A flickering candle in the dark. (Inactive)

Game Master Helaman

My take on that is that it's the direct damage caused by attack rather than secondary attack. That said Ardan was hit by a thrown spear and not a melee attack.

Adran wasn't actually hit yet, so this is all theoretical still. The temporary hit points protect against all damage, so they would still absorb the damage from a thrown spear. However, the person who threw the spear would not be subject to taking 5 points of cold damage.

Quoting from page 215, describing the spell:

"A protective magical force surrounds you, manifesting as a spectral frost that covers you and your gear. You gain 5 temporary hit points for the duration. If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have those hit points, the creature takes 5 cold damage."

The mistake I had made earlier was assuming that a creature which hit Adran in melee while the spell was active would take the cold damage on a 1 for 1 basis. Instead Adran could have just 1 of the temporary hit points left and a creature hitting him in melee would still take 5 points cold damage.

In the words of Yul Brenner... So it is written, so it is done :)

Beckett I think your DC should be 11, not 13. DC 8 + Spell casting attribute. :D

Beckett I think your DC should be 11, not 13. DC 8 + Spell casting attribute. :D

You forgot about proficiency bonus.

Hmmm, for some reason I was thinking that doesn't get included. My mistake. I guess that makes my burning hands save DC 13 as well then! :)

Going from memory, so not sure. I dont believe there is an attack roll, so Prof bonus may not apply?

-Posted with Wayfinder

Your proficiency bonus is added in to the save DCs of any spells you cast.

Yup. I just had a brain bubble over it for some reason :)

We are all new to this so we will make mistakes.

FYI

This battle will be worth 102xp when finished.

100 divided by 6 for wave 1 = 17xp
300 * 1.5 divided by 6 for wave 2 = 75xp

Bonus 10xp each for additional risk factor

Honestly, that means almost nothing to me. :)

Well, we need 300 for lvl 2.

Level 2? - Thats likely gonna be a while but I'll keep slinging XP at you as needed.

As to Becketts comment?

Yeah - was thinking the same. You level when you level but I may as well try the XP rules as well and see where it takes you. I can always slow things down later if worse comes to worse.

We will be 1/3 of the way to 2nd level. :-)

Sorry, let me clarify. I have not read the XP rules at all, so what I meant was to me, 20 Xp, 200 Xp, or a billion, I'm not sure what exactly that means.

:)

Now, that being said, we level when we level, (and honestly I have not even read the leveling rules yet), though am looking forward to finally being able to Turn Undead. Why that's not a level 1 ability, I have no freeing idea. It's always been ne of my favorite abilities, flavor wise (well, Turning/Destroying). I don't know that I like the idea of finally being a full character/class at level 2.

:P

Most characters grow into their own around 2nd or 3rd and the rules (I think) don't want to front load the characters to make dipping less attractive.

In the case of two games where I have Pallys, in BOTH cases I am thinking of a 1-2 level dip into fighter because they have a free healing surge, and an additional combat style. A 2nd level gives me a once a long rest additional action which can be BAD ASS. Allowing me to rip out 3 attacks a round once a day.

After 3rd level where MOST ppl get the archetypes you more or less may hang around to 4th for the stat increase/feat

It should be noted that in this version of DnD ability score increases are class level dependent, not character level dependent. This means that if one is not careful they will effectively lose an ability score increase. As an example, the following options pursued to level 20 will give a character 5 ability score increases:

Paladin-20
Paladin-19/Fighter-1
Paladin-16/Fighter-4

These two combinations will only result in 4 ability score increases:

Paladin-18/Fighter-2
Paladin-17/Fighter-3

Granted that ability score increases are not the be all and end all of character development, but I think that one needs to spend a little more time looking at their multiclass options in this latest version.

Yep - thats the way it will have to happen but a combat style for a single level fighter dip is worth a feat in my mind for what you get.

Will wait on Beckett for another 10 hrs or so then bot him to aid the party on a 1 and chase the wagoneer on a 2.

Okay - feedback time.

Any issues with the way I am running the game. What would you like to see more of or less of?

We can continue the game flow in the game play thread but also do leave some feedback here as you are doing so.

Heading further away down the road and away the town of Hochoch, the Realstream is quickly crossed at a shallow ford, and you follow a wagon track that winds along the south side of a narrow creek. The plains here are flat and grassy. Occasionally, large cottonwood trees grow along the stream, but in general the plain is unforested..../quote]

I couldn't resistt an homage to the boxed texts of the old style D&D... I think I'll keep using this method to maintain the feel

My feedback would be: so far, so good!

My feeling so far with the 5e rules (vs. say, Pathfinder) is that since it's much 'lighter' rules-wise it feels a lot easier to err on the side of fun and cinematic play.

I don't mind theater of the mind combats for small encounters, I would have preferred a map for the snake/lizardman fight to get a better tactical feel. But coming off years of Pathfinder/PFS play that's just sort of the expectation when combat starts :)

Keep up the good work!

I agree with Mala...this has a really good 1e feel to it. It will take me some time to 'break' my Pathfinder rules mind set, but I really like the light and fun feel of the game. Your doing great and I look forward to playing!

Im enjoying it so far. I'd rather the pace slowed just a bit, but not much. I can generally only post 2-3 times a day.

One thing that might also help a bit is if you, as we go, explained the mechanics of whats going on. But if not, thats fine. But Im enjoying things.

