This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Hello Mist Wanderers Welcome to the House of Lament Out-of-Character thread
Use this thread for:
• Idle chat, get to know your fellow players! • Questions or strategizing for in-game characters (When appropriate) • Questions for DM concerning In-game content • Notifications of edits or corrections to In-game mistakes or incorrect dice rolls
House Rules:
-All PbP Rules noted on the PbP Rules and FAQs thread linked in the campaign page -Do not Send Unsolicited PMs to your fellow players. lets keep a healthy environment and discuss what we need to discuss here, or simply ask to PM! -Don't reveal your name or any personal information about yourself in IC or OOC threads -This adventure takes place in and around a house... a single initiative role at the start of the game will stay in affect, and will only be re-rolled after a short or long rest. -The rule of cool... is applied. -Stress points will be accrued when you fail a constitution save triggered by fear. If the Constitution save pertains to one of your seeds of fear, you roll at disadvantage. -Your total stress score caps at 4, at which time the score will reset, and you will receive one level of exhaustion. -Stress score will be used as a negative modifier against all attacks, checks, and saves. -Inspiration will be awarded for fantastic role-play, combat worthy of recognition, and good call-outs in the OOC about any discrepancies or mistakes by the DM. Keep me honest! -Besides these house rules, we will proceed RAW (Rules as Written)
-Text Formatting-
When posting in OOC, type however you feel free. In the IC thread, please post with the following format:
For character thoughts: "Italicize your text with quotation marks" For character speech: "Bold your text with quotation marks" For Out of Character information: Color your text purple and place at the end of your response. For example:
Perdition gazes upon the house that once trapped his spirit for Gods knows how long. Over a longer-than-necessary period of time he ponders "weeks... months... years? but finally, I'm free". as he begins to conjure flames within his hand, he gazes on the house for one last time. "Never again" he exclaims, as he casts the fire upon the house.
Perdition will cast burning hands on the house will take12on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. he will then use his full movement to walk away from the house.
Don't be too anxious, It's not critical but it will all help us read and understand better. I understand mistakes happen and more often then not any errors in formatting will probably go overlooked. just be mindful, respect your DM, and respect your fellow players!
Hello there fellow Mist Wanders it is I GANDER GONGOWOGOLL THE ARCHSAGE OF HAPPINESS AND BLISS! In is a grand pleasure to be of your service. I shall be playing the role of Radallion the Fabulous
He is a Bard whose hit single was ‘Heart as hard as Adamantine—We Those Who Love Deeply Madly Truly’ played exclusively at the One Eyed Pugs Pub the crowd who loved it so much they threw tomatoes at him. Which might seem like a gesture of anger or frustration but I can assure you that that is not the case. You see Radallion the Fabulous and his family are Tomato Merchants and they had in fact sold those tomatoes to that very crowd. So as you can see they were practically chucking money at me.
Anyhow I absolutely despise being a Tomato Merchant… so I left … To where? With what will I pay for my crippling addiction to buttons and small hand soaps? How could I possibly believe that I could escape the haunting shapes that lurk, creeping out whenever I look down to make sure I still have all eight of my toes? These are questions I too would like to have answered.
but enough about me and my fabulous existence You lot are a adorable bunch with plenty of lovely tales of your own I’m certain.
I am playing Rufus van Hildegoath, heir to a husk of a dynasty that has withered on the vine, due in no small part to the deranged activities of its bygone patriarch. Rufus is an artificer (planned Armorer subclass), and given the melee-leaning classes I see in the roster, I'll probably lean toward ranged attacks. I'll place here again my backstory from the recruitment thread. I'm looking forward to our game!
Backstory: The House of Hildegoath is not a warm place. Not for decades past has it heard of birdsong, or children’s laughter, or of the sweet music sung to set pretty little babes to rest. Certainly not since Cornelius hung himself to death in the garden house, nor since handsome young Edgar flung himself from the library’s balcony. And that was years ago.
Now the only sounds that fill the air of Hildegoath manor are the screech of mockingjays and relentless ticking and chiming of decrepit clocks. There is a stillness in the house, but not one that feels at ease. The stillness is rather an absence of life--the empty sound of what remains when joy itself has departed, and left in its place only memories. Only sorrow. Only ashes.
