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I have never seen such an appalling quest in my life. And I’m a longtime role-playing enthusiast. Wow. Too bad about that random trash barrel. I can already tell a fervent paladin would have a tough time in this game. Looking forward to the next update.
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Oct 14, 2023 21:08
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Well, this is D&D 3.0. Aren't orcs, goblins and kobolds always Chaotic Evil?
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Oct 14, 2023 23:32
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painedforever posted:Well, this is D&D 3.0. Aren't orcs, goblins and kobolds always Chaotic Evil? Short answer, no. Long answer, no but they are often treated as such. Orcs are classified as "usually Chaotic Evil", but there are some exceptions in the Forgotten Realms setting. Page 146 of the 3e Monster Manual provides more detail, but the TLDR is that Orcs are heavily influenced by the god Gruumsh who inspires them to commit horrific acts of violence and so on. Orcs are not required to follow that particular line, and they have freedom of choice. That is, they are capable of choosing not to murder and pillage -- they just usually choose not to. Goblins are classified as "usually Neutral Evil", and their "evil" nature is derived more from the fact that they are often bullied by orcs and other larger creatures. Their innate drive is more "outbreed the competition" than "kill and debase for the sake of it". Page 107 of the 3e Monster Manual if you are interested in following up. Kobolds are classified as "usually Lawful Evil", but their societal drive is mostly to just climb into a cave and defend it from invaders. They worship dragons and Kurtulmak, who despises all living creatures that are not dragon-adjacent, so there is definitely some base xenophobia involved. Page 123 of the 3e Monster Manual. Now, in a practical sense they are often depicted, both in official campaigns and unofficial presentation as unthinking evil creatures. But there is nothing in the lore of the Forgotten Realms, particularly for 3E, that they are incapable of free will. In fact, all three of the mentioned species were supported by the rules as player characters as early as the first 3e Monster Manual back in 2000, and the trend continued into 3.5e.
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Oct 14, 2023 23:59
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Nyrv posted:: I thought that if I purchased some of these creatures as slaves, I would be able to teach them civilized ways, and wean them away from the barbaric savagery to which they were accustomed. jesus christ
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Oct 15, 2023 00:53
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White man's burden never gets old, now the fun thing about alignment points is that they can tell you delightful things about how the writer evaluates the intersection of it and the moral and the ethical. Of course it could the the intersection with G Gygax' Moral and Ethical and that's also a good read for later.
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Oct 15, 2023 01:02
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If a Paladin finds an escaped kobold slave hidding in the sewer, is he supposed to help him escape or to turn him in to his slavemaster? What if the kobold is detected as evil? And what if his Master is detected as evil as well? Bottom line is: gently caress paladins
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Oct 15, 2023 02:35
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Slavery is always gross and every time you can dunk on slavers, you should. I remember in the original NWN campaign, you could use summoned creatures for the upscaling enemy trick to get more coins from the pirate enemies in the docks area since you fought more of them so you could get all the items from the auction house.
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Oct 15, 2023 03:37
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The slave thing is sketchy out of the gate since the escaped slaves are just littered around as wandering mobs. The idea that the difficulty scales for having random dumbasses with you is in theory ok, but it falls apart with the animal companion thing. That is so stupid.
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Oct 15, 2023 06:39
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Kanthulhu posted:If a Paladin finds an escaped kobold slave hidding in the sewer, is he supposed to help him escape or to turn him in to his slavemaster? You don't randomly murder people because they detect as evil, that is neither lawful nor good. QED 
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Oct 15, 2023 08:57
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What a nice game about taking our kitty on a walk to meet some rat friends, I sure am glad nothing problematic happened to ruin that experience.
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Oct 15, 2023 09:42
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Poil posted:You don't randomly murder people because they detect as evil, that is neither lawful nor good. QED I remember in 2e AD&D the rule on Detect Evil was that an evil character or creature just out for a walk wouldn't read as "evil" unless they had evil intentions at the same time(evil guy out for a walk? not detected. Evil guy wondering who in the crowd he can mug? Detected). The only creatures emanating a constant aura of evil would be like priests of particularly vile dark powers(if you do live sacrifices for your god, you read as evil even if you're just having a pint) or creatures made of literal pure evil like demons and devils.
