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cfalcon
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Post subject: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 8:43 pm |
Master of the West Wind |
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:10 am Posts: 1547 Location: BRB giving magic item to lich 1sec
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What had started as a lovely day in Balthras, Dulal, had become a very interesting day. The illusorily wide restarant had led to a walk around Balthras to find the rest of the party, and then, as they sat discussing under a clock tower ruined by the Voriphan invasion, Rigby had suddenly started casting some manner of repair spell. Finding it to be effective on the individual parts, the team had pulled together, some moving a few pieces, other coordinating, and the mending spell doing the bulk of the labor that would otherwise have cost craftsmen days.
Alenka new nothing about repairing clock towers, but somehow she had been able to help repair this one.
This is probably why most buildings are in such good repair in Emerald. she realized.
Presumably, the lower numbers of magic-users- and their preoccupation with ANTI-magic- left labor more dear?
The party discussed where to go next. Caleb had mentioned that they could go to Monshiro, where Rami Tekudo had promised a nice ceremony, and after resting the rest of the day, they teleported to there in the morning.
The evening sky was a strange red upon their arrival. A short trip to Rami's house, and the group found that instead of a nice thankful ceremony, he had knowlege of a lost patrol near the Shadowlands, a couple days outside of Firehold. With no sighted Umbrans, the Imperial house was quietly mobilizing a defense force- Zeugeria would be safe, but what of the dwarves? Surmising that the whatever did it was either a small force or a lone monster, Rami had reasoned that the same group of heroes might be able to help.
After teleporting to the outskirts of Firehold, Morgrim lead his friends through the snowy paths and into the mountain. The guards were surprised and pleased to see him. With word having been recieved from the Zeugerians, the dwarves were very much on alert, but they lacked a large number of individually powerful heroes to defend them. The few that were available kept to themselves and set up a perimeter deep inside. The party decided on a likely entrance, and chose to guard that with the dwarven guards.
What would Umbrans want? A cleric of Stenden was a bad enough liar, and the answer was revealed to be an "Earthen Core"- a name given to a medium sized rock, heavily enchanted with divine magic. The core was a part of a key that could be used to grant access to, or even free, The Nameless One. It had been discovered in wreckage from the war, and brought to the temple of Stenden for safe keeping, but clearly unearthing it had allowed the Umbrans to detect it.
So they waited, and eventually, the battle was joined. Simply gazing at the summoned demons Ventrashaan, the summoner, had brought with him was enough to paralyze Rigby, but he had wisely taken cover before the battle. The sorcerers blasted open the gates with sonic balls, according to plan.
Seeing powerful creatures, one greedily decided to cast Magic Jar, and to attempt to possess his enemies. He bounced off quite a few steadfast PC minds, and only randomly possessed his own ally near the end. That ally had been sent to feeblemind land almost immediately. Caleb, Alenka, and Keichi made short work of the shadow-scaled demons, with Ash taking a more defensive stance than normal, and as such being immune to the focussed efforts that have been an issue for him before.
Rigby, using True Strike, landed a sleep arrow on Ventrashaan- at which point he was whisked back to Umbra. The demons, without their mastery, considered their task complete, and, having threatened the PCs a bit (it's always good to yell at mortals, and to bite them), left as well.
King Grendishm wasted no time in assigning the core to the care of Morgrim and his powerful companions. Morgrim was of the opinion (after everyone had talked with the stone, which had a limited amount of sentience) that the stone should be returned to Stenden, in the Earth Source, the conceptual source for the idea of Earth. Lacking a tuning fork for that plane, King Grendishm granted access to the Vault- a powerful and well guarded place, though not one entirely proof against scrying, and as such, not a place to put items being actively sought. It took the party several days to find it, but an ancient Tuning Fork Of Earth was eventually located.