It was here that Rufus grew up, surviving the torments of childhood under the eccentricities of a lonely, bitter mother, only to endure the agonies of pubescent boyhood without companionship. The van Hildegoath name, what was once a great and noble family, brought him no advantaged, shadowed and discolored by the shameful fate of his father and elder brother. Indeed, although they lived within a manor’s walls, there was no money. The servants and gardeners were sent away, for there was no money with which to pay them. There was barely food to eat.
Despite living in poverty, Rufus was a bright and self-driven student who devoured the books that remained in his father's library--those too blasphemous to sell for grain money. Books on history and philosophy, theology and magic, and even alchemy, in which Rufus took a special interest. And there were his father’s journals and notes, for the patriarch of House van Hildegoath himself harbored an appetite for...fleshcraft.
These notes served as a great inspiration for Rufus, fueling his own imagination and leading him to develop his own experiments, usually on wildlife and birds he could catch around the estate. Eventually he hit walls in his own experimentation, however, and so turned to the larger collections available at Candlekeep. He painstakingly copied some of his father's texts and notes to gain entrance. The tight regulation of the great library's more dangerous alchemical texts has been a continuing source of consternation...
Seeds of Fear: Rufus fears that he, like his father, is losing his sanity. In particular, Rufus fears his own fascination with fleshcraft, as it reveals a dark predilection for things some may consider unnatural and dangerous. Where will it lead him?
Hello my friends! I’ll be playing Ansur of the High Peaks, hill dwarf barbarian whose tribe has been vanquished by something that hides in the shadows. I look forward to adventuring with you all.
Hi everyone! I am playing the Barovian barbarian Svetlana, who tries to pass herself off as human (but she is secretly the last she-Dusk Elf to survive - and not for lack of effort on the part of those who exterminated all the others).
I hope we can have a good time together (and a long one to boot)! 😀
Hey everyone, I know we’re still introducing characters (I think we have one to go) but I just wanted to send out some info so you’re not in the dark. First, I had no intention of having 6 PCs for this adventure but your characters all looked so great so here we go!
that being said, if a PC dies in this short adventure, its lights out and you’ll have to be out of the game 🥺
it will be my intention to kick off the IC thread on the 15th, with your opening and hook. From there feel free to take it away! Just keep in mind, PBP can be finicky since we’re not at a table and don’t see responses immediately. In your first post, include an Initiative roll, and from there we will go in initiative order.
from there, if we are not in combat, feel free to post a single turns worth of intentions, and as much dialogue as you want. if we are in combat, please limit the dialogue to what is reasonably expected within a single turn (or 6 seconds worth).
we’ll switch up the initiative roll every short/long rest.
does anyone have any preliminary questions for me or other players before we begin?
Hey hello, super excited to get the chance to roleplay with you all and meet everyone’s characters!
I’ll be jumping in with Rhykal, a human paladin (Vengeance, eventually) who seems simultaneously well suited to and absolutely terrible at being around people; if someone needs a little bit of plying, or a little bit of a push, she’s the person to call, but as soon as the conversation turns to small talk, or feelings, she acts very much like an alien trying to navigate human interaction. (Or someone raised in a cult devoted to a death god, but hey, who’s keeping track?) She’s been trying very hard to Be A Hero TM as a way to make up for some of the worst acts she committed as part of said death god cult, but she doesn’t always know exactly what that looks like, and her attempts do occasionally go a bit off the rails. Please ignore any and all critiques/judgments/notesshe has to offer you; she’s annoying, and also a mess. (But she’s trying. So … there’s that?)
Well it looks like we’ll have a rather sturdy party lol with our weakness being the wisdom skills perhaps? My intended subclass would be ancestral guardian if Ansur survives. if we move past level 3 a dip into ranger might be in his future as well.
a bit more about my fiery dwarf… he likes people genuinely but he’s certainly not a smooth talker. Straight shooter and one that lacks finesse in more civilized settings. He very much takes on a big brother/father mentality with his companions and has a tendency to lean towards superstition before logic. Scary things that creep around are often better dead than alive after all.
Yes on flanking! As far as I can tell, the new maps feature only works when a session is active. And as soon as I close out of it, you all lose access to the live combat map. (It is meant for live sessions and doesn’t lend itself well to PBP) but I do have PDF files of every map we need, and during every DM response (where pertinent) I’ll upload an image of the current map, and where everyone is placed on it. 😌
Oh, since the DM included in the campaign page a link on how to roll dice on a text thread, and practice... this reminds me of something. The formulas explained in that link (when they work) are indeed useful and powerful, but they can take some time and practice to apply to less than trivial attack/damage rolls. There is the "Dice roller" tool of the forum that can compose some of the formulas for you - but unfortunately the "Dice roller" just can't handle less than trivial attack/damage rolls.
