I setup what I think was a fun little scenario for my dnd players tonight in our streamed twitch game. Got up to 18 viewers at one point too so I feel like we are growing in a good way. Basic overview is they're in a warehouse full of a billion tiny figurines and can put them in a bowl to enter the item, where all sorts of shenanigans can happen. So they put a tiny dagger in the bowl and get transported to a busy road in a town.
There's a royal procession headed down a crowded street. The buildings on either side are crouched together and at least three stories tall. Small balconies festooned with decorations, or just laundry, are everywhere.
Merchants shout about their wares as the carriage carrying a princess of some sort passes through. Guards keep peasants back and the princess is waving and smiling at the peasants. Most seem very happy to see her and are throwing flowers and offering gifts. She takes a cup of wine from a wine seller and is given a rug from a rug merchant. A man with a hood moves up next to the group. Suddenly, an arrow slams into the chest of the princess. She cries out and falls over, dead. The man in the hood points up to a balcony and cries "assassin!" everyone in the street turns to see a hooded figure darting across balconies and running away. Then bam, the group is whisked back into the warehouse.
When they go back in, the scenario has reset itself and they have to figure out how to stop the assassin.
First try, they cast spider climb on the monk who sprints up the side of the buildings and tries to block the shot from a crossbow aimed at the princess. He succeeds in catching it, only for the hooded figure to shout and the guards turn to see -the monk holding a crossbow bolt. The princess sputters and coughs and dies.
Next try they send him up to stop the arrow assassin, then send the paladin to purify the cup of wine before the poison can kill the princess. She still dies, but the monk notices blood on her back.
This time the warlock casts faerie fire on the carriage revealing someone inside preparing to stab the princess. The cleric casts silence to stop the hooded guy from shouting and the paladin tries to use a spell, command, to tell the princess "flee!" She does, but gets tangled in her dress on the carriage and falls, getting trampled by the wheels. Her dress splits open to reveal a breast plate of heavy armor.
Finally, the monk fights the shouty guy, the warlock faerie fires the carriage to reveal the person inside, the cleric purifies the wine, and the paladin commands the assassin inside the carriage to "surrender". The arrow hits the princess, but her armor catches it and she survives. The townsfolk cheer and the party is returned to the warehouse, the shiny dagger figurine now a new magic item.
They can put it back in the bowl to try again and enhance the item, but the scenario will be more difficult!
I liked the party 's very interesting solution attempts and they seemed to enjoy figuring out the puzzle! Using the obvious assassin as a misdirect worked incredibly well.
@SniperGuy Do you have a set time/day that you stream your game?
My weekly Curse of Strahd game was last night and I was fantastic. Very minor CoS spoilers below.
Our group is on it's way to the Amber Temple and had just fought some specters in the tower attached to Tsolenka pass. Our Halfling rogue was scouting ahead across the bridge when he's attacked by a Roc. Once attacked the little madman decided to jump on the Roc and attack it back. Just before our fight with the specters he had used a potion of hill giant strength to bend the portcullis bars. So grappling a Roc would normally been impossible for out tiny friend, instead he was reenacting some Monster Hunter tactics and riding that thing.
There are some tense moments as the Roc flies around. We know the fall from the bridge is 300ft down and at times it's flying even higher. My bard is jamming on his Lute and supplying Bardic Inspiration to keep the Halfling from falling to it's death. The group gets some hits in and the Halfling finally gets to jump to safety. As soon as that happens I cast Hypnotic Pattern and the Roc fails it's save! It crashes to the ground and limps off defeated.
Now at the other end of the bridge the group is torn. If we move quickly we can reach the Amber Temple just as nightfall hits. But we're down hit dice, spells slots, etc. Some want to chance it, others are too worried that as soon as we get there we'll run head first into more combat. The first group are more worried about camping out in the open in the cold. Dio, my bard, gives a big toothy grin and says he can fix it but everyone has to say they love him. He's a dick like that.
When we hit sixth level I happily added a spell to my character sheet but didn't announce it to the group. Normally we announce our cool upgrades. I told everyone about Counter Charm but kept the new spell close to my vest for when it would be really impressive. Like when we're stuck on a mountain top in the freezing cold and night was quickly coming. So I cast Leomund's Tiny Hut. Everyone cheers, the DM says we'll start the next session at level 7, and we cheer again.
So now I have to pick my first 4 level spell and decide which character I spooned over night.....
@SniperGuy Do you have a set time/day that you stream your game?
My weekly Curse of Strahd game was last night and I was fantastic. Very minor CoS spoilers below.
Our group is on it's way to the Amber Temple and had just fought some specters in the tower attached to Tsolenka pass. Our Halfling rogue was scouting ahead across the bridge when he's attacked by a Roc. Once attacked the little madman decided to jump on the Roc and attack it back. Just before our fight with the specters he had used a potion of hill giant strength to bend the portcullis bars. So grappling a Roc would normally been impossible for out tiny friend, instead he was reenacting some Monster Hunter tactics and riding that thing.
There are some tense moments as the Roc flies around. We know the fall from the bridge is 300ft down and at times it's flying even higher. My bard is jamming on his Lute and supplying Bardic Inspiration to keep the Halfling from falling to it's death. The group gets some hits in and the Halfling finally gets to jump to safety. As soon as that happens I cast Hypnotic Pattern and the Roc fails it's save! It crashes to the ground and limps off defeated.
Now at the other end of the bridge the group is torn. If we move quickly we can reach the Amber Temple just as nightfall hits. But we're down hit dice, spells slots, etc. Some want to chance it, others are too worried that as soon as we get there we'll run head first into more combat. The first group are more worried about camping out in the open in the cold. Dio, my bard, gives a big toothy grin and says he can fix it but everyone has to say they love him. He's a dick like that.
When we hit sixth level I happily added a spell to my character sheet but didn't announce it to the group. Normally we announce our cool upgrades. I told everyone about Counter Charm but kept the new spell close to my vest for when it would be really impressive. Like when we're stuck on a mountain top in the freezing cold and night was quickly coming. So I cast Leomund's Tiny Hut. Everyone cheers, the DM says we'll start the next session at level 7, and we cheer again.
So now I have to pick my first 4 level spell and decide which character I spooned over night.....
Every Wednesday at 8:30 CST on my twitch channel, twitch.tv/sniperguygaming!
We were on Ep. 14 last night. One of our players can't make it next week so I'm not sure if we'll just press on or postpone for a week, I hate to not have it consistent but with 4 players losing one is a pretty big chunk of missing person.
@SniperGuy Do you have a set time/day that you stream your game?
My weekly Curse of Strahd game was last night and I was fantastic. Very minor CoS spoilers below.
Our group is on it's way to the Amber Temple and had just fought some specters in the tower attached to Tsolenka pass. Our Halfling rogue was scouting ahead across the bridge when he's attacked by a Roc. Once attacked the little madman decided to jump on the Roc and attack it back. Just before our fight with the specters he had used a potion of hill giant strength to bend the portcullis bars. So grappling a Roc would normally been impossible for out tiny friend, instead he was reenacting some Monster Hunter tactics and riding that thing.
