Vengeance of the Downtrodden (Inactive)

Game Master DM Mooshybooshy, "the Foolish"

hey DM, all this talk of dying had me considering what character I would make if I bit the big one, you had said that the Mage is a more fun version of the Wizard, where do I find that class? I am curious

Here you go the intro kicks D&D buttocks! Arcane Classes

I personally like the Artificer

Here you go the intro kicks D&D buttocks! Arcane Classes

I personally like the Artificer

Why thank you. I do too.

A bit serious, but I'm not sure I was prepared for the tone of this campaign. I'm still eager to stick around but here comes probably a bit of a tangent/rant.

I haven't been feeling like the GM is truly a fan of my character, so far I've been rapid firing 3 campaigns of DW with no prior RP experience in order to get an idea of the game. My very first session ever I played the GM and I'm in another PbP. I've joined this campaign and have had 3 partial successes, 2 of which have predetermined consequences, the final one being a partial success on an aid. Now I understand that the GM is to make moves, but at this point I am at the brink of death (Arman's wife is clearly in a state of bloodlust and I've been labeled the only one allowed to be killed) so I'm pulling out all the stops. If there's anything anyone wants from me please ask me, I will learn quick so you shouldn't need to ask much.

I have to say I misread certain situations as well, thinking Arman's wife left the tent when she was called out by Arman, so I thought I had an opening. That's my bad, I didn't read it through proper. I'm also a bit of a dumb rules-lawyer sometimes, but most of that is from wanting to learn and understand the rules rather than thinking we should always follow them directly.

I'm not asking for a free pass or anything, but I'm not quite happy being the only one in danger right now, as I don't feel it's quite warranted.

If I'm seeing this wrong do let me know, as I've said I'm fairly new. Heck even if my character does end up dying I'd gladly draft a new one (though I really wanted to play a Channeler, maybe different element is enough?) and I'll stick around unless the group feels I'm sticking out like a sore thumb.

This was my rant, it's late at night over here so I'll probably see the consequences in the morning, thanks for reading at least.

TL;DR I like the group, I like the characters, I know I'm not supposed to like the circumstances I'm in but I just feel it's a bit disproportionate.

I had my eye on this Class Warfare combo.

MY feeling for DW has often been that character death is actually built in to the mechanic, and that's why PCs are both weak and easy to make, and that's probably also why the GM is allowing us to talk our way to 4th level. =)

I feel really bad, but I really think Sees-Death's first instinct when she encounters something new is to immediately gauge it's plance in the "to bone" / "not to bone" spectrum. There's something very primal about gene pool management.

Your character isn't in any actual danger. You may get knocked out but you certainly won't be re-rolling. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I've played in two games with Moosh and he is definitely a fan of the characters.

I feel really bad, but I really think Sees-Death's first instinct when she encounters something new is to immediately gauge it's plance in the "to bone" / "not to bone" spectrum. There's something very primal about gene pool management.

If you can't free kobolds, you might as well make kobolds.

I'm curious though... Have we encountered anything that ended up in the not-to-bone category?

I'll have you know, Dufus and Sees have a beautiful platonic relationship. Also, it's less "two, distinct categories", and more "two ends of an exceedingly granular sliding scale". She would never absolutely confirm, nor deny the potential of progeny.

Throw on the bowler cap, set it to "Orc maiden," and get us a half-Orc army already!

Thunk, this link has the Mage.

I have been wondering how she feels about being the last female of Moontower and how high a priority she would put on repopulating.
I guess her heightened maternal instincts are understandable after being pressed into service as a nanny to the dragon.
But, man, how much more challenging would/will it be if/when there is a brood of little hatchling kobolds to care for?

Do Orcs speak their own language? If so then there's my last language option, now that elementals have been defined as spirits and as such they can speak a wide range of languages.
If not then I'll run with Daemonic instead.

Oadir, I first want to say that I'm definitely a fan of your character. No question about that. If I challenge you, it's because I like seeing characters overcome incredible odds. I also tried to warn you about spellcasting when Arman's wife is right there... I think I telegraphed pretty clearly what her response might be.

It may feel as if I'm trying to persecute you.

That's because I am.

