NPC Statistics

[Ebiris]

The party's had reason to travel with more than a few NPCs as the game's went by, and I know people have been curious at one time or another just what those NPCs were capable of, so I thought it'd be nice to post their stats and a little overview here.

I won't post stats of any NPCs currently with the party (Puk'lor should go up soon, and I might post Ghost Marjorie at some point, since she'll undergo significant adjustment if she get's raised), and I might also post a few deceased villians here and there so you can get a better idea of what you killed and how badly I used their abilities.

Feel free to comment on them.

[Ebiris]

Linda Greendsper
Chaotic Good Human Ranger 2
Size/Reach: 5/5
Speed: 30
STR 11, DEX 18, CON 12, INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 11
Gear: Masterwork Longbow, Studded Leather Armour
Feats: Weapon Focus (Longbow), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
HP: 11
AC: 17 (13 flat footed, 14 touch)
Init: +4
Skills: Climb +5, Handle Animal +5, Hide +9, Move Silently +9, Survival +6, Swim +5
Attack: Longbow, +7 1d8 x3 (+8 within 30 feet)
Full Attack: Longbow, +5/+5 1d8 x3 (+6 within 30 feet)
Saves: Fort: +4, Ref: +7, Will: +1
Special: Favoured Enemy: Aberration, Track, Wild Empathy, Rapid Shot


Linda basically existed as a quest hook, but I wanted to have someone actually willing to take part in said quest, too. I recall her interactions with her family rather fizzled flat with you guys, which is a shame, since I was amused by her Soun-like father.

I think I made a lot of comments about the crappiness of her equipment compared with you guys, but the bow is a masterwork! She needed all the help she could get to hit stuff.

Her climb ranks aren't terrible, but I had her take 10 for pretty much every check on that adventure because I really didn't want to risk her plummeting to her death before you even reached the gnoll fortress - that place was based on an area in Baldur's Gate, btw.

Her favoured enemy of Aberration was picked pretty much at random. Really, who likes Aberrations?

Basically she was meant to show that 'normal' people in D&D don't have to be helpless level 0 commoners. She's not an adventurer by any means, and her level even back then was way below the party's, but she stuck in there and did her bit to rescue her loved ones. I was pretty darned proud when she dropped one of the Githyanki, anyway, especially since she was on very low hp after having taken a hit as you all charged into the fort.

[Ebiris]

Hahn Welfetter
Neutral Good Human Cleric of Lathandar 5
Size/Reach: 5/5
Speed: 30
STR 14, DEX 12, CON 10, INT 10, WIS 17, CHA 14
Gear: Morningstar +1, Masterwork Breastplate
Feats: Extra Turning, Lightning Reflexes, Combat Casting
HP: 25
AC: 17 (11 touch, 16 flat footed)
Init: +1
Skills: Knowledge (Religion) +8, Concentration +8
Attack: Morningstar, +6 1d8+3
Saves: Fort: +5, Ref: +5, Will: +8
Special: Fire Resist 5
Domains: Sun, Nobility
Cleric Spells: DC 13, DC 14, DC 15, DC 16
0: (5) Create Water, Detect Magic x2, Guidance, Light
1: (4+1) Bless, Magic Weapon, Protection from Evil, Remove Fear, Divine Favour
2: (3+1) Resist Energy, Silence, Bull's Strength, Heat Metal
3: (2+1) Magic Circle against Evil, Dispel Magic, Searing Light


The spell selection is basically 'what he had when last used'.

Hahn briefly hit level 6 during the adventure he was used in (took improved init for his feat), but then got killed and raised. He's probably higher level by now, as he performs his duties to the temple and dodges assassination attempts.

The Fire Resist 5 is the blessing he got from the Solar Forge. He also got a pretty pro magic staff, but I seem to have lost the stats for it.

