The Party of Four

[Sarachim]

Woo, we survived! And leveled up!

 

Click to reveal.. (Level 4!)

Porifio

Male Elf

Occupation: Aristocrat

Alignment: Conceited

 

4 Str/2 Dex/7 Int, 17 HP

 

Magic (Enchantment): 6

Magic (Abjuration): 5

Streetwise: 3+1

Martial (Epee): 3

Composure: 1+1

Crafting (Magic items): 1

 

Spells:

Mind Duel: Blasts a target's mind with psychic energy.

Tanali's Clear Eye: Shields the recipient from illusions, enchantments, and other magical deceptions, allowing them to see reality clearly.

Nuxile's Thought Read: Gives the caster a brief look into the target's mind. A minor success will only reveal the target's emotions or most superficial thoughts. A major success may give deep insight into memories, plans, or beliefs. Costs 1 stamina.

Rollo's Moderate Hypnosis: Hypnotizes one target. While hypnotized, the target will believe whatever the caster tells him and follow commands, unless he makes a saving roll to break the hypnosis. Each new suggestion/command gives the target another chance to save. More ambitious suggestions/commands are easier to resist.

Elemental Ward: Bestow tolerance of an element on your allies. Stamina is required for multiple elements.

Resiliency: Lays a ward on the recipient that makes him/her physically more resilient for a short time. They take slightly less damage from any source except mental, and stamina damage from blood loss or drowning/asphyxiating is reduced. Stamina can be spent to greatly increase the duration of the effect.

Defensive Enhancement (A5): Permanently imbues an object with protective magic, which will shield whoever carries or wields it. Requires a long time (several uninterrupted hours) and a lot of stamina (at least 3 for small objects. More for weapons/armor). The protective enchantment can be general, or it can be specific to one kind of attack (physical, fire, mental, whatever).

Limitation: Requires points in a relevant Crafting skill to use effectively.

[Nioca]

LEVEL!!!

Click to reveal.. (Arell Iseil, L4)

ARELL ISEIL

RACE: Dragonborn, Female

OCCUPATION: Apprentice Flamekeeper Spiritualist

ALIGNMENT: Narcissitic

 

LEVEL 4

ATTRIBUTES: 4/3/6 (+STR)

HP: 17/17 (+3)

STM: 9/10

SPEED: 5

ARMOR: 4

XP: 00/50 (+12)

 

Magic (Vitaemancy) - 7 (28XP) (+1)

Martial (Staves) - 4 (10XP) (+1)

Composure - 3 (RB+3XP)

First Aid - 3 (RB+3XP) (+1)

Stealth - 2 (3XP)

Perception - 2 (3XP)

This is a big level for Arell, because not only does she have a new point in Vitaemancy, but she's got a new set of spells to go with it.

Click to reveal.. (Emic's Entropic Energy (VETOED))

EMIC'S ENTROPIC ENERGY (VL7)

EFFECTS: Burns the target's life energy to provide it raw potential energy.

-Recovers 2 stamina in the recipient.

-Inflicts 5d2 damage in the recipient; this damage is dealt to both the character's current AND max HP.

-The damage to the caster's max HP is only healed via resting. Epic-level healing might also be able to cure the MHP damage.

-If the recipient's max HP drops to 0 or less, the character is killed instantly with no save. If the recipient's current HP drops to or below 0, the character will start hemorrhaging stamina the round after casting as if they were bleeding out.

-If the recipient is already at full stamina or is only down 1 stamina, the spell fails with no harm to the recipient.

-Can only be cast on a willing recipient. Casting on a resisting target will automatically cause the spell to fail.

-Does not require a roll (other than the 5d2).

DESCRIPTION: Feels as if a fire was racing through the target's veins, but also makes them feel more energetic, as if granted a second wind.

 

(Useful for an emergency stamina recharge, but at a high price that takes time to recover from.)

Click to reveal.. (Salamandric Blood)

SALAMANDRIC BLOOD (VL7)

COST: 2STM

EFFECTS: Alters the target's blood; when exposed to air, the target's blood becomes corrosive and bursts into flame.

-When struck by an attack that draws blood, the recipient's blood will spray out. In the case of melee or very-close ranged attacks, this sprays on the attacker, doing damage proportional to how much damage was dealt.

-The blood will also corrode the offending weapon, potentially sundering it.

-If the recipient dies while under the effects of the spell, their body combusts, severely burning anyone nearby.

-Wounds received while this is active are more serious and deal more damage. Fortunately, they also self-cauterize.

-Lasts roughly 15 minutes. Additional stamina can be spent to prolong the duration.

-A person can only undergo the effects of this spell once per day.

DESCRIPTION: A sense of warmth, with a brief aura around the target. The flame's color depends on the recipient's life energy; in Arell's case, it's a dark gray.

 

(This spell is a powerful defensive ward because, to quote the movie Alien: "You don't dare kill it." It's not a cheap spell, however, and it can only affect a person once per day. Also, may I just say that this spell really would have come in handy tonight?)

