Web of informants doesn't "feel" like a class feature to me. Personally, I think it would be a good feat. I don't think it's out-of-balance, just a bit different from most.
It seems to me that it would work fine with a number of other classes (Bards, Clerics, Rogues or even Druids), which is what makes me lean towards having it as a feat, rather than tying it to a class. (I'd probably grant +1 Charisma or something, as well).
So surprise isn't an active percetion roll. It's a passive roll (10 + Perc). Granting advantage on perception for purposes of surprise is meaningless.
Not meaningless - I don't have a citation, but if you have advantage on a passive check your score is (15 + stat + prof).
EDIT: I do have a citation. Player's Handbook p175 (Passive Checks)
Distant Assistance seems a little oddly worded, to me (though it's possible I'm reading the "Help" action wrong).
As I read it, when you use the help action in combat, you must be within 5 feet of the enemy you're both fighting. Distant Assistance seems to be assuming you have to be within 5 feet of the ally (which I don't think is implied).
Presumably Distant Assistance means you don't have to be adjacent, provided you're within 15 feet of the enemy and the ally has to be able to see and hear you?
Yeah, I think use of Identify Weakness should be limited to Wisdom bonus (minimum one). I'd actually make it usable once per long rest until level 7 (or so) then once per Short Rest.
The help action grants advantage, if it also grants your ally your sneak attack damage it's going to become an 'always do this' option (particularly with a champion fighter, since their chance of criticalling really benefits from advantage) and in general, I think if an option becomes universally the best option, that means something is overpowered.
It probably doesn't need spelling out, but I also wouldn't allow it to stack with an ally's own sneak attack damage (an investigator helping a rogue every round is going to do too much, imo, if both sneak attacks are allowed to count).
Fair. A point to consider is that using a help action means you're not using your own action to attack or do something else. And you have to be adjacent to the enemy.
Also, consider what other rogue archetypes get at third level:
Arcane Trickster: Spellcasting and Mage Hand
Assassin: advantage and auto crits vs opponents that haven't acted in combat yet, and proficiencies
Thief: pick pickets, disarm traps, open locks, and use an object become bonus action instead of normal action; increased jump distance, increased climb speed
Our investigator gets: when using help as a normal action in combat, the person you help gets your sneak attack damage if they hit (and gets advantage), add Search to your Cunning Action ability, and maybe gain a prof.
So I'm not sure if it's overly powered. Definitely good, but I'm not sure it's OP.
I do agree that it shouldn't stack with another's SA.
|
Web of informants doesn't "feel" like a class feature to me. Personally, I think it would be a good feat. I don't think it's out-of-balance, just a bit different from most. It also seems to me that it would work fine with a number of other classes (Bards, Clerics, Rogues or even Druids).
I could go either way with it, but it fits, in my mind, either a Rogue type character or one based off of Sherlock Holmes.
I also looked at Surprise, PHB p.189, to confirm Steve's post and it looks correct.
It's a comparison of Dexterity(Stealth) vs. passive Wisdom(Perception) and advantage on Perception indeed takes the passive check from 10+ modifiers to 15+ modifiers.
Oh cool. Thanks for the correction, guys.
Distant Assistance seems a little oddly worded, to me (though it's possible I'm reading the "Help" action wrong).
As I read it, when you use the help action in combat, you must be within 5 feet of the enemy you're both fighting. Distant Assistance seems to be assuming you have to be within 5 feet of the ally (which I don't think is implied).
Presumably Distant Assistance means you don't have to be adjacent, provided you're within 15 feet of the enemy and the ally has to be able to see and hear you?
I agree wth your assessment. I think the author thought you had to be within 5' of your ally instead of 5' of the enemy. Easy fix.
Although I may increase the range. By 13th level, you're probably facing opponents with a 15' reach. So much for being out of range!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah, I think use of Identify Weakness should be limited to Wisdom bonus (minimum one). I'd actually make it usable once per long rest until level 7 (or so) then once per Short Rest.
The help action grants advantage, if it also grants your ally your sneak attack damage it's going to become an 'always do this' option (particularly with a champion fighter, since their chance of criticalling really benefits from advantage) and in general, I think if an option becomes universally the best option, that means something is overpowered.
It probably doesn't need spelling out, but I also wouldn't allow it to stack with an ally's own sneak attack damage (an investigator helping a rogue every round is going to do too much, imo, if both sneak attacks are allowed to count).
Fair. A point to consider is that using a help action means you're not using your own action to attack or do something else. And you have to be adjacent to the enemy.
Also, consider what other rogue archetypes get at third level:
Arcane Trickster: Spellcasting and Mage Hand
Assassin: advantage and auto crits vs opponents that haven't acted in combat yet, and proficiencies
Thief: pick pickets, disarm traps, open locks, and use an object become bonus action instead of normal action; increased jump distance, increased climb speedOur investigator gets: when using help as a normal action in combat, the person you help gets your sneak attack damage if they hit (and gets advantage), add Search to your Cunning Action ability, and maybe gain a prof.
So I'm not sure if it's overly powered. Definitely good, but I'm not sure it's OP.
I do agree that it shouldn't stack with another's SA.
I think the thing to watch for in considering overpoweredness (?) is how things interact with other features.
Granting advantage is a pretty good thing if you've got a heavy hitter (I currently have a support-based bard who never attacks - he always uses the help action to grant the barbarian/fighter advantage) and it gets especially good if they crit on a 19-20 (since they'll now critical 19% of the time) My concern is that, if they're getting sneak attack this will also double on top of all the damage boosting goodies that fighters get (fighting styles, sharpshooter/greater weapon fighter -10/+5 and so forth).
