First - when Damien makes an attack against Kama'zer, Soldier gets to attack Damien due to Soldier's mark and Soldier is no longer dazed. Secondly - Mri'Thas dealt 14 damage, not 13
I appreciate your rules lawyer abilities and attention to details; they have come in very handy so far. But surely you'll admit that this one, you could have let slide! Phoenix gave us a suiting epilogue to the fight and I'll let it stand as is.
Lead the Attack
Fight is over, but this power is sure to get used again in this adventure since you wil now get an extended rest.
So for the record; I assume that the bonus to hit granted by Lead the attack is not granted until the end of the fight to all allies who were within 5 squares at the time the power was used. It is granted to each ally who is within 5 square of the warlord when they make their attack until the end of the fight.
So if you were within 5 square of Kama'Zer when she used Lead the Attack but then moved ten squares away and make a ranged attack, you no longer have the bonus. Conversely, if you were 10 square away when she used the power but then moved within 5 square of her to make your attack, you do get the bonus. Therefore if Kama'Zer wins the initiative, moves five square forward and wacks the BBG with lead the attack, she hasn't screwed everyone out of the bonus; Just join her and go get your +5 by fighting within 5 square, that's all. On the other hand, don't stick to her until she use the power and then scamper on the other side of the map, that won't work (There is no range 20/40 rangers here so it's not much of an issue, but still...)
I actually believe that this is the correct interpretation (and it match the fluff; the warlord is directing his allies so presumably he is constantly communicating with all nearby allies) but it has caused arguments in the past at the gaming table so I spell it out up front.
The party stands victorious. Castor alongs with a few patrons who hadn't been able to exit peek out cautiously from under the tables where they had found refuge.
A swift rush to the basement by some of the adventurers finds it empty. Not fooled, the team search for a secret passage of somekind. When a light source is brought to bear, a trapdoor is finally found after about a minute of searching. By the lack of odors, it doesn't lead to the sewers. A quick check shows it is a smuggler's tunnels and a query to Castor reveals that it leads to a house near the customs less than a hundred yards away. The mage is now long gone. At least they have Castor well in hand. And in light of his allies betrayal, he is very talkative, even grateful.
OOC or, Man, you guys are blind as a bat!
Obviously, the mage couldn't have gone far. There had to be a trap door / sliding panel real close to the base of the stairs.
I decided that the DC to spot it in the dark was 21 and with a source of light it was 16 (Level 2 DC check, Hard and Medium) and that you'd get a chance to spot it at first glance (without a 1 minute search) or even spot it automatically if your passive perception was high enough.
Turns out that Tsi'Ri, who could arrive almost on the tail of the mage, has +0 perception and couldn't succeed the first check.
Once light was brought to bear (be it a light spell or a sunrod), I allowed the best perception of the team (there are 3 contenders at +3) to get a shot to spot it immediately.
After that, well, of course you are all allowed a standard 1 minute search check and the DC is 16 so I didn't bother with it. Someone out of 6 checks was bound to beat 16.
So that leaves you a bit over 1 minute behind the mage. Let's say she's gone. Meh. Castor knows plenty enough to keep the story moving, it's no big deal.
Also, I have just discovered that stealthy enemies will be your bane!
OOC: yeah, I was going to let it slide anyway as I didn't bother to roll on IC and post it but I thought I should mention it anyway. Superb Ending, Phoenix, very cinematic!
As big fight go, it was easier tan it could have been because they came in wave but you still earned it, IMO. A few lucky roll here and there and things could have been very different. Beside, I won't necessarily give more XP if the tactical condition were harder so it evens out.
Skill Challenge:
Level 3, COmplexity 3: 450 * 2 = 900XP
Group Total:
900+3850 / 6 = 792 XP each
Time XP (I calculate it to the day, if it's all right with the judge, especially since Soldier needs that extra but of XP to go to level 3!):
Cool on your level up, Ozy. I could spend 6 of my DM Credits and level Kama'zer up to 5th... but I think I'll spend them on my new 2nd character instead.
Mal, for whenever it becomes important, I have a Magic Item Wishlist on Kama'zers character wiki as of today. If you take suggestions from wishlists that is.
I modified the adventure to get Soldier to level up early and join the others at level 3. The original proposal called for a easier fight at the tavern but no extended rest before moving on.
