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A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover

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That is pure evil, but you may be able to use the dead hounds as an intimidation buff. Like we killed these freaky things, give us a discount.
 
A_Somebody said:
[X] Crake

Ahaha Ysilla's role as designated Human Friend is great. Also Maaann my DM just had my level 7 party fight a bunch of Hounds of Tindalos but says the bodies are too alien to be worth anything but to freak people out with. And no grafts allowed (Idk if Pathfinder has such shenanigans and he's wary about importing broken stuff from 3.5)
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While not theoretically out of a level seven party's ability to handle, the Hounds are pretty tricked out for their CR. That could have gone really poorly, depending on group comp. Good job surviving.

Even if grafts were allowed, I don't think those particular bits and pieces would be on my wishlist.
 
A_Somebody said:
[X] Crake

Ahaha Ysilla's role as designated Human Friend is great. Also Maaann my DM just had my level 7 party fight a bunch of Hounds of Tindalos but says the bodies are too alien to be worth anything but to freak people out with. And no grafts allowed (Idk if Pathfinder has such shenanigans and he's wary about importing broken stuff from 3.5)
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You weren't even allowed to get decent pelts out of them?
 
A_Somebody said:
[X] Crake

Ahaha Ysilla's role as designated Human Friend is great. Also Maaann my DM just had my level 7 party fight a bunch of Hounds of Tindalos but says the bodies are too alien to be worth anything but to freak people out with. And no grafts allowed (Idk if Pathfinder has such shenanigans and he's wary about importing broken stuff from 3.5)
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At the very least you should keep the corpses for necromancy purposes.
 
Goldfish said:
While not theoretically out of a level seven party's ability to handle, the Hounds are pretty tricked out for their CR. That could have gone really poorly, depending on group comp. Good job surviving.

Even if grafts were allowed, I don't think those particular bits and pieces would be on my wishlist.
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Ahah thanks guys, and oh man yeah we ended up facing three Hounds of Tindalos after a single day where we already faced:

-1 Noble Efreeti (okay not really a proper fight, more a funny RP things where we pretended to be slaves giving him a special manipedi and Massage via alchemist bombs and hammer smashing)
-1 Large Air Elemntal
-3 base Shaitan

My spell slots were massively depleted and the Alchemist actually ran out of bombs for the first time ever. (we hadn't been keeping track of them properly until recently TBF)

We do have automatic bonus progression on to mitigate lack of traditional Loot, but man this quest has spoiled me. And a bard DMPC buff bot.

But yeah my DM has been giving me nasty looks ever since he realized exactly what Paragon Surge does. And realized what a mistake it was to give the Scout (sneak attack on charge) Rouge a Keen Rapier at Level 1 lol.
 
A_Somebody said:
Ahah thanks guys, and oh man yeah we ended up facing three Hounds of Tindalos after a single day where we already faced:

-1 Noble Efreeti (okay not really a proper fight, more a funny RP things where we pretended to be slaves giving him a special manipedi and Massage via alchemist bombs and hammer smashing)
-1 Large Air Elemntal
-3 base Shaitan

My spell slots were massively depleted and the Alchemist actually ran out of bombs for the first time ever. (we hadn't been keeping track of them properly until recently TBF)

We do have automatic bonus progression on to mitigate lack of traditional Loot, but man this quest has spoiled me. And a bard DMPC buff bot.

But yeah my DM has been giving me nasty looks ever since he realized exactly what Paragon Surge does. And realized what a mistake it was to give the Scout (sneak attack on charge) Rouge a Keen Rapier at Level 1 lol.
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I like how in D&D, if you give a low level PC some small advantage, it's unbalancing as hell to standard encounters with no templates, special gear or extraneous side-challenges added to the mix.

But at higher levels, a slightly better sword means virtually nothing mechanically.
 
DragonParadox said:
So I'm trying to find the last menagerie update, but I'm not having much luck with the search function. Does anyone remember 'round about where it was?
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Unless Duesal has that information for the clutch save, you might even end up having to make some shit up. That was never one of our better tracked features.

Though I think we've only kept up with tracking other data through meticulous bookkeeping...

I know I extracted hatching hippogriff numbers from you the other month.
 
