feats on your character sheet:
Durable: you gain 2 extra healing surges each day. Add 2 to your Surges per Day on your character sheet.
Improved Initiative: you get a +4 feat bonus to initiative checks. Add 4 to your Initiative score on your character sheet.
Jack of All Trades: you get a +2 bonus to all untrained skill checks. Add 2 to the relevant ability check for each skill you're not trained in.
Skill Focus: choose one skill. You get a +3 feat bonus to checks with that skill. Add 3 to your check for one skill, either trained or untrained.
Toughness: you gain 5 additional hit points. Add 5 to your maximum hit points, and adjust your bloodied value (one-half your maximum hit points, rounded down) and your healing surge value (one-quarter your maximum hit points, rounded down) accordingly.
Elf characters speak the Common language that most intelligent races speak, and also know Elven. Note these languages on your character sheet.
You gain a +2 bonus to your Nature and Perception skills.
You have low-light vision. This lets you see in dim light just as well as in normal light, but it doesn't help you in total darkness.
You have an ability called wild step, which lets you ignore difficult terrain when you shift.
You have an ability called group awareness, which lets you share your perceptive nature with your allies. Non-elf allies within 5 squares of you get a +1 bonus to Perception checks.
You have a racial power called elven accuracy, which lets you reroll a failed attack roll. Note this power on your character sheet.
You approach the goblin cave without alerting the goblins.
Roll initiative for your character: roll a d20 and add your initiative modifier.
What did you roll?
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23