D&D 4th Ed is Out

[Kamakazie]

So are we still on for tonight?

I'm still good. Was it 9 or 9:30?

[Timman_24]

I'm still good. Was it 9 or 9:30?

I was thinking 9:30.

[taggart6]

So are we still on for tonight?

Hopefully. I'm going to try to head out of work in the next few minutes. I should be able to get on at 6:30 the latest. Gonna shoot for for 6 or 6:15.

[Kamakazie]

Good job not getting killed by the dragon!

Taggart, after you left the party found a chest which contained a bluish silvery dragon hide; clearly the artifact that The Holy Order of Bahamut and Company sent you after. In addition to this, you found 120gp and a +1 Chainreach Morningstar.

This melee weapon sports several smaller chains on its hilt and blade.
Level: 5
Price: 1,000 gp

Enhancement: +1 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d6 damage or +1d8 damage if you have combat advantage.

Power (Daily): Minor Action. You may make a melee basic attack against a single target up to 5 squares away. On a successful hit, the target is also knocked prone.

Afterwards, everyone decided that The Holy Order could wait for their prize and went back to Fallcrest to rest up at the Silver Unicorn Inn. (-2gp from each character for lodging and you all take an extended rest). In addition, everyone gains 366xp from the night's encounter as well as completing a quest.

I know we jumped right into this dungeon without much setup regarding the location so I apologize for just throwing this place out there. I wanted to flesh things out a little more but due to time constraints tonight we can handle more via the forum doing a play-by-post sort of thing. Tim's going to be writing another Werk's journal and I've given him some additional information about the area, so you guys should be getting to know your current location a little better from his eyes.

After Tim's journal entry, let's assume you have all woken up from your night's rest. Let me know what you would like to do next and we'll continue playing via the forums until the next time we meet.

EDIT: Oh! And I want everyone to make me a wish list of about 10-20 magic items up to lv 5. This will help in doling out rewards.

[Timman_24]

Werk's journal! I made it longer with more detail. Tell me if it is too long, or if you like the more detailed story. I whipped this one together, but I could do better:

After trashing the measly priest dragonkin and his bodyguards, we found a set of stairs that descended into a narrow corridor. As we traveled deeper our breath became a fine mist, barely perceivable in the dimly lit stair well. By the time we made it to the bottom, my body began to shiver in the frigid, dry air. The drop in ambient temperature had been immense. I've spent my fair share of time underground, no doubt about it, but this was something entirely unnatural or as I would soon find out, something I had never encountered before except in drunken tavern stories.

Tock seemed unphased by the rapid temperature change. I reasoned it was because of his abiotic makeup. Ashen looked his name. We shared a stare of apprehension before pulling our cloaks tight around our bodies. Tock led the way down the corridor, walking non-chalantly as if not feeling the same presence Ashen and I were privy to.

Eventually we made it to an expansive opening which seemed, I'll be damned, if it was pulling energy out of the surrounding area. I knew this was the lair of the beast in which we were told. It wasn't long before the tales turned to reality and we were confronted by a White Dragon. From what little I have read in various tomes at the monastery I studied, I knew he was not a full grown adult but he was extremely dangerous all the same, especially for our first major encounter as a group.

Instantly he felt our presence and lifted his mighty head while belting a deep roar. The air in front of his mouth crystallized, fell to the ground, and turned a large pool of water into solid ice. Tock took an aggressive stance while Ashen naturally moved in right beside him. I stayed slightly back to provide support. The Dragon lifted his entire mass off the ground and flung himself toward us landing directly in the middle of the freshly frozen sheet of ice. In one fluid motion, Tock shifted his greatsword into his offhand, readied a javelin, and let sail the sharp weapon through the air and directly into the dragon's side. He yelled for us to retreat back slightly into better cover. Before moving back, Ashen let loose two javelins which found their mark.

I withdrew, being too far away to sear him with magics but too close for comfort. We decided to try to lure him down the hall and fight him in the cover of a turn in the corridor. The Dragon followed us down the path we set, but to our amazement he lowered his head and screamed a sound which paralyzed my entire body. The sound resonated throughout Tock's wooden structure causing him to be stunned. Later, Ashen told me the Dragon had also sprayed the entire hall with the crystalline breath he exhibited earlier damaging everyone in its path. My vision was shaken and ears were bleeding from the shrill of before, at the time I thought it was all one attack.

Ashen flung himself forward and hacked away at the Dragon's legs. Tock and Ashen parried and dodged the Dragon's attacks while I healed the attacks which hit their mark. This continued for an ungodly amount of time. We were whittling the Dragon down, but we were in tatters as well. We were stuck in this hall of death and the Dragon could be seen coughing up another breath. Tock knew we couldn't last through another onslaught, so he planted his feet deep into the rocky surface, almost as if his wooden feet grew into the crevices in the ground, he squat down and burst up directly at the Dragon cavitating the surrounding air. The shockwave from the ripped atmosphere and the shear mass of Tock's stout frame plowed into the Dragon with enormous force. The Dragon lost its footing and stumbled back into its large lair. With every bit of energy left in his body, Tock continued his assault and charged directly at the Dragon with his greatsword overhead. Unfortunately, the Dragon parried as the greatsword came down and chinked off of the ground.

We could now leave the halls of death and pursue the beast in the open where we could better surround him and, most importantly, position ourselves away from its breath attack. At this point we could clearly see the Dragon was heavily damaged. Skin was flaying off of its legs and blood was pooling around its feet. Tock and Ashen focused their attack and continued to pound into the monstrosity. I feebly attempted to throw searing hot reverence at the Dragon, but Bahamat would not have it on this day. Perhaps it was out of respect for a fellow Dragon, or perhaps he knew his powers were not needed for us to succeed and wanted to challenge my faith. Regardless, I threw out heals to Tock and Ashen as they were both still taking massive damage.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tock landed the final attack onto the ravaged Dragon. He rammed his greatsword straight into the Dragon's face, twisted the hilt, and pulled directly down and out lobotomizing the youth. There was no romantic end to this fight, the Dragon simply perished and we all collapsed in exhaustion.

