#was fighting a group of yuan ti who had advantage against magic so i basically did nothing at all

[newvegascowboy]

Dnd sorcerers are ass and that's all I really have to say on the matter

[zippdementia]

Part 94 Alignment May Vary: A Clashing of Fates

The Mountain loomed in the background, the mighty Jarlberg. The armies of the New Alliance, made up of a conglomeration of races from elves to ice barbarians to the common people of the Sword Coast, marched through the ice and snow, chanting battle cries to keep their spirits high. They felt a mighty army, but the sight of the Mountain caused a shiver to run through their ranks. 

The Mountain seemed a god fallen to earth. Around it a black cloud swirled, and as they drew closer they could all see it was no cloud, but winged demons. Two flanks of armed foes stood on either side of the mountain, ready to flank their army. The Yuan Ti were arranged on the left, and it seemed the entire race was present. Imoaza could not see the leader, but she knew that somewhere in that mass was her son, Xaxus, whose name meant “The Serpent Who Would Eat the World.” 

To the right were the Undead, a huge number of them, all the Undead that had attacked Vraath Keep, bolstered to twice that number by all those who had died in that battle. Leading them was a giant of a woman, dead as the rest, but filled with more rage. She wore a bloodstained mask, and Milosh recognized her. It was Sierra, wearing the mask that seemed to transform her into a more powerful fighter. Karina would have known the mask: it long ago had been worn by Shando to make him El Ultimo Santo. 

With a mighty cry, the two armies, both made up of former friends, former foes, and even family, began to advance.

This is a massive battle. On the one side is Abenthy’s army, made up of over 6000 undead, 2300 Yuan Ti, 1000 Demons, and nearly 1000 monsters deserted from the Vraath Keep forces. They have champions, as well. Sierra, wearing the mask of El Ultimo Santo, leads her fellow undead. A Balor has been summoned from the Abyss to assist Abenthy with bringing the realm of Chaos into the physical plane. It leads the demons, all of them flying units. Xaxus leads the Yuan Ti, and there are a couple of other special units yet hidden. Directing it all is the will of the Three Who Are One, having taken Abenthy’s form. He does not seem to be present, but his power moves this armies like pawns on a board.

The New Alliance is only half the size of Abenthy’s army.  Comander Feluver leads it, and has brought a contingent of 2000 wood elves. Waterdeep, followers of Karina, and Baldur’s Gate refugees add another 3000 to this number. The tribe of Ice Barbarians has helped prepare the army for fighting in the snow, while adding 55 of their own number to the fight. And finally, 15 adult dragons, three each from the metallic colors, have come to add their prodigious might to the battle.

What the Alliance lacks in numbers, it makes up in legendary heroes. Immerstal the Red is here, lending his fire magic. Verrick comes with all the power of a death knight, bound to Milosh. Breath Giver has become the leader of Watergate and wields the power of the Blackstaff. Her brother, Orcaheart, is a mighty Ice Barbarian warrior who once (as he reminds him) beat Milosh in a one-on-one combat... with a little help from his sister. Hecate is poised like a knife at the heart of the Yuan Ti, hidden among their ranks and unsuspected in her treachery. Daymos and Jade are present, not fighting, but using their psychic energy to disrupt Abenthy’s control over his army. And of course the PCs themselves: Imoaza the Yuan Ti Weave Seer and Warlock; Milosh the Half Orc Mercenary from another world, choosen by Primus himself to be a champion of order; and Carrick, human Paladin of Primus, infused with the knowledge and wisdom of the Surveyor.

The idea for this combat was inspired by Tyranny of Dragons. I never was satisfied with how the final battle in that campaign is described. The DM is just sort of left to “figure it out” and all the promise that PC actions were going to matter and have a mechanical impact are left behind. It’s a little better written in the rerelease of the campaign, but the major issue is still not resolved: no good mechanics are given to help simulate a battle of the proportions described. 

