The Heretic of Wyre
MasterOfHeaven
First Post
I like this Goblin Wizard. 
Except for him keeping such a filthy Wyvern in his castle, he seems like a nice guy. Good luck to Ortwin, he's gonna need it. The way you have the people of Trempa react to the tax reduction is great, and very accurate. Wonderful story as always, Sepulchrave.
Except for him keeping such a filthy Wyvern in his castle, he seems like a nice guy. Good luck to Ortwin, he's gonna need it. The way you have the people of Trempa react to the tax reduction is great, and very accurate. Wonderful story as always, Sepulchrave.
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Broccli_Head
Explorer
Re: Poor Ortwin
Me too! But as I DM I love the frustration on the characters when it happens!
Darklone said:
Me too! But as I DM I love the frustration on the characters when it happens!
Slightly off topic but...
lurker here.
Question for you Sepulchrave, or Lombard, or whomever else is involved and about in this game. Considering the power of the PCs and the length of time invested in them and such, I'm taking a leap and assuming resurrection isn't a near impossibility as some campaigns tend to opt to do to give them a more 'hard' edge.
How do you handle it? Thus far you've discussed the relative toning down of the church in general (less actual clerics with divine ability), and the philosophy behind the various deities, but I don't recall this being touched on yet. I'm guessing it'd be a bigger deal than stock D&D prescribes, but I'm curious as to what extent.
You've got a rather successful campaign going here with a great batch of people. I'm still trying to find a comfortable balance between risk:reward, something between impossibility and quik-e-res. Don't want to see characters cycling every few sessions and would like to give players who have invested a ton of time some semblance of security. So I figure I'd ask someone who seems to know what they're up to to get another opinion.
Anywho, other than that, amazing stories. Keep it up!
lurker here.
Question for you Sepulchrave, or Lombard, or whomever else is involved and about in this game. Considering the power of the PCs and the length of time invested in them and such, I'm taking a leap and assuming resurrection isn't a near impossibility as some campaigns tend to opt to do to give them a more 'hard' edge.
How do you handle it? Thus far you've discussed the relative toning down of the church in general (less actual clerics with divine ability), and the philosophy behind the various deities, but I don't recall this being touched on yet. I'm guessing it'd be a bigger deal than stock D&D prescribes, but I'm curious as to what extent.
You've got a rather successful campaign going here with a great batch of people. I'm still trying to find a comfortable balance between risk:reward, something between impossibility and quik-e-res. Don't want to see characters cycling every few sessions and would like to give players who have invested a ton of time some semblance of security. So I figure I'd ask someone who seems to know what they're up to to get another opinion.
Anywho, other than that, amazing stories. Keep it up!
Sepulchrave II
Legend
Resurrection is possible, although intercession by a cleric in order to facilitate it is morally questionable. Ripping a soul from the bosom of the deity, and forcing it back into a mortal body to suffer again on the prime plane is a necromantic act, and is not generally considered a good act.
Of course, circumstances exist where it is warranted, and it has happened historically. Since this campaign began, however, it hasn't occurred. In addition, "Raise Dead" is not a spell that I allow in the game, so this further limits it to very high level divine casters - of whom, currently only one exists.
Ironically, it is Melion, the Inquisitor General.
As far as the risk: reward balance goes, I'm not sure. I tend to play it by ear as a rule. I don't bend the rules grossly in favour of the players, and the possibility of death is real. But combat is actually quite infrequent in the game, and due to the low chance of 'coming back' if they die, I tend to drop the CRs of encounters accordingly - a CR11 encounter for a 17th level character is actually quite dangerous, if he knows that if he bungles it, it's bye-bye for good.
Reincarnation is another matter entirely. I've got no problems with that, and maybe that acts as a safety cushion in the players' minds to a certain extent.
Is 'Reincarnation' followed by 'Polymorph Other' (to a human) an allowable way of circumventing this problem? Mostin's player asked me the other day - it would obviously require the combined resources of a Druid and a Wizard. I haven't made up my mind yet.
