DM themed play-by-post D&D game : OOC thread

[beowuuf]

Not a problem, and so noted about the torch. Money, I'll assume Falkor relinguishs the torch in my next update, but feel free to say 'no' either now or just after my update and I'll alter the post. Right, time for work!

[oh_brother]

I rolled a 14 and 15.

(BTW I am using http://invisiblecastle.com, which is traceable. Not because I think anyone would doubt me, but just say e.g. I have to roll a 20 at some stage, and I actually manage to roll the 20, I would feel a bit guilty posting it without proof! So it really is for my peace of mind. I won't make any practice rolls, so it will be easy to see what roll is for what ).

Westian is not paying much attention to Ameena and Falknor, he is far too nervous to notice. He is very much focused on the door and beyond. If Haynuus does not manage to open it he will help, but he will still be paying most attention to what is behind the door, especially if it starts to move. If Haynuus moves through the door he will follow, but staying behind him.

[beowuuf]

It's also fantastically useful to annotate your rolls too - makes it faster, instead of me seeing a roll and needing to delay to find out exactly what it was for For example:

Ameena perception roll (if no Take 20 used) (1d20+5=17)


Thanks OB, I do believe that gives me everything I need to update at lunchtime!

[beowuuf]

Sorry, I've taken more than my lunchtime to type the update, so can't really check over it yet. I hope it flows ok, will correct it at home!

Ok, so update complete. Westian, just for your information your first roll was a perception check on the grate (14+3 = 17), which rolls over as your general level of awareness for the door too. Your second roll, since you are ignoring everyone else, is a knowledge (religeon) check to carry on to your thoughts of your previous studies. Your +4 gives you a 19. That's pretty good, so as you can see that lets you auto-remember your first rune! Woohoo! And before your thoughts were interrupted, you were sure you could almost remember another on that sheet.

Alone you can't roll another knowledge roll, but perhaps if someone could jog your memory, then you might be able to recall the second rune (as if you rolled a 21). Similarly, because you have some memory, you will automatically be able to grant 'aid another' in their skill check if they try to recall their teaching of runes. You will grant a +2 in this regard.

Ameena, I'm holding off on filling out your perception results further until I know if you are going to keep searchign the room, or if you are going to turn your attention (and nose) to the now open door. If the rest of the room,this will count as a 'take 20' and you will get a result of 25. Although nothing says there is anything interesting in this room. If you decide to go back to the wooden door, then your 17 will carry over to perceiving anything scent and sound wise as the door is opened.

Ian, I think before I left I mentioned what might be seen if you looked through the grating, because of your lower perception roll not more than that was observed by Haynuus. The light didn't seem to penetrate the darkness at all, and his 'coo-eee' did not echo around the room beyond, as if he were wearing a bucket over his head to deaden the sound. Haynuus had felt a small shiver of cold. Whether as a player you find this significant, Haynuus wasn't paying it attention at the time. I haven't included the above information in the update.

Direct actions in the story threads, any comments here.

Probably tonight, I will unlock the character cheet thread. If you can copy and paste your own character sheets into that thread, it will let you keep your own sheet. I will still keep it up to date with your info (unless you want to keep track of it all yourself) but it will let you edit your bios, or annotae and rearrange all the numbers so it is more usable for you.

Ok, must work now!

[Gambit37]

This is really cool. I made the right decision simply to read rather than play, though. I think the reason that I didn't get into RP back in the day, and the reason DM really grabbed me, was the fact that rules and rolls seemed annoying and complicated

[zoom]

beo you are the born dm!

[beowuuf]

Yet I prefer to be a player and break other people's stuff

[beowuuf]

Ok, another update done. Hopefully Ameena is back and so everyone can give their actions ready for another update by tomorrow night. Momentum!

Right, oh_brother, since I've dug into your character's background a little, can you perhaps PM me some information about where you saw your character learning his craft and also his initial training/adventures. If I've stepped to far from this idea, I can retcon some stuff.

In future I will usually get this sort of info ahead of time, and certainly I'm going to try and avoid putting words into your character's mouths. I just wanted to get the game moving after leaving you stalled for a week

Right, as to the 'revelation'. All of your characters will know Mount Anaias. They are all relatively local to the mountain, or at least where they call home is. Only Westian will have gone so deeply inside and met the Grey Lord unless any of you have a small background idea you wish to work in. However, the very initial chamber - a reworked 'hall of champions' where the painted pictures of all who fell in the war with chaos - is open to all on certain days of the year, and all of you except perhaps Haynuus may well have visited and walked around there. Only Westian might know of the true origins of Lord Chaos. I need more on Falkor to know if he might be party to that too. Similarly, not all of you might know exactly the details of the incident in Chaos Strikes Back, but certainly there were disruptions in the area at the time, and you know the Grey Lord and a band of champions defeated it.

If you have any questions about this revelation, ask away here. oh_brother, if you think your character would have had the balls to ask the Grey Lord or Theron any questions directly, I'll give you three you can ask here and get answers. Or if you can think of any answers to elder's questions you may have been interested in.

