Monday, November 17, 2008

Adventure 6: This is no mine...

There’s a joke that starts, “This dwarf walks into a bar full of black guys…” I’m not sure how it progresses from there, but the punch line involves me standing in a dank cave (excuse me… “mine”) filled with dead short people. If this joke is a favorite of yours, I would find some new material. It’s not funny.

So there we were, enjoying some of D’Brickashaw’s finest ale (they always break out the good stuff for the triumphant adventurers – it’s a hard life, but it has its rewards), when a weathered dwarf stumbled in, looking half-crazed and wholly disheveled. The entire place went silent as we all turned to look at the stranger. Dwarves are not common in any but the biggest cities (dwarves generally prefer the solitude offered by their clan-based mining lifestyles), so it was either a wrong turn at Albuquerque or a specific quest that brought the stout fellow to this particular establishment.

“Bring me ale!” He shouted loudly. “And someone point me to the adventurers who slayed the dragon of Dantalleen!”

The barkeep had a furious look in his eye as he got ready to toss the dwarf out onto his well-armored behind, but Bolt, never afraid to take credit for his accomplishments, spoke up first. “We slayed the dragon, dwarf. And we’ve slayed a lot of other stuff too. Quit your braying and tell us what you want.” Usain gave the barkeep a look that said, “I’ll handle this” as the dwarf stomped over to our table.

None of us were all too happy to be roused from our relaxation, especially by a dwarf. Malak, Moonglum, and Amaryllis had experienced little of dwarves in their previous lives, but Lotheryn and Ieuan, two of the kindest, gentlest souls in the seven kingdoms, had suddenly become tense as a couple of tigers waiting to pounce. Each had a look on her face that could have melted stone. Elves are not fond of dwarves as a rule, mostly stemming from inter-racial wars that took place many, many ages ago. Suffice to say, people who live as long as they do have trouble letting bygones be bygones. Lotheryn had a special distaste for dwarves, seeing as how they had little regard for the natural environment to which she had devoted her life. I had a number of dealings with the people, finding them to be rather hard to know. They shared with me a hatred of orcs, so I had joined them in raiding orc strongholds from time to time. But from my experience, the cliché is true: the only friendly dwarf is one beer away from passing out. (Boy do they brew some good beer, though.)

Bolt, however, had some experience in diplomacy with dwarven clans that had taken up mining just outside his kingdom’s borders. We let him do most of the talking.

“Well?” he started after the ale had been served and the dwarf had taken a long draught, “What brings you to us? What is your name and your business? I put my reputation on the line to keep you from getting shown the hard way out of this town. Now I want some answers.”

The dwarf drained the remainder of his ale – Malak and I exchanged a glance, impressed by his feats of alcoholic consumption – and seemed to take on a different demeanor as he began his tale. His name was Odo, and he came from an accomplished clan that had long been residents of the Trindane Mountains, living a prosperous life within a large mining community. His mood turned from gruff to enraged to despondent as he relayed the story of how an evil presence had awoken from the mines and destroyed most of his clan. His father, who had been away with a small group of his best warriors on a diplomatic mission, came back to find everyone slain. He went mad with grief and charged in recklessly with his warriors, only to be killed along with the rest of his kinsmen. Only two dwarves escaped, Odo, then an infant, and his nursemaid, who was able to sneak out before she was discovered. She told Odo the tale when he was old enough to hear it, and he’d been planning his revenge ever since. It had been 97 years from that fateful day, and Odo was ready to reclaim his birthright.

“We must venture there and find my father’s warhammer, Grond, which I can wield against my enemies. I will establish a new clan and we will build upon my father’s great works. But I need warriors to help me. Even having lost much, I am proud. I do not ask this lightly. If you help me, you will be rewarded with some of the finest weapons, jewels and armor you could imagine. You will also forever be a friend to my clan, even these elves. What say you?”

None of us knew what to say. I wanted to help this dwarf, but what chance did we stand against an evil that had been able to defeat a clan of dwarves? Amaryllis, however, seemed excited.

