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Posted in: Heavenly Blessings
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June 5, 2016 at 11:39 am #1824
I’ve always hated rifts style initiative (where each creature has it’s own initiative). From my DM perspective, I’ve experienced time and again, explaining the opening scene of a combat, getting everyone all revved up or scared with the tense narration, and then having to break the immersion to roll initiative for maybe 10+ combatants, add up all the modifiers, then collate in proper order, and all before anyone can actually do anything about the goblins that just jumped out of the bushes…kinda puts the breaks on one of the best parts of the game and makes if feel more like just a game. It takes about 5 -10 minutes to do it for a sizable encounter. Genie speeds it up to about 2 minutes but that still feels too long sometimes. Sometimes you just want to roll to hit the ogre that just walked around the corner, and having to roll initiative for each person in the group and for the 6 other ogres that no one sees, that takes away from the spontaneity that a battle breaking out should have. It’s a lot of book keeping at the very moment when a lot of book keeping is the least cool. Ok, think I got my critique of that out.
I like side based initiative for very selfish reasons. It makes running battles easier. It makes the transition from story mode to battle mode more seamless and narration friendly. It encourages the kind of behavior in combat that I appreciate: Thinking ahead and teamwork. I think one of the things that makes D&D unique, and not just a pen and paper simulation of a fantasy based videogame, is that it can encompass something those games can’t. In a video game you certainly can think ahead, but with unlimited lives, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, and there’s not much at stake other than your time. With Video games you can certainly work as a team, but there are many moments again when that is optional.
Having to sit down with a group of people and make sense of a bad situation, round to round, is part of the charm of D&D. When things go bad you watch them unfold slowly in horror. Likewise, when they go good, it’s like a building glory that just gets better and better minute by minute. D&D is not a quickie, it’s sex with Sting.
The reason I bring up video games is because I feel like individual initiative makes D&D feel less like the D&D I grew up with, and more like an attempt to simulate a video game on battle mat and paper. It does so in the following way: It turns all but the most simple battles into swirling maelstroms where half the people don’t know when there turn is, and that alone makes it almost impossible to work together consistently enough to build up the spirit of team work that is key to me for the game feeling like D&D and being fun as hell. It locks everyone into their own initiative bubble, and takes away some of the player spontaneity, and much of the DM spontaneity.
Individual initiative may be more realistic in some ways, but at what cost? It’s also pretty unrealistic in its own ways too. In real life, battles ebb and flow as one side gains and advantage and forces the other side on the defensive. You lose some of that in individual initiative. In real life, when teams work together they can pull off amazing shit before an opponent can even respond, and with individual initiative you can never count on who’s going when, so not only is it hard to work together, but often times teamwork is punished because just a few bad guys going in the middle of the plan can make the whole thing pointless. I mean, how complicated do you want the game to be before it’s “real enough” for you. At some point as the books fly open and you’re arguing over whether grognard can take a swift action now because he took an immediate action last round, and you’re trying to convince Hrothlak the Hill Giant goes before him now because he delayed last round, and the rest of the group just wants to whack the damn orcs, you’ve lost sight of the game and sacrificed the fun of the moment…for what?
There’s a danger in trying to simulate combat perfectly in a role playing game. The danger is this. You can add in so many rules that every battle feels like a really complicated war game, and at that point, the battle may be more realistic, but now it also feels more like just a game. The brain takes over where the heart should be in charge. People are worried more about taking their five foot step than saving their friend that’s getting beat down. They are so focused on getting off the right spell that they are actually missing the fight. People feel more like they are playing a game where they’ve got to be smart, and less like they are in an exciting battle in the middle of a story that only brave hearts and teamwork will win. Too many rules can take the heart right out of the game.
Shayn is right, that you’ve got to throw some kind of bone to people who have made major character choices base on initiative. That’s easy enough to do I think. It’s also easy to imagine you could strike a middle ground in complicated battles where there might be 3 or 4 groups acting on different initiatives instead of just two sides.
