[DnD] D&D Boot Camp - Discussion Thread

ZERG WHEN YOU EXPLAIN HOW SOMEBODY DIED IN A PARTY WITH THREE HEALERS IT DOES NOT FILL PLAYERS WITH CONFIDENCE

ALSO IT MAKES LURKER CAMPAIGN TO GET YOU BANNED PROBABLY

There's nowhere I can't reach.

DON'T WORRY FOLKS! PANG IS AN EXPERIENCED PC-KILLING DM WHO CACKLES MANIACALLY WHILE THROWING NASTY SWARMS WITH DAMAGING AURAS AT PLAYER CHARACTERS!

That's why he was able to kill someone in a team with two full-time healers and a part-time healer!

Or maybe they weren't paying too much attention. But I think it's his fault, not theirs!

Hawkeye is a nice guy! Nothing to worry about! He'll be a nice sergeant when you're at D&D Boot Camp, throwing doable challenges until you gain enough confidence to face... the PANG!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Slowly but surely things are coming together. I haven't had a lot of time to work on this, between homework and Kirby's Epic Yarn, but we're about halfway there. I have everyone's character just about ready (Shorty just needs to name hers) and all of the transferring to the internet is coming along fairly smoothly. I want to get this game started ASAP, but it's looking like it's probably going to take until at least Saturday or Sunday. Sorry about the delay.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Everyone's characters are ready! A game thread should be going up soon.


Rychord - Daituk Orjerbs (Githzerai Avenger)
---- Powers

Shorty - Luciel (Elf Cleric)
---- Powers

Philia - Thia (Shadar-kai Assassin)
---- Powers

Dark Nation - Zeno Paradosso (Human Monk/Sorcerer)
---- Powers

Stop Sign - Truckbus Grimtooth (Dwarf Warden)
---- Powers

Let me know if anything doesn't look quite right. Also, i couldn't find any pictures i liked for Stop Sign and Shorty's characters, so the ones i'm using now are the ones which came with the CB. If you guys want different pics, send me one you like.

EDIT: It begins! Please remember to check the thread regularly, and tell us if you can't be around for a while so that we can arrange for a substitute so that the game doesn't shudder to a halt. I'm not going to kick you out via the three strike rule like Pang does, but interesting things may start happening to your character if you aren't paying attention.

I was speaking idiomatically.

It turns out nothing makes one want to read a thread more than not being allowed to. I feel like a little kid.

Also, i can still see the first bit of the post. May want to fix that.

And can still see the thread entirely if i'm not logged in. You guys suck at secrecy.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

They've already start an epic conversation about how you've got cooties and a dumpy ass. Just an FYI!

Most amazing jew boots

I'm not really too sure if that is possible. I used up the max amount of characters for the thread title, so unless it can be modified to add more text, I guess we'll just have to write nonsense for the first few words.

So, Philia or Skills, is it actually possible to extend a thread title beyond the set limit? (I figure if it is possible Skills would be the one to know)

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

It turns out nothing makes one want to read a thread more than not being allowed to. I feel like a little kid.

Also, i can still see the first bit of the post. May want to fix that.

And can still see the thread entirely if i'm not logged in. You guys suck at secrecy.

Sigh.

I have other ways of doing it, but I figured a threadban would be all I would need since you seemed like an honourable guy.

But if you want to be a twat about it and pretend to be clever, go right ahead. I'll fix the rest of it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I wouldn't look in the thread once things got rolling, but it's really more the principle of the thing. Every time someone propped a post in there i would feel like i had to look at it. Just removing temptations.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

You have that little self control?

I just hid the thing from guests, too. I am not going to bother making the adjustments so you can't see any of the props in it though. Temptations my ass.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I've half a mind to start propping every single post in the thread.

But I won't. Since, you know, Hawk's being a real cool guy by running this for us. I actually bought the DM's guide a while back and read through it a good bit, and it seems like an awful lot of work.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

It's more than i initially expected, but finding good materials made things a lot easier. I found a maptools campaign that was completely set up already - all i really need to do in that regard is throw you guys on the board and go. It's mostly setup and writing - i foresee the battles being the easy part (what with you guys doing all the rolling and all i do is control the enemies and count HP). The necessary creativity is probably going to be what gets me.

