The Spider God's Bride -

Game Master dain120475

I too think sticking to text is the most viable option, whether on discord or otherwise.

Just a note, I'll be spending most of tomorrow at a work event so I don't know if I'll get to post

Enjoy your work event, Paten. :)

Just a courtesy heads-up: With increased work and family commitments plus a very sick dog who's been hospitalised due to a serious medical setback, my free time for the rest of this week is virtually zero. I won't be able to post until my weekend - possibly my Sunday (your Saturday).

If Tairin is required in the meanwhile, please go ahead and bot her where necessary.

Thanks kindly.

Thank you Ariarh. It was enjoyable but I had much less free time or energy after.

All the best to you.

My apologies for the delay.

I had a computer issue for a bit; I got it fixed and then was sick.

However, I'm back!

Also, I hope everything is alright with your dog and that things are okay with both work and your family.

Take your time to get better and we'll see you soon, Ariarh!

That is rough, Dain. I hope things are improved for you now.

Okay, I was a little confused by the narrative as to who's before us, who is agitated and such, so Dain GM, please apply Tairin's diplomacy to the appropriate person in this heated scenario. Thanks!

I'll post again in my morning. Night!

Dain GM:

Just a point of clarification, please: Did we bring the opiate balls with us to the House of Abu Khafi or are we simply negotiating at this point and then if we reach an agreement we'll come back with the merchandise/drugs?

Dain GM:

Just a point of clarification, please: Did we bring the opiate balls with us to the House of Abu Khafi or are we simply negotiating at this point and then if we reach an agreement we'll come back with the merchandise/drugs?

..

As I understood it, your plan was to first negotiate without the merchandise because - if you had the merchandise with you and the man proved false - he may simply decide to take the goods and kill you outright.

Once you had determined his quality and price was finalized you could then set a place and time to bring the rest of the items back to finalize the deal.

At least, that was what I had assumed you were going to do; if I am mistaken, please let me know if there was another plan in mind.

I understood our plan to be as Dain described just there.

Being off the boards for a few days, I simply wanted to get it straight in my head before rping it out.

Thanks for the clarification.

I created an acct/registered on Discord (I'm SuzannaK). Are we still going ahead with creating a server and joining in? Talar, did you offer to create a server for us?

Link

If you follow the link you should automatically join the server. Once you're in, if you wish, you can change your server-specific nickname so others can easily recognize you from the game.

Thanks! I joined and changed over to Tairin.

It’s good night from me now. :)

One of the many aspects of this campaign that I love is that the players tend to put a lot into their characters, and add to the atmosphere. It's great to see!

Paten: I made a post and you can aid, if you'd like. I really want this sorted/finalised so we can all come together again.

Hey, Yeth-Kolsot and Bjoern, did you want to create an acct and join us on Discord? Dain GM, Talar, Paten and myself are on there. To join the group server, simply follow Talar's link below. :)

Link

If you follow the link you should automatically join the server. Once you're in, if you wish, you can change your server-specific nickname so others can easily recognize you from the game.

Bjoern: I thought we decided to keep the large spider a secret. I mean, if word got back to Yetara about it, we’d have a lot of explaining to do because Tairin deliberately didn’t tell him about the spider when he caught us inside Zheng-Ya’s house. I understand Bjoern wants to get healed for the poison damage, but I think just saying it was a simple spider bite probably is more discreet and you’ll still be able to get some tonic or poultice for it. We just need to watch what we say in town. :)

Bjoern: I thought we decided to keep the large spider a secret. I mean, if word got back to Yetara about it, we’d have a lot of explaining to do because Tairin deliberately didn’t tell him about the spider when he caught us inside Zheng-Ya’s house. I understand Bjoern wants to get healed for the poison damage, but I think just saying it was a simple spider bite probably is more discreet and you’ll still be able to get some tonic or poultice for it. We just need to watch what we say in town. :)

To be honest, I was confused, too.

After all, the cure was being given to Bjeorn without further explanation - the old priest clearly assumed the Bjeorn was exaggerating and the matter would have dropped.

Further, both Bjeorn and the boy are from Tharag Thule - they both know that men of the north don't offer oaths/their word lightly - for Bjeorn to also say that he was giving his word on the matter - the boy will naturally accept that as fact.

I'm not entirely sure at his motivations behind this; and it's certainly not something I had assumed he would insist on doing, especially given what will end up happening, but I guess we'll find out what will happen next based on he or Talar's response...

FYI Dain GM, after 3 days of taking the medicine Talar plans on preparing Diagnose Disease and casting it on himself.

Bjoern is unfortunately a very bad liar and socially utterly inept. There is a reason why he tries to stay close to Tairin so that she can talk for him.

Bjoern is unfortunately a very bad liar and socially utterly inept. There is a reason why he tries to stay close to Tairin so that she can talk for him.

And Tairin will certainly talk for him. ;)

Yeth-Kolsot will reply when he has more info from the GM. I'm going to put that nat 20 to use.

I would like to talk a bit about Taint. I think that the idea is cool, but that it can be too easily applied. Spells that cause damage are functionally no different from the blade of a sword or the point of an arrow. Wielding a sword causes no Taint. So, too I feel, neither should attack spells.

