GM Niles Rippers Campaign

Game Master nilesr

Next time we're between adventures with money to spend, someone remind me to use some of my grossly over-the-top funds to purchase weapons for everyone in the group, including myself.

And on that note, GM Niles, would Tristan be able to purchase a sword cane with a cold iron blade and a silver head, or vice versa? I've been operating on the assumption that the material counts whether the weapon's being used as a cane or a sword, since you can craft the head and tip of the cane with metal. (And Lon Chaney, Jr. himself uses a silver-headed cane way back in the original Wolfman movie, so there's some media precedent at least.) If that isn't the case in its base form, would it cost extra to have that happen? The long and short of it is that money doesn't matter that much, honestly, and I'd like Tristan to be as equipped for situations as possible. If that means buying a bunch of different canes, so be it. (Might do that anyway, I like the idea that he collects them and that's his mandatory eccentricity as a Victorian British gentleman.)

@Tristan Yep, that sounds like a plan.

My apologies for not posting sooner. It's coming up on finals for me and I have about 6 assignments due in the next two or three days. I've been scrambling like mad and it just didn't dawn on me that I hadn't posted. A fair bit of my work (not all of it, but still) will be done by tonight, so I don't expect it'll hold me up much again.

I am not fully sure if in SW casting multiprojectile powers is like full-attacking in d&d where you can continue your attack on other targets if you ginish the actual.

If so, the second and third bolts have Berny's oily face on it.

Between the two of us, Rasheed... I'm not sure there's even going to be much left of the countess. I eagerlt await to see what Niles posts in response.

You can, but I'd wait and see if she successfully soaks any of those wounds beforehand. She could get lucky, you never know.

So, I have a question relating to Savage Worlds some of you might be able to answer. Victoria is going to, either at the next Advance or the one after, pick up Two-Fisted to dual wield Ripper Claws. Since Ripper Claws have a +1 bonus to Parry, do I gain that from both Ripper Claws, or do I only gain a +1 on total? I took a look through the Core book, but I didn't see any mention of whether those bonuses stack or not.

Eh, I'd say its only the +1. If you had two fisted AND ambidextrous then yeah I could see the +2 bonus.

Remember, attacking with a weapon in the non dominant hand always has a -2 to hit...which reminds me that I didn't apply that penalty to Rasheed, and that plus the MAP from drawing/dashing means that he would have missed and that the combat should still be going.

Oh well.

Remember I dropped the sword and drew the dagger. My offhand is currently waving around a lantern. ^^

Victoria already has Ambidextrous, I took it at character generation. I thought about taking Two-fisted then, but I felt Brawny might be better for the higher Toughness. That's why Victoria is using the dagger in her own off-hand and keeping her claws drawn. The idea was that I would take Two-Fisted next advance to have no penalties for fighting with both weapons. If Ripper Claws counted as a +2 total, I just wanted to know to keep my stats updated. I'm planning on buying Ripper claws in silver and cold iron so I can always have them ready, but if the parry bonus didn't stack I was thinking of getting a few daggers instead to keep them more handy. I may do that anyway, but the d6 vs. d4 didn't matter as much without the parry bonus.

I recall that the Outsider drawback was only temporary, but I don't have the pdf here to look at. How much more time do you figure that one'll last for those that possess it?

I believe it lasts for three months, meaning you all are just shy of it going away; by my count, you all have about a month and a week before that penalty disappears after this interlude is over and we start the next adventure. Given the rate we've been moving, I would imagine that by the time we END the next adventure, you all will be rid of that hindrance. Of course, it may end up going much faster than that for all I know.

Over the next few months, I'd be just giddy if Carl could help me regain my reason after having seen the freaky demon sex cult getting some strange, since he has the Alienist edge. I know we don't have anyone capable of scoring Rippertech at the moment, but I'm figuring someone will pick it up in the future and I'd like to have enough reason that I can actually get some.

