General OOC

Oh yeah, I was definitely not doing the brewing rules right. Cool, we can have one successful Dwarven Courage and the rest be miserable failures. It'll be good RP.

Said this in discord but posting here for posterity - in terms of downtime activities Oraam's doing his mail-room job, and trying to permanently enchant his sending stone so he can free up an infusion slot so he can do fancier artificer things.

Arcana roll: 13. Tough.

During the downtime, when not documenting the brewing process, Izar is writing and composing new works based on their adventures; taking requests from soldiers and civilians; and contributing to the overall mood in the camp through an array of social tactics - mediating a conflict here, making friends there.

The bard has deep-seated concerns about their safety if things go awry. They are looking to be well-liked, and more importantly, not be living in a powder keg



performance 19
Persuasion 13
Would take 10 on both in the future if possible.

I want to see the real-world ramifications of these rolls! ^^

If everyone would please give me an athletics check for the climb, and either acrobatics or athletics for the jump. I'll roll for Oraam

Athletics to climb: 24 and 18 to jump

Edit: Stealth 3 (rolled a 2) lol

Cantrip after Long Rest: Ray of Frost. Hoping more to engage with the environment than enemies necessarily.

11 (ath), 19 (acr) & 7 (ste)

12(Athletics). 6(Athletics. Rolled a 1)

11 on Intimidate, assuming there is no advantage.

EDIT: Save me, Izar. You're my only hope.

Round 1: Initiative: 5 (+5 due to initiating Rage as "Very Fast Action"??)  -2 (Dorn Dergar Attack); so either 8 or 3.


Actions:
Move: n/a
Standard action: Reckless Attack Dorn Dergar x2
- First Attack: 25 to hit/13 damage
- Second Attack: 25 to hit/13 damage
Bonus action: Intimidate 25
Reaction: RAGE
Free action: Form of the Beast, Carapace (+ 2 AC (18 total), +9 HP (69 total))
Note: Symbiont cantrip for the day: Infestation

IC: Oraam's magic immediately put The Beast next to the captain. Nothing else needed to be said. Had negotiations worked, he never would have been transported. The Dorn Dergar swings out, heavy and brutal as soon as he forms. There is only the rush of air and the crush of impact. The first hit crushes his ribs inward. A burst of blood, like the bloom of roses, bubbles from his lips. It doesn't last long. The backswing nearly separates his jaw from his head, breaking his neck at the moment of impact. As the body thuds, parts of the symbiont near Kho'nan's feet begin to feed.

"Y'see th'fate of the prideful?! Surrender now!"

The Beast roars and waits.

Oraam's magic immediately put The Beast next to the captain. Nothing else needed to be said. Had negotiations worked, he never would have been transported. The Dorn Dergar swings out, heavy and brutal as soon as he forms. There is only the rush of air and the crush of impact. The first hit crushes his ribs inward. A burst of blood, like the bloom of roses, bubbles from his lips. It doesn't last long. The backswing nearly separates his jaw from his head, breaking his neck at the moment of impact. As the body thuds, parts of the symbiont near Kho'nan's feet begin to feed.

"Y'see th'fate of the prideful?! Surrender now!"

The Beast roars and waits.

On the larger deck below, the sailors stare agape at one another, some muttering about mutiny and others of honor. It would seem even cutting the head off the snake wasn't enough for this crew until the sound of wood impacting wood echoes from the head of the aftercastle. A low karrnathi voice bellows as an emerging driftglobe lights a sooted face. The human steps forth from the shadow of his room with the ring of a long blade being drawn from beneath his leather coat. "What's this about pirates? Shittiest pirates I've ever seen. You'll never leave the Scion's Sound alive now. Go ahead. Take what you want and be off." He sheathes his blade as he looks upon the party.

This man appears to be the captain, as other officers immediately disarm, and the remaining crew follows suit. It would appear you have free reign of the vessel.

Moved to the IC for you boss.

All right, so this just got interesting. Feels like a bigtime Jorian and Izar time to shine.

Something we need to keep in mind is the objective we were tasked with.

