DM Omen |
Heh, not bad for some randomly generated NPC, eh?
@Dalton. Yeah, I figured Dalton wasn't too interested in talking and just wanted to relax. The hard life doesn't suit him.
@Rilka. Yeah after the explorations I'll let you make your knowledge (locals) without any penalties. It's my belief that if you're in a strange lace you've never been in you can't just waltz in and make those checks.
DM Omen |
So, contact has been made, and more interesting you learned a few things about Acera! Interesting stuff there...so tomorrow (in game, possibly out of game as well) begins Bjorkus's life of being a pit fighter and everybody else's facades as well. We have Dalton the slaver, Lindale the partner, Toramin the bodyguard, and Rilka the slave. Just for my own record, go ahead and give me a few lines showing how you generally appear.
Character Name Carl
Alias The Camper
Slave? No
Occupation Professional sniper and bodyguard.
Appearance Urban camouflage, light body armor, face paint. Has a rifle on his back and a pistol at his waist, both displayed openly.
Make sure to include anything obvious about your appearance, such as worn armor and displayed weapons. Also include any weapons that are not displayed and how they are hidden. Any comments/questions/concerns?
Dalton Barrowwheel |
Character Name Dalton
Alias The Trader
Slave? No
Occupation Vendor of exotic wares
Appearance Fine clothes, mundane jewelry. The handy haversack is slung across his font to the left, but no weapons adorn him. His soft skin and body make it clear he's either not from the land or well-enough off to ignore its hardships.
Lindale Assa |
Character name Lindale Assa
Alias Aeris
Slave Never!
Occupation Procurer
Appearance Dessert clothes under hide armour that look well kept. Looks important but practical.
Bjorkus |
Character Name Bjorkus
Alias Ares
Slave? Yes - One of Dalton's two remaining slaves
Occupation Pit-fighter, monster slayer, love machine
Appearance Hulking and musclebound. Wears a leather harness and a hide loincloth when moving about Yenrick but discards the former for the arena putting the majority of his scarred hide and dark furry musculature on display. He carries no weapons except for his ham-sized fists.
That last part is because I assume Bjorkus isn't going to have access to his greatsword any time soon.
Dalton Barrowwheel |
If for alias, Dalton will choose Derek if push comes to shove. One of the old guard from the house he once served, the name has a poignant touch to him still. Why not use a harsh memory in a harsh land?
Toramin Gearsmith |
Sorry, that I have been silent the last couple of days. Something upsetting happened on Monday to a close friend of mine, and I need a few days to process. Please feel free to NPC my character. I think I should be back in the saddle soon (before Friday.)
DM Omen |
No worries Toramin, I hope things work out well.
Also, the ball is currently in your court players. We have a few people lounging at the baths, but the rest have discovered Naome. You have the rest of the evening to yourselves, then first thing in the morning Bjorkus is off to the pit! So, finish up the alias post then say if your character plans to do anything else that evening of note or if they just relax (do nothing).
Bjorkus |
Sorry to hear it Toramin. =(
After his bath and whatever information Nimmec can gather on the potential competition, Bjorkus is content to return to Dalton and their room at the inn for the night.
Bjorkus |
Heh, that’s fine. Bjorkus is content to leave him to whatever methods he’s best at.
After his horns have a good shine going and he’s otherwise cleaned up, Bjorkus will meet up with Dalton. Judging by the general silence I think the others are ready to move on as well.
DM Omen |
I'll let them say that themselves. Bjorkus has given me his go ahead and Toramin will be AFK so I have the thumbs up from those two. The others just need to give me a quick post, either in gameplay (if they intend to do something else) or discussion (if they don't), saying they are prepared to move on. Also I still need Rilka's alias post (as well as Toramin's, but we will postpone that due to circumstances).
Really? I like the format even less. But I'm a creature of habit and don't like change, so perhaps it's just that.
Bjorkus |
I like this better than the first update but I prefer the original formatting even more. =/
In the future guys, try to sound off sooner when you’re done interacting with a scene so we don’t end up with these awkward lulls. Now we're going to spend a day waiting for everyone to say 'Ready to move on'.
DM Omen |
Generally when there's a large post that your character witnesses I like to see a response from people before moving on. It doesn't have to be huge, you don't even have to talk or actually do anything, but just something like...
Carl nods at the commander's words. Out of the frying pan, into the fire...
Just a little tidbit so I know you're following along and haven't died in a freak moose accident or something. I'd rather wait a few extra hours than steamroll over somebody who had something to say.
Bjorkus |
We don’t want anybody to get steamrolled and freak moose accidents are always a tragedy. =P
That said, momentum in a play by post is everything. Active posting encourages active posting. A game that stalls for one or two people stalls for everyone.
