+1 ST gets you an extra point of damage with a swing, an extra hit point and another 7lbs no-encumberance load (+14lbs at light encumberance, 21lbs at medium, etc). Also helps with wrestling contests of strength, but Ranar is freakishly good at that already (15ST + 2 lifting ST + 2 for wrestling skill = effective ST of 19).
Axe, wrestling and shield skills are at 4pts already; those would each be another four points for +1 or eight points for +2.
Crossbow is at one point, so another one point for +1, three points for +2, 7 points for +3.
Axe throwing would be a worthwhile skill to get if you plan on keeping those throwing axes. It’s DX/Easy: 1pt for level 12, 2pts for level 13, 4pts for level 14.
A point or two in Brawling would be useful, for hilt-punching targets too close for the axe and similar things.
Learning basic Arabic wouldn’t be a bad idea either; 1pt broken, 2pts accented, 3 pts native, bought separately for spoken and written.
Another option would be extra hit points; 2pts each. Or another level of the Animal Friend talent; that would give +1 to all animal skills for 5pts.
My vote is for The Incredible Ranar. Make the guy near impossible to kill. Last dwarf standing.
Before we go I’d like to at least add one of their more portable weapons to our pile for research purposes when we get back to the city.
I think putting our pal’s corpses in the anti-magic room and maybe locking that door again would be good. At least to prevent any zombieism. I also think seeing if we can set the map to somewhere we aren’t going to be might be a good false trail for whoever hired our blurry elves should they decide to come find out why their team never reported back in.
To make it basic: in what direction are you heading once you leave the dungeon?
You’re a couple of day’s walk north of the river and the Cardien border, about halfway between Tredroy and Hadaton. The boss is dead and you’re unemployed.
Where do you want to go, what do you want to do? It’s entirely up to you two. Hadaton would be a useful seaport if you’re planning on travelling by ship.
With a snapped arm Thwip won’t be carrying much. Mind you he’s what the stereotype of the 98lbs weakling was invented for. And Ranar might be needed to take up arms on the way back so using him as a pack mule might not be wise. So I don’t think trying to make it back with a barrel o’ loot is a smart move.
Since it seems our horses are gone I’d say we should scavenge what coin we can to pay for transport back to civilization, carry just enough loot to sell off once we get to a decent buyer, and then focus on rescuing what provisions we can from our camp since we’ll be sleeping rough and it’s not exactly lush hunting lands.
I seem to recall there was a town with a decently-traveled road we turned off of. Maybe heading back there and sticking out our thumbs for a friendly farmer to pick us up?
As for Thwip’s advancement: I’m not sure how the 10 points apply to his stacks of magic bullets, but let’s go with that.
Magic bullets is a thing to do rather than points to spend.
For points to spend, how about this:
1pt each added to Lockpicking, Traps, Stealth, Observation, Engineer (Small Arms), Engineer (Combat), Short Sword, Fast Talk and Diplomacy, raising them all by one level.
1pt in Fast Draw (Sword), so that Thwip can instantly switch weapons.
Ranar has Greed, and generally doesn’t want to leave all the loot for centaurs, assassins or whoever. So he’s going to try to carry some of the swords in some cloth tied up with some cord and either slung from his backpack, or if that gets uncomfortable, carry it over his shoulder. (cutlass, sabre, longsword, thrusting broadswoard, and elf assassin sword) He’ll also ask Thwip to take whatever potions he can, along with the haram box (and swallowed ring). They can split the coins and jewelry.
As for Ranar’s advancement, after giving it some more thought I like the idea of picking up relevant skills:
2 to Arabic (accented, spoken)
2 to Brawling (DX+1 = 13)
1 to Tactics (IQ-2 = 9)
4 points to Thrown Weapon (Axe) (DX+2 = 14)
2 to Off-hand weapon training (Axe/Mace) (14-4+2 = 12)
So during their travels, he’ll ask Thwip to teach him some Arabic (a Dwarf speaking Arabic with a goblin accent, that oughta get a reaction ) and do a lot of practicing with the axes.
Posted in narrative thread up to where Ranar’s ready to leave.
With shields, you have two choices. A strap-on shield or a hand-held buckler.
The advantage with strap-on shields is that they allow you to do shield charges. The advantage with bucklers is that you can drop them at a moment’s notice; a strap on shield takes a few seconds to get rid of. Dumping the shield is useful when you decide to wrestle etc.