This is straight from Kahle's mouth: "The objective from there is to kill everyone on board and hijack the vessel. Sail it to a safe location on the beach of the Silverwood, out of sight. From there, you'll offload onto the Severed Fang, which we'll sail further inland and transfer the goods onto wagons. The barge is too notable to attempt to use, so after we've claimed the wealth of the ship, we'll load some old mining charges in the bilge and set it to sea for a burial. This needs to look like pirate work in order to hold our cover, attract any attention to the woods and we could put ourselves in grave danger."

I have highlighted the important parts that will require some careful consideration given that we have unanimously decided not to murder the entire crew.

The big takeaway is that this must look like the work of pirates. There're a couple of ways to go about this:
- 1) We take the captain at his word that he will give a fake pirate name as to who stole from them. Granted, Jorian has already given his real name and ship name. This could prove a poor gamble if the captain is not a man of honor.
- 2) We follow through with the plan in that we take the goods, commandeer the ship, and blow it up. But that of course leaves the question of the crew:
-- a. We go back on our word and kill everyone (probably not likely given our PCs)
-- b. We take them prisoner, locking them in one of the mine shafts, and take our time converting them to our side. Che Guevara was a huge proponent of taking POWs and educating them as to the folloy of their commanders and why his side was morally right.

Other options?

My posts are definitely inconsistent on my part. If I could retcon Jorian mentioning his name/ship name as doing so was totally out of Jorian’s character (this happened with me posting hastily just to keep things moving on my end), then we still maintain the generic pirate guise. A retcon is supported by the captain’s last comment to Jorian.

If we go that route, I would say it’s within our characters at this moment to honor their words and not harm the crew. We loot the ship, take prisoners and burn the thing. The only discrepancy is we would be capturing the crew vs killing the crew and bolstering the mines.

I've realized an insight check is far more applicable than a perception check. Anyone who'd like to roll me an insight is welcome to do so, Izar, an investigation check would be great for your case.

EDIT: Forgot the whole reason I started to post. Jorian is welcome to withhold his true identity.

To be completely honest, completely forgot about the required-kill clause after the whole tavern conversation about not killing people, lol. But since we've come this far, let's stick to our guns and keep these fellows alive. IMO

My IC and OOC thoughts are identical here this mission was a heaping pile of catch-22 from the start.

"There's also the delightful added benefit of stoking fears as to our sanity if we do kill, and of our loyalty if we don't..."

If we're going to be screwed either way, we might as well do it without being drenched in blood.

Sounds like we're opting for the PoW route, or at least doing what we can to keep the crew alive. Looks like Oraam gets a PM for his investigation result

Private to Oraam:

Round 1: Initiative: 13 (14+1 -2 heavy attack)


Actions:
Move: n/a - teleported
Standard action: Reckless Attack Dorn Dergar x2
- First Attack: 24 to hit/10 damage
- Second Attack: NATURAL 20 (26 total) to hit/13 damage
Bonus action: Intimidate 25 (this is for the crew so that they know it's not worth dying)
Reaction: RAGE
Free action: Form of the Beast, Carapace (+ 2 AC (18 total), +9 HP (69 total))
Note: Symbiont cantrip for the day: Infestation

IC: Rage fills the Beast for the second time in as many minutes. He surges to existence behind the captain, his Dorn Dergar already swinging as he roared at no one and everyone all at once.

Ok, your rage is a bonus action only, I'm pretty sure you picked ray of frost for your cantrip (which, fwiw, there are definitely spots of water you can freeze with that) and using intimidate against the crew would be an action, not a bonus. I'm assuming raging and attacking is more important than the intimidate check, so we can just shift that rage to a bonus, drop the intimidate, and that turn is good. If you're moving it to combat, I'll go ahead and start initiative off with the crew and captain's actions.

Captain: Init: 16
Action: He will close and attack Jorian. The layout of this combat is a little fuzzy with the theatre of the mind type of deal we've got, so I'm going to say since he was walking with you guys he's probably only a square away.
Standard attack: 14 on the first, 19 on the second for 8 slashing.
Reaction: when Kho'nan crits him he will attempt to slap the weight back with his blade, reducing the damage by 8.

Crew: four of the more courageous (and closer) crewmen will close with Oraam and attempt to back up their captain. For the sake of speed I'll roll initiative as a group. Init: 3
Actions: Each will swing with their shortswords at Oraam.
19, 15, 14, and 18, two will hit for 5 slashing and 4 slashing.

