The Noctuary [OOC]

**chaincomplex** · 2024-05-12, 09:49 PM (ISO 8601)

The Noctuary

IC Thread ▪ Tactical Maps

Player	Character	Build
paradox26	Varis of Tyr	LN Mul Psion 3/Wizard 1/Cerebremancer 6/Mind Mage 10
remetagross	Ux Utanar Tibur Randall Amblecrown	LG Dragonborn of Bahamut Dragonfire Adept 20
namo	Syana, Seeker of the Dragonsong	NG Changeling Bard 7/War Weaver 5/Recaster 5/Sublime Chord 2/Sacred Exorcist 1
Taelas	Aeric Hartford	LN Human Ranger 1/Fighter 19
Chambers	Lorwyn Suaril	CG Human Rogue 3/Warlock 7/Arcane Trickster 10
Metastachydium	Delja "Quince" Utorak	N Nixie Swashbuckler 3/ Battledancer 1/ Swordsage 2/Fist of the Forest 2/Duelist 10

Party Info. The PCs have begun their search for the fabled Noctuary.

Date. Highharvestide 1374 DR, Year of Lightning Storms
Time. Midday 12:00 PM
Location. —

Maps and Points of Interest. The maps we're using for planar and overland travel, and when appropriate links to IC POI descriptions.

Planescape. Great Wheel, Arcane Inner Flow
Forgotten Realms. Sword Coast

General Resources. Links to wikis, archives, fan sites, tools, and so on.

D&D 3.5e. OGL SRD, Complete SRD
Pathfinder. Archives of Nethys, OGL SRD (incomplete), d20PFSRD
Planescape. Planescape Wiki, Timaresh, Interactive Map of Sigil
Spelljammer. Spelljammer Wiki, Interactive Map of the Arcane Inner Flow
Forgotten Realms. Forgotten Realms Wiki, Candlekeep Archives, Interactive Map of the Sword Coast

Spoiler: Notes and House Rules

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Encumbrance. Track at an eyeball level of detail, i.e. if you are clearly not carrying enough for weight to be salient or you have substantial weight-management options like a portable hole relative to what you are carrying, don't worry about it. If you are carrying gear with potentially problematic weight relative to your carrying capacity, check if it puts you at a worse encumbrance class, or alternatively invest in weight-management options.

Tracking Time. Usually before scenes I will announce the rate of time progression. There are several common rates we will be using.

Combat. Time is tracked in rounds, e.g. in combat encounters. We may occasionally track time in rounds even in noncombat moments if the beat-for-beat progression is critical in some manner.
Adventuring. Time is tracked relative to specific actions taken, usually in fractions of minutes to hours. This is standard adventure pace. Examples: making skill checks, exploring a dungeon.
Downtime. Time is tracked in days. Players must give descriptions of activities taken for a given day, and justify that said activities can be fit into a day. Examples: working a job, making progress crafting, making progress retraining.
Campaign. Time is tracked in months. Players must give descriptions of plans for a given month, and justify that said plans can be attempted in the given timeframe. Examples: undertaking large crafting or retraining projects, conducting long-term research.

Combat Rules. Tactical combat will proceed as usual, except with regards to initiative. Players will roll initiatives, which will be averaged and rounded up to create a player initiative block. All players will act in this block in the order they post. NPCs will act according to usual initiative rules.

Bookkeeping. I'll be making lots of rolls and adjudications behind the scenes. Here's what needs to be kept updated and clear so I can make these decisions accurate.

Numerical bonuses to ability scores, saves, and skills should be kept up to date, or you may lose out on bonuses you should have when I do background rolls.
Special senses, such as darkvision, arcane sight, foresight, etc. should be kept clearly listed so I can tell what you can sense at any given moment.
Special defenses, such as immunity to mind-affecting effects, aura of protection against evil, DR 15/magic, etc. should be kept clearly listed so I can tell what you are vulnerable to at any given moment.

Being a Player. These aren't rules, just suggestions.

1–2 posts/week is a soft requirement. You won't get booted for missing a post here or there, so you don't need to worry about that. Just remember that a slow pace will kill a game. If you can't make a post IC in a timely manner, consider leaving one line OOC briefly describing your actions, so that we may progress the scene.
Many skill checks or saving throws will be reactive, that is, I will do them on my side and behind the scenes, and there will be many of these. I'll do my best to telegraph this so you're aware of how e.g. skill-heavy the demands on your character are, but no promises; not all checks were made to be visible to players.
On that note, be proactive with making ability or skill checks. If there's any generous interpretation where they have any physical or mental effect on the scene, they will have an effect. If the wrong ability or skill is used, I will substitute the right modifier if appropriate.

Spoiler: Interest Check

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On any given world of the planescape, the wisest and most powerful will eventually learn rumors of a secret cosmic observatory hidden in the space between worlds. It is said that those who find this hidden observatory will find as well their deepest desires fulfilled. Many mortals and divines have sought this secret place. All have failed, until now.

Until, that is, you entered the picture.

You are among the wisest and most powerful on Toril, so you have heard these rumors. Your odds of finding this observatory remained nil, however. For a long time you have searched fruitlessly for this place that will, allegedly, grant any wish. For a long time you have failed to find any leads whatsoever. But one day you stumbled upon the one thing almost no one else across the entire multiverse has managed to find. The one lead that will bring you success where all others have failed. You now know this observatory's name.

It is called THE NOCTUARY, and it is calling to you.

Adventure Premise. OK, so there are three things going on. First, you want to get to the Noctuary. You have some dream or desire you want to fulfill that's beyond any mortal power available to you. Second, you'll want to figure out how to use the Noctuary once you get there. This is an extensive process of discovery that will take you across the planescape. Third, there is a hidden danger lurking at the edge of existence threatening the multiverse. You don't have to deal with it, but it might get in your way while you're working out how to make use of the Noctuary.

This adventure will be a lengthy pointcrawl taking place in the Planescape and Forgotten Realms campaign settings. All canonical AD&D 2e, D&D 3e, and D&D 3.5e settings are of course connected and so will be available. For our purposes your characters are natives of Faerûn.

I will run the adventure by populating the world(s) with points of interest and NPCs with their own goals. There will be no overarching narrative and I will always adjudicate outcomes in isolation according to D&D's rules and whatever else is salient in its microcosm. In other words, this is not an adventure with an epic story. This is a dynamically evolving game board with many small stories.

Of particular interest is that this adventure will start at level 20, and you will hit epic levels soon, so plan for that. Most -crawls, hex- or otherwise, tend to concentrate at the lower end of the power curve. We're starting right at the top.

Game Info. In summary:

System. D&D 3.5e
Setting. Canonical Planescape and Forgotten Realms (incl. Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Eberron, Spelljammer, etc.)
Style. Equal parts combat and noncombat, be ready for trials of all kinds
Theme. Role play however you want, but there will be minor elements of heavier themes like time, memory, etc.
Sources. All 1st-party WotC material for D&D 3e/3.5e plus Dragon Compendium, ask for specific Dragon magazine material
Mapping. Larger-scale maps will be posted in-thread, tactical mapping will be through Google Sheets
Player Count. 4–6
Posting Rate. 1–2/week
Variant Rules. Fractional BAB/saves, block initiative (players only)

Character Building. For the fluff just write a bit to characterize your PC. Something between a paragraph and a page. Can be history, personality, appearance, whatever—anything that gives your character compelling dimensionality. As for mechanics:

Alignment. Any, but any overt or covert hostilities between PCs must have mutual OOC consent
Race. All standard and monstrous races and templates, LA buy off allowed
Class. All base and prestige classes, no multiclass penalties
Ability Scores. 40 point buy
Flaws. Up to 2
Level. 20 (200,000 XP)
Hit Points. Max all HD
Wealth. 840,000 gp

Interested in joining this game? I request you submit a full character sheet. You don't have to: (i) pick all your spells/powers/maneuvers/etc.; (ii) spend all your wealth; (iii) account for all your crafting; or (iv) spec out your familiar/companion/etc. You can finalize these details if and when you join this game proper. But I need to see enough to know how your character works. If a spell, power, maneuver, item, follower, etc. is critical to your character concept, do include it.