Eric is right to point out that when the bad guys go it can be brutal…but I find that creates a sense of urgency and danger that encourages actually thinking about defensive strategy and here it is again, TEAMWORK. It’s pretty amazing to notice that in individual initiative, everyone is just focused on fucking the enemy and doing the most damage they can on their turn, and all the sudden when you change things to side based initiative, the warriors are worried about protecting the wizard and holding the line. There is actually a storm to be weathered as a group as the ebb and flow of battle shifts, and people have to think about how they’ve left themselves open a little bit more.
May 27, 2016 at 3:18 pm #1817…And since no one else seems to have anything to say…
It would seem you have all agreed to take a trek north and east, deeper into mysterious Yunshan, to investigate this Kromian omen, and seek the fate of Grey’s missing agent.
With more than half the day gone it seems prudent to leave in the morning and get a fresh start. Though very much has happened for all of you in the past half year, you feel a strange feeling in your bodies. For some it is a knot in the stomach, for others, a tingling, and for some a lightness in the head, and for yet others, a kind of cool focus on something distant that you can’t define, that seems to draw your attention away from what’s in front of you. However it is for you, some time that night as you are sharing drink before a roaring fireplace after dinner, it hits you. You know this feeling. This is the feeling of adventure about to unfold.
May 23, 2016 at 1:18 pm #1788“Here here Caris!”
Evon says with unusual gusto.
“Well is our fine city safe or not? Should I be worried? Shame if I lived to see us go down as an old man when I’m too damn useless to do anything about it.”
Bo speaks, an edge of honesty and concern in the jokers voice.
May 2, 2016 at 5:19 pm #1784And with that you go, and head out into Fanlu’s night, a lone figure, a ghost haunting familiar ground.
When you at last reach the manor house a small note has been left on a table outside your bedroom door, the place mail of import is normally left for you. It is folded once and sealed with a few beads of stiff red wax. It reads.
We should have tea together. Day after tomorrow at the Sacred Leaf…at tea time of course. I will be there.
-GrognakApril 24, 2016 at 9:56 am #1781“Well it is good to hear you do not wish to replace me. I don’t know what else I would do if I did not have this place to haunt. Even if you wish to train them as warriors, they will still need to learn good manners, how to read and write characters, how to add simple numbers, the history of their realm… I can teach them such things. You know, when I was young I was a known historian at the academy of Hing Lu Tu up in Barter Town. Did much research on the Shinto Dynasty, especially the time as it was ending, but before the high clans and the great temples of Yun Shan established the current way of things as the Ten Order Dynasty. It is surprising how little was known about that time, so for awhile I was the man to speak to on it, an authority as they say.
Believe it or not, but there was a time in my youthful forties when I would pay men like you handsomely to pillage books and scrolls from old ruins. That was a long time ago…
I have already begun to catalog the talents and character flaws of our young here, seemed a prudent thing to do. It will be little trouble for me to collate a report of sorts for your review. I will start on that tomorrow, and if you can keep the kids busy at work, I will finish before sundown.
I must put in master Stern, is there anything else you wish before I take my leave?”
April 24, 2016 at 9:38 am #1780“So you are heroes eh?”
Bo speaks as he lights the pipe and hands it to Caris with a smile and a nod
“Is it true all this I hear about war bands tromping through the hills in these parts? Bugbears and goblins and giants on the move again?”
Evon leans back in a old wicker rocking chair, it is a relaxed, almost slouched posture you realize you have never seen him in before. It looks strange on the dignified Half elf. He regards the two of you with interest, as if eager to hear what you will say, as one who is new to the story, and you realize, since you returned from Shen Ling several weeks back, the two of you have not spoken very much at all to Evon about what happened. There was the madness and fanfare of your return, and then it seemed like everyone became so busy.
April 24, 2016 at 9:28 am #1779One does not simply meet with White Carp. Should White Carp need to speak with you, he will arrange the meeting on his terms, but, if you wish to meet with him, I can make that known, and I can make known other messages you might wish to pass along.
