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Cartoon posted:While I'm cat piss postin' What about Critical Role? They throw red flags all the time yet still seem OK. Like what? What's considered a red flag? And is a flag's redness context dependent? (There's actually a very good example of this in the first 27~28 episodes of the first campaign, especially compared to the show as of today.)
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Aug 30, 2018 03:36
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Cartoon posted:While I'm cat piss postin' What about Critical Role? They throw red flags all the time yet still seem OK. I think the trick there is they've all been close friends for years, are trained actors/improvisers, and will actually back off on things if they get pushback from another player. I mean Sam does things all the time that would end up in this thread if a weird stranger in your local game store did it, but everyone in their game finds funny. Even given that, a few episodes ago he starts using a nickname for a character, the player is obviously not into it, so he stops. They know each other's boundaries and can pick up on social cues.
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Aug 30, 2018 03:44
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Paladin posted:I think the trick there is they've all been close friends for years, are trained actors/improvisers, and will actually back off on things if they get pushback from another player. And the one guy who didn't, well, he ain't around no more.
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Aug 30, 2018 04:14
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Dawgstar posted:And the one guy who didn't, well, he ain't around no more. I feel like this is a bit part of why Critical Role works is everyone is friends and know their limits, and they threw out the catpiss when it turns out he can't play nice.
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Aug 30, 2018 04:35
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Paladin posted:Even given that, a few episodes ago he starts using a nickname for a character, the player is obviously not into it, so he stops. They know each other's boundaries and can pick up on social cues. This is the important bit, yea. Like, yea they sometimes go for jokes that push the 'is this ACTUALLY funny though?' line but because they're functional people who have known each other for a good while they can realize 'oh, my friend clearly doesn't think this is as funny as I do. It'd be really lame of me to try to force this joke, I'll just think of something else to do and stop'.
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Aug 30, 2018 04:54
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Bad Seafood posted:I've been running Death House (Curse of Strahd) as a stand-alone mini-adventure for some friends, and they've really taken to it. I initially planned it as a single-sitting one-shot, maybe two-parter, but we're three sessions deep, nine hours in, and they've only just reached the third floor (of four - and that's not including the labyrinthine basement). Only one fight in all that time too. The party's been taking their sweet time, searching for clues, trying to piece together what happened there, and generally enjoying the atmosphere I've created. I've added a little to the intrigue, more details and characters to reward their dedicated snooping, and they're doing a great job playing detective and guessing the twists. This group would probably be perfect to run Call of Cthulhu for, if they're into creepy stuff and don't mind their characters dying or going insane a lot  Sounds like a fun change of pace~
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Aug 30, 2018 09:12
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Quidthulhu posted:This group would probably be perfect to run Call of Cthulhu for, if they're into creepy stuff and don't mind their characters dying or going insane a lot
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Aug 30, 2018 09:52
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Never heard of Gumshoe. I'll look into it. I'd love to run a Call of Cthulhu game but I don't have any of the materials on hand, and lack the experience to bumble my way through. I've only ever played twice, both one-shots. I've got a(nother) friend I can hit up for some assistance there though, so we'll see what comes of that.
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Aug 30, 2018 12:31
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If you're ok with more improv and no die mechanics, I recommending picking up Lovecraftesque. It's my favorite way to do that slow burn horror.
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Aug 30, 2018 13:31
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Oooh gmless
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Aug 30, 2018 13:37
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quote:CRASH PANDAS is a free 1-page game in which you play a load of raccoons in a car trying to make it big on the LA street racing circuit. https://www.patreon.com/posts/20172582 My Tanicus GM is going to run this for us over the holiday break when we're done a bunch of players. 
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Aug 30, 2018 18:19
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CobiWann posted:https://www.patreon.com/posts/20172582 This looks delightful and I'm going to support this Patreon campaign for that alone.
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Aug 30, 2018 21:04
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CobiWann posted:https://www.patreon.com/posts/20172582 So like, Car Lesbians but with trash pandas? I can dig it. Bad Seafood posted:Never heard of Gumshoe. I'll look into it. There's also Dread, if anyone happens to have a spare Jenga tower with all the pieces laying around. While not quite specifically Lovecraftian, it's really fun with a group and an audience, because there's nothing like the collective holding of breath as someone needs to take 4 pieces from the already precarious tower that really steadies one's nerves. 