During this time, a horrible malady suddenly befell Morgrim. Ventrashaan appeared to him in his dreams, told him of his coming madness, and flicked a mote of... something horrible at him. This void immediately consumed Morgrim's mind. While Ash was able to heal it, the source of the madness remained, constantly distracting, always offering something, somewhere, an echo of an idea or even a direct vision- and in combat, such moments could cost Morgrim his life.
One Plane Shift later, and the party found themselves happily teleporting around the Earth Source, seeking a "Maw"- a section of the plane that constantly devoured other areas of the plane, chewing them up so that the could appear as different minerals later. Walking through the massive rows of teeth, the party moved to the point that the ground was actively being slowly chewed through.
Stenden mentally whispered two of the party- first Rigby, who actually threw the core into the pit, with a bit of surprise, and second Morgrim, who attempted to communicate with his god, successfully, but never thought to pray...
With the core safely under Stenden's gaze, the party went back to Caligo. Upon arriving in Emerald, the group found the wizards in disarray. Rober Smith stuttered out the problem: Balak Swenv, necromancer from the Wizard Council, has been thrown out of the order! His experimentation with a forbidden area of Trap the Soul ventured into Soul Destruction- forbidden by the order. He was shocked and dismayed at this loss, and the entire tower was sad at the turn of events. Rober stutters that they ahev already changed all the arcane locks and recognitions. Or else he could gain access to the vault, and the prison!
While Rigby was searching for stuff to throw at the DM, Lithonian cast divination to figure out exactly how to remove this strange blight upon Morgrim's mind, and recieved this in answer: A powerful telepath visiting Monshiro could mask the perception of the void permanently, as long as Morgrim remains mortal. That is the only answer you will find on Caligo.
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"Orthe Melthrayn Fiztobenn. Caligo's most powerful Mindbending Psychic Chiurgeon. Problems of the upper class dissolved! > Boredom cured. > Depression extinguished! > Love rekindled! > And if nothing is wrong, the mighty Orthe can even grant you new and stimulating memories!
Friend of rulers, nobles, samurai, and generals from over the world!, Orthe comes with the highest of recommendations, and has parked his Airship here to serve Monshiro's greatest!"
Keichi read the flyer to his friends. "This is most certainly the telepath that Latukefu spoke to Ash of."
"He certainly knows how to promote himself" Alenka commented.
The party walked to the outskirts of Monshiro, and saw the airship- with ostentatious baloons it was hard to miss. This, then, would solve the issue of Morgrim's madness, though it looked as if it would be pricey. The party headed up the the boarding ramp, and identified themselves...
"Three hundred thousand gold. I could credit one hundred thousand in exchange for the pixie, who would make a most excellent specimen."
Orthe's exhorbitent cost was out of reach of the PCs... for now. Orthe's morality was out of the PC's experience- he simply was only interested in dealing with the richest, and considered all else beneath him. Disgusted, they left him to his airship.
"The only answer you will find on Caligo..."
Moments after thinking about the rest of Latukefu's message, the group huddled into the green door, where their loyal Remlock ally (err... maybe?) quickly answers that he knows of a way to cure ANY insanity, but that he does not have the required items. He provides the PCs with a mixing kit, and this list of instructions:
"Gather any two or three of these items. With two, there is only a chance of success, with three it will be assured. Then add Quintessence, and mix. Two doses will be produced."
1- Bolt from the Guardian of the final machine 2- Gummydrop from Mamaseet's Tree of Life 3- Hair of a good immortal queen 4- Ashes burned by the purest light of Turallyon 5- Dust from a Xennish corpse
The group happily took the items, but was less happy about what that implied. Until such time as they could either gather the gold necessary for Orthe's help, recruit divine help, or gather the listed items, Morgrim would simply be unable to act for parts of combat. His nights would be plagued with awful dreams and visions, and this void vision would constantly act to demoralize him.
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cfalcon
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 8:46 pm |
Master of the West Wind |
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:10 am Posts: 1547 Location: BRB giving magic item to lich 1sec
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zzzzpppppp
Ventrashaam woke up, his field of vision filled with a massive canine metallic face, light magenta electricity jumping around the empty eye sockets, open mouth, and razor teeth.
