Chapter 12: Q&A / Discussions

[Jeff]

Side note (and strictly out of character, because the characters don't know this): Streko already has access to Polymorph via Olladra's Trickery domain. And in fact it's one he has prepared all the time. But it's just one of several good 4th-level spells.

[Darren]

Sentinel looks really cool, Dave. Definitely a good choice for Addy.

Yeah, most of my Kal choices to date have been related to sticking within the Lightning or Fire motif, so I actually ignored Blight on first glance, but the idea of being able to do that much damage was too appealing to ignore it completely. Storm Sphere seemed the most Kal-like, but he's already got a bunch of spells that target a group of creatures, and it gets to be a problem when we're only facing a few and Kal can't hit anyone for fear of hitting allies.

That's another reason that Spell Sniper might be a good thing, what with getting the additional spell and all.

[Brian]

Well, since we're sharing.....

Condign will probably pick up Shield Master , with the following benefits:

• Whenever you make an Attack action, you get a bonus action to try to shove an enemy 5 feet.
• You can add your shield bonus (to AC) to some Dexterity saving throws.
• You can try to use a shield to negate some damage from area-of-effect blasts where you can't normally avoid taking damage.

[Joe]

I'm going to need to look some things up before I go too much further. All my game books are still in boxes (somewhere in the garage) and I'm getting pelted from all sides (new job interview on Friday, mother's health, mother's bills, and working on finding some freelance writing stuff). I need to know what to look up and I can do the rest. Bear with me. Also, Darren, I really like the Spell Sniper feat for Kal. That seems like his forte, so to speak, and something he would definitely focus on. Dave, that's a great feat for Addy! Looks like are fighters are both trying to get tankier. Which works for this short little priest. :-)

[Dave W.]

I did get to borrow my friend's PHB last night and I'm pretty committed to Sentinel when the time comes. I just love the idea of Addy getting a chance to stop bad people moving past him. I did give thought to taking the +2 STR bump; it would give +1 to hit/damage to all of Addy's attacks.

I do like Shield Master too, that's a good one; I'll have to keep that one in mind. I also like Heavy Armor Master (you get damage reduction 3 and stat bump). Weapon Master I think is mis-named. It's more like Weapon Proficient or Weapon Training.

And I gave more consideration to Ritual Caster than I expected, but no.

Actually Actor looked more appealing than I expected... the idea of Adamant going around imitating Kal's voice has a lot of appeal...

But Sentinel is winner.

[Ken]

I concur. Sentinel is a really good choice for Adamant.

Jeff: I think we've done something incorrectly with Belarin's spells, specifically the ones he gets from his pact. Page 108 says the bonus spells are actually added to the list to *choose from*, not to his actual list of available spells. If that's the case, I'll need to do some trimming - which is fine, as several are spells Belarin wouldn't use. Let me know.

+1 to both Dex and Cha are no-brainers, as both would jump to 18. I'm tempted to take a level of fighter or rogue, just because Belarin's "extra-conscious" exploits may require additional combat skills, but that doesn't help much. Hmmmmm.

[Jeff]

Ah, right. It's supposed to be 8 spells known (but it's about to become 9 for you, so just trim to 9). To be honest, Belarin's character sheet is the one I "manage" the least, since I kind of know you're more up on the 5E rules than most of the group. So I trust you to work it out. Just get it to trimming when you can. Thanks for catching that.

[Dave W.]

It’s hilarious to me that I rolled a “1” for Adamant and a “20” for Streko.

Hey! Adamant just nearly died, give him a break!

Addy also has access to lesser restoration for Belarin, Kal and Shorak; technically he could cast it 3 times, but that would use all his 2nd level slots; we should share the castings Joe.

And of course the lay on hands would, if I understand Jeff correctly, would use 5pts out of the 35 Addy gets when fully charged. That seems more efficent than Streko (or Addy) using a 2nd level slot.

Of course, Adamant is completely tapped out so none of that's going to happen before 4 hours (or is it still 8 to get spells back?) of rest.

[Jeff]

A short rest is "at least 1 hour" while a long rest is "at least 8 hours." More on what your options are in an upcoming post (i.e. when Histra returns).

And yes, for warforged 4 hours only are needed for the long rest.

[Dave W.]

Does Adamant get spells back in 4 hours then?

[Jeff]

So here's the thing about that. The duration of the long rest is 8 hours (4 for Addy) but a long rest can't actually begin right now anyway. Because, per the rules:

A character can’t benefit from more than one long rest in a 24-hour period.

You guys last had a long rest at the Cornerstone Inn, and it was during the night. It was late in the morning afterwards that you reached the ir'Serells, and now it's a good few hours later, but you need to reach the next (day) 24-hours of subjective time first.

A short rest is much more manageable and you can have as many of those as you have the time to spend them, but of course that only gets you back hit points, no other resources (except fighter maneuvers or warlock spells, etc.).

[Dave W.]

What? It seems like months!

I keep forgetting that part... But let's suppose we could take a long rest, would Addy get spells back in 4 hours?

[Jeff]

Yes, if you were able to begin a long rest right now.

