Ok. Combat's over. Mara-Kai did the killing blow, for those keeping track at home.
Congratulations, y'all have achieved Level 2.
Now...
(1) Anyone bringing in new characters, you may do so now. Post your character sheets and any/all associated information here in the OOC (in a single post, preferably; you'll probably need to edit). (This should be Pasha & Jewels.)
(2) Anyone keeping the original characters, if you're a new player to that character, I'm pretty sure you all need to post character sheets as well, not to mention all the incidentals. Again, please do so in the OOC. (This should be Brys & Scyner.)
(3) If you're keeping your original character, you can either use your original post or re-post like the others, your choice. (This should be just thiotes.)
(4) Everyone may have unlimited "retraining" at this time. Feats, powers, starting equipment, themes, or anything else you wish to tweak. Since we have two new characters entirely, and two more who are doing tweaking, I'll let Mara have the same opportunities as everyone else.
(5) Once we have the character sheets, then we can re-disperse the magic items. You're welcome to discuss how you want to do so now.
Currently, Magic Items are: • 3 potions of healing (according to my records, a 4th was used) • belt of vigor • +1 implement of the apprentice (not in Compendium & slightly modified for use in this group) implementShow
Slot: Any Implement (minor action, at-will, to change it) Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls Critical: + 1d6 damage per plus Power (Daily): Free Action. Trigger:You score a critical hit with an attack using this implement. Effect One of your arcane encounter powers recharges.
• +1 mantle of the apprentice (not in Compendium) mantleShow
Slot: Neck Enhancement: Fortitude, Reflex, and Will Power (Daily): Immediate Reaction. Trigger: You are hit by a close or area attack. Effect: An adjacent enemy of your choice is included in the attack.
(6) You're getting an extended rest while you wait for your contact to activate the portal to help you get out (and her in). The wards were preventing her from doing so before, that was one of your goals. So yay you. In the meantime, you may explore the room, making any checks you desire, and I should have a map up in the next day or so.
• Ad Hominem— Attacking the person's circumstances, not addressing the argument. • Ad Hominem Abusive (Personal Attack)— Insulting the person, not addressing the argument. • Ad Hominem Tu Quoque— Saying the person's inconsistent, not addressing the argument. • Appeal to Authority/Belief/Common Practice/Consequence of a Belief/Emotion/Fear/Flattery/Novelty/Pity/Popularity/Ridicule/Spite/Tradition— Using emotion instead of Fact. • Bandwagon— Use of peer pressure. • Begging the Question— Assuming premises which haven't necessarily been agreed to. • Biased Sample— Using a sampling which may not properly represent the whole. • Burden of Proof— Shifting it to the wrong side. • Circumstantial Ad Hominem— Attacking the person's interests in supporting their argument. • Composition— Assuming that the whole has the same qualities as individual parts. • Confusing Cause & Effect— Assuming that one thing causes another because they appear in conjunction. • Division— Assuming that the individual parts have the same qualities as the whole. • False Dilemma— Assuming that only two options exist. • Gambler's Fallacy— Assuming the odds have changed because of past occurances • Genetic— Assuming a perceived defect in the origin of a claim is proof of a defect in the claim. • Guilt by Association— Attacking others who agree with the claim. • Hasty Generalization— Assuming a quality based on too small a sample size. • Ignoring the Common Cause— Assuming there is no outside cause of two connected things. • Middle Ground— Assuming the midpoint of two extremes must be correct. • Misleading Vividness— Assuming a colorful anecdote outweighs statistical evidence. • Poisoning the Well— Using unprovable claims about the person instead of addressing the argument. • Post Hoc— Assuming that something caused something else simply because it happened first. • Questionable Cause— Assuming that one thing causes another. • Red Herring— Using irrelevant evidence to divert a discussion. • Relativist Fallacy— Asserting that a claim may be true for some but not for the speaker. • Slippery Slope— Assuming the inevitability of one event based on another. • Special Pleading— Claiming exemption without justification. • Spotlight— Assuming individuals that get the most attention to be indicative of the whole. • Straw Man— Misrepresenting the opposing argument. • Two Wrongs Make a Right— Justifying something unethical/immoral as response or pre-emption to something else unethical/immoral.