-''Calling who what names?'' Castor says, taken aback and interrupted while he was profusedly thanking Kama'Zer and the rest of the team for saving his life. But looking at the threatening Soldier, he thinks fast. ''Oh, but of course, you shouldn't judge a book by his cover!''
He turns to 7 Rabbit, takes a solemn expression and sasy:
-''Sir dwarf, I apogize for calling you a 'loony'. It was both rude and innacurate. Whatever your eccentricities might be, it is obvious you are both competent and knowledgeable in your various fields of expertise.''
Castor throws a quick nod to Soldier, indicating he had complied with his demands. Then he seems to hesitate for a moment, struggling between gratitude and greed but suddenly makes up his mind.
-''As a reward for your efforts on my behalf, however accidental they might have been, I will let you have the items I was trying to fence away at this time. Wait a moment.''
He moves to the kitchen and comes back with a package that he carefully unwraps, revealing a short staff with runic inscriptions, a green robe with golden threads that simmer and wave randomly, a plan dagger and dirty grey wool cloak with blood stain.
-''The real prize here is the staff. If I had found a seller, I would have sold it for more than all the others combined. It belonged to a dwarf wizard. Yeah, no too much of them around, but this one knew his craft. It is a defensive staff of some power. This green robe also is for wizards. It is thread with gold mined in the feywild and wove by an eladrin mage. It has been identified as a contingency robe. The dagger... well, frankly I don't think I can move it. I couldn't tell what it is except that there is a small sigil written in supernal that apparently means 'Remember the Price'. That's devil stuff, I expect. If you don't want it, I'll probably end up getting rid of it. And the cloak is, well, don't mind the blood stain, they can't be washed off. I tried everything. It's called a cloak of the Walking Wounded. Helps you keep going no matter what. So... there.''
Castor then seems to remember something forgotten in all the excitement.
Recommended wealth based on your level, according to the charter:
Level 2 : 1068 gp for the level
Level 3 : 1524 gp for the level
Level 4 : 2100 gp for the level
Wealth the PC should have accumulated so far:
874 XP / 1250 XP * 1068 : 747 gp
889 XP / 1500 XP * 1524 : 903 gp
907 XP / 1750 XP * 1500 : 1088 gp
7 Rabbit : 0 / 903 gp
Callen : 2600 /903 gp
Kama'Zer : 0 / 1088 gp
Mri'Thas : 840 /903 gp
Soldier: 840 / 747 gp
Tsi'Ri: 680 / 903 gp
See those as a barometers. You can be grossly under or over these targets after one encounter but by the end of the adventure you should be within 10% of the target (I am not aiming for 100% accuracy, here).
Obviously, with two war mage, items are interchangeable. But I intended the staff for Callen (he was under equipped by about 500gp before this fight) and the robe for Mri’thas.
The cloak is also useful for many but intended for Soldier.
The dagger is obviously only useful to Tsi'Ri
Last edited by Mal Malenkirk; 12th October 2009 at 10:18 PM..
Cool on your level up, Ozy. I could spend 6 of my DM Credits and level Kama'zer up to 5th... but I think I'll spend them on my new 2nd character instead.
Mal, for whenever it becomes important, I have a Magic Item Wishlist on Kama'zers character wiki as of today. If you take suggestions from wishlists that is.
OOC
Well, I'd rather no one spent DM credit during the adventure. We started with a certain XP gap between lowest and highest, wihich I implicitly accepted, but I'd rather it not keep increasing.
We started with a gap of 2 levels between highest and lowest PC, I made a point of fixing it early. If you spent DM credits during the adventure, not only are we back to a 2 level gap (this time between you and the whole party), it might increase to a 3 level gap at some point.
So... I'd rather not. DM credits ought to be spent between adventures so that when you start a new one, you can join with PCs of appropriate level.
I'm ok (And quite happy) with the treasure distribution you proposed. Of course, it's up to Callen. If he thinks something else, I'm open to suggestions. Yiey! We won.
__________________ English is NOT my native language!
Mri'Thas: "Useless primates... " Sheng Zim: "Your existence brings the world out of balance. The chaos I bring shall revert it; unfortunately, your soul will be destroyed in the process."
