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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 28, 2012 16:32:17 GMT -5
Has Sobat visited the Garden of Spring, the Mushroom Kingdom or the Long Hall? If so does he know if all of the Faerie Lands are connected? i.e. can we hike back to Garden of Spring? Does he know how to get onto the Faerie Road? Does he know how to get back to his homeland? Can he draw us a map of the local geography? - lake of dreams, checkered field, bizarre house, etc.
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 29, 2012 8:19:22 GMT -5
Did we happen to bring the bag of beans (in the cart maybe)? I am sure we could get some interesting results planting magic beans in the faerie realms.
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Post by venger on Mar 29, 2012 23:15:17 GMT -5
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Post by Ginger on Mar 30, 2012 6:28:10 GMT -5
So it looks like there's a dragon horde for the taking. Who's in? Does everyone remember how the Riddle Master asked us to bring him "Deadly Nightshade?" He was a tricky one!
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Post by Wolfgar on Mar 30, 2012 8:20:21 GMT -5
Nice map. Very ethereal. Didn't Sobat mention something about a Court? Is that the Faerie Castle?
I will ask Sobat what he knows about each of these places. Who lives there? How friendly are they? How useful are they likely to be? What dangers are involved?
Unless Sobat thinks otherwise, I would suggest we start with the Centaur Vale. Maybe they would be willing to talk to Finn and Bolo (centaurs aren't keen on humans and dwarves) and give us some straight answers. See if there is some service we could do for them in return for helping us get to the summer lands. Like slay an evil dragon or frost giant.
What do we have in the way of gifts we can present to the people we meet? I don't suppose we brought the music box or the singing tea cup. I think we should make a company policy that anyone who gives up valuables in the course of furthering an adventure will be reimbursed from party funds.
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Post by Ginger on Mar 30, 2012 9:29:48 GMT -5
Good plan. I'd like to visit the centaurs just to add them to my polymorph-self repertoire.
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Post by Bolo on Mar 30, 2012 15:42:35 GMT -5
Bolo is fine with visiting the centaurs. I even have a centaur miniature!
"Hey Sobat, what's the safest way to get across that river without meeting any nixies?"
Bolo votes for attempting to acquire a dragon hoard after the centaurs.
He'd also be fine with fighting a frost giant or a passel of goblins.
To the extent possible, however, he would prefer to avoid any further interaction with pixies or nixies or peculiar plants or faeries with or without castles.
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Post by venger on Apr 1, 2012 21:43:45 GMT -5
Has Sobat visited the Garden of Spring, the Mushroom Kingdom or the Long Hall? He has not. If so does he know if all of the Faerie Lands are connected? i.e. can we hike back to Garden of Spring? If it is connected, it's through miles and miles of wild, untamed forest the likes of which he's never seen. Does he know how to get onto the Faerie Road? He doesn't. Does he know how to get back to his homeland? The nixie prince sent him home once, and there's a magic crystal cave on the Isle of Apples where wishes can come true. Did we happen to bring the bag of beans (in the cart maybe)? I am sure we could get some interesting results planting magic beans in the faerie realms. That was left at Sherlane's house. Thanks! Didn't Sobat mention something about a Court? Is that the Faerie Castle? Yes. I will ask Sobat what he knows about each of these places. Who lives there? How friendly are they? How useful are they likely to be? What dangers are involved? Strange House: Some kind of wizard house, full of wizard stuff. The forest around this area is enchanted and the only way in or out is through the chessboard field. The wizard Skarda is possibly there, he is quite unfriendly and very dangerous. Flower Garden: Giant talking flowers, very large bugs, did not investigate further. Chessboard Field: Some kind of huge gameboard, they had to take the role of game pieces to cross. Dangerous. Deadly Nightshade: Traveling through the forest, a (female) voice demanded they surrender their gold and magic items. When they refused a very large dragon breathed poison death upon them. Unfriendly, very dangerous. Sobat's boat: Sturdy boat, made it himself. Giant Oyster Beds: Many pearls 500-2500GP value. Giant clams are the only real danger. Unless you count nixies, which he does not. Isle of Apples: Lovely island full of magic apple orchards, dryads, druids, fauns, etc. The tomb of some great king is here, and he sleeps until his time comes once more. There's a crystal cave where wishes can come true. Centaur Vale: When approached the centaurs asked him to leave in peace, they had lances, bows and cudgels. He did not see their encampment. Pixie Village: Some kind of enchanted faerie village. Treants, pixies, sprites, etc. They enspelled him with illusions and he lost his way. Mandrake Swamp: A very dangerous place full of nasties, Sobat has not explored it whatsoever. There's an old Fomorian ruin there, and of course mandrake root which is exceedingly rare and valuable. Frost Giant: Snow-fort camp of a mighty frost giant warrior. Wildflower Meadow: Full of unicorns and wild fae. Very peaceful. Goblin Faire: A faerie carnival; games, food, prizes and many strange/fabulous items for sale. Faerie Castle: The Starlight Court is one of the more powerful, unaligned courts. Queen Vae is renowned as one of the greatest beauties in all of Faerie. They seem friendly enough but you never know with the Fae. "Hey Sobat, what's the safest way to get across that river without meeting any nixies?" You would have to go downstream a ways.