“Yes! Of course we’ll help you! My people have a long history of helping the dwarves reclaim their former greatness! My great great great great grandfather Bulbo helped some dwarves kill a dragon who had taken over their mountain. And then, his nephew, Fromo, helped another dwarf defeat an evil Bullfrog that had killed the dwarf community who lived in some mines. At least, I think that’s how the story went. It was made into a book, ummm, The Ruler of the Finger Adornments, I think it was called. Anyway, I could go down in hobbit…er, I mean, halfling history!”

(Two men in dark clothing immediately entered the bar and handed Amaryllis a piece of parchment with the title “LAWSUIT” and a lot of small words underneath. They left without a word. Amaryllis was confused, but quickly put the paper aside and continued to implore us to undertake the quest.)

The halfling was so excited that we could not deny her. We decided to help the dwarf.

So that’s how we found ourselves entering a dark mineshaft into the old home of Odo’s clan. The place was dimly lit and everything further than 20 feet away was obscured by a dense fog. The place also smelled worse than Malak’s undershirt.

Odo somehow looked happy to be there. "Welcome to my family's mine," he said. Lotheryn and Ieuan both ignored the dwarf's welcome, glaring at him openly.

Bolt used his sword to poke at the skeletons of dwarves lying about. "This is no mine..."

"It's a space station!" declared Moonglum. Everyone looked at him quizzically. "Never mind," the gnome said, mumbling something about no one understanding his jokes. Gnomes.

The dwarf spoke up, “First we have to find the warhammer. Once that is in my grasp, we can make sure that all of the evil has left this place. The warhammer has power in it that only a descendant of my father can wield. It should not be difficult to find…”

Moonglum interrupted, “Uhh, hey Odo, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the entire place is completely filled with piles of junk and old weaponry. Are you telling me we have to look through each one to find this hammer?”

Odo glared at the gnome, “This is for my family’s honor! We will find the hammer!”

Moonglum rolled his eyes. “I’ll show you where you can stick your hammer…” I heard the wizard mutter, still obviously upset that no one could comprehend gnome humor.

We worked our way in, searching as we went. I saw Malak looking at something closely.

“What is it you got there, Malak?” I asked him. He was staring intently at a silver necklace inlaid with several rubies. “Ooooh, that would bring out the color of your eyes quite nicely.”

Malak looked at me joyfully. “Really? You think…” Just that moment we heard a giant thud as a passageway collapsed in front of us to reveal a gigantic tentacled monster. Malak threw down the necklace as we charged in, hacking away at its limbs. One of them struck Anca and knocked the wolf aside as the thing lashed out in rage. After several minutes of bobbing and weaving, we sawed off enough limbs to get a shot at its head. I looked at Odo as the thing lay shuddering on the ground.

“I hope there aren’t many more of THOSE lurking about, dwarf. Or this is going to be an awfully short search.”

Odo just glanced at me darkly and looked even more determined as he continued to search through the piles of junk.

After several hours of this, and having dispatched several more enemies (most of them groups of undead dwarves), we came upon what looked like a throne room. Apparently this is where the head of the dwarven clan had sat before his people. Unfortunately, the only thing there now were several gobs of slime. To make matters worse, the gobs of slime tried to kill us.

Luckily, gobs of slime aren’t really that adept at killing people, so we took care of them without much trouble. Bolt looked disgusted as he wiped the goo from his sword. I was about to make a comment about oversized boogers, when Lotheryn held something up in the light.

“Is this what we’re looking for?” she asked. It was the most magnificently crafted weapon I’d ever seen. Perfectly balanced, wrought with gleaming sapphires and emeralds, dwarven runes running down the haft – I couldn’t help but catch my breath.

Odo’s eyes lit up like fireworks as he rushed over and took the warhammer from her. “Grond,” he breathed softly. “Finally, I can take the seat of my forefathers…”

“Not so fast, dwarf.” We heard a hissing voice say behind us. We turned around to see ourselves faced with a necromancer, his boneguard, and five other undead minions. “I will take that from you, just as I took it from your father years ago. And you will go to join him…”

The necromancer had barely finished his sentence when Ieuan decided she’d had enough small talk. A large ball of fire launched from her hand over the heads of the necromancer and his cronies, landing behind them and bursting outward. It immediately charred the lot of them, leaving the necromancer severely weakened, and the boneguard looking rather unsure of himself (or as unsure of itself as it’s possible for a skull to look).

