Derlan's page

I am posting this to all of my games, so apologies if you see this multiple times:

Unfortunately, I have some bad news.

A combination of work-related stuff has lead to me having to take some time off from the forums. I am, in all honesty, going to need to be gone for several months, as I am going to be travelling for extended periods of time (weeks or more) and I'll likely not have good access to the internet.

As I am not someone who would want to have you all sit and wait for me here, I am going to be withdrawing/closing all of my open forum games.

I want to thank everyone who I have had the pleasure to game with over the last couple of years here, as I have immensely enjoyed my time on the forums, and hopefully, once my work stabilizes, I will be able to rejoin the community.

Thank you again for your time and energy, and I am sorry that I won't be able to keep things moving forward in any of the games that I am running.

Derlan would move to heal instead of attack.

Previous Round:

Derlan moves outside.

This round:

Derlan looks to see who among his allies is the most injured, then moves to them and heals them.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Not sure. I didn't know that there were effective HD in 2e.

Seeing that the Dwarf is responsible for the assault of his charges, Derlan uses his Sling on him.

Thac0 17 with sling

Attack Roll: 1d20 ⇒ 5
Damage Roll: 1d4 ⇒ 3

Or riding in a spelljammer in the mists of dread.

Think Space Hulk.

Damn, what a great idea for a game!

I am back now (finally!)

Recovering from the mage that took hold of his mind, Derlan moves to Ko and tries to heal him.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 ⇒ 4

Save vs. Spell: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Not wanting to abandon a companion, Derlan instead moves forward to heal him, believing that perhaps his wound is what has caused his madness.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Derlan glances around at his allies, to see that they are quite effective at killing. He holds for the moment for one of them to be injured, so that he may share the Lady's gifts with them.

Sorry, I posted last night, but it looks like my posted was nommed by the server. I'll repost it.

Posting this to all my games, so sorry if you see it multiple times:

This week both my office and I personally are going to be moving. It's been crazy busy and I am not going to be able to post until Monday at the earliest. Please bot me if I am in your game, and if you are in a game I am running, I will get a post up as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience.

No worries.

"I do not have such gifts from Lady Ocean, although I could beseech her for such things tomorrow when I speak to her."

"Agreed. I believe we should stay together. I can't share the bounty of Lady Ocean's gifts with you if you are not where I can find you."

"Well, we should probably get back to our work." says Derlan.

"where to next?"

"Worst that happens is, they try to attack us. Let's try to avoid that though." says Derlan as he enters the cave.

"Why don't we just try talking to them?" asks Derlan before moving to the cave entrance.

"Hello in there, is there anyone that can speak with us inside? We'd like to talk to you."

"contrary to popular ideas, not all Halflings know how to stalk and kill prey."

"Let's stick together and end up not dead."

"That's not a good idea."

"Then we should go investigate it. We are currently making quite a bit of noise, so some distance might help things."

I poured water on you Dismoon.

"We can certainly hope Ludi." Turning to the dust-covered Elf, Derlan will use water to clean him off and say "Are you alright?"

"Is it hot?" asked Derlan, bewildered.

But HOW did they die. Let's spend an entire week CSI'ing the murder scene to determine cause of death and the murder weapon on each corpse, followed by DNA results and lots of theoretical lab work.

"I'll trust your rope-tying skills Dismoon."

"Agreed, we should remain cautious and not run off on our own." says Derlan.

Derlan would indeed offer Dismoon a hand up, which given the relative heights, probably looked a bit odd.

"Father Earth chases after Lady Ocean, yet he can only just touch her, and she recedes from his caress." says Derlan by way of answer to Dismoon's question.

Moving up to check on Dismoon, Derlan said "See what happens when you run off by yourself? Father Earth tries to eat you."

"Why are you racing towards the scene of your murder?" asks Derlan as Dismoon runs off.

"No sense in being ashamed because you can read. That's like saying 'I don't want it to get out, but I can create campfires.' It's just another skill."

Derlan just watches the group interact with each other, while also trying to keep an eye on their surroundings.