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Aug 31, 2018 08:36
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Remembered a story from ages ago, thought I'd share. If you cast your minds back to yonder days, when 4e was the latest edition, Essentials hadn't been released yet, and Dark Sun was over the horizon. Wizards still had their public gaming organization, known as Encounters at the time, and I had joined in as a fresh faced person who always wanted to try out these tapletop rpgs but had yet to find a group I liked to try it with. Before you get any ideas, this was a clean run gaming store in a mall, the DM was a lady I've become fast friends with over, geez, nearly a decade, and everyone involved were in this to have fun. No cat piss, just good times. I had brought an illusionist wizard, decked out with zones and movement powers, hoping to style on enemies with fancy magic. Its been a while, so I don't remember most of the other players (Public play, people dropping in and out, you know.) I remember two of the other players and their PCs. One lady was really into Forgotten Realms dragons, and was living her best life playing a dragonborn barbarian. The other was a chill guy who'd brought an OG Eladrin Lazylord to the table, playing it like a wizened master offering sage advice to others so that they (often the barbarian) could hit their enemies even harder. That week we were fighting kobolds for one reason or another, trying to stop a ritual that was assuredly bad. Ritual stones to hop across, mysterious runes, and angry kobold cultists abound. The description of a particular runic circle caught my eye, so my wizard traipsed up to take a look with a quick Arcana check. The DM explained it was a trap of sorts, and if I could activate it I could bathe the enemy kobolds in fire. My wizardy insight revealed I just needed the power word and a quick action. "Oh, Ixeldrix, that works. It means big fire in Draconic." provided the barbarian's player. Now, here's the thing. I had (and have) vanishingly little respect for fantasy settings and languages. It might be a failing of mine but I don't really get upset about it. Still, it's probably the main reason I started joking around with this. "Right, okay. Trying to activate the rune... Tixelsnicks!" I say. I roll, its low, I don't make the check and the rune doesn't activate. It's not a big deal, my arcana check is high and it's not a very difficult check. The next turn comes around, and I try it again. "Pixie sticks!" The roll fails, and I get some friendly ribbing from the other players. My third turns comes back. "Kibble n' bits!" Still nothing. I'm a little perturbed and the other players are starting to wonder if we got a defective wizard. So at this point, the Eladrin Lazylord who'd been waltzing around giving flanks and testing out bravura powers comes over to the runic circle and announces he's going to give it a try. He smiles before he rolls the dice and says, clearly, "Ixeldrix." The roll succeeds, the trap goes off and all but finishes the fight. Everyone's laughing, but then the player raises a finger in that dorky way and says, "It's all in the pronunciation." And I've remained owned to this day. M.c.P fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Sep 2, 2018 |
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Sep 2, 2018 14:53
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That's excellent.
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Sep 2, 2018 16:11
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Klaatu, barada... nickle? necktie?
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Sep 2, 2018 17:05
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What could have been a neckbeard moment was instead a light-hearted rib. Not from our table (although we did have a major party casualty last night) but a funny Cyberpunk story if you have ten minutes... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMesEO5_lWA
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Sep 3, 2018 14:05
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Yesterday my character died in a pretty cool way. Well, I say died - it's unplayable in the campaign. Anyway... D&D5, lethal campaign with no resurrect, and open dice playing. Very dangerous. The character was a highly idealistic druid, who as part of his backstory was a thrown out high elf. You see, the party needed a healer, so I took a druid. But I wanted what I consider the most powerful spell in the game: Prestidigitation. It's a great gimmick for roleplaying, and having the 'cast out' backstory fit with taking an ordinarily weird sub-race. I basically made Prestidigitation my signature move - to help persuasion, to play pranks etc. This of course in addition to healing and some offensive stuff like Moonbeam. We got to level 4 in the campaign, and ended up in some temple where our party rogue decided to just start shootin' some intelligent birds up. They run away, and return moments later in larger numbers, with their veiled queen in tow. Negotiations fail, and aggressive negotiations break out. My Hold Person fails, and we're surrounded inside a broken building. The queen's turn comes up, she takes down her veil - turns out it's a medusa all along! We do our Constitution rolls, most of the team succeeds, but they miss the medusa after closing their eyes. But I fail. By 1 point. Bummer. I start turning to stone, getting restrained. But I can still cast spells, so I cast the most powerful spell I have: Prestidigitation. To create a small trinket, like say, a handheld mirror. The medusa fails the saving throw against it's own gaze by 5, instantly turns to stone, and I fail my saving throw the round after with a poo poo-eating grin on my face. My last act of defiance was destroying a 6CR creature with 127 HP... with a cantrip. *in russian's voice from John Wick* with a loving cantrip! Safe to say that character's reached his peak, so it's a good thing my team doesn't really have any way of getting hold of a Greater Restoration. Rolling a paladin now to completely annoy everyone 
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Sep 6, 2018 08:56
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My current campaign has become a game of "how many subquests deep can we get before everything falls apart," as the party keeps getting themselves involved in things that necessitate a response. It began as a relatively simple request: find and recover an illusionist who is being hunted by elves. The party set out and spent a couple of days searching for him, but their searching caught the attention of the elves pursuing the guy, and they were attacked. They fought off the elves, but some of them escaped, so the party tracked them down; they were hiding in the city house of a local lord. So the party attempted to break into the lord's house. The face members (a half-elf Celestial warlock and an alchemist NPC I provided for support) bullshitted a reason to be allowed in through the front door, where they planned to unlock a side door to let the other two (an orc barbarian and a dragonborn paladin) inside. But they were found out just as the other two reached the door, and had to fight off some guards (and their magical attack shrubs) before bolting through the house to where they knew the elves to be staying. But all the noise they had made breaking in had alerted the elves that they were coming, so there was nothing but a small collection of supplies to greet them when they arrived. With guards chasing them up from behind, they were ultimately forced to leap off the roof (aided by a flask of cushioning gel the alchemist happened to have on hand) and beat a hasty retreat. Making their way through the city's back streets in an attempt to shake off their pursuers, the party needed to decide how they wanted to proceed. The options presented were to either flee the city, or to claim sanctuary in a local temple long enough to work something out with the lord whose house they broke into. They chose the latter, and it was decided that the paladin would head off alone to draw their attention. (the actual reason for this was that the paladin's player wasn't