Click to reveal.. (Vitaepulse)

VITAEPULSE (VL7)

EFFECTS: Not so much a spell as a raw blast of life energy, Vitaepulse hits the target with a fast-firing pulse of positive life energy to mend wounds.

-Heals damage on a target. (FORMULA: [1d3+Vita]-[x*2], where x is the number of castings on that recipient).

-At the cost of 1STM, can be fired as a move-action.

-Like most heal spells, can be targeted against undead beings as an attack spell. However, this cannot be done as a move-action

DESCRIPTION: A light yellow beam firing from the caster to the recipient.

 

(Because having to spend a turn healing an ally that could instead go to knocking down the angry treemonster trying to take your face off sorta sucks. This spell would enable Arell to fill her role as healer while still acting in other useful fashions.)

Click to reveal.. (Guardian Spirit)

GUARDIAN SPIRIT (VL7)

COST: 1STM

EFFECTS: Summons a powerful yet loyal spirit to protect the caster and do its bidding.

-The spirit is incorporeal and incapable of physical interactions.

-The spirit's touch, however, is capable of disrupting life or magical energy, making it a strong combatant.

-The spirit's incorporeal nature renders it nigh-immune to physical attack. Magical attacks or magically-charged weapons can harm it normally, however.

-The spirit can also see, hear, and observe, making it a useful short-range scout.

-The spirit cannot travel far from the caster.

-Lasts for roughly 1 hour.

-Only one spirit can be summoned at a time, and this spell cannot be swapped out while active.

DESCRIPTION: A faint, glowing, shade-like spirit. Has an orangish-yellow coloration.

 

(Because Arell hasn't really been able to find any suitable bodies, and being a "Spiritualist", this spell sorta fits her. I'm glad I found it browsing through some old character sheets. At any rate, one issue we keep running into in combat is being outnumbered, and this might help even the odds.)

 

Whew. All of these await approval have been approved or vetoed.

 

Session VII is finished. And here are yet more lessons we have learned.

 

*The RNG is not your friend, and will laugh at your misery (Or: You know the RNG is against you when you have difficulty rolling over a 10 but your opponents crit you EIGHT TIMES IN A SINGLE FIGHT).

 

*When wandering off on your own around magical wood, be prepared for possible danger.

 

*When stuck in something, if the word "Entombed" is used to describe how stuck you are, it is a surefire signal to you to get unstuck very quickly.

 

*It's better to be able to set the forest on fire and not need to than to need to set the forest on fire and be unable.

 

*When introducing a former NPC by name, make sure the PCs all actually know that NPC by name.

 

*This party is not fully equipped to handle rampaging tree monsters.

 

*Throwing rampaging tree monsters at your fellow party members is ill-advised and may be looked down upon by the rest of the party.

 

*Monsters appreciate getting healed. They will demonstrate this appreciation by kicking you in the face.

 

EDITED 04/18/2011

Click to reveal.. (Edit Reasons)

-Emic's Entropic Energy vetoed by DM.

-Vitaepulse approved with modification to effectiveness. Also, unmentioned stipulation added.

-All others approved.

[RCCCL]

Sarsus Level 4

 

Click to reveal..

Sarsus Saume

Female Lacewing

Occupation - Martial Arts Instructor

Alignment - Determined

 

Str - 5(+1)

Dex - 3

Int - 5

HP - 20/20(+3)

STA - 10/10

 

Magic: Evocation - 6(+2 (11 xp))(21xp)

Magic: Transmutation - 4 (10xp)

Martial: Unarmed - 4 (10xp)

History - 3 (3xp + 1 RB)

Thievery - 1 (RB)

Perception - 3

(+1 (3xp)) (6xp)

 

Total 14 points used, 12 from this level up, 2 left over from the previous.

 

New Spells. (Pending approval)

 

Click to reveal.. (Breathe of Fresh Fire)

Breathe of Fresh Fire

Evocation

 

Sarsus takes a large lungful of air, upon letting it out, Sarsus literally exhales a large gout of flame, doing large damage to whatever is in front of her. 1STA

 

Click to reveal.. (Slag)

Slag

Transmutation

 

Liquefies metal on contact, can be used on most anything made of metal, whether swords or locks. Amount of Sta used depends on the size of the object.

 

Click to reveal.. (Rubber Bones)

Rubber Bones

Transmutation

 

Touching the target, Sarsus causes their bones to become soft and brittle, causing them to take more damage from blows and do less damage in return. 1STA

[Rowen]

Sarsus: Fresh Fire and Slag are okay.

Porifio: Hypno-toad spell and Crafting spell are okay.

Arell: Healing is aproved, just change it from (2d3+Skill) to (1d3+Skill). Guarding Spirit and Salamandric Blood are okay too.

 

Session Six: Punch Drunk

Session Seven: End of Slumwood

 

Next session will most likely be next week. Check the PM for dates.

[Triumph]

The link for session seven is made of fail.

