Valkur's Rise of the Runelords

Game Master Valkur

It also makes her fairly easy to identify. Though I was thinking more on people who have just recently arrived in Sandpoint, like Midori and Khrondak. And her skin isn't pale, it's white. Just like white marble, even with little streaks of grey running through it in a few places.

Also, with a 23 Perception check, would Scoria be able to recognize the way that the dice were thrown by Notick and repeat it herself?

I see now the white vs. pale thing. I was thinking based on a lot of books, the imagery used for a pale woman is often using white stone like marble or alabaster skin.

It doesn't help that until you brought it up, I had no idea what an Oread was, as I rarely deviate from core races, both as a player and a DM. I actually thought I remembered it being the name for the Orc/Ogre cross-breed, but now that I write this I realize I was thinking Orog.

Whoa. Orogs. Thaddeus, you just went old skool. I salute you!

Oreads are like their other elementally derived cousins: Born to human parents, but ancestrally linked to creatures of the plane of Earth. Hence her statue like appearance.

I find it a little funny that Notick is using loaded dice, considering he could cheat just as well from a little Mage Hand tilting the dice in his favor.

My old roomie (Known as Roidrage on the forums) had the greatest idea in the world for an Orog thief. He had a massive intimidate check, and would pick people up, shaking them about screaming "GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY!" until they complied. He would think he was the greatest thief in the land.

Needless to say, it never happened, but I wished it had. And to the mage hand thing, usually the spell requires a form of obvious spell casting. And, being how anyone with spellcraft could notice a cantrip... I thought it safer not to use that :P

In my defense, Khrondak hasn't spotted Scoria. ;)

Looking it up, I realize they're actually not that old school. They first came out in the 2nd ed Monstrous Compendium. I actually thought they were in the old 1E Monster Manual 2 or Fiend Folio, and sadly the only image I could think of was from an old red MTG card around the time of 4th/Unlimited.

I remember those brutes from AD&D. Didn't recall seeing them in 3rd edition or any of its subsequent successors though.

My old roomie (Known as Roidrage on the forums) had the greatest idea in the world for an Orog thief. He had a massive intimidate check, and would pick people up, shaking them about screaming "GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY!" until they complied. He would think he was the greatest thief in the land.

Needless to say, it never happened, but I wished it had. And to the mage hand thing, usually the spell requires a form of obvious spell casting. And, being how anyone with spellcraft could notice a cantrip... I thought it safer not to use that :P

I played a 2E DragonLance game back when I was stationed in Korea. I was a Minotaur Thief (because the most appropriate Pirate kit I wanted was for Thieves). The joke was I didn't need a Pick Pocket skill because I just took their money openly instead of stealthily. The group also joked everytime I failed a Move Silently that it was because of my hooves going *Clop* *Clop* up behind people.

Hah! I get a mental image of him having a successful sneak check, but his horns poke the person in the derriere as he's trying to actually pick pocket.

Considering 90% of people in the world don't know how to cast spells at all, I would say that it's a pretty safe bet no one would notice, especially if you used stealth.

Prestidigitation might also work - the dice don't weigh much, so it would be easy to stop or tilt the dice to get the result that you want. Lasting 1 hour, you wouldn't need to cast it very much either.

You could have also cast an Unseen Servant before starting to tilt the odds in your favor as well. Have it keep you from getting an unfavorable result, or someone else from getting a favorable result. Granted, Notick doesn't have that spell in his book, but something to think about.

Also, looking over his background, I'm just a little confused - his father was a wizard, but wielded a Falcata? Why not the mother, if she was a swordfighter?

I also noticed that you don't have a favored class bonus worked into your sheet, unless you were doing the half-elf racial favored class bonus and didn't mark it. Half-elves get two favored classes as well, so they're actually not bad for multi-classing. Might want to think about dipping into rogue or wizard later on, or fighter for the bonus feats.

Notick isn't meant to be a gambler - he actually hates doing it. His specialty is manipulating people, this is the reasoning for the dice. The dice were given to him by his uncle. He's still a novice at casting, and didn't know his father very well. The falcata was his fathers for many reasons, but in reality Notick knows ill to why. His mother taught him to fight with it, so it's even a possibility that it was her's and she just told him it was his fathers as a way of passing something else on.

