The Road to Khel Zhad (Inactive)

Game Master MelvinVorthos

Thanks!

Does anyone have any ideas of any magic we might buy that could provide Will with some kind of magical defense against evil spells?

I'm thinking of something that could provide a bonus on saving throws. I came across one that might be affordable and useful:

Mind Sentinel Medallion

It might be a little too expensive, but perhaps Gitana could haggle the price down a little. A less expensive option would be a cloak of resistance +1, which is just 1000 gp.

You also have the incense Sister Benedicta gave you before you left, which would provide a temporary benefit.

I really like the Four Leaf Clover - it could be thematically interesting as a token of good luck. But it is also expensive, and the Mind Sentinel Medallion seems more appropriate.

A 3500gp one use item seems a bit costly!

Both are probably more than we can afford. A cloak of resistance may be the best way to boost his saves.

I thought I might find some witch spells that could help and then Gitana could use them when needed, which would be cheaper. Unfortunately, witch spells don't offer much in the way of boosting saving throws. Maybe bard spells might have something better.

I just realized, the most cost effective way to help Will would be with a protection from evil potion. It's a first level spell, so the cost is just 50 per dose. Whenever there is trouble, he can drink the potion and get several benefits.

I have returned and am catching up.

I vote for potions of protection from evil. We can make them fruity flavored and make him addicted to them.

My teaching schedule has changed. I am now teaching classes in the morning and evening on Tuesday and Thursday for the next 5 weeks. I probably won't get a post in this afternoon but I'll post either late tonight or early Wednesday morning.

Gitana will vote to go off road if we can manage the cart, but I suspect we may have to return to trade in the cart for something else or go back to walking with a summoned pony.

I will be away from my computers except my iPad Friday morning to Saturday evening (EDT).

My teaching schedule has changed again. I'll be unable to post Monday through Thursday afternoons and evenings except perhaps late at night. I will do most of my posts in the morning (Eastern US time).

I may be on vacation part of the last week of June to the first week of July, when our school has a one week summer break.

Hey guys,

Just dropping a line to let you all know I will be on vacations for the next three weeks, starting tomorrow - nothing but sun and drinks! :D

I should have internet access, but no posting is guaranteed. So please feel free to bot me if needed.

Thanks!

Ok, given that Norde will also be gone for a week, let's call a one week hiatus.

I will reply to anything you post, but won't move the action forward until Norde is back. Personally, I don't want to wait three weeks for Hedrak to be back 100% given that he could still post sometimes. So I'd like to keep moving forward when Norde is back. But I will certainly listen to what others have to say, especially Hedrak.

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I have an optional question for Gitana and Zordt while we wait. Hedrak and Norde are of course welcome to chime in if they are able. Way back in December, you were resting at the edge of a ruined city with some kind of unstable spellcaster and her raggedy band of misfits. After fighting off some greyskins, a few of you detected that Rose herself was a threat to Will's safety. With quick thinking, you were able to defuse the threat. But some of you just didn't really get a chance to be involved in the encounter.

Similarly, there have been a couple of times now where Will has woken up in the middle of the night. The first time, Hedrak was able to prevent anything bad from happening all on his own. The second, he woke the rest of you up to help him, but not everyone had the same opportunity to address the situation. This seems good to me, but I want to make sure it's ok with you. Would you like me to avoid these types of situations in general?

I also want to know if there are other ways that I could handle these types of situations better. One strength of PbP compared to in person gaming is that it's easier to present information to one person at a time. But am I missing something obvious about how to do this? Or are there other things that contribute to satisfying/unsatisfying gameplay?

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If there's any other feedback you want to give me, good, bad, whatever, I would be really happy to hear it. I have some sense of things I can do well and poorly, but a huge part of what keeps me coming back to post day after day is that I want to keep getting incrementally better at things.

Edit: also, if you don't want to give me any feedback, that's fine too. No pressure.

Well...I suppose now is a good time to mention that I will be going on vacation starting July 10th and I won't be back until July 17th haha

In response to your handling of these situations: no, everything was well handled and no issues. Sometimes not every party member can be involved in every scene. As long as it isn't always the same person being focused on in a scene, or the same person being left out of every scene, no issue.

Nope, you're handling it very well. That's actually a massive strength of PbP is that it's easier to have smaller scenes without feeling like the rest of the table is just sitting there waiting to be brought in again.

Ok, good to hear that you think I've handled things well so far.

Maybe we should just wait until July 17th to resume play? That way Hedrak and Zordt won't both be gone.

