11th session: The deck

6th moon, 16th day, year 4553

After defeating the demon and the undead, the T'orgh brothers decide to stay in the cave and rest until the morning. Little do they know that the orcs which Nalfein and Ukerin scared off a couple of days ago, have been tracking them while getting reinforcements. So while they are sound asleep, except for Nalfein who is on guard, the orcs try to sneak up on them. Nalfein hears them though, and sounds the alarm. The 25 orcs, bolstered by 2 ogres attack, but are no match for magic and weapons of the dark elves, and soon they are all dead and the brothers can go back to sleep.

In the morning, the T'orghs turn south towards Menzo and start walking.

6th moon, 17th day, year 4553

At some point during the afternoon, the four dark elves are attacked by a swarm of stirges. While noone is killed, it is certainly close as the brothers learn that hitting a stirge attached to someone else or one self, for that matter, can be difficult at times.

6th moon, 20th day, year 4553

After more days of travelling south, the brothers are once again interrupted in their sleep, as two large brown bears wander into their camp. Luckily for everyone, including the bears, Nalfein is prepared for such an eventuality and casts Invisibility to Animals on them all, so the bears can't detect them.

6th moon, 21st day, year 4553

The next night, the brothers are only a short way from Menzo. They are assaulted by 5 werewolves, but this time around, the fight goes much more smoothly. They eat some belladonna afterwards, thinking they should be able to make it back to Menzo before passing out. However, as they arrive in Menzo, they realize that the belladonna hasn't made them ill this time around. It only works within a day of being collected.

They hurry home and get checked by one of their brothers. No sign of the curse.

6th moon, 22nd day, year 4553

The brothers take a trip down to scumtown to their favorite ID-mage, Al'zar, after Ukerin fails yet again to ID the maul. They learn that they have a bag of holding, a +1 scimitar, a ring of invisibility and a Deck of Many Things, a very powerful magical item. You can draw one card, and one card only, but you risk dieing or worse. After some debate, Tagar makes the draw. He is lucky and gets a card that magically enhances his physique.

6th moon, 23rd day, year 4553

Back at the palace, the brothers chill and train for about 10 days, waiting for their father to give them the go ahead.

7th moon, 3rd day, year 4553

Father finally summons them, and tell them that there is a spy in the House, and that they have 8 days to kill Zirgox of house Tuin. He suspects Razz, but the brothers are also somewhat suspicious of Ze'kar, their brother.

Nalfein, using his new ring, follows Razz around, while he makes contact with the spy network he evidently has. Razz stops to sleep in a room in Scumtown, and Nalfein waits outside.

7th moon, 4th day, year 4553

When Razz leaves, Nalfein slips into the room using wraithform, and notices amongst other a book, hidden away.

7th moon, 5th day, year 4553

After returning home and talking to his brothers, Nalfein makes another attempt, this time he tries to get the book. It is however magically protected and explodes when Nalfein fails to get it opened correctly.

Posted with Blogsy

10th session: The corpse's map

5th moon, 26th day, year 4553 
As the brothers are sitting around in Nalfein's room, talking about their options, there is a knock on the door. Outside is a 3 year old human girl.The oracle. She enters the room without a word, almost as if in a catatonic state. She then speaks, with a voice neither male nor female, but decisively not her own.

"One mind has no house. the eternal deals with the One foe. One soul has one house. and the future of One enemy sleeps with the past of the house. Menzo will wage the war on each other And see one house for the sons of fate."

Ukerin mentions that there is an angel from the 7th Heavens that has the nickname "the eternal". The brothers bring her back to father. She was apparently held in a guest room, warded by father himself. Now there are also guards watching her.

As they return from seeing the Oracle back to her room, Ze'kar stops by, asking for more info about scrolls. He then leaves. The T'orgh brothers decide to finally find about the map, and hires Zz'arc the sage to find out the location of Aru'tha Argith's hidden tomb.

5th moon, 27th day, year 4553 
While waiting on Zz'arc, the brothers decide to gather some info on their up and coming target, Zirgox of House Tuin. Raheem, who otherwise seems preoccupied with carving his bow full of lightning symbols, heads into the street and asks around, while hovering near the Tuin Palace, in case Zirgox comes out. He doesn't. But Raheem does find out that Zirgox regularly visits a local mage, called Lekrax, who has a "shop", where he sells spell components. But no sign of Zirgox himself.

6th moon, 7th day, year 4553 
After getting the location of Aru'tha Argith's tomb, which apparently has been moved to Menzo, the brothers set out to find it, so that they can find the cave on the map.

Since the killing of Zirgox is still about a month away, the brothers get permission to go from father, High Priest Venar of House T'orgh.