Arman's wife is a human. That means, in this world, she's the upperclass as far as races go. Humans, dragonborn, elves, dwarves, even halflings...the "good races"...they're all sitting on top. Who are they sitting on? Everyone else. Duergar. Goblins. Tieflings. Vanara. Ettercaps. Kobolds. They're all scum, according to these so-called "good races." So yeah, she's going to be hostile to you. Not only are you an inferior race, you're a defiant one, that's trying to escape a cage when she's literally in the middle of beating you. What cheek! Of course she's going to get furious. But I want you to know, player to player, that it's not ME being furious with you, it's the NPC. I'm on your side, she isn't. It's a distinction I hope you can keep in mind, because it's only going to get worse from here on in. She's probably the least threatening thing I'm going to throw at you. :)

I saw in your most recent post that you're playing possum - very wise. I won't kill you before you even have a chance to escape your cage, unless you're VERY foolish and I basically have no choice. By playing along, you're giving me the narrative space to save your character; well done. :)

I do hope you stick around, and that you understand that I'm truly a fan of yours.

As I said already even if I do get killed I'm just going to make another character. The only way you're getting rid of me now is by asking me nicely

That's why she's been checking the moon phases and spending her nights alone rocking back and forth. Like many evil races, Kobolds seem to procreate like roaches. Frequent ovulation, large clutches, short gestation.

...I know I can just put it in here, but I really wish I had a good moment in gameplay to write up a (hopefully) decent story. Admittedly, not sure whether I can write something good up in the first place, but I'll have to see about that later while I'm not attempting to catch a lock. I'm kinda curious to know what people'd be interested to hear about from Greas's misadventures. Might give me some inspiration, at least!

EDIT: ...what? MiniGM, you confuse me.

I think he and Thunk will be besties

Sees-Death we seemed to have succeeded and advanced a Front, GM is that good?

Btw, was my recent backstory worth a level or am I going to have to do better than that?

Fronts are, in brief, the GM's outline and detailing of the things we don't want to happen and the agents acting against us , directly or not, that cause them. If they get advanced through their stages enough, something really bad happens for us, and many others.

So, no. Not good.

Oh, yeah, there's very little missing or failing in DW. When we roll below a 10, GMooshy can decide the only setback for us is to just make things tougher in the background. Fronts are impending disasters with grim portens that act as a ticking clock.

It make being a healer or buffer like being the worst kind of time wizard.

Edit: Oh, oh, oh. Everyone keep in mind that discern realities, defend, and spout lore, and parley are low-risk moves. Even on a 7-9 you benefit with little or no repercussions, unlike hack and slash, which damages you.

Oadir: You gain a level.

I'd like to take the Teleport Technique tag (could've been useful before...)

Is there anything Krish can do involving the shadow elemental?

I've defined it such that you (and pretty much only you) can speak with it. You can plead with it, for once not talking to thin air ;)

Go ahead and give it a try. Gives you something to work with whether or not my efforts at being helpful actually meet my intentions.

EDIT:Sees, these are the sorts of ideas I wish I had. Whether or not they work, they seem damn fun to try.
Krish, you have plenty of room to work. There's relatively little pressure on you compared to the rest of us as well. My input? I would love a piece of cage right now. Or at least, soon.

I have to ask, since they were brought up Retzack - what would you think of Krish's totems? The way they work kind of messes with, say, instant reincarnation.

Might try to Parlay with the leverage of not binding them to a totem. It's up to Mooshy to say if the roll triggers, but he's very good about letting whatever you want to try play out.

Oh by the way, Sees, I just saw your query from a long time ago again and realised I hadn't answered the most important part. Oadir's features do include scales (wasn't sure at first but since Retzack has made direct reference to my scales in one of his posts there you have it, it's canon now) so he shouldn't tip the scales on your to-bone meter.

I have to add that while I referred to Tieflings as 'similar to mules' they are actually extremely fertile, they are the main source of weird crosses even, since Tieflings can mate with anything a Daemon can mate with (so anything that sexually reproduces and is humanoid, they've gone so far as to use magic to shrink down or grow for their desires) but the resulting offspring is just as likely to be a second generation Tiefling as it is a whole new crossbreed. I think this would be the best explanation to enrich the fiction.

A good night, a screaming baby, and parents come visiting for Easter tomorrow I may be snowed in for a post. Dang my writing quota (and my liver) are going to suffer these next couple of days!

A writer? What do you write?