Anyway, Hahn served a couple of purposes. Firstly, to illustrate that all is not sunshine and happiness in the Temple of Lathander, and to seed doubt on the motivations of the party's own questgiver. Also, he served as a means to gain entry to the dungeon itself (if he'd died before you got there he would've dropped a scroll of Stone Shape - without that you guys basically would've had to dig your way in). Lastly, he served as an NPC on the same level of the party (unlike the previously used Linda), who deliberately wouldn't overshadow anyone - pretty much all he did was buff and heal.

More recent NPCs *have* been pretty uber, I admit, but in both cases those were NPCs you guys have deliberately sought out and recruited, so I feel less guilty.

As it goes, I think Hahn did pretty well in his role. You guys seemed to like him well enough, and his support spells helped out a lot in the various battles of that adventure without it really seeming obvious that Hahn was playing a big role.

For the record, I'd determined on including the Raise Dead scroll as treasure before he died, btw. That was meant to be the most challenging adventure yet, and I expected at least one party member to bite it over its course.

I had a few quests lined up to occur in Silverymoon if you guys ever decided to follow up the assassin angle while laying low from the Githyanki behind the Mythal, but the lure of dragonloot proved too strong.

[Ebiris]

Ese'ban
Chaotic Neutral Githzerai Fighter/Rogue 2/2
Size/Reach: 5/5
Speed: 30
STR 12, DEX 19, CON 11, INT 13, WIS 14, CHA 11
Gear: Bloodfeeding Dagger +1 (stores 1 point per hit, can spend up to 5 for 2 damage per point)
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (Dagger), Combat Expertise, Improved Trip
HP: 21
AC: 18 (14 touch, 14 flat footed)
Init: +4
Skills: Balance +9, Disable Device +6, Escape Artist +9, Hide +9, Move Silently +9, Open Lock +9, Search +6, Tumble +10, Use Magic Device +6
Attack: Dagger, +8 (1d4+2) +1d6 sneak attack
Special Attacks: Daze, 3/day (DC 10), Shatter 3/day (DC 12)
Special: Evasion, Spell Resistance 9, Feather Fall 3/day
Saves: Fort: +3, Ref: +7, Will: +2


Poor Ese'ban never really had a chance to shine.

Anyway, I basically gave him to you as someone reasonably competent to show that the Githzerai were taking matters seriously, rather than sticking in a huge gang of level 1 mooks which would be a pain for me to run.

(The Bloodletting enhancement is from the Magic Item Compendium, btw. It's pretty rare I use stuff outside of the SRD for most NPCs)

I should've remembered that he had Improved Trip when he attacked the Blackguard, but so it goes. Honestly, I'm glad the Blackguard got to kill something besides summoned bisons - I'd planned for him and Puk'lor to fight, but I guess any Githzerai will do in a pinch.

Not too much else to say, since Ese'ban just didn't live long enough to really do much.

[Ebiris]

Vigo
Neutral Evil Human Cleric of Velsharoon 5
Size/Reach: 5/5 (5/10 with mystic lash)
Speed: 30
STR 9, DEX 4, CON 10, INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 12
Gear: Ghost Touch Dagger +1, Scrolls, Bracers of Armour +2, Peg Leg of Balance +5
Scrolls: Cause Fear, Summon Monster 3, Deeper Darkness
Feats: Extra Turning (Domain), Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Spellcasting Prodigy
HP: 21
AC: 9 (7 touch)
Init: +1
Skills: Knowledge Religion +8, Concentration +8
Attack: Dagger, +3 19-20 x2 1d4, Mystic Lash +3 ranged touch 1d8+2
Saves: Fort: +4, Ref: -2, Will: +5
Domains: Undeath, Magic
Cleric Spells: DC 12, 13, DC 14, DC 15 (+1 for Necromantic spells)
0: (5) Resistance, Virtue, Cure Minor Wounds x2, Detect Magic x2
1: (3+1) Detect Undead (Domain), Protection from Good, Bane, Cure Light Wounds
2: (2+1) Desecrate (Domain), Hold Person, Silence
3: (1+1) Dispel Magic (Domain), Mystic Lash (1d8+2 electric whip, fort save or stunned, 5 rounds)


Vigo was the last time I ever rolled random stats for an NPC. I think it's obvious why.

