Within the hall, Ethras, Hrothgar, and "Nedd" have no chance of hearing or seeing this combat. However, Lythdrae and Ian are on high ground looking down into the warren of tents. They may make Spot attempts (-7 for distance) and Listen attempts (only -4; the camp is quieting now and high ground is easier to hear from, so the combat would stand out).
Darn, I missed this post...
Ah well. Waiting for Lythdrae to respond, then likely entering the tent post-haste...
Just to be clear, it's not really a tent. The mead hall is a large wooden building built on a wide stone foundation/platform.
Whats up guys? No action in a while
Well, I think Ian's waiting on Lythdrae to say something so they can conclude their dialouge and then come back into the hall. That's the impression I get and what I'm waiting for. I'm kinda hoping to conclude Day 1 of the campaign sometime this season. I hope the other days don't take so long- I've got at least a few month's worth of adventuring, and I'd like to conclude the campaign before retirement.
(Just kidding!)
Well, I think Ian's waiting on Lythdrae to say something so they can conclude their dialouge and then come back into the hall.
Sorry about that, my internet had crapped out everytime I tried to respond. At the risk of jinxing myself, it seems to be better now.
No problem. I just get a little nervous everytime there's a big delay. Obviously, I hope to not have anymore dropouts; it's never happened in one of my games before.
Just a little DM reminder and clarification for me: It's rather late; while you could certainly demand to talk with the the Stormwalker youth immediately, "tomorrow" morning would be a more natural time. Is that still the plan?
:D
You know, Ethras never did get those potions from that cooky alchemist....
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:D
You know, Ethras never did get those potions from that cooky alchemist....
No, he didn't. He decided that the dude was a little TOO kooky to be trusted and thought he would rather trust providence. Plus, the alchemist seemed to convey the idea that he didn't have any appropriate potions anyway.
There's most likely a reasonable hang up in the posting, but I'm going to step up as DM and move things along. I didn't want to rush anyone, but Aubrey's right, this is taking too long.
If no one has other thoughts, I'm going to progress things to the morning soon.
As much as I loathe elves being immune to sleep and "trancing," it's not worth bringing in my houserules on the matter at this point. Yes, you only need four hours of trance.
So, shall I wait for Ian and Lythdrae to enter and speak with Daeman, or is that just so they he can inform them of what's happened, and I can advance the story to the next day? I'm confused about Sexi's intentions.
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As much as I loathe elves being immune to sleep and "trancing," it's not worth bringing in my houserules on the matter at this point. Yes, you only need four hours of trance.
So, shall I wait for Ian and Lythdrae to enter and speak with Daeman, or is that just so they he can inform them of what's happened, and I can advance the story to the next day? I'm confused about Sexi's intentions.
I'm ready to move on. Ethras will wake up in four hours and do some morning exercises before breakfast and everyone else will likely be awake by the time he's finished.
I'm curious as to what your problem with elven sleep immunity and trancing is? I've always thought it was one of the coolest things about the race, especially since I read all about their 'reverie' in the old 2e Complete Book of Elves. It's good stuff.
I just don't like the fact that they don't sleep. Everyone else does. I don't know, it just rubs me the wrong way for some reason. Also seems to be the basis for their immunity to sleep effects, which I consider pretty weak, personally. That and the auto-search for hidding doors really don't do anything for me. I've tried several houserules to try and change elves, but I never like what I come up with. =/
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Ready for this? "Fatespinner's Complete Explaination of Elven Somnology":
Elves live a LOT longer than humans. Why is this? They are blessed by their gods to be "one with the land" and thusly tied to innate magics in the world. This magic serves to constantly rejuvenate and revitalize their bodies far beyond what normal creatures experience. This rejuvenation only applies to NATURAL wear and tear innate to their bodies, however, not injury, disease, or other foreign bodies. Elves do not wrinkle (much). They do not suffer the typical problems associated with aging (aching joints, senility, heart problems, kidney failure, etc.). It is this natural revitalization that keeps them going so long.
Sleep is the body's way of balancing chemical toxins that accumulate in the brain and cause mental fatigue. Because elves are essentially receiving rejuvenation on this level constantly, even while awake, they do not require sleep. Instead, they spend a few hours each night in meditation, dwelling on their past experiences to attempt to recapture their long lives. Elven memory is not inherently better than any other race's, so they must constantly remind themselves of the past by reliving it in meditation each night. The meditation also serves to 'harmonize' their bodies with the innate magical energy that suffuses their bodies and permits the cycle to continue. This innate energy is also what provides elves with their resistance to enchantments.
Mechanically, an elf in meditation is just as vulnerable as a sleeping human, but from a roleplaying standpoint, an elf who is 'awakened' by a loud noise should be much more alert and active than the groggy human.
