The D&D Corner (and other Pen & Paper - or virtual - RPGs!) <3

[Tawmis]

This is from the "Anita Game" - and this entire session is based off of CLUE and CLUE: The Movie.

It was super chaotic for me to keep track of everyone - and where they were moving - but the end result was everyone had a blast.

[Tawmis]

When the story of broken hearts collide, tragically....

[Tawmis]

Session notes for the "Work Game" (I am about 4 sessions behind in notes).
The party goes to the great library and learns a lot of info...
What they don't learn is the value of not trusting people who lead you down dark alleyways...
http://tawmis.com/kneurth/adventure-not ... nturers-60

[Tawmis]

I am several sessions behind in my notes, so I have been playing catch up...

Still playing catch up - the party meets Elon Dusk - and shunts back to the dwarven kingdom! This was a fun session, because the players got to see some of the (positive) consequences of their actions...
http://tawmis.com/kneurth/adventure-not ... nturers-61

Still catching up - This is the one where you guys go back in time... and has some images for like when Starhorn changes from Unicorn, to burning body, to Nightmare...
I loved this, especially since it was originally just gonna be a fluff adventure since I wasn't sure who was gonna show up because a lot of people were up in the air... but then everyone showed up and I decided to run it....
http://tawmis.com/kneurth/adventure-not ... nturers-62

Still playing catch up - the secret of the statues and the first ghost encountered! It becomes clear what this "dungeon" is based off of...
http://tawmis.com/kneurth/adventure-not ... nturers-63

[Rath Darkblade]

This isn't to do with D&D, but works a lot better if you're familiar with Skyrim. If not: in the game "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim", you play a character known as The Dragonborn, a mystical hero who can kill dragons and steal their power. Dragon Power is manifested through Dragon Shouts, which are expressed through ancient Words of Power. Every Shout is made up of three Words of Power, and the first Shout you learn is Unrelenting Force, which is expressed as FUS RO DAH! (literally "Force Balance Push!"). This fires a shock-wave of force energy that stuns and pushes enemies, and can even throw them backwards into the wall or off a cliff.

Anyway ... here's my take on this whole thing. Just for fun

Top Ten Dragon Shouts that were Rejected by the makers of "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim"

10. FUS RO WAH! - The Dragonborn as a baby

9. FUS RO MOOOOM!! - The Dragonborn's mum appears. In a bad mood. 'Cos you picked on her little boy

8. FUS RO DUMB - What to say to someone who persists in making stupid arguments with you

7. FUS RO LA-LA-LA - The Dragonborn becomes a bard and blows away all the critics

6. FUS RO OOH, TA - The Dragonborn accepts a cup of tea from a bad waiter, then blows the waiter away

5. FUS RO BAH, HUMBUG - How "A Christmas Carol" should have ended

4. FUS RO BWAH-HA-HA - The Dragonborn becomes ~EVIL!~

3. FUS RO DVAH! - The Dragonborn blows away two opponents at once (Dvah is Russian for "two")

2. FUS RO TROIS - The Dragonborn blows away THREE opponents at once! (Trois is pronounced "twa", French for "three")

1. FUS RO GAH! - The Dragonborn runs into an enemy he can't defeat ... RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!

[Tawmis]

This isn't to do with D&D, but works a lot better if you're familiar with Skyrim.

The only thing I know about Skyrim is Malukah's angelic cover...
The remaster -




The original version she did (which I prefer)...



If I wasn't married, and she wasn't married, I propose to her in a heartbeat. Just to hear her sing. <3

[Rath Darkblade]

Question: I'm writing a fight scene. My gladiators are outnumbered by Roman legionaries by 15 to about 80. (The gladiators don't know that - they think it's about 100). However, the gladiators are inside a cave; the entrance is narrow, so the legionaries can only enter one at a time. There's a fire inside ... oh, and a Gynosphinx is on the legionaries' side.

I'm thinking of giving her one of three spells:

1. Time Stop
2. Flame Strike
3. Heroes' Feast

Which one is best? And what would you do with it?

