I mean, a lot depends on the setting but which is going to get a yuan-ti more mileage:
"You should use your bow at point-blank range! Oh, here, no need to sheathe your sword, I - your combatant - will hold it for you"
or
"I can't put my finger on it, Constable, but something about that new group of drifters staying at the inn - you don't think they could be the ones on the new wanted poster from the capital, do you? I know I'd sleep better at night if I knew such infamous brigands were in a more ...supervised situation than the upper floor of that old tavern!"
Rudolph Van Richten had his tiger wipe out everybody at that camp, and I had them find Kasimir's body outside the Amber Temple, where he'd try to get there alone.
But even if my party had done what it sounds like yours did, I'd probably have made the Arcanaloth prepare even more horrible stuff for them when they returned since he knew they'd be coming back.
We really should write up formal descriptions of all these spells and produce an OGL tome: Magic, the Hard Way: An Internet Forum Destroys All That Is Arcane and/or Holy.
Also there exists somewhere in a near-adjacent timeline a DnD YouTube rap video that uses “Create or Destroy Hater” and “Create or Destroy Later” to devastating effect
I don’t need to inhabit that timeline
It is nourishment enough for my cold, blackened heart to reason that it must exist.
Create or destroy later is an utterly useless 9th level spell that can totally wipe out the future or create it, unfortunately now never becomes then. It's mostly a theoretical spell that should wipe out the future or produce the future and all signs and arcane investigation would determine that it does just that, but curiously time keeps on ticking no matter how many times the spell is cast in destruction mode.
At least one notable scholar has posited that create or destroy later might only destroy a single later in the grand continuum of possible laters and thusly it's effects are never truly felt. This is also why creating a future doesn't seem to necessarily ensure that future will come to pass.
There's definitely a secret organization that tries to keep the number of times the spell has been cast balanced. They're terrifying fanatics with access to 9th level spells.
Is this organization working to bring about the creation, or the destruction, of the Hater that figures so prominently in the prophecies unearthed in the Tomb of All Gods? That is the question on which all depends.
I think suggestion and dominate place the emphasis on different people.
Suggestion requires that the caster (be it DM or player) to come up with a reasonable scenario that would allow the target to act in the desired manner.
Acting in a hostile manner to a comrade in arms in a dangerous situation isn't something you're going to get done with a "your friend is acting weird, better go hit him".
Domination is a lot simpler. It forces the target to come up with a reason as to why it's doing the things it's doing because, worst case scenario, the caster is assuming direct control.
Someone write up a new warlock subclass, Pact of the Very Old One: Whaz'zat'naw, the hard of hearing. Every time you cast a spell, roll a d20. On a one, it's misheard by your patron, and you get what the DM thinks he hears.
There's also a chance you'll get a Werther's Original!
Rudolph Van Richten had his tiger wipe out everybody at that camp, and I had them find Kasimir's body outside the Amber Temple, where he'd try to get there alone.
But even if my party had done what it sounds like yours did, I'd probably have made the Arcanaloth prepare even more horrible stuff for them when they returned since he knew they'd be coming back.
Wait isn't kasamir
stronger than van richten and his tiger
They're probably roughly equal, but the Vistani camp got ambushed while they were sleeping. Not like I had them play out an actual combat to see who would win though. =P
So a buddy of mine was looking for ways to create a bridge between the store season and a home season for dungeon of the mad mage (We're going to get the next season going on the 24th so that mans september tenth is our last proper day for this module) and we cobbled together something really good on the fly; the players have just learned that another party of adventurers has killed halaster and as such the dungeon has gone into maintenance mode (and relocating to the astral plane temporarily), with the players having the opportunity to kill halaster once and for all if they can get to his study in time to interrupt his respawn, or so the ghost of his former apprentice is telling them.
What they don't know is that if they do kill halaster permanently, the dungeon and basically everything inside it will cease to exist in short order since undermountain is an extension of his being 8-)
Rudolph Van Richten had his tiger wipe out everybody at that camp, and I had them find Kasimir's body outside the Amber Temple, where he'd try to get there alone.
But even if my party had done what it sounds like yours did, I'd probably have made the Arcanaloth prepare even more horrible stuff for them when they returned since he knew they'd be coming back.
