The Crucible of Freya (Inactive)

Game Master Grimmy

Ok looks like Leo is back and Kev should be back any time now, so I'm going to go ahead and post what happens next..

Jaheira!

I assume we're too far away to hear the riders issuing orders?

Khalid!

Once they heard Jerrid they shouted the orders loud, only like DC 5 to hear even with distance factored in, so no need to roll you heard that.

The details before that when they were talking quietly only Jerrid heard.

You guys just heard "Check behind that tree!" and you see the two half-orc footmen moving to Jerrid's position.

lol I shoulda known you guys played BG! Dang I guess I need new tokens

No no no, I think it's great! Adds a little nostalgia!

Well guys you know I love when folks are online at the same time and we get a surge of posts but I supposed I'd better pause here so no ones left behind. Marathon not a sprint as French Wolf once said.

Fun times though, good to see Janna and Damien in sync again!

Why do I get the feeling the peaceful option just up and wandered away :P

I'm not really sure what's going to happen I'm just going "what would so-and-so do" and rolling dice when I'm not sure! So many angles here.

Lannet could still be tackled or convinced not to run, but then what?

Would they be content with the gem and let Vhillish try Lannet in Fairhill? Again, I'd have to roll dice.

And Jerrid knows another twist the rest of you don't yet.

And there's another twist after that too.

Twisty.

Edit: And then also, Samduc has some plan going on where he's dressing up as Lannet!?

Twisty is one word for it but I can think of a few others!

Fingers crossed one of those words is "fun"!

I think I'd put it on my list yeah!

Jerrid, is that Wistus' Crimmor slaves, or Wistus' Crimmor slavers?

As written it just leaves me confused :P

Might be a good idea to give people a round to catch up before we dive into initiative. Just to avoid leaving anyone behind.

Leo was going to move forward to get a better look at the riders I think, and we've yet to hear from Kev at all yet. Hopefully she's back by tomorrow.

Yup, thinking the same.

Kev PM'd me, she got back tonight, posting tomorrow.

I'm thinking everyone in the back should be able to move their tokens where they like, within reason. Say, as far up as where Janna is.

And if any of you want to cast pre-buff's or the like you can have a rounds worth of those, due to the intervening time hanging out in the back while Janna and Damien were in the negotiations.

Slavers - apologies for that and the 1 on stealth. Ye Gods!

Fun it most certainly is, and its nice to see a tricksy DM in action. Hope my own players enjoy it too.

Cheers

I'm in a quandary about the journal. Help please.

Do you want me to simply follow the thread while he was away and write a "perfect" storyline or....

the more rp version where he sits down in Fairhill and people tell as much as they remember of events while he and Astor were away?

Thoughts would be appreciated before I start.

I think you should stick to the more IC RP version like all the classic Jerrid's Journals.

hey all, Janna still here, very busy day and night with work, I may not get a post in

I agree with DMG, the rp journal sounds more fun!

K, I'm back! Had a great time in Florida, back to regular posting...
thanks for your patience.

What mess have you got my Kevezyat into ? :)

Woohoo!!

Note to Sam, double check your attack modifier with light crossbow, I think it should be +7 not +6 (+2 BAB, +4 DEX, +1 Size).

(+5 with the -2 distance penalty from where you're shooting)

Obviously still a hit on a nat 20, just noticed the modifier looked wrong.

I made a key for the terrain features and rules interactions like before, let me know if any questions.

Looks great. How do the squares for the fallen log work?

Am I able to stand in the roots one square to my left for cover from everything? I'll amend my move if so.

Is there a check for jumping over the log section? I assume the trunk functions as a low wall?

Oh, don't forget to add the +1 damage to Sam's shot as it should be happening after I inspire.

On another topic, Leo, I'm wondering if your action might work better as a delay until after the half-orcs? It's not really a ready as he's not trying to preempt any of their actions, just waiting to see if they do attack. This way you can spend the full round now on your spell and still be able to do more than more next turn :)

Looks great. How do the squares for the fallen log work?

For the fallen tree,

Costs double movement to cross it.

If you stand on it, counts as higher ground.

+4 AC vs ranged if you are adjacent and shooter is opposite but not adjacent.

Am I able to stand in the roots one square to my left for cover from everything? I'll amend my move if so.

Yeah, move there. +2 AC vs everything.

Is there a check for jumping over the log section?

For the bad guys I made them make a DC 10 Acrobatics check when they crossed the log, but for you guys don't worry about it. I just wanted to give a chance for them to trip and not get to Kev.

Leo can summon as a standard action? Thought it was one round jobbie.

Wife working late tonight so I should be able to knock off the next instalment of Jerrid's Journal. Depends on how gentle the kids are with me after school.

On a separate note - we have been forecast snow....snow! Next Monday evening. Its such a rarity unlike what I hear about Boston and NY at the moment.

Cheers

Yeah is a 1-round jobbie, I think Damien is on about the following round, and setting Leo up to have a full complement of actions then.

You heard right about Boston (but this storm was not as bad as all the hype).

Leo can summon as a standard action? Thought it was one round jobbie.

No I can't. I can summon with two consecutive standard actions.