I'm thinking of "Time Stop", so she can rush out, pull off the legionaries' breastplates, throw them away, and rush back in. But obviously that won't work, because under Time Stop, you're not allowed to interfere with others. What else could she do?

The cave is cramped, so she can't exactly fly. The gladiators are ready; most of them have spears and shields, but two of them have slings and shields. So anyone who tries to sneak in will get a *BONK* in the wrist (or head).

What do you think should happen next? Bear in mind, there are no Bags of Holding or anything magical in this universe (so you can't empty a huge Bag of Holding full of Flaming Swords on the poor legionaries, or something like that). Suggestions welcome.
------------------------------------------------------------------
And apropos of nothing ... from Quora: What is your funniest critical failure moment in Dungeons & Dragons?

We were playing as a bunch of mercenaries generally of the goodish, neutral, or “I’m immune to know alignment” variety. If memory serves, we had two fighters, my ranger, a sorcerer, and a rogue. Sadly, the sorcerer and I were the best we had for medics, so there was a lot of bribing/threatening clerics after a few rough missions.

We were working our way through a bandit camp, trying to rescue someone important daughter. I don’t remember who exactly, but a lot of money was involved. Also, the “bandits” may have been slightly in another country, and wearing uniforms. Also, the camp was inside a fort.

Like I said. Lots of money. Also, never trust a Baron.

So Clanky McFighter botched his sneak roll, and we’d gone from plan A), sneak in, slit a few throats, and sneak out, to plan B) kill everything that moves. Plan C involves county-sized locust swarms. Escalation. It's a thing we did.

Now, the snatch-and-grab turned surprise massacre wasn’t going that great. There were a lot of them, not so many of us.

So, a large group of unusually-well-and-uniformly-dressed bandits were running at us screaming, and Flash McSorcerer decided to lob a fireball at them. Teach them why you don’t bunch up.

And he rolled a 1. There was this moment of stupefaction.

Now, the DM had a home-made Critical Failure table that he liked to use. We all knew about it, no surprise. He gives the sorcerer the D100 and tells him to roll ...

...

... 1.

Yeah. Critical fail on a critical fail. Worst possible outcome.

DM: “Uh…you’re completely engulfed in flames.”

SC: “&%@*. Wait…hold on.” He checked his sheets. “I still have the ring.”

DM: “Which ring?”

SC: “The one I bought when we went to fight the dragon over in that &%@*ing desert.”

Our sorcerer had previously purchased a ring that made him immune to the element of fire. Handy when fighting dragons.

He’s immune to fire. He’s engulfed in flames.

DM: “So…what are you going to do?”

The sorcerer got the most maliciously gleeful grin I have ever seen. “I bellow at the top of my lungs ‘FREE HUGS FOR EVERYONE!!!’ and charge.”
-------------------------------------------

[Tawmis]

Question: I'm writing a fight scene. My gladiators are outnumbered by Roman legionaries by 15 to about 80. (The gladiators don't know that - they think it's about 100). However, the gladiators are inside a cave; the entrance is narrow, so the legionaries can only enter one at a time. There's a fire inside ... oh, and a Gynosphinx is on the legionaries' side.
I'm thinking of giving her one of three spells:
1. Time Stop
2. Flame Strike
3. Heroes' Feast
Which one is best? And what would you do with it?
I'm thinking of "Time Stop", so she can rush out, pull off the legionaries' breastplates, throw them away, and rush back in. But obviously that won't work, because under Time Stop, you're not allowed to interfere with others. What else could she do?
The cave is cramped, so she can't exactly fly. The gladiators are ready; most of them have spears and shields, but two of them have slings and shields. So anyone who tries to sneak in will get a *BONK* in the wrist (or head).
What do you think should happen next? Bear in mind, there are no Bags of Holding or anything magical in this universe (so you can't empty a huge Bag of Holding full of Flaming Swords on the poor legionaries, or something like that). Suggestions welcome.

