Before we go on, I think I should mention:
1- there may be a bit of hindsight being 20/20 here on my part.
and
2- you're missing what I'm saying.
Here's the thing, I'm not saying that Scram should have known the universe would end if she filched the gem, but that maybe something was up and warranted further investigation or more caution. Why is there a statue with a priceless gem in its eye in the middle of an underground lake with no other signs of treasure nearby? What's going on with the skeletal figure before the altar?
This didn't look like your typical treasure hoard is what I'm getting at, and maybe Scram let her greed get the better of good sense. I think it's great roleplay, but I also don't think Khors is being unreasonable in thinking that maybe the kleptomaniac halfling should have been a bit more suspicious of the priceless gem in the middle of what looks like an abandoned place in the middle of nowhere. Again, maybe this is a hindsight is 20/20 argument, but I think there were signs that something was definitely up with that gem and not all was as it appears. I agree that Scram had no way of knowing that she would start an apocalypse clock by plucking it, but I also think that there were signs that we shouldn't have bene messing with it either.
And honestly, Ras is probably in the same boat as Scram as far as Khors is concerned because she was planning on fighting the guy trapped in the gem.
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I'm just saying, it doesn't make sense for Khors to be upset with Scramsax. It's like blaming someone for an accident. Scram feels Khors, as a god, should be more wise.
Assuming the gods are wise, might be Scram's mistake.
Immortal, yes. Powerful, sure. But not all powerful, otherwise why was one of their archenemies even still around to cause trouble. Arrogant, check. Uncaring, probably, most of the time but every once in a while they'll show some concern just to keep the rabble enthralled. Selfish, pretty much. Clever, maybe. Book smart, depends on what books they decide to study. If they bother reading instead of dabbling in creating creatures like the Flumph. Ready to take accountability for the quite poor decision to leave their archenemy guarded by a single priest armed with a handful of neurotic weapons and who only bothered to trap the single entrance into the ancient prison with a bell on a trip wire, absolutely not. Or for that matter using a big old massive precious gemstone as the prison rather than a plain ordinary river rock which no one would bother looking at twice? This question alone will likely account for two hundred years of exalted debate within the Immortal Halls of Debating Important Things and an entire set of Holy Regulations stipulating that deposed gods should only be imprisoned in plain, unassuming stones or other substances not guaranteed to catch the eye of mortals. And like any good set of regulations there will be numerous loopholes built in just in case any of them end up getting deposed themselves and would prefer a better than zero percent chance of escaping and exacting their revenge upon their immortal kindred.
So clearly this was all the fault of meddling mortals and the utter inability to find decent help these days. After all, a certain substance does roll down hill and there isn't really a steeper incline than from the top of Olympus/Valhalla/Whatever Throne of Immortals down to wandering vagabond adventurers. ;)
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Here's the thing, I'm not saying that Scram should have known the universe would end if she filched the gem, but that maybe something was up and warranted further investigation or more caution. Why is there a statue with a priceless gem in its eye in the middle of an underground lake with no other signs of treasure nearby? What's going on with the skeletal figure before the altar?
You're absolutely right. That's also what I'm saying (or trying to). Scram did think something was massively up. Not as massive as universe ending, but yes. I was ready for Scram to be retired as a character, or get the gem. That was the risk Scram saw.
In my drunken post that silly, silly night, you can read indeed she thought the water's surface, when broken, would act like a spider's web that sounded the alarm for the skeleton. Like a trap. Scram (I) struggled to think of a way to get through the water without being detected. But again, since nat 20 appraisal = priceless...didn't care.
Your argument that a thief shouldn't mess with a trap because it looks dangerous...not agreeing. TWTD (That's what thieves do). Even very smart, very wise thieves.
DM explanation
Haha, alright. :)
On a different note, anyone interested in playing a 2024 rogue over on Myth-weavers? We just lost our rogue player today. It is otherwise shaping up to be a very nice game with some very nice players.
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Fair enough. :)
Funnily enough, I don't think I've played a downright scoundrel of a thief since I played in a Way of the Wicked game aa long, long time ago.