It was a quick matter to dispatch of the necromancer and his guard. We all looked appreciatively at Ieuan, who just shrugged. “Well, I guess that necklace I bought back in town came in handy after all. I still don’t trust this dwarf.” She looked suspiciously at Odo, who was trying to make himself comfortable in his father’s throne.

“We’re done now,” I told her. “Odo has his hammer, his throne and his cave. We’ve finished what we came here to do, so you don’t have to put up with the dwarf any longer. In fact, if we leave now, we might be able to catch happy hour back at the bar. Who’s with me?”

To be continued…


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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Adventure 5: Defending D'Brickashaw

We needed a break. After that fight with the evil paladin, we were spent. I think I slept 19 straight hours once we got back to the town’s inn. And I was better off than most. Bolt had once again taken the brunt of the damage (enemies just seem to be drawn to him for some reason – maybe it’s the ceaseless insults he hurls at them, but there's a good chance it's the Axe Body Spray) and needed a week of recovery. The rest of us recuperated in our own way while Lotheryn tended to his wounds (lucky bastard – I wish MY wounds needed tending). I got a chance to break in the new bow I hadn’t been able to use yet. Moonglum spent most of his time in Ye Olde Arcana Shoppe, browsing the merchandise. Ieuan and Lotheryn, when she wasn’t tending Bolt, spent a lot of time in deep elvish meditation. Amaryllis volunteered her time down at the local orphanage. Malak did…well, I didn’t ask and he didn’t tell, but I’m sure it was whatever barbarians do when they’re not killing stuff.

The only one who didn’t enjoy the break was Bolt, and not just because he had stitches covering most of his body. He seemed restless, anxious to be moving on. When asked about it, he was evasive, saying he just wanted to get back on his feet. Finally Bolt seemed well enough to resume our travelling. We decided to take one more day in town to re-supply ourselves and we’d depart the following day. That night I awoke late to the sound of someone moving down the hallway. I decided to follow.

When I got outside the inn, I made myself known.

“Bolt. Where do you think you’re off to?”

The paladin turned around, surprised. “How’d you hear me?”

“You’re wearing banded mail. A china shop doing a cartwheel would make less noise than you. Now what’s going on?”

At that moment, Lotheryn, Amaryllis, and Ieuan all emerged from the shadows. Bolt was even more incredulous. “Wha…?”

“See? THAT’S how you move silently. Now let’s have it. What’s the deal with the late night escape?”

Bolt sighed. “Look, it’s nothing against you guys, I just have this weird sense that something’s wrong back home. I can’t shake it. It’s been bothering me since we got back here. This isn’t your problem, so I’m going alone to find out what the deal is. It’s been interesting hanging around with the lot of you, but I gotta go take care of this.”

The rest of us looked at each other in unspoken agreement. Ieuan went over to Bolt and put her hand on his arm. “We’re coming with you. Whatever trouble there is, you’ll be better off with friends around. We know you think you can handle this on your own, but let us help you. You’ve saved our lives countless times – give us a chance to do the same for you.”

“Besides, Bolt,” I added with a wry grin, “Who’s going to shove a health potion down your throat when you get knocked unconscious? “

The tall paladin looked as uncomfortable as I’ve ever seen him (and I’ve seen him face to face with a giant red dragon breathing flame down his armor). He glanced at each of us and finally resigned himself to the situation. “You guys aren’t going away, are you?” We shook our heads. “Fine. Come with me then. But just know that I didn’t ask you to do this!” He tried to sound as annoyed as possible, but I caught a hint of relief in there as well.

We re-supplied the next morning and left as soon as we could. We traveled for several days before we finally came to the outskirts of Bolt’s ancestral lands. I could sense his growing excitement as he quickened the pace of his walk. We were headed for a village called D’Brickashaw, but Bolt wanted to make a stop first. He told us about a small outpost on the edge of the kingdom where he’d spent a lot of his time training for the Holy Knighthood. Bolt was hoping to reunite with the grizzled veteran, Pedidimus, who had commanded the outpost when he trained there. But as we crested a small rise, I saw Bolt’s face harden. I looked down into the vale and saw nothing but smoldering shells of buildings. Bolt took off faster than I’d ever seen him, running breakneck down the hill. We hurried after him.

