DM Fatespinner's page

He's taking a whack at Morn from behind...surprise? Flank? I'm sure you'll tell me :-)

Well, actually, Shador is the closest person to you. HE'S the one with his back to you and he's facing off against Morn (who is thusly FACING you). Perhaps in his sleep-deprived state (and given his tall height), he simply overlooks the short dwarf and hits the first thing close to eye level then? That's how I'll run it...

Torbjorn thunders up to the melee, warhammer held high as he charges. Morn is distracted from his battle with Shador for only an instant and, in that instant, the mighty skald lands a crushing blow on Morn's shoulder, missing his head by mere inches. The force of the blow causes him to cry out in pain, nearly falling to one knee from the impact. The sickening crunch of bone gives testament to the big man's power.

Hit! 9 damage!

Oh, and in terms of PrCs, would the Purple Dragon Knight still work as a Paladin?

Absolutely. In fact, the example in the Complete Warrior IS a paladin turned PDK. And yes, the Complete Warrior PDK is the same as the Faerun one (or close enough, anyway, and the Faerun one hasn't been updated for 3.5).

As far as where you would have heard of the PDKs, anyone who's even set foot in Cormyr knows about the knights. They're the pride of Cormyr and a highly pervasive military presence just about anywhere you go in the country. Your character might be a knight just about to finish their training (since you're only a couple levels away from qualifying for the PrC) and your commander thinks it would be a good idea for you to get some 'field experience' before you officially join the ranks.

With regards to the mount: Mounted Combat is a prereq for the PrC. However, if you want to give up your paladin mount for the charging variant, I wouldn't blame you. I wouldn't expect to see much opportunity for mounted combat in this game (since most of the time you'll be trudging through places that a horse would NEVER go into and wouldn't really be useful even if it did) but it may come into play occassionally. You might want to just purchase a regular horse with your gold, though I wouldn't necessarily pick one up with your starting gold at the beginning of the campaign here. I think you can hold off on buying the mount for a few levels. You could certainly still have the feat since the PDKs would have been training you all along to fight in such a way, but it might not see much use until later. As for Negotiator, I would have no problem awarding that to you as your free DM feat. It has no prereqs and it's in the PHB. Go for it.

Andante: Regarding deities, all the ones you just named are followed in some capacity by the people of Cormyr. Lathander is the most prominent (and most likely to work for the charismatic paladin as well if you wanted to be members of the same faith) with Tymora in a close second. A priestess of Selune would be a very cool thing from a roleplaying aspect, since I have yet to really see one of the moon priestesses played in one of my games. Deneir would be the 'underdog' pick since his worship is somewhat more limited than the others you listed, but that simply means that there will be more people to tell about the glory of your god!

Sham, for your paladin, I would recommend Lathander for the charismatic leader-type concept. You could also choose Helm if you wanted someone more stern and uncompromising. Lathanderites tend to be jovial and good-natured while followers of Helm are much more dour and realistic. Helm is Lawful Neutral, Lathander is Neutral Good.

DM Fatespinner wrote:

Once the first round resolves, people can declare for the second, etc. etc.

Yes this is what I meant. One round at a time, everyone just post one round's actions and you resolve all in initiative order. If someone's post no longer applies (ie their intended target is dead) you make the call on shifting the attck to remaining foes or the like at your descrection.

Anyway, food for thought.

Yeah, I think we'll do it this way from now on. Go ahead and just declare your intended action when I declare a new round whenever you get the chance and, if something invalidates your option, I will adjust your action accordingly. If I cannot perceive an appropriate option for you, I may put the round on hold until I get confirmation from the player (but I will keep this to a minimum).

Well then, if no one has any chest pain over it, I'm going to go with a Human Illusionist. I'll try and get him done over the next two days when I have access to my FR books. No concept as of yet as I want to reread up on Cormyr tomorrow, but a name I think I have: Anain Cuthnor (or somesuch).