DragonParadox said:
Sure

5 more lightning lizards (their growth times are small enough that I do not want to deal with the adult/young distinction)
The 2 Fright fiends grew up and 4 more cubs were hand

BTW can someone check and see if Velen's original stats exist somewhere in the thread to use for the phoenixes. Otherwise I'm going to have to work backwards from his current ones to re-build them since I lost those early notes a long time ago.
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Pretty sure this was the last update we've gotten on this that I could tell.

Also +52 Hippogriff eggs.
 
For now vote closed. I'll keep looking for that update. I don't want to just invent new mechanics.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Oct 17, 2019 at 4:20 AM, finished with 74 posts and 15 votes.
  • [X] "As a start, I would find that most pleasing indeed. Perhaps after some exchanging of goods and works of culture, in time a branch of Astral Currents Stock Exchange might open its doors here in the City of Splendid Waves?"
    -[X] "Of course, information on the current value and movements of trade goods all over my realm and my capital, as much as those sold in Armun Kelisk and Opaline Vault, would be of some value for those not fortunate not to possess their own network of informants and merchants themselves, the less fortunate... burghers, that is, might benefit greatly from merely that--but all would benefit greatly if the Council pondered upon the possibility of selling land for the opening of another Planar Terminus, to link all four cities together in truth."
    -[X] "Ah, but of course, we have just discussed the possibility of drawing the flaming eye of particularly odious nature upon this fair city. Of course, rarely does a vast influx of wealth not accompany a commensurate increase in protections one might acquire, nor the influence thereby that might be wielded to... mutual benefit." You speak of continuing their game of playing the local powers off each other, and also leveraging them against your own foes.
    --[X] You will have your Embassy near the heart of power as first suggested, and utilize Tritons as your emissaries, so that they might pursue their own goals and your own in twain, as where the Eternal Ocean is concerned they are of like mind.
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This was January @DragonParadox

DragonParadox said:
Strangeness of Sky and Sea​

Fifth Day of the Eighth Month 293 AC

It is not the sea that grows crowded first with the gathering hosts of your expedition to Yi Ti, for ships are slow even with the most skillful crews, nor yet the shore for in the bustle of Sorcerer's Deep. Who is to know what is preparation for the great journey eastwards and what is the rustle of trade and the clink of coin that serves as the city's everyday lifeblood?

No, it is the sky that plays host to the first gathering strange and wondrous enough to draw even the most jaded eye heavenwards, false ravens by the score dart about delivering messages, or perhaps merely peeking into the corners to satisfy their endless curiosity. Wyrmlings wrought of metal and magic circle each other in complex areal dances that trail smoke and lightning, vitriol and frost, seemingly for no other reason than the acclamation of whoever cares to look up.

That is not to say that any who would care to look to the waves and not the skies would witness a sight any less wondrous. There are tritons gathering of course, warriors bearing dragonglass spears and traders with strings of dolphins following in their wake... but also something else, something far larger. A pair of manta rays burn the waves from blue-grey to deep green. At first sight it is hard to understand how something so enormous can even be alive. The otherwise delicate looking creatures are over seventy feet long, dwarfing even the greatest of your dragon shapes.

"Excellent work, Vee," you congratulate the girl who had come down to the city to see the great swimmers float into the harbor and the nimble darkenbeast find their wings. "I would give you a royal commendation for it if I didn't know you would take having to sit around in court as a punishment."

She snorts in amusement: "Damn right I would. If I'm going to have to sit still until my feet ache and my back goes stiff it aught to be for a good reason, like letting the bugs get used to me so I can train them."

"But that is what a court is for, Vee, a way to train nobles to act for the good of the realm rather than only in their own self-interest," you point out.

"I know. Bugs and beasts are nicer about it, though." Though she jests her gaze grows serious. "How do you do it? Stand there and listen to slavers, killers, and fools, and just nod along just because they weren't the worst of their lot?"

"I remind myself that the alternative is complete chaos, and then I remember their children..."

"The children?" Vee asks, confused. "I know you don't wanna kill 'em, and good for you, but what does that have to do with their parents being the scum that rose to the top of the pond?"

"Because if I have my way they will grow up in this new realm we are making, this new future. They will never be slavers, never think to order death or torment on a whim, never to wage war and trample fields over some petty slight, and the magisters who live now, they will be gone, no less dead for having perished in bed draped in silken sheets."

The girl nods. "You're thinking like a dragon."

