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[Tawmis]

Heh. I see what you mean, and I agree.
Alignments should not be straitjackets, to tie up the PCs and force them to behave in certain ways. Rather, they should be guidelines; you can behave in other ways, but be aware that your alignment might change. And if you're hoping to become a certain prestige class (e.g. assassin, or blackguard ... for which you need to be CE ...), then don't pet the puppy, rescue the princess or give alms to that beggar.
That doesn't mean that if you play a LG fighter, you must always obey the law and do good things, like a good widdle boy. But on the whole, do lawful and good things. Just not all the time.
I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!

Well it's an interesting intersection - because the one who is the religious fighter isn't doing it soley based on alignment - it's just a quirk (5e has "flaws") - so she's playing up that quirk.
But at the same time, you need to recognize that yes - it's great you're staying in character - but short of the DM FORCING your player to go a specific route (which counters the purpose of D&D) - it's difficult for me to accept someone complaining if it's going slow - especially if they know it's their quirk that's slowing down unfolding what's going down. So it's an odd catch-22. You wanna stay in character, but that "slows down" finding clues.
I think it's better to accept that yes, it's slow - but part of it is simply because of your character's quirk.

[Rath Darkblade]

Ah, OK. So it's not solely your DM who's slowing things down. It's your character's quirk, also.

Maybe draw the player aside and draw his attention to the quirk, then? Diplomatically, of course.

Don't say: "You stupid moron, you picked a silly quirk! RAH!"

Rather: "Have you noticed, by the way, that your quirk - i.e. [quirk XYZ] - might be slowing us down? So, maybe ... [solution for ignoring the quirk]"

I don't know how he can ignore the quirk, because I don't know what the quirk is! You probably know it better than me.

[Tawmis]

Ah, OK. So it's not solely your DM who's slowing things down. It's your character's quirk, also.
Maybe draw the player aside and draw his attention to the quirk, then? Diplomatically, of course.
Don't say: "You stupid moron, you picked a silly quirk! RAH!"
Rather: "Have you noticed, by the way, that your quirk - i.e. [quirk XYZ] - might be slowing us down? So, maybe ... [solution for ignoring the quirk]"
I don't know how he can ignore the quirk, because I don't know what the quirk is! You probably know it better than me.

Oh, I did - in the text exchange we had. lol

Which is why I think it's weird that they'd complain it's slow when they also know their quirk is what's causing us to not unravel things.

So I think next session - the rogue is going to go find evidence on his own to present to them.

Should I live.

[Rath Darkblade]

Should you live? Why shouldn't you? *worried*

[Tawmis]

Should you live? Why shouldn't you? *worried*

I am playing the Rogue.

Venturing solo doesn't always go well.

[Rath Darkblade]

Oh, that - of course. Especially on lower levels.

Rogues need support from other PCs to stay alive.

[Tawmis]

So for that game - we were finally able to find evidence that the Watch was corrupt and things moved forward nicely (although we were not able to save the Widow, who'd been framed for murder, from being hung... whoops)

In my own game I DM'ed tonight...
Want to thank Michael, Jessica, Natalie, John, Aaron and Cronkhite for another very fun session - despite the constant changing I was needing to do on my end to adjust - I had a fantastic time! Lizardfolk! Trolls! Dragons! Origins! Dinosaurs! Oh My!

http://tawmis.com/kneurth/adventure-not ... nturers-26

[Rath Darkblade]

Hurrah for the party reaching level 5!!!

But this concerns me ...

"Morsus in the meantime puts on the Drow Necklace they’d recovered from the Drow Priestess they’d slain."

Oh dear, oh dear. Has Morsus learned nothing from adventuring? NEVER directly use anything that's used by an evil race (like the drow), unless you are protected somehow. Now it seems he has attracted the attention of Lloth, and she will choke him!

So -- a Level 4 Dwarf Cleric against the Queen of Spiders??? This can't end well.

Why, oh why, did he ever do such a boneheaded thing?
====================
Hmm. Those blind humanoid creatures - are they ettin? They're obviously not trolls, because trolls are not blind.
====================
What is "the stench of methane and odor"? 'Odor' just means 'smell'.
====================
Glad they survived the trolls

[Tawmis]

Yeah, Morsus putting on that necklace threw a wrench in my plans - but I kept rolling with it.

Here's the email I sent (I do so after every session) -

Hello everyone!

Thanks for putting up with the extra 30 minutes of tonight's game! The whole side quest with the beaded necklace was supposed to happen and be done before 7pm to buy John some time to log in and be a part of the Troll fight. But by the time John logged on at 7pm - the quest to face the dragon was just barely beginning - so there was a lot of shuffling and improvising and changing on my side! I didn't mind though - because I thought the necklace segment was rather fun (I am 2 for 2 for slapping a Cursed item on a Cleric in my games in this world... Sephrenia... you're next! LOL) In Jessica's brother's game (that I DMing in my world this Saturday, there's no clerics in the party... so I am at a loss! Who am I gonna slap a cursed item on?)

Kidding aside - I had a good time, despite the shuffling and everything - and hopefully it seemed rather seemless and unnoticable to you guys!