In these parts, I am, how do the southern merchants put it…his point of contact
So now we have shared things of importance over Saki. You have bared your intentions to me, and I have shown you some of my past. It is a fine first meeting for you and I. We should not be greedy…and I have drunk quite a bit…even for me. I welcome you to stay and enjoy whatever comforts we have as our guest before you go into the night, or take your leave as you wish. I will not read into it of take offense at either choice.
But I have some matters I must attend to. Before I leave you, is there any particular matter you wish to discuss?
April 23, 2016 at 1:06 pm #1777I remember the next day, a man came to town. He wore a tattered broad brimmed hat and worn sandals, looked just like many of the men that lived in my village, but people hurried us into our houses when he arrived, like he was something dangerous. I spied through the slats of my neighbors fence and saw the man go into the saki house to speak with my father. Though he looked like one of us, he had a walk that was different, graceful and deadly, like a stalking tiger, but without caution.
He left the Saki house, and made for the gates of our village just before sunset. No one ever left at sunset. We children gossiped among ourselves while he was meeting with the adults. Was he a demon, come to demand a payment, perhaps one of us!? We hoped he had come to help, and some said he was a demon hunter the village had sent for.
Before he left, I worked up my courage and approached him. I was a stupid boy worried about my sister. I asked him if he was going to find her. I remember what he said to me
Gill trails off and his eyes go somewhere else as he recites the next words
Do not worry for your sister, and do not hope for her return. I will see to it she makes it safely to heaven, where she will watch over you and your father for all time, and I will avenge her.
He was telling me she was already dead. I collapsed in a fit of grief. I remember the man lifted me up and carried me back to the steps of the Saki house and returned me to my father. I could tell he had said the same thing to him. Then the man left our village. We mourned that night like at no other time. Chi Lee was….
Gill trails off again. There is an almost imperceptible twitch in his throat followed by a hard swallow, as he pours himself another cup of saki and downs it.
My father told me the man was a hunter who had come to kill the creature that had taken away my sister. That he would avenger her, and one day things would be ok because of it. I asked him what would happen if the monster killed the hunter, and he told me we would have to leave the village and live out on the road selling trinkets, so whenever I am not working, I must pray for the man as hard as I can, and pray for the soul of Chi Lee to be at peace.
Well days and days passed….more than a week. I prayed and prayed. It saved me from my grief. It gave me something to do. I imagined my prayers like arrows shooting off to help the mysterious hunter.
Finally the hunter returned with 3 bags slung over his shoulder. He had killed the monster in just one night, but it had taken him days to recover all the bones of Chi Lee, and Leebu, and the little boy who used to throw the dirt clods at me…He had taken all that time to find them, and he had brought them home to us, so their souls could rest, and so we could perform the rites and make peace with their passing.
We had believed him when he told us they were all dead. He was right to tell us not to hold out hope, and when I saw him return I felt peace that Chi Lee’s spirit would be running through heavens meadow, just as father had told me through his tears, and that she would be up there to shower blessings on us and await us. I saw my father give him a bag that contained his payment, and for a moment as I saw him walking away, I felt alright. But then, I felt anger. I wanted to fight against the evil that had taken my sister away so soon. I wanted to go with the stranger.
I ran after him and begged him to take me with him. I told him I could wash is cloths, carry his things and pour his saki each night. He bent down and looked me straight in the eye. It was like locking eyes with a cat of prey, but I tried not to look away. My father had always taught me to look a man in the eye when serious matters are being discussed. Are you sure you can serve me faithfully little one, he asked. I nodded. Then your service to me begins now. I nearly jumped up and down but wanted to look serious and adult like as he did. Then he told me:
Your duty to me is to stay here and look after your father. You must learn all you can from him and learn the ways of his trade faithfully. You must be kind to all in your village and always work hard. In this way you will have served me well, and one day perhaps I shall return to check up on you, and perhaps I will ask you to serve me again.
