AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
At the position you are currently at now within this adventure, you will only have maybe a couple of encounters before reaching level 5. So you should think about your level 5 mans. Terrendos, you should make a level 5 Tybalt and send it to me (or give it to me in the Dark Sun game this weekend). My recommendations, after some observation:
Tybalt: You should take the opportunity to train out punishing eye for practically anything. It's seriously rubbish.
Dain: I think you might do well taking both toughness and durable (if you don't already have them). Durable packs more surges so you can afford to bring the companion back during combat - he is getting pretty squished pretty easily. Toughness though will help with an extra 5 HP and improving your resilience - as well as the companions.
I trained it out at one point, but I think somehow you got stuck with an old version of my token. Pretty sure I was using Life-Tapping Darts or something like that.
Terrendos on
0
Options
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
:O I've actually got no tokens that have any updated power on them actually. It's always just been the same mans. I save PC tokens quite reliably, so I am sure I would have had it if it was changed.
In any event, Punishing Eye is beyond rubbish and Life-Tapping Darts are decent enough.
I can't stop making Heromachine shit. Before I make design decisions I will regret:
Aegis, do you have something to say about how Andraos should look or should I improvise based on his equipment and token?
Regardless of what you'll say, I will post Andraos's picture tomorrow. Now is your chance to influence me before I ruin your character forever.
Suleman on
A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise, a morning filled with four hundred billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
0
Options
AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
I've kind of pictured him as a form of Arabic-influenced, long dark flowing-hair Khalashtar wielding a khopesh.
Well, I tried my best to make him according to those specifications, but I also wanted to give it my own flavor, you know? So here's Andraos.
Nah, just messing with you, here's the real thing.
Illgottengains! It is your and Dain's turn to face the Heromachine crucible! Tell me about what Dain is supposed to look like!
Suleman on
A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise, a morning filled with four hundred billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
0
Options
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
Looks like due to absences this week and next week, that we won't be playing until a wee while in future. So until then rest assured that I will be firmly busy working on horrible ways to mangle your characters and kill all of you.
Aegeri, do recall I will be here for part of Easter weekend, but will probably need to leave early for a hockey tournament.
REG Rysk on
0
Options
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
Yeah I know, it's actually not that but a couple of others won't be around (Terrendos is still doing wedding based shenanigans and Suleman is this weekend as well). At this stage, 3 players is a little too low and there are some important story/adventure elements coming up that would be nice if everyone experiences.
Well, to finish things off, here's Dain. Illgottengains didn't give me any tips, so I just had to improvise. Deal with it.
Unfortunately, Ying Ling didn't turn out terribly well, so Dain will have to do without her for now. There is a fanservice pic of Dain as well, but that went a bit too far even for me, so I won't be posting that.
As a bonus, here's the whole party, arranged by height.
Suleman on
A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise, a morning filled with four hundred billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
0
Options
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
So before I call the game off this weekend, I just want to make sure that we can't make at least 4 players for the session. So if you can come or not, let me know now so I can change things with sufficient time to spare. Otherwise I shall see you all next weekend
A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise, a morning filled with four hundred billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
A couple of people cannot make it to the game this weekend, so I will resume the game next weekend then and continue to plot your horrible demise. Also do not think an extra time will mean you will have avoided the Aegeri-is-high-on-sugar encounter design. Because while high on sugar in my fort in the land of my imagination I will still be making this game.
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
Just some warning in advance, but I am not going to be able to talk on vent today as I might wake up others in the house. I will be only able to communicate through the magic of text!
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
So now you've met the Wendigo! Isn't he just delightful? Here are some things that your characters have realized through fighting the thing up front (and some general game mechanics).
1) The Wendigo - as you've realized - cannot be killed. Currently you have no idea how this is accomplished (if it can be done at all). That's somewhat of the point of adventuring!
2) Every time you do kill the abomination it becomes more powerful - basically gaining a level. All of its relevant stats increase when this happens. Certain other things might happen as well, including gaining new powers. It cannot gain more than 1 level in a day - but it can come back as many times as it likes in a single day (albeit it takes longer to reform each time it is killed).
3) It will only appears in certain places and you will *always* be given clues as to where it might be. The presence of the Wendigo in the last session was the snap frozen trees and especially painful cold.
