Giants of Autumn Twilight (Inactive)

Game Master Jubal Breakbottle

@Wulfrum

"Alternatively, a bundle can be released as a standard action by dealing at least 2 points of damage to the lashings with a slashing weapon."

I think you are misreading the game mechanics.

cheers

Ah, I see only one slash is required. I thought two different slashes would be required.

Hmm...I don't know how I feel about "dubious consent" to possibly borrow Lys's hopeknife.

We all have hopeknives, not just people with Trunau native trait.

Hmmm...I just assumed that Wulfrum wouldn't have had one even if he had lived there for so long.

Err, GM? Would he have been given one?

Alright, if you need me to cite my source ;-)

Character Creation:
Starting Level: PCs start at 3rd level. Experience will not be tracked. Levels will be based on story.
Alignment: Must be either a Good or Lawful alignment.
Ability Scores: 20 point buy.
Races: Core races only.
Classes: All classes from Paizo products.
Hit Points: Maximum for each level.
Traits: 2 traits; can take a drawback and a 3rd trait
Starting Wealth: 3,000 gp, in addition to a masterwork dagger (hopeknife). If your character has the Trunau native campaign trait, you may also have another masterwork weapon of your choice, too.

Blarp...well, aren't I just a dipstick that forgot something quite important.

Lys doesn't have a hopeknife. Not necessarily something you'd know, but it's a thing.

@Wulfrum

While we're waiting for Nerak's post, you could attack the rope with your standard action and try to do 2 points of slashing damage. Otherwise, I'll roll. Could be a 1. Never know what drama can happen...

Re: hopeknives

And mine is broken on a chain around my neck.

Varins is strapped to his thigh as a last resort.

On the Roll20 map, here is the current legend of lines:
* thin black = walls
* thick black = closed doors
* thick white = open doors
* thick brownish = barricades
* thin blue & red = edges of rolling logs
* thin gray = edges of boulder

There's a pocket between the portcullis and the flaming boulder and logs. If anyone stops in a square adjacent to the boulder, they'll take 1d6 fire damage.

I'll remove the red, blue and gray lines after this round.

cheers

Please remember to identify your target by color dot(s). Whichever orc Arlan just massacred is dead, while the orc Mohs pinged is still up. Otherwise, I'll just choose.

thanks

Sorry, the one I attacked has blue and red dots on it.

Can I roll one of the logs back up the hill to throw down on more orcs (if given the opportunity)?

Or we could start jamming those logs in to the gap left by the boulder?

You can try.

EDIT You think resetting the logs will take minutes of activity.

I'm fully back from my trip, only to discover our current production is a trainwreck. I had to fire our director and take over myself (dammit). I still should be able to post regularly, but if there is a delay, this is the explanation. We open next Friday. My days should be back to normal after that.

Thanks in advance for any patience that may be required.

Speaking of next week, I will be at Gen Con so I will post as best as I can.

Thanks for the heads up, Mohs. Safe travel, Arlan.

@Lys

Paizo just erratted the Bolt Ace. Please review it and tell me if your current build has any differences with the new version.

thanks

Well, the only difference is that I can't resolve all attacks as touch come level 11, but that's a long way to go, and that I have all crossbows as proficient just now. Additionally, I don't have to pay for my crossbow's original cost, which gives me roughly about 750 gp.

Although, with that, the Minotaur Double Crossbow sure does appear tasty, though it depends on how comfortable GM Jubal is with a 4d8 weapon. It would probably be a bit more fitting for a more-sniper-ish build, which is, in all honesty, something I've been trying to accomplish. It's definitely not a DPR machine, if that's something you're worried about.

Link to the page with the weapon in question.

Thanks for letting me know, GM!

OK. Please convert over to the new RAW. Let me know how you will spend your 750 gp windfall. You can have a Minotaur Double Crossbow if you want. It costs 800 gp and weighs 36 lb and ammunition costs and weighs twice as much, too.

cheers

I'll just use them to get the crossbow and replace The Messenger with it. Should simply remove 50gp from my 75gp float. Also replaced the bolts on the horse. That should be cool.