-Posted with Wayfinder

No complaints so far. :-)

Checked out the cost for upgrading my Roll 20 membership. If I were to do it I'd do it for a year, not a month so it will be a while before I'll do that.

We'll work around it for the moment

I may not be on much today lol

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. :-)

Same to you. :)

Happy Thanksgiving for all your North American (Non Canadian) players.

A note on 'armed and armoured'.

In modern day parlance it would be the following

Unarmoured, unarmed (possibly a belt knife, walking stick, or staff - you'll blend in just fine unless your clothing, knife or stick is ostentatious in some way.

Armed but not armoured - Think of being in an open carry state like Texas. Sure you can have a weapon at your side but most don't. Its going to garnish you some funny looks. Most wont be packing a sword. Mind you there is a time and a place - official galas may have army officers with their weapons by their sides for instance.

Armoured (armed or unarmed) - It screams "possible threat" or "Trouble maker" unless you are in a place or position where it wouldn't be unusual or undesirable - soldiers on duty or officers of the law for instance. On the road is one, the battlefield is definitely another.

Last min opp for update.

If anyone wants to have a heavy fighting knife / slashing damage short sword (Seax etc) please update your sheet now otherwise I'll assume a stabbing (piercing) damage short sword.

My weapons are a Warhammer and a sling. I'm imagining I could easily conceal the sling, but the warhammer is a larger weapon of war, and not something that can easily be confused as a common tool, (such as a smith's hammer).

I also have a Chain Mail suit and Shield, which I'm not certain about. I'd imagine the shield fits in the same place as armor, and just not commonly worn. The chain shirt, though, not certain how most would view it, or how easily it would be to conceal/be out of place for a dwarf.

On the one hand, I would think it would generally be fairly easy to hide (from view though not hearing) under cloths, but on the other, part of my clothing is a crusader's tabard from Mendev, which likely infers warrior type and armor underneath.

So, I'm fine either way on armor. If we can find a place to stop and secure our gear, I don't mind taking it off, (though the hammer does have some clan importance, and I wouldn't just leave it sitting around).

Would a Chinese style kung fu sword fit?

As we start getting money in, those characters who prefer heavier armor might want to consider getting leather armor as well. That way when they were getting ready to sleep they could change into their leather armor and sleep in that. This would have the advantage that if they woke up to find that a fight was going on they would have at least minimal protection.

Would a Chinese style kung fu sword fit?

Dao or jian? Sure either dao would be more a long sword - jian would fit as a short sword.

ChainmAil is not easily concealable.

Am I being too aggressive with moving the game forward?

nope..keeps us moving and on our toes..lol

Yah, this pace and speed are great.

"I'm startin' to think that ol' Gustav is, well, full of crap. First he tells us he and his buddy came looking for food stuffs, and while he stayed at the inn, his friend for many years just vanishes. Next he fled, not bothering to even look for his buddy, swearing never to come back, but then we convince him to as long as we protect him. But he runs into the dark and mist at the slightest hint of danger when we are obviously protecting him. Then the first people we meat, on the way into town, mind you, recognizes him. Now, he wants to go stay at the inn, cause this isn't good enough for him? I call BS."

Best discussed over here I think... thats what the thread is for, and it won't clutter up the game space.

The farmer recognized Gustav because the farmer's house is on the main road and he had seen Gustav only two days ago. No indication that the farmer knew anything at all about Gustav except that he was some guy on a wagon. No one else in town so far has shown any indication that they know Gustav at all. I would say so far that part of Gustav's story seems to be checking out.

However, Gustav is something of a pain. He's going to want to complete his business here and leave as soon as he can. It will likely take us days at least to figure out what's going on. Also, if he won't stay where we can protect him then I would argue that our duty to try to protect him ends.

Which brings us back to what we're going to do. I think that we need to all stay together or risk getting picked off one by one. The worst problems in the bunk house are fixable if Rex can cast prestidigitation . If so then it's just a matter of making things tidy without being too obvious to the constable that we're using magic to do so. I have no idea what room rates are in town, but our funds are limited at best.

So for right now I vote the bunk house unless one of the Inns can give us a really good deal. Even so, we may want to stash our stuff under lock and key here first. Comments welcome.

Added in edit: Turns out that according to his sheet Rex can't cast that spell. So we would have to clean things the old fashioned way. I think we should probably still stash our stuff here at least temporarily while we check out other options.

As much as I want prestidigitaion, Its only useful in certian times.

I was saying that in character

I really appreciate the effort on the ASCII map, but I'm failing to get the meaning. Any chance you can draw something on roll20 instead? :)

Rex is on the move. This could be stupid, but the in my view of Rex, he is probably still mad, and wants to know more. He will head back to the church.

I really appreciate the effort on the ASCII map, but I'm failing to get the meaning. Any chance you can draw something on roll20 instead? :)

Yeah ignore that - my bad.

Anybody wandering off on their own is a bad idea right now. Especially without telling the rest of the group what you're doing. Right now I'm kind of stuck until I get an acknowledgement from the innkeeper. Regardless, we really should have Beckett as part of the group that talks to the priestess. Even if he decides to stick with his "rustic dwarf" routine his insights could be invaluable later.

Ok - map of your Windowless rooms is up.

The rooms are clean, and come with a locking door. The mattresses are likely stuffed with straw but don't smell.

I have Ardan and Rex is room 2, Mala and Grimm in room 2. That leaves Beckett and Gusteelus to share the four bedroom room... room 4.

Would like to see more posting from some of the less frequent posters.