-------------------------------------- Tuk Heavy Hands Apeldan: "Trolls are afraid to cats. Good to know" (Yttermayn's "Saga of the Dragon Cult") Cnosos: "I bet there's plenty of wonderful devices in that ship. Let's scavenge them at once!" (Blackrat's "After Earth") Metliz: Sounds like fun! (Arkandus's "The First") Thok: "Thok eats a lot, Thok big. Thok not good at first impressions." (MnL's "Valley of the Dead")
as big fight go, it was easier tan it could have been because they came in wave but you still earned it, imo. A few lucky roll here and there and things could have been very different. Beside, i won't necessarily give more xp if the tactical condition were harder so it evens out.
skill challenge:
level 3, complexity 3: 450 * 2 = 900xp
group total:
900+3850 / 6 = 792 xp each
time xp (i calculate it to the day, if it's all right with the judge, especially since soldier needs that extra but of xp to go to level 3!):
recommended wealth based on your level, according to the charter:
Level 2 : 1068 gp for the level
level 3 : 1524 gp for the level
level 4 : 2100 gp for the level
wealth the pc should have accumulated so far:
874 xp / 1250 xp * 1068 : 747 gp
889 xp / 1500 xp * 1524 : 903 gp
907 xp / 1750 xp * 1500 : 1088 gp
7 rabbit : 0 / 903 gp
callen : 2600 /903 gp
kama'zer : 0 / 1088 gp
mri'thas : 840 /903 gp
soldier: 840 / 747 gp
tsi'ri: 680 / 903 gp
see those as a barometers. You can be grossly under or over these targets after one encounter but by the end of the adventure you should be within 10% of the target (i am not aiming for 100% accuracy, here).
Obviously, with two war mage, items are interchangeable. But i intended the staff for callen (he was under equipped by about 500gp before this fight) and the robe for mri’thas.
The cloak is also useful for many but intended for soldier.
The dagger is obviously only useful to tsi'ri
Judge APPROVED!
__________________ Gary Hoggatt - www.garyh.net "Such heroic nonsense..."
Well, I'd rather no one spent DM credit during the adventure. We started with a certain XP gap between lowest and highest, wihich I implicitly accepted, but I'd rather it not keep increasing.
We started with a gap of 2 levels between highest and lowest PC, I made a point of fixing it early. If you spent DM credits during the adventure, not only are we back to a 2 level gap (this time between you and the whole party), it might increase to a 3 level gap at some point.
So... I'd rather not. DM credits ought to be spent between adventures so that when you start a new one, you can join with PCs of appropriate level.
OOC
No problem. Like I said, I wasn't intending to do so now at any rate especially since it requires DM approval which I hadn't asked for yet. Now that I know you'd not approve anyway, I won't ask later. With the whole doubling of encounter XP's approved recently I'll be leveling up faster than I was used too anyway.
"The curse? While these items ARE nice..." Ts'iri picks up the dagger and examines it. "You still haven't told us about the items we were talking about when we came in." Ts'iri points to the amulets with the dagger. "Once we take care of that little bit of business, I'll see what I can do about that pesky curse." Ts'iri gets a big if unsettling smile on her face. "Curses ARE my specialty after all."
OOC
Woot! A pact dagger! I was going to buy one of these if I hadn't found one soon. I can't wait to shiv and/or shank someone with this!
Are you trying to get him killed, Mal? Soldier said Ts'iri and also said apologize to HER.*facepalm* Lets see how 7 rabbit reacts to that insult
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mal Malenkirk
-''Hum? Oh, blondie over there... I mean yellow skin, not yellow hair. Her.'' he says pointing Tsi'Ri.
Explanation
This is what Soldier reacted on, uhrmm, OVERreacted, he is a bit touchy when it comes to insults and his friends
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mal Malenkirk
-''Calling who what names?'' Castor says, taken aback and interrupted while he was profusedly thanking Kama'Zer and the rest of the team for saving his life. But looking at the threatening Soldier, he thinks fast. ''Oh, but of course, you shouldn't judge a book by his cover!''
He turns to 7 Rabbit, takes a solemn expression and sasy:
-''Sir dwarf, I apogize for calling you a 'loony'. It was both rude and innacurate. Whatever your eccentricities might be, it is obvious you are both competent and knowledgeable in your various fields of expertise.''
Castor throws a quick nod to Soldier, indicating he had complied with his demands. Then he seems to hesitate for a moment, struggling between gratitude and greed but suddenly makes up his mind.
when Castor apologizes to wrong person (wrong person according to Soldier, that is), Soldier looks confounded and with cold fury in his green eyes at Castor and says, "WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING? I said HER, the dwarf is male so I couldn't have meant that you should apologize to HIM, I meant HER" then points towards Ts'iri
Oh, I knew what you referred to. But Castor does not know who Tsi'Ri is and could remember only one real insult. He was a fairly polite foil after all and 'Loony' was the only thing approaching an insult he had said.
