The Seer's Journey - DM Downrightamazed
Game Master downrightamazed

Really cool intro stories, by the way, all three of our newcomers; that was excellent work. I'm honored to have you all on board, just as I'm daily honored by everyone else's presence in these games.

Now, let's continue to tell some great stories together!

First in-game post launched. I'm psyched up!

So for rolls like if I wanted to use one of my knowledge skills, would I just roll the d20 + mods and all that and let you sort out the result?

Also what about spells (such as detect magic)?

I can sort of get a sense of things from what other people seem to be doing, but I have a terminal fear of being that guy who shows up and rolls all the wrong dice and takes too many liberties with assuming successes and stuff.

Good question. For the most part, feel free to roll whatever, whenever, and I'll let you know if it's out of line. And you are correct, it's just d20+whatever the appropriate mods are under the circumstances. Usually in combat I'll give you the AC/HP/etc. of your opponent so you can write your own hit/miss narratives. Saves time and saves me work. For skills-y posts I'll usually put up a spoiler like so:

Any time you see one of those feel free to make a roll, and if you miss it, please don't read the spoiler. Other times I'll put up spoilers like that just for specific characters, if they're the only ones who could make the check for whatever reason.

However, having said that, feel free to throw whatever skill checks you want at a given situation, as long as you have time for it under the circumstances.

A couple house rules:
1. Detect Magic/Evil/Etc.: aka the most oft-abused spells evAr (along with Message): feel free to use these whenever, but I forbid using them while simultaneously walking around, due almost solely to my desire to prevent abuse, i.e., "I just walk around with Detect Magic up all the time!" -- that kind of crap. So to use it you have to stop, cast the spell, then when you're done you can use it again on another area, or go back to walking, or whatever.

2. Critical failures: if you do multiple attacks, a critical fail on one hit simply negates a different hit. N.B.: not a different attack, a different hit. If you only attacked once, or crit failed a saving throw, then I typically give you some kind of save to keep you from disarming yourself (or worse). If you fail that, then it's hard times for you.

OK, off camping till Sunday. NPC me till then. Thanks!

Word up. Have fun, man!

Don't have Abyssal or Infernal down as languages, but in checking I believe I am one language short. With an Int of 18 and 1 rank in linguistics Jor should have 6 languages including common, right? But he's only got 5.

With his shadowy bent and long time studying in Stormfare, doesn't seem unreasonable that he might have studied one of those, particularily Abyssal (him being more choatically imclined) maybe I could roll between 4 or so possible languages?

Plus thinking of your background I am sure Bal-Zat conducted all of his proceedings in celestial right? ;)

@Jorzan: That's cool, but please add it to your sheet, okay?

I figured I'd sort out the teleport rolls now, so we're all set once the business underground is concluded. Looks like the group's almost back together again.

Cool, thanks. Looking through the languages, there's really not a whole lot of others I see Jorzan having and interest in learning other than those two. But, to be fair, i'll throw Sylvan into the mix as well. So...
1-Infernal, 2-Abyssal, 3-Sylvan: 1d3 ⇒ 2

lol, and added.

@Hurin: Ha! Somehow, I doubt it... ; )

DM DRA, are we hand waiving the guard I subdued as just an entry to the story device? Should we continue on with him or just let the show go on with the main plot?

@jorzan
;)

@hurin: I dunno! Y'all just kinda left him there. Might make a fella take a strong interest in revenge...

DRA
I dropped him at the paladins feet putting him in his custody. Then we were talking about getting on the dragon, then we landed. Heh, if possible I would drag him along. Did Justal ride the Pegasus? Would Lin have carried him in her claws? I would have liked to have searched him in case he had letters or tattoos, etc that may have explained who he is.

I am having a great time by the way!

Well, nobody said anything, so I assumed you just left him there unconscious. *shrug*

I don't think Lin can carry more than two, and IIRC even that is a stretch for her, but I'll let Cori reply to that. Tora'an wouldn't have carried the prisoner because he's a man. So the odds are good you just left him there unless Lin can carry three.

And, glad you're having a good time! Nice to see Hurin and Jorzan off to a rip-roarin' start!
:-p

No, carrying more then two in a non emergency situation is rough on lin at best, we pulled it off with Hoppsville in the beginning only because our route was in a semi straight line just about lol.

So if anything she would have landed and went back for the unconscious guardsmen.

Lin that sounds like a good solution, especially since that guy isnt probably going to wake up anytime soon and should be the source of some answers.

So if anything she would have landed and went back for the unconscious guardsmen.

I'm comfortable with that.

Hey guys, w/r/t all the spoilered comments going on in the IC thread; I have no problem with Hurin's story as it stands. It's easy for me to handwave that Hurin didn't see the particulars of Jorzan interacting with Grippen for any of a number of reasons, e.g., he was late to the muster, was too busy fiddling with gear, etc.

*handwave handwave*

As for who has Kevin's finger, it is not any of you.

