Aubrey's Other Eberron Campaign - The Unbinding (Inactive)

Game Master Aubrey the Malformed

Hold off on recruiting til this encounter is done. Rehil might still get himself killed and I could roll a 'healer'.

Rehil still wants to re-engage the shaman if we can bring everyone to bear. We can't attack piecemeal. We'll need concentrated firepower to bring him down.

We know the shaman's gonna stalk us the rest of the trip if we don't kill him now. He could just fight a low risk war of attrition, and the jungle will be his ally.

And what do we do about the effing fire elemental?

And I'm thinking this lizardfolk party must have had canoes to get ahead of us like that. Unless the shaman could 'tree walk' his ambush squad, but there were an awful lot of them for any kind of teleport-like spell.

And what happens to the bullrushed lizardman?

I agree with Rehil on holding off on recruitment. As much as that may slow things down, I'd rather wait until we know if we're all gonna survive first.

and yah, if at all possible, it should be a priority to take out the shaman ... which will hopefully help us deal with the elemental, in turn.

Agreed. I'm holding off on doing complete stats for Vaard until I know Vaard isn't going to be killed in the next round or two:)

Vaard's in no shape to get hisself killed doin' sumptin' stoopid.

I think you can start statting.

I had 4,115 xp on my sheet as we were walking into this fight. Is that correct? If so, that puts us at..

total XP: 4115 + 1200 = 5315, shy of hitting level 4 (6,000xp).

Can I get someone in the group to verify these numbers (as I suck at XP tracking)?

Your numbers agree with Rehil. I thought you were closer than that. Ah well...

You want more lizardmen?

Lol ... uh ... can we get a breather first?

Now the encounter is over, do you want me to advertise for a healer?

I guess. I think I 've got a little post-combat letdown. Not feeling much.

Snap out of it!

What do the rest of you feel? Carry on as you are or recruit?

Start the recruitment. It should take a while to find someone suitable. We are asking someone to join on already going game and with limited character options. That will mean it will drop some canditates from the get go. Hopefully a suitable time for another character to be introduced will not take much longer than the recruitment

Definitely need an in-game rest

Yep let's get the recruitment search started.

Yes, start the recruitment.

Vaard's looking pretty sweet. Aubrey's original equipment list for him included javelins and a CLW potion. I think he had lost 2 of the javelins. Can't remember him using the potion.

Had Portforged used his repair potions?

****

Awesome Healer, I choose YOU!

Hey, old Vaard didn't speak Common. Rehil doesn't speak lizardfolk. I'm willing to work with the RP awkwardness. What's the consensus?

They speak Draconic, right? Cole's been learning it from them. Nalverren also has it on his list.

Secondarily hving had Vaard (who has spoken a total of three or four sentences during our time together) could have known it all along and simply not thought it important enough to talk to us directly. That's kind of a funny little schtick.

To be fair Vard has been for days now immerced in almost completely common speaking group, while some do speak draconic(Wultram, Nalvarren and the late PF I think) most of the talks have happened in common so not that unbelivable he could have catched the language especially if he had some prior exposure to it.

And yes Vaard is looking pretty sweet addition indeed.

On the situation yeah I would say rest takes priority. Getting canoes might be wise and acceptable risk. But anything beyond that would just be asking for trouble.

Had Portforged used his repair potions?

137ben, did PF have remaining Repair Potions on him? Those could become really, really important.

Yes, he had two oils of repair light damage.

:: steeples fingers ::

Eeeeeeeexcellent!

And agreed on Vaard ... he's gonna be a freaking shield-wall all on his own!

+1 for Dreaming Warforged, they are in a Zeitgeist game with me as a fellow player.

For languages, Aubrey said he had two racial hit-dice, and I assumed that meant he was a Bestiary 1 lizardfolk. So, Draconic, plus one bonus language from intelligence. I thought common would be the easiest going forwards (since then he can easily communicate with the rest of the group), but it does raise the question of why he wasn't talking to the other PCs earlier.
Perhaps he was just cautious about speaking to them, since they are outsiders like any other elves and humans. Now that he's seen that they are risking their lives as much as he is (what with PF dying and Wultram almost dying), he could open up a bit more to the other PCs.

Also, another +1 for Dreaming Warforged. He's in my Sarlona campaign and has been great. I haven't played with any of the other people who have expressed interest in the recruitment thread.

DW is ahead but he seems to be suffering from a bit of character creation block given my comments on his proposal, though I'll work it through with him and see where we get to. But he's got a good concept and he's been very quick off the mark, so he's the current front-runner.

I'm just going to look Vaard over now, but on the languages side Common is good. Maybe he's picked it up like Cole has picked up Draconic. Maybe he's not chatty like Ashshar. Or maybe I just never wrote down all those witty bon mots he was making on the journey up.

DW is cool. I play with him in another game.

All right. Wultram's back. Nalverren comes in huge with the heal checks. Cole rocks the 'forged turn of speech. Life is good.

The sky darkens as the red dragon flies overhead.