available that day; we ran his solo mini-adventure through the streets of the city separately.) Everyone except the paladin headed down into the old sewer system below the city, and they quickly made their way towards the temple in question thanks to a few strong pathfinding rolls. They encountered some sewer-dwelling sahuagin and their pet summoned shark, but easily dispatched them; the high point of that fight was the warlock casting a unicorn-shaped Eldritch Blast through the dark sewer water directly into one of the sahuagin, blasting him into fish chunks. The party met back up at the temple, where it came out that the paladin had accidentally killed two more guards on his way their; he had thrown a bead of force with the intention of creating a barricade behind him (both the player and I having missed the bit about the force orb weighing as much as a beach ball) but caught two of his pursuers in the blast, killing them instantly. He and the barbarian had a bit of a spat over this, (the barbarian arguing "you shouldn't take lives if you don't have to, the paladin stating "if they caught me they would kill me, I had to protect myself,") and would continue to be at odds for some time afterwards. As expected, though a little ahead of schedule, the lord showed up at the temple, and offered the party an ultimatum: seek out a powerful ancient spirit and receive its blessing to revive the killed guards, or be put to death for murder. He gave them one week to reach their goal, and a token. The token would identify them as working on his behalf, granting them access to the spirit's dwelling place; it would act as the receptacle for the spirit's blessing, so they could return to the city with the spirit's power; and it would allow him to track their progress, informing him directly should they abandon or fail their mission. The party was quick to accept, not because they feared punishment, but because they were anxious to undo the wrong they had done. In the meantime, the lord agreed to try and hold off the elves; he had been allowing them to stay with him as a diplomatic move to avoid war with their people, but would not take their assault of citizens in the street lying down. So the party set out to another, much larger city, where they would seek permission to enter the dwelling place of the ancient spirit. This city turned out to be the paladin's hometown, and he shared with the party his story. He had fled in his youth after being wrongfully imprisoned; dragonborn in the city were regarded as second-class citizens, and he had harmed a human while trying to defend a mother and her children from a group of thugs. He had hoped to return to the city with a means of overturning the corrupt rule that allowed such a thing to take place. But he hadn't been back to the city in over 10 years, so he couldn't say what sort of state it would be in when they arrived. Not long after arriving, as they passed through the neighborhood he grew up in, he happened to spy a human in the distance; the same human who had gotten him in all that trouble years past. Though he tried to chase him, the human was too quick, and slipped away through the city's side streets. As he started to turn over the alleyways in search of the man, joined shortly thereafter by the barbarian who had chosen to follow him without really knowing what was going on, they ran into some guards who were investigating the commotion. Chief among said guards was a dragonborn; specifically, the paladin's brother. They exchanged greetings, and the paladin and barbarian were both invited to the paladin's old home for dinner with the paladin's family. They graciously accepted, and informed the warlock and alchemist that they would meet back up with them at an inn later in the evening. Things went well with the paladin's family; they were quick to welcome him back, though they admitted to feeling hurt when they discovered he had left without a word. They admitted to receiving the letters he had sent during his time away, but scolded him for failing to provide them with a way to send anything in return. He had gone to become a member of a group called the Wild Enclave, whose stated goal was to maintain the balance between civilization and nature. He hadn't really had a particular goal in joining them; it was more that he was alone and far from home, and they offered him a way to survive and grow stronger. But because they delivered his messaged by way of animal messenger, there was no way to provide a response. After their visit was over, the barbarian and paladin made their way to the inn where the party would be staying. However, on the way back, they were jumped by a group of dark-clad, masked individuals who struck suddenly from the shadows. The paladin was quickly knocked out, leaving the barbarian to try and defend the two of them from four attackers; not the greatest odds, all things considered. He tried the only thing he could think of: he stood over his dying ally, took a defensive stance, and roared a challenge at the attackers. Stunned by his seeming fearlessness, they decided to back off, promising that they would strike again as long as the party remained in the city. Carrying his friend to the inn, they were able to administer some healing, and it was decided that they would turn in for the night (sharing a room and taking turns on watch duty). The next day ended up being a shopping trip that led into a one-off, as I integrated the short Murder at Moonveil Manor into the adventure for a change of pace. It went over really well, and ended with the party getting a macguffin (the Gyfu stone, one of 26 rune-themed magic items that will come into play later) and a sweet new house. They seemed to appreciate the change of pace and the "murder mystery that quickly leapt into evil cursed house" that was so different from what we were doing before. Once that was finished, they received a message from the paladin's brother. He wanted them to help him gather evidence about some folks involved in drug trafficking, to which the party immediately agreed. They sneaked into the place where two groups had gathered for a trade, but failed in a variety of ways before getting much more than a sample of the drug being traded. The paladin accidentally walked into a room where one of the bosses was staying... and it turned out to be the same human he had been pursuing before. The barbarian had taken up a high position to keep an eye on things outside, but when he tried to create a distraction, he instead accidentally arrowed one of the gang members in the neck. The warlock actually mostly succeeded, except that he got caught in a position where his only option was to hide in the rafters, and by then it was too late to wait for the guards to keep moving as they were already on high alert. In the end, the whole thing turned out to be a setup; the paladin's brother had been working with the gang leader (a man named Argyros) and had been hoping that the paladin would be present when the two of them worked together to take down the actual drug trafficker, segueing into a plea for the paladin and the party to join them in staging a revolution to overthrow the current governing body. The barbarian killing one of the gang members spooked the drug trafficker (who turned out to be a local shopkeeper they had met earlier) which sort of soured the whole thing, but the party still got to hear about what the gang's plans were. They were asked if they would aid in the revolution, and the response was mixed at best. The paladin was mad at his brother for lying to him, when he likely would have helped without question if they had simply asked; the barbarian was against the revolution because it would mean hunting down and killing the nobility, not all of whom were at fault for the current state of things; and the warlock just wanted to get back to searching for the guy they had been sent out on a mission for in the first place. So, at this point the party is 3 quests in. Find the illusionist > talk to an old spirit > take a side in a revolution. And this is only half of it! We're all having a blast with this campaign even if we've long since lost sight of the rails.
