NIGHT BELOW - Black Dow's C&C Underdark Campaign

Game Master Black Dow

Already done. I added a P for Primary.

Sorry chief meant to say you were the exception lol.

Woo hoo! I'm exceptional! I win the internet!

Good point and reminds me of something. Can you all put your Primary abilities (and their respective bonuses) into your PC headers please. Means I don't have to dig for them :)

Done sir!

Aaaand another blog post about skills in Old-School systems.

Sorry for not being on most of the weekend. I'm still busy trying to get my house in order.

I've got both Ping and Zeebo's lines updated.

Sorry, but no post from me tonight. I just ran out of time. I'll try to post tomorrow.

Sorry gang work gobbled me up tail end o' the week and has just spat me out!

No worries BD. Been pretty busy myself, and will continue being so next week.

I think we all get it. Sometimes work is just like that.

Sorry for being absent. Had to take care of something in rl that occupied my brain 100%.

Haven't caught up with gameplay yet, so not sure how to re-join.

I think we could explain it as Eireachdail running to catch up after oversleeping. :P

Yeah mate - we're that early in the game, we can say you've been at the mule or as Zeebo says got held up perhaps entertaining patrons of the road or some such?

Hey all,

So I got some bad news Tuesday about my paternal Grandfather. He's been battling cancer and, more recently dementia. I think it's only really sunk in just in the past few hours that he's not going to get better. My sister and I visited with him yesterday, and other than saying hello and good-bye, he spent most of the time dozing.

I'll keep y'all updated as I can. I'm going to be unplugging for a few days. Bot me if needed. I'll be back as soon as I can.

Hey Adam - no worries brother.

Much love, strength and healing to you and yours my friend.

All the best to you and yours Adam.

Thoughts - Rannock is not a fan of executing captured/defeated foes. If it was up to him, he would take the goblin with them, force him to act as a porter (if he can walk), then deliver hem to the authorities at the next settlement.

Thanks everyone.

He wound up in the hospital, but he's doing a lot better, now. He should be coming home today.

I think I'm about as good as I'm going to get for now. I'll be posting shortly.

Good to hear Adam, take your time mate.

Thoughts - Rannock is not a fan of executing captured/defeated foes. If it was up to him, he would take the goblin with them, force him to act as a porter (if he can walk), then deliver hem to the authorities at the next settlement.

Good to know his moral stance - while Rannock might not be able to bargain for Grazzle's life in this instance, rest assured this won't be the last time bad-guys and clemency comes up :)

In Grazzle's case he's dying so short of healing magic there's little to do, but given he's not expired from horse-inflicted wounds (yet) or by whatever Mos method plans to use (yet) he could still be of potential use...

As the gobbo seems unrepentant, he's already got a horse-hoof through him, and I don't imagine if we turn him in to the authorities he's going to get anything but a death sentence... I think the only decent choice is putting him down once we've gotten what we need. He seems to belong to a gang of ?highwaymen?. We might be doing any travelers in this area a favor by taking them out.

But maybe he could lead us to their hideout?

EDIT: Nvm, I see you are already on it ;)

Given Jenneleth already mentioned her adopted brother throttled one in the forge, I'd say its a safe bet they aren't viewed with tolerance.

Loving the philosophical interplay and the complete non-reaction to Eireachdail's reappearance lol.

Well, to be fair, Huni is pretty non-reactive to most things. :P

I just think we have enough NPCs as it is ;)

Well, to be fair, Huni is pretty non-reactive to most things. :P

Hunidark the Stoic? :P

I just think we have enough NPCs as it is ;)

To be fair I've just reintroduced him to allow for Jenneleth to have a guard when you all go goblin hunting.

Should Spaz get clear enough to rejoin then Eireachdail can slide to PC status once again. If not I can have him wander off on his travels in the meantime.

Hopefully when we reach Haranshire we can bolster the party numbers - have Woodsmoke and another player potentially joining in a few weeks so we keep the numbers up.

Huni should probably be near the front or playing rear-guard at the back. I don't really have a preference, either works fine for me.

I feel like I should point out that, while I'm okay if this winds up coming to blows between Mos and Zeebo/Ping, I'm not trying to launch into PVP. I just figured that Ping would be rather desperate at the moment since it's clear that one person has seen through her disguise and she has no idea if she can trust any one in the party, at least not yet.

I know this sounds like the "it's what my character would do" excuse, and there's a part of me that thinks she'd be thinking real hard about getting the goblins to take care of Mos for her, but I'm also willing to accept the consequences of those actions. That said, do let me know if I'm stepping out of line or anything. I get carried away some times and forget that while I might be enjoying myself, that doesn't mean that everyone else at the table is whenever I do indulge in these sorts of things.

