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Friends among the green,

In ages perhaps too long past, I worked with now Lieutenant Rennik Colmes to unearth criminals and wrongdoers of various degrees. It has come to my attention that there are those among your ranks that harbor similar disappointment at the ease with which Mae Stern and Cosine Mevura yet walk free in spite of their egregious offenses against the Well.

I would ask those of you for a mind towards the Halls of Jurisprudence to find me, that we might better discuss the details of the case and see them inflicted with a measure of justice.


  -- Aubrey Domergue
 
  Balladeer of the Lost Hearth
          

Domhnall,

The first loss is the hardest - of that, I can assure you.

You have done your reputation some grievous harm these last few days, but Ephia's Well is quick to forget; the papersheets and pamphlets will circulate and sensationalize some new event in due course. By the third circulation of new news, you will laugh at the mistakes committed.

You will, nonetheless, need to look out into the future, that you might secure a more competent and sincere candidate or otherwise be forged into a better version of yourself. The White League's time must come - just as the fitful discontent of the people must eventually find a voice, and then soon thereafter demonstrate truth in action.

A final word of advice, learned through my own trials: Ever heed the counsel of friends. Reward their encouragement with service and deed. For your detractors shall shriek forevermore, never sated by acquiescence or good sense. But your companions? Their song will make you invincible.

Let us hope you too learn to uplift your friends more than your enemies.


  -- Aubrey Domergue
              

Rosie,

Estellise's methods are frustrating and unorthodox but we undoubtedly do ourselves a disservice by giving too much credence to a candidate who deteriorated into madness in the final stretch.

We are better when our voices are many, even when they are discordant. I would beg you not to silence a woman who cares deeply for our futures.

I would be gracious if you would kindly reinstate Estellise's membership to the White League. I will take responsibility for reining in her more disruptive antics.


  -- Aubrey Domergue
              

Darling Acolyte of the Rose,

I wonder if I have gone crazed with fever - though not from the blight of the Red Star.

I think I have surreptitiously been given a gift that is protecting me from the illness. I did not realize its portents at first.

Mayhaps I am making up stories, though.

Find me soon.


  -- Aubrey Domergue
              

Low priority or whatever, but it'd be neat if the Drink was no longer accessible to Students and instead a hot commodity that could be handed out exclusively by Balladeers.

Getting Balladeer is presently something of a... hard nerf? My armor/cloak continues to be actively worse than the gear I had from week 1 of my PC. It'd be cool to have the chance to upgrade or get access to exclusive material benefits considering that allotments and wages have become considerably less frequent.

:)

Darling miscreants and mercenaries,

You have stepped too far this time. The College of the Balladeers expects payment for the destruction of property in the Krak laid out by our would-be "bouncers." You have been contracted to keep the peace within the boundaries of our fair castle. You have instead instigated discord and destruction in equal measure.

Five thousand dinars shall make its way into the coffers of the Grandmaster for Kragg Stonefury's removal of Velan Volandis' statue.

This is not a negotiation.


  -- Aubrey Domergue
 
  Balladeer of the Lost Hearth
          

Apothars,

It has already been a couple days since our meeting was concluded. You have had plenty of time to meet with your nadiri - indeed, did so already. We would be appreciative to have the list in hand in a timely matter. As the days wane onward, our momentum inevitably dwindles.

Members. Supporters. Voters. Sympathizers.

If I do not have the list in hand by tomorrow eve, I shall presume you have regrettably bowed out of our arrangement.


  -- Aubrey Domergue
 
  Balladeer of the Lost Hearth
          

Shady Sadie,

I have only seen you in passing throughout the Krak but I have heard much spoken of your deeds - and none of them from your lips!

I am ever interested in the works of enterprising souls. Name a place and a time where we might share drinks.


  -- Aubrey Domergue
 
  Balladeer of the Lost Hearth
          

Itaja,

Fate so often amplifies the mistakes made from our own reticence; it is a thing that is reinforced by the inexorable flow of Time's river, which never allots us enough time to sup the views which we see.

We had a meeting that was never had. If you still wish it, I will honor the promise and meet you at a place of your choosing.


  -- Aubrey Domergue
 
  Balladeer of the Lost Hearth
          

My friend,

I have secured you the comforts of an unmolested man, but not the bliss of one who witnesses due retribution.

I would not speak overly of sensitive matters in written script. Should you have time in the coming days, I would introduce you to mine companion in purpose and speak of next steps to unravel this tangled web.


  -- Aubrey Domergue
 
  Balladeer of the Lost Hearth
          

Multi-classes feel like the biggest reason why pure classes can't have nice things. "We could give you this, but what about the multi-class?" And so the cool features of a class are pushed higher, made less accessible, given further restrictions... but a player who is inclined towards power gaming is always going to find a way.

A few examples of this:

• I love playing Ranger, but it's often hard to justify taking one past 6.
• I have played a pure Rogue, but even with a perk it is functionally useless against anything immune to sneaks and usually performs better as a Fighter/Rogue save for niche circumstances.
• The prevalence of 2 levels of a BAB class and 8 levels of Bard (or the opposite) was so frequent in COR that it functionally became a meme.

NWN is already an obtuse game that's difficult to approach. Multi-class builds  are frustratingly obfuscated by veteran players who hoard their powerful builds. And in spite of the inevitable deluge of cries stating "roleplay is more important than build!" and "good characters will be rewarded!" the simple reality is that nobody gets brownie points for playing a mechanically bad character. This is a tough server with a lot of intricacies; I don't think we need to add elaborate multi-class builds to that list of intricacies.

