The Lost Mines of Phandelver OOC

[GathersIngredients]

Uhm, no. It didn't specify by WHOM it would be inventoried.

Also, looks like the shopkeep doesn't know it, so... don't tell Balin, or he will feel compelled to point it out!

[Rodgeir]

Glad Aimee and Saca are on the same page about getting paid!

Gathers, how hard is Saca planning on leaning into her trickster spells? Aimee has a number talents and potential choices that would give the two of them some fun RP options!

[spiderwrangler]

Cal is completely broke, he only stooped to taking this job for the free meals and lodging, and the gold when it's done.

ie, Sam let me spend my starting 10 gold to have bought the herbs and incense to have previously summoned Lewis.

[Rodgeir]

It seems like Aimee was one of the least destitute in the group? Kryz seemed down on his luck as well.

[GathersIngredients]

money: Saca did spend some money on the hatchet and a sack, but that's it. So she should still have about 7,49 gold (is 1 gold 10 silver and 1 silver 10 copper or are the ratios different?)


IC thread: I love how Cal is bluffing and using his mage hand, but it would be even more fitting to grab one of the culprits ears instead of their hair. XD


trickster: And while she wasn't overly impressed with the "finger guessing" trick of the wizard, that was mainly because he listed it as useful for guarding the cart (which it really isn't. But he has other useful skills for that task, as we have learned by now). Saca loves tricking and charming "opponents", much prefers it to sheer violence. So maybe Aimee should approach her sometimes with her ideas. ^^ (Or you explain them to me at least over here, as I'm not too familiar with what's possible.)

btw. I have been wanting to ask, concerning the "command" spell. I think it says the commanded action can't be directly harmful to the "victim". So "die" would not work. What about "pee", "poop" or "vomit"? And how about "faint"? I mean loosing consciousness doesn't hurt, but the landing might.

[spiderwrangler]

Yes, 1 gold is 10 silver or 100 copper.

Terms for currency would be different, but I tend to think of copper as 1¢ pennies, silver as 10¢ dimes, and gold as $1 dollars.

I thought about grabbing the ear, but since mage hand can't attack, grabbing the eat felt like it would be more of an attack, but that I might be able to get away with grabbing hair, since it doesn't cause pain unless they try to run, opposed to pinching a lobe.

As for those uses to command, it would be Sam's call, but might not always be physically possible? I know I've tried to pee and it took longer than 6 seconds for things to happen.

[Rodgeir]

Gathers - Aimee can set up a person to be more susceptible to being charmed by hexing them. She also is going to be able to change appearance at will (if I choose that). Eventually she could be able to change her voice as well (with the Actor's feat), but this kind of falls into Saca's areas as well. She is generally quite good a persuading, lying and sneaking. Soonish she will be able to read people's minds too, making for even more convincing lying and persuading.

She can also go more combat oriented but I wasn't planning for that as much.

[SamWiser]

btw. I have been wanting to ask, concerning the "command" spell. I think it says the commanded action can't be directly harmful to the "victim". So "die" would not work. What about "pee", "poop" or "vomit"? And how about "faint"? I mean loosing consciousness doesn't hurt, but the landing might.

What I would probably do is roll... something, for the person's ability to pee/poop/vomit, etc. If the roll succeeds (and just for transparency, success conditions will be made off the top of my head about five seconds before I roll for it) then they will do it. If not, they'll just look kinda dumb as they try to force their bodies to pee/poop/vomit/etc. As for fainting, it's pretty difficult to make yourself faint without injuring yourself in some way, so that probably wouldn't work.

[GathersIngredients]

hehe, thanks for the clarification. What about "panic", then?

[Rodgeir]

@Sam - I am not sure how effective hexing the blacksmith will be as it only gives disadvantage on checks but a general reduction in his wisdom should be to Aimee's benefit somehow? Let me know if you need any rolls from Aimee - (got an Persuading: 1D20+5 = [6]+5 = 11 but maybe she gets advantage due to the hex )?

[SamWiser]

hehe, thanks for the clarification. What about "panic", then?

Panic would have to come with some sort of intimidation roll, either by you or somebody else. But, before you go off trying to make people panic, remember that panic can make some people do some... strange things. It might not always turn out like you think.

[GathersIngredients]

Yeah, I fully expect not everyone reacting in the way I want them to. BUT it's good to sort out words I can use from words I can't use (because of the definition of the spell some words will just make the spell not have any effect. Like 'die' as one of you kindly pointed out to me).

[thinkslogically]

Have you seen the examples in the spell description? They give a good idea of the "spirit of the rules" for how the spell works and the types of actions that are intended to be covered by it. It's a nice, temporary buff spell, but it is only Level 1 so it's not going to be as good as e.g.:

• Suggestion,
• Dominate Beast
• Dominate Person,
• Geas,
• Mass Suggestion, or
• Dominate Monster

which are similar, more powerful spells for later in the game (though it's not an exhaustive list).

See: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Command#content
Approach: The target moves toward you by the shortest and most direct route, ending its turn if it moves within 5 feet of you.
Drop: The target drops whatever it is holding and then ends its turn.
Flee: The target spends its turn moving away from you by the fastest available means.
Grovel: The target falls prone and then ends its turn.
Halt: The target doesn't move and takes no Actions. A flying creature stays aloft, provided that it is able to do so. If it must move to stay aloft, it flies the minimum distance needed to remain in the air.