There are some tense moments as the Roc flies around. We know the fall from the bridge is 300ft down and at times it's flying even higher. My bard is jamming on his Lute and supplying Bardic Inspiration to keep the Halfling from falling to it's death. The group gets some hits in and the Halfling finally gets to jump to safety. As soon as that happens I cast Hypnotic Pattern and the Roc fails it's save! It crashes to the ground and limps off defeated.
Now at the other end of the bridge the group is torn. If we move quickly we can reach the Amber Temple just as nightfall hits. But we're down hit dice, spells slots, etc. Some want to chance it, others are too worried that as soon as we get there we'll run head first into more combat. The first group are more worried about camping out in the open in the cold. Dio, my bard, gives a big toothy grin and says he can fix it but everyone has to say they love him. He's a dick like that.
When we hit sixth level I happily added a spell to my character sheet but didn't announce it to the group. Normally we announce our cool upgrades. I told everyone about Counter Charm but kept the new spell close to my vest for when it would be really impressive. Like when we're stuck on a mountain top in the freezing cold and night was quickly coming. So I cast Leomund's Tiny Hut. Everyone cheers, the DM says we'll start the next session at level 7, and we cheer again.
So now I have to pick my first 4 level spell and decide which character I spooned over night.....
Every Wednesday at 8:30 CST on my twitch channel, twitch.tv/sniperguygaming!
We were on Ep. 14 last night. One of our players can't make it next week so I'm not sure if we'll just press on or postpone for a week, I hate to not have it consistent but with 4 players losing one is a pretty big chunk of missing person.
Stick to the schedule! Maybe run a one-shot or something, but give folks a reason to tune in same time same place every week.
@SniperGuy Do you have a set time/day that you stream your game?
My weekly Curse of Strahd game was last night and I was fantastic. Very minor CoS spoilers below.
Our group is on it's way to the Amber Temple and had just fought some specters in the tower attached to Tsolenka pass. Our Halfling rogue was scouting ahead across the bridge when he's attacked by a Roc. Once attacked the little madman decided to jump on the Roc and attack it back. Just before our fight with the specters he had used a potion of hill giant strength to bend the portcullis bars. So grappling a Roc would normally been impossible for out tiny friend, instead he was reenacting some Monster Hunter tactics and riding that thing.
There are some tense moments as the Roc flies around. We know the fall from the bridge is 300ft down and at times it's flying even higher. My bard is jamming on his Lute and supplying Bardic Inspiration to keep the Halfling from falling to it's death. The group gets some hits in and the Halfling finally gets to jump to safety. As soon as that happens I cast Hypnotic Pattern and the Roc fails it's save! It crashes to the ground and limps off defeated.
Now at the other end of the bridge the group is torn. If we move quickly we can reach the Amber Temple just as nightfall hits. But we're down hit dice, spells slots, etc. Some want to chance it, others are too worried that as soon as we get there we'll run head first into more combat. The first group are more worried about camping out in the open in the cold. Dio, my bard, gives a big toothy grin and says he can fix it but everyone has to say they love him. He's a dick like that.
When we hit sixth level I happily added a spell to my character sheet but didn't announce it to the group. Normally we announce our cool upgrades. I told everyone about Counter Charm but kept the new spell close to my vest for when it would be really impressive. Like when we're stuck on a mountain top in the freezing cold and night was quickly coming. So I cast Leomund's Tiny Hut. Everyone cheers, the DM says we'll start the next session at level 7, and we cheer again.
So now I have to pick my first 4 level spell and decide which character I spooned over night.....
Every Wednesday at 8:30 CST on my twitch channel, twitch.tv/sniperguygaming!
I won't be able to watch live since that's when my weekly game is, but I'll check out the VODs you have posted.
In general, how common do most of you make NPC spellcasters? I like the idea of cities employing low-level spellcasters for various purposes, but while brainstorming for my next session I'm starting to worry I'm establishing a confusing number of competing spellcasters.
First, there's the party. The local temple has a statue that radiates a Zone of Truth effect (though it has a fairly low save DC). The authorities collaborate with the temple when they need to use the Zone of Truth, but they're also allied with an order of druids who have access to a totem statue that enhances ritual spells they cast. The druids sometimes use rituals like Speak with Animals, Beast Sense, and Animal Messenger to help alert the authorities of trouble. However, the antagonist is also a druid, and though he doesn't have access to the special totem he can still use his spells to cause mischief and spy on the party. To mitigate this, though, a magic-user the party has encountered who is secretly a hag is helping protect the party because she hates the evil druid.
In general it depends on if i want them to be able to fix the problem in that way and for the most part only ritual casters are available.
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KasynI'm not saying I don't like our chances.She called me the master.Registered Userregular
As few as possible, I try to make them the exception in order to give variety to combat scenarios, and even then not always. Casters just introduce way too many variables and bog combat down.
I told my curse of strahd DM how I feel about her assigning random loot irrespective of class as random rewards, having unlimited attunement slots, how its hurting the atmosphere of curse of strahd and she just stopped responsing
I feel really bad
like really really bad... everyone's advice is always "communicate" but now I think I've just made it worse for everyone
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joshgotroDeviled EggThe Land of REAL CHILIRegistered Userregular
I told my curse of strahd DM how I feel about her assigning random loot irrespective of class as random rewards, having unlimited attunement slots, how its hurting the atmosphere of curse of strahd and she just stopped responsing
I feel really bad
like really really bad... everyone's advice is always "communicate" but now I think I've just made it worse for everyone
As few as possible, I try to make them the exception in order to give variety to combat scenarios, and even then not always. Casters just introduce way too many variables and bog combat down.
I didn't so much mean using casters in combat as I meant that magic is widely used in the setting by those in power. For example, I statted up the current druid antagonist to mostly have spells that let him spy on the party, set traps, or deliver messages. With this guy in particular I want the party to start feeling paranoid that he's using the dire wolf they rescued to spy on them.
For example, the setting I'm developing has nodes of magical power throughout the world that people seek to control and exploit. Cities grow around these nodes, and nations link these nodes together with leylines that enhance their cumulative power. You know those regional effects that some monsters generate? Anyone who can control a node of power can activate a similar type of regional effect, and the more nodes you link with leylines the greater the area affected and the more potent the effect. For example, a city-state could set up a permanent Purify Food & Water effect on the area if they wanted. I'm also considering the possibility that a former empire that controlled and utilized a vast leyline network collapsed within days after someone hijacked it to set a Dispel Magic regional effect.
I like this idea, but I'm still trying to figure out its ramifications on the world. I'd assume the spirits of nature would try to hide these sources of power and use it themselves to protect the natural world, whereas empires would spring up to try and grab as many nodes of power as they could manage.