[Mistb0rn]

It did the same thing to me earlier, but if you Save Target As and manually change the extension to .rtf, it seems to work fine.

 

[Rowen]

Fixed it.

 

Also, next session will be April 27th. Come to see Eolith, and learn untold secrets.

[Rowen]

24 Hour warning! One hour warning cause I forgot to do this yesterday.

[Nioca]

Crap! That's today?! I completely forgot!

 

...guess it's a good thing nothing came up in the interim, though. I'll be there

[Rowen]

Here is the log from session 8 were the party got to meet not only themselves but a someone very familiar and influential on all AIMhack players.

 

Session Eight: Future Visits

 

 

Next session is this Tuesday, May third at 4pm PDT

 

EDIT: Here are the two symbols on the two letters that the party still has.

Click to reveal..

Click to reveal..

 

My skill using Paint is very lacking.

[Rowen]

Double post bump for tonight. Session 9 is upon us.

[Rowen]

In the last two and a half weeks much has happened to the merry band of adventures in over two session and one side session. If there is one think that a GM never expects the PC's to do, its stop and talk for half a session about everything that has happened to them. Maybe it was a good thing they did this, the plot did need just a little clearing up.

 

Session Nine: Whitty Tittle Goes Here

Session 9.5: The Last Ruler of Mohete

Session Ten: A Less Muddy View

[Triumph]

I look forward to reading these. I found the plot somewhat confusing so far and I hope now I'll be get it better.

[Triumph]

So...based on what the PCs know in game, is this correct? I'm figure out if I've grasped the major factions the party has heard about.

 

 

Flamekeepers (leaders are Conclave): the group of mages of which the protagonists are members; infiltrated by other forces.

 

The Nameless Ones aka the Gatekeepers aka the Keepers aka the Order: bad guys, not much specific known about them; they control the Robes (aka purple robe dudes) and seem to be enemies of the undead emperor.

 

Undead Emperor Halliburton: suspected to be the one who makes the antimagic zombies; enemy of the Nameless Ones/Keepers/Order.

 

Rogue Robes: a dissenting group of purple dudes not aligned more with the Order/Keepers; leader is Cragwire?

 

The Waifs: folks like the diminutive forest dude; can operate in a dreamworld; enemies of the Order/Keepers/Nameless Ones; opposes cutting down slumwood.

 

 

Is any of that incorrect, based on what has been revealed so far? Am I missing any major groups / figures?

 

Way to go on the Byzantine machinations, Rowen.

[Rowen]

Spoilers for a reason.

 

Originally Posted By: Triumph

The Nameless Ones aka the Gatekeepers aka the Keepers aka the Order: bad guys, not much specific known about them; they control the Robes (aka purple robe dudes) and seem to be enemies of the undead emperor.

Click to reveal..

What the party has learned is that the Nameless Ones are the Order, and some of them are Gatekeepers, who now control the Robes. Important to note that not all Gatekeepers are part of the Nameless Ones/Order, or so we are lead to believe.

Click to reveal..

We also know that Harlifigrzix destroyed a factory where Focus Rods were made, claiming it to be an act against the Nameless Ones but it is unclear if he makes a distinction between the Nameless Ones and the Gatekeepers.

 

Originally Posted By: Triumph

The Waifs: folks like the diminutive forest dude; can operate in a dreamworld; enemies of the Order/Keepers/Nameless Ones; opposes cutting down slumwood.

Click to reveal..

We only know of one Waife, The Seer; it lays claim to be a Gatekeeper and seems to be known by the Rouge Robes, suggesting ties to them. Very little it know of the little plant man who is not a Waife or with what faction it sides, if the laws of Mote even let it take a side (As per it words of the Laws that govern him).

 

TLDR:

Click to reveal..

The Order: Nameless Ones - control of the Purple Robes

 

The Rouge Robes: Group of Robes that oppose the Order's rule. Seem to have friends in the Eight Schools of Magic

 

Emperor Harlifigrzix Jafplivew: Claims to have been imprisoned by the Nameless Ones and the attacked a Focus Rob Factory that effected both those of the Order and the Eight Schools of Magic.

 

Eight Schools of Magic: Scarlet Robes, seem to have ties to the Rouge Robes. Blockaded off from Ona by the Purple Robes.

 

The Conclave: Flamekeepers who we have yet to find out what they know of everything that is happening.

 

The Party of Three: Three Flamekeepers planning to take on and hopefully destroy/weaken the Order, Harlifigrzix, and the Rouges. Have yet to show favor towards any faction to a large degree.

[Triumph]

Thanks so much! So I was a little mixed up, but not totally mixed up. I somehow had thought that little forest man who communicated telepathically was the same one who appeared in Sarsus's dream, but I guess not.

 

I still think you should have an undead emperor Halliburton.

