[[Yes. Brand glimpsed an aura of magic particles around the Seeker's head (i.e., he is an innate sorcerer), the other man did not have any magical aura.]]
[[ This raises a couple of non-critical questions:
1. My recollection is that the more powerful the sorcerer, the bigger/brighter the aura (though if they have spent all their mana, the aura will be small). Is this still true in this system?
2. You said "innate sorcerer"...does this mean that latent sorcerers don't have an aura? I'd assumed they'd still need mana? ]]
That depends on when he put the bandana over his mouth and nose, because that would have been his free action.
[[ That was done ages ago, but I agree I can't find it. He did it (I thought, still looking) before he went into the tunnels...I was expecting it to stink, and unsure when he might need to become visible, so wanted to remain less recognizable.
His SOE, specified for this mission does say: Bandana equivalent to cover lower face (obscure his appearance and reduce stink of sever)
Which is strongly suggestive that he would have put it on around the time he entered the sewer, if not before.
[[That's fine, but it will have the effect of possibly muffling his voice.]]
Tentatively, I will say 'yes', though in certain situations I might make you make a Dexterity(Sleight of Hand) check. However, taking out another stone or a weapon in the same turn would definitely be classed as an action.]]
Sounds fine; main reason I want to put it away is so that he can draw something when he needs to...of course, I have no idea what he will need. The whole movement vs drawing/sheathing thing is pretty silly; I get the purity and simplicity of the rules...but ISTM drawing a weapon should just reduce your movement by 10% or something, and if you've already moved, then it's -2 to attack and damage. Not complaining about your decision, but it's one of the very few criticisms I have of the RAW. That, and maybe the fact I get to do my whole move before anyone else. That also seems a bit silly; though it clearly comes with a price and Opportunity Attacks cover the most egregious possible abuses.
[[My experience is that with held moves and Reactions, it doesn't work too badly in play on the tabletop, but how it works here... We'll have to wait and see.]]
[[Is Brand going to Dash as his action (i.e., move another 15' along the tunnel)? No hurry. I will be working on something on and off for the afternoon.]
Yep. Gulp.]]
With one final glance behind, Brand presses on up the corridor, alert for sights and sounds, and clues as to what has gone on. [[ He will pause if something untoward makes him reconsider his plan...though my preference is to get as far in as possible]]
Another 15' down the tunnel (he is now 40' from the tunnel entrance), Brand is now sure that the flickering orange glow ahead of him is the light from a fire lighting up the smoke. He is still too far away to make out any more detail, but he can now hear the chittering and squeal of what sounds like a large number rats in the distance.
Suddenly, a wave of lethargy washes over him. Unable to resist, he sinks down, leaning against the side of the tunnel as sleep takes him... And, for the moment, Brand knows no more.
[[Wow! 35 out of a possible 40 on 5d8, if only I could roll like that when I was playing.
Explanation: Brand was subjected to a Sleep spell, which is an area of effect spell whose mechanism doesn't provide a saving throw (read the spell definition).
I rolled to see if he somehow collapsed and had his face go into the water, which might have woken him up, but unfortunately that didn't happen.]]
Brand wakes to find someone has pulled him up by the front of his armour. A small light hanging in the air behind the person means their face is in darkness (Although not very bright, the light is also negating his still-active Darkvision for the moment). "Who in all the hells are you to have Gerard Assam vouch for you?" snarls a man's voice, as Brand notices the pricking of a steel blade at his throat.
[[It is now Brand's Combat Turn No. 5 and neither of his stones are currently active, though he can still feel them in his gloves.]]
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
[[That's fine, but it will have the effect of possibly muffling his voice.]]
[[ Go Kenny! ]]
[[Wow! 35 out of a possible 40 on 5d8, if only I could roll like that when I was playing. ]]
Sadly, just an average roll would have taken him out. Guessing he got a few rats as well.
"Who in all the hells are you to have Gerard Assam vouch for you?" snarls a man's voice, as Brand notices the pricking of a steel blade at his throat.
