Hoary and Wizened's page

--Rydwyrna, The Floating Kraken, Late Evening, Vikaday, Brunhild 2, 146 R.R.--

The Kraken has never been a place that caters to high end clientele. Usually full of sailors, fishermen and dockworkers, it's no stranger to a seat clearing brawl. Yet, tonight, on a Vikaday no less, there are a number of well dressed, well protected, well armed members of the gentry about. Perhaps Zutir's reputation has brought The Floating Kraken some favor and better clientele? And he is worth the reputation. Zutir's half-orc heritage is impossible to hide, his lower tusks sit astride his bulbous, light-grey skinned nose when he fully closes his mouth, and his hands and arms are covered in coarse black hair. Yet, for all that, the man plays a lute with the delicacy and finesse of a servant to the Elves' queen. His melodies are enchanting, and when he embellishes his songs with colorful illusions that dance about the common room as he plays, few people are not entirely mesmerized. Food and drink of an above average cost and quality are spread about, and coin flows freely. For whatever else he might be Zutir is, in fact, a wonderful minstrel, a bard of high marks.

Thus it is when Quint, screwing up his bravery, due in much part to knowing that his capable friends are about him, hidden among the crowd, walks up and does his own subtle dance, flashing the necklace, and the rim of the sending stone he knows he's talking to a man with wits and skill.
When Zutir's hazel eyes catch the flash of the magical amulet, they pop open like saucers below a teacup. "That's a dangerous bit of hardware to be flashing about, even so subtly as ye have." The man with D'rak ancestors smiles, baring pearly white teeth to match his tusks. "I can hardly think Brommwyn gave you that without a fight, which means you're a small man of large means, no doubt. Looking for a share of the pie that's being baked, are ye? I can point ye in the right direction laddy, but are you ready for the den of vipers beyond the threshold?" Leave it to a lyricist to wax poetic in casual conversation...

Psalm thinks a long moment. "Maybe we should use what we know against them. They have considered you as an asset Quint and have taken notes of your skills. Let's play to what they know. A gnome good at infiltration got wind of things going down and wants a seat at the table. Meet him, show him the goods; the amulet and the stone. Pitch it like a job interview. The sending stone and the non-detect amulet prove you have the skills to be of service and you figure there is the opportunity for advancement. If it works you go to the meeting and we follow. If he spooks we spring on him and Hack gets to beat it out of him." He sighs, "He plays at the Kracken, we can make our ways there separate and be ready for the meet. If it goes well we can follow you, if not we take him down and learn what we need."

THAT! Is a fabulous idea. I love it, because it plays to all the characters' strengths. Quint might not be ready to place himself on that "big stage," but he most definitely has the skills to do it. You didn't hear this from me, but I'd definitely go with that plan; it'll probably work... :) That, my friends, is how you build a castle in the sandbox. ;)

Well, that sounds 'bout right. I have a connection with a member...the guy giving me my guard duties. Maybe we could capture him and squeeze him for info?

Now that's the kind of investigation I'd expect from a barbarian, AND, exactly the sort of thing that Akassa was indirectly sanctioning when she said you all could act in ways the Republic of Byrthelm couldn't, at least officially. :) By the way, that's a most excellent piecing together of everything you know so far. Exactly something a "former" merchant would do, organize things... :) Great job Jun! You've earned inspiration. One point of order. There's a difference between a legend and the truth. Which is why it appears to be a contradiction. As example I'll bring forth the name Hercules. Hercules is a legend, there is no possible way everything that was written about him actually happened. Yet, perhaps all the stories about him are based on some truth. Perhaps there really was a very strong and heroic man named Hercules, who did incredible things. See? So, the legend of the Elven War, and of Aranon Ethalion's insurrection and attempt to conquer the known world, are, for all modern day citizens of Iewiuf, very much like the legend of Hercules. People consider them to be outlandishly embellished stories that probably have some basis in truth, but no one knows the actual truth. Make sense?

