This was our first session at our new time, Sunday 2-6 Pacific. Sal didn't make it.
We finished up the encounter with the Fangs of Zehir under Tovin & Alesia Gravelstoke's command, with Cyrus riding in on his liondrake, Shir, to help the party as Hefeweizen was spontaneously knocked unconscious. Cyrus informed the group that Lady Millenbras had asked him to come help them, as she thought they may be in danger. Thereafter, the party learned from Shivra that Baroness Valarde wished to see them - as such, they decided to head to Vulkannen, seeing as they'd need to go there to deal with the Fangs anyway.
They were immediately taken to Valarde upon arriving in Vulkannen, and they learned that she had a number of problems in Vulkannen - Dythan's Legion is throwing its weight around; citizens are disappearing from the streets in the Hub, the traveler's district and main entry district into Vulkannen; the Drow Quarter is nearly in open revolt; and now a group of adventurers have come to her city. Valarde admitted she'd been following the party's progress and knew they would be coming to Vulkannen soon, though she didn't seem to explain why she knew that. She also admitted she'd considered destroying them before they could cause any trouble, but decided they would be much more useful as assistants. She refused to explain what jobs she would need them to handle, but instead asked for them to agree to help her - in exchange, she would give them access to the lair of the Fangs of Zehir, allowing them to deal with that problem quickly. They agreed, and Valarde removed Shivra's collar at last.
After this discussion, the party was lead into the sewers by Kiaron, the captain of Vulkannen's guard; he led them near the entry to the Fangs' lair, then headed off as they sized up the entry - two yuan-ti abominations, large serpent-bodied humanoids, stood guard over the entry, wielding nasty-looking bastard swords and large shields. We stopped there.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Ch-ch-changes, Part 2: Speeding Up Combat
Something I've noticed, and something you guys may have noticed as well, is that combat takes a long time in our sessions. Many, if not all, of our combats last upwards of 10 rounds, and our average encounters seem to last a minimum of 2 hours. In my opinion (and maybe you guys will disagree with me here), this is way too long - these numbers are reasonable for major set-piece combats, but not for every single one. To that end, I've come up with some things I'm thinking of implementing at the table to speed things along.
- Timed turns: 90 seconds for each turn, to be exact. I've been doing some research into the matter of lengthy combats in 4th edition, and this seems to be a popular suggestion. I haven't timed the average turns in our games, but I believe they tend to take upwards of 2 minutes - going from memory, oftentimes the first 20-30 seconds of someone's turn seem to be spent in silence as they decide what to do. I think combat would be a lot faster if we set a time limit on turns to cut down on this - it would help us focus on what we're going to be doing, giving us incentive to have a decision made on what to do before our turn comes up. On paper, this might seem like undue stress or pressure to put on everyone, but really this is just a means of encouraging everyone to focus their attention more effectively, and 90 seconds should be more than long enough for this to happen; this is a number we can work with if need be. This is one thing I'm really considering strongly.
- Halve hit points OR double damage on both sides. This is another popular suggestion: you simply halve the hit point totals of both the PCs and the monsters, or alternatively, you leave hit point totals the same, but double all damage results. In both cases, combat will be sped up by the fact that things go down quicker. The drawback here, though, is exactly that: things, including the PCs, go down quicker, and combat is going to be more deadly in this situation. Personally I'm not sure about this one, as I can see a single critical hit from a Brute-type monster taking a character from full hit points into negatives.
- Any ideas you guys might have. I've presented a couple ideas here, but maybe you guys have an idea I haven't considered. If so, please, suggest it! Alternatively, maybe you don't think encounters are taking too long; that's valid as well. Whatever your opinions, I'd like to hear them, so that we can figure out how to go forward on this. Thanks for reading, and see you Sunday.
