Engashez by Zin |
I would only modify that suggestion slightly to have a trap-finding perception roll (botted?) before entering any new room.
Vrolg |
GM: I have been reading up on trap making and maybe its just medication and sickness induced fog, but I am not making heads or tails of this article.
Looking over the discussion while I was gone, I didn't see too much of any of this going on, so I am wondering, what kind of traps did everyone set? (Or did I just completely fail my perception checks here??) And how would I go about setting.. say.. a poisoned arrow trap? The last paragraph speaks of a gold cost in the thousands as well.
Are there simplified rules for this? Are there special rules for this scenario?
Athrax by Poblano |
Athrax has trap finding as part of his repertoire
GM Hmm |
When I talked about perception, I was talking about botting the trap-finding roll.
There are special rules for trap making in the scenario. For the most part, I would suggest finish exploring and THEN set traps, though I didn’t want to bust your enthusiasm for dismantling ladders and such.
Hmm
Vanarog the Majestic |
Ya I guess originally I was under the impression this was our territory and was 'safe'.
Sedoriku's Pregen of the Month |
The standard operating procedure sounds good!
And I thought the process was clearing the dungeon and then setting traps, which is, partially, why I had Pethjun being so impatient with moving on.
GM Hmm |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Redelia wrote a Guide to Dungeon Crawls in Play-by-Post. Sharing it here seemed like a great idea, especially after our recent discusion here!
GM Mentoring goes both ways. Whenever one sets out to teach something, one winds up learning instead.
Hmm
Awenydd83 |
When I talked about perception, I was talking about botting the trap-finding roll.
There are special rules for trap making in the scenario. For the most part, I would suggest finish exploring and THEN set traps, though I didn’t want to bust your enthusiasm for dismantling ladders and such.
Hmm
I was referring to failing my perception as a player reading the boards, not in character lmao! Botting the perception rolls for the trap finding is great.
Ok.. Thanks for the clarification! It does relieve me that we are not going to have to slog through that mess that I was reading last night.
Redalia: Good job. I like your guide!
Athrax by Poblano |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
That is the makings of a true leader.
Plus she coordinates others to help with other matters that would prove beneficial too our community.
Engashez by Zin |
This is a heads-up that I am starting a new job on Monday. Until I have a handle on the culture and internet policies there, I won't be doing any posting from work; this will likely result in a slightly slower posting rate from me. I will do my best to keep things going, but don't hesitate to bot me if I am holding things up.
Vrolg |
Good luck with the new adventure!
Vrolg |
Just an advance heads up.. I have some traveling to do this coming week from Thursday - Monday. This is likely to throw my posting off so please don't hesitate to bot me if needed. I will post as often as I am able, but am unable to make any promises about regularity.
Athrax by Poblano |
So posing a question then. When GMing PbP in this type of situation when nearly the entire party, Go Skyrahk, Go Skyrahk!, has been feared is it best for post flow to 'take over' control of the fleeing, Paniced Masses, Strategically retreating players Yeah that sounds good. Rather then allow them to control their characters?
GM Hmm |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Warning, I am sick today, so if this does not make sense tell me and I’ll post again tomorrow. Games are no fun when players cannot act. The whole team is panicking, so I am trying to run through Redelia and the dog’s actions as fast as possible so that you guys can get on top of this fight. The good news is that this round Varanog can act — Yay! Next round, everyone else can act.
This reminds me of something. As a GM I probably should have asked if anyone wanted to use rerolls after the whole team failed their will saves, because this has made the fight far tougher than it should be. Hind sight is 20/20, and next time I will be more prompt about reminding all of you that rerolls exist for exactly such situations.
Redelia in her guide talked about mass rolling people’s will saves as a GM. It’s an interesting tactic, and I sometimes do that in fast moving games. The reason why I didn’t is that I have sometimes found that players hate when a GM rolls a fail for them. A fail that they rolled themselves seems fairer than one rolled on your behalf. Also... Having the players do that means they can look at their rolls and decide if they want to use their precious reroll this time around.
So... Let me move you forward so that everyone can get back into the game. Hopefully, Skyrahk’s player is around today, so I can get you all to the point where you are all acting again.
EDIT: Actually, I don’t need to wait for Skyrahk because she already acted. So.... the whole team can act again!
Hmm
Vrolg |
Personally, I hate rolling saves for players for that very same reason. If they fail, I feel a bit responsible especially if the dice bots have been rolling low for me recently. If the players fail it on their own, then that is on them and I am absolved!!