Helping another + granting sneak attack to a barbarian, cleric, valor bard or something isn't that great. But I think when you're adding something without precedent into the game (like 'transferring' your sneak attack damage) you have to push around the edges to look for exploitable "stacking" features in order to really tell if something is overpowered.
|
|
Oh cool. Thanks for the correction, guys.I also looked at Surprise, PHB p.189, to confirm Steve's post and it looks correct.
It's a comparison of Dexterity(Stealth) vs. passive Wisdom(Perception) and advantage on Perception indeed takes the passive check from 10+ modifiers to 15+ modifiers.
Glad to help man and thx to Steve for making me get off my butt to check out the Surprise rules myself. It would have been an odd rule for 5th edition had they not let Perception interact with stealth.
There will be plent of time and travel later on to use up more of chapter 2, and I don't want to waste it all now. Additionally, I want them to sill be level 3 (just shy of 4) when they arrive, and if I do too much during travel they'll level too quickly.
I've been trying to read up on Gracklstugh before game this week, and man is it confusing (and t doesn't help that I keep getting distracted by fallout 4). So, thanks to the Internet, I'm able to share that confusion with my players!
Since one of my players took the alternate background feature that lets them have advanced knowledge of the underdark and its denizens, I made a prop for him. I made copies certain pages, cut out specific paragraphs and sentences and taped them into a blank journal for him to read. This gives him the knowledge of various locations without me having to remind him to find specific text during game play.
So far, I've done Gracklstugh, as that's all I have had time for. I'm debating whether to go through the entire book and make this journal for him, or just make each section before they go to that location.
The benefits of the first are that it simulates his character having all the knowledge ahead of time. The advantage of the latter is that the player won't have the knowledge if his character dies - and it saves me some time.
I'm also adding a new NPC card - Escape Slaves.
I'm open for help, but here's what I have so far:
"What was that?" The slaves give you advantage on the first passive perception check you need to make; resets every short rest.
"I'd take a bullet for you." The escaped slaves can spend inspiration to take one attack for you in exchange for an injury.
Throwing Rocks: If the escaped slaves have loyalty, then once per encounter they can deal 1d6 +1d6/2 levels to one 10' radius area.
Special: The escaped slaves do not recover from injuries normally. Each injury box represents the death of one slave; to recovery injuries you have to rescue more slaves. They start with 8 injury boxes.
My players suggested a change to the escaped slaves. Once they have loyalty, they do 1d6 + 1d6 / 3 slaves worth of damage to a 10' area. Once per encounter.
I have not updated the document.
Session 5.
This week's game had one player (druid) missing because he was ill. We also had one player late, so I GM'd his character until he showed up. I had prepared for a special session this week with the Druid, but because he couldn't show, I'm saving it for later. This week, I ended up having to play it by ear.
Starting the session, Cicero the bard and Ron the Cleric of Light were ready for game. While we were waiting for Brin the investigator to show up, I had them roll some random encounters to waste time. The first few days they rolled “No Encounter” and were able to skip ahead closer to Grackltugh. Then they rolled up a Crystal Cavern, which had green glowing quartz crystals scattered throughout the cavern, shedding 10 feet of dim light. Also, 3d6 = 12 Giant Fire Beetles were scavenging through the crystals trying to find food. They were innocently glowing red light in 10’ of bright light and a further 10’ of dim light. While the cleric and the bard were debating the best method for ignoring and bypassing these giant beetles (about the size of a Rottweiler), Ront charged forward yelling Leeroy Jenkins! FOOOODDDD!!!! Prince Derrendil did the same, as well as Brin the Investigator.* This was because - while nourished with Goodberries, some people just can't psychologically handle eating a single berry every day and feeing satisfied. Particularly Ront, Derrendil, and Brin.
*Note: About this time in the game, my Cleric and Bard players informed me that they have no idea what the “Guard’s” name is. Never in the game have they asked his name, and they’ve referred to him as “The Guard” the entire time.
The giant fire beetles were quickly dispatched; only Eldeth was seriously injured. She rolled a 1, followed by the beetle rolling a 20. It broke her arm. Fortunately, the next several days were bypassed with “no encounter” rolls, so I just had the cleric use his knowledge of healing and magic to fix her arm.
----------- ----------- -----------
Note: Change to house rules:
So up until now, we haven’t defined how we give the NPC Cards inspiration. Tonight, we decided that in order to grant an NPC card inspiration, they Player has to do a side-bar explaining – in 2-5 minutes – a scene with them roleplaying with the NPC. If they do it to the muster of the entire group, then the NPC card has inspiration, which a player can use to gain the inspiration ability on the card.
For example, our Cleric has the Slave Background, and he was a slave to Eldeth's family. Tonight, he weaved a story of how he forgave her and her family for keeping him as a slave, and our group loved it. This granted her inspiration which anyone "attuned" to that NPC could use to gain her inspiration ability.
----------- ----------- -----------
Meanwhile…..
They finally noticed the druid was missing. Up until this point, our Druid was taking the rear. He was protecting their backside. When they noticed he was missing, they asked Sarith (which was assigned the second to last spot in the file), who claimed to not notice anything at all. Unbeknownst to the players, he’s been a bit distracted. They’ve also noticed that the new sprouts (Myconid younglings) they’ve picked up have taken an attraction to Sarith. Stool has decidedly not taken an attraction to him; conversely he’s avoided him and keeps near our Cleric (and away from the other myconids). The players haven’t asked him why, yet, but they suspect he's planning a coup.
