1. - Top - End - #61
    Pixie in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2017

    Default Re: It's not our fault - tales of the guild team that really should have stayed at ho

    Spoiler: Downtime research, wha?
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    (Quick aside, the GM has a system in place where we can research anything. He comes up with a number and we have to keep making craft rolls. We add the total of our craft rolls up until we reach the number he set for us, then we've figured out that item. However, if we roll a one then we end up losing part of our progress in the ensuing damage)

    I like the idea of characters being able to generate their own stuff within reason. I read once about a rogue who with their GM's help created that boot knife that featured in James Bond, and then later in Kingsman.

    (as an aside, Kingsman is a premise that is in desperate need of a sourcebook)

    So during downtime the players can make craft rolls to consecutively build up over time. So if I determine an item is 1,000 research points then the players can roll for their 8 hours work each day of downtime and their rolls are then added together. Once they then hit 1000 points they've successfully researched the item and can craft it normally.

    Yolan takes one look at this masterful creation, then remembers he has some of those already. He needed them for a spell to protect him from gunfire, so he pulls out the 25 adamantium bullets he had on his person, even offering to share 10 with him so there on an even playing field.

    This is admittedly my mess up... There was a point at which Yolan/Sim was swapping over to their new sheet and they were trying to resolve some points on their character. I didn't keep a close eye on it and that happened.

    We resolved it by saying that the ones that Ocelot researched are unique to his weapons, and that the ones currently available are only for simple firearms. He had to adapt them to work for his rifles which are currently one of a kind.

    Vex meanwhile has spent her week training her bear
    I hope she keeps going with it. I love the look she had on her face when this bear popped into existence. The idea that everyone else in the room went pale, and the stoic half orc paladin broke down in girlish squee's squeaking 'OOOOHH CUTE!!!! I MUST HAVE IT'



    Okay... Serious post here...

    Spoiler: Draspher and the ring
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    OOG draspher has been fretting constantly about the wild-magic field messing him and his ring of sustenance up.

    I know you visit here Draspher's player, so I'm going to level with you.

    I am baffled by the way that you get whenever anyone jokes about that ring of sustenance. I understand that it would be an annoyance to reattune it for seven days if it's removed but the way you react it's like you are Gollum with the one ring...

    The most inconvenience you will have is that you will have to eat and sleep for a week like the rest of your party.

    And if you are suggesting that you are preventing me from attacking the party during the night because you are able to stand guard, consider this.

    You have, the worst perception score of the entire party. I could walk a character like Jaune past you in the night, slit everyone's throat, and walk out again and odds are you wouldn't notice.

    You are also the party mage... Even if you raise the alarm they are still going to take at least 1 round to rouse themselves and YOU are going to have to hold off the attackers yourself.

    To say nothing of people having to take time to don their armour.

    I'm not saying that it's not a noble act that you do for the rest of your party, but frankly you are the worst character to be tasked with the job, and the rest of the party should perhaps consider a proper guard detail, or maybe even some alarm spells? Heck Yolan's character has a wand of alarm...


    Okay, serious post over :p

    Spoiler: Darned kids
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    On his third day, after his antlers have fallen off, he walks back through the city not noticing he's gone off the main roads, or that the street he's on is unusually quiet. Suddenly draspher feels something bounce of the back of his head. At the same time someone charges in front of him and smacks him, only for it to bounce off his armour.

    This is frankly a failure of the whole party but once again it happens to poor Draspher...
    Should explain.

    They've been in this city for a matter of days now. The only one with in character knowledge in Jaune, and even he doesn't recognise the entire city nowadays.

    Draspher has no ranks in Knowledge (local) and is wandering the streets alone. He's at least able to navigate between the college and the barracks as he's done it a couple of times, but he doesn't know any of the places to avoid in a city like this. This is also a character who so frequently botches his wisdom rolls that it's almost become a class feature, he wanders down a bad alley.

    Now I have setup encounters to trigger in certain circumstances. This particular one is a group of ragamuffin types who are too weak to take on anything other than magic user types, thanks to them being basically kids. Anyone with martial skills would kick the tar out of them.

    The head kid in this group is fairly wily. He knows that they have the best chance of beating up magic users. He also knows that magic users means good magic gear, as well as good coin (usually). There are 3 colleges within this city so it's not like they only have to stake out one area, meaning that the city guard can't just protect one spot.

