Bad to the Bones (A Rappan Athuk campaign) (Inactive)

Game Master Eric Swanson

Ah, I have never read the Mighty Godling. Did not realize that he gets to add strength twice. This is why I always list all modifiers for all offense, defense and skills so that I know how to change things if abilities get affected.

That's crazy good. I'm going to have to check this class out.

Varg Arlok was asking the Barmaid to wrestle not you :) Guys just so you know I post lots during the day from work but not so much at night. Spend time with the wife. I don't get on the computer much at home as my job is in IT and I'm one of those that doesn't have the latest stuff, My phone is not smart but does have a slide out keyboard for texting :) I will check in at night if we are in a combat. I have a few things here at work this morning but will catch up on the Game play thread and post in a bit once caught up at work.

The Godlings are some of the most versatile classes I have seen. You get to pick and choose things you like. They are also a SAD class which makes them very good.

Re: Watch Order ... As we have eight players, watching times will be shorter than normal - 90 minute intervals? Any preferences?
Keil would prefer taking the last watch. Suggest Malzii takes the first before the light gets too bright and affects her vision or is left out of the watch order.

Raaz can watch during the day so will take watch that is needed. However since we are 8 it may be better to double up on watches and do 180 minutes each.

Messaged you a question, GM.

it may be better to double up on watches and do 180 minutes each.

With 4 shifts, that ends up with a 12 hour watch. That doesn't include caster time.

With 2.5 hours per shift it comes out to 10 hours (7.5 hours rest per person). In the morning the casters each take an extra half hour of rest to get the 8 they need to do spell stuff, and then the prepared casters take the hour they need to memorize spells while the rest make breakfast, break down camp and scout.

Total time: 11.5 hours.

If the non-casters wanted to just let the caster not take a watch we could reduce camping time down to 9 hours.

I am good either way. Varg will take any shift. He does not have light sensitivity, which was swapped out for the usual improved darkvision that duergar have.

Arlok is fine with any shift.

GM: A lot of the games I've been in gloss over the "What do you do during you watch shift?" phase. Will you be taking the same stance or would you like us to elaborate?

I will just require you to state in general terms what you will be doing on your watches. If something comes up then I will ask for more specific actions.

Varg, being a dwarf and more attuned to the dark, will patrol on foot, grumbling about the annoying sunlight. Being a monk with a high Con, he will almost never stop to chat or rest.

Something I was going to do, but completely forgot about due to that day being hectic -

Grey routinely leaves a spell slot open. He also has the Memorize Page spell.

Would it have been possible during the meeting with Komm to take a few minutes to prepare Memorize Page it and than use it on the map?

I see nothing wrong with this, and Komm would want you to use the spell so as not to leave any physical copies that could be lost or stolen.

Great. We can pretend I posted a thing describing doing that. Thanks.

OK I have updated the Wilderness map with your suggested route for day 2. Let me know if this is OK and I can adjust it later.

To save on confusion, we should probably draw our proposed directions on the map next time we're discussing it.

Do any of the casters want to have some sort of general coordination as to what spells we load each day, whether here or IC? Just a thought :)

Maybe once we have more spells. For now my options are very limited.

I thought that we were going to stick on/near the road as the other areas were unexplored and we were told that the unexplored areas were considered dangerous.

Everywhere there is a number is probably dangerous, but it also means it has been previously explored. I interpret the meaning of 'unexplored areas' to be those 'off the map'. As it is, we are currently following Komm's recommended path which seems to avoid most numbers and therefore avoids detection, maybe. I really need to give my head a shake for being nit-picky though :P as cutting through the forest diagonally probably won't make a huge difference in the long run. Am fine with the way things are.

I just wanted to get us to the woods by daylight.

Keil is correct here. I am assuming you are avoiding the danger spots on the map and also giving them an extra wide berth as the number placements on the map are not very precise. Let me know if you wish to check out any of the numbered areas.

Sorry for the lack of posts, a storm happened and knocked out my internet.

Good to see you back Chugs!

I am traveling out of town so using my smartphone and iPad to respond. So am not able to see the map well.

I will try and explain actions but welcome any advice or intervention from GM/Players to make Raaz Al'Zuul actions in combat tactically relevant.

I have searched, but cannot find the key to the map. I thought that several points were identified on the map, but cannot remember where the list of identified places is. If anyone can point me to them, it would be appreciated.

Vargrenz, the Legend is just to the left of the map. Try zooming out a little and you should see it. Keep in mind not every number is identified on the map, just certain areas. Consider the other numbers the equivalent of a skull-and-crossbones symbol on the map.

Doh - now I feel really foolish. I tried to find it, but the map did not expand when I tried earlier as that was the logical place for them. Must have been doing it wrong for some reason. See them now.

Happy 4th of July for the US folks and Happy Saturday if you're located in other parts of the world! :D

I don't know if anyone else is having trouble with this, but some people seem to be using some unusual methods of formatting text in this game.

I have been in a few campaigns, probably over 50 at this point, some of which are now over 4 years old. With one exception, every one has used the following formatting:

Speaking is in normal bold. Some people use "quotes", some don't. Rarely should speech be imbedded in a long wall of text as that is often confusing unless it is simply one or two words. While it might not be perfect from a perfect English style, breaking speech into separate paragraphs is often easiest to read.