Calling a yellow skinned gith 'blondie' and 'Yellow Skin' is more descriptive than insulting after all.
-''But apologize for what?!'' he wails, confused. He turns to Tsi'Ri ''Well, look, lady, I am sorry for giving you such a crappy dagger. Nah, you seemed to like it. For calling you name he said. Uh, I'm sorry for calling you gith. Did I call you gith? I don't remember. But you are a gith, right? So it wouldn't be insulting. Or maybe I maybe... Oh, hell.'' He turns back to Soldier. ''I gave you a nice magical cloak mister 'I-make-a-threat-every-two-sentence-I-utter' and I gave a cursed dagger to the lady who likes curse and she seems happy with it so I don't undertsand why you are mad at me! What the hell do you want from me!'' he shouts.
Quote:
"The curse? While these items ARE nice..." Ts'iri picks up the dagger and examines it. "You still haven't told us about the items we were talking about when we came in." Ts'iri points to the amulets with the dagger. "Once we take care of that little bit of business, I'll see what I can do about that pesky curse." Ts'iri gets a big if unsettling smile on her face. "Curses ARE my specialty after all."
-''Oh gods. More threats. Do you people know any other way to deal with people? One day you'll try that on something way more dangerous than me and you'll all get killed pointlessly when saying 'please' would have worked just as well. I was about to tell you before this mess started, remember? It comes from one of Rinch's contact at the Sacred Heard Asylum. I am not sure who the contact is, but he somehow gets his hands on the personal belongings of the insane people who get locked up there. It is an upscale establishment, where a lot of rich people hush their embarassingly insane relative, so it the items that come from that source are often of high quality. It is located on a small nearby island, not sure where but any captain would know of it.''
Last edited by Mal Malenkirk; 13th October 2009 at 12:57 AM..
The wizard places a thin finger hand on Soldier's chest. "You are overreacting my friend. I think we should go over "emotions and how to control them" once again after this mission of ours. For the moment acept my apologize Castor, Soldier is not able to full understand the implications of many words, and might take some as insults. But besides that he's a humble giant." the wizard explains. After Castor explains the details of the origin of the item. "Highly accurate, I think we have enough details to search for this place. Is there any other thing you consider, perhaps not neccesary, that you haven't told us? Sometimes the least imagined information turns to be the most useful"
__________________ English is NOT my native language!
Mri'Thas: "Useless primates... " Sheng Zim: "Your existence brings the world out of balance. The chaos I bring shall revert it; unfortunately, your soul will be destroyed in the process."
-------------------------------------- Tuk Heavy Hands Apeldan: "Trolls are afraid to cats. Good to know" (Yttermayn's "Saga of the Dragon Cult") Cnosos: "I bet there's plenty of wonderful devices in that ship. Let's scavenge them at once!" (Blackrat's "After Earth") Metliz: Sounds like fun! (Arkandus's "The First") Thok: "Thok eats a lot, Thok big. Thok not good at first impressions." (MnL's "Valley of the Dead")
"Threats? No I wasn't threatening, just reminding you that we'd been interrupted. Now let me see your hand." Ts'iri takes his hand and examines it. After closing her eyes for several seconds, she speaks.
"It seems that it's not you that's cursed directly but some of the items you had. This dagger in particular has a strong curse bound to it. No wonder you've been having problems. You should be fine once we take them away. I'd suggest you avoid items from that contact in the future. In fact, it might be a good idea to avoid Rinch as well. No reason to dodge this curse just to get tangled up in his mess."
Soldier complains to Mri'Thas as he walks away from Castor, "But he called Ts'iri Blondie and yellow faced, and I don't like it" and continues, "And now he is getting away with it" then he takes a careful look at the cape.
''Threats? No I wasn't threatening, just reminding you that we'd been interrupted. Now let me see your hand." Ts'iri takes his hand and examines it. After closing her eyes for several seconds, she speaks.
"It seems that it's not you that's cursed directly but some of the items you had. This dagger in particular has a strong curse bound to it. No wonder you've been having problems. You should be fine once we take them away. I'd suggest you avoid items from that contact in the future. In fact, it might be a good idea to avoid Rinch as well. No reason to dodge this curse just to get tangled up in his mess."