Brand speaks loudly through the bandana, "Someone who is trying to investigate criminal deeds, the source of which is, at best, uncertain -- which is very troubling." He glances from the man to any companions he might have, then back to the man. "My investigations led me here, to this tunnel. I mean no harm to you or any of your people, and had hoped to pass by unnoticed by all, including the miscreants if they are here. I saw the smoke, and went to investigate." Brand glances up the corridor to illustrate the direction, then back to the man. "Did Master Assam have anything else to say?"
[[ Speaking loudly (a) to be heard through bandana, (b) to let any of the 'team' know there are people in the tunnel (if they didn't already), and (c) to let Tinkerbell know, if she is present still. ]]
[[ He is glancing around so he can get a better idea of the current state of the man (seeker?), tunnel (which he should be able to see pretty well, unless the man actually went past Brand before waking him up), guard(s), and anything else he might see. Is he where he fell, or somewhere else? How is the fire going? Does he still hear rats? How many guards? ]]
It is now Brand's Combat Turn No. 5 and neither of his stones are currently active, though he can still feel them in his gloves.
[[ He already put away the levitate one, and only has invisibility in his left glove. ]]
[[Yes. Brand glimpsed an aura of magic particles around the Seeker's head (i.e., he is an innate sorcerer), the other man did not have any magical aura.]]
[[ This raises a couple of non-critical questions:
1. My recollection is that the more powerful the sorcerer, the bigger/brighter the aura (though if they have spent all their mana, the aura will be small). Is this still true in this system?
[[In general: yes. In this system, spell slots are used instead of a single number representing stored mana, but they can still be seen as equating to the available mana in a caster's aura.]]
2. You said "innate sorcerer"...does this mean that latent sorcerers don't have an aura? I'd assumed they'd still need mana? ]]
[[A latent sorcerer is someone who has the potential to become an innate sorcerer, so while they are still latent, they have no aura. Once they learn how, they are indistinguishable from an innate sorcerer unless whatever factor caused the change is removed.]]
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---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
"Who in all the hells are you to have Gerard Assam vouch for you?" snarls a man's voice, as Brand notices the pricking of a steel blade at his throat.
Brand speaks loudly through the bandana, "Someone who is trying to investigate criminal deeds, the source of which is, at best, uncertain -- which is very troubling." He glances from the man to any companions he might have, then back to the man. "My investigations led me here, to this tunnel. I mean no harm to you or any of your people, and had hoped to pass by unnoticed by all, including the miscreants if they are here. I saw the smoke, and went to investigate." Brand glances up the corridor to illustrate the direction, then back to the man. "Did Master Assam have anything else to say?"
[[Moving your head while there is a dagger tip pushed into your throat is generally not considered advisable, so Brand's glances for information are going to be very constrained.]]
[[Brand can see nobody else in his field of view. He believes he is still where he fell. He can hear the sound of footsteps approaching from one direction, and the occasional squeal of rats from the other.]]
[[ Speaking loudly (a) to be heard through bandana, (b) to let any of the 'team' know there are people in the tunnel (if they didn't already), and (c) to let Tinkerbell know, if she is present still. ]]
[[ He is glancing around so he can get a better idea of the current state of the man (seeker?), tunnel (which he should be able to see pretty well, unless the man actually went past Brand before waking him up), guard(s), and anything else he might see. Is he where he fell, or somewhere else? How is the fire going? Does he still hear rats? How many guards? ]]
It is now Brand's Combat Turn No. 5 and neither of his stones are currently active, though he can still feel them in his gloves.
[[ He already put away the levitate one, and only has invisibility in his left glove. ]]
[[Thanks. I wasn't sure that that actually happened, or if we just talked about it.]]
[[Also, if it becomes relevant, I play swarms differently than the rulebook. If such an encounter occurs, I will put up the rules on the world site prior to combat.]]
Brand has just finished his first sentence when a hoarse scream is heard from the same direction as the noises of the rats.
Then Brand hears a man's voice raised in fear. "No, no! Get them off me!"
Immediately after this, he hears what sounds like a cat hissing loudly quite close by.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Brand speaks loudly through the bandana, "Someone who is trying to investigate criminal deeds, the source of which is, at best, uncertain -- which is very troubling."
Brand has just finished his first sentence when a hoarse scream is heard from the same direction as the noises of the rats.
Then Brand hears a man's voice raised in fear. "No, no! Get them off me!"