Rats, I should have grabbed a Silence from one of the clerics with the ring (so Gunnar could blast to his hearts delight). I'll make that a standard from now on.
I could still Fog Cloud a Burning Hands, not sure how visible it would be from the outside.
...and yeah, 2024 is pretty interesting in general, rogue not excluded. At a first glance it just seems that 24 is a bunch of new abilities or reshuffled/streamlined stuff. With a bit more experience there are quite a few subtleties coming to light that really show how polished a system 5e has been made.
It goes deep. It goes interesting. Changes are f*ck yeah welcome, for the most part.
My only complaint is that backgrounds are a tad awkward, but I think this will improve with future splats.
Lots of things are exciting about rogue, like I would actually play an Arcane Trickster now for example. Spell school restrictions have been removed so I could actually be the stealthy creative problem solver I want and not some save-or-suck halfcasting enchanter/illusionist dingdong. Thief 24 is amazing...I love it so much that I divorced my wife and (after a chat with Thief subclass' parents) have proposed. Wedding in spring. The class itself has tons of improvements too...like Reliable Talent at 7th!!!!! (OMFG...it should of always been that way)
I was hoping to see it in play but our rogue had some work pickup. Come back to capitalism, old school treasure hunting and get some meta-vengeance on Scramsax by doing weird stuff in the game. ;) I'll drop a bag of beans to tickle your gastrointestinal tract and we can explore ancient pyramids and mysterious fruit...
Jubal is playing a bacon-scented druid, interested to hear his honest thoughts as well of course.
Honestly, I've been looking into more old school systems. Shadowdark, Castles & Crusades, etc. I'm tempted, mainly because y'all are fun to play with, but I'm afraid my dance card is full.
No worries. I like the old school stuff too. Not just the nostalgia (which granted is the main draw for me) but also the minimalism.
It was making baddies for the PF1e game I'm running that pushed me into looking into lighter systems. I'm planning on grabbing Shadowdark at some point, and I recently bought the C&C reforged PDFs.
I haven't explored 24 as much as Mishima but what I've found I've enjoyed. It has incorporated the latest character creating with bonus feats and reined in which feats.
Mishima's game is just running the DMG 24 to explore the new rules. C'mon in the water's warm!
It was making baddies for the PF1e game I'm running that pushed me into looking into lighter systems. I'm planning on grabbing Shadowdark at some point, and I recently bought the C&C reforged PDFs.
I recently tried playing in a Shadowdark game and it didn't really work for me. I was actually surprised given all the buzz about it. I found it to be a poorly written system full of subjective terms like 'reasonable method', 'near distance,' 'might determine,' etc. All stuff almost guaranteed to get argued about at a table.
Then there were a few specifics that really put me off. Like having thieves automatically spot all traps 'as long as they 'search the area' and not even having to roll to disable them seemed pretty lame, and I was playing a thief. Same is kind of true to detect hidden creatures or objects. All a player has to do is say they are looking in the 'right' place and they automatically find anything hidden there. Then the gear/equipment rule was a joke. Basically you can only carry a number of items equal to your STR score. Doesn't matter if the item is a long sword or a single gemstone each take up a gear slot.
It also seemed like those playing spell casters were pretty nerfed. Basically you have to roll to see if you can cast the spell or not. You fail, your done with that spell until you rest.
I think there are some good things in there, but for me the bad really outweighed the good stuff. But that's just my two cents.
I recently supported the Far Away Land kickstarter and got the PDF's not too long ago. So far, that looks like a simple, fun system. Not really OSR because it is completely different from D&D, but looks like it might allow for a lot of PC variety while staying pretty simple and consistent from a rules perspective. Haven't actually played or GM'd it yet though, so hard to know for sure.
