Questions About and From the Farmstead

[frenzied67]

These are the only questions I can remember from our 20th session, regarding the farmstead that is.
1) Due to the magical concealment spells on the path to the Farm, will we need a guide to get to and from the farmstead?
2) Enkili, who has never cooked in his life, is wondering if the groundkeeper and his entourage concoct meals for their group?  If so, how much to get in on that action?
3) We were told that we were responsible for replenishing what we take from the larder.  Does that mean we have to do the shopping or can we leave money for the caretakers?
4) How many acres are associated with the farmstead?
5) Can we wander about the property at our leisure, or are there property features that are out of bounds?
6) Where are the bodies buried?  I need to know!
7) You said Elvold featured more "services" than the other towns and cities we've crossed since leaving Solare, are there vices to be found for Enkili; he's starting to stress over being sent out into the uncaring ol' world when he thinks he's given Al Madii the best of himself already?
8) *As a well honed fighting machine, how come the physical tricks I learn have a finite number of uses between naps? 
9) *In association with the question above, is this bounded accuracy or gagged and bound accuracy?

*I'm just expressing my opinion of 5E, which is not favorable.  After making over 20 characters of different races and classes, I have come too the conclusion that they have great imaginations and have developed simple but very effective game mechanics.  Where WOTC got it wrong is in how they have hobbled the Player Character.  Although a character is granted a little something every level, with each class coming into their peak effectiveness at differing level advancement periods, most of the abilities granted range from lame, to situational niche, to not potent enough, to too late in the campaign to make a difference.  Too bad 3.5 was too cumbersome for VTT's.

[Ravenblade]

I thought I'd break my reply down into a question/answer format. Hope it helps:

1) Due to the magical concealment spells on the path to the Farm, will we need a guide to get to and from the farmstead?
Unless you have a guild broach, you will need to have a guide. You will be able to leave just fine without a guide or broach, but you will not be able to find your way back short of having true sight. Each of the caretakers have a guild broach and a spare can be afforded to Jolrael (since he is a guild member).

2) Enkili, who has never cooked in his life, is wondering if the groundskeeper and his entourage concoct meals for their group?  If so, how much to get in on that action?
Guests and visiting guild members have a variety of finer foodstuffs available to them in the storeroom (anything kept there does not spoil or decay). These fine foods are expected to be replaced so that they are available to subsequent visitors. By contrast, the caretakers dine on more inexpensive and commonplace foods, supplemented by local game, foraging, and the estate’s meager garden.

The caretakers would happily prepare meals if they were given the opportunity to partake in the finer foods the party has available to them, particularly when Iriel’s (the groundskeeper) wife returns from Westfolk – he often boasts that his wife, Renela, is a fine cook.

3) We were told that we were responsible for replenishing what we take from the larder.  Does that mean we have to do the shopping or can we leave money for the caretakers?
You do not have to do the shopping yourselves (unless you want to). The caretaker and/or his hands make regular trips to Elvold for necessities and will go to the market on behalf of you and the rest of the party.

4) How many acres are associated with the farmstead?
The buildings and surrounding assarted (cleared) land come to a little less than 3 acres.

5) Can we wander about the property at our leisure, or are there property features that are out of bounds?
Yes, you may wander about the grounds freely (except for personal spaces). You are cautioned against wandering too far into the tree line, as you will not be able to find your way back if you lose sight of the Coach House and its grounds, unless you have a guild broach.

6) Where are the bodies buried?  I need to know!
In a small cemetery near the back edge of the grounds. Irial’s family have served the guild for generations and some of his relatives have graves there.

7) You said Elvold featured more "services" than the other towns and cities we've crossed since leaving Solare, are there vices to be found for Enkili; he's starting to stress over being sent out into the uncaring ol' world when he thinks he's given Al Madii the best of himself already?
Elvold is on a major trade road and its proximity to the Freehold avails it a share of vices. You hear of a den where someone could imbibe certain substances and of a brothel in which one could spend coin.

8) *As a well honed fighting machine, how come the physical tricks I learn have a finite number of uses between naps? 
You are considered fighting at your peak in combat. The tricks you mention are things you can do when you push yourself beyond that peak range. As your expertise progresses (i.e. leveling) you will be able to push yourself to greater lengths and perform a greater variety tricks and strategies, as well as increased frequency of attacks.

9) *In association with the question above, is this bounded accuracy or gagged and bound accuracy?
Bounded accuracy applies to EVERY aspect and creature in the game. If you feel your character is nerfed, find solace in knowing everything else is nerfed as well. This is intentional design to reduce the excessive number crunching and complexity of combat inherent in 3(.5)e & 4e D&D, which tends to bogs games down. I can remember numerous games in 3.5e where we couldn’t finish a single combat in a session… even when I had the benefit of DM Genie.
The system is streamlined and utilizes bounded accuracy so that combat doesn’t become sessions of sheer arithmetic and that more energy can be devoted to playing the game.

