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Welcome to my PbP game. Hope you would have a blast!
Before we start, I would to share some of my ground rules. (In spoiler tags to not take up space.)
PbP Matters
1. This discussion thread is open for all OOC matters, so no ooc tag needed. For OOC matters in the gameplay thread, please use the [ ooc ] tag.
2. Please post at least once a day, and once over the weekends. If you would be away, please let me know in advance where possible, and we can work something out. Otherwise, if you go missing, where necessary, I will bot or skip your characters for the sake of the rest of everyone else.
3. If you have any disagreements over some of my GM calls or interpretation of the scenario, please take it to the discussion thread or, even better, pm me. I think it’s better not to deal with rules arguments over the gameplay.
4. If you have played and/or GMed this scenario before, please do not metagame or spoil the plot. And please let me know.
5. I would have thought this would go without mentioning until I encountered such a player, so… It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of the game, including referencing the map on google slides. I understand that there are times where it is inconvenient to do so, etc. In that case, please be as specific as you can as to where you wish your character to move, what actions to take, etc. This is especially critical for this game as it is pretty much a dungeon crawl.
Combat
6. Once initiative is determined, for the group of characters who can take actions, I would resolve actions in posting order, NOT initiative order. I used to do the latter but it doesn’t work that well in PbP, so am going with the former instead.
Rolls and Skill Checks
7. I would do your initiative rolls, as well as perception rolls for the purpose of determining surprise (if any).
8. On knowledge checks for general information, I would usually put them in spoilers with the necessary DCs. Just go ahead to roll, and I'll trust that you would resist reading them if the roll fails (or least not to metagame). (Don’t forget that you can make knowledge checks untrained for DC10.) There might be exceptions for plot-critical information though, where I would explicitly ask for knowledge checks. As for knowledge checks for monster lore, please state what kind of information you want in order of preference together with your rolls, and I'll reveal accordingly, e.g. DR, resistances, special attacks, etc. You can also choose to let me reveal what I think your character would be most interested in.
9. On skill checks where there could be team effort involved, e.g. finding a hidden trail with survival, influencing attitude of NPCs with diplomacy, please be explicit when making the rolls whether you are attempting the check on your own, or whether you are assisting. (And take note of the pros and cons of either.) There might be situations where only one character is allowed to attempt the check (and the rest to assist) – I’ll state so explicitly if that’s the case.
10. On skill checks in general, if I feel you have roleplayed well, e.g. gave a good description of what your character does to search for a trail, came up with creative ways to befriend a hostile NPC, I would give bonuses, or even waive the DC altogether. :)
Roleplaying Matters
11. The maps and handouts link (at the top of the page) would display all the maps, handouts, pictures, etc as the scenario progresses. The most current page would be right on top, while previous ones would be left there for your reference. (Incidentally, Android and IOS has the Google Slides app in case you work off mobile devices.)
12. Please have your full character information up on your character's profile page for my vetting. Also, please have your stat block updated with the key information. Minimally, please have your current hp vs max hp, AC (normal, touch and flat-footed), CMB & CMD, all three saves and movement. Feel free to include others.
13. Finally, I do enjoy roleplaying more than rollplaying. While this would be limited for this game since it is largely a dungeon crawl, please still have posts that are more than simply dice rolls.
Getting Started
Ok with that out of the way, a few tasks before we kick off.
A. Go to the Gameplay page and dot.
B. Go to the maps and handouts page and fill out the table there. (Don’t worry about the 3 boxes below the table, i.e. token, initiative and perception. I’ll take care of that.)
C. In this Discussion thread, do your day job rolls (if any), and share whatever OOC information you would like the rest of the party to know about your character e.g. class, level, special abilities. We’ll leave character descriptions and introductions to the gameplay thread later when we are about to start.
Fantastic!
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A swarthy Szcarni scoundrel sidles up to you from the shadows in the Grog Pit. He is dressed in flamboyant Varisian garb, a rapier at his hip and a chilled glass of Kyonin absinthe in his right hand. He slips an unlit Molthuni braganza cigarillo back into the pocket of his silk waistcoat.
"Greetings, GM Kuey, my name is Gitano Frallino. Some have called me 'the luckiest man alive."
"I have completed a number of missions as a member of the Pathfinder Society, including Master of the Fallen Fortress and #7-05 School of Spirits. GMG/Magabeus was my handler for the former and GM Red for the latter."
"I would gladly join your hand-picked team of special agents for the opportunity to explore the infamous Thornkeep."
