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Running player commentary on Sanzuo's 4e Dark Sun campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 5318915" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>Ok, on to session 2.</p><p></p><p>The session started with Thoon and Gilneas being kicked out of the Rajen household (Thoon because he's a barbarian and Gilneas for refusing to show his face). They found an inn and slept with the Inyx (big insectoid pack beasts).</p><p></p><p>At dawn, Jinn and Kyden joined Jinn's father at the nobles meeting discussing the rule of a noble's council instead of the King. We quickly got bored, spotted Thoon and Gilneas waiting at the gates to the estate, slipped out and headed off to the market.</p><p></p><p>It took us a while to figure out what to do next, so there was a lot of goofing around. Eventually, we met up with Jack and he invited us to the Arena. There were no games scheduled, but Jack was trying to get some going, and we apparently "looked the type" to the experienced gladiator.</p><p></p><p>Before long, we found ourselves in a little arena with a cage full of puppy-sized bugs.</p><p></p><p>The first wave was five minions. Maybe Sanzuo can give you names since everything has crazy names with lots of j's and k's in them. The minions were dispatched in the first round and the second wave emerged. On a guestimate, they were level 1 skirmishers. The fight was pretty easy, here are the highlights:</p><p></p><p>*They managed to do 11, then 12 damage to the Spirit Companion, which we just track as having 1 hp and damage reduction 10. So far the only damage our Shaman has taken in 3 fights is damage from his Companion being dispelled.</p><p></p><p>*I'm <em>loving</em> having Steel Vanguard Student Lesser Style for my Warlord. I've crit at least once in every fight now (including the other 3 fights I haven't gotten to yet). Part of that is luck since it's only a 10% crit range, but still, half of those were 19s. Fullblade is high-crit, so that makes for 1d12+16 crits at level 1.</p><p></p><p>*Jack's character was in the arena, but just watching us fight the critters to see if we were viable the arena. The only time he threatened was when one of the almost-bloodied critters took down Gilneas Spirit and moved next to him. He used his Gladiator Theme power and killed it(useful having a hard-hitting melee power when you're a Seeker), then went back to watching.</p><p></p><p>*We've gotten our battle order better figured out. Since we have no defender, we have two knots of combatants: Jinn, Kyden, Walter, and the Spirit form the front line (with Gilneas Spirit of Athas Theme power giving us a defense buff for most of the combat) while Jack, Gilneas, and Thoon stay in the back making ranged attacks.</p><p></p><p>*The Noble Adept Theme power is <em>awesome</em>. Assuming we're using it right, that is. It's essentially a Deva-like attack/save/skill booster that both of us have <em>and</em> we can use it on allies. 90% of the times we've used it, it's turned a miss into a hit. I just noticed the wording is a bit unclear though... we've been playing it as though you apply it <em>after</em> the roll, but a case could be made for having to use it before a roll:</p><p></p><p>Free Action.</p><p></p><p>"<strong>Trigger</strong>: You or an ally in burst makes an attack roll, saving throw, or skill check."</p><p></p><p>"<strong>Effect</strong>: Add 1/1d4+1 to the triggering roll."</p><p></p><p>It that before or after?</p><p></p><p>Anyway, the fight complete, we were ready to take on "something a bit bigger" when Lord Rajen showed up and ended the fun for Jinn (and thus the rest of us).</p><p></p><p>He suggested Jinn travel <em>back</em> to Balic to negotiate better trade agreements. The group has mostly decided that's the plan, but first, the Arena Games.</p><p></p><p>Having a taste of fighting beasties, we decided that we were going to make some Arena Games happen. After the Sorcerer King was killed, the games became more ad-hoc (and with far less fights to the death) so it was up to us to make it happen if we wanted to compete in it.</p><p></p><p>Here's what we came up with:</p><p></p><p>*The games would have 5 people on each team. The entry fee was 50 gp that would go to the pot that the winner would claim.</p><p></p><p>*We set off to find another team. Jinn's Streetwise check led us to the Windrunner Elven trader clan where a marginal 16 Diplomacy check (mixed with some slurs as to the physical potency of elves) was at least enough to get them to field a team.</p><p></p><p>*To liven things up a bit, Jinn headed off to one of the noble houses (conveniently a branch of the one we were supposed to be trading with in Balic) and convinced them to supply something <em>metal</em> to the pot to draw crowds (and so we could win it, but he didn't tell them that <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> ). In return, the would proclaim the games were in the family's honor. Thanks to Jinn's +14 Diplomacy and an assist from Kyden, they agreed, though they said they didn't know what exactly the prize would be yet, just that it was metal.