Internal thoughts/thought processes are in normal italics. - This is normal italics, not bold italics.

Shouting is in big letters OR BIG AND CAPS

Whispering is in small letters.

Out of context comments are in blue, but, unless very short, are usually best just being posted in a separate post in the OOC/Discussion thread.

There are a few other things like lists and strikethrough that can be used in certain places. Any of the above can be used in other ways such as for headings and breaking stuff up. But for the normal post consisting of actions (normal text), speech and thoughts, using what seems to have been the norm on these boards ever since I started would make things much easier.

I am mentioning this, as I have been having a tough time figuring out whether Keil is posting speech, or whether he is posting internal thought processes due to combining italics and bold.

Komm agrees with Vargrenz 100% here. While it will not matter most of the time, should Keil be trying to sneak up on someone the fact whether he speaks aloud or not would make a difference on his Stealth roll, he he.

I agree. One addition though-

Because there are things that are telepathic, and things that speak in very strange ways, quotations are handy ways to differentiate those different speech styles.

as noted-

Italics is internal monologe, which others can't hear without some kind of ability to read thoughts.

"Bold with quotes" is normal outlaid speech.

The two other kinds of speech that can be used by combining these two techniques are-

Bold in italics is non-verbal speech that others can hear, like telepathy.

"Bold in italics with quotes" is really weird or unnatural verbal speech. Think like Aboleth gurgling, or the strange rasping whisper of a certain Fetchling.

I agree. If/when telepathy and other unusual outliers come into play, then adjustments can be made. Really, in all my playing, I just passed 25,000 posts, I have had only a few games in which telepathy or other forms of communication were relevant, or at least where it was important to use other systems. If you have a demon or a faerie dragon as a familiar, then it is important. Really, with rare exceptions, I do not foresee worrying about anything other than the usual speech for a while.

Really? I see it used all the time, usually with Familiars who can only speak with their master.

Not really an issue in this game though, unless Chuggs gets a familiar some time soon.

I apologize if this has been confusing, but I have been using bold italics for Keil's speech consistently since Keil's first game play post to underline the rough nature of his voice. Graphic novels use this all the time.

If you'd rather, I could format Keil's voice phonetically, but from my experience, playing dwarves characters with thick Scottish accents makes speech hard to read & understand for other players.

Now, having explained myself, I'm ok with Praetor Grey's suggestion of putting quotations around Keil's speech to get the same point across (weird or unnatural verbal speech), it makes no difference to me, just a few more keystrokes.

As for telepathy, there has only been one instance of telepathy in this game so far and it is quite clear before formatting that what Arlok hears is Komm's thoughts. And that, really, is the most important bit of formatting in any play by post. Simply indicating in the text that what follows is telepathy, a weird language, accent or whatever should be enough to give meaning to bolded or italics means in that context.

Finally, here is another wrench to throw into the mix - I've played in games where using bold italics indicates use of another language. But there again, it was made clear in the text before that so-n-so is speaking in X and not common.

Most games where other languages are used, I have seen people just use Google Translate to post it in another language, and then a spoiler:

กับสิ่งที่เขาพูดจริง

^ Same on the other languages. I like doing it that way but I know some people highly dislike spoilers so I'll go with what the majority wants here.

I love language spoilers. They really add to the immersion of the game to me.

I agree, most games use language spoilers, but there are a few that use different formatting for languages for the very reason Malzii indicated - games with a lot of spoilers can be annoying. Spoilers also act to exclude players whose characters don't know that language which doesn't seem fair unless the RP includes someone doing a lot of translating.

I am one that blends the narration with spoken phrases. I am ok to break into short paragraphs to make it clear.

Arlok is back from the holiday. Will read and catch up on game post

I will have limited posting ability until monday night.

Healing Nonlethal Damage: You heal nonlethal damage at the rate of 1 hit point per hour per character level. When a spell or ability cures hit point damage, it also removes an equal amount of nonlethal damage.

Ok, I will assume you guys rest up here at the top of the stairway in the Mouth of Doom until your non-lethal damage goes away. That should take 3 hours which means you should be at full strength around 9pm.

I will post the initial encounter area later on this evening.

Sounds good.

I think that still leaves the Fatigue though. Need a full nights rest to kick that.

Actually I believe when all of the non-lethal damage is healed, the fatigued condition goes away.

I vote for Komm's ruling on this. Now lets proceed and wipe out the weak creatures (er, Orcus, CR35+) in this dungeon.

PRD says different but Varg is right, Komm's word is law.
Also if I may, speaking from experience living in a cold environment, 21F is nothing. When we get to -4F and up to -76F then we can start talking seriously about the rapid on set of hypothermia and its effects. :)
Basically at this temperature (21F), once you have reached a warmer environment (usually indoors) it takes very little time to recover from the early onset of hypothermia. A little rigorous activity or lighting a torch in the stairwell will radiate enough heat around for players to feel better. Throw in a warm drink and *snap*, you're ready.

Sounds great. Lets do it.

I will be generally unavailable tomorrow, please DMPC if necessary to keep things moving.