Assault on Aldera Campaign

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Mirgalen
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Mirgalen » Fri May 25, 2018 1:57 am

I would play playing Rogha the Witch a recently captured slave from topside (most likely a desolated and dangerous place like the Pomarj in Greyhawk or similar settings in FR).

As Witch is not a playable class I had the following in mind (in order of preference/playability):

1. Hobgoblin Bard focusing on singing/cursing (Harpy Style)
2. Duergar Druid with a spider
3. Hobgoblin Sorceress with the Eyeball familiar

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Lazybones
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Lazybones » Fri Jun 01, 2018 1:16 am

Karvon wrote:
Tue May 22, 2018 1:00 am
I'm familiar with the concept of ECL, but not clear on the actual mechanics; could you give couple examples of how this penalty/bonus would apply? Wanting to get a concrete idea of this to balance the cost vs reward.

Thanks,

Karvon
All it means for this campaign is that you get a slightly different amount of experience awarded for plot developments and weekly forum posting. Each quest has an assigned XP value. So for a midlevel quest you might get a 300xp award if you're a drow, 600xp if you're a half-orc, or 900xp if you're a goblin. Over time the most likely effect will be that high-powered races will be a level or two behind the others. I am planning on fairly rapid leveling if that is an issue.

XP awarded by the game engine (e.g., for killing monsters) is not affected.

The goal of this is to offset the benefits that certain character races like drow and duergar get.

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Lazybones
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Lazybones » Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:11 pm

I ran some tests building characters in the module. The creature skins that hold all of the character bonuses worked and are persistent (i.e., they still show on the character sheet after you save/exit/return). Hopefully everything works in actual play. We'll still need LETO for the goblins/kobolds since those CEP heads are not accessible during character creation.

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Lazybones
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Lazybones » Sat Aug 04, 2018 6:14 pm

All right, so far we have:
  • Vanya Mia: Drow Rogue Exile
  • Smart Alec: Drow Mage Exile
  • Topato: Half-Orc Fighter
  • Mirgalen: Hobgoblin or Duergar Witch Slave (bard, druid, or sorcerer, all of those would work)
  • Shadani: Kobold Sorcerer Slave

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Karvon
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Karvon » Tue Aug 07, 2018 12:10 pm

Are human PCs a viable option in this campaign as well?

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Lazybones
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Lazybones » Wed Aug 08, 2018 3:08 am

Karvon wrote:
Tue Aug 07, 2018 12:10 pm
Are human PCs a viable option in this campaign as well?
No, since I used the human race as the template for hobgoblins. The scripts are automated so any human character that enters automatically gets the hobgoblin racial skin applied. However, I didn't mess with half-elves, so if you want you can create a half-elf and call it a human.

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Mirgalen
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Mirgalen » Wed Aug 08, 2018 6:40 am

Having done some research for Rogha the Witch I made some changes. The inspiration for this character came from Baba Yaga and a certain character from one of my favorite Heroic Fantasy movie: "The Dark Crystal". I have tweaked the character to include as many traits as possible and ended up with a multi-class bard as follow (based on level 8 max): Bard 6 with 1 lvl druid or ranger (needed for animal empathy) and 1 lvl wizard or sorcerer (needed for Rogha's magic eye).

It make sense to take Sorcerer over wizard (CHA based character). I only need the familiar. Still need to pick lvl 0-1 spells (some do overlap w Bard).
I am leaning towards ranger 1 rather than druid 1 due to low wisdom (zero divine spells). Animal companion not really needed.
Ranger gives animal empathy, set traps and favoured enemies (Humans).

Feel free to comment.

Shadani
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Shadani » Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:55 pm

((I gotta say the dip into wizard/sorcerer seems sketchy. Maybe it'd be possible for LB to do something like what we did for Master, and reskin one of the Druid animal companions into an Eyeball/Beholder/whatever? I'm not that familiar with your inspiration here, but I gotta say that pure Druid also just feels a lot witchier to me than bard. I guess the idea is you'll be using Curse Song a lot?))
---
"Not interested," said the slaver. She barely spared a glance for the kobolds and meagre wares. Their kind came to the trade post every so often, but they rarely had anything of value to contribute. Mostly, they just sold their own kind, and not even the choice pickings, at that. Just the old, the sick, and the especially foolish. Wretches all, and none of them likely to fetch a good price.

"But this one special!" three the kobolds said, yipping in unison.