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Oct 15, 2023 23:36
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Cool, a Swordflight LP! Some really high highs and some really low lows with this campaign. I'm currently languishing at the start of chapter four on my spellblade (Fighter/Sorc/Cleric), which can be a powerful build, but it's very tedious to have to pre-buff with a million spells before every fight. On top of that, chapter four is, uh, a bit excessive with the trash mobs full of powerful enemies. I've been finding it hard to summon up the motivation to slog through toward chapter five. As my brother mentioned on the first page, I also find the writing in this to be on the overly expository side. There's not a lot of nuance or humanity to it - everyone's just sort of a broadly drawn caricature. But I guess I can't get too down on one guy and his decade-long passion project (his inclusion of subject matter that has aged like sour milk notwithstanding.) I really respect all the effort he's put into this for so many years. Chapter Two is probably one of the best CRPG experiences I've ever had. Enrico la Spaniard fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Oct 16, 2023 |
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Oct 16, 2023 15:28
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Episode 3: It Wasn’t the Knee Having absorbed recent developments, and downed enough beer to forget most of them, Namli decides to use exposition as a chaser.  This is another one of those fellows that has been randomly screaming every time we walked by, so now’s as good a time as any to figure out what his problem is.   : I am Namli Kivna, an adventurer. I could not help noticing that you seem quite upset about something. Perhaps I could be of assistance? : An adventurer? Well, I’m not sure if you can help me, but it certainly seems possible. Since I have few other choices, I may as well tell you of my misfortune. I am Haldin Khadash, an apprentice wizard. I have been traveling on business for my master, and that brought me to this inn.: While I was sleeping in my room last night, an item of great value was stolen from me. My master had entrusted me with a tome once belonging to the great wizard Zataroth. He will be furious with me if I do not somehow recover it, and my master’s fury is not something to be taken lightly!: [Lore] I’ve heard of this Zataroth. A powerful mage who lived here in Calimport several centuries ago, was he not? I’ve also heard there are several books to be found with information on the spells he was researching and other magical lore. Such a tome would be very valuable.: Indeed it would, which is precisely why its loss is such a disaster.: There is one thing, however, that still leaves me some hope. Though only an apprentice, I do have some talent for divination magics. I have magically determined that the book is still located somewhere on the second floor of this inn. Presumably the thief is also a guest here, and has not yet departed his room.: Why would the thief stick around after getting what he came for?: I don’t know. Perhaps he is waiting to meet some contact he will pass the book off to. Whatever the reason, he has. Unfortunately, there are a good number of people staying here. I do not know which one is the thief, and even if I did, I doubt I could force him to relinquish the book. If you can find a way to recover it, however, I would gladly reward you with what money I can spare.: I can try, but I’m curious why you don’t just take what you know to the authorities? Surely they could quickly determine which guest is the thief.: I fear you don’t know much about this city, Namli. If the corrupt officials running this section of it ever got their greasy palms on something as valuable as the Tome of Zataroth, I doubt that I would ever see it again. I think an adventurer like you might be my best hope.: If it comes to that, how can you be sure that I can be trusted with something so valuable?: I can’t, of course, but I have few options. However, even if you are not an honorable sort, you’ll still have good reason to bring the book to me.: In the first place, you won’t be able to make any direct use of the book yourself. It’s been magically sealed, and it doesn’t look like you have the power to dispel that. Secondly, without the proper connections you’ll find it difficult to sell the book, and holding on to something so valuable and known to be stolen could attract unwanted attention. : I see. It just seemed odd that you were so trusting, given what you said about corruption. I shall certainly do my best to retrieve the book for you. Is there anything else you can tell me?: