Showing posts with label Paladin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paladin. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

RAVENLOFT KETCHUP PART 1

OH GOD WHERE HAVE I BEEN! 
So to start let's get the first 3rd out of the way this is the town section.

Last we left the party of Sir Jakothia the Paladin, Ellock the Dwarven Thief and Alehandro the half-elf Ranger. They had Received a letter from a estranged man. The letter  that concerned Barovia's Burgomeister and his daughters health.

They decided to go to Barovia and help! They pack up their things and head to their quarters, as they do two men at arms they had saved earlier come up to them and say they will help, but they need weapons.

So Sir Jakothia and Ellock decide to pitch in and hand them some shields they found, as well as buying them Plate mail, helmets, and Some Battle Axes to Carry.

Before the leave they ask the Casttelan about Barovia. He tells them. "No one ever goes in, and no one ever comes out." They ask for more information, and he tells them that no one has ever returned from Barovia.

They gather up their things and head to Barovia.



The trek is long, but they make it to the Barovian Forest path.

The party is going down the dark Barovian road. The party soon notices a gate in front of them. with two stone statues, both decapitated. As they Draw near the Gate swings open and then shuts soon after with a rusty clang.

As they head down the road, Alehandro and Jakothia notice a body and near the roadside.
It's rotting with decay. Jakothia goes to inspect it and notices a parchment in it's hand.

The parchment is a letter, Fairly old, somewhat aged. Of a similar note to a before letter yet far older.
Speaking of the burgomeisters daughter and being bitten by a vampyr. As well as the need for help.

The party makes way towards the town located in Barovia it seems mainly deserted. The sound of crying is heard through the town.

The first thing Jakothia decides to do is ask around town. He knocks on a door. No answer.
He says "I kick it open". He rolls a 18 and breaks the door off it's hinges. Inside they find a woman and her husband in the corner with looks of fear. Jakothia's presence somewhat calms them, but they looked perturbed.


"What do you want?" the man says, " I hear of a vampire problem?"
"Shhh we do not talk of that."
"Where is this vampire?"  The villager points to a castle through the window.

"Now go leave my home!"  Ellock fixes the door the best he can and they leave toward the center of the town.

The town is dark and the sound of weeping is still there. They party decides to head toward the closest light source the Blood on/of the vine Taven. As the enter four men sit at a table near the entrance and drink. The Barkeep seems to be compulsively cleaning glasses.

Alehandro looks about and notices a man in the corner hooded and drinking alone. He informs the party of the man. Jakothia buys a drink and hands it to the man at the table.

I:"What do you want?" J: I hear that there is an issue of a Vampire in this land."
I:"SSHHh keep down, what concern of it does it have with you"  J: Well we found these letters and.."
I:"Let me see that. As I thought."  J: Is there anything we can do to help the letters explain about a girl"
I:"If you concern yourself do you even know her name?" J:" Ireena kolyana isn't it?"
Ismark: "I am Ismark Second son of the late burgomeister. Come with me"

The party heads towards a mansion with creaky gates and dark looming shadows.

They enter the old house and Ismark tells them that the letter that was sent to them was not from the hands of his father and that the man on the road must of been him. He points out that they were relentlessly attacked by wolves till his older brother died.

Ismark tried his best to preserve his body, since the dead do no rest in Barovia.

He leads them to a chamber upstairs where Ireena is and explains his and her Condition. That Count Strahd the once ruler of this land did this to her and she has yet to turn. Jakothia senses evil and can tell she is mostly good, but inside her lurks a dark threat untapped.

They discuss thier issue and tell them that Strahd resides in Castle Ravenloft.
Jakothia asks about where he can find some books in the town or any information and Ismark tells him of the church.

They head toward the Church and Speak to the Priest there he hands them an old book on the history of the land. He explains that Barovia was part of a larger kingdom, but soon the old king died. Barovia was ruled by Lord Strahd and soon the residing Lands warred for control. Barovia survived. The book hasn't detailed more. Though of recent history the Priest goes on.

 After the War Strahd stopped showing himself around the towns of Barovia. The main city in which this town is. Is not far more decrepit and dead. One night a Man was seen said to be the Lordship himself. Screams were heard and a girl with bite marks was found in an alley. Some say that the last person to see Lord Strahd was that girl. That Strahd had been turned into an otherworldy Vampyr the legends say.

The Priest says that that's about what he can tell him other then the wolf attacks.
As the party leaves dusk sets in and they see from the graveyard Ghosts facing away from them and staring at castle Ravenloft.