"Yes, yes!" said another one. Gods, how were there always so many of them? "He special! He magic!"

"Magic!" said yet another kobold, this one's voice even shriller than the last. "Strong magic! Scary magic!"

The slaver raised a single eyebrow and turned to inspect the kobold in question. Her look was one of profound scepticism.

It was a runt, for certain, even by kobold standards. Burn scars covered much of its scaly hide, only partially hidden by some old rags and rusty chains. Someone had stuffed a crude gag in its mouth, leaving the despicable little thing quite defenceless. There was something in its eyes, though - a defiant ember caught the slaver off-guard. No kobold had ever looked at her that way.

Perhaps it might be worth buying this one after all, if only to teach it a lesson.

"Show her!" said one of the kobolds, giving the bound one a kick to the shins. "Show her your magics!"

The would-be slave turned to glare at its assailant. Its nostrils twitched, and from them there emerged a brief, red-hot gout of flame. The kobolds closest to it scattered, yipping with alarm.

"See, see!" they cried out. "Magic! Burning magic! Burned whole tribe to ash!"

Interesting. The slaver tilted her head to one side, and re-evaluated this potential new acquisition.

"Very well," she said, with a sigh. "Perhaps someone out there will find him entertaining."
---
Miiq was indeed responsible for the calamity that befell his tribe, but the kobolds who had turned on him had neglected to mention a few important details. He hadn't been the one to do most of the actual burning, see - that had been the pleasure of the cruel dragon who regularly extracted tribute from the tribe. When Miiq discovered his strange powers, he became convinced that it was his destiny to free his people and cast down this wicked dragon - and perhaps, if he truly proved worthy, to take its place. Before, he'd always been the runt of the tribe, weak and small and easy to push around, but this would change everything.

Before long, he recruited to his side a respectable number of loyal disciples, most of which burned shortly after the dragon caught wind of his treachery. Most of Miiq's tribe wisely decided to reaffirm their devotion to their draconic master and, after capturing him and beating him bloody, they elected to sell him to the slavers at Ezziroth. Some of the profit would help get the tribe back on its feet, if nothing else, and the dragon seemed not to care what happened to the lead rabble-rouser so long as the consequences of defiance were made clear.

In spite of the setbacks he has suffered, Miiq has not been humbled. For now, it suits his purposes to play the role of a frightened, obsequious slave, but he knows, even if no one else does, that in his chest beats the heart of a dragon. He dreams of earning his freedom, of burning his captors to ash and seeking vengeance upon those who betrayed him. They will bow to him, or they will burn.
---
Miiq will be a kobold sorcerer with the slave background. I've got a portrait picked out, but haven't converted it yet - will post later in the week!

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Lazybones
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Lazybones » Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:03 am

Mirgalen wrote:
Wed Aug 08, 2018 6:40 am
Feel free to comment.
You can multiclass any way you want, but three spellcasting classes is going to be tough just in terms of keeping all your spells straight. Why do you even need bard? Seems like a sorcerer/druid or sorcerer/ranger would address all of the issues raised in your character description. Taking just one sorcerer level just for the familiar will mean that the eyeball will be super squishy since they level with the character.

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Vanya Mia
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Re: Assault on Aldera Campaign

Post by Vanya Mia » Thu Aug 09, 2018 5:39 pm

((Have to admit taking a single level of any class for a companion that will remain ever a squishy level one doesn't seem sensible. Not least as while combat XP is not our only source that third class is going to cripple you - even more so if you don't take the "human" equivalent of hobgoblin. If levels are not an issue fair enough but it looks like you are hoping to get 8 there at least.

Likewise a single level of Ranger or Druid for Animal Empathy or Ranger for Set Traps is going to be of no real worth in either case. Plus unless LB puts them in now experience tells me traps are most frequently obtained by crafting them or recovering them. I do both of those where possible with a rogue but I'll be honest in that if I am it's to lay them with my own character. Naturally it's fine if you just want those skills to sit in the background IC and not be used but for me, while there's no reason to believe they won't head to the surface, animals might be rare in the Underdark and probably humans too. I guess her background would have to stretch to include experience of them?

I'm not sure of your concept from what you have written (Do you mean Aughra, the one with the detachable eye?) but were I you I'd consider either Bard/Sorcerer and ignore the skills and feat the divine casters also give, or follow LB's suggestions of ditching Bard.))

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