Death-Lok's Hoard of the Dragon Queen PbP (Inactive)

Game Master Death-Lok

Congratulations to all selected. Please work on your profiles and feel free to chat among yourselves, intertwine backgrounds if that is appealing to you, etc. I will post house rules, expectations, and other details later. Any questions and comments, let me know. The goal is to have fun.

Heya, thanks for selecting.

I was wondering if I could take the following background feature, since it seems to mesh with my story nicely:

As an insurrectionist Red Wizard, infiltration would be advantageous to learn why/if the normal Red Wizards are involved with the Cult. It also fits with his illusionist/deception theme.

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

I'm looking forward to the game.

Again, You'll have to excuse my lack of in-depth knowledge of the world, but I pick things up pretty quickly as long as you point me in the right direction.

@other players: my PC's recent history is:
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The bard tried to ply his trade in the taverns of the Upper City of Baldur’s Gate but gambled away his money in the Lower City dingy dens. He had overextended his welcome and his tab and was being south out by the Guild, or at least a low-life enforcer who said worked for the Guild. When cornered by the enforcer, Quarion talked a Flaming Fist patrol to defend him and disappeared into the night. As if by divine intervention, his senior agent dispatched him to Greenest. He was to investigate something… Quarion would figure it out later. For now, he was happy to leave Baldur’s Gate.
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I am going to play Quarion having arrived very recently in Greenest. Could Quarion have known any of the other PCs from Baldur's Gate?

Thanks for the selection. DM, just want to change character's name from Juergen to Kuruk as I have a lot of unused aliases if that is ok. Still human barbarian and all. I incorporated a Harper tie so maybe I know Quarion or the rest of you through them. My background had me traveling down the Sword Coast so a stop at BG would make sense.

If its alright I'm also going to change spell selections and equipment a bit...didn't realize how redundant the sage equipment was with a scholar's pack.

Thanks DM!

Baldur's Gate is a good connection for Kwin. He frequently comes close to the city, but only rarely goes in. He can frequently be found on the roads that lead there. And he would move to aid anyone he thought was in trouble.

So... Kwin and Kuruk have reason to at least stop by Baldur's Gate where Quarion had been 'plying his trade'.

Do Kwin and Kuruk have a reason to travel to Greenest? If so, then perhaps the three could have traveled there together.

BTW, the distance seems to be considerable so given that Greenest is a caravan stop then it would make sense for at least my PC to have hired on with the caravan as a guard/entertainer/other.

@Ziyad, I don't mean to leave you out but I'm not sure if your PC is already in Greenest or not.

Yes, feel free to change your name, equipment, spells, etc during this time. Also Kwin, format your character as the others have done in the Race/Class tabs. Thanks.

Rolls:
I will roll your initiative, Perception, and Sense Motive checks, sometimes in secret.

House Rules:
1. All healing potions heal max hit points. All healing magic out of combat is maximized.
2. Criticals do maximum one die of damage and then you roll for other die. For example, a critical with a longsword with 14 Str (2d8+2) does 10+1d8
3. I like the Bloodied status from 4E.

Comments:
I will work with what you give me in your posts. Strong and silent type does not work in PbP. I want your personalities to shine through, be it with mannerisms, expressions, dialect, speech, etc. In combat as well, "I roll and miss" is boring. Try to be descriptive and even cinematic - I love that stuff. This is supposed to be fun. Even if you don't think the rules allow it, I am willing to consider actions, such as leaping off a horse or dropping a chandelier on a few enemies, as examples. Also include your ages in your profiles - you are youngish, as you are all 1st level. If you see a dragon or giant, have your character's expressions be genuine even if you, as a player, have seen those creatures ad nauseum. Finally, I do not profess to be a master of the rules - so be patient - as this is PbP we can figure out the answer in time. Any questions or issues, let me know. Finally, try to post at least once a day, twice if we're in combat and contact me if you have RL issues. I will do so as well. I will be out of the country for a week at the end of November so my posting may be non-existent during that week.

Game:
We will start out the game with a Prelude in in Baldur's Gate where you meet and then after fast-forward to Greenest, where the action is! Hope you enjoy it. I will have the Campaign thread up later tonight.

Yes, feel free to change your name, equipment, spells, etc during this time. Also Kwin, format your character as the others have done in the Race/Class tabs. Thanks.

Rolls:
I will roll your initiative, Perception, and Sense Motive checks, sometimes in secret.

House Rules:
1. All healing potions heal max hit points. All healing magic out of combat is maximized.
2. Criticals do maximum one die of damage and then you roll for other die. For example, a critical with a longsword with 14 Str (2d8+2) does 10+1d8
3. I like the Bloodied status from 4E.

Comments:
I will work with what you give me in your posts. Strong and silent type does not work in PbP. I want your personalities to shine through, be it with mannerisms, expressions, dialect, speech, etc. In combat as well, "I roll and miss" is boring. Try to be descriptive and even cinematic - I love that stuff. This is supposed to be fun. Even if you don't think the rules allow it, I am willing to consider actions, such as leaping off a horse or dropping a chandelier on a few enemies, as examples. Also include your ages in your profiles - you are youngish, as you are all 1st level. If you see a dragon or giant, have your character's expressions be genuine even if you, as a player, have seen those creatures ad nauseum. Finally, I do not profess to be a master of the rules - so be patient - as this is PbP we can figure out the answer in time. Any questions or issues, let me know. Finally, try to post at least once a day, twice if we're in combat and contact me if you have RL issues. I will do so as well. I will be out of the country for a week at the end of November so my posting may be non-existent during that week.