So to play out this combat, I wanted to fix that problem. I turned to DMs Guild and read a number of mass combat rules, including old 1st Edition D&D rules written by Gary Gygax himself. Most did not meet muster. They were either too complex or clunky, or too nebulous.

But then I found the aptly named “Simple Mass Combat Rules” by Christopher Heatherington. As of this writing, Chris has only done one other release on DM’s Guild, but I know he’s active because he responded to my praise for his Mass Combat Rules. I want to repeat that praise here, and encourage anyone who ever wants to run a mighty army vs army battle in D&D to use these rules. They are good enough I think Wizards of the Coast should officially adopt them.

I won’t go into the details of the rules here, except to say that basically every creature in an army adds to its value, and those values are compared to figure out how much “life” each army has. The higher value army always has 20 life, and the lesser value army has life equal to a percentage of that, based on their army’s power (in this case, 15 for the New Alliance). Each round essentially comes down to two rolls. One is a commander’s roll, to compare how well each army fights. Another is a morale roll, to see if either army breaks its spirit. Affecting these rolls with pluses and minuses are the actions of the PCs, who get to direct the armies and take actions themselves in combat. The focus stays very macro, so you aren’t usually running individual combats (though you can, if you feel it is a key moment).

Below, I’ll take you through the major steps of our battle, and describe how it all plays out.

The First Clash

The Yuan Ti army stays where it is, but the Undead march forward to meet the New Alliance. The PCs work to come up with a plan of attack with Breath Giver and Comander Feluver. They decide to send the Waterdhavians charging against the Yuan Ti, while the Elves and the rest of the Alliance will try to destroy the Undead. Verrick and Orcaheart are assigned the task of taking down Sierra, which they grimly (Verrick) and excitedly (Orcaheart) accept. Immerstal and Milosh lead the charge against the rest of the undead, keeping the troops in line and their morale high. Carrick hangs back with Breathgiver, assisting as medics on the field.

The first clash against the undead El Ultimo Santo has all the intensity of a raging inferno. A circle in the middle of the armies is formed, as even the fearless undead pull away from the raw destructive power of the battle. El Santo is a beast of pure reckless force, crater the icy ground with each blow of her maul like fists. Verrick wields all the unholy might of a Death Knight, and brings it against Santo, sending waves of necrotic energy spiraling around them, refreezing the slush that their boots make of the arena. Faced with such power, it is impressive that Orcaheart shows no fear and holds his own ground, picking the perfect moments to move in and strike against El Ultimo, while she is distracted by Verrick’s furious blows. After a half hour of fighting, the three are still locked in deadly combat.

Meanwhile, the Waterdhavians advance upon the Yuan Ti, but this seems to have been predicted by the clever snake people. They send hails of arrows and blasts of powerful magic raining down on the hapless army. Still, the Waterdhavians charge, seemingly into a suicide run.

However, there is a method to this. The distraction caused by their rush has allowed one very special person to leave the main army and travel undetected across the snow at high speed, using her mastery of the weave to disguise her presence. Invisible, Imoaza steals across the ice, until she is behind the Yuan Ti army. Then, dropping her spell, she assumes the appearance of a non-descript Yuan Ti warrior and blends in with the mighty army, seeking her son, and vengeance.

Mortal Combat

With battle broken upon the two armies, Abenthy seizes the advantage early on. The Waterdhavians are getting crushed under the ranged might of the Yuant ti and their magic. Imoaza has merged with the Yuan Ti army, but pressing through to find Xaxus is like trying to dig through solid rock with your fingernails. The Yuan Ti stand tightly packed and are observant of anything breaking the order. Imoaza has to be careful, but she also needs to be quick: the Waterdhavians are suffering more death every second. Each moment she delays is a moment of failure.