Damage Tracker:
Captain: 19
Crew: 0

Initiative tracker:
Captain: 16
Kho'nan: 13
Crew: 3

Edit: Attacks made with advantage for flanking vs Oraam, updated rolls.

Round 1:

Initiative: 2 (1+3-2 swinging two handed)
Action: Two attacks with the two handed trident at the soldier who struck me! (23 to hit, 11 dmg) and (11 to hit, 13 dmg)
BA: Cast Shield of Faith on Jorian (+2 AC)
Move: None

IC: Oraam will take the blow from the crew, before shaking his head. He briefly stops after being struck to whisper a word of safety, before Jorian's skin develops an almost translucent film. Turning back to the crew, he yells "Is that seriously all you've got? I'm so sorry for what's about to happen!" he says before smirking and striking the crew member.

Round 1: Initiative: 15 (13+2 no spell casting)

Actions:
Move: Full move to (or towards) somewhere Izar can take cover when their Invisibility is eventually dropped
Standard: Deception (or Persuasion) on the crew (10+7 = 17)
BA: Bardic Inspiration for one (1) of Jorian's attacks, skill rolls, or saves within the next 10 minutes (1d8 = 5)
Reaction: Cutting Words on the Captain's next attack roll that this would reasonably apply to (1d8 = 2)
Free: n/a

IC:
Loathe to forgo being unseen before it is absolutely unavoidable, Izar relies solely on the quasi (but not quite) preternatural quality of their vocal skills rather than arcane arts.  With the crew on edge and the Captain clearly having an axe to grind, Izar shouts cries of encouragement that the Aberrants recognise as being anything but.  
"That's right Cap'n!
We'd rather be slaughtered to the last man than accept mercy!
Who cares about family or the future when we can die for our country!"

The words are meant to distract, confound, and chip away at morale. It would not happen all at once, but given time and unrelenting brutality, Izar knew that inevitably all with any sense would yield.

Round one initiative: 27 (25+ 2 for finesse weapon attack)

Move: N/A. In combat

Standard action

First attack: Natural 20 to hit (28)
Damage: 15
Bonus damage from hunters mark: 3
Damage from critical: 8
Total damage: 26

Second attack: 23 to hit
Damage: 14
Bonus damage from hunters mark: 3
Total damage: 17

Third attack (Gloomstalker bonus): 13 to hit
Damage: 9
Bonus damage from hunters mark: 6
Bonus damage from dread ambusher: 6
Total damage: 21

Bonus action: Hunter’s mark

Reaction: Shield spell. Taking AC to 22) in reaction to captain’s hit of 19 (If the captain survives to make the hit)


IC: Jorian slowly draws air in through his nostrils as he unsheathes the deadly, beautiful blade at his hip. His eyes maintain an intense, yet indifferent gaze as he releases a precise fury of blows.

Murcurie wrote:

Ok, your rage is a bonus action only, I'm pretty sure you picked ray of frost for your cantrip (which, fwiw, there are definitely spots of water you can freeze with that) and using intimidate against the crew would be an action, not a bonus. I'm assuming raging and attacking is more important than the intimidate check, so we can just shift that rage to a bonus, drop the intimidate, and that turn is good. If you're moving it to combat, I'll go ahead and start initiative off with the crew and captain's actions.

Apologies. I copied an older action and forgot to update the cantrip. It very much is Ray of Frost and not Infestation. You're correct on all other fronts as well.

No worries. Moving on to round 2.

Captain: Init: 9
Will boot Kho'nan off the side of the ship and take a swing at Jorian. That's a 20 (including Izar's -2) to hit for 15 Slashing, and I'm going to need a Strength Save from you or be pushed 15ft away. Jorian will be getting hit with a 26 for 10 slashing.

Crew: Init: 10
After Oraam kills one, some more of the remaining crew will close with him, while the rest hang back debating whether they can win or not. There are now six sailors surrounding Oraam and taking swings at him.
Attacks: Nat 1, 20, Nat 20, 21, 14, 13. That 20 hits for 4, Nat 20 hits for 11, the 21 will deal 6, all slashing.

Damage Tracker:
Captain: 83
Crew: 1 dead.

Initiative:

Crew: 10
Captain: 9

Round 2

Initiative 26 (24+2 for finesse weapon attack)


Standard action

First attack: 14 with advantage for flanking

Damage: 8

Damage from hunter’s mark: 5


Second attack: 20 with advantage for flanking and +5 from Bardic inspiration thanks to Izar.

