The Expected Journey Ends [OOC]

[JNAProductions]

System: D&D 5E
Player Count: Four at most
Style of Play: Adventures in a cracking world
Allowed Content: If it's not on the list, don't ask.




PHB
DMG
Xanathar's
Volo's
Mordenkainen's
Ravnica
Eberron
Tasha’s
Fizban’s
Monsters of the Multiverse
UA, Homebrew, or anything else available for free, legally, and online by request. Include a link with any request!


Character Creation: Mythweavers preferred, but anything I can easily read is acceptable




Backstory: Skirt length
Experience: 4th Level Gestalt
Wealth: Standard starting gear per class and background, but you can upgrade your armor to any mundane armor you have proficiency in
Ability Scores: Pick six numbers. These are your pre-racial stats. No number may be higher than 18 or less than 8. You may modify them freely up until the game starts, and may pick duplicate numbers.
Hitpoints/Health: PHB Standard
Alignment: Heroic



Other Notes: No Ravnica backgrounds. There's a special Gestalt note in the below spoiler-please read it and follow it.
No multiclassing.
You gain the higher hit die from your classes.
You gain weapon, tools, and armor proficiencies from both classes.
You gain three saves total, chosen from among any saves available to your classes. If you can only pick two, you must pick those two, but then gain an extra free pick of save proficiency.
You may take skills from either class's list, and take the higher number of skills to gain from class.
You gain equipment from one class only. If you need essentials from another class (for instance, a Fighter//Wizard without an arcane focus) just ask, and you can have it.
Spellcasting is kept entirely separate on leveling, but in play, you can use slots from both sides for either side's spells.
A level five Wizard//Fighter (not EK) has the normal slots of a level five Wizard.
A level five Wizard//Cleric would have eight 1st level slots, six 2nd level, and four 3rd level.
A level five Wizard//Paladin would have eight 1st level slots, five 2nd level, and two 3rd level.

In play, you can use any slots for any spell you know or have prepped.
For ASIs, you gain them from both sides, but no stat can be raised by more than 2 at any level.

Special Note For This Game: One class taken MUST gain Spellcasting or Pact Magic at level 1. The other must not.
You started off common. Ordinary people-the children of a merchant or a farmer or maybe even a noble, but nothing truly great was expected of you.
But you rose above-you took on the challenges that came your way, and you managed to excel! You know you're not the biggest heroes, but for the local area you're in? You are!
You started with wolves and bandits. You moved on to more dangerous foes-culminating in the defeat of a young dragon who had kidnapped the Duke's daughter, rescuing her and bringing peace to the land, for now at least.

Even so... Something feels wrong. Something feels... Hollow. It was all too... Expected? It wasn't easy. But you never doubted your success. Why didn't you?

The celebration is tomorrow. What will you do?
Lemme lay down some cliff notes for your region...

House Arwana covers the government of a few farming villages and a small town, underneath the supervision of the Duke Liemin. There's a few other noble families, none of which are especially big or notable, and none of whom have MAJOR beef with the Duke. Oh sure, there's politicking and scheming and such, but there's nothing really severe going on.
The terrain has large amounts of fertile farmland, with a nearby area being more rocky and hilly-that's where the dragon roosted.
The military is primarily militia, with only the nobles having standing forces.

And some cliff notes for oddities...

The bandits were not killed-they were run off.
The dragon was not killed-they were defeated.
You have family and friends, and no one you know has ever died. In fact, no one's ever been seriously hurt-not permanently, anyway.
You can't remember the last time you met someone from outside your region of the world-the duke and other nobles get messages every once in a while, but you never see the couriers bringing them in.

Please repost PC details.

