Short Man on a little walk on Library

Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

February 11, 2018 1:22 PM

The Threat of Blackfang (nm) [Tag: D&D Group] by Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

Subthreads:

Setup and Introductions by Gary Harper, Dungeon Master with Parker Fitzgerald, Dwarven Cleric, Zevalyn Ives, Kir, Lily Spencer

The Opening Scene by Gary Harper, Dungeon Master with Parker, Nefrig Boneaxe

2 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master The Threat of Blackfang (nm) [Tag: D&D Group] 1404 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master 1 5

Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

February 11, 2018 2:03 PM

Setup and Introductions by Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

Gary entered the library with his arms full, and backpack bulging on his back. He smiled and nodded to the Librarian and then found his way over to the group project table in the corner that they had decided would work best for his purposes earlier. He unloaded the plastic bins, rolled up mats and other paraphernalia onto the table and dropped his backpack next to the chair in the very corner that he had claimed for his own. He had met up with everyone that had grabbed the various invitations he had placed around the school, and told them where and when to meet up. The place was here, and the time was about half an hour from now, that should give him enough time to get set up and prepped. If people showed up a little early, that was alright as well. It would also give the librarian some time to swing by and see what was going on if he was interested.

He unfurled the play mat across the middle of the table, it was a roughly 2' square wet erase plastic mat with a 1" grid pattern. Next he pulled a binder out of the backpack and pulled out the pre-generated characters he had made for the adventure. Each was on a double-sided piece of paper, in a standard plastic binder sleeve, those got placed at each player seat around the table. Along with the character sheet, each player spot got a small pad of paper, a pencil, a rules reference sheet, a small cloth bag shut with a drawstring that contained the seven various polyhedral dice needed for the game, and a 1" miniature that matched their character sheet. When he had met up with each player, he had gotten them to tell him what gender character they wanted to play, but hadn't yet required a name.

Once the player areas were ready, he began working on his own station. He pulled out the three hardbound rule books and set them nearby, hopefully he wouldn't need them, but it was always good to have them handy. He got out his DM Screen, a low landscape orientation one that didn't block his view to much. A set of wet erase markers for drawing on the map were place within easy reach. His dice bag was set to a rolling tray behind the screen, it had proven to cut down on dice scatter when rolling. Then a stack of index cards, some blank and some filled with all sorts of scribbling. Finally was his game binder, which contained the skeleton framework for the adventure the players were about to set out upon.

Now it was a matter of reviewing notes and praying that all went well until people arrived.

2 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master Setup and Introductions 1404 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master 0 5

Parker Fitzgerald, Dwarven Cleric

February 11, 2018 2:47 PM

This is... overwhelming by Parker Fitzgerald, Dwarven Cleric

Parker had talked to Gary and mentioned that he had found the paper and was interested in being a cleric, which apparently meant a priest of sorts. Parker had remembered watching Lord of the Rings, so he remembered what Dwarves looked like at least.

When Gary asked what gender he wanted to be, Parker had paused. Parker had assumed it would just be his own gender. He quickly chose male, just cause he was uncertain what would happen if he chose female. Would he have to dress up like his character? Parker didn't really want to put on any dresses, or wear wigs.

He was also confused about what DnD consisted of. He'd heard people talk about it, but they were not overly nice in their descriptions usually and many of them equated it to acting out a video game. So Parker decided to arrive early to the first event to ask a few questions.

Entering the library seemed different this year, last year it seemed so big and intimidating, this year it didn't seem confusing or big. In fact, it seemed to have shrunk ever so slightly Parker thought upon entering. He saw Gary in the corner sitting behind a low screen.

Parker liked Gary. Gary was a bird-fish too and Parker felt comforted by the fact that he wasn't the only student who didn't know magic coming in. Gary though seemed a lot better at getting the hang of this magic. Also Gary seemed to really get Transfiguration, so Parker had taken to sitting near him in the hopes it would rub off. It hadn't. Yet.

Parker walked up to the table looking at all of the stuff.

"So what exactly is it that we're going to be doing? Is this more like Ticket to Ride but acting out what we do or more like a video game I might have played?" Parker asked as he slid his bag from his shoulder and squatted down looking at the little figures. He found one that was short, squat with a beard and giant hammer of some sort.

Picking it up Parker asked, "Is this me?"

OOC: I realize that you probably have created most of the characters in depth, but seeing as the character is a Dwarven Cleric I assumed he was probably a follower of Moradin thus the war hammer.

41 Parker Fitzgerald, Dwarven Cleric This is... overwhelming 1402 Parker Fitzgerald, Dwarven Cleric 0 5

Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

February 11, 2018 3:51 PM

It's not to bad... eventually... by Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

Gary looked up from his notes as Parker came up to the table, he gave his classmate a grin. He was the one student in the group that was in his class, all of the others were older and therefore much more intimidating. "I expect that'll be a popular question, I'm not sure how prevalent the game is in the magical community. The video game analogy isn't terribly far off, you have your character that you're controlling and deciding what they do in reaction to the situation." Gary gestures to the character sheet, "We'll go over it in more detail once everyone arrives, but this is your character sheet and describes your character and what they can do. The neat thing that makes this different than a video game, is that you don't have a computer decided what you are allowed to do or not. You are not limited to 'Jump' or 'Shoot', you can use your imagination and try to come up with interesting solutions to problems. As the Dungeon Master, I take what I know of the obstacle you face, whatever facets of the world are relevant and decide if your course of action is possible, and if so, how difficult it is. You then roll some dice to account for uncertainty of the universe, add in your character's applicable skills and see if you can overcome the problem."

"As for the acting bit," Gary paused for just the briefest of moments, "Some people really enjoy getting into their character and losing themselves in the fictional world and story. They make up voices, do accents, and go all out. That isn't necessary at all though. If you like, you can, but a lot of people just prefer to say what their character is doing directly. Either way is perfectly valid."

Gary nodded as Parker picked up the figure, "Yup that's your character, the Dwarven Cleric of Moradin. He's a bit gruff as most Dwarves are, but cares for the well being of all those around him. He'll heal and buff up the group, but won't shy away from using that hammer to smite any evil creatures that threaten the innocent or his friends. Have you come up with a name for him yet?"