While Imoaza seeks to complete her secret mission, Abenthy moves two assets into position on the field. The demons break off from their perches on the mountaintop and fly towards the main Alliance army, seeking to rain fire and death upon it. They are met mid air by the Allied Dragons, who tear through the demons with mighty blasts of their breath weapons and flashes of claw and tooth. A group of the demons breaks away and lands at the back of the Alliance, led by the leader of the demons, a mighty Balor known only as The Forgotten Death. Milosh and Carrick and Breathgiver come together to lead the rear defense, but the undead are closing in from the front. Immerstal adds his mighty magic to the fray as well.

While all this is going on, Abenthy send his second asset into the field on a secret mission of its own. It is a mighty Dracolich, and it soars silently towards the Alliance headquarters, where it hopes to find the source of the psychic power holding him back: Daymos and Jade. It will easily eliminate the two distracted psychics.

But before it can reach its goal, a mighty roar of sadness splits the sky as the Bronze Dragon Argent, the PC’s companion and mount since the adventure on the Moving Ice, spots the Dracolich and recognizes its essence. It is his mother, the Bronze Dragon Sauros, who so long ago promised aid to Karina and was eventually slain by the Red Hand. Argent, wailing with sorrow, turns from the battle against the demons and flies at his mother, determined to end her suffering. The two dragons clash mid air and begin a deadly, sorrowful dance.

In the midst of these developments, Verrick and Orcaheart finally deliver the killing blow to El Ultimate Santo, though Orcaheart takes a mighty blow, crushing his lower spine, to leave the great beast open. Verrick kills Santo and as he falls, his mask splits in two and Sierra, her undead body broken, is released from his hold over her soul. Santo makes one last statement: “Finally, El Ultimo Santo may go to his rest.” Then the mask falls into dust and soon is lost amidst the snow. Both Sierra and the long suffering soul of El Santo find their rest.

Desperate Measures

With El Ultimo slain, Carrick and Milosh realize they have to press their advantage. However, the undead have no fear. The death of their greatest warrior does nothing except leave them free to attack the ailing Verrick and the downed Orcaheart. MIlosh pulls the two out of the conflict and gets them to safety, fighting off hordes of the undead to break through to the Alliance camp.

“Brother!” Breathgiver ran out of a large pavilion as the soldiers carried the limp form of Orcaheart into the camp. She rushed to his side and took his huge hand in her tiny one.

“Sister,” Orcaheart said, his voice thick with pain. “I have fought the battle of my lifetime and I fear it is to be my last. Do not cry, you need to be a leader now. You are the Blackstaff.”

“I am also still your sister,” she said, angrily wiping the tears from her face. “And it is not your time. There is still work to be done.”

Breathgiver summoned her powers and laid her hands upon Orcaheart. He gasped as the pain was torn from him, as wounds closed and bones mended. He moved his legs slightly. Breathgiver bent and kissed him on the forehead.

“Your fighting days are over,” she said. “That much is true. You will walk, but stiffly, and will never be able to match another in combat as you once did. But there is more to life than fighting, brother. When this battle is over, peace will reign, and I will need your strength by my side to help me rule.”

Orcaheart looked at Milosh, who had dragged him from the fight. “Go,” he said. “You are the only one to have ever defeated Orcaheart in a fight. Now your friend needs your sword arm at his side. Alas, my sister speaks wisdom. I can do no more for you in this battle.”

While this is happening, Carrick is still behind in the mass of swelling undead and Milosh plunges back into the fray to try to reach him, Verrick following him as his bound companion. The three end up separated, fending off wave after wave of the undead, slowly losing their own fighters to the horde. Finally they all end up reunited, back to back, each covered in the blood of the slain.

“They are growing in numbers!” Carrick calls out.

“Our own allies are swelling their ranks,” Milosh answers.

But that isn’t all of it. Carrick reaches out with his divine granted senses and realizes that the army is being restocked continuously by a host of corpse flowers, the disgusting plant like undead that destroyed the Witchwood. He tells Milosh of his discovery, and the two realize that they must take what remains of their army and do everything they can to reach and destroy the Corpse Flowers.

