OOC A Tide of Discussion: the d20 ToF OOC thread

And rightly so. After all, this has been the primary objective the party's been working on for the past two months or so in-game, and the last six years in real time. (Our sixth anniversary will hit on roughly February 8 this year.)

I should also add that the Red Hand breaking was in no small part due to all the running around you guys did across the Vale wiping Wyrmlords and whatnot.

That played a very big part in the victory in that per the rules of the module, every major and not-so-major thing you did in the Vale added a certain number of "Victory Points" to your inventory. Basically, RHOD requires that after you take down Kharn, the DM has to go back and tote up your accumulated Victory Points. If it's above a certain total, you've done enough damage to the Red Hand in a "death by a thousand cuts" way to ensure the horde's morale is completely broken and will not have the wherewithal to regroup and try another assault. In your case, of course, the Company got the total above that line.

Had it been below the line, the Red Hand would have fallen back, regrouped under another leader - one of the warpriests, perhaps - and then launched a second, more determined assault on the city, which the defenders simply would not have been able to repulse, even with your resources behind them. Thus it was not just your actions at the battle that were instrumental in holding the city; it was, in a very real way, everything you've done across the campaign to this point which contributed to that - everything from befriending Warklegnaw back in the Witchwood to breaking the roadblocks in the Blackfens to getting the Shining Axes back to Brindol safely.

So give yourselves a massive round of applause; you've worked damn hard, and for your efforts you have saved an entire city today and kept Elsir Vale free.

 

I think we all knew the end of my post was coming.

Edit: 1d20 (17) + 31 = 48.

 

...Looking back, the battle lasted four IC pages on the forum and began (officially, at least) on 26 April 2013, which would mean it took us 9 months to get through it, so as Dee-Lite would say, Blow dem, blow dem horns.

 

Ariel= "did someone say Wind Instruments!!!!?"
whips out horn...hehehe

 

*produces very large trombone, plays it with no skill whatsoever but very loudly*

WE WOOOOOON

WE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

 

Alllllllrighty then, how about we look to where we go from here?

Basically, the garrison is exhausted from fighting the Red Hand. And there's a lot of cleaning up to be done over the course of the night. The garrison pretty much stands down, a skeleton crew is left on the gates and walls, and the hussaryn ride out to pursue the Red Hand troops away from the city to keep them moving. Your characters are, I presume, off to get some sleep.

Let's start talking what happening to you guys!

First up, let's talk cash. Obviously there's a lot of stuff to salvage and collect, but rather than take you through the whole battle again, we'll simply fiat that each character picks up the wealth they normally collect by this stage in their adventuring career. For each character, that's about 15,000 gp each, so you collect, in short, assorted gear and loot to equate with 15,000 gp for each character. With the 12,000 gp or so left over from before the Battle, that means the party now has a total of 132,000 gold to spend on creating items or whatever in respect of whatever comes next.

So what does come next?
In short, level up. You all rise from level 10 to level 11 characters. This can mean either levelling up in your current class, or taking a prestige class, or even multiclass if you want. In summary, here's what happens to each of you assuming no prestige classes and whatnot:

Evelios: BAB rises by 1, gains an extra third and fourth level spell slot, and learns an extra fourth level spell. Bardic music uses rise by 1.

Corrath: (If she takes a level in Rogue rather than Swordsage) BAB rises by 1, Reflex save rises by 1, gets a Special Ability, i.e. another feat. If it's Swordsage, BAB rises by 1, Reflex and Will rise by 1, she adds WIS to her AC, picks up another stance, and picks up another maneuver.

Ragnar: BAB rises by 1, and he gets a third attack. Picks up Greater Rage, which makes his rage even more potent than it was.

Ariel: BAB rises by 1, she gets to cast two more level 2 spells per day, and learns another Duskblade spell.

Skadi: BAB rises by 1, and she gains a first, third, and (dum te dum dum) her first sixth level spell.

Zanaek: Assuming he takes another level in Divine Oracle, his FORT and REF saves rise by 1, he picks up a first, third, and sixth level spell, and he gets Divination Enhancement -- i.e. for any Divination spell he can roll twice and take the better result of the two. The most significant PrC he's got available now is Contemplative, which I seem to remember Mitth was interested in waaaaaaay back a while ago now. Contemplative would give him the same spellcasting, but he'd most significantly pick up another domain - any allowed by his deity or alignment. Torm's domains are Good, Healing, Law, Protection, and Strength, and Mitth has two of them already (Good and Healing, natch. He also has the Oracle domain from Divine Oracle.)

William: Just picks up another first level spell per day ... aaaaaand a sixth level spell slot. And of course picks up two new spells known of any level.

Mazarun: Bit tricky here since he's a multiclasser. If we assume Warblade, then it's: BAB rises by 1, REF and WILL saves rise by 1, and he learns another maneuver. He also would normally get Battle Clarity, but since we don't roll to confirm critical hits I'm more minded to add a bonus feat here.