This isn't to say clarifying now is a bad thing, I only list these spells to highlight that there's a progression built into the 5e spell system, and to give you (and Sam, if needed) an idea of where the Command spell sits in the context of later levels. It's a really useful spell in the right circumstances, but it's (in my opinion) not supposed to be that powerful a spell, except that it can buy you a few seconds reprieve by forcing an enemy to waste their actions or make them vulnerable to your friends.

[spiderwrangler]

Mechanically, many of your bodily function options will likely end up being very close to "Halt", if I had to guess, they may spend their action attempting to do what you command, but most of the examples don't have effects that last beyond the next round.

It can certainly be handy for single target crowd control, but the given options do cover most of the bases, other than flavor additions.

In another game, I have a Paladin that a hobgoblin was fleeing from. I considered using "Approach" to bring him back into range where I'd get an opportunity attack, but he'd been finished off by then. Which is just as well, 5 of my attack rolls were less than 10.

[thinkslogically]

In battle, yeah. Honestly, Command options are probably pretty limited, at least in terms of actual mechanical impact.

Out of battle, you could have a lot more options that could be very circumstantially useful and a lot more open. For example, having a nearby person scream to distract enemies from getting too close to your hiding spot, or making the the target of a mutual enemy, perform badly in any number of circumstances, speak up inappropriately, behave suspiciously or anything like that. Those kinds of situations are probably the ones where you're going to have the most fun

If I'm DMing, I'd probs treat Command as something causing effects that someone might do on a whim without much thought (dance, stand, shout, drink, leave, laugh... Whatever). A well-timed Command spell could for example, be really useful to start a bit of infighting if it's done cleverly and at the right time.

I'd definitely (personally) have more of an issue with anything worse or requiring a significant or unusual effort, or anything especially antisocial for the target group, but if it's a good idea I'll just do it with a contested roll and see how it shakes out. But Sam's already said how they'll rule it that's pretty moot

[Rodgeir]

I had/have a player that got very frustrated that he would command an enemy to drop a weapon only to have the enemy pick it up and then attack. Got to more clever than that!

[thinkslogically]

If picking it up is a free action, why didn't the PC just Command, Move and scoop it up?

[spiderwrangler]

Since they end their turn after dropping, just need to have anyone grab it before the next turn.

[Rodgeir]

The PC was in the backlines and the those on the front had other plans? He frequently does things without explaining to others his 'plan'. It is a challenging player .

[GathersIngredients]

Yes, I saw the examples. However, I enjoy putting my own spin on things. ^^
I mean just imagine if the one of the boys trying to steal stuff peed/pooped themselves (likely out of fright, the other members of their gang might think), they'll have a hard time living it down with their criminal peers.
I like a good challenge and finding just the right word for the situation is a creative one I can totally get behind. Also it needs to be a word that would be understood so nothing too sophisticated (e.g. defecate instead of poop) in most cases (not to mention Saca is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.
Which is also why I didn't try command with the goblins. I don't think Saca speaks goblin, and I am unsure if they would understand common and/or dwarvish.
And it would be even more disappointing to 'waste' a spell slot on something that ends up having no effect (because of language barrier), when I could use it later on to heal people back together.

[Lurks_In_Shadows]

So...
I'll be out of town at a conference for work starting Monday PM and won't be back until late Wednesday. I won't have access to computer or cell phone during that time, unfortunately. A family emergency came up and I have to leave the phone with my wife.
If you need to do something with Balin in the meantime, Sam has my permission to do so. I should be able to check sometime before I leave tomorrow, but after 3PM CDT I'll be out of touch.

[GathersIngredients]

I wish you success for the conference and I keep my fingers crossed for your family emergency as well. Hope everything turns out for the best.

[SamWiser]

I doubt too much will happen before wednesday, but I'll make any decisions that need to be made, and try to make them as in character as possible.

I also wish that the conference goes well, and that the family emergency turns out as all right as possible.

[GathersIngredients]

spyglass - 1000 gp WHOA, I had no idea it would be this expensive!
poison - 100 gp
manacles - 2 gp 6 lb.
bandages - Healer's kit 5 gp 3 lb.
traps or caltrops - Hunting trap 5 gp 25 lb. or - Caltrops (bag of 20) 1 gp 2 lb.
ball bearings - Ball bearings (bag of 1,000) 1 gp 2 lb.
acid - Acid (vial) 25 gp 1 lb.
oil - Oil (flask) 1 sp 1 lb.
alchemist fire - Alchemist's fire (flask) 50 gp 1 lb.
stamina tonic - I dunno if there even is such a thing, perhaps a part of the healing kit. I just don't know what condition Gundren and Sidlar will be in, they might need something to get them into "being able to run away" condition.

All in all it doesn't look like Saca can afford anything much except the oil, the caltrops, ball bearings and healer's kit. I didn't know fighting dirty would be so expensive.

10 oil (1 g), healer's kit (6 g), manacles (2g), caltrops (1 g), ball bearings (1g) = 11 gold.

What about a lock pick kit or wire? They might be bound/shackled and/or locked away in a cage or something. Or is there some magical way to unlock ... locks?

[Rodgeir]

There is a magical way to unlock locks called Knock that Cal could get eventually.

At this point we would probably just try to hit the lock off with a hammer though .