Linking
Eva checking in ^^
Elena is ready for adventure too! ;)
EDIT: I was looking at our party members, trying to figure if we already know each other (at least a bit, being from the same village and all), and so forth...
I'd say Elena, Eva and Mahb probably know each other (or at least know OF each other). I'm not sure about Elijah (I can't find his background anywhere), and from Lineera's background I gather she just arrived in town? (if not please correct me, I'm speculating!).
EDIT2: Just noticed Lineera is an Oracle of Bones! Being that Elena is a LG cleric of a deity that teaches to respect life and nature, this will lead to an interesting party life ;).
Well seeing as it's a small town, and Eva's a people person, she likely knows several people. She's also been in town about 20 years at this point. I feel Eva would know both Elena and Mahb. What's going to be interesting is how Lineera reacts to the sounds of explosions that likely result from Eva's experiments and bombs.
I couldn't find Elijah's background anywhere either. Guess we'll learn that information soon enough?
A Gameplay questions:
As stated in the description, I am fan of doing all of your rolls at once in order to increase the speed of the game. To take this a step further, I was considering implementing 4e's mechanics of saving throws. In other words, rather than the defender rolling to meet a dc, the attacker would be rolling to beat their defense. This would be calculated by taking the modifiers that determine your DC (usually 1/2 level + ability score modifier OR spell level + ability modifier) and adding it to your roll. And for defense, I would take the bonus to that saving throw and add it to 10. An example of player attack: Cleric with 16 Wisdom casts Doom on a goblin, rolling against his save defense. Cleric rolls a 10, and adds 1 for the spell level, and 3 for the Wisdom modifier, totalling 14 vs the goblins Will defense. This would be base 10 + Will bonus (-1 for goblins) for a Will defense of 9. The cleric obviously won and the goblin is doomed. In this manner, you can make all of your rolls in the same post you declare your action. Additionally, it allows me to make saving throw rolls without prompting you to roll in another post (Player:"I open the chest." GM:"You see a pool of water with a horrifying image staring back, make a Will saving throw." ...1 day later... Player:"14") vs. (Player:"I open the chest." GM:"You see a pool of water with a horrifying image staring back, *rolls gets 16, +1 from DC of trap for 17* 17 beats your Will defense of 12 - you are now frightened."
What do you guys think of this?
How would the bonus's to saves vs certain types come into effect?
They would be added to the save defense. So if you had +2 will from your class, +1 wis modifier, and +2 vs will vs illusion, your total defense would be 15.
I must admit, usually I like making my rolls. Naturally, things like initiative are best left to the GM to roll to speed things up. Saving throws and the like, I'm fine either way, whatever creates less stress for players and GM is 100% ok with me ;)!
Additionally, it allows me to make saving throw rolls without prompting you to roll in another post
To avoid situations like this in pbp, it's common practice to spoiler the various results of an action the pc are going to take (or may decide to take) in the same post the action is presented, so next time the players post, they roll and go check the appropriate results themselves.
For instance:
GM: "You walk in the room -room description-. You notice a large chest near the far wall."
Player "I open the chest!"
GM "Ok! Roll Will! If failed, see below."
Another (better?) example:
GM: "You walk into the dark cave, etc..."
Hope this helps! ^^
So it's a reverse of how the system currently works if I understand correctly?
I'm willing to try out a new rule scheme. Not like I'm going to do well vs will things anyway most of the time in either rule method.
I completely forgot about using spoilers for prompted results. Which is silly because I did that all the time in a previous campaign I ran. And just to avoid confusion, it'd be a lot easier to stick with that.
That's fine with me ^^
Edit: Do you wish us to roll the base save for our targets? Letting you add the mod? or do you wish to do so?
That would work. If you use a move that prompts a saving throw for the target, go ahead and roll for the target. I recently started playing Dungeon World with my roommates in which the DM never rolls dice, and to my surprise, it doesn't detract from any of the fun. If anything, it makes it more fun for me because I get to focus on the story and narrative.
And that way you just have to add the mod. I know different dm's do things different ways, which is why I asked.
Mahb checking in and delighted to be in the game!
re: Saves and Rolls
I'll side with 'DM's choice'. I don't mind trying different rules. Also, I tend to check the boards several times a day so I tend to post pretty quickly unless work is nightmarish.
re: Who Knows Who
Unless Laughmask has plans about that... I'd think all the locals know 'of' each other and some would probably be on familiar terms. Mahb is sort of your traditional 'lonely hag' that lives a few miles outside of town, rarely stops by, and has a 'sinister' reputation based on what she does. My guess is that the morally upstanding folks of town would steer clear of her... until they need her services, which they would never admit. :) So I'm guessing that the Mayor's daughter would be 'discouraged' from associating with the resident pariah. But maybe Laughmask has ideas on all that.
Given that Eva and Mahb both dabble with potions and the like, I could see them being amicable.
