Grog
The second character I played in 3.0 was a half-orc fighter named Grog. Ol' Grog had fought in the Icewind Wars as a rank-and-file soldier. He was now a mercenary adventurer -- and one tough dude.
Everything was going fine and Grog was pulling his weight, bashing and smashing everything in sight. Then, for legitimate reasons, I had to take a week off. I had agreed that it was okay for the other players to run Grog for me. But little did I foresee the fate would befall poor Grog.
When I came back, I discovered that Grog had become, in a single session, the laughing stock of the party. How? Why? It's still not entirely clear. But during my absence, the other PCs had bought Grog a sled. And apparently, this was the height of D&D humor. There was nothing funnier than a half-orc warrior running around with a sled.
I asked, "Why a sled?"
The players laughed. They couldn't answer.
Then I found that they had bought Grog a horn.
"A horn?" Again, I asked, "why?"
Again, they had no answer. They could only laugh. Apparently, the horn was even funnier.
Now I, as a player, felt like the laughing stock of the party. There was an inside joke going on that I was not part of. This was an established group that I, through a friend -- the DM -- had just joined. I was eager to show the group that I was an experienced D&D player. And I was looking forward to yet another campaign with a old friend.
Okay, so maybe the sled was needed to drag Grog's dead body back to town for healing. He was heavy and one of the other fighters did have to carry him back. At least I could understand that. But why the horn? This was beyond me. Whatever the reason, I didn't feel that Grog deserved this ridicule.
Granted, Grog had issues.
Back when Grog was buying his starting equipment, he ran out of money -- plate mail is expensive. And so, instead of actual trail rations (which are also expensive), Grog thought he was getting a deal on millet. Yes, millet. Horse feed.
Grog thought he was quite the 3-INT-Einstien buying hisself a bag of horse feed. And let me tell you, nothing, absoluetly nothing, beats a handful of millet for lunch. For dinner. And breakfast. Dry, but crunchy.
But little did Grog know that the DM would impose really disgusting CON penalties on his half-orc metabolism. Fitting, but disgusting. Maybe the millet wasn't such a good deal after all.
Anyway, now Grog had a horn. A horn, a sled, and millet. Why? No one knows for sure.
So there we were, all eight PCs, lying in wait outside a mysterious cave entrance. Having just come to his senses after a week of eating millet, Grog wasn't really sure why we where waiting outside a cave.
Grog was curious. Grog wanted to know who (or what) was in the cave. Grog tried to ask, but would only get hushed by the others. Grog was getting impatient. Whoever was in the cave needed to come out. So, Grog took out his new horn and gave it a good long blast.
Grog's new horn was quickly taken away. Both the surprise and the horn were now lost.
But Grog had another issue.
One of the other PCs had a special power. This was a special power that Grog had never seen before. This other PC, I'll call him 'Merlin', could point at a group of enemies, shout "Sleep," and the enemies would immediately drop to the ground, asleep.
Wow. "Grog like sleep."
Merlin tried to ignore Grog.
"How ya do that?" Grog asked.
"It's magic," said Merlin.
So now, Grog, Merlin and the others were in the cave, smashing and bashing away. Then Grog got an idea. It was time to RP the 3-INT half-orc. Grog lowered his sword and pointed a big green finger at his enemies. Grog bellowed, "SLEEP!"
Nothing happened. The enemies did not fall asleep at Grog's command.
Grog turned to Merlin, "How ya do that?"
Another fight. Another attempt at the magic sleep. Nothing.
Grog angry. Grog smash and bash.
After smashing and bashing everything in the cave, we left and made camp. Grog's turn on watch came late in the night. For Grog this was normal. This was duty.
But now...
alone...
in the darkest night...
victorious...
Grog got an idea.
Slowly, in silence, Grog rose to his feet. The camp was asleep. And except for the crackle of the fire's dying embers, the night was quiet. Grog slowly crept, on tiptoes, across the camp.
Grog crept to Merlin's tent. Inside, a single candle burned late into the night. Merlin was awake. Merlin had said he would study.
Merlin study sleep. Grog like sleep.