[Rowen]

Session 11: Carnys Task

Session 11.5: Our Lord Eternal

[Triumph]

Originally Posted By: Rowen

Session 11: Carnys Task
Session 11.5: Our Lord Eternal

I am now considering nominating Rowen to be officially responsible for all side sessions for all AIMHack games forever. Every time he does a side session, it seems to end up being at least near-epic.

[Sarachim]

Speaking of epic, tonight's session was, and not just because we gained a level.

 

Click to reveal..

Porifio, level 5

Male Elf

Occupation: Aristocrat

Alignment: Conceited

 

4 Str/2 Dex/8 Int, 17 HP

 

Magic (Enchantment): 6

Magic (Abjuration): 5

Martial (Epee): 5

Streetwise: 3+1

Composure: 1+1

Crafting (Magic items): 1

Perception: 1

4 points banked

 

Magic(Evocation): 1 (from perk)

 

Spells:

Mind Duel: Blasts a target's mind with psychic energy.

 

Tanali's Clear Eye: Shields the recipient from illusions, enchantments, and other magical deceptions, allowing them to see reality clearly.

 

Nuxile's Thought Read: Gives the caster a brief look into the target's mind. A minor success will only reveal the target's emotions or most superficial thoughts. A major success may give deep insight into memories, plans, or beliefs. Costs 1 stamina.

 

Rollo's Moderate Hypnosis: Hypnotizes one target. While hypnotized, the target will believe whatever the caster tells him and follow commands, unless he makes a saving roll to break the hypnosis. Each new suggestion/command gives the target another chance to save. More ambitious suggestions/commands are easier to resist.

 

Elemental Ward: Bestow tolerance of an element on your allies. Stamina is required for multiple elements.

 

Resiliency: Lays a ward on the recipient that makes him/her physically more resilient for a short time. They take slightly less damage from any source except mental, and stamina damage from blood loss or drowning/asphyxiating is reduced. Stamina can be spent to greatly increase the duration of the effect.

 

Defensive Enhancement (A5): Permanently imbues an object with protective magic, which will shield whoever carries or wields it. Requires a long time (several uninterrupted hours) and a lot of stamina (at least 3 for small objects. More for weapons/armor). The protective enchantment can be general, or it can be specific to one kind of attack (physical, fire, mental, whatever). Limitation: Requires points in a relevant Crafting skill to use effectively.

 

Tripfire Sigil (A5): Creates a sigil infused with explosive energy. When someone enters a certain proximity of the sigil, it detonates, doing damage to everything within decent radius. A stamina can be spent to enhance the blast power and radius further.

[Nioca]

Click to reveal.. (Arell Iseil, L5)

ARELL ISEIL
RACE: Dragonborn, Female
OCCUPATION: Apprentice Flamekeeper Spiritualist
ALIGNMENT: Narcissitic

LEVEL 5
ATTRIBUTES: 4/3/7 (+INT)
HP: 13/17
STM: 4/10
SPEED: 5
ARMOR: 4
XP: 00/64 (+14)

Magic (Vitaemancy) - 8 (36XP) [+1 | Intermittent Understanding Achieved]
Martial (Staves) - 4 (10XP)
Composure - 3 (RB+3XP)
First Aid - 3 (RB+3XP)
Stealth - 3 (6XP) [+1]
Perception - 3 (6XP) [+1]

HARLIFIGRZIX'S REWARD (TRAIT)
EFFECTS: The lich Harlifigrzix has 'rewarded' Arell with a change in physiology.
-Arell's breath has been changed to a form of negative coldfire. At the cost of stamina, she can create powerful bursts useful in combat.
-Arell gains a small bonus to handling necromantic fire.
-Arell has improved resistance to cold climates and ice attacks.
-Arell has reduced resistance to warm climates and fire attacks.
COSMETIC: A blue triangular burn-pattern on her chest. Arell's blood is now blue.

EVOCATIVE STUDY (PERK)
EFFECTS: Intense study has left the party with a greater understanding of Evocation.
-Provides one free level in Magic: Evocation. Acts as a racial bonus.

And the spell we've all been waiting for... (Plus a couple others). [EDIT: All approved!]

Click to reveal.. (SOULFIRE)

SOULFIRE (VL8)
COST: 1STM
EFFECTS: Sprays a target or area with Soulfire, a brilliant blue flame which burns not on normal materials, but on both positive and necrotic life energy.
-Soulfire continues to burn or spread until all life energy has been consumed. If there's no life energy to consume, it starves and extinguishes.
-An enemy hit with Soulfire takes moderate damage from the flames until they're put out or the target dies.
-Incorporeal creatures take extreme damage from the flames (since they not only catch on the creature, but wind up effectively burning INSIDE it).
-Soulfire does not harm non-living objects
-Soulfire is somewhat more difficult to put out than normal fire. Most regular fire-prevention methods work, but are slightly less effective. Any mage who knows how to cast Soulfire can magically put it out, even if they don't have the spell prepared.
-Many magic guilds and Motian governments consider using (and in some cases, even just knowing) this spell ILLEGAL; use with caution.
-Additional stamina can be spent to increase the spray-radius of the flames.
DESCRIPTION: A brilliant blue "inverted" flame, with a dark center. Does not give off any light. Victims of the flame, rather than charring, simply seem to whither and die.