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Sep 6, 2018 21:11
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CeallaSo posted:My current campaign has become a game of "how many subquests deep can we get before everything falls apart," as the party keeps getting themselves involved in things that necessitate a response.
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Sep 6, 2018 21:51
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CeallaSo posted:(the barbarian arguing "you shouldn't take lives if you don't have to, the paladin stating "if they caught me they would kill me, I had to protect myself,") Thats a bit of a role reversal from the norm.
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Sep 7, 2018 07:53
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CobiWann posted:What could have been a neckbeard moment was instead a light-hearted rib. This is brilliant and I am stealing it for the next time I run a Cyberpunk or Shadowrun game.
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Sep 7, 2018 09:14
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MonsterEnvy posted:Thats a bit of a role reversal from the norm. Yeah, and it wasn't even an intentional one. The paladin is oath of vengeance, so while he still champions the weak and seeks to punish evil, he's not afraid to kill people who stand in his way. And from his perspective, he wasn't ever doing anything wrong; the lord was harboring dangerous assassins, the guards were protecting criminals, and his pursuers were following him when they shouldn't have been. Between spending 10 years with a group of extreme survivalists beyond the fringes of civilization and having joined them after running from being wrongfully imprisoned, his moral compass can come off as a little screwy. As part of his backstory, the barbarian was the primary actor in a brutal massacre years ago, kicked off by his ill-fated attempt to wield a cursed sword to protect his people from invasion. The sword possessed him, and while he managed to kill the invaders, he also killed nearly all of the villagers he was trying to protect. He continued to carry the sword with him, having been exiled to atone by finding a means to purify the blade. In-game, the vestiges of the sword's hold over him are the source of his rage, and he's otherwise a well-adjusted and kindhearted person. He spent much of the time between being exiled and joining the party guiding separated families back together across war lines between the Empire and the nearby Dragon Kingdom.
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Sep 8, 2018 05:00
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Saw this on imgur and didn't know where else to post it cause this is the only thread in Trad Games I follow, but it made me giggle
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Sep 8, 2018 14:53
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don't you forget about meeee don't you lock your painful memories in an enchanted amulet and throw it into the sea for me to find five hundred years later  God I'm so sorry this is a longpost. This is Break Stuff Club. We're a team of booksellers who've been playing for a year or so. We finished what started as LMOP in February, did a brief prequel-ish Blades in the Dark game with unrelated characters for a few sessions, and now we've begun SKT. I know absolutely nothing about Forgotten Realms-lore nor do I particularly care, as we are doing our level best to ruin everything. If I spell some fantasy thing wrong then sorry!! Darren "Hananya" Horn is a half-elf druid who grew up in the lap of luxury. Seeking to embrace his elven heritage, he fled the comfort of his home for the forest-- and his mother, Lady Baeonse, desperately wants him back. Hananya seems to have given up on reconnecting with nature, along with any pretense of "authenticity," but he's not willing to return to his previous life. Under a veneer of disaffected hipster irony is the nastiest, MTV-Jackass-iest little dude you've ever met. He's the youngest PC. His mother's consort John Zed ("JZ") is bankrolling bounty hunters to bring him home. Mordok Bitterhook is a dwarf barbarian. He was effectively disowned by his family for a relationship with a human woman around ??? years ago; she has since passed away of age. He lived in isolation along the coast, where he got really into carving hooks and lobster fishing and playing the spoons. During our last adventure, he met the stoic warrior woman Silda and they've got it real bad. Kind, gruff, Dad. Simon Wolf's-Son, also Simon Volchonok and Simon Koldunov, is a human draconic sorcerer. He comes from the faraway principality of Zembla; until recently he was sworn to the service of the tyrannical Dragon Prince and his brood of murderous adult children. He is the prince's illegitimate son and has spent most of his life trying not to get killed/trying not to get other people killed. After an encounter with the alluring dragon cultist Glory/actually the young green dragon Venomfang he is left with an egg. Venomfang does not have the time and she is trying to focus on her career. Julia Selwyn-Sterling is a half-elf rogue. She's Simon's ex and his childhood friend, mirroring the relationship between their own parents (the Dragon Prince and Julia's mother, a calculating foreigner and perhaps royal hostage who eventually became the power behind the throne). Manipulative and scheming but also pretty forthright about it, since her honesty instead comes off as Jokes. Anaphylaxis Grievous-Bodily-Harm is a half-orc grave cleric and devotee of the Raven Queen. Five hundred years ago she followed a call to the mine at Phandelver, where a wizard took her for one of the invading orcs. His Sleep spell went awry and put her under for a half-millennia. Her unusual customs and references (Fantasy Sephora, the bagpipes, etc.) are lost on this modern age-- likewise, her goddess seems to have been forgotten. Previously: Our Heroes took a two-month slog through a grueling death temple to secure the mythical Eternal Flame and enough loot with which to buy a bag of holding. The wizard Naxene Drathkala would combine the two to combine a safe, portable incubator for Simon’s egg (which was slowly dying!!) in return for escort to the walled town of Goldenfields. Hananya