Grog ripped open the tent flaps and in the face of a shocked Merlin, shouted "WAKE UP!"
I thought it was funny. But the Merlin-player didn't. In fact, the Merlin player went ballistic. Because Merlin's studies were interrupted, he had lost his memorized spells. And because of this, he (the player) was upset. So Merlin and his buddy attacked Grog. Everyone else was against Merlin's reaction. Too harsh, they felt. But it was too late. In addition to sleep, Merlin and his friend could also roll criticals.
Grog died that night. In fact, the entire campaign died that night. We never played again.
As a player, I felt that I was getting a much deserved revenge for the ridicule that I (and Grog) had to suffer through. I felt as though Grog should be able to stand up for hisself. Maybe now, I reasoned, the other players wouldn't fool around with Grog. They would treat him like any other millet eating, magically challenged, 3-INT PC with a wake up spell.
Give grog a horn and he'll blow it. Give Grog a sled and he'll cast magic.
It was really disappointing to see the campaign degenerate and collapse like that, especially since it was my friend's campaign. Of course, I wish it hadn't happened and I wish it had turned out differently. I offered to roll up a LG paladin, but my friend was too bummed-out.
It's a funny story in retrospect, but friendships are important. And that game ranks among the worst games of D&D I've played.
What happened, why it happened, or how it caused the campaign to fail.
as far as I can gather - during a player absence, the one trusted to play him (and the rest of the group) messed a bit with his character. Why? I could only guess - and unfortunately, the language I'd use to describe said friends would most likely be filtered. It ended the campaign when it ended with PC vs PC combat.
Am I close?
I'm confused because Grog was already an int-3 millet eating mockery before the sled and horn came into the picture.
I do not deny this. But his AC and HP were better than any. My 1st PC was a sorcerer who died much like any other PC. Then, since the party needed a fighter, I was only happy to oblige. And of course, being the roleplayer I am, I probably overplayed Grog's stupidity.
But then I didn't like how they treated Grog. And from there, it snowballed.
Although honostly, 3 Int? That's only just sentient.
Of course, the DM made it even worse by enforcing such a silly rule. "You have to spend 8 hours, uninterrupted. Whoops, an ally just shouted at you... you lose all the time spent studying."
Of course, the DM made it even worse by enforcing such a silly rule. "You have to spend 8 hours, uninterrupted. Whoops, an ally just shouted at you... you lose all the time spent studying."
Seriously, your ally shouts at you and you're done? Can't you even take a bathroom break or something?
How did you manage to get 3 int exactly?
Over roleplayed perhaps, but there were certainly reactions from the other players that shouldnt have ever happened. And yea, in my opinion, they set themselves up for it by taking liberties with your character. When you're proxy for someone in their absence it is your responsibility to play the character as closely to how the owner would play it. Or let it take a back seat and only keep it alive. They sound like they did neither.
It is sort of like one kid teasing another and the teased kid the breaking the teaser's leg as payback.
All in the guise of 'I was just playing my character!'.
The only next step up in intensity was charctercide. The kid with the broken leg shot the leg breaker.
Depending on the version of D&D they were playing, the OP crippled one of the other players' characters for a day.
Seriously? Can the wizard not even go to the bathroom?
I don't know. As I see it, the other players joked around and maybe mocked the OPs character. Depending on the version of D&D they were playing, the OP crippled one of the other players' characters for a day. A wizard without spells is basically a commoner with a few extra hit points.
It is sort of like one kid teasing another and the teased kid the breaking the teaser's leg as payback.
All in the guise of 'I was just playing my character!'.
He probably shouldn't have killed Grog. His "broken leg" would have been fine in short order (from what I can see, 10 hours completely wasted.). I don't really think it was "broken leg" crippling - more like bashing his finger while he was doing something menial and necessary. He has to wait 'til his finger stops hurting, sure, and it may take longer and he has to start from scratch, but hardly broken leg - unless the caster stops the task altogether for some reason. He'd be breaking his own leg. I try not to kill people for bashing fingers - I might bash their fingers, though.