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Post by Ginger on Apr 2, 2012 10:20:49 GMT -5
The dragon mugged them? That's pretty wild.
Using polymorph-self, we could slowly fly everyone to the island and stay out of nixie range.
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Post by Wolfgar on Apr 3, 2012 13:57:16 GMT -5
So do we start discussing how to hunt a dragon, or are we worried it will overhear us and change strategies accordingly?
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Post by venger on Apr 3, 2012 14:39:50 GMT -5
If your tactic is magic missile, I see you coming a mile away. Do you think a green dragon is immune/resistant to stinking cloud?
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Post by Ginger on Apr 3, 2012 15:06:16 GMT -5
So do we start discussing how to hunt a dragon, or are we worried it will overhear us and change strategies accordingly? We can use the helm of telepathy to plan our actual strategy, and then speak the strategy we want her to think we're using!
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Post by Wolfgar on Apr 4, 2012 13:45:11 GMT -5
Here are some thoughts that may be useful when hunting a (green) dragon. -spread out, the fewer that are in the area of effect of a breath weapon the better. -leave non-essential items somewhere where they won't get destroyed by the breath weapon. this may not be relevant for a green dragon. -stick to cover. if the area is heavily forested it will be harder for the dragon to maneuver than us. -spread out the damage dealing distance weapons. e.g. Mary could use the polymorph wand and Bolo could use the lightning rod while Colby and Finnious are dropping fireballs. -leave the healers in the back. Ingrid can do some damage with her rod of flailing but Dan is basically a non-combatant. Dan will give the flesh to stone wand to anyone willing to venture within touching distance of the dragon. Also Dan will be needed for Slow Poison. (Does chlorine gas count as a poison?) -Gust of Wind should be useful against a green dragon's breath. there should be some game mechanism for timing the use of the feather/spell with the breath weapon other than just initiative and casting time. -use the unicorn ring to cover ground and get behind the dragon. -no point having invisibility memorized since dragons can see invisible. -the stasis field may not work on something that size. can we test this beforehand? also this may just lead to a stalemate since no one can attack through the bubble and vice versa. if we are going to try using it I would suggest someone other than the damage-dealing archer. -decide beforehand if we are attacking to subdue. I am guessing not. -give the dragon slayer to Trommer before the fight -Ingrid has a slay living scroll as well as harm and cause serious wounds. the first has a range of 3" while the other two are touch attacks. -Dan is willing to use the gold skullcap. do we know the range on it? -potion of plant control maybe useful to entangle the dragon.
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Post by Wolfgar on Apr 4, 2012 13:57:26 GMT -5
Can Sobat describe the attack by the Deadly Nightshade in more detail? Did the female voice come from the dragon or was there an additional threat? Was the dragon visible before it breathed on them? How did the dragon approach them? Was it waiting for them? Did they stumble into its lair? How far away was the dragon when it breathed? How many men were in his party? Were they all killed on the first attack? Did his party include any magic users and were they able to get any spells off against the creature? Were they effective?