**chaincomplex** · 2024-05-16, 11:44 PM (ISO 8601)

Alright, welcome all. Some things:

Post your fluff and character sheet in this thread, again, for posterity.
Modify and finish your sheet, spend your wealth, change your backstory, etc. as you see fit. Talk to other players.
The annoying bookkeeping part: somewhere in the post or sheet cite the source (w/ page number, please!) of any 3rd-party, home-brew, Dragon, or Dungeon material I approve. Standard 1st-party sources or Dragon Compendium stuff I should be able to find myself so don't worry about them.
More bookkeeping: make sure your sheets are always up to date. I will be making many, many background rolls and it will be to your detriment if they don't include temp bonuses and I forget them.
Also, to simplify things for me, please keep a running tally of special defenses (e.g. immunity to Mind-Affecting) and special senses (e.g. darkvision) throughout the game. A ton of adjudication happens behind the scenes and it would be convenient for me to have a quick reference for these things, otherwise I might forget things that you should have.
Wait for me to post an introduction scene for your characters. You will start in 3 separate scenes. Group up as you see fit, determine how your characters knew each other if they started together, and let me know where you want to start; it doesn't have to be in the neighborhood of Candlekeep, but you better have a way to travel to Candlekeep on short notice if you want to be far away.
Yes separating PCs is a bad idea, I'm going to do it anyways, I'd like to experiment, and we should figure out early if there's a viable way to run this kind of split game going forwards.
Combat initiatives for players will be averaged then made into a player block, where players act in the order they post. This is to prevent PbP combat from slowing down while still incentivizing good initiative scores.
1–2 posts/week is a soft rule but try to aim for it. With so many players we can be in for the long haul waiting for one another. So if committing with a slow post rate is a problem for you, now's the time to bow out.
Remember to be proactive in skill usage. I'll mostly likely be rolling most of your skill usages behind the scenes and you won't notice, which probably isn't very fun from the players' POV. So: if you don't know if a skill can be used in a scene, here's my rule of thumb: if there's any generous interpretation in which your skill application physically or mentally makes sense, it will apply, otherwise I'll just substitute in the correct skill and its respective modifier.

Once the brief starting scene is over we will run the game in downtime format until every player reaches Candlekeep or finds a way to circumvent needing to go there. In general we will proceed in the following time formats: combat (in rounds, self-explanatory), adventuring (where we track the time for individual tasks, usually minutes or hours), downtime (announce feasible activities for the day), or campaign time (announce feasible activities for the month).

Also everyone welcome GentlemanVoodoo, they have volunteered to run adversarial NPCs as something like a DM-lite. I'm curious about the concept so here we are. We'll see how it goes.

Now, remind me of what open questions you guys fielded for me, my short-term memory is burnt out by staring at too many sheets.

**paradox26** · 2024-05-17, 12:39 AM (ISO 8601)

First, greetings to everyone.
Second, thank you very much for selection.
Third, thank you to both chaincomplex and GentlemanVoodoo for running the game.

My sheet is here for Varis of Tyr: https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2900287

I will make my speaking colour Medium Green. I know that wasn't specifically asked for, but it is a common request at some point early in the OOC threads of games.

**remetagross** · 2024-05-17, 02:57 AM (ISO 8601)

Hi, mates! Pleased to hop in with you :)

My dude is Ux Utanar Tibur Randall Amblecrown. He speaks in bolded grey. because he's funny like that.

He's a former human Cormyrian knight, later choosing to follow the call of Bahamut. He has thus become a Dragonborn, riding the land, then the planes, in defense of the weak and downtrodden, riding his trusted dire bat Ereshki. At that point, he was a Knight 20.

After the previous adventure has ended, where he has lived through many dangerous and equally funny perils through his buddy Delja, but before this one has started, he has lost Ereshki in battle. Desperate, he has asked Bahamut for penance for this failure, and has been tasked with retrieving the soul of a tarnished Dragonborn from Tiamat's halls in Avernus. He has been successful, and Bahamut has granted him the chance to reshape himself to better serve him. Dispirited about what mere skill at arms can achieve, he has chosen the path of the Dragonfire Adept. He now is a Dragonfire Adept 20. His sacred vow towards Bahamut and his subsequent vow of poverty now dictate how he serves the Platinum.

Ux is a big, towering dude, who has a lot of presence and shakes you up quite a bit when you lock gazes. He is gentle and dedicated. He used to be completely oblivious to irony and understatement, but thank to the company of some people, he's slowly getting there. He enjoys goofy antics and bursts into laughter when watching Looney Tunes. He can be a little annoying with his goody-two-shoes shtick and so focused that he loses the big picture, or even awareness of anything that's not right before his eyes.

He also does not like people standing on his knees, and has enormous, plot-critical eyebrows. Legend has it they're actual minor artifacts in and of themselves.

**namo** · 2024-05-17, 02:58 AM (ISO 8601)

Syana, Seeker of the Dragonsong

Creed of the Dragonsong (Origin story & Faith of Syana's people)

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In
The
Beginning

A deep utterance for Space
For Time a cry stretched out to Eternity
Light in the harmonies and Darkness in the silence

A syllable for each Dragon
For the aberrants singular discordance
The briefest of hums: humans.

There are many stories about how the multiverse started, depending on which part of it you find yourself.
Syana's people believe in the Dragonsong, the Song of Creation. And of Balance. And of Destruction. The cosmic song that traverses time and the planes.

There are clues if you look for them.
Are Dragons not (almost) everywhere?
Are Dragons not the most perfected creatures among mortal ones?
Are Draconic deities not worshipped (almost) everywhere? Bahamut and Tiamat, the Dragon of Light and the Dragon of Dark, and all their variations.

Syana's people likely originate from Eberron, where Dragons explicitly created the world, and the world still dances to the tune of the Draconic Prophecy.
How they first intermingled with dragons is lost to time, but dragonblooded creatures are not welcome on that plane, so the dragonblooded changelings had to flee to other planes.

In the Eye of the Beholder (Description)

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From the white scales that show up in her natural form, Syana knows that she is descended from a White Dragon. But she never liked this one bit, for they are the weakest and least noble of the True Dragons.
When she was little, she would dream up a Copper, Red or Gold ancestry for herself. And as a Changeling, she could make it become true whenever she would morph her body, with a smattering of glittering scales of the chosen colour. She still hasn't given up that pretense today, and often adorns her skin with shimmering flecks of gold.

In her natural form, Syana also looks quite plain (to a Changeling's taste - you'll have to take my word for it). And so, in revenge over nature, she has practiced over the years the art of appearing absolutely stunning in her alternate forms.
The one time she truly got to appreciate it was some years back when she was petrified by the eye-ray of a beholder, and somehow cast out of her stony body as a ghostly manifestation: seeing the statue of her perfect shape, she could see she had truly attained a pinnacle.
This has helped her become less demanding in her personal quest for Beauty.

One of her favourite shapes is of a half-elven maiden with red hair, with luscious lips often upturned in an impish smile, bright green eyes and the trademark scattering of golden dragon scales.

Cyclonic (Personality)

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Syana would like to dictate the terms of her interactions: to be the center of the attention when she wants to, to be left alone when she wants to.
But the world does not work like that.

She has a quality about her that an old friend called "cyclonic": when she comes into your life, you might find yourself uprooted, transported to the other end of the world and suddenly left behind there. She doesn't mean to be like that, but it's a mix of her magnetic personality, her decisiveness, and her egotistic disregard for other people's plans in life.
(How could they not want to see a planet-sized aurora borealis in a conjunctive zone between the Elemental Planes of Air, Earth and Fire?)
She does care a lot about others, but her ways of expressing it are at times misguided.

Syana's crescendo (Background)

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Syana's lifesong has been glorious up until now. From a young age she excelled in the vocal arts, held in high regard by her people. Yet she determined her life would not be bound, and she delved into the arcane, the power of the Weave, the faculty to reshape the universe.
She was rightfully wary of a quest for power without meaning, and so she joined the Harpers, to lend a hand in the fight against evil, and to learn more about the song of the world Toril.

Her growth took her heart and soul beyond the strife of a single plane of existence, however important it may be: stepping through planar portals, she discovered Sigil, and the worlds beyond. She particularly loved it in Eberron, and she kept on collecting skills and spells along the way.

In recent years, having reached a pinnacle of personal power, she has come back to the source, to the original quest of her people: finding the Dragonsong. Her best chance seems to go through the Noctuary, but the place of power has proven just as elusive to her as to the other seekers.

Tears of the Prophet (Hooks)

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Rashemen, Toril: Syana is in possession of a Hathran item of great power, the kind that you cannot buy: originally a mask, it was later fused by an Artificer with Syana's Eye of Power, but it works just as well to see beyond the veil of deceit.
It is the result of a great service Syana rendered the Rashemi witches, uncovering - in part by chance - a demon lurking in their midst after stealing the body and memories of one of them.
Yet this is just as much a covenant as it is a gift, and if called upon Syana is honor-bound to give the Hathran succor.
Sigil: a distant cousin of Syana, Fanc the Changething, lives there. A member of the Athar, he doesn't see eye-to-eye with her on her dreams of Dragonsong, but he can nonetheless pass tidbits of information and offer temporary shelter if needed.
Eberron: Syana has some long-term collaboration projects going on with 2 mages of Arcanix, the floating academy of magic located in Aundair. One about the power of music, with Alor the Enchanter, and a secret one on Dragon magic with Erris, a sorcerer. The latter is the kind of topic that could get someone to evaporate into thin air, if it became known by the disguised dragons who roam Eberron (some undoubtedly keeping tabs on Arcanix, from inside its walls).

OOC Notes

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As with any high-level full caster, Syana is fairly well-rounded.
She is a face (though she ended up with surprisingly few skill points, and little flexibility in allocating them), and dabbles in buffing, healing, debuffing, gishing, blasting and battlefield control.