My job only gives us one week around the 4th of July and one week (sometimes 10 days) at the end of the year, so I won't be on any long breaks. I will be on a short 3-day vacation next week, with some access to wifi in evenings at a hotel. Otherwise, I'm good to go whenever everyone else is. I hope folks have good vacations and good weather.

I don't have any classes to teach until July 6. My schedule is night classes, M-Th, so most of my posting will be in the morning on those days once classes resume.

As for GM method of disseminating information to specific PCs, that's a great thing. I don't look at spoilers meant for other PCs, except maybe well after the impact on role playing is moot. My only fear is missing something that subtle. I would perhaps give PCs a GM=rolled sense motive to pick up on something others are sensing that my character is not aware of (which the GM may be doing).

I have this positive feedback to give: I think it's the ideal outcome of role playing when as a player I feel strong emotions that my character is feeling. I'm getting that now. We (the PCs) are so close to our goal, or at least accessing resources that may allow us to achieve our goal. But like Zeno's paradox, we seem to be making progress but still remain short of our goal. I think Gitana's main emotion now is a sense of inadequacy for knowing enough magic to tell what's wrong with Will and the greyskins but not enough to fix the problem.

So keep it up. It will be frustrating waiting for the game to progress while we are at this sort-of cliffhanger, but that's okay.

I would perhaps give PCs a GM=rolled sense motive to pick up on something others are sensing that my character is not aware of (which the GM may be doing).

I'm not sure I understand this. Are you saying that when your character sees the other party members pick up on something they aren't aware of, they get a sense motive to know something is up?

I think Gitana's main emotion now is a sense of inadequacy for knowing enough magic to tell what's wrong with Will and the greyskins but not enough to fix the problem.

That makes sense, and I feel like you've done a good job of conveying that through your writing.

And yes, you have probably felt like you were just one step away from the end for a while now. Yet here we are. To be honest, I certainly didn't plan for things to happen this way, but I do like how they have gone.

Feel free to let me know if there are things that aren't working well for you as well!

Ah I think I understand what Gitana is saying. If you're giving some kind of spoilers or insight to specific PCs, it is good form to either offer a sense motive check or roll one for them in secret. Not for all situations, but more often than not.

I'll be on a short vacation through mid-week.

As a GM I recently had an interesting melee with a group in my Reign of Winter campaign. A fairly powerful fey had some effective spells that played on emotions. Since the party was powerful enough to overpower the fey one on one, I set some other creatures to keep them busy while the fey flew nearby, casting spells like charm person, reckless infatuation, and unadulterated loathing. Had one PC charmed. Another was trying to get away from another PC because of the unadulterated loathing spell while the same PC was pursuing her because of the reckless infatuation spell. Used a lot of spoilers on that one.

Ah I think I understand what Gitana is saying. If you're giving some kind of spoilers or insight to specific PCs, it is good form to either offer a sense motive check or roll one for them in secret.

Umm, I'm still not sure I understand. I have some piece of insight that I put in a spoiler for a specific PC. Then I offer them a sense motive check for what? Or is the sense motive supposed to be for the piece of insight?

Cool story Gitana. How did it end?

For the other PCs. I.e. if a particular PC is getting insight into a situation, the other PCs should at least get some kind of check to also pick up on what's going on. For example if Zordt gets information related to somebody talking about something related to his desert homeland, the other PCs should usually get some kind of sense motive or knowledge check to also pick up on it, even if it is a higher DC or rolled in secret.

Ok that makes sense, thanks.

Umm, I'm still not sure I understand. I have some piece of insight that I put in a spoiler for a specific PC. Then I offer them a sense motive check for what? Or is the sense motive supposed to be for the piece of insight?

Cool story Gitana. How did it end?

I didn't mean an automatic thing, but if two PCs have noticed something and it changes their understanding of a situation and they don't share it with others, it may be the other PCs might be able to tell that the first two have knowledge they have not shared. Just a sense that something is registering in the mind of another that might be significant.

As for the Reign of Winter situation, it is ongoing, but the infatuation spell will end soon while the PCs are regrouping for the next phase of the adventure.

I have returned!

Great! If Hedrak is kinda arround, I'm open to the idea of moving forward this week. Keep in mind that Zordt and Hedrak are both gone next week, though.

I'm not sure if I should move things forward this week. Hedrak is still mostly gone, but everyone else is here in theory. Zordt will be gone next week, and the combination of Zordt and Hedrak being gone makes me think we shouldn't be pushing forward. And because of that, I was initially skeptical about moving forward this week, as it would be a brief start and then we'd have to stop again.

Norde has said he will be gone from the 24th to the 29th now as well. I really would not like to wait until then to resume, especially as the 29th is a Thursday and we'd basically have to mostly wait until Monday the 2nd of next month to really get the ball rolling.