Wait isn't kasamir
stronger than van richten and his tiger
They're probably roughly equal, but the Vistani camp got ambushed while they were sleeping. Not like I had them play out an actual combat to see who would win though. =P
It seems a bit strange is all:
Kasamir is a Mage, there are about a dozen other dusk elf Guards, the vistani have an assassin(!) and a bandit captain, along with a dozen or so other bandits, assuming the rest of the dusk elves and vistani are out looking for arribel, otherwise nearly twice that number
It's a suicidal encounter for a 5th level party, and I don't recall van richten being that strong
although I'd probably make arrigal not an assassin as the level of damage output on a sneak attack will 1hko most characters before 7th level
Rudolph Van Richten had his tiger wipe out everybody at that camp, and I had them find Kasimir's body outside the Amber Temple, where he'd try to get there alone.
But even if my party had done what it sounds like yours did, I'd probably have made the Arcanaloth prepare even more horrible stuff for them when they returned since he knew they'd be coming back.
Wait isn't kasamir
stronger than van richten and his tiger
They're probably roughly equal, but the Vistani camp got ambushed while they were sleeping. Not like I had them play out an actual combat to see who would win though. =P
It seems a bit strange is all:
Kasamir is a Mage, there are about a dozen other dusk elf Guards, the vistani have an assassin(!) and a bandit captain, along with a dozen or so other bandits, assuming the rest of the dusk elves and vistani are out looking for arribel, otherwise nearly twice that number
It's a suicidal encounter for a 5th level party, and I don't recall van richten being that strong
although I'd probably make arrigal not an assassin as the level of damage output on a sneak attack will 1hko most characters before 7th level
Rictavio is strong, but more than his challenge level (5 for him I think, 3 for his tiger) he's a masterful hunter and planner. He set up a plan to wipe out the Vistani camp, and executed it. Maybe he waited until they were extra drunk, maybe he drugged their wine and half the camp was passed out, whatever. This was not a mechanical fight, this was something more akin to a countdown clock being filled. Just narrative development stuff because I thought it'd be interesting to have Kasimir try and fail to reach the Amber Temple alive. He left a note for the PCs in the hopes one of them would accept the dark gift and try to bring back Petrina, but I don't think they were going to do it anyway even before they got annihilated.
Also, for some reason I'd thought the module had it as a thing to do (have the Vistani camp get smoked by Van Richten), but I think I just came up with it based on him training the tiger to kill Vistani. Mostly I wanted a fun way to show that Van Richten is not a particularly good guy, because the party had made friends with Ezmerelda, gotten a favor from Van Richten, etc. Might have had a more interesting payoff if they lived past the Amber Temple.
The book calls for him attacking Vistani during the
next Vallaki feast thrown by Burgomeister, 3 days after players enter town.
My players murderhoboed the Burgomeister well before then, called off the feast, set up a new council government made up of the Valaki priest and the Burgomeister's wife. They wanted to also get the Martikovs on the council and they were like no thank you.
Then they went to Lady Watchter to tell her they killed the Burgomeister, only to realize something was not fully right with her, overstay their welcome, let cat girl escape out the front door, then murder tied up Lady Watchter in cold blood in front of Rahadin who had come to drive everyone to the castle for a dinner party.
Rudolph Van Richten had his tiger wipe out everybody at that camp, and I had them find Kasimir's body outside the Amber Temple, where he'd try to get there alone.
But even if my party had done what it sounds like yours did, I'd probably have made the Arcanaloth prepare even more horrible stuff for them when they returned since he knew they'd be coming back.
Wait isn't kasamir
stronger than van richten and his tiger
They're probably roughly equal, but the Vistani camp got ambushed while they were sleeping. Not like I had them play out an actual combat to see who would win though. =P
It seems a bit strange is all:
Kasamir is a Mage, there are about a dozen other dusk elf Guards, the vistani have an assassin(!) and a bandit captain, along with a dozen or so other bandits, assuming the rest of the dusk elves and vistani are out looking for arribel, otherwise nearly twice that number
It's a suicidal encounter for a 5th level party, and I don't recall van richten being that strong
although I'd probably make arrigal not an assassin as the level of damage output on a sneak attack will 1hko most characters before 7th level
Rictavio is strong, but more than his challenge level (5 for him I think, 3 for his tiger) he's a masterful hunter and planner. He set up a plan to wipe out the Vistani camp, and executed it. Maybe he waited until they were extra drunk, maybe he drugged their wine and half the camp was passed out, whatever. This was not a mechanical fight, this was something more akin to a countdown clock being filled. Just narrative development stuff because I thought it'd be interesting to have Kasimir try and fail to reach the Amber Temple alive. He left a note for the PCs in the hopes one of them would accept the dark gift and try to bring back Petrina, but I don't think they were going to do it anyway even before they got annihilated.
