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Hi all, my project was extended but ended today. Hurray.

Too burnt out right now to get us back on track, so I will get things started back up tomorrow.

Hi all... I'm just working a batch of really long days, so I have little time to read posts. Tomorrow is the last of my long days, then I will be back to normal working schedule and will be back to narrate / adjudicate as needed.

We are at the top of Round 3 (again). Kearan you are up.

Round 2 Status Summary

Kearan: 82/82 (157/157) HP; Effects: Giant Ape
Moley: 55/72 HP; Effects: Invisible
Kavra: 29/62 HP; Effects: None
Namfoodle: 62/62 HP; Effects: None

While I perhaps should have specified in the list of rules, all wizards started with no spells pre-cast -- this was intentional as it made one have to decide whether to start layering up defenses, or go all out attack.

Kavra to make a Dex Save (DC 16), and a Concentration check (DC 16). That will finish Round 2.

Round 3

1. Kearan
2. Moley
3. Kavra
4. Namfoodle

Right now it is Round 2, and it is Namfoodle's turn to finish the round. The wall of force is still up, and Ice Storm has not yet been cast.

"Wait a minute, who in the crowd conjured that elemental? No more interfering with the game or you will be disintegrated!"

Time seems to slow to a stop, as everyone becomes frozen in place. There is a bright white flash, and suddenly everyone has the feeling of deja vu.

We are back at Round 2. Kavra has cast a Cone of Cold. The wall of force still stands. There never was an elemental in the area... just ignore the loose rocks and dirt in front of Kearan where it looks like there might have been an elemental.

We have some saves and concentration checks to make as per the Discussion Thread. Then its onto Moley's turn to close out Round 2

To help keep things moving and to keep us on track, a time warp bubble forms in the middle of the area and "pop", we are back at round 2 on Kavra's turn.

Although very briefly Kavra wishes he could summon an earth elemental, instead he walks up and unleashes a Cone of Cold on the ape...

The force wall remains in place.

Namfoodle is up next.

Kearan needs to make a Constitution save and a Concentration check.

Moley needs to make a Constitution save and a Concentration check.

I can post an action change that won't effect much. I'll get it posted momentarily in the gameplay section, and I'm sorry about the mistake.

Are you doing this to replace your round 2 action? (If so, then the Ice Storm has not yet been cast, as it was cast after your action.)

Also, unlike Pathfinder you only draw an attack of opportunity when you leave your opponent's reach -- so there's some good news :)

5th Edition and its many spells and how they react with each other is still fairly new territory for me. (I tend to play more martial characters). Here's a couple things that have come up, or players should be aware of:

Casting Spells Through a Wall of Force

This was an interesting situation that came up and I did not find a lot online about it. I sent a message to "Sage Advice" and also Jeremy Crawford on it. I still haven't heard back :)

In a message thread I had found Mike Mearls was asked a similar question and replied with: "a barrier that stops physical objects stops spells".

The original question was asked about spell effects traveling through a wall, but later discussion also incorporated targeted spells.

There is certainly quite a bit of discussion on the subject in the message thread, and some elaboration has referred to the following:

1. To target an place, you need a "clear path to the target".
2. A wall (including an invisible wall of force that you can see through) is an obstacle.
3. An obstacle such as a wall of force provides total concealment to those behind it.
4. A target that is concealed/behind total cover can not be targeted by a spell.

This seemed like a reasonable way to adjudicate it, despite that fact that the player can still technically "see their target".

Polymorph
Many of the spells/abilities in 5e that allow you to change shape, give you some or all of the stats and abilities of the new form. Additionally, all of your character's racial and class abilities are not usable in the new form -- this includes feats.

Hi all, I just wanted to see what everyone's thoughts are on judgment call I have to make.

Kavra has conjured an elemental as an action, however the casting time is 1 minute (a mistake I have made myself once or twice.) Since this casting, there have been attacks and spells cast based on that elemental having been summoned.