Sounds good. Folks, we have our arcanist. This should make Sham's choice easier. ;)

Edit: Also, Sham, it seems that Andante is leaning towards a cleric. If you still wish to play a paladin, I think the two of you should work out your respective deities (perhaps even being from the same faith?) to make sure that you will both be able to perform your duties without too much overlap or religious conflict. If you prefer, of course, you could always go with the Purple Dragon Knight suggestion above... or something else entirely! :D

D'oh! I'm a bad DM. Berzeral, I forgot to include your Favored Enemy bonus into the damage you dealt to Kaja (she really IS human!). You hit her for EIGHT damage, not six. :D

I'm going to take a look at the character creation information you've provided for our use, but is there anything I should know before I begin? I think I'm leaning the most heavily toward a cleric. Anyway, just wanted to get a post in to let you know I'm lurkin' about. :D

This game is going to be largely focused in the areas in and surrounding the nation of Cormyr. Wilderness travel will occur fairly often, ancient ruins will be visited and explored, various mysteries will be revealed. Really, there are very few concepts that WOULDN'T work in this campaign, but having a pool of knowledge to draw on should be very useful.

My recommendation is this: Play up the Knowledges that you receive in-class. The Scout has Geography and Dungeoneering taken care of. The cleric could handle Religion and the Planes. A wizard might have Arcana and History covered. A paladin or knight could invest in Nobility and Royalty. You don't necessarily need to hit ALL the Knowledges (Local probably won't get used terribly often, but Architecture might pop up when you least expect it) but having a wide variety available to you is always a good thing.

If it's cool with everyone ('specially Fatespinner), I think I'll go with an illusionist or diviner wizard. I'm thinking human or half elf.

Either one sounds good to me. If you head down the Diviner route, you'll line yourself up nicely for the Loremaster PrC that I was speaking to Sham about. Of course, as a wizard, you should have a nice assortment of Knowledge skills anyway, so the PrC might not be necessary. Also, if you decide on a specialist wizard, take a look at the Master Specialist PrC in the Complete Mage. At level 4, you could already have your first level of it and, later on, it makes playing a specialist all the more interesting.

I'm not trying to say that a Loremaster is ESSENTIAL to this campaign, mind you. There will be a need for various Knowledges throughout the campaign but, if some of them are beyond the reach of the PCs, then NPCs can be sought out to deliver the information you seek. Having a Loremaster will make things easier, I think, but I don't want anyone to feel like I'm demanding that someone play a specific PrC.

1. Telvar (modified background) since he is entirely 100% focussed on knowledge and seems to fit in every other way. I would like to email you his info and background to see what you think. He is already done other than the level raises if you like this option. What emails should I send it to?

I'll take a look at him if you want. My personal e-mail address is zackthestguy@gmail.com. Anyone else in the campaign is welcome to contact me there as well.

2. I could play the Palidan suggested. Here is my question: Would a 4th level Palidan with scores of (using the 32 pt buy and 1 at 4th level) Str: 12 Int: 16 (for knowledge skill points probably) Wis: 14 Dex: 10 Con: 10 Cha: 16 be too off the beaten path to survive in the campaign of the mighty Fatespinner? ;)

Despite my grandstanding to the contrary, I'm not really a 'killer DM' but I'm no softy either. As a paladin, you would likely end up as the main 'tank' for the group and it would probably serve the group best if you angled yourself more towards filling that role and not necessarily trying to cover BOTH the role of 'tank' AND the role of 'loremaster' at the same time. Paladin class skills are pretty limited anyway, so a high Intelligence still won't make you a sage.

3. I could play a bard or specialist wizard with the knowledge focus and move towards the loremaster mentioned above.

A bard would be very useful. My wife and I have pinned down all but the equipment of her character and right now she has very high scores in Survival, Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Geography), Spot, Search, Listen, Hide, Move Silently, and Tumble. While she is certainly very 'dungeon-capable,' she lacks more cosmopolitan skills that a bard would bring to the table (Diplomacy, Bluff, Sense Motive, etc.). However, I think you would cover the social skills accurately as a paladin as well (Sense Motive and Diplomacy, anyway) and those skills would not detract from your ability to be a main fighter-type either. Wizard into Loremaster, of course, will cover ALL of your knowledge needs and eliminate the need for anyone else to focus their characters on Knowledge skills.