That's why I have long developed a tool (displayed via a web page) to help me correctly compose formulas for the less trivial cases; anyone who likes it can use it freely. You set the parameters, the tool composes the formula for you, you copy/paste it into your post, and you're done.
(Just a last thing: if you decide to give it a try and, while using it, you come up with suggestions for improvement you can definitely try to submit them to me; if they are things I know how to do, I will probably do them, sooner or later).
That's an excellent resource @Painted_Beyond. If you don't mind, I'll link it in our campaign page. anyone is free to use this, as I know all of the tools at our disposal can be a bit finicky.
One more updated before Friday:
all of your characters have received a hand-written letter. Whatever it says, compelled you to stop whatever it was that you were doing, and go.
• Perhaps this letter peaked the curiosity of a wizard in deep search for hidden knowledge, and the letter describes where to find it.
• Perhaps this letter was written by your long dead lover... written unmistakably, in their handwriting, calling you out to reunite with them.
• Perhaps this letter was an urgent order from your faction, demanding you set toward a peculiar mission.
• Wherever it is you're intending on going... you do not arrive there.
You can get as creative or basic as you please, but this will be your reason for stumbling into the mists. When you have your "letter" feel free to post in in here (OOC) for us to get inspired, or to show off your inspiration! Either way, I'm sure that it will be addressed in game, so if you'd rather keep it a secret 🤐 then that's great too. Look forward to your ideas!
I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing but I hope that this finds you in good health. Ever since you left I couldn’t help but think that it was me who drove you away. Father was always hardest on you and no matter how much you deserved it I still should have been there for you. The Gauntlet has been on edge I’ve been dispatched from Neverwinter to Daggorford, a pack of werewolves have been hunting there but despite our efforts we are unable to track them. With all this chaos you’d think I’d be able to keep my mind occupied.
All the time I think you’ve died in some horrible way that I could have prevented. But I was so focused on becoming a Paladin that I forgot what really mattered. Family. Father always said that I was born with wings and could fly as far and high as I wanted he said you were born with roots and would stay wherever you fell. For the longest time I believed that… But he was wrong and so was I sure maybe you aren’t the brightest or the strongest or even remotely talented at anything but your still my brother and I should have carried you let you fall in a higher and further place it was my duty and I ignored it. It’s been my greatest regret. Please come back home please don’t be dead please come back and let me make it right. You don’t have to run anymore I want you now I realize that
Your Elder Brother five time winner of Neverwinter‘s greatest smile tournament Order of the Gauntlet Third Class,
@DM: Svetlana is already in Barovia (and, having no fixed abode, it is also usually difficult to send her a letter), so up to you whether you need a letter for her too or not. However, if you need it, that's what I could come up with:
Svetlana woke up early - mainly because she doesn't sleep, but only pretends. People like her don't need to sleep, they simply meditate. The Desnikov family was kind enough to offer her shelter for the night in a room on their small farm. It's not the first time this has happened. Those who look into her azure eyes can see that she has faced unimaginable horror. Though they might fear her, commoners usually extend her every courtesy to her and do a serious effort to help her.
Waking up, the last of the dusk elf maidens is surprised to find a letter, which someone has slipped between the closed shutters of the window. A letter with her name on it. Which is quite surprising, considering that few people know her name. And that she has been enjoying the Desnikovs' hospitality for just a couple of days.
The Voices rage in her head: "It's a threat, Svetlana, run away!" "It must be sorcery!" "Maybe the Devil Stradh found us!"
The girl shudders, but she does not lose her composure... nor her lucidity. She does not fight the Voices. She lets them vent. They are like a wave, a storm. A storm that she tries to calm by reasoning. If the Devil Stradh had found her, his reaction probably wouldn't have been to send her a missive. Is this a different threat? Can be. She has already been affected by sorcery. A long time ago.
"I refuse to become a victim" Svetlana thinks, with determination, not allowing herself to be dominated by fear. Curiosity gets the better of her and she reads the letter...
I know who you are. I know who you're running from. Who you're trying to hide from. He is the Ancient, he is the Land. You will not escape him forever. But you have an alternative. Meet me in Vallaki.