[Jeff]

Jun 10, 2015 22:46:40 GMT -4 Joe said:

I'm going to need to look some things up before I go too much further. All my game books are still in boxes (somewhere in the garage) and I'm getting pelted from all sides (new job interview on Friday, mother's health, mother's bills, and working on finding some freelance writing stuff). I need to know what to look up and I can do the rest. Bear with me. Also, Darren, I really like the Spell Sniper feat for Kal. That seems like his forte, so to speak, and something he would definitely focus on. Dave, that's a great feat for Addy! Looks like are fighters are both trying to get tankier. Which works for this short little priest. :-)

Joe, trust me, we're all super busy. If it ever gets too overwhelming and you need a hiatus, you just have to say so and I'll find a way for Streko to sit things out for a while. But you have to tell me, I'm not going to assume.

AS for his upgrades, look in your private thread area. I listed them there.

[Dave B.]

I've narrowed it down to 2 choices for Shorak. Either +2 to his Dex, giving him a whopping 20 or Dungeon Delver. Right now I'm leaning towards the latter.

[Jeff]

I don't know how familiar each of you is with the 5th Edition rules—some of you certainly more than others—but one of the interesting, if at-times vague, elements is Inspiration.

Inspiration

Inspiration is a rule the Dungeon Master can use to reward you for playing your character in a way that’s
true to his or her personality traits, ideal, bond, and flaw. By using inspiration, you can draw on your personality trait of compassion for the downtrodden to give you an edge in negotiating with the Beggar Prince. Or inspiration can let you call on your bond to the defense
of your home village to push past the effect of a spell that has been laid on you.

Gaining Inspiration
Your DM can choose to give you inspiration for a variety of reasons. Typically, DMs award it when you play out your personality traits, give in to the drawbacks presented by a flaw or bond, and otherwise portray your character in a compelling way. Your DM will tell you how you can earn inspiration in the game. You either have inspiration or you don’t—you can’t stockpile multiple “inspirations” for later use.

Using Inspiration
If you have inspiration, you can expend it when you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. Spending your inspiration gives you advantage on that roll.

I won't bother in this game with traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws (simply itemizing specifics of your characters' personalities), so it's more about taking actions that are true to the characters you've created, especially when it's not necessarily favorable to you.

I'd like to start using this mechanic. So I'm doing so starting here.

[Dave W.]

Awesome.. Thanks Jeff

[Ken]

Yes, good call, Jeff - and well done, Dave! (Belarin grumbles.)

[Jeff]

Dave and Brian: I made a private area just for you guys. Been a while since I had to make one of those! Fun. Dave, let me know if you don't see it.

[Brian]

speaking from beyond the grave....

To me, at least, it seems we're stuck in a holding pattern. What I think Jeff needs, from his last post, is for a) someone to help Shorak carry Condign's body back to the room, and b) get some consensus on what the plan should be--all with stated actions. The latter cannot be done until the former is finished and everyone is together.

back to beyond the grave....

[Brian]

Jun 22, 2015 23:30:53 GMT -4 Ken said:

"No," says Belarin firmly. "Syrdan is gone. No one else needs to go, and none of us should run the risk of forgetting Syrdan. Condign can walk, and Histra can guide us out. We need to leave this damn place!"

Sorry, Ken, but I don't agree. It's only been a few hours since Condign sustained a major abdominal wound. Had he received magical-based healing, I might see him being able to walk, but he has not, as of yet, been 'healed.' The periapt only stops something from happening; I don't believe it cures wounds.

Jeff, can you make a call on this, please? I need to know if Condign can walk at this point, or at what point he would be able to walk, so that I can play him properly.

[Jeff]

Indeed, no magic healing has been used on Condign, but you did opt for (and no one objected) to spending an additional hour so Condign could take a short rest as well and get back some hit points via hit dice. So that means he's been pretty well bandaged and he's regained some measure of strength so he's not at risk of imminent collapse.

So he can walk, sure. He can even fight and he's got back all his superiority dice as a fighter. It should hurt like hell to fight, totally, and even walking would be painful. But hit points represent how much more punishment you can talk before going down, so it's fair to use that as a measure.

[Brian]

Okay. Thanks for the clarification. Condign will be ready to go when he gets the word.

[Jeff]

Bottom line: In game turns, at 0 hit points you're on the ground, dead to the world. And at 1 hit point you can be on your feet and in top fighting prowess. BUT...good roleplaying is making sure it's obvious to anyone watching that you're totally not okay at 1 hit point.

[Dave W.]

Actually it wasn't clear to me whether Belarin was objecting to waiting that 4th hour or waiting for a long rest.

[Ken]

Belarin is objecting to ANY additional rest.

Brian: Please direct any objections to Belarin. ;-) He sincerely wants the group to leave. Now.

[Brian]

From what I gather, Condign's additional one hour rest is finished. I'm not advocating we wait for another rest. I just wanted to clear up the question of whether Condign could walk or not. I'm for getting out of here right away.

[Dave B.]

I don't believe we've done Condign's hour of rest, yet. Condign has just woken up. That means he would need one more hour of rest to have more than 1 hit point when we leave.

[Brian]

I guess we turn to the boss for clarification.

Jeff, did Condign have his one hour of rest yet?

[Jeff]

I already processed the hit dice/points for Condign for his short rest, but I can also reverse it. It seems like only Belarin wishes to prevent the additional hour. If he does intend to disrupt and try to convince everyone else to move first, then that would be something to consider. I won't decide for you guys, though.