Do you feel a little better about it now? :)
As much as I loathe elves being immune to sleep and "trancing," it's not worth bringing in my houserules on the matter at this point. Yes, you only need four hours of trance.
So, shall I wait for Ian and Lythdrae to enter and speak with Daeman, or is that just so they he can inform them of what's happened, and I can advance the story to the next day? I'm confused about Sexi's intentions.
In the interests of keeping things moving now that people have started themselves to sleep (or racially appropriate substitute), let's just assume that we arrive at some point, Daeman brings us up to speed, and we pass out shortly thereafter. It's been a long and tiring day.
Do you feel a little better about it now? :)
Not really. =/
It's just a difference of views; I do like the part about elven meditation being a way for them to reflect on their lives, but something about placing and font of innate magic within them just strikes me as wrong, unless their type were to change to fey or outsider or something like that. I don't know- maybe, like Grimcleaver said in the "Will I Hate Elves" thread in Pathfinder general discussion, I just don't want to make them too special. But, for this campaign, elves get tingly when they're near a secret door, sleep spells don't work on them, and they just trance out at night (or whenever they choose to sleep).
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It's just a difference of views; I do like the part about elven meditation being a way for them to reflect on their lives, but something about placing and font of innate magic within them just strikes me as wrong, unless their type were to change to fey or outsider or something like that.
Actually, before version 3.0, they WERE technically 'fey creatures' but in the old days there was no 'fey' template which arbitrated certain abilities (DR/cold iron, etc.). Now, with 3.X, it would be unbalancing to make elves into true fey (without giving them an LA, anyway) but they wanted to keep their abilities the same (mostly) from previous editions. Hence the somewhat hackneyed version of "humanoid" elves we have today.
I just don't like the fact that they don't sleep. Everyone else does. I don't know, it just rubs me the wrong way for some reason. Also seems to be the basis for their immunity to sleep effects, which I consider pretty weak, personally. That and the auto-search for hidding doors really don't do anything for me. I've tried several houserules to try and change elves, but I never like what I come up with. =/
Yeah, the auto-search in particular has been a longstanding irritant for me and I generally ignore it even when playing an elf because it takes a remarkably good group not to start calling out sensory checks the moment the DM asks for marching positions anyway. In one of the homebrew ideas I've kicked around I made them a bunch of plains dwelling nomadic warmongers with racial abilities to match -- I can email that off to you sometime if you want to try something different sometime (though obviously not in this campaign.)
Sure, I'd be interested to mine ideas from your work. :)
The sleep thing wouldn't bug me if I could think of a non-magical in-game solution to it that didn't go into heavy biology. I've thought about saying it's something they eat, but then what happens when if an elf goes to another place without that food? Too complicated and risks nerfing the ability, I think.
Currently, I'm trying to come up with something that makes them obviously attractive to wizards without being unbalanced and without focusing them into one specific school of magic. Nothing is jumping to mine thus far.
Honestly, it seems to me that the simplest solution to the matter of sleep is just to say that while elves are biologically similar to humans in more ways than they care to admit, they simply need less sleep than humans -- they still sleep, though they conceive of their "sleep" as being fundamentally different, the only differences are in the duration and the fact that there is no lingering drowsiness after they awaken. In a game where colossal red dragons can live for centuries and fly through nonmagical means, the idea of a humanoid race that just doesn't need eight hours of sleep seems reasonable to me.
Anyway, it's sent, and it's wordy. I'll try and have Lythdrae wake up in a nightmare stricken near-panic later after I've addressed my homework properly.
All right, there's the story of the boy who saw the demons. Now's the time to ask questions if you've got them!
Bardic Knowledge?
roll of 10.
Any help there?
Not a whole lot. You know that no wildlife lives in the Great Blizzard, although there are sometimes stories of dragons and the like within it, more or less like you've already heard from the boy. Also, there have never been tales of demons or devils or any such thing dwelling within the place; again, you already heard that. The final bit of information you already knew is that the Great Blizzard was created by frost giant priests of Thrym who lair somewhere in the Jarl's Crown Mountains.
I recommend rolling higher than a 10 next time. :P
EDIT- Oh, and while it hasn't been mentioned so far, here's one other bit of information with questionable value that you could probably figure out on your own: frost giants are known to walk the Blizzard sometimes.
I can't tell if it's time for me to advance things or if anyone else has something they want to add. Please enlighten an inquiring DM.
Just to let everyone know, it's going to take me a few days to get the next post up. So, if you want to continue discussing the issue of "hiring dwarves as monster fodder, muwahahaha," feel free. Otherwise, expect the next post sometime next week. But hey, maybe Ian will be back by then.
Just thought I'd let you know.