Response to those who like to compare 4e to a Video GameShow
Also, I find that the "D&D 4e is like an MMO" argument is often a sign of someone who is deliberately being obtuse and/or is potentially ignorant of actual MMO play. As someone who only ended a 6-year World of Warcraft addiction a year ago, I can say that most of your bullet points actually don't match up to the truth of it.
In D&D 4e, you can choose a hybrid, you can choose to play one class as though it were another (people played Warlords as Bards frequently, when the edition first came out, and Rangers were refluffed to Monks), you can focus your class on its secondary role (a Warlock who is more controller than striker, for instance), you can multiclass, and you can create a particular concept (a mounted lancer, a charger, etc.) within the mechanics via feats, choice of powers, and choice of skills. You decide which set of stats you use--are you a Chaladin, Straladin, or Baladin?--and you have ultimate influence on how your character turns out in the end. Yes, powers require you to be using a particular weapon within your class's available selection, but the powers are not themselves tied to the gear. Powers tied to weapons or armor are typically powers that belong to the item, not to the character class that's most likely to use it.
Yes, there are only so many powers available, and these will be what you do in battle; this is all that the designers created. Yes, there is a time-frame in which they can be used; this has always been the case, even in the days of Vancian casting. Yes, there are suggested builds, but you can routinely ignore those if it pleases you; the only parts of a class you have to take are the class features, and even those have options at this point. But the only way that this can be considered at all conflatable with MMO character building/playing is if you are deliberately ignoring all of that.
In WoW, you choose a class and you're done. No multiclassing or hybridization, no way to mimic one class with careful building of a different one. There is a firm dividing line on what is a WoW class. No secondary roles or creative concepts, either; you're going to be what the class sets out to be, and that's it. You'll always have the same stat allocation as another of your class, because you get set numbers as you level up, and you've got at best four options--and that's only the Druid class--to build, and if you plan on running dungeons, particularly heroic level ones, or raiding, you'd better not even think of deviating from the single defined best build on the talent tree for what you want to do. It was only recently, with the complete tear-down and recreation of talent trees for Mists of Pandaria, that there was a concept of there being anything but the one best build that people who calculated such mechanical advantages (the folks on Elitist Jerks, for example), and the people who did things like achieve "World First" at various top-tier raids set precedent for.
Also, no class will ever not have a specific set of powers; all Priests in WoW have the same baseline, with deviation only based upon their talent tree specialization, where a D&D4e player could take whatever power in their class pleases them. Any Retribution Paladin will be the same as any other in terms of powers, because that is what a RetPally is. Any Assassination Rogue will always have the same powers as another, etc. All powers are always on specific cool-downs, but will always be there when they start a battle, where a 4e PC might enter an encounter with only At-Wills, or without their Daily powers due to what plot has done up until that point. Furthermore, no power that is not already specifically tied to an item will ever "require" you have that item, to my recollection. Classes get all their powers based on class; gear only gives bonuses to stats, possibly cuts down cast times for abilities or cooldowns, grants temporary extra bonuses to stats (the latter two most often on the raid tier equipment), and on rare occassions an extra power that may or may not be valuable, as some are only special effects instead of valuable abilities.
Most honest/open response on why DDN needs to be InclusiveShow
I've always felt it is in the best interests of D&D to be as inclusive across the playerbase as they can be and still have a game. I've never felt though that making a game that was inclusive within a group was very useful or even desirable. DM's and players can decide amongst themselves what options or restrictions they want for their games. I tend to lean to the DM to make most of those decisions but again that is a group specific thing.
Having said that. I get the distinct impression that there are a lot of players on these boards who come from groups that generally ruled against their own desires. It's almost like they are an oppressed minority from a gaming perspective. I also get the impression that they tend to advocate against things that if available their fellow group members might like and vote them down on.