Click to reveal.. (Spirit Lance)

SPIRIT LANCE (VL8)
EFFECTS: Fires a lance of energy at a target. Upon impact, the lance damages and destabilizes the victim's life energy, making it more vulnerable to necrotic energy.
-Inflicts damage on the target.
-Weakens the target's resistance to necromantic spells. This effect does NOT stack.
-Works against both living and undead creatures.
-Additional bolts can be fired against multiple targets at a cost of 1STM per extra target.
DESCRIPTION: A long, glowing bolt of light, firing from the caster to the target(s).
(Basically, a higher-level attack spell that doesn't burn stamina)

Click to reveal.. (Void)

VOID (VL8)
COST: 1STM
EFFECTS: When cast on a creature or object, causes the target to start absorbing energy from whatever it touches.
-Creatures that touch or are touched by the recipient creature/object will take damage as their life energy is drained from them.
-Magical energy, spells, and effects that the recipient creature/object contacts will be drained. This in effect provides some damage and effect resistance versus magic.
-Mundane energy (such as light and heat) are also absorbed.
-The recipient object does not gain any benefits or experience any effects from absorbed energy, save for special circumstances.
-Duration lasts anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on casting strength.
-The caster is immune to the effects of his/her own casting (but not to the effects of a Void cast by someone else).
DESCRIPTION: The recipient creature/object appears in starker contrast and also seems to absorb light around it. In decent lighting, a dark, wavering aura appears around the target's form.
(Thought this up as I was leveling. Good as both a combat and a utility spell.)

One thing I'm discovering is that it's rather difficult to do good utility spells as a Vitaemancer. Everything's either high level, related to combat, or overly specific.

[RCCCL]

Level

 

Click to reveal..

Sarsus Saume

Female Lacewing

Occupation - Martial Arts Instructor

Alignment - Determined

 

Age - 24

Height - 5' 6"

Weight - 145lb

 

Str - 5

Dex - 3

Int - 6 +1

HP - 10/20

STA - 2/10

 

Magic: Evocation - 7 (21+1 book learnen)

Magic: Transmutation - 6(21) +2(11)

Martial: Unarmed - 4 (10)

History - 4 (6 + 1 RB) +1(3)

Thievery - 1 (RB)

Perception - 3 (6)

 

Total points spent: 14

 

Possible Spells to follow.

 

[Sarachim]

Tonight's session is in just under three hours in spidwebRP, for anyone who feels like spectating.

[Rowen]

Session 12: Time Alone and Double Vission

Session 13: Three Drowned Rats

[Sarachim]

Session in two hours. Come watch!

[Sarachim]

Session in six and a half hours.

[Rowen]

Session is over and I have a quote.

 

Originally Posted By: Arell

...did your ear just summon a portal?

 

 

Logs for sessions 14 and 15 will be up soon.

[Rowen]

Session 14: An Arms Lenght Away

Session 14.5: The Massacre

Session 15: Grandpa is Dead

Session 16: To Death and Undeath

 

Here are the last session logs.

 

This campaign is now finished. I very big thank you to RCCCL, Sarachim, and Nioca for playing. A special thanks to all those who have been reading the logs or have helped out playing in the campaign.

[Rowen]

People might be wondering who was with who and what were all the faction in play and the roll that different NPC's had with them. Here is the following information on it all.

 

Click to reveal..

There are a group of people known as Gatekeepers. Inside that group is a subgroup known as the Nameless Ones(The Order). Cragwire was part of the Nameless Ones and was working the Robes in taking over the Schools so that he could kill off the other Gatekeepers and have complete control.

 

Carnys and the Waife knew what was going and that Cragwire had a roll it the Nameless Ones but they did not know what. They both were students of Whsck and loyal to him and his want to stop the Nameless Ones from taking power but did not know Whscks full plans.

 

Harlyfig was imprisoned by the Nameless Ones and they used his power for some time to grow stronger. Once Arell freed him he started killing the Nameless Ones that he could using Leaf to do so.

 

The unknown Dragonborn Assassin is still unknown at present time.

 

Gramzon was working under orders and pay from the Robes without knowing that they were under the control of the Nameless Ones.

 

Present day Leaf is still unaccounted for.

 

Rowan is a Gatekeeper but not a Nameless One. His location is currently unknown.

 

Jarrox is down one arm and very drunk in Eolith.

[Dintiradan]

Why would anyone expect someone with a name to be a Nameless One anyway? ;-p

[Triumph]

Wow. Rowen, you're crazy.

[Triumph]

Also, you said at one point, to me, that Twig would show up again; did I just miss when that happened?

 

Also, is Whsck / Young part of the Nameless Ones too?

[Nioca]

Woo, finale. Here are my (somewhat late) thoughts on the campaign and mechanics in general.