The person who told you about the Fortress of Aranon Ethalion meant that IF you saw people wearing something that looked like his symbol, no matter where you see them, they probably have something to do with his legacy. A legacy, by the way, that is steeped in ancient history and is now more myth than fact. Does that make sense??? If not, let me know. I'll do my best to clarify. I don't want you running around confused about what your characters know! :)

Are you suggesting the Republic might have a regiment of enforcers that are strictly "off the books," who go out and do the dirty work the regular army can't be seen doing? Audacious! Absurd! Who would volunteer for such things? ... O.o

Turned 43 in March. I think "never not cool" perfectly describes my delusions of myself. :P ;) :)

Edit: Not that we'll necessarily ever be able to buy a magic item, since 5e's rules don't assume that they will be available the way Pathfinder does. Hopefully we'll find some at some point, but the only ones we ever get might be special gifts from the DM, or taken off some BBEG after we defeat him.

To some this may seem like a flaw in 5e, but it is, without any doubt, one of the HUGE draws for me to this system. The absence of what, in 3.5 and then Pathfinder, became known as "the big 6," is wonderful! The rules themselves say that magic items are rare, quest items, and that purchasing one that you have found someone else owns, IF they are willing to part with it, might require a questing favor to that person, rather than just handing over a sack of platinum coins. This, I love. Will you all see a magic item at some point? I'm sure you will. There are too many amazing magic items in the DMG for me to ignore them. Sometimes I just like flipping through that book and reading about them. Certainly, there will be a time when the group finds a magic item, or maybe two, but to do so will be part of an epic tale of heroic deeds, traps bypassed, dungeon corridors cleared, and strange creatures defeated. So, pretty much playing Dungeons and Dragons. :P :)

And no, that was not a challenge! >.>

"Truthiness bewitchment" is my new favorite name for the zone of truth spell. Thanks Psalm!!!

The Republic of Byrthelm's defenses are entirely supplied from the Six Orders. That is common knowledge. Findelye is a Sender, so a member of a select group within the Arcane Order, so it might be that's what she was talking about. Or it might be, as she sort of indicated, she's working for multiple orders all at once.

--The Bloody Dagger--
A dirty man in ragged leathers with a notched sword and a battered shield strapped across his back, who was engaged in a game of dice, stands up, and says, "I'll take that coin. Follow me." Then he walks to the door and out into the wet street. Thankfully, as you follow him out into the air, you feel a definite let up in the misting rain. The wind is still awfully vigorous and gusty, but the slicing drizzle seems to be coming to an end. The rugged man leads you up the street a small way, and then points at a rather nice, rather large house with a well furnished and well kept porch. "There." He says, pointing with one hand, and holding out his other hand flat to receive his promised payment.

--Findelye's House--
Fin looks at Psalm and then Luna like they just asked her to open a gate to the lower planes. Then she looks at Hack and says, "You must get a lot of headaches traveling with these two."
After a winking smile, she continues talking to the gnome and elven princess. "You're not following me. Maybe I'm moving too fast for you. Let me lay it out nice and slow like..." She pauses, takes a deep breath and says, "I'm a Sender, paid by the Republic, and her citizens when they have need, to send magical messages to other Senders all across this great land. I also happen to work for a few other individuals in the field of information gathering and investigation, to help maintain the safety of our great Republic. Part of my job with the Order was to help Arthugh do his research. I didn't know what he had cooking down there, not until after you all came and destroyed it. Then I did some investigating of my own. Galador was hired by my superiors in the Order to get supplies to him in as clandestine a manner as possible. A task he performed beautifully well. If he's involved in some other way in this, I've yet to discover it. You all, which is to say you three and your other partners who are not here right now, whom, yes, I know about, were tasked by Akassa to figure out what killed her nieces and was claiming livestock throughout the province. You did, admirably so, and quickly. In so doing you destroyed whatever chance my superiors had of gaining from Arthugh's research. Which, as you so astutely point out, puts you on their naughty list. So, you've done well by the Republic for Akassa, but done poorly by the Republic for a few of the higher up types in the Arcane Order. I, as is my wont, am gathering and giving information to all those who ask. It just so happens that I've become so good at it, that there are a lot of different people who pay me well for what I find out. So, I'm not your enemy. Likewise, I might not be your bestest of friends, because, someone is eventually going to pay me to tell them what I know about you, and, well, you just told me quite a bit, now didn't you? See? Not that complicated, right?"