Had a look at Vaard now. Some comments:

- there's obviously a few bits and pieces missing, like AC, saving throws, CMB and CMD, and so on
- Vaard's base attack is +2, not +3 (humanoids follow the medium progression)
- on his skills, he has some hefty bonuses to Acrobatics and Swim, which you might wish to incorporate in his skills section
- I notice you dropped Multiattack and have gone with Buckler Bash. In fact, none of his natural attacks are mentioned. Multiattack lets you go with the bite with a -2 penaly instead of a -5 penalty in a full round attack, and as an extra attack might come in useful, so you might consider keeping it.
- Also, Vaard doesn't actually possess a buckler, he has a heavy wooden shield. I found you equipment section quite remarkable - full plate, longsword, buckler - but I assumed that was aspirational. You can rebuild Vaard as you wish, that doesn't apply to his gear, I'm afraid. First off, the lizardfolk are basically Stone Age and don't have access to most of this stuff. Second, your fellow PCs are poverty-stricken and don't have access to it either.
- On this basis, as you have no buckler to bash people with, you might wish to reconsider that feat and maybe replace it with Multiattack, which is sort of lizardfolk basic combat training (they all have it).

Note that the campaign won't stay in the jungle forever, so Vaard will get to clank around in his heavy armour, buckler and sword. Just not yet.

You can rebuild Vaard as you wish, that doesn't apply to his gear,

Ah! That was the key miscommunication between us. In that case, I will re-rebuild Vaard to conform with his previous equipment. I should get to it later today.

No probs. Like I say, you will get the opportunity to upgrade eventually.

All right. Wultram's back. Nalverren comes in huge with the heal checks. Cole rocks the 'forged turn of speech. Life is good.

Agreed! And I appreciate the crap out of the fact that I get props for simply staying in character. ;P

Looks like we have a Dreaming Warforged character incoming. I'm looking forward to the addition. :)

Hello All,

I'm really happy to join the group. Otto is a support cleric. He'll do his best to make all of you look better!

God knows, they need it!

Hey it is you that is throwing CR 9+ encounters at 3rd level party :p

Also Welcome aboard Otto/DW.

Agreed, DW ... welcome aboard. Excited to get Otto rolling in-game.

Vaard, you're welcome to see if any of Cole's gear would be a good upgrade for Vaard, but it looks like I don't necessarily have anything for him (considering Vaard's sporting a few masterwork items).

I guess we'll just have to look to get him some heavy armor asap ... where do you think this Finback champion got her turtle shells? :D

No rush:

-I have two languages I can choose. Suggestions?

-My third feat is Selective Channelling for now, but the evangelist is a poor channeller, so I'm on the fence. Thoughts?

Draconic would help.

Cole, groovy idea. Let's work on it.

Ok, and Celestial. Sold!

On selective channeling, I would say it is not really worth it. The loss of some dice on evangelist really makes it pretty last ditch resort in combat and selective is no use out of combat.

Some suggestions:(I figured if you are on the fence you might be thinking what other is out there if not just ignore the rest.)

Extend Spell: It might be a bit early for this but Cleric list is full of good buff spells.
Power attack: You seem to wielding a two hander so it is not a bad choice.
Spell focus(Conjuration): Because evangelist you might be interested in summoning? THis is needed for augmented summoning and superior summoning.
Sacred summons: Same reason as above just no prequisites.
Craft wonderous items: If crafting is something that holds any interest to you that in my opinion is the best feat to have of the bunch.
Combat casting: This is somewhat iffy but if you intend to spend a lot of time in melee it might be worth it just to be 100% sure you can make that check.

I agree with Wultram on the Selective Channeling feat ... especially since Cole (only gets half-benefit) and Wultram (heals from negative energy) complicate your use of Channeling in general.

Cole, groovy idea. Let's work on it.

Good deal. I'll be putting thought towards it.

As it relates to the curent scene, any suggestions on what specifically Cole could be pulling from PF? Some kind of crystal that Cole doesn't realize is tied to his psionic powers?

One more thing, Otto - we aren't playing with traits.

Here is an updated Vaard. The humanoid subtype doesn't specify which saving throw has the good progression, but from the lizardfolk statblock it appears to have good fortitude and low reflex and will, so that is what I used.
The issue is he is going to have a low will save until the save-boosting warlord class features start showing up, and a less than stellar AC until we find some armor and/or level up.

I still need to make HP rolls, so:
2nd humanoid HD: 1d8 ⇒ 2
1st Warlord level: 1d10 ⇒ 6

Shouldn't you be rocking like a 19 AC with just the shield? That +5 natural armor is pretty killer at low levels. When we find some heavy armor for you ... you'll be one tough nut to crack.

Yea, I should be, I just forgot about the natural armor. I knew I was missing something:)

Final comments on Vaard:

- he has a +4 racial bonus to Acrobatics
- he also has a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks due to his Swim speed of 15, and can always take 10 on Swim chacks
- his morningstar (which is masterwork) attack isn't in his sheet
- your javelin attack bonus is +4, I believe, not +1

Also, don't forget the house rule on rolling hit points. If you roll less than half the maximum on a hit die (like your 2 on the d8 for one of your racial levels) you instead get half the maximum (4, in this instance). So Vaard gets a couple of extra hit points.