was accosted by the urchins of Waterdeep for mysterious reasons; he’s told you can’t get away from Fletcher, whoever that is. Also, his mother Lady Baeonse’s latest effort to bring him back home has seen half the city plastered in posters bearing his likeness. This was funded by the Lady’s newest consort, JZ. Mordok hasn’t heard from his lady, Silda, who last we knew was taking the criminal Iarno Albrecht to face trial in Neverwinter. Ana convinced everyone to break into a graveyard so they could find some goths (hoping she’d be able to find other people who know about the Raven Queen). There was some trouble getting in– when Simon and Ana were cornered and Simon’s (bad) bluff failed, he misty-stepped away. He also touched her boob. And caused several fires. No worshipers of RQ in the graveyard! But there were goths. These were Poppy and Edmund, who were very interested in what Ana had to say about the Raven Queen. The party heads to Goldenfields. There’s a hole in the walls surrounding the town and its fields– the result of a giant attack. They were driven off, but little has been done to repair the wall since. Here they meet exciting local color, including the dashing dragonborn bard This is the third of some very RP-heavy sessions– the previous two fit all in the previous paragraphs, and I am skipping a LOT. We didn't roll much, except to identify things and also Julia made a performance check for being a Midwesterner. Our heroes wander and explore Goldenfields, combo town/abbey dedicated to the goddess Chauntea/massive agricultural complex. Mordok admires the stonework at the abbey and befriends two semi-feral black bears. The abbot is planning a picnic! We’re invited! He tells Silda about this via sending stone… and shortly thereafter gets a reply: “Who’s this?” Julia, meanwhile, is hungover. She repairs to the public baths, where she meets the guard Zi. She’d been charming Zi the previous night; Zi’s frustrated with Goldenfield’s defenses, and especially with the hole in the wall. She tried to be direct with the abbot and the captain of the guard about her concern, but was brushed off. Julia suggests an innovative strategy to the forward and earnest Zi: passive aggression. During the picnic, they will conspicuously attempt to make repairs to the wall and they will do a bad job. Simon tries apologizing to Ana for being a rowdy boy. He wants to make it clear: he acts stupid or clownish sometimes, and there’s a reason for that, but it doesn’t excuse his behavior. When his siblings got involved in their bizarre murder-and-inheritance game, it was easier for him to either roll over and do as they said or just to act like a fool. They’d like him that way or at least they wouldn’t kill him. Apology accepted! Hananya meets other druids and devotees of Chauntea. He helps them get ready for the picnic by getting blazed. While at the picnic, Antoine makes the rounds and romances everybody. With a hand-drum he accompanies Ana’s bagpipe cover of Margaritaville, as originally performed by the founder of her remote village, Gingivitis Immolation Buffet. Mordok gets staggeringly drunk. Hananya gets into arts and crafts. We learn that previously, he’d taken drawing lessons. He even drew the portrait they use on his wanted poster! Now he is using his talent to make bank on crop art TF commissions for various partygoers. Zi asks him what it’s like to turn into an animal. “It’s like pooping extra legs.” Antoine asks Julia: is Simon her boyfriend? No– but he is her ex. That gives her some unique perspective for Tony’s next round of questions. What does he like to drink? Is he as skittish as he seems? How would you romance him? Julia, Zi, and Mordok then go to the wall for repairs. Mordok is still drunk; he just heard there was stonework to do. They have to dissuade him from doing a good job. They move rocks around aimlessly. I stepped out to go to the bathroom at this point but someone I fully believe was the Monopoly Man yelled at them for ignoring the proper bureaucratic procedures. Julia is satisfied with this result! It means they have been seen to do a lovely job and they have seen other people see them: the equivalent of putting a post-it on the wall reading FIX ME, PLEASE! Antoine observes Simon at the picnic. He’s been riding around in the boughs of an awakened tree with a bunch of local kids, showing them card tricks. Antoine offers to help him down. I am so excited I fall out of my chair. Likewise, Simon falls out of the tree. Tony tells him more about his trip to Zembla! He had a lavish reception there, though people seemed disappointed when he didn’t (couldn’t) do magic. He’s even been to the court and seen the Dragon Prince. Simon chokes a little, but he confesses: he’s the Prince’s illegitimate son. Antoine shows Simon the painted miniature he keeps in his locket– a human girl about 8 years old, his daughter Yvette. They have some very sweet moments and Antoine makes his move: can he visit Simon’s room later? uhhhh yeah He also reveals that like Simon, he is Hananya observes the arrival of a messenger, who visits with the innkeeper Miros. Miros leaves suddenly, in obvious distress. Hananya follows, finding him in tears at the inn. Miros’ parents have been killed in the giant attack on Nightstone (which we’d learned about previously). Hananya tries to offer what comfort he can by fixing him a cocktail, something he calls the Nasty Boy. I've been tasked with making them for the next session and they need to include aloe jellies. The evening winds down in the inn. Ana performs the Cranberries on the pipes (inside) in an attempt to silence Oren Yogilvy, local halfling entertainer, who she hates. Julia recites I’ve Been to a Wonderful Party. Mordok aggressively, woefully plays the spoons and Hananya invents a new and conceptual style of playing the flute. Simon reconvenes with Naxene, who has finished her modification of the bag of holding; it’ll hold the egg and very little else unless you want to stick your loot in a portable oven, but it now functions as a secure incubator. Simon and Antoine meet for their Romantic Evening (”I would like to learn more songs in Zemblan– such a beautiful language” “yes, it’s a graceful tongue ”) whenpredictably  the alarm gongs on the walls begin to sound. The town is under attack.