I just wanted to say that I love all these characters, old and new. Hegh feels so ... one-dimensional in comparison, with my hallucination gimmick and not much else. I'll keep trying to meet the bar you have all set.

I feel like Hegh has become the rock that we all swirl around in the dark whirlpool that is our collective lives.
A crazy rock no doubt, but none the less solid and trustworthy!
There is way more to Hegh than you have even touched on; keep it up.
Bring on the ICE!!!
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As far as the hallucinations, I am beginning to think that Tanard has an actual psychic link with you and Smoog is thinking about tweaking his psychic voice modulator to try and tap into that, hehe.

Smoog has been our only remotely good-aligned character. The rest of us are either power-mad or just plain mad. That's why we keep trying to kill him.

If you really feel Hegh needs more depth, think in terms of background, goals, instincts, ideals, etc. And figure out an internal conflict, generally this is like an insecurity. Sees is a complete mess of insecurities about feeling entitled to power, but feeling insufficient once she has it, and feeling the pressure of her instinct to repopulate balanced on this weird "I never expected to be part of the breeding pool, let alone the entirety of it." She pushes herself into these expectations, and then runs from them as soon as she has a grip on them. Then there's her nihilism and magic-blindness, which is a much deeper issue more like Hegh's blood madness.

I think most of all it's about leaving a question about your character unanswered, and exploring it in play.

For my part, as DM, I will neither confirm nor deny the existence of a psychic link between Tanard and Hegh. *poker face*

As a writer, I've often romanticized telepathy as this perfect exchange of information (or psychic empathy as a perfect exchange of emotion) but I wonder now if it would have the same issues as language, where the message still gets filtered through the perceptions of the receiver. The possibility creates an interesting middle-ground where Hegh is understanding Tanard through the lens of his subconscious.

Quick question, does gameplay pause over the weekends?

GMooshy generally takes a family day or two for the weekend.

There is an occasional player/player roleplay post but yes it slows way down.

Correct, I only have partial custody of my baby son so I spend all my weekend time with him while I can. In general the rule is 5 action/update posts a week.

A little Tanard of your own huh? Excellent!

I don't have a racial move yet btw, or is it such that I only get the conduit? The book states something along those lines so I'm not entirely sure.

Oh actually upon closer inspection I found just the thing.

Infernal Temptation
When you tempt someone and they act against their nature, alignment, or conscience, take +1 forward.

So am I right to assume that this would be my race move then? Since an Infernal in the Grim World book is basically a Tiefling.
And of that list I would say Oadir has a fierceness to himself and seeks to tempt others. He is familiar with desires and is quick to spot what a person seems to want and whether that's what they truly seek or not.

I guess I do not understand how armor works. I cannot seem to find an explanation on the SRD.

You subtract armor from any damage you take. So say you roll 2d6 damage and roll a 7 (average) and have 2 armor, you take 5 damage.

I'm going to clarify here instead of cluttering up gameplay - Backstab lets you forgo the automatic damage for a roll that gives you more options if you don't fail the roll. That's what I was doing, and it seems to have paid off. But if you're happy to let me just have that extra 1d6 damage regardless of a roll, I'm not complaining.

Also, I'm not trying to be that guy, but...

are captives of a cruel Dwarf taskmaster called Arman the Kind.

It can be somewhat important to keep track of these things - if he was human, there would likely be a noticeable size difference that would make it more difficult to say, stab him in the neck repeatedly. Quick was my intent, but I guess bloodlust got the better of me. Works out in the end though - the mental image was great.

...now that the idea comes to mind, I feel like adding it to Greas's canon that bloodlust fueled sadism isn't so uncommon if someone gets on his nerves enough. It's the sort of thing that could cause complications - therefore, it can help create an interesting narrative. Kind of like how the whole system works.

Whoops.

Think I'll take Monsterous for lvl 2. Just seems the way to go.

For those who don't know, there's a little plus sign in the top right of every post where you can give mad props to that sicknasty jam Retzack just dropped! <airhorn sound>

My little issue before was resolved with the kind and comforting words, also I lived. Dropping to 0 health, would that have killed me or made me pass out in this case?

So yeah no need to worry about that, it was a matter of circumstances in my personal life and my general newbieness that got to me and made me feel mistreated, I see now that that was exactly how I should be feeling, but I should have been projecting on the wife and not Mooshy.

Speaking of the wife...