Damage:15

Damage from hunter’s mark: 2



IC: Jorian takes in his surroundings with his peripheral vision, noting the placement of ally and enemy alike in his vicinity. Observing Oraam’s position, he sees the crew members crowd in to attack the Hobgoblin. Jorian and Koh’nan would need to dispatch the captain quickly to come to the aide of their young humanoid companion.

Without words or any change in expression, Jorian’s eyes bore into the enemy captain’s as he moves in for two more swift strikes

Round 2: Initiative: 14 (level 3 spell + cantrip)  

Actions:
Move:  If not already at a safe distance, keeps moving
Standard action: Chill Touch (range spell attack 14) On a hit, the target takes 2d8 (10) necrotic damage, and it can't regain hit points until the start of my next turn.
Bonus action: lvl 3 Healing word on Oraam (3d4+4 = 10)
Reaction:  n/a
Free action: n/a

IC:  It is moments like these that Izar truly misses Helden. If the war priest had joined them in this particular folly, invisibility would not have to be eschewed in returned for such paltry healing. Every little bit counts I suppose, Izar sighs.

Round 2:

Initiative: 16 (15+3-2 two handed weapon)
Action: Two attacks (19 to hit, 7 dmg) (20 to hit, 13 damage)
BA: Switch Shield of Faith to Kho'nan (+2 AC)
Movement: STAND STRONG!

IC: Oraam strikes out at the newcomers, his face shifting from one of strict confidence to one that is slightly more nervous. Seeing that the Captain is less focused on Jorian, Oraam will shift the focus of his spell towards Kho'nan.

Murcurie wrote:

No worries. Moving on to round 2.

Captain: Init: 9
Will boot Kho'nan off the side of the ship and take a swing at Jorian. That's a 20 (including Izar's -2) to hit for 15 Slashing, and I'm going to need a Strength Save from you or be pushed 15ft away. Jorian will be getting hit with a 26 for 10 slashing.

I rolled incorrectly at first, so then I had to re-roll. Apologies. Strength Save with Advantage due to Rage: 24 +2 if Shield of Faith comes into play here.

Round 2: Initiative: 12 (14 -2 Heavy Attack)  

Actions:
Move: NEIN
Standard action: Smash Fuck x2 (1st: 16 to hit/15 damage; 2nd: 15 to hit/12 damage) - again, forgot to add flanking advantage, so the rolls may look wonky.
Bonus action: n/a
Reaction:  n/a
Free action: n/a

IC: Kho'nan grunts in frustration as his kill is denied. Quickly, he shoots out again, the Dorn Dergar being wielded as both a warhammer and a flail, as he moves his body to leverage the added weight of the chain. The Captain was too proud to know that the game was over. That much was clear. When Jorian and Kho'nan fought in tandem, few enemies escaped to tell the tale.

If Needed: Both he and the symbiont see the kick that would send them overboard coming and plant their back foot down. The blow lands firmly, but they are anchored to the deck. He may as well have kicked one of the pieces of fallen masonry on the riverbanks.

Iron and Metal wrote:

PLZ

Bump.

Hey thanks for hanging in there through all my update abuse. I think it's about time I let this captain go. Welcome to round 3.

The crew in combat with Oraam will continue to attack, the rest watch their crewmates and captain fall and seem more willing to be press-ganged than slaughtered.

Init: 1.
Attacks: 13, 17, 18, 19, and 21. Uh oh. That's 2, 5, 3, and 3 slashing damage, respectively.

Damage tracker:
Crew: 5 alive. 2 dead, one down 7hp

Round 3: Initiative: 5 (level 2 spell)  

Actions:
Move:  If not already at a safe distance, keeps moving
Standard action: Crown of Madness (One humanoid of your choice must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC 16) or become charmed:  target must use its action before moving on each of its turns to make a melee attack against a creature other than itself that you mentally choose.
Bonus action: lvl 1 Healing word on Oraam (1d4+4 = 6)
Reaction:  n/a
Free action: n/a

IC: Seeing Oraam still outnumbered and knowing that preventing a wound is better than healing it particularly when one cannot heal worth a damn, Izar decides to risk using less potent healing in favour of neutralising one of Oraam's attackers. "Behave," The single, magically infused word is heavy with authority, and punctuated with an unnaturally sharp snap of the fingers. With that, Izar waits to see the telltale twisted crown of jagged iron, an arcane collar that would hopefully bring to heel one of these unruly mutts.


