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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 507991" data-attributes="member: 5137">The PC's best guess at this point (that they've chosen to share with me) is that some large event to the east is forcing the tribes west. If true, the war is far from over.However, the Bunahken are not likely to rejoin the fight for a bit. They've got slaves, a reduced population, a good valley that they're defending from the other orcs. And, of course, there's one tribe that the dragon got - the evidence indicates we will not be hearing from them again.And since summer is starting up again, the orcs will probably be by soon. In the meantime, the PCs will be getting into other kinds of trouble as a break from the war.Heh. Sorry, I'm just more motivated to write about the PCs. Here's the summary notes I have, without my usual florid prose, in case I don't get around to it:Captain Agina calls for retreat. Line is routed, scattered. Three orcs close off escape for Agina's aides, banner drops and Agina draws sword, orcs die under spear (aides) and sword.Agina (total attack +8) does a normal hit 67.5% of the time, does a crit 7.5% of the time, and does d8+5 damage. She does an average of 7.8 hp per round, against orc 24 hp. On a round that she kills an orc, she does an additional 7.8 hp average, due to cleave. She kills one orc every 3 1/2 rounds without help.Agina's aides are about half as good as she is, and there are two of them. An orc will die almost every round against the three of them.(some sketches of placement and no scanner, sorry)Agina + aides kill the three orcs, continue calling people to her. More soldiers arrive, begin dedicated push up-mountain. Several shields join up, semi-circle is made.Orcs largely irrelevant at this point - distance 400 feet, cover in 13 rounds, not likely to be stopped.Agina is dropped about 18 hit points at center of fighting, lose about a hundred soldiers, would be more if unable to switch out front line of huddle.Summary of the Summary: They made it back, but they lost a lot of people. And Captain Agina and two level-2 aides can kill a CR 4 orc in one round. Chew on that, Athan.Agina resets the line, calls together a meeting of captains. They discuss the ram problem. A few brainstorms, decide on a few contingencies.Agina fights with overall leader of Eastpass force over 'damned stupid assault'.Orcs start trickling out of the valley. Theralis military mystified. Captain Agina warns against following - reminds everyone about Hurath, as she suspects ambushes may be laid.By end of day, most of the orcs are gone. A few scouts are sent down, they report that camps are removed.That night, hear drums again. Scouts report orcs are returning.Captain Agina suspects that when they weren't followed, they gave up on the ambush. She's wrong, of course - these are different orcs, they just all look alike.And then the incident with the dragon.Roughly, Theralis is in bad shape. While the PCs were hanging out with orcs, Theralis was fighting off the hordes and then going through a very rough winter.I don't know that saying more would 'give anything away', but the PCs don't know any more than that, so I'll just keep mum.That question deserves a treatise <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.Seriously, I haven't been running this one long enough to answer that very well. The PCs are (as of this next 'scenario') only just now beginning to control their fate directly.I may answer this later, or write that treatise <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />.I don't determine magic items by PC level, but by the production capabilities of society (and those of historical societies that may have left items lying around). Very few NPCs in Theralis are above 5th level, which severely restricts what kinds of magic are commonly available. A few examples of available stuff:Potions: Potions are made by enchanters, who must take the Brew Potions feat and have decent Herbalism skill. All potions have material components required to make them, many of which are extremely difficult to acquire. A typical 4th level enchanter might have a half dozen different types of potions on hand, with a handful of each type, and they will all be expensive. The military maintains a sizable stock of potions - these were in use in Theralis during last year's battles. A potion is typically good for 1d10 years after it is made.Charms: This is the other low-level enchanter item. Charms are minor enchantments that do small stuff (normally cantrips), or one-shot enchantments for slightly more powerful stuff (level 1-2 spells). Most are protective or buffing in nature. Event the cantrip level charms rarely last for more than a few months, however. Note: I forgot to mention it, but the shamaness had a few one-shot Charm spell charms that she put on the PCs - the charms universally failed, however, so it didn't really matter.Craftsmanship: Masters of a craft can eventually learn to bind a small amount of magic and themselves into their creations. The upshot of this is that certain magic items can be made by a crafter with sufficient skill (Craft Arms 9+ and a feat is needed to make a sword +1, for example). Captain Agina's sword was of this type, and the shields of the elite guard in the city itself are of this type.In addition to the above, there are plenty of heirlooms amongst Theralis families, one active 9th level enchanter in the city, and some lost treasures of ancient civilizations scattered in the wilderness. Hurath, before he became a fuddy-duddy old mage, adventured for a year or two, and collected some loot that the PCs may stumble across in the tower.However, this is not the end of the story. There are powerful things out in the world, and there are civilizations with higher production capabilities than Theralis. Eventually, assuming they survive, we may see Athan wielding a flaming, returning spear of orc doom, Greppa gripping a staff of the magi, and Merideth equipped top to bottom with buffing gear and a vorpal sword, all of them flying under Greppa's power and buffered against harm by Merideth's will, as they hurl fireballs, mass inflicts and great cleave into hordes of dying orcs.But for right now, they've got nice shirts, solid sandals, and each other.</blockquote>

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