IC Thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?663212-The-Expected-Journey-Ends-IC&p=25932169)

[Infernally Clay]

https://i.ibb.co/mqZZYw8/3a661381d6f9bb65132f68007973f2c0-3.jpg
Nithlaya (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2863793)
Battlemaster Fighter // Swords Bard
AC: 18 | HP: 40/40 | Initiative: +2
Saves: +4 / +4 / +5 / +1 / +2 / +6
Spell Slots: 1st: 4/4 | 2nd: 3/3
Bardic Inspiration: d6: 4/4
Superiority Die: d8: 4/4 | d6: 1/1
Active Effects: None
Conditions: None

[Ilerien]

Sir Darren Arwana (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2863791)
https://uce63aeca1ada0a83992d72220aa.previews.dropboxuserc ontent.com/p/thumb/ACLUg-Lw8hcoPKj2WqB8NN7FnOJ1qP78Si4tyrkRPeCMJqLjmtNNW1OL 6Rab6kY5oiH4uZU_dGNYnPViPNrHhz-bDtBDikq4mkD2Xu_xO-ljrOLzZlV0KGUOeLeRpNTVzlWlwABi1JGyE_Y0GP6bvPhgKY44 c319o44Roef5T55vlznPRtwu_UUqt_ymxJueMAPoynPKWlwnWj UIe5Kd7LVefqIg0rUtEMQbExNe7U2chFaWSDUH1-lmj6dcsp52HGXhDO3nIvY4okXQfjCV54h8EPmQ9CY0fGuDuzlC Z-mqJlieOWtH4RgOawz_5tXhuk91QFj9t2lE-RrwuWaAfg5Puxg5QhA444Ss_dXlsvqvSTUo-b8t3OfMqT1izHOHcxg/p.jpeg

His speech will be of goldenrod color.

I've pasted the backstory into the sheet, but let it remain here for everyone's convenience.
Every noble house needs an heir and a spare. I was neither, and it got me a measure of freedom. I discovered later there had been limits to it, but my youth was filled with music, high society parties, carnal pleasures and other peoples' secrets. You can't imagine how much one can get away with if one possesses sensitive knowledge.
So, what would you do if you were a patriarch of a noble family and discovered your useless son routinely causing scandals and souring your carefully built relations with the proverbial pit of vipers? My dear father loves when he can kill two birds with one arrow, figuratively and literally. I won't bore you with the details, it should suffice to say the House Arwana got a boost got to its standing both by removing myself from the equation and providing a knight to one of the holy orders. Make no mistake, I'm thankful. Having purpose in life doesn't hurt, and how many people can genuinely brag about rescuing a duke's daughter from the clutches of a dragon?
Now, it's your turn to tell me about yourself.

[Lentrax]

Hinoka (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2863971).

Hinoka lived at the edge of the woods. She made her living gathering herbs and plants that grew in deep places in the woods that many feared to tread for fear of running afoul of the fey that were said to make their homes there. But Hinoka always said that was foolish, and went deep to gather the things that made her living easier.

And then she ran afoul of a fairy queen, bespoiling a ring, and drawing her ire. Hinoka found herself trapped by the fairy queen, and given little choice but to accept the terms offered her. Her body was changed, and with the change came with it a surge of magic.

She returned to her home to find that many years had passed in the blink of an eye from her point of view. Everything she had known was gone, and so she began wandering the woods, living among the trees she still knew so well. And then came rumors of disturbances in the towns just outside of her woods. She went to investigate, and found a whole new world. She found friends, lovers, and a need for what she could do. And so she went to help save the daughter of the Duke.

But not even that sated the feelings within her. And she still feels the wanderlust that has been buried into her bones, the need to keep moving...

[Talivan]

Kiraz (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2863697) Will speak in Dark Green

https://storage.googleapis.com/pai-images/f340ee54145b45e590eb2bb2edc1d138.jpeg


Many years ago, Kiraz reached a small village when searching for an important treasure lost in a war, in fact, she found it, but leaved it there as a safe retirement. This village seemed a very good place to live a tranquil life with a different atmosphere than constant war and conflict. Now days, she is a adventurer picking contracts, working between the villages and the small town, scaring bandits, gathering things, finding missing local people in the woods, a Dragon?, nah, too much effort, she had spent much time here and know almost everybody in the region. Days passing, years gone, same people, nothing seems to change much around here.....why?


Elf (High) Rogue (Arcane Trickster) 04 // Wizard (Bladesinger) 04 CG
AC 17 HP 32 Speed 40ft
Str 10 (0) Dex 20 (5) Con 16 (3) Wis 14 (2) Int 20 (5) Cha 14 (2)

[JNAProductions]

We are all here!

