#I’m a sorcerer and keep at least one half caster in the party at all times and that’s kind of my limit for casters personally

[coltonclay]

It’s part of how I accidentally screwed up act 1 to an insane degree, but I’ve never had Gale in my party to where I’ve had to use him in combat. This unintentionally made him the funniest bitch in the game. He’s some bum that just hangs out in my camp lamenting about his ex, talking about how much he loves his cat, and asking for very expensive items with no material benefit to the team. World’s most unemployed man.

#I’m a sorcerer and keep at least one half caster in the party at all times and that’s kind of my limit for casters personally #not canon to the game but canon to a home game he’s my aasimar’s stepdad which makes him even more pathetic #bg3 #baldur's gate 3

[malaismere]

Campaign 3 Predictions - Compiled

So, as a fan of compiling statistics, I've been keeping track of race/class predictions for campaign 3 for the past...at least a year, from tumblr, reddit, and twitter. with EXU over, and my spreadsheet hitting 400 (?!), I figured I'd share the fandom's current predictions

Travis

Human (30), Dwarf (29), Elf, Shifter (11), Half-Elf (10)

Cleric (103), Bloodhunter (63), Wizard (50), Fighter (49), Druid (46)

Lycan bloodhunter (41), Forge cleric (26), War cleric (16), Eldritch Knight fighter, Bladesinger wizard (14)

Marisha

Elf (16), Genasi, Tiefling (14), Dwarf (13), Dragonborn (11)

Paladin (112), Rogue (53), Fighter (43), Cleric (40), Warlock (37)

Eldritch Knight fighter, Glory paladin (14), Artillerist and Armorer artificer, Battlemaster Fighter (8)

Liam

Dwarf (25), Halfling (18), Tiefling (13), Elf (12), Warforged (11)

Druid (77), Cleric (72), Bard (71), Fighter (59)

Stars druid (16), Dreams druid (10), Eloquence bard (8), Alchemist artificer, Whispers bard, Twilight cleric (7)

Sam

Dwarf (34), Kobold (24), Goliath (17), Warforged (15), Kenku (13)

Sorcerer (106), Cleric (98), Druid (63), Wizard (47)

Wild Magic sorcerer (61), Wild Soul barbarian (14), Twilight cleric (8), Life and Forge cleric, Wildfire druid, Divination wizard (7)

Laura

Elf (21), Human, Tabaxi (19), Genasi (15), Gnome, Aasimar (10)

Barbarian (75), Sorcerer (74), Bard (64), Warlock (60)

Wild Soul barbarian (14), Wild Magic sorcerer (12), Glamour bard (10), Shadow monk (9)

Taliesin

Warforged (16), Elf, Changeling (14), Gnome, Genasi, Tabaxi (8)

Sorcerer (68), Rogue (65), Warlock (55), Bard (45), Wizard (43)

Aberrant Mind sorcerer (18), Whispers bard, Phantom rogue, Soulknife rogue (11), Mastermind rogue, Clockwork sorcerer (9)

Ashley

Elf (26), Human (18), Tiefling (17), Half-Elf (12), Dwarf (11)

Rogue (95), Bard (91), Monk (43), Ranger (41), Warlock (38)

Swashbuckler rogue (21), Glamour bard (13), Mercy monk (9), Drunken monk, Wild Magic sorcerer (8)

I also (although less consistently) collected continent/setting predictions. Marquet was the top (49), then Issylra (29) and the Shattered Teeth (22). For non-continent settings, some form of Spelljammer was the top (19), followed by the Age of Arcanum (17), and Planescape/Planehopping (15). Underdark, Ravenloft, Blightshore, and a return to Tal'Dorei were also suggested multiple times.

Much longer and rambly discussion (and my own predictions) under the break.

Top predicted races were Dwarf, Elf, and Human (~100). Dwarf and Elf haven't been played before, so that tracks, and I don't think it's out there to assume we'll get at least one human again. Also, post the whole thing with Essek and long rests, people really started jumping on Elves (which, fair). Warforged, Dragonborn, Tabaxi, Genasi, Tieflings, and Changelings all are pretty prominent (~50).

Of the races not yet established as existing in Exandria, Warforged and Changeling were the most popular (Warforged now dubiously canon post-Aeor, and Changelings dubiously canon with the LoVM bartender), followed by Shifters, Leonin, Kalashtar, Fairies, Grung, Ravnica races (Loxodon, Simic Hybrid, Vedalken), Van Richten's Races (Dhampir, Reborn, Hexblood). Locathah and the other Feywild/Strixhaven races are the only officially published races at 0 suggestions. The lowest previously seen race is Gobins at 2, one of which was for Sam again, and the lowest PHB race was Half-Orc at 17.

Class wise, Sorcerer was actually the most predicted class (which kind of tracks, as it's the one that hasn't shown up even as multiclass), followed by Cleric (generally assumed as compulsory), Paladin (only as a multiclass), and Rogue (also assumed as compulsory, but way less so. Not surprisingly, Bloodhunter, Ranger, and Artificer were the lowest.

Wild Magic Sorcerer was far and away the most suggested subclass, the only one to break 50, although it hasn't hit 100 quite yet (I think it will by the time the final characters are announced though). EK Fighter, Lycan Blooodhunter, Forge Cleric, Swashbuckler Rogue, Wild Soul Barbarian, Stars Druid, Glamour Bard, Bladesinger Wizard, Eloquence Bard, and Echo Knight Fighter are the other top subclasses.

Every official subclass has been suggested except for Berserker Barbarian, Grave Cleric, and Transmutation Wizard (previously played), Battlerager Barbarian and Banneret/Purple Dragon Knight (SCAG subclasses, which are widely unpopular), and the dubiously-official Planeshift subclasses. Open Seas Paladin is the only Matt homebrew to not be suggested at least once. For dead UA, Satire Bard, Brute Fighter, Giant Soul and Stone Sorcerer, and Raven Queen Warlock have all been suggested, usually only once, although many of the suggestions were collected while classes were in UA for Tasha's, Van Richten's, and Fizban's which is technically still UA but announced so...

With Travis, the predictions bounce between two main ideas - a melee spellcaster (Forge/War/Tempest cleric, Bladesinger/War wizard), or going back to a melee class (Bloodhunter, Fighter) but with a bit more mechanical interest (Lycan, EK/Echo/Rune/Battlemaster). I think those are both solid predictions, and while I really, really doubt we'll see a Lycan bloodhunter or a Forge cleric, I think the general vibe is probably spot on.

My own prediction is one of the more out there, but still in line with the general thinking - Artillerist Artificer. Travis is definitely a very tactical player, and it would be cool to see him get a turret for the battlefield, plus all the general utility/versatility of the artificer. Alternatively, I really could see a rogue, although more like what Mastermind or Inquisitive is trying for as opposed to how they actually turned out, if that makes sense.

Race wise, the top guesses are fairly plain, outside of shifter (which is mostly tied into the "werewolf" vibe). None of them would shock me, but I don't have any predictions.

I think that everyone's right on the money with Marisha as a paladin. Her next character being high charisma seems spot on, and I think moving to a half-caster also tracks. EK/Echo/Rune/Psi fighters would also fit, although they don't lean towards high charisma, or a warlock, maybe a more melee one.

Rogue seems unlikely purely due to the fact she's played one before, kind of. Matt and Marisha have both talked some, but her first game wasn't Vox Machina, but a previous game Matt had run where she'd played an assassin. You can do non-assassiny rogues, but still.

(Other fun facts about this game because it's wild: apparently the session she sat in on before playing involved half the party getting eaten by ghouls. the party joined up with another half-tpk'd party (marisha and the replacement characters) to get the raven queen to bring their dead friends back, and a fate-touched rogue swore service to the Raven Queen in order to bring the last party member back.)

My prediction for Marisha is also paladin, although I don't have any thoughts on the subclass, with genie warlock as a second because they are fun. No real thoughts on race other than I too would love to see tiefling Marisha.

Most people are going with a support caster for Liam, which I totally buy. Caleb definitely leaned towards support caster, even if he usually did end up played as DPS. Druid has taken the top given the polymorph->wildshape vibe, although it's still very yclose with Bard and Cleric. Suggestions for fighter dropped after EXU, and while Liam does play a lot of fighters, I doubt we'll see it for C3.

Honestly, Liam is the one I have no predictions for outside of 'support caster'. I'd lean away from Cleric and towards Druid or Bard, but it's hard to say. I also think Artificer deserves to be in the running, as it seems like something Liam would really enjoy, but also...might not want to go Int-caster to Int-caster. My only real thought on race is that I want to see whether Marisha and Liam choose the same again.

Top guesses for Sam is, far and away, Wild Magic Sorcerer. This was also the top guess for C2. I do not think Sam will play a Wild Magic Sorcerer. In general, though, the vibe is going back to fullcaster - Sorcerer, Cleric, Druid, Wizard. I think full caster is probably right.

Sam is so hard to predict because it isn't what he'd choose, but what Liam chose for him. I think it's either something really standard or something really out there, and since I can't guess the really out there, I'll go for the standard - Elf Wizard or Dwarf Cleric, leaning towards Dwarf Cleric, due to the support class and the fact that Sam's mentioned never playing a religious character.

The main vibe for Laura is definitely "DPS" which is understandable. I don't know if I agree with it, but I understand it. Aside from Barbarian, the rest of the vibe is spellcaster - and I don't think we'll see a completely no magic character from her either.

Prediction wise...I understand barbarian, but I'd actually go with Ancestor or Beast over Wild Soul. I could actually see a Bloodhunter from her too, although leaning away from Vex vibes. I think I'd want to go with Wizard, though I'm not certain on that. I would bet Tabaxi but idk, I could see her avoiding that for Travis' sake.

Everyone always names Taliesin as the hardest to predict (he had the lowest count at 354, under even Ashley at 365, to everyone else's ~380/400) but I don't think he's harder to predict than Sam. The thing that makes him hard to predict is that he likes to build characters to fit the party, which he (probably) won't be doing, same as with Molly. The other main thing he tends towards is mechanical complexity in a way that suits his characters.

The main driving influence in the top suggestions is Eldritch Weirdness. Aberrant Sorc, Whispers Bard, Phantom Rogue, Warlock in general. I don't disagree with any of the subclasses, but I really don't think he'd go eldritch for eldritch sake, if for at the very least being...he has always been this weird and it's yet to be a driving force behind any of his characters before. Like the Taliesin-is-an-elder-god thing, I think this is mostly people who don't hang out around occultists. Look, I've had multiple people sell me their actual souls, and you don't see all my characters being warlocks.

That being said, I don't think I disagree with the top classes, just the subclasses. I definitely agree with Sorcerer as a good choice for him, although I'd actually go Clockwork, as I think it has a fuck-with-the-DM vibe. Taliesin is the most heavily suggested for dunamancy subclasses, which wouldn't surprise me, but I think he might avoid on the sole point of not wanting something too tied with the last campaign. A lot of people also name the psionic subclasses, which I'd be more likely to second if they had kept the weird mechanic from the UA, but don't disagree with, excepting my issue with Aberrant Mind.

My out there guess is that he's going to choose a multiclass build. He definitely enjoys playing around with weird builds (Owlbear, he did a non-CR oneshot as a monk/stars druid). On the one hand, a lot of these builds work best for oneshots or starting at higher levels, as they can take a bit of time to come online, but with such a large party, I think it will still function.

(my actual prediction for Taliesin is that his character is weirdly reminiscent of either the aasimar echo knight or the elf blood cleric from the exandria game I'm running.)

Ashley is being predicted as a Dex/Cha build, and I'm totally here for it. Pre-Fearne, I was leaning Ranger, especially Fey Wanderer for a fey build, but post-Fearne, I'm going Rogue, especially Swashbuckler. I agree that seeing a high Cha Ashley would be great, especially to let her be more center-focused than Yasha had been, and swashbucklers are just...really fun. Also, the whole Aeor arc really left me wanting to see Ashley as the go-ahead-and-scout character, just to watch her push buttons.

For continents...I understand why people are guessing Marquet, since it's currently the most explored. I think that if they're going to do Marquet, then Matt will sit down with a cultural consultant. I say will over should, because I won't make any value judgements, but I think it's in line with what Matt and CR would do in that situation.

I can't really tell whether this is a prediction or what I'd like to see (the two are distinct but often difficult to untangle) but I'd actually go with Issylra, and specifically playing up the (at least initial) set up of explorers and adventurers heading out into the wilds. I will also place my bets on them having some sort of more steady home base, and my hopes on that they get an airship. My wildest out there guess is that the plot will move towards either planescape/spelljammer in the upper levels, tying into some of the seeds from the end of C2.

I have seen a handful of people predicting table seating order, which is both very minor and also the thing that I may be most interested in. A while back, someone made a post pointing out that the main romantic relationships were all cross-table, while the strongest platonic relationships were same-table or side by side. Because I am the sort of person that I am, I did statistical analysis on ao3 fics....and it's statistically significant. So I am trying to see whether or not, based purely on C3E1, I'll be able to predict what the top ships for the campaign will be.

This rambling has mostly gotten out of hand because I don't have much opportunity to talk about this, but, you know. If you send me predictions I will give you the current odds gambling style, so that you'd know how much you'd win if you'd place a bet, because I did the tables up as a joke for something else and now I kind of want them to be used for something.

#critical role #critical role campaign 3 #cr campaign 3 #critical role predictions #critcal role meta #cr meta #cr stats

[asimovsideburns]

OH FUCK I NEVER DID DND SESSION 5 SUMMARY!!!

dnd session 5 summary, as recalled several days later:

Okay, we resume after getting a good lead on the bad guys’ hideout’s general location.