The point is, Grog probably overreacted, then the Wizard and friend definitely overreacted.
EDIT: I've never played d&d before 3.5, so maybe this rule wasn't instituted until 3.5. Still, I can't think any DM in his right mind would accept the fact that one of his PC's is completely useless. Either A) the DM would do a time compression (cheesy side effects!) and make sure it never happened, or B) let the player continue preparing spells, even if it cuts into the morning. I'd rather set out later with a wizard to point towards our enemies than set out on time with a weedy guy and a big stick.
Seriously? Can the wizard not even go to the bathroom?
Not without spells. A house cat might slip in and kill him.:D
I don't know. As I see it, the other players joked around and maybe mocked the OPs character. Depending on the version of D&D they were playing, the OP crippled one of the other players' characters for a day. A wizard without spells is basically a commoner with a few extra hit points.
It is sort of like one kid teasing another and the teased kid the breaking the teaser's leg as payback.
All in the guise of 'I was just playing my character!'.
what? Breaking a leg, and that justified killing his character ? I see clearly who overreacted in that story. I bet the wizard was at the time a hormone ravaged teenager. I think it was funny and even if not, wouldnt have reacted like that knowing the likely outcome. The new guy gets killed by another pc in his newgroup ? Tshh, actually i cant think of any other reason for that event chain than the wizard player not wanting him in the group in the first place.
I don't know. As I see it, the other players joked around and maybe mocked the OPs character. Depending on the version of D&D they were playing, the OP crippled one of the other players' characters for a day. A wizard without spells is basically a commoner with a few extra hit points.
It is sort of like one kid teasing another and the teased kid the breaking the teaser's leg as payback.
All in the guise of 'I was just playing my character!'.
what? Breaking a leg, and that justified killing his character ? I see clearly who overreacted in that story. I bet the wizard was at the time a hormone ravaged teenager. I think it was funny and even if not, wouldnt have reacted like that knowing the likely outcome. The new guy gets killed by another pc in his newgroup ? Tshh, actually i cant think of any other reason for that event chain than the wizard player not wanting him in the group in the first place.
Not without spells. A house cat might slip in and kill him.:D
Way to miss the point, Dop. He was asking "A wizard can't even go to the bathroom while memorizing his spells?"
I'm pretty sure the point of the "8 uninterrupted hours" rule was "no adventuring or traveling" not "You can't move your eyes off the book's page for 480 minutes", but some DMs can be a little overly literal in their rules interpretation.
Funny story though.
RPing a 3-INT anything is probably not a good idea. How Grog got a 3 INT, is something I don't really care to remember. Either I rolled three 1s and kept them or I deducted the INT points to boost other scores.
One thing I've found is that the amount of RP you do should really depend on the other players you're with. Maybe your RP might encourage others to RP more, but it might also irk others. Powergamers and dungeoneers don't care too much for RP, while the White Wolf crowd can RP for hours. The group dynamic is definitely something to keep in mind.
Merlin and his buddy were 1st timers too. So I think some of us were probably trying to prove our worth to an established group. The core group probably started over and went on without us. Happens.
Now, if the party offered Grog a sled and a horn, he would have gladly accepted. Grog certainly would have enjoyed playing the part of the party 'bard'.
Okay, first off, a wizard studying spells for umpteen hours can take a break. It's like trying to set a world record, or that hands-on-the-car radio contest, you do get bathroom breaks. Sheesh. DL, does it really matter that much?
RPing a 3-INT anything is probably not a good idea. How Grog got a 3 INT, is something I don't really care to remember. Either I rolled three 1s and kept them or I deducted the INT points to boost other scores.
One thing I've found is that the amount of RP you do should really depend on the other players you're with. Maybe your RP might encourage others to RP more, but it might also irk others. Powergamers and dungeoneers don't care too much for RP, while the White Wolf crowd can RP for hours. The group dynamic is definitely something to keep in mind.
Merlin and his buddy were 1st timers too. So I think some of us were probably trying to prove our worth to an established group. The core group probably started over and went on without us. Happens.
