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[Pbp] -13th Age - Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil Chapter 1. - The Moathouse
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If you were a ranger or a rogue, I would say go ahead and do it as dual-wielding, but as a barbarian it makes sense to just reflavor it as a 2h weapon. Takes away the slim chance for a second attack, but feels more "berserker barrage" to max out dmg on some fool than to have a lesser melee dmg die than the wizard. If you get in, I would probably have situations where you would roll a d4, like if you're grabbing someone or holding an object.
I was mostly using what the 13th Age book said about rolling for inspiration and the otherwise overly broad OUT. I'll go ahead and reroll but I'll probably keep the atrocious Wisdom intact since it's the hook for the character if that's alright with you. It's definitely simpler for you on that front.
Edit: Actually looks like there are already 6 characters?
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So far there are a few votes for Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil and a few who say either. I will count the votes of those who make it, but it looks like you all will be busting heads in Hommlet over "choosing your own adventure" out of New Port.
+2 WIS/CHA
STR 14 | DEX 10 | CON 14 | WIS 16 | INT 10 | CHA 16
HP: 27/27
Recoveries: 8/8 (1d8+3)
AC: 18 PD: 14: MD 15
Initiative +1
Gear:
Flanged Mace, shield, chainmail, adventuring gear, medical supplies
Gold: 50
Basic attacks:
Melee: +3 vs AC, 1d6+2, 1 on miss
Ranged: +0 vs AC, 1d6
One Unique Thing:
It's all a lie! The gods do not exist!
He is the only person in the world who knows that the True Gods are Astrobstrd, the God of Order, who created the world and weaves the destinies of all those who live in it. He is in eternal conflict with Geth, the God of Chaos, who unravels and reshapes people's destinies with nothing more than a handful of dice.
Backgrounds:
5 (Lore) - Former head of The Cathedral's tomb raiding archaeology expeditions - This team's mission was to recover sacred artifacts from previous Ages for the Priestess. It was on one such expedition where he came across an unusual thin, rectangular metal artifact. After fiddling with it, it came to life and revealed to him the truth of the world in the short amount of time its magic lasted. As there were no other witnesses, he was forced to resign from the scandal caused by his heretical statements.
4 - Field medic for the Dragon Empire's voluntary border patrol forces - part of triaging is also knowing which injuries require magical aid. He's definitely been spending more time here now that he's no longer tomb raiding excavating for the Priestess
3 - Gamer - whether they are games of skill or chance, he's always been fond of them, which has proven useful in settling tavern tabs.
Icon Relationships:
Priestess 2 - Conflicted
Emperor 1 - Positive
Racial Power:
Quick to fight - At the start of each battle, roll initiative twice and choose the result you want.
Class Features:
Heal spell, Ritual Magic
Class Talents:
Domain: Healing
When you cast a spell that lets you or an ally heal using a recovery, the target also adds hit points equal to double your level to the recovery.
Invocation of Healing: This battle, you gain an additional use of the heal spell (see Class Features, left). The first heal spell you cast after using this invocation allows the target to heal using a free recovery instead of spending a recovery.
Domain: Leadership
Once per turn when you make a melee attack against an enemy, hit or miss, your allies gain a +1 attack bonus against that enemy until
the start of your next turn.
Invocation of War: Increase the escalation die by 1.
Adventurer Feat: The attack no longer has to be a melee attack, close and ranged attacks also work.
Domain: Lore
You gain 4 additional background points that must be used somehow in relation to knowledge or lore.
Invocation of Knowledge/Lore: You must use this invocation during your first round of a battle. When you do, you get a quick glimpse of the battle’s future. Roll a d6; as a free action at any point after the escalation die equals the number you rolled, you can allow one of your allies to reroll a single attack roll with a +2 bonus thanks to your vision of this future.
Feats:
Domain: Leadership, Javelin of Faith
Typical Spells Memorized: 4 + Heal
Heal
Close-quarters spell | Special: You can use this spell twice per battle. | Quick action to cast (1/round)
Target: You or one ally you are next to
Effect: The target can heal using a recovery.
Javelin of Faith
Ranged spell | At-Will | Target: One nearby enemy
Attack: Wisdom + Level vs. PD
Hit: 1d6 + Wisdom holy damage.
Miss: Damage equal to your level.
