Dungeon Master Forum

Ooh, full house of replies already. Will try to update at lunchtime, more likely early evening.

And I agree with OB, it's like frodo said - evil usually looks fair and feels foul, whereas these guiys look foul and.... umm....

Anyway, good tactic backed up by a good roll. I think I still need an initiative roll from you, OB, but it sounds like Ameena has bought you the time you need to delay them.

Frodo may be right, but still I have a bad feeling about these guys. Reminds me of a sketch from That Mitchell and Webb Look...

I rolled initiative already, it was 12 (half-way up this page).

Knew it had to be me being blind

I'm willing and able to start, if you would be so kind, sire.

Lol, given I'm at work just now, you might have to wait a bit!

Will post the first part of your story tonight!

Cool. The time difference is pretty weird.

And welcome to the game LB! I twisted your last story summary a little. As you see, you are in the same confusion as the others - you should know of the mission, and should know Westian's name, and should have remembered coming to the mountain and doing things, but for some reason your mind is deliberately trying to blank out, and instead convince you that you never had that meeting.

If you wish to stop this effect, you can make a Will save right now to focus only on one reality.

Otherwise, time to start exploring the limits of your surroundings, gather intel, and start forming plans!

Despite the time difference, I imagine we are both on enough to get through this quite fast. However, to avoid culture shock with the main game when you join it, I will stick to the same schedule - one major update per day.

Feel free to ask OOC questions to clarify things either here or in separate threads, we'll try to keep the story thread uncluttered (for at least a day or two before laziness gets in the way I think!)

Good luck!

Lol, hey, no fair - the DM is supposed to award bonuses for careful play, not the player!

Incase you hadn't spotted (and your current spread of scores might disguise this) the +2 bonus is actually pretty powerful in D&D. I can certainly award it for good tactics/favourable conditions, etc, or the +1 for more normal favourable conditions. Many extraordinary efforts and great tactics you may do might 'only' net a +2 bonus, but given that's a 10% increase in your chances it's never a bad thing

Anyway, being careful when checking something out is more likely to be a distraction that I might apply a penalty for (not in this case) but it might have the added benefit that a low roll wouldn't trigger a bad effect.

Just to let you know how I'm DMing and how the mechanics of the game work in this regard


Your wisdom bonus will apply to your rolls to check things out (as these are perception checks, and an untrained perception check is a straight wisdom check with no restrictions).

Can I also get a d20 roll for your will save, It seems to be missing. Still at work (will be home soon) so I imagine if I update later tonight then you will get it tomorrow

I've edited my story post to include the 1d20 for will, 17 wasn't too damn bad

Something I think that I should mention, you do your update at approx 6am here... so chances are that you won't get a reply for a bit after your update.

That's probably a good thing, it will help enforce a pace that isn't too fast compared to the main group. Nothing worse than whistlng through your own story then coming to what feels like a crashing halt when you finally join the main story!

I forgot to also ask for a knowledge (dungeoneering) roll for when you examine the bars/door.

Usually (especially in combat) there won't be nearly so many rolls, but since you could do with all the information you can get, and you have the time to get it, then it's all good.

1d20 = 20 + my 6 = 26 I've gotta laugh at this

So do I. Statistically speaking, you'll run out of luck right when it counts after blowing it here. Mwahahahahahaha!

Doing the main party update now, might need a break, then will update you later. So have a good night if I don't post again before you get some sleep

I'm sorta starting to wobble a bit in my seat
Me iz thunkin tha it iz timez floor bed... ROFL!

ian_scho wrote:Are wizards allowed to cast fireballs between legs?

Yes. It's usually best to ensure they are the opponent's legs though. Allies count as soft cover, and you know what tends to happen to soft cover in any shooter game, right?

beowuuf wrote:Allies count as soft cover, and you know what tends to happen to soft cover in any shooter game, right?

F***ing LOL!

It's true!

InvisibleCastle.com is down... Trying the chat facility and... (22:13:13) Lord Chaos Bot: ian_scho rolls 1d20 and gets 1. Ohhh sheeeeet!

Oops, critical fail...what were you trying to roll? I mean, what skill or whatever? Ouch anyway...a crit-fail normally means you get some extra bad consequences. Still, I might be about to get us all killed anyway with my big long spiel about...umm...almost-but-not-quite-everything that's happened to us so far .

