[pnpgm] Game update #23 - File #108 - Party sleeps in cabin
Scott Adams
longshot at darktech.org
Tue Feb 27 08:30:20 CET 2007
HT Alias/Player Character Name Type Status/Notes Sex
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R1 John Haight...........Arawn.............Druid .Normal/Alfar Ma
?? Chris Wells...........Ben'dar...........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma
W2 Marcel Liberty........Chion.............Sailor..Normal/Human Ma
W3 Ryan Torres...........Farseeker.........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma
R3 Wayne Richardson/Uji..Thig..............Sidh MU.Normal/Faerry Ma
W2 Robert Maxwell........Strie'bog.........Bard ..Normal/Human Ma
R3 Orion (Paul Broman)...Trembyl...........Wizard..Normal/Human Ma
W4 Wout Broere...........Unali.............Ninja...Normal/Human Fe
R3 Scott Adams...........Xian..............Wizard..Normal/Human Ma
R4 Alex Koponen..........Z'leyra...........Healer..Normal/Human Fe
Animals: Corona [Eagle] Z'leyra, Boyzdar [Wolf] (Strie'bog),
Game Web Site - http://www.funport.com/longshot/pbem
Public posts/actions to pnpgm at abroere.xs4all.nl (mailing list)
Private emails (not public actions) to longshot at darktech.org
Game Update 223 in sequence (file #108)
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Admin notes: None.
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[Recap]
From Ben'dar: [Re: Actions]
After the party is finished with a thorough inspection of the
yard and Strie'bog's house, Ben'Dar inspects the two horses
Xian found, to determine if any clues about their owners and
their origins can be discovered. He will tie them up with
the rest of the party's horses. The 2 new-found horses will
be used as pack animals and/or spare mounts until they can be
sold.
Ben'Dar lights a torch and takes care of the horses, taking
off saddles and bags, grooming them, feeding them, etc. If
Z'leyra is interested, he continues teaching her about horse
husbandry as he does this. He will put all the horses inside
the stable for the night. He will find a place to put the
torch outside the stable to light the surrounding yard during
the night. Ben'Dar will lay out his bedroll inside the stable,
in a place in the shadows. He will stay out there to keep a
watch over the horses during the night. Who knows...maybe
the mysterious flying man will try to sneak back during the
night?
GM: Ack. Actually 3 horses.
-------------------------------------------------
From Chion: [Re: Actions]
Chion will teleport back to the house. Leaving his insubstantial
spell working for the time being.
He'll say, "I couldn't see whoever it was who ran off in that
direction. I think we lost him without a tracking spell or
something."
Seeming relatively unconcerned about the intruders, he will
go over to the front of the house and sit on the porch (his
insubstantial spell will most likely wear off by then, or he
will cancel it when he sits down).
He begins to ponder.
If only I had a home like this when I was growing. I would
never have left except to speak with the Elves and Fearries.
Humans can be so cruel to each other.
But I guess its all for some plan in the end. Even if it is
just to maintain these planes in this place. If the others
only knew of the other worlds out there would they be content
to be here. I wonder. And some of those planes aren't any
better. Few are in fact.
But what of the spiral and the black beast? That was an
interesting world. Where would I reside. Hide from both sides
perhaps. Become common. Give up my abilities. Naw. If I stay
here what will come of me anyway. Will I succeed the Grand
Master? Is that my destiny. Is there destiny? The future. Ah.
The future is so well balance between what may be and what
will be. I like the future. The past so hard to change. But
the future is the past. That's the beauty of it. If I make
myself more powerful, what will be the use. I can't even help
catch a burglar. Its ironic and exactly right all at the same
time. But why should I catch him anyway? Because he took pot
shots at my friends. Yeah, that's one reason. But maybe my
friends deserved it. Its too early to tell just yet. What of
the Shaman. If I learn his ways, will I go crazy if my special
friends are attacked. Should I even bother?
But my gem would keep that from happening so maybe it would
be ok. Its a nice night (looking up at the sky).