6th moon, 7th day, year 4553
The T'orghs leave for tomb of Aru'tha Argith

6th moon, 8th day, year 4553 
In the wee hours of the morning, the brothers are attacked by wolves. Nalfein uses his divine powers to hide the brothers from the pack, but unfortunately, these are not normal wolves, but instead werewolves. The fight is short but brutal, with Ukerin almost dieing.

In the morning, Raheem and Nalfein go look for Belladonna as Ukerin has said it can cure lycanthropy. They find the herb, and all 4 brothers take some. They soon get very ill, and find a cave, where they pass out.

6th moon, 10th day, year 4553 
2 days later, Ukerin and Nalfein wake up in the cave. Tagar and Raheem are still out from the belladonna. The day goes by, and as the sun is about to go down, a storm hits the area. Through the rain and thunder, Nalfein can hear orc voices. They are seeking shelter from the rain. Soon, the two spellcasters find themselves in a staredown with 25 orcs. With a little help from the threat of the wands, the brothers manage to scare off the orcs, who know better than to fuck around with dark elves.

6th moon, 11th day, year 4553 
The next day, the two other brothers wake up from their coma and they all 4 set out for the cave.

6th moon, 15th day, year 4553 
They walk for 4 days and finally arrive at the lake and cave on the map. They sneak up on the cave, and suddenly find themselves facing a treant. Huge and made of tree, the treant is still no match for the swords, bow and magic of the brothers and they soon proceed to enter the cave.

After following a short tunnel, they find themselves in an empty cavern, except for a sarcophagus. As they enter the room, Ukerin feels the threads of magic, filling the room. Unfortunately he can't quite discern how the magic works. Tagar loses patience and enters the room, opening the casket. A skeleton with fire in it's chest attacks them, while some sort of guardian demon materializes behind them.

The fight is brutal, with both monsters being immune or resistant to many of the brothers' tools. But in the end, they kill the monsters and claim the loot. 8000 gold, a magical bag, scimitar, ring and deck of cards.

Posted with Blogsy

Rumors and happenings around Menzo

Three weeks ago, while holding extensive drills to the west, the Argith army ran into a drow force heading towards Menzo. Their attack was thus foiled and must were killed. Their survivors claimed the Raven Queen herself had appeared before them and ordered the death of a human girl in Menzo.

Talks of integration with humans has hit the streets, which has caused some unrest. The populace seems oddly split, and while individuals speak aloud and often against, while Houses are openly for or against. House Mizzryn appears to be the only house that does not participate. Noone from that brings up the subject.

With all the talk of integration, House Vrinn seems to come prepared. They have allegedly made a new alliance with several noble houses of the humans.

The relatively small House of Dhalmass, is rumored to have fallen out of favor amongst the most powerful. Apparently High Priest E'toe and High Priest Q'lor have had a serious split, and many expect an attack, sooner than later.

House Vrinn is not the only house that can make deals. Younger members of House Tuin have been bragging about a new trade alliance that will bring in big money and power, but nothing has been announced yet.

 

Posted with Blogsy

9th session: The conspiracy

5th moon, 16th day, year 4553
The T'orghs spend some time in Menzo, honing their skills. Raheem learns to fight in the dark from Tagar. Raheem also crafts a composite bow. Meanwhile, Ukerin tries to ID the maul, but no luck.

5th moon, 23th day, year 4553
Mistress Quira informs Raheem that they caught an orc snooping around the palace. The orc in question was not a house slave, nor a mercenary affiliated with House T'orgh. They tortured the greenskinned humanoid, and it got around mentioning secret meetings and weapons in Menzo before it died. It also mentioned the Yellow Fountain, a fountain in Scumtown, which stones have turned yellow from a longforgotten magical event.

5th moon, 24th day, year 4553
The brothers headed back into Scumtown, and soon located the fountain. From there, it didn't take them long to figure out which building the orc had been talking about. One of the blocks had every single window up to the third floor blocked, so that noone could see from the outside and in.
The T'orghs found a way in (through a wall), soon found themselves in sort of a warehouse (walls and floors had been removed). They fought a score of orcs, and when they were dead, they found evidence of multiple locations similar to this one (map), as well as evidence of what was in the boxes. Weapons and armors by the thousands. Someone was obviously trying to equip an army. The only drow there was later IDed as a young noble of House Xiltynn.

In the other side of the building, the brothers faced two brothers and a pet basilisk in a room full of war dogs. More evidence of something largescale and nefarious was going on.
Father was very happy with all the weapons and all the dogs. He even gave them a bonus for all the hard work they had done.

5th moon, 25th day, year 4553
Father told them that soon, they would have to kill Zirgox, noble of house T'uin, the eleventh house. The goal would be to provoke house T'uin into a war that House T'orgh would surely win.

Notes: 

ID mage does not have the Strength spell.

