[4e] Campaign discussion thread (Full)

[Sparky]

You could also use the player's avatar like so...

http://www.enworld.org/forum/living...ncers-skull-judge-covaithe-4.html#post4547117

...or a custom designed picture or heraldric device like so...

http://www.enworld.org/forum/playin...feather-tariff-relkingham-10.html#post4552596

Those maps are more detailed in general than I will be providing. I'm strictly lo-fi on maps, not because I don't love making them - I do - but I don't have time to really roll up my sleeves and do a good job (I know I know there's pre-made stuff out there).

Here's an example of what I'll be using, it highlights the use of letters as PCs and NPCs. Adding even one step to the 'who's that?' process markedly detracts from the usability of any map, and because people are so good at parsing language (and we'll be spending more time looking at and reading eachother's names than at minis or symbols) it's a good fit. There were never any confusions in the example combat that had 24 actors. Initiative runs from bottom to top on the left (and makes double use of map grid coordinates), the key on the right, room for conditions and things to keep note of at the bottom. All in all, a good solution for my needs as a DM and for my players as well.

I like it's clarity and ease of reading and use (and I sort of like it's lack of detail, lets the words that we write have more impact and doesn't limit me to what I can render in a map maker).

 

[Sparky]

Caverns could work... Hmm...

How about this - the Dragh survived two exoduses (exodi?) - the first, when the warforged attacked and they fled to the forest. The second, when the dark times came, and they fled into caverns. Krik's mission would be to search the dark parts of the caverns to seek out any other allies, and he could discover a connection to the dwarven city underground.

Good stuff. The Balash (a rival clan who didn't lose sight of The Way) went into the city with the dwarves at the beginning, they ranged the natural caves that the dwarves did know about.

Imagine Krik and his tribemate's surprise when they run into other dragonborn and not just any dragonborn, a patrol of Balash. I'd like to have that meeting be in the recent past and the Dragh be in the tense process of working out a treaty with the Council when the issue of Reemergeance is brought up again.

 

[garyh]

Those maps are more detailed in general than I will be providing. I'm strictly lo-fi on maps, not because I don't love making them - I do - but I don't have time to really roll up my sleeves and do a good job (I know I know there's pre-made stuff out there).

Here's an example of what I'll be using, it highlights the use of letters as PCs and NPCs. Adding even one step to the 'who's that?' process markedly detracts from the usability of any map, and because people are so good at parsing language (and we'll be spending more time looking at and reading eachother's names than at minis or symbols) it's a good fit. There were never any confusions in the example combat that had 24 actors. Initiative runs from bottom to top on the left (and makes double use of map grid coordinates), the key on the right, room for conditions and things to keep note of at the bottom. All in all, a good solution for my needs as a DM and for my players as well.

I like it's clarity and ease of reading and use (and I sort of like it's lack of detail, lets the words that we write have more impact and doesn't limit me to what I can render in a map maker).

That map looks great and if it works well for you, it's fine by me. I was just tossing out a potential solution to the doubled-initial potential problem.

 

[Redclaw]

Heskrash would certainly seek out Brackan in that case, as I think Bahamut's recent visit to him, calling him to his paladinhood, would have included a rather strong push to emerge from the caverns.

I'm picturing a young, impulsive and overzealous adventurer in an pensive, isolationist culture. He'll be all over anyone who agrees with him.

 

[Shayuri]

What is your preference on the Thorn and Mask relationship?

I'll put it in sblocks, so as not to accidentally inform someone who'd rather be surprised. I don't think I mind if people see it, as long as they can keep from acting on it IC until it's revealed in the game.

[sblock=OOC stuff]Aesthetically I like the idea that Mask is Thorn, but the mechanics are a bit troubling. My original idea that Thorn is 'immortal,' has a big flaw if it's applied...namely, what happens to Mask when she dies. It's either too good (she doesn't stay dead) or too bad (she loses all memories and reverts to level 1 in some class which is much worse than the Raise Dead ritual). I suppose it could be the second option, and there's a "restore memory" ritual that costs the same as a Raise Dead ritual...