An instinctive denial rises to your lips, then dies before it is spoken. Ever since you first understood the nature of the first dragons you had associated them with the darkest passions of your heart, with wrath, with greed, and the lust for power, with madness, but Vee's comment is about none of those things but simple longevity. For all you seem to be rushing from place to place and task to task each and every day you also have time, more of it than any man and woman now living, time enough to see the magisters die in their sleep and mold their children and grandchildren. For a moment, gazing down the long parade of years stretching on to the horizon, you are almost overwhelmed. Then you remember one undeniable fact of your life, you are not alone.

"...so do you want it or not?" you catch the latter half of Vee's question. She raises an eyebrow. "You know, for someone who can hear a cricket chirp a hundred yards away you sure do miss a lot."

"Yes, Vee, I would very much like the report from Mosshold," you answer with a smile, guessing what she likely would have asked you.

She tips her head to the side, unconvinced, but reports on the expansion of numbers and training.

1 Allosaurus

Training level: Untrained
Young: None (no breeding pair)

4 Ankhegs

Training level: Tamed, safe for supervised work
Young: 2d8 ---> 12 (Will mature in 6 months)

1 Ankylosaurus

Training level: Untrained
Young: None (no breeding pair)

14 Compsognathuses

Training level: Tamed, safe for Scholarum use or trade
Young: 14d6 ---> 53 (Will mature in 3 months)

10 Fright Fiends

Training level: Tamed, in use by the Inquisition
Young: 10d8 ---> 46 (Will mature in 6 months)

1 Gorgon 'Irony'

Training level: Impossible to tame. Kept for breeding stock
Young: 98 + 8d6 Steel-Blooded Calves ---> 98 + 27 = 125 (Will mature in 12 months)

12 Hippogriffs

Training level: Trained [Require riders]
Young: 8 + 12d4 ---> 8 + 29 = 37 (Will mature in 12 months)

12 Lightning Lizards

Training level: Tamed, safe for Scholarum use or trade
Young: 12d6 ---> 49 (Will mature in 2 months)

2 Living Spells (Restoration and Cure Critical Wounds)

Training level: Impossible to tame
Young: None. Reproduction mechanisms unknown

1 Parasaurolophus (Juvenile)

Training level: Untrained
Young: None (no breeding pair)

1 Triceratops

Training level: Untrained
Young: None (no breeding pair)

23 Troodons

Training level: Untamed, process ongoing
Young: 22d6 ---> 73 (Will mature in 6 months)

2 Northern Wolves

Training level: Untamed, no resources invested
Young: 2+ 2d2---> 2+3 = 5 (Will mature in 6 months)

"If you're thinking of gathering knights to show off at this festival you could do worse than having them swear to you for a hippogriff," Vee concludes. "They need proper bonded riders and my trainers are too damn busy to be it. It's hard enough to find folk to stick with the work." She then mutters something that may or may not include: 'I can grow their arms back.'

You might have to increase the pay for Mosshold beast-tamers.

What do you do next?

[] A day at court
-[] Sitting in judgement
-[] Integrating Myrish and Lyseni institutions into the realm's political organization
-[] Write in

[] Move on to extra-planar trade
-[] Write in

[] Write in

OOC: We have not heard from Vee in a long time. We also have not heard about the menagerie in months so I decided to bite the bullet and overhaul the system like we did with the Scholarum so we could keep proper records. A lot of the above is retroactive growth from all the blood-wished fertility.
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DragonParadox said:
Find it they did indeed in a deep cave besides noxious springs, the wolves left to guard it easily dispatched, leaving Aemon in the possession of thirteen Cinder Wolf pups. He already had more than enough reagents. Perhaps the king would be interested in new beasts for his menagerie.
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@DragonParadox

Also these should be somewhere?

Edit:

Maybe not:

The constant hunger and pain cinder wolves endure make them hard to manage and even more difficult to tame.

This part reminds me it was a sticking point, did we have a way to make them not constantly in pain?
 