The young lord was seething as he looked around at the razed outpost. “Who could have done this?!? What happened here? I swear vengeance on whoever perpetrated this crime!”

The rest of us began looking for clues as to what might have happened. The wreckage didn’t appear to be more than a day old. I smelled the stench of orcs as soon as I got close, but there was obviously another group involved. As I was examining an embedded arrow with some strange, uncouth runes, I heard Moonglum muttering to himself, “Sand people! But these arrow volleys, too accurate for sand people. Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise…”

I was confused. “What was that, gnome?”

Moonglum looked up suddenly, unaware that I had been standing there. “What? Oh, nothing…just, uhh, mumbling to myself.”

What a strange race, those gnomes. Through a quick search we determined that it wasn’t Imperial Stormtroopers, whatever the heck those are, but actually a large group of gnolls that had apparently allied themselves with the orcs to raid the outpost. Judging by the tracks they left as they marched out, they were headed straight for D’Brickashaw. But I was able to give Bolt some good news.

“Lord Bolt! Do not despair yet – there are other tracks here among the orcs and gnolls, made several hours before the raid. I do not believe your people were taken at unawares. It appears they retreated before the enemy, possibly to take up defenses at a better location.”

Bolt looked grim as he glanced at the setting sun, “Well, let’s get going and catch up to these fools before they do any more damage.”

We jogged at a brisk pace all evening and night. It took us 5 solid hours, but we made it. I carried Amaryllis and Malak carried Moonglum most of the way. What is it they say about short people? I don't remember, but I do know I've never felt more like I needed a horse. We were sucking wind by the time we got to town. Bolt shouted the greeting of the Knighthood to the stationed guard, and we were let in through the gates. It didn’t take us long to find out what had happened. Most of the men stationed at the outpost had retreated to D’Brickashaw and taken up defenses there. The orcs and gnolls had issued a challenge, but had not yet attacked. Some men had gone to warn other towns further into the kingdom and to find a garrison of men to provide reinforcements. Bolt found his old friend, Pedidimus, and set about planning the defense of the village. The rest of us swore our weapons and abilities to the cause. We went about the next day fortifying the town.

At nightfall, the attack came. The orcs came from the east, the gnolls from the west. I quickly saw what it was that had left the strange arrows – gnoll demonic archers, deadly in their accuracy and ruthlessness. Everyone fought valiantly, but there were tremendous losses on both sides. The next night brought much of the same. When we gathered at the dawn of the third morning, the sound of clanging weapons only minutes subsided, the only ones left hale were six of us adventurers (Amaryllis had been struck by a poisoned arrow from one of the demonic archers and was stable, but not in any condition to fight), and two men of the Knighthood. Pedidimus was at a loss. “We can’t hold them off and I have no idea where our reinforcements are at! The defenses of the town are destroyed! This is a dark day for the Knighthood indeed…”

I interjected. “Look, I know you all have your pride; I have mine as well. But I think it’s time to get the civilians out of here. Bolt and Malak – take Amaryllis and the healthy Knights and get your people out to safety. Gnolls and Orcs both hate the light. If you leave by early afternoon and stick to the open hills, you should be far enough away by nightfall that you’ll be out of danger. Ieuan, Lotheryn, Moonglum, and I will do what we can to delay these guys until you can get back, hopefully with reinforcements. I don’t think we’ll be able to save the entire town, but hopefully we can harry them enough to save most of it. It’s not the ideal plan, but it’s the one that stands the best chance of saving the most lives.”

Bolt looked furious. “Why should I go? I should stay and fight!”

“You and Malak are the strongest ones here!” I countered. “There are sick people that need to be carried on litters. Your strength and leadership are needed to keep people from panicking. As soon as you get the villagers to a safe place, get back here. I’m sure there will be fighting enough left for you. I promise I’ll save you a gnoll or two.”