- Eldritch Tapestry buffs (for the whole party): Displacement, Greater Heroism, Haste (removes targeting restrictions)
And lastly she can cast Heal once and have it benefit the whole party, which is really efficient resource-wise.

- She can use a Chained Greater Dispel Magic to quickly disable many items/remove may buffs from opponents.

- I avoided blanket immunities (Mindblank, Soulfire armor, ...) on purpose, because I think it can be more fun that way, but if the opponents are going to be punishingly strong I can change that. I could also tweak her items to buff her saves if she is too far behind the party.
Similarly, I avoided picking up all the Dispel counters, so under some circumstances her buffs could get dispelled.

- Her "max power" routine is reached when she is buffed with Giant Size + Bite of the Werebear + potentially Shapechange (I marked it at TBC because there may be gentleman's agreement to avoid it), but that kinda requires Time Stop to be achieved in a short enough time, so it burns too many slots to be done every fight.
In not-too-threatening circumstances, she might focus more on casting or use Thunderlance.
Also, I've picked some Bard-only spells because in my experience we never get to see them used (Empyreal Ecstasy, Snowsong).

- I also avoided near-TO stuff like Celerity + immunity to daze, Ocular spell to be able to cast Personal spells through the weave, ...

**namo** · 2024-05-17, 03:28 AM (ISO 8601)

Syana strides into the room, imperious and vindicated.
"Of course I would get selected. Look at how fugly the others were!"

Just kidding!

Indigo will be her colour.

Mechanics / Party Balance
Looking at the roster, Syana and paradox's Varis have the highest ceiling for optimization, being full casters, so up to us to adapt.
Damage will likely mostly come from the rest of the party, though.

Questions that come to mind:
- would the non-full-casters like to benefit from Polymorph or Polymorph Any Object? It could raise the power level of meleers a fair bit.
I'm not specced for it now, but could consider Polymorph (I would leave PAO to Varis).

- do we aim for party-wide Mindblank? (a job for Varis, if so, given he has casting + manifesting)
I would lean towards no, because too many immunities can make the game unfun, but that's assuming chaincomplex will adapt the campaign to our power level. If he's already planned super-powerful opponents, or Scry-and-die tactics, we have to double down ourselves.

FYI, Syana has Empyreal Ecstasy (BoED) which can provide shorter immunity to mind-affecting (leaving in place existing effects), so we could have some of it but there would be a tactical decision behind it.

- who has healing / condition removal abilities?
Syana can Heal the whole party, so I suspect most of the load will be on her.

We'll still be lacking Restoration, Greater Restoration and resurrection spells (except if someone wants to spring for a staff - or wand for the former - that could be UMDed).

- typical buffs provided by Syana to the whole party almost every fight - if you're close enough:
Displacement (50% miss chance) - it could be Greater Invisibility, but that would up the arms-race with the DM. Let me know what you think.
Greater Heroism (+4 morale to attack, saves, skills; immunity to fear; 20 temp HP)
Haste (you know this one!)
Protection Devotion (+7 sacred to AC), but I might swap this out

Fluff / Acquaintances
Syana would have a fairly easy link with other draconic-themed party members, with Ux foremost.
Perhaps she helped him in his soul-retrieving quest, if that's OK with you?

I'll read the others' backstories soon.

Questions for chaincomplex
1/a/ is the Otherworldly Kimono from PF OK?
b/ Knowstones from DrMag 333 p93? (they grant additional spells known)

2/ is it possible to cast from a wand into the War Weaver's (Heroes of Battle) tapestry?
I think RAI it's probably not, but you've had some very lenient rulings up to now, so I figure it's worth asking.

Even if it's No for wand, would it be OK for the Periapt of the Sullen Sea (MIC 205)?

3/ when it comes to powerful abilities, how do you approach balance?

Shapechange has been discussed in the recruitment thread, but you did not weigh in on it;
Looking at my sheet I currently also have the Ring of Spell-Battle (from MIC): its no-check spell redirection ability is quite strong;
One could mention Celerity (which everybody has avoided), Darkstalker (idem), etc...

Can we use a small subset of them? Should we avoid them entirely? Will you be using them on antagonists?

4/ I have Doomspeak (feat in Champions of Ruin), which has an oddly calculated DC 10+level+Cha: I propose to nerf it down to half-level like almost all Su abilities.

**paradox26** · 2024-05-17, 04:01 AM (ISO 8601)

Just to clarify, Varis has 9th level powers but only 8th level spells, so he still has some limits. But his caster level is quite high due to the Mind Mage abilities blended with the feats I took for psi-spell crossover.

Varis shouldn't need healing much, as he has Fast Healing 3 as a Mul.

I am not much of an optimiser, so I don't know how powerful I will be able to make him without using the few cheese tricks in the handbooks. He should come out moderate in power, but when I get the character's spell and item loadout finalised, if he is too far one way or another I will adjust him.

**Taelas** · 2024-05-17, 04:07 AM (ISO 8601)

Hi everyone!

I'll be playing Aeric Hartford, who will be speaking in bold blue.

**Chambers** · 2024-05-17, 07:09 AM (ISO 8601)

Checking in. I'll update this post this evening after work with my character stuff.

Lorwyn will speak in Bold Maroon.

I will use the Feat retraining rules to ditch Spell Hand (which was used to qualify for Arcane Trickster). I'll replace it with Darkstalker.

Special Qualities

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Darkvision 60ft
See Invisibility
Comprehend Written Languages
Speak with Animals

20% Miss Chance
Disguise Self at-will
Blindsense 30ft
Object Reading at-will
Resist 30 Fire, Electricity, Cold, Acid, Sonic
Pass without Trace
Ignore difficult terrain

Image

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Background

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Description
Lorwyn dresses to be unnoticed. She wears high quality but nondescript clothes that cover her celestial armor and prefers traveling leathers over fancy dress. Even when using her magical disguises, her dour countenance shows through. She has a serious face that always seems to be worried about something.

Traits
A Friend to Commoners

Lorwyn doesn't steal from those who can't afford it. Raised in a large working-class family in Waterdeep, she tries to avoid collateral damage in her jobs to those who are just working to survive. She's already earned enough to retire a hundred times over but a majority of her earnings go to support her extended family.

Flaws
Hates Mind-Control

Lorywn dislikes deceiving people but knows that small lies won't really hurt them. She refuses to work with any mind-influencing magic though and hates enchantments and those who rely on them. Taking away someone's choice is one of the worst things you can do to a person.

Allies
Church of Selune.

Lorywn's family has a long history of worshipping Selune and she is no different, growing up with a large devoted family and more than one cousin taking service in her church. Lorywn believes that Selune could remove the feypact if she really wanted to but that she doesn't out of divine deals made eons ago. She still prays daily for the chance though and tithes a significant portion of her gains to the church.

Enemies
The Seelie & Unseelie Courts.

Lorwyn sees no difference between the two courts and considers them both her enemies, even though her patron serves the Seelie Court. Unlike others with feypacts she avoids the Courts whenever possible and despises those who seek to emulate the fey.

Story

We never should have taken the job, Silvy had said. He was right, but that doesn't bring him back. The whole thing was a trap from the jump. We were pawns to be sacrificed so those insane cultists could return their "starry eye lord" to this realm. I should have known better, had listened to Silvy, but the take was too sweet and I had too many debts. Too good to be true, right?

The ones who hired us got us into the mansion, a keyward for the back entrance. No one lived there anymore, just the bats and cobwebs to keep us company as we cracked locks, going deeper into the mansion. Mansions are for the living though. This was a mausoleum, some empty effigy to a horror that's just beyond the corner of your sight. What our employers wanted was in the basement, behind several runed doors with expensive wardings. Silvy was the best at this though, which is why I thought we were hired. I was his just his dumb apprentice, there to carry the tools and not make too much noise.

We opened the door to the basement and saw the seal on the floor. It was massive, stretching across the room, etched in precious metals and gems. Wasn't expecting this kind of door I said and paused on the threshold, fear caught in my throat. Silvy just smiled at my nervousness and got to work. It was hours of work alone just for him to untangle the lines and get a sense of how to crack it. While he studied and probed the seal I took notes and prepped our tools. He took a quick nap to rest his eyes and then we got started unweaving the seal. It's both tedious and terrifying work; a single slip and you're dead, at best. We worked for 5 hours and stopped for lunch and a rest, then got back to it. It was hard to keep track of time in the torchlight. I don't know how dwarves don't go insane. Or maybe they already are, who'd know the difference? It took at least a day and half to crack it.

What was supposed to happen was a vault would be beneath the floor where the seal was and in that vault was the family heirlooms our clients wanted and the gold coins that were our payment. Instead the stone floor beneath the now-broken circle was transformed into a portal. Bright light shined through, nearly blinding us after a day underground. I heard strange music, silver notes, some animal cry that shook me. Silvy was closest to the portal and was staring through it to whatever was on the otherside. His face looked odd, like a mixture of disgust and desire. I crawled closer to get a look for myself and that's when it climbed through to our world.