 

-----

VARYING DICE

 

I'm not one-hundred percent sure how I feel about this. On one hand, it's nice that once you get more experienced, your odds of failure go down. On the other hand, this has the unintended consequence of causing higher-level spells and techniques to be less likely to backfire, and has the potential to get confusing if the character is dealing with multiple sets of dice. I'm also a little unsure of the mechanics behind it; does having an 8 in Awesomency mean you get an automatic 8-point bonus to skill? Does it mean that the points you invest earlier don't actually effect your success rate?

 

I like it, don't get me wrong, but there's a few things that just seem wonky about it.

 

-----

HEALING

 

I'm also torn on the new healing mechanic. While it was nice not having to spend stamina on it, having to track how many times I've healed each individual person meant I was mostly relying on the DM to tell me how much was healed. Three PCs were tricky enough when the healing spells started flying; six just might have driven me up a wall.

 

In addition, while it enabled the healer to heal more freely, it also could result in tragic consequences if the healing ran out at a critical moment; this goes double if one PC winds up singled out by enemies for some reason (e.g. a tank on the front lines), because the healing not only is liable to run out quickly, but also becomes less effective with each casting.

 

-----

THE PC DEATH

 

Okay, the sudden and abrupt PC death was a rather nifty bit of drama. It's a swerve no one saw coming, and cranked up the tension in an already-tense situation.

 

Never. Do it. Again.

 

While it ultimately turned out excellent, there are so many ways this could have backfired and gone horribly wrong it's not even funny. And even though it didn't, outright killing a very healthy PC with no warning, no save, not even an indication that the PC made a bad move, was still a very bad call. Not that I'm against the resultant drama, but in the future, if you're going to do something like that, the player should have either advance notice or some way to save against it or back out. Otherwise, it just seems like a vindictive "screw you" to the player in question.

 

-----

LOOT/ABILITY BALANCE

 

One thing I had noticed is that the stuff we were finding was pretty powerful, and we wound up with a lot of it. To some extent, this made sense; we were in the heart of magic-country, and it seemed Ona didn't understand the meaning of the word "small".

 

In addition, Arell and Porifio also got some pretty powerful abilities. Porifio can summon the magical equivalent of Thermite, and Arell's now capable of raising an army of undead... at level 5. Fact is, despite three levels and two party members between them, this party could probably give the RomD party a run for its money.

 

In short, I'm saying you may want to scale the power level back a bit.

 

-----

HE-WHO-MUST-BE-NAMED-REALLY-AWKWARDLY

 

Seriously, some work needs to be done on names. On one end of the spectrum, we have names like Emperor Harlifigrzix Jafplivew, Lady Isralger Kivmqat, Pranidhana Palace... Seriously, some of these sound like you dropped a bunch of marbles on the keyboard and called it good. While there's obviously no hard and fast rules for what makes a good name, having a name that's reasonably memorized and isn't impossible to spell properly is a good idea (unless you WANT your important NPCs and locales referred to as Emperor Harlyfig and Phanda Palace ).

 

On the other end of the spectrum, we have names such as the "Battle of Death" and "Cobber". The first one is boring and non-indicative; most battles have death, after all. The second brings to mind either a typo of copper or an Austrailian greeting. Neither are impressions you want to make when you're talking about an apocalyptic final battle or magical thermite; To quote Schlock Mercenary here, "Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth."

 

-----

PLOT COMPLEXITY

 

There's some issue with how complex the plot got. Its one thing to have twists, turns, and complexity in a plot, but it got to the point in this one that it became nearly impossible to keep everything straight, and it still took some considerable OoC explaining to actually sort out what was going on.

 

There were also some plot points that showed up, then later seemed to be ignored entirely. For example, the Plant Thing antagonized Arell for a few days, only to step out of the spotlight once he revealed that he only wanted our help to stop Slumwood cutting. Considering he was apparently a Gatekeeper, you'd have thought he would have been more important, but no, he vanishes and is only mentioned a few times by the PCs after.

 

There was also the mysterious lights over the Ko Mountains that wound up disappearing without a trace, then there was the murdered Lacewing who died under mysterious circumstances and was never mentioned again. Then we have the issue of time travel: Arell, Porifio, Sarsus, an entire squad of those assassin things (?), Leaf, and Porifio all were able to travel back (and forth) in time. How? Future Whsck demonstrated that even with his immense power, it still took a month of prep time and studying to pull it off, yet everyone else seems to be bouncing around like it was no problem.

 

In short, while I can't remember if there were a whole lot of actual plot holes, there definitely seemed to be a lot of threads left hanging.

 

-----

PARTY IMBALANCE

 

Sarachim touched on this briefly at the end of the finale, and it probably needs to be brought up again. In terms of power, the party isn't internally balanced; as it stands, we have:

 

-Arell at the front of the pack with the strongest melee weapon (to my knowledge), the ability to breathe a necromantic coldfire, the ability to raise an undead army, her ability to heal most undead creatures to full for 1STM, and finally,

Click to reveal.. (HUGE SPOILERS for those that haven't read the finale)

Her transformation into a lich and everything that entails.

