Out Of Character

[ehiker133]

Well, if nobody else really wants to take the Lentive Demitasse (wooden bowl/cup of healing), Torben has plenty of room and carrying capacity. In addition to the shortbow and quiver, Torben will take Rufus' hand axe, and iron spikes (x4).

Torben offered to carry the cup; Desmond is good with that. We will need to remember to get some holy water, though, or the cup won't work.

[sully]

Ways, I've got Dorgan at 11,118 for XP. A lot more than what you've got for him. Any idea where I went wrong?

EDIT: Strangely enough, when I add up all the XP awarded to him from the posts in the Experience Awards thread, adding 5% only to combat and treasure xp and not longevity awards, I get 10,403 xp.

[waysoftheearth]

Ways, I've got Dorgan at 11,118 for XP. A lot more than what you've got for him. Any idea where I went wrong?

EDIT: Strangely enough, when I add up all the XP awarded to him from the posts in the Experience Awards thread, adding 5% only to combat and treasure xp and not longevity awards, I get 10,403 xp.

Hmm, well one thing you wouldn't have known about (until now) is that--owing to the recent decision to not award XP for magic-items--I've deducted XP that were previously awarded for magic-items including the Marrowstone. But it's plausible that I could have missed something too... it's also plausible that you're assuming an XP bonus (which, according to the DD rules which are about to come into effect, would be +5% due to Dorgan's 14 strength) while I've assumed no XP bonus (as, according to the outgoing house rules, it would be +0% due to Dorgan's 8 wisdom).

Here's my record of Dorgan's recent XP:
5217 Carried forward (the details of this are in an older version of the spreadsheet on my old desktop PC)
667 10,000 posts
600 3 years
688 11,000 posts
320 Werewolves
140 Grell
1000 12k posts
150 Grey ooze
417 Wargriders
67 8gp 17sp 10cp
1083 13k posts
-1000 Reconcile 0 XP for magic-items (actually, I think Dorgan might have had 1,500 for the Marrowstone, in which case he might still be 500 ahead... but we can live with that).
9349 TOTAL

A spreadsheet does the maths, and I just checked that the expression it is using is correct--it appears to be all good.

10,403-1,000=9,403.
9,403 is pretty close to 9,349--it's off by 54.

So I wonder if there's a 54 XP award missing somewhere?

Or is it that 5% of 1,094 (the sum of Dorgan's non-longevity rewards, above) is 54 and you've added a +5% XP bonus that I have not? I'm guessing that's it since the numbers line up.

This then raises the question of whether I should retroactively adjust XP totals to account for the changed DD XP bonus scheme?
I guess I probably should!

I'll have to think about that... and mainly figure out how to differentiate the in-game from the meta-game awards.

[sully]

As long as I get to stay at 4th level, it's all good.

[waysoftheearth]

As long as I get to stay at 4th level, it's all good.

No danger of anything crazy like dropping a level

[doctorx]

Hi, ways. I've just had a quick look at your Templar changes. Do I have it right that Josiane no longer gets her spell slots?

[waysoftheearth]

Hi, ways. I've just had a quick look at your Templar changes. Do I have it right that Josiane no longer gets her spell slots?

I've tried to balance the DD Templar against the regular DD Cleric.
It's possible that I haven't yet got the balance right yet, but you're correct in that the DD Templar--as currently written--can't memorise spells. He can still cast clerical spells from scrolls, and also gets an "at will" spell-like power at 4th and 8th levels (detect evil and dispel evil, respectively).

In terms of balancing the DD Templar against the DD Cleric, the differences to the Templar are:
+ Better weapon selection,
+ Use of magic-swords,
+ Additional damage dice and dispel magic with a Holy sword,
+ Multiple attacks versus mooks,
+ Moral adjustment in battle (at 4th level),
+ At will detect evil and dispel evil (at 4th and 8th level),
- Cast spells only from scrolls,
- Can't turn undead.

All of the above is for Delving Deeper in general.

For Hinterlands specifically, we already had a bunch of house rules in play which alter the significance of some of the above.

So, from Josiane's perspective, the changes are:
+ She needs 20% fewer XP,
+ Additional damage dice and dispel magic with a Holy sword,
+ Moral adjustment in battle (at 4th level),
+ At will detect evil and dispel evil (at 4th and 8th level),
+ Better weapon selection,
+ Use of magic-swords,
+ Multiple attacks versus mooks,
- Cast spells only from scrolls,
- Can't turn undead*.

Another thing that's particular to Hinterlands is that it allows resting (and a few other things) to heal 1-6 hit points, which relieves much of the usual need for clerical healing. With the recent acquisition of the Cup of Healing, this is especially so!

FWIW -- I did consider creating a "slower" cleric spell table for Templars, but I also had in mind that this class could be used in "low-magic" or historical settings. So limiting spell casting to scrolls just seemed to make more sense.


All that aside, I'm always open to suggestions if anyone thinks there's a better way to do it. Let the suggestions flow

[ehiker133]

The ability to bless water, thus making it holy?

[waysoftheearth]

"Gallaine of Wildwood, I am the hermit Taurnorn, so named for the tall pine tree that grows in the high, lonely places of the world. Men call me the Highbough, the goblin-scum have dubbed me Morgulug a'Hezmog, and even their wargs fear my name: generations have been whelped on bloody tales of the Old Cat. My traveling companion is young Lleuad-Wen the Pale, lover of starlight. These assembled insignificants are the best representatives of their kind I was able to find on short notice. They have come all the way from Ket to seek the council of the Wood Elves and plead for your help to win back their city. I am sure each of them will want to present proper introduction to the Council to begin these proceedings. Beware! The Grey Elf brings no gift of song, magic, nor beauty to honor our hostess the Lady of the Wood; only tidings of bloodshed, starvation, and war!"

LOL! That's awesome

[doctorx]

I will of course abide by any rule changes you wish to implement - it's your game and a very, very good one I feel privileged to play in! Thank you!

I think my concern is that this radically alters the character as I've envisaged and played her - She is primarily a mystic/prophetess of (possibly) Supernatural origin and can access magic/perform minor miracles, however you want to call it. Her martial skills have come about because of her stepfather's training and she's often reluctant to employ them. She's absolutely not the "charge, screaming "Death to the Unbelievers"" type at all!

I'm honestly not trying to power game here, but I'd much rather lose the special abilities/multiple attacks and keep Josiane's spell-casting. It's more in keeping with the 'is she some saintly avatar or just some strange, deluded foundling child' that I first envisaged.

As things stand, it seems she's now a lot closer to an OD&D Paladin, and that's not really how I saw her- which was basically a gentle, healing Cleric who just happens to swing a mean sword, albeit reluctantly. All things considered, if it was a choice between Josiane being a Cleric or a Paladin, I'd choose the former.

Just my initial reactions and I repeat I am more than happy to play it in whatever way you see fit. She's going to be gob-smacked by being called The Saint! You're quite right - she's going to have trouble adjusting to it...