Adventurer Feat: The spell also deals +1d6 damage against an undamaged target. At 5th level that increases to +2d6 damage; at 8th level it increases to +4d6 damage.
Spirits of the Righteous
Ranged spell | Once per battle
Target: One nearby enemy
Attack: Wisdom + Level vs. MD
Hit: 4d6 + Wisdom holy damage, and your nearby ally with the fewest hit points gains a +4 bonus to AC until the end of your next turn.
Miss: Your nearby ally with the fewest hit points gains a +2 bonus
Cure Wounds
Ranged spell | Daily | Quick action to cast
Effect: You or a nearby ally can heal using a free recovery.
Bless
Ranged spell | Daily | Quick action to cast
Effect: You can cast this spell for power or for broad effect.
Cast for power: One nearby ally gains a +2 attack bonus until the end of the battle.
Cast for broad effect: Choose up to three nearby creatures (including you); each target gains a +1 attack bonus until the end of the battle.
Sometimes Memorized Spells
Shield of Faith
Ranged spell | Daily | Quick action to cast
Effect: You can cast this spell for power or for broad effect.
Cast for power: One nearby ally gains a +2 bonus to AC this battle.
Cast for broad effect: Choose up to three nearby creatures (including you); each target gains a +1 bonus to AC this battle.
Hammer of Faith
Close-quarters spell | Daily
Effect: Until the end of the battle, your basic melee attacks use d12s as their base weapon damage dice.
If chosen, I would probably lean towards ToEE, though either's fine.
Edit: Here's the same thing as a Google Doc https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsFz2ASFSycxdFY1UzRuVUZrUkhXZGxDdEstazdNbGc&usp=sharing
Edit2: Played with stats a bit more, decided to switch STR to CHA bonus.
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http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?662669-13th-Age-Wizards-and-spell-use-I-m-confused/page2
http://pelgranepress.com/site/?p=12062
PSN: Boozer_777
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If the numbers stay as they are, I will post my decision by the end of the day tomorrow, and by Friday afternoon or Saturday morning I will have posting standards and an introduction ready to go.
@capfalcon Make sure to get your background in tonight if you get the opportunity.
25 gp and wizard gear is fine.
Just for funsies 'cause the inspiration hit me, I present to you another character, The (Wood) Elf Ahs Tryke
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsFz2ASFSycxdDRwWXNQeWR5ZUpBVVZIM3ZWb0gwS1E&usp=sharing
Edit: Oops, I screwed that up didn't I?
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@discrider as Maldras the Human Bard – A storyteller who grew up revering the Prince of Shadows, he now spins tales and swindles coin. He has managed to stay one step ahead of the law and his marks.
@Capfalcon as Golnar the Half-Orc Stalwart – A living weapon breathed into life by the unbridled experimentation of the Archmage. Golnar draws on the might of his flaming heart and can smash doors with his bare fists or exchange secrets with the burning wick of a candle.
@Kirindal as All-Seeing Sabeiha Raseed the Human Fighter – A mercenary trained in magical theorems with ties to the gods. She fights blind since that tie is cursed sight, shared by the sleeping mad deity with nightmares that would manifest and ravage the Dragon Empire.
@Ardent as Fultur Hammershadow the Dwarf Wizard – A dwarf who became a wizard for the best possible reason: spite. His success has drawn the eye of the Archmage, who fears that Fultur may be his prophesied successor.
@dracil as Caldon, the Human Cleric – A rather astute fellow who has seen the light on how the world REALLY works. Life’s all a game and we are just the pieces in it; All praise the astrobstrd! All fear the Geth!
@boozer as Vanminar Tel’Azahd the Half-Elf Sorcerer – A techno mage that boasts truly out of this world heritage. The life of a hermit has given him a taste for the finer things in life, no matter if those belonged to someone else or not.
We will be running Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (as I'm sure you've figured out by now). We will start with a prologue. In the prologue, no rolls will be needed until a particular point. Just tell us what you wish to do and show off how you are a badass. It is up to each of you if you want to establish relationships that are in place before this introduction. After the prologue, we will proceed in a more typical fashion with combat rolls and skill checks and all that. I will post a prompt below and you all can get started when you wish. This gives all of you a chance to get a feel for your characters and set up your motivations and character quirks in game (without bad rolls to make you look foolish). It also allows me to finish out my last week of work and still contribute to the thread.