Don't worry about doing anything else Skills, that's enough. Thanks a lot.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Just a correction, Hawkeye, you listed Thorn Strike as both an at-will and encounter power on my character sheet on OP. Thorn Strike is an at-will power - Earth Spikes is the encounter power, and is missing from the sheet. Thanks!

EDIT:

Also, would it be okay if I switched my alignment to Neutral Good? I had another concept for Truckbus at first, but now that I have changed it, I think Lawful Good doesn't quite fit his character.

How ya doing, buddy?

In general, it doesn't matter much. Nobody is going to be paying attention to your alignment except for you.

I don't think we're so silly around here as to enforce roleplaying modes, although it could potentially be hilarious.

FELIPE NO

I still want to say that Truckbus is such an awesome random name. Has a nice ring to it!

EDIT: Shorty just confirmed with me that she's fine with me covering for her if needed. This is something we should get around to talking about guys. I don't know about you guys, but I don't mind covering for Shorty. I don't think I'd be incapacitated that long anyway to warrant anyone to worry about me too much.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Zeph: Cool, gotcha.

Philia: You can thank Rychord for that

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Hawkeye, when you say kobold minions, you mean minions in the sense that they only have 1 HP, right?

Also, stupid question: my token's the bald bearded dude at L4, right? I just want to be sure.

Most amazing jew boots

yes and yes. I noticed that you found a different picture, but couldn't get it from OP. send it to me or point me to where you found it and i'll fix the token to be correct.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Sorry, it was me that put that picture on OP, blank portrait spaces just bug me and it seemed an appropriately Truckbus sort of dwarf.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Extremely obvious question here, but when you said: "Thia 9, Daituk 9, Zeno 5, Truckbus 3, Luciel 2, Kobold Minions 9, Kobold Slinger 9, Kobold Dragonshields 9" at the end of that round Hawk, those numbers are our HP? Because I noticed you said Koblods have 1HP but I only see 8 monsters total.

Okay basically, can you explain the battle layout and all that jazz?

I was speaking idiomatically.

I think that token suits Truckbus just fine

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Dark Nation

Extremely obvious question here, but when you said: "Thia 9, Daituk 9, Zeno 5, Truckbus 3, Luciel 2, Kobold Minions 9, Kobold Slinger 9, Kobold Dragonshields 9" at the end of that round Hawk, those numbers are our HP? Because I noticed you said Koblods have 1HP but I only see 8 monsters total.

Okay basically, can you explain the battle layout and all that jazz?

The numbers represent the combat initiative of each character. You'll see in Hawk's post that he rolled initative for everyone, including the monsters. Monsters of a given type will all take their turn at the same time, and all the kobold groups were lucky enough to roll higher initiative than anyone in our group, so they got to go first.

Basically, the numbers are just used for turn order and to keep track of combat rounds. When we get back to the Kobolds, we'll know that everyone has had their turn once, and the second round of combat will begin.

FELIPE NO

Right, i guess i forgot to really explain anything.

The numbers next to your names are your initiative numbers - these decide the order in which people take their turns. Because all of you initiative numbers happened to land together, you can all go generally whenever you want - however keep in mind that everything resolves in the initiative order, so if you try to do things out of turn you may end up attacking enemies that are already dead (i which case i would let you change your turn, but still).

Each turn you can do three things - A Standard action, a Move Action, and a Minor action. A Standard action usually involves you using a power to attack, using an item, or using your Second Wind. A move action is just what it sounds like. Examples would be moving your speed or shifting one square (shifting means enemies won't be able to attack you if you move away). Minor actions are basic things like pulling something out of your bag, drawing or stowing a weapon, etc.

These actions can be rearranged. The hierarchy is as follows:

Standard => Move => Minor

Meaning you can trade your standard action for either a Move or a Minor, and you can trade your Move action for a minor if you wish. You can't go the other way, however.

For your first turns, try attacking using your At-will or Encounter powers to hit the baddies. I haven't gotten around to putting your to-hit numbers with each ability on OP, so for now you'll have to calculate them yourself if you feel so inclined. (this is ok because it means that you will know where the numbers come from)

Example:

Let's say Thia wants to use her Shadow Storm power. The attack is Dexterity vs. AC. Thus, she would take her Dexterity modifier, +5, and add it to her roll. She also gets +3 for her proficiency with rapiers. Half her level is currently 0, and she doesn't have any magic weapons or anything of the like. So Thia would make an attack at +8 vs. AC. This means rolling a d20 and adding 8 to the result. Say she rolls a 7, making the total 15. This would be a hit if she was attacking either the slinger (AC13) or one of the minions (AC15 - a tie is a hit), but would be a miss against one of the dragonshields (AC18). She would then figure out the damage as explained.


