Lusinian's page

Mmh... if that were entirely true, most soldiers would be psychopaths. Which, they aren't. So I'll disagree on that one. If they were unorganized fanatics who go into arbitrary murder, then yeah, but they're a structured organization with actual rules, clear objectives, and action protocols.

Honestly this game is so out of whack with 3rd level characters that have extreme abilities (mythic ranks 10, ice elemental) and house rules (weird elf kid, unlimited wild arcana) that I don't think anyone will be able to give you much good advice. It is nearly impossible to figure out what will be a challenge, what won't be any challenge at all, and what would be overkill without a complete understanding of how you are playing.

If it was easy, I would have done it on my own. Nice ideas. I already tried the classic stealth/sneak, but I can pull off something different enough, and the idea that the two groups would interlope is funny.

I'm not too comfortable with guns because I haven't used them yet, but it seems indeed like a good occasion to look at it.

Zealots and moral codes don't go well together, though. All zealots claim to HAVE one, and practically all of them break it the first moment it becomes inconvenient.

(I'm not English speaker: a zealot's definition goes something like that, right?

A person who has very strong opinions about something, and tries to make other people have them too

)

Oh, not so sure about that, and even if it would happen to be true, then I don't intent this group to be among "practically all of them". I like their heroic feeling, like they are the heroes and the party is the monsters. But it would be harder to keep that on if they lose their moral code.

I should have enough material to wrap something nice and apt to satisfy my players. Thanks to you all, and a special word of thanks to Zarius and VoodistMonk who have tried to give a hand all along even though the situation was tricky and my personality is s#!+.

You're running religious zealots, boss. Even if their religious persuasion is no religion for anyone, you're still running religious zealots. Collateral damage only matters of anyone survives to report it. It's the high seas, whole ships went missing.

I'm running religious zealots with a moral code. If they want minimal collateral damage, they'll at least try minimal collateral damage. Since they're religious zealots and not merchants, they do not care any other witnesses than themselves, but they do care themselves being witness to it.

Your mythic PC is a bard. Level 3 Bard. He CAN'T drop Teleport with this ability. He can only cast first level spells from three levels of bard, and Teleport isn't even on the Bard list at all. Even if you argue that he could cast it because the Wild Arcana says 'any arcane spell', it's still four levels over his maximum. Period. And even if, at level three, he COULD cast it, he's only a 5th level spell caster for this purpose. Does he leave his friend behind, or does he fail the escort mission?

That makes sense. And I did notice it after a couple of spells. But I've made an habit of not modifying things that have already been used in game, even if it is overpowered from a misreading. The players find the nerf unfair. I'm trying making the encounter hard despite of that, which is why I struggle. (Please, not telling me I should have double-checked to begin with?)

Does he leave his friend behind, or does he fail the escort mission?

Taking the first - teleport - coming back - taking the second. Not optimal, but worth a try. Given the survival probabilities of escort and friend, the ward is likely to be the first to depart, which leaves the assassins with at best one of their targets, if not none, considering PC-1 fails to move away alive after her comeback.

Pizza Lord's idea is my favourite for now. It's unusual and makes good use of their weaknesses. Even with Surge and Charisma Display, not failing a single concentration check on that might prove hard on the long run. They're just no good at endurance, and it might surprise them enough as to take a few rounds on them before they adapt. Anyway, the surprise might just be enough to trigger "What?" replies from my players, and scare them a bit, which is the main goal.

I have two assassins parties, though, not one, so any idea for the other?

I asked about undeads feeding on souls/feelings/memories, but no one cared to answer, so I'm as stuck as you. As it was a quick need, we homeruled that it worked as long as the creature was sentient (Int >= 4), that rules out animals.

Undeads feeding on flesh can feed on any creature as long as it hasn't been dead for more than 1 hour (and it does have flesh, of course).

And a Vegan watching someone eating a hamburger isn't the same as a human watching someone eating a human because, you know, a Vegan isn't a hamburger. And a hamburger can in no way call out to the vegan and pray for his pity. And if the vegan saves the hamburger, it will not resume living, it will not serve any purpose anymore.

So... how to save a dragon hunted by a party sent by the king. A gold dragon.

From what has been mentioned, the party will have characters around level 10 or higher as its core. Depending the specific formation, it might be a group on the adventuring model, which means 4 to 8 people of roughly equivalent level, with different classes allowing for versatility, maybe familiars, animal companions and even cohorts.