Relatedly, I'm finding it very interesting how the various relationships are working out so far. Hurin and Jorzan are both obviously very passionate, in their own respective ways, and I'm picturing them starting out buttin heads but eventually reaching a deep understanding and friendship. Or I could totally be wrong! I guess we'll see...

I also like how Kelne's "thinking fighter" continues to stymie our young rogue. I'm VERY interested to see how Astar and Kelne will get on. Putting Nasmarra in that mix will also be quite interesting.

Aside from the little incident on the southern shore of Crystal Lake, Justahl is the one who has been least affected by interpersonal drama of any sort. We should change that. Meanwhile poor Gray has basically had nothing but drama from day one.

Quite a group, to be sure. I love it!

Also, Hurin, just to be clear; there is no such thing as the White Dragonflight, though it's perfectly reasonable to assume there would be. The force that sieged and conquered Ormiria was a battalion of Red Dragonflight soldiers, aided by white dragon allies.

Okay everybody, level up to level 9! I know the timing is a little weird, and all the new players are basically getting a free level, but this is a good place to do this. Have at 'er!

Oh, hey, that means that she passes that Knowledge check! Consider it known, but not acted upon. She tends to play things close to the vest.

Okay thank you for the clarifications. Is the red dragon flight headed by the red dragons? So the whites live in the white dragon hold, but are not organized in a flight but rather kind of like irregular forces that support the red dragon flight right now?

No one in the land knows exactly who rules the red dragonflight or what the relationship is between them and the other types of dragons. It IS known that green dragons have been seen fighting on the side of the black dragonflight, and whites and blues both have been seen working for the red dragonflight. It is known that there is an ancient and terrible elven sorceress who rules the black dragonflight, possibly undead, possibly a ghost, possibly immortal, possibly any or all of these things.

The white dragonhold is a place of cold and death. No one alive knows if the white dragons are organized, much less how.

Okay everybody, level up to level 9! I know the timing is a little weird, and all the new players are basically getting a free level, but this is a good place to do this. Have at 'er!

Just when I'm getting comfortable, you make me crack open the sheet and get back to tinkering, you monster.

DM Downrightamazed wrote:

Okay everybody, level up to level 9! I know the timing is a little weird, and all the new players are basically getting a free level, but this is a good place to do this. Have at 'er!

Just when I'm getting comfortable, you make me crack open the sheet and get back to tinkering, you monster.

Heh no kidding the choice of the next feat looms heavy!

1d10 ⇒ 10 for level of fighter, haven't decided on the feat yet.

Hey guys, w/r/t all the spoilered comments going on in the IC thread; I have no problem with Hurin's story as it stands. It's easy for me to handwave that Hurin didn't see the particulars of Jorzan interacting with Grippen for any of a number of reasons, e.g., he was late to the muster, was too busy fiddling with gear, etc.

*handwave handwave*
Ok, Cool, Mighty Handwave works for me ; )

As for who has Kevin's finger, it is not any of you.

Relatedly, I'm finding it very interesting how the various relationships are working out so far. Hurin and Jorzan are both obviously very passionate, in their own respective ways, and I'm picturing them starting out buttin heads but eventually reaching a deep understanding
and friendship. Or I could totally be wrong! I guess we'll see...

This very much how I saw it as well. Jorzan actually quite likes Dwarves in general. He can very much relate to their straightforward, no nonsense and as violent as they need to be, when they need to be, approach to things. But at the same time he's super paranoid and protective with anything that might even remotely prove a threat to Cassandra. Knowing that Hurin was with Grippen's gang Definitely is a game changer for Jorzan

I also like how Kelne's "thinking fighter" continues to stymie our young rogue. I'm VERY interested to see how Astar and Kelne will get on. Putting Nasmarra in that mix will also be quite interesting.

lol, yup! Kelne is definitely the vinegar and Jorzan's water, or vice versa. While the two of them certainly have similiar goals, they definitely have different ways of getting there. Kelne often misunderstands Jorzan, but that's fine and understandable as Jorzan is without a doubt one of the 'misunderstood youth'. Jorzan very much respects Kelne's ability as a stealthy fighter and scout, but is often annoyed when the fighter is proven right. He is of course even more annoyed when he thinks Kelne is wrong.

Aside from the little incident on the southern shore of Crystal Lake, Justahl is the one who has been least affected by interpersonal drama of any sort. We should change that. Meanwhile poor Gray has basically had nothing but drama from day one.

and ya, I agree! Let's throw some angst for 'Mr. Perfect Paladin' in there! Lol ; ) and yup! I'm betting Gray could sure use a nice, long vacation right about now!

Quite a group, to be sure. I love it!

Ditto!

1d10 for level of fighter, haven't decided on the feat yet.

Why don't I get rolls like that? stupid freaking lousy 2 out of 8.....

Hit Points 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 (New Total: 45)

Skills +1 to Knowledge (Arcana, History, Planes, Religion), Linguistics, Spellcraft

Feat Extend Spell

Language Gnoll

Character Sheet is updated.

Dude I know did you see my openning combat rolls!? Way to go epic entrance. Now just watch I will roll 1s consecutively and fall to my death off a stepstool. Heh heh.

