I'm available again, just to note.
I'm available again, just to note.
Alright, we'll resume the fight for the One Ring in Gameplay.
Hey, it's finals week for me, so I might need to abandon this pbp for that span of time. I'll catch up while I can, but I'm alright with Cereidh being NPC'ed or being narrative-sleight-of-hand'ed out of the story if I can't update consistently enough.
No worries - I'll bot you for the rest of this combat. Best of luck on finals!
I’ve a short kidless vacay with wife. Can’t post until tonight.
If you need to bot me, Eothain will tackle Findegil with fury advantage and try to step on/bury the ring in the river bed.
Cheers
I envy the no kids night off - this will wait.
Before you roll Athletics to tackle Findegil, roll that Dex check. That essentially replaces my Initiative rolls because it's Player vs Player. One of you will be quicker.
Anguish is the word!
I'm going with that the loss has hit him hard.
Oh man, you got off easy - if you had actually become the Ring-bearer... I had it all planned out, you only had to beat Eothain on either roll. Well, it's still out there! ;) At least the other PCs won't be trying to kill you, yet.
Shudder at the thought!
Throgrim, my apologies. I need to go outside and play with my son. I will get to your resolution this evening.
Sorry to break the plan GM. Great story! Especially from the material you have.
cheers
No worries. I have improvised everything so far.
Hi
Leaving for a short wifeless kid vacay. Back late Friday. Please bot me as necessary.
cheers
I may not get to post tomorrow either.
I'm available again.
I have a narrative decision to make that will likely affect the balance of this part of the adventure. I will try to make up my mind today at some point but it could be tomorrow.
Interesting. If it takes until tomorrow, fair enough.
I've decided to add a morsel of intel and let the players figure it out. Too many Insight rolls take the fun out of it. With what you (the players) have, you can make a leap of logic that would not seem overly like metagaming. Or just go about your business. It works either way.
In case I'm being too intentionally cryptic, or some of my posts are getting buried by the pace of things, Amalina knows something.
Busy week.
Findegil is thinking about the future. He has no intention for struggling with Eothain this night.
It was a good week to slow it down for me too. I'll post later tonight and set the action moving forward again.
Apologies. Catching up on many threads.
@GM Therenger: I take it you meant to refer to fearlessness? Findegil has already opted for taking a secret route. He is more fixated on this than he might be because of the measures the Ring (or its image) urges him to. As for thoughts on Cereidh, I am trying to represent the doubt and suspicion that the Ring tends to engender in those obsessed with it. I am not going for an excuse for PvP.
I can revise my approach here as necessary.
Not necessarily. I was actually referring to Ingenuity. The party has not gotten within 1 mile of the secret entrance, and it seems we're making tactical decisions made on incomplete assumptions. Amalina, Cereidh, and Thorgrim have yet to even see the back door with their own eyes. Let's use our skills here. For example, how much do you know about orcs? A successful Shadow-Lore test might gain you some knowledge you can put to advantage.
If you want to climb the wall, I'll roll with that. No way in is necessarily easier than another - they just require different strategy. It would be helpful to me to have an idea of what you plan to do once you scale the wall. You all have an idea of what a walled-city is like, and you may expect guards atop the wall as well. Is your plan one of stealth or of slaughter? What if the wall is slippery - you're in a giant marsh, afterall. Are any of you carrying rope? What if not everyone succeeds at the climb? Or will you be clever in some other way, as Eothain has suggested, which I admit I hadn't considered. Please don't limit yourselves, and if you have questions about specific details of the fortress or your surroundings, ask.
If we were sitting at a table, you would all plan this out. We're in no rush.
I really like your roleplaying approach, btw.
Ah. I had misunderstood, taking that the entrance was before us and that Cereidh's information was faulty/out of date. Though my misunderstanding can work out with Findegil's addled state of mind.
Cheers, it's actually quite a twist for Findegil. He has been tested...and has fallen far short of what he might have hoped for. Though perhaps he will learn much from this endeavour.
My stealth bonus is +6 - who, if anyone, wants to be the sneak?
Everyone - I feel like we've lost a little steam here. Maybe it was just the long holiday weekend.
I'm not suggesting metagaming, but as players and fans, I don't think it gets more interesting than having Sauron right upstairs and the One Ring somewhere in the building and a race to find it.
As always, good roleplaying lifts everybody up!
Let's snatch the ring save the day!
I do not see in the Rules that Suprise nets you advantage on your attack. If that rule exists please cite the page and I'll have a look. The party misses a certain hobbit rogue crit machine so badly right now. ;)
Yes. Normal 5e does not give advantage on surprise, I think
Ah....I see instead of Advantage, the surprised side doesn't get any actions for the first round. Sorry. Just use the first roll from my attacks.
It's both.
PHB p177, in the Hiding sidebox, about halfway down.
It's both.
PHB p177, in the Hiding sidebox, about halfway down.
Are you referring to this? Usually 5e is very clear one way or another, with all the previous editions. With the 'might' in there, it was never strong enough in my RL gaming crew.
However, under certain circumstances, the Dungeon Master might allow you to stay hidden as you approach a creature that is distracted, allowing you to gain advantage on an attack before you are seen.
We've always read that if creatures with surprise had advantage, it would have written clearly in the step by step instructions of surprise.
cheers
You can be surprised without being unaware of an enemy's presence. So surprise without advantage. For example, a statue in a room suddenly attacks.
But that it's ambiguous is a fair point.
Being invisible gives advantage. I’ve read the advantage for hiding as emulating invisibility. If you attack from hiding and remain hidden, you get advantage.
IMHO
Cheers
I've a week long business trip arriving home Saturday afternoon. I may have some access, but please bot me as necessary.
cheers
This next section probably demands a map but I have not had time to create one and I'll be traveling for work the next couple weeks. I will continue to push ahead through narrative and if you feel like you're lost in the dungeon please use the Discussion to say as much.
Understood.
Seems quiet!
Sorry, challenged by work and travel. Can anyone recommend an free/easy online map program?
Cheers for the vote of confidence Atlas. I don't mind sharing good practice that I've seen.
I was browsing the World of Xoth website and spotted a playtest version of a D&D 5E version of the Xoth player's guide. Here's the pdf direct link in case anyone is curious.
Sorry for the slow posting this past week - I am on the road until Thursday but will try to get in a post a day. We are almost to the end of this - I expect we can wrap this up by the end of the month!
Understood. Cheers for chiming in though.
Map is nicely clear.
How do you plan to mark our positions, especially if we push past this pair of orcs?
Just like everything else in this adventure, we will improvise.
Fair answer!