How can I describe it? Looking at it was like seeing something not just with your eyes but also your eyes, and your nose, and every nerve in your body. It's presence was so intense that it overwhelmed all of your senses, because they couldn't really comprehend what they were experiencing. To this day I've no idea if what I saw was it's real form or just what my broken brain pierced together. It towered over us like a giant, but it had the shape of a mantis, with butterfly wings and legs like a satyr's. It's head was the face of a perfect elf, cold, uncaring and unreal in it's symmetry. It spoke to Silvy and my ears bleed to hear it, my teeth grinding as I smiled.

"I am the Seneschal. I serve the Queen. Join her court in my service."

I watched Silvy refuse the bond. He was on his knees, still trying to stand but the giant faerie swatted him down like a childs toy. He landed on his weak leg and cried in pain, trying to crawl away. The faerie looked down at him like it was watching a bug squirm. It blinked three times and whistled, and then Silvy was gone, replaced by a small rabbit. I broke down sobbing, which just got the things attention. I blinked and it was standing over me. I heard it's words in my head, felt the echo travel through my bones and make all my hairs stand on end.

"Will you serve me? Pledge your fealty to me?"

I looked at the color-shifting wings, the cloven hooves, trying to focus on anything besides the fairies eyes. There was no end in them, they were bottomless pits that one could get sucked into if you looked too long....but what might you find? I could hear it's laughter as I brought my face up and stared into its, like a sound happening outside, somewhere else, to someone else. Was I laughing too? Crying? Screaming? I don't remember. Somehow I managed to say yes and fell face first into the void.

**Metastachydium** · 2024-05-17, 01:06 PM (ISO 8601)

And I arrive! Remember Ux Utanar's buddy Delja from remetagross's post? This is Ux Utanar's buddy Delja:

Delja "Quince" Utorak,
Nixie Swashbuckler 3/ Battledancer 1/ Swordsage 2/Fist of the Forest 2/Duelist 10,
and by the grace of chaincomplex, not a point of HD behind her ECL!

Delja has always spoken and will continues to speak in Dark Slate Gray. She's also kinda a hard to suffer grumpy twit, made worse by how she's very difficult to actually squat. Although I tried to make sure most of what one might want to know about her is on her sheet, I'll go through some of the important bits here as well (in addition to expanding her backstory so that the timeframe between the start of the previous game and that of this one is properly covered, because I was too lazy to do it earlier).

A. The Looks That Can Deceive:

Spoiler: A Decription, Pictured

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Gaunt and wiry, this little female figure covered in minuscule, lusterless aquamarine scales has long, broad strips of yellowed bandage wrapped around her torso; underneath, she wearsa pair of ill-fitting hempen breeches that appear to have been black at some point. The sword she carries, forged from some strange metal and essentially tied to her hand is the only remarkably clean piece of equipment she carries. Her green hair is tied up into a topknot with a piece of nondescript string, leaving the finely chiseled features of her narrow face all the more striking. She smells of blooming, brackish water.

She also doesn't love everyone and everyone's uncle recognizing her wherever she goes, so she likes to disguise herself using her Filthy String of Disguise. This goal is not made easier by the fact that she kinda smells really bad, regardless what she looks like at any given moment. This didn't stop her from pretending to be a Wispling for most of her time spent in Sigil with Ux, but she's rather unlikely to stick with that shape now. Would bring back memories, and not of the best sort.

B. A Few Reasons to Kinda Dislike Delja as a Person:

Spoiler: Unpleasant Personality Traits

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Delja's face is capable of expressing a wide array of emotions, ranging from mild irritation to palpable boredom, but she hardly ever smiles and even then, her smile is more of a smirk. Flexible and pragmatic, this largely amoral little twit is gruff, sardonic and cynical to the bone, but she doesn't really care for harming others without a good reason anymore.

Essentially kinda failing at sorting out her midlife crisis the last time around is a good enough reason for her to want to hit herself over the head repeatedly, nevertheless. Not with the sword blted to her hand, though. That would be uncomfortable. And at any rate, the experience didn't make her any less grumpy.

C. Drunken Stories:

Spoiler: A Backstory, or What You Will

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There's a very long version for much of it (pretty much covering her story until shortly before she went planeswalking with Ux Utanar and a team of other weirdos), available here:

Spoiler: Seriously, It's Long

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Delja started her life as one of the less than lucky sprites, which is to say, in a shallow, smelly coastal swamp rather than the standard issue "pristine pond or lake". Her "tribe" also happened to take the customary nixie isolationism a tad bit too seriously, isolating themselves not only from (not (just) that sort of) outsiders, but each other as well. She would have spent her early years alone, had it not been for a certain oversized reptile (v. friends and contacts under Enos). Whether being raised by a big, hungry saltwater crocodile had taken a heavier toll on her sanity than solitude would have is up to debate, but she certainly ended up slightly unhinged and alarmingly prone to wanton, petty cruelty to animals and travelers alive. She would steal and pull dangerous pranks, often resulting in injuries and sometimes even death. Suffering amused her, but for a long while, she did not kill on purpose, except to eat. That said, she believed she's an obligate carnivore and she wasn't picky.

In time, her presence in her homeswamp became undesirable to her fellow fey who feared large scale retribution from nearby "civilized folks". She received an ultimatum, and on Enos's advice, she complied. She then drifted the world (and other worlds) for years, becoming ever more blase and reckless, getting by through sheer audacity and cunning. Worried about her feature, Enos (with whom she kept in touch) urged her protege to find some way to set more clear goals and even found a master to teach her in the art of the battle dancer, figuring that a "discipline" that embraces Chaos would appeal to her. They were wrong. While Delja did realize that she really likes to dance, mixing business (i.e.) fighting with pleasure (i.e. partying hard) was not too much to her liking. She quit and (to Enos's surprise) expressed interest in the Sublime Way instead. This was, nevertheless likewise a fleeting fancy. She gained a useful friend (v. friends and contacts under Krii) and a bunch of neat tricks, but little else. Shunning even Enos's company, she headed for the closest war zone and sold her blade to the first bidder. She tried herself in many capacities: skirmisher, infiltrator, bodyguard, assistant master torturer – only to find she doesn't enjoy this line of work as much as she thought she would. Growing ever more tired and apathetic, she took advantage of a lull in hostilities and disappeared into the wilderness. She threw her lot with the Guardians of Green; they had little to teach her, but this was a chance to do what she did back in the swamps – this time for an actual reason. The primal asceticism, the newfound purpose and learning to save her anger for a rainy day did her well. She became calmer, more methodical and less erratic [turning True Neutral!].

She sticked to the code of conduct even after returning to the civilized world to reheat a few old friendships. She moved back to the coastline, meeting up with Krii in one of the smellier mercantile port cities; she paid a visit to Enos; and she stumbled upon an old acquaintance from her mercenary years (v. friends and contacts under Uzo) who talked her into checking out that old, now frozen war that just began to thaw. They fought and pillaged their way through a couple of countries as infiltrators, interdictors, spies, vanguard units and blockade runners, with Delja honing her skill in what she termed "intelligent swordplay" and Uzo sniffing out good sources of booze and producing a steady stream of zany schemes.

But then, the war ended in a messed up, headache-inducing stalemate and now out of employment, Delja began wondering what, exactly she's doing with her life. She kept practicing, but grew ever more tired of it. She kept drinking, but it only gave her hangovers. And she kept feeling like she tried and achieved everything a mercenary type could hope to try and achieve – and it was upsettingly little. And so, she began to look for more novel stimuli…

…but that's rather incomplete, and you don't want to read it. Here's some cliffnotes on all that and more, on the other hand:
{–early years: raised by a freaking crocodile in a smelly swamp; a life of mischief, petty cruelty and eating people;
–exile from the smelly homeswamp; wild shenanigans; experimenting with battle dance and the Sublime Way to keep herself focused which turns out not to be for her;
–her first real war with a bit of assistant master torturing on top; it stops being funny; she quits during a cessation of hostilities, flees into the wild;
–training with the Guardians of the Green; she kind of grows up becoming less angry and random;
–she reemerges from the forest more disciplined but with worse table manners; she looks up a few old friends;
–she comes across an old fellow merc, learns the previous war's back on schedule;
–the duo goes to war, doing infiltration, interdiction, spying, vanguard duty, looting, drinking and stuff; Delja continues to work on mastering "intelligent swordplay";
–the war ends, the midlife crisis begins; burnt out, displeased with her life and on the brink of developing an unhealthy drinking habit, Delja sets out to find new stimuli;}

{–deciding her stupid lowlife friends are not the people she should want to take along for this quest, she joins a very shiny Dragonborn Knight, Ux Utanar, a Dwarven locksmith and expert on portals (who turns out not to be Dwarven, a locksmith or safe to put anywhere near a portal) and a duo of mages;
–together, they follow a lead to Sigil, where both mages almost immediately make thesmelves sparse;
–leaving Ux Utanar, the Changeling mercenary/thief/compulsive planeshopper/dispenser of anecdotes that make Delja want to douse her own brain in acid Myriad and Delja on their own in locating an arrogant Wizard guy called Teru;
–who turns out to have gotten himself kinda disappeared by a copy of the Book of Vile Darkness;
–a wild sheep chase follows: the trio fights Slug Demons, somehow even more disgusting Ooze Mephit Things and navigates Sigil politics (beforending the Dustmen and pissing off the Sensates) a lot;
–only to end up striking a deal with an Obnoxiously Good Angel Delja hates more than anything to clean up all the loose ends;}