A few days later, while traversing through rough caverns, small tunnels, high cliffs, backs and forths, feazrezz infused areas, long straight boring tunnels, and more… They’re traveling down a long path when a sudden loud CRACK sounds behind them. They turn to see a glowing lava flow surging out of a fissure that they could have sworn wasn’t there before. Dex saving throws all around, and since our investigator isn’t there, I have to make it for him. I roll a 1.
The bard and cleric make their saves, and we handwave that all the NPCs make it too. The investigator fails and I roll more damage than he has to spare. I decide that the Escaped Slaves spend their inspiration to save him... As everyone is running from the lava surging out, Brin trips and stumbles, and there is very serious risk of him being overcome by the lava. One of the escaped slaves goes rushing towards him, grabs his shoulders and tucks into a roll, using his feet to launch Brin to safety right as the lava spills onto that spot. He sacrificed himself to save Brin.
Brin shows up to game around this time. We catch him up to what’s going on and continue with game. I continue to allow the players to roll the random encounters, because I don’t have a plan (thanks, Druid). Actually, that’s a lie. I’m plannednon running them through….
The next day they encounter a high ledge. 12-18” away from the wall, they have to hug the wall to prevent from falling down into an abyss: a depth so deep that they can barely see the rock with the light spell cast upon it and thrown over the edge. They roll a dex save for every 100’ of ledge.
Brin decides he'll head out first, tied to Eldeth. He believes her to be the strongest member of the group that he can trust. Because they're tied together, they gain advantage on their dex save and if one fails, the other can make a strength check to catch the other. Ron decided that he must go with them, and ties himself to Eldeth on her other side. He then casts light so they can see. The three make it halfway across when they hear something. They stop and listen, and it's words in underdark that sounds like two people arguing in whispers. It's coming from below the ledge, about 20 feet. Brin immediately calls for silence and motions for Ron to drop the light spell. Whoever is down there obviously hasn't seen them yet, and he needs to make sure it's safe before they reveal themselves.
Back at the cave, Cicero is with the rest of the crowd. He sees the light disappear and calls out, "The light went out! Is everyone ok?!"
One of the voices down below sounds startled and says, "Hello? Is someone there?"
Brin yells out an explosive, then casts a light spell on his stick (emulating a maglight) and points it downwards to see a single Derro.
He introduced himself as Y, a member of the Society of Brilliance. He claims to be creating a shorter path to Gracklstugh, and has been working on this switchback path from down below - including a railing for safety! He claims it shaves off a week and will be a boon for caravans, merchants, and travelers.
Cicero immediately takes to him, but Brin is suspicious. Brin wants to ignore that crazy man with white eyes and as he continues along the ledge, Ron just goes ahead and climbs down. After some long-distance echoing debate between Cicero and Brin, they decide to all go down Y's path.
The session ended there, as we had to stop early.
I've asked him to wait until Gracklstugh before making a decision. I don't really know how to tell him that this campaign doesn't have to be combat heavy if they don't want it to be without spoiling anything for him (he hates spoilers). Hell, the primary option for the ending is to convince the demon lords to take each other out, rather than facing them directly. I think that fits exactly with Brin's character type.
Any non-spoiler advice you'd like to give to my player? Or should he just change up characters?
Just ask him to be patient, and in general terms tell him there will be more RP and intrigue aspects "soon."
Like, literally say "There will be more roleplaying and intrigue aspects soon."
|
|
SmiloDan is right, ask Brin to be patient. If he is wanting a more Holmsian(is that even a word?) approach to his investigator then:
As the DM, you'll have to decide if anything comes of the research, such as discovering a method of resisting the effects, negating them altogether on a small scale(PC Party), or maybe on a large scale(Community/city). There could definitely be intrigue opportunities once they arrive at Gracklstugh, but now Brin is already engaged with the Faerzress Effect and anything above and beyond that item is bonus opportunities for the group.
|
I do like the "be the devil on the devil's shoulder" idea, but it's going to be hard to hint at that being a possible outcome. Maybe preview the concept that the demon lords can beat each other through an early preview where one of the less important ones is killed for exposition purposes?
What is the Faerzress Effect? It sounds like a beauty product. ;-)
Also, you don't even have to kill off one of the demon lords if you don't want to. You can just have a rumor of them battling and one fled for its life or something.
|
|
** spoiler omitted **
It also affects Teleportation by increasing the risks of a bad result, so like above, the energy forces a DC 15 Con save to avoid unpleasantness.
It also has a general affect on all spells and casters must roll a d20. If that roll is a 1, the spell has an additional affect determined on the Wild Magic Surge table.
Faerzress is a mixed bag for the PC's, so motivations on what to do about it, assuming anything can be done, are up to the PC's and DM.
Oy, that seems a bit annoying. Rolling every time you cast a spell? What if you're a wild magic sorcerer? Do you roll twice every spell?
|
|
Oy, that seems a bit annoying. Rolling every time you cast a spell? What if you're a wild magic sorcerer? Do you roll twice every spell?
You could rule it that way, and I probably would rule it that way. Faerzress, like I said, is a mixed bag for the PC's and the potential of having a Wild Magic Sorcerer in the group adds some potentially interesting times ;)
Interesting as in the Chinese curse? ;-)
"May you live in interesting times."
Hahahahaha!
Faerzress also provides dim light, so it can help the PCs see better. I've also used it for other random magical effects. For example...
Faerzress can also increase the madness score the longer they stay in it, due to the demonic influence; but I ignored that part in the beginning.