We need more information on some clues we took from the bad guy boat. We still need to look at the princess’s room for signs of bad guys. We have, between the me, the sorcerer, and the artificer, one first level spell slot (mine) (the paladin probably had more, though).

We have the option of getting info on the clues from A) the palace mage at the castle or B) Bermuda’s monk buddies

Naturally, we decide to split the party

Me, Rockie (bugbear redemption paladin), and Chloe (half elf assassin rogue) go check out the castle, while Atlas (divine soul sorcerer), Ferris (warforged armorer artificer), and Bermuda (sea elf rogue/monk) go to Bermuda’s monastery to use their library

Have I mentioned that Bermuda’s full name is Bermuda Circumstance? I love Bermuda.

We kind of went back and forth but I’m going to put the whole trip for each in one place

The Monastery:

Bermuda gets them in, they head to the library and meet Elnai. I would die for Elnai. They find some scrolls on magic and stuff, including stuff on sorcerous origins that Atlas is interested in, but doesn’t want to admit she’s interested in

OH ALSO Ferris has a baby (homonculus servant). 8 years old and already a parent smdh children these days. The excellent line “these are just things that happen” is spoken.

They all roll intelligence checks to find the right book, except Bermuda, who has -1 int (I love Bermuda), so he gives the help action to Elnai, who rolls a natural 20 to find the book we need. Team is informed that the paper has a special illusory script on it that just looks blank instead of having fake text, and that it was placed by a follower of the devil Mammon (very bad for us), who used to have a large, well known presence of warlocks in the city at the time of writing (like… 25 years ago I think?). There is no longer a large, well known presence of warlocks of Mammon in the city. Or at least, not well known.

Also, like regular illusory script, the real text will be destroyed if it’s dispelled (not that we have access to third level spells anyway). In order to see what’s on the page, we need True Seeing (not that we have access to sixth level spells—sucks to suck!!!) or some other form of truesight (not that we have access to truesight. you begin to see the issue.)

Looks like we’ll have to go to the palace mage… PSYCH!!! Ferris knows that certain constructs and creatures have truesight, and therefore we should go talk to their dad. Atlas immediately jumps on this instead of bringing up the palace mage option (which she has been avoiding even mentioning as an option, and nobody else really knows about the palace mage in character), both to avoid Big Brother and also because who doesn’t want to meet the guy who created your new Large Metal Bastard Friend?

Atlas also uses the commotion of either the father reveal or homonculus birth (I can’t remember, but it was at the end so I think father reveal) to surreptitiously look at some origin scrolls. The stealth check is. Bad. Elnai notices and decides to be very helpful anyway, directing them to an old scroll that ends up having the location (well, from a few years ago) of another divine soul sorcerer! Score!

Atlas also looks at some sorcerer magic scrolls and tries to annotate them with how her magic works. Instead they draw the super S thing, you know, from school? among other things in the margin. They super don’t know how magic works, really. She’s a charisma caster. Elnai is very understanding.

On the way out, Bermuda invites Elnai to come along. Elnai agrees, provided there isn’t going to be any violence or anything. The team ends up deciding to hang out with Elnai later. The flirting between these two is adorable. They are both extremely socially awkward, and Bermuda keeps calling the library “nerd shit” but like. In an endearing way.

OKAY CASTLE TIME (me time about me, and also the people who are with, you guessed it, me)

Team Heavy Armor (+ rogue) go to the castle, politely wait outside for our boss to show up and give us escorts

We check out the castle living quarters tower

I am very good at this (21 passive perception babey (observant feat), and rolling a 24 on active)

Oh, on the way up we run into the councilwoman, we run into the head of the city guard, we run into the combination councilwoman head of the city guard (it is just the one lady, forgive the meme)

She apparently knows about our job, and offers to give the entire city guard our descriptions so that they can “stay out of our way” if we commit any indiscretions or legally dubious acts during our investigation

Sure, Jan.

I already don’t like this, but insight check motherfucker!

She 100% super isn’t comfortable with this and WILL be using our descriptions to keep tabs on us after the mission is over in case she wants to nab us.

Counteroffer: “you can’t ever control the friends of the friends of your guards, and this is a sensitive matter. Perhaps you could give us some tokens instead, to show we’re on official business?” (I can’t STOP her from getting an army of sketch artists drawing my portrait, but I can sure discourage her for as long as possible while still taking advantage of a free pass while I have access)

She’ll “get back to me on that” yeah okay uh huh.

We get up to the princess’s floor. Outside looks fine. The sleep spell that hit Guinevere could have come from anywhere. We need to get into the princess’s room. We are definitely probably not supposed to do that.

Rockie unwittingly gives the help action by talking to the guards about their new battle drills (distraction) and Chloe rolls a nat 20 on the stealth check and gets to drag my -1 dex mod ass in for free.

Main clues are two suspiciously dust-free drawers on the desk (locked, of course)

Chloe picks both locks like a champ, and we (carefully) dig through the princess’s stuff. People these days, no respect for privacy.

First drawer: mainly keepsakes, letters from a friend (who we suspect set up the dockside ambush, likely these letters are how the baddies found him—except that his buddy did have that invisibility spell…). Also, due to player suggestion, she definitely had a vape. If the teams were reversed this would have been a disaster. I have just decided that Iraelin has no idea what a vape is. She was a teen 100 years ago they didn’t have vapes back then.

Second drawer: political documents, copies of laws being voted on, drafts for future legislation. Conclusion: the princess is taking her upcoming duties more seriously than it seems.

We also notice that some of the things in the drawers are out of place, filed in the wrong areas for example, which is what leads us to the above conclusion about the connection to the friend.

We decide to dip before we get caught, which is good because the princess shows up basically the moment after we exit her room (the guards are still distracted by Rockie, who still fully doesn’t realize he helped us sneak into the room)

I take the princess aside, and ask her how she got the magic to safely leap from her very high room to the ground, and she reveals a ring of feather fall inherited from her (deceased) mother (making me breathe easier—she didn’t get the magic from someone involved in the plot). She reveals that her roguish antics are merely carrying on in the footsteps of said mother, which is partially why Guinevere (head of palace guard) lets her get away with so much. She reveals, also, that she now had access to the mage hand cantrip. That’s right folks, the Disaster at the Docks let her level up and of course she went arcane trickster, as I feared (and hoped) she would.

Iraelin, thinking about not letting assassins in through your open window: good, now you can lock the window behind you

Princess Marlowe: oh, can you imagine Guinevere’s face when she finds me gone and the doors and window locked?

I’ve created a monster

I decide that her being better able to protect herself is better than relying too much on other people anyway.

Investigation concluded, Team Authorized Personnel Only (+ Rockie) head back to Ferris’s shop/apartment.

Ferris has given Iraelin a key, on the condition that she must promise to high five their robots on the way in

I decide, naturally, that Iraelin thinks this is a security system, and that the robots will try to kill her if she does not

Many extremely solemn high fives are had

Book Squad meets back up with us there, and we fill each other in, except that I make Ferris put their head in the decorative bean bowl so they don’t hear me talk about breaking into the princess’s room (because they will 100% accidentally reveal that we snuck into the room of the heir apparent to the throne while the escorts were distracted. we have too big a lie floating around for us to attract the questions that would bring. also I forgot to mention but Ferris fully told one of the monks that they almost killed the princess while they were describing Bermuda’s new Secret But Definitely Not Shady Job so that’s. A Thing.)

We put our heads together and it occurs to us—other than our escorts, there are no guards inside the buildings. Having just anybody who joins able to hear high level conversations could be a security breach, for sure, but it also means that if you can get past the entrance, everybody will just assume you belong there. Food for thought.

End of session.

#mine #my dnd #it’s because I went directly from session to Taz liveshow and just forgot #a LOT happened #the city of teucri

[deadmomjokes]

Pathfinder tonight was... rough.

My rogue sneaked out to try and get the truth out of our employer.

See, this dude hired us to retrieve a necromantic artifact. On the way to his house, we found out he was partnering with a Nosoi, basically a grim reaper bird because she got in trouble with her river of souls bosses and it was a marriage of convenience-- she helps him get this artifact, she gets back in good graces, he gets to destroy it like he said he would. Only she didn’t trust him that he would destroy it. She thought he was going to use it.

So I sneak out to go talk to him and find out his plans. Turns out the Nosoi was right, and he was planning on studying it and trying to figure out how to cure death. Only we knew from the horde of baddies we fought and the one crazy guy left over that obviously that wasn’t an option, and he’d only end up killing himself or going mad. I tried to convince him of that fact, but several single-digit diplomacy rolls later and lots of fatalistic, nihilist insistence that it doesn’t matter if he dies as long as he can try and help the cause to save more people, I had to give up. Walked back to the inn and had a sweet heart-to-heart with the really hot-headed pixie bard before bed.

Cut to the next morning, employer is waiting for us in the street. Apparently I made him paranoid that we were going to break our contract, so he was there to make sure we gave it to him. We handed it over (with my character giving him a very grouchy speech about how he hopes that employer learns his worth before it’s too late), when suddenly, a freaking MORRIGNA shows up and demands he hand it over. As in a spider-controlling necromancer-hunting-and-destroying demigod that answers to Pharasma, the lady of graves herself. And our dude is still trying to hold onto this thing.

We each get one chance to talk him down, me and the pixie bard whiff our diplomacy rolls, but thank the dice gods that our half orc sorcerer manages to roll intimidation over 20. Employer hands over the artifact, and the Morrigna basically goes, “Excellent, good choice, now bad and naughty boys get blinded until they learn their lesson” and magically, permanently blinds him. Then has the gall to thank us and be like “You did so well, good job kiddos!” We’re all horrified of course. We then go to assure our former employer that we’re going to take care of him and make sure he gets back to the starting city safely. I apologize that I couldn’t convince him before, and the dang pixie tries to cheer him up by being like “at least you’re learning!” and nat-1s a diplomacy roll so the poor guy tries to pound her and ends up faceplanting in the mud.

So now we’re basically going to escort mission this broken blinded husk of an elf back to a city that’s 2 days away. We still have only about 20 health between us, and my husband rolls for a random encounter at least 2x per in-game day, we’re all toast and I’m going to KILL MY HUSBAND NOW i have too many feelings  😭 😭 😭

Also, my party still hasn’t figured out my backstory and I can’t tell whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing because I keep getting Too Into It with the RP and all these tragic sad bois my husband is throwing at us, so I keep accidentally dropping hints and stuff and nobody has seen past the lie my character tells everyone that he’s just an orphan. Also, be it known that in a party full of casters and a bard, I have the highest diplomacy and charisma of all of us. As a rogue.

Heaven have mercy on our idiot souls in this campaign, we haven’t even made it a full in-game week and we are in way over our heads.

#pathfinder #hoo boy

[radiantresplendence]

In the Defense of Absolute Power

So, let’s talk about a topic that I feel is fairly underrepresented (at least properly) in discourse about tabletop RPGs, that is the prowess of high-level characters, specifically spellcasters. I’m specifically referring to the effects of the vaguely-defined, exceptionally powerful spells, the ones that (GMs fear) can totally derail campaigns if left unchecked. 

The spells in question are like your Wish, True Polymorph (or equivalent), Permanency, Contingency etc. These are the kind of spells that a powerful spellcaster (specifically a wizard 90% of the time) uses to circumvent some of the conventional restrictions of the game in terms of the power of player characters. 

I’m in favor of a liberal approach to these spell powers, particularly if the player [wizard] in question is willing to cooperate with the GM. 

Now when you look at forums into how to rule these spells, you’ll quickly find a vocal majority championing the most restricted interpretation of these spells. AKA: Wish (the ultimate Arcane spell) can only be used to replicate lesser spell effects without surrendering the entire effect of the spell to your GM. Keep in mind, in some editions, Wish has a hefty material cost for a single casting. Or Polymorph any Object can only be used to replicate a lesser polymorph spell/improved baleful polymorph, albeit with a potentially permanent, superior duration.  

This is clearly done in an attempt to reign in the powers of player characters at high levels. However, I’d argue that this is absolutely frivolous, as any Wizard above like 10th level has the ability to completely break a campaign if they wished, dimply due to their class’s sheer magical versatility and the power of mid-to-high level spells. 

Per the rules, nothing is stopping a Wizard from doing the required research to prepare a ritual that calls a powerful outsider (like say a demon) to the material plane, bind it and kill it upon summon, then animate the corpse as some sort of powerful undead minion. You can keep it under your control by having a simulacrum maintain control while in some sort of extra-dimensional space, and pull it out whenever you need some disposable beatstick stronger than the rest of your party. Arguably that’s not even the most egregious of actions in terms of alignment, as it involves you slaying a powerful evil creature. Sure, I’d argue you couldn’t be good-aligned, but you could get away with being neutral and doing that. 

Anyways, if your player wants to use powerful transmutation magic to permanently change themselves into an outsider, or half-dragon etc. You should let them with these powerful spells, essentially if you make clear  a reasonable, in-universe drawback. Something along the lines of this “you use a combination of polymorph, empowered by wish spells to convert yourself into a mighty angelic being, however your soul has difficulties adjusting to your celestial form, removing all spellcasting and possibly other magical effects (even those inherent to the form) for an extended period of time as you acclimate. 

Now this doesn’t mean that you lose all your class levels, but rather that you are whatever base creature you change into, with all your class levels, however you take negative levels equal to whatever level your character was that can’t be recovered by a restoration as your soul is in the process of adapting to your new form. You’d start off by giving the player the powers inherent to their new form, and after that has been completed, you can slowly give them their casting abilities back. 