Gitano flashes a bright smile, offers a slow wink, and begins to hum a sly, low melody while you consider his request to join your merry band of adventurers.
♪♫A castle full of rascals
A fortress full of thieves
A parliament of silver tongues
That latter to deceive♫
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It is Gitano's custom after a mission to invite a pretty young Pathfinder initiate--with impeccable penmanship--to accompany him to the Grog Pit. The initiate takes copious notes, while Gitano recounts the tale of his latest adventure, embellishing freely to spice up the boring parts.
As the barkeep announces, "Last call for alcohol!" Gitano gathers up the young lady and her transcribed notes.
A Varisian gentleman with an unimpeachable reputation, Gitano escorts her back to Skyreach, after curfew, and slips the hot-off-the-presses report under the door of the Chronicles Department.
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A good-looking half elf lady, with silver hair and golden eyes, enters the room. She wears light clothes over her beautifully crafted chain mail, and an holy symbol of Abadar is displayed on her chest.
My name is Baied Eldourha. I've heard that a potentially lucrative mission will be soon attempted. Whether I'm recruited or not, I'll pray to the Master of the First Vault for the success of your endeavour.
With a sigh of abject resignation, Sancho Panza de Hidalgo empties the contents of his master's footlocker into a large, sturdy sack and swings the bundle over one shoulder.
Sweat pours from his florid face and stains his dirty shirt. Sancho takes a last nip from his tarnished, silver flask and wipes his face on his sleeve. He jiggles the flask, the faint sloshing of the last dregs eliciting an anxious gasp.
Mother, I know I swore I'd lay off wine, women and dice. Two out of three ain't so bad, right?
With a last look around, Sancho shuffles out of the room, "Alright, then, can't keep Master Frallino waiting." Don't want the master thinking it's finally time to get himself a handy haversack, do we?
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A few of things:
1. As a party, before we enter the dungeons, I need you to decide your default marching order, i.e.
A: ?
B: ?
C: ?
D: ?
E: ?
F: ?
Six positions to fit in Ivar as well. I would use the above order for single file. Where space allows for double file, it would be
A-B
C-D
E-F
So just insert yourself into A-F above, or let me know your general preference and I'll deconflict.
2. As a dungeon crawl, there would be places where decisions need to be made of which exit to take. This can end up dragging the progress down if everyone let's someone else make the decision. I'll just take the first decision from any player, failing which after one day, I'll just roll randomly.
3. On a related point, if you have any standard SOP for dungeon crawling, e.g. listening at the door first, checking for traps, stealthing ahead by 30ft, please state upfront here and I'll weave in along the way. Or you could do it IC at the gameplay thread.
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Other one-on-one matters:
1. Rogar, for animal companions, etc on PBP, I usually have them act on the same initiative as their master. This would help to speed up posting speed. I would have them make separate perception rolls for surprise round, etc though.
2. Baied, no worries! I'm actually posting from GMT+8, which is way off from almost everyone here!
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Rogar will gladly volunteer to take position A as a meat shield/trap"finder", but then Ivar will have to take position B for sentimental/ability reasons.
1. Rogar, for animal companions, etc on PBP, I usually have them act on the same initiative as their master. This would help to speed up posting speed. I would have them make separate perception rolls for surprise round, etc though.
Just the way I like it!
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So can I summarise the marching order as the following?
A: Roger
B: Ivar
C: Gitano
D: Zavubak
E: Baied
F: Reese
Reese, that is also possible. There are possibly some difference in the encounters depending on which order you do. On the other hand, if you have not played the module before, then it is largely random luck anyway. If the party prefers that, I'll go with that.
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I'm okay with Reese's suggestion of sequential room clearing as long as it makes sense, and the encounters don't suggest a different course of action.
For a dungeon crawl, especially one with a warning about magical mazes and lethal traps, I'd like to have a door-opening/room entry SOP that includes searching for traps (Gitano has trapfinding for a +1 bonus to Perception to spot traps and on Disable Device to disarm them, including magical traps). He would also, time and situation permitting, detect magic before entering a room.
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Reese, could you fill in the table at the maps and handouts? To facilitate my preparation of the chronicle sheet, among other things. Thanks!
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I apologize for not posting lately. I have heat exhaustion, and it's a lot more draining in real life than in Pathfinder. I don't even have the mental energy to watch a movie without taking a nap.
The good news is that two days of rest and lots of water is all its supposed to take to recover, so I'll hopefully be back on Tuesday.
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I forgot to add inspiration to my attempt to identify the magical pearl via Spellcraft (had a 14. but the DC was 16.