Alternatively, if we go with the parasitic souls idea, that has the advantage of explaining why doppelgangers weren't extinguished, despite the big pogrom. Doppelganger 'souls' keep coming back and hijacking new bodies. After a bit they wised up and went into hiding. The number of doppelgangers is now fixed...and has been since Thorn's bargain.

Do either of these ideas seem more, or less, appropriate for the game to you?[/sblock]

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

[sblock=Brackan, Dwarf Cleric]Brackan Anvilheart
Level 1, Lawful Good
[sblock=attributes]Str: 13 (+1)
Con: 12 (+1)
Dex: 10 (+0)
Int: 11 (+0)
Wis: 18 (+4)
Cha: 16 (+3)[/sblock]
[sblock=Defenses]AC: 17 = 10 (level) + 6 (armour) + 1 (shield)
Fort: 13 = 10 (level) + 3 (Con)
Ref: 11 = 10 (level) + 0 (Dex) +1 (shield)
Will: 16 = 10 (level) + 4 (Wis) + 2 (class)
Init: 0
Spd: 5

Hit Points: 24 Bloodied: 12
Healing Surge: 6 Per Day: 10[/sblock]
[sblock=Feats & Skills]Feats:
Ritual Casting, Light Shield Proficiency

Skills:
Passive Insight 14 = 10 (level) + 4 (Wis)
Passive Perception 14 = 10 (level) + 4 (Wis)
Arcana +5 = 0 (level) + 0 (Int) + 5 (trained)
Diplomacy +8 = 0 (level) + 3 (Cha) + 5 (trained)
Dungeoneering +6 = 0 (level) + 2 (racial) + 4 (Wis)
Endurance +3 = 0 (level) + 2 (racial) + 1 (Con)
Heal +9 = 0 (level) + 4 (Wis) + 5 (trained)
Religion +9 = 0 (level) + 4 (Wis) + 5 (trained)[/sblock]
[sblock=Race and Class Features]Cast Iron Stomach (+5 vs Poison)
Dwarven Resilience (use second wind as a minor action)
Enucmbered Speed (armour doesn't reduce speed)
Stand Your Ground (move 1 less square when pushed, pulled or slid. Get save to avoid going prone)
Dwarven weapons: Warhammer & throwing hammer
Languages: Common, Dwarven
Armour: Cloth, Leather, Hide, Chainmail
Weapon: Simple melee, simple ranged
Channel Divinity:
Divine Fortune (free action, +1 to attack roll or saving throw before the end of my next turn)
Turn Undead (close burst 2, +4 vs Will, 1d10+4 radiant & push 6 & immobilized until end of my next turn. Miss: Half damage, target is not pushed or immobilized)
Healer's Lore (+4 bonus to all powers with the healing keyword)
Healing Word (range 5, heal 1d6 + 4 + surge value, 2/encounter)
Ritual Casting[/sblock]
[sblock=Prayers & Basic attack]Basic melee attack:
+3 vs AC, 1d10+1, crit 11
[sblock=At-will]Lance of Faith +4 vs Reflex, Ranged 5, 1d8 +4 radiant damage & one ally you can see gains +2 power bonus their next attack roll agains the target
Sacred Flame +4 vs Reflex, Ranged 5, 1d6 +4 radiant damage & one ally you can see either gains 3 temp hp or can make a saving throw[/sblock]
[sblock=Encounter]Divine Glow +4 vs Reflex, close blast 3, 1d8 +4 radiant. Effect: Allies in the blast gain +2 power bonus to attack rolls until the end of your next turn.[/sblock]
[sblock=Daily]Cascade of Light +4 vs Will, ranged 10, 3d8 +4 radiant damage & target gains vulnerability 5 to my attacks. Miss: half damage & no vulnerability[/sblock][/sblock]
[sblock=Equipment]Chainmail, Light Shield, Warhammer, Adventurer's Kit[/sblock][/sblock]

Given the discussion we've just had about Brackan, I've decided to swap his Con & Cha scores round - make him more personable and better at Diplomacy (read: debate) whilst lessening his physical resilience a bit. Hope that's OK, and the revised sheet is listed above.