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OK Here is the new menagerie section on the front page

King's Menagerie
N = Number of Breeding Adults

1 Allosaurus (Adult)
Training level: Untrained
Young: None (no breeding pair)

4 Ankhegs
Training level: Tamed, safe for supervised work
Young:
  • 12 (Will mature in 4 months)
  • 7 (Will Mature in 5 months)
  • 6 (Will manture in 6 months)
Rate of Reporduction: N/2d8/month
Time to Breeding Age: 6 months

1 Ankylosaurus
Training level: Untrained
Young: None (no breeding pair)

14 Comsognathuses
Training level: Tamed, safe for Scholarum use or trade
Young:
  • 38 (Will Mature in 1 Month)
  • 20 (Will Mature in 2 Months)
  • 12 (Will Mature in 3 Months)

Rate of Reporduction: N/3d6/month
Time to Breeding Age: 3 months

10 Fright Fiends
Training level: Tamed, in use by the Inquisition
Young:
  • 23 (Will Mature in 3 Months)
  • 23 (Will Mature in 4 Months)
  • 12 (Will Mature in 5 Months)
  • 21 (Will Mature in 6 Months)
Rate of Reporduction: N/2d8/month
Time to Breeding Age: 6 months

1 Gorgon 'Irony'
Training level: Impossible to tame. Kept for breeding stock

0 Steel Blooded Calves (Crossbreeding still Being Performed)
Young:
  • 16 (Will Mature in 4 Months)
  • 16 (Will Mature in 5 Months)
  • 14 (Will Mature in 6 Months)
  • 15 (Will Mature in 7 Months)
  • 16 (Will Mature in 8 Months)
  • 16 (Will Mature in 9 Months)
  • 16 (Will Mature in 10 Months)
  • 11 (Will Mature in 11 Months)
  • 18 (Will Mature in 12 Months)

Rate of Reporduction: Rate of Reporduction: N/3d6/month
Time to Breeding Age: 12 Months

21 Hippogriffs
Training level: Trained (Knights of the Star)
Young:
  • 9 (Will mature in 2 Months)
  • 8 (Will Mature in 3 Months)
  • 12 (Will mature in 4 Months)
  • 52 (Will Mature in 11 Months)
Rate of Reporduction: Nd4/month
Time to Breeding Age: 12 Months

61 Lightning Lizards
Training level: Tamed, safe for Scholarum use or trade
Young:
  • 68 (Will Mature in 1 Month)
  • 59 (Will manture in 2 Months)

Rate of Reporduction: N/3d6/month
Time to Breeding Age: 3 months
Scholarum Aquisition 2d4/month

2 Living Spells (Restoration and Cure Critical Wounds)

Training level: Impossible to tame
Young: None. Reproduction mechanisms unknown

1 Parasaurolophus (Juvenile)

Training level: Untrained
Young: None (no breeding pair)

1 Triceratops

Training level: Untrained
Young: None (no breeding pair)

23 Troodons
Young:
  • 18 (Will Mature in 5 Months)
  • 21 (Will Mature in 6 Months)
Rate of Reporduction: N/3d6/month
Time to Breeding Age: 6 months

4 Northern Wolves (2 Adults, 6 Young)

It did not seem worth it to keep track of the reproduction of wolves
 
DragonParadox said:
1 Gorgon 'Irony'
Training level: Impossible to tame. Kept for breeding stock

0 Steel Blooded Calves (Crossbreeding still Being Performed)
Young:
  • 16 (Will Mature in 4 Months)
  • 16 (Will Mature in 5 Months)
  • 14 (Will Mature in 6 Months)
  • 15 (Will Mature in 7 Months)
  • 16 (Will Mature in 8 Months)
  • 16 (Will Mature in 9 Months)
  • 16 (Will Mature in 10 Months)
  • 11 (Will Mature in 11 Months)
  • 18 (Will Mature in 12 Months)
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Holy crap...Irony has been busy. :lol:
 
Winning vote
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Oct 17, 2019 at 4:20 AM, finished with 74 posts and 15 votes.
  • [X] "As a start, I would find that most pleasing indeed. Perhaps after some exchanging of goods and works of culture, in time a branch of Astral Currents Stock Exchange might open its doors here in the City of Splendid Waves?"
    -[X] "Of course, information on the current value and movements of trade goods all over my realm and my capital, as much as those sold in Armun Kelisk and Opaline Vault, would be of some value for those not fortunate not to possess their own network of informants and merchants themselves, the less fortunate... burghers, that is, might benefit greatly from merely that--but all would benefit greatly if the Council pondered upon the possibility of selling land for the opening of another Planar Terminus, to link all four cities together in truth."
    -[X] "Ah, but of course, we have just discussed the possibility of drawing the flaming eye of particularly odious nature upon this fair city. Of course, rarely does a vast influx of wealth not accompany a commensurate increase in protections one might acquire, nor the influence thereby that might be wielded to... mutual benefit." You speak of continuing their game of playing the local powers off each other, and also leveraging them against your own foes.
    --[X] You will have your Embassy near the heart of power as first suggested, and utilize Tritons as your emissaries, so that they might pursue their own goals and your own in twain, as where the Eternal Ocean is concerned they are of like mind.
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Part MMMCXX: To Balance the Scales
  • Threadmarks
    • To Balance the Scales ​

    Fifth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC

    "As a start, I would find that most pleasing indeed," you reply sincerely. "Perhaps after some exchanging of goods and works of culture, eventually a branch of Astral Currents Stock Exchange might open its doors here in the City of Splendid Waves?"