4) Other than being killed, the creature can become more powerful simply by the passage of time but this is *much* slower than killing it. Consider your decisions carefully with regards to killing it or avoiding it! One thing to note is that the Wendigo will not gain a level from time if you killed it that day (this is to avoid being "double punished"). In effect it will grow in power from being defeated in battle or by letting too much time pass. These two things won't stack though. Bear in mind that killing it will make it gain levels substantially faster than letting time pass. Not that you want to let too much time pass ...
I will write more on the logic behind this creatures design in my session notes. But there are a few things that are worth mentioning I want to emphasize. The first is that you should be obscenely paranoid of the wendigo, but realize that it is a *really* uncommon foe and won't just pop up under every rock possible. He won't turn up very often at all and he can often be encountered by himself. This lets me explore some very different "design" space in the game and how you real with your encounters with it has a strong effect on this module. The point is to build tension and make you wonder "Where is the Wendigo? Whose shit is he currently ruining?", while keeping a close eye on the clock. I will say the creep of the ever increasing cold and the wendigo are directly linked to one another.
There shall be more next week once you hear the Legend of the Wendigo fully.
Retcon: As you've already encountered the lesser wendigo spirit hunter, I've changed a few of its powers. Your characters would recognize and know these in advance (so this doesn't feel like I'm springing a new monster on you).
1) The invisible trait is just too much of a pain in the ass to track for minions. It seemed like a good idea at first, but it's just not going to work well and so I have altered it. Spirit Hunters now gain concealment whenever there are no enemies within 5 squares at the end of their turn. They can hide only using concealment instead of total concealment, which is usually used to make a bite attack while hidden. The effect is still called the same, but less effort for me to remember and keep track of. The other wendigo's beyond sight ability works as normal.
2) Their shift effect damage is now 2 cold damage and not 5. This is to bring their damage into more consistent levels for a minion. It is still an effect.
This makes them much less effort for me to run, especially because there can be quite a few of them... to say the least.
Hey guys, guess what? To celebrate Easter, I decided to have our favorite dead people visit. Here are the three heroes who have fallen during this adventure of ours.
First up is the first to die, Walker. His leg might not have been quite this bad, but it gives you a pretty good idea.
Then comes Marhu, who is not a dragonborn.
Then we have Squinter, who brought a friend.
Finally, here is a big group shot of the whole gang, dead and living both.
Here's hoping you like them, because it took me some time to make these.
EDIT:
So since Marhu has retired from adventuring, he decided to return to his greatest passion.
Suleman on
A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise, a morning filled with four hundred billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
0
Options
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
I will add the dead characters to the OP in their own section as well.
It's fairly likely that I won't be available this saturday. It's party time all over Finland, and I might be obligated to take part.
Suleman on
A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise, a morning filled with four hundred billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
I just realized that I might actually have to leave a bit early tomorrow. I'm taking a friend out to dinner for his birthday and I'll need to leave around 5:30 PM EST to do so. For those of you in bizarre time zones, that's about 4.5 hours after the game starts.
Terrendos on
0
Options
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
I am just letting you know that I am terribly ill, but I will still be there. We won't be going a whole session though, it may only be a couple of encounters or so. I'll see what happens at the time! We are still going to be playing though, because I am absolutely determined to do so.
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
So I am pretty much stuffed now with horrible disease and such. We are going to play tonight, but I'm only going to do a couple of encounters or so (as getting up at my 3am time is going to drain me to say the least). You will be level 5 definitely by the end of this session though, no matter what happens.
So I picked Rage Of The Crimson Hurricane as Hajan's level 5 power, but it hits all enemies in close burst 1. I don't have experience coding multi-target macroes, so could someone give me a hand with that?
Suleman on
A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise, a morning filled with four hundred billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
Inside teh spoiler is the coding for my AoE attack. Make a few little changes to it and you should be good.
<b>Grasping Tide:</b> Dain causes a watersprout to whirl between his enemies whipping them with globs of chilly water. <br>
<b>Attack</b> <font color=red>[c(Area_Burst_1,".."):1d20+ATK2]</font> vs Fort, [20+ATK2] is a crit.<br>
<b>Hit:</b><font color=blue> [1d6+WISMOD+DAM2]</font> <font color = "Red"><b>Cold</b></font> damage, [6+WISMOD+DAM2+DAMCRIT2] on a crit.<br>
<b> Effect </b> If the target leaves the area of of effect, you can use an OA to make a secondary attack against it.
Also. Thanks for running the game even though you aren't feeling well, Aegeri. You're a real trooper.
Thank you very much. I forget, are area attacks supposed to deal the same damage to everyone? Because your power does that.