Also, for some reason I'd thought the module had it as a thing to do (have the Vistani camp get smoked by Van Richten), but I think I just came up with it based on him training the tiger to kill Vistani. Mostly I wanted a fun way to show that Van Richten is not a particularly good guy, because the party had made friends with Ezmerelda, gotten a favor from Van Richten, etc. Might have had a more interesting payoff if they lived past the Amber Temple.
id want to actually have an explanation how, because when the players find dozens of dead, armed fighters (in a camp that keeps 10 sober and on guard at all times), a dozen ripped up small children.... I'd assume strahd was responsible, or that the man who did it was a match for strahd
And prep for the players to derail the campaign into hunting down richten because that's a greater atrocity than any of the campaign villains commit during the module
Rudolph Van Richten had his tiger wipe out everybody at that camp, and I had them find Kasimir's body outside the Amber Temple, where he'd try to get there alone.
But even if my party had done what it sounds like yours did, I'd probably have made the Arcanaloth prepare even more horrible stuff for them when they returned since he knew they'd be coming back.
Wait isn't kasamir
stronger than van richten and his tiger
They're probably roughly equal, but the Vistani camp got ambushed while they were sleeping. Not like I had them play out an actual combat to see who would win though. =P
It seems a bit strange is all:
Kasamir is a Mage, there are about a dozen other dusk elf Guards, the vistani have an assassin(!) and a bandit captain, along with a dozen or so other bandits, assuming the rest of the dusk elves and vistani are out looking for arribel, otherwise nearly twice that number
It's a suicidal encounter for a 5th level party, and I don't recall van richten being that strong
although I'd probably make arrigal not an assassin as the level of damage output on a sneak attack will 1hko most characters before 7th level
Rictavio is strong, but more than his challenge level (5 for him I think, 3 for his tiger) he's a masterful hunter and planner. He set up a plan to wipe out the Vistani camp, and executed it. Maybe he waited until they were extra drunk, maybe he drugged their wine and half the camp was passed out, whatever. This was not a mechanical fight, this was something more akin to a countdown clock being filled. Just narrative development stuff because I thought it'd be interesting to have Kasimir try and fail to reach the Amber Temple alive. He left a note for the PCs in the hopes one of them would accept the dark gift and try to bring back Petrina, but I don't think they were going to do it anyway even before they got annihilated.
Also, for some reason I'd thought the module had it as a thing to do (have the Vistani camp get smoked by Van Richten), but I think I just came up with it based on him training the tiger to kill Vistani. Mostly I wanted a fun way to show that Van Richten is not a particularly good guy, because the party had made friends with Ezmerelda, gotten a favor from Van Richten, etc. Might have had a more interesting payoff if they lived past the Amber Temple.
id want to actually have an explanation how, because when the players find dozens of dead, armed fighters (in a camp that keeps 10 sober and on guard at all times), a dozen ripped up small children.... I'd assume strahd was responsible, or that the man who did it was a match for strahd
And prep for the players to derail the campaign into hunting down richten because that's a greater atrocity than any of the campaign villains commit during the module
Honestly I think once my players found out that the Vistani camp were spies for Strahd, they definitely wouldn't care about them getting slaughtered. The kids sure, but they didn't see the scene themselves, so maybe they were just pretending Arabelle escaped. They sort of grew immune to the grimdark nature of the module because 90% of the people you meet in it are worse than the last.
The powder keg of Vallaki is probably my favorite thing about CoS. Just a whole bunch of horrible things balanced on top of each other waiting for the PCs to stumble in and knock it all down upon themselves.
Oh man, had to run a side game last night, only had a couple of players from my normal bunch so we revisited an older character, a half orc druid that had been written over into a long term downtime situation, and a new character a minotaur from a strange monastic order. I figured we'd have a few dust ups with some local workers upset over the druid using magic to build walls for his building contract and edging them out of the markets on the next round of reconstruction jobs for the city, have a few combats, call it a night.
