Adventurers League: DDEX #1-05 The Courting of Fire (Inactive)

Game Master Aeshuura

5700 xp, 2 renown, 135 dd, 1 magic item, 562.1 gp

Does the 562.1 gp include the purchase of the 4 potions of healing?

yes

Okies! Thanks!

I have to dig out my charsheet when I get home, but I believe she is factionless...although I'm leaning toward Harpers for her, unless you have a better suggestion.

I think Sen is probably the best fit with the Harpers as well. Just post the info here when you get it and I will try to get it done tomorrow before I go on vacation.

I'm as dissatisfied with the selection of factions as I was when I first read them, but with a close enough look at the Order of the Gauntlet, it seems you don't have to be the religious type to fit in; you just have to be interested in justice. Given Ander's affinity for fairness and looking out for the innocent, that seems as good a fit as any.

I know they aren't strictly religious, but when reading the description that was one of the major tenets. But I think that the intro adventure gives you a good representation of the Factions though. :)

Please peruse and let me know if these are accurate, if not I will fix them as needed.

Godfrey: Logsheet

Uriah: Logsheet

Sir Adrian: Logsheet

Turok: Logsheet

Ander: Logsheet

Wrathmire: Logsheet

I will create Sen's sheet when I get the info. If you continue to play with me as DM, I can continue on this logsheet as we continue. I also put the level that you started the logsheet as.

I guess Harpers is a natural fit for Uriah...but is there a faction of shiftless layabout bards?

Also, I'll take the Flame Blade scrolls if no one else wants them...but they aren't on Uriah's spell list so he cannot use them right?

Urk, I guess so, I would have to do a little research, but I do not have my DMG around...

Hmm, I will get back to you on that. Would you like me to change your sheet to reflect Harpers?

Basically there's no benefit to not having a faction? So, its either gain a benefit OR ignore it altogether and miss out?

Yeah, they really don't have an option for being unaligned faction-wise.

Sorry for the delay. Had to find my archived charsheets. Anyway, 1200xp, 99 gold, 10 downtime, 2 renown (unaligned; the AL DM at the con said we got it even if we hadn't chosen a faction yet), 1 magic item (potion of healing).

Thanks for an awesome experience! I definitely will keep playing here.

Awesome...thanks!

Sorry for the delay. Had to find my archived charsheets. Anyway, 1200xp, 99 gold, 10 downtime, 2 renown (unaligned; the AL DM at the con said we got it even if we hadn't chosen a faction yet), 1 magic item (potion of healing).

Thanks for an awesome experience! I definitely will keep playing here.

Thanks! About renown, per the Curse of Strahd ALPG (ver. 4.0):

Renown. You begin play with 0 renown points in your faction. If you do not have a faction, you do not track renown (just fill all the lines with "0").

Oh, I just wanted to check, was everyone okay with Sen taking the ring of fire resistance?

Yep

Yeah that is fine. Can Uriah change factions or is that a choice that is locked in forever?

Just read more about downtime and factions. Go ahead and mark Uriah as a member of the Lord's Alliance, he's gonna be a stooge for the man all the while mocking those he thinks are stooges.

Art imitating life and all that...

Thanks for running. Is there going to be a link here for recruitment or am I going to have to keep my eyes peeled.

@Uriah, I will change that on your sheet and post a new link.

@Godfrey, I will post a link here when I have created the thread. Then I will leave this active until I get back from vacation.

Thanks!Maybe our PCs will get along this time, Godfrey!

Sen's Logsheet

Uriah's updated Logsheet

Again, if you see anything you want changed let me know.

Okay, here is the link to the recruitment thread!

Okay, I researched a bit and found that I messed up a little on Sen's logsheet.

Here is the corrected one.

The magic item number is supposed to be permanent magic items.

@Ander, (continued from the DDEX 1-01 recruitment thread) this Module seems to have been geared more toward Zhentarim characters, allowing them to stretch their Zhent muscles a little (and allow them to gain a little extra renown). You guys probably would have gotten about 21 gp apiece, instead of 42 gp, if you all had taken the relic to the Lord Sage, and he could have eventually filled you in on what its properties were.

Honestly, the adventure doesn't really say what caused Skovac to become undead, just that he felt it was a curse. As it had affected him after he locked himself away with the relic, it just felt logical that he believed that the relic was to blame. It could have been the gods, it could have been the dragon and his minions that purged the temple (because, how else would the zombies outside have been raised?) Hopefully, Ander can come to a similar conclusion as he finds out more. Maybe he can even ask Sen, since she read the most about them and seems genuinely interested in discovery of information.

Don't feel too bad. I know exactly what you mean, especially having been on one too many PFS Scenarios that leave you feeling quite the mercenary. But I think if you think of it as being of your faction, and you have to align yourself with these less than savory other factions to stop the Cult of the Dragon, then you might be able to work through these more easily.

