DougFungus' Rise of the RuneLords

Game Master pinvendor

We do have a tendency to have a lengthy debate about just about everything we do other than actual combat.

Nicea is just holding the rope and waiting, like a patient husband at Victoria's Secret. She'll go along with whatever. She will also help tie the rope to a tree if one is around.

No more debates. Just get down the damn hole. Pft. =~_-=

I don't know if CMB's are required anymore for tying off a rope (i.e., NOT tying up an opponent), but Nicea's should be sufficient to meet any DC for not coming apart under normal use. I hope.

I miss Use Rope.

I like how Silva makes sure to point out wand of missiles. :D

According to grapple rules, you can tie up a pinned or unconscious adversary. Dav probably has to make a grapple check one round, maintain it and pin the next round, then tie the next - 3 rounds.

Not sure how Doug will rule it, but thought it might help.

Well Zara may just fall back on the Guidance, unless people really think she should cast Bless.

Yeah I know there's rules about pinning and tying up, but he's not trying to grapple, or even really tie up the thing, just loop a rope around it and tie it off. So it didn't really seem to fit, but we'll see what Doug has to say.

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. A little confused about what to do given who is and isn't on the rope.

I'll wait and see what Doug has to say about it.

I believe Samara & Davben are down the bottom of the hole. Nicea is now trying to climb down. Damieka is stood around at the top covering the hole & the trees in case of obvious threat.
Zara is stood next to the rope (maybe pulling it up).

There could be a threat of goblins in the bushes to the North-East.... but we are not certain. Not even certain where Thistletop is or what it looks like.

Hey guys. I'm still rather busy and to make matters worse my computer packed it in. I'm not in a rush to fix it since I don't have time for it yet anyway, but I will be back eventually. Just wanted to drop a line and let you all know I miss you.

-DF

Do Meows, Leoian, and Finwa know that we've started up again?

Probably not, Leoian usually pops in on a Wednesday. And I haven't seen him since we started posting again.

If you guys need a standin PC wilst the absentees are...absent, let me know. Herolab makes character making easy!

Does anybody know where Meows and Finwa are?

Pin, Would you be opposed to taking over one or both of their characters until the story permits me to enter a new character?

Well....I don't now if I can Samara as well as Meows...but I am willing to do some rolling for them at least and try to do so modicum of their characters. I have a pretty unique idea for a character which would allow you to put her into the story anywhere, but I realize the other characters need to be removed from the field safely first probably. I will shoot you a PM with the specifics...but probably tomorrow.

Squee!
Plus we're coming upto Thistletop, which is a pretty big and testing goblin* stronghold!

*as my players found out when I had then fight goblins, in more favourable conditions and they only just win.

Damieka stares at the creature as it is pulled up then goes to the rope and moves away from the others, attempting to climb down the rope to Davben to make sure there is nothing more there to endanger him.

[dice=climb]1d20+3

Hi Finwa. Glad to see you. Are you planning to continue playing with us of do you feel you've moved on?

Well....I don't now if I can Samara as well as Meows...

There are few who can play a socially awkward Elf properly.

I'd still like to wait for a definitive answer from every players commitment before I start thinking about party changes.

Huzzah! Let's do this, my sweet and innocent players. Who is with me!

Hmph. I guess. What's it pay? A girl's gotta drink, you know.

Silva and his noodly arms are ready for (re)launch.

I will be beginning the process of reading the whole thread and taking some notes. I apologize in advance if anything ends up out of continuity as I may miss some cues that Doug planted or I may intentionally choose to do them differently depending on what I find.

I am planning to do my best to integrate everything and hopefully make this a smooth transition back into the game. If anyone has any desire to rebuild or adjust their characters, I will give you full permission to do so. The original character creation point buy and restrictions will be maintained, so please keep that in mind when making changes.

Please let me know if there are any questions or concerns you have that you would like me to address or consider as I get everything on track to restart.

Could I have a full compliment of scarves? And are we using RP's?

Doesn't Zara have all six or seven of her scarves? Otherwise, I'm not clear as to the request you're making.

