Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Friday 6 July 1280, Evening (Cosmo's Back Room)

Gaven accepts Cosmo's offer and shows him Maggie's ribbon. Cosmo places the ribbon on the lectern beside the inventory book, and begins mumbling and waving his hand over it.

*****

As Cosmo does this, Gaven's thoughts go back to his conversation with the abbot, and things the abbot said when the cleric spoke of Filbert and Hazel, the bandits, Blackwell, and his vision.

After expressing his sympathy over the halflings' misfortunes, the abbot said that such sad tidings are all too common on the highways these days, despite the best efforts of Belloc's men. While this was the first he'd heard of bandits to the north, he was not surprised – as the bandit trouble to the south is already well known.

Cuthbert was somewhat surprised to learn of Gaven's vision. He briefly led Gaven into a small chamber off the main chapel of the temple and showed Gaven a painting on the wall. Amazingly, although Gaven had never seen the painting before, the image on the canvas matched the scene from his meditation exactly. The abbot explained to Gaven that the painting was entitled "Dagmar's Dream."

According to the abbot, Dagmar was a cleric of the militant branch of the faith, much like Gaven himself. Some fifty years ago, Dagmar had had a dream, in which she claimed to have seen the very image that had come to Gaven. She decided that it was her calling in life to reconquer the ancient keep from the shadow which enveloped it. She gathered and armed a small band of fellow clerics, and led them into the keep. But she was never seen again, and the local church  has since considered her a revered martyr.

"Ah," Cuthbert had said. "If only the Light could be brought back into that place of darkness."

*****

"Well," says Cosmo, interrupting Gaven's reflections. Looking up, Gaven immediately notices that the ribbon is glowing faintly under Cosmo's hand. Your ribbon is indeed magical, and has been infused with the power of the full moon." He quickly puts his hand up as he sees the beginnings of a thought forming in the cleric's mind. "Not to worry my faithful soldier of the Light! The magic of the moon with which it is infused is not evil. It is the magic of nature, and as such, it is neither good nor evil. The magic of nature simply is."  He squints at a line in his ledger. "According to my notes, this moon ribbon will enhance the power of any weapon by attaching it to the haft or pommel – and due to its infusion of pure moonlight, it is particularly effective against were-creatures."*

*****

Duran wanders around the room looking at the various wares. Nothing grabs his interest as he has never been particularly interested of anything of the magical nature. Although he does take notice of the Lesser Magic Arrow and asks Cosmo about it.

"Those," says Cosmo, will increase your accuracy and the damage done, relative to a normal arrow. They are also more durable than a normal arrow, and easier to find – they give off a faint glow, so that if they miss their target, they are easier to spot, wherever they may land."**


*************************
OOC: Actions?

Gaven's cost for ID: 60 gp.

* Maggie's Moon Ribbon: Attach to any melee weapon; adds +1 to hit and damage; +2 to hit and damage vs. all were-creatures (does not stack by attaching it to an already magical weapon).

**Lesser Magic Arrows: +1 to hit and damage.

9 comments:

  1. Oloc - Mage

    Oloc examines all of the treasures in Cosmo's room with great interest. He asks questions about various items and listens intently to Cosmo. Finally he settles on two scrolls (Read Magic and Magic Missile) for purchase.

    ooc: What are the specific rules around transcribing spells from scrolls to spell books, (cost and timings, etc.)?

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    Replies
    1. OOC: For copying scrolls, I will say that it takes one day per level of the spell, but only requires normal parchment and ink. There is no cost to copying the scroll, but the M-U will need to lock him-/herself in a quiet room and remain mostly undisturbed while copying. Simply copying (or otherwise reading silently) does not destroy the scroll. After copying the scroll, the M-U can use it as a one-shot spell beyond those slots available in his/her memory. When the scroll is used to actually cast the spell (speaking the words aloud and making required gestures), the writing is burned away by the magical energy.

      Since magic missile doesn't appear in the S&W WB rules, here are the specs on that:

      Magic Missile
      Range: 150'
      Duration: Instant
      Glowing projectile conjured and shot by magic, automatically hitting any visible target of the magic-user's choice for 1d6+1 damage. When the caster reaches fourth level, the spell allows the shooting of two missiles simultaneously; upon reaching seventh level, three missiles can be shot simultaneously. The caster can choose to send multiple missiles at the same or at different targets.

      Also as a clarification on the "Read Magic" scroll: We'll assume that when magic-users get their basic training, they learn to read a variety of common magical languages. So most "normal" scrolls don't require "read magic" to use (for example, you wouldn't need "read magic" to copy or use the "magic missile" scroll from Cosmo's). Some more ancient magical writings, however, or certain carvings, warnings, wards, glyphs, runes, etc. that you discover while adventuring may very well require it.

      I'll put all this on the Rules, House Rules and Rulings page.

      If any of this info makes you change your mind about purchasing the scrolls, that's okay, just go ahead and make the adjustment (as this is all stuff your character would know before making a purchase).