Whew, okay, novella complete. I hope that someday, my PC Beryl Ironjoy can work alongside Ander. I think they would get along great! ;)

But I think if you think of it as being of your faction, and you have to align yourself with these less than savory other factions to stop the Cult of the Dragon, then you might be able to work through these more easily.

That's not really what happened, though. Having to team up with unsavory folks to stop the cult would be like if I had to do some scouting so some assassins could kill a cult leader in their sleep. It's morally gray ("murdered in their sleep" versus "saving lots of people"), it's ripe for roleplaying conflict, but it does actually work toward a believable goal.

But that's not what happened.

There was a cult tool (the scale) which we took out of its safe hiding place and put into the hands of whoever would pay for it. You know who would pay for that item? The cult. (Or someone with similar goals.)

Now, if the Zhentarim had provided a contact who could destroy or seal away the artifact but wanted a questionable favor in return, then we'd have a situation of "having to align yourself with these less than savory other factions to stop the Cult of the Dragon". (And I would totally play in a game like that!)

But again, that's not what happened. We actually helped the Cult of the Dragon by retrieving the hidden artifact and making it available. We literally helped the bad guys.

I mean, you could write an adventure in which the PCs confront someone who found a dangerous hidden relic, retrieved it, and sold it to the Cult who now needs to be stopped. Had that been the adventure we played, and the guy who provided the relic was given a statblock and put in our path, we would have killed him as being one of the bad guys, and nobody would have batted an eye.

But since the people who actually did that were PCs rather than NPCs, it just doesn't count? The characters, in-universe, don't know who's a PC and who's an NPC. So if we're going to say we're roleplaying, we've got to react to people's actions the same whether they're PCs or NPCs: if it would warrant intervention when it's an NPC then it warrants intervention when it's a PC, and if it doesn't warrant intervention when it's a PC then it doesn't warrant intervention when it's an NPC. Otherwise, we're not roleplaying. And if we're not roleplaying, then I'd rather be playing Magic.

Actually, there was information that wasn't shared. Spernik and Tibeem were Cult of the Dragon. Their robes were found in their quarters in the library. But either no one cared, or no one understood their significance, because it was never brought up to the rest of the group.

This ended up being a more, helping the cause by accident-type of adventure.

Now, you may well have allowed the Cult to gain access to the relic via the Black Market, but there is nothing in the Module for that. If this were a home campaign, I would TOTALLY have that come back and bite you all on the behinds, but alas, the results have already been collected for this season. Maybe it shows up in a later season, or a hardcover, but I dunno.

The Cult of the Dragon and the Circle of the Scale are different entities. If you ask the Lord Sage, or even maybe Sen, the Cult of the Dragon used to be interested in turning dragons into Dracoliches, but now seem to have turned about-face and are now revering and serving a "higher purpose".

The Circle of the Scale was a druid circle that aimed to emulate dragons and even bend them to their will.

Alot of this information sadly doesn't make it to the players. Though I am happy to operate through the Lord Sage and individual players to bring much of this to light. (After you have run into them, anyway.)

Oh, it DOES count, moreso when playing in the current season going on. Because the results get reported for a month or so after the module comes out.

If we are working with the same group mostly, I will be sure to put little easter eggs in there. But my point is that Ander is acting off incomplete information. I also do acknowledge that there was a bit of "murder-hobo"ing going on, and sadly sometimes you find those kinds of players/characters in Adventurers League as well as PFS.

I am a RP-first kind of player/DM and I want that in there as well. Things just got tense, and it started to bleed into Player v. Player conflicts rather than Character v. Character conflicts. I was just about to step in when you guys posted in Discussion, which made me very happy.

Now, you may well have allowed the Cult to gain access to the relic via the Black Market, but there is nothing in the Module for that. If this were a home campaign, I would TOTALLY have that come back and bite you all on the behinds, but alas, the results have already been collected for this season.

What's that got to do with anything? Do the characters know that they're living out the echoes of events that have already happened and that their actions have no consequences? Roleplaying means the characters act on what THEY know, not what the player may know. So even if you told me ahead of time that the results didn't matter, that would still be asking me to not roleplay. That's an issue for me.

The Cult of the Dragon and the Circle of the Scale are different entities. If you ask the Lord Sage, or even maybe Sen, the Cult of the Dragon used to be interested in turning dragons into Dracoliches, but now seem to have turned about-face and are now revering and serving a "higher purpose".

The Circle of the Scale was a druid circle that aimed to emulate dragons and even bend them to their will.

Again, it doesn't matter how it turns out. What matters (to me) is that we were expected to act a certain way regardless of whether it made any sense at all in-character to do so. Roleplaying means acting on the information the characters have, whether it's complete/accurate or not.

Thus my question in the other recruitment thread: if you run an adventure where progress, loot, party cohesion or any other desirable thing hinges on deliberately doing the opposite of roleplaying, I'd rather know up front and just not participate.

