Does Juma also need to roll for a fear penalty?
Does Juma also need to roll for a fear penalty?
Thanks for the reminder. I forgot about that.
How do the fear penalty and War Cry bonus stack? Do they cancel out -> back to 2 dice? Or 4d6, drop high and low?
They would cancel out. In fact I'll rule that the war cry has negated the effects of the fear. Actually I'll assume that Juma failed his fear check and then used his war cry to negate the penalty from it.
Ah Ok, that works, so first round would have just been 3d6 after all. Can you have 4d6 btw?
And, with xp we just got, if I'm doing this right, Juma should now be:
Str 4 (starting Str)
+1 to Agil
+1 to Mind
+1 to Def
Also, had been forgetting this whole time to add his +2 LB from his Boon. So his total is actually now 16
Finally, our Hero Points were up to 6 at one point, but that was just temporary?
Which way is Xanos pointing? Since we're on opposite sides of the demon, either Bran or I could go for the mirror, but I don't know which.
Which way is Xanos pointing? Since we're on opposite sides of the demon, either Bran or I could go for the mirror, but I don't know which.
He's pointing further down the hall away from him, Bran, Juma and the demon. You are the only one easily in position to go for it.
I suppose its possible that you could have two bonus die. In that case you would roll 4d6 and take the two highest.
PHD
The bracers that inhibit Xanos' power also trap the demons. Normally the bracers also slowly kill sorcerers (because magic = life force), but just before they were locked on him, Xanos completed the ritual of Immortality ( determined in the last game to be a Third Order Spell in combination with highest order alchemy and a demon-powered Miracle)
So now, Xanos can't die, which means the bracers won't ever come off, (at least not withouverge key) which means the demons can't be released. Xanos' time spent imprisoned in the great temple of Set was because they tried and failed to kill him in hundreds of ways, and eventually just decided to use him as a sort of magical "battery".
I'm guessing the demon (and those who sent him) don't know all that. I just wanted to make sure you did.
PHD
Bran.
Hey guys Bran's decided that he's going to drop out of this game, so we're going to assume that the poor cimmerian didn't make it.
Xanos that leaves a spot open for your friend to join in if he's still interested.
However, while I'm on the topic I might has well do an interest check. You guys have had some time to give this game a shot. Let me know if you are still wanting to play or not. There's no point in trying to run a game for players who aren't really into it. It's supposed to be fun not a chore, so if you aren't liking it please let me know. I won't be offended.
I'm in. So far the characters are all interesting. The story is just getting started, but so far it's been a lot of fun.
Something I'd been thinking about for a while was using the various ways of changing text color and format to represent the "voices" inside Xanos.
The only glitch I see is that Greentext just has to come with numbers. The zeroes are ugly, but other than that I think it worked.
Since this is the first time they have spoken allowed, I'm curious what the rest of you think.
I though it was very flavourful. Good stuff.
My browser must not have the right support for it or something so I just got a bunch of weird symbols, but I certainly appreciate the effort. The translation was cool.
As for interest, I'm certainly willing to continue on. Ardeth is a fun character to play, and this is the only game where I can just walk around naked killing people or whatever. Cause Hyboria's awesome like that.
I hope I'm not annoying you? If I am please tell me and I'll try to fix whatever it is. Ardeth's an a@*@!$& drug addict, but I'm not.
No I'm certainly enjoying things so far and there seems to be lots of interesting RP potential down teh road, especially between Juma and Xanos, for as the sorcerer gets more of his power back, Juma will like and distrust him more and more.
Also I'm sure Ardeth's addiction shall continue to pose problems ; )
Oh and hey, did you ever figure out the timeline thing and where Conan is at present PHD?
It will be interesting to see what Juma's reaction is if he ever finds out what's actually going on with Xanos.
There's also a really good chance that Juma and Xanos are distantly related...
Do people have a preference about the timeline, since I hadn't really decided?
i.e. is Conan yet the King of Aquilonnia?
I'd prefer he was. It gets him out of the world events and gives us material to talk about.
