Treasurefox's Rise of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master TreasureFox

Oh, I'm not sick. My buddy who I hang out with a lot's parents came down with it. And he was around them. He thinks he's in the clear actually but I just wanted to give you the heads up.

I watched some of it. My daughter fell in love with it and tore through it all I believe.

Well if you've seen the right episodes a necromancer, probably a summoner using specific spells would be horrifying. I mean, all the standard game mechanics turn into the metaphysics of the world. XP penalties become lost memories, stuff like that. Just think what would happen if you used such powers near villages

So I'm scouting this place out as we move so I can heist that ship before we leave town. I was thinking maybe instead of taking up everybody's time role-playing it you could just set me what rolls I need.

We can do that. When do you want to do this heist, as time will dictate the rolls and DCs.

I was planning on tonight.

Furnok can stop his worrying, Janis's passing fancy has passed. Especially since he never identified it as magic.

Hey, Fox. You've run for us for years. I've got a game I'm about to start in an original setting. Interested in being a player?

Anybody else interested?

I have plenty at the moment sir, but thank you for the interest check. :)

Thank you for the invitation sir.... I'm at max capacity currently... Good luck with your game

I really appreciate the offer, Janis, but I'm also at maximum capacity. I actually just got slightly in over my head, as I thought one of the games I'm playing in was going to wrap up, so I jumped into a new one, only to learn that the old one still has two more books to go through.

What sort of game?

Somewhat depends on the players. I'm putting plenty of stuff in there, you could go court intrigue, join the war effort, free the slaves, overthrow the king because reasons.

The setting is an early one. There's not tons of magical items that have been made in the past, steel is a recent introduction and so are any classes that depend on spellbooks. Nonstandard starting races.

THe kingdom is turning into a military dictatorship, sorcerers are hated throughout the kingdom and arrested quite frequently when found. I'm making a form of the warforged that aren't made for any particular reason so they're stripped down a bit since they're not weapons.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to mention my gratitude for your support on Ko-Fi. Between the two games I run here, I've received $36CAD in donations. I joke about this supporting my coffee addiction (which is true), but what's more meaningful to me is the relief I feel. I judge myself harshly for what I can and cannot do, and here is clear proof that there are people out there who value who I am and what I do. My passion has meaning to other people. What an incredible gift.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I would absolutely be sending you some cash but I got nothing but literal dollar bills to my name. Glad you're feeling the love though.

No worries, Janis. I 100% understand. You've been very kind to me, and I appreciate it all the same.

....did I just accidentally hit on her or am I missing a particularly vile double entendre that I accidentally made.

Oh, should mention, my covid scare is over. My friend I'd have contracted it from tested negative. Yay.

Yay!!!

I had her take that as shamelessly hitting on her, but bringing up your relationship with Saila did not help. I think I made it obvious enough that Janis was on thin ice, and he broke it.

I'm glad your scare is over and you're safe.

Hmm. I don't feel like an invitation required a diplomacy elk but okay.

I went for a diplomacy check because you were asking for her help, and she's a very valuable asset to the challenge. The DC was low, however, because she's friendly and giving complicated aid, but nothing that would result in punishment.

---------------------------------------------

What day is it now? Also is Sandpoint on the way to Turtleback Ferry?

Today is the 4th (Oathday). Slightly afternoon.

While we're on this topic, I do want to ask you guys something. In the book as written, a friendly NPC who was present in book 1 joins the group. They're roughly 4th level due to suboptimal build and multiclass. They have some ties to the plot, but nothing significant. I want to ask if you would like that kind of help. I would need to adjust encounters accordingly, and the NPC would very much be a DMPC (Dungeon Master Player Character). I suspect the reason why the authors wrote this character in is to allow the DM to communicate through an NPC while everyone is alone in the wilderness for roughly the rest of the game. I'm pretty indifferent about it, so I want to ask your opinion.

Slightly different topic: Downtime
You're officially on downtime. The downtime lasts until you guys decide to pack up and journey to Turtleback. Here are my non-exclusive suggestions for things you might want to do:
- Forget downtime and race at full speed to turtleback, including forced marches and travelling at night
- Seek out Oziharad and claim his magical items at significant discounts (depending on how quickly you find him)
- Attend the court case
- Craft items
- Work a day job
- Go on a minor adventure (gives loot if you succeed, but failure may result in negative effects, and there's a tiny chance of death)
- Go carousing (gambling, visiting brothels, partying, etc)
- Shop (Magnimar still has a ton of magic items at its disposal)
- Acts of charity
- A quick note: Doing things to increase your reputation isn't bad, but it won't contribute to the adventure. I do not expect us to ever see Magnimar again.

My question on the path to turtletown had to do with her promises to take the logger back with her when she goes, more than plotting a course. She'll ask around though as she does the same for Oziharad. Other than that she will spend all her time partying, she's turning over a new life as a party halfling. Just kidding :)

The choice is obvious for Wabbit .....operation find hidden magic emporium

I'm fine with skipping the NPC

I don't mind one way or the other. Discovery without handholding can be fun... however sometimes hand holding is necessary when we're completely dumb

Oh WTF. I was annoyed because it looked like you skipped me but my post got ate!

Andraste, I think you might be better off looking for the wizard making said scrolls. There's rules about the price of scribing from other wizards spellbooks.

