DM Nagging: It's pretty much my job

[Anastasia]

Tryll

Really, this week was all about finishing up that mansion, getting loot and finally dealing with Ebony. That's an interesting subject, so I'm gonna do an IRC paste since we chatted about it there. Otherwise, I felt it was a solid week and the node's back together, so time to go wreck shit. By the way, I'm really enjoying Benyen so far, he's like one cup of paladin mixed with two ounces of Dekar from Lufia 2. Totally unintended, but his voice reminds me of it now that he's found himself.

Bonus IRC log paste re: Ebony.

> I feel bad for Ebony, I really do. That was just a mess all around for her.
> Not a bad thing OOC - amusing plus I think it iced any remote chance of Ebony joining Tryll's node, which I was against since she doesn't have the temperament to be the straight woman for that group.
<Ebiris> I want her on Aurora anyway.
> Yuth said so and I agree - she's really not a fit in that node at all.
> So I'm glad everyone's getting what they want there.
<Ebiris> But I really don't get her issue here over some dude she just met shacking up with some woman she's literally fought and bled with.
> To a degree the entire thing is being a hill to die on for her. Sometimes you work yourself up over something.
> I mean, Dana? Legitimate reasons to say hey hold it, think twice before you tap crazy. To be crude about it.
> I like Dana but she's Dana.
<Ebiris> Like she was super shitty at the start of the game but for the period Ebony's seen her here as well as back in B3 she's generally alright.
* Kotono nods.
> Benyen's a young, promising paladin. Do you really wanna put him with someone who is...well, Dana? I mean, y'know. It's not really personal, she just worked herself up over it and needs to unclench.
<Seira> I don't see the problem either
* Kotono nods.
<Ebiris> Like she's kind of a bitch but she just had a major role in a crusade against hell. That's paladin-tier waifu material.
> Y'all aren't wrong - and I don't think Ebony's wrong to say 'hey slow down a sec' and some other things. She's just over worked into it, and the accusations of her being interested in Benyen and jealous didn't help (she's not remotely interested in him).
> I mean, going from meeting to fucking in less than half a day is worth a woah, woah, woah.
> Probably need to take a breath and assess at that point.
<Ebiris> Adventurers move fast.
> So I guess what I'm saying is that there's legit reasons for Ebony to voice concerns over the situation, but she's also gone a bit far and worked herself up. It happens.
> Indeed.
> She's still fairly new to being a celestial, she's still mostly human in her mindset there. If anything, I view it as character work for her - she rarely showed any flaws or lacked composure in B3. So it's a switch to see her in situation that reminds you that yeah, she's human.
> Sometimes she gets pissy over something. Such is life. She'll get over it.

---

Benyen will be at the very least an ally of the node, if not a full-time member. I'd like to see his character sheet before making a decision, since I can't exactly just look at the man and see what his gear is or how he behaves. As for his resemblance to Dekar, I don't see it. I haven't seen much of him, though.

Ebony was a welcome aid in Langersun, but she doesn't fit this group at all. The group has a certain cavalier attitude about...everything. Ebony just can't seem to swing it.

My notes have him as a paladin 6/fist of raziel 10//knight 16, but I may mix that up some since knight's gotten a lot of play so far.

Ebony's just not the right fit for this node. Ebony's not the sort to be cavalier about things. She's more serious, more focused. She's not visibly passionate most of the time, her general facade is too calm, but she cares and is serious. It's like a lead balloon in Tryll's group.

[Anastasia]

Apologies for no work this weekend, this weekend was kinda crummy for me.

I'm gonna do a few hours of work tonight and more tomorrow morning.

[Anastasia]

Updated Spell Collection with Seira spells.

[Corwin]

First of all, thanks for being done with my spells! Now I just need a cleric that can cast them....

A somewhat strange request, Dune. I'm 80% sure that I contracted with Agathaiel to support Valar in administering Kesse and making it a happy shiny fun Shar-free place. Is that correct? How hard would it be for you to do an auto search of the B1 logs for Agatha's final appearance and see the context for it?

If it's too much of a pain, can you tell me if this is a reasonable task for her to have been doing up to the present?

[Anastasia]

I can check if you like, sure. Regardless though, I believe you're right and even if not, it's more than reasonable to have her helping anyway.