He had tricked me in the same way adults had always tricked me in the past. He had made me believe, for just a second, that he might take me away to become a hero like him, only to command me to live the life I was already living. I could not contain my disappointment but before I could protest he smacked me over the head. It didn’t hurt, just shocked me and shut me up where I stood. I said your service begins now he said, pointing back in the direction of my father’s saki house. With no argument I turned and left him, suddenly filled with a passion to make good on my new commitment, even if it was not what I had hoped. As I ran he called to me one last time and told me there was one more thing he wanted me to do. He tossed me the bag that contained the payment my father had given him. Hide it somewhere safe he said, and tell no one of it. One day your village will have a great need for it, and they will be glad to have it.
With that he left.
That was White Carp.
Gill Deftly fills both cups again and raises his in salute, a look of fierce nostalgia in his eyes
To White Carp!
April 5, 2016 at 7:18 pm #1773“Very well Grognak…I only ask you speak to him in the matter”
And with that the keeper glides out of the room, annoyingly leaving the door open behind him.
DM——————–
At this point, if you’d like to set up a meeting with Grey, email me the details, or let me know anything else you want to do. If you don’t get back to me in a week or so I’ll just fast forward time a bit.April 5, 2016 at 6:53 pm #1772When I was young, I grew up in a small village to the north and east of here, out on the northern edges of the Vine Towers, where the Sea of Ancients begins. I was just a boy then. My view of the world very narrow. As far as I knew, our village was safe. We were out of the way. Looking back to those times, it really was like we lived in our own little world, and as a boy, I felt safe. I never understood the stern looks of the older men, or the worried looks of the village wives. We paid our dues to the spirits as proper, no one ever bothered us in our little village. I was a carefree soul in my youth, always getting into trouble.
Then came the day everything changed. I remember the morning I lay in bed, just before light, a terrible shriek from our neighbors house. The boy there, named leebu, had gone missing, vanished right out of his bed sometime during the night. It was his mother’s scream I had heard when she realized she had no idea where her boy had gone.
Everyone in the village was besides themselves. The adults, the people we looked up too, looked as frightened as us children, which is why I think they kept us locked up in the houses…as much to hide their fear from us, as to keep us safe. They were a hardy folk. They tried, but we knew something was terribly wrong. A few nights later, another child disappeared. He was a boy I hated. He would always throw dirt clods at me when my father would send me across the village to draw water from the well and wash out the saki cups from the night before, but when I saw the sorrow of his parents, I felt it too. I wondered what happened. I imagined saving him some nights. Perhaps he had wondered out of the village and gotten lost in some bog, or fallen down an old hunters pit. Perhaps I could find him, and we could be friends.
My father owned the village saki house, and as such was a well liked man. After that 2nd boy had gone missing, the adults would come to the saki house and stay most of the night. The men, huddled around the tables by candle light talking in hushed whispers, while us kids were forced to stay down in the basement. We could hear them thumping around up there. It was like my father’s saki house was a place under siege, and the village kids were like refugees kept hidden in the basement.
No one would tell us what was going on. By day we were expected to do our chores and act normal, by night, we were crowded in that basement. Of course we imagined what kind of terrible monster was stalking our village…we did not feel safe.
Gill pours his glass full and splashes it on the floor. He regards the spilled saki for a long moment.
That is when my sister was taken. Chi lee.
He says her name with reverence, filling both cups again and raising a toast.
“To family who have gone before us!”
March 30, 2016 at 11:03 pm #1768“Perhaps in some circles, but down here near the docks, we like honesty. Frankly, I find a forthright conversation to be invigorating. It’s only a sort with a bit of rebellion in their blood who will live this close to water. Everyone in laketown is at least a little..unconventional. Fanlu itself is unconventional, a novelty of a new age..a town sprung up in unclaimed land, free, and beholden to no particular clan or king. Perhaps Fanlu and other towns like it will be the new way of the world? But no, I do not find your manner off putting.”
He pauses to down his cup and then refills both, 2 pours…he is signaling there is no more need for formality, and that friendship is a possibility.
“Perhaps we are both saying the same thing in different ways. That is, we love our town. To Fanlu!” and he raises his glass in a toast and downs it.
March 30, 2016 at 8:31 pm #1765“I will call you “Big”, and you Beautiful” he smiles at Caris.
He begins packing his pipe with a fragrant herb.