To demonstrate my point, I am now playing a pure Swashbuckler, and I am struggling to understand why I shouldn't have multi-classed into a Rogue. I think it's telling that there are so few pure Swashbucklers in the module right now. Presumably, the argument is that I will turn 9 and have access to Feint (which is undoubtedly a cool ability), but I don't even think that brings me to parity with a Swash/Rogue. In fact, presently at level 7, I am significantly worse than said multi-class and will not even reach the point of maybe being equal with one until the distant, far off, fantasy future of level 9.

Swash/Rogue has:

• More skills
• Perk!
• Better saves
• Sneak Attack
• Evasion
• Uncanny Dodge earlier (not having this feels dreadful on a pure Swash)
• UMD wand access (huge, considering the potion limits)

I'm not saying that every class and perk and feature should be equally balanced with the next. That's absurd and boring. But at the very least I think we shouldn't encourage arguably exploitative builds being vastly more powerful than more generic counterparts. Limiting multiclasses to apps gives DMs the freedom to stop faffing around worrying about what the next power builder comes up with for their very immersive halfling, Glorbus Sludgedrinker, and instead lets them focus on making the classes feel cool and unique on their own merits.

thanks I love you guys SOI is great bye.

To whom it may concern,

I wish to make a formal report and complaint about the public actions of Ellanher de Veend -- a known prosecutorial associate of the Janissaries within Ephia's Well -- within the Krak des Roses this past evening.

As you have no doubt already heard through verbal channels, Ellanher thought it wise to publicly shame a Nadiri of Eagle's Mount on the second level of the Krak. He drew his blade and enspelled himself mightily whilst slinging insults, provocations, and promises of assault. When the Nadiri fled to the downstairs area, he was heard by innumerable witnesses shouting scurrilous profanities and threatening promises at her.

While I no doubt understand that the Janissaries have a tenuous jurisdiction over the Krak save for the most grievous of crimes - and, indeed, even in creating such a garish public display, Ellanher has arguably done little actionable legal wrongdoing - I am nonetheless concerned about future actions of a similar tact. This is another incident in a growing list of other altercations that have swelt in number since Shane Gallows' exile. He has had similar such accusatory encounters with Voiced citizens of Ephia's Well, though none so public and violent as this most recent altercation with the Nadiri.

Knowing that the Janissaries have worked closely in tandem with the Uzzarii as a prosecutor in the past, I would be deeply gracious if you could express to Ellanher the severeness of his social faux pas and discourage him from further harassment, both of the Nadiri and of any other wayward citizens, in the Krak and otherwise. In mine eyes, it would be a deeply disturbing circumstance for this man to strike a person of import and means with the violent intent many saw in his eyes just the other day. It would be especially unfortunate if this strike was laid upon a person entrusted with the future maintenance of the Shade and safeguarding of the Well.

Should you wish any aid in your endeavors, you are welcome to reach out to me at the League of White to discuss this and any other matters.

Thank you dearly for your consideration!


  -- Aubrey Domergue

Palamon,

Should you wish it for your competition, I shall give you the privilege of mine keenest eye for fashion's grace as a Voiced citizen of Ephia's Well.


  -- Aubrey Domergue

This is more an observation than a suggestion; I don't really know how I would fix this.

Summoners are very strong in QAs. Some of the summoning themes are very overwhelming, especially in tight corridors. It feels like almost all casters have become "summoners first" and everything else second. Most encounters start with the casters summoning at least 2 creatures.

This has led to a situation where you're forced into a "kill the summoner" mini-game in a lot of quests, which is oftentimes very dangerous; instead of taking the encounter slowly, you're forced to charge forward and expose yourself to gloom effects and massed mobs.

I would obviously prefer this over getting dispel spammed constantly, but it does still feel a little bad on some quests.

Not all summoning themes are made equal, either. The ice theme is particularly dangerous, with water elementals not handling collision properly and ice elementals having AOE ice effects. Some NPCs, like the Sawbone Sanctum boss, seem to just infinitely summon creatures, which really stacks the deck on quests.

I certainly wouldn't want to nerf these themes for players, but they're overwhelming on NPCs.

Sometimes, I think this mini-game is really, really cool. I think a great example of this working on a quest is the Caravan Protection quest that is more or less an invasion. It's harried, it's fast, it requires you to run around and choose the right targets and pay attention when a new mage spawns. I love this effect here. But in tighter quarters, it feels a lot worse.

Placeholder...

Give swashbuckler Uncanny Dodge earlier.

Level 8 is presently pretty difficult to attain and Uncanny Dodge is critical to the class performing well on quests, especially with some of our latency issues with the server population.

Title.

This would be neat to have and track; I've seen several characters putting the gold on the ground.

// OOC: Feel free to respond directly to this post with your character's IC recommendations via letter or otherwise to avoid crowding the letters forum.

I will be the annoying squeaky wheel with the same caveat that I understand things are being looked at and intentionally adjusted as time goes on and I'm having an absolute blast and everything you guys have done is stellar.

There's a weird paradigm where you get tons of water from max 5 and even some max 6 quests - there are quests that even guarantee a well, to say nothing of the salvage placeables and random loot drops. This is so much the case that by the time I was level 6 (before many quests were adjusted to be max 6), I had a page and a half of small and medium waters.

I am now hovering around level 7 and have... almost none, and have watched many people desperately go to lower level PCs in the Krak and barter coins for waters.

This seems to be the largest bottleneck for questing right now, particularly for groups who are doing content for the first time as things are being adjusted.

I think having more access to small and medium waters is overall better for the questing environment. Being able to liberally use waters makes questing less insular - otherwise people are only going to be inclined to give their waters to people they know will heal them now and in the future.  Further, without the use of an ash refinery equivalent, you are limited in how much weight you can carry, space you have in your inventory, and the fact that you can only use one per round of combat. And even if this does become an issue down the line, I think adding a "waterskin" aspect to the backpack would easily solve any bloat issues in this regard.