Hi everyone, I'm the replacement. I haven't actually ever done a play by post game before, so please be gentle with me.
Um... I don't know what needs to be done (if anything) before I post in the gameplay section, so I'll sit here eagerly awaiting DM input. (Like I said, I'm green)
You can start posting in the gameplay thread immediately based on the info I gave you.
Welcome to the club Saul. Of course as has already been stated; the first rule is that we dont talk about the club outside of the club ^_^
First time PBP'ing can be intimidating. Feel free to pose any questions here if necessary. Here's a link to some great advise - DH's guide to Play By Post gaming.
Welcome aboard Saul. The loads of experience in this group is sure to make things easy for you.
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Thanks for that heads up Tony. For some reason Ive been thinking that you dont add any bouses on crit damage dice. D'uh! Complete face palm moment. It will actually be only +6 to damage though with -1 penalty from Ilviara's Prayer spell. Still, I'll take the +6 anyday. Thanks again.
you are quite welcome...now kill that b*~*~ please.
Also, hai thar Saul, please do make yourself comfortable and enter into this little melee weve got going on...and kill that b@@!~ please.
Btw you may be green when it comes to PbP, but if your initial post is any indication, you got plenty of roleplaying experience in general.
Sic im gonna be really anal about this and say its actually +8 damage, since Prayer is -1 to damage rolls...the entire crit is a single damage roll, so you already included the -1.
Ah ha! very well then. That makes alot of sense. You are the man!
See Saul? we're all willing to do extra homework to keep the I's dotted, T's crossed and generally make sure we kick ass.
Well Anthony is a book keeper after all ;)
Welcome Saul, just a couple comments and suggestions on your stat block:
-Masterwork armor is worth investing in.
-I don't know where you're getting -5 to jump from. I assume you're getting the idea that a speed of less than 30' gives a -4 for each 10' below, but that only applies to your base speed, not your speed in armor.
Welcome Saul,
If you haven't already, you will probably want to read all the gameplay posts, just to give an idea of how we've been interacting with each other. As well as check out our backstories just for the RPG element.
Without a healer, then that means were going to have to stalk up on potions. Anybody got 20K to lend me for a reg ring :)
Btw Saul I have several bits of advice in regard to your character. This advice is purely from a power perspective though, and I realize that you may be looking for a "look" or "feel" more than power in the choices you have made.
- A Darkwood Heavy Wooden Shield would have no check penalty, grant more AC and bash harder. Add shield spike.
- Armored coat isnt all that great, and if all you want it for is the instant donning in case you get jumped while unarmored, you might as well just carry it around as backup. With Armor Traning, the optimal armor for your stats would be Full Plate. Masterworked its "only" a -4 check penalty, which leaves your stealth at +11, which is quite respectable.
- Consider taking Improved Shield Bash instead of Shield Focus. A spiked large shield with the Bashing property hits for 2D6. This would ofcourse mean you would bash people with your shield instead of using the Tonfa...interestingly, you can actually twohand a Bash with a heavy shield...Just imagine a power attack hitting for 2d6 + 6 Strenght + 6 Power Attack + 3 Close combat and +1 for Bashing enchant. Add Weapon Focus and Weapon Spec if you are feeling frisky! Hey look its Captain America! Hmm I need to make a character like this now that I think about it.
Id use the following gear:
+1 Full Plate: 2500
+1, Bashing Spiked Heavy Darkwood Shield: 4117
Cloak of Elvenkind: 2500
Potions: 350
Total: 9467
New Ac would be 26
Well, thats my munchkin compulsion satisfied for the day, have a good one.
very well explained Anthony and now I know how Captain America is even considered a super hero...it really is all about the shield.
It realy is isnt it...although superhuman strength helps!
I thought the Super Soldier serum just maximized his human potential strength? along with everything else as well. Not really super powers though.
Gotta love the min/maxers, Saul. I am definitely NOT one, but guys like Anthony keep me on my toes. :-)
http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles/7/king-kong-vs-captain-america/7109 20/?page=2
Scroll down to the middle of the page, theres a comic page with Cap shouldering his way through a damn blastdoor!