"How did I get back here?" he thought, momentarily as he sat up. He was at the bottom of the steps of the Ebon citadel. Other Seekers Of The True path had stopped looking at him when the divine guardians had dosed him with a mild shock. The electric guardian-beasts moved back, convinced he was in control of his own actions, and still devoted to True Cause. The soft swirl of the blood wind dissipated, his identity assured.
He had been hit with a pixie arrow. He looked at his finely crafted mithril chain, noticed a small notch in it where the arrow had driven back the links. He checked his violet and black Tura gems- still present. Still functioning. He reached out to Antithelion- back in the Unbound. Cross with him for abandoning.
A PIXIE ARROW
Asleep. Obviously that counted as "involuntary loss of conscious control of my actions". He was angry at himself, but he couldn't help but curse the blinding gods of the light-addled lands.
Everything, EVERYTHING was handed to the light worlders. Their plants simply reached skyward to grow, no complicated placement necessary. They could grow anywhere, and none of their ludicrous races had ever needed to craft hexstone. Did they even know of the internal currents of heat, and how they changed with the seasons? And there was such a dizzying array of them. He would have forgotten all about the war party at Rim-Thul's idiotically placed and utterly indefensible vacation home, or whatever in the sun-cursed land that was supposed to be, had he not recieved word that THAT PARTICULAR group of marauders would eventually be his permanent end. Or so claimed Narso, a marginally tolerable hireling. Apparently, and OF COURSE the blinding lands would have this, Narso had located a small girl who could PREDICT THE FUTURE. Being a fool light worlder, he promptly killed her. Would he really be so dumb? Ostensibly he worked for the Voriphan High General, but wouldn't HE want access to such a creature? This Sandrellan had apparently told Narso that, as he killed her. Probably in a useless, painful fashion, cruelty for its own sake. He hated the light worlders SO MUCH. The few that didn't cling to some arcane set of principles that caused them to act violently and unpredictably when faced with any pragmatic action or higher goal, seemed consumed with power for its own sake, or simply enjoyed inflicting pain. Obviously there were times to dismember a kidnapped virgin slowly as she roasted, her blood boiling out from hundreds of ragged cuts, but those times were both on the calendar and much more importantly, served a HIGHER PURPOSE. These fools just did it because... they were damaged? He had no idea.
But mindless pain or adherance to impractical principles that would doom the world... that wasn't why he HATED them.
He stood up. Unhurt. No damage at all. Just. A. Sleep. Arrow. And of course it had worked. It always worked. The cursed light gods could actually HELP their followers. They hadn't been imprisoned since the creation of the world.
That was what he hated most about them. It didn't matter how much he prepared, how carefullly he had plumbed the depths of darkest unbound for servants who could be a mix of subtle and deadly. Losing life essence to bind them for days, and spending so very much wealth. No, that obviously did not matter. It was obvious now that when the three demons came back from their patrol with no active invisibility, that they had been sighted- or worse, fought a group of shadow-guards. Clearly, what would happen is that NATURALLY he would arrive, having chain cast invisibility with his allies for days and used precious consumables out of his own supply, and the EXACT PREDICTED GROUP of murderers would be there. Of course, one of them was of the tiny stub-men. How was he supposed to keep them all straight? And so of course he had come to the aid of the other stub-men, bringing his friends around because there was clearly killing to be done, and killing is all they ever did.
All the preparation, useless. Of course, his periodic surveilance target HAD shown up, a lost item from the war, part of the key, brought by the fool light worlders who didn't even know what it could do save its grossest of magical functions. But it had shown up only to cause him to fail. Oh, there would be burning light to pay for his failure. Both his charges lost too, talented sorcerers both.
Suddenly, Alenshre teleported in. Why didn't the guardians come back for him? Certainly they would know of his entrance?