Do a lot of you feel this way?
Just for clarification...here are some examples... 1. Alignment restrictions as an option. 2. Alignment Mechanics 3. Martial healing 4. Races being included or not.
I know my perspective is not that I often play at tables where my likes are not represented. Instead, my perspective comes from the many years I spent being a bad DM. I was a bad DM because my guidance came from the books, and the books gave bad advice. The books told me that alignment was a useful approach to roleplaying, so I went with it even though it felt kind of weird to me. Now I know that, at least in my style of running games, alignment destroys rp. I trusted the books to give good advice, and it messed up my game. Now I'm much more mature as a DM, so I know how to take advice with a grain of salt. And I still learn new stuff every session I run.
I don't want future DMs to go through my problems again. There's a big enough DM shortage as it is. DMing well is hard.
The biggest thing I had to unlearn in my process of becoming a good DM was the idea that the game is a simulation of a world. I understand many DMs prefer a more simulationist approach, although I am always skeptical simply because I would have said the same thing until I learned and grew as a DM. This doesn't mean their approach is completely invalid, but it still gives me a personal twinge when I see a regression back to 3e era sim style gaming.
I also have noticed many groups where one or two old-school players run a whole group's playstyle because the newer players aren't even aware there are other ways of doing things. The newer players tell me stories of things they hated in the session, and I end up explaining to them how those things they hate are very fixable, and in fact are fixed in the newer edition of the game their older players have told them is terrible.
In regard to things like martial healing, I don't think it's necessary for it to be in the game for the game to be fun. However, the attitude that says martial healing is terrible and shouldn't exist is an attitude that, to me, reveals a wrongheaded approach to the game. Therefore, my fight for it to be an option is to help legitimize the more narrative approach that I think is what most players want, but many don't know is possible, because they've never been exposed to it.
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Moria Rothale, level 3 Human, Sorcerer (Elementalist) Elemental Specialty Option: Fire Elementalist Human Power Selection Option: Bonus At-Will Power Inherent Bonuses Cormyr (General) (Cormyr (General) Benefit) Theme: Cormyrian Battle Mage
FINAL ABILITY SCORES STR 12, CON 16, DEX 12, INT 10, WIS 8, CHA 18
STARTING ABILITY SCORES STR 12, CON 16, DEX 12, INT 10, WIS 8, CHA 16
Level 3: • Retrain Mastery of Knives to Ritual Caster. • Received Paired Dagger +1 (usually used as two) (from loot) • Received 4 rituals (from loot) • Received Potion of Healing (from loot) • Gained second use of Elemental Escalation (Fire)
Level: 1 Component Cost: 10 gp Market Price: 50 gp Key Skill: Arcana Category: Exploration Time: 10 minutes Duration: 24 hours When beginning the ritual, choose a language you have heard or a piece of writing you have seen within the past 24 hours. Using this ritual on a language you have heard allows you to understand it when spoken for the next 24 hours and, if your Arcana check result is 35 or higher, to speak the language fluently for the duration. Using this ritual on a language you have seen as a piece of writing allows you to read the language for the next 24 hours and, if your Arcana check result is 35 or higher, to write the language in its native script or in any other script you know for the duration. Using this ritual on a language you have both heard and seen as a piece of writing within the past 24 hours allows you to understand it in both forms for the next 24 hours, and an Arcana check result of 35 or higher allows you to speak and write the language.
Level: 1 Component Cost: 10 gp Market Price: 50 gp Key Skill: Arcana (no check) Category: Exploration Time: 10 minutes Duration: Until discharged You bind a message into a surface you touch. When conditions you set are met, the surface manifests a mouth and conveys your message, discharging the ritual. The mouth appears to be made out of the same material as the surface, but you otherwise decide the mouth’s appearance.
