Random DM nagging.

[Corwin]

Short of Gisfal and my fellow paladin, do we have any other leads on people we could recruit?

[Ebiris]

I asked Ilsenine about fey recruitment before. Perhaps she has ideas to put into practice, now?

[Anastasia]

Speaking of that, I'd been meaning to have Ilsenine talk to you about that, Eb. Also to hold court with Afina around, but I haven't gotten around to it.

[Anastasia]

Army Reorganization and Command Structure Act.

Morniel proposes three changes to command and organization. The first is adopting an official means of organizing the army by the following structure:

10 soldiers = 1 unit
10 units = 1 company (100 soldiers)
10 companies = 1 division (1,000 soldiers)
10 divisions = 1 army (10,000 soldiers)

This provides an easy to customize and flexible unit structure. You can mix and match at whatever level of precision you desire and can have your troops set up to taste. It also allows combining units that complement each other well and segregating less compatible units. Further, specialized units can be made as well.

Second of all, Morniel proposes that you adopt an official rank system. It has the traditional tiers of officer and enlisted, with enlisted having 7 ranks and officers 4. These numbers can be tweaked as you desire; Morniel recommends a lot of lower ranks to give the common soldier something extra to strive for in promotions.  For officer ranks, Morniel's opinion is that you should create as many as you need. The exact structure Morniel suggests is bleow.

There are seven non-commissioned ranks. Private, master private, corporal, lance corporal, sergeant, master sergeant and command sergeant. The differences between these aren't directly relevant to the party, so I'll just summarize. Private to corporal are the common grunts of varying use. Lance corporal and above have various leadership responsibilities on the unit and company scale. They often assist the commanding officer and direct the soldiers.

There are three commissioned ranks. Major, Colonel, Generals. Majors are powerful warriors who are not directly involved in leadership or command. Colonels, who handle some command and leadership, but are not involved in the highest ranks. Generals, who hold the highest power in Aurora. These ranks can be more customized and expanded - Morniel suggests this, as he's presenting a compacted version and leading your ultimate command structure decisions to you. Once you have your officer ranks selected, Morniel would be willing to recommend ranks if you desire.

Third of all, Morniel recommends the creation of various awards for the army. As a cynical man once said, a soldier will risk life and limb for pretty bits of ribbon and the acclaim of his fellow man. The exacts of this are left to you, but he suggests it. Internal awards can raise morale and give the soldiers a greater sense of striving and belonging. Further, he recommends awards to be given to non-Aurora members for great service or diplomacy. These are purely a diplomatic caveat, something to curry favor when needed.

[Anastasia]

Tannin's new report is up. If you have another job for him, speak up.

[Yuthirin]

I think a posthumous award for valor, bravery, and/or heroism for those who die in the service or defense of the Aurora would help to mitigate some of the morale hits we take when people die.

Individual awards for exemplary service in individual battles, such as the Battle of Earthfall, or the Assault on the Bronze Citadel would be good too. Lets people with skill show off what they've got, earn promotions, etc.

[Corwin]

Actually, I'm reminded of the GolemDwarf. Since we said we would float the question off screen, did anyone step up who was interested in apprenticing with him?

[Anastasia]

No one's said or done anything about that.

[Corwin]

No one's said or done anything about that.

For clarity's sake, do you mean we didn't get any responses? Or that we need to do it IC despite wishing to just spread word off screen and seeing who bites?

[Anastasia]

Yuth: See the PM, won't get to it 'till tonight-ish.

[Yuthirin]

That's fine.

[Anastasia]

Just FYI.

Lycanthropes

- Morale = 100.
- Aurora is in Ysgard or the House of the Moon.
- Selune's favor is not a negative number.
- Party possesses Gaelach. (Optional)

Your timing on Ysgard is good in another aspect.

[Corwin]

So. If we're going to be hunting down a dragon on a hostile plane like Radiance, there are a few spells we could use.

SC p18, Aura of Evasion, Clr5; Sorc/Wiz6, 1min/lvl, 500gp material component
SC p17, Attune Form, Clr3; Drd3; Sorc/Wiz4, 24hr
SC p14, Antidragon Aura, Clr3; Sorc/Wiz3, 1min/lvl, 25gp material component (CL17 for best results)
SC p115, Hide from Dragons, Sorc/Wiz7, 10min/lvl
http://dndtools.eu/spells/dragon-magic--62/vision-of-the-omniscient-eye--1061/ , Brd3; Cr3; Drd3; Sorc/Wiz3, bonuses to spot/immunity to blindness, personal, 1min/lvl

Attune Form is probably something Yuth can cover with 2-3 castings (since we were told the natives like dispelling outsiders to have the plane itself kill them). I think Eb and I can also hold onto a scroll of it at CL10 to cover the four of us + Baleruk.

Aura of Evasion should be pretty useful as well, since even you guys with evasion gain improved evasion vs dragon breath. Since the dragon has half-dragon minions, it might come even more handy. If we go for it, do we bring one scroll of it? Two?

Same with Antidragon Aura. It's probably useless to me, but +5 luck to saves and AC is bound to help the rest of you. Any thoughts?

It looks like we're not going the Hide from Dragons route, although having a scroll for it can't really hurt.

The Vision spell might come useful, especially given the dragon's secondary breath weapon. And just in general, given Radiance. I have blindsight (and can recast it), and Eb has blindsense/blind fight, I believe? But probably better safe than sorry.

[Corwin]

Army Reorganization and Command Structure Act.

Morniel proposes three changes to command and organization.

I have no objection or comments on 1. Let's do it, and change it if it isn't working. I must once more emphasize that with the rank and file troops not coming in contact with us, I perceive them in a very abstract manner.

I have no objections on 2 and 3. I would be glad to hear Morniel's suggestions on who he thinks should hold which officer rank, and which medals he thinks we should officially have.

[Corwin]

Since I interpret morale as how much someone wants to be here, I would like to look into why elemental/courre/elven/gith morale is so low, and how it could be raised. If you have a convenient way to fit that into our schedule some time, Dune, I'd appreciate it.