Aubrey's Rise of the Runelords campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Aubrey the Malformed

Then after the new year I'll be gone for a few days.

OK, back in the saddle - let's whup some ugloid butt!

OK, back in the saddle - let's whup some ugloid butt!

Oooooh, yeah. Say the word. Hudak will do.

Working on a new ballad called "Ode to the Cleave Feat."

So it's the 3rd -> 6th I'll be gone. I may have limited access during those days, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Oh and, Happy new year you guys! Kali Xronia, Xronia Polla!

No thanks, I've eaten.

Happy New Year - you should get back about the same time as Mothers.

Y'know, it's not very often that a wizard gets to kill something with his staff. I'll remember that coup de grace for awhile. :)

Ok, so i commited the cardinal sin of meta-gaming and took a peek at the quasit...

and if our invisible friend is statted per the MM, L'oj has finally done something useful in a fight since he bull rushed that goblin...

You hit it. You hit it, and you made it bleed.

I hate quasits now.

Heath-
You can be the new Illes for a few days. Would be Mothman since he acts right before me, but he's out of town too. So you can post me as the intro to you. I do have a shortbow, but not much skill with it. It might be interesting to hit it with the whip. I should get a sweet bonus for size if I tried a trip or something, but I have no idea what that does on a flying creature. Otherwise I can sing, flank with someone, heal whatever. The song countdown is good for 5 rounds starting when I first take a different action.

I'll give it a try.
So that inspiration music lasts 5 more rounds if you slap that b#@+& with a whip or something. I think I get it.
Anybody who has good ideas, hit me with them; I've never played a bard before.

Ok, so i commited the cardinal sin of meta-gaming and took a peek at the quasit...

Your doom is sealed.

The quasit as written in the adventure is insanely tough, so this is a more normal version of the creature (plus I forgot its AC, and had to make a few decisions on the fly I am now stuck with). DM blues, but I'm impressed with the net and stuff. Of course, I have a few surprises up my sleeve too.

I figured it was not normal statted, which is why i let myself look...

*grabs popcorn* this is getting good.

i must say i'm getting alot of DM info for when i run this. Thanks guys

So apparently I have no idea what Larken's exp total is.
sigh
Anyone have a better idea than I do how much we've gotten up to the quasit?
Sorry...

:-) I don't know either - have a look at some character sheets and see which number is the consensus. I make a point of ensuring that everyone has the same amount of xp (and no one has made any magic items, which is the only thing to chause differences).

Guys, I will be heading off to Hong Kong for a three month (though punctuated) excursion on Saturday evening (my time). This should not affect the frequency of my posting (except possibly for the first few days and the coming weekend) but will affect the timing. Just to let you know.

So apparently I have no idea what Larken's exp total is.

sigh
Anyone have a better idea than I do how much we've gotten up to the quasit?
Sorry...

If it helps, Elisile and Alwyn are both at 2537 - and Vethran will be too once he adds the xp from this last fight.

That seems to be the concensus (others are different or unlisted...)

Hudak' at 2637(?).

Whoops. I was only at 2150, but I'm terrible at keeping track of xp and loot. I always remember to spend it, but sometimes forget to add it in.

But 2500ish sounds nice to me.

Stunty_the_Dwarf wrote:

So apparently I have no idea what Larken's exp total is.

sigh
Anyone have a better idea than I do how much we've gotten up to the quasit?
Sorry...

If it helps, Elisile and Alwyn are both at 2537 - and Vethran will be too once he adds the xp from this last fight.

That seems to be the concensus (others are different or unlisted...)

2537 is what Dravite has also....

Everone pick the higest number suggested (i.e. Heathy's) as I'm not sure either, and there were a number of ad hoc xp rewards too which could have been missed. I also want you to be 3rd level before the next bit.

Man, bloody jetlag is killing me. I've been awake since midnight, I'll feel like death at work tomorrow.

A good friend told me, "man, get that 2 hours of sleep. It's infinitely better than none."

Man, bloody jetlag is killing me. I've been awake since midnight, I'll feel like death at work tomorrow.

Yeah, it always seems particularly bad flying in that direction - not quite so much in the other.

Good luck with work!

Aww, shit. More quasits...

Really? Man, I hate them.

Aww, s@*#. More quasits...

It's a guess ... but we can't see it and it flies ...

je ne se quoi....sit?

By the way Aubrey, in the spirit of full disclosure; I got RotRL 1 for christmas, and have since bought # 2 and 3. Haven't read the adventures yet, or the monster stats or the Sandpoint backdrop ... but I am considering running this for my group, so may have to sooner or later.