It might also be a tournament party, in the medieval meaning : a bunch of nobles with PCs class, easily up to 40 of them, mainly cavaliers, knights, paladins, fighters, but rangers and arcane spellcaster are entirely possible too, and they're used to work together, and they'll be accompanied by their cohorts. Since they've been noticed by the king, roughly 2/3 to 3/4 of them will have a cohort, whose work essentially is to set the camp and do chores, but easily a quarter or half of them can be competent in actual combat.

Or even a crusade party, from 20 to lots more members, specialised in dragon extermination or not.

In any case they'll have prepared themselves.

As for the dragon, he might be a baby, from what I read. Basically, if he's a wyrmling or a young one, he's screwed, but he's probably immature enough that you might convince him to hide or something, and even if he's not immature, given he has around 15 or 17 in Wisdom, he'll understand he can't survive if he faces on his own on this one. That he's a gold and not another helps because they've got some brains.

If he's adult, it's gonna be pretty tough against an adventuring party, and he'll probably wind up dead if he isn't prepared, also he's gonna die for the other configurations. He's got a lot of pride, and his territory is his, so even if he understands he has almost no chance of winning, he'll probably stay. But, since he's got good mental scores, figures he'll have an idea to protect himself and his lair. Since he's been in the area for quite some time, he already has defenses into place, he only has to check they're up and make full use of them. That's probably not enough to save him, but warning him definitely is a good start and the best you could take. Then if you don't have a plan he'll give you one.

If it's the adventuring part, if they're not very well trained, they'll have a real problem faced to a mature adult gold dragon. It's still possible, mind you ; if it's an adventuring party, depending their level, they might take anything on. Larger groups tend to have lower average levels. Now, this dragon definitely is not gonna leave or hide. But, like the adult, he'll have a plan. He's not much clever, but he's more experienced and had more time to prepare. Warn him. He'll know what to do.

If the dragon is ancient or even if it's a great wyrm, the king has to want it dead a lot, because he has to know that whatever he sends, he's probably gonna lose people. They're still proud enough they won't want to go, but they're cunning enough to not play it knightly. An adult might take it in fight or die fashion, and want a glorious death. Those old ones will use everything they have, and either ridicule or destroy whatever is thrown at them. They might even call reinforcements on their own. Given their age, they have many friends, and gold dragons generally have many connections among their kind (I remember they patron the Wyrm conciles, and some silver dragons respect them enough to ask them favours ; since silver dragons are so full of honour, if asked, they'll show up), and there is a non nul chance that they know famous and powerful parties of adventurers on their own too.

Also I considered the dragons on their base stats, but most of them will have class levels too, so they might be an even harder challenge. And they all have brains, probably more than your spellcasters. Sure, the baby will be less prepared and experimented, but if he's that young, given he's a gold dragon, he might call on his mum or whatever adult if refers to, and that will probably be very harsh on the poor dragon hunting party.

Having considered all that, I recommend that you warn the dragon as fast as possible, though you should priorize a serious talk over a quick communication (you don't want him thinking it's a prank). In the event he doesn't have a plan, or knows he is unprepared, he will listen to your opinion. Even if he is a dragon, and a proud one, he will not blindly jump in combat. Depending his particular situation, he might accept to lay low for some time, and most of the time he'll have people to contact if he has the time ; or he could indeed choose to fight, but then he knows what the risks are. Your job, if he gives you one, will probably be to spy a bit or to talk to people, maybe to find some items or components he hid or knows where they are.

I think I went overboard. Seriously, if you know the specifics of the dragon and/or the hunting party, it might not be needed for you to interfere. Brashly going against the hunters, that I strongly recommend to NOT do.

I do terrible things to my characters myself. Ala this comic. But I am generally a writer away from the table, so drama and motivation are important parts of characters.

Love this. Do this. All the time. Both writing out of the table and through the game, whenever there is an occasion. My GM is still afraid of being too harsh to my characters...

Last game I had to reroll two characters (because of a wedding, not a killing). They were quite boring. Had great inspiration on the background of a follower... the story included being a former / not-so-former slave, having been tortured by vampires and a drug addict (very addict), and finally going mute. But she did attract powerful reactions from others as soon as she was noticed, and she had a good personality backing the story. It also allowed to give her a link to another character who had had contact with the same nest of vamps'.

The original characters meant for replacement were great, they had real personalities, objectives, and life, but they were less intense.