As for wish, you really shouldn’t take that as a sorcerer if it has a material cost that can’t be hand-waved by eschew materials, and a wizard should only prepare it when they want to warp reality. Wish should be interpreted as the ultimate expression of a mastery of the arcane arts. It’s not a parlor trick you use every day, but rather something you utilize when realizing the pinnacle of magical powers. 

Also remember, you’re the GM, if a player character is problematic and refuses to improve when you talk to them about it, you can kill their character. There’s no reason to preemptively punish good players for getting into the headspace of their class and wanting to go big-brain arcane caster. 

#pathfinder #pathfinder rpg #dungeons and dragons #3.5e #5e #gamemastering #dungeonmaster #magic rulings #wizard #arcane spellcaster #epic level campaigns #high level dnd

[jellyfishdooter]

Okay so, back when I asked for asks for my Ego DnD AU, @lace-maze sent a really good ask a while back asking about why each of the egos chose the characters they did and their playing styles- and I can’t for the LIFE of me find the original anywhere on my blog. ;3;

But! I finished it and I bet it reads horribly but whatever who cares I’m tired- enjoy!

So to FINALLY answer your question, the way I went about choosing what each of the egos would play more or less boiled down to a combo of trying to pick what I think THEY would want to play, and what I figured they would be in the Dungeons and Dragons universe. (wink wonk)

Marvin- Dragonborn Sorcerer

One of the top veterans of the game, he likes to play something with more of a challenge and a lot more mechanics. And since he’s a magician it’s definitely has to deal with magic of some kind (I mean c’mon, he’s already got the aesthetic wardrobe irl for it so why not?). So he’s currently playing a Sorcerer- a magic caster who has the power naturally within him (which ties in his Race for it’s from his draconic bloodline:)

He could have easily chosen his race to be a Tabaxi (a human-cat like hybrid), but he already got enough shit of being the “furry” of the group as it was so instead he decided to go for a Dragonborn. In the game there are different types of Dragonborn, so specifically he’s Brass- which both deals fire damage breath, and is also resistant to fire.

Being one of the older players, his play style depends on the day. For the most part he is the cool, collected member of the party who doesn’t rush in and thinks things through... Until it’s later in the evening with a few drink in ‘em and then they just say, “Yeah, this might as well happen.” Before taking another shot and round-housing someone poor guy’s ass for mocking his scaly features.

Jackie- Half-Orc Fighter

Always wanting to be the hero, Jackie wants to fight and protect his fellow party members. He only has a few sessions under his belt, but he’s confident in saying that he's comfortable with playing more tanky characters and dealing heavy damage.

Jackie doesn’t have a lot of reasoning for his Race other than Orcs Are Cool so he just rolls with that.

As for his Class he likes having a bunch of different fighting styles to choose from while in combat so he can pick and choose which would work best for the situation (they also get more of a range in picking which Armor Class they want-).

His play style is Protect the Party, but also Rush In Head First Into Danger. He’s always in the front lines of a fight to tank the most damage and provide cover for the more squishy characters. It can get quite frustrating for the healer at times when he runs battleaxe-first into battle, leaving his head behind.

Speaking of healers-

Henrik- High Elf Alchemist

A lot like Anti, Henrik found the idea of playing to be quite silly. But once he got into it, the doctor found it quite enjoyable to get into a fantasy character and forget about the real world for a couple of hours. But wanting to retain some kind of dignity, he decided to play as a High Elf. He was drawn to their grace, wonderlust for adventure, and near perfectionism. To say the least, it's easy for him to slip into character.

Strictly speaking, Alchemist is not the the 5E DnD Handbook, but Jack allowed it and made some homebrew additions to the character so their party would actually have a fucking healer. So in addition to the damage-dealing bombs Henrik’s character uses, he also has a special healing bomb he can yeet at the other players when needed.

Henrik’s play style is serious, but curious. He’s always wanting to explore the world Jack created for them and peacefully interact with the NPCs, enjoying events that unfold naturally. However when it’s time for a proper fight he does not beat around the bush, staying in the back for more long-ranged attacks rather than right on the front lines.

Chase- Human Ranger

The recently-single father needed an outlet other than drinking to try and cope with the loss of his family. So like any good friend, Jack offered Chase a spot in his campaign that he was putting together! He wasn’t too sure at first, Chase said that the game seemed really complex and hard to get into. But Jack waves it off and told his friend, “You honestly have to fully jump into it if you’re gonna get anywhere. There’s not really a small way to start. It’s pretty much all or nothing. But trust me, it’s gonna be great!” And ever since his first session, Chase always looked forward to next week’s game.

Being one of the newer players, Chase doesn’t really play anything too crazy, so he sticks to his guns and runs a Human pc. And he may or may not have based the character on his old life to some degree. Giving himself a stable home, a fulfilling job, and a big loving family and at least 3 dogs. Ya’know, real heavy fantasy stuff.

Jack offered him the newer class/ homebrew of a Gunslinger, but he politely declined ‘cause he didn’t want to have to deal with new rules. So he decided to go with a Ranger for his class, figuring it would make for a cool character to play.

Chase’s play style is pretty average (no pun intended), and not all that spectacular. He gets a few good one-liners in here and there, but for the most part he plays passively. Fights when there’s a fight, and interacts almost only when others interact with him directly. (He’s been trying to get better at being more engaging, but he tends to zone out.)

Jameson- Halfling Bard

This session being JJ’s (and Robbie’s) first ever game, JJ pleasantly surprised Jack when he decided to be a Bard. When asked why, the silent man replied simply, “There’s nothing in the rules saying bards HAVE to sing. At the core of them, they are performers.” Jack beams and asks what’s their instrument of choice then? Jameson smiles and shows him this video, saying he thinks it would be interesting to have this as his musical item. (Also gotta love that good The Bard Seduces Everything trope. He’s keeping that in his back pocket for the right moment.)

As for being a Halfling, Jameson figured it would be fun to play a smaller character. And nobody ever suspects the small man to pack such a whaloop. But really, his love for the hobbits in the Tolkin books had captured his heart and really wanted to try and emulate that in the game! Maybe leaning more towards being a little prankster, but still at the core- in short- Soft Cottage Aesthetic™

Jameson’s play style is bouncy and go-gettem. He’s eager to explore the world and have fun with the NPCs. In battles he’s more comedic relief in the back inspiring the other players (and intimidating enemies by aggressively cranking his music box rapidly). And AT LEAST ONCE he has had Jackie’s character YEET his at the enemy to get the final blow to slay the beast. That was a fun session.

Anti- Changeling Rouge 

Do I really gotta explain this one? 

Naturally Anti always tries to play the edgiest characters he can. Giving them dark, moody personalities but with a slight crazed tick. (Chase naturally calls hypocrisy when Anti says his character is a self-insert to the game.)

I’m almost out of steam here so in short-

Anti loves the idea of having puppets to mess around with irl- so in the game he can somewhat do the same- by changing his figure/ features to mimic those of somebody to manipulate another. He doesn’t care much for the society around him and does his own thing, but can easily blend in and slip into other’s traditions if he needs to. His character has a tendency to pick fights pretending to be someone else before ducking out and watch the fight take place with a smirk on his hidden features. None of the party has ever seen his real face/ form, always changing it subtly so every time someone tries to take a second look something seems different or off.

Rouge: Quick and Stabby. Like the bitch himself.

Robbie- Undead Druid

Jack had to make a special homebrew character for Robbie ‘cause he was set on being an Undead. Apparently Robbie and Marvin talked about character ideas before hand and Robbie got a little overwhelmed with all the options that they had, so Marv suggested something Rob could relate to easier. So after an afternoon of crafting a special stat sheet, Jack allowed their favorite zombie ego to play.. Well, a zombie. (I’m sure someone else has made something similar out there but I might try and make a sheet later.. That could be fun lmao)

As for Druid, I like to see Robbie as being a little more connected to nature than the rest of the egos. Since he.. Yaknow, crawled out of the dirt at one point. (Side story- before the others found him in an old cemetery, he liked to just hang out around the area that was slowly being reclaimed by nature and liked watched the birds and animals). So he was pretty drawn to choosing this class. It’s a little complicated at points, but that’s why Marvin sits between him and JJ, so he can help them out through the whole process. Robbie gets really excited when one of his spells works in combat or just having fun interacting with the NPCs by growing them some flowers to be nice. 

As a whole Robbie’s play style is pretty passive. He gets distracted pretty easily and unless Jack is waving his arms around or using miniatures/ figurines to keep a visual, the zombie will sometimes lose focus and stare off into space for a minute before coming back to the game and raising his hand for something to be repeated.

It’s one big mixing pot of different people and play styles, but at the end of the day, Jack has a lot of fun trying to bounce around and keep up with everyone’s antics and storylines. It’s hard as hell at times and it gets a little frustrating when things get out of hand, but they all try to check each other and keep things rolling. And at the end of the day, all the boys enjoy the game and what Jack has to offer and really fucking enjoy themselves. DnD is a good destresser for most of them and all around a grand fun time!

#shut up jelly #in which egos play dungeons and dragons #dnd au #jse egos #lace-maze

[secretgamergirl]

RPG Campaign Setting Thoughts - The Origins of Magic

Previous entries in this series of posts:

The Planes

Alignment, Death, and Outsiders

The Actual, You Know, Setting

Today’s topic is something I think should really be the biggest preoccupation of any RPG campaign setting where it’s a concern, but one that most seem to gloss right over- Where the hell did all these spell casters come from? While I’m at it, I have officially decided that if I get a book out for all this, I’m going to include 4 PC classes (in addition to compatibility with all the existing options out there), covering the basics of Standard Party Composition and filling in some setting gaps here. Swashbuckler for a fighter type (never been happy with Paizo’s take on finesse-y fighters, might call it something else), single-school-focus wizards (gonna have to bust out the thesaurus for an unused name), divine casters who allow themselves to be possessed by agents of their deity (will likely come out like some kinda variant druid as a result), and something for the general rogue/bard 4th slot that’s a bit different that I’m tentatively calling The Party Mom Class.

Anyway, on with the magic origins. As I’ve already largely established, I think, most deities don’t really hold any direct sway over the prime material plane, and physical manifestation type stuff isn’t a thing. Divine casters of course open the door for all kinds of stuff, but you need to learn how to pray to your deity first, so as kind of a weird quirk I guess, every tradition of divine casters here is inherently rooted in arcane casters working out the whole astral projection thing, or people coming back from the dead having learned some things out there. The core deity list is something I’d really like to get some creative input on from practitioners of actual pantheistic religions, but I definitely want to get into the first follower of each once I get to listing them out, and how they came to be such.

So OK. Clerics come after wizards, but with wizards, there’s two things to worry about. They need some existing magic in the world to study, and they need a real good in-world reason to draw sharp divisions between different schools of magic. Well, OK NEED is a strong word. You could pretty much just merge everything together with no effect beyond it being a lot easier to look up spells by level and drop the whole school thing with little to no consequence, but I LIKE schools, so I need to rationalize them.

So my thinking is, every school of magic originally started as literally a different school, isolated from the others in a different part of the world, coming at the whole “magic” thing from a different angle. And this of course all only really applies to STUDIED magic. The whole concept of the prime material plane being painted with the inner planes used as a palette, coupled with the inner planes being inhabited just inherently means you’re going to have elementals and genies around from the beginning of time, along with dragons. And while I am writing out the whole concept of half-orcs and half-elves, all bets are off for people like ifrits and oreads and tieflings, so sorcerers are also going to be in play well before wizards.

So really, let me just put together a rough timeline on all things magic here:

Deities have just always been out there, with various outsiders forming as deaths happen and so on.

Elementals and anything else from the inner planes, while rare, have always been hanging out on the prime material, with half-mortal children following as soon as other creatures hit the table, really.

Dragons were probably one of the first types of creature to be created in the world, linnorms especially. And again, there’s some innate magic to them plus plenty of capacity for half-dragon children.

The first spellcasting class to really come about in the world though is going to be oracles. Oracles just happen after all. Mysterious circumstances of birth, ties to the great mysterious magic of the wold, no real teachers or questing or heritage involved. They’re rare though.

Sorcerers are next to hit the scene, because hey, after a few generations those half-genies and half-dragons are going to dilute down to bloodlines. Bloodragers come in at the same time, two sides of the same coin and I see it.

I’d go one further too and say all of the above predate even the basics of civilization. Which you do need at least a bit of to really get the ball rolling on the rest of the classes.

Druids come in next. A long secretive tradition of just trying to study and worship the natural world around them without bringing in any expectations, secretive order though, so they keep what they know to themselves. The more learned druids are probably going to work out some notion that there’s an afterlife thanks to reincarnate being a spell and all, but I don’t really see any other religious beliefs splintering off there. Just a weird thing to not think too hard about while you get used to being a dwarf woman or a boar or something

The first proper schools of magic I see springing up as people really start to settle down and invent systems of writing and social structures allowing for dedicated scholars are Evocation and Transmutation. Likely founded close enough together in terms of the actual date, but far enough away that nobody can really conclusively sort out the various calendars or lack thereof and be certain which came first. You’ve got raw elemental forces clearly evident as something magical because, again, elementals on the prime material plane are absolutely a thing, someone’s going to try to pin down how they work. Elves are out there routinely having their Doctor Who regenerations, along with the odd druid wildshaping, so, changing things around is equally likely to be stumbled across.

Alchemy begins as a tradition sometime after these, largely born out of a movement of skeptics seeing some of these early evokers and transmuters, trying to recreate what they do, maybe swiping some glances at spellbooks. Potions and recipes for them inherently spread around the world a bit faster than a bunch of nerds filling libraries in budding schools, too.