@Ameena - ok, I should have said non-human mammals Actually, I forget what the actual term is in the D&D book, but what I meant were small animals like rats, and other such animals. You don't get a +4 bonus to sense motive that useful I'm afraid, especially not when - RP wise - you have such a had time understanding why humans do the things they do

And yes, I do imagine a couple of the things you've said have just killed Westian's hard work. Still, at least you will seem to obviosuly truthful that it might be balanced by some of the other things you have said.

Maybe.

Let's see how well Falkor fireballs everyone, shall we?

@Ian - at least you blew the roll spectacularly on a something that had no punishment for failure Just you won't spot something. Well, not until it's too late, perhaps

My Sense Motive bonus to everything-excxept-non-humanoid-mammals is +7, not +4. I'm guessing it runs off Intelligence, since that seems the logical stat for it (or possibly Wisdom), plus I have six ranks in it. Anyway, the bonus I have listed in my profile is +7 anyway. I dunno when I last updated the profile in the character thread on here though. I think maybe I should go through my skills and add in the stats they run off too, maybe make it into a table or something. Or see if there's some website which has downloadable/copy-and-pastable DnD 3.5 character sheets so I can transfer everything onto there and make it look actually proper . So anyway, my Sense Motive roll would give a total of 13, then, not 17. And I'll amend the note on the skill to specify "non-humanoid mammals".
Well anyway, hopefully I'm not about to get us all squished. Ameena will most certainly instinctively dart out of the way if any of these guys try to attack her. And I must make sure I remember to have her remember that her cloak's still on the floor in the altar room. She might even get a chance to nip back and pick it up. I wonder what will happen if any of the moody soldier blokes go into the room - would they get that weird peaceful sense thingy that we all got from being near the altar. And no-one ever picked up that Ra key. Not that we need it any more...well, not unless that wasn't the door it was for, or if there's more than one. Or maybe the Ra door wasn't actually locked, and we should have locked it ourselves to stop these metal-coated smegheads from coming through .

I'm sure the DM wouldn't mind that we automagically picked our belongings up before leaving the area...

I dunno if I can automatically step back inside that room, past the rest of the party, to pick something up while there's a bunch of not-very-nice-seeming blokes with swords telling us what to do . Anyway, that would be sort of cheating, wouldn't it..."Oh by the way, I picked up that item before even though I didnt' say I did" .

@Ameena I meant you get a +4 bonus to your sense motive for "small mammals", not that your sense motive is +4.

Sense motive is a wisdom based - check (you can think bout why the person is doing stuff all you lk, but it means nothing. You have to be around someone and intuitng their behaviour to actually properly have a chance to understand why they are doing anything. Therefore you have 6 ranks and a +1 wisdom bonus for +7 to sense motive. When trying to understand small mammals, you get a +11 sense motive bonus

Watch out using a direct 3.5 character sheet, as I have combined skills and dropped skills. Once you see the proper skill list, ou might get why. Can i suggest looking for a Lone Wolf RPG character sheet, the skill set should be much closer. Always update your sheet here please, it makes it easier for me if what i think is your character is what you are using as your character, and saves me time. It's amazing how much time even something simple like the combat maps takes!

As to picking up items. In combat, you can move through ally squares but not end on them (if i ever allow it it will count like restricted space and you get penalised fr not being ale to move and swing freely). Out of combat, free reign to squeeze through. And your acrobatics skill lets you try to tumble through enemies

Anyway, feel free to assume you darted into the room for your cloak, given how close you are to the door. Especially given you have a faster initiative than the soldiers so you get

Falkor picked up the RA key along with the torch, as he was just away to open the door when the first spirit encounter happened. Good thing too, going to the back of the hall will certainly provoke comment and reaction from the soldiers.

The rest of you can certainly get your possessions if you haven't picked them up already though you might get worse comments of provoke a minor reaction (sounds like Falkor is most likely to have gathered his stuff maybe Westian too. Ill give you a chance this time. While I never wanna be 'hah, gotcha!' i may well be stricter on this in future. I can't reward you for good RP and foresight if there are o consequences for dropping the ball, can I?