Love these so far. If you're stuck-- note that it doesn't have to be a letter from someone your character knows! and it doesn't have to be authentic. it could be from an unknown nefarious source, luring you into the trap of ravenloft with a lie so convincing that your character believes it. absolutely anything goes here.
@Painted beyond, I will say that everyone needs the letter for the stories sake-- but perhaps because your character received a letter despite her circumstance, it compels her even more to act.
... @Painted beyond, I will say that everyone needs the letter for the stories sake-- but perhaps because your character received a letter despite her circumstance, it compels her even more to act.
I agree! Svetlana is probably on her way to Vallaki already, while the Voices in her head storm: "No! We can't trust this Ezmerelda! It must be a trap!" "But it could be our only chance to get help against the Devil Stradh!" "Impossibile! Who could dare to oppose someone as powerful and ruthless as the Devil Stradh!?" ... and so on... 😉
Another foggy morning at Hildegoath House. Unusually thick and low this time of year, it creeps across the untended lawn surrounding the manor. It reaches with pale, cloudy tendrils for the moss-covered, old stone walls.
Rufus, flask in hand, peers through his thick goggles at the bubbling purple liquid in the circubit. Carefully, oh so carefully, he lifts the dropper with a free hand and deposits a droplet of the dark humor. The concoction hisses and ejects a cloud of smoke, within which a murder of tiny ravens appears to circle. Smiling in satisfaction, Rufus replaces the dropper and steps back from the table, pulling the goggles over his head and pulling off his black protective gloves.
A scratching draws his attention to the window, where the branch of a barren tree scrapes against the window pane. Odd, there isn’t any wind, Rufus thinks to himself. There, on the inside the windowsill, rests a folded parchment, sealed with shiny, blood-red wax. The crest of House van Hildegoath is pressed into it. Rufus peers through and around the window, searching for a means by which the parchment might have been laid.
Warily, Rufus breaks the wax seal with his thumb, the crack reverberating in the large parlor-turned-laboratory. Fingers trembling inexplicably, he unfolds the parchment and reads the letters, scrawled messily in what appears to be dried blood.
Dear Brother,
I know what Father saw. The raven calls for us all. Your time is nigh.
Find me in the mist.
Yours enduring,
-Edgar
The parchment falls from Rufus’s trembling fingers. Beyond the window, the fog creeps ever closer.
happy to make tweaks if needed but this is what I was thinking:
Ansur,
I see the fire burning within you, the primal rage waiting to be unleashed. So let us play a game, hunter. But beware, for in this game, the roles will be reversed. You, the hunter, shall become the hunted, my prey, a wounded beast bearing its fangs.
Hear the whispers of the night beckoning you into darkness. Can you outwit me, Ansur, as I stalk you through the depths of your own fear?
Embrace the darkness within, for there is no escape from the game I have set in motion. Surrender to the hunt, for I’ll be waiting beyond the mist…
The knock on the door startles Rhykal into abrupt wakefulness; before she's finished a breath, her sword is clasped between both hands, and she watches the shadows through narrowed, suspicious eyes. She is used to the dark; she is still not quite used to the strange softness of the bed, or the moon's gentle glow, or a space that, at least for tonight, is no one's but her own.
But on the other side of the door, there is only en employee of the inn, glancing nervously at the blade in her hand, whose size nearly outpaces his own. "Um," the gnome squeaks, before clearing his throat, straining for professionalism, "this arrived for you."
She takes the letter, and he bows quickly, scurrying away; she studies the ink outline of her name for several long moments. She has so rarely seen it in print; it is only by some intersection of luck and miracle that she can read at all, though her studies have been ... rather limited, by circumstance. It makes the experience of reading even the admittedly short letter a slow untangling, though each syllable she uncovers seems to knock the air from her chest, making her light-headed.
Rhykal,
I need your help.
I know I don't need to remind you of how very much you owe me.
Follow this letter. I will give you the chance to make things right. I will give you the chance to make me whole.
Fell
Rhykal traces the four letters of a name she's known her whole life, again and again and again, with reverent fingers, her jaw clenched so tight she will feel the ache for hours.
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Hello Mist Wanderers
Welcome to the House of Lament Out-of-Character thread
Use this thread for:
• Idle chat, get to know your fellow players!