I wonder if they have everything under control yet. Sure they
do. They always do. They are a good group of friends. Not to
hard to be friends with this group. Anything else would
probably get you killed (Chion rubs the ring). "Hmmmm." he
says aloud. Well, if I did want power, how would I go about
it? The mana batteries I can make are weak right now. But if
I practiced I could probably make ones that mean I never have
to use my own mana. Ever. That would be nice. To always be
full of the magical energy of this plane. Or is it nicer to
conserve the balance? Or in order to conserve the balance
should I be the conservation's advocate. Ensuring through
my power I can keep balance? I will need to talk to the trader
we met about this later. He has spent some time in a jail
and should have some answers on how to better spend one's
life. (and the thoughts continue until someone interrupts
him... well into the next morning...)
The last thought he has is - I wondered if they had even
noticed I was just sitting here day dreaming...
GM: Ack. Your thoughts are interesting. You tempt me with
plot points :). But I'm surprised you post this publicly
for all to see. But its fun. Adds spice. :)
-------------------------------------------------
From Arawn: [Re: Actions]
As the bewildered group made their way back toward the cabin
Arawn asked Thig if he cold look over the clay ball found in
the clearing. Assuming that the fae mage is willing he rolls
it in his hands, his eyes closing in concentration every know
and then. As they reach the clearing he once again hands it to
Thig, thanking him.
Moving up toward the front door he watched as the others split
to various tasks. Entering the abode he stood in the center of
the main room, still and silent, his eyes out of focus. As
questions and comments were raised Farseeker came to him,
inquiring about the dead man. He eyes retained their distant
look and he looked away from Farseeker, through the nearby
window. After a moment he spoke quietly.
"No, wait a moment. We may have need of the bodies."
He turned around to face those present, his brilliant blue-
green eyes sparkling, the only part of his face not obscured
by the light grey face wrap. His voice was strong, thoughtful
and serious.
"If we wish to find out more of these men as well as what
has happened to Strie'bog's mother I see at least a few
options. First we can question the dead men's horses. They
may possess useful information.
Also, did anyone manage to wound the wizard? Or capture one
of his belongings? If so we may be able to use the item as a
link to track the wizard through the magic of sympathy."
He paused a moment, as if deeply considering something,
before continuing, his voice carrying a far graver tone.
"Failing this we have at least two other options. I can attempt
to peer into the past or," and he regarded Farseeker for a
moment with a slight nod before engaging the others once again,
"we can summon the spirits of the dead men for questioning.
Both are fraught with danger, the first is a powerful and
sometimes dangerous spell that may backfire and other summons
the dark spirits of the dead, though I would be protected other
magical protections would have to be in place to protect the
rest of you from their wrath."
He lowered his head slightly before turning a bit to look
out of the window once again.
"If there are other ideas then I am open to other suggestions.
If not, let me know what you decide."
Forgot to add that Arawn would also mention that we may be
able to use the Tracking spell to locate Strie'bog's mother
since she has plenty of personal belongings here.
GM: Ack.
-------------------------------------------------
From Z'leyra: [Re: Actions]
Z'leyra frowns at realizing that she failed to see through an
illusion. The clay ball might be used to magically track the
wizard, but with a foe this dangerous the odds of be led into
a trap are too high to risk. She turns and starts to patch
and then heal people that were injured.
GM: Ack.
-------------------------------------------------
From Unali: [Re: Actions]
Unali suggests keeping a watch around the house (perimeter
guard) as well as on the horses during the night.
She will wear her chainmail until she can find a leather
armor that fits her and once back in town somewhere will
have a new black leather armor made. SHe will use the black
cowl over the chainmail in the meantime.
GM: Ack.
-------------------------------------------------
From Strie'bog: [Re: Actions]
After looking around, Strie'bog returns with a small book.
With some hesitation, he looks to the last written page.
"It seems my mother has gone to visit Miklav. I don't know
when she left, but there is no fresh meat. It must have
been a while ago, but her plants seem cared for." He then
looks around the house.
"Unali, is this where you were attacked?" Strie'bog kneels
and looks around. Picking up a small yellow flower, he says,
"this is teil, and it only grows in the sacred forest." He
holds the flower up, and all can see it has a distinctive
purple pattern inside the yellow leaves. I wonder if these
men had come from the forest." After being lost in thought
for a moment, he stands up and goes over to one of the older
trees in the garden. He then addresses the tree in Tounge of
the Forest. (It is a basic greeting).