Regarding advice; thank you guys. I did kind of tell him "soon," as I was expecting them to experience Gracklstugh next session; turns out we were delayed a bit.
There was also a part I missed in my last summery:
Session 5 continued:
While settling down for the night, Brin noticed something flashing in Cicero's bag. They emptied his bags and it was the gem they found on the cliffside back in Velkynvelve. The gem flashed a red light like a strobe light, flashing faster and faster until it seems indistinguishable from a single light. At the point, Cicero hacked the gem as far as he could down the cavern and it exploded into 6 dretch demons (radiating out evenly) with a conclusive force. The demons spent their first action to charge inwards, expecting prey to be at the center of their circle. Because the PCs were some 60 feet away, they managed to take care of most of them with ranged weapons and spells, but a few managed to charge the PCs and deal some damage.
So I think another reason for Brin's dissatisfaction is that he keeps missing the RP aspects of the game and making the combat experiences. He missed all of the RP potential from Velkynvelve. He missed the non-combat challenges from this session and last session - and what RP sessions he is made he's been very reactant to participate in because the player views Brin as somewhat xenophobic to the underdark races.
I'm curious what kind of character concept he will think is more fitting for this game. Brin was originally supposed to be for Princes of the Apocolypse, but our gaming table decided on Out of the Abyss after Brin was designed. I'm not sure the player was aware of how different the two campaigns were when he decided to keep Brin.
|
|
Well, at the end of the day, nobody wants to play a character that they really don't feel is a good fit. As much as I would like to see him stick it out because I love the character concept, it might be better to let him choose another concept that he feels will fit the theme of the campaign.
Just shoot him a text or something and ask him what other concept has he given thoughts to that would work.
Well, at the end of the day, nobody wants to play a character that they really don't feel is a good fit. As much as I would like to see him stick it out because I love the character concept, it might be better to let him choose another concept that he feels will fit the theme of the campaign.
I concur. I love the character and I'd like to see Brin stay, but I won't force a player to play something s/he isn't enjoying. This is actually something we had to talk about, because the last time he and I played together, the standing rule was you were punished as a PC for changing characters and shamed as a player for doing it. No matter what level the party was, you always came back as a level 1 character, and the table treated you badly for wanting to play something new "for something as stupid as not enjoying the character." The only legitimate reason to change a character was character death, and then only if you couldn't prevent it.
Yeah, we had a bad group for many years (neither of us were GM back then), which is one of the reasons he stopped playing for so long.
It sounds like the meaty parts of the campaign are really fun, but the bony traveling part is kind of a drag. It sounds like the campaign is set up for 1 session of meaningful story encounters, followed by 2 or 3 sessions of random encounters that aren't that fun.
Maybe if you hand waved the random encounters and focused on the more story-oriented encounters, you and your players will have more fun.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting what you've been saying, but it seems like you (and your players) are really enjoying the non-travel encounters, and all the wacky characters, but are just slogging through the travel grind. You seem really relieved when the players roll no wandering encounters.
Am I wrong?
SmiloDan; that's some excellent advice.
It is exactly what I was aiming for, but my execution of my plan was wrong. I wanted them to experience the travel in two sessions before getting to Gracklstugh. We've now had three (well, two and a half) sessions of it, with a fourth planned.
I think I want to keep that fourth one planned, only because...
I've also asked my other players, and they're loving the travel sessions (so long as it doesn't repeat).
|
|
Yeah, we had a bad group for many years (neither of us were GM back then), which is one of the reasons he stopped playing for so long.
Yeah, I did have a group that made it difficult to change characters, though the GM was not as strict, the other players were not so receptive. It's like an ill fitting shirt; it might not look bad to everyone else, and you might be able to do it for a little bit, but you won't be comfortable.
As for the random encounters, my read through had me wondering if they wouldn't get old after a while. It might be worth it to un-randomize them somewhat, perhaps by doing prep, pre-rolling the encounters, then tweaking them to fit your needs and time considerations. I might do just that...
I know I'm not a big fan of random encounters. I don't mind one or two between big set piece battles or encounters, but a long string of them would drive me a little nuts.
I'm glad your players are really enjoying them--you must be a great DM! :-D
Personally, if I was running a campaign with lots of travel encounters, I would plan out the encounters to give them some zest. But the module might already be doing that.
Using "theater of the mind" is OK for casual encounters, but mapping it out can make the encounter seem more significant.
What's up with the dots? It's the second time you've done it, but you've also posted multiple times, so the thread has already been dotted for you.
I'm not chastising or anything, just kind of baffled.
I know I'm not a big fan of random encounters. I don't mind one or two between big set piece battles or encounters, but a long string of them would drive me a little nuts.
I'm glad your players are really enjoying them--you must be a great DM! :-D
Personally, if I was running a campaign with lots of travel encounters, I would plan out the encounters to give them some zest. But the module might already be doing that.
Using "theater of the mind" is OK for casual encounters, but mapping it out can make the encounter seem more significant.
We used to use maps all the time. I've been using theater of the mind so far for this game, mostly because the grid is much less important in 5e than in PF. I'm planning on using the grid for major encounters, we just haven't encountered one yet.
As for random encounters, OotA is set up so 2/3 of the random encounters while traveling are landscape encounters. Crossing a narrow rope bridge, climbing a cliff to get to the passage at the top, hugging a ledge above a chasm, crossing a muck pit... Things like that. The other 1/3 are creature encounters (although that demon encounter was a planned encounter by me as a set up for next session).
Oh, and thanks for the compliment. :)
Oh, OK. Thanks.