I think Taint should be a possibility from spells that create the undead (or other abominations), curse bloodlines, directly draw upon unclean beings for power, or Tainted artifacts (of course).

While I feel strongly on this issue, I will accept the ruling of the GM.

I don't think it's a question of balance or equality in mechanics. It's about flavor and the setting. That's how the sword and sorcery genre tends to handle magic.

Which if this were a novel, I might find compelling, but in a game your want your mechanics to be evocative but not diminish the play experience. :-) I'm not arguing for there to be no taint -- I want there to be some -- but it should be in service to story and character work not merely a product of combat.

My beloved pup of 11 years passed away today. My family and I are heartbroken. I'll be off the boards for a few days...Please bot Tairin when/where needed. Thank you kindly.

@Tairin, you have my condolences.

That's vey sad. I'm sorry.

Oh man. Wishing you the best.

I'm so sorry; if there is anything we can do to help, please let us know. Meanwhile, take all the time you need to get better.

Which if this were a novel, I might find compelling, but in a game your want your mechanics to be evocative but not diminish the play experience. :-) I'm not arguing for there to be no taint -- I want there to be some -- but it should be in service to story and character work not merely a product of combat.

Hm, so many things to say.

First; power corrupts - absolute power corrupts absolutely, so it certainly makes sense that anyone dabbling with the power of magic will have to endure the challenges of resisting such effects.

However, the resistance is key; in short, you have to make a Willpower Roll, but success negates the Taint Point, so it's challenging, but not a certainty, that you'll receive any Taint Points.

Second, as much of my inspiration comes from Robert E. Howard it is fair to say that he had a clear distinction in his sorcery between "White" and "Black" magic - tolerating "good" wizards who used "White Magic" and the evil ones do not. This leads us to what spells in particular lead to Taint.

As of now I think the basic definition is too generalized. For example; an old problem I (and I think everyone) had with how magic works in most Games is that something like "Mage Hand" is only a Cantrip, yet it can move 5 lbs of pressure. That's not much, but put 5 lbs of pressure on someone's wind pipe and see how powerful that spell is - and that being the case, does that make Mage Hand a Taint thing, or not?

Also, speaking of Black/White magic does that mean that summoning a demon to tidy your room is "white magic" whereas using a fireball to destroy a hoard of jackals possessed by evil spirits is "black magic"?

In those cases context has a lot to do with it.

That being the case I'm going to have to look through the list of magic and try to make my own decision on how to figure out what should work and not work.

Once I have decided I'll put things up for a vote to see what you guys think of my decision, and (more importantly) WHY you think certain things could be "Taintworthy" or not...

For now that won't matter as I have a lot of stuff to do before me and I'll have to wait for later to try that.

Meanwhile, have a good night and I'll talk to you all soon!

I think the taint mechanic is cool and the easiest way to explain is that magic just wasn´t meant to be used. You still can, but it is dangerous.
Like nuklear power. The more you use it, the higher the danger, but also the more you know about it the better you can ward yourself against it.
As the boss said, you need a willpower roll to resist taint, and Will is your good safe. There are also ways to improve the roll.
Maybe magic can be safer to use, with the proper use of rituals and components, to lessen the chance of taint, but that alas does not work in battle, unless prepared.
While I think mage hand is a flawed example, as you can´t use it to put power on the windpipe, it only works on objects and you can´t use it to hurt someone. Nevertheless the point is clear, intention matters.
So I think you just have to be very careful till you get a feel for the magic!

Agree that Taint should be a thing. I like the flavor. I just don't think it should be a routinized thing for spells that do things that weapons can also do. Summon a demon. Taint check. Feast on life energy to maintain your youth. Taint check. Curse somebody. Taint Check. Meddle with Artifacts beyond mortal ken. Taint Check. Create undead monstrosities to punish your enemies. Taint check. I just think if every damaging thing requires a taint check, then Taint gets a bit muddled and not as flavorful in my opinion.

I'm popping in just to add my 2 cents to the discussion on Taint.

I understand what Yeth-Kolsot is saying when it comes to the application of Taint in game. If one is too heavy-handed with it, then it becomes a punishment to aid the party with magic (and magic suddenly becomes mundane and an added chore). Yet, I do understand in this World of Xoth - magic is seen as a fearful and corrupting force and most magicians (though not all) are associated with dark curses, evil gods or unbearable secrets. The sorcerer is particularly seen to be the most affected and considered a villain tainted by cosmic evil.

The taint appears associated with black/curse magic and so far in game that is why Red has been affected by it being she has used hexes left, right and centre. Tairin, on the otherhand, has been spared from Taint with her few bard spells which do not lend themselves to dark forces.

The World of Xoth says that black magic spells such as summoning evil beings, inflicting fear, harm, or pain upon others are affected by Taint. The player's guide say it is up to the GM to put together a list of spells he sees as affected by Taint. I'm assuming then it won't be every "dark" spell as then every sorcerer npc Dain plays in game will thusly/doubly be inflicted as they're of higher level.