• Questions or strategizing for in-game characters (When appropriate)
• Questions for DM concerning In-game content
• Notifications of edits or corrections to In-game mistakes or incorrect dice rolls
House Rules:
-All PbP Rules noted on the PbP Rules and FAQs thread linked in the campaign page
-Do not Send Unsolicited PMs to your fellow players. lets keep a healthy environment and discuss what we need to discuss here, or simply ask to PM!
-Don't reveal your name or any personal information about yourself in IC or OOC threads
-This adventure takes place in and around a house... a single initiative role at the start of the game will stay in affect, and will only be re-rolled after a short or long rest.
-The rule of cool... is applied.
-Stress points will be accrued when you fail a constitution save triggered by fear. If the Constitution save pertains to one of your seeds of fear, you roll at disadvantage.
-Your total stress score caps at 4, at which time the score will reset, and you will receive one level of exhaustion.
-Stress score will be used as a negative modifier against all attacks, checks, and saves.
-Inspiration will be awarded for fantastic role-play, combat worthy of recognition, and good call-outs in the OOC about any discrepancies or mistakes by the DM. Keep me honest!
-Besides these house rules, we will proceed RAW (Rules as Written)
-Text Formatting-
When posting in OOC, type however you feel free.
In the IC thread, please post with the following format:
For character thoughts: "Italicize your text with quotation marks"
For character speech: "Bold your text with quotation marks"
For Out of Character information: Color your text purple and place at the end of your response.
For example:
Perdition gazes upon the house that once trapped his spirit for Gods knows how long. Over a longer-than-necessary period of time he ponders "weeks... months... years? but finally, I'm free". as he begins to conjure flames within his hand, he gazes on the house for one last time. "Never again" he exclaims, as he casts the fire upon the house.
Perdition will cast burning hands on the house will take 12 on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. he will then use his full movement to walk away from the house.
Don't be too anxious, It's not critical but it will all help us read and understand better. I understand mistakes happen and more often then not any errors in formatting will probably go overlooked. just be mindful, respect your DM, and respect your fellow players!
Hello there fellow Mist Wanders it is I GANDER GONGOWOGOLL THE ARCHSAGE OF HAPPINESS AND BLISS! In is a grand pleasure to be of your service.
I shall be playing the role of Radallion the Fabulous
He is a Bard whose hit single was ‘Heart as hard as Adamantine—We Those Who Love Deeply Madly Truly’ played exclusively at the One Eyed Pugs Pub the crowd who loved it so much they threw tomatoes at him. Which might seem like a gesture of anger or frustration but I can assure you that that is not the case. You see Radallion the Fabulous and his family are Tomato Merchants and they had in fact sold those tomatoes to that very crowd. So as you can see they were practically chucking money at me.
Anyhow I absolutely despise being a Tomato Merchant… so I left … To where? With what will I pay for my crippling addiction to buttons and small hand soaps? How could I possibly believe that I could escape the haunting shapes that lurk, creeping out whenever I look down to make sure I still have all eight of my toes? These are questions I too would like to have answered.
but enough about me and my fabulous existence You lot are a adorable bunch with plenty of lovely tales of your own I’m certain.
Hey folks,
I am playing Rufus van Hildegoath, heir to a husk of a dynasty that has withered on the vine, due in no small part to the deranged activities of its bygone patriarch. Rufus is an artificer (planned Armorer subclass), and given the melee-leaning classes I see in the roster, I'll probably lean toward ranged attacks. I'll place here again my backstory from the recruitment thread. I'm looking forward to our game!
Backstory: The House of Hildegoath is not a warm place. Not for decades past has it heard of birdsong, or children’s laughter, or of the sweet music sung to set pretty little babes to rest. Certainly not since Cornelius hung himself to death in the garden house, nor since handsome young Edgar flung himself from the library’s balcony. And that was years ago.
Now the only sounds that fill the air of Hildegoath manor are the screech of mockingjays and relentless ticking and chiming of decrepit clocks. There is a stillness in the house, but not one that feels at ease. The stillness is rather an absence of life--the empty sound of what remains when joy itself has departed, and left in its place only memories. Only sorrow. Only ashes.
It was here that Rufus grew up, surviving the torments of childhood under the eccentricities of a lonely, bitter mother, only to endure the agonies of pubescent boyhood without companionship. The van Hildegoath name, what was once a great and noble family, brought him no advantaged, shadowed and discolored by the shameful fate of his father and elder brother. Indeed, although they lived within a manor’s walls, there was no money. The servants and gardeners were sent away, for there was no money with which to pay them. There was barely food to eat.