In short, the equivocacy was placed intentionally for that exact reason.

In terms of his favored class bonus - you're absolutely right. I had removed all his skills and HP starting from scratch when I had converted him to RotRL, and forgot to choose which one I wanted to place it into. Honestly, once he gets a lot of the casting abilities to tie with his weapon, I was thinking of the possibility of going Wizard.

There is a creature in the 1st Edition Fiend Folio called the Ogrillon. They were an ogre/orc crossbreed as well. Not sure if they ever got updated in 2nd or 3rd, I can't recall, maybe the Orog replaced them.

Minotaur thief now that is funny. Oh I failed my pick pockets roll and you noticed me, now I will just beat you to a pulp.

Isn't an Oread basically an Earth Genasi from 2e and 3e?

I haven't really played up the Oread thing yet with the townsfolk, because I figured a lot of people had seen Scoria around town, so the initial shock and awe was over. But I'll try to work in some strange reactions here and there. Same for Bel'Tanis.

Also great job everyone!

I'm sure that when she first arrived, she was met with suspicion and a lot of oversight by the sheriff to make sure she wasn't some kind of stunted stone giant trying to infiltrate Sandpoint. Considering she's probably been working on it all since the construction started though, she probably only gets curious looks from the children and the oddball attempting to court her to no avail.

Not that courting her is impossible, just that it takes far more than a bouquet and flowery poetry to impress her. ^_^

Not that courting her is impossible, just that it takes far more than a bouquet and flowery poetry to impress her. ^_^

Noted... ^_^

Considering her first encounter with Notick, he'll have to work harder than anyone else to get in her good graces. Lawful Neutral doesn't play well with Chaotic Good.

But opposites almost always attract. O;)

It also makes her fairly easy to identify. Though I was thinking more on people who have just recently arrived in Sandpoint, like Midori and Khrondak. And her skin isn't pale, it's white. Just like white marble, even with little streaks of grey running through it in a few places.

Also, with a 23 Perception check, would Scoria be able to recognize the way that the dice were thrown by Notick and repeat it herself?

I suppose you could attempt to roll the same number.

But it got me thinking. The rules on the dice are vague. It only has a perception check ranging from DC20-30 to notice they are loaded. Nothing about rolling a certain number, in this case a 4 and a 2. I'm not sure you even need to make a DC to roll the number. I have rolled some loaded dice a long time ago and it was rather easy to roll the number they were loaded to. In all actuality, Notick should be using 2 sets, one normal, one loaded. He rolls the loaded then "slight of hands" the normal ones to player.

But all in all I don't suppose it is a huge deal, because the dice game is mostly an RP tool. And it is getting the party together.

Organized Crime and Charming Scamps... bringing Adventuring Parties together since 4702 AR
=P

Tru Dat :P

The dice game did a rather nice job of getting everybody to interact, one way or another.

>;D I do my best. *Extravagant bow*

I'm probably the only player in the world who would willingly spend 50g on loaded dice, fully knowing they'd probably be confiscated almost immediately.

I can't believe Thaddeus failed his perception check so badly. I had my grease spell prepped and everything! I also love that Notick, so far, seems like a typical criminal. I feel like he's way to 'Departed' for his own good, being the undercover good guy in the evil gang.

Let me know if Khrondak is being too insuffarable, I'm just trying to display him as described in his personality: stubborn and a bit on the intolerant side. ;)

Looks like Dabbleboard is shutting down, and I was just starting to get the hang of it. I'll use google docs for now to post maps and other handouts.

If Khrondak is so intolerant, why would he want to talk to someone like Scoria? :P Still, I don't mind - having someone to debate with philosophically certainly will be good for Scoria, a little mental stimulation to keep her on her toes. And look, now they'll get a chance to show each other how they are in battle as well. ^_^

Loser has to buy the winner a drink.

Round 1 Recap

Midori draws a weapon and moves.
Bel'Tanis charges and hits Goblin 3 (4pts Damage.)
Thaddeus moves and casts Daze on Goblin 2.
Scorial charges and kills Goblin 2.
Goblin 1, throws a rotten tomato at Midori, hitting her in the face (no damage).
Goblin 2, fails save and is dazed, then killed by Scoria.
Goblin 3, attacks Bel'Tanis and hits (3 damage).
Krondak draws his weapon makes a ranged attack and Kills Goblin 3
Notick draws a weapon and moves

Start of Round 2
Encounter Map; Start of Round 2
Goblin Assault 1-Round 2

Looks like Bel'Tanis will kill the 3rd Goblin, early in the 2nd round.