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Post by venger on Apr 4, 2012 16:14:44 GMT -5
-leave non-essential items somewhere where they won't get destroyed by the breath weapon. this may not be relevant for a green dragon. I wouldn't think the green dragon's breath weapon destroys items. -Also Dan will be needed for Slow Poison. (Does chlorine gas count as a poison?) I read a 13 page thread on Dragonsfoot about this. My opinion is that Slow Poison won't be effective against the damage dealt. Maybe if someone is actually killed (brought to extreme negatives) by the breath attack I'd consider letting the Slow Poison restore them to 1HP temporarily, as per the spell description. But I'm leaning against it. -Gust of Wind should be useful against a green dragon's breath. there should be some game mechanism for timing the use of the feather/spell with the breath weapon other than just initiative and casting time. Gust of Wind is useful against persistent gas clouds, probably not so much against a fast, lethal spray of chlorine gas. If someone wanted to be ready with the feather fan in case of such a breath weapon attack, I'd allow it to give a positive modifier to the save of anyone within the area of effect of the Gust of Wind. --no point having invisibility memorized since dragons can see invisible. Huh. I don't think I've actually read the generic text on dragons in the Monster Manual in like 20 years. This table under the heading "Attacking a Dragon" is silly and in my campaign: red dragons are resistant/immune to fire, blue dragons to lightning, black dragons to acid, etc. --the stasis field may not work on something that size. can we test this beforehand? I'm not sure what dragon-sized creature you want to test this out on. The energy field does has a volume capacity. It won't encompass a tree, it will do Sobat's boat though. -Ingrid has a slay living scroll as well as harm and cause serious wounds. the first has a range of 3" while the other two are touch attacks. Is Slay Living subject to the same race restrictions as its reverse, Raise Dead? I'm thinking it is, maybe I'll Dragonsfoot it. --Dan is willing to use the gold skullcap. do we know the range on it? 6" cone, 1/2" at the point of emanation and 2" diameter at extreme range. Short range is 20', medium range is 20'-40' and long range is 40'-60'. --potion of plant control maybe useful to entangle the dragon. Not from how I'm reading the description in the DMG. It seems mostly for use against plant monsters or scenarios where you need to get past a nasty plant without chopping it up.
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Post by venger on Apr 4, 2012 16:26:27 GMT -5
Can Sobat describe the attack by the Deadly Nightshade in more detail? It all happened so fast... :) They were walking through the forest when a female voice hailed them, demanding that they relinquish all their treasure or die. They of course said no, and readied weapons. And then it was a freaking dragon. -Did the female voice come from the dragon or was there an additional threat? He's not sure, he didn't see anything else and the only thing that attacked them was a dragon. Could have been someone hidden, speaking for the dragon... the voice was maybe incongruous with the huge evil dragon, but he's never heard a dragon talk before so he isn't sure about that either. -Was the dragon visible before it breathed on them? No it seemed to melt right out of the greenery, some kind of camouflage maybe. -How did the dragon approach them? As far as he knows it was lying in wait. -Was it waiting for them? Did they stumble into its lair? Waiting for them. They did not reach a lair. -How far away was the dragon when it breathed? Not far away at all. Maybe 20'-30'. -How many men were in his party? His group numbered 6. 3 fighting men, a rogue of sorts, a priest and a magic-user. -Were they all killed on the first attack? Judging by the screams, he can only hope so. -Did his party include any magic users and were they able to get any spells off against the creature? Were they effective? He imagines Keesher the mage, not a sturdy fellow by any means, went down in the initial breath weapon attack.
