Tavar
2010-06-04, 05:58 PM
So, last night was the third session in a Red Hand of Doom game being run over IRC, and the fecal matter definitely hit the rotary blades.
Party:
Me-Liara (http://www.coyotecode.net/profiler/view.php?id=7266), Human Person Man's Domain Favored Soul (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57097) of Pelor. Healer and secondary frontliner.
CrypticOcean- Retribution(Ret) Warforged Crusader. Primary Frontliner, focus on Stone Dragon and Devoted Spirit.
Eurus-Dasha Mal, Changling Factotum, Skills Plus general utility.
Zemro Shivic-Byron Hanes, Human Conjuration focused Wizard.
HunterOfJello-Zosimos Darkspell(Zos), gnome beguiler. Skills +illusion/enchantment spells.
DragoonWraith-Russengolmo(Russ), Gnome Swordmage (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149724). Glass Cannon.
First two sessions
We're part of an established party, and hear that this somewhat remote keep(Varath Keep) might have some loot. So of course, like any good set of violent hobos adventurers, we go to check it out. We're headed for a nearby town called Drellin's Ferry.
Less than a day out, we're ambushed. The initial attack is by 6 hobgoblins just inside the tree line. Some damage is exchange, but the main problem is that it takes some time to actually drop the enemy. By the time we do, another 6 Hobs have arrives, as well as a Hellhound. The hellhound does some decent damage to me with it's breath weapon, though my energy resistance mitigates it to a certain degree. We continue to fight, with me generally missing. Also, someone's casting spells at us(often chained spells), and we can't see him yet. After a couple more rounds of this(I mentioned whiffing attack rolls, yes?), a new enemy appears. It's a hobgoblin in Fullplate, and he starts out by giving everyone -4 to attacks unless it's at him. It takes about 3-4 rounds to drop him, even with everyone concentrating at him. Really, it's embarrassing how much we're missing and generally doing nothing. By the end he's even taunting us about how useless we are. Then the caster finally appears, we realize it's a devotee of Tiamat, and it again taunts us with how useless we are. Eventually, Russ gets him in a kind of grapple, but before he goes down he has one more shot. Chained Blindness. And everyone but Dasha fails their save. But the enemies are all down, so I guess we can chalk this up as a win. While looting the bodies, Dasha finds a stash of gold, and pockets a 'finders fee'. Then she leads us into town. We drop of the unconscious caster with the town guard, then head to the local temple for some curse removal. Luckily, it's a church of Pelor, so with my member discount, it's only something like 72 gp a pop to remove the curse.
After finding an inn to stay the night, everyone but Ret goes to sleep. Not needing sleep, he stays up, and is approached by the town mayor, who informs him about the Hobgoblin problem, and how it seems to be growing. Ret says that we'll probably look into it, and the session ends.
In the next session we regroup, decide that we might as well check out the problem, especially since they're in the same forest that contains the keep. Oh, and we hear about a guide who can show use more closely where the keep is. After selling the loot(except for the fullplate, which Liara claims since it pings as magical). We then head out, easily meet up with Jorr, and continue one. While passing through a swamp, we're attacked by a 6-headed Cryohydra, this actually takes up about 90% of the session, as it's hard to get close enough to hit it, as all the terrain is difficult, and it never actually gets close to us. Ret actually falls, as he takes several BA. Eventually the others take it down, and I make my sole contribution bashing it while unconscious so it doesn't fast heal back up. After healing those who need it, we continue on and find the keep. Others do some initial scouting, finding some goblins and worgs in the stables. This session ends.
Third Session, Or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love Enveneration.