Reviewing your 'alternate' stat build for the paladin, I think he would make a fine paladin but I would also recommend perhaps switching the scores for Intelligence and Constitution. Paladins tend to be defensive by nature and more hit points means living longer. If you decide to go with a paladin, I wouldn't concern yourself too much with the Knowledge stuff. I'm sure that with all the various characters combined, your collected knowledge should be sufficient.

Another thing you might consider is a Knight from the PHB2. Cormyr is world-famous for it's Purple Dragon Knights, who represent paragons of guardianship and virtue. They're really almost like paladins in their own right, except devoted to a nation rather than a deity. There is a Faerun-specific PrC called, unsurprisingly, the Purple Dragon Knight. It features lots of bard-like inspiration abilities that boost your allies in combat while still keeping the nature of being a 'knight in shining armor.' The Purple Dragon Knights are universally lawful, and almost always good as well.

Round Two
Initiative order: Torbjorn, Kaja, Morn, Shador, Berzeral, Othos.
FIGHT!

Shador's deceptive blade thrusts in towards Morn's midsection but Morn quickly crosses his twin blades just above the rapier's point and pushes the blow further down than the dwarf intended, sending the weapon's tip harmlessly into the floorboards. Shador recovers quickly, and Morn's face resumes his cocky smirk as he prepares his next attack.

Your attack missed... BARELY. I did account for your flanking bonus, but it wasn't quite enough.

Just a suggestion:

It may be best if people post their actions in any order, being clear about what they are doing. The attacks are then executed in initiative order and if one attack succeeds in altering the battlefield, the remaining attacks/actions are adjusted to the next most logical target for the attacker.

Yes, I will probably adopt a system like this one but, since our posters in this game tend to respond pretty frequently (which is awesome!) I will keep things limited to one round at a time. Once the first round resolves, people can declare for the second, etc. etc.

Thanks for the advice though! I will take it to heart!

With apologies to initiative order, I'll cast Daze on Morn on my turn, before returning to previously scheduled events. I keep casting defensively, trusting my excellent Concentration skill to save me from trouble

Okay, I will hold off on advancing further until I hear from Shador.

Ugh. I seem to be a mess. Any suggestions based on others or the game we head into?

Sorry to be a little foggy, but that seems to be me today. (could have something to do with our 3 year old emptying a glue bottle on himself and all his stuff at 4am).

Not a problem, as a fellow parent, I understand completely.

So far, only one character has been determined (my wife's Scout). While my evil campaign is very heavily urban, this game will be less so. There will be some light dungeon-crawling (I'm not a big fan of large, maze-like dungeons personally), plenty of traipsing through the wilderness, and quite a bit of lore-seeking. A bard or wizard with intentions to proceed into a Loremaster PrC eventually would be very cool, as would a cleric of some knowledge-oriented deity (like Oghma or Azuth). Cormyr is a very heavily human-populated nation, but there are a few families of elves scattered about and, given the fact that Cormanthor is not far away (where LOTS of elves live), an elf or half-elf is completely likely.

Of course, you could always just play a paladin.....

For everyone's info: My wife has decided to go with a human Scout. I will be working with her to get the character created this afternoon. The 'skill-monkey' slot is officially filled. :)

I don't want to be a bother, but can you give me some more information on how to setup a character sheet on Lilith's website? When I click on the link to get over there (from your post in the FtB character discussion), it sends me to the Paizo home page.

Yeah, that link has been problematic. This one should work correctly, however.

Once you get to the main page, simply type your character's name into the 'Search' box on the left side of the page and hit Enter. It will bring up a window that says "this page has not been created yet" and there will be a link you can click to create the page. Once there, you can simply type out your character sheet accordingly. I would recommend finding one of the character sheets from my Fade to Black game, clicking on 'Edit,' highlighting all the text there, copy it, then go to your own page, paste it into the Edit window, and change the information accordingly. That way, the formatting is already done for you. You just need to fill it in appropriately. (Please make sure you don't accidentally delete one of my players' character sheets, though. That would make us all very unhappy.)

