Monty Haul's Storm King's Thunder - 5E

Game Master Steve Geddes

I'll take the liberty of rolling for intiative in the interests of speeding things up if it looks to me that that's the way things are heading. (The unsurprised goblin is certainly reaching for his dogslicer).

Having said that, as a general rule don't feel compelled to leap to the combat solution - if you want to try parley/bullying/bluffing or whatever that's entirely up to you.

Are we going to be using any sort of map? I use google maps for my campaigns and it seems to work just fine.

I would prefer to use theatre-of-the-mind approach (for now at least) - That's partly due to technical incompetence on my part (and just general techno-phobia when it comes to learning how different sites work).

However, this campaign is also characterised by more open, 'big picture' combats. Other than some of the early fights, it's likely to be predominantly outdoors or very open spaces, where precise positioning is less important.

That's fine I suppose.. If you have the file electronically its not hard to make a google map though, copy/paste etc.. I had never used it either and it only took an hour or fiddling with it.

Cheers. I'll have a look into it. I don't have this adventure in electronic form, but I can scan stuff in easily enough. There are certainly one or two places where I think it will help.

Plus a map is clearly superior than half a dozen posts along the lines of "How much space is there between...." etcetera.

From the gameplay thread:

I would have had advantage on my first turn against enemies who have not acted due to Natural Explorer ability. So, it was a wash, anyways with disadvantage for range and advantage for the ability.

Good point. I'm not used to the UA ranger yet. Glad it didn't matter. :)

Righto - that is why I did not roll advantage. Next time I will spell it out clearer until we all get accustomed. It is only on the first turn.

Fingers crossed it's one of those things I only forget once.

I've put together a loot list that anyone can edit.

Loot!

There's not much on there now, obviously, but it might fill up eventually. If you want something from it, just grab it and either note it on the sheet or here in the discussion thread!

Embarrassed to say, I thought that was going to be quite a bit tougher than that. I guess there were a fair number of 19s and 20s... :o

Oh, we will likely get our due. The dice will not always be friendly...

Yea not missing a single attack roll will do that.. I suppose it's a good thing since we have limited healing.. The boards were being generous with those 20's though.. Still seeking my first 3d12 roll though lol.

Embarrassed to say, I thought that was going to be quite a bit tougher than that. I guess there were a fair number of 19s and 20s... :o

I don't mind. I'm a coward at heart. I don't mind having some easy encounters to warm up :)

You've convinced the dice roller to lull us into a false sense of security.

I've put together a loot list that anyone can edit.

Loot!

There's not much on there now, obviously, but it might fill up eventually. If you want something from it, just grab it and either note it on the sheet or here in the discussion thread!

There's now a shortcut to the loot page in the campaign info. Thanks for setting that up, Pik.

Having seen off the goblin threat, you can each advance to second level. Typically, I prefer doing that over a long rest, but the first couple of advancements are at milestones which occur pretty close together.

Well, since our luck has been great, let's go for the rolling hp option:
HP: 1d8 ⇒ 8

Level Two:
Jack of All Trades
Song of Rest (d6)
Spells Known +1 (Bane)
Spell Slots per Level: Level One +1

Character updated!

The greedy side of me wants to roll, but the practical side says 7 is much better than rolling a 1 or 2, so I will boringly take the 7 hps..

Level Two:
Reckless Attack
Danger Sense

For funsies I wanna roll..

1d12 ⇒ 10 Oh well, better safe than sorry..

New level \o/

Hp: +5 hp (+2)
New Feature: Cunning Action. Use a bonus action to Dash, Disengage or Hide.

I'm too chicken to rely on fate again... so HP = 5+3 (8)

SPIRIT SIGHT (2ND LEVEL)
At 2nd level, you gain an uncanny sense of when things nearby aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger. You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and spells. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.

But just for curiosity sake: 1d8 ⇒ 2 HP

I'm willing to let Istus and Desna blow on my dice.

Hits: 1d10 ⇒ 4

edit: wrong dice

Hits: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Here is HP.

HP: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Dorin Leveled. Added Fighting Style (Dueling, +2 to Damage)and Spellcasting Abilities (Hunters Mark and Cure Wounds).

The dice roller isn't always going your way, it seems..

Are we heading out to look for the villagers or do we rest for the night and see what develops?

On another note my posting will be abit spotty the coming days, with probably none friday - sunday as I've got a weekend of RL-gaming to attend to.

I'm happy to rest and see what happens in town. But I don't really mind heading out either. Those villagers may need us now.

Cheers and good luck Silvio with your dice rolling!

Thanks for the heads up, Silvio.

I'm about to move things along a little (I confess to being very uncertain with regards to the pacing of 'social encounters' - I don't know how much to wait for everyone to have a say and how much to keep things going by responding to everyone's posts as they come in. Really happy to hear any constructive criticism in that regard.)

We tend to use three votes to move things along. The DM (or someone asks the question) and when we get three votes we move on. It seems to work out okay in that group. Depends on the players styles too.