"Ah." He mouthed, as his companion fell forward, dead.
"Well, at least this one can be raised." The cost would be born by him, the clerics were excellent at that, if useless for much else. He'd pay in gold or flesh for this.
Now? Now he would have revenge. It was back to the halls, first to explain his failure, second to plan how to hurt this group as best he could. They were immune to essentially everything, Narso had told him, guarded by some deluded Distant God fighting a losing battle, too confused to realize the path to saving Caligo had been locked up tight since its beginnings. But now, they had something that had spent centuries in Umbra, something the Stone Of Paths was already attuned to. Maybe he couldn't locate it, or spy on it, but perhaps he could send a trickle of energy down it?
What would do best? A curse? He knew none. Domination? He chuckled. No, they would assuredly simply undo the damage. He would only be able to affect one. Perhaps a death-wish? He thought of how effortlessly, how purposefully they all had moved. Every magical syllable was flawless, and the movements of their warriors he couldn't even begin to understand. He had seen stronger casting, had seen deeper reserves of power, but only a few times. No, this team was too powerful for basic trickery...
Wait he thought What of the power tap into the Proditial Region itself?
Ventrashaan, walking to a punishment that would tear him to the edge of sanity, and carrying the body of a charge whose safety he had sworn to, began laughing. That, at least, is an effect that the light gods cannot simply wash away. Just the barest hint of the void-knowlege would be all he could channel out of the tap, it was all it could convey. But it would be enough.
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cfalcon
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 8:51 pm |
Master of the West Wind |
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:10 am Posts: 1547 Location: BRB giving magic item to lich 1sec
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"MORGIM WAKE UP! Ash, stop trancing!"
Alenka shook Morgrim again, but he kept babbling. Lithonian snapped out of his journey, and was over in moments. He prepared to cast Heal, but Morgrim opened his eyes.
Caleb walked over, concern on his brow, his feet uncoordinated. Keichi looked around as he awoke, ensuring that there were no ethereal spirits. Rigby flew over, visible and worried.
"I'm... I'm ok. It wasn't just void this time. It think I saw what that Umbran did. I saw it from his own mind!"
Ash responded immediately "Don't try to USE it. It's obviously nothing good. The more you look into it, the greater chance you become lost."
"Sorry elf, but I was asleep. We normal people don't have control over our subconscious. Things like that just happen...
But... yes, of course I'll try. I didn't mean to snap at you."
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The Yeti
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:21 pm |
--Level 40 Elderly-- |
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Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:38 pm Posts: 771 Location: Zemasia
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Awesome recap, sir! And who "new" Alenka would be so good with huge clock... repairs! 
_________________ Wouldn’t you say a bow is the same thing as a curtsy?
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Zem
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:49 am |
Site Admin |
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Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:41 pm Posts: 1807
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cfalcon wrote: Obviously that counted as "involuntary loss of conscious control of my actions". So here's why I don't like this.... at first glance it might appear specific, but it's not. What if the person is dominated? Charmed? Bluffed? What if the person is poisoned to paralysis? What if they are drunk? What if they were given alcohol against their will? What if they meant to drink, but the bartender mixed the drinks more strongly than he should have? On the flip side, what if he intentionally takes a potion but he fucked up his potion assessment and it's actually a paralysis potion? He meant to do it, didn't he? Paralyzed? Pinned? Entangled? Grappled? Tripped? I mean, he didn't mean to fall down, did he? Have you ever been up so long that you accidentally fell asleep? Just sitting there reading (or driving) and doze off for a few minutes (seconds)? You certainly didn't mean to fall asleep. Of course, rules of D&D make this difficult, but let's say someone is holding a gigantic blaster laser thing to his head and commands him to take some actions or he gets killed...? Is it involuntary or not? What if someone holds the gigantic blaster laser thing to a buddy's head? I'm sure you can run down the list and say whether you think it would work or not, and I suspect your answers would work in exactly the way you intended from the start. I just think your adjectives involve shades of gray, and I don't like it. I'm not telling you to change the line you've probably been using for nearly 2 decades, just that I wouldn't allow it.