Suleman on
A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise, a morning filled with four hundred billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
0
Options
AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
edited May 2011
Area and Close Bursts are Multiple Attack Rolls but a Single Damage Roll, yes.
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited May 2011
So themes are coming out this month! That's exciting and about god damned time as well! As soon as the various themes are available, you will be able to immediately retroactively take one for your character. Here is the list of upcoming themes:
alchemist
animal master
apprentice
chevalier
explorer
guardian
guttersnipe
hospitaler
mercenary
noble
ordained priest
order adept
outlaw
seer
scholar
I am quite happy this is happening and look forward to having them in the game. I will update your characters with your theme once you take one. As mentioned, you can take a theme as soon as it is released in Dragon.
I wonder, at what part of the month does the magazine usually appear?
Suleman on
A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise, a morning filled with four hundred billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited May 2011
I have been working away on a new area map for the game over the past couple of days. It is looking really good using some simple techniques! I am actually quite proud of this effort, even if it is simplistic but it captures the feel of the area MUCH better than the maptools map.
The map in maptools will be updated and the tokens placed on this map instead. I think you'll find the result is a lot better than what I had previously.
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited May 2011
So I am going to update the houserules soon with more stuff before the game. There is nothing really major. We are going to have to wait until all the themes are out before we take those sorry, because currently they are adding some major rules headaches. I am going to have to sort through this before they are legal I am afraid.
At the moment, Seer is the first one that I will now directly house rule. The checks can be used only on the first three attack or saving throw rolls. The trivial clause is basically going to be identical to bag of rats: You can't just try to at-will your allies, or furniture or squares for example when I write it up (so I'm just using the existing rules). Otherwise the theme will work as it is written. This is really for clarity and so that I don't have to constantly rule on if a monster knowledge check was a trivial waste or a genuine action. Or things like jumping a square or checking bushes for invisible pixies. I honestly can't see this theme working without such a rule and this feels considerably more balanced. Although this does rule out numerous skill checks, I think limiting it to attacks and saving throws feels fair enough.
Edit: Also, on thinking about it skills being used in a skill challenge or to disarm a trap should be allowed to? Or am I just making this over complicated now? Attacks and saving throws has a distinct simplicity about it that's easy to understand how it impacts the game. Hmmm. Not sure what to do here.
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited May 2011
So I was a little out of it today due to being tired (Hence why I missed things like one creature being half lurker when it shouldn't be, whoops!), so I hope everything was clear and such on the whole wendigo thing. In any event, I'm going to write out the whole legend of the wendigo (the actual story) in the thread for you. I'll also give the a clearer rundown of what Zamhareer and Haerag told you on how to finally defeat the wendigo.
Otherwise sleep and then burfday time for me. Hooray!
Posts
Tybalt: You should take the opportunity to train out punishing eye for practically anything. It's seriously rubbish.
Dain: I think you might do well taking both toughness and durable (if you don't already have them). Durable packs more surges so you can afford to bring the companion back during combat - he is getting pretty squished pretty easily. Toughness though will help with an extra 5 HP and improving your resilience - as well as the companions.
In any event, Punishing Eye is beyond rubbish and Life-Tapping Darts are decent enough.
Aegis, do you have something to say about how Andraos should look or should I improvise based on his equipment and token?
Regardless of what you'll say, I will post Andraos's picture tomorrow. Now is your chance to influence me before I ruin your character forever.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
Nah, just messing with you, here's the real thing.
Illgottengains! It is your and Dain's turn to face the Heromachine crucible! Tell me about what Dain is supposed to look like!
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
Unfortunately, Ying Ling didn't turn out terribly well, so Dain will have to do without her for now. There is a fanservice pic of Dain as well, but that went a bit too far even for me, so I won't be posting that.
As a bonus, here's the whole party, arranged by height.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
And oh boy the stuff I do while high on sugar...
1) The Wendigo - as you've realized - cannot be killed. Currently you have no idea how this is accomplished (if it can be done at all). That's somewhat of the point of adventuring!
2) Every time you do kill the abomination it becomes more powerful - basically gaining a level. All of its relevant stats increase when this happens. Certain other things might happen as well, including gaining new powers. It cannot gain more than 1 level in a day - but it can come back as many times as it likes in a single day (albeit it takes longer to reform each time it is killed).
3) It will only appears in certain places and you will *always* be given clues as to where it might be. The presence of the Wendigo in the last session was the snap frozen trees and especially painful cold.
