Zanne moves closer to the berserker and puts a final arrow through its neck before the bloodied warrior could even turn around to face Caleth. The warrior's body goes limp and its arms drop to its side, releasing the greataxe with a clang against the rough floor just before its body crumbles atop Sir Joshua.
The ranger then turns to his quarry who's fending off attacks from Sylvac and Sparky. A fourth arrow lodges into its abdomen and black blood pours from a severed liver. In a last act to appease his master, the priest blurts out, "Claim my soul, Lord Orcus!" and swings his mace wildly at Sylvac. The monk sidesteps the cruel weapon as the off-balanced pirest stumbles to his knees and finally collapses face-first into a pool of blood.
Zanne steps closer to the dark pit that swallows the streams of blood. Four heavy chains are attached to the grates that surround the pit, each heavily-coated with thick, slippery blood. The chains descend through a dark tunnel for about 20 feet before dangling another 30 feet into a dark pool below. Is that... blood? The large subterrean chamber below is illuminated with torch light. Shadows flicker across dark pool below - someone or something is down there. As Zanne continues to peer into the chamber below his mind is filled with unintelligible whispers. He does not know the strange tongue of the words, but somehow he knows... the whispers want him.
The encounter was 195 XP for each PC. In addition to the slain creatures, there are several ruined rooms in this complex. (This area was likely ruined by the same earthquake that collapsed the keep above ground.) There is also a sinister altar to the east with a mutilated corpse atop it. The altar sits in front of a wall that depicts a ram-headed demon.
Edit: This encounter was also a Milestone (gain another Action Point).
Zanne turns away from the pit with a shiver and runs to Sir Joshua. He takes out his medicinal herbs and tries his best to treat the worst of the wounds.
(since combat's over, I assume that Sir Joshua will awaken from his condition?)
Since they have tme to catch their breath and take a short rest, Sir Joshua wearlily rests against the wall and tries to reset himself. He's covered in blood and gore, and tries to get most of it off of him, as a honorable paladin should never be seen in this condition...
Once done, he'll take several surges (4) to bring himself up to max hps, leaving only 1 left.
He'll help search the area, especially the dead berserkers and the priest. He'll look for anything that looks magical on their bodies, including potions, etc.
To the others, he says, "Let's check these bodies quickly and the surrounding area, altar and rooms. Once we're done, I say we check out the pit. Something's down there and it's not friendly..."
Breathing a sigh of relief as Sir Joshua regains consciousness, Zanne stands and cautiously starts exploring the northern chambers, looping back around towards where the dark creeper came through the doors to attack Jenit. 18(1d20) +10 = 28
Meanwhile, Sparky sniffs at the dark priest's arrow ridden corpse. 1(1d20) +8 = 9
Sylvac seems weary - on edge. He rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet and does not leave his defensive posture. He goes about exploring the gruesome altar and the unexplored areas behind it with some trepidation, and seems preoccupied with the pit in the middle of the room.
Caleth sighs with exhaustion as the beserker and the evil cleric are felled by Zanne's arrows. He moves to check on Sir Joshua but the nimble ranger is already there taking good care of their knight. Its been a long time since Caleth has felt this exhausted, but he knows their work isn't done yet.
"Quickly team. Let's do a quick scan of this area and then see if we can ready ourselves to head down."Caleth's weariness is such that its not until he's finished speaking that he realizes that Sylvac and the refreshed Sir Joshua are already doing just that. He eyes Jenit with wonder as she seems barely touched by the days activities.
Caleth sits and rests, but while doing so, he critically eyes the alter the evil priest was working at to see if he can learn any more about what is occuring here, though in truth his eyes are as tired as the rest of his body and he fails to notice much else.
Jenit brushes herself off checks for any serious injuries from the attack by the creeper; she finds an open wound on her side, and proceeds to tear a strip of the robe's cloth and tie off the injury, to stop the bleeding.
Once she's ready, she heads over to the edge of the pit, trying to see what can be perceived as the blood goes down through the grate. She pulls the rope out from her pack and begins tying it to the metal. "We can probably climb down the chains," she comments to Caleth, "but I'd prefer to have something less slick to hold onto."
Used since start of turn: []Minor []Move []Standard []Immediate
AC:18 Fort:15 Ref:15 Will:15 Speed: 5 Init: +1 HP: 32/32 Surges: 6/8 Surge Value: 8 AP: 0/1 Status: Crit (Implement): +1d6 damage, and teleport the target up to 1 square.