Birthdays:

Ukerin 12/7

Nalfein 29/8

Tagar 25/9

Raheem 11/9

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Visual overview of campaign

 

Posted with Blogsy

Random thoughs on the dndnext playtest packet #2

Backgrounds
Generally looks good. A bit worried about the amount of skills. Can't make up my mind whether there are just too many, or if that is a good thing.


DM guidelines
I have read it over many times, and every time, I gasp and shudder. Decide on a DC after a player has rolled. So basically, cheat if they fail? Well, as a DM who rolls almost every roll out in the open, I think that is a very poor idea. Of course, such advice would never affect my campaigns, so I might as well not care. But still, IMO, the very best campaigns spring from players learning and knowing there are consequences, instead of being guided and railroaded through a DM's wet dream of a fantasy story. On the other hand, the advice about ignoring the dice is very important and can't be repeated enough. Even after 22+ years as a DM, I still fuck up at times and forget to skip the check, even when a player has said and done all the right things. If I recall correctly, it actually cost me a campaign once, because the failed check led to a TPK.


Also, page 3, under options for checks, it says that there are four different options. Hazards, requirements, skills and ... Is it just me or is the fourth option missing?


Equipment
The balance between light, medium and heavy armor has definitely improved since the last playtest, but I am not sure they are exactly where they need to be just yet. Fighters wearing plate and shield top at AC19, while a rogue with Mithral chain will be at AC18. One point of difference isn't much. And if the rogue is a dual-wielder, he equals the AC of the fighter. IMO, that is not how things should be. I think the key is to make the shield better. Shield has tradionally been the weakest choice for most classes, and I think it is high time that WotC fixes that.


How to play
Advantage and disadvantage is still a lovely mechanic, but I am still confused as to when exactly I should use it, and when I should use regular bonuses and penalties. Every time I hear an example from the designers, I get even more confused.


I also like the dying mechanics and the fact that it takes longer to bleed out the higher level you are. It was always weird that no matter how high level and how many hit points you had, you still died just as quick as soon as you went down.

Regarding the stacking of spell effects, I find it unclear. Do penalties from the same spell stack? The stacking part of the text only mentions bonuses.


Changes
Changing the short rest so that others can use herbal kits on your unconscious character was likewise a smart move. Not to mention that it makes total sense in a real world context.


Races
I must admit, I really like the racial fluff, they seemed to have nailed the standard elf, dwarf and halfling. Certainly better than what we have seen from the last couple of editions. I am however not a fan of the absolutes they have baked into the mechanics of the dwarves and the elves, namely the poison and charm immunities.


Speaking of elves, I like that they are back as a race that gets really old. Why I understood and even appreciated the change that happened in 4e, I must admit that I prefer my elves to be old - or at least be able to become really old. I also like that the all-awareness trance they had in 4e (and 2e using complete book of elves iirc) is gone. I like the dynamics surrounding guard duty, and the opportunities the guard duty gives, both for me, but also for my players. Because lets face it, having an elf that can guard while resting kinda removes the need for others to stand guard.


The worst part about the races has got to be the humans. While I do appreciate that the designers want to make human at least as viable race as the others, I do not think this is the way to go. Give them bonuses to saves, skills or anything else, but leave the stat increases for the demi-humans, just like back in the day.


Specialties
Specialties are going to be brilliant, I have no doubt. Already we have so many combinations to create unique and interesting characters in a simple and quick way, but they have got to be careful of the balance. As it is now, the healer specialty is a must-have in any group. It is hard to imagine any group not picking that up, unless they are super-hardcore roleplayers that participate in a campaign where the characters never engage in combat.


Spells
Aid: Too weak. Roll a 1 and you burn a 3rd level spell to prevent (at best) 3 hit points in total. Compare that to Prayer, which will drastically (especially if you consider the current to-hits from monsters) reduce monsters abilities to hit you and your allies. Unless you know you and yours will only take spell damage, there is no reason to ever use Aid, even if you roll average to well.

Augury: Love the chance of failure due to multiple castings. It was a good idea to lower the cost of the spell, so that it would see more use, but with the ritual mechanics, it could easily be abused at higher levels, if they hadn't introduced the failure.

Charm Person: So, if you have less than max 25 hit points, you are charmed, no save, no nothing? Seems very powerful.

Command: Just like Charm Person, but at least this is just for a round, not for an hour. Make more "sense".


Dispel Magic: Big fan of the auto-dispelling of lower level spells.


Hold Person: You can end the paralysis with a save, but the movement 0 part always lasts a minute and affects all creatures?


Inflict Wounds: Gotta love that inflict is somewhat more potent than Cure Wounds. Traditionally, it was always kinda a waste to use the inflict line of spells, but now there seems to be some merit to choosing them.


