Rynjin |
If you'll make an alias for your character, you can go ahead and post in the thread. Give what's going on inside your head as you wake up and whatnot.
Tell me if you resist and so on. I know you said you wanted to take a swipe at the Cap'n due to your backstory, so you'll get your chance on that soon.
Rynjin |
You have nothing except maybe a single small object you could have hidden on your person, and your regular clothes.
Slickjaw and Ace do NOT have their spell/formulae books, though Ace may have hidden his spell component pouch on his person.
This means you guys can't cast any spells until you retrieve it.
Sun Xiao |
Example of a post with an Alias for Dual.
Edit: There seems to be some mild confusion on how the rolls are gonna work. Allow me to further example-ify.
Sun Xiao wakes up in the hold with a pounding headache and a weird taste on his tongue.
Perception: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (5) + 23 = 28
But he has no idea what it is.
Kn. Nature (Untrained, so can't make DCs higher than 10: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Just then, Scourge walks into the room with a pair of cronies.
Sun Xiao beats them all three of them to death with a single blow.
To-Hit 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (12) + 21 = 33
To-Hit1d20 + 21 ⇒ (19) + 21 = 40
To-Hit1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32
To-Hit1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28
1d8 + 33 ⇒ (8) + 33 = 41
1d8 + 31 ⇒ (5) + 31 = 36
1d8 + 31 ⇒ (2) + 31 = 33
1d8 + 31 ⇒ (1) + 31 = 32
And then escapes the ship because he's level 13 and has wings. FIN
See? Intersperse your die rolls with your explanations so there's not just a lump of die rolls somewhere.
Alternately, put them in spoiler tags and label them properly, in order, at the bottom of the page, out of sight. So teh above would look more like this:
Sun Xiao wakes up in the hold with a pounding headache and a weird taste on his tongue.
But he has no idea what it is.
Just then, Scourge walks into the room with a pair of cronies.
Sun Xiao beats them all three of them to death with a single blow.
And then escapes the ship because he's level 13 and has wings. FIN
Dice Rolls:Perception:1d20 + 23 ⇒ (13) + 23 = 36
Kn. Nature (Untrained, so can't make DCs higher than 10: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
To-Hit 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (10) + 21 = 31
To-Hit1d20 + 21 ⇒ (17) + 21 = 38
To-Hit1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29
To-Hit1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 211d8 + 33 ⇒ (8) + 33 = 41
1d8 + 31 ⇒ (7) + 31 = 38
1d8 + 31 ⇒ (3) + 31 = 34
1d8 + 31 ⇒ (7) + 31 = 38
This is, of course, the most barebones kind of description. I hope for a bit more from you guys so we can keep this interesting. Humorous is fine, but this is NOT going to be like the silly storylines on the other forum like what Bernk wrote.
Rynjin |
Start from where we are, but gimme your thoughts on the events. You need your character to be involved, personally, for this to work. And find Doop and yell at him for me.
We'll need at least 1 post a day from each of you (on average) if we're gonna keep this train a rollin'.
Rynjin |
I'm gonna give you guys a map of the Wormwood and the name of each of the areas. This adventure is somewhat sandboxy as far as what you do when you're not at your duties, so knowing where everything is is important so you can tell me what you're up to and where at times of the day.
A1: Foredeck
A2: Poop deck
A3: Main deck
A4: Officer's Quarters
A4a: Armory
A4b: Peppery Longfarthing's Laboratory
A5: Captain's Cabin
A5a: Harrigan's Cabin Girl's Quarters
A5b: Captain's Storage
A6: Middle Hold
A7: Quartermaster (Grok) and Cook's (Kroop) Cabin
A8: Galley
A9: Quartermaster's Store
A10: Lower Hold and Crew Berths
A11: Bilges
Also, I have some pictures of other crew members I forgot to put in the post.
And, in addition to your work, you have a number of actions you can take as you interact with the crew. One during the day, and one at night (with a further one you may take after midnight at risk of being fatigued the next day).
-Work Diligently: Gain a +4 on any one check for a job's daily task.
-Influence: Make normal checks for a job's daily task and attempt to influence a single NPC (ex: Influencing Grok to get your gear back with Diplomacy, making friends with other crew members, etc.)
-Sneak: Make normal checks for a job's daily task and can explore one area of the ship. Can make a single Perception or other skill check with no chance of detection (ex: Explore an area to find treasure or usable items).
