Allence's Last Hope

Game Master sarpadian

Hmm, I didn't see any tarps.

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The list looks bigger than it actually is. If we were okay with medium encumbrance we could actually carry it all between the five of us, and a lot of the rows in the sheet are duplicate items that have been divided amongst multiple people, or small, light items. There are only 35 rows of items 8 lbs. or greater, and 12 of those (most of them the heavier items) are combat items. :shrug: I thought it would be cool to play through more of the stuff that gets glossed over and I guess that showed in my thoughts on what EQ we should get. It's in the PF Equipment books for a reason, after all.

If you break it up into categories of items:
misc. small things (twine, candles, caltrops, tindertwigs, wire, pitons, chalk etc.)
stuff to provide light (sunrods, flint and steel, torches)
waterskins
stuff for sleeping (bedrolls and tents, someone has a winter blanket)
stuff for climbing the mountains (ropes and climbing kits)
stuff for dealing with obstacles (folding ladder, folding pole, folding shovel, grappling hook, grappling arrow)
stuff for food (rations, cooking kit, mess kits, fishing kit)
stuff for writing (some ink, inkpens, and some sheets of parchment)
stuff to navigate the wilderness (survival kits, maps)
It looks less huge and "extra," at least to me.

That said, I'm honestly okay with dropping a lot of this EQ and glossing over the wilderness stuff.

I thought it would be cool to play through more of the stuff that gets glossed over and I guess that showed in my thoughts on what EQ we should get.

I think it will be cool. Unless there's an overwhelming objection from the other players, we will continue with this. Bookkeeping-intensive things like this (the downtime rules from Ultimate Campaign are another example) that function much better in a PbP than in an in-person game, in my opinion. I've enjoyed the back-and-forth of us putting the list together (it takes me back to my childhood playing Oregon Trail, though I think I can promise you that nobody will die of cholera). I think we should keep going with it, at least as an experiment. The rest of you should voice your opinion as well. As for the extra-ness, I would have tended towards less items in each category, but that's mainly an issue of personal style; it's ultimately a judgment call of how much of a safety margin do you want.

@Drexel: What do you think would be a fair weight for a tarp like you were suggesting? 5 lbs? I'm not exactly sure how big of one you were wanting.

How about Canvas?

canvas (sq. yd.)

Price 1 sp; Weight 1 lb.

This square yard of heavy cloth is suitable for painting, for covering items in a rainstorm, for creating a sail, or as an improvised bag. It is not waterproof but can be treated with oil, wax, or resin to make it water-resistant.

Not sure if it will serve the same purpose or not. If not it could at least give a relative estimate of how much a tarp might weigh and cost.

Basically the same thing, we can get one already waterproofed. DM can decide cost.

Water-resistant != Water-proof

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I can't help but feel like we are now officially "Batman Prepared" for anything that comes our way, environment-wise.

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Heh. Speaking of environment, here are the rules on heat danger:

Aiyaa! Hot, muggy temperatures to deal with in and out of game. Behold as Rhona's attitudes involving the weather adapt to fit the player's own experiences!

Actually, for some reason I was imagining this region being more of a chilly, European type of climate, but it being more of a "wet, hot American summer" thing is a fine change of pace. Never had to deal with extreme weather in Pathfinder before. We shall see how my heavily-armored defense-based fighter copes!

I misunderstood the DM before about how hot it would be. I added Hot Weather Outfits for each of us. Rhona, you should probably sell your plain Longsword--you'll get half it's value in gp back. Otherwise you're 3 lbs. over. Although Walt (the mule) has just enough load-room left to carry the 4lb. sword if you want to hold onto it.

Hot Weather Outfits:

Covering your body from head to foot in light, airy cloth keeps you cooler than baring your skin to the sun. This outfit typically consists of a loose linen robe and either a turban or loose head covering and veil. The outfit provides a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves to resist warm or hot weather. This does not stack with any bonuses gained from the Survival skill.

Although it doesn't stack with the bonus from the survival skill, using that bonus requires moving at half speed AND succeeding at a DC15 check. I figure we're all better off with the clothes.

We will probably have to ditch something when we get the cold weather gear (cold weather outfits and cleats). But we can probably leave whatever it is with the garrison we get that stuff from.

Aiyaa! Hot, muggy temperatures to deal with in and out of game. Behold as Rhona's attitudes involving the weather adapt to fit the player's own experiences!

Actually, for some reason I was imagining this region being more of a chilly, European type of climate, but it being more of a "wet, hot American summer" thing is a fine change of pace. Never had to deal with extreme weather in Pathfinder before. We shall see how my heavily-armored defense-based fighter copes!

Yeah, I don't miss Georgian summers at all. There's only about two weeks a year up here that I would call "summer," and I revel in that fact, ridiculing my Canadian friends mercilessly when they complain about how hot it is. Of course, they get me back in the winter, when I'm walking around with all the clothes I own on, and some of them are still wearing shorts. Fear not, before long you'll be at a high enough elevation to be out of the worst of it. I'm enjoying the opportunity to learn all these oft-neglected rules that would be too time-consuming to look up at the table but are perfect for the slower pace of PbP.

