Round 3 actions, round 3, the dead
Subject Round 3 actions
If #3 is still standing when his turn comes, Salix will attack him with his scimitar again. If he's down, he'll go for #4, stepping up one square to make room for the others if he can do that and still attack.
From: Bryan
Subject New player
Thanks for the introductions, everyone :)
As for me - I'm a computer engineer by trade. I work in defense, doing 'field engineering' - basically everything from large-scale systems/network administration to programming to wrench swinging, depending on what the mission requires. It's a great job, but it makes it a little difficult to find a decent D&D game to play - PBEM seems to be a great option. I'm currently 'living' in Northern Virginia, but I don't have a residence there, and I've only been back there for two weeks in the last 12 months.
I'm filling vacation leave for some people that are in Korea. I'll be in Osan AFB for a couple of weeks, at CRC for a couple of weeks, and someplace else for a couple of weeks. It should be fun - I think they're trying to throw me a bone 'cause this Iraq tour has been pretty boring :)
I've had a chance to read through the archives. You are all very good role-players. It could take me a bit to get back into the swing of things - so feel free to correct me if I miss something, particularly with regard to 3rd ed. rules.
At any rate - great to meet everyone (so far, that is)
Mark - The Kelevan@strobelight address goes to the group, I assume?
From: Bryan
Subject Round 3 actions
Let me know when you'd like me to start in. I'm willing to sit this round out so that I don't throw a wrench into combat immediately :)
From: Josh
Subject Round 3 actions
Hop in!
From: Kevin
Subject New player
OOC: I hate characters with so much dex they can hop in when ever they want.
I forgot to give some background on Harp. He is a the child of an orc raiding party. His father attacked a human village and 9 months later his mother had Harp as a reminder of that terrible night. Difficult as a child, the only thing that seems to calm the litte child was the sound of the harp his mother would play each night, thus the name.
After about 7 years, she became unable to control him and left him with a chapter of the Order of the Silver Sword. Taken in and trained by this Order, he constantly struggles with the teachings of the Order and his inborn desire to just go beat the shit out of something. He has received some training in tactics and usually tries to have a plan in place, since his experience and training tell him that doing things unplanned leads to chaos and death. He is good friends with Ran, Salix and Surin, has come to see Ragnar as a brother (since they are both members of the same Order), has developed an unusual relationship with Kal, respects Allistair and would just like to beat the **** out of Mund.
Oh well, too much info for an introduction. Welcome aboard.
From: Mark
Subject Turn
It might very well be tonight before I get something out today.
I am off work running errands for something I am helping with in July. I have 5 meetings today, the first is in 1/2 hour.
Bryan you can jump in. Surin is yours.
From: Kevin
Subject Round 3 actions
Well, at least he had the door blocked, Harp thinks to himself. Only 2 left, but one of them had been able to get a yell out. Better end this quickly. Harp focuses his attack on the man in front of him.
OOC: Mark, if 3 is still alive when it is Harp's turn (Mund could attack him), Harp will full attack 3. If he is already down, or goes down after 1 hit, then Harp will 5 ft step to D3 and attack 4.
From: Bryan
Subject Round 3 actions
Surin, noting the seemingly one-sided fight and Harp's body blocking the only way out continues to maintain his vigilance at the far side of the room. Axe ready, he looks for anyone attempting to flee from the skilled fighters of the group...
OOC: It looks like it may take me a couple of days to get a new copy of the PHB. I'll see if I can get down to one of the other camps to find a copy sometime in the next couple of days. It shouldn't affect gameplay :)
From: Porter
Subject new player
What's the worst that could happen? You accidentally critically backstab Harp and he finally gets in contact with his inner orc and kills Surin before dying himself. Then you both get to roll up new characters. Win-win!
From: Porter
Subject New player
Let me tell you a little more about Mund.
He spent several years running with a mostly Orcish group of raiders, and thinks that orcs a pretty cool (especially because they don't go struttin' around pretending like they're real folk). It's like what Jean-Baptiste Emmanual Zorg said in The Fifth Element -- "You're warrior. Be proud." He's kinda disgusted by Harp who is an Orc trying to be something like a filthy Elf. What a shame.
Mund also distrusts clerics or "godfolk". You just can't trust 'em to do nothin' that makes sense.
Mund especially dislikes Elves, who he picked as his favored enemy for his ranger level. Think "Jewish conspiracy", but instead its "Elvish conspiracy".
From: Porter
Subject Round 3 actions
Best end this fast, before they make too much noise.
Mund takes his free 5-foot step to E4 and takes a full attack on 3.
From: Derek
Subject new player
I'm Derek, Porter's younger brother in real-life. I'm a grad student at UT Austin, and I'm married with 2 daughters aged 3 and 8 months.
