D&D

[ralphmelton]

Last Thursday's D&D game went a bit better, IMHO.

I did manage to at least start out with some description (though I lost it quickly as we went into combat). This helped set the mood a bit, and I noticed that people were speaking in character much more than usual.

The combat itself was pretty fun. The barbarian bugbear managed to impress them with how much damage it was able to soak up. They still ended up taking almost no damage that they couldn't heal the next day, but at least they got scratched. (Note to self: if having only one encounter per game day, the EL needs to be a couple of levels above the party to be interesting.)

Unfortunately, I don't seem yet to have created an atmosphere of urgency. In particular, the party is currently going through a prolonged and tedious process of figuring out how to transport their mounts across the shattered bridge, despite the fact that they've concluded that the Duke they're trying to rescue is in trouble.

I guess I'll try to remind them of the urgency when they recap next, and warn them that this may not be a prudent use of their time. And if they don't make it in time... well, it seems like a waste of a good duke, but I'd do it to make a point.

Comments

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Hehe. Interesting encounters are good. Too many interesting encounters can be kinda bad. When I accidentally threw three +2/+3CR ('interesting' range) encounters at the party in one day, it caused the spellcasters to be able to do mostly nothing in the third one and it was primarily luck that let them survive. :)

I cannot help you on atmospheres of urgency--so far the only ones I've successfully generated are annoyance, frustration, confusion, paranoia, and frivolity, not all of them intentionally. :) Perhaps if the mounts were found to be unwilling to cross the bridge at all, it would persuade them to continue on foot instead, short-circuiting the rivercrossing and letting you all get on to something else. (Leaving the horses should be okay--the druid can persuade them to stay put.)

On the other hand, since I have no idea of the situation and a lower general clue factor than you, feel free to disregard anything. :) I am glad to hear that things are going well and getting better.

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

The problem with the bridge is that there's a 100-foot gap in the middle.

Their plans for the crossing involve casting Reduce five times, and then flying the shrunken horses across using Alter self. It's something of a precarious plan--if I wanted to, I would be totally justified in calling for Strength checks to see whether they managed to avoid dropping the horses during the flight. (The horses are expected to be dubious about this proposition--for good reason, I must say--so they're going to cast Sleep on them while they're ferried across.)

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

No! Not the duke! Don't take out the duke!

...not that I know the duke, I'm just saying. Good NPCs are hard to find.

I know what you mean about scaling encounter levels properly; a recent combat situation seemed too easy to me, so the next time I threw two PCs against four thugs and a boss, all of whom were around the level of the PCs or higher.

That wasn't a particularly good idea, on reflection. But I'm sure I'll figure out the EL thing eventually.

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Wait, how are the non-Altered PCs getting across? Some sort of rope arrangement?

On the other hand, it might be worth letting it go--5+ Reduces, an Alter Self and 3-5 Sleeps seems like a lot of spells to burn on travelling--the arcane spellcasters are going to be pretty out of it for the rest of the day. It's also not guaranteed to work--Reduce and Sleep both allow saves, and getting the horses to waive them (especially Reduce's) could be tricky. You really don't want the druid standing next to the horse to calm it when you cast Sleep on its area. :)
Is the count of animals to be ferried (5) including the druid's companion? He'll probably need a Reduce as well, but likely not a Sleep.
Hmm. Having the horse wake up in midferry due to jolting would be kinda bad--better not encounter any air turbulence. :)

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

The non-Altered PCs are going to climb down one side, pick their way across, and climb back up. Not too bad for humans with climbing gear, but impractical for horses.

I had forgotten about the saving throws against Reduce. That may be a big challenge for their silly idea. Thank you.

The count of animals does not include the druid's wolf, nor the halfling's riding dog. Those can probably climb, more or less.

Re: air turbulence--that's just one of the many ways things could go wrong. I'm still struck by the idea of two people of normal strength carrying a horse weighing 150 pounds or so, while flying. It seems like a recipe for trouble.

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

The PCs haven't met the Duke yet, so I might not miss him too much.

On the other hand, I had planned out his giving-the-PCs-a-reward speech, and it would be something of a shame to have to give that up.

It may happen that they rescue the Duke and escort him home, only to find that he isn't the Duke anymore. They've been warned that this might happen, so it would be fair...

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Uh. Are two people with 16 Str each doing the flying? If you're flying with wings (as opposed to with the Fly spell) you can only carry aloft a light load, which for a 150 lb horse requires two people with Str 16 or one with Str 21. (Looking at the table in PHB ch 9)

Assuming someone with high enough Use Rope skill, you could probably contrive a horse-harness so that the fliers don't have to try to hold on to the horse.