Aeshuura wrote:

Now, you may well have allowed the Cult to gain access to the relic via the Black Market, but there is nothing in the Module for that. If this were a home campaign, I would TOTALLY have that come back and bite you all on the behinds, but alas, the results have already been collected for this season.

What's that got to do with anything? Do the characters know that they're living out the echoes of events that have already happened and that their actions have no consequences? Roleplaying means the characters act on what THEY know, not what the player may know. So even if you told me ahead of time that the results didn't matter, that would still be asking me to not roleplay. That's an issue for me.

Sorry, that was not my intention. It felt like you were taking it personally. Maybe you were roleplaying too well! ;) I WANT you to roleplay, but I also want the players to get along. This is supposed to be fun. If I had realized to what extent DaWay would take Godfrey's personality, then I may have had a discussion with all of you first. Then we could have all gone into this expecting the eventuality, and I would have been better prepared to deal with those choices and encourage positive roleplaying. This was why I kept trying to ask DaWay for keys to the reasoning of Godfrey. If he was just going to be an ass the entire time (no offense DaWay) there is no point (in my mind) for me to run him. However, if there is the possibility of peeling back those layers to the rich character that could be underneath, I welcome the character and the roleplaying opportunities that he presents.

I think I was worried that I had (again, no offense to DaWay) let the a-hole player to the table that causes the party to self-destruct and I hit panic mode. Does that make sense?

Quote:

The Cult of the Dragon and the Circle of the Scale are different entities. If you ask the Lord Sage, or even maybe Sen, the Cult of the Dragon used to be interested in turning dragons into Dracoliches, but now seem to have turned about-face and are now revering and serving a "higher purpose".

The Circle of the Scale was a druid circle that aimed to emulate dragons and even bend them to their will.

Again, it doesn't matter how it turns out. What matters (to me) is that we were expected to act a certain way regardless of whether it made any sense at all in-character to do so. Roleplaying means acting on the information the characters have, whether it's complete/accurate or not.

Thus my question in the other recruitment thread: if you run an adventure where progress, loot, party cohesion or any other desirable thing hinges on deliberately doing the opposite of roleplaying, I'd rather know up front and just not participate.

No, your decisions and roleplaying will ABSOLUTELY affect your awards, however, by participating you will always get SOMETHING. That was what I meant to say.

Like I said, I WANT you to roleplay, but I also want to keep the party from tearing itself apart. I should have had more trust in you, my players to handle it in-game, but there may be times where I need to step in. As I get more comfortable with you guys, I will be able to channel conflict into a more constructive experience. :) Thank you for giving me another chance.

What's that got to do with anything?

Forgot to answer this. Sometimes, players do take it like that, that they know their actions don't really matter in the long run. I was trying to show how as a DM, I am restricted as well in how to make this a living breathing world. The ripples should be seen and felt, and you are right, players should act as if they will be.

I'm... not sure we're on the same page here. That last post of yours (EDIT: Okay, next to last, since you ninja'd me.) makes sense in the abstract, but I'm not sure how your comments are replies to what you quoted from me. Maybe if you restate what you're understanding me to be saying?

Ok, I am confused now! @_@

It seemed to me that you were saying that you thought I was telling you that whatever you did made no difference to the outcome of the game. (After looking back on what instance you were referring to,) I was telling you that it does make a difference, but it wasn't going to steal gold or XP away from you for not fighting the last fight. I, personally, despise it when you are rewarded for being a murderhobo. I would have rather given you roleplaying XP than murderhobo XP, which was what was going on at that moment.

However, the way that the adventure is set up, there is no real outline for that eventuality. I guess that is where the extra leeway that Adventurers League comes in.

Was that more in line to what your concern was? If not, could you elaborate?

However, the way that the adventure is set up, there is no real outline for that eventuality.

Bingo. The author set up a narrative that only makes sense for a narrow subgroup of character types, but then (by virtue of making it available for organized play) declares that it's fine for any old character. And in this case, the type of activity that the PCs are invited into (willfully endangering countless innocents for your own profit) is normally sufficient to get an NPC marked as evil and killed by the PCs, but instead we're forced to just go along with it with no more than a "hey that's mean".

Yeah, sucks donut? :p To be honest I was rooting for the Lord Sage, but with at least 50% of the group more concerned with gold, I shouldn't have expected less.

I do hope that I gave life to the NPCs and presented their cases well though.

Glad to have ya on the team!

No big deal, but I forgot the mention of my downtime days, when I saw my logsheet, I realized it. I had 55 before this session as he played some 2 hour adventures, but it can be crossed off. If it was required that a DM feel out logsheets for us like in pathfinder pfs, instead of giving us the option to fill it out ourselves, D&D conventions would reject for the slightest mistake. Good thing it is not like that.

Oh, yes and the game was fun.

Thanks!