As for XP, what should our total be? I have 14, putting us 1 shy of an Advance, is that correct Niles?

Err, I have no idea about XP. I don't keep track of individual XP as it varies because I award XP for interlude posts. If you wanna see how much XP I've handed out to everyone you can check the Campaign Log at the top of the campaign page.

Andrej also has 14, because of the RP in the interludes.

Tristan's hit 11 experience since I joined late and missed some of that bonus XP opportunity, which means I've got an Advance; although I was planning to pick up Charismatic, this last outing has suggested a truly willful and dangerously driven side to the old man, and I've reflected that in picking up the Elan Edge for a +2 to Benny rolls. When he sets his mind to something, Tristan gets it done.

I'll figure out stipend and spending a little later on, as I'm going to have a fair amount of money to spend.

Since I got every bonus XP opportunity, I actually hit 15, so I get an advance too. I'm bumping my smarts up to a D10 to get Carl a bit brighter.

I have 15 XP now too, and I've decided to buy off the -2 penalty from Occult.

Alright, I've got at least the short list for Tristan's spending. By the by, if anybody wants something but doesn't quite have the funds for it, let me know and I'll be happy to help, because I've got over a hundred pound left. Saving is all well and good but this seems a bit overkill.

GM Niles, I hate to be the bearer of so many questions, but I've got another: would it be possible to purchase a double-barreled shotgun? They were definitely in existence at this time, and reasonably popular for hunting and sporting, but the book lists them as having a single shot capacity. If we think that could be a misprint that's dandy for me, but otherwise I'd guess it comes down to pricing; I'd guess doubling the price would make sense, given it's like combining two shotguns into one weapon, and the sword cane follows that format (2 pounds for the rapier, .5 pounds for the walking stick, put it together for the full price). Let me know what you think, because I definitely would like Tristan to have a double-barreled gun if possible.

Carl & Mei, are you sure you're at 15 XP? We were all at 11 back HERE, and I don't see where we got anything else before this last 3 XP.[/ooc]

Everyone got 1 XP for completing the dinner conversation scene here.

That's right. So Andrej is also at 15 XP. I'll bump Survival to d6 from d4--that's the last of the Wolfen Jaeger prerequisites--and also do likewise with Knowledge (Occult).

Same here! I think Victoria will take Two-Fisted for this advance, and I'll go about buying myself enough Ripper claw along with a few daggers of different materials. Tristan, I would be ever-so grateful if you could get me some Ripper claws in other materials... those things are pricey. Although, I don't recall seeing a revolver in the rules for Rippers... were you thinking of a gatling pistol, by chance? Or did you just mean a normal pistol as opposed to the flintlock?

Can do on the claws, unless Niles has any objections. As far as the pistol goes, yeah--the book lists it as just "pistol," but it's clearly a revolver (6 shots, and while the first semi-automatic pistol was invented in 1892, they weren't at all popular yet). I figured I'd note the difference since Tristan does also own a flintlock pistol, ostensibly for dueling. Specifically, in case anybody cares, it'd be a Beaumont-Adams model, probably modified to use centerfire cartridges, since that was the standard sidearm during Tristan's military service.

I believe I'll be 'purchasing' a camera for one. I'm wondering as to if Niles would allow for Mei to have created a conventional one of similar quality, without it's stranger properties. I'll even roll to make it if you'd prefer. Also, after she's obtained a camera, normal or her own, how would everyone's characters feel to her proposing a group portrait be taken? She would suggest it being done in front of the lodge-to-be, to commemorate their recent coming together as a team.