Using forest talk, he is going to ask the forest about the
men that attacked and about Endo.
GM: Ack.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[New Stuff]
[Decalis 13th, 104th day since left Marentia, 39th day of
Adventure #3 of the 1633rd year [TH].]
[Location: Pavassa Forest - Strie'bog's cabin/home]
[Time: 5:34pm]
[As the excitement wears out and adrenaline ends the
party gathers once again. Everyone is still confused
as to why the party was attacked. It was over so
quickly. The house is found secure and empty after
a quick search. The cabin compound is well defended
with its high hedge it will take some time for a person
to try to get through. The main entrance in the south
is the only spot to guard really.]
[Xian brings the three horses into the compound and
Ben'dar takes over and begins to inspect them. He
starts to search the saddle bags.]
Xian: "Great a blow back there. Did you plan to do that?"
[Ben'dar finds food, some spare leather and cloth clothing.
A bedroll on each horse. A water skin full of water.
The saddles are of average design and not so fancy. He
removes the saddles from the horses. The horses themselves
seem to be of average quality riding mounts not war horses
it seems. The only distinctive thing about them is wider
than average hooves. From his days on the plains he knows
the horses to the far north in the ice fields tend to be
adapted for those areas by wide hooves to balance them
on the ice. But with so many barbarian tribes this far
north including the Vassa, Helva, Humagi and others it
could just be inter-breeding of the horses. Other than
some arrows on one horse and a dagger on another the
horses have nothing unusual for wilderness survival and
camping. Ben'dar can't figure out which horse the
flying man owned as theres no distinctive differences
between the gear for each horse. On the second horse
when he removes the saddle he notices a small burnt mark
on the black horses side where the saddle covered it
up before. He inspects it and find it is healing but
the hair hasn't fully regrown in the blotch. He feeds
and cleans the horses then he gathers up the party
horses as well and places them all in the barn. This
takes him almost 2 hours to fully do. By then its
dark and he lights a torch outside the barn. Eventually
Ben'dar selects a spot in the barn to sleep once things
settle down.]
[Chion returns to camp soon after the combat disappointed
that he couldn't find the man in time. He figures the
man must be clever and used to having an escape plan.
As he sits in the front under the stars he thinks for
a good amount of time. As people pass in their duties
and coming in and out of the cabin they look at him
in thought. Some folks give chit-chat but overall most
seem to ignore him in his thoughts that evening. In
his thoughts he recalls a story of a thief who used
magical balls to show illusions to escape pursuit as well.
A old trick but it seems to still work. He leans against
the wall of the cabin and listens to the forest. During
his thoughts he notices the staff on his leg seems to
warm every so often. This staff is strange indeed he
considers. Woundenal did mention there was something about
it that seemed strange. Chion wonders if he knew what
it was or was just bluffing. Eventually Chion falls
asleep against the wall not even into his bedroll on the
side of him. Z'leyra will later on her watch place a
blanket on him to ensure he doesn't freeze.]
[Arawn and Z'leyra question the horses captured but they
only seem to indicate they go from here to there and
back and forth. These are the smartest horses. But
then again most horses aren't. All the horses seem to
care is if there is good grass to eat where they are
going or not. Not much other clues are learned from
the horses. Since horses don't understand human speech
other than one or two word verbal (repeated) commands
they have no clue what was spoken or said by the humans.]
[Arawn treats his own wounds with bandages. Z'leyra
offers to help but then again she would likely be better
at human than Elf healing.]
[After some time Strie'bog comes into the main room
and for those there he explains what he has learned.
He holds a small green book that seems to be the size
of a diary or journal.]
Strie'bog: "It seems my mother has gone to visit Miklav. I
don't know when she left, but there is no fresh meat. It
must have been a while ago, but her plants seem cared for."
[Arawn thinks about a tracking spell for Strie'bog's mother
but if the party knows her general direction there would
be little use for it at this point.]
[At the same time Thig flies back to the area and inspects
the clay ball further. He uses his senses to test and
study the clay ball. A simple design not needing any
craftsmanship. The size of a marble 4x normal size. It
has no markings on it. But he does sense magic from it.