As for D&D 2024, I already own DnD Basic, AD&D, 2nd, 3rd, 3.5/PF, and 5E, I just don't need another version. Plus there are so many other games I own and still want to try, that I'm just totally uninterested in D&D 2024. The One Ring 2E, Vaesen, Monster of the Week, the previously mentioned Far Away Land, various Forged in the Dark spinoffs, a ton of DCC stuff, Warhammer Wrath and Glory, City of Mists, the new Coriolis game once it finally delivers, just to name a few of the slightly newer things. Thanks to the blasted bundle sites and kickstarter, I've got more stuff than I'll be able to actually play in a dozen lifetimes and that doesn't even include all the old GURPS, Champions, Traveller, Paranoia, CoC, and MERP/Rolemaster stuff already sitting on shelves or in boxes.
Pretty much the same here as far as games go. I got the Free League bundle that was up not too long ago.
I've read through Shadowdark's quickstart guide and I think it streamlined things to try and make it easier to run and play while making the classes more distinct. It's been popular with a lot of OSR folks from what I've seen. As far as spell casting goes, the flip side of how they handle it is that you can also cast that spell as many times as you want until you do fail a roll. I think that balances out the fact that failing a roll means you can't cast that spell again until your rest. It's also aimed at a different style of play than 5e is, one where magic has more consequences. And, as far as the encumbrance system goes, I think it's actually fairly reasonable. Again, it's aimed a different style of play where resources and decisions on what you take back with you can have a huge impact on your chances.
That's just my read on it.
Pretty sure I have that or the quickstart for it in my DTRPG library.
Hey all, so a couple of people I game with had a sister and her family lose everything in a housefire this week. They're all safe, though sadly they lost both their dog and their cat. There's a GoFundMe to help them get back on their feet. If you could, please consider donating.
Link to the GoFundMe.
Scram is a little concerned with the smoke wafting up through the tower and announcing our approach. She'd probably like to get on with it sooner than later. Just warming up or were we doing another full rest here?
Given how late it is, I'm not sure how much more we could push before we start getting exhaustion levels.
But yeah, that's a good point about the fire.
Ingryd did get to cook and allow us all to eat back at the waterfall.
From a spellcasting standpoint, Gunnar is fresh, so pushing through the tunnels some amount and getting at least close to the ‘entrance’ to hag’s domain would be good before we rest. If we can all be fresh and move into the fort together in the morning already having dealt with the tunnels, that could be good.
It took a few days to get here from the falls.
Okay, so it sounds like we clear the tunnels and then take the fight to the hag on the morrow. That works for me. :)
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So sounds like a what is happening is basically a short rest to warm everyone up and have a bite to eat, then into the tunnels.
Will try to update later today.
Happy Solstice all. Will try to get an update posted tomorrow.
Well, that's certainly not what I expected. Bravo, sir. Bravo.
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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. Hope you all get to enjoy a little peace and relaxation with family and friends over the next few days. Cheers.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. Hope you all get to enjoy a little peace and relaxation with family and friends over the next few days. Cheers.
You too, Tareth! Appreciate the holiday cheer nestled in the recent posts!
Merry Christmas, and yeah, loving this wacky little interlude.
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Happy holidays all! And same, I love a tilt towards the zany for any reason. ;)
Merry Christmas everybody! Hope y'all have a great one!
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So, clearly this all must be completely destroyed. I think we have already established that.
I propose tossing at least one bean as a quick way to do so.
Veggies defeats candy like momma always wanted!
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So, clearly this all must be completely destroyed. I think we have already established that.
I propose tossing at least one bean as a quick way to do so.
Veggies defeats candy like momma always wanted!
+1
I say two or three just for good measure.
Talk about Christmas presents. Nat 20 for a 30 on a perception check for something that will cause the most havoc.
Merry Christmas all
Just out of curiosity, where's the table for the bean rolls?
01 5d4 toadstools sprout. If a creature eats a toadstool, roll any die. On an odd roll, the eater must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 5d6 poison damage and become poisoned for 1 hour. On an even roll, the eater gains 5d6 temporary hit points for 1 hour.
02-10 A geyser erupts and spouts water, beer, berry juice, tea, vinegar, wine, or oil (GM's choice) 30 feet into the air for 1d12 rounds.