No worries - I think Stunty and Fatey have read it already. In any case, the dungeons are a bit different to (a) stop them becoming interminable and (b) give you guys room to manoeuvre and (c) keep the xp and CRs up. The plot basics are the same, the details a little different.

Hey, do you pump up the encounters for eight?
Minor spoiler....you are warned

Yes.

There is an argument to leave them as they are, and let the xp "settle" to keeping the party a lower level but appropriate overall for the CR. I don't really hold with that, because the combats (initially) will be over in a round or two and some PCs may not get to do anything much. With eight that is especially the case. With a party this big, massed battles a fairly feasible (and easier to coordinate in a pbp as you can control the pace) and fun for PCs and DM.

Minor spoiler....you are warned

** spoiler omitted **

wrt xp settling---
IDK--my first impression of that hypothesis is it is the same as "hey! If it says I can cook this pizza at 300 for 20 minutes, I can jack it up to 600 for 10 minutes!!!"

Yes.

There is an argument to leave them as they are, and let the xp "settle" to keeping the party a lower level but appropriate overall for the CR. I don't really hold with that, because the combats (initially) will be over in a round or two and some PCs may not get to do anything much. With eight that is especially the case.

I think you've managed to strike a good balance so far - most of the encounters have been challenging, or scary in one way or another. The quasit was easier than I expected ... but I think you said you toned that one down from the published version...

Man, that quasit one,...I thought those sinspawn were gonna keep coming and coming.

I have been reading the path and the messageboards and as long as I don't try to figure out were we are, I have no idea and it is all fresh to me. Good job Aubrey! There was no way I would be able to avoid reading the books for too long but the way you present is always new. Thanks bro!
You run a good game.

Man, that quasit one,...I thought those sinspawn were gonna keep coming and coming.

Yeah, I thought that too - or that someone was going to get pulled into the pool ... and somehting bad would happen

I really had to do some soulsearching to resist making Hudak drink from the pool. It was hard, but I decided, in the end, that my last bout of explosive diarrhea was detrimental to the combat and could've gotten somebody killed.

Yeah ... I think that might have been ... not good.

I wonder if I would've turned into that dude with all the arms that almost jacked me? Man, if Radik from the Dark Sun game was in this one, I'd be tempted to throw him in there to see what happens.

Yes.

There is an argument to leave them as they are, and let the xp "settle" to keeping the party a lower level but appropriate overall for the CR. I don't really hold with that, because the combats (initially) will be over in a round or two and some PCs may not get to do anything much. With eight that is especially the case.

I think you've managed to strike a good balance so far - most of the encounters have been challenging, or scary in one way or another. The quasit was easier than I expected ... but I think you said you toned that one down from the published version...

Toned down the quasit, toned up the sinspawn (in numbers, anyway). The main reason the quasit got toned down was more error than anything else - I forgot its AC and let someone hit it when they should have missed by miles. So it retroactively lost its Shield of Faith. And once she fell in the pool, she wasn't going to be casting anymore of those spells anymore....

That said, there was some good play there and good rolls. The net was a smart move (and it was lucky it hit) and there were some good Listen checks (the DC was 20 after all - demanding for lvl 2 characters).

By the way Aubrey, in the spirit of full disclosure; I got RotRL 1 for christmas, and have since bought # 2 and 3. Haven't read the adventures yet, or the monster stats or the Sandpoint backdrop ... but I am considering running this for my group, so may have to sooner or later.

Heh heh... I'm a subscriber, and the first four Pathfinders are still lying unopened on my shelf. If I get to ever run it, this will have been invaluable, though. And if not... it will still have been.

I really had to do some soulsearching to resist making Hudak drink from the pool. It was hard, but I decided, in the end, that my last bout of explosive diarrhea was detrimental to the combat and could've gotten somebody killed.

Alwyn would have stopped you. And he wouldn't have been nice about it.

That said, there was some good play there and good rolls. The net was a smart move (and it was lucky it hit) and there were some good Listen checks (the DC was 20 after all - demanding for lvl 2 characters).

Yeah - playing a character with a +6 to listen and spot checks is rather novel for me.

I like how we roll init now before the DM even asks for it.

I did kind of drop a massive hint.

I did kind of drop a massive hint.

This is true...

Guys, are you having problems understanding the descriptions of the fights I am giving? I'm getting some actions from PCs that are just not possible under my understanding of the ground, or are at least extremely suboptimal. This is holding things up as I'm asking, "Are you sure you want to do that?" a lot. I thought the coordinates thing was working fine, but I'm not so sure now as the battlemaps get bigger.