Despite living in poverty, Rufus was a bright and self-driven student who devoured the books that remained in his father's library--those too blasphemous to sell for grain money. Books on history and philosophy, theology and magic, and even alchemy, in which Rufus took a special interest. And there were his father’s journals and notes, for the patriarch of House van Hildegoath himself harbored an appetite for...fleshcraft.
These notes served as a great inspiration for Rufus, fueling his own imagination and leading him to develop his own experiments, usually on wildlife and birds he could catch around the estate. Eventually he hit walls in his own experimentation, however, and so turned to the larger collections available at Candlekeep. He painstakingly copied some of his father's texts and notes to gain entrance. The tight regulation of the great library's more dangerous alchemical texts has been a continuing source of consternation...
Seeds of Fear: Rufus fears that he, like his father, is losing his sanity. In particular, Rufus fears his own fascination with fleshcraft, as it reveals a dark predilection for things some may consider unnatural and dangerous. Where will it lead him?
Hello my friends! I’ll be playing Ansur of the High Peaks, hill dwarf barbarian whose tribe has been vanquished by something that hides in the shadows. I look forward to adventuring with you all.
Hi everyone!
I am playing the Barovian barbarian Svetlana, who tries to pass herself off as human (but she is secretly the last she-Dusk Elf to survive - and not for lack of effort on the part of those who exterminated all the others).
I hope we can have a good time together (and a long one to boot)! 😀
Hey everyone, I know we’re still introducing characters (I think we have one to go) but I just wanted to send out some info so you’re not in the dark. First, I had no intention of having 6 PCs for this adventure but your characters all looked so great so here we go!
that being said, if a PC dies in this short adventure, its lights out and you’ll have to be out of the game 🥺
it will be my intention to kick off the IC thread on the 15th, with your opening and hook. From there feel free to take it away! Just keep in mind, PBP can be finicky since we’re not at a table and don’t see responses immediately. In your first post, include an Initiative roll, and from there we will go in initiative order.
from there, if we are not in combat, feel free to post a single turns worth of intentions, and as much dialogue as you want.
if we are in combat, please limit the dialogue to what is reasonably expected within a single turn (or 6 seconds worth).
we’ll switch up the initiative roll every short/long rest.
does anyone have any preliminary questions for me or other players before we begin?
Hey hello, super excited to get the chance to roleplay with you all and meet everyone’s characters!
I’ll be jumping in with Rhykal, a human paladin (Vengeance, eventually) who seems simultaneously well suited to and absolutely terrible at being around people; if someone needs a little bit of plying, or a little bit of a push, she’s the person to call, but as soon as the conversation turns to small talk, or feelings, she acts very much like an alien trying to navigate human interaction. (Or someone raised in a cult devoted to a death god, but hey, who’s keeping track?) She’s been trying very hard to Be A Hero TM as a way to make up for some of the worst acts she committed as part of said death god cult, but she doesn’t always know exactly what that looks like, and her attempts do occasionally go a bit off the rails. Please ignore any and all critiques/judgments/notes she has to offer you; she’s annoying, and also a mess. (But she’s trying. So … there’s that?)
Well it looks like we’ll have a rather sturdy party lol with our weakness being the wisdom skills perhaps? My intended subclass would be ancestral guardian if Ansur survives. if we move past level 3 a dip into ranger might be in his future as well.
a bit more about my fiery dwarf… he likes people genuinely but he’s certainly not a smooth talker. Straight shooter and one that lacks finesse in more civilized settings. He very much takes on a big brother/father mentality with his companions and has a tendency to lean towards superstition before logic. Scary things that creep around are often better dead than alive after all.
DM, will you be using combat maps? Also, do you use the Flanking rule? Thanks!
Yes on flanking! As far as I can tell, the new maps feature only works when a session is active. And as soon as I close out of it, you all lose access to the live combat map. (It is meant for live sessions and doesn’t lend itself well to PBP) but I do have PDF files of every map we need, and during every DM response (where pertinent) I’ll upload an image of the current map, and where everyone is placed on it. 😌
Hi everyone! This is my first D&D adventure and I'll be playing Miralen who is a lightfoot halfling rogue
Oh, since the DM included in the campaign page a link on how to roll dice on a text thread, and practice... this reminds me of something. The formulas explained in that link (when they work) are indeed useful and powerful, but they can take some time and practice to apply to less than trivial attack/damage rolls. There is the "Dice roller" tool of the forum that can compose some of the formulas for you - but unfortunately the "Dice roller" just can't handle less than trivial attack/damage rolls.