Totaling up our Icon dice, we have (Though 1 is still needed for Sabeiha @Kirindal):
-4 The Archmage
+1 The Dwarf King
~1 The Elf Queen
~1 The Emperor, +1 The Emperor
+3 High Druid
~2 Lich King
~3 The Priestess
+4 Prince of Shadows
So in our game, Nature and the Shadows are revered among the group and the Archmage is a huge dick bag.
Congrats to those that made it. All others, I will hold as backups as long as they are interested.
While traveling in a caravan out of Forge, you are all caught in the most intense blizzard you have ever experienced. Wind and ice bite into you and blind you. With a a sharp crack, an avalanche triggers and buries everyone. Horses and caravans are mercilessly ravaged and swept away into a nearby ravine. After a few moments, the six of you emerge from the snow to find no other survivors. It is the dead of night, and as you emerge the storm subsides slightly. In the distance, you can barely make out the steeple of a some sort of temple. The full moon provides enough illumination, but also shows you that wolves have appeared from the nearby woods to claim an easy meal.
She drew her woolen cloak closer to her as a blast of chill air surged passed her. It was fortune and decent craftsmanship on the caravan Sabeiha had been riding in that had seen to her survival through the avalanche and subsequent upending of the world. The sacks of sweet barley bound for some market riding along with her in the caravan had proven to be soft enough to pad the bone-shattering fall into merely a bone-rattling impact with the ground in spite of their own efforts to pummel her into submission when they had all went over the edge together.
After making sure that she hadn't broken anything, Sabeiha carved her own exit through the canvas wall to escape from the upside down caravan. Headscarf firmly tied around her eyes, she called out once and listen to see if she could hear if there were any other survivors, occasionally clicking her tongue as she looked. "Shout out if you need help."
Her searching came to a halt as she could hear the footfalls of wolves, arrogantly loud in their presumption of easy prey in no need of sneaking up to. In a smooth movement, Sabeiha unslung her bow and nocked an arrow turning to face the wolves. "Come on then..."
Of course, this wasn't entirely a personal trip. He was officially on loan from the Emperor to the Dwarves as a specialist for their latest expedition into the deep underworld.
He could hear the sound of other survivors and it looked like he himself had miraculously survived unharmed, and he smirked at the thought of what that meant. But before he had time to look for the wounded, he saw the eyes gleaming off in the darkness. "Wolves!" he shouted, hoping to get the attention of both the wolves and any others who may be conscious and unaware of the danger.
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In addition, try to keep out of game comments and conversations behind spoilers. If you want to call out specific characters or specifically ask me questions, you can put an @ourname before the tags.
@discrider @Kirindal @Ardent @dracil
I’d like to take a crack at establishing some relationships. For recent relationships, I can see Van and Caldon regularly losing to Maldras at cards throughout the trip. As far as Van can tell Maldras isn't cheating or he's so good at it that Van wants to learn how he does it. Purely for self-defense of course. The losing stings a bit less since he finds them good company anyway.
Vague rumors of treasure in these parts along with some over-enthusiastic salesmanship of coinage of dubious dwarven historical significance have led Van to leave Forge with the caravan in a hurry. Van has since weaseled his way into Caldon’s underworld expedition (or at least tried to). Perhaps over Fultur’s protests?
I could also see Vanminar and Fultur having a history through the Arcanum, they would have at least heard of each other, if we want to assume they attended at roughly the same time. Maybe he sees Van as a wildmage that couldn't hack it as a real wizard. Whether Fultur found him amusing or his eccentric magical theories interesting are up to ardent. Though Van would be loathe to admit it so bluntly, he is impressed by the intellectual achievement of becoming a wizard, and still clings to the hope of improving his own skills. Still, he finds wizardly magic needlessly complex, though unable to adequately explain why.
Van would be intimidated by the Golnar and Sabeiha. I could see Van and Sabeiha debating magic over drinks, though I assume she would find his theories nonsensical.
Getting out of Forge in a hurry seemed like the right play, after Gelbeck Silverfist decided he had overpaid for the (kind of) ancient dwarven coins. The caravan was headed in the right direction, and some of them were even planning on some dungeoneering of their own. Van was well on his way to joining the group, he thought, when disaster hit.