Nonetheless, in spite of the poor hand fate had dealt him, I was determined to make him into a proper challenge for you guys. Admittedly a big part of his shtick hinged on my misunderstanding of the Mystic Lash spell - the lash should have lasted 5 rounds in his hands, but should only have stunned for 1 round.

Aside from stunning anyone who got too close to him with the lash, he was basically intended to buff his undead goons and bolster them with Desecrate and rebuke undead so that they could beat on the party with impunity. I think he had a few scrolls of Stone Bones that he used up while you guys were dealing with the trapped doorway.

The peg leg was really just a little joke on my part, as I explained away his horrifyingly low dex score as being actually crippled.

[Ebiris]

Kristina Alis
Chaotic Evil Human Sorceror 6/Alienist 3
Space/Reach: 5/5
Speed: 30
STR 8, DEX 14, CON 9, INT 12, WIS 7, CHA 20
Gear: Lesser Metamagic Rod (Extend), Cloak of Charisma +2, Boots of Levitation, Potion of Cure Critical Wounds, Wand of Hold Person (15 charges)
Feats: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Combat Casting, Dark Speech, Toughness, Empower Spell (Bonus)
HP: 29
AC: 16 (12 touch, 14 flat footed)
Init: +1
Skills: Bluff +14, Concentration +11, Knowledge (Planes) +10,
Attack: +4
Saves: Fort: +3, Ref: +6, Will: +7
Sorceror Spells: DC 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 (+1 for conjuration)
0: (6) Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Dancing Lights, Light, Ray of Frost, Touch of Fatigue, Prestidigitation
1: (7) Mage Armour, Detect Outsider, Summon Monster 1, Charm Person, Ray of Enfeeblement
2: (7) Acid Arrow, Summon Monster 2, Phantasmal Assailants (Will disbelieves, fort for half of 4 dex and wis damage), Web
3: (7) Drown (fort negates, check every 2 rounds to expel water), Summon Monster 3, Displacement
4: (5) Summon Monster 4, Dimension Door
Special: Words of Dread (Will save DC 18) - shaken for 1d10 rounds (costs 1d4 charisma)


Technically Kristina doesn't have a valid class combination, since Sorcerors don't get Knowledge (Planes) as a class skill, and it's a prereq for Alienist to have 8 ranks in it. I didn't really notice that when building her - to be honest, I don't really bother too much with skills for NPCs normally; I just give them an ad hoc value of their level + 3 + ability mods on any skills that I feel are important to them if they're called to make a roll, otherwise I just consider them to have no ranks.

That also brings up another important point - check out her Concentration score, and also note she has Combat Casting. It was during that fight when she got hit while casting that I glanced at the SRD and saw the DC she had to beat was 15 - I immediately thought that way too easy, since it'd make it nigh impossible to interrupt her spells, so I promptly halved her Concentration modifier. Then after she barely beat the DC 15 check, one of you pointed out that it's actually a DC of 15 + damage taken. Boy was my face red.

Anyway, as far as Kristina goes, I was sort of aiming to make her really intense and imposing, yet still completely unattractive - play up the mental aspects of Charisma more. She didn't get to do that much, though, and the whole cultist quest rather fell flat. I'd had visions of you guys sticking around a bit and then interrupting a human (well, tiefling, technically) sacrifice before the entire cult threw themselves at you.

Anyway, I think Kristina has a pretty solid build, and she'd have been a formidable challenge if she'd taken the time to cast some of her buffs and maybe used her spells a bit better than just summoning crap. You guys kind of caught her on the hop, though, so she didn't have time to pre-cast any buffs.

Also, I gave her way too much equipment. Seriously, she never used, nor would've had any need to use, a lot of the stuff she was carrying during that encounter. Since her I've taken care to equip NPCs more sparingly with stuff that's directly relevant to helping them fight/survive against the party.