Next up, Necromancy. If humanity as a whole has people who can manipulate the elements, and make changes to people’s bodies out there, someone’s going to get it into their head to go all Full Metal Alchemist and work out exactly what’s so different about a living creature than a rock or something, and start some pretty depraved experimentation. Probably really focused on poisons and diseases at first, eventually getting some handle on the whole notion of souls and alternate forces that can animate a body, and eventually working up to the real serious game changer that is astral projection, and getting a handle on the whole notion of the outer planes.

One of the first proper divine casters is going to come along real shortly thereafter when some necromancer makes a new friend out there... and probably one of the nastier ones too. Like, when I have a pantheon nailed down and need to have a real proper “this is just the WORST deity who needs to seriously be fought against, probably the first to make contact with humanity.

So now we have this divine class I’m working on, followed shortly by clerics. And evil outsiders possessing people and corpses and generally making things less than great, along with giving the whole school of necromancy kind of a bad name for opening that up.

Tieflings naturally follow, and some more bloodlines of course.

Enchantment is the next school to be founded, because we have all these outsiders around now to give examples of how charms and profane gifts and such work to use as a model.

Illusion follows, kind of a parallel development, again, there’s a lot to learn from studying evil outsiders.

At this point in the history of the world, magic is going to have a pretty bad reputation in general, but hey, fight fire with fire, right?

Next out the gate though is bards and skalds. There’s 5 schools of magic out there in the world, so naturally you’re going to have people trying to pay them all a visit, learn a few handy tricks, pick up a lot of other esoteric knowledge as they go, and tell a good story. This also helps really spread the whole magic notion to any parts of the world who haven’t been paying it much attention.

So, the other schools are going to all spring up in bursts, as new eyes get on the whole magic concept. Abjuration to try and avoid dealing with the dangers of other forms of magic (and consequently, one with very few pure practitioners, nice to know at least a few other spells to know how to counter them). Conjuration largely as a fusion of the theories behind Necromancer and Evocation to see what can be pulled out of these other planes without the nastier baggage. Divination largely as a means of working out what’s up out there, and Psychic magic as a sort of alternate take on the whole thing, building up inner strength against these things, tied to monks culturally.

Other religious practices and paths to power are going to spring up along the way, fuzzier to pin down what crops out when without a full pantheon nailed down or major nations of the world. Shamans are probably about as old as druids, similar mindset involved. Witches probably crop up shortly after learning about some of the more powerful outsiders, with experimentation on how to get in touch with such without all the possession and astral projection and so on, and informed by some of the more naturalistic magic practices.

And while I do like the concept of the world’s first interaction with divine powers being on the grimdark side, I would think the rest of the pantheon would get in touch with people pretty soon after. Plenty of other necromancers to astrally project, learn what else is out there, make contact with other deities and outsiders. Divination is another gateway. Religious traditions that don’t involve spell-granting deities are going to precede all of this, and some practicioners on learning about this class I’m creating are probably going to try going receptive on blind faith, getting in touch with outsiders with similar sensibilities.

Then as we get closer to the present day of course, the trade in magic bards got started is going to get books on at least the basics propagating all over the world beyond these few founding schools so regular ol’ wizards with a full range of spells are now the most common by far, magi pick up enough to pair with swords. Arcanists to really go all turbo-nerd and try to break down theoretical fundamentals underpinning everything. Churches get big and militant enough for paladins, inquisitors, war priests. Anything I’m forgetting here?

Oh, and ironically enough, the creator god I’m calling Brin as a placeholder, despite having the most obvious visible impact on the world from the dawn of time is one of the last to really get a formal church. They don’t need mortal agents to influence things, they don’t have any reason to care what happens with anyone’s souls, and they aren’t based out in the outer planes, Really they’re a bit like Paizo’s Groetus in terms of ”why would anyone pick you to formally worship?”

#game design #worldbuilding #rpg campaign setting #d&d

[monstersdownthepath]

Bonus Spotlight: Ahriman, the Shadow Across Creation

Neutral Evil Demigod of Destruction, Divs, and Nihilism

Domains: Darkness, Death, Destruction, Evil Subdomains: Catastrophe, Fear, Loss, Rage

The Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 12~13

Obedience: While praying to Ahriman, destroy something of monetary or sentimental value to another person, preferably in front of someone with a strong emotional connection to the item. Alternatively, willingly take 1 point of Constitution damage by flagellating yourself with a barbed lash as you pray to Ahriman. Benefit: Your true alignment becomes masked for 24 hours, or until you perform this Obedience again. Upon performing this Obedience, choose a particular alignment. You read as the chosen alignment to all forms of magical detection, and can fool both items and magic which respond to particular alignments.

just kidding about End of the World Month being over. It can’t be over, not until we talk about this world-ender.

Anyway THIS combo is very, very interesting! To my knowledge, Ahriman is one of the three deities in existence which allows you to mask your alignment, and unless I’m mistaken, is the only method in the game which does so for a full 24 hours without needing a spell slot. It’s not one that will give you an outright power boost like most benefits do, but it makes it much, MUCH harder for Good folk to sniff you out. Be careful, though, because your mask is so thorough and complete that you’re actually vulnerable to spells like Blasphemy and Dictum if you masquerade as alignments that those spells can hurt.

The mask can’t actually be dispelled, either, so anyone scrutinizing you can’t reveal your true alignment unless they keep you from performing your Obedience... But it also means you can’t just ‘pull off’ the mask to avoid being creamed by an alignment-reliant spell that gets hurled at you.

Speaking of the Obedience, though, this is a deceptively simple one to both perform and keep on the down-low. Flagellants are unusual--and often unwelcomed--but not unknown in many societies, and you don’t have to audibly pray to Ahriman as you beat yourself bloody. If you wanted to really push the illusion you could even do so publicly, chanting hymns to other gods as you scar yourself in “their name.” Whether you keep it secret or flaunt your status aloud, you may earn some sour looks, and perhaps you won’t be invited into polite company, but you won’t look evil. Just very, very odd.

The Constitution damage is annoying but not crippling as, say, Charon’s demand that you dull your mind every day, as 1 point of Con damage repairs itself the next time you rest.

The “primary” means of proving your devotion to Ahriman is also deceptively simple, depending on how hard you Murder Hobo your way through a given campaign. You may end up gathering a lot of possessions that mean a lot to other people, and the Obedience doesn’t indicate that they need to be sentimental to someone who’s still alive! So go ahead, shatter that bandit’s sword, which was gifted to him by his father! Destroy that sorcerer’s locket containing a memento of their one love! Desecrate and destroy that altar to Desna! Maybe even in front of the priests! Maybe not that last one if you’re among Good folk, though.

Unless you happen to be projecting a Chaotic Good aura and can convince them that the altar is somehow already desecrated and must be torn down...

It’s not a particularly hard Obedience to do, but it’s definitely finicky to keep doing. At least Ahriman gives you an out in the form of a blood sacrifice!

IMPORTANT NOTE: As Ahriman is neither a Horseman nor a Daemon Harbinger, you cannot take the Souldrinker prestige class to get Ahriman’s Boons early (without DM fiat). You must use the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel prestige classes to get the Boons early, at levels 10, 13, and 16 instead of 12, 16, and 20.

----------

EVANGELIST

----------

Boon 1: Ahriman’s Word. Gain Command 3/day, Detect Thoughts 2/day, or Suggestion 1/day

Nice! Command is a decent Baby Save or Suck, and Suggestion is ALWAYS nice to see, but in my opinion the real utility star here is Detect Thoughts. Lock onto invisible foes, sniff out enemies through walls (some walls), read the minds of anyone who fails a Will save... It’s a pretty fun spell! Especially for finding out if anyone has sentimental attachment to any items in the area, so you can hoard them away for later Obediences.

Still, all three of these options are pretty good! Not particularly stellar, but useful.

Boon 2: Unassailable Conviction. 1/day, if you fail a Will save, you may immediately roll again and use the second result. If you succeed the second save, you receive a +2 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls for 1 hour.

This is actually a fairly weak Boon, all things considered... But it will absolutely, 100% save your life at some point. That morale bonus is actually you, the player, in real life breathing a sigh of relief as you wiggle out from under a Dominate, Feeblemind, or Imprisonment. Note that the ability only triggers if you already know you’ve failed the throw, so there’s no real chance of ‘wasting’ this ability preemptively.

The reroll itself is powerful enough that the morale bonus feels kind of unneeded.... But truth be told, despite its strength, when compared to other second Boons this is still pretty weak. You could have at least given it to your followers 2/day, Ahriman!

Boon 3: Force the Lie. 1/day, you may designate any point within 90ft of you to become shrouded by a 30ft mist of crackling black energy. You and other worshipers of Ahriman can see through this cloud with perfect clarity, but all others within the cloud treat it as Obscuring Mist. Creatures in the mist other than you must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your hit dice + your Charisma modifier) or have all luck, morale, or sacred bonuses they’re benefiting from twisted into a penalty so long as they remain inside the mist. This mist lingers for 1 round/hit dice you possess and cannot be dissipated by winds.

Evangelists of Ahriman just kind of get screwed, don’t they? Being able to drop cover for yourself or allies and screw up enemy ranged fighters is good, yes... But 1/day as a capstone ability? That’s really, really pathetic.

Morale bonuses are fairly common, sacred bonuses get thrown around like candy for Good-aligned folk, but both of them are less common than enhancement and alchemical bonuses, which are seen in more or less every fight with casters and martial characters using magic weapons. I won’t talk about luck bonuses, though; those are so rare I can only really think of two sources... Both of which apply to AC. Suddenly going from +2 AC to -2 AC is a pretty big deal, I’ll admit. Twisting huge benefits into penalties is more powerful than I’m giving credit for, I’ll admit, and the power to do that to everyone in a 30ft spread means that it’s likely more than one victim will suddenly be scrambled by it. I’m probably not valuing as high as I should be, despite the fact that high-level enemies often come pre-packaged with morale, luck, and sacred bonuses, or slap them on themselves if they know a battle is coming.

I probably am. It just seems pretty weak in a vacuum, and no ability operates in a vacuum. Perhaps one of the biggest benefits to this ability is the power to drop it directly onto yourself to grant yourself some impenetrable cover; you can see perfectly through it, but no one else can, and it can’t be blown away or otherwise removed. Amusingly, even against foes who aren’t running with any bonuses that Force the Lie twists around, you can still curse them by slapping your buffs onto them to have them turned to penalties. Just... pray that they fail the saving throw, or prepare to get yelled at by your team for buffing the enemy.

Alright, alright, sorry Ahriman. This ability isn’t that bad. I do like the touch that if you can convert the rest of the party to your nihilistic faith, they can see through the mist as well.

----------

EXALTED

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Boon 1: Hamper the Righteous. Gain Protection From Good 3/day, Touch of Idiocy 2/day, or Bestow Curse 1/day.

Oof, Bestow Curse? That’s a real nice ability to have tucked away. It IS negated by a save, but it’s a Save or Suck that keeps on sucking with penalties that last permanently until removed. Being able to eternally deny a target half of all turns they’d otherwise take is painful, and if you’re the creative type, you can even whip up curses of your own to plague someone with! Perhaps every time they tell a truth, they have to spend the next 6 seconds screaming. Or maybe they cough up a spider every time they lie. Or maybe their hands twist any weapon they wield back onto themselves.

There’s a lot you can do with the creative freedom Bestow Curse offers.

However, if you’re not a fan of 1/days being negated by successful saves, how about Touch of Idiocy? Sure, it’s a touch-range spell, which I--a lover and player of squishy classes--tend to shy away from, but it offers no saving throw and docks 1d6 Int, Wis, or Cha off the target for 10 minutes/level. It’s unlikely to make much of a difference past level 10 or so... Unless you use it against creatures who have extremely low mental stats anyway, such as most humanoids. It’s a Save or Suck but without the save! Unless you roll a 1. But that’s why you can use it twice!

In an Evil campaign though, the one that really shines here is Protection From Good, a lengthy spell that shields you entirely from the natural attacks of Good-aligned creatures and gives you bonuses to resist the weapons and spells of Good-aligned people. If you’re not in an Evil campaign, or are just Evil vs Evil, then the other two options are much better (I’d personally run with Touch of Idiocy for the potential shutting down of melee people breathing down my neck), but Protection From Good is always a fantastic choice for the times when you plan to launch attacks on the good folk’s towns.

Boon 2: Pierce Obfuscation. You can see perfectly through darkness of any intensity, including that created by Deeper Darkness. 1/day, you may cast True Seeing as a spell-like ability.

You get Darkvision Except Beefier, so beefy that you can see even through the otherwise impenetrable Deeper Darkness. Even if something ELSE gets in your way, you can immediately invoke True Seeing on either yourself or another. Everyone should know the utility of True Seeing by now, hopefully; the power to pierce just about any illusion or magical distortions in the game, utterly ruining the ability for Illusionist casters to do anything fancy.

Still, despite its power and usefulness, this is also an incredibly boring ability. The only real flair you can give it is dropping Deeper Darkness onto yourself and being the only one who can actually see in it, which pairs well with the power to Sneak Attack, either your own (somehow), or by slapping True Seeing onto an ally who can.

Boon 3: Call For Ruin. Once per day, you may call you may call either 1d4+1 Ghawwas, 1d3 Shira, or 1 Sepid Div to your side. You gain telepathy out to 100ft with any Div you summon. They follow your commands perfectly for 1 round per hit dice you possess, but will not perform any action that’s overtly Good, and will not follow any order to save any mortal life aside from your own, and may vanish immediately out of indignity if told to do so.

