(5e) DL1: Dragons of Despair (Inactive)

Game Master DaWay

Still here. Am I correct that there is no way for Moondancer to use the blue crystal staff, since she is CG and you said the staff is LG?

I will allow you to try with a charisma check.

FYI, my dad's in the hospital, so if I disappear for a while sometime in the next few days, that's why.

Larissa, I hope all is well. Best wishes to your father!

Well I looked through all the feats in the phb but nothing seemed as good as +2 to Dex so that's what I took :)

Yeah, I would worry about the feats later. I just took Heavy Armor Master because it will really help me tank a little better and fits my idea of being the juggernaut-type warrior.

I considered the two weapon fighting one and also the trap finding one but the stat bump was better I think.

Sorry for my absence. Business trip was busier than I thought it would be, and managed to get food poisoning the day I returned home.

I went with a +2 to Charisma when leveling, and took dancing lights and invisibility as new spells.

Ok..I think I have Bel leveled..he took the feat - Duel Wielder

Ew swamp dagger... Whoops!

Made some changes to my character sheet. I put my gear in the profile so I can more easily update the quantities of things.

I think I am going to withdraw from this adventure. It seems that DM is not really excited to run this one, and I am not getting much pleasure playing.

Thank you guys for making an effort, but I don't want to play a game that the DM isn't investing himself in.

Sorry.

Started to post in the gameplay thread but decided to keep it here.

Moondancer would have been tipped off by the enemies' lack of response and then I assume they have to draw in a deep breath or something that would provide a visual cue of their intent - at that point, if her reactions were fast enough (ie., she won initiative) she would have taken a shot. Surprise does not seem appropriate in this situation, as neither side attempted to be stealthy in the approach, and we specifically said we were keeping watch or advancing warily.

I don't mean to be a rules lawyer, and I'm not opposed to house rules, but I don't like it when they spring up, to the group's detriment, like this. Based on Urgo's post above, I assume I'm not the only one frustrated? I'd rather address it than let it simmer.

Then fire an arrow, and roll initiative for the next round.

Based on Urgo's post above, I assume I'm not the only one frustrated? I'd rather address it than let it simmer.

I've certainly gotten the impression that this campaign is going to be little more than a series of encounters, each of which has a scripted opening that's unaffected by our actions leading up to it, and some of which even have a scripted ending.

Up to this point, my impression had been that I'd stumbled into a group of veterans all itching to re-live the glory days, and that you all already knew how this story goes, and so every GM post was basically "And now we're in Scene X" and I imagined everyone's mental response to be "Heh, yeah, good ol' scene X" and then we get to the rolling.

Thus, I'd recently given up on any sense of agency (or even really understanding what's going on) and decided to just tag along and try not to disrupt the nostalgia party that I accidentally intruded on. I decided my goal would be to simply not break you all out of the fond memories by doing anything too outside the box. After all, there's nothing wrong with reminiscing, and I'd hate to ruin it for everybody, so I figured I'd just wait until prompted and then roll the appropriate dice, staying out of the way and contributing my resources to team survivability.

But based on your and Urgo's posts, perhaps I've misinterpreted what I've seen?

I was looking for something that was more than a series of encounters. I play 5e because of the flexibility and creativity that players and DMs come up with as well as a strong story and the ability to affect the story.

What I have noticed, and I may be completely wrong but this is just what I see, is that the story no longer matters (since we skipped a huge portion of stuff that could have fostered some RP experiences), but rather this adventure is being "playtested" for a later use in a conversion.

So, in summation, lack of story/RP and flexibility (place for creativity) are the principle reasons I am dropping out.

Thank you, everybody.

It's the lack of agency that is bothering me, as well, Jiggy. No matter what we do, it seems we're stuck being ambushed - we just have to take the hit then start rolling dice to see if we survive. No way to avoid the constant acid damage, either - just roll to see if you take half and see if we all survive. Whether the focus is on combat or roleplay or a mixture of the two, I'd like my character's choices to have some effect on her fate.

As for nostalgia, I wasn't interested in replaying Dragons of Autumn Twilight, but rather in reinterpreting that scenario with our own characters. I'm all for outside the box, and to be honest, I've felt lost even with my familiarity with the books and modules.

Anyway, that's my two cents. I don't mean to just complain - if we all simply have different expectations for the game I will go on my way like Urgo. But if there's an opportunity to all get on the same page and move ahead, I'd like that better.

I was looking for a reimagining like Moon-dancer, and agree with all those points. If DaWay is willing to try, I will stick it out, but I would like us to be of one mind before going forward.

DM, what do you think? You have been relatively silent on this matter. I do hope that you have not taken any offense in anything that I said. It was not intended.

I didn't realize it was up for discussion, when someone says they want to drop I usually take it at face value.

I am willing to work with everyone to finish this out but I have decided I will not be continuing this after the conclusion of this module.

Do you WANT to finish this? What are your thoughts on Moon-dancers' concerns, which were part of my reasons for dropping.

It's the lack of agency that is bothering me, as well, Jiggy. No matter what we do, it seems we're stuck being ambushed - we just have to take the hit then start rolling dice to see if we survive. No way to avoid the constant acid damage, either - just roll to see if you take half and see if we all survive. Whether the focus is on combat or roleplay or a mixture of the two, I'd like my character's choices to have some effect on her fate.

Don't get me wrong when we started I was excited to be running this, then somewhere after I ran the chase scene, the nostalgia ran out. Then it was a case of ennui that I have not gotten over, which is why I decided that I wouldn't be running the second part, and honestly don't care if I finished this. I was merely going to try out of respect for the people in the game.

Thank you for being honest, DaWay. What do the rest of you think?

I've been there - I ran an in-person conversion of this adventure that stalled out at almost the exact spot. I don't see a reason to fake it if it's not causing the creative juices to flow. I'd rather pull the plug now than go through the motions.

I must confess I'm not enjoying the game. I'd be willing to continue if others really wanted to, but don't keep it running on my account.

I've been enjoying this game, the different characters and the chase in particular. I would very happily continue.

I have decided that unfortnately the steam has run out for this game for me and that I will be making it inactive. I apologize to you but it's better than running it half-assed.

Thank you to all of you! Sorry Rael!