[Ebiris]

Oswald Firestarter
Chaotic Neutral Gnome Wizard 10
Space/Reach: 5/5
Speed: 20
STR 6, DEX 16, CON 17, INT 20, WIS 8, CHA 11
Gear: Bag of Holding
Feats: Spell Focus (Illusion), Spell Focus (Evocation), Brew Potion, Empower Spell, Improved Initiative, Sudden Maximise
HP: 58+16
AC: 17 (13 touch, 14 flat footed)
Init: +8
Skills: Bluff +7, Concentration +16, Craft (Alchemy) +18, Knowledge (Arcana) +18, Knowledge (Planes) +18, Profession (Herbalist) +12, Spellcraft +18
Attack: +3 melee, +8 ranged
Saves: Fort: +6, Ref: +6, Will: +6
Wizard Spells: DC 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 (+1 for Illusion and Evocation) (+2 all from fox's cunning)
0: (4) Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Touch of Fatigue, Message
1: (6) Mage Armour, Colour Spray, Silent Image, Magic Missile x2, Grease
2: (5) Fox's Cunning, False Life, Glitterdust, Scorching Ray, Mirror Image
3: (4) Fly, Lightning Bolt, Fireball, Dispel Magic
4: (4) Improved Invisibility, Shout, Phantasmal Killer, Dimension Door
5: (2) Empowered Fireball, Empowered Lightning Bolt


Oswald wasn't evil, he was just pretty crazy. Anyway, I didn't really plan for you guys to fight him, so his sheet was pretty much cobbled together at the last minute during the session - no time for me to look up fun spells in the Spell Compendium, so he had a pretty vanilla SRD set.

Anyway, his main purpose was to show that yeah, Xaos wasn't taking its current state lying down. Admittedly, as a level 10 wizard, he had decent odds of soloing Shayeera, but that kinda leaves you guys without a quest. Besides which, he had enough self preservation not to just man up and challenge the devil with a small army at her beck and call. The 'blow up city hall' plan basically played on his love of explosions as well as his desire to get rid of a structure he saw as a blight on the urban landscape.

Admittedly, he did come across as pretty callous towards anyone caught in the blast, but as far as he was concerned they were all hateful servants of order - its not like they ran a daycare centre in there.

When it boils right down to it, the Xaos quest was way more about Law/Chaos than Good/Evil. Shayeera was way more into imposing *law* onto the city than she was about just being evil, and the servants of chaos were likewise just concerned with getting their freedom back - whether freedom to frolic with puppies or to rape each other with switchblades.

I did slant things a bit in favour of Chaos with how things were overall presented, I admit, but the fact is that most people living in Xaos would have that bias, so that's the angle they'd take. Still, I did try and show a little bit of how the city was better off in some ways under Shayeera's rule. Wish I'd expanded on it a bit more, but so it goes. Would've been nice if you guys had talked to the Erinyes and let her present her side of the story, but I'm now totally digressing from the person this post is about.

So! Back to Oswald. He did pretty well in the encounter, knocking out Eagan with a single attack and generally keeping you guys on the back foot until Alvie glitterdusted him. Even then he still had the resources to withdraw, recover quickly, and then come right back at you. Just sad I never got to use the Sudden Maximised Empowered Fireball. Once he faced the whole party he really did go down fast.

The bag of holding was basically stuffed with loads of potions, scrolls, and single-use wondrous items. Gave me some more leeway with what he could pull off besides what was on his memorised spells.

[Ebiris]

Gorgoth
Chaotic Evil Halfling Ranger/Barbarian 3/3
Space: 5/5
Speed: 30
STR 16, DEX 19, CON 15, INT 9, WIS 11, CHA 7
Gear: Hide Armour +1, Wounding Battleaxe +1, Masterwork Battleaxe
Feats: Track, Endurance, Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (Battleaxe), Extra Rage
HP: 44
AC: 20 (14 touch, 16 flat footed)
Init: +4
Skills: Climb +13, Intimidate +7, Survival +9, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +5
Attack: Wounding Battleaxe, +11 (1d6+4)
Full Attack: Wounding Battleaxe, +7/+2 (1d6+4), and Masterwork Battleaxe +7/+2 (1d6+1)
Special Attacks: Rage 3/day
Special: Favoured Enemy (Giant), Uncanny Dodge
Saves: Fort: +9, Ref: +9, Will: +3


Gorgoth was my homage to Belkar from the Order of the Stick. Most NPCs  are wholly original, but a few do have direct and obvious influences (see if you can guess which!).