      Delete
  2. Duran - Fighter

    Duran thanks Cosmo for the information and says "I'll keep the arrows in mind when I have some extra coin."


    OOC: Duran is ready to leave when the others are and go see about a trainer for him and Varros.

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  3. Varros - Fighter

    Varros is ready to accompany Duran to check into training. Varros will also thank Cosmo and ask about the symbols the party found carved into the tree. Also, I can't seem to access the house rules section by the link on the right. It says the page does not exist, not sure if it iss just me because I know I looked at it recently...

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    Replies
    1. OOC; Also Bard, I updated my character sheet but I am unsure about what form the loot took. I just put it as gp but I know there were gems as well. I repurchased 3 flasks of oil and I assume I am still at 20 arrows through looting the battlefield but I am not sure how to list my new gp total including gems. What was the exact breakdown of the 802 treasure? Was it 3 200 gp gems and 202 actual gp each?

      Delete
    2. Hi Dienekes:

      Regarding the page link: I just got the same message myself and I'm not sure why. I just tried opening and resaving the link, and now it seems to be working for me. Let me know if you're still having trouble.

      Just in case that didn't help, I'll post that again in the comments section below (it's a bit long so it won't all fit in one comment).

      Regarding gold: Yep, your count is accurate. You each received:

      200 gp as your personal share of the scouting fees & bonus
      600 gp in gems (3 x 200)
      2 gp, 6 sp, 8 cp in assorted coins picked up off dead goblins

      for a total share of 802 gp, 6 sp, 8 cp per person.

      You can simply convert gems to gp if you wish (remember the king's bank doesn't charge for this) or you can keep them as gems, whichever you prefer.

      And we'll say yes, you've got a full quiver between recovery/looting of arrows.

      Delete
  4. Since the page seems to be acting up, here's a recap of the XP rules:

    6. Experience Points: XP will be awarded for monsters defeated and treasure spent. As you spend gp, remember to convert them on a one-to-one basis on your character sheet (and remember to include your xp bonus as you do). In addition to standard, by-the-book equipment purchases, PCs can opt to make abstracted "major expenditures" in any of the following ways: donations to the church, magical research, martial training, carousing, luxury. The expenditures need not be of the same type every time. Expenditures may be made little-by-little, or as a single lump expense just before leveling up. Some class/alignment restrictions apply. In addition to simply receiving XP for the expenditure, there are potential "side benefits" for each expenditure type. To reap a side benefit, the player is allowed to declare a maximum of one "primary" and one "secondary" expenditure type. For an expenditure to count as "primary" the PC must spend, since last leveling up, a cumulative sum of gp exceeding 50% of the xp required to reach the next level. A PC is guaranteed to receive the side benefit for a primary area of expenditure. For an expenditure to count as "secondary," it must be the second highest area of major expenditure since the PC last leveled up. A PC has a chance of receiving the side benefit for a secondary area of expenditure. Any side benefit is received at the first narratively logical opportunity at, or immediately after, leveling up. For example, someone who spends gold on martial training would need to spend at least two weeks in town with a trainer after leveling up. Someone who has been donating to the church would have to be in town after leveling up (where an emissary of the church would likely seek out the PC to reward his/her significant and/or repeated generosity with a gift). The restrictions and side benefits for each type of major expenditure are:

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  5. a. Donations to the Church (lawful or neutral only, open to any class). Side benefit: The PC receives a gift from the church.
    b. Magical Research (magic-users and elves only, any alignment). Side benefit: the spellcaster gets to choose any one legal spell allowed to him/her upon leveling up, instead of simply relying on random scrolls found. It is assumed the character will spend at least two weeks completing the research.
    c. Martial Training (any class except magic-users, any alignment). The PC gets +1 to his/her hp roll upon leveling. It is assumed the character will spend at least two weeks in training.
    d. Carousing (no clerics). Side benefit: Hireling loyalty is increased by +1 for the duration of the player's new level (for all hirelings invited to participate in any of the carousing).
    e. Luxury (open to all). Side benefit: Increased chance, for the duration of the PC's new level, of attracting hirelings and, if applicable, a chance that hireling candidates will be of better than average quality or level.

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  6. Calculation: To calculate 50% of the xp required for the next level, subtract the minimum xp required for the current level, from the minimum xp required for the next level, and divide by two. To clarify, exceeding 50% means spending at least 1 gp over 50%.

    Keeping Records: In addition to converting gp spent to XP, players spending as they go will need to keep track, on their character sheets of "Major Expenditures, Level X" (where X is the current level of the PC, and whose total resets to "0" each time the PC levels up), showing the type and amount of the expense. Players opting to simply make a "lump sum" expenditure just before leveling need not keep any such record on their sheets. All players will also need to list relevant certain side benefits and their duration on their character sheet under "Spells/Abilities" for example "+1 hireling loyalty while PC is level two."

    ReplyDelete