11-20 A treant sprouts. There's a 50 percent chance that the treant is chaotic evil and attacks.
21-30 An animate, immobile stone statue in your likeness rises. It makes verbal threats against you. If you leave it and others come near, it describes you as the most heinous of villains and directs the newcomers to find and attack you. If you are on the same plane of existence as the statue, it knows where you are. The statue becomes inanimate after 24 hours.
31-40 A campfire with blue flames springs forth and burns for 24 hours (or until it is extinguished).
41-50 1d6 + 6 shriekers sprout
51-60 1d4 + 8 bright pink toads crawl forth. Whenever a toad is touched, it transforms into a Large or smaller monster of the GM's choice. The monster remains for 1 minute, then disappears in a puff of bright pink smoke.
61-70 A hungry bulette burrows up and attacks.
71-80 A fruit tree grows. It has 1d10 + 20 fruit, 1d8 of which act as randomly determined magic potions, while one acts as an ingested poison of the GM's choice. The tree vanishes after 1 hour. Picked fruit remains, retaining any magic for 30 days.
81-90 A nest of 1d4 + 3 eggs springs up. Any creature that eats an egg must make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, a creature permanently increases its lowest ability score by 1, randomly choosing among equally low scores. On a failed save, the creature takes 10d6 force damage from an internal magical explosion.
91-99 A pyramid with a 60-foot‐square base bursts upward. Inside is a sarcophagus containing a mummy lord. The pyramid is treated as the mummy lord's lair, and its sarcophagus contains treasure of the GM's choice.
00 A giant beanstalk sprouts, growing to a height of the GM's choice. The top leads where the GM chooses, such as to a great view, a cloud giant's castle, or a different plane of existence.
That's why it was so cool when the bean stalk happened. :)
Cool! Thanks for sharing. :)
2024 rules actually changed the probabilities a bit. The bean stalk and pyramid were changed to both happen with 5/100 chance. ...cause I know you were hungry for more bean related trivia.
Ah, didn't realize it was an official item.
That said, I really don't have any interest in playing D&D 2024, whatever they are calling it. I've got enough stuff to keep me gaming for a lifetime.
Yeah, its been around since at least 2e...maybe earlier. No one ever uses it though because they just like boring predictable stuff, which I can understand when your goal is to not die.
Honestly, I wish there were some more items that did have random effects, and that there were more random effects for the ones that did have them. Seems a waste to use a d100 on something that could be done with a d10 or a d20.
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Worst possible bean roll.
Also, we've already had that one. With something like this, I really don't think repeats should happen. So I think I'm just going to come up with something different.
And to add to the discussion above, curiosity had me go back to my 1E DMG and Bag of Beans is in there. The interesting thing is in that edition they just offer a handful of suggestions for possible bean events. No table, no die roll. It's all up to the GM with the added note that "...only 1 or 2 will be beneficial, the others being monsters or useless things."
Should we roll to see if one of those fire gems lands in the hooch puddle?
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Planning on doing that starting with the next round. Either the fire or lightning could set it off, so I'll be giving it a 2 in 4 chance. The tree's 'range' is only really a 50' radius so it doesn't reach the entire cavern, but it is near enough to the growing alcohol pool that by next round there will be a good chance of one landing in it.
I'll also be rolling to see how many rounds the pool/stream will take to reach the furnace (probably 1d3). Either way it's going to go up pretty quickly would be my guess.
And since Christmas Trees are not permanent and usually pretty short lived, I'll be rolling a d8+1 to see how many rounds it sticks around.
That works for me. Thanks for this crazy encounter.
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I can just hear Void Hammer (Ennui) bah-humbugging and not caring for the festivities at all.
Then the hammers of christmas past come aknockin' and it turns out he had a heart of gold the entire time. Not.
A heart of lead, maybe. ;)
Happy New Year all. I hope everyone has a great 2025 filled with lots of RPG time and opportunities.
Will post aga8n tomorrow to move things forward.
Cheers
Happy New Year! And same here!