Thanks to his keen ears he was almost awake when the avalanche stuck, removing himself from the icy grave with a flash of fire and steam.
“That worked much better than I expected.” Van said, sounding pleasantly surprised. His smile faded after his eyes took in the destruction. With a shaking hand Van took a sip from his wineskin to calm his nerves. The calls of other survivors snapped him back to the present, and that’s when he noticed the wolf pack. Taking a last sip, he placed the wineskin back into his pack.
”Nice doggies, nice. We’re just passing through.” One hand reached out in a placating gesture toward the largest of the pack, but Van’s eyes began to glow, and a flurry of snow began to circle quickly around his feet.
PSN: Boozer_777
He ignores the wolf now, and any of the surrounding travelers, collecting his spell components and wondering when he'd had the foresight to purchase such nice, waterproof pouches for all of them. He pauses and begins flipping snow away from himself hurriedly. "Ofalladablastedays..." he pauses mid-oath and triumphantly pulls a cloak pin free of the snow, attaching it securely to his heavy winter cloak and then closing it against the chill weather. A moment to adjust his beard (a wet beard was a tragic thing) and Fultur turned to glower at the wolves. "Whaddya want ye mangy mutt? Ain' got nothin' for ye."
He pauses to glance around for his charge. Stupid human was like as not to get himself frozen to death in the mountains. Fortunately for the dwarf Caldon took that opportunity to call out. Fultur didn't bother to tell him to keep his voice down. After all, it wasn't like another avalanche would do any more damage than had already been done. Maybe the human would be killed by falling rocks. He should be so lucky.
Fultur is unlikely to have remembered Vanminar from school (not personal, he probably wouldn't remember anyone from school), but he'd certainly recognize the techniques taught at the Arcanum, which could have led to some conversation.
Fultur may be aware of Sabeiha's dual nature, but he's not the sort of person who would care about it. If he's said anything to Sabeiha about it and her response was to tell him to leave off, he probably did. It's possible Fultur and Sabeiha have a longer history together as veteran mercenaries.
Any thoughts for how he may know or is likely to interact with Golnar or Maldras?
Fultur is probably best described as "cranky." There's a genuine anger in him (he really does not like orcs, which may have gotten him off on the wrong foot with Golnar) and he does not always see the point of social niceties, but he's mostly harmless to civilized folk. He spends some of his meager spare time attempting to figure out how to brew good beer while traveling. While someone with a bit more perspective than he might realize that actually doing so would make him a sainted hero among dwarves, Fultur is motivated entirely by self-interest. He tires of 'human swill.'
After he got his bearings and body heat under control, Golnar grinned as he peered over the small crater he had melted in the snow. He had found the trip a little boring up until now. Everyone just stayed in the wagons to get out of the cold, and no sane bandits would try anything in this weather. His axe was probably still in the ruins of the wagon, but he was standing near a perfectly serviceable tree that had been downed by the avalanche. Ignoring the wolves as they paced back and forth, he walked over and snapped of a huge limb that was at least as tall as he was. He twirled it around, testing its weight and balance. Apparently satisfied, he lashed out with it and caved in the skull of a nearby wolf that had been a bit too daring in probing the prospective meal.
The others quickly leaped back, suddenly unsure of their meal.
Since they both have some good will with the High Druid, Golnar's probably run into Maldras before. He's a scoundrel and a rogue, but he's at least (partially)playing on the right team.
Caldon seems to be an odd fellow, but Golnar's a sucker for an interesting wager. Keep the games simple though. The last time someone tried to explain a game that took more than five minutes, Golnar threw him through a window.
Golnar isn't the biggest fan of wizardry, so for right now, he wouldn't see much difference between Vanminar and Fultur. Golnar probably finds Fultur's attitude amusing, at least.
Twitch Stream
After Golnar rises from the steaming crater he impacted in and smears the already tainted snow with the blood of an over-eager runt. You all can make out that your position has been surrounded by 12 of the beasts. The 8 normal wolves seem to be chomping at the bit to tear your flesh apart, while the 4 six-foot tall dire beasts circle at a distance to cut off any chance of escape. The wolves seem to take no notice of their felled comrade and do not flinch at Van or Golnar's displays of might and magic.
