I'll be back shortly, but please dot here. The first thing you need to determine is whether you know one another before the adventure starts.
You can also ask any and all questions here.
Hi all, thanks for the selection, DM.
Dotting for now. Busy day at work, will post again this evening. I'm on Eastern Time (GMT -5).
Sorcerer reporting in.
Mim the druid with his cuddly, bear cub Pip reporting in. Doing this with three people should be an interesting challenge, but no worries, Pip should make an ok frontliner
Yeah, it looks like it's going to be fun. Worryn should be able to hold his own after he gains a couple more levels, but combat won't be his strongest area for a while.
Regarding our characters, Mim is from a small village, Nerandeth is from the eastern part of Brevoy, and Worryn has been living in Restov. Mim also dislikes nobles. :) Just based on those details, it seems like our characters wouldn't really know each other.
That said, all of our characters are fond of nature, so maybe they all met by chance while traveling in south Brevoy one day? They kept each other company on the road for a couple days and parted on friendly terms, each going their own way and not really expecting to see the others again. Don't know if that's too much of a reach or not, but it's at least some kind of bond we can have.
Definitely open to other ideas, just throwing out something for discussion.
As for whether or not we know each other before the game begins, it isn;t likely tat Nerandeth and Mim would know each other unless he spent a lot of time in Brunderton, even then, he would really only know the dwarf's family name as Mim has spent a large portion of his life in Rundin, a small town in Southern Brevoy. Moreover, Mim isn;t too trusting of citty folk, especially of nobles. I see some fun dialogue happening between our two characters ;)
Not only dislikes, but doesn't trust nobles. So while he might have a civil conversation about nature, he probably not part as friends. No worries though, as the story goes on, I am sure there will be situations where trust building can happen. Worryn and Mim might have met once if he was ever fond of traveling through southern Brevoy though, which I believe Restov is part of.
Well, it's up to you to get together, either from the start or subsequently. There is always the possibility that you just happen to find yourselves brought together by the heat of battle, but I'll want to know which you prefer before I open the game thread. Let's see what our sorcerer thinks.
Also one of the points of having a small party is that you'll have to ally with diverse NPCs along the way, even if you won't bring them with you more than occasionally.
@ Mim: A Dwarf Druid, who distrusts Nobles, and a Half-Elf Verdant Sorcerer, from the Noble house Medvyed. Yes this is going to very interesting. Dwarves and Elves usually don't like each other at the start, add station differences and let the fireworks commence.
To everybody: As for the start of the game, I could see us showing up at the run down fort one at a time. If one of the others wants a ride in my carriage, they're more than welcome.
As a matter of fact, here is some background:
While sitting in his carriage, Nerandeth looked at his Father's Journal. He had read it several times, but was no closer to figuring out where the Elven village was in this region. Regardless, the Half-Elf Noble knew that to remove his father's dishonor, he had to find it. Nerandeth read further on.
Meeting at the fort seems like a good solution. Appreciate the offer of a ride, but carriages aren't really Worryn's thing. Nothing against nobles or carriages, he's just used to walking.
I'm fine saying Worryn has met Mim a few times, but hasn't ever met Nerandeth. Does that work?
Sounds good to me.
You will come together then at the trading post that marks the last frontier of civilization - not at the ruined fort, which you will have to find for yourselves. I will start the game thread tomorrow, I think (I'm at work and it's a bit crazy here today). Whoever posts first will be the one to arrive first - it doesn't matter much.
Just be careful with the fireworks. I enjoy a little intra-party banter, but you need to stick together. This being a PBP social interaction is harder to regulate as a DM so I'll trust to your good judgment. Try to play nice. ;-)
I use google docs to make crude maps. It's ugly as all that but it has worked well over several campaigns. For some simpler battles I will waive the map, and then I tend to be generous with allowing flanking and so on. I haven't quite figured out how to convert the hex map into squares, but I hope it will work out.