Yeah I'm pretty sure I get it.

Leo is doing this, right?: Start/Complete Full Round Action

Sorry if I jumped the gun on K's action. Its not an aoo , just her next action. Forgot yo include the round header....<hangs head in shame> :)

-Posted with Wayfinder

Thanks chaps, new wrinkle to me.

cheers

Oh no problem Kev. You got a bunch of bad guys to go before your turn though. I'm trying blocks this time instead of "Us, them, us, them". Check out the init table in the campaign info at the top, when your name is blue with a "<<<<" next to it you're up.

Yeah, Leo can summon as two standards if he lacks a full round. My point was that you would have a full round if you delayed this round instead of readied. So your summon would go off at the start of your round two and you'd still have all your actions left to do something. Just seems like you're shortchanging yourself a standard action. That said, if you're satisfied then so am I.

I used the move to draw the shield.

Oops, gotcha :P

Leo may be quiet guy but when it comes to Nicos, he knows his PF ;)

Every year I learn more about PF. For the record I was reading the rogue burglar archetype and came across a piece of text which leads me to suspect you were right about bluff and stealth DMG.

cheers

That one might be one of those things that just comes down to table variation/dm call.

...and each different encounter.

...and each different encounter.

I suppose some encounters can shake things up but I find it's best to come to a consensus about rule issues and keep things consistent.

Yeah I think that's best too. Ideally as a player I want the world and the rules that govern it to feel like they have an internal consistency, so I kind of know "ok usually my guy can do a ten foot long jump no problem so if I try leaping over this ravine I have a fair to good shot. I'm gonna try it." So that's what I strive for as DM too.

On another hand I'm always weighing situational factors into the equation, and I may or may not pull back the curtain and show you guys all of what goes into the calls I make, usually just based on whether or not I think it will bore you and obfuscate the vital stuff.

Like, when Jerrid posted that his vanish ran out, and threw a stealth roll, I didn't feel like saying "where's your bluff check to create a diversion", because it fit better with my grasp of the internal consistency of this game hologram/sim's physics to assume that his stealth checks represented his efforts to stay quiet and hidden while moving from the location where he first vanished, to the location where the spell expired and then on to the spot he ended up, behind the tree or whatever. So, it would have felt gotcha and meta-dumb to be like "ok vanish expired and I can draw a line from the square where the bad guy is to the square you are in, so, since there's no facing rules in pathfinder, you have been observed bla bla nya nya". No. Doesn't feel right.

It's like in this one "stealth in pathfinder doesn't work" thread a long time ago, when I posted "stealth in pathfinder doesn't work. unless you have a DM." And Nicos quoted my post and said "/Thread". Because yeah, there's some fiat involved unless you want a game where a 12th level rogue can't steel a chicken because the farmer is on the porch. There's no facing rules, so someone has to decide what the NPC's are doing, where their attention is and so forth. And that someone is the DM. Is it arbitrary? No, I don't think that's the word, but I can't prove it to you. All I can tell you is I try to ask the NPC's and let them tell me, wherever that takes me.

And since it's PbP and I have time, you better believe where applicable I have multiple tabs open as I debate a ruling, with the PRD, discussions in the rules forum, and posts from ten pages back in our game to see what precedent I have set. I'm just not going to narrate that whole process every time because don't nobody have time to read all that :)

Best I can tell you is... if you're not sure if something you want to try has a chance of working out, ask yourself if you can picture it happening in your mind, on a tv screen, or in a novel, (without cringing) and you will probably end up on close to the same page as me. "60% of the time it work's every time." I know that's not perfect but there it is.

tl;dr A dumpster is a great place to use stealth when running from bullies if you jumped in the dumpster before they rounded the corner into the ally. But, if they watched you jump in the dumpster, not even a DC 300 stealth check is going to cause them to not realize you are in that dumpster in my game.

Ok gotta run for a bit guys my grandfather passed this morning and we are writing his obituary here at my nana's house. I'll be back later with the enemy actions, BE VERY AFRAID :)

My condolences. Grimmy. A very nice poem.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Indeed, lovely peom Grimmy.

As to the rules, my last part was simply a statement of preferences. I have been very satisfied with your arbitration of the rules thus far. It had seemed birth fair and well researched to me. Keep up the good work!

Though in the case you mentioned, I think the stealth rules explicitly back you up for once. I believe Jerrid's situation is covered under the breaking stealth section. He moved from the concealment of stealth to the concealment of the grass in the same turn. Allowing him to simply roll to remain unseen, no?

That said, I'm fairly certain the enemy would know at least which space he is in regardless as casting a spell is rather noisy...

Oh yeah, didn't some of that breaking stealth section come out in an errata sometime back? I remember there was an errata that made me say "hmm, well that is pretty close to how I have been running stealth all along".

Another stealth example from this very encounter that I labored heavily over was Sam and Lannet running off the road. I think in the end I decided they could end up with their ending location unknown but the agents were still going to know that two hobbits just bolted into the grass.

Anyway I really gotta stop putting off some of this sad business over here lol. I will be back later though.

Great encounter so far guys.

I feel for you Grimmy. I hope that poetry helps your family a little.

Regards