We set the plan into action and got everyone out as planned. I clasped hands with Bolt as he left, hoping I would still be able to do so when he returned. It was like a ghost town as the four of us waited for nightfall. As the sun set, we heard snarling coming from both sides of town. I climbed up on a nearby roof and fired an arrow at the nearest orc. “That was a warning shot!” (Actually it was meant for the orc's head, but the orc didn’t need to know that.) “Come any closer and you’ll get another one of those in your eye. You are not wanted here. But if it is death you desire, I am open for business, as are my friends.” Well, it wasn’t the best battle speech, but I thought it sounded decent. I’d worked on it most of the day.

The orcs weren’t all that impressed. I heard their guttural laughter as they tossed torches onto the outbuildings. The fight was on. Ieuan and I ran up to the rooftops and hurried our way over to the burning buildings via wooden planks we had set up in preparation. We had also set buckets of water on each of the roofs for this very purpose. Moonglum summoned a centipede to help fight off the gnolls on the west side of town. Lotheryn did some strange druid-y spell to allow her and Anca to run up the walls, evading the gnolls and doing some damage of their own. I made a mental note to ask how she did that when this was over.

I, meanwhile, ran as fast as I could to get to the first fire. At this point, the fire had spread, and I had to jump in the midst of the flames to grab the bucket of water. Not thinking clearly, I grabbed the metal handle of the bucket, which by now was scalding. I managed to put out the flames, but my hands were wracked with searing pain from the white hot metal. I picked up my bow again and began firing arrows at the orcs, who were well lit by the firelight. It didn’t matter – the pain in my hands was excruciating and I couldn’t have hit an orc if my life depended on it (and it was looking more and more likely that it would). Thankfully, Ieuan was able to keep the orcs at bay with her magic missiles and various rays.

The orcs were now amongst the buildings and had found the ladder we used to climb up the building. I was too far away to save one of the buildings, so I kicked out the plank to keep the fire from spreading and ran to help Ieuan. We hadn’t downed any of the orcs, and only one of the gnolls was even bleeding. It didn’t look good.

At that moment I saw a large shape sprint out of the shadows and slam into an orc about to throw another torch.

“Malak!” I shouted. “Bout time you showed up! There’s killing to do!” Malak grunted in response as he hacked away at a couple of orcs.

I heard a shout of encouragement on the other end of town, as Bolt ran in to help Lotheryn and Moonglum with the gnolls. As I watched Malak do his business, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Ieuan, looking rather nervous. “I hate to interrupt your gruntfest over here, but there are several orcs and a gnoll looking at me rather inappropriately. And I don’t mean from a distance. They’re right there. Seeing as how you’re the one with the armor and the flail and whatnot, I just thought I’d let you know. I’m going to stand over here.”

Well, I couldn’t hit the broadside of a dragon with my bow anyway, so I pulled out Narqualme and charged in to do some real damage. I managed to hem the demon archer in the fire, but he just cackled with glee and tried to get himself into position for another shot. Ieuan nailed him with a magic missile and knocked him off the roof. We also managed to take down some of the orcs, and I put out the fire before it spread too much. Moonglum, Bolt and Lotheryn had almost finished off the gnolls. Malak, while looking somewhat worse for wear, was a sword stroke away from killing the orcs he was fighting. Not only had we managed to minimize damage to the town, but we were actually going to fight these guys off!

And then we saw the ettin. This thing was the ugliest beast I’d ever seen, made all the uglier since it had two hideous heads, instead of just one. He shambled into the torch light, gave a loud yell, and looked straight at Malak with rage in his eye.

“Oh shit,” was all the barbarian could muster as the ettin charged in and took a swing at him with his massive club. The sound was like the crunch of dry leaves as the club hit Malak squarely on the shoulder.

We managed to dispatch the remaining orcs and gnolls and raced toward Malak to help. As we ran, I shouted to Bolt, "Where are the reinforcements? They'll be here any minute, right?"

Bolt shook his head, "The messengers were waylaid by the gnolls just outside of town. It's all on us. Don't worry. We got this." I wish I shared his optimism.

Lotheryn used her crazy spider-climbing to get to Malak first. She was able to heal his shoulder without drawing attention from the ettin. Bolt ran in headlong and opened up a couple of wounds on the ettin, only to get knocked unconscious by the giant. I kept firing arrow after arrow at its tough hide as Moonglum and Ieuan launched their magic missiles. Anca bit its leg and Malak hacked at its torso. Finally it staggered when I hit it in the throat with a shot and Ieuan’s missile brought it down. Right then the first rays of sunlight crept over the eastern horizon. We had won. The town was safe, if a little singed.