“Tell me Evon, why on earth have you walked these two fine young ones out here to my shack when there’s so much else to do in town? What use can an old fart like me be to them?”
“I brought them here for your Wisdom of course.”
A look of disbelief spreads across the old mans face.
“Wisdom?! Your the one who lives in a damned palace! If you want to end up old and alone in a shack, working way too hard for your age, and taking care of a damn worthless dog because you’ve really got nothing else to do with yourself, than by all means, listen to my “wisdom”! Wisdom my ass, you brought them here for the finest smoke in Fanlu! That’s why you brought them! Well my younglings, gird your lungs, and prepare to not be disappointed…though I do have to warn you, once you’ve shared a pipe with bo, you might just find yourself wondering back through these trees again looking for another go…you know, I can be damned charming, downright entertaining once a few puffs of this has dulled your wits enough…you may even mistake something that comes out of my mouth as wisdom.”
He smiles a warm grin, directed at the end of the long wooden pipe he’s packing.
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This reply was modified 8 years ago by
DM.
March 30, 2016 at 8:12 pm #1764First, I would have you go to Grey, and find out if it is too late to call off his agents. If not, we shall have to deal with the fallout what may come.
Second, there is a great Library in Shen Ling I am told, which contains many old texts. There is a bit of a puzzle I have been trying to solve ever since you came back from Foothold, the place you went looking for your friend…Jamba was it?..At anyrate, I believe that place holds some historical significance. There is a reason why The bandit king sent others there, but there may even be something deeper about the place. You found a book there, that Akiba’s wizard had taken into the place, the book which led him there no doubt. I wish to see this book. Further…you are on good terms now with the Library of Shen Ling. There is a short list of books which I would be interested in reading if they are there. I suspect something, and I must study the past in order to prepare for the future.
Will you allow me to see the book Lao took to Foothold?
Will you help me to borrow a few books from the Library of Shen Ling?
Lastly, will you talk to Grey, and see if he is willing and able to un-kick the hornet’s nest?I still believe if you would be willing to give up the bandit king’s Wizard, he would could be convinced to give up whoever it is Grey is trying to rescue.
March 30, 2016 at 7:54 pm #1763The man pauses to regard your pour. There is just the hint of one of his eyebrows raising. He waits for you to sit again and then takes a seat himself across from you.
“They call me Gill here, and this is my establishment.”
He takes the cup on his right, a sign he is interested in dialogue. Had he taken the one on the left it may have meant he was only politely humoring you.
“Just Gill. No titles. This is a simple hall for simple men. I find there are many in Fanlu who strive for something more complex… who build up estates and households to run them. This was a free town, founded by free men of humble beginnings. It would seem many came here to escape lands lorded over by nobles, only to take on their practices…lacking the noble blood of course. Your house for instance, is much grander than mine, as is your title…master Threnody…lord Threnody…and yet what great king or noble clan secures such a title? Plenty of men in Fanlu willing to call themselves lords and masters, and take up the accouterments of such, yet none of them fool me. We are all just commoners in my eyes. The people of Fanlu, one and all, are remnants spat out from the lands of nobles and high clans, fortunate enough to land beneath the gaze of a benevolent spirit and make a home here, that is all.”
You are unsure if he is being frank and bold, or just testing you to get a reaction.
March 27, 2016 at 10:33 am #1758He nods in acknowledgement and leads you to a corner of the common room that is sectioned off from the rest by a curtain of beads for privacy, and sits you at a very fine table of dark wood.
“Thank you for what you did In Littlemountain” She coyly adds, as she backs out of the beads without giving you much chance to respond.
There is a little side hallway that leads out of this curtained area and deeper into the building. It is from this hall a man emerges after a few moments, carrying a clay pitcher of saki on a tray with two cups.
“Grey Threnody I presume? Our humble house does not often have the honor to serve landed gentry… I hear you are a man who often walks among the people? I hope our humble establishment does not fail your expectations” His tone is sincere but there is a casual hint to it, of, mocking? Is he mocking you, or himself, or merely trying to be personable, you’re not sure?
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