*If the spell works, I'd redirect one of those attacks towards the crewmember that has already taken damage.

Round 3: Initiative: 11 +?? (intimidate)

Actions:
Move: Head toward Oraam to assist (place me in the melee - worst scenario I take hits and pressure off Oraam)
Standard action: Intimidate the Crew - again Rolled 21
Bonus action: Still raging like a sexy beast
Reaction:  n/a
Free action: n/a



IC: With the Captain down, the Beast shifts gears and heads toward Oraam. He roars once again that they all stand down lest they join their captain. With that, he wades into the melee for good measure.

Round 3 (Initiative 20)


Movement: Moving into combat, my priority is to flank an enemy, secondary to that I want to engage whoever Jorian can determine is the biggest threat to Oraam.

Bonus action: Move hunters mark to enemy i’m engaging

Standard action

First attack: 20 with advantage for flanking

Damage: 15

Damage from hunter’s mark: 3

(First attack total damage 18)


Second attack: 28 (Natural 20) with advantage for flanking.


Damage: 19 (11+8 for crit)


Damage from hunter’s mark: 6

(Second attack total damage: 25)

IC: Jorian flings blood from his blade as his enemy falls. Seeing Oraam’s predicament, Jorian moves with haste to the Hobgoblin’s position, unleashing another pair of swift strikes.

Question for posterity, Boss. The homebrew guide with tweaks to the Path of the Beast has been super helpful up to this point. I believe it will continue to be, but I wanted to see if you're OK with the change made here to "Bestial Soul." Here is the author's critique:

"This feature is incredibly underwhelming. Gaining magic damage on weapons that by this time have lost most of their value is the strongest part, and it’s only useful for sub-optimal builds. Gaining minor movement bonuses is something I’d expect to see tacked on as a secondary ability, not a core subclass feature. Extra movement options are all well and good, but they can easily be replicated with various spells, and if they’re all a subclass gets, we’re left with a character that can be useless anywhere on the battlefield.* Even if the barbarian got all of these at once, this feature would still be bad."


Path of the Beast Level 6 Homebrew Guide Change:

"Next, I want Bestial Soul to build upon the natural weapons we gained at level 3. To do this, I’m throwing out all of the ability except the addition of magic to the natural weapon’s damage. Alongside this augment, I would add in a scaling bonus to hit and damage rolls: +1 at level 6, +2 at level 10, +3 at level 14. I’ve talked about this many times, but weapons like this need some sort of scaling bonus to stay relevant as the party picks up magical weapons.

To cap off the ability, I would allow the barbarian to manifest two of the level 3 transformation options. I want this subclass to feel like the embodiment of unbridled ferocity, attacking their enemy with every part of their body, and being able to manifest a combination of natural weapons accomplishes that nicely for me."

Go for it brother. Thanks for checking with me on it, and I'd like you to keep reminding me of these changes, but the whole update is good in my opinion.

Fuck yes. Thanks!

Rolled 19 investigation to look for further information in the captain’s cabin.

Casting find trap on the chest.

Rolled 17 dex check to open lock

Let's get some of those sweet ass mother fuckin UPDOOTS, Y'all!!!!!

Perception at Disadvantage: Natural 20 and 16. So 16, I guess.

These lads are soft, bro. They don't want none.

Oh shit! I forgot I picked up a Driftglobe. Probably better suited for someone else to carry though, yeah? The party has a Driftglobe!

I could carry it - Izar is the only one in the party that does not have dark vision. At some I would like to acquire Goggles of Night or something equivalent so as to not hold up the party

While waiting, Kho'nan makes sweet, sweet love to himself in the corner of the room, making sure to stare everyone directly in the eyes at least once while doing so and never blinking.

Kho'nan continues the horrifically awkward public display while staring, somehow, into everyone's eyes simultaneously. Everyone would experience this. No one was safe.

The Beast would be released.

I saw that there was a f/u ooc post from you and clicked with trepidation, unsure whether I was prepared or even worthy to be graced by the unfathomable, the sublime.

You do not disappoint

I am here for my fans, always.