Now, if the party offered Grog a sled and a horn, he would have gladly accepted. Grog certainly would have enjoyed playing the part of the party 'bard'.
Dear lord, I'd love to see a half-orc bard played with a negative intelligence modifier. I'd pay to see it done well.
It's not that they like his songs, it's just that they don't really want to tell him how bad he is.
Okay, first off, a wizard studying spells for umpteen hours can take a break. It's like trying to set a world record, or that hands-on-the-car radio contest, you do get bathroom breaks. Sheesh. DL, does it really matter that much?
The point was that Grog would not, in fact, have disrupted the wizard's studying at all.
Way to miss the point, Dop. He was asking "A wizard can't even go to the bathroom while memorizing his spells?"
I'm pretty sure the point of the "8 uninterrupted hours" rule was "no adventuring or traveling" not "You can't move your eyes off the book's page for 480 minutes", but some DMs can be a little overly literal in their rules interpretation.
I think he did get the point: the point being that a lot of things about the old versions of the Wizard class were a little distarded.
Seriously? Can the wizard not even go to the bathroom?
I though that 8 hours was his time "on the throne" for the day ;)
I've played INT 3 PCs before (back in 1E & 2E). They were some of the more memorable characters because of the little "quirks" that came along with having the intelligence of a cold cup of coffee.
Now, some will say that "just because a PC has a 3 INT doesn't mean they act like a retarded snail...it's only for dice-rolling purposes", and that stats do not dictate actions. Well, some of us like our stats to mean more than just dice modifiers. I role-play my 3 INT barbarian like he has an extremely low intelligence (not a far stretch for me). I role-play my 18 INT wizard like he has a very high intelligence. I hate to see players that will RP an extremely low INT PC as though he is Einstein, and vice-versa. It just makes one's stats nothing more than dice modifiers. That's not how I learned to RP. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.
I though that 8 hours was his time "on the throne" for the day ;)
I can totally see a wizard grab his spell-book, head for the nearest tree-line away from the party, and say "I'll be back...gotta drop some bombs...".
When he got back next session, he decided he liked the idea and that the axe was named Molly after his wife. But we all had a good laugh and now his character talks about his old battle axe back at home.
I told him no. His new character had no idea who these people were yet, and unless he gave me some reason he would specifically target this one character beyond "he messed with my last character", he couldn't do it.
There are some things which belong on the table and some things which belong off of it. It's fine if you're bothered by something that went on in a game you weren't present for, but you should have addressed that outside the game (tell them that you need to know what happened, because it is your character and you need to roleplay him appropriately). There was really no need to vent in-game. Yeah, it sucks when people do crap like that, but you don't have to sink to their level.
Dear lord, I'd love to see a half-orc bard played with a negative intelligence modifier. I'd pay to see it done well.
It's not that they like his songs, it's just that they don't really want to tell him how bad he is.
LOL, yes, well, back in the days of 1e my little brother started playing with us, and what do you think he rolled up? A character with a 3 INT and a 4 WIS. He also had a pretty high STR and CON, so the character was playable. So we decided he must be a half-orc, and what do you know? He named his character Grog!
Only this Grog had a bit of a happier (and longer) life. Like the OP's Grog he was dumb as a post and did some pretty similar idiotic things. Early on the group ran into a bunch of orcs and get themselves trapped in a room with one door, which they promptly barred (I forget exactly why they didn't just fight the orcs right off). The orcs went and found a large rough piece of lumber and proceeded to batter the door down with it. Once the orcs were dispatched Grog became quite impressed with this big hunk of wood and decided it was a spectacular weapon. Ever after that he roved the battlefield with his "+3 club" crushing the skulls of anything that got in his way.
Grog was also (naturally for our group at the time) the butt of quite a significant number of scatological jokes. I'll spare the details, but suffice it to say he wasn't welcome indoors.
Nevertheless Grog managed to survive and was indispensable as the party muscle. He never did perish and happily roves around the campaign world to this day as an NPC providing laughs for all.