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Sep 8, 2018 18:17
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Your group is amazing.
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Sep 8, 2018 18:36
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but can you make pizzas with the portable oven? This is great and I want to hear all about these people.
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Sep 8, 2018 20:19
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Leraika posted:but can you make pizzas with the portable oven? Gotta admit it would be pretty funny if you stick something in to warm and check back later to discover a newborn hatchling ravenously devouring whatever you put in.
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Sep 11, 2018 16:42
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 Found on an Instagram story last night.
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Sep 14, 2018 12:28
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Whenever the warlock in our party does something the slightest bit sketchy, his player tends to panic and blow it up to absurd proportions. We're doing a little side-excursion with the DM right now -- he and my paladin were investigating the scene of a murder, and he suggested that one of the paladin NPCs from my dude's order check the spilled bottle of wine on the floor for poison. (We found the victim getting eaten alive by 8 swarms of bats in a suite that we knew a vampire had been staying in and got the unluckiest rolls in our lives fighting them off and trying to save the dude. No, the wine wasn't poisoned.) He then proceeded to: - Realize that his locket of "Malice" (poison that causes temporary blindness) would show up on the paladin's radar. - Abruptly excuse himself to the other room to continue "investigating" (and rolled a middling Deception check.) - Hide the Malice under a couch cushion. - Panic when he realized that this set off red flags for the paladin captain, who asked his poison detecting buddy to go "check the other room while you're at it, just in case." - Dig the Malice back up from under the couch cushion. Tried to pocket it. Bad sleight of hand roll. Obviously the paladin asked him wtf he'd just stuffed into his pocket. Warlock eventually relented, explained that he'd purchased it for self-defense. Paladin captain went "oh, okay, that's cool," and moved on. I feel bad ribbing his player for this but it keeps loving happening.
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Sep 14, 2018 20:06
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A skittish guy making a deal with the devil would make for a good movie. Warlocks aren't necessarily chosen based on suitability. I hope he doesn't ruin the party's plans with that or anything but I think it'd be fun to play that character on purpose.
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Sep 14, 2018 21:01
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"You're kind of bad at evil, dude. Have you considered being a peacelock?"
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Sep 14, 2018 21:06
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That's adorable.
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Sep 14, 2018 21:32
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 My Pulp 1955 game has a mostly non-combat engineer. His only combat skill is blowpipes, so he has a blowpipe with tranquilizer darts disguised as a flute. He has never once missed and the tranquilizer is a Hollywood-style instant knockout.
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Sep 14, 2018 21:59
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Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:A skittish guy making a deal with the devil would make for a good movie. Warlocks aren't necessarily chosen based on suitability. I hope he doesn't ruin the party's plans with that or anything but I think it'd be fun to play that character on purpose. My understanding of the initial idea for the character was "bookish and fainthearted warlock passing himself off as a wizard" -- high INT, never using EB in front of the party, taking feats and Pact of the Tome to aid the illusion, etc. Which I was not aware of until his player told me like 4 months into the campaign, long after the character was outed by a doppelganger and confessed straight up that he made a deal with someone he shouldn't have, I am very smart. That's not to say the PC hasn't maybe been involved with some interparty/interplayer strife issues but that's less "mildly amusing anecdote" territory and more "cautionary tale about setting player expectations vis-a-vis PCs having conflicting goals" territory.
