@CollectorOfMyst Expect the players to do something you didn't plan for. Focus on fun. Communicate! When things go off the rails, never fear; unused plans, locations, etc can be recycled. Every decision has consequences. Encourage the players to consider more than just murder hoboing their way through life.

@shylarah Mhm, yeah, I know that lot. One of the things our DM established is that we can't always murder everything. That's why she's got her own XP system. Plus my premise is fairly simple: my character is gravely ill, and they need to get the cure. It's rare, in a tricky location, and very valuable. The cure will, of course, be a plant monster that they'll have to fight, but since we've all got difficult schedules we have a sort-of oneshot basis on things - there's an overarching story, but not all players or characters need to be present.

I follow a couple of D&D campaigns online, namely Critical Role and Easy Allies, but have never played it in real life. Would really love to though. I think I could be a decent DM, with some practice.

@Lovejoy DMing is hard, you know. I'd advise you try and find at least one veteran player. And you should probably use a preset campaign instead of homebrew.

definitely play through a few campaigns before you DM, it gets you comfortable with the stat systems and strengths/weaknesses of different party roles

Ooh, and we're back!

Any advice for a rookie Dungeon Master, Draken? I'm working on a bit of a oneshot for my group, in case the DM is ever otherwise occupied, but I've very little idea on where to start.

I'm no master myself, with my most recent mistake being to completely forget rewards and XP values.

My one tip that isn't in every other list of tips is to try and add some variety to any encounters you have. If there is a rectangular room, it better not be an empty rectangular room. One recent example of mine was putting my players in approximately a 10x20 tiny cave, with a giant snake that took of half of the space. Other things to consider are debris and monster tactics. (Kobolds, for instance, like to use traps, as well as hit and run.) If the monsters know the players (or some sort of threat) are/may be coming, how might they have prepared?

So... We have a problem. I was notified today that I'm deploying on Friday, early in the morning. Could be gone 2-3 months.

@Scout Oh dear. Well, do your best to stay safe. *hugs*

godspeed

Good luck, @Scout. Hope everything goes well.

@Scout, you have all of our best wishes! Let us know how you're doing, if/when you can, please!

I'll try to keep you posted, would anybody mind being ready to summarize when i get back? ^^" otherwise I'll just try to catch up.

Thanks for all the well wishes.

@Scout I'll do what I can for ya, no problem.

@Scout Ah, that's unfortunate for us, but I hope this is a good step in your career! Mind if I ask where you're headed? In any case, we'll be thinking of you!

As for Vivica, I'll take control of her until you get back. And yeah, we'll do our best to catch you up to speed when you return.

Sorry for the lack of updates this past week. I'll start things moving again this weekend.

Here's Cillian's profile. Sorry that took so long! @deathbringer



Father Cillian Gavran
Age: 20

A quiet and unassuming inquisitor currently serving his first tour of duty in Lanostre. As the Protector of Warband Leviathan, Cillian possesses a deep pool of ether and is talented in its manipulation, but has always lagged behind when it came to physical combat. Born the bastard son of a Varyan merchant and an Omestrian pleasure slave, Cillian was quickly given away to the Pipeworks and spent much of his early childhood in a cage before suffering through three years of blood draining, when his deep ether pool was finally noticed by a priest inspector and he was admitted into the Seminary. Despite the horrors of his childhood, Cillian doesn't appear to hold any anger or ill feelings toward the people who kept him as a blood slave for all those years, or the society that allowed such a practice to occur. He is as devout to the Church as anyone else in his Warband and has performed all of his inquisitorial duties without complaint.

Cillian was a considered a lone wolf by the rest of Warband Leviathan. He rarely spoke to any of the other members of his group, and instead preferred to spend his days alone in a small light-filled alcove of the Seminary where he cultivated a garden of beautiful plants and flowers. This garden was his pride and joy, and Cillian made Mother Indira promise him that she would make sure it would be looked after once he graduated.

Cillian didn't appear to outwardly dislike any of his warsiblings, Cillian just simply didn't seem to be very interested in them. This didn't stop him from carrying out his duties as the warband's Protector, a role which he excelled at. Due to his prodigious ability to maintain an aegis, the other members of the group willingly gave him his space, and never challenged Cillian's choice to maintain a respectful distance from his comrades. To them, Cillian was Cillian, and that was the way of things.

After Culmination, Cillian was sent to Lanostre to work under the guidance of Mother Elisheva, but was grievously wounded in the first encounter with a new breed of demons that mysteriously appeared one night.

***

I'll also start replying to some PMs tonight. @Drakey @Sisyphus Haven't heard from you guys, so until I do, I'm going to be taking control of Rodion and Hassan so as to not let the story lag behind.

@Lovejoy Drakey's been swamped with school and having trouble getting to rpg and even discord and gdocs. I've seen him briefly a few times, but never long enough to do any real talking. It's a shame, really.

*scratches head* I guess if you're taking over...you might need to read what we've got for mutual backstory? It's just a couple scenes, but might be useful. I'd ask @Drakey if he's okay with it, but yanno. =/

By the way, is Leviathan unusual in that it's been split up? Or are there only three that were added to Phoenix, and the rest are with Cillian under Elisheva's command?

OH! And I almost forgot! One commish still needs to be mailed, but the other one was finished while RPG was down, and I don't believe I shared it! <3

@shylarah Well, it's hard to gauge who is who, but so far as I've seen, we have;



The rest of Leviathan and Seraph have either suffered untimely fates or have been assigned to various parts of Varya's domain in place of the more experienced inquisitors who were sent across the sea.

@CollectorOfMyst yeah, I guess with everyone being sent to El things get shaken up at home...

@Lovejoy A quick question regarding Cillian... wouldn't he have attended the same private training as Oren, Viveca and Ilya? Since he's partially Omestrian? Or does Mother Indira have her reasons for not tutoring him?