As we nursed our wounds that day, the townspeople came in and thanked us for our help. Bolt was lauded as the finest Knight they’d seen, a title which seemed to suit him just fine. When we finally got a moment’s peace, I walked over to the paladin.

“Next time you invite us to your kingdom, show us a little hospitality, huh? Can’t you just bake some cookies or something?”

He grinned and shot right back, “Hey, this is how we do it here. Why do you think I’m such a pimp? Get your cookies somewhere else, we only serve justice in my country.”


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Monday, November 3, 2008

Some flaw suggestions

My favorites for each person from the list of flaws Bolt posted, with my suggestion afterwards. Most of them have the benefit of an extra feat, but if not, I listed the specific benefit:

Taran: Arachnophobia, drunkard, overconfident, perversion, pride
I think my favorite is the perversion one. Here’s the effect:

When a character takes this flaw they find themselves forced to say the most inappropriate things when around important officials, in battle, and especially in the bar. The character makes a will save (DC 15 + Charisma modifier) every 3 rounds of a battle or every 5 or so minutes when dealing with NPC's, if the character fails they say something sexual, inappropriate, or just plain disgusting. This provokes enemies into attacking the pervert. Any enemy within 20 feet of the perverted character must now have the urge to attack the pervert for his actions and because of how disgusted they are, they take -1 to attacks against the character. If the character is dealing with NPC's then they are allowed a will save to see if they can resist the characters inappropriateness (Will DC 10 + characters Cha mod). If the NPC fails the save and are indifferent, they are now unfriendly. If unfriendly it takes 2 failed checks (they don't have to be in a row, they can be anywhere between a hour apart) to make them hostile towards the pervert.

Lotheryn: Merciful, claustrophobia, metal allergy, overwhelming empathy
Of course Julia really is allergic to metal, but that one’s no fun, so we’ll pick overwhelming empathy for her. Here’s the effect:

When a character in your party within 50 ft.is damaged for 2 or more points you may take a Will save(DC17) with only half your modifier, if you fail or don't try, prevent 2 damage to that character and take 3 damage yourself. This damage does not trigger the Overwhelming Empathy of another character in the party, should they have the flaw.
When a character in your party within 50 ft.is Healed for 2 or more points you may take a Will save(DC17) with only half your modifier, if you fail or don't try, prevent 2 healing to that character and heal 1 damage to yourself.


Bolt: conceited, estranged, impatient, jerk, kleptomania, overconfident, prejudice
Oh so many good ones here. Impatient is good, but I like conceited:

When the character interacts with any intelligent creature of any race (including sub-races) other than their own; they take a −2 penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Perform, Intimidate, and Gather Information. A Will save (DC 20) supresses the characters conceitedness towards others. This only works on a target by target basis. If the character begins to interact with another NPC, then another saving throw is necessary.

Moonglum: curious, disorganized, kleptomania, magic addiction, overconfident, penguin fear, whimsical
I just added penguin fear because I thought it would be funny for him to have a fear of penguins. But I think disorganized is the right way to go here:

Detriment: When taking an object out to hold during combat (ex. Sword, potion, coin ect.) roll 1d20. On a roll resulting in a number above a 5, taking the desired item out is a normal standard action. However if lower than a 5, the character instead uses their standard action to pull out a randomly decided undesired item. On a critical 1 the character drops all items into his square, other than the clothing or armor equipped to his person (Backpacks and things held in pockets do not count as "equipped".)
Benefit: There are various benefits that can be given by taking this flaw. Chose one:
A bonus feat
A +5 to all diplomacy checks for random things you can offer them in exchange for their cooperation, that have no in game relevance (things that you never threw away out of neglect)
Characters are now allowed to make Sleght of Hand checks with Bluff skill (people think they are just rummaging around for something) but take a -10 penalty if it is a cross class skill. For this, make a bluff check against an opponent's Sense Motive check; if you succeed, you treat it as though you succeeded using Sleight of Hand.