Awesome. As for my own money, Victoria will purchase herself a new steel Ripper Claw as well as a silver dagger to compliment her cold iron one picked up on this adventure. She'll also pick up two stakes for fighting vampires, should the need arise. In addition, I'm going to pick up that chainmail coat we discussed over PM; I took the liberty of looking it up, and during this period in history it seems England was experiencing something of a cold spell, so even the summer was fairly cool. The current average temperature would be around 59 degrees, but coupled with the colder period and the fact that England has experienced significant temperature increases from global warming, it's not unreasonable to believe that even that June and July would sport temperatures in the low-to-mid 50s, so a longer coat is feasible attire for the weather. It wouldn't really be lady's wear, but Victoria is already something of a social oddity in terms of her dress--she wears a blouse and trousers, being a fair bit un-ladylike--so I doubt it would cause much more of a stir. Also, given the rain in the UK, having a heavier coat would do something to keep the rain at bay.

As for the photos, Victoria personally hates pictures of herself (she tends to avoid things that remind her how run-down and ragged she looks from all her practicing and lack of rest), but if the others want to do it she can be persuaded to be involved herself.

In other news (and sorry for the double post), I just now noticed I miscalculated my Reason; I forgot it was 2 + 1/2 Spirit, not just half my Spirit die in total. Good times.

Bought a couple things. Upgraded to a heavy coat, purchased some holy water, got the camera (Will adjust price/roll if needed), and bought her a Graphophone. Because that seems like something she'd want to have.

@Everyone I'm not a micromanager, as long as you post in discussion what your purchases are (mostly so we can keep a record) pretty much anything is available to you all during downtime. Also, feel free to "assume" that if something were invented in the late 1800's/early 1900's that you could acquire a "prototype" at a minimum. Ex: magazine fed pistols were available (rare) but they did exist.

@Everyoneagain In regards to odd items or unique things, I have no problem with them Ex:The double barreled shotgun is perfectly fine.

@Everyone re:Advances Just remember that you are all still "Novice" level and thus can only have purchased one stat upgrade.

@Mei Something like this would be available

I actually have a question about stat upgrades at Advances, as I wasn't sure what the Core rules intended. As of this advance, I haven't selected a stat upgrade, and next Advance brings us to Seasoned. Now, according to the book you can only increase a stat once per rank, but does that mean that you can't have more stat upgrades than allowed by your current rank (i.e. 2 at Seasoned, 3 at Veteran, etc.) or that once you move up in Rank you lose the capacity to increase a stat for the previous one? If it's the latter, I might change around this current Advance to increase a stat.

GM Niles can certainly rule differently, but as far as I know it's the latter option. It's there to keep people from quickly upgrading some of the most far-reaching aspects of their characters, since Attributes affect a lot of things and rolls in the game. I think the intent was that increases to those should be fairly spread out, only going up every now and again, similar to ability increases in D&D/Pathfinder. That said, as with a number of things in Savage Worlds it's up for some interpretation, so that's just one common understanding of things.

(Although regardless, it's a little unfortunate that rookies only get three Advances in which to increase an attribute, where the rest have four.)

Good news on the shopping front, I'm glad you're more liberal with things like that! Opens up a lot of neat options, especially in a game like this.

It's like Tristan said. One per rank. Also, remember a stat of d8 is considered above average and a d10 is like in the 98th percentile.
d12 is considered to be olympic class in a physical stat.

I wouldn't worry if a stat isn't at d10 yet. However, I highly suggest having Vigor and/or Spirit at d8 asap, exploding dice can ruin someone's day quick.

That being said, I'll open the next part of the campaign up to you guys. What type of mission/adventure would you like to do? I have a bunch of different plot points to choose from...it could be a jaunt to an exotic locale, a murder mystery, a low combat social affair...

The actual PP campaign doesn't really kick off until you are all Seasoned so we have at least one more adventure.

Hmm. A good old-fashioned Victorian murder mystery sounds fitting. Although going somewhere exotic would be interesting as well. A trip to the continent?

I'll be fine to adjust to whatever it might be.

As long as we don't get too close to the Rodina, a trip to Europe sounds good.

A jaunt to a exotic locale -here's hoping for Lovecraftian style jungle- would be rad, but a trip to the continent sounds neat too, to be honest. But which country do you fancy?