So, travel, I was thinking depending on how we go about it, getting a custom wagon made with some built in weapons for us to to man, or a work desk which andraste could use to whip up some scrolls of her own.

Cleo still has a wagon btw. She'll need to sell it if we don't use it. River travel would be Cleo's first choice, but will reserve voting until after we find this lovely magic portal shop.

We need to upgrade the wagon. Give it enchanted wood, reinforced wheels(with shock absorbers), hidden magic compartments, pop up repeatinf crossbows and have it be able to operate horseless and eventually fly by folding the wheels out like the Deloren in Back to the Future.

It is pulled by a very sweet hefty draft horse that almost got eaten by a giant, isn't that enough for any wagon.

Hey guys, I'll be with you soon. I'm having a rough day today and my posting might have to wait till tomorrow. Thanks

take all the time you need. Hope your day gets better.

Hope things start going your way.

We need to upgrade the wagon. Give it enchanted wood, reinforced wheels(with shock absorbers), hidden magic compartments, pop up repeatinf crossbows and have it be able to operate horseless and eventually fly by folding the wheels out like the Deloren in Back to the Future.

I am totally behind this, Let we could commission one of my family's shipyards to build us an airship

Oh my. I was joking but we could conceivably do it

Thanks for the wellwishes. I'm doing better today. It was shall we call it a 'mental health day'. I was hoping today was going to feel cathartic and I'd just ease through my day, but that was not the case. Still feeling worn out, but my head is in a better place.

If I remember correctly, Cleo has a light wagon and a draft horse, yes?
Depending on time, you could spend a little money to upgrade the wagon. I don't see why not. I don't think it'll be able to be brought on a river boat, however. Just so you know, I consider that light wagon to be able to carry 8 medium humanoids and their backpacks at a maximum (and they'd be squished in there pretty tight). It's not a giant mobile fort.

Scrolls are expensive because you buy the scroll, and then spend additional money to copy it into your spellbook only for the scroll to disappear. However, it lets you copy whenever you want. So you could be in the middle of travel and still copy things into your spellbook.

Using a spellbook is less expensive, but you're limited to a certain amount of time and usually place as well. I require a diplomacy check to get access first, and depending on the result of that check, I determine the price. The site recommends half the cost to write the spell, and I'd stay roughly within those lines. Different wizards will have different spells available, so you'll either have to name a wizard or wizardly organization to talk to, or gather some information to figure out who's around and what spells they might have.

Commissioning an airship is not in the purview of this game. Even if you get the income necessary, I do not think you'd get the time to build one. If you're interested in full-party flight travel, you may prefer some of the conjurations spells for wizards. At higher caster levels, some of the mounts and vehicles gain the ability to fly.
You may also just like teleportation.

Like I said, I WAS joking initially. I'm just saying that between all of us and that reward, we could conceivably pay for one. Not that we should or you'd allow it.

And yes, the wizard option is more dependant, but.... no reason Andraste couldn't do both.

Or engage Janis's services.

I think you missed my info search check Fox.

Oh shoot, I did, and I forgot Wabbit too. Sorry guys. Thank you for the reminder

No prob Bob

I feel like I wouldn't have come off as rude with a 19 but a fail is still a fail.

It won't affect your reputation, and I think there are people in the world who can be offended by something you say/do regardless of how kind or compassionate you try to be. I saw an opportunity to answer two player's actions in a single post, and I took it, albeit making Janis take the fall.

Side note: What do you want to do about Lilia? Are you still interested in having her travel with you?

I'm on the fence about inviting Saila instead with an eye on making her the law in turtle back.

You're welcome to ask her, or stick with Lilia. I do try to keep PC harems a bit low though ;P
I'm only teasing

And now I want a leadership fueled harem.

Wabbit, dude, was that a guardians of the flame reference? I loved that first book. Gotta make time for the others

Good catch Janis. I read the whole series 20+ years ago. Still remember them freeing the dragon from the sewers.

I haven't heard of this book series. What's it about?

The Gull is something written in the gazetteer of Magnimar. Depending on choices regarding how far you'd want to pursue it, it's somewhere between a dungeon and a book. It doesn't have anything to do with Rise of the Runelords.

There are some ways we could go about it:
- Wabbit leaves the party (and is replaced with a new PC of WabbitHuntr). After a certain point in book 3 is complete, Wabbit may return (and the new PC would then leave).
- The entire party goes through The Gull, leaving book 3 to wait (time would still progress)
- I run two games. One is book 3, and the other would be the Gull. Current PCs would choose which adventure they would prefer to pursue, and after the Gull is complete, they get to choose whether or not they return to book 3. Players who do this would also be playing in book 3 with new characters, the same way as detailed in my first bullet point here. I would prefer if it were a sizable amount of you (3ish), and I fill in a gap with a DMPC, but for the Gull I'd consider opening it up for recruitment.

Questions, comments, feedback?

Bunch of college roleplayers get turned into their characters by their professor. He wanted them to get something, forget what. They have all the abilities of their characters for the most part, the wizard tries out a spell blowing up supplies the professor set up for them. Good book.

So, the riddle sounds like a red light district to me. bright spots surrounded by much and filth, tender touch and all that. maybe a tiefling brothel given the emphasis on Chelish where there's a lot of demon worshippers.

Cleo would not in any way turn away from orphans in need. Ever. Not for a second. If Wabbit tells her about the Gull, we have to do it.