_________________ Do the asparagus look threatening?
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cfalcon
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 9:53 am |
Master of the West Wind |
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:10 am Posts: 1547 Location: BRB giving magic item to lich 1sec
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Zem wrote: So here's why I don't like this.... at first glance it might appear specific, but it's not. Answered inline. What if the person is dominated? TeleportCharmed? TeleportBluffed? No- and for more detail, bluffing and lying and doing the variety of in-game compliance with skill checks are never involuntary. They can feel that way to the players because they make the PCs feel, think, or do, something that YOU, out of game and not face to face with the wizard / dragon / seductress, are able to distinguish better than your character- do to superior placement, and sometimes intellect and wisdom. Just because a rule makes a character poop when you don't want him to doesn't mean HE didn't want to poop then. But if it's a spell named "Poop Now", then that creates an in-game compulsion. What if the person is poisoned to paralysis? TeleportWhat if they are drunk? Depends on how they got drunkWhat if they were given alcohol against their will? TeleportWhat if they meant to drink, but the bartender mixed the drinks more strongly than he should have? TeleportOn the flip side, what if he intentionally takes a potion but he fucked up his potion assessment and it's actually a paralysis potion? He meant to do it, didn't he? TeleportParalyzed? TeleportPinned? NoEntangled? NoGrappled? NoTripped? I mean, he didn't mean to fall down, did he? No(As a note- the phrase "control of my actions" actually does have an in-game meaning- it's specified in the rules what actions are. The actual meaning is essentially the exact same as the meaning that you think, but a pinned, entangled, grappled, or tripped character is still fully able to act, and is in control of those actions. A dominated, charmed, unconscious, poisoned character is not. "Rendered unable to cast spells" would be a different pickle with different ramifications.) Have you ever been up so long that you accidentally fell asleep? Just sitting there reading (or driving) and doze off for a few minutes (seconds)? You certainly didn't mean to fall asleep. TeleportOf course, rules of D&D make this difficult, but let's say someone is holding a gigantic blaster laser thing to his head and commands him to take some actions or he gets killed...? Is it involuntary or not? I would rule voluntary. Remember I'm interpreting reality though, not giving legal advice.What if someone holds the gigantic blaster laser thing to a buddy's head? See above regarding coercion.I'm sure you can run down the list and say whether you think it would work or not, Yay!Quote: and I suspect your answers would work in exactly the way you intended from the start. I just think your adjectives involve shades of gray, and I don't like it. I'm not telling you to change the line you've probably been using for nearly 2 decades, just that I wouldn't allow it. Fair enough. I mean, it started as some PC doing some bullshit in the first place. We both prefer games with open interpretations on things, but I think you want yours to be more transparent, whereas I'm ok with some things being unclear until experimented upon. If you go through this list, you'll probably agree with me on most points.
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Zem
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 2:02 pm |
Site Admin |
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Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:41 pm Posts: 1807
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It's not really about the transparency in this case. It's more about getting to a measurable thing, and I don't think your statement is particularly measurable. My list was meant to show that while you can provide an answer, you should see many of them are gray.
There's control from the mind to muscles. Is that interrupted? Well, in sleep... no. You move in your sleep. If you're drunk, it is inhibited, but it is not gone.
There's control of your mind itself. If you're drunk, your brain judgment is impaired but not lost. If you're asleep, you still control your own mind, but it's not doing anything.
Do the muscles respond as they should? If you send signals to them but they cannot move...? That's how paralysis works in my mind (though there are many types of paralysis, of course).
So it looks like you're coming to a compilation of those three. That's fine, but you're coming to a particularly favorable interpretation of all three.
You mention actions. What actions? Are we limiting all actions or some actions? I think pinning limits some actions, not all. I think sleeping limits some actions, not all.