An example of one of the character sheets can be found here.

I will post Othos's action as well, again with the caveat that retconning may be necessary if Shador gets involved in this particular battle:
Othos assumes a defensive posture as he looses the will of Shar upon Kaja's fragile mind, forcing her to the ground with a look of helplessness in her eyes.
Command does not take effect until the creature's next action, so until Kaja's turn in the initiative order next round, she will still be standing. You can see her beginning to kneel, however, and thus you are aware that your spell has succeeded.

While this is technically taking place after Shador's action in the initiative order, I feel that Shador will likely be engaging Morn and thus will not be affecting this particular melee. This post may need to be retconned if I'm assuming incorrectly, but I will post the reply now anyway:

Approaching from behind in his monstrous form, Berzeral rakes his claws across Kaja's exposed flesh. She cries out in pain, whipping around to face him with a look of utter horror in her eyes as her own blood spatters upon the floorboards.

Since you attacked from behind, I will not allow her to pierce the illusion this round. You successfully struck her for 6 damage.

Oh yeah, THIS outta be fun...

Nice, Torbjorn rolls a natural 20 on initiative and will go at the top of next round (after Shador, Othos, and Berzeral have taken their actions in this round). FYI for Phil: Torbjorn is currently standing 30 feet behind Shador. You do not have a direct line to charge anyone, but due to your speed of 40 ft, you may move and attack Morn or move past Morn to attack Kaja (who is another 10 feet away) but taking an attack of opportunity from Morn as you pass. Alternately, if you are so inclined, you COULD attack Othos and/or Shador as well. Berzeral is currently too far away to reach with a single move action.

Of all times, I need to be offline for a few hours - this how I act if it becomes necessary to speed things up a little: Initially, I delay my action, moving me after Berzeral on the initiative list. I then cast the "fall" Command on Kaja - or on Morn if Berzeral gets to drop her right away. I cast defensively - initial concentration check roll is 12+8=20.

No problem. I'm not usually around on weekends at all (this is a rare treat!) so no need to apologize. I have noted your action and your initiative will drop to 9 for the remainder of this combat. Also, for future notice, I'll handle the Concentration checks. Simply let me know you're casting defensively and I'll take care of the rest. :)

I quite nearly wet myself reading this:

Pausing the briefest instant to listen, he clearly heard the sounds of combat mere feet away. Throwing the door wide, Torbjorn took two steps into the hall, hammer at the ready...and as buck naked as the day he was born.

(Emphasis mine.)

Best.
Post.
EVER.

Bastards! Do we roll our own combat rolls, or do you take care of that? Also, can I critically hit with a cause light wounds spell? I've always wondered about that...

I'll handle the combat rolls, just detail the action you're taking and indicate in OOC text what you are trying to accomplish mechanically. Once I've determined whether an attack hits or misses, I will detail the results of the attack. Just leave off your description at the point where the action starts "Othos chants and fills his hands with negative energy, extending his grasp towards Kaja..." and I'll detail the results "Othos connects with her wrist and sends a jolt of black energy through her veins...". If you are imposing any special attacks (Combat Expertise, casting defensively, Power Attack, so on) let me know in the OOC text so that I account for it.

And yes, you can critically hit with inflict spells. They require a touch attack to hit and threaten a critical on natural 20.

@ Grim:

I just checked the item and the corresponding spell in the PHB and yes, doing such a thing would be within the scope of the item's capability. However, anyone who you enter melee with will get a Will save to disbelieve the effect since the tactile sensations they receive while in combat with you won't quite 'match up' to the truth. The save DC will only be 11, however, since the spell level in question is 1st and the minimum Intelligence needed to cast the spell is 11 (which infers no bonus). Until the illusion is pierced, however, I would give you a +2 on Intimidate checks for such an obviously threatening form.