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Post by Wolfgar on Apr 5, 2012 8:04:41 GMT -5
I read a 13 page thread on Dragonsfoot about this. My opinion is that Slow Poison won't be effective against the damage dealt. Maybe if someone is actually killed (brought to extreme negatives) by the breath attack I'd consider letting the Slow Poison restore them to 1HP temporarily, as per the spell description. But I'm leaning against it. My bad. I was thinking the gas was deadly as opposed to doing the usual breath weapon damage (=dragon hit points). We should still spread out and keep the low hit point people towards the back. Gust of Wind is useful against persistent gas clouds, probably not so much against a fast, lethal spray of chlorine gas. If someone wanted to be ready with the feather fan in case of such a breath weapon attack, I'd allow it to give a positive modifier to the save of anyone within the area of effect of the Gust of Wind. Dan is happy to perform this function. But again saving will only reduce damage to half. I don't know if the anti-magic shield will be effective, but maybe Trommer or Marcus should use it. I'm not sure what dragon-sized creature you want to test this out on. The energy field does has a volume capacity. It won't encompass a tree, it will do Sobat's boat though. It doesn't need to be a creature. But doesn't seem like it will work. Maybe we could pick up a large boulder and drop it on the dragon. Just wait until Colby can make a wall of iron. Is Slay Living subject to the same race restrictions as its reverse, Raise Dead? I'm thinking it is, maybe I'll Dragonsfoot it. I think you are correct. Maybe it just takes the cause serious wounds damage. 6" cone, 1/2" at the point of emanation and 2" diameter at extreme range. Short range is 20', medium range is 20'-40' and long range is 40'-60'. I see, like psionic blast. Not from how I'm reading the description in the DMG. It seems mostly for use against plant monsters or scenarios where you need to get past a nasty plant without chopping it up. It does mention entwining. But I am fine if the effects do not provide additional mobility to the controlled plants.
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Post by Wolfgar on Apr 5, 2012 8:28:51 GMT -5
The other issue appears to be being able to detect it before it attacks. Some thoughts on that: -Bolo walks with his eyepiece in place (probably not possible) -the magic users use detect invisibility (5 rounds/level) in shifts. assuming 8 hours of hiking we would need 96 levels of the spell. Colby gets 5 spells @ 7th level, Finnious gets 4 spells @ 5th level and Mary gets 4 spells @ 4th level. That only adds up to 71 levels or roughly 6 hours. -the clerics use detect evil (10 round + 5 rounds/level). Dan and Ingrid both get 5 spells @ 5th level. Which would also be just under 6 hours. -kind of a waste of first and second level spells. we will need some of those for strength spells. but better safe than sorry. -we could also listen for birds. if there are no birds or other animals then we may be getting close to it. -and of course the rangers can look for fresh tracks. in a heavily forested area a dragon can't help but leave a track. unless it can polymorph ...
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Post by venger on Apr 5, 2012 9:25:25 GMT -5
It does mention entwining. But I am fine if the effects do not provide additional mobility to the controlled plants. Entwining read to me like the plants would braid themselves into a rope or a net. But the description for Entangle does use the word "entwine," and I'm inclined to not further limit the usefulness of the potion of plant control. In this situation, I think the 20"x20" area of effect wouldn't work effectively against a creature of this size. The other issue appears to be being able to detect it before it attacks. Some thoughts on that: -Bolo walks with his eyepiece in place (probably not possible) -the magic users use detect invisibility (5 rounds/level) in shifts. assuming 8 hours of hiking we would need 96 levels of the spell. Colby gets 5 spells @ 7th level, Finnious gets 4 spells @ 5th level and Mary gets 4 spells @ 4th level. That only adds up to 71 levels or roughly 6 hours. -the clerics use detect evil (10 round + 5 rounds/level). Dan and Ingrid both get 5 spells @ 5th level. Which would also be just under 6 hours. -kind of a waste of first and second level spells. we will need some of those for strength spells. but better safe than sorry. -we could also listen for birds. if there are no birds or other animals then we may be getting close to it. -and of course the rangers can look for fresh tracks. in a heavily forested area a dragon can't help but leave a track. unless it can polymorph ... Walking with the medallion is not possible, no. That is a large expenditure of spell resources. Don't forget the 1" wide "path of detection" for both these spells. And that Detect Evil doesn't seem to work here, at least for Paavo. Sobat would advise you to not rely on the strange birds and animals in the realm of Faerie. Trommer and Danakes find it extremely difficult to track here. The grass you walk upon is always perfect, attempts to blaze a trail are useless as "cut growth seems to have a vitality completely unnatural to normal vegetation: it begins to regrow one turn after cutting."
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Post by Wolfgar on Apr 6, 2012 14:20:16 GMT -5
Walking with the medallion is not possible, no. How about if we put Bolo on Trommer's shoulders. Can he use the medallion while riding? Before we head off, Dan would like to rest and regain his spells. He used most of his spells after the behir lightning bolt and we haven't slept since. Also we probably want to redistribute spells given the innate magic resistance most denizens appear to have.
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