I count rounds from the monster's initiative to save time. You can post in any order among yourselves. If you haven't posted after 24 hours you are considered to be delaying - or I'll act for you if something else makes more sense. You can check some old game threads, but we'll figure it out.
I also use hero points. There is a list in my profile what to use them for. Usually so far they've mainly been used for re-rolling hp and occasionally negating incoming crits. You start with one each and will get more as you achieve campaign goals. Bonus hero points are awarded for good role-playing, helpfulness, heroics or anything that improves the game (or makes your GM laugh). Note that this is not the Pathfinder hero point system.
Feel free to use this thread to ask me questions or to communicate out of character. Looking forward to an exciting game.
I thought the trading post was an old fort, my mistake.
What do you know, you are right. Sorry about that. The trading post is indeed an old fort. Then we are all on the same page.
Thanks for the updates, everything looks good to me.
Gameplay thread now up.
I assume our characters received charters from the Swordlords as per the standard beginning to the first adventure?
Well I don't know about the Dwarf, but I didn't. I'm here for different reasons.
It's up to you actually. Either way works, but it is good that at least one of you has a charter.
Fair enough, thanks for clarification. Going by IC postings, both Worryn and Mim have a charter.
Sounds about right to me.
In the other PbP game I just started, my character is hitting everything and doing great damage. In this game, Worryn apparently couldn't hit the ground if he held a dagger pointed down and dropped it. :)
Dice are fickle.
Since this AP is a sandbox, you will get bonus xp for finishing side quests and for exploring hexes. I will try to make a google doc emulating the hex map to map your exploits.
Just wanted you to know. When you finish a quest you'll get the xp and your reward, but I won't call them out as such. You are of course free to accept or ignore them as you like.
Just a heads up to all, I am heading for a reunion this weekend and will not have access to the net. So I will not be posting from Thursday to Monday night. I will be back Tuesday.
Some ideas for the ambush site:
Pick a location on the path that has a defensive position nearby, a fallen log, large stump, small hill, etc. That is where the ranged attacks will be based. If possible, set up the site to provide cover to archers if bandits return fire. Also create an attacking lane so any bandits who try to approach the archers have to move along a specific path, making it easy for us to defend the location as well as limiting the number that can attack at one time.
On the path, dig several small pits and put sharpened sticks inside (punji traps). If we can find any thorns or brambles, deploy those as well similar to caltrops. Make sure we choose a location with plenty of vegetation around for Mim's spell. We could also make some nooses or simple snares and hide them among the vegetation on the ground to additionally impair movement.
Mim and Pip can be the first line of melee defense, taking care of any bandits that escape the trap. Worryn will start out as an archer, then support Mim as soon as melee is joined. Nerandeth can continue to snipe as long as he thinks its worthwhile.
First target should be Kessle, then opportunities against other bandits.
That's all I can think of right now.
Here are some Survival rolls:
With those survival rolls, you have no trouble finding a good spot. I'll come up with some sort of map. Trap setting is basically an untrained Craft skill check, so don't expect too much.
What I'm wondering most at the moment is how you intend to draw the bandits out and where you want to be positioned relative to each other.
Still here.
Yes, I am still here. I apologize for the absence, I thought I would have time this past weekend to catch up, but I wasn't even able to get on my computer. Worryn's plan seems viable. I say we find a level area with shrubbery in it that is just big enough to encompass his Entangle spell. If we can find a spot like that with either hills of trees in the area, then the ranged people can take up a spot there.
OK, I recruited a paladin who should be here shortly. My suggestion is that he arrived at the trading post shortly after you left, thought that you were foolish to take on the bandits alone and decided to help. He has overtaken you somewhere on the way to the bandit camp. Meanwhile Nerandeth has gotten cold feet and withdrawn.
Got it, will wait to continue until he arrives.
Not quite sure how the Oath of Vengeance fits the context though. Maybe you should look at another Oath or drop the archetype.
Well, I have until 4th level before I go Oath of Vengeance. I'll take it off the character sheet for now and we can review it at the time.
