Chapter 13: Q&A / Discussions

[Darren]

Cool. So, here's one of the things I'm thinking about, if we can meta-game tactics for a second....

I think it would be cool for Kal to be able to attack, and attack, and attack, as enemies are approaching him. He could then put the hood of the cloak up and use Lightning Shift to get past/away from them without provoking Opportunity Attacks and hiding somewhere so that they are now confused as to his current position, at which point he could start attacking again (or escape, as the case may be).

[Dave W.]

I, David, don't have an issue with Kal buying the cloak. Adamant won't either, he wouldn't feel attached to the party pool of money and doesn't have as much need for upkeep as you decadent Dragonmarked Lords…

I'm not sure it's highly useful in combat though… It seems to me more a way to avoid a combat (well, if we all had them anyway).

It seems to me that in combat it is inefficient. Sure you start off going unnoticed, but when you fire that lightning bolt, it's not going to require a Perception check to find you. You could move and try a Stealth check to become hidden again but I suspect that's your action. You'll lose a round trying to get back to unnoticed; you end up casting every other round (at best, you could fail the check even with advantage). Also, it doesn't help against area affects like fireball which a smart opponent will go to if they think there's a hidden caster.

What you really want in combat is a cloak of protection or bracers of AC x (assuming these things exist in 5e). Something that's always on and helpful.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it.. please feel free. Maybe Kal wants it just because it's expensive; something to wear to say "Hey, look how much money I have"... a status symbol... But I don’t think it's going to be quite as useful as it seems; at least not in combat.

BTW, Adamant will happily offer to sell the frozen whetstone he carries if we need to generate some gold. I doubt it's worth a lot, but it's sort of hard to come up with a situation where he's really going to use it. If we knew we were about to face something that was vulnerable to cold he might prep it in advance but he's not going to apply it during combat.

[Dave W.]

May 17, 2016 14:23:10 GMT -4 Darren said:

Cool. So, here's one of the things I'm thinking about, if we can meta-game tactics for a second....

I think it would be cool for Kal to be able to attack, and attack, and attack, as enemies are approaching him. He could then put the hood of the cloak up and use Lightning Shift to get past/away from them without provoking Opportunity Attacks and hiding somewhere so that they are now confused as to his current position, at which point he could start attacking again (or escape, as the case may be).

Sorry, I posted before I saw this. I guess the question is how good is Kal at Stealth? I would expect that the round he shifts out he's going to still have to make a Stealth check (with advantage granted) to hide, right? My understand is that it's not like a ring of invisibility where *poof* you're invisible. It helps you move unseen it doesn't do it for you.

[Jeff]

During combat, the Cloak of Elvenkind would be useful more for rogues than for anyone else, because you generally need to take an action to hide. If you don't take that action, you're simply not hiding, and it doesn't matter how camouflaged you are. When you're moving and attacking, you yourself are a target.

But before combat begins, the Cloak can and will always be useful. It's not meant to be rogue thing; it just happens that rogues are already good in this area, so of course they're even better with it. So even if you're not a rogue, if you know a fight's coming, it's no biggie to take that hide action, even if it just helps you get the drop on the enemy. For starting off unseen...but then, see above. Once you're revealed, you'r revealed.

Rogues like Shorak have a Cunning Action that allows them to get a bonus action just for stuff like hiding, so they can move, attack, and hide all in one round. Once they attack or move, they've given up their location, but they can always hide again.

Now, there are some circumstances when you might be hard to notice wearing the cloak even if you're not really trying. That's where the "Wisdom (Perception) checks made to see you have disadvantage" come in. Like if you're sleeping with the hood on and an enemy stalks by, they might not even notice you just lying there. This would have no bearing in combat.

Also, you guys may have noticed that some items in your possession have more than one property. The Cloak might be one of those. That's where my dislike of including magic items as-is comes in. There could be more to it than the hiding, although that's still the main thing.

[Darren]

Yeah, I think that's exactly it. Kal isn't exactly a normally stealthy guy, so something like that could be useful to augment something that he's not typically great at. Or he could loan it to Shorak if we need Shorak to get by someone without even a chance of them noticing him.

Alternatively, Jeff, without getting into a month of role playing it, what is the likelihood of being able to find a more specific type of item in the city? If Kal wanted to find something more like a Cloak of Protection, is that conceivable, or is it more of a take-what-you-can-get-when-you-find-it type scenario?

[Jeff]

Halfway between those two. Magic items are such that you can't just look at a big menu list of them and choose. But if you go into a place known for creating magic items—House Cannith above them all—and throw money around, you will find some options presented. The dragonmarked houses want money, so if you have it, they'll provide.

[Darren]

Guys? Thoughts? Is it worth taking the time/role-playing a trip to Cannith to try to get something more specific (which may also be more expensive), or stick with the cool items that are still useful but maybe not EXACTLY what we need (but also expensive)?

[Dave B.]

Go ahead and spend the gold. Like Jeff said, we have a number of magic items we can sell if we find something else we need to buy. Also, if my math is right, we'll still have a group bank of around 2,000gp and we're supposed to get more payment from the professor once we finish helping him.

[Joe]

Agreed. Streko isn't likely to buy anything new unless he truly believes it can help the group. That doesn't appear to be the case here. If we go elsewhere, that's fine too, but Streko is on the lookout for anything that he believes would be helpful.

[Dave W.]

If you or Kal want it, then go for it.

[Brian]

Go for it, Darren, if you want the cloak.

[Darren]

May 18, 2016 15:48:03 GMT -4 Jeff said:

2,100 gp have been deducted from the group account, and I'll soon add the cloak to Kal's inventory.

Kal will need to attune to the cloak to benefit from its powers. Which takes 1 hour. Note that anyone can only be attuned to three things at one time.

