Tide of Shadows (D&D)

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:28 am

Damn you lot for playing while I was at work.

I was about to start trying a whole bunch of things that would probably fail, but I guess I get to hold onto my spells.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:25 am

:blinkblink:

Wow.. that was fast.

Now, someone give the baby dragon a dream so he can get his scores back

He might even be well enough to RP

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:19 pm

It was honestly really weird how things worked out. I got home and I was just going to post a few things but rhoenix and Comrade Tortoise were both on so I sort of just went along with it because we were all posting really quickly and everyone had picked up the way things worked really fast as well.

Also, I had quite the evil laugh when Comrade Tortoise made the connection to what had happened in the village, what he and rhoenix were fighting, and the name of the campaign.

You'll have to figure out what exactly happened to use it on Volemack however. And it will be harder.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 1:34 pm

Dreamscapes....

Oh f*** me running, Nightmare Lands...

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 1:42 pm

The statue has some basic functions that you can use effectively... and it has some other functions you can explore but they have some major problems with using them safely as you're going outside the design specifications.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:50 pm

Well, the Wisdom check I rolled earlier was to connect the god of dreams to nightmares; first I was going to try remove fear, and dispel magic if that had no effect.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:54 pm

It wouldn't have worked as it wasn't a fear effect and the magic was too subtle for dispel magic to work on, and your wisdom check would have figured out that if the sleep was that supernaturally deep then you would have no idea if they were having nightmares or pleasant erotic dreams, and also that severing the connection might have... unpleasant side effects as their minds not have been in their bodies at the time.

Also, as per Ophidian's explanation, you now know why your consecrate spell didn't work and the altar cracked. The act of causing a priest of St. Cuthbert to commit suicide and become and allip and then subsequently slaughtering the entire congregation and turning them into undead would be enough to 'naturally' desecrate the place and ruin the altar from the evil involved.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 10:26 am

Okay. So, more feats for boosting turning. Check.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:56 pm

Okay, so can we come to a decision on where you guys want to go? The options are now:

1) Continue on to halfling caravan, learn more about the threat if possible.
Pros: More knowledge will lend credence to your claims that there is an army of shadows out there slaughtering small, isolated villages than 'we figured it out in a dream induced by a freaky artefact we found down a well that we don't know anything about other than it might be connected to a god we don't know anything about'
Cons: It will add time to getting in contact with the authorities, giving more time to the enemy to gather strength

2) Return to Ashvale and start rallying support
Pros: Hopefully you can get support and nip this problem in the bud before it goes out of control
Cons: Convincing people on the nature of the threat may be difficult without corroborating evidence, especially since you burned the bodies

3) Surprise the DM with lateral thinking

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:25 pm

I say caravan....

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:34 pm

Quite honestly, this is a tough one.

Academia Nut wrote:1) Continue on to halfling caravan, learn more about the threat if possible.
Pros: More knowledge will lend credence to your claims that there is an army of shadows out there slaughtering small, isolated villages than 'we figured it out in a dream induced by a freaky artefact we found down a well that we don't know anything about other than it might be connected to a god we don't know anything about'
Cons: It will add time to getting in contact with the authorities, giving more time to the enemy to gather strength

This I would be against, as though it would likely be quite eventful, it would also limit the knowledge of what's going on - even if the PC's are in a position to do something, those in power in the area will not be. Having both enemies of the ones in power as well as this shadow army would not be a fun two-fronted war to fight.

With that said, it would help in getting proper evidence - what concerns me is that due to the info we as PC's have so far, there might not be enough time for this.

Academia Nut wrote:2) Return to Ashvale and start rallying support
Pros: Hopefully you can get support and nip this problem in the bud before it goes out of control
Cons: Convincing people on the nature of the threat may be difficult without corroborating evidence, especially since you burned the bodies

This was my first option, but it's not a perfect one, either. If we start shouting "the shadows are coming" now without any evidence, we'd hurt the cause we're trying to support more effectively than said shadow army could, especially if they have a halfway-intelligent leader, as they appear to.

On the other hand, there might not be enough time to go for #1 for purposes of collecting enough evidence. Besides, we have to get paid.

So, though I'll be racking my brain thinking of a good third choice, Fehl (and I) will opt for #2.

Charon · Post by **Charon** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:30 pm

Not sure how lateral it is. But I always enjoy surprising the GM with lateral thinking.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:06 am

Right then, so are you all heading back to Ashvale and then meeting up with the halflings, or just some of you? If just some then I can run the party split for some time, otherwise tell me where you want to go so I can progress time forward.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:14 am

I'm waiting to see what they think.

However... sending the SilverStars seperate will let Nitram have more rest.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:58 am

You do know that Fehl's dream ended up curing him of all of his wisdom drain, right?

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:08 am

You suggest leaving the baby dragon behind, holding the statue?

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:14 am

I'm suggesting that if you can figure out how it works you might be able to cure Volemack. The sequence of events is that Fehl, who was suffering from mental ability drain, touched the statue and then becomes sleepy. Then, he falls into an unnaturally deep sleep where he ends up fighting four creatures and when he wakes up his mind is clear and whole once more. That Ophidian ended up in the dream is really just a mistake because he used a spell that tapped into Fehl's mind and thus the dream. You don't necessarily have to leave him behind, although he can catch up to you quite quickly if he flies and its not like he would be able to convince anyone of anything if he got ahead of you, so the rate determining step is your ability to get back to Ashvale on horse, which is something like four times slower than his flying speed, if I remember correctly.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:55 am

Sounds good... if Nit agrees

Maybe he'll be online later.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:10 pm

Incidentally I'm now going to need Volemack's top three biggest, most primal fears. The stuff that terrifies him down to the core of his draconic being so I can start shaping the dream realm. These can be abstract ideas like loneliness or silence or whatever, but they need to be things that really, truly scare Volemack. If they scare you as the player as well, then that's probably a bonus, but that isn't necessary.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:12 pm

This is exactly why Fehl's rather attached to the statue now, by the way. He thinks it is the stuff from which awesome is made.

Where and how else can you cure what ails you by killing some of your worst fears? That would be his view.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:13 pm

One of his fears? Heh.. I can tell you one: Being the runt. Too small, too weak, to ever be a Dragon like his Mother and Father. Take it to the extreme, and it's too small and weak to ever be a Dragon at all.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:17 pm

AN, let me know if I can roll Spellcraft or Knowledge: Arcana checks again to try getting a better feel for the items, since I know CT's rolls will greatly exceed Fehl's once he rolls.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:22 pm

Hmmm... you can both make new rolls now that you've had more contact with the object, but you're going to need really good rolls to get much out of it that you don't already know. Over 25 at the minimum. I suppose CT could also throw in a Knowledge: Religion check too.

So far though, you only know one semi-reliable method of entering the dream state, and that is to cast detect thoughts while someone else is under the influence of the statue.

EDIT: D'oh. But yeah, you can make your checks on the items you found as well. If I remember correctly you already know that the swords are nonmagical.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 4:29 pm

these are for the statue

Spellcraft

arcana

religion

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 4:35 pm

Alright, here we go - and no, I had forgotten that the swords were non-magical.

In any case:

Spellcraft check:
Knowledge: Arcana check:

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Tide of Shadows (D&D)

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