I love the idea of him being The Adversary's apprentice, by the way. I'm starting to get a picture of him as a skilled debater, using both his own powers and those given to him by Moradin to make his points (I assume that I have a certain licence to make "divine powered cantrips" happen in making that statement, of course).

Actually, I can picture him now:

The young Dwarf, his beard only single-plaited and only half a foot long, stands steadfast and with his feet planted firmly on the floor as he addresses a large crowd. Despite the close atmosphere and the impassioned debate, he is dressed in chainmail and has a heavy warhammer on one hip, a shield slung across his back emblazoned with the Hammer of Moradin.

Eyes blazing with both religious zeal and the passion of his beliefs, he argues skillfully with several other Dwarves at once, emphasising the need for Re-Emergence after the long dark years. Although many of his opponents will never be convinced to change their minds, there is a grudging admiration for his style, and a quiet admission that this Dwarf bears watching.

As they say, you can never tell the pebble that starts the landslide.

 

[Sparky]

@Shayuri regarding Mask and Thorn (note: these spoilers are not 'Keep Out' signs, they're only so folks don't see what they don't want to)
[sblock]Let's figure out what doppelgangers are and possibly were. Some, you know, ecology. Do doppelgangers breed? If so, do they breed with other doppelgangers? If not, how do they reproduce? Maybe a doppelganger can doppel (or gang?) a baby inutero? But how threatening is a baby doppelganger... I mean, it's sinister, but it's not like babies are particularly swift or deadly. They'd be very vulnerable. Maybe a baby doppelganger's defense mechanism is that if it is killed its consciousness leaps into the killer. If this was known to be the mechanism, then folks would kill them (directly) only rarely. Imagine that dynamic, a sinister magpie baby that you couldn't retaliate against and then, at some point (maturity?) the defense mechanism goes away and they can doppel on their own (in the murder and assume the identity of the victim sense). At that point someone close who knows offs them or they flee. I think that means there was always a fixed number of doppelgangers. They would be mighty scary and powerful, having been 'alive' for ages in different bodies.

So Thorn fits into the picture as 'The Thief That Stole a Soul' and, in her quest for a soul and immortalitly for herself and an end to this grim cycle she advertently or inadvertently won a soul for all doppelgangerkind.

So now they reproduce like other humanoids, sexually, and the offspring has even odds of being either race (masquerading as the non-doppelganger race). If the baby is a doppelganger the shifting power passes the baby and the parent doppelganger can't shift any more. The shifting power becomes a mimicking power instead of a murder-swap power and modern doppelgangers are born. (Can the reproduce with eachother? What then?)

I'd imagine that most doppelgangers would have been pissed at her for effectively ending their immortality. She got a soul, but she alone could stay alive (immortal) if she did the murder-swap thing, her consciousness and soul leaping from body to body. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Thorn lost her taste for this (if she ever had it) after a time and eventually died. Then what?[/sblock]

 

[Sparky]

@Tallarn (and garyh), that cleric background works great. But before too many folks get attached to the name Brackan, can I get you to alter that? You'd changed it to Ragnar at my request (back a couple pages ago) though that conflicts with garyh's Resolute... I have a goal of having all 1st Level PCs' names all start with a different letter. Like I said, I won't force a change, but I'd like some acknowledgement that you've seen this and don't want to change it (which is fine) or a change of name. I include garyh in this because his 1st level Warforged's name starts with 'R.'

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

@Tallarn (and garyh), that cleric background works great. But before too many folks get attached to the name Brackan, can I get you to alter that? You'd changed it to Ragnar at my request (back a couple pages ago) though that conflicts with garyh's Resolute... I have a goal of having all 1st Level PCs' names all start with a different letter. Like I said, I won't force a change, but I'd like some acknowledgement that you've seen this and don't want to change it (which is fine) or a change of name. I include garyh in this because his 1st level Warforged's name starts with 'R.'

Whoops, sorry about that!

I'll change Brackan to Murn, then, if that's OK.

 

[Atanatotatos]

It's ok, I'll change Belleros to Anemos. It's not taken, right? A, i mean.

Edit: Tallarn, if it's ok with you, I'll keep Belleros. But if you care about it, It's alright for me to change.