See part 2 and 3 for a continuation soon!
Did you know there is a REAL Castle Ravenloft! Sadly unless these pictures are old it is out of shape and needs to be restored. It would be a great place for larpers and renfairs that could be state owned or part of a historical reservation association.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkerphotography/sets/72157627109815314/
http://www.abandonedny.com/2012/08/ravenloft-castle.html



Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Nerfing of Sir Jakothia

GROWING AND LEARNING! 
You know our Paladin.
 Things have gotten a little out of hand.
So I'm making this with some new knowledge from R.F.I. DM-Chad!
They're a great podcast! Take these words as advice for you're game too. I really needed some of these things cleared up for me. Thank you Chad!

 Colin, I’ll try and answer some of your questions.* First, regarding the multiple attacks of fighters, keep in mind that fighters level 1-6 get only 1 attack per round. Now that said, when fighting a creature or NPC of less then 1 hit dice (i.e. something with a hit dice of less then a d8) then that fighter regardless of his/her own level is
entitled to as many attacks as he/she has levels. Thus a 2nd level fighter can attack a kobold twice per round. But when facing an orc, the same 2nd level fighter gets only 1 attack per round as orcs are 1 hit dice creatures (they roll a d8 for hit points).

*As for the paladin being over-powered, there are rules built into the system to keep them under control. First, paladins are not fighters and as such are not entitled to percentile strength. Many GMs allow them (and rangers) to have extraordinary strength as they are a fighter sub-class but strict interpretation of the PH will reveal that only fighters (not fighter sub-classes) get to add in a percentile for an 18 strength. This means that max bonus on your paladin’s to-hit and damage based on strength caps at +1 to-hit and +2 on damage. And also keep in mind that paladins cannot specialize in weapons. So barring a magical sword’s bonus to-hit bonus, they should never get more then a +1

to-hit bonus. Now if the paladin has a Holy Avenger (which is not likely at 3rd level) they do get to do an addition +10 damage to chaotic evil foes.

Along the same lines, the paladin has no choice when it comes to obeying the strictures of their religion. They either do and remain paladins in good standing, or they blow it off and become fighters. So whether or not your Player’s fighter needs to regularly attend church comes down to whether that is a stricture of his religion. And that most likely is up to you as the GM to determine since it is your world.

At the very least though, I would expect a paladin to pay their respects to those temples and shrines dedicated to their deity as they come across them in their adventuring (not to mention that they must obviously visit such places once a month to tithe). To do so without a good reason or only when it’s convenient would be both an insult to their diety as well as a chaotic act (as their would be no real planning or discipline of regularity involved, and that means they would no longer be a paladin).

The same chain of thought can be applied to the issue of tithing. They either do it as required or become be stripped of their paladin-hood and become a fighter. I wouldn't withdraw said tithe for your player, that’s the player’s responsibility. But you can give him/her an IC nudge via a sign from their deity; perhaps he stumbles across a rather loud burning bush or the next time he sleeps he gets a nastygram from his diety’s avatar saying pay up or ship out.
What was that you rolled a 20 
and you were charging with a lance!
The dragon EXPLODES!
* As for treasure weight, just think of it this way, pick up a bag of pennies and then ask yourself how many such bags can you carry while walking all day. Factor this into wearing armor and also carrying provisions. You’ll have a good idea real fast why people today use credit cards.:)

***When having extraordinary strength does one roll percentile to hit or a d20? How does it work. So far I use a mix of the two systems and ideas from 3rd,etc
******Sorry, I forgot this one. When one has extraordinary strength (this being either above-average strength that allows bonus’ on to-hit and damage rolls or strength scores over a straight 18, ie an 18/75 str) you roll attacks as usual but factor in the associated bonus to the normal d20 roll to-hit.


So as you see from this Tl;dr.
Kobolds have an incredible chance of death.
Paladins don't have incredible strength.
Also treasure wracks up over a while.



Though what really is going on is I didn't really understand the limitations of the class.
I feel that he could still be successful with a +2(+1 sword from keep but I might make it disappear) or +5/4 vs demons and damage though thankfully I think this might make the game a little tougher.

At the moment
Sir Jakothia has a STR18/97 % so he's the max power super hero, I thought we needed a crutch. Yet I feel in the long run nerfing him will help balance the game out.

Now he will get like said above so he's still powerful, but not a level 2 GOD!

So here's how this will go down.

God: Yo dude why haven't you been helping the church! If you continue to disrespect me you will be stripped of your honor!

SJ:but but

God: No, no buts ZAP! or some sort of vision.

Also if I decide I'll have his +1 sword stolen to go after a lead.

He wakes up still a paladin but less powerful