Can I convert Samara's sheet to unchained rogue? The poisoner archetype still works with unchained, so no details for her character would really change, it would just change her effectiveness in combat.

I don't see a problem with that, Sarala.

Regarding using my Roleplaying Points system, I didn't have any intention of adding it unless it's clear that the majority of you want to use it.

Doug's House Rules Discussion:

• A Natural 20 is always a success, no matter how ridiculous the circumstance. If rolling initiative, a character who rolled a Natural 20 always goes first even if another character's Roll + Mod are higher.
  
• In combat, if a Crit on a Natural 20 is confirmed with another Natural 20, it may be followed up with yet a 3rd roll. If the 3rd roll is a hit it is considered an insta-kill. If the 3rd roll is a miss, the attack is still a Crit. This rule applies to the GM as well as Players.
  
• A Natural 1 is always a fail. The one exception to this case is when a Natural 1 is rolled while attacking, a player may make the standard DEX check to avoid a fumble.
  
• Characters will level up at the GM's request. No XP will be handed out during this adventure.
  
• Death is not a trip to the bank! If a character dies and the player decides to create a new one, their starting gold will be determined by the GM. I've seen too many character deaths which result in an exponential power gain through the Wealth by Character Level chart. Players are always encouraged to be resurrected rather than discarded.
  
• Soft Cover rules do not stack with the penalty for shooting into melee. A character shooting a bow can have at most a -4 on their attack when soft cover rules come into effect.

Above is the current list Doug left us with. I have stricken the one which I personally do not want to use or enforce from the list, and you may consider it not a part of this discussion. What I would like are ayes/nays for keeping Rules 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Personally, I think 5 is a non-issue with this crowd, and I'm not sure 6 is necessary as I have always thought shooting into melee's penalty already accounted for the soft cover rule.

Most of you are already familiar with some of my own personal house rules as we use them in KingPinMaker. I was not planning to incorporate them here, but if anyone would like to make a request for them and receive general approval from the other players, I can see how I can potentially modify them to fit this game without destroying the current balance.

I encourage responses. Feed me data! :D

I'd be fine with just tossing all of them out the window.

Plus rule 6 is technically worded incorrectly. Shooting into a melee is a -4 penalty (unless you have Precise Shot), while soft cover is a bonus to the target's AC.

This came up because we were fighting Tsuto in a cramped hallway, but an archer would usually have the means to circumvent both problems; Precise Shot for the melee penalty, and shooting from a better angle for the soft cover penalty.

Aw, yes, that is indeed correct. Let's go ahead and consider 6 sticken as well.

I agree with you about 5, pin. We're not that kind of group. I personally don't like the nat 1 or nat 20 rules because of their high probability, particularly at higher levels. I mean, sure, there's a chance an Olympic gymnast will fall while walking on the beam, but I don't think that it's 5%. That might be true for a novice, but certainly not for a L20 gymnast.

I'm fine with tossing them all, meself.

Oh wait, forgot about rule 4 I guess. Were we using the advancement track?

Rule 4 is fine with me and is how I do things in APs.

I'm alright with striking any of the rules or running with them.
#1 is a bit silly, but it's not like we're the type to roll to jump to the top of the rock chimney (& get a 20 :P)

#3 is fine, provided there's some auto-success, IE. in Treppa's above example the gymnast they'd have high enough skill-points that you might not require a roll. (or maybe they'd Take 10 )

#4 Fine, I'm OK levelling at anytime or not.

#5 yep, we're not gonna suicide to get stuff.

Finwa - so sorry to hear of your troubles. I hope your mother's health improves and that life gets better for you. Hugs. - Treppa

On a long drive tomorrow, so probably offline all day. I think I will have access there. If not, I will be back the 5th (or night of the 4th).

Nicea is now in Hero Lab and boy, was she screwed up. She was short a feat, short 2 on her AC, missing 3 skill points... yeesh. She's looking better now.

OK, I'm off to the hospital this morning. I expect to be up and posting by Saturday, but that might be optimistic. Nicea will hit stuff for you and be rude and crude and sometimes really thoughtful. Bot her as needed.