Already converted.

Also, our party does NOT like normal-sized weapons. It's all overcompensation here.

Big personalities require big weapons after all.

@Lys

Just realized something. Medium creatures (you) can't wield Large, two-handed weapons without special abilities. A heavy crossbow is already two-handed, making it Large would be too big to wield for a medium creature. And a Minotaur Double Crossbow is a Large, double, heavy crossbow.

Also, I didn't see any Rapid Reload feats or special abilities on Lys' build. Did I miss them?

cheers

I did rebuild with Rapid Reload instead of Rapid shot. A Medium sized Heavy Crossbow of the sort would be 2d10, I believe, if possible.

I'm going to say no to the Medium-sized Minotaur Double Crossbow.

There's already a Medium-sized Double Crossbow that gives big -4 penalties for "size and weight." So to think that an even larger one (from 1d8 to 1d10) would have the same or less penalties is not reasonable to me.

If you want to take a -6 penalty for a Medium-sized Minotaur Double Crossbow (-4 for the normal Double Crossbow and -2 for the Minotaur to get 1d10), I would allow it.

Alright, I'll revert back to normal then. Thanks for thinking about it, GM!

@Lys Good line of questions. Remember three things:

1. You have some half-orcs in the party
2. You started with a mob against a half-orc at the beginning. There appears to be some Trunau hostility toward half-orcs despite Beltzer's mom being one.
3. You killed 2 humans and a half-orc in the Killin' Ground

cheers

Wulfrum decided it would be best to at least sneak a peek at what was going on outside of the gate before the logs were in place completely, just to see if the orcs were rallying, running, or looked like they were going to try something altogether different.

@Wulfrum

Are you moving to get a better line of sight? Remember the red squares cause 1d6 fire damage from the flaming boulder if you stand in them.

cheers

Sorry yes, he will move forwards. I didn't see any red squares but if where I had to move would be one, he would brave it for a brief moment.

Two things:

1. Sorry Wulfrum, the wave was coming this round. They didn't wait to see you.

2. Sorry for the messy battlefield. There are game mechanic effects for multiple dead bodies in a square. Can't find them at the moment, but I remember something about difficult terrain and cover. I'll post them when I find them.

cheers

Do our ready actions trigger?

Yes. If the readied action was explicit and only a standard action. Include but separate it in your gameplay post.

Cheers

Would mine count then? I think I stated it once but with each round I did not explicitly as I considered it redundant sense Nerak did not take any other action, not even speak some rounds.

@Nerak. Do what you think is fair. It's our game.

I'm on the way home from Gencon, can somebody please bot me just for this round? I'll attack twice if I'm within 5ft or once if I need to move up.

@Arlan, I'll bot you if you're the last one to post. I'm jealous you went to Gencon. Hope it was a fun as I remember.

cheers

Lys, didn't you use a grit point last round, too?

Cheers

She killed the guy though so got it back.

Used it to hit, and crit, which means I got it back.

Ahh. You get it back for critting. Cause you didn't kill the guy. Got it. Thanks

How are you doing, players? How does the game feel? Are the repetitive waves or orcs increasing drama or monotony? I've been bumping up the level of challenge from the AP and reducing the pauses between waves. Does it feel like a battle to you?

We're taking longer to post through rounds than the one or two days I had hoped. Is this pace more comfortable for you? Is it the time period of the year? I always expected everyone could not match the 1-2 day posting rate from time to time but had hoped for a warning ahead of time, so I could DMPC them.

Please let me know or PM me any private comments.

cheers

I think the encounters are fine in terms of difficulty. The issue I'm having at the moment is the battle feels relentless in a bad way. I'm missing the bar scene we had a few months ago a lot. This scene we are having here has lasted a very long time, we had a brief reprieve when going to see the half orc surrounded by the mob but that's about it. Basically if I compare it to a movie 10 min has been character development and 1 hour has been nothing but a huge fight. I guess it feels like a climax but we've had no build up, so to me it's starting to feel like a slog.