Feeling the righteousness of Lindaer's words surge through them like radiant joy, the soldiers all look at each other with nods of agreement. After finishing their repast, they thank you all kindly for helping them finish their duty, and gather their gear to leave. After a few moments, all the goblins look up at you with the faintest glimmer of hope in their eyes. Hope that they won't, after all, be turned over to nefarious creatures who intend them malice. For a few brief moments there seems to be nothing but people and goblins looking around at each other, wondering who is going to speak first.

Congratulations on your little paladin in training!!! :)

Woot! College of Lore grants proficiency in three new skills, so you'll see her skills are quite a bit different now. I took Expertise (also a gift at third level) with Perception and Insight, since Aldelenna is going to, hopefully, be a strong part of the social interactions moving forward, and her Perception was just bothering me! So that gives her a new Passive Perception of 14 instead of 10. She also got the ability Cutting Words, which you can read about on the linked Abilities sheet in her profile. All that and she got to learn one new spell; I took Charm Person, because she should have had that one already. :D She also got one more 1st level spell slot, and two second level spell slots. I didn't take a second level spell because a few of her spells benefit from being cast out of a higher slot. :) GM Koldoon, please look things over and let me know if anything looks wonky. As always I did everything in Hero Lab.

Okay, well, Lindaer your post reminded me that I should have actually mentioned this a lot earlier, but I will also be gone from June 8th through the 17th, with limited time and or internet to post. I will do my level best to check in at least twice a week and see if I can't keep the game moving on, but, fair warning to all, it might just be that the game takes about a week long hiatus during my absence.

Sorry, and thank you, in advance, for your patience.

Also, I wanted to say, Lindaer, I loved your most recent in game post. "Zombies, orcs, goblin captives." That's not a lie, because at no point did you say anything other than the names of creatures. Obviously the assumption by those listening would be that you had encountered those creatures, but at no point did you actually say that. Brilliant! Also very much on par with the acumen of a reformed criminal! :) Nice job, take Inspiration!

I'd like to comment, and then I hope we can move on. With characters that were all but flung together against their will, because of the promise of not only wealth but possible political influence, these sorts of arguments were an inevitability, from my way of thinking. Quint would never have willingly worked with an expatriate Highlander barbarian if he had a choice. We all know that. These little bouts of disagreement on how to handle things are actually great situations for characters to role play. After the fight is over, I would fully expect that Quint would address everyone, and make a point of saying, "Here's what I was trying to do. I probably should have been more clear about that before I did it. In the future if..." Then Shenkt can say, "Did you see the way I chopped that orc's head off?!" :D It's part of the game, and, again, by my way of thinking, shouldn't be an unwelcome part. Disagreements between characters is natural in a lot of situations, but let's try to prevent character disagreements from turning into player disagreements, okay?

Thanks!!! :D :)

Not sure if this has been reported yet, I'm guessing it has. When I try to make text bigger it actually makes it smaller. I'm certain this was something that got handed over from the UI switch. Just wondering if there's an ETA for a fix? It's nice for a DM to be able to make some text bigger in online campaigns.

Thanks!

I'll echo this error. I've had the exact same problem, where I knew, exactly, what it was I was searching for, but putting the words into the search bar returned erroneous or zero results. Was this a problem with that happened when the new UI got implemented?

Watching all the shenanigans ensue, Aldhranhald thinks to himself. Self, when this is all over, I shall have to pen a theater production of some kind, based on the unbelievable comedy of errors taking place here. I think I shall call it The Emerald Spire: It's the Pits.