I play Allistair, who is Mund's younger brother in the game (it took a lot of imagination to come up with that premise, let me tell you...). However, that is about all they have in common. Allistair hated growing up in the wildlands, and not long after his older brother left home and became a bandit, Allistair went to the city and studied to become a mage. He even spent several years in the elven homeland studying magic, and he does not share Mund's views on elves in the slightest.
When Mund and Allistair joined the party they actually hadn't seen each other for almost a decade. Even so, they seem to get along OK, but Allistair purposely avoids the subject of elves around him.
From: Porter
Subject new player
Mund's respect of Alley (Allistair) has grown. Alley still is a weakling, but he's a tought sunofagun (he's a wizard with an 18 constitution), and he can really kick butt with that magicking of his.
From: Randy
Subject New player
Ranthir, if a route is open to him, will move to assist with dispatching the last of the guards.
OOC:
I'm Randy. I am the only Canadian in the group. I live in Edmonton, Alberta and am a computer programmer. I am just shy of 30 and have been married for 9 1/2 years. We have 2 kids, a daughter who is 8 and a son who is 4.
I've been playing in various role playing games since I was in elementary school. The focus was always more on the story than the rules for me and I don't really pay much attention at all to the rules even now. I role play and let Mark decide what works and what doesn't.
I know some of these guys from Hatrack and Sakeriver (and Galactic Cactus).
From: Josh
Subject New player
Ahaha, I had no idea Mund had a ranger level or that his favored enemy was elves. Badass.
From: Mark
Subject new player
He only took it after he met Kal. :)
Off in a bit for an afternoon of meetings.
From: Porter
Subject New player
Yeah, but I really should have had him take it earlier.
From: Josh
Subject New player
I'm Josh, and I'm 23 years old. I'm pretty sure I'm the youngin' of the group. I'm live in new jersey and work at UPS.
I've been playing with this group for about 2 years now. I play Kal who's a Bladesinger (think ranger with arcane spells). He's quick and agile, and fights exclusively with his rapier; he'd refuse to use any other weapon on essentially religious grounds. He's a pretty headstrong bastard, but he's calmed down lately. He was a bit of an elven nationalist, and still is to some extent. But he's discovering that outside of the elven Nations, orcs can be good and elves can be evil. That goodness isn't a set of rules, but rather a way of life.
His first day in the party he accused Harp of trying to subvert the noble goals of the party and get all the elves in it killed. This went on for a long while, but eventually Harp and Kal came to... appreciate each other. Kal doesn't doubt Harp's goodness (very much) anymore. He trusts him more than most of the elves in the group.
Although Kal doesn't cast divine spells, he believes that his arcane spells are a gift from the Gods and he is deeply religious. Because of this Kal's a big fan of Ragnar and, unbeknownst to Ragnar, Kal has a great deal of respect for the dwarf's opinions.
He's more ambivalent with the rest of the party. Him and Salix unexpectedly don't get along, Kal figures it's probably due to Salix's time spent with the morally independable druids. He hasn't given up hope that Salix will embrace his elven heritage, but Kal's not holding his breath.
He has respect for Allistar, but hasn't developed much of a relationship with him. He's wary of similiarities to Mund, but Allistar hasn't done anything to support those fears. He's appreciative of Allistar's magical capabilities.
Kal just doesn't like Mund. He sees Mund as sort of childish, but certainly very dangerous. He appreciates his strong arm, but wishes Mund wasn't so reckless or hateful.
Kal has no problems with Ran, but has always gotten the impression that Ran disaproves of Kal. Probably the foolish human blood in him, causing him all sorts of confusion. Maybe has he ages the Human blood will die off and he'll embrace his elven nature.
And that brings us to Surin, who's relationship is impossible to describe. When Jake was playing him, Kal and Surin were developing a very close friendship, but then someone else took over and Surin cooled to Kal. Since then there hasn't been much going on between them, Kal likes the halfling. He's as good as elf in Kal's mind.
From: Josh
Subject New player
Hahahah. That's awesome. Glad to inspire the love.
From: Josh
Subject Round 3 actions
Kal will move to e4 and attack 3. If he's dead he'll try to attack 4, but won't waste any magic.
From: Karl
Subject Round 3 actions
I agree about story over game mechanics. I mean, I see how they are necessary, and the chance element makes the battles exciting, but it's the role playing I like best. I'd even consider DMing a game sometime, if I could find someone else to handle all the dice rolling and stuff, LOL. (Well, that and the fact that I'm soon to be very low on free time for the next several years.)