With that, I will present the first (of 13!) Icon spotlights for...
The High Druid
Note: This is what I have concepted for The High Druid in our Campaign. If you guys, especially those with relationship dice with her, want to add a quirk or detail that doesn't contradict what I have here when you talk about her or use relationship dice, they will become part of our canon.
No one knows the name of the newest High Druid, and the young half-elf almost seems to resent the very idea of names. That does not mean that she is distant or impersonal however. In comparison to her predecessor, she is mostly seen as a force for good in the world. As the Archmage continues his descent into paranoia and madness, The High Druid has set up eco-friendly small communities that give refuge to those effected by the damage done. The previous High Druid was a recluse, while the new High Druid engages with other icons and has even been spotted in a few cities. This does not mean that she is universally beloved though. Most farmers, mages, sailors, and those living in large cities fear that she may be using diplomacy to loosen their grip on shaping the earth and setting up those she allies with to be absorbed into her plans to unchain The Midland Sea
Her relationship with the Emperor is a tenuous one. He still values the strength and familiarity of The Archmage, so on paper, the Empire considers agents of The High Druid to be saboteurs and terrorists. In reality, almost no soldier has set foot in the Wild Wood or taken action against her. This, and the fact that The Priestess is rumored to have a friendly relationship with her only serves as fuel for The Archmage's paranoia.
Suddenly the wolf closest to him lunged. Lightning climbed from his feet to his open palm, instantly reducing the wolf to a smoking, sparking ruin.
Van's head tilted slightly, a disappointed look on his face. He snapped his fingers, and the sparks surged into another bolt. It jumped from the wolf's corpse to a second wolf, then jumped again to a third. The smell of smoking fur and ozone filled the air.
"Yes, much better. " Van said, obviously impressed with his contributions to the body count.
PSN: Boozer_777
Maldras came to, finding himself half buried in snow and vegetables, and hurting all over.
A ride aboard a caravan in a goods wagon is bad enough, without being thrown around with the bags of potatoes as well.
Still, you get what you pay for, and Maldras didn't have money for much.
I probably deserve this much though, he thought, mind wandering back to how he'd left the tavern in Forge, as he dug himself out of what remained of the wagon.
He hadn't started the fight certainly, but it's generally not considered polite to bolster the main aggressor's ego whilst helping yourself to your fair share of pay from the pockets of the patrons.
Maybe they should've tipped better.
At this point, the sounds of battle penetrated his reverie, as the digging shook the lingering cold from his mind.
Hastily taking stock of his tools and weapons, the remaining canvas of the caravan gave way as the bard emerged into the night.
"Great. Wolves and an avalanche. This night just keeps getting better."
One of the wolves spied the bard muttering to himself, and raced forward growling and snapping.
Maldras growled back, and the wolf found itself flung into a nearby tree.
Seeing the other fighters, Maldras moved over to meet them. No point being picked off after all.
"Ho there brave souls! Does anyone have any particular plans for the big ones?", pointing at the circling dire wolves.
With relationships, Maldras would have a hard time wrapping his head around Caldon's theology. If the world is at the whims of these two gods alone, where do the stories come from? If Geth is uncaring and merely serves to sow destruction, how can any drama happen? The only one who could breathe life into the world would be astrobstrd, and to try and figure how conflict could arise there and give birth to the great stories is impossible.
Still, the artifacts that Caldon seeks are worthy of a story or two, even if Maldras may have to sit through this ideology to get to them.
Van and Golnar both sound like they'd enjoy a game or two with Maldras whilst riding in the caravan. Friendly of course. No point getting thrown off the caravan before getting to the next town.
Not sure whether Golnar would have met Maldras previously, as the Druid positive icon comes from Maldras wandering from town to town to town, and making friends with the land in order to live from it when he needs to.
So it's a possibility, but Golnar would have to have traveled somewhat to meet up with Maldras again.
Not sure how Sabeiha and Maldras would be getting along. Sabeiha might be a bit offended when Maldras starts trying to record all of her nightmares, and binding them to song.
As for Fultur, it could well be that he was the disturbance (whom Maldras then aided in causing a ruckus) that led Maldras to swindle the tavern back in Forge.
Icon Spotlight for...