    He also knows that the city guard have means to stop magic thanks to the anti magic items that they carry. So he's been able to acquire one by a lucky break of pickpocketing. This is his symbol of power within this gang; it's what enables them to do what they do.

    In the end It's agreed that the fact he's made himself look like a Rasputin like old man in a large cape coming out of the mage school with a dragon on his shoulder looks enough like a mage to count for an attempted mugging

    Two magic rings
    Headband of alluring charisma
    Amulet of natural armour
    Cloak of resistance
    Darkleaf armour
    Handy Haversack
    Heavy Crossbow
    Quarterstaff
    Aforementioned faerie dragon perched on shoulder

    He looked like a walking payday to a bunch of thieves.

    Now a level 1 mage would probably have had their proverbial lunch money stolen, but Draspher is a level 9 character.

    We then find out from the GM that those kids were 9 level 1 commoners.

    To be fair, 1 actually had a class level in rogue but he's the one with the amulet, and why would he do any of the work himself?

    draspher gets slightly annoyed at being stuck in this situation where he's useless without magic and the GM quickly explains he had this scenario planned alongside a couple of others as a possible event we could have triggered.

    Don't blame me... Blame the fact that you were walking round on your own without any support from your party.

    If you had been able to get the pendant off the guy and throw it as far as possible you would have got your magic back. And literally the only way these guys were hitting you was with 19's or 20's and they never managed to confirm, AND it's was all non lethal damage. They might be thieves but they aren't willing to do a stretch for a murder. And if you'd have got one of them on the ropes the rest would have legged it...

    He grabs a potion of spider climb, ignoring the rain of blows from the kids giving another 10 damage, and then scales the wall behind him, laughing as they try to stop him. This plan is so out of no-where and so impressive the GM forgot that potions weren't supposed to work in the anti-magic field, but he let him have it.

    Not out of nowhere but it was a good use of what he had available. I was expecting him to sic his familiar on them.

    The kids keep throwing stuff at him, and one or two pieces hit him for another 4 damage but theres no way he's coming down now.

    You forgot when he got onto the roof, turned back to them and then said, "hmmm. wonder if a fireball would be excessive force..."

    One guard irritably asks him if the dragon is his, mainly because Mee's method of getting help was simply to fly over shout out something about someone needing help, biting him and running away.

    What's that Lassie?
    Timmy's in the well?
    Show me!

    They ask for a description but draspher fumbles his roll something awful and can't remember a thing.

    Seriously pants perception score...

    After clearing that up he manages to make his way back to the barracks and tells us what happened. after we stop laughing we simply suggest keeping to the main streets from now on.

    This was entirely the party's fault for abandoning the party mage in a town on his own...


    Spoiler: Meeting royalty
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    draspher immediately pipes up to get things started and gets shot down. This is enough to get the king to remember his face from all those posters, he's that mad bomber person, right?

    I don't think I got this across properly but the King is utterly bemused by 'the mad bomber'. They found out later that he used to adventure with the guild master and to give them OOC knowledge, he's probably remembering his own past experiences quite fondly.

    The king then tries to get down to business and asks us about Southwater. He shoots down drasphers attempts to talk about what happened, he's more interested in what we found out.

    What actually happened.....



    Also, yes, he is aware he is a dragon, something that Ninja-san has a double take at. I swear since we found out his names is Bernard he's become so much less badass

    Now he has a character sheet as opposed to just the DM's NPC...

    I come up with a plan:

    (In the voice of Baymax) Oh no....

    • Telon and draspher will go after the kids.

    Our heroes ladies and gents....

    Yolan and Vex are new to the group, so they will approach Mr Quinn from the legal side, finding out as much about his business as possible

    I approve. Yolan has skill points in merchant and Vex is a paladin. A good party legal approach team

    • Ocelot and I will approach this from the Underworld angle, find out about the criminals in the city and try to see what we can find out

    I also approve. Jaune has the connections and Ocelot has a gun...

    So we have team lightside, team darkside, and team child murder...


    Pity that the next session I spoilt all their plans. Will wait for RPF update.
    Last edited by Romaru Darkeyes; 2018-07-11 at 10:24 AM.