Red Hand of Doom [E6] (Inactive)

Game Master Aldizog

Well then, I guess I am glad YOU are not the DM.

I'm glad I'm not the DM too! It's a lot more work!

That said, I wouldn't limit materials online without specifying in advanced(like I have done so in the one game I run). It's easier to talk that stuff out on the fly in person than it is in this format.

All -- I have changed the link for "Map of the Witchwood" to the Google Slides document that I intend to use for the game.
I'll change the name of the link at some point, since I'm planning to upload combat maps to this document.
Can you make sure you all can access and modify the document?

Looks good on my end!

I'm good.

No snark meant...was just a joke that I was lucky Seltazer was not the DM...did not mean it in a nasty way...knew I should have thrown up a smiley..lol

No snark meant...was just a joke that I was lucky Seltazer was not the DM...did not mean it in a nasty way...knew I should have thrown up a smiley..lol

I didn't take any offense at all! I assumed you meant it in a light-hearted way.

I'll get you in soon Seltazar, but this locale seemed right to introduce the druid.

No worries. Seltazar has plenty of time :)

I'll let the party chat in-character for another day, then move things along tomorrow night.

Don't mind me. I'm just over here at *insert locale* healing the innocent like a 'good' person... probably.

Where do you want us to head to bring in our final friend?
I don't mind railroading so we can all get introduced and together.

I'm also flexible about where to be. Just put some wounded somewhere and Seltazar has a reason to go there. He's also not in a hurry at all, so getting sidetracked somewhere for a lesser reason is possible as well.

Perhaps he met a certain kitsune paladin on her travels, and she told him of the imminent hobgoblin assault on Drellin's Ferry. Where there would no doubt be many wounded soon enough.
So I imagine he would have headed to the town and met Captain Soranna...

Just a brief introduction here in case it helps her introduce him later in the gameplay thread. This doesn't have to actually have happened, specifically.

The tall, somber elf stoops slowly, carefully under the doorjamb and enters the captain's office. With the air of one who normally would not give her directions to the market if she asked him in the street, Seltazar spends a long moment examining the captain. When she asks him his business, his quiet voice is pitched higher than expected and his response is somewhat slow and stilted, as though he regrets each word after he speaks it.

"I hear that you have some trouble with goblins. I'm ah..." His nose wrinkles in distaste as he continues. "...here to help."

Remove disease needs a caster level check and lesser restoration needs a d4. Do you guys usually have the GM roll that stuff?

I'll get to that.

XP!

New total: 13,916
Level 6: 15,000 -- 1,084 needed.

Giant Wasps: 600 XP each

I'm splitting the XP awards for those events four ways, but Thom and Seltazar will also be at the same point to make things easier. So, starting the game near-Epic. Craziness, I know.

There is still improvement beyond this, of course, even though HD don't progress. When it comes time for Epic and Signature feats (at 20,000 XP) we can start with the ones in the P6 Codex and expand from there.

Should I level to 6 right now? Just making sure.

Edit: And if so, is there a reason I might want to take Fly instead of Dispel Magic? The druid could cast dispel magic but not fly.

Yes, level to 6 now.
Dispel Magic and Fly are both great spells considering what you are up against.
Dispel is actually 4th level for druids, not 3rd.
There might be casters in Brindol who can make potions of Fly, or feats that would let Seltazar eventually get both spells.
Your call.

I forgot that about druids.

I'll take Dispel Magic now. Seltazar can fly himself already. Fly is on my radar for the future, though.

I have Haste from my patron now as well.

Bran will dedicate himself fully to Kurgess and become a Darechaser.
Unfortunately we have to wait until next HD to grab the pièce de résistance, Greater Grapple.

I'll update the sheet and add some stuff to the thread in a bit, just finishing some work.

Updates:
Level Up Darechaser
+1 BAB
+1 Fort, Reflex
Skills: +1 Climb, Swim, Acrobatics, Perception, Bluff, Handle Animal
Abilities: Adrenaline Rush, Dare

Bah! 1 Hour passed.
If you don't want Bran to introduce you, feel free to butt in.
Just felt like it would be something he would do now.

My level up is complete.

I left my gold at WBL for level 5. It doesn't seem like the party is too far ahead of that, if at all.

hi guys, still around, lots of holiday stuff going on. hope to post later tonight though. I am sorry is I caused any delays or problems

Understood about the holidays. I will be very busy the next few days as well.

@Seltazar: Yes, good point on the WBL. Fine with the reflavoring of Cackle.

Did we ever resolve the Dirty Fighting + Strangler Flank bonus when Grappling?

Just wondering what your take on it would be.

Did we ever resolve the Dirty Fighting + Strangler Flank bonus when Grappling?

Just wondering what your take on it would be.

I'll look over it in the next few days. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Busy too. Hope to have level up info posted tomorrow.

I'll get my response up in a couple hours :)

Just to let everyone know, in looking at the submissions, Mikail's player thought Seltazar's creepiness might make a cool counterpoint to Mikail. So that is all in-character wariness.

Even in face-to-face people can get confused about what is character tension and what is player discomfort. So just thought I'd spell that out.
(You may be surprised to know that IRL gamers don't all have great Diplomacy and Sense Motive.)

Seltazar is definitely a bit of a Raistlin type, which can make for a good story, but if anyone is getting bothered for real please do let me know.

Thanks!