I missed the first two hours of this session, but apparently the others went in and tried to take out the worgs/goblins, without scouting the other buildings. All I know is that when I joined the session, there were only two worgs left, quickly reduced to one, who escaped into another building. Meanwhile, my character is right by the gates, having stayed back because I was unavailable. I was then confronted by a Manticore, who I was somehow able to bluff into thinking that I was on it's side, and that I would take care of the adventurers, buying us a round or two to regroup, I spend this time buffing myself with Bulls Strength and Enlarge Person, and then manage to make my first, and only kill of the game, hitting and killing the thing. At this point, Ret's rather worse for the ware, so I go over and use my wand of vigor to start healing him. As I do so, I get hit with Enveneration, for 3 negative levels. Thus begins the absolute massacre and humiliation of our party. After that attack spell, his invisibilty spell wears off, and we see the bugbear, flying above where the Manticore was. We focus our fire, and do just about nothing, with some just barely under rolls, plus the fact that Dasha ran out of encounter abilities. Next round, me and two others are hit with a Fell Magic missile, dealing more negative levels(at this point I'm at 4/5). We decide to follow Dasha's lead, as last round she ran for it. There are a couple more shots fired, but either missed, or it used wings of cover to deflect them. Know, during the fight with the wolf, Ret had actually gone into what looked to be the main barracks and came out talking about a minotaur and more hobgoblins, so at this point we decide to get out, as we seemed to be out of our weight class. Byron tries to buy us some time with a Born of the Three Thunders lightning bolt, but the caster shrugs off the effects.
Ret picks him up in order to help him flee, and we proceed out the gates as fast as we can. Not quite fast enough, as the caster targets Liara with a Ray of Exahstion, which she failed, probably due to the -4 from negative levels. She was then paralyzed(starting dex of 8, -2 from enlarge person, -6 from exhaustion), causing her to use a standard action to dismiss the enlarge person. Still, she couldn't get far, and all of Koth's(the caster) attention was focused on her. We then engaged in some nice little banter. Him trying to persuade me to join him, me refusing, him revealing to be my father, until Ret came charging back, trying to save me, I guess. It failed, due to a bands of steel. He then offered to release him if I would join him. Both Ret and Liara decide that they aren't going to walk away from this, so as a defiant last action Liara sacrifices a spell slot to cast magic missile through an item.
The guy had Shield up, dammit.
Finally Koth tires of taunting Liara, and gives her one last chance. She refuses (reciting a version of Saint Michael's prayer, in Latin). He then casts envenerate on her again, and she dies. The surviving members of the party continue to harry Koth, hoping to get Ret out of there, but he takes a Scorching Ray Coup De Grace to the face, a dies. The rest run away.
So. Yeah. My character is dead. Now I need to think up what to replace her with. Here's the 16:1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)? 3.5e
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)? We'll be running the Red Hand of Doom campaign module - but you knew that already.
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many? Four players, no alternates.
4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)? Weekly IRC sessions, expected to last between three and five hours.
5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)? Level 5, no bonus xp.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with? Standard 5th level WBL, AKA 9,000 gp.
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes? As this campaign is doubling as a playtest, I'd like to see some of the standard archetypes for comparison. How you accomplish this is up to you. Due to the time constraints of the campaign, I'd advise against craft-focused characters, such as Artificers.
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? No templates. Other than that, go nuts. Do try to at least make a modicum of sense, though.
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points? 28 point buy. Link to a handy point buy calculator. (http://yellowrex.com/tools/pbcalc.php)
HP is maxed at first level, average thereafter.
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so? Alignment is in place, and while it should reflect your character's general outlook, it is not an iron cage. No Evil alignments, and while Chaotic Neutral and Lawful Good are both fine, Chaotic Stupid and Lawful Stupid are not.
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it? No penalties for multiclassing. However, you must take at least two levels of any given class before your next class jump.
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them? DM rolls are done behind the scenes. Player rolls will be done in a die rolling thread on the GiTP forums.
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules. Flaws and Traits are in play. Characters can take one Flaw, which must have a noticeable negative impact on the character. They can also take up to two Traits, which must play into their personality and outlook as appropriate.
Also, Detect Magic cannot find auras on things you could not normally see. Not because I'm going to send hordes of invisible enemies after you and expect you to find them with a cantrip, but because it's a pet peeve of mine.
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)? Your characters all know each other, and have been adventuring together for some time. During your last journey, you uncovered a rough map of Elsir Vale, with special care being taken to mark a location known as "Vraath Keep". Notes on the map coincide with local legends that speak of a great treasure contained within a hidden vault in the keep. The exact details are up to you, and while it's fine to keep it slim at first, I'll expect backgrounds to be fleshed out between the chosen players.
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above? The campaign contains ample opportunities for all three. The exact breakdown depends on the party's method of approaching situations.
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters? All 3.5 WotC books are fair game, provided I have it or can reasonably find information about what you intend to use. Note, however, that while a bit of pepper jack can give some spice to a dish, gouda goes in the trash. In other words, don't make me take my red pen to your character sheet and tell you to be reasonable.