Level: 1 Component Cost: 10 gp Market Price: 50 gp Key Skill: Arcana or Nature or Religion Category: Exploration Time: 10 minutes Duration: Instantaneous You purify a volume of water. The amount of water you can purify is determined by the result of your Arcana check, Nature check, or Religion check. • 9 or lower: 1 square • 10 to 19: 2 squares • 20 to 34: 4 squares • 35 or higher: 10 squares
Level: 1 Component Cost: 10 gp Market Price: 50 gp Key Skill: Arcana or Nature or Religion Category: Exploration Time: 10 minutes Duration: 24 hours You create a slightly concave, circular plane of force that floats a foot off the ground and can carry what you lay upon it. The disk is 3 feet in diameter and 1 inch deep at its center. It remains stationary unless you move more than 5 squares away from it, in which case it moves with your base speed once per round until it is within 5 squares of you. You can command the disk to move up to your speed as a move action. If you are more than 5 squares from the disk for 2 consecutive rounds, the disk disappears, dropping whatever it was carrying.
Your Arcana check result determines the maximum load the disk can carry. • 9 or lower: 250 pounds • 10 to 19: 500 pounds • 20 to 39: 1000 pounds • 40 or higher: 2000 pounds
Note: house rule regarding ritual usage Characters with the Ritual Caster feat/feature may use up to their level in Rituals per day without component cost, over and above any free rituals they have at their disposal.
Moria was taken as a young child into the War Wizard Academy. She showed great promise, especially in the area of Elementals, particularly fire. When she became old enough to study to be a War Wizard, she completed her training under the tutelage of Rorian Valdar, a noted Elemental War Wizard in the Adademy. After receiving her Battlemage title, Moria requested a sabbatical so that she might travel a bit and see the world. Her purpose, on the surface, was to find new magical knowledge. In reality she wanted to experience life a bit, away from the confines of the Academy.
Moria is 5'4" with a slender build. Her eyes are light blue, and she keeps her honey brown hair swept up into a bun or braid on top of her head to keep it out of the way. She is very neat and clean in appearance, mostly owing to the amount of discipline involved in her upbringing -- everything must be just so to adhere to the rules of the Academy, after all. She dresses mostly in reds, owing to her affinity for fire, and tends to wear long sleeves to cover minor burn scars that she received early on in her training before she learned to fine tune her control.
Moria has always had a bit of an impish streak, and can be quite cunning, sly, and flirty at times. Her joy at finally being out on her own shines through quite a bit, and adds to her happy-go-lucky attitude. Once roused, her temperment is fiery of course. She is optimistic in nature for the most part.
Red for speech Swapped pre-racial bonus ability scores for Dex and Intelligence. Dex now 10, Intelligence now 16. Swapped starting ability scores for Con and Wis. Con now 14, Wis now 13. Swapped Level 1 Encounter power Desparate Fury for Great Cleave
Cautious and analytical, Sha-karn carries himself with a restless energy that seems to seethe just beneath his skin. His tall, well muscled frame might be attractive to those willing to overlook the sickly green hue of his skin, his unruly hair, and the sag to the left side of his face that makes his eyes slightly lopsided and gives him a permanent sneer. Sha-karn wears sturdy homespun beneath his hide armor, and cares rather more about not being seen as a coward than in amassing any personal glory. Sha-Karn is afraid of death. His fear embarrasses him and so he meets it head on, over and over, just to prove to himself that he is not a coward. He's so scared of death that the only time he feels like he is living life is when he's inches away from losing it. One of these days, his fear of death will get him killed.
Exiled from his community by the abyssal taint in his manifestation, Sha-karn was raised by Tholin, a dwarven gladiator, adventurer, and friend of his mother. Drawn to the few other Genasi in the city, Sha-karn was particularly close to Mara-kai, who is also tainted, and fellow warriors Valandra and Wartide. Two years ago, Tholin failed to return from one of his frequent excursions. Sha-karn is determined to discover his fate, but finds himself low on the funds necessary to properly investigate the disappearance. When he hears rumors of a nobleman looking to hire a team of adventurers, he turns to his companions for aid.