I mean seriously, 3 INT? That's the absolute baseline for sentience. You're talking chimp-level intelligence, only a fraction smarter than a cat, exactly as smart as a Celestial Monkey (technically cats should have 3 Int due to being sentient, but lets not get into that.)
It occurs to me that 3 INT is only just barely functional, a 3 INT character would probably be similar to somone with a developed case of Alzheimers, not to the degree where they're a complete vegtable, but definitely to the degree that they're totally useless.
I mean seriously, 3 INT? That's the absolute baseline for sentience. You're talking chimp-level intelligence, only a fraction smarter than a cat, exactly as smart as a Celestial Monkey (technically cats should have 3 Int due to being sentient, but lets not get into that.)
Any more, yes.
In 1E/2E, "animal" intelligence was rated at 1.
A 2-4 INT was considered "semi-intelligent".
A 5-7 was considered "low intelligence".
An 8-10 was considered "average".
An 11-12 was considered "very intelligent".
A 13-14 was considered "high intelligence".
A 15-16 was considered "exceptional".
A 17-18 was considered "genius".
A 19-20 was considered "supra-genius".
A 21+ was considered "god-like".
Things that fit into the 3 INT category in 1E/2E:
Hydra
Wolf
Griffon
Heucuva
Hippogriff
My, how times have changed!
The real problem seems to be that the OP took is real-life anger out on the other players in-game.
I was upset with the group. But I was willing to go with them.
Actually, it was the Merlin-player who had the anger management problems. He was slamming the table and shouting for vengeance. I was stunned at his reaction. I think we all were. He was the one who couldn't take a joke. I suppose he got his vindication.
you don't have to sink to their level.
Yeah, but I did anyway. When in Rome...
That's nice, the character was in a 3.0 game, so what the INT scores in 1/2E were is completely and totally irrelevant.
Ooh, snarky. That'll get you far in life....
Maybe you missed the last sentence that said "My, how times have changed"?
I was upset with the group. But I was willing to go with them.
Actually, it was the Merlin-player who had the anger management problems. He was slamming the table and shouting for vengeance. I was stunned at his reaction. I think we all were. He was the one who couldn't take a joke. I suppose he got his vindication.
I agree. As I mentioned in my anecdote, the player who's character was turned in wouldn't drop the fact that his last character was eliminated by being turned in as a criminal, despite the fact that it was largely his fault. In this case, the guy definitely overreacted over what amounts to a small setback.
"Sorry guys, thud over here just messed up my concentrating, so I have to start over again. C'est la vie."
Yeah, but I did anyway. When in Rome...
Hey, I said that you didn't have to sink to their level, not that it wouldn't be satisfying to do so. :D
Ooh, snarky. That'll get you far in life....
Maybe you missed the last sentence that said "My, how times have changed"?
No, i didn't miss the sentance, unfortunately it's addition does not make the information contained in the post any more relevant to the discussion at hand.
My, how times have changed!
Yep - wolves are only int 2, now - so you'd be smarter than a wolf
Dire wolves are 5 though - so they're still smarter
edited: typo
I too have played with people who maybe were not as polite to my character as they could have been. Although I was playing a half -orc barbarian named Ugh, yes Ugh. Like the sound you make when you don't wanna do something. Anyways, he was not stupid, but he was part of a group of drow, yup. He was looked down on and threatened from a distance. One drow was a cleric of hextor and one drow was a wizard, I think. So they would try to talk smack... from a distance. Ugh carried a very large great axe and had improved initiative (+4) and a nice dex (+2), so I often went first in any battle.;) My strength score was very good (16 or 17, maybe 18, idk) and I had the dumb luck of rolling 8-9 and 10 or more on my damage rolls (1d12) so the dirty elves stayed away.
Anyways, they were not the most loyal of companions and got sick of me beating our opponents with non lethal damage and making them my slaves, they got sick of waiting while my cannon fodder army took its turn (goblins and kobolds) so when we got ambushed by worg riding goblins, the drow allowed two worg riders to flank me. The DM allowed attacks of opportunity on me, which was 2 worgs and 2 goblins. The drow bastards must have prayed to their harlot queen lolth or something because my rolls were horrible in that battle. I got dropped but survived when the dark, smelly, stupid cleric of hextor kicked me back to life with his merciful bootstomp of healing.
