LSO OOC Thread II

[chese780]

So, we nearing arc-end or is that after we do more things?

[JadedDM]

The current chapter is wrapping up, but the arc still has a bit ways to go. I wanted to end the arc when the party was at around 40,000 XP. Currently the party is around 24,000 XP (averaged). I haven't fully calculated the XP for the current chapter yet, but it looks like everyone will earn around 6,000-7,000 XP or so, roughly.

So we still need around 9,000-10,000 XP before ending the arc. We're gaining a new player, but we might have possibly lost one (spyguy hasn't logged in over a month), so these numbers are hard to pin down. But I'd say there will probably be another quest or two before we're ready to finish the arc.


If you look at the map of the islands, you can see that there are several islands between Vaneil (where Narin is) and Draska. So I'm thinking we'll make a stop or two along the way, have a few more quests, and then face the pirates and wrap the arc up.

All in all, we are getting close. I'd predict we'll definitely end the arc in 2016.

[Chris1234]

@ Jaded,
Got a horroble feeling that its an elemetal plane of air dwellwe and needs magic to touch it. 'One room too far' syndrome might apply here.

[JadedDM]

Haha, "dungeoneer's regret."

[Chris1234]

You had me there; wasnt expecting a Teleport.
Was expecting he was either a bluffer or it was check-out time...
(And yes, I know the listen couldnt show anything, but the swarf wouldnt have known that..)
Very, very nice little adventure. Enjoyed immensely. TY.

[JadedDM]

Heh, well not every encounter is one where you are supposed to fight. He was way too powerful for Naras to face. He'd be a challenge for the whole party together, in fact.

I know the listen couldnt show anything, but the swarf wouldnt have known that..

Huh? 0_o

[Chris1234]

Oh I was saying that I knew that when Naras listened, that she would not hear the genasai as he had teleported away.
But that Naras would not know if it was a teleport or an invisibility spell. (No telltale sound of "pop" as air rushed in to fill then vacuum.)

[JadedDM]

Oh, okay. I get it now.

Yeah, she probably couldn't tell the difference between a teleport, teleport without error, invisibility or just an illusion, so it could have been any of those.

[Chris1234]

Exactly.
While it sometimes bleeds across, I try my best to separate player and character knowledge.

Will 3.Speak with Dead work on the recently fallen if they have in the mean time had 3.Animate Dead cast on them?

[JadedDM]

I would say that Speak with Dead wouldn't work on undead, unless you killed them again. So if you animate a corpse, you can't speak with them. But if you then reduce that animated corpse to 0 HP, effectively killing it again, you could then speak with it.

[Chris1234]

OK, I want sure if being undead made the soul depart from the body (presumably to another plane) and therefore when detroyed an an undead, the body would have no soul assocaited with it that could be interrogated via Speak w Dead...?
Is there a spell for the recently dead that can prevent either or both of Animate Dead and/or Speak with Dead woking?
Or are we looking at purely mechaniocal means, such as incineration or removal of the head or jawbone?

[JadedDM]

OK, I want sure if being undead made the soul depart from the body (presumably to another plane) and therefore when detroyed an an undead, the body would have no soul assocaited with it that could be interrogated via Speak w Dead...?

Nah. Upon death, the soul leaves the body. Casting Animate Dead fills the corpse, an empty vessel now, with negative energy from the Negative Energy Plane. This energy works as a sort of pseudo-soul. It allows the corpse to move and follow simple commands, but it has no free will as it's not a true soul.

So the original soul is still out there, floating in the ether or making its way to the afterlife. The reason Speak with Dead won't work on the undead, though, is because the spell requires a dead creature. And technically undead are not dead. The 'pseudo-soul' in their bodies disrupts the Speak with Dead spell, preventing the real soul from being called back (basically, the real soul can't find its old body because it is filled with negative energy). If the undead is damaged enough, though, the negative energy is released and it becomes a hollow corpse again.

That's how it works in my head, anyway. In my mind, actually destroying a soul would require magic far stronger than a third level spell.

Is there a spell for the recently dead that can prevent either or both of Animate Dead and/or Speak with Dead woking?

Hmm...I'm not aware of any. Not in the core spell list in the PHB, anyway. There may be something in one of the supplements somewhere. I'll do some research, see what I can find. Maybe it's something Naras can research as a new spell.

Or are we looking at purely mechaniocal means, such as incineration or removal of the head or jawbone?

Well, in terms of non-magical means, you could stop a corpse from being animated by dismembering it or incinerating it. Cutting its head off wouldn't be sufficient--a zombie or skeleton could still operate without a head and even with a missing limb or two. But having no limbs at all would make them useless, even if they could be animated.

Preventing speaking with their souls is harder. The spell specifies you need "the body, remains or a portion thereof." Which leaves things pretty wide open. You could cast it with just a toe. You could cast it with an urn of the dead's ashes. I suppose the only way to really prevent it non-magically would be to completely destroy the body so nothing remains at all (which is harder than it sounds). Toss 'em in lava maybe...or just get rid of the body so nobody can find it. At the bottom of the sea or something like that.

[Chris1234]

I#m sure Ive seen it somewhere (prob a FOrgotten Relams book) where no jawbone stops it. I think its focusing on Speak.
If a human was mechanically anacle to speak, neither could his corpse. Just a thought..

Might be rubbish but the spell name "Gentle Repose" just poppped into my head...

[JadedDM]

Haha, I've never pictured the spell making the corpse itself speak. That's kind of a funny image. I suddenly pictured the spirit sticking its hand into the corpse's head and making its mouth move like a hand puppet.

Anyway, there is a 3E spell called Gentle Repose, but it just stops a corpse from decaying, not from being animated.

I did find another 3E spell, 5th level, called Hallow. Part of the spell description reads:

Third, any dead body interred in a hallowed site cannot be turned into an undead creature.

I'm not aware of a 2E version, so looks like you'd need to research it.

[Chris1234]

I'll have to stroll throught the Priest's Spell Compendium.

What would Naras know about the religious or legal requirements/obligations or just niceties realting the the bodies she has just been party to creating? Also tax implicatins of booty/treasure extracted? Sales tax? Like is she required to wash the bodies? Burn them? Bury them? Give them to the Wardens? Or does the Wardens' jurisdiction effectively end at the town's boundary?