HP: 41/41 Surges: 10/10 (10) AC: 18 Fortitude: 18 Reflex: 16 Will: 13 Resist: 5 acid Vision: Normal Speed: 6 Initiative: (+1) Passive Insight: 19 Passive Perception: 19 Other Notes: Can breathe underwater (Causticsoul Feature) Whenever your attack reduces an enemy to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier (2). Once per round, when you score a critical hit with a barbarian attack power, you can immediately make a melee basic attack as a free action. You do not have to attack the same target that you scored a critical hit against. Languages: Common, Primordial
[ ]Action Points: 1.0/1 .0 [ ][ ][ ] Failed Death Saves Current Status: SkillsShow
Standard Action - Melee weapon Requirement: You must be wielding a melee weapon in two hands Target: One creature. Attack: +9 vs. AC Hit: 2d4 + 1d6 + 4 damage. Special: When charging, you can use this power in place of a melee basic attack. If you are raging, you can move 2 extra squares as part of the charge.
Standard Action - Melee weapon Effect: Before the attack, you shift 2 squares. You can move through an enemy's space during the shift, but you can't end there. Target: One creature. Attack: +9 vs. AC Hit: 2d4 + 4 damage, and you push the target 1 square. If you are raging, the attack deals an extra 1d6 damage.
You dissolve into a bubbling, hissing liquid and surge through your enemies. Move ActionPersonal Effect: You shift half your speed over ground or liquid terrain and through squares occupied by enemies. You must end your movement in an unoccupied square. You make the attack against each creature whose space you enter. Attack: 1d20+8 vs. Reflex Hit: 1d8 + 4 acid damage.
Trigger: An enemy adjacent to you shifts or makes an attack that does not include you as a target. Immediate Interrupt: Make a melee basic attack against the target (+9 vs AC, 2d4+4 damage).
Standard Action - Melee weapon Target: One creature. Attack: +9 vs. AC Hit: 4d4 + 4 damage, and you push the target 2 squares. The target and each enemy adjacent to the target at the end of the push are slowed until the end of your next turn.
Standard Action - Melee weapon Target: One creature. Attack: +9 vs. Fortitude Hit: 4d4 + 4 damage, and you push the target 2 squares and knock it prone. Then, one enemy adjacent to the target takes 1d8+4 (STR mod) damage.
Primal, Rage, Weapon Standard Action - Melee weapon Target: One creature. Attack: +9 vs. AC Hit: 6d4 + 4 damage. Miss: Half damage Effect: You enter the rage of the thunder hooves. Until the rage ends, you can move through one or two enemies’ spaces during each of your turns. When you move through an enemy’s space, your next attack against that enemy during the same turn deals 1[W] extra damage (2d4).
Immediate Interrupt Trigger: You are hit by the attack. Effect: Until the end of your next turn, you gain resistance to all damage equal to 7 (5 + CON modifier).
Item Slot: Neck Enhancement: Fortitude, Reflex, & Will Power (Daily): Immediate Reaction. Trigger: You are hit by a close or area attack. Effect: An adjacent enemy of your choice is included in the attack.
--Item set: Foci of the Apprentice (2 items) Property: You gain a +2 item bonus to saving throws against any effect with the charm, or illusion keyword. The pieces can be on different characters. Both characters gain the benefit if within 5 squares of each other.
Level 2: Horn Tusk Armor; Armor of Resistance, Badge of the Berserker Level 3: Carnage Falchion, Bestial Armor, Vanguard Falchion Level 4: Armor of Durability Level 5: Armor of the Charging Wind Level 6: Iron Armbands of Power
Sha-Karn: Are you keeping the Gladiator theme? Just confirming; you have Disrupting Advance still listed in your statblock, but didn't mention it elsewhere.
Mara-Kai: (a) You're still keeping the Scholar theme, yes? (b) Which familiar do you have? That wasn't mentioned on your sheet.