Lindaer is still in the Temple, and judging by the conversation taking place there, will no doubt be so for some time. As to the splitting of those at the docks. I didn't want the characters split off to be hanging around outside in the rain, there's still opportunity here for a group to stay in the main warehouse while a smaller contingent goes into a different room to interrogate invertview Grugiz the goblin... Things could work out just as planned, or not. Social roleplay will decide. ;) :D :)

I should name our version of Tiamat something like Kraiula... Since she's a dragon of diverse chromatics... :)

I didn't say upset, I said funny. I guess I should feel flattered, for lack of a better word. I've never had players worried about what happens to a fictitious setting after their characters left it. So, no, far from upset, bemused...? Maybe? I love the engagement, I just don't have a frame of reference for it. ;) :)

I find it genuinely funny that players are concerned what happens to a research journal if there's a TPK!!! If it were me, and there was a TPK, the last thing I'd be worried about is a research journal... Just sayin' :)

Great roll Quint.

Quint's dexterous fingers and history of undoing that which is not readily designed to be undone help him to carefully take apart the un-moving chronometer. With each cog and gear removed, Quint's appetite for such things increases all the more. His brain begins to puzzle out the whys and hows of each piece, building a model in his head of the completed whole and its inner workings. Quint can't help but smile when he finally pulls most of the chronometer apart and finds the mainspring at the heart of the "paperweight's" insides. Inscribed, quite clearly, on that mainspring, but only truly visible in full when it is wound tight, are the letters "A A" in a wonderfully garish script. A wonderful bit of working that, and quite suitable, since the chronometer will literally not work without the mainspring.

I absolutely LOVE that the former criminal Paladin is the one advocating the lie of omission to gather more comprehensive investigative information... Lindaer, can't remember if you have inspiration or not. If not, you just earned it. :)

"Aye, of course my friends. How's about one o' the best ol' drinking songs the dwarves have ever produced?" Aldelenna says, then grabs her lute strums a few warmup chords, and then dives right into Whiskey in the jar.

Uh, query GM Koldoon. Would it be possible for us to use the enhanced tool proficiency rules presented in Xanathar's Guide? If so Aldelenna can roll with advantage on any performance where she uses a musical instrument. She can also write her own song during the "downtime" of a long rest. In this case it would be really nice for her to be able to write such a song about the group's heroics here in the tomb. Might be a good narrative element to take with her into the next adventure? If not, no worries, just thought I'd ask. :)

I'm fairly certain AL stands for Adventurer's League, which is the officially organized gaming league of D&D.

Listen, I know that when things aren't working right, I'm one of the first to complain, often, and loudly... :P So I wanted to jump in and say a big hearty "Thanks Paizo!" I'm sure the new website roll out has been very difficult behind the scenes, and I know there have been a few glitches, but: I really like the new layout, my speed of posting and updating has much improved, and I haven't lost a post in over a week.

So! THANKS PAIZO!!! Keep up the great work. :)

There are so many people who really need to dial it back.

Please remember that a hobby is not a replacement for an identity, or a personality.

You are more than the sum of the games you buy.

Darn it! Now you tell me. I should probably go to my Facebook page and scrub "Nerd Gamer" from every post. I might not be back for a while. :P

I really like the idea of crits being "beat the DC by 10" rather than on a dice roll of 20.

I'm terrible at math, but in just imagining a few numbers in my head, I'm thinking you're going to be rolling pretty darn high to beat most target's AC numbers by 10. In fact, in some situations you could roll a 20 and still not have beat the target's AC number by 10... which would be really terrible, from my point of view. For maxed out martial characters that might allow them to crit more often than normal, but for even a 3/4 martial class, that could actually shrink the number of times you crit. I think the keen, improved critical, and weapons that crit at a lower range was supposed to address some that mechanically.

Now if it's a situation where if you beat the DC by 10, OR if you roll a 20 you crit, I could get behind that.

Thanks for the doc! I'll check it out. (I don't do podcasts.)