I also like the idea of the world being a place where extraplanar entities are constantly trying to pursue their own goals and enact their ancient plots. I've decided now that the specific region I'm setting my campaign in has secretly been the theater where multiple demon lords, liches, archdevils, gods, and archomentals have all simultaneously been trying to pull off gambits that began millenia ago. For example, the establishment of the region's largest trade consortium was planned well in advance of its mortal founder's birth by Graz'zt (or possibly a subordinate of his while he was indulging in Abyssal decadence), and regional politics were manipulated for centuries to make the consortium's rise to power possible, all as part of a scheme to trick a rival of his into thinking they could make use of the consortium for their own plans.
I won't lie, this sort of detail is influenced by the same kind of bizarre conspiracy theories that claim, for example, that the Founding Fathers were secretly a Satanist cult, Washington DC was built on a swamp because it contained a node of mystic power, the Washington Monument is an obelisk that channels that power, and that a secret-Satanist President can draw on this arcane might to further the goals of the Antichrist or whatever. Plus the Moon is hollow!
I don't believe any of that for a second, but it's fun inspiration for RPGs.
@SniperGuy Do you have a set time/day that you stream your game?
My weekly Curse of Strahd game was last night and I was fantastic. Very minor CoS spoilers below.
Our group is on it's way to the Amber Temple and had just fought some specters in the tower attached to Tsolenka pass. Our Halfling rogue was scouting ahead across the bridge when he's attacked by a Roc. Once attacked the little madman decided to jump on the Roc and attack it back. Just before our fight with the specters he had used a potion of hill giant strength to bend the portcullis bars. So grappling a Roc would normally been impossible for out tiny friend, instead he was reenacting some Monster Hunter tactics and riding that thing.
There are some tense moments as the Roc flies around. We know the fall from the bridge is 300ft down and at times it's flying even higher. My bard is jamming on his Lute and supplying Bardic Inspiration to keep the Halfling from falling to it's death. The group gets some hits in and the Halfling finally gets to jump to safety. As soon as that happens I cast Hypnotic Pattern and the Roc fails it's save! It crashes to the ground and limps off defeated.
Now at the other end of the bridge the group is torn. If we move quickly we can reach the Amber Temple just as nightfall hits. But we're down hit dice, spells slots, etc. Some want to chance it, others are too worried that as soon as we get there we'll run head first into more combat. The first group are more worried about camping out in the open in the cold. Dio, my bard, gives a big toothy grin and says he can fix it but everyone has to say they love him. He's a dick like that.
When we hit sixth level I happily added a spell to my character sheet but didn't announce it to the group. Normally we announce our cool upgrades. I told everyone about Counter Charm but kept the new spell close to my vest for when it would be really impressive. Like when we're stuck on a mountain top in the freezing cold and night was quickly coming. So I cast Leomund's Tiny Hut. Everyone cheers, the DM says we'll start the next session at level 7, and we cheer again.
So now I have to pick my first 4 level spell and decide which character I spooned over night.....
Every Wednesday at 8:30 CST on my twitch channel, twitch.tv/sniperguygaming!
I won't be able to watch live since that's when my weekly game is, but I'll check out the VODs you have posted.
I've got a youtube playlist with all the old stuff, including last night's game.
Let's see if this link works
Will definitely try to keep it rolling when players aren't there, just have to find good stuff to do with fewer people. One shots seem like they'll work well with the "warehouse full of tiny items that have their own worlds in them" theme we have going on.
I told my curse of strahd DM how I feel about her assigning random loot irrespective of class as random rewards, having unlimited attunement slots, how its hurting the atmosphere of curse of strahd and she just stopped responsing
I feel really bad
like really really bad... everyone's advice is always "communicate" but now I think I've just made it worse for everyone
The CoH game in DMing, my players have no magical weapons yet at lvl 4 (though 2 of them are wizards and one is a cleric, so they do have some options for magical dmg), their best weapon is a silvered short sword they looted somewhere the book said there was a silver sword. They still put some hurt on the hags they found
at the windmil
though mama hag not being there tilted things significantly in their favor.
They are headed to Krezk next with Irena and Ismark in tow, they think this abbot they heard of can help then res a dead body they found hidden in
Watchter House
and they can get some answers. I'm not sure why they latched on to that or more specifically the book
implies the guy is a nobody that opposed Strahd and the Watchters killed him and his him
so now I'm thinking i have to figure out wtf he'll have to say to them. That is, if course, if they don't get derailed along the way.
So I'm designing a Druidic Old Faith based partially on 4E's lore about the Great Elder Spirits, and I've found this article on Siberian animists particularly inspirational:
The gist is that the official stance has hunters taking what they need from nature's spirits, and when people die that's because nature is taking what it needs. In practice, most hunters try to cheat the spirits by for example, ritually blinding the corpses of the animals they kill so the spirits won't know who owes them.
I plan to frame creatures like perytons as nature's attempt to hunt down who cheated it.
Here's the gist of what I've got for the Old Faith I'm developing so far:
- The world was made from pieces of the Elemental Planes whose elemental spirits were suppressed by the gods to make the world stable.
- The gods, distracted by matters in the cosmos, departed. The suppressed elemental spirits began to explore the Border Ethereal plane, with some managing to take corporeal form as chwingas (from Tomb of Annihilation).
- The mortals, curious about the chwingas, began to use the mysterious plants and fungi the chwingas would grow with their magic to perceive the spirits still in the Border Ethereal.
- The earliest druids communed with these primal spirits and aided them in manifesting through spells and rituals.
- The spirits began to manifest in different ways. Some would allow themselves to be conjured in elemental forms resembling what they once were, while others would bond with animal spirits, or even the spirits of mortals.
- In the Feywild the first fey appeared as a result of spirits manifesting in response to strong emotion and wild magic. Some, like dryads, bonded with other spirits of nature to aid them, while others, like boggles and redcaps, wanted to pursue their own existence in imitation of mortals.
- In the Shadowfell a similar phenomena occurred, but the gloomy realm's pitiful sorrowsworn were rejected by their spirit and fey kin.
- Primal spirits and those fey who remain allied with their spiritual kin are connected to the physical essence of the world. Though there are Great Elder Spirits who permeate much of the world's Border Ethereal and offer archetypes for the lesser spirits to emulate, druids and other users of primal magic mostly find themselves communicating with and evoking magic from local spirits.
- The followers of the Old Faith reject the idea of leaving the world for an afterlife in another plane. Instead, they seek to either join the spirits of their homeland or be contually reincarnated there. An afterlife separated from the land and the spirits an Old Faith adherent spent their whole life surrounded by does not appeal to the faithful.
- Like many cities dominated by the worshipers of the gods, Old Faith communities claim the patronage of guardian spirits. Where they diverge is that these spirits have a specific connection to the community and the surrounding land, and they are thought of more as family than as beings to be worshiped. Outsiders are discouraged from trying to worship these spirits, as it is believed to distract them from their role as guardians of the locale.