I'm down for just about anything.

Do y'all know those kind of family reunions where you just stand quiet and silently pray to Cthulhu for the ceiling caving in and killing you?

Well, I do. I will post tomorrow when my Reason has recovered.

I'll wait for Rasheed's post and then I'll make a pushing post wrapping up the downtime and giving you guys some options.

Fyi: If you haven't taken a look at the links at the top of the campaign screen you might want to have a gander. I've updated the campaign log and damatis personae

@Tristan: I do appreciate your generosity, good sir. What I am looking for is a Silver Sword (6 pounds) and a Cold Iron Sword (Which I am unsure of the cost, and I am away from my pdf right now... if a kind soul could help it would be much appreciated)

With those two plus my old one and my magic I think I'll have any possible threat covered. That's it, unless we face a daemon vulnerable to cuddling or something.

A silver and cold iron sword cane would be nice, though I might be able to afford those on my own. I'll double check prices in a bit, but my internet is being weird and I want to mention it now in case I can't do anything for a bit.

I haven't caught up on the gameplay thread; things have been pretty hectic with holiday preparation domestic and professional. My workplace closes down from the 23rd through the 2nd, and I've been rushing to get things done before the end of the year.

A Cold Iron weapon is double whatever the listed cost is, a Silver one is triple. A sword is 2 pounds, so a Silver Sword is 6 and a Cold Iron is 4.

After posting my course of action I have decided if there's no such Book or register, Rasheed will start it by himself. Maybe call it Codex Jaeger or some such fancy half latin name.

Concept would be both a record and a guide for future rippers on how to deal with things we encountered already.

I'm off to a funeral for one of my wife's cousins, but should be back to something like normal connectivity on the 3rd. It's been a very busy break.

You know, I have no idea if this adventure is at all a reference to Flowers for Algernon, but if it is it's an odd one; the book was written well into the 20th century, meaning it's a retroactive reference.

Hey guys,

I do most (90%) of my posting from work and now the paizo.com site is being blocked. This means that I'll only be able to post from my phone or from home. Because of this, I'm just not going to have enough time to GM several games anymore. I apologize sincerely and I was really enjoying this game. If I can find a workaround or figure out how to post from work once again then I'll try my best to restart this one and I'll give all of you a PM in that case. Once again, apologies.

Niles

Well, on one hand I'm sad Paizo got hit on your work and hearing this obviously hurts, as I was indeed enjoying the campaign, the NPCs and the other characters.

On the other hand I can't but wonder if RPGs -and specially online playing- are actually getting more and more known and played.

If that is the case, I consider this a phyrric victory, one that I applaud and mourn at the same time.

Aww, that sucks. I just saw your post in another game, and I was hopeful it may not affect your GMing--at least not for this--but I fully understand that it would. I'm very hopeful that you can find a way to do this in the near future, but I understand if you can't. It's been a blast so far, I've really enjoyed the game and the interactions we've been able to have so far, especially fueled by the setups you've given us. I'd like to thank you once again for letting me come in late, because it's been a great time. From half-baked plans to Victorian dinner parties, it's been a grand time.

Agree re the suckage; I'm probably not far from that, myself, as more and more of the Paizo site gets blocked at my work. Since Wayfinder was taken out of the Google Play store, working from a phone doesn't cut it. Thanks for running, and I'm sorry I dropped off the past few weeks.

Very sorry to hear that, but I definitely understand. The game has been a blast and playing it has been great fun, so thanks for the opportunity. I know of a couple ways to get around stuff like that, but pretty much all of them would be logged by IT--if your workplace has an IT department, which I'm assuming it does--so I wouldn't want to suggest them and run the risk of getting you in trouble at work for using something I supplied to you. Still, if you find a way to post from work at some point in the future, I will definitely be happy to rekindle this game even at a point fairly far in the future.