Me either, but they do seem to be a rather influential growing media trend that is attached in many different ways to this TTRPG hobby of mine... Not sure how I feel about that. It kind of makes me feel old. :P

I know no one will ever publicly comment on this, and I'm sure the company line is something like: "it did not factor in our decision making process," but I have to wonder about the timing of this announcement, fully five months before they will even publish the playtest materials. Is this a reaction to the rampant recent success of 5e and of many of Paizo's base market making the jump to that system? I wonder about this because I am one of those ship-jumpers. I switched to 5e late last year after almost six months of hemming and hawing about how intrigued I was by the simplicity and ease of use of the new version of the game I've always loved. I also know there were more people like me who made the jump for the same reason. I also know, because I'm playing with three of them, that there are people who are now becoming indoctrinated into table top RPGs BECAUSE of 5e. The 5e ruleset has a very low entry barrier/learning curve. I can't even imagine trying to enter into the hobby through the current Pathfinder system. Is that part of why? I can only conjecture. Made all the more interesting because of your astute predictions about finances and editions all so many years ago GreyWolfLord. Good show!

Hythlodeus wrote:

MendedWall12 wrote:

Glad you brought this up. Reading the blog description of initiative system already sounded wonky and weird. That you've listened to actual gamers trying it, and that it was slow, boring, and also pointed to doing something narratively ridiculous just to get the most sure bet to act high in initiative, fleshes out some of the amorphous concerns I had about how weird it sounded. Maybe this will be one of the things that the playtest squashes?

It MIGHT be one of those 'more extreme' rule versions that were mentioned upthread by Paizo stuff, that's only included in the Playtest to get removed anyway and replaced with the rule versions they always intended to include but had to show the worse version first so that the final version doesn't look so bad.

(I mean, I'm glad they admitted that, but that doesn't make the move look better)

That's a rather unfair paraphrase of what they said.

What they have said they are doing is in places they have chosen the more unusual of the options they are considering, because they want to see what we think.

If they are including the "more unusual" option as a way to more fully decipher what doesn't work, I find that a pretty strange way to play test. If, however, the "more unusual" version of a rule has characteristics that are similar to what the developers believe will be the new baseline, and they are just including this version so as not to reveal too much, I can understand that.

Still, based off of what I'm reading I'd say this more unusual initiative system already shows a number of flaws. If the rogue has to spend every moment in exploration mode "stealthing" just to avoid being flat-footed, you've now created an initiative system that also creeps into ruining exploration mode, because munchkin players will be making exploration decisions based off of the possibility that they may at some point be surprised with combat.

Just listening to Glass Cannon: that initiative system is really slow and boring.

It’s also going to create weird play. Characters in explore mode will always do what supports there best initiative check, the rogue will always stealth, the ranger will always look for tracks... even if they’re just walking down the road to meet a friend, for fear of being caught out in combat.

Glad you brought this up. Reading the blog description of the initiative system already sounded wonky and weird. That you've listened to actual gamers trying it, and that it was slow, boring, and also pointed to doing something narratively ridiculous just to get the most sure bet to act high in initiative, fleshes out some of the amorphous concerns I had about how weird it sounded. Maybe this will be one of the things that the playtest squashes?

I am likely a member of the target audience for this new edition--a former Pathfinder GM who migrated (with all 3 of my groups) to D&D 5e because the overhead of prepping and running Pathfinder just got to be too much for me, especially at high levels. It became too complex, fiddly, and time-consuming. A lot has been learned about how to design a fun yet streamlined RPG in the last 10 years and it feels to me like Pathfinder has fallen behind competitively by clinging to its aging 3.5 framework. Yes, the diehard grognards are happy, but only serving their desires is probably not a viable long-term business plan. A change is needed if Paizo wants to bring back those who went to 5E and new players who find 5E to be a much easier entry point into the hobby.

I like D&D 5E...

Okay, if you are the target audience, then I am also the target audience. If that's the case, then I can tell you, point blank, when I left behind my book shelf full of Pathfinder books, because of the increased complication caused by bloat, it was both the most difficult, and most rewarding decision I've made in regards to playing RPGs, ever. I can also tell you with complete certainty I will not be buying PF2.0, UNLESS all the PF books I have on my shelf are able to quickly and easily meld into the new system. If there is any conversion that needs to be done to move my existing books into PF2.0, it will be a no go for me.