FYI: Torbjorn has succeeded at the Listen check to be awakened by the sounds of combat. Phil, if you wish to act, you can spend a full-round action getting out of bed, grabbing your weapon, and entering the hallway. I will insert you into the initiative order at that point (next round) if you wish to join in.

Morn's turn:
Morn casually steps forward to square off against the dwarf, a wicked grin on his face. He appears to show little fear in exposing his back to Othos as he deftly makes two slashes at Shador with his kukris. The first slash cuts into Shador's magically enhanced armor but does not penetrate and the other slash is easily turned aside by a timely parry from Shador's rapier, sending the weapon into a wide arc.

Both attacks miss. Morn is flanked by Othos and Shador and is occupying the space that Kaja was in before she disappeared and reappeared behind Othos. Since the hallway is only 10 feet wide, attempting to move past Morn will result in attacks of opportunity without a successful Tumble check.

Kaja's turn:
The dark-skinned human woman turns as if beginning to flee when her material form suddenly shimmers and disappears, leaving Shador and Othos completely perplexed for an instant. Only a split-second later, the woman materializes behind Othos and sinks the blade into his shoulder, biting through his magical armor and digging into the flesh beneath.

Othos takes 15 damage from Kaja's attack. Yeowch! She occupies the space behind Othos now, providing a tempting target for Berzeral's charge...

Kaja's eyes go wide. She had certainly not expected the dwarf to have such knowledge of their ways. Perhaps she had underestimated this group. Regardless, she sneers at the dwarf and readies her weapon just as the door opens to reveal Morn, awake and alert, wielding a pair of kukri and clearly ready for battle (though he is unarmored).
Starting Combat.

Initiative is in the following order: Kaja, Morn, Shador, Othos and Berzeral.

Kaja is occupying the space directly in front of the door. The door is currently open and Morn is standing just inside it. To Kaja's left is Othos, to her right is Shador. Berzeral is standing 10 feet behind Othos at the point where the hallway makes a 90 degree turn. Shador's voice has evidently woken the other sleepers within Morn's room... and possibly others.

This will be the discussion thread for my upcoming Cormyr game in the Forgotten Realms.

I cast Detect magic and scan the group until the door opens - then I scan whoever opens it. As an added benefit, this also shows me if my friends have any magical stuff. :P

Three full rounds elapse as the stirring inside continues and Berzeral finds himself a good ambushing spot. Your arcane awareness brings the following items to your attention: Shador's rapier and armor, Berzeral's wolf cowl, ring, and armor, Kaja's cloak and bracers, and your own magical equipment. You can also detect a few auras contained within the belts worn by Kaja and Shador. You recognize them as potion belts and you detect 4 auras on Kaja's belt and 3 auras on Shador's. All of these things register very weak magical auras.

So....

Are you looking for someone to replace Gimble? <g>

Gimble was actually replaced by Shador awhile back. He's just being NPC'd until I find an appropriate time to be rid of him... one way or another. :)

Don't worry, Stunty, if an opening presents itself, you'll be the first to know. Lich-Loved jumped in when Gimble first bowed out, though, so he got the slot. I appreciate the interest, though! It means I'm doing a decent enough job that people are still reading!

I just seem to remember that in the post where she is introduced, it was sorta emphasised that when she walks out into the torrential rain and then comes back in, her cloak did not get wet. Of course, that could mean just about anything...

I actually intended to cast Detect magic before we entered the tavern and then taking a look around, but I forgot... :(

It wasn't that it DIDN'T get wet, it just didn't get AS WET as the weather suggested.

Kudos to you for paying attention, though! As for detect magic, there's nothing stopping you from casting it right now...

really, the only thing I know about her is that she seems to own a magical cloak.

Hmmm... really? Is that because it has embroidery on it? Because, let me tell you, if all the embroidered stuff in my house was MAGICAL, I'd have an epic amount of wealth on my hands. :)

The moral: Jumping to conclusions is a bad idea, especially with a scheming bastard like me for a DM.

On the other hand, you MIGHT be right...