My posting might be late usually depending on when I can check the site, sometimes I check in the morning before work. Nothing there, come back late at night suddenly 8 posts and a post saying I haven't posted yet. I think that might be due to being in a different timezone but I can deal with that.

I like the fact that the orcs are a huge threat and that the battle is grueling and long-term. I do think it is a little on the monotonous side, though, with the multiple waves of the same orcs. I know there was an alchemist in the last wave, but he was killed before he could do much. Like, if there were some cavalier orcs riding wolves, or a phalanx of slowly advancing shield wall orcs, or some giants, or orcs with tamed great beasts it would be a little more exciting than just the green tide. But maybe that's what's coming in the next wave?

I also agree with Beltzer about missing the tavern scene. I just know that there isn't a lot of call for extended RP during a mass battle. But I think that we care enough about our characters that when the battle dies down, we'll be able to pick up with the more RP scenes that, I think, we all enjoy.

I'm going camping with the family this weekend without electricity returning late Sunday. Discuss the game among yourselves, so I could get some consensus on potential improvements.

cheers

I find Arlan's suggestion both awesome and terrifying, thus I vouch for it. What I'm finding rather annoying (being mostly my fault), is the need to reload every other round, but I suppose that it'll get better with time.

I don't mind it really, I assume that this will slow down and have a bit more depth after we finish the assault of the motherlands.

I am playing a low level wizard, so . . . I have resource issues. But I expected that. My posts are a little less exciting with this last set of waves because I am afraid of jumping into secondary melee like I've been doing up to now. I even defaulted to the dreaded crossbow ( which I usually hate when playing a wizard.)

Nerak is a mental character, combat is not his main stage so to speak. Besides giving the odd bit of tactical advice he mostly will just do what he can with what he has. Conserving his magic for choice opportunities and when stuff hits the fan.

That said, like Mohs I am a low level wizard and we have limited resources. More so considering my school and focus. As we level and gain wealth our resources expand. But these sort's of battles become waiting games more then anything for mages. Use what you have now at the risk of doing without later, is the theme with each round for a spellcaster. While this becomes more relaxed later on it is consistent none the less. The price you pay to be a glass canon, but beware a prepared wizard ready for a single battle. ;)

As far as the recent combat encounters. I am very much against Arlan's idea to spice them up. Mostly because it would be the end of us. I like realism (I use that loosely concerning PF) to a certain degree. Organized orcs would have slaughtered us by now, much less a battle hardened army with warbeast and allied giants. So save that for one of the climax's no doubt waiting for us down the line, when we have a chance of living pass it. Also I don't consider the alchemist orc a let down, tactics and dice influenced that. I like to see good work rewarded as much as bad choices punished. I don't begrudge ether and take both as they come.

Keep that in mind when a certain drunken fool fumbles and stabs one of you guys near him by mistake. Should have sobered him up or knocked him out. xD

@Nerak: Are we using fumble rules? I thought this was a pretty standard pf game so he'd just miss whatever target he was attacking if he rolled a 1, nothing else. (Also I don't think we are using fumbles, since there was one round with 3 fumbles and they were all just misses.)

I think what Arlan is suggesting is somethings just outside of the norm not necessarily harder foes. Some that move quicker, some that have higher AC but less damage. A beast that is feral and swings wildly instead of attempting to flank. That sort of thing, the numbers would likely deviate only a little from what we have now but would be variety.

As for conservation of magic often I'll try to stretch myself for 4 if not 5 encounters per day. That seems a pretty good goal as usually you're running low on other important resources (Hit points) by that point. Yes there are wands, but I am not expecting us to carry around so many of them as the GM has already hinted at we won't be going to shops very often if at all for a long time.

@Wulfrum: I hope there is more chatter about the current situation or investigation once the combat is done. It'd be cool to flesh out a lot of what's going on.