Just looking at the vague descriptions of the new mechanics for PF2.0, it looks very much like 5e version 1.5 (which would seem to fit the Paizo business model, after all Pathfinder was 3.75). Examples: unified level based proficiency, three game "modes," and streamlined (and mightily pared down) action choices in combat. Add in that now you can cast spells using more than one action (read: from a more powerful slot), and you have a lot of the reasons I finally decided to leave Pathfinder in the first place - to get rid of rules bloat.

It seems to me that Paizo learned a lot about things from the unchained rules, which is a shame, because, if instead of Unchained, they had playtested 2.0, and worked hard to make all their previous material integrative in that system, I probably would never have even looked at 5e. As it stands, not only did I look, I bought in, and now the only Pathfinder I play is in a single PbP here on the boards. Sadly, because I have always had great experience with Paizo staff and community, I don't think Paizo will be getting any of my money in the future unless they start making 5e compatible APs.

Just my 2cp

It would have been more fluffy to bring in a mob of farmers with torches and pitch forks. Not to do any fighting, really. But instead to just light the caverns for us and to absorb the sleep spells.

I can see it now... Lindaer stands on the back of a wagon addressing the nearby townsfolk, getting ready to rally them to their cause.

*Ahem* "People of Midvale! Who here could use a really good nap!?"

Psalm's attempts to magically communicate open up a mental doorway to the creature's mind, and it is violently uncomfortable for him. The assault of mental imagery is so intense, so vibrant, so vigorous that it actually physically knocks the small gnome over onto his rear-end. The overwhelming flood of visions is so acute that Psalm feels like he is walking in an illusory landscape, like he is living in the worm's skin for a moment, and what he sees frightens him to no end. Using his feywild blood to calm himself and to collapse the flood of imagery into usable bits and pieces he is able to, finally, get a clear look at the creature's ecology, and it is frightening. The worm is one of many, possibly more than two dozen already grown to maturity, and there are more hatching every day. Hatching, yes, in a cave deep underground from eggs laid by their mother. Each child, as soon as it is able, burrows to the surface to put other creatures to sleep, and then feed on their energy. Psalm gets a clear mental image of the worms' ability to manifest themselves inside the dreams of their victims, for animals they manifest as a feast of their favorite foods, and while the animals feast in their dreams, sleeping pleasantly, the worms feast on their psychic energy. Once they've absorbed enough energy, they return to the nest to transfer part of their psychic meal to the mother, who grows fatter and stronger every day, and lays more eggs, every day. When Psalm stands up severing the disturbing mental connection, he feels himself physically drained a bit (1 HP lost). When he turns to the group, his face gives away his feeling of dread.

--Temple of Light--

Ithrelas smiles as Lindaer offers his condolences. "I thank you for your sympathy. As to where the malady started, as best as I heard, it was on a farm to the northeast." She thinks for a moment. "You know, now that you mention it, it did very much seem like the deaths spread out from there." She kneels down and gives Hames a scratch along his back, thinking for a moment, and then says, "It's entirely possible there is an epicenter, so to speak, where everything spread out from. Thank the gods for sending fresh eyes. I fear being so close we were all too busy dealing with the aftermath to take the necessary step back for proper investigation."

--Burga's Butchery--

"I don't know from gophers, or their dirty holes. Just heard it from the farmhands, they said there were a lot more holes and molehills in the pastures and meadows than normal, that and I think one of 'em said he got damn near sucked into the ground cause a sinkhole opened up underneath him... I try never to make mountains out of molehills, though."

MendedWall12 wrote:

kevin_video wrote:

I agree with HWalsh. And I would love to read a spoiler tagged write up of this "work around/overcome the difficulties".