We could go back in time a round or two to fix this, however since I deem this to be more of a 'test scenario', I'm thinking it may just be easier to just play it out with the summoned elemental in effect, but it's duration will be equal to the spell level it was cast at (5 rounds). (This is just a one-off instance, any further conjured creatures will be subject to the standard rules.)

Also of note, is that when the elemental was summoned, the wall of force was dropped as they are both concentration spells.

Ultimately, I still want this to be fun for all players, so please let me know if you would prefer to go back to the start of round 2 or if you are fine with the 'fix' I suggested above.

Click... Pause Button Pressed. I just need to work out some spell adjudication.

With first blood drawn by Namfoodle the crowd cheers on with excitement.

Kavra seems only slightly scratched by the powerful Ice Storm which formed above him and his conjured earth elemental. The elemental slams Kearan the giant ape with one of it's rocky fists. And Moley... Moley is nowhere to be seen.

The radius of the Ice Storm is slightly blocked by the force wall, helping people to learn where it is. Based on people observing where Kearan climbed over it, it appears to be 10' high. I have marked on the map all the areas of the wall that have been interacted with.

"Good round wizards! 'Sniff' 'Sniff', what's that I smell... I think I smell me some fried Moley."

A loud hum is heard from the Tezlok coil as at first a few sparks randomly dance around it and are then follow by electricity arcing throughout the golden coils.

Round 3

1. Kearan
2. Moley
3. Kavra
4. Namfoodle
5. Kavra's Earth Elemental

Kavra, can you also make a Dex save for your elemental vs the Ice Storm damage. (The d20's do not appear to be your friend).

Kavra you need to:
1. Make a Dex save.
2. Make a Concentration check for your elemental.
3. Attack with your elemental if you haven't lost concentration.

The huge ape thunders forward until it comes to a dead stop as it smacks face first into an invisible wall.

The annoyed furry beast starts smacking his hands on the wall, only learn that he is able to reach over the top of it. Being an apt climber, the ape steps onto the 5' high raised area next to him and launches himself over the invisible wall.

With his target in sight and now reachable, he closes the distance to Kavra.

Using 50' of movement, Kearan makes his way to I6. I have highlight an area in light blue where Kearan had run into what was presumably a wall of force.

Some ooohh's and aaahh's from the crowd echo into the arena as the first round completes.

"Ouch folks, you can almost feel Namfoodle's surprise and shock on that one... that's a 5th circle spell gone from his repertoire."

"Anyone want to start taking bets on how long these 'teams' last? It looks like the dwarf is already making a monkey of himself! And it seems as though Moley is quick to test the resolve of the 'coil."

Round 2

Namfoodle casts his spell hoping to summon forth a fist of crushing doom, but instead a wisp of smoke appears in his hand as does a nearly inaudible "poof" sound.

Namfoodle appears confused about what just happened, but being the smart wizard that he is, he has deduced that something has magically prevented him from casting the spell in that particular spot.

Rolling some d20's.... just because :)

1d20 ⇒ 17
1d20 ⇒ 5

Hi all, for the map link, please click on "Battle Map" right under my name on any of my posts.

At the very top of the screen, I have a link that says "Wizard's Duel Arena Map". Don't click on this right now. I can't remember how to change this link.

EDIT: There we go... got that link working now.

"Four wizards enter, one wizard leaves", booms a loud voice which echoes throughout the arena. This is closely followed by the clapping and cheering of hundreds of people.

The four wizards standing within the area, scan the arena for the source of these sounds, but nothing can be seen through the obsidian black walls.

"In the northwest corner, we have the human abjurer, Kavra. Let see if he can ward off his opponents?" This is follow by a mild applause and a few whistles.

"In the north east corner, we have the great and dashing... what... he couldn't make it? Well who do we have instead? Moley? Who the hell is he?" A brief pause with some inaudible hushed whispers follow. "Sorry about that folks, with a last minute substitution, we have Moley the human diviner, who's hoping to see his first win today." This is followed by some claps and moans.