</p><p></p><p>*We then proceeded from District to District in Tyr to promote the games. The first one was the Caravan District just Thoon and Gilneas. Both have -1 to Diplomacy. Predictably, they almost started a riot and were chased out of the District. Jinn and Kyden got back from the noble's place after that and the rest of the results were a bit better; 15 in the Smith's District, 22 in the Artisans, 28 in the Nobles, and an astounding 32 in the Warrens. The Warrens almost rioted with joy and decided to field their own team, headed by a former gladiator no less.</p><p></p><p>*The games would have three scored events. For each event, the team that took first would get 3 points, 2nd 2, 3rd 1. At the end of the three rounds, the winner would proceed to the final event: a battle against the unknown "big bug" that the Arena had caged somewhere. Kill the bug, win the pot (including metal!).</p><p></p><p>*Event 1: An archery contest. The original idea was to have two archers from each team head to an arena where a pile of those minion bugs we fought before would be unleashed. Which ever team killed the most would win. For whatever reason, that didn't happen, instead it was a more traditional 3-rounds of shooting at the target. There would be a set DC. Hitting the DC yielded 1 point, with an additional point being awarded per +5 over the DC, to a max of 3 points. Our competitors: Thoon (+7 to hit with his Greatbow), Jack (+9 to hit with his Javelins).</p><p></p><p>*Event 2: A foot race/obstacle course with a twist. Each side would have 2 runners and 3 blockers. The first team to get both runners through the obstacle course and across the finish line got 3 pts, the 2nd 2, the 3rd 1. The twist is the 3 blockers, while not allowed to do physical harm, can grapple and bull rush the other teams around. Our competitors: Thoon (7 speed) and Kyden (+12 Athletics to foil grapples).</p><p></p><p>*Event 3: A sword fight to "first blood." Each team again gets 2 competitors. They would fight with normal weapons, but as soon as someone became bloodied, they were functionally the same as dead and had to immediately stop fighting or assisting in any way. It would be a double-elimination round-robin tournament with 1 5 minute rest allowed between rounds. Our competitors: Kyden (Fullblade Warlord) and Jinn (Greatsword Ardent).</p><p></p><p>*Final event: Battle the bug for gp and a metal... something.</p><p></p><p>After a long day of preparing, we rested at the Rajen estate, ready for the games the next morning.</p><p></p><p>We got through the first 2 events, but I don't have time to talk about them right now 'cause I have to run off to work. More later.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 5318915, member: 60965"] Ok, on to session 2. The session started with Thoon and Gilneas being kicked out of the Rajen household (Thoon because he's a barbarian and Gilneas for refusing to show his face). They found an inn and slept with the Inyx (big insectoid pack beasts). At dawn, Jinn and Kyden joined Jinn's father at the nobles meeting discussing the rule of a noble's council instead of the King. We quickly got bored, spotted Thoon and Gilneas waiting at the gates to the estate, slipped out and headed off to the market. It took us a while to figure out what to do next, so there was a lot of goofing around. Eventually, we met up with Jack and he invited us to the Arena. There were no games scheduled, but Jack was trying to get some going, and we apparently "looked the type" to the experienced gladiator. Before long, we found ourselves in a little arena with a cage full of puppy-sized bugs. The first wave was five minions. Maybe Sanzuo can give you names since everything has crazy names with lots of j's and k's in them. The minions were dispatched in the first round and the second wave emerged. On a guestimate, they were level 1 skirmishers. The fight was pretty easy, here are the highlights: *They managed to do 11, then 12 damage to the Spirit Companion, which we just track as having 1 hp and damage reduction 10. So far the only damage our Shaman has taken in 3 fights is damage from his Companion being dispelled. *I'm [I]loving[/I] having Steel Vanguard Student Lesser Style for my Warlord. I've crit at least once in every fight now (including the other 3 fights I haven't gotten to yet). Part of that is luck since it's only a 10% crit range, but still, half of those were 19s. Fullblade is high-crit, so that makes for 1d12+16 crits at level 1. *Jack's character was in the arena, but just watching us fight the critters to see if we were viable the arena. The only time he threatened was when one of the almost-bloodied critters took down Gilneas Spirit and moved next to him. He used his Gladiator Theme power and killed it(useful having a hard-hitting melee power when you're a Seeker), then went back to watching. *We've gotten our battle order better figured out. Since we have no defender, we have two knots of combatants: Jinn, Kyden, Walter, and the Spirit form the front line (with Gilneas Spirit of Athas Theme power giving us a defense buff for most of the combat) while Jack, Gilneas, and Thoon stay in the back making ranged attacks. *The Noble Adept Theme power is [I]awesome[/I]. Assuming we're using it right, that is. It's essentially a Deva-like attack/save/skill booster that both of us have [I]and[/I] we can use it on allies. 