One challege with designing a full-blown animist religion for D&D is that there's never been a consistent model for what one looks like or what nature spirits are. 4E did the most with a dedicated primal power source, a defined pantheon of Great Elders, and an origin story tieing them to both gods and elementals, so I'm using it as the base, but it still didn't explain very well how the fey were involved with the primal spirits despite including a number of fey-themed primal powers.
Other takes on animist religion in D&D include:
- Nature gods (most common)
- Nature gods one with the land of their worshipers (Maztica, Ubtao)
- One goddess, many spirits (Jakandor's War Mother and nature spirits)
- Fey as nature spirits (check out the Spirit of the Land from 3E's Monster Manual 2 for a fey that looks like an earth elemental bear)
The fey connection is kinda hard to reconcile, because a lot of fey don't seem nature related at all (boggles, quicklings, and red caps, for example). According to an interview concerning Tomb of Annihilation there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether the new chwinga creatures should be classified as fey or elementals, with the latter winning out because it apparently fit their role better.
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joshgotroDeviled EggThe Land of REAL CHILIRegistered Userregular
edited August 2018
Anyone listen to dragon talk? I don't want to relisten but they talked about a book that added a catalog of mundane items along with a caravan thing from 2E.
Evil DM idea: An NPC tries to get a PC to cast a buff spell to help a duelist cheat and win a fight so that he can win a bet. The NPC, a rogue known to be dishonorable, really insists on this. Unbenownst to the party, the rogue has been paid to lead the PCs into an ambush; both duelists and several nearby onlookers are actually part of a group of assassins. The rogue just wants to impress his employer by tricking one of the marks into buffing their intended killer.
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Mostlyjoe13Evil, Evil, Jump for joy!Registered Userregular
My Eberron game ideas have finally gelled for me. I'm going to eventually have the PCs get caught in the middle of an evil faction pile up for control of Q'barra. Lords of Dust vs the Dreaming Dark. No holds barred.
And they get to deal with the mess!
PSN ID - Mostlyjoe Steam ID -TheNotoriusRNG
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Mostlyjoe13Evil, Evil, Jump for joy!Registered Userregular
Anyone listen to dragon talk? I don't want to relisten but they talked about a book that added a catalog of mundane items along with a caravan thing from 2E.
Someone here be my hero.
Edit: Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog
I use to have that book. It was bloody useful. Especially for non-casters looking for toys to give them options. That book introduced me to the wonder of caltrops if you were a fighter.
PSN ID - Mostlyjoe Steam ID -TheNotoriusRNG
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joshgotroDeviled EggThe Land of REAL CHILIRegistered Userregular
Anyone listen to dragon talk? I don't want to relisten but they talked about a book that added a catalog of mundane items along with a caravan thing from 2E.
Someone here be my hero.
Edit: Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog
I use to have that book. It was bloody useful. Especially for non-casters looking for toys to give them options. That book introduced me to the wonder of caltrops if you were a fighter.
I have a Sears catalog from 1909. It's basically the same thing. I love it.
So I had a plan for today's session that followed up on one player's actions last time, was going to feature a lot of combat, and would have the party battle a major antagonist. However, that player just said she's not going to be able to come today, so now I've got about five hours to come up with an alternate scenario so she doesn't miss something very important.
EDIT: I've decided on a sidequest where strange wailing is coming from the sewer. The party goes to investigate and discovers that the city uses captive otyughs to help dispose of waste, but someone has not only killed all the young of the mother otyugh in one section of the sewer, but has also been disposing of the corpses of their enemies by feeding them to the otyugh. The party's antagonist knows where they are staying, arranged to have the otyugh's young killed to lure them with its cries of sorrow, and has sent wererat, jackalwere, and chitine minions to ambush them after they deal with the otyugh (who the party, hopefully, will assume was the one responsible for the corpses they find along the way before they are ambushed by the other monsters).
Today in tomb of annihilation: The bard’s girlfriend tried to eat her brains during an alone, heart to heart private moment, and then cried and begged for her life when the bard fought back, convinced the party when they barged in that she was the victim - until the Druid spotted the tiny strand of ooze connecting her foot to a ventilation grate in the room....
And that’s when the two orphans the party adopted began giggling and fired pseudopods into their backs while they were sussing this out, just as the girlfriend did the same, and it went into general initiative
Next week: Overworked exterminator leaning down hole in floor with flashlight says “yep, elder oblex infestation, real bad one too. This feller’s at least a 15 footer, this’ll cost ya extra. It’s spawning copies of my family that it devoured, that’s good at least, means it’s desperate”
Spoiler: The children are long dead, bard’s girlfriend is still alive (for the moment), just was hit by a memory drain, Oblex kept her alive as a backup in case it failed its assault, as a hostage (I hate to fall into the trope of the DM that just fridges npcs the party cares about, I did actually play out with secret rolls whether the creature could incapacitate this NPC during a single surprise round as well)
I’m treating each oblex clone as an independent entity with 14ac and 20hp, as without doing this an elder oblex is a chump, action economy says you pour a bunch of damage into one clone and the whole creature dies before it gets a second round
So, we added two new people to our ongoing campaign. A couple.
They met a guy from our group at his brothers wedding, where his sister outed him as playing D&D to embarrass him, only for the couple to be all giddy and tell him they are looking for a good table to sit at. Take that sis!
Anyway, they show up and the girl walks in with a ukulele and I immediately ask "Hey, are you the one playing the Halfling bard?" to which she replies "omg I was scared no one would get it, or everyone would think its way too dorky."
Standing slow clap from the table.
And every-time she cast a spell, she played. I've never been prouder of my nerd brothers and sisters.
I made a list of NPCs I've introduced in the first three sessions of my game to keep track of them all. Thought I would share so people can use them if they want.