Immediately after this, he hears what sounds like a cat hissing loudly quite close by.
"And that" he says, looking toward the sounds as much as possible, "is something I would very much like to investigate, and your help would be invaluable."
Brand glances down at the knife, "If I had plans to attack you, I would have tried in the Cistern. We are on the same side; Assam must have made that clear."
[[ I play swarms differently than the rulebook]]
[[ Let's hope he rolls well on Sleep again. This time he might need to. ]]
[[ Re swarms....give me some guidance as to how the tk stone might work... ]]
[[The 'Mage Hand' aspect of the stone can't be used to inflict damage, but I would allow Brand to use it to pick up a rat and throw it away (or into a fire). The plus to hit would be based on Brand's Intelligence bonus and I will let him have proficiency with the stone (i.e., +5 to hit). Of course, there might be other more effective ways to use the cantrip-level ability, but that would depend on the situation. With regard to the once-per-day level 1 spell, the Ray of Sickness spell would be tremendous overkill to use on a single rat, but once again the situation might make another spell that could affect more than a single rat possible.]
Brand speaks loudly through the bandana, "Someone who is trying to investigate criminal deeds, the source of which is, at best, uncertain -- which is very troubling."
Brand has just finished his first sentence when a hoarse scream is heard from the same direction as the noises of the rats.
Then Brand hears a man's voice raised in fear. "No, no! Get them off me!"
Immediately after this, he hears what sounds like a cat hissing loudly quite close by.
"And that" he says, looking toward the sounds as much as possible, "is something I would very much like to investigate, and your help would be invaluable."
Brand glances down at the knife, "If I had plans to attack you, I would have tried in the Cistern. We are on the same side; Assam must have made that clear."
[[Make a Persuasion check.]]
[[ I play swarms differently than the rulebook]]
[[ Let's hope he rolls well on Sleep again. This time he might need to. ]]
[[If you haven't already seen it, I have put the article on swarms up on the world site (and just recently modified it). I have played similar rules in a tabletop game before and it made swarms an interesting challenge and certainly a much better representation than the current rules.]]
[[Also, we are no longer in combat, as that's just going to make things more complicated than they already are.]]
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
With regard to the once-per-day level 1 spell, the Ray of Sickness spell would be tremendous overkill to use on a single rat,
I was hoping for some kind of halfway house. The original motivation for the limit was that mushing brains every round is probably a bit OP. But now I've seen what free cantrips can do, I'm less sure that's valid (if I'm reading right, cantrips can do 1d6 or more damage each round, at range, for free). Once per long rest, or worse, for 2d8 seems pretty weak as a 'major' power...but that's a discussion for later.
In terms of Ray of Sickness; the way the swam works is to treat the swarm as one entity. Why not do that with the TK stone? He 'addles' multiple rats in the swarm, causing 'poisoned' on one area, and doing some damage. It's not an effect that's going to help deal with more than a few rats, tho. Once-per day is a kind of deal-breaker.
But, in terms of the more general power, he might be able to do with the TK stone in general (not as a major power), just through rapid movement of the hand:
- Something equivalent to cloud of daggers (Level 2)...not manifesting daggers, but doing bludgeon damage in an area in the same sort of way by forcibly moving the area of effect around rapidly.
- On a similar vein, Dust Devil (L2 again) might be an option.
- Another is something like Gust of Wind (not wind tho), but this might be the major power, not a repeatable one
- Or maybe some other AOE spell that does small damage across an area (like battering a person backwards) -- again, probably the major effect. ie. doing smaller amounts of damage over a larger area? In this case, perhaps crushing multiple rats.In a single larger target, it might be the equivalent of
Edit:
Also as a minor power for TK how about any of the following cantrip:
With regard to the once-per-day level 1 spell, the Ray of Sickness spell would be tremendous overkill to use on a single rat,
I was hoping for some kind of halfway house. The original motivation for the limit was that mushing brains every round is probably a bit OP. But now I've seen what free cantrips can do, I'm less sure that's valid (if I'm reading right, cantrips can do 1d6 or more damage each round, at range, for free). Once per long rest, or worse, for 2d8 seems pretty weak as a 'major' power...but that's a discussion for later.