** spoiler omitted **

So basically, ran as an adventure path with a flexible GM it’s possible. Unfortunately, that stuff doesn’t fly in PFS or with GMs that need to have things laid out for them in the book before you can even ask to blow your nose.

You made me laugh. I've never had the displeasure of a GM like that, but I have heard stories about them. Sorry that was your experience, but, as you just pointed out, the problem seems much more to have been the GM than the material itself. :) Hopefully your new year is filled with much more fun gaming. :)

I agree with HWalsh. And I would love to read a spoiler tagged write up of this "work around/overcome the difficulties".

@HWalsh, I just want you to be aware that your rants come off sounding like your personal idea of RPG fun = predictable, expected, easy. I don't know if that's what you were trying to convey or not, but from the specificity of your complaints, that's what it sounds like. There are going to be a lot of people on the boards that completely disagree with that definition of fun. Myself being one. There are many ways to work around/overcome the difficulties presented in this dungeon for a player with an open mind, not hemmed in by the "this is what usually happens" box. I found overcoming the challenges on level one of this dungeon very fun indeed.

Psalm! The answer to your question is both yes and no. :P No, there is no such thing as Taking 10 or Taking 20 in 5e. However, they have introduced the idea of the "passive check." Page 175 of the PHB says this about Passive Checks: "A passive check is a special kind of ability check that doesn't involve any die rolls. Such a check can represent the average result for a task done repeatedly, such as searching for secret doors over and over again. or can be used when the DM wants to secretly determine whether the characters succeed at something without rolling dice, such as noticing a hidden monster." This idea of the passive check means that for a lot of things a character does outside of combat, or that don't particularly have a penalty for failure, you can just simply say, "I'm doing this," and it happens. That is one of the reasons I really like 5e. Now, interestingly, what you are trying to do with the Medicine skill is beyond the scope of what the game says that skill is capable of doing. The two listed uses of the skill are to stabilize a dying creature, or diagnose an illness. I love the flavor of what Psalm is doing, though. Looking around for wounds to be tended after a combat is a wonderful narrative roleplay of your character. While doing so doesn't have any mechanical benefit (i.e. you can't give HP to anyone with that skill that isn't dying) it is certainly something your character can, and I think would, do because he values the relationships he's formed with the crew of the Tacking Lady.

So, TL;DR version. No, you can't take 10. Many times you just simply say you want to do something, and it is done. If I think there's a chance of, or penalty for, failure then I would call for an ability check. Likewise, medicine, from a purely mechanical point of view, is normally used only to stabilize the dying or diagnose illness. Don't ever let that stop you from roleplaying your characters' skill sets though!!!

You missed my point, but also, sort of pointed it out. Batman lives by the rule of mercy. He literally has taken a vow not to kill, and by so doing, he's let hundreds of innocent people die. Lindaer is his polar opposite, I'd say, having no qualms about killing that which he perceives to be evil, to prevent future evil. I mean half the darn Batman comics are based on the fact that the Joker breaks out of Arkham, right? Just kill the bastard already!!!!

Psalm, that was such fun narration to read. I saw it all in my head. The hesitation, the mad dash for the wheel, dropping a healing hand on Drun on the way by. His spin around the big wheel. You inspired me... So take Inspiration. :)

I'm putting this in a spoiler because it might open you up to a rabbit-hole to the abyss of my own personal flaws in a way you don't want. So, fair warning: Enter at your own risk, you might never get back what is taken from you...

Therefore!
Syrus, if you're out there, please take over Goruck's character and post his words and actions in the Gameplay thread at your earliest convenience.

Thanks,
Mended

Completely wonderful. You are fair, provide great detail so that everyone is aware of all options, and you make great effort to keep everyone involved and "in the spotlight." I wouldn't change a thing. :D Keep up the great work Walker on the storms!