Melby Fairweather - Female halfling stout. She is short and plump, even by halfling standards, and wears her hair in a long braid. Melby is an administrator of one of the largest branches of the White Lantern Consortium and an acquaintance of its founder, the eladrin Taleene Quirelle. She came from a farming community and tries to distance herself from her roots with fine clothing and jewelry. Melby tries to remain civil with the people she works with but is easily annoyed. Kor Ironbar - Male hill dwarf. He's a caravan driver for the White Lantern Consortium and took over the route after his predecessor, Old Halfjaw, was killed and turned into a scarecrow. He's cowardly, wears a floppy hat, and good at whittling wooden figurines. Vinn Sparklegem - Male rock gnome. Vinn runs a White Lantern Consortium outpost, one he was relocated to as punishment for some faux pas. He's known to be rude and impatient, but hasn't been seen since he ran down the street screaming about hell hounds. Maree Dreddagin - Female human. City watch captain. She's very by the book and won't trouble someone without good reason. Suka Deepmind - Female mountain dwarf. She's a priestess of the god of justice and protection. Suka came from a self-serving, politically-influential clan in a corrupt province and disagreed so much with her family's evil ways that she renounced her clan name, so she's cynical about the mortal capacity for goodness. She plans to return to her homeland someday and change it for the better for the sake of future generations. Redemption - Female tiefling. Priestess of the goddess of redemption. She is very pleasant and maintains correspondence with local healers. She and Suka don't see eye to eye, but they share a mutual friend named Vilkenna. Vilkenna Skypony - Female human barbarian/paladin. A local heroine who rides an unusually small pegasus (which is where the name "Skypony" comes from). Vilkenna stands 6' 4" and is powerfully built. Vilkenna once followed the Old Faith exclusively, but after meeting Suka and Redemption she began to worship their gods. She has invented a kind of religious syncretism between the Old Faith and her friends' gods, which Suka fears would be deemed as heretical but hopes will in the long-term help spread worship of her god in the region. According to rumor Redemption and Vilkenna have a thing for each other; the tiefling is only ever seen to drink when invited to alehouses by Vilkenna and has allegedly been seen riding with her on her pegasus on multiple occasions. Greyblade, Champion of the Wererats - A wererat possessed of great strength (use Gladiator stats from MM as base, then add wererat traits). He was once a normal person, but was cast out of the city for violating some taboo and eventually contracted lycanthropy. Spellfang, Magus of the Wererats - Male wererat wizard. He was once a normal person, but was cast out of the city for violating some taboo and eventually contracted lycanthropy. The person who would become Spellfang worked under an evil wizard and fought as part of an outcast mercenary group until Vilkenna Skypony and her compatriots defeated them. Spellfang hid out in the wizards' hidden complex until he taught himself how to cast. Jagolon Quickgrin - Chaotic Evil male human. Druid. He uses spells and rituals primarily to spy on both enemies and allies and to aid his underlings in combat. He commands hostile animals, werebeasts, perytons, and more. Nibbles, Jibbles, Fibbles, etc - Boggle thieves for hire. Quite friendly and trusting. Dame Wither - Mysterious old woman with unusual spells and magic items.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
edited August 2018
So I think I found a new group, with a good mix of newer and older players. We're doing a murder mystery right now, and am rather enjoying myself.
Have you ever been working on a project for so incredibly long, and when you get done with it, rather than a feeling of accomplishment, you just have this big emptiness inside?
That's because nothing has filled the hole where ToA had just occupied in your nerdy soul. Give it some time, and then look back on your campaign and be proud!
Isnt the new book Dragon Heist due to be released any day now? I know thats my next stop after ToA. Gotto fill that void quick with something shiny and new.
Well, now that my D&D campaign has become a Spelljammer campaign, I'm wondering just how off the rails I can take it. The party already has one special Spelljammer, but they just found out that the fighter's magic greatsword is actually a control key for another special Spelljammer. I'm so close to going full Voltron with this and having a third ship that combines with the other two. I almost feel like it would be wrong not to take this chance.
Well, now that my D&D campaign has become a Spelljammer campaign, I'm wondering just how off the rails I can take it. The party already has one special Spelljammer, but they just found out that the fighter's magic greatsword is actually a control key for another special Spelljammer. I'm so close to going full Voltron with this and having a third ship that combines with the other two. I almost feel like it would be wrong not to take this chance.
I finally got to join a 5E campaign. I played my second session Sunday and finished the intro dungeon our DM was running to get the group used to the game. (They’d played few sessions before I joined)
I decided to stick with the classic archetypes since I hadn’t played in a while, so I went with a Human (variant) Fighter. Greatsword wielder. Took the Heavy Armor Mastery feat, and he ended up surprisingly tough for lvl 2. At the end of the session we got leveled to 3 so I went with Battle Master, so now I get a few things to do in combat beside ‘cleave it with a giant sword.’
His name is Dal (which is short for something), a teenage runaway who hooked up with a Dwarven mercenary company. There he learned the ways of fighting, drinking, smithing, and gambling. He’s got more than a little dna from Conan of Cimmeria in him, but hell, originality is overrated anyway.
My only disappointment so far is that I was planning on grabbing a lvl or 2 of Rogue to show him growing as a burglar and generally sneaky sum’ bitch. But the rules say Sneak Attack only works with finesse and ranged weapons. So sadly my idea of sneak attack with a greatsword using the maneuver that gives advantage and the extra damage from Great Weapon Master is not to be.
I finally got to join a 5E campaign. I played my second session Sunday and finished the intro dungeon our DM was running to get the group used to the game. (They’d played few sessions before I joined)
I decided to stick with the classic archetypes since I hadn’t played in a while, so I went with a Human (variant) Fighter. Greatsword wielder. Took the Heavy Armor Mastery feat, and he ended up surprisingly tough for lvl 2. At the end of the session we got leveled to 3 so I went with Battle Master, so now I get a few things to do in combat beside ‘cleave it with a giant sword.’
His name is Dal (which is short for something), a teenage runaway who hooked up with a Dwarven mercenary company. There he learned the ways of fighting, drinking, smithing, and gambling. He’s got more than a little dna from Conan of Cimmeria in him, but hell, originality is overrated anyway.
My only disappointment so far is that I was planning on grabbing a lvl or 2 of Rogue to show him growing as a burglar and generally sneaky sum’ bitch. But the rules say Sneak Attack only works with finesse and ranged weapons. So sadly my idea of sneak attack with a greatsword using the maneuver that gives advantage and the extra damage from Great Weapon Master is not to be.
You can work around those limitations by picking a feat and/or background that makes you a bit of a burglar. It would mostly be for non-combat situations, but in my limited experience that's where the actual roleplaying only happens anyway.
I finally got to join a 5E campaign. I played my second session Sunday and finished the intro dungeon our DM was running to get the group used to the game. (They’d played few sessions before I joined)
I decided to stick with the classic archetypes since I hadn’t played in a while, so I went with a Human (variant) Fighter. Greatsword wielder. Took the Heavy Armor Mastery feat, and he ended up surprisingly tough for lvl 2. At the end of the session we got leveled to 3 so I went with Battle Master, so now I get a few things to do in combat beside ‘cleave it with a giant sword.’
His name is Dal (which is short for something), a teenage runaway who hooked up with a Dwarven mercenary company. There he learned the ways of fighting, drinking, smithing, and gambling. He’s got more than a little dna from Conan of Cimmeria in him, but hell, originality is overrated anyway.
My only disappointment so far is that I was planning on grabbing a lvl or 2 of Rogue to show him growing as a burglar and generally sneaky sum’ bitch. But the rules say Sneak Attack only works with finesse and ranged weapons. So sadly my idea of sneak attack with a greatsword using the maneuver that gives advantage and the extra damage from Great Weapon Master is not to be.
You can work around those limitations by picking a feat and/or background that makes you a bit of a burglar. It would mostly be for non-combat situations, but in my limited experience that's where the actual roleplaying only happens anyway.