4) Other than being killed, the creature can become more powerful simply by the passage of time but this is *much* slower than killing it. Consider your decisions carefully with regards to killing it or avoiding it! One thing to note is that the Wendigo will not gain a level from time if you killed it that day (this is to avoid being "double punished"). In effect it will grow in power from being defeated in battle or by letting too much time pass. These two things won't stack though. Bear in mind that killing it will make it gain levels substantially faster than letting time pass. Not that you want to let too much time pass ...
I will write more on the logic behind this creatures design in my session notes. But there are a few things that are worth mentioning I want to emphasize. The first is that you should be obscenely paranoid of the wendigo, but realize that it is a *really* uncommon foe and won't just pop up under every rock possible. He won't turn up very often at all and he can often be encountered by himself. This lets me explore some very different "design" space in the game and how you real with your encounters with it has a strong effect on this module. The point is to build tension and make you wonder "Where is the Wendigo? Whose shit is he currently ruining?", while keeping a close eye on the clock. I will say the creep of the ever increasing cold and the wendigo are directly linked to one another.
There shall be more next week once you hear the Legend of the Wendigo fully.
Retcon: As you've already encountered the lesser wendigo spirit hunter, I've changed a few of its powers. Your characters would recognize and know these in advance (so this doesn't feel like I'm springing a new monster on you).
1) The invisible trait is just too much of a pain in the ass to track for minions. It seemed like a good idea at first, but it's just not going to work well and so I have altered it. Spirit Hunters now gain concealment whenever there are no enemies within 5 squares at the end of their turn. They can hide only using concealment instead of total concealment, which is usually used to make a bite attack while hidden. The effect is still called the same, but less effort for me to remember and keep track of. The other wendigo's beyond sight ability works as normal.
2) Their shift effect damage is now 2 cold damage and not 5. This is to bring their damage into more consistent levels for a minion. It is still an effect.
This makes them much less effort for me to run, especially because there can be quite a few of them... to say the least.
First up is the first to die, Walker. His leg might not have been quite this bad, but it gives you a pretty good idea.
Then comes Marhu, who is not a dragonborn.
Then we have Squinter, who brought a friend.
Finally, here is a big group shot of the whole gang, dead and living both.
Here's hoping you like them, because it took me some time to make these.
EDIT:
So since Marhu has retired from adventuring, he decided to return to his greatest passion.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
<b>Attack</b> <font color=red>[c(Area_Burst_1,".."):1d20+ATK2]</font> vs Fort, [20+ATK2] is a crit.<br>
<b>Hit:</b><font color=blue> [1d6+WISMOD+DAM2]</font> <font color = "Red"><b>Cold</b></font> damage, [6+WISMOD+DAM2+DAMCRIT2] on a crit.<br>
<b> Effect </b> If the target leaves the area of of effect, you can use an OA to make a secondary attack against it.
Also. Thanks for running the game even though you aren't feeling well, Aegeri. You're a real trooper.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
alchemist
animal master
apprentice
chevalier
explorer
guardian
guttersnipe
hospitaler
mercenary
noble
ordained priest
order adept
outlaw
seer
scholar
I am quite happy this is happening and look forward to having them in the game. I will update your characters with your theme once you take one. As mentioned, you can take a theme as soon as it is released in Dragon.
"I'm sure he's fighting for his freedom or to prove he's not a worthless abomination. Unfortunately, he's wrong."
The map in maptools will be updated and the tokens placed on this map instead. I think you'll find the result is a lot better than what I had previously.
At the moment, Seer is the first one that I will now directly house rule. The checks can be used only on the first three attack or saving throw rolls. The trivial clause is basically going to be identical to bag of rats: You can't just try to at-will your allies, or furniture or squares for example when I write it up (so I'm just using the existing rules). Otherwise the theme will work as it is written. This is really for clarity and so that I don't have to constantly rule on if a monster knowledge check was a trivial waste or a genuine action. Or things like jumping a square or checking bushes for invisible pixies. I honestly can't see this theme working without such a rule and this feels considerably more balanced. Although this does rule out numerous skill checks, I think limiting it to attacks and saving throws feels fair enough.
Edit: Also, on thinking about it skills being used in a skill challenge or to disarm a trap should be allowed to? Or am I just making this over complicated now? Attacks and saving throws has a distinct simplicity about it that's easy to understand how it impacts the game. Hmmm. Not sure what to do here.
Otherwise sleep and then burfday time for me. Hooray!