Gitano's player is not has smart as he is. If my head had not been buried in a deep, dark place, I would have added:
The result of the Spellcraft check would have then been a 20. The item would not have helped Gitano, a spontaneous caster, but Baied would have appreciated it.
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Hey, folks,
Anybody else want to add their actions to a door-opening and room-clearing SOP?
The GM inquired at the start of the adventure. Some of you might have missed the post.
The more Pathfinders making Perception checks the better. Gitano's last SOP-generated roll was only a 13. It happens.
Hate for the party to stumble into a trap or miss some cool loot that we would have spotted if more of us were looking and listening.
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Sure, you could do that. But that could give time for critters in subsequent rooms to set up ambush if they hear you and you take too long... They can similarly then take 20 for stealth. :) I know rules might be vague whether you take 20 on stealth, but if you give me 2 minutes vs 6 seconds to hide myself, I'm sure I could find a much better hiding place.
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The scene reminds me of a 5E game I DMed. The party (2nd level) was fighting 3 skeletons, which would be largely a walk in the park. But the wild sorceress accidentally summoned a fog cloud into the room, completely obscuring all sight. So I gave the players 10 seconds to memorise the map, then removed it from play. (I used a virtual table top so I still have access to it.) For the rest of the combat, they had to describe the direction and distance they wanted to move, while memorising the location of the party members and the skeleton. What would have been a pretty run-of-the-mill combat turned out to become something quite hilarious! I remember the cleric crawling around on the floor (think he had lost track by then), trying to find his party mate who had been cut down. :)
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Taking it here in case the discussion goes long.
The party is not surprised. Basically you moved into the room, some with ready attacks. The spiders approached, ready actions went off and they attacked. In RL, would have rolled separate initiative rolls for them and inserted them after the relevant person has gone. But on pbp, I left the initiative order as it is and had the spiders act in the same turn as the goblin to simplify matters.
Hence for example the giant spider targeted Gitani's normal AC, not FF, which is now 19 with Baeid's aura but it rolled a 20 to attack.
But let me know if I missed something.
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I believe Gitano had to 5 foot step to reach Snarltongue's new spot. I read the spoiler given that Gitano had passed the perception check. I'd like to let his and Reese's actions resolve first before I go in and attack, since currently I will provoke if I attempt to step around Reese. If Reese 5 foot steps, I will have room to get in there without provoking.
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I want to apologize for my recent (and possibly continued) absence. I'm feeling very burned out right now, and am not sure how much I will be able to reliably handle. Please do not hesitate to bot me, and if necessary, to replace me.
I will do my best, but don't be surprised if my posting is sporadic and low quality for the near future. But above all, do what it takes to make sure that all of you keep having fun.
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Ok, that bring us back to the end of the scenario. As usual, I like to give some spoilers. :) Hiding them in spoiler tags, but I think it doesn't matter unless you plan to burn a GM star to replay.
You were really close at the end; you took him out at -2HP. :) If he had successful floated to the ceiling (20ft), and with the party's limited range options, he would be happily lobbing bombs at everyone from safety. Of course, you can just flee the room and wait for his levitation to wear off. Then he would have to descend to go after you. But then, he still had an extract of invisibility. :)
In case you're wondering about his very high AC, he had +3 from studded leather, +3 dex, +1 from dodge feat, +4 from the shield extract he drank before you guys came in, and +2 from his mutagen. And in case you're wondering about his high HP, it was a constitution mutagen.
Oh, and remember the two dormant stone constructs in the room just before Krenar? The ones with apple-sized holes in their chest? And remember the glowing yellow gem you found in the room with the stone elemental? Well, insert item A into slot B, and you would have your very own pet stone construct! Might have come in handy in the final fight. :) I know, though, that it is difficult to track findings across multiple posts in pbp. Should I have made it more obvious?
So I'll be reporting the game shortly, and the chronicles should be out later today. It was great blast playing with all of you, and I hope to see you again in other games. And thanks for accompanying me through my first PFS module. Granted, it is just a dungeon-crawling one, but it was an interesting and different experience. I might try others, e.g. Crypt of the Everflame, Gallows of Madness. But after GD6. :P
Any feedback about the game is welcomed! Here or via PM.
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I know, though, that it is difficult to track findings across multiple posts in pbp. Should I have made it more obvious?
I struggle with that type of problem, too. One of the things I've started doing is recording loot in the Campaign Info tab, along with who is holding each item. Another thing I've done is remind people to re-read handouts at significant times.
Each of those has helped a little bit, but I still haven't fully solved the problem of connecting the dots in PbP.