“I will make an opening for you,” Verrick says, and plunges into the middle of the horde.

Milosh looks up and sees dragons falling from the sky, their wings burned to a crisp. The demons screech insanely.

“We are out of time,” Milosh says.

While all this is going on, finally Imoaza finds what she is looking for. Xaxus sits upon a palanquin set astride a mighty Tyranasaur-like creature, long bodied and long tailed, with a face mostly made up of teeth. At his side stands Hecate, seeming completely subservient.

Imoaza thinks fast. “A message from the front,” she cried out, getting Xaxus’ notice. “The One who is Three sends new orders.” Xaxus ushers Imoaza, not recognizing her in her disguise, up onto his platform to give him the news directly. Hecate’s eyes widen, and Imoaza realizes that she, somehow, has realized who she is.

“What is the message?” Xaxus asks.

Imoaza leans close. "Thank you for bringing me my army." 

For a moment, she drops the disguise. Xaxus’ face pales as he recognizes his long lost mother. But before he can react, Hecate blasts him in the back with her gun arm and Imoaza summons Black Razor Alpha to her, and stabs deep into Xaxus’ heart. 

Around them the Yuan Ti go silent, staring up at the sacreligious murder of their mortal deity, the Serpent Who Will Swallow the World.

“What now?” Hecate asks.

“Now we see if the Yuan Ti believed your prophecy about the dragons.”

When All Else Fails

Imoaza stood in front of the full might of the Yuan Ti army. They stared at her and she felt suddenly that she teetered on the edge of a precipice, not a physical chasm, but an edge of time. On one edge, she saw the Yuan Ti throwing themselves like rabid animals against the forces of the Alliance, destroying many of the citizens of Waterdeep, so many dead that the snow turned red with the blood of humans, dwarves, and elves. The Yuan Ti were killed to the last one, the race ended in their rush to meet Dendar the Night Serpant.

That was one path. The Yuan Ti would be forever remembered by history as a powerful race, one which had fought to the bitter end, one which had never been conquered.

One that never thrived again.

The other path showed the Yuan Ti as a peaceful race, peaceful and simple. They were not rulers. They did not conquer or seek power. History forgot them. But they survived. They worshipped the path of the metallic dragons, sought balance in life, and sustainability in living it. They surrendered their armaments and faded into the background of civilization.

And they survived.

Imoaza looked out over the crowd of Yuan Ti watching her and for a moment doubted herself, wondering how she could possibly ever convince the Yuan Ti to be a peaceful people. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned her head to see Hecate giving her a slight nod of support. She remembered her daughter as she had been, the most bloodthirsty Yuan Ti of all, chasing her across the very planes of existence. If she had changed, had found peace, then so could her race.

Imoaza turned back to the crowds, raised her hands and magnified her voice, and began to speak.

Many things happen on the battlefield. 

Argent and his undead mother, Sauros, let out a mighty roar as their battle ends, the two dragons peeling away from each other, trailing blood in the sky, as they fall behind the mountain and are lost to sight. We make a roll for Argent, a die roll to see if he survives.... which I’ll reveal at the end of the post. 

And the Balor, the Forgotten Death, lands in the midst of the Alliance army, seemingly invincible, and begins carving a path to its leaders, Breathgiver and Feluver. Immerstal pulls on his last resources to hold the Legendary Demon General at bay. Do they survive? It will come down to a roll....

Verrick rushes into the the center of the undead army, where he unleashes his final attack. It is a powerful blast of fire that tears out of him, ripping out of every pore of his body and blasting the undead around him into smithereens. He thinks of Karina as he unleashes his power. We make a die roll for him, too...

Regardless, MIlosh and Carrick know there is only one chance they will get to have this advantage, and they lead a desperate charge through the hole Verrick has made. But already Abenthy is reacting, using all his willpower to draw the undead into an impenetrable line in front of the corpse flowers, knowing that while they exist, he cannot lose this battle. Milosh looks to Carrick as they charge and thinks of sacrifices.