The Orc King
Orcs have always been a problem, but for the past few ages, they were more of a nuisance to The Dragon Empire than a true threat. Five years ago, in the midst of the Greypire War, the northern human settlements and dwarven villages outside of Forge were swarmed by well-coordinated attacks that included twisted beasts, ogres, goblins, hill giants, and orcs led by a new breed of orc that exhibited cunning and savagery not seen in generations. They were led by a woman that rose from the breeding pits and cowed the wastelands into submission. Known by many names, the orcs refer to her as Oonkva which translates roughly as "The Wound That Festers and Spreads". "King" is a title she has adopted as both a mockery of the Dwarf King and Lich King and a sign of respect among the fierce patriarchal culture of the orcs. Her power is truly frightening. She has tamed Lalia, the mother of all Manticores and rides her into battle. Her presence has rapidly increased the breeding capability, intelligence, and sheer barbarism of the Orc Horde.
For now, citizens of The Dragon Empire breathe a sigh of relief, as Oonkva has set her sights on conquering all of the northern wastelends, putting her in direct conflict with The Red. The Red decimates armies of her soldiers in a series of unending skirmishes. What's terrifying is that she appears to be winning. Slowly, but surely she is claiming hordes from the primordial gargantua. The Archmage is eager to study her, since the source of her power does not seem to be magical, natural, or divine. It is rumored that he instigated her into attacking the north to test the defenses of the realm. Few doubt that this rumor, but even fewer speak it aloud. Not only are the Archmage's spies everywhere, but if true, the defenses served only long enough to slow her down. Only with the aid of the Elves, the Dwarves, and some even say The Lich King (who wants an intact Dragon Empire to rule) did this exploratory force get driven back.
"Half expect ta see an orc raidin' party crest the trail, this many dire wolves in one place," he muses, less certain that his misfortune is the work of vengeful dwarves. Well, this part of it. The human cleric is another story.
Icon Spotlight
The Archmage
Leopold Yacobin has been Archmage for nearly 80 years. A child prodigy, Leopold graduated from The Arcanum at 9 and had become The Archmage by his 25th birthday. He has guided 3 emperors through what has mostly been described as a bountiful and (relatively) peaceful era. The Archmage was also a fine physical specimen for most of his life; stately and handsome, he led skirmishes on the front lines well into his 70's. His positive contributions to the safety of The Dragon Empire, the art of magic, and civilization as a whole are nearly immeasurable.
Since the beginning of the decade though, The Archmage has slowly become a complete recluse and runs Horizon through his massive and loyal bureaucracy. There are rumors that he has begun toying with dark magics to extend his reign, restore his youthly vigor, and conjuring fears of The Lich King, achieve immortality. Even those who would question his methods within the empire remain silent as those who speak out tend to disappear or suffer timely accidents. He spends less and less time maintaining the defenses of the realm, leaving The Priestess to pick up his slack. The fact that she is able to do so, drives him mad. The Emperor seems to seek his council much as his father and grandmother did in ages past, but many hope that he does this just to keep an eye on the mad genius. Recently, The Crusader has also been spotted visiting his shuttered spire in the heart of Horizon.
Many of the signature spells of The Archmage involved butterflies, from flight with butterfly wings to polymorph spells using cocoons. Now, The Archmage uses them to spy on enemies (and allies); not even The High Druid claims dominion over these small creatures anymore. People rightly quiet down and shutter their doors when they see one alight on a flower nearby.
For all the silly dwarf's bluster, the spirits clearly knew which person here was in greatest need of protection.
Maldras - Caldon would probably be pretty perplexed at losing at the games of chance as he considers himself pretty good at the calculations and strategies required. He'd probably try to challenge Maldras to games of skill instead to recoup any losses incurred.
Sabeiha - While Caldon does not doubt that there is some great supernatural being behind Sabeiha's eyes, he would clearly disagree that it is a god. A devil perhaps, or even some other great being, but a god it is not. I suppose we'd probably both talk a bit about theology and our shared conflicted relation with the Priestess.
Fultur - Clearly the dwarf does not like Caldon, and some of that is reciprocated. But they're both there for a mission from their respective factions and Caldon would not let any petty squabbles get in the way of that.