He thinks the item is clever but simple. A simple design
one can make to store magic in and lose later. He prods
the ball with his staff but nothing happens. He carefully
inches forward and with a gloved hand he picks up the ball.
He flies back to the cabin with it and places it on the
table outside by the fire pit. He then heads off to check
on his gear as he often does.]
[Arawn notices the ball and picks it up. The ball is
cold to his ungloved hands. Suddenly the ball begins
to hum and before he could put it down it turns to
a warm mud and dissolves like pudding in his hands.]
[Trembyl who is at the table sees this and comments.]
Trembyl: "Interesting. I touched it and held it and
nothing happened. But Thig touches it and nothing
happened. But wait he has gloves on. You don't.
Maybe it was made to do that if an Elf touched it?"
[The mud runs from Arawn's hand and fingers down onto
the table and onto the ground through the planks.
He senses nothing from it at this point.]
[Thig returns to see the mess and questions about the
the clay ball. Trembyl explains what happens.]
Thig: "In a forest like this there are likely folks who
hate sidh. Maybe the wizard made it to do that for
Sidh only? Maybe he doesn't like us?" [He grins.]
[A burial detail for the two bodies is setup and prepares
to bury the dead with torches. Best not to leave out
all night for decay and predators. But Arawn gives his
suggestion on talking to the dead or seeing into the
past.]
Farseeker: "Oh no! Talking to the dead is necromancy!
I won't have anything to do with it. We (he points
to Xian) had to deal with a situation like that years
ago and it backfired. No thanks! I'll not be in
the area. Besides that's dark magic!" [He narrows
his eyes] "I didn't think Elves knew dark magic like
that?"
Xian: "Viewing into the past has been attempted by
Z'leyra. You can attempt it but as you say its
risky. But looking into the past of these 2 guys
may only give you small clues. These guys are
hired bodyguards or thugs. I doubt they would
know anything. But its your call."
[Arawn also gives his suggestion on tracking the
flying man.]
Xian: "Z'leyra used the trick recently to track someone
on the plains. It worked. I'm sure it would work
in this case. But the clay ball is gone now. We
don't know which horse is his. The blood he lost
when Corona hit him could be hard to find in the dark
and gone by the morning. So that again is up to
you to decide to attempt."
Farseeker: "Strie'bog said his mom went to this inner
forest thing. If the men were after her the man
is likely heading there too. But if he's not and going
another direction we should help Strie'bog locate
his mom first."
[Later Strie'bog walks around the grounds and thinks
to himself about being home. When he gets to the
back he kneels down where Unali was attacked and
uses a torch from the courtyard to inspect the area.
Unali inspecting the fountain, since her homeland
has many fountains as a normal rule, hears him and
joins him. Both talk quietly and then Strie'bog
finds the flower.]
[Grouped back up the flower is mentioned.]
Farseeker: "There you go. If that man had the flower
on him and it fell off when he bumped up against
Unali then he must've come from there as well."
[As two stand guard outside Z'leyra helps to cook up
a meal with provisions in the storage room. While
there is no fresh meat there are good supplies of
fruit and other items. Having gotten permission first
she and others clean up the room for the night's meal.]
Xian: "You know this is the first time we've set down
to an actual home table in months. Other than
eating outside or in some small tipi or something.
It must be over three months! Since the tavern
gathering back in Sivas. Hey! Trembyl didn't you
just have a birthday?"
Trembyl: "Yes. You remember?"
Xian: "Of course!"
Trembyl: "Just another day for me. Another day closer to
death."
Farseeker: "Cheer us up why don't you." [He grins.]
[As sentries outside patrol the area with Corona on the
roof the party begins normal chit chat as if nothing
bad has just occurred hours before.]
Xian: "I must say Strie'bog this house is amazing.
Its not like the other small huts we've seen."
Trembyl: "Strie'bog going to sleep in your room tonight?"
[And other chit-chat...]
[Outside the forest is a buzz with night forest noises
like the call of owls and the rustling of trees.
This time of year insects are hibernating mostly so
its more quiet this time of year. The forest seems
a blaze with fire flies.]
[As the party prepares for bed as the night gets late
two horses are left outside for patrol. Ben'dar
will sleep in the barn. Xian asks if the party
can sleep inside from the cold.]
