I don't know how far in the negatives the rat was, but if he's at lower than -7, it's going to take another spell slot.
Nah, it just took the one. He had 35 HP to start with; he had 6 NL, and 33 lethal. When the healing for the hour was taken into account, it was 3 NL and 33 lethal, so even a minimum roll would have been 1 NL, 31 lethal, and would have got him conscious. At the moment he's at 9/35, no lethal. (mostly writing that down for my own memory, haha.)
Sleepy GM had work deadline; will post later today answering stuff brought up.
Hi guys,
Sorry for the disappearing act. There have been a stack of changes at work: our group was re-org'd, got moved to a new department - which doubled our area of responsibilities, and we acquired a new Director with 'big ideas'. I went heads down to knock out some critical objectives hoping that I could come up for breath in just a couple weeks *hollow laugh*. Unfortunately, more stuff keeps getting tossed on my plate faster than I can clear projects. At this point, I'm going to be working like crazy until some time in May - at a guess.
So, I'm going to have to drop out of every game for the foreseeable future. If you've already replaced my character or dropped me... that is totally fine and I apologize for the inconvenience and for not digging myself out of this work pile earlier to let you know my situation. If you've been generous enough to NPC my character in my absence - thank you for keeping the faith and I'm doubly sorry that I can't come back to pick up where I left off. You have every right to berate me, so feel free to scourge me via PM. I won't put up a fight, I've earned it.
Again, I'm quite sorry for leaving you all in the lurch and I'll hope to play with you good folks again at some point in the future.
Thanks,
~sr
Sorry to see you go Rikka. Good luck and well wishes.
Gonna PM you, Rikka.
Unrelatedly: gosh have I made a lot of name-typos in this game lately. At one point I called Rikka Halla, and I just saw I recently called Knute Klo. *facepalm* Sorry. Judge by context of who you think it's supposed to be, heh, and ask me if you're super-confused by my failure to do things like "correctly type my players' characters' names."
Guys I am still here I am trying to get time to do a meaningful post
I'm enjoying the bunting/Tassidar conversation, by the way.
Sorry for the slowness, guys. Maternal unit is visiting. Always kills my posting time/energy hard. Should get a post up soon.
Sorry for the slowness, guys. Maternal unit is visiting. Always kills my posting time/energy hard. Should get a post up soon.
HA HA! Mine arrives tomorrow!
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (20) + 0 = 20
Diplomacy: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (18) - 1 = 17
*sigh* Gotta love Diplomacy checks. I don't think I've ever played a low-level face when the natural rolls of the uninvested haven't beat out my roll-with-bonus. Until you can hit a 20 with a Take 10, it's hardly worth it.
Yup. This is actually one of my biggest beefs with the D20 system. The D20 just creates so much variance. The few D6-based systems I've played reward character building and specialization. D20 so often rewards ... luck.
I wonder about the viability of a system that, instead of disallowing untrained checks, had characters untrained in a skill roll a lower die: say, a d12 while those with ranks in the skill start at 10 and roll a d10 plus bonus to add to it. It would probably require some adjustments to DCs, but you could jigger it to where it still allowed the untrained to achieve moderate successes without outdoing the specialists.
Otherwise, as you say, the d20 system starts out with the luck of the dice meaning more than training at low levels (and I've had consistent bad rolls in skills make an absolute mockery of my PC's supposed backstory of being good at certain things before) and ends up with the roll being essentially meaningless at high levels where the trained can roll a 1 and still succeed and the untrained roll a 20 and still fail.
Sort of going much further afield than you're positing, but the Savage Worlds has a mechanic where you don't use a d20 at all, but have difference dice corresponding to different 'traits' (more or less your standard big six ability scores). So for instance if you're playing a barbarian with your highest score as STR, you'll roll a d12 for any checks involving your STR, but if you dumped INT down to be your lowest, you roll a d4 for any INT check. (More or less; there are other complications.)
But yes, the inherent swinginess has always been one of the core problems of a d20 system, alas. The Take-10 mechanic ameliorates it somewhat, but obviously not in all situations. I too have suffered the indignity of having my face character botch multiple diplomacy checks in a row thanks to an under-5 dice roll, and then in saunters luck of the dice to give the 7 cha dwarf barbarian a 20~
For what it's worth, when I design social encounters, I nearly always have two 'methods' by which success can be achieved; one is obviously the dice roll, but most of my NPCs have some sort of 'win switch' that I will try and hint at in some fashion or another, or which can be discovered through other rolls than merely direct social checks. If a PC successfully exploits the win switch, then that essentially grants either a huge circumstance bonus on my end to their roll, or just renders the roll needless altogether at my discretion.