• Ad Hominem— Attacking the person's circumstances, not addressing the argument. • Ad Hominem Abusive (Personal Attack)— Insulting the person, not addressing the argument. • Ad Hominem Tu Quoque— Saying the person's inconsistent, not addressing the argument. • Appeal to Authority/Belief/Common Practice/Consequence of a Belief/Emotion/Fear/Flattery/Novelty/Pity/Popularity/Ridicule/Spite/Tradition— Using emotion instead of Fact. • Bandwagon— Use of peer pressure. • Begging the Question— Assuming premises which haven't necessarily been agreed to. • Biased Sample— Using a sampling which may not properly represent the whole. • Burden of Proof— Shifting it to the wrong side. • Circumstantial Ad Hominem— Attacking the person's interests in supporting their argument. • Composition— Assuming that the whole has the same qualities as individual parts. • Confusing Cause & Effect— Assuming that one thing causes another because they appear in conjunction. • Division— Assuming that the individual parts have the same qualities as the whole. • False Dilemma— Assuming that only two options exist. • Gambler's Fallacy— Assuming the odds have changed because of past occurances • Genetic— Assuming a perceived defect in the origin of a claim is proof of a defect in the claim. • Guilt by Association— Attacking others who agree with the claim. • Hasty Generalization— Assuming a quality based on too small a sample size. • Ignoring the Common Cause— Assuming there is no outside cause of two connected things. • Middle Ground— Assuming the midpoint of two extremes must be correct. • Misleading Vividness— Assuming a colorful anecdote outweighs statistical evidence. • Poisoning the Well— Using unprovable claims about the person instead of addressing the argument. • Post Hoc— Assuming that something caused something else simply because it happened first. • Questionable Cause— Assuming that one thing causes another. • Red Herring— Using irrelevant evidence to divert a discussion. • Relativist Fallacy— Asserting that a claim may be true for some but not for the speaker. • Slippery Slope— Assuming the inevitability of one event based on another. • Special Pleading— Claiming exemption without justification. • Spotlight— Assuming individuals that get the most attention to be indicative of the whole. • Straw Man— Misrepresenting the opposing argument. • Two Wrongs Make a Right— Justifying something unethical/immoral as response or pre-emption to something else unethical/immoral.
Response to those who like to compare 4e to a Video GameShow
Also, I find that the "D&D 4e is like an MMO" argument is often a sign of someone who is deliberately being obtuse and/or is potentially ignorant of actual MMO play. As someone who only ended a 6-year World of Warcraft addiction a year ago, I can say that most of your bullet points actually don't match up to the truth of it.
In D&D 4e, you can choose a hybrid, you can choose to play one class as though it were another (people played Warlords as Bards frequently, when the edition first came out, and Rangers were refluffed to Monks), you can focus your class on its secondary role (a Warlock who is more controller than striker, for instance), you can multiclass, and you can create a particular concept (a mounted lancer, a charger, etc.) within the mechanics via feats, choice of powers, and choice of skills. You decide which set of stats you use--are you a Chaladin, Straladin, or Baladin?--and you have ultimate influence on how your character turns out in the end. Yes, powers require you to be using a particular weapon within your class's available selection, but the powers are not themselves tied to the gear. Powers tied to weapons or armor are typically powers that belong to the item, not to the character class that's most likely to use it.
Yes, there are only so many powers available, and these will be what you do in battle; this is all that the designers created. Yes, there is a time-frame in which they can be used; this has always been the case, even in the days of Vancian casting. Yes, there are suggested builds, but you can routinely ignore those if it pleases you; the only parts of a class you have to take are the class features, and even those have options at this point. But the only way that this can be considered at all conflatable with MMO character building/playing is if you are deliberately ignoring all of that.