So basically there are two questions.

1) Should I move things forward tomorrow?

2) Are we ok moving forward again without Norde from the 24th-29th, or should we wait for him?

Please respond to both questions if you read this, even if it's just with a yes/no.

Yup, feel free to move things along, even if briefly. Somethings with PbP that's just the nature of the beast. Tis better to make what advancement you can rather than waiting for the perfect time.

For later without Norde, it would depend on where we are at in the story at that time, so I can't really give a hard answer.

It feels as if we are coming toward the big finish, unless there is lots more action to happen after reaching Khel Zhed. So if we're close to the end, let's wait until we can all be part of the conclusion.

If, on the other hand, the action is mostly movement and the occasional melee, then let's make what progress we can. I just don't want there to be a big break in the middle of an important event, as it tends to drain some of the excitement and makes it harder to connect the start to the finish of the event.

The big conclusion won't come until you're actually in Khel Zhad itself. Until then, I think we're ok to move forward. And you're very close to getting there, possibly without having another fight at all.

Another thing occurred to me this morning. Once you arrive in Khel Zhad, you're going to level up right away. Before you excise Will, you level up to level 5. As we are currently mostly missing 2/4 members, anyone who wants to can prepare themselves so that when you do level up (very soon) you're ready to go.

Woot!

Ok Heroes, I head out of town tomorrow for another vacation in the lands of "wifi is very spotty if at all."

I should definitely be back online next Saturday, the 24th. Keep me alive until I return!

Good luck

I've made the important leveling up decisions and can have the profile adjusted when necessary. Gitana will be adding a 3rd level spell that uses the Harrow deck. It's not the greatest spell, but it is the type of spell Gitana would use on herself. She can cast it on others but there is a chance that it will be a mixed blessing with some bonuses but a few penalties. On average the bonuses ought to outweigh the minuses, but it depends on where the minuses fall as to whether it helps or hinders.

The Spell is called Harrowing. I would recommend you review the spell to see if you would like Gitana to cast it for you.

Here is an example, using Gitana as the target. She is N alignment which means she has to choose LG, CG, LE, CE as the opposed alignment (which gives her a -1 it appears in the spread). She would choose CE since that seems to be what the enemy that we are dealing with is.

1: Past Good: 1d54 ⇒ 2 STR NG
2: Present Good: 1d54 ⇒ 31 INT LN
3: Future Good: 1d54 ⇒ 3 STR CG
4: Past Neutral: 1d54 ⇒ 53 CHA NE
5: Present Neutral: 1d54 ⇒ 41 WIS NN
6: Future Neutral: 1d54 ⇒ 21 CON CG
7: Past Bad: 1d54 ⇒ 32 INT NN
8: Present Bad: 1d54 ⇒ 19 CON LE
9: Future Bad: 1d54 ⇒ 52 CHA LE

So this came out pretty well. She gets +2 on Wis and Int based rolls and +1 on STR (x2), INT, Con (x2), and CHA (x2). Each of these applies to just one roll and then it is used up. The choice to use or not must be made before making the roll. If there had been a CE alignment, she would have a -1 on that ability based roll for the duration.

If these same cards had come up for Hedrek or Zordt, being CG, the opposition alignment would be LE, so they would get a -1 penalty on CON and CHA based rolls (would not affect combat, only fortitude saves and skills based in charisma). But they would get a +2 on a STR roll such as a melee attack roll. They would also get a +2 on a single CON based roll, which would either be a Con roll to stabilize or a Fortitude save.

Nordt being neutral would have similar results to Gitana in this example.

I think the spell is meant to reflect ways in which the reading makes the target prepared for certain outcomes, but also indicates areas where the reading predicts problems that cannot be overcome by foreknowledge.

Other changes with 5th level: Her feat will be to gain a hex; she'll gain the flight hex, so she can bring the battle to the winged flyer if such is involved in any future fights.

Her other new 3rd level spell is Dispel Magic, which I hope can be used to counter magic that Will becomes subject to, although I doubt it will remove the tattoo itself.

If she gets time in the city, she can try to gain other 3rd level spells by paying to copy spells from an arcane caster's spellbook or from a scroll.

She doesn't get any change in her BAB or her saves. Her HP go up 5 to 25.

I'm down for harrowing.

I'll have my level up done sometime later this week. Main features will be increased inspire courage and a new spell most likely. Plus a feat!

Looks good.

If someone else chimes in to back up Norde, I’ll move things forward.

Back from vacations. Working on Hedrak's level up.