In terms of Ray of Sickness; the way the swam works is to treat the swarm as one entity. Why not do that with the TK stone? He 'addles' multiple rats in the swarm, causing 'poisoned' on one area, and doing some damage. It's not an effect that's going to help deal with more than a few rats, tho. Once-per day is a kind of deal-breaker.
But, in terms of the more general power, he might be able to do with the TK stone in general (not as a major power), just through rapid movement of the hand:
- Something equivalent to cloud of daggers (Level 2)...not manifesting daggers, but doing bludgeon damage in an area in the same sort of way by forcibly moving the area of effect around rapidly.
- On a similar vein, Dust Devil (L2 again) might be an option.
- Another is something like Gust of Wind (not wind tho), but this might be the major power, not a repeatable one
- Or maybe some other AOE spell that does small damage across an area (like battering a person backwards) -- again, probably the major effect. ie. doing smaller amounts of damage over a larger area? In this case, perhaps crushing multiple rats.In a single larger target, it might be the equivalent of
Edit:
Also as a minor power for TK how about any of the following cantrip:
- Gust
[[For the moment, Brand's mastery of the Stone of Far Reaching is limited to what I suggested previously. Some of the above he might be able to work towards, but some of it goes against the concept I have for the stone and will never be possible.]]
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---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
[[Make a Persuasion check.]]- I think I have a persuasive argument, backed by a solid name (Assam). Just saying.
Persuasion: 6
[[Make a roll for experience.]]
[[If you haven't already seen it, I have put the article on swarms up on the world site
Will read.
[[Also, we are no longer in combat, as that's just going to make things more complicated than they already are.]]
Then let's stay in combat; just on the same side! But, why more complicated?
Edit: I reckon we are in combat while theres a dagger to the throat.
[[Not in combat for mechanical timing purposes.]]
Brand sees a crouching man in a guard's uniform enter the zone of illumination created by the tiny floating light.
"Halam," orders the Seeker with the dagger at Brand's throat. "Whatever enchantments were on this man are now gone, and he has no magic of his own. Remove his weapons and take him back to the chamber."
The dagger is removed from Brand's throat and the man looks to his left in the direction of the continued shrieking.
Then he continues with his orders. "Get someone to watch him and come back here with the rest of your men, I might need you."
The light above the Seeker's head then separates into two and then he and one of the lights begins to move up the tunnel in the direction of the fiery glow that Brand saw before. Following close on his heels, Brand sees a large black tom cat.
'Halam' takes the Seeker's place and Brand sees that he is carrying a dagger in his hand, which is a far more useful weapon in these cramped quarters than a sword.
"Will," says Halam to another guard who has followed him up the tunnel. "Grab his legs and drag him out. I'll make sure he doesn't try anything funny."
[[Over to you, but I'm afraid I have to go to sleep now as I have work tomorrow. Ciao.]]
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Persuasion XP: 17
[[ Once the dagger is removed, he looks up the tunnel. What does he see? Does Brand recognize the voice that is screaming? ]]
"No need to drag me, I can crawl..." he says, as he starts moving toward the Cistern.
[[ He will move slowly, by my thinking he has 3 rounds at least to get there; since previously he used 3 x movement to get to where he is ]]
[[ I am assuming also that disarming, if it happens, will occur outside since Brand would mostly fill a 1m x 1m tunnel; if they do try to disarm him in the tunnel, then he may perform other actions. ]]
He pauses, calling back to the seeker. "But please reconsider, Seeker. What's going on down there does not sound pleasant, to say the least. Another two people to back you up -- myself and whoever Hallam assigns" he says, glancing back at the guard. "Would be much more useful, than wasting our skills back there. And what would you have my guard do when he starts hearing more screams? Let us all assist you."
[[ How does persuasion actually work in the game? Does one *always* make a persuasion check, even if the arguments are reasonable (as I think both are, though I appreciate there are other factors involved here). Is there such a thing as "passive persuasion" like for perception? Can I build multiple arguments on top of each and improve my possible outcome? Or is it always just down to the roll? In the larger mechanical context, say trying to convince Minton to go or stay, do I get a roll every 2 minutes? If I fail once, is that it, failed forever? I get re-using the same arguments each time is unlikely to succeed. ]]
[[ Once the dagger is removed, he looks up the tunnel. What does he see? Does Brand recognize the voice that is screaming? ]]
[[In the distance he sees the back of the Seeker and the cat. He thinks the person who was screaming was the man he overheard talking with Fazal in the boat.]]