[Corwin]

Cool, then she's working for Valar there. I presume she's low level enough that it doesn't bother the Prime. Like 22 at most? Or 20 if it's a hard cutoff?

[Nephrite]

Dune, what is the Absolute Healer feat? I don't see it actually listed anywhere, but Jetina has it.

[Anastasia]

Here.

Since I apparently never posted epic healer:

Absolute Healing [Epic]
Prerequisite: Brilliant Apotheosis, wis 25
Benefit: You can heal vile damage as if it were normal damage, as well as other sources of damage that cannot be healed except in special situations, such as frostburn damage. You must succeed on any caster level checks or have a sufficient caster level to do so, if required. Additionally, you can restore hit points permanently lost, such as from a lavawight's blazefire. Doing so requires a restoration or greater restoration spell.

Her Healer 29 feat.

[Iron Dragoon]

So all of the big Transmutation/Polymorph spells of level 9+ are focused on physical stuff. Str/Con/Dex. What do you think of a version for casters? Int/Wis/Cha?

[Anastasia]

Weekly Roundup Time

Doing it in board order again, since I have threads open to review. Excuse any run on sentences or bad writing, I was tired the entire time I wrote this. 9 hour DM sessions are a thing.

Alicia

I thought the week started strongly with a long overdue chat with Mystra. This is the sort of chat you needed for awhile, and I considered starting the game with it, but it really answered some questions, tied parts of the game world together and helped define a lot of things only alluded to before. It was a lot of exposition but meaningful exposition, as well as bolstered by answering questions built up for a long time. I thought this went great, establishing a good vibe with Mystra and her character when she's not being an all power magic deity.

The dinner with Emmaline was solid all around as well. This was a chance for bits of character work all over, but by and large it was Emmaline's chance to shine, and Shar's by extension. I think a good villain can be informed of by their deeds and victims, something Emmaline showed in spades. The way Shar crafted her situation, made her a dark mirror of Alicia and manipulated the whole situation nicely illuminates exactly the sort of monster you're opposing. Side note: Syala could really use some time to shine, Mystra touched on this for unrelated reasons but she feels due.

From there, the meeting with Eblis is proceeding apace. This is high stakes stuff all around, lots of heady plot advancement and hooks for the future. As far as Gathgorian's reveal: Well, knowing his plan, this one shouldn't be a huge surprise. Be interesting the conclusions one might draw from this, but it's currently a scene in progress.

Side note: I've wanted to use a hunefer a few times previously, but it's never worked out. Alicia's observation of never seeing one is apt, in part because people who see one usually die horribly. If you see one and live to tell the tale, you're either breathtakingly lucky or powerful enough to fight one. I put that one in the same camp as a cleric of Lliira. Always wanted to use one, but it's never come together.

Moore

Moore intimidating the efreet early on was a lot of fun. It played in the efreet strategy here - they'd been commanded not to die here lightly, to focus on slowing down an attacker rather than making valiant last stands. It gave some nice interplay at times this week, as well as let you bypass some battles that would've largely been rote and tedious. Those are the battles you want to usually skip if possible, so that all worked out great.

As for the giant battle? Sometimes a boss fight overperforms and this was one of them. Some early crits combined with the party composition made this fight much more bruising than I anticipated, but ultimately you all made it through. Jetina's emergency healing and Moore's boosting routine really shined here - it let Moore drop hundreds of damage in melee, which is really impressive for his build.

A solid week overall, mostly combat and a few character bits here and there. Not a lot to say about them, mostly reinforcement. FYI, at least Kaja's clearing a node goal coming up.

PS: Yikes that damage on Kaja. Corner case admittedly, we'll see how he goes. I may have over optimized his damage a bit.

Tryll

This week was basically a transitory week. Get info, talk to people, network and set up finding more on the grimoire. All entirely fair game and reasonable, just dragged ab it long due to the realities of Yuth and I's posting times. I really want to get a long posting streak with Yuth sometime, maybe a weekend thing if I feel rested one weekend. I want more of Tryll.

That aside, I thought it was a good week for letting the characters just speak and bounce off each other. Bits like Benyen cheerfully going along with things or Dana and Miranda admiring Makaril without a shirt on? Those all felt like solid character work. Miranda, despite being an outsider, is fairly normal. She's relatable, not as devoted or dedicated as someone like Cresiel or Xandra. She's bouncing off Dana well, though in general the group's still finding its mojo for the combined party. That's fine, I think it's going well.