Anyway, he tagged along with Eagan and Puk'lor for the former's intro, and I kept him below Eagan's level since it was bad enough having Puk'lor there to overshadow him. Still, using the monk seemed the best way of getting Eagan into the party.

Gorgoth was really just there to make up numbers on that particular quest, although his tracking skills were of some use in actually finding the Vampiric Illithid's lair. I basically tried to RP him as the borderline sociopath adventurer stereotype - he enjoys killing stuff, he enjoys taking their stuff, and he enjoys using said stuff to pay for booze and whores.

He performed rather badly in the encounter, despite my best efforts at playing up his brutal savagery in attacking the wights and the illithid - he managed one kill of the former and was barely able to get the attention of the latter. In retrospect I should've given him some way to beat the illithid's damage reduction - he really wasn't tailored well at all for battling undead, and getting surrounded by 4 wights which level drained the hell out of him pretty much ruined his fighting ability after the second battle.

Getting level drained to near death has probably turned him off adventuring, so I'm not sure if we'll ever see him again. He was fun for a one note gag NPC, though.

[Ebiris]

Anarchy Calamari
Chaotic Neutral Gargantuan Magical Beast 14hd
Space/Reach: 20/20 (40 with tentacles)
Speed: Swim 80, Fly 80 (Good)
STR 29, DEX 17, CON 17, INT 1, WIS 14, CHA 2
Feats: Alertness, Diehard, Endurance, Toughness, Improved Flight
HP: 133
AC: 20 (10 touch, 20 flat footed)
Init: +3
Skills: Spot +19, Swim +17
Attack: Tentacle, +20 (1d8+9), Grapple, +39
Full Attack: 10 Tentacles, +20 (1d8+9), and Bite, +15 (3d8+4)
Special Attacks: Improved Grab, Constrict (1d8+9)
Special: Sonic & Acid Resist 10, Damage Reduction 10/Magic or Cold Iron, Spell Resistance 19, Water Shell 20ft, Ink Cloud, Jet 320ft, Limbo Mastery +4
Saves: Fort: +12, Ref: +12, Will: +6


Ever since it became clear that you guys would be going to Limbo, I had this concept floating in my head of a flying squid surrounded by a shell of water, that grapples people and pulls them into the water to crush as they drown.

Basically I took the Giant Squid from the SRD, gave it 5 more hd and turned it into a magical beast, then increased its size to gargantuan (I nerfed its strength a little bit, since it should've been 34 - having +20 to hit seemed plenty, though Amonet's full attack AC prompts a rethink, there), and gave it a few other goodies like the DR and SR.

I didn't realise till I got deep in statting it just how good a 20 feet shell of water is as a defence - pretty much eliminates any ranged attack, and ruins a lot of offensive spells, not to mention how it screws up slashing weapons.

I'm pleased with how that encounter turned out, although I'd hoped the squid would do better, giving you guys a scare and a challenge is all I can reasonably ask for. Despite my amusing mental image of it grappling Puk'lor and then jetting away to devour him while you guys were left in the dust.

It took -20 on all its grapple checks because if you do that then you're not actually considered grappling - quite awesome if you've got a huge check to play with.

I'm also glad Marjorie didn't get to 1HKO it with her ability damage/drain rape.

[Ebiris]

Skeletal Abomination
Neutral Evil Undead 4hd
Space/Reach: 10/10
Speed: 30
STR 18, DEX 12, CON -, INT -, WIS 10, CHA 1
Feats: Improved Natural Attack, Improved Natural Armour
HP: 24
AC: 14 (10 touch, 13 flat footed)
Init: +1
Attack: Claw +6, 1d8+4
Full Attack: 2 Claws +6, 1d8+4
Saves: Fort: +2, Ref: +2, Will: +4
Special: Damage Reduction 5/bludgeoning, Cold Immunity


Oddly, I remember this thing being way more badass than its stats indicate. I suppose you lot were only level 3 back then, and it did land a crit on Varul, but even so... the AC and hp aren't much at all, and its attack doesn't seem all that devastating.