Well keep in mind, it's YOUR story. Your Time Stop spell doesn't have to follow a D&D version of the time stop spell.
You could even flavor it that TIME STOP works like Matrix "Slow Mo" - where those impacted by TIME STOP are moving at a snail's pace, while those are not seem to be moving at super human speed.

And apropos of nothing ... from Quora: What is your funniest critical failure moment in Dungeons & Dragons?

Pretty funny - Critical Fails can be fun, if you have the right party for it.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm. I'm pretty sure that this will be the climax of her spell-casting -- so far it's been illusions and fairly mundane mind-reading -- so I'd like to do something pretty special (without breaking the story).

How about Time Stop, followed by rushing out, pulling down the Centurion's trousers skirt kilt, and rushing back in again? It won't matter much to the story, but it will be funny (and embarrassing for the Centurion, who is also the main Bad Guy), and result in arguments. "Is that all you could think of?! What about fireballs?" Etc.

[Tawmis]

Hmm. I'm pretty sure that this will be the climax of her spell-casting -- so far it's been illusions and fairly mundane mind-reading -- so I'd like to do something pretty special (without breaking the story).

How about Time Stop, followed by rushing out, pulling down the Centurion's trousers skirt kilt, and rushing back in again? It won't matter much to the story, but it will be funny (and embarrassing for the Centurion, who is also the main Bad Guy), and result in arguments. "Is that all you could think of?! What about fireballs?" Etc.

I mean, it depends on the kind of story you're telling. If you're doing time stop - why are you taking time to take off their clothing - why not just flee? Or kill them?

[Rath Darkblade]

Well ... the gladiators cannot flee, because they're cornered in a cave. The Sphinx is "on their side" for reasons of her own.

I'd rather not kill the Bad Guy right now, because he plays a role in the story later on.

If the Sphinx does a Time Stop, what should she do? Rush out, kill a few legionaries, and rush back in again? It'll even the odds a bit (it's currently 15 vs 80), but the legionaries will still be horribly outnumbered. (On the plus-side, the terrain is in their favour. On the minus-side, if they let the legionaries into the cave, they're dead meat!)

[Tawmis]

Well ... the gladiators cannot flee, because they're cornered in a cave. The Sphinx is "on their side" for reasons of her own.
I'd rather not kill the Bad Guy right now, because he plays a role in the story later on.
If the Sphinx does a Time Stop, what should she do? Rush out, kill a few legionaries, and rush back in again? It'll even the odds a bit (it's currently 15 vs 80), but the legionaries will still be horribly outnumbered. (On the plus-side, the terrain is in their favour. On the minus-side, if they let the legionaries into the cave, they're dead meat!)

Heh - I feel like ye should consider this cave situation then.

[Rath Darkblade]

Sorry, what do you mean? What should I consider? I'm confused.

There's only one chamber in the cave (very simple), but on the other hand, the chamber is VERY big. (It'd have to be, in order to hold a Sphinx and 100 humans!)

[Tawmis]

Sorry, what do you mean? What should I consider? I'm confused.

There's only one chamber in the cave (very simple), but on the other hand, the chamber is VERY big. (It'd have to be, in order to hold a Sphinx and 100 humans!)

What I mean is - if you feel like you're stuck there in the story - writing wise.

[Rath Darkblade]

Huh. I'm stuck because I've got a melee coming up, and I suck at writing those.

I don't have to describe what everyone's doing. Describing what 100 humans are doing, second-by-second? Ridiculous. Probably best to stick to what the main character is seeing and doing. He'll see and hear what people on either side of him see and hear. If he's very lucky, he could block a blow for someone next to him.

The Sphinx is the wild-card. What will she do when she casts Time Stop? Ugh. I can't decide. And the MC won't know, because time will be stopped for him as well.

Maybe it's best to do something silly, like:

1. Time Stop;
2. Rush about pulling down ALL the legionaries' skirts kilts;
3. Return, snap fingers;
4. Cue a warband of gladiators doing their best impression of Nelson Muntz from "The Simpsons". "HA-ha!"

What do you think?