That sounds good to me. I was thinking the same thing for who knows who. Basically the hamlet's population is only 32 people. With a few families and some other individuals in town. For those here in passing, or who have only been here shortly, it doesn't take long for everyone to get to know of you.
Your suggestions sound good to me Laugh, I've even had a game in which to keep the action flowing quickly, everyone just passed a general battle plan onto the GM, and he ran combat until something significant happened, then would post a large update and give all the players a chance to reevaluate and change strategies.
Really, I'm up for anything to help the game run smoothly, as PbP games are one of my favorite mediums, but honestly suffer from how freakin' slow they move.
As for Lineera, I've altered her background slightly to put her as having been in Perdition's Point for a couple of weeks before the disappearances, just so we don't have to completely have her be the odd one out who needs introducing. In general, she'd be subject to an odd mix of views as people are charmed by her friendly and kind demeanor coupled with her willingness to help around town, but anyone who's more piously Erastil following is going to find her a bitter pill to swallow. So yes, we're going to have a very interesting RP dynamic Elena! :)
LM, my base assumption is that we can only pick spells from the official Paizo materials. Are there any additional book limitations from within the Paizo stuff? For instance, I have 'Spark' which is listed in the APG and 'Web Bolt' which is from the ARG... are those legit?
I can see the same for Eva and Mahb. Could even see Eva going to visit her every so often just to visit, maybe bring her supplies.
I can see the same for Eva and Mahb. Could even see Eva going to visit her every so often just to visit, maybe bring her supplies.
That works for me. Mahb forages in the forest for rare fungi and other unusual alchemical components so they could have a friendly barter going on.
Okay - well just to sum up the changes to gameplay that I will use, at least for now:
Whenever you have use an ability or action that would prompt the target to make a saving throw, roll for that target and I will tell you if you succeeded or failed.
For initiative, I will use the following rules
1. Roll initiative for all players and monsters (monsters all rolling on one count) in the pre-combat post in which I describe the encounter setup.
2. All players who are faster than the monsters post their actions in any order.
3. Once all actors have posted, I resolve the actions in initiative order, then describe and resolve monster actions.
4. Next, all players post an action in any order.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until combat is finished.
All paizo created material is fine. Just no third party.
Since 4 of the 5 have checked in, I will open Gameplay.
Would Mahb be there as well since she's not technically part of the town, living within a few miles? Because Eva will suggest her if she's not, even if it's in an indirect way.
Not trying to force things one way or another, thought it might be a good way to tie Mahb in if she's not there. Since she would likely know the area well around the town.
Good question, Eva. If Mahb isn't there, you could always come to tell me about what happened.
Given my profession and rep, I'm sure the Militia came by to talk with me after the first kid went missing. They probably checked my cauldron for body parts. :)
Given the potentially explosive fears of the townsfolk towards Mahb, she is smart enough to know that helping solve the crime is the best way to prevent any 'burn the witch' ideas from taking root.
FWIW - based on our cast of characters and their respective spells, I'm looking at tweaking my spell list a bit to remove overlap, cover some more bases, and possibly provide a bit more battlefield control. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I'm tentatively thinking about swapping something out for Enlarge Person to make our tanks more tank-ier.
Well I had just grabbed that... because I realized I had forgotten a free spell ^^; I can swap it out easily enough, and pick up Identify or something of the sort. Maybe reduce person?
And I added a Thought to my Gameplay post, so that if Mahb isn't there. Eva will likely go see her soon after the meeting.
If you want it and don't have anything you'd like better on your list, keep it. I have other good spells I can take or we can both have it... which could be useful at times. An enlarged Cleric AND Fighter both with STR 18 before mods could really bring the damage.
Reduce Person is a decent de-buff but against fighty types (the ones you mostly want to shrink), the save goes against their best save type - so its kind of a crapshoot.
Identify is a handy spell.
So here, I think is our list of spells as it stands currently:
(EVA) Alchemist Formulae
=====================
CLW
Shield
True Strike
Detect Undead
Enlarge Person
(LINEERA) Oracle Spells
=====================
Bless
Curse Water
Inflict Light Wounds
Create Water
Detect Poison
Purify Food and Drink
Mending
(ELENA) Cleric Spells
=====================
Calm Animals
Command
Protection from Evil
All Clerical Orisons but these are selected:
Detect Magic
Light
Mending
(MAHB) Witch Spells
=====================
Burning Hands
Charm Person
x Cure Light Wounds
x Mage Armor
Obscuring Mist
Ray of Enfeeblement
Summon Monster I
x Web Bolt
All Witch cantrips but these are selected:
Detect Magic
Daze
Light
I'm okay with us both having it, as it will likely mean that we can have both the cleric and the fighter enlarged. There's a few I like on my list, though I'm mostly down right now to either Identify or Enlarge Person.
Either choice sounds fine to me. It looks like we have enough healing between Eva and Elena, so I'm probably going to drop CLW for a couple of levels.