I saw it as representing his desire to uphold the charter to eradicate the bandit problem and any other Evil in the area. Also I have never played an Oath of Vengeance. It is supposed to be compatible with the worship of Erastil, but in my view Erastil is all about holding together isolated communities, not haring off after some isolated evil while letting the community fall apart. I'm still coming to terms with the feel for this character, so it may not suit him anyway. I see him as a community leader, not a crusader. While the two aren't always mutually exclusive there will be times when he will have to choose and he will probably want to choose the community. that is what his father will have taught him.
Sounds good and I think it will work out fine. We'll see as the story develops what your Oath of vengeance will be about.
Personally, I would like to use a large clearing - plenty of room for me to charge about, plenty of room to loose your bows. We also need to think about how we box them in so they don't escape, or are we happy for them to escape?
The trick will be getting my character in position, since my stealth sucks and a large creature like a horse is more difficult to hide. Either I need to be the lure, or I need to be well back until the trasp is sprung.
Does anyone have a signaling device? I have a horn, does anyone else have a whistle or something or will I need to lend someone my horn?
I'm thinking you can be the lure, they chase you, Mim hits them with entangle and you can turn around and charge around the edges while we pick off the ones you can't reach. Would that work?
Unsurprisingly, since it's something I always buy for my characters, I forgot to get a whistle for Worryn. :/
That would work, if they chase me.
I usually get a signal whistle, but I felt the horn more appropriate for this character. I can use it to signal when they approach. Then Mim can drop the entangle on them and we can turn the tables on them.
I will have to have some reason for going slow, maybe act out that the horse is exhausted, putting fake sweat on the neck or something, or have him get conveniently caught in bushes to slow him down, otherwise I will be able to outpace them. It will be tricky to get it just right, since walking I will be slower than them while riding i will be faster (unless they are on horseback). I will have to get the timing just right.
Actually I thought of a better way to get them to chase me. Just shoot them from horsebgack with my bow! That will be guaranteed to make them chase me and i can keep far enough ahead to lure them on while keeping out of their reach. Unless they got bows too, it should work.
I feel stupid for not thinking of it earlier!
Do we have any plans to scout? seems that with much of our group having good stealth and/or blending into the natural environment (i.e. Pip) we have the basis of a strong scout formation, which I don't want to spoil by being useless at stealth. Are we going to scout ahead and then make plans based on whjat we find or are we going to stick together?
I think we were trying to find a location and set up the ambush before scouting the camp.
I was thinking we'd travel together until we get closer, then we'd try to scout ahead very cautiously. :)
Let's assume that you found a good spot for the ambush. Just not going to map it out before we get to the battle. I'm lazy that way.
Right now you need to ascertain that the bandit camp is even there where you think it is.
Sounds good. I am quite happy to let you guys go scout. Will you want me to hang back at the limit of your vision in case you get ambushed? or do you think that is too risky?
Shall we take it back to the Gameplay thread for some stealth & survival rolls? Just trying to figure out what we need to do.
Stealth rolls would be in order, and possibly Perception, but primarily I want to know who is scouting. Worryn alone, with Mim or with Mim and Pip?
Is the posting always this slow? Nerandeth hasn't postedin nearly 3 weeks and Mim for nearly a week. I thought it was supposed to be daily?
I would suggest that Worryn goes and if Mim can persuade Pip to go with him, Pip should go too. Even if Pip fails his stealth, there is nothing more innocuous than a bear in the woods. Worryn should take my horn and if they get in trouble, blow it.
Nerandeth has notified me in a PM that he's had to drop out. Sorry for not making that clear. I don't know what's up with Mim.
Sorry all, my method for checking posts meant I forgot to post in some. However, remembering there is a campaign summary page, I should be more on top of the game here. Mim can certainly throw out some Survival and Perception checks, but he isn't much for stealthing :P
Sounds perfect, We can keep an eye out for a patrol leaving, wait until they are far enough from the camp and then I can ride up and shoot them, goading them into following me while you guys get ready to ambush them.