Athas was not a place to take lightly, as the moment you thought you were safe is the moment you breathe your last.

"Did anyone notice anything that would count as a statue when we were moving into the ruins? How about a tower?"

"I guess something happened to the light."

Derlan lumbers on. He's not particularly fast, especially weighed down by his armor and gear, but he isn't so weighed down as to be a liability. Once the group was out of sight, Derlan would offer the Obsidian dagger* that he picked up to one of the others, saying "Lady Ocean demands that I only use natural weapons or weapons that came from the bodies of creatures, but I felt that this was something that would benefit our group, so I took it."

You misunderstand: I'm not saying that Darksun is a bad system. At all.

What I'm saying is that the world is built with heat that will kill you; psionic super-predators that will kill you; no real heroes to rely on; the average person on the street will, upon seeing you laying in the gutter, not just step over you, but instead kill you and take your shoes; and the people in power will....kill you.

There is, however, a reason that the default start for campaign is that all the PCs are slaves; they want you to understand that this is not a typical setting. Yes, the PCs may be heroes, but they are the exception, not the rule. Most people you meet are obsessed with personal power. It is, in fact, one of the central themes of the setting: consequences of personal power that comes at the expense of everything around you.

Killing PCs in Darksun is more an obligatory right of passage than a feat of GMing; remember that this is the only DnD setting that actively hates you.

Derlan unhitches his Mekillot and tells it to guard their home, then feeds it and goes into his wagon.

When he returns, in addition to his Hide armor, he's carrying a shield, a pair of bone daggers, and a sling.

He takes a couple of small sacks from the offering, which he stocks with food Going to take 5 days worth of Human-sized rations before tying off to his belt. He also takes a waterskin, but doesn't actually fill it.

Finally, he looks through the weapons and takes the Obsidian dagger* and two more of the bone daggers.

Before leaving, he goes inside his wagon and pulls out a barrel of water, which he offers to his guards. "Here, enjoy with the blessings of Lady Ocean. Please just leave the barrel here when you are finished."

Turning the others, he says "I believe I am ready to depart."

Are we assuming that I'm supposed to leave my wagon here, or take it with? If he'll offer to keep it safe, I'll leave it here. If not, it comes with me.

Derlan guides his wagon into the camp and then tends to his Mekillot, feeding and watering it before pulls out some rations and begins eating. He offers the group water from his wagon, and as the evening sets on he enters his wagon and begins singing in that same language he spoke in earlier.

"Sorry, I'm already a minion of Lady Ocean." says Derlan, without a hint of a joke as he continues to tend to his Mekillot.

Ya, I kinda view my wagon as a mobile oasis/temple to Lady Ocean. I will always give water to those who need it (regardless of who they are).

Derlan would have taken his wagon with him when they went back, so that the rest of the group would be able to catch up quicker to the caravan.

When the sandstorm came, Derlan offered everyone shelter inside his wagon. When you all entered, he would have offered you water from one of the fivel barrels lashed together in the back.

As the storm passed, Derlan would go out the front to check on his Mekillot, which is where he would be when the Human appeared.

After listening to his commands, Derlan simply smiled and said "I can't speak for the others, but I will, of course, help you."

Holy Raiders of The Lost Ark, Batman!

My idea: you guys all take watches, and I'll give you something to drink in the morning.

I don't think I offered to take a shift, but I would certainly take whichever one was left.

"Fair enough. I'd hate to see you deprived of your defense because you couldn't get to my wagon!" says Derlan, who then chuckles, showing off his pointy, likely razor-sharp teeth.

"Sure, I can make a little space for you, but won't you need it if we get into a battle?"

Derlan moves to the pool of water and begins carefully tending it, taking time to clear not just the odd saliva off of the water, but also to pull weeds and generally try and make the pool better.

As he works, he sings a ritualized song that clearly is some sort of prayer. The words, however, are in a lost language.

Derlan surges forward, but he won't be able to reach the Elf in time.

Nothing much else to say, I'm just too slow!