Any Thoughts? Do note that I'll come in as a 4th level character, not a 5th.
Party:
Me-Liara (http://www.coyotecode.net/profiler/view.php?id=7266), Human Person Man's Domain Favored Soul (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57097) of Pelor. Healer and secondary frontliner.
CrypticOcean- Retribution(Ret) Warforged Crusader. Primary Frontliner, focus on Stone Dragon and Devoted Spirit.
Eurus-Dasha Mal, Changling Factotum, Skills Plus general utility.
Zemro Shivic-Byron Hanes, Human Conjuration focused Wizard.
HunterOfJello-Zosimos Darkspell(Zos), gnome beguiler. Skills +illusion/enchantment spells.
DragoonWraith-Russengolmo(Russ), Gnome Swordmage (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149724). Glass Cannon.
First two sessions
We're part of an established party, and hear that this somewhat remote keep(Varath Keep) might have some loot. So of course, like any good set of violent hobos adventurers, we go to check it out. We're headed for a nearby town called Drellin's Ferry.
Less than a day out, we're ambushed. The initial attack is by 6 hobgoblins just inside the tree line. Some damage is exchange, but the main problem is that it takes some time to actually drop the enemy. By the time we do, another 6 Hobs have arrives, as well as a Hellhound. The hellhound does some decent damage to me with it's breath weapon, though my energy resistance mitigates it to a certain degree. We continue to fight, with me generally missing. Also, someone's casting spells at us(often chained spells), and we can't see him yet. After a couple more rounds of this(I mentioned whiffing attack rolls, yes?), a new enemy appears. It's a hobgoblin in Fullplate, and he starts out by giving everyone -4 to attacks unless it's at him. It takes about 3-4 rounds to drop him, even with everyone concentrating at him. Really, it's embarrassing how much we're missing and generally doing nothing. By the end he's even taunting us about how useless we are. Then the caster finally appears, we realize it's a devotee of Tiamat, and it again taunts us with how useless we are. Eventually, Russ gets him in a kind of grapple, but before he goes down he has one more shot. Chained Blindness. And everyone but Dasha fails their save. But the enemies are all down, so I guess we can chalk this up as a win. While looting the bodies, Dasha finds a stash of gold, and pockets a 'finders fee'. Then she leads us into town. We drop of the unconscious caster with the town guard, then head to the local temple for some curse removal. Luckily, it's a church of Pelor, so with my member discount, it's only something like 72 gp a pop to remove the curse.
After finding an inn to stay the night, everyone but Ret goes to sleep. Not needing sleep, he stays up, and is approached by the town mayor, who informs him about the Hobgoblin problem, and how it seems to be growing. Ret says that we'll probably look into it, and the session ends.
In the next session we regroup, decide that we might as well check out the problem, especially since they're in the same forest that contains the keep. Oh, and we hear about a guide who can show use more closely where the keep is. After selling the loot(except for the fullplate, which Liara claims since it pings as magical). We then head out, easily meet up with Jorr, and continue one. While passing through a swamp, we're attacked by a 6-headed Cryohydra, this actually takes up about 90% of the session, as it's hard to get close enough to hit it, as all the terrain is difficult, and it never actually gets close to us. Ret actually falls, as he takes several BA. Eventually the others take it down, and I make my sole contribution bashing it while unconscious so it doesn't fast heal back up. After healing those who need it, we continue on and find the keep. Others do some initial scouting, finding some goblins and worgs in the stables. This session ends.
Third Session, Or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love Enveneration.
I missed the first two hours of this session, but apparently the others went in and tried to take out the worgs/goblins, without scouting the other buildings. All I know is that when I joined the session, there were only two worgs left, quickly reduced to one, who escaped into another building. Meanwhile, my character is right by the gates, having stayed back because I was unavailable. I was then confronted by a Manticore, who I was somehow able to bluff into thinking that I was on it's side, and that I would take care of the adventurers, buying us a round or two to regroup, I spend this time buffing myself with Bulls Strength and Enlarge Person, and then manage to make my first, and only kill of the game, hitting and killing the thing. At this point, Ret's rather worse for the ware, so I go over and use my wand of vigor to start healing him. As I do so, I get hit with Enveneration, for 3 negative levels. Thus begins the absolute massacre and humiliation of our party. After that attack spell, his invisibilty spell wears off, and we see the bugbear, flying above where the Manticore was. We focus our fire, and do just about nothing, with some just barely under rolls, plus the fact that Dasha ran out of encounter abilities. Next round, me and two others are hit with a Fell Magic missile, dealing more negative levels(at this point I'm at 4/5). We decide to follow Dasha's lead, as last round she ran for it. There are a couple more shots fired, but either missed, or it used wings of cover to deflect them. Know, during the fight with the wolf, Ret had actually gone into what looked to be the main barracks and came out talking about a minotaur and more hobgoblins, so at this point we decide to get out, as we seemed to be out of our weight class. Byron tries to buy us some time with a Born of the Three Thunders lightning bolt, but the caster shrugs off the effects.