In WoW, you choose a class and you're done. No multiclassing or hybridization, no way to mimic one class with careful building of a different one. There is a firm dividing line on what is a WoW class. No secondary roles or creative concepts, either; you're going to be what the class sets out to be, and that's it. You'll always have the same stat allocation as another of your class, because you get set numbers as you level up, and you've got at best four options--and that's only the Druid class--to build, and if you plan on running dungeons, particularly heroic level ones, or raiding, you'd better not even think of deviating from the single defined best build on the talent tree for what you want to do. It was only recently, with the complete tear-down and recreation of talent trees for Mists of Pandaria, that there was a concept of there being anything but the one best build that people who calculated such mechanical advantages (the folks on Elitist Jerks, for example), and the people who did things like achieve "World First" at various top-tier raids set precedent for.
Also, no class will ever not have a specific set of powers; all Priests in WoW have the same baseline, with deviation only based upon their talent tree specialization, where a D&D4e player could take whatever power in their class pleases them. Any Retribution Paladin will be the same as any other in terms of powers, because that is what a RetPally is. Any Assassination Rogue will always have the same powers as another, etc. All powers are always on specific cool-downs, but will always be there when they start a battle, where a 4e PC might enter an encounter with only At-Wills, or without their Daily powers due to what plot has done up until that point. Furthermore, no power that is not already specifically tied to an item will ever "require" you have that item, to my recollection. Classes get all their powers based on class; gear only gives bonuses to stats, possibly cuts down cast times for abilities or cooldowns, grants temporary extra bonuses to stats (the latter two most often on the raid tier equipment), and on rare occassions an extra power that may or may not be valuable, as some are only special effects instead of valuable abilities.
Most honest/open response on why DDN needs to be InclusiveShow
I've always felt it is in the best interests of D&D to be as inclusive across the playerbase as they can be and still have a game. I've never felt though that making a game that was inclusive within a group was very useful or even desirable. DM's and players can decide amongst themselves what options or restrictions they want for their games. I tend to lean to the DM to make most of those decisions but again that is a group specific thing.
Having said that. I get the distinct impression that there are a lot of players on these boards who come from groups that generally ruled against their own desires. It's almost like they are an oppressed minority from a gaming perspective. I also get the impression that they tend to advocate against things that if available their fellow group members might like and vote them down on.
Do a lot of you feel this way?
Just for clarification...here are some examples... 1. Alignment restrictions as an option. 2. Alignment Mechanics 3. Martial healing 4. Races being included or not.
I know my perspective is not that I often play at tables where my likes are not represented. Instead, my perspective comes from the many years I spent being a bad DM. I was a bad DM because my guidance came from the books, and the books gave bad advice. The books told me that alignment was a useful approach to roleplaying, so I went with it even though it felt kind of weird to me. Now I know that, at least in my style of running games, alignment destroys rp. I trusted the books to give good advice, and it messed up my game. Now I'm much more mature as a DM, so I know how to take advice with a grain of salt. And I still learn new stuff every session I run.
I don't want future DMs to go through my problems again. There's a big enough DM shortage as it is. DMing well is hard.
The biggest thing I had to unlearn in my process of becoming a good DM was the idea that the game is a simulation of a world. I understand many DMs prefer a more simulationist approach, although I am always skeptical simply because I would have said the same thing until I learned and grew as a DM. This doesn't mean their approach is completely invalid, but it still gives me a personal twinge when I see a regression back to 3e era sim style gaming.
I also have noticed many groups where one or two old-school players run a whole group's playstyle because the newer players aren't even aware there are other ways of doing things. The newer players tell me stories of things they hated in the session, and I end up explaining to them how those things they hate are very fixable, and in fact are fixed in the newer edition of the game their older players have told them is terrible.
In regard to things like martial healing, I don't think it's necessary for it to be in the game for the game to be fun. However, the attitude that says martial healing is terrible and shouldn't exist is an attitude that, to me, reveals a wrongheaded approach to the game. Therefore, my fight for it to be an option is to help legitimize the more narrative approach that I think is what most players want, but many don't know is possible, because they've never been exposed to it.
Venny hails form the small Cormyran town of Thunderstone, on the road from Arabel to Highmoon. He was abandoned as a baby, presumably by one of the many caravans that travel through the city, and was fostered by the local innkeeper, a man named Anton Highwater. His adoptive father was a kind man, and Venny's childhood was normal enough, at first.