As we’ll eventually see, this is a powerful ability! No creature on this list is below CR 10, with Ghawwas being amphibious, resilient and poisonous fighters, Shira being powerful front-line brawlers capable of creating their own concealing dust clouds on a whim, and Sepid wielding extremely spooky spell-likes like Disintegrate, Enervation, Hold Monster and Baleful Polymorph. In most situations, calling a Sepid to your side is the best option, as it possesses powerful utility spells, powerful blaster spells, powerful melee abilities, and the ability to Call Debris 3/day to blast everyone in a 40ft circle with 15d6 damage... but both of the other options have their uses.

Ghawwas can all use Hallucinatory Terrain 3/day to scramble the environment (which you or an ally can see through with True Seeng), and the Shira can hurl out Waves of Fatigue 3/day in between their full-attack actions. Shira make excellent tanks as well, granting themselves concealment with their Dusty Pelts until they can close in and rip enemy souls from their body with their Consume Essence. Ghawwas can deliver Strength-damaging poison with every bite attack they make, and in an underwater battle they boil the seas around them to weed out life incapable of handling the heat.

Ahriman is pretty generous with this power, though summoning fiends tends to make your obfuscated alignment impossible to hide any further. I wish summoning the Shira was more reliable (like 1d3+1 or something), but as I said before, getting 1 Sepid is often more powerful than getting lucky rolls on any of the others.

----------

SENTINEL

----------

Boon 1: Break the Weak. Gain Inflict Light Wounds 3/day, Death Knell 2/day, or Dispel Magic 1/day.

‘Break the weak’ is right, because Inflict Light Wounds isn’t going to break anything above 3 or 4 hit dice. By the time you get it, it’s maybe useful to patch up any undead in the party or deliver a humiliating final blow to a particular enemy, but beyond that it’s likely not going to get brought out.

Death Knell I’ll forever harp on; it’s a spell with only one real, inflexible use, and it’s only a moderately good one. It deals a finishing blow and grants you a buff for doing so, but sacrificing your turn in the middle of pitched combat to use it can end with you getting walloped by the target’s allies. It is moderately more useful for the frontline Sentinel than a typical caster, though.

Dispel Magic, though, has a thousand and one uses. Getting rid of enemy buffs or glamours, shattering illusions, removing debuffs from an ally, breaking magic locks... It’s a good spell to just have available, even at 1/day.

Boon 2: Serpentine Lash. You gain Weapon Specialization (Whip) and Whip Mastery as bonus feats, even if you do not meet their prerequisites. Whips you wield take on the illusory appearance of a live serpent, and grant you a +2 on combat maneuver checks to trip opponents. If a whip you wield has a +1 enhancement bonus or higher, you may grant it the Dancing Weapon ability as a swift action. You may have your weapon animate for 6 rounds each day; they do not have to be consecutive.

This ability is deceptively useless. If you’re a whip-wielder by nature, you likely already have both Weapon Specialization and Whip Mastery by level 12, and if you don’t, what in god’s name is wrong with you? Did you just roll over and die whenever something with moderately thick skin came along?? Did you devote yourself only to disarming and tripping opponents for everyone else to deal with??? ... Alright that one sounds pretty cool, actually. But still, whips don’t deal lethal damage to their victims and don’t deal damage at all to enemies above certain armor bonuses if you don’t have Whip Mastery, and it can be taken as early as level 2. Waiting until level 12 (or 16 if you didn’t take the prestige class) to learn how to lethally wield a whip is agony.

However, if you’re NOT a whip specialist... That means that you’re unlikely to become one. Ahriman’s sacred weapon is the whip, so a Sentinel of Ahriman doesn’t have an excuse not to have one, but since you’re not specializing with a whip you’re unlikely to break it out in combat when the boring but practical swords, axes, and maces are available.

The Dancing quality is a pretty good enchantment to slap onto a weapon out of nowhere, essentially doubling the number of attacks you make each round, but whips aren’t exactly known for being devastating weapons, and the animated whip doesn’t have your Str/Dex bonus to go along with it and can’t use combat maneuvers, which is what whips are basically for. If you already have a +5 Super Duper Death Whip of Oblivion And Destruction, slapping Dancing onto it can be nice, but enchanted whips are difficult to justify creating and even harder to come by in the wild.

All in all this is a very, very disappointing Boon that more or less reads as “you get a +2 profane bonus to trip combat maneuvers when using a whip. Also, 6/day you can deal maybe 3d3+3 damage to an enemy as a swift action.”

Boon 3: Crush Opposition. 3/day, you may cause a corporeal enemy within 60ft of you to crackle with a black energy that attempts to crush them from every angle. They take 10 damage per hit die you possess, but may reduce this damage by half with a successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your hit die + your Charisma modifier). Creatures killed by this damage are completely obliterated, all of their belongings falling to the ground. All individual items the creature was carrying at the time become cursed for 1 hour per hit die you possess, the curse blighting any nonevil creature holding, carrying, or wearing the item with a stacking -1 penalty on saving throws versus fear and insanity effects.

My jaw dropped when I saw this. This is a significantly beefier version of Szuriel and Trelmarixian’s third Exalted Boon, which respectively allow you to cast a nerfed Implosion, and a regular Implosion.

Implosion itself is a pretty nice spell, letting you put the squeeze on any corporeal target you can see (Constructs and Undead have no get-out-of-jail free card here), but its biggest weakness is that it can only target a particular creature once per cast, and it’s completely negated with a successful save. Not only will Crush Opposition’s saving throw typically be higher than Implosion’s (10 + 1/2 HD + Cha mod vs 10 + 9 + Spellcasting mod), but it still deals half damage even if they DO make their save.

At the time you get it, that means Crush Opposition will do a flat 160 damage to any victim you designate, and 80 damage even if they succeed. 80 will shave off maybe a sixth of a CR 16~20 enemy’s health bar and will outright kill most mooks the instant you hit them with it, letting you focus on the main boss more. Though this ability can only hit, at max, three targets a day... Well, Implosion can only hit a given target once per cast, but Crush Opposition can hit the same person three times. It’s a good trade-off, if you ask me.

The whole ‘all their items get cursed if they die’ bit is more of an amusing add-on than anything that could be potentially useful. Evil folk like you don’t tend to leave survivors that can reclaim the gear of their fallen allies... But maybe you’re not among Evil folk (which is impressive, considering that Good folk tend not to wield live snakes as weapons). Maybe you can convince your party that all that gear is really and truly cursed, but you can uncurse it for them! You’ll just... Hold onto all that loot for a while.

Not very feasible, given that you’ll likely have casters that can uncurse the stuff, but it’s still a potential roleplaying opportunity.

You can read more about him here.

#End of the World Month #body horror #Spiritual Spotlight #Sinister Spotlight #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

[goothemighty]

I had a strangely detailed dream DnD session last night.

Everything played out “in fiction”, with the dream based background knowledge of the “real world” setting. At least five players, six player characters, and one devious DM.

It was a short, startup campaign with low level characters that bizarrely started out with one player character betraying the group almost immediately and killing another player character.

This had apparently been planned in advance, with the traitor player and the DM in league from the start.

I’m guessing the murdered character was for a no-show player, or at least that’s what we were told originally, since the murder caught the rest of us(?) off guard.

I say us... there were at least two other non-traitor players, but I never saw their faces or gleaned their character classes. Dreams are like that.

Meanwhile, I was playing a Human Cleric of the Bardic god Finder. The “player” who got murdered was a Wizard and a practical joker, well loved by all and a good friend of my character. So yeah, bummer if a start for my Cleric. His best friend just got murdered, but at least he knows where to find the traitorous bastard who did it, and the rest of the party was just as motivated to find him as well.

So, fast forward through some dream haze, and our party finds themselves in a cozy town apartment, in mock ease across from our Traitor and a DM controlled Priest of the evil god Bane. Apparently the Priest of Bane had seduced our Traitor over to their side with promises of wealth and power (typical Zentarim ploy), and this we had two antagonists to deal with. “Pleasantries” and posturing are exchanged as we sit in comfortable chairs, none the les battle ready, with nothing but empty room between us and our swaggering foe.

Ultimately, “negotiations” petter out, and it’s clear a fight is about to be triggered. The DM, cementing the cocky nature of this Priest of Bane, ends discussions with the priest giving a deliberately mocking prayer to his evil god, thanking him for delivering us, the players, into his waiting hands. This was definitely meant to intimidate the players themselves, but halfway through his prayer, I remember; I’m a Cleric too.

Under my breath, as the DM read off his pre-prepared space of a prayer, I make up my own prayer to Finder for my character to say, under his breath as well, without drawing the attention of the evil priest or the DM. I wish could remember how it went, but basically, as a player, I was just psyching myself up by reminding my self and my character that he had just as much divine backup as the evil priest, if not more. It felt cool.

The fight broke out immediately with “Amen”s on both sides, and was frankly short. I think I did something to hamper our two foes, but the other two players delivered the DAMAGE. The evil priest was dead, and the traitor fled to the roof.

I pursued him, intending to end this, only to realize that the roof is where he had stashed all of the Wizard’s pilfered belongings, including his spellbook, which was now open and ready to be used by the traitor.

He was some sort of Rouge build, but apparently one with enough wizardly training to use spellbooks. We had surmised that he killed our friend in order to steal his magical items and spellbook, but I had neglected to consider that he would be able to use it on me. Our Wizard friend had cast a couple spells before he was murdered, so I knew there was some potent stuff in that travel journal sized tome.

However, as the traitor flipped though the book to find a deadly spell to use, his expression changed from one of grim glee, to confusion, to panic, and my character took the opportunity provided to cut him open and push him off the roof for good measure.

Mission accomplished!

As an afterthought, probably at the prompting of the DM, my character picked up the battered and blood stained spellbook to give a look through, curious about why the traitor failed to cast a spell.

Remember how the dead Wizard friend was a prankster? On every page, the spellbook was filled, not with spells, but with jokes! And terrible ones at that! From beyond the grave, the lovable goof had pranked his own murderer to death, a perfect ironic demise to the would be spell thief.

Roll credits!

I wanted to share this for a couple reasons.

1. Props to the dream DM. I can’t honestly take credit for any of his storytelling, since I never would of thought of half of that if I hadn’t had this dream. Don’t know how that works, but whatever.

2. I’ve never heard of nor would have expected a low level campaign to start with the player party being reduced by two fifths it’s size by a murder and a betrayal of PLAYER characters. Good sneaky nonsense from the DM and the two players!

I’d love to see/hear about other people doing things like this in their campaigns! It was also a good hook to motivate the remaining players, for revenge and honor among party members.

It’s actually a lot like The Italian Job, for the three of you who know that movie, and I kind of love that!

3. The whispered prayer to Finder was what made the dream stick in my head. To have a party Cleric, ready to fight his foes, completely ignore what an evil priest is praying in order to pray to his own not-evil god for aid is such a cool image in my head.

“Yeah, I can do that too, bitch.”

4. Also the fact that dream me didn’t even bother to make said moment known to anyone else is neat. It may not add a buff or anything if the DM is oblivious, but it’s a rad character moment for the player to keep for themselves.

It was also a moment of growth for my dream Cleric, since hadn’t spoken to his god since the murder of his friend. It fit as a resolution/acceptance of loss as well as a rising moment mere seconds before the campaign’s final fight!

Again, I never would have thought of this on my own, but I am totally going to use it, and you should too!!!

6. Finally, the Joke Book/Spell Book! Why a neat punchline!! It’s cool when the murderee gets to Don Giovanni themselves some revenge, especially in a way that is very THEM. But also... he did cast spells with that book at the beginning of the dream...

Finally: As I was waking up, I had reached the conclusion that our poor Wizard was in fact a much more talented spell caster than he had let on, able to cast Wizard spells entirely from memory, like Elminster the Sage, and only “using” the book to keep up appearances and not give away the extent of his skill. Alternatively, he could have been a Sorcerer or a Warlock, who simply disguised himself as a Wizard for appearances sake.

However, I have reached a new conclusion since my commute into work. I have read in plenty of Forgotten Realms novels where Evil or Disreputable Wizards will steal spell books from other masters of the art in order to increase their own library of spells. In fact, that is what the traitor did in my dream. What I didn’t consider until I was driving to work this morning was this: what if Wizards kept their spell books written in code?

My new conclusion is that dead Wizard friend was either a genius spell caster who liked to keep a lid on his real power OR he wrote all of his spells in code that, to anyone but himself, just looks like bad jokes!

I love this idea and definitely want people to steal it if it not already a thing!

Make your wizards FMA level code-smiths! I want to hear about wizards whose spellbooks look and read just like ordinary cookbooks and almanacs!!

Seriously though, use anything from this dream that strikes your fancy, as a DM or a player or even a writer! They weren’t my ideas really, so if you like it, use it!!

Then tell me about it, cause I wanna hear cool stories!!!!

#GO NUTS #I know i will #dreams #DnD #long post #Joke Books #Finder #Cleric #Wizard #The Italian Job

[utilitycaster]

Should you multiclass into it?

I started to write a funnier version of this that was less about pure stats and more about RP and then I was like...let’s just write a long-ish shitpost

Barbarian: Yes. Obviously you need to be strong but like, imagine. You’re living your specialized life. Maybe you’re already talented in combat. Maybe you’re a great bard or wizard who’s suprisingly buff. And you just wake up one day and are like “fuck I’m angry” and start to rage.