Due to travel issues that was the last time that specific game was played and Ugh and his cannon fodder army went to the crapper and fell in, never to be seen again. The the group had a blast and no one got mad. I pushed it too by talking like a INT-3 fool even though my int was 13 and I often leroy jenkin'd every battle by bull rushing the nearest group and getting us noticed at every turn.
I was a half orc barbarian with a big ass axe. I don't sneak, elf scum. They really hated it when I told them to go hide in a tree.:P
It sounds like the group you were with didn't really appreciate your skills as an experienced player. For one, they should have let you in the joke of why the sled and the horn were funny. To not tell you why they were laughing was really unfair and rude.
Also, it sounds like "Merlin" was the kind of hack-n-slash player who had a hard time dealing with someone who actually played their character's personality. And the DM was kind of a jerk for ruling that he lost his spells because of "Wake up!" (which was REALLY funny. I can totally see a half-orc doing that...)
I hope you've found a more open group after that. I'd love to be in a group that had a character like Grog.
Granted, the wizard did play a huge role too, you were still the one who provoked him and more or less said that it was for out of game reasons of them not treating your character seriously. Its pretty obvious that whatever you missed was likely a "you had to be there moment" and it doesn't seem like it was out of character. You even said that if they had given them to you it wouldn't have mattered. I dunno, if it was a serious character being made to act like a fool it'd be one thing but *shrugs* it honestly sounds like whoever was playing your character did a damn fine job at keeping it in line with what you were going for.
*Edit*
I'm not trying to say the wizard wasn't overacting, but its also possible he was looking for more of a "serious" type of game. Nevertheless, he certainly was acting like a prick, though the dm didn't help things any by stripping him of his spells, which essentially makes him useless for that days adventure.
Clearly you have a character that in the rp sense falls under the comic relief category. I'm sure he's a good fighter and all that but outside of serious fights you made him the jester. You miss a session, and while you're gone the players continue to treat your character like comic relief, but you feel mocked. I really don't know what else you expected...you're the comic relief, you set yourself up to essentially be mocked and laughed at.
No, this is definitely not correct. It's not even subjective. Playing the jester to make others laugh at your antics and being mocked for something you didn't even do (and then to have them refuse to tell you*) are not even remotely similar, especially when it was done with your creation -- when you clearly take great pride in the former.
* this is asshattery of epic proportions on the part of the other players.
that said, not telling someone the joke about why his character has a sled and a horn (for some reason I'm thinking it had something to do with Santa's reindeer) is incredibly cruel. They weren't laughing with Herald, they where laughing at him. Herald wasn't sinking to their level. They made his character a joke. He was simply playing the part. They seemed to think it was perfectly fine for them to make a mockery of Grog but when Grog's actual player makes some jokes there's suddenly hell to pay. not cool.
It's a game, played to have fun. If you dump on a player by laughing at him, especially when there's nothing he did to deserve the joke he was not even privy to, you make it not fun.
The other players and DM alike sowed the seeds of the game group's destruction. The DM allowing the PvP to even take place (honoring attacks, etc) was just the final act.
-~~-
Speaking of low stats, I made an NPC to bolster the group before going into Quasqueton, which I let them play. Mongo the 7/8ths orc barbarian has a charisma of 4, yet he's the most beloved character in the history of the party. (He's presently away on other business.)
My decision to post this lengthy story was inspired by the D&D Horror Stories thread. Alternately, you might want to file it under "How not to Behave During a D&D Campaign."
Grog
The second character ...
... It was really disappointing to see the campaign degenerate and collapse like that, especially since it was my friend's campaign. Of course, I wish it hadn't happened and I wish it had turned out differently. I offered to roll up a LG paladin, but my friend was too bummed-out.
It's a funny story in retrospect, but friendships are important. And that game ranks among the worst games of D&D I've played.