{–this partial victory doesn't come cheap, though: Ereshki, Ux's bat dies, prompting Ux to jump into literal Hell, Myriad probably Does Something Weird We Don't Talk About;
–and Delja finds herself waving goodbye to cold empty space left behind her former team as the decrepit spelljammer they captured from the Slug Demons disintegrates around her;
–and so she does the obvious: go home feeling beaten and backslide into her drinking habit;
–until such time as Someone Someone Familiar with Big Old Eyebrows suddenly makes a miracle return to fish her out of some muddy roadside ditch where she's sleeping off her current hangover mostly immersed in muddy water that smells worse than her;
–at which point she retrieves her **** from her accountant and the game is on again…}

D. So, How's Everyone Else Enter the Picture So Far as She's Concerned?

Spoiler: This is Not a Spoiler

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Well. No idea. That she's back with Ux Utanar is a given, of course, but I'll have to look a bit more and more thoroughly into other people's sheets to have a clearer picture on the rest. Anyone who's ever done mercenary work or could have been at Sigil at around, well, not long ago might know her and be known by her in return.

**GentlemanVoodoo** · 2024-05-17, 03:01 PM (ISO 8601)

Hello folks and congratulations on the selection!

Looking forward to this adventure!

**namo** · 2024-05-17, 06:02 PM (ISO 8601)

GentlemanVoodoo, looking forward to your NPCs!

After some reading, Syana might have some promising RP conflicts:
- with Lorwyn (Chambers) regarding the use of mind-affecting spells. Syana, a a bard, has a bunch of mind-affectings buffs: Greaeter Heroism, Empyreal Ecstasy and Snowsong are Compulsions, Battle Cry is a Charm. Even if that's accepted, she does make use of Dominate Monster.

- with Varis (paradox26) who has strong distrust of dragons, while Syana is a draconic fangirl through and through, though she'll recognize that dragons have diminished since the primordial Dragonsong, paving the way for criticism of some of them.

- she would distrust and dislike Aeric's (Taelas) cohort, as a fiend (if Syana's aware she's one) and as an extremely beautiful woman, hence a rival.

- while she has a lot in common with Ux, she thinks Tiamat and evil dragons have a role play, so while she would oppose much of what they do, she would favour indirect actions and taking down proxies rather than confronting the dragons themselves.

Syana might have met Delja (Meta) in Sigil since she passes through there during her travels between planes.

If Delja and Ux start together, Syana would have to pair up with someone else. Any of the 3 others could work, but we'd have to figure out whether they know each other and how - or whether they have a common acquaintance.

**Taelas** · 2024-05-17, 08:24 PM (ISO 8601)

Given that Syana is a Bard with a decent +12 in Knowledge (the planes), she's most likely got a fairly good suspicion of Isera's true nature.

That said, there is a fair resemblance between the two (both have similar hair and eye colors, and Aeric has wings much like Isera's -- indeed, they are grafts, taken from a male erinyes), so she may suspect Aeric, as well.

Neither are open about her being a fiend, and they aren't going to directly confirm it if confronted, but they aren't going to explicitly deny it, either.

**Chambers** · 2024-05-18, 12:23 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by namo

After some reading, Syana might have some promising RP conflicts:
- with Lorwyn (Chambers) regarding the use of mind-affecting spells. Syana, a a bard, has a bunch of mind-affectings buffs: Greaeter Heroism, Empyreal Ecstasy and Snowsong are Compulsions, Battle Cry is a Charm. Even if that's accepted, she does make use of Dominate Monster.

It won't be an issue, feel free to use whatever you like. She dislikes it because she feels trapped in her pact and its analogous for her to mind-control magic.

I'll go over the other character sheets tomorrow and see what pops up as far as knowing other characters.

**paradox26** · 2024-05-18, 12:35 AM (ISO 8601)

Varis is going to have virtually no Knowledge:Planes skill ranks, as he is from Athas, which has its own cosmology.

As far as knowing other characters, he has only just arrived in Faerun, so his only contacts are Dove Falconhand and a few of the Harpers. Can anyone work with that?

**Metastachydium** · 2024-05-18, 03:11 PM (ISO 8601)

Alright, let's see about things here.

Originally Posted by namo

a Changeling

Hrm. I think it would be the ~~best~~ funniest if she and Delja haven't known each other previously. D. has… An opinion on Changelings.

Originally Posted by namo

- would the non-full-casters like to benefit from Polymorph or Polymorph Any Object? It could raise the power level of meleers a fair bit.
I'm not specced for it now, but could consider Polymorph (I would leave PAO to Varis).

I'd rather avoid that avenue.

- do we aim for party-wide Mindblank? (a job for Varis, if so, given he has casting + manifesting)
I would lean towards no, because too many immunities can make the game unfun, but that's assuming chaincomplex will adapt the campaign to our power level. If he's already planned super-powerful opponents, or Scry-and-die tactics, we have to double down ourselves.

FYI, Syana has Empyreal Ecstasy (BoED) which can provide shorter immunity to mind-affecting (leaving in place existing effects), so we could have some of it but there would be a tactical decision behind it.

Well, Will is kinda the one relatively weak link in D.'s otherwise overtuned defenses (even as her type makes her not enough of a Person for spells with that in their name to affect her), but yeah, we might not want to overshoot.

- who has healing / condition removal abilities?
Syana can Heal the whole party, so I suspect most of the load will be on her.

We'll still be lacking Restoration, Greater Restoration and resurrection spells (except if someone wants to spring for a staff - or wand for the former - that could be UMDed).

Delja has a Rod of Bodily Restoration and an Orb of Mental Renewal for band-aid level Restoration duties, and I semi-seriously pondered spending all her 80000 extra gp on Healing Belts, but this is unlikely to be a thing she does as a job, no.

Protection Devotion (+7 sacred to AC)

sacred to AC

AC

, but I might swap this out

NO YOU WON'T!!

Originally Posted by Taelas

Hi everyone!

I'll be playing Aeric Hartford, who will be speaking in bold blue.

Oh, a warfare guy! In terms of links between future party members, I could see him and Delja stumbling across each other in the pre-Hell phase of his war (perhaps even on opposite sides of the conflict (Delja is not what you'd call picky)).

Originally Posted by Chambers

Enemies
The Seelie & Unseelie Courts.

Lorwyn sees no difference between the two courts and considers them both her enemies, even though her patron serves the Seelie Court. Unlike others with feypacts she avoids the Courts whenever possible and despises those who seek to emulate the fey.

Hrm. How is she going to feel about having to work with an actual Fey, I wonder? (I mean, Delja isn't really the type to so much as poke High Fairy Politics with a stick, and even the other Nixies just told her to go away because she's weird and smells weirder, but she is very much a Fey nevertheless.)

Originally Posted by paradox26

Varis is going to have virtually no Knowledge:Planes skill ranks, as he is from Athas, which has its own cosmology.

As an aquatic fairy, Delja would probably deem Athas a silly place and wouldn't ever visit it if she could. Expect many a "how do you live like that?!"

As far as knowing other characters, he has only just arrived in Faerun, so his only contacts are Dove Falconhand and a few of the Harpers. Can anyone work with that?

She's also very not the type who would ever work with the Harpers, on account of not meaning to die of nonstop groaning. Whatever patience she has for goody-two-shoes business is mostly reserved for dealing with Ux Utanar's upstanding citizen specials and the consequences thereof. I'd assume the two haven't really interacted much in the past.

**chaincomplex** · 2024-05-18, 05:18 PM (ISO 8601)

Made a new addition to the Notes and House Rules section.

Originally Posted by chaincomplex

Encumbrance. Track at an eyeball level of detail, i.e. if you are clearly not carrying enough for weight to be salient or you have substantial weight-management options like a portable hole relative to what you are carrying, don't worry about it. If you are carrying gear with potentially problematic weight relative to your carrying capacity, check if it puts you at a worse encumbrance class, or alternatively invest in weight-management options.

Tracking Time. Usually before scenes I will announce the rate of time progression. There are several common rates we will be using.

Combat. Time is tracked in rounds, e.g. in combat encounters. We may occasionally track time in rounds even in noncombat moments if the beat-for-beat progression is critical in some manner.
Adventuring. Time is tracked relative to specific actions taken, usually in fractions of minutes to hours. This is standard adventure pace. Examples: making skill checks, exploring a dungeon.
Downtime. Time is tracked in days. Players must give descriptions of activities taken for a given day, and justify that said activities can be fit into a day. Examples: working a job, making progress crafting, making progress retraining.
Campaign. Time is tracked in months. Players must give descriptions of plans for a given month, and justify that said plans can be attempted in the given timeframe. Examples: undertaking large crafting or retraining projects, conducting long-term research.