That's why I have long developed a tool (displayed via a web page) to help me correctly compose formulas for the less trivial cases; anyone who likes it can use it freely. You set the parameters, the tool composes the formula for you, you copy/paste it into your post, and you're done.
A presentation/guide is:
https://sites.google.com/view/painted-ddb/home-page/attackpresentation
The tool page is:
https://sites.google.com/view/painted-ddb
(Just a last thing: if you decide to give it a try and, while using it, you come up with suggestions for improvement you can definitely try to submit them to me; if they are things I know how to do, I will probably do them, sooner or later).
That's an excellent resource @Painted_Beyond. If you don't mind, I'll link it in our campaign page. anyone is free to use this, as I know all of the tools at our disposal can be a bit finicky.
One more updated before Friday:
all of your characters have received a hand-written letter. Whatever it says, compelled you to stop whatever it was that you were doing, and go.
• Perhaps this letter peaked the curiosity of a wizard in deep search for hidden knowledge, and the letter describes where to find it.
• Perhaps this letter was written by your long dead lover... written unmistakably, in their handwriting, calling you out to reunite with them.
• Perhaps this letter was an urgent order from your faction, demanding you set toward a peculiar mission.
• Wherever it is you're intending on going... you do not arrive there.
You can get as creative or basic as you please, but this will be your reason for stumbling into the mists. When you have your "letter" feel free to post in in here (OOC) for us to get inspired, or to show off your inspiration! Either way, I'm sure that it will be addressed in game, so if you'd rather keep it a secret 🤐 then that's great too. Look forward to your ideas!
Dear Rad,
I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing but I hope that this finds you in good health. Ever since you left I couldn’t help but think that it was me who drove you away. Father was always hardest on you and no matter how much you deserved it I still should have been there for you. The Gauntlet has been on edge I’ve been dispatched from Neverwinter to Daggorford, a pack of werewolves have been hunting there but despite our efforts we are unable to track them. With all this chaos you’d think I’d be able to keep my mind occupied.
All the time I think you’ve died in some horrible way that I could have prevented. But I was so focused on becoming a Paladin that I forgot what really mattered. Family. Father always said that I was born with wings and could fly as far and high as I wanted he said you were born with roots and would stay wherever you fell. For the longest time I believed that… But he was wrong and so was I sure maybe you aren’t the brightest or the strongest or even remotely talented at anything but your still my brother and I should have carried you let you fall in a higher and further place it was my duty and I ignored it. It’s been my greatest regret. Please come back home please don’t be dead please come back and let me make it right. You don’t have to run anymore I want you now I realize that
Your Elder Brother five time winner of Neverwinter‘s greatest smile tournament Order of the Gauntlet Third Class,
Chad
@DM: Svetlana is already in Barovia (and, having no fixed abode, it is also usually difficult to send her a letter), so up to you whether you need a letter for her too or not. However, if you need it, that's what I could come up with:
Svetlana woke up early - mainly because she doesn't sleep, but only pretends. People like her don't need to sleep, they simply meditate. The Desnikov family was kind enough to offer her shelter for the night in a room on their small farm. It's not the first time this has happened. Those who look into her azure eyes can see that she has faced unimaginable horror. Though they might fear her, commoners usually extend her every courtesy to her and do a serious effort to help her.
Waking up, the last of the dusk elf maidens is surprised to find a letter, which someone has slipped between the closed shutters of the window. A letter with her name on it. Which is quite surprising, considering that few people know her name. And that she has been enjoying the Desnikovs' hospitality for just a couple of days.
The Voices rage in her head:
"It's a threat, Svetlana, run away!"
"It must be sorcery!"
"Maybe the Devil Stradh found us!"
The girl shudders, but she does not lose her composure... nor her lucidity. She does not fight the Voices. She lets them vent. They are like a wave, a storm. A storm that she tries to calm by reasoning. If the Devil Stradh had found her, his reaction probably wouldn't have been to send her a missive. Is this a different threat? Can be. She has already been affected by sorcery. A long time ago.