Amaryllis: merciful, compulsive truth-teller, curious, forgetful, inattentive
I think merciful is a good one for Amaryllis, although this would suck in combat:

Whenever a character is in combat and has the opportunity to deliver a final blow, the character must make a Will Save (DC of 20) in order to successfully kill the opponent. If the character fails the Will Save, they must end their actions and not strike/kill the opponent. This may result in an Attack of Opportunity.
The character may also interrupt a fellow ally (if they fail a Will Save of DC 15) if they are no more than 5ft (in other words, standing next to them) when their ally has the chance to deliver the final blow. This may result in an Attack of Opportunity.


Ieuan: merciful, horrible luck, magic addiction, necrophilia, overwhelming empathy
We have to pick necrophilia, don’t we? Here’s the effect:

While in the presence of any dead or undead creature of a physiology similar to your own, you take a -2 penalty on concentration checks and all intelligence, charisma, and wisdom based skills. The character must also make a Will Save (DC of 10 + Creature Level) to avoid getting down and dirty with the corpse.

Malak: drunkard, estranged, heartless, impulsivity, incompetent, jerk, numeral obliviousness, short attention span, short temper
So many good ones. But I think “jerk” is probably the best:

Varies depending on alignment:
Good: You try to be polite and friendly in conversation, but you are tactless, and sometimes you just can't help throwing in an offensive "joke". "Certainly, Your Highness. It would be our pleasure to destroy the Orc encampment for you. It shouldn't be too much of a problem--after all, those Orcs couldn't possibly smell any worse than you! AAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
You receive a -4 penalty on all Diplomacy and Gather Information checks.
Evil: You are outright hostile and mean in conversation. "What's the matter, Your Stupidness? Too much of an impotent wank to take care of those puny Orcs yourself, so you have to send some "expendable" street urchins to do your dirty work for you? Is that it?"
You receive a -6 penalty on all Diplomacy and Gather Information checks. Furthermore, every time you fail a Diplomacy or Gather Information check, the NPCs that you were interacting with lower their attitudes toward you by one level.
Neutral: You may choose whether you want this flaw to affect you as though you were Good or as though you were Evil. However, once you make the choice, you must stick with it--you cannot switch unless your alignment changes.



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Sunday, November 2, 2008

D&D Flaws

I came across this web site today and thought that it might make a pretty fun addition to our D&D experience... it's called "D&D Flaws" and it's from a web site called D&D Wiki. (yes, it's a Dungeons and Dragons version of the world's most accurate encyclopedia.) Anyway, it's a list of some character flaws that our particular characters might have, and the corresponding negative effects, but each flaw also includes some benefit... usually it's just a bonus feat, but some of them are more flaw specific. Anyway, since I'm supposed to be studying, I took a moment and looked up some flaws that would be appropriate for our classes/characters/play style:

Lord Bolt - Impatient

Effect: You were born with the inability to wait, whether it be severe or minute, you are constantly at war with time. While others might seek to take something slow and carefully, you would much rather see the consequences quickly by rushing into the situation head on.

There are three choices you can take:

1. -2 to both Move Silent and Hide checks.

2. Entire party gains a -1 penalty on all Move Silent/Hide rolls.

3. (probably the one that would be most likely to happen) Every time a party member rolls a move silent check, you must roll a will save (DC 10), if you fail you abruptly stand and anyone in the room is alerted to your presence.

Benefits: bonus feat

Special: You must roleplay your character accordingly, while you may play it to any severity you wish, you must at least be slightly impatient, otherwise you are ineligible.


Taran - Quadrimurfractiphobia

You are terrified of the fourth wall being broken.

Prerequisite: None

Effect: Whenever you or anyone else say something not immediately related to the game you are playing, you must make a DC 15 Will save to avoid falling prone and cowering until somebody other than yourself finds a way for whatever is said to be incorporated into the game (no matter how ridiculous or arbitrary). You must cower for at least one full round.

Benefit: Bonus feat.

Example: You had just cast Magic Missile into the darkness, when someone in the other room asks where the Cheetos are. You fail your will save and therefore fall and cower until the DM says that it was a kobold whose snack you just blasted who said it, rather than someone in the other room.


There's more fun ones at the web site.. i have to get back to studying. But if you read the list of flaws with Malak in mind, it's high comedy.



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