Then ensures one of the best nights of the minotaur character trying to catch the half orc to let them know there's a nebulous plot on their life. A thing that character is already picking up on and making plans around, and wondering if the minotaur is in on it. Cause a druid is involved it eventually becomes a literal cat and mouse game of them trying to stealthily follow one another and not really be teamed up (the minotaur has a pet mouse cause they were an urchin). They end up avoiding all the dust ups with commoners and workers through clever deception, athletics, and stealth. The only combat of the night was early on with the now verminous nothics that continue to plague the city after the first meeting of the two characters. After the druid gets proof the workers aren't working with the minotaur and don't even know who he is the druid finally cracks and figures this minotaur is on the level about just making sure he's not getting killed by a mob. They take refuge in the monk's crazy secretive monastery that normally doesn't allow visitors outside monastic orders but will definitely let the way of the long death monk bring in the seemingly dying bird he seems to have befriended. The two characters figure the monk is only visiting this temple, and the half orc needs some more orcs to back his play in cornering the masonry market in this the largest city in the world while not getting mobbed. Thusly the minotaur monk, and the half orc druid set out to the desert to recruit some followers and hirelings from the druids homeland and peoples. They will at least stay together until they take respite at the monk's true home temple to the north west of the city by a month.
Knowing the future of the other concurrent timelines I can tell you, their plan is so totally fucked, they have about two to 4 weeks of travel and then everything in the setting gets upset and fucked around with. Their course is set though their purposes on it may change.
-Dispelled a Maze from Acererak on a diviner in town and learned the location of the Soul-Monger
-Bard schmoozed his way onto a dragon-hunting airship ran by some jerks, also independently found the location of the Soul-Monger
-Killed a dragon, featuring ranger Teidi & local guide Hew Hackinstone riding the ranger's ankylosaur Teidi Jr. which had a Fly on it
-Successfully made a check to remember that I had a scroll of Feather Fall for them when that went predictably south
Don't much care for those other two but I'll be damned if I let Teidi Jr die.
Just learned the Descent into Avernus minis are out. I'm tempted to go get some tonight...
EDIT: I'm looking at a gallery of minis in the set. There are multiple Yeenoghu-variants of various demons, including dretches and barlgura, that look more gnoll-like than those demons normally do. There are also armores variants of many devils. A female firbolg druid is also present, for some reason.
Posts
"You should use your bow at point-blank range! Oh, here, no need to sheathe your sword, I - your combatant - will hold it for you"
or
"I can't put my finger on it, Constable, but something about that new group of drifters staying at the inn - you don't think they could be the ones on the new wanted poster from the capital, do you? I know I'd sleep better at night if I knew such infamous brigands were in a more ...supervised situation than the upper floor of that old tavern!"
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Wireball
Mireball
Firebell
Firebull
Firebale
Fineball
Direball
And my personal favorite, Fileball.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Find Wraps
Yeast Sense
Bongstrider
Peas
Speak with Lead
Blaming Sphere
Paste
Gaseous Fork
Grue Ressuretion/seeing
Fuck thats good
Bake
Meal
Farm
Fish
IGN Presents: Hellbound
Clown of Stars
Lightning Cure
Cause Bear
Magic Bar
Strict downgrades:
Circle of Heath
Slink
Ply
Baste
Beat Metal
ill see myself out
(Just one, obviously)
Aura of Parity
Dimension Doom
Feather Full
*Steeples fingers*
I'm listening
Fisty Step
Acid Marrow
Animate Mead
Arcane Gato
Mane
Close
Compelled Duet
Cream
Expeditious Retread
False Lice
Poresight
Magic Car
Bust
Conjure Fed
Speak to Deaf
Moodbeam
Boonbeam
Moonbear
Wait isn't kasamir
Also there exists somewhere in a near-adjacent timeline a DnD YouTube rap video that uses “Create or Destroy Hater” and “Create or Destroy Later” to devastating effect
I don’t need to inhabit that timeline
It is nourishment enough for my cold, blackened heart to reason that it must exist.
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At least one notable scholar has posited that create or destroy later might only destroy a single later in the grand continuum of possible laters and thusly it's effects are never truly felt. This is also why creating a future doesn't seem to necessarily ensure that future will come to pass.
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Chill Couch
Animate Dad
Dope Trick
Arcane Band
and Create Undad to keep dad busy while you party hard
Either to affect your own spells or use as a reaction against enemy spellcasters
Although with a strict time limit to stop players spending 20 minutes going, "Fire... call? No... Fire... dall? No... Fire... eall? No..."
I think suggestion and dominate place the emphasis on different people.
Suggestion requires that the caster (be it DM or player) to come up with a reasonable scenario that would allow the target to act in the desired manner.