Avenging Light (+5 vs Fort, ranged 10 or melee) 1d10+4 radiant, & if target adj. to bloodied ally +2 to dmg Hand of Radiance (+5 vs Ref, ranged 10:up to 3 different targets) 1d4+4 radiant [x]Blades of Astral Fire (+5 vs Ref, area burst 1 in 10:enemies) 1d6+4 radiant; eff: allies in burst +4 power to AC eont []Fires of Judgment (+5 vs Ref, area burst 1 in 10:enemies) 2d10+4 fire damage (2d12+4 if bloodied ally in burst), and allies in burst gain +2 to saving throws (sont). []Divine Call (minor; ranged 10: one or two allies) Pull target(s) 3 spaces each []CD: Divine Fate (free; ranged 10) trigger: self or ally fail ability, skill, or save; eff: target rerolls, uses higher []CD: Preserver's Rebuke (imm. reax; ranged 10) trigger: enemy hits ally; eff: self +3 to next attack vs target eont []CD: Rebuke Undead (standard; +5 vs Will, close blast 5:undead creatures) 1d10+4 radiant & push 2 & dazed eont []Oath of Enmity (minor; close burst 10:1 enemy I can see in burst) When making a melee attack against the target, roll twice and use best attack roll. This lasts until either I hit the target or until the target is reduced to 0 hp. []Shadow Jaunt (move; teleport 3; insubstantial eont) []Cast Fortune (standard; ranged 5, 1 ally; roll d20 three times; these results replace the next 3 non-trivial attack rolls, saving throws, and/or skill checks to be made by the target) (Note: cannot target same ally more than once between extended rests.) {Zanne} []Action Point []Second Wind []Brilliant Beacon (standard; +5 vs Will, area burst 1 in 10:enemies) 10 ongoing radiant damage(save) on hit, 5 radiant damage on miss; creates zone eont (minor:sustain;move:move zone 6): enemies in zone take -2 to attacks, defenses, & saving throws; zone ends if at end of turn Jenit is within zone. []Dwarven Armor (daily: free; personal) Regain surge-worth of hit points w/o spending surge []Rod of Malign Conveyance +1 (daily: move) Teleport yourself, an ally within 5 squares of you, and an enemy within 5 squares of you, up to 1 square.
Melee Basic: Avenging Light Ranged Basic: Avenging Light Preserver Covenant: When using Invoker encounter or daily attack powers, may slide 1 an ally w/in 10.
• 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.
The heroes breathe a sigh of relief as the final cultist, invigorated by the evil taint of Orcus, collapses to the blood-streaked flagstones of the chamber. The brave adventurers gather around the dark passage that descends menacingly into the depths of the keep, watching the shadows flicker across the black pool below, knowing their journey's end lies with whatever foul evil lurks unseen below.
There's no time to waste. They quickly gather their arms and search the area and fallen adversaries for any clues or items that may come in handy. The corpses of the vampires have unnaturally disintegrated, leaving behind nothing more than charred remains that crumple to ash.
Similarly, the dark one left behind no corpse as it exploded with the necrotic energy of the Shadowfell. However, its frayed black garments are left behind, along with the numerous hidden daggers now revealed by torn compartments. The dark creeper had specialized blades for an assortment of occassions: a widow's knife for poisons, a parrying dagger for defense, a very accurate dagger for precision, and a serpentine lancing dagger for other foul intentions. Tucked into another compartment is an elixir of invisibility and a potion of healing.
The crazed berserkers wore very little armor, instead they preferred to display their body-covering tatoos of ram-headed demons and skulls. Their greataxes were ruthless weapons in their muscled hands, but mundane weapons nonetheless.
The priest of Orcus wore crimson robes below the waist, but his bare chest and scalp were also tatooed in the likeness of the ram-headed demon. His hand still clutches onto his black iron mace, its end also constructed into a ram's head. The evil implement does not contain any latent magic.
When Caleth approaches the altar he notices the mutilated corpse was once a hobgoblin. The creature's pale orange flesh is covered by scars of torture (Caleth recalls the hot poker the hobgoblin torturer had swung at him days ago.) The warlord could only hope the creature did not suffer a long and cruel death atop the foul altar.
Surrounding the altar are obsidian censers and bowls fashioned from both humanoid skulls and ghords, all containing components used in the sacrificial rituals - incense, herbs, reagents, ungents - there is even a small silver bowl with crystal clear powder that must be Residuum.
Zanne recognizes some of the rare herbs collected in the bowls from the nearby conifer woodlands. He says some of the herbs can be combined with the tobacco leaf Caleth found earlier, a pinch of Residuum, and enough water to make a slurry. The resulting concoction makes a splendid herbal poultice, and there should be enough of the herbs for three such uses. The remaining herbs, when mixed with saliva and chewed for five minutes, can make a woundpatch. There should be enough herbs left over for two of these patches. Even after making the woodman's concoctions, there would be plenty of components left over for other uses. The problem is... what kind of evil taint have these ingredients been blessed with?
With Jenit attaching a rope to the grates, there are now five ways to descend the pit: four bloody, slippery chains and one rope. Climbing down the rope would take athletic skill and is relatively easy, but climbing is a slow process (half speed) and you would have to spend 20 squares of movements to move down the 50' total length. However, going down the chains would be like sliding down a pole - it's more of an acrobatics feat - and like a pole a person can slide down the chain and arrive at the bottom very quickly.
Having Sparky descend the pit is another matter. He can be lowered down by rope or carried. If he's carried I suppose the DC to climb a rope or chain would increase some.
I'm sure the PCs/Players can come up with some creative things, too.
_________________________________________________ "Jacking up the level rewards has always carried the taint of bribery, in my mind. If people need to be bribed to play D&D, then something's wrong with the game." -Steve Winter (http://www.howlingtower.com/2012/01/illusory-math.html)