Can a sorcerer summon a good being in Xoth? I suppose the very essence of this world means that one cannot as it would then be enslavement of a good creature to perpetrate harm on others and incur a deeper punishment to one's being. To twist or enslave an evil being (via summoning) would in essence elevate the darkness or corruption in the caster/wielder of that magic.

Perhaps then, the taint point system can work on a slower progression when it comes to sorcery or necromancy, so those in game whose magic leans toward the darker arts are not consistently tainted (level 1 dark magic should bring on only mild mental taint effects such as headaches, fatigue, hallucinations and mild paranoia for eg as the character hasn't been performing dark magic all that long or the magic isn't of a level to incur heavy penalties to the caster's psyche). I can see corruption and twisting of character's sanity and self in much higher PC levels if all the magician does is cast dark/curse magic.

So, I'd like to see the list the GM comes up with and then we, as a group, can vote on it.

I'll be back to posting tomorrow - helps to stop me from getting too sad over my pup. Thanks for your kind words, guys. I appreciate them.

Yeth-Kolsot could, though not openly, attest to the dark gods and unbearable secrets thing. :-p

I'm in general agreement that taint is a cool concept that should be kept, but also that it should not be applied to every single spell of note.

Sure, we'll see the list to vote on.

Taint's really not on my priority list right now, though I am considering it.

Instead, I'm more concerned with the lack of Social RP on the boards.

I did what I could to move things forward beyond the dinner given that the party did not want to do RP with the NPC's nor each other, but the lack of social interaction is not really the kind of game I enjoy playing.

Anyway, please toss up your watch shift on the board and I'll do what I can to calculate what, if anything, will happen during the night.

Ah, apologies. I thought that the more charismatically inclined of us (or the host) may strike up a conversation for the rest of us to jump on to. If you would like to go back I'm happy to bring up a topic or two for us to talk about. I was also being a little gunshy because apparently we are somewhat working against our own employer and I didn't want to blow up that relationship.

As for watch, Talar will volunteer for first shift.

That seems a touch unfair to me. It seemed like the party was really engaged with the npcs and each other on their recent trip into town. Things have been a touch quieter over the last couple of days because of recent tragic events. But that is no one's fault anymore than it is your fault that it took you a couple of days to get back to me on the Spider God's Curse when they asked me questions last week.

As for the dinner, Yeth-Kolsot is terrified to draw attention to himself since Yetara is a known associate of the sorcerer who imprisoned and starved him. Bjoern and Talar just caused some awkwardness by being too forthright in conversation. That the dinner was quiet and tense seems -- to me -- to be in keeping with everyone's character.

Can you point to specifics that you would like us to be addressing because I don't understand what the basis of your current concern is?

Can you point to specifics that you would like us to be addressing because I don't understand what the basis of your current concern is?

I guess there aren't any real concerns, after all, we're all here to have a good time.

As for what was done/undone? Well, at the end of the day, there's no right/wrong in Gaming generally (at least in my experience); the actions of our characters lead us to a fun story that I hope we can all enjoy helping to contribute to.

In any case, I'm sorry if my response came across a bit harsh; that said, please feel free to continue to RP in a way that is consistent with your character and I hope everyone will enjoy what is coming next.

As for watch, Talar will volunteer for first shift.

I hope you don't mind, Talar, but Tairin is reluctant to put a new member on first duty and that's her usual watch shift in game anyway. She's elected you take second watch. ;)

That seems a touch unfair to me. It seemed like the party was really engaged with the npcs and each other on their recent trip into town. Things have been a touch quieter over the last couple of days because of recent tragic events. But that is no one's fault anymore than it is your fault that it took you a couple of days to get back to me on the Spider God's Curse when they asked me questions last week.

I concur. :)

Dain GM: I think we should be given 24 hours from the GM's post to make our responses/posts. And, being Tairin is the party's face/main spoke-person, it was hard to do rp when I, her player, was off the boards dealing with RL issues. I'm still not feeling the best in regard to my recent loss, yet I will try to post. All I ask is for some patience for players to get a chance to read the GM's post and then respond. Less stress for everyone and more of a chance to engage and enjoy the rp. Thanks kindly.

Talar has no problem taking second watch. I just like to volunteer quickly to help expedite things :)

I've been especially occupied today. I'll try to post soon.

I wanted to paint the picture of the hint of Yeth-Kolsot's Sinister Presence (TM). I hope you guys like it.

Great narrative in regard to the Sinister Presence. :) Tairin, as leader of the group, has some concerns regarding Yeth's manner toward the party ... ;)

Fair, but Tairin should also consider that this is a pretty mild response in response to someone pulling a sword on him. Indeed, he hasn't cast a spell or said he would harm Samir.

And as leader whereupon a new person to the party hasn’t shown any gratitude and has ranted at best or been completely silent/internalised - it’s a pretty fair response from Tairin. :) Samir is a known, trusted entity. The same can’t be said of Yeth-Kolsot at this stage.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

I think all of this is interesting spice for the story. Especially, since it is a good showcase for how I'm trying to present Yeth-Kolsot's psyche and its response to stimuli. How Tairin internalizes this is entirely up to her.