Vanminar - Caldon would probably find Vanminar's techno heritage somewhat fascinating as it would fit with what he's seen and some of the things mentioned would probably sound very similar to the artifact he'd seen, and would probably spend time talking together about it. The possibility of other worlds would definitely drive his curiosity.
Golnar - Of all the people, Golnar is probably the one he'd have the least to talk about. For one thing, he probably considers Golnar a bit dull and tiresome to talk to, even though he does have a rather interesting history.
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Two of the other normal-sized wolves bark at the drift and wait for Van to emerge. A dire wolf eyes the rest of the group, daring them to move forward.
When real combat starts, all damage numbers should be colored red and any interrupt actions that you wish to take if applicable should be colored green. I will roll the action on the monster's turn, but in return, you guys get to roll monster interrupts if applicable.
Not sure if spell uses are counting in this fight, but I’m assuming the escalation die is two at this point.
22/27 HP
"Not the FACE!" Van cries out in horror. Suddenly, the four of them are bathed in prismatic light. Those looking in his direction feel a momentary lurch of vertigo. Was it a trick of the light, or were the wolves attacked by ghostly copies of themselves? The two smaller wolves drop; dead before they hit the ground.
Vanminar scrambles out of the snowdrift, quickly checking with his small mirror if his face is unmarred. He lets out a sigh of relief that is drowned out by the deep angry growl of the wounded dire wolf still within the snowdrift.
PSN: Boozer_777
A growling behind him informs him that he's attracted the attention of one dire wolf, pacing around him, fangs bared. He responds with a toothy grin of his own and throws the now broken limb aside as gestures to the wolf, in the nigh universal gesture of "Bring it." As the wolf pounces, he wills the elemental heat to the surface, and his skin chars and blackens as it become rock hard. Catching the wolf by the snout, he pries open the dire wolf's jaw before it can clench down on his hands. The wolf starts to whine as Golnar's hot skin grows more unbearable in it's mouth.
"What's the matter? Don't like your food well done?"
Twitch Stream
As you collect yourselves and tend to any minor wounds, you begin to think of your next move. All eyes gradually drift towards Caldon at one point or another though...crazed as his theories may be, he is a holy man and there are dead here to be consecrated.
Everyone knows that dead have 48 hours to have their remains consecrated before they are free reign for...
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The Lich King
Many of the Icons of the 13th Age are worshiped by their followers, but only two have the actual ability to literally claim godhood, The Great Gold Wyrm and Vecna, The Lich King. Ruler of the First Age, Vecna was struck down by the might of all of the other combined Icons. But the Wizard King did not have the ability to truly die, so powerful were his immortality magics. His phylactery is rumored to be an object that is magically indestructible and unknowable. He was merely driven underground where he plots his eventual conquest of his former lands. Vecna's plots span generations and have innumerable backups and contingencies. When any foul event despoils the land, most folk suspect the machinations of The Lich King, and with some degree of certainty, they would be right.
His true joy is in making his simple mortal enemies give up what they hold dear for his aid. His worshipers claim that he was never "struck down", but actually bargained to be "Lord of the Dead" in exchange for sparing the Dragon Empire from the mind-controlled behemoths he planned to use to smash Axis to pieces. This title gives him right to any "unclaimed" dead after two days. As anyone can imagine, performing last rites and securing graveyards are among the most sacred duties any priest carries out, so much so that suicide squadrons of clerics and paladins often rush onto lost battlefields to perform the duty at any cost. After The Priestess, High Consecrator of the Realm is the loftiest position any holy man or woman can occupy.
It is hard to know where the truth begins and ends since Vecna is lord of secrets, but his official godhood began after his servants "lost" The Greypire War. He now has a temple within the walls of The Cathedral and his cult, or rather "religion", is slowly growing in ranks. The Empire keeps tight watch on these new temples to ensure no laws are broken, but for now seem to be leaving them be. Servants of the gods of good and The Great Gold Wyrm work to undermine these stained places, but The Priestess is curiously silent on the matter.
"Where is it...
AHA!"
The bard triumphantly brandishes a ring of wood covered in tanned leather at the remaining wolves..
Who've conveniently run away.
"Ah.
Well I guess that's that then. So unless we think there were any other survivors left under this snow about, I suggest we make for shelter and deal with the bodies in the morning.
Best to not freeze to death trying to thwart the Lich."