OOC Thread

[JadedDM]

I don't know if Breila is just playing Karathos as not knowing any better or not, but I actually mentioned before that Targin didn't train Erastin in the knightly code--just how to fight.

[JadedDM]

Looks like things are winding down.

Is there anything anyone wants to do, or any scenes they'd like to play out, for the night? If so, let me know. If not, I'll calculate XP and end the chapter. Then we'll move on to Solanthus.

[Breila]

It would be interesting to know who the other guests is/are, but Karathos is not going to make a move to find out, he wants to keep a low profile.

[Jenara]

I think there is a conversation that needs to happen between Erastin and Targin before things end for the night. And silly me forgot its just an inn!

[JadedDM]

So ends chapter three (and that was a long one, at least compared to the previous two).

Feedback? At all? Of any kind?

My thoughts:

You may have noticed I've been applying more personality to Selowen. As Gaia has not posted here in over six months now (can you believe the game has been going that long) nor logged in since January, I've asserted more control over the character. I decided to give her a hint of vanity, a slight flair for melodrama, and the typical elven reverence for life (hence her disgust at Targin talking about killing the stag and arguing with Karathos whether it was necessary to have killed the goblins). Hopefully this makes her seem more fleshed out without making her too annoying. Although I suppose if you all do find her annoying, I can say not to fret. I intend to drop her from the party after this adventure regardless of how it goes.

You may have also noticed this chapter was quite combat heavy compared to the other two. There's a reason for that. See, this module has the least amount of combat at all of any I've seen to date. So much so, I wasn't sure there was any chance of Erastin or Jinali reaching level 2 by the time it ended, in fact.

If you don't include random encounters, this is all of the combat in the entire module:
1) The assassin at the very beginning.
2) The duels in chapter two
3) The boar hunt in chapter two (which you guys skipped)
4) The final showdown at the end

Yep, that's it. So I took some of the random encounters on the way to Solanthus and instead of rolling for them, mandated them. There are eight total, and I've used four so far (the stag, the goblins, the kender and the bandits). Half of those were non-combat encounters. (If you're wondering, no, I don't intend to use all eight. There's only one day left to reach Solanthus anyway, and a few of them were not very interesting to me).

There wasn't much point to the stag, unless the party tried to hunt it. But it did spark some roleplaying, so that was good. The kender, too, was really just designed to see how the party reacted to them. The module even says as much. The module also suggested I swap out some equipment from the party's inventory with other stuff, because of the kender's tendency to borrow. I'm a little disappointed that apparently nobody thought to check their gear afterward to make sure...

The goblins...it was very clear to me that this encounter was set up deliberately to go easy on the players. I usually frown on that sort of thing, but I decided to use it anyway, as is, because I wanted to see how tough the PCs were and what kind of strategy they would use. It would basically serve as a way for me to see what they are capable of, so I don't over- or underestimate them in the future.

Hilariously, Breila and Nuke decided to negate the main advantage they had in that battle (the fact that the goblins started the charge way too soon), but nevertheless, the battle was won without a single HP lost among the PCs. Although I was disappointed in just how easy the fight was, it wasn't a total loss, because I learned two valuable things: First, this party has no coordination whatsoever and two, they are really powerful for their level. Those goblins needed a natural 20 to hit Targin or Erastin (anything less would have been a miss), and an 18 or better to hit Karathos. Consequently, I didn't give the fighters their combat XP bonuses for the battle (10 XP per level of each HD defeated) on account that they were never in any real danger. (Also, Selowen and Jinali didn't get any of that XP, as neither of them contributed to the fight.)

When I read the encounter for the bandits, I was pretty annoyed. Like with the goblins, the encounter was deliberately skewed to the party's favor. While goblins are stupid, though, so it was at least understandable, the module made a big deal about how clever Erek is. Then it proceeds to say that the party should win surprise automatically without a roll. And, to make matters worse, none of the bandits had bows!

After seeing how easy the goblin fight was, I decided to up the challenge here. I gave the bandits bows, I rolled for surprise (ironically, both groups lost), and I added the bear traps (it just made sense they would have taken some precautions to protect their camp). The decision to make one of the bandits Erek's daughter was to add some ambiguity to the situation. Part of the reason for this module is to see what kind of people the party members are, especially as one of them is gunning for knighthood. It worked perfectly, I thought. And I thought the battle itself was much more fun than it would have been as written.