“I’m sorry,” he says, and unleashes a divine blast, a power given to him by the Inevitable, the power that is prophecied to be able to strike down Primus himself. It rushes out of him, and many of their own soldiers die in the blast as it expands out to 60 feet. It tears through the final stand of the Undead. It washes over Carrick, bringing him to his knees... but Carrick stands again, and together with Milosh, they rush the Corpse Flowers, and begin cutting them down.

This is the turning point in the battle. With the Corpse Flowers cut down, the Yuan Ti army in confusion, and the demons outnumbered by the dragons and the remaining alliance, it seems that the heroes have won through!

But Abenthy has only been stalling for time.

From Above

A roar froze everyone in the midst of battle, causing even the Balor to pause mid strike, and turn towards the mountain. Tentacles were erupting all over the mountainside, ripping through space. And emerging...

... no, thought Carrick, covered in the stench-ridden blood of the corpse flowers. No, we have come too far to fail now.

But failed they had, for the battle had only all been a delay, a tactic designed to weaken them in time to summon forth the Tarrasque.

And not just the Tarrasque. Even as the great beast emerged from the portal being ripped in the side of the Jarlberg, the clouded skies split open and a rumble rolled across the battlefield.

Carrick knew what was coming. Abenthy himself was entering the battlefield. Given the power of a god, he was coming to smite those who had been foolish enough to defy him. Carrick fell to his knees, feeling hopelessness wash over him, as the god’s voice split through the sky.

But it was not Abenthy’s voice. It was a battlecry:

“FOR ALDRIC, AND THE GREEN COMPANY!”

Carrick raised his eyes once more skyward, in time to see, not a god coming to smite them, but ships. Dozens of ships, breaking through the atmosphere. And, at their head, one mighty vessel which looked remarkably familiar. The surveyor’s ship, which had taken them across the planets and into the very Abyss itself. It had once been unnamed, but now bright gold letters crossed its hull, spelling out a name Aldric would have been proud of: The Anope.

(DMs note: for those who have forgotten, which is probably everyone except my players, Anope was Aldric’s horse back when he first joined the party)

Then a very familiar voice came cascading over the battlefield:

“Seem to be in a tight spot, gentlemen!” came the cry of Roger Krisp, “What you need is a little help and maybe some of my patented cereal! Captain Krispies! Sure to put a pep in your step! And it comes with prizes. And today, that prize is anti-armor bombardment! Cover your butts!”

And as he spoke, the ships opened fire, launching enough missiles, energy blasts, lasers, and bombs to destroy the rest of Abenthy’s army and even finally take down the Tarrasque.

Who lives? Who dies? I said I’d say at the end of the post, but I maybe kinda sorta lied. I’ll share next time, though, when I’ll also share our final battle against Abenthy, which takes place in a very strange and unique battlefield, and we reach the long awaited conclusion to our campaign.

Thank you so so much for reading this far. We’ll see you at the finish line.

[themilokin]

14, 17, 29, 30, 31

14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed.

Oh god. Oh no. The LONGEST LIST…

The Historical Preservation Society of Fandolin - My first ever dnd party playing Lost Mines of Phandelver! This was a bunch of years ago and I still have very very fond memories. We got our name by a scheme that managed to get us a 1v1 fight with a necromancer and then later an invitation to see some bugbears but that turned out less good. Comprised of Flint the Dwarven Cleric who 100% started a table-wide superstition of warhammers never hitting their targets, Taris the Half-Orc Paladin noble who originated the scheme, Tilwynn Syrr (Mr. Sir)- my wood elf rogue- who continued the scheme and butted heads with Taris repeatedly, and Eileer- a wood-elf beastmaster ranger who we called Grandma for her age and general personality. It was a wild few months.