-Shop: Take -2 on all checks for a job's daily task to visit the store and buy or sell gear.
-Shirk: Take -2 on all checks for a job's daily task to explore one area of the ship. Can take 10 on Perception or other skill check but must make another check to avoid being caught.
-Sleep: Go to bed early and sleep through the night (recover from Fatigue).
-Gamble: Play a game of chance with the pirates.
-Entertain: Make a Perform check to entertain the crew.
-Influence: Attempt to influence a single NPC.
-Sneak: Take time exploring one area of the ship. You can take 20 on a single Perception check or other skill check, but must make a check to avoid being discovered.
-Steal: Attempt to open a locked door or locker. You must make a check to avoid being discovered.
You may take your Daytime actions now, and Nighttime actions after dinner.
Rynjin |
There seems to be some confusion over how Take 10 works.
Take 10 is ONLY for skill checks. So no, you may not Take 10 on your saves, attack rolls, or anything else besides skill checks.
In addition, you may not Take 10 in dangerous or distracting scenarios. On a hostile pirate ship among the hustle and bustle that entails...no. You may not Take 10 on your job checks.
So, to answer Dual's questions in order:
Dex check: No. A Dex check is NOT a skill check, and therefore Take 10 does not apply.
Fort save: No. Ditto above.
The Perception check for exploring Longfarthing's lab: YES. It is a skill check, and therefore qualifies in the right circumstances. You are exploring the area, explicitly with no chance of detection. There is no danger or distraction to prevent you from Taking 10.
Rynjin |
So one of my GMs (the one for the Postapocthulhu game) creates an alias for every enemy (or enemy type...so like 4 of the same guy would still be one post) and uses that to post as them, to give it a little bit more flavor (and also break up the rolls, or at least that's a side effect).
Would you guys like it if I started doing that?
It'd go something like this:
Rynjin |
And it'd go for dialogue too. So I'd have one for Scourge, one for Harrigan, and so on. Maybe not the most minor people or non-recurring one shot enemies, but it might add a little somethin' if I started doing this, or it might not.
Rynjin |
B1: Main Deck
B2: Foredeck
B3: Aft Deck
B4: Sterncastle
B5: Ship's Boats
B6: Officer's Quarters (Scourge and Plugg's loyal pirates sleep here, along with Rosie and Sandra)
B6a: Officer's Storage
B7: Captain's Cabin (Owlbear guards it...not an issue since for Cyrdic you're friends)
B7a: Captain's Storage
B8: Middle Deck and Armory
B9: Crew Berths
B10: Galley
B11: Cook's Cabin
B12: Main Hold
B13: Secure Storage
By using a Day or Night Action you can explore one of these areas.
Rynjin |
Rynjin |
To clear up any questions about Scourge (though you may have deduced this already).
Dual's Alchemist Fire dropped him to 0 HP. He was then Staggered.
He decided to play dead, in the hopes of getting away if you guys thought he was done for. He used Bluff for this (hence why I asked for a Sense Motive check, Dual).
He had a Readied action to attack the first enemy he saw that came into his boat. Due to Slickjaw's amazing stealth, Scourge was unable to see him until he dropped Stealth, which he did when he tried to Coup de Grace. I decided to allowed him to "re-target" with a normal attack instead of letting Scourge's Readied Action go off, followed by an AoO for the Coup de Grace attempt, because frankly it seemed like a bit of a cheap shot and didn't seem like it'd be any fun for anybody.
Rynjin |
Rynjin |
Gotcher. Also, I just remembered something I wanted to run by y'all. A Loooong time ago I came across someone's variant rules and they had a neat one for traps that makes them more interesting (not more dangerous, just more interesting). I Favorited and promptly forgot about it.
I was looking through my Favorites earlier for another post and I cam eback across it.
Tell me what you think, whether we want to run it as-is or if this sounds more appealing.
Traps are a problematic in Pathfinder. They are mostly a nuisance rather than an obstacle or an encounter. It's a problem that needs some rectification. At the same time, completely rewriting the trap rules will require rewriting the rogue, and the trap stat-block. Troublesome.
So I've come up with a solution that uses some existing rules but also still lets trap-finders shine, while keeping other characters invested.