For example, when I drafted up the side quest - I thought at 6pm - I'd have:

Aaron/Morsus
Mike/Adrian
Natalie/Sephrenia
Chris/Ragnaroc
Jessica/Korra

So just John/Don would be missing. And I thought, "A young dragon - could be a tough fight, but they don't have to fight. Could try to steal it, talk their way through it, it's a dragon! Who knows! But that should take just about an hour!"

Then Jessica let me know she was going to be late. OK. They can still handle it. No more Rogue stealthing to steal though.

Then Chris told me he was on his way to John's and would join at 7.

Suddenly it was down to Morsus, Adrian and Sephrenia. Two clerics and a Paladin.

That's a lot of healing if it comes to a fight.

Then Morsus put on the drow necklace - and I had too much fun with that.

So then 7pm rolls around - and the party is barely headed for the dragon - but by this point I'd put too much emphasis on the importance of the beaded necklace for the Lizardfolk shaman to be like, "Listen. Nevermind. Just go fight." LOL

I enjoyed the Dragon bit - quite a bit. Showed how she was cunning (knowing about the Piercers in her cave)

I'm sure she may yet show up again...

The troll fight was changed - from you guys with a few Lizardfolk vs 10 trolls. By the time we got to the troll village it was almost 9pm. And I thought, "If we don't do this tonight, I am in the same boat I was in today - and will want to do something to make sure John can be there too!"

So I changed it from what would have been MANY rounds of fighting 10 trolls - to a "Pool of Health" for the trolls and Lizardfolks, which was - one way or another - going to end faster than fighting 10 trolls who regenerate. lol

Even then it was taking a little longer (I know Jessica, John and Chris have kids - and Natalie is East Coast or so time zone) - so I introduced a troll leader barking commands - to have the party ideally focus on him - and with him down - the savage trolls lose their leadership - and allow the Lizardfolks a victory!

All in all, despite the many changing gears - I had a lot of fun - and was glad that everyone jumped to Level 5 here.

Everyone's done so much in this leg of the adventure - but at Level 5 people get some serious upgrades to their characters - so I wanted to keep things challenging.

Next you guys will need the Ash of the Magimen - but we know it's not going to be that easy right?

Like every leg of this adventure has had other hooks. (And sometimes, Hook Horrors, not to be confused with Hookers - the Hookers can be found in the "temples" of Mike's goddess).

All of that said - here's the recap notes - I will send another email with the audio link because that's gonna take some effort because I forgot to do mic checks to have "points" on where to merge the file since it's two separate audio files lol).

http://tawmis.com/kneurth/adventure-not ... nturers-26

Hope everyone had a good time, and as always, thank you for walking with me in my world and imagination and giving it so much life. <3

[Tawmis]

I forgot to answer this...

Hmm. Those blind humanoid creatures - are they ettin? They're obviously not trolls, because trolls are not blind.

No, they're Grimlocks (not the Transformer)... basically humans who wandered in the Underdark, somehow survived... and became... devolved...

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Grimlock

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmmm ... wouldn't it be strange if a dwarf survived in the Underdark, and became like Ruck?

If any other races (e.g. elf, dwarf, halfling) gets lost in the Underdark and survives, what do they devolve into?

[Tawmis]

Hooray! New game! (Jessica, who was in my original game with Anita... who I dragged into my work game...) Her brother, who I did a substitute (two?) sessions because their DM's wife had a baby - asked me to once again - DM for him, but with a new group of friends, and a brand new adventure, starting from scratch. Apparently Jessica has been talking to her brother Ben, about the games I'd been running for her (both when she was in Anita's game - currently on hold thanks to Covid - to the work game, that I dragged her into). And it kept itching Ben's ear - until he got some friends who wanted to try D&D. So a for some, they'd never played D&D. Some had played once or twice. So it was fun doing what I called a "Session 0" (pretty much teach you how to make rolls, what to roll, etc) - which bled into their first adventure. If you're so inclined -
http://tawmis.com/kneurth/adventure-not ... scovery-01

[Rath Darkblade]

Huzzah! The party survives the scenario!

But it is very confusing. For instance:

Er -- why does the Triton look like an elf with blue hair and blue/pink skin?

On the ship, the "cook" looks like the most normal one of the lot.

I'm finding it hard to picture Havar because if they specialise in trading steel (and nothing else?), what do they eat? Drink? How did they build shelter? All these things come before mining.

Also, steel can't be mined. Even I know that, and I know nothing about mining or blacksmithing. You can mine for pig iron, but you also need limestone (which is added to the blast furnace at intervals to make the process continuous) and coke (residue left after heating coal in the absence of air - about 90% carbon).

The island ... of "Skyland"? Do dwarven islands rhyme?

How did the dwarves make a glorious home for themselves? Skyland looks rocky and bare of food. What did the dwarves eat - rocks?

==============

In order to pass the next few days, where there’s no islands or trades, the crew passes their time playing cards on the deck

I'm confused. What did they eat? The questionable fish-and-bird soup? What did they drink - not sea-water, surely?