OOC: Nope. As this is an experiment, and I'm not sure if it would actually work as a 'play-by-post' actual game, I'm running real loose and narrative focused. Any of the players whose author's are familiar with the game can pretty much define the pre-generated characters that Gary handed out to them in any way they want, so long as they conform to the basic character creation rules for 5e. In your case, naturally the Dwarven Cleric is a follower of Moradin and thus does use a war hammer. If anyone is not familiar with the game, I'll supply basic details, no worries there.

2 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master It's not to bad... eventually... 1404 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master 0 5

Zevalyn Ives

February 11, 2018 4:25 PM

Arrival of Amber the Valorous by Zevalyn Ives

Zevalyn arrived in the library a bit early, intending to grab some books for her DADA supplemental reading to close that last little bit of gap between where she was and where she was supposed to be for her age group, but before she found the books, she found the D&D table. For a moment, she stood there abruptly uncertain about the wisdom of this, with her now being sixteen and the other two already at the table being kids who started Beginners after she had left it. But she had already told Gary she was in, so she approached, kibitzed about the table until she found the Fighter's character sheet, then sat down in front of it.

She pushed the provided bag of dice back towards Gary and dropped her much larger purple suede bag of dice in its place. "I've played before," she explained. "I'm a second generation geek." She made this statement of fact with a smile and a note of pride in her voice so they both knew she wasn't speaking ill of them for opting to play or gm. 'Geek,' in the Ives family, was a compliment.

She untied her dice bag and dumped it out over Amber's character sheet. Most of the dice in it were purple and black or a cool swirly and shimmery mixture of both colors. She separated them out by dice type, having about four of each of the lesser used four, eight, ten, and twelve siders, with six twenty siders in case they turned against her, and a few extra six siders just because they were the sneak attack damage dice from the previous character that she last played.

"Hi, I'm Amber," she told the second year who wasn't Gary, holding out a hand for shaking. "Amber the Valorous. I'm blonde," which was true for Zevalyn as well, "really tall," she glanced at the strength attribute on her sheet to double check a basic assumption, and continued, "and really muscular." Those later two descriptions were decidedly less true for Zevalyn herself. She checked another two parts of her sheet and finished, "I'm wearing chainmail and carrying a freaking huge greatsword."

1 Zevalyn Ives Arrival of Amber the Valorous 380 Zevalyn Ives 0 5

Parker

February 12, 2018 3:08 PM

Hope Eventually arrives soon by Parker

When the older girl walked up to the table Parker swallowed a bit. He'd hoped it hadn't been loud. He knew from talking with Gary that Gary had collected quite the array of students to play, for some reason Parker just hadn't assumed it would be older girls. In Parker's mind, DnD was pre-teen boys sitting around drinking soda, and to be honest, that's what he had expected.

As she walked about the table Parker leaned over the Gary as he held onto his Dwarf, "Who did you get to join Gary? How..." Before he could start she brought out her own bag. As she opened them Parker knew he was in for something else, her dice looked beautiful, like a still lake on a moonless night.

Parker sat there as her words of Geek ran through his head. His parents had said they were nerds in school, and Parker had not really thought about if he was one or not, but he had not played before.

Hi, I'm Amber. Amber the Valorous.
Parker was about to stick our his hand when she continued. He began to realize when she looked down at her sheet and said she was muscular that she was talking about her character not herself. Parker was impressed. She knew what she was doing, and from the sounds of it was a fighter. He also felt amazingly uncomfortably out of his element. He wasn't sure what his element was, but right now, it was not this, and both Gary and "Amber" were in it.

"Hi Amber, I'm..." Parker paused trying to think of a name on the spot and could only think of John which didn't sound very Dwarf-like, "Unnamed, as I've never played before so am unsure of how to. But I am a Dwarf who is here to help you all heal." Parker held up his figure, "I also have a big hammer to smite people. That's what clerics do right? Smite?"

Parker put down his character's figure and looked at the character sheet in front of him.

"How long have you been playing Amber the Valorous?" Parker asked, hoping she'd drop some good knowledge for him to pick up in the process.

41 Parker Hope Eventually arrives soon 1402 Parker 0 5

Gary

February 12, 2018 9:47 PM

Eventually arrives when it wishes, there is no rushing it by Gary

Gary had watched as Zevalyn approached. Out of all of the people who had grabbed the invitation sheets, she was by far the most intimidating. He was about to respond with some level of uncertainty to Parker's first question, then she pulled out her own dice bag. At that he grinned wide, she was a gamer and knew what she was doing. This was good. Hopefully she'd be willing to help out some of the other players that weren't quite sure how the game worked.

"Welcome Amber,we're glad to have you aboard." Gary greeted her as he collected the dice bag she had tossed back his way. As Parker started his introduction, Gary immediately set about flipping through pages in his binder. A moment later he popped open the binder's rings, removed a sheet of paper and snapped the rings shut again. Then he handed the paper to Parker. "Here is a list of Dwarven-sounding names, feel free to pick one of those if you'd like. I usually find names to be the hardest part of creating a character." The paper has three columns, the left one was labeled 'Male', the middle was labeled 'Either' and the right column was 'Female'. Each column was a list of fifteen to twenty names. "It never hurts to be prepared."

2 Gary Eventually arrives when it wishes, there is no rushing it 1404 Gary 0 5

Zevalyn/Amber the Valorous

February 13, 2018 8:06 AM

Smiting helps though by Zevalyn/Amber the Valorous

"Hullo, Dwarf," Zevalyn told the newbie player when he finished introducing himself, as much as he could without having picked a name. "I'll appreciate the heals. Figure I'll be the front line and be most in need of it. But smiting is good, too, specially, when them undead get underfoot."

She sat back and broke character. "In real life, though, I'm Zevalyn. I helped roll my parents' dice for them when I was really little, and started running my own D&D character when they set up a kids game for me and some of their other party members' kids when we were, I don't know, eight? Nine? Something in there. When I was thirteen, they let me roll up a Pathfinder character and join their grown up campaign."