Oh, crap. I forgot about attunement. Ummm....if Kal de-tune's Skyfang, does that mean he can't use it as a focus anymore?

[Jeff]

Actually, no. Kal's able to use any magical dagger as a focus even if he's not attuned to one. Unattuned to Skyfang, he just wouldn't be able to use the extra 2d6 radiant damage that particular weapon does against certain evil creatures (usually fiends). Not something he uses everyday anyway. You can always re-attuned if you expect to face such a creature in melee.

[Darren]

Right. That's what he'll do, then.

[Jeff]

Okay. Keep in mind attuning with an item means spending, effectively, a short rest with that item. (And no, not while roaming Stormreach in the rain.)

[Darren]

Yup, yup.

[Dave B.]

A quick response to the Bracers of Perfect shot. I vaguely remember Kal offering them to Shorak, but I forget whether he actually accepted them or not. Do they require attunement? If not, then Shorak will be happy to take them. The more bad ass he is with ranged weapons, the better.

[Darren]

Not sure, but he is welcome to them. All of Kal's ranged attacks are spells, so they don't do him any good. Jeff, do you need us to exchange in-character or can you just update the sheets?

[Jeff]

Nah, I'll take care of the swap. This is good for Shorak. And I know you talked about this a few times before.

[Jeff]

May 19, 2016 11:04:19 GMT -4 Dave W. said:

Like folks seem sure it was Krez but we don't really have any reason to think that, right? It could be pirates or ninja or ninja pirates... not to go all CoC in a D&D game but maybe we should do some investigating...

You guys could probably take ninjas. Ninja pirates would be tough. But if it was dinosaur ninja pirates I would encourage you to just give up.

[Dave W.]

May 19, 2016 11:31:13 GMT -4 Jeff said:

To the east is a cloak, somewhat torn and now half floating in a vast puddle.

Does Adamant recognize the cloak? I'm thinking of the mercs coming out of the shop that had cross words with the Claw. Though I suppose if it were an Emerald Claw cloak a bunch of us might recognize it...

[Jeff]

Only way to find out is to examine it. But no, it doesn't look like the signature green capes of the Emerald Claw.

[Brian]

May 23, 2016 9:55:51 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Going to wait for Dave B. to post before I do anything else, since Shorak is the one who led you hear. Just to be clear, though: Are you guys suggesting splitting the party? Not going to deter you, just making sure that's the intent here.

My only intention is to have Condign wait for Belarin, so he is not left alone. If everyone wants to hang back while he scopes out the area, that's fine with me.

[Jeff]

It's the "Let's go" and "You go ahead, I'll catch up" kind of talk that makes me sit back and wait and see what you intent.

[Jeff]

May 23, 2016 12:29:24 GMT -4 Brian said:

...After raising the hood on his cloak, hoping to hide his devilishly handsome (though easily recognizable) features, Condign strolls casually after Belarin.

I know Condign is following Belarin's action here, so I'll just wait for that. Don't know the manner of approach, etc.

[Jeff]

Ken, just to head off a possible misunderstanding:

May 25, 2016 13:37:02 GMT -4 Ken said:

"As for the Claw, something also happened last night in Lorsmarch Palace that has set them very much on edge. At a different time, I would've snuck into the palace for a look, but the iron Watch would likely have frowned on that."

The shifter said "the other night," not "last night." Belarin's instinct is that it's the gala incident itself she's referring to, but she's clearly an outside and the rumor mill is certainly at work across the city. A smaller group of eyewitnesses and then possibly the telephone game.

[Dave W.]

So, quick couple of questions for our Most Esteemed DM...

The praying warforged, is that a ritual Adamant would recognize? Would it be right to interrupt or even just "good-day" him (it feels wrong). Or should Adamant drop beside him and do a prayer?

If Adamant wanted to talk to someone in charge who would he ask after?

I'm assuming there's something like Intentions... in the Catholic Church you can have a mass said for someone, usually deceased?

[Jeff]

Hoo-boy. There's no quick answers on this one, Dave. Even if you read the sourcebook Faiths of Eberron cover to cover, it still wouldn't give you a hard answer. The Sovereign Host above all the other religions is the most widespread, and therefore the most subject to variance. I hate to make real world comparisons, but the Catholic Church is more like the Church of the Silver Flame in that there is a formal hierarchy and more common protocols and traditions...whereas with the Sovereign Host, each place you visit might do things differently. It's truly polytheism but with a strong interpretive quality that's like you're mixing in some Eastern religions, even.

Because there is such generality and variance in the worship of the Host, it's rare to find any one place where they're sensitive to others not knowing the local customs.

So anyway, the other warforged doesn't look like he's in the middle of a format ritual, in any case. And being warforged, he's not got any eyelids to close, either. One thing I would point out, though: the shield is the only thing suggesting a religious connection. He's not wearing a symbol separately. Adamant wouldn't necessarily know what the relationship is there.

There is usually at least one high priest in a large temple and any number of acolytes. Request for prayer would be commonplace, as would be offerings. No formal tithing, but again, offerings are always welcome.

[Dave W.]

I like to ask easy questions...

Thanks Jeff. One more quick question... The high priest of this Temple isn't necessarily a Dol Arrah priest, right? I mean he may have a personal deity but all the Host is worshiped here so Addy wouldn't ask to see the high priest of Dol Arrah, but just the High Priest who may carry the holy symbol of Aureon.

[Jeff]

Any temple designated as of the Host itself will have at least small shrines to each of them. Sometimes one is revered above others, sure. But part of the faith is understanding how they're all part of the same group, many actually considered family. Even the Dark Six are, or were, and remain strongly associated.