Kingmaker AP with GM Mustache (Inactive)

Game Master Mustachioed

you could have dismissed the entangle spell but i imagine the ones that released would just make a break for it.

Yeah I think it's going to be pretty tough to stop them. That's why I asked about our mounts. I think they're our best shot.

I don't think we're going to be able to catch them. I'm wondering if we shouldn't let them go and track them as they go south. We could find the way to the Stag Lord's camp that way. If nothing else, we'd know which direction NOT to go until we get another level or so under our belts.

Sounds like the best we could do. We could always hope that, if we're quiet, they'll be stupid and stop to catch their breath.

Your mounts are basically in the NW corner of the map, so going over there and hopping on would probably cost more time than you have.

Well shucks guys. Let's at least finish off these bandits then I think Sigurd's plan is the best we can do. Next level I can help by throwing a web on them but not yet...

I love web. Such an amazing spell

I thought I'd have a decent shot at stopping them if I could get down there with a run, then set myself up for AoO attacks with my reach weapon. But then, my own vines got me.

I might stagger them...

Also Charles here or another durned elf...

Diceros: cuatro had it right again. I also often don't think of this.
Spell duration
"(D) Dismissible: If the duration line ends with “(D),” you can dismiss the spell at will. You must be within range of the spell's effect and must speak words of dismissal, which are usually a modified form of the spell's verbal component. If the spell has no verbal component, you can dismiss the effect with a gesture. Dismissing a spell is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

A spell that depends on concentration is dismissible by its very nature, and dismissing it does not take an action, since all you have to do to end the spell is to stop concentrating on your turn."

Well, this time I figured I needed to run for a full round to have any chance to catch them, and with my reach weapon and finesse, thought I might have the best chance to get them. So I didn't have time to dismiss the spell, really. But now I know! (and knowing is 1/8th or so of the battle.)

Pleased to meet your real selves, Jason and Charles!

woohoo, we've completed another quest!

other alias is Tim.

probably time to head back on up to Oleg's...I forget exactly where we are but we could still stop and explore some hexes along the way.

Thanks for running this awesome AP, Paul!

Good idea, Tim. :) I think we should head back after finishing up with this bandit and one last check around the area? Especially for the ring. Anyone good at appraise?

This is kind of fun. I've been referring to you all as your character names. Now I don't have to.

I'm Al, btw.

I also vote for heading back to Oleg's. I need to put in an order for a brewing kit. Are we going to take this bandit with us as a prisoner and let those reinforcements from the Lord Mayor deal with him?

I'm starting to be more serious about tracking overall party alignment. This will have eventual effects on your future kingdom. Being evil/good/lawful/neutral is not necessarily good or bad in terms of stats, but does have different effects.

So far:
What has happened?
--Helping Oleg defend his post. +1 law
-- Ike pretending to be a bandit to get them to lower their guard and them ambushing them, -1 law
--Arlen stabbing a prisoner in the back after saying he could leave. -2 law, -2 good
--Rai cremating the enemy and saying a short word over them, +1 good
--Sigurd letting the bandit go instead of murdering him, +1 good

That is what I have so far, and will entertain other thoughts on something I might have missed in what you have done so far.

Ah interesting. I haven't thought of it in terms of party alignment before. I was thinking that Arlen could just do his thing and let the others do theirs but this makes sense, especially in the case of kingdom building. Maybe I should be careful to make sure Arlen doesn't take everyone else too far in a direction they don't want to go.

Right. A great analogy in the US is what the Trump administration is doing to the country's reputation. Individuals bringing everybody down. -20 good, -20 law.

But I think you shouldn't worry about it too much. It is meant to be a reflection of reality, and like I said, if your country is a little evil vs a little good, it changes the stats but not in a dramatic way. It will change the roleplaying aspect a lot more.

I guess I'll find out as we play and I think of things, but is it possible to move things "toward neutral"? So far my technique has been to stay out of many moral decisions in order to stay neutral, but maybe that doesn't help me "push" in the direction my character would want to go.

There's also the classic dilemma of the neutral...if we are trending too evil, I could do out of character "lawful" things to push back to the center, or vice versa.

Hmmm, well, just thinking out loud. I'll enjoy the challenge. As an inexperienced role player, I do have to say that RPing alignment and remembering that others are taking actions I really don't like is still surprising me. I've got to watch that Arlen!

Sure, I would be open to actions that push toward neutral. If you feel like you do something that does that, call it to my attention. Honestly I'm having a hard time coming up with something.

I don't want people to act out of character. Do what your character would do and don't try to game the alignment. Whatever happens, there is no "optimal". It just is.

Sure, I would be open to actions that push toward neutral. If you feel like you do something that does that, call it to my attention. Honestly I'm having a hard time coming up with something.

I don't want people to act out of character. Do what your character would do and don't try to game the alignment. Whatever happens, there is no "optimal". It just is.

Off the top of my head, one thing that might count as "neutral" is if there is a conflict going on (like, for example, between the bandits and, say, a grove of treants), and we just kinda go "Nope, we're out". That strikes me as a neutral move... maybe...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/owlcatgames/pathfinder-kingmaker/posts /2193975

Kingmaker video game! By the time it comes out we will be mostly done with the first book. I want everyone to not worry about spoilers and just enjoy the game. I'll play it too and will change things enough for us to keep the experience fresh!