When Venny was a young boy of eight, tragedy struck the town. A haunting melody would drift through the town night after night, wach time luring a small child from their bed. Venny was the second to go missing. In a charmed haze, he fell to the clutches of a newly risen vampire, a woman who had once been a schoolteacher, and was now hurting the ones she once loved most. Luckily, a paladin of Lathander, one of the few remaining to venerate the god's old incarnation, was in pursuit, and rescued the children from the local crypt where they were being kept and drained. Due to the timely arrival of the paladin, most of the children were able to go home again, all but the first to have been taken. If Sir Laredon had been one night later, Venny would have died.
One of Venny's most potent memories, to this day, is watching the paladin put the vampire to rest. Right as the stake pierced her heart, the woman's features had soften, and he heard her say softly, "Thank you." The experience convinced young Venny of his own purpose in life. He immediately started drilling local priests for more information on Lathander. The original paladin had moved on, and if he had belonged to a sect, no one knew anything of it. The boy took what books and pamphlets on Amaunator that he could and tried to figure out how it might apply to the god's old incarnation, but by and large, the only person in the town with good knowledge of such things was the lord's wife, Maera.
It was not so for his military training, though. To be a paladin, Venny knew he would have to learn to use a sword and shield, so he went to the local lord, Garret Laheralson. Normally, such a request would have been turned away, but the unusual determination and solemnity in the young boy's eyes swayed Laheralson into having some of his men give the boy lessons. Venny's was naturally charismatic and a rapt student, and as such, several of the Dragoons were glad to keep taking turns teaching the boy for years. Even Laheralson himself helped out, and by the time Venny was in his late teens, he was starting to get very good.
However, growing up held other challenges for the boy. For the most part, he was too busy juggling training with the soldiers, searching old scripture and helping cook and wash dishes in his father's Inn to notice girls, but there was one woman he got to see more often than not, and that was Maera. The lord and lady had known Venny since he was a child, and as Venny grew into manhood, Maera noticed him, and he noticed her. They never acted on these feelings, and the lord never knew, but one night when the lord was out with his men hunting a monster in the nearby woods, they got very close to doing so. Filled with shame, Venny went to his father for advice, and Anton had an idea. When the lord returned, Venny asked for a private audience, and asked Laheralson if he would recommend the boy into the Purple Knights in Suzail to finish his training. Laheralson eagerly agreed, knowing that Venny showed great promise, and he had left for Suzail within the week.
In Suzail, Venny has just earned his entry rank in the Knights, and has used what he was able to learn in the big city to conduct a small ritual, dedicating himself to Lathander as a Paladin.
Vendrathon is slender, standing at 5'6" and coming in at 145lbs, but he is well toned from frequent exercise and training. He's a very attractive young man, with bright gold hair and deep blue eyes. There is a look of innocence about him, and his face is very expressive.
Venny is a kind person who is dedicated to helping others. He genuinely believes that there is good in everyone, and that everyone is worth knowing. He can be very naive, and tends to be very conscious of rules, whether they're laws of the land or precepts of his faith.
Increased CHA and dumped WIS No more shifting at the begining at the fight, instead we all get +2 to Initiative. I got rid of paint the bull's eye and replaced with inevitable wave (because there is the word wave in it and we have a barbarian ) Changed level 1 feat to Mark of Healing to grant a save when healing Level2: Picked up Heavy Blade Expertise Feat Theme: I picked up Elemental Initiate Background: Wetlands (+2 nature)
Wartide has few friends in the city of Waterdeep. He wasn't popular at the academy and after he washed out, not a single classmate would acknowledge he exists. He never fitted in and he resented his merchant father for moving his family to the coastal city in the first place. Having falling in with a few other genasi that he now calls friends, he's itching to make a name for himself. He wants to show the stuck up instructors that one does not need to lick boots to be a successful warlord of the battlefield.