I know I personally am a big fan of tactical movement and drawing maps. Probably my least favorite thing about 5th Ed (besides the willy-nilly monster design) is the lack of flanking bonus. I know there is an optional rule in the DMG, but it's just not the same for some reason.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I think UA came up with lists like that. Or at least the WotC site has something similar.
But it is annoying. And it's annoying that when browsing through the spell descriptions, it doesn't list what class can cast that spell.
Session 6.
Long post. We played for much longer than usual. Nine hours vs our normal 5-6 hours.
Update with Brin: He’s decided to keep playing the character until the character dies. He has stated that he will not do anything to further the death of Brin, but if it happens he does not want me to pull any GM shenanigans to save his life. Also, the player loves the game; his issue is not with him and the game, it’s with the character concept and the campaign – they just don’t mesh as well as he would like. He says it’s ok, and that he wants to continue with Brin as long as he can.
-----------------------------------------------------
The players for Aryndren and Ron came over early, so we started the session with Aryndren’s “Spirit Journey.” Last time, they noticed that Aryndren mysteriously left the party during the journey; this time, we detail where he went. At some point, Aryndren heard a calling; a voice in the back of his mind requesting help to save the earth – save the land. He followed the voice, concentrating on his connection to the stones and dirt. As he walked further and further, he could see the desecration of the land; beasts were becoming more savage and leaving more kills than typical, the bodies of their slain just laid about to rot. Metal spikes were jutting from the walls, floors, and ceiling - some bearing the bodies of humanoids slain, others waiting to impale. The spikes seemed to jut out of the earth, as if they grew from the inside rather than driving in from the outside.
As he came to the source of the defilement, he instantly recognized the demonic presence: servants of Yeenaghu. From around a stalagmite, a Gnoll Fang of Yeenaghu stepped out, ready for food, ready for carnage. Aryndren, never afraid to fight against the corrupting influence of the demons, transformed into a bear and charged. The battle was long and arduous; twice was Aryndren beaten out of Bear form*, all his spells were expended – but luck was on his side. Both Aryndren and the Gnoll Fang were bloodied and broken when Aryndren casts Shillelagh and walloped the gnoll to death before its poisonous jaws could inflict another wound. As the champion of Yeenaghu’s spirit left its body, the land around Aryndren started to heal. The metal spikes began receding and the beasts began to calm. Aryndren spent the next several days re-consecrating the land and burying all the bodies he could find.
*Note: From our understanding, moon druids use their animal’s HP, and when they’re knocked to 0, they revert back to humanoid (or elven, in this case) form. If they are knocked beyond 0 HP, the damage is carried over to the druid’s actual HP. Effectively, shapeshifting grants temp HP. If this is wrong, please correct me and we can go with more accurate rules.
Aryndren also found some treasure – a pile of copper, silver, and gold coins as well as some magical trinkets. He found a Druid’s Collar that gives +1 to Nature checks, a quiver that grants Temp HP when the bearer kills an opponent (temp HP = CR of slain foe), a set of bracers that grant advantage to one saving throw per day, and a cape with four uses of Heroism. I wanted to give the party some nifty magic items and we rolled randomly using the generator linked above. We meta-gamed this part and I just told them what the items did without them having to cast identify or anything. However, all four items required attunement to use, so they needed a short rest to benefit from them.
After the burials and consecrating, Aryndren started to move on. But before he could get far, the world started to rumble and shake. An explosion caused deep underground tectonic plates to shift, leading to some massive earthquakes and cave-ins. Aryndren found his passage back blocked, but not far ahead was a similar sight: his Temple.
And this explains how I got Aryndren to have enough XP to be in line with the other PCs.
GM Backstory: Our table hasn’t used XP in a long time. We’ve been progressing in levels as the story naturally called for leveling. This worked really well in Pathfinder Adventure Paths. It could work well in Out of the Abyss, but I decided to dabble in XP once again just to see how it plays out. I’m still not sure which one I like better, and both work well. However, as much as we loved abandoning XP back when we played APs, we love using XP here. It certainly has a different feel.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Around this time, the player for Cicero showed up. So, scene cut, camera pans back over to our luckless gem-exploding-demon-fighting-escaped-slave-survivors. They felt similar shifts and rumbles from the demon-gem explosion, and the path forward to Gracklstugh became blocked by a cave-in. Backtracking a little bit led them to another path, which led to a surprising sight in the Underdark – a temple.
GM Note: I had Aryndren’s player give me details about his temple so we could use it for this session.
Once our heroes survivors managed to realize that their lost druid was found and that this was his home, everyone noticeably relaxed. Not only was there clean water and preserved foods (Aryndren has been gone long enough that perishables have perished, but the preserved goods were still good), but there was also a place to bathe and beds to sleep in. It was heaven. Also, once they went to sleep, they found the Bad Dreams were completely gone. This place seemed to have some sort of protective effect from the Bad Dreams.
But before they went to sleep, they decided to have a conference. What’s going on with Sarith? Why are the new Myconid sprouts following him? They discussed the potential coup and dismissed it after some thought; it’s just the myconids that are following him, not anyone else. They asked Stool, and he said that the other sprouts felt wrong. They decided to interrogate Sarith a la police interrogation tactics. Going to get Sarith, they found the sprouts dancing around him and it took a bit of handling to get them to leave Sarith alone.