Hey, if that spot's still open, I'm still up for hopping into it.
(an I-don't-really--have-a-vote-yet sidenote; I'd totally prefer that Conan be King by now, as the backstory I have written up very much relies on that thought)
Viscount you can ready your character to join in the next scene.
So it looks as though there s some preference for conan being king, so that's all fine with me.
Sorry I've been a little slack lately. Not losing interest, just busy and not focused. Partly because I've been getting ready for a trip.
I'm going to be away for most of next week. I'll be camping and hiking so I'll probably be out of touch until I get back. I'll try to post tomorrow morning, if there's anything to react to.
I'm not sure what the next step is going to be here, so I don't really know what to suggest for actions.
Get Xanos back on his feet, find a more secure or more hidden spot and plan a counter attack, I guess.
Have fun camping!
Conan as King works for me! As he and Juma share a past and remained close friends last they met, could prove to be a bonus somewhere down the line. Never hurts to have a buddy who's a King!
Xanos
Xanos has a long-standing contract with the demons that prevents them from fully possessing him if he's knocked out, and from doing anything that is expressly counter to his goals, but they are still demons, and their logic is pretty flexible.
In my head, Xanos doesn't actually eat, sleep, drink, or any other basic human functions anymore, but his body still has other physical limits. when they are reached, he enters a sort of "repair mode" which is akin to a waking dream. he's aware of what's going on around him, he just can't do anything about it because all his energy is going toward fixing his body. without the demons he might still be able to talk, but in repair mode they can effectively override his will and possesss the body (if only enough to speak and perhaps perform basic actions).
effectively, when Xanos gets drugged or ko'd, the roles reverse and the demons take over, leaving Xanos the prisoner in the body, but the contract with him keeps the demons from going on a rampage or manifesting any kind of power.
what do you think? feel free to play the demons if you'd like. they're yours as much as mine. :)
It will be interesting to see what Juma's reaction is if he ever finds out what's actually going on with Xanos.
There's also a really good chance that Juma and Xanos are distantly related...
Yup! That'll be fun.
And Related?? Poor ole Juma might just have a fit.
Xanos
That sounds good
Quick thought - I don't know if you ever got to take a look at my proposed character thoughts (over in the recruitment section), but before it got down to me actually posting in the game, I thought I'd check if it was all par for the course.
I can't remember all the details, but I'll check it out. It should be fine. He and Xanos are old buds right? Xanos did say earlier that he was sending out some little urchins he'd been bribing to look into finding the status on his old companions. You could easily receive word that Xanos is back in town and come to the Inn to check up on him.
"Buds" is one way to put it...
Today I was thinking about this game and realized I may be committing one of the cardinal sins of PBP games, so I figured I'd just ask-
Am I hogging spotlight?
I will tone down, post less, etc. if anyone thinks Xanos is overshadowing anyone else.
I am as curious to know more/see more from your characters as (I hope) you are about mine. I absolutely do not want to make the game about me.
Anyone have any thoughts? Be harsh if you want. We're all adults.
Nope, not having any thoughts along those lines myself.
And Xanos is a much more developed and complicated character than the rest of us, so only natural if he has more going on in his posts sometimes.
Keep on keeping on dude, I think you're doing great and I've enjoyed everything you've posted thus far.
And cool of you to ask.
Thanks.
Any time any of you want to scene steal, I'm all for letting you. Everyone deserves time in the spotlight.
Also, I just got a text from Dorin (absent new guy). It's his birthday and he's celebrating in true barbarian fashion by taking pretty girls to secluded places to drink and be merry.
He'll be back and able to introduce himself on Monday.
Okay. In the mean time feel free to discuss you plan of attack for dealing with these cultists.
Monday was somewhat incorrect, but I'm back now! Just got through driving, so I'm mildly incoherent, but I'll totally get on the ball later tonight.
