Discussion - General Discussion Thread '09

[Boddynock]

@ HM: I haven't received a copy of your latest adventure proposal yet, so I'd be happy if you could send it to me. Thanks.

@ Judges: A proposed (minor) amendment to the Job System, here.

 

[orsal]

And, Nurlan Naibi once - once - mentioned a place called Kahol. Kaholians, when they sing, sing of wine and drinking. And that's all we know of them. Kahol could well be a city or province in Nurlan's native Carduth, but cheerful bibulants don't seem all that Carduthian.

Keep in mind that Carduth is an *empire*. It is not a monoculture. There are no doubt many varied cultures in the lands Carduth has conquered over the years. (That, in fact, is why I wanted Nurlan's background to be in an empire.)

 

[Trouvere]

So when Nurlan mentioned it, you were thinking of it as somewhere in Carduth? Good to know. I've just looked up the reference, which now that I'm not relying on faded memory, I see clearly implies that Kahol is a region.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/1441351-post63.html

Nurlan, taking up Tenebrynn's suggestion, goes to the bar to get a bottle of the recommended wine, from which he then offers a glass to all assembled. Then he remarks, "A fellow minstrel I met once who had travelled in Kahol told me that when the Kaholians sing, it's almost always about wine. Shall we try a Kaholian drinking song he taught me?" He goes into a short song the lyrics of which are something to the effect of "let's all get so drunk we can't tell which end is up", only not quite so succinct.

 

[orsal]

So when Nurlan mentioned it, you were thinking of it as somewhere in Carduth? Good to know. I've just looked up the reference, which now that I'm not relying on faded memory, I see clearly implies that Kahol is a region.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/1441351-post63.html

It might be, but it's not clear. Nurlan never said he had been there, just that he met someone who had, so who knows where it is? I throw out a lot of place names as origins for songs in Nurlan's repertoire; I don't try to figure out geographical details, nor even establish anything significant about these places. Actually, now that I read that quote, it's reasonably likely it's not within the Carduthian empire. Nurlan had travelled extensively around the empire with Shkarna before becoming a playable character, and if he had ever been to Kahol himself he probably wouldn't have cited second-hand knowledge of the place.

 

[Theroc]

While allowing more characters is good, for me, it doesn't really aid in my problem(unless I suppose players with 3+higher level characters roll up a 1st level character), as making 3-4 level 1 PC's doesn't really get me into an adventure, unless there's no demand for the 1 I currently have.

 

[covaithe]

Question for the judges: I'm giving out xp in Bizarre Bazaar, and I'm not sure what to do about time xp for Tankard. He's level 1, but currently afflicted with lycanthropy, which comes with a host of goodies, but also a racial HD and some LA, and is thus ECL 4. He would have reached level 2 long ago if not for the ECL. He's got 10 months time xp coming to him. The question is, do I award the time xp at level 1, 2, or 4? I think 4 makes the most sense, but there is the possibility that he could have his lycanthropy cured, whereupon he'd somehow revert to being level 1, but with about 4500 xp. There are (at least) two problems with that. First is that by RAW you can't advance more than one level at a time, and he'd be cut off at 2999 xp, and the rest would be wasted -- unfair to him, clearly. Second is that if we were to find a way around that and leave him with the full 4500, he'd have at least 1000 "free" xp above what he could have gotten playing through without the lycanthropy, due to having been given time xp at level 4 instead of level 2 (where he'd be without having been bitten). The whole thing makes my head hurt.

Since I want to actually finish the post in question, I'm going to go ahead and award it at level 4 and put a note to the effect that it may be adjusted downward later, depending on his choices and the deliberations of the judges. And hope he decides to stay a wererat for a while. But I wanted to raise the point for general discussion.

 

[Trouvere]

Yes, that's brain-bendy.

He should earn time XP at ECL 4, as that's definitely what should happen if had no choice but to remain a wererat. That gives him a total of 4436 XP.

If he retains his lycanthropy, then he needs to reach 10,000 XP to gain another class level.

If he is cured, then he reverts to ECL 1 but with "too many" XP, so I think he has no choice but to level up once and then lose the excess XP, giving him a new total of 2999 XP, one short of 3rd level.

If he had managed to avoid the wererat bite, then he would have received time XP at 2nd level, 1000 fewer time XP, for a total of 3436, which would then have taken him to 3rd level.

He's losing 3436-2999=437 XP, but the chances are he'd not have survived the duergar encounter without the lycanthrope template, so he'd not be around to get any XP (of course, he'd not have been in that mess without it, either).

I suppose the wererat problem, then, has delayed Tank's "real" 3rd level a little (perhaps by one more encounter), but the trade-off is that jaker was able to briefly play a higher level PC than he otherwise would have for a long time. Er, hurray?

 

[HolyMan]

HELP!!

The RDI is feeling up faster than the Titanic with a football size hole in it.
What should I do i had it set that all 1st and 2nd lvl Pc's posting (about 6 people) could just go to an IC when they were all ready. But now there are 10 potentential eight guys posting regularly and new dudes showing up I would hate to leave anyone behind but there are 3 clerics and that would send this game into real freefall as main encounter would last all of one round.

Any advice and after I get my list I'm suppose to post those characters somewhere I don't know that thread and then i let Manzantia know we are ready to start.

thanks in advance

HM

 

[Trouvere]

The more players, the slower the game will run. The practical limit is about 6, and things work better with 4 or 5. 10 isn't even worth thinking about. It would take a fortnight for every decision. Just pick the 4-6 who make the best balanced party for your adventure as written.

 

[Boddynock]

Agreed.

Just run with the 4 or 5 characters you think you'd enjoy the most (and make the best balanced party, as Trouvere said). If you try to cater for everybody the whole thing'll just crash and burn.