Classes
Cleric: Seems to me that Channel Divinity worked better when it was based on wisdom, instead of a fixed (but increasing) number of times per day. Once per day (for the first 3 levels) does feel like very little help, if it was meant to help the cleric avoid memorizing all but healing spells. Speaking of memorization, I like the pseudo spontaneous casting that the dndnext cleric has got going. Memorize, but use your spell slots for any kind of combination of the memorized spells.


Fighter: Expertise dice. Impressive idea, but needs some finetuning. For example, refreshing them at the start of your turn means that if you do damage, you can't block for others as a reaction, and if you keep dice to help, you lose damage as you might not need to block for others. Makes damage the logical choice, and the only likely choice. Same thing with other abilities, such as Cleave. If the fighter hits the enemy, and he keeps an expertise die in reserve in case he has the possibility to cleave another enemy, he might very well lose said dice. Most likely, he will use them all when he hits, because why take a chance and gimp yourself needlessly

Rogue: Do Thieves Cant cover any sort of communication? Or just cloak and dagger stuff like in old editions?


Wizards: Seems to me that getting intelligence modifier in spells every time you level is a lot. I mean, we will quickly see a lot of INT 20 wizards who get 5 spells every time. Also, if a wizard wants to learn an unusual spell, what is the DC? Beats me.

I do like that the wizard is now able to stagger his memorization, or at least that is how I read the rules. So for example, if you have 4 first level spells, you might memorize 3 of them, and keep a slot open for eventualities. Shouldn't be too hard to find 1 minute at some point. Even better is the fact that if you are missing your spellbook, you can still memorize the spells you had in your brain the previous day. This means I can steal my wizard's spellbook(s) and still leave him feeling somewhat useful while he struggles to get it back.


Sorcerer: Absolutely love the fluff, but is it on purpose that neither magic attack nor save DCs get higher at any point? Seems a bit weird that the dude who lives and breathes magic doesn't really get better at landing his spells on his enemies. As for the dragon bloodline, it is pretty hardcore. Might want to limit the kind of armors that kind of sorcerer can use. There is just something wrong with tossing Fireballs in plate armor. Speaking of Fireballs, should Sorcerers have their own spell list? The idea certainly has some merits, but I can see why you would want it as a subtype-wizard.

Overall, WotC are moving dndnext in the right direction, and considering there is still a lot of time left for playtesting, dndnext will end up being one heck of a game, of that I am sure.

Posted with Blogsy

8th session: The sleeping dragon

4th moon, 28th day, year 4553
After dealing with the kobolds and their barrel-bombs, the T'orgh brothers went deeper into the kobold caves. Raheem narrowly avoided a nasty trap involving a net, a boar and a giant ballista and then the brothers made contact with the kobolds and convinced them to parlay. They were brought before the kobold chief and his shaman, and made a deal to see and talk with the dragon, if they could wake it. They visited the cave with the sleeping dragon, a behemot of more than 150'. It was sleeping between 8 stones covered by magical runes. After some experimentation and talking with the shaman, the T'orghs connected the dragon-stones with the stone that they had found buried a day's travel away. They immediately left to find the stone and bring it back.


4th moon, 29th day, year 4553
With 20 kobolds in tow, the dark elves, guided by Raheem, found the way back to the black stone, and the kobolds got the honor of carrying the 500 lbs stone back.


4th moon, 30th day, year 4553
As the brothers and their new kobold allies arrived back to the kobold caves and made it to the throne room, the kobolds tried to betray them. Nalfein managed to let loose a fireball, killing more than 20 kobolds just as the shaman dropped a Hold Person spell on most of the party. Ukerin found himself alone with about 6-7 kobolds, but with a little luck and a red-hot wand of lightning, he managed to stay alive and kill them all.
The T'orghs dragged the stone the rest of the way to the sleeping dragon, who turned out not to be sleeping at all.

It's name is Arizmanzi, and for hours, they argued and haggled about the deal that would let the dragon out on the right conditions. For 200 years (the amount of time it had been imprisoned) it would serve House T'orgh and it's interets, serving the will of the leader of the House. It would never move against House T'orgh or have anyone else do so. On the other hand, it would be free until called upon.


They freed the dragon, which left the small caves by shapeshifting into a dark elf and walking out. The brothers then started the treck back to Menzo, with a leather and a pair of bracers in hand.


5th moon, 7th day, year 4553
On the way back, the T'orghs stumble over some orcs who have just delivered some kind of shipment to Menzo, and are returning to their village, to wait for word from the dark elves. The brothers follow them, but change their minds after being attacked by some weird living tree.


5th moon, 9th day, year 4553
The brothers return home, telling father of the deal they have made. He is very happy with them.


5th moon, 16th day, year 4553
They then spend some time training, while their favorite identify-mage does his work on their new items (leather +3 and bracers ac 7)

Posted with Blogsy