Acting in a hostile manner to a comrade in arms in a dangerous situation isn't something you're going to get done with a "your friend is acting weird, better go hit him".
Domination is a lot simpler. It forces the target to come up with a reason as to why it's doing the things it's doing because, worst case scenario, the caster is assuming direct control.
Re: replace 1 letter spell
Come on guys ... arcane cock!?
There's also a chance you'll get a Werther's Original!
They're probably roughly equal, but the Vistani camp got ambushed while they were sleeping. Not like I had them play out an actual combat to see who would win though. =P
What they don't know is that if they do kill halaster permanently, the dungeon and basically everything inside it will cease to exist in short order since undermountain is an extension of his being 8-)
It seems a bit strange is all:
It's a suicidal encounter for a 5th level party, and I don't recall van richten being that strong
although I'd probably make arrigal not an assassin as the level of damage output on a sneak attack will 1hko most characters before 7th level
Also, for some reason I'd thought the module had it as a thing to do (have the Vistani camp get smoked by Van Richten), but I think I just came up with it based on him training the tiger to kill Vistani. Mostly I wanted a fun way to show that Van Richten is not a particularly good guy, because the party had made friends with Ezmerelda, gotten a favor from Van Richten, etc. Might have had a more interesting payoff if they lived past the Amber Temple.
My players murderhoboed the Burgomeister well before then, called off the feast, set up a new council government made up of the Valaki priest and the Burgomeister's wife. They wanted to also get the Martikovs on the council and they were like no thank you.
Then they went to Lady Watchter to tell her they killed the Burgomeister, only to realize something was not fully right with her, overstay their welcome, let cat girl escape out the front door, then murder tied up Lady Watchter in cold blood in front of Rahadin who had come to drive everyone to the castle for a dinner party.
And prep for the players to derail the campaign into hunting down richten because that's a greater atrocity than any of the campaign villains commit during the module
Honestly I think once my players found out that the Vistani camp were spies for Strahd, they definitely wouldn't care about them getting slaughtered. The kids sure, but they didn't see the scene themselves, so maybe they were just pretending Arabelle escaped. They sort of grew immune to the grimdark nature of the module because 90% of the people you meet in it are worse than the last.
Comics, Games, Booze
Then ensures one of the best nights of the minotaur character trying to catch the half orc to let them know there's a nebulous plot on their life. A thing that character is already picking up on and making plans around, and wondering if the minotaur is in on it. Cause a druid is involved it eventually becomes a literal cat and mouse game of them trying to stealthily follow one another and not really be teamed up (the minotaur has a pet mouse cause they were an urchin). They end up avoiding all the dust ups with commoners and workers through clever deception, athletics, and stealth. The only combat of the night was early on with the now verminous nothics that continue to plague the city after the first meeting of the two characters. After the druid gets proof the workers aren't working with the minotaur and don't even know who he is the druid finally cracks and figures this minotaur is on the level about just making sure he's not getting killed by a mob. They take refuge in the monk's crazy secretive monastery that normally doesn't allow visitors outside monastic orders but will definitely let the way of the long death monk bring in the seemingly dying bird he seems to have befriended. The two characters figure the monk is only visiting this temple, and the half orc needs some more orcs to back his play in cornering the masonry market in this the largest city in the world while not getting mobbed. Thusly the minotaur monk, and the half orc druid set out to the desert to recruit some followers and hirelings from the druids homeland and peoples. They will at least stay together until they take respite at the monk's true home temple to the north west of the city by a month.
Knowing the future of the other concurrent timelines I can tell you, their plan is so totally fucked, they have about two to 4 weeks of travel and then everything in the setting gets upset and fucked around with. Their course is set though their purposes on it may change.
I got a new campaign.... shit.
-Bard schmoozed his way onto a dragon-hunting airship ran by some jerks, also independently found the location of the Soul-Monger
-Killed a dragon, featuring ranger Teidi & local guide Hew Hackinstone riding the ranger's ankylosaur Teidi Jr. which had a Fly on it
-Successfully made a check to remember that I had a scroll of Feather Fall for them when that went predictably south
Don't much care for those other two but I'll be damned if I let Teidi Jr die.
EDIT: I'm looking at a gallery of minis in the set. There are multiple Yeenoghu-variants of various demons, including dretches and barlgura, that look more gnoll-like than those demons normally do. There are also armores variants of many devils. A female firbolg druid is also present, for some reason.