-''Thank Apoli. And as for breaking contact with Rinch, no kidding. His men just tried to kill me! What I need now is to find myself alternative muscle in a hurry. And with a war on my hands, I will get ripped off. I think my best bet is to hire independant mercenaries. Good ones.''
He sighs.
-''I don't know what happened with Rinch. Not three years ago he was the most reasonable and business oriented of all the gangsters. A man who knew that you always keep your eye on the bottom line. Now... He's screwing everything and everyone. I just don't understand.''
Quote:
Originally Posted by Voda Vosa
"Is there any other thing you consider, perhaps not neccesary, that you haven't told us? Sometimes the least imagined information turns to be the most useful"
-''No. Well... Kind of. It's weird that Rinch has contacts in the asylum. It's really out of the way. No smuggling routes go that way and I am hard pressed to think of any reason he would have business there in the first place.
He wouldn't even confirm this is where the items came from, by the way, but most of these items came at first from wealthy scions of importants families. Some had crests or coat-of-arms! I mean, come on! Of course I quickly figured out who they had belonged to and by extension where they were coming from.
But hey, you now that Sacred Heart Asylum is for the most extreme case of mental illness. I don't think I have ever heard of someone sent over there who came back. Most are criminally insane, so it's no big loss for society. But some of the latest item to come from that source... Well, these amulets... These are warriors items, you know?
That laughin man pendant, even a noble worried about assassination wouldn't used it. Not fashionable enough. And that silver one that came my way a bit ago... no, I am sure now it's not the one the lady is wearing right, but it was crafted by the same people, almost identical except for the writings on it. I guess it's exotic, maybe metaplanar since my historian could make no heads of tail of it. But we both think it's some kind of dog tag, you know, military identification.
A lot of items of that type have been trickling down from Rinch's Asylum source recently and I wonder why. I wonder what kind of people they are holding these days...''
OOC - Contact
Mri'thas, Kama'Zer and 7 Rabbit have treated Castor in a reasonably business-like manner : Minimal threats, some respect and Kama'Zer made a point to keep him safe during the fight).
He has no strong feeling toward Callen and feels somewhat on the defensive toward Tsi'Ri. He is, of course, scared of Soldier.
So Mri'Thas, Kama'Zer and 7 Rabbit can make a note, if they want, on their wiki, of this Link and write that Castor is well disposed toward them after they saved his life.
If it ever becomes relevant in future adventures, they can point this contact out to the DM. Whether the DM lets it influence his adventure is entirely up to him.
Last edited by Mal Malenkirk; 13th October 2009 at 03:22 AM..
OK, Soldier and I are in agreement, we don't like the cape and will not keep it. Mal, how are you handling shopping IE Can we buy magic items ingame?
Soldier calms down while folding the cape carefully on a table and then says, "sorry, but one of you, my friends, can take it as I don't think it is good idea that someone of my size will be running around with cape, as it will get caught in something and then I will be stuck and the cloak ruined"
OK, Soldier and I are in agreement, we don't like the cape and will not keep it. Mal, how are you handling shopping IE Can we buy magic items ingame?
Soldier calms down while folding the cape carefully on a table and then says, "sorry, but one of you , my friends, can take it as I don't think it is good idea that someone of my size will be running around with cape, as it will get caught in something and then I will be stuck and cloak ruined"
OOC
You don't like the cape? But it rocks! Double Surge, man!
Ahem.
If you don't like it, first, we should see who else might like it.
I am thinking it is a good fit for Tsi'Ri. She has no neck slot item and is liable to get bloodied often with her style of play. And a bloodied cape isn't out of place on an infernal warlock, I think.
Secondly, no buying of magic items in-game. Buying whatever items you like within the hour conjures images of Wal-Mart's stocked with every possible magic items.
I figure that most acquisition of magic items involves custom ordering them from an enchanter or tracking them through the city like one would track down a piece of art. It shouldn't be too prohibitive but it is more elegantly handled behind the scene between adventures than over the counter between fights.
But while in a large town, I do allow shopping for potions, alchemical items and the likes. Those items are far more likely to be stocked in sufficient quantities to be available within a few hours.
!
Soldier said Ts'iri and also said apologize to HER.*facepalm* Lets see how 7 rabbit reacts to that insult
This is what Soldier reacted on, uhrmm, OVERreacted, he is a bit touchy when it comes to insults and his friends
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