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Never mind that--looking in the Monster Manual I find a bit about being able to carry up to medium weight limit, which means you only need two people with Str 11.

urgency

[cellio]

Maybe the players missed an obvious hint? I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm entertaining this idea because rescuing the duke is urgent. We travel about three times as fast mounted as on foot, and I don't think we have any reason to believe the duke is just around the next bend or something. (I don't recall the signal from the beacon getting stronger or changing direction.) Reducing our speed to a third by abandoning the horses doesn't seem wise to me unless we think we're pretty close to our target.

Or maybe I'm just being dim.

Re: urgency

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

I am mollified by reading this. Thank you.

One bit of information: Kevin persuaded me that over the course of a day, the speed of a horse is not much different than that of an equivalently-encumbered human. So the "three times as fast" is changed from what D&D says. I'm sorry if that was not clear.

I also realize that there hasn't been evidence that you're getting near to the Duke. Perhaps I'll change the ring to give some sense of proximity as well. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

It also seems to me that there might be troubles with two people flying in coordination. But I don't think I need to make more troubles for the PCs.

Re: urgency

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

Another thing I meant to say: I do think that the crossing-the-bridge plan will be useful at some point, so it shouldn't be dismissed entirely.

Re: urgency

[cellio]

One bit of information: Kevin persuaded me that over the course of a day, the speed of a horse is not much different than that of an equivalently-encumbered human.

Ah. I did not realize this. I have no clue whether it's accurate (I don't know much about horses), but that's not that important. Pity we didn't realize the horses weren't buying us much speed when we left the capital, or we could have left them there. The drinks in that tavern must have been stronger than we thought, to cause us to not think of this. :-)

Perhaps I'll change the ring to give some sense of proximity as well.

That, or if we're close enough, it ought to be possible to triangulate an approximate position. Due to geography we have not been proceeding in a straight line toward the target; has the signal changed?

[cellio]

I had forgotten about the saving throws against Reduce. That may be a big challenge for their silly idea. Thank you.


Do sleeping creatures get saving throws? (They certainly shouldn't get will saves, but I assume the save against Reduce is fortitude.)

BTW, if we actually do this, I had already planned to suggest that the flight path more-or-less follow the terrain. The consequences of dropping the load would be lowered that way. (We were also going to have Kyle come up with something harness-like using rope, as I recall.)

[In character:] Of course, that's assuming that Prolix can keep up. I have been practicing flight for the last several weeks, including basic maneuvers. He, however, has been partying with wizards. Hrolf says Prolix is clumsy and we should just cause the horses to sprout wings...

Re: urgency

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

The horses are worthwhile because of the endurance factor; they can carry a lot more supplies than humans can.

Re: urgency

[cellio]

Good point. Even with Hotel Leomund we need to carry a fair bit of stuff. :-)

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Reduce is vs Fortitude

Why shouldn't sleeping creatures get will saves? I can see them getting a penalty, maybe, but otherwise it makes certain classes of spells much, much more powerful. (The evil wizard has prepared one Still Silent Dominate Person for each member of the group. He hides in the bushes near where you make camp. During each watch, he Dominates the people who are sleeping. He is automatically successful, so even if they wake up he just puts them back to sleep.)
Then, there's the example of the Nightmare spell, which allows a will save and can _only_ be cast while the target is sleeping. :)

[cellio]

Good point -- sleeping should confer a penalty, not a guaranteed failure. Heck, even prone creatures get armor class in combat, and it's kind of the same principle.

I haven't actually read up on all the spells of higher level than my character can know. One of these days I should just sit down and read the spell descriptions cover to cover.

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

To expand on what Carl said: you probably want sleeping creatures to get will saves, because otherwise, nasty creatures will use those spells on you while you're sleeping.

[cellio]

Yes, agreed. It was a mistaken idea. The magic being used against you could wake you from an ordinary sleep, after all. So it should be at a minus (until you wake up, anyway), but it should be possible.

[mrpeck.livejournal.com]

(We were also going to have Kyle come up with something harness-like using rope, as I recall.)
I have some hesitations as to whether this will actually work due to things like Kyle's skill level and rope strength. Kyle also has some hesitations as to whether he wants to participate in such a plan. Sprouting wings is kind of freaky although not quite a shapechange. That also means that he'd have to trust Prolix to not drop him or his mount. He'd probably trust Larissa to at least not do it on purpose unless she found out about what he last read in her diary. :)

[cellio]

Kyle weighs, what, 40 pounds? You don't need Prolix for that. :-) But anyway, I had been assuming that those who can walk/climb would just do that. Arial maneuvers for for those who can't get there otherwise.

It sounds from Ralph's comments that this won't actually need to get implemented, though. We'll see.

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

It might come in useful at some point. If it did, it would be nice to have the plan worked out, so that we don't have to work out all the details during play.