"No need to drag me, I can crawl..." he says, as he starts moving toward the Cistern.
[[ He will move slowly, by my thinking he has 3 rounds at least to get there; since previously he used 3 x movement to get to where he is ]]
[[He can easily take that long seeing as he will be now in between the two guards, one of which has to walk backwards.]]
[[ I am assuming also that disarming, if it happens, will occur outside since Brand would mostly fill a 1m x 1m tunnel; if they do try to disarm him in the tunnel, then he may perform other actions. ]]
[[Once he starts moving, no one tries to take his weapons because of the confined space.]]
He pauses, calling back to the seeker. "But please reconsider, Seeker. What's going on down there does not sound pleasant, to say the least. Another two people to back you up -- myself and whoever Hallam assigns" he says, glancing back at the guard. "Would be much more useful, than wasting our skills back there. And what would you have my guard do when he starts hearing more screams? Let us all assist you."
[[There is no response from the Seeker and Halam just grunts when his name is mentioned.]]
[[ How does persuasion actually work in the game? Does one *always* make a persuasion check, even if the arguments are reasonable (as I think both are, though I appreciate there are other factors involved here). Is there such a thing as "passive persuasion" like for perception? Can I build multiple arguments on top of each and improve my possible outcome? Or is it always just down to the roll? In the larger mechanical context, say trying to convince Minton to go or stay, do I get a roll every 2 minutes? If I fail once, is that it, failed forever? I get re-using the same arguments each time is unlikely to succeed. ]]
[[Will have to go into this later when I have more time as I have to get ready to go to work now.]]
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---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
[[ Brand will move slowly as possible, pausing to cough occasionally. If they tell him to go faster he will say this is as far as he can go in the darkness -- though he still has darkvision -- and it's faster than them dragging him .
I'm hoping to hear sounds from the seeker.
Are either of the guards affected by smoke?
If he wants to get stone into glove, could he do it unobserved, eg by bowing his head, and having a coughing fit?
It's possible he will do something before end of tunnel, so let me know exact details and distances before then... And how they might be varying as he goes, eg if the one facing him is coughing, or varies their distance, or if their available light varies etc]]
[[There is no response from the Seeker and Halam just grunts when his name is mentioned.]]
[[ Brand would have glanced back to speak; still also speaking loudly, perhaps shouting over the sounds of weter; was the seeker still visible in the tunnel behind? ]]
As he moves slowly forward, between coughing fits, Brand speaks to the guard ahead of him, "Will, is it? The Seeker seems quite a capable man; Donnae is fortunate to have such good servants. Have you worked with him long?"
[[ This raises a couple of non-critical questions:
1. My recollection is that the more powerful the sorcerer, the bigger/brighter the aura (though if they have spent all their mana, the aura will be small). Is this still true in this system?
2. You said "innate sorcerer"...does this mean that latent sorcerers don't have an aura? I'd assumed they'd still need mana? ]]
[[ Easy for you to say. You are not the one in a continuous state of anxiety! ]]
Another 15' down the tunnel (he is now 40' from the tunnel entrance), Brand is now sure that the flickering orange glow ahead of him is the light from a fire lighting up the smoke. He is still too far away to make out any more detail, but he can now hear the chittering and squeal of what sounds like a large number rats in the distance.
Suddenly, a wave of lethargy washes over him. Unable to resist, he sinks down, leaning against the side of the tunnel as sleep takes him... And, for the moment, Brand knows no more.
[[Wow! 35 out of a possible 40 on 5d8, if only I could roll like that when I was playing.
Explanation: Brand was subjected to a Sleep spell, which is an area of effect spell whose mechanism doesn't provide a saving throw (read the spell definition).
I rolled to see if he somehow collapsed and had his face go into the water, which might have woken him up, but unfortunately that didn't happen.]]