She grinned at Gary, figuring he might appreciate this, "I'm actually named after one of my mom's Pathfinders. The Society one she was using when she met my dad at a con. Oh, right, and we've hit gaming conventions as long as I can remember, but I didn't really join the Role Playing tables until I was maybe eleven, possibly twelve? Of note, I didn't start Sonora until I was just about fourteen, so that's more time gaming than it might sound like to you. Haven't done much the last two years, though, because Sonora happened and I had two years worth of classes to make up so I've been doing basically nothing but studying. Mostly caught up now, though, so you had good timing, Gary. Thanks for running this."

1 Zevalyn/Amber the Valorous Smiting helps though 380 Zevalyn/Amber the Valorous 0 5

Kir

February 14, 2018 9:27 AM

I... play music? by Kir

Kir had been a bit uncertain after taking the invitation for D&D. He wasn’t really sure what he was getting himself in for, and he was kind of self-conscious that the game was being run by a second year, and that everyone else in the group might be considerably younger than him. Neither of these fears had really been resolved by talking to Gary (once he’d figured out which second year Aladren Gary was by asking the French Teppenpaw second year whether Gary was the one he always hung out with or the other - he was the other one) because Gary hadn’t known who else was signed up at that point, and Kir left that conversation without much more knowledge about the game than he’d gone in with. Only that he needed to pick a gender. There didn’t seem to be any kind of… anything that went along with that in terms of ability (which raised the writers of the game in Kir’s estimation) and which little figurine would represent him. He’d been torn between Proving A Point that he Didn’t Care About That Sort of Thing and playing a female elf, and playing a male elf because… well, he had enough to remember without referring to himself as ‘she’ all the time. In the end he’d decided that, as elves possessed a fairly high number of traditionally feminine traits (based on the brief intro Gary had given him), he was bucking more gender stereotypes by playing a male elf than a female one, at least in terms of his character, if not him as a person. At least, that was his defence if his sister called him out on it.

He arrived in the library a bit before the game, in case Gary wanted to get started promptly with game play at the appointed time, because he felt like he needed some substantial filling in on what the heck was going on before he was ready to roll (a phrase he would come to realise could be applied quite literally).

It being out of hours, he’d eschewed his school robes and was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a lightweight grey hoodie. He had his school bag with him, because he wanted to pick up a couple of books, and he thought he might ask the librarian to put up a McLeod Foundation poster on the library board, seeing as that was somewhere where all the students would be able to see it, so he had one of those, and some pamphlets in his bag.

He was pleased to notice Zevalyn in the group, meaning he wouldn’t be the only intermediate - or even the youngest, he guessed, given that she’d been made prefect, although he had trouble keeping track of her actual grade.

“Hey,” he greeted everyone at the table. “I’m Kir,” he added, because he wasn’t sure The Second Year Who Was Not Gary or The French Teppenpaw would know that, especially given that he’d just mentally called him The Second Year Who Was Not Gary or The French Teppenpaw. He also wasn’t sure whether Zevalyn would know his name, even though they were in classes together, because he was starting to get this crushing feeling that he was invisible to girls, until he had direct conversations with him, at which point they were forced to notice his existence but probably only saw him as a friend.

He gravitated towards Zevalyn, and then noticed that their character sheets were out. Happily, his was next to hers. He hung his bag - a plain black satchel but adorned with a merry assortment of pins, many of them bearing rainbows - over the back of his chair and sat down. He cast his eyes over the sheet. There were… a lot of numbers. He had kind of assumed that playing a part would involve more words than numbers.

“So… I’m an elf musician thing?” he asked, unabashed at his own complete lack of knowledge. He’d been up front with Gary about it, and he’d still accepted him into the game.

OOC - previous conversations and character stuff checked with Gary (by proxy). Roping Dorian in by proxy allowed cos I author him too. Are we going with set posting order for intros? Normally multi person threads maintain the same order, the exception being Quidditch, which would mean this goes Parker, Gary, Zev, Kir (for now!)

13 Kir I... play music? 366 Kir 0 5

Lily Spencer

February 14, 2018 8:16 PM

Is it supposed to do that? by Lily Spencer

Lily was running late because she’d almost forgotten about the adventure game she’d decided to join. It sounded like a fun thing to be a part of, albeit much more organised than what she was used to. Still, it couldn’t be too bad. When Gary had asked about her character’s gender, she hadn’t even thought about it before saying she’d play a male character. It was always more fun to play a boy. Lily could still pass as one with her short haircut, sharp features and boyish clothing style, but her body was slowly changing with every year. It made her feel strange sometimes, not being able to quite fit in with either gender stereotype, but she didn’t really think about it very much. She just did what she liked.

She had hastily thrown on her favourite flannel over a white shirt and jeans before rushing down the corridors until she made it to the library, several minutes past the appointed meeting time. She pushed past the door and looked around for Gary and any familiar faces. Lily took a moment to catch her breath, then made her way towards them. She had been a bit nervous that she would be stuck playing with younger students, but then she saw a familiar face – at least the face of someone her year – and felt a bit better.

“Hi everyone,” she said as she sat next to a fourth year. “Sorry I’m late. I’m Lily.” This was a rather grand set-up for a game of make-believe adventure. She scanned the entire table before picking up her character sheet. “This is mine?” she asked. “I’m brand new at this, so apologies in advance for being slow.” Lily read over her character sheet and then felt uncertain. When she’d taken the advert, she’d expected it to be a bit more active. This didn’t seem like something she would be very good at. “I’m a rogue. That means I’m a thief?

She didn’t notice it right away, but Zevalyn’s colourful dice began floating. Lily placed down her sheet and raised her eyebrows in surprise. “That’s cool,” she started to say, and then the rest of the objects on the table began floating as well, her character sheet included. “Is it supposed to do that?” she asked curiously. She wasn’t quite certain how they were going to play when everything was floating. It wasn’t stopping either, just going higher and higher. Lily watched it, confused even more.

OOC: Apologies, but you’re all at risk for the infection now.

40 Lily Spencer Is it supposed to do that? 357 Lily Spencer 0 5

Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

February 24, 2018 8:40 PM

The Opening Scene by Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

As the introductions, questions, conversation and magical disturbances die down, Gary speaks up. "Are we all ready to get started? I'm sure questions will come up as we go, feel free to ask. So, you're characters have all responded to the posters hung up around the region of Port Toli for one reason or another. You might be looking for some action and excitement, perhaps you just want to help the defenseless, or maybe you're just in it for the coin. Regardless, you had found yourself in a meeting with the mayor, Danita Liviana. She was eternally grateful for your willingness to help solve the town's problem. She describes how a few weeks ago, livestock started to disappear from nearby farms. Sometimes a half-eaten corps is found and sometimes only bloodstains. Everyone is scared, no one has seen the killer directly, but a long black fang was found in one of the animal corpses, thus the name 'Blackfang'. She's offered 1,000 gold pieces to the group that can put an end to this threat."