Ret picks him up in order to help him flee, and we proceed out the gates as fast as we can. Not quite fast enough, as the caster targets Liara with a Ray of Exahstion, which she failed, probably due to the -4 from negative levels. She was then paralyzed(starting dex of 8, -2 from enlarge person, -6 from exhaustion), causing her to use a standard action to dismiss the enlarge person. Still, she couldn't get far, and all of Koth's(the caster) attention was focused on her. We then engaged in some nice little banter. Him trying to persuade me to join him, me refusing, him revealing to be my father, until Ret came charging back, trying to save me, I guess. It failed, due to a bands of steel. He then offered to release him if I would join him. Both Ret and Liara decide that they aren't going to walk away from this, so as a defiant last action Liara sacrifices a spell slot to cast magic missile through an item.
The guy had Shield up, dammit.
Finally Koth tires of taunting Liara, and gives her one last chance. She refuses (reciting a version of Saint Michael's prayer, in Latin). He then casts envenerate on her again, and she dies. The surviving members of the party continue to harry Koth, hoping to get Ret out of there, but he takes a Scorching Ray Coup De Grace to the face, a dies. The rest run away.
So. Yeah. My character is dead. Now I need to think up what to replace her with. Here's the 16:1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)? 3.5e
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)? We'll be running the Red Hand of Doom campaign module - but you knew that already.
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many? Four players, no alternates.
4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)? Weekly IRC sessions, expected to last between three and five hours.
5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)? Level 5, no bonus xp.
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with? Standard 5th level WBL, AKA 9,000 gp.
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes? As this campaign is doubling as a playtest, I'd like to see some of the standard archetypes for comparison. How you accomplish this is up to you. Due to the time constraints of the campaign, I'd advise against craft-focused characters, such as Artificers.
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? No templates. Other than that, go nuts. Do try to at least make a modicum of sense, though.
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points? 28 point buy. Link to a handy point buy calculator. (http://yellowrex.com/tools/pbcalc.php)
HP is maxed at first level, average thereafter.
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so? Alignment is in place, and while it should reflect your character's general outlook, it is not an iron cage. No Evil alignments, and while Chaotic Neutral and Lawful Good are both fine, Chaotic Stupid and Lawful Stupid are not.
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it? No penalties for multiclassing. However, you must take at least two levels of any given class before your next class jump.
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them? DM rolls are done behind the scenes. Player rolls will be done in a die rolling thread on the GiTP forums.
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules. Flaws and Traits are in play. Characters can take one Flaw, which must have a noticeable negative impact on the character. They can also take up to two Traits, which must play into their personality and outlook as appropriate.
Also, Detect Magic cannot find auras on things you could not normally see. Not because I'm going to send hordes of invisible enemies after you and expect you to find them with a cantrip, but because it's a pet peeve of mine.
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)? Your characters all know each other, and have been adventuring together for some time. During your last journey, you uncovered a rough map of Elsir Vale, with special care being taken to mark a location known as "Vraath Keep". Notes on the map coincide with local legends that speak of a great treasure contained within a hidden vault in the keep. The exact details are up to you, and while it's fine to keep it slim at first, I'll expect backgrounds to be fleshed out between the chosen players.
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above? The campaign contains ample opportunities for all three. The exact breakdown depends on the party's method of approaching situations.
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters? All 3.5 WotC books are fair game, provided I have it or can reasonably find information about what you intend to use. Note, however, that while a bit of pepper jack can give some spice to a dish, gouda goes in the trash. In other words, don't make me take my red pen to your character sheet and tell you to be reasonable.
Any Thoughts? Do note that I'll come in as a 4th level character, not a 5th.