Gary's Tips #2: GET AWAY FROM THE BLUE CITY

[GaryMSarli 33]

I came to a realization today.

 

Starting recently (maybe a dozen episodes), the casting times of spells changed drastically.

 

Instead of casting times being most often +(level) to initiative (i.e. it goes off in the same round), virtually all spells have had their casting times increased to 1 round per level (i.e. goes off one or more rounds later).

 

This appears to affect spells with a casting time measured in action segments (e.g. "Casting Time 2" = +2 initiative modifier, so your spell goes off 2 action segments later), but the few spells with a longer casting time (1 round or more) appear not to have changed.

 

Look it up in the Player's Handbook, page 87, under "Casting Time." Most spells are supposed to be much faster to use.

 

 

Now, I'd pointed this out a couple of times to the Nerd Poker guys, but they never corrected it. My first thought was that it was simple forgetfulness, but something really critical occurred to me:

 

The longer casting times only started when you got near the Blue City.

 

With all the "electricity" (of whatever form) they're using, it does make you wonder where that power is coming from. Is it directly siphoning magic from the universe itself, making most spells much harder to cast?

 

So, seriously -- ask Blaine about this. He can be really sneaky when it comes to not mentioning things and waiting to see how long it takes for you to notice.

 

Even if the whole thing was just a rules mistake and not a big plan, this would at least provide a nice retcon to explain it away, right?

 

 

OK, a few other bits for you:

 

Blaine: I think the guys are seriously overdue for leveling up. (They last did so in Episode 109.)

 

Nausica should almost certainly not gain a level this time because she's multiclassed, so she's splitting her XP between two classes. Even with tons of roleplaying, I doubt she's earned twice as much as everyone else. (She also just got here less than 10 episodes ago.)

 

On every level after this (for the foreseeable future), Nausica will gain levels at the same time as everyone else -- she'll just be one level down in both classes compared to the rest of the group.

 

So, right now: Everyone but Nausica goes to 6th level.

 

Next time: Everyone but Nausica goes to 7th level, and Nausica goes to 6th level as both fighter and priest.

 

Winter: Stop using the rapier -- you're not proficient, so you'll take a -5 penalty to attacks with it (see Player's Handbook page 51).

 

Your magical quarterstaff does much more damage, anyway: It's probably a +3 magic weapon, so you'd add +3 to attack rolls and damage rolls (i.e. you're much more likely to hit and you do much more damage). If you don't have the exact bonus written down, ask Blaine to use the table for it from the Dungeon Master's Guide page 184. For your convenience, I'm reprinting it below -- just roll a d20 to find out the bonus:

1-5: +1

6-9: +2

10-13: +3

14-17: +4

18-20: +5

 

 

Houg:

You found some really nice stuff in the ettercap's cave (Episode 125), if my intuition is correct.

 

The ring with the three mysterious equidistant marks is probably a

ring of three wishes

(DMG p.151). You can use this to do almost anything -- at the very least, you can produce the effect of any spell, so you use

plane shift

,

resurrection

, or anything else you can imagine.

 

The ring could obviously be used to get the hell away from this shitty continent, but that's not necessary because of two other items of note:

 

The rug is most likely a

flying carpet

(DMG p.163) or a

rug of welcome

(DMG p.179), which works like a flying carpet that can also attack and suffocate an opponent. However, it could also be a

rug of smothering

(DMG p.179), which is cursed and will try to suffocate you when you sit on it. You'll need

animate object

,

hold plant

, or

wish

to save the victim in that case. (Use the

ring of three wishes

for this, if it comes to that.)

 

The

helm of teleportation

(DMG p.171) is definitely your ticket off of this continent because it lets you cast

teleport

(Player's Handbook p.172) once a day. When Houg or Winter get to 9th level, they can learn

teleport

and then get even more use out of the helm, allowing them to cast

teleport

up to six times before actually expending the one they have memorized.

 

I believe miscellaneous magic items have a caster level of 12th (just like rings), so you'd be able to carry 550 lbs. with you. (

Teleport

allows 250 lbs. plus 150 lbs. per level above 10th.) This should be enough to carry the other three party members in a single trip, and that means you can go anywhere you want. (Even if you need two trips, you can do it over 48 hours: teleport 1st half at hour 0, teleport back at hour 24, teleport 2nd half at hour 48.)

 

However,

teleport

is risky unless you're going somewhere very familiar. (Look at the table in the spell description -- it's scary.) I'd recommend that you teleport to your childhood home or some other place you would know like the back of your hand; even then, if you roll a "00" on a d100, you all die instantly by being teleported underground. (If you roll a 01 or 02, you instead materialize in mid-air and take falling damage: 2d6 if you rolled a "01" and 1d6 if you rolled an "02."

 

 

Also, don't forget the other items you inherited from Lyra:

• Ring of Telekinesis: This can be used to deal up to 12 damage every single round by throwing rocks and debris. (Blaine might have you roll 1d12 to randomly determine how good an object you are able to find to throw.)
  
• Horn of Blasting: You're carrying this, too. Don't forget that after using it once, you can mimic it with an illusion spell. (Unlike the real horn, an illusionary one has no chance to explode if you use it more than once a day.)
  

Finally, one spell I recommend you get at 6th level: rope trick (Player's Handbook p.145). It creates a completely safe extradimensional pocket for 2 hours (2 turns = 20 minutes per level, so 120 minutes at 6th level). Wandering monsters can't get in, and they can't even see the opening if you pull the rope in after climbing up.

 

In two hours, you'd have plenty of time to re-memorize spells (including rope trick, if you want to cast it again), so you could use this several times over the night if you need to stay out of sight long enough to rest.

 

 

 

 

OK, I think that's it for now. Have fun!