Speaking of momentum, did you enjoy Siege of the Diamond City?
DM Omen |
Hey, I'll crush your ankles before I let this game die but I'd prefer not to crush your heads. However, I am also aware that I have the fortune of having two of the fastest posters on the site and if I ever made the mistake of separating the half-minotaur and the dwarf on a side adventure they would mint the first science-born time machine before anybody else could get through a normal combat.
Small flavor, but I enjoyed the combat. Also I was extremely grateful that Ezren was a god of spell penetration with all the demons flying around.
Bjorkus |
I’m glad to hear it, although a time machine would be sweet…
Trust me when I say that there’s quite a bit in the land of play by post between life and death. I’m in three APs that are in a death spiral that I wish the DMs would just pull the plug on rather than continue at this pace and the associated slow bleed of fun/players.
Bjorkus |
I’d ask if we were going to use the performance combat rules and if Bjorkus could include his perform skill but it doesn’t seem appropriate.
Or maybe it’s too appropriate…
Bjorkus |
I'm hearing rumors that they're going to make more changes to the site tonight.
I strongly suggest your copy out any posts you make before you submit. Losing a big post is heart-wrenching.
Rilka Featherfeet |
Character Name Rilka
Alias Anafa
Slave? Yes
Occupation Scribe, domestic duties, and personal assistant
Appearance Sleeveless turquoise robes allow her slave brand to be seen. A beige veil covers her hair, back of the neck. Small pouches hang from a saffron colored leather belt. A satchel with a small writing kit (paper, inks, pens), sealing wax, and a personal stamp. The belt has a hidden sheath against the small of her back where she keeps an obsidian dagger. Leather soled, brown clogs made from pine wood.
Bjorkus |
I feel like these encounters need God of War style quick time events for when you're not suppose to bash the monster normally.
Mash C to tear off the harpy's wings!
Bjorkus |
Back from the gym now. Sorry about the sporadic posting there. I was trying to finish posts between sets and people were glaring at me.
Edit: Hey look, I'm alive!
DM Omen |
Hahaha, for some reason that paints a hilarious picture in my mind.
"What are you doing?"
"GETTING. INTO. CHARACTER. NEED TO KICK. OGRE'S. ASS."
I am a big fan of puzzle fights, but normally I give an intricate description of the environment and your options when I plan for that to happen. Not much of a puzzle to be had in a flat arena with no terrain, I can understand where you're coming from though.
That was enough damage even without confirming the crit. He was only a CR 4 with 38 hp, the only reason he even seemed that dangerous was the lucky crit.
DM Omen |
Yeah I expected the fight to be a little attention catching but Bjorkus's average damage would end the fight in two hits, which is exactly what it did. Those nat 20's though. I still remember the time a lv 13 character one shot a Balor. We were doing "super-crit" rules, and he rolled 3 nat 20's in a row combined with smite evil. Entire ending of the campaign ruined.
Bjorkus |
Solo fights are tough. Solo one versus one fights are doubly tough. In either case, when I DM I tend to opt for the high hp/low damage slugfest. I feel it makes for a more dramatic encounter.
If I were these arena spectators I'd want my money back. That was a 18 second bout!
DM Omen |
Too bad admittance is free lol.
Yeah I've had long debates about the reality of pathfinder rules and melee fighting, but in order to keep things fun and moving you can't have the rules too closely resemble realistic fighting. But, another thread, another time.
If I were you I'd rejoice about the nat 20's getting out now as opposed to in more dangerous fights. Imagine if Targ walked up and crit you.
Anyways, I've stayed up far too late so I'm going to bed. Night all, hope to get this thing rolling tomorrow.
Bjorkus |
I ran similar fight club in another game. In that, as an abstraction, I said that each combat round was a minute. It had little effect on mechanics but it helped improve the verisimilitude.
Good night.
Toramin Gearsmith |
Dipping my toes back in. :-)
Character Name Toramin
Alias Hey you, Dwarf, Mern
Slave? No
Occupation Body Guard
Appearance Covered head to toe in metal and weapons. Carries around bags that bristle with stuff. Fetching pair of boots.
DM Omen |
Thank you Paizo.
Using detect thoughts carries the slim risk of it being detected. A fighter wouldn't pick up on it at all, but a wizard or cleric looking at Lindale might piece it together with some good rolls.
Edit: Coupled with invisibility it would be nearly impossible to detect. Only if they were scanning the area with detect magic for some reason.
Toramin Gearsmith |
Did we sell that poor elf into (someone else's) slavery yet?