So there you go. We got the 'who' out of the way when you roleplayed your characters. Although the memory gaps and your purpose will be filled in later. We've got the 'where' out of the way (as if you couldn't guess). The 'when' is after Dm and CSB have taken place, you can imagine a year or more ago. To your confused reckoning.

Consider this the end of a prologue! Sorry, not counted as an encounter of any kind, not yet. So no level gain...yet.

Now all we need is the 'what' and 'why' of it all. That will be 'book 1' of this adventure. Right now, chapter one is the mystery of the booming, and the fun that will ensure because of it. Wahahhahahahah! I mean, good luck!


Ok, I'm going to go through the character sheets one more time, then unlock the thread. If you can all copy them into the same thread so you can edit them too, then all should be good.

Money, if you can add whatever details you have for your character's bio into the thread that would be cool. Especially, if you can do the same as I've asked oh_brother and PM me details about where you see yourself having trained in magic. If you want some ideas, we can bounce around PMs

Anyway, hope everyone is enjoying themselves so far. I'm loving your characters from the internal commentaries of Haynuus to the fact Westian seems to be getting shoved front and centre as a group leader for the moment. Let's see what happens tomorrow....

[beowuuf]

PS. I'll try to keep my update and OOC comments smaller from now on

[beowuuf]

Money, you still have four skill points and one extra speak language point to assign to your character by the way!

[ian_scho]

Haynuus, if you have a plan of attack here then go for it, otherwise make me a raw intelligence check (1d20-3) - either way, time to think tacticsl! (1d20-3=5)

[beowuuf]

Yup, a roll like that pretty much sums up what you did

[money]

ok, I would like to catch up with Haynuus and Westian, the Rat can sort herself out If i have time I would like to examine the carvings around the first Alcove (anti-clockwise) from the door. Let me know if need to roll a dice for this? I'm still a little confused!

When you say charactor sheets - is this something i need to fill out/populate as we progress or is this the same as the charactor thread you setup already?

As for additional language - would like a basic speaking in Elf - i think this might help me with working out some spells later - Might help if i can communicate and "read?" Elf?

I Would like to add the following to my skills...

+2 dungeoneering
+1 Heal
+1 Acrobatics

Going to stick with existing skill choice - just boost them if that's ok?

If you let me know if i need to roll or anything and then I'll update the story! In the mean time (during a few coffee breaks) I'll work out some background for Falcor..

[beowuuf]

Same as the character thread, sorry, I should use consistent terminology!

It never hurts to make a roll with your actions. Until you get your legs just RP what you want to do, and I'll assign it to the relevant skill/ability if I need to. Later on you can always intelligently nominate a skill/ability use, but the RP of exactly what and why will still always be the important part. I can just let you do things, or say you can't do things, based on the narrative and your character. However, rolls let me maintain some narrative consistency and also add some tension

Nothing wrong with consolidating skills, it's a good idea! You can certainly add basic elf to your skillset, it might come in handy! Adding 2 to your knowledge (dungeoneering) maxes out that skills to, just so you know. You can only add one more point/level from now on.

Edit: wow, ignore me, I seem to be determined to think of you as only having +1 to intelligence. You still have one rank free in knowledge (dungeoneering) this level, it's concentration you have four ranks in.

[oh_brother]

Westian is listening intently to the noise in the dungeon, his intelligence check was16 + 1 = 17.

As for questions he would not have dared ask the Grey Lord anything, but he would have listened and asked questions of his superiors when they were out of ear-shot. I don't think he would have any reason to be interested in the dungeon itself. He would definitley have asked about the history and the battle with Lord Chaos, including Chaos' origins (of course how much the clerics revealed to him is up to you).
Also while the dungeon would not have been of interest the Grey Lord's rooms and laboratories would have been fascinating. So he would have asked what research was going on, and how the Grey Lord carried it out.
I think that makes up three questions!

[money]

oh dear... Not sure what use this could be, but i wish to check if I can make anything from the runes... but... "Falkor rolls 1d20 and gets 3"

Thats doesn't seem too good?

[beowuuf]

The elders would certainly have shared the basics of the DM story with Westian, although they would not have known that the power gem itself was directly the catalyst for the destruction. They merely assume the Grey Lord's proximity to the fabled resting place of the gem had amplified the damage of one of his experiments, and see it only as proof that the Power Gem of legend must indeed lie somewhere in these lands. The current belief even about those 'in the know' is that somehow the Grey Lord forged the firestaff binding his soul to it, which had sundered when the firestaff had been used for some experiment in magic. The elders would be certain to mention how the order played their part during the conflicts under Chaos's influence, where powerful warlords rose up to ally with Chaos and devastate the lands. Your order would have turned to being healers and messengers, with the core order trying to ensure that much of the culture of many races and cities was not lost in the various conflicts.

The elders would have been sure to point out, with a lack of irony, the lesson in not seeking too deep a knowledge, no matter who you are.

The Grey Lord's experimentation and laboratories as he explained them seemed to be dedicated to a few esoteric pursuits. Formost seemed to be the Grey Lord now looking to the planes, an area he famously shunned even as his fellow High Lords took their place in the outer reaches. The Grey Lord has a specific task in mind with his research, and that is to prevent the demons who gained a foothold from being able to further break the natural boundaries of the planes and wreak havoc in the lands. Crystals and mirrors seemed to be, if Westian recalls correctly, the primary means of his research there.