Was there ever a map link given out? I thought I saw one but now I can't find it.

I'm up for moving things along as needed. In PbP it's the bane of a successful game to have to wait for the last person to make their "Perception" Check for example.

I'm guilty of this myself, as often I travel, and don't arrive in the hotel until late, so sometimes don't post till late at night or early the next morning, which can slow things down... So I don't have a problem with the GM rolling for the more mundane things.

Im fine with that as well, I think thats sorta what the passive perc is for right?

As far as the map goes im gonna attempt to find a map of the town so i can make us a map for this. If i cant find one for Elbar's Bluff I'll look for somethign similiar.

Ok I found a map of the town, although it is a bit blurry and probably not to scale, so we can get an idea of the layout. Im not sure if its 5' or 10' squares, but if Monty can tell me I can adjust the map. I've added our group, the snakes(rougeish types) with the different one the leader, the town guard with the girl as leader, and Kella(in red). I've also put a score of orcs with two unique's outside for Monty's use.

I will link the map here and its under my profile as well. If Monty wants to put it in the header thats fine too!. Hope this helps.

Elbar's Bluff

Awesome - thanks, Kraz!

Was there ever a map link given out? I thought I saw one but now I can't find it.

I have a hand-drawn map (not with a grid, for what it's worth. I don't generally run with a grid) which is a little different from the one in the module - I've always done that, call it a DM foible. :o

If you can provide idiot-proof instructions, I can upload maps. I won't post copyright stuff, but since I redraw them anyhow I'll have something if it helps.

If u click on the link above u can see the google map i posted.. u can move the avatars erc.. I found the town map online and its for this encounter so..

I will link the map here and its under my profile as well. If Monty wants to put it in the header thats fine too!. Hope this helps.

It should be up in the campaign description now. Thanks.

Hope I wasn't overstepping Monty, it was not my intention, but it is so hard to visualize a large combat and the layout of the town without a map. It was my intention to remedy that, nothing more..

The enemy group I simply piled up outside for you to do with what you wish. Currently we have not seen any enemy so..

Yeah, no worries. I was midway through emailing pik to get him to show me how to upload maps to Elbar's Bluff, so you and I were both pushing in the same direction. As is typical for me - anything technology related and I'm a little slow! :)

There's kind of a continuity glitch (as I say, I have a decade long habit of redrawing every map in modules I run, so the gate is actually to the north of the town, etcetera, etcetera) But it isn't terribly important to the tactical side of things.

Going forward, I'll post maps of tactical areas, although I don't generally use grids with 5E, so if we want to do that, you might need to edit them and teach me how to add icons.

Don't feel at all constrained to make comments, suggestions or take action you think will help. I'm experienced at running games, but not at PBP, so I'm very happy to take advice. I'm confident enough to say no if I don't like some direction. :p

Just working on the 'opening scene' of the battle. I'm afraid my wife has come back earlier from shopping and there might be a few hours delay. I'll do my best to post shortly...

No worries.. With google maps its really just a bunch on copy/paste and resizing. All pretty standard stuff, but I would be happy to help you or explain it the best I can.

Back!

Welcome back, Sylvio. In your absence, I actually placed you at the break in the wall where the bridge has collapsed (largely since you don't have a ranged weapon). At that point there isn't much scope for derring-do with ropes, but also no need as you will be able to go toe-to-toe with the orcs any moment now.

If you'd rather be at the gate, let me know (and maybe move yourself there on Kraz's map - see the campaign description). You could rig up a suitably impressive, though risky contraption to swing down from one tower to the next if you'd prefer.

Err, Silvio. Sorry.

Oh, I should hone my post parsing skills :) The breach at the wall is fine. The swinging derring-do will have to wait. For now....

Can Coronei pick out Gurrash now he is closer and getting all chatty?

Yep - he definitely stands out.

I nearly posted yesterday evening but it would have been out of order a little so I decided to wait.

Good call in this combat, I think. With all the NPCs and two different sites - it could well get confusing (for me anyway!)

I'm hoping I can keep things running more quickly when there aren't so many combatants. Especially allies - I think I would have done better to allocate them to PCs, to act on your turn (still, you live and learn...)

Posting update: This thursday I'll spend the day flying over the Atlantic, so I will probably not post then. Posting might be spotty on friday. Could also be a bit spotty the following week up to the 29th of november, although I think I'll manage to keep up (except for the 27th and 28th of november). I'll be back to normal on the 30th of november.

If Silvio is holding things up in that period, feel free to move things along (ignoring him in social situations and taking the evade action in combat).

Thanks, Silvio. Will do.

Just a heads up of my own - we're away for the weekend (returning I guesstimate on Tuesday afternoon western US time). I'll have plenty of time to post in the interim, but I suspect it's going to be even more in the middle of the night as far as American players are concerned than usual. Apologies if there are some protracted delays in the meantime - I'm still here, just at unusual times of the day.

You can advance to third level - let me know once you've updated everything that needs updating. There's also a +1 greatsword - it would be good to know who's carrying that.