The MVP Chart

When you win the coveted MVP sash, here's what you get:

Using the MVP bonus: You get three rolls on the table. Once you roll a result, you can either take that for one, two or three of your slots, or keep rolling. In other words, you can get one power three times, one power twice and another once or three different powers.

Energized: Gain one bonus action point

Accurate: +1d6 to attack

Powered Up: +1d6 to damage

Lucky: Reduce the damage of an enemy hit (even a crit) by half, after damage is rolled

Resilient: Turn a failed saving throw into a success

Resourceful: Regain a used encounter power before the encounter is up

Rescuer: Allow a downed ally to roll a 20 on their death save

Quick: Move half your speed, but treat it as a shift, for one round

Stalwart: Negate one push, pull, slide or knocked prone effect

Sturdy: Gain a bonus healing surge, which you can use immediately, even if you have already used your second wind, or save for later as a standard healing surge

Epic Realms Recap: 4/17

A quick(ish) summary of the last three sessions, excerpts from the notes of Aerys, Rusk's pet Harper. (Or is Rusk the Harpers' pet war cleric?)

"...the party then followed the phaerimm through the portal into Sigil, City of Doors. After wandering around a bit, they realized that Kwalu had gone missing. He'd been trailing behind the group and now was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging it off, the party hired a young orc child as a guide and made for the marketplace, where they traded a ton of adamantine for enough cash to buy rather a lot of stuff. Afterwards, they were robbed: an ethereal filcher stole the emerald skull in which Aeric was still trapped, and fled.

On the bright side, Kwalu reappeared and told the party he'd had a vision of impending doom: glowing yellow eyes in the dark, a black river filled with pale, bloated corpses, a great tree rotting from its roots, a mountain wreathed in flame, a huge and ancient iron door. The party didn't press Kwalu on where exactly he'd been, though, and he didn't offer any details. This was kind of too bad for the party, since it wasn't actually Kwalu who returned, but a devil wearing Kwalu's skin. More on this later.

The group went to meet with Tham'zin, leader of the Old Order, and he filled them in on many things, including: the existence in Mulhorand of the ancient blue wyrm Gestaniius; more details on the epic psion Sammaster, founder of the Cult of the Dragon and his erstwhile lich disciple Wulgreth; and the history of the phaerimm race. He asked Silas to stop the escape of the phaerimm from Anauroch, and gave him some tea which apparently will let Silas contact Tham'zin at a later date.

After a nice supper at Quiet's (a mindflayer gourmet), the party used Discern Location magic to find the stolen emerald skull, and learned it was located in the left hand of Bel, Lord of the First (layer of Hell, "Avernus"). So they went to visit Alluvius Ruskin, portal- and secret-vendor of Sigil, and traded her a Talisman of the Sphere for the location and activation method of a portal to Avernus.

The group did a bit more shopping in preparation for their descent into Hell, unfolded a magical boat in a Hive alleyway, and shifted onto the River Styx in Avernus. Devil "Kwalu" took advantage of the distraction of several attacking river devils to grab Aeric and abscond with him, laughing. It's a good thing the devil enjoyed the prank, because it/he would turn out to be short-lived.

During the battle, Soren and Rusk are both thrown into the River Styx, and lose all of their memories. This would prove to play a key role later in the day. Aeric returned, dripping with goo from the late "Kwalu devil", just in time to blot an entire attacking draconic/devil aerial platoon out of the sky. He then told the group about his experience being trapped inside the emerald skull, conversing with a mad intellect calling itself "Sammaster," who among other things told him that Wulgreth could be found "at the place where the Netherese fell."

The party next teleported directly into the middle of the Bronze Citadel, Bel's fortress home. Facing down what appeared to be all of the devils in the world, the group made a deal with Bel: he'd send them back to Faerûn and restore the memories of Soren and Rusk, and they'd get the emerald skull back after tracking down and killing Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunson. The contract duly signed and witnessed, Bel sent the party back into the Western Heartlands. He also conveniently failed to mention that memory loss from immersion in the River Styx is temporary, but hey, what do you expect from the Lord of Hell?

Soren blanched as memory returned to him in a rush and he realized he'd just signed a blood oath to Bel to kill his own master. So he took up his Luckblade and teleported to Blackstaff's side. Back in the Heartlands, the rest of the party (still minus Kwalu) talked over Soren's disappearance until Soren returned with his explanation: Blackstaff does not currently find it convenient to die, thank you. After a good bit of thinking and strategizing, a plan began to emerge: trick Bel into taking a soul that did not belong to him out of the Fugue Plane by disguising it as Blackstaff's, thus getting him (Bel) in trouble with Kelemvor. Other important things realized by the group: whoever their enemy is, s/he/they: (1) like to use others as cat's paws in their own schemes; (2) wield very powerful magic; and (3) knew about the three escaped Phaerimm. Oh, and by the way Rusk your lieutenant chick is a Harper, surprise.