"In the southwest corner we have Namfoodle Ningel Boomspell, human evo... dammit doesn't anyone double check these cards first. Look at him... he's a gnome... and if his looks confused the dimwit who wrote up these cards, the name alone shouts out GNOME." Another brief pause ensues along with some muffle cursing. "Ahem... we have Namfoodle the gnome evoker, here to charge up some excitement." Several laughs and claps follow... mostly laughs.

"And our final competitor today, surfacing to create a win for himself, is the dwarven transmuter, Kearan the Short." Cheers and whistles follow, along with someone shouting out loudly, "Who the heck brought a dwarf to a wizard duel?"

"Alright wizards... ready yourselves... keep it interesting... don't get fried by the 'coil'... and above all else, enjoy destroying your fellow wizards!" Signaling the start, a loud high pitched sound reverberates through the arena, which sounds like a dying harpy screaming.

Initiative Rolls:
Kavra: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13
Namfoodle: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (5) + 0 = 5
Kearan: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Moley: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

1. Kearan
2. Moley
3. Kavra
4. Namfoodle

Okay, on with the show...

Unless you have some ability to conceal what you are casting, just indicate what spell you are casting on your turn, in your post. (You are all experienced wizards, so you are all pretty adept at being able to determine what spells are cast.)

For any actions made while invisible, or spells in which you are able to cast discretely, then please Private Message me with your action.

All effects will be based on a square area. (i.e. a fire ball fills a 40' x 40' square area.

When posting movement or target locations, please refer to the grid coordinates on the Battle Map.

Since you are really starting with so little for gear, if you can find useful loot on a downed wizard... its all yours :)

Battle Map link is now working. I'm just going with a pretty simple map layout. In the middle is a raised stone area, 15' x 15', and 5' high. In the middle of the raised area, is a large golden coil... the Tezlok Coil. (I will give people advance notice if they are in danger of being struck by the coil -- its solely there as a device to keep the play moving, and to ensure no one tries to claim victory by hiding in a corner the whole battle).

The floor of the arena is white marble, and the Walls are a black obsidian, and appear to rise to infinity. The walls and the raised stone area are all magically impenetrable. There's also a ceiling created by a force wall, 100' up. Despite the tall walls, the area is well illuminated by sunlight... almost as if the walls were illusions and the sun was shining right through them :)

Okay, outright battle it will be :)

When you are ready, please step onto the arena floor and describe yourself in the Gameplay thread.

Once everyone has done an in-character post on the Gameplay thread, I will roll initiatives for everyone and get things going.

Since this is more of a test on this type of scenario, and since there is just 3 or 4 of you, I'm debating on whether to make this a full on, last wizard standing scenario, or to make it an objective-based scenario (first 1 to achieve the objective wins -- although I suspect it will still end up as a last wizard standing scenario).

Please let me know if you have a preference between Outright-Battle or Objective-Based.

I've created a Discussion and Gameplay thread now. I'm just waiting to hear back from my friend now.

Please go to the Discussion thread, to review my first question for the 3 of you.

Thanks, and good luck all!

For posting in-game actions.

For out of game discussions of the Duel.

Right now we have 3 people ready to go. I'm thinking that, it may not be a bad thing to just have a quick small wizard duel, to see how everything works out, and to see if there is much else I need to tweak rules-wise.

Ideally I would like 4 people to test this out. If someone new wishes to jump on board, then great -- let me know asap. I have a friend that I am sure would like to try it out, so I will check with him if we wants to be our 4th, in the event I do not hear back from anyone.

It's looking like that -- I have only received 2 spellbooks at this time.

On the plus side, this recruitment thread helped me refine some of the rules. I may have to repost a new recruitment thread, which should go smoother since I have the rules fairly well drawn out now, and I will be able to give the campaign immediate attention.

Okay, back from GenCon and ready to give this scenario its due attention.

