OOC Chat IV

[Keehnelf]

There's no loss of capacity--this just adds to the volume that can be handled (and yes, reduces and/or eliminates the wait).

[Keehnelf]

And yes, you can get do from donating: 1xp = 1gp, capped at 1,000 per PC.

[Marullus]

And yes, you can get do from donating: 1xp = 1gp, capped at 1,000 per PC.

Nice! that's like a RL year of adventuring time!

[Keehnelf]

Apologies for no posts today--wildly busy work day as we get set for the new academic year. Doing a bunch tonight.

[Spartakos]

Melvin sees a fresh sign at the end of the road marking it as "Rhodri's Way."

Oho, now.
I assume this is different from the road leading north(ish) to the Tower of Wendall...does Rhodri's Way run eastward?

[Keehnelf]

In fact it is the road to Wendall's Tower. Due to how the hiatus happened, I didn't quite get to resolve some things, one of which being the dedication of the north road in honor of one of the town's adventurers during the evening's Harrowing festivities.

Rhodri was the (un)lucky recipient of said honor.

[Spartakos]

Well, I guess it is roughly the path he dragged the Black Beast back to Vaul...

[Keehnelf]

[Spartakos]

Some interesting stuff I noticed (did a rough census of activity).

--Currently about 20 active characters (some more active than others); last time I counted, we were at 30...definitely been some culling.

--I believe Varas is the only actual thief operating in Vaul, and it's been that way for a while.

--The elves have been taking a beating; only 1 currently active (Perthrin), and most of the rest have been killed, not retired (Quirin, Numen, and most recently, Rhodri).

--Clerics are popular; 6 active! Shouldn't be any shortage of healing out there.

--Losing popularity: fighters and halflings. Maintaining their popularity: magic-users and dwarves.

[KingOfCowards]

Elves have not had a good track record, that is true. But in keep in mind that 2/3 of our thieves have also met a violent end.

I really had no idea that Bertram and Lug were the only two fighters left in the game until you pointed this out. Compare this to five active dwarves, with the newly created Gilgamesh. I suppose this could be gamesmanship, there is very little advantage to fighters over dwarves in the early levels.

Something I just noticed; Ulf, Varas, and Dorvar are celebrating a two year anniversary soon. Even with a hiatus in 2016, this is no small feat.

[Keehnelf]

One of the big problems with elves in B/X is that once everyone starts gaining XP they quickly fall behind, and in fact remain overall more fragile than most classes for some time, so while many folks are rocking two levels of hot points the elves are still floundering with 3-4.

That makes a huge difference and especially to the attractiveness of new elf PCs coming into an environment where their peers are already at level 2-3. I don't anticipate many new elves arriving on the scene, regardless of the grisly ends their forebears have met, unless some dynamic emerges specifically to protect them until they can complete a big-haul expedition.

[Zhym]

Elves are great if you think your new PC doesn't have much chance of living to see second level anyway. At first level, they're much better than either a fighter or a magic-user.

But you're right, the level progression is really punishing—much more so than that of the dwarf. An elf needs double the XP of a fighter to level (and 62% more than a magic user), but a dwarf pays only a 7.7% XP premium over a fighter until level 8 (when it jumps to a 16.7% premium). Thanks to geometric level progression tables, an elf stays only one level behind fighters with the same number of XP, so it's not that bad in the long run, but it really seems like it at early levels.

[Keehnelf]

Yeah, you start out with an immediate advantage that disappears once others hit level two, and then if you can manage to survive to level 3 you kind of make up for it for the rest of your career, but will always have some significant limitations to offset your dual-classed nature. It's not a bad design overall, but it definitely has some quirks that need to be accounted for.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Something I just noticed; Ulf, Varas, and Dorvar are celebrating a two year anniversary soon. Even with a hiatus in 2016, this is no small feat.

Varas shrugs. "How about we worry about this gate, and what might be watching us? Let's focus. Else we won't have to worry about demons or dragons. We'll be dead already."

Well we know how Varas made it this far...

[Scott308]

Varas and Dorvar have typically had at least one, if not multiple, clerics on our previous expeditions. That helps.

[AleBelly]

Yes, the clerics are a much better reason for Varas' survival than wise actions, that's for sure!

[Keehnelf]

Sorry to all for the spotty posting over the past couple of days. Been fighting a cold that has left me able to operate but with a really foggy brain that makes organizing my thoughts difficult Hoping to catch up today.

[Marullus]

Feel better!

I am traveling this weekend (14 hours behind the wheel) so will be spotty.

[Zhym]

Am I the only one thinking of the Battle of Five Armies right about now?

[Keehnelf]

Yeah, I was having the same kind of feeling, as pillagers descend on the mountain from all sides and the "rightful rulers" make their way slowly up the slopes to claim what's theirs