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Sep 15, 2018 06:01
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Google Doc link - https://tinyurl.com/Tanicus-Part-15 ***** Previously on Tanicus - Hobgoblins, cultists, spectral guardians, political intrigue, and chaotic fruit… ***** After the events of the previous adventure, the party known as the Sword of Fallcrest decided to take a day or two to rest and refit in Stonebridge before heading back out. The various bounties and jobs that the party turned in had earned them enough money to fully repay the loan that Kynwal had taken out back in Fallcrest. While there were still nearly two weeks left before the exorbitant amount of interest kicked in, the party chose to immediately send a letter of credit via the Jeweler’s Guild for the full amount of the loan instead of risking the sudden and nearly instantaneous removal of gold that tends to happen to adventuring parties. During the party’s day off Hale and Biff took the opportunity to study the carriage that had been obtained from the cultists in the ruins. The carriage was of the kind that could be used”either to run a travelling potion hucker’s show or during character creation in Barovia.” During an inspection of the underside of the carriage, Hale discovered a rune carved into the wood which Typhomine identified as a locus that could be used to scry on the carriage’s inhabitants. quote:Biff - ”We didn’t talk about anything major in the carriage did we?” Typhomine easily marred the carving and disabled the rune. That night the party discussed the various options available to them before deciding to go after one of the bounties that had originally brought them to Stonebridge.  The Labyrinth Lord and his minions had been seen in the hills to the northwest, past the source of the Serpent Run River that flowed through the city. Following the eastern shore of the river would bring the party though the barbarian village of Tide Water, the final of the three major homes for the Plainsfolk. The chieftain of Tide Water is Saga Deepwater, a name feared by the kobolds and gnolls of the Whitefang Wood. She tended to be the most outspoken of the barbarian chieftains, and as the party discovered last session had recently been in talks with Baroness Thornwood of Stonebridge. The party hoped that the Tide Water Tribe might have information regarding Kozin that they would be willing to share. The party left the next morning. After lunch, the party continued to follow the Serpent Run when they came across a strange sight.   Two ogres were having a heated discussion with a female Hill Giant. The ogres were taking turns as one would speak before letting the other one have their say. Granted, it involved a lot of yelling, screaming, thumping of chests, and apparently the offering of gifts and trinkets. quote:Aya - ”They are courting her!” Krowe nudged his horse forward. The Hill Giant noticed him first and motioned to the ogres. In response, Krowe raised his hand and put on his best smile. quote:Krowe - “Hello!” One huge-assed fountain of dirt and rock later, the Hill Giant pointed at Krowe. ”Magic user! Get him!” She reached into her pack and brought out a large rock, aka a small boulder, and as Kynwal cast Fire Bolt she reared back and hurled the rock. It smashed into Kynwal and sent him sprawling. quote:Krowe - ”Hey! You don’t throw rocks at my friend!” Kynwal got smashed a second time by the boulder, but otherwise the party quickly ended the makeshift date. There was an interesting bit of loot amongst the three large creatures, although Krowe had to spend a few moments deadlifting the Hill Giant to get at her pack. ”I was going to suggest a lever,” Kynwal said, ”but Krowe seemed determined to flip her over.”  quote:DM - ”...four large rocks, a three-and-a-half-foot comb made from the ribcage of a fish, a six foot tall, wooden training dummy, one gold piece in an unlocked chest, two human skulls, one goblin skull, and a stuffed tiger, rearing back, eight-and-a-half feet tall.” Later that afternoon the party saw a group of barbarian scouts standing on a low hill in the distance. Soon after, the sound of heavy, pounding hoofbeats preceded the arrival of an outrider party, four horses and one ridiculously huge stallion with fur barding. The rider of the stallion raced ahead of her companions, pulling up short in front of Aya. quote:??? - ”You.” Ren, Daughter of Saga, Deepwater, confirms that the party arrives in peace and escorts them towards Tide Water. Soon after their arrival, they were greeted by the chieftain of the Tide Water tribe.  While the Tide Water tribe primarily concerned itself with gnolls and kobolds, Saga told them that the minotaurs led by Kozin have slowly encroached on their lands, with several raids having taken place over the past few months. ”Our scouts have tracked the Stone Devil. Two days to the northwest of the river’s source you will find that his presence has changed the land that he has laid claim to. The grass itself has grown to the height of three men and woven itself together into thick walls surrounding his lair. It has been several months since our scouts have seen him leave the labyrinth, however the minotaurs guarding the entrance to the hedge often converse with a pale human wearing brown robes. Also be warned that the Labyrinth Lord has some kind of creature who flies through the air looking for trespassers. It is a strange beast - the body of a lion with the wings of a dragon and the head of a goat. And of a lion. And of a dragon.” As Saga conversed with the party, Aya noticed something a little in the way that she wore her armor...indeed, the barbarian chieftain appeared to be pregnant. That night as the party slept in the tents provided by the barbarians... quote:Kynwal - ”I’m going to set that eight-foot tall tiger outside my tent with a little offering bowl filled with some meat. I’m not going to say anything, I just want to see if any of the Plainsfolks break and ask me what’s up with it.” ...Ren snuck into Aya’s tent to catch up and exchange some good-natured teasing. At one point Ren inquired about Typhomine, having never seen a dragonborn before. She slipped out of the tent and walked over to Typhomine’s tent… quote:Ren - “Typhomine?” She quickly darted back to Aya’a tent. quote:Ren - ”I’m going to go seduce him!” What followed was about five-to-ten minutes of comments and innuendo about wood and lumber - Ren inferring to Typhomine’s bits while Typhomine was excited to explain all about his idea for a water-powered log cutting device. By the time Typhomine was gushing about designing a fully function lumber mill Ren had thrown up her arms and stalked out of the tent. The next morning the party rode out of Tide Water, heading northwest to the source of the Serpent Run River. The two day ride passed without incident.   