I just want to clarify the things in bold

Not trying to be critical, just trying to be clear on what happened.

My mistake, for some reason I had in my head that Scoria hit.

So the map at the start of round 2 is a bit incorrect. Goblin 3 is wounded, but is killed by Bel'Tanis on his second round. Goblin 1 is still unwounded, with Midori moving in to engage it.

I must have missed a keystroke, I meant to type E15 for Noticks move action. He was trying to stop the goblins from being able to get to the churches enterence.

I'd update it, but at work I only have access to my smart phone.

About the mix up on the Surprise Round for this latest encounter.

I rolled the goblins initiative during the surprise round to save time. That way I could stack everybody in the correct order once normal combat was underway.

Also, yes I should have called it The Surprise Round rather than Round One. I guess that is what happens when you have been playing with the same group for a long time you tend to develop your own house rules/style without even realizing it. We have always just called the surprise round; round one.

Back to your regularly scheduled programing...

As Khrondak has pointed out... Critical's are handled differently by every DM.

The book says: "A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together. Unless otherwise specified, the threat range for a critical hit on an attack roll is 20, and the multiplier is ×2."

Which implies you roll damage TWICE (or more, if weapons threat is higher than X2). So, scoria should roll her damage for her crit again, and add it together.

I'm more used to how Scoria handled it (Multiplying the total damage done by the weapons multiplier.)

How would you like to handle critical's, Valkur?

Regarding crits, in my local games we always have rolled damage dice for each critical multiplier. Then adding them all together.

But for this particular game, lets just multiply the critical. Makes it a little easier for bookkeeping.

D&D so many ways to play:)

Thus the beauty of the game!

Will do. Thank you for thy ruling all mighty DM.

Multiplying the crit is my favorite way of determining critical damage. I am not a fan of the bell curve that rolling extra dice gives you. Sure, you risk rolling a 1 more often, but you're more likely to roll max damage more often too.

All that to say, "Yay!" =D

I'm fine with that, though I also like the max base damage then roll the extra damage.

XP and Loot:Part 1 Festival and Fire
Using Fast XP Advancement Track

XP Total Per Party Member:605xp
I'll let you guys determine how you want to split up the items and gold.

Since no one here is small sized, can we have a converted GP total of all the small sized equipment we apparently get? I think we'll probably be selling it all anyways. For Scoria's share, well, she's far from materialistic, so she'll probably take only whatever the others feel is her fair share, whether its smaller or higher than the average.

regarding shares:
Do we want to split the loot into 6 shares (1 share for each of us) or into 7 shares (1 share for each of us and 1 share for a "general party fund")? The general party fund, if we choose to use one, can be what we use to purchase curatives and other consumables (like a wand of cure light wounds).

I like the 7 shares idea.

I'm a fan of the 'share for the general party' method. Though shares discussions bring up the question of items. Say there is a +1 Scimitar, which would obviously go to the scimitar wielding fighter. Does that mean he just got a 2000gp share, and doesn't get more until everyone else has the equivalent?

Or are the shares restricted to only coin gathered from loot, and selling unwanted things? Sadly, it runs into the issue of the more common of gear you use, the odds are that you will be able to use more of what is found, and just end up with more WBL.

In my groups we just disregard value of usable items, and split monetary values. SOmetimes it sucks for you, sometimes it doesn't, usually if you haven't got a lot of good gear the party will pitch in to cover down for what you need.

Say there is a +1 Scimitar, which would obviously go to the scimitar wielding fighter. Does that mean he just got a 2000gp share, and doesn't get more until everyone else has the equivalent?

I would say yes to this. BUT, I would calculate it's share value at how much it would SELL for, since that's how much it'd be worth if no one claimed it and it were sold.

But yes, if someone gets a gem of an item which throws them ahead of the share curve, it seems fair to let the rest of the party catch up in wealth.

I'm not used to splitting treasure because somehow all of my games are extremely low treasure, and magic items are eventually handed down by some NPC. That's just how we roll. :)

Thus, I'll be happy to put my hands on whatever loot I can get without being to picky about it, as long as there's some fairness in it - the guy tha gets the +1 scimitar should let someone else have the cloak of resistance, for instance.