Combat Rules. Tactical combat will proceed as usual, except with regards to initiative. Players will roll initiatives, which will be averaged and rounded up to create a player initiative block. All players will act in this block in the order they post. NPCs will act according to usual initiative rules.

Bookkeeping. I'll be making lots of rolls and adjudications behind the scenes. Here's what needs to be kept updated and clear so I can make these decisions accurate.

Numerical bonuses to ability scores, saves, and skills should be kept up to date, or you may lose out on bonuses you should have when I do background rolls.
Special senses, such as darkvision, arcane sight, foresight, etc. should be kept clearly listed so I can tell what you can sense at any given moment.
Special defenses, such as immunity to mind-affecting effects, aura of protection against evil, DR 15/magic, etc. should be kept clearly listed so I can tell what you are vulnerable to at any given moment.

Being a Player. These aren't rules, just suggestions.

1–2 posts/week is a soft requirement. You won't get booted for missing a post here or there, so you don't need to worry about that. Just remember that a slow pace will kill a game. If you can't make a post IC in a timely manner, consider leaving one line OOC briefly describing your actions, so that we may progress the scene.
Many skill checks or saving throws will be reactive, that is, I will do them on my side and behind the scenes, and there will be many of these. I'll do my best to telegraph this so you're aware of how e.g. skill-heavy the demands on your character are, but no promises; not all checks were made to be visible to players.
On that note, be proactive with making ability or skill checks. If there's any generous interpretation where they have any physical or mental effect on the scene, they will have an effect. If the wrong ability or skill is used, I will substitute the right modifier if appropriate.

Originally Posted by namo

Questions for chaincomplex
1/a/ is the Otherworldly Kimono from PF OK?
b/ Knowstones from DrMag 333 p93? (they grant additional spells known)

Yes on the otherworldly kimono. Probably yes on knowstones but just a real quick check, can anyone think of a way knowstones may break the game? I think in practice they're like runestaves, so I imagine not.

Originally Posted by namo

2/ is it possible to cast from a wand into the War Weaver's (Heroes of Battle) tapestry?
I think RAI it's probably not, but you've had some very lenient rulings up to now, so I figure it's worth asking.

Even if it's No for wand, would it be OK for the Periapt of the Sullen Sea (MIC 205)?

AFAICT the RAW here is unclear, and RAI I think is clearly not, since the Eldritch Tapestry ability is clearly dependent on the link to the War Weaver's own spellcasting. So it's a no for wands. I believe this ruling extends directly to the periapt of the sullen sea, whose conversion of spell slots doesn't specify casting but using like a magic item, so it's a no on both counts.

Originally Posted by namo

3/ when it comes to powerful abilities, how do you approach balance?

Shapechange has been discussed in the recruitment thread, but you did not weigh in on it;
Looking at my sheet I currently also have the Ring of Spell-Battle (from MIC): its no-check spell redirection ability is quite strong;
One could mention Celerity (which everybody has avoided), Darkstalker (idem), etc...

Can we use a small subset of them? Should we avoid them entirely? Will you be using them on antagonists?

So here's the general gist of how I'll rule on things like this. This is not a game where I do tit-for-tat, that's sophomoric. If I don't like you using ice assassin, I won't respond by having NPCs use ice assassin. I'll just outlaw ice assassin. The flip side is I'm going to rule permissive to let players lean into the fact that they're powerful 20th-level characters. For the record, spells like celerity, ice assassin, shapechange, and mage's disjunction aren't actually banned. Actually, I'm straight up allowing celerity and mage's disjunction, as well as the feat Darkstalker and the item the ring of spell-battle. Your foes may run these, and you should prepare countermeasures.

That said, you shouldn't expect NPCs to only spam strong spells. There are many reasons why they might not use celerity or mage's disjunction, such as the relative difficulty of sourcing good copies of these spells if they're prepared casters, simply being unaware of these spells in their past lives if they're spontaneous casters, not generally being focused on combat, and so on. As a result you won't be behind if you don't use these spells, you'll just have a nasty surprise once in a while if you're facing an actual spell-duel master.

The spell shapechange is notoriously difficult to rule on and I understand why DMs ban it. It is unfortunately one of my favorite concepts in D&D so I won't ban it. Here's my take instead. Minimally, a mage should only be able to shapechange into a creature they know, so it's an almost-canonical read that there's some kind of implicit Knowledge check. Notably DC 10 + HD is canonical to have a basic understanding of the creature, which I'll enforce for simple beings such as most animals. More complex creatures with lots of special abilities I'll increase the DCs up to something like DC 20 + HD, DC 30 + HD, DC 40 + HD, and so on. There are creatures for which no amount of Knowledge bonus should grant a deep enough understanding of to use in shapechange, which I'll say IC as something like, "Nobody would ever have recorded the inner workings of a zodar, so you'll have to do this legwork and research the zodars yourself if you want to shapechange into one." Roughly you can regard all Monster Manual I creatures as probably well-documented, with the documentation falling off dramatically as you go further into peripheral sourcebooks.

Also understand that you will almost never inherit abilities that are nigh-infinite in nature, freely replicate abilities with XP costs, grant true spellcasting in some manner, or so on. So this applies to the zodar's free wish. In this manner I will usually ignore RAW on nutty supernatural abilities, e.g. using shapeshift to become a chronotyryn. So in the chronotyryn case I would rule that you do not gain the Dual Action special ability, and make up some nonsense IC reason for it.

In short: Run your shapechange forms by me, ideally in advance to prevent pileups in in-combat posting, so I can adjudicate each form on a case-by-case basis, then keep a list of approved forms. I always of course reserve the right to make ad hoc modifications to what your forms can or can't do after the fact if I miss something stupid.

Note this plan precludes the ability to shapechange into creatures belonging to a class of untrained Knowledge checks, this makes perfect sense in-character and I have no issue with this being the case. Also this applies to abilities like simulacrum, ice assassin, and so on.

Originally Posted by namo

4/ I have Doomspeak (feat in Champions of Ruin), which has an oddly calculated DC 10+level+Cha: I propose to nerf it down to half-level like almost all Su abilities.

No. I'm not deviating from RAW unless I have a good reason to, this isn't sufficient yet, unless it proves to be too nutty in-game. I'm afraid you'll have to tolerate full-level progression on the DC for now.

Originally Posted by paradox26

Varis is going to have virtually no Knowledge:Planes skill ranks, as he is from Athas, which has its own cosmology.

My interpretation of skills like Knowledge (Local) or Knowledge (The Planes) is they are general skills. You may have picked up Knowledge (Local) by studying Chondathan customs, but the same sociological thinking will carry over if you spend time in Menzoberranzan and you will quickly pick up the customs there. In other words, do not specialize Knowledge (Local), your skill in it is absolute and general, and will be interpreted on a holistic basis. I'll add this to the Notes and House Rules section later...

So accordingly, Varis has spent enough time outside of the Athas cosmology that his planar studies, and in particular his particular Knowledge (The Planes) skill, applies now as well to the Great Wheel.

**namo** · 2024-05-18, 07:37 PM (ISO 8601)

@paradox26: Syana was actually part of the Harpers some time back, before leaving Toril to explore the planes, so there's a possible link here.
Her backstory is really sparse at the moment, but that's one of the few things already in there. I'll fill it up along the way.

@Meta: alright, let's say they don't know each other yet.
Noted, I'll skip the party-wide Polymorph for the moment.
Good to hear about the Rod / Orb - I personally love them - but they might not cut it at those levels, and they don't help vs ability drain or negative levels. I guess we'll go back to friendly temples when we need the big divine spells. Or you could spend some bennies on a Staff of Restoration (+ Revivify? or Delay Death?), up to you.

@chaincomplex:
1/ Knowstones: maybe they become problematic when WBL explodes in Epic, but at this level they're still really expensive. No, I personally don't anticipate an issue there. (Note that my personal philosophy is that you can always come back and change a permission later if problems arise.)

2/ Mage's Disjunction is actually a good topic to discuss. It's quite painful, not so much for the spells which are fair game (though I'd prefer a dispel check with a hefty bonus, personally), but for the items that inevitably get destroyed. Do you have a houserule there? The PF version has items turn non-magic for 1 min/level instead, except on a 1 on the save.
It's also quite hard to counter. I only see counterspells, the ring of Spell-Battle (do you rule that the ring can redirect the burst? Its description is a bit ambiguous with the use of "targeted"), Celerity and Suppressing Field.

3/ Shapechange: fine by me, it all seems very reasonable.
Is the Knowledge check ahead of time, to add it to a list of available forms? Or on the spot, each time one adopts the form?

Syana would mostly focus on humanoid-shaped forms & dragons (for fluff, since they tend to be far from the best forms), with a couple of exceptions.
I assembled a first version of a list.