Cool beans

paul, could you throw the big map back on roll20? or is there a way for us to switch to it ever on our own?

I *think* we could head east and then cut back and forth on some new hexes as we head back north. I'd rather see new stuff as we go, plus we've got a lot to explore...

Sorry, I wish you could switch it but it doesn't have that functionality. Take a look again

You could go one hex east to see something new, and then head northeasterly to see some new areas. It will expand your journey back to Oleg's by about a week, but then, there is no real rush.

Let's take the scenic route home then

It occurs to me that the old school D&D mentality of "go into cave, kill monsters, and take their loot" is really not so politically correct anymore. But as I think of this whole adventure path, that is a major thrust of it when you explore the wilds. I think it is okay to make peace when you can, but don't be paralyzed by not wanting to do this standard D&D thing. Sometimes, ya just gotta kill the bad guys.

Now, if you don't want to attack because you are afraid of traps, well... that is a different story.

Also, different subject.

Right click and drag to move around the Roll20 map. Just learned this. Wish I learned it four years ago!

Usually, you've got a handle on Roll20 things more than I do. However, I beat you this time. Did you also know that you can hold Alt and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom in and out?

To your other point, I find the classic dungeon crawl mindset shows up more when playing in person. Maybe it's the difference between playing online and playing live. In person, some players get self conscious and don't role play like they might when they can type it out on a computer screen. In that case, combat is king. In a play-by-post setting, combat is a bit more complicated and its actually easier to talk for your character, playing into their role and giving them personality.

Right click and drag to move around the Roll20 map. Just learned this. Wish I learned it four years ago!

on mobile, using two fingers also does this, but some screens are finicky. sometimes mine only recognizes one finger and i end up trying to select blackness.

To your other point, I find the classic dungeon crawl mindset shows up more when playing in person. Maybe it's the difference between playing online and playing live. In person, some players get self conscious and don't role play like they might when they can type it out on a computer screen. In that case, combat is king. In a play-by-post setting, combat is a bit more complicated and its actually easier to talk for your character, playing into their role and giving them personality.

that's probably also a part of it, but i've noticed that it seems people have forgotten (or maybe they never knew) that it's unfair to judge past societies by today's morality. it's so easy to look backwards and say "well that's so obviously wrong" because your world view is colored by things people just didn't know in the past. also, as cultural beliefs shift (e.g. we are shifting further toward the belief that nurture is stronger than nature) we don't really notice, so we just continue to apply them without considering that that wasn't necessarily the dominant belief in the setting (be that actual history or a story set in a fantasy world that is culturally closer to our past than present).

also, that little red guy on the map, am i supposed to be able to see him? i'm on mobile so i'm trying to move/zoom the map as little as possible.

He has an red X on him. That is the one Rai killed.

ah okay thanks!

well, I'm ready to roll out of the cave and continue.

by the way, we have a few items in our inventory that need appraisals to find out how much they are worth. someone should do that in game...the dwarf gets a bonus on things like the gold nuggets. Appraisal is an INT-based skill, so I'd rather someone besides me do it -- that's a dump stat.

I'll do it later today.

We could also bring brush and set up traps at the front of the cave and smoke them out...

The caves run deep, you guys don't know that... but maybe your miners will discover it someday. For now, let's proceed and leave the gremlins alone. I'm giving you XP as if you had defeated them all, and some XP for crossing the pit trap and disabling other traps... You are at 20,000/30,000 for advancing to level 3 (collectively speaking)

lots of loot guys. we're up to over 300gp each on this run...that might be more than everything else we've done combined, and we still have some more exploring ahead before we get back.
plus some masterwork weapons, a magic ring, a female in the party....

Yay for diversity!!!

I'm planning on taking craft wondrous item when we hit level 3 so I'll be able to slowly hook us all up with some nice gear. Slowly...

After such a bad acrobatics roll... I couldn't resist.

If I could thumbs up a post, I would. It was worth the risk.

Arlen(e) reacted almost exactly as i expected/hoped. thumbs up! the only difference being that i expected that you'd immediately take it off to see if you changed back, then put it back on regardless.

Yeah I thought Arlen's lack of care about the whole situation was probably funnier than if he freaked out about it!

A little help--

With a huge creature, attacking with a natural attack, he can still threaten everything within 15 feet. He doesn't HAVE to attack at a 15 foot distance. That mandatory range is only for a reach weapon, which is different.

Correct?

Strategy to survive this? Please post here before taking your turn

you are correct. and my plan is to start fighting defensively. not much else i can do.

If the northern one is close to death, Sigurd will run down and try to give the southern one another target so it doesn't coup de grace Ike.

so i didn't take my turn because i figured the "post here first" was so we could discuss how to proceed. that said, you should probably let me engage first since it gets an attack of opportunity and i'm the least likely to get dropped by one.

I 100% agree we should focus fire. As soon as we finish off one of them, we can deal with the other much more easily. I'll cast fortune on people and cackle and try to be in position to throw out some CLW. I think an entangle would greatly help as they probably don't have amazing reflex saves. They would probably break out next turn but it would significantly slow them down.

Yeah, I was a bit overconfident. Really hoping that grappling it would help... I also lack a good long range option.

At the moment, all I can do is really curdle into a puddle and hope it scuttles away.