Gary pauses for a moment, looks around the group to see if everyone was following along. Exposition was boring, but necessary. Satisfied that no one was completely lost, he continued. "The mayor has directed you all to an old cave not to far from town. Rumors have it, that's where the killer lives. So that is where you've traveled. Along the way, you have plenty of time to chat and get to know each other. Your characters can chat now, as you're traveling."

Waving his hand in a general gesture of 'talk to each other, converse among yourselves.', He stands up from behind his screen with a marker. While the players chat a bit, he begins drawing some lines on the mat of 1" squares in the middle of the table. A few black lines following the grid, breaking for what was supposed to be a cavern opening, some green squiggles closed off that opening, and near to them he placed a grey figure of a human male holding a sword.

As he finished and the talk died down, he indicates the map he had just drawn. "At last! The cave is in sight up ahead." He points to the area in front of the cave he had drawn, "place your figures, in a square, on the edge of the map here." Pointing at the green squiggles across the cave entrance, he continues. "A curtain of thick, green moss hangs over the entrance, hiding what lies beyond." Then he points at the grey figure, just outside the cave. "Standing in front of the entrance is a menacing old stone statue of a warrior."

Looking at each player in turn, he asks, "What would you like to do? You could move around, ready weapons, examine things, or anything else you can think up."

(OOC: Okay, let's try this on in standard posting order, each player takes their turn. Chatter and such while traveling can take place in the same post as your declared action at this point. Gary will adjudicate actions and answer questions in a batch once everyone has posted.)

2 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master The Opening Scene 1404 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master 0 5

Parker, Nefrig Boneaxe

February 27, 2018 1:56 PM

Short Man on a little walk by Parker, Nefrig Boneaxe

Parker's eyes opened wide when Lily sat down, and went even wider when the dice started to rise. Parker was fairly certain that the dice, were indeed not supposed to do that, though it might be useful for later if there was indeed rolling involved. Not only were there older students at the table, it was almost evenly split between boys and girls. Apparently DnD wasn't just for nerdy boys, and Parker's view of Gary changed dramatically.

As Gary started talking, Parker looked down at the sheet of names that he had been given. He chose the one that ended in Boneaxe because it sounded like someone who might do some smiting. As Parker listened to Gary talked it sounded a bit like one of the stories he had heard over the summer, only it was happening in real time. Also, Gary's discription reminded Parker of something

As Gary mentioned others that they could chat Parker turned to the team, "Hi. I am..." looked down at the paper Gary had given him, "Nefrig Boneaxe, Dwarven Priest, protector of friends, smiter of foes. Big fangs, eating animals, lives in a cave. Does anyone else think this sounds like a chimaera?"

Parker had just been reading about them after Cleo had mentioned them in her letter and now wanted to show off his knowledge. The fact that there were older students playing, and two girls, both of whom Parker noticed were quite beautiful in their own ways, made Parker feel like he needed to prove himself, and that he had something to offer the group.

41 Parker, Nefrig Boneaxe Short Man on a little walk 1402 Parker, Nefrig Boneaxe 0 5

Kir, Erevan Amastacia

March 02, 2018 10:09 PM

Um... elf... guy.... doing stuff? by Kir, Erevan Amastacia

OOC - hey Gary. Great opening scene. Try to remember to use a past tense (‘Gary spoke up,’ ‘Gary paused’ rather than ‘speaks’ and ‘pauses’) as that’s the style guide here. Content is great though, and I always enjoy reading your posts, which is the main thing.

IC
Once he had Erevan Amastacia all set up, and they had all the dice back on the table (Kir assumed an older student was pranking them with that, though he hadn’t been able to see anyone around), Gary began kind of… story telling. Kir smiled. The stats and everything had been kind of complicated and there seemed to be a lot of detail to get his head around. But this was more like what he’d been imagining, insofar as he’d been able to imagine anything about this at all - it was like playing pretend. Only in a way that was socially acceptable now that they were teenagers.

And then… Gary was telling them to talk. Or, rather, be their characters. Parker went first, introducing himself, and saying he was a dwarf and such, which seemed redundant cos they’d all just discussed character names and types before beginning. But, oh, he supposed their characters were only just meeting. Right.

“Pleased to meet you,” he tried, feeling a little weird but not too self-conscious. He could tell he was going to be kind of clunky and awkward at this at first, but Kir wasn’t really someone who embarrassed easily. He’d rather have a go and get it wrong than sit there in silence. “I am Erevan Amastacia, elven bard, with many a… great poem to my name. Am I allowed to claim that?” he checked, mostly with Gary but also glancing at Amber because she seemed to know what she was doing. “And uh… A chimera? Wait, are you asking as Parker or as… um… what was your dwarf called again? Are there chimeras in this world?” he checked.

13 Kir, Erevan Amastacia Um... elf... guy.... doing stuff? 366 Kir, Erevan Amastacia 0 5

Zevalyn/Amber the Valorous

March 07, 2018 8:35 AM

Human Warrior takin' names by Zevalyn/Amber the Valorous

While Parker and Kir began talking, Zevalyn placed her human fighter figure into the indicated corner where they were supposed to be arriving at the cave. As long as character had been broken, Zevalyn took the opportunity to answer Parker's suggestion and Kir's question out of character, "There are chimeras in D&D," she told Kir, "But unless Gary wants to kill us all, we're not facing one of them as level ones," she added, with a grin toward the two second years.

With that, she put on a more serious expression, and sat up taller in her seat - not so much because Amber had good posture, but because Amber was larger than Zevalyn was, being both an adult and an extraordinarily strong woman with mass and muscle up the wazoo - "I am Amber," she stated, introducing herself IC to her traveling companions. "I hope it is not a chimera, Nefrig, I hear they are quite fearsome, but I will prepare myself for that possibility." With that she mimed drawing out a great longsword and holding it out in front of her. "This is Justice," she introduced her weapon. "Blackfang will meet her in due time, whatever kind of foul creature it is."