I was toying with the idea of having your raven perhaps relay the town meeting or meet Eva on her way to the meeting to figure out what was going on, returning to you with enough time for you to make it before the meeting closes.
I lIke that! I'll throw in a bird post and get Mahb into the scene.
Okay - well just to sum up the changes to gameplay that I will use, at least for now:
Whenever you have use an ability or action that would prompt the target to make a saving throw, roll for that target and I will tell you if you succeeded or failed.
For initiative, I will use the following rules
1. Roll initiative for all players and monsters (monsters all rolling on one count) in the pre-combat post in which I describe the encounter setup.
2. All players who are faster than the monsters post their actions in any order.
3. Once all actors have posted, I resolve the actions in initiative order, then describe and resolve monster actions.
4. Next, all players post an action in any order.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until combat is finished.
I suggest cross-posting this in the other game thread as well?
Hahaha, I loved that introduction of the bird scouting for witch-hunt mobs. Clever
Thanks!
sorry chaps, didn't even realize that I was chosen for the group. Blew right over my head there. Will post today ;) Just got back from church.
Spells are tweaked.
Feel free to discuss your hypotheses and conjectures in the discussion thread!
Ok! Sooo... The tax collector works for an old gods cult and they need fresh sacrifices to summon a starspawn horrow to Golarion? ;)
Not only that, but I'm gonna take a total stab in the dark and say that "The Lord of Things Which Are Buried" is probably a necromantic god at that.
I wonder if there is something in the boys home too. I'm thinking of rolling for if there are any rituals that children would be needed for. The two where close in age right?
There are several evidence trails that we could follow. Here's what I'm thinking:
1. We have some fresh cart tracks so we should follow those as best we can while they last and look for any dropped clues along that path. After that:
2. We can investigate the other boy's house, searching for overlooked clues and that symbol.
3. While doing that, we should chat with everyone involved in either case and use SM to see if there is any lying going on.
Mahb (which she'll tell you when we are in private) has tentatively cleared Mr. Hann from the list. Mrs. Hann is still a possible.
My thinking is this: We have two disappearances. They may or may not be related and the first one could just be an unrelated accident.
As regards the second disappearance, I'm not willing to discount one or more villagers from being involved in whatever happened to the kid(s). There could be hidden cult members in town and we should shake the trees a bit to see if we can find someone hiding something.
I think we need to view every piece of evidence as a potentially false lead planted by the guilty party to throw us off... that includes the symbol and especially the footprints.
From Mahb's point of view, everyone in the village is a potential conspirator, save the youngest children.
Well I know Eva plans to go to the boy's home to take a look at his room. She wants to see if they are linked. She also plans to talk to Mahb after it's a little more private about the possibility of a ritual.
You wanna split the party? :)
I know that goes against the 'first rule' but we could form two separate groups.
I had actually been debating that. I know it can be a bad thing, but i feel like there are two leads we need to follow. Just want to see if the two are interconnected or two separate cases. There is also what Pyewacket found too...
Your call; I don't mind splitting up. I think the lead on the missing boy isn't as time sensitive as following the track which leads to what Pye found but I totally get why you'd want to see if you can definitively tie the cases together.
It's not as time sensitive, but if we can connect them, it might lead to more clues. But I do feel the other lead is important, it may just be Eva going to check on the boy lead. Something just tells me that the symbol is in that boys room too.
+1 if the mayor is effected by Lineera's perfume.
"Hey you! What in Erastil's name do you think you're doing to my father?"
He seems enamored by your sweet scent and kindly demeanor.
"DAAAAD!?!?"
^_^! But in all seriousness, I think a split-up might be interesting. It's one of those things you can never do right when you play around a table... But pbp? Perfect for this kind of things! ;)
No apologies needed. I enjoy playing fast and loose with safety. :D
My intent was always to follow the perishable information first - i.e. the kid kidnapped last night and the trail being eroded by the rain. The evidence for the kid missing a month is either still in their house or long gone... so it's a second priority to me.
It looks like we have:
- Eva heading to the other child's house to 'connect the dots'.
- Elijah uncommitted to a course.
- Lineera, Elena, and Mahb heading out on the trail. FWIW, Mahb isn't riding a horse. Following a trail and searching for dropped items while on horseback in the rain sounds difficult to me.
Following a trail and searching for dropped items while on horseback in the rain sounds difficult to me.
If she can even ride a horse =3
+1 if the mayor is effected by Lineera's perfume."Hey you! What in Erastil's name do you think you're doing to my father?"
He seems enamored by your sweet scent and kindly demeanor."DAAAAD!?!?"
lol, yeah that was actually kind of unexpected. I just determined that anytime I made a CHA based check of any kind of social nature, even Handle Animal or something, that I'd add on that "+1 if effected by perfume" clause! I expected, if anything to just get a "The mayor doesn't seem to be effected by the perfume, as he's a happily married man." Or something to that effect. :P
Had to turn to my wife and ask "So... I think I accidentally seduced the mayor in this game, is this what you women actually have to deal with?"