Yeah I'd definitely still suggest the dip into rogue for the skills and expertise. Think of the sneak attack as the backup plan should you ever find yourself separated from your giant sword
Putting together a 5E game set in the Dragonlance setting. See you in 5 years when I finish converting all the books,
Aside from the person who wanted to play a centaur that I nixed, I'm playing pretty fast and loose with the rules conversion. I'm erring on the side of making the characters too powerful, for example there's a draconian who's basically a dragonborn with wings (he can glide, not fly) and an extra poison attack on top of his breath weapon. I also have a sea/wood elf hybrid and a true ogre/ogre magi hybrid, so it's basically a big messy freak show anyway.
PS: WotC, bring back Dragonlance. There are obviously people like me who will buy anything and everything from the setting.
I finally got to join a 5E campaign. I played my second session Sunday and finished the intro dungeon our DM was running to get the group used to the game. (They’d played few sessions before I joined)
I decided to stick with the classic archetypes since I hadn’t played in a while, so I went with a Human (variant) Fighter. Greatsword wielder. Took the Heavy Armor Mastery feat, and he ended up surprisingly tough for lvl 2. At the end of the session we got leveled to 3 so I went with Battle Master, so now I get a few things to do in combat beside ‘cleave it with a giant sword.’
His name is Dal (which is short for something), a teenage runaway who hooked up with a Dwarven mercenary company. There he learned the ways of fighting, drinking, smithing, and gambling. He’s got more than a little dna from Conan of Cimmeria in him, but hell, originality is overrated anyway.
My only disappointment so far is that I was planning on grabbing a lvl or 2 of Rogue to show him growing as a burglar and generally sneaky sum’ bitch. But the rules say Sneak Attack only works with finesse and ranged weapons. So sadly my idea of sneak attack with a greatsword using the maneuver that gives advantage and the extra damage from Great Weapon Master is not to be.
You can work around those limitations by picking a feat and/or background that makes you a bit of a burglar. It would mostly be for non-combat situations, but in my limited experience that's where the actual roleplaying only happens anyway.
Yeah I'd definitely still suggest the dip into rogue for the skills and expertise. Think of the sneak attack as the backup plan should you ever find yourself separated from your giant sword
I'm still considering it. Our group doesn't have a rogue, so the prof with thieves tools would be handy. And if I go 2 lvls Cunning Action is always good.
Putting together a 5E game set in the Dragonlance setting. See you in 5 years when I finish converting all the books,
Aside from the person who wanted to play a centaur that I nixed, I'm playing pretty fast and loose with the rules conversion. I'm erring on the side of making the characters too powerful, for example there's a draconian who's basically a dragonborn with wings (he can glide, not fly) and an extra poison attack on top of his breath weapon. I also have a sea/wood elf hybrid and a true ogre/ogre magi hybrid, so it's basically a big messy freak show anyway.
PS: WotC, bring back Dragonlance. There are obviously people like me who will buy anything and everything from the setting.
Dragonlance was my introduction to D&D and fantasy novels. I would do many unspeakable things for a 5E update.
Posts
There's a royal procession headed down a crowded street. The buildings on either side are crouched together and at least three stories tall. Small balconies festooned with decorations, or just laundry, are everywhere.
Merchants shout about their wares as the carriage carrying a princess of some sort passes through. Guards keep peasants back and the princess is waving and smiling at the peasants. Most seem very happy to see her and are throwing flowers and offering gifts. She takes a cup of wine from a wine seller and is given a rug from a rug merchant. A man with a hood moves up next to the group. Suddenly, an arrow slams into the chest of the princess. She cries out and falls over, dead. The man in the hood points up to a balcony and cries "assassin!" everyone in the street turns to see a hooded figure darting across balconies and running away. Then bam, the group is whisked back into the warehouse.
When they go back in, the scenario has reset itself and they have to figure out how to stop the assassin.
First try, they cast spider climb on the monk who sprints up the side of the buildings and tries to block the shot from a crossbow aimed at the princess. He succeeds in catching it, only for the hooded figure to shout and the guards turn to see -the monk holding a crossbow bolt. The princess sputters and coughs and dies.
Next try they send him up to stop the arrow assassin, then send the paladin to purify the cup of wine before the poison can kill the princess. She still dies, but the monk notices blood on her back.
This time the warlock casts faerie fire on the carriage revealing someone inside preparing to stab the princess. The cleric casts silence to stop the hooded guy from shouting and the paladin tries to use a spell, command, to tell the princess "flee!" She does, but gets tangled in her dress on the carriage and falls, getting trampled by the wheels. Her dress splits open to reveal a breast plate of heavy armor.
Finally, the monk fights the shouty guy, the warlock faerie fires the carriage to reveal the person inside, the cleric purifies the wine, and the paladin commands the assassin inside the carriage to "surrender". The arrow hits the princess, but her armor catches it and she survives. The townsfolk cheer and the party is returned to the warehouse, the shiny dagger figurine now a new magic item.
They can put it back in the bowl to try again and enhance the item, but the scenario will be more difficult!
I liked the party 's very interesting solution attempts and they seemed to enjoy figuring out the puzzle! Using the obvious assassin as a misdirect worked incredibly well.
My weekly Curse of Strahd game was last night and I was fantastic. Very minor CoS spoilers below.
There are some tense moments as the Roc flies around. We know the fall from the bridge is 300ft down and at times it's flying even higher. My bard is jamming on his Lute and supplying Bardic Inspiration to keep the Halfling from falling to it's death. The group gets some hits in and the Halfling finally gets to jump to safety. As soon as that happens I cast Hypnotic Pattern and the Roc fails it's save! It crashes to the ground and limps off defeated.
Now at the other end of the bridge the group is torn. If we move quickly we can reach the Amber Temple just as nightfall hits. But we're down hit dice, spells slots, etc. Some want to chance it, others are too worried that as soon as we get there we'll run head first into more combat. The first group are more worried about camping out in the open in the cold. Dio, my bard, gives a big toothy grin and says he can fix it but everyone has to say they love him. He's a dick like that.
When we hit sixth level I happily added a spell to my character sheet but didn't announce it to the group. Normally we announce our cool upgrades. I told everyone about Counter Charm but kept the new spell close to my vest for when it would be really impressive. Like when we're stuck on a mountain top in the freezing cold and night was quickly coming. So I cast Leomund's Tiny Hut. Everyone cheers, the DM says we'll start the next session at level 7, and we cheer again.
So now I have to pick my first 4 level spell and decide which character I spooned over night.....
Comics, Games, Booze
Every Wednesday at 8:30 CST on my twitch channel, twitch.tv/sniperguygaming!
We were on Ep. 14 last night. One of our players can't make it next week so I'm not sure if we'll just press on or postpone for a week, I hate to not have it consistent but with 4 players losing one is a pretty big chunk of missing person.
Stick to the schedule! Maybe run a one-shot or something, but give folks a reason to tune in same time same place every week.
I won't be able to watch live since that's when my weekly game is, but I'll check out the VODs you have posted.