From: Josh
Subject Round 3 actions
That's my favorite part about PBEM. It gives you time to really immerse yourself in your character. All the live games I've played quickly became bicker-fests between players in character. This game everyone seems to try to play their character, and I really dig that. The game mechanics do their thing, but I like how they're a reduced to a secondary or even tertiary role, rather than the game being about exploiting them.
And our DM is pretty awesome, which helps. Too bad he seems to think his job and family are more important than this.
From: Karl
Subject new player
I really like Josh's character by character relationship write up, so I'm going to do it too:
Salix is a Wealdward (literally "guardian of the groves"), which is a lower-level distinction in his circle of Druids. He's now one of the more experienced of his class and will likely become a "Brother" of some sort at his next leveling. He's been away from the Great North Woods on an ongoing assignment under the direction of Stormfather Acer (whom we are currently trying to rescue, coincidentally) for over two years now. The Stormfather sent him away under the direct care of the ranger Quarion, who has directed his doings during this time. It was Quarion who assembled the party that came into being for Mark's game.
Salix was wary of Harp at first. He had little experience with Orcs and what he knew about them he didn't like. Harp has shown Salix that not only can Orc-ish ways be tempered, but that there are definite strengths that come from Orcish blood. He respects Harp probably more than anyone else in the group because he personifies the duality of nature and struggles to keep them in balance, even if he doesn't view himself that way.
Salix comes as close to hate for Kal as for anyone he could stand to be in a group with, though this is becoming tempered over time. Kal's entry into the party coincided with the death of another party member, and immediately Kal began to make waves and sow discord in what had previously been a pretty cohesive group. Salix seen Kal as blinding following his narrow interpretation of his religion to the point of being almost unable to function as part of a team. In Salix's eyes, Kal is only with them now as punishment meted out by Kal's own superiors, which punishment Salix sees as further justification of his view of Kal as an asocial, holier-than-thou bigot. That said, Salix respects Kal's skill as a fighter, having proven many times he can hold his own in battle. He is slowly seeing parts of Kal that he can at least live with.
Salix likes Allistair (Ally), but mildly disapproves of arcane magic. To Salix, "magic" is another force of nature that is properly accessed only through divine petition. Arcane usage is a twisting of this natural power, but he sees this more as a sin of ignorance than blasphemy. It's sort of like diverting a river or plowing up a prairie for planting - something the druids dislike, but tolerate to a certain extent in the unenlightened.
Salix likes Mund a lot. He thinks of him almost as a wild animal since he lives so close to his instincts and basic nature. Like a wild animal, though, he thinks Mund can be unpredictable and dangerous. Salix has been keeping a close eye on him, but likes what he sees, for the most part. Mund's gruffness and lack of social graces don't even register on Salix. After all, bears don't care for etiquette and some of his best friends are bears.
Salix likes Ran and would have thought they'd be closer, both being half-elves, but he's baffled by Ran's near hatred of his own human half. For Salix's own part, the best thing for the elves is to have their blood tempered with human blood, (and vice-versa, actually). Salix was raised among the mainly human and half-elf druids of the Great North Woods and sees the blending of the races as the best of both worlds. He thinks pure-blood elves are a bit too full of themselves, and his interactions with Kal have only confirmed that feeling.
Salix's relationship with Ragnar has been only casual, for the most part. He respects Ragnar as a person and skilled member of the party, but hasn't had a lot of opportunity to get close to him.
Surin, on the other hand, is the first person in this party Salix met up with. They spent a couple of weeks together traveling in the woods before meeting the rest of the party and they bonded a bit. Again, back when Jake was playing, there was a lot more interaction between Salix and Surin, and that has waxed and waned as the person playing him has changed.
From: Porter
Subject new player
While I'm waiting for my code to download from the server, I'll do the same.
Mund respects Harp as a warrior, and appreciates what his healing magicks bring to the group, but think its sad how Harp denies his true nature. In most ways, Mund is more of an orc than Harp is. *shakes head* They've butted heads quite a bit in the past, but nothing major.
In Mund's mind, Kal has confirmed all the bad things he's ever been taught about elves. It's even come to blows more than once, but nothing beyond subdual damage so far. If an oracle told Mund that one of them would end up killing the other, Mund wouldn't be surprised.
BTW, my concept for the racist Mund actually came about as a response to the racist Kal I was reading about in the archives. When Kal wanted to slaughter an entire villiage of women and children because of their race, I knew I wanted to create a character that would fight against that. And it's tons of fun having a bigoted racists complain about somebody else's bigoted racism, instead of having a goody-goody do so.
Mund really likes Salix (one of his best friends is elvish, heh). They have similar interests and tastes, and for a godfolk, Salix is remarkably laid back. There has been some tension recently when Kevin took over Salix for a while. I don't know how that will play out now that Karl is back in control of Salix. When they get a chance, Mund and Salix like wrassle with Salix in bear form. When enraged, Mund can easily take Salix, and when not enraged, Salix can take Mund, but fun is had by all.