Djorn was a street urchin sorcerer expelled by his magic wary family and village. he was cast out into the streets of his own culture. so, he left and went to Breland (eberron). this would be his newly adopted homeland.
he developed his magical skills somewhat, but ultimately, he was still nothign more than a stret urchin without money, much clothing, or any heroic reputation. he was still an outcast in breland.
he luckily found an herbalist that was willing to apprentice him while he continued to refine his magical "expressions". he learned some alchemy and potions brewing, as well as some good healing powers. in time, a task came to the desk of his herbalist master. though he was too old and achey to answer the call, Djorn was ready to rise to the heights of heroic deeds. he was ready to cast a stone into the pond of fate and watch the ripples carry his name and fame to distant lands, perhaps his first homeland and his family.
unfortunately, the task given was a poor choice for an orphan bent of creating a heroic reputation complete with fan-wenches in every bar nad ladies-in-waiting in every court. this mission went awry immediately.
the party was called to a cathedral of the silver flame, but while discussions were underway, a groupd of gobinoids attacked. their supposed patron teleported away--leaving a strugling group of rag-tag would-be heroes to protect the monks, priests, and themselves. even the sheriff that had come to give information didn't raise his sword against the intruders.
Djorn rushed wildly into the fray, but was struck by a javelin from a hobgoblin. he was nearly killed with one javelin. as he lay bleeding profusely, wishing that a cleric would heal him, he wondered just what might be said about him, if there were even remains to be spoken about afterward.
before he could see his demise, a hobgoblin mage read a scroll of hold person, capturing the entire party. when he awoke, though he still hurt from the javelin, he was hostage in a cave with the other party members.
one rogue was able to gather a few tools from the prison floor and free them. the dwarf easily tackled and killed the gnoll guard. a fight ensued against a few kobolds. they defeated the kobolds and soon took over the small dungeon. they returned to the cathedral only to find that the entire host of pious men had been slaughtered.
the party returned to the cave and thought on what to do. the entire country side believed they were a part of the massacre. he was an outlaw, an outlaw from his adopted homeland. and he was still hurting from the javelin.
during the following days, Djorn became more depressed as they slept nightly in a dank cave which once housed zombies and kobolds. on one excursion, the group came in contact with the sheriff, alive!. he gave them some clockwork bombs and told them to continue to trail the undead and goblinoid armies. attack supply lines and destroy depots. so the party went southward to find a nearby camp. they approached in daylight, but a rogue and a cleric of the group demanded that the party wait until dark to scout the camp.
Djorn would have nothing of sneaking in the darkness. he convinced the ranger to move forward with him to scout the camp as best as possible. Djorn was meant to be a hero. the depression of nightly raids was weighing upon him. today, he would not be a coward sneaking in the dark. today, he would be a hero bathed in the kind sunlight of Pelor and would attack a goblinoid encampment at the head of a party of adventurers! today he would BECOME a hero!
after a short scouting mission, he snapped a twig while returning to he party. the rogue, cleric, and some stupid, dunder-headed dwarven fighter all began running away. he could trust no one in his party. the hexblade and a half-elf fighter waited at least until they could see what was following Djorn and the Ranger. the four turned to fight the kobold scouts sent after the twig snap.
Djorn easily killed one kobold with a well place bolt of force power. Djorn like to call that his magic missle. it was the first spell he mastered. the ranger put an arrow in the head of another kobold. the third became so scared that he turned to run back to the camp. the hexblade tossed a fireball after him. he reached the edge of camp as the fireball hit him. the body was incinerated in a huge burst of flame and flesh right in front of any other onlookers.
surely that would show the goblinoids that Djorn and his party were a force to be reckoned with. the ranger and he searched the two bodies. the fighter and hexblade ran away. as they looked up from the kobolds, they saw a party approaching which consisted of four kobolds, two hobgoblins and a bugbear.
that was pretty much the end of Djorn. he was stabbed to death by kobolds. the party had abandoned him. the ranger fell also to the goblinoids.
the DM said that is what he gets for doing somehting stupid. despite the fact that the entire party could have defeated that group if they had stood together, since the first three ran before even knowing what happened, it all went awry.
that was pretty much the end of my play time with that party.
it is strange, i started a game and i'm DMing. the fighter and hexblade players came over to my game. so far, they're enjoying things. the new swordmage and ranger are a good pair at my table. the swordmage has even been dropped twice, but the party has always been there to heal him and keep the party strong.