How are we doing HP on our level up?

Zordt Level 5
HP (assuming average): 5 (base) +2 (con) +1 (FC) = +8 hp
Saves: All +1
Class Features: Inspire Courage increases to +2
Skill Ranks: 6 (class) +1 (int) +2 (background) | Keeping maxed out skills maxed out, will pick up a few more knowledges, anybody have any recommendations on languages to pick up if needed?
Feat: Arcane Strike
Spells: Learned Invisibility, 1 more 2nd level spell per day, 1 more 1st level spell per day

That'll be it for me! A simple but decidedly powerful level, and the bump to inspire courage is going to give the whole party a new edge.

For HP you can do average.

I'll post something this evening and work on updating Gitana's profile. I'll do a harrow reading for self and Zordt prior to entering Khel Zhed.

I'm at the end of a grading period at work so I'll be busy with grading now through Friday but should be able to keep posting and updating as I need breaks.

I am here, but Hedrak is not the guy to do the ice-breaking :)

Ok sounds good. No rush.

Let me make sure I have the situation correct. We still have the captive greyskin, presumably bound. We have a boy with a bat tattoo spreading up his neck, also bound.

So we may have to come up with a very good story to convince this guard and eventually those who guard the gates of Khel Zhed why we have these two tied up.

If we tell the truth, they might be justifiably concerned about our motives and about how safe our captives might be to be let into their walls.

I think we may need to come up with something less controversial. How about we claim that both Will and the other have a strange mental condition that makes them try to harm themselves and others? So we've restrained them for their own safety and we want to get them to the clerics of Saranrae in Khel Zhed to see if they can cure them. That's not too far from the truth and I'm thinking that mental cases are not unheard of. We could wrap white strips around their faces and other extremities to disguise Will's tattoo and the strange condition of the prisoner. Gagging them might be a good idea so they don't say anything that might cause problems.

Then should we tell them we were being pursued? I'd think we can say that we were being pursued by a band of bandits intent on capturing us all to sell us as slaves. We don't have to say they have grey skin, emaciated forms, led by some with wings and accompanied by giant spiders. It will be enough that they know there is a risk so they can be on guard.

If anyone wants to suggest something different, Gitana is willing to adjust the above plan. If not, I'll post her response to the guard tomorrow.

She has a decent diplomacy and bluff skill bonus so she can probably be a good spokesperson.

As a bit of insurance, we could camp near the tower, trusting the greyskins won't venture so close to a garrison. Gitana could prepare new spells using some of her spells she uses to be persuasive and to gather information prior to dealing with anyone associated with Khel Zhed.

I think we skirt pretty close to the truth, and just sugarcoat how bad Will's condition is. Exposure and dehydration has made him delirious, we tied him up so that he stopped trying to wander off, and we need a healer to help him recover.

And the main reason we brought the greyskin was to show him off, show what was really chasing us. So I think we just show it straight up and let them handle it how they see fit.

Thoughts?

I'm going to have to put off my post until the weekend. I'm still grading and am pretty much burned out for tonight. Next term is looking light, so I'll have more time to post for a while after today.

Am I going too fast/glossing over too much? I feel like a significant amount of what's going on is "NPCs do stuff" which is boring, so I'm trying to quickly move through things to the portion where you start to drive the action again

Most of what doesn't involve bashing things, or Survival checks is "NPC stuff" to Norde, so I'm good either way, hahaha.

I'm fine with how things are unfolding. Lots of suspense about what is coming, which is as it should be.

I still need to level up Hedrak :P

So if some poor sap has to wield this melee artifact against this demon, Norde seems the choice for melee combat. With that said, he's not the guy to be casting those spells with the weapon!

What are the specs on the weapon, not all of it's nuances, Norde hasn't cast detect magic or anything, but just maybe the combat specs. +5 Evil Outsider Bane, Holy?

I'll definitely wield an effectively +7 weapon, with +2+4d6 damage, hahahaha.

Gitana will want to start the ritual after she has had time to prepare spells.

Is there anything about the demon that the group research has identified that we should know, that is, the sort of thing we usually get through a monster lore knowledge check? Things such as DR, SR, energy resistances, vulnerabilities?

I realize that what the research has identified may be inaccurate, but what would the expectation be for such defensive abilities?

Also, what is our group fund balance? Gitana would like to buy a scroll of a 3rd level witch spells so she can attempt to use the scroll to add the spell to her spellbook. Alternatively, she could explore finding a source for the spell who will allow her to copy the spell for a fee.

I'm thinking about just one of the following: Iron Stake, Lightning, Perfect Placment, or Trial of Fire and Acid