"Also," she warned, pretending to point the tip of her sword out in front of her, presumably at the stone statue, "I have a bad feeling about that statue." In character, she couldn't mention that any time a DM specifically mentioned a statue shaped like a creature or humanoid, especially one described as 'menacing', and then had everyone take a position on the map relative to it, that meant it was almost certainly going to come to life and attack them, but she thought she was conveying the idea well enough. "Be ready, friends."

1 Zevalyn/Amber the Valorous Human Warrior takin' names 380 Zevalyn/Amber the Valorous 0 5

Lily / Ronin the Rogue

March 14, 2018 9:14 PM

Trying to be stealthy. by Lily / Ronin the Rogue

After the floating pieces had been dealt with, Lily still had little idea of what was going on. She assumed they were all creating an alternate identity for their character, but the game Gary had set up for them did not look like they would be doing anything active. Lily felt a bit apprehensive, but it was still too early to leave.

Choosing a name for her character was easy. She had a list of male and female names she almost always used whilst playing make-believe, so it wasn't difficult to choose one. Ronin - she would be Ronin the Rogue.

Soon, Gary began explaining something and she realised he was telling a story. The premise of their story, evidently. Then it was their turn to chat; apparently there was more role-play than she'd previously assumed. She looked at what Gary was setting up, and then moved her male character to the same corner that Zevalyn had moved hers.

Parker and Kir were chatting, which left her and Zevalyn. She stayed quiet and observed instead, not quite certain what chimeras were supposed to be - though Zevalyn hinted that they were malicious. Zevalyn continued with the role-play and Lily grinned. Now this she did understand. "One thousand gold pieces is a lot," she said aloud. "This better be worth it. I want to look for a secret door or some way to get past the statue without disturbing it."

40 Lily / Ronin the Rogue Trying to be stealthy. 357 Lily / Ronin the Rogue 0 5

Connor Priory/Osril

April 09, 2018 7:17 PM

Just trying to catch on. by Connor Priory/Osril

Connor walked into the library carrying the invite for the game. He was glad that he had spoken to Gary beforehand and had things cleared up for him. He had been having a really difficult time wrapping his head around the concept of a half-wizard, half-elf. Apparently, in Dungeons and Dragons, elves were a little more humanoid than in reality. Connor was still a bit puzzled by how Muggles could get things so incredibly wrong but as this was the game, he was going to go with it.

He was also really glad that Gary had provided him with a list of character-appropropriate names, as from Connor's perspective wizards had names that ranged all over the place and elves had names like Blinky. He didn't....really think he wanted to be called Blinky.

So the Crotalus had decided to go with Osril. In part because it was one of the names on the list that he could easily pronounce.

Other than that, he.... had absolutely no idea what he was doing .

It turned out that Connor was the last to arrive. He had been running a little late, trying his best to finish up a Transfiguration essay. Of course, now the end was a little rushed so he might go back and rewrite it.

He recognized pretty much everyone from class. Zevalyn and Lily were both older than him but were rather people who stood out and the former had started with his year anyway. The third year couldn't help but be impressed with "Amber's" introduction though. She really seemed to know what she was doing.

The floating dice were a nice touch too. Connor wondered if someone was casting a spell-though nobody looked old enough to be able to cast both wordless or wandless magic-or if they had actually found floating dice. He assumed Gary was a Muggleborn but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of finding a store that had enchanted dice. After all, they had to go into magical stores to buy stuff for school.

"I'm Connor Priory, of the Wisconsin Priorys" He introduced himself. "Also known as Osril. I am able to do evocation and transmutation" After clearing up that whole wizard-elf hybrid thing, the Crotalus had asked Gary some more questions and found out about the different wizarding schools, which were not places like Sonora but more like areas of study. It did seem rather limiting to him that a wizard could only do two things when they were required to study multiple disciplines here.

After some more setup on Gary's part and a mention of chimeras which "Amber" said would get them all killed at this point, the game began. "I wish I'd decided to divination on it." Connor replied. "Then I could find out. I suppose I could change the statue into something else?"

OOC-All mentions of Connor's previous conversation with Gary has been okayed. Sorry this took so long!

11 Connor Priory/Osril Just trying to catch on. 395 Connor Priory/Osril 0 5

Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

April 09, 2018 10:35 PM

Fight!! by Gary Harper, Dungeon Master

Gary smiled as the group in front of him began to talk. They were getting the hang of it. He nodded at Kir's question about his Bard's accomplishments, "Absolutely, you can declare nearly anything about your character's past, well, within reason of course. Your characters are all just starting out as 'adventurers' at level one, so they haven't slain any dragons or anything yet, but they have made a name for themselves one way or another that has set them above the standard townsfolk." He paused for just a moment, then smirked, "Your character however, can claim anything they want. You've all just met, and who's to say what claims may be true or not?"

As the players began putting their figures onto the map, Gary responded to their declarations. "As you focus your attention on the statue, you can tell that it has been here for many, many, many years. However, despite it's age, it's features have not been worn away by the elements, instead they look as though they've been melted with acid. It makes no move as you circle it, looking for a secret way into the cavern beyond. The only entrance you can see is the main opening, still shrouded with hanging moss." Gary pointed at the squiggly green line drawn across the map's cavern entrance. He made eye contact with each of the players to make sure they were following, then opened his pointing hand releasing two more small figures onto the map just outside the 'moss curtain'.

"The piercing shriek of a battle-cry emanates from the cave as two figures burst through the curtain! They're green humanoids no more than three feet tall. Their wide mouths are peeled back in vicious grins, as they shout and swing crude swords." This could be the interesting part. "These are goblins; malicious, vile creatures of petty evil in this world. They are a plague upon any land in which they reside, stealing and killing, sowing chaos and destruction. Right now, their target seems to be the group of you." How would wizards react to this type of goblin, when they have actual goblins in their world?"