    "Many of Vialesk's artists and scholars will be fascinated to learn more about the Garden from which we have been barred from for so long, and I imagine I do not need to tell one so adept in trade how the merchants will react at the thought of an entire new market for their goods and services," Lady Anora replies, her smile growing wider with relief. For the first time since greeting him she turns to Breath Taker. "I do not seek to offend, holy one, but I imagine many of your kin who would not be driven by faith alone in your great exodus might reconsider when safety and prosperity become more apparent. "

    "I am not easily offended by words, and never to this day by truth. I strive that it may remain so." The priest's voice is soft and even, though you can hear an echo of pain in his words, perhaps over those who chose to remain behind rather than hear the call of their god, but more likely at the thought of cleaving his kindred in two. "For myself, I welcome any who would swim in the seas of home, though I do not deny that others may have grown bitter from the peril and the loss of the war in the deep."

    You exchange telling looks with your mother. Such friction is worth bearing in mind for the future, mayhaps something the envoys she had trained could help with once they have cut their teeth on more worldly matters.

    For now you turn to the liaison and more immediate gains. "Returning to the matter of trade, information on the current value and movements of trade goods all over my realm and my capital, as much as those sold in Armun Kelisk and Opaline Vault, would be of some value for those not fortunate enough to possess their own network of informants and merchants themselves. The less fortunate... burghers, that is, might benefit greatly from such knowledge, but all would benefit greatly if the Council pondered upon the possibility of selling land for the opening of another Planar Terminus, to link all four cities together in truth."

    The smile slides off the envoy's face, though her expression does not quite freeze as deeply as the first time she thought she was giving you ill news. Of such small steps is trust built. "Such a gate would be seen by many as a chink in Vialesk's armor, I fear. We are a city of traders, but also one that has endured countless sieges by those who would subjugate us. You would have to prove yourself a staunch and unwavering ally of the city to convince the Council to allow such a connection, though to be sure trade makes a excellent beginning."

    About what you had expected. This is not the heart of an empire, but a free city that must look to its own defense against rapacious neighbors. Nodding in understanding, you continue, "Ah, but of course, we have just discussed the possibility of drawing the flaming eye of a particularly odious nature upon this fair city. Rarely does a vast influx of wealth not accompany a commensurate increase in protections one might acquire, nor the influence thereby that might be wielded to... mutual benefit."

    Only for a moment does she hesitate at the implication. "True, the swords of the Marid and the claws of the Brine Lords are sharp indeed, and we would not weep to see them dulled in... worthy causes."

    Relath gives a slow hissing laugh at the notion of other Brine Dragons, many of them his elders, being made into pawns.

    The formalities of establishing an embassy are handled with surprising ease... or perhaps not so surprising when one considers the likely patience, or lack thereof, of most Dragons with mortal bureaucracy. The embassy is to be established in the building that once hosted the headwaters of the Vialesk Silver Scouts, a defunct free company which had run afoul of a draconic grudge.

    Lost 18,000 IM

    Gained Embassy Location

    Although there might be friction between the local Tritons and those who dared the perilous journey to the seas of their birth, Breath Taker assures you that he can see to it that the embassy is staffed with those among his people not only knowledgeable of the Endless Ocean, but also level-headed and open to gaining new allies wherever they may be found.

    Where do you go next?

    [] The Mirror Market, where the submerged part of the city meets the air filled dome to sell your wares and mayhaps buy more

    [] The Guild Master's Hall, to try and forge relations with one of the city's many trading houses or use the ones Relath already formed

    [] The Glass Pit, the molten furnace deep in the heart of the city where the smiths practice their craft to see if any of them might be interested in joining your realm as Breath Taker hopes

    [] Write in

    OOC: The location is more expensive than it would have been in other areas of the city, but I figured that given your funds it was not worth a second vote.
     
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