I think the Necromancer did cast Stone Bones on it to pump its AC up to 17, and Desecrate to give all the Undead in that encounter a small boost to hit, so it wasn't really just on its base stats when you fought it.

Ah, well. It was my first real try at a custom monster, and it did keep you guys fairly busy during that battle, while also showing that villians can be a good deal more effective if they have a chance to buff properly in advance. A pity I never really took that lesson to heart with the Githyanki.

[Ebiris]

Marjorie
Neutral Good Human Ghost Sorceror 8
Space/Reach: 5/5
Speed: Fly 30 (Perfect)
STR -, DEX 17, CON -, INT 13, WIS 11, CHA 22
Feats: Spell Focus (Enchantment), Empowered Ability Damage, Ghostly Grasp, Toughness
HP: 60
AC: 19 (19 touch, 14 flat footed)
Init: +3
Skills: Bluff +11, Concentration +11, Knowledge (Nature) +6, Spellcraft +8
Attack: Incorporeal Touch, +7
Special Attacks: Manifestation, Corrupting Gaze (DC 20 fort save or 2d10 damage and 1.5*1d4 cha damage), Draining Touch (1.5*1d4 ability drain vs any ability), Frightful Moan (DC 20 will save or panicked for 2d4 rounds), Telekinesis (as spell), Malevolence (DC 21)
Special: Turn Resistance +4, Undead Traits
Saves: Fort: +2, Ref: +5, Will: +6
Sorceror Spells: DC 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 (+1 for enchantment)
0: (6) 8 Detect Magic, Read Magic, Dancing Lights, Ray of Frost, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Mending, Prestidigitation
1: (8) 5 Nightshield, Ice Dagger, Spirit Worm, Charm Person, Ray of Enfeeblement
2: (8) 3 Malevolent Miasma, See Invisibility, Phantasmal Assailants
3: (6) 2 Suggestion, Major Image
4: (4) 1 Crushing Despair


Marjorie was meant to be a rather challenging boss (especially with her squad of Pixies to back her up, most of which had class levels to boot), so when Amonet recruited her, I was faced with the choice of Magus-ing her power level, or doing something sneaky. Merging her with Amonet's lance solved two problems in a manner that I hope didn't leave anyone feeling cheated.

Her spell selection was carefully chosen to synergise with her ghostly powers - I was going more for the theme of a powerful ghost than a sorceror that happened to be a ghost when I was building her. Obviously I had to come clean when she was recruited, but if you'd fought her I would have played it up more as her using freaky abilities rather than just spellcasting - her actual ghost powers tend to eclipse her spells in power for the most part, anyway.

Her alignment was True Neutral to begin with, if it matters, but merging with the Holy Lance had an effect on her just as much as she had an effect on it.

Having her tag along in the capacity of Intelligent Weapon was useful for me in that I gained a voice in the party with which to provoke RP interactions when you guys were quiet, without necessarily having an NPC around and dictating your actions. She's fun to play as somewhat naive and unsure, but nonetheless opinionated. The only time she ever forced an Ego check on Amonet was when she herself failed a will save against the influence of the negative energy rift.

I'd hoped the hints there would result in you guys trying to keep her away from the rift - although I certainly planned on it trying to draw Marjorie to it - so was rather surprised when Amonet ran in and smacked it. Some lucky rolling from Marjorie resulted in her winning her freedom - although I gleefully took advantage of the few rounds she spent in berserker mode to show what perhaps could have been if you'd fought her.