Not sure if I'll be able to do a gameplay update today or tomorrow but I will if I can.

Yeah, what he said...lol. Mikail is just playing off his creepiness and general weird feeling she gets from him. Being from the outer planes Mikail finds most people odd, but there is something different about Seltazar...lol

Oh, Seltazar deserves that treatment and worse, so don't worry about offending me there. You could get a lot more aggressive if you want. Seltazar as a character is fairly implacable, so you can probably get away with a lot if you wanted.

I think it's smart to lay things out like that. Definitely let me know if I need to change how I'm role-playing. I tend to dig into characters, so it's definitely possible for me to miss another player's discomfort, and bottom-line, we're all here to have fun. I don't want to get in the way of that.

It takes a lot to offend Bran, short of blaspheming, murdering or enslaving people; so don't worry between you and I at the very least. I love my Raistlin's as much as I love my heroic and simple Caramon's so keep at it. :P

I've never actually read Dragonlance, so any resemblance to fictional characters therein is purely coincidental.

I don't really have a good explanation for why. I own the Death Gate Cycle and have read it through 3 or 4 times, so I'm not a stranger to the authors.

I'm thrilled with Seltazar and his personality. Welcome!

Question--I just learned that Snowball has been nerfed so now it's an evocation spell that allows for spell resistance and does not include a stagger effect. Which makes me sad, although I understand the motivation. What's especially concerning to me is that I can't cast snowball at all, because it's suddenly in a forbidden school for Tal'ariel. Is there any option for keeping Snowball as a spell in the conjuration school, even in its nerfed form?

Level up druid (6)

+13Hp
+1 BAB
+1 Fort, Reflex, Will
Skills: +1 Diplomacy, K(Nature), Perception, +2 Stealth
Abilities:+1 2nd &3rd level spell/day, +1 wildshape/day, Gale Aura 6 rounds/day

Yes, Tal'ariel can cast a conjuration version of Snowball that is identical to the new version.

Even nerfed, it is still basically Reach Shocking Grasp as a first-level spell. And you did see a red dragon flying above the troops at Cinder Hill...

I'm thrilled with Seltazar and his personality. Welcome!

Thanks! I'm having a lot of fun with him already. I look forward to being creepy but annoyingly useful so you want to keep me around. :P

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to whoever partakes!

Thanks Bran! And to you!

I looked up the wording on Strangler and it is unclear. I read several threads, including the one Ierox had started, discussing what it means.
It could be read as saying that the flanking condition is just for the purpose of dealing sneak attack damage. Or it could be read as saying that the flanking bonus applies to the attack rolls to damage or pin.

It's unclear, but go for it. My instinct is that it wasn't originally intended to apply, but also that I don't think it is game-breaking. If it proves to be so, we'll revisit this and Bran can retrain Dirty Fighting if he wants.

I just realized how terrifying Bran is going to be with Fortune+Cackle.

My god this dragon is going to have a bad day. Assuming we can get it down without an easy fly spell.

If I leveled up after finding out flying Bran was how they dealt with the dragon before, I'd have picked it over Dispel Magic for sure. I have other tools against casters.

Well, you don't know that your next or toughest opponent will be a dragon. But yes, Bran would be devastating with Fortune; Ozzyrandion only escaped for a round because Bran rolled a 1 to maintain. On the other hand, his grappling is less effective against groups of weaker enemies, since the ones not grappled can carve him up fairly effectively (as at Vraath Keep).

If the opponents are all strictly limited to E6, there is no Freedom of Movement (though Liberating Command and Slick armor are possible, or maybe a Lesser Freedom of Movement spell). If the enemy is capable of exceeding the E6 limit due to the direct intervention of a major deity, then you might encounter Freedom of Movement (which some NPCs have in the original). Therefore Dispel Magic may also be necessary.

A party that works together to leverage their capabilities is far more potent than six solo heroes who just happen to be fighting the same enemy.

Yo, I'm jealous of your awesome axe can I have it thanks.

My dwarven greataxe! :P

Need to give myself some more options for mobs because as Zelligar said, Bran is really scarily effective 1 on 1, but a lot less effective in groups. Thats usually Tal's job with her Cleave earlier.

If you want to go with your gut I'm not heartbroken over losing Dirty Fighting, but we can keep an eye on it. He turned out a lot more effective than I had originally thought, so I can always dial it down if you like.

Rogue 3 / Wizard 3

+8 HP
+1 Fort
+1 Ref
Skills: Acrobatics, Disable Device x2, Perception, Spellcraft, Stealth
Spells: Glitterdust (learned from the scroll we bought earlier), Protection from Arrows, Protection from Evil (Communal)

Not sure if I'll have time later so, Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Also, I'm just chilling at this point. If anyone wants to interact with Seltazar, I'll respond, otherwise I'm just fine waiting until the next day. He's not really involved yet anyway.

Just in case you were wondering why I haven't posted in awhile.

:)

Errands to run first, but I will get a post up this evening :)

I've been on vacation with the family so have tried to make the time for one big post a day.

Sorry if it is a wall of text.

This is also one of the more improvisational sections of the AP, where a few different things could happen.

Hey all, I'm sick. I really wanted to post tonight but I can't get my brain to work. Seltazar takes a bit more care to write than my other characters.

He doesn't really have a stake in the situation either so that may be part of it.

I'll post tomorrow even if it's brief.

Sorry!