Game:
We will start out the game with a Prelude in in Baldur's Gate where you meet and then after fast-forward to Greenest, where the action is! Hope you enjoy it. I will have the Campaign thread up later tonight.

Everything sounds great, looking forward to the game starting. BTW, I try to instill some of the same things in the PBPs I GM. :)

One question: What is the Bloodied Status from 4e?

Game on!

It's basically what you do in your games Fabian with the different levels of wounds. Its actually in 5e in the DMG somewhere also. But in 4e there were mechanical consequences, certain powers could only work or worked differently when bloodied (less than 1/2 hp).

Game play thread is up. Sent you each a PM. Please read before reading campaign post.

Bloodied is a status you obtain when you are below 1/2 your hit points. It helps with flavor and some creatures have abilities that come into effect only when they're bloodied.

Been reading Salvatore lately so recognized the name. :)

DM, would you mind if I already had my familiar summoned or do I need to wait to do it in game? I can pay the 10 gp from my starting equipment.

No disrespect fellas, just playing Kuruk as an outsider, having lived all his life in Icewind Dale, so all this is new to him. And as a barbarian, he respects strength and might. So 8 Str perplexes him! :)

Heh, yeah...is Kuruk a Reghed or Uthgardt barbarian? I'm hoping the former since "Uthgardt barbarians fear magic so much that they will attempt to kill and dismember spellcasters they meet"... XD

Been reading Salvatore lately so recognized the name. :)

DM, would you mind if I already had my familiar summoned or do I need to wait to do it in game? I can pay the 10 gp from my starting equipment.

Yeah, the familiar beforehand is fine, just subtract the gold. Enjoying the rp.

Been reading Salvatore lately so recognized the name. :)

DM, would you mind if I already had my familiar summoned or do I need to wait to do it in game? I can pay the 10 gp from my starting equipment.

Haha...was just a throwaway line...glad someone caught the reference. :)

No disrespect fellas, just playing Kuruk as an outsider, having lived all his life in Icewind Dale, so all this is new to him. And as a barbarian, he respects strength and might. So 8 Str perplexes him! :)

No worries! And it is great to have a game with you again!

Same, MoB!

GM, I think it may have been lost in the shuffle, but I wanted to know if there were rooms for rent in the tavern we were in. If so, we'd want to make sure we woke those people and got them out too.

Thanks for the reminder, it did get lost. In the inn, there was just the party, the innkeeper, the 2 serving maids, and some drunk card players. The card players do not seem to be leaving, as they are too inebriated to walk. There was no one sleeping in the inn.

Quarion, re: Performance vs. Deception (per the PHB, pp. 178-179), Performance is about "delighting a crowd" and Deception is about attempting to "hide the truth". So lying is Deception. You can change your skills if you wish.

Again I want to preface this by saying that your ruling in the game is final.

However, I'd like to discuss this issue with you from GM to GM (others may of course chime in).

So...

Quarion tries to lie/deceive someone = deception;
Quarion tries to convince someone to do him a favor = persuasion; and
Quarion tries to bully someone = intimidation.

The above is very clear, almost textual.

Quarion impersonates a noble and tries to lie/deceive someone;
Quarion impersonates a local politician and tries to convince someone to do him a favor;
Quarion impersonates a gang leader and tries to bully someone.

Wouldn't these last three make more sense to have a performance-acting skill check? I'm saying this because it's not Quarion who is doing the stuff but the character that Quarion is impersonating that tries to do these things?

No? Am I way off the mark here?

I would require 2 checks - one for the impersonation, the other for the deception/persuasion/intimidation. Am I way off?

I would require 2 checks - one for the impersonation, the other for the deception/persuasion/intimidation. Am I way off?

It's DM fiat so if that's your interpretation then that's what it is then.

I'll check my skills and let you know whether I change anything. However, I can't play a bard without having the performance skill. :)

Quarion already went right. We are just waiting for K and K to act.

However, Ziyad acting confused me. :)

Am I up?

Sorry, just trying to get my daily post in. I wanted my attack to happen afterwards. The congratulatory remark was out of turn though.

I will be out of the country until next Sunday so my posting will be limited.

I will be out of the country until next Sunday so my posting will be limited.

Thanks for letting us know.

Game on!

I may as well start posting this now, I'll be out 27 through 29 for holidays.

Ok everyone, I am back to normal posting rates. Unfortunately, Ziyad is no longer interested in the game. Let me know how you wish to proceed.

Hey GM, I also have trouble maintaining interest in a slow moving game.

What's going to be your 'normal posting rates'?

2x per day or as needed if in combat

I vote to continue but if I get outvoted, I will understand.

2x per day or as needed if in combat

That was not your normal posting rate.

Can you commit to once per day and to let us know if you can't post a particular day?

I already told you what my posting rate will be, depending on the players' posts obviously. I can't give you more than that. If you're not interested in the game anymore, I understand and we move on.

I already told you what my posting rate will be, depending on the players' posts obviously. I can't give you more than that. If you're not interested in the game anymore, I understand and we move on.

I am not interested.

Thanks, and happy gaming to you all!

Well, that's 2 out of 4 gone. I can't give more than my word. Do we end this then?

Well MoB's lack of comment speaks for itself. Oh well, going to end this and have fun all.