DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder OOC thread

Mike, That is me, retired!

Dugan, not that I think you really care, but take a gander at this page for the top-rated pitcher in fantasy baseball (Gerrit Cole):

Statcast data for Gerrit Cole. Do a search for "spin". But that's one of hundreds of different "interesting" statistics used.

Heck Nep ... =my= 'retired time' is spent here and on NetFlix while drinking beer <weg>

One correction. Draft was actually 10 hours! Started at 8am cdt and ran to 6pm cdt.

Time flies

Thanks. Someone has to keep an eye on the budget

If yer gonna 'quote the past' ... do it right!!

"Time flies like an arrow ... fruit flies like a banana" Groucho Marx

<weg>

Loved the Marx Bros

They still make me laugh!! <g>

Leaving my post for "flavor" since it really has no actions in it. I'll wait for Zhu's turn and post more details.

So in 5th, a spell slot, is just that right?

IE in Sindar's case since he has a groin poking Kuo-toa right next to him, he could do Dissonant Whispers again, because he still has level 1 spell slots, even though he has cast DW already once? If so that is his choice.

Wis Save and 3d6 damage incase I am out of the loop since I am traveling the next couple of days.

If not, rather than hold up the game, Aqua go ahead and play Sindar for me, ty.

Pande - Yes. You select a group of spells you want to be able to select from to cast each day and then you can use your "slots" to choose any of them or all of them. That is why you never choose the same spell twice for your daily list. If you have more than 1 slot you can always cast any given spell as many times as you have slots to do so.

Also note that you can use a higher level slot to cast a lower level spell (not counting Cantrips). So, if you happen to be out of 1st level spells slots for the day but you have a 2nd level slot left you can cast a first level spell using the second level slot. You can't use a 1st level slot to cast a 2nd level spell though. It only works in one direction. The spell will typically be more powerful (an extra die of damage or healing for example).

There is no "holding up the game" issues. I've got Aquadyne busy getting ready for the next chapter that he's running for y'all. I can wait for you Pande. Zeim's answer is close to word-for-word what I would have said.

My random carpool match up this morning was with an employee of Wizards of the Coast. He's in marketing and has Jack Black's phone number, and also spent time with the Stranger Things cast...

But was he interesting at all, that's the thing.

We had an interesting conversation.

Cool meet!

I would've been a total dork and asked him why Hasbro gave the GI Joe RPG to Renegade Studios rather than their very own Wizards. Then he would've asked me why I want to know that and I guess I'd say, because I'm a total dork.

Matched this morning and asked this question. He implied Hasbro owns a portion of equity in Renegade. I'll be carpooling again tomorrow and try to get some clarity.

Thanks AquaDyne! You're ace.

I asked for clarity and got some waffly "I thought that was public info" answer.

Just because 'the public' knows something ... doesn't mean I do <weg>

I think he realized that it *isn't* public and he said more than he should have. His last word on the subject: "So, now you know."

This was a VERY tough encounter - deadly. In a private message, Zeim thanked me for taking my foot off the gas. This could have easily been a TPK and he noticed the subtle but significant ways I relented. Still, that takes away nothing from the way that you handled this encounter. You did great! It was a very challenging scenario to run and for you to win. The aboleth is a powerful foe. Summonning the crabs was a great move and you lucked out and saved on some very critical saves (except for poor Bern) and only one of you were enslaved by the aboleth. It had 3 chances to enslave someone. Aside from enslaving it's enemies, the aboleth had the ability to cast illusions (Phantasmal force). It had legendary actions, lair actions and regional effects.

There is still reward collecting and end-of-scene wrap up to do before Aquadyne takes you on your next adventure. Before we get to that I wanted to congratulate you for completing a module. This entire Yartar scenario, from the time you found young Lord Artan Rossolio in the coccoon by the river up until now, was an add-on module for Storn King's Thunder called "Kraken's Gamble" that I downloaded from the DMs Guild. So, in effect, you completed a whole adventure!

Of course, there's much more to do. We aren't done with SKT. I'll let you heal up and you do need to spend some time tying up loose ends. You need to interact with the two new characters, see the waterbaron, Lady Rossolio and free the aboleth's prisoners. I'll let you all get started with that.

It's time to talk about the afflictions and the aboleth.

What a tough monster. I don't know how many of you have played higher level D&D but higher level monsters have extraordinary abilities. Aside from the normal attacks, the 3 tentacle multi-attack, the tail whip and the enslavement that it can do 3 times a day, it also gets legendary actions, lair actions and warps the area within 1 mile of it with regional effects.

The three Legendary actions it gets per round occur at any time after any other combatant goes. It's were a perception check (which it did not use), a tail swipe (which it used a lot) and a psychic drain with which one creature enslaved by the aboleth takes 10 (3d6) psychic damage, and the aboleth regains hit points equal to the damage the creature takes. This is what killed Lady Atalia, the Lady in Purple. It also used it on Bern when it had taken more than half damage.

The lair actions were interesting. They happen on initiative of 20. The aboleth created a phantasmal force (illusion) to lure the party down the central path where it laid in wait. It had the ability to create a grasping tide, which is how it swept everyone into the water. It also had the ability to target all foes in the water with psychic damage. I took my foot off the gas on this last one.

It's regional effects were that underground surfaces within 1 mile of the aboleth's lair are slimy and wet and are difficult terrain. That's why I had you make dex checks in the sewers. Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the aboleth that drink such water vomit it within minutes. It's interesting that Yartar waters were never described as foul but the module had a similar sewer plague affliction so I went with that instead. Not all modules are "perfect". Finally, as an action, the aboleth can create an illusory image of itself within 1 mile of the lair. I didn't use that.

It's nastiest attack, however, is the tentacle attack. Those who are hit by one need to make a save or suffer the skin transformation. Since Bronwyn had treated Lord Artan, I gave her a chance to use her medicine skill to diagnose this. I made it a difficult task because she never saw the onset of the affliction and talking to Artan was not helpful. Aquadyne did not roll well enough for her to recognize the symptoms in time to prevent it from affecting Davroar and Zhu. Lets look at this nasty action:

Interestingly, the regional foul water effect is described simply as follows:
What makes it interesting is that it does not have a save. It does not say if it's diseas or poison. It does not say how to cure it. That is why I went with what the module stated:
Bern, Davroar and Zhu will need a cure disease to be cast on them.

That's a lot to absorb. I'll let you digest - if your stomachs can take it!