For what it is worth, she makes me rather nervous, too. I do not approve of scimitar-wielding loose cannons within striking distance of my precious skin. I'm keeping a very close eye on her...

Hehe. You never know how deadly she might be. Is she a level 1 Expert who talks a good fight? Is she a level 12 rogue/fighter/assassin who could kill you all in a blinding flash of steel? You never know....

There is an alternate use for the Sense Motive skill in the Complete Warrior (I think) which allows a character to approximate the threat level of someone they witness. I believe they have to actually see that person in combat before they use the skill, however, and none of you have yet seen what she is capable of.

Incidently (and not that it really matters much), the key that Berzeral has is for room 9, which is also the room he left the body of the half-orc in (though only Berzeral knows anything about the half-orc's fate at this point). FYI if it matters to anyone.

Torbjorn and Helg are currently sleeping in room 4, which is about 40 feet away, near the staircase.

Berzeral is actually a little bit scared of Kaja! That's amazing! I enjoy being able to see the attitudes and motivations of the characters through such descriptive text. It proves that, though he may APPEAR to be a powerful and unyielding monster, Berzeral acknowledges threats to his well-being and is capable of being unnerved. I always kind of hated how a lot of people in tabletop games will play their characters as unswervingly brave and strong, even in the face of insurmountable odds. There's a line between bravery and stupidity. A lot of people don't seem to realize when they've crossed it. I'm glad to see that everyone here does. :)

Excellent stuff, guys! Keep up the good work!

Kaja nods curtly to Shador and leads the group upstairs to where the tavern's patrons are resting for the night. The hallway is faintly lit by a lantern hanging at the top of the stairwell and another at the far end of the hall. It is apparent that the hallway makes a 90-degree turn towards the front of the building and, judging from the illumination provided by a flash of lightning outside, that leg of the hallway ends in a window of some sort. The hallway is 10 feet wide with numerous doors on either side and extends for 60 feet from the stairwell before making the 90-degree left turn. Based on the size and shape of the building, one could assume that the other leg of the hallway is likely 40 feet long before reaching the window at the end.

Kaja glances over her shoulder to keep tabs on the group's position as she leads them past several rooms before finally arriving at a door marked '14' only 10 feet from the hallway's left turn. On the other side, the faint sound of someone snoring can be heard along with the even fainter sounds of two other sleepers' breathing. Kaja glances at Othos, raising her eyebrows and sighing, before rapping on the door with the pommel of her sword.

The snoring stops almost immediately and quiet stirring can be heard within the room. The two other sleepers continue their rhythmic breathing, apparently unawakened.

For Shador's eyes only:

Gimble nods and takes his place by the door, hiding close to the inside wall and becoming utterly consumed by the shadows there. Kaja stares intently at Othos as he makes his request.

"I'll keep my blade, thank you. No sense in escorting a group of armed men while unarmed. Besides, what do you have to fear? You do outnumber me, after all." A tiny smirk starts at the corner of her mouth, but it goes no further than that.

Behind the bar you can see dozens of wooden mugs, plates, and eating utensils along with a small iron box that hosts a rather impressive-looking padlock, presumably the cash till. You also see numerous bottles of spirits and several kegs of ale tapped at the bottom. Along the back wall, some 20 feet from the stairwell, you can see the entrance to the kitchen. It is extremely dark, however, and you can discern no detail beyond the threshold. If there is a back door to this establishment, it must be back there somewhere. There are no apparent trapdoors, but a more thorough investigation would be needed to reveal such things if they were hidden.

Tonight is my tabletop game, and thus I will not be around to post until about 1am EDT Friday morning (late Thursday night). If things get ugly with Kaja, I will back my new friends up, moving to flank before striking if possible. If she backs down, all the better...

Oh and damn Grimcleaver, your character is intense! Keep up the good work!

No problem, it looks like the situation may have been defused for the moment. Of course, the party's willingness (or unwillingness) to compromise may very well ignite the spirit of hostility again if you aren't careful.