Also, you should be warned that if you try to leave a square next to one of the enemies by moving, they'll get a free shot at you. This is called an opportunity attack. If you shift, then there is no OA, but you only get to move one square, and you can't move into difficult terrain (the bushes)


That should hopefully be enough to get you through your first turn. Most of your characters also have certain abilities that make them special - feel free to ask if you have any other questions. After all, that's why we're here, right?



Note: If you'd rather i do your rolls for you for the first while, that's cool too. Just try to follow along and keep up as best you can.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Adding to the opportunity attack explanation:

• If you use an attack that has area or ranged keyword while enemies are beside you, they can each take a swipe at you with an opportunity attack.
• If ever the enemy gets sloppy enough, you can do this to them too (it's called Melee Basic Attack in your sheet)
• This is an extra "out of turn" immediate action, independent of your standard-move-minor action allocation per round

Hawk is keeping track of your HP in Obsidian Portal.
GFF | Characters | Obsidian Portal

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm going to go ahead and play my turn before anyone else, just to break the ice. Hop you don't mind Philia!

I'll also post back here with a rundown of my post, just to give you guys an idea of what it all means.

Additional Spam:
So, here is my turn in detail for you guys. I've taken out the flavor text for ease of reading.

Originally Posted by Rychord

Oath of Enmity on Dragonshield to the North.

Okay, so this is my first action, and it is a minor action. It allows me to apply a mark on an enemy, which grants me advantages against it in combat. The main draw of this particular mark is that I can roll twice to determine if I hit this monster when I use an attack power.

Which brings us to:

Quote:

Overwhelming Strike on the same one

This is my standard action for this turn. All three rolls in my post where done in relation to this action. I used d20 for the first two to determine whether or not my attack hit. Remember that my mark allows me to roll twice against the monster. Normally, we would only roll once to determine if an attack hits.

The attack specifies [Wisdom vs. AC] and the Kobold Dragonshield, as we can see from Hawkeye's post, has 18 AC, which means that the total of my roll plus applicable bonuses will determine if I hit or not, and it has to total 18 or more to hit.


My first roll was a 7.

My bonuses are the following:

This attack uses my wisdom modifier to determine my ability bonus. So my wisdom modifier [+4] is added to the roll.

I am proficient with the weapon I am using, the fullblade, so I gain a [+3] proficiency bonus to my roll.

Let's tally that up:

7 [roll] +4 [wisdom] +3 [fullblade] = 14
14 < 18 [Dragonshield AC]
That's a miss.


My second roll was 14 so:

14 + 4 + 3 = 21
21 > 18
That's a hit!

Now that we've determined that my attack hit, we need to figure out how much damage was inflicted.

Quote:

8 + 6 = 14 damage to the Dragonshield

My third roll was done using a d12, since that is what the damage class is for my full blade. My roll plus all applicable bonuses will determine the amount of damage I inflicted.

The power description for Overwhelming Strike says that my wisdom modifier [+4] is applied as bonus damage.

My character has the Githzerai Blade Master feat. This grants me a [+2] feat bonus to attacks that use my fullblade.

So the tally is:
8 [roll] + 4 [wisdom] + 2 [feat] = 14 damage to Kobold Dragonshield!

Quote:

Shift to M3 while sliding the Dragonshield into my space

This last part of my post is part of my Overwhelming Strike, since it allows me to slide the target into my space while shifting one space upon a successful hit.

Notice that I did not use a move action this turn. I chose to do this because the shift allowed me to get into a more advantageous position, so I didn't feel the need to move. I could have used a second minor action instead if I so wished, but I chose not to.

So, there you have it, my first turn is now over. If you guys need further explanations on my post, don't hesitate to ask!



Additional edit: I've also given and example by my turn of the importance of reading your powers correctly. I'll leave this summary up just for pedagogical purposes.

There's nowhere I can't reach.