Ghostbusters - A hard-scrabble group of idiots fight off supernatural threats and actual cannibal Shia LeBouff in the Magic The Gathering setting of Innestrad. The first campaign my girlfriend and I got to play together, and her first campaign! Comprised of her Ness (a Hunter Ranger with RIDICULOUS damage output), my Vermillion Kade (assassin and group dad), a Fighter that died to a Shambling Mound and came back as a Bagpiping Bard whose names elude me, Nessnemo (Nemo for clarity- a barbarian whose outfit consisted of primarily straps and little else), and Anders (A druid who caused the tablewide joke of ‘Bear in a Banquethall’ whenever players do something Very Ill-Advised because they missed a detail of description). We also saw a character named Chrodechild in this game while I took over for a Birthday Two-shot DMing stint.

OG Sendra - The first attempt at a full-length campaign. Comprised of Chrodechild the enchantress that eventually face-heel-turned into a villain, Lorelai Elffei the thief from a town of children who died and came back, Nemo (once more, but tiefling this time), Eseka the Halfling Monk/Bard performer in a circus (I THINK to melil, actually) who died and was restored, and Feverfew- the Drow Warlock of the Archfey.It had a pretty high character-swap-and-death rate. Feverfew the warlock died and became Patrin the Dragonborn Paladin who was then ALSO killed, and Kanseif the Human Barbarian Warrior Princess came about to replace him. Chrodechild turned evil and was replaced with Rhadha the crippled tiefling warlock who had made a deal with hags and had a long contract full of stipulations. Brill had to depart after character moments occurred and came back as Sylvienne Ghost- an Aasimar druid and Therapy Dog. There were further character swaps later on, but by the time they occurred the campaign had begun to grind to a halt.

Shards of the Past - A campaign run by a friend. The party was gathering the broken fragments of a rod of Manticores to fight back against the northern Empire. We were contracted by the queen to do so and BOY we sucked at it but we sure did win the war! A human paladin (whose name escapes me) with a lion-steed named Balthazar, Kestral the human Ranger-assassin (who had bird-themed names for her whole family it was rad), and my gnome Wizard Sullivan Orren du Ghislain-Ameritte III, who slowly descended towards lawful evil as the game progressed. It was a WILD romp. 

ThreaTTT - My second stab at DMing! The players awoke in prison after a night of wildly out-of-hand carousing and had to pay off their debt to society in service to Drann’s public. Mostly monster hunting and character-driven, the first introduction of The Timeless and Sliver of Moon! Party consisted of Tor (half-elf half-dwarf bard who was locked in an endless one-sided rivalry with Fortesque D’artigan- another half-elven bard), Risc Taxis (an assassin from the Talons, the southern Thieves and Assassin’s guild in Sendra, and an addict to Celadon- a opiate that stains fingers blue), and Atonement/Toni- an Aasimar Archfey warlock who was fleeing an engagement and was beholden to the whims of her 12 year old patron. They more or less made a thrash metal band by level 5, and Cera- a merfolk enchantress prostitute- joined up with them after a trip to the Stormlashed Sea. Her name didn’t fit the scheme, but she was loads of fun.

Pile of Idiots/Fortune’s Favor/Dumb Luck - You know this one, Muffin. ;P Comprised of a Fireball-Happy Endlessly-Curious sorcerer, an Extra As Shit 4 Elements Monk, the Queen of the Sea herself, The Worlds Best Bard, Smol Druid with Smol Doggo frond, and Beefest Lizard Tank, these idiots try and save the world- or at least get by.