Comics, Games, Booze
First, there's the party. The local temple has a statue that radiates a Zone of Truth effect (though it has a fairly low save DC). The authorities collaborate with the temple when they need to use the Zone of Truth, but they're also allied with an order of druids who have access to a totem statue that enhances ritual spells they cast. The druids sometimes use rituals like Speak with Animals, Beast Sense, and Animal Messenger to help alert the authorities of trouble. However, the antagonist is also a druid, and though he doesn't have access to the special totem he can still use his spells to cause mischief and spy on the party. To mitigate this, though, a magic-user the party has encountered who is secretly a hag is helping protect the party because she hates the evil druid.
I feel really bad
like really really bad... everyone's advice is always "communicate" but now I think I've just made it worse for everyone
That sucks but honesty is the best.
I didn't so much mean using casters in combat as I meant that magic is widely used in the setting by those in power. For example, I statted up the current druid antagonist to mostly have spells that let him spy on the party, set traps, or deliver messages. With this guy in particular I want the party to start feeling paranoid that he's using the dire wolf they rescued to spy on them.
For example, the setting I'm developing has nodes of magical power throughout the world that people seek to control and exploit. Cities grow around these nodes, and nations link these nodes together with leylines that enhance their cumulative power. You know those regional effects that some monsters generate? Anyone who can control a node of power can activate a similar type of regional effect, and the more nodes you link with leylines the greater the area affected and the more potent the effect. For example, a city-state could set up a permanent Purify Food & Water effect on the area if they wanted. I'm also considering the possibility that a former empire that controlled and utilized a vast leyline network collapsed within days after someone hijacked it to set a Dispel Magic regional effect.
I like this idea, but I'm still trying to figure out its ramifications on the world. I'd assume the spirits of nature would try to hide these sources of power and use it themselves to protect the natural world, whereas empires would spring up to try and grab as many nodes of power as they could manage.
I also like the idea of the world being a place where extraplanar entities are constantly trying to pursue their own goals and enact their ancient plots. I've decided now that the specific region I'm setting my campaign in has secretly been the theater where multiple demon lords, liches, archdevils, gods, and archomentals have all simultaneously been trying to pull off gambits that began millenia ago. For example, the establishment of the region's largest trade consortium was planned well in advance of its mortal founder's birth by Graz'zt (or possibly a subordinate of his while he was indulging in Abyssal decadence), and regional politics were manipulated for centuries to make the consortium's rise to power possible, all as part of a scheme to trick a rival of his into thinking they could make use of the consortium for their own plans.
I won't lie, this sort of detail is influenced by the same kind of bizarre conspiracy theories that claim, for example, that the Founding Fathers were secretly a Satanist cult, Washington DC was built on a swamp because it contained a node of mystic power, the Washington Monument is an obelisk that channels that power, and that a secret-Satanist President can draw on this arcane might to further the goals of the Antichrist or whatever. Plus the Moon is hollow!
I don't believe any of that for a second, but it's fun inspiration for RPGs.
I've got a youtube playlist with all the old stuff, including last night's game.
Will definitely try to keep it rolling when players aren't there, just have to find good stuff to do with fewer people. One shots seem like they'll work well with the "warehouse full of tiny items that have their own worlds in them" theme we have going on.
The CoH game in DMing, my players have no magical weapons yet at lvl 4 (though 2 of them are wizards and one is a cleric, so they do have some options for magical dmg), their best weapon is a silvered short sword they looted somewhere the book said there was a silver sword. They still put some hurt on the hags they found
They are headed to Krezk next with Irena and Ismark in tow, they think this abbot they heard of can help then res a dead body they found hidden in
Laughing at the Spirits in North Siberia
The gist is that the official stance has hunters taking what they need from nature's spirits, and when people die that's because nature is taking what it needs. In practice, most hunters try to cheat the spirits by for example, ritually blinding the corpses of the animals they kill so the spirits won't know who owes them.
I plan to frame creatures like perytons as nature's attempt to hunt down who cheated it.
- The world was made from pieces of the Elemental Planes whose elemental spirits were suppressed by the gods to make the world stable.
- The gods, distracted by matters in the cosmos, departed. The suppressed elemental spirits began to explore the Border Ethereal plane, with some managing to take corporeal form as chwingas (from Tomb of Annihilation).
- The mortals, curious about the chwingas, began to use the mysterious plants and fungi the chwingas would grow with their magic to perceive the spirits still in the Border Ethereal.
- The earliest druids communed with these primal spirits and aided them in manifesting through spells and rituals.
- The spirits began to manifest in different ways. Some would allow themselves to be conjured in elemental forms resembling what they once were, while others would bond with animal spirits, or even the spirits of mortals.
- In the Feywild the first fey appeared as a result of spirits manifesting in response to strong emotion and wild magic. Some, like dryads, bonded with other spirits of nature to aid them, while others, like boggles and redcaps, wanted to pursue their own existence in imitation of mortals.
- In the Shadowfell a similar phenomena occurred, but the gloomy realm's pitiful sorrowsworn were rejected by their spirit and fey kin.
- Primal spirits and those fey who remain allied with their spiritual kin are connected to the physical essence of the world. Though there are Great Elder Spirits who permeate much of the world's Border Ethereal and offer archetypes for the lesser spirits to emulate, druids and other users of primal magic mostly find themselves communicating with and evoking magic from local spirits.
- The followers of the Old Faith reject the idea of leaving the world for an afterlife in another plane. Instead, they seek to either join the spirits of their homeland or be contually reincarnated there. An afterlife separated from the land and the spirits an Old Faith adherent spent their whole life surrounded by does not appeal to the faithful.
- Like many cities dominated by the worshipers of the gods, Old Faith communities claim the patronage of guardian spirits. Where they diverge is that these spirits have a specific connection to the community and the surrounding land, and they are thought of more as family than as beings to be worshiped. Outsiders are discouraged from trying to worship these spirits, as it is believed to distract them from their role as guardians of the locale.
One challege with designing a full-blown animist religion for D&D is that there's never been a consistent model for what one looks like or what nature spirits are. 4E did the most with a dedicated primal power source, a defined pantheon of Great Elders, and an origin story tieing them to both gods and elementals, so I'm using it as the base, but it still didn't explain very well how the fey were involved with the primal spirits despite including a number of fey-themed primal powers.
Other takes on animist religion in D&D include:
- Nature gods (most common)
- Nature gods one with the land of their worshipers (Maztica, Ubtao)
- One goddess, many spirits (Jakandor's War Mother and nature spirits)
- Fey as nature spirits (check out the Spirit of the Land from 3E's Monster Manual 2 for a fey that looks like an earth elemental bear)
The fey connection is kinda hard to reconcile, because a lot of fey don't seem nature related at all (boggles, quicklings, and red caps, for example). According to an interview concerning Tomb of Annihilation there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether the new chwinga creatures should be classified as fey or elementals, with the latter winning out because it apparently fit their role better.
Someone here be my hero.
Edit: Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog
And they get to deal with the mess!
I use to have that book. It was bloody useful. Especially for non-casters looking for toys to give them options. That book introduced me to the wonder of caltrops if you were a fighter.