 

-Then there's Porifio, with a magic Epee that can be upgraded, the ability to summon Cobber (magical thermite), the ability to dispel the wards of the main villain, mithril armor, and gauntlets that massively enhance strength.

 

-And finally Sarsus, with magical armor that grants one extra turn per combat, a slight bonus to dream world manipulation, a healing cloth that burns stamina, and an antimagic token.

 

Yeah. There's a problem here. Arell's getting favored when it comes to powers, while Sarsus is getting left behind, and it's not fair to the players. Especially considering this isn't a situation where the party sorted the loot in a kind of lopsided way; these items and abilities were given to specific players, and that was where they stayed. In a way, it's an unconscious show of favoritism (or just complacency), and it's a tendency you need to nip in the bud.

 

==============

 

Okay, I think that's everything I wanted to address for now. I really did enjoy the campaign, despite what the above might indicate, and I applaud Rowen for running the longest campaign to-date.

 

However, I'm thinking that if there's a sequel, I might not rejoin as Arell Iseil. Primarily because of what was outlined under Party Imbalance; in comparison to the party, she's getting too powerful, and probably needs to be consigned to NPC-dom.

[Sarachim]

Nioca's thoughts are pretty similar to mine. I'll add to his first, then work on my own.

 

Originally Posted By: Nioca

THE PC DEATH

 

Okay, the sudden and abrupt PC death was a rather nifty bit of drama. It's a swerve no one saw coming, and cranked up the tension in an already-tense situation.

 

Never. Do it. Again.

 

While it ultimately turned out excellent, there are so many ways this could have backfired and gone horribly wrong it's not even funny. And even though it didn't, outright killing a very healthy PC with no warning, no save, not even an indication that the PC made a bad move, was still a very bad call. Not that I'm against the resultant drama, but in the future, if you're going to do something like that, the player should have either advance notice or some way to save against it or back out. Otherwise, it just seems like a vindictive "screw you" to the player in question.

I'd give Rowen the benefit of the doubt here, since his judgment turned out to be right in this case. One of the strengths of this campaign was the exceptional level of trust between all involved, but that's wasted if you don't use it to do something big. However, Nioca is right. Don't try anything like that again without either making sure the player is cool with it or giving him a chance to back out.

 

Originally Posted By: Nioca

LOOT/ABILITY BALANCE

 

One thing I had noticed is that the stuff we were finding was pretty powerful, and we wound up with a lot of it. To some extent, this made sense; we were in the heart of magic-country, and it seemed Ona didn't understand the meaning of the word "small".

 

In addition, Arell and Porifio also got some pretty powerful abilities. Porifio can summon the magical equivalent of Thermite, and Arell's now capable of raising an army of undead... at level 5. Fact is, despite three levels and two party members between them, this party could probably give the RomD party a run for its money.

 

In short, I'm saying you may want to scale the power level back a bit.

I disagree. Power is fun.

 

More to the point, given the level our adversaries were operating at, the stuff we found was pretty tame by comparison. Levels are an abstraction that don't have to be consistent from one GM to the next unless someone is bringing a character into a campaign with a different GM than they started with. If Rowen Level 5 is stronger than Ephesos Level 5 (which makes sense, since Rowen hands out levels about half as often), let's not make it into a problem unless we have to.

 

Originally Posted By: Nioca

HE-WHO-MUST-BE-NAMED-REALLY-AWKWARDLY

 

Seriously, some work needs to be done on names. On one end of the spectrum, we have names like Emperor Harlifigrzix Jafplivew, Lady Isralger Kivmqat, Pranidhana Palace... Seriously, some of these sound like you dropped a bunch of marbles on the keyboard and called it good. While there's obviously no hard and fast rules for what makes a good name, having a name that's reasonably memorized and isn't impossible to spell properly is a good idea (unless you WANT your important NPCs and locales referred to as Emperor Harlyfig and Phanda Palace ).

 

On the other end of the spectrum, we have names such as the "Battle of Death" and "Cobber". The first one is boring and non-indicative; most battles have death, after all. The second brings to mind either a typo of copper or an Austrailian greeting. Neither are impressions you want to make when you're talking about an apocalyptic final battle or magical thermite; To quote Schlock Mercenary here, "Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth."

Making good names is hard. If you insist that every name sound exotic without being hard to pronounce, you get those awful generic fantasy names that are only bearable in small doses. I think it's appropriate that the Emperor of Freakin' Mote have a name that's both huge (because he's an emperor) and unfamiliar (because he's from a totally different time). "Cobber" sounds like something you'd make in a lab, which fits. "Death's Battle," while asinine when applied to an ordinary battle, isn't so bad when the battle in question totally destroyed civilization. In general, I'd say I prefer Rowen's eccentric naming style to the more conventional ones that most of us use.