- Timed turns: 90 seconds for each turn, to be exact. I've been doing some research into the matter of lengthy combats in 4th edition, and this seems to be a popular suggestion. I haven't timed the average turns in our games, but I believe they tend to take upwards of 2 minutes - going from memory, oftentimes the first 20-30 seconds of someone's turn seem to be spent in silence as they decide what to do. I think combat would be a lot faster if we set a time limit on turns to cut down on this - it would help us focus on what we're going to be doing, giving us incentive to have a decision made on what to do before our turn comes up. On paper, this might seem like undue stress or pressure to put on everyone, but really this is just a means of encouraging everyone to focus their attention more effectively, and 90 seconds should be more than long enough for this to happen; this is a number we can work with if need be. This is one thing I'm really considering strongly.
- Halve hit points OR double damage on both sides. This is another popular suggestion: you simply halve the hit point totals of both the PCs and the monsters, or alternatively, you leave hit point totals the same, but double all damage results. In both cases, combat will be sped up by the fact that things go down quicker. The drawback here, though, is exactly that: things, including the PCs, go down quicker, and combat is going to be more deadly in this situation. Personally I'm not sure about this one, as I can see a single critical hit from a Brute-type monster taking a character from full hit points into negatives.
- Any ideas you guys might have. I've presented a couple ideas here, but maybe you guys have an idea I haven't considered. If so, please, suggest it! Alternatively, maybe you don't think encounters are taking too long; that's valid as well. Whatever your opinions, I'd like to hear them, so that we can figure out how to go forward on this. Thanks for reading, and see you Sunday.
Ch-ch-changes, Part 1: The Injury System
Okay guys, this post is to inform you about two things: the injury system I discussed implementing, and a discussion about speeding up combat. I'll be breaking this up into two posts for easier reading.
First of all, the injury system. Here are some of the main points:
- There are two types of injuries: minor injuries, and major injuries.
* Minor injuries can be inflicted when the character is reduced to a negative hit point value, and, while they do hamper the character, they do not impose a major handicap on their capabilities. When the circumstances required for a minor injury to be sustained are met, the player rolls a saving throw: on a success, no injury is sustained, but on a failure, a minor injury is sustained. If a character succeeds on this saving throw, but meets the requirements for an injury to be sustained a second time, they roll another saving throw, this time with a -2 penalty. If these circumstances are met a third time, the character sustains a minor injury, and is not allowed a saving throw.
* Major injuries are inflicted when the character fails 3 death saving throws, or is reduced to their bloodied value in negative hit points. These injuries impose major handicaps on a character's capabilities. When the circumstances required for a major injury to be sustained are met, the injury is sustained; the player is not allowed a saving throw.
- A character can have multiple injuries at once, but can only sustain one type of injury in each encounter. The type of injury sustained will be either determined randomly (in most cases) or assigned (in cases where it would be the only injury to make sense).
- The process for recovering from an injury depends on the type of injury. If it is a minor injury, the character must make an Endurance check during an extended rest; if the check is a success, the injury is healed, and if the check is a failure, the injury remains. Major injuries are more difficult to recover from, and the character must succeed on a more difficult Endurance check to reduce the injury to a minor injury, and another for the minor injury during their next extended rest. Optionally, a single ally trained in Heal can make a Heal check in place of this Endurance check; such an activity requires constant vigilance on the ally's part, therefore this particular ally can only do this for one of their allies per extended rest.
- Though this injury system will be used in most cases, it will not entirely replace death. A character whom an opponent moves specifically to kill, by delivering a coup de grace for example, is dead. Situations a character would not be able to survive, such as being melted, disintegrated, etc. will still kill the character.
My intent with implementing this system is twofold. One, it will add an element of realism to encounters by inflicting demonstrable damage to characters in a way more significant than simple Hit Point loss. Two, it will greatly reduce (though not eliminate, as stated above) the possibility of character death, while still making the prospect of dropping into negative hit points, failing too many death saves or hitting negative bloodied value a palpable threat.
Please let me know what you think when we come together on Sunday.
First of all, the injury system. Here are some of the main points:
- There are two types of injuries: minor injuries, and major injuries.