Bard: I think people tend to pair this with other casters, but I think if you’ve built a charismatic fighter or rogue (or you have a paladin anyway) you should just take a level or two in bard for the hell of it. Like imagine this big burly charismatic fighter in melee about to raise an axe when instead they cock their head, say “bitch”, you take psychic damage and then they heal their ally as a bonus action, and then as you lie beaten at the end of the fight you hear them tell their allies “oh yeah I hung out with that musician last night at that inn and they were like ‘here’s a cool trick’ and anyway I can do magic now”

Cleric: great, deep RP opportunities for finding faith and such or you can just play it as “I just think Pelor is neat!” Also for those keeping track this is option 1 for making your PHB ranger viable, you poor sweet summer child who built a ranger before Unearthed Arcana fixed it

Druid: okay so the downside is that suddenly you can’t wear metal armor. You know what I want to know? Is being a druid like being a vegan in Scott Pilgrim and if someone wears metal armor the Druid Police show up and strip you of your magic powers? But anyway, downside is you can’t use metal armor or shields upside is if you’re a light-armor class anyway that doesn’t matter and also fuck you I’m a tiger now. Also this is option 2 for making your PHB ranger viable. 

Fighter: arguably of the battler classes this makes the most sense for multiclassing. Like, most parties have at least one person who has some kind of fighting skills so after you, a pure caster, get knocked out in one turn or run out of spell slots because SOMEONE just couldn’t wait ten minutes for Identify as a ritual, wouldn’t you go up to that person and be like “hey can you show me how to like, put on some fucking armor”? I sure would. (option 3 for your PHB ranger btw)

Monk: This is the first one where I’m going to say no. Starting as a monk and taking a level in something else? Awesome. Pure monk build? Awesome. But speaking as someone who took a free karate class once, it just seems like you can’t really become sort of a monk. Like this is really kind of an all-or-nothing deal, either you become an expert in martial arts or you don’t, there’s no half-assing being a monk.

Paladin: okay it’s hard to multiclass in it but if you do you suddenly get to smite things and that’s never a bad idea. The one thing that doesn’t entirely make sense to me is that you don’t take an oath until third level. Like, shouldn’t you start with the oath in order to get your powers? But that’s true for regular paladins too so I guess I just have questions about where exactly a paladin’s powers come from at levels 1 and 2. Is it like a trial period?

Ranger: low level PHB ranger gets a. jack and b. fuck all. I guess if you want an animal companion who can’t do anything multiclass into this? Sorry. It sucks because I fucking love rangers too. I mean I never played earlier editions of D&D, but Aragorn was my favorite in LOTR and Vex was my favorite member of Vox Machina and they deserve better. On the other hand if you can multiclass into revised ranger that makes complete sense, especially if you were like, already kind of wise and spent a lot of time adventuring in the woods. You’d think, rather like the fighter multiclass option, that most people would be like “hey maybe I should develop the basic skills an adventurer needs like not dying of exposure”?

Rogue: this is very good to multiclass into. Who doesn’t feel the itch to start stealing and hiding and stabbing a little, especially if you’re already in the adventuring life? We should all pick up a level of rogue. Sneak Attack it to the man. (option 4, and arguably the best option, for your ranger improvement).

Sorcerer: sorcerer and warlock both are always good to multiclass into, and the higher level in your base class you are when you multiclass the funnier it is. Picture this. You’re a wizard. You’re pretty charismatic, just by nature, but you’re also smart as hell - and you’ve worked on it. You study spells obsessively and spend all your spare money copying them down into your most prized possession, a thick spellbook. You devoted years of your life to this. You and your friends are beginning to gain widespread renown. And then one day you realize you suddenly picked up several extra cantrips and you’ve got like...some scales? So you do sending to your mom and she’s like “yeah there’s a little bit of dragon on your dad’s side, I thought you knew?” 

Multiclass into sorcerer.

Warlock: alternately picture this: you’re a fighter. You’re a good one - one of the best, and charming and attractive but honorable. You’ve honed your skills on the battlefield for years and are now a fearsome knight. One night your and your companions - your party - your family, really - are camping in a strange grove as you prepare to enter the cave of a beholder. The ranger looks around guardedly as you set up. “these woods are strange,” they say but they light a small fire. You’re all nervous about the beholder, but the artificer figured out how to make booze from the weird berries and it’s good, and you drink a lot of it.

You wake up in the middle of the night and you accidentally stumble through a hazy patch of light and then realize someone’s watching you. “Wha’ is it?” you slur. “I would grant you a boon,” says the shadowy transparent green figure who seems to flit in and out of being a person and a tree. “Sure” you say before vomiting in the feywild and walking back through to the material plane before passing out.

Then you wake up and you can fire eldritch blasts in the morning and you’re like “um?”

Multiclass into warlock.

Wizard: I like barbarian and sorcerer and warlock because you could conceivably multiclass because of a snap decision or a mistake and wizards...not so much. Don’t get me wrong, wizards are bad-ass, and if you’re intelligent go for it, but becoming a wizard is like going back to get a PhD - it’s definitely the right choice for some people, but it’s really hard to do accidentally and you better be sure you want it.

#dungeons and dragons #d&d #dnd #multiclassing

[sirpoley]

On the Wandering Monster, Part 3: Slaying CoDzilla

In part 1 of this series, I admitted to having fear and misunderstood Wandering Monsters in D&D for years, and resolved to find a way to make the system work.

In part 2, I proposed some methods, tested both in Into the Living Library and City of Eternal Rain, for tying procedural content generation into the overall narrative of your story.

Now, I'll talk about one of the benefits of wandering monsters—the end of the 15-minute adventuring day, and with it, CoDzilla.

"CoDzilla" is a 3.5-era bit of D&D slang that, for the uninitiated, means "Cleric or Druid-zilla." Clerics and Druids, even without much in the way of optimization, could be enormously powerful. Close competitors were Wizards, Sorcerers, and various non-core full casters. Starting from very low levels, these classes, through use of spellcasting, were able to single-handedly—often single-turnedly—win major encounters. Clerics and Druids were especially notorious, as in addition to a full complement of spells, they were no slouch at mundane fighting, had a host of miscellaneous abilities, and, in the case of the Druid, got the infamously-powerful Wild Shape ability and a pet grizzly bear. In contrast, a Fighter (who is maybe 25-50% better than the bear the Druid gets as icing) gets marginally better at hitting enemies with swords every level.

By 5th edition, the power imbalances between classes have been substantially narrowed, with non-casting classes getting various per-short-rest and per-day abilities that let them have some time in the spotlight. In my current 5th-edition campaign, I'm playing a Paladin, and, at 7th-level, don't feel particularly behind the party's Wizard and Cleric. Back in 3.x, I'd be lucky if I even got a turn in combat, and, with few skills or utility abilities, would pretty much fall asleep outside of battle. So to a certain extent, this fix is beating a dead horse, as changes to the rules have reduced the necessity for such a fix. Still, anecdotal accounts have suggested to me that the caster-warrior imbalance problem still lurks, especially at higher levels.

Solving this problem is where Wandering Monsters come in. Those of you playing Pathfinder and 3.x D&D should pay extra heed to this, but it's applicable to 5e as well.

Wandering Monsters Vs. CoDzilla

Encounters with Wandering Monsters have substantially lower stakes than pre-planned, climactic and narratively-key ones. Typically, the foes are easier and the tension is lower as victory is all-but assured. This means that characters have to choose between 'wasting' limited per-day abilities to seek a quick victory, or suffer additional damage by dragging out the fight by sticking with cantrips and regular attacks. The longer the battle, the more opportunities the monster has to get in a few hits before going down.

The devil with this decision is that, either way, casters lose and warriors win.  A Paladin's basic attack is more accurate, reliable, and powerful than a wizard's cantrip, so if spellcasters withhold their 'special' attacks, non-casters take the spotlight. If the casters obliterate Wandering Monsters with high-level spells, then by the time they reach the 'real' fight (those being the pre-planned encounters, typically in dungeon rooms rather than hallways), they'll be relegated to cantrips while the fighters open up with their modest per-day abilities and their more efficient conventional attacks.

Martial classes do have some limited-use abilities, especially half-casters like Paladins, so they are pushed into a similar dilemma ("do I use Smite on the owlbear or save it for the true foe?") but the stakes are much lower, as their abilities are weaker and their conventional attacks more powerful than a true caster's. This means that even if the Paladins and other half-casters make the 'wrong' decision, they can typically make do regardless.

Now, the obvious flaw with this plan is that at any point the party can just fall back, rest, and come back in with a full complement of spells, right? This means that wearing the casters down through attrition is doomed from the start, because they can conveniently heal up to 100% with a single night's sleep. This is why adding Wandering Monsters all by itself isn't enough—we have to start enforcing other rules as well, such as…

No Long Rests in Dungeons

There's a secret to the long/short rest split of 5th edition D&D, and that's that not all classes benefit equally. Far and away, a short rest is more meaningful to a martial class than a spellcasting class, and vice-versa for long rests.

Most martial classes have powerful abilities that recover every short rest starting at level 2 or 3. For example, Fighters get Action Surge, Paladins get Channel Divinity, and Monks get Ki. Barbarians are a rare exception, as their key ability (Rage) is actually tied to long rests. Rangers have no useful abilities worth noting that recharge on short rests, long rests, or honestly at all, so there's no helping them. Spellcasters' main ability—spellcasting—universally require long rests to recover in full. Some casting classes, such as the Wizard and Druid, have abilities that let them recover some spell slots on a short rest—but these abilities themselves can only be used once per long rest, so at the end of the day, are still long-rest dependent. Additionally, martial classes, due to their larger hit dice, tend to recover more hit points on a short rest than spellcasting classes do. But, because casters get minor benefits from taking short rests, their players won't be frustrated by the need for taking them.

If you, as GM, provide many opportunities for a short rest (which is about an hour), but keep long rests few and far between, then martial classes can keep going while spellcasters are run ragged. In the context of a dungeon, you can, for instance, let them take short rests in cleared rooms as long as they put a modicum of effort into securing the room (blocking or locking the doors, for instance), but stress that long rests are impossible. There is simply no way to have eight relaxing, uninterrupted hours in a dungeon; Wandering Monsters will attack, spoiling the rest. What's more, the constant threat of attack from the unknown makes true relaxation unachievable. You can be upfront about this; don't assume the players know what you mean when you coyly say "well, you could try that, but you might be attacked in the night."

If the party wants to take a long rest, they have to leave the dungeon, set up camp, and come back—which will involve fighting their way through the Wandering Monsters that have moved into previously-cleared areas, thus wearing the party down again and defeating the purpose. Conveniently, all of this is simulated by the Wandering Monster table—the GM doesn't have to worry about actually moving monsters from room to room. Because Wandering Monster tables are at their heart a computer-free technological aid, the random die rolls on the table simulates all of the movement of a real ecosystem, much the same way that a character's hit points simulate their overall health, but remove a lot of the headache of doing so.

For very large dungeons, such as Paul Jacquay's famous Caverns of Thracia, it at first appears simply impossible for any party, no matter how stringent they are with spells and potions, to complete in a single long rest. In part, this is mitigated by numerous hidden entrances into the dungeon that, once discovered, can be used to bypass previously-cleared sections. There are also numerous shortcuts, such as teleport pads and elevators, that can be used in a similar manner. Still, all of that might not be quite enough, and when designing very large dungeons, occasional points of safety can be placed that are free of Wandering Monsters. They might have particularly secure doors, be protected by magic, or some kind of friendly NPC or monster. Think of these as a video game mid-dungeon save point, both in terms of how powerful an effect it will have, and how rare it should be.

Time Pressure

Into the Living Library relies heavily on Wandering Monsters because they play well with the adventure's time crunch: each time the party faces such a monster, their consumable resources (spells, potions, HP) are slightly depleted, and they must choose whether to press on in their weakened state or return to campus to rest, which means sacrificing one of their precious few days.

Wandering Monsters, tied with any kind of external time pressure, pack more work into a single adventuring day, and with that, the expenditure of more spells. Spellcasters' 'basic' attacks (cantrips and crossbows) tend to be much less powerful than those of a Fighter, Barbarian, or Paladin. If high-level spells and per-day abilities have to be carefully rationed out over the course of many encounters, rather than just one or two, then casters are brought down to the level of non-casters.

Not every adventure should include a time pressure element, as the players will start to feel rushed and possibly even railroaded, as the constant time demands may keep them from feeling able to pursue their own goals. Beware Fallout 4's Preston Garvey, who continually dispenses timed quests that pull the player away from doing what they want to do.

Keep the Battles Unbalanced

As a GM, I often forget that my toolbox includes more than perfectly-balanced encounters. It may sound like an oxymoron, but there is a time and a place for a poorly-balanced battle, which brings us back to the original post. Oblivion, my least-favourite Elder Scrolls game, has highly restrictive game rules in place in an attempt to keep every battle, whether it be against a necromancer lord or a random bandit, balanced on a knife's edge. Enemies and equipment level up closely in step with the player, meaning that as the player gains power, so too does the world. The drawback is that there are few if any "oh, crap!" moments where the player gets in over their head. Likewise, there are very few moments where the player simply obliterates the enemies in front of them, and, by doing so, feels like a badass.

By all means, strive for perfect balance and interesting terrain in your pre-made set-piece battles (such as what might be found in a dungeon's room, for example), but for Wandering Monsters, imbalance is a feature, not a bug. Battles that are 'too easy' will be resolved quickly (saving precious game time), and battles that are 'too hard' won't be fought at all—the party will turn tail and run (convincing the party to run rather than fight a losing battle is a good subject for a later post). Battles that are close to balanced will be drawn-out slugfests, forcing the party to draw upon every available resource. They will take ages, and burn through per-day abilities much faster than you intend, which in turn forces the party to leave the dungeon, thus contributing to the 15-minute adventuring day. Remember that easy battles will still drain the party's resources somewhat, as even the weakest monsters in 5e have a pretty good chance of getting one or two hits on any character, and players will be constantly tempted to blow the trash monsters away with their limited-use abilities, like spells and smites.