Not much. As I said, the thief must be one of the guests staying on this inn’s second floor. You will have to interrogate or otherwise investigate all of them, and hopefully find some clue revealing the culprit.: Once discovered, you must somehow recover the book. You might be able to threaten or trick the thief into giving it up, or perhaps pickpocket it if you are sufficiently skilled. If all else fails, I suppose you could simply kill the villain. I would hope, however, that you would not resort to that unless you are very sure you have found the right person.: I understand. I’ll see what I can do, and hopefully be back with the book.So a fancy magic book has been stolen, and someone upstairs seems to have acquired it. Before we figure that mess out, it’s time to go shopping. We’re no longer as poor as we once were.  We sell off the random jewels and other miscellany we’ve come across, and pick up a few choice items. Some studded leather armor to replace our padding, a bigger shield, a couple of healing kits and a few bone wands. Druids can functionally wear metal armor in Neverwinter Nights, but we won’t be doing so. It kind of goes against the whole Druid shtick. Bone wands don’t have much use at the moment, but we will be able to use them later on to create wands ourselves. They’re only one gold a pop, and it’s better to have them on hand because I’m liable to forget to pick some up when it becomes important. Last on our shopping list are three scrolls of summon monster I. We probably won’t need them for a while, but our primary method for handling traps will be to summon something to trigger them for us. First level badgers work as well as anything. With all of our shopping done, it’s time to venture upstairs.  I’m sure it will be perfectly safe up there.  The stairs open into a hallway, but we may as well start with the first door on the right. Room’s taken, but nobody inside. We are, for better or worse, not a sneakthief so we will not investigate further.  This was the room we get assigned by the innkeeper. We’ve been in there before, nothing interesting.  Our first occupied room. We tell them why we’re visiting, and they’re kind enough to open the door for us.  : Sir, you appear to be missing a head. : Ignore that.: A valuable magical book has been stolen from one of the guests staying here. Do you know anything about it?: I don’t think so. I don’t know anything about this magical book. I’m sorry.: Are you sure you didn’t see or hear anything that might be relevant?: Hmm. Well, I did see a man prowling about the corridors late last night for no obvious reason. As far as I could tell, however, he was just an ordinary guest like myself. I don’t really know that he had anything to do with this robbery. I’m afraid that’s all I can come up with.: Thank you for your cooperation. It seems I must continue this investigation elsewhere.We are going to hear this exact same conversation five times. Instead of transcribing all five of them, I am just going to point out the one that is different when we get to it. Investigation quests like this can be interesting when there’s actually something to investigate. We’re looking for one changed line of dialogue.  Room four is boring and unoccupied.  Room five? is interesting because it is the only one that doesn’t talk to us. Instead, we suddenly barge in on…  A man and his wife. This is a little awkward.   : Did you forget to lock the door again? While it would be amusing to say we are there to rob him… : I am investigating the theft of a valuable magical book, stolen from one of the guests here. Would you happen to know anything about that? : Thieves? Operating in the very same inn where we are staying? How terrible! No, we don’t know anything about that, I’m afraid. Unless Alana has been stealing books without telling me about it. I suppose you haven’t, dear?: Of course not. And I doubt she has time for your silly jokes.: I suppose not. Well, as I said, we know nothing about that. Although I do think the guest staying in Room Six was a suspicious looking character. Perhaps you should look there.They think the guy is suspicious because he is a halfling, and all halflings are thieves. : Don’t be silly. As if the real thief would go around looking suspicious. Obviously whoever stole the book will look completely inconspicuous.This is a hint that the thief is one of the five identical gentleman. I think. I didn’t catch the different dialogue until my second time through, anyway. : Well, that’s likely enough dear, but perhaps we should let our friend here determine that. She’s the one investigating, after all.: She looks like an incompetent bungler. I doubt she could find this