Spoiler: list v1

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Astral Stalker (scouting) -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters...Astral_Stalker
Blink Dog (mobility)
Dragons
Elemental Weird (for divinations) -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/block/Weird,_Fire
Gloura (defenses), only if Astral Stalker is denied -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/detail/Gloura
Marruspawn Abomination -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters...wn_Abomination
Pixie (scouting)
Solar (general purpose), or Planetar if Solar is denied
Titan (offense)
Trumpet Archon
Tulani Eladrin (BoED 171) -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/block/Tulani
War Troll (offense) -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/block/Troll,_War
Will o Wisp (scouting)

When no source is indicated, it's a core creature.

I'm skipping the Gloom, and Golems (though Meta mentioned you used Shadesteel Golem in the past! :)), and undead forms.

The Beholder types would be interesting from a utility point of view, but since that'd give her several actions (eye-rays) per round, I anticipate you'll nix them (I'd only want 1 ray per round, but that would be houseruling).

**Chambers** · 2024-05-18, 08:46 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Metastachydium

Hrm. How is she going to feel about having to work with an actual Fey, I wonder? (I mean, Delja isn't really the type to so much as poke High Fairy Politics with a stick, and even the other Nixies just told her to go away because she's weird and smells weirder, but she is very much a Fey nevertheless.).

It'll be fine. She won't like it obviously but she also has been "working" with the Fey for all of her adult life, so she is used to them by now. Most of her ire is towards the nobles of the Courts, she knows that the Fey that are lower stations aren't really to blame for their superiors.

Edit: I should add some Knowledge skills for her Court service background. Nobility & Royalty, maybe?

Edit 2: Looks like Knowledge Nature covers the Fey, so that'll work.

**Taelas** · 2024-05-18, 11:36 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Metastachydium

Oh, a warfare guy! In terms of links between future party members, I could see him and Delja stumbling across each other in the pre-Hell phase of his war (perhaps even on opposite sides of the conflict (Delja is not what you'd call picky)).

While that's not impossible, Aeric isn't originally from Faerun; he got there after leaving his home plane. (Which is probably Greyhawk, or some variant of it, but it isn't too important.)

Aeric traveled quite a bit before the war broke out, including to other planes, though he isn't particularly knowledgeable about the planes himself; his main guide in that regard is his cohort, Isera. (Before the war, he traveled with a party of other adventurers, including a mage, who were the main planes-capable person in his life at that time. Those companions all perished in his jaunt into the Nine Hells, though.) The exact itinerary of his planar travels isn't set in stone, so he could easily have met anyone from the party during that time.

**chaincomplex** · 2024-05-19, 08:52 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by namo

1/ Knowstones: maybe they become problematic when WBL explodes in Epic, but at this level they're still really expensive. No, I personally don't anticipate an issue there. (Note that my personal philosophy is that you can always come back and change a permission later if problems arise.)

Alright, while more powerful than runestaffs just for number of options, I'm certain knowstones aren't broken. Consider them allowed.

Originally Posted by namo

2/ Mage's Disjunction is actually a good topic to discuss. It's quite painful, not so much for the spells which are fair game (though I'd prefer a dispel check with a hefty bonus, personally), but for the items that inevitably get destroyed. Do you have a houserule there? The PF version has items turn non-magic for 1 min/level instead, except on a 1 on the save.

The PF version is better designed for practical play and one I often reach for. That said, I was going to run mage's disjunction straight out of D&D 3.5e for this adventure. I don't mind if it's used on NPCs whatsoever, few enemies will know it and be able to use it on PCs so it's not going to spammed on player items all the time, and I don't mind if high-level spell duels are the kind of thing the party would need to think very carefully about engaging in and preparing for.

Worse comes to worst, I was expecting a lot of rocket-tag at level 20 anyways, so I'm always willing to rewind time if the party does end up on the far end of an intractable save-or-lose. If I end up rewinding too much on account of mage's disjunction we'll switch to the PF version, but between my not spamming it and the players preparing for it, hopefully this doesn't become a thing.

Originally Posted by namo

It's also quite hard to counter. I only see counterspells, the ring of Spell-Battle (do you rule that the ring can redirect the burst? Its description is a bit ambiguous with the use of "targeted"), Celerity and Suppressing Field.

I do rule that the ring of spell-battle can redirect the burst. I believe this is RAW per the phrase "point of effect" as well.

Originally Posted by namo

3/ Shapechange: fine by me, it all seems very reasonable.
Is the Knowledge check ahead of time, to add it to a list of available forms? Or on the spot, each time one adopts the form?

Made once to add to the list of available forms, to represent prior studies and research. I imagine that it makes sense that buffs would improve it, either by improving recall or cognition. I would allow repeat attempts as well, insofar as I would for any Knowledge roll, i.e. after substantial, relevant research on the topic is performed by the character.

It's not supposed to be a serious roadblock for a serious shapeshifter, just a quick check that the shapeshifter isn't turning into things they shouldn't be able to conceptualize clearly. And also a gatekeeping step to make sure things like zodar aren't making it through.

In other words, as I've mentioned, I like shapechange and am willing to play its power level fairly straight. The player should only take care that they're not overshadowing others. Using your judgment here is better than me telling you to tone it down. You can always come up with an IC excuse like, "Oh, turning into eladrin is just too tricky to do consistently, I probably won't be doing it again unless my back is against a wall."

Originally Posted by namo

Syana would mostly focus on humanoid-shaped forms & dragons (for fluff, since they tend to be far from the best forms), with a couple of exceptions.
I assembled a first version of a list.

Spoiler: list v1

Show

Astral Stalker (scouting) -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters...Astral_Stalker
Blink Dog (mobility)
Dragons
Elemental Weird (for divinations) -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/block/Weird,_Fire
Gloura (defenses), only if Astral Stalker is denied -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/detail/Gloura
Marruspawn Abomination -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters...wn_Abomination
Pixie (scouting)
Solar (general purpose), or Planetar if Solar is denied
Titan (offense)
Trumpet Archon
Tulani Eladrin (BoED 171) -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/block/Tulani
War Troll (offense) -- https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/block/Troll,_War
Will o Wisp (scouting)

Alright, let's just make up some numbers...

Astral Stalker: DC 10 + HD
Blink Dog: DC 15 + HD
True Dragon: DC 10 + HD
Elemental Weird: DC 30 + HD, Prescience (Su) cannot duplicate spells with an XP component
Gloura: DC 15 + HD
Marruspawn Abomination: DC 30 + HD
Pixie: DC 15 + HD
Solar: DC 30 + HD
Titan: DC 20 + HD
Trumpet Archon: DC 20 + HD
Tulani: DC 30 + HD
War Troll: DC 10 + HD
Will-O'-Wisp: DC 20 + HD

**Chambers** · 2024-05-19, 10:36 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by chaincomplex

The PF version is better designed for practical play and one I often reach for. That said, I was going to run mage's disjunction straight out of D&D 3.5e for this adventure. I don't mind if it's used on NPCs whatsoever, few enemies will know it and be able to use it on PCs so it's not going to spammed on player items all the time, and I don't mind if high-level spell duels are the kind of thing the party would need to think very carefully about engaging in and preparing for.

Worse comes to worst, I was expecting a lot of rocket-tag at level 20 anyways, so I'm always willing to rewind time if the party does end up on the far end of an intractable save-or-lose. If I end up rewinding too much on account of mage's disjunction we'll switch to the PF version, but between my not spamming it and the players preparing for it, hopefully this doesn't become a thing.

I would prefer the Pathfinder version of Mage's Disjunction.

**Metastachydium** · 2024-05-20, 10:35 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Taelas

While that's not impossible, Aeric isn't originally from Faerun; he got there after leaving his home plane. (Which is probably Greyhawk, or some variant of it, but it isn't too important.)

Aeric traveled quite a bit before the war broke out, including to other planes, though he isn't particularly knowledgeable about the planes himself; his main guide in that regard is his cohort, Isera. (Before the war, he traveled with a party of other adventurers, including a mage, who were the main planes-capable person in his life at that time. Those companions all perished in his jaunt into the Nine Hells, though.) The exact itinerary of his planar travels isn't set in stone, so he could easily have met anyone from the party during that time.

Not a problem as such. I kinda don't think I ever nailed down where exactly Delja is from; the closest thing to a hard clue is her having trained with the Guardians of Green, really. And her original team came together from two separate setting-worlds (the Realms and Eberron), so her past and present association with Ux Utanar is neither here nor there. But I'm not merried to the idea or anything.

**namo** · 2024-05-20, 03:29 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by chaincomplex

I do rule that the ring of spell-battle can redirect the burst. I believe this is RAW per the phrase "point of effect" as well.

Alright, then I'll keep the ring for the fateful day when this happens... and just hope the mage is close enough that it works, given the limited range!

Originally Posted by chaincomplex

Made once to add to the list of available forms, to represent prior studies and research. I imagine that it makes sense that buffs would improve it, either by improving recall or cognition. I would allow repeat attempts as well, insofar as I would for any Knowledge roll, i.e. after substantial, relevant research on the topic is performed by the character.

It's not supposed to be a serious roadblock for a serious shapeshifter, just a quick check that the shapeshifter isn't turning into things they shouldn't be able to conceptualize clearly. And also a gatekeeping step to make sure things like zodar aren't making it through.