Ranar is currently set up with the strap-on version, but which would you prefer? I’m happy to retroactively swap that now that y’all know how things work.
Also: have a skim over your updated equipment list and confirm which bits (if any) you want to abandon. The rapier and tulwar were Nic and Jibril’s newly-acquired swords; the longsword was Eabd’s.
You can easily handle the weight of it all, it’s just bulky and awkward.
That reminded me… Given the Banestorm premise is it technically possible for a 21st century Earth person or even an army of them to arrive in this world?
Yrth exists as a parallel world to Earth, and is known to Infinity as a Fantasy parallel in Q5 , with a divergence point that probably occurred when the Pangean supercontinent existed. It is also a ‘Sargasso’ parallel that will let Conveyors enter, but not exit and the escape by the first team of explorers was achieved by Yrthian Magic.
Standing 4’ high and about as stocky as any normal dwarf, Sasha wears a plain scale mail jerkin and carries a plain but well cared for short sword as well as an unusual looking crossbow on his back. However, what draws your attention is his clean-shaven chin.
Sasha is a Brother Protector a religious order of dwarves dedicated to the worship of the Deep Rock. Their vows include rescuing dwarves in trouble and this often involves going into dark places and doing dangerous things to make things safe (think mine rescue and clearing things that live in the depths).
Sasha has come to the surface world because he drew the short handle. The world is unbalanced. Ley lines sit over the deep rock of the world like tendons over bone. These lines are pulled by major settlements, or places of great religious or magical significance, which is fine because these things develop over time and, although it’s not ideal, the world has a chance to get used to it. Sometimes however these lines get damaged, all scrunched up or with holes cut in them (the null magic room, for example) and these need manual intervention. A cairn here, an excavation there, carvings and runes placed just so allow the world to heal the damage over time (tens or hundreds of years depending on the damage, so no in-game effect). It’s now Sasha’s job to fix it. He doesn’t really want to be above ground but with a minor divination to point him in the correct direction he wanders the surface, fulfilling his vows, stoically fixing the world and saving dwarves, waiting until he can return to the reassuring depths of the mountains.
Questionnaire
Who is/was their closest friend?
No-one, really, he’s a bit of a loner.
Where do they hope to end up?
Back in the mines, deep underground
What is their general approach in a fight? Do they have a favourite move/tactic?
He prefers to avoid direct confrontation, using Darkness or Blackout and Walk Through Earth or Blackout and Fear or Terror to drive enemies away. If he has to fight then he summons molten lava (Fireball) if he needs a show of force.
If it comes to physical combat he prefers to snipe with his prodd (stone throwing crossbow) or sneak and ambush with a short sword.
Describe their physical appearance, including eye and hair colour, clothing style etc.
Short and stocky, dressed in light scale, a well used and serviceable short sword at his side. Strong red hair cut close to the scalp, pale green eyes. His most noticeable feature is a lack of a beard as his order are clean shaven as a demonstration of their rejection of influence in dwarven society.
What is their attitude to religion, native and foreign?
He has no problem with other religions and finds them quaint, although they seem to have missed the point. It’s like having a painting and spending all your time admiring the pretty pigments and failing to appreciate the beauty of a well constructed canvas.
What is their attitude towards magic?
Magic to him is about calling forth the power of the earth. He’s aware that other people do it differently and he can’t help feeling that it’s a bit…dirty.
What is their attitude towards humans/non-humans?
They may be nice but they’re not dwarves, who are the only people who really matter.
What is their attitude to money? How careful are they when spending?
It depends what he’s spending. Trade goods or any kind of scrip he’s happy to spend, but metal, especially gold, is the marrow of the bones of the world and shouldn’t really be out of dwarven hands. If he has to spend gold he will be as parsimonious as possible. He’s ambivalent about spending gems.
This is a sentence that I did not expect to be typing tonight, but… I prefer the strap-on. It fits my image of Ranar as a basher in combat. He does want to train with his off-hand (and later duel-wielding) in case he gets caught with his shield down, arm grappled or whatever again, but he’s used to the big shield and it gives him some comfort.
Seems not quite what I expected - I’ll think about it and post back.
) and do a lot of practicing with the axes.