 

Originally Posted By: Nioca

PLOT COMPLEXITY

 

There's some issue with how complex the plot got. Its one thing to have twists, turns, and complexity in a plot, but it got to the point in this one that it became nearly impossible to keep everything straight, and it still took some considerable OoC explaining to actually sort out what was going on.

 

There were also some plot points that showed up, then later seemed to be ignored entirely. For example, the Plant Thing antagonized Arell for a few days, only to step out of the spotlight once he revealed that he only wanted our help to stop Slumwood cutting. Considering he was apparently a Gatekeeper, you'd have thought he would have been more important, but no, he vanishes and is only mentioned a few times by the PCs after.

 

There was also the mysterious lights over the Ko Mountains that wound up disappearing without a trace, then there was the murdered Lacewing who died under mysterious circumstances and was never mentioned again. Then we have the issue of time travel: Arell, Porifio, Sarsus, an entire squad of those assassin things (?), Leaf, and Porifio all were able to travel back (and forth) in time. How? Future Whsck demonstrated that even with his immense power, it still took a month of prep time and studying to pull it off, yet everyone else seems to be bouncing around like it was no problem.

 

In short, while I can't remember if there were a whole lot of actual plot holes, there definitely seemed to be a lot of threads left hanging.

I didn't mind the complexity, but Nioca is right on about all the hanging threads. Remember Chekov's gun; if you introduce a seemingly important character or detail, your players will expect you to be going somewhere with it, and they'll be let down if it turns out you aren't. Even if your original plan doesn't work out, you can always make a new one. If the players forget something, you're allowed to forget it too, but if they don't, you aren't.

 

Originally Posted By: Nioca

PARTY IMBALANCE

 

Sarachim touched on this briefly at the end of the finale, and it probably needs to be brought up again. In terms of power, the party isn't internally balanced; as it stands, we have:

 

-Arell at the front of the pack with the strongest melee weapon (to my knowledge), the ability to breathe a necromantic coldfire, the ability to raise an undead army, her ability to heal most undead creatures to full for 1STM, and finally,

Click to reveal.. (HUGE SPOILERS for those that haven't read the finale)

Her transformation into a lich and everything that entails.

 

-Then there's Porifio, with a magic Epee that can be upgraded, the ability to summon Cobber (magical thermite), the ability to dispel the wards of the main villain, mithril armor, and gauntlets that massively enhance strength.

 

-And finally Sarsus, with magical armor that grants one extra turn per combat, a slight bonus to dream world manipulation, a healing cloth that burns stamina, and an antimagic token.

 

Yeah. There's a problem here. Arell's getting favored when it comes to powers, while Sarsus is getting left behind, and it's not fair to the players. Especially considering this isn't a situation where the party sorted the loot in a kind of lopsided way; these items and abilities were given to specific players, and that was where they stayed. In a way, it's an unconscious show of favoritism (or just complacency), and it's a tendency you need to nip in the bud.

You already know that I agree about the outcome, but I think favoritism is the wrong word. It seemed to me that it was more an honest failure to balance things properly. We can fix this between campaigns, though, which leads me to. . .

 

Quote:

However, I'm thinking that if there's a sequel, I might not rejoin as Arell Iseil. Primarily because of what was outlined under Party Imbalance; in comparison to the party, she's getting too powerful, and probably needs to be consigned to NPC-dom.

I hope you don't do that. First, the imbalance between Arell and the rest of the party can easily be fixed in the inter-campaign period, during which the party will presumably gain a level or two, get some new equipment, and generally gain or lose whatever is necessary to get things started on the right foot. As for Arell's big spoilery transformation, I think that's likely to be more of a handicap than an asset.

 

Second, Arell is too awesome to hand over to the DM.

 

I have a couple of thoughts of my own, which I'll bring up in a separate post.

[Nioca]

Originally Posted By: Sarachim

We can fix this between campaigns, though, which leads me to. . .

Originally Posted By: Nioca

However, I'm thinking that if there's a sequel, I might not rejoin as Arell Iseil. Primarily because of what was outlined under Party Imbalance; in comparison to the party, she's getting too powerful, and probably needs to be consigned to NPC-dom.

I hope you don't do that. First, the imbalance between Arell and the rest of the party can easily be fixed in the inter-campaign period, during which the party will presumably gain a level or two, get some new equipment, and generally gain or lose whatever is necessary to get things started on the right foot. As for Arell's big spoilery transformation, I think that's likely to be more of a handicap than an asset.

True. This is definitely all stuff that can be balanced out between campaigns.

Originally Posted By: Sarachim

Second, Arell is too awesome to hand over to the DM.

...You have no idea how much that means to me.

Seriously, whenever I have a character, I'm always second-guessing myself. Am I shoving it into the spotlight too much? Is it slipping too far into the shadows? Is it too obnoxious? Too kind? Too loud? Too quiet? Too annoying? Is it doing what I want it to do? Is it making an active contribution to the story, party, and campaign?

So, to hear you (well, read you) saying that means a lot. Thank you, Sarachim.