IC Thread is linked in the first post.

[Infernally Clay]

This is suspicious! >:O

[Lentrax]

I completely forgot until now, but would it be possible to have already had a familiar summoned?

[JNAProductions]

I completely forgot until now, but would it be possible to have already had a familiar summoned?

That is fine.

[Ilerien]

Do we have a communication channel that's faster than the board itself? Telegram, discord or whatever. PbP format does encourage more narrative participation from players, and I'd hate to step on the DM's narrative toes, so to speak, by making assumptions in the IC thread that might contradict the DM's vision. I fear that without the ability to ask questions (I know, it's possible here or via PM, but that's slow, and the pace of the game is quite impressive :) ) such an occurrence is inevitable at some point.

[JNAProductions]

Do we have a communication channel that's faster than the board itself? Telegram, discord or whatever. PbP format does encourage more narrative participation from players, and I'd hate to step on the DM's narrative toes, so to speak, by making assumptions in the IC thread that might contradict the DM's vision. I fear that without the ability to ask questions (I know, it's possible here or via PM, but that's slow, and the pace of the game is quite impressive :) ) such an occurrence is inevitable at some point.

I can make a server on Discord.

Link (https://discord.gg/Wq75pWdA)

[Lentrax]

I was under the impression that we had been an adventuring party for a while, so I am not sure why Kiraz would question who Hinako is.

[Talivan]

I was under the impression that we had been an adventuring party for a while, so I am not sure why Kiraz would question who Hinako is.

Well, she is very distracted when details are in play...

[JNAProductions]

Talivan, you get Passive or Active. Not both.

Doesn't matter for this one, but remember that for the future.

[JNAProductions]

Tail: [roll0]
Nithlaya: [roll1]
Hinoka: [roll2]
Kiraz: [roll3]
Darren: [roll4]

Order is:

Enemy
Kiraz
Nithlaya
Hinoka
Darren

[Infernally Clay]

Of course Nithlaya would be the first to get hit. D':

[JNAProductions]

At least the crit is irrelevant-no dice were rolled for the damage.

[Infernally Clay]

I assume a 10 misses so on the plus side Nithlaya didn't waste a superiority die or a bardic inspiration die in the attack, since you can't even use them unless you actually hit with a weapon attack.

[JNAProductions]

10 misses.

And for Healing Word, you'd still roll. That's not a damage roll.

[Infernally Clay]

Righto!

[roll0]

[JNAProductions]

[roll0]

I will roll the Wisdom save. See what happens.

[Infernally Clay]

Yay Riposte!

I'll roll the three concentration saves here. The DC should only be 10. If she fails any of them then Bane is cancelled.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Welp, no more Bane. While she failed the second con save, meaning the leader of the knights was not affected by Bane, his first hit would have missed regardless so Nith still gets to riposte against it. I don't know if that affects the rest of his turn for you, unless he fails his will save and ends up with disadvantage on attacks?

[JNAProductions]

It shouldn’t affect anything.
I’m at work, so I’ll update the IC when I’m home, next year.

[Talivan]

Hello guys, sorry for been absent, busy days, see you next year!!

[Ilerien]

Welp, no more Bane. While she failed the second con save, meaning the leader of the knights was not affected by Bane, his first hit would have missed regardless so Nith still gets to riposte against it. I don't know if that affects the rest of his turn for you, unless he fails his will save and ends up with disadvantage on attacks?
Nith has bless cast by Darren, so her bane stays up. :)

[Lentrax]

Talivan? Are you still here?

[Talivan]

Talivan? Are you still here?

I'm still here!, My apologies for being late to the party



Three of the soldiers are near enough to lash out as Kiraz absconds.

AoOs on Kiraz.


Yeah, I forgot to turn on Bladesinging and also Mobile feat prevent AoO on mele attacks only...:smallsigh:

[Infernally Clay]

Nith has bless cast by Darren, so her bane stays up. :)

I'm glad you reminded me of this. I factored it into her rolls. Darren may very well have turned a miss into a hit there.