Lets just say Captain Americas status as either superhuman or "max human potential" is a rather grey area indeed.
One other thing to note Saul. I haven't looked over your character, but it is highly recommended that you have some trick up your sleeve for escaping. This is particularly important if we ever come to blow with the other PC groups in this mega campaign. Because ultimately were out to save our own skin and when fighting pc's we shouldn't take a victory or die attitude. Several of us have a way of going invisible and such.
Now granted when we eventually do meet another PC group, it shouldn't be let's just attack, being the thieves we are, were all about the attack when we have the advantage.
Just my 2 cents.
@Saul, any chance I can get you to change your forum portrait? One of the players from the other groups is using that portrait which will no doubt cause a lot of confusion on the maps when you two meet up. Thanks.
Thanks everyone! Ah, oh much to catch up on (hope I don't miss anything)!
@Sic, Thanks, that link was very helpful. I looked for something like that last night, but I totally missed it.
@Sorad, AH! I don't believe I forgot to buy masterwork armor! Wow, I feel lame. As for the acrobatics thing, very nice catch!
I made Saul on Hero Lab and it does say "Speed less than 30': -4 jump", but I checked d20pfsrd/acrobatics and you're absolutely right. It says base speed.
@Vaek, I did as well, I just put it down as "Cyclops". I'll fix that, thanks for catching it!
@Anthony, Heh. Thanks, I've played for quite some time. This format will take some getting use to though.
Thanks for the character feedback! You right, Saul's built very much around a "feel". He's not really a heavy armor kind of guy, that's why I went with shield focus, I wanted to try to increase my AC to help make up for it.
The Brawler archtype gives up the Armor Training path for Close Control and Menacing Stance, so I'd take a pretty big hit with armor check penalties with plate.
I do very much like the idea of the shield bash/Bashing Spiked Heavy Darkwood Shield, I'll definitely be looking in to that.
@Vaek, Ah, I totally was going to buy some potions of Invisibility and I totally forgot! Thanks!
@GM, Yep, not a problem at all.
And now we will remember your old face... for whomever has it.... has to die :)
And it doesn't specifically have to be potions of invisibility, but that is always a nice choice. something to save your neck when no one can help save yourself.
And now we will remember your old face... for whomever has it.... has to die :)
Mwha-ha-ha!
*starts sharping his tonfa... or something*
And it doesn't specifically have to be potions of invisibility, but that is always a nice choice. something to save your neck when no one can help save yourself.
Very true. I'll investigate some other possibilities once I have some more scratch to spend.
Fellow guild members - thoughts on how we handled the last two encounters? Ideas on how to be more effecient?
DM Ascension - how are the other groups doing? Are we behind or ahead of them?
I think that we did a fine job. There was only one party member in danger that suffered serious injury. We will need healing going forward, but if our additional member had been present, maybe the impact on one character would not have been that bad?
Agreed. Vaek fell prey to the tactic (surround and kill) we should try to use as much as possible. And damn those spellcasters! They were able to nerf us pretty heavy during that combat. We might need to focus on them in the future as well.
With our group, due to sneak attack damage, we need to do everything we can to try to take advantage of that. Especially if were fighting one of the other groups.
I am guilty of not focusing on that, because I have a tendency to focus on the "squishies" aka the casters, since they can change the battlefield so easily with a single spell. Whether it be a Curse or Calm Emotions etc.
So part of the damage received was really my own fault. How many healing spells do we have within the party as a whole? I know we don't have a full healer, so were going to need to concentrate on buying a lot of healing potions... which maybe we will have the liberty of robbing an Alchemist shop to get some free stash? How bout it DM :)
Though, I am sure as we hit shops, like we did with the first mission, it will start getting the ire of the merchants guild. So we will have to end up mixing it up. But if I recall with the official game statement, the idea is to have this game fairly sandbox, so we should for be able to devise whatsoever crimes we think we can get away with. Which that should be a lot of fun.