That 100 was pure bullshit. Geez. I mean it happened and Limbo is Limbo so whatever, but that's crazy luck. Congrats on a shortcut, Tryll. It's appropriate for randomness to bless or curse in Limbo, after all.

Also yeah, you really need someone who can cast greater plane shift or gate. Dana and Miranda can't, their builds just aren't right for it, but Benyen might be able to depending on how I set him up. Having to rely on reality revision for it is harsh on you without a doubt.

Alyssa

Okay, first of all, the Elle diplomacy went well enough. Elle played it fairly calmly until the end - as Cor noted on IRC, she tends to be flamboyant. In this particular situation I didn't feel it was called for at all, so instead I had her play it calm. Nonetheless, I let a few bits of surface near the end, as she relaxed and the situation was sorted out. Alyssa illuminates herself well through tension and dealing with people, I feel.

Anyway, all the stuff with Emily was fun. Her personality type is one you don't see much - Creation's a fairly serious place, more towards Baldur's Gate than uh...I forget the name of a light hearted D&Desque anime, just pick one. Anyway, point is that I like her personality and how she works herself up. It's fun and different. She bounces off Alyssa well and has potential with Jarem, though that'll be later. Right now it's just potential, as well as further fleshing out her personality.

The meeting with Waukeen was fun (as well as her fat functionary before that), well met and enjoyable both for the diplomacy and how she made Emily sweat a bit. Fun times all around, as well as showing her with an eye for the bottom line, as always. Alyssa calling her on that felt entirely in character as was Waukeen's response, good solid stuff there.

In the future, I'd suggest having a default buff set for situations that are likely going to be non combat, so we can avoid day long pauses like that. It wasn't a huge deal, just saying.

Seira

To touch on Emily only briefly, the last of the immediate fallout there was good and did the job. I don't have much to add here beyond that.

Vayley's fun, slaads will slaad but sometimes you find a friendly slaad pursuing its own goals. This happens and Vayley's content to play along, so it seems good all around. I enjoyed her personality, she'll make a fun face have around in the future. To segue into another person, Amaryl's also firming up more. She just tends to be quiet a lot, something I'm playing with and working on. This is something she had in B1, too. I took some time really finding her voice 100%, the same thing here. I'm reading old logs a bit here and there, I plan to read more of her and hone in that voice more in the future.

The Waukeen and then Lathander chats were both excellent altogether. It explored various things, got into underpinnings of the setting and was altogether illuminating. Really, I touched on this with Alicia's commentary about her Mystra chat, but that applies. To touch on another angle instead, Waukeen is to a degree letting Seira stand on her own, make her own mistakes and triumphs. It's part of growing, after all. She's more than happy to support such a friend and ally, but Seira also has to learn to stand on her own. Both her and Mystra are doing that (Sharess too, but that's as much because cat as anything).

Really, both chats were fulfilling and did some more elaborating of setting themes, mechanics and reasonings. I think Alicia's was better for the metaphysical parts of the setting like the Answer and such, while Seira's was better for current events and concerns. Which fits both players the way they tend to interact with the setting, I feel.

Misc Notes

Right now the lion's share of the overarching plot is happening to Seira and Alicia. Frankly, this sort of infodump was always in the cards, it was just a question of when. It's fairly unavoidable since there's a lot of things the two need to know as deities. If and when the other PCs get divine rank, they'd get their own version of this.  Going to try and shift this more around next week, once the big Eblis thing resolves.

I'm going to review nodes this weekend to see if there's been any  missed goals that need to be redeemed, as well as possibly clearing a few stagnant ones out that are being mooted by circumstances. Usually it' son you to clear a goal, but once in awhile one is removed due to circumstances. I'll do notifications in thread in the event any happen.

I can't wait for a Marie and Calleigh meeting and/or deathmatch.

No idea what weekend goals will be or todos that'll get done. I'm so tired right now I can't think about DMing straight.