Sorry for the delay; family continue to be Visiting and sort of a time drain. On the plus side, I finally got to see Star Wars: the Force Awakens tonight, after 95% of the planet. ;)
*goes to post*
What are the chances you could make that a public doc? Or share it with us somehow? :D
Whoooo's an idiot, is it me? Yes, yes it is. (Should be shared now)
Update coming this evening~
I wanted to apologize for another level of slowdown in my posting recently. The causes are sort of two-fold-- I wound up in far too many PBPs due to failing my will save and applying to several at once (I didn't figure I'd actually get into ALL of them); my current count is a somewhat ludicrous 17, heh. However, the other one of that 17 which I am GMing should be done in a few days' time, after which I'm going to focus on GMing only this one for a while; that should result in quicker and better posts from me, as will the natural conclusions of many of the other ones which should happen soon-ish.
Aside from that, it's just been a busy week. I'm trying to wade through a 1,200pg anthology I have to review for work, and prep for a local con this weekend, and have had small children thrust upon me to babysit. Bah and humbug! Hopefully, things will even out soonish.
I know that long periods of slow GM posting kill momentum and make for poor play experience, so this is just to say I know it's been slow, and I intend and hope to pick it up better, soon.
Sorry to hear things are so crazy, Dien. I've definitely been in your exact spot (including the kiddos and the PbP overreach). Sounds like you need to go find a place to take a few minutes and kick back with a beer or three. :)
I will wait, your game is well worth it.
Thanks guys.
I'll try and get us back on the wagon later today.
Okay, obviously that didn't happen when I said, heh. I have a map and everything made up, I just haven't managed to scrape brain together for the narration. It's astonishing how tiring a five-year-old, two-year-old, and ninety-two-year-old can be together in concert. ;)
Gotta get some rest right now, but I should have time tonight and if I don't have time I will forcibly make it. Sorry for the wait.
I say get back to us when you can get your feet under you. Get some rest, Dien. Sounds like you could use it.
...and I may have to do just that, heh. BUT, the small children are going home in a few days time. I hope to update before that point, but either way, not right now. Sorry, bear with me a bit longer.
Thank you for keeping us updated Dien and bless you for being there when the little ones needed you. That's heartfelt.
Well, fortunately I was not usually responsible for them, just a couple days where my aunt was busy. :)
Just in case nobody has seen it in thread-- we're moving again! Weigh in if you can, Knute and Tassidar.
My go-to when the PCs are standing around dithering: roll initiative. Nothing focuses the mind like combat. ;)
Still here. Will post in morning.
Sounds good, since you're up. :)
Sorry for the slowness-- I had a work deadline to hit yesterday, and my grandma is having an outpatient heart procedure at the hospital today, but we should be back on track soon.
And I was writing the post last night and actually fell asleep during, heh. Time to go finish it!
Oh, sure, you crush one little grasshopper-man's arm and he's all, "I'm outta here!"
Yeah, he's a jerk. :P
I have been destroyed at work too ;)
Yah, it seems to be busy for lots of folks. You going to be able to post soon, Tass?
If you don't get a chance to post by later today Tass, I'll go ahead and bot ya for this round.
Will give Knute another half-day before botting.
Coolio.
Sorry all, work's been pretty crazy and I had D&D with high school buddies last night, so didn't check in. Should be better normally, sorry again!
It happens~
Update to come in the am when I get to a desktop.
Sorry for the delay, guys. Post coming later today.
As much as I'm enjoying this amazing d6 weapon damage and whopping 6 rounds of rage per day, I seriously can't wait until level 3 ... Extra Rage and picking up the ability to fight with tooth and claw. That will be MUCH more fun. :)
Right?! And for me second level spells
Soon. :3 Should you survive this fight.
Hey! Something to fight for!
... oh, yah, and the kids. Sure, for the kids, too.
Hey guys, sorry for the lack of post the last day or two. Coming later today, just had THINGS cropping up here. Some good, some bad, but all busy!
I am still all in and will be here when you're ready
Is Mav injured? She took a hit from the drake-bile but laughed it off; I'm not sure if that meant she had resistance and didn't take damage or she'is just so bad-ass she didn't notice the damage.