Tally of Interested Players:
1. baticeer
2. TheOrcnextdoor
3. Radavel
4. Sylvanus
5. david barker
6. Loup Blanc
7. Umbungo
8. Vrog Skyreaver

Once you have completed your character, please send me a Private Message with your spellbook.

Please also let me know if your situation has change and you are no longer available/interested in playing this Wizard's Duel scenario.

Thank you.

I guess my next question would be (assuming that I am allowed to join, that is): if we are summoning creatures/stuff (as I suspect some might choose to do), are we going to be running the creatures or did you want to do that?

There is an opening for you.

Generally, players will be in control of the creatures -- I may provide some guidance if I believe the creature is instructed to do something that is completely against its nature/ability.

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay in getting some direction back to everyone. I have been putting in some overtime at work, preparing for my time off to go to GenCon. We just finished our busy season at work, so I will not be drained of energy when I get home :)

Since GenCon is next week, it would also be bad timing on my part to start this campaign now.

So my plan now is to start up after GenCon.

I realize with the long delay, we may have lost some interested parties along the way. I will do an interest check once I am back, and then recruit some extra folks if needed.

Sorry for the delays, but its important for me to keep this moving along once we have started. I've played too many PBP's that died out in the middle because the DM was not able to give the campaign the focus it needed. (Real life happens, but there are factors around my time demands which I can control though :)

Relatives are leaving tomorrow, then I will get back into getting this going.

My question was less about casting and more and preparing your spells for the day. For example, in our spell books we have, including cantrips, about 33 spells, but according to the rules in the PHB "...choose a number of wizard spells from your spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier + your wizard level (minimum of one spell)." Personally that give me 14 prepared spells per day. So once I choose my spells for the day should we post them, private message them to you, or just keep that list to ourselves and just trust that people are only using spells that they prepared ahead of time?

For spells, I will now ask everyone to provide me via private message with a copy of their spellbook and their prepared spells.

To keep people from identifying weaknesses/vulnerabilities in your spell selection, please don't post your spell selections with your character info. (If you still want to, that is fine but you might find yourself being one of the first targets :)

I have a quick rules question I'd like to clear up before anything starts. One of my arcane tradition features (instinctive charm) allows me to potentially use my reaction to redirect an attack against me to another player. Part of the description however, states: "You must choose to use this feature before knowing whether the attack hits or misses". How would that work in PbP where you can generally see each other's rolls?

Great question, and yes in PBP such a feature makes it a little difficult.

Here's my current thoughts for a character with a class feature like this:
- the attack roll is ignored.
- the target is advised that a targeted attack is incoming.
- the target decides what they wish to do.
- the attack roll is then re-rolled.

Since you can only use this once / long rest / attacker, this shouldn't affect the game flow too much.

I'm very intrigued, and a little scared, about how the first match is going to go since we don't know what the task is going to be. As for preparing our spellsite for each match; will we find out what the first task is early enough to prepare spells for it or are we preparing "in the dark"? Also, our prepared spells, should we post them, message them to you to keep it secret from the other combatants, or keep it all to ourselves so no one has any idea what's about to come?

With regards to the casting of spells, for those spells with visible effects (i.e. fireball) it will be fine to just post in the forum. For those spells without obvious visible effects, a private message will be best.

I will tell the target of a spell, what spell they are being targeted with (i.e. Charm Person). I am going to assume that with most spells, where-ever or who-ever you designate as a target, you must point or motion in that direction, so the recipient will know who just targeted them, unless there is a logical reason why they would not know who the caster was.

As for the objective in the first scenario... my plan at this time is to reveal nothing about it until the match starts. In the spirit of roleplaying, an NPC host announcer will reveal what the challenge is, and what must be done to win it. (So basically your spell selection will already have been made).

Note: There will be no traps in the arena, only a few things which may cause delays.

If I have designed the challenge correctly, there should be no situation of "oh, wow that person is going to win because they got lucky and picked the right spell".

Sounds good all. Theliah, please let me know for sure when you know if you will or will not be able to play, starting July 24.