[Yuthirin]

Tryll

Really, this week was all about finishing up that mansion, getting loot and finally dealing with Ebony. That's an interesting subject, so I'm gonna do an IRC paste since we chatted about it there. Otherwise, I felt it was a solid week and the node's back together, so time to go wreck shit. By the way, I'm really enjoying Benyen so far, he's like one cup of paladin mixed with two ounces of Dekar from Lufia 2. Totally unintended, but his voice reminds me of it now that he's found himself.

Bonus IRC log paste re: Ebony.

> I feel bad for Ebony, I really do. That was just a mess all around for her.
> Not a bad thing OOC - amusing plus I think it iced any remote chance of Ebony joining Tryll's node, which I was against since she doesn't have the temperament to be the straight woman for that group.
<Ebiris> I want her on Aurora anyway.
> Yuth said so and I agree - she's really not a fit in that node at all.
> So I'm glad everyone's getting what they want there.
<Ebiris> But I really don't get her issue here over some dude she just met shacking up with some woman she's literally fought and bled with.
> To a degree the entire thing is being a hill to die on for her. Sometimes you work yourself up over something.
> I mean, Dana? Legitimate reasons to say hey hold it, think twice before you tap crazy. To be crude about it.
> I like Dana but she's Dana.
<Ebiris> Like she was super shitty at the start of the game but for the period Ebony's seen her here as well as back in B3 she's generally alright.
* Kotono nods.
> Benyen's a young, promising paladin. Do you really wanna put him with someone who is...well, Dana? I mean, y'know. It's not really personal, she just worked herself up over it and needs to unclench.
<Seira> I don't see the problem either
* Kotono nods.
<Ebiris> Like she's kind of a bitch but she just had a major role in a crusade against hell. That's paladin-tier waifu material.
> Y'all aren't wrong - and I don't think Ebony's wrong to say 'hey slow down a sec' and some other things. She's just over worked into it, and the accusations of her being interested in Benyen and jealous didn't help (she's not remotely interested in him).
> I mean, going from meeting to fucking in less than half a day is worth a woah, woah, woah.
> Probably need to take a breath and assess at that point.
<Ebiris> Adventurers move fast.
> So I guess what I'm saying is that there's legit reasons for Ebony to voice concerns over the situation, but she's also gone a bit far and worked herself up. It happens.
> Indeed.
> She's still fairly new to being a celestial, she's still mostly human in her mindset there. If anything, I view it as character work for her - she rarely showed any flaws or lacked composure in B3. So it's a switch to see her in situation that reminds you that yeah, she's human.
> Sometimes she gets pissy over something. Such is life. She'll get over it.

---

Benyen will be at the very least an ally of the node, if not a full-time member. I'd like to see his character sheet before making a decision, since I can't exactly just look at the man and see what his gear is or how he behaves. As for his resemblance to Dekar, I don't see it. I haven't seen much of him, though.

Ebony was a welcome aid in Langersun, but she doesn't fit this group at all. The group has a certain cavalier attitude about...everything. Ebony just can't seem to swing it.

My notes have him as a paladin 6/fist of raziel 10//knight 16, but I may mix that up some since knight's gotten a lot of play so far.

Ebony's just not the right fit for this node. Ebony's not the sort to be cavalier about things. She's more serious, more focused. She's not visibly passionate most of the time, her general facade is too calm, but she cares and is serious. It's like a lead balloon in Tryll's group.

That's actually my concern with Benyen. Tryll and Calleigh lie and steal. A lot. Not sure how well he'll be able to deal with that.

[Anastasia]

That is a concern, no doubt about it. May be worth talking to him IC about it.

[Nephrite]

I realized partway through the giant battle that it could've been handled much differently insofar as you could probably easily bait them into hurting each other and won that way.

It was a rather unlucky start but thankfully just by sheer perseverance and cheating with buffs we could turn it around!

As to the efreet, yeah, Moore realizes he isn't just going to change someone's very core personality by talking to them. At the same time, he's seen examples like Ebony and he's heard of Antenora, so any time he has an opportunity to try and put someone on the right path, he's going to take it. This somewhat explains his (rather badly thought out) plan with Makim, too. He still has hope there!

I don't intend to have Moore go diving into melee very often because I don't feel it fits his character to do it -- but in this case he has a cause and a purpose and something to try and defend, so it made sense. It isn't like he has a vow of nonviolence or anything anyway. Honestly, the problem is that if he gets all his songs going there isn't a lot else for him -to- do, since all his spells are utility.