So, I learned a lot about the party in this chapter. They've all very strong, but they have significant weaknesses. Weaknesses that a clever DM might seek to exploit in future encounters

Anyway, I'll be putting up chapter four soon. Onward to Solanthus!

[Nuke]

where to begin...

First, Targin seems annoyed at just about everything, so Selowen isn't a bother

Targin did specifically say 'check your shit' with the kender encounter.

The goblins...well, that was primarily role-play, bein' a dwarf and all.

The bandits were interesting due to the party's mercy more than anything else, I'm not sure it woulda been much of a battle even without the sleep.

In general, we haven't had the opportunity to really stop and discuss tactics in any specific encounter, It's not like we don't work well together. I think the role-play in battle is interesting, even if we don't optimize our abilities.

all in all, good chapter

[Breila]

I do agree with you two. It's good role play. The group is still finding itself, getting to know each other, this is their first real adventure, and they're learning a lot. I guess next time we take prisoners, they will be watched...

I'm sorry Gaia has dropped out. She was so enthusiastic about it... perhaps too much so, and she might have underestimated the time she needs for school so close to the final exams, her grades now contribute to the overall grade. This will be true for Luna from last fall on, but at least we will let you know when things get difficult.

(The two of us will be away until Friday/Saturday)

[JadedDM]

Well, life happens. It was still pretty poor etiquette for her to never have said anything, though. Remember how we stalled for nearly an entire month waiting for her at the very beginning?

Still, such is life. And only one drop out isn't too bad. In fact, compared to my other Dragonlance games, that's pretty good. I've had two in Unlikely Heroes and four in Chronicles.

[Jenara]

Speaking of Chronicles, Miltlis is back, he returned to KoM this week, so he might want to take Caramon back of you were interested.

[JadedDM]

He's free to; he just needs to contact me and let me know, if that's the case.

[Jenara]

I shall let him know, also trying to get a new Rastlin or Tanis on Board, a friend of mine from the UK, old school gamer, I will ask him to contact you if he decides to join.

[Jerrard]

I am trying to play Erastin with a true Knightly code, if someone surrenders regardless if they are 'hostile' or not he will not attack. He has mercy, looks to protect those weaker than himself and is generally a nice guy.

The Goblins were a point of annoyance for him, Nuke and Brelia charging in, well that was a bit of a problem, he was trying to get the group to act as one, using ranged weapons and spells to take them out and then finish them off when they approached close enough.

The death of the girl, thats caused him a major moral dilemma, in fact the whole situation was, he sees things in black and white, good and evil, and it has possibly taught him now that things are not always cut and dried.

Plus, all of these life changing situations (being accepted as a candidate, having the Grand Master support him, the death of the girl.) are making him reconsider his life, and what is important, he realises that there is one member of the part who is important, but is a little too Gallant and shy to do anything about it right now.

Onwards!

[JadedDM]

Breila, earlier you asked about special abilities for minotaurs on Krynn.

But the Tales of the Lance supplement had little to say on the matter. (I'm beginning to think that whole book is useless, actually).

I managed to secure a copy of the Dragonlance Monstrous Compendium, however. And it was much more enlightening (albeit riddled with typos).

Turns out there are three special abilities minotaurs get.

First, they can headbutt opponents in battle for 2d4 damage, but only if the opponent is at least six feet in height.

Second, they can bite an opponent for 1d4 damage, but only if the opponent is shorter than six feet.

Third, apparently minotaurs can track through scent. This is interesting, because in the module, Karathos had the tracking proficiency. I removed it, because he didn't have nearly enough NWP slots to justify it. Now it makes sense, though. It doesn't like the proficiency, though. It has a 50% chance success rate, so long as the trail was made in less than a day. For each day that passes after the trail is made, the success rate drops 10%.

I added all three of those to Karathos' stat block.

[Breila]

Great! This will add flavor to playing him. Too bad we didn't know that when Karathos chased after Erek. He might not have gotten away then... and it makes sense that a part-beast should have special abilities.

[Nuke]

Well, Hell, we coulda had Erik!!!