The Rule
When a trap activates, everyone in the area gets a Perception check vs the Perception DC of the trap, characters with Trap Sense may add this as a bonus to the Perception check. Those that succeed may act in the surprise round (roll initiative as normal characters with Trap Sense add their Trap Sense bonus to this Initiative Roll). The trap always acts on an initiative count of 10 + CR.
The players who succeeded on the Perception check now have a surprise round to act before the trap activates. Characters who passed the perception check know where the trap was triggered, and where the trap is likely to effect.
A character with Disable Device can attempt to Disable the trap in this surprise round by taking a -5 penalty to do the action hastily. A particularly complex trap may require a -10 penalty at the GM's discretion. A character with the Fast Disable talent may ignore this penalty (or take only a -5 penalty for particularly complex traps at the GM's discretion).
The Rule in Play
Merisiel, Amiri, Kyra and Seoni are exploring the Catacombs of Whut in Osirion (they are 5th level). They come across a chest, with weird writing on it which Seoni translates as the treasure of Keftet, the Quartz Prince.
The chest is trapped with a Falling Block Trap (CR 5).Merisiel takes a 10 on her Perception Check, and identifies the trap, and the trigger (opening the Sarcophagus). She decides to Disable the Trap, except now horrid scarabs are crawling through cracks in the wall and floors (distracting the Rogue). Unable to take 10, she needs to roll,, and sadly gets a natural 1, even with her bonus she has failed the check by 5 or more accidentally activating the trap.
Perception checks are rolled: Amiri, Merisiel and Kyra all succeed vs DC 20. Seoni, still distracted by the crawling scarabs does not realize the danger she's in.
Initiative is rolled:
Amiri rolls a 20 for a total of 23 (including her Trap Sense bonus of +1)
Merisiel rolls a 10 for a total of 19 (including her Trap sense bonus of +1).
Kyra also rolls a 10 for a total of 9.
Seoni does not get to act in the Surprise Round.
The Falling Block goes on initiative 15.Amiri goes first, with Seoni oblivious she tackles the sorcerer out of the danger zone.
Merisiel tries to disable the device, knowing the noise of a falling rock might attract attention (taking a -5 penalty), she needs an 11 plus. She rolls 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19, poorly.The Block has its turn:
It attacks the two targets - Merisiel (Not flat-footed thanks to Uncanny Dodge, and having acted in the surprise round: AC = 19). Falling Block 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21 and Kyra (heavily armoured as she is she has an AC of 20), the falling block rolls 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (10) + 15 = 25.
Ouch! Both girls take 6d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 6, 2, 2, 5) = 23 damage, and the Mummies in the next room get a Perception check to hear the commotion.
Compare that to Regular Play
A trap gets triggered, the GM makes a couple of attack rolls, then some damage rolls and that's that. The players get pinged for damage due to one bad roll and we move on to the next encounter.
The party doesn't get to make any decisions of their own. This rule adds gameplay, and choice and that's the heart of good role-playing and exciting encounters.
Taking 10 and Taking 20
Another useful thing is the Take 10 and Take 20 rules. Rather than making your player roll (or roll in secret) insist that they can either take 10 or take 20 to search for or disable traps. Now whenever the player chooses to take 20, warn them that there is a chance of a Random Encounter (I say 25%, increasing by 20% every time the player takes 20). The more time players take in the dungeon the more of a chance a monster might stumble across them. Again this is about choice, do you take a cursory look over everything and risk failing against a particularly nasty trap, or do you take your time and risk alerting the dungeon to your presence?
Now for this to work it means you occasionally need to throw in traps of a much higher CR (APL +2 or +3) at the party. That way the players don't automatically spot every trap they stumble across. If the Rogue player has thrown everything they have into Perception (racial bonus, plus skill focus and alertness etc) then don't punish that player. They have spent resources to be great at the trap finding niche, let them take their 10s to find traps even beyond the normal range. Disabling such traps are still a tricky endeavour.
The only time you want the PCs to roll is if they are stressed or distracted. Disabling a trap to continue down a corridor because you're being chased by a raging ogre requires a roll. Disabling a trap while holding your breath underwater requires a roll.
Otherwise the character should take 10 or take 20.
Rynjin |
Okay, so, I know a guy who wants to join a Skull & Shackles game. I've played with him before (one I'm in currently, though he left before I joined and just came back), and one a friend of mine was running, and he's running a game I'm in right now too.
Would you guys be averse to a 4th player?
Jrahk Lacertus |
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