*I'm just expressing my opinion of 5E, which is not favorable.  After making over 20 characters of different races and classes, I have come too the conclusion that they have great imaginations and have developed simple but very effective game mechanics.  Where WOTC got it wrong is in how they have hobbled the Player Character.  Although a character is granted a little something every level, with each class coming into their peak effectiveness at differing level advancement periods, most of the abilities granted range from lame, to situational niche, to not potent enough, to too late in the campaign to make a difference.  Too bad 3.5 was too cumbersome for VTT's.
I appreciate you sharing your view on the game system. I think I can understand how you feel, especially after going from a high-level, nigh-godlike character to a low-level peon, so please do not take the following as criticism.I believe 5e is going to continue to disappoint you if it is compared in context to earlier editions. Perhaps if 5e is viewed in context of its own system your disappointment might wane a little? It may come down to perspective.

Is 5e the perfect system? Nope, it isn’t. But then again, none of the editions are. The party is 4th level – a fledgling group. Your characters probably won’t start coming into your own until about 6th level.

One of the primary driving factors for switching to 5e was support. Tools and VTTs that had 3.5e available had content limited to the SRD and required community support to add the missing content. What the community didn’t develop, I had to add myself - which was incredible time consuming. A number of VTTs (Fantasy Grounds included) are officially licensed by WotC, making 5e content beyond the SRD readily available to seamlessly add to the application. 5e’s popularity makes community-developed content readily available as well.

The incredible amount of work it took to support all the 3.5e options and material, especially in the online venue, was wearing me down. The ponderous pace that the game was going and laborious, time-consuming combats were adding to my burnout. Our game was becoming a chore that eroded my enjoyment of it. So much that I was contemplating giving up the hobby.

Don’t get me wrong. 5e wasn’t a lifeline to renew my enthusiasm, but its streamlined, supported system allows me to focus more (to a greater or lesser degree) of my energy to being creative and role-playing, instead of being consumed with excessive number crunching and other tedium. Granted, 3.5e remains a favorite of mine... at lower character levels. But when the characters start getting into the higher levels with a multitude of feats and modifiers (oftentimes conditional modifiers), the game becomes <expletive> unmanageable.

[frenzied67]

I thought I'd break my reply down into a question/answer format. Hope it helps:

1) Due to the magical concealment spells on the path to the Farm, will we need a guide to get to and from the farmstead?
Unless you have a guild broach, you will need to have a guide. You will be able to leave just fine without a guide or broach, but you will not be able to find your way back short of having true sight. Each of the caretakers have a guild broach and a spare can be afforded to Jolrael (since he is a guild member).

2) Enkili, who has never cooked in his life, is wondering if the groundskeeper and his entourage concoct meals for their group?  If so, how much to get in on that action?
Guests and visiting guild members have a variety of finer foodstuffs available to them in the storeroom (anything kept there does not spoil or decay). These fine foods are expected to be replaced so that they are available to subsequent visitors. By contrast, the caretakers dine on more inexpensive and commonplace foods, supplemented by local game, foraging, and the estate’s meager garden.

The caretakers would happily prepare meals if they were given the opportunity to partake in the finer foods the party has available to them, particularly when Iriel’s (the groundskeeper) wife returns from Westfolk – he often boasts that his wife, Renela, is a fine cook.

3) We were told that we were responsible for replenishing what we take from the larder.  Does that mean we have to do the shopping or can we leave money for the caretakers?
You do not have to do the shopping yourselves (unless you want to). The caretaker and/or his hands make regular trips to Elvold for necessities and will go to the market on behalf of you and the rest of the party.

4) How many acres are associated with the farmstead?
The buildings and surrounding assarted (cleared) land come to a little less than 3 acres.

5) Can we wander about the property at our leisure, or are there property features that are out of bounds?
Yes, you may wander about the grounds freely (except for personal spaces). You are cautioned against wandering too far into the tree line, as you will not be able to find your way back if you lose sight of the Coach House and its grounds, unless you have a guild broach.

6) Where are the bodies buried?  I need to know!
In a small cemetery near the back edge of the grounds. Irial’s family have served the guild for generations and some of his relatives have graves there.

7) You said Elvold featured more "services" than the other towns and cities we've crossed since leaving Solare, are there vices to be found for Enkili; he's starting to stress over being sent out into the uncaring ol' world when he thinks he's given Al Madii the best of himself already?
Elvold is on a major trade road and its proximity to the Freehold avails it a share of vices. You hear of a den where someone could imbibe certain substances and of a brothel in which one could spend coin.

8) *As a well honed fighting machine, how come the physical tricks I learn have a finite number of uses between naps? 
You are considered fighting at your peak in combat. The tricks you mention are things you can do when you push yourself beyond that peak range. As your expertise progresses (i.e. leveling) you will be able to push yourself to greater lengths and perform a greater variety tricks and strategies, as well as increased frequency of attacks.

9) *In association with the question above, is this bounded accuracy or gagged and bound accuracy?
Bounded accuracy applies to EVERY aspect and creature in the game. If you feel your character is nerfed, find solace in knowing everything else is nerfed as well. This is intentional design to reduce the excessive number crunching and complexity of combat inherent in 3(.5)e & 4e D&D, which tends to bogs games down. I can remember numerous games in 3.5e where we couldn’t finish a single combat in a session… even when I had the benefit of DM Genie.
The system is streamlined and utilizes bounded accuracy so that combat doesn’t become sessions of sheer arithmetic and that more energy can be devoted to playing the game.