No Tabaxi, yes it's basically "humans of various sizes and various degrees of ear-pointiness," of which I count halflings to be part of. Other notes of interest would be PHB material only ('cause that's all I have access to at this point). As far as stats, I'm going to go with the book proposed 4d6 drop the lowest. Still with my variation where you can roll three separate arrays, choose the one that you like best, and assign into abilities as you like. Alternately you could take their pregenerated array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8, or use the 27 point buy method. However, as last time, you must choose before you roll. Meaning, you can't roll and then say, I'd rather take the standard array. Once you've decided to roll you are locked into one of the three arrays. Rolling, though, at least provides the chance of having an ability over 17 including racial bonuses. The other two options do not. Why? The PHB says: "Using this method [point buy], 15 is the highest ability score you can end up with, before applying racial increases. You can't have a score lower than 8." After reading all that I sort of felt like the designers really wanted people to go back to the old school rolling method. At least, like I said, it provides the chance of 18 plus numbers in ability scores.

Okay first off, for future reference, someone please make note, preferably Goruck, the DC of saves for any Kineticist ability is 10 + (1/2 Kineticist level) {in this case} 1 + (Con modifier) {in this case} 3 = 14. Secondly, there is no orange slurk... Since Goruck's kinetic blast didn't hit anyway, it doesn't matter.

Illiam's summoned eagles do their job masterfully, clawing and biting at the slurk guarding the northern passage with righteous fury. The behemoth toad is so bloodied it looks as though one last blow would send it falling. No kidding, it is at exactly zero HP, and now has the staggered and disabled conditions.

Just as the yellow slurk is being torn to shreds by eagles, its rider, again, falls asleep, this time from Chillel's innate arcane power. Simultaneously, Illiam's cantrip dazes another Dashed (light) blue of the kobolds. Unfortunately Goruck's attempt to drop the southernmost red slurk to the ground by moving the earth underneath it is thwarted by its quick reflexes, it jumps to the side avoiding the falling rock. Likewise, its quick jump causes Goruck's flying shards of earth, summoned by his kinetic power, to miss as well.

The disappointment of not being able to persuade Braggar to just give her a crossbow had Aldelenna traipsing about the Silvers in a turgid grump-fest. When Rankev burst in the door, and dropped a bulging coin purse on her with the exact amount necessary to purchase the crossbow she had her eye on, her jaw drops agape. Watching him start to walk out the door, she almost fails at grasping the moment, but her quick reflexes and training in the art of gratitude catch up just in time. Right before Rankev can exit, she runs and grabs him, twirling him around and grabbing him in a tight full-body embrace. Placing her mouth just below his ear, she whispers in the most sultry voice she can produce, "Rankev Vargidan, are you going soft on me?" The fact that her words could easily be construed as a double entendre was exactly the point. She then presses her lips against his neck, just below the ear, and kisses him. When she pulls away and stands looking at him, she speaks again, but this time in a voice that everyone in the taproom can hear, "Don't worry Rankev, I'll make sure and protect your family jewels with everything I've got!" She winks at him, and then turns and yells to Asina, "Asina! I'll be right back, have Jimes cover for me!" On her way out the door, she gives Rankev's nose a playful tweak.

As soon as she returns from Braggar's shop with her new light crossbow, and quiver of bolts, she runs up to her room and secures it with her other belongings in the locked chest that Trelvar placed in her room for her use, then jets back downstairs to get back to her duties.

Wanted: Brave adventurers.

Qualifications: Complete inability to make key decisions that are not related to combat.

Kohl McClash wrote:

How will the game look for 900k when Pillars raised 4 mil and took 3 years from Kickstarter end to game sale? Might have already been asked but still kind off slow to get behind it after getting burned by the failed Pathfinder mmo fiasco.

Have you seen the Twitch streams? It looks like around 90% of the system architecture is already built. I have literally never seen an Alpha slice that polished and bug free before. I'm not even sure I've seen Alpha that polished. The rest is time consuming, sure, but they have the engine and the architecture, the rest can probably be done within the year they have tentatively set as a release date.

I'll remain optimistic that the August 2018 release date is solid, but I won't be overly disappointed if it ends up getting pushed back. I'd rather the game comes out complete and bug-free, than "on time" and still glitchy. :)