[Alone and on sentry Strie'bog walks up to the hedge to
a tall 110 foot tree and casts some forest spell to
commune with nature.]
[It is clear to the party Strie'bog wishes to find
his mother first and that is in the Sacred Forest.
He explains its a good three day ride there but
maybe along the way the party can learn other clues.]
[That night nothing happens. The man does not return
or no forest giants attack. A quiet and cold night
comes and goes...]
---------------------------
GM: Assuming no other plans other than heading to the
Sacred forest (per Strie'bog's interest) we'll move
on. The party will move east into the deep forest.
It will take 3 days from Decalis 15-17 (December).
If you have actions during these days including skill,
magic and other stuff let me know. Next update on
Friday I will check for random encounters and then
move the party onward and see what happens then.
I will report natural healing in the morning if
no magical healing is done tonight. If you wish to
change skill training let me know. Otherwise will
allocate 6 or 3 points in next 3 days to the following:
Ben'dar : Horse Husbandry
Farseeker : Forest Survival
Arawn : Scimitar
Xian : Forest Survival
Chion : Healer
Trembyl : Throwing Dagger
Strie'bog : Marentian
Unali : Forest Survival/Horsemanship
Z'leyra : Horse Husbandry
If no change then nothing needs to be said.
If you do spells please list spell name, Days cast on,
and the EL. Also plans for recasts if failures.
Example: Day 15 Fire Ball EL2
Short update but Friday will be longer I hope.
Actions? Comments?
Next update Friday...
GM: Strie'bog - You will get email tomorrow afternoon.
Some other players may get email as well. It should
be out by nightfall if you want to wait on posting
actions.
---------------------------------------------------
On a side note. Based on emails back and forth with
players I would like to clarify and add some new
information for everyone to be aware of. This
is not directed at anyone but to give everyone a heads
up so everyone knows where I am coming from.
Mana Batteries: The Bane of GMs in some cases. Mana
Batteries for a MEL5 wizard is great to help those
newbies. Yes. But at high levels they can virtually
be power houses of abuse. In the 20 years I've had
a few to have tons of batteries. As a result I have
a house rule that the Divine world deems you can only
use and make MEL/2 Mana Batteries at any one time.
This help balance things out. Otherwise folks tend
to have so much mana they cast hundreds of spells or
use only their batteries during game play. This makes
GMs life tougher in some ways by forcing them to
make things tougher on players. On the reverse side
those who only use Casting Ability for magic and
get weak (like in Clima where some were tapped out),
a GM like myself will be generous and make things
EASIER. That's just how I run things. So keep this
in mind for future. I don't mind mana batteries at
all but dependency is a big problem in a game world like
P&P compared to other game systems.
Spells: Its no secret the most active spell caster has
to be Z'leyra. I don't point this out to mean anything
bad. Its just she can do so. I'm all for casting
any amount of spells you want. Just be aware of other
things (see below). If you want to and can afford to
cast hundreds of spells I would like it formatted so
its less work on myself. I would need the Day, spell,
EL, plans on recasts if failures. In cases where
a spell affects a target like Chaining you should let
me know what your practicing on (say a bug). Personally
my view on casting spells is they are best done during
Adventures. In that I like characters that cast magic
when needed. Casting 200 spells in one week can make
characters leap up in MEP in no time. This brings the
attention of others (see below). In no time characters
can become great with only a short few adventures. Its
not too realistic in some cases. Its no fun either.
It leaves the challenge out in my opinion.
Toys: "Toys" to me are magical items. Be it a simple
Damage plus dagger to a ultra powerful glove of
Death doing Death Powers at EL10. To me many players
depend on their toys rather than their role playing
skill or their character. I have NO problem with you
making toys. Go for it. But be advised that more
toys draws attention. A person like Xian who has few
toys is less a Magic Bullseye than someone say like
Jordi who had many (can name him since he's not here :)).