90% of the times we've used it, it's turned a miss into a hit. I just noticed the wording is a bit unclear though... we've been playing it as though you apply it [I]after[/I] the roll, but a case could be made for having to use it before a roll: Free Action. "[B]Trigger[/B]: You or an ally in burst makes an attack roll, saving throw, or skill check." "[B]Effect[/B]: Add 1/1d4+1 to the triggering roll." It that before or after? Anyway, the fight complete, we were ready to take on "something a bit bigger" when Lord Rajen showed up and ended the fun for Jinn (and thus the rest of us). He suggested Jinn travel [I]back[/I] to Balic to negotiate better trade agreements. The group has mostly decided that's the plan, but first, the Arena Games. Having a taste of fighting beasties, we decided that we were going to make some Arena Games happen. After the Sorcerer King was killed, the games became more ad-hoc (and with far less fights to the death) so it was up to us to make it happen if we wanted to compete in it. Here's what we came up with: *The games would have 5 people on each team. The entry fee was 50 gp that would go to the pot that the winner would claim. *We set off to find another team. Jinn's Streetwise check led us to the Windrunner Elven trader clan where a marginal 16 Diplomacy check (mixed with some slurs as to the physical potency of elves) was at least enough to get them to field a team. *To liven things up a bit, Jinn headed off to one of the noble houses (conveniently a branch of the one we were supposed to be trading with in Balic) and convinced them to supply something [I]metal[/I] to the pot to draw crowds (and so we could win it, but he didn't tell them that :) ). In return, the would proclaim the games were in the family's honor. Thanks to Jinn's +14 Diplomacy and an assist from Kyden, they agreed, though they said they didn't know what exactly the prize would be yet, just that it was metal. *We then proceeded from District to District in Tyr to promote the games. The first one was the Caravan District just Thoon and Gilneas. Both have -1 to Diplomacy. Predictably, they almost started a riot and were chased out of the District. Jinn and Kyden got back from the noble's place after that and the rest of the results were a bit better; 15 in the Smith's District, 22 in the Artisans, 28 in the Nobles, and an astounding 32 in the Warrens. The Warrens almost rioted with joy and decided to field their own team, headed by a former gladiator no less. *The games would have three scored events. For each event, the team that took first would get 3 points, 2nd 2, 3rd 1. At the end of the three rounds, the winner would proceed to the final event: a battle against the unknown "big bug" that the Arena had caged somewhere. Kill the bug, win the pot (including metal!). *Event 1: An archery contest. The original idea was to have two archers from each team head to an arena where a pile of those minion bugs we fought before would be unleashed. Which ever team killed the most would win. For whatever reason, that didn't happen, instead it was a more traditional 3-rounds of shooting at the target. There would be a set DC. Hitting the DC yielded 1 point, with an additional point being awarded per +5 over the DC, to a max of 3 points. Our competitors: Thoon (+7 to hit with his Greatbow), Jack (+9 to hit with his Javelins). *Event 2: A foot race/obstacle course with a twist. Each side would have 2 runners and 3 blockers. The first team to get both runners through the obstacle course and across the finish line got 3 pts, the 2nd 2, the 3rd 1. The twist is the 3 blockers, while not allowed to do physical harm, can grapple and bull rush the other teams around. Our competitors: Thoon (7 speed) and Kyden (+12 Athletics to foil grapples). *Event 3: A sword fight to "first blood." Each team again gets 2 competitors. They would fight with normal weapons, but as soon as someone became bloodied, they were functionally the same as dead and had to immediately stop fighting or assisting in any way. It would be a double-elimination round-robin tournament with 1 5 minute rest allowed between rounds. Our competitors: Kyden (Fullblade Warlord) and Jinn (Greatsword Ardent). *Final event: Battle the bug for gp and a metal... something. After a long day of preparing, we rested at the Rajen estate, ready for the games the next morning. We got through the first 2 events, but I don't have time to talk about them right now 'cause I have to run off to work. More later. [/QUOTE]
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