* Minor injuries can be inflicted when the character is reduced to a negative hit point value, and, while they do hamper the character, they do not impose a major handicap on their capabilities. When the circumstances required for a minor injury to be sustained are met, the player rolls a saving throw: on a success, no injury is sustained, but on a failure, a minor injury is sustained. If a character succeeds on this saving throw, but meets the requirements for an injury to be sustained a second time, they roll another saving throw, this time with a -2 penalty. If these circumstances are met a third time, the character sustains a minor injury, and is not allowed a saving throw.
* Major injuries are inflicted when the character fails 3 death saving throws, or is reduced to their bloodied value in negative hit points. These injuries impose major handicaps on a character's capabilities. When the circumstances required for a major injury to be sustained are met, the injury is sustained; the player is not allowed a saving throw.
- A character can have multiple injuries at once, but can only sustain one type of injury in each encounter. The type of injury sustained will be either determined randomly (in most cases) or assigned (in cases where it would be the only injury to make sense).
- The process for recovering from an injury depends on the type of injury. If it is a minor injury, the character must make an Endurance check during an extended rest; if the check is a success, the injury is healed, and if the check is a failure, the injury remains. Major injuries are more difficult to recover from, and the character must succeed on a more difficult Endurance check to reduce the injury to a minor injury, and another for the minor injury during their next extended rest. Optionally, a single ally trained in Heal can make a Heal check in place of this Endurance check; such an activity requires constant vigilance on the ally's part, therefore this particular ally can only do this for one of their allies per extended rest.
- Though this injury system will be used in most cases, it will not entirely replace death. A character whom an opponent moves specifically to kill, by delivering a coup de grace for example, is dead. Situations a character would not be able to survive, such as being melted, disintegrated, etc. will still kill the character.
My intent with implementing this system is twofold. One, it will add an element of realism to encounters by inflicting demonstrable damage to characters in a way more significant than simple Hit Point loss. Two, it will greatly reduce (though not eliminate, as stated above) the possibility of character death, while still making the prospect of dropping into negative hit points, failing too many death saves or hitting negative bloodied value a palpable threat.
Please let me know what you think when we come together on Sunday.
Session #64: The Fangs Return
In this session, the characters each resolved their respective trips - Amnon to the Tower of Heiserrah, Shivra to the Thieves' Guild in Vulkannen, and the rest of the group back to Falconia. Amnon reported on Orcus' death and the origin of the Doresannic shards to his master, the Archmage Sirilis Starsburden, who didn't seem interested, much to Amnon's chagrin. She seemed quite distracted with her research into the shard, and remarked that she was close to a breakthrough. She advised Amnon to continue looking for the other members of the Clawed Gauntlet.
Shivra, hoping to have her collar removed, went to pay her debt, only to learn that Baroness Valarde herself had requested they hold off on removing the collar. Shivra went to see the Baroness, and learned that she has need of the party's services - in exchange, she promises to remove Shivra's collar, as well as make her leader of the Thieves' Guild.
Vorgym, Deckard & Hefeweizen reported back to Sir-Commander Wolfswift, and learned that while they had been gone, Lady Francesca's manor had been attacked. She was badly burned in the attack, with her right eye & left hand completely bandaged, with burnt areas and other areas of her body bandaged as well. She told them that the Fangs of Zehir had attacked the manor, and that they knew Amnon was alive. She urged them to head after him immediately. Hefeweizen, who had headed to see his sister at Lady Millenbras' estate, told the Lady of what had happened at the steading, and of Orcus' demise. Concerned, she remarked that she would need to leave immediately to consult with a friend at the Tower of Heiserrah. Stefan was taken off to be bound to the knife ritual, and Sangria remained at the estate - her attraction to Vorgym becoming all the more evident.
The party all came back together on the road, where they were ambushed by the Fangs of Zehir - they had been waiting to ambush the group in the hopes that they would be able to confirm that all of them were, in fact, alive. This group, a squad of medusa assassins, was led by two more members of the Gravelstoke family, Alesia & Tovin. We had to stop midway through his encounter, as time ran out.