Mund isn't close to Ran, which isn't surprising since he's an elf, but there hasn't been much direct conflict. Mud almost popped him one earlier in this adventure when Ran charged into the room by himself, but he restrained himself. Yes, it's true -- Mund occasionally refrains from causing problems.
Mund gets along well with Surin as well. There hasn't been a lot of interaction between Surin and anybody lately, but Mund enjoys playing (and usually losing) games of skill with him.
Mund's respect for his brother Alley has grown as he's gotten to know him again. While magicking ain't no proper profession for a tribesman, it sure comes in handy some time. Imagine what the bear clan could accomplish with Mund and Alley leading them to victory! Even though Alley doesn't really need it with his hoss 18 con, Mund is protective of his brother when combat breaks out.
Mund respects Ragnar as dependable and reliable, even if he is a dwarf, and a godfolk at that.
From: Mark
Subject Round 3
Round 3
Mund (23),Harp (22), Salix (21), Guards (13), Surin (12), Ranthir (12), Ragnar (12),Kal (11), Ally (7).
Mund looks around. The elf had killed the one in the middle and the orc was blocking the door. Good for him. However that danged druid had hopped up on one of the beds and was tryin to act like he was Mund. Knowin his luck, the blamed fool would get a sword through his belly. Well no sense in him having all the fun. Taking a step besides Harp, Mund swings his ax at the closest guard (3) (AC18,8+11=19, hit, damage 10). The icy blade of the ax shatters the man's shield and crashes into his arm, almost cutting it off. The guard screams in agony, drops his sword and falls to the ground, moaning in pain. "That's how you do it" Mund tells Harp.
Harp almost snarls at Mund, his blood rushing in his veins. "Oh" he says "you mean like this?" and turns back to the remaining guard (4). With a flash of steel, Harp steps forward and presses the attack. His first blow (AC18, 18+12=30, hit, damage 9) crashes down on the man's shoulder. The guard is able to get his shield up in time to block the second attack (AC18, 2+7=9, miss).
Salix starts to move to attack and looses his balance on the bedding in the bunk bed (DEX check, DC10, 6+2=8, fail). He grabs a hold of the bracing to keep from falling over.
The last guard, fear in his eyes swings wildly at Harp (AC21, 2+6=8, miss). The half orc deflects the feeble attack disdainfully. As the others watch, Harp cuts the man down (AC18, 14+12=26, hit, damage 15). The 1/2 orc turns back to the others "Is that all? Anyone hurt bad?"
OODM: End of fight. I did round 4 since Harp was the only one who could really get to the last guard. Actions?
From: Karl
Subject Listening
Salix motions for quiet. "Listen. See if they have alerted anyone."
If there is no sound of approach or alarm, Salix will direct Surin to check the doors carefully for traps and see what's beyond them as before, starting with the one on the west wall.
From: Kevin
Subject Listening
While they are doing that, Harp will lift the bodies onto the bunks, not trying to be neat, but trying to clear the center of the room. He will ask Kal to help search the bodies for anything useful (vials with green liquids, etc). We do not care about the armor, but any trinkets they may have we might want to keep.
From: Bryan
Subject Listening
As Salix motions for quiet, Surin tenses, listening for any call of alarm brought on by the clamorous fight. Hearing nothing, he moves towards the western door, looking and listening for anything out of the ordinary.
As he passes Harp, he quietly says "Good thinking, blocking that doorway".
OOC: We might want to cover the guards with the (not too bloodstained?) bedding. It could delay anyone finding the bodies for a little bit longer.
From: Porter
Subject Dead
It looks like #3 isn't dead, and Mund still has an attack left in round three from his full attack. Can we go ahead have Mund dispatch him in round three?
From: Mark
Subject Dead
Well define dead.
Most of them are not at -10 HP yet but they are below 0 and so are dying. since no one has said that they will use a healing spell or the heal skill to stabablize them you can either finish them off with a coup de grace or just let them bleed to death.
From: Porter
Subject Dead
OK, you said he went down moaning in pain, so I thought he wasn't incapacitated yet.. I didn't want to give him the opportunity to yell out anymore, but if he's incapacitated and can't do anything, no retcon is needed.
From: Mark
Subject Dead
Poetic license. :) He is dying as we speak. Less than a minute to live. You can still have Mund end his pain and suffering. The sounds he is making will not alert anyone outside the room and he will likely be dead before the party leaves the room.
From: Porter
Subject Dead
Nah. Mund has no objection to his pain and suffering continuing, as long as it doesn't hurt him.
BTW, I've never been able to nail down Mund's alignment. What do y'all think it should be?