I admit, I would've liked to have seen Kaja just straight up send one of the giants packing since I'm pretty sure he would've hit them something like 12 times.

Was Kaja's node goal "kill x number of bad dudes"?

EDIT: This was also Moore's first major campaign as a leader on his own that was of his own volition that involved others that didn't end in some sort of horrible failure, so a lot of his decisions were based around how previous outings went.

[Iron Dragoon]

Weekly Roundup Time

Alyssa

Okay, first of all, the Elle diplomacy went well enough. Elle played it fairly calmly until the end - as Cor noted on IRC, she tends to be flamboyant. In this particular situation I didn't feel it was called for at all, so instead I had her play it calm. Nonetheless, I let a few bits of surface near the end, as she relaxed and the situation was sorted out. Alyssa illuminates herself well through tension and dealing with people, I feel.

I've decided that Alyssa's response to upset people is going to be sort of like the Emporer of Rome being yelled at by Senators. Basically, she's going to be dead calm and scathing/riposte in a calm, slightly dismissive tone. I feel it sort of fits with having a council of Regents; they're likely to be shouting at each other and Alyssa more than rarely. It goes hand in hand with Jarem's 'don't let them see you sweat' deal.

Anyway, all the stuff with Emily was fun. Her personality type is one you don't see much - Creation's a fairly serious place, more towards Baldur's Gate than uh...I forget the name of a light hearted D&Desque anime, just pick one. Anyway, point is that I like her personality and how she works herself up. It's fun and different. She bounces off Alyssa well and has potential with Jarem, though that'll be later. Right now it's just potential, as well as further fleshing out her personality.

I actually think it fits the slightly immature sheltered princess vibe she's got/developing. She enthusastic and sorta childishly bright/clumsy about things because she hasn't really gotten mud on her face just yet.

The meeting with Waukeen was fun (as well as her fat functionary before that), well met and enjoyable both for the diplomacy and how she made Emily sweat a bit. Fun times all around, as well as showing her with an eye for the bottom line, as always. Alyssa calling her on that felt entirely in character as was Waukeen's response, good solid stuff there.

I meant to push Waukeen there. So far all the deities she's met have treated her as an equal because they're invested in her, and she sort of abused that and forgot that her association with them wasn't exactly acceptance across the board. She's in deep waters and is in over her head, so she's going with what she knows, and what she knew of dealing with deities was from the Red Knight and Shaundakul. Both of them expressed approval of her behavior, so she went with it. Think of it as a feeling out the boundaries deal.

In the future, I'd suggest having a default buff set for situations that are likely going to be non combat, so we can avoid day long pauses like that. It wasn't a huge deal, just saying.

I actually do have a cheat sheet made, but it needed updating. It wound up only being about four spells that needed to be messed with, but from work and heat, I was kinda drained and just couldn't work up the effort to get it done.

[Corwin]

Seira

To touch on Emily only briefly, the last of the immediate fallout there was good and did the job. I don't have much to add here beyond that.

Vayley's fun, slaads will slaad but sometimes you find a friendly slaad pursuing its own goals. This happens and Vayley's content to play along, so it seems good all around. I enjoyed her personality, she'll make a fun face have around in the future. To segue into another person, Amaryl's also firming up more. She just tends to be quiet a lot, something I'm playing with and working on. This is something she had in B1, too. I took some time really finding her voice 100%, the same thing here. I'm reading old logs a bit here and there, I plan to read more of her and hone in that voice more in the future.

The Waukeen and then Lathander chats were both excellent altogether. It explored various things, got into underpinnings of the setting and was altogether illuminating. Really, I touched on this with Alicia's commentary about her Mystra chat, but that applies. To touch on another angle instead, Waukeen is to a degree letting Seira stand on her own, make her own mistakes and triumphs. It's part of growing, after all. She's more than happy to support such a friend and ally, but Seira also has to learn to stand on her own. Both her and Mystra are doing that (Sharess too, but that's as much because cat as anything).

Really, both chats were fulfilling and did some more elaborating of setting themes, mechanics and reasonings. I think Alicia's was better for the metaphysical parts of the setting like the Answer and such, while Seira's was better for current events and concerns. Which fits both players the way they tend to interact with the setting, I feel.