Remember guys, D&D is Sunday 2-6 Pacific/4-8 Central/5-9 Eastern this week. See you then.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Sessions #62 & 63: Steading of the Hill Giants, Finale
Two session recaps this week, since there was a short window between Sessions 62 & 63. Sal missed half of the second session.
In the first session, the party successfully negotiated an end to the war with the hill giants, convincing the Earth Titan to end the war and prioritize the Clawed Gauntlet. Nosnra, the Hill Giant Chief, offered to give the characters a peace offering, and led them down to his treasury - where he proceeded to ambush them with the help of his pet purple worm. They defeated him and his worm, collecting the treasure in the process (along with a map which pointed to 3 locations: the hill giant steading, a location marked with a blue X labeled as "The Great Rift", and an unlabeled location marked with a red X which seemed to be around the area of Kinsfort), and learned that Nosnra was both working at the behest of the Fire Giant King, Snurre Iron-Belly, against Falconia, and working for the Clawed Gauntlet to allow one of the death knights to kill the Earth Titan in exchange for becoming the Earth Titan himself. Boulderfist, the Earth Titan, punished Nosnra by turning him to stone, then set off to speak with the other titans, as he knew the fire & frost giants meant to start their own war soon.
The first session ended with the primary events of the second session - the introduction of the Red Rider of Wrath, Sir Eoric Cairnstone, and the party's fight with him and his hell knights. They managed to defeat them after a battle which took up the entirety of the session's time, and learned from Cairnstone in a vision that Orcus, the Demon Prince of the Undead and a very powerful demon lord, had been killed by the Clawed Gauntlet and their true leader, Doresain, the King of Ghouls, someone previously thought to be one of Orcus' loyal servants. After being given this vision, Amnon set off quickly for the Tower of Heiserrah, ostensibly to speak with the archmages there, though he traveled with an unusual sense of anger the Red Rider of Wrath had bestowed upon him. Shivra set off for Vulkannen to pay off her debt and get her collar removed; the rest of the party went to return to Falconia so that they could report on these new developments to the Wolfswifts (as well as escort the recovered prisoners back).
In the first session, the party successfully negotiated an end to the war with the hill giants, convincing the Earth Titan to end the war and prioritize the Clawed Gauntlet. Nosnra, the Hill Giant Chief, offered to give the characters a peace offering, and led them down to his treasury - where he proceeded to ambush them with the help of his pet purple worm. They defeated him and his worm, collecting the treasure in the process (along with a map which pointed to 3 locations: the hill giant steading, a location marked with a blue X labeled as "The Great Rift", and an unlabeled location marked with a red X which seemed to be around the area of Kinsfort), and learned that Nosnra was both working at the behest of the Fire Giant King, Snurre Iron-Belly, against Falconia, and working for the Clawed Gauntlet to allow one of the death knights to kill the Earth Titan in exchange for becoming the Earth Titan himself. Boulderfist, the Earth Titan, punished Nosnra by turning him to stone, then set off to speak with the other titans, as he knew the fire & frost giants meant to start their own war soon.
The first session ended with the primary events of the second session - the introduction of the Red Rider of Wrath, Sir Eoric Cairnstone, and the party's fight with him and his hell knights. They managed to defeat them after a battle which took up the entirety of the session's time, and learned from Cairnstone in a vision that Orcus, the Demon Prince of the Undead and a very powerful demon lord, had been killed by the Clawed Gauntlet and their true leader, Doresain, the King of Ghouls, someone previously thought to be one of Orcus' loyal servants. After being given this vision, Amnon set off quickly for the Tower of Heiserrah, ostensibly to speak with the archmages there, though he traveled with an unusual sense of anger the Red Rider of Wrath had bestowed upon him. Shivra set off for Vulkannen to pay off her debt and get her collar removed; the rest of the party went to return to Falconia so that they could report on these new developments to the Wolfswifts (as well as escort the recovered prisoners back).
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