GM Ladile |
^Agreed. Even just from watching as a player, people don't mind the GM rolling initiatives and perception checks for them but a good portion of them balk when they start rolling saves or skill checks for them. So generally I'll only roll a save or the like if I'm already having to bot the PC anyway.
GM Hmm |
Hey this is a crazy Wednesday — updates on Thursday.
Hmm
Athrax by Poblano |
No problemo o mighty VC. It is your society night right?
GM Hmm |
So... Botting. I will frequently bot the last player left to go in a round in order to get the whole team moving again — especially if that player will be able to go in the very next turn because there is only one group of baddies. I won’t do this if everyone is popping and active, but I need to catch you guys up a bit and up my pace here.
You lost too much time to me being distracted by Convention Scheduling and other VC stuff. So, I am trying to get us moving forward again. Go forth and kill fetchlings my pretties!
Hmm
Engashez by Zin |
Would glitterdust have any effect on the shadow blending ability?
GM Hmm |
Hey, I’m sick again today, but still trying to move you all forward.
Let’s talk about tactics. There are times when you don’t have pre-specified monster tactics or monster placements, and you can use those to either up difficulty and challenge, or give a team that is struggling a break.
In this case, the Fetchlings are here to guard the portal, so I decided to give you guys a bit of a break by having pink and purple hold back and guard, allowing you to fight a smaller group of bad guys while the team was still reassembling from all the earlier panic. Sometimes as a GM, you need to balance things out for your players from time to time by using slightly softer tactics to help out a group that is struggling.
However, if you have a team of veterans who is looking for a challenge, please feel free to pick more interesting and challenging tactics and monster placements if they aren’t already specified in the scenario.
Most specials tend to be mute on monster placements, so you can choose to raise or lower challenge by where you put the creatures.
Does this make sense? If it doesn’t make sense, blame my head cold.
Hmm
GM Hmm |
Would glitterdust have any effect on the shadow blending ability?
Alas, no. Glitterdust does not up the overall light level to Daylight, and the wording of the Shadowblend ability in this scenario is very specific!
Hmm, I notice that you have all six monsters going on the same initiative. I've heard others recommend splitting a large group into two so that the monsters don't all go at once. Can you tell us what you think?
That’s a great question, Redelia!
The answer to it depends somewhat on how challenging I perceive the encounter to be. If the monsters are scary challenging, I may break up monsters into separate initiatives. But generally in Play-by-Post I go with as few initiative blocks as possible. I am wanting everyone to have a chance to act, and nothing sucks more than waiting for your initiative block to come up. I think that it is essential for fast-paced games (which alas, this one was not, because real life got in the way) to keep those initiative blocks as few as possible. I’d rather have us whip through the combat rounds if we can.
During specials, I try to keep the monsters on no more than 2 initiative groupings, so that we can all keep flying through combat.
You’ll note that despite their concealment, these guys are pushovers. If you could just roll above 50% on one of those attack rolls, you would have killed them all already.
Hmm
GM Hmm |
Concealment Miss Chance: Concealment gives the subject of a successful attack a 20% chance that the attacker missed because of the concealment. Make the attack normally—if the attacker hits, the defender must make a miss chance d% roll to avoid being struck. Multiple concealment conditions do not stack.
Multiple concealment conditions do not stack. If they were invisible, they would be no harder to hit.
Hmm
Vanarog the Majestic |
A quick question: How is orange gaining sneak attack on a regular hit? Is it something to do with their race in general or with their weird concealment thing?
Just curious, I know nothing about that monster/race.
GM Hmm |
A quick question: How is orange gaining sneak attack on a regular hit? Is it something to do with their race in general or with their weird concealment thing?
Just curious, I know nothing about that monster/race.
I’m so glad that you asked this question, Vanarog.
So I spent time looking up glitterdust and concealment and found an official designer post stating that glitterdust does not alter concealment.
HOWEVER, your question made me do research into concealment, invisiblity, sneak attack and the flatfooted condition. It made me realize that I owe Pethjun many hit points of sneak attack damage back. I thought that you could have sneak attack if you had the benefit of 50% concealment, as per invisibility. I was wrong. The reason rogues can sneak attack from invisibility is that invisibility causes enemies to be flatfooted.
This is what happens when you are confident that you know a rule, so don’t look it up. You inevitably get it wrong.
Pethjun gets a whole bunch of hitpoints back, since the sneak attack would not work.
Hmm
GM Hmm |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Now we get to GM tip number one: STEAL from the BEST.