In a side room with nothing but a desk, some chairs, and a light spell cast on a stick hanging from the ceiling (swinging back and forth, sending shadows dancing across the walls), they interviewed Sarith. Cicero talked to him first, and Sarith’s responses were that of someone very much out-of-it. He only responded with “yeah” and “nah” and “ok man.” Getting information out of him was challenging. Cicero decided to try a different tactic and interview the sprouts. “Come dance with us!” they cried out after spraying him with some telepathic spores…
Meanwhile, in the interview room, Brin decided to talk. “Who are you, why are you here, are you planning on killing anyone? Who did this to you?” Question after question came out like a rapid fire hand crossbow. In the middle of the questioning, Brin realized that Sarith was responding with lucidity. “I don’t know what happened. I keep losing my memory. I keep going into a daze. I don’t know if I killed the soldier. Maybe I did. Maybe they’re framing me. You’re not framing me. Are you? Where am I?” Once Brin caught on, the questions became more direct, the answers more readily spilled from the lips of Sarith.
Cicero took a risk and allowed the Myconid sprouts to spore him for telepathic communication. It’s a risk, because they suspected the sprouts were the cause of Sarith’s odd behavior. Did they mind-control Sarith with their spores? Was it the dance? Cicero questions the sprouts about the types of spores they had (just the telepathic communication spores) and where they came from. They claimed to be on a march to dance the dance of the mushroom folk, and they wanted everyone to join them. Cicero also asked Stool what this meant and Stool had no idea, the myconids do not march and they do not dance. This is not something that myconids did. Back at the sprouts, Cicero asked them why they marched and danced if they’ve never done it before, and they said a great new lady showed them how and they believed her. She was a Great Lady. She was The Lady. He asked her what she looked like, and they said The Lady was tall and red and wonderful and would he like to dance with them? They loved dancing and he should dance with them.
Brin discovered that Sarith has been feeling at odds with himself long before the sprouts came to join, it’s just that no one seemed to notice. Sarith relayed the story of how he was accused of murder, but he has no recollection of it, and that’s why he was in the slave pits of Velkynvelve to begin with. He has no idea how it happened or why it’s happening. He’s not entirely sure what’s going on. Brin asked if he would be ok with them keeping him locked up – at least in manacles – so he doesn’t pose a danger to himself or anyone else. Sarith agreed, and pleaded with Brin to save his mind before he lost all control of reality.
No one seemed to know who this great red lady was. When they asked Sarith if he knew anything, he suggested that it may be a demon. The Drow’s matron mothers had been summoning demons to serve them for the past several months by command of Lolth – ever since they lost their last war against the dwarves on the surface (and despite them allying with Tiamat and the chromatic dragons). At the mention of potential demons, Cicero suggested demon lords, to which Brin scoffed and said there was no such thing – a fantasy – like the gods. Ron was taken aback by the statement, and a religious argument ensued. In the midst of the debate, something sparked in Aryndren’s mind and he recalled a demonic defiler, a lord amongst the demons who twisted and manipulated the fungal organisms – a large red woman named Zuggtmoy. They believed they found their culprit behind Sarith’s and the sprout’s behavior.
--------------------------------------------------
The next morning, after everyone was receiving some solid and much need rest, a body was discovered in Sarith’s chamber. It was one of the slaves Brin had rescued. The body was cut up in a ritualistic manner, organs rearranged in a precise fashion, the blood around the corpse was drawn in with strange symbols. Sarith had bloody clothing. Brin became enraged. He grabbed Sarith and slammed him against the wall, screaming at him “Why did you do it? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?!?” Cicero examined the body and determined it was done as some sort of religious ritual, but neither Ron or Aryndren could figure out who it was to. Sarith claimed innocence, and after Brin calmed down he took a closer look at the body and the blood on the floor; he determined that Sarith was right and he was innocent. There simply was not enough blood on Sarith’s clothes for him to have done this. And there was no blood on his hands. He was being framed. The next question was “who?”
Brin went to every single person in the temple and demanded to look at their clothing and their hands, and questioned them on where they were during the last few hours. It had to be within the last few hours, because Brin had the midnight shift for guard duty and it didn’t happen on his shift. It happened on the last shift (there were only three shifts). That shift belonged to Aryndren, but he didn’t see anything in particular. “What were you doing on guard? You were supposed to guard Sarith!” “No one said anything about that. I was patrolling the entire temple and making sure no one came in from the entrance.”
Most everyone was willing to help, but no one seemed to see anything. Strangely, though, there were a few who were extra clean – unusually clean with unusually clean weapons, including Aryndren, Buppido, Prince Derendil, and Eldeth. Ront was dismissed out of hand as a beast; if he killed you, you’d know it. He wouldn’t obsess over it. Eldeth seemed to care more about her shield and Warhammer than she did about any blades, so she was dismissed. Prince Derendil claimed to have not done it, and offered what help he could. Buppido flew into a rage at the accusation, screaming cries of racism. “You’re just looking for a scapegoat! You always blame the Derro! Every one of you hates the derro and you always blame us! Of course you’d think it was me!” His tirade did not stop for some time. When Ron tried to calm him down, Buppido let out a string of curses and tried to walk away. Ron tried to stop him, and Buppido tried to stab Ron. Before Ron could retaliate, Cicero cast Hold Person and Buppido froze solid. Ron picked him up by the throat and held him against the wall.
Brin, on the other hand, fully believed Buppido. “That’s true anger. When guilty people are accused, they don’t fly into a rage, they try to fake it. Like you did, Cicero, when you lied to me upon our introduction.” Brin wasn’t sure who did it; everyone seemed to be telling the truth. But all they know is that whoever did it washed up and cleaned their knives afterwards.