[JNAProductions]

Clay, reminder: You can only use ONE Maneuver on any given attack.

Which one do you prioritize more?

[Infernally Clay]

Clay, reminder: You can only use ONE Maneuver on any given attack.

Which one do you prioritize more?

I used Menacing Attack, which is a Battlemaster maneuver, and Defensive Flourish, which is a Blade Flourish from Bard. They're from different features, so I should be able to use both on a successful weapon attack.

It admittedly isn't a very efficient use of limited resources but given she has been attacked thirteen times in one round of combat I'll forgive her this once.

https://i.ibb.co/YB6ssmz/IMG-1190.png

[JNAProductions]

I used Menacing Attack, which is a Battlemaster maneuver, and Defensive Flourish, which is a Blade Flourish from Bard. They're from different features, so I should be able to use both on a successful weapon attack.

It admittedly isn't a very efficient use of limited resources but given she has been attacked thirteen times in one round of combat I'll forgive her this once.

https://i.ibb.co/YB6ssmz/IMG-1190.png

Ah, thank you for elaborating.
That's entirely my bad! New IC post coming up momentarily.

[Infernally Clay]

Ah, thank you for elaborating.
That's entirely my bad! New IC post coming up momentarily.

It's okay, gestalt can get confusing like that. Twice as much to keep track of. Normally you couldn't do this sort of thing until sixth level and even then only a crazy person would go Fighter 3/Bard 3 because of how much you'd give up. I'm not even sure this sort of build would work at all outside of gestalt.

[Lentrax]

Alright. I’ll take a stab at the rolls.

Nature: [roll0]

Arcana: [roll1]

[Lentrax]

Seems like its been just me and Ilerien the last little bit.

Just want to see if the others were still here before the questions we get to ask get used up.

[Infernally Clay]

I'm still here. I just don't really know what to write. It feels like you were given some information the rest of us were not so I'm not entirely sure how to answer a question like that. Are our characters meant to have memories of outside the dukedom?

Anyway I'll catch up with the thread early tomorrow and post something.

[Lentrax]

I have not been given anything other than what was discussed in the open in the recruitment thread, made some guesses and inferences from what was in the thread based on those posts that are free for you to read in the recruitment thread, and then made a bold and wild statement about it.

Feel free to laugh at me or at Hinoka for saying it how we do, but I do not have actual knowledge of what JNA is doing.

I have so far refrained from using elements and names from other games JNA has run and been in that I have knowledge of, and it is to those experiences that came my comment about “meta knowledge,” as I said in the discord.

[Ilerien]

Darren's Persuasion roll: [roll0]

[Lentrax]

Intelligence: [roll0]

[Talivan]

Sorry guys...I completely forgot about this campaing :smalleek:, is it too late to retake it or my PC is already eaten by the nothingness?

[Lentrax]

I have no issue with it, if the others are alright as well.

[JNAProductions]

Sorry guys...I completely forgot about this campaing :smalleek:, is it too late to retake it or my PC is already eaten by the nothingness?

I'm okay with it.

[Ilerien]

Sorry guys...I completely forgot about this campaing :smalleek:, is it too late to retake it or my PC is already eaten by the nothingness?I have no issue with it.
I'd think subscribing to the dedicated discord server would've helped in this case. ;)

Also, I'll be on vacation 16.02 - 27.02, and my presence is going to be diminished during it.

[Talivan]

Thank you guys!, will read IC to get in context and jump over in an opportune moment, for now we can say Kiraz is in bed healing injuries.

[JNAProductions]

As a reminder, the portal you came from leads back to your home, or at least where you've been living for a good long while.

[Lentrax]

Moved from IC thread because this is better for it.

Before we head off, Hinoka would like to know how far it is, and also, she had asked earlier about agents of the dragon that was never answered. Hopefully they would speak a little more about it now?

[JNAProductions]

The portal you're heading for now is a similar distance away as the one you just visited-a few hours of walking.
As for agents, ask that ICly.

[Ilerien]

I'll have another vacation from tomorrow till March 19th.

[Ilerien]

Please tag me via Discord in case the game is resumed.