I'm also confused at the Tabaxi cheating at cards. The crew yell at her -- and then nothing happens? They don't mind her cheating?
===============
Again, I'm confused. The party crashes on the island, weak due to lack of food and water, runs into the goblins, hears their story, runs into the Coutal, hears his story ... and go to sleep? What? No-one looks for food and water? Or build a fire, for that matter? Or stand guard?

Clearly no-one's taken any points in Survival....
================

And finally, the Paladin - the one who's supposed to be good - is known as "The Merciless". What...?

[Tawmis]

Er -- why does the Triton look like an elf with blue hair and blue/pink skin?

Why is it odd that a Triton would look like that?

On the ship, the "cook" looks like the most normal one of the lot.

He looks the most normal - but you can clearly see by his image, he's definitely got a few bolts loose, which makes him a perfect fit for the oddball crew.

I'm finding it hard to picture Havar because if they specialise in trading steel (and nothing else?), what do they eat? Drink? How did they build shelter? All these things come before mining.

Well, the ship is there for trading purposes. There's little care or concern about what the residents eat. It's a small island, so there's undoubtedly game.

Also, steel can't be mined. Even I know that, and I know nothing about mining or blacksmithing. You can mine for pig iron, but you also need limestone (which is added to the blast furnace at intervals to make the process continuous) and coke (residue left after heating coal in the absence of air - about 90% carbon).

Correct, I made an error in saying they mine for steel. They mine for the components to make steel. And trade that to the folks in Skyland, for weapons (namely, better mining equipment - higher grade mining tools).

The island ... of "Skyland"? Do dwarven islands rhyme?
How did the dwarves make a glorious home for themselves? Skyland looks rocky and bare of food. What did the dwarves eat - rocks?

Since they're surrounded by the sea... good chance, fish is a strong part of their diet.

In order to pass the next few days, where there’s no islands or trades, the crew passes their time playing cards on the deck

I'm confused. What did they eat? The questionable fish-and-bird soup? What did they drink - not sea-water, surely?

Well the ship is stocked with food, but the holds can only carry so much - which is why they stop at Greenhaven to restock meat and find medical supplies.

I'm also confused at the Tabaxi cheating at cards. The crew yell at her -- and then nothing happens? They don't mind her cheating?

Well, if it wasn't clear - the crew is made up of misfits (some of whom are undoubtedly minor criminals) - and since said Tabaxi is their Chief Engineer (and responsible for keeping the ship together) - they're not going to toss her.
She's playful and very cat like - so this is almost always expected behavior from her - the method in how she cheats is what changes.

Again, I'm confused. The party crashes on the island, weak due to lack of food and water, runs into the goblins, hears their story, runs into the Coutal, hears his story ... and go to sleep? What? No-one looks for food and water? Or build a fire, for that matter? Or stand guard?
Clearly no-one's taken any points in Survival....

Well, at this point, they're sleeping in a goblin village, who they've allied themselves with, entrusting their lives to the goblins who they've sworn to help.
They were all suffering from conditions (or some damage) taken from the events of the storm that broke their ship (a few took some damage, and two of them were suffering points of exhaustion) - so sleep was desperately needed for all of them.

And finally, the Paladin - the one who's supposed to be good - is known as "The Merciless". What...?

Well, she's a half-orc. And she's specifically merciless to slave traders (or any that support that form of life... which will be interesting when they get to a specific area of my world on the new continent, where trading slaves is like trading coins).

[Rath Darkblade]

Er -- why does the Triton look like an elf with blue hair and blue/pink skin?

Why is it odd that a Triton would look like that?

As far as I know, a Triton is a half-man, half-fish creature (like a male Mermaid). This Triton looks like an painted elf (no, NOT Zevran!)

Also, steel can't be mined. Even I know that, and I know nothing about mining or blacksmithing. You can mine for pig iron, but you also need limestone (which is added to the blast furnace at intervals to make the process continuous) and coke (residue left after heating coal in the absence of air - about 90% carbon).

Correct, I made an error in saying they mine for steel. They mine for the components to make steel. And trade that to the folks in Skyland, for weapons (namely, better mining equipment - higher grade mining tools).

Just guessing re: mining steel -- you were thinking of Skyrim, right? You can mine steel there.

Again, I'm confused. The party crashes on the island, weak due to lack of food and water, runs into the goblins, hears their story, runs into the Coutal, hears his story ... and go to sleep? What? No-one looks for food and water? Or build a fire, for that matter? Or stand guard?
Clearly no-one's taken any points in Survival....

Well, at this point, they're sleeping in a goblin village, who they've allied themselves with, entrusting their lives to the goblins who they've sworn to help.
They were all suffering from conditions (or some damage) taken from the events of the storm that broke their ship (a few took some damage, and two of them were suffering points of exhaustion) - so sleep was desperately needed for all of them.

Sure ... but weren't they also starving and really thirsty? If they go to sleep without eating/drinking, they'd wake up feeling even hungrier and thirstier.

Also, what's stopping the goblins from picking their pockets in the night and making off with the party's stuff? Or, even worse - cutting their throats?