The greater the toys the more attention you draw by
supernatural forces and such. Its like a beacon in the
dark. Just wanted to make sure you guys realize this
risk. I have no problem with toys that help but they
can be pain for me by spoiling plot points. But that's
the bane of all GMs for 40 years now. I as GM though
do have to get clever and invent work arounds. To me
that's a fun challenge. But for you guys it could
be a bad deal. :) Alex has a good knowledge of making
toys and if you want to get help in such things you
can consult him. Just keep in mind at some point though
we have an image in our minds of our characters. A
walking fortress with weapons and belt load of magical
toys looks funny if your walking down a simple market
street. No one has to have Mana Sensing to know your
a strange and unusual person. So keep in mind the more
toys the fun but the risks increases.
Balance: As I've posted in the PNP mailing list I'm a big
fan of Balance. I believe EVERYTHING should be in
a fine balance. I guess this is why I like the
Multiverse games like Stormbringer. :) There seems
to be a champion of balance in me. What this means
is that for every action minor or big I will strive
to balance it. A spell I create may be powerful like
a Shield spell but it may have drawbacks (the balance).
A magical toy might be great and powerful but it
also might have balance. A situation where the party
outnumbers the enemy 3:1 may be balanced by more and
more powerful enemy who actually use their brain than
grunt. As you've noticed as the party goes from Clima
the simple enemy was guards who died left and right
and acted like bad Game AI. The most powerful were
Priestess. But now as the adventures go on the bad
guys are more and more powerful and intelligent.
This is the balance as the power of the party grows.
I've also tried to decrease party size to balance
that power and it may continue later. All I can say
is Balance will be everywhere. One can strive for
Power (magic or otherwise). That's all fine. But
there will be a balance to even that. Otherwise it
makes life boring when the party can simply kill
everything in sight without the enemy hitting back.
That's no fun is it?
Free Will: Don't forget you guys have Free Will. It
may be a challenge (fun) to react to your actions.
At times it throws me for a curve. That's half the
fun. But I will NEVER fringe on that free will.
Just be aware of the risks. Since John is new I'm
only repeating old info. I never will try to on
purpose kill a person. Its not my style. I don't
throw 100 orcs at one person. No. But if your
stupid to do something like cross a moat full of
acid by wading when warned then go ahead. Just
be aware of the risks. As I play Xian (myself)
he is the typical NPC who gives advice. Sometimes
that advice is real, misleading or totally wrong.
That's fun too. But his advise will be a guide on
your free will. Do as you please as long as you
know the risks. PBEMs are slower than table games
so while I do free will I may "urge" the game into
a direction. This has to be done otherwise we'd be
sitting at the cabin for the next 6-8 months before
the day ends. :) That's not infringing on free will
just a suggestion on journey path.
Avatars: Lastly as spell or skill ELs get to max we
all must be aware of the risks with that as well.
As a house rule I've always liked the idea that
the gods view the world about them and seek out
their best faithful or worst haters. So the gods
are watching. A person that may get max EL in
a spell like EL15 in Fireball may draw the attention
of a Fire God. He may deem that person worthy of
a visit by his Avatar. The Avatar may be fanatics
for that god (usually only 1 in the MW for that god).
He is the god's chosen person. He is a direct
communication between the god and the middle world.
The avatar may seek out this Fire person and see if
the god wishes to seek an audience or make THAT
person a Avatar. What I'm saying is while you climb
keep in mind skills and spells will get to Max. While
a EL15 in some skill means little there may be special
cases where a skill is very high. But mostly the gods
view for spell use. For example Chion's Teleport spell
is probably the best in the world at this point. This
is no secret based on the distance teleported. This
means Chion may have drawn the attention of some god
by his large teleports. This attention may be good
or bad. For example a Chaos Mage with EL18 in Death
Hand may be sought out by a Chaos god to become his
Death Avatar. A EL17 Healing wizard may be asked to
become a Lawful god's main Healing Avatar. That
sort of thing. This Avatar status may be a bonus
or a curse. It depends on the person and the item
in question (skill/spell). So as long as you know
this the more spells you cast the more attention you
could bring. If you cast for example 100 EL0
Fireballs a day you might draw the attention of some
small fire god. He may wonder what's up. But if
you cast 100 Water from Stones I doubt there is
a god interested in such a spell use so likely no
attention is drawn. With this said cast all the
spells you want I just wanted you to know how I do
things. It adds spice I think. :)
If you have questions or comments public or private
let me know. If I think of other house rules I'll
post them later.
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