One of the reason's the first mission didn't go as smoothly as it could've is the DM admitted he rolled a 2 for my bluff check. That kind of thing is just going to happen. So we may run into situations where, we get a bad roll, and we may have to bail on the objective, and choose a new place to hit.
I vote for buying Cure wands over potions. Seems like more bang for the buck. We might have even mentioned that before...
yeah, so then we need to figure out how to rob a magic shop. I prefer Free wands over paying for them :)
Though that may be too difficult for our level, depending on how large the shop is. Not sure if that would anger the Mageocracy or the Merchants guild... or both, but perhaps we can find a smaller shop that wouldn't have a ton of protection to begin with.
Although if we hit a Alchemist shop, it should be easier less overall magic users. But we may be able to score some other nice potions such as Haste or Bull Strength or invisibility etc. Though i'm sure we will have to pay some cost to determine what potion is what, unless any of you have that ability.
I don't know if we discussed this before. But where it feels like we are about to get some loot and gold. one thing I would like to suggest is that as we split the gold, that we take 5 or 10% that stays as group money, to be used for bribes or whatever we may need specifically to achieve a particular crime. This way for those of you who have specific contacts that require money for their services, it isn't unfairly coming out of your portion per se. Of course we need to have a person to track that.
If he's willing, I would nominate Sorad. I do this because he does the same thing in the other game that the DM is running, and we are both participants.
Good idea and I have no problem with Sorad handling the extra money.
I concur, especially regarding the theft of some wands.
So part of the damage received was really my own fault. How many healing spells do we have within the party as a whole? I know we don't have a full healer, so were going to need to concentrate on buying a lot of healing potions... which maybe we will have the liberty of robbing an Alchemist shop to get some free stash? How bout it DM :)
This is a possibility, the most obvious places to raid for such items would be one of the various temples, but these would also be the most heavily guarded. A little time scouting around town and/or some knowledge (local) rolls would reveal other locations - though the stock pile of goods would be a lot lower for a small shop.
DM Ascension - how are the other groups doing? Are we behind or ahead of them?
The merchant's group is a bit ahead of the other groups. The other groups are about even with this group.
I can definitely track group cash. 10% seems like a good way to go.
We should probably decide how to divvy up magic items. My suggestion would be to give it to whoever needs it most, and selling things we don't need at all.
I would also suggest that everyone carry several potions on them at all times. It's true that wands are more efficient, but sometimes the healer (in our case, whoever can cast cure spells and occasionally has time to do so) doesn't have the chance to run over to you and you're stuck on your own. A potion of invisibility is probably a must, and a potion of fly is not a bad idea either.
Also, if we ever have the extra cash, buying everyone a ring of sustenance would be really nice. It would give us six hours time over all the other groups, which could very well make all the difference in a chase.
I'm totally for group funds as well.
As for acquiring healing potions via theft, I don't know if I agree. Isn't stealing bad? I joke, I joke!
As far as robbing churches, it all depends on what god is worshiped there. Anthony may not take much time for worship these days but he still has a healthy respect for the gods.
As for combat, I think in the future I will focus more on buffing for the first 2 to 3 rounds, tossing out Haste, Bulls Strength and Mage Armor, while trying to set up flanks. With my superior AC I wouldnt mind tag teaming with Vaek, moving through the enemy, trusting in AC while Vaek stealths. Should be able to get enemy casters choking on their own blood in no time.
Due to the nature of Synthesists I can also always have my Wands held ready (I can hold them in my hands inside the Eidolon. So from an Action Economy perspective, ill be fine with doing combat healing. Putting group wealth towards a Cure Moderate Wounds wand would make the combat heals atleast passable.
My original character idea was a brawler, but im morphing into a swiss army knife...and im rather enjoying it.
I took the Toughness feat, because I quite frankly didnt know what else to take at the time. With DMs permission, I wouldnt mind changing that to Brew Potion. Summoners have some pretty nifty spells for potions, since they get a few things at earlier levels...Stone Skin potions!!
