At the Adventurers' Table: Chapter Eighteen

[Sherwood]

I was expecting a good dungeon crawl against the storm giants, but it seemed to me that we were getting a lot of the message of, "you can't take these guys" hammered into us. Maybe I'm reading that wrong, but I'm just saying how it seemed to me.

I would love a good fight where I can have Luna throwing some serious dice of damage, but until we get more gear to support our level, going up against Loviatar seems like another losing encounter.

 

[Psychie]

I wouldn't mind getting into a hearty battle, but not against fourteen storm giants at once. That would be a total party kill if I've ever seen one. I was under the impression that we needed better gear in order to take on the plots of Loviatar with any hope of success. But like Sherwood was saying, I got the impression from or taking about the fight that we didn't have much of a chance against even four of the giants, and getting them to split up to allows us to deal with them wasn't going to happen.

 

[Purr]

Captain Hesperus jaydude Kaerri Psychie Sherwood Silanon

O.K., I don't make a habit of doing this, but I think you guys have earned it - a brief peek behind the GM screen if you will. My intent here is hopefully to bring some smiles to faces as I give you guys a short Out of Character understanding in the spirit of helping the Wayward Wanderers (along with Alisa and Aldrin) and their Players grow together. Ready? =)

In one of Cap'n's posts as Oti, Oti is inwardly thinking something along the lines of, "these Storm Lord sons of bitches have the gall to kidnap these kobolds and now they want to dictate terms?! I can't believe it!"

Our dear Cap'n had it right all along - never let the bad guys dictate terms. =)

Of course it was an uphill battle - it always is if you dance to your opponent's tune. The Storm Lords tried suckering you in to a fight where they not only had serious advantages, but they had all of your loot and freedom too and, you guys basically agreed to their terms. Therefore, I think these evil bastards outsmarted you as a whole, but not enough for you guys to take their bait! =) Or we would be in a much-different situation than we are now. =)

You guys have some very witty and resourceful PCs among you - I must admit, I honestly thought you guys would have some kind of back and forth "let's make a deal" moments with the Storm Lords, but to my quiet surprise, no such conversation took place.

Now. The party goal was not to get into a battle (although I would have enjoyed that too), but to rescue the Kobolds of the Silver Sun without losing any of them and without losing any of you. Who can argue that this was not 100% successful? Not a single person, heck! Not a single Hit Point was lost! From a Rogue's point of view, this went well especially because you didn't step into the Storm Lords' ultimate pitfall!

Maybe ask your Rogue Players what they think? =)

But yeah! You guys had a hard (13th level-magnitude) set of problems laid before you - and you sound a little down about it? Like you lost? What did you lose? Ask the kobolds if they think they lost. Look at it from their point of view - you restored their freedom to their entire tribe! I was rather proud that you guys didn't fall for the Storm Lords' ultimate plan - sucker you in where they have the advantage and then fight them on their own rules, and then bow your heads to their wills if you lost.

From my side of the Dungeon Master screen, it also let me know "where you guys are" on several levels. And thanks to those scenes, I have a much better idea of how to challenge you in a fun way. =)

If a dungeon sounds fun to everyone, let me know, please?

 

[Purr]

Also, I posted back on the 11th and thus far, only Jaydude has posted (with Kaerri mentioning she is going to post soon).

Is anyone else going to post, please?

 

[Kaerri]

Giants: I mean, I picture a dungeon crawl as, y'know, a dungeon, i.e. multiple rooms and multiple encounters/challenges, not a single (if large and chaotic) fight. Is it just me? Do other people think "dungeon crawl" is the same as "single encounter"?

Maybe ask your Rogue Players what they think? =)

Player of rogue here. I thought we had a win there. Nobody died, nobody lost gear, nobody -- well, lost, except the bad guys. How is that a bad thing? OK, maybe I came down pretty hard on the side of "I don't think we can realistically beat these enemies," but frankly? I don't get the sense that everyone was that concerned with the consequences of defeat. I'm playing a character I'm very much attached to, with items I'm almost as attached to (and which she is certainly attached to), and I couldn't tell how many of the rest of you even cared. (Some of you, yes. Others? Eh, whatever, they're in lots of games already, what does this one really mean to them?) And there definitely seemed to be a resistance to thinking outside the presented options. So, I pushed hard on the option I thought gave us the best chance of success. And it worked, you know.

Side note: working against Loviatar doesn't actually need to involve personal combat with her, which seems to be what some are thinking. She's got plenty of followers doing Bad Things we could go after. Which seems to be what Dannigan was suggesting here:

Earning items via dungeon adventure all the while working against Loviatar in some fashion. Frigid Chick still needs payback I say, but I'm not the PCs.

So, yeah. Dungeon crawl sounds like a good idea to me. And has every time it's been brought up. Seemed well-received by others too? At least by those who actually responded at the time.

 

[jaydude]

I've no complaints about doing a dungeon crawl.

 

[Silanon]

No promises, but I'm trying to get a post up this week-end. And I'm pretty sure that it'll happen here first, not in Broadsword. Mostly because the situation here seems to be easier to grasp, at a glance.

Dungeon Crawl is fine with me - as long as there's more to it than just beating up stat blocks. I like rolling dice, but I like rolling them for a reason. And loot alone has never been enough of a reason for me.

Comment on the rewards - I didn't answer that question since... quite frankly, it doesn't feel like there's the need for a reward yet, at least for me. Haven't posted much, and I've done even less in-game. Getting something now would feel like cheating.

Personally, I'm looking back at the kobold rescue with mixed feelings. We got them out, so that's good. But for me, as a player, it felt like a lot of missed opportunities. There was this awesome giant leader I meant to talk to. Hints to be gathered on why the giants are on the other side. Intel to not only solve the current situation, but have an advantage in the future. Doing things the rogue-way was effective in some way, but felt - to me - like many cool things that were hinted at never happened. Collapsing the cave. Interacting with their leader. Maybe striking a deal that lets me use my seer abilities on him. Stuff like that.

 

[Psychie]

I don't mind a dungeon adventure. Let's get to it!

 

[Purr]

We say farewell to this chapter and move our O.O.C. chat to At the Adventurers' Table: Chapter Nineteen. See you there, Gang!