Brand wakes to find someone has pulled him up by the front of his armour. A small light hanging in the air behind the person means their face is in darkness (Although not very bright, the light is also negating his still-active Darkvision for the moment). "Who in all the hells are you to have Gerard Assam vouch for you?" snarls a man's voice, as Brand notices the pricking of a steel blade at his throat.
[[It is now Brand's Combat Turn No. 5 and neither of his stones are currently active, though he can still feel them in his gloves.]]
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
[[ Go Kenny! ]]
Sadly, just an average roll would have taken him out. Guessing he got a few rats as well.
Brand speaks loudly through the bandana, "Someone who is trying to investigate criminal deeds, the source of which is, at best, uncertain -- which is very troubling." He glances from the man to any companions he might have, then back to the man. "My investigations led me here, to this tunnel. I mean no harm to you or any of your people, and had hoped to pass by unnoticed by all, including the miscreants if they are here. I saw the smoke, and went to investigate." Brand glances up the corridor to illustrate the direction, then back to the man. "Did Master Assam have anything else to say?"
[[ Speaking loudly (a) to be heard through bandana, (b) to let any of the 'team' know there are people in the tunnel (if they didn't already), and (c) to let Tinkerbell know, if she is present still. ]]
[[ He is glancing around so he can get a better idea of the current state of the man (seeker?), tunnel (which he should be able to see pretty well, unless the man actually went past Brand before waking him up), guard(s), and anything else he might see. Is he where he fell, or somewhere else? How is the fire going? Does he still hear rats? How many guards? ]]
[[ He already put away the levitate one, and only has invisibility in his left glove. ]]
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Brand has just finished his first sentence when a hoarse scream is heard from the same direction as the noises of the rats.
Then Brand hears a man's voice raised in fear. "No, no! Get them off me!"
Immediately after this, he hears what sounds like a cat hissing loudly quite close by.
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
"And that" he says, looking toward the sounds as much as possible, "is something I would very much like to investigate, and your help would be invaluable."
Brand glances down at the knife, "If I had plans to attack you, I would have tried in the Cistern. We are on the same side; Assam must have made that clear."
[[ Let's hope he rolls well on Sleep again. This time he might need to. ]]
[[ Re swarms....give me some guidance as to how the tk stone might work... ]]
"And that" he says, looking toward the sounds as much as possible, "is something I would very much like to investigate, and your help would be invaluable."
Brand glances down at the knife, "If I had plans to attack you, I would have tried in the Cistern. We are on the same side; Assam must have made that clear."
[[Make a Persuasion check.]]
[[ Let's hope he rolls well on Sleep again. This time he might need to. ]]
[[If you haven't already seen it, I have put the article on swarms up on the world site (and just recently modified it). I have played similar rules in a tabletop game before and it made swarms an interesting challenge and certainly a much better representation than the current rules.]]
[[Also, we are no longer in combat, as that's just going to make things more complicated than they already are.]]
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
[[Make a Persuasion check.]] - I think I have a persuasive argument, backed by a solid name (Assam). Just saying.
Persuasion: 6
[[If you haven't already seen it, I have put the article on swarms up on the world site
Will read.
[[Also, we are no longer in combat, as that's just going to make things more complicated than they already are.]]
Then let's stay in combat; just on the same side! But, why more complicated?
Edit: I reckon we are in combat while theres a dagger to the throat.
I was hoping for some kind of halfway house. The original motivation for the limit was that mushing brains every round is probably a bit OP. But now I've seen what free cantrips can do, I'm less sure that's valid (if I'm reading right, cantrips can do 1d6 or more damage each round, at range, for free). Once per long rest, or worse, for 2d8 seems pretty weak as a 'major' power...but that's a discussion for later.
In terms of Ray of Sickness; the way the swam works is to treat the swarm as one entity. Why not do that with the TK stone? He 'addles' multiple rats in the swarm, causing 'poisoned' on one area, and doing some damage. It's not an effect that's going to help deal with more than a few rats, tho. Once-per day is a kind of deal-breaker.
But, in terms of the more general power, he might be able to do with the TK stone in general (not as a major power), just through rapid movement of the hand:
- Something equivalent to cloud of daggers (Level 2)...not manifesting daggers, but doing bludgeon damage in an area in the same sort of way by forcibly moving the area of effect around rapidly.