"I refuse to become a victim" Svetlana thinks, with determination, not allowing herself to be dominated by fear. Curiosity gets the better of her and she reads the letter...
I know who you are.
I know who you're running from. Who you're trying to hide from. He is the Ancient, he is the Land. You will not escape him forever. But you have an alternative.
Meet me in Vallaki.
Ezmerelda d'Avenir
Love these so far. If you're stuck-- note that it doesn't have to be a letter from someone your character knows! and it doesn't have to be authentic. it could be from an unknown nefarious source, luring you into the trap of ravenloft with a lie so convincing that your character believes it. absolutely anything goes here.
@Painted beyond, I will say that everyone needs the letter for the stories sake-- but perhaps because your character received a letter despite her circumstance, it compels her even more to act.
I agree! Svetlana is probably on her way to Vallaki already, while the Voices in her head storm: "No! We can't trust this Ezmerelda! It must be a trap!" "But it could be our only chance to get help against the Devil Stradh!" "Impossibile! Who could dare to oppose someone as powerful and ruthless as the Devil Stradh!?" ... and so on... 😉
Another foggy morning at Hildegoath House. Unusually thick and low this time of year, it creeps across the untended lawn surrounding the manor. It reaches with pale, cloudy tendrils for the moss-covered, old stone walls.
Rufus, flask in hand, peers through his thick goggles at the bubbling purple liquid in the circubit. Carefully, oh so carefully, he lifts the dropper with a free hand and deposits a droplet of the dark humor. The concoction hisses and ejects a cloud of smoke, within which a murder of tiny ravens appears to circle. Smiling in satisfaction, Rufus replaces the dropper and steps back from the table, pulling the goggles over his head and pulling off his black protective gloves.
A scratching draws his attention to the window, where the branch of a barren tree scrapes against the window pane. Odd, there isn’t any wind, Rufus thinks to himself. There, on the inside the windowsill, rests a folded parchment, sealed with shiny, blood-red wax. The crest of House van Hildegoath is pressed into it. Rufus peers through and around the window, searching for a means by which the parchment might have been laid.
Warily, Rufus breaks the wax seal with his thumb, the crack reverberating in the large parlor-turned-laboratory. Fingers trembling inexplicably, he unfolds the parchment and reads the letters, scrawled messily in what appears to be dried blood.
Dear Brother,
I know what Father saw. The raven calls for us all. Your time is nigh.
Find me in the mist.
Yours enduring,
-Edgar
The parchment falls from Rufus’s trembling fingers. Beyond the window, the fog creeps ever closer.
happy to make tweaks if needed but this is what I was thinking:
Ansur,
I see the fire burning within you, the primal rage waiting to be unleashed. So let us play a game, hunter. But beware, for in this game, the roles will be reversed. You, the hunter, shall become the hunted, my prey, a wounded beast bearing its fangs.
Hear the whispers of the night beckoning you into darkness. Can you outwit me, Ansur, as I stalk you through the depths of your own fear?
Embrace the darkness within, for there is no escape from the game I have set in motion. Surrender to the hunt, for I’ll be waiting beyond the mist…
Yours Truly,
————
The knock on the door startles Rhykal into abrupt wakefulness; before she's finished a breath, her sword is clasped between both hands, and she watches the shadows through narrowed, suspicious eyes. She is used to the dark; she is still not quite used to the strange softness of the bed, or the moon's gentle glow, or a space that, at least for tonight, is no one's but her own.
But on the other side of the door, there is only en employee of the inn, glancing nervously at the blade in her hand, whose size nearly outpaces his own. "Um," the gnome squeaks, before clearing his throat, straining for professionalism, "this arrived for you."
She takes the letter, and he bows quickly, scurrying away; she studies the ink outline of her name for several long moments. She has so rarely seen it in print; it is only by some intersection of luck and miracle that she can read at all, though her studies have been ... rather limited, by circumstance. It makes the experience of reading even the admittedly short letter a slow untangling, though each syllable she uncovers seems to knock the air from her chest, making her light-headed.
Rhykal,
I need your help.
I know I don't need to remind you of how very much you owe me.
Follow this letter. I will give you the chance to make things right. I will give you the chance to make me whole.
Fell
Rhykal traces the four letters of a name she's known her whole life, again and again and again, with reverent fingers, her jaw clenched so tight she will feel the ache for hours.