book if it were sitting in her own backpack!I checked our backpack. The book’s not there. : My dear! She’s standing right here. And perhaps you should not be so quick to pass judgment.: Oh, really? And I suppose being quick to judge was the reason you lost so much money dealing with that scoundrel Akadin? You are far too trusting.: How many times are you going to keep dredging up that Akadin business? And I really don’t think this is the best time to discuss this.: Er… If I could perhaps get a word in edgewise?: I am a rich and respectable businessman, one well-known in this community. You can ask anyone. It’s hardly likely I would endanger my position by resorting to petty thievery. And I am perfectly prepared to submit to a search, provided of course it is carried out by the proper authorities.: I would also have little motive to endanger my status. And I would submit to a search too, under the same conditions. Only a blundering fool like you would suspect either of us, and only a kind-hearted fool like my husband would have put up with your nonsense for this long. : That won’t be necessary. I agree that it is most unlikely that you are the thieves, and I will be continuing my search elsewhere. Thank you for your time.This is one of the few lengthy dialogues that I wouldn’t edit down too heavily. The incoherent, completely inappropriate oversharing of personal details and the catty insults actually flow pretty well. Anyway. We’re polite enough to close the door on our way out. On to the next.  Occupied, but the person inside is uninterested in talking to us. This segment actually has some interesting reactivity if you are a halfling thief. You and the occupant chat about how racist people are about halflings, and then comment about how neither of you are the best example. Namli, however, is not interested enough to bash down the door, and we can’t pick it.  Room seven…  Carbon copy of Inn Guest.  Except racist.  Room eight is empty.  Room nine…  Carbon copy of racist Inn Guest. Except!  This one is our thief. This line of dialogue is the indicator. It doesn’t exactly require Sherlock Holmes, but at least the perpetrator is randomized for every playthrough. For completion’s sake I would normally go check all of the other doors, but in this case it is one empty room, one racist Inn Guest, and one not-racist Inn Guest. I will spare your eyes.  This is the first encounter where, if you can’t pick-pocket and you follow the quest chain along as indicated, you will sometimes die and there is nothing you can do about it.  We call him out for being a thief, and tell him to surrender or die…  And then we are dead. Adventure over. So what happened, you might be asking?  The NPC attacked while we were still in the “dialogue” state. This counts as an ambush, so he does not have to roll initiative. He just immediately attacks. Because he is a rogue, it also counts as a sneak attack. Bad dice mean you die. To get around that, you need to close the door and manually attack him without accusing him of being a thief at all. We are not cowards, so we do not do that. Attempt #2:  I like this death in particular because we actually rolled a natural twenty on initiative. It isn’t good enough. Attempt #3:  Third time’s the charm. He fails to hit AC so we stab him in the dick and Coco eats his face. Searching his corpse, we find…  The missing book. We snatch it up, and leave the corpse to rot. Quest complete. Let’s get out of here. The quest is not complete.  As we come around the corner, there’s a random wizard dude hanging out in the hallway. He immediately attacks. We commence the face-eating and rock-throwing.   We failed our spellcraft check to identify whatever bullshit wizardry he was casting, but we realize pretty quick that it is Shelgarn’s Persistent Blade. Shelgarn’s Persistent Blade used to be one of the best spells in the game because until a recent patch, it had 25 Damage Resistance against non-magical weapons. I have no idea how that bug got into the game, or why it lasted so long, but it is no longer invulnerable to physical weapons.  Coco turns it into dust.  Then eats the wizard’s face. Wizards are no match for Coco. We check the corpse for anything interesting, and find…  a note and an amulet. We try to examine the amulet, but,  the amulet disappears as soon as we touch it. It’s a shame, because I really wanted to sell it. Wizards make me irrationally angry, so we feed his corpse to Coco.  And then quest complete, for real this time.  