We will probably have to ditch something when we get the cold weather gear (cold weather outfits and cleats). But we can probably leave whatever it is with the garrison we get that stuff from.

Just trade it straight up for the hot weather gear.

But that sword WAS MY SOUL

Okay, okay, I'll sell it. That'd net me what, 7, 8 gp? I don't really have any reason to keep it, since I'll have my cold iron one.

Alas, longsword... MY HEART WILL GO ON

GM, should I sell the old longsword in the gameplay thread?

GM, should I sell the old longsword in the gameplay thread?

No, we can just say it happened. Add 7 gp, 5 sp to your character sheet.

Reposting EQ sheet link for easy access.

DM, could you put this link in the campaign description, along with the link to the map?

Sure thing.

First combat! Color me excited.

Rhona, if you go to the 'Rhona' tab on the EQ sheet you should see everything that belongs to you, as well as everything you're carrying that *doesn't* belong to you.

The "owner" column says who an item belongs to, the "possessor" column says who's carrying it, and the "location" column is supposed to be for where you want the item to be carried (belt, backpack, pouch, etc.). The location column probably isn't needed except for when dealing with unusual locations for things (a torch on a belt instead of in the backpack, etc.).

I sorted stuff so that everyone should be carrying most of their own personal posessions, and definitely all their weapons.

All that to say, your axes should definitely be on your belt. :)

Thanks. The thought of Rhona running off into battle without the whole of her arsenal moves this player to tears.

I really hope I get to smash something. That's all I want at the moment.

Drexel, check out my last spoiler. I should have had your name in it to begin with--I just edited it in.

Alright

Whoops. I put my name instead of yours. Too late to edit it though.

I know most of it was luck, but Chantif's awesomeness just became a little more secure in my mind.

This is definitely my favorite PbP of all of (the too many of) them that I'm in. I had a hard time falling asleep last night because I wanted to know what was going to happen to Chantif!

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I wrote my RP in the last post under the presumption we won't be pursuing them. Chantif is fatigued (can't run) and is at 3 hp, plus 1 nonlethal damage from heat. However, if we want to decide, ooc, to go after them I'm fine with adjusting his action to give chase. I'm reluctant to do that until more support arrives though.

I suspect the better plan for pursuit might be for Det to lead Rhona and at least one other in pursuit. Chantif could follow behind with the mules and provide support with his shortbow.

I think the best plan might be to break from the road, try to hide our passage, and hopefully lose their pursuit altogether. Either way, if we can't lose them, we have a guard dog with Scent and a high perception modifier to keep watch at night.

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What XP progression are we using?

Pursue? Unless you were fighting, say, a black pudding or something, I'm pretty sure Rhona and Det will be perfectly happy to pursue.

Chantif will update you when you catch up. They'll have a head start on reaching their allies

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Did you see my update? Only one of them actually got away. The spear-wielder you damaged at the very beginning of the fight fell over dead right as he got to the treeline. (He was disabled. Your attack roll exactly matched his AC, and your damage was exactly enough to reduce him to 0. I was amused.)

Yeah I saw it. That makes me feel even more awesome about Chantif. Did the Rogue really have 15+ hp or was my first hit actually a miss?

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Yep, he had the HP. You came close, but not quite close enough :).

Well at this point I'm willing to chase anything that won't eat me in a single bite. I'll just charge into battle with Walt the Battle Donkey. I know that won't happen (especially because Walt is a mule) but it is a funny thought.

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Thank you for that encounter suggestion. Battle donkeys may well appear at some point.

Did any one of you bring the mules along? Walt has the healing kit. Chantif needs that or one of the CLW potions.

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Once you do catch up with Chantif in character I'm okay with you guys reading the spoilers between the DM and myself starting when I first went scouting, if the DM is also okay with it.

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Did any one of you bring the mules along? Walt has the healing kit. Chantif needs that or one of the CLW potions.

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Once you do catch up with Chantif in character I'm okay with you guys reading the spoilers between the DM and myself starting when I first went scouting, if the DM is also okay with it.

Nobody said they did. Walt the Battle Donkey--that's his new official nickname, btw :)--is currently unattended at your rest point. By my count Drexel has 5 rounds=1500 ft. left on his spell, so he could get back there , get the kit, and get part of the way back before it expires. As for the spoilers, go for it.

How many rounds until me and Detskiye get there?

Chantif is actually more concerned with the mules being unattended than with his wounds getting immediately patched up. He knows he's not going to bleed out or anything close to that in the time it takes the donkeys to walk a quarter mile.

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There's still an hour left in the heat of the day?

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We can't leave Walt!

There's still an hour left in the heat of the day?