Regardless, it was time to step into explanation mode now, so he paused from the 'action' and shifted into teaching mode. "What we have here now is a fight, and fights play out in a different sort of time frame then wandering around and casually chatting. This is a game, and in every game, each player gets a turn. When everyone has had their turn the round is over and if the conflict hasn't been resolved a new round starts where everyone gets a turn again. Honestly, be prepared to get in a bunch of fights, that's what the game is essentially built around. This is where most of those numbers and things on your character sheet become relevant. For example, in order to determine turn order, everyone rolls their d20, the twenty-sided die, and adds the the number in their initiative modifier box on their sheet. For example, these goblins have initiative modifiers of +6, so I roll a die for each of them and add six to the result." Gary picked up two of his d20s and rolled them on the map. They came up 8 and 19. "Alright goblin 1 has a 14 total and goblin two has 25. You all can roll and get your results and let me know your numbers. Turns then go from highest to lowest.

Gary waited for them to do that and give him the results. Once they had all gotten their turn order he ran over it quick, "Alright, we have Goblin 2, Nefrig, Erevan, Amber, Ronin, Osril then Goblin 1. Now, your turn is about six seconds in the fight and you can choose to do a few things. You can move your character the distance listed under 'speed' on their sheet, each square is 5'. Apart from that, you also attack with your weapons or cast spells. There are a few more options and tactical things that we can get into later, but for now we'll stick with the basics." He looked around the table again hoping he hadn't lost anyone. Combat was the complicated part of this game and he hoped everyone was following along. "Let me know if you have any questions as we go, I'll try to keep explaining everything as well. Once you see how this works, it's not that complicated."

He hoped they would believe that as he reached for one of the goblin figures on the map. "Okay, goblin two is at the top of the initiative order, so he goes first. As stated previously, he had burst from behind the moss curtain screaming an unintelligible battle-cry at the top of his lungs. So, he is going to move and his slightly wavering path takes him headlong towards Amber. He has a speed of 30' so he can move six squares." Gary counted them out as he placed the figure next to Amber's figure. "He only needs four to get next to Amber. Since he's using a melee weapon, his sword, he needs to be in a square adjacent to Amber to attack her. After moving, now he is going to attack her with his weapon, his shabby looking sword. To do that I roll the d20 for the attack roll and add his attack bonus of +2, the die number and the bonus need to meet or exceed Amber's armor class to hit her and do damage." Gary felt this was a fairly safe move for an opening swing. The fighter had a high armor class and the goblin was most likely to miss... then the die landed on the 20. "Huh."

Gary grinned sheepishly at Zevalyn. "Heh, I guess that hits, doesn't it? That is what is called a critical success, or a crit for short. Whenever you roll a natural 20 on the die for an attack roll, it always hits and does double damage. That attack hit something vital. On the other end of the spectrum, a natural 1 always misses. So..." he drew it out, praying for a low damage roll, "their swords normally do 1d4 points of damage, however it's doubled now since it was a crit." The four sided die hit the table and he breathed a sigh of relief as it landed on the 1. "So, Amber takes 2 points of damage. Apparently it nicked her in some semi-vital place."

"Okay, next on the list is Nefrig, what do you want to do?"

OOC - I'm just using posting order for initiative order for simplicity. Assume that after each player takes their turn, Gary asks the next person the same question he asked Nefrig. The goblins have an Armor Class of 13 and 6 hit points each and will fight to the death. I've been rolling the dice for the above results, just for fun. Feel free to do so likewise if you wish. If you want help on weapons or spells, just ask me or Zev's author and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

2 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master Fight!! 1404 Gary Harper, Dungeon Master 0 5

Parker, Nefrig

April 19, 2018 2:57 PM

Ahhhh... I have to read first? by Parker, Nefrig

Parker was having fun. There seemed to be a good number of people in this game, and it seemed to be a lot of talking, which Parker enjoyed. He felt a little silly after his idea was dismissed, but the group kept going, so he filed it away for later.

You character can claim anything they want.
Parker liked that idea, and was a bit sorry that he had gotten the healer instead of the fighter. He'd have fun with claiming things that the fighter had done, even if it wasn't true. As it stood, it looked like he was going to be the good guy, coming along to help people.

Seems like a Teppenpaw character. So Parker began to try to think, what would a Teppenpaw do? He didn't know any quite that well yet, but he knew enough about them to know they were helpful and kind. Similar to his mother or sister. So Parker changed it to, what would my mother or sister do.

As Gary began to talk about the goblins and fighting Parker broke into a grin. He rolled the die and it came up 19.

"This is good right?" Parker said as he pointed to the 19.

Once he'd figured out where his initiative bonus was he realized that he'd scored above a 20, but below the other Goblin.

Alright. Clobbering time. Parker thought. Then immediately thought about what his mother or sister would do. They wouldn't run in and fight swinging. That was more like him or his brother.

Parker began to look over his sheet. There were names for spells, but he didn't know what any of them meant. Parker grabbed the book that had player on it, thinking it might be like the old video game flyers for his fathers video games that described what you could/couldn't do. He found he wasn't wrong, and looked up the spells sections as Gary talked about rolling a 20. Parker made a note that when fighting he wanted 20's as he flipped through the book.

The first spell he came across was called Bless. Parker read the description. Then read it again.

"Sorry, I'm still new to this whole thing. Does Bless mean that the points get added to people's numbers when they roll to hit someone or the amount of hit points they take away?"

Parker decided he'd do that with his first round since it might mean some people getting some good hits in.

"Umm I guess Nefrig will back up a bit and with a snarl on his face cast Bless on umm..." Parker looked at the map. He was obviously going to choose Amber, but that left two more slots. Looking at the other players he assumed that the wizard probably wouldn't be attacking.
"Bless Erevan, Amber, and Ronin."

In his head, Parker imagined a video game with a red headed bearded short man waving his hands above his head and then a swirl of lights appearing underneath the three characters. This was truly going to be fun.

Parker went back to the book to see what in the world Shillelagh was.

41 Parker, Nefrig Ahhhh... I have to read first? 1402 Parker, Nefrig 0 5

Kir/Erevan

April 30, 2018 10:22 AM

Ahhh.... I have to fight.... uh, enemies? by Kir/Erevan

[Co-written between Kir and Gary with occasional butting in from Zev]

Kir listened as Gary went back into storytelling mode. He quite liked these bits. He had a feeling it would make it all hang together however bad a job he was doing, and that was kind of comforting. There was a structure, and a plan here, even if he had no idea what either of them were or how to follow them.