I concur with Sorad that we divvy up items based on need or even whoever would obviously benefit the most from them.
Sic actually has enough cash left over to buy two Cure Moderate wounds potions but the B&E job sounds much more lucrative.
Getting a CMW wand is probably very important and one of the first things we should save up for.
In the meantime, Sorad will buy a CLW wand (and give it to Tony) at the next available moment.
I definitely need a disappearing act of some sort. I think that I may be the only person without one.
I can pick up invisibility and crank out potions for it...assuming my request goes through.
Sorad, im already lugging a cure light wand around. I can cast 5 cure lights from Oracle as it is, so the one wand should be enough for 2 or three encounters atleast.
I wonder, if myself, Mael and Anthony, would be able to gang up on a caster with Sic/Sorad/Saul able to meat shield long enough for us to mow down a caster.
Obviously, if Anthony and myself can flank, the sneak attack damage is very nice. I think Sorad can do sneak attack dmg as well? Though, I probably have a easier time getting into position with my invisibility.
I like the idea of having flying potions and Stone Skin.
Depending on how much flexibility we are given, It would be nice to use our actual money on weapon/armor enchantments, and we try to steal the other things such as the potions and wands if possible. That would probably give us the best bet to get a gear advantage over the other groups. Unless the DM compensates them with more loot on their perspective quests.
DM: Do we have a very good way to determine the difficulty of robbing potential places like the temples and such. In terms of the game, if we know that Place A is a CR of 5 and Place B is a CR of 7. We can then make more intelligent risk/reward decisions.
From a RPG side of things, in theory we could get some of this information from our citywide contacts etc. At least to get a feel for it. This could also apply if were simply robbing rich people for money or any other type of crime we want to try.
You can change the feat Anthony. If anyone else wants to make minor adjustments to skill points or swap out one of their feats, now is the time to do so now that you have a better feel for the party make up.
A temple would be well stalked with items, but would be more difficult to pull off a heist at due to better trained and/or more guards - and a general abundance of clerics in the area. As for risk (CR levels)... you will need to scope out potential places and decide if it is worth going for or not.
Items from the defeated drow consist of the following (and sell price if you sell the items):
Masterwork Greatsword (175gp)
2 Masterwork Short Swords (155gp each)
2 sets of leather armor (5gp each)
Dagger (1gp)
Scalemail (25gp)
Wizards spellbook (500gp)
Magic items:
Headband (unknown properties currently)
Cloak (unknown properties currently)
Breastplate (moderate abjuration aura) (unknown properties currently) - Sic can still make a spell craft check on this item today.
And the contents of Ilvaria's room, currently unknown.
When we sell stuff, do we sell it to the guild or someone else? Especially getting rid of magic items could be dangerous, since people might be inclined to ask questions when offered to buy such things.
For selling stuff there are enough shops around Coran and then the fences for the guild that its a non-issue to get the cash for them.
This is what I show for Damage that I have taken thus far:
Page 6
Wizard dagger attack for 3
Wizard fire spell 9
Rat Bite 6
Drow attack 3
Page 7
Anthony heals me for 8
Page 9
Maklo Hits me for 8
So that should leave me 21 down, so my HP should be at 29 right?
That is correct. So you are currently at 29 HP.
ok, well let's hope the drow is finally dead.
on me throwing my weapon in Mael's direction. do I roll for accuracy? What kidn of mods on that, obviously, i'm hoping he will pick it up for me.. and I don't know how far I can throw it.
The reason i'm throwing it, is hoping the guards will give me time to go invisible before trying to shackle me up and taking my weapon. Unless it is reasonable enough to think I can just go invisible on my next turn without giving up my weapon.
It will take a standard action to throw your weapon but you could get the weapon in the vicinity of where you last saw Maeltheron. As to what the guards will do - you will have to wait and see.
Is it just me, or does it seem like there are an unnatural amount of guards that showed up within 2-3 rounds. I count 14 guards plus the captain. They must all go to that tavern to the east :)
When you first arrived at the brothel to find the 3 dead there were a dozen guards outside. And several more inside.