I ask because I'm thinking of having Chantif Don his Armor. It will take 10 rounds to do so, but I am thinking he will want to follow after the others once Umash arrives with potions if they give pursuit. Should have asked Drexel to cast Endure Elements on Chantif before running off...

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Sorry for the delay. Whole bunch of math going on. "If Drexel is headed westbound at 40 miles and hour, and Rhona is headed east at 13 miles an hour..." Anyway, if my math is right, then it should be just before 4:00 PM. Dusk is around 9:00 PM, and you don't need to make saves after 6:00 PM. (This is a slight revision to what I told you earlier, Chantif, since I realized I didn't count the hour you spent getting ready, so there's no reason to count the hour you spend setting up camp at night: there's two hours of save-free travel time on both ends.) Therefore, there are two hours left in which you will have to make weather-related saves.

"If Drexel is headed westbound at 40 miles and hour, and Rhona is headed east at 13 miles an hour..."

...They collide with the force of a million exploding suns?

Pretty much.

When the speeds of the two concerned characters are equal, there's a simple way to resolve a chase: If one creature is pursuing another, both are moving at the same speed, and the chase continues for at least a few rounds, have them make opposed Dexterity checks to see who is the faster over those rounds. If the creature being chased wins, it escapes. If the pursuer wins, it catches the fleeing creature.

The eight rounds of head start that the kobold had make things slightly more complicated. I'm going to have y'all make a series of opposed Dexterity checks. Each opposed check represents one round of chase. If the party wins, the kobold has lost a round's-worth of lead; if the kobold wins, he has increased his lead by a round's worth. If the kobold can reach a predetermined point that exists in my head before you run him out of lead, he has reached his comrades. If you run him out of lead, you've caught him.

Part of me wishes I had known that Chantif would have been able to keep pace with the Kobold. I thought he would be running through the forest, something Chantif cannot do, so Chantif could not possibly catch him.

The other part of me thinks Chantif would have been ambushed and knocked unconscious...

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I'm cool with this.

I do not intend to add the miscellaneous weapons to the inventory unless someone else wants to keep them.

Whenever we lose or expend items, I will multiply their purchase index by -1. That way we still know which time we bought it. This matters mainly for keeping track of stuff we got from the quartermaster originally. Since the raw materials were consumables we don't technically need to track that we ever bought them, but for consistency's sake that is what I am going to do.

We should keep a 10-hour night tonight. If we do that each of us can keep a 2-hour watch (with the guard dog) and still sleep for 8 hours.

That means we don't need the extra tent. *rolls eyes at self*

At the next garrison I think I will return it and pick up some bells. We can hang the bells from twine strung between pitons in the ground as an alert system around the camp. I doubt it will be loud enough to wake us, but it should be enough to let the watchman notice something is up.

EDIT: I guess we might still want the second tent in the case of a storm. Although in that case we'd want the canvas. We should trade it in for that, then.

I do not intend to add the miscellaneous weapons to the inventory unless someone else wants to keep them.

Whenever we lose or expend items, I will multiply their purchase index by -1. That way we still know which time we bought it. This matters mainly for keeping track of stuff we got from the quartermaster originally. Since the raw materials were consumables we don't technically need to track that we ever bought them, but for consistency's sake that is what I am going to do.

Gotcha. Thanks again for taking care of the equipment tracking.

A creature can't make optimum use of a weapon that isn't properly sized for it. A cumulative –2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder. If the creature isn't proficient with the weapon, a –4 nonproficiency penalty also applies.

The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder's size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. For example, a Small creature would wield a Medium one-handed weapon as a two-handed weapon. If a weapon's designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can't wield the weapon at all.

As I mentioned in my gameplay post about the loot, I alter this rule slightly, although I guess that last sentence explains why I wasn't able to find a Medium analogue to a Small dagger :). Basically, if you're proficient with a weapon whose stats match the stats of the inappropriately sized weapon, then you can ignore the penalty for an inappropriately sized weapon. For example, a Medium character who's proficient with shortspears can use a Small spear without penalty. As far as your muscle memory and training are concerned, there's no difference between a kobold's spear and the shortspears you're used to. Conversely, a Small character who's used to using a longsword would be able to use a Medium short sword without penalty.

Good houserule. I'll probably implement it in my games.

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Drexel, it might still be worth preparing Endure Elements tonight to cast it on a second person tomorrow. If Chantif goes scouting again tomorrow he won't want to go alone.

EDIT: I'll also point out that Drexel, as a caster, is least penalized in combat by heat stroke. If it causes any encumbrance problems one of the mules actually does have 10 pounds free. I had incorrectly included the cleats we will get with the cold weather gear in my weight calculations.

If I were to pick two people to receive Endure Elements, I'd pick the two martial characters with the lowest Fortitude saves. I believe Umash plays as a Martial character. Those are my unasked-for thoughts.

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I like this houserule as well. Seems like common sense.

I'm tempted to take that kobold spear, actually.

If you want to take it, just let me know before we leave the area and I'll put it in the sheet for you.