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

I think Dugan is out for a few days. I'll go for Davroar.

Dugan is suffering a concussion. He noted he might be a bit slow in Members Availability.

I struck out the errant post about the fires since there aren't any to deal with.

The question was raised about healing. Sindar doesn't have any healing spells memorized, and there has been a discussion about the changes at DnDBeyond with regard to bard spells.

Do bards have a way to cast a spell they know, but aren't memorized? They don't do the book thing, though I suppose sheet music might apply. I just want to figure out how it works in the fiction so that I can write it up, if it is a possibility.

What I had in mind when I said that was Song of Rest which can help aid the party's own healing (with use of hit dice). I hadn't checked in detail on Sindar's sheet to see what else he could cast, and you're right that he doesn't have much other help here.

But between Davroar and Aubric and hit dice and potions, there's plenty of healing around.

Note: we should sequence this intelligently. Aubric can hand out 35 hp among targets (twice) that restore up to half the target's total HP so that should be done first as a baseline before doing other spells/potions/hit dice that do more. At some point I'll math it out ... if it's relevant. If you're going to hang around town more than a day it's likely not worth the effort to track to that level of detail.... unless there's another attack

I am fine with the Song of Rest, that works great.

FYI, I retcon-edited Aubric channeling divinity to bring Arus and Pavel up to half their HP total before departing on the troll tracking trip. That will give them a good head start for additional potions/hit dice/spells/etc.

Pande - Note, Bards don't need to memorize spells. They can cast any spell they know at any time, limited only by how many spells per day that are allowed at their current level. If you have ANY healing spells among your known list you can always cast it until you run out of spell slots.

We've had an extended PM discussion on that as a result of a comment I made earlier, so you may be missing some of the context of that and my suggestion that Sindar use spells (that he doesn't "know").

Lots of good things about being a bard, and can be pretty powerful, but in exchange you are limited in having to choose what you "know" so can't swap out at will like some other classes.

Yes, just as other classes that do not need to memorize (Sorcerors, Warlocks, etc) you have to choose spells for your "available" list, but you don't have to specify which ones you want to cast each day. It can make selecting spells for your "known" list a little bit different.

I confess it is beyond my basic understanding.

Panda,

Some spellcasting classes, like clerics, know ALL the spells for their class and need to memorize the ones they'll use between long rests. So, if you're a cleric, and you need a spell but didn't memorize it, you need to take a long rest to make it available to after you change your prepared spell list.

Other classes, like bard, only know a limited number of bard spells but you don't need to memorize them. You have slots available to just use them.

....and others, like Wizard, need both. They have a list of spells in their "spellbook" that they know (a sub-selection of the whole list), but they also must choose from that limited list and memorize an even smaller selection each day. Again, if they chose the wrong spells for that day they're out of luck. That is why I like spellcasting classes like Bard, Sorceror, Warlock, etc. Fewer spells but more freedom and flexibility.

I understand Zeim's point, the confusion arises from figuring out the limited bard list. We worked out that one spell that was on his list couldn't be due to level and making it a bard spell elements. I guess I will have to go to DnD Beyond and figure out what are bard spells so that I have that list handy.

Thanks

Yes, just choose your spells from the Bard Spell List: http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spells:bard

based on the #spells/level for Bard:

7th Level Prof Bonus:+3 Cantrips:3 Spells Known:10

Spell Slots: 1st:4 2nd:3 3rd:3 4th:1

So you can choose 3 Cantrips plus 10 other spells of any level 1-4 to "Know". Then you can cast those 10 spells each day based on the slots above. You don't have to align the spells you know with the slot limits, in fact you'll note that you actually have one more slot than spells known.

Theoretically, forex, you could have only 1 First level spell and 1 Second Level spell that you know and then have 4 3rd's and 4 4th's. This would give you great flexibility with high level spells but limit your options for low levels. Still, you could cast that 1 1st level spell that you know 4 times every day (more if you use higher level slots to do it). So choose what you want, regardless of level. I would just make sure you pick at least one spell of each level to know and go from there.

In fact, Zhu has this. The only first level spell she "knows" is Magic Missile. Every time you gain a level you get to swap out one spell for any other spell of any level you are able to cast, so it is possible she might add another 1st level spell later on by removing a higher level spell from her known spell list.

Sindar has two Wizard spells as bard spells, one is Eldritch Blast, the other we are still deciding. It was a 4th level spell, which it turns out was broken, so has to be rechosen. Probably going to pick Lightning Bolt to offer a variety to what the party has, but I haven't decided. It has to be 3rd level or below for the spell, and it becomes a bard spell for him.

Thanks for the additional clarification, that helps a lot!

Ok now I am really confused.

On the bard list phantasmal killer is listed for level 4, which was the whole darn issue. Is the list at DnD Beyond different?

It also looks like Eldritch Blast and Counter Spell were the two wizard spells he learned (turned into Bard spells).

I get it now, it isn't in the books Nep has. I feegot. Dang.

If Dnd is going to be on Foundry because they partnered with them, what does that mean for DnDBeyond my pocket book?

I of course want it all, but I am so not going to invest the money when this is literally the only 5e game I play.

So, Meta-gaming: Just as an FYI, Zhu is an "Evoker" type, which means that her spells are almost all direct damage spells (with the notable higher level exceptions of Slow, Confusion, and Banishment). She has Lightning Bolt and Fireball, for instance, but doesn't have spells like Hold Person, Invisibility, Charms or Summoning spells of any kind and so on, so for variety across the party Charms, Holds, and Summonings would be good.

Now, that said, IF Sindar ends up going in the other party from Zhu, then having 3rd/4th level direct damage spells for that other party would be helpful.

Pande, I am running games on Foundry and using DnDBeyond for characters ... at this moment. There are shakeups at WOTC and we have to see how that pans out.

Zeim, I'll be running the party that includes both Zhu and Sindar.

Cool, so charm elements are a better choice than straight damage.

Thanks!

Yeah WoTC is doing some really odd things, but DnD will continue of that I am certain.

Have you guys decided on the split? Jaliera tried to have the discussion in character the previous night but it didn't come off. It would be nice to know your thinking so we can have a chance to input. Thanks!

I thought it had been discussed in detail, with a list of pcs at one point. I remember mentioning the issue of the Healing and Arcane Magic split between the groups and Neptune said that was why the two new characters had been added, to give that balance. I am sure Jaliera is going with Davroar, but I don't recall all of the rest.

I believe Zeim is right on all counts, but I too have blissfully put the rest of it out of my mind.

Gypsy,
We did, or at least I posted it here but for clarity, here it is again:
Party split will be:
Aquadyne will DM: Bern, Davroar, Jaliera, Zindra and Pavel
Neptune will DM: Zhu, Kriv, Sindar, Arus and Aubric