*I'm just expressing my opinion of 5E, which is not favorable.  After making over 20 characters of different races and classes, I have come too the conclusion that they have great imaginations and have developed simple but very effective game mechanics.  Where WOTC got it wrong is in how they have hobbled the Player Character.  Although a character is granted a little something every level, with each class coming into their peak effectiveness at differing level advancement periods, most of the abilities granted range from lame, to situational niche, to not potent enough, to too late in the campaign to make a difference.  Too bad 3.5 was too cumbersome for VTT's.
I appreciate you sharing your view on the game system. I think I can understand how you feel, especially after going from a high-level, nigh-godlike character to a low-level peon, so please do not take the following as criticism.I believe 5e is going to continue to disappoint you if it is compared in context to earlier editions. Perhaps if 5e is viewed in context of its own system your disappointment might wane a little? It may come down to perspective.

Is 5e the perfect system? Nope, it isn’t. But then again, none of the editions are. The party is 4th level – a fledgling group. Your characters probably won’t start coming into your own until about 6th level.

One of the primary driving factors for switching to 5e was support. Tools and VTTs that had 3.5e available had content limited to the SRD and required community support to add the missing content. What the community didn’t develop, I had to add myself - which was incredible time consuming. A number of VTTs (Fantasy Grounds included) are officially licensed by WotC, making 5e content beyond the SRD readily available to seamlessly add to the application. 5e’s popularity makes community-developed content readily available as well.

The incredible amount of work it took to support all the 3.5e options and material, especially in the online venue, was wearing me down. The ponderous pace that the game was going and laborious, time-consuming combats were adding to my burnout. Our game was becoming a chore that eroded my enjoyment of it. So much that I was contemplating giving up the hobby.

Don’t get me wrong. 5e wasn’t a lifeline to renew my enthusiasm, but its streamlined, supported system allows me to focus more (to a greater or lesser degree) of my energy to being creative and role-playing, instead of being consumed with excessive number crunching and other tedium. Granted, 3.5e remains a favorite of mine... at lower character levels. But when the characters start getting into the higher levels with a multitude of feats and modifiers (oftentimes conditional modifiers), the game becomes <expletive> unmanageable.

Thank you for the answers to my questions and putting up with my noisome complaints! I am trying to articulate my dissatisfaction with 5e characters, and I don't think I'm stating myself coherently. I guess it stems from the fact that if I make a fighter champion, it would not be much different from a fighter champion that Tracy, or anyone else, would make; except for the few magic items they might find. Customization takes a header in 5e. They are trying to tell us that 5e is like getting back to basic D&D, but basic D&D was designed for 1-5th level characters and AD&D was designed to take the character over 5th level. 5e is training wheel gaming that never allows the kid to take off on their own after they "grow" into their own.  There is talk of a 6th edition D&D, hopefully they keep the game mechanics but allow the heroes to be heroes instead of snowflake fluff.    Also, I hope the VTT's and support software are lofty enough to support the campaign in a manner that your enjoyment flows from low level to high level unabated. Sorry again, no criticism to anyone here is meant.

[Xura]

Thanks so much for the helpful questions and answers! I too have struggled a bit with 5th ed. -- not in terms of min-maxing etc. but more of a sense of -- limitation? blandness? or something. So I understand (I think) the sense of stifling that the original post was trying to express. Sometimes it feels like there's just no THERE, there. You know? A bit hollow or flat. The original post phrased it very well.

What I've been trying to do is observe and understand the philosophy and mindset that 5th ed. is using, and train my brain to think in those terms. It's hard, because I'm an Old One and tend to think in 1st/2nd/3rd ed. modes. I think 5th ed. was crafted to make things as simple and quick as possible, so that people, especially new players and new DMs, could have a character and world up and running in a jiffy, and then get right down to gameplay and roleplay. That's especially handy for new people and/or people who are playing in tournaments/game shops (as opposed to regular weekly games with close friends and a stable campaign, as we do). In those latter aspects, I do think 5th ed. shines, and I've read that D&D gaming has seen a huge Renaissance among all ages, which is great. I'm trying to keep my focus on Erath and on the story and characters, and trying not to fret about some of the other stuff/numbers.

That aside, R. already asked some of my questions. My others are:

a) Did my church specify a delivery date/date range, of this relic? If so, what is it?

b) Some people wanted to tarry at the farmstead. But if my character agreed to deliver the item by X-time, she'll want to do that. Are there dire needs to delay at the farmstead? Like, stuff that's critical and can't wait?

c) If the delivery is time-sensitive but some characters need to stay on the farm, could my character proceed ahead with the delivery? She will do this if no other option is available. Perhaps she could ride with a caravan or hire somebody. And then rendezvous with the party somewhere afterwards.

d) That's cool about the caretakers and I'm happy to pitch in regarding payment, chores, magic, if anything else that will help.

Sorry for any typos. Am doing this on tablet.