Shadow War campaign OOC Thread

[Lutharian]

Wheee! Like a damn sneaky ninja!

[Navarre]

I know, right? No one ever sees the Ninja...

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html

[Lutharian]

I know, right? No one ever sees the Ninja...

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html

That's gotta be one of the best mini comics i've ever seen!   

So does T'Ning have Tanandra off guard currently?  I'll ask again once his turn comes back around..see if I need to add sudden strike damage.

[Navarre]

Tandranara would be flat-footed against you, yep. As later reference for you, her flat-footed AC (ie, without Dexterity bonuses) is 28, not 32.

[Lutharian]

Oh nice, and sorry I spelt the name wrong..heh. 28 is much easier to hit. 

[Navarre]

Yeah, can't believe you spelled an easy name like "Tandranara" wrong. 

Animal companions are an odd thing. At higher levels it's so difficult to keep them relevant.

[Lutharian]

I was starting to notice, looking through my books that companion animals are so great at a low level...then it's like...well, I can do better at later levels. *shrug* Whatcha gonna do.

[Gaumer]

Animal companions are an odd thing. At higher levels it's so difficult to keep them relevant.

In certain situations they can still be of great value. Even a simple Flanker or decoy is great in a fight and the other stuff (recon, eavesdropping, etc.) is always handy. Cats and wolves just aren't very well adapted to the air

The little PC scenario fight we had brought to my attention just how out of place the Brands animals are in high-level combat, however. Again, still good in a pinch for some things, but not very useful otherwise against powerful  enemies.

But, yeah, overall Animal Companions don't rank very high on the "best class ability" list for very long.

[Navarre]

I agree. And that seems almost an oversight.

From a real world standpoint, having loyal animals that magically appear from nowhere to aid you is awesome. But, in the magical world that permits such things, they are overshadowed by the greater magic of the realm.

I think animal companions should increase in ability as their master does. Like familiars but even better.

[Lutharian]

So I was thinking for my irl campaign, to give my PC's dragon eggs, random colored ones, have them roll a d20 to figure out which corresponding dragon they get.  But as they level, the dragons grow and level.  Maybe bred to be smaller, but still essentially dragons.  Will help the pc's in combat, considering I might only have 2 standard PC's in my game.  But what do you guys think of the idea of growing compainoins?  I think it would make them much more useful.  Granted I don't want there dragons to have all dragon abilities...cause that's just OP..but basic claw attacks and such, working on their own initiative count.

EDIT: Looks like Nav answered it already..heh

[Gaumer]

Yeah, but Bed's ACs are also really low compared to his level. But that's just where the XP got spent

So I was thinking for my irl campaign, to give my PC's dragon eggs, random colored ones, have them roll a d20 to figure out which corresponding dragon they get.  But as they level, the dragons grow and level.  Maybe bred to be smaller, but still essentially dragons.  Will help the pc's in combat, considering I might only have 2 standard PC's in my game.  But what do you guys think of the idea of growing compainoins?  I think it would make them much more useful.  Granted I don't want there dragons to have all dragon abilities...cause that's just OP..but basic claw attacks and such, working on their own initiative count.

EDIT: Looks like Nav answered it already..heh

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Dragons would take years out of the egg to be old enough to be any real help, and even if you changed that rule up to make sense I'm not sure giving everyone a magical creature is much different than giving them cool magic items, and those are much simpler.

I think its a cool aspect to raise a creature from the egg and such, and I think you should incorporate enough chance for downtime to make sure PCs are able to do something like that if they wish (and also make items and armor and weapons etc) but forcing it in such a way is not something I think you should do.

[Navarre]

I agree with Gaumer.

My current irl campaign has the PCs finding magical items that gain in power as they do because they are spiritually bonded. So I see where you're going with the dragon thing.

But I think dragons are too defined (and god knows overused) to work well. If anything, I'd make a whole new race of symbiotic creatures and build a plot around that.

... but, hey, I like doing that stuff.

[Lutharian]

Well, what I was planning on was once my PC's hit Sigil, they'd run into a guy that sells eggs of different critters.  Can really be there choice what they want, I just assumed they would want dragons.  But altering the aging process with magic was going to be a quest they could go on, to seek out someone to help them.  But I still plan on adding the regular tiers of magical items and things.  This won't happen for at least 6 levels or so...Sigil is a later part of the story.  Oh and I like that idea Nav.  Would you completely homebrew the critter, or use something from an MM for a base and reskin?

[Gaumer]

And I agree with Nav

but I think if you do something as focused and interdependent with the game on the whole like giving people specific creatures, animals that would have their own game mechanic, will end up pissing one or more PCs off because they don't want to do it for one reason or another and ruin the whole damned thing or at least set it askew enough to make the dragon thing a burden instead of a cool idea.

I think it almost boils down to: you can throw as many cool ideas in the mix as you want, but they have to be, or at least appear to be, completely optional.

Well, what I was planning on was once my PC's hit Sigil, they'd run into a guy that sells eggs of different critters.  Can really be there choice what they want, I just assumed they would want dragons.  But altering the aging process with magic was going to be a quest they could go on, to seek out someone to help them.  But I still plan on adding the regular tiers of magical items and things.  This won't happen for at least 6 levels or so...Sigil is a later part of the story.  Oh and I like that idea Nav.  Would you completely homebrew the critter, or use something from an MM for a base and reskin?

That actually sounds okay, and goes with what my train of thought on the overall subject.

You are going to run into Pcs looking to stow those eggs somewhere, or protect them. The magic aging side-quest sounds very cool. I'm just saying, that you may have some PCs that don't want to go through 4 quests to get dragons. You would need to have a goal that is only reachable via dragons. Maybe joining some outfit of dragon-riders or some such. Its an intriguing prospect nonetheless.

[Navarre]

Personally, I'd skip the dragons because anyone could throw those in. I'd homebrew the creatures but assist myself in their creation by using existing monsters for reference.

So I'd start by sitting back, closing my eyes, and imagining these amazing creatures interacting with my PCs. What do I see? How are they shaped? What is their mode of movement? How do they smell? Know them.

Then look through the monster manual to pick and choose qualities from different monsters that help me devise stats that work within the game mechanics and are of the proper stat level for the PCs.

Then take those traits and devote mental energy to them, figuring out the "why" of the race. How did this all come to be and what does it all mean, especially as it involves the PCs.

Boom. New race. New sub-plot. Far more intriguing and less stale than dragons. And what the PCs do, or don't, with it is entirely up to them; as it should always be.