After Shador speaks, Kaja casts her glance to the others in the room and finally realizes what had fallen from Berzeral's neck. While she does an admirable job of maintaining her steely composure, the fear in her eyes is noticable.

She sneers at Shador and eases her grip on her weapons slightly, still not willing to disarm completely.

"I will bring him down for you, but I will not have you disturbing the other guests. We have made enough noise already."

She lets her statement settle as she looks again to the severed hands. Berzeral picks them up and restores them to their rightful place around his neck. Kaja swallows hard and nervously awaits a reply from the group, her eyes darting in the direction of possible escape routes. The room is briefly illuminated by a flash of lightning in the distance, casting myriad shadows all over the tavern hall.

Nice rolls going on here. Very smooth.

RE: Combat in this campaign.

When someone is possessed of the motivation to attack a monster or NPC in this campaign, please make an OOC note at the end of the post IMMEDIATELY BEFORE you intend to start combat if the opponent is aware of your presence. This will trigger me to roll initiatives for everyone and declare the initiative order. Once I declare the initiative order, I expect everyone to post their actions according to the initiative order and not get out of sequence.

For example, if Othos wanted to start combat with Kaja, he should make a post along the lines of:
"No, I'm afraid we won't be leaving. We have far too many questions and we'll not be walking away without answers." Starting combat.

Then I would follow up with an initiative post and everyone would act accordingly. Since Kaja is aware of your presence, you are not able to surprise her.

If the enemy is NOT aware of your presence, you may go ahead and take your attack action against them. Once the 'surprise round' is resolved, I will post the initiative order and we will continue as stated previously.

If an NPC decides to take hostile action against you, I will simply declare that combat is starting and post the initiative order. If you are unaware of them, I will simply post an attack and then the initiative order.

Hopefully this will prevent things from getting too chaotic. Thanks!

Yup, I'll take care of the rolls for you. :)
Kaja levels her gaze at Othos, raising an eyebrow and putting herself in a somewhat more defensive stance. After an moment's silence, she narrows her eyes.

"I think you should leave. I'll let Morn know someone was looking for him in the morning. You should really come back during our normal business hours if you mean to speak with our patrons."

Her voice has a hostile edge to it, and her hand rests comfortably on the hilt of her scimitar while the other clutches the grip of the crossbow in her lap.

Kaja's Intimidate check result: 19. Because I do not enforce mechanics on PCs for NPC Intimidation, simply behave accordingly (and being intimidated does not necessarily mean you aren't bold or desperate enough to attack her anyway). She is quite noticably hostile at this point. It is safe to assume your spell has failed. Othos, you are still 10 feet from her, separated by the table. The other party members are 15 feet away.

*rolls dice behind the screen*

Kaja quirks a brow at the group as they enter, sighing at Berzeral's overeager distraction. When approached by Othos, she responds.

"Let me check the register," she sets her first book on the table, reaches down beside her chair and produces a large bound tome from a leather sack which she opens and scans through several pages before replying. "Looks like room fourteen, but he's likely sleeping. I will let him know when he comes down in the morning that you were looking for him if you'd like. Which rooms will you all be staying in tonight?"

All the while, Kaja keeps her eyes trained on the group, watching for any sudden movements or obvious attempts at deception. As you get closer, you can see a finely honed scimitar resting beside her and a small hand crossbow, loaded, in her lap.

Othos: You are uncertain of whether your spell has succeeded or not.

Depending on Shador's choice of words and the successfulness (or necessity) of Othos's charm spell, we may very well be headed into our first real fight of the campaign! I can't wait!

Blood! Carnage! Plot development! HUZZAH!!!

FYI, in case anyone wants to do anything crazy, Kaja is currently seated 15 feet from the entrance behind a table. There are numerous other tables strewn about as well, but all of the them EXCEPT for Kaja's table have overturned chairs on top of them. This means that the path to Kaja is sufficiently obstructed to prevent a charge and also gives her light cover (+2 AC) against ranged attacks. The other tables are cluttered enough with the chairs that tumbling or jumping over them would be impossible, but crawling under them would be possible (a full-round action for you Medium-sized folks, a move action if you succeed at a DC 15 Tumble check or if you happen to be a Halfling).