Certainly, champions of the Grey Lord were known to be seeking dark artifacts, bringing them safely back to Mount Anaias. Some apparently also featured in the Grey Lord's research. In one such discussion between the Grey Lord and the elders, Westian would have heard the name 'Bel'sham-roth.' It was not a name he was familiar with, although in context it sounded like a demon name. The elders refused to discuss it when he later asked.

The other main research the Grey Lord's assistant Theron seemed engaged in was that of corbums, corbumite and some mysterious plasma the Grey Lord made sure to gloss over the details of. Apparently the encounters with Lord Chaos had somehow shown new potential in the magical rocks of Mount Anais, and Theron seemed very serious in his devotion to discovering them. The undertone was that only by understanding them could they be controlled and neutralised if necessary.

You weren't quite clear on how Theron was conducting his research, although some form of 'pit' was mentioned when Theron briefly interrupted his master during the audience.

Will that do you, or is there anything there you would like clarification on?


Money, Falkor will know the rumours of the Grey Lord's research into corbumite (not attributed to Theron) and other minerals, although the details would be sketchy. There would have been rumours in the communities of magic that an unstable plasma had been discovered beneath Mount Anaias, but for some reason the details were not being revealed by those suspected to know them.

[beowuuf]

oh dear... Not sure what use this could be, but i wish to check if I can make anything from the runes... but... "Falkor rolls 1d20 and gets 3"

Thats doesn't seem too good?

Not really! It seems like whatever effect has blocked Falkor's mind is really doing its job well. Assuming it's deliberate, of course... The good news is that unlike normal knowledge checks, this is not your last chance here. As your condition changes, you will get other chances to intuit some magic, and of course you can kick off another check if Falkor is allowed to talk magic with the group.

Obviously, poking around in Falkor's own brain was never going to be the best way to regain his old powers. I think you've already guessed one good way to get some knowledge

Can you roll for me again, this time for perception please?

[money]

haha - think i'm going to stop using this java chat roll... Falkor rolls 1d20 and gets 4

[beowuuf]

It's ok, this one wasn't as important - it was a quick 'do you see something out of the corner of your eye' roll. With a flickering torch and half orc in your way, the answer was going to be no most likely anyway

Aww, all we need is our resident Murafu back and we could have our next update!

[Gambit37]

Someone's missing. Rats!

[beowuuf]

Not that you're going to get into a fight or anything, but it seems to be the right time to post the combat rules in the rules summary section. I don't think they are too different from previous rules sets, except for perhaps more action in a turn.

Yell if anything is unclear!

[oh_brother]

Westian examined the walls (intelligence) and rolled a 2+1=3. I imagine that is bad...I knew these high rolls had to come to an end.

Is there going to be much activity over the weekend? Again I don't know how much internet access I will have on Saturday and Sunday.

[ian_scho]

I will be away all weekend too. At the beach for once

My instructions are in the story (to stand guard south (or north!) of the first open doorway). Will Post my response in the thread soon!

[beowuuf]

No, we can call a halt over the weekend if that's a problem. If this is a regular thing I can put it in the house rules that the posting schedule is five days during the week and the weekend is time off or a catch-up day to resolve things. I'm sure some people might be happy with that if I can't curb my long posts!

Just to let you know my interpretation of the rules, intelligence checks on your environment are you trying to think about what could be possible, and then seeing if the evidence fits your suppositions. A wisdom based check is you gathering evidence from the environment, and then trying to intuit a cause if you detect something.

Hence Westian's good intelligence roll gave him some thoughts on what could or could not cause arythmic noises, but it doens't mean they are right. Intelligence was probably a good pick for examining the walls, given the lack of any clues, pity the roll was low! Still, can't know everything

[ian_scho]

I'm happy for peeps to continue in my absence, btw. Go on, make Haynuus do something intelligent

[beowuuf]

Haynuus runs for the exit and bangs on it with the torch until it goes out and then keeps banging on the grate and bites the iron.

I think it's the most logical solution!

Anyway, it's official, only one update tonight to last until Monday evening. Enjoy your weekends people enjoying weekends!

[Ameena]

Wheeee, that was a long post (my latest IC post I mean)...heh, consider it payback for my being away these past few days . Since you didn't elaborate, Wuffy, on what kind of things she'd forgotten (beyond htf she got into the dungeon and what she'd been doing right before that), I thought I'd make something up myself . Well, you can't plonk a murafu into a situation like that and not expect them to feel just a little bit lonely .

[beowuuf]

Well I guess I will read it when I get home and tell you!

Actually, you pretty much know most of your previous lives. Memories associated with skillsets such as magic are a tad flaky still, other things are coming back to you ok now.

[beowuuf]

Ok, just read your post, and yeah, your POV on the memory loss stands because it's cool, but also story wise it fits. You can certain remember any Murafu thing you want, but any other species contact you cn recall the vague details but not the people, nor more recent events.