Right, so here's a bit of background for everybody, so this isn't just a big inside joke between DH and me. In the game last time, Xanos had bought and freed one of Dorin's sisters from slavery, just before Dorin himself showed up to save her; sadly, not before her tongue had been cut out. She was all kinds of grateful to Xanos, and before the game ended, had become a good swordswoman in her own right. In my head, they've been in Shadizar since then, looking for clues to their other siblings. Now, she's headed off without her brother either to a) seek her own fortune out from under her over-protective brother's eyes (to be fair to Dorin, she did get all captured by slavers that one time), or b) to find Xanos.
Dorin, though, has jumped to a conclusion or two. What can I say? He's a rash kinda guy. Xanos knows how to deal with him, though - they had a more-or-less friendship going on before. Hope that's not too dramatic an introduction, it seemed the best hook to get him in on this one.
Oh yes - and if my numbers or the way you want them posted are wrong, please, let me know. I'm only vaguely aware of what I'm doing with making a starting character in this system, and not at all sure if I should be advancing him some or not.
This game we get Boons (perks). I missed that for a while. You'll want to pick one.
I haven't been doing the stats for senses. We could though. I'm not sure where they are from, I don't recall seeing them in the rules I've read, so maybe your gm added them as a house rule. We also have a house rule for armour which is essentially a check to see if you're armour protects you when you are hit- the idea being that armour can reduce damage, but since your entire body is generally not protected you must roll a check when you are hit to see if the attack hits an area covered by your armour or one that is exposed.
Check out the campaign tab for various rule stuff.
Boon, right. I knew that. Strength Feat, coming up.
As for the senses - yep, I also don't know where those rules came from. I do kinda like the idea, though, if you folks want to incorporate it.
And, of course, I'll go find the extra rules thingies.
Adding in Distrust of Sorcery as a Flaw.
Quick Boon question; not sure if Cultural Weapon Master would apply to the hammer, but would it work as an ancestral weapon?
I'll be out of town for a week starting tomorrow. I'll be able to post from my phone but it will be less frequent. Don't let me hold up the game.
So, Dorin's wearing metal boots and greaves, and traveling leathers other than that. What does that translate into for AR and ACR?
Generally speaking armour that covers the main torso area like leather or a chain shirt would have an ACR of 6. If you roll a 6 or lower the armour protects you. Greaves would increase the ACR by 1, though I wouldn't change the AR, as it starts to get a little too complicated.
Dorin's AR would be 2 and your ACR would be 7.
For simplicity, if a character is wearing a mix of armour types I would use the AR for the armour that covers the biggest area, which in your case is the leather.
Our best bet to move things forward quickly might be to discuss options out of character and then just cut-away in game.
Our options are-
Go after bartender (big bar fight?)
Kick in door of cult (room-to-room sweep and clear)
Seems to me that we'll want to do both, so it's really just a choice of which order we do things in.
Side quests (so far) are-
Interrogate the demon in the mirror.
Look for clues regarding Dorin's sister.
Look for clues regarding the merchant Xanos was after (the guy who caught him and threw him in the pit with the rest of you)
(anyone else have stuff to add here?)
I would rather light the building the cultists are in on fire or something and kill them as they come out. Why give them the home turf advantage?
I would rather light the building the cultists are in on fire or something and kill them as they come out. Why give them the home turf advantage?
Because fire spreads. Guards in this city are pretty lax and might ignore sounds of a fight from inside a building (at least until it's done). Nobody ignores fire. We'd draw everyone and they'd start helping the cultists (with no information to go on we'd look like the bad guys to an outsider. Add that to arson and we're screwed.)
Fire is probably a bad idea. I'm afraid we're going to have to do this the hard way.
One thought is that they've seen the rest of us, but they don't know Dorin. I'm not sure if we can take advantage of that.
Ardeth, did you learn anything about them while you were watching? Other than that they were sending a demon after us.
I still think that staking them out is a good idea. Now that we're in a more secure location it may be worth trying again. They didn't seem to know that you were there.
Do we know anything else about the cult? Is there anyone else who would? The priestesses here perhaps?
I don't really care about the barkeep or the merchant. They're likely either low grade cult members or just bribed. They might know something though.