HP 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Skills +10: +1 to Acrobatics, Intimidate, K dungeoneering, Linguistics, Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth, Survival, Spellcraft, Use Magic Device

Feat: Hellcat Stealth

Language: Infernal

Class Abilities: Shadow Call, Shadow Jump (woot!)

NOTE: DRA, I'm wondering if Hellcat Stealth is actually necessary for Jorzan and/or in your game or not? Here's why

So my question is, does HiPS make Hellcat Stealth redundant? Because, even if Jorzan is in bright light or daylight, something would be casting shadows, which would then be dim light, yes? If so, I'll take a different feat (accepting suggestions-looking at You Mai ; )
If not, I'll leave it as it is.

EDIT: Notes/thoughts on Zan the Shadow to come soon

You know what, changed my mind, going with TWF as 9th level feat instead ; )

(Still wouldn't mind an answer to the above question if you get a chance though DRA : )

Woah! I come back and there's 84 messages to read! Shades of the first couple of months...

Aside from the little incident on the southern shore of Crystal Lake, Justahl is the one who has been least affected by interpersonal drama of any sort. We should change that.

Uh oh...

Woah! I come back and there's 84 messages to read! Shades of the first couple of months...

DM wrote:

Aside from the little incident on the southern shore of Crystal Lake, Justahl is the one who has been least affected by interpersonal drama of any sort. We should change that.

Uh oh...

Heh heh yeah, get reading and get posting because the story is in need of some righteous goodness from the paladin =).

Astar, I wish I had half of your writting ability. The way you write I can hear your character in my head. Keep up the great work and I love the sarcasim and comic relief punnage!

Astar, I wish I had half of your writting ability. The way you write I can hear your character in my head. Keep up the great work and I love the sarcasim and comic relief punnage!

Thank you! Writing is a point of pride for me, so hopefully your praise will boost my ego enough to gimme a good HP roll.

Fighter level HP: 1d10 ⇒ 2

WELP. New total: 51

Anyways, feat: Improved Critical.

Skills (3+int(5), +2 knowledge skills) 10:
+1 to Disable Device, Arcana, Linguistics, Perception, Spellcraft, Stealth,
+5 to Knowledge (Planes)

Language: Gnome.

Updating sheet.

Edit: Forgot favored class skill rank. Should be 11 ranks total now.

Nice entrance, Justahl. Welcome back.

Also, Kelne's to-do list made me honestly laugh out loud. I got weird looks from co-workers.

@dra - ill level up gray tonight. while we play. im sure ill have down time. Tor will be mostly useless without any spells so ill most likely have him silently follow gotrek

Sounds good.

Looking over my sheet I seem to be one feat short: I should have 11, correct, as a level 9 human character with 8 levels of fighter and one level of wizard, correct?

Depends when you took the Wizard level dip; you may have robbed yourself of a feat.

Actually I think it's because I apparently get two feats this level (one for level 9, and one from being a level 8 fighter)? Is that right?

Just a reminder, because I am anal and because we have new people: please separate OOC text and IC writing. Nothing drops my immersion faster than a reference to hero points in the middle of the narrative. I try to keep the mechanics and written description as separate as I can. We have some talented writers here. My goal is to be able to copy and paste only the "narrative" section while still being able to understand.

Also, I'm reasonably certain that you can't two-hand a shield, Hurin. (And I'm not sure what a bonus shield bash is, unless it's from a class ability.)

APG hero point spent can add a bonus extra attack.

Can you tell me the codes and rules again on the text?

[b] bold for Talking out loud

[i] for?

blue for?

etc.

I think there is errata on the shield bash. you can use two hands if you are using it as a primary weapon and it is a magical shield of bashing.

Please feel free to give me any pointers.

I don't necessarily argue that anyone needs to use the standard formatting. (Which, for the record, is bold for speech, italics for thoughts, and blue for OOC.) I do suggest that in-character narrative text and out-of-character explanatory text should be as separate as possible.

also how do you get colored text? I tried [/blue]

[Ooc]Text with OOC in closing bracket[/zzz]

All code without asterisks

[Ooc*]Out of character[/Ooc*]

[B*]In character speech[/*b]

[I*]In character thoughts[/I*]

Character actions are plain text.

Jorzan, you can't use Escape Artist to get out of a grapple.

Action: Making an Escape Artist check to escape from rope bindings, manacles, or other restraints (except a grappler)

(Emphasis mine).

So, since this went from story to PvP and requires retro-ing, I am going to make the appropriate rolls and there will be NO arguments about the results and NO re-rolling. I absolutely detest PvP and want it over with as soon as possible.

First, Justahl will have to roll a grapple check against Jorzan to hold him. If it fails, then he is holding Jorzan's arm but the rogue is not actually grappled. This means he does not need to roll a check to attack the archivist. If Justahl's grapple succeeds, then Jorzan needs to escape the grapple.

If Jorzan gets away and goes after the old man, then James is right and Hurin needs to roll initiative since he did not declare a readied action.

This is my ruling.