Tock must have gone into a protective mode, as his consciousness shutdown right after the fight. Ashen and I looked around after catching our breath and we noticed a small entrance into what was commonly called the Dragon's treasure trove. Inside was not mounds of gold like an adult would have stockpiled, but it was an ornate treasure chest. I helped Ashen break the lock free and inside we found gold, pearls, and a huge mace. Bahamat shines on me today, my friends! The mace looks like nothing I have ever seen. Surely this was stolen from a knight of great purpose. We also found what we came for, the Dragon Skin.

After taking some time to assess our damage and pack our treasure, we went back to Tock who was still out cold. I am used to pulling large loads out of mines, so pulling a lump of wood was easy. We tied his feet together and wrapped the rope around my waist. Ashen fashioned a sack and stuffed the loot into it. We traveled out of the dungeon and made it back into Fallcrest before night fall. I had heard of a wonderful inn called the Silver Unicorn in which we could stay. We had found so much gold, that I insisted we stay at only the best inn, at least for this night.

We had defeated a Dragon, won our prize, and made it out alive. We deserved a rest of kings, and for me... a stout Dwarven ale!

[Kamakazie]

Tim. I love you.

[Timman_24]

Tim. I love you.

I take it you like the more detailed entries then?

Also, since that is a level 5 weapon, do I have to be level 5 to use it?

[Timman_24]

One last entry for tonight, let me know if I missed anything:

I could not sleep as easily as I thought I would be able to. After man-handling dragonkin and slaying a Dragon you'd think I would be out cold, like Tock! I guess my Dwarven heritage has gotten the best of me and I feel compeled to take stock of what we looted during our campaign.

Loot List:
Gold: 260g coins
Gems: Ruby, Pearl, 2 Garnets
Weapons: +1 Chainreach Morningstar, +1 Staff of the War Mage
Misc: Skull of goo for later research, large dragon claw, Dragon Hide

Now, I can sleep soundly knowing my loot is accounted for.

[Kamakazie]

I take it you like the more detailed entries then?

Also, since that is a level 5 weapon, do I have to be level 5 to use it?

It was excellent!

You can use that weapon right now, the item level does not have to do with your character level.

EDIT: Remember the value of each gem, too. I play it such that gems are effectively coins, so once you end up back in town, feel free to just cash them in. It simplifies things. I also don't take much notice of what coins you're carrying and play it such that pretty much anyone would be able to give you change if you need it or give you gold in exchange for silver or copper, etc.

Currency Conversion:
10 copper pieces = 1 silver piece
10 silver pieces = 1 gold piece
100 gold pieces = 1 platinum piece
100 platinum pieces = 1 astral diamond

The gems you found:
Ruby = 50gp
Garnet = 25gp (each)
Pearl = 20gp (which I had already converted to gp in my summary )

[taggart6]

Holy crap. Tim, that entry is awesome.

Side note: I think Ashen scored the last hit with one of his attacks of his last twin strike while he was crawling on the ground. Might be fun to mention that.

[Kamakazie]

Holy crap. Tim, that entry is awesome.

Side note: I think Ashen scored the last hit with one of his attacks of his last twin strike while he was crawling on the ground. Might be fun to mention that.

Indeed, and he was crawling around for about 3 or 4 turns, too.

[Timman_24]

I couldn't remember who made the final hit. I will amend it in the morning to reflect his great deed, as Tock got a pretty sweet mention for pushing the dragon back (which was bad *** and probably won the fight for us.)

[SewerUrchin]

I couldn't remember who made the final hit. I will amend it in the morning to reflect his great deed, as Tock got a pretty sweet mention for pushing the dragon back (which was bad *** and probably won the fight for us.)

First, it is late and the post to follow may not make any sense. You have been warned.

I did indeed fight from the ground for 3 rounds, although I hit at least once every round. I didn't put up huge damage numbers for that fight, but I was consistent. I felt bad for Werk and his continual bad luck with dice rolls. Tock was up and down with his rolls.

I am glad Werk came out with something decent and wish we could find a way to turn that staff into something useful. Maybe one of our connection would be willing to trade instead of selling it for diminishing returns. Also, maybe when we turn the artifact in, we can find a way to work in some potions or said items or something.

I updated my sheet with my level and a total of 124.66gp (6 silver and 6 copper) after an even split and the two spent on the Inn. I hope that's right. I might want to purchase a few minor things, but think I will save the majority for a magical item later. I also retrained one power in hopes of being a little more survivable.

I look forward to getting some of the out-of-character stuff out of the way so that we can do some in-character bantering

[taggart6]

Any suggestions on what to take for a feat and utility?

I was thinking of becoming proficient with bastard swords or taking a +1 prof to heavy blades. I dunno, I'm bit overwhelmed by the choices.

I guess my thought was that with prof in bastard sword, I could use a single sword 2 handed to gain a versatile +1 damage to bonus.

[Kamakazie]

Any suggestions on what to take for a feat and utility?

I was thinking of becoming proficient with bastard swords or taking a +1 prof to heavy blades. I dunno, I'm bit overwhelmed by the choices.

I guess my thought was that with prof in bastard sword, I could use a single sword 2 handed to gain a versatile +1 damage to bonus.

If you can't decide from the player's perspective, you could think of it from your character's perspective and see if that makes the decision any easier. Personally, I like feats that let me hurt things more and more often.