Delay in update, due to my new computer occupying the space of my old computer, and my new computer being awkward

I would have had Ameena pick up her cloak before but I sort of forgot, and therefore so did she . I think it'd look a bit weird if, standing at the front of the group and therefore furthest from the altar room, she suddenly nipped back to grab it - from the soldiers' PoV, she could be going back for any reason - to grab some uber anti-soldier weapon, for example . Maybe one of the others will be nice and pick it up for her .
And yes I had better update my forum-based character profile. I think I'll do that now, while I remember...

Edit - Oh, okay, looks like my character sheet is updated - must've remembered to do it right after I dung last . I still want to rearrange my skills list so it's a bit easier to read, but I can't be arsed to do that right now so I'll leave it till tomorrow or so .

She seems scatterbrained enough, and besides if the door is opened and you go in and out quickly, before they can react fuly you'd be back. As you wish, Falkor can go back and pick it up where he would have left it

Board moved to be more noticeable

Ok, next move up to you! The soldier will obviously move into the room a step to give/throw the bread in, but owing to the set up will need to wait for you to drin ka half of the bowl of water.

Choose your actions with care - simply accepting captivity is a valid action!

Just to give you a feel for how I am DMing, and what your rolls are being used on:

Aurek beats into the door as hard as he can muster (1d20 = 17).

You could do two things here. Either make an attack roll against the door (+5 = 22), although a door's toughness usually precludes being able to damage it easily if at all, especially if you are unarmed. Alternative and the one I used based on your description was a strength check against the door (+1 = 18). This is equivalent to throwing your whole weight against it, or other such actions. Sadly, the DC to break the door is higher.

...then attempts to pull the grate loose, applying every ounce of strength that was up to the task (1d20 = 14).

With this one, it is more obviously a strength check. Using the roll would be (+1 = 15). Sadly, not close to a DC to break the grate. However, you could have done a 'take 20' check. Take 10 and take 20 are where you are not in immediate danger or distraction, In that case, you can either choose to do an unhurried action (take 10, where you get an average results as if a 10 rolled) or you do the action as many times as it takes to have the most effect (take 20 - the equivalent of rolling the dice 20 times in terms of time taken, and also in terms of getting bad results for low rolls).

You could have gambled on a take 20 check for both the door and grate, hoping there was no consequence in terms of strain or traps for rolling a low roll. I suspect this is what you meant, sadly, even 21 would not have been high enough for either check so I did not ask for clarification!

The whole time, screaming and yelling in an attempt to attract a friendly person (1d20 = 12).

This seems to be mostly a charisma check, based on the strength of your personality and persistence. So (+2 = 14). The way you have described it does sound like take 20 (keep shouting as long as possible) so you would actually get 22. Sadly, no one close. Though by being so persistent and forceful the guards did not decide to leave you alone, nor did they feel you sounded feeble enough to torment about it. So there you go!

Anyway, that's kinda how skill checks work in these circumstances. It's usually better to roll no matter what as you have been doing, so certainly keep that up! I especially like the roll for yelling. Not something I would ave asked for a check for, but certainly it highlights it to me for factoring in!

Still, dont be afraid in non-cmbat situations to request take 10 and take 20 checks.

I'm honestly not sure on how to handle these guards... I don't want my char getting all messed up before I even meet up with the party.

No risk no reward!

As I said, being passive is also a valid thing. Either way, I'm not going to be a dick and kill you if you don't follow what I would do. If these guards are too powerful for your character, unless I've given strong indications you will have many chances not to die (if you realise them). vice versa, if these guards are straw men to knock down and you don't take the chance, I'm not going to have you thrown into a pit of death because of it Well, not for the first week ... *rubs hands*

The dungeon moves, these are characters doing things. Currently these are guards feeding you, which implies you are being kept alive for a reason. If you wish to see what that reason is, or bide your time to have a more thorough check of your cells, then simply accept the food and let the guards go

Even then you can question them or check them out to se what information you can get, or even act dumb - they apparently have no idea who you are, so if you luck getting them later they might fall for assumign you are just a peasant captured for whatever reason. It might help later.

Go with your gut and then keep an eye out for clues that you are doing well or might need to change tactics