About this time, another earthquake started, and the temple started collapsing. The entryway collapsed, sealing them in the temple. One of the escaped slaves came running to Brin, out of breathe, “The ceiling opened up, revealing another story to the temple!” Aryndren was confused, “this is a single story building, there is no upstairs.” But they had no time to ponder, the earthquake was still shaking and they needed to get out. They grabbed everyone and made their way up through the new path. Buppido was released of his Hold Person and tied up securely with rope.
The quake stopped by the time everyone was up in the new room, but not all was safe. There was a steady stream of water flowing down the hallways and pouring into Aryndren’s temple below. Ron took the time to question Buppido again, this time asking about the strange religious symbols found drawn in the blood and body; Buppido claimed that he didn’t know what Ron was talking about, but Ron strongly suspected he was lying. A twitch of the eyes, a shifty look – something about him said “LIE!”
Up ahead there was a strange greenish gleam taking up the width of the hallway with two floating eyes towards the center-top. “Hello?” echoed through the minds of everyone present. “Are... you friendly?” it queried. Ron was afraid, and wanted to destroy it before yet another horror of the Underdark tried to kill them all. Cicero was delighted; it’s a gelatinous cube that’s sentient! Cicero tried to befriend the cube.
During their conversation, four grey oozes came out of the walls and attacked the walking food (aka the party). They were defeated, but not before Aryndren’s armor was destroyed and Brin’s weapons were almost destroyed. A quick Mending spell fixed the damaged equipment, but Aryndren’s armor was too far gone. Once things calmed down, they noticed some coin and a mace inside Glabagool, and he shed them for the party to take. Brin determined it was magical and Ron accepted the mace for himself (no one else wanted it). They did not know what it did, and Brin wouldn’t be able to prepare Identify until the next day.
Cicero explained to everyone else exactly what was going on with Glabagool – which he was a gelatinous cube (some of them have never heard of one) and that he must have gained sentience somehow. It wasn’t the first time they encountered this; back at Velkynvelve, when Cicero and Ron were saving Eldeth in the waters below the waterfall, they encountered a Grey Ooze that telepathically screamed “flesh for the Faceless Lord!” Whoever the Faceless Lord was must be giving these oozes sentience. After all, Glabagool could only remember waking up a few months ago, and he knows nothing of anything before that. Once Cicero discovered that Glabagool knew nothing of anything, really, he invited it to accompany him – after all, “every sentient being deserves an education.” And one point of inspiration for Cicero. (The PCs have been gaining and using inspiration throughout the campaign, this is the first time I as the GM gave out inspiration. Remember, we have a house-rule that has the players handing out inspiration). Once Ron understands how Glabagool works (and sees the digesting remains of something – maybe a drow? – inside the transparent Glabagool, he stuffs Buppido into Glabagool feet first and demands to know why he’s lying, what the symbols mean, and why he killed the slave. Buppido screamed out from the pain, “Alright! I did it! I killed him!” Everyone was mad at Ron, “torture doesn’t work, Ron, they’ll only tell you what you want to hear.” Ron pulled Bupiddo out of Glabagool and Aryndren healed Buppido. They fell into silence after that and continued on.
As they traveled further into the unknown temple, they discovered the source of the flowing water: the ceiling was pouring a slow waterfall (slow by waterfall standards) into an overflowing pool and it was pouring out into the hallway. It was at this point that Aryndren realized that his poor temple was going to be flooded – permanently.
Still wanting to find a way back on the trail to Gracklstugh, the team tried the only other path available; four hallways lined up one after the other branching off the main hallway, all going in the same direction. They investigated one and discovered a pit trap that dropped into inky blackness. Ron through a lit coin down and discovered another ooze down there. A few Sacred Flame cantrips saw the death of it. (GM note: the book has Black Puddings in these traps, but that was way too dangerous for this level, so I downgraded them). Cicero jumped the pit trap and continued on. He found a brackish pool of water in a fount, with several items inside: a dagger, some potions, some coin, and some bracelets. Brin was able to determine that the dagger and the potions were magical. There were also some strange statues in the room, and when Cicero touched one, it became alive and a grey ooze attacked him.
After realizing that there was no way out, they went back to the waterfall to see if there was a way up the waters. Requesting the advice of Shuushar, he suggested that they must be below an underground river or lake. Maybe Darklake. If it was a river, there was a potential to collapse the ceiling to increase the waterfall rate, then swim up and find a shoreline. If it was the lake, then they had the same potential, but there was a lot of dangerous animals living in those waters. Cicero then asked Glabagool if he could swim and if he could squeeze up through the ceiling to see what’s up there. He did so, and a while later came back with good news: it’s a river and there’s a shoreline where they could get out. They set the plan in motion and escaped the flooded temple. It was harrowing, and there were some close calls on drowning, but everyone survived. Even the manacled Sarith and the tied/bound Buppido (who was carried by Ron).
----------------------------------------------------
Once on the shore, they took a long rest (almost everyone was out of spells after the battles with the grey oozes). The next morning, they identified their magic items: the dagger increased accuracy and damage by about 5% (+1 dagger), one potion was greater healing, the other was Vaseline Oil of Slipperiness, and the mace would light up like a torch in green flame and add 1 point of fire damage.
Another thing a new day brought was a realization on just how close they were to Gracklstugh. Shuushar said that they’re close to Darklake, maybe a mile or so, and they could ride the waters to the lake and find a shoreline to get out. Eldeth suggested that they take a path and see where it leads, even though they don’t know if it’ll help. They opted for the river, and everyone jumped in. They slowly bobbed down the river and after a few miles it opened up like a delta and slowed drained into the lake. Everyone scrambled to shore. Looking around, they could see many glowing areas in the distance. The one that was closest glowed orange, and Cicero immediately recognized it as the glowing furnaces of Gracklstugh.
