So any questions and such can be asked here. Also, to help remember recurring characters, I will ask everyone their impressions of a character and what comes to mind when they think about them, so I will just write a few notes and put them in the campaign info to help people (and myself) remember them.
Setting question that occurs to me regarding the balance between D&D material and sorta-medieval England. What's the religious practices like? Is Christianity or a mostly-Christian fantasy world alike the rule of the land, are we importing the Pathfinder pantheon, or something in between?
It held me up when I started to write about Dougal's christened name and realized that word might be entirely out of place. And it'd help to know what sort of signs a superstitious peasant should make to ward off evil.
Mostly Christian with elements of Pathfinder pantheon. So ya know, protestants and catholics have different interpretations of god.
In this world, the different deities of the Pathfinder pantheon are different aspects of god that people choose to focus on. For example, one person could focus on the "Erastil" side of god, believing that according to this piece of scripture, God wants us to live a simple life.
Meanwhile, an "Abadar" fella might think that God is more of a lawbringer. It is not particularly strict, so you can actually make up these signs and superstitions.
A helpful trick with the dice roller you might not be aware of, everyone. If you hit Preview for a post with dice rolls in it, you'll get the roll results in the preview and they won't change for the actual post. It's handy for things like Initiative, knowing if you made a Perception or Knowledge check, and seeing if there are any crits in a combat post.
I was half expecting them to be friendly cannibals who try and knock us over the head and put us in a stew pot, like the story. But I can be a touch paranoid till I get used to a new GM's style.
As for the "flee or fight" comment in the thread, for me at least it's two factors. From an IC perspective, all we've met is two possessed people that crumpled from one hit each. That's disturbing but not deathly dangerous seeming.
From a more OOC perspective, I make it a point to create characters who have an urge to get involved in trouble. I still remember the modern-day game with a couple newer players who didn't follow that rule. The first adventure they thought it would be rude to jump the fence and investigate the spooky mansion, so their characters spent the whole game session sitting in an IHOP doing nothing. I'm not saying I make all my PCs suicidally brave. Just that generally they won't run away from an adventure unless things seem actively overwhelming.
Well I kinda forced you into that shack in the first place, so killing is not an option.
One of my personal pet peeves is the DM making stuff up casually with no game mechanic backing (so can't be replicated by players) or plot armor, so I will try to play things as realistically as possible.
Likewise, if you come up with awesome plan that derails my entire plot, I'm not going to say it failed just because of that. If your character prematurely dies, you may build another character or take over one of the NPCs that are around your level. (You get the build the NPC, but it usually has a role that it starts as).
So barring any data on the trail should we try the cave?
Without healing magic, which I notice we are rather short of, the bandaged 'witch' will not be fit to talk for a day or three of care.
Someone should also check the corpse the three were standing around.
Oh and sorry if Hywel sounds bossy. He is a noble and rather used to folks doing what he says.
Jen - just a quick query, thought it best to throw it up here rather than cluttering the game thread.
Where did the Verderer and his wife come from? - and when did the wife become a Level 3 or better spellcaster?
I'm a little confused as that basically came out of the blue. I can only assume that they are in there to 'help out' against the hag, but I'm still finding it a bit jarring.
The NPCs in the fight almost outnumber us now and it would seem they are all higher level than us as well - was this intended to be a 'show them how far over their head they are' encounter?
Yes, this is my fault as a result of inexperience.
So I believed that this was actually an encounter that you guys could handle, but after it began, I realized that a)The hag had way too much AC for you to handle and b)The hag had too much HP and it would result in a TPK.
So it later turned into a "show them how far over their head they are" encounter, but it was not initially planned. Apologies for that.
Thank you for informing me though, as I am trying to work my way through the CR system (which I realize now completely does not work).
CR is a guideline, not a rule. It won't take account of scaling issues like attack and AC. For instance, with an attack bonus of +12, the hag hits Dougal on anything except a 1 or a 2. If as you say her AC is also too high for us to reasonably hit, that's an example of something we do have to just run from. Which is fine, if that's a reasonable outcome for the story.
Jen and all,
I'm afraid that I'll have to follow Hywel and also take my leave of this campaign. It was fun for the short time that I shared with you, but I'm finding the tone and pacing a bit too jarring for my tastes.
Apologies for the cut and run, and wish you well in filling the spot in with a replacement.
Cheers,
Tobar
You're right, I haven't had enough time to put enough effort and thought into the campaign, and I shouldn't have strung you guys along like that. Maybe I was deluding myself, but I'm not really sure.
All of you made great characters and I wish I had made a campaign that lived up to your expections, but I haven't. I'm sorry that I made a campaign that had to close down reasonably early, and I had that you can find a suitable place for your wonderful characters in another campaign.
Thanks everyone and good luck