N00b DM Questions

[Scorponox]

They are called Octotrees by the fairies because in their culture, they do not count past the number 8. They only do things in 8's, so 16 would be two 8s. 64 would be 8x8. And then for higher numbers, they would refer to powers such as 8 to the power of ^3 or ^4. The Octotree has (8x2)-6 legs.

I guess I should rewrite their gold pieces demands to say they demand 8 ^3 gold pieces.

Real reason, Octotree just sounds better.

Hrmm...I never thought much of the alignment. I just went with it because that is what Beholders are, I think, and I copied the stats from that part and didn't erase it before posting.

They are pretty much just creatures found growing in the natural world, but because the land is leaking magic particles, the plants are affected. They are moody and territorial, and will attack without provocation and eat animals and humans for nourishment. But I guess they wouldn't be considered "evil".

I haven't really decided what alignment the fairies are. Truthfully, they are just like humans. Some are good, and some are evil.

 

[hippos purros]

it being a tree and all and made of wood you should probably give it some extra fire damage when ure pcs hit it with fire of a kind.

and to you really nice job, you put alot of work into this, i wish i could fight it myself^^

 

[Piscivorous]

Can silence be put into a type of gas?

I am creating a monster, and I'd like for one of its attacks to be casting a silencing gas which chokes people and makes them lose their voice.

Thanks for your help so far.

Hmm. Why does Silent but Deadly come to mind?

 

[Scorponox]

Ok, I got another question....

I'd like for them to get a hat. Not just any old hat, but one useful for a sorcerer, wizard, or cleric.

This hat will let them cast 3 extra level 0 spells, 2 extra level 1 spells, or 1 extra level 2 spell. Once it is used up, it will just be thrown away like an old hat.

How valuable is this? In this part of the forest they are going to go through, there are land bound birds (like turkey-sized roadrunners) that have a single purple feather saturated with magical energies. If they catch or kill five of them (CR2 each, adventurers are level 4, and there are 5 adventurers.) They have a chance to claim these feathers, and find a seamstress to make them the Warlock Hat. It basically will look like a witch's hat with 5 purple feathers sticking out of it.

I see in the DMG that scrolls like Magic Missile, etc. have a suggested price, but this one will be different in that they can choose what spell to cast. This should obviously up the value of the item, but by how much, I don't really know. This hat will function much like scrolls, i.e. once you use it, it is gone.

How much should a Warlock Hat be worth?

Also, the bird in question:

 

[Dross]

Ok, I got another question....

I'd like for them to get a hat. Not just any old hat, but one useful for a sorcerer, wizard, or cleric.

This hat will let them cast 3 extra level 0 spells, 2 extra level 1 spells, or 1 extra level 2 spell. Once it is used up, it will just be thrown away like an old hat.

How valuable is this? In this part of the forest they are going to go through, there are land bound birds (like turkey-sized roadrunners) that have a single purple feather saturated with magical energies. If they catch or kill five of them (CR2 each, adventurers are level 4, and there are 5 adventurers.) They have a chance to claim these feathers, and find a seamstress to make them the Warlock Hat. It basically will look like a witch's hat with 5 purple feathers sticking out of it.

I see in the DMG that scrolls like Magic Missile, etc. have a suggested price, but this one will be different in that they can choose what spell to cast. This should obviously up the value of the item, but by how much, I don't really know. This hat will function much like scrolls, i.e. once you use it, it is gone.

How much should a Warlock Hat be worth?

Sometimes pricing is more art then science but here goes:
Maybe the equivalent of a scroll of 4th level (I'm guessing that because of the versatility of choosing 3 levels of spells)? A three charge wondrous item?

One thing you probably need to define (you may have already) is what list a spell is selected from, one the caster knows? any spell available to that class? Any spell at all?

If the item is something that they find and build, what is the pricing for?
If the NPC is paying exp just hand wave it.

One off magical items can be a bit freer with the rules.

 

[Scorponox]

One thing you probably need to define (you may have already) is what list a spell is selected from, one the caster knows? any spell available to that class? Any spell at all?

If the item is something that they find and build, what is the pricing for?
If the NPC is paying exp just hand wave it.

One off magical items can be a bit freer with the rules.

Yeah, I figured it would be for spells they already know. The pricing is for if they build it, then decide they don't want to use it, and want to maybe sell it to a merchant.

 

[Callista]

They're natural creatures. Make 'em true neutral. You've given them INT 2, so they are going to be more like an animal protecting their territory or their master than like the hyperintelligent, scheming Beholders.

Fairies tend to be chaotic in most worlds. Have you read up on some of the fairy legends? They're pretty crazy. In many cases they're even evil, and in some cases good; in all cases unpredictable. Think Midsummer Night's Dream...

 

[lordxaviar]

novice?

well it looks like you are quite the Dm.. just keep going, love the new monster, very creative.. im impressed.

 

[Scorponox]

Alright, I got another question, and this one does not have anything to do with game mechanics, but here goes....

In my campaign, we have two new players. I wrote background stories for both of them, and gave them each something to work towards as a medium to long term goal.

The first is a noble's servant's son. The noble is question is angry with the king, and has sent him into this area to see how many people would be open to the IDEA of separating from the current king and forming their own kingdom.

The second of these guys is a pirate from a rival pirate fleet, that sees the current pirates making tons of money off drugs, and the captain wants in on the action. Her goal is to take care of the first player, and gather ingredients to make 10 servings of this new awesome drug.

Anyways, there is a lot of mischief these two could probably end up getting into; treason, trafficking, etc.

My question is, have any of you actually jailed a character before?

If say, the first player isn't careful, and says something that could be construed as treason, then they would obviously have to go to jail. Instead of killing a character off outright, they could just go to jail. But then at that point, would the jailed character just roll up another character?

How should a DM handle long sentences and jail time? Especially if it is just one character?

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Jailing a character is effectively killing him, because he's lost his ability to decide what to do in the game. Unless the DM's got a plan to run the trial in an effort to exonerate the PC, or intends to break the PC out as an adventure, or has some other clever way to keep the jailed PC in the game, I wouldn't do it-- especially for a new player.

Of course, you actually know the player so maybe it's ok with him. But honestly I'd just ask him first; he may not be keen on the idea, or he might be fine with having another PC ready to go when his first one's incarcerated, and look forward to playing the original character when he's released or sprung from prison.