Hey Adam - For my part I am loving the interaction between Mos and Ping/Zeebo. I have been trying to play it as Mos would see it, so I hope I am not letting too much player knowledge slip in to the character's reactions. Mos will not see Zeebo as a threat to their mission, and so will probably remain quiet about the deception, and perhaps might even be willing to help a "fellow Halfling" depending on the circumstances.
Just enjoying the party as a whole and one we have been through some encounters together I think we will begin to pull together as a team!

Agreed. I just wanted to make it clear that I'm not trying to cause trouble out of game with my paranoid little illusionist.

That said, I am planning on Ping talking to Mos at some point soon.

Also loving the interaction. Agree with Daniel that Mos, as a rogue, will not be unfamiliar with subterfuge... he just needs to establish what the nature of Zeebo's actually is.

All adds flavour to the merry band. Once I'm home tonight I'll move us along and get our first battlemap up (dun-dun-DUN!)

Made you all Editor's of the map - so tokens can be moved as required. Happy to do it and also happy for you all to do it... Just remember to explain any movements in game :)

I'm fine with olde schoole criticale rules-e. I always like the inherent 'ouch' factor on either side of the DM screen. Obviously, it doesn't need to be spelled out for Sleeg but is it just a straight double or a rolled one?

So, in this case would be it be my rolled '5' x2 = 10 OR
rolling twice (2d4+8 for Huni)?

I personally like rolling the dice because if you roll low on the first die you have a chance to average out the damage with a good second roll. Conversely, if great damage is rolled on the first die, you aren't automatically doubling it. The numbers are bit less 'swingy' if you roll as opposed to just tacking on a 'x2'.

Besides, mo' dice mo' fun. :P

I'm fine either way, though. As for this making things more dangerous, as much as I want to see what happens with Ping and everything going on there, if she dies, she dies. Wouldn't even be the first time I've lost poor Ping.

My preference is for a natural 20 being maximum damage (as opposed to double damage).

We always give one dice max and then roll the other then add bonuses. That way even if you roll a 1 on your die, you still get the other die at full value. Just my 2cp worth :-)

I like the sound of doing it that way. I think I may start adopting it in the games I run.

We felt that if you get a crit you should be guaranteed at least one full die of damage...otherwise it really just sucks to get a 20 and then roll 2 points of damage. We used to add the Bleed condition to the wound as well...but not so much now... the characters hated it when the monsters got a crit and they had to save vs bleed..lol

Adopt away...I am sure I did from someplace :-)

Yeah I'm liking the 1d @ Max and 1d rolled. Makes sense - roll a 1 and the other as max levels that out... get lucky with a high roll, then the max makes it brutal...

Will pop it into the Campaign Notes as a Haus Rule :)

I use a similar rule when I'm GMing. I tend to like games at 'Hurt Me Plenty' difficulty on the DOOM scale. :D

That said, you'll want to give some thought to the 'die' being the first 'die' or the initial 'attack'. For instance, a 2-Handed Sword does 2d6... there is a difference between the first 'die' doing 6+1d6 (main attack) +2d6 (crit dam) or the 'attack' doing max which is 12 (main attack) +2d6 (crit). That may not seem like a huge difference but when you apply the rule to the baddies, it can be a BEAST. For instance, a Fire Giant hits for 5d6... so if he scores a crit, we're talking 6+4d6+5d6 (37.5 avg) OR 30+5d6 (47.5 avg).

I'm not against a deadly game... just pointing out the ripple effects.

Yeah am thinking the first die being automatic rather than first attack as I agree this would be brutal.

So the Fire Giant example would be 6+4d6+5d6, so even if it rolls 1s on all the d6 it still would clock 15 damage.

That's going to sting even on a low roll which is good. And for heroes with a 'big die' weapon... those that do a d10 or a d12... that initial die at max is going to leave a mark! :D All of a sudden an orc with a lucerne hammer (d12 damage) is not a joke.

100% chief. I'll temper it with not throwing brute squads of orcs with great swords at you all lol.

Thanks for the crit inputs one and all - much appreciated.

I'm also mulling awarding Advantages to the group to reflect milestones or major accomplishments. Did something similar in the past with Accomplishment Traits in PF.

I'll temper it with not throwing brute squads of orcs with great swords at you all lol.

Your overkindness doth wring tears from me!

I give Zeebo an 'A' for creativity... but hoping for our team to hide for up to 30 minutes and not be discovered by gobbos nearby seems like a bad bet.

I'd rather tackle this straight on. Mos has the door covered. I wouldn't mind seeing if Huni can creep up to the side of the building. Then Spiro attacks and maybe someone else attacks the gobbos at the back either hand to hand or ranged. Hopefully that draws more baddies out of the house and into Mos and Huni.

One of the reasons why I said if. :P

:P I saw that.

I was liking Zeebo's idea simply because it is different, but I am ok with any plan :)

Hey everyone, I will be traveling with the family from tomorrow until the 21st of July. My posting will be sparse or most likely, nonexistent ;)

So feel free to bot me as needed.