To be fair, Mystra's chat with Alicia took place before mine with Waukeen, and given we'll be swapping info I didn't want to insist on getting the very same specific information I've see there. I did try to steer conversation with both Waukeen and Lathander into some of those areas out of hope they'll show me a neat flashback, but alas, that didn't happen to me. Would've been cool.

When that failed, I focused on my goals (which are both current events and Shar). As the Shar side got shut down, I doubled down on the present. I've also been hopeful that some of the negotiations could be shifted aside, since it probably will be long and repetitive to convince various trading companies to support me on emancipation. A real shame Waukeen didn't want to work behind the scene on one of them, but I'll get her to G one day. Sanzha is my only real candidate from the NPC pool, so I hope she finds her answer to her Node goal once I'm back home. If she chooses to handle diplomacy, I only need to talk to one key party (like the Mercane) to set the tone and rely on her to follow through for the remainder.

This also leads to an OOC question. I'm 100% certain from past experience and the merchant powers writeup that Celestia will support emancipation efforts across the Inner Planes, but it does feel wrong to not at least coordinate with them. At the same time, it feels boring to go and talk IC to someone when it's a foregone conclusion. Is this something where I send an NPC to handle it? Settle this in OOC notes with you in-thread? How would you prefer to deal with this so we could skip to the good stuff of actual bartering and follow-up attacks on terrible people that deserve it? I like coordination, but there is so much legitimate coordination to be done here we might never get to the actual action if we were to act it all out.

Returning to Node goals for a sec, I'd appreciate the means to clear up Elle's. I just don't get them, and your advice before was to spend time with NPCs with unclear goals. Which I've tried on several occasion, and even asked other NPCs for advice directly. Nothing really budged, so I'm down to asking Elle 'what do you want'. Since I didn't have such troubles with others, I'm asking for OOC guidance on this.

Vayley is fun, clearing that goal made me so happy!
Chatting with Waukeen and Lathander was also pretty neat, and I was pleasantly surprised by Brothander's insights. I still don't get how I haven't dragged Waukeen over to the G side by now, but I'll let her have that tsun appearance for a little longer.
With Amaryl, having things she finds important does work to show off her personality, but I was just thinking about this. Her goal is about a nice vacation, and you know something, that's perfectly okay. She can be overt about taking the time to stop in between crusades and smelling the flowers, that sort of thing. Donald complains about it a lot, and she is insistent upon it in interactions with him, but she could pull in that direction IC while with me as well. On reflection, there's really no need for me to act up on her Node goal, since she can pretty much drag me off on said vacation herself.
Since Emily is avoiding us I'll wait until she does something cool or initiates contact herself, however sad it makes me.

Misc Notes

Right now the lion's share of the overarching plot is happening to Seira and Alicia. Frankly, this sort of infodump was always in the cards, it was just a question of when. It's fairly unavoidable since there's a lot of things the two need to know as deities. If and when the other PCs get divine rank, they'd get their own version of this.  Going to try and shift this more around next week, once the big Eblis thing resolves.

I'm going to review nodes this weekend to see if there's been any  missed goals that need to be redeemed, as well as possibly clearing a few stagnant ones out that are being mooted by circumstances. Usually it' son you to clear a goal, but once in awhile one is removed due to circumstances. I'll do notifications in thread in the event any happen.

Mmm, that's fair, but I'd also like to point out that we've also sought all this out. While the other PCs can't exactly ask about strictly meta stuff like 'hey can you tell me if mythology is a lie', they do have their multiple ins with the deities of the setting. Investigating their bonds, Shar and what not is always an option. Alicia is investigating Eblis as part of the overarching plot, for example, but the same plot infodump included 'investigate Io sightings' and that's something Alyssa could follow up better than anyone. She could always contact her god, Waukeen or the Red Knight (or even myself) and go 'so hey I'm actually curious about this shit, do you know something? we could trade info here'. Or if she really doesn't have a clue why it's such a huge deal, try to get to the bottom of that.

Moore, for example, could contact Cresiel's dad or higher authorities in Celestia and ask for clarifications about Celestia's instructions and mandates to him. Tryll knows Renbuu and Morwel? Waukeen might've come to me, but I was going to see her as it is so she just beat me to it, and I'm seeking out Lathander and Mystra on my own initiative. In fact, I prefer hooks and openings to follow up on!