Another rarely-mentioned feature of unbalanced encounters is that they let you use a greater percentage of the Monster Manual when designing your dungeons, thus increasing the variety of creatures the party can meet. Using only level-appropriate encounters limits you to an ever-decreasing handful of creatures as the party levels up, and can push you into placing monsters in unthematic areas just to reduce the monotony a little. It also means that, in a few levels, when the party actually can fight the same type of high-level monster they've been running from, victory will feel all the sweeter.

Next Up: Wandering Traps?

#D&D #D&D5e #OnWanderingMonsters

[everyonesomething]

Session Twenty

Helia (GM): Dear Miss Runekill and Friends.

You are cordially invited to attend… a murder!

I, Marvelius, have heard you are tracking down information of the Lich, Szass Tam! I think I will be able to help. I will be hosting a murder mystery party at my home at Baldur's Gate. Transportation will be provided.

Helia (GM): You are invited to attend this event and help solve the case of my untimely demise. We will start the evening with hors d'oeuvres and mingling, followed by a spectacular dinner prepared by my personal chef. After dinner you will find me “dead” and it will be upon you to determine who amongst my guests is the murderer. I shall endeavor to play the best corpse I can but you must excuse the occasional chortle as you stumble through my clues.

After the party, I would be happy to answer any questions you have about the Lich.

Magically Yours,

Marvelius

In this session, the truth comes out.

The set-up: We're invited to a party!

The Game: We get an early start to the day and hit the road, keeping our eyes open for a rest area for breakfast. Edith is behind the wheel, enjoying the experience of driving on the familiar highway roads of her youth. Until a glowing envelope slaps into the windshield and she suddenly brakes.

We're all pretty peeved at someone sending an envelope at a moving car, we're even less impressed that it's full of glitter and an invitation to a party.

The host—Marvelius—was one of Edith's professors back at university and magically sending a party invitation is exactly the kind of thing she expects of him. She's hesitant to turn down a chance to talk to him, he might have useful information for our lich search.

Edith Runekill: "He's a notable authority in the field and WOULD know about the Lich... but... but he's also exactly the kinda guy who would SEND A SENDING SPELL TO A MOVING CAR LIKE SOME KIND OF MANIAC."

Sydney Gaydos easily looks over Edith's shoulder to read the note. She makes a delighted noise at the invitation. "Murder mystery party! We are going, right?"

Edith Runekill: "But we need information. That's the whole reason we're headed to Prastuil."

"So. I'd be reluctant to turn this chance down."

"Even if I'm mad about it."

Grim: "A murder."

"The hell?"

Malkas: "A murder party"

Edith Runekill: "He thought he was such a big shot whenever he came to the university, since he was famous on the outside. Bigger than this two-bit college town in the country."

Malkas sneers, "Classy."

Edith Runekill: "But he was an accomplished wizard, and expert in fields that weren't really A&M's specialty."

"You kinda HAD to put up with him."

Grim: "So what is this, some kinda sick game?"

Edith Runekill: "I... I'm surprised he remembered me."

Malkas: "You must have impressed him."

Pepper: "Wizards have the worst parties."

"But the best food and drink."

Malkas: "Did you wear that red button up cardigan?"

Malkas raises and lowers his eyebrows.

Pepper: "This is at least doubly true for wizard professors."

Grim is kind of disturbed by how cavalier everyone is being

Malkas: "And yeah, basically Grim. It's like, he pretends to be dead and we guess who the murderer is. It's like, a test of wits."

Edith Runekill: "You don't think it was something like THAT and not my academic accomplishments, do you, Mal?"

Edith Runekill frowns.

Grim looks at Mal, utterly perplexed

Edith Runekill: "It's a game. He loves games."

Grim: "Pretends to be dead?"

Edith Runekill: "And we're gonna need to play it, if he knows something."

Sydney Gaydos: "It's a grand amount of fun! We must go! The Great Detective hasn't had the chance to show off her skills and this would be prefect to do so."

Malkas sighs at Sydney.

Grim: "Why the hell would anyone waste their time on shit like this?"

Even hearing about this guy second-hand from Edith is tiring, but if he has free food information then we should at least check it out. So, off we go. The party is being hosted in Marvelius's wizard tower, situated inside his own personal pocket dimension. The wizard himself appears before us in a flash of purple smoke and ushers us inside for introductions.

Edith recognizes one of the guests, a kobold named Braights who was a few years under her in university. Also in attendance are Kaelas Aesaris, a half-orc-half-elf bounty-hunter looking type; Aedris Pathward, some kind of mage with a curiously small head; and Diz, a young wizard boy. Grim strikes up a conversation with Kaelas, they've crossed paths in the past.

Grim: "How the hell'd you wind up mixed in this?" She nods towards Marvelius

Kaelas Aesaris shrugs, "Oh, you know. We used to date."

Kaelas Aesaris: "I'm off men now."

Kaelas Aesaris takes a sip of wine.

Grim raises her eyebrows. looking towards Marvelius and then back at Kaelas

Grim: "No shit, huh."

"Why'd you come back for this, then?"

Kaelas Aesaris: "Free food. And he said he'd give me a teleport closer to a job I'm on."

Grim nods. Free food and transport. The bounty hunter way.

Meanwhile Edith catches up with Braights.

Edith Runekill drops her voice to a mock-conspiratorial whisper. "Can you BELIEVE that Marvelius' Sending spell arrived when we were DRIVING!"

Edith Runekill: "Nearly had a heart attack! Haha."

Braights: "Oh... That's weird, I got mine in the mail."

Edith Runekill: "Well. I get the impression I wasn't at the top of his list of invitees, if you know what I mean."

Braights: "He, uh, seemed to make a big deal out of getting such a... rare specimen such as myself to attend."

Braights scowls.

Edith Runekill looks aghast. "A specimen? You're a very talented young wizard, not a-- That guy. That guy!!"

Pepper tries to make friends.

Pepper: "Who else got slapped in the face with a magic pile of glitter?" she asks, raising her hand.

Pepper looks around expectantly.

Aedris Pathward raises his hand a little shyly.

Pepper mage-hand high fives Aedris

Aedris Pathward squeaks a little.

Pepper gives Aedris a thumb's up, for good measure.

Syd gets her detective'ing on.

Sydney Gaydos decides Marvelius would be best to talk to first! "Let Gaydos thank you first and foremost for the invitation to this partly, and secondly, proudly tell you that you have the Great Detective Sydney Gaydos attending! Your murder will be solved in no time."

Marvelius: "Well, everyone mingle and have fun, I'll be checking on dinner. Remember~ One of you will be a murderer by the end of the evening! Please expect the message spell."

"Ah, lovely to have a real detective! I'm sure you'll make the evening memorable!"

And Mal and Edith get involved in child welfare.

Diz is examining Mal's tail with scientific interest.

Pepper peers over at Mal's new sidekick.

Edith Runekill smiles benignly at Diz, reminding herself that he's a child and doesn't know better. She was a lot older than 10, first time she saw a Tiefling.

Edith Runekill: "Diz, right?"

Diz: "Oh, yes miss! That's me!"

Edith Runekill: "How's being Marvelius' apprentice treating you?"

Diz: "Oh, it's amazing! I'm learning so much a-about housekeeping and plumbing repair and magic!"

"And, uh... proper ... wine uncorking..."

Diz: "I'm so fortunate to be working with such a famous wizard, though!"

Diz: "It's just a summer internship but still!"

Edith Runekill feels silently relieved that there's an End to his apprenticeship.

Edith Runekill: "Did he teach you any neat tricks?"

Diz: "Oh! Yes, uh... "

Diz points to the flowers on the table and says a command word. The flowers shrivel and die.

Terrifying necromancy aside, Marvelius doesn't seem to have taught Diz much of any useful magic. Edith sets him down to walk him through Mage Hand and Detect Magic. She whispers to Mal in Infernal that she can sense some large, pulsating magical thing from down the hall, but he reasons it's probably part of the game. Diz is impressed by Edith's magic and language skills, but he has to rush off to the kitchen to check on the gravy.

Grim and Kaelas leave to get some other things heated up as well. D'oh hohohoho.

Pepper and Aedris start talking about magic and wizards, Aedris mentioning that Marvelius likes to be a show-off.

Edith Runekill shrugs and walks over to where Pepper is.

Pepper repeats "Wizards" in the same way, with a smirk at Edith.

Edith Runekill: "What about us?"

Aedris Pathward sweats. TWO girls!

Edith Runekill adjusts her wizard hat.

Aedris Pathward: "Just, uh... Mild philosophical differences. I- I'm a sorcerer. Marvelius and I went to school together, you know."

Aedris Pathward has an edge to his voice.

Edith Runekill: "So you known him a long time, huh?"

Pepper: "Y'aright there? You look like a roast sitting under a heat lamp."

Edith Runekill: "I didn't know him until he came to lecture at my college."

Aedris Pathward: "Oh, uh... I don't know, it's weird seeing him after last time we met. We, uh... had a bit of a disagreement about our respective fields of study. I might be a sorcerer, but I still have my choices of magic, you know."

'Things got a bit heated and ..."

Aedris Pathward gestures to his head.

Edith Runekill winces sympathetically.

Sydney Gaydos: "He... shrunk your head?"

Aedris Pathward seems a little irritated now, "Yes."

Pepper: "What sort of hotbed of debauchery is this university of yours, Edith?"

Aedris Pathward: "This was at the Caster's Conference at Prastuil University."

Edith Runekill: "Casting a reduce spell in an argument is pretty dirty pool. And a wizard like Marvelius, you'd need somebody pretty powerful to cast enlarge on it again."

"Oh! We were headed to Prastuil, actually."

Malkas is trying very hard to keep a straight face. WIZARDS.

Pepper sends a Message to Mal. "Wizards."

Sydney Gaydos: "... Gaydos sees." She pulls out her notebook and jots that down, also noting Marv's feelings toward his apprentice.

Aedris Pathward grumps, "Don't I know it... He's always doing stuff like this. Showing off, showing me up."

Braights: "He's kind of a huge asshole."

Edith Runekill: "Showing off is one thing. Hurting people to do it is another."

Edith Runekill checks over her shoulder to make sure he's still gone.

Edith Runekill: "I respect his accomplishments as a wizard. But I really don't like him."

Braights: "You know, he bilked me outta almost five hundred gold for that Conjuration by Mail course."

Edith Runekill looks horrorstruck.

Braights has had a bit to drink. And is 2 feet tall.

Edith Runekill: "Mostly I just remember him... devoting undue attention to the sweaters I was wearing."

Malkas crunches down hard on a spring roll at that.

Pepper: "Sounds like most anyone here would have a motive to kill him." She adds a bom bom bommmm with Prestidigitation.

Sydney Gaydos writes ALL of this down.

Helia (GM): A blood-curdling scream rings out through the tower.

Edith Runekill: "He didn't remember a thing I said or did in class; I bet he just invited me 'cause I'm a pretty face and--"

"What was that!?"

Grim straight up ignores it

Kaelas Aesaris does too.

Pepper taps her chin. "Things are kicking off then, I guess."

Malkas: "... I guess the party has started."

Sydney Gaydos goes :D! "So we begin!"

Oh boy!

The group heads off in the direction of the scream and find Diz in Marvelius's study with his body—Marvelius is slumped over his desk and Diz is in a panic. Diz tells us he was supposed to be the fake murderer but he thinks Marvelius is dead for real. The group tries to reassure Diz it must be part of the game, but it's pretty obvious the dude's a corpse.

Aedris is unimpressed, as far as he's concerned this is just another way for Marvelius to show off. That's Marvelius the drama queen for you.

While Edith comforts Diz, Syd starts investigating the scene of the crime and we decide how to proceed.

Pepper: "Do you think someone should get Grim, maybe?" she says, putting her finger on the side of her nose and staring at Mal.

Grim no

Malkas: "Uh... sure."

Malkas knocks, "Grim? And... friend? Uh, so that Marvelous guy died for real."

Grim breaks away just long enough to say "Saw that coming"

Malkas: "Yeah, yeah. Do you wanna come look or just continue with what you're doing?"

Grim looks at Kaelas and lowers her voice for a moment "You give a shit about this, or...?"

Kaelas Aesaris: "Meh."

Grim raises her voice again "Y'all got this"

Malkas: "Alright, have fun."

Malkas returns to the room. "Grim's busy."

Edith Runekill: "...busy?"

Edith Runekill: "Hey, where's Kaelas?"

Malkas: "I just said Grim was busy."

Edith Runekill blushes scarlet.

Ahem.

Edith helps Syd look through the room and finds a necromantic object in Marvelius's lap—a large gem designed to trap a person's soul inside. And wouldn't you know it, there's a soul inside! Braights is surprised he had something like that, but Edith reminds them Marvelius taught Diz necromantic magic.

Continuing the investigation, Edith finds a metal bird that prompts us for a password and a large painting behind which is a wall safe containing... a stack of pornographic magazines. Charming.

Cap joins us in the study—she'd been sleeping in the camper—and we fill her in on the dead guy situation. Edith opens a trunk and has a bunch of doves fly at her face before she can look inside to find a bunch of trick magic items and a book. It's about Advanced Necromancy and the bookplate inside says it belongs to someone named Roger.

Edith Runekill: "Advanced Studies in Necromancy..."

Pepper mage hands an orange at Diz for something to do.