He was less than thrilled, however, when Gary declared they were fighting goblins, and by Gary’s description of them. He opened his mouth ready to object and then shut it again. He knew Gary didn’t mean it Like That. This was a non-magical people thing. Like how they had really weird ideas about fairies. And he didn’t want to be the know it all magical background guy, he didn’t want it to seem like he was trying to make Gary feel stupid or was ruining his game because that would be racist. But he was also pretty sure it wasn’t ok to talk about goblins that way, and that - even if unintentional - it was also kinda racist. There was a long and bloody history between magical humans and goblins, and even now - even now they were all meant to be ‘civilised’ and ‘beyond all that’ - he knew it hadn’t translated down into every nook of society. There was still mistrust between some goblins and some magical humans. There were still people who’d use slurs, either with the intent to cause offence or because they ‘didn’t see the harm.’ Participating in something where goblins were described as malicious, vile creatures with green skin, and where he was expected to bash their heads in felt very, very wrong, even if the person saying all that had no malicious intent whatsoever. He, Kir, still knew that saying things like that wasn’t ok… But it also felt so rude to call Gary out on it, in the middle of his game, and caught between these two conflicting ideals, he wasn’t quite sure what to do.

He tried to tune back in as Gary explained the fighting. And the fact that this was going to involve a lot of it. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He wasn’t much of a fighter. The demo involved a lot of different numbers and seemed to have the upshot that Amber was now hurt. Which made him feel weirdly annoyed, given that they were just tiny little figurines standing next to each other on a pretend map, but Amber was his ally. And Zevalyn was like… insanely hot.

Nefrig went first, and seemed to have a handle on what to do. Kinda.

“Thanks,” Kir responded, when he got ‘blessed.’ It apparently added numbers to his rolls, which was basic enough information that he got that it was a good thing.

“Ok… so, um? Do I try to help Amber? Does Amber even need help?” he questioned, not wanting to stop her if she was ready to smash things, “Like, isn’t she a bad-ass armoured warrior woman and I’m like… a poet?”

“Pfft,” Amber interrupted. “I laugh at two hit points of damage. It’s a mere flesh wound. Poet away.”

“Are we allowed to try to talk our way out of fights?” Kir asked, partly because being a skilled weaver of words definitely appealed more to him than hitting everything he met over the head but also because, whilst he appeared to have some basic weapons and stuff, but he was also the kind of guy who carried a lute as an essential, so he wasn’t particularly sure he was going to be helpful here if it came down to pure muscle. “I mean, it lists things like… persuasion under my skills?”

Gary nodded at Kir, “ Sure, you can always try, and sometimes talking is a much better option than fighting.” This wasn't really one of those situations though. This was an introductory module to the game, and this was the combat tutorial. These particular goblins were drunk and ridiculously belligerent. Still, the game was all about making decisions and dealing with the consequences. So, Kir had to be able to make an informed decision.

“Erevan is proficient in the Insight skill. That is the skill used to gauge another person's state or intentions. Also, the goblins aren't being terribly subtle or deceptive. To that end, you know that they want to cause you and your group serious harm.” he smiled a bit, he had hoped his initial description had made that obvious, “However, the extra thing that you're picking up, is that they are also terribly drunk. That is going to make them very difficult to reason with, but it make may it a little easier to intimidate them.”

Now for the mechanics, “If you want talk to them, just tell me what you want to accomplish and how you want to accomplish it. Then I'll take everything I can account for into consideration and if it’s possible and I can fail, I'll assign a DC or difficulty number to it. That is the target number that you need to match or beat to accomplish your objective.”

“For example, if you tell me that you want to convince the goblins to stop fighting by telling them that you mean them no harm, I'll take into consideration that; they are drunk, already mid attack, some of your group has weapons in hand, and that no one has actually attacked them yet. It might be possible, but fairly difficult and I'll set the DC at 25. Then I’ll ask you to make a persuasion check against that DC 25. You do that rolling your 20 sided die, adding the number listed on the sheet next to your persuasion skill. If, on the other hand, you tell me you want to scare them into running away by convincing them they are terribly outmatched and stand on the brink of death, I'll tell you to roll an intimidation check at DC 20.”

Amber leaned forward, grinning eagerly, “I’d totally aid him if he tries to intimidate.”

While he was listing options, two more occurred to him. “You can also just try to render them unconscious, and you actually have two methods of doing that. The first one is to attack as normal, but declare that you are doing nonlethal damage. Then they'll get knocked out instead of killed when you overcome them. Anyone can do that.” He glanced around the table to make sure everyone was aware. “Your second option is the Sleep spell that you have, you might take them both out with that and they'll be magically asleep for a minute.”

Gary realized he'd been talking a lot again. “Anyway, those are some of your options and how they might play out. Do you have any more questions, or do you know what you would you like to do?”

“Um… Ok,” Kir nodded, trying to take in everything Gary had just said. On the plus side, talking might be an option sometimes, although it seemed like this might not be it. “Hang on… If I want to persuade, I get to roll a twenty sided dice, plus my persuade, which is four… But I need to beat twenty five?” he questioned, checking he’d got what Gary had said right. “So. I’m guessing that’s solidly not an option. Except I’m blessed… How much do I get for being blessed? And what would would I have to do to make the- uh, enemies go to sleep?” he asked, still not quite able to face calling them goblins. The fact that the “goblins” were not behaving like fine upstanding members of the finance industry and were, in fact, being drunken fighty buttholes did make it all slightly easier, in that it removed it by several degrees more from his own experience of them (though he wasn’t sure it was out of the realms of possibility, given some of his family’s new year parties, it just hadn’t happened to him personally yet). Still... Sleeping spell didn’t sound like a terrible option. It was non-violent, and possibly more likely to work than trying to make twenty (or less) and four beat twenty five…

“Still willing to intimidate, but I suck at persuasion, so I’m zero help with that,” Amber put in.