The party plane shifted from there into the Fugue Plane to talk their plan over with Kelemvor Himself. While He explained that Death does not negotiate, He did provide some useful support to his worshipper Aeric: (1) the phaerimm imprisonment is nearing its end, and (2) the Cult of the Dragon is His gravest concern. And since He didn't say that He *wouldn't* participate in the plan to trick Bel, exactly, Aeric took that as tacit approval and the party put the plan into action. First all of them but Soren teleported to Candlekeep, to be sure they followed the letter of the contract they'd signed. Meanwhile Soren travelled back to Blackstaff (who was not, in fact, in Candlekeep at all), and told him to go ahead with his mock death. Finally, they used Word of Recall to meet back at Rusk's desert stronghold in Anauroch.

It's a pretty clever plan that allows you to both trick the Devil into doing your bidding and simultaneously doesn't require you to do any real dirty work. Bel certainly appreciated it; after being caught in the Fugue Plane, he invaded Rusk's stronghold leading a small shock force of pit fiends and ice devils. Unfortunately for the Lord of Darkness, he got his forked tail handed to him, though unfortunately for Rusk, in the process he managed to kill dozens of Rusk's soldiers.

Finally, after Bel's aspect was slain, but before he could return to his domain, Kelemvor appeared and took possession of Bel's soul/animus. Sucks to be Bel. I wonder who the new Lord of Avernus will be during the thousand years that Bel will spend serving Kelemvor in the Fugue Plane."

Game Schedule April - June

April 17th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Paul)
April 24th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)

May 1st - Game Off
May 8th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
May 15th - Traveller? at Ben's? (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 22nd - Epic Forgotten Realms - At Randy's (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 29th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)

June 5th - Epic Forgotten Realms - At Randy's (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
June 12th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
June 19th - Epic Forgotten Realms - At Randy's (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
June 26th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)

Tentative schedule for April and May, extremely tentative schedule for June, everybody let me know about schedule conflicts in the comments. May is busy for me, Joe and Jamie, so we're only getting one, or possibly two, games in for that group... we can play more than once in the Epic group if Ben runs at his place and I'm not there.

PC: Tengri, Dragonborn Sorcerer

Tengri was born and lived his first several years among the Redcrest clan of dragonborn like any normal child, raised among his clutch by his parents. Strong and curious, he grew quickly, made friends fast, and learned well. He seemed well suited for the life of a warlord someday, until the eighth anniversary of his hatching, when his hidden talents appeared. At a celebration for his clutch, Tengri suddenly exploded into flame, badly burning his family and scaring his clan. Half-memories of ancient times exploded into his mind, fragments of power floating on a river of ghosts, and for days he lay in a coma. When Tengri awoke, he could feel his connection to the power and majesty of the ancient dragons pulsing like a heartbeat, and his scales had changed to a deep green.

Frightened by this new power, and the damage it had caused, the Redcrest clan elders concluded that Tengri was possessed by an ancient dragon spirit. Though it would be taboo to kill him, they directed his family to abandon him in nearby Darkholme Forest, for his presence in the clan would bring great sorrow. Weeping, his parents did as ordered, and Tengri found himself alone and clanless for the first time.

The first few weeks were the roughest, but using his new powers, Tengri was able to survive long enough to find a pack of Longtooth shifters who also made Darkholme forest their home. The shifters were content to let him watch them from afar so long as he did not disturb them, and from these observations he slowly learned how to survive better in his new home- what to eat, how to hunt, how to make armor for protection from the skins of what he caught. In time he made contact with the shifters, becoming friendly with some pack members and trading with them. He never became close enough to be considered a true pack member by the wary pack leaders, but he was known as an ally in the region.

Eventually, Tengri felt it was time to leave the forest and test his power elsewhere, and when he did a barbarian from the shifters left with him. They still travel together, just wandering, looking for anything of interest.

Personality: Tengri is unused to the company of people, so he tends to stay quiet. His draconic power shines strongly from within him, however, giving him an aura of confidence and ancient might that is almost palpable. He firmly believes that he is a throwback to the ancient days of the dragonborn, when they were first created from the blood of a dying dragon god, and thinks of himself more as a dragon than a dragonborn.