Down the stairs…  And back to Haldin. : Yes. Here is the Tome of Zataroth.: That’s wonderful! I cannot tell you what a relief this is. Here is your reward. It’s more than I can really afford, but you have certainly earned it.As with pretty much every quest in the game, we have the option to decline the reward in favor of “Good Alignment +1”. We are not that nice. : Thank you. I wish you good luck in avoiding any other thieves.The best news of all, though…  We made it. We have finally reached level 2. One thing I genuinely love about Neverwinter Nights, at least for the purpose of LPing it, is the Level Up Summary.  Woodland Stride is the fun passive ability that makes us immune to grease and other similar ground effects. Very helpful.  The number of people we haven’t talked to is dwindling. Time to power through them. I think we’ve sampled enough of the Inn’s alcoholic offerings to be able to tolerate it.  We will start with this fancy dwarf and his companions.  : You’re an adventuring party? : That we be, lass! And who might ye be?: I am Namli Kivna. I too aspire to be an adventurer.: Good to meet ye, and good fer ye! Say hello, boys. : Gidishnak welcomes you, Namli. : Pleased to meet you. : Greetings.: Pleased to meet you all.: We’ve just come from a stint as caravan guards. Led a bunch o’wagons from Memnon to here, and killed us a gang o’ bandits in the bargain! Bandit activity’s on the upswing, as you may’ve heard, but they wasn’t reckonin’ on facing guards with our experience! : Memnon is a major trading port in northern Calimshan. It has a close connection to the Elemental Plane of Fire, and a lot of efreet like to hang out there.: So, you’re working as caravan guards?: Well, we were, but that just be t’make some money while travelin’ to Calimport. We be planning t’catch us a ship from here, and head over to the Lake o’ Steam. An unsettled region, that, and sure to be havin’ work for the likes of us.: Perhaps Gidishnak will make his fortune there and become lord of the Border Kingdom! What you think of that, eh?: I think Gidishnak has had too much to drink.: Bah! Gidishnak could drink a barrel of ale twice the size of a halfling runt like you, and talk as sensibly as ever.: Considering how much sense you usually talk, that’s probably true. : I am in need of work. Do you know of anyone here looking to hire adventurers?: Talas describes several of the individuals Namli has already spoken to before saying…: You should also talk to the merchant Saman Waladi, who’s right over there. It was he who hired us on as caravan guards. He will soon be taking his caravan back to Memnon, and, since we are not returning there, will be in need of new guards. I expect he would be willing to hire you in that capacity.: You might also want to talk to the young air genasi bard performing over there. I think she will have an interesting offer to make you. Is there anything else we could do for you?: You seem to be a pretty experienced party. Do you think you could give a novice like me some tips on this adventuring gig?: A reasonable enough request. I believe that we could. : I strive to maintain balance in the world.: [You affirmed a commitment to balance. Alignment Shift: Neutral +1]: Hmm. I don’t really hold with that balance stuff, myself. I’m not seeing how it could not be good t’be good, if ye see what I mean? Not that I be in the mood fer some philosophical debate. I’m just hoping ye don’t use balance as an excuse fer doin’ evil whenever it be convenient, as I’ve known some t’do.: Keep what I’ve said in mind, and ye should do alright. Now, on to helping ye get started on a life o’ adventure!: The four companions spend some time sharing the benefits of their experience with you. As a result of their advice and tips, you feel that you will be better prepared to face the challenges that lie ahead. Perhaps adventurers don’t always have to learn things the hard way. : Well, that be all I can think o’ right now, lass. Anythin’ else we can be doin’ for ye?: Could I join your group?: I fear not. We are not looking for new members. We have been together a long time, and now fight very well together. A newcomer unfamiliar with our tactics would cause difficulties.: Aye, and it not be lookin’ as if ye could keep up with us, lass.: Glebur is sometimes a bit blunt, and I hope you take no offense. However, I do think that without a little more experience, you might find the quests we take on too difficult. No doubt this will not always be the case, but, for now at least, we must refuse your offer. Is there anything else we could do for you?: No. Thanks for your time and advice. I’ll be going now.One group down. Two to go. We’ll start with the air genasi bard lady; it seems she’s finished playing music. Note: There are a few (a lot of) conversations in this module that have three or four paragraphs of purple prose between meaningful descriptions. I will be trimming the more extreme examples and summarizing the details going forward. I will be retaining the overly-wordy nature of the dialogue in general because it’s part of the experience. If you would rather each update have another two thousand words of rambling, feel free to speak up. It’s easy enough to transcribe.  : That is correct. : Excellent! I’ve always dreamed of leading a life of adventure, myself. I’m a bard, after all, and the best way to really get a reputation in that profession is to sing of noble deeds you’ve seen firsthand.: I’d like nothing more than to lead a life on the road as part of an adventuring band, learning the history and musical lore of exotic lands, and gaining fame as a performer across the realms.: So, what’s stopping you?: Things are complicated by the fact that I was born into a wealthy noble family. They gave me access to a first rate musical education, of course, but, on the downside, daughters of the nobility around here aren’t exactly expected to perform in taverns or wander about in a monster-infested wilderness. My father would not hear of my leaving to pursue my dream.: And being forced to live a life of luxury is such a hardship…: Make fun of me if you want, but it’s worse than you imagine. All my father cares about is increasing his power and wealth, and I’m just a pawn to help him do that.: He was planning to have me married into the harem of some noble with whom he wanted to make an alliance: a stupid and cruel brute, but my father didn’t care about that, only his political connections.: Naturally, I wasn’t just going to put up with this scheme. I ran away from home a couple weeks ago. Life’s been pretty tough since, with me short of money and trying to stay one step ahead of the hired thugs my father has searching for me. To get by, I’ve been taking temporary jobs performing in taverns, like this one, but what I’ve really been hoping to do is become an adventurer.: Zarala spends several minutes describing how the other adventuring group in the inn refused to take her, and how the fire genasi in the corner is a jerk.: …and that’s why I’m talking to you. You’re an adventurer, but you don’t seem to be quite so high and mighty as some of the others around here. I was wondering if you could use a henchman? You won’t even have to pay me anything. I’d only expect you to use whatever loot we find to help equip me. : You decide that this innocent girl is in a desperate plight, and it would be wrong to simply abandon her to her fate.: Very well. I suppose a sidekick might come in handy.: [Alignment Shift: Good +1]: Hurrah! Let’s get started on creating an adventuring legend.New party member get.  Zarala is… interesting. Bards are actually extremely useful to have around, even uncontrollable NPC ones, especially at later levels. Bard Song more than compensates for the more difficult encounters from the scaling. They can also pick locks and are pretty good at identifying magical items. Zarala is also aided by having bullshit strong equipment for this stage of the module.   Damage immunities and spell resistance are hard things to pick up. An item with three varieties of immunity and spell resistance is hilarious. The cloak will only ever get better. Spell resistance is like armor class but for magical spells. To effect someone with spell resistance, a caster has to roll 1d20+ (caster level + other modifiers) and meet or exceed the spell resistance of that person. Namli, for example, would roll 1d20+2. On a result of 10 or higher, she would be able to hit Zarala with a spell.  Makes Zarala a little better at identifying magical items. We may end up stealing this and selling it if we get desperate.  Her armor is likewise stupid strong. Damage reduction of any type this early basically makes you invulnerable. DR 5/+1 means she takes five less damage every time she’s hit until people start throwing magic weapons around. Despite her piddly health pool, she will spend a lot of time tanking for us.  She can also cast Cure Light Wounds once a day for free. We’ll have a chance to talk more about Zarala later. For now, though, we still have one more person to talk to.  : You are correct, sir. I am Namli Kivna, a druid who seeks to make a career of adventuring. : Yes. Yes. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, indeed, a pleasure. I am Saman Waladi, a merchant. I run trading caravans between here and the city of Memnon, across the Calim desert. It’s a good living, to be sure, although with the recent upsurge in bandit activity things have become more difficult.: I’m sorry to hear that.: Oh, bandits are no great problem, just one of the usual hazards of doing business. It does, however, make me happy to have run into such a fine adventurer as yourself. I will soon be taking my caravan back to Memnon, having sold the good I brought, and picked up others to take back.: I am naturally looking to hire some guards to accompany me, and I think a druid like you is just what I need. You’ll find the pay generous enough, 5 gold pieces a day, plus a special bonus when we reach Memnon.: That sounds good. I’m actually looking for work.: Then it would seem our meeting is a most fortunate one! Speak to me later when you are prepared to depart.: Very well. I’ll see you later.There’s no time like the present, and we’ve finished up all of our business at the inn.  : Is it time to depart yet?: Indeed it is, Namli. I’ve been looking for you. The caravan will soon be ready to depart.: Great. My first adventure! How many bandits do you suppose we’ll kill?: Eh? Who’s this?: This is Zarala. I’ve just taken her on as a henchman.: Ah, I see. Well, so long as you are paying for her and not me, I’m perfectly happy to have her along. Another guard couldn’t hurt. Anyway, as I said, we are almost ready to depart for Memnon. Shall we go to the caravan now and meet up with the other guards?: Yes, let’s go.: Very well. off across the desert. We are on our way!: Namli, Zarala, and Saman depart for the caravan.: The caravan sets out across the Calim Desert, with you and Zarala among the mercenaries and adventurers hired as guards. You travel for several days without incident. At the end of this period, Saman calls you, and some of the other hired adventurers, together for a conference. : It’s worth taking a look at his stuff. I just bought this nice new crossbow from him.: And just how did you afford that, Zarala? You seem to have more money on hand than you were letting on earlier.: Well, what if I do? I’m not required to share my private funds with you.: Well, if we’re working together it would be nice to know what our combined resources consist of, and for us to confer on how to spend them. Also, as I recall, our deal calls for me to provide equipment as opportunity offers. I don’t want to waste money on getting something you’re already getting for yourself.: Sorry, I’ll try to keep that in mind. But let’s discuss this later, and let Saman continue.: Secondly, I wanted to warn all of you that we are entering a dangerous part of our route. There are bandit groups known to be operating near this section of the desert. You should be alert for attack. : Let the bandits come! They would be fools to brave the spells I have prepared to unleash upon them. : Bah! I’ve seen wizards in battle. They shoot off a few pretty lights that are never decisive, and then can do nothing more. It’s always cold steel that settles things in the end. Fortunately, with me and my men around, we have no shortage of steel.: How dare you disparage my magical might! What use is a sword-arm paralyzed by enchantment? Or a warrior whose life has been drained by necromancy before he can even reach his foe? And these are only a few of the weapons provided by study of the Art. For every threat, there is a spell to match it.: Hmph! Without warriors protecting him, a wizard is lucky if he can even survive long enough to cast a spell, much less accomplish anything with it.: Namli decides not to join the debate.: Please, good sirs, there is no need to get into an argument. I am sure if we are so unfortunate as to face a bandit attack, we shall be grateful for the special abilities of each of you. : What do you mean, ‘unfortunate’? Better the bandits die facing us than survive to slay some less capable travelers. I hope they attack. It will only serve to enhance our fame when we defeat them.: I’ll go along with that. I was hoping to find adventure worthy of song, but so far all I’ve found on this trip has been sun and sand, heat and thirst. Pretty dull.: Have you forgotten all the time spent swatting flies? Valuable combat experience, that.: Zarala and Pardaz spend some time debating the virtue of fly-murder. Eventually, Saman interjects.: Not far to the east of here, just a little way off our path, there is a camp run by a cleric of Oghma, Kadath Olazhur. He is the leader of an archaeological expedition uncovering some ancient ruins buried by the desert. Naturally, a follower of Oghma would be eager to see what could be uncovered in such a place.: Of course, they have great need for regular shipments of supplies to be brought to them. Out in the middle of…: Hold on. There’s a guard approaching. Something’s happening.      : drat you… Zarala…(Reloads this episode: 2) (Total reloads: 3) The adventures of Namli & Coco will continue? Fridayish.