That's about it. So, well, start thinking about it, boys and girls! Last level up of the adventure, probably, so choose wisely!

 

Huge decision to make here. Lots of thinking to do on Zanaek's part.

 

I think William will be going for another level in Loremaster rather than Wizard; that'll put him at Loremaster 4, which means +1 to BAB (woo) and Will (WOO) as well as a bonus language (like he needs more ) and the spell level/spells known increase as per wizard.

The base allowance is 4/4/4/4/3/2/1 + the bonus spells for high Int, which at Int modifier +9 leave his spells per day at 4/7/6/6/5/4/2. And his feat Collegiate Wizard allows him to add four new spells to his spellbook instead of two.

I shall contemplate.

 

YAY to another spell!!!
Goes to dig up the spell list...

 

Oops wrong thread

 

Cass, sounds good. Also, I think I finally found a more ... satisfying ... theme tune for William

 

Fun fact about this game: Did you know that this thread is 46 pages (50ppp) of OOCness that dates back to when we first arrived at Brindol Keep a few days before the demon attack on the cathedral to the end of the Battle for Brindol?


Saintheart didn't you do a list of theme music for everyone? I seem to remember it but can't remember where you posted it. In the main thread or the PM thread.

EDIT: Nevermind I found the post, but the link is broken on some of them.

 

Well, then, guess it's just as well I remember each one and often listen to them...

Zanaek: "Heartland" by Immediate Music.



Evelios: "Aknot! Wot?" from The Fifth Element.



Ragnar: "Heart of Courage", Two Steps from Hell.



Ariel: "Atlantis", Two Steps from Hell.



Skadi: "Merchant Prince", Two Steps from Hell.

 

And for the rest...

Mazarun: "Nightstalker", from Ghost in the Shell. Note here that Rilwen does like the Menzoberranzan soundtrack from the old video game; I like this one still because it speaks to me a lot of being an outsider on the surface. Anyway...



William: Was "Flowers of War", but like I said, I like the new one better.

Corrath: "Enigmatic Soul", Two Steps from Hell.





Course, if people would like to remix their themes or ask me to go looking for an alternative, I'm happy to do so.

 

I can't watch youtube videos at the moment, alas If someone could rip that new one to an MP3 and email it to me I should be able to listen to it that way - I can give my email address to whoever is sweet and kind enough to do so

 

Should be taken care of right now, check your inbox

 

Hmmm. On having listened to it, I'm not so keen on the new track. I prefer the old one personally.

 

Given Evelios' recent demonstration of his military prowess, I think there's only one appropriate theme song:



IT'S THE SAME AS THE PIRATE KING TUNE!

 

After reading up on Contemplative and what had happened in the battlefield, Z's got a lot of thinking to do IC. Ultimately though, I'll take another level in DO. Contemplative would inevitably destroy the relationship between him and Ariel and Ktala had reminded me earlier that he had wanted to go back to simply being a healer. Contemplative won't allow either option IMO.

 

Okeydokes, so that's a level in Loremaster for William and a third level in Divine Oracle for Zanaek. I know Ariel is just taking another level in Duskblade.

Absent any comment from Peng and Livi, I plan to just raise Ragnar by one in Barbarian levels and Skadi by one in Cleric levels, mainly because that's really the optimal thing for them each to do at this point. Xan and Rilwen: Corrath and Mazarun I'll add another level in Swordsage and Warblade, respectively, just because Tome of Battle is cool. Ramza, I honestly can't think of a prestige class that adds one-level awesomeness to a bard, so I'd just raise him by one unless you had a burning desire to go Swiftblade or something...?

Also, don't forget you've got a metric crapload of cash to spend right now on gear -- 15,000 each plus spare change. All your casters are at least CL 11* and as you know crafting stuff for yourselves is more or less instantaneous and a hell of a lot cheaper than buying it retail, especially in the current depressed market of Brindol post- a major battle. In terms of boosting primary stats, the casters are more or less maxed out in terms of items since all their Periapts and Headbands are at +6. Maybe some of you want STR-boosters. Or indeed if you don't really want to spend much in the way of cash, why not donate to someone else?


* If not higher. - Light, do you know off the top of your head whether ECL count for CL for creation of magic items, e.g. the fact Zanaek and Skadi are sporting CL 12 or so in relation to some of their domain spells?)

 

...also, all things considered, maybe this is a better theme for Zanaek

 

Of course I'm going Bard. THINK OF THE SPINAL TAP REFERENCES!

 

Hey! You took that from my game!

What about Evangelist for Evelios? I think he meets the requirements.

 

Not worth it. Basically gives me a +4 Will save bonus bardic music effect in exchange for losing my BAB up, more spells per day, and my new spell.

 

Long-term boosts such as domain boosts count for the purpose of those particular spells, though I am struggling to think of an item where it would actually matter.

Another level of Rogue on Corrath would put her at level 10, opening it up for high-level rogue goodies such as Opportunist or Crippling Strike.