Involuntary... whew. Imagine this situation. You know you've got this particular contingency. You are pinned, so by your rules you are not teleporting. You are resisting torture. Finally a piddly pixie decides to cast charm person on you. You know damn well you can resist his save, but if you are charmed you are safe.... so you intentionally fail the save. Div by 0.
Fundamentally, I'm imagining casting as a wizard. I'm not focusing on clever wording like I would with a Wish with Douchy Genie. I think it should be more about the actual physical aspects of it. To me the conditional part should be well understood and fairly simple. It can take some interpretation, but I think your takes far more than it should. I don't think Contingency + Ring of Counterspell Dim Anchor = Wizards and Goonies Never Say Die.
If I am unconscious, teleport. If my head hits the ground, teleport. If I wiggle my finger, charm the lady. If I pitch a tent in my rainbow cloak, unseen servant.
_________________ Do the asparagus look threatening?
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cfalcon
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 2:28 pm |
Master of the West Wind |
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:10 am Posts: 1547 Location: BRB giving magic item to lich 1sec
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It's a lot better than Hunt For The Fatal Debuff!
A wizard having a lot of escape mechanisms makes sense. But a ring of counterspells is an imperfect remedy to dim anchor, generally only working once (or at most twice, if you have a second ring). You can also trace teleports, though in my games that's not normally super great if someone is acting as an agent (as, for instance, Ventrashaan is).
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Zem
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:47 pm |
Site Admin |
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Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:41 pm Posts: 1807
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cfalcon wrote: A wizard having a lot of escape mechanisms makes sense. Not really. You've always made the assumption that it makes sense, and now you're using your experience to justify the assumption. A wizard has teleport and dim door. He also has contingency. You're saying that he should be able to get away in almost any situation. I do not agree with that. I can't think of any book or movie where "I'm helpless, so naturally I can escape" has been even remotely the case.
_________________ Do the asparagus look threatening?
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The Yeti
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 7:36 am |
--Level 40 Elderly-- |
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Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:38 pm Posts: 771 Location: Zemasia
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The solution is clear: mechaspider with spiked chain.
_________________ Wouldn’t you say a bow is the same thing as a curtsy?
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cfalcon
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 11:00 am |
Master of the West Wind |
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:10 am Posts: 1547 Location: BRB giving magic item to lich 1sec
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Zem wrote: cfalcon wrote: A wizard having a lot of escape mechanisms makes sense. Not really. You've always made the assumption that it makes sense, and now you're using your experience to justify the assumption. A wizard has teleport and dim door. He also has contingency. You're saying that he should be able to get away in almost any situation. I do not agree with that. I can't think of any book or movie where "I'm helpless, so naturally I can escape" has been even remotely the case. Did you bother reading the Dying Earth stuff by Jack Vance?
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cfalcon
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 11:20 am |
Master of the West Wind |
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:10 am Posts: 1547 Location: BRB giving magic item to lich 1sec
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More relevantly, the intention of contingency is pretty clear. Your recollection of physical event triggers is yours. It's always been able to be based on mental states, emotions, actions of others, casting of other spells, etc.
That being said, there's DMs who don't like that, and change it. It's not uncommon to limit the trigger on contingency. My own limit is that the phrase can't just go on endlessly citing a bunch of different ands and ors and clauses, nor do I allow it to be used to ferret out information at a distance or different time. For instance, "If my next roll is going to be snake eyes", "If the blue-man really did slay the king", and "When Roltharen next casts a spell" would be things I would not accept (the last one WOULD work for reasonable distances of Rotharen).
Wizards don't just have teleport and dim door. They have a variety of reality altering spells that you don't have to step outside the PHB to find, and even more if you do. The spell misdirection, though not as useful as it should be, is a great example of a combination of spells designed to protect the wizard (and ONLY the wizard). A typical team-playing magic-user won't normally appreciate much benefit, but for much of the game you are remembering where Zem had a manly and clever contingency (one which would help turn a mediocre or losing situation into a winning one), Felix was running around with a cuntly one (one which would save Felix, should anything turn to shit). He justified this at the time by pointing out that it would allow the group to escape most TPKs, and he's correct, but at the same time, your contingency helped the group, his was an insurance against hurricanes in Denver.