Trees Beneath the Seas - A campaign that got very away from us, and where Moon received most of his character development. It was a huge party, which I think detracted a bit from the potential RP fun, but I got to be RECKLESS. We had Damon Pyre the Half-Elf-Half-Dragon Sorcerer, Durieal Durnam the OP monk that was killed by the weapon he carried, Saneva Amailo the hexblade warlock of Garagos and certified Edgelord Supreme, Quv the gnome-turned-elf rogue that left and whose player came back with Rue the Pumpkin Queen the human druid, Amaya Arissius the wood-elf Horizon Walker Ranger (who died and was reincarnated as a human), Verath the Dragonborn bard, Persephone O’Dougal the Canim forge cleric, Braugen Rowcron the dwarf barbarian who came back later as Satsuss the yuan-ti artificer, Arlow Rathers the paladin of Illmater and best baker the world has ever seen, Waruk Flamesong the half-orc wizard/cleric who sank the world, and finally Sliver of Moon who robbed, lied, and smooth-talked his way into and out of worlds of trouble as a swashbuckling rogue-fighter-paladin-sorcerer (we got to lvl 30 shit got WEIRD).

Harder Than We Thought - Thrush’s game! We played on the continent of Sivaan- slowly coming under siege by a power called The Parody that wanted to make the whole world just a liiiiiiiittle more interesting. Evelynn Mercado (Parsippany Olapieros) the half-elf blade-bard with ten tons of swagger in a ten ounce body who was looking for her father and making her own name in the world, Thrush Marigold the endlessly sunny sun-soul monk who was learning about his tiefling heritage while looking for his mother, Sir Tim the Halfling Hero For Hire Paladin who was making his tiefling lover and his son proud, Dune the bloodhunter with a Big Problem with hags, ‘The’ Wothe the more traditional halfling bard who was potentially about to be Thrush’s uncle by marriage, Perryn the Air Genasi Beastmaster Ranger and prankmaster general, and a dragonborn sorcerer I cannot recall the name of with terrible eyesight.

Punk! - A portal-fantasy run by our Innestrad DM, with a fantastic set up where he said he had to take a call during our session 0 and walked out. We then all got messages at the table saying he’d been replaced and to not trust him, and when he came back his whole body language was changed and then ‘sucked us into a portal’ via his tome of handbooks he got rebound into one HUGE book. We all played ourselves but better, and it was wild.

Umber Wilds/Aspiring Cryptids - One I’m currently running on mondays! A group of adventurers Doing Their Best. Audhilde Stoneforger is the Eldritch Knight and Battle Goddess who can leap up to 170 feet because I’ve broken my own will. Larken Delmare is the human shadow sorcerer who used to be an elf and came back wrong, she’s got ties to the first lands of Thielle and is dealing with Coming Back Wrong as best she can. Yseult Brighton is a water-genasi grave cleric with both Selune and Shar claiming portions of her soul, she’s been dubbed the World’s Okayest Cleric and is basically a fishbowl made of friendship. Lastly there’s Ekaterina Sheralova, a drow Gloomstaker Ranger with the most flamboyant fashion and cat-like personality whose family is probably going to wind up killing her or trying to.

17. What are some house rules that your group has?

BIG CRITS! You max your primary damage die and then roll the second, so you��re always hitting big when you get that nat 20! I have to beef so much health because of this.

Flanking - Instituted around the In-Person table: when you flank you get a +2 to hit, not advantage. It’s less OP that way.

29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions?

Usually RP heavy sessions are my favorite thing, but sometimes you just want to hit something. XD I’ve found I really like a healthy dose of both, but I love it when the combat functions to fuel RP, so RP is probs my more favorite kind.

30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos?

They’ve trended more diplomatic! I’m grateful for it, and it’s neat seeing what pushes characters into ‘murder’ when they start out with diplomacy.

31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race?

Oh golly, probably Rogue or Paladin for favorite class, but Bard is up there too. I love versatility, and Rogue and Bard are skill monkey classes that are super fun. Paladin’s whole ‘strength from your belief in an ideal’ is also hella fun tho, I like it when paladins draw power from belief not in a god, but in a principle that guides them. Favorite race is harder, I don’t really have a favorite- but I know I dislike playing as Dragonborn, Aarakokra, and Lizardfolk personally. They’re just not for me, I think.