Later!

Back-ish but sleeping a lot. Will try to catch. Still OK to bot me if I am not keeping up.

18:39:52 ‹DougFungus› Pin. If you get this I want you to know i went out to my garage and started reparing all my broken hammers because of our earlier conversation.

The fearless leader of the group would suggest that we go through the doors one by one, slaughtering everything in our way.

Aye, hit them hard & fast. Trying to avoid an alarm sounding - hopefully the gobbo's are too disorganised to have a proper alarm system anyway. Unfortunately I've no alarm spell, however if everyone holds still before we open the next door everyone can have Guidance.

@Damieka: Wow! Welcome back, Damieka! I know Meows has said you have been a bit under the weather, and I think I recall you had a family member fallen ill as well, so we haven't been too harsh when we talk about your absence. :P

I had considered having your character take a break once (if) we clear the Thistletop dungeon, but definitely planned to leave it open for your return naturally.

@Everybody: I plan to get the combat(s) started soon, just making some slight adjustments to accommodate the current party size which of course requires HeroLab since that's where I started setting it up. I will try and get that together tonight though. Thanks for your patience!

@Spirit of Pinvendor - *hugs* Thank you. 2016 had been pretty rough (mother was in the hospital so often I was starting to think I lived there plus all the rest not helpful) and I'm trying to restabilize myself because of it. We have financial issues as well due to the insurance agency being dorkwads and dropping me so we're out half our income as well. I thank you for being so lenient upon me, especially since I haven't gotten on much and explained anything to you about why I've been out of it. Anyway, I'm as much as possible. If I am not then I've found more "fun" to deal with but I will do my best to tell you. I'm hoping 2017 is just better.

Hey everyone! *hugs all* Sorry. Missed you all!!

Still sick; please give me a day or two. Gracias.

In regards to Roll20, there is only a small part of the map which should be visible, so I recommend zooming out to help you find it. I will also lurk on the map, so we can use the Roll20 chat to try and troubleshoot your visibility. As far as I can see, Silva's sight and the room light should be set up correctly.

Alright. I've made my decision. After reading various discussions about the lethality of Thistletop as well as many GMs recounting tales of their PCs treating it as a speed bump, I feel I have a clear handle on what should be expected.

Everyone will gain level 4 effective immediately. This might feel like a deus ex machina, and I'll honestly say it probably is. However, I believe that your PCs need it and deserve it. Thistletop is meant to be cleared by a 3rd level party with different point buys and only a group of four.

But...

I feel confident in saying the expectation is more optimized parties who also are carrying resources like CLWs and such. Most of the "breezed through Thistletop" threads I found included things like "they all stealthed through it" or "used CLW wands to heal between every fight."

Since this party is much more RP based and seems to have a tougher time strategizing (because of character personalities not player stupidity), I feel the level bump will help offset the preparedness and potential for being overwhelmed. I'd much rather have you guys a little more powerful, because it's always easy for me to add a few more baddies, or throw a template on one or two minions to make combat more interesting than just pray the Thistletop bruisers don't hit with their super dice rolls.

So unless you have objections, level up, and we'll see what you guys do to get Samara out of her jam which should now just be low HP.

Gleep!

Here is Silva's new statblock. Hopefully we can prevent Samara from getting bonked again. :(

Samara Nolien
Female Chaotic Neutral Elf Rogue, Level 4, Init 4, HP -5/23, Speed 30 feet
AC 17, Touch 14, Flat-footed 13, CMD 17, Fort +1, Ref 8, Will +2, CMB +3, Base Attack Bonus 3
Masterwork Rapier +7 (1d6+4, 18-20/x2)
Longbow (Arrows) +6 (1d8, x3)
Silver dagger +6 (1d4, 19-20/x2)
Studded Leather armour (+3 Armor, +4 Dex)
Abilities Str 11, Dex 19, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 10

The link to my sheet will have details for what I picked up for this level, still not decided on rogue talent, but I'll definitely have a new one picked by the time it's relevant.

I got two out of six...what's going on peeps?