Gary looked a little sheepish at Kir’s quick math skills for the persuasion check, “You're right, as of now, you you probably can’t convince two drunken, semi-crazy creatures to be your friends. As you progress through adventures you gain experience and get better skills and abilities, and at that time you may be able to succeed. The Bless spell, specifically helps you on attack rolls and saving throws, unfortunately not skill checks.” He turned more toward Zevalyn, she’s played games like this before, but 5e was a little weird on this front… okay on a couple of fronts. Maybe he should have just done Pathfinder instead, oh well, to late now. “Assisting works a little different in this version. Anybody can take their action in combat to assist someone else, they don’t need to make a roll, they just give the person making the check Advantage. The person assisting only has to be capable of making the check themself, and it doesn’t matter how good they are at it.”

He winced internally, more mechanics to explain. “when you have Advantage, instead of rolling one d20, you roll two and use the better result.” He’d wait to explain disadvantage until it came up specifically. “Which means you’d have a better chance at getting a higher number, but you still can’t get over a 20.”

“As for the sleep spell…” now for the truly fun part. Explaining how magic works to a bunch of wizards. He took a deep breath, and dove right in. “You will all need to accept now that magic in this game doesn't work at all like real magic.” He looked around the table, hopefully this would go well. “Magic spells come in levels. The lowest level ones are called cantrips. They are simple tricks that you can do without limit. All of your other spells are a limited resource, Erevan can cast two first level spells and then he’ll need to rest for eight hours before being able to cast them again. He knows four first level spells, and sleep is one of them. Casting it is your action, you roll 5d8, that is roll your eight sided die five times and add up the results. That will determine how effective your spell is against your foes. A total of seven will put one of them to sleep, fourteen will put them both down.”

The logical thing - the one with the best odds of him getting a decent result - was probably to use the sleep spell thing. But a pretty girl was egging him on to intimidate and saying she’d help him.

“Eh, let’s have a go at intimidating them,” he grinned, “I mean uh…. Back off, foul creatures. I see you do not recognise my companion here, but surely her reputation precedes her, even to your dank and lowly cave. This is Amber the Valorous. Your puny weapons have barely scratched her and merely added fire to her already formidable and seething temper. Flee! Flee before it is too late!” he glanced between Amber and Gary to check that he was broadly Doing Things Right - if they were teaming up, he thought it made most sense to use his power with words to try to big up Amber as an impressive and terrifying threat because… well, again, Lute Guy. He was Lute Guy. “And… uh, now I roll two dice?” he confirmed. “And if either is more than 16, then I’m decently scary?”

He rolled. The first die landed on thirteen, which was good but obviously not good enough. He felt like it might have also used up his chance at ‘getting a high number.’ Suddenly the second one getting any higher than that seemed improbable. It rolled six.

“So… they don’t buy it?” he guessed.

Gary grinned as Erevan talked up Amber. It was excellent. Amber was assisting him for her action on her turn which was next, so before making any ‘official declarations‘ he wanted to hear Zevalyn’s part in this. “They haven't turned tail and run, but you may have planted a seed of doubt in their mind. They are both eyeing up Amber now.” He looked at Zevalyn, “What exactly is Amber doing to assist Erevan?”

Zevalyn considered her options, and double checked her character sheet. “I lift up my huge greatsword in a threatening two-handed manner, smile in that way some people can smile that’s really a lot more scary than pleasant, like I’m really looking forward to beheading a couple drunk goblins,” - Kir shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to pretend that the words ‘beheading’ and ‘goblins’ had not just been used in the same sentence - “which I am, so that’s not at all a bluff check and, as I eye up their ears, I say, ‘Those look like fine goblin ears for my collection,” - there was a muffled squeak from Kir - “Please, attack me again; this will be good fun. For me anyway. You, I expect, will find it painful and unpleasant. Only for a couple seconds though, after that you won’t feel anything ever again.’ I smile again, and widen my stance like I’m getting ready to fight both of them all by myself and seem entirely unbothered by the minor scratch they inflicted with their puny attack earlier.”

Gary nodded as Zevalyn described Amber’s ‘assistance’. “The lead goblin that hit Amber throws an uncertain glance back at his companion,” he attempted to mimic that sort of expression. “The second one doesn't seem to notice and continues forward in a wavering line in the general direction of Ronin.” He didn’t move the figure however. “That goblin can't actually move until his turn. It is Ronin’s turn though,” he looked at Lily, “What would you like to do?”

13 Kir/Erevan Ahhh.... I have to fight.... uh, enemies? 366 Kir/Erevan 0 5

Lily / Ronin

May 03, 2018 8:23 PM

Hope I'm doing this right. by Lily / Ronin

The entire game was difficult for Lily to grasp, particularly the concept of rolling a dice and doing maths. She liked it best when Gary explained the story. She stayed quiet, listening as Gary, Kir, Parker and Zev had their turns. She didn't enjoy being silent, but she also didn't want to look stupid in front of them all when it seemed like they were catching on rather quickly. Lily looked down at her character card and thought of what to do on her turn.

Currently, Amber was somewhat wounded, Parker had blessed them, Kir had unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the goblins and the second goblin was looking at her. Er, Ronin.

Ronin had a few weapons at his disposal, but nothing nearly as impressive as Amber's sword. He, instead, had a dagger and a shortbow. But since this was a game based on numbers, it didn't seem like it would matter much whichever he chose. Realistically, unless Ronin could throw daggers, getting close enough to stab a giant, drunk goblin wouldn't be likely. Attempting to stab any rabid creature would just be plain stupid.

In reality, Lily understood goblins were great at banking, but her family had always told her to beware because they were tricksters looking to cheat wizards out of their money. She'd never come into contact with a goblin herself, but they weren't being represented very kindly in society or this strange game.

When Gary asked her what Ronin was going to do, Lily looked down at her character card again. "Can I do a sneak attack? I suppose I'm only allowed to attack one goblin, and if so I want to attack the one that hit Amber." She glanced at Zev. "Can't allow him to get away with it, can I?" she said with a grin before turning back to the board. She picked up the die. "The blessing is supposed to help with an attack, right?"

Lily had already forgotten what number she needed to make a successful attack, but she rolled an eleven first. "Eleven plus five makes it sixteen, so that's a hit, correct?" Lily picked up the six-sided die and rolled again: 3. She raised her eyebrows. "Um, so what does that mean?"

40 Lily / Ronin Hope I'm doing this right. 357 Lily / Ronin 0 5