In other words, as I've mentioned, I like shapechange and am willing to play its power level fairly straight. The player should only take care that they're not overshadowing others. Using your judgment here is better than me telling you to tone it down. You can always come up with an IC excuse like, "Oh, turning into eladrin is just too tricky to do consistently, I probably won't be doing it again unless my back is against a wall."

Fully agreed.
I want to say also to the other players that my PMs are open if they have concerns, now or later.

I've had few occasions to play at high levels, so I kinda want to enjoy Shapechange a bit, but not at the expense of others.
Also, shapeshifting is part of the character theme - she's a changeling! - but compared to dragons it's a secondary theme.

Thankfully I'll be hard-pressed to match - to take some examples - the AC of Delja, the damage output of Aeric or the scouting/sneaking of Lorwyn.
I think my main group adventuring form will be Planetar (but Shapechange won't be active 24/24), and I'll allow myself some more leeway when solo or in a pair.
Indeed, there are lots of potential, good IC reasons to limit oneself - another one would be not attracting undue attention to herself from even bigger players.

I've had to spend some of her leftover cash to meet the DC, but it's more than a fair trade, and the items will come up handy anyway.

(And with that, I should be done with mechanical considerations for the moment!)

Regarding pairings, I'm not sure we have made much progress.

Taelas, Chambers, ... : do you have an idea of who you'd like your PC to start with?
After having a game end up stillborn just 2 weeks ago (not even an IC thread started), I'm a bit paranoid about not getting the momentum going early on.

**Chambers** · 2024-05-20, 03:39 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by namo

Regarding pairings, I'm not sure we have made much progress.

Taelas, Chambers, ... : do you have an idea of who you'd like your PC to start with?
After having a game end up stillborn just 2 weeks ago (not even an IC thread started), I'm a bit paranoid about not getting the momentum going early on.

I think it would be funny if Delja had reached out to the Fey Court on Faerun for information and Lorwyns patron gave Lorwyn the task to assist her. Any good comedic pairing needs a straight man and that'd be Lorwyn.

**chaincomplex** · 2024-05-20, 10:10 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Chambers

I would prefer the Pathfinder version of Mage's Disjunction.

I'm not that committed to the 3.5e version but are you unwilling to give it a shot?

Originally Posted by namo

Alright, then I'll keep the ring for the fateful day when this happens... and just hope the mage is close enough that it works, given the limited range!

The spells battlemagic perception and duelward could be useful here.

Originally Posted by namo

Thankfully I'll be hard-pressed to match - to take some examples - the AC of Delja, the damage output of Aeric or the scouting/sneaking of Lorwyn.
I think my main group adventuring form will be Planetar (but Shapechange won't be active 24/24), and I'll allow myself some more leeway when solo or in a pair.
Indeed, there are lots of potential, good IC reasons to limit oneself - another one would be not attracting undue attention to herself from even bigger players.

I forgot to rule on the planetar. Let's give it DC 25 + HD.

**Chambers** · 2024-05-20, 11:29 PM (ISO 8601)

It's up to you. I've been disjunctioned in different campaigns and it pretty much always just sucks.

**namo** · 2024-05-21, 02:40 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by chaincomplex

The spells battlemagic perception and duelward could be useful here.

Yes, I have a couple of scrolls of Battlemagic perception for just that purpose, but Syana's not a dedicated counterspeller, and with few spells known has other/better things to do...
(A long looong time back, on the CharOp board at Wizards, I wrote the Dispelling & Counterspelling Compilation which popularized this spell... It's still around on the min-max board somewhere.)

I added the following to the Notes on her sheet, FYI.
How she meets the Knowledge DC:
+ 4 morale (Greater Heroism) + 13 luck (Improvisation, boosted by Arcane Power) + 5 insight (if needed, from her wand of Ancient Knowledge (MoE))

Syana could start with any of Aeric, Ux or Varis, so let's see what their players have to say.

**remetagross** · 2024-05-21, 06:16 AM (ISO 8601)

I've been Disjuncted once. I was utterly appaled at the time, mainly because there had been no warning whatsoever. In hindsight...it was not that big a deal. We lost our magic items, and yet, the campaign kept on, we slowly started to find some new stuff, and it actually was quite refreshing to have "naked" dudes for a little while. Like we were 12th-level PCs but back in 1st-level environment.

I don't mind 3.5 Disjunction.

@namo: Syana could definitely start off with Ux. I bet they have a lot to discuss.

@Metastachydium so here's more details about what happened to Ux after our previous gig together.

-After our little stint in the Twelve Factols (an inn the party was in for business purposes but that can't fit in a Huge dire bat), the party exits the inn. They find Grimbug (a friendly cambion) and Ereshki (Ux's Warbeast Dire Bat, his pumped-up Knight mount which he adores) both laying in a pool of their own blood, alongwith a dozen passers-by. PSeudonatural ooze mephits (high-CR critters that were slowly invading Sigil at that time) are happily suctionning their blood off and mulching the odd leg or hand. Ux is suitably horrified, yadda yadda the party moves forward, the plot with the Dustmen is resolved as we discussed in the former OOC thread.

-When all of this is said and done, Ux Utanar comes back to the shrine of Bahamut and asks his pal Bahamut priest Rasabu for a Raise Dead for Ereshki. Bam, Rasabu answers that Ereshki refuses. While it's hard to pin down complex motives from an Int 2 creature, Rasabu gathers that Ereshki, while feeling sad from being separated from Ux, died protecting passers-by from the rampaging ooze mephits. A tale that is corroborated by witnesses from the street. A true Knightly death. Hence, she's happily enjoying herself in Celestia-located Bahamut's Palace as a reward for her bravery. Who's to say Animals can't have an afterlife?

-Psychological upheaval for Ux Utanar. He has been unable to protect his longtime mate from evil, when it's supposed to be his whole metaphysical shtick. He's mourning a lot. He thinks about purchasing and training another mount. But he cannot come around to that. Ereshki Mark2 could only be a disappointment: less brave, less funny, less empathically connected to him, less endearingly fussy with what she likes and likes not, less Ereshki. He's also feeling very proud of the way she died: Bahamut's gift of courage can touch even the most dim-witted creatures, and Ereshki behaved in a way that would put to shame a fair deal of Int 3+ creatures. Replacing her would, in a way, diminish her noble death.

-Over time, and through long times in prayer and theological discussions with Rasabu (the most deadpan yet friendly Sahuagin ever), Ux Utanar realizes the life of a Knight is behind him. Yet, the call of the Dragonborn is still within him. The Lord of the North Wind still wants him to be his servant - in an other way. And Ux still wants to answer that call. Around that time, the slavery ban that was under vote in Sigil does occur.

-The Platinum offers a Quest to his faithful. If Ux Utanar is to stay true to his order, he must atone for his carelessness (he was discussing about taking a good hot bath in the inn at the very same time Ereshki was being butchered - no joke, the IC thread can prove it). Ux Utanar is to travel to the lair of Tiamat, on the first layer of the Nine Hells, Avernus. There, lies in waiting the tortured soul of a Tarnished Dragonborn - a worshipper of Bahamut that has undergone the Rite of Rebirth and later recanted the Justice Bringer. Yet, even in that deep, dark place, can lie the smallest spark of redemption. Bahamut has heard the prayer of that nameless betrayer, asking for pardon and a chance to have their scales shimmering again. Ux Utanar will proceed alone, without the help of a new mount. And so he does.

-Ux Utanar then proceeds to Celestia, where he must find the location of the ever-shifting Palace of Bahamut. The place moves around in an inconstant manner between the first four layers of the plane. While the plane is a pleasant place, the task is gruesome by its length. He finally finds it on Mercuria, the second layer, and meets his god. At the feet of the towering, 180-ft long dragon, he brings the soul of one XXX, a former Dragonborn of Bahamut from Eberron. What happens then between them is none of his business and Ux Utanar is not privy to it, though he is suitably reinvigorated in his faith to witness that the Platinum has followers across the various spheres.

-Ux has come to realize that the might of physical weapons is a little vain when up against creatures like Pit Fiends, sorcerous chromatic dragons, or Books of Vile Darkness, or ooze mephits. Or maybe weapons can defeat these things, but they cannot really protect the innocent from them. In a decision that has been slowly brewing inside him since the beginning of his Quest, he donates all that he carries to the divine hoard of Bahamut. The King of the Good Dragons looks with favour onto this offering and deems that Ux Utanar has been true in his soul-searching. He offers him to be re-reborn as another kind of servant. Ux chooses to leave the way of physical might behind him, and is reborn into a monk-like Dragonfire Adept. His strength will now be mystical in nature, more closely matching the attributes of his god. His muscles fade but he has gained additional wisdom and insight into the ways of the world. And he has sworn never to own anything again.

**Taelas** · 2024-05-21, 07:15 AM (ISO 8601)

Aeric loses a lot from being disjoined (and he can't protect himself against it), so I'd also prefer Pathfinder's version.

I think Aeric would get along well with Ux, Syana and Varis, and somewhat less so with Delja and Lorwyn. But I don't mind any pairing, really.

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