I like the 7th share idea, too.

I've run into the unintended item distribution issue of the 'no shares until their share of items has been equalled' method.

Say an AP puts 4 items in, under the assumption that 1 would suit each player. Except, 3 of the players make nontraditional choices, and the 4th is the best use of all 4 items. Now, these are good items, but because of this, he doesn't see a single gp for the next 5 levels.

I was playing an Archer Cleric, and we got a sweet bow, and wisdom buff item. They were both high-priced items and decent, but I had two focused items for a long time, while everyone else had 5-6 well-rounded items, and were still only about 2/3 of the way to my value.

I'm not saying I wont accept whatever method we decide, I'm just saying I've seen it turn unintentionally unfun. Getting little items here and there (for me) is more fun than getting 1 or 2 big items early then nothing for a long time afterwards.

Personally, I prefer the 'we share all treasure' method. There is one pool of money, that the group decides what to spend it on (whoever needs an upgrade for something), and for whatever needs to be bought. If you want to do the value method, it takes A LOT of bookkeeping tracking who all has what value and who gets how much of a share. It's bookkeeping that I'm not interested in tracking.

I would be more than satisfied with a totally shared approach to wealth.

1 communal pool of cash
1 communal pool of items

I'm perfectly comfortable with that. I especially like the almost non-existent amount of math and bookkeeping required.

All in favor of a communal of cash and items? Or a 7 way split of treasure shares, with useful items going to people who can use them?

Also is the pacing of this game good? I'm pretty happy with it, we finished part one in a week and half. I felt like we had a good mix of rp and combat.

Thanks to you all for posting with regularity, it has made my first pbp game quite enjoyable. Hope you all have enjoyed it as well.

I'll toss my vote in for a communal method of loot distribution.

And yes, I am very much enjoying this game! You've done an especially good job with the maps and managing the combat rounds. Very good job, DM.

Also a fan of one big happy communal pot, it may be a bit unusual IC wise, but it's just one thing you suspend for paperwork reduction. It just as easily can be the described as even splits and buyouts, and PC's loaning others cash to get that item they wanted, but is managed by a single pool.

Pacing is good, though I fell behind on Fri-Sat as those are my busiest days (oddly also my two days off each week), mainly due to the honey-do list, 6 hrs of Sat classes, and my Tabletop on Fri night. Even then I didn't get left behind, so it's all good.

Some helpful stuff I picked up to limit DM required posted responses, helping the flow not get bogged down (not that it did, just in case for future sake). Spoiler anything that calls for a roll.

i.e.

This helps avoid having to call for a roll, waiting for the posts, then describing what the results were. It also allows each person that rolls to describe their reactions/actions in the same post they roll with.

That being said, did anyone Identify the potion we found (Thaddeus didn't have Det Magic prepped when we found it)?

Good point on rolling certain skills at critical times to keep the game going.

As for the potion you can roll a perception check to determine what it is. DC15+1 per spell level.

Thaddeus1d20 + 0 ⇒ (18) + 0 = 18
Bel'Tanis1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Khrondak1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Notick1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
Midori1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Scoria1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

A lot of people got it!
Potion of Cure Light Wounds

Value for the gear on the goblins:
*Added +10% for having Ameiko as a friend benefit. (Bel'Tanis)
Dropped Silver and Copper pieces and rounded up 5gp.

Sub Total:
706GP (Equipment)
20GP (Found)
Total:
726GP
Potion of Cure Light Wounds

Does this mean that Ameiko is my friend... with benefits? ba da /rimshot

Thanks I'll be here all week, try the veal it is delicious...

Okay, going by the 7th communal share idea, we have a value of 726gp to split 7 ways. Since it doesn't break as evenly as 6 shares (At 121gp each), let's agree to put the remainder into the communal share, yes?

So 726/7 = 103gp for each member, 105gp for the communal share.

We'll keep the CLW potion in the communal share for use of whomever needs it - I also would like to designate Bel'Tanis as the carrier of the communal pot, being the most unlikely to spend it for himself.

Can we all agree on this split?

I thought we discussed it being a lot simpler to have communal money, and communal items.