Cicero goes on to explain the Gracklstugh, the culture of the Duergar, and the general layout of the city. They plan out their options: swim to the docks and try to sneak in and meld with the crowd or take the tunnels to a gate and try to talk their way in.
There were some issues, though. What do they do with Buppido? What about Sarith and the Sprouts? They still feared that Sarith or the Sprouts would explode when they got to a populated city, spreading these infesting spores and forcing more people to become victims of some demonic parasitic fungus. As much as they Duergar were evil, no one deserved that fate.
Brin decided to question Buppido again, “Look, if you tell the truth, we can let you go. Just tell me, what do the symbols mean? I don’t care if you killed him or not, just tell me what they mean.” After a short tirade of Bupiddo claiming innocence and that they were just trying to blame the Derro, he finally admitted that the symbols were religious symbols for a Derro god. “That’s why we didn’t recognize them!” Aryndren exclaimed. “What Derro god?” Brin pressed. “Me,” Buppido said, a snarl on his lips and madness in his eyes. And then the madness faded from his eyes and the snarl from his lips, as Brin’s blade entered the Derro’s heart. And here we mark the first death of a named NPC.
With their one guide to Gracklstugh dead, they had to figure out what to do next. Continue into Gracklstugh? For what? Was there a route to the surface here? Not that anyone was sure of, their primary hope was to get information to getting to the surface. “What?” Brin yelled, “I thought this was our route out of here, not a stepping stone to yet another horrid Underdark city for another maybe of escape. We need to get out!” “There’s always Mantol Derith” suggested Shuushar, “the Zhentarim run the city and they most certainly have a way to the surface.” “I don’t know,” said Brin, “they’re a bunch of thieves and assassins, I don’t think we can trust them.” Cicero pipped in, “Assassins, yes, but they always keep their contract; we would just have to make a deal with them. The cost may be too high for us, though.”
How would they get there, anyways? They’d need a boat. Well, there’s still the Gracklstugh docks, they could get a boat (buy, steal, or rent) and then make their way across the Darklake. Yes; that’s what they’ll do. They’ll get into Gracklstugh to get a boat, and then figure out what to do from there.
So how to get into the city. They could swim or take the tunnels to a gate. They lined up the pros and cons for each. Docks: avoid the guards, meld into the population, but show up with 20 some people all soaking wet (or at least however many went). Guards: come in dry, but risk getting enslaved by the Duergar. After nearly an hour and a half real time, they decide on going through the tunnels to the gate. They need a disguise, so they’ll pose as slavers selling slaves to the market. Some of them will pretend to be slaves (with two PCs posing as slaves in case they get split up), while the rest would pose as the slavers. They assign Jimjar, Topsy and Turvy, Ront, Derendil, Cicero, Shuushar, and Aryndren as the slavers. There’s a bit of a problem with Shuushar’s passivism, but he promises to try and look threatening so they can sneak in to the city. There’s also a problem with Prince Derendil – he is way too foppish, way too dressed up for the part, and he has adornments which the Duergar have banned (Duergar culture says that adornments for the sake of adornment shall be tossed aside as foolish – and foolish people are enslaved). Also, Derendil speaks with a proper elvish accent, so he’s not allowed to speak until they’re safely in the city.
And with that, we closed the session with their plan to enter Gracklstugh, somehow acquire a boat, and then row into the lake to find a new route out of the Underdark.
Tonight’s session earned them all enough XP to level up to 4!
--------------------------------------
This will be Brin’s level to gain an archetype. We’ve been discussing the Investigator archetype, and he doesn’t really like it – too much of it is about being a commander or director, aiding others in battle instead of investigating or engaging in battle himself. He wants something that benefits him more, so we’re going to come up with a homebrew design for his character. Any help would be welcome.
After the game, we were also discussing Background Features and what they meant. Each background feature gives a strong roleplaying advantage – Cicero automatically knows stuff about the Underdark without having to roll knowledge checks, and if he doesn’t, then he knows someone who does. Aryndren can’t really get lost, can always backtrack his steps, and can forage for food for up to 6 people without making survival checks. But what does Brin get? Advantage on grapple and others get disadvantage to pick his pocket. Plus he gets in good with guards. The point is that his Feature seems to be more combat focused that RP focused. So we’ve decided on changing his feature to something more helpful.
At this point, Ron’s player declares that Brin’s isn’t so bad. After all, his own is worthless. All it lets him do is find the service entrance to locations. And then everyone stops talking and stares at him. “What?” both Cicero’s and Brin’s players yell at the same time. Brin’s player continues, “You mean we’ve spent that last two hours trying to plan out how to sneak past the guards and your background feature just lets you waltz right in?!?! WTF man!” Ron’s player admits defeat, “Oh, I guess it’s not as useless as I thought.” So next week, I suspect they’ll have an entirely new plan for getting in to Gracklstugh.
|
|
Very nice and detailed brother; that was a fun read. I'm glad that he's sticking with his Investigator, and hopefully as time goes on, he might change his tune regarding character death.
As far as your understanding of the Druid's shape shifting ability, you're pretty much spot on, except that it applies to all druids regardless of the path they chose. Circle of the Moon Druids are allowed to shift into more powerful (higher CR) forms. At level 6, they are allowed their level/3 CR form options.
Yeah, totally my bad on that last part. Well, to be fair, it's the servant's entrance. I'm not sure if there would be one on the outside of a city wall, but we'll see.