With you guys being higher level now, I'm less uneasy about having her tagging along, although I do have to keep careful rein on her abilities - since I've established a slightly cowardly and hesitant persona for her, I think that's do-able for the most part. Even so, I made sure she kicked up a fuss about getting Resurrected at the first possible opportunity, because Marjorie really does possess more power than I'm comfortable having at your beck and call.

Edit for more content:

If Marjorie and her pixies had fought you guys, they would have primarily fought to disable - something they'd be pretty good at, considering their abilities. Then once the party had been neutralised, they'd have spammed memory-loss arrows.

Would've been interesting, I think, to have you guys wake up suffering from amnesia, then get promptly Charmed and Suggestioned into going off to kill Drow.

[Dracos]

Comments yo~

=)

---

Linda I remember, but I think you've said everything that was worth saying.  I'd say those stats are a bit high for 'common but not level 0' but I know D&D well enough to say that they were almost certainly appropriate (A sad commentary on the game there~).  

---

Hahn I felt was an example of the idea support npc to a party of fighters.  We were way leaned over in the combat bit, which made (Makes?) long dungeon crawls a lot more dangerous than exceedingly difficult lone battles.  Having a relatively quiet cleric NPC around changed that and allowed that dungeon experience to go far more smoothly (and entertainingly!) than it might have gone.

That he also gives us a nice link to the church of Lathander and in turn knows we're competent is a double side benefit.  I would be unsurprised if at some later point he dished out with the quest hook fu from either divine inspiration or simply church politics.  Gourash's own mercenary angle would indeed fit nicely with that if he ever chose to.  As a player, more than a character, I'm kind of curious how he's been doing in his place in the temple.

He'd make a good return one anyhow, if it ever became appropriate.  Our party remains still horribly combat focused and aggressively blind so far and there's only so much Amonet can do there.  It's a tribute to the kill quick focus of our party and a good deal of GM kindness that we haven't had several resurrections to deal with so far in party.

----

Ese'ban was useful in the regard you said but yeah, easy in, easy out.  You do kind of touch on an always difficult thing of you want evil npcs to kill things so that, hey, it is clear they CAN and the pcs should take it seriously.  I dunno, this is always something of a difficult thing to do (and far preferrable to kill npcs to do it, but that leads to red shirt syndrome).  At least I think our group, for the most part, is willing to treat bad guys as dangerous without being scared of them.  Which is about as good as I think we can get.

The gith particularly didn't allow for other ways of showing their dangerousness because they were simply too capable (They can teleport assassins into a tent or appear everywhere they need and they're following us, not vice versa).  Just a thought since we're sort of moving to different types now, it's plenty effective in my mind to leave traces of prior fights or battles around when the players are chasing something.    Nothing like previous dead adventuring parties to accent 'this isn't a baby dragon in this cave'.  Or some such.

-------------

I pretty much totally salute not random rolling npcs.  But then everyone knows where I stand on crafted experiences.  I don't remember this one that well, but overall, I've really enjoyed your custom monsters and indeed, generally when you go wild with it.  The trip through the planes was pretty awesome.  =)

_----

I don't even really remember Kristina, but yeah, I second that.  D&D tends to lend itself greatly to a problem that a realistically outfitted character is a ridiculous treasure horde.  Even highly focused equipment sets (rather than variety/flexibility ones like Carthrat tends to prefer) leave a difficult question come loot time.  Gourash for example has been walking around with a pretty sizable stash of healing potions for a while.  Well more than would possibly see use in a single battle.  This of course makes sense when it can reasonably be several battles between a chance to restock, but leads to rather ridiculous loot if the enemies apply the same thing.  Overall, I think the direction that's been going has been generally pretty good.  Enough range of stuff without really bothering over chunks of sub one-hundred gp stuff.

---

I dunno.  I disagree that he wasn't evil.  In fact, I thought he was a pretty classic chaotic evil character, with the emphasis a lot more on chaos than on evil.

Either way, you're right, he was a surprise take on things.  The town overall was pretty darn well done.  I also enjoyed the chance to be thoroughly mercenary about such things ("Good?  What good?  You pay well?").  Too bad I'm not playing chaotic neutral/neutral evil or exceedingly mercenary.  It would've been funny offering to the other side too and getting there in the end because most everyone was dead.