I am about to STEAL some of Dungeon Master S’s amazing trap prep.
Ha!
Hmm
PS I am openly quoting Dungeon Master S here as I am actively linking to his trap handouts for this part!
Vanarog the Majestic |
I won't have time to read through everything and get a post in until the morning.
GM Hmm |
Would you guys like me to take breaks so that you can harrass these guys more???
Part of the reason why I am asking is that I’m beat, and tomorrow is crazy so my follow-up post is unlikely.
Stupid failed fortitude saves... I have not been able to kick my darn cold!
Hmm
Vanarog the Majestic |
I'm pretty busy with the holiday still, should free up tomorrow evening/night. And when I do I'll likely start adding in some rune traps to bolster our defenses. No rush HMM, the holidays are here! Feel better.
Athrax by Poblano |
Hello Everyone My mother-in-law surprised my wife and I with a late Christmas present of a weekend getaway without the kids! I won't be able to post again until late Sunday night. Bot me if Needed please.
Bot me's are in the character profile.
Vrolg |
Take care and have fun, Poblano. I know how rare those moments can be!!!
GM Hmm. I really hope that you feel better soon. I have been sending positive vibes your way and thinking of you!
GM Hmm |
Hey all. I am starting to turn a corner. Expect a post from me tomorrow.
Hmm
GM Hmm |
I finally moved you all forward!!! Yay for energy!
Vanarog the Majestic |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Quite the post. All those traps are a daunting response to write up, well done.
Vanarog is pleased with you.
Athrax by Poblano |
As is Athrax!
Glad to see you are starting to feel better.
GM Hmm |
Yeah, the traps are daunting as heck to write up!
Skyrahk by Redelia |
Here's a question for everyone: Sometimes when I'm the GM, if the next post to write is a complicated one, I mentally freeze up about it. It's almost like writer's block, but it's an extreme difficulty making myself try to post. Do any of you experience it, and if so, how do you deal with it? (I'd particularly like to hear about how you dealt with needing to make difficult GM posts while not feeling well, Hmm.)
Dungeon Master S |
If it's extremely complicated I make a bullet list of what it needs, then I make individual posts for each bullet.
Bite-sized chunks are much easier to deal with.
If I feel myself getting sick, I'll use the same technique I do when I'm on vacation. Fast forward or slow down such that the players can chat amongst themselves while I'm indisposed.
Athrax by Poblano |
Redelia I do have that issue too. Sometimes I write the post in small chucks. For instance when I know what some of the outcome is I will write it piece by piece before i have to post it for players to read.
Some times when it comes to combat i setup a BotMe in my Google Drive to better assist with all the Rolling that must be done some times.
Vanarog the Majestic |
I've been hit with some sort of sickness the last 24hrs, hope to get caught up tonight.
GM Hmm |
So lots of complicated things happening here! Retcons! Mini-combats! Long Traps-a-palooza posts!
My goal with this particular retcon was to preserve as much continuity as possible, mainly because writing those traps-a-palooza posts is INSANE.
Oddly, part of what preserves my sanity is that I create personalities for the villains. Having one or two of them in dialogue makes these posts more fun for me to write. Is it sad that I am mourning poor Rose? I rather liked her.
Get better soon, Vanarog!
Hugs,
Hmm
Vrolg |
I really like these posts and the way you are handling the goons. All too often (and unfortunately now that I see the difference, I can see myself included) faceless goons tend to remain faceless goons with no personality. The commentary that you added here really brings life to these scenes!
Sedoriku's Pregen of the Month |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So lots of complicated things happening here! Retcons! Mini-combats! Long Traps-a-palooza posts!
My goal with this particular retcon was to preserve as much continuity as possible, mainly because writing those traps-a-palooza posts is INSANE.
Oddly, part of what preserves my sanity is that I create personalities for the villains. Having one or two of them in dialogue makes these posts more fun for me to write. Is it sad that I am mourning poor Rose? I rather liked her.
Get better soon, Vanarog!
Hugs,
Hmm
I don't think it's sad you're missing Rose at all! I think it's a great testament to how well you portrayed her... And I'm not saying that because I'm mourning her, too. Nope! Not at all! Un-un! Excuse me while I go hide my secret plans for reviving her as a character...
Athrax by Poblano |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I will admit because of a game I had with HMM as the GM and another VC who was a player in SFS 1-00 Salvations End I will be making a little Goblin Mechanic Named Orange who has a pension for chewing on grenades.