I have a Sears catalog from 1909. It's basically the same thing. I love it.
EDIT: I've decided on a sidequest where strange wailing is coming from the sewer. The party goes to investigate and discovers that the city uses captive otyughs to help dispose of waste, but someone has not only killed all the young of the mother otyugh in one section of the sewer, but has also been disposing of the corpses of their enemies by feeding them to the otyugh. The party's antagonist knows where they are staying, arranged to have the otyugh's young killed to lure them with its cries of sorrow, and has sent wererat, jackalwere, and chitine minions to ambush them after they deal with the otyugh (who the party, hopefully, will assume was the one responsible for the corpses they find along the way before they are ambushed by the other monsters).
And that’s when the two orphans the party adopted began giggling and fired pseudopods into their backs while they were sussing this out, just as the girlfriend did the same, and it went into general initiative
Next week: Overworked exterminator leaning down hole in floor with flashlight says “yep, elder oblex infestation, real bad one too. This feller’s at least a 15 footer, this’ll cost ya extra. It’s spawning copies of my family that it devoured, that’s good at least, means it’s desperate”
Spoiler: The children are long dead, bard’s girlfriend is still alive (for the moment), just was hit by a memory drain, Oblex kept her alive as a backup in case it failed its assault, as a hostage (I hate to fall into the trope of the DM that just fridges npcs the party cares about, I did actually play out with secret rolls whether the creature could incapacitate this NPC during a single surprise round as well)
I’m treating each oblex clone as an independent entity with 14ac and 20hp, as without doing this an elder oblex is a chump, action economy says you pour a bunch of damage into one clone and the whole creature dies before it gets a second round
They met a guy from our group at his brothers wedding, where his sister outed him as playing D&D to embarrass him, only for the couple to be all giddy and tell him they are looking for a good table to sit at. Take that sis!
Anyway, they show up and the girl walks in with a ukulele and I immediately ask "Hey, are you the one playing the Halfling bard?" to which she replies "omg I was scared no one would get it, or everyone would think its way too dorky."
Standing slow clap from the table.
And every-time she cast a spell, she played. I've never been prouder of my nerd brothers and sisters.
Melby Fairweather - Female halfling stout. She is short and plump, even by halfling standards, and wears her hair in a long braid. Melby is an administrator of one of the largest branches of the White Lantern Consortium and an acquaintance of its founder, the eladrin Taleene Quirelle. She came from a farming community and tries to distance herself from her roots with fine clothing and jewelry. Melby tries to remain civil with the people she works with but is easily annoyed.
Kor Ironbar - Male hill dwarf. He's a caravan driver for the White Lantern Consortium and took over the route after his predecessor, Old Halfjaw, was killed and turned into a scarecrow. He's cowardly, wears a floppy hat, and good at whittling wooden figurines.
Vinn Sparklegem - Male rock gnome. Vinn runs a White Lantern Consortium outpost, one he was relocated to as punishment for some faux pas. He's known to be rude and impatient, but hasn't been seen since he ran down the street screaming about hell hounds.
Maree Dreddagin - Female human. City watch captain. She's very by the book and won't trouble someone without good reason.
Suka Deepmind - Female mountain dwarf. She's a priestess of the god of justice and protection. Suka came from a self-serving, politically-influential clan in a corrupt province and disagreed so much with her family's evil ways that she renounced her clan name, so she's cynical about the mortal capacity for goodness. She plans to return to her homeland someday and change it for the better for the sake of future generations.
Redemption - Female tiefling. Priestess of the goddess of redemption. She is very pleasant and maintains correspondence with local healers. She and Suka don't see eye to eye, but they share a mutual friend named Vilkenna.
Vilkenna Skypony - Female human barbarian/paladin. A local heroine who rides an unusually small pegasus (which is where the name "Skypony" comes from). Vilkenna stands 6' 4" and is powerfully built. Vilkenna once followed the Old Faith exclusively, but after meeting Suka and Redemption she began to worship their gods. She has invented a kind of religious syncretism between the Old Faith and her friends' gods, which Suka fears would be deemed as heretical but hopes will in the long-term help spread worship of her god in the region. According to rumor Redemption and Vilkenna have a thing for each other; the tiefling is only ever seen to drink when invited to alehouses by Vilkenna and has allegedly been seen riding with her on her pegasus on multiple occasions.
Greyblade, Champion of the Wererats - A wererat possessed of great strength (use Gladiator stats from MM as base, then add wererat traits). He was once a normal person, but was cast out of the city for violating some taboo and eventually contracted lycanthropy.
Spellfang, Magus of the Wererats - Male wererat wizard. He was once a normal person, but was cast out of the city for violating some taboo and eventually contracted lycanthropy. The person who would become Spellfang worked under an evil wizard and fought as part of an outcast mercenary group until Vilkenna Skypony and her compatriots defeated them. Spellfang hid out in the wizards' hidden complex until he taught himself how to cast.
Jagolon Quickgrin - Chaotic Evil male human. Druid. He uses spells and rituals primarily to spy on both enemies and allies and to aid his underlings in combat. He commands hostile animals, werebeasts, perytons, and more.
Nibbles, Jibbles, Fibbles, etc - Boggle thieves for hire. Quite friendly and trusting.
Dame Wither - Mysterious old woman with unusual spells and magic items.
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Have you ever been working on a project for so incredibly long, and when you get done with it, rather than a feeling of accomplishment, you just have this big emptiness inside?
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Requesting your notes as you go instead of two weeks before you end a campaign.
It's a moral imperative.
I decided to stick with the classic archetypes since I hadn’t played in a while, so I went with a Human (variant) Fighter. Greatsword wielder. Took the Heavy Armor Mastery feat, and he ended up surprisingly tough for lvl 2. At the end of the session we got leveled to 3 so I went with Battle Master, so now I get a few things to do in combat beside ‘cleave it with a giant sword.’
His name is Dal (which is short for something), a teenage runaway who hooked up with a Dwarven mercenary company. There he learned the ways of fighting, drinking, smithing, and gambling. He’s got more than a little dna from Conan of Cimmeria in him, but hell, originality is overrated anyway.
My only disappointment so far is that I was planning on grabbing a lvl or 2 of Rogue to show him growing as a burglar and generally sneaky sum’ bitch. But the rules say Sneak Attack only works with finesse and ranged weapons. So sadly my idea of sneak attack with a greatsword using the maneuver that gives advantage and the extra damage from Great Weapon Master is not to be.
Yeah I'd definitely still suggest the dip into rogue for the skills and expertise. Think of the sneak attack as the backup plan should you ever find yourself separated from your giant sword
PS: WotC, bring back Dragonlance. There are obviously people like me who will buy anything and everything from the setting.
I'm still considering it. Our group doesn't have a rogue, so the prof with thieves tools would be handy. And if I go 2 lvls Cunning Action is always good.
Dragonlance was my introduction to D&D and fantasy novels. I would do many unspeakable things for a 5E update.