Wow, NONE of you have ranks in Sense Motive, fun stuff. Fortunately, Othos rolled high on an untrained check and is thusly allowed to view the spoiler.

I've just been sensing a slowdown across the board in all the games I've been in on here. It's fine and I'm okay with it. Games have a rythm. People get excited about a game, post a whole bunch, and then interest slacks off a bit--and it either picks up again or the game dies off. That's just how it goes. I post when the game has new posts, and that's pretty much it.

Yeah, my apologies for the pause. I kind of like to keep the game running in cycles. Whenever there is party interaction, I don't like anyone to feel like I'm skipping over them and so I will generally throw up a DM post or two to set the scene and wait for each player to respond with SOMETHING before continuing on. Obviously, if someone directly addresses an NPC, I will try to respond to them in a timely manner. Typically, though, if I make a couple DM posts, I expect each player to post what they are up to in the scene before I will go any further. This way, everyone gets a 'turn.' Even if their post is 'Othos stands there, watching the exchange, and nods to himself,' at least I know that Vatt has had the opportunity to express something or take some action and has decided to simply stand by the wayside and watch.

I'll admit that this might be a problem due to the pacing of a PbP game, so perhaps I will try to speed things along more frequently. This is my first time running a PbP game, so naturally there are some nuances that I must grasp before mastering the art. Again, I apologize for not pushing things forward fast enough, but I also don't want to leave anyone behind. I will try to improve. Thanks for the understanding and hope that you all continue to enjoy the story!

Just unlock that front door, and there will be plenty of action. Bwahahaha!

Wish granted. :)

Gimble simply shrugs at Shador's askance as Berzeral steps forward and unlocks the front door with the key that was given to him earlier that night. The iron bolt clunks out of it's locked position and the door opens easily. The once-lively main room of the tavern is darkened and quiet, illuminated only by a single dim lantern situated at one table. Also at this table, the dark-skinned Kaja sits, holding a book open as she looks up to regard the party with a slight smile. She says nothing, however, and keeps her eyes fixed on the group as they enter.

Upstairs, the faint sounds of snoring can be heard from several of the sleeping patrons, some louder than others. No other movement can be seen or heard within the room. In fact, beyond a few feet of the threshold of the doorway, the entirety of the main hall is blanketed in nearly absolute darkness save the small area Kaja occupies within the glow of the lantern. Only Shador is able to see the entirety of the room, thanks to his darkvision, yet all appears calm and normal for an after-hours tavern.

Sorry folks, today is crazy busy at work and I don't know if I'll have the opportunity to get a game post up today. Just thought I'd let everyone know.

...it is just my exprience in PbP games. It is a statement of "the nature of the beast"...

I acknowledge this aspect of PbP gaming, but now that it has been fully 3 and a half days since anyone else has posted, I am seriously considering NPCing some characters to advance the story.

I will make this point clear: I despise having to NPC a player's character. As a player, I find it almost insulting to have a DM dictate my character's actions for me because I take pride in the characters that I create and (barring domination and similar effects, of course) I feel that I am the only one 'worthy' of portraying them. It is for this reason that I am extraordinarily reluctant in assuming control of a character who has been dormant for an extended time. However, I am beginning to realize that this may be a necessary evil (ironically, this game's premise is all about 'necessary evil,' isn't it?) and will give Grim until tomorrow morning to make a post for himself before I take over.

Please don't take offense if I am required to assume actions for your characters. In the future, if you know that there will be some downtime for you, please throw a post up here in the discussion thread letting me know the length of your absence and I will try to appropriately portray your character while you are away. Obviously, when characters are being NPC'd, they lack the full emotional depth that their players would grant them, which is part of the reason I will only do so under extreme circumstances. This may cause characters to miss out on many rewarding roleplaying experiences but, again, such is the 'nature of the beast,' as it were. Game on!

Where have all my players gone? :*(