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Oct 17, 2023 18:31
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We're going to be the best adventurer ever! 
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Oct 17, 2023 19:20
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Nyrv posted:
Wait, what?! I mean, what!? Is this... I mean, does this... I mean... what!?
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Oct 17, 2023 19:41
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Whoops!  Is that scripted? What if you don't bring Zarala along?
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Oct 17, 2023 20:17
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Quackles posted:Is that scripted? What if you don't bring Zarala along? It is indeed scripted. In an alternate universe where Namli tried to leave without her...  If you tell her you're not interested...  She mind controls you with persuasion...  And if you resist she bribes you...  And you end up bringing her with you anyway, just with fifty more gold.
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Oct 17, 2023 21:00
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lmao, Zarala using Persuasion on you is some hilarious meta stuff.
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Oct 17, 2023 21:20
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I wasnt expecting this turn.
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Oct 17, 2023 23:17
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"But thou must!" But better. I mean, it's kinda organic. Most folks would just pick her up as a companion because that's what you do in an RPG.
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Oct 17, 2023 23:45
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Wow. Shot in the back by an idiot, this is one of those GMs is it?
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Oct 18, 2023 01:59
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What the hell is with her gear? She's more qualified to deal with a lot of problems than you are with that crap. The crossbow incident is pretty funny though.
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Oct 18, 2023 03:26
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Keldulas posted:What the hell is with her gear? She's more qualified to deal with a lot of problems than you are with that crap. Rich family.
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Oct 18, 2023 07:05
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Adventuring truly attracts the best and the brightest. I have a sneaking suspicion. Going to put my speculation behind a spoiler tag, just in case, and I don't want to know if it's correct or not before the lp shows me I'm wrong:  Crossbow shot was 100% intentional because she's the bandit leader.
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Oct 18, 2023 07:18
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The trigger-happy crossbow wielder of the Knights of the Dinner Table never had this problem.
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Oct 18, 2023 07:57
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Is this just a case of "just don't do this one quest"? It's a pretty good trick.
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Oct 18, 2023 10:10
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Feels more like a bad choice in a choose your own adventure book. Bet if the next schmuck doesn't hire the girl the attack is perfectly survivable.
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Oct 18, 2023 13:02
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I wish I could say that Zarala gets better than this, but she's a pretty irritating character all around. A big saving grace for chapter two is that you don't have to run around with her nearly as much. That privilege goes away in subsequent chapters. 
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Oct 18, 2023 14:19
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Enrico la Spaniard posted:I wish I could say that Zarala gets better than this, but she's a pretty irritating character all around.
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Oct 18, 2023 17:34
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SIGSEGV posted:Is this just a case of "just don't do this one quest"? I think it's more a case of "railroading". Except not as bad...? Basically, she has to go along so that she can shoot you (by accident, I'm assuming) so that the next story trigger can fire.
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Oct 18, 2023 19:20
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Oh, I assumed the PC just died and this was a straight up dead end branch, just because. It's less funny now.
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Oct 18, 2023 21:16
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Oh, before I forget. Can you leave the inn any other way? Just walk out the front door? Annoy the DM thusly?
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Oct 19, 2023 17:39
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Quackles posted:Oh, before I forget. Can you leave the inn any other way? Just walk out the front door? Annoy the DM thusly? You get hit with this:  The Swordflight series does this a lot, and we've already seen it in the sewers. The game will just tell you "you have no business being here, get back on track, bucko." It's a video game at the end of the day, so I'm inclined to cut the module some slack in this department. Within the confines of the module, there's a solid commitment to choice and consequence. Enrico la Spaniard fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Oct 19, 2023 |
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Oct 19, 2023 17:43
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This is a fair way to spare the bridges in the local area.
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Oct 19, 2023 17:47
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Really giving ATOM a run for its money huh.
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Oct 22, 2023 00:10
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Good game. Didn't expect that ending. A pretty short module all things considered.
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Nov 7, 2023 13:10
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