I really enjoyed just being the happy go lucky guy that ran straight into things. (RPed a dumber character basically) IT was a lot of laughs (I wasn't RPing my stats, but we were in an epic game where everyone's stats were insane) until people starting saying "Heavensthunderhammer is so stupid" instead of "HTH's Character Name" is so stupid. I really really resented that. I admit, I probably overplayed my atnics so they became irritating instead of funny and started becoming the butt of jokes... I really didn't like that game by the end. I should have talked things over with the players and GM earlier. Anyways, I"ve been and felt similar pain.
It wasn't herald's fault merlin lost his spells. from the way it sounds, he didn't know how the DM would rule. and losing all spells for a two second interruption is bad ruling. Merlin should have been ****** at the DM, not poor Grog.
that said, not telling someone the joke about why his character has a sled and a horn (for some reason I'm thinking it had something to do with Santa's reindeer) is incredibly cruel. They weren't laughing with Herald, they where laughing at him. Herald wasn't sinking to their level. They made his character a joke. He was simply playing the part. They seemed to think it was perfectly fine for them to make a mockery of Grog but when Grog's actual player makes some jokes there's suddenly hell to pay. not cool.
Umm...what? Did you not read the first part about how his character was eating horse food and all that? His character was a joke before they even took over, and then it continued afterwards with the whole sleep spell thing. Its not like this was a serious character being turned into a mockery...it was a comic relief character being...surprise, a joke. The only problem came when Merlin responded in an outrageous fashion against the comic relief, though again I blame the DM just as much for that.
Anywho, this sounds like the only time there was hell to pay for the jokes...and only by two people really. Again, its likely that the wizard was just PO'd because he wanted a more serious level of gameplay...but I can only really speculate. He may just be an arse, but *shrugs* that doesn't change the fact that Grog was created as a mockery and just because there was some inside joke doesn't change anything. Besides, since he went along with the items anyway its likely that the other players didn't even know there was an issue about them. I mean, he just continued to play Grog normally after that, it doesn't exactly raise any alarms.
*Edit* To sum up, if you don't treat your character seriously, don't be surprised that nobody else does either.
If an attack on the camp came early in the evening, no spells would have been regained, but the spellcasters could likely return for a full study. If there was a later ambush, the spellcasters might have been able to recover some spells, starting with those of the lower levels.
I'd love to be in a group that had a character like Grog.
Try it out yourself. It's fun and liberating. Your little grogette might even cook millet.
You miss a session, and while you're gone the players continue to treat your character like comic relief, but you feel mocked.
It didn't work like that. I liked Grog's background as a tough warrior, and I played him as such. I was proud of this PC, he was not created or intended for comic relief. But he had a 3-INT and I rp'd that too. Grog had his 'quirks' but the party rumbled tight. The jokes didn't start until I returned. It was weird. I took a week off and the entire party dynamic changed.
I didn't think the group was too serious. We were able to joke around and have fun. Between the sled and Grog's magic, I didn't think there was any antagonism there. We were having fun, but then it got silly.
I can't fathom why the wizard's player flipped out so extraordinarily. Maybe he had personal problems that boiled up.
cool story bro
No, i didn't miss the sentance, unfortunately it's addition does not make the information contained in the post any more relevant to the discussion at hand.
Irrelevance? On mah internets?
It's more likely than you think.
Back to the subject at hand, yeah, the wizard was kinda being a ****, and the DM didn't help matters. Reminds me of a game of All Flesh Must Be Eaten, where, thanks to the magic of point buy, my chacter post zombification (Incidentally due only to being hit for max damage with a shotgun by an opposing player, and he wouldn't have died if he hadn't initially taken the damage that led to him coming back as a zommie) actually got smarter (and capable of kicking a meat locker door off it's hinges. Fun times).