Appearance: Tengri's scales are a deep green and are wide and thick. He is large and heavily muscled. He wears hide armor, as he learned to do in the forest, and uses a dagger as an implement because it reminds him of a dragon's claw.

PC: Mmirg, half-orc warden

Mmirg was born, his father is fond of saying, to the wild.

Less than two decades ago, Mmirg Lightstep entered the world and the village of Threeflower as the first and only son of a human woodsman and a half-orc barbarian woman. Years earlier, Capen Lightstep was discovered pinned beneath a log after an amateurishly created deadfall he was trying to dismantle fell apart around him. His rescuer was Annat k'Brek, an orc barbarian who had left her homelands to wander in search of adventure. Annat left Threeflower shortly after saving Capen, but came back often over the years, eventually taking the quiet woodsman as her husband.

Threeflower is a trading village on the Western slope of the Shrouded Vale, and dwarves, halflings and even the occasional tiefling are not uncommon sights; the birth of a half-orc was unusual, but barely worth comment among the locals. This would change, however, as Mmirg grew from a rambunctious child to a thrill-seeking and often brash young man.

Gossip of Mmirg's latest exploits — throwing himself from the Council House roof, gleefully fighting a gang of trappers single-handedly, shamelessly attempting to bed any and all women in the village — became common currency in the community. Combined with his tendency to loudly proclaim himself, "Mmirg the Mighty," "Mmirg the Magnificent," or any of a dozen other honorifics, the villagers came to view Mmirg with a mix of amusement and annoyance.

With Annat often joining an adventuring party for months, sometimes years, at a time, Capen took it upon himself early to try and balance his son's fiery disposition. In youth Mmirg would join his father in the forests and glens of Shrouded Vale, learning lore and surprising himself by finding a measure of peace in the wilderness. He also surprised himself — and everyone who knew him — when he somehow tapped into the primal force of nature.

Some said it was because Mmirg was a force of nature himself, but his father knew nature unrestrained was heavy with the potential for disaster. He sent his son to a Warden's Hall, where he could learn to expand and use his gifts in service to the wild.

Now after years of training Mmirg is as confident as ever, fiercely protective of the natural world he feels has chosen him as a favored son, and following his own path to adventure and what he is sure will be a celebrated destiny.

PC: Taiha Lakar

(Updated 20090416)

Taiha, spear, is not just a weapon to my people, not just a tool. It is our way of life. Taiha is everything, life, death, happiness, survival. It is how we say Hello and Goodbye, and is our beginning and end.

I am Taiha Lakar. Taiha is my clan. Lakar is me. Bear is me. I follow the spirit of Bear. Bear teaches us Caution, Healing and Leadership. Many men honor me by calling me Taiha. I understand now that your ways are different.

I am Skywatcher, teacher of my people. Like the bear, I led the young Skywatcher cub to grow strong. Proud I felt to see him stand tall like bear. Now I am free to wander as goliath do, as the spirits guide, to find what is beyond the next mountain.

The spirits and travels are my taiha. I learn about those not of my tribe and their strange ways. I teach of the spirits, the bear and the old ways.

My armor is the prize from first battle without my clan. Like the bear, I rose above my enemy. It is not what I expected from metal (Eladrin Chain +2). It does not slow me down. The spirits are pleased.

Ti was our neighbor clan in the tribe. They also follow bear. Ti Aukan, Skywatcher of Ti gave his banner as a gift of brothers. The banner summons spirits of healing and makes me part of Ti.

I do not like to fight animals. They fight by instinct, not hate; fear, not vengance. This is not always true of magic beasts.

I met viper at the taiha of the great mountain. A great battle of bear spirit and snake spirit. Viper was slain. I apologize to the spirits. I thank the spirits. Now his skin protects me from poison. I am one with the spirit of snake.


Goliath Bear Shaman
Str 13
Con 16
Dex 12
Int 13
Wis 16
Cha 12
Feats: Protector Spirit Adept, Combat Medic, Chainmail, Imp Init
Skills: Nature, Heal, Perception, Insight

Equipment:
Hungry Spirit Totem +2
Eladrin Chain +2
Amulet of Protection +2
Spear
Javelin (2)
Adventure kit (with mods)
Climbers kit
Battle Standard of Healing
Viper Belt

Being on his own, he has had to develop certain "social" skills (4th level ability increases: Str & Cha).

Backgrounds: Skywatcher (+2 Religion), Mountain birth, Scholar (as goliaths go)