MasterOfHeaven
First Post
Well, three things... One, when you polymorph someone, they are given the average physical statistics of the race. So the polymorphed chap would have 10s and 11s in Strength, Constitution and Dexterity. Furthermore, he would suffer the penalty for being Polymorphed into a form, and have to make the Will save each time he went into combat for a few years.
And three, unless Mostin has memorized every last facial and physical detail of his fellow party members, it is unlikely that they would be an "exact" replica. So I don't think it's a good idea.
Besides that, you could be Reincarnated into a more powerful form, and if not, instead of Polymorphing someone into a Human, why not Polymorph them into a Fire Giant, or something along those lines? You would be much more powerful, and if you're going to be Polymorphed permanently it might as well be into a combat capable form that would have a much higher chance of surviving than a Human form.
Mind you, however, that such use of Polymorph Other is really abusable, and in fact has been banned in several campaigns because of such use. Note the ECL rules that exist for monster PCs. Those rules are basically bypassed in many cases with the use of Polymorph Other into froms like a Stone Giant or Annis Hag. Polymorph Other used in this fashion is actually one of the few spells I consider "broken" in 3rd Edition, because it gives huge benefits with little to no penalty.
When the party members wish to return to a civilized area of some sort, they simply cast dispel magic, and then change shape right back into the monstrous forms, giving them high physical statistics, larger size, natural armor, etc. Really, I think Polymorph Other should be limited to an offensive spell for just this reason.
Still, that's only my experience and opinion. Your milage may vary, as always.
I think it's great that you limit both the Ressurection type spells and tone back the lethality of your encounters accordingly. I think that gives your campaign world a great sense of danger when the PCs go up against a truly dangerous opponent, since they know there is a very good chance they will not be coming back if they fail.
I might have to try that out in one of my campaigns someday. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next update of this very entertaining story hour. Great work as always, and thanks for sharing details of your campaign world.
And three, unless Mostin has memorized every last facial and physical detail of his fellow party members, it is unlikely that they would be an "exact" replica. So I don't think it's a good idea.
Besides that, you could be Reincarnated into a more powerful form, and if not, instead of Polymorphing someone into a Human, why not Polymorph them into a Fire Giant, or something along those lines? You would be much more powerful, and if you're going to be Polymorphed permanently it might as well be into a combat capable form that would have a much higher chance of surviving than a Human form.
Mind you, however, that such use of Polymorph Other is really abusable, and in fact has been banned in several campaigns because of such use. Note the ECL rules that exist for monster PCs. Those rules are basically bypassed in many cases with the use of Polymorph Other into froms like a Stone Giant or Annis Hag. Polymorph Other used in this fashion is actually one of the few spells I consider "broken" in 3rd Edition, because it gives huge benefits with little to no penalty.
When the party members wish to return to a civilized area of some sort, they simply cast dispel magic, and then change shape right back into the monstrous forms, giving them high physical statistics, larger size, natural armor, etc. Really, I think Polymorph Other should be limited to an offensive spell for just this reason.
Still, that's only my experience and opinion. Your milage may vary, as always.
I think it's great that you limit both the Ressurection type spells and tone back the lethality of your encounters accordingly. I think that gives your campaign world a great sense of danger when the PCs go up against a truly dangerous opponent, since they know there is a very good chance they will not be coming back if they fail.
I might have to try that out in one of my campaigns someday. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next update of this very entertaining story hour. Great work as always, and thanks for sharing details of your campaign world.
Pillars of Hercules
First Post
Yeah!
Suddenly, heresy didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Besides, "Transaxiomatic" had a good ring to it.
So. Damn. Cool.
Horacio. In case you don't know, this is the continuation of the thread "Lady Despina's Virtue." If you haven't already, you MUST check it out. Truly the best story hour ever (which is saying something given the quality of SHs on this board).
Suddenly, heresy didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Besides, "Transaxiomatic" had a good ring to it.
So. Damn. Cool.
Horacio. In case you don't know, this is the continuation of the thread "Lady Despina's Virtue." If you haven't already, you MUST check it out. Truly the best story hour ever (which is saying something given the quality of SHs on this board).
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