Edith Runekill: "Looks like he had some interests beyond just conjuration."

Diz grabs the orange and accidentally necrotizes it.

Pepper recoils

Diz :<

Braights pats Diz on the shoulder.

Capridi "those oranges went bad"

Pepper: "Uh," she says patting her pockets. "I think that was my only one."

Edith Runekill glances over her shoulder at Aedras.

Edith Runekill: "Hey, Aedras."

Malkas gives Diz ... a jar of jam and a spoon.

Edith Runekill: "Does the name Roger mean anything to you?"

Aedris Pathward: "Well... That's my name if you must know."

"But Roger ... well isn't much of a wizard name, is it?"

"Not next to Marvelius."

Edith Runekill: "I'm a wizard and I'm just called Edith."

Aedris Pathward: "Edith's not great either."

Edith Runekill: >:(

Malkas cuffs Aedris.

Sydney Gaydos: "Changing your name certainly isn't... strange."

Pepper: "[Elvish] Talk shit, get hit, bucko."

Edith Runekill: "So many wizards just get so... image conscious, I reckon," says Edith, who spent 30 gold and hours of her time enchanting her hat so she doesn't lose it.

Aedris Pathward: "Oh, whatever..."

The investigation continues, Syd looks at some of the books on the bookshelf and Cap gets involved by casting Talk To The Dead on the corpse. It doesn't answer, but the necromantic gem seems to try and respond, confirming it's Marvelius's soul trapped inside. We can't hear what he's saying, though.

One of the Necromancy books Syd finds has a note near a spell reminding Marvelius to ask Roger about it. Aedris tells us Marvelius was never good at that spell even though it's a very basic spell. It's Aedris's opinion that Marvelius isn't very good at magic all and furthermore he used to steal Aedris's books, spells, and Mazes & Monsters group.

But that doesn't mean he wanted him dead, any one of the other guests could have done him in. After all, Braights said they lost a lot of gold to Marvelius, he wasn't teaching Diz much of anything, and Kaelas had a bad break-up with him.

At this point, Edith is at a loss and goes for reinforcements.

Edith Runekill: "I'm going to get Grim. We really need her help. She's got experience with crime and murders and things like that."

Pepper: "Bring a bucket of cold water with you."

Edith Runekill knocks on the closet door. "Grim?"

Grim makes a non verbal noise of irritation.

Edith Runekill: "Grim, we could REALLY use your help. We're pretty sure an actual crime happened, and you got a lot more experience with that sort of thing than I do."

Kaelas Aesaris: "Busy in here, blondie."

Grim confirms. It's like her mouth is busy or something

Pepper peeks out into the hallway to see what Edith's up to

Pepper to Edith, "What's up?"

Edith Runekill makes kind of a pathetic "oof" sound as she tries to get the door open.

Malkas: "Edi, come back. Grim's fine."

Edith Runekill: "Please, Grim!! This is important!!"

Grim: "No it ain't."

Edith Runekill: "Marvelius has been dabbling in necromancy! This is a lot more serious than we thought it was!!"

Grim: "S'wizard shit. You got this." Grim has never sounded less invested.

Pepper sends a Message to Edith "You could just Knock the door open."

Edith Runekill Knocks the door open.

Pepper runs back to the room

Edith Runekill is covering her eyes.

Kaelas Aesaris: "What the fuck!"

Pepper to Mal "It was my idea, I'm sorry."

Grim looks up and just looks irritated

Malkas: "Edith will you get back in here?!"

Grim: "Runekill what the god damn hell?"

Kaelas Aesaris grabs the handle and yanks the door shut again.

Edith Runekill: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but this-- there's been a murder! It's serious!! We need help!!!"

Kaelas Aesaris: "It's only Marvelius, who cares!"

Edith Runekill looks completely flustered and is kind of freaking out.

Edith Runekill: "I mean I don't like him either but he's extremely powerful and whatever took him out might be a big deal??"

Grim pulls her clothes into some semblance of order and storms out

Grim: "Son of a goddamn bitch, what the hell's so goddamn urgent about some two bit wizard fakin' his own death?"

Kaelas Aesaris grumps and follows.

Grim's all for us leaving, not like she's getting paid to find this particular murderer, but Edith and Syd are adamant that we have to solve the case. Edith's worried someone involved with Tam might have done him in, and Syd is too much of a detective to leave something like this halfway done.

Edith and Syd reason the gem might have been a trap set up by one of the party-goers. Grim still maintains it's not our problem, Marvelius looks rich enough to be able to afford a resurrection. Cap decides to fix the problem herself and casts Reanimate the Dead on the corpse and hands it the soul gem. Fixed, right?

Well. If Marvelius was always a shambling mindless corpse holding his own soul in a booby-trapped gem.

Capridi: "Problem solved?"

Grim stops

Pepper jumps a little. "Jeezy creezy"

Sydney Gaydos Stares.

Malkas: "Oh Ba'al."

Edith Runekill: "Um."

Diz wails.

Pepper forcibly turns Diz to face the wall.

Grim goes for her rifle reflexively and then realises she left it in the car

Edith Runekill: "Capridi! There was a child here."

Diz: "This is the worst internship. I wish I'd gone to clowning camp..."

Diz sniffles.

Capridi: "Do you... want me to teach him how to do this or?"

"Cuz that sounds a little harsh"

Edith Runekill , not sure what else to do, just hugs Diz.

Pepper: "It'll be fine! There's. Y'know."

Pepper smacks Cap in the arm with mage hand.

Capridi: "I mean, I didn't learn this until I was 18"

Grim grumbles under her breath

Capridi: "OH HEY!"

Grim: "Fuck this whole scene."

Edith Runekill: "Shh, shh, shh. It's gonna be okay."

Malkas: "Please do not teach this child anything, Cap."

Capridi rubs her arm "Hey, knowledge is power"

Problem solved! Braights turns and heads to the front door but they find it's locked—we're stuck in here for the time being. Cap un-animates the corpse, Edith and Mal agree they feel awful for poor Diz, and Grim just waits for an opportunity to finish what she started with Kaelas.

Through some more detective work involving investigating the body, Edith and Syd find the password for the mechanical bird. It's a sort of diary and the last message it plays back for us is Marvelius talking about a package he just received from Braights before it's mysteriously cut off by a scream.

Braights claims it was just their RSVP for the party, but Diz tells us the package only arrived that morning. He shows us the wrapping for the package, but there's no name or anything on the outside, it just has a postmark from Plaguewrought A&M. We're not getting anywhere with all this lying so Syd takes matters into her own hands.

Sydney Gaydos in a moment of impulse, she casts Zone of Truth.

Pepper: "Y'know, we'll get out of here faster if everyone just lays out on the table why they wanted to kill this guy and how they'd do it if they were to do it."

Sydney Gaydos makes the could you Lie to me face.

Malkas: "Uh.... Syd, what'ja... Whatcha do?"

Sydney Gaydos crosses her arms proudly. "Casted Zone of Truth of course! Now we're all going to be honest."

Capridi stays quiet

Aedris Pathward: "Well this is... Illegal!"

Edith Runekill: "Good thinking, Sydney."

Braights: "Extremely illegal."

Sydney Gaydos: "So is murder but here we all are."

Edith Runekill: "Well, so's murdering somebody with a soul trap."

Pepper: "I think we're a bit outside of any jurisdiction at the moment."

Edith Runekill gives Sydney a thumbs up.

Diz bursts into tears, "It was me, I did sit in the pie!"

Pepper: "Settle down, nobody asked you what happened to any pies."

Edith Runekill shows Braights the package. "Is this the envelope you sent the RSVP in?"

Braights: "Yes." Braights snaps.

Edith Runekill isn't enjoying this at all. And badly wants Braights to say something that exonerates them.

Edith Runekill: "Wh... what did you send in it?"

Grim rubs her eyes with one hand, cigarette perched between her knuckles

Braights: "The letter ... and ... something that Aedris arranged."

Kaelas Aesaris: "Can we go back to making use of the closet now?"

Edith Runekill turns to face Aedris. "Aedris? Roger. What is it that you arranged?"

Aedris Pathward: "You ... wouldn't understand. It's complicated."

Sydney Gaydos tries to look menacing if the Zone of Truth isn't enough.

Edith Runekill: "Try me."

Edith Runekill: "I'm a qualified, accredited wizard."

Edith Runekill looks to the crystal. "Did you have a hand in that?"

Aedris Pathward: "You ... You don't know what it's like having to WORK with that man!"

"He stole my spellbooks, my friends! He copied off me on tests!"

Edith Runekill: "He... he obviously treated you very badly."

"B-but that doesn't justify... sucking his soul out."

"Or whatever happened here."

Aedris Pathward: "He's bilked dozens of people. He hasn't even been teaching his apprentice any magic, Braights and I've been teaching him necromancy by mail!"

Pepper: "[Elvish] Okay I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing to do."

Edith Runekill: [Elvish] "Teaching a child necromancy is terrible."

Braights: "He stole my life savings! And just killing him is too easy, he can pop over to any cleric for that!"

"We wanted to hit him where it hurts!"

Edith Runekill: [Elvish] "I... I expected better of Braights."

Aedris Pathward: "His wallet."

Malkas: "Why wouldn't you just ... steal shit?"

Capridi is enjoying the show

Grim: "Y'all really need me for this? Ain't been laid in about a month and I got some hell of a hunger on for Kael's downtown."

Pepper: "Please, Grim, there are children here."

Grim wasn't even affected by zone of truth, she's just super not into this whole scene

Malkas: "Yeah, alright, just... go."

Kaelas Aesaris goes around Malkas.

Grim is Out, seeya.

Aedris and Braights come clean—they plotted to kill Marvelius and force him to pay for a costly resurrection because of everything he did to the both of them. He stole money from Braights, and he stole just about everything else he could from Aedris. It explains why all the necromancy books in his study had Roger's (Aedris's) name crossed out and why Diz knows necromancy at all—they taught him via correspondence to make up for Marvelius's neglect.

Even though we have them dead to rights, Braights and Aedris are confident there's nothing we can do about it.

Braights: "You can't arrest us, there's no laws in pocket dimensions and you're not cops!"

Pepper: "Are you sure we aren't?"

Pepper raises an eyebrow.

Braights: "Are you?"

Pepper: "Cops don't have to tell you."

Pepper folds her arms.

Braights looks at Sydney, "Are you cops?"

Sydney Gaydos: "Gaydos is the Great Detective Sydney Gaydos, properly licensed law enforcement. So she can and will arrest you."

Pepper 's like :O

Braights: "Shit!"

Pepper: "Ah HAH."

"Even though she didn't have to tell you."

Capridi takes note of this conversation

Pepper: "Eat it, nerd."

Braights pulls their wand from their pocket. Aedris does the same.

Pepper: "[Elvish] Fucking wizards."

Sydney Gaydos: "Do not make this difficult."

Diz whimpers and latches on to Mal's leg.

Edith Runekill brandishes her staff. "Easy now.”

Sydney Gaydos pulls out her pistol to hold it directly at Aedris. "Please, do not do this. Make this easier for all of us."

Aedris Pathward lowers his wand, Braights does the same.

Sydney Gaydos keeps her gun leveled. "Will you come quietly then?"

Braights: "Come quietly where?"

"There's no laws in this dimension!"

"And you ... probably don't have extradition rights."

Sydney Gaydos: "Edith. Isn't there some sort of law breaking sending Soul Trapping crystals to people? And didn't it come from outside the dimension?"

Pepper: "The folks at the post office will be very upset."

Edith Runekill: "This place might have no laws, but Plaguewrought Land does."

Grim told you guys this was bullshit.

Edith Runekill: "And sending fatal traps through the federal mail is DEFINITELY against them."

Malkas: "Probably this tower has a dungeon, too?"

Pepper: "Yeah, let's starve 'em out."

Malkas: "No, I mean... Until we get, like ... more cops here."

Pepper: "Oh. Eh."

Edith Runekill: "Oh."

"That... makes more sense."

Sydney Gaydos: "They can always be held in our camper. The salesman did say it's made to keep things out, and keep things in!"

Pepper: "I like the starving idea a lot better." She stares at Aedris like 'Zone of Truth', what up

Edith Runekill: "More killing doesn't make killing right."

Sydney Gaydos holsters her gun finally and pulls out her handcuffs before taking both the CRIMINALS and cuffing them together.

Finally we call for an ambulance, get the criminals squared away, and reconvene outside while we wait.

Grim slinks out, considerably more chill than she was during peak crime scene

Kaelas Aesaris: "Well, I ain't gettin' teleported. See ya around, Grim."

Kaelas Aesaris gets on her super cool motorcycle.

Grim nods to Kaelas

Grim: "Later."

Kaelas Aesaris drives through the pocket dimension, opened to a frostbitten landscape, and vanishes.

Edith Runekill watches Kaelas. And, suddenly, gets why Grim... well.

Pepper , to Grim. "And you didn't want to go to the party."

Malkas is grouchy because nobody actually got dinner.

Grim: "Shut the fuck up." But she's smiling as she lights a cigarette.

Edith Runekill: "Hey, Grim...?"

"Sorry."

Grim: "Ain't a thing."

"....just don't pull that again."

Pepper is sprinting and is halfway to the car "The Knock was my ideaaaaaaaa."

Grim is the opposite of surprised.

In the end, we didn't get any information about the lich, but it wasn't a total loss. With the mystery solved, Syd gives Edith a promotion to being her official Deputy. An honor and a privilege!

So overall, everyone had a pretty good time.

Well, except the murder victim and the murderers. But they were all kinda jerks.

The end! No moral!

#previously on #summary #neverwinter 1933