The headwaters flowed from a cliff face. Three minotaurs stood nearby. One of them was studying the rock wall while the other two stood guard. Before Krowe could ride forward and unleash his magical powers, the minotaur studying the rock wall spun around and snapped an arrow off at Kynwal. It struck the wizard with great effect, staggering him for a moment. quote:Krowe - ”Since when were minotaurs kickass archers?” Did you know minotaurs are absolute beasts in Fifth edition? The Arcane Archer spent most of the fight trying to turn Kynwal into a pincushion while the rest of the party discovered that minotaurs had a very nasty charge ability. Another interesting factoid was discovered as the minotaurs called out to each other...in Abyssal. quote:Krowe - ”Wait, minotaurs speak Abyssal? Because what they just said did NOT sound like ‘moo!’” After the three minotaurs had been cut down, Typhomine and Kynwal examined the cliff face. It seemed that the Arcane Archer had been practicing drawing some sort of rune as the rock wall was covered with dozens of variations of the same one.   After travelling for the rest of the day, the party camped in Leomund’s Tiny Hut. During Biff’s watch, he noticed something swooping overhead in the darkness. He quickly ducked back into the hut as the form perched on a nearby rise, sniffing the air with all three of its noses.   The party came up with a very quick plan. Kynwal would drop the hut and the party would instantly spread out to prevent being attacked by its breath weapon. The chimera landed between two small hills as Kynwal shouted for the party to scatter. Hale rolled to one side and took aim with a Wing Shot as the Chimera took to the skies. Well, tried to take to the skies. Her Wing Shot grounded the creature and knocked it prone, making it a sitting duck...wait, it had three heads. Sitting duck, goose, and swan? In any case, Krowe and Aya proceed to unleash an Alpha Strike on the downed sentry with everything they had in their arsenal, dropping the chimera in one hit. At Typhomine’s request, Biff cast Gentle Repose to allow him to skin the creature the next morning. He took up the next watch as the party retreated into the hut. His watch was passing without incident when the DM asked him to make a Constitution saving throw which he managed to pass. He saw what had attacked him and instantly raced for the safety of the hut.  The same metal, snake-like construct that had attacked him in the ruins during the last session. quote:Kynwal - ”Is that one of your creations that got out of control?”  The next day, the party crested a hill and laid eyes upon a large hedge wall stretching at least three hundred feet. A loan minotaur stood guard, eyes roaming the tall grass for intruders. It may have caught wind of the approach of our party as a moment later it was joined up a humanoid figure in brown robes.  Who was joined a few minutes later by a rail-thin demonic creature.  The minotaur turned out to be a Berkerer, who charged Krowe and knocked him to under half his hit points before switching over to a series of Reckless Attacks...that kept missing. The minotaur would only land one more blow on Krowe (a nasty one that the Fighter only survived thanks to Biff healing him the round before) while Krowe managed to take advantage of the minotaur having disadvantage on attacks against him by carving him up with several crits of his own. Still, the minotaur was a bucket of hit points and it took Hale putting a shot right between his eyes after Krowe managed to bring him down to one hit point. The demonic creature was a nuisance, but it was the caster who did the most damage to the party as he caught a portion of the party bunched up in Evard’s black tentacles,and then launched a Fireball that took out several of the horses...as well as Hamm. Which threw Aya into a rage...she was already raging, so now she was ragier...but the caster responded by levitating her into the air. The caster ducked behind the hedges. Typhomine, still on his horse, recklessly charged into the hedge determined not to let the caster escape.   A small party was waiting for him consisting of the caster and two quasits. Typhomine managed to hold his own until Aya came crashing down like a comet and brought the caster down. The quasits immediately disappeared before Typhomine heard a whisper in his ear. ”Hey, look. We got summoned, but that guy’s dead. We’re cool, OK? Catch you later!”  It wasn’t just the treasure that grabbed the party’s attention. The dead caster had a signet ring with the symbol of House Featherstone, a minor noble house in the kingdom and the family of the transmuter that the party had rescued in the previous session. One other thing concerned the party - the caster’s spellbook held several rituals concerning the summoning of demons. A member of a noble house involved in demon summoning...it was a mystery for another day however, as after a short rest the party took a deep breath and plunged into the hedge maze awaiting them... 
CobiWann fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Sep 15, 2018 |
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Sep 15, 2018 16:12
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By the way, is there any chance you can make an index document with links to all the session logs? Just to make sharing it a bit easier.
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Sep 15, 2018 16:41
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Cooked Auto posted:By the way, is there any chance you can make an index document with links to all the session logs? Just to make sharing it a bit easier. Yes I can! I usually put the index at the end of the recap but I was in grieving over Hamm. Delicious, sizzling grieving.
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Sep 15, 2018 16:48
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CobiWann posted:Yes I can! I usually put the index at the end of the recap but I was in grieving over Hamm. Delicious, sizzling grieving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FhVvNGsJV8
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Sep 15, 2018 17:53
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Cooked Auto posted:By the way, is there any chance you can make an index document with links to all the session logs? Just to make sharing it a bit easier. Chapter Index - https://tinyurl.com/Tanicus-Index
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Sep 15, 2018 19:06
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