D&D 5E Out of the Abyss OOC

[Kobold Stew]

My instinct (though it's not one I'd want to force onto this group), is that if you avoid combat (every action dodge or hide, say; though another formulation should be possible), you should still get the benefits of the long rest.

My thinking is that it then becomes a tactical choice in the encounter, adding a small degree of complexity and making it a player choice about entering combat: there are mechanical benefits either way (recovery of hit dice vs. being able to do damage).

It means that by working together a party can eventually get the benefits of a long rest by working together under the most adverse circumstances; whereas conceivably that might never happen if every long rest gets interrupted by a wandering monster.

As I say, that's what was in my head when I asked the question, but I'm happy with any ruling for this game.

 

[Yavathol]

Oh.. I'm back!

Welcome back

Regarding interruptions, I'm happy for it to be as a group.. That makes it more likely that we might all decide to rest again (if the rules allow that), at least we will all be in the same boat, although Brinn & Solace aren't trying to regain spells like the others..

Hopefully this won't happen too often anyway.. One of the reasons I tend to play spell casters is because I get bored doing the same action every round so I hope Kamael won't be reduced to spamming cantrips!

 

[CanadienneBacon]

GlassEye, are you able to view the grid on the current map in the IC? I haven't been doing a Google Draw complement but will if you're having difficulty making out the map.

 

[GlassEye]

No need. The map is great; perfectly visible. Thank you.

As for interrupted rests, I would probably treat the group as a whole but don't have a strong personal preference either way.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

We're going to stick with group adjudication for whether a long rest is interrupted.

I will, however, be mindful about the frequency of random encounters rolled for during long rests. The module calls for two random encounter checks per "day." Once during travel, and once during each long rest. On a 1d20 die roll, 1-13 means no encounter, and 14-20 means an encounter of some sort (either a terrain or a creature encounter, or both, depending on circumstances). There, I certainly have behind-the-screen options about whether or not to make such a roll, or to go a different direction with the encounter if one is rolled. My goal is definitely not to repeatedly and consistently sap character resources by interrupting each and every long rest. I reckon interruptions should occur sometimes, but not all the time.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Snicker.

 

[Yavathol]

So, talking about the adventure and issues surrounding actually running it, one thing that I'm surprised hasn't come up yet is cannibalism. I don't know if the adventure does say anything about it but I would hope so, given that the PCs are now reduced to scavenging lichen and ants, and now we have a massive amount of meat available!

In the real world, I don't know but I suspect that for Homo Sapiens to eat Homo Neanderthals would probably invoke the cannibalism taboo. Humans and Derro or Quaggoth are probably a bit more distantly related...

It seems to me there are two possibilities,
1) the taboo only exists between species who can cross-breed i.e. humans and elves, humans and orcs, but not orcs and elves;
2) the taboo exists between all sentient creatures with a language, though this may only be for the "good races" since its pretty clear that orcs and goblins do eat humans and elves, in Middle Earth if not specifically for Forgotten Realms.

CB, I suspect your take on this will depend on how invested you are in making the PCs all starve, and how much your plans will be derailed if all the PCs eat Derindil and Buppido. Please let us know beforehand if doing so will cause a madness check! (I would note, however, that we don't have a way of curing the meat, so we might be starving again in a couple of days)

Isn't that a cheerful subject to start the day on?

 

[Yavathol]

I haven't read Saga, CB, I'm not really into science fiction. I'm kind of the opposite to you, in that I read comics when I was younger but stopped after leaving uni - for reasons of cost as getting bored with Image-style influence at the time. I became more and more selective based on the writers that I know I like; Frank Miller, Alan Davis, Alan Moore and Garth Ennis

 

[CanadienneBacon]

CB, I suspect your take on this will depend on how invested you are in making the PCs all starve, and how much your plans will be derailed if all the PCs eat Derindil and Buppido. Please let us know beforehand if doing so will cause a madness check! (I would note, however, that we don't have a way of curing the meat, so we might be starving again in a couple of days)

The module, which I am looking at right now, states (in typically 5e minimalist style) "Additionally, many creatures the adventurers might meet and kill can be butchered." There's a snippet more about spoilage and yield. A tiny creature yields 1# of food. A small creature yields 4#. A medium creature yields 16#. A large creature yields 32#.

Madness checks trigger at three pre-specified events, and the module leaves the door open to additional checks "when appropriate." Eating a creature very closely biologically related to you might count as a trigger for a madness check.

I'm not committed to starving the characters. Similarly, while I had a general idea of how Buppido might be a factor in the game, I wasn't actively plotting anything for him. Even if I had been, you guys command the direction the story takes. I wouldn't force a canned plot on you. My goal is for everyone to have fun and for you guys to get to experience as much of the flavor of the Underdark and set piece encounters as possible. At this point, Buppido is dead and it looks like His Highness is about to be, so neither is likely to be much further use to the party. I think you can eat either or both if you like! Re: spoilage, a successful Survival DC 15 check will relay useful information.