As this is just a big skirmish and not a campaign, I imagine that the whole arena battle should be done in a few weeks. The difficult part with this, may be if we are waiting on someone to post. Generally, in a pbp campaign, during combat if someone hasn't posted in 24 hours, then the DM will just NPC the character. I can't really do that in this due to the nature of the duel. Likely I will just have to implement a rule that if someone hasn't posted for 48 hours, that they character is automatically out of the duel.

This arena duel pbp concept is a new concept for me, so I will always be open to feedback -- feel free to comment along they way on things that you think will improve either the flow of the game or the player experience.

With the new starting gold rules are you allowing arcane foci instead of component pouches, or is it pouches only?

Good question.

Tally of Interested Players:
1. baticeer
2. TheOrcnextdoor
3. Radavel
4. Sylvanus
5. david barker
6. Loup Blanc
7. Theliah Strongarm
8. Umbungo

We have enough for a fine Wizard's Duel!

Right now we do have company in from out of town for 2 weeks, so I may be little limited in my posting time. Once we get started I want to ensure I have lots of time to give to keep things moving along.

If everyone can get their characters created by July 24th, that would be great.

If anyone does not have access to a Player's Handbook, send me a message. I have a link that can help out with most of the information you will need.

Are we doing only magic, or can we fight with swords and stuff as well as magic?

Sure... if you want to be the wizard who brought a sword to a fireball fight... go ahead. The post above indicates my current allowance for weapons.

I know I'm acting like an annoying noob over here and I'm sorry,but I have one last question and then my character should be complete. Starting wealth, do we only have the 10 gp our background or is that in addition to the 4d4x10 gp we would normally have?

I actually forgot about the wealth by class table.

Now that I think about it though, this is a Wizard's duel and I would prefer people not load up on "tricks" like alchemical items and healing potions.

So accordingly, I'm going to scrap starting gold.

You are basically just a wizard walking into a dueling arena with your spell component pouch. No other gear with the exception of weapons and armor. You can start with any armor and any 2 weapons of your choice. (You will still need to be proficient with your weapons and armor to use them effectively). Ammunition-based weapons will have 20 rounds of ammunition. (However, in most cases your cantrips are probably better than any ranged weapons... or even melee weapons for that matter).

Theliah Strongarm wrote:

So this is 5e?

I've never played 5e.
Do you think you could allow a newbie in?

If you've been reading all of my questions you can tell that yes they do accept newbies.

That's right :)

Can I use SRD stuff?

The SRD stuff is certainly fine, but is very limited in the options (i.e. spells) it provides.

Still looking for 3 more Wizards to join the fray.

Small question, if I decide to use a subrace does the ability score increase of the subrace replace that of the normal race or add to it? For example if I chose a stone gnome would my ability score increase be Con +1 or Int +2 and Con +1?

It adds to it.

You get all the features of "gnome" plus you get the added features of "rock gnomes", including their ability increase.

I'm sorry, I was confused. I thought this was a Pathfinder game not D&D. I am still interested, but my character creation might take a little more time because I need to formalize myself with the character creation again since I haven't played since 3.5 about 10 years ago.

Sure, no problem. On the plus side if you have played Pathfinder, you will find 5th edition very quick and easy to pick up -- and you will find the rules to be far lighter than Pathfinder. (I was a die-hard 3.5 and Pathfinder fan until 5th came around -- I haven't touch my Pathfinder books since.)

Since this is a Pathfinder site, I think to be respectful most people running 5th edition games, just but (5e) in the post title, and omit "D&D". I find these forums make it nice and easy to host pbp games, so that is why I am running a D&D game here. Plus I have spent thousands of dollars on Paizo products (not an exaggeration) so I have no qualms about running a D&D pbp on their site :)

May I use the gold from my background's starting equipment to purchase other items and bring them into the arena with me? (If it matters, I was going to buy a shortsword, since I am making an elf and they get that weapon proficiency.)

Sure, feel free to spend any of your starting gold on equipment.