- On a similar vein, Dust Devil (L2 again) might be an option.
- Another is something like Gust of Wind (not wind tho), but this might be the major power, not a repeatable one
- Or maybe some other AOE spell that does small damage across an area (like battering a person backwards) -- again, probably the major effect. ie. doing smaller amounts of damage over a larger area? In this case, perhaps crushing multiple rats.In a single larger target, it might be the equivalent of
Edit:
Also as a minor power for TK how about any of the following cantrip:
- Gust
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Brand sees a crouching man in a guard's uniform enter the zone of illumination created by the tiny floating light.
"Halam," orders the Seeker with the dagger at Brand's throat. "Whatever enchantments were on this man are now gone, and he has no magic of his own. Remove his weapons and take him back to the chamber."
The dagger is removed from Brand's throat and the man looks to his left in the direction of the continued shrieking.
Then he continues with his orders. "Get someone to watch him and come back here with the rest of your men, I might need you."
The light above the Seeker's head then separates into two and then he and one of the lights begins to move up the tunnel in the direction of the fiery glow that Brand saw before. Following close on his heels, Brand sees a large black tom cat.
'Halam' takes the Seeker's place and Brand sees that he is carrying a dagger in his hand, which is a far more useful weapon in these cramped quarters than a sword.
"Will," says Halam to another guard who has followed him up the tunnel. "Grab his legs and drag him out. I'll make sure he doesn't try anything funny."
[[Over to you, but I'm afraid I have to go to sleep now as I have work tomorrow. Ciao.]]
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Persuasion XP: 17
[[ Once the dagger is removed, he looks up the tunnel. What does he see? Does Brand recognize the voice that is screaming? ]]
"No need to drag me, I can crawl..." he says, as he starts moving toward the Cistern.
[[ He will move slowly, by my thinking he has 3 rounds at least to get there; since previously he used 3 x movement to get to where he is ]]
[[ I am assuming also that disarming, if it happens, will occur outside since Brand would mostly fill a 1m x 1m tunnel; if they do try to disarm him in the tunnel, then he may perform other actions. ]]
He pauses, calling back to the seeker. "But please reconsider, Seeker. What's going on down there does not sound pleasant, to say the least. Another two people to back you up -- myself and whoever Hallam assigns" he says, glancing back at the guard. "Would be much more useful, than wasting our skills back there. And what would you have my guard do when he starts hearing more screams? Let us all assist you."
[[ How does persuasion actually work in the game? Does one *always* make a persuasion check, even if the arguments are reasonable (as I think both are, though I appreciate there are other factors involved here). Is there such a thing as "passive persuasion" like for perception? Can I build multiple arguments on top of each and improve my possible outcome? Or is it always just down to the roll? In the larger mechanical context, say trying to convince Minton to go or stay, do I get a roll every 2 minutes? If I fail once, is that it, failed forever? I get re-using the same arguments each time is unlikely to succeed. ]]
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
[[ Brand will move slowly as possible, pausing to cough occasionally. If they tell him to go faster he will say this is as far as he can go in the darkness -- though he still has darkvision -- and it's faster than them dragging him .
I'm hoping to hear sounds from the seeker.
Are either of the guards affected by smoke?
If he wants to get stone into glove, could he do it unobserved, eg by bowing his head, and having a coughing fit?
It's possible he will do something before end of tunnel, so let me know exact details and distances before then... And how they might be varying as he goes, eg if the one facing him is coughing, or varies their distance, or if their available light varies etc]]
[[ Where is their light coming fron, btw? Also, Brand tries to remember face of man in front of him, Will(?), and any others he sees ]]
Low priority for now...added to [[Outstanding Questions]].
[[ Brand would have glanced back to speak; still also speaking loudly, perhaps shouting over the sounds of weter; was the seeker still visible in the tunnel behind? ]]
[[ Do the rats hear him ? ]]
As he moves slowly forward, between coughing fits, Brand speaks to the guard ahead of him, "Will, is it? The Seeker seems quite a capable man; Donnae is fortunate to have such good servants. Have you worked with him long?"
[[ Are the guards wearing Donnae guard attire? ]]