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cfalcon
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 11:29 am |
Master of the West Wind |
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:10 am Posts: 1547 Location: BRB giving magic item to lich 1sec
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Also, since we are on contingency, I'll point out that summoners don't get that spell- the line where he rants about that is, I don't think, in there (I edited it down, and I think that one didn't make it). Additionally, by rules, you can't ever cast it on someone else, so the fact that he even had one is some special Umbran thing. In your previous encounter, he teleported away instead of waiting for it to be fired, so he clearly views the expended contingency with an economic eye.
Also you guys should be more angry at Orthe. He made you waste a whole gaming night on junk for the wizard, that bastard!
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Scubynubie
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 1:52 pm |
Superior Master |
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Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:59 pm Posts: 432
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Next time we're in town, I want to find like 6 of those copper balls. And some more of that anti-magic poison.
I think it is time for a scorched earth policy.
[edit] Sorry, scorched Caligo policy [/edit]
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Zem
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:20 am |
Site Admin |
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Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:41 pm Posts: 1807
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cfalcon wrote: More relevantly, the intention of contingency is pretty clear. Your recollection of physical event triggers is yours. It's always been able to be based on mental states, emotions, actions of others, casting of other spells, etc. We might just be in shades of grey. I feel that should be "or others" instead of "and others." There is a spectrum of problems a wizard might be able to face, and in your opinion a contingency should be able to knock out a whole lot of them. Though I have no problem knocking out any part of that spectrum, I don't believe a single use of it should be able knock out so much of it. Sleep is not the same thing as loss of control of actions. He can still snore or start running in his sleep. The mechanism by which he becomes helpless is completely different from paralysis, and I don't think they should be considered the same. In other words, I think your "involuntary... loss of control..." is too generic and is effectively the same as a long list with commas.
_________________ Do the asparagus look threatening?
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Scubynubie
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 8:03 am |
Superior Master |
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Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:59 pm Posts: 432
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To be fair, you have to assume that if a wizard has gotten to a pretty high level, especially if they don't usually travel with a party, that they have got at least 1 or 2 tricks up their sleeves to get out of a sticky situation.
We have been a tad unlucky as well in terms of rolls and saves...
I'm not kidding about the brass balls either. If we realy want to take down a mage or two we need to get items, and buff accordingly. That should get the job done.
If there is such a think as "Wizard Bane" I need to get some of that.
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Scubynubie
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 1:39 pm |
Superior Master |
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Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:59 pm Posts: 432
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come to think of it, what about copper tipped arrows. I think we need those.
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PoorAssRacing
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:17 pm |
Master of the West Wind |
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Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:45 am Posts: 1065 Location: Taking the fair maiden's....hand
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Scubynubie wrote: come to think of it, what about copper tipped arrows. I think we need those. The fantasy equivalent of hollow points. Blam blam. Ash is going to have to hold his bow sideways.
_________________
Zem wrote: "Take 40 points of damage." "Why?" "Because my mother breastfed me until I was 9 and it's having some serious psychological effects on me."
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Scubynubie
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Post subject: Re: Part 17: Morgrim and the Accursed Philosophy Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:53 pm |
Superior Master |
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Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:59 pm Posts: 432
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PoorAssRacing wrote: Scubynubie wrote: come to think of it, what about copper tipped arrows. I think we need those. The fantasy equivalent of hollow points. Blam blam. Ash is going to have to hold his bow sideways. Totally. We'll have to give it a new hip name to give it street cred. How about a Kris Cross Bow after the pop sensation Kirs Cross... Ash'll have to wear his tunic backwards as well to get it to work right, but it is worth the sacrafice...
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