But Gourash is pragmatic.  He takes care of his reputation.  Not kind, not good, but if hired, he be a loyal killer of all that oppose you.

Anyhow, I think you did exceedingly well with both Shayeera and the succubi, both managing to strongly deliver their characters in relatively short screen time.  I'd comment on them in their own npc spots, but those aren't up yet.

----

I really didn't follow Eagan's tale...so can't comment on Gorgoth.

----

Anarchy Calamari

As you probably know at this point, I'm generally of the belief that the only reason Gourash is still alive is you actively chose to pick the intelligent actions the calamari could take that wouldn't kill him.   I dunno how much 'better' he could've done without laying one or two of us in the deathbed.  As a random encounter, I'd mark the Calmari as pretty darn awesome (Same as the giant mechanoid crab).  I think you're right that the shell of water was a bit much.  I think you made the right decision nerfing its strength a bit as it was fairly deadly as was.  Sure, without the water shield it wouldn't have lasted very long, but all it really needed was one complete run of attacks against a single one of our characters to take them down even with reduced strength (100 hp min damage for 1 round of hits).  Though that itself generally invites differing tactics, cool in their own vein =)

and yeah, it'd be kind of lame if Marjorie had 1 hko'ed it.
-----

Marjorie's entrance I found kind of creepy.  Wussy area for me =p  I'm glad things went how they went, though I think I kind of dazed off a bit during those sessions.

Dracos

[Carthrat]

Linda: Actually, I liked Linda. It might be interesting to drop by and say hi sometime along the line, if only to apologize.

Hahn: Mwaf, really, the game has seemed combat-geared to start, here. I can't say I wouldn't mind more supporting characters, though- but we've got a boat for that, right? Like Drac, I'm interested to see how he's been going. It's very nice to have someone we can generally rely on for relatively obscure healz, if we need it. Maybe he can lend us an acolyte or too, as well. >_>

Ese'ban was pretty forgettable.

Vigo: I remember spending most of this particular fight stunned or something. Hate, hate, hate this guy. But he's one of our few bad guys with last lines!


Kristina: Please don't throw epic bad guys at us before we are also epic, especially when they have be presumed to be reasonably intelligent. It basically makes dealing with them a case of dreaming up reasons why they *don't* just own us out of hand. She seemed pretty psycho, but this whole encounter went west when Varul flipped out and started killing people, so there's not much *too* remember.


Oswald: Actually, I think that he was more CN than CE. The difference is that he was ultimately doing a weird kind of 'civic duty', whereas a CE person would probably have just not cared/moved somewhere else rather than take her on. He seemed pretty loony. Most of Alveria's reason for not wanting to take him on was out of respect for his power, and a pressing need to not fuck around with pointless stuff. In other circumstances, she'd probably have had doubts but just gone along with Amonet- she's the paladin, yep. Then again, Gourash might have actually convinced her the other way; after all, Alveria was always more chaotic than good.


Anarchy Calamari: This was a fight I felt we could've avoided. It felt rather forced and I didn't want to bother. To be fair, I managed to be almost totally useless for the duration, though I did clear away his water-bubble a few times. Like Drac said, though, I'm pretty sure this thing could've raped us if it wanted to. otoh, it probably wasn't that bright either, so...


Marjorie: I kind of wish I could've talked more with her pre-karach. Alveria didn't really like her much, they just seemed to keep clashing on things, but it was amusing, at least. Still, plenty of time in the future. Her Amonet-fangirlism is, uh, something else. Yes. > 20 charisma is truly a terrifying thing to behold.

[Dracos]

Just an aside with marjorie and such, I'd be a little odded if the family just suddenly followed us around rather then trying to rebuild their own